Sad, bad, glad and mad!

A slightly random collection of musings today! 

 

1. Sad

Since hitting the six-month anniversary of being here, I have been feeling a bit low and can’t seem to shake off the gloom.  I think the initial shock has worn off and now it is striking me just how much longer we have to serve here and it is hard to deal with some days.  I do enjoy the work here and see the good it is doing but still feel the isolation, monotony and general frustrations of life here.  I so miss having a social life and people to laugh and chat with plus leisure activities and a variety of food!  Please pray for a rising of hope and joy in my heart again.  We are on holiday for two weeks in July and I pray that a change of routine and view will give me a fresh perspective and renewed enthusiasm.

 

2. Bad

We received bad news that Mark’s Dad has been diagnosed with incurable cancer in his lungs and we are praying for wisdom about a good time to go back to the UK to visit.  News like this makes us realise how far away from home we are and the reality hits us that we can’t just pop back and see people easily.

 

3. Glad

In case you were getting depressed, here are some things that have brought a smile to my face in the last week…finding mushrooms in the supermarket for the first time in 6 months and making them into mushroom soup; giggly year 6 girls at our lunchtime club trying to teach me some Creole and falling about laughing when I tried to speak; watching episodes of Hairy Bikers Best of British on the DVDs my Dad sent (and trying not to get upset seeing the yummy ingredients!); getting some new earplugs which drown out the sounds of the animals, birds, cars and rain (but sadly not the booming base of the ‘music’); the ground being dry enough to let the cows back in to our garden; finding myself gazing longingly at an advert in a magazine showing a plate of beef and vegetables then realising it was an advert for dog food!

 

4. Mad

It is REALLY odd.  Apparently at the confirmation class that our lay worker led on Saturday they got to talking about mermaids (didn't get round to talking about the bible but that is another matter!).  Mark said to her, 'But mermaids are mythical aren't they?'  and she replied in all seriousness, 'Oh no Rev, I've seen them lots of times down the river in Linden - they come out of the water and sit on the rocks and I've seen them combing their hair!'.  

 

Mark came home from his pastoral visits and I expected him to tell me the usual round of old Mrs Bloggs this and that, and he told me that!  I was dumbfounded!  I think we are going mad and need a break!!  It could only happen in crazy old Guyana! 

A sensible bit about what makes a person poor and then a few random photos!

First, the serious bit, and then an odd selection of photos from the past week - from cocktails to cockerels!!  

What makes a person poor?

Every now and then I like to write a sensible blog post so here it is!!  I have been reading a book called ‘When Helping Hurts’ about how to help the poor without hurting them and it really gave me food for thought.   The book talked about four different kinds of poverty:

Poverty of spirituality is to do with our relationship with God.  It occurs when we try to live our lives without God and make it on our own.  We are meant to be in a relationship with God and when we ignore him or reject him, we suffer a lack of spiritual intimacy in our lives. 

Poverty of being is to do with our relationship with ourselves.  If we have too high an opinion of ourselves we can become proud and insufferable but if we have too low opinion of ourselves we can suffer poor self esteem so we need a healthy balance. 

Poverty of community is to do with our relationships with others.  Sometimes our relationships break down or we don’t make time for people who are important to us and when that happens we suffer a lack of community.

Poverty of stewardship is to do with our relationship with creation – the world around us.  When people suffer from lack of material goods through their own fault or because of corrupt, unjust or oppressive systems.

The premise of the book is that when you look at different types of poverty we discover that actually all of us are poor in one way or another.  We in the West often think of the poor people in the third world who need material goods but forget that we are often poor when it comes to building relationships, in the ways we view ourselves or in our relationship with God, so there is no ground for us to feel superior in any way.

Indeed, since living here we have seen the most dreadful poverty (lack of material possessions and often lacking in self esteem and confidence) and yet a richness in relationships both within communities and in the deep rooted faith of the people.  Conversely we have seen people in our own country who have everything money can buy materially but are poor in their relationships, community, self-esteem or faith.   

This book has certainly given me food for thought and I am thankful for this opportunity to gain from the wealth of the people here as well as to help them in their area of need. 

 OK so now for the odd selection of pics!

 

 

At a hotel where we stayed for a wonderful hot shower!

 

A lovely old colonial style building.  Apparently Edward VIII once stayed here, as did Prince Charles and Mick Jagger!

  

Happy hour! 

 

Yummy cocktail!

 

A pretty lighthouse near the mouth of the Demerara River - built by the British but no longer in use.

A rare rainbow spotted from our house.

The rainbow again - there is hope!

Not a good pic but look closely and you can see a very young child riding on the back of a motorbike with no helmet!!

When visiting a school we found this poor puppy in the yard - we saw a boy trying to kick it and managed to stop him but dread to think what happened once we left. :-(

Cockerel in the school yard!  Of course!

 

 This was taken from the classroom window and shows the school toilets - the smell was very overpowering!  Yuk!

 

Further to my 'education' blog - this my friends is the sum of one school's library.  Very sad.  Anyone want to send us some children's books?????
 

My hair looks like an oil slick!

I thought I would write today about our recent encounters with the youth of Mahaica and Mahaicony!  We have been getting to know both groups of young people and having a lot of fun with them.

On Monday 27^th May it was a national holiday here for ‘independence from Britain day’ and the Mahaicony youth invited us to join them for a barbeque at the church.  We were very honoured as no other ‘oldies’ were invited! 

They had prepared chicken, which Mark helped to cook, and also fried copious amounts of chips!  In the days leading up to the barbeque it was clear they were very excited and very much looking forward to it.  On the day we ate our chicken and chips then played some games and had a bit of a boogie – all great fun and very simple but they have since told us that they REALLY enjoyed the day.  One girl (who is 20) told me it was the most fun she had ever had in her life!  Amazing and very humbling when you think about all the great choice of leisure activities we have in the UK. 

They thought it was hilarious that Mark and I not only danced but instigated the dancing – they said they had never seen a Rev dance before and that they are not usually allowed to have fun!  Bless their hearts!  They fully intend to plan a lot more barbeques before we leave so we look forward to that.  

The excited girls preparing the sauce for the chicken



Cooking the chicken

Frying chips - it was such a hot job!

The lads at the barbeque!

Eating our lunch

The girls trying to teach the oldie some dance moves!

Mark trying to pick up a cereal box with his teeth!  As you do!

Time for a boogie woogie!

Having some much needed fun!

Some of the girls were keen to have a go at braiding my hair like theirs, so yesterday I went over to one of their houses to let them loose!  What an afternoon!  When they took out my hair clip they all screamed with delight as they had never touched a white person’s hair before and thought it was hilarious that it was so soft and floppy!  One of the girls braided my hair and lathered it with Vaseline!  They thought it looked good but I wasn’t so sure!  Have a look at the pictures and make up your own minds!! 

 

Great hilarity when they all felt my hair for the first time!

It was a painful experience! 

Not a style I will be repeating!  Hoping that one day I'll get all the vaseline out!

 They were so sweet – when they had finished they said ‘We look like sisters now!’  While doing my hair we had some interesting conversations comparing our cultures – they were astonished that we have to cut our hair as they told me they never cut theirs.  Everything I say they think is hilarious – just as well I don’t take myself too seriously!!  Ha!  They have decided we are having more ‘girlie’ afternoons but I have decided not to let them braid my hair again – today I have washed it four times and I still look like an oil slick as the Vaseline won’t come out! 

On Sunday we met the Mahaica youth and Mark did a little study on 1 Corinthians 12 about us all being part of the body and using our different gifts and talents.  We then did an exercise in which we got them to say what each other’s gifts and strengths were and I have written them down to make them all a laminated bookmark with the words on to keep and encourage them.  They were so sweet because after we had been round the room they wanted to do us so here are their words describing us…

Mark – good sense of humour; good role model; extremely friendly; good listener; understanding;  wonderful preacher (with the added comment – short and sweet!); generous; approachable; speaks his mind; supports the youth; can count on him; good pastor. 

And me…

Boogie woogie dancer (?!); loves dancing; good wife; good cook (they prefaced this by saying…’Looking at Mark we can see she is a good cook!’); fun; creative; loving; encouraging; approachable; not stuck up (I love that one!); good listener; good sense of humour; courteous; generous; friendly; sociable and intelligent.

We were so touched by their words and feel we are building such good bonds with the youngsters.  Part of our ministry here is to tell people it is ok to have fun and enjoy life as everyone seems to think it is more holy to be miserable!!   Seeing them develop and open up is so rewarding and hopefully they will continue to have fun long after we’ve gone! 

 

One little post script...we have seen a little scraggy dog hanging around and been giving it our scraps and we bought it a tin of dog food!  It was terrified of us but now comes a bit closer!  We have named it Stumpy as it only has a stump for a tail!!  LOL  Here is a picture of it...

Stumpy enjoying a good meal for a change!  Haha!