Rabitt's Hole

Where have we landed – we feel like Alice in Alice and Wonderland, freshly emerged from falling down the rabbit’s hole. We are alien; in our surroundings, in our family, in our persons. Which way is up and which is down. How do we recover from such an intoxicating experience? At least we have money right? No, we don’t even know how to spend it, where to go to get milk, eggs, cereal…where do we throw our trash…how do we not get blanketed by mosquitoes…how much water can touch my person – drinking?, washing hands?, washing dishes?...how do we keep our boys sane in this seemingly insane place…That was day one.
Day Two. We have cell phones. We can call each other. We can conceivably call home, but it will cost about $5 for 30 seconds. We found food! Cereal - $6-$14. Bug spray - $10. Internet - $.50 per 30 minutes!!! Slow, but the connection is steady. Can count to 10 in Kiswahili, Moja, etc. We can casually greet people. We can say “no thank you” to hawkers, trying to sell us socks, or hats, or newspapers we can’t read yet. We have mosquito fumigation - we’re saved!
We have arrived! Sort of. We have our own wheels! We need insurance, but we can drive. We met friends, and now know our general location and living area within this vast city. I can leave my house and get to the “main” road – despite the 3-foot divots and random lakes made by people cutting water lines to get a couple of buckets of water…
The heat is bad, but it’s similar to Columbus. It gets quite warm by 9am and will not cool down until 9pm or so. We’re told “this is cool – wait until December”. The other strange thing about the environment concerns day and night. Because we’re miles from the equator, the sun comes up at 6am and it goes down by 6pm everyday, all “seasons” (I put that in quotes b/c there is only a 10-20 degree change between seasons).
The people, oh the people are wonderful! They are so kind and friendly – if you engage them. They like foreigners, they are patient and helpful. This is a fundamental difference between Africans and Americans. Africans value you, the person, above your contribution, or purpose – above what you offer to them. Americans often value just utility – usefulness, satisfaction of need, etc. An example is how Americans mock and treat people rudely for not knowing English – or at a minimum - Americans who display open annoyance b/c of the delays or inconveniences caused by a foreign worker at some grocery store or retail location. As Christians, we have much to learn about valuing others. We came here b/c we thought we did – we found out how much further we have still to go.

Moved-in with parents (in-laws)

Not too often am I excited by the prospect of moving back in with my parents, especially with my wife of more than 6 years and my two boys...but this time is wholly unique. After moving from our home all our "treasured" possessions (what could fit in a few pick-up truck loads) we took the plunge. More importantly, this move signals the near arrival of our much anticipated bigger move. It's very strange, and humbling, to be without a home (you own home) or without "reliable" employment. Both of us have officially stopped working in order to finalize last minute preparations and tie up some loose ends. We're entering a transition phase that will last for a least 4 months. We'll be living out of our suitcases, and at last count, we'll be sleeping in 7 different beds. Why would seemingly sane people do this you ask? Why would any responsible parents inflict such irregularity upon their innocent children? The answer is, I have absolutely no idea...actually, the answer rests in the deeper recesses of our hearts, where the raw materials of our motives and desires reside. See, 4 years ago, imagining this same course of events, there would be slim chance you'd see us in line to sign-up (we'd be the nay-sayers in the back critiquing everything). What changed for us more than anything else was a fresh and deep understanding, through the Bible and by the holy spirit, that our lives are not our own. If we can gain that eternal perspective, firmly rooted in Christ's redeeming love, all our values shift, all the preoccupations with this life get loosed, all the excuses fade, all the hardships shrink, all the attachments re-prioritized - and our contorted and blurry image of a Christ-centered life becomes really sharp and the contrast of full obedience to the Kingdom appears black-and-white. Let us not lose focus, oh Lord.

Getting Ready

We are writing amidst unpacked boxes and half-finished projects – never have we been so aware of our limitations, our tensions, and our weaknesses but still so confident in where our God is leading us. The intensity has increased, but also so has His grace. Everything will fall into place in the end, we believe…

As it stands now, we with our friend and teammate, Grace Mendola will arrive in Dar es Salaam before the other members of the team. We are both eager and excited, but will anxiously await the arrival of our additional teammates. Please remember to pray that they will have great favor on raising support, and the remaining logistical details.

It is almost impossible for us to believe, but we will be moving out of our home the week of the August 14^th, and ending our employment the following week. As we pack up our lives here, we have really strong feelings about being intentional with our relationships in the limited remaining time. Of course we would like to spend hours and hours with everyone, but it’s just not realistic at this stage. It would be wonderful to connect with each of you. Please feel free to call or e-mail with any questions, wisdom, or points of interest. We would also be tremendously grateful if those of you who made monthly commitments would begin to give in August or September.

In some other news, Edmond and Dorothy Lyattu, our team leaders, have finally found adequate housing and their spirits have been much uplifted by settling in and beginning to meet new friends in their new community. We are praying intensely about where we our team should locate within the city as our original plans are seemingly diverted as housing is quite limited and very expensive. We are now praying about settling on the north end of Dar es Salaam, instead of our intended plans in one of the western districts. This is something we really hope to hear clearly about from the Holy Spirit. Our team continues to grow together, and we have all felt a strong urging to place our unity at the forefront of most issues. God is with us, and that is good!