That's me...Little Julie, front row, 4th from the right, white dress, white sandals. This is either 1st or 2nd grade for me.
This is the American School in Ft. Dauphin (now Tolagnaro), Madagascar. All the parents of these kids are Lutheran missionaries. This was boarding school for all us Lutheran missionary kids. We lived here together about nine months of the year (minus Christmas break) while we went to school. The adults in the back rows were our house parents and teachers. From year to year, as people came and went, the group changed a little but mostly these are the people I grew up knowing. They're part of my 2nd family and I am grateful! They're not perfect but they are, in my heart, family. We took care of each other, played together and prayed together. It was hard being away from our parents and I know I wouldn't have survived it at all without some of these people.
This is where I learned first learned what it means to be family, to be community, to live in harmony. This is where I first learned about friendship. They're a crazy bunch, these missionary kids, but they're my bunch. And I am one of them.
It would take a book to tell all the stories, but today, I just wanted to say, I'm grateful for this experience, for these people, my 2nd family, my Madagascar/missionary family!
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