Return

In just two and a half weeks I'll go back to Burundi. Where did they
time go?
There have been some days when I've missed some things about Burundi,
certainly not the burn pile of course,
or the dog barking in the middle of the night. But today I was ready,
ready for the beach, ready
for my friends and my apartment and coffee shops, grocery stores,
market, all of it, I am so ready
for a little taste of Buja. I'm hoping for a time of sweet reunion. And
yet I'm a little bit anxious
about how it will all be. I hate change, even if I am the one to
initiate it. Even if I chose to
spend the summer in a different country and have my life again take on a
nomadic style I still
don't like it. So I'll do my best to embrace the change that August will
bring, change of locations and
environments and relationships.

Malaria

Let me tell you about Malaria. It's awful, it swings like a pendulum or
a roller coaster if you will, some moments (few moments) you feel fine,
like maybe your body is going to kick this thing and then the next your
down, sacked, flat on your bed in misery. There is fever 'hot body' as
they say here, headache, achy body, more headache and no energy. I
watched a lot of movies during the last five days, thankful that my
supply was replenished when my father came a few weeks ago. I had a lot
of time to think and wish I was better. Too bad many of the movies
displayed food-food that I can't have 'cause Safeway is no longer down
the street. Yesterday, my final day of sickness, my mom called, sad and
concerned. They did the correct parental things, wondering if I needed
to come home, alerting all family and friends, posting facebook notices
and praying with me. The Myers Family and our friend Bassey, or as we
call him Papa, came in to pray last night, asking for healing. And no
suprise I woke up so much better this morning, healed in Jesus Name.
When I went online today I can see so many people had been praying for
me, it's really humbling and also so exciting so see how God answers
prayer when we ask.

Buba Milking School Cows

Learning from the Fulani

School has finished and now are boarding students will go home tomorrow.
My boys are leaving. Yesterday as we climbed the hill behind the house
out into the bush they tried to instuct me on what makes a good piece of
firewood, clearly I choose pieces that are too big or too small or too
green but I'm trying. Just one of the many lessons I've picked up in my
time with them. In Burundi I am always forgetting to shake hands so I'm
thankful that the Fulani, as a whole are not as formal, shaking hands
doesn't seem to be first nature for them either. They always run to
greet visitors though, all 23 of them sprinting across the field to
greet arrivals, old and new. They are so hungry to learn. They value
time and touch and community. Yesterday we gave them each a folder, you
know the kind you buy at Wal-Mart for 10 cents. They were over the moon,
"Yes!" they said as they ran the the assemley hall to decorate them in
Ben's Star Wars stickers with pictures of the "Old Man" we know as Yoda.
They broke out the markers and began to write their name and their
school location and their A B C D's. All the things they have learned
since starting at Hope Academy. It is like magic to watch them, to see
them take something so little and make it so important. Now they will
report to their fathers not only their impressive exam scores but in a
folder that is all their own. Three of our boarders took 1st, 2nd and
3rd place in their Primary Two class. They are so proud, of course we
are too, to have our boarding students, our friends, Fulani ranking high
in their class. They are eager to begin Primary Three. On Holiday our
boarding students will spend time with family and follow cows, an event
they speak of with much joy and expertise. I will miss seeing life
through their eyes, where everything is new and exciting because not
only are you still a child but your world grows with each book you read
and each conversation you have and in all the ways you are learning
without even knowing it. I wonder if that's how it is with the Lord,
that he finds joy in the things we enjoy. That even though I've played
Candy Land 100 times in my childhood, the 101st is somehow exciting
again, because going all the way back to Candy Cane Forrest really is a
dramatic event.

Spell it

Quiet

There was a rare moment this morning when all I could hear were the
birds outside. The power was out, the fan was off, the boys weren't up
and around yet, no one was in the breezeway, it was grand. And yet
really odd. There is a main road parallel to our compound, not so near
where traffic is an issue but near enough you can hear the hoot of large
trucks passing by. Living on a compound which serves as a school for
300+ kids and a clinic and a church can often be a place of organized
chaos but for a few moments this morning there was calm, there was a
stillness I didn't know I had been missing. A hush had fallen over us.
Sometimes things are so busy that I don't remember to be quiet or there
aren't many opportunities to find it but this morning it was there.

Wenatchee Free Methodist Church

WFMC left the first week in July after two great weeks of intensive
ministry. Health clinics, teacher trainings, pastor training, classroom
visits, AC repair, Fulani camp visits, trips to down, 12 hour drive
cross-country, visits to the beach and more! No wonder they left tired.
But we praise the Lord for his provision, we can look back and clearly
see how he designed the team, 4 families and MY FATHER! There were times
when things could have gone sour or when the enemy tried to intervene
but God is always faithful to take care of his children. We (I mean
someone on our team) knew how to fix our car, we pushed thieves out the
door when they tried to gain control of the truck, we kept our cool in
stressful, new, awkward, intense times and I praise the Lord! Thank you
WFMC for your support, for caring about the broken and lost and for
coming such a long way to show the love of Jesus.