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!