Author: kimberly Page 1 of 8

Slow Down

On February 24, 2023

Being in the village for almost three weeks had provided many opportunities to examine our own cultural values in light of the culture we have entered. As a young, short-term missionary years ago I learned a saying: It’s not wrong, it’s just different. This is a good first step towards opening our eyes to people from other cultures in effort to understand their mindset and how to best minister to them and share the gospel with them. However, it stops short of helping us really understanding the people we seek to minister as persons created in the image of God. It perpetuates an us vs. them mentality that is not helpful for life on life ministry.

As different as the Makai village people are to us and our way of life, I am recognizing there are many ways we can grow in our own character and as believers by learning and even embracing some of their deep-rooted values. I don’t mean their works-based, fear-based religious beliefs, but some of the deeper cultural values that we in the West have forsaken. Some of my reflections on these things are inspired by Wendell Berry novel I read a few months back called Jayber Crow which really challenged me in ways I am still processing.

Our broader culture, and even the Christian community, often emphasizes fruitfulness and productivity – tangible numbers and results. Yes, God has given us work to do, and this is good. Yet I’m afraid I have lived a lot of my life on a basis of task-oriented productivity, checking off lists in order to feel like my contribution matters, even at the risk of ignoring human relationship and need. Here in the village, and generally in Chad, “henisse” – being together – is of utmost importance. Eating alone, going on a visit alone, doing household tasks alone, spending the evening alone, is viewed negatively. Of course, we want someone with us – all the time!

As a missionary from the West, I have a choice: I can continue to acknowledge that this “henisse” lies in stark contrast to my own cultural value system and figure out how to crate boundaries, barriers, time slots to fit people in to our day. Yet here in the village, there is no framework for that. We have people from 6am in the morning until late in the evening coming in for short or long visits. Some people bring us gifts from their fields, others need help with something practical or medical, others stop by for a short greeting, others sit down for a cup of tea or whatever food they might find served at our home, while still others come to offer to help me wash dishes or rake the yard.

At times in Jesus’ ministry, he sought to get away for prayer, but the crowds would follow Him. Instead of complaining or becoming frustrated, He had compassion on them and gave more of Himself. In Jayber Crow, the main character (Jayber) sees the God-given beauty in everyday, normal interactions amongst the townspeople. Simply being together adds value to their lives in a way that rushing around, fulfilling all the tasks cannot provide.

I had a local lady compare two missionary women recently. It was a Mary and Martha sort of comparison. The one woman was so busy in her kitchen and hardly came to sit with her visitors; the other woman provided the best food she had to offer but also sat with them, giving her visitors the best gift: her time and herself. I think this also has a lot of implications for us as believers, not just as cross-cultural workers, but as team members on the field, or as fellow believers attending the same church. Living out the “one another” commands can’t really happen if we’re so busy rushing around in our task-oriented lives. We must intentionally slow down to consider one another, pray for one another, encourage and build up one another. So, as I receive one more visitor and my natural, fleshly, Western cultural self is tempted to look at my husband and roll my eyes or let out a sigh, I’m trying to remember the significance of giving myself and my time for the sake of the gospel. I’m learning that I have as much to learn from these new friends as they may have to learn from me.

Lettuce and other lovely things – An ode to fresh food on Saturdays

By kimberly

On February 15, 2023

In Chad, Food

I had a dream a few nights ago. I was in America at the beginning of a salad bar. I got to the bar and they were out of lettuce. The manager told me they were preparing more and would bring it out shortly. I waited and it never came. I really wanted lettuce. I waited longer. The lettuce never came.

I woke up craving fresh salad and remembered that, in fact, I really was still waiting for lettuce after 2 ½ weeks of having none. And then there’s also the carrots, potatoes, green peppers, fresh oranges, basically most of our normal produce on our grocery lists had run out and there was really no chance of getting these things any time soon. I had a lot of dried food brought out to help with the lack of fresh things, but lettuce is one of those things you just can’t substitute. Thankfully, for a few days each week we do get to enjoy apples and bananas and tomatoes.

We came here knowing there was no market in our village. There are two very close markets in nearby towns that come through once per week – Monday and Tuesday. Then, on Saturdays there is a large market in a town that takes a good hour to get to.

Don’t be fooled. This isn’t your weekly Saturday trip to the Costco in the next town over. Trip preparations actually start many days ahead of time as villagers trickle into our home asking if they can go with us on Saturday to the big town. We learned hard lessons very quickly our first week out here with no local men present (where they were is another blog post for another day):

Always, always keep a list of names (first come, first serve) or come Saturday morning, you’ll have a car full of people with no place left for your own family to sit and inevitable one or two women will absolutely refuse to get out of your vehicle.
Never, ever let young men on top of your car. Sure, we don’t like to be the bad guys and say no. But the reality is, the young men are the bad guys. So are the police. The young men will go get drunk in town, encourage a young 13 something year old kid to get so drunk he passes out on top of your car (which you don’t even realize he’s climbed up on…in fact, how did he even get up there?) and then he will proceed to puke all over your car windshield. Very likely, as you’re trying to wipe the puke away, your windshield washing fluid will run out and then, that’s just bad. To top it off, the local town police will pull you in to their office, rant and rage, calling you racist because you put black people on top of your car (seriously dude? We didn’t even want them there in the first place! And also, what other type of people could we actually put on top of our car? We are, after all, in Africa.) Then he’ll take you to the back, threaten jail time for having people on top of your car, demand $100 or so, then tell you to drive out of town, meet the guys and let them climb on the top of your car once you’re out of town. One day we’ll laugh about it, friends, but right now, well, all I can say is, you seriously can’t make this stuff up.
Back to the lettuce: if you want lettuce at the once-a-week market an hour’s drive away, you need to leave early enough to get there before the sun is too high and all the lettuce is sold. Drop all the village women where they need to be to pound their peanuts from their fields into oil, then you can go to the market yourself and get what you need.

The whole grocery shopping adventure that technically starts about the Tuesday before with people asking for a ride, will officially begin around 9:30 am and end at sunset when you finally, Lord willing make it home before you’re stuck driving in the dark on dirt paths. If you get stopped at the police station on your way out of town, though, you will very likely be driving on those dirt paths at night, hoping someone in the car can differentiate one dirt path from another and finally get you home safely.

(PS. I got fresh salad yesterday, so everything is looking bright today )

Little Things With Great Love

By kimberly

On February 15, 2023

In Chad, Ministry

Audrey Assad has some great song lyrics and some of my current favorites are from a song entitled “Little Things With Great Love“:

“In the garden of our Savior

No flower grows unseen

His kindness rains like water

On every humble seed

No simple act of mercy

Escapes His watchful eye

For there is One who sees me

His hand is over mine.”

Washing dishes. Fixing broken water-well parts. Serving tea and dates. Hand-washing laundry. Sitting with a mother who just delivered a baby. Taking eye drops to an elderly woman. Reading a story to my kids. Taking an extra minute to pray for a poor woman with no family. Driving people to another town to attend a funeral. Helping a neighbor pound her millet.

In the village, a lot of our family’s “little things” look different than normal. But regardless of where we find ourselves, we all have opportunities each moment to do these little, insignificant things with great love. And sometimes, that makes all the difference.

Eye Infections and Insect Repellent: How do these things belong in the same sentence?

By kimberly

On February 15, 2023

In Ministry

A friend came two afternoons ago to tell me that Bonnie, one of the elderly women in the village, was about to get on a donkey and travel to another village unless we took her in her car. She wanted to find a person who could perform some traditional healing treatments on her in order to “get out” the “something” that was in her eyes – by licking them with their own tongue!

She had been battling an eye infection for 4 days and I knew she originally had antibiotic eye drops, but afterwards found out she had lost them. I, of course, in good conscience, cannot transport someone with an eye infection to a place where they will perform such an unhygienic act. Thankfully, I blamed it all on our eye doctor friend who will soon be coming here to serve the community. “The eye doctor would be very angry with me if I took you now to the next town. Be patient. I will see if he can receive a message in America from my telephone. Maybe he can help us.” Thankfully, Bonnie waited, and thankfully, Dr. Pyron responded so quickly!

I visited Bonnie, saw her eyes, and noticed a white substance above her eye and on the bridge of her nose. “What is this white stuff?” I asked.

“Oh it’s insect powder. The flies won’t stay away so I started pouring this insect repellent powder on my face to keep them away.”

“Oh no, you can’t use this on your skin and eyes. It could make you sick or blind! I’m going to have to take it away now and bring it back to you later. Use oil on your skin. You know that’s what helps keep the flies away.”

I sent the doctor a photo of the infected eyes and the insect powder. He recommended a certain eye drop and said “the insect powder is NOT RECOMMENDED” for keeping flies away!

We got her started on the proper treatment yesterday after a trip to a bigger town with a pharmacy (there’s none here). She’s slowly feeling better today, and I trust if she continues her treatment she will return to normal in a few more days. Now if we can just find someone in the community to wash her laundry other than me, the missionary, I will be ok letting her stay here in the village. Otherwise, I really hope we can all convince her to move to the big city and live with relatives who can take care of her.

Locusts and Prayers for the Dead

By kimberly

On March 4, 2022

In Culture, Islam

This was from our trip back in December, just getting around to posting about it…

On Friday, I wanted to go greet again in different homes around the village, but there were no women to be found! Overnight there had been a swarm (plague!) of locusts that camped out in all the surrounding trees. In the morning, we saw evidence of their arrival by the small droppings they left under the trees they had made temporary homes in. I found out a little while after I woke up that all the women had gone into the fields to catch the locusts. Fried locusts are a special, healthy, free treat enjoyed by young and old when they surprisingly show up. It’s an opportunity not to be missed! Our kids also got in on the fun closer to home by catching as many as they could hold in a little plastic bag.

In the late afternoon, I attended a gathering underneath the village tree with all the women. They were making special food to share around in memory of a young man who died a year ago in the desert while searching for gold. Islamic practice is for the men to recite the Quran and say prayers at the mosque for the dead person on the year anniversary of a person’s death. I shared a meal with the ladies which was an experience. Isaac came looking for me, but we were all gathered around our separate trays of food with large pieces of fabric covering our heads. Imagine kids sitting underneath a parachute with the top cut out! Makai tradition prevents certain family relations to eat in front of other family relations, such as a daughter in law in front of her mother-in-law. Because almost everyone is inter-related in the village, every one of us covered up! Isaac had no idea where to begin looking for me when he walked up to 10 or so groups of women all covered!

Village Hospitality and Language Progression

By kimberly

On March 4, 2022

In Culture, language

This post has been sitting in my “draft” box for several months now, but better late than never right?

We had such a wonderful week in the village! Our first day we arrived, we unpacked our belongings and were greeted warmly by many neighbors. Muluka took me around part of the village the following day to greet people. I was very impressed the entire time with how well Muluka and Daoud hosted us. She shared food with us several times, took me to visit and meet village women, came to visit with me several evenings after dinner, offered cultural advice, and just generally made me feel very much welcomed and cared for. Daoud was faithful to check in several times during the day to make sure we were cared for and had what we needed. He is also clearly concerned that the village accepts us and that we feel welcomed.

Visiting with the women provided much encouragement for me. When we were first introduced to this village two years ago, I was only at the beginning of my Makai language studies and was unable to converse to any extent with them. Now, I still have a long way to go to increase my vocabulary and clean up my grammar, but I can have conversations, make some jokes, ask and answer questions, and just generally enjoy visiting with them. They, too, recognized the growth in ability, which was encouraging for me. I also connected with multiple close relatives of people I know here in Abeche, which was also special.

Death of a President: The End of an Era

By kimberly

On April 25, 2021

In Chad, Ministry

For the 6 ½ years we have lived in Chad, we’ve never taken for granted the relative peace and freedom as missionaries we have experienced. From Josh’s first vision trip, he was impressed by the fact that Muslims and Christians could live side-by-side, selling at the same markets, and that missionaries were legally allowed to work for the church even in Muslim areas.

A landlocked nation surrounded by war-torn countries, Chad’s borders have for years been dotted with refugee camps from surrounding nations: Libya’s ongoing battles, Sudan’s Darfur crisis, Central African Republic’s ongoing civil war. The Chadian military, lead by President Idriss Deby, was committed to fighting Islamists across the Sahel region as well as on their own soil (Boko Haram for example).

We would often reflect together how thankful we were that even though the president had been in power since the 90’s and the people here are very poor, hungry, and lack quality health care, at least there was peace. “When Deby dies, ‘all bets are off,’” we would comment. What we meant is that for the time being, things were somewhat predictable, and peace was likely to continue. We would often stop there, refusing to let our minds dwell on ‘what would happen’ when the president died. We both assumed it could very well mean the end of ministry here.

Now, we’ve just watched the nation bury their president after incurring wounds from fighting rebels on the front lines only 300 km from the capital city. All bets do seem off, in some regard. There is a lot of speculation about what might happen and when. Many workers have evacuated the capital and other remote locations in the country because of the uncertainty of what might come in the weeks and months ahead.

It’s been an interesting week here, feeling the emotions that our Chadian friends also feel:

from the fear after hearing news that rebels were approaching the capital a week ago,
to the outright shock physically and emotionally that the president had died,
to the uncertainty of the future of the nation, to the desire for things to continue like normal,
to the frustration and even anger at the fact that the Chadian people have had no say in who assumes power after the president died (the military transitional council dissolved parliament and the constitution immediately after the news broke that Deby had died).

So much of our lives here is lived trying to understand the hearts and minds of Chadians – we sympathize with their suffering, but we never have experienced the helplessness of the works-based Islamic religion. Nor have we suffered unnecessarily at the hands of incompetent health care providers. We ache at the sight of beggar children on the roadside or malnourished children, but we do not know what it’s like to be desperately hungry. But this week, we have certainly been able to identify with the thoughts of many of our friends.

Thankfully, we have God’s word and character as an anchor. As we have had moments of shock or feelings of uncertainty, we are able to call to mind our sovereign, good Father who is working all things together – even presidents dying, rebels fighting, constitutions being dissolved – for His glory and our good. We commiserate with our Chadian friends but can point them to a God who is trustworthy and faithful because of His promises in His word. We remind people that we may be surprised, but God never is.

We have so much to be thankful for as we reflect at the events of this past week. In addition to a good and faithful God who has given us the gift of His word and the Holy Spirit to comfort us and give us peace, we also have had many people reach out assuring us of their prayers for safety and wisdom. We have had such great communication amongst the other missionary leaders in the country to provide us with a lot of helpful information as we make decisions for our team here in the east of the country. We have felt the support and guidance of our sending organization as news was pouring in and go-bags were being packed. We have experienced peace in our city all week.

Thank you for your prayers for Chad – its people and government – and for us as we have walked through a week of uncertainty. For now, we feel confident that the best thing we can do is stay here and continue with the work God has given us to do. We continue to monitor the news and consult with others who can help us make informed decisions. We pray that many Chadians will hear the good news of a Kingdom that will never fails and that many will trust in Christ as a result of this political crisis.

Don’t Waste Your Quarantine

By kimberly

On March 30, 2020

In Ministry, Other thoughts, Suffering

How a Global Pandemic Can Strengthen Your Prayers for World Missions

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads around the world and impacts our own lives, we have a unique opportunity to better understand the circumstances of those in other parts of the world. In very real ways, Westerners have felt the desperation of wondering whether we will have the food and supplies we need for the coming weeks. We’ve questioned whether we’ll have a job and means of supporting our families. We have seen the fallibility of our healthcare system, one of the best in the world but still unable to keep up with the demands of a pandemic. We have experienced the way many of those who are least reached with the gospel people live daily: at the mercy of God to provide the next meal; placing their lives in the untrustworthy hands of ill-equipped doctors and under-equipped hospitals. So many men spend their days idly sitting around, unable to find work that could give them dignity in providing for their families.

Even more, on a spiritual level, we are now faced with the odd and challenging reality that we cannot meet together with our local church family for Sunday worship. Weekly fellowship may be happening, but not in the way we are used to: we are having to get creative. Parking lot coffee dates. Zoom Bible study and prayer meetings. For Christians living in Muslim-majority countries, these challenges are not new. Many are not legally allowed to gather to worship in the name of Jesus. Others, in Chad for example, are technically allowed to meet but are met with death threats, lose their jobs, face beatings or death from family and tribal members. You can see why convincing unbelievers to consider the truths of the Gospel, much less planting a church, is a challenge.

What does this have to do with your quarantine? God is sovereign over this pandemic, and He is working in many ways at once. We cannot attempt to understand all He is doing, but we do know that His character remains the same. This means that His love, mercy, justice, righteousness, wisdom, are all on full display during this season. It also means that His heart for the nations and for His church does not stop. He hasn’t put aside His desire to draw all people to Himself so He can sort out the mess of COVID-19! Your quarantine is meant to draw you closer to God’s character, His truth as revealed in Scripture, and to His heart. Part of that might mean that His Spirit reveals sins and grants you repentance. Maybe He gives you a new love for His church as a result of not having the privilege of meeting together with your church family.

I pray that it also causes you and me to pause and consider how we can better pray for unbelievers in other places who struggle to find food to eat and jobs to provide for their families and who don’t have good health care. These are the ones who are too busy just trying to survive to have much capacity to think about spiritual concepts such as life, death, sin, and salvation. These same ones in the Muslim world are unwilling to consider Jesus because of the severe persecution they will experience as a result of following Him. I pray that this pandemic causes us to love Christ and His Bride more so that we might better pray for believers around the world who don’t know the privilege of freely gathering for worship and preaching of the Word.

This quarantine may seem like a retreat from the world. However, God can use you and me to impact the world for His kingdom through our prayers.

Let’s keep our bodies inside, our hearts on Christ, and our prayers towards the growing of His kingdom. Don’t waste your quarantine!

Timely Encouragement for Anxious Times

By kimberly

On March 28, 2020

In Bible

Our Bible reading plan has taken us through Job, Ecclesiastes, Philippians, and James in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been blessed by God’s timing, knowing that in His sovereignty He knew we would be reading these words of truth during a time of much uncertainty and change. I wanted to share a few passages that seem especially relevant as we navigate these days of COVID-19 under the sovereign hand of God. I am thankful we have His Word and promises to steady our hearts and calm our anxieties.

In the comments below, or in a personal message, we would love to hear what are you reading these days that is encouraging your hearts in these uncertain times? How can we pray for you?

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” (Philippians 3:7-9)

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to GOD. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

“…I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1: 2-4)

“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:9-12)

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ “(James 4: 13-15)

“Be patient, therefore brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5: 7-8)

God’s Grace in a Time of Transition

By kimberly

On March 27, 2020

In Family

We wanted to share a short version of how God has blessed us during this Coronavirus pandemic. A couple weeks ago, as we began hearing more news about the growing pandemic, we started keeping up more regularly with the news, knowing that we had flights scheduled for the end of March to return to the States for furlough.

On Sunday March 15, Josh’s birthday, we learned suddenly that Morocco shut its borders and air space. We made the decision that day to book another set of tickets through Ethiopia and Frankfurt, Germany, knowing that getting through Europe and into the States would likely be a challenge.

The following day, Monday, we made flight arrangements with MAF to fly us on Tuesday morning from Abeche to N’Djamena, arriving in the capital only a couple hours before we would fly out of the country. Getting a flight with MAF was a blessing, because otherwise we would have had to take an evening bus on Monday to the capital, arriving at about 2am.

Monday evening, we learned that on Wednesday, Chad would also be closing its borders and air space. This means that if we had not made the decision on Sunday to leave on Tuesday, we would still be in Chad today with no way out! MAF personnel greeted us with sandwiches in hand at the N’Djamena airport, another blessing because Josh wouldn’t have been able to easily get our family lunch in time to make our next flight.

The rest of our 30+ hours of travel went exceptionally smooth. The kids slept on the flights, everyone did great not touching things in the airports, the lines were short, and we were always moved to the front because of having small children. We arrived in D.C. exhausted but thankful on Wednesday. Thursday we walked around the National Mall, practicing social distancing. Friday, still exhausted from jet lag, we decided to drive from D.C. to Madison, AL, a 12 hour drive. It was tiring, but now we have been here a week and we are so grateful to have a place to call home. We were welcomed by Josh’s parents to a fully furnished home and overstuffed pantry of food (and cleaning supplies!) thanks to Grace Community Church.

In many ways, the transition to America has been a sweet one for our family. After such a busy season of ministry and language learning, we are enjoying time together free of outside distractions and visitors. We are still able to enjoy lots of good American food while easing into the social aspects of life here. We’ve decided to wait 2 weeks before having contact with others, so by next weekend we will probably be looking forward to seeing a few church friends while still practicing social distancing.

We are so thankful for all the ways God has provided in perfect timing for us in the past couple of weeks. We know that all of you have had changes to your plans and uncertainty about what the future holds. I pray that you can see even in small ways how God is with you in these times and that He never changes no matter what our outside circumstances may be.