Colliding Worlds

 This past week we got to interact with some education specialists who are used to working with kids like ours, kids who live between different cultures with different languages, customs and cultural expectations. They talked about how adaptable kids can be and how they are able to compartmentalize their different worlds: local school vs homeschool, interacting with island neighbors vs interacting with teammates, life on the islands vs life in the US. They can hold the different worlds with their expectations separate and know their role in each.

Having fun at daughter's school

We were at our daughter’s school for the week. While us parents had sessions with education specialists, our boys had testing and got to participate in classes. It was fun for our boys to be in a world with lots of kids like them and a world with playgrounds and lots of sports equipment. But I think it was a little weird for our daughter. She has had this new school world for a number of months, with her schedule and dorm and friends, but this week her family was suddenly there in the middle of it. She’d walk out of class at break and all at once she’d bump into her parents! Her school world and life was already full and busy, so incorporating her family into that world was a bit bizarre. 

Son with chameleon on shoulder

Our daughter got a pass to leave campus with us and go into the adjacent town to go to some shops, and she commented that she hadn’t known what to expect. Her school is a world unto itself. You walk around the campus and the culture of the school, its schedule and curriculum are very American (except perhaps for daily tea time, which is British). So part of our daughter expected to find western shops outside the gates. But just off-campus, you quickly remember that her school is in Africa and the shops were decidedly African in their feel and arrangement. As we walked back towards campus, she admitted her momentary surprise once we were off campus (I guess she had never looked around much as she’s been driven to campus), but having been raised in Africa, she quickly shifted her worlds and knew exactly what to expect in an ‘African shop’.

This weekend we gathered with all the workers on the islands from our organization, 30+ adults, 50+ with kids! But we’re not on the islands. We’re in mainland Africa and while it is the same people, it can be a little weird seeing them off the islands. Everyone is wearing clothes we never knew were in their wardrobes. Jackets and pullovers for this colder weather. We do a double take because we’re not used to seeing our female teammates wearing jeans or leaving their hair down. Couples can show more affection than they would publicly on the islands, holding hands or linking arms. We can talk openly about things that would be sensitive topics on the islands. It’s the same people but in a world with different expectations and rules.

Beautiful View from Kenyan hills

This week, we are at a conference with 250+ people. Everyone will have colliding worlds, as people they have known from different periods and seasons of their lives will suddenly all be together. Our current teammates will be with our old team leaders will be with our original teammates from when we first went to Chad will be with one of our former youth group kids who has served in Tanzania for years will be with workers that served on our island a decade before us! Because we all have similar hearts for Africa, it isn’t that weird to have everyone all together— there isn’t a clash of values and we have common interests. But sometimes it is hard to know with whom to catch up first among the throng of familiar faces. There is also that bizarre realization that people that mean so much to us, from different periods of our life, don’t actually know each other and need to be introduced.

We all have different worlds between which we move.  For us, it is different cultures with different languages, customs and expectations. We learn to adapt and transition between the different worlds.  But sometimes it is when those world collides that we gain new insights and appreciation for the worlds we inhabit.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The week of educational testing for our boys was good. They are both doing fine and we gained some good advice and tips. We made it through the online course that we were facilitating! Our time with all the islands workers was great— we were so happy that all of us could be there, especially as canceled flights meant that some arrived a day later than planned. It has been encouraging to hear stories of how God has been working on the other islands and also the visions and dreams for the future shared by some of our colleagues. It’s exciting!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We’re heading into a big weeklong conference. There are many we would love to connect with, pray that we would use our time and energy well and have all the conversations we are meant to have. Pray that we, along with our teammates and colleagues, would have open hearts for whatever we are meant to learn and be challenged by this week. Pray for the new family joining our team (whom we have finally met in person now!) that they and their kids would continue to do well with all the transitions and new people. Pray for everyone back on the islands. We are encouraged to see island brothers and sisters sharing prayers and verses on the big group chat. Pray that they would be inspired to continue to meet and study together and to share with their neighbors and loved ones.