Final Thoughts From One of Us

Today we will jump through the portal that links our current life, in a third world country, to our old life in the richest, busiest and perhaps the most complex nation in the world…and the transition will be jarringly abrupt for pretty much every aspect of life. Thirty one hours in transit link the two.

My head sometimes feels heavy with too much thinking. Some thoughts are just musings: “Do the stars look closer and clearer here because we are at the equator?” “How do you practice balancing a basket of thirty or more avocados on your head?” “How strong are trapezius, splenius and erector spinae (neck and back muscles) of a small woman in Rwanda compared to a young, strapping average American male’s (I’d put money on the woman)?” “Do people help you tie the baby to your back or do you start by sitting on the ground and work your way into proficiency (and then periodically the question is, “How often do babies slide out and fall on the ground in the interim?”). “What makes wearing bright orange, green and florescent yellow in large geometric or animal designs garish in our culture and stately in Africa?” (It is a similar question to, “What defines “art”?)

There are other thoughts though, those that permeate my dreams and by nature, are ripe for peeling and digesting. Recently, within a short time frame, my eldest son, Cary M. and a book I am rereading * all interjected questions into my own recent thoughts about the causes of poverty and societal/governmental/church/individual responses to such. I am aware that there are complex economic and cultural factors behind all of this and that the analysis, non-conclusive. But, what has percolated to the top is the strengthened conviction that I, as an individual entity in the Body of Christ, must concentrate on how I must respond to the crying needs of others. Although hospitality and generosity is made easier by wealth, if I don’t concentrate, abundance can also be a potential trap for hoarding and retreat into the comfort of self-sufficiency. It is easy to become a cancer in the Body, multiplying without any checks on growth and utilizing more and more resources, while so much of the world suffers from malnutrition. Sorry for perhaps sounding dramatic…I spent this morning in an orphanage and shared a meal with the children, a half cup of watery “porridge” with a mucilaginous sticky film on the top. It was one of the two meals they would get that day.

I have been reminded on this trip that my greatest peace comes when I have been able to work closely with other people and that our work has allowed us to serve. Hacking new foot bed into the pitched terrain of a mountain with Harvard, my brother and a band of strangers from all over the country while carving out a mile or so of the Colorado Trail and the many hours and days it took with some of you to put together the skits and props for Vacation Bible School come to mind as examples. Our time in Rwanda has been quintessential in the same way. God used things He put in me, like intuitiveness, along with the nurturing that he has woven into my being, to be the strength to compensate for my abysmal weakness at functioning as a “people person” on a mission that sometimes required eight hours a day of talking with people. He paired me with hardworking people who had a similar purpose and showed us, in a vivid word picture, what mutual respect and dependence on the giftedness of others in the Body could accomplish. I felt useful, necessary, and productive for good in the world. It has added clarity and focus for why I am and what I need to be about. I am relaxed in my own skin…a perspective that produces contentment.

Last topic in my mind for the night: Some of you know that I am terrible at navigating change. Be patient with us as we transit back into life at home in the heartland. We begin the journey through the portal early afternoon, right after worship Rwandan time.

Imana iguhe umugisha (God bless you)

*Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Phillip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand

A Message to All of Our Supporters

This is Ignace, one of my readers. Here is a message from him to you.

Breakthroughs

This past week has been encouraging in the reading sessions. What a difference a fifth week makes! For many of my readers there is a familiarity with me that allows the sessions to be much more comfortable and open. For many, they are willing to risk their English in elaborating and giving examples of the concepts or words, even guessing at vocabulary that is new for them. But beyond improved English, there are improved realizations of God’s Word.

For one reader it came in the account of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. She has been a very bright student who has vastly improved in her English with me, and has generally understood the Biblical lessons with little difficulty. She told the story back to me flawlessly, but I was surprised when she asked me what the word “tears” meant. I assumed she knew so we had not gone over that word. So I explained the meaning, and that it must have been more than a couple tears that sometime we cry with if the woman was able to wash Jesus’ feet with them. Something struck her, and I could see it in her face. This reader was moved by the idea that this woman (potentially) cried enough to fill something like a basin to wash someone’s feet in. I asked her why the woman had cried so much. She herself was slightly choked up from the realization, and answered along the lines of the woman’s sorrow over her sins and recognizing who Jesus was… To see her response over this unnamed woman in Luke has had a great effect on me. It is refreshing to rediscover these scriptures with the eyes and hearts of my readers who are softened to the depth of their meaning.

Another reader has always made quiet noises in response to realizations she has during the sessions. To hear them when at last something makes sense, or has a deeper meaning than she first thought is a sweet noise to hear, and makes me want to have an appreciation for the words as she does. For the first time last night she shared a personal example that applied to the calling of Levi who “left everything” to follow Jesus. When she understood I had asked her personally if she has left something to follow Jesus, I heard a deep hushed noise of reflection – but one of acknowledgement. It took her a few minutes before she explained that she had nearly been conned into prostitution; she was told the money was very good, but she eventually found out enough about the man to know what her real job description would include. She turned it down immediately. While she said it was hard to lose the prospect of an income, there was no way she would sin against God. This reader has been a delight and challenge because her understanding is more advanced than her ability to communicate English, so while our sessions remain basic in questions, her understanding sees the whole picture of the scripture before her. My heart has been tutored by the typically wordless, but audible, expressions of her understandings.

New Photos

The latest photos are available:

• LST Rwanda - Part 4
• Harvard and Dana at Mana Mfasha - Part 1
• Harvard and Dana at Mana Mfasha - Part 2

Previous photos:

• LST Rwanda - Part 1
• LST Rwanda - Part 2
• LST Rwanda - Part 3

Mana Mfasha for the Townsends

This LST mission project has offered a flood of experiences that God has used and will continue to use to mold and shape us and hopefully shine a little more of His light in a world that needs His peace and love. Monday morning was no exception as Dana and I visited "Mana Mfasha Pour Les Enfants," the pre-school operated by John, one of my readers.

I shared the remarkable story of John and his school in a previous blog entry, but now the story has flesh on it and is even more compelling. It's one thing to listen to John talk about the children with obvious love and compassion. It's quite another to:

• See their infectious smiles in person
• Hold their hands and have them curiously rub my hairy white arm
  
• Observe 3- and 4-year-olds sit quietly after getting a chocolate cookie from Dana, waiting until everyone had been served. Only after saying in unison a prayer of thanks did they eat the cookie and drink their "milk tea."
• Encourage the 3- and 4-year-olds as they wrote the numbers 1-10 on a chalk board and pronounced them in English
• Witness 24 five-year-olds singing the ABCs song while crammed into a room no bigger than many American walk-in closets
• Watch six-year-olds from one of the poorer neighborhoods in Kigali spell/write the numbers 1-10 in cursive and count to 200 by 2s, 5s, and 10s
• Hear those same six-year-olds recite in English from memory a poem about animals in a zoo
• See the homework booklets into which the teachers painstakingly copied each assignment... by hand, for each child. The same is true for exams - the teacher writes each copy by hand
• Listen to John explain the help they offer children who have parents who can't read or speak English and therefore cannot help their child with the homework assignments
• Have over a hundred children swarm around me and press ever closer while I play the guitar, then start dancing and laughing joyfully when I play a raucous blues lick
• Laugh with them as we teach them how to sing "Father Abraham" with all the actions
• Hear 112 children recite John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 in English

These were the best behaved school children we have EVER seen, and they are pre-schoolers! The teachers had complete control despite children packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the small classrooms. These children are learning and will enter primary school with a tremendous advantage over others. It was a wonder to behold. The morning was capped by a delicious meal cooked by John's wife, Alphonsine, on two small charcoal stoves in their "kitchen," which is the ground outside their back door.

In one our reading sessions at Christ's Church in Rwanda, I taught John about "mixed emotions." Our visit to Mana Mfasha left us with mixed emotions because the school and John's home will be razed at some point in the not-too-distant future. One part of "progress" in Kigali consists of knocking down small homes and shantys to erect mansions for the wealthy. John's school will soon have huge homes on three sides so it's just a matter of time before he is forced to move his family and his school. Likewise, the many poor homes below John's where most of his students live will be destroyed and the residents displaced. But that doesn't seem to discourage John or keep him from dreaming big. He already has a plot of land picked out that he wants to buy to use for recreation now and then rebuild his school to government specifications so they can't condemn it like they will his current location. There are so many hurdles to overcome that many of us would lose heart and want to give up. But even the $8,000 price tag for the land pictured to the right does not deter this man who recently had to cut in half the daily per child milk allotment because he couldn't afford the $10 cost.

To address the cost of milk, John dreams of owning a dairy cow - a dream Dana and I will help come true. We are going to buy the cow for him, but there will be other expenses until the cow can produce milk and alleviate the daily expense of the milk for the children. If you're interested in helping, send me an email.

I titled this blog entry "Mana Mfasha for the Townsends" - God's Help for Harvard and Dana - because God is teaching us so many things from this experience. I may be the "worker" and John the "reader" in LST parlance, but God has used John and the children he serves to teach us far more than I will ever teach him.

Experiences of the World Beyond, for a Small-Town Country Boy

Weeks before leaving I tried to focus on finals instead of allowing myself to realize the reality of the trip that was quickly approaching so I wouldn’t be completely scared. When we arrived in Amsterdam we were in a hurry to get to our departure gate as we were jogging/running I stopped by in a store to buy a coke. I noticed the price of the coke was no longer in dollars and when i tried to communicate to the store clerk, she did not speak English. This was a small encounter, but after I boarded the airplane I realized i was finally outside of the United States. I guess I have never realized the true difficulty of being a foreigner.

We arrived at night - which was a blessing so I could get a good night sleep before I faced the reality of the weeks to come. The next day we traveled to the local muzungu restaurant named Bourbon Café. During the short trip to the Bourbon Café, I experienced my first culture shock. It was so different to see Africa or any third world country in person. I had seen pictures and documentaries on television, but none of my previous exposures had me ready for the experiences to come.

Even though I have never experienced this kind of poverty, I knew I could still face this reality and accept that I can do nothing on my own to help the people in the long run. I had at this point two main factors that kept me from hiding in my bedroom and not coming out before the six weeks were over. First, and most obvious, I have and will always have God. When you realize you are never alone and that no matter what happens to you, you will still have God’s love and the everlasting life He promises, nothing anybody can do to you matters. The other factor is I knew I was on an extremely experienced and skilled team. I knew the team had large amount of diverse talents and skills that would help us through any situation we would experience.
After having our information meeting, it was time to get my feet wet. I had not been this nervous since my first college football game. However, by the end of the week I was so excited to start the next coming week I wasn’t able to sleep at night. By the second week I had great conversations of faith and true trust in God. Some readers were even asking so difficult of questions I had to stay up at night reading through Scripture to find answers. I will never know the amount of seeds I have planted or watered, but I do know the readers have encouraged me and have greatly strengthened my relationship with God.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks and hope to build stronger relationships with my readers and God.

Thank you so much for all the prayers, support, and financial contributions. Imana iragukunda (God loves you) and Imana iguhe umugisha (God bless you).

Our Goal

A couple of weeks ago, one of my readers pointedly asked me what our goal here is. He made it abundantly clear that he did not appreciate when people tried to convert him from his church. He believes in God and in the saving power of Jesus, and though people have tried to show him what is wrong with his church, he does not see that any other church is any better.

So what is our goal here? Answering this question on a public blog requires candor – I cannot give one answer to my readers and another to my supporters. However, there is no need to be evasive. Our goal is twofold: to help people to improve their English, and to share our faith in Jesus with them.

The latter part of this goal is obviously related to my reader’s concerns; however, this goal is much different than conversion to another church. If my goal were to convert people, then I would first need to take the position that the church I represent is superior to any other. This position seems arrogant to me. The sad fact is that all churches consist of imperfect people, and therefore fall short of perfection.

The goal of sharing faith, however, does not require any premise that my faith is superior to anyone else’s. Indeed, some of my readers have faith that surpasses mine in certain ways. As a result, we can share our faith with each other, so that all of us may grow. Sharing faith in this way does not imply any kind of coercion to the acceptance of any particular beliefs, but does provide an opportunity for God to lead all of us to a deeper faith and fuller obedience.

In fact, what are most important are God’s goals, not ours. Again, I don’t want to be arrogant enough to presume that I know all of God’s goals. I am convinced, though, that at any given time, his immediate goals are different for different people. For some, his immediate goal may be that they come to a belief that he is real. For others who believe that he is real, it may be that they make a public statement of faith in Jesus and be baptized in his name. For some, it may be that they become a part of the church we represent, Christ’s Church in Rwanda. Whatever the case may be, we want to be a part of the growth process, but only God changes hearts.