Get Rhythm

Theresa and I are both fans of rhythm. While neither of us has it in the musical sense we love it in our daily patterns. We both enjoy having a sense of what the day will hold. Africa, often having it in the musical sense, does not seem to have it in the daily living sense.

From the beginning this was something we knew we had to choose to not only accept but also embrace. After two years in Nigeria we know fighting it is useless. We have to charge full steam ahead into the seeming chaos that always seems to move to a beat we’ve yet to learn.

All that to say, each day looks different and there isn’t much rhythm other than language lessons three days a week. So, I wanted to offer a quick glimpse of my “typical not-typical” day.

This morning, after breakfast, checking e-mail and IU basketball news (you know, the important stuff) and a quiet time, I rode (bicycle) in to the theological college in Mundri. Shawn, our team leader, and I met with the principle to discuss our future involvement. This meeting turned into us changing light bulbs while standing on a table.

After the meeting/electrical work we met with a “local” man named Manny. Manny is Moru (the predominant tribe in Mundri) however his Mother married a British man and when the war started they moved to Kenya. Manny eventually went to college in England and played professional basketball there. He has returned to Mundri as a missionary using sports to bring peace and the Gospel. His ministry, Flysports, recently purchased land to develop for the sports activities. We got to walk the boundary and pray over the future use of the land.

After lunch in town I had my language lesson with Francis. We read through a dialogue about doing business in the market. I learned how to ask someone to “reduce” the price and plan on trying it out asap.

Theresa’s lesson ended at the same time as mine so we purchased a few items for dinner and rode home with food in our bags and eggs strapped to my back.

The rest of the day will include making dinner, doing dishes, prayer time with our team and probably watching an episode of the West Wing.

So, that was today. Tomorrow looks (at this point) completely different. We pray that as we can’t find rhythm in our daily comings and goings we will find it in Christ. That our days will be filled with the awareness of His presence and that will become more and more of all the “rhythm” we need. Finally, we pray we will learn His rhythm and will follow that beat regardless of where it leads us.