Becoming Salt
I was sitting with 2 Sakalava teeanagers yesterday, discussing the finer points of bargaining in Madagascar. We were speaking the Sakalava language, so basically they were speaking to a 3 year old (me), but a 3 year old who has to buy shovels and candles and charcoal and doesn’t want to get ripped off. Most of the shops in Hellville have 2 prices, the Sakalava price and the Faza (foreigner) price. My goal is to try and buy something as close to the Sakalava price as possible, while also maintaining a friendly relationship with the person I’m buying from. One author writes of bargaining in Africa as “a series of verbal and bodily maneuvers, a polite duel, a contest of wits, an operation in oral combat.”
As the discussion waned, Franklin, who is very inquisitive and hopes to be a medical doctor one day, asked me THE question… “Why are you here?” How can a 3 year old answer that question?
I can’t… not yet. I can’t articulate the great truths of God and His Gospel, Jesus Christ. I can’t speak it, but I can live it. In Matthew 5 Jesus tells his disciples that they are the salt of the earth. Of all the possibilities that Jesus, the master storyteller, had, he chose to compare them (and us) to salt. Why? What can we learn from salt?
- Like salt, we are called to become a part of everything around us, bringing out the aromas and flavors (gifts, abilities and goodness) of our communities.
- In the village, the fisherman take the fish that are not sold or eaten and cover them with salt to preserve the meat without refrigeration. Like salt, we are called to preserve our communities, keeping them from decay and rot.
- Salt is not something to think much about (humility), yet it is necessary both for survival and enjoyment of food.
God has called all of us to be “salt” in the world, wherever that may be. For us here in Nosy Be, being salt is the only way we can show our neighbors the love of Christ at this moment. We cannot say it; we can only live it. May God grant all of us the grace to be salt to each other and our communities.
Before I go, please keep our team leader, Rosina, in your prayers. Her brother has recently passed away, and she has flown to the mainland to be with her family. Pray that her time there would be blessed and that her Faza back on the island would survive without their mother!
Below are some pics of village life from the past week…
-Bryan

Recently our team welcomed Freda and Renald to share with us the history of the church in Madagascar as well as their Christian school ministry in Hellville.

Rebe and Keely enjoying potato and egg tacos made with corn tortillas sent to us by our dear friends the Bells.
Hi sweet McReynolds! We miss you and love reading about your adventures. Is there a way to send you a package?
Love,
the Shannons
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Brooke, their address is:
BP 387
Hellville
207 Nosybe
Madagascar
They get 8.5 x 11 padded envelopes safely in about 2 weeks without having to pay large amounts of money. Bigger packages cost too much for them to receive. Rebe posted a wish list in an earlier post (about the 2nd post) as a reply to one of my comments.
Christy Bell
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Hi Christy,
We got the last 2 packages in the mail a few days ago!!! Praise God they made it! The kids were ecstatic to receive the new Lego toys. Thank you. Thank you. We also got the sweet cards from Keenan and Sydney (and the kids enjoyed opening letters from their friends), tortillas (they were good!), crystal light, Extra gum (that was a nice surprise!), pixie sticks (huge praise from the kids especially), sweet tarts, smarties, and garlic powder (so happy to have that in the kitchen!).
We picked up these packages on the same day and it made our week! It’s like Christmas when we get packages from friends and family. We are blessed and thankful for your support and friendship. I said to Bryan the other day about the letters and packages we have recently received, “What did we do to deserve this?” and his response was, “Absolutely nothing. It’s completely the grace of God and his love for us, Rebe.” Being connected to your family and to our church family at All Saints is truly a grace of our LORD. Blessings sweet friends…Rebe
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Hi Brooke, it’s great to hear from your family and we miss you guys!
We would love to receive a package from you. I see that Christy Bell gave you our address and mentioned the padded envelope which does work well. Since that time, we have seen other teammates receive larger packages (a small-medium size box) and the cost to pick it up was not too bad. Some items we would love to receive are:
1 d-light solar lantern
corn tortillas
dried black beans
crystal light packets (favorite is rasp. green tea)
j.r. liggett’s shampoo bar (tea tree)
lego friends
sour patch kids (or other sweeties for the kids)
Tony Chachere’s Spice
children’s picture books (we did not bring very many at all…:(
Tell everyone we said hello and we miss them. Blessings to you, Mike and the precious girlies…Rebe
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Thanks, Rebe! We will send you all some goodies soon. Please give our love to everyone!
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Hi friends,
Guess what came in the mail today. The d-light. I will mail it out on friday. I ordered 1 for now because they only had 1 in stock but will order some more once back in stock. Love you and always enjoy reading the updates.
Praying for you my sweet friends.
Karena and Defonza
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Yeah! So glad to hear this and we’ll be looking forward to receiving the d-light in the mail. Bryan made a silly joke the other day that said something to the effect of, “The d-light is such a delight” and I laughed and said we should make a commercial ad from the jungles of Madagascar. Love you…miss you lots and thank you for more light in our “hut-sweet-hut”…Rebe
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Karena!
We got your package in the mail and it was a great surprise! I did not realize you had sent one previous to the d-light. The kids were thrilled! The glow sticks, Melissa and Doug bracelets (which the girls love!), skip-bo, phase 10, and your sweet letters! Game night at the McReynolds…when are you coming?
I bet you can remember from South Africa what it’s like to get packages in the mail…it’s pure happiness! It’s now become tradition for us when we get a letter or package to make it a special family event in the evenings. After our meal, we enjoy the letters from our friends and the sweet gifts and thank the LORD that these little blessings made it all the way to this small island. You are a treasure to me dear friend…Rebe
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Rene, Brian, Myla and Keely,
So great to hear the update! And so wonderful to see TX tortillas being eaten in Madagascar! Did all 3 packages arrive? We got the postcard!
More to come! Happy Birthday Myla!
We pray for y’all nightly!
Love,
Christy, Brian, Sydney and Keenan
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We will check the mail tomorrow, but at the moment we are waiting for the remaining two packages to arrive. I am prayerful and confident they will make it. Happy to hear you got the postcard…there is another postcard on the way from Camden.
The Texas tortillas were awesome! We enjoyed that meal very much! We miss your family and are so thankful that we have you as friends….Blessings, Rebe
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