Journey.

Hello friends! It’s been a while since I’ve written you all an update J Well as of Friday we have officially been here four weeks! I can’t believe it’s been a month. It feels like it has been much longer! So many things about life here are so different than home; I think learning so many new things makes it seem like we’ve been here longer than we have.

I was planning on describing what a typical day looks like, but it’s not always that consistent. We typically have breakfast around 7:30 (we each take turns cooking), which is usually eggs or uji porridge (made from millet—It’s actually pretty good!), or pancakes, toast, etc. and some kind of fruit. I am in tropical fruit heaven!

Dee and Janet arrived last week to begin their dental class, so I have been attending that with them to assist in whatever they need and just be an extra set of hands. They are teaching the doctor and nurses from the clinic up the road, which is part of City of Hope’s ministry. Their other student works with the boys from the children’s home as a mentor. There are five students total and they are learning how to examine teeth, and give pain-free fillings! Next week they will start learning extractions. Giving them this knowledge is going to be a huge blessing to the local community, and they teach the importance of praying with each of their patients. How awesome that they are free to do that!

The clinic is about a 10 minute walk, and we end up walking it a few times a day. We go up at 8:30, come back at 10 for “chai” which is their daily tea break. I definitely think this routine should be implemented everywhere. Taking an hour off in the morning to drink tea? Yes please. We take this hour to do devotions as a group – the dental class, Ty and Joi, Diana, Nancy, and a few others who live at the mission house. This has been a really great time of fellowship and sharing and worship. We have these hymn books that are in English and Swahili, so everyday we do one song in each language! Cross-cultural worship is pretty amazing.

We come back for lunch around 1, and then aim to end the day around 5, although sometimes it’s a bit earlier. It’s been nice to take walks, or to sit on the front porch in the cool evening and just enjoy each other. There is an abundant opportunity for conversation in a slower-paced life.

Being here is helping me learn and appreciate how much life is a process. I am used to living in a world that is always in a hurry and rushing around, but trying to do that here is like a puppy chasing its tail, but not as amusing. I keep hearing the phrase “hurry up and wait.”

Although it’s an adjustment and can be exhausting, learning to slow down to a different pace of life has helped me to notice and appreciate many things that I easily take for granted at home. For example, laundry and cooking both take much more time and effort than at home. I have been challenged though, to see these processes as opportunities to relate with others, rather than get frustrated at how difficult it is, or to just focus on how it’s not what I’m used to. Sitting out back in the sun with a washtub scrubbing clothes with one or a few other people can be a great opportunity for conversation. Same with cooking – making everything from scratch takes much longer than I’m used to (and tastes so much better!), but again, it has been an exercise in learning to appreciate the process.

Hanging Laundry on the Line

Making Tortillas!

I think God ordered life that way on purpose. I am constantly being reminded that the end goal isn’t the point, it’s the journey to get there that changes you. It isn’t, “God has saved me, now I get to go to heaven,” (Although, how awesome that we do?), It’s “God has saved me, now I get to spend the rest of my life journeying in deep relationship with Him, until one day I will see His face and spend eternity with Him.” The process is invaluable.