The Last Leaving
I was reminded again, today, that it is coming. December 2017. We should be officially 'done' with our Nyungwe New Testament. There will follow months of publishing activities and there will be a big dedication... and then... we will go.
This "last leaving" flashes into my mind every once in a while. When a friend leaves and reminds me that our time will come. A lump rises in my throat and a tear wells in my eye, and if I let my thoughts dwell there a little longer, I hear myself sigh as the tear falls. "Not just yet," I assure myself. "You have time to get ready, and lots of things will keep you busy along the way."
I have left many times and said good-bye to many friends. I have gone and come back to many places. Somehow this place isn't quite "dear enough" on its own to make me dream of visits in the future. Most of what makes this home is very transient: people come and go, houses and homes have changed, church friends have grown and moved as well. Our team will move on. Hopefully the reading teams will keep going and there will be lots going on for many years. But a brief stop for work is different than living here for years.
"Do you like it in Tete?" so many have asked through the years. Honestly, not really. It is too hot. Living "simply" is way more expensive than makes sense. Things are too complicated. People are sometimes not all that lovable. Work has often felt so unsuccessful and drags on and on. Living here isn't really a treat at all. It is now familiar and I know what to expect, for better or for worse. Most of it I won't miss.
It is a complicated lifestyle... somewhere between faithful service and hiding from the "other" reality that pokes its face into our lives. In reality, we are nearly homeless. We have a pretty precarious income dependent on complicated relationships between friends and family and churches and good people in several countries. In "faith" missions, we don't have a guaranteed salary. Some partners promise "till death do we part" others give once... others set a decided limit (one year or five years, etc.). changes and adjustment are always part of the deal. One thing is certain: WE can't really control or orchestrate any of it. God got us here and He will make a way to stay or to go. He always has, and He always will.
We have great hopes for the future of Nyungwe-land and Tete and kids with books and churches with Bibles. We will have laid a foundation that others can build on. When we are "done", we won't be leaving missions or Africa for good. We will move on. We dream of training new leaders for language development and Bible translation in Southern Africa. We hope to continue giving people groups Bibles and books and hope.
But the last leaving for us means crossing the Zambezi River one more time. Lifting from the airstrip flanked by baobab trees, and straining for a sight of 'our road' or 'our house' or "THE river"and the Kalowera mountain
that guards our town. Life below will go on as always and our absence will be marked by those few and faithful ones who will miss us.
I will remember the late afternoon sun setting aglow to the river that cuts through Tete with a shining promise: it is always present and always moving on. Maybe we can learn from that ourselves.
This "last leaving" flashes into my mind every once in a while. When a friend leaves and reminds me that our time will come. A lump rises in my throat and a tear wells in my eye, and if I let my thoughts dwell there a little longer, I hear myself sigh as the tear falls. "Not just yet," I assure myself. "You have time to get ready, and lots of things will keep you busy along the way."
I have left many times and said good-bye to many friends. I have gone and come back to many places. Somehow this place isn't quite "dear enough" on its own to make me dream of visits in the future. Most of what makes this home is very transient: people come and go, houses and homes have changed, church friends have grown and moved as well. Our team will move on. Hopefully the reading teams will keep going and there will be lots going on for many years. But a brief stop for work is different than living here for years.
"Do you like it in Tete?" so many have asked through the years. Honestly, not really. It is too hot. Living "simply" is way more expensive than makes sense. Things are too complicated. People are sometimes not all that lovable. Work has often felt so unsuccessful and drags on and on. Living here isn't really a treat at all. It is now familiar and I know what to expect, for better or for worse. Most of it I won't miss.
It is a complicated lifestyle... somewhere between faithful service and hiding from the "other" reality that pokes its face into our lives. In reality, we are nearly homeless. We have a pretty precarious income dependent on complicated relationships between friends and family and churches and good people in several countries. In "faith" missions, we don't have a guaranteed salary. Some partners promise "till death do we part" others give once... others set a decided limit (one year or five years, etc.). changes and adjustment are always part of the deal. One thing is certain: WE can't really control or orchestrate any of it. God got us here and He will make a way to stay or to go. He always has, and He always will.
We have great hopes for the future of Nyungwe-land and Tete and kids with books and churches with Bibles. We will have laid a foundation that others can build on. When we are "done", we won't be leaving missions or Africa for good. We will move on. We dream of training new leaders for language development and Bible translation in Southern Africa. We hope to continue giving people groups Bibles and books and hope.
But the last leaving for us means crossing the Zambezi River one more time. Lifting from the airstrip flanked by baobab trees, and straining for a sight of 'our road' or 'our house' or "THE river"and the Kalowera mountain
that guards our town. Life below will go on as always and our absence will be marked by those few and faithful ones who will miss us.
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| Photo credit, Geniene Guimbeau, snappingafrica2.blogspot.com |
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