Homeleave #7: Winding up--Chautauqua, Niagara Falls, and back to Baltimore

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Classic view of Niagara Falls which I saw for the first time last week.


As we enter the 'late afternoon' of our homeleave, I am amazed, in looking back at all the traveling we have done, particularly with regard to the geography we have covered in the US (and Canada).  We have actually been to every region, (Northeast, South East, Midwest, and Northwest, even the Great Lakes) except the Southwest.  (There is no plan in the working to get down to Phoenix or San Diego anytime before we leave.)  It has been quite an adventure and we have felt very successful in visiting many, many friends and relatives in our time here in a way that has not been excessively stressful.

Last week we completed our final set of family vacations by spending a week in Chautauqua, New York with Rebecca's parents and her brother and sister-in-law with their 2 kids.  The timing in terms of travel the first day was a bit tough in that Rebecca and I returned from Vancouver/Seattle on a red-eye to Baltimore, then left the same morning for an 8 hour road trip to Chautauqua, which is in western New York, about an hour south of Buffalo.  Although we were tired, the timing was good in that we arrived on the same day as everyone else so we had the maximum amount of time together.

If you have not heard of Chautauqua and the Chautauqua Institution, it is worth a bit of explanation and description to try to get a picture of the place where Rebecca's family decided to vacation this year.  At a glance, one might describe it as a kind of close-knit gated community along the side of Lake Chautauqua, a small lake in a fairly remote part of Western New York.  Visitors can rent rooms or houses that are owned on the property, which is quite large and even includes a golf course, tennis courts, a dance studio, art studio, art gallery, several theaters including a large ampitheater that houses 3000, stores, restaurants, a large library, bookstore, a town square and much more.  I would say that it is part town, part University and actually has a faculty that is invited each year as well as a dance and opera company in residence, numerous artists, authors, and other distinguished individuals. During the summer season there is a different theme each week, that vary from the Arts, to Global Health, Economics, Innovation and Technology, and even Iran: from Silk Road to Middle East Powder Keg (which was the theme for our week).

There are also, of course numerous lake activities to choose from including swimming, boating, skiing, sailing and fishing to name just a few.  Needless to say, there was plenty to do and choose from.

The history of Chautauqua is interesting because it was founded in the 1870s as a camp to train Sunday School teachers. About 2000 teachers from different denominations were invited to participate and set up camp in the place in tents.  This eventually evolved into what is now the Chautauqua Institution.  Because of its Christian roots there is a worship service every morning that features a very well known preacher.  The week we were there, the preacher was the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, from the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, which was the home church of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was an excellent speaker and quite inspired, coping deftly with an audience that was probably 99.9% white. He joked about that and told us how to 'talk back' to the pastor:  "If you like what I say, say 'Amen'.  If you agree with what I say but it is hard to hear say, say 'Lord have mercy'.  If you disagree with what I say, say 'Help, Lord!'  He tested us out with the proclamations  God is Good--Amen!  Drinking is a sin.-- Lord have mercy!  I could go on preaching all day-- Help, Lord!


He led us each morning and the adults in our group took turns going on different mornings while others watched the kids.

Rebecca and I did get a chance to swim most mornings as there was a pool available for lap swimming as well.  By day we did various activities with the kids including miniature golf, biking, and swimming in the lake.  Oren continued to improve his biking skills along with his cousin Miriam and they preferred to bike just about everywhere on the grounds.

During the evenings there were many special programs for adults and we took the opportunity to split up childcare again so that different ones of us could go to experience some events.  Dave and Jean Sack (Rebecca's parents) went to the opera The Magic Flute on Monday, Paul and Gwndolyn (Rebecca's brother and sister-n-law) went to a lecture by author Dan Brown on Tuesday, and Rebecca and I went to a performance of the North Carolina Dance Theater on Wednesday. It was great to see a dance performance by this repertory company and I did see some works of choreographers I was familiar with (Jaqueline Buglisi, Dwight Rhoden).  It was an enjoyable evening.

When we were staying home with the kids we enjoyed playing some adult board games, particularly Ticket to Ride, a pretty cool board game where the idea is to construct rail lines between major cities in the US.

We also took turns cooking and enjoyed great food prepared by different families.  Rebecca and I prepared a very nice Indian meal on Friday evening which included Aloo Gobi vindaloo (cauliflower and potatoes), channa saag (spinach and chick-peas), raita, and chicken tikka masala.  It came out really well eventhough we improvised on many ingredients.

We did some special outings and because of that this week was quite unique.  On Thursday we left the Institution and headed north about an hour and a half to Niagara Falls, NY and Ontario.  We were not just going as tourists though--we had made a plan to meet Zachee, Bridget and Timmy!!!  Yes, they had recently arrived in Toronto from Burundi where they will be for the next several years.  Zachee's visa for Canada did not permit him entry into the US, but it was not a problem for us to cross into Canada.  Since we were close to the border in Chautauqua, we made plans to coordinate a visit to the falls with them.

Although we did a get a flat tire on the way up (something I am very used to from driving in Burundi), we did not have much trouble getting up.  When we crossed the rainbow bridge into Canada we saw Zachee and Co. as we drove down toward the visitor center parking lot.

Oren and David were ecstatic to see Timmy!  David hugged him and rubbed his head quite a bit.  They all looked great and we introduced Zachee, Bridget, and Timmy to Rebecca parents, her brother as well as the cousins Miriam and Gabriel.

The kids had a ball at the falls.  It is quite a spectacular view on the Canadian side where you can look directly into the immense Horseshoe Falls.  (It was the first time I had been there.)  We really enjoyed hearing Z and B's stories about leaving Burundi, traveling through Europe, and arriving in Canada.  We shared lunch together as a big group, then Rebecca's family went on back to Chautauqua while our family stayed and had dinner with Zachee and Bridget.  We all enjoyed sitting in the visitor center restaurant that over looked the falls as the sun was setting.  It was a fabulous day and we drove home in the evening and got back around 10pm without incident.

Bujumbura will be a bit emptier without Zachee, Bridget, and especially Oren's best friend Timmy there.

But the Burundi connections did not end on Thursday.  It happened that Jodi Mikalachki, our former service worker who taught at the Hope School, was also in Toronto.  So she took a trip down to Chautauqua on Friday and paid us a visit.  It was nice to spend the day with her there and we reminisced as well as talked about her future plans to return again to Burundi sometime in the fall.

We left Chautauqua on Saturday and headed back home to Baltimore, arriving in the late afternoon.  This was an important landmark as this ended all of our journeys prior to our return to Burundi.  We have left the last 2 weeks for time in the Baltimore area to get ready for return, in terms of packing, and preparing spiritually, emotionally, etc.

The kids are spending time with their grandparents and cousins for the most part this week.  They went to the train museum with Grandma Jean as well as the library.  Rebecca and I have begun shopping for gifts to bring back to friends and colleagues, not a small job.

Because of Oren's enthusiasm for biking, we did plan a family bike trip on Thursday.  There is an old railroad that has been converted into a bike trail along the Gunpowder river (NCR trail).  It goes about 20 miles, but we chose a short section of it, about 7.2 miles round-trip.  We felt this would be a challenge for Oren but do-able.  (remember my goal of biking across the US with the family in 2020!)  We borrowed bikes from my parents and Rebecca's brother (he had one with a baby seat for David) and we set off mid-morning.  It was a perfect day and despite some complaints about being tired, Oren did make it to the halfway point which was an old train station where we had lunch.  After lunch we rode back which was much easier as it was on a slight downhill grade that way.  I was very proud of Oren for accomplishing this goal and gives me hope for future adventures.

Friday the kids went to the train museum but in the evening we had dinner with Rebecca's parents then out to a baseball game.  We watched the Aberdeen Ironbirds, a minor league team, with some great seats right behind home plate.  Although they lost, it was a good time with Rebecca's family and the cousins.

Saturday was Miriam's (Oren's cousin) 8th Birthday and although it rained the kids had a great time together again at their house which featured great food and a piniata.  (It was funny to watch David go after the piniata with a bat--he knew exactly what to do.)

Sunday we went to my parents' church where Rebecca taught a Sunday school class and I preached.  It is the last chance we will have to visit this church (Valley Baptist) before we leave, so they did pray for and recommission us for our return to Burundi.  It is good to know how faithfully people in this congregation have been praying for us during our time there.

I shared a message based on a series they are doing on the book of Acts.  (chapter 14).  It was interesting to read and exegete this passage.  It is the first time I have gone back and done some studied reading of the book of Acts since I entered the mission field 3 years ago.  Hearing about Paul's struggles on his 2nd missionary journey through Iconium and Lystra really felt alive to me.  I was able to share from the heart the frustration of being misunderstood cross culturally, as in what happened to Paul and Barnabus at Lystra.  After performing a miraculous healing, they are immediately proclaimed to be Gods (Zeus and Hermes) and even after much debate are barely able to keep the people from sacrificing to them.

In our context we are not called Hermes and Zeus, but the name Mzungu has similar implications, and with all of our access to resources, it is easy for local Christians to confuse the messenger with the message, and look for the benefits of the Gospel in the material benefits provided by the foreign mission or Christian NGO.

Here is a quotation from the sermon on the subject:

I know it is important in terms of encouraging our partners to go out and see their work, and while people do not actually acclaim me as Zeus when I go out in the field (these are Christian partners) the treatment I receive as a donor is uncomfortably close to deification.  In fact there is a word for white foreigners, it is Mzungu.  And while we may not be seen as God’s we are just as good from the perspective of most Burundians.  We have power, we do amazing things with our medicine, and computers, and money.  So we receive ‘divine’ treatment from our local hosts and receive innumerable petitions for help in healing diseases, providing education, food, jobs, and money.  We are seen as saviors.

And I can tell you, poor rural African Christians are in awe of seeing us and other missionaries roll up in 4X4s with lots of money to spend (for good causes—provided by faithful givers in North America), driving around the country, jetting in and out of the region. And African pastors say, “Hey, I’d like a piece of that.  I’d like to drive around the country in 4X4 preaching the Gospel, I would like a big church building and a church band with electronic musical instruments and a soundsystem, and I would like a computer to write my sermons and do word searches on the internet.  And as a witness to the Gospel I need it and deserve it.

You see, our good actions, our charity, even as Christians is so easily misunderstood and can take the focus away from the gospel and bring the focus on the donor and the benefits.  Paul and Barnabus struggled to do damage control in this situation, and we see many historic mission churches having to do the same damage control around the world today.

This brings the blog up to date on this Sunday.  I intend to make one more entry, probably on the plane on the flight back to Burundi.  We have a bit less than 10 days here and I am amazed at all we have done, and everyone we have seen and yet timed in a way that has not felt overwhelming and unrestful.  Hopefully we will be able to maintain this in our final week.