Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

This past Monday and Tuesday we spent in a wild game park and loved it!  I kept asking Matt if we could stay there for the remaining time that we have here.  What an incredible place! We stayed right in the game park on a hill in tents that were on a platform and with an additional thatch roof. These tents had running water, electricity and hardwood floors, not to mention a huge deck on the front so that we could view the wildlife right from our own veranda.  It was awesome to say the least!  

We had a Masai guard who walked the premises at night and escorted everyone to/from their tents after dark (the Masai are nomads who wander around through several countries herding their cattle as they please - I suspect that they may even go through the game park region with nothing but a stick for protection.  The nationals even at times stop and comment on them as though they were a tourist.).  

The elephants here are not like the ones in India or other places where they will allow a person to ride them like a horse or have them as a pet.  These elephants are WILD and prefer to stay that way. These types of elephants have been known to wander through this tent-hotel area along with many other exotic and highly creatures.  In fact a leopard killed an impala right in front of where we were staying a couple of nights before we arrived. And in case you are wondering, the nationals consider the leopard as the king of the jungle. They say this because a lion will come into a flock, kill 1 animal, and take it off to eat it. A leopard on the other hand will come in and kill the whole flock then just take 1 of them away to eat. They have also been known for attacking and killing more people than the lions even though the lions are more abundant and larger.

Anyways, as we drove around the park, we got to see lots of impalas (you could say that we saw seas of them), giraffes, elephants, wildebeest, warthogs, small jackals, baboons, zebras, 2 crocodiles, one leopard and 5 lionesses among others.  Some of the elephants were up close - one was just on the other side of a tall spot of grass -- less than 10 feet from our SUV.  We tried to get some pictures of it, but it was hard to see it through the grass. Even still we were able to see its large ivory tusks staring us down, and were concerned that if we upset it, we'd be in serious trouble (An elephant this size would have no problem flipping over our mid-sized SUV with 4 people in it)!  

Oh, about the cats... two of them (a single lioness and the leopard) we saw at dusk as we were high-tailing it back to camp since we can't be out after dark.  The others we saw in pairs - two lionesses were at a fresh kill of a giraffe.  Both of them were out cold!  The one was so funny, it was on its back as though it wanted its tummy scratched.  We drove up right next to it (about 10 feet from it), and it didn't care!  Occasionally we could see them blink or twitch their ears to shew away a fly but that was it.  The other two lionesses we saw the next day, and this time they were awake, sitting on top of a lump of dirt next to a watering hole and again they really didn't care how close we got for pictures. Then again, some of the interns who were in the SUV behind us thought they could see the lionesses licking their lips getting ready for fresh missionary meat! Oh My!

I forgot to mention that we got to see some hippos in their pond.  You know, they are fascinating creatures. They are nocturnal and VERY dangerous when they're out and about, but fairly safe when sleeping.  The pond they were in was deep enough to totally cover them, but every so often they'd come up for air.  From what our hostess at the hotel was saying, they can stay underwater for 5-7 minutes between breaths, and even though they're sleeping, their body will see that they rise to the top for a breath and then plunge back into the water.  As we were watching them, occasionally they'd come up and give us a great big yawn before going back down.  They're doing this to get their metabolism back up to normal as they wake up and prepare to go out for the night. You know, it's just like God to create something so fascinating as the hippo whose body will rise it up out of the water so that it can get a breath even though it's fast asleep.

Overall this trip to the game park was an amazing chance to marvel at God's creation! Only He could have invented each of the creatures with their majestic characteristics which are so diverse as what we have seen from the lizards that are only an inch or two long and extremely fearful of all other creatures to elephants, lions, and leopards which have very few concerns (especially since it is illegal to hunt them here). Then to view the gentle grace by which the giraffes walk to the seemingly effortless speed of the impalas. Literally all of creation lives to testify of the greatness of our God!  

P.S. Africa does not have any tigers or bears in case you were wondering. Oh well, the rest of the animals were fun to observe!

No monkey business allowed

Over the last several weeks on the missionfield most Saturdays have been free days to just "relax" and have some fun. For the majority of these days, the "relaxation" we've taken part of has consisted of playing ultimate frisbee at an internationl language school about 15-20 minutes away from our home base with several other missionaries in this area of East Africa. (Of course last Saturday I got to hike one of the surrounding mountains--what a trip! P.S. If you normally listen to me preach on a regular bases I am sure you'll hear a lot about that adventure but those stories are for another day.)

 Anyways back to our day in the park at the international language school. We got out there and were enjoying a good game of frisbee with my beautiful bride cheering our team on from the sidelines when her attention suddenly shifted to someone else who decided to join us in the park. This guest was about 18 inches to 2 foot tall, and had a tail which was almost equally as long. This animal we'll just say likes to eat bananas if you're following my drift; and we will call his name "Sam." Well anyhow Sam decided that he was thirsty so since all of us who were out playing frisbee had left our water bottles on the benches off the field, he thought no one would mind if he had a drink. This was when Beth stepped into the picture and tried to get Sam to leave the water bottle which was about 4 feet from her alone. But of course he had to come up and greet her from about 2 feet away. So after our fury friend's formal introduction to Mrs. Beth he went up into the trees where one would think he belonged. (In case your curious: yes everyone playing frisbee watched the whole thing happen from the field.)

Back to the game for us--so we thought (someone else was playing a game of their own and we were his opponents unbeknown to us). We played hard on the field until it was time for a water break which was when round number 2 began. And now Sam was in it to win it. Here we are enjoying our refreshments and he starts jumping up onto a couple of the kids who were with us. This was terrifying for them to say the least. Even though we see a lot of Sam's kind around, most of them are extremely fearful of humans since people tend to kill them (illegally mind you) because they destroy gardens and other types of crops which people farm for a living--not to mention on the black market their meat I'm told goes for a pretty penny. Thus we tend to see them up in the trees and occasionally on roof tops (yes we have heard and seen them in the early morning on top of our hosts' house - they've woke us up several times when jumping on the roof above us). Plus these animals are considered to be vehement-- some have been known to have rabies.

After several minutes of watching our fury friend named "Sam" from a close distance and several adults monitoring his interaction with the children, he left again; so we went back to frisbee for the third time. But now it was too late for one of the kids who would just as soon stay in the car until we were done playing frisbee than take their chances with Sam.

Round number 3: with the majority of the adults back on the field Sam decided it was time to come back but this time he came with his owner. The gentleman told us that Sam became on orphan when he was about a month old. Here in this country of East Africa there is a lot of power lines which are being added thus a lot of trees are being cut down. So this certain man decided to have a rather unique fury pet. And now Sam was about 9 months and very friendly, thus he just wanted some attention--he wanted someone who would spend some time with him.

As I reflect on our monkeying around on one Saturday in East Africa, I can't help but think about something which will begin on August 1st. August 1st begins a month long religious holy month for a major world religion; and this is no monkey business. This just happens to be a really big deal for us. We are currently in a country which has about 1/3 of its people who follow such beliefs. During this time the spiritual warfare which is already obvious, will get much worse, so no monkey business is allowed!

The souls of millions here in this country need our attention. We can't be afraid that they might bite us and give us rabies like a monkey might. They need our prayers. Please join us in praying that God would lead these people into circumstances which would open their hearts to the lies they have been living under and the truth of God's Word. Please pray for the wisdom of the missionaries and other Christian workers here as we seek to reach them for Jesus Christ. Please pray that the powers of the evil one are not able to get a stronghold in any of the missionaries lives, but that the Word of God would be victorious. This will be a long-term battle which will probably take more than 3 rounds like we experienced with someone named "Sam."

Please also pray for the translator's workshop which begins on August 1st as well. This will be a workshop to train individuals interested in becoming national Bible translators from several areas here in East Africa. The majority of these individuals will be working on translations in areas which are dominated by this other major world religion. Therefore I encourage you to join us in this spiritual battle for “our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12);” so there is no monkey business allowed in this war.

Wazungu (white people)

Wazungu: this was a word which we heard a lot as we were in the village. Most people in the village are not used to seeing us white people. Thus anytime a native African in the village saw a white person they would start yelling WAZUNGU! WAZUNGU! at the top of their lungs.

Normally we would just smile and wave not really knowing how to respond to them otherwise. It is not even like this is a racist comment as many might expect because most Africans are extremely friendly to us Americans. This is true even for those who are of a religion counter to ours (meaning one that can be hostile to us in other areas).

We must say the kids in the village were incredible. They would see us, yell WAZUNGU, and then want to come be with us. We would tell them ‘Piga tano’ (give me 5) and they would smack our hands and start laughing. Then they would hold our hands, with others holding their hand to the point of taking up the entire road! They just wanted to spend time with us. It has been a lot of fun playing with these kids! They are very welcoming to all, laughing at our attempts to speak at them, and love to play games.  We really have enjoyed ourselves.  

When we ponder these things that we have experienced as whites, we can't help but wonder: why? Why do the Africans treat us like this? What is it about a few white people that fascinate them to the point of wanting to be with us and not avoid us as we might a person of a different ethnicity, especially if we can’t understand them clearly?

After thinking about this for quite some time we finally realized the answer: hope! We offer hope to them. Even if they don't physically hear the Gospel message from us they know that we are here for something special--them. They know that we have things that they desire. Granted, to them, we are rich in worldly goods. Even the poorest American is--if you don't agree with this thought take some time to seriously reread and ponder the living conditions of our previous blog called "Time in the Village." But beyond physical goods we have a wealth in Jesus Christ that is beyond comprehension.

The question for us is: how do we convey this truth to them? How do we tell them that Jesus loves them and that He died for them? How do we tell them that they can have hope both here and now, and in the life to come?

This was a question which we have personally struggled with for about the first 2-3 weeks of being here. We have not really had the time to grasp the language spoken here - Swahili. We have been busy with dictionary workshops, and helping the translators here on the compound or in their homes. Then again, most coming to learn Swahili spend at least 4 months in language school doing nothing but focusing upon learning the language – we don’t have that kind of time.

After much prayer we have come to peace with the answer to this question. For me personally--it has been by preaching the Word. I have preached twice thus far; once at a church that had about 60-70 people in attendance through a translator. Two people came forward during the time of invitation that day, and many others spoke of how God touched them through His Word.

The second time was at a church which was mainly of expatriates and held in English. (An expatriate is some one who is from another country--usually missionaries, relief workers, etc.). This day may have felt a little like preaching to the choir, but we knew that God was encouraging the troops to get back in the battle. This was confirmed by comments made after the service.    

An additional difference both Beth and I are able to make while we are here may not have an immediate impact on the lives around us today, but can in the future. One of our responsibilities has been to do the research necessary to write New Testament introductions. Basically these introductions are the information which some of the nicer study Bibles include at the beginning of the different books.

These introductions are needed since most of these language groups have no literature which could help them to understand the Scriptures which are being published for them.
These introductions which we are working on will be going into at least 15 different languages here in East Africa, if not be used for the majority of the New Testaments being published throughout Africa. Thus far I have completed 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation. I should have the Gospel of Matthew done sometime later today; while Beth is just about done with 1, 2, & 3 John and will be working on John’s gospel shortly. Lord willing, we will be able to complete the majority of the New Testament books before we leave.

Please be in prayer that God would enable these introductions to be completed and that they would help open the eyes of the people of Africa to His Word. Also be in prayer for Sunday July 24 as I preach at a church which is mainly composed of East African college students in English, and Sunday July 31 as I preach through a translator at a church which was recently started here in East Africa. I know that with God’s help there are a few wazungu who can bring hope into the lives of people here in East Africa.

****

Praises and Prayer Requests:

Praise God:
• The ability to see God’s work being accomplished
• Health and safety of our team, and missionaries
• The name of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed throughout the world!

Prayer Requests:
• Matt’s upcoming sermons
• Preparations for the translator’s workshop might be completed, and we will have a good turn out for this event.  The translator’s workshop is where nationals come in to be trained to become national Bible translators who work alongside the missionaries to translate God’s word into their language.
• For both Matt and Beth as they prepare to teach in this workshop.

Time in the Village

Well, I'm sure you're wondering by now, ... did we survive the village stay?  Yes, we lived!  Actually, we had a great experience.  If we didn't mention it, we got to stay a couple of nights in a village 2 hours from where we've been living while one of the missionaries needed to go to the village to finish an interlinear of the book of Romans.  So, basically, we got to 'rough it' for a couple of days (no power, running water, etc.).

Basically this means that the national translators* have worked through Romans translating it into their language from a Swahili translation.  Then the missionary joins them and works to back-translate their work from their heart language into Swahili and ultimately into English.  This is then tested in a number of ways including comparing it with the original language of Romans (Greek), and a consultant** check as well.

While we did have the option to observe the missionary and national translators for a little while, we also understood that the majority of the time we wouldn't understand what's going on since it is all in Swahili, and they needed their space to finish their work, plus we have been able to help in some of this work back at the main compound we have been working at. So one of the national translators was given the job of being our tour guide/host, and he was a very hospitable host at that!

The first day we arrived, we barely had time to unload our stuff (which some of the village people took, placed on their heads and tromped off into the maze of houses, pig pens, small gardens, etc. to some unknown location), and we were off to see some of the village.  He took us for a hike up along a mountain stream which was beautiful, paused for a couple of minutes at a market before going off to another little settlement/school area to see their football (soccer field) area.  Along the way, he showed us buildings/areas of other missions, or attempt at relief work that had come through, some being 50-100 years old!  While at the soccer field, a couple of the interns and our host passed a soccer ball around hoping that others would join them.  Since that didn't work out, we were off again - this time to our host's home, but along the way we had to stop by and visit a hospital.

For lunch, we stopped at a back-alley 'restaurant' where our missionary ordered us some rice, beans and dugal (minnows that had thankfully been beheaded).  Matt was able to eat them, and thought that they were ok, but I was grossed out by even seeing their tiny bodies sitting on top of the rice.  YUMMY!  I've heard that they are like little pockets of salt, and their head if it wasn't removed tends to just be a pocket of sand.  mmm mmm good....

Supper was a different story.  We ate at our host's place and got to help prepare the rice, beans and fish (this style of fish was actually about size of a small bluegill which had been dried - head, fins and skin still attached).  But since there was only four fish, I was able to get out of having one! Praise God!!  Though Matt liked both of the types fish.

Matt and I got to stay with the national translator himself while two others stayed at different houses - family members (the other didn't want to stay in the village and instead slept in a 'hotel' not to far away).

Shortly after our host saw that we were up and moving, he want to get the other two, then we all went to the market to find our breakfast - cassava and sweet potatoes which were boiled with a little salt.  By the way, their usual time for eating chai (breakfast and tea) is 10:30.

Then, another intern and I stayed with the missionary to see their work and because we didn't feel comfortable/bring the right shoes to climb the mountain.  The other three got to climb a very steep mountain for an hour or so to see the village where everyone from the market comes from.

That evening we returned to our host's home and got to help fix pilao (a rice with garlic, onions and other flavorings) with some greens and meat.  It gets dark here around 6:30, and since it takes so long to prepare and cook the food, we ended up eating in the dark, sometimes around 8:15, so shortly after supper we would usually turn in for the night.

The third and final day we got to stay with them, we didn't go to the market, but ate breakfast early - around 8:00 AM since we had a lot to do.  Shortly after that we were off to visit a sugar cane factory (after a lengthy process of going through different levels of authority we were told that we needed a 2 week notice), and the village where our host does his field testing.***

While visiting the village, we also dropped into a Catholic school where we sat and chatted with the priest and some of the nuns for a while.  Then we were off again right at the time the kids were getting out of school for the day so they walked with us, playing and eventually holding our hands - there was a string of children holding hands with Matt, myself and another intern!

After leaving the village we then returned to our hosts' home for lunch and to pack-up our stuff and return to where the missionary is working.  After the missionary was finished we all loaded back into the truck and returned home.

In case you're wondering, since we didn't have running water/power, how did we live?  Well, we used flashlights when preparing/eating meals; and the meals were cooked over a fire or a small coal cooker.  Otherwise, since we didn't have running water, we had a community squatty potty which was a couple of houses down from our host.  This is as it sounds; it isn't like the outhouses that we used to have with a seat, but basically a hole in the ground with bricks on either side for standing on.  There are walls, but you're not totally concealed.

Speaking of being concealed, there's the joyous experience of taking a bath.  Our host graciously provided water - actually warm water over the fire for us to take a bath with, but the location really didn't provide any privacy.  There were some walls, but they were about waist high or lower, and the entrance had no covering so the other interns, host, etc. had to turn their backs so they wouldn't be exposed.  Praise God that our bath time was at night, but even so, our white skin can stick out at times, and the people living in this village are used to wandering around at night without flashlights, could they see us??? Good question—it is a possibility.

Both as we were traveling to and from the village we got to go through a national wildlife preserve. From the road we were able to see several exotic animals. We saw gazelles, elephants, giraffes, zebras, etc. (I would talk about the monkeys but those are about as common everywhere over here as dogs and cats are in the States.) It was quite an adventure to say the least. We are also looking forward to 2 weeks from now when we will get to go back just to see some of God’s creation. (We are praying that we will get to see some lions. While they are in the park they are harder to see.)

*A National Translator in Africa - is an African individual who works to translate Scripture from the trade language (Swahili in our case) into their mother tongue.  They've had up to 4 years of training before they can fully participate in the work.  The missionary then works with them to test the translation through a number of checks from the original language (Greek or Hebrew), then writing an interlinear, field testing, consultant checking and more (it is definitely an extensive process to say the least).  Typically there is a team of three national translators per language group.

**Consultant - is often times an individual who has a Ph.D. and/or someone who has already completed a translation of Scripture into another language.  This individual will check the translation, looking for tough theological terms such as bloodguilt, propitiation, etc. to ensure that the translation is an accurate representation of Scripture's original intent.

***Field testing - a method of checking the translation to ensure an accurate and smooth/natural translation. The translation needs to be understandable by the common person. If it is too literal most will not comprehend its meaning and then they will avoid reading Scripture. And if the translation is too much of a paraphrase then it will lose its original intent.

P.S. Before I forget, I've played around with the settings some on the comments, so I think the troubles that you've been having should be taken care of.  Please let us know if you're still having problems and we'll try to get it figured out.  Thanks for being patient with us.

This has been what a day in the village has been like. It wasn’t too terrible, and praise God we did survive.  Actually, we enjoyed the blessing of getting to meet some of the national translators, see where they got to do their field testing, discover others who had come before (other religious organizations and relief efforts).  But what truly was a blessing was the chance to interact with the people of Africa – to meet the adults, see where they live and play with the kids – actually they had a lot of fun laughing at us as we tried to speak Swahili to them.  Blessings.