There is so much to do off ship that I barely know where to
start with this one. One thing we love to do is eat out – not that the food on
the ship isn’t delicious, but it is nice to have a choice! There are many
restaurants that are directed towards foreigners (vaza), and it’s a fairly
similar experience to back home, except that usually the food is slower in coming
out. The crew love to go for bike rides, or hikes, or go visit the nearby lemur
park. We also go to Karaoke bars, play soccer/Frisbee/rugby at the nearby
stadium, go swimming in the ocean, and just walk around. We often go to
Shoprite or Skor, which are the grocery stores. They very much resemble a
Wal-Mart, with all kinds of packaged food, a bakery, fresh fruit, a meat and
cheese department, toys and school supplies, etc. The biggest difference is
that all of these stores and restaurants are open to the outside, rather than
being closed off buildings. Sometimes it’s fun to just ride around in the
tuk-tuks (motorized 3 person scooter things) or pousse-pousse (bicycles with a
little cart in the back for two people). The other day we didn’t realize that
the Tuesday after Easter was also a holiday so when we tried to go out and eat
we discovered that a lot of things were closed. That resulted in four of us
being crammed in a tuk-tuk driving around town for about an hour before we
found something open. It was a good adventure! Actually we learned that Easter
Monday is one of the biggest holidays in Madagascar – everyone was out and
about. The beach and all the restaurants were packed. 
On top of all the things to do in town, there are always
lots of excursions to go on. Some of them are just one day – such as going to
Prune island, which is a short boat ride away and is a nice place for a picnic.
Some are a few days, such as going to the Palmerium to see the lemurs, or to Mahambo, to relax on the beach. Others are 3-4 day adventures, such as going to Ile Sainte Marie, which is a beautiful island to the north, and apparently has some sort of history with pirates. It’s a lot of travel to get there though.
Madagascar is by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever been – beaches that go on forever, tons of wildlife and greenery to explore, as well as a vast ocean and a winding canal system that are right next to each other. The people are
also amazing – I constantly hear from people that these are the best day crew
we’ve ever had. The people work incredibly hard (ie. The bread slicer broke
yesterday and the day crew cut 35 loaves of bread by hand) and are very joyful.
Whether you love wildlife, adventures, relaxing beaches, beautiful scenery or
wonderful people, Madagascar has it all. [I'm not good at taking pictures of things, so I often just share the pictures our creative team take - mostly because they're amazing].
One new thing: So many goodbyes this week, it made me start
thinking about how soon my own goodbye is coming. It has snuck up on me –
partly because I’m leaving earlier than expected, partly because I haven’t
thought about it at all considering I’ll be coming back. But even though I will
be coming back to the Africa Mercy, I will be saying goodbye to most of the
people I’ve become close with, and I will be saying goodbye to this beautiful
country. Because when I come back, we will be in a new country, with new day
crew, an almost entirely new comms team, new roommates, new patients and lots
of new crew. I’ve got about four more weeks of work left – 1 media team and 2
vision trips left. I’m praying that I can focus on glorifying God each day,
living for His kingdom today, and not being too focused on the future.
One thing I felt God was telling me: This was the quote on
the dining room whiteboard today – Our greatest
fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t
really matter (Francis Chan). That pretty much sums up what has been on my
heart lately. I came across this verse the other day – Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move
you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know
that your labour in the Lord is not in vain. This isn’t a new verse for me,
it’s actually the verse I shared with the church when I gave my testimony. But
I saw it in a completely different light this time. This time I read it and I
stopped and thought, wait, that means that any work that is NOT of the Lord, IS
in vain. All those things I do for me, for my own comfort or selfish desires,
those things are all worthless. They have no meaning in an eternal context.
Only the work we are doing for His glory matters. I need to be fully given to
His work, to making sure everyone sees Him in all we do. I have a long way to
go when it comes to this. I spend far too much time focused on myself and not
enough time serving others. Every time I think I’ve surrendered everything, I
realize there is so much I am still holding on to. This line from a song
summarizes the necessary action – I found
my life when I laid it down…I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground. Full surrender.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
4
For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
- Psalm 108:3-5 NIV
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