Guest Blog by Papa Spann

In a little under a month from now, Kevin's parents (Mimi and Papa Spann) will be making the long trek to Africa to visit us! We are so excited to have them come to our "neck of the woods" and experience what life is like for us in Africa. That being said, wouldn't it be nice to hear an "outsider's" perspective on their first time visiting another continent/culture/third world country? So we asked the parents to write a few posts about their thoughts, their experiences, and overall opinions on stepping outside of their comfort zone. 

Here is the first in our guest blog series...

“I’m just fine right here Mrs. Flood”

The above quote was made by Kevin when his kindergarten teacher was moving all of his classmates to different tables.  Kevin was comfortable where he was and wasn't interested in change.  Since you are reading this on Kevin and Tasha’s blog you probably have a sense for how much change has occurred in their lives in the past five years or so.  Apparently he has learned to at least adapt to change.

In about a month, Debby and I will be getting on a plane to visit Kevin, Tasha, and our granddaughter.  We already know about many of the differences between our lives here and what life is like in Kinshasa.  Unpredictable electrical power (ours was just off for 2 days), water that must be purified before drinking, and the constant crush of life in a different culture are all things we are aware of and are somewhat prepared for.  But, it’s not the change in the daily routine that concerns me.  Up to this point in my life the realities and  struggles of people living in third world countries have come from news clips on TV that  get quickly pushed out of my mind at the end of the six o’clock news.  How will I react to what I am about to encounter?  I have never seen the level of need that exists there.  How will my heart react to what my eyes see?  Could it be that my heart is saying, “I’m just fine right here....God”?

An African Parasite

So I (Tasha) caught a parasite in Africa. The doctor said symptoms typically last 9 months and then sporadically takes care of itself! The doctor said I might actually even come to enjoy having a parasite...we will see...

A Memorable Flight

Sorry for the long delay in posting - there has been quite a lot going on and not much time to write about it. We just got back from a much needed vacation less than a week ago and I have already flown over 10 hours.

Many of my flights are memorable, but the one I took yesterday was even more special. I received my first field PFR (proficiency flight review) since arriving here. We take pride in our safety and professionalism, so every 6 months an instructor pilot joins us to watch us during an operational flight. Once our passengers deplane, we go and do some maneuvers (or manoeuvers, depending on what continent you are in) and simulated emergencies. Here is what my flight path was during some of that review.

It was fun getting to wring the airplane out but that wasn't the best part. About 5 months ago one of our pilots was flying near Kikongo, in the Bandudu province of DRC, and received a call for an emergency medical evacuation. The call came from a missionary at the pastoral training school who had a staff member complaining of a bad headache that had lasted for a week, then became less and less responsive and the local doctors didn't have the equipment needed to help him.

Our pilot was able to pick him up and fly them back to Kinshasa where there are better facilities available. We hadn't heard any follow-up from them until last week when they booked their flight to go back home. The morning of the flight came and as I was preparing the airplane ,I had a short opportunity to talk with my passenger and his wife before we took off. But upon landing, I quickly realized how special this man was to the people of Kikongo. As I taxied up to the parking area, even with the engine running (keep in mind it's an un-muffled turbo-diesel engine, spinning a large propeller... PLUS wearing our helmet with noise cancelling headphones...), I could still hear people singing, beating drums and chanting. 

There is a very eerie death wail that people do here when they mourn the loss of a family member or friend. It is quite loud, and the word "sorrowful" just doesn't do it justice. I have heard that quite a lot with the flights we do taking the deceased and their family members interior. 

But this was the first time I had heard the rejoicing wail. It was beautiful! There were a few men that held back the crowd until I could stop the engine. As soon as I shut down the villagers surrounded the airplane, still wailing, jumping, singing, and playing the drums - nearly yanking the husband and his wife from the airplane and engulfing them. As I unloaded the cargo and prepared for the next leg, the group continued to celebrate. Finally, the man said a few words and someone prayed, and the singing started again as they walked off to the school where the ministers-in-training were taking their end-of-year tests. If a group of 100 can make that kind of sound, I can't wait to hear what a multitude of angels sound like when we join our Lord!

 

What Does Tasha Do All Day?...Part 2

In my last post, I had mentioned that I wrote a letter to one of our churches who had asked I speak a little about my personal call to ministry here in Africa. There was such a positive outpouring from what I wrote that I felt it was something that was meant to be shared with everyone. The first part of the letter talked a little about my personal call to ministry and where is stands right now. In the second part of the letter (found below), I wrote down what my day to day life literally looks like. Please feel free to ask questions!

I wake up with baby girl and nurse her. After nursing, I make breakfast. How long this takes depends on if there is any electricity or not. If there is no electricity, I will use the propane stove. Breakfast is usually eggs (from our chickens, or local, or a mix), fresh fruit, and sometimes local bread. If there is no electricity and it is a very hot morning, we will do yogurt and fruit (otherwise, it will spoil).

After breakfast, we must clear the table and wipe the floor down or ants will fill the floor very quickly. All dishes to the sink. Then, baby girl and I will try to do playtime.

If there is electricity, I will sneak out to start washing laundry (which takes about 3 hours to wash), or hang laundry (indoor to keep flies away), or filter water so that we have fresh water available and ready in bottles (which takes a while).

If there is no electricity and it is not too muggy outside (too many mosquitos), sweet pea and I will go outside to walk around the yard. We also feed and water the rabbits and gather eggs (if the guinea fowl is not sitting on them).

Lunch time comes during the hottest part of the day, so lunch becomes less desirable to make in the heat, but I manage. Especially if I have to cook it on a hot propane eye! After lunch is naptime. I make Adah wash her hands and feet and then I will nurse her to sleep. If there is no electricity, this becomes a difficult chore, holding and rocking a sweaty baby. During sweet pea’s naptime, I will try to do some Bible time before napping myself.

After baby girl gets up, we do more chores – sometimes stuffing the cloth diapers, sometimes ironing (things get pretty rough when they are dried indoors), sometimes bleaching and rinsing off fruits and vegetables, sometimes washing and bleaching dishes, sometimes folding laundry, and sometimes prepping our dinner. All of this depends on if there is electricity or not (or water). On the days with no electricity, I get a break from work, but not from the heat.  Some days, baby girl and I just sit in the dark bedroom with a small fan watching Sesame Street trying to stay cooled off.  If there has been no electricity all day, we have to run the generator to keep the refrigerator cool, and we might get to turn on one AC unit!!!

Usually right before daddy gets home, it will be beginning to cool down and we will go walking up and down the street, greeting people. But we always dress up in our skirts because you always go out in your best dressed.

Once daddy is home we talk and play for a while before starting supper. After dinner, we make sure to clean up the floor or roaches will eat the leftovers in the middle of the night. Then we will either have a bath or a thorough hand and feet washing. After we brush our teeth, we do book time, then prayer time, and then nursing (which is pretty miserable with a hot sweat baby and no electricity).

At the end of some days, not much is accomplished, but things take twice as long to do here. Like if I want to boil chicken, I have to use filtered water, which requires filtering, which requires electricity to take from a working faucet. If I want to eat the apple that was just dropped off by the vegetable lady; I have to let it soak in bleach water for 20 minutes. Then I have to scrub them. Then I have to rinse them in filtered water and thoroughly dry them.  Not a quick process.  If I run  low on laundry, it takes at least 3 hours to wash in the European machines (which are half the size of American ones), and then wait for a day for them to dry (inside or flies will lay eggs on them).

So, welcome to Africa! ;-) 

What Does Tasha Do All Day?...Part 1

I had recently been asked to share a little of what I do everyday. So, I wrote a letter to one of our churches talking about my personal call to ministry in Africa (part 1) and my daily life/chores (part 2). There was such a positive outpouring from what I wrote that I felt that it was something that was meant to be shared with everyone. Below you will find the first part of my letter concerning my ministry in Africa. I will later share with you what I do on a daily basis. Please feel free to comment!

A Summary on the Ministry of Motherhood in the Mission Field of Africa

Before coming to Africa, I had such grand ideas of what sorts of missions I would be involved in. Mission Aviation Fellowship is very open in the different types of ministries the spouses can join. I thought of teaching women to become self-sufficient so that they could take better care of their health; I thought of teaching English to women using the Bible so they can get better jobs; I thought of working with children, feeding those who are hungry. I am many grand ideas, but God had other plans for me.

Once arriving in Africa, I had the opportunity to meet the spouses and share in their ministries. One woman helps with a group called “The Tabitha Project.” They take women who worked on the streets (as current prostitutes or soon-to-be headed in that direction) and they teach them the Bible and forgiveness as well as a local trade (such as sewing or doing hair). Another wife volunteers at a local orphanage, holding the children and providing them with the personal attention they desire and lack due to overcrowding. Yet another wife has become involved with the “Matadi Center” which is similar to the Tabitha Project, taking at-risk women and children and giving them an opportunity to provide for themselves by learning a trade. All of these ministries appealed to me in so many ways. I even had a woman ask me to teach her English. All of the grand ideas I had were laid before me. What does a girl do with so many choices? PRAY!!!

I took it all to the Lord. I began praying in earnest and with eagerness, telling God how much each of these ministries would be a perfect fit for me - the skills I can provide; the testimonies I can share; the joy I have in my heart. Like the pieces to a puzzle all the opportunities were waiting in a box and I asked God if I could begin sorting them.  But God told me very clearly, “no, not yet.” I thought for sure God meant there was another opportunity waiting for me around the corner. So I waited. But nothing happened. I prayed again to God, crying out, “Here I am, Lord. Use me!” But God told me very clearly, “no, not yet.” Why was God denying me my chance to shine?

In the midst of my prayers, I was doing a women’s Bible study called “Discerning the Voice of God.” That Bible study was an absolute God-send for me. Working through this study I was able to more clearly hear God’s voice and discern his desires for me at this time in my life. God has asked me to take time to learn the culture and maybe even learn the local language called Lingala. He feels that my ministry is my daughter. While I was seeking self-gratification through ministries to help others, I was not looking before me at the chance to help my daughter grow closer to the Lord. I understand that there are many seasons in life, and perhaps my time to get involved in a local ministry will be soon, but not now.

While I want to share with everyone all the “great things” I am “accomplishing” by teaching locals all about God, I cannot. But I can tell you how my daughter faithfully bows her head before every meal and waits for me to pray. She even eagerly adds “Amen” to the end. I want to tell you about all the people I have met through local ministries, but I cannot. Instead, I can tell you about all the people I have met by taking walks with my daughter, who shines her little smile and wins the hearts of the locals. She even eagerly greets each person with a hand shake and says, “ça va?” to ask how they are in greeting.  I want to share with you all about people I have begun to teach English using a French Bible, but I cannot. Instead, I can tell you all the new English and French words my daughter has learned.

There was a time when I felt disappointed with the idea that I was not out there, helping people every day. But I have to be honest; God has shown me the error of my ways and taught me an important lesson.  The ministry of motherhood is a very important ministry that God has called me to do and I am eagerly taking this on with as much joy as I would have for any local ministry.

Forgive Us Our Sins

The other day I was thinking of the passage in Luke 11 where Jesus prayed. When he finished praying, one of his disciples asked for Jesus to teach them how to pray. So Jesus responded, “When you pray, say this,” and he recites the Lord’s Prayer.  I thought it might be fun to come up with my own prayer using the main ideas from each line. So I tried it out, paraphrasing the concepts to learn better how to pray. But I stopped when I came to this line:

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us” (Luke 11:4, NLT).

A thought suddenly came to me - what if God had not given us the gift of Jesus, who died to forgive us of all of our sins? What if, each day, we were only forgiven as many times as we forgave others? Harsh reality! I am just thankful that the Lord’s forgiveness is not limited to my acts of grace.

Nearly each Saturday, Kevin and I have the same little “spat.” Kevin wakes up bright and early and is ready to tackle his “Honey-Do List.” I wake up and want Kevin to make up for all the hours he missed out with our little girl during the week but was at work. We say the same words, playing the same cards in our pile of trumps, and always conclude the “discussion” the same way, with a frustrating draw. Kevin resenting the fact that at the end of the weekend there will still be things that need to be done, and only he can do them, and me begrudgingly realizing there aren't enough hours in the day to spend together as a family.

But what about forgiveness; what if at the end of the day God only forgave me of my transgressions as long as I had practiced mercy to others? I certainly didn't apologize and neither did Kevin, our stubbornness adding to our pile of stresses (let’s face it, life here isn't easy). There are many adages and sayings about people wishing they had just one more day or if they had just said sorry or if they could have done things differently. Maybe we should practice more clemency and hold less grudges. Maybe we should open our hearts to generosity and let in the Lord’s will for our lives instead of holding onto our own.

“The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere.” (James 3:17, NLT).

Goat + Missing Passenger + Weather = Another Day at the Office

One of the last blogs I wrote, I went to Djolu. I went there again several Saturdays ago.The traffic was very light on the way to the airport, which gave me a bit of time to study the clouds. There was a high, thin overcast with low, scattered rain clouds. Not a problem, and the satellite image looked good too. Here is a link to our only weather resource here, for those interested in how we get our weather.

Because it is such a long flight, the timing is critical or else we cannot make it back before sunset. So I got to the airport early and prepared the airplane. While I was filing the flight plan, I got a call that weather was great at my fuel stop, but my first passenger hadn't showed up yet; nor could he be reached by telephone. The check-in process for passengers can take an hour, or longer, and it was already 7 so this was a problem. He was just going to be along for the ride and the true purpose of the flight was the passengers in Djolu waiting to come back. So we made the decision to leave without him and arrange something in the future.

I was able to get out of Kinshasa in a very timely fashion, breezed through my first fuel stop, and then on to Djolu. After landing, checking the fuel and a few other things, I turned my attention to my 3 passengers and their growing stack of bags. On the way, I was able to find a great tailwind and landed about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The problem is the engine burned 20 minutes less fuel. Therefore I landed with more fuel than I had originally anticipated and thus had less available weight. Either way, it should not have matter. I had 250 kilograms (550 lbs) available. Unfortunately, they brought 280 kg (620 lbs). An hour later (now 40 minutes behind schedule) we got the weight down and then came the puzzle of where to put it in the airplane.

Finally we were loaded, started it up, finished the checklists and radio calls and proceeded to add power for takeoff. As I continued the takeoff roll, I noticed the goat who was grazing at the edge of the runway was now in the middle of the runway. I hoped he would move when he heard me coming, but nope. As part of our training in Nampa, we spent a whole day practicing takeoff aborts which are trickier than they sound. So I got to do my first aborted takeoff with passengers...fully loaded....on a hot day. We stopped quickly, turned around and taxied back. Someone started to chase after the goat on foot. Then another guy going to help the first guy. Then a guy on a motorcycle...then 50 other guys running down to chase 1 goat off the runway. So 10 minutes later, after the goat was long gone, everyone else finally cleared the runway and we were able to take off (1 hour and 10 minutes behind schedule).

After a long slow climb to 10,000 feet I was able to find another great tailwind and started making up significant time. I noticed some clouds building just on the horizon. The closer we got, the bigger they grew and the darker they became. I began deviating around them hoping they wouldn't put me too far off course, but alas no matter how I weaved, I had to go several miles out of the way to safely navigate around them. Even the most experienced seamstress would have admired at the weaving I had to do for the next 75 miles. Finally with all the clouds and rain behind me, the race to sunset was back on. I called back to base on the HF radio, and we determined a very quick fuel stop in Semendua would get me back with about 30 minutes of sunlight remaining.

After an incredibly quick re-fueling and bathroom break, we were back in the air. Air traffic Control was able to help out, and I actually ended up landing with about 40 minutes to spare. Add up another 9 hours of flying and 1050 miles to the log book.

Did I mention I love my job?