Almost Time
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
In one week we will have arrived in Namibia. It will be after traveling for a day and half. The whole sleeping thing is slightly overwhelming! We’ve checked the weather and everyday is 70 to 73 degrees during the day and 40 to 42 degrees at night, sunny with zero percent chance of rain. That sounds glorious. We spent the last couple of days figuring out what we will be taking with us as far as clothes and other personal items. It can be overwhelming.
We will be taking a scrapbook we made, 300 friendship bracelets we made, 28 wooden bead bracelets we made and a monetary gift from our congregation to their congregation. Pastor Joecks wrote a lovely letter introducing us to Epembe and asking them to welcome us.
On Sunday, July 25th before the service we will be showing a short video celebrating the 20-year relationship the NJ Synod has with the Namibian Lutheran Church. We also will have a day-by-day prayer bulletin that you can use to follow us and pray for us.
Thank you for encouraging us and praying for us as we prepare for this trip. We truly feel we are bringing each of you with us in our hearts. We will savor our time in this far away country with our brothers and sisters in Namibia and will be anxious to return to Ascension with stories, pictures and videos so you too can better know this part of our family in Christ.
Peace
Homestretch
By Taylor Barger
On Thursday June 10th, we were sitting in the travel doctor’s office listening to the pros and cons of different vaccinations and medications. Hepatitis A and hepatitis B, typhoid and polio, and other medications prescribed for malaria and if you get sick while travelling, were all the must haves before we can begin our travels. Luckily, the typhoid now comes in pills so instead of getting a shot for it we only have to take one pill every other day for four days. So far there have been no side effects. I, Taylor, only had to get the hepatitis A shot since the hepatitis B and polio shots were still effective from when I was younger, while my mom had to get hepatitis A and polio. Other than a little soreness in our arm, the shots had no complications.
So now that we have completed our trip to the travel doctor we are finally at the homestretch. At our May meeting the travel team finalized the details of our itinerary and read passages from our travel book. In June we will be getting together for the final time by having a family picnic. I am now officially counting down the days (six weeks!!) until we are boarding our flight to London.
For a visual understanding of where we will actually be travelling, come to worship on July 25, 2010. We will be showing a three minute DVD titled “Namibia and NJ Lutherans: 20 Years of Partnership”. Also, pick up a daily devotional in the back of the church to pray for the partnership and its members.
Namibia Companion Trip 2010
by Gwynn and Taylor Barger
Another Step in Our Journey
May 7, 2010
Today we went to the New Jersey Synod Assembly in New Brunswick, NJ. We had the pleasure of having lunch with Bishop and Mrs. Sindano. Bishop Sindano is the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. We shared this experience with other members of past and present travel teams.
As each person got up and introduced himself or herself to the Bishop, he would then fill us in on the particular church that the person had visited. It was amazing to hear how there were sixty baptisms on one Sunday at one church and one hundred confirmations at another. Bishop Sindano reported that many of the churches were building and growing.
Past travel members reported how they were supporting our brothers and sisters in Namibia through various efforts. The conversations bridged the distance between New Jersey and Namibia in an amazing way.
From “Walking Together”, January 2008:
This is a reading from Zephaniah Kameeta, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia, who was tortured and imprisoned for his courageous faith during the long struggle for freedom. This interpretive litany of the 23rd Psalm was written prior to independence and continues to witness to a people who live in hope.
Shepherd of Namibia
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
He lets me see a country of justice and peace
And directs my steps towards his land.
He gives me new power,
He guides me in the paths of victory, as he promised.
Even if a full-scale violent confrontation breaks out
I will not be afraid, Lord, if you are with me.
Your shepherd’s power and love protect me.
You prepare for me freedom, where all my enemies can see it;
You welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup with righteousness and peace.
I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life.
And your liberating love will be my home as long as I live.
As I read this I can feel the passion and faith in my soul.
Namibia celebrated their 20th year of independence on March 21st. There was a small mention of it in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I think of how young our country, America, seems and it has been independent for 234 years. I am excited to go to a country that is truly in the infancy of freedom.
At this year’s annual synod assembly the 20th anniversary of companionship with our sister churches in Namibia will be celebrated. Taylor and I will be going to a luncheon on the Friday where we will share lunch with Bishop Sindano and his wife, our first time meeting someone from Namibia!
I just can’t adequately express in words the excitement and feelings that we have at this time. We had another meeting with our travel team over the weekend. It is a wonderful group of people and we are blessed to be traveling with them and sharing this awesome experience.
We talked about “white privilege”, racism and how others perceive us as Americans. It was very interesting and eye opening. There are so many things we take for granted being white, being American. We received an informative article. If you Google-The Values Americans Live By, L. Robert Kohls, you can read the article for yourself.
We encourage everyone to pray for our brothers and sisters in Namibia. Please pray for Taylor and I and our travel companions Bruce, Mark, Tracie, Olivia, Ethan, and Lynn. We close each of our meetings with the following African Blessing:
May God go with you!
GO NICELY; MAY YOUR PATH BE SWEPT OF DANGER.
God go with you, and may you escape from the mishaps ahead!
MAY YOU GO WITH GOD!
Let God bear you in peace like a young shoot!
MAY YOU MEET WITH THE KINDLY DISPOSED ONE!
May God take care of you!
MAY GOD WALK YOU WELL!
May you pass the night with God!
MAY YOU REMAIN WITH GOD!
May God be with you who remain behind!
MAY YOU REMAIN WITH GOD!
Amen.
Cultural Differences by Tayor Barger February 28, 2010
5 months. 5 months until we are on our way to London, the first stop of our Namibia travels.
This past Saturday, February 20th, we had our second Namibia group meeting. The theme for the day was Cross-cultural Relationships. We broke into two small groups to discuss our own cross-cultural experiences and then to do an activity. From the discussion and activity, I realized our culture and the “norms” for our society are different from other parts of the world. I really thought about how some of our American cultural ways may seem offensive to people from other cultures.
Along with reflecting on this activity, I though about Namibia and my eagerness to open myself up to their culture, which may be so different from ours.
The activity we did on Saturday included 26 index cards, each with a value on it. The point was to separate the index cards into two columns, one with American values and the other with other countries’ values. Below is a list of all 26 values. Try to separate the values into two columns (13 for each) and check your answers by e-mailing Taylor at
tbarg68@yahoo.com. Good Luck!
Tradition
Spiritualism/Detachment
Personal control over the Environment
Materialism/Acquisitiveness
“Being” Orientation
Fate
Formality
Future Orientation
Past Orientation
Time & its Control
Idealism
Practicality/ Efficiency
Human Interaction
Cooperation
Equality
Directness/Openness/Honesty
Self-Help
Indirectness/Ritual/”Face”
Competition
Group’s Welfare
Individualism/Privacy
Informality
Birthright Inheritance
Action/Work Orientation
Hierarchy/Rank/Status
Change
Hint: Each American value has a counterpart in the other country’s values.
Travel Doctor and Expectations- February 1, 2010
Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Polio Booster, Tetanus shot, Malaria medicine, Cipro, Zpac… We called the travel doctor today. It is thought provoking to me that we will try and fully protect ourselves against all of these diseases and yet we will visit with people who are at risk everyday because of a lack of protection.
In my opinion, expectations are like worries. I have had issues with worrying throughout my life and it is now as I approach this “mature age” that I have a better hold of it. I have
Philippians 4.7- framed by my kitchen sink. Every day I read that we should not worry, but praise God and “give it to God”. It helps.
I spent time watching a small boy a couple of years ago. One day we were food shopping and he asked what a grapefruit tasted like. I said we would buy one and he could try it. When we got home he sat down and gave it a try. He said, “It’s not what I expected, but I like it!” That now has become a familiar phrase around our home, with all of us often repeating it.
This year we have a lot of new things going on and it is a natural time to have expectations. I’ve chosen to try to not expect and “give it to God”. I don’t think my expectations will come close to the experiences, so why waste the time!
When we tell friends and family we are traveling to Namibia two questions are always asked-where is that and what will you be
doing. The map shows where Namibia is located. It is in southern Africa surrounded by South Africa, Botswana and Angola as well as the Atlantic Ocean.
The “what will you be doing?” question is a little more complex. How do you say, “We might be doing nothing”? We are not painting, building, feeding, or teaching.
This is an accompaniment trip. We will be “walking” with our brothers and sisters in Namibia. “We are called to walk with our companions...not ahead, telling them what to do…not behind, pushing them at our pace rather, we walk beside them, to hear their stories and share our own. We share our joys and sorrows our frustrations and challenges as we work to support one another in ministry.”* We are humbled to have the opportunity to do just this.
*From Walking Together, January 2008
If you would like to read more, check out the
Synod site.
Previous article- January 15, 2010
Exciting! That word keeps coming up. We are so excited to be traveling to Namibia to meet our Lutheran brothers and sisters. Our adventure began in October when we filled out and sent in our applications. We waited. Then in December, Bruce sent us our Flight itinerary:
Leave Philadelphia 3:00 pm, Monday, July 26 (7 hr flight)
Arrive London 6:20 am, Tuesday, July 27
Tour London
Leave London 6:35 pm Tuesday, July 27 (11 hr flight)
Arrive Johannesburg 6:20 am, Wednesday, July 28
Leave Johannesburg 12:00 pm, Wednesday, July 28 (2 hr flight)
Arrive Windhoek, Namibia 1:00 pm, Wednesday, July 28
“Exciting!” says Taylor. “Daunting!” says Gwynn.
Next we had our first meeting. Exciting! Our travel companions are great.
Bruce – Leader of our pack, assistant to the Bishop. He was on the first companion trip in 1990 and this will be his 10th trip!
Mark – Pastor of St. John’s in Ocean City. He will be our fearless driver. He has been to Namibia multiple times.
Tracie – Assistant to the Bishop. First trip to Africa was to discuss women’s issues. Has been back to Africa numerous times.
Ethan – 16-year-old, high school sophomore, son of Tracy, first time leaving country.
Olivia – 17-year-old high school junior, daughter of Tracy, first time leaving country
Lynn – Chair of the Synod's Namibia Team
Here are some interesting facts we learned:
• Namibia is roughly the size of two Californias lying next to each other.
• 80-90% are Christian and 10-20% have indigeous beliefs
• 7% speak English, 30% speak German, Africaans is the common language.
• Namibia was liberated from South Africa in 1990.
• Namibia HIV/AIDS is a health concern with 19.54% of Adult population living with AIDS.
• Life expectancy: men-44, women-41, infant mortality 72.4 per 1000 live births
• 1 physician per 4,594 people
• Compulsory education 6-16 years
We will visit two Lutheran church bodies. First is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN). Located mainly in the north and where our sister church in Epembe is located. Second is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN), which is located in the central and southern regions.
Websites:
www.youtube.com (type in Namibian Lutherans to see videos from past trips)
www.govnet.gov.na/intro.htm
www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies
www.republicofnamibia.com
http://www.namibian.com.na/
