GREAT morning with the ladies!

This morning was the third week of my ladies ST4T class that I am leading with my Malagasy friend, Narindra. The first week, 4 college age girls came. Narindra and I shared the Creation to Christ story in Malagasy (I did the first half, and Narindra told the second half). The time went well, but I struggled to understand a lot of the Malagasy.

The second week, my lack of Malagasy wasn't a problem- as only 1 person showed up! We decided to cancel the class and wait until we had more people to begin the storying set. I was pretty discouraged, but praying that the only reason people didn't show was because of Easter vacation. Needless to say, I didn't have high hopes for today's class.

This morning, I was overwhelmed as people poured into church. We had 10 ladies show up! I was sooo excited (pretty nervous too!)!! We started the class with introductions, and then played a get to know you game that pertained to our story of creation. Each person drew an animal that they felt they were most like. Then we took turns guessing which animal the person was. One chose a sheep because she likes to be led, another chose a dove because she feels "in harmony" with her husband, and another chose a cat because she can be gentle at times and wild at other times. It was fun to learn about the ladies through their choices.

Next, I told the story of creation. I told it in English the first time, and Narindra translated it. Then I went through it again in Malagasy (well...my version of Malagasy!). Everyone helped me through it, and we practiced together the order of things that were created. Then we talked through the story...what we liked, what confused us, what we learn about God, and what we learn about man. We had a great conversation and the ladies were excited to share their thoughts.

After the story time, we played another game to help us remember the order of creation. Each lady was given an animal to be. They were then divided in our small, one room church and told to close their eyes. Using only the sound of the animal they were given, they had to seek out their partners. For instance, a chicken had to find its partner the rooster. Once they found their partner they would put together some cards that I had already given. Each card was a picture of something God created. The team to find their partner and then arrange their cards in the correct order won the game. The ladies had a blast, and we laughed so hard!

We then broke into groups of three and practiced telling the story to one another. Everyone would help the person if they forgot something important, and encouraged them in telling the story. We asked everyone to tell the story to three people this week. The ladies all seemed excited about sharing the story. I can't wait to follow up with them next Saturday!

It ended up being a great morning, such a surprise to me and such a blessing. Its funny that I had such big expectations the last few weeks, and have been really disappointed- but this week I had no expectations and God truly blessed our time!