Flip-flopping: the reality and release in the face of growth and continuity

I am entering (have entered) a phase of transition - again. Every 3-4 years we have a big shift from Africa to Sweden and America. It marks a year-long flip-flop of joy and frustration. Some people derive great comfort from knowing what is ahead and plan meticulously with great conviction and joy. I don't.

It is just over a year to the count-down and I'm dragging my feet in naming my destination. USA? Sweden? You see, this is the last time we do this. We will be leaving our ministry base of 20 years at the end of NEXT year. (Every time I mention this people think we are leaving now. No. Over a year from now. Wanna come help us pack?) I can't decide yet. I just can't. Everything we've worked towards is preparing us for careers in Africa. We really like working in this part of the world where our skill can be stretched and used. We hope to come back to southern Africa, but it we won't be based in Tete, Mozambique, next time around.

Reality is that we must leave. That is fine. We know that. Good-bye is hard, but then it is done.
Release is a little more difficult. We need to let go of the things that we've accumulated over these years. We need to let go of the responsibilities we've accumulated over the years, too. That's where the Growth and Continuity come in. We need to leave things working in a way that our partners will not only hang on until our next term, but will move on in a healthy way without us being here. We know they can. It isn't our presence that makes things work.

Both Mikael and myself have intentionally stepped back from the forefront of our work here. Sometimes we stepped too far back, but when we move out of the way, it makes space for others to grow. I've used the garden analogy before. (You can find it here.) It applies in many situations for me. You can plant an apple tree in Mozambique, but it will not turn into a baobab tree. People will enjoy the apples, but they will have a limited use for them in their own recipes. It is better to plant more local trees to meet the needs that are recognized. So my locally trained volunteers who do things differently than I'd planned. They will get results comparable to mine in a way that is less foreign and more easily taken up by those who need them. We just have to make sure they also have a knowledge base so that their innovation and implementation is appropriate.

Our current responsibility is to share as much of our knowledge and give as much opportunity for innovation and implementation as possible! The translation team is finishing the translation task, but they are also beginning the distribution task and the PR task and the training others to use the Nyungwe Bible for teaching and encouragement "task". My Little Zebra reading groups are gaining confidence in presenting games with letters and syllables instead of their traditional "copy and repeat" teaching style. I have a long way to go until they understand more about why this is important in learning, but we will get there.

Keep us in your prayers! 

Pray that we do face reality and we do release our grip on some of these things in a timely manner. Pray that we have wisdom in what we need to teach and what we need to allow to spring up in place of our own ideas. God is still using us here. We still have a place, but it is changing and we are changing with it!