Tubena Kufunda Kikaonde

A mi wa ne Mrs. Wessler. Twafuma ku Kwamelika. Twaiya na kufunda Kikaonde ne kukwasha bana ba kishali.

I am Mrs. Wessler. We are from America. We have come to learn Kikaonde and help orphaned children.

Get that one down and I’m set, right? Everyone tells us we’re learning very quickly, but I feel like I have to look up everything in my handy dandy notebook (Thank you Blues Clues) before saying it. Yes, my vocabulary is increasing significantly, and we have most of the greetings down, but this language stuff is HARD. It’s one thing to be able to say something to someone, but understanding what they say to you and then responding is a whole different story. And I keep wanting to resort to Spanish. Seriously. Especially because there is this horrible consonant that looks like the rolled “n” in Spanish, but sounds like the “ng” in sing. Not that hard, except it doesn’t end syllables or words, it starts them. Syllables always end in vowels. So here’s one of the words: Mwibananyi, used in “Anweba mwibananyi jizhina?” or “What is your name?” Break it apart…. Think: Mwi ba NGA nyi (but deep in your throat and hardly pronouncing it at all…). Okay, I’m going to stop now. I have figured out that if I say my name first (like the first line of this entry), I can just add, “Ngo bewa” to ask “what about you?” and avoid having to completely butcher the pronunciation. Enough of your language lesson for the day.

The fun part about learning the language is it breaks down a barrier. Because of the local mining community (with expatriates from all over the world), the local people are not used to the Mzungus (white people) making efforts to get to know them or speak their language. As we walk to Kimasala (the village where our ministry will primarily be based), or through the market, we see hard faces and looks of almost annoyance or frustration, but as soon as we greet people in Kikaonde or try to start a conversation, they warm up and tell us how great it is we are learning their language. What’s funny, is that a lot of people, especially kids, like to practice their English when they see us. Kids constantly ask us “How are you?” We think it’s the first - and sometimes the only – thing they learn because when we respond they have no idea what to say back! When we respond in Kikaonde some of them start laughing or cheering. People have started to recognize us, too. Our walk takes longer each day as more people greet us or ask us questions. The best is when the kids from Lusa Home-Based Care see us walking. On Friday a few saw me as we approached the last hill toward Kimasala, and they ran down the hill to give me a hug. Awesome.

We’ve also been told that we have to attend a different Kikaonde-speaking church each month during our language study to help us learn. Now we see people in the market who recognize us from church and ask about our work and our language study. I just wish I recognized them as easily as they recognize us!

With language study comes cultural study. We each have a great language helper that clues us in to traditions and “rules.” Like the men and women very rarely sit together in church. We’re talking full out separate sides of the room. Today we were told that a man will never sit in close proximity to his mother-in-law. Likewise, a woman would never sit near her father-in-law. So when Luke arrived to the home of his helper, the mother-in-law was there visiting and so Luke and Christopher sat outside for their lesson. Another thing – kids don’t receive any respect. There are different phrases and greetings and questions used for children than for adults. We add “mwane” as a term of respect to just about everything we say, but we don’t say it to kids – they would laugh or just be confused. But, you can ask kids things you can’t ask adults… like “what is your age?” (Or “how many years do you have?”) They don’t all know, but at least it’s appropriate to ask and answer. The kids will also run out to the road when they see us coming and yell “MZUNGUS” – letting all their friends know they see white people.

Even as we learn, we find ourselves as teachers. Our language helpers ask us questions about American culture. Today, Regina asked me if people eat nshima in the United States. Nshima is a staple here, made from pounded, ground maize that is boiled and formed into a sticky ball that is then used to pick up other food (think polenta… sort of). She was shocked to find out that we don’t. Then we discussed how our hair is very different and we have to wash it a lot more than they have to wash theirs. We also talk about language differences, helping them with their English. When observing the teaching of the children at Lusa, we sometimes even find ourselves correcting the teachers as they teach the kids English.

We are trying hard, and know that this is an important phase of our ministry – especially building relationships, but sometimes it’s exhausting. Communication is such an interesting thing, and I’ve never felt so much like I can’t express myself, even to those who speak English fairly well. I guess all things with time – and we look forward to a time when we can really share our hearts and speak to the hearts of our friends here. Shalaipo Mwane. (Remain well.)

A Time to Mourn

If you would have told me this morning that I would write two blog posts today, I would have thought you were nuts (here's the other one).  But, you would have been right.  Anyway…

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”

~Romans 12:15

I knew today would be different the moment I walked into church.  We were late, and we walked into the side door as the church was singing “How Great Thou Art” in Kikaonde, the local language.  This hymn has been a favorite of mine for as far back as I can remember.  When singing the refrain, I feel as though my soul really is singing.  So even though I did not understand the language in which they were singing, I sang along in English.

But this hymn is more to me than my soul’s song to God.  It reminds me of my grandmother who passed away in 2005.  It has been 5 and a half years since she passed, but sometimes it feels like just yesterday.  At her funeral, we recessed to the choir singing “How Great Thou Art,” and now I can’t hear that song without thinking of her.  I praise God that she knew Him, but sometimes the pain of missing her comes, and I can’t help but pause and cry.

This isn’t the only song that does this to me, either.  Another favorite of mine – “Here I Am Lord” – has taken on multiple layers of emotion as well.  It is a song representative of our call into the mission field.  It has been a favorite of Tiffany’s for longer than I’ve known her.  In fact, she processed to it at our wedding.  But our wedding would not be the last time she processed to this song.

My cousin Michael was killed by a train in September of last year.  I posted a blog about it back in the fall, but the hole is still there.  At his funeral, the family processed into the sanctuary to “Here I Am Lord.”  Although I have not heard this song today, or even recently, I am daily led to prayer for my family as I have a memorial card for Michael serving as a bookmark in my Bible for my daily devotions.

So, why am I getting emotional about Grandma and Michael today?  Because I received an email this afternoon from my best friend.  His paternal grandfather passed away on Friday.  And so I am mourning with him, just as he mourned with me when I lost my grandmother and my cousin.  My heart goes out to him and his family as they look to God to comfort them during this time (which He promises to do; see Matthew 5:4).  The pain will be real, but so is the comfort they have in knowing that Grandpa Allen is with Christ in heaven.

Our prayers are with you, Allen family.  Please know that, though we cannot be with you during this time, we love you dearly and are with you in spirit.  May God wrap His arms around you, holding you close and reminding you that He is ALWAYS there.  Always.

Refocusing My Heart

2%

Of the earth’s population, it is only 2% who leave all they know and move to a completely foreign land to live and work.

We’re not talking about moving across the country, or even from one country to a similar country, such as the United States to Canada.  No.  We’re talking about New Zealand to India, Germany to Peru… or the United States to Zambia.

If it were easy to move cross-culturally, more than 2% of people would do it.  But it’s not easy.  And we have been reminded of this truth almost every day since we arrived.

People come by at all hours of the day, and we have needed to learn to give up our food, time, and even sleep to adjust to this open-door culture.  When we do laundry, it takes up to 5 days before we can wear those clothes again; if we put them on sooner, we may have fly larvae burrow into our skin.  Sometimes you can get milk, or cheese, or eggs, or bread; sometimes you can’t.  Sometimes you have power, or running water; sometimes you don’t.

Life is different.

And we knew it would be when we came.  But we were compelled by love.  And as we continue to adjust to the culture, I have been confronted with what the focus of my affection truly is.

As a missionary, we need to love the people to whom we minister.  In our case, this includes a love for the orphans and vulnerable children, as well as the sick and dying, the elderly, the poor, and everybody else in Solwezi.  Christ says that we need to love our neighbors, and we do.

But if it were love for our neighbor that brought me here, I can say that it is not love for our neighbor that keeps me here.  After somebody broke into our home while we were at church, it was not love for our neighbor that kept me here.  I felt little love for my neighbor at that point.

It is love for Christ that keeps me here.

Isn’t this the compulsion we saw demonstrated by Paul?  While on his first missionary journey, the people of Antioch and Iconium stoned him until he was nearly dead.  His response?  He returned to the city.  Why?  Because His passion for Christ compelled Him to bring the Gospel (see Acts 14). 

And so this is my prayer for me, and my prayer for you as well.  May a passion and love for Christ drive you in whatever you do.  For it is only through Him that you can overcome the trials and opposition you face along the way.  

An Unchanging God

So this blog post may have some similarities to the last, but this is a journal entry I wrote at about 10:30 p.m. on New Years Eve (or 2:30 p.m. for those of you back home…).

What a year. Oh what a year. Even so, I can’t imagine what I will be thinking and feeling at this point next year. Zambia has been the goal – the focus – the destination – for so long and now… we’re here. So now what? What becomes the goal? The next stage? The destination for our lives? We’ve focused so much on getting here, and now that we’re here, what does God have planned for us?

It’s been three weeks since we arrived in Zambia, and have been in a state of limbo – staying in Lusaka until we move to Solwezi January 5. It’s been frustrating waiting, but we’ll probably find ourselves very grateful for this opportunity to rest – to throw our routines and schedules and everything we’re used to out the window so that when we get to Solwezi, we go with a clean slate, no expectations, and the energy we need to jump into a completely new life.

Our definitions and contexts have changed. There is a new rich and a new poor; a new clean and a new dirty. New definitions of beauty; new definitions of time. New smells, new sounds, new foods, new systems of measurement and money and processes. Our seasons have flipped; our wardrobes diminished and changed; our friendships moved and stretched. God is so good, and so mysterious. He brought us here and turned our worlds upside down and we are so excited, scared, and everything else to see what happens next.

Seriously. We start language training soon and all the while start life here. We will be making friends (hopefully), and setting up life. We’re no longer working toward getting to Zambia. No longer just buying the necessities knowing we’re one day moving overseas. This is real. This is life now. Everything we know is changing. We’re going to be changing. And we probably couldn’t do it except for one thing. God’s love is not changing. Christ’s love – His death and resurrection – and salvation through Him – is not changing. The need for a Savior throughout the world is not changing.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" - Hebrews 13:8

We are no longer going to be focused on getting to Zambia. Now we have to open our eyes, our hearts, and our mouths to share the good news of Christ in a context so different than ever before.

Thank you God or this opportunity – for this new adventure and new life. I can’t wait to see what happens in 2011.