Unexpected Roots

I come from a family where roots run down deep, generations back all from the same place.  I grew up 5 miles from both grandmas, and spent almost every single weekend at a family birthday party or confirmation or baptism.

I was raised on extended family life.

I watched my parents in their ministry of the here and now, always beautifying and growing their little corner of the world.  It was small and familiar and stable, and it is what allowed them to bring children with incredibly difficult, unstable lives into our family.  As my mom said late one night, as she holds my nephew asleep in the dark while we talk on the living room couches, "It was those roots that gave us that freedom."

It was what I always assumed my life would be- stable.  Move away to college, then come back.  Get married, have babies, and raise them in the same town, church, school, house I brought them home to.

But.

That hasn't been God's plan for my life so far, and it seems it will not be, at least for a long while more. Twenty-one moves in nine years remind me that life has not gone as I planned, and I am not in control.

I trust God's plan, even if I don't understand it.

God has been teaching me for the last few years about roots, and what they mean to Him.  They are not attached to time or place or anything else of this world; those are foundations of sand.  He is teaching me that He is the only safe place to attach and dwell and draw Living Water.  Geographical stability is not lasting; I am learning to drink life from the Eternal.

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Linking to 5 Minute Friday at Gypsy Mama.

I Dare You Not To Cry

A video of one of our hometown heroes.  So touching.  A million thanks to those of you who sacrifice for our country's safety.

We Will Praise You In This Storm

I am literally in the middle of a storm (on Thursday night). I'm not talking about a metaphorical, blog-type storm, but rather a storm system full of tornadoes. We have been sitting in the basement bathroom of the house we rent, just hanging out. The lights have flickered, but the internet has stayed on the whole time, which is one of those curious modern-day situations I can't quite understand.

This storm has been...well, intense. Usually it seems as if the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning, we all seek shelter, and nothing happens.

But this time is different.

I am not sure of all the facts right now. What I do know is that the radio keeps throwing around phrases like "half-mile wide tornado," and "people trapped in their house," and "warning has been extended."

The house of our dear family friends just flew away- with them underneath it. It's so strange for me to even imagine. All I can think of is the "Wizard of Oz." I was literally at the beach with them this morning. Until I heard that they were safely at my parent's house, all I could wonder was if that was the last time I would see them. There are literally holes in their yard from where trees were just picked up out of the ground. They are rounding up cattle because all of their outbuildings are gone, too.

I think we here death and destruction and disaster sensationalized so much on the news nowadays (I cannot believe I just used that word), that we forget the layers present in ever story, in every number. Each number is a life, full of hopes and dreams and responsibilities and potential. Each life connects to hundreds of other lives. God loves each life each number represents. When tragedy hits home- literally- it challenges you to actually think, to feel, to have compassion for others. In some ways, desensitization may be healthy- imagine if we were overcome with grief every time we heard about something horrible happening. We would hardly be able to function in daily life (as someone who is strongly mercy-oriented, I say this from experience). However, being desensitized to the point of not feeling is pathological.

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The National Weather Service tornado warning for our area finally expired. Now it's time for dinner (at 9pm), so this will have to be continued... : )

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What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation, Part 3

While we were getting ready to come to Africa, we spent a lot of time in prayer- A LOT. We thought and prayed about our service, the meaning of sacrifice, our team, our families and friends we were temporarily leaving behind, our marriage…it would impact every facet of our lives. It was very intense, and very serious, and very necessary, as it prepared us for what we would need to do here. In addition, we took a bit of time to think of some fun goals we had for our time here, things we wanted to learn or experience in another culture. My three were to see a giraffe, try African drumming, and go sand surfing (called sand boarding here). Check, check, check. Sort of.

On Friday of our Swakop adventure, we went sand boarding on one of the dunes found outside town. It’s so amazing- you are standing on a mountain of tiny grains, and yet you don’t sink in (I just can’t comprehend that!) You can see the Atlantic ocean literally across the road from the dune.

As we got there, we saw some parachutes landing (look closely)

Although Josh, Kitty, and I knew we wanted to sandboard, we thought we would need to go with a tour company (which is a bit expensive). While in a store on Thursday, we saw they were selling kits for sand boarding for really cheap, which meant we could avoid tour fees. We bought one kit, and split it three ways, so that was perfect. The only problem is that you have to use these sitting down, because you have to lift the front of the board up as you go. That’s probably okay though, as sand boarding while standing up is a lot more dangerous than snowboarding (have you ever heard of snow burn?  I didn't think so).

Here is a picture of Josh’s first attempt…



…and the resulting battle wound:

In spite of the hazards, there was a line of people ready to give it a try. What can I say? We live in Africa; we have adventurous spirits : ) Love these people!

Since the hardest part of the whole undertaking was walking back up the dunes, Jessa and I decided to take rides together, 2 for the effort of 1. Oh yeah, and it was REALLY windy.


Making memories with my best friend.

Love this

What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation, Part 1

You know how teachers always want you to write “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” on the first day of school? I thought, being that it’s actually summer here, I would tell you about what we did on our Thanksgiving vacation (although they say “holiday” here). To say the least, it was unorthodox.

On Tuesday that week, we arrived to stay with some friends in Arandis. Our travel plans were a bit complicated, because the national presidential elections were taking place on Friday and Saturday. It had the potential to be a challenging situation, so our unit director did not want us traveling for a few days before or after. In the end, praise God, everything was fine.

Our first “main event” was traveling to Swakopmund (about half an hour away) to stay in the Finnish Guesthouse, a really cheap, nice place that gives discounts to missionaries (YAY!!!). Together, under Karrie’s leadership, everyone was able to prepare a dinner very closely resembling those from home. Our one downfall? Cranberries- there didn’t seem to be even one in Namibia. Shame. Here are a few pics from our day:

The beautiful turkey. I have know idea where they found it, as it is not common here.

Josh carving the turkey. He did a terrific job.

A candid, timed shot of our dinner. Other friends came over from Arandis for the meal itself, and it was a full house.

Traditional? No. But, we were still able to celebrate God’s graciousness, even from a continent away. He is good, all the time.

Week 31

It's been forever awhile since I last did a weekly update, and somehow it's already week 31! Time flies (or crawls, depending on the day and attitude).

Monday was fine, without much to report, until that night. I. Couldn't. Sleep. A. Wink. Not at all. This had never happened to me before, and I laid in the dark, and read, and wrote, and stared. Eight hours is a really long time to be by oneself. Anyway, we figured out the next day that I was severely dehydrated, and that was the cause. It made Tuesday interesting.

We went to the preschool on Tuesday morning, and I can't really remember that much about it (I wonder why?) I know that they practiced Christmas songs for the Christmas program they are having in November (before summer break), and it is easy to figure out who learns phonetically :)

Wednesday's highlight was the youth program, where we read the stories of the lost sheep and the prodigal son. The kids decorated hearts that said "God always loves me." Forgiveness and grace may not always be emphasized, and we want to make sure that the kids know they cannot earn their way to eternal life, but that they must receive it as a gift of grace.

Thursday we had the mommies meeting, and it was a great time. They are learning so much, and are grateful for the chance to learn, which makes leading a pleasure.

Friday brought about the highlight of the week: a sleepover with 2 of our youth group girls. These girls are so precious and full of potential, not to mention fun! We watched movies after youth group, and then spent the next morning making and distributing PB&J sandwiches to kids in Block E. It was simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking; heartbreaking to see them exposed to so much poverty, but beautiful to see them showing Christ's love.



On Sunday we had another special event: a missionary family came down from Windhoek to accompany some students from the Namibian Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS). One of their students, who is from Rehoboth, preached at a local church we had never been to, and we went to support him. Unfortunately his message was in Afrikaans, but we got the gist of it, and he did very well (it was about racism versus unity in the body of believers). Afterwards we had the chance to have lunch with his family and spend time with the Windhoek group.

J.G. Day

Last Tuesday I had the last-minute opportunity to do Hope's Promise- Namibia's first-ever Jonathan Green Day photo shoot. Jonathan Green is an African-American painter who's work is admired by many individuals involved in Hope's Promise, and they wanted to do a photo shoot to interpret his work and have a lot of fun. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Rundu

This past week we had the opportunity to visit our dear friend (also Nicole) in Rundu, located about 10 hours north of us on the Angolan border. She is a wonderful hostess, a terrific conversationalist, and a precious sister in the Lord.

This is a sign seen all along the road to Rundu, and it means warthog crossing. Yes, we actually saw some warthogs, but they weren’t exactly what I expected (they look nothing like Pumba).

The scenery on the way up changes dramatically, from sparse desert shrubs around Rehoboth to beautiful trees and prairie grass near Rundu, which is in more of a tropical climate. It made me miss home.

However, this is what made me really homesick:

As less than 1% of the land in Namibia is farmable, a corn field is a rare sight indeed.

People really do carry things on their heads, just like in the movies. And I mean all the time, and usually with no hands. They are completely nonchalant. I really want to learn, because it keeps your hands free, but I think I might look a little silly (I think it takes quite a lot of practice). As if I don’t stick out enough, I’ll just add carrying a large parcel on my head to the equation. On second thought, maybe it will help me to blend in…

This is the most common traditional dwelling in the area, called a rondavel:

One night, we were actually invited to dinner for one, which was…so incredible. Nicole has been blessed with so many incredible relationships, and we were privileged to be able to be dinner guests of one friend. We ate a traditional meal in the traditional style, using our hands as utensils:

A couple more friends came along, and it was a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement. Two of them work with projects focused on purity, so we had tons to talk about, and it was so heartening to meet local people who believe that this is so important. In their region, it is incredibly rare to be committed to purity, even among Christians. In fact, women are encouraged to have children before marriage to prove their fertility, and men are told to have as many sexual partners as possible. The whole situation is heart-breaking.

We spent all day Sunday (our first full day there) in Bible study, listening to a sermon, worshipping, praying, and talking; it was basically all-day church, and it was phenomenal!

Rundu is famous for it’s open market, and Josh and Steve pretty much drooled over the weapons they had for sale there. These spears were a serious favorite (but so difficult to take in one’s carry-on ; )


Check out this crazy plant. I see them around, but this was one of the nicest I have seen by far. The crazy part? Look closely- it’s actually composed of pink leaves instead of petals!

So much in Rundu inspired me to look at the details. Even here, Josh and I find ourselves rushing around trying to complete tasks, and we miss out on the people. I don’t know why; we love getting to know the people here. Sometimes it seems like we think we must be making big sacrifices and suffering in order to serve God, and that if we enjoy something, it must be selfish. I have no idea where I came up with this ridiculous concept; I know that God created our hearts, personalities, and dreams…it seems the enemy will use anything to try to keep us from doing God’s will.

We realized we have been trying to do way to much here, and that we need to cut back. It is so difficult, because there are so many needs we could be ministering to, but we cannot single-handedly fix everything. We want to shift towards focusing more on individuals and smalls groups; we will still work with some larger groups (like at the youth center), but that will not be our main focus. If we change a lot of lives a little bit, that’s great but it probably won’t last. We want to be used by God to have a dramatic and lasting influence on a few lives, in the hope that they will be able to continue ministering to the community once we leave. This is an important transition for us, and it is somewhat intimidating. Please pray with us for God’s guidance and direction.

These last few pictures are were taken the night before we left. It was impossible not to sense God’s power, and majesty, and glory through witnessing this in person. I’ve come to believe that sunsets are Africa’s crowning glory. Even when surrounded by barren landscape, they are spectacular. This sunset, however, took place over the crocodile-filled Kavango River, which feeds into the magnificent Okavanga Delta in Botswana.

Block E

Recently, we (13 of us) piled into a teammates vehicle and went to deliver 320 PB&J sandwiches to kids in Block E. Rehoboth is divided into sections, and Block E is the most impoverished as well as the most dangerous. Many of the residents speak Nama, so even the tiny bit of Afrikaans we know isn’t always helpful. However, holding out food to a hungry child easily erases language barriers.

As soon as we began to hand out food, we were mobbed by hungry kids. Most of them are dirty and barefoot, and they think we’re rich because we’re white. And to them, we really are. Because of the amount of need, we only give food to children, and it is very difficult to turn away a hungry person just because they are an adult. It is a tough choice to make.

Some of the kids got creative, and would go home to change clothes to get a second sandwich. They also ran around the block to come at us from a different direction, trying to confuse us about who had already been fed.

Overall though, most of the kids are so unselfish. Although they usually aren’t getting the nutrition they need, they were often more concerned about sharing with family and friends than about themselves. If there is anyone in whom I would understand greed, it would be them, but they were models of what Jesus would want, even though most don’t know him yet.

“In the poor, we meet Jesus in His most distressing disguises” - Mother Theresa

They fill me with Joy

A peak into how we spent the first weekend of 2009. We had a pirate-color party with the Lovewell kids (check out some former posts here and here). It's complicated kid stuff- you wouldn't understand : )