Tip of the Week-- March 26, 2015

I'm running a bit behind this week because I have spent the majority of the week a couple hours from electricity.  It is hard to describe village life to someone who has never been there.  This is principally because village life is a world of contradictions, at once charming and yet, life-suckingly tiring.  One minute, you feel as if you've stepped back in time about 300 years, and the next, someone is pulling out their smartphone to connect to the 3G network.  It is a bit like camping, except instead of having escaped to the wilderness, you've pitched your tent in a city.

One of the pleasures (??) of the village for an expat is that the combination of a slower pace and some challenging situations cause some introspection.  Here are just some of the things I've learned about myself by living in a village:

1. I really am the kind of person that, despite all my claims of liking exercise and healthy eating, could consume half my daily calories from sugar in tea and pieces of candy I've stashed all throughout my luggage.

2. I play a good extrovert, but in my heart there lives an introvert who, by day 2 of being constantly in the presence of other people, starts screaming for alone time.  I find myself wandering out to check on the car, ostensibly to move it into the shade, only to find myself sitting, hands on the wheel, thinking about...absolutely nothing.

3. By 8:30pm, as dark has wrapped around us and I sit in a chair under a sky beautifully lit with more stars than you can imagine, I can hardly keep myself awake, try as I may to stay involved in conversations going on around me.  Nodding off approximately 350 times, I hang tough until midnight when everyone else is turning in.  At 4:30am, as I lay in perfect sleeping conditions, wanting nothing more than to nod off to sleep, I find myself fully awake, silently watching the precious minutes of rest slip away.

4. I know so little about true, sacrificial generosity, it is humiliating.

5. I'm going to find and frame a picture of the person that invented the modern-day, sit-down, porcelain toilet.  I'll hang it in my bathroom in homage to this greatest of inventors.

6. Most of the ways that I keep myself and my surroundings clean and tidy are based on American conveniences.  Left to my own devices, I'd be like Pig-Pen from Charlie Brown, walking around with swirls of dirt falling off me.

7. About 20% of what I pack in my backpack, I never end up using.  I'd be happier without it.  One day, I'll trust that simplicity really is the way to go.

8. I'm going to stop being so rough on Jesus' disciples for chasing away those kids that were probably pressing in to get a look at all the action.  You'll probably think I'm mean, but you'd agree with me if those grimy hoards never left you alone and always seemed to be blocking your breeze.  Jesus can have them.  Also, some of my national colleagues are apparently a lot more like Jesus than I am.

9. I have an activity addiction.  I'd like to deny this, but it is hard to hid the fact that I order my day with the question, "What are we/I going to do next?"

10. Despite all my flaws that make this more difficult, building friendships is my heart's great joy.  As you sit talking with someone late into the night (assuming you've managed to stay awake), you can feel the pieces of your respective persons shifting to make room for the other.  Too much of my life actually works against this, which might explain why I always feel a draw back to the village.

Prayer Requests

1.  Thank you for your prayers for the trip to Tiere.  It went very well.  On Thursday, we were joined by some of my colleagues from the hospital who did a health teaching for women.  It was well attended and much-enjoyed.  We were able to pray for and with several people throughout the week.  I also had a great chance to build a stronger relationship with a school teacher there and to discuss with him what faith is all about.

2. I'll be traveling up to the capital city to renew my visa this coming week.  Pray for a smooth trip.  I'll be taking a couple friends along.  Pray that this would be a fun, relationship-building time, but would also make room for good conversations about the Lord.

3. Easter is coming!  As usual, I'll be inviting several of my friends over for a meal.  Pray that this would be a meaningful time for them as I explain more of the reason we celebrate.

4. Pray for the nursing department at the hospital.  In April, we hope to do serious work on our goal of dividing up responsibilities and empowering young leaders within the department.