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| A walk in the Tigoni tea fields |
Happy New Year! Greetings from the tarmac of Kilimanjaro
International Airport, where we are about to take off for Addis again. This is
my favorite place to write blogs apparently, in an airplane seat, looking back and
reflecting on what has just happened over the past two weeks during the brief
transition in between.
At last writing, it was just before Christmas, and I had been diagnosed with COVID. Thankfully, I was not very ill – but still felt quite contagious through most of Christmas Weekend. So, I tried to stay outside and wore a mask in the house.
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Roast chicken chefs
My illness meant that we could not participate in
a 4-family gathering we had really been looking forward to. We had already
bought a fresh chicken and made cranberry sauce from craisins (look it up! It’s
pretty good for us overseas Americans). And yet it was a very interesting
opportunity for Oren and David to really take the lead on a lot of traditional
Christmas cooking, because I was trying not to be in the kitchen or touch food.
So, Oren, together with his friend Barry, prepared an excellent roast chicken
for Friday night. On Saturday morning, the boys worked out together how to make
a triple batch of sweet dough and formed it into cinnamon rolls with their
friends. Paul was master of ceremonies in terms of baking and constructing a home-made
gingerbread house. The boys were happy to decorate it thoroughly!
In the late afternoon on Christmas Eve, Paul, Oren, and
David headed off to participate in our family church service, a service I had
been preparing to lead. But with people planning travel the next day and those
with pre-existing conditions in our church, I didn’t feel it was right to go
and share my germs. I am very thankful for my co-worker in the vineyard, Bob,
who took on leading that service as well as the one on Christmas morning. It
was quite strange to be alone at home as the sun set on Christmas Eve. And yet
it also was something of a gift. 
Gingerbread house
Christmas Eve scene in our home
I absolutely love listening to the Festival of
Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s college, and I have taken it as my own
meditative practice annually for many years. As it turned out, COVID allowed me
the backhanded reward of that introverted celebration. We finished our annual
Advent readings as a family when the men came home and then went to bed.
Our Christmas morning was quiet. We were incredibly blessed to have some actual Christmas gifts to unwrap, thanks to our Ethiopian friend and Timonium house tenant, who had come for a visit home to Addis and had brought a few things from our families.
Paul had also found a very special
import shop that carried Cheerios, Jiff peanut butter and maple syrup – the
little things become incredibly special in Ethiopia. I gave out invitations to
my family members to special outings, but I did find a simple, local fire pit
for David. And our big family gift to one another was a home-made Corn Hole
set. Paul and Oren put together the platforms. I worked on the bean bags,
trying to transform a pair of old pants. Unfortunately, the sewing of the local
seamstress did not hold up and a few of the bags split within the first 3
throws. David and Barry were picking up (and counting) 154 black beans at least
per split bag. We would need another solution to have a real game ready to go…
Christmas morning gifts
An abbreviated round of cornhole
Mid-afternoon, we welcomed our British friends, the Myers,
to come and play games in the garden – they also were not super well, so we
decided to share our illnesses (or just care less about them). A younger German
couple also joined us – they had been our neighbors for a year before moving.
And it was a really nice time to play Kubbs, trying out some of the games my
brother had sent, and also play a 4 bean bag version of Corn Hole. The Myers
helped to bring some significant old-world charm to our Christmas feast. We all
stood around the table and pulled open Christmas crackers in the required
cross-armed fashion. Katy made chicken with Yorkshire Pudding, bread sauce and
a “well-fed” Christmas pudding for dessert. We listened to the King’s Speech on
BBC, and missed his mother more. In spite of being different than we had
expected, it was a good Christmas day celebration with friends.
Pulling the Christmas crackers
Christmas on Dec 25 is not an Ethiopian holiday, so
Monday was a normal workday, and we really needed it in order to be prepared to
leave on vacation Tuesday. Paul and I spent all day in the office trying to
remember all the most necessary tasks, signing and stamping all the important
letters and making sure our team felt adequately supported for our absence. I
had the most tangible case of brain fog I think I have ever experienced, though
I felt better physically, so it was hard to think straight. COVID can really
take you by surprise. And Tuesday morning, we left early for the airport to
start on our East Africa break.
Kristen with their youngest at landlord house
Our first stop was in the environs of Nairobi. We ended
up at Brackenhurst Conference Center, but passed through one of Nairobi’s many
malls very expeditiously (our plane was 3 hours late) for some sporting goods
and a few key groceries. Sadly, no bean bags could be found at Decathlon. We
went on to spend the evening with our Area Directors Kristen and Wawa. It was
our first time to visit their amazing home, surrounded by Tigoni tea fields.
They are renting an old colonial cottage for a great price in a big, green
yard. Previously, they had worked in hospitality, running a boutique guesthouse.
When they ended that business, the furniture came with them, and their house is
exquisite, in a very simple way. David loved playing softball in the yard with
their three older kids and trading riddles. Oren was really engaged in talking
about college with them. We took a lovely stroll through their gardens, past
the main house, and enjoyed having a delicious dinner by their fireplace. Later
in the evening, Wawa helped to get us over to nearby Brackenhurst and we found
our rooms.
reconnecting with good friends
Wednesday was the beginning of the Renew Conference, which
was the main reason we had decided to come to Kenya in the first place. A
little background: our closest friends in Arusha, the Taylors, have been part
of Renew since they moved to East Africa nine years ago. We finally decided to
join them for the Conference in 2019. It was such a great experience, to enjoy
good teaching, really interesting conversations with fellow Christian workers, all
in such a beautiful, refreshing location, in the forest and tea plantations. We
had planned to attend in December 2020, but COVID.
Music team at Renew
In 2021, we were back in
Arusha because of the evacuation. Renew still could not meet in person but we
joined the Taylors in helping to prepare music for an online conference day and
we did an interview about our experience of moving to another country in the
midst of such uncertainty. Katie invited me to join the committee that January.
We had just moved to Addis, and it seemed like a good idea to make a commitment
to join the committee and attend Renew in 2022, so we could all see our good friends
again. Of course, along the way, back in Addis, a majorly huge set of church
commitments came up. That made it a bit tough to keep up with late night
committee meetings at various times during the year. Still, it was really a joy
to keep connecting with Katie and another old friend from Burundi days, Alison.
So, we had planned a year in advance to be in Nairobi by December 28, 2022.
Kids playing Spike ball
For full disclosure, this turned out to be a somewhat
costly commitment. Midway through the year, we learned that five different
families with whom we had been quite close were planning to return to Burundi
all at the same time in mid-December. It became a massive reunion of the
Burundi mission community, which is now basically down to one long-term family
that we still know. This was a once-in-a-lifetime reunion, for sure. We looked
at the possibility of flying to Burundi first and then going on to Kenya, but
it was just far too expensive to manage 2 separate international flights. It
would have required taking our kids out of school, David missing his special 8th
grade Northern trip, and also not celebrating Christmas in our new home with
our present church and community. And if we only went to Burundi, our kids and
ourselves would not have the chance to be with very close friends we left more
recently, or to reconnect with a place that had truly become home to us.
Walking in the tea fields
We
were faced with a choice of loyalty – with which past would we decide to be
more deeply connected? Do we sacrifice commitment to our present community to
remember the past? I have had days where I really struggled with envy of those
who develop a deep connection with only ONE other country and language and
culture and Christian community. For all those other families going back to
Burundi, that was the only place they had served outside their passport
countries. I even think of my parents, deeply bonded to Bangladesh, or our dear
friend Louise who holds dearly to the memory of the years she spent in
Ethiopia. I think of virtually all the mission community families we know
currently in Addis – they have just one place they would go back to.
We have moved too much; our hearts are far too divided to
ever make it an easy choice. I
absolutely do not regret the decision we made. But it’s interesting when you
are suddenly faced with very tough choices between wonderful reunions how you
have to both rejoice and suffer at the same time. I wrote a blog five years ago
when we had recently arrived in Tanzania called Fractured
Ubuntu. I reread it recently, and I don’t think I can improve upon this
expression of grief and ambivalence at our nomadic lifestyle. I hope I don’t
alienate any dear friends we have met along the way, and for whom we are very
grateful. But maybe there are others like ourselves who have moved too much,
and need someone else to describe to them the inner dislocation they feel.
Click above, and read. If that’s you, you’re welcome.
Outdoor lunch at Brackenhurst,
intersecting communities
Let me get out of this dark and deep hole of introspection
and come back up to the sunlight of the joys of the Renew Conference! We
arrived a day before the conference and so we had the morning with the kids to
enjoy a walk in the enclosed forest around the Center. And then by lunch time,
I was on duty, meeting with the all-volunteer committee, trying our best to remember
what we needed to do to make everyone feel welcome. My main duty was to help
with worship music during the 4 days. Several other people had volunteered to
sing or play instruments, but sadly, all of them had been prevented from coming
at the last minute. And so it came down to just Mosleys and Taylors on the
worship team. By the end of the week, I counted up 10 worship sessions we led
in total! Yet it was so fun to play music together with such good friends,
including their immensely talented son who played piano during the times he
wasn’t in the youth sessions. Their older daughter often ran the PowerPoints.
Paul sang, too. And I became convinced that I should probably lead music with
the guitar more than with the piano. I am thankful for the Spirit’s guidance
through the preparation, bringing out the response of the people.
Another huge joy was seeing our Conference speaker again.
Simon Guillebaud had been a good friend in Burundi. He and his wife have kids
of similar ages to ours, so they were one of the first families we met and
bonded with when we arrived with very young kids in Bujumbura. Simon is a sort
of famous extreme missionary, the kind who proposed to his wife by saying: “Are
you ready to become a young widow?” He’s witnessed the unexplainable power of
God firsthand, over and over. Raising teenagers has also given him an increased
level of compassion about the kinds of inner challenges we might meet as
mission families. He spoke on the letter from James, making our call to
discipleship practical with stories from his own experience as well as from renowned
missionaries who have gone before us. I went away from all that good teaching
reminded that following Jesus is never going to be easy and we need to be
diligent in staying close to Jesus in order to persevere.
Simon
On the second afternoon, a few parents took the kids on a special outing to a mall 30 minutes away for some time in their trampoline park. Paul took our kids and I elected to remain back at Brackenhurst for a quiet afternoon—the schedule was pretty packed for us leading music, and I had arrived from Addis quite weary. I was grateful for a nap and time to journal a bit about what I was hearing from Simon. Brackenhurst is an amazing place for birdwatching.
New Years Eve included a packed schedule. We had a few people interested in line dancing before dinner. Paul and I took a brief walk before the sun set. At 7 pm, all the younger kids made tons of noise to welcome New Year in Australia (they wouldn’t make it up to midnight).
We had an evening teaching session with Simon – I should mention
that throughout the conference, we had our teens sit in the main teaching sessions
because Simon is such an engaging communicator. I know they got a lot out of
what he shared, though they may be still processing. After the serious stuff,
we enjoyed a hilarious DIY Show (Talent show). Lots of kids participated in
reciting poetry, bible verses and sections of Hamilton. One adult participant
led an audience participation Pantomime-style drama of the Prodigal son. We
laughed hard, but didn’t lose the point of the story. David had his moment to
shine as he performed Weird Al Yankovic’s Amish Paradise, with Paul and I
singing backup vocals and me on the electric keyboard. He’s really a great
singer and enjoyed sharing his newfound love of pop music spoofs, along with
educating people about our Anabaptist heritage 😉.
After all those laughs, we had a quiet and reflective watchnight service and
then moved out to a big bonfire to welcome in the new year at midnight.
New Year in Sydney
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| DIY show drama |
David in the cow pasture
We played some frisbee in their big yard and watched a pair of colobus
monkeys pass through in the tall trees overhead. I took David exploring through
the gardens and down into the forest past the cow pasture of the main house. He
really recovered his curiosity about nature, given a few days for it to awaken
again. In particular, he relished the little gooseberries we found here and
there along the paths, along with trying nasturtium flowers and pasture clover.
In the evening, we had some good laughs with a card game my brother had sent
for Christmas, and helped Oren to wrap up his college application for William
and Mary while David sat in front of the fire. It was a good, peaceful night
there. We woke early to tend the Chege animals and then got a taxi at 7 am to
take us to the airport where we caught the shuttle down to Arusha, the final
stage of our little vacation.
It's just a 5-hour drive, with an hour at the border, to travel by road between Nairobi and Arusha. Although the kids moaned a bit about being on a crowded coaster bus, honestly it was cheap and easy. We were happy to share the bus with many foreign tourists coming to spend their money in Tanzania again. When we arrived, the husband of our former MCC accountant Lucia met us at the bus station. We had made an agreement with them to pay for some maintenance on the former MCC car they had bought, in exchange for using the car for the week. It was a win-win situation that was a major blessing for us. This allowed us to drive to get some lunch at Andrews (our favorite local nyama choma place with amazing grilled chicken), and for Paul and I to run around getting our phones working on the TZ system again, grab some breakfast groceries and then finally land back at our former compound in the late afternoon.
We had
just enough time to drop our stuff in “Wendy’s apartment” next to our old house
and then for Paul and I to take a walk down to Atomic before sunset. After the bus
ride, it was exactly what we needed to reset and feel like we were home. We came
back to sit on the porch in the dusk, and noticed our old companion, the Verreaux’s
eagle-owl, perched on a branch overhead. During our last year in Arusha, they
were always just in sight around our house, a constant reminder of the
protective, unpredictable hovering of the Holy Spirit. In fact, we only saw one
the whole week, on that first night, but it felt like a very spiritual welcome.
Chege's backyard, monkey in tree
On Tuesday, we had a change of plans and actually had
nothing on the schedule. Paul observed that you know you really have time to
rest, when you have nothing to do tomorrow. David found his old neighbor
friends and spent the morning running around with them. Paul and I exercised on
the porch and tossed out a few emails to keep the work at bay. And then we took
the boys to their favorite Arusha restaurant, George’s. We also managed to get
Paul’s phone repaired and finished shopping for our MCC Ethiopia staff
Christmas party. In fact, it was quite a productive day, yet restful for not
being very scheduled. There was time for another long walk in the evening.
On Wednesday, by contrast, we needed to run around a bit.
First, Paul and I went to visit our former housekeeper Nay and her children. We
had hoped to keep it low-investment for Nay, just chai and conversation. But
she urged us that she had cooked anyway, and so we had to stay to eat some rice
and spinach. It’s interesting how much Tanzanian hospitality is about sacrificial
generosity, while we were trying to reduce our burden on her. It was good to
catch up with her and that really helped our Swahili wake up and get into
action (our brains are very language-confused over the past 2 years switching
between Kiswahili and Amharic, over and over). We had to leave too soon and
pick up the kids to take them to hang out with the Taylor boys for a while. 
Lunch at George's
Paul and I then continued driving on out to a really spectacular music jam
session, hosted by Neil and Christy Miller. Jon with his guitar and Megan with
her fiddle joined us, along with the Miller’s old friend Cynthia Yoder whom we
had just gotten to know during her 5-month service term in Ethiopia. It’s
amazing what a group of great musicians can do to dress up the old classic folk
songs like “500 miles” or “ABCD” (requested by Megan’s daughter). 
Jam session at Millers
Soon we needed to leave that party of musicians and go on to meet the whole Taylor family along with some Wensels at a beautiful new restaurant called Tumbili Lodge. The owners have actually been working on landscaping their large grounds for the past 6 years and the winding paths and beds of varied vegetation are an absolute work of art. We just loved walking through and talking together, noticing all the little touches. The kids are all great friends, happy to continue their on-going Spike Ball game.
We adults had a good long time to talk
about how they are doing in school, their challenges and joys, a recent vacation
to the Mediterranean and other news. Arusha has numerous options for beautiful
gardens in which to sit and enjoy good food in a quiet, peaceful setting – yet another
thing we miss about the high quality of life there.
The garden at Tumbili
On Thursday, I made a spontaneous decision to join the
women’s bible study meeting on the other end of town to catch up with a couple
of friends I hadn’t yet seen. It was good to go and listen and know better how
to pray for those friends. We sat in Lena’s yard, which is one of the best-ever
places for birdwatching while studying the bible and supporting friends. It was
so funny to observe that all of those women are avid bird-watchers and know the
birds by their calls. I certainly haven’t found a comparable number of
bird-watching women in my Addis bible studies….Maybe the environment itself
creates such a passion in missionary women? There were a few other gifts to
pick up for Ethiopia staff before I met Paul and the boys for lunch at another
favorite restaurant, this time Indian. That’s another thing our kids were
longing for – going out to restaurants where the food really tastes good.
Arusha certain has lots of options. We did not need to go on any expensive
excursions to satisfy their longings on a vacation.
That afternoon, we were back at our compound for some
good conversation with our former neighbors the Robertsons. David was running
around like a maniac with their boys and some of the Tanzanian kids from the
compound. Unfortunately, David badly sprained his ankle and it swelled up
alarmingly. We iced it all night, but he insisted he could still hop over to
the main house next door to enjoy a “sausage sizzle” at Alan and Lynda
Stephenson’s fire pit. In that way, we managed to have a good chance to catch
up with the owners of our former compound, along with other guests they are
hosting. 
Spike ball at Tumbili
Friday was full of other highlights. We met our MCC
Tanzania former colleagues Lucia and Chrispin, along with Lucia’s daughters,
for lunch back at Andrews. It had been one of our favorite places for work
lunches. There is a lot to talk about after a year of not seeing each other,
catching up on kids’ education, the status of projects that were just beginning
when we left, and the whole situation in the country. We remain so thankful for
great colleagues in our time in Tanzania. Then we headed off East to meet the
Taylors again. Paul had made a plan with Mike months ago to play a round of
golf at Kilimanjaro Golf Club. David insisted that he would not be prevented
from golfing, so we had found a good ankle brace for him that morning, but it
was still painful after 2 holes, and he went back to sit for a while at the
clubhouse. Paul observed that David would have become a talented golfer if he
had been able to continue practicing, but that is not an option here in Addis. 
Lunch with MCC Tanzania former team
Meanwhile,
I had time to take a 2 hour walk with Katie around the perimeter of the golf
course and have a good long talk about things besides which songs to prepare
for the next worship session. In just a year, a lot happens in a family and
people have their ups and downs. It’s really a gift to have a good friend to
share with. We arrived back at the clubhouse in time to get a drink and watch
the men finish their 9th hole. Kili Golf at sunset is the most
extraordinarily picturesque place with it’s little lake, sprawling lawns, and
impala running across the greens. It was almost too good to be there as the
moon rose, our kids played happily (Spike Ball again) and we could talk about
what is happening in our churches and mission work. And what is amazing is that
it is not at all expensive to enjoy that kind of quality of life in Tanzania. 
Kili Golf club house
We had to fly out on Saturday afternoon, but we planned a
grande finale activity in the morning. As soon as the compound kids saw us
again earlier in the week they asked, “When are we going to play with the
flying disc? We miss it!” And so we realized we had time to squeeze in a
morning Ultimate Frisbee match, with just enough time to shower and head for
the airport. It was an incredible joy to have 18 people come out and join us in
the hot sun that morning: some Taylors and Robertsons, 4 young men who are teachers
from the Joshua school, 5 teachers’ kids from the compound (all under 12), and
our family, with David and Oren limping around, each with their sprained
ankles, but not wanting to be left out. Some of the kids have gotten really
good at catching and throwing over the past 2 years, and it was amazing to just
let them take the lead on our team, with no adults needing to add in any heroics.
We still won! We really miss having easy access to a big field and the
opportunity for people to mix across cultures and classes to enjoy sport
together. And then we had to part ways, with barely repressed tears on my part,
to clean up and head back to Addis. 
Ultimate Frisbee players
Our old house where we were able to stay
The flight was not long enough for me to finish
recounting all that has happened over
these past 3 weeks, so I’m wrapping up now on Monday afternoon. Thankfully, it’s
a public holiday for Ethiopian Christmas and Paul and I have some time to catch
up on office work and home work on a quiet compound. We look back at this time
we’ve been away and it was both super-refreshing, as well as filling us with bittersweet
regret for the life we had to leave 18 months ago. Now we need to pray for new
resolve, for perseverance, and for appreciation of the place where God has
called us to serve in the present. We would be grateful for your prayers on our
behalf.
Bonus photos:
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| Christmas cloth |
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| Cinnamon rolls |
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| Playing kubbs |
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| Christmas cracker hats |
Visiting Nay's family 
Exercise on our old porch 
Relaxing at the Chege home 
Final communion service at Renew 
Brackenhurst tea time 
An interview with new participants 
New Years morning 
More Spikeball 
New friends at Renew 
Tea fields 
Simon and Paul 
Friends on a walk 
Charades bible verses
Ultimate Frisbee 
Joshua Foundation 
Moonrise and spike ball 
Evening at Kili Golf 
Kili Golf 
Simon sharing conversation with Renew participants 
White-eye 
Crazy trampoline park
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| Little bee-eater |
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| Jam session |
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| Violet backed starling on a walk with Katie |
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