Update on the Cyclone

Praise God! We have been praying this name “Freddy” would not become famous or well known (like a Katrina), and right know it seems to be the forgettable Freddy. We were so thankful it dropped in severity to a category 3 when we woke up on Tuesday morning. It made landfall in an area called Mananjary (an area well known for being taboo twins). 4 deaths were reported and many roofs and structures damaged by the intense wind, but very little flooding damage. We are still praying for those who have been displaced and affected by the storm, but are rejoicing that it was not what was expected. As we write this, the Cyclone is still traveling and departing through the south-western side of Madagascar, but has dropped significantly in severity to tropical storm status. Here in Toamasina, we had almost no effects from this storm but some strong winds for a 3 hour period (Picture above). We thank all of you who prayed for us and Madagascar. We thank God for His mercy and protection and help in calming this storm and preventing a catastrophe.

Are you Experiencing God?

Who is in control of your life? Is your relationship with God the most important thing in your life? Are you hearing from God? These questions are stirred up in me when I read verses like John 8:47, "Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." Ouch! Reading this verse gives me some anxiety flashbacks as a youth at Redwood Christian Park family camps and if someone like Al Vomsteeg strikes up a conversation with you, you know that he is going to be asking you similar questions like these. How's your relationship with God? Are you spending time with Him in your day, quiet time? Prayer time? Are you in the Word? It almost felt like a test, but the reality is that if I am feeling guilty about any of these questions or verse, I am robbing myself of opportunities of experiencing God in a real, loving, personal, powerful, life giving and life-changing way.
If these questions challenge us, what do we do about verses like Luke 9:23-24, "²³Then he (Jesus) said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."
For someone like me who was raised in the church, I want to believe there is a third option of going through the motions. It's much easier to look the part and still remain in control. But if we are familiar with scripture, there is no middle ground. We cannot serve two masters. There is no living how I want to and serving God as Lord of my life. We can't fake the fruit.
It is crazy to think that we somehow know what we need better than God does. We continually rob ourselves of the blessings and fruit God wants to produce in us (John 15). He can only do it if He has all of us, not just a part of us. God asks for complete surrender of our lives, of our own will. We either deny ourselves, or we deny Jesus. We either lose ourselves, or we lose Jesus. We either forsake ourselves, or we forsake Jesus. We either belong to Jesus or belong to the world.
We have been wrestling with these verses and questions as a family as we have walked through the "Experiencing God" Bible study by Henry Blackaby. It has been awesome to see tangibly how God is and has been working in our lives. We also pray that all of you are experiencing God in a profound and abundant way. If you are not, how can we be an encouragement or accountability to you? We sincerely love and care about all of you and would love to know how we can pray for you.
Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

The body of Christ

Word got out that Danielle is a midwife and incredible, so the women's group invited her to speak about some key health issues. While Danielle teaches about practices and health of their physical bodies, she is also incorporating practices of being a healthy part of the body of Christ.

Neal was honored to begin to help teach a men's group at one of the churches through an inductive Bible study of Ephesians.

Our trip, His Plans

We recently took a trip to the capital city, Tana, for a few necessary appointments and ended up having so many God moments that we are in awe. We had to renew passports at the US embassy for Neal and the kids as well as finish up some paperwork for our car with the government which all went smoothly and well. While we were there, we were honored to get to join a marriage conference that was being put on by some of our friends with a ministry called 3M (not the tape company). We had such a great time with various leaders and pastors from many different denominations. We were thankful for the opportunity to fellowship, play, eat and collaborate with so many of these church leaders. We are not sure yet how God will use it all but we do know that he has been calling us to some sort of marriage and family ministry. We were also able to collaborate with a ministry that trains and equips children's bible study teachers!! We hope to be able to help our Tamatave churches build and empower their growing and thriving children's ministries with the training sometime in late March.

We were also blessed and thankful to make some new friends with a ministry called La porte after "bumping" into them at lunch at KFC! (Yep, KFC) We were blown away at the ways God is using them to minister in such creative ways. We were able to visit them at their coffee shop (near and dear to our hearts), Kawatry, which also serves as their church site, as well as their Judo Dojo/ministry, the art ministry site, the music ministry, (you get the picture-incredible!). For those who cant make it to their church, they take church to them at the trash dump, the rock quarry, and even prison. We were overjoyed to hear testimony after testimony on how God is working in and through them. It was so refreshing to see their vision behind all the ministries as being Malagasy led and Missionally focused. They even shared how the church is getting ready to send some Malagasy missionaries to unreached areas abroad. Praise God! Who knows, maybe they can come and help us open a coffee shop here in Tamatave!

A special THANK YOU to Living Hope church for helping us bring music and worship back into our home. Thank you for knowing our hearts, and helping get a new guitar for Neal. This will truly help minister to our family (and community?!) in more ways than we can share with words.

Thank you to all those who are joining with us as ambassadors to seek reconciliation for Madagascar.

The Lord has opened a door for us to partner with a magnificent 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry called Mission Quest. This ministry will be our home office and will be handling all of our donations and communications with you for any donation-related questions.

As a part of Mission Quest’s family, we have the ability to receive donations made in multiple ways. Below are some of these ways:

Online Donations: We are able to receive donations via Credit Cards, Debit Card, and directly from your Bank Account. Mission Quest has implemented cutting-edge technology in their website to ensure the security and safety of your financial information, and they will never share this with anyone whatsoever. Donating online is the fastest and most efficient way to support us and to ensure that the funds get to us in a timely manner.
When you donate online you will receive a contribution receipt via your email moments after you place your donation. You can also setup a one time or recurring donation.
Later, you can go back to your online account, view your giving history and you will have the ability to edit your information, payment method, and donation details.
Offline Donations: Mission Quest is also able to process donations sent to us via checks and money orders. Donations via checks and money orders should be addressed to Mission Quest and in the memo-line, write our account number. Send your checks to:

Mission Quest
P.O. Box 4602
Wheaton, IL. 60189

Please do NOT write our names on the check, rather only write our account number (Carlstrom's #194). This article will show you an example of how to write the check.
With this option you can request that your bank send a recurring check to the address above to maximize the amount we receive from your donation. Most banks offer this service free of charge. Please remember to include our account number in the memo line of the check.

Instead of sending actual checks, we highly encourage you to use the direct bank transfer option found on Mission Quest website. This option is the same as sending personal checks, but it ensures that we receive your donation faster. This option does not cost you or us any extra fees. This explains how to trigger a bank draft donation.

3) Other ways: If you prefer to donate by using other methods, please contact our home office to discuss this with them in more details.

At the close of each year, Mission Quest will mail you a statement for all your contributions. This statement can be reported to the IRS for tax purposes. All donations to Mission Quest are tax-deductible to the limit allowed by law.

Mission Quest’s home office is always willing to answer your questions and comments. Please feel free to contact them for any help.

You can reach their office by email at mq@missionquest.org

Click here to find out how to partner financially