Hands and Feet

Matthew 25 is known as the story of the sheep and the goats.  It's one of the most convicting passages in the Bible, because it clearly states that if we serve the least of our brothers and sisters, we are actually serving Jesus.  And if we fail to help these hungry, thirsty, lonely children of God, we are actually failing Jesus himself.  The sheep go to eternal life with the Father, the goats to eternal punishment. Pretty sobering.

As one small way in which I'm trying to live out Matthew 25, I've been helping out with two after-school kids' clubs, trying my best to play with the kids and love them for a few hours each week.

But it is not always easy.  These kids smell.  They have open sores.  They cough on me, usually in my face. They love to touch my hair with their dirty hands.  Sometimes the little ones pee on me.  If they don't get a turn on the play equipment, they sob, yell and even hit me or each other with their fists.  Even after nearly six months of studying Swahili, I can't understand very much of what they say.

Many weeks, I go home afterwards tired, discouraged, and in great need of a shower.  Some weeks it's really hard to motivate myself to go and serve because it's not always clear that my presence is actually making a difference.  Although there are certainly moments of great blessing, it's not always a transcendent experience.

In short, I like the idea of being Jesus' hands and feet much more than the actual reality of doing so. Somewhere along the road, I think a lot of us develop a completely glamorized notion of service that is at odds with real life.  We want the pretty picture without the actual sweat and tears behind it.  But we can learn from Jesus that service is gritty, messy work.  He went out among the masses.  He touched lepers.  He showed love to prostitutes. The crowds were constantly thronging around him, wanting more of His miracles but not always more of Him. Sometimes He withdrew to a solitary place, but most often, "He had compassion on them." (Matthew 9:36 among many references).

Dictionary.com tells me that the definition of compassion is "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."

Compassion is definitely the key to serving these desperately poor kids.  So I'll keep showing up with compassion and loving them.  And I'll remember that Jesus wouldn't turn His face in disgust from them or turn them away, but would say, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14).

And how could you help from loving these precious kids...even if they pee on you?

Home Stretch

Four weeks from yesterday is the last day of school.  One month from today, we board a plane in the middle of the night to return to the U.S. for seven weeks.  In between then and now are a lot of things that have to happen...visitors coming, two kids' birthdays, and a myriad of school projects and events, to say nothing of preparing to leave here for an extended period of time and just the daily challenges of life in Dar.

The problem is the same one that I face at the end of every school year:  I'm out of energy.  I'm tired of the daily routine of packing lunches, quizzing kids on spelling words, helping with homework and remembering an insane amount of details. We didn't lose any part of the tedious aspects of school by moving to Africa (library books, permission slips, P.E. clothes) and we added some more (swimming gear and the fact that packing a lunch is a herculean effort here).   There is a great blog from last year that perfectly sums up my attitude at the end of the school year.  You can read about the "worst end of school year mom ever" here.

The other challenge here is that we are moving into "winter."  Even though we're pretty near to the equator, where the periods of light and dark are roughly equal the whole year, I can really tell a difference.  It used to be dark after 7 p.m. and now it's moving closer to 6 p.m.  The bigger impact for me is that it's not getting light in the mornings until much later - well after 6:30 a.m. (and the kids leave for school before 7 a.m.)  This is a big difference from ending the school year in the States, where the days get longer.  I miss that extra burst of energy that sunlight brings in the early mornings.

Our family just completed a 5K race this past weekend and so I've been thinking a lot about the "race" metaphor in the Bible - the challenge to finish strong, to win the prize.  My view of these verses in the past has been that in order to get our crown, we sprint across the finish line, arms raised in victory. But most races aren't like that. When you've run as hard as you can earlier in the race, sometimes "finishing strong" means you are limping across that finish line in exhaustion.

I believe we are not called to run fast, but simply to run faithfully.  We are commanded to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us."  (Hebrews 12:1).  We are instructed to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith (2 Tim 4:7).  Sometimes, as written in Isaiah 40, we will "soar on wings like eagles" or "run and not grow weary" but other times we will "walk and not be faint."

Words I'm holding on to as I'm walking (trying to keep from fainting) and limping into these last 18 days of school....

The Twisty-Tie

I knew that there would be many things which were familiar and comfortable from my U.S. life that would not be available here in Dar...reliable power, water from the tap, hot showers on demand, street addresses, etc. etc.  And while I definitely miss those big things, it's the loss of the little things that have surprised me.

Exhibit A:  the "twisty-tie"...the little piece of wire that goes around your bread and baked goods to seal in the freshness.   I'm sure most of you have never given this a second thought, and it's definitely not something I thought I'd miss!

However, here we have an annoying little sticker-seal around our bread.  It's nearly impossible to remove without a scissors, and even in carefully cutting the sticker, I usually accidentally cut the plastic wrap around the bread more often than not.  There is no possibility of adequately re-closing the bread bag with this system.   And in a place which has very high humidity most the year, (and no preservatives in the bread), sealing the loaf in a better fashion would probably be a good idea.  Even kept in the fridge, this bread can turn to mold very quickly!

(photo and hand courtesy Emily Steen)

The other interesting feature about the sticker-seal is that it's printed with the "sell-by" date directly on it.  However, you can't actually read the date as it's usually printed towards the inside of the seal, and then you need to cut the sticker in order to eat the bread.  Therefore, a better judge of the "freshness" (a very relative term as it's usually brick-like in texture), is to squeeze it and/or visually inspect it for mold before purchase.  Believe it or not, moldy bread on the shelves is not a rare occurrence!

Although twisty-ties seem to be an obvious solution to the problem of keeping bread fresh, they simply do not exist here, anywhere. Why is this?  Does the manufacturing technology not exist in Africa?  Is there a shortage of wire?   If anybody is looking into a new business idea, there's no competition at all for the twisty-tie market here.

It's the little things....

Wish List

We are going to be blessed with visitors next month, and they have offered to bring some items with them for us! Even though we are going to be back in America during the summer, we are hoping to stock pile some supplies that can stay here while we are gone (or eat them immediately).

So here is a wishlist. We would be so grateful for anything on this list, new or used. Especially used, well except the food and toiletries. See below for details on how to donate.

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Deodorant (stick) - men's or women's, scented
• High DEET bug spray
• band aids
• hydrogen peroxide contact lens cleaner (such as Clear Care)
• saline for contacts
• Gift Bags (any size)
• Blank note cards with envelopes
• Small birthday presents (Legos, Littlest Pet Shop, Earrings, etc.) - we know some are coming!
• Hand towels - kitchen or bath
• Bedsheet sets (queen, double, twin)
• 2 used white sheets (for movie screens!)
• Pillow cases
• Beach Towels
• Swim Goggles
• Swim Caps
• cookie sheet
• bundt pan
• saucepans
• metal mixing bowls
• melamine/plastic dinner plates
• meat thermometer
• men size 10 soccer cleats
• girl size 3 soccer cleats
• boy size 3 soccer cleats
• women's size 6 or 8 Capris
• basketball
• sweatband (adult male)
• Starbucks iced coffee packets (some found!)
• black beans (dried)
• taco seasoning
• canister parmesan cheese
• and any packaged snacks (cookies, fruit snacks, goldfish)!

If you would like to get us any of these things, you can bring them to Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church, 271 Lincoln Ave, Ridgewood NJ. They'll collect them and get them to our guests. If you know Rachel Barrett or her family, you could bring it to them too. Also, if you are planning to donate, perhaps you could send us a message, so that we could update the list (and avoid getting 10 sweatbands, though that would be awesome). The due date is May 31.

Rain, rain go away....

Today, I have become officially sick of the rainy season.  Although I haven't been keeping close track, it feels like we've had no more than 3 totally rain-free days over the last 3 weeks.  And this isn't the type of place where it rains once a day for a few minutes...the last 2 days in particular have had downpour after downpour.  It's dark and dreary and I can't motivate myself to do very much.

Almost all our clothes are wet and beginning to smell moldy.  It's pretty hard to dry them without a dryer and without any sun.  Our house helper is valiantly trucking them all outside when we get a few minutes of sun....and then has to move them all back under the covered porch once the next cloudburst hits.

Driving here, difficult during the best of times, becomes disastrous in rainy season.  There are deep puddles, flooded roadways, and thick red mud everywhere.  Traffic is horrendous.  Our road has become nearly impassable because every time it rains, rivers rush down the hill, eroding the soil as the water journeys downward and creates huge craters. Our gate also gets stuck after the downpours as sediment builds up against its frame and we have to clear it away.  

Although we live only a half-mile away from school, that can be a very long distance when it is heavily raining.  Sometimes we drive but other times we think it will be clear and then we get caught!

Keeping the floors (and our feet) clean is an impossible task.  And that red mud is very hard to wash out of stained clothes (especially without a washing machine).

I've noticed an increase in the number of bugs, especially mosquitoes and flies.  There are also quite a few HOPAC kids that are out sick with malaria this week, which is scary to hear.

But it's not all bad...I am very thankful for the cooler weather this season has brought.  Although it's usually still pretty humid, a 20-25 degree drop in temperature is much appreciated!  I'm starting to wonder whether we'll need to buy a couple of long-sleeved shirts for when the true "winter" hits in June.  I also love watching the storms roll in over the ocean.  I'll look out the window, notice the thick white clouds forming and within 5 minutes, it's pouring!  There's definitely something peaceful about the sound of rain hitting a tile roof.  If I didn't have to go anywhere or do anything, I'd certainly enjoy this season a lot more.

I have to remind myself that I'm looking at the inconvenience of the rain from a first-world perspective. The rains are necessary for crops to grow, and if the harvest is affected, it's not me that will go hungry. I have a home located on the top of a hill with no danger of being flooded, unlike so many in our city. And my driving woes highlight the fact that I actually own a vehicle and I don't need to ride an over-crowded, smelly public bus that also can't navigate the bad conditions and gridlock traffic.

I'm also reminding myself that this is how I usually feel at the end of a long, dreary winter in the U.S....as Ned Stark says, "Winter is coming!" (and in this case, it's a good thing).