The Land of the Living

I have finally returned to the land of the living and it feels a bit surreal. I feel like I was caught in some alternate universe and have returned to find out that the rest of the world is four days ahead of me. What am I talking about? I was a bit sick these past few days. Actually, sicker than I can ever remember. It came on pretty strong Thursday, in the middle of the night. I wanted it all so desperately to end and be better but it continued. As I was praying, I realized that I needed to pray not for a way out but for God's strength to endure and awareness of His presence and comfort while I was going through it all. His mercy was not in an instant fix but in His everlasting presence. My roommate, Julia, went over and above what any roommate should ever have to do for another and I felt so loved and blessed. Several others rallied in prayer and encouragement here. I am so thankful that God has pulled me through all that. Definitely glad that all the yuckiness is over! I am still a bit weak and get tired easily so please pray for strength as things are about to hit the ground running with all the schools starting a week from today.

Exceedingly more

At my church, we often hear the verse Ephesians 3:20, which says, "Now unto Him who is able to exceedingly more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power within us." I know God is able and I know He is good but I so rarely live life actually believing that God will do exceedingly more. As I have said countless times before, I struggle with faith in believing God and His promises. I usually think I need to pick myself up by my bootstraps and do it myself. God helps those who help themselves. I don't actually think that is in the Bible and it might be the completely opposite of what God tells us. I know for a fact that it is the opposite of what God has done for me.

As many of you know, I have been hard at work studying Swahili. I am so thankful for God's grace and provision as I struggle to learn this language. I have often prayed for God's help in learning the language. But nothing really more than that. I never really prayed for who would be my swahili teacher or anything else along those lines. So, you want to see exceedingly more I will show you exceedingly more. My swahili teacher is not only an amazing teacher that has helped me learn this language so quickly but she is an amazing woman who loves the Lord. She has become a mentor to me spiritually as well as linguistically and culturally. She regularly prays for me and has such a strong faith in God. She believes what she says. She challenges me, encourages me, loves me, and supports me. Never once did I pray for this. But God, in his goodness provided.

Next in line is the teacher situation. We have been in desperate need for teachers in many of our villages. Finding qualified teachers is difficult. Finding teachers who are willing to live in the villages instead of the city is even more difficult. Finding teachers who are strong Christians and want to teach as a ministry in a way that is different from the government is just about impossible. Enter my lack of faith once again.... Mwika is the village that has a large amount of AIDS orphans. If you go there once an visit those children, you will never be the same again. I thought we could find teachers, but I figured that they would not be all that good and I would be spend a lot of time training and helping them. No faith! Exceedingly more strikes again! We had a teacher who had graduated from JTTC (The Christian Teachers College) approach us about a job. Never in a million years did I think we would find someone from there. They all already have jobs. The other two women are strong and experienced as well. Last Friday, we took them to Mwika to see the village to see the pastor and the school. While I sat and watched them interact, I was blown away. They so quickly bonded together and lots of ideas and plans. When they saw the school and the children, each of the woman expressed her excitement about coming. God did so much more than I could ever have asked or imagined.

I could go on and on, but I won't.... God is so good. As I look back over this year and my life in general, I am so grateful and humbled. Thank you all so much for being a part of this with me!

Merry Christmas!

Not so different....

Yesterday, I traveled to Karansi. What a wonderful day! Every time I go out to the villages, I feel so encouraged. Being with the teachers and the children brings me so much joy. As we were driving out there yesterday, we got caught behind a very slow car that did not seem to have a lot of confidence. When we finally passed her, the driver said, "Oh.. yeye ni msichana," which means she is a female. Even in another country on the other side of the world, women get a bad name as drivers.

Once we arrived at the school and unloaded all the school supplies, I decided to play with the children. Since school is already out, the children are just hanging around, playing soccer and other games. I went into one of the classrooms where several girls from 5th and 6th grade were playing. I couldn't help but laugh when I realized they were playing make believe. One group of girls was a bad family, the other was a good family. They pretended to be cooking, cleaning, and getting ready. They even pretended to be to have conversations as husband and wife, in the bad family the husband was very mean and drank too much. That part was a little sad....

So, yesterday, I felt overwhelmed by differences, but today by God's grace I was able to see the similiarities. Men still think women can't drive. Women still get defensive about it. Children still play make believe. We are all created by the same God.

By the way, I was able to have long conversations about work and life, joke with the teachers, and in general just communicate ALL IN SWAHILI!!! Praise the Lord!

Efficiency vs. Relationship

As I am sure many of you know, different cultures also mean different ways of communicating. Miscommunication happens often enough in America. Now, imagine living in a different culture, with completely different backgrounds, different education, different language, different everything. Unfortunately, I usually assume that all is well and that because I said it, they understood it. And, I have learned that is not actually the case. Things are interpereted very different here. Not only that, but also indirect communication is the method of choice. In case you are not sure, I am very type A, direct, and task oriented. As an engineer, I value efficiency above all else. Anybody else see some potential for disasters!

Recently, I finished a book called "Cross Cultural Conflict." It is excellent and I highly recommend it and I plan to read it again. The author offers valuable insight on cultures that value indirect communication and he points out again and again how common it is in the Bible. Jesus often used indirect communication especially through parables. So, I have to eat some humble pie and realize that is me that needs to change. Since I definitely struggle with speaking first and talking later, learning to change how I communicate is difficult. I prefer for life to be one big calculus problem that I can solve, but life is much more like art. I was never all that good at art, can't even draw good stick figures.

God's call for me to be in Tanzania is very likely about growing and refining me. I have a lot to learn...

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ok, actually not at all, especially for a northern hemisphere girl. Many of you out there have yet to have the privelege of meeting my mom. She does nothing in moderation. I know that some of you are thinking that the apple does not fall far from the tree, but let me tell you, she makes me look tame. All that to say, Christmas decorations. YOWSERS! My mom decorates everything! I think there are at least two trees and every ornament that I ever made over 20 years ago is on that tree. Every ornament is a memory to my mom. Even our bathrooms get decorated. Now, let's move from the inside to the outside. Clark W. Griswald got all of his tips from my dad! I love our house and the beautiful lights. We even usually drive around all the neighborhoods to see the lights. Being cold, drinking hot cocoa,sitting by the fire listening to Christmas carols is definitely one of my all time favorite past times. As we all know, you could not go anywhere and not find Christmas decorations or Christmas music if you wanted.

By this time every year, my mom is about to lose her mind from baking way too many batches of cookies, I have gained at least five pounds from all of the Christmas parties, my dad is going into withdrawal because football season is coming to an end, phone bills are especially high because of calling family, and I just feel crazy and tired from the flurry of Christmas activity.

So, here's the question... Without all of that, how do I make it feel like Christmas? It is strange, I don't really know what to do. It is not so much about being homesick as it is just feeling like things are a bit surreal.

Last night, I heard a man share about how Christmas really is about being a stranger. Mary and Joseph traveled from their home, so did the wise men, and the others. And, of course, Christ, left his home to come to earth to redeem us. So, as I struggle through trying to make sense out of my feelings, I feel blessed to know I am in good company.

Let's Get this Party Started!

I must admit that there have been times when the idea of worshipping God for the rest of my life in heaven sounded a little boring. The idea of sitting on a cloud holding a harp did not make my heart go pitter patter... As I have learned more about the nature of God and about heaven, I have definitely learned that there is no need to worry, life in heaven will not be boring! Worshipping God is not just about singing, it is so much more than that. God gave us adrenaline for a reason. I have often wondered if He gave man the idea for roller coasters for a reason. Will there be some really fast, high, loopy ones up in heaven or will that feeling of adventure and excitement come in other ways? I am not sure. But, back to the point....

I have to say though my idea of singing and worshipping God has definitely changed. I enjoy singing, especially when in a crowd and no one can hear my voice but God. Trust me! That is how it should be. =) However, worshipping has just been singing for me, occasionally I have gotten a little wild and swayed side to side a bit, but nothing more. Our churches are not designed for dancing and why would we. OH! Are we missing out! I just returned from a three day retreat with the Imara staff and every session began with praise and worship. You could not contain them if you wanted to. They know that God finds joy in them. The freedom to worship God in any way is so refreshing. I must confess that I have started to call it worship aerobics! Hilarious. They have so much fun singing and dancing and they even let rythmless white people like me dance along! They worship God with everything they have, with all their heart and there is no holding them back. They dance and jump and sing and have just have a whole lot of fun! Maybe in my time here, I will finally get some rhythm! But, I love the total and completel freedom and reckless abandon in worshipping our great and mighty God!

Toto I don't think we are in Kansas anymore

I just love the Wizard of Oz. I think I probably watched it one too many times as a kid. As you can imagine there have been multiple times here that I have been aware that things are just a bit different. I have often chuckled to myself and thought I am definitely not in Kansas anymore. This past weekend was definitely one of those moments. We were meeting with the children and deciding who would be in our school. As we met with the children, the parents or really just mothers sat off to the side waiting to take their children home. In the "carpool line". The women were all sitting together under a tree talking. Of course these women are all Masaai, so they are one of many wives in their respective bomas (or group of homes). They are decorated with lots of beaded jewelry, no shoes or tire shoes, wearing an outfit that is mostly a blanket. As I looked at them and how different they are, I couldn't help but think that they are just like parents in the States. They love their children and want a good education so that life can improve. So many differences, but so many similiarities.

By the way, I haven't clicked my heels three times yet and said "There is no place like home." But I have a feeling if I did, I would open my eyes and still be here because for now this is my home. What a blessing.

PS The internet has not been at its best lately! Sorry for the delay in posting.

Here comes Santa Claus

Do you ever have one of those moments, where you feel like now I have heard everything? Throughout my short stint here in Africa, there have been multiple times where I feel blown away by the ridiculous. Things are so different: wonderful, strange, and very interesting at times. This past weekend, the international school had a Christmas craft fair. We decided to go and check it out. As we were walking around looking at things, we continued to hear announcements about Santa Claus and for the kids not to leave before they got to see him. You could see the excitement of the kids. The time came and went that Santa was supposed to arrive. A woman would come on the loud speaker and apologize and say that Santa is on his way, but he is just a very busy man. Finally, she got on and said he should be here any moment. Apparently the dala dala, a very tiny little bus with a capacity for 12 people that usually has at least 30, hit a cow on the way. The police had to come. Santa had run out of money. (It is typical here for people to only have just what they need, nothing extra). So, the police had to give Santa money to catch another dala dala the rest of the way! I am pretty sure I have never heard that one before!