A family event, for once

My Aunt Ann turned 80 yesterday, and for once, I was there. Her daughter, my cousin, organized a ladies' lunch at an historic miill-turned gourmet restaurant in Purceville, and Julia and I accompanied my mom, along with two other cousins' wives, one cousin's daughter and her newborn baby whom I got to cuddle, and a couple of friends. Aunt Ann is second-youngest in the family, #14 next to my Dad #15. She has been a good friend to my parents for life, and since my Dad died a stalwart support to my mom. I would describe her as "sunny", caring, loyal, and a serious card player! As the outsider in the family who has missed untold numbers of birthdays, weddings, funerals, births, graduations, and holidays . . it was a privilege to be able to attend this event.

small notes from a Thursday

Highlight of the day:  a picture sent by blackberry from the Johnsons of the team IN OUR HOUSE in Bundi opening a package that Julia and I assembled and mailed in early September I think.  Mail works!

Answer to Laura:  YES, we are returning to Africa, still with World Harvest Mission, but for the next few years we'll be working from a mission hospital in Kenya called Kijabe.  Scott is now the East Africa Field Director for our mission, allowing us to still support and love and pull along with our teams in Uganda, Sudan, and Kenya.  We are looking forward to working in this larger hospital, learning from other doctors instead of being alone, supervising Kenyan interns and residents, and MOST OF ALL living WITH three of our children instead of sending them 23 hours away to boarding school (the school, Rift Valley Academy, is adjacent to the hospital we'll serve).  

Jeans:  wore today the first pair I've bought in probably almost 20 years and realized how COMFORTABLE they are.  I've so appreciated hand-me-downs, but it now occurs to me that the several pairs I've inherited in the last decade or two have been from rather small people.  Old Navy Outlet, highly recommended.

Rain:  came in torrents today, pulling down leaves.  In the car Jack and Julia spy out the best, most colorful trees.  It is Fall.  Chilly.  Damp.  Hot tea weather.  

Emotions:  close to the surface. Watched the Chilean miners being rescued last night.  Beautiful.  

Reality:  Took the frightening step of beginning on-line medical exams to keep up our certification.  Corresponding with our teams, praying for them.  Teaching geometry to Jack and Julia (who usually get it faster than I do), and helping them journal and read and play music and soccer, and cooking for them, and glad that I can pour in a little more than I usually manage in our distracted and demanding lives.  Jack will, on Saturday weather permitting, play in his FIRST ever organized uniform-wearing official-team soccer game.  Pretty amazing for a kid who breathes soccer.  Julia was already named to the Under-14 Girls Sterling Youth Soccer League All-Star team.  She also has yet to play in a game due to our travel, but works really hard in practice . . thanks Miss Ashley!!

Boys-Far-Away:  This week is called "Spiritual Emphasis Week" at RVA, so we are in prayer for the school, sort of a revival, with special speakers and music and emphasis on spiritual growth for the kids.  Join us in prayer.  Luke called me yesterday.  Sounds calm, confident, busy, grown up, thinking about what really matters, asking hard questions, having some fun with soccer.  Nice.  Makes me realize I should call my Mom more.  When we're not living with her, that is. 

More Reality:  our supporters are hard hit by the economy.  Our previously largest single donor has been unemployed now for two years.  And he's not the only one.  In all our 17 years in Uganda God has provided, abundantly and miraculously.  Since we took this HMA leave, our account with World Harvest has been in deficit for the first time ever.  Faith required.  Feels like we took a wrong turn in some ways, we came to America for a few months and our support stopped flowing.  But trusting that God wants us to go back to Kenya at the end of December, and He'll make it possible.  Meanwhile we're working hard to be in contact with our supporters,  to be thankful, to be expectant and faithful.  Thankful that we are living with my Mom for free, that Luke's college expenses are nearly fully covered, that we have a car to borrow for free.  

Quest:  still mulling over Scott's post a few down.  The never-settled, always-outsider feeling, is real.  And I suppose always will be.  It's too late to go back.  Counting the cost, and holding on.

And lastly, the Godfrey saga:  Multiple attempts to fax the US Ambassador in Uganda have failed, the fax number posted on their web site and with the US State Department actually does not accept faxes.  And the only email address I can access has once again failed to elicit a response.  So far we've been told via email from the embassy to the TN congress-person that it is Godfrey's fault that he failed to convince the interviewer of his need, that he could read print on the rejection letter so he wasn't really going blind (which is medically completely erroneous, since glaucoma gradually knocks out the optic nerve from the periphery to the center until one day the person can see NOTHING), and that he should just pay all the fees and reapply with new documentation (never mind the fact that no one read the documentation the first time).  In spite of all that, God HAS intervened, in that his eye exam has held steady in spite of the delay.  Keep praying for a miracle of healing within Ugandan resources, or for a miracle of the US Embassy reversing their decision.

Kindle

I just got an email from a missionary blogger site that is running a contest.  If you link and leave a comment about our blog, we go into a contest to win a free Kindle.  The Massos went to e-books when they went to Sudan, and we've been thinking seriously about it.  It was painful to leave behind hundreds upon hundreds of great books. like old friends.  But it was not possible to cart them all off to Kenya, and it seemed a bit immoral to remove them from Bundibugyo where they are probably more needed.  So we pray they bless many others.  If anyone wants to increase our chances of winning, leave a comment here:  http://blogwatch.missionary-blogs.com/win-a-free-book-and-help-a-missionary.

Happy Birthday Uganda

Ugandan Independence Day was this past weekend.  Ugandans are celebrating Moses Kipsiro's victories at the Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the men's 5000m and 10,000m races, an historic accomplishment in a field of very strong Kenyan runners. And celebrating the oil soon to flow and enrich the country.  And the money that will come in the wake of being named the security hub for the region, with the EU coming to train the military in response to the Al-Shabab related bombings in Kampala a few months ago.  One Ugandan is not celebrating, that is Basiime Godfrey, who reports that his visa rejection letter was pre-printed, that the hasty interview consisted of four questions about his marital status and properties and then a summary dismissal with not even a glance at his extensive medical documentation.  We and a number of other concerned friends are contacting our congressional representatives' offices to appeal the hasty and baseless rejection.  And I have to say the professional responsiveness from our representative (Frank Wolf) and the can-do enthusiasm from friends in Virginia, Illinois, and California, balances the disappointment we felt with the embassy's treatment of Basiime.  

And there are a couple of Ugandan-American kids here who are still longing for their home.  Julia woke up yesterday craving a mango, and misses the sunsets.  Usually they take America in stride, but this weekend we drove a couple of times down a nearby road and passed what used to be a "kennel".  Now it is called a pet motel, with "resort and spa" written under it.  Jack and Julia had a long discussion in the back seat, one insisting that the resort and spa were for the owners of the pets, and the other daring to conjecture that it was for the pets themselves. Services such as "pool" and "beauty" were listed on the side.  When we concluded it was all for pets, they were incredulous.  

As Uganda moves into the 49th year of independence, our hearts are there.  But we are slightly more settled these days, for several days at a time anyway, taking Grammy to doctors' appointments, braving more dentist visits. taking kids to music lessons and soccer practice . . . and even a day of shopping, jeans all around for the impending cooler weather.  Shoes will have to follow.  

Fortress America

Basiime Godfrey was denied a visa to America. This is deeply saddening to us, embarrassing really. We have been welcomed to Uganda for 17 years, in homes, to meals, in government offices, in churches, always on the receiving end of gracious hospitality. Six of us, over and over and over again, often at significant cost and inconvenience to others. Yes, we have to go through procedures and paperwork for long-term work permits, but anyone from America can land in Uganda and get a 2 month tourist visa to visit. But that openness is not reciprocated. A young man, a college student who is going blind, who has full sponsorship for an airfare and surgery in the USA, and carried documentation of all that to the embassy, was turned away. Why our country can not allow an orphan with a serious NON-CONTAGIOUS eye problem through our borders for a month in order to receive care at NO COST to the state, is beyond me.

The ever-amazing Dr. B is appealing through his congress-people. We can all appeal through prayer. Basiime's not asking to live in America, to study in America, to do anything other than walk on this soil to a surgical center where his sight could be saved.

Julia the Jewel, at 14

Our girl is now 14 years old. And we never cease to think with awe that we do not deserve her. She is truly an amazing person. For her 14th Birthday, we celebrated early (on Saturday, though her B-day was Monday) so that her cousins from NC could be included in 14 activities on a 14th Bday. We were in West Virginia, on our way back east, and our main activity was MAKING APPLE BUTTER. This is an Aylestock family tradition, for all of my childhood shared with our dear friends the Hubachs, and for the last five years not even attempted. It was our first time to do it without my dad. The first time that our generation (Scott and me, Steve and Janie) were basically in charge. And Julia was right in the middle of the process all the way.

The all-night drive was necessary so that we could spend Friday afternoon peeling, coring, slicing 4 bushels of apples. For those not familiar with a bushel anymore, that's A LOT of apples. It took hours, even with our super-duper peeler/slicer. The NC crew left after school Friday and drove long hours to arrive that night. But Scott and Steve were up at dawn on Saturday to clean the massive copper kettle and start a wood fire. The first apples went into the kettle with a gallon of cider at 7:25 a.m., and the last apples were added by about 9:30 a.m. The entire day someone has to be stirring, scraping the bottom of the kettle with a large wooden paddle so the sauce does not burn, carefully looking for any peels or seeds that rise to the surface, scraping down the sides with a wooden spoon, stoking the fire to just the right heat. Rocking back and forth, turning in a circle, tending the cauldron.

Meanwhile the rest of the crew went from game to game, blind man's bluff, basketball, speed scrabble, soccer, shooting cans off the railroad track, all Julia's favorites. The craziest moment of the day was the polar bear run to the river and swim . . all cousins went into the frigid water (one had to be pushed by Julia, but he was a good sport), and me. I love that river, even though I have no tolerance for the cold.

By 6 the sugar was in, the oil-of-cinnamon flavoring, and the apple butter was pronounced ready. The day ends with an assembly line of sterilized jars and lids, pouring the hot apple butter into the jars, screwing down the tops. We canned 11 1/2 gallons of the sweet brown spread, enough for a winter's luxury on corn bread and toast and rolls and muffins.

Julia's day ended with a reading of the poetry we had encouraged everyone to compose throughout the day as tributes to her, and the list of 18 characteristics as an acronym to her name (such as helpful, enduring, endearing, unforgettable, indispensable, etc. ). We had an apple cake (a la Mrs. Elwood, Nathan's favorite which he brought to our team) to keep in theme, with fun candles. Julia glowed.

Apple butter is sweet, nourishing, a product of many hours of labor, beautiful to behold, satisfying to all. And so is Julia. Her very first birthday was also celebrated in West Virginia at my parents' "Camp", when we had evacuated from rebels and just before we returned to Africa to work at Kijabe until things calmed down in Bundibugyo. So this was another circle completed, celebrating amidst the turning maple leaves and cooling mountain breezes once again. And that baby who was carried uncomplaining to safety through gunfire is now a beautiful young woman, sensitive and loving, sharp and organized, silly and appreciative. She loves life, food, family, soccer, books, crocheting, friends, dogs . . . and apple butter. And we love her.

Visa Prayers

Basiime Godfrey has been a part of our extended-family for many, many years.  He became acquainted with us during his primary school days, became friends with our kids, and we ended up sponsoring him through the end of primary school, six years of secondary school, and now on to University.  He's a orphan, and when his father died his father's family excluded him from the land.  His mother remarried, and this young man is basically on his own.  When Scott was doing his physical exam form for admission to the Uganda Christian University, he realized that Basiime had severe impairment of his vision.  At that very time we received an email from an American ophthalmologist who was coming for a short-term medical mission trip to Uganda and wanted to touch base with us . . . God's providence for Basiime.  Dr. Bonner agreed to evaluate him, found he had sever glaucoma, and performed a surgery to preserve what was left of his vision in one eye.  Since then he's been managing Basiime's care from afar, and on his follow-up mission trip decided that a second surgery was necessary in the other eye.  Without this, Basiime will certainly become blind, sooner rather than later.  The second surgery is more difficult and would best be done by a glaucoma specialist in the USA.  And for no reason other than grace, Dr. Bonner decided to arrange for that to happen, donating funds and care for the month he will need to be here.  So for the last couple of months Basiime and a trusted church leader in Kampala have been working on getting his Ugandan passport and all papers in order (NO SMALL TASK).  Tomorrow, the 7th of October, Basiime Godfrey will be interviewed by the US Embassy for a compassionate-care visa, so that he can temporarily travel to the USA for this surgery.

PLEASE PRAY that the visa would be granted. The USA is cautious about granting visas to Ugandans.  Pray that those responsible tomorrow would see the need for this surgery.  God led this young man into our hearts, opened doors for him at Christ School as a student leader, rescued him when he went astray, gave us grace when we missed deadlines and he still got into the University, brought him to Dr. Bonner's attention, and opened this opportunity for care.  Is it too much to ask for one more thing, an American visa?

Jesus delights in restoring sight.  Please pray that He would heal Basiime's.

Adventure -vs- Quest

Jennifer recently wrote about our all night drive from Chicago to West Virginia. I (Scott) did a lot of the driving, too, traversing Indiana and Ohio on lonely two-lane roads while the enormous luminous half-moon rose over the eastern horizon. And while I cruised down those quiet highways, I listened to a sermon on my iPod by Tim Keller. And I’m still thinking about it.

Keller’s text was Genesis 12 and his theme, the Call of Abraham.

Keller says, “Abraham didn’t just live life. He didn’t just go with the flow of events. He happened a life. He lived a big life. He stood against his family, his society, his culture. He stood alone. What made him different? The call of God.”

He goes on to detail different aspects of the call of God (its power, radical nature, and how we receive it). What sticks in my mind, though, are some comments he made about some of our family’s favorite books by JRR Tolkien. While many consider The Hobbit to be merely a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, Keller makes a distinction…

He says “The Hobbit is a children’s book. Then, comes the three books, the Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. I was listening to a literary critic who knows these books who said the thing you’ve got to keep in mind is that The Hobbit is an Adventure, but the The Lord of the Rings is a Quest. The Hobbit is a book for children and it is more light-hearted. It is an Adventure and the way the literary critic defines adventure is that an Adventure is a ‘there and back again.’ It’s an exciting thing you choose. You go and you have your adventures and have all your thrills and it spices up your life and then you come home again and you pick your life again where you left off. An Adventure is there and back again.

But a Quest is not something you choose, it comes to you. You sense a requirement. You’re called to it because of what’s involved. And you never really come back from a Quest. In a Quest you either die for the Quest or if you do come back you are so changed that you never in a sense really do come back. You’re never the way you were. You changed radically. I want you to know that Christianity is not an Adventure. It is not there and back again. It’s not like I want to have some fun, I want to enrich my life. Christianity is a Quest. God says Get Out … you’re going to be radically changed. Don’t ask Me whether what I am about to do will fit into your agenda. Christianity is a whole new agenda. Don’t say how will Christianity will fit into my life because Christianity is a whole New Life.”

At our “Debriefing and Renewal” retreat in Colorado, our facilitators showed us the final clip from “Return of the King” where Frodo and Company ride back into the Shire. But, they don’t fit in any more. People look at them with suspicion. They sit in the pub peering into their pints, listening to the revelry, feeling a bit ill at ease but nod at each other in remembrance of the suffering they endured together for The Quest. That’s a familiar feeling. Not really fitting in, not like I did once.

And while our family continues to define a great vacation (Adventure) as one in which there is a thrill resulting from living on the edge -- it’s helpful for me to be reminded of the stark difference between Adventure and Quest.

Quest comes from Calling. It involves cost, sacrifice, and suffering. It is for a Higher Purpose. And you will be changed.

Driving at Night

We don't drive at night in Uganda, at least not if we can help it.  In a place where bandits still roam, where vehicles are ambushed in the darkness, it's not wise.  Not to mention no street lights, and pretty rough conditions even in full daylight.  But in the USA, following in our family's footsteps from our own childhood, we've been known to pull driving all-nighters.  Our plane from California landed in Chicago on Thursday evening at 8:30 pm, where we had left our borrowed car.  Dear friends who have bent over backwards to care for us there met us at the airport with the car, and though we were sorely tempted to go back home with them and have good food and great talks and comfy beds, we knew we needed to be far east by mid-Friday.  So we were on the road by about 9:30 pm, spurts of speed and clots of traffic, as we passed through the fairy lights of downtown Chicago, twinkling windows and powerful strobes, vibrant in the night sky.  And then on to Indiana, and slant-ways down through Ohio, to West Virginia.  About 600 miles, almost 12 hours, 2-lane roads and 8-line interstates, tractor trailers and not much else.  Scott and I traded off driving, and Jack and Julia slept hunched any-which-way in the back seat, no pillows or blankets.  

I took the midnight to 3-something shift.  And rediscovered the beauty of the night drive.  Quiet.  No radio, no ambient noise other than an occasional sleep-talk from Julia, or sigh from sleeping Scott.  My family in my hands, resting, dependent on my alertness and care, but temporarily oblivious.  Praying.  Thinking, uninterrupted.  The world dormant around us, deserted-looking farms, dimly lit closed gas stations and shops.  My faithful gps companion occasionally advising an exit or a turn, one glowing light in the dark world.  In the constant-presence of visiting and constant-something-to-do of moving from place to place, I appreciated the forced immobility, one seat, strapped in, alone. One way, ahead.  A spectacular half-moon accompanying me ahead to the left as I zig-zagged southeast through rural flat states.  

Reluctantly I woke Scott at 3:30, realizing it was actually now 4:30 in the new East Coast time zone, feeling my attention beginning to strain. It was time for a few hours of rest before the sun rose.  I had forgotten how possible, and relaxing it is, to be awake when everyone else is asleep, except God.

You know you're in CA, part 2

When we get to have coffee with one of our most faithful blog-readers, "Judy in HMB". Who became friends with Scott's parents through the church there, and only later realized that Judy's daughter's husband went to medical school with Scott. We all got together Thursday morning before our flight left, a tribute to a small world, ever shrinking.