"TUR-KEY"

With all of the BIG changes in our lives as of late, I had all but put the notion of Thanksgiving and Christmas out of my head. We have learned so much, but we are still trying to adjust completely to life in Africa. Over the past few weeks our family has developed a catch phrase, “Its just Africa, move on.”

It is so very hot here right now. There is no air conditioning so we feel every, single degree. As the numbers on the thermometer climb, so does our lack of enthusiasm to celebrate Thanksgiving away from family.  We had all but decided we were going to let this Thursday slip by without letting the boys know what a special day it is, then we walked into the store today.

As we entered we were overcome by Holiday atmosphere. Although, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving here the workers at this particular store had done their best to bring Christmas to Lesotho. It was so sweet. A bit overdone and entirely African, save for the very Anglo elderly gentleman dressed in inappropriate seasonal attire! Before I knew what had hit me, I found myself looking for turkey. I asked one man behind the meat counter, and he eagerly took me to the drink aisle after repeating, “tur-key,” back to me 3-4 times.

I could tell something had been lost in translation, so I turned to the two men from a younger generation thinking they surely would understand me better. I asked for turkey, and they again repeated it back to me perfectly. Then shared a blank stare with each other. We did this for a while I said, “Turkey,” they repeated it back to me slowly, “TURRRR-KEY.” Yes! I thought they finally had it then the smiles began to fade. Finally one of the young men said, “Spell it.” So I did, “T-U-R-K-E-Y.” Ah… “Turkey,” they said in unison then promptly started leading me away from where I knew the meat was and toward where I knew the bakery was. I thought to myself, “Perhaps they stuff their turkeys inside of their bread here. I’ve seen stranger things in the last couple of weeks.”

After we got to the bakery, I informed them once more that I wanted meat, an animal. Desperate now because I was beginning to lose control of both my shopping trip as well as my four boys, I began to gobble. Yep, that is right. I gobbled, and I am pretty sure I flapped my arms as well, and put my finger to my throat. The light bulbs went on!!!! The two young Basotho men both, almost in a run, led me back to the meat and eagerly pointed to a mess of chopped up frozen, poultry they insisted was, “Tur-KEY!” I asked for a few kilos of the meat from the same man, who several minutes ago had thought turkey was a drink and went on my way.

I later asked my language helper about what had transpired at the market and she informed me that most Basotho would have never seen a turkey. They would only know about them from American movies.

So we will have turkey on Thursday! Our Thanksgiving this year may not look or feel like any we have ever had before, but we are so thankful for a simple shopping trip that reminded us just how important it is to be thankful, amidst the most frustrating and confusing moments of our lives. I have no idea what our Thanksgiving dinner will look like, but I have never, ever been more thankful to have some turkey in my entire life. Thank you, Jesus.

Week One

Today marks one week since we moved to Maseru, Lesotho! What a week it has been. In many ways it is impossible to compare the life we are now leading to the one we knew so well just one short week ago. There are so few similarities, that I feel it best to not try and look for them. Instead, our family is trying to focus on the reality of life here and finding how each of us fits in it.

A loving MAF team here has welcomed us in Maseru, for which we are tremendously grateful. Without our colleagues here our transition would have been a whole lot more difficult. We are excited to finally be in the place we believe with all our hearts God has called us to serve. However, the pangs of homesickness, and sense of loss creeps up on each of us in the most unexpected moments. For each of the boys it is different, and Richard and I are trying our best to help walk them through something we don’t entirely know how to navigate ourselves.

We’ve done a great deal of praying together since our arrival, and I believe we are all the better for it. We have so much to learn in the coming weeks, months, years, but if we keep relying on the only true source of strength we believe the learning curve will be much less steep.

Here are just a couple glimpses of our new normal. Please continue to lift us up in prayer each and every day. We are not here by our own strength or for our own purposes.  

Here we are out for a walk in the neighborhood. You can see my sweet Alex, ever eager to communicate in Sesotho. 

The wall that keeps us safe day and night

This was just as we crossed the boarder into Lesotho. 

Tomorrow We Move to Africa

Not very many Americans have been able to make the statement, "Tomorrow we move to Africa!" However, that is exactly what my family has the privilege of saying today. This moment in our lives is the culmination of 12 years of preparation, dedication, perseverance, and prayer. It is hard to actually believe we  are at the precipice of what most of our adult lives have been geared toward achieving.

As hard as it has been to say goodbye to dear friends and family, we continue to be reminded by their mere presence in our lives, that we have not gotten here alone! We have always had an incredible amount of God given support and love in our journey to the mission field. This fact solidifies the notion in our hearts that we are merely an extension of those who have prayed for us, cried with us, rejoiced from afar for us, faithfully supported us, and gently encouraged us along our path. Leaving is hard, but it is made easier because we have been loved so well. We have been blessed so that we are now able to be a blessing to some of the most desperate people on the planet. That is exactly how our God works!

So, we leave America sad to miss out on the moments in our loved ones lives that have formed us thus far, but so prepared to make an impact because of how deeply we have been impacted by their love for us.
                                              Sala Hantle, friends! We'll see you soon!