First Week As “The Boss”

It was the ebb and flow, the high and low. This was a week full of the evidence of the good and bad of being in “the big chair”. To start the week I had to deal with a situation that involved the physical removal of a student from campus. It was a tough introduction to my new role. However, today the week ended with the perks of being the boss. One of the students, looking to impress the head man, made me a banana milkshake then gave me a massage. It was great! Most of the week was full of the mundane, but I am hoping for more days like Friday. It was much better then Monday.

Nothing Much To Say

Well, it has been a few days since I got around to posting on the blog. Just wanted to say that I am alive and well, just nothing much has been happening. I have been spending most of my week doing the mundane things needed to run/open a Bible School. Preparing class notes, cleaning the office, organizing receipts, writing student reports, interviewing new students… really nothing all that exciting. Necessary, but nothing to write home about. In fact, that is why I haven’t written home about it!

Sunday Service

We had a great service this morning in a village area of the city. I can say a lot about it but need some time to gather my thoughts better. One thing that did strike me is the fact that we surely do this work for the spiritual blessing and not the carnal. We received an offering this morning for preaching, in fact, we received the entire morning offering. This is an amazing thing to start with as we usually don’t get an offering and don’t expect one. However, when offered we accept offerings as it is a blessing to the congregation to give to the “man of God”. Anyway, after the meeting we went and bought a few things. With our offering, remember this was the entire offering, we were able to buy a loaf of bread and a package of toilet paper. I’ve talked to many locals and foreigners who think that missionaries are getting rich, but I can tell you that is not the case where we are serving.

Another Meeting

Last night was a hard night in some ways. We had another service, but this one was in memory of the many Christians who had been murdered or made homeless by recent violence in a near-by village. We had a good meeting and the people gave a good offering and prayed much for those in need. Afterwards I had to start dealing with my first real problem as vice-principal of the Bible College. Then I got home and received notice that Sis Willoughby had passed away. In the matter of the persecuted Christians I told the church we could be a strength to those in need and that they could find comfort in our faith. The same is true for the Willoughby’s and the church in Singapore. Our prayers can offer a strength and comfort at this time of need so let’s lift them up together.

New Life Opening

Yesterday was a busy day, but perhaps the most exciting part was the official opening service for our Bible School, New Life Theological Seminary. It was a great honor for me to “cut the ribbon”. At the start of events here they always have a ribbon across a doorway or held by two people. The guest of honor then cuts the ribbon to open the event. As the new Vice Principal this was my duty yesterday. After a short speech from yours truly we then had a feast of spiced rice and chicken. It was a great way to start the year, of course food is a great way to start anything!

Rain

This is sort of mundane but it has been raining everyday this week. Not constantly, just on and off. This morning however, I saw something that, as the locals would say, “I’ve never seen like that before”. I was driving to school this morning and took one of the main roads which is 8 lanes wide. Of the 4 lanes on our side of the road we were in the lane furtherest to the right. Our side of the road was dry and the sun was out. 3 lanes to our left the road was soaked and rain was pouring down. It was weird but kind of neat to see.

DR Appointment

Last night we took Zander to a local doctor. There is nothing wrong, we just wanted to meet the man who may be our son’s Dr and find out what vaccinations he would suggest to us as “strangers in a strange land.” The appointment went well, Zander is healthy and growing. In fact, Zander tipped the scales at over 13 pounds. Just thought everyone would want to know our little boy is getting a little less little everyday.

Sunday

Yesterday we made our way to church. Mom and Zander both enjoyed the experience but were very hot. Zander had to leave for the last little bit of service but the people were very excited to see him for the first time. These people have been very kind to us and had been praying for this blessing for a few years. Afterwards we went to the pastors house and met his twin week old daughters. Zander was like a monster next to these two tiny babies. But the best part of the whole day was that mom ate her first fully local meal. It wasn’t really spicy but it had a bit of kick and she had two helpings! We are very proud of her.

Marriage

On Thursday I was at the Bible School and when the power was out it was too hot to do anything. So the staff just sat in the shade and chatted for a while. The topic that came up, is love marriage better then arranged marriage? It was interesting, here were two men in arranged marriages and one was saying love marriage is better, the other was extolling the virtues of an arranged marriage. I found this interesting. The man in favor of arranged marriages said that they rarely end in divorce. Mostly because divorce is really frowned upon in nations where arranged marriage is still practiced. But he indicated another reason. He said that during the first year or so of marriage he and his wife had a very hard time adjusting. Which I know is the case even in a love marriage! However, he said, because his parents and her parents arranged the marriage, it was the parents responsibility to help solve any problems in the marriage. He said this helps save many marriages because everyone involved realizes that marriage is more then a union of two people, but a union of families. This strong family tie will help bring the marriage through hard times. His point about love marriages is that many families treat them in the sense that “you, as a couple, got yourselves into this mess, you can get yourselves out”. Now, having been in this culture for a few years, I feel my relationship with Amanda is much stronger then many marriages here because we had to work through things on our own and thus grew closer together, but it was interesting to hear someone discuss the benefits of arranged marriage.

Hi

Perhaps the one bright moment over the weekend was Zander speaking his first word! I say this with a smile of course as he had no idea he was speaking. However, Friday as we sat in the car with the AC running to get cooled off, Zander clearly said, Hi! The three of us (Amanda, mom and I) looked at each other as if to say, did you hear that!, and then we broke out laughing. It was so clear and yet so obviously a fluke. Then again the next day, during a late night arousal, he clearly said Hi! a second time. Amanda and I laughed, it was just too cute. So even when sick, tired, and way too hot, you can still count on a baby to bring some much needed joy!