A Matter of Perspective

Last Sunday afternoon, an African man came to our house with a “gift”.  He  brought us a Marsh Owl (still alive!) that had flown into his porch light the night before and gotten disoriented.  He described it flopping around, like it was blind, on his porch.  He went on to say that he had hit the owl in the head multiple times with a stick....which we didn’t understand.  We couldn’t quite figure out from his broken English if that was the only way he could subdue it to capture it (it was a bit menacing: about 15 inches tall, with a sharp beak and claws, and prone to hissing), or if it was for sport....?  

When the owl was still living the next morning, the man decided to bring it to us to care for.  (I guess after the kids looked after the litter of kittens in the dining hall, we became known as the “mzungus who like animals”).  The man had set it on the ground in front of our house.  It was a beautiful bird with brown and cream speckled feathers, the characteristic heart-shaped face, and piercing black eyes.  Had it not been sitting nearly sideways with its wings flopped out on the ground, he would have appeared quite majestic. 

Jason and Ethan made it a perch with a tree branch propped up on two cinder blocks.  Jason used the branch to lift the owl up and move it behind the house, where it wouldn’t be disturbed by all the African children who were poking at it with sticks and yelling at it.  Ethan was able to get it to drink water from a spoon (we made him wear safety goggles just in case it decided it had enough energy to attack him!)  Shortly after it drank, it started to perk up, and stood up straight on the perch with his wings pulled into his sides.  

When it began getting dark, the man who brought us the owl came back by and told us that if we left it on the ground behind the house, stray dogs would come by at night and eat it.  So Jason and Ethan found a suitable location higher up, on the 2nd floor stair railing of a building being constructed next door.  They carried the perch up there, owl and all, and laid it across the corner of the railing.  

The next morning, the kids went to check on Willow.  (Funny how any critter that comes into contact with my kids ends up with a name.)  He was still sitting on the railing, but when they approached, he flew off.  We were pleased that he looked strong and was able to fly well.  The kids felt really good, especially Ethan, that they were able to help Willow recover.  But alongside the feeling of satisfaction nagged this unanswered question that bothered all of us:  Why had the man beaten this magnificent bird with a stick?  

The next day, we asked Festo (our new Ugandan friend) about it.  Festo explained that many people here hold a belief that if an owl lands on your house, it brings a curse and someone in that household will die.  So by beating the bird, the man believed he was protecting his family.  That made more sense to us, and satisfied the nagging question...until another question popped into my head that still hasn’t been answered:  Then why did he bring the owl to us as a “gift”?  Hmm...  I think some things just don’t translate well into words.

We learned about another local belief this morning:  If you burn a rubber tire in front of your house, the stench will drive away snakes.  After seeing our first burning tire next to a set of snake tracks in the sand near our house today, I might just give that theory a go.  

Top 10 Things I am Thankful for this Week...

1.  My little house on the YWAM Arusha base, where we can retreat, invite friends, and build relationships.
2. That when I turn on the faucet, water USUALLY comes out.
3. That when I turn on the light-switch, the lights USUALLY come on.
4. That my toilet has a seat.
5. That we have a propane stove to heat water for dishes and bathing.
6. That our new friend, Upendo, has become our guardian angel, bringing us little (and big!) treats that we can share with others (like today’s lunch of BBQ pork ribs and SALAD!!).
7. That in America, when we have beef for dinner, we haven’t first seen it tied to a tree and moo-ing; then later, down on the grass getting skinned; then later still, in recognizable chunks all over the kitchen.
8. That I have been given fewer work duties each week, so that I can spend more time with my children.
9. That I have my family here with me (all the other students are here alone).
10. That God is doing a work IN us, so that He can work THROUGH us.  

The Importance of Bean Sorting and Other Such Knowledge

It’s amazing that with two college degrees, I still have so much to learn from my Brothers and Sisters in a developing country, many of whom may not have even finished primary school.  For example, bean sorting.  What exactly constitutes a “bad bean”?  Clearly, the ones with worm holes or black mold are bad.   But what about the broken beans, split beans, or just plain wrinkly or discolored beans?  Fortunately my new friends are patient with me when I have to ask, “Is this a bad bean?”  And as lowly a job as bean sorting may sound, it is actually very important.  During my two hours of bean sorting this week, I realized that I had a big responsibility to keep people from getting sick from bad beans, or cracking a tooth on a stray rock...especially in a place where medical and dental care are inaccessible for most people.

Last Friday, the girls and I helped in the kitchen, rolling chapati.  It is actually very difficult to roll ROUND chapati.  Ours were more “artistic”.  My favorite one looked a little like a road-kill flat cat.  It is rather humbling, though, when the cooker person brings it back and says, “Not this one” and you have to squish it all up and start over.  Our new African friends are very nice and helpful, but I can tell they feel a little sorry for the poor mzungus who don’t know how to do anything!  

Yesterday, we ventured off to find an internet cafe that some friends told us about.  We had a crude map (think, “Turn left at the big rock, and right at the trees that are standing in a row.”), and walked for nearly an hour to get there.  About half an hour into our walk, we encountered a swarm of bees encompassing the entire path we were walking on.  Surprised, and fearful because Jason is allergic, we turned around and began to run away.  An old man, who had passed us going the other direction, saw us running and started shouting at us, “Hapana! (No!)  Pole pole (Go slowly!)”  We were confused by the gestures he was making because it looked as though he was motioning us to go back towards the bees.  We stood there, evaluating the situation:  a large hedge of thorny bushes to the left, a field of thorny weeds to the right, a swarm of bees on the path in front of us, and a safe path back home behind us.  As we started down the safe path back home, the old man approached us and gestured for us to follow him.  He is now affectionately known by our family as the “Bee Whisperer”, as he slowly and calmly led us right through the swarm of bees and delivered us safely to the other side of the danger so we could continue on our journey.  We later learned that it is common knowledge in Africa to just walk slowly through bees.  Hakuna Matata. 

Today, we had our first off-campus church experience.  The adventure (and I do not use that term lightly), was yet another humbling reminder of how much we have to learn about surviving in East Africa.   Fortunately, we were led by our new friend, Festo from Uganda, who took very good care of us clueless mzungus.  

We left at 8:15 a.m. to get to church by 10:00 a.m.  We started out by walking about 45 minutes to catch the first of two matatus (15-passenger vans used as buses).  The first matatu ride was fairly comfortable, with only 19 people inside.  The second ride got a bit more cozy with 21 people.  We made it just before church started, stayed for the 1-1/2 hour service, and took about the same amount of time to get back.  (For those of you wondering how a church service in Africa could end so soon, it was a mzungu church.)  The final matatu on the way home was a record-breaker, even for Festo who is used to over-crowded matatus.  We topped out at 26 people...several of whom were literally hanging out the windows!  This experience gives an entirely new meaning to HOVs (High Occupancy Vehicles!).  

On the last leg of our journey home, which was walking about 2 miles from the main road back to the YWAM base, we encountered multiple vehicles zooming past us from both directions.  Picture a dirt road with no sidewalks, and matatus and motorcycles driving on the opposite side of the street than we are used to (except when they cross over to dodge large potholes or other oncoming vehicles).  Suddenly we realized we had no idea which side of the road was safest to jump to when a vehicle came barreling by.  It was Festo who enlightened us... In Africa, you actually walk single file down the middle of the road, so the cars can pass on either side.  Who would have thought!?!?!  Had it not been for Festo, we would still be wandering aimlessly around Arusha Town, or worse yet, we might be resembling the road-kill hedgehog we saw on our walk yesterday.

“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you.  Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.  And He chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful.  God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”     I Corinthians 1: 26-29.

    

Start With a Bucket...

If you want to begin to understand our Brothers and Sisters around the world, I suggest you start with a bucket and some laundry soap.  I am presenting a challenge to each of you, which I hope you will take seriously.  I would love to hear comments about what you learn during this experience.    

First, wait until afternoon, when the sun is still high and there is little shade.  Then pile up, on the lawn, one week’s worth of your own dirty laundry, including at least one pair of socks that started out white but are now heavily soiled with dirt, a pair of jeans, one large bed sheet, and one heavy bath towel.  

Fill your bucket with cold water and some laundry soap.  Stuff as many items into the bucket as you can, then one by one, pull them to the top of the bucket and scrub them.  The proper Tanzanian way to scrub is to start at one end and work your way down, grabbing fabric in both hands and rubbing it briskly together in the suds.  

You must bend over at the waist to reach the bucket, no fair cheating with a chair or stool.  However, if you are a mzungu, you can stand up once in awhile, or squat with bent knees, just to keep yourself from passing out.  

After each piece is sufficiently scrubbed, squeeze the soapy water out of it, and put it in another pile awaiting a rinse.  Take note that sufficient scrubbing involves returning once-white socks to their original color.  I can tell you from experience that it is harder than it looks.  And if you cheat, everyone will know what a poor washer you are by noting your still dirty socks hanging on the laundry line in front of your house.  

Once all the pieces are scrubbed, empty out your bucket and fill it with clean rinse water.  Rinse each piece thoroughly, then wring it out and hang it over a laundry line to dry.  From experience I can also tell you that double rinsing works best, or else you’ll end up with jeans and undergarments that chafe.  

While you work, sing praise songs about how thankful you are.  Keep at this for two straight hours without taking a break.  If you finish your laundry pile before the two hours are up, go ask a neighbor if you can help them with some of their laundry.  When you are done, stand up straight and smile broadly.  

In class this morning, we learned about the spiritual discipline of practicing the presence of God throughout the day.  In the presence of God, even menial tasks can become an act of worship.     

Psalm 16

Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! 

All the good things I have are from you.”

The godly people in the land are my true heroes!  

I take pleasure in them!

Those who chase after other gods will be filled with sorrow.

I will not take part in their sacrifices, 

or even speak the names of their gods.

Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.

You guard all that is mine.

The land you have given me is a pleasant land.

What a wonderful inheritance!

I will bless the Lord who guides me; 

Even at night my heart instructs me.

I know the Lord is always with me.

I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.

No wonder my heart is filled with joy, 

and my mouth shouts His praises!

My body rests in safety, 

for you will not leave my soul among the dead,

Or allow your godly one to rot in the grave.

You will show me the way of life,

granting me the joy of your presence

and the pleasure of living with you forever.

   

     

A Day in the Life of a YWAM Student

6:00 - 7:00 a.m.:   Awake to the alarm clock, as we are now able to sleep through all the roosters, ibises, dogs, and crickets.  Immediately turn on the kettle to heat water for sponge baths and breakfast dishes.  Bathe, get dressed, and pack up breakfast gear.

7:00 - 7:30 a.m.  Walk to dining hall for breakfast, which is usually chai tea and white bread.  The bread is freshest at the beginning of the week, and gets gradually more dried out by the end of the week.  We have learned to bring peanut butter and jelly with us for a more substantial meal.

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.  Return home to do breakfast dishes, and Bible study with the kids.  If time, sweep and mop floors from all the dust that finds its way into every nook and cranny.

8:30 - 10:00 a.m.  Worship and Intercessory Prayer time with the whole campus.  Worship songs are generally 1 to 3 lines long and repeated many times before moving to the next song, which makes the Swahili versions easier to learn!  Prayer is done “Tanzanian Style”, with everyone praying aloud (some louder than others) and all at the same time.  The first time we experienced this, Mei asked, “Can God hear everyone when they are all talking at once?”  We are finding it difficult to concentrate during prayer, not being used to this.

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.  Lecture with our DTS (Discipleship Training School) class.  Our class has 32 students.  Only 4 of us are mzungus (white people).  Annie is a college student who is from Michigan, but has just finished her second year at SPU!  Adam is from Vancouver, Canada.  The other students are from various parts of East Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.  We have several Masaii students from the bush, so campus is much more civilized than they are used to.  Most speak at least some English, so our classes are taught dually in English and Swahili.  We are learning a lot of Swahili just with the exposure, even though there is no formal language training!  Jason and I are the oldest students (Mama and Baba Mzee), and the only ones attending as a couple.

11:00 - 11:30 a.m.  Chai tea break.

11:30 - 1:00 p.m. More lecture time. 

1:00 - 1:30 p.m.  Lunch, which is usually rice or ugali (corn meal cooked with water to the consistency of mashed potatoes); with either beans, potato stew, or sukuma wiki (stewed greens).   Occasionally there will be a few chunks of beef in the rice, called pilau.  

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.  Free time.  This is when we do our household chores, such as lunch dishes, laundry, and additional cleaning.  When there is time, we play with the kids, check email (when the internet server isn’t down), etc.  Currently, Jason is working on putting together some simple book shelves in his free time so I can organize us a little better.

3:00 - 5:00 p.m.  Campus work duties, which may include food preparation, kitchen clean up, public bathroom cleaning, weeding and raking, hauling and sorting garbage, among other things.  

5:00 - 6:00 p.m.  Free time.

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.  Dinner, which is similar to lunch.  We still need to figure out how to get to town every week so we can pick up some additional fruit, vegetables, and eggs to supplement.

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.  Lecture or free time, depending on the day of the week.

9:30 p.m.  Bedtime.

The kids also started school on Monday. I think their favorite part of school is keeping their field journals, where they are keeping track of each new critter we see and writing about it.  We learned yesterday about the Agama Lizard, which is bright blue with an orange head.  We have also learned that native Africans don’t like reptiles.  Ethan was carrying another chameleon around today and all the mzungus were very intrigued, but the Africans were disgusted (and amused at the crazy mzungus).  

Jason took Mei’s staples out yesterday.  She did extremely well holding still, so we took her up to the little shop on campus and let her pick a treat.  She picked a lollipop, and was very excited, saying, “I didn’t know they had lollipops in Africa!”  

We just got word that our final piece of luggage is at the airport, so we are hoping it still contains all or most of it's contents:  all the math books (the kids are sooooo disappointed - ha!), Ethan’s Science Lab kit, some of Jason’s clothes, and some over the counter medicines we had stocked up on.  

Thank you all for your emails and notes of encouragement.  We love hearing about what is happening in each of your lives back home!  God bless you!  

The Adventure Begins!

Jambo!  We arrived safely in Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday, Sept. 1 with just a few snafus along the way.  The first was a bit more than a “snafu”, but did not thwart God’s plan for our departure.  On Monday, about 4 hours before we were supposed to be at the airport, Mei fell and split the back of her head open.  Jason and Grandma Marmie took her to the ER at Highline Hospital, and with everyone’s prayers and speedy doctors, they were out of there in an hour and a half!  That was definitely a miracle!  She ended up with 6 staples in her head that we have to wash daily and keep covered in antibiotic ointment.  They gave us a handy dandy staple remover for when the time comes to pull them out.  We are not looking forward to that, but are a bit more confident since we took the Health Care class with PBT.  I was so grateful it happened before we left so I didn’t have to stitch her up myself!  She is doing well now with just a little tenderness around the wound.  

We had checked into paying for extra baggage before we left, figuring those fees would be less than shipping, and had been anticipating a $48 per extra bag fee according to the airline website.  We had 3 extras, so were expecting to pay around $150.   Somehow, that $150 turned into a total of $700 in extra baggage fees by the time we got here!  It was going to be even more, but I managed to turn on the tears saying, “But we’re just trying to help orphans.  We left our jobs, our families, blah blah blah...” and suddenly they shaved $400 off the fees.  

Most of our luggage arrived, with only one still missing.  However three of our sturdy plastic bins look like they got thrown off the plane (likely before it even landed!), and shattered, so some of our stuff arrived in plastic bags.  Fortunately none of our fragile belongings were in any of those.  

When we went to get our visas on arrival, we had to apply for visitor visas (which are only good for 90 days).  We had already applied (and paid!) for student visas several months ago, but they did not process in time, so we had to get temp ones until the student ones come through.  The people in line in front of us were from Guatemala and had to pay $50 each.  When we gave our passports, the agent said, “That will be $100 each.”  So we asked why we had to pay $100 when the people in front of us only had to pay $50.  He said, “You are Americans.”  So, there went another 600 bucks that we would not have had to spend had our student visas come on time.  The kids started to get really nervous when they kept seeing Jason pull out fresh $100 bills to pay all these fees, but I think they are learning quickly that many “problems” in Africa can be solved with money.  It is also a reminder of how God provides.  Before we left, He had given us more money than we had budgeted for, so we know He has provided what we will need.

When we arrived, there were several YWAM staff waiting for us with two vehicles.  They took us straightaway to the YWAM campus, to let us get settled into our home for the next 5 months.  Previously unbeknownst to us, YWAM has provided us with a private apartment furnished with a couch, chairs, a table, and beds.  What a wonderful surprise!  We have three bedrooms: one for Jason and I; a big one for the kids with two sets of bunks; and a small one for Myrtlemay.  The bathroom has running water and a toilet with a seat!  Ellie, especially, was extremely pleased!!  We had used the restroom in the Dar Es Salaam airport, and although it was “Western style”, it was missing the seat, and the girls are not quite tall enough to squat over it, so it was a bit tricky.    

They are taking good care of us here, and the kids seem to be adapting well already.   Even though the kids seem to be doing fine, Mei is obsessed with asking, “What is Ruthie doing right now?”   She is so intrigued by the 10 hour time difference, and of course she is missing her cousin and best friend.  

We wake up to roosters at about 4:00 a.m. each morning.  They are apparently set to go off like my snooze alarm, because after they wake me, they settle down enough to where I can go back to sleep for a half hour before they start up again.  By 5:00 the ibises flocking in the nearby tree join the cacophony.  I will say that the ibises have the roosters beat by a long shot.  I think it is about 6:00 before the howling of the local stray dog population joins in the morning music, all played to the background rhythm of crickets.  Breakfast is served at 7:00 so fortunately we have plenty of help waking up in time.  

We took a walk into the surrounding neighborhood yesterday and Ethan had his handmade slingshot with him.  It was an instant kid-magnet, and we were quickly surrounded by children wanting to play with his slingshot.  Most of them did not know English, so it was difficult to explain safety rules when they started pointing it at each other.  We had to resort to waving our arms and turning the children towards the nearby empty field.  Yikes!  We have had to explain to our kids that our usual safety rules still apply, but that others won’t necessarily use the same standards.     

Ethan, our animal lover, is constantly out exploring the compound for little critters.  Happily, I was told there are no snakes here.  He caught a chameleon yesterday and all three kids played with the poor little fella for quite some time.  I was standing behind it and it was pretty neat when he rotated his beady little eye all the way around to look at me without using his head!  

Today was laundry day.  I am such a wimp!  I had two blisters by the time we were done washing and wringing only three days worth of clothes.  The kids did great, and we all appreciate the convenience of a washing machine so much more than we ever did when we actually had one!

We start our YWAM classes, and the kids start school on Monday, so we have a few more days to relax and get settled in.  We are praying for all of you back home.  Please email us and keep us posted on what is going on in your lives!  We don’t want to feel disconnected from all of you who we care so deeply about.  Thank you for your prayers and support!