A Beautiful African Wedding
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this is mikayla, the daughter of the american teacher from last week. she's one of those kids who you instantly love! (oh that's me in a borrowed african dress!)
an adventure from then to now
this is mikayla, the daughter of the american teacher from last week. she's one of those kids who you instantly love! (oh that's me in a borrowed african dress!)
there's an art to getting africans to smile for a photo. of all the wedding photos i've seen, none have had smiles. so this photo, even tho it's not infocus makes me smile. just to see these african have a great time. and the view of the mountain was so incredible. click to photo to see more of my photos.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" - Isaiah 52.7 this is the view i had of the mountain yesterday. it was really amazing. now you see why i had to grap my camera!
so there is a wedding here for one of the staff. his name is solomon and the bride's name is anna. this place is buzzing with excitement and expectation. it's fun to be a part of it. i had the opportunity to serve in the kitchen for awhile this morning - gotta love cleaning the rice! 'papeta' - to sift/separate/winnow the rice. it's crazy how much work goes into perparing food on an open fire for 200 guests. it takes everyone on the base to make it happen! i'm excited to see if there will be any different foods. i helped breifly to peel green bananas - wonder what that will be? may have to take some more photos!
next i was invited by the other american to share french toast and fruit! oh it was the best french toast i've ever had in my life! (for you who know me well, you know that i don't particularly enjoy french toast, but this was really good!) probably because i've not had anything besides dry bread for breakfast since i've arrived. (except when i bought the peanut butter!)
next, i was out in the bush having my quiet time, and looked up and saw the mountain had the clearest view! the whole thing was showing. so i had to go to my room to get my camera. i'll update the photos later. i have some great ones.
then i sort of had a little run-in with a maasia man. i was taking photos of the mountain, and he walked into my path. then he got upset with me because i had taken his photo. since i barely understood anything he was saying, i kept telling him that i did not understand. then Philip, another ywam-er, came and rescued me. they discussed for quite some time. it turns out that this maasai man was expecting me to pay him 10,000 shillings for the photo. (10,000 shillings equals $10 usd) philip persuaded him that i was only taking photos, and that i wasn't going to pay for the discrepancy. so the maasai man left. so i learned a lesson about taking photos of locals!
after i got back to my room, i checked my email quick and found out that the Hotze's have found the missing passport. we've been praying like fools over here in africa for that passport to show up. and God revealed it. i don't know any details about how they found it, but you can check out watapaching for details. and you can keep praying for them as they travel to Jamaica for a week. it's going to be an amazing time - already the miracles are starting!
after i read the email, i then understood why i had been praising God for his good gifts all morning. somehow i knew that the passport would appear and that God would answer the prayers. that's what i was expecting. my heart was not set on allowing denise to travel to jamaica without steven. we've been learning about spiritual warfare during our class, and how we are to pray against the devil's schemes. our prayers have to be backed by our desires to see things changed - and our beliefs need to be confirmed by our actions. oh so many prayers for that passport!
our theme for our class this week is the Holy Spirit. we've only had one lecture, but so far it's been really good. the speaker speaks in english with a very heavy african accent. i'm learning to decipher african/english... it's sometimes a challenge. looking forward to what God will say through the messages. each week has provided me with great knowledge and challenges to lay down more of my life. it's been a wild ride. one doesn't have any clue how incredibly selfish they are until they are put into a situation with people who have nothing. then the lines between what's mine and yours are erased and everything becomes ours. this lesson is taking it's toll on me. during my qt this morning, this verse jumped out: [2 cor 8.14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality.] this 'equality' is quite difficult and painful. i want to have my own things. i want to buy a coke and drink the entire thing myself. i want to buy a candy bar and eat the whole thing. i want to have ice cream without having to feel guilty because i have money to buy it. (those are examples!) what i'm realizing is that all these examples are my selfishness shining its ugly head.
before we went to boma, were told that this district - the Hai-Kilimanjaro district - has one of the highest percentage of HIV patients in the country. more that 1 out of 9 are affirmed to have HIV. so we prayed and prayed, and discovered that there are more bars than shops in boma.
for lunch i had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. the bananas are so deliciously sweet! i could possibly eat a dozen bananas at one sitting.
about 3 this afternoon a group of us wandered into boma to shop. it was a fun trip. i bought some laundry soap, an aloe vera bar soap, a couple of ink pens and some mango flavored creme-filled cookies. the cookies were incredible! i'll definitely be getting some more of them!
the reason i got the laundry soap is because i've developed a rash behind my knees. it's mostly irritating with i'm sweating or laying in bed. from what i've read on the internet, other people have had similar rashes when they've swapped laundry detergent. so i'm praying that this new laundry detergent will cause this rash to leave. the rash is extremely itchy, and it's been driving me nuts for a while. so if you wanna lift up a prayer for this rash to leave my body, i'd be much appreciative! or if you may have any suggestions what to try to get rid of this rash, please comment! i forgot to pack some itch-reliever, and i'm regretting that. so i'll add that to the 'must have' list. so far i have several items on that list:
toilet paper
small scrub brush for feet
itch-relief ointment
washcloth
flip-flops
backpack
bug repellent
sunscreen
after we got back from the swimming adventure it was time for dinner - typical makande, with bonus rice [wali] on the side! very exciting to have a change. but anyway, while i was standing [nilisimama] in line to get my food, i realized that my arms [mikono] are really tan... but my legs [miguu] are still super white (now pink!).
i didn't get my laundry [ufuaji] completed today [leo] due to the outing! probably tomorrow [kesho] i'll need to at least rinse out my clothes that are soaking in the bucket of water [maji], but i try not to do my work [kasi] on sunday due to the sabbath.
had a great talk with japheth tonight. he's the other (fluent) english speaking student going thru the DTS program. i really respect him for who he is and his desire to see people change for the better. Jesus has placed a burning desire within japheth to see others come to know Christ. i really enjoy speaking with him, and hearing his thoughts about life. miriam is a blessed lady to have japheth as her boyfriend.
Come in close
Come in close and speak
Come in close
Come closer to me
Come in closer, come in closer
And the power of Your words
Are filled with grace and mercy
Let them fall on my ears
And break my stony heart
Come in close
Come in close and speak
God, come in close
Come closer to me, Yeah
that song, tho simple lyrics, has spoken to my soul. "break my stony heart" is beginning to be true for my life. i can feel the layers for pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, etc. all falling off. it's quite painful. i feel broken, hurt, abused in some ways, but i know this is a transformation which i need to go through. it feels like paper cuts all over my body, or a miserable rash that refuses to leave. and it feels like the hurt of running over your neighbors dog. or maybe like when your kid falls from her bike and skins her knee. it feels like compassion and pain, mercy and grace all bundled together.
but although it's painful there is great hope welling up within me. i can see the light, flickering at the end of the tunnel. it's dim, but it still shines through the darkness. the darkness flees just before the light no matter how fast the light is moving. there are 2 verse in the book of Micah which have spoken to me today: [7.7 but as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord; I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.] and [7.8b Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.] i need to remind myself that the world doesn't revolve around me. and i have no light on my own, except for what God has bestowed upon me.
tomorrow i'm going to a resort to go swimming. the american speaker and his family has invited me to go with them to the resort for some fun. they are a great family. the mom home schools, so the kids have class everyday. she said that she's not particularly fond of being the teacher, but the schools near their home are all run by muslims. the kids would have 'religion' class for an hour day - and what that means is the kids would have to bow to allah.
i really need to finish my homework, since i've not started it - need to write a 5 page paper. oh so exciting.... too bad i can't type it. we don't have a printer available.
i was washing my clothes this afternoon and another one of the students felt sorry for me (because i'm so stinking pathetic at washing my clothes!) so she helped me... it turned into her washing all my clothes. too bad i can't pay her to wash my clothes each week - that would be amazing. oh the character-building activities... like volleyball! :) well, maybe not, but it's teamwork, another lesson i'm learning. no one can make a decision on their own. everyone needs to ask many other people before they decide to do anything. it's all interdependence, which i'm learning. not sure i can change from being 'ms. independent' to 'ms. i-can't-decide-on-my-own-to-do-anything'. i'm curious to know how much i will change in the 6 months i'm here... 5 more to go! guess we'll see.
hey laura - wanna pray on your birthday for zimbabwe? oh c'mon! just commit! you know you want to!
today instead of class our teacher set up a ropes course for us to navigate. i may have been the only student who has every seen a ropes course, so that made the challenge even greater. oh, and the girls trying to navigate through the ropes with their skits was a trip too! overall my team did the best b/c we started communicating right away. some of the other teams were very frustrated with some of their teammates.
3 times throughout our navigation, we were gathered together to discuss some of what we were going through, and how those emotions will be felt when we attempt to intercede for others. sometimes we'll want to give up. sometimes we'll have fun. sometimes we'll need to depend on others to lift us over the obstacle. sometimes others will hinder us from accomplishing the task. it was a great time of debriefing and teamwork.
our speaker this week brought along his wife and 4 girls. the girls ages are 8, 5, 4, and 3 months. the four year old has become my little shadow. she's the cutest little thing - a little tomboy. she has short hair and dislikes shoes. she's constantly carrying around our orphaned puppy. her name is meekala. she has brought me great joy the last couple of days. having the 3 bright-white, blonde hair, blue-eyed, english speaking little girls running around the camp has brought a refreshing spirit. they are typical missionary kids, and i love them to pieces! there is something so precious about them.
one of the guys from my class asked me why i was a different color than them. (guess i'm getting a bit of a tan!) who knew? perhaps my watchband line should be some indication. it struck me odd that he would ask that question, but he was simply curious. i told him for the same reason that some of the other students are darker than he is. (as i typed that last sentence the electricity went out again. guess this post will need to be updated tomorrow. i've learned to type the blog updates in a word processor first, so that i can save them without losing my work.
today is tuesday, march 20. that means a month ago tomorrow my friends were taking me to the airport. how crazy is that! i can barely believe that it's been a month.
i had 2 treats yesterday - jello and pudding. they were given as a gift to my teacher, but she doesn't have a fridge, so she invited me to dine with her. it was a special treat to get something cold to eat - this seldom happens here. i can buy a cold bottle of coke for about 30 cents, but that cost money, and when i get one, i feel guilty for drinking it and not sharing, so i've refrained from purchasing many of them.
on the bus ride home we sat near a woman from seattle. she's a HIV/AIDS researcher working for a British company in Uganda. She's been in Africa for about 16 years. Currently she's traveling with a cycling group who are traveling from Egypt to South Africa. This is about 1/2 way for her. It was fun to talk with her about different things.
at the church i met a lady, Leah, from Illinois. She's working with a group regarding community awareness for HIV/AIDS and also with a group of muslims. she volunteers as the children's coordinator at the Vineyard Church. She and her family are about to return to the states for furlough. they've been here in arusha for 2 years, and are returning to the States for schooling and to raise some more support. she said that since she was 12 she knew that God had called her to missions. while attending college to become a missionary she met her husband who was from Tanzania. crazy how God connects people from all over.
sundays are quite laid back around this base. there's barely anything to do besides hang out and talk, and since talking isn't really an option for me, i tend to spend time on my computer. hence, the reason for this update. for lunch today we had bananas and bread.
congrats to my friends, allison and alex, on the arrival of their daughter! can't wait to see some pictures of her.
it's taken me 3 weeks to settle into life here at the base. i'm finally ok with not having all the appliances which make life so much easier. there are still some things which i'm getting used to, like having to take my toilet paper to the restroom with me, because it's not available in the bathroom. cold showers are slowly growing on me, and in the hot afternoons, they actually feel pretty good. i'm loving the view of the mountains and am relaxing with the people whom i live. even though we don't speak the same language, our lives are slowly being intertwined. this a beautiful thing.
i'm been spending a lot of time on the internet the last couple of days, partly because the internet was repaired, and partly so i could learn some more swahili, but next week i'm going to make a conscious effort to not spend as much time on here. so if you don't get many updates, i'm sorry, but they will return.
it's 12.10 on saturday morning and i'm still awake; gonna regret this when my roommates start mopping the floor at 5.30. oh well, life is short and i'm learning to pray hard. :)
i pray for all of you, 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.' (romans 15.13)
but i have learned some lessons through this time of being completely cut off from communicating with friends and family from america: first, that i can still survive without it and secondly, that God designed me to communicate with Him. He's given me new meaning to when He says, "I AM". i've had to depend on Him to fulfill my need for communication, never before have i realized how much i depend on talking with people to express myself and for them to express themselves to me. i crave that. but before this trip, i may not have understood the depths of how much i long for this. i'm not a good hermit, nor am i an island.
our class is going really well. the teachers have been wonderful. this guy that we have leading us this week has been incredible. he is the king of open-ended questions. he's straight-forward, and not afraid so say, 'no, that's the the right answer'. it's pretty intense, but we just can't get enough of him. he speak the truth in such a way that you feel compelled to look up in the Bible where he found that info. and sure enough, he has all the scriptures stored in his mind in order for us to know for sure that he's speaking Truth. it's been really good for me. one of things he's spoke about it repentance. he mentioned how we need to get rid of idols. and he explained an idols as anything you feel you can't do for the sake of Christ. for me this means eating goat meat. i hate it. honestly - it's so disgusting. i gag each time i attempt to eat it. so i've stopped trying to eat it, but that's just a little something. how about eating caterpillars, or cow intestine, or eating food which has sat on the counter all night with the bugs crawling in it. just take a minute to think about that definition and think about what you are not willing to do for Christ. that was a hard lesson for me... and it continues to be hard.
i've accomplish a simple task which i'm hoping will drastically help me: i've added another foam mattress pad to my bed. since we are all sleeping on bunkbeds, the bunk above me isn't being used. so i added that to my bed. now i have a double mattress and so far it feels pretty good. this might help me to sleep a bit better. it's not that i've been sleeping poorly, but i can tell that i've been moving around a great deal in the night. oh and the fact that since i've been here, i've not used more than a sheet to sleep under. it's quite hot, and there are no fans. (for me to say that it's hot, most of you will know that it's really hot --i've been nicknamed 'refrigerator woman' {that's for you, val!})
so this weeks 'work duty' is to clean the bathrooms. let's just say that they are nasty. from the showers (called bathrooms) and the toilets (not to be called bathrooms, but toilets!), they are just gross. it's amazing how much dirty can stick to one person throughout the day. then multiply that dirt by 40 people and you can begin to understand how disgusting they are. then multiply that number times the amount of urine that misses the hole in which we are to pee. (all for the glory of God, i tell you!) good thing for my scrub brush! for a $1.50, it's been worth its value time after time.
had another discussion on one of the dts leaders today. he mentioned that he appreciate my patience, and the we are all struggling together. he said a lot of other things also, but it was good to hear that we are all struggling together. it was a good reminder that i'm not the only one struggling the differences.
on sunday i went to a different church, El Shaddai. we sang for 1.5 hours, then were screamed at for 45 minutes. i don't worship best when i'm being screamed at - another new understanding for me. i really don't like to be yelled at, not at all. just tell me politely what i've done wrong, and i'll do what i can to change... no need to holler at me for 45 minutes. (but this is another way that i'm learning who i am.)
i've come to understand that i'm irritated by many things. and all these little things are the things which God desires to change in me. simply because i don't worship best while being screamed at, doesn't me that it's wrong. God is using this church to impact many people. i'm expected to be patient and seek the truth, which i assume was being preached (i didn't understand a lick of the message since it was all in swahili.) the pastor used many scripture passages, for which was a grateful for a broken english student to be sitting near me in order to tell me where to look in my Bible.
often during our class we go outside. this morning is the first day that i forgot to put on my sunscreen and i've acquired a nice burn, my first one since i've been in africa... very exciting for me. the sun blazes here on the plains. we were outside for 30 minutes at 10 am and i'm burned. that's just an example. about 4 in the afternoon is when it feels most like a furnace. having the sun against my face and the wind at my back is not pleasant here.
with each passing day i can feel the honeymoon phase coming to a close. i'm beginning to miss things from america more, mostly people and some appliances. but even with those stirring emotions, i'm reminded that God has called me here, and this is where i belong right now. i don't want to be anywhere else, even tho it is stretching me in ways i wasn't expecting to be stretched. life is not promised to be easy. look at Jesus's example.
for our afternoon class today we were asked 3 questions to answer:
is there anything in my heart that i know is unclean in God's eyes?
do i tend to focus on the external religious action rather than the internal motive?
are my motives pure for why i'm involved in Christian activity?
quite the class, huh?
in 10 minutes i get to go and cook again for 3 hours. yesterday i chopped onions, carrots, tomatoes, and cabbage for 3 hours. i made something that resembled saurercraut. it's pretty good to eat. normally it's eaten with ugali, which is the flour and corn mixture. wonder what i'll be creating today?
my leader is going shopping today and she's picking me up some peanut butter. can't wait to have something other than dry bread for breakfast (even if it's miserable peanut butter!).
got my first letter today, so i know the mail is working. the letter took 21 days from alaska. - thanks laura! love the photo!
I wonder what God thinks of this? i have my thoughts, but that is because i grew up in the western hemisphere, with the american church being my norm. but if i had a friendship - and i never let the friend say anything - and only yelled at the friend how great she is, but never allow her to speak to me... i can't imagine that friend would be very appreciative of my friendship.
so this is my prayer: that these new-found friends would experience a real and loving God who desires to have a friendship with them.
highlight of my morning: meeting a maasai man walking along a trail. he and i spoke briefly for a few minutes. he did most of the talking, and pointing, and i asked a few questions. it was really cool. here's how it went down. between 7.30 and 8.30 every day we have our quiet time. i've found this great place to sit and enjoy the view of the mountains and the landscape. but instead of sitting there this morning, i felt like walking. so i headed south from the base and began my trek. i'm not sure how far it was, maybe a mile or so. this bush is quite tame, including some plowed fields with some rock piles. it's very flat where i live. so i'm walking along and had to have surgery on my crocs. stepped on a thorn and it went right through the bottom of my shoes into my foot. so lucky for me, i had my handy-dandy multi-tool (just in case i see a black mambo!) and pulled out the thorn. after the thorn, i kept walking and found a trail. so i followed the trail a while, and noticed some houses further into the bush. they are maasai houses. it was very exciting for me. so i walked a bit further and saw some goats. and sure enough, the herd's boy was walking his goats. at this point i decided to turn around and not go any further
so i began my treck back to the base, and noticed a man following me. he was a maasai man wearing a purple robe and simple sandals and a really nice digital watch. i've discovered that most people wave to greet each other, so i waved. he waved back, so i waited on the trail for him to catch up. he shook my hand and asked me if i was with the Mission. guess he has a good relationship with us. we may buy rice from him - who knows? he knew a few words of english, and now i know a few words of swahili, and together we made it work. he mentioned that he lives near the river (which i didn't know there was a river!) and that he was traveling to boma. he also said that he knows an american friend in boma. oh the things i learn from these africans!
it was incredible to talk w/ him. my heart rejoiced that he was friendly and knew some english. i loved the interaction. seeing him and conversing with him was a great encouragement.
there was on little boy, i would guess he was about 4 years old, with a t-shirt which had the logo, 'US ARMY'. there was also an older teenage boy with a fatigue US Army shirt. Tanzanians think that the US has the greatest army in the all the world. many of these young people would love to be involved in the US Army. that seems so strange to me, but for them it would be a high honor.
this breaks my heart. i'm reminded of the children that are forced to become soldiers. they are fearless, willing to do anything they are told. like these little kids this morning at church - they were so curious that they had to touch me. they were not afraid of the consequence; they simply were curious to know how i would react and why my skin is a different color.
sunday afternoon's are similar to those in american. exiit from church, get some lunch, then take a nap. it's super hot here today. we all sweated throughout our entire naps. the internet says the it's about 95 degrees with the sun blazing from a clear sky.
Today's Challenge: take a luke warm shower, and pray for those who will never experience a hot shower. thank God that you've been blessed with hot water!
my heart overflows with gratefulness for the opportunity to be here in the place with these people who are seeking to know more of life than what their families can offer them. yesterday during class the question was asked, 'what would you do if you had a million shillings ($1,000)?'. my answer was to come to class here at killimanjaro. many looked at me like that was the most insane answer i could give, since a million shillings is an absurd amount of money to go to school.
during class we also spoke of poverty and the effects it has on a society. my answer is so different from theirs. from my standards, many of these students life in poverty; they think i'm rich. their definition of poverty is going without food for more than a week a month, and not having any family to stay with. it definitely gave me a new perspective about american poverty versus african poverty. i am rich.
another new meaning i've come across relates to bread. we eat bread every morning for breakfast, 2 or 3 pieces, along with some tea. the tea is black tea and it is very strong, but we use a great deal of sugar to tame it down. it's a wonder any of out teeth are in decent condition! anyway, the 'our father' says, 'give us our daily bread.' emphasis on daily - everyday we get bread (or i hope we get bread everyday!). sitting in jasper methodist church saying the 'our father' wondering about what's for lunch didn't offer much insight into the meaning of 'our daily bread'. but i've learned that this daily bread is a blessing from above and without it, life would be much different. speaking of food, most of our meals lunch and dinners consist of rice and beans, in various forms. sometimes we have ugali, which is ground maize with flour. it looks like mashed potatoes without much flavor. it's pretty good and very filling. on special occasion we've had 'chips' which are french fries. my favorite meal so far is banana soup, which my training leader made for me. it was soo good. i'm going to try to get the recipe and post it here for you to have.
my reality today: tho life is simple here, nothing is easy.
my attitude is better than it was a few days ago. i've been struggling with the language barrier. and so having the internet working again it an amazing resource. i learn best when i can see the words written out, and there are many resources available online which i've come to depend on. when the net was not working, i was really having a hard time trying to figure out the words without a means of looking them up. so now i'm back in business.
tonight was are watching a movie together as a class- i think it's called the robe. i wonder if it will be in english with swahili words written on the bottom, or vice-versa. i am the only student who does not understand swahili, and this is very challenging. i'm trying to listen for words which i've learned, and many of the things being said are not translated exactly. but, i'm getting better with that. as denise would say, 'you don't always have to figure everything out.' so i'm being disciplined to learn this the hard way.
i don't have much time to update, but i wanted to let you know that i'm alive and doing well. i'll update more later. thanks for all your emails and your encouragement. those words mean so much!
here's an expanded version. i'll have to update the photos later, since it's already 10.40 at night, and i need to finish my homework. but before i do, here's a brief update:
things are better with the language barrier. tho i don't understand most of what is being said, i have a peace about it. i'm enjoying being in the presence of the others students. one of the students just accepted Christ about 30 minutes ago. we are all rejoicing over this! dancing and singing galore!
dancing and singing seem to be the way of life. each day w/ start w/ dancing and singing... for an hour or so. then we have tea. then we sing and listen to a lesson. then we eat. then we have a break for a quiet time and rest. then we have a lesson. then we do laundry. then we eat. but there is a great dea more to add, but right now i don't have much time to go into deep details.
these sleepings nets are wonderful. there are bugs buzzing outside my net, but right now i'm safe and bug free!
the weather has been warm - in the 80's. it's wonderful!
gas is over $4/gallon
i'm learning to have friends who don't understand me. it's a new experience for me, but God is opening some doors and allowing me to see their hearts. we laugh at each other a lot, and they laugh at me trying to pronouce some of their words. i'm slowly catching on to what they are trying to say.
doing my laundry in a bucket was a first for me. not sure i got any of the stains out, but my clothes smell a whole lot better. and having them dry on the 1/2 of clothes line which wasn't damaged from the tree falling on it helps too. (that's a terrible, grammatically nightmare of a sentence!)
i love my dts leader. her name is jemma (gay-ma). she invited me to her apartment last night for dinner. she's taken me in and continues to question how i'm doing. she had made banana soup which was amazing. it was really great to have that time with her and her family.
we have 20 students going thru this DTS. we are getting to be a close knit group, even tho we still struggle to understand each other. our translator tries very diligently to make the english clear for me, but some of the times the stories are not quite communicated clearly. it's funny when he gets stumped and the other english speaking student translates for him. it all works out perfectly in the end.
thanks for all your prayers - they are availing much in africa. i'm really glad to be here.