Cooking meals(sa-ka-fu) here starts with a trip to the
market. We can walk to the market in
about 5 minutes, so we put a little folding cash in our pockets and head out of
our house(tra-no) with a straw basket and calculator.
Walking along the street is full of life. Tuk-tuks beep
as they pass by, dogs(om-boo-wa), chickens(ah-ko-who), and goats(bean-ge) roam
around. People greet us foreigners(va-za)
with "Bon Jour" because they think we are French. We respond with "Mbolt Sara"
(bullet-sah-rah) which is the Malagasy greeting and receive surprised(ga-ga)
looks.
The market has plenty of fruits and veggies to choose
from, many fruits that we have never heard of before. The prices range from 100 ariary(5 cents) for
5 small peppers to 4000 ariary($2) for a large pineapple(ma-na-ce). One of the staples in our house is beans and
rice. I ask the "bean" lady
how much a cup of beans cost. Numbers
are a little tricky here because they use both French and Malagasy numbers as
well as two different figures of money.
So at times we have to ask for the number to be typed on our
calculator. She dumps the scoop of beans
in a thin small plastic bag and we put them in the basket.
When receiving change in the market, I'm mindful of
potential germs on the cash because I've watched a lady count back cash on the zebu
butcher block. Many new things to get
used to.
We lug our basket full of goodies back to the house and
begin the process of soaking produce in bleach water, putting meat in the
freezer, and (the slightly more tedious) sifting beans.
Last week I was hand sifting beans from the market before
I soaked them overnight and then cooked them for a few hours. I find little sticks, rocks, sprouting beans,
ants, old beans, other types of beans, and occasionally a small curly hair.
This week when I found the hair, I began wondering whose
head this hair came from. How far away
was her village? Did it come from the
person that harvested it, dried it, transported it, or sold it?
Then I thought, I wonder if she knows that when she lost
this hair that God knew. He knew that
she had one less hair on her head. I
wonder if she knows her creator, the Creator?
I said a prayer for her and asked God to bring His kingdom to her
village and to use us as His messengers.
I pray that she meet her Creator through our Savior Jesus. Oh, that she would know that God almighty
cares about her and wants her to be His daughter.
All of these thoughts from a hair in some beans. The Bible says to be quick to listen, slow to
speak, and slow to get angry. There have
been times in my past that a hair in my food made me angry and entitled to
something free. What if during little inconveniences
I decide that my quick listening will be to God instead of myself? May God mold my heart toward mercy for man and
hope for their salvation.
So what will you do next time you find a hair in your
french fries? I pray you will lift your
future sister or brother in Christ up to the Father and ask God to make you
apart of His amazing work.
For His Amazing Work,
Andrew
