Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Great Red Island


Our first glimpse of Madagascar was a long stretch of beach stretching as far as the eye could see to the north and south. We flew in from the east after a few day layover on the neighboring island of Mauritius, arriving on July 29th. The afternoon we arrived was quite cloudy but we were still able to catch a glimpse of the varied terrain of this beautiful island. There were rice paddies, hills and mountains, all with red dirt roads winding this way and that.

In our short time here, we have been welcomed by many members of the AIM team. We have also learned a few basic phrases of Malagasy and are looking forward to more serious study soon. Today we had a Malagasy experience trying to clear our cargo luggage through customs. We spent nearly seven hours going up and down the stairs, out to the warehouse, in and out of offices, trying to get all the right stamps to complete our paperwork so that they would release our bags to us. Thankfully, the Lord provided a Malagasy guide to help us through the process. And he even spoke some English which made the experience a little less frustrating! : )

Tomorrow we will drive with our team leaders about 10 hours north to the coastal town of Mahajanga. There we will attend a graduation ceremony for national missionaries who have completed a missionary training program. On the way, we will get to see more of this beautiful country. In the near future, we hope to post some photos of our time at ABO as well as of Madagascar, but that will have to wait until time and internet allow!

1 comment:

Zach Pehta said...

Great to hear from you and I'm glad all went well with the luggage. All of us in the GECRC family miss you and always look forward to hearing from you. 3 weeks away until the GECRC after-school program starts, it will still be a different not seeing you 2.

Thought you'd like to know that my cousin's girlfriend is going to Madagascar for missionary work. My family is going to meet her in September, right before she leaves. I will share the stories from you with her.

No jobs yet. Postings should start in the next couple weeks. I'm hoping that God will help me get a job at Lincoln with some of the kids of GECRC. I will continue to sub if nothing happens right away. I will continue to go to GECRC as much as possile, even when I get a full time position.

I continue to think of you in my prayers. Hope all goes well, looking forward to hearing from you sometime.

Peace,
Zach Pehta