It Didn’t Feel Like Africa

When you reached the end of a commitment that was on your mind daily for months, how did you feel? What did you do at the end? Maybe a project at work or a semester of college concluded and you felt a huge weight lifted from your shoulders. Yesterday, I finished my formal language learning of Swahili. For as long as I will live in a Swahili speaking country, my learning of the language will continue. However, yesterday I completed both a written and spoken final exam. It truly felt like the conclusion of a college semester.

The two other AIM families in Morogoro wanted to celebrate with us both the ending of school and the beginning of life in the village. We had previously decided on a Mexican meal because Melody and I were really craving that. The date was set for yesterday evening so that the weight of school would be lifted and the joy of finishing would be maximized.

Melody and I arrived early, as we wanted to help prepare and cook the meal. Neither of us had spent much time in a kitchen (excluding a few days in Nairobi) since leaving America. She started chopping and I started on my task. To me, it seemed a little odd, yet enjoyable to be cooking. Someone else arrived with her contribution to the meal. Kids were nearby playing. Everyone was chatting about recent events and how the day had gone. Every part of the evening seemed like a normal that I have known, a normal that is familiar.

Then, the time came. All were present and hungry and the food was ready! We filled our plates and claimed our spots at the table. Every bit was delicious and treasured. Conversations continued and it was a blissful evening. Then it became better…..

Our teammates and now friends wanted to bless us with a few gifts. They wanted to make sure we had some things to make our new house feel like home and a few things that are good to have in the village setting. We opened our gifts and were overjoyed with an abundance of generosity and blessing. A smile was plastered on my face for this part of the evening and my heart was overflowing with the love that we were receiving.

Later that night, I realized what made the evening stand out so much. It didn’t feel like Africa. It felt familiar. It felt normal. It was a group of friends, gathered together, sharing a meal, celebrating accomplishments and new beginnings, and expressing love to one another. It felt like home. But, this is Africa. Africa is becoming home.

AIM in a Day

Africa Inland Mission is an amazing ministry that serves many countries on the massive continent of Africa. It is made up of thousands of missionaries each supported by countless prayer and financial partners. The missionaries are both directly on the field and also in their home countries working to help, support, and train others.

The average day of each person varies so much as each of us have very different roles.

some work in clinics
some work in the office
some live in their home country
some just moved across the ocean
some live in big cities
some live in remote villages
some serve on big teams
some serve on their own
some have served for decades
some just joined the mission
some work at a computer
some work in the field
some teach locals
some love on orphaned kids

But, each person is doing what God has called him or her to do in order to further His Kingdom. A few of the staff at the AIM-USA office put together a website to offer a glimpse into the life of an AIM missionary. Check out the below link to see snapshots from all over to create a day in the life of AIM.

AIM IN A DAY

A note about copyrights: Photographs shared here were taken by AIM members. Each individual photographer retains ownership of their images. Please only share these via the “share” links.

Looking Past the Darkness

Often times I think it is easier to see the negative side of a situation. It seems to take great intentional effort to notice the beauty and positive potential in certain situations. Then, I must ask the questions: Is there always a delightful, favorable, and encouraging aspect of each situation? Also, what causes so many people to almost automatically default to the opposing view?

Last weekend, we were in Pande to get some things ready for when we move there in just two (hopefully) short weeks. Saturday evening, our leader was meeting with the pastor to discuss a few business related things. Melody and I walked around at the school and enjoyed the simpleness of being in our new home. This was happening at dusk. I couldn't help but notice a wonderful sunset through the trees. I adore sunsets and probably have hundreds of pictures of them from all my travels over the years. Although, I only had my phone with me, I still had to capture the moment.

First of all, a picture of a sunset never seems to adequately depict the beauty and array of colors that are displayed. Second of all, often times it seems that something gets in the way of the picture.

There were trees in the foreground and they just didn't quite seem to frame the natural beauty in the distance that I so eagerly wanted to capture in a picture. In the moment it was slightly frustrating.

A few days later as I was looking at the pictures, I realized that the beautiful sunset is still there. You can even see the outline of the rolling hills in the distance. The colors scheme, albeit limited, is still quite amazing, especially with the contrasting black foreground. All I had to do is look past the darkness to see the beauty.

[Addition - 3 July 2015]

Life in the village is quite like the story above. I would not say that my life here is covered in darkness. However, there are definitely moments that are frustrating, moments that are hard, moments that difficult, moments that defeating, moments that are disappointing, and moments that are heart breaking. It takes great intentionality to remember to look for the moments that are fun, moments that are exciting, moments that are hysterical, moments that are beautiful, moments that accomplishments, moments blissful, moments that are joyous, and moments that are heart breaking. 

Unfortunately, I can already tell that this will be a constant struggle. At the end of the day it is so easy to remember and focus on the failures, struggles, hardships, and mistakes. The day may have had an epic encounter with a new person that will lead to a life changing friendship. The day may have had great laughter at one point. But when it is all said and done, the former always seems to take front and center. 

Each day, I must look past the darkness and find the beauty.

NEWSLETTER: May 2015 prayer/fasting

Seasons are changing and God is working in my life.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  (KJV)

Seasons are Changing

The season of formal language learning is coming to an end as you may have read in my May newsletter earlier this week. A new season will begin. Actually, there will be many things that begin. I'm not even going to try to list a few those.

In a podcast that I have been listening to, the speaker, Graham Cooke, tells a story of a woman coming to ask for advice. She had been recently diagnosed with cancer and her prognosis was dishearteningly short. He proceeds to tell her that death is not one of the things he will attempt to share prophecy about. Instead, he challenges her to ask God what He is going to be for her now that she has cancer that he couldn't be for her before.

This concept has been heavily laden on my mind and spirit over the recent weeks. I have been in and out of a variety of seasons over the last 18 months as I prepared to come to Africa and now that I'm here. In all that has changed over the past few months and so many changes to come as Melody and I transition to the village, what does God want to be for me? Melody has been lead to point out that He wants me to find my identity in Him. She is overjoyed to walk this journey with me and I am literally without the words to describe my gratitude for her help and patience. What a blessing it is that God saw fit to put us on the same team so she could help me through this process!!

Through some prayer and discussion, I have decided it would be beneficial to take the next two weeks to be more intentional about spending time with our Heavenly Father. It will be a time to find comfort in Him as He is the one thing that does not change.

I ask you to join me through prayer.
-please pray for a women's retreat that we are going to this weekend. (It must be a season for retreats because I know of two that recently happened in the states.)
-continued relationship growth between Melody and I
-my heart and mind to be open to what God wants me to hear and closed to the lies of the enemy
-perseverance to finish formal language learning strong
-joy to begin continued language learning in the everyday setting of the village
-time to process and anticipate the changes to come for the new season of adjusting to village life

What season are you in right now? If it is difficult, then what can you be doing to make the next one more enjoyable?

Also, I encourage you to ask yourself the same thing. If you are going through a new, unique, or challenging season (or maybe one is on the horizon), what is God wanting to be for you now that He could not do before?

I welcome your thoughts about this and encourage you to share what the Lord tells you with someone else that may need to hear the same words.

May you have a blessed and beautiful weekend!

Katherine

NEWSLETTER: May 2015

Changes in all areas are on the horizon.

Translating and Transitions

Formal language learning is starting to wind down. We have less than three weeks left!! Yikes!! I can't honestly say that the time has flown by but it is definitely hard to believe that our time in Morogoro is almost over. The weeks of translating words, phrases, and sentences will soon transition to translating a new life style, new people, and new everything into a context that helps me thrive in a new culture. 

The last few months have been full of translating. According to google, translate is defined as "express the sense of (words or text) in another language". Most of this has been literal words on a paper but soon this will transition to relationships, gender roles, cooking, shopping, and everyday aspects of life that we don't even realize happen in a way specific to our culture until it is suddenly different.

By the end of May, Melody and I, [Lord willing] will be in our village. We went with our leader this past weekend to check on the progress of the house. We were very thrilled upon arrival to see all that had been done!!

-We will transition from an organized, mostly predictable life on an enclosed school campus to a house in a village where we will be the new kids on the block and everyone will know it.
-We will transition from formal language learning to learning by conversation as we meet people throughout the village.
-We will transition from having three meals a day ready for us to cooking our own food in a kitchen far different from our kitchens in America. 

Throughout all of this, we will need to translate not only the language but also the culture. It will be a beautiful and challenging time that will challenge me in ways that I am not even aware of yet. 

Please be praying about this time of transition as well as:
-Family in the states as they have their own transitions to go through since my brother left for basic training with the military
-the hearts of the Digo people would begin to be softened and they would willing teach us about their culture
-good health both physically and mentally throughout the coming changes
-many thanks for our leader to help us gather the supplies we need and be willing to invest in us as we prepare to go to our location
-humility, vulnerability, teachability, and intentionality

Thank so much for all of your support. I love getting your messages and knowing that you are thinking about me and praying for me. I am thankful for all that you do. I would love to return that honor to you. Please let me know what is happening in your life and how I can be praying for you.

Katherine

Top picture: our view from where we eat all our meals. Albeit a slightly edited photo, the trees and natural beauty are wonderful to look at each day!! At afternoon chai, the sun shines through and creates a scene that is captivating and can stop any thought process mid sentence no matter the language.



A quick snapshot at dusk from our trip to Pande this past weekend. The closest building is the church and the school is in the background.



A spontaneous trip to Dar es Salaam one weekend allowed me to satisfy a multi-week craving for chocolate milk and see Cassie (not pictured).



I never understood where these sayings came from but this one seems quite appropriate. A good policy to have throughout so many changes in the coming weeks.