in my first few days in Madagascar, many years ago now……I was shocked to discover that a pot of yoghurt was something that so many in the nation never got to enjoy because of poverty.
Even those who had a full time job - after they had paid for their rent, food, school fees etc….there was never anything left for something luxurious like a pot of yoghurt.
I had been through hard times and stripping in my life before coming to Madagascar, but even with that I could never remember a time where I was never able to buy a simple pot of yoghurt.
My heart was really broken.
When I discovered this me and my friends bought a whole bunch of yoghurts to give out to a group of adults who worked so hard full time, but still could not afford to treat themselves to one pot of yoghurt a month. The joy on their faces was incredible and they began to praise God and it was incredible to watch them as they ate their own pot of yoghurt, savouring every mouth full.
Since then I have given out hundreds of yoghurt pots in Madagascar and it’s always the same joy I see on the faces of the people who receive the yoghurt. They taste and see that God is good through this simple act of kindness.
On Tuesday this week I went to the supermarket here in Mahajanga, Madagascar to buy lots of yoghurts - we had calculated before we went how many pots we would need for all of the children who come to our village feeding program- but I kept hearing a higher number. So we bought the higher number.
When we announced to the village children that they would all receive a pot of yoghurt a unanimous roar of joy erupted. I love watching the children eat their yogurts - not a drop is wasted!
After the program we had quite a few pots of yoghurt left - so we went into the village - going door to door giving them out to young and old in our village and such big smiles lit peoples faces as they received a delicious pot of yoghurt.
As we were giving out our last 5 yoghurts the family invited us through a back passage where their sick family member was and asked us to come and pray for a very precious lady. It was such a beautiful precious moment as we sat with the family and prayed for their love one.
If we hadn’t been obedient to buy the larger number of yoghurts that the Holy Spirit kept whispering in my ear we would have missed this beautiful divine appointment.