Lately the full weight of the decision to move to Africa has been hitting me. All romantic
notions I have ever had about living on the mission field have been burned out of me.
They say that it takes about 2 or 4 years before you can officially be considered a
“missionary” to a particular country. That is because it takes that long to get your feet
under you when you move to a new country. You loose all your bearings and basically
have to re-learn life. Nothing that is normal and consistent to you is available. There
are no Targets or Walmart, you canʼt call 911 if you need help, online bill pay is a thing
of the past, and there are no drive through Wendyʼs or McDonald to take advantage of
when you need a quick fix. When you get pulled over by police you have to do a sort of
mental dance to figure out if they are trying to just get some lunch money out of you or
are they legitimate. Basic things like grocery shopping and going to a park become an
exercise in patience and sometimes insanity. Every thing is negotiable. Everywhere
you go people think that you have all the answers because of you skin color so being
anonymous is a thing of the past. You know when you have those days when all you
want to do is just sit in a quiet place with a good book and not be bothered?
Relationships are also a thing that become effected. It is a strange world a missionary
lives it. You have to maintain friendships in two worlds that are VASTLY different from
each other, yet you feel a deep and profound connection to both. In your home country
peopleʼs lives move on with out you and in your host country people are constantly
coming and going at a rate that makes your head spin. So, as a missionary you feel,
sometimes literally, torn in two. Like a floating amoeba bouncing against the walls. Can
you understand why it is stressful?
The temptation in the face of all this is to shut the door to your house and pray for the
second coming. To allow life to move on an its brisk pace and to try really hard to keep
your sanity. BUT, that isnʼt healthy or good is it?
Why am I writing all of this to you? Would you please pray for us as we re-discover our
African feet? Would you please pray for us as we learn how to walk through the daily
stressors of living here? Consider some of the daily things that we face here
1. Our water gets cut off regularly because it hasnʼt rained in 9 months and it is reaching
100 degrees daily. How is a mom to do laundry?
2. Electricity sometimes gets cut off at dinner time while I am cooking. So I have to
break out the peanut butter and bread.
3. Bad roads
4. Corrupt Police (We were driving home with our kids the other day and got pulled over.
It took us 1 1/2 hours in the HOT sun with NO water to get out of there. Luis came
home and slept all the next day.)
I think you get the point....
We need your prayers!!!!! Pray that we can find healthy ways to release stress and to
live lives that are joy filled and full of peace.
notions I have ever had about living on the mission field have been burned out of me.
They say that it takes about 2 or 4 years before you can officially be considered a
“missionary” to a particular country. That is because it takes that long to get your feet
under you when you move to a new country. You loose all your bearings and basically
have to re-learn life. Nothing that is normal and consistent to you is available. There
are no Targets or Walmart, you canʼt call 911 if you need help, online bill pay is a thing
of the past, and there are no drive through Wendyʼs or McDonald to take advantage of
when you need a quick fix. When you get pulled over by police you have to do a sort of
mental dance to figure out if they are trying to just get some lunch money out of you or
are they legitimate. Basic things like grocery shopping and going to a park become an
exercise in patience and sometimes insanity. Every thing is negotiable. Everywhere
you go people think that you have all the answers because of you skin color so being
anonymous is a thing of the past. You know when you have those days when all you
want to do is just sit in a quiet place with a good book and not be bothered?
Relationships are also a thing that become effected. It is a strange world a missionary
lives it. You have to maintain friendships in two worlds that are VASTLY different from
each other, yet you feel a deep and profound connection to both. In your home country
peopleʼs lives move on with out you and in your host country people are constantly
coming and going at a rate that makes your head spin. So, as a missionary you feel,
sometimes literally, torn in two. Like a floating amoeba bouncing against the walls. Can
you understand why it is stressful?
The temptation in the face of all this is to shut the door to your house and pray for the
second coming. To allow life to move on an its brisk pace and to try really hard to keep
your sanity. BUT, that isnʼt healthy or good is it?
Why am I writing all of this to you? Would you please pray for us as we re-discover our
African feet? Would you please pray for us as we learn how to walk through the daily
stressors of living here? Consider some of the daily things that we face here
1. Our water gets cut off regularly because it hasnʼt rained in 9 months and it is reaching
100 degrees daily. How is a mom to do laundry?
2. Electricity sometimes gets cut off at dinner time while I am cooking. So I have to
break out the peanut butter and bread.
3. Bad roads
4. Corrupt Police (We were driving home with our kids the other day and got pulled over.
It took us 1 1/2 hours in the HOT sun with NO water to get out of there. Luis came
home and slept all the next day.)
I think you get the point....
We need your prayers!!!!! Pray that we can find healthy ways to release stress and to
live lives that are joy filled and full of peace.
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