Mannny Holidays

     I am soo behind on my blog, because I don't commit the time that I should. There are still things that I want to tell you all about that has happened in my life, because these were highlights of my time here. It will also help to show you how things are the same or different from where you live. The many holidays kept us busy for weeks upon weeks. The first big holiday was thanksgiving, all of the missionaries in Bendelay and Bere ate a big American thanksgiving meal together. All us young people ate so much that we couldn't move from our seat after we ate. We sat there half alive still trying to eat dessert. (You know I had to eat dessert still!). Thanksgiving seems to not be about giving thanks, but rather how much can you stuff your mouth. After eating people went back to their respective homes. It didn't feel like thanksgiving to me since we didn't all hang out afterwards, but rather felt like a big potluck. I was homesick after that, because thanksgiving to me is about spending time with people that you care about. That night the young people went over to hang out at Tammy and Jamies house to eat even more and play games. 

      For Christmas break we went on a big trip to the second largest city in Tchad, which is Mondou. About 18 people pilled into two different vehicles. I went with Dr. Denae in the Toyota SUV along with two kids, baby, and three other missionaries. After about an 1 1/2 hour ride we got to the BIG city. We went to Mondou to finish up Christmas shopping and for a fun excursion. Mondou has shops lined up on each side of the street with rows and rows of shops in the middle. People love to go there to shop because there is more of a variety of things that one can buy that may not be anywhere else. The main things that I went there to buy were cheese, coconut milk, and chocolate. It can be hard to find any of those things in smaller cities like Bere'. After shopping for hours Zach, Sara, and I ate at a local sandwich shop that many people rave about. I was delighted to eat an egg sandwich and drink an lemon smoothie. While sipping on my refreshing smoothie I felt like I was in another country for those few moments. 

     In celebration of Tomdiga, Correy and Brishell coming back for Christmas Naomi sent one of her goats over for us to eat. Tomdiga is a student in Cameroon working on his doctorate degree and he is only 19 years old. He is the brother of Vallerie, who is whose family that I eat with daily. Corey and Brishell are Jamie and Tammys kids that came home as a surprise for the holidays. Tammy was missing her kids so much, so Dr. Denae orchestrated for them to come home. The day after Christmas it was time for the big festivity of killing and eating the goat. I could not bare to be there when they killed the baby goat, because it seemed so wrong. But I did go watch them when they were skinning it. That was the first time that I ever saw a goat being skinned. We had a huge feast on the mats in the backyard. We had vegetarian l'osa, goat l'osa, rice, boulle, and pasta. At the feast were the Bere' boys that stay with the Parkers, Vallerie and his family, His sister Angel's kids, His brothers wife Debga and baby Arthur, Naomi and her 5 kids, Parkers and their kids, us 5 that work with Project 21, and two doctors that dropped by. The feast was abruptly interrupted because the Parkers and some others rushed to their land because it had caught on fire. They were able to stop the fire on their land, but it was continuing to burn other fields in the area. 

     The night before christmas we planned on staying up the whole night. We watched a Christmas movie than played outside the game sardines. What happens is one person hides and everyone tries to find that person. Once you find that person you stay with them till everyone is there as well. The first round Josh hide. We searched up and down the compound. I looked in trees, rooms, under cars, and in the shower, but I couldn't find him. After searching for over half an hour I noticed someone that was just with me disappeared, so I knew that he found Josh. Josh was hiding in one of the doctors car in the back seat. It took about an hour before everyone found him. Next Tomdiga went to go hide on the compound. It took a looong time before we found him because he was standing on the edge of the gate where bushes can hide him. After that I went to sleep because it was 3 AM. At 7am I unwillingly went to Dr. Olean and Denae's place for Christmas pancakes, because i was sleep deprived. They gave all of the student missionaries and volunteers a stocking with goodies and treats. My stocking was full of coal because apparently I had been bad that year. LOL. In the afternoon Project 21 volunteers did our gift exchange, I was happy to get a box of cheezits and perfume :). It is the small things in life that I have learned to truly appreciate since I have been here. 

     New years is a big holiday around here for people. Various churches have service throughout the night beforehand. People also cook a special meal which may entail goat or some other special meat for the day. Along with the food they make cock, which is fried dough that is hard like a cookie, but is shaped in various forms. On New Years day people go to family and neighbors houses from early in the morning to give or receive a gift. Some may start as early as 6 am to ensure that they get a gift. If someone sees you in the street they will say "Bonne Annee'" which means happy new year. When they say it to you it also means you are to give them a gift, which could be cocks, candy, or something else. You do not always have to give a gift, but the person may expect something if they are a child. That night we built a bond fire and roasted dough, hotdogs, and marshmallows. We laughed and talked around the fire throughout the night. It felt like we were camping out, but we were still in the compound. Some people slept outside for the rest of the night. The next day in celebration of New Years we decided that we were going to give out gifts to people. On Christmas we gave out gifts and people enjoyed it so much that they decided to do it again for New Years. The truck went out two times full of clothes, toys, candy, and soap. We drove out into the far villages where people are more poor and gave out the items. When we drove down the street we threw things out and yelled out Bonne Annee'. We couldn't stop to give it to everyone because if a lot of people are around they would rush to the vehicle and try to grab things. There were many people that were confused why people were yelling at them while throwing things out of the truck. There were also a lot of people that were yelling with happiness when they got something, even if it was something as simple as candy or soap. It really showed how many things people do not have and are in need. If we were doing this back in the States, not many people would be grateful for soap or a pair of socks. Here the smallest gift can light up someones day. It warmed my heart to know that we were able to give to people new clothes or other items that they may have been praying for awhile. :)

                                                   ~ Eat, Pray, Love, and Give ~  

~ Looking Past Apperances to the Heart ~

  I have heard people say over and over that the Bible comes to life here. Honestly, I can say that the previous statement is very true. Just walking down the streets one can wonder if this is how it looked in Jesus' time. When going to people's house one can think that this is probably how people mingled in the Bible. Another thing that reminds me of the Bible here are the diseases that people suffer from, which seem so foreign to me. A couple of weeks ago I meet a guy who fit the description of someone that reminded me of Bible times. 

     Tammy Parker is one of the missionaries that is working here with her husband. One of her ministries is to help people who do not have money for food, clothes, formula, or their hospital bill. Due to her talking about this guy that she meet here, someone donated money for him to get food and money. She did not know where he lived till recently, so she was not able to give him the things till now. Tammy invited some of us to go with her to give the man these items. 

  On the way over to the man's house many thoughts were circling through my mind…. Tammy had told us that he didn't have leprosy anymore, but what if he still has it. I said to God "I just got over being really sick for weeks, please don't let me get leprosy." Will I have to shake his hand? But then if I don't it will be rude. Then I thought of how God has all power, so can protect me from getting it…

     We arrived at his home and were greeted warmly by his family. Then came the moment I was dreading from before, shaking his hand. His hand for me meant that I may lose mine later, due to getting leprosy. Tammy and Naomi were the first to greet, then the rest of us shook his hand, which was missing the top of the fingers. We all sat down with him on mats that were already laid out on the ground. Tammy presented to him the things that she brought, which were a big bag of rice, soap, money, and possibly some other small items. 

     As Tammy was talking to him I was listening, but taking in the whole scene at the same time. In the Bible Jesus healed lepers, now I was sitting in front of one. He is probably older than 40 years old, lives with his wife and some of his kids, and is unemployed. His eyes are visible, but you cannot realize at first that he doesn't have the best eyesight. His body is very frail, skin is rough, only one hand fully has all fingers, he is missing the front part of each of his feet, and is only wearing a pair of torn up shorts. As i looked, or maybe I should say starred at him, I was investigating everything about him. Then it hit me, I should not be sitting here analyzing everything about him. I should not be treating him like a spectacle, but rather as a human being that wants to be heard not starred at. How many people did not want to shake his hand because he had leprosy? How many people just gawked at him rather than treating him like a regular person? I was no better than them. It reminded me how Jesus mingled with all types of people, not only those that were socially acceptable… 

     After I decided to stop starring I decided to start really listening. As his story unfolded I realized I was listening to someone with an amazing testimony. He has lived in Tchad for all of his life in the Bere area. About thirty years ago there was a war in Tchad, which took many lives. Many of his friends and family were killed by people that just came out of the bush and killed them. One time he was running away from them with his Bible under his arm. The bad men said that they would let him go since He had a Bible. (Isn't that amazing!! I am getting goose bumps thinking about it.) He doesn't remember when he became a leper, but it was a while ago. He used to be a minister before, but now he just ministers to those that will listen. A doctor who was from another country working in this area took it upon himself to help him out. The doctor gave him medicine that would stop his disease from progressing any further. He is human, so he wonders why did God allowed this disease to effect his life as it has. But, despite the disease he takes the time to talk to young people about God, His love, and how to live on the right path. Before we left he decided to give us a show. He started to move his arms and legs from side to side, while singing a song. He joked and said that there was a band playing with him as he sang.

     When we were about to leave we found out that his wife was very sick. Her stomach had been hurting for over a week and she was very frail and weak. Tammy offered to take her to the hospital to have a doctor find out what was wrong with her. To me it seemed that we were meant to go to his house at that time, because we were not only able to help him out, but also his wife. As she was leaving he called her over and gave her the money that he just received from Tammy, so that if she needed anything she would be ok. As we left his house I was no longer afraid to shake his hand. I was not shaking a lepers hand, but a man that loved God. He wore a big smile on his face, which hid all of the pain he lived in his life. I came to the point where I could see him as he was, not as he appeared. 

     Meeting that man is something that I wouldn't change, because it opened my eyes to different things. First, I am not to look at people on the outside, but what is within. It is easy to look at the outside of someone and get stuck on what we see. One should not be captivated by the individuals outside appearance, but be there for the person, truly listening, and treating them as if there was nothing different about them. Second, bad things happen to people no matter their status, income, or relationship with God. The thing that distinguishes people is how they respond to problems. We came to give this man gifts, but he was the one that gave us gifts. He gave us laughter, joy, friendship, and faith in God no matter what happens. Another thing that touched me about this visit was the love that was in his family. He was a leper for years, yet his wife stuck by his side. He is only able to beg when he has strength to go to the market, yet she hasn't left him. He is not able to walk like everyone else does, yet she choose to stay with him. It reminds me of something I read once, love is not a feeling but a choice. She choose to continue to stay by his side and love him through thick and thin. I also saw the love when he gave her the money that he just got. He could have been greedy and kept it for himself, but instead he was thinking of her before himself. (That is what I call love!)

     As we all interact with different types of people, let us be mindful of how we treat them. Let us take note when we are treating the person as though their disease defines them. Let us not treat the person differently based upon their past, nationality, income, race, religion, or sex. The world has a way of shutting away people who are not considered "normal", which is not how God wants us to be. We are to treat every single individual with love, respect, and as we would want to be treated. This profound thought just came to my mind as I am writing this: we are all equal in God's eyes, so what makes you think you can treat someone differently. (That is deep!!) When facing situations when you could react negatively, instead take sometime to place yourself into their shoes and view their world as they do. Doing this mere task could change the way you view people and the world around you. If I kept on treating the man as a leper rather than a human being, then I could have missed out on a blessing and an eye opening opportunity. How many more friendships could we have or created if we were to treat everyone with love and equality? 

~ Don't miss out on a blessing, because you did not take the time to show someone God's love! ~