by admin | January 2, 2019 | Blog, Uncategorized
An opportunity, a job, a transformed life.. Half of Madagascar’s population is under the age of 15 years old. Like many young people in Madagascar, Abid dropped out of school early, took any job he could– shoveling sand or mixing cement so that he could...
by admin | November 23, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Thin line between life and death… We thank you for your prayers this last month for the women that were due in October. 14 babies entered the world… and by God’s grace, all 14 babies and mamas are alive today. It was the busiest month to date for...
by admin | October 29, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten on Ten– a chance to capture ten images (ideally every hour for 10 hours) on the tenth of the month. I’ve managed to whip my camera out every month, sometimes capturing 10 images, sometimes not– but what I haven’t managed to do is anything...
by admin | October 29, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Le passé composé et le futur proche… Four weeks ago neither of us would have been able to tell you what these important french grammatical terms were, how to use them and the know a few of the associated verbs to communicate what you actually want to say....
by admin | September 11, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Of God’s goodness… Two weeks ago we left our beloved home in Madagascar… it was a hard and tearful goodbye. Leaving all that is known and loved… home, friends, routines, our work and going to a new country where everything is unknown. We...
by admin | August 10, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
In recent months we’ve been growing our program at the Sarobidy Maternity Center in order to provide safe and compassionate care to more moms and babies in our community. In fact, we’ve doubled our numbers. In the upcoming months we’ll be serving...
by admin | August 5, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
An image an hour on the 10th of the month to capture the gift that is daily life. Homemade bows and arrows, second to the last week of English homeschooling, market day, whittling wood, haircuts, a helper in the kitchen, Canadian friends, and sweet, sweet sleep....
by admin | July 12, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Bonjour… Change on the horizon Born to missionary parents 41 years ago, Jamie entered the world in a hospital in the capital city of Madagascar. 19 years ago, I stepped foot for the first time on the red soil of Madagascar with a team that Jamie led. Both of...
by admin | June 22, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
So many months since Ten on Ten. I miss this monthly gift that helps me pick up the camera to catch the daily happenings of life. To remember these days that are so fleeting. The 10th fell on a Sunday this month… sandwiched between our return from a a whirlwind...
by admin | June 14, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Back on this side… Thank you for your prayers last month as Eliana and I made a whirlwind trip half way around the globe for her much-anticipated fourth grade Sacramento trip with her Santa Barbara classmates! The definition of whirlwind in this particular case...
by admin | May 14, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s 3:04am. I typically keep my nighttime festivities to a bit earlier but jet lag is keeping me and our 10-year old awake after arriving back from our whirlwind trip to America just last night. We’ve already had 2am munchies of salami, cheese and...
by admin | May 10, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Morangobe is an area north of our city that contains one of the few and largest old growth coastal mangrove forests in our immediate region. In the past, the villagers of Morangobe have lived off the benefits of a healthy mangrove forest which was once teaming with...
by admin | April 9, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
Thank you for your prayers as we traveled back to the great red island earlier this month! It was the most seamless travel from the USA to Madagascar to date! We know this was God’s grace to us as the first two weeks of our return were perhaps some of the harder...
by admin | March 4, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
And… we’re off! We’re sitting waiting to board our first flight. Goodbyes have been said, tears shed and home assignment is complete. It was intense, in some ways—predictably so and in other ways it was intense in ways we could never imagine. Here’s...
by admin | February 6, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
For all of you who have experienced African rains… the dramatic thunder and lightening, rain so loud on a tin roof you can’t hear someone next to you shouting, raindrops the size of small cats and the instantaneous drenching of the land– then you...
by admin | January 18, 2018 | Blog, Uncategorized
For unto us a child is born… Advent has come and passed, the Christmas decorations are taken down and packed away, the kids are counting the days until Christmas 2018… and yet, the wonder and glory of the birth of Christ remains. The Lord of the heavens...
by admin | January 3, 2018 | Blog, Our Videos, Uncategorized
The Sarobidy Maternity Center opened in May 2013– to be honest, it was a completely unconventional wild-whirlwind-not-the-most-strategically-planned opening. Six months before opening day, we didn’t have any money, didn’t have any staff, had an...
by admin | December 22, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Sarobidy Creations website has launched! It’s been a long 2.5 years in the making but we’re absolutely thrilled to share with you that our website for Sarobidy Creations has launched and we are now taking online orders!!...
by admin | December 10, 2017 | Blog, Our Videos, Uncategorized
Nearly seven years since our return to Madagascar as a family and like a good and loving father, our God is so gracious! This powerful video captures the essence of the ministry that the Lord has allowed our team to be a part of as we seek to restore health, forests,...
by admin | November 7, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
In two hands… This last month has felt that we’re often holding life with all of it’s opposing feelings and situations in two hands at the same time. In one hand, soaking in the life-giving days we had in Seattle with Madagascar teammates and college...
by admin | October 10, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Winds of change… We’ve been back in the USA for two months and thankfully, the winds of change are lessening and life is starting to feel normal again as we juggle the new routines and rhythms of American life. Home assignment is intended to be a time set...
by admin | September 27, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Highlight Reel… My brain and heart haven’t been in a place to write a newsletter…. usually my head is spinning all month long with what I want to share. This month it just hasn’t. We decided a highlight reel of images from this last term in...
by admin | August 8, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Here and there… As I type, we’re on our last day in Madagascar for 2017… late tonight we head to the airport for our 1:50am flight to Paris and then on to Los Angeles. I would be lying to say that it wasn’t with mixed emotions that we’re...
by admin | July 26, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten (or more) images a month on the 10th of the month in an attempt to capture the ordinary of life wherever we may and whatever we may be doing at the time. This month the 10th fell on a Monday– a Monday during our kid’s summer vacation, a typical Monday...
by admin | July 5, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Goodbyes… Thank you for your prayers for the three families– the Bright’s, Gough’s, and Jensen’s that left Madagascar earlier this month. The last year has been a gift in so many ways for us personally, as a field, ministry-wise and for...
by admin | June 29, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
How the month of June came and vanished with the blink of an eye is beyond me. It could’ve been all the extra things to conquer while our team of five families was still on the ground here in Madagascar, or it could’ve been soaking up all the last...
by admin | June 6, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Life on the mission field brings an array of emotions across the board… this letter hits a bit on a few of these. Heavy… (This is part of an original blog post that can be found here….) A first-time mom with joyful expectation of delivering a healthy baby...
by admin | May 26, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s been months, if not going on years, since I’ve actually written in this space. My heart aches to write and too often I push this desire aside to complete the unending list of tasks and self-imposed deadlines. Alas I’m putting it off no...
by admin | May 17, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten images on the tenth of the month to capture the beauty in the ordinary of daily life. Like many of you, life here sometimes feels like we can get in a deep rut day in and day out… work, school, cook, work, school, cook, throw in drama and birth and...
by admin | May 3, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Can you imagine… The medical system in Madagascar is broken as it is in many countries. Our guard’s wife, Elizabeth has been very very sick for several weeks. It began when I received a phone call from our back-up physician on March 20th telling me that...
by admin | April 19, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten (or more) pictures over the course of 10 (or so) hours on the 10th of the month. This month is extra special as my mom is visiting us from Santa Barbara… she traveled solo half way around the world to be with us for two weeks! We continued our daily...
by admin | April 14, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Many Hands… It’s simply amazing to witness the many hands of the numerous talented, passionate and gifted people that the Lord has brought together to accomplish so much here in our little corner of Madagascar. In doing so, the Lord has woven our lives together...
by admin | March 23, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
On the 10th of the month, a photo an hour– over ten (ish) hours. This month the 10th fell on a Friday… and oh, how I love Fridays! With the exception of a birth or a government/business meeting, Fridays are usually reserved for starting the day a bit...
by admin | March 6, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Turf wars… Just 30km north, Antsanitia is a small fishing village and is Eden Projects closest dry deciduous planting site to our city. Eden has hired 22 women and men from Antsanitia village to replant the quickly disappearing forest due to charcoal production,...
by admin | February 12, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten images a month to catch the beauty of the everyday for us… occasionally the everyday is in America, most of the time it’s in Madagascar, and I dream of days that it would be in places like Spain or Italy, Guatemala or Peru… a girl can dream!...
by admin | February 6, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
“I never thought it possible…” Those were the words spoken by Josy nearly four years ago when he thought about living to see his 40th birthday. He didn’t think he would make it. He was literally at death’s door and given just days to live...
by admin | January 17, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
You know how it is… after living someplace for awhile all the sights become part of the normal scenery that you become accustomed to and it’s not often that you’re a tourist in your own town. Such is the case with life in Mahajanga after 7 years....
by admin | January 16, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten photos throughout the day on the 10th of the month to capture the beauty of the ordinary in our day. The 10th landed on a Tuesday this month. Tuesday is our shopping day that Jamie and I make a date out of… nothing special… no great restaurants,...
by admin | January 6, 2017 | Blog, Uncategorized
2016 by the numbers… Yet another year is drawing to a close and the hopeful anticipation of a new year is upon us. We’re typically not ones that look back on the year but we’re thankful for this forum of newsletters that cause us to pause and replay...
by admin | December 20, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten pictures on the 10th day of the month to capture life’s little joys. Thankful that the 10th of December landed on a Saturday where we could get out and enjoy time with friends and a break from the relentless heat and humidity that comes with summer time...
by admin | December 6, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
In all things and in all ways… give thanks! Give thanks… even in the riots The month of November started amazing as we were wrapping up a much-needed vacation with my folks and our teammates on the beautiful island of Nosy Be! You can read...
by admin | November 30, 2016 | Blog, Our Videos, Uncategorized
It’s been a really, really long time since we ourselves have created a ministry video update. We both enjoy capturing the footage but the act of putting it all together into a short video is another story. We’re thankful we have a teammate here, Mark...
by admin | November 27, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
This month, ten on ten iPhone edition. Ten images on the 10th of the month to capture the beauty of the life we’re blessed to live. This month on the 10th I was in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar with my folks, doing a little sightseeing and...
by admin | November 1, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Surprise!! Earlier this month our kids experienced the largest surprise of their young lives to date when both my mom (AND dad!) walked off the plane in our city of Mahajanga! Isabella, Eliana and Gavin knew that grandma was coming and mourned the fact that grandpa...
by admin | October 12, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten pictures on the 10th of the month to document this little life of ours… This Monday morning was spent at the Sarobidy Maternity Center during our prenatal program. Lots of moms with bulging bellies and great love and hope for their little ones within their...
by admin | September 30, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
More than just trees… September has proved to be most likely our busiest month this term in Madagascar. Amongst a sea of other things, we received and hosted a major Eden Projects group, including Steve, the founder and president of Eden, two board members, six...
by admin | September 18, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten photos a day on the 10th of the month to capture the beauty in the daily life. This month on September 10th we had a filmmaker from the USA helping us to share what’s happening here in Madagascar. Chris is ever-so-talented and has made some films in the...
by admin | August 31, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
First Births… More than three years ago we opened the Sarobidy Maternity Center with a 3-Phase approach. The reasoning behind this approach was simple… we’ve never opened or run a maternity center and we wanted to take it slow, do it right, and...
by admin | August 23, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Growth! The week is just starting at the Sarobidy Maternity Center and already the place is full! This morning brought 8 new women applying to be in our prenatal program. One new first-time mama will come back into the postpartum program on Thursday after having...
by admin | August 13, 2016 | Blog, Uncategorized
Ten of Ten– 10 images on the 10th of the month to capture the beauty of the simple dailies. This month a baby was born in the early morning hours on the 10th and so after 34 hours without sleep, I finally crashed and re-picked up the camera a day later. Linking...
