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Published: September 22nd 2009
Culture Shock ?
Good Bye North Dakota, the most wonderful in-laws, “hero” uncles, horses, and fields ready for harvest, just to name a few. Hello Michigan and … culture shock. (??) Yep, we experienced it, mostly in the kitchen. In ND Kirks’ mother was the brain behind every meal. Kirk, Kwabena and I merely filled in the gaps. Now it is time for us to grow up and take care of ourselves. Time to plan, purchase and prepare our own complete meals.
I hear you giggling. I’m not exaggerating when I say, we were all a bit perplexed as how to do this. In Ghana our food is completely different. There’s virtually nothing to compare between the two cultures. When I informed my brother Chris, “We will be cooking in the camper tonight” he laughed and replied, “I’ve got to see this. The Christine I know has a hard time boiling water!” I can proudly say, I have not set any “un-necessary” fires but I have (un-intentionally) tested each and every fire alarm system in our vicinity (smile).
More Heroic Uncles: My (Christine) brothers Chris, Boyd and Phil are all avid hunters with bow and gun. This month the
The harvest is on
Kirks brothers farm aprox 3,000 acres!three have set out to train up the next generation.
Sept 26th and 27th opens the annual Youth Hunt in Michigan. This is a designated time youth are allowed to hunt forest and fields. Most likely, Kwabena will be hunting with a gun the end of this month. I have to admit I was resisting the thought of our young African handling, specifically, firearms. But once I witnessed the kids (bow and arrow) practice and training time with all of my brothers present, to include their wives, my fears were put at ease. Concerning safety precautions the adults are very consistent and gentle yet firm. Most importantly, they are quick to notice mistakes, correct and remind the kids of proper handling.
A Camper/Answered Prayer
We are blessed! I can hear some say, “Christine you are spoiled by God”. It’s usually difficult to deny that accusation. We spent this past weekend cleaning and moving into a 28ft camper with TONS of storage space. We are now “parked” at the family farm with a fully equipped kitchen, complete bathroom, clothes closets and beds. The bathroom (efficiently squeezed into a 2’11”x5’2” space.) is complete with sink, toilet, medicine cabinet, and shower.
Fields of Smiling Faces
Fields of sunflowers are less common then 4yrs ago. But I can't tell you why. It even has a … shall we say … “cozy” 2’9”x1’7” bathtub. Eager to climb into his own bunk bed, on our first night Praise put himself to bed at 8:30. We love it!
Keeping Our Secret:
We are searching for a church where we can simply “blend in” during our time in Michigan. Thus we’ve decided to keep our “missionary status” a secret when meeting new people. When made public, for a variety of reasons, this knowledge puts a different twist on our relationships. What a fun challenge it was Sunday keeping our status a secret without telling a lie. We did a little brain storming, coaching and had a few practice runs with some of the most likely questions to be asked.
Where are you from? … Around here?
“We are most recently from ND. We are here visiting family in MI”
Where do you (your kids) attend school?
“We (they) homeschool”
Kirk what work do you do in ND?
“Oh, I come from a family of farmers”
Where did you two meet?
“On a missions trip … to Europe”. It’s true! Our ship was just beginning it’s six month European tour in
Montana
Looks much the same as North Dakota. The main difference that I noticed; expressway exits occur every 50 miles. When they do, most have a posting "No Services". It's best not to let you gastank get too low! 1991.
All the answers are 100% true! We had a good laugh once the four of us were alone and could share how we each successfully “kept our secret”. Ha, ha, ha! I haven’t had that much fun in church for a very long time.
Enjoy your week! I have no doubt that we will
Christine & Co
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Lewis
non-member comment
I can't stop reading
Please can you teach me how to write? I like reading your blog. May the LORD bless you for all the good work. I am always learning from you and Kirk. When are you coming to Ghana? I leave on saturday for a one week YWAM Base Leaders Training in the UK before I head off for home. May the LORD bless your stay. Lewis