Drinking Apple Cider

Here I am sitting in Africa, missing my home and struggling to understand and comprehend all of the different things that I have been learning. It seems as though my heart is being pulled in more directions than I am able to handle. Judith told me that the half way point seems to be the hardest moment for us, and as that point is today I understand what she meant! As I walked into my room I found the package my mom sent me a couple weeks back and looked inside to pull out the apple cider that I had been saving for a special moment. That moment is now. For those of you who don’t know let me tell you what drinking apple cider means to me… It is one of those drinks that transport you to a different time and place. I remember my mom buying a box and dad and I drinking it within the week. I used to take packets and hide them in my room to ensure I would get some before dad drank them all. For awhile mom tried buying sugar-free for my dad to keep him around longer, but of course he didn’t like those as well! We used to sit together and figure out the crossword puzzle in the morning or after a long day of school and practice. During this time of year I often found myself watching some football, learning about blocking the A and C gaps or taking tackle points. Late at night when dad had gone to bed I would come into the living room to a roaring fire and mom reading on the couch. I remember the moments of stopping my Aerostar van on the way to school to sprint out to the orchard in the dew covered grass to grab some apples to get me through the day. Amazing what a drink of cider will make you think of.

One of the things I am learning here is that you can never fully shake your past. It creates the lens through which you view the world. I have been conditioned into a system of beliefs and practices that are as natural to me as breathing. I am so thankful that I grew up the way I did. I have a perspective on the world that gives me hope instead of disparity, and a view that I am coming to see may be held by a smaller population than I like. It is through this view that I want you to see some of the struggles I am facing here as well as a lot of what I am learning.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations… Matthew 28:19

A starting point for my learning here is the meaning of missions. The students in the IMME program are all taking this class as part of our course requirements. We have spent so much time on talking about what the great commission really means. What is the meaning of a missionary? Can someone be a missionary in their own town or community? We have spent hours discussing the evils of colonization and the failures of our previous Western missionaries to the point of me questioning the point of missions. We have examined the effect of missions on African culture and read accounts after accounts of imposing missionaries. These discussions have left me discouraged and wary of the word mission. A huge question that keeps coming to my mind is wondering if it is more important to reach the world or to improve life around me in my community back home. I see so much potential for healing and love at home that I have a hard time justifying coming half way across the world.

Directly connected with the realm of missions comes the reality of hurting. We discussed AIDS in my missions class one day and my instructed told us of a drawing in South Africa. In that drawing Jesus is on the cross and he has the red AIDS ribbon. It is supposed to mean that we as a body of Christ have AIDS. I have AIDS and you have AIDS. What can we be doing? I was hit by the hurt of disease that is so rampant throughout the world. We were discussing what practical things we can do when it comes to such a huge need. People discussed speaking to church leadership and pushing our pastors to be aware of the problem. People brought up their disappointment over never hearing a sermon on AIDS in America. It convicted me to be aware of what organizations such as ‘Acting on AIDS’ is doing in my school. At the same time I wondered what pain and hurt are present within my own community. What is my church doing to reach the people scorned by society? I want to talk with them. Again, how important is to change my direct world? I felt a despair over not being able to reach all the corners of the earth. I cannot be everywhere!

Following closely to AIDS is the reality of poverty. My heart hurts for mothers that are not able to feed their children or provide a warm shelter. We discuss in class the necessity of living simply and capitalizing on our own resources. College life is the perfect example of living in community with one another, sharing material possessions and relying on one another for support. I once again felt the weight of the world on my shoulders in a need to solve world poverty. One of my friends asked about partaking in a fast to which I replied I could not be able to fast if I want to effectively have a difference on my basketball team. Sometimes we are not comfortable with the idea that we are still being good Christians even if we are not selling all we have to live on the streets of Atwater.

Don’t worry, God has pulled through and continued to be faithful to me. One of the most important convictions that I have always held is the importance of working within an organization to make it a better place. One of my classmates was talking about how he attends many different churches because he hasn’t been able to find one that he believes is embodied the body of Christ. What I wanted to say was, “Well duh. Nothing is perfect. Stick with a church and fix the problems.” I believe there is power in a light shining through pushing for improvement. Besides, I and Don Miller agree that if you do something passionately people will follow you. I am beginning to see this rubbing off on my classmates here. One of my good friends here who grew up in rural Iowa and goes to Dordt looked at me the other day and stated, “Kurty, you have inspired me to be passionate about rural poverty.” I did a fist pump and smiled. Great I told him. GO CHANGE YOUR WORLD. (Don’t worry I am doing my best to represent rural living in the midst of city dwellers who do not understand what it would be like to live without make-up for a week or cannot understand when I look at them and say, “Excuse me, but I cannot bike to the grocery store to save on money. It is twenty miles away and I would freeze to death.” This was her trying to tell me how to simplify life. Ha.)

In the light of missions I know that God has called us into the world under his protection. What can be more right than following that call? I will end this blog with one of my favorite quotes that I found while researching the history of women in missions. This was said by a women by the name of Mary Slessor. She was urging women from home to come to the field.
“Don't grow up a nervous old maid! Gird yourself for the battle outside somewhere, and keep your heart young. Give up your whole being to create music everywhere, in the light places and in the dark places, and your life will make Melody. I'm a witness to the perfect joy and satisfaction of a single life -- with a tail of human tag-rag hanging on. It is rare! It is as exhilarating as an airplane or a dirigible or whatever they are that are always trying to get up and are always coming down! . . . Mine has been such a joyous service, God has been good to me, letting me serve Him in this humble way. I cannot thank Him enough for the honor He conferred upon me when He sent me to the Dark Continent."

While I cannot say exactly how I’ve been changing during my time here I know I am. The change is so deep and significant it goes to the very core of who I am. While I miss my family and friends and sometimes shed a tear over the memory of changing leaves, Friday night football, and home-cooked meals, I know that I’m exactly where God wants me. I am drinking apple cider in Africa.