Expats Working with Nationals

A pair of visiting expat men and a national went out to share the Good News and found a man along the road. After the man listened for about fifteen minutes, he was ready to accept the Good News the expats shared. The expats were sure they had done something wrong and that the man did not understand, so they launched into resharing. The man again said he wanted to follow The Way. The national asked why the expats kept sharing when the man already said he understood. The expats live in an area where hardly anyone ever is ready to believe after such a short time. It took the national man telling the expats that indeed the man was sincere in his desire to believe.

A pair of expat ladies and a national lady went out to share in a neighborhood. In addition to sharing the Good News, the expats also wanted to learn about the healthcare system in the country.  The expat ladies spoke the national language of the country, however they could not communicate with most of the women because most of the women were not very well educated. The expat ladies needed the national to translate for them. In one visit, the national translated in addition to giving a bit of national medical history. A disease which has been eradicated, for all intensive purposes, in the United States had an outbreak in that country about twenty years ago. Many children died. A girl in the house that the expats suffered permanent physical and mental defects as a result of the disease, but she was learning to still function as a member of the family. The national woman was necessary to communicate effectively.

The expat visitors were sharing story after story in the village.  A few women were hanging on every word. The national translating for the visitors shared his testimony, which began exactly where one of these women lived. The woman eagerly accepted the Good News the expats had come across the ocean to share, but she may not have been as eager had it not been for the national.

The expat had shared with her friend over and over again.  Another expat had shared before. Though this expat had seen a desire to know, it seemed that the friend lacked that final commitment. The friend had an opportunity to hear the national tell what the expats had been sharing all along. Suddenly it was clear and undeniable for the friend. The friend knew she needed to follow the Way and needed to talk to her spouse about studying the Truth more.  The national reached a level that the expats could not.

The young expat ladies were learning language and going out to villages with a national. The people in the village are often so welcoming to visitors that they cannot be honest about their disinterest in what the visitor has to say. The national was able to discern for the expats where the people were interested and where they were not.

The expat and the national were talking. The national told the expat how crucial it is for them to work together. The expat agreed. The national said that she would be the one to continue the work in the villages after the visitors leave. The expat agreed for it is the national who will continue the work even when the expat has to leave.

The expat went to the village to learn language. As his language increased, he began to share the Good News. He was brushed off by his "family" in the village. A couple of years later a national is working in that same village, or right outside of it, and finds great reception as he shares. The national could do what the expat could not.

The expat needs the national. Beyond knowing where to buy bread or meat or how to find a good plumber or electrician, the national can read the people with whom he or she is so intimately familiar.  The national knows what illustrations or idioms will make what the expat desires to share clearer for the hearer.  The national is invaluable to the expat.

Pray for national partners for each of our team for us to communicate the Good News more effectively.

Jennifer's Story Continues

After feeling convicted to pray with Jennifer about her family, I began praying with her daily for her family as well as her own strength. She and I began studying together and she seemed earnest in her desire to know more. Then she felt pressure again from family so she did not want to study at her house, but we would still study at my house. Jennifer got sick and so we could not study for a couple of weeks. Then I left for a month and half. I was concerned about her continued growth but prayed that her heart would still be open.

When I returned, our schedule was packed with summer volunteers and preparing for language evaluations for team members. When Jennifer was available, I was busy or worn out. She expressed frustration earlier this week that she was feeling forgotten. I told her that she certainly was not, but it has just been so many other things. A teammate the other day passed her house and visited with her.

While the teammate visited with her, a family member expressed a desire to hear about the Way also. However, this was not just any family member, but rather one of her in-laws who have not been open before. What a fabulous opportunity for the teammate to arrange a time to share with another person soon. So after visiting for a while, the teammate had told Jennifer about a wedding in a nearby village. Jennifer agreed to go.

Yesterday, Jennifer went to the wedding, but it was not just our teammate. A local brother went with them too. This brother does not miss any opportunity when people are gathered to share about the Way. Jennifer listened intently and was so excited to hear the Truth from one who can share so much more clearly than either my teammate or I could.

Jennifer had to tell me all about it this morning. She is so excited and ready to go study with the local
brother soon.  It is so great to see her so happy that she seems to glow.

Lift up Jennifer as she continues to grow and follow hard in the Way.  Lift her up as she goes to ask her husband for permission to study the Way and not fast, the month of which begins tomorrow.

It's Tough Being a Chief part 2

In part one of this series, I talked about two chiefs, one who was looking ahead to death and one who had just died.  This is a blog to update on the places these men served. If you have not read part one, please do so. It will make this blog make more sense.

The first chief I had talked about was one who I had shared some with but had turned down the opportunity to hear more of The Way when volunteers came to share. Almost six months after that visit with volunteers, I went to greet the man along with a summer volunteer. I had heard that the chief was sick, but I was not prepared for how I found him. One leg was swollen some, likely an infection of some sort, but the rest of his body was wasted away. His mind was sharp, however I feared wearing him out too much. He could not sit or move on his own, but rather one of his children had to help move him any way he needed. The son said that it was his joints that did not work. We visited a little but then left, after I feared we already wore him out. Some neighbors told me how this chief had gone so far as to be put in jail in order to setup this village over thirty years ago, and my admiration for this man grew.  A couple of weeks later, I went by to greet him again.  This time he was completely skin and bones. My heart ached to see his daughter-in-law have to sit him up to receive me. I greeted and prayed with him, but I did not stay long as I could see how tired he was.  The daughter-in-law let me hold her new baby, who had been named after the chief.  A week later I was brought news that this chief had died.  My heart mourned for him, not so much for his physical death as it was so hard to see him sick but more for the fact that he had the opportunity to hear the Good News and he passed on it.  I attended the funeral with a teammate and the summer volunteers. Tomorrow will be the eighth day, on which they will continue to pray for him and his soul. My heart aches for those who mourn without hope.

The second chief I talked about in my first post was one who had recently passed away. At that time we did not know who would be the next chief and if he would be as open as the previous chief had been. Since that time, a nephew of the chief has been made chief. In an effort to assert his authority as chief, and at the encouragement of some of the people in the village, the new chief declared that he did not want the Brethren there. Unfortunately this new chief followed poor advice.  His own family who had been the hosts for many volunteers told the new chief that they could have whoever they wanted in their homes, so they would continue to welcome the brethren.  In addition this new chief was told by the chief of the arrondissement what a foolish declaration he had made. (For clarification on the arrondissement, please read "Yo Mambo!")  It will be interesting to see what else happens with that chief.

Praying for the man that will be appointed chief in the first village to have great wisdom and a heart for the Truth, and for all chiefs to seek only wise counsel.

Yo Mambo! Yo Mambo!

So often we as people find ourselves thinking that some things are universal.  Despite our different perspective, we can fall into this trap as well, thinking that some are true across the continent on which we live. That could be something as simple as eating from a common bowl, which is not true, to using only the right hand for greeting and giving, which does seem to be true. Recently in our travels, we discovered that the way chiefs are done in our area is not how they are done in the entirety of Africa. Thus I will try to give you a glimpse into the differences between east and west.

In the part of Africa that we recently visited, we had the great opportunity to meet a chief of a particular people, more precisely a chieftaness. I had no idea that a woman could be a chief, but this woman had served in this capacity for over forty years. While her clothes were not all that different from what the women wear in our part of the world, her headdress of feathers and scepter looked exactly like what you would imagine. While a people group could have more than one chief, this chieftaness is over 320 villages, each of which has a headman that reports to her. The people group would also have a paramount chief who is over this chieftaness and the others for this people, and it is this paramount chief who relates to the government.

In contrast, the chiefs in the West, or rather our part of the West, are structured differently. Each chief, who looks pretty much the same as all the other people in the village, will be over one village or neighborhood of a larger town such as ours. Once there are six villages each having their own chief in close proximity, the larger village is considered an arrondissement. The chief of this village is over the chiefs of the other five villages. For example, the chief of a nearby village died in December and his replacement proceeded to make a declaration that was unwise, so the chief of the arrondissement told him that the declaration was a mistake. Then the chief of the arrondissement reports to the government office in the next larger town, which for many villages around us is our town.

Praying for wisdom for each chief as he, or she, makes decisions for the benefit of the people.

The Monkey Story

Just a regular day, yeah, that was it. I went to the house where our summer volunteers are staying. I wanted to see how ministry was going and go alongside them as they went out. Well, we talked a while about the plan, since there had been some confusion due to the host not fully understanding the plan. We waited for their host to return from the doctor and getting a prescription for his blood pressure. After much waiting, the girls and I set out to share with neighbors.

While walking down the street, we talked and prayed about the house with which we needed to share.     We came upon a house that had a monkey in a tree. Being a novel thing for them to see, we went into the compound and greeted. About a dozen children hung around the one woman of the house. She was busy with starting lunch preparations with a baby on her hip. We began talking with the lady about the monkey,which by this time had descended to the ground. The woman would let her baby down within reach of the monkey. The monkey would embrace the baby. The woman insisted that the monkey was harmless. The two volunteers edged closer to the the monkey, and one even got to pet the monkey as it held the baby.

After chatting about the monkey, we began to introduce ourselves more and ask if the volunteers could share a story with the woman. As we asked about this, the monkey tried to jump on me. I thought I was out of reach, but I was wrong. I was just close enough for the monkey to reach out for my arm. It could not get a good hold but rather scratched my forearm. I simply continued with our conversation, and the lady agreed to listen to the story.

The volunteers began a story about The Way playing on their cell phone. The lady listened and carried it around as she cooked. She did not have any questions, but she seemed interested. She agreed to here some more later in the day. We agreed to try to come back later.

As we left, we decided that it would be better to head back to their host home to wash the scratch and apply medicine. While there, I realized that I should probably double check with our medical office on the proper treatment of the injury. I needed to go wash with antibacterial soap, which we did not have there, so I needed to come home. My tetanus vaccine was up to date for now. I had rabies vaccines but it had been a while. I needed to get two follow-up shots. I went right away to get the first shot.

I went three days later to get the second shot. Last week, I was looking over the paperwork and realized we had not had a booster and that it had been over five years. Some rabies vaccines last forever I guess, but the one from here only lasts five years. So after talking through it more, we realized I do need more follow-up shots just to be on the safe side.  I went to get the third shot this afternoon. My husband and I are not really worried about rabies from this monkey.  However this incident has been a good opportunity to find out that we all do need booster shots to keep our family safe. Not a fun way to realize that we were all walking around less vaccinated than we should be, but I am so glad for my children's sake that we know now.

Getting Outside of the Box

I like the way we have always done things, or at least I lack creativity to even contemplate doing anything different. At least that is generally what I think of myself. This past week, I was arranging for language evaluations for my teammates. We have almost always done the evaluations at the team leader's house with three language teachers as the evaluators. I felt like that was not a real evaluation of how things would really be when we go out amongst the people. So I changed it. I found a local family who was willing to host the evaluation and give me feedback on how the teammates were doing. These evaluators were real people that need to hear the Truth.
The whole week before the evaluations, I was running over to the hosting house. I was talking with the ladies about trying to do the evaluation. I was explaining to them what questions I wanted asked. These women are like the women they will meet in the village, little to no education, unable to read in the national language. I was extremely anxious about how things were going to flow. My stomach was unsettled almost all week. Thinking this far outside the box is not my forte.

The morning of the evaluation came. I went over early to make sure everyone was there and ready. One of the ladies was there. One was out drawing water for the day's activities. One other lady was off at the market. I panicked! I sat reviewing the program with the lady who was there. The one who had gone to draw water returned but was still busy about her housework. I asked her if she was ready. She said she was and we set up the mat to sit. We were still short an evaluator.  I saw some men around the corner, so I asked one of them to come assist. Our first to be evaluated arrived. It went relatively smoothly. Others came and went. One gentleman showed up at some point during the evaluation and made himself at home in the middle of the mat.  The first evaluatee finished and left.

I began reviewing with them how the evaluation went. They were impressed at my memory, but I confessed to taking notes. After it was all said and done that time, they understood more how this was going to work. So the man that made himself at home on the mat grabbed a pen and notebook as well.
The second to be evaluated arrived and the conversation began. The man on the mat would often ask her to restate something to be sure he heard her pronunciation correctly. Lots of good conversations arose. She was done and left. The man had more notes than one could dream. The one evaluated was sure she messed everything up. Instead she had lots of good notes of areas that she could improve.

Was it a lot more work for me to prepare? Certainly.  Was it harder to control the children running around? Yes. Was it harder to control who came along and joined in the conversation? Yes. Was it totally worth it to have an authentic evaluation of where their language is? Absolutely. Are there things I will change the next time to make it a little less chaotic? Yes.
Thinking outside of the box can be a good thing.
Getting out of our comfort zone is definitely a good thing.

Grab the Pendulum......

....and hold it in the middle.

So often, we go to extremes unnecessarily. Whether it be language learning, spiritual things, or thinking outside the box, we tend to be at either end, rather than somewhere closer to a healthy middle.

Language Learning
Once upon a time, people who were coming to work in many countries in our area of the world were sent to France for a year to learn French. At the time, it made sense considering that most of these countries were former French colonies and the official language taught in the schools was French. Unfortunately, over time people discovered that the French spoken in France and the French spoken here were not exactly alike. It also came to be realized that only the educated actually spoke it. People would instead speak their heart language, their tribal tongue. So to really reach to the heart of people, those that came here to work really needed to learn the tribal tongue. So a shift was made to learn heart languages. While the work that the people came to do was able to be more effective, the people had troubles when they traveled outside of the area that spoke that tribal tongue or even to get necessary government paperwork done. We are now grabbing that pendulum and having people learn the national language as opportunity presents itself, but sticking to the tribal tongues for the purpose of the Main Thing!

Spiritual Matters
Before you jump to conclusions, I am not talking about sacrificing the Truth in anyway. There is but One Way, One Truth, and One Life. What I want to address is how we in America are so ready to go to the hospital or write off something that is spiritual as something physical.  People wonder why there is so much demon possession and the like overseas but not in America. I think there are in
America, but it gets written off as some sort of mental illness. Are there mental illnesses? Yes. Is every person who has an issue mentally ill? Probably not. We prefer to give it a name and a prescription. Where we live, it is all spiritual.  A friend's son was having seizures. She sought treatment for him which took her to what many would call "witch doctors."  It came about that he was found to have demons. Could he have truly had some chemical imbalance or physical injury causing him to have seizures? Sure. Does that mean that he did not initially or eventually have a demon? Nope.  We need to pull that pendulum back to the middle. We in America need to be more open to the idea that there are unseen spiritual forces at work all around us. Maybe one day some of the people here will stop seeing "a demon around every bush."

Outside the Box or Inside the Box
I was having a conversation with a teammate the other day. She confessed to being an outside the box thinker. Rephrase she professes to be a take out of the box, take it apart, and totally reconstruct it as something different thinker.  I told her that those of us inside the box need people outside the box to come up with new ways to reach people. However those outside the box need inside the box people to give them help with logistics and boundaries with which to work, especially when you work for a company. We need to grab the pendulum in the middle and embrace both sides. We need to step out of our comfort zones and yet not stray from the Word. I am an inside the box thinker, but I am so grateful for this outside the box thinker.  She challenges me often. I will write more about that in another post.