October Update: times, they are a changin'
/We are another month into our African adventure, and have some new developments to report!
Praises and Prayer Requests Up Front:
-Our house in Kigoma is move-in ready! Praise God for the tireless work of our team there, and for no major snags in the process!
-We have work visas!! My(Josh) medical work permit was approved! Please continue to pray for the rest of our paperwork to come through in a timely manner!
-We have a move date! Mungu akipenda(Lord willing), we will drive down to Kigoma with our team leads on Oct24(picture below of our sweet TZ ride). Please pray for travel safety and mercy during our three day trip through the bush.
-Transition-palooza. This year has been long and rough. God has so patiently walked alongside us in this season and given us all we need. We pray we will keep our affections focused on His glory, and remember the Supremacy of Christ as we move yet again.
This month we didn’t go to the beach, or on safari. We’ve been home-bodies, which suits us fine! Some highlights(gallery below):
-We went to see George be ordained, which was a cultural exeperience, to be sure! A number of governments in East Africa are beginning to require increasing oversight over churches, in an effort to crack-down on the many “churches” that exist simply to fill the pockets of the “pastor”. Being ordained will allow George the regulatory cover he needs to appoint elders to care for the church while he’s gone(visiting the US for a few months).
- As a memento of our time in Nairobi, we used some of our tax-return money to have a wool rug handmade at a local shop. Rebekah picked out the pattern, and Judah got to try out the loom when they visited the shop
-A pre-TZ trip to the optometrist revealed that the three older boys all need reading glasses. They look pretty good, we think!
-When Rift Valley Academy had a mid-term break we went up to visit Grayse. Grayse is the youngest child of the Sager family, our team-mates in Kigoma. We got to bring her some off-campus contraband food, chat a good spell, and see the beautiful campus! RVA is a MK boarding school that has been serving the missionaries of East/SubSaharan Africa for over 100 years!
We’ve spent a lot of time at home and around the compound. The kids have been soaking up time with their friends the Rivers, who live here on the compound long term.
Wresting is a favorite past-time, and outside the activity at the moment is fort-building. Judah labored for a couple weeks on a backyard house, complete with drawbridge, sandbox, and table/chairs.
We’ve enjoyed walking up the street to the Choma Zone, an outdoor canteen where you can buy lunch for less than $2 a plate. The maduka(shops) grill goat, beef and chicken, and serve with chapati, Ugali or rice. We are a bit of a spectacle, but always have a great time. These canteens are very common throughout East Africa, and there is a cultural significance.*
As our time with George(language conversant) and Phoebe(house-sister) comes to a close, we are so grateful that God provided these friendships for us here in Nairobi. They have been invaluable in helping us to learn more Swahili and Kenyan culture- truly a blessing from the Lord.
I think that wraps it up for us this month. Thanks everyone for your prayers. Next update will be from Kigoma where Lord willing, we will have begun to see what it looks like to begin putting out hand to the plow amongst our people!
May the Lord bless and keep you all,
Josh
Questions about Going, Sending or Giving?
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m28StoreyFam@gmail.com
*David Maranz writes:
The spirit of sharing resources extends to eating patterns. Working men and women do not carry lunches from home to the workplace in order to economize on food costs. Neither do single men make breakfast or other meals at their places of lodging. They typically have coffee with milk and bread spread with mayonnaise, but at one of the convenient canteens found throughout a city. It is of course more expensive to purchase breakfast in this way than it would be to fix it at home. Again, the reasons for this behavior are complex:
(1) people don’t want to eat alone, preferring to eat with friends;
(2) the profit margins at these coffee and meal canteens are moderate, and the daily savings in doing it yourself would not be great;
(3) there is the sentiment that those men and women who operate coffee and meal stands also need to make a living, which becomes an unspoken, “I am showing solidarity with them and helping them, while it is much more convenient and less hassle for me while I do so”;
(4) the idea of a bag lunch, that is, a cold meal, is unknown and would not be attractive if suggested; and
(5) a goal of economizing in order to save (put away) money is unrealistic. So there is little incentive to follow future preference. If one manages to accumulate a surplus, others will be sure to have immediate needs that require those resources.