Hiking on Zomba Plateau

A few pictures from our trip to Zomba when Steve was in Malawi.

Our lunch stop! A bit longer due to an overheated engine, but thankful that we were able to trade for a new car that got us the rest of the way. Made it a little after dark and I drove Steve crazy the last hour freaking out about driving in the dark:)

 

This picture was from the deck of the guest house - beautiful view and good Italian food!

I love waterfalls!!

                                                                                                                                             Ku Chawe hotel at the top of Zomba plateau - a nice rest during our hike! 

Some nice views along the Plateau. We had a great time and enjoyed the Queen's view and the Emperor's view.

Tired at the end of the day! The last stretch was across this dam which supplies water to Zomba town. On the other side we bough some fresh berries which we enjoyed at the end of our long hike. We were glad we did the hike, had a great time enjoying being together and being outside. Now to get Steve out hiking in Kenya more:)

Home

Home is such a difficult word. I use it in so many ways.  I most often use it to refer to the place that I sleep at night. Whether it is a hotel, a hut, a guesthouse, my own house…if I am going to the place I am sleeping that night, I will say “I am going home.” Marilyn Gardner in Between Worlds: Essays on Culture and Belonging reflects how her mother taught her that “home is where your suitcase is”. (On a sidenote: I highly recommend the book!)

But home is so much more than that. There are more than ten definitions in the dictionary for the word home. The other definition I often use is this one, “an environment offering security and happiness, a valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.” But even this definition doesn’t help me narrow home down to one place!

When people here in Malawi ask where I am from, I don’t even know how to answer! Is it Nairobi? That is technically my current home location and my husband is there. Or is it New Hampshire, where I graduated from high school and my parents still live, where I visit on vacations and home leaves? Or is it Massachusetts where I was born and spent the most years of my life?

In Between Worlds, Marilyn follows this quote by asking “But if home is where our story begins, what happens when we can’t go back?” Sometimes, we literally can’t go back for whatever reason, like refugees and asylum seekers. Sometimes, money and time prohibit going back. Sometimes, places and people just change, and home is not that same place of security and happiness even if we can go back.

Ultimately, I still consider the US home, even though I have not lived there permanently for the last 5 years. But this was shaken earlier this year when I tried to take care of some finance issues. Because I was currently a resident in Kenya, I was told I couldn’t open this account; I was a “foreign investor”. The first thing after getting off the phone, I went and cried. I felt like instead of having many homes, I had no home.

I was feeling quite sorry for myself until I got an email from my dad; just a brief phrase, but one that has stuck with me. He reminded me that we are aliens and strangers in this world. Ultimately, none of us are home if we believe in Christ Jesus, our home is in heaven. We are aliens and strangers in this world.

          ·         Philippians 3:20 – “But our citizenship is in heaven”

          ·         Hebrews 11:16 – “Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly                          one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared                    a city for them.”

          ·         John 17:17 – “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”

Does this mean we can’t create a home here? I don’t think so; I think it is just a reminder not to hold too tightly to home. Remember where your true home is, and let the home (or homes) you create here on earth flow from the security you have in your heavenly home.

Loving with a Christ-given, Christ-like Love

Are you passionate about the people you are serving?  Do you love the people the God places in your path every day? Do you love the place where he has planted you?

Every place I have been has taken me down a different path. Sometimes, I have immediately fallen in love, sometimes it takes time. Often it ends up being a love/hate relationship!

To be completely honest, I have not yet fallen in love with Kenya or the people in Kenya. Yes, I have fallen in love with a Kenyan man and I have many good friends and family there; it truly has become another home (…home – exploring this term requires a whole blog entry in itself!). But it has been a difficult 18 months and I do not have the same love or desire to serve the people here that I have had elsewhere. 

There are quite a few complex feelings surrounding this. I have always wanted to serve in places that are lacking in health services and organizations. I loved my time in Papua, Indonesia and this was a big reason why. I was a part of something that was not being well addressed and serving a people and a place neglected by many. Liberia was quite crowded with other NGOs and missionaries, but so many of the communities we worked with, especially in River Gee, were not well reached. I felt needed.

Kenya has never been on my list of places that I had a strong desire to serve. I have always seen it as a more developed hub in Africa, somewhere to pass through and visit for fun. Yet here I am in Kenya, so I try. And I go for a year with door after door shutting, mostly due to Kenyan work permit and immigration laws. They want jobs for Kenyans, and there are many Kenyan’s who are well qualified to do what I do. I am not needed.

This process has forced me to evaluate my motives. Yes, it is good to want to work in underserved areas, but is that perpetuating a “white savior” attitude that I so desperately want to avoid? Last month, I had the opportunity to do a personal retreat through an online community called Velvet Ashes.  Through this time, I processed this issue and came to realize two key things.

First, serving only in what I determine are places that I am “needed” does give me that attitude. I need to readjust my mindset. Ultimately, I am not needed anywhere. God is needed. God chooses to use me, and he uses people everywhere – not just in places I determine are underserved. And for this time, God is choosing to use me in Nairobi, Kenya. Not because I am needed, but because it is where he wants me right now. God is giving me the privilege of partnering with an amazing Kenyan ministry – MOHI. They don’t need me, but I hope that we can partner together to move forward God’s plans in Mathare, because God is needed there.

Second, I need to love the people that I am serving. This is not always easy. I asked at the beginning whether you love the people you are serving, and were I to answer honestly, I WAY too often struggle with that! I thought I was a loving and compassionate person until I worked as a nurse in Boston. It is hard working with people. But that is not an excuse, I need to love the people around me with a Christ given and Christ like love.

 Please pray that God would grow this love for the people and the places that I will be serving. Liberia was not an immediate love; it was REALLY hard sometimes. But I had moments driving down the streets of Monrovia where I was just in awe – “Wow, God, what a privilege that you have brought me here to serve, I love these people!” I knew that was a God given love as it grew over time and this thought often came in the midst of difficult situations. Please pray that I will start to have those moments in Kenya as I begin this ministry there.

And as you pray for me, I pray that you also will have a love for the people and the places that God has put you. Not because you are needed and not because it is easy, but because you are there as part of God’s plan. He is giving you a unique opportunity wherever you are to love with a Christ given and Christ like love. 

Domwe Island Trip

Instead of a post this week, I decided to share some photos! The last several weeks were wonderful as Steve was able to travel to Malawi to visit. We were able to do a couple long weekends and visit some of the beautiful sites here! The first weekend we visited Domwe Island. The picture to the right is the boat ride out.  We stayed in the safari tents that you can see nestled in the shore in the picture below, very private, there were only a few other people staying on the island!

These pictures above are taken from the dining area with a beautiful view over the lake.

On Saturday, we took most of the day meandering all the way around the island in the kayaks above! The water is so clear and we had fun paddling and snorkeling! The pictures below are relaxing in the hammock after kayaking.

Some of the critters on the Island above and the trip back below! Had to try the fish before we left the lake, fish and chips in the small village on the mainland before heading home.

Passions

Recently a question was asked in church – what is it that God has entrusted you to do? At one point I had a very clear vision for health care and missions, but now, I wasn’t sure how to answer this question.

So what has God entrusted to me? As I ponder this, I have spent some time reflecting on the pivotal moments in my previous positions. As a nurse, this was often caring for hospice patients. That is an untapped passion I still hope I have the opportunity to pursue someday! In Liberia, almost all my highlights revolve around the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) program. Missions of Hope International (MOHI), the ministry I will be serving with, uses a similar CHE model to empower the communities in Mathare (a slum in Nairobi) and I am excited to engage with that model again.

The moments with CHE that were most memorable involve maternal and reproductive health. I loved training the community development facilitators (CDFs) in family planning from a Christian perspective. Having discussions about values and beliefs, what the Bible says and the medical information was a fulfilling experience. I also loved watching the staff facilitate the CHE lessons. Simple truths about the Bible or reproductive health were eye opening and attitude changing in the communities. I wrote about one such lesson in the blog “A Woman’s Worth” (http://elizabethjtreasures.blogspot.de/2012/09/a-womans-worth.html). Health beliefs affect so many of the attitudes toward gender and relationships that perpetuate negative behaviors. I loved seeing the impact that sharing health information from a Biblical worldview can have.

I went into health care because I believe that God cares about the whole person – physical and spiritual. I didn’t want to go spread the gospel without caring for people’s physical needs. Now I find myself in a place where I can care about people’s physical needs but not spiritual. I completely and one hundred percent believe that we are all missionaries in whatever place God puts us, whether that be in business, health care or more traditional ministry roles. I believe that I had opportunities to share God’s love as a nurse in the hospital. I believe I have the opportunity to share God’s love in my current role in a secular NGO.

Sometimes, God entrusts us with roles in the secular world. But I believe for this time, God is calling me to be part of this wholistic ministry with MOHI in Nairobi. I believe that he is giving me the opportunity to be part of something that I am truly passionate about. I am excited and confident that some of my passions will align with and meet needs that exist within MOHI and I trust that God will continue weaving those together.

It has been exciting to think through what God is entrusting to me; I feel like He is reigniting and refining my passions. I invite you to consider this week what God has entrusted to you? Are you fulfilling His calling now wherever He has placed you?  

"My thoughts are not your thoughts"

I was always enthralled by the missionaries that visited our church when I was a kid. I thought maybe someday, I could do that. One of my favorite stories was always Amy Carmichael and how she prayed for God to change her brown eyes to blue eyes. He never did and years later she realized the blessing to have brown eyes that fit in as she rescued girls in India. After a summer mission trip to Romania when I was 16, I knew that I wanted to be a missionary and I wanted to be a missionary with a skill, like nursing, that I could use to serve the physical needs in the world around me.

Flash forward 15 years or so, I am finally going to be a “traditional” missionary. Yet now I cringe at that title; I don’t want to call myself a missionary and I don’t like hearing others call me a missionary! There are two main reasons I don’t like the term 1) it narrows a missionary to someone who raises support and works in a foreign land and 2) not all missionaries and missions have really done good to the cultures and peoples they were meant to serve; there are so many stories of good intentions gone wrong. However, I am actually really excited about the circle God has brought me and I am learning a few things along the way, particularly as I work through those two points.

Like Amy Carmichael – sometimes I look back on events and realize later that maybe God knew what he was doing…just maybe! Isaiah 55:8 says “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord”. Coming to Malawi was not my first choice, I didn’t understand why things weren’t moving faster to join CMFI/MOHI earlier; but I am realizing now that this time of reflection is just what I needed to truly be excited about my next steps. While I could see that CMFI/MOHI was a good fit, there was a part of me that was going kicking and screaming, as a last resort.

Yet through my time here, I am spending some time reflecting on my passions and dreams; I realize that they line up quite well with what MOHI is doing in Mathare. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying the work here in Malawi too and hope to share more about it soon. But it definitely doesn’t have the same spark of passion it could have! As I ask for your financial and prayer support, I want to share this journey with you. Not just while I am serving, but even now as I am preparing. I intend to rekindle this blog as a way to do that and to share the things that God is teaching me and placing on my heart. 

Lavishly Giving a Sandwich

I just spent a wonderful week in Nairobi visiting Steve and was blessed to be able to celebrate Easter with him and our Nairobi Chapel Langata family. During Easter, I am reminded that Jesus gave his all for us when He died on the cross for my sins. I often forget what that really means and what I owe Him – everything. Growing up in the church, it is easy to forget how truly amazing his grace is. What should my response be? He gave everything for me, I think the only appropriate response is to give everything to him. 

It is easy to say “God I give you everything”, but what does that look like? The week leading up to Easter there were two pictures that helped me consider what it means to give everything. The first is the woman who poured perfume over Jesus. This perfume was so expensive, the devotional I was reading called it lavish giving. The definition of lavish is very generous or extravagant, spent or given in profusion. In that act, this woman lavishly gave what she had to offer Jesus. What do I have to offer and am I lavishly giving what I do have to Jesus?

The other picture was an experience I had here in Malawi. I don’t often give to people begging in the streets for various reasons (a debate for another day!). This particular day, I was returning from a work trip upcountry. I had stopped at a store to buy water. There is a man who is always at this same store begging and I always try to avoid him. This time, as he came up to the car window, I had my lunch sitting next to me in the seat. I gave him a handful of cookies. I never do that, but something nudged me to do so. Yet inside my bag, I still had my sandwich. As we drove away, I watched him stuff the handful of cookies into his mouth and I asked myself why I didn’t give him the rest of my lunch. I have food readily available and I couldn’t give him the little I had with me in the moment. 

This experience again made me think – what does it mean to give my all to Jesus? I think I missed an opportunity to give all I had in that moment to Jesus. I am not going to go out and give to all the beggars now, but in that specific moment I felt convicted to give to that specific man and I didn’t do it all the way. Sometimes God calls us to give our all in big ways; so many Christians today are giving their very lives for Jesus. But most times, I think giving my all is about the little moments each day when God calls me to give – be it time, money…a sandwich. It is being sensitive to His leading in those moments – as the woman with the perfume was – and giving what I have to offer for that particular person in that particular situation.

As I embark upon a new ministry journey, these are some of the questions that I am pausing to think about. I invite you post Easter to join me in thinking about your response to what Jesus did for you that day? What is God calling you to give Him in response? What is your sandwich to give?