Time

from Elliott

Time takes on a whole new meaning when you are in a new culture. First, each culture has a unique concept of time. Western culture, especially in the US, values speed and efficiency. We are quickly learning that Africa does not place a high priority on speed or even what from my Western eyes seems to be efficiency. That may be a prejudiced view though!

Instead they place a priority on relationship even when you are at best strangers. Whereas Westerners might have a clear and stated process for accomplishing a task, it seems here that you have to ‘discover’ the process through a series of encounters, each time digging deeper to get the ‘rest of the story.’

We have found this to be true in acquiring housing and a cell phone and especially the case in the arduous task of purchasing a car. We have still not completed that task though we are close. We thought we had one car purchased until we found out that it had already been sold to two other people! We came in third place so I am not sure who won out finally….

We have been at a disadvantage not knowing the local customs. Sometimes we missed an opportunity and other times we found ourselves spinning our wheels and wasting time.

Regardless of the inefficiency there is a benefit to the relationship approach. We are finding that we are very quickly becoming a part of the culture and making many new contacts and friends. Becoming a part of their culture also enhances our sense of belonging.

Don't Wait Until You Die to Have That 'Estate Sale'

from Katherine
With all of our preparations to move in full swing, I have had so many good friends ask me how I am holding up physically but also emotionally. Elliott and I have been married for 26 years and collected lots of stuff in those years - some of it I have wondered why we have it! I also have most of my Mom's and Dad's things, most of which we have loved, but again I wonder why we still have it.

Since we are only taking six suitcases with us to South Africa, we have been in the process of going through all of our possessions and selling most of them and selecting some to store. The last few months of having Garage Sales and then an Estate Sale has been freeing for me. It is wonderful to not be so tied down with stuff. I know that is once again God's way of providing for me. I could get very sentimental and say I cannot part with this or that, but God has been helping me experience the joy of seeing others finding a 'treasure' to love in our Estate Sale.

God has given me the freedom to preserve in storage those limited number of things that are most special and be glad that others have found a new treasure that they will enjoy as much as I have for many years.

A Bit of a Detour

from Elliott
Going through China is a strange way to get to South Africa! Let me explain....

We are at language school now and while we are not learning the Xhosa language that we will use in South Africa, we are learning basics of language as well as techniques to learn any language with the use of a local coach.

We have spent days learning phonetics and the many sounds that we are not familiar with because they are not used in English. To teach us acquisition techniques we have been divided into small groups and assigned a native speaker representing many different countries. Mine is Mandarin Chinese and Katherine's is German.

The coaches guide us through a variety of drills, projects and role playing. Today, I learned hospitality conversation as if visiting a friend in China. We have also played games using drawings of places, forms of transportation and various pronouns and adjectives.

Seems strange to be learning Chinese but because I will never use it again, it allows me to focus on the methods that I will replicate once in South Africa. I think if my coach spoke Xhosa I would end up focusing on the language and not the methods.

I am fascinated to see how God will use what we have learned during this time once we get to South Africa!

You Can't Speak Xhosa Correctly With an "English Mouth"

from Elliott

We are at Language Acquisition School focusing on the tools to learn the Xhosa language once we arrive in South Africa in January. We are not learning the language itself but how language is formed and what techniques we can use with a native Xhosa speaker to acquire the language and build relationships at the same time.

The overall concept of the initial training is to 1.) improve our ability to hear other sounds and tones and 2.) gain control of our speech mechanism.

We have listened to all kinds of sounds, many of which are not used at all in English. Listened and repeated, listen and repeated, listen and repeated.

We have learned about the physiology of speech. Much of this is news to us! From the throat to the nasal passages, we are studying what parts are involved in producing the various consonant and vowels sounds using English and its 44 sounds as an example. Supposedly, we all have the physical ability to make any of the sounds in any of the languages in the world. I wonder, is there a sermon in that?

In order to make this real to us we were issued a mirror. OK, what for? You guessed it, we have spent the day making all possible sounds and examining in the mirror how we are doing it – lips, teeth, tongue, etc. It certainly felt a bit strange if not awkward!

I am learning that the key is humility and sense of humor. I just have to remind myself – my new friends in South Africa will be laughing with me as long as I am willing to laugh too!

JOY

from Katherine

Elliott has been asking me for weeks to write something for the blog. All I could say was, "I am empty."

Last Sunday while speaking with a friend he suggested, "Just pick a date and go. God will take care of everything else!" Everything else in our case is selling our house and raising the rest of our financial support.

Well we did it. We will board a plane for South Africa on January 12th!

I cannot begin to express the absolute JOY I feel! What an incredible feeling...God is so good! And then came more confirmation that we were heading in the right direction - encouragement from friends, additional support and promising showings on the house.

Good Morning, Cascade

from Katherine and Elliott

“Good Morning Cascade,” came the call. Again and again, the call. As the response rose louder and more enthusiastic you might have thought the call was “Good morning, Jesus” What an exhilarating way to begin the Lord’s Day!

We were invited to share God’s story for our lives in South Africa. At first we wondered, we don’t know anyone at that church so how did we get the invitation? Well, as we hear the faithful, especially missionaries say, it was a God thing. It was one of those friend of a friend of a friend conversations that started with “Do you know any missionaries who could speak at a Mission Celebration?” We are truly blessed by the people that God has placed in our path and appreciative of their obedience to God’s plan!

It was a blessing to be able to share God’s working in our lives. We were humbled by the enthusiastic response to the presentation and the conversations following. It was amazing the number of people we met that had personal stories to tell of their connections to Africa from business to friendships to poignant moments recalling their personal heritage to ‘the motherland,’ as some referred to Africa.

As we prepare to depart for South Africa soon it is very encouraging to have so many express interest in and enthusiasm for our calling.