Banga one week update

At one week into our time in Burundi, we are figuring out a routine for our months of intense Kirundi learning. It's certainly a time of transition (and even chaos :)) for everyone as many things are out of our control such as meal times and whether there will be electricity or running water on a given day. But this continues to seem like an ideal setting for learning Kirundi and we're thankful to be here. We've been welcomed enthusiastically by the nuns who run this guesthouse and they continue to teach us new Kirundi phrases all the time. Thankfully they also speak French, so we're able to continue practicing that. French actually feels quite comfortable, now, in comparison to the many strange new sounds of Kirundi! 

 Meals are at 7:30am, 1pm, and 7pm - not quite what we (especially the kids) are used to, but we're adjusting. The food has been delicious, though - much better than I expected! An answer to prayer for a picky eater. :) And see the gorgeous view behind us as Sarah Storm, Maggie, and I eat breakfast in this picture! Sarah Storm is spending the semester with us (before she starts college in January) to help with the kids. I'm thankful to share an apartment with her! 

We attended church on Sunday and were warmly welcomed. Though we spoke no Kirundi at that point, they translated a little bit of the service into French for us and we followed along by observation. The singing in particular is quite beautiful here as the voices harmonize. Looking forward to understanding the words of the songs at some point! 

 Five of us have class in the mornings and 3 in the afternoons. Gilbert teaches Kirundi and French at a local high school and seems to understand what we need to learn. He's already given us a couple medical dialogues as examples! We're thankful for God's provision of a good teacher. We also meet with a language partner (Eugene) in the afternoon in small groups to reinforce the concepts learning in the morning and to practice more interactive exercises. Yesterday three of us went into the nearest town with Eugene and visited some small shops. That was a very helpful language exercise - and also good to know what can be purchased locally! 

For those interested in reading Kirundi, see the chalkboard from a couple days ago. My notes are a mixture of Kirundi, French, and English - with a few Swahili words thrown in occasionally. We definitely are grateful to have started with French as we are indeed learning Kirundi from French. And, especially in this rural area, people are unlikely to speak much English, but most speak some French, and those who have been educated beyond primary school speak French pretty well. So far, Kirundi learning has been pretty overwhelming, but we're starting to recognize the sounds and we're getting more comfortable with greetings. Even the kids are practicing their Kirundi greetings as we walk along the road! Mwiriwe! (afternoon greeting - pronounced mngee-ree-way)

Arrival in Burundi!

After two years away, it feels comfortable and familiar to be back experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, & tastes in Africa! We arrived in Burundi on Wednesday. Our flight in Brussels was delayed due to the fire in the Nairobi airport (our plane was originally scheduled to fly to Nairobi after Burundi), but thankfully the flight continued it’s route to Bujumbura, Burundi and we arrived just a couple hours late. And, amazingly, all our bags arrived, too!  

We spent the first 2 days in Bujumbura sleeping and purchasing supplies - SIM cards, internet modems, laundry baskets, mosquito nets, etc. It was nice to have 2 nights there and we had a lovely place to stay thanks to some missionary friends. Yesterday we headed up country to Banga. We’re staying at the Banga guesthouse for three months in rural Burundi so we can get started on learning the local language of Kirundi before our hospital responsibilities overwhelm us. Banga is a beautiful setting - cultivated hills and banana plants everywhere with smoking brick kilns dotting the countryside. (Houses here are made of brick which evidently must be fired in these homemade kilns for a week before it is hard enough to build with.) Temperatures are in the 70s/low 80s and things are quite dusty and brown now in the dry season but we’re looking forward to watching things become green when the rainy season begins in a few weeks. 

Our team is happy to finally be in Burundi together after years of preparation. It felt monumental to land in the country and then to be reunited with most of our other teammates in Banga yesterday. When I stop to think about what we’re doing here, I realize we’re crazy (I mean, we just moved to Burundi - a country many people have never hear of and we, in reality, know very little about firsthand!), and yet God continues to give us peace and the sense that this is right - this is what He has called us to for such a time as this. 

We begin Kirundi study on Monday. Thus far, communication has involved combinations of French, Swahili, English, & sign language. (The language center in my brain is flashing warning lights at being overloaded!) We look forward to learning more of the people’s heart language - Kirundi - during this time, so as to communicate more effectively. But we are getting by for now and are so thankful for the foundation we have in French. Our Kirundi teacher speaks French fluently, so we will use, and hopefully reinforce, our French in the process of learning Kirundi. Kirundi class starts Monday, so we’ll see how it goes! 

Thanks for your continued prayers - they are truly sustaining us through this transition! 

(Pictures took a while to upload so there will probably be more picture-free blogs from now on! :))

 Kids in Bujumbura, jet lagged but mostly still smiling :)

 En route to Banga

 First meal together in Banga

 Sunset from our apartments

 Adult meeting to discuss language learning plans

Banga countryside

Burundi Bound!

These four weeks in the States truly have flown by! And now it's time to get on another airplane - well, three, actually, over 24 hours of flying time. As my mom always says, the people really do make the place. I've enjoyed eating Panera and drinking cherry coke zero, but the highlights of this short parentheses between France and Burundi have been the time with friends and family. Here are a few more pictures from the last couple weeks:

 My friends Shannon and Jed with their four children traveled from Boston to see me in Nashville. I loved spending time with them and getting to know their adorable kids again at their current ages - busy years! 

 One of my favorite restaurants - Pancake Pantry - a Nashville tradition! 

 And everyone knows ice cream is my favorite food! 

 A new friend - my mom's French teacher! I loved getting to know Monique and speaking French over lunch. Thankfully I still remembered French after a couple weeks of hearing and speaking lots of English! I look forward to connecting with Monique more on future trips to Nashville.

What a serendipitous blessing that Abby, Kathryn, & Clara came to Nashville on a youth group trip this week! Abby and Kathryn have both spent significant time with our team in either Kenya or France and I look forward to all three of them visiting/working with us in Burundi someday. It's such a blessing to see God raising up others with visions for international development, missions, justice, etc. 

And one last family meal in Nashville (sadly without Lauren and Wei Chi) - hot dogs, hamburgers, and mac & cheese (my requests) for an American sendoff! 

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I've copied my latest update letter below with prayer requests. If you didn't receive this letter by email and would like to (every 6-8 weeks, different information than the blog), type your email address into the "subscribe to newsletter" box on the top left of the blog. 

Three years ago, my teammates the McLaughlins first visited Burundi. I had not yet joined the McCropder team at that time though I already loved working and living in community with them in Kenya. And I didn't even know where Burundi was when the team first started looking at that location! Through significant twists and unexpected turns in our collective journey over the last three years, God has united our team more and more as we've walked through joys and trials together in Kenya, the U.S., and France. And now, finally, the years of preparation with work in Kenya, tropical medicine courses, cross cultural missions and language acquisition training, Sonship discipling, support raising, and French language school are finished, and we begin life in Burundi this week! Through my brief visit to the States between France and Burundi, many have asked how I feel about the transition ahead. I would love to be able to say with Hudson Taylor (missionary to China in the 1800s):

"I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize that He is able to carry out His will for me. It does not matter where He places me, or how. That is for Him to consider, not me, for in the easiest positions He will give me grace, and in the most difficult ones His grace is sufficient." J. Hudson Taylor

But, in reality, I am still learning to release my anxieties to my Heavenly Father and to trust in His goodness & grace for my life, the life of our team, and the lives of the Burundians. Despite all the preparations, I don't know that we could ever be fully "ready" for what we are about to undertake, and yet I also feel peace that now is the time. We have no idea what is ahead, but we do trust and believe that in the easiest times, God will give us grace and that in the most difficult situations, His grace will be sufficient for each of us. 

Please pray for us especially during these first few months of transition and foundation laying in Burundi:

• Our first three months will be at a Catholic guesthouse in rural Burundi for intensive Kirundi language study. We'll be living in pretty close quarters with more primitive conditions than we're used to, so pray for patient endurance for each of us and for a good situation for the kids with meals, sleep, play, and school. 
• Language learning: Several of us really struggled with learning French and Kirundi likely will not be any easier. Please pray for supernatural ears to hear, minds to understand, and tongues to speak the languages we need for life and work in Burundi. 
• Cultural understanding: I've been reading a book on cultural values and have been struck again at how different my American cultural values are from those in Africa. Pray we will be humble and patient learners who are slow to judge and quick to forgive as we observe the Burundian culture and that we will have wisdom in which aspects to adapt for ourselves and our families as we live in Burundi. 
• Team: Please continue to pray for team unity - that others will know we are Christians by our love for one another and desire to know more about the gospel and our Savior. I pray 1 Peter 3:8 for our team: "Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind."
• Friends: We look forward to developing friendships with Burundians even during these beginning months. Please pray that God would provide friends for us who would graciously help us to understand their language and culture and that we would be able to mutually encourage and connect with one another. 
• Family: My parents have both struggled with some health problems lately. It's been a blessing to be back in the States at this time to attend doctors appointments and help assess the situations, but it's hard now to leave knowing communication will be more difficult from Burundi. Please pray for healing for them, wisdom for their physicians, and peace for all of us as we adapt again to intercontinental relationships. And my sister is due with baby #3 in September, so I appreciate your prayers for her as well. 

I hope to be able to continue communicating regularly from Burundi, though our internet situation is uncertain for the first few months. However, please continue to email and I will love reading your words of encouragement and your personal updates whenever I get the opportunity! 

Amahoro ("Peace" - my one Kirundi word), 
Alyssa   

Family time

My family continues to astound me with their joyful willingness to "stop the world" to maximize our short time together - and to even take group pictures with kids who missed their naps! We enjoyed a fabulous week together at the beach with lots of laughter, sand castles, boogie boarding, & delicious meals. It really was a relaxing and encouraging time together during this brief window between France and Burundi - just what God knew I needed! 

 Emma loves being thrown or spun around - anything active and daring. And she was fearless in the water - jumping into the pool with no warning at all! Good thing my mom and I were lifeguards in our younger days. :) 

 The original Pfisters :)

 Hard to get Emma to stay still long enough for a picture!

 

 Mom and I

 Emma's preferred position - backwards and upside down. I love her enthusiasm for life!

 Sisters

 My knight in shining armor :) This was a huge week for Samuel - 3 birthday celebrations (age 5!) and then the first day of kindergarten. What a joy to be here for those big milestones! He told me at Christmas he was almost five :) and asked if I would be there for his birthday and then when July began he told his mom that he was so excited for July because it was his 5 birthday and because Aunt Alyssa was coming! He's such a sweet boy - growing in stature and in favor with the Lord and with man just like Samuel in the Bible (1 Sam 2:26).

 I got Sam the knight costume, sword and shield at the Carcassonne castle in France. Pretty cool! 

 Splash park friend birthday party

Picture with Gigi on the first day of kindergarten - August 1st! These events are joyous to participate in but also bittersweet as I don't know when I'll next be able to attend Sam, Emma, or Baby 3's birthday parties or first days of school. But my sister does an excellent job of talking about me and making sure the kids know all about Aunt Alyssa in Africa. And I'm happy to maximize the last few days we have together on this visit - meeting for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in the morning! 

Both sides of the pond

“Living in grace bridges the chasm between our longings and our inability to satisfy those longings.  We have a yearning that ultimately only God can satisfy, yet God extended grace to humanity by creating us with a desire for relationship that extends to others.” Lisa McKinn

Two weeks into my short visit to the States, I'm amazed at the gifts God has given me of friends and family who know me and love me on both sides of the Atlantic. At times I wish those two very different worlds could collide more frequently and more thoroughly, but I'm so encouraged and blessed by community in varied places as I travel and transition between continents. That truly is the grace of God to us - reminding us through the longing for more that we ultimately long for Him and yet simultaneously extending us grace through those around us reflecting His image. 

 One relationship I'm especially thankful for is that of being auntie to nieces and nephews almost everywhere I go. Samuel and Emma (below) are my sister's kids who I love - and Baby #3 is coming in September! - but God has grafted in quite a few other "nieces"and "nephews" to my little family. I love getting to hear their little stories and receive their hugs and speak into their lives, too, as their adopted aunt. God, my Heavenly Father, demonstrates to me His goodness and love and faithfulness through the privilege of being an aunt and loving His children around the world.  

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Romans 8:15-16

Day by day

"And as your days, so shall your strength be. There is none like God...who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:25-27

A friend in Birmingham shared this verse with me yesterday, and it really resonated with me in the light of the challenges of this past year. Previously I viewed difficulties and sufferings as hurdles to jump over - just get over it as quickly as possible and then look back at how God has used it for good. But the hurdles have been too big to simply jump over this year, and there have been no quick resolutions to challenges. We are promised that our "light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor 4:17), but we are not promised that we won't wander in the wilderness for 40 years in this life. Instead God promises that He will give strength for each day as He walks with us on this journey. We don't see the strength that will be provided for the entire journey at this time; we just experience the strength for today. And we are held in His everlasting arms through it all.  

I had the opportunity at the end of my time in France to go paragliding and I've thought a lot about that experience as an example of how God carries His children. Just like Peter getting out of the boat to walk on water to Jesus, in paragliding one leaves a place of relative safety (the ground) and actually runs off the edge of the mountain. And there are risks involved just as Peter could have drowned. One is at the mercy of the wind and the parachute and the pilot's skills and training, and one feels out of control being blown and tossed by the wind. Like Peter, it's easy to look at the wind and the waves and doubt the sovereign care, love, and goodness of our Savior. Through this past year, I've slid that direction several times - responding in doubt and fear to the feeling of being out of control and helpless. But occasionally, through the mercy and grace of God, like during paragliding, I've looked up and leaned back on the everlasting arms, grabbing Jesus' hand and looking at the majestic views around me. Those views didn't always look like I'd expected and were sometimes partially obscured by clouds, but they demonstrated unmistakably the strength and care of God for that day for me and for my teammates, friends, and family. And the feelings of helplessness, weakness, and being out of control were transformed into joy and thankfulness for the grace of my Savior for each moment and for eyes to see His Presence with me. 

"Safe"on the ground

 "They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles."Isaiah 40:31