12 Qs and As

As you may have read, I am staying at the African Inland Mission, Mayfield Guest House in Nairobi, Kenya till the end of May.  I wrote a previous post about the things Missionaries talk about, which was my jumping off point for this post.  As I wait on the Lord people come and go through Mayfield which means I answer the same questions a lot.  It has given me the time to process and learn.  So here it goes,

1Q: Where are you from?

That is a hard question to answer in a Missionary context, because many missionaries have been on the field longer than they have been off.    

A: I am from the Chicagoland Area – Wheaton.  Or I say, “I am serving in Madagascar.”  

2Q: What are you doing there?

A: Learning.  I explain that my leaders have been there 10 years and that I am learning from them.  

This prompts the question…

3Q: What are they doing?

A: Storying and Church Planting – They have translated Bible stories into a local dialect and are using that to grow the church in villages around Toliara. 

4Q: What are you learning?

A: I am learning the language and culture.  I live with a native family there and my host mama takes care of me.  I speak Malagasy with them all the time because they don’t know much English. 

5Q: People are often surprised that I live with a native family and want to know what that is like.

A:  We eat rice and my host mama feeds me well. 

People often respond that it must be hard to live with a native family, which is true, but it has helped me learn the language and their culture and my host mama takes care of me.  

6Q: What are you doing in Toliara?

A: I teach English and the Bible

7Q: In schools?

A: Wherever I am invited, so yes, and in small groups.

8Q: Where is Toliara? 

A: The south, west, coast of Mada (people comment about the long names in Mada, which prompts my response that we shorten everything).  I live on the coast.  Think of Mada like California, but an island. 

9Q: People often ask if I eat fish

A: The short answer, yes, but some people do more than others. I like fish!  

10Q: Inevitably I get the question - How long are you at Mayfield? - or some form thereof.

This one is hard to answer directly to strangers because it prompts more personal questions, but…

A: I have been here 2 weeks and I will be here 4 more weeks. 

11Q: A few times I have gotten the question, do you hope to go back?

A: As I wait on the Lord for what’s next, I joke with people and ask, back where?  Since, I know I will be back in some compasidy.  Even if it is just to pack up my things for the month AIM suggests is needed to end well in a place, I say “yes, I hope to be back.”

12Q: I have been asked – Why Mada or how did I end up there?

A: It’s a long story, but the short answer is, Ask God!