Snot, political crises and running time

Sneezing, snot, fever, coughing - the flue. Completely normal at least once during the Norwegian winter. And guess what? It exists in Madagascar as well. At least I was able to get it. Who thought of bringing warm clothes to Africa? Not me, for sure. So when the sun sets, or is just gone for the whole day because of the rain season, it gets cold. And then I get cold. And eventually I get sick as well. So after eating a lot of new food, been many dirty places and in a really different country than Norway the one thing that brings me down is the flue.
So here I am, with a regular illness, just like home.

And in the middle of this the government has gone crazy. The president decided to close the TV-station of the mayor, his biggest rival. This of course resulted in big demonstrations. When he then chose to also close his radio station things didn’t become better. So now there’s been a lot of protesting against the president and the town is not the safest place anymore. So it seems like I’ve chosen a good time to be sick, as we’re not able to go to work this week and are just staying in Sabotsy-Namehana. Here it’s safe. So except from little milk, oil and butter, as the president has got monopoly on these things and his warehouses have been robbed, we’re doing just fine. Relaxing and doing nothing. For the first time since I got home from Mahajanga I’ve actually cleaned my room properly: folded my clothes nicely and put them in my suitcase. Put up the mosquito net and made my room nice again. So being stuck here is not totally bad!

But I’m good. We’re good. Madagascar is wonderful and I’m starting to realize that this won’t last forever. Just as I was on my way to get here four moths ago, I’ll soon be on my way back home again. They say that the time is coming here in Africa, it’s not just passing by fast, like in the western world that we know. But I think the time is passing by pretty fast here as well. Sometimes even running. It seems like just a month ago Arnhild and I went to Mahajanga. And it seems like only a couple of days ago we were wondering about how it would be so start working again when we came back to Sab-Nam. And now January is closing up, we have only a couple of days left and then the boys will come back, Monica will come and infield will start. Hopefully, if things don’t get worse. With a packed program time is always running by. And our program is packet. So soon infield will be finished. Soon we’ll go to Antsirabe to join the missionaries’ meeting. Soon I’ll turn 20 and soon we’ll go home. And what then? May be then I’ll have the culture shock I never really got here, when I come back to Norway. Will much have changed? how much will I have changed? I don’t know.
It makes me think. Wonder. About the future. About all the things we experience. If everything will just pass by and be forgotten.

Start of a new year

Back to Sab-Nam. Two weeks has already past, quite quickly as well. Suddenly I’m in the middle of work everyday, planning, teaching, spending too many hours stuck in traffic jam.. The everyday life is back to normal but still things are changed. I have some new working places: Mondays I’m joining Arnhild at Faravohitra, a sort of girl’s prison for young girls who have committed minor crimes or are just being punished by their parents. It seems to be a quite sad place. Too many girls in a place with too little space. May be it is for them but for us, visiting them, it’s one of the best times during the week. These girls are so full of love and joy that it’s hard to understand what they possible could have done wrong.
The other new working place I have is Ilofav, the women center. My first day is on Monday and I’ll teach English there.

I got an e-mail. Asking me to write an article about being a disciple. My first thought was “Huh? I’m not a disciple, I’m just a volunteer worker or something…”. But then I started to think about what is written in the Bible. That we should trust in God and let Him use us the way He wants to. Let Him lead us. And I look at my life: I just finished high school. I play the guitar and sing, just not when people are listening, I have no experience in leadership when it comes to leading Christian meetings, preach, etc. then I look at my life here: I’m a teacher, an authority, and at CEG, only one of my working places, I’m in charge of 53 students. 53! And some of them are only a couple of years younger than me. I’m the leader of English Club, where I teach English worship songs, meaning that I have to both sing and play the guitar. In front of people. I’m also responsible for the Bible Study we have each week. I’m doing things I never would have thought that I could do. And I do it every day. New challenges, new things that’s way outside my comfort zone. And the strength does not come from me.

“But He said to me: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Cor 12:9