This "blog digest" is brought to you by the ELCA Global Mission Support team. Here you will find posts and re-posts by ELCA missionaries, ELCA Global Mission churchwide staff, and other friends.
Austin and Tanya Propst are the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) coordinators for Madagascar. The YAGM program relies on the coordinators who facilitate the young adults’ ministry and provide mentoring and spiritual guidance. To support a YAGM coordinator, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.
Austin, center, gets a lesson in picking peanuts.
Tanya and I have been here in Madagascar for three months now. As in all aspects of life, it has been a journey. Eight weeks of Malagasy language training, a month of travels to visit volunteer placement sites, a quick trip to the States to meet the new Young Adults in Global Mission volunteers and, of course, our own adjustment to living in a new place.
There have been countless ways that I have seen God at work, what a blessing it has been to experience. The Malagasy people have such a passion to offer us, and all visitors, with an experience of culture. Malagasy always ask, “Ahoana no fahitanao an’ Madagasikara?” (How do you see Madagascar?) I have discovered Madagascar is not to only see with my eyes, but how to see, feel understand, know and experience with my whole being. And the passion of the Malagasy is to continue to offer us a deeper experience and understanding of their unique culture.
No matter where we find ourselves, or who we meet, we are offered a true Malagasy experience. Maybe through a meal, showing us how to wash clothes, teaching us words and phrases, teaching us how to plant/grow/harvest rice, or in our most recent experience, how to harvest peanuts — click here to watch the video. The Malagasy want to share themselves unceasingly by offering us a glimpse of what it means to live here in Madagascar. I have found that the foundation of what it means to be Malagasy is simple: relationship.
We are blessed to be happy and happy to be blessed, sambatra!
Austin and Tanya Propst are the new ELCA Young Adults in Global Missions (YAGM) coordinators of Madagascar. They have recently completed their language studies. Here they share a video of a gift of song they were welcomed with at a Lutheran church near Antsirabe. The YAGM program is reliant on the coordinators who facilitate the young adults’ ministry and provide mentoring and spiritual guidance. To support a YAGM coordinator, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship
Singers offer the gift of music to Austin and Tanya Propst, who were visiting the congregation in Madagascar.
We’ve learned it is not uncommon for a congregation to share their gift of song with visitors. We have been blessed many times with such beautiful singing. Enjoy this (rough) video from a Lutheran Church outside of Antsirabe we attended. Click this link: Worship Music
Austin and Tanya Propst are the new ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) coordinators for Madagascar. They have just arrived in what will be their new home for the next four years. The YAGM program is reliant on the coordinators who facilitate the young adults’ ministry and provide mentoring and spiritual guidance. To support a YAGM coordinator, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.
After 43 hours, from Asheville, N.C., to Tana, Madagascar, Tanya and Austin Propst arrived at 2 p.m. local time with no lost bags, very little sleep and hot sunshine to greet them.
Madagascar! Yes, we have been called to be the coordinators for the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission program in Madagascar. We will walk with the people of Madagascar, as we work with young adults from the United States who feel God pulling on their heart strings, to experience God on a global level. So what does that mean? Stay tuned and we’ll find out together. We will be in Madagascar, living in Antananarivo (say it, three times fast!), for a four-year commitment, so we’ll have plenty to talk about.
There is a saying in Malagasy, “Tsihibelambana ny olona,” which is roughly translated to mean that all people together are a great broad mat. That to me means unity; oneness that can be felt, enjoyed, and shared by all people. Tanya and I are super excited to be embarking on a journey in Madagascar, where the people understand that we are all from the same mat. We are one.
We’ll keep you up-to-date on our adventures to come!
The Spring 2010 issue of the Hand in Hand newsletter is off press and online. Request copies of the one-page newsletter to distribute in your congregation, at synod assemblies, and for other events (globalmissionsupport@elca.org, 800-638-3522, ext. 2657). Two of the articles are available in reproducible formats to share in Sunday bulletins and newsletters; find them at www.elca.org/handinhand.
In this issue
ELCA missionary Patricia Bentsen offers a devotion on Matthew 25:36 that lifts up the Tsiafahy prison ministry in Madagascar (available as a bulletin insert).
Questions such as “How is ELCA Global Mission funded?” and “When will the new Global Mission Annual be available?” are answered in “101 long-term missionaries and other answers” (available as a bulletin insert).
In her director’s column, the Rev. Twila Schock highlights ELCA missionary the Rev. John Lunn and his medical ministries in Liberia and Southern India.
Coming up
The Summer 2010 issue of the Hand in Hand newsletter is scheduled to be “in hand” on April 24.
What a pleasure it was for me to spend a day with former missionaries to Madagascar in Brooklyn Park, MN. “On Our Way Rejoicing” was the theme of their 2009 Madagascar missionary retreat. Approximately 60 former missionaries reunited to worship, share in a Bible study led by Dr. Jim Nestingen, learn about on-going ministries in Madagasgar, and reconnect with former colleagues and friends. Thanks to Pastor Carl Vaagenes for coordinating this event!
–Twila Schock
![[ ]](http://www.elca.org/~/media/Images/Common%20Images/1x1backgroundclear.gif){kind=spacer}
