David playing on a traditional Burundian wooden bicycle on our porch.
It is about 4:30 am right now. The power is off and our inverter is currently on the fritz. I am grateful to have a computer that has a battery that works about 8 hours. I did not get the blog posted last night because I did fall sound asleep at about 11pm. The reason for not starting before then was the unusual business of Sunday evening this week. One thing we have added to our weekly routine Sunday is a prayer and share group that meets at our house from 5 to 7pm. This is about the 4th week we have done it and I am hoping it continues to go as well as it has in the months ahead.
In the past 2 years, Rebecca and I have tried to get a group together without much avail. I had mentioned the problem of missionaries not seeming to ever have time to meet regularly and also the number of short term people that are here. We have also had problems in the past, when we had the group open as a Bible study, of having awkward situations where people were coming primarily with the motivation of connecting with mzungus to ask for money, a job, or other favors.
This group, though seems to be one that has more stability. We have 3 couples, Tim and Jeanette, our South African missionary friends, Ahn and Sani, a Korean pastor and his wife that are here planting a church and pastoral training school, Ina, a woman from India who runs a pharmacy with her husband, and Rebecca and I. We are hoping that Libby and Handa, a Burundian couple, will be joining us as well in the near future.
All of these folks are here long term, and made the decision to be working here in a very sacrificial way. It is inspiring to be sharing and praying with them, but also holds Rebecca and I to a very high standard of sacrifice and obedience as they are really models of people who take their faith and following Jesus very seriously.
We have been studying the book of Nehemiah the past 4 weeks and I have led most of the sessions. It has been good to read this book again in the Burundian context as I consider this man and his project to rebuild his nation and unify his people. There are many lessons for Burundi. The thing I appreciate about him that is a good corrective to what I would call a 'blind faith' approach to doing a God inspired mission, is his practical and meticulous planning. He begins by hearing a call (actually an articulated need expressed by his people in Jerusalem), praying about it, making an appeal to the King, then taking time to fund raise, get a grant, supplies, and legal permissions before beginning. He does field visits and a base line survey before commencing the project. He inspires a shared vision among his people, involves EVERYONE in the project, and deals very directly and effectively with threats from without and within.
This week we read chapter 5 where he deals with the very corroding effect of corruption in the leadership and wealthy of the community. He rebukes the leaders and nobles and reminds them of the importance of not taking advantage of the poor through usury (1% interest rate--ha, ha) forcing them to sell their land and their sons and daughters into slavery. Nehemiah recognized the problem of a community where income disparity between rich and poor becomes more and more extreme. In Burundi, I observed, the problem of corruption is certainly having a corroding affect, but in my own country, I believe that the growing divide between the rich and poor is beginning to tear at the fabric of our democracy as well. Nehemiah seems to be particular poignant in both cultural contexts.
The other reason this Sunday evening was particularly busy was the trip, or trips we made to the airport to pick up our 'mystery visitor'-- none other than GRANDMA JEAN, Rebecca's mom. She was due in on the Brussels Airline flight from Brussels at about 8 pm. We packed the kids into the car and headed to the airport. When we got there, we were told the flight had been delayed about an hour and a half and would be arriving about 9:30 pm. We decided to take the kids back home and feed them and get them to bed since they had school on Monday. They did not even make it back to the house, but fell asleep on the way. We put them to bed and an hour or so later I headed back to the airport.
My timing was good and I got there shortly before she emerged from customs. I am glad to say she arrived with all of her luggage and without incident (two 50 pound suitcases and a carry-on laden with Christmas presents and other goodies from the US) . We came home and we went to bed shortly after her arrival. I am sure the kids will be thrilled to find her when they wake up this morning. Hopefully she will be able to put up with all the attention despite jet lag.
Working backwards, I will say that this week has been, as mentioned last week, one of the few where we stayed in town the whole week. I think this is only the second one since we came back from the US this summer. I am hoping that we will continue to have more weeks like this where we have a regular routine. I particularly enjoyed going swimming every day last week in our newly renovated pool at Entente Sportive. Rainy season has begun in full force and there were several days when it was raining steadily when Rebecca and I went swimming anyway. It is kind of nice to swim in the rain, actually, the pool water feels quite warm compared to the outside air.
Although the weather is cooler and fresher in this season, it is not remotely cold. I am spending my 3rd year in this climate without winter, and it seems very strange to imagine the cold weather setting in in the US while we bask daily in the sun and take daily morning swims in an outdoor pool. I do admit that I miss the more extreme changes in the seasons we have at home. It seems particularly strange as we prepare for the holiday season. With no commercialism and no change in weather, it is hard to believe we are entering the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.
The work week was a chance to catch up on a lot of office and administrative work, meetings with partners in Bujumbura, etc. It is planning time again for volunteers for next year. We are trying to identify some opportunities to bring some new 1 year volunteers out for next year. We are also looking for an opportunity to send at least one of Burundian from among our partners to work in another country for a year. We are considering a francophone country like Haiti or Burkina Faso where there is an MCC program. MCC encourages this kind of cultural exchange.
I am very happy to say that none of us were sick this week! And Oren and David went to school every day. It took Oren a bit of getting used to after a fall break the week before and Burkina Faso before that. But he is getting back into it with minimal complaining. French is still coming at a snails pace though for him.
Saturday was fairly busy although it was marked by a rare all-day torrential rain storm. I have never seen it rain so hard and continuously before. We even had a bit of leaking in our roof as a result. One of the events planned for Saturday by our church was an all day meeting 11am to 4pm to talk about developing a committee structure. Rebecca and I usually switch off at such events and she was elected to go to this one while I stayed with the kids. ---It was another opportunity for a cultural lesson...
We had known in the past that generally meetings start late here and have adjusted accordingly. An 11 am meeting begins around 11;30 at earliest, for example. What Rebecca had not considered was the extreme aversion Burundians have to rain and getting wet. The unwritten cultural rule is that when it rains, everything comes to a halt until the rain is over, then picks up again with everything postponed until it is over. With the torrential downpour on Saturday, Rebecca dutifully arrived 30 minutes after start time at 11:30, but found virtually no one there. People started arriving around 1pm and the meeting began around 1:30 pm. She spent the first 2 hours waiting around. When she left at 4pm, she literally met one or two of the leaders who were arriving as she was leaving who seemed genuinely stunned that she would be leaving 'so soon'.
While Rebecca was at the church, I took Oren to the home of our Danish Friends, Naja and Thomas, for the Birthday Party of their daughter Eviaja. Rebecca joined us there after the meeting and we had a nice time with many of our friends including Zachee and Bridget who were there with Timmy as well.
Saturday evening was also pretty interesting as we were invited, by some German friends who work with GTZ, to come to an 'adult' party. Rebecca and I managed to get a babysitter, a special needs education volunteer at Hope University named Rachel. (She was a friend of our SALTer Brandon.) We left her with the kids and went together to the party with a group that was primarily other Germans here in the NGO community. Rebecca and I mused that going to a German party would be a real cultural experience and imagined everyone sitting around wearing tight black jeans and turtlenecks and listening to techno music. We weren't too far off the mark either. It was a fun evening and we met some new people who we hope to connect with in the future.
Rachel stayed the night at our house since driving to her neighborhood at night is not ideal, and she joined us the next day for church and a swim in the afternoon at Club du LakT.
That brings us full circle back to the end of the week. More on Grandma Jean's visit and our team retreat next Sunday.
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