The first blog since... Canada

You know what's weird? Thinking about Angola while the cold wind blows, the leaves are falling, and I'm comfy, cozy in an autumn sweater, with a NEWBORN. IN CANADA.

What has happened to our life? Is this even the same life?!?!

Let's rewind a bit and unpack how this all happened ... how we're processing ... and what's coming up in the future.

Let's roll back to July. School year comes to an end at our little international school. The school year ended with seven high school students (including two who live out of the city, but come in occasionally to catch up) all trying to finish up their courses so they could relax over the holidays. This is a mega-undertaking, since their courses are all online and require extensive work.

But we "finished" nonetheless, and then it was vacation time. I undertook a new project: organizing and cleaning the school and our fairly extensive library (think years of book donations). This was a very satisfying project for me, because I could familiarize myself with all of our resources, and at the same time, purge ones we don't use. I was all set for two months worth of cleaning until ...

News came that our insurance required me to come back to Canada a month earlier than I had planned. Okay ... so fast forward the cleaning, we're on a plane (Ethan and I, Marcel would follow a month later) ... and suddenly, we're Canadian again. Five months to spend in Canada as our mid-term/maternity break.

So what goes through a missionary's mind when they come back to Canada after two years in Africa?

Wow. Green grass. Clean cars. Big houses. Costco (overwhelming). Toys, toys, toys. Coffee shops and ice cream. Fast internet.

It's all a little overwhelming and intense at first. Not necessarily bad, but stark. Stark in how different it is from Angola. Stark in how organized, clean, new, and shiny everything is. Stark in how pleasantly, and blissfully wonderful life can be here ... compared to there.

Canadians ... we have it so good here. We are so very blessed to live where we do. Living overseas is teaching me not to take that for granted because it is certainly not the case for most people. And there's nothing wrong with that ... I think we should appreciate it, value it, thank God for it ... because for most of us, it's not something we've earned. It's not the result of a choice we made. It's something we were simply born into ...

I've had to learn to let go of judgment. Having seen the stark contrast of Angolan life--hard, dirty, poor, and basically "survival-mode", I feel judgment bubble up inside me when I see what we have in Canada. But then I see how kind and welcoming Canadians are. How many are trying to make a difference. How many love and serve others within the context they know here. How many give a significant portion of their incomes, their lives, and their energy to help others.

So if I could ask one thing of the Canadians who read this, it wouldn't be to move to Angola, or sell everything and give it to the poor. Though those would both be awesome, I think what should mark every Canadian, particularly every Christian Canadian, is thankfulness. A heart of gratitude for all the many things in our lives that God has provided without us ever asking or knowing different. A life of appreciation for the small things and the big things. A gratefulness for our great country and the way our forefathers worked together to build it.

Now, that just about covers the Canada side of things ... onto the newborn side of things! Wow ... we'll be going back to Angola not as a family of three, but as a family of four! Fun! And scary ...

Being back in Canada has been very good for thinking about the very many things that have happened over the last two years. And one of those things I know I need to process is my commitment to ministries. What can I continue when I get back? What do I need to give up now that I have another child?

Missionaries tend to be workaholics. We face constant need everyday--a lack of workers on the field, intense poverty, country-size issues that constantly wear and tear on the soul, problems with no easy solution. And because of this ... it becomes easy to over-commit, overwork and judge ourselves as "less than worthy" if we are not giving it our all to everyone, all the time.

I've come to remember again that raising children is a big ministry (just ask any stay-at-home mom) ... a high priority ministry. Not only that, but we are in an incredibly difficult and tiring stage of family life--the toddler and baby stage. It's no small deal--and therefore, I need to be okay with saying no to some things, and saying yes to my family.

So, having a newborn has been amazing (they sleep so much!) ... and I'm thankful for a healthy baby and healthy recovery ... and Ethan has been taking well to Avro ... and Marcel has been a great help! We are thankful to be in Canada for now but will definitely look forward to our own house come January!

Playing in a "sandbox" full of corn! A true Canadian autumn experience.

Scoping out the pumpkin collection!

Soaking up the early October sun on my sister's porch with my best friend from
teacher's college and her husband!

Sushi ... so much sushi ... 

Thanksgiving with the Snobelen side of the family!

At the Thamesville corn maze with grandpa!

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At the corn maze.

Jumping on a big inflatable pillow!

Helping dig a new pillar for Erie and Darren's house.

Enjoying an Angolan tradition ... pizza night on Friday night, but with my sister and fiance!

Canada has so much fun stuff ... but not all of it is free!

Ethan's entered a train-obsessed phase ... trains and planes!

Cozy nights at Aunt Erie's house ... reading books!

Making new friends, and discovering all the delicious (and convenient) Canadian snacks!

Playing with Titus, Erie and Darren's mischievous cat! 

Thumbs up for Mexican food!

The day after Marcel arrived, we were already visiting a hangar ... (oh and check out that beard!)

We might have discovered Avro's name at the Canadian Warplane Museum.

Hanging out with Auntie Riss, Uncle B, Amos, and Mason.

Not biological family, but spiritual family! 

We had a few friendly visitors for our London Open House!

It was a bit cold, but we still took advantage of the BBQ season!

Ethan being all cute ...

Celebrating our five-year anniversary a little late in Toronto ... but worth the wait!

Wanted: Teacher extraordinaire!

It's finally school break! And with that ... I can *hopefully* get something done about this great big, looming problem ... err ... opportunity ... we have ahead ... our school is looking for teachers!

Want to come live in Angola for a time and gain some valuable teaching experience?

We have openings for teachers ... both short and long-term!

Basic qualifications for a short-term teacher:

• Has a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ
• Qualified from an accredited institution for education (can be recent graduate) OR Early Childhood Education certification/college diploma for working with children and youth 
• Must be flexible and willing to learn and adapt to a new culture, a new type of school and curriculum, and a new language (no language training is necessary, English is spoken at the school, but Portuguese is spoken in the country) 
• Able to fundraise or support themselves for the time here (the school is able to provide a small salary to offset costs). Interested applicants would work through our partner agencies of SIM or MAF Canada for support through the fundraising and visa application process.

Why would you want to work here?

• Small school of approx. 25 students, Angolan and ex-pat, and the only English language school in our city!
• An awesome opportunity to live in another country, learn another culture, and even another language!
• A great resume builder--teach anything (or everything) from kindergarten to high school, across all subjects and disciplines
• Flexibility--since our school and staff are small, you can design your program--do you want to teach all day, every day? Have a day off to volunteer elsewhere? Design a special education program? Start a club? Try something new outside of school? You have the flexibility!
• Christ-centered--you have the opportunity not only to share the gospel with students, but help students who have few to no other Christian role models in their life!

Current Needs

• Short-term teacher volunteer from October 2017-January 2018 (to help cover for me, Kelly, while I'm in Canada on maternity leave!)
• Kindergarten teacher for the Sept 2018-July 2019 school year
• Long-term teachers of all grades to help us build and expand our school!

If you are interested, please email Kelly at kboers@maf.org for more information, or just to see if it's the right fit! 

What I'm learning about the church ...

The church is truly an amazing concept.

Think about it.

Last weekend, we flew to a place in rural, isolated Angola that would have taken 10-14 hours by car. Five hours on paved road, and five hours on “dirt road” (a loose term, considering the roads are barely passable).

The middle of nowhere Angola.

And yet, there were people there (quite a lot, really), and a thriving church. What?!

It’s truly amazing that God’s church extends to almost every people and culture in the world (though the work is still far from finished), even though we are so different.

I mean, these people in rural Angola—Cavango to be exact—don’t have cell phone service. Many have probably never been to a city in Angola, and probably have no concept of where Canada is. They have their land, their families, and their mud huts. That’s about it. No cars. No Internet. No stores.

I’m learning a lot about the church living away from North America.

Growing up, the church I knew was populated by white, middle-to-upper class, generally older people. To me, it was a beautiful, enjoyable, old familiar place.

Then, as I grew up, my eyes were opened to what many people really thought of the church. It’s boring. It’s dying. It’s judgmental and old-fashioned. It’s fake and unwilling to change. White, bible-thumping, judgmental, upper class, conservative Americans.

The weird thing is … that’s only a very, very small part of the grand picture of the church.

Technically, the average Christian today is a poor, African or South American woman. Not rich. Not white. And not American. And probably not even remotely aware of the issues of the Western church, like whether or not Christians should make bouquets or wedding cakes for same-sex weddings, or whether Christians should protest abortion or support Trump. For most, their issues are a little closer to home: Will God bring rain to grow the crops? Will God care for me now that my husband has left me? Will God provide another child, now that my first two have died from malaria?

Moving to Angola has opened my eyes to this new type of church—a church that perhaps is much closer to the original church. A church that isn’t overwhelmed by programs and big church buildings and flashy worship. A church that is overwhelmed with the poor, and needy, and hungry, and weary, and sick.

Let me paint you a picture of some of the churches we’ve seen:

Simple, mud or concrete building. Benches. No window panes and glass. No lights or power. A few elders and a pastor. Many, many children and women. Offerings of grain and corn, and maybe a few coins and bills. Dirt floors.

So … what am I learning? Humility. That’s for sure. What I thought was the right way to “do church” is certainly not the only way. Just one way. And maybe, MAYBE not even the right way.

Simplicity. Along the same lines, maybe being a Christian is a lot simpler than I allow it to be.  

I’m learning to check my judgment at the door. Learning that poor, uneducated Christians can still teach me a lot. That they matter. That they are equal before God. That their different style of worship or teaching isn’t necessarily wrong. Just … different.

I’m learning to love the church. Sure, it’s not perfect. It’s diverse, and messy, and at times, totally difficult to love. It’s full of problems, and controversy, and pain. But it’s also part of God’s plan. 

And finally, I’m learning to love God more. The same God that I know and worship in Canada is at work in Angola, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and China.

Processing life this month ...

I don’t really have a right to complain. That’s what I’ve learned … living on the mission field could be a heck of a lot harder. We actually have it pretty lucky here in Lubango, Angola—we have two good grocery stores. A “mall”. School options. Traffic that moves, and doesn’t just stay still. It’s fairly easy to escape the city. There’s one or two nice parks. A pool. Restaurants. FANTASTIC weather.

So, really, compared to some of our colleagues, in more difficult countries or locations, we should be very, very thankful.

But big surprise … it’s hard to be thankful, when you start comparing. Am I right? I mean, we have it good, but it’s still no Canada. No Europe. No United States. It’s still Africa.

Our house is good … but it could be better. It would be nice to have consistent electricity. A dishwasher. Light fixtures.

Our church is good … but it could be better. It would be nice to have a nursery. A bigger building. A shorter service. A place to fit in.

Our life is good … but it could be better. It would be nice to have more time. More money. More vacation. Family.

Our program is good … but it could be better. It would be nice to have more help. Less problems. More money. Less visas. 

And just like that …. we’re feeling down. It’s been a year and a half since we left Canada. It’s far too easy to be discouraged, and, well … hard to be encouraged.

Venting helps. Distraction helps. Sleeping helps. But they are just band-aid solutions. What does the Bible say?

Philippians 4:11-12: “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”

1 Timothy 6:6-8: “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Clearly, the answer is prayer. Quiet time. Focusing on God and not just on our present circumstances (or our past mistakes … or our future dreams). Looking for contentment not in material things, but heavenly things.

Easy to say, slightly harder to do. Especially when you’re a parent. Correction: when you’re a human. A human who has her heart still kind of stuck in Canada, what life “used to be like.”

Pray for me. Pray for us. We’re thankful and glad to be here. But, perhaps like many young parents our age, or first term missionaries around the world, we need daily grace to not focus on our circumstances (which … really aren’t that bad), not to focus on what social media tells us we’re missing out on, not to focus on what life used to be like … but to focus on God. It’s not an accident that our hearts long for something this world can never give us. So let’s pursue it. Let’s pursue contentment in godliness.

January Recap

January was stressful and busy. But, I think that's been life for a lot of people. Thankfully, for us, the stress was mostly centered around planning Marcel's parents' trip and waiting for their visas ... which arrived days before their scheduled departure!

And now they are here ... and it's amazing, refreshing, and RIGHT.

And it's also currently holidays for school, so I have a few moments to jot down some thoughts, prayer points, updates, and whatever else I can squeeze into Ethan's nap time.

So, first, this. The stress of January brought to the surface again a lot of stress and emotions and issues that we had dealt with in November, and somewhat pacified by December. It's well known (although, not talked about NEARLY enough) that the first term on the mission field is the toughest. While those in their second, third or fourth terms on the field have become well-acquainted and acclimatized to life as a missionary, those of us still in the first term sometimes feel like we are drowning.

I write this because I probably should write about it more often. It's the reality of living in a new culture. The reality of missing home. The reality of not yet knowing boundaries, limits, and capacities. The reality of new forms of stress that really didn't exist in Canada. The reality of sickness, visas, traffic, and parenting. All those things may be small one day, and incredibly huge the next.

I won't talk much longer about this topic, except to say this. Pray for new missionaries. Pray specifically for their families, and their marriages, and their stress. We need it.

Now, onto some specific news about the MAF Angola program. We are excited to finally be able to report that the Caravan--our big plane--is getting it's new engine as we speak. Next week, Marcel joins Tim in Windhoek to help prepare the plane to come back to Angola and get to work!!!! After many long months of waiting for funding and just the right engine, we will be back to three functional airplanes!

On a much more challenging note, however, is the huge need for one of our pilots to get his visa renewed. Until this process gets sorted out, they will have to leave the country and their home here. Please pray for a timely process.

And, on a very, VERY positive note, we are so thankful to have Marcel's parents here, particularly after poor weather caused their flight to be rerouted to a different city in Angola. Thankfully, by God's grace, they found a few people who spoke English and helped them to get in contact with us and arrange a pick-up point. Wow. Now, we have a few weeks to enjoy their company, soak up all the family time we can get, and of course, if you know anything about Marcel's mom, get in as many photo opportunities as possible!

Well, Internet is slow and nap time will probably soon wind down, so I'm signing off here. Next week, we are off to Namibia for work and vacation. Lord willing, after this, two more visitors will be coming from WLA! (Pray for this visa process too!) We miss so many of you, and are thankful for the many warm wishes and hugs sent with Marcel's parents. We wish we could see you too face to face, but for now, BEIJINHOS de Angola ... (which means, "little kisses from Angola", the equivalent of hugs.)

Oh, the sweet, sweet gift of vacation ...

... if only vacation never ended.

That would be great, right? Well, I guess it wouldn't be as sweet if there weren't the hard work, sweat and tears (or gears, in Marcel's case) to make it feel so incredibly needed. And this year, Christmas once again arrived with all the anticipation, joy, and waiting of a much needed vacation!

Our Christmas this year was pretty fantastic. First of all, I couldn't believe the sheer amount of Christmas-y-ness that flooded Lubango this year! Mostly due to a new shopping mall that simply goes to prove globalization is real: the mall not only played ENGLISH Christmas music all during December, while a glowing four-story high Christmas tree stood majestically in the parking lot, but SANTA even came to town! Sigh ... all the materialistic pleasures of the good ole fashioned Western Christmas ... minus the snow of course!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at home with two South African students from the school--complete with a turkey dinner and even some stuffing. Christmas Day, we headed off to church and then to our pastor's house to celebrate with some church family. This was an awesome opportunity for us to see how Angolans and Brazilians celebrate! Of course, when they asked us to lead a few games, I couldn't resist bringing some mini-sticks to show them "hockey"--our Christmas tradition.

Boxing Day was nothing short of incredible. In the early morning, we packed up the car with pizzas and cookies, and went to visit almost every one of our MAF national staff in their homes! What a humbling, eye-opening, and inspiring day! The majority of our staff are guards--or what I, Kelly, call "the lifeblood of Africa." Why? Well, come and you'll see! On a continent where the gap between rich and poor is great, and the honor system just doesn't work quite the same--guards are the "unskilled labour force" that maintains order and safety in this crazy world.

Anyway, we had been curious for months to see how our friends and MAF family live, and we weren't disappointed. We were welcomed at every house to "Come in, sit down" and get a taste of regular Angolan life. We were humbled--thankful to live in the awesome houses we have, and to have the great pleasures and opportunities life in Canada has afforded us. We were also inspired--many of our guards have worked hard for many years to save up money and build their own houses, many of which were in varying states and sizes, but all an ode to their strength and commitment.

We even got offered a LIVE chicken at one house! WOW! We were humbled ... and honored (and, yes, I, Kelly, was a but horrified ...)

Our day ended with fellowship (and another turkey) with our fellow ex-pat friends, as if to neatly tie up the messy reality of our life here--here we are, somewhere trapped between earth and heaven, rich and poor, Angolan culture and our home culture. And it's a dirty, messy blessing ...

Following these Christmasy days, we enjoyed some rest at home, and even caught a 3-D movie in the brand new theatre in Lubango--ROGUE ONE! Imagine, watching the new Star Wars movie, on the other side of the world ...

And then it was time to pack up for five sweet, sweet days at the beach. Completely isolated. Just us, and a few more of our ex-pat friends, on a beach an hour off the paved road. Only accessible by 4x4.

Well, as you can imagine, this was awesome. Snorkelling. Spearfishing. Perfect weather. Slightly cool, but still agreeable, water. Sunsets. No loud music. No work. No cell signal. Just ... beach.

Oh, and a urinary tract infection. But hey--only in Angola can you get treated on the beach by your doctor friend who conveniently always carries antibiotics and painkillers with them. Best hospital around? You betcha.

So, enjoy a few pics as you get jealous and wish you could be called to Angola too. Because despite the difficulties here, every once in a while, Angola just blows everything out of the water, and rocks our socks off.

Boxing Day family photo ... hey, we tried!

Christmas Eve dinner ... YUM! 

Ethan's first Christmas where he kind of got what was happening! New toys!

Stop #6 of 8, visiting our national staff! Rafael and his kids.

The kids table on Boxing Day ... now that's a good looking crew of missionary kids!

Deserted beach in a river valley, in a desert ... who's in? Post-Christmas camping!

Well, that was a good hour or two spearfishing! Made for some good eats.

Perfect.

Kids + Sand = Parenting win!