The Zimbabwe Post: Are You Winning?

Prologue:

I wasn't in Zimbabwe long enough to speak authoritatively about it. I can speak to what I saw, the people I met, and how I felt. But Zimbabwe is big, and I just saw a small part of it. Africa is even bigger, and I wouldn't dare to even hint that now I know what Africa is like just because I got my passport stamped a couple of times over the course of a week. 

That said, I have to say that I love getting those stamps in my passport. The thonk! one hears when the customs agent slam his stamp into the booklet is very satisfying. I had missed that sound.

So how was Zimbabwe?

Here's my go-to 5-second answer: "It was wonderful. It was too short, but it was great." 

It was primarily a work trip: Our two main tasks were installing trim around the ceiling of Ekuphileni Bible Institute's (EBI's) green, octagonal library. There had been some water damage from a leaky roof which made the work a little tougher because the wooden ceiling tiles (nor the walls for that matter) weren't exactly flat. I personally spent much of our three work days either on a ladder or atop a makeshift scaffold consisting of boards nailed between two ladders.

Our second main project was replacing the fascia boards at the guest house where we were staying. This project took me up on the roof with Sipa (pictured right), a wonderful, joyful, gentle, humble man. He was our construction "boss" while we were there (though he disliked that term), and he smiled just about the entire time and made our work an absolute pleasure. We joked about not having any "problems" but rather lots of "opportunities" with our work, e.g. "Oh, I see another opportunity over here." He told Steve Westberry that he would have been perfectly happy simply to drink tea and talk with us, and waiting till we left to complete the work projects. And while part of us would have loved to do just that, we naturally wanted to be productive with our time there. Our whole team was Americans, after all; if we're not being productive then we don't exist, right? 

Of course, I jest, but we did have to be content with a less results-oriented environment. One of my favorite times was tea time at 10:30am, when the students and staff took a break for tea and bread with jam. There was no set ending time; whenever you were finished, you could leave. It was there I first had a good conversation with MT Ncube, the principal of EBI, pictured to the right. MT is one of those people (like Jake Shenk, the BIC missionary who hosted our trip) who wears a lot of hats. On Monday, I saw him drive up to the library in a pickup truck wearing the same blue overalls that Sipa was wearing. He proceeded to grab a rake and shovel and work on the landscaping in the center of the campus. I thought to myself, "Wait, didn't Jake say he was the principal? Did I hear him wrong, and actually he's the groundskeeper? Maybe it was a translation issue." Sure enough, MT is the principal of EBI and lectures on theology. He also lectures two days a week at the Theological College of Zimbabwe (or as they call it, Tee Cee Zed). But he was also a child at heart, reveling at sunsets and sunrises and gleefully rolling rocks down the steep slope of the hill we had climbed together. 

We caught something from our hosts while we were in Zimbabwe [I'll pause for the reader to interject a malaria joke of some kind. OK.]. I didn't notice it at first, but several times we heard Zimbabweans say "Are you winning?" as a kind of greeting, used similarly to how we say "How are you?" It was different from the recent slang-trend in the US of just saying "Winning!" when something goes well, even if it's full of sarcasm. That was somewhat annoying. This expression is a genuine reminder to look positively at your circumstances. Instead of focusing on our sad state, focus on the victory. Focus on our triumphant nature in Christ, in whom "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph. 1:7-10). All that stuff should be enough for us to be joyful all day, every day.

But of course, we're sinful humans and we muck it up, and we need constant reminders of the goodness of God, of His love, and of what Christ did for us. But all we need to do to extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one is stand behind our shield of faith (Eph. 6:16). "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). That's some pretty victorious language.

So try it out today. Ask someone, "Are you winning?" and see how they respond. Might start a good conversation.

One Year and Counting

Bethany kept asking me why I needed to know where the birthday candles were. I avoided giving her a straight answer.

Dinner that night wasn't fancy, just take-and-bake pizza and salad. We would be leaving for a 5-day Lancaster-Pittsburgh trip in a couple of days, and we didn't want a lot of leftovers in the fridge.

I found the candles in a bag of party supplies in the top of the pantry, took out 5 candles, and put one each in the 5 slices of pizza waiting on the table to be eaten. Then I lit 4 of them -- Juliet cannot yet be trusted not to respect the destructive power of the simple birthday candle flame.

Today is exactly one year since we moved to New York City, I told them. We made it a year! Then I prayed a commemorative prayer before our simple meal and we all blew out our candles. Bethany then lit Juliet's so she wouldn't feel left out, and -- with her mommy's help -- she kindasorta blew out her candle.

Then Ginny said, "Can we celebrate the anniversary every year by having pizza?" I thought that was a splendid idea. 

We then each said something we'd learned in the past year. Ginny said that we walk a lot more than drive in the van. That's true, we do. Cora said that there are ice cream trucks everywhere, sidewalks, big buildings, and dog poop. Yep, that's true too. Bethany said that it can be hard to make friends at the beginning, but once you get to know some people you see how nice they are. 

As for Juliet, she's learned lots of words, learned how to climb up and take all the diaper wipes out of the package, and gotten much better at taking the stairs.

I can't begin to list all the things I've learned over the past year. You can read some of them here, here, and here. I won't make another list today, though I probably could. Mainly, though, I continue to learn how dependent I am on God for everything, from the floor underneath my feet to the coffee in my cup to the words in my mouth when I meet yet another man who is homeless to the family I share this cramped apartment with.

I also know how much I have to learn. That list would be quite extensive as well.

A year is a milestone, and no small one at that. I can relate personally to each of the items listed in the link below, and can give examples from my own experience for many of them:

Big Appled: 14 Things I Learned During My First Year in New York 

So here's to the next year, and the one after that. And to seeing more every day of what God is doing in this city and in us.

Here's to many more years!

"For you, what was the best part of the trip?"

The beginning of May was the most densely packed stretch of activity we’ve had since moving to the Bronx. On Thursday, April 30 a group of 12 from Community Christian Fellowship in Carlisle, PA arrived, ranging in age from 12 to It’s-not-polite-to-ask. They stayed until Sunday. Sunday afternoon Bonnie drove to Newark Airport to pick up four girls from the University of Florida who would stay until the following Sunday morning. The next Thursday a small group from Carlisle Christian Academy arrived, and they stayed until Monday the 11^th.

Ginny (in front wearing the green shirt) accompanied
us on the Prayer Walk around the city. Here they pose
in front of the Survivor Tree at the WTC site.

Tuesday we all took naps.

It’s not that hosting groups is drudgery. Not at all. I love taking people around the city, especially if they’ve not been here before. I love seeing people boggle at all the people, all the buildings, all the bustle. I love seeing people jump right in and have a conversation with someone who doesn’t look like them. Some take to it quickly, some need a little nudge, and some never quite get the hang of it – at least during the brief time they’re with us.

So despite the long days, we love the groups who come. And the teacher in me particularly enjoys seeing team leaders and members alike learn things about God and the world He created. Here are a few of their responses to the question, “For you, what was the best part of the trip?”:

• Knowing that everything we were making or doing was going to someone right there in NYC who really needed it and needed to know about the love of Jesus and how special and loved they are.
• The best part for me was helping the students become aware of how many lost souls are out there.
• The best part of the trip was really just seeing the impact that we were making and it was amazing to see all of the dedicated people willing to serve the kingdom of God in a large city. I loved preparing meals for the homeless and handing Bibles out, I also enjoyed the prayer walk, it was fun and eye-opening.
• Working with the Homeless downtown. It was so cool to serve them, and talk with them. It was also awesome as a leader to see the kids love on them.
• I really enjoyed being able to make people smile, especially when they were having a rough time with life at the moment.
• The best part of the trip, for me, was what I found to be most meaningful and that was my time at the homeless shelter—The Living Room. I was able to speak with an older woman there and I will never forget that experience—I see homelessness in a whole new way now.
• Being able to see my students engage in serving others hands on!



Members of two teams praying for a man
on the subway (who is blocked from view)

• Being able to talk to people and reach people for Christ.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. These responses encourage us, but they also humble us, because we know with absolute certainty that it is not because we are so wonderful that these teams have such great experiences and have such an impact. All the credit and glory goes to God for using broken and weak people to further His kingdom.

(If you’re curious about what the trips look like, visit our Facebook page and look through the photo albums we post after each team.)

13 More Things We've Learned Since Moving to NYC: 8-Month Anniversary Edition

1. Don’t leave stuff in the lobby of your building (like a stroller), even if you plan to come down and get it in an hour or two, or else it will undoubtedly be gone when you return. [Author’s Note: Someone had taken our stroller and put it down with the trash cans, so there was no harm done.]
2. Snow makes the streets shrink. Piled snow prevents cars from parking right next to the curb, so where two moving cars could previously squeeze past one another, now only one car can drive at a time.
3. A corollary to #2: Snow takes up perfectly good parking places. More than once I drove right by a wide-open space because I knew that I’d have a heck of a time getting back out again.
4. In the midst of a bitterly cold winter, if the temperature rises at all out of the 20s, it feels as though everyone comes outside.



The frozen Harlem River

5. Leave plenty of time for doctor’s appointments. Yes, we can walk to their offices, but the sheer number of people in the city and the demand for medical services mean that no appointment ever happens when it is scheduled. Ever.
6. Simply being made in New York City doesn’t mean that the pizza is any good. Some of it is pretty lousy, in fact.
7. Don’t park over manhole covers during winter or early spring. Apparently the salt they use on the roads has been known to seep underground and eat away at underground wiring and – I kid you not – the manholes can explode. Check out this video: https://youtu.be/I8go5G3-J5g
8. Leave your windows open a little when you go out so that when you return to your apartment, you won’t be walking into what feels like a pizza oven.
9. Twitter is great for keeping up with what’s happening in New York City and our Bronx neighborhood. Just be ready for the bad news along with the good.
10. Mormons are vigilant in our area. We’ve had at least four pairs knock on our door since we moved here.
11. Perceptions vary: To some people our neighborhood (Bedford Park) is a nice, quiet one; others, however, have described where we live and where the Priority 1 apartment is located as “the hood.”
12. Melting snow is a blessing and a curse. It’s great that there’s more than just a narrow pathway to traverse, but every pedestrian ramp turns into a sludge-filled puddle, and all of the trash and dog poop that had collected (and been preserved) in snow banks now reappears as a disgusting obstacle course on everywhere you turn.
13. We live in a predominantly Hispanic area (and of that, the majority are Dominican), and as such, our girls get called “mami,” Bethany gets “mamma” or “mami,” and Greg has heard “boss” several times. All of these are familiar, friendly terms.

Why We Skipped Church

The ironic thing is I had finally decided to drive to church that Sunday, for the first time since we moved to the Bronx.

See, we’ve been attending a church that is across the 207^th St. Bridge in the Norwood section of Manhattan. To get there, we walk about a half mile to a bus stop, wait for the bus, ride the bus for 5 stops, then walk a couple more blocks to get to the church building. We leave at least 40 minutes for the trip. We do it this way because the church has no parking lot, only on-street parking wherever you can find it. And finding it is difficult. On Saturday night I had seen that rain was forecasted for the majority of the next day and I thought, “Well, this would be a good day not to ride the bus.”

Our beloved Bx12 SBS

Riding the bus has its downside, of course. If the weather is bad (too hot, too cold, too monsoon-like, etc.), then the walk to and from the bus – with 3 little kids – can be very annoying. Too, there is no guarantee of a seat on the bus, depending on how full it is. Unless, I must say, you have a child with you. We have NEVER had to stand if we’re holding Juliet; someone always gives up their seat. Always.

Anyway, it was supposed to rain, so I decided we should try driving and see how bad it would be. At the very least, even if I had to drive around for 20 minutes looking for a parking place, it would be better than walking a mile in the rain.

But then the warnings from my phone’s weather app began: “Wintry mix.” “Icy conditions.” “Take extra precautions on the roadways.” My resolve was waning.

Amber, our Priority 1 colleague who was under the weather that day, texted me and told me to be careful, that there had been two car accidents near her building already that morning.

Hmm.

I even started seeing warnings about sidewalks and stairways. Ice. Slippery. Use caution.

Ultimately, we decided simply to stay in. The thought of the mile-long walk in the rain on icy sidewalks was just as bad as driving, considering that (as I saw on Twitter) the police were “urging” people to stay off the roads.

Yep, we skipped church. Turns out we made the right call though, because around noon they suspended all bus service in the Bronx because the roads were so bad. So even if we had made it to church, there would have been no bus to take home.

No buses = No go out

So we had family church. I put my church shirt back in the closet and reached for my guitar. We’d sing a song or two, then pray together as a family. We sang “Oceans” because I knew that Ginny could sing along with that one, and then sang “Who Is the King of the Jungle?” complete with motions. Then we went around and prayed for each person individually, especially for anything she was afraid of or worried about. My favorite moment came when Ginny (a week shy of 8) prayed for her baby sister. Cora is still pretty shy about things like that, and just shook her head when we asked if she would pray, but no matter; she still got a glimpse of Jesus. Juliet, of course, is only just learning to say her own name (She currently refers to herself as “Et”). We didn’t belabor it, didn't force it. Altogether, it was maybe 20 minutes. But it was a great family church service.

We don’t want Jesus to be someone we go visit once a week at church. Our kids (and we ourselves, for that matter) need to know that He is always with them, and that all they have to do is knock, and the door will be opened for them. They also need to see their parents following hard after Him, even if we’re just in our living room.

We’re not perfect. Not even close. We have plenty of areas where we can – no, must – grow. But we hope and pray that as we learn to listen and obey our Father better, that our girls will watch us growing and then turn and do the same.

And we'll see about driving to church next week. They're forecasting no precipitation, but I'll keep checking my Twitter feed, just in case.