Friday, March 27th. It’s a warm misty afternoon here on the base and all 25 people in our class are attempting to clean their rooms at the same time in a two hour window. I’ll be shocked if there’s not blood shed over the disinfectant spray by 3pm. Lisa and I are about to walk out the door in 30 minutes to spend three days on planes, trains, and automobiles traveling to Uganda. We are the first of three teams to leave the base this weekend….SOMEONE JUST BROUGHT ME HOT CHOCOLATE WITH MARSHMOLLOWS IN IT!!! I love African hospitality. The Malawi team leaves tomorrow and team India leaves Sunday.
These last two weeks have been nuts. I’ve been busy from early until late everyday…(someone just burst out into song “Leaving, on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again” The entire room joined in. I swear this place is a real life musical) back to the letter…Lisa and I have been studying every day and also helping plan the trip. It’s been exciting and stressful.
Two days ago one of our favorite team members decided he couldn’t go on “outreach” with us. He has to go home and deal with some stuff. It was sad. It got a lot more sad when we remembered he was the accountant. But now I am the accountant/treasurer and travel agent and student and leader…the team doesn’t know it yet but I’ve siphoned the funds into a private bank account for Lisa and I to buy a house on Chelan. They should find out by the time they get to Uganda.
I’m completely out of time because I have to get 9 catlikewanderers onto a train in a couple minutes. Lisa and I love all of you so much and we will miss you and technology greatly. We love you again, please pray for us and we love you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In place of cruise notes I offer this reflection based upon the comments of one about to travel into the bush of darkest Africa.
ReplyDelete“there are three thing we must check on before we leave, the weather, the roads, the wars…” that is all that really caught my attention, but over the next few days the phrases kept coming to mind, like small waves washing to shore, not real noisy but just real persistent and rhythmical.
I realized the three domains listed (weather, roads, and wars) corresponded to three themes also present in spiritual battles, personal struggles, even I’d say intersession and prayer walking.
On a very simple level……
Have you ever heard someone utter “I’m a little under the weather”, or “I’ don’t know if I can weather this?”
DEFINED: Weather is the immediate display in the atmosphere of the climate, climate being the long term accumulations of all the weather over time.
The weather at any time affects us both strategically and tactilly.
Roads being the paths vehicles/persons take especially for purposeful transit, and commerce. Roads too figure strategically into our plans, i.e. when considering shortest route, safest route, and best route for other allied purposes? And in Africa I understand they (even the highways) are often dirt ruts, therefore weather, especially the coming monsoon season are really impact variables in planning because obviously the road might be fender deep in muck or even under a raging monsoon swollen river.
Wars definitely are something to be aware of when you are in their neighborhood. Currently in the part of Africa I’m considering there has been a recent upsurge in tribe on tribe violence, with the death toll numbering in the hundreds per day. Not play time, not vacation time, especially for blondes of America/Euro identity.
But it is the phases of war that interested me; beginning, middle, or end? Simmering feuds, or ragging, offensive, or defensive? Under siege, or laying siege, open war fare, gorilla warfare? Conventional, blitzkrieg, shock and awe or all out nuclear?
Just some reflections on something some one said about going on an adventure.
The analogies Paul made to fighting the good fight, we war against not flesh and blood, running the good race (on the road again) are inescapable. We as prayer walkers fight a good fight, we fight on a personal level, we fight on corporate level, being alive is synonymous with struggle to over come, the contention for a prize, battling the elements, at time an uphill battle, a journey into the wild for sure.
Your life sounds exciting but crazy! we hope you are doing well.
ReplyDelete