passing time African-style

i know i am WAY overdue a blog update.  it seems that everything i want to say overwhelms me, so i procrastinate writing.  i'm still procrastinating, actually, but do intend to write a more detailed update soon!  in the meantime, i thought i'd quickly share some pics of how my kids are learning to pass their time here at Suubi.  i rarely hear, "Mom, i'm bored!" nowadays.

 

the kids here never get tired of playing (or watching) soccer

 

i've learned that they have their own version of marbles called "dulu" - it involves flicking a ball with amazing accuracy at another ball to try and knock it in a hole

 

i am constantly impressed with Africans' ingenuity and ability to turn "junk" into toys

 this push car is made out of sticks, wire, strips of rubber -

and the wheels are cut out of broken flip-flops!

Judah and his friends made me a broom to sweep the balcony with :)

 

then... when there's nothing else to do, you can always just get some friends together and DANCE!!

when we began

~posted by mika

disclaimer:  i really wrote this blog for my own benefit, so i don't know how much anyone else will get out of it  :)

It was November 21, 1998.  I really, truly did not see it coming at all.  Our dorm room phone rang, and my roommate answered it.  She gestured the phone in my direction and said, “Thomas wants to talk to you. “  When I answered, I noticed his voice sounded different ... excited … maybe nervous?  I had heard him lead services and speak in front of numerous audiences and he had never sounded nervous. 

“Hey, Mika!”  he said.  “I have a random question – would you like to go for a walk with me?”  It all came out in a rush.  Now, this was curious.  Thomas always called about business – to tell me what time was the next practice, what to bring on the next tour.  Thomas Simpson was ever “on task” and focused.  He was the student coordinator of our ministry team and our friendship only existed within that context.  Now, he wanted to go for a walk with me?  At 10 pm.??

 I put on my jacket and casually told Beth what I was doing.  She gave a coy smile and said, “ooooohh, Thomas wants to take you for a walk!”  I just rolled my eyes.  But the truth, in fact, was that I was feeling flattered that he was giving me special attention.   He was very warm and friendly to me – but no more to me than the other half dozen girls on our team.  Thomas didn’t give ANY girl special attention.   Mind you, I didn’t have a crush on him in any regard… but I did have a high amount of respect for him.  And a particular concern to know that he had a high opinion of me as well.

So, not giving myself time to ponder what the purpose of this walk could be, I rushed down the three flights of stairs to meet him outside my freshman dorm.  Fortunately, it was a cool but not cold autumn evening, since I was in my flannel pajama pants and my hair was still damp from my shower.   We set out toward the library, then to walk the block around the seminary.  It was all very casual small talk, most of which doesn’t register in my memory.  The most significant thing I remember was that I was surprised to feel so at ease with him.  This was surprising because I was VERY inexperienced with the whole “being along with a boy” scenario, being a naïve 17 yr. old who had never had a real boyfriend. 

Midnight curfew was pressing, however, so my easiness was suddenly bumped.  He paused and took a deep breath, and said, “ok, Mika… it’s time to spill the beans!”  ( haha – no rico suave, this one! )  His next string of words are etched in my memory very well.  The gist was that he really liked me and would actually like to date me, but didn’t know if that was appropriate at the time considering we were in this ministry team together.  He stated that his desire was to be upfront and not toy with my emotions, yet it was all rather vague with no formal declaration of his intentions.  It was all at once reassuring and confusing.  I did recognize, though, the vulnerable position he had put himself in, not having a clue as to how I would respond to him.  

 And I certainly didn’t have a clue how to respond!  I had rehearsed my lines many times of how to thwart a young man when such advances were made.   (because I had much independence to prove before I allowed anyone to claim my commitments!)  And I had even had a couple of go-rounds to practice my lines, apparently doing a good job.  But, now, this was different… more serious.  My words seemed to stay locked up.  Although, I’m pretty sure my eyes were betraying me.

Having said what he wanted, our conversation turned off the heavy subject of relationship and romance and very naturally led into the topic of ministry.  I could breathe deep again and formulate my thoughts. This was a topic I could handle.  I had very defined ideas of my ministry future.  I was a missions major and I planned to go overseas and start an orphanage… or help an orphanage… or do SOMETHING with orphans.  I had never told all this to Thomas, though.  I listened to him.  I loved to listen to him talk about ministry!  He was a man on fire – fresh in his young calling, consumed by the urgency of it.  It was mesmerizing just to listen and watched him burn.  Then he threw me for another loop when out of the blue he said, “You know, I could see us doing ministry together someday.”  The expression on his face told me he was surprising even himself.  Then he said, “You know what I think would be incredible?  To get to somehow help take care of orphans someday.  I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than getting to be a father to the fatherless.” 

Wait now... did he just say that??  “That’s what I would love to do someday!”  I tried not to gush, because I wanted him to take me seriously.  It was really a shocking couple of minutes as we talked some more about that dream.  I think we both felt like we had just suddenly stepped off of a sand bar into deep waters over our heads.  We really hardly knew each other… yet we were forced to smile at one another and acknowledge that there before us was a reflection of our own selves.  Our logic brought the conversation back to sure-footing.  But our hearts had already plunged in without our permission. 

A little seed was planted that night that then laid dormant for many years.  We didn’t revisit that dream very often – with our words, anyway.   We didn’t need to.  We both knew it was there, and we had a quiet confidence God would do something with it in His time.  So, the time was last spring when it finally sprouted.  And even now, it is just a little bud.  We aren’t quite sure what it will become.  But today I have to marvel.  It is our ten year anniversary, and we are celebrating it surrounded by hundreds of fatherless children. 

In all honesty, it’s been an emotionally vulnerable day for me.  I have felt very tempted by selfishness.  I didn’t want to cook a meal from scratch  - I wanted to go out to eat.  I didn’t want to take a bowl bath – I wanted a long, hot shower.  I didn’t want to entertain a dozen extra kids in our home – I wanted to find a babysitter and get alone with my husband.  It’s a special day, and I wanted to FEEL special.  But God is reminding me that THIS IS SPECIAL.  This is.  What was a dream years ago is now reality before my eyes.  We are exactly where God wants us, still so very in love, and delighted by three adorable children who call us “mama and daddy.”  There will be a day to feel special and many more celebrations to come.  But I cannot miss this opportunity to marvel and praise right now. 
 

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Ecc. 3:11

He must be 1st

-posted by Thomas     

It had to happen eventually and today it did.  We finally stepped foot on Suubi Village--the Watoto village where we spent 6 weeks earlier in the year.  In case you haven't heard, we had a little rain on our parade as we arrived in Uganda 5 days ago.  Our friend, Sandra, met us at the Entebbe airport at 1am and after big hugs informed us that there was a "slight complication" regarding our housing at Suubi.  The apartment we had formerly inhabited and were supposed to move into again was currently inhabited by some other volunteers.  The reader's digest version is that Watoto wasn't sure exactly how long it would be before we could move onto the village but hopefully within 2 weeks.  So we were driven to a very nice Watoto "volunteer home" on the outskirts of Kampala where our family would "wait" for further notice.  We were tired and just grateful to have arrived in one piece so we just smiled and said, "No Problem" and waved goodbye.  But as hours turned into days and we discovered that our "volunteer house" was on the opposite side of town as Suubi Village and that a taxi ride there would cost us at least $40--we couldn't help but feeling a little bummed about our delay.  We are sharing a 4 bedroom, 5 bathroom, 3 balcony, fully furnished, daily cleaned, beautifully landscaped home with just one other couple.  But our hearts are at a tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bath, half furnished apartment on Suubi village, because that's where the souls are that we are called to.
             Sorry for such a long introduction.  Anyway, today at 7am our phone rang and it was the pastor's wife from Suubi Village.  They were sending the village van to come bring us for a visit!!!  Village vans are very busy and our location is out-of-the-way, so this was special.  At 4pm today we arrived at Suubi for our visit and it was almost emotionally overwhelming.  High School classes had just let out and immediately we were showered with hugs and greetings and cries of "REYNAH!"  One 16 yr old girl named Barbara wanted to immediately take us to her home to show us crafts she had made for us - earrings for Mika and a bird sculpture for me.  Then I turned around to see Roja - one of the basketball players I had spent time with.  A few other basketball players walked up and we started walking to the court together.
            I must interrupt with some more background information at this point.  When we arrived at Suubi back in Feb., I discovered a rocky/dirty dilapidated basketball court with bent rims and no nets.  However, I found some boys playing one day and joined them.  Within a matter of days I had bought some nets and was being called "coach" and had a dozen or so senior high boys playing with me.  We began having official practices and even had a youth vs adult scrimmage before I left.  Those boys quickly became my first ministry outlet on the campus.  I could pray with them and share scripture and truth with them and they received it wholeheartedly because I was "coach."  Before I left I taught them Colossians 1:18 and how the New Living Translation teaches that Christ "is first in everything"  I had them over to my apartment the Sunday before we left and told them that I would return with TN orange jerseys that said Suubi on the front and Colossians 1:18 on the back.  They were stoked.  Soon after we returned to the US, Watoto decided to spend some grant money to pave the Suubi basketball court.  This was a VERY BIG DEAL and the boys blew up my facebook with messages about it.  Now back to the story at hand. . .
          I walked with Roja, Alain, Joshua, and Mark onto the court with a huge smile on my face.  A real blacktop with while lines and everything.  The goals and rims are a different story, but the court looked beautiful.  I was going on and on bragging about it when Roja finally asked, "Coach, have you seen the center?"  I hadn't even noticed that there was a circle at the center of the court just like a regulation court would have for tip-off and within the circle was written  "Colossians 1:18"  I was speechless.

To discover that the Holy Spirit had impressed those words on the hearts of those boys so strongly in such a short amount of time was just incredible.  These are 16-19 year old boys and I had honestly prepared myself for the fact that most of them would just give me a blank stare when I mentioned Colossians 1:18 upon my return.  Instead they had it written at half-court.  I remember praying during our six weeks at Suubi "Lord, if I never get a chance to set foot on African soil again, thank you so much for the privilege we have had to minister here"  And now to realize that God was making eternal impressions already in the hearts of these students from that brief season is just so humbling.
           Anyway, our visit was heavenly but the ride back was not.  It was long with many stops to drop off various people and Reynah eventually decided that she was through with van riding so she serenaded us for the last 30 minutes.  Our hearts are overflowing tonight with the goodness and faithfulness of God and may yours be as well.

glance back as we step ahead

 - posted by T

     Well, we have spent the last 114 days in a season that we will forever remember as our “first itineration.”  Our family has traveled over 8000 miles through six states during that time.  We communicated with a little over 30 churches and participated in services with 18 of those congregations.  I was also able to speak at a couple of school Bible Clubs, attend 3 preacher meetings, conduct one funeral, and speak 5 times at Project Acts (a local missions camp here in  West TN).  We have met our monthly budget goals and raised $7500 for Watoto Discipleship projects such as Bibles and portable sound systems.  When we have not been “on the road” we have been living with our Pastor, Randy Carter, and his wife Nancee.  Living with two godly people eager to explore their spiritual gifts of grandparenting has been a wonderful pleasure.  For better or worse our boys have learned how to sweetly “take over” a Sunday School class with stories of Africa.  Along the way we graduated from a few Facebook pics and some cool stories to a display table, official promo DVD’s, prayer cards, a website, and monthly email newsletters.  For whatever it’s worth – we at least FEEL more like missionaries now!

            We are keenly aware that the fruitfulness of this season is a testimony not to our productivity but to Divine Favor and Provision.  God has continually, despite our shortcomings, poured on us a steady stream of support and encouragement from friends, family, pastors, churches, and even strangers.  It is so humbling to realize that all we have really done in this process is tell God “Yes” and He has absolutely been the wind in our sail from that moment forward.  If you are reading this note, that means you are one of those blessings of encouragement in our lives and we are so grateful for you.  Please pray for us as we depart Tues afternoon July 12 from Nashville at 3pm.  We know that two consecutive 8hr plane trips will be a grueling stretch for Reynah.  If you have seen her recently, you know that Reynah and “stop” or “still” really have nothing in common.  Please continually pray with us that our transition to long-term ministry with Watoto will be a smooth one. 

            As I “pause” at midnight to write this note, with only about 20hrs of daylight left on American soil before our departure, I am so joyful for my sons.  In the last year of their lives they have learned so much about calling, supernatural provision, and God’s love.  My sons are learning that surrender to Christ means partnership with other Christians.  They have learned that God is our family’s source of income.  They have learned to embrace God’s global campaign of redeeming souls.  They have learned that friends are the most valuable resource anyone can possess.  I pray this note finds your family focused on your Maker.  May you be found wrestling with your calling.  May you enjoy the rich fellowship of partnering with other believers for a greater cause.  May your children grow in the knowledge of God as they participate with you in a Kingdom cause.

just finished putting things in storage

all of our worldy possessions - it seems like too much.  It seems like too little.  It's just books, sentimental things, an old chair, and a rocker.  how can i "set up house" again someday with just this?  i feel an ache to cover it with a drop cloth and walk away... like i'm saying goodbye to my old life.  i feel exhilaration to be done with it all... ready to embrace a new season.  i feel that this is right.  so, i swallow hard the pill and keep reminding myself...

A man does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.  ~ Luke 12: 15

1 down, 7 to go!

tickets have been purchased and July 12th is the day!  lots to do between now and then.  so, one suitcase is now packed, weighed, and ready to go!   it's all full of household goods for our little apt.  we shouldn't have any trouble spotting this one on the conveyor belt, right?  :) 

what we have to enjoy

i've been a little picture crazy here lately.  mostly because i want to capture all the faces and places that are dear to me before we "peace out."  and somewhat because i've been inspired to take the time to notice ... to notice what is dear to me that i haven't noticed before. 

the question was recently posed to me...

what if someday God holds us accountable for all the things

that He gave us to enjoy and we never did?

what an interesting thought. my children seem to feel it is their prerogative to indulge and relish every pleasure they possibly can... anytime, anywhere. sometimes i think enjoyment is a right that i have to earn... after all my responsibilities of the day have been met. and even then, i think that really enjoying myself involves an escape from ordinary time and space.

 i'm reading a most unique and thought-provoking book called 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. i'm being challenged to recognize the gifts God fills each day with - obscure as they may be - to receive them and thank Him for the simple joy that they give me. so, i am on a quest to notice; it's like a treasure hunt. what can i find that's beautiful, that makes me praise Him? last week it was the ruby-throat hummingbird on the back deck.



two days ago, it was sky blue on top of Jacob's Creek



and a little boy's treasure... yes, i know only mommies find these things beautiful



yesterday, it was a wind chime and bubbles in glass.

then, there are the moments that smack so sweet and i smile. like Reynah's pigtails tickling my cheek when i hold her. and Josiah picking strawberries that he can sell "so we can get back to Africa." :)

 Grandpa Simpson (who turned 90 last week) at the park watching his great-grandchildren play

And Thomas reading from Grandma's journal, which she wrote from 1940 - 1945

yes, me and my little 'point and shoot.'  obviously, i have a lot to learn in the art of photography!  but i feel like i'm making some progress in the art of noticing.  sometimes.  other times, my children remind me i have a ways to go there too.

like the other day when we were walking together and i stopped to appreciate the field of hay bales.  Josiah asked, "Mom, why are you taking pictures of hay?  what's so special about that??"  as i was trying to explain my new-found art to him, Judah asked if he could kick it... just one time?  i agreed to the "just one time," which led to him and Josiah both kicking and pummeling the hay bale repeatedly while laughing with delight.  i gave up taking any more pictures of hay.  i called them to walk with me some more, so they came running then with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.  who knew a hay bale could be so fun?  so i think that there is a step beyond noticing that is wholeheartedly enjoying.  i think it isn't about a discipline to be learned, but it's an instinct to be remembered.  i stand on the edge the wonderful, and, yes, appreciate it.  but my kids jump into the moment with a splash and swim in the wonder.