Returning from Retirement

My newest blog resided at : www.thewholeworldround.com

Yikes. I haven’t blogged in ages. Four countries have gone by without documentation. A person shouldn’t dwell in the past. Anyway, that’s my excuse for not playing catch up. In reality, the fact that I’ll be home in a month makes it pretty hard not to dwell in the future. I’m basically returning from retirement back into the world of responsibilities. Believe it or not I’m eager to get back to work. I suppose a lot of people would choose to travel if they were told they had only a year to travel. I’ve traveled already, I think I’d work…and go camping a lot.

So here’s what’s going on in Africa:

Today I’m a substitute farmer at my friend Hein’s farm on the Zambezi river. Hein had to make a trip to Uganda, and since farms require lots of attention (footloose farmers fail… I think that’s the rule of thumb) he asked Jeremy and me to look after things while he was away. I’m not sure I could handle looking after animals all the time, but substitute farming is great, especially here.

You’re supposed to count sheep “right” before you go to sleep. Not me though, I listen to hippos while I fall asleep and count sheep “wrong” after I wake up. I took three accounting classes in college, but none prepared me for this early morning task. Theoretically there are 531 sheep, including four newborns this week. My totals have ranged from 526 to 538. By the way sheep are sooooo dumb…can a guy who can’t count say that? But seriously, I’m humbled by the fact that humans are analogous to sheep so often in the Bible. Sheep don’t have the first clue about their own wellbeing. They’ll look at a fence, pause in obvious recognition of the obstacle, and then try to run through the fence anyway. The whole time the gate that they’re meant to go through is about one meter to the left. Idiots.
Before coming out to this farm we were at a much bigger farm/project Riverside Farm Institute, the place where Jeremy and I were based during our years as student missionaries. Reuniting with Alan and Pauline -our “African American” parents- has been a highlight of the trip. Alan took us on a church building trip. We camped out, reminisced, told jokes, and guessed at constellations while our fire flickered below. Oh yeah, we built two churches as well. Things were right.
On my first visit to Riverside as a student missionary in 2007 I went straight from the Lusaka airport out to Riverside. I got my first taste of Africa at Riverside and Riverside became the lens through which I viewed Africa. The lens, I realize now, was rose colored. On this trip, coming overland from Ethiopia, I saw Africa in a new and more sobering light. Poverty and spiritual decline are prevalent. It makes me appreciate Riverside and its development model more than I did the first time I was here. Riverside is an epicenter of happiness and vibrant life in Southern Africa.
Africa has been a hopscotch game for us from one mission post to the next. It’s been interesting to see mission work done in a lot of different ways. Our missions page hasn’t been updated during the past several geological periods, that’s something that will have to be remedied.
I’ve been carrying a small anatomy book in my backpack since Seattle (September). I wanted to be ready to study a bit in case I was accepted to medical school. Jeremy found me under a mango tree the other day and told me to read the facebook page he had left open on his lap top. It was a week old post from my mom telling me my letter of acceptance had arrived at home. Jeremy might not have seen it if a friend we met in China hadn’t mentioned it to him in another facebook message that she had seen my mom‘s post and wanted to congratulate me. So I guess I was the last to know, but it’s big news for me, and I’m putting my little anatomy book to use….and dwelling in the future more than I should be. Oops.