Here are some pics of our future school.  Reminds me of the old school classrooms.  It's been a long time since I've used a blackboard, but we're extremely grateful to have them.

Nico and Isabella sitting on the teacher's desk...

Classroom #2

July 23, 2012

   
 We are now three weeks away from our departure date.  Feeling nervous, excited and at peace all at the same time. 

      This past Friday the leaders of the children’s ministry threw a farewell party for us.  We felt very honored, but at the same time it’s a little weird.  In some ways we’re saying goodbye.  But at the same time, we’re supposed to be coming back.  It’s like the previews of “The Hobbit.”  In a couple different sequences Bilbo asks if he will in fact come back from the journey Gandalf is offering him.  The answer:  “I don’t know.  But I guarantee that if you do come back, you will never be the same.”  Frodo and Sam faced the same issues in “The Lord of the Rings” (it seems fitting that we’ve been watching these considering the epic journey we’re about to embark on). They know that even if they do survive, life can never be the same for them.  They’ve experienced something so different, gone through so much, life just can’t pick back up right where they left off.

     That’s the way I feel.  No matter how long or short our stay may be, it will change us.  When we return, if we return, our perspective will be different.  Our worldview will have grown a little bigger.  Hopefully we will have matured some.  Definitely we will be older.  And though we remain the same people, our experiences will have outgrown the realm of understanding of our friends and family.  We will meet people our friends back home will never get to know.  We will see sights, taste foods and face emotions you just can’t describe.  And life here will have gone on too.  The friends we know will make new friends.  The activities and ministries of the church will progress and develop without us.  Life will have gone on. 

     Of course, this is something I’ve experienced before.  Moving to the states from France.  Going on missions trips in high school.  Moving to Panama.  Traveling to Peru, Thailand, Senegal, Nepal. It happens every time.  Experiencing life and ministry in foreign places changes you.  It changes the way you view yourself, and God.  It changes the way you interact with others.  It changes how you look at life.  So far I’ve come back from those trips a little quieter, a little more serious.  I think I’ve become more humble, and maybe even a little wiser.  But always different.  This is what makes me nervous.

     Still, I know it is harder for the people who stay.  People who go are eager and excited.  They have a new adventure ahead of them.  They will see new sights, try new foods, make new friends.  It’s the thrill of something new.  This is what makes me excited.

     But those who stay are only left with a big hole.  It’s why we have friends suddenly bursting into tears and you just don’t know what to say or do to comfort them; kids and youth telling us they’ve always looked to us as the stable ones in their life, counting on us to be there for them; people asking us to promise that we’ll come back even though that’s a promise we just can’t make.

     Saying goodbye is hard work.  Now I know why most people prefer to settle down, plant roots, stay put.  But the Bible makes it clear, we are just strangers in this land; sojourners, passing through.  Abraham had it right, we are just aliens here.  This is not our home.  Our permanent place of residence is yet to come.  And this is what gives me peace.

     So I guess that’s the answer, that’s why I feel the way I feel…I’m an alien.  Watch out Guinea!  Here comes E.T.!

     “Lord, help us in these last few weeks in Panama.  Grant us grace and wisdom to say goodbye.  Help us be sensitive to those who are grieving for our departure.  As we go, Lord, help us always to remember where we came from; help us to grow and change as you see fit; and help us to inspire in others growth and change too, that we might all view this life as a passing through, holding on loosely to the things of this earth we call dear.  May our gaze always be fixed on Heaven.  May our priority always be in you.  Thank you Lord for the friends we have made, the relationships you’ve blessed us with.  Thank you for the opportunities we’ve had and the ones still to come.  Thank you, God, for how you’ve changed and matured us during our time here in Panama.  And thank you for the changes that are still to come.  Whatever the future holds, Lord, I give it to you.  My life is in your hands.  Amen!”

July 13, 2012

God definitely has a strange sense of humour. 

We’re now about 4 weeks away from our departure and we’ve been studying more on the culture of West Africa, specifically that of the Jahangos and the people living in Boke.  Isn’t it typical of God to send missionaries to a place that is completely the opposite of their temperaments and personalities.  Here’s just a short list of what I’m talking about:

Guinea Cultural Norms and Expectations	The Edmonds Cultural Norms and Preferences
Social visits occur everyday, all day, at unexpected times, but especially in the evenings between 7 and 12 p.m.  Any time you go out, you must stop at every house on the way to chat.	Introverts.  Prefer to keep visits limited to early evening between 6 and 8 p.m.  Like to get to where they are going fast.  Really bad at chit-chat.
Indirect, non-confrontational communication.  You only confront or ask someone something in an indirect way or through an intermediary.	Prefer to confront things head-on.  Are very direct in their communication.  You say what you mean and you mean what you say.
Pants and long skirts are required.	Prefer shorts and capris.
Time is irrelevant.  No one bothers to be on time.  It’s ok to not show up for an appointment.	Always punctual.  Time is everything.  You never break an appointment.
Money is meant to be spent not saved.  If you don’t have money, go ask your neighbor.  The rich exist to give to the poor.  Anyone white is considered rich.	Money is kept in close account, only to be spent on important needs or in times of special celebration.  You only ask for money in times of extreme crisis.  We’re just poor white missionaries.

So I guess we’re going to have to go through some serious adjustments.  Though it’s not very comforting, Paul’s message on being Greeks to the Greeks is very applicable.  I guess I need to keep reminding myself that it is all for the sake of the gospel, “to win as many to Christ as possible.”  I also know this is part of why God is sending us, to help us learn to be more flexible and others-centered.  I still have many questions, however, most of them revolving around Kingdom culture.  For example,  How do I fit into the African culture, while still maintaining the type of culture that reflects the principles and expectations of Heaven?  What elements of my culture are Christian?  And which ones are just Western?  Which things can I sacrifice and which ones do I refuse to compromise on? 

These things may seem self-explanatory, but can prove quite a bit more complicated.  For example, Guinean culture dictates that the man of the house not participate in any house work and/or taking care of the kids.  These are jobs for the women.  If a man has to do that kind of work, he simply needs to find another wife.  However, I am used to helping my wife with the cooking, doing dishes, and taking care of the kids.  And I enjoy these things (except for the dishes).  Is this something I do because a Christian husband ought to?  Do I do it because of the west’s tendencies towards feminism?  Or just because that’s the way I was raised?  Should I stick to these and risk losing respect amongst the men in the village?  Or should I continue in this path hoping to inspire the men to step up and serve their wives for a change?

At the end of the day I’m excited to face these issues, knowing they will challenge and stimulate me.  However, I know they will probably become somewhat tedious after a while.  Still, I’m reminded of the great common denominator that I will share with the people of Guinea, the one thing I expect will bring us together, enable me to earn respect with the locals, and produce all sorts of bridges, connections, and relationships…that is, soccer.  Praise God for sports!

“Dear Lord, please help us adjust to our new environment and the local Guinean culture.  Help us to be sensitive and aware of the differences.  Help us to be wise in discerning which areas we can hold onto, and which areas we can compromise in.  Protect us from offending local people.  Help us all to be transformed into a Kingdom culture, one that honors and glorifies you.  Amen!”

June 19, 2012

     We are now less than two months away from moving to Guinea.  I’ve started packing up my office, and little by little we have started organizing and packing up our house.  Last week I finished up the last of the “last” big events for the CBC Children’s Ministry, the Crosswalk Missions Trip.  The past couple months have been busy with these “lasts.”  The “last” camp, “last” children’s ministry Sunday, “last” leaders dinner, “last” official Sunday of classes.  I have to admit it was harder to finish than I thought.  I felt like a car running on empty, coasting into the station on fumes.  The combination of end of the year busyness and moving on has brought me dangerously close to burn out.  Thankfully, God provided sufficient grace for each task.  I’m now feeling relieved and will hopefully be able to take some time to rest and recharge before the move.

     Interestingly enough, with all that’s going on, the preoccupying thought on my mind is suffering.  This topic, more than any others, seems to be coming up over and over again.  A couple weeks ago Judy asked us to be thinking about this, to begin to process for ourselves a “theology of suffering.”  The same day we were supposed to meet about it, this happened to be the exact same topic discussed in our staff meeting, and then minutes later in the book I’ve been reading (though the book itself is not on suffering).  Then again, after the meeting with Judy, this topic seems to keep popping up in every direction.  One of the latest statements I’ve read told me this:  “We have come to see that God ordains suffering as the price and the means of finishing the Great Commission.”  This was one of the discoveries Piper explains in a chapter dedicated to encouraging your congregation to join the cause of missions (Brothers, We are not Professionals)  He goes on to say that he has clearly seen that “suffering is not only a result of trying to penetrate unreached peoples, but a means of penetrating them…This is the price of missions, and it is going to be paid.”  Not exactly an encouraging thought for a family about to go live amongst an unreached people group.

     Still, out of the fire comes wisdom.  I believe God is showing us these things for a reason.  So here are the lessons I’m learning.  I write them down as safe-keeping for when trials and difficulties do come.

1.        There are many reasons for trials and difficulties to arise in a believer’s life:

a.       Satan is real.  As a result of our sin, we have unleashed evil into this world that seeks to hurt, maim, and destroy us, particularly our faith in Jesus.  Though God remains in control, He allows the devil to cause harm, even to believers.

b.      For our growth.  God uses suffering in our lives as a form of discipline and training.  Suffering teaches us to be dependent on God; it refines and purifies our faith, reveals our hearts, and molds and shapes us into more mature believers, if we’ll allow it to.

c.       For the growth and comfort of others.  As Piper mentioned, it is often the suffering of Christian believers that releases power to save the lost.  When unsaved, unreached people see Christians suffering in their attempts to help them, they see the seriousness and sincerity of our faith.  In short, they are enabled to see the love of Jesus.  “For there is no greater love than this, but to lay down your life for a friend.”

2.       Ultimately God is God and we are not.  We will never fully understand God’s reasons to do what He does, particularly in the area of suffering.  This was the message of the whole book of Job.  His friends all thought they understood why Job was suffering and what He needed to do.  Job himself thought he knew best.  But in the end God had the last word, and Job was blessed by it.  None of us can see the big picture like God does.  Therefore none of us can understand why God causes and/or allows suffering into our lives, especially for those who are faithfully carrying out God’s work on this earth.

3.       Penultimately, the most important question in suffering is our response to it.  How do we respond to God when He brings us to the edge?  Will we respond in faith?  Do we persevere in our obedience to His word?  Do we maintain hope in His promises, in His character, His nature, His love?  When we are stripped of all our great strengths and abilities, does the power and strength of the Holy Spirit shine through?  In my reading last night, the author discussed various philosophical stances on suffering.  One of the philosophies, perhaps even a biblical truth, is that suffering does not exist.  For true believers, the only kind of suffering is the kind that separates our souls from God.  Yet Paul affirms, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God…”  Therefore, if our faith is firmly fixed on the Rock, that is Christ Jesus, then we should be able to say, no matter what happens to us, that “it is well with my soul.”  That should be the bottom line to all matters of suffering.  That should be our response.  But is it?

     I’m not sure what God has planned for us in this regard.  I’m not even sure how to pray about it.  I want to pray for God to protect us from suffering, or for Him to make the suffering small and short, or at least for Him to give me supernatural strength and grace to face all suffering with great courage and joy.  The more I think about it, however, the more I realize that the only kind of prayer I can pray with any measure of faith is:  “Not my will, but yours be done.”  If you are reading this as our supporters, family, and friends, please pray this prayer with me as well:

                “Dear God,

Protect us from unnecessary suffering.

                Give us grace to endure necessary suffering.

                Accomplish your good purposes in all our suffering. 

                Amen!”

June 6, 2012

Last night was session 2 of our training/preparation for Guinea.  Judy came over and dialogued with us about transitions.  The week before was Bob and Mary, talking about maintaining spiritual vitality, spiritual warfare, and family life. 

Some thoughts/lessons/questions that have come out of our times so far:

_Expect Satan to attack in our areas of weakness.  But expect God to work in those areas of our life too.

_Maintaining spiritual disciplines of prayer and bible study will be a challenge as we adapt to our new life, but it is absolutely vital that we do.  It’s a slippery slope.  Be careful!

_My family will need me to be strong, to guide them through, to lead them during this time of great transition.  More than ever I need to be the spiritual leader of our home, ever pointing us to rely on Jesus and depend on Him for strength.

_We need to be extremely careful to watch our kids and protect them from abuse and abusive situations.  This has been repeated so many times it’s ridiculous.

_Regarding transition, the moment we committed in our hearts to going was the moment we began to leave.  I realize how true this is, remembering how our minds and hearts began that moment to “pack up” and prepare to say goodbye.

_In settling into our new environment, one of the hardest parts will be handling various people’s expectations of us. For example:

Ø  What do the Galvez need and expect from us?  We’ve been told several times, we are being sent as an encouragement to the Jahango team.  And they’ve communicated to us how excited they are to have us.  But will we be able to fulfill that need for them when we’re feeling lost and vulnerable, in the middle of adapting to a new culture, new routines, new way of life?  Will we be able to meet their needs when we need them to help us to simply survive? 

Ø  What will the Church in Boke expect from us? Have they heard we are coming?  Has Andres told them I’m the children’s pastor?  Do they expect me to preach?  Will they expect me to run the children’s ministry?  Be part of the leadership of the church? Serve in any particular way?  Do they expect us to be available to help meet the needs of the congregation?  Give money to the needy?  Counsel and pray for people?  Will we be allowed to just be a regular part of the congregation, get to know the church as it normally functions, learn from them and be fed by them?

Ø  What about the Jahango?  Do they know we are coming?  What do they think of more team members joining the missionaries?  Will they want to visit us?  Will they expect us to serve and help in the community in any specific way?  How will they see me as an American speaking French?  Will people try to get to know us or simply want to win our friendship, hoping to gain access to our finances?

Ø  What about our neighbors?  The New Tribes personnel?  Etc… 

Handling all of these will be difficult as we will be in full transition mode, adapting to the new surroundings, processing the culture, navigating the city, etc…  On top of all that will be our own expectations, hopes and aspirations.  Processing all of these will take time and patience.  Though at first there will be lots of pressure and uncertainty, eventually people will develop a framework to include us in their grids, and we will develop the right frameworks to fit the new experiences into our grids.

Finally, one of the more interesting aspects of transition will also be adapting to our new identity.  Going from pastor to missionary, for example, will add and subtract new meaning to who I am.  Going from old-timer to newcomer will be another change we need to navigate.  Etc, etc…  

Judy made a great point of reminding us that God is our rock and our anchor.  It is our relationship with Him that ultimately defines who we are, not so much the circumstances surrounding us.  Also, we must keep our focus on His purposes for us going there, remembering to keep in perspective the spiritual agenda at hand, not just the temporal activites going on around us. This verse comes to mind:  “Remain in me and I will remain in you.  Apart from me you can do nothing.”  

It’s been a while since we’ve moved and completely changed environments.  We’ve grown comfortable in our routines, in our community, work, etc…  What a great opportunity this will be to have to be fully dependent on Jesus to guide us through a new stage of life. 

Closing prayer:  ‘Lord, help us, guide us, take us through this time of change.  Keep us close to you.  Mold us and change us for your name’s sake.  Be glorified in us, I pray.’  Amen.

Intro/disclaimers

     I’ve decided to compose our support letters in diary form.  There are several reasons for this:

1.       I feel like a move like this deserves diligent diary keeping.  
2.    I feel like this experience will be significant enough in our lives to merit a more permanent record.      
3.    Writing our support letters in this manner will force me to keep up with the diary, and in turn I’ll have  the written accounts saved up for future use.                             
4.       All the greats keep diaries.  One of the greatest benefits to future generations is being able to  look back and read the diaries of great, historical figures.  Their personal records seem to be of  far greater value than even their accomplishments were, simply because they show us the personal journey it took them to get there.  Though I do not claim to be a great, maybe someone, somewhere will one day benefit from looking back on my diaries, even if the only person is me.             
5.     I hope the diary form will communicate clearly and honestly the journey we are on: the good,  the bad, and the ugly.  I believe it will also give you insight and inspiration to pray for us more regularly, and in the areas that are most needed.  I hope it also inspires you to go deeper in your faith and obedience to God, just as we believe we are doing in undertaking this new adventure.

  

   I do have to include a few disclaimers in doing this, however.  So here they are:

  DISCLAIMER #1:  This diary may at times be somewhat raw and straightforward.  I try hard, with myself and with God, to be completely honest and transparent, even unto revealing my own personal junk.  Usually this mainly happens before myself and God, so no one is surprised.  Allowing you to access my diary may reduce your respect for me.  But, it may increase it as well.  I only hope God will give you the grace and wisdom to forgive and identify with me as I process this new stage of my journey. 

DISCLAIMER #2:  I am prone to using humor.  My sense of humor is often dry, somewhat sarcastic, and can be hard to read, especially when it’s in writing.  Therefore, if there’s something you read that you don’t like, take it with a grain of salt and assume I’m just joking. 

DISCLAIMER #3:  I tend to get wordy.  It’s a secret ambition of mine to be a writer, therefore I tend to write a lot.  When I sit down to write I often get way too caught up in the writing and lose sense of time.  If you don’t have the attention span to read lengthy writings, then feel free not to read my blog.  

DISCLAIMER #4:  I’m writing from my own personal perspective, though I represent my whole family.  The views expressed in this email may or may not represent the perspective of the whole Edmonds family.  To get Jen’s side of the story (and in fact the shorter version) feel free to visit her facebook page. 

     Well,that’s it for now.  If you’ve stayed with me so far, feel free to read on.  May God bless you as you journey with us to Guinea, West Africa.

P.s.  Thank you for your support, and please keep on praying…