rainbows in the clouds and rats on the roof

clouds over the base this afternoon

Rodrigo is here and I am excited to see what tomorrow looks like. I know the boys will love having a man in the classroom and a native Portuguese speaker. Many of them met him during is 3 months here and having been asking for him. Just today we were given an opportunity to work with a business here. It is still very much in the beginning stages and I have no idea what will happen but a local restaurant needs help and it could serve as a training opportunity for our students. We are seeking out hands-on ways to apply what we are learning in the classroom. So this may be just what we need. 

It has been hot lately but still not as hot as it was back in October. My tan is fading. I colored my hair this week. I didn’t have plastic gloves so I used Ziplock bags. I feel like a new woman. I am learning more and more how to do my days here and flow with the ever constant changes. It is a bit like living at Camp or in an ongoing episode of Survivor. Living here you do get to start anew in a way. I am starting a new life in a new place and I want to establish good habits. My days are nothing like they were at back in the States. I miss Western church and singing in the car. I miss picking up the phone and processing life with my best friends. I need to do a better job of prayer time in the mornings, or even afternoons or evenings. I find the days go by so fast. I am up early and beat by 9:00pm. My old routines from my past don’t fit in here and I am having to adjust. I find myself occasionally listening to Podcast sermons and we always have prayer on Wednesday and occasionally home group on Tuesday, but none of it is the same. Sunday church is in Portuguese and Makua and we don’t sing JesusCulture songs. :) We usually sing the same song multiple times. It’s great. Beautiful, moving, powerful and hot. But it’s different. I guess you would think on the mission field of all places that you would just live in this constant high, full of the wisdom, power, love and revelation of Christ. But you don’t. I don’t any way. I pray a lot. I pray all day and I am always asking for help and asking the question, why?. (The rats on the roof are making lots of noise as I write this. They do it all night long but I never get used to it and I always react as if they are about to fall on my face). I feel like I am learning how to eat a little better and add more diversity to my diet. I am running and it feels amazing. I am starting to feel more like myself and less like a stranger on a very long vacation. So it feels good. But yet, I come home in 3 weeks. 

When I met with Rodrigo yesterday and I shared with him about my past 5 months and all the lessons learned and our major struggles and successes, I told him that the numbers didn’t matter. I have seen in this past month that if I am here for one child, one boy, to get one job, to create one business to make his life better, then I am pleased. I am gaining more here that I could ever give out. It is a life of humility, living here. And one of extreme gratitude. Just imagine, living among the really poor. I don’t even know where to begin to describe their poverty and as I have said before I feel uncomfortable talking about their poverty. I feel like I want to guard and protect them and give them dignity. The average person here has very little. They have tiny hut homes with leaking roofs and few articles of clothing and are doing well to have three meals a day.  There are certainly different classes here, I saw some of them the other day when the private school in town was letting out. But most of the boys in our school live in a little village, in a little hut and having three meals a day is a blessing. It makes my complaints about the rats and the garden hose for a shower seem trivial. I still have no clue what I am doing. I should have studied more. I should studied Portuguese harder and should study more in my day. I should have gotten a master’s in international relations or global poverty or NGO’s. I know nothing about poverty and economics in Sub Saharan Africa. I feel so ill-equipped sometimes. But every day in class, God shows up. I usually never know what I am going to teach about until the night before and then that usually changes in the morning and usually as I stand before them with chalk in my hand a lesson develops. Every day I dust off my hands and stand back amazed at how it all came together. I am anxious to get started on tangible businesses and other projects and have some real fruit to show you from all our efforts. It will come. I am hoping to be able to even do some filming this week. With Rodrigo in the classroom, I can maybe have a seat in the back and take some footage for you. I want you to meet some of our kids and give you a tour of Pemba. Thanks for hanging in there with me and being so patient. Praying my changed routine means more updates here. 

I love hearing updates from you too! gdavis@irismin.org 

P.S. To the Bible Study and anyone else wondering, Rodrigo is 12 years my junior and in a relationship. ;)