Goals

Through being with colleagues and the books I have been reading, I have come up with some goals for these next four months on the field, things I want to improve on, I figure if I put them in my newsletter, you guys can help keep me accountable! 

A forty hour language learning week- this doesn’t necessarily mean out with people eight hours a day, it would include working on listening to recordings or stories in Kon. As my director said- I can’t control how quickly I learn the language, I can control the amount of time I spend trying. 

A constant and steady devotional time in the mornings before running- I was so pumped about this whole running in the mornings thing, I was putting my quiet time off until an undesignated time later in the day. But I want to start setting my alarm and making time with God the priority. 

Writing at least one French email a week- I have been focused on Kon language learning and letting my French go, not good!! We do try and watch one French film a week, and I want to read my Bible in French more too.

Writing one family member an email a week- I think this would be a good practice even if I were stateside, extended family is easy to lose track of, but I would like to maintain those connections so that when I come home I am not totally out of the loop.

So there we go! If I am at nothing, that is exactly what I will get!

What I've Been Reading Lately

What’s So Amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey- Brittany and I read this together, and were both impressed with the message. Yancey talks about grace as the “the last best word,” one of the only “theological words” we have left that hasn’t been tainted or abused. He also introduced to me the term and concept of “ungrace,” which is basically what it sounds like- the opposite of grace. Yancey’s writing is so interesting, he has so many stories and real-life examples and historical and literary references, I was entertained and challenged at the same time while reading.

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson- I am still two chapters away from finishing, but this book has been really motivational and inspiring for me. Batterson discusses the importance of deliberate, hard, long, specific, faithful prayer. He also challenges believers to dream big, because it is impossible to outdream God.   I have highlighted so many sections in here, I can’t share them all, but here are a few:

“The sad truth is that most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do planning the rest of their life. That’s poor stewardship of right-brain imagination.”

“It’s easy to pray ‘amaze me!’ But I don’t know anyone who prays ‘perplex me!’ But it’s a package deal. If you aren’t willing to be perplexed, you’ll never be amazed.”

“If you are not open to the unprecedented, you will repeat history, if you are open to the unprecedented, you will change history, the difference is prayer.”

I have even made a life-goal list that Batterson encourages in his book, I am still working on it, maybe someday I will share it with you.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo- This is one of those books I knew I needed to read eventually. Enough people have recommended it, and classics are classics for a reason. We are headed to the capital soon for branch meeting, and someone brought over a copy of the newly released movie. I decided I would read the book first- but I decided too late! I won’t finish in time, but that‘s ok. It really is a beautiful story; it has been neat to read it right after finishing What’s so Amazing about Grace, because Hugo does a great job of writing grace before the reader’s eyes in the story.  I have kind of heard the story, and so I am pretty much banking on crying before this book is finished- always a sign of a good book by my standards.

Reconstructing Natalie by Susan May Warren- This is a chick-lit story about a 27 year old woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer. It is funny, inspiring, and insightful all at the same time. It was my second time to read it, so I knew I would like it.

Community is my language classroom!  By Tom and Sherry Brewster- I checked out several language learning books from the PBT library last time we were there. This one was definitely the most enjoyable! Probably because it serves as more of an encouragement than a how-to manual. Actually that is next on my reading list is the accompanying how-to manual by the same authors. But this book is a collection of stories of missionaries around the world who have used living and interacting with the target people group as their language learning- no formal instruction. This method is advantageous in many ways- relationally and even spiritually. This is the method I am attempting to follow as well. This book was just kind of a shot in the arm, a reminder of the rewards at the end of the road, and that other people have hard days too, I am not alone on the language learning road. 

Morning Jogs

I have started jogging three to five mornings a week at the soccer field nearby. This addition to my routine has been really good for me in several ways. Of course physically, then thanks to the resulting endorphines I feel good emotionally. But also for language learning and motivation this trip outside gives me a good start for the day.

Every morning as I walk, I think “I should blog this walk.” I think it is partly because it is in the early morning when I tend to be at my most reflective and feeling poetic. Nevertheless, below is a fairly average account of my average morning.

Sometime between 6:30 and 7:00, about fifteen minutes after the neighbors have begun their day and accompanying noise outside my window, I get up. I shuffle into my sneakers and ridiculous running garb (this huge flowy skirt that is not hard to run in), and try unsuccessfully not to make the door squeak as I open it to the outside world.

The early mornings are always overcast. Sometimes as I walk to the field the sun will begin to peak out from a cloud, but it generally stays hidden. I pass the same people almost every morning- greet in the same way and have the same conversation many times- this is wonderful for language practice. It goes something like this:

 Me: good morning

Other: good morning Massonay! (my name)

Me: how are you?

Other: good. Where are you going?

Me: I am going to go jog at the soccer field

Other: oh you are going to go jog?

Me: yes.

Other: that is good, God bless you.

Me: amen, see you later

Other: see you later.

Sometimes the dialogue is peppered with someone telling me to show them how I run. Sometimes it is peppered with things that I don’t know yet, but will learn one of these days.

At the field I do laps, there is generally a very mean-spirited Guinea that chases me every time I pass it. At first I was scared of it, then I remembered I am a human and it is a bird, so now I chase it right back. If there are bulls there, I deviate from my normal lap if need be to avoid getting too close.

Sometimes kids sit on the wall and watch me run by, but now I think it is becoming less of a novelty and life just goes on around me. Women pass with loads of firewood on their heads, or to get water for the day, kids walk in groups to school. When I get tired or lazy, I take out my ear buds and walk home a different route to see new faces and repeat the same basic conversation.

One neighbor told me I wouldn’t have to run if I worked like the women here do. This is soo true. The women here haul water, firewood, scrub clothes, cook over open fire-they don’t need to go running, they work enough already. Another friend told me it was good that I had started running; he had noticed I was getting fat, and that is not healthy. Wow, every girl’s dream phrase, lol. But he meant it with the very best of intentions, so I took it for what it was- a well-meaning encouragement.  So there you go, a small window into my worldJ

On Water

Flushing the toilet- 1 bucket

Washing the dishes- 3 pitchers

1 load of laundry- 8 buckets

My entire outlook on water has changed significantly since living without pipes and faucets.  To be conscious of the fact that every drop I use I (or Brittany) have pumped and carried to our barrel makes me a much more conservative consumer.

 In short, water is on my mind a lot more these days. Especially today; as we are in dry season there have been days where the sky is gray and the clouds look heavy with water that never falls. The wind blows, it thunders, but no water comes.  The farmers continue to haul water from the nearest source to their fields by hand or wheel barrel, the dust continues to blow in the wind.

But yesterday, God gave us a gift; a beautiful rain. It has continued today. I put on my hoodie this morning! The wind howls, the rain pours, and it is magnificent.

I just started “Tempted and Tried” by Russell D. Moore and he is talking about Jesus’ temptation and the desert, he says

 The kingdom of God that the ancient prophesies announced is the opposite of a desert; it is like ‘streams of water in a dry place (Isa 32.2)……When the Spirit is poured out, the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest because justice will dwell in the wilderness (Isa 32:15)

It is my prayer that God’s Spirit would pour out here among this people as well; that they may drink freely from the River of Life and never again be thirsty. I pray that today’s surprise rain was just a faint shadow of the showers to come in this place.

Good Books

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp- Wow, this book was truly inspiring and beautiful-I could, and may read it every year to remind myself of the message. The tagline is A dare to live fully right where you are A farmer’s wife explores the meaning of eucharisto everyday in her life- finding thanksgiving, grace and joy in the seemingly mundane, and in the not so mundane. Voskamp is raw and honest, walking the reader through her personal pain and triumphs of life. She begins a journey by starting a journal of 1000 things for which to be thankful. Her writing style is amazing- super rich and poetic, I learned at least one new word. I was inspired to start my own list of 1000 gifts- it has been an exercise of gratitude to our Creator and Savior. The things on the list can be big or small, for me often they have been things I take for granted normally, but now as I develop the habit of thankfulness, I notice them more. My list is still short, I didn’t want to set myself a quote to meet each week, so I just write down an item when I realize I am thankful for it, so far here is my list-

1. Clean floors
2. Breezy afternoons
3. Friends who help paint
4. Voice recorders
5. Cold drinks
6. Emails from friends
7. Sunny mornings
8. Hot tea
9. Worship music
10. Quiet weekends
11. Sheets from home
12. Cool, overcast mornings

Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them by John Ortberg- I like relationshippy books, understanding people better is one of my interests/goals. That is one thing I really appreciated about nursing school and working - the opportunities it gave me to interact with different types of people; and learn how to better understand why they acted the way they did, and how to best relate to them. I really liked this book, Ortberg has included very down-to-earth and practical chapters on Authenticity, Acceptance, Empathy, Conflict, Forgiveness, Confrontation, Inclusion and other great concepts. My favorite takeaway is probably the quote  “normal, there’s no such thing, dear.”

More With Less Cookbook by Doris Longacre- This is a collection of Mennonite women’s recipes (um sold- those people can cook!) that was birthed out of the denomination-wide call for a focus on the world food shortage. This is kind of a holistic cookbook, besides the recipes it raises hard questions like Does what you eat affect who you are spiritually? Does your belief in God affect your way of living? Honestly, it has taken leaving the United States to see just how much my home culture glorifies, abuses, and wastes food in general. To quote the forward, “there is a way which gives not less but more. More joy, more peace, less guilt; more physical stamina, less overweight and obesity; more to share and less to hoard for ourselves. Okay, confession, I haven’t actually tried any recipes from the cookbook yet, but I love the prose section alone- and I am picking recipes out now to try- though as I said, they are from the Mennonites- I feel like I can’t go wrong here.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


When I saw this fork in the road that Frost poem immediately popped in my head. We read it in high school and I imagine again in American literature in college. For me the last two lines are the best and most important part of the poem, kind of the whole point.
It also reminds me of being in Sunday school when I was six or seven, and Rebecca Kerby putting two images up on the flannel graph board: a yellow, pretty path made of light, and a narrow, thorny path. She asked us which path we thought represented the way to God. We all said the wide, pretty, brightly lit path. But no, the lesson that day was out of Matthew 7:13-14- You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
To take the road less traveled is hard; whether that means blazing trails in Africa or Arkansas. Saying ‘no’ to the materialism and investing time and money for God’s Kingdom can be a thorny and lonely road in America, that doesn’t change based on location.
As followers of Jesus living in a world ruled temporarily by Satan, how can expect anything different? To daily buck a system that the majority doesn’t even question takes energy and strength that I can’t drum up from within myself.
So I take comfort that though I have chosen the path less traveled, I will never travel alone. And I know that in the end, it will indeed make all the difference.

On Water

I can honestly say I have never thought about water as much as I have in the last few weeks. How much it will take to wash and rinse the dishes, bathe, do laundry, flush the toilet, drink. We get our water from a pump about four minutes away on foot. Well, four minutes empty-handed. Confession: when Brittany told me when she started hauling water it was hard and kids laughed at her and she didn’t like it I thought “well that won’t be a problem for me.” Ha. I am terrible at balancing the bucket on my head, and my arms start aching about halfway home. I am a water-carrying wimp. Aaannnnnnndd the people laughing gets my goat (of which there are many here, by the way). I want to snarl at the kids “I am hauling this water for your sake, to have a contextualized ministry, stop laughing!” But, I don’t. Partly because I don’t speak their language yet, but mostly because I kind of doubt Jesus ever snarled at children. Just a hunch I have.
But, I will get better, with practice and time. And, bonus, what with carrying water I may not be breaking out the P90x videos as often as planned.