Currently I am in Arusha, Tanzania. I arrived a few days ago after a long day of three flights! I awoke at 4:30am in Cape Town to catch a 6:20am flight to Johannesburg.
From Jo’Berg I then took a flight to Nairobi, Kenya. I was united there with my mum who had arrived a few hours earlier from the States via London and Darfur…and then we waited for my Dad who joined us from Uganda. Quite the international family I know…we were so blessed to have arrived and with luggage intact too. We then took a flight to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. I had an amazing view of the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro from the air plane…it was a treat to see and many come to Tanzania and never see the cloud covered masterpiece (the tallest mountain in Africa).We are staying at a beautiful hotel which is housing the ‘Arusha Jesus Reunion’…there are over 15 nationalities represented and the majority from African countries. Everyone here is involved in various ministries around the continent, mostly mentoring the youth of their countries in the principals of Jesus. It has made me laugh being in this hotel as it is known as one of the nicest hotels in the city. What we take for granted in the Western world is immense…don’t expect hot (or even luke warm showers), non-leaking showers or toilets, toilet seats, bath mats, working lamps & much moreJ
My roommate is a sweet eighteen year old girl named Jamaima from Liberia. She has been living in the home of a mentor and his family the past 8 years. What I gather from hearing little bits of her story is that she left home at 10 to live in this home, as her family situation was quite difficult (I think she lost some of her family members in the war). She has talked a lot of war and other hardships that her country has faced. We were surprised last night to learn that we have the very same birthday, yet ten years a part…what a fun coincidence! In here broken English I am getting about 70% of what she says so it is taking a lot of brain power to engage and keep conversations up. Last night she was telling me about the time they had to escape from their home bare footed into the bushes as someone was arriving to their house to try and murder her mentor. She has lived as a refuge in neighboring countries at least two times in her life.
Funny Stories:
- This afternoon I sat at a table with Jemaima my roommate from Liberia and two guys from Rwanda. We were telling them the coincidence that we both had the same birthday on June 10th. Paul, one of the Rwandese told me he was born in 1984. I asked him what his exact birthday was and he said he didn’t
know and didn’t have a date! (I learned later that this is quite common among Africans as birthdays tend to not be celebrated and due to the amount of orphans, exact dates get lost). I told him that he should pick a birth date so people can celebrate with him each year. Then, after a little bit of thought he said that he was going to choose June 10th too…he was very excited and said he would write it in his calendar when he got home. I can’t believe this 25 year old had never celebrated a birthday! I look forward to sending him a card next year and celebrating him and his life!- I woke up this morning (July 18th) to find that my cosmetics in the bathroom has all been looked through and sampled. I guess my roommate was fascinated by my things and trying things out...(I learned later that she thought they belonged to the hotel). I tried to not let it bother me, and quickly reorganized my stuff. However, before we went down to breakfast I saw her in the bathroom quickly using my deodorant! During our morning coffee break I came up to the room and put my cosmetics in my suitcase…I don’t mind sharing if she asks…but to be honest I wasn’t sure if she was using my toothbrush!!!!
Pics: Bird on hotel property, new friends from my small group, fellow South africans!
Written on July 21st: A Humbling Breakfast
This morning I quickly made my way down to breakfast…I was late as it was hard to get myself out of bed after a restless night of sleep. I joined a table of diverse women and listened to their conversation while I sipped my coffee. Next to me was a fellow American named Amanda who has been teaching in Rwanda at an international school the past two years…at the end of the table was a woman named Eunice from Uganda, Doris an American who has lived in West Africa most of her life and Rebecca a female member of parliament from Liberia. The diversity of this table was typical to the gathering as a whole. The meal times have been the most fruitful experiences of this week…hearing the hearts and stories from so many around the continent. As the breakfast went on we began to discuss our countries…I had asked the woman from Liberia to tell me when their civil war started. She was sharing that the irony is that in 1979, Liberia was voted the most peaceful country in all of Africa…but one year later in 1980 all hell broke loose. The president was assassinated and his two sons were actually buried alive! Doris from the States began to tell about her personal relationship with the Liberian president’s daughter. They became good friends and prayer partners. It was only through this woman’s relationship with Jesus that she was able to find true forgiveness for all the horrible things that had happened to her family. Doris began to demonstrate the power of forgiveness in a simple visual at the table. Taking the scarf around her neck, she placed it around the neck of Eunice sitting next to her. Doris explained that when terrible things happen in our lives and there is unforgiveness between individuals…they are connected to those people just as the scarf was connecting these two women. But as Doris could forgive, not necessarily agreeing with the acts done, but recognizing God’s character and his role over justice…she drops the scarf end and is able to walk away. Yes the pain is still there and the scarf is still around the neck of Eunice, but Doris was now free to walk away. It was so simple, yet profound. At that moment I turned to look at the parliamentarian who had buried her face into her hands…this had been her war, her memories, her country. She then began to shake and cry deep tears of pain…pain that has gripped her life for so long. At that breakfast table in between the sobs she told how her husband had been murdered during the war and his killer was still alive in Liberia today causing havoc. Upon seeing this simple visual on forgiveness she knew deep in her heart that that was what she needed to do. The Holy Spirit is so powerful in the way he convicts and comforts our human hearts. At that point, Doris and Eunice took this broken woman who was ready to forgive her husband’s murderer to another room to pray. Amanda and I were left at the table, shocked and eyes full of tears. The other tables full of people talking and laughing had no idea of the profound situation that had just taken place. Later that evening Rebecca stood in front of the entire group of 250 people and testified that that moment of forgiveness, and letting go that happened that morning had changed her life. She said she physically felt lighter and was returning home to her family and her governmental position with a new message of the power of forgiveness.
This morning I quickly made my way down to breakfast…I was late as it was hard to get myself out of bed after a restless night of sleep. I joined a table of diverse women and listened to their conversation while I sipped my coffee. Next to me was a fellow American named Amanda who has been teaching in Rwanda at an international school the past two years…at the end of the table was a woman named Eunice from Uganda, Doris an American who has lived in West Africa most of her life and Rebecca a female member of parliament from Liberia. The diversity of this table was typical to the gathering as a whole. The meal times have been the most fruitful experiences of this week…hearing the hearts and stories from so many around the continent. As the breakfast went on we began to discuss our countries…I had asked the woman from Liberia to tell me when their civil war started. She was sharing that the irony is that in 1979, Liberia was voted the most peaceful country in all of Africa…but one year later in 1980 all hell broke loose. The president was assassinated and his two sons were actually buried alive! Doris from the States began to tell about her personal relationship with the Liberian president’s daughter. They became good friends and prayer partners. It was only through this woman’s relationship with Jesus that she was able to find true forgiveness for all the horrible things that had happened to her family. Doris began to demonstrate the power of forgiveness in a simple visual at the table. Taking the scarf around her neck, she placed it around the neck of Eunice sitting next to her. Doris explained that when terrible things happen in our lives and there is unforgiveness between individuals…they are connected to those people just as the scarf was connecting these two women. But as Doris could forgive, not necessarily agreeing with the acts done, but recognizing God’s character and his role over justice…she drops the scarf end and is able to walk away. Yes the pain is still there and the scarf is still around the neck of Eunice, but Doris was now free to walk away. It was so simple, yet profound. At that moment I turned to look at the parliamentarian who had buried her face into her hands…this had been her war, her memories, her country. She then began to shake and cry deep tears of pain…pain that has gripped her life for so long. At that breakfast table in between the sobs she told how her husband had been murdered during the war and his killer was still alive in Liberia today causing havoc. Upon seeing this simple visual on forgiveness she knew deep in her heart that that was what she needed to do. The Holy Spirit is so powerful in the way he convicts and comforts our human hearts. At that point, Doris and Eunice took this broken woman who was ready to forgive her husband’s murderer to another room to pray. Amanda and I were left at the table, shocked and eyes full of tears. The other tables full of people talking and laughing had no idea of the profound situation that had just taken place. Later that evening Rebecca stood in front of the entire group of 250 people and testified that that moment of forgiveness, and letting go that happened that morning had changed her life. She said she physically felt lighter and was returning home to her family and her governmental position with a new message of the power of forgiveness.
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