Road to Rwanda----When we visit the US
Written on Oct 26, 2023
Elisabeth Godbold Arnold quotes
From Marilyn R. Gardner:"When my mom and dad first moved overseas, they would travel by ship. Instead of frenzied airport arrivals and departures, they would wave from the balcony of a ship. They would wave until those they loved faded out of sight, and all that was left were tears on their faces and a wide ocean that would be their landscape for the next six weeks. They left slowly, and they entered slowly. Those long days and nights at sea prepared them for their next steps on land. It was a good way to travel. For six weeks you were literally between worlds, without expectations from either.Sometimes I wish it were still that way. We move so quickly between countries that it is hard to breathe. Currency, language, food, and customs change in a short plane ride. The cultural lines get blurred, and we have high expectations of how quickly we will adjust to whatever culture we find ourselves. No wonder we find ourselves exhausted, collapsed on beds with tears on our pillows. It’s all a bit much."
Elisabeth also writes as they just left Senegal for furlough: "Our bodies will arrive in the USA tomorrow, but our minds will continually be arriving in the next few weeks. Our Bakel/Senegal files (culture, language, names, connections, foods, water reservoirs and generators, how to do things, where to find things, etiquette, etc) will be being archived and our USA files will be being brought out of the archives – some files will be expired or drastically changed. If we look like a “deer in the headlights”, that is exactly how we are feeling. We invite you to generously over-explain, educate, remind, and help us with your names, our connection, USA changes, ways of communication, where to find things, how to do things, etc."
Oh how I can empathize with both of these quotes. When we first went overseas in 1976, we were only a few years too late to take the ship voyage rather than the airplane route. I have often felt that it happens too fast, even as we slog through the 39 hours from our Rwanda doorway to Peter's in SC.. A week or two of sitting still to adjust from one place to another would mean so much psychologically as well as physically. Sadly, that is not what our lives consist of now. However, Elisabeth's description of "deer in the headlights" is very true for us often as we jet back and forth.
We are enjoying our 2 days of fall break right now. It is much appreciated, even though this fall has been reasonably easy. I lost my AP World History course as both students flew to the US to be with our director's wife as she faces cancer surgery soon. (With terrible irony our director from HIS in Papua, Indonesia is also in the States taking treatment in preparation for serious cancer surgery.... missionary admin is often attacked. Pray for them.) But my heart has been missing the kids/grandkids the last week or so. We will be home for Christmas. That seems very far away in space and very close in time. There is much to do in the next 8 weeks, and we are also closing out our last Peking University classes by Dec. 30.
I just thought Elisabeth's writing on FB was just too good and descriptive not to share. Hopefully, it will help you pray better for us.
From Marilyn R. Gardner:
"When my mom and dad first moved overseas, they would travel by ship. Instead of frenzied airport arrivals and departures, they would wave from the balcony of a ship. They would wave until those they loved faded out of sight, and all that was left were tears on their faces and a wide ocean that would be their landscape for the next six weeks. They left slowly, and they entered slowly. Those long days and nights at sea prepared them for their next steps on land. It was a good way to travel. For six weeks you were literally between worlds, without expectations from either.
Sometimes I wish it were still that way. We move so quickly between countries that it is hard to breathe. Currency, language, food, and customs change in a short plane ride. The cultural lines get blurred, and we have high expectations of how quickly we will adjust to whatever culture we find ourselves. No wonder we find ourselves exhausted, collapsed on beds with tears on our pillows. It’s all a bit much."
Elisabeth also writes as they just left Senegal for furlough:
"Our bodies will arrive in the USA tomorrow, but our minds will continually be arriving in the next few weeks. Our Bakel/Senegal files (culture, language, names, connections, foods, water reservoirs and generators, how to do things, where to find things, etiquette, etc) will be being archived and our USA files will be being brought out of the archives – some files will be expired or drastically changed. If we look like a “deer in the headlights”, that is exactly how we are feeling. We invite you to generously over-explain, educate, remind, and help us with your names, our connection, USA changes, ways of communication, where to find things, how to do things, etc."
Oh how I can empathize with both of these quotes. When we first went overseas in 1976, we were only a few years too late to take the ship voyage rather than the airplane route. I have often felt that it happens too fast, even as we slog through the 39 hours from our Rwanda doorway to Peter's in SC.. A week or two of sitting still to adjust from one place to another would mean so much psychologically as well as physically. Sadly, that is not what our lives consist of now. However, Elisabeth's description of "deer in the headlights" is very true for us often as we jet back and forth.
We are enjoying our 2 days of fall break right now. It is much appreciated, even though this fall has been reasonably easy. I lost my AP World History course as both students flew to the US to be with our director's wife as she faces cancer surgery soon. (With terrible irony our director from HIS in Papua, Indonesia is also in the States taking treatment in preparation for serious cancer surgery.... missionary admin is often attacked. Pray for them.) But my heart has been missing the kids/grandkids the last week or so. We will be home for Christmas. That seems very far away in space and very close in time. There is much to do in the next 8 weeks, and we are also closing out our last Peking University classes by Dec. 30.
I just thought Elisabeth's writing on FB was just too good and descriptive not to share. Hopefully, it will help you pray better for us.
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