Salama, bonjour, good day everyone!
Many people have been asking for more details about my recent mission trip to Madagascar, so I decided to write a blog series about my experiences. I hope you will enjoy these stories over the weeks to come.
Stewart Wicker, President and Mission Director of SAMS – USA, which is our mission agency, contacted Father Trevor Pearce, the Director of Growing the Church (GtC) and our boss in South Africa, about a possible mission trip to Madagascar. Father Trevor then contacted Nicole and me since we were in the USA on furlough. We were fortunate to be able to speak to Bishop Todd (Bishop of Toliara, Madagascar), who had requested the mission, in person at our SAMS Retreat and the New Wineskins Global Missions Conference in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. Bishop Todd and his wife Patsy are SAMS missionaries like the two of us. Growing the Church was happy to assist with this mission because mission engagement is one of the main principals of GtC, and special emphasis was placed on people to form teams and to go on mission before our International Anglicans Ablaze Conference, as mission engagement played a focal role in the conference.
When Nicole and I returned to Cape Town, we had less than four months to prepare the mission. But within a matter of weeks, a team of six was being formed. Each team member brought unique skills and gifts, and we were thrilled that our best and brightest were going to serve our sister diocese in this way. Our team consisted of Nkosinathi Landingwe, Rethabile Mabusela, Neil Adams, Ryan Baatjies, Zrano Bam, and me. Bishop Todd wanted us to serve at his diocesan youth conference, and we were invited to assist in the areas of teaching, speaking, preaching, ministry and cultivating community and fellowship through games.
For me to be an instrument and effective missionary, I had to leave my comfort zone, 
humble myself and enter God’s zone. The only way to do this was to leave South Africa and to venture out. In my case, God led me to the island known as Madagascar. On this mission, I had to learn how to allow God’s spirit to guide, guard and infuse my whole being. This was not an easy task, since I was on a completely unknown island to me, not being able to speak the language or understand the culture. I had to place my trust in God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me. When I left home, I took along a new pair of training shoes that my wonderful wife had bought me as a gift. I did not want to take them at first; but with a nudge from my wife, I felt the urge to take them along and I did. Little did I know what God had in store for me and the rest of the team. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. I shall connect the dots a bit later so that you may see the awesome wonder and sense of humour of God.
–Wayne Curtis
#Madagascar4Jesus blog series: 1
