tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47182176212624863692024-03-05T09:08:38.515-08:00Hope for MadagascarTarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-49649445880258463402016-08-03T19:19:00.003-07:002016-08-03T19:19:35.484-07:00The Last Newsletter <br />
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'Til the Day I Die</h2>
I made a potentially critical mistake when I moved back to the States in June. I said goodbye to my home, friends, and ministry; preparing to follow God in the new direction He has been leading me. When I arrived in the States, just having left everything I love, I started down the road of thinking that I could never be happy living in the States and wondering why God had once again called me to a new mission field that required so much sacrifice. I had forgotten my one true passion and it took a song on the radio to remind me that I was heading down a dangerous road. The song talked about our passion that keeps us running and swinging for the fence no matter what happens in our lives. That passion isn’t a place or even a job, it is Jesus Christ. My passion had somehow shifted and become all about me and what I wanted. As I listened, I remembered that my true passion has never been Madagascar. No, the passion that is deep in my heart and has never changed is my Savior, Jesus Christ. I realized in that moment that it didn’t matter where I lived or if I was in full-time ministry in Madagascar or a special education teacher and foster /adoptive parent in Spokane. He and He alone is my passion. Which means that I can find joy wherever I am. I can swing for the fence no matter what God asks me to do. The song continued: <br />
‘Til the wheels fall off <br />
‘Til the spotlight fades <br />
I will lift your banner high <br />
And til the walls crash in <br />
For the rest of my days <br />
I'll lay it all on the line <br />
Til the day I die <br />
It's Your name I'll glorify <br />
As I listened, I knew that for the rest of my days, until the day I die, I will follow my Savior and do anything He asks me to do. I will wave His banner and glorify His name wherever I am and in whatever I do. Over the last seven years, you have partnered with me to reach the children of Madagascar and train the next generation of missionaries there. It took all of us to make it happen and it was amazing to watch God work. I hope that you will continue to pray for CEF Madagascar and passionately follow our Savior wherever He may lead and however He may want to use you. Let’s commit to waving the banner of Jesus wherever we are and living to glorify His name, until the day we die. <br />
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The Whirlwind</h2>
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<br />Three days. Three days after coming back to the States, I was offered a teaching job in Cheney. The interview was set up the night before I had even left Madagascar. Not that I have ever doubted, even once, this past year that God is leading me in a new direction, but it was further confirmation that I am right where God wants me. When the school year starts I will be teaching special education at Betz elementary. Three weeks. Three weeks after returning, God led me to the perfect house for my family on the north side of Spokane. I put in an offer which was accepted and the closing date is at the end of July. Three months. In September, when I will have been back in the States for three months, I will be going to orientation with Antioch Adoption, which is the organization I will be adopting through. By the end of July, I will have finished my foster parent <br />classes, just in time to start teaching in August. During this crazy whirlwind, I have seen God’s hand guiding me every step of the way. I can’t wait to see how He will continue to work. I would love to stay in-touch with you through this new journey. My new email address is tararachelle@gmail.com, and of course Facebook is also a great way to stay in touch. You can also find CEF Madagascar’s Facebook page to stay up to date with the ministry there! </div>
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<br />This is Not the End </h2>
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I have always felt that programs and organizations run best when they are nationally run. So the first year of Christian Youth in Action I asked God to show me the people he had chosen to one day run CYIA so that I could work closely with them and train them. Within a few weeks, I knew that God had chosen Rinoh, Landry, and Hasina. I invited them to join me in running CYIA. They agreed and we not only became a team and worked together, but became best friends as well. Over the last few years, as I first felt that God might move me on, and this last year when I knew for sure, I have slowly been transitioning out of CYIA, giving them more responsibility and making sure they were a part of every aspect of the training. By last year, I was there, but let them run everything. As I left Madagascar, I knew that with them leading CYIA, it would grow like never before. Over this last month the reports have been coming in. The National Conference is in September and the Child Evangelism Fellowship® directors noticed that a lot of chapters will be bringing their CYIA teens to conference and other chapters will be bringing teens because they want to start CYIA next year and want their teens to meet Rinoh, Landry and Hasina and get a feel for CEF. So for the first time, there will be a large number of teens at National Conference. The CYIA team was invited to do pull out sessions for these kids and also do a presentation and promotion for CYIA during the conference. CYIA in Moramanga this year is from July 21—August 1 and CYIA in Ranomafana is from August 11—22. Both of these chapters have been very active in CYIA and have large groups of teens who come every year. Each year, the team puts on two CYIA camps, rotating between the chapters who request them. As I think back on how God has used CYIA these last four years and the incredible things He has done in the lives of the teens and the children who have been reached with the Gospel, I must say that I am so glad it doesn’t end here. This is really only the beginning. Whenever you are reminded of Madagascar, remember to pray for the CYIA leadership team, the ministry they are doing and the many teens whose lives have been impacted through CYIA. I will post updates and prayer requests from them on Facebook so that we can continue to partner with them through prayer and encourage them in the work they are doing for our Savior! <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:rect id="_x0000_s1025" style='position:absolute;
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">We had a great year of Good News Clubs! Hundreds of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>children were impacted as they heard the Gospel and learned to grow in their faith.</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">We have spent a lot of time this year preparing for and planning </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">. They learned computers, made visuals, prepared </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><span dir="ltr"></span>5 Day Club </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">kits, and created schedules. </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">Rinoh, Hasina and Landry love the ministry of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">and are well equipped to lead the program!</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">He’s here! Landry and Nirina’s <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">baby, Nokasaina, was born at the end of June. </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;">Hasina is at Childrens Ministries Institute until September. </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #660033; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">Prayer Requests</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Pray for the team as they have two CYIA camps this year. CYIA Moramanga is July 21—August 1 and CYIA Ranomafana is August 11—22. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Pray for the teens who will be attending CYIA this year, that God will work in their lives and give them a heart to serve Him.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Pray that the CYIA promotion at the national conference in September is God glorifying and gets new chapters excited about CYIA. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">Praise God for the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9.0pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; mso-ligatures: none;">team He has raised up to take over the work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-19345011194047913962016-01-11T04:48:00.000-08:002016-01-11T04:48:05.054-08:00January 2016 Newsletter
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Heart Change</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked into one of my new junior high Good News Clubs in October and was taken completely by surprise. My students whispered continuously. They couldn’t stay in their seats and constantly interrupted with silly, off topic questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This scenario repeated itself over and over<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at my many junior high clubs. I quickly realized that these clubs brought special challenges. I decided my goal for the year was for them to fall in love with their Savior and to be grounded in the Word of God, knowing how to study the Bible and how to feed themselves spiritually.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started having ‘quiet time’ together at the beginning of club. We would read a verse, then ask ourselves questions about it, finding out what message God had for us. I was surprised at the changes that began to take place. They begin to love this time. They would see things in the verses that I hadn't even noticed. They found application for their own lives, and when I mentioned they could bring their Bibles to club to read, instead of reading the verse visual, the idea was met with </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">enthusiasm. In just two months, many of these clubs have changed. They have an excitement to study the Word and even share what changes they made in their lives over the week to follow God. I am so thankful for how God is working and can’t wait to see what the next six months hold for these junior high students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">These three </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">seventh </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">graders participate in </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Good News Club </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">with enthusiasm </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">and are beginning to have their own quiet times during the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Passing the Baton</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I was preparing to serve overseas, I was given a baton at a </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> conference and challenged to ‘pass the baton’ and raise up the next generation of missionaries. Since then, that has been my goal. I don’t want to run </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christian Youth in Action </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here in Madagascar forever. I want to give it over to the Malagasy workers. God has blessed me with an amazing team of young people to train up. Slowly they have been taking on more responsibility. This year, Rinoh, Landry and I are co-running </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Over the last year, I have realized it is time for me to pass the baton on to them. They are ready to take over completely and I need to step back and let go. I have seen their integrity. Their love for God. Their passion for </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. And I have seen their wisdom as problems have come up during </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> and they figure out the best way to solve the issues. This year, we decided, in <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">preparing for me to step back, that we would get together once a week and talk about everything </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and make sure they feel completely ready to run the program without me. I am so excited to see what God will do with </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">as my team takes over and I thank Him for these young people who I know are more than ready to take on this new responsibility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Seasons Change<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I remember wondering two years ago, while I was in Washington on home assignment, what in the world would ever make me leave Madagascar. I hated being away from “home” and spent my time counting down the days until I could go back to the one place in the world were I feel most at home, here in Madagascar. It was when I got back here that the Holy Spirit began whispering in my heart that living here isn’t forever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent six months trying to drown out His voice. But it kept getting louder and more insistent. He began to revive a dream I had while growing up, of working with foster kids. He showed me that my work here is done. My team is ready to take over and He has a new job for me. I began to accept the idea, but decided that it was probably still a few years out, which I was totally okay with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in July, I noticed that my visa is up in September 2016. Horrified, I realized this was God telling me that I had a year left. I begged Him to let me extend my visa. Even just another six months. But the answer was clear. My job here is done. As my team and I traveled around putting on </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> camps over the summer vacation, I was still struggling with the idea of leaving my job, friends and home, all which I love so much. In a last effort to stop the inevitable, I told God that if He really wanted me to leave all that I love, again, that He would have to change the burden in my heart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For ten years my driving passion and burden has been reaching the Malagasy children and training up the next </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">generation of Malagasy teens to love and serve God. Ten years. If God could take away that burden, which has never changed, and give me a new one, then I would accept that all this was from Him. It happened. One day in August, I read Isaiah 58:12 which says, “Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.” God whispered in my heart that I had a new job. To restore that which is broken. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was then I realized He wanted me to, not just work in the foster care system, but to adopt teenage girls in the system who probably have no hope of having a forever family at their age. And in an instant, God replaced the burden that had filled my heart for ten years with a deep love for my daughters and a desire to do whatever it takes, even leaving all that I love, to raise them up to be passionate followers of Jesus and mighty warriors who enter the fight and serve their Lord. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This summer, I will be heading back to the States and preparing to do things I never thought I would have to think about. Things like finding a job as a special education teacher, buying a house and car and living in the States again. While the prospect is still intimidating, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is calling and I am simply following Him. So while I am sad to see this season of living in Madagascar go, I am excited about the season ahead of continuing to follow God and seeing Him transform my daughters’ lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKsd6Y4U7J0EDleXuPXpo4gTAEm1ArxXWsC6qVqyoyWUnS35Ceqzb8vFqv7CKdSSkFrmB70IaR_0LGRqw7isigHXpe-fs4o8V08d-dpM7IB6uB7GZ-TxCObmBXVL_ZXTS6K5DOqFMxFSx4/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKsd6Y4U7J0EDleXuPXpo4gTAEm1ArxXWsC6qVqyoyWUnS35Ceqzb8vFqv7CKdSSkFrmB70IaR_0LGRqw7isigHXpe-fs4o8V08d-dpM7IB6uB7GZ-TxCObmBXVL_ZXTS6K5DOqFMxFSx4/s320/Picture3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">The views as we travel from one school to another are stunning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">Madagascar is truly a beautiful </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">island! </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">This is one of my new Good News Clubs of second and third graders that </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">Hasina and I teach at a small private school. </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">Fanja (Pastor Diavolana’s wife), Hasina and I often teach at the same schools.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">We took a vacation together over Christmas break and went to the coastal town of Morondava on the south western side of Madagascar.</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">We got to see </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">spectacular </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">baobab trees, which none of us had ever </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">seen first hand, go to parks in the area, and best of all, spend a lot of time together. </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Prayer Requests:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for wisdom for me as I prepare to hand </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> (CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">™</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">)</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> over to my team this year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray that God will continue to prepare Rinoh, Landry, Hasina and Nirina as they take over </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray that the hundreds of kids who come to </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Good News Club</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> each week will become passionate followers of Jesus and grow in their walks with God. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 4pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-47087286697308855472015-02-03T04:48:00.001-08:002015-02-03T04:48:33.995-08:00God is Always Working. Even in the Rain.
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dark gray clouds hung low over Antananarivo. The pounding
rain had finally dwindled to a drizzle by late afternoon.The weather was so
terrible, that a lot of the schools canceled classes; yet, a tall thin man
stood in his slacks and suit jacket in the muddy school yard, shielded by a
small umbrella. Waiting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It all started five days earlier when Hasina and I went out
looking for a new school to fill our Thursday morning time slot. We went to a
small school nearby, and were greeted by the two teachers. We asked to speak to
the principal and they told us that he had two schools and lived far away, but
they could give him a message and set up a time for him to stop by and meet
with us. So we explained who we were and that we would love to have Good News
Clubs at their school once a week. To our complete surprise, both teachers
absolutely loved the idea that their students might be able to hear the Word of
God. They went on and on about how much their students needed the Lord and how
wonderful it would be to have us teach them. So they told us to come back in
five days and they would send a message to the principal that we wanted to meet
with him. As we left, we were hopeful that the teachers would pass on, not just
the information, but their enthusiasm for the Good News Clubs as well and that
the principal would be just as excited as they were. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Five days later, I woke up to rain pounding on the roof. It
rained and poured all morning. In the afternoon Hasina stopped by and we headed
out to the school in the drizzling, muddy mess. We wondered if the principal
would show up. The weather was terrible and he lived far away. He would have to
make a special trip just for us. But we went anyway. As we climbed out of the
bus near the school, we were so proud of how perfectly on time we were. The bus
had taken forever to fill up with people and be on it’s way, so we thought we
would be late. As we climbed the muddy hill to the school, a tall thin man
stood in his slacks and suit jacket in the muddy school yard, shielded by a
small umbrella. Waiting. We stared at each other in shock, first that he had
shown up and second that he was early and waiting for us. After introductions
were made, he chatted away as though he had known us for a long time. We went
through our spill about Good News Club, what we teach, and showed him the
visuals we use. But it didn’t matter at that point. We knew he was already
totally excited about having Good News Clubs at his school. Then we got to the
tricky part. We couldn’t work around whatever schedule they might have. We only
had time on Thursday mornings. So we hesitantly asked about the time, and he
replied, whenever you can come works just great for us. When you come knocking,
we will be ready. And with that, the time was set. Thursday morning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By this time, his little nephew had come down the hill and
was standing by his uncle. When there was a break in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>conversation, he shyly said, “Hi Zoky Hasina.”
We both did a double take, wondering how he knew Hasina since we had never
taught in this part of town. Turns out he goes to the school by my house and is
in one of Hasina’s Good News Clubs there. His uncle, who had teasingly told us
that once we started he wanted us to come every week, but not just when we felt
like it, seemed to take note and was amazed that his nephew had Good News Clubs
in his school too. We were serious about wanting to teach his kids. And he was
serious about wanting his kids taught the Word of God. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We walked away in complete shock. He had come all this way
to meet us. We had arrived on time, even though we should have been late with
how long the bus took. Good News Clubs had been set up standing in the rain in
a muddy school yard. He was excited, the teachers were excited, and even his
nephew went to Good News Club. And, Thursday mornings worked for them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We looked at each other and asked, “What just
happened?? What a God thing!!” So, bright and early Thursday morning, two new
Good News Clubs will be starting up at a brand new school. We praise God for
all He did and can’t wait to teach these precious kids!</span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-48545300061714343612014-12-22T05:52:00.000-08:002014-12-22T05:52:21.831-08:00Christmas Party Club 2014
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saturday was the big day. The Christmas Party Club that 2500
Good News Club kids were coming to from all over Madagascar. Many government
officials, pastors, and principals had also been invited to this event that was
kicking off the 20 year anniversary of CEF in Madagascar. Everything that you
can possibly imagine went wrong. It all started with my hair straightner dying
and seeing that my kittens had covered my entire kitchen in a bag of sugar as I
walked out the door. While I thought these things were about as bad as it could
get, I was wrong. I arrive at the school that I was going to the party with.
Our bus filled with excited children and took off toward the party. Only to get
stuck in traffic. For two hours. Our fed up bus driver stopped about a 20
minute walk from the party and told us we could walk the rest of the way. He
was done and had an appointment he was already late for. We walked the rest of
the way and arrived only to find that we weren’t the only ones who were late.
The entire chapter that I work with was late because the road was closed. The school
I went with didn’t know about the closed road and was on the detour route that
everyone else had to take. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How the main road heading into town gets
closed the last Saturday before Christmas is beyond me, but it happened. One
school walked the entire way. Other schools took long detours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hasina showed up at one of our schools only to find that
both buses they had counted on where stuck in traffic and couldn’t make it
because of the closed road. With excited children and parents waiting in the
school yard, Hasina and a teacher went out to try to locate another bus. All
the drivers refused, hoping for a day off because of the closed road. Finally,
one driver agreed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hours after the kids were suppose to arrive, kids from our
chapter finally began to trickle in. Thankfully, the kids were asked to arrive
early, so even this delay wasn’t as bad as it could have been. My job during
the club was to stand at the bottom of the bleachers and hold visuals. I stood
there, holding visuals and looking that the kids that had come from three of
the schools Hasina and I teach at. All three schools we had just started a
little over a month ago. The teachers, principals, and parents knew nothing
about CEF other than that Hasina and I showed up each week to teach the Bible to
their kids. I couldn’t help but praise God for each of our students. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRd02cfwo-BAuxsX6Yu1gf1JIgaPwI2IQ8DUtX3b2YqCZo78W6gUGZnoGWhWlJtFgblp9szC-0_mgiak_1CqYjjNPI0e_b40suXBrpkT8ciokO-TVMCtz8PYdvxF0WSh0UlJQoO5JLYQof/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRd02cfwo-BAuxsX6Yu1gf1JIgaPwI2IQ8DUtX3b2YqCZo78W6gUGZnoGWhWlJtFgblp9szC-0_mgiak_1CqYjjNPI0e_b40suXBrpkT8ciokO-TVMCtz8PYdvxF0WSh0UlJQoO5JLYQof/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The room was filled with about 2500 kids. Each of the five
chapters here in Tana had their kids wearing a different color of ribbon from
the wordless book around their neck. Hasina’s and my kids were wearing black
ribbons. CEF workers lined the bottom of the bleachers, holding visuals. We got
to the invitation at the end of the Bible lesson and they were asked to raise
their hands if they were ready to accept Jesus, then led in a prayer. I watched
as a parents who had come with one of our schools raised her hand, along with
many other hands all over the gym. Her lips moved as she prayed, accepting
Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Right then and there I wanted to cry as I
realized that all the traffic and bus issues didn’t matter at all. God was
still at work. This was worth everything. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRsLqufexf_8zUrKVLcLzsrdfpK-KARa2DjGZq3QU-i9Ru2tkeoZBC_P9U_SDf2_gyaxMBX3I-ZFlQcGgUkSc0Jrk9iNaELAdCKqV18uUvPTsv-EPJR6PB9alUp9xZK2vjJBrpTLoR4xj/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRsLqufexf_8zUrKVLcLzsrdfpK-KARa2DjGZq3QU-i9Ru2tkeoZBC_P9U_SDf2_gyaxMBX3I-ZFlQcGgUkSc0Jrk9iNaELAdCKqV18uUvPTsv-EPJR6PB9alUp9xZK2vjJBrpTLoR4xj/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_IRVYoONeA4fy_wOo7JVsaAxxphisxMJugEj1fx5PDLBwCC92-oLElZqJdN5yHs2Ead3SMJpwrRNj3ebg2cT2WgY2EmT86YYGNBla2nl75QYTUiYC5TpQg29Rr5y9X8sznnKr8XS9ttX/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_IRVYoONeA4fy_wOo7JVsaAxxphisxMJugEj1fx5PDLBwCC92-oLElZqJdN5yHs2Ead3SMJpwrRNj3ebg2cT2WgY2EmT86YYGNBla2nl75QYTUiYC5TpQg29Rr5y9X8sznnKr8XS9ttX/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKxMS8lVIB9vNc5uA5GIlNSIMrBJwNlLjQPo4Ta8feiBjDCkVyB9GIVGRgx-HuA-WfyBzktO-6t2bJSS0GfhmDZaZRICWKw9gy90dC3Wd_jo-Hp-cTFdEKBtoKh9whzZznhdCBignUYQ6/s1600/IMG_0189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKxMS8lVIB9vNc5uA5GIlNSIMrBJwNlLjQPo4Ta8feiBjDCkVyB9GIVGRgx-HuA-WfyBzktO-6t2bJSS0GfhmDZaZRICWKw9gy90dC3Wd_jo-Hp-cTFdEKBtoKh9whzZznhdCBignUYQ6/s1600/IMG_0189.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAH3KvKc-xirRhT4uBgi9Rw_q8MYjn2y0yK4u2oC0KzhPYXrKgD2X_W9BFFX5zP-rWgbTYQrYeK_mI7ECR-WL6QsI3HU97atbNFSu7yWeCIflJuuGFdKS_6faGoHBw9ydrWzFqeKMW0cv/s1600/IMG_0193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAH3KvKc-xirRhT4uBgi9Rw_q8MYjn2y0yK4u2oC0KzhPYXrKgD2X_W9BFFX5zP-rWgbTYQrYeK_mI7ECR-WL6QsI3HU97atbNFSu7yWeCIflJuuGFdKS_6faGoHBw9ydrWzFqeKMW0cv/s1600/IMG_0193.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkErZJPZWyWqKFA5SFUWfe3dFoysSZfNiWkzA-41rZidUEwwJf4Tv0K4fY7QTq_Li48z2cE67RJEA7DM1vsY5P56POqO5HiqFtAan_I_8-vG87hfSo7GebWK3UuSLItPCm0Bu8zFteh7FD/s1600/IMG_0213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkErZJPZWyWqKFA5SFUWfe3dFoysSZfNiWkzA-41rZidUEwwJf4Tv0K4fY7QTq_Li48z2cE67RJEA7DM1vsY5P56POqO5HiqFtAan_I_8-vG87hfSo7GebWK3UuSLItPCm0Bu8zFteh7FD/s1600/IMG_0213.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQ54o-5trTuaU-XsKiRKFDGhJ2R0fpmwFvAL9kvyIgHl1WBtROeg3Xi1SafwbAgDao7cRgvBCUabsl60mnc6DLM1JvWrSKP9qLFqzCPxjuwJA-iK-5xyZRBmVKZ9ErcHJexzihuEyh6UE/s1600/IMG_0285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQ54o-5trTuaU-XsKiRKFDGhJ2R0fpmwFvAL9kvyIgHl1WBtROeg3Xi1SafwbAgDao7cRgvBCUabsl60mnc6DLM1JvWrSKP9qLFqzCPxjuwJA-iK-5xyZRBmVKZ9ErcHJexzihuEyh6UE/s1600/IMG_0285.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not only was there a club for the kids, but people stood up
and shared their stories of how God was using CEF in their schools, in their
lives and in the lives of their children. To wrap up, the children who traveled
from regions outside of Tana put on a short program. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY6ZbkNFQb-T65gCttwnlEvmAC1TuP-Q4WeBKCTmSQejw5C1wgpYme14eq57R2ukXtQa4CD7TI8VJJfXmvKA9lrB6vwH5z5y5jXPlXjDgf-GpEpgYn9vrStMvhqyQxAehOFLGzEMWZBu6h/s1600/IMG_0227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY6ZbkNFQb-T65gCttwnlEvmAC1TuP-Q4WeBKCTmSQejw5C1wgpYme14eq57R2ukXtQa4CD7TI8VJJfXmvKA9lrB6vwH5z5y5jXPlXjDgf-GpEpgYn9vrStMvhqyQxAehOFLGzEMWZBu6h/s1600/IMG_0227.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here are some of the CYIA students from Ranomafana along with some GNC kids!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Afterwards, as the children filed out, the teachers and
principals of our schools stopped to talk to me. They were all smiles. They went
on and on about how wonderful it had all been, and about how excited they were about
CEF. Two of them said excitedly, “this is amazing! Whenever you put on anything
we will be here. And if we can’t be here to support you, we will send others to
go for us.” Then today, Monday, we went to their school Christmas party. One of
the teachers stood up infront of the parents and explained how excited she was
about CEF and how amazing Saturday had been. She retold a testimony from a
principal who had shared, saying she couldn’t stop thinking about what he had
said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the Chrismas Party Club wrapped up, the kids had left
and we had cleaned up, we were all starting to think of going home, but there
weren’t any buses heading back toward the south where my friends and I live.
But we didn’t walk home. We hitched a ride in the back of a covered pick-up truck
that was taking supplies back to Pastor D’s house and just happened to have
room for the seven of us. Isn’t God amazing?? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today, as I walked home, I knew that despite all that had
happened with traffic, buses, and road closures, God had worked in the lives of
those who had come. And isn’t that what the day was all about anyway? Best of
all, there is no way to explain this event other than that it was truly a God
thing! Only He could have brought it all together! </span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-49928341528114976632014-11-03T06:16:00.002-08:002014-11-03T06:16:38.967-08:00October Newsletter
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QKDvxatx4M9pNWK0ILXqiSAlqFy5LibE8b-4QB9Iko5DEDy9edwNvTs5zgMJKfQcn6k60r3gnUKLymvpWo9PJkuAYcY7HoGD16laOr1QHujNDZCqpF0QXjh4V_5w4Hf6FqO8_RUI-VGb/s1600/pic+sept+9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QKDvxatx4M9pNWK0ILXqiSAlqFy5LibE8b-4QB9Iko5DEDy9edwNvTs5zgMJKfQcn6k60r3gnUKLymvpWo9PJkuAYcY7HoGD16laOr1QHujNDZCqpF0QXjh4V_5w4Hf6FqO8_RUI-VGb/s1600/pic+sept+9.png" height="105" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Meet the Teens</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Veronique: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last year, Veronique attended Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 7.325pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> for the first time. She struggled and was scared to teach the kids. But after </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, she told me she wanted to be a missionary like me. This year, she was back but things were very different. She did an amazing job teaching, she spoke with enthusiasm and was very animated as she taught. She stayed up late the night before she was to teach the missionary story working on the story and all during practice time the next morning, she prepared diligently. But when she got up to do a demo for her team, she couldn’t get through the story and ended up crying. During lunch I worked with her on the story. After talking to her supervisor, we decided to give her a choice whether or not she would teach or let her supervisor do it. We saw she had worked very hard and we didn’t want it to be a bad experience at club. She chose to do it. The reason she had worked so hard was because of how much she wanted to teach and she wasn’t looking for a way out. Her supervisor excitedly shared with me after club that she had told the story so well, she got the children involved, told the story in an engaging way and even would put down the book to act things out. She learned that day that as she worked hard, God would help her and speak through her. The </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">director told me later she had seen that Veronique had written in a school paper that she wanted to be a missionary.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje61IpCdS1okjCA-agK7efgc_VJ9sfMTqW94BG68IqyErEIvgpkdbnDuHIO4EYGRdlCro3CtMXqRMnn1B-PIP3s3adbkepVQdOh92HeZIvRit4YAGnIuLzDeNk6OmviDN-qMY8z1v-brAz/s1600/pic+sept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje61IpCdS1okjCA-agK7efgc_VJ9sfMTqW94BG68IqyErEIvgpkdbnDuHIO4EYGRdlCro3CtMXqRMnn1B-PIP3s3adbkepVQdOh92HeZIvRit4YAGnIuLzDeNk6OmviDN-qMY8z1v-brAz/s1600/pic+sept.png" height="320" width="263" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Ismael and Setra: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Both of these boys’ mothers’ told us that since </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">last year, they were different. They are now good examples to their younger sisters and brothers and help around the house. That is what </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">is all about. It’s not just about training teens teach 5-Day Clubs, it’s also about helping them grow in their walk with God and become good examples to the kids they teach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Malala: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although Malala is quiet and reserved, she doesn’t let that stop her from teaching 5-Day Clubs. One day after clubs, we all walked up to her house because she lives up on one of the mountains surrounding the village and from her house you can see for forever. The front of the house was hardly wider than my arm span and the peak of the roof was hardly taller than me. Nine people live in her house. She literally has nothing, and yet has everything because she loves God’s and is ready to serve Him, even if it means doing things that are outside of her comfort zone. The next morning, she came to Henriette’s house carrying an arm load of gifts: A tall stalk of sugar cane and a backpack full of mangahazo. As she shyly presented her gifts to us, I wanted to cry. How could she, having seemingly nothing, still give us so much? Then and there I thanked God for her and the example she had given me of true generosity, and asked Him to give me a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>heart like hers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">The Staff Behind the Teens</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 4pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One by one, the teens stood up and introduced themselves on the first day of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Each of them stated their name and who their </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Good News Club</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 7.325pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">teacher was. Behind each teen who comes to </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, there is a </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GNC</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> teacher who has been pouring into their life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #500028; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Harline: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harline is our </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> education director and also works with the Northern Antananarivo chapter. After the first day of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, she was telling me how excited she was because the teens had been coming to her Good News Clubs since they were small, and now here they were, learning to teach kids themselves. Harline’s daughter was one of the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> students. She is only 13, but does an outstanding job teaching. I know that the fact that this amazing 13 year old loves and serves God, following in her mother’s footsteps, is a testimony of Harline’s love for God and how well she has served Him, not just in being busy with the work of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, but in raising her children to love and serve God too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #500028; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Henriette: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Henriette lives in Ranomafana, a small town in the middle of the rainforest. Last year she told me how excited she was about </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> because she was getting older </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and knew she wouldn’t be able to continue reaching the children forever, but in her words, the teens are the hope of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in Ranomafana. Last year during </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, I watched as she poured into those teens. She did nothing half way. She raised all the money needed for </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and wouldn’t accept any money from me. She did fun things with the teens after clubs, like showing them how to make bread wrapped in leaves. She told me she was happy I was there because the teens needed someone to look up to; someone young. But after just the first day I knew the teens looked up to her and loved her, it didn’t matter how old she was. They saw how much she loved them and they loved her right back. Those teens work so hard, love God with all their hearts and passionately serve Him. It’s not because of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">or the white girl who comes once a year It’s because of Henriette, her deep love for God, and how much she has poured into their lives. This year, every single one of the students from last year was back, including three new students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The reason there is such a great group of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">students here in Madagascar is the many </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">workers here, who like Harline and Henriette, pour into the lives of their </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GNC </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_xJ0gJ4QH6ClI1Eo6TfDl1ilEsi0_yNBu41s3Rt3PVza5SSxxK9iURINeCBRw9V5TJCJV4_jt46bhkxS0WBIXQb5CFD6hF_u8OnztSSaTIVmhOpK6mfuFyWv8qYOdLPCoTbvaVYgusXm/s1600/Pic+sept+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_xJ0gJ4QH6ClI1Eo6TfDl1ilEsi0_yNBu41s3Rt3PVza5SSxxK9iURINeCBRw9V5TJCJV4_jt46bhkxS0WBIXQb5CFD6hF_u8OnztSSaTIVmhOpK6mfuFyWv8qYOdLPCoTbvaVYgusXm/s1600/Pic+sept+3.png" height="265" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Miarinzato may only be 11, but she is an amazing teacher. Her enthusiasm during training, prep time, club and whatever it is that she is doing is contagious.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuK61wVGWJTDaFvd8MKfM-CTPA4qTA4AGqgqq7Khd5hJg922GRVBNYOiDwh-dXbTBdbzgSwzyU_lYc3_qPwyQQQJunz_u4lCMedmMBnzpGtO9Skjcp8YS63vp_CAOMUYcKtiXvlqx-k9E/s1600/pic+sept+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuK61wVGWJTDaFvd8MKfM-CTPA4qTA4AGqgqq7Khd5hJg922GRVBNYOiDwh-dXbTBdbzgSwzyU_lYc3_qPwyQQQJunz_u4lCMedmMBnzpGtO9Skjcp8YS63vp_CAOMUYcKtiXvlqx-k9E/s1600/pic+sept+7.png" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Landry, Rinoh and I were blessed to get to spend a week and half in Ranomafana for </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">, serving alongside Henriette. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzslkpIxyYyjhMG3zdb5BTAHpUjVlIk4Kxc2gdXRvRHbIi8eMmkikbUq-USFJ2JxxwPRXjA5G45dU1QluZzAReFMZvTHKIkdq1iBrx5SRN40yNIezASnGbQyzXlTnJ5CEPoKpl8kSGaJvp/s1600/Pic+sept+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzslkpIxyYyjhMG3zdb5BTAHpUjVlIk4Kxc2gdXRvRHbIi8eMmkikbUq-USFJ2JxxwPRXjA5G45dU1QluZzAReFMZvTHKIkdq1iBrx5SRN40yNIezASnGbQyzXlTnJ5CEPoKpl8kSGaJvp/s1600/Pic+sept+4.png" height="221" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Harline, Seheno and Lalasoa prepared lunch for all of us each day and even prepared a huge feast on the last day of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">to celebrate.</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnwsc_YjvItOVPz5iqO8AkM-SD4kyJEzcjrX8rPIVxqNsPNuuSlxaq3PxEzTIMJ_E6UKyE4-vXlacoeG1aqnXb27tOpf8wQu5LxJLrTGB_ngPqKx4pq7sN2_86VHE0CeFM6c8B83AFA-E/s1600/pic+sept+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnwsc_YjvItOVPz5iqO8AkM-SD4kyJEzcjrX8rPIVxqNsPNuuSlxaq3PxEzTIMJ_E6UKyE4-vXlacoeG1aqnXb27tOpf8wQu5LxJLrTGB_ngPqKx4pq7sN2_86VHE0CeFM6c8B83AFA-E/s1600/pic+sept+5.png" height="320" width="288" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><span dir="ltr"></span>24 teens attended the Southern/Western Antananarivo </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">, 15 in Ranomafana, and 6 for the Northern Antananarvio </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMsleOC-ZEZWfTfD7lAcSDOeTLi01LOL7x7kRjJli8dSFOW9qdLz1LTm1Sft5UU-zENuArmYRYDecZmLUxyLSCWx4-_bQ24XUSDcSyUjfF6fIC9ofyWV49iLY0dYJFcKi7HRWvw6YXm8k/s1600/pic+sept+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMsleOC-ZEZWfTfD7lAcSDOeTLi01LOL7x7kRjJli8dSFOW9qdLz1LTm1Sft5UU-zENuArmYRYDecZmLUxyLSCWx4-_bQ24XUSDcSyUjfF6fIC9ofyWV49iLY0dYJFcKi7HRWvw6YXm8k/s1600/pic+sept+6.png" height="320" width="319" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">This club had<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about 100 kids, and even the supervisors said they had never seen such a rowdy group of kids with fist fights breaking out randomly among other distractions. The teens did a great job dealing with it and where thrilled to see the children who accepted Jesus change and begin trying to get their friends to be quiet so they could hear the lesson.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: "Kristen ITC"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Kristen ITC"; mso-default-font-family: "Kristen ITC"; mso-latin-font-family: "Kristen ITC";">Fun Fact:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost half of the world's chameleons (about 60 different species) are found only in </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: "Kristen ITC"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Kristen ITC"; mso-default-font-family: "Kristen ITC"; mso-latin-font-family: "Kristen ITC";">Madagascar.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray that the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">teens will continue growing in their walk with God during the school year.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for the Good News Clubs that are starting up and for the children who will be attending. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray that me and the CEF workers here will serve God whole heartedly out of our love for Him and grow to become more like Him each day.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 4pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise God for the teens who attended Christian Youth in Action this year, and the new CYIA that started in Northern Antananarivo.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise God for each of the children who attended 5-Day Club and those who accepted Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-88113164821480069262014-08-18T17:48:00.002-07:002014-08-18T17:48:24.724-07:00Back Home
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember that Sunday well. The only time I can remember
that I got up and walked out of church. It was my second Sunday back in the
States going to my home church. I had been looking forward to being back for
the last two and a half years. I stood and watched everyone around me singing.
I couldn’t. Tears filled my eyes as I watched them. I knew I was completely alone.
They had no idea the things I had seen and experienced in the last few years.
The overwhelming poverty and suffering that I was surrounded with on a daily
basis. Things that I could never tell anyone about. I couldn’t do it. I walked
out, got into my car and drove. Just drove, and cried. I was so desperately
homesick. What I would have given to be home, to hang out with my friends, to
not be alone, especially on that day, my birthday. When I finally drove up to
my parents’ house, I stopped only long enough to change into running clothes.
As I ran, I asked God why. Why did this have to be my life? Why would my life
continue to be a cycle of hellos and good byes for as long as I could see? As I
started in on the third mile, God gently spoke to my heart. He explained that
my homesickness and tears where a good thing. They were a testimony to the work
He had done in my heart over the last two and a half years. Somehow, He had changed
my heart completely. He had given me a deep love for the country and people he
had called me to, something I would have told you was impossible during my
first year overseas as I struggled to adjust. He told me that what I was
feeling was ok and actually a blessing, something I could prasie Him for. This
conversation with God gave me perspecitve during the rest of my time in the
States. No, it didn’t help with the homesick thing, but it gave me peace
knowing that I was right where God wanted me, no matter how hard it might be.
While it was fun to see family and friends, it took three months for me to get
to the point where I didn’t cry when thinking of home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Six months later, as I boarded the plane to finally go home,
my heart was fearful that Madagascar, my friends, and my life wouldn’t be the
same as how I had left it, that maybe what my heart had been longing for would
be no more. I arrived late at night, and the next morning my phone rang. It was
my best friends, they passed the phone from one to another and I am pretty sure
that we did nothing on that phone call except laugh with joy that we could talk
on the phone again and exclaim how amazing it was to hear each others’ voices.
I was finally home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Every single day I absolutely enjoy everything about life
Madagascar. Public transportation. The smell of rice cooking over charcoal
fires and bricks being made in the fields. Eating rice. Speaking Malagasy.
Every thing is such a joy. Last week during CYIA, my teaching team and I would
make our escape each evening and walk to a nearby town and drink coffee and eat
fried bread. Walking slowly (and I do mean slooooowly) down the road, talking
about everything under the sun and yet nothing at all, and crowding onto a
bench at a roadside store front to eat our snack, I couldn’t have been happier.
We meandered back to our kids, singing and looking at the stars. My heart
overflowed with thanksgiving for the amazing things God had done in my heart
over the last three years. I knew Him in a whole new way and He had changed my
heart in ways I could have never imagined. Not only that, but He had blessed me
above and beyond any thing that I had ever hoped for with my amazing friends,
teens, kids and ministry here in Madagascar. I even praised Him for my time in
the States and all He had taught me through that storm. It was only in being
away that I could truly appreciate on a whole new level what He was doing in me
and what amazing gifts He had blessed me with. What a good, loving, and amazing
God we serve!</span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-18106571515644067552014-08-11T20:47:00.002-07:002014-08-11T20:47:57.002-07:00Christian Youth in Action: Antananarivo
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A little before 5am, I was awoken by the sounds of someone
moving around. I opened my eyes and smiled to see that it was two of the older
boys studying the Bible lessons they would be teaching at 5-Day Club that day
by the light of a candle. These were just two of the amazing kids that God had
brought to CYIA Antananarivo, they were focused and so eager to teach and to
teach well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the older boys in particular, Orluce, was constantly
studying. He had to be pulled away from his work to stop and eat lunch. He woke
up early to study and usually had his outlines in his hand whenever I saw him.
It was great to see him grinning after he taught the Bible lesson, explaining
to me that he had gotten everything into the lesson and many children had
accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Today, I stopped by the Teaching
Children Effectively 1 training here in Tana that started today, only to see
that two of the students were Orluce and his friend Febrice (Febrice was a
second year student at CYIA). I can’t wait to see what God has in store for
these two boys. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sarah studied hard every morning and used every minute of
study time to go over what she would be teaching that day. She faithfully taught
one certain plant in the yard each morning, even shaking the plant’s “hand” and
saying hello to start out. Her supervisor told me, while laughing, that on the
first day of club, Sarah was so used to teaching her little plant that when she
got up in front of the kids she turned away from the kids and toward one of the
trees and began to teach. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hery was on my team. He told me on the first day that he
liked to make people smile and laugh. I was a little concerned that he had just
come to CYIA to hang out and have fun, but quickly realized that wasn’t his
purpose in coming. Yes, he was constantly making my team laugh and there was
never a dull moment, but he studied hard, even getting up early to do so, and
would carefully listen to anything I said and apply it. On the first day of
club, we walked into the neighborhood that we would be teaching in and there
were some adults sitting there. All the kids looked at me wondering what to do,
and Hery announced, “don’t you remember what they taught us during training??
We are suppose to go say hello to the adults!!” It’s good to know someone was
listening! </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Watching
him teach, I knew he had it. He had that natural ability to teach kids and have
fun doing so. The kids hung on his every word. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Orellie went home each evening because she lived close by.
After getting home later than her mother expected the first evening, her mother
decided that she couldn’t come anymore. She showed up late the next morning,
with out the smile that I had never seen her without. She cried as she
explained what her mother had decided and how she had finally changed her mind
and let her come. Her enthusiasm for teaching and her obvious love for the kids
at 5-day club was amazing. Whenever I saw her after club, she was surrounded by
a crowd of happy children. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wish there was space here to tell you about each of these
precious teens and the wonderful time we had at CYIA. There was no electricity,
no running water, no one to cook the food, and only enough straw filled
mattresses for the girls, the boys, instructors and some of the girls slept on
the cement floor. But everyone pitched in, getting water from the well, cooking
the food, washing dishes, and keeping everything in order. No one complained,
ever. By the time Saturday rolled around, they were pleading to stay at least
one more day. Not only did God bring an amazing group to camp, He provided for
us in every other way to, especially when it came to the weather. It has been
unseasonably cold and rainy (even for winter) here this year. But Tuesday
morning, as we headed out to a little village outside of Tana, the sun came out
and stayed out through Friday. Saturday, our last day of clubs, it began to get
cloudy, it rained while we ate lunch but cleared off for our clubs. Sunday we
were back to cold, gray, windy, rainy weather. Today it is absolutely freezing!
All that happened last week is a reminder of what a great God we serve. When I
think of CYIA Tana, I can’t help but smile and thank Him for the amazing things
He did. Thank you so much for being such an important part of our team by
praying for us!</span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-28261836135005104052014-02-09T23:07:00.002-08:002014-02-09T23:07:27.157-08:00Alien Tales
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let me attempt to explain what it means to use your horn
while driving in Madagascar versus here in the States.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honking at someone in
Madagascar usually means move over, I’m trying to get by. Let me in. Hello. Do
you need a ride? But honking your horn at someone isn’t usually bad. It is
simply a form of communication on the road and usually gets you want you want.
Then you pass by, or get in, or whatever with a wave or a friendly shout out as
you go by the person you just honked at. You see, a horn is used, not out of
anger, but just to get where you need to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But here in the States, honking your horn at someone isn’t
something you do. It’s rude and often done in frustration, impatience or anger.
You don’t honk at someone just because you want them to move over for you or to
let you in. I am pretty sure doing so would only make the situation worse. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How many times have I almost used my horn while driving here
in the States these last two months? More than I would like to admit. It often
looks something like this. I am driving along in the left lane and come upon
someone driving slowly. This is the passing lane. You don’t drive in it unless
you are passing or driving fast enough. So I want to honk. I am not angry or even
frustrated. I simply want to let them know I want to get by. And in Madagascar,
they would move over for me and then we would smile and wave as I passed by. I
constantly have to remind myself that honking my horn here will not have the
same effect and will be taken completely differently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Each time I am out on the road, I am reminded that I am an
alien here. I don’t fit in. I don’t think the same. My reactions to things aren’t
the same as everyone else. And yet, aren’t all of us Christ followers in the
same boat? Living in this world that we are called to be “in but not of”, we
are aliens. We are followers of Jesus. And that radical life we are called to
live that involves such things as loving enemies and forgiving all offences
makes us aliens. But one day, we will go Home. And then the tales of our alien
lives will come to a close as we spend eternity worshiping our Lord. I can’t
wait! And in the mean time, I can’t help but laugh at my alien ways, especially
when it comes to things like using my horn. So if you happen to see a black car
come up behind you in the left lane and honk rudely to get by, it’s probably me.
And that will be your cue to let me by and of course return my wave. At which
point you would be allowed to laugh and shake your head at my alien ways. </span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-3181085369839236112014-01-10T14:19:00.005-08:002014-01-10T14:26:22.094-08:00Winter Newsletter: Toilet Paper and Ponchos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Toilet Paper and Ponchos</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing that I would be back in the States in mid-December through the beginning of July for furlough, I used the last few months to try to prepare myself for the culture shock that was sure to come. And while the change has been going fairly well these last two weeks, there have been a few bumps in the road. Seeing toilet paper in a public restroom still totally throws me off. That is definitely a luxury we don’t have in Madagascar. Or there was the time I went shopping with my sisters and we walked by a display of Christmas tree skirts that, in my defense, looked an awful lot like ponchos and I said, “Aw, can’t you see Kelsie wearing that?” And Christa look</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-ext: 134217728; mso-color-extmod: 284361460; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ed </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">at me funny and replied, “Tara, we are in America; those are Christmas tree skirts, not ponchos” then burst into laughter. And while I already can’t wait to go back home, I am totally enjoying the time with my family and can’t wait to see all of you! Be sure to give me a call or send an email so we can find a time to see each other and catch up! I am also available to speak </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-ext: 134217728; mso-color-extmod: 284361460; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">at small </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">groups and churches.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">One of my favorite parts about being back in the States so far has been hanging out with all of my siblings and meeting my new sister and brother. Six is just so much more fun than four! </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Followers of Jesus</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Princia and her friends skipped along beside me as we left </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Good News Club</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. They chattered excitedly as we walked. “So, we get to do that EVERY Wednesday? It is so much fun learning about God! Why is it just an hour? That is too short, we should make it two hours.” As I listened to their chatter, I couldn’t help but smile. They were new to the school and it had been their first-ever </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Good News Club</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. When I gave the invitation, their hands had shot up and stayed up, waving excitedly, even after I told the kids to put their hands down and look up. Then, after explaining that if they had raised their hand to show they wanted to believe in Jesus, that they could stay after club, they reminded me about it the rest of the club. “Zoky Tara, we stay after club, right? Where did you say we should meet you after club? Don’t forget, I want to believe in Jesus afterwards.” And when the end of club rolled around that day, they accepted Jesus as their Savior. And every Wednesday for one hour, in that public school in Madagascar, these precious girls and their classmates learn how to become whole-hearted followers of Jesus. It doesn’t get any better than that! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDsPZI_QiUkkZgpDEJ0rLLm6EmzOyea8ZrSP6NIFXVJfUuPvhxPv3gWbzG7MTF1ZIG0um2iRFPFnUjEHPIXfG0WgMZt6MNvvtgc9LxX6eUmYjF0dgCwzyA7DSo5lSsziZ2hQjgQIunsG3/s1600/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDsPZI_QiUkkZgpDEJ0rLLm6EmzOyea8ZrSP6NIFXVJfUuPvhxPv3gWbzG7MTF1ZIG0um2iRFPFnUjEHPIXfG0WgMZt6MNvvtgc9LxX6eUmYjF0dgCwzyA7DSo5lSsziZ2hQjgQIunsG3/s1600/Picture2.png" height="147" width="400" /></a></div>
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Students lining up outside their classrooms at the beginning of the day. At this school, we have </span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> Good News Clubs in every grade, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">preschool through </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-color-ext: 134217728; mso-color-extmod: 284361460; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">eighth grade </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">over a two-day period<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUsTxfDy_BZKxlk6TBPDTVfLnp9Lo74998zpbm521jqgKd4Rek0pUqAD1Ifqe8Qt5nMLAQy_3W9jrVWaQ21g4sSfkJiEt11jSeQqVQVeWQYKLjeDV8igTKqNqo3aeTLI_22Lbc0f6uYXs/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUsTxfDy_BZKxlk6TBPDTVfLnp9Lo74998zpbm521jqgKd4Rek0pUqAD1Ifqe8Qt5nMLAQy_3W9jrVWaQ21g4sSfkJiEt11jSeQqVQVeWQYKLjeDV8igTKqNqo3aeTLI_22Lbc0f6uYXs/s1600/Picture3.png" height="136" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">It used to be that I could either teach my class or manage it, but not both. Then a few months ago, I realized that I was doing both. It is amazing to have language skills that allow you to teach the class and simultaneously be moving around the room, giving certain little guys the “teacher eye,” putting your hand on them or making eye contact and shaking your head no. Who knew that requires multi-tasking skills??</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Even though we didn’t get a white Christmas, i</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">t was great going to the Christmas Eve service at my church and spending time with family.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrjmkQoOD1ityCYxflzbRXaKgcE_EV6_ytIrJ1ePgE5sMFxSFwaRK_AQ4db_1DsHT7dbKB6z-kkJYgSOLiKau4LYIpy3ZQMVLIjm232BnIRhEuwHL0tVlHV80fiM4RzSnYuqDDX-nxD0p/s1600/Picture5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrjmkQoOD1ityCYxflzbRXaKgcE_EV6_ytIrJ1ePgE5sMFxSFwaRK_AQ4db_1DsHT7dbKB6z-kkJYgSOLiKau4LYIpy3ZQMVLIjm232BnIRhEuwHL0tVlHV80fiM4RzSnYuqDDX-nxD0p/s1600/Picture5.png" height="320" width="275" /></a><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">My parents, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">all the siblings and I went on </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">a tour of the Christmas lights at the Coeur D’ Alene Resort. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">It was very, very cold, especially coming off a tropical island, but lots of fun!</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">I Would Like to Introduce You to...</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big question that has been running through my mind lately is, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do I structure the </span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-ext: 134217728; mso-color-extmod: 284361460; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-ext: 134217728; mso-color-extmod: 284361460; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">program in Madagascar so that it lives on long after I am gone?</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> As I have prayed about this issue, the answer seems to be creating not only a leadership team among the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> students—students who have the potential to eventually help with training—but also getting together a teaching team who will travel with me and train the students. The idea is that they will eventually take over the leadership of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. After praying and searching for a teaching team who is passionate about working with teens and has a heart to reach the children of Madagascar, God pointed out Nirina, Rinoh, Landry and Hasina. And while they are all young, their passion for the ministry and heart for God makes them the perfect team. I met three of the four in 2006 when I went to Madagascar on a summer mission trip. It is crazy to think that even as we were teaching 5-Day Clubs together seven years ago, God was placing us together for a reason. Each of them has grown up in Pastor Diavolana’s </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Good News Club</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, has taught 5-Day Clubs for years and loves God with all his/her heart</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-color-ext: 134217728; mso-color-extmod: 284361460; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I can’t wait to see how God uses the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> teaching team to train teens and reach children throughout Madagascar! Please be praying that their passion for the ministry of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> will continue to grow and that they will be whole-hearted followers of Jesus! </span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for me as I work on raising support during furlough.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Christian Youth In Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">teaching team, that they will follow God whole- heartedly and be diligent in preparing for </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">™</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for the children who have accepted Jesus at Good News Clubs this year—that they will become whole-hearted followers of Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise God for each of the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Good News Club</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> children who have accepted Jesus as their Savior so far this school year. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise God for the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> teaching team and how He is and will use them to reach children in Madagascar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-70475566564816300612013-09-25T22:22:00.000-07:002013-09-25T22:25:10.353-07:00Newsletter: September 2013<br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">A Future Generation</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will God do with the lives of the teens who come to </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">? That is a question I have been asking myself since God called me to the ministry of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> here in Madagascar. I had always felt that the teens who would come to camp would be the future of Madagascar—the pastors, leaders and missionaries of the next generation. How exciting it has been to see God bring that dream into reality. Let me introduce you to just a few of the many teens who came to </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">in Ranomafana and in Antananarivo. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMWahOfGtEM4QqPZ50KsW_VWhQdvYV1imoy1eNDKBZMWcu0J_NpvzxsEd_Nex3cgHf8u6JWWtYk41Z0iE3ZiQ1rNLFBVgi76XqS8nTzgVuUVhY6z_uuiSN6PSk1B8mouosSThJCkpCn1V/s1600/IMG_5781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMWahOfGtEM4QqPZ50KsW_VWhQdvYV1imoy1eNDKBZMWcu0J_NpvzxsEd_Nex3cgHf8u6JWWtYk41Z0iE3ZiQ1rNLFBVgi76XqS8nTzgVuUVhY6z_uuiSN6PSk1B8mouosSThJCkpCn1V/s320/IMG_5781.jpg" width="240" /></a><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Setra: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The other teens occasionally called Setra, “Pastor.” He is 15 and was the only older boy who came to </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">in Ranomafana, and to be honest, I was shocked to hear that he was coming since all the other boys were 11 or 12. We asked them why they called him that, and they said, “When the teacher at school asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up, Setra said he wanted to be a pastor.” And all week, as I watched him learn and grow, I could see that God had already called him, and he knew it. </span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Aina: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aina sat beside me after club one evening and said, ‘Tara, I want to be a missionary. When I teach the kids at club, I know that’s what I want to do with my life.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbhw-N1czBGdTbGvKGIYJI-qJcaVBnObM9MpxoBDWkRpyaj2V-Ai8iGqB3ihVd2PAxDw_CFoEIkHu1tpqW2gKNzxyOWG3MGx-wF2Dg9frh_zM-TdPXWStpLPuaxpupIhMq1Vj7IEHzV96W/s1600/IMG_2048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbhw-N1czBGdTbGvKGIYJI-qJcaVBnObM9MpxoBDWkRpyaj2V-Ai8iGqB3ihVd2PAxDw_CFoEIkHu1tpqW2gKNzxyOWG3MGx-wF2Dg9frh_zM-TdPXWStpLPuaxpupIhMq1Vj7IEHzV96W/s1600/IMG_2048.jpg" /></a><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Avotra: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Avotra is 17. He couldn’t come to the first three days of training because he was taking what is the equivalent of a GED. But on his lunch breaks, he would come running down to spend lunch time with us then hurry back to the testing location. He caught himself up on everything he missed and was ready to teach with his team when we got to Tamatave. He was sitting by me one day as I watched my team do a demo of their club. When one of the boys was having a hard time reading something out of the missionary story, Avotra told him what it was supposed to say, word for word, from memory. I looked at him in shock since that wasn’t even the part he was teaching that day. He was the Bible lesson teacher that day on his team and that is usually plenty enough to keep someone busy during practice time. He said, “Hey, every part of club is connected and goes together. You have to know all the parts to teach well.” And you should see this kid teach. I had seen his passion since pre-training and knew God already had special plans for him. Avotra only confirmed those suspicions. He knew God had already called him to be a missionary.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We crowded around the open fire that our giant pot of rice was suspended over, sitting on stones and blowing on the fire in an attempt to get the rice to cook faster. The pitch black sky over us was filled with more stars than</span><span lang="en-US" style="color: red; font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had ever seen. Everything was quiet, except us. The first four days of training were over and we had just arrived in a little town way out in the middle of nowhere to teach 5-Day Clubs. The 12 kids who crowded around the fire with me continually blew my mind. They ranged in age from 11 to 15, most being about 12. They worked so hard and put everything they had into their clubs. If they practiced their lessons in front of rocks and trees, they did so loudly and passionately. And when they were at club, it was no different. They would point out areas they thought would be perfect for open-air ministry and invited everyone in sight to the afternoon clubs. The </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Child Evangelism Fellowship</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 7.325pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-eudc-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">worker in Ranomafana, Henriette, was one of the sweetest, most humble people I had ever met. She did nothing halfway. She went above and beyond with everything and poured her heart into these teens whom she saw as the future of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CEF</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 7.325pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-eudc-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 11pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">in Ranomafana. Seeing all this, I felt so very, very small. I wondered how it was that God had orchestrated this whole thing and had His hand in every part of it. I watched in awe as I saw a passion grow in the hearts of the teens to spread the Gospel. I watched as the club my teens taught, way out in a little village in the rainforest, filled with adults. The adults played the games and participated along with the children and while many children accepted Jesus that week, most of those who accepted Jesus were adults. I talked with the excited host about continuing the club each week during the school year and knew God had plans for that little village. Only God could have brought it all together. And that one sentence sums up everything that has happened at each of the three CYIAs this year. After each one, you can only shake your head in wonder and say, “Only God could have done that!”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsNgdaPtNvMHv-yH0Ds0g4mLhsUFLroJJW0pQ4m9OZkuTGCwyTseXnU6VP0qSEIBhrDgqD-ZotFCUJM2MO_OoJRGm5S1bXAP_LKzba0ncFzEGqMTfDGITcW57MdrlfjsNEzZZlZLN_mYh/s1600/sept+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsNgdaPtNvMHv-yH0Ds0g4mLhsUFLroJJW0pQ4m9OZkuTGCwyTseXnU6VP0qSEIBhrDgqD-ZotFCUJM2MO_OoJRGm5S1bXAP_LKzba0ncFzEGqMTfDGITcW57MdrlfjsNEzZZlZLN_mYh/s400/sept+1.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">The first four days of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">, the teens learned everything they would need to go out and teach 5-Day Clubs the next week. Here, Henriette is teaching a session during the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">in Ranomafana. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhob-TfxoVI9QNs0kO6grjhUZAgFx5QNjQrfaMypthgrOyuZv9caYRoRmGIt0pRqCctlLnWWI0eU5es6AAwHqbJqruZpl0nXC6WObCm0O1xEU6RxLtYfW4rtKdqCZl29Hn59L5oCI0EU7td/s1600/Sept+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhob-TfxoVI9QNs0kO6grjhUZAgFx5QNjQrfaMypthgrOyuZv9caYRoRmGIt0pRqCctlLnWWI0eU5es6AAwHqbJqruZpl0nXC6WObCm0O1xEU6RxLtYfW4rtKdqCZl29Hn59L5oCI0EU7td/s400/Sept+2.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">Each morning they watched demonstrations of what their part of club should look like before going to practice by themselves.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPJlPQTs3Ta-QlMLxkTVIHNTIkLK8hyhNRiIc7P1S0FuoYB_nF479wJRKbH3mgPLUwQYVipE9FcQSsxYnW40lYqaJcEFwTFJh6eaF8h7VHUXH7DCs3xhBcIp-3I0jghyphenhyphenF5QqGK6F4Kse3/s1600/Sept+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPJlPQTs3Ta-QlMLxkTVIHNTIkLK8hyhNRiIc7P1S0FuoYB_nF479wJRKbH3mgPLUwQYVipE9FcQSsxYnW40lYqaJcEFwTFJh6eaF8h7VHUXH7DCs3xhBcIp-3I0jghyphenhyphenF5QqGK6F4Kse3/s400/Sept+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">Practice time involved finding a quiet place and practicing out loud.</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">In the afternoons, they went out and taught clubs, putting into practice all they had learned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">A total of eight clubs where taught during both the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">in Antananarivo and Ranomafana. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">They led children to the Lord who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>responded to the invitation that was given during the Bible lesson.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rtXjJeZqV5M9QSpP6lpqWAYk65vdPQQdjRBbu-KjwwvOuDVghXNNV3Npx-88JTGhkGjvMVe5hHlBrVUlZ7dqCe5SxAdt8CPH6ZHeEnpwRd6jxLjc9D99DwHZSYV0bt53rG9qU6Bm34NC/s1600/Sept+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rtXjJeZqV5M9QSpP6lpqWAYk65vdPQQdjRBbu-KjwwvOuDVghXNNV3Npx-88JTGhkGjvMVe5hHlBrVUlZ7dqCe5SxAdt8CPH6ZHeEnpwRd6jxLjc9D99DwHZSYV0bt53rG9qU6Bm34NC/s400/Sept+8.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">This was my amazing team during </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">in Antananarivo. The teens where split into two teaching groups at the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">in Ranomafana where 13 teens attended and five groups at the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US;">in Antananarivo where 31 teens attended.</span><span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="language: en-US;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Prayer Requests:</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for the students who attended </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Christian Youth in Action</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>®</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">—that they will continue to grow in their walk with the Lord.</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Pray for me as I plan for </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 5.993pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-eudc-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"><sup>™</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">next year and most importantly, put together a teaching team who can travel with me and eventually be in charge of </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="color: #660033; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise Reports:</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise God for each of the 31 teens who attended </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">in Antananarivo and the 13 teens who attended </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">CYIA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">in Ranomafana, for the work He did in their lives and the many children who accepted Him through 5-Day Clubs. </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial;">Praise God for the teens He has called to serve Him! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-30430627822471021812013-09-12T10:08:00.000-07:002013-09-12T10:08:13.000-07:00Two Worlds Collide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A little over two weeks ago, I sat in the airport, waiting
for my sister’s plane to arrive. Waiting for my two worlds to collide. My heart
pounded. I was more nervous than excited. Questions kept popping into my mind.
How would this work out? Would she be the same girl who said goodbye to me at
an airport on the other side of the world over two years ago? I knew I wasn’t who
I was then. Would we still be friends? Would it be awkward? And worst of all,
what would she think of my world? Would she love my friends and my CYIA teens
as much as I do? After falling in love with Kenya, would she have room in her heart
for Madagascar? For my world? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then, there she was. Standing in the doorway as her passport
was checked. But, was it her? She looked so different. I walked toward her,
heart still pounding like crazy. What was I suppose to do? For two and a half
years, I have greeted people with handshakes no matter how excited I am to see
them. Running toward someone and wrapping my arms around them was something the
old Tara would do. After a moments hesitation, I walked toward her and gave her
a hug. It’s what she would expect. What is expected in the world I used to be a
part of. I watched her as we got in the car and wondered, was this really my
little sister? The one I have always loved to death and so enjoy talking to?
What was I suppose to talk to her about now that we were together for more than
two whole week after being apart for more than two whole years? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A little over two weeks later, I walked into the airport
with her and a bunch of my friends, my Malagasy family. I couldn’t believe it
was already time for her to go. She had loved my friends and my CYIA teens like
I do. She laughed with them, talked with them, walked arm and arm with them,
and despite language barriers, she was a fast favorite among them all. And when
we were alone, it was even better then it used to be. No, she wasn’t the same
girl I left behind over two years ago. Neither was I. But we started right
where we left off. The laughing, teasing, and fun was never ending. But even
more importantly, we could talk about anything. I gained new perspective on
ministry and areas I need to be doing a better job in. I heard what she thought
about things I am struggling with. She knows me better than pretty much anyone, completely
understands my weaknesses, where I have been, and the things I struggle with.
As I watched her walk alone, toward the ticket counter, Rinoh standing by me and
talking to me, doing what he always does, making sure everyone is ok, I couldn’t
believe what a blessing the last two weeks had been, not only in the sense of
how much fun we had had and the adventures, but how much I learned about myself
and the direction I need to go with CYIA and how to better deal with certain
challenges. While my goal was to make her stay here a blessing to her, I knew
she had turned the tables. While I was sad to see her disappear past the
security gate, I was more happy than anything. Yeah, I’d miss her sooo much,
but….. the last few weeks had been so perfect, how could I be sad? And I was
sending her to see her family in Kenya for one more day, and then back to the
States where her world is, at least for now anyway. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We turned and walked out of the airport, back to my purely
Malagasy world. No more English. The girls and I walked arm in arm as usual,
everyone laughing and teasing each other as we went to find rice for lunch. We
sat in a very Malagasy roadside ‘restaurant’ and ate rice. We talked. Reminisced.
They started talking to my about my furlough, and as much as I didn’t want to
talk about it, I knew I needed to, for them. They talked to me about how they
were going to ask me if we could hang out at my house for independence day next
year, since they wouldn't have anywhere else to go, and then realized I wouldn’t be there. They talked about how they wouldn’t
be able to stop by my house. Wondered if I would still speak Malagasy when I
got back, and how they thought we would all need to wear sunglasses when we
went to the airport so no one would see us cry. And then we climbed into the
bus to head home. As we road away from the airport, my eyes filled with tears.
Not because my sister had left, but because I knew the next time we all traipsed
to the airport would be the day I have been dreading. I knew I would be the
next one to leave. Furlough loomed just ahead, way closer than I wanted it to
be. As Rinoh, Lanto and I discussed the spacing of the hills between the road
we were on and the mountain we went to the other day, why we couldn’t see the
mountain from where we where and what the distance and height of the hills, the
road, and the mountain had to do with it, I wanted to cry. How I wanted to never
leave them, to always be there for them, to never hurt them. But I knew, from
the perspective Christa had given me about furlough and our faithful loving God,
that He and He alone can be their everything and do what I can’t do for them.
And I knew I would treasure every minute with them all the more and pray for
them even harder and do my best to make the transition easy for everyone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we planned for a photo viewing party at my house to look
at all the pictures from CYIA and hanging out with Christa, I once again couldn’t
believe how perfectly she had collided with my world, how much they all loved
her and had so readily accepted her as one of us. What a perfectly wonderful
time it was, a beautiful collision. </span></div>
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<br />Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-28601502173429180422013-08-17T07:17:00.001-07:002013-08-17T07:17:44.038-07:00CYIA Ranomafana
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am not even sure where to begin. Christian Youth in Action
in Ranomafana was amazing. The ‘teens’ were between 11 and 15 years old and
they worked so hard during the training. As we were out wandering around they
would point out places they thought would be perfect for doing open air
ministry. As we went to the market in the morning they would invite any child
in sight (and adults) to their afternoon 5 Day Clubs. During lunch break they
would rush to practice their Reader’s Theater missionary story, all talking
excitedly and figuring out what characters they would be. The mornings during
the week of 5 Day Clubs, they had time to practice what they would be teaching
by themselves. I explained they needed to practice out loud, but not just read
or go over things in their head. Each morning they would spread out over the
grounds and enthusiastically begin teaching trees, rocks, grass, and any number
of things. After practicing for a certain tree, they would announce that they
were pretty sure the tree was saved and went to find a new tree. And they didn’t
just whisper, they taught loudly and I wasn’t sure how anyone was able to
concentrate, but it seemed to work for everyone. One of the boys, after
excitedly and loudly teaching a tree that wasn’t too far from the road, goes, “Tara,
I think the people walking by think I am crazy...” Not that this stopped him I
noticed… </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one evening we had a practice time and
since it was dark, I explained that they needed to find a place inside the
church and go over their lessons IN THEIR HEADS but not out loud because they
couldn’t spread out. Yeah…..everyone just begin teaching out loud to windows and
benches. That church was so loud, I could hardly answer questions and help, but
hey, it seemed to work for them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I watched the little 11 year old on my team (who was so
tiny and seriously came up to like my elbow) teach her Bible lesson at club, I
couldn’t help but wonder what God has planned for these enthusiastic kids. The
kids would occasionally tease the only 15 year old boy (the rest of the boys
were around 12 years old) and call him ‘pastor’ which he was just fine with.
Henriette asked them why they called him ‘pastor’ and they were like because
when the teacher at school asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said
he wanted to be a pastor. When the Bible teacher spoke one morning, she
explained that what you become when you grow up is something that God chooses
for you and gifts you for. And by the look on his face, I knew God had already
called him. During the week I watched him grow as he taught the kids. And I
couldn’t help but wonder what plans God had for this boy’s life. These were the
kids I have been praying for. A new generation of leaders who love the Lord
with all their hearts, are true believers, and who know their Bibles and won’t
just follow whatever they hear from others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The club my team taught was a good walk away and our club
consisted of many, many adults. The adults would play all the games with the kids,
laughing as they used a magnet fishing pole to catch a fish with points on it
for their teams or being blind folded to pin the tail on the sheep. And after
club when the kids who had responded to the invitation stayed to be counseled for
salvation, many of the adults also responded to the invitation and accepted
Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It was amazing to see not just children or
ladies but the men also being counseled by the teens and accepting Jesus. Each
day, the teens left club so excited about what God had done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Friday evening, we arrived back in Ranomafana where the teens
are from, and Henriette and I were soooo tired!!! Not only was there only the
two of us teaching and doing club demonstrations, but as a group we all pitched
in to cook meals (over a fire none the less), clean, and fetch water. I had a
few hours before I needed to get on the bus back to Tana, so Henriette and I
were sitting at her house talking over the week and two of the girls come
running up the path to her house (where do they get all this energy???) And
Raozy excitedly asks Henriette what time she is leaving the next morning to
teach a Good News Club and meet with a pastor (this as I am imagining a day of
sleep….). Henriette says she will probably leave and 7:30am. Both girls, with
their eyes shining go, ‘can we go with you??’ I sat their watching the three of
them planning who was teaching what the next day and once again I couldn’t help
but praise God for the work He was doing in these girls’ lives. When they left,
Henriette said, ‘these kids are the hope for the work of CEF here. I am getting
old and can’t do what I used to do, but now I can with them.’ And for like the
millionth time over those two weeks, I was completely in awe of what God was
doing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wish you could experience it first hand. A blog post just
can’t describe it. Cooking over camp fires, bathing in the little rivers that
run between the rice patties, no internet or phone service, a night sky so jam
packed with stars it isn’t even funny, sitting around talking and laughing with
the teens, how it takes all 12 of them to go with me to make photocopies, rice
three times a day, how my mattress somehow mysteriously <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>got pushed up against the line of girls’
mattresses and after the first night you could not longer tell where my
mattress supposedly began or ended, the teens giving me little barrettes for my
hair (and being totally thrilled when I wore them) or giving me part of the
snack they had just bought, walking out to club each day with my team, never
ever being alone, and best of all, having a front row seat watching God work. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Thank you so much for the huge part you played in CYIA through your prayers and financial support! I am so thankful for you!</span><br />
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-89488521698967153752013-06-12T01:49:00.000-07:002013-06-12T01:54:56.771-07:00Insufficient <br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Zoky Tara, the ground in America is white and not brown,
like here, right? Zoky Tara, are there bad people living in America? Zoky Tara,
he (talking about the kid sitting next to me) is really good at pick pocketing.
Zoky Tara, I want to accept Jesus as my Savior.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Teaching these precious kids, my Good News Club kids, is truly
the highlight of every week. The cutest and often funniest things come out of
their mouths, and hearing the words, “Zoky Tara, I want to accept Jesus as my
Savior,” is something that I could never get tired of. Each Tuesday morning, I
prepare the Bible lesson, memory verse and review game for the week, and then
meet with my language helper, Haja in the afternoon to make sure I am on the
right track and learn any new words I want to use. Then on Wednesday, I usually
just teach the memory verse and teach the Bible lesson on Thursday, Friday and
Monday. I try to have the lesson ready by Wednesday, but this week, that didn’t
happen. Let’s just say, by Tuesday afternoon, I felt like it should be Friday
already. The electricity mysteriously went out in my house on Monday, so the
laptop died, meaning I couldn’t get any CYIA stuff done. Tuesday, after a trip
down to the electricity place to get them to go check things out, I hurried off
to town to meet with my landlord, ended up with an hour to lesson plan, which
got scrawled on a piece of paper instead of typed up on the computer, and then
went to meet with Haja, still not really knowing what I wanted to ask him about
or new words I might want to use. So this morning, Wednesday, with still no
electricity in my house, I was running late, and grabbed the memory verse
visual, but not the Bible lesson book because while I sort of had outlined the
story in English, ok, the first half anyway, I knew there was no way I was
ready to teach it, which wasn’t a problem because the others always do the
lesson on Wednesday anyway. So I get to our morning club, still thinking about
the electricity issue and how I was even going to manage the memory verse that
hadn’t gotten completely prepared. My teaching partner tells me she can’t
figure out this Bible lesson, and has no idea how to teach it and asks if I can
do it. *deer in headlights* Um………..Suurrrreeee….BUT, this could be one
interesting lesson that is for sure…. So as she gets club started, I am
searching through my Bible to get the story straight, who kills who, who gets
back at who, who ends up dead, what exactly happens to Isboseta…where to put
applications in…. You get the idea. And to top it off, the boys in the back row
wanted me to sit with them, which, while there is never a dull moment sitting
with them, it means it’s kinda hard to makes heads or tails of the lesson you
are about to teach. Though, when a boy in a different row asked if he could use
my Bible to find the memory verse, the boy sitting next to me goes, ‘Can’t you
see she’s busy?? Stop distracting her!!’ I decided not to point out that that
is exactly what he and his friends had been doing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sat there, I explain to God that I was
not ready. I couldn’t do this. It was gonna have to be all Him. Somehow, I
delivered the lesson. I think the right people killed who they were suppose to,
the right people got revenge on the right people, and the right people ended up
dead, I think. And I have nooooo idea what happened to Isboseth. He kinda
disappeared somewhere in the story and never reappeared. Thank goodness he wasn’t
a main character… I did manage to get in the applications and the invitation,
which is totally a God thing. I told the kids that when the kids left for
recess, they could come sit in the front row if they wanted to accept Jesus as
their Savior. Club ended, the kids filed out. I began gathering my things, and
notice two little girls sitting in the front row, watching me. I was totally
caught off guard, and was like, um…..did you want to talk to me? The one says, ‘yes,
we want to accept Jesus as our Savior.’ I hesitate for an instant, completely
caught off guard, wondering how anything could have come for that ill prepared
lesson I just taught, but then remembered that I had asked God to teach through
me. Grabbing my Bible, I sat down beside them, and we talked about God’s
amazing plan to save them and make them His very own children. They took turns
praying, and we got to my favorite part. They said amen and I asked, ‘Whose
child are you now?’ Smiling, they both answered, ‘I am God’s child.’ And as I
walked out of there, I couldn’t believe what God had done, despite my complete
insufficiency. But, especially after these last two years, I have this funny
feeling that that is what He loves to do, it’s what He is all about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He takes what I have, which always seems so
insufficient, and somehow makes something beautiful. I have often asked Him why
He sent me here, not that I don’t love being here, but wouldn’t it have been
easier if he had called to reach children in my own country? Children whose
language I speak, whose culture I know? Why did He send me to children who
speak a language that is not my own and a culture I sometimes can’t even seem
to figure out? I still don’t know. But, I taught the children today that God always
works for our good out of His great love for us, and we can trust Him even when
He doesn’t answer our prayers how we want or do what we want Him to do in our
lives. And that is exactly what God reminded me of today. No matter His reason
for sending me here, I somehow ended up with a ton of precious kids that I get
the privilege of teaching and build relationships with every week. Somehow,
even as I stumble through a lesson, or an invitation, things I could so easily
do in English, He speaks to the children’s hearts and draws them to Himself.
Today, I am so excited that I have two new little sisters, Tsiky and
Mandrindra. And I am thrilled that somehow, God chose to use me in His often
mysterious plan to save the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And, as I walked into the house today, still marveling at what an amazing God I serve, I went to flip on the lights with out even thinking, and they came on!!! My two day electricity outage taught me an awful lot, but I am ever so happy to have it back! :)</span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-23640908419696302242013-05-05T20:43:00.002-07:002013-05-05T20:43:36.809-07:00A Dream Come True<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGaWyKCDiHX4HTwicTNhyxG7LDFEb6YWiAFgFZlLNnLNIlkm5d1rH4omVXdT7gaM5Nonw9xx_e2wL2b5NrHDqgkHAYa-FhHaRb9sHCLu3E53UFRMMAIo4BMOiKxmdxCxfb1eyk8BtEzW80/s1600/Robbins+May+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGaWyKCDiHX4HTwicTNhyxG7LDFEb6YWiAFgFZlLNnLNIlkm5d1rH4omVXdT7gaM5Nonw9xx_e2wL2b5NrHDqgkHAYa-FhHaRb9sHCLu3E53UFRMMAIo4BMOiKxmdxCxfb1eyk8BtEzW80/s640/Robbins+May+2013.jpg" width="494" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfCvM4fGZiWZnTPz5JkP8bHqeeastAGKnsx_PnYqnu9ak_htmkgTWV3XEb6dk08Qzhhzl_I56SuffIb82VPMkbq2D5Nu_Z79AZQzlSbXzLpzz_WOm7Hwhc0_iXsgazOIrgWQE7x8cqep_/s1600/Robbins+May+2013+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfCvM4fGZiWZnTPz5JkP8bHqeeastAGKnsx_PnYqnu9ak_htmkgTWV3XEb6dk08Qzhhzl_I56SuffIb82VPMkbq2D5Nu_Z79AZQzlSbXzLpzz_WOm7Hwhc0_iXsgazOIrgWQE7x8cqep_/s640/Robbins+May+2013+2.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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<br />Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-51986826417748609952013-04-11T04:35:00.001-07:002013-04-11T07:50:15.392-07:00I would like to introduce you to......<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would like you to meet….a very
special summer missionary. My little sister!! I have always enjoyed seeing her
amazing walk with God and her willing heart to serve others in anyway she can
and I have always known she would eventually show up on my continent, and now, in just a few short months she will do just that! She is going to Kenya with the organization, Empower
a Child during the month of August. She will be doing outreaches in the slums
of Kibera and outlaying villages with a group of volunteers, they will also volunteering at
orphanages, and helping tutor during after school programs. I am so excited to
say the least! This will be her first overseas trip. The first time I went on
an overseas missions trip, it completely turned my world upside down and changed me
in more ways than I can tell you, so I can’t wait for her to have the same
experience. But there is even more exciting news, after Kenya, she will be
flying to…..Madagascar!!! She is going to stay with me for two weeks and help
out with CYIAs, 5-Day Clubs or whatever we happened to be doing over those two
weeks. I am looking forward to seeing her and even more excited to introduce
her to my world and the beautiful country that has changed me. Right now my little sis, um…her
name is Christa, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">is working on raising support. So, if you are in need of a summer missionary,
and who doesn’t need at least one of them every year, I would love to give you
the opportunity to consider adopting her, whether through financial support
and/or praying for her. She has about half of her support right now and needs
about an additional $2600. If you would like to think about making her your
summer missionary for this year, check out her website or shoot me
an email with any questions. You can find all the info you need at, christadawn7.wordpress.com.
I can’t wait to see how God will use her this summer, how He will work in her
life, and of course, I can’t wait to hang out with her. For those of you who
don’t know her, let me introduce you with a few pictures. :) </span></div>
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Sometimes she color coordinates her clothes with mine or ends up with the same hair cut. Ok, she would tell you this is just an accident, but I am not letting her off that easy. </div>
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She goes shopping with me and we gawk at prices together. The best shopping trip of the year is around Christmas time when we make a day of it.</div>
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Or there is our shared love of icecream and rootbeer floats that has sent us on emergency grocery store trips and has brought us together in the kitchen for late night snacks. </div>
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This is the look I always strive to get from her. On Facebook, that look, looks like this, -_- It doesn't get much better then that. </div>
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There are more trips to the lake than I can count, and these are always filled with adventure when you are with Christa.</div>
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Our times together seem to always involve taking pictures. Probably since she almost always has a camera in hand.</div>
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This is the infamous photo shoot, we hung the camera in the tree and set it on automatic. Only to learn it was set to take like thirty pictures in a row. Yeah, we have a ton of photos just like this, but were are many where we are completely confused as to why it is still taking pictures... :)</div>
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Somehow, she doesn't share my mountaindew obsession. But that is ok, it just means I don't have to share. </div>
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We can end up looking a lot alike at times which explains the excited hugs from strangers I sometimes get at church when they think I am her. Or when people would ask her when she will be heading out to Madagascar. </div>
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So there you have it, you have now met my cute little sister. And, Christa, I can't wait to see how God uses you this summer and I will be sure to be waiting for you at the airport hold a huge sign with your name on it and jumping up and down screaming, no matter how culturally inappropriate that will be. ;) </div>
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<br />Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-68205889038582099622013-04-10T04:13:00.000-07:002013-04-10T04:13:09.618-07:00The Week in Pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I think the best way to tell you about Christian Youth in Action is by showing you some pictures. We had an amazing week and learned a lot! </div>
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The first three days, the teens learned the 5-Day Club songs, complete with motions.</div>
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They learned everything they would need to know to prepare and teach a club.</div>
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And they learned the games they would play with the children. </div>
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We spent time prepare for clubs in teaching teams and individually. </div>
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The first day, we thought having five teens across the backseat was a lot. </div>
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Then after getting 19 people in the back of a small pick up truck, we realized we were wrong.</div>
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Then we went out in teams and the teens put everything they had learned into practice.</div>
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There were songs</div>
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Bible Lessons,</div>
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Time for the kids to learn about missionaries,</div>
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More songs,</div>
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Memory Verses,</div>
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the teens did a readers theater version of the missionary story about John Paton.<br />
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And of course games.</div>
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Each day, the teens counseled many children who accepted Jesus as their Savior. </div>
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On the last day of club, there were some very happy children who had </div>
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had a great time that week during club. </div>
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God did so many amazing things through out the training, we had great weather, hard working students, great club locations, and everyone made it to and from club everyday even with some transportation problems. Best of all, even though it was the first one that we have done here in Madagascar and there are definitely things that we will change for next time, God was right there helping us make changes as we went and bringing everything together. Thank you so much for praying for us during CYIA! We appreciate you!</div>
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Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-15805514221517380302013-03-15T18:49:00.000-07:002013-03-15T19:58:24.041-07:00And Then The Cyclone Hits <div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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That paper tornado I posted about a while back while I was getting ready for pre-training? I didn't know what I was talking about. Forget tornados. There has been a full blown paper cyclone in my house lately. That is because Christian Youth in Action is coming!! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdfa_126Viv85A9-0lhpTHBsMIZsNpHVFFmYFbM2Hrl990pRyUdgt9Uvz8mjl99oz-E0tEK3mFEd5PIb-zIDayUgjHJ9bPZlCiyx0gNZrpGbfCyW85OR-9FvsuNe4aDscmMbJspUZPp3G/s1600/IMG_3489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdfa_126Viv85A9-0lhpTHBsMIZsNpHVFFmYFbM2Hrl990pRyUdgt9Uvz8mjl99oz-E0tEK3mFEd5PIb-zIDayUgjHJ9bPZlCiyx0gNZrpGbfCyW85OR-9FvsuNe4aDscmMbJspUZPp3G/s400/IMG_3489.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Seheno came over to help color song visuals that the teens at </div>
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Christian Youth in Action will use when teaching 5-Day Clubs. </div>
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Hasina also, helped. I am so thankful for them!</div>
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Stacks of paper covered not only the table but lined the floor.</div>
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After the pages were colored, we assembled them into books.</div>
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And finally, after 8 hours straight, the paper cyclone was neatly organized in books. There are books with song visuals for each teaching team, books with memory verse visuals and books with pictures of the missionary the teens will be teaching the kids about at 5-Day Club. </div>
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Even though the cyclone appears to have moved on, we are really only in the eye of the storm. The other half is expected to hit somewhere around Tuesday morning. :) </div>
<br />Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-51800855097369693942013-02-26T11:03:00.002-08:002013-02-26T11:03:22.870-08:00Everything I do, I do it for You<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first pre-training happened here on Saturday. I have
known I need to post some pictures and details, but I haven’t been able to put
it into words. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">53 sets of shining brown eyes packed out the cement building
with it’s glassless windows open as the shutters flapped gently in the wind.
The teens lined the scruffed up backless wooden benches that lined the room and
carefully placed their Bibles and notebooks on the narrow wooden board in front
of them that acted as their table. A piece of plywood, roughly covered in black
paint sat up front and served as a blackboard. I carefully arranged the
laminated visuals I had made on the wire stand up front with a glob of sticky
tack and began to teach. They listened, laughed, participated, jotted notes in
their notebooks, and practiced sharing the Wordless Book with each other. An
occasional chicken pecked around in the aisle and my mind drifted back to what
this training looked like in the States. The nice chairs, plastic tables,
powerpoint, glass paned windows and a lack of stray chickens. The two couldn’t
be farther apart. As I think back on their smiling faces, I want to tell each
one how much I love them. They will never know that everything I have been
through these last four years was for them. So that they could share the hope
they have in Jesus with the children around them. They will never know the
challenges, pain and dark days, weeks and months that brought me to this point.
As I thought about how they will never know just how much I love them and even
more so because of sacrifices I have had to make and everything I have been
through, I could almost here Jesus say, “Tara…..everything I did, I did for
you.” And I thought about everything Jesus went through and suffered just for
me to see me love Him and share the hope I have in Him with others. I knew that
these last four years are nothing compared to how much He suffered for me and
the extent of His love for me. And I know I will never be able to fully
understand that kind of love. Suddenly I wasn’t thinking of those precious
teens as I said, “everything I do, I do it for you.” I could only see my
Savior. I knew instantly the last four years didn’t even begin to say thank you
for His great love and the unimaginable sacrifice He made for me. And I knew
that because of what He did for me, my life is simply an opportunity to say
thank you. Saturday is coming once again in a few short days, and as I stand in
front of those kids again and they learn the last half of the Wordless Book,
all my new vocab words and sentence structures that I need to remember as I
teach will be drowned out by a song of thanks to my Savior. “Everything I do, I
do it for you.” And it will never be enough to repay you for your love and the
ultimate sacrifice you made for me. </span></div>
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<span id="goog_336234092"></span><span id="goog_336234093">They loved sword drills and things got pretty competitive as they tried to be the </span></div>
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first one to find and read the given Bible reference.</div>
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Julian, the boy in the white shirt, sat in the back, or shall I say stood. He was so small he had to stand up to see the front and his hand was always eagerly up in the air to answer questions and share.</div>
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The practiced what they had learned on each other. </div>
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One of the Good News Club teachers who just finished CMI helped with the teaching.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHraKZAHVVTZdRjrQ6TcAK8CHjb4CkB-yia0mhlu3pFeZL3pOOpUJmDNzqQ9p-L2Li7B5guIIHthDHiOE1kqVaDjK-vMEnKmdBBBMGvIIdYFJd0h0XRZnSbyrxTX9Lq46PuOodavU5cq7/s1600/IMG_3363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHraKZAHVVTZdRjrQ6TcAK8CHjb4CkB-yia0mhlu3pFeZL3pOOpUJmDNzqQ9p-L2Li7B5guIIHthDHiOE1kqVaDjK-vMEnKmdBBBMGvIIdYFJd0h0XRZnSbyrxTX9Lq46PuOodavU5cq7/s1600/IMG_3363.jpg" /></a></div>
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They often split up into small groups to read verses and answer </div>
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questions together then share them with the class.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVgNj0vfxIvr73CkE1eYWWDdCyZAqKIWbTpleKDkNTpzqpgzxSMP1hEQJy9QLd_9UloBZ1-Hid4TAjiK-EEs5rmPy45VjnWvxmhCgdOCE4FwwAmT4PdJAUZKYuFL7muMs9n14QBMm6hG0G/s1600/IMG_3368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVgNj0vfxIvr73CkE1eYWWDdCyZAqKIWbTpleKDkNTpzqpgzxSMP1hEQJy9QLd_9UloBZ1-Hid4TAjiK-EEs5rmPy45VjnWvxmhCgdOCE4FwwAmT4PdJAUZKYuFL7muMs9n14QBMm6hG0G/s1600/IMG_3368.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you so much for praying for me, for the teens, the other teachers, and the trainings that will be continuing around Madagascar this month. It is truly exciting to see God working and using each of you to change the lives of many children here. </span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-79563276890475666102013-02-21T19:28:00.001-08:002013-02-21T19:28:25.266-08:00The Paper Tornado and the Big Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My house has looked like a paper tornado came through for the past week or so. Saturday is the day of the first pre-training here in Madagascar. 54 teens will be coming to the training to learn how to share the gospel with children using the Wordless Book. We are so excited to see God work in the lives of these teens! </div>
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This week, I have been getting everything together and making the visuals we will use at the training, thus the paper tornado. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh2u_Kl4NX9E-6cgguLrX20H3ceJX6miGnqC8Samq89TVKDobFkN1GxckConTFN9pQNZQ7dNvYspV6WHEiJ5SqolkWMaLXLtZ8RsbG44ZfqqdrUPD5P2cKpAzaA_imvXlvG_Sa_tu3b3S/s1600/IMG_3332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh2u_Kl4NX9E-6cgguLrX20H3ceJX6miGnqC8Samq89TVKDobFkN1GxckConTFN9pQNZQ7dNvYspV6WHEiJ5SqolkWMaLXLtZ8RsbG44ZfqqdrUPD5P2cKpAzaA_imvXlvG_Sa_tu3b3S/s400/IMG_3332.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I cleaned up a little before taking this......</div>
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By late Wednesday, there were piles of visuals everywhere.</div>
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I had lots and lots of help from my kittens.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRc0c7lydc37FRkNPr-5bzRRy-VzWDpeWm9z9B5ebaPdWP1Urbp3AA2GdDgdWRZbhMTFvstnyXyiHAWdL5KelkntwNkY4jcmjUvnXVlA5L0m9l2xRmFM8WzSxmA2plKBs8rtWlLIkIfX0/s1600/IMG_3336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRc0c7lydc37FRkNPr-5bzRRy-VzWDpeWm9z9B5ebaPdWP1Urbp3AA2GdDgdWRZbhMTFvstnyXyiHAWdL5KelkntwNkY4jcmjUvnXVlA5L0m9l2xRmFM8WzSxmA2plKBs8rtWlLIkIfX0/s400/IMG_3336.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And finally, by Thursday, all the visuals and lesson plans were </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
assembled in an orderly fashion in a binder. </div>
<br />
Everything from getting the colored paper, to laminating them, and preparing lessons, seemed to be a God thing this week. I could see Him at every turn and knew He was in this. When the director of the region we are doing the training in told me on Monday that she had 54 students (instead of the planned 30) and that she had to cut it off there because of space, I was thrilled and a little scared to have that many teens at our first training. Today I am heading to Fianaranatsoa, which is where the training will be held on Saturday afternoon. Please be praying for the teachers, the teens, and pray for me as this is the first time I have taught a training type class in Malagasy. Also, I have been sick this week and my voice is going out. And....I really need a voice on Saturday. :) Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-19875591150213859342013-01-19T21:41:00.000-08:002013-01-19T21:41:22.233-08:00Excitement and Fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqWFInS8WZQ/UPuDIAaqY6I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/N62QR0_x_k4/s1600/Robbins+-+Jan+2013+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqWFInS8WZQ/UPuDIAaqY6I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/N62QR0_x_k4/s1600/Robbins+-+Jan+2013+edited.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-58122166101571831762013-01-03T20:51:00.003-08:002013-01-03T20:51:29.619-08:00A Haunting Voice
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gray clouds hang low on a dusky evening as huge raindrops
pelt the ground and a cold wind whips the remaining people scurrying for cover
and waiting anxiously, wet and cold, for a taxi bus. Soaking wet from the rain,
I stand in line waiting for a taxi bus, huddled under the shelter of an
umbrella the person next to me generously offered to share with me. The wait stretched
on for a half hour, an hour, and an hour and a half. Then I heard it. A
haunting voice could be heard singing above the wind and pounding rain. The
voice grew nearer and was soon accompanied with the sound of bare feet hitting
the pavement and splashing the puddles. The voice of a child. The little boy
slowly passed by. Ragged clothes. Wet. Empty eyes staring straight ahead. An
upturned hat clutched in both hands, in the hopes that someone to drop a few
coins in. The hauntingly beautiful voice of the child slowly disappeared down
the street. As I climbed in the taxi bus, the voice, the eyes, kept haunting my
memory, refusing to be pushed aside. I have seen him many times, always walking
the streets, singing, clutching the hat. The reoccurring question, seldom far
from my mind, once again returns. How do you make a difference in a place with
such great need? Where do you start. What do you do. </span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Who can compare with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on
high?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the
garbage dump.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Psalm 113: 5-7</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">so mere people can no longer terrify them.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Psalm 10:17-18</span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-23569128657983837922012-12-10T01:17:00.005-08:002012-12-10T01:17:57.887-08:00The Long String of Coincidences
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last week a long string of ‘coincidences’ culminated with
God answering prayer, leaving me stunned at how He brought it all together, and
feeling His love, especially since what I had talked to God about didn’t seem
very important. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It all began a year ago. Frik (the CEF regional director for
southern Africa and the Indian Ocean) came to visit Madagascar. One Sunday he
invited me to go to an English speaking church with him. I hadn’t (and haven’t
since) attended an English speaking church, preferring to attend a Malagasy
church, but of course I said yes. The couple sitting in front of us that day
were only here for a few weeks. The lady told me she was with Bible Study
Fellowship and came to visit the Bible Study Fellowship that had been started
here every now and then. I asked her where the Bible Study was, but she didn’t
know the name of the location seeing that she is only here for a few weeks at a
time. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I go to a Malagasy church and Bible Study with Pastor D
(which is AMAZING by the way) with the teens on Saturday and Sunday afternoons,
but a few months ago I felt that I would love a women’s Bible Study or a small
group also, more with people that are around my age. So I began talking to God
about this and even looked for info on the Bible Study Fellowship here in
Madagascar online, but found nothing. Last weekend I decided to go to an
English speaking church thinking maybe there would be Bible Studies or small
groups there. As it turns out, I was nice and sick last Sunday and didn’t go to
the church I had planned (Saturday I was fine and Monday I was fine). </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then I went to the CMI graduation on Friday. A lady came
into the graduation late and sat down on the other side of the room. Since the
ceremony was in French and I couldn’t understand any of it, I had plenty of
time to people watch. I noticed this lady and came to the conclusion she and I
would get along great. So after the graduation it was late, but I was still
busy when Pastor Guston, who lives near me, has a car, and usually gives me a
ride home from late night function, left so I passed up the ride. Then another
group was leaving in a taxi and there was a seat left. The teens wanted me to
go with them at least down to the bus stop, but I still needed to get my
computer and what not and didn’t want to ask them to wait. So it is starting to
get dark by the time I was ready to leave and as I was coming down the steps,
the lady who came in late was sitting on the bottom stair. She asked if I was
alone and then suggested we leave together since we were both going in the same
direction. I agreed to wait for her. The teens where scared I wasn’t going to
be able to get a bus since it was late and were trying to get me to leave, and
I almost ended up on the back of Pastor Rufin’s motor cycle. But I waited for
the lady to get done talking to one of the students and we headed out together.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">She spoke great English and didn’t switch to Malagasy when I
answered her in Malagasy which was strange, so I asked her where she had
learned English (and if she did in fact speak Malagasy ;)). She said she had
lived overseas and was most comfortable with French and English though she is
Malagasy. Then she told me she spoke English well because she went to Bible
Study Fellowship on Thursdays and they usually spoke English even though they
are all Malagasy. I then excitedly proceeded to invite myself to go with her.
We figured out the time and place to meet and then she told me how she had just
happened to get that afternoon off to come to the graduation and almost didn’t
make it because her boss kept having one more thing for her to do. One of the
CMI students had just happened to go to her church one week and had met her and
for some reason chose this lady for the one person she could invite to come to
her graduation. My new friend figured it was God who got her there and we were
meant to meet, as she laughed about how she couldn’t believe she had asked a
stranger to walk to the bus stop with her. After she got off the bus at her
stop, I couldn’t help but wonder at how God had arranged the evening and how we
had both ‘just happened’ to do things out of the ordinary. That I turned down
three rides. That the CMI student had met her and invited her to the
graduation. That she was able to come. That she asked me to walk with her. And
to top it all off, there were still buses for me to get home. In fact, they
didn’t stop at the usual stop down the hill from my house, but the guy working
the back of the bus suggested he have the driver stop at the top of the hill by
the road I turn off on to get to my house. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, on Thursday, Hari and I are going to
Bible Study. </span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-34744109128637545082012-11-09T10:48:00.000-08:002012-11-09T10:48:00.302-08:00Flatlined.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: top;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Definition
of <i>FLATLINE</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: top;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a</span></i><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> to register on an electronic monitor as having no brain
waves or heartbeat </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">b</span></i><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/die"><span style="color: #4b73bb; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">die</span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: top;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a</span></i><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> to be in a state of no progress or advancement </span><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">b</span></i><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> to come to an end </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">— </span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">flat·lin·er</span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">noun</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have been thinking a lot about this word lately. She
flatlined. Does this, could this, describe me? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moving to a new country that doesn’t speak English forced me
to learn Malagasy. I had to learn the number system, how to get around, get
anything I needed and solve any problems that came up. But now the question is
how do I keep learning language and not just flatline where I am at? My
langauge skills allow me to go anywhere, get anything, solve any issue that has
come up so far, communicate and have friendships. So, there is no built in
motivation, it is up to me to keep pushing, keep striving. As I have been
pondering this issue, wondering if I have flatlined and what to do about it, one of my missionary friends sent me this
video. Why don’t you watch it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><a href="http://vimeo.com/46431494">http://vimeo.com/46431494</a></div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ouch. I thought this was suppose to be an encouraging little
video but instead it very accurately nailed my problem and shined a light on
part of my heart I would rather keep hidden: pride. I am sick of making
mistakes and sounding like a kindergartener when I talk, so I just use words I
know instead of pushing myself, instead of risking mistakes, instead of risking
my pride. And the problem is, I know enough words that I can just replace a
word I am not sure of with one I already know and can say without messing up.
If I am not sure of the sentence structure, I can simply use a sentence
structure I know well instead of stretching myself. If someone gives me the
price of something in French, I can just ask them to repeat it in Malagasy
instead of learning the widely used French numbers. So the problem is actually
worse than I had imagined. I am not suffering from a case of flatlining, but
the heart issue of pride. And so the climb out of the flatline has begun.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The stores here have everything lined up on selves behind a
counter. You walk up to the counter and ask for what you want. This is not a
problem if you know how to ask for what you want. I always nail it because if I
don’t know what something is and it’s not important, I just wait till I am at a
bigger store where I can pick what I want then go through the checkout. So the
other day, standing in front of the counter,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I asked for what I needed, then spotted Nesquik powdered chocolate milk.
Knowing I needed to stretch myself and kill the pride, I decided to get some
instead of waiting until I was at a bigger story. Just as I was about to make
an attempt, in walks the girl who helps at the store and the storekeepers son
who much be around 5 years old. Now I have an audience. I attempt, the
storekeeper is confused and points to several things that I usually get….and
then I do it. I say, “Um, the one with a bunny on it.” (the nesquik chocolate
bunny was on the front of the container) The little boy starts laughing and
says, “the one with the bunny?!?!” The helper starts laughing. The storekeeper
is laughing. Sheepishly, I pay and place the hard earned item in my bag, as the
little boy keeps giggling about what I said. As I walk out of the store,
leaving a wake of laughter behind, I know that this is the key. Refusing to
flatline comes at a price, my pride. It means forcing myself to try new words and
sentence structures even if I end up sounding like a kindergartener or making
people laugh (which I love to do, just not at the cost of my pride….) So I will
not avoid new words. I will not ask someone to repeat a number they said in
French in Malagasy so that I can stay in my comfort zone. I will use the
sentence structures I have a hard time with. I refuse to let it be said of me, ‘she
flatlined.’ </span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-69722019634075814742012-11-05T06:53:00.003-08:002012-11-05T06:53:44.918-08:00The Phone Conversation
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ensuing phone conversation took place between me and one
of the girls about something I needed to get to her.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ezra: Well how about I stop by your house in the morning and
get it?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tara: That’s fine except I still need to get it at the
store.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ezra: How about I stop by your house in the morning and we
can both go to the store and get it, then I will just head to school from
there. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tara: Yeah, or we can just meet at the store and I can give
it to you there since the store is down by your house.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ezra: Yeah, but I could just stop by your house and then we
could go together. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tara: Ok, that sounds great, I’ll see you at 7 tomorrow
morning. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This isn’t the first of these kind of conversations I have
had. It’s actually one of quite a few. Why am I even telling you this? Well, this is one
of my culture lessons. Even as the conversation started previous conversations that went
along these lines flashed through my mind. I am always about the most efficient way to get things done. How
can we get that done in less time? What is most cost effective? Thus, my choice
is simply meeting outside the store and handing the things I need to get to
her. It saves time and money. I am trying to help her out. It will take up less
of her time if we do it that way, the store is walking distance from her house.
It will be cheaper because she won’t have to pay for the taxi bus to get to my
house and then to the store. It’s the perfect idea. But for Ezra, those things
aren’t important. She isn’t looking for the most efficient way of getting the
things from me. The time and money aren’t the issue. Our relationship is. So my
great idea is actually a terrible idea to her because I have just eliminated
the whole point. And thus another one of my lessons in culture goes down. The
lesson that life here is about building and maintaining relationships. Time isn’t
a factor. Money isn’t the issue. Next time, I will get it right. And tomorrow, when Ezra and I go to the store at 7am, I will just simply enjoy being with her. </span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718217621262486369.post-66421432004696981532012-10-14T08:40:00.003-07:002012-10-14T08:40:20.420-07:00That 'Kid at Christmas Time' Feeling
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do you remember what it felt like when you were a kid around
Christmas time? The waiting….the anticipation…and then on Christmas Eve, try to
make yourself fall asleep so that Christmas morning would come faster? That was
always a losing battle. Well, I know Christmas is still a ways out there, and I
may be a little old for this, but I feel exactly like that. A kid at Christmas
time, that is me. But the reason for my excitement really has nothing to do
with Christmas. Or maybe it kinda does… You see, I got the go ahead last week
to begin teaching Good News Clubs. In Malagasy. That in and of itself is
exciting, but even better, I can start my very own Good News Clubs in new
areas. Excited doesn’t really fit, I think stoked may be a better word. So the
planning has begun. This week I am going on a few scouting adventures for
locations and I am hoping to be able to start the first Saturday of November. The
idea is to find three or four locations that are relatively close together that
can be taught consecutively on Saturdays. Planning the lessons and activities
for club in Malagasy has also begun since I am very aware that teaching an
entire club may be a bit of a stretch the first few weeks. But not even the
fact that this is actually kind of scary can dull the excitement. After all,
this, I have been dying to do since the first time I came here in 2006. So let
the planning begin! There are still so many children who need to hear about the
baby God sent to earth over 2000 years ago, the Savior whose birth we celebrate
at Christmas and whose death and resurrection paid our ransom. There is nothing
other than this that I would rather do with my Saturdays. Let’s get started!</span></div>
Tarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676992521044205552noreply@blogger.com0