But God

We have faced every challenge there is to face in the last couple days. Pastor Phillip, Marilyn, and Desiree could not get onto the connecting flight out of Paris because their tickets were listed as “stand by” even though they were paid in full, along with our tickets. Me, Dad, Connie, and Janice did get on the flight. We had one of our baggage lost. We've had an incredible amount of communication failures due to intermittent cell phone service and internet access. We couldn’t communicate with the Deaf Malagasy without Phillip once we got here. Delayed flights, stomach bugs, head colds, jet lag, rolling power outages, megalodon spiders, EVERYTHING was against us, except God. A barrage of unfortunate events was countered by a barrage of equal sized miracles to keep the mission going.

When Pastor Phillip was stuck in Paris and had to miss the first session, Dimby, one of the Deaf Malagasy, stepped up to LEAD. Normally, it would only be the Deaf teaching the Deaf, but as God would have it, the Deaf also taught the hearing! The Pastor and young adults from the hosting church came to watch the training session out of curiosity and ended up getting completely involved. There was no existing community whatsoever between the Deaf Malagasy and the hearing Malagasy, but where there is a desert, God will make a river of living water!

The second night was no different; it was filled with raucous laughter between the Deaf & the hearing. The Deaf don’t normally clap, (because they can’t hear the applause) so they do (what I call) “jazz hands” to show approval & appreciation. The Deaf were clapping for the hearing all night.

I can’t begin to tell you all the stories that happen in one day. But you can watch this video for a tiny glimpse of what we’ve been doing.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your continued prayers.
-Jess