May Update

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PRUF:
-Please pray the short-term teams visiting this month. Pray that their time would be well spent both to bring the hope and healing of Christ to the area, and to grow personally.

-Language acquisition and cultural competency will continue to be a prayer request as we try to get to the point of having meaningful conversations in Swahili. This month we should have a couple of weddings to go to (one of which is on our own wedding anniversary), which are a great way to experience the culture.

-Please pray for our team here as there are some big changes coming this summer.

Happy May to everyone! Rebekah’s comments/edits are in italics…

Here on the sunny shores of Lake Tanganyika, life is good (wouldn’t say we are thriving yet, but praise be to the Lord, we don’t feel like we are drowning anymore!)! The rainy season has ended, and we have probably seen the last rain until September(and the last one was a doozy!). That is typical of the weather here. I thought the “dry season” just meant LESS rain, but it does, in fact, mean ZERO rain! I anticipate the next few months will be full of frequent trips to the lake to cool off (Even though technically it’s their winter season here, and the local clothing dukes are bringing out all their sweaters and coats. All the locals say the cold is coming and one of our guards frequently shows up for his night shifts in a thigh length puffy coat with a fur collar :) )!

Speaking of the lake, last month we had to take a couple days off of swimming, because a HIPPO WAS SPOTTED AT THE BEACH. Not terribly uncommon here, and it only lasted a few days until the local prison guards shot him. Then they butchered him up and gave away the meat. We went down to try to get some without luck. Maybe next time! For a great hippo recipe, check here.

I(Josh) spent a lot of time this month working with Kelly, one of our team-mates. Kelly and his wife have been here in Africa for nearly 20 years, and it’s been great to be discipled by him “on the job”. There are a couple pictures of our time out visiting patients, bringing buckets of medical supplies and sharing the gospel below.

We feel like we’re starting to figure out how to live here. I’m learning to check our water tank daily so we don’t run out unexpectedly, we are learning where to buy the popcorn that has less bugs (we don’t mind eating bugs, but it just doesn’t pop as well with a weevil in the kernel) (but for reals, “it’s just bugs” is something it took many months for us to be able to say about the food we were ingesting, knowing full well we were getting extra nutrients we didn’t pay for), we now have non-loaner beds for everyone, we got a clothesline put up, and I have the woodshed up and running to make some of the stuff we need to function. There are still a lot of frustrations, but we’re SLOWLY learning to address the ones we can and embrace the ones we can’t (while continuing to frequently be tackled by “AWA” days - African wins again). )Sometimes those days include a black eye for a kiddo, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, behind an older brother who was whirling a giant bamboo pole around like a helicopter for the dogs to chase. It laid that boy out FLAT on the grass! Picture below)

We’ve been exploring in the kayaks around the lake, and found a water locked pebble beach, and some sweet little cliffs to jump off of. Bek and I even got the chance for a sunrise kayak (and coffee) cruise, which was a really sweet time together, and might (might? For reals. Let’s rephrase that. It WILL become a tradition if I have any say in the matter! Which I do, of course!) have to become a tradition.

This month we caught one regular rat, one Nile monitor lizard, and one Giant Pouched Rat(the dogs killed this dude last night). Joel, our most unashamedly morbid child (he happened upon morbidity accidentally a few years back, but is now fully embracing it, haha!), asked if we could skin and cure the lizard skin. He actually did a good bit of the work, and the hide is now waiting in our freezer for the local pharmacy to get isopropyl alcohol back in stock so we can tan it(anyone who knows a better recipe for tanning reptile skin than glycerin+isopropanol, I’m open to suggestions). Those are just the big animals- we have a constant parade of rhinoceros beetles, geckos, moths, and millipedes(which Zeke affectionately refers to as his “babies” and carries all over the house (and even just today asked me where his “baby” was, and when I told him I think Joel put it outside he said, “hmmmm…nope! Hiding in mama’s bed!” I wouldn’t put it past this kid!)(picture below).

I started this newsletter a few days ago, but am finishing it today on the 24th. Today was an AWA day(Africa Wins Again), as we ran out of water, have a leaky water return valve causing our pressure pump to fail, had power issues, had internet issues and Rebekah spent the whole day at the hospital with a friend whose special needs toddler son got beat up by his grandmother(child abuse is tragically common here). It’s one of those days where we collapse onto the couch at 8pm feeling like we’ve accomplished nothing. But God is gracious to remind us that we are where He wants us, and He is working even in the details.

I think that’s it for my piece of the update, except I did want to comment on the big Baptist news from the past couple of days. Yesterday I woke up to the SBC being on the front page of my news aggregator. The findings from the outside investigation of the SBC Executive Committee were damning, to say the least. If you want to read about it, there’s a lot of articles, but suffice to say that I’m thankful the SBC churches pushed to have Guidestone complete this investigation, and I hope the upcoming meeting in June will be utilized to enact many of the recommendations.

We pray this update finds all of you well. Thanks for praying for us and encouraging us in many other ways(including those of you who are sending gifts with my sister next month). We are SO thankful for a network of family and friends all over the world who love us so well.