Retreating

When we took an international assignment, I knew that one of the things I would greatly miss would be the yearly ladies' retreats, especially at Mission Springs and Mt. Hermon. Was I ever surprised in Indonesia that they had a ladies' retreat at Puncak, a beautiful area outside Jakarta, reminiscent of the Santa Cruz Mountains. If you recall, that was immediately after the tsunami had struck Sumatra. The emotion was felt as women shared personal testimonies from their time helping in Ache and watching the hands and feet of the gospel go out to the Muslims there. The worship and singing from women from all over the globe was fantastic. So here we are in Luanda where we had difficulty even finding the church that offered a service in English. Well, last weekend marked the very first women's retreat here in Luanda. Several women from the Luanda International Christian Church had the vision to sponsor a one day retreat for the ladies here, many of whom had never had this opportunity before. What a special time it was as 53 ladies (many who did not go to our church) of many different nationalities gathered for fellowship, prayer and worship based on "Loving Well," a video series by Beth Moore. The focus of the retreat was learning to love well, even those who are difficult to love. I was privileged to participate in the planning committee, and it was beautiful to see how God honored the prayer, planning, and preparation that went into the day. The response was overwhelming, and the table discussion so encouraging as ladies from Canada, Scotland, Kenya, and the U.S. all brought different perspectives to the topics. One of the Kenyan women shared that what we call slums in Luanda don't really qualify because they have electricity, or even satellite. In Kenya, the homes in the slums are made of cardboard and wash away when the rains come. Every woman left with such a sense of connectedness and a desire to spend time together again. And look what I would have missed if I had never left the U.S.!

Pink Bananas and a Flock of Chicks

By far the most unusual gifts Allan got for his birthday this year were a bunch of pink bananas from our driver Fortes (who told us they were very special) and a flock of chicks from Erin. Fortes wanted to do something special for his "chef" and chose something he would not normally buy for himself. It was very sacrificial. Erin donated the funds for the chicks to Heifer International who provides food to the world's poor. They were such creative gifts to celebrate Allan's birthday. Besides, what do you get the guy who has everything he needs? Here we are living in the city often billed at the world's most expensive and realize there are thousands of starving people right outside our doorstep. So what better thought as a birthday tribute than to provide sustenance for someone else? I was so inspired by this idea that I will be sending a donation to Heifer to plant trees as a memorial to the Jordan, the son of one of my friends on Boston Way, who tragically died in an accident last week. It's a great way to make a lasting gift for years to come. Heifer is one of several agencies working to fight hunger by "teaching others to fish." Although there are other worthwhile organizations, this is one worth checking out: http://www.heifer.org/

What Price Freedom?

The book 1776 by McCullough is a must-read for every American. I must admit I was profoundly affected by the accounts this Pulitzer Prize-winning author shared from his extensive research. I began to wonder if I had been totally asleep in my American history classes or if they never really told us the cost of liberty. Yes, I knew the general details of the major conflicts and the issues that were at stake, but I really had little concept of the destitute state of those who fought. With no training, little pay ($6 per month), inadequate supplies, and rampant sickness, they left behind their jobs and families to march hundreds of miles in poor (often freezing) conditions to fight an enemy who outnumbered them at least 4 to 1. Even though I knew the final outcome, as I was reading, I couldn’t imagine how we would possibly pull off a victory. I was truly inspired by the acts of courage and heroism, as well as shamed by how much I take for granted and how often I complain when things aren’t going my way. Imagine that in the midst of planning battle strategy, riding alongside the troops, and dealing with ill-trained leaders, George Washington found time to write 976 letters in less than two years—and we can’t find time to hit reply to an email!

Luanda Days, I Mean Daze

you know you are in one when . . .

• you have spent almost 5 hours in the car and only made 3 stops— for Portuguese class, the grocery store, and lunch take-out.
• you get lunch take-out from a restaurant and walk away 30 minutes later with 2 kabobs and $25 less in your pocket.
• it takes 48 hours to download a large file of photos.
• you get bumped off the internet 3 times right in the middle of your scrabble game and the next player skips your turn!
• you are desperate enough for celery to pay $15 for it.
• you have to shower with a 1 liter bottle because you have run out of water.
• the water coming out of your faucet is brown.
• no one in the store understands what you are asking for, even though you think you are using flawless Portuguese.
• you find your night security guard curled up and sound asleep on a piece of cardboard behind your car.
• you can’t find cream (when you really need it) in the entire city of Luanda.
• you don’t want to share the last of your special coffee beans because you won’t get any more til your next trip back to the U.S.
• your phone rings in the middle of the night because your kids forgot there was a 9-hr. time difference.
• you send your driver to buy 10 tomatoes but he returns with 10 kilos of tomatoes (happened to a friend of mine).
• you are willing to spend $300 per night to stay in a little rustic cabin outside the city just to get away!

Bloomin' Success

One of Allan's passions in Indonesia was growing orchids, so it was a great loss to him to leave those plants behind when we moved. He had at least 100 (but to hear him tell it, they numbered in the 1000's). We had so many beautiful varieties which flourished in that climate, and it was such a bonus to buy the plants for only $2 a piece. So it was quite disappointing to find out that a single plant here in Angola would cost $50, but ones with blossoms were $75. That was out of the question. So Allan was thrilled to be able to bring some orchids back from South Africa a couple months ago, and we have held our breaths hoping they would grow. Then two weeks ago---voila!---three beautiful blossoms. We just had to share this with you!

Another Bundle

It just occurred to me when I posted our new photo that some of you may be wondering who is the roly-poly bundle in my arms. Brian and Allison have been foster parents for the past couple years, both in Massachusetts and now in Washington. They have cared for Luna Sunshine since she was a couple months old and have recently found that the petition to have parental rights terminated has been accepted, so they are pursing adoption. We are excited for them and praying that all will go well with the courts system to allow this to happen. They have been awesome parents to her, treating her like her own, even though they know that nothing is final until all the approvals have been given and all papers have been signed. We certainly enjoyed our time at Thanksgiving getting to know her better, and I'm sure she had a kick spending time with the rest of the family.

Lost in Translation

For someone who loves to talk, it's almost a punishment to live in a culture that doesn't speak the same language as you do. In Indonesia, most of the populace (and even most household help) spoke no English at all, and even simple tasks like shopping for vegetables was very stress-producing. I spent almost three years learning Bahasa, which has absolutely no relevance to English words at all. I probably learned more on the golf course with my caddie and felt fairly competent when we left that I could hold my own, at least for routine taks. I was even able to deliver a simple speech before the women's club in Bahasa. So now that we're in Angola and Portuguese is the national language here, I am starting at square one. But I must say, I am quite enjoying the challenge and love the discovery of new words and how they are formed. At least many Portuguese words can be deciphered because of their similarity to English. And if I am stuck for a vocabulary word, I just try adding a "são" (pronounced as a nasal "soun"), and sometimes I am right after all! Of course, there's always the liability of embarrassing yourself by making an error in pronunciation or vocabulary. One of our favorite stories in Indonesia was when Allan posted a sign on our bird aviary, thinking he was telling the guards not to feed the birds, when in reality, he was asking them not to eat the birds. So I asked him to please check with his secretary before delivering a speech in Bahasa. We've had some interesting twists here as well. When my Portuguese teacher asked me if there were unfamiliar words in the text, I told her I didn't know the word advogado. She told me it meant liar. I found that strange to put in a book, and then it dawned on me that she was saying lawyer, which wasn't clear because of her accent. We laughed about it when I explained to her what I thought she said and then finished by saying, "Well, actually, a lot of lawyers are liars." The latest almost-error was a week ago when I got my hair cut pretty short. As the stylist was blow-drying it, I was searching my mind for the vocaulary word to tell her I looked like a little duck (pequeno pato), but all that came to my mind was pequeno peito. I was later relieved that I had withheld my comment when I looked the word up in my dictionary. Peito is the word for breast.