Adventures In Madagascar

Missions Trip

mark your calendar

Missions Trip to Madagascar Update:
Since the Hamiltons will be traveling back to the US this fall and winter, we have changed our trip date to July of 2008. We are going first and foremost to be a blessing to the Hamiltons. While there, we hope to put on one or more "workshops" for the midwives and other medical professionals in and around Diego. In addition, we would like to bless the medical professionals with a gift that will help them in their practice. Please pray for David, Deborah, and Kristin as they seek God's direction for the specific topics to address in the workshop(s). Also pray to see whether or not God would have you join us on this adventure. It will, no doubt, change your life as you go to serve the Hamiltons and the Malagasy people. We will have the official "sign-up" at the beginning of 2008. More details to come.

Kristin Schuchmann recently spoke with Deborah.   She asked that we would be praying for the Antekaran people on the west coast of  northern Madagascar. Their rice and other staples, as well as local fruit and vegetables, have been completely depleted and they have been eating only sugar cane for the last few weeks. Pray for miraculous provision of food for these precious people and that the miracle would demonstrate to them the amazing grace and incredible love Father God has for them.
 

Journeying in Madagascar
Pictures are worth a Thousand Words

Tidbits from EBONY

Drop By Drop a River is Made

Dear Charis Family,

I can not believe this term overseas is wrapping up already...and that it has been only a year. After spending a whole month in Candybar—one of the more remote cities in Ebony, I headed back to the UAE for a week of goodbyes and now I am finally back in Chesapeake, VA!!

Candybar is the city in Ebony where I feel the Lord is calling me to live and work for my next term of service. My time there in February was a powerful, amazing, empowering, encouraging time for me and I delight even now as I think of what the Lord did in my heart. I could just feel people’s prayers on me while I was there! I can not make it without them!

The past year in UAE was pretty hard for me for several reasons. Even though Father was so faithful and taught me many significant lessons, I was still leaving UAE feeling a major lack of confidence in my ability to do a job well. That is partly why I am so thankful for the fact that my term ended with a month in Candybar because I actually enjoyed what I was doing there and, even though I still struggled with confidence, I ended the project (and the long report that followed), feeling like I did a really good job and so encouraged by the affirmation Father gave through others.

Project Update

Thank you for all your prayers regarding my research project. Some of you knew we were facing some opposition in trying to get out to the research area. Father provided a very experienced surveyor to accomplish a lot of the data collection in the more dangerous areas, but I was still able to visit about ten homes. It was such a different trip than the last one, but so, so good and I learned so much. The area being targeted for research is one described as a “forgotten.” The people living there have described themselves as “ignored.” From what I gathered in trying to get secondary population data about the area, there is no written documentation about the people who live there or the needs that they have. Most of them are living with raw sewage running through their courtyards, no clean water, no proper latrines. War is going on all around them constantly. It’s a very sad situation, but I am hopeful and excited about the future because He is leading more people to bring help to the area.

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

At one point during my time in Candybar I realized that I had not looked at myself in a mirror for what seemed like a few days. We had a mirror in the bathroom, but I never really paid attention or did anything in front of it except brush my teeth. And with the iffy electricity it was often useless to try to look at ANYTHING in there. It didn’t matter much since I wore a scarf on my head most of the time and covered my whole head, face and body any time I went outside. This got me thinking about how I look at the Word of God.

James compares it to looking in a mirror, doesn’t he? Do I sometimes just glance at it, but walk away without changing anything because I think it’s useless? Because I will just go outside and do my best to cover it all up anyway? I’ve been challenged by this thought to pause and yield to what Father is refining in me each time I open His Word.

Mother Theresa Was Once A Girl

Never think for a second that women in Candybar don’t know how to boogie. One of my nights there we had a “girl’s party.” Among other things, we got busy with some line dancin’! None of us really knew how to do it, but a couple of us knew the electric slide, so we taught the others to do it to “Boot Scoot Boogie.” It was great! For a minute, I glanced back at my friend, who we will call Tall Beauty, and I was struck with a thought that I’ve been rolling around in my mind ever since. As I looked at her cute little self boot-scootin’ and boogie-in’ in her sweats and a T-shirt, rather than huge clothes and a burka, covering her shape and face—as I looked at this woman of God, I thought, “These women are my heroes!”

In one instant I thought about two things—I thought about how these women love Jesus and pour out their lives, even at the risk of death, for His sake. And, I thought of the Father looking down on them in that instant and just taking pleasure and delight in the girls He has created! The same way Eric Liddle said He felt God’s pleasure when he ran--head back, arms flailing, faster than any competitor. I thought about how women who pour themselves out for God with every breath until the last are heroes of the faith and how we often think of them as lonely, old spinsters—black and white portraits of Lottie Moon, starving to death and existing in a world of “serious spirituality.” I thought about Mother Theresa and the way she poured herself out unto death for the poor and the lost. We are so privileged to have seen an example like hers with our own eyes in our own generation. But, she must have been a “girl” once, too. She must have had moments of giggles and delight. She must have played and had fun.

I looked at my friends and thought about the fruit their lives are bearing and will bear for the glory of Father. I thought about the seriousness of their task and the urgency with which they work for Him. And I watched them laugh with flushed cheeks and playful pleasure in just being silly for a while. I felt like I could hear the Father whisper, “Yes, I made you to work. But, I also made you to laugh.”

May we always go to God and find that He is our exceeding joy! May HIS joy be our strength. May the pleasures at His right hand keep us pouring ourselves out for Him...but still throwing our heads back in laughter as we experience the lighter moments in life. May we sense His pleasure as we work as well as when we play.

The Power of a Proverb

To help you all understand the culture here a bit better, I thought I would share some of the proverbs from Ebony with you.

"Drop by drop a river is made."
This is one of the first proverbs I learned in Ebony and it has proved very helpful to understanding the culture and what it takes to live there. Language study is one of the first issues I will face in cultural adjustment. It is a day-by-day challenge. Sometimes I will feel successful and other days I know that I will not feel I am communicating at all! But communication is crucial to any interaction with the people. Please pray that God would, even now, be preparing me to communicate with the people of Ebony.

"A good year is determined by its spring."

It is nearly spring in Ebony. Winter and spring are the only two seasons that it rains or snows in that land. Everyone watches this time of year to see how much moisture the land is getting because every summer they face major drought. This year, the capital has had an abundance of snow and Candybar has had several good rains. Everyone is hopeful for this year to be plentiful.

"The world lives in hope."

There is still hope for the people in Ebony. Sometimes it is hard to remember that, but there is always hope. Sometimes I wonder why it is taking so long for the Lord to return for us and deliver us from this evil age, but then I remember that His patience is mercy toward the people in Ebony and toward anyone who still has time to believe.

"One hand cannot clap alone."

I am so thankful for the support of all of you and for others in the Body of Christ who partner in this work with me and who are able to rejoice and CLAP with me over what the Lord has done. I couldn’t do it alone!

Back Home and Off To A Strong Start

In the past I have struggled a lot with culture shock in returning home. One time I came home to find that I had “forgotten” how to drive. Another time I embarrassed myself because I didn’t know how to use the credit card swipers at the gas stations and the grocery stores. Sometimes I have just found myself overly critical or easily angered with the shortcomings of our culture. This time it has been such a blessing to come home. I think because I was living in a very affluent part of the world in the UAE and because I was only gone for a year, I have struggled with very little culture shock in coming home. Mostly it has been a great relief to have the chance to rest for a while. It has also been such a joy to see family and friends again.

The introvert in me used to feel like people were “sucking the life out of me.” I have since realized that is a sinful perspective, but it is still something I face when I come home. It is easy to feel like I’m on display and in high demand. It can get pretty hectic and overwhelming. Kristen and I were just discussing the other day how, for some people, Sundays can end up being the opposite of a Sabbath! That is how coming home on “furlough” sometimes feels too. But, like my supervisor overseas says: “We will rest in heaven!” Thank goodness! This time, in coming home, the Lord has given me a great burden to not cling to my own “right” for rest, but to really have an attitude to serve His Body and offer myself to them for encouragement and education.

My schedule has already filled up so fast. In two weeks I leave for interviews with a new sending organization. After that I will begin fundraising for my next term of service. In April and May I will be Washington DC, Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Las Vegas, California, Colorado and Kansas. Then, it is off to China for a month in a half. Are you tired yet just reading that??? I am—until I focus my eyes on Jesus and just rest in His timing and His priority of just abiding in Him. In most of these places I will be building relationships with churches who are interested in supporting my work. I will also get to visit my brother for the first time in years and meet my niece for the first time! I will be helping to train future missionaries and this summer I will be leading a team on a vision trip to the part of China where I used to serve. Several co-workers have recently been kicked out by the government, so it will be a good time to encourage some of the isolated believers who have been left behind in that area.

Busy, busy. But, always focused on Him!!

I can’t wait to meet all of you.
Love,
Elizabeth