I am sure that when you recorded your Sunday School message for your Preschool/Kindergarten class you thought about each of the faces in your class. But four more faces wanted to join your class and were DELIGHTED to sit under your teaching again.
All on their own they gathered supplies, helped each other plan out and tape the scroll ends, selected extra Bible verses to add to their scrolls (because apparently one is just not enough), wrote all the Bible verses on the board so everyone could see, copied the verses onto their scrolls, lightly colored and distressed their scrolls (it’s all about affect, people), and helped each other roll and tie the scrolls (complete with cat supervision, naturally).
Our Abi may have long since graduated from your class (and our sixth grader, Rachael, even longer than that!), Hannah also skipped right over your class jumping from the toddler class to Africa to second grade Sunday school, but Eden was THRILLED to learn that she would probably be in your class when we, Lord willing, get to visit back to the States.
These guys may not have a chart in your class for a sticker, but they wanted to repeat the summary verse. (Sorry it’s dark)And Hannah wanted to look the verse up and read it from the Bible.❤️ We love you, Mrs. Susan, and thank you for a wonderful lesson and a fun project. We can’t wait to see you and hug you in a few months, Lord willing. ❤️
P. S. Thanks for ignoring our pajamas and bed heads. We do real life here and your lesson was too exciting to bother delaying while we got ready for the day. 😉
Please pray for Africa when you wash your hands again today for the millionth time.
How the discomfort of chapped hands is getting old, I am sure!
And what a blessing to have fresh water that you didn’t carry on your head back to your home.
What a blessing to have soap. Any soap at all! Let alone ones that smell so lovely.
Ask God for mercy to protect the poor who would wash their hands with soap if they could.
(some local “toilets”)
Please pray for Africa when you take your extra vitamin C and daily vitamins.
I know we’re all doing what we can to avoid sickness.
And what a blessing to be able to avoid HIV and tuberculosis as a baseline before this virus.
What if HIV weren’t a choice? What if vaccine access was inconsistent?
Ask God for mercy for the immunocompromised people.
Please pray for Africa when you avoid public places.
Going from busy days to quiet hours can be maddening, I understand and have been there. It takes time to adjust and find new purpose in the quiet.
And what a blessing to be able to avoid crammed public transport – the very transport to get to the hospital after walking an hour to get to the pick-up spot.
Ask God for mercy for fellow Africans to be able to get to COVID-19 testing facilities, that the facilities would be equipped, and that those sick would not infect the entire transport vehicle.
America, my words are sincere.
I understand the legitimate challenges of this virus. This inconvenience and even this fear.
The beauty I have seen as you all make the sacrifices to protect the vulnerable is admirable.
Our African brothers and sisters are praying for your sick and your vulnerable populations.
Please pray for Africa too. Ask God for mercy.
No one gets to pick where they’re born. Ask God for mercy.
My heart is broken for you, brothers and sisters, there in America.
And my heart is broken for our brothers and sisters waiting here in Africa.
Viruses aren’t population selective.
The challenge is different and strong all over the world.
– first name options include objects, Holidays, and days of the week.
– you have to look up a picture of a squirrel on the internet to explain the American school worksheet to your Kindergartener.
– you no longer barter for your daily produce because they know you’re not a tourist.
– buying said produce involves a semi-formal conversation regarding the vendor’s welfare.
– your name is your job title and your child is respectfully referred to as “girl”.
You may live in rural Africa if…
– you can’t remember what version of British, Kenyan, South African, or American English vocabulary needs to be used in the big city.
– you wake up confused because the rooster did NOT crow at 4a.
– you begin talking to your English-speaking friend in the wrong language without realizing it when trying to figure out directions.
– said directions involving no paved roads and a downed tree as a landmark doesn’t make you flinch.
– you’ve been asked to name a stranger’s newborn baby you just met.
You may live in rural Africa if…
– at least one child has arrived at a destination without shoes, you’re not Afrikaans, and you only notice because the sand is hot.
– all-day shopping only involves a store or two that takes three hours round trip to visit and has 3-4 total aisles.
– your kids giggle while eating broccoli because it’s a rare find of a treat during tourist season.
– a tropical Christmas season is only announced by the Chinese store music and has no curb appeal to the nationals.
– you are asked to carry a 50lb bag of rice, a large grocery sack of raw peanuts, and a sheet-wrapped bundle of ? to someone’s cousin because you mention driving through that city in a few hours.
You may live in rural Africa if…
– the next public toilet is three hours away so you warn the kids to “go now or forever hold your…”-well, you get the idea.
– the stars are brilliant street lights when the sun goes down at 5p.
– you sweep your Sunday school space with a tree branch, kick out rotting fruit, and chase away chickens before laying down a tarp floor for your class.
– finding strawberries or blueberries once a year needs a national holiday marker on the calendar.
– you go to bed a half hour after your kids because, let’s face it, there’s nothing to do.
You may live in rural Africa if…
– you have witnessed unexplainable joy amongst what could be cast off as desperate ruin, but is actually greater depth of perspective than material satisfaction could ever know.
Oh, rural Africa, how we love you despite all your quirks. Thanks for putting up with all of ours as we continue to learn how to live as acceptable foreigners
rdw1
