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Furlough Wrap-up

     Hello again friends!  It has been awhile since our last post, so let me catch you up on what's been going on.  I'm happy to report that we had a very successful furlough trip, both from a work and personal standpoint.  God continues to bless His servants and His work.

     Let's start with the work.  We drove for about 2,000 miles as we visited with more than a dozen congregations of the Lord's church. That was a lot of time on the road, but we are excited about the work that we get to do. It is a pleasure to share with our partners in the US some of the good things that they are helping to make possible.  I think that it is encouraging to people to know that the Lord's kingdom is indeed thriving and growing.

     We were also taking that opportunity to let people know about some special needs that the work here has.  The Lord's people responded, and it gives me great pleasure to report that around $30,000 was donated to buy Swahili Bibles, print tracts, and sponsor preaching students.  Together with the efforts of team members all of our furlough fund-raising goals were met.  Thank you for your immense generosity and kindness of heart!

     Most of the visits that I made were to churches, but I also had the privilege of being invited to speak to the students of Foundation Christian Academy.  This was Abby's school when we lived in Bowling Green, and they made us feel very loved and welcome.  Abby spent the rest of the day at school reconnecting with old friends and teachers.  

     Children learning about missions is an important "side-benefit" of missionary reporting.  I had young people at several congregations approach me after my presentation expressing interest in becoming missionaries one day.  If just one of them follows up on that dream, then that alone would make this a worthwhile furlough.  

     On a personal level, it was so refreshing to spend some time in America and to see friends and family.  We saw all of our immediate family, and kept holiday traditions.  We ate American food until it made us sick (that happened pretty fast actually).  We were reminded of the immense support system that we have behind us.  The kids even got to experience a little snow. We NEVER see that in Africa!  

     At last it was time to go home. We packed up our 10 suitcases and 5 carry-ons, using every single pound that the airlines would allow.  That sounds like a lot, but there were still so many things that we WANTED to bring back that simply wouldn't fit in our baggage allowance.  We had to make some tough choices about what did or didn't make the cut.  

     Traveling with small children is not for the faint of heart.  Our family getting through the airport is like something straight out of a comedy movie.  Then two very long flights are a tremendous strain on a kid's ability to sit semi-quietly, and on a parent's ability to remain sane and calm.  Add to that a long car ride, dealing with customs, border control, and multiple police checkpoints.  But with God's help we all made it through the trip.

     Life in a foreign field is exciting and rewarding, but it can also be very draining and wearisome.  I don't think that I ever felt shocked at the culture, but there were times leading up to furlough when I was pretty tired of it.  Don't get me wrong, I love Tanzania, but we all needed a break.  Furlough provided that much needed mental break for the whole family.  It is difficult to understand how badly this is needed if you haven't lived in a culture very foreign to your own.  I know I didn't fully understand.  

     Since we've been back, we have a refreshed ability to appreciate the wonderful things about where we live.  It's actually kind of odd how comfortingly familiar our surrounds are to us now.  There was an unexpected feeling of relief and ease when we finally made it back to our home away from home.  And we've experienced joy at seeing some of our good Tanzanian friends again.  Now we're ready to hit the ground running and get back in the trenches.  The fields are white, let's go harvest!

Last Newsletter Before Furlough!

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What Do You Miss Most About America?"

     Furlough is just around the corner, so we are naturally thinking excitedly about getting back to the U.S.  People often ask us, “What do you miss most about home?” The biggest and most obvious thing is family and friends. There is just no way to quantify what it is like to leave them behind, and we absolutely can’t wait to see them again. But aside from people, here is a list (in no particular order) of five things that I miss most about life in the States.

1.  Reliable Electricity – When the electricity goes out I feel so powerless!  It’s not really a big deal at first. We just get out the lanterns and continue our business.  It doesn’t even scare the kids anymore. However, when we hit a stretch where there are long power outages for several days in a row it really, really gets old… fast. I’m actually sitting in the dark of a power outage as I write this (maybe why this made #1 on the list). We do have a generator, but unfortunately it has been broken more often than it has worked since we got here.

On the other hand – We do have electricity a lot of the time.  I can’t say the same for many of the people here. 

2.  Clean Water – Boiling water to drink or cook with is a chore that has to be done a couple of times a day.  After it boils then it has to cool and be filtered before we drink it.  When we wash dishes (by hand of course), we have to rinse them in bleach water to make sure that microorganisms don’t get left behind. The same goes for washing all produce that we buy.  Again, it is not really that big of a deal, but it does get annoying.

One the other hand – We do have reliable plumbing that brings water right to our faucets every time.  I don’t have to go far down the road to see people without plumbing at all.  They go to a public water supply and fill buckets with water to use.  Their toilets simply empty into a hole beneath the outhouse. 

3.  Blending In – It is easy to tell that we’re not from around here.  We stick out.  Every time we venture into public we draw eyes and attention.  I can’t walk down the road without children pointing and yelling, “Mzungu!”  That’s the Swahili word for a white person.  That’s novel and cute at first, but does get old after a while. People charge us more in the market because they assume money is no object for a mzungu.  We get asked for financial help constantly by both friends and strangers because people assume we can help.  Sometimes it would be really nice to not have the color of our skin be the first thing (sometimes it seems the only thing) that people see about us.  I miss walking down the street without a mob of people trying to sell me things because they assume that I’m a tourist.  I miss blending in occasionally.

On the other hand – Our standing out does open doors for the gospel.  Sometimes people will listen to us, when they wouldn’t listen to a local.  And we often do have the money to help, which is a HUGE blessing.  I really love having the opportunity to help those who aren’t likely to find help elsewhere. 

4.  Fast Food – I don’t mean the taste of fast food.  I like the taste of the food here just fine.  I mean the speed and convenience of fast food.  When traveling or just having a busy day, it would be really nice to have a McDonald’s value meal, being in and out with a meal to go in less than 10 minutes. Here if you eat out, then you probably need to allow for 2 hours almost anywhere you go.  Things just move at a slower pace, and people don’t get in a hurry.  That’s kind of nice SOMETIMES, but other times you have other things to do.

On the other hand – We have plenty of food.  It may come slowly, but it is coming.  We’re not missing meals or going hungry. I don’t have to travel far at all to see people who have to worry a lot more about their next meal than I do. 

5.  Traffic – Driving in town feels kind of like a video game – a very real and dangerous game.  The rules are just suggestions.  Two lanes can easily become four or more.  Motorcycles swarm around and through the traffic, operating on a completely different set of guidelines than larger vehicles.  It is not unusual that while I’m passing a vehicle for another vehicle to pass me. In the meantime, pedestrians are crossing anywhere they want.  Rush hour is beyond stressful, and nighttime driving is just unreasonably dangerous.  I can’t wait to get back the land of reasonable traffic patterns and somewhat sane drivers.

On the other hand – We are fortunate enough to have a good vehicle.  Most people have to ride on the dala dalas (crowded public transport vans driven by crazed maniacs) and piki pikis (motorcycle taxis driven by crazed maniacs).  Meanwhile, we have reliable transportation at our disposal 24 hours a day.  What a luxury!

     It is hard to feel sorry for yourself for very long here. Every time I think I’ve made a sacrifice for God, I encounter people who didn’t have those blessings to begin with. Every sacrifice, inconvenience, and annoyance has ultimately been well worth it to see the powerful ways that God is at work here.  It really is an honor to be His servant wherever He may send me.