Missionary Flash Mob

We had a flash mob yesterday at MTI. We planned it ahead of time and didn't tell anyone in our class. Our South African instructor, Robin, had no idea we were planning it, but he sure jumped in and went along! You can see that some of the classmates are shocked. :) Much of the material we covered in class was fairly heavy, so when we decided to have fun, we went all out.

The night that we babysat, we also created a video of the kids here at MTI. Give it a watch if you'd like. It's fairly funny. :)

Silence before the storm

A quick word before I begin this blog, a few people commented about our previous blog, and I wanted to clarify what I had said. When I said that it is not our job to determine "right" and "wrong" in Guinea-Bissau, I am saying that in regard to the culture there, and in no way mean to negate the idea of absolute truth.
Back to this blog.

We're just 2.5 weeks from our actual flight to Guinea-Bissau, and in ways, I feel no more prepared than I did a year ago. Our last 2.5 weeks, however, have made a difference in the feeling of emotional, mental and spiritual preparedness.
How have we prepared? Oh....in so many ways.
There was yesterday when we spent time preparing for grief and acknowledging all of the things we're experiencing loss with. We cried and actually felt the feelings we've been suppressing for so long. It struck me that distance from each of you is a great loss where we miss the closeness with you and are grieving the lack of that. We hope that a new kind of relationship can spring up where we are able to enjoy a deepening of our relationships even as we're far away.
We spent time preparing to deal with stress in a way that was beyond anything I expected. We had a real-life simulation of very stressful events that missionaries might face. It was very intense and very unexpected. We experienced a lot of stress and then later examined our reactions and behaviors. I can't even describe to you the many things I learned about myself in that time! It's a lesson that's valuable and challenging on so many levels.
A few days later, we learned about the unsettling, resettling and chaos process of leaving for the field. The staff here had a makeshift "bridge" to simulate the various stages of transition. The bridge involved unstable chairs and a series of yoga balls to walk on. We practiced crossing the bridge and talked about the effect that chaos and unsettling and resettling have on relationships. This made us realize just how flexible and patient and kind you've all been to us as we're now in the middle of the bridge undergoing CHAOS! We know we haven't been as present and gracious at times as we would like to be, and we are thankful for your grace. Thank you for your support that has shown through patience and understanding.
We've spent time learning how to handle cross-cultural encounters with grace and understanding, and now the challenge is to apply the head-knowledge we've obtained. We spent time doing simulations of various cultures so that we could examine our pre-judgements and thus become more aware of how we see the world.
We have one full day of training left and then half a day on Friday and we're done at MTI. We are going to miss the people here so much. Just having a community of people going through the same strange thing we're going through has been so vital.
A week ago, I organized a parents' night out for the parents here. The singles and marrieds-without-kids (often, its easier to just lump in with the singles) were matched up with particular families and were given family-specific instructions. There was dinnertime....a unique experience for all 21 adults and 23 children, and then play time. Many parents confided to us that they hadn't had a date night in so long they couldn't remember the last one. We, of course, played with the kids and had a blast. Jason played the part of the bridge troll for over an hour and I helped put babies to bed.
We've been tremendously blessed by the kids here and are sitting beside the playground now listening to them play before dinner on our second to last night in this unique place. This has been a place of rest and renewal and has also greatly prepared us for what's ahead. As we go forward, we will be glad we did this.
We'll update you again soon. We've sent out a newsletter and hope you've received it by now. The next one will be sent while we're in AFRICA!!!

My Third Culture Thoughts

Kids of missionaries have been called MKs (missionary kids) for a long time. MKs have now been renamed. Perhaps it's because we as a society thrive on renaming things, or because MK was taken by some other acronym, perhaps for no reason at all, but there’s a new term for them. TCK—Third Culture Kid—and it refers to the situation arising from people who are raised in a culture other than their own. It has nothing to do with being in a third world country, but refers to the third culture that begins when a family or person travels from their “home” culture to another culture. An American moving overseas will never be fully American again, but they will never fully embody the culture that they’re living in either. A third culture results from the situation leaving that person or family in a fairly narrow category field.
Jason and I realized today that we will not be entirely American. We will not be entirely African, Guinean, Fula, Balanta, or any other culture. There will be no point at which we blend in...ever. We will be a third culture family. Like something from another planet; or a poorly-written Science-Fiction novel. The people we’ll relate to the best will be expatriates, other missionaries and military people who've been deployed. We're in the process of adopting a culture of our very own.
Here at MTI, they talk to us a lot about paradox. As an English Major, paradox excites me. It’s ideas like beauty in sadness, joy in pain, etc. It’s very real. My life is no longer straight-forward. I haven’t known what word to apply to it, but have felt that in a very real way for a while. It means that I won't just think in a single language, but a menagerie of languages. I will think half a sentence in English and the other half in Kriol. Jokes that are funny in one language aren't funny in another. People who relate to one half of me will likely be confused by the other.
As we go to Guinea-Bissau, it is not our intention to determine "right" and "wrong" as we view in their culture, but to examine "different." Guineans are very light-hearted people, and some of the things they joke about will not seem appropriate to our American sense of humor. Just because they offend our feelings does not mean that what they've done is wrong. Maybe we need to lighten up. Maybe it is funny that we're so white. And maybe it is funny to reply back in the same way! Of course, there are still distinctions of right and wrong, but maybe a lot of things are just different and we can enjoy them. We're being taught to suspend judgement, to wait to decide what we're seeing until we can understand it. Maybe we can become students of the culture of Guinea-Bissau and maybe we can understand it well enough to function well within it. We'll never function seamlessly. When we walk down the street, we'll always be called "White things with no color" and when we go to the market, we'll always be charged the unofficial "white tax," the goal is not to blend in, but to function genuinely and well. With God's grace, we can do that!

A quiet place

We arrived at MTI today. It's where we'll spend the next three weeks working through culture shock and other personal and challenging aspects of being missionaries.

There's a book I am in the process of reading right now, too. It's called "Through the Outhouse Floor". The thing I love about this book and the reason I am mentioning it here is that it addresses the fact that missionary life is not a popcorn candy ball with sugar coating. It's downright tough somtimes. There are days when we won't be able to tolerate the smell of garbage or the sight of hungry people any more. There are times when, on a somewhat selfish level, we won't be able to handle another mosquito bite, another bug in our house, another disease we caught. And yet, there's grace and peace in the midst of even those moments. This book covers many of those challenging aspects and advises people how to pray for missionaries. I guess when you'r understanding how to pray for missionaries, it's also probably going to help you be a better one, too. :) The cool thing about the book, and I'm realizing it about our lives as well, is that it's also not a big "complaint-fest" it's a balanced perspective. Sometimes, when the ants crawl in your chocolate frosting, you mix them in....they are brown after all. And other times, when your clothes mold, all you can do is laugh/cry/move on.

We're so excited to be at MTI. We arrived late today. We had complications with our third rabies vaccines. They are supposed to be done at a particular time, so we drove back from San Antonio in time to get the vaccines before leaving town again to go to MTI....only to find out that they sheduled us incorrectly and we didn't make the appointment. Apparently, the "African" sense of planning can occur anywhere. As we walked in the doors at MTI, we had missed Orientation completely, but no one was upset. There was a room full of people who were sitting down for dinner, and they were all talking about where they were going, how they'd been called there, the challenges and joys of fundraising, and so on. It was SO incredibly good to walk into a room FULL of people who understand where we are right now.

Being busy with work in a traditional job is something that's easy to comprehend, but being busy as a missionary is weird. You spend a lot of time with people, and when you do, you try to make sure you prioritize that time with those people. You have TONS to do, but you don't do it because your time is about people. This is a wonderful thing, and one of our favorite parts of our new job, but the funny thing is, we never look that busy to anyone. Haha. We just look like we wander around chatting with folks and having fun. Then, behind the scenes, we work like Santa's workshop. Some of you have seen it, no doubt, but hopefully not often. :)

Either way, it's both restful and restorative to be surrounded by these people who are in the same place we're in. We look forward to classes like "Keeping the Sabbath" (something we're AWFUL at).

Please pray for this to be a wonderful time of learning and growth for us. We hope to be better equipped at the end of these 3 weeks!

We're also finding that we're unique here. We're the only people being sent from a local church. It's funny because everyone we've talked to outside of here asks if we're going through a local church, but the majority of missionaries we meet are going through organizations. It's something we're really excited about. We get to walk into a country and ask the locals what they want and serve them in their area of need specifically. A lot of organizations do that as well, but we are excited to see the literal workings of it.

Thank you for being you. The thing we've been enormously aware of lately is how VERY blessed we are to have each of you. Your sincerity, love, prayers, and you sharing your lives with us as well are so important.

I've got to go to bed, but hope you sleep well and we'll give updates about MTI as we go. Thanks for providing us the funding to be prepared enough to attend a class like this. I think the training will be vital.

Oh, and if anyone is looking for reading material, "Through the Outhouse Floor" is a great book. And I'm not one to recommend books. ;)

Cars and trucks and SUVs! Oh my!

New Mexico, Arizona, more New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Colorado. Those are the states we'll have been in by the end of this week! We're counting down days, just a little over a month until we leave for Africa! This road trip has been wonderful! We've seen and spent time with so many amazing people and realize that we're SO very blessed! We're learning that God knows exactly what we need and it's a beautiful thing!

We decided to count the number of trucks vs. cars in Texas as we drove a stretch from Midland to San Angelo today and we got a little carried away, but here's what we saw!

Cars: 59

Pickup Trucks: 136

Semi Trucks: 40

SUVs: 84 (many of these looked like modified pickup trucks, but we counted them as SUVs)

Whataburgers: 6

Historical Landmarks: 7

Roadkill: eeewww.

Tumbleweeds: 1

Texas Flags: 3

USA Flags: 5

Country Music Radio Stations in any given place: about 50% of the stations available (yes, this means I am in heaven, and Jason is resigned to his fate)

Speaking of transportation, when we arrive in Bissau, we'll be using bicycles and taxis for transportation. Taxis aren't like they are here, you don't call them, but they drive in a constant circuit. There are more taxis than personally-owned vehicles. You just go stand on the road and wait (usually much less than a minute) and a taxi comes by. You hold up your fingers for the number of people you want to put in the taxi and a taxi with room in it will stop. THEN, you negotiate the price. The government sets the prices, but people still love to see if they can get more, and sometimes they drive off without letting you in. Most of the time, it works out just fine and you get wherever you're going for a dollar or so.

We've also learned that Texas, New Mexico and Arizona don't have the same kinds of problems with bears that we do in Colorado. It totally shocks us to see trash cans in the middle of nowhere that look perfectly accessible to a bear. We're so used to having to be smarter than the average bear just to throw things away. It seems so weird!

We also had a powerful time in prayer a few days ago as we were just spending time together and talking. We began discussing how we were feeling about leaving and the entire process. I was talking to Jason about how I feel scared of so many things sometimes. I get scared that something will happen to him, or to family or friends while we're away, etc. As we were talking, (and I was crying) Jason began to pray against fear. It reminded me of my first night in Africa. I didn't sleep for about three nights. Every sound was unfamiliar, the smells were strange and the night was SO dark. It wasn't until my third morning of waking up more tired than I went to bed that I realized that I was dealing with fear. It can cripple me so completely. I like to plan and have things well within my control, and it's both good and very hard for me to be out of control of my own life. That morning, I sat in my bed and prayed against fear in my life. I prayed for peace and for protection from fear. For the rest of my six months in Africa, I slept incredibly well. I fell asleep immediately, I woke refreshed. It didn't matter if there were women wailing outside, or bullfrogs so loud you literally had trouble hearing people talk, or if I was covered in mosquito bites, or even if someone was banging around on the roof above my head (which did happen!). I slept and I was rested. It just showed me how real God was in my life and how much He wants to be involved in each part of my day, even to go so far as protecting my sleep.

I know from first hand experience what fear can do in my life and I was so thankful to have Jason there with my this time to recognize it and pray for me. We are thankful that we can write you and ask for prayer any time. And we'll probably write you a lot in our first month there!

A few new things have developed in regard to our settling in for Bissau as well. The pastor at the church found us an apartment that we will live in for 3 months and then we can decide to either stay longer in that apartment or find somewhere else. The important things we know about the house is that it has a wall around it (good for safety) and has a toilet. That's what we need! They wanted to make sure I had a chance to make decisions about where I live. Also, we've arranged to exchange writing lessons and some TOEFL books with a friend in Bissau for him teaching us Kriol. I have lost a lot of what I knew in Kriol, and Jason will need to start at the beginning. He knows his greetings, but so far that's all. (Though I must say, he's very good at greeting people for someone who's never been there)

On the road again...

I am writing this blog from the car. We're in Santa Fe, NM at the moment. We are on day #2 of our road trip to visit friends, family and supporters! New Mexico is beautiful with its red dirt and dramatic landscape.

We camped last night in Villanueva State Park. It was stunning and peaceful. We left the rainfly off of the tent and just fell asleep listening to the crickets and looking at the stars. It is very different from the snappy chill of nights in Colorado, and yet so peaceful and calm.

Life often seems to run very non-stop for us, and we love the pace. Keeping up is a challenge and rewarding. Then, every once on a while, we take a breath and pause, and that's what it was like to camp and relax last night. I'm beginning to learn that there are times to stop doing things. Times to just enjoy, and of course, times to be ridiculously busy. It's good to experience both. Sometimes, God has to almost hit me over the head with restful times. I can be so determined to accomplish things that I don't stop. This was one of those times. We were driving along and had no idea where we were going to camp (and like I said in the last blog, I LOVE to plan, so it was a little irksome to me not to know where we were going to end up for the evening). Saw a sign and had no idea it would be a place we could go and recharge.

Things are also beginning to fall in place. I am now married to the most technologically savvy man I could imagine. We also just got our visas finalized and got them emailed to us. It's amazing in this day and age, no more mailing your passport, you can send it in email. We've also been told that a place to live has been found for us. It'll take us through our first three months in Bissau. Pastor Bobo wanted to make sure that I would be able to choose a place I felt comfortable once we were there, so this temporary housing is part of the picture! While we're on the road, Jason is beginning to work on building a website for MAFI Church, as well. Soon, we'll be able to show you what they're all about on the internet.

The best part of leaving is to look back and see our journey up to this point. We have spent many years with Guinea-Bissau on the horizon in one way or another. Years ago when we met the missionaries who started the Youth Center, we were in Golden, CO and Guinea-Bissau jumped right onto our radar there. Our goals and plans have changed, but the country has remained the same. We've been amazed and excited to watch our plans morph as we've gone along.

I got an email today through the website from someone who has recently been in Bissau and plans to return at the soonest possible time because the country has just seeped into part of who they are. It does that. It is a place with so much need, so much beauty, and so much pain all right next to each other. And you take each day in stride knowing all parts will factor into your day. So, we hope sincerely that you'll come visit. Bring friends even! :) There's no shortage of things to be done. From teaching to building to preaching, we'll find the right place for you! Just be careful, if you spend time there, you might just want to go back.

We are so excited and blessed to have so many wonderful people who are praying for us and supporting us. It's wonderful to get to go visit each of you and spend some time with you before we leave. From here, we go to Albuquerque, NM tonight. We'd like to thank all of you, also for being so conveniently located fairly near each other. It makes things like this so much easier. :) Love you all! Look for more posts from the road as we go. Check out the video below!

Thoughts on the craziest plan I've ever made

Erica here!

As a planner, I like to have my world be predictable in a way. I like to pack it full of things, but I get a certain joy out of the fact that I can put events in my planner on my phone and watch them happen with relative dependability. Well, I'm realizing that this is the craziest, most out of my control plan I've ever made.

This is my little family. Just the three of us. And somehow, it's my whole world. It's a very different proposition to take my family to Africa rather than just myself. It's very different to move to Guinea-Bissau than to have a 6 month hiatus from life and go there with return tickets purchased before I even set foot on an airplane. This is definitely very different. The best way I can describe the feeling is to relate it to the way it felt years ago as a kid on Splash Mountain in Disney World. You're in this cave going along watching puppets sing, having fun, safely in the tracks and having a pretty good idea of what's ahead. Then, you see the bright light at the end of the tunnel and you get this rush of exhiliration. When you finally get to the top of it, you can no longer see the tracks in front of you, just blue sky ahead and no ground in sight. You know it's there, but you also know there's a plunge ahead, too. Your stomach rises into your chest and you tense every muscle in anticipation and then whooosh! Yep, it's pretty much exactly like that. This safe, comfortable life is behind us and the blue sky is ahead. The picture below is the view from the apartment we moved out of on Saturday.

The big difference is knowing that God's hand is under us. It's a bit like that moment in Indiana Jones when he takes the "leap of faith" (which I still maintain is more like a big step than a "leap," but I'll take that up with the director some time) and just steps out and it isn't until after he finds the ground that you can see it. I know He's there and it's a great thing to feel safe in that knowledge.

So, whether it's "whoosh" or a step-leap thing, this is happening! We are spending this week with Jason's family and then we've got a wedding for a good friend this weekend. After the wedding, we set off to visit friends and family in the Southern States and come home on the same day that Sheba goes to the vet for a tooth cleaning, we get our third and final Rabies vaccine and we head off to MTI in Colorado Springs for three weeks of preparation for being hard targets to kidnapping and processing culture shock. In the meantime, we're working to secure extortion insurance, trying to get our final "from home" newsletter to you all and so on. It's a lot, but it's good. I never thought I would be thinking logically about kidnapping and using the word extortion in daily use, and it's still a bit of a stretch, I get that sense of "holy cow, I said that and meant it and that's insane" when I say it. But I know it's good and God is in control. I've learned just what Tetanus really is and why we're so glad to have a vaccine for it here in the USA and I've been amazed at how much God has blessed my life. Guinea-Bissau and our time there is an extension of that blessing.

Jason has finished his job and this is our first day working together to accomplish the dreams that God has given us. We're officially on payrole with Red Rocks Church and have gotten bank accounts all worked out and managed for this venture.

I look ahead wondering what comical errors we're about to make, what adventures we're going to have and what stories we'll come back with. It's best to look forward and enjoy the memories but not dwell there. Africa is waiting for us. There is God's calling on the horizon and His amazing grace is sustaining and blessing us. We're ready for the plunge!

We've shared wonderful memories with so many of you and look forward to sharing our new experiences with you as we move somewhere far different from here. We hope you'll continue to laugh and cry with us as we go along and that we can do the same with you over email, Skype, letters, etc. The next two months will be a flurry of goodbyes and tears and laughter and memories to keep in our pockets as we embark.