Happy New Year!

The last eight months have flown by and it is almost time to return to Mozambique.  Some people have asked us if we feel safe there.  I recently read a quote by Mozambican author Paulo Coelho who wrote, “A boat is safe in the harbor. But this is not the purpose of a boat.” Someone else said “The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.”  Living in the U.S. during the Sandy Hook school shootings and the Colorado theater shooting among others makes us realize that the U.S. isn’t the safest place in the world either. But we will not let fear paralyze us or keep us from obeying God’s leading.  He is our strong tower and He will always be faithful.

When people ask if I am ready to return, my answer has been that I was looking forward to Christmas with the family and then we could go. We have had a wonderful time together and the first Christmas with a grandchild. Today we have had a beautiful snowfall. But as the temperatures lower, we are getting readier to return from the freezer to the frying pan! I heard from a friend in Moz that it was in the 90’s and 95% humidity while she was doing her Christmas baking. I have a feeling I won’t be using the oven for quite awhile.

Here’s another quote that challenges and encourages me from Nancy Frey who serves in West Africa:  “Living in West Africa requires losing our sense that we are entitled to efficiency. It means accepting that a certain level of physical discomfort is normal. Both of those are good things. I feel blessed to live and work in Burkina Faso. I believe that God has chosen me for this work not because I am noble, but because God loves me and wishes to bless me. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.”

We will end with a quote by Bonnie L. Mohr on a plaque given to us: “Life if not a race – but indeed a journey. Be honest. Work hard. Be choosy. Say ‘thank you,’ ‘I love you,’ and ‘great job’ to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh.  Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you’ve been given, it is not accidental – search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself – plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you’ve been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment.”

God bless you in 2013, a year that will have challenges and joys and many opportunities to serve God wherever you are.

 

 

 

 

New Granddaughter!

Some exciting things have happened since we last posted. Steve traveled to Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Zambia for 3 1/2 weeks in September. Some of the highlights were stopping in Nairobi to review the grain amaranth pilot project in Turkana which has been successful, good microfinance board meetings, and seeing the growing program in Zambia along with the growing pains. It was interesting that Steve felt very comfortable in Africa and that he was back where he belongs.

The other big news is the arrival of our first grandchild! Sophia Elizabeth was born the 18th of October. She is small and beautiful. I had the privilege of being with her and her family for a few days. And of course every grandparent has to show pictures, so here are a few:

Where are Steve and Rachel?

Where are the Good's and what are they doing? Well, we are in Indiana most of the time, but have just returned from a trip to Colorado. And we are focusing more on "being" these days than "doing." It has been a good rest interspersed with helping to plan for the church teams that are still going to Mozambique and other occasional WR work.

In June we had a very good trip to Ohio to connect with folks from The Chapel as well as friends and family. After reading many books about Malabar Farms, it was a highlight to be there and see the farm. It is in central Ohio, a beautiful area!

Steve enjoyed connecting with an organic farmer on the way to Colorado as well as an amaranth grower. Amaranth is an ancient grain that is highly nutritious and it has been an interest to Steve since 2004 when our daughter's friend's grandpa introduced us to it. Steve was recently instrumental in getting it planted in Turkana, a drought-stricken area in Kenya. We just got a report from them that it is growing well and has been a successful project.

I attended a Women of the Harvest retreat which was an excellent time of being refreshed and taught from the Word, getting to know the people in my small group and being pampered. They did a good job of that and we could sign up for a pedicure, massage, haircut, color analysis, and they even gave us a choice of free clothes and books.

Here is the pedicure room. It felt more like foot-washing as the volunteers prayed for each person at the end. We were very blessed.



These are some pictures of our travels in Colorado. We went to Estes Park, a family reunion, the Royal Gorge and around Pueblo. God's creation is amazing!








Joanna had the idea of making giant Dutch Blitz cards to play at reunion. It took us more than a day to make them, but it was worth it and was a lot of fun! We played in a gym. We had teams that took turn running to the middle or turning the cards over.

Debrief Learnings

While we were on our debrief we were first asked to create a timeline and we could choose the length of it to be debriefed on. We were asked to identify the following areas: change, concerns, criticisms, conflicts and crises. When they are on a timeline one can identify if there has been too much of one or if they have been too intense or too frequent. We needed to process what the effect of these has been.

Then we were to identify the losses connected to these areas. There are primary losses that are physical or material. There are also secondary losses that have a deeper impact. You can have your computer stolen which is a primary loss, but the secondary loss may be a loss of security and trust, the loss of all your documents, etc. Satan’s schemes are to rob us physically, emotionally and spiritually, but Jesus comes to give us life abundant.

Erik Spruyt, the director at Le Rucher, shared his concept of loss:
• Every loss creates its own set of needs.
• Recovery is complete when all loss specific needs have been met again.
• Traumatic loss may carry damage, may be irreversible, may be overwhelming – loss of control
• Loss creates a break in life: a before and after
• All loss is associated with grief
• Loss adjustment is similar to a grieving process
• Biblical view on loss, death and dying; How does Jesus handle the situation around the death of Lazarus?

Pain that we experience needs to be healed, not forgiven. Can we trust Jesus with our pain? He wants to be our pain-bearer. When there is pain in our hearts there is no room for us to forgive ourselves or others. We must allow Jesus to take the pain so we have the freedom to forgive. Is. 53:4 He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. By His stripes we are healed. v. 6 Many times we don’t know how to release our pain and use coping mechanisms to deal with it such as alcohol, TV, illicit sex, shopping, overeating, manipulation, etc. Jesus is honored when we release our pain to him and receive His healing. He will give us beauty instead of ashes, joy instead of mourning and praise instead of despair. Those who have grieved and mourned will be strong oaks for His own glory. (Lk. 18:31-33)

The story was told of a Rwandan man whose home was burned and his sons killed by his neighbors during the genocide. He was angry and bitter for years and had severe physical side effects. Finally he allowed Jesus to take his pain. He has healed inside and out and able to forgive his neighbors and be reconciled to them. Now they work together in a reconciliation ministry.

The next day we looked at the stages of grief:
I. Shock, numbness, denial, emotional outbursts
II. Anger, fear, searchings, disorganization, panic
III. Shame, loneliness, guilt, isolation, depression, “re-entry” troubles
IV. Celebrant, helping others, affirmation, hope, new patterns and habits, new strengths, new relationships

These were positioned around a big U with I and II on one side and III and IV on the other. The verse in the middle is Ps 23:4 – “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me…” If we try to jump over the top of the U and not go through the grieving process it is like burying something that is still alive. When we do that, it will always pop up in some way.

We looked at the story of the road to Emmaus. Jesus walked and talked with the men but they were kept from recognizing him. Sometimes God hides from us but later he opens our eyes. He always has a purpose for this even though we may not understand when we are going through it. As they arrived in the village Jesus acted as if he were going farther. They urged him strongly to stay and He did. Jesus always waits to be invited. He will not force his healing or himself on us. He wants us to ask.

I hope some of these things are helpful to you as they were to us. It was a wonderful gift to be able to express ourselves to our debriefers and be listened to for four days. The setting was beautiful and restful and just what we needed at the beginning of our leave.

We've Been on the Move

I can see that a lot has happened since we last wrote.

In early May I trained someone from Ohio who came with her husband to take over my church partner responsibilities. They really have servant hearts and were not afraid to tackle home jobs and work in the kitchen. They were a blessing!

Steve worked hard at getting his responsibilities handed off - especially with the coconut oil business. He had so much going through his head that he would wake up at 4 and not be able to sleep, so he'd get up.

A friend is renting our house while we are gone. This meant that what didn't go in a suitcase was packed away in a large closet so that she would have empty drawers and closets. It was almost like packing to move!

At work they gave us a farewell with a nice meal on the roof patio, speeches and all. It was very touching. One co-worker said that we are like mom and dad to them.



Our first stop was Geneva where we spent the day with our daughter's friend. We walked around the city a bit and enjoyed the beauty and the company. Then we were off to Le Rucher for a debrief retreat just across the border in France. The scenery was breathtaking and the peaceful rural setting was just what our tired bodies needed.


Mt Blanc was 50 miles from the front door.





















We had a good time as a group and our debriefers were great. Sarah Lanier, author of "Foreign to Familiar" was one of the debriefers. It was great to meet her after enjoying her book and recommending it to many.


There was beauty all around us. I was even impressed with the birdsong! It was just what we needed.


Our next stop was Washington DC for our son-in-law's graduation from Georgetown. Here he is with his PhD diploma in economics and it's in Latin! Thankfully they gave him a translation.


We went out on the town to the new Martin Luther King memorial, then walked through the FDR Memorial and went to the Jefferson Memorial as well. Who knows when we'll be back in DC. It's been a fun place to visit.














We even got in a baseball game in the evening. The Nationals have become Janelle's favorite team and she will miss them when they move. I was impressed with the fun atmosphere and intermingling of fans. It was nothing like the soccer game in Brazil with a police force between the fans and German Shepherds lining the edges of the field!

We had a couple of intense days at WR in Baltimore. But we also had fun in the evenings and even got to see Ellen, a friend who was in our small group in Mozambique. She took us to a delightful Afghani restaurant.


And now we are home and enjoying every minute of reconnecting with friends and family and just resting for awhile. We will have more activity in the middle of the month but for now it's great to just be.

Transport in Senegal

As middle class westerners, we are spoiled in so many ways. We once had a visitor at our home who commented what a luxury it was to have a car at your disposal, sitting outside your front door. Even in Mozambique we have one and usually when I travel someone is usually there to pick me up and take me where I need to go.

However, in my recent trip to Senegal things were a bit different. I was making a cold call and since I had no clue where I was going, I did not want to rent a car. One friendly guy gave me advice on where the ATM was at the airport, and what phone card to buy, but after that I was on my own.

If you have every exited the doors of a airport in the developing world, you will know that you are often besieged by 3-10 people vying for your attention, offering you services and thinking about how much of your money they can get before you realize you have been taken for a “ride.” As I exited the Leopold airport, I was met by at least two taxi drivers. I selected one, but then ask him to wait while I used the ATM. He obliged.

As I began to discuss the price for the taxi with the person I had selected, there were two other people hovering around listening to the conversation and when I asked how much to the intercity bus station, they all agreed that it was deep into the city of Dakar and expensive to get there. So I agreed to the price of 10,000 CFA or $20. As we head out to the car, these two tag along. When we arrive, they all jump in and say, "let’s go." (That should have been my first clue, plus I realize this is not even an official taxi.) I felt a bit uncomfortable, but got in and we took off, nearly clipping the rear end of the car ahead of us. Then off we go, racing through the streets of Dakar.

As we approach the intercity transport station, the one who speaks English starts asking for a tip, for all they have done for me. Besides he says, he will also take care of the intercity ticket with money that I provide to him. When I offer 1,000 extra he frowns like I am cheating him out of his milk for breakfast, but by then I have figured out these guys are running a racket. Sure enough, later I find out that he charged me extra for the intercity transport.

Public transport between cities in Senegal takes 3 major forms, 40-50 year old tin cans with windows and wheels, larger modern buses or the 7 plus taxi.


The 7 seaters are old Renault station wagons built for 5 that have had an extra jump seat built into the cargo hold. With 7 plus the driver, it is tight! On this particular leg, I am in the front. No worries! However, the 1 hour expected trip to Thies takes 2 hours due to traffic. It costs me a 3,000, so now I know I really overpaid for the 15 minute taxi ride in Dakar.

The next day, I get to ride in another 7 plus for an hour and find out that the fee really should be around 1,500 for such services. The real stretch comes after waiting an hour for the car to fill up on the trip to Saint-Louis where the driver does not want to push his car faster than 70 km per hour. I am in the middle seat and can’t wait to get out once we stop.


From there I meet Mr. Aziz, my appointed guide and his young friend Mamadou, our interpreter. We take another friend’s taxi for 45 minutes to Ross-Bethio and pay 7,000. Since he won’t let me pay directly, then later writes me a receipt, I assume I paid for his transport to come pick me up in Saint-Louis. I am ok with that since he was doing this all for me.

From Ross-Bethio back to St-Louis, there is no 7 plus station, so we flag down a tin can on wheels. It will get you there, they said, it is just slower, so I climb into the back of the bus. Here I am met by about 8 people and about 2 tons of watermelon. They have sectioned off the bus right behind the driver and filled the middle with melons.


Muslim music blaring (it is Friday afternoon after all) we drive off down the road, stopping whenever anyone raises their hand to get on or off. At one point the back of the bus is packed with about 8 women, seemingly headed for a wedding, everyone dressed to the hilt, African style.


This trip is nearly 3 times as long as the one out, but the consolation is that it only cost 500 CFA or $1. However, at the end we are unceremoniously dumped into the street by the driver who says, “OK, everybody out!” Clueless as to where my hotel is, I am forced to get a taxi who drives me a dozen blocks and has no receipts. So how does a guy turn in an expense report anyhow?

The next morning when we arrive at the 7 plus station, good news, I complete the carload and we are ready to go. The bad news, I am in the back jump seat, up against the right rear wheel well, and my foot, then leg on that side goes to sleep within 20 minutes. I must be really smashing a nerve. I am surprised it is only one side as I am pinned so tightly against the guy next to me and he against the plus size woman next to him, that both hips start to hurt. By squirming around enough to get my hip bone even with the wheel well, I get relief for the nerve, but not anything else. The other good news is that this guy is driving like crazy and gets the trip over within 2.5 hours, without killing anyone.


That ought to be enough adventure for now, all I have to do is get back to the airport from Thies to catch my plane on time. Piece of cake! Hmm?

Rwanda

Rwanda - a land I've heard a lot about and have now experienced. My first impressions were - it's so clean! I haven't known any African cities that are this clean. I didn't see a bit of trash on the street anywhere. Everyone is issued three large bags per week - one for rubbish, one for recycling and one for food waste. Plastic bags are not used in the country. I wonder if this could work in Maputo?


The Congo microfinance board that Steve is on decided to have a board meeting and retreat in Rwanda across the lake and border from Goma. They chose a beautiful place to meet in Kibuye at Bethanie Center right on Lake Kivu.














Notice the active volcanos in Congo across the lake.

These men had some entertaining conversations at mealtimes, mostly about sports and politics.

When we passed St Jean's Catholic Church close to Bethanie, someone mentioned that there had been a massacre there during the genocide. I looked it up online and found out that 2,000 Tutsi people had run there for safety. Later they were all killed inside the church.



Much later the church was rehabilitated with new stained glass windows and this memorial center was built. You can see some skulls inside under a sign that says "Never Again" and they have two mass graves in the front.













They happened to be having a Maundy Thursday service with a beautiful children's choir singing.



I also learned online that there was another massacre of 10,000 people in Kibuye at the town stadium. People were encouraged to run there by the government and others. They were locked in without food and water for three days. Then they were killed with machine guns and grenades. To be in such a beautiful place and realize the horrors that happened there 18 years ago left me wondering how people could be so filled with evil toward their own neighbors and friends.

When I returned home I re-read Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza and was surprised to find that her story is set in Kibuye Province, where we were. The only way she survived was because a pastor hid her and 7 others in a tiny bathroom in his house. They were there for three months until the French army came and set up some places of refuge. It is an inspiring story because of her faith and the way God rescued her many times and her determination to not let bitterness take over her soul but to forgive. It is also a story of the horrible things that happened in Rwanda.

The beginning of the genocide happened on April 7, 1994. Every year the country has national days of mourning April 7-8. We were back in Kigali by then and told to keep a low profile, so we spent the day reading and resting at a WR guesthouse. The 8th was our 34th anniversary and also Easter. I wasn't sure if there would be much joyful singing in church, but the worship service was well done, celebrating Christ's death and resurrection and also reflecting on what happened. Because of Jesus' example of "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" we can also forgive. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Rwandans have a lot to forgive and work through as every family has been affected in some way.

Burundi

Last week I had the privilege of joining Steve in Burundi which is a small country in East Africa. It is bordered on part of the west side by Lake Tanganyika. Bujumbura is the capital of around 1 million people and also right on the lake. It is a developing, sprawling city. I was surprised to see how many dirt roads there were right off the main highways.


Lake Tanganyika. It doesn't look too big here, but it is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.


While Steve was busy with micro-finance board meetings I spent a day at WR offices. I shared a devotional with them and then spent some time with their new Church Mobilization person. It was good to compare notes and share resources and encouragement. The WR office has had some tough challenges but they continue to move forward.

A couple of days we traveled to a small city 3 hrs away, Makambe. The mountains and scenery were beautiful and reminded me of Puerto Rico. A small camera shooting out of a car window does not do justice to the beauty we saw but perhaps you can imagine it.


We stayed at a U.N. Guesthouse since WR is working with UNHCR, providing roofing and other materials to refugees. When I logged on to FB from there I was notified that I had logged on from Geneva!

They also have a small agricultural program which Steve helped them with. We met this group of young men who have formed an association and are growing tomatoes. To get to their field we trekked through a palm forest and forded a small stream. Their customers come to the field to buy and they haul some of the tomatoes out. It was great to see young men working as in Moz most of the men have gone to S Africa to work in the mines.


Steve training the ag staff in the office:



We were amazed to find a boy wearing a Notre Dame shirt out in the middle of nowhere.


These women work with the child survival program and have started kitchen gardens at their homes. This may look like weeds to you (pig weed) but it is actually amaranth and a green eaten often by the Burundians.

Roaring Thunder

Do you recall those lyrics, “I hear the roaring thunder?” Maybe you remember them as “I hear the rolling thunder.” Last night I had to think of those words and add a little volume during one of the most intense thunder storms I have ever heard.

I was awakened around 3 AM with what I first thought was a large truck rumbling down main street, a quarter block from our bedroom window. Then I realized the noise was not stopping and it sounded more like a jet taking off from the airport and flying around the city trying to gain altitude. It would fade in and out, but there was a constant roar with various crescendos, coupled with occasional explosions.
Maybe it was the foggy brain, but to sort it out I had to get out of bed and see what was going on. About then we were hit by a heavy rain shower and it began to dawn in me that the continuous noise was actually thunder.

There was not much to see due to being on the ground floor and lots of tall buildings all around. What I could tell was there were constant flashes of lightning, followed by long rolls of thunder blending together to actually sound like the roar of a jet engine. If I have been in the Midwest, I would have thought it was a freight train or tornado. Because the storm passed to our south, we were not in the center of it. Much of the lightning seemed to be cloud to cloud, resulting in long horizontal strikes followed by 5-10 seconds of rolling thunder. Multiply that by 2-3 flashes per second, plus echoes and you get some pretty consistent reverberations. It was impressive.

Well, if we are awed by His nature, we should also be awed by His presence. I hope you are.

When the unique and unusual becomes ordinary…

When the unique and unusual becomes ordinary…

Is that a sign you have been traveling too much, been away from normal too long or are just too busy to find the time to write about it? Those are some of the thoughts rolling around in my head as I lay awake at 5:30 in the morning, waiting for the rest of my body to wake up before I went out jogging. So, I (Steve) am writing this brief note just to give you a flavor of life at the moment.

While I have only been on one trip so far this year, it was a bit of a whirlwind. I traveled with a team from the US to the Turkana region of Kenya for an agricultural assessment in early February and then on to Zambia with two different teams in 10 days. Coming back to Mozambique keeps us just as busy planning for my next trip to eastern Africa (4 weeks long where Rachel gets to come with me for half the time) and keeping up with the Mozambique side of things. (More details in our coming newsletter.)

There are not many dull moments right now, but we are looking forward to a break come May 12 when we start our leave. In the meantime, nearly every day has something scheduled.

One thing we have been doing is saying goodbye to some special people. The Nigerian ambassador and his wife have been part of the leadership team at our church and we will miss them.


With some other friends at the farewell party. Some of them are also leaving soon. We have had to get used to many comings and goings!


Our good friends, the Brandbergs:

February Happenings in Zambia and Maputo

It seems we're getting a bit lazy about this blog and instead of writing much, we're pointing you to other people's blogs.

In February Steve, Jeff and Jenna Friesen went on a “beyond the bush” trip in Zambia to fulfill some of the grant requirements for the Friesen’s who are living in Tanzania for a year. You can read about their adventure on their blog here: http://tanzaniafriesens.wordpress.com/ (See the Feb 16 entry.) Here's Jenna. I think she was a lot more tired by 5 a.m. when they finally quit driving.


That is just part of the story. The next day Steve and Jeff and the driver went on and found some beautiful falls. The people want to develop the area for tourism and will need electricity for that, but they didn’t seem interested in a hydroelectric option.
So, it was a very long trip without many results. They dropped the Friesen’s off at Victoria Falls, and went back to Mongu through Lusaka on the good roads rather than the sandy track - still another 15 hour drive.

While Steve was gone I helped a Korean missionary with a CHE (Community Health Evangelists) seminar that she organized. She did a great job of communicating with different churches and seminaries who sent people. I have never seen people more motivated to arrive on time (even early!) and participate faithfully every morning for three weeks. It was amazing! Here I am at the closing ceremonies where the facilitators were presented with a capulana, a mocume (two capulanas put together to make a bedspread) and everyone got headscarves. You can see that there were some fun people there. There were about 20 people but the larger group pictures didn't turn out well.


This seminar makes me hopeful for Mozambique and its people. The participants said that they are better prepared to go to the communities with good information about health, community development and ways to share the Good News. And they are the kind of people who will go out and do something about the needs they see.