Dear Friends and Family, Sept. 20, 2006
When Zach wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does is to pull
himself into a sitting position, point to the door, and say his
favorite word. He says it while still half asleep, blinking and
wobbly. "Go! Go! Go!" His method is usually quite effective. Either
dad or mom show up promptly to get him out of his crib, and then he is
off and running. It struck me the other morning that he inherited
this method from his father—it is exactly the way Jesse has tackled
Burundi. From the moment we arrived, even though still blinking from
all the adjustments and wobbling with malaria from time to time,
everything has been "Go! Go! Go!" for Jesse, and he has been quite
effective.
This past month he taught a second course (Biblical Theology/ Bible
Survey) at the Leadership Training School. He had more realistic
expectations of the students' educational abilities this time, so he
used lots more review and many more visual aids. The end of course
exam proved that they had really grasped the material, and Jesse was
elated.
The young-adult Kirundi Bible study continues to meet twice a week.
They have finished John and are now studying Acts. Three have made
professions of faith since the study started. Several high school
students approached Jesse last month and asked about an
English-speaking study. They are going through Mark, but spend most
of their Tuesday morning meeting time asking challenging questions
about suffering, predestination, etc…
I expected Jesse to be involved in teaching and Bible Studies, but
the film ministry has come as a complete surprise. It has really
taken off, especially since my cousin Debbi and her husband Dane sent
us a digital projector. This month Jesse has shown gospel films six
times. Five of these were to large groups of at least 2000. I wish
you could watch them watching the films; see and hear their intense
reactions- the joy cries, the gasps of horror, the cheers and
clapping. Some of the people watching have never seen a movie before;
most have not seen one on such a large screen. All are deeply
affected. Many lives are changed. We would love to have a group of
you come to Burundi and go on evangelistic film trips with us. It is
an incredible experience.
Jesse also got to try his hand at being two people last month. From
August 22-September 9, Jesse took over his Uncle Ken's
responsibilities while he and his wife Melli drove their oldest three
girls to boarding school in Kenya. We moved into Ken and Melli's
house in town since there really wasn't room for their youngest five
kids to join us at our place. It was quite an adventure. Jesse
commuted daily to the school to teach, preached two weekends, showed
films twice, and did all of Uncle Ken's business. Needless to say, he
wasn't home much. Jesse has also been made a member of the church
association's executive committee—basically like a deacons committee
that makes decisions about practical and financial matters. He
attended their last meeting while sick with malaria*. Go! Go! Go!
Don't worry. Zach also takes after me. He has a little chair that
is just the right height for him to manage on his own. He begins the
approach. About a foot from the chair, he turns his back on it and
crouches down as if about to sit. He shuffles backward slowly until
he thinks he is in the right place, then plops down. Usually he hits
at least a corner of the seat and is able to scoot into position.
Once successful, he claps delightedly for himself. Occasionally he
misses, hits the floor, gets up, and tries the whole thing again.
That is much more typical of the way I have handled Burundi. First I
watch to see how everyone acts and what the needs are and then plan
how I will go about learning what needs to be learned and doing what
needs to be done. Then I slowly begin to attempt things. When I
succeed, I am so thrilled I really do feel like clapping for myself,
but there is still a lot of falling down and getting up to try again.
I have found a new Kirundi teacher whose teaching style matches my
learning style and who is able to come consistently on schedule. This
has really given me hope and I have been making lots of progress. The
highlight of my month was about a week ago when my friend Neema took
me aside to tell me about some of her problems and I actually
understood what she was trying to say!!! Of course I understand more
than I speak and I still don't understand all that much, but it is
coming and I actually have a friend!
Staying at Ken and Melli's was a challenge for me since I got sick
and lost my voice for a week in the middle of their trip, and it
didn't convince me to have six kids, but I am glad to report that the
kids kept busy and were well-behaved, and a good time was had by
all—even me!!! I enjoyed being able to be my "teacher-self" for a
while by thinking of creative things for us all to do and getting the
kids to pitch in with the cooking.
I have also enjoyed helping Jesse create the outlines for his
theology courses (he's the global thinker—he tells it all to me and I
turn it into Points A,B, and C). Another way I was able to help was
typing up his notes.
Looking back over the past month, I can see that our
mixture of different skills and approaches make a good team. Thanks
for being part of our team too!
Love you all, Joy
* "Yes, mom," Jesse did take lots of time to rest when he was sick,
and "No, mom," he does not rush into things without praying and also
asking the advice of others who are older and wiser. Go! Go! Go! is
just one of those typically flawed but still effective analogies.
