Animals

PETA would be a little overwhelmed in our country!  We have a few dogs on our street that are obviously hungry and probably mistreated.  It is very sad, but stray dogs are a pretty normal thing, and kids on the street are not always nice!  But the few on our street bark all night sometimes.  I have even thought about killing them, sometimes when it is 2 am and i'm still listening to them.   However, we will not have to listen to that tonight.  When Kirk brought the girls home from school today, there was a garbage truck with three big dead dogs in it and they were taking the puppies.  It was really sad and Ayden was really upset.  Kirk didn't see it in time to shelter the kids from this sight.  So Ayden came in crying, Addie didn't like it but didn't say much and Annie Lynne said, there are 3 big dogs sleeping in that truck out there.  I love the way we can choose how we look at things.
Sad but a life lesson for us all.  It is really just sad in general the way animals are treated here.  Not everyone but a large precent of the people really just don't care about animals and will be very mean to them.
We went to look at rabbits and I know the man thought we were crazy, Ayden is looking and petting them and seeing which she would love the most and everyone else there is just buying them to eat.  There is nothing wrong with eating rabbits, just culturally a little different since these rabbits are tame and have been taken care of, not just shot in the woods.
From seeing the carcasses hanging everyday at the meat shop to the stray cats and dogs that look pretty bad, and the goats eating at all the garbage dumps; I think PETA would be a little overwhelmed.  I'm overwhelmed somedays by it all.

adoption and inheritance

Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with my teacher as we talked about how we view adoption.  She told me a sad story of a baby that was left at a door step, the family living in that house took the little girl in and have loved her now for about 8 years.  They have taken great care of this little girl and she said that the little girl is the favorite (there was already 13 kids in the family) but she said the little girls knew that she didn't have a mom and dad and when the mom and dad die she will not get any inheritance.  I tried to explain that if I adopted a child that child would be part of our family and treated just the same as our other children, even legally she would have the same rights.  I gave her a couple of different examples of families who had adopted that also had their own children.  She really could not believe that this would not cause problems between the children, surely they would be jealous or want more of the inheritance.  I talked about how the difference comes from a different belief.  We believe that God has adopted us into His family and therefore we can share in the inheritance.  One more hurdle to cross when sharing the Truth.  Believing you can really never be part of another family.  I am so thankful that the Father has given us this example and that we can be part of His family!

cultural differences

On Friday the kids and I went to a birthday party for a neighbors little boy. Birthday parties aren't very common here, but in recent years more and more people have started having them. (My teacher doesn't even know when her birthday is, and that is pretty common). Anyway, I received and invitation to this party a few days before and the girls friends really wanted us to come. So Friday after fellowship and after lunch with one of Kirk's friends that owns a small restaurant here me and girls headed out. The girls they play with were waiting on the street for us and showed me where the house was. I thought it was funny even though not unusual that I did not know any of the ladies there. I may have met the mom at another party, like shook her hand, but I did not remember her at all. She seemed very happy I was there and the girls did great playing with the other kids, Addie even came and said, "I made a friend!" I was really happy for her because she is the one that usually has the hardest time. Anyway, after we settled in the house I asked the mom where her little boy was, the one who's birthday it was, she said, "he is at a friends house changing clothes." This was at 4:00 he did not show up to his party until 7:00. Crazy, or at least crazy for us. No one other than me seemed to wonder or even notice that he was not there. Finally at 7:00 he arrived and shortly after we all sang and ate. Finally at 8:00 I said my goodbyes and we headed home. We were one of the first to leave. No opening presents, they usually don't do that in front of people and no men. I did think, how sad that his dad will not ever be at his birthday party. The electricity was out from about 5:00-8:00 so most of our time there was in the dark talking and playing by candlelight. It was a good visit for me, I met some new neighbors and got some phone numbers so hopefully I'll get to see some of these ladies again. Even though it was a birthday party for a four year old little boy, some of the ladies were in very "dressy" clothes. The mom was wearing a low cut very short red dress with black stocking and lots of makeup. Some of the guest were also in those kinds of clothes. We with our western mindsets would think that was inappropriate, but here if she had not been dressed that way for a party at her house, it would have been inappropriate. It always amazing me what is under all that black! So what was different about this b-day party and all the ones I have been to in America: EVERYTHING!!! the clothes, the food, the activities, the fact that the guest of honor wasn't even there most the time! But different does not mean wrong, just different.

Our crazy life

We tried to prepare our children so say goodbye to our family and friends when we left America, but I never thought about all the people we would be saying goodbye too here. After we had been overseas for a couple of months, a friend who had lived here for about 7 years looked at me and said "I told myself I wasn't going to become friends with anymore of you short-term people." (this is when Kirk and I were planning only to stay for two years) I thought her comment was kind of strange but just let it go. Now I understand. There is only one couple and one single lady that is still here that was here when we arrived. We have said good-bye to so many people including the lady that said that to me. Her and her husband left to go work in another country. We have also said good-bye to other families, some of whom are working in other countries now, and some that have left to head back to the states. In the next few months we will be saying good-bye to three single ladies. These ladies have become our family and the girls will grieve their leaving. It will be so sad when we bring them to the airport. I never realized how quickly these people would become our family. I am thankful that the Father provided a family for us here, but it will be very hard to say goodbye to each of them. The Father teaches me so many truths each time we go through this, but I think the main thing that I have learned is that this is not our home and our security is not in the places or people here. As I think about Abram's one year of life and all the different people that have been in and out of our lives in just that one year and all the different houses he has lived in one year (5),sometimes I think this is not good, he will have no sense of security, but then the Lord gently reminds me where our security should be. Hard lesson, but one I need. I loved growing up in one place with all our family and friends around, and I never wanted anything different for my children. But the Father has chosen a different life for them, and I am just praying that they will know who He is in all this craziness that we call life. Saying good-bye will be hard but we know the Father will send other people that we can fellowship with, or He will be all that we need!!!

like Christmas

Today the power has been GREAT! It has been awful the last week or so, but we have had power most of today. Then earlier water started coming in!!! Electricity and water at the same time. We were both so excited, it was almost like Christmas :) I never thought these things would make us so happy!!! We washed clothes and put the kids in the tub. Usually we have to call a water truck and turn the generator on to turn the pump on to get the water from the bottom tank to the top tank. But today, no water truck (it is so much cheeper when it comes in from the city) water from the city and no generator. What a day!!!

no lights

The night before Kirk got home, we had no power. This is a picture of me and the kiddos having a candlelit meal together. Sometimes we try to make it fun when we are all sitting around in the dark. Ayden's favorite thing to do when the power is out at night is to play hide-n-seek. She likes it, but they are all scared. And usually we ended up scaring each other. But pretty fun!

make-up

This is a picture from my last visit. As I was talking the girls were playing with her girls, the next thing I knew mine were covered in make-up!!! They loved it, glad they were having fun with their new friends, even though it did take a while to wash that all off! Before we left the lady asked me if I needed to wash the girls faces before we headed home. It wouldn't be appropriate for their girls to be out on the street with make-up on. It was pretty dark so I said I thought they were fine, plus I wanted Kirk to see their faces :) She agreed but she was a little concerned I think. The culture is just so different! In America I just would not want people to see them looking so silly, here girls just shouldn't be wearing things that draw attention to themselves. We both normally wouldn't let our kids go out like that, just for different reasons.

shrimp

While Kirk was gone, Annie Lynne and I went to the little fish market and picked up some shrimp so we could have a special meal when Kirk got home. It was nice to eat some shrimp, a little taste of home. Annie Lynne enjoyed the market too. All the fish just laying there to look at. The smell is awful but she really liked it. I was a little worried, the shrimp we bought were in cold water, but no ice. But they tasted fine and none of us got sick :) Next maybe we will try to get some fish to fry! We are getting a little tired of chicken!!! but I have learned how to cook chicken many different ways so that has been good! I guess we could just get over it and learn to like and cook lamb and goat, just not there yet :)

another sad story

It seams like lately all I have blogged about is sad stories. I think as my language has gotten a little better (still have a long way to go) I can understand more of the stories that I am hearing. I was visting with a lady I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. She lives here away from her family and her husband is not very kind to her. As I was visitng with her yesterday another lady came in. She was also from a different city and here alone. She lives next door to this lady. Her story was even sadder. Her husband is here working so his family is not here and her family is not here. They rent a little small area inside a house. They have one small room that works for their bedroom/living room/ kitchen (she has a little hot plate thing she cooks on), and they have a little bathroom that is seperate. That is it. Their room has no windows and is very small. She has been married nine months and lost a baby when she was four months pregnant. If all that is not sad enough, she never leaves her "house" unless it is to visit this lady, and she is only allowed to do that every once in a while. They told us that in the last three months she only left her "house" three times. Her husband locks her in the house so that she can't leave. Can't imagine this kind of life, living in a prison when you have not commited a crime. On a good note, we were able to share a lot with these two ladies, hopefully she will be able to come over again when we are there. I will be bringing a Book to the other lady next week. (she asked for one, so that she could understand better and see where our Book is wrong and hers is right). Thankful I do not have to be afraid I know my Book is from the Father and the more she reads it, even if it is to try and prove it wrong, it has the power to change hearts. Please be lifting up these two ladies. We will call the first one Jamela (this means beautiful) and the second one (the younger one that just lost the baby) Araja (to hope). That they would know the one that can give them hope.

10 years old

Yesterday some of the girls friends wanted to come in and play, and they were in the gate with their little brothers before I could say anything. We have a rule about no boys in the house, especially if Kirk is not home. So now they were all in our yard and then I proceeded to tell them that the boys could not come in the house. The girls went in to play and I sat on the steps with Miley and talked to the boys. They are 7,8, and 10 years old. They were being nice to Miley and then asked to hold her, after a minute and after taking a picture I turned my head and they did something to her, not sure what. She went crazy! and she ended up biting one of them. something I was very afraid of. It wasn't bed but she did get him on both legs and she drew a little blood on one. I cleaned the spot and put a bandaid over it. She really does not like nationals!!! and I can't blame her because they usually do something to provoke her. However, the 10 year old limped around for about 10 minutes and he was all worried, I assured him she was "clean" had her shots and he wouldn't get sick. But I thought that might not be the end of it, and it wasn't. After they finally left, they came back about 10 minutes later, with some cousins and an older girl. They wanted to make sure that Miley was "clean." I'm sure they wanted money too, but I assured them that the boy was fine. I thought they might come back again, but that was it :) Another story about the boy… I was inside and overheard him say that he really wanted to go "chew." The people her chew a mild narcotic. It is a major problem in this country and daily you see men on the street buying, selling, and chewing. It is legal. Women also chew,but only in homes, so you don't see it as much. After I heard him say this, I walked out and said "how old are you?" Thats when I found out that he was only 10. He told me that was normal and he liked chewing. I asked him where he got the money for that and who buys it for him, of course, it was his dad. He did say that he can't chew everyday, just sometimes or at special events. I did tell him how bad it is for his mind and body, but he thought I was crazy, i'm sure. It is such a BIG problem here, in a country where the average income is under $2 a day and they spend all they make on a drug. Many times they can't buy enough food, or medicine for their children but they are chewing. and on top of all that, after they have been chewing for a while it is really hard to talk to them about anything! Lots of obstacles here!!! But we do love the people and know that this is where we are suppose to be, having that assurance really keeps me going when I see things like this.

Book

I went to go see a family the other day, one that we have known for a long time that I visit pretty often. The oldest daughter of the family has something wrong with her leg and she can not walk. The next daughter is about 20 and I found out a few weeks ago that she is engaged. It would be unusual for the second daughter to marry first, but since the oldest is disable she may not ever marry. (She has been disabled since she was just a few months old). The daughter who is getting married, her name means "rich" she thought that she would be living in this city after marriage. Even though her husband if from another city, he would come here to work, instead he travel to the country to the north for work. That means in about 8 or 9 months she will be moving. She will move to the other city, which is more like a village to live with his family, none of whom she has met. She will not see or even talk to her future husband before the wedding night. Even through all of this she is excited, somewhat, excited and scared! After talking about that, the conversation turned to religion and she asked me for a Book. She seems really interested in reading and finding out more. While there her mother asked me how I pray, so I started telling her how when we pray we are just talking to God, it is not rote or memorized it is just about growing closer to Him and hearing what He has to say to our hearts. She then told me about how they pray and to show me the 5 pr. positions. As she was doing this her daughter said "she already knows all this you don't need to do that." Through the entire conversation she never argued with anything I said and she and the oldest daughter seemed very interested. I also was able to share about the differences in why and how we fast. Through all of it, I was able to talk about the relationship with have with God, and how that is the most important thing. The daughters were also very interested in the fact that the Book contains all 3 Books. The Old and the New and Psalms. They did not know that all three will come in one book. I will be going back soon to bring her the Book in her language. Please be lifting that time up and all the moments that follow as she reads and learns what the Lord says!!!