Back in Arandis

February 29th, my favorite day of the year. It’s almost like a holiday, like Christmas or Easter or Free Text Friday. Enjoy today, it only comes around once every four years!

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Bible studies this week went well. I love teaching the kids at the secondary school even though they tell me I use “hard grammar.” The other day I taught them the word indictment. The Firm Foundations curriculum flies through the history of kings and prophets with only a passing mention, so I thought I’d go back and fill in some of the details. It’s been fun and I think very important in pointing toward the kingship of Christ. Thursday morning at the woodcarvers market we continued in Romans 11 talking about how God had hardened the Jews to bring the Gentiles into God’s family in order to then make the Jews jealous so they too would believe.

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The crusade in Arandis started Thursday evening. After taking in some of Pearl’s dance class we started moving the equipment over to the amphitheatre around 4:30pm. Many of the churches in the community are involved so it truly is a community crusade. The speakers are quite…shall we say…Pentecostal. After the music team had finished and sat down, they called us back up again, and then a third time, until they finally felt we had moved to a place where we were “ministering to God.” For his message he read out of Numbers 19, the story of the bronze snake in the wilderness, and spoke about Jesus being the answer to everyone’s problems. Then came time for the alter call. As we played “Hold On To Me” over…and over…and over, the benches emptied and just about everyone came forward. (That’s when Don & Jackie bailed to the preacher saying, “I can feel the demons leaving now!”) The community pastors prayed with different people and the Pentecostals brother was pushing people over “slain in the Spirit.” The whole night was pretty wild, very different from what I’m used to. I finally got home that night at about 10:30pm quite exhausted from a long day.

This morning I went over to the secondary school with Boniface to attend his Scripture Union club. I saw many familiar faces from when I was here last July. (For those on that team, I saw Charmaine, Raymond, Maria and Maria, Rebecca, Jesme, and others whose faces I remembered but names I did not.) They remembered the girls from last year and wanted to know when they’re coming back. Then it was off to play photographer again, capturing pictures at the preschool and the Talitha Kumi primary school to use for the Hope’s Promise website. Molly and Jaime, this pic's for you. Revival became a quick favorite for them last year. :)

To shoot or not to shoot

As promised, I thought I’d share a few thoughts about photography and ministry in Africa. This is only from my experience so I’m sure others will have differing opinions. You may have noticed that thus far I haven’t posted many pictures of people or ministry. It’s all been sunsets or insects or doors or random other things that caught my eye. The trouble is tourism is the number one industry in Namibia. People come from all over the world to snap photos of animals at Etosha or one of the many other wildlife reserves. They’re coming to an intriguing culture so they shoot photos of things that are quite normal here but are new and different to them, sort of like the Japanese tourists who take pictures of squirrels. One American saw a man thatching a roof and stopped for a photo of what was this man’s ordinary, everyday job. But that mentality has transferred over to poverty. Squatter’s camps and people in poverty become a tourist attraction. They take pictures of the ‘poor’ Africans just like they’re animals in Etosha. Some have even promised to send back the money they make from the photos, but the people never see those benefits. It’s become an industry based on exploitation and it’s saddening.

As a result, I’m very careful when and where I pull out my camera. As one here to immerse himself in the culture the easiest way to ruin that is to come across as just another tourist. Tourists come for their own interests, not the interests of others. Tourists don’t build relationships. They keep the people at a distance through the lens of their camera. The irony is that photos are more than welcome within the framework of relationship. It’s natural to take pictures of and with your friends. The photographer in me cringes every time I have to pass by a beautiful photo op, but I understand that’s not my purpose. I’m here to share God’s love with people, not just shoot cool photos. Some may say, ‘But you could share these photos with the first world to communicate the truth and make a difference,’ but sometimes the best way to make a difference is to put the camera away and share your heart instead.

Late nights and weekend highlights

I haven’t been to bed before 12:30am since Don and Jackie arrived. That’s late for me here, and I have to drive 2 and a half hours back to Okahandja tomorrow. At least I’ll have company. I’m taking Caroline and Bolla (2 new friends) out to Okahandja to catch a ride to Windhoek. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

For coming to Arandis the wrong weekend I’ve been kept pretty busy. The crusade that I was originally coming over for turned out to be next weekend, but it seems God had a plan for me being here anyway. The first practice for the worship team next weekend was this Sunday afternoon, so it worked out for me to be here for that. We’ve also had some good talks with Brenda and Nan about Hope’s Promise, Namibian culture, and our summer teams. Brenda wants to update all the family pictures on the Hope’s Promise website so I have my second official photography gig. It’s cool to finally get some pictures of people (I’ll address my photography philosophy about that in an upcoming post). It’s the most time I’ve gotten to spend with many of the families because the times I’ve been here I’ve been focusing on other things. The kids are a blast, and most love to have their picture taken. Two families done, four more to go next weekend.

After dinner Jackie and I went to photograph the sunset then over to the Banda’s to hang with Pearl. Late that night Fabiola and their friend, Bolla, came out and asked if I could drive Tresford to the hospital in Swakop. He’s been running a high fever for a couple days and Fabiola had a relative on duty at the hospital that night. They tested his blood for malaria and checked his tonsils, but in the end determined it was just a bad flu and sent us home with some antibiotics. This morning his fever still hadn’t broken, but by afternoon he looked much better.

Other highlights: At church this morning I joined in with the worship team, no practice, no chord sheets, and without Tresford I was the only musical accompaniment just making it up as we went along. Fun times. And I almost keeled over in disbelief…Jackie didn’t take a picture ALL DAY on Saturday! Pretty shocking for those who know Jackie. But then not so shocking, she brought me Nutty Bars. :)

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Not quite as much as doors, but gates can be cool too.

The Arrival

Don and Jackie arrived safe and sound Wednesday night, minus one of Jackie’s bags which has since been delivered. We stayed up late that night exchanging news and talking about plans. Thursday morning we went to the woodcarvers market for Bible study then hung out at the Ark for the afternoon. Thursday night was Joe’s Beerhouse night. Don and Jackie treated Dieter, Joan, Thelma and I to a night out at one of my favorite restaurants ever. (Thanks again guys!) This time I pulled out the camera, so I’ll get some pics up on my Flickr page soon for all of those who haven’t been to get a small taste of the experience.

Today, we spent the morning running around Okahandja preparing to head out for Arandis. We picked up some computers from the Ark that Don will be working on, visited the cell shop to get our new phones connected to the internet, and did all our grocery shopping for the weekend. But after a long day we finally made it to Arandis. After dinner we made our rounds visiting all the Hopes Promise families and ending at the Bandas. It turns out the youth crusade I was planning to help Tresford with this weekend is actually next weekend, so it sounds like I may be back again. But that could be good because now that I’m here, even a month and a half away seems like too long.

Photo of the Day

Joe's Beerhouse, the one and only.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

I dropped my friends Buddy and Julia off at the airport today. They’re heading back to Ohio for 3 weeks to raise some support and share what God’s put on their hearts. This will be Julia’s first time in the States, so pray for a little grace in dealing with what I’m sure will be many frustrating cultural differences. They’re going to Maine for a few days so she’ll get to see snow for the first time. She’ll also be meeting most of Buddy’s family for the first time…so prayers definitely needed!

With them gone for a few weeks I’m set to take over teaching the Bible studies that I have thus far only been helping with. On Wednesday afternoon at the high school we’ll be finishing up the lesson on the crucifixion. Our Wednesday evening study with the church group is looking at God delivering His people from Egypt. And Thursday morning at the woodcarvers market we’re looking at the end of Romans 10 and how the Jews are without excuse for not believing.

Wednesday evening I go to pick up Don and Jackie from the airport. It’ll be great to see some familiar faces and have them share a little bit in what’s going on here. They’ll spend Thursday here in Okahandja then head over to Arandis on Friday where they’ll stay for the majority of their trip. I’ll join them for the weekend to help Tresford with a youth crusade that his church is hosting. It was originally going to be a worship leaders conference so I had prepared a great lesson from Isaiah 6 about responding to God’s revelation of Himself, but plans changed. So if anyone needs someone to give a talk on worship, I’m ready!

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

Sunset over the Okahandja River. This year Dieter said

it's been the highest he's ever seen in the 19 years they've lived here.

How to prepare mopane worms

Step 1: Go out into the bush and collect your mopane worms.

Step 2: Squeeze out the guts and discard.

Step 3: Gently wash the worms and place in pot of water.

Step 4: Allow the water to boil out over about an hour.

Step 5: Let them dry in the sun, salt, and serve.

Serving Suggestions: Use Tomato sauce or Sweet Chili sauce for dipping. You can also let them simmer with small chunks of tomato and onion, or add more water and make it into a soup. Bon apetite!

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After last years incredibly dry rainy season, this year has been phenomenal. In many places they’ve actually had too much rain. All across the north there has been major flooding. Houses and roads are being washed away. Even as far south as Sossusvlei they say there are standing pans of water in the middle of the desert. Here in Okahandja, it’s the fourth day in a row of slow, soaking rain. It’s good for crops and grazing lands, but not so much for the flood victims.

After the rain

I haven’t seen the sun for more than a half hour or so over the past three days. In that time, we’ve had over 160mm of rain. That’s almost half the average annual rainfall for Okahandja in only 3 days. The river’s flowing for only the second time in over 20 years. And with the rains come some special treats.

There is a giant mushroom that grows out of the huge termite mounds only after it rains. I’m not a mushroom fan myself, but they’re considered a specialty here in Namibia. Also after it rains, out come the ‘mopane worms’ (named because they feed on the mopane [pronounced mo-pon-ie] tree). On the way into church this morning everyone was headed out to the bush with their buckets to fill with the large caterpillars of the emperor moth. They’re quite plentiful, so you could conceivably find up to 10-20 on one bush. They puke up this green juice when you try to pluck them off the branch, kind of like a toad will pee on you when you pick it up. The harvesters will take them home in these big buckets, squeeze out the guts, dry them in the sun, then fry them up for eating. Apparently it’s an excellent source of protein.

After church today, Buddy, Julia and I went out mopane worm hunting for ourselves. We collected a pretty good bag full. Julia knows a couple different ways to prepare them so they invited me back tonight to join them for the fruits of our labor!

Photo of the Day

Traffic.

No chameleons were injured during the making of this post

I didn’t think anything of the directions that said ‘1st right after you cross the river’ because most rivers in Namibia are actually sandy riverbeds unless it just rained the night before. But this was hardly the case with this one and my little rental didn’t even resemble a 4x4. It didn’t look all that deep so I popped it in low gear and gave it a try, but unwisely I went through the middle where it was deepest and yes, I stalled out in the middle. Fortunately I could restart it. I then reversed out and rather then press my luck, I parked on the side of the road, and found my way across on foot.

Shortly up the hill I found the Shalom Center, just where my friend Castrow said it would be. The Center is the home of a Christian Missions School where they have preschool classes, kindergarten, and grade zero. From there students go into grade one in the public schools. Castrow is the spiritual director at the Center and teaches one of the preschool classes. After lunch the students sat down for children’s church where Castrow shared about being faithful in the little things. Usually when we come with a team it’s the girls with long blonde hair that the kids want to touch, but today they couldn’t get enough of my hairy legs and goatee.

Afterwards I sat down and chatted with Castrow for a couple hours about the ministry, how life is going, and dreams for the future. He’s a great example of partnering with someone long term. As I said, we first met when he joined one of our teams for an outreach in 2002. We went into the schools to teach about abstinence and used a mime presentation to help share Christ and cross any language barriers. Today he told me that mime has become part of his regular ministry. He’s taught it to people in Katima, Gobabis, everywhere he goes. That’s pretty humbling to hear how God’s multiplied a mime that some cocky college graduate made up in his loft.

In 2004, Germaine and I were able to visit with him while he was in seminary. Someone from the States had donated a bunch of laptops, one of which we gave to him. Today, smiling, he boasted how both he and his fiancé Virgil had written their seminary term papers on it and how he still uses it today. He was also pleased to show me how he was using the camera someone from our church had given him to make IDs for all the children in school at the Center. Those are excellent examples of how gifts and technology can be helpful in ministry without creating a dependency on Western aid.

In 2006, we brought a band from the church to play concerts and share Christ across Namibia. At the time Castrow was working for his church back home in remote Katima, which is out on the Caprivi Strip. When he was promoting for the concert nobody believed that a band from America would actually come all the way to Katima. But despite the small turnout, he reassured me that it had an impact in the community and the people that did attend. He specifically mentioned the openness of Kevin and Sonciary’s testimony because African culture tends to hide personal details. It was good for the people to hear them speak honestly about their lives and relationship.

So now, nearly six years after meeting this young ambitions guy getting ready to go to seminary, I can sit down with this seminary graduate and ministry colleague and listen for hours to how God’s been using him and our partnership together. That’s the value of long term missions relationships. That’s how the church in America can support and encourage and equip their African brothers and sisters without causing the harm of dependency and entitlement that so often accompanies American missions.

Last but not least, I had to include this picture of the kids terrorizing this poor little chameleon because it was so funny. Castrow was afraid to even get close to the thing, but these little preschoolers would sneak in and pick it up by the body then drop it real quick. As opposed to popular belief, chameleons change based on their mood, not their surroundings, kinda like a mood ring. After a while you could tell it was getting pretty mad because it was turning black. I thought it was humorous, but now I’m sure I’ll have some animal protection agency all over me.

Photo of the Day

For more on this little fellow read the following post.

Lowering of the Flags

I had my first cultural eating experience today. (Don’t worry, it’s not as exciting as what’s to come.) When there’s a wedding, the families raise flags over their home to let everyone know, one to signify that they’re getting married and one to show that the bride has no children. Buddy and Julia were first married 8 months ago, but just in December went north for the traditional Oshivambo wedding with Julia’s family. So now that that’s over, today was the lowering of the flags ceremony. Looking forward to a cultural experience, I accepted the invitation to join them at Julia’s family’s house in Vyf Rand.

As is typical in Africa it was a whole afternoon affair. Julia is the 7th of 8 children, so add in friends and cousins and it was a full house. When we got to the lowering of the flags part, the ladies, wearing their traditional dresses, all danced and waved white flags over Buddy and Julia. They shouted, “Julia, you can go now,” indicating that now she’s married and will go make her own home. Then, also typical to Africa celebrations, came the food. We had rice covered with onions and tomato sauce with some chicken. I’ll admit I snickered inside when Buddy’s two American friends passed saying they’d just eaten and he and I both accepted a big bowl. When they found out I was single some of ladies started dancing around me waving the flags saying I could find an Oshivambo girl and be next. I politely declined saying Julia’s sister was too young for me. In the end I made out still single, with my stomach settled (for now), and with a much greater appreciation for good old African hospitality.

Happy Groundhog Day!

I realized why they don’t have Groundhogs Day in Africa (besides the fact that they don’t have groundhogs; maybe it could be Mere Cats Day?). Anything that pokes its head up through a little hole will always see its shadow! Darn it all, six more weeks of summer. :(

Good times at Coffee Bar last night. Buddy’s American friends brought us some sweet new Ts for security to go along with our walkie talkies. Now we’re officially official. We had a bunch more people tonight and a couple little kids that were trying to sneak in (no under 13s allowed without a supervising adult) so the shirts did us well. I got schooled by Clinton in chess, but he was on the chess team at school and taught me his moves after he beat me, so I guess I’ll let it slide. I chatted with a couple guys, Tobias and Stevo, who knew more about the US Presidential race than I did. (Sorry, Darin. Fred 2012!) They’re sharp guys. It wouldn’t surprise me if Tobias ran for president here someday.

I’m looking forward to connecting up with my friend Castrow on Tuesday. I first met him when he joined one of our teams in 2002. I was just finishing Bible college and he was just starting so we had some good theological conversations. By 2006 he had graduated and returned to his home in the Caprivi Strip where our band, By Faith, went to play a show at his church. Now he works at a children’s center that runs Christian programs for young children during the week. I haven’t seen him in 3 ½ years so it’ll be good to reconnect and see what he’s up to these days.

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This Sunday night I’ll be joining millions of football fans around the world for the annual apex of football stardom, the social event of the year, the infamous Super Bowl party. Before I left the States I guaranteed that there must be someone on the entire continent of Africa watching the game and I would find them. As promised, I’ll be watching at the Capricorn lodge and restaurant, joining Lon and his friend, the owner, who is also an avid football fan. Not even a 1am kickoff could prevent me from watching my team go 19-0 for the first time in NFL history securing their place as the greatest team of all time. Meanwhile the other naysayers will be busting my chops trying to produce some thread of doubt to crack my unwavering confidence. I’m ready for some football!!

Photo of the Day

Coffee Bar, ready and waiting.