Are you bored with life? Are you tired of the same old dull routine? Ready for a change? Ready to do things that you never thought you would or actually could and in some cases would even want to? Exhausted with watching the stock exchange go up and down and up and down. Move to Africa, or at least swing by for a bit. I can promise that life will never be the same again.
Life here is never boring. Today was full of little suprises that kept me on my toes. I'll share just two. As we were driving along in one of the villages, the car began to overheat. We were in the pastor's car that unfortunately does not have a hand break and needed to stop on a slight incline. The head teacher was a bit afraid of the steam and pressure under the hood, so the pastor needed to get out and help. Suddenly, the car began to roll backwards. I had to leap over the seat and sprawl out to reach the break with my hands and hold it there until someone came to help. However, both the head teacher and I were laughing so hard it is a wonder that we did not crash into a house.
Upon returning to the office, I found that the mechanic had fixed the problem in our car, basically a smell that was just plain awful. Since we had chased the rats out of the house and killed several of their friends, they decided to attach our car. One of them had crawled up into our car and die just to spite us. Our dashboard had to be removed in order to get the poor little guy out.
But, alas, I am now home safe and sound enjoying the fact that my battery lasts a long time since the power just went out and thrilled to feel clean after spending a LONG time scrubbing my feet.
Trust me, you do not want to miss out on life here! Sell your stocks, cash in your IRAs and come on over. :)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Chariots of Fire, Goats, and Maize
This past weekend, I had one of those sweet God moments that come out of nowhere, when you least expect it. Isn't amazing how you can be doing something seemingly insignificant and feel the pleasure of God. Another one of my favorite movies is "Chariots of Fire." Eric Liddle, an Olympic runner and missionary, does not run to earn God's love or to earn the respect of others. He runs simply because when he does, he feels God's pleasure. Those feelings are such a blessing, to have times where we feel the tender love of our God.
So, this past weekend, there I was traveling in my "chariot," a very old Toyota Hilux that might have had shocks at one point, but those are long gone. We were traveling to visit the homes of some of the widows from the ministry. I was sitting on a giant bag of maize, holding on, desperately hoping that the goats would not pee on me or do even worse. =) I made it unscathed but unfortunately my friend did not. While traveling to their homes through an area with lots of open fields and farms with Mt. Kilimanjaro ahead of me and Mt. Meru behind me, a nice breeze blew and the sun warmed us. Perfect weather. The head teacher and I sat in the back together talking and sharing about the ministry and life. Lots of children ran out to get a chance to see the strange mzungu riding on the back of the truck through bushes way off the "main" road. That was my moment. It had been such a good day of spending time with children, teachers, the team, and others. And, here I was in the middle of nowhere with the opportunity to spend more time with these unbelievable women in their homes. Riding on the back of the truck, I felt the pleasure of God. It was good. I will never compete in the Olympics, never be a hero, never win a medal, but God has still given me so many moments and opportunities to simply be and enjoy His pleasure. Isn't that great....
So, this past weekend, there I was traveling in my "chariot," a very old Toyota Hilux that might have had shocks at one point, but those are long gone. We were traveling to visit the homes of some of the widows from the ministry. I was sitting on a giant bag of maize, holding on, desperately hoping that the goats would not pee on me or do even worse. =) I made it unscathed but unfortunately my friend did not. While traveling to their homes through an area with lots of open fields and farms with Mt. Kilimanjaro ahead of me and Mt. Meru behind me, a nice breeze blew and the sun warmed us. Perfect weather. The head teacher and I sat in the back together talking and sharing about the ministry and life. Lots of children ran out to get a chance to see the strange mzungu riding on the back of the truck through bushes way off the "main" road. That was my moment. It had been such a good day of spending time with children, teachers, the team, and others. And, here I was in the middle of nowhere with the opportunity to spend more time with these unbelievable women in their homes. Riding on the back of the truck, I felt the pleasure of God. It was good. I will never compete in the Olympics, never be a hero, never win a medal, but God has still given me so many moments and opportunities to simply be and enjoy His pleasure. Isn't that great....
Friday, October 24, 2008
You mess with me, you mess with my WHOLE family
Doesn't it feel good when you know you have people in your corner? People that will be there for you when times are tough, and when you need people to back you up, to fight for you. Isn't there something so comforting when people have your back and know that they will defend you and help you?
Today was kind of a crazy day. One of those days where you just can't believe things are happening the way they are. You start your day with one plan and that is not quite the way things work out. We are in the process of moving out of our old home and into someone else's place while they are back in Australia. Needless to say, it has been a long process. When my roommate went back to the house to get something today, she was forbidden from entering. Even though some of our most valuable items were still in the house, we were not allowed to take them. After calling our landlord, she discovered that indeed tell the guard to not allow us in for various reasons. I think in retrospect some of them were cultural misunderstandings some were just insane.
Considering some of the issues, we decided to not go back alone but ask someone from our office to go. After he heard our situation, he was more than willing to help us. One person quickly grew to four. Our first friend had told others and they were all upset that were being treated poorly. We actually only took four because that was all the room there was in the car. Others wanted to come as well. As we were driving, they were all joking about who was the strongest and who would take who. When we arrived, we went to go and talk to our landlord with all of them standing behind me ready to jump in at a moments notice.
Once we were finally allowed into the house, the landlord began to explain some things. All of them came to our defense and were explaining things. They were not going to allow us to be treated poorly. Even though I felt hurt because of the situation, I felt encouraged because of my "brothers". I don't think I really expected to ever find that here, or that people really felt that way about us. I was so grateful.
Now that all that happened, it made me realize how much God has blessed me with people like that in my life. Over the past year and half while here, there have been countless people that have gone to bat for me, that have fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself; people that are in my corner. People have constantly prayed, encouraged, worked on my behalf, and done so much more.
Even though the day did not turn out at all like I expected, it has been a day where I have been overwhelmed by seeing the hand of God in my life at all times. It has been a day where I have been able to see so much of what God is doing. I am so thankful for all the people that God has put in my life. I have done nothing to deserve any of it. Isn't God good!
Today was kind of a crazy day. One of those days where you just can't believe things are happening the way they are. You start your day with one plan and that is not quite the way things work out. We are in the process of moving out of our old home and into someone else's place while they are back in Australia. Needless to say, it has been a long process. When my roommate went back to the house to get something today, she was forbidden from entering. Even though some of our most valuable items were still in the house, we were not allowed to take them. After calling our landlord, she discovered that indeed tell the guard to not allow us in for various reasons. I think in retrospect some of them were cultural misunderstandings some were just insane.
Considering some of the issues, we decided to not go back alone but ask someone from our office to go. After he heard our situation, he was more than willing to help us. One person quickly grew to four. Our first friend had told others and they were all upset that were being treated poorly. We actually only took four because that was all the room there was in the car. Others wanted to come as well. As we were driving, they were all joking about who was the strongest and who would take who. When we arrived, we went to go and talk to our landlord with all of them standing behind me ready to jump in at a moments notice.
Once we were finally allowed into the house, the landlord began to explain some things. All of them came to our defense and were explaining things. They were not going to allow us to be treated poorly. Even though I felt hurt because of the situation, I felt encouraged because of my "brothers". I don't think I really expected to ever find that here, or that people really felt that way about us. I was so grateful.
Now that all that happened, it made me realize how much God has blessed me with people like that in my life. Over the past year and half while here, there have been countless people that have gone to bat for me, that have fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself; people that are in my corner. People have constantly prayed, encouraged, worked on my behalf, and done so much more.
Even though the day did not turn out at all like I expected, it has been a day where I have been overwhelmed by seeing the hand of God in my life at all times. It has been a day where I have been able to see so much of what God is doing. I am so thankful for all the people that God has put in my life. I have done nothing to deserve any of it. Isn't God good!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Overwhelmed
To say that I am overwhelmed seems like a gross understatement. I am not sure where to start and I feel all over the place. I am in language school right now for a two week course. I have learned so much and feel like I am making a lot of progress which is a huge blessing. Even though I feel like I had already learned a lot, I felt like I was stuck and could not get to the next level of communication. The course here has been wonderful. On top of the language learning, I am surrounded by people that are also involved in community development. I feel like I have arrived to the promise land. In addition, the college is a college for development and there is a plethora of resources. I feel like I just want to stay and read and learn and discuss and process through all the issues that we are dealing with. But, the more I learn, the more I feel like we are far away from where we want to be and the more I realize how much work it will take to get there.
At times, I feel afraid that it is impossible, too much has already happened.I feel completely incapable. I have never been more sure that I am not able to do the work in front me. I forget that God is sovereign. I forget that even though all of this is new to me, it is not new to God. He knows the best way to create sustainable development. He knows the best way to empower the poor and encourage them. He knows the way to help a community be transformed. I forget that many people have been praying before they began the work we are involved with. They sought God's wisdom and guidance. And, even though it might not look like the best way in the eyes of the world, God is working. He is accomplishing His perfect will. Also, it might just not be about me and what I can do, but about God. The fact that I cannot do it ensures that it is clear that it is God doing the work and not me. It is Him that deserves the glory. Although I like to pretend that I don't need God, it might be that He is trying to teach me to depend on Him. I try to do things on my own, in my own strength. I am not sure how to depend on God when making decisions. What does it look like to love God with all your soul, mind, and strength when trying to figure out village government and the best way forward? How do I rest in God when the amount of work seems neverending? How do I enjoy Him when the need of others seems overwhelming?
At times, I feel afraid that it is impossible, too much has already happened.I feel completely incapable. I have never been more sure that I am not able to do the work in front me. I forget that God is sovereign. I forget that even though all of this is new to me, it is not new to God. He knows the best way to create sustainable development. He knows the best way to empower the poor and encourage them. He knows the way to help a community be transformed. I forget that many people have been praying before they began the work we are involved with. They sought God's wisdom and guidance. And, even though it might not look like the best way in the eyes of the world, God is working. He is accomplishing His perfect will. Also, it might just not be about me and what I can do, but about God. The fact that I cannot do it ensures that it is clear that it is God doing the work and not me. It is Him that deserves the glory. Although I like to pretend that I don't need God, it might be that He is trying to teach me to depend on Him. I try to do things on my own, in my own strength. I am not sure how to depend on God when making decisions. What does it look like to love God with all your soul, mind, and strength when trying to figure out village government and the best way forward? How do I rest in God when the amount of work seems neverending? How do I enjoy Him when the need of others seems overwhelming?
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