Back from Africa

I'm out of Africa. But not without some adventure. While waiting in the Bissau airport on the day of scheduled departure, the airline announced that the flight was canceled. It'll “maybe” come tomorrow, they said. When it became very clear that all the airport officials had absolutely no plan for how to handle a canceled flight, all the English-speaking Westerners banded together. We consisted of two American missionaries, an Italian UN worker, a Scottish and a Portuguese film-maker, and a Spanish tourist. The airline officially dubbed us the “Estangeros” group (translation: “The Foreigners”). We were able to find a hotel and later went out for dinner. I ate a large fish.

Thankfully, the next day an airplane did indeed arrive and take us to Portugal. After getting back to Seattle, I spent a day with family and flew back to Fresno on Monday night. Work started the next day.


Even if you voted (sometimes multiple times) that I would get malaria, I know you intended well. It turns out, I didn't get malaria. At least so far... I'm supposed to take my pills for four weeks after returning from Africa. And my acne situation has never been better. The doxycyline does wonders. It's like a cure-all.

In addition to the photo here, I posted more photos on my Facebook profile.


What can I say of my time in Guinea-Bissau? I think for three reasons I enjoyed my African non-safari more than my six weeks in Iraq. First, the security situation was much more relaxed. Here, I was allowed to mix and mingle with the locals and travel about freely without being constantly on guard. The opposite was true in Iraq. Second, I didn't have the pressure of writing articles, which made my time in Africa much more relaxing and less stressful. Third, it was a unique experience to get to know and fellowship with other Christians on the opposite side of the globe. Though we had never met each other before and, until recently, I had no idea their country existed, our common bond was a shared goal and purpose in life.


I think of especially of some of the people I got to know there: Joel, the pastor's 23-year-old son, Dick, his 19-year-old brother, and John, their 31-year-old uncle, are great guys. It was good to learn about their life histories and future plans. Joel is in charge of the FLAME school as its headmaster, and he's definitely up for the job. John is bright guy who learned English without taking a single class and will be an important instructor to the FLAME school. Pastor Chenda and his wife, Theresa, are also amazing people. Theresa has great cooking skills.


In Africa, everything starts with a radically different perspective: Education is a privilege, not a right; community and family are essential throughout life, not dispensable after a time; and religion does not define your Sunday morning habits, it determines whether you are bound to strict traditions or enjoy true freedom. The spiritual world there is not something people come to recognize at a certain point in life; rather, it's manifested in bizarre yet predictable ways. To ignore it would be naive.


I thank you all for your prayers and emails of support and encouragement. I would like to go back. I'm not sure when or in what capacity, but I think it is a matter of time and timing.