Other | Amy Medina

Tanzania Shines

On October 30, 2015

It’s been a strange week.

We haven’t left our house except to take the kids the quarter mile to and from school. We anxiously combed the internet for information, hearing reports of tear gas, fires, and unhappy citizens around the country. Yet, our neighborhood was more silent than usual. Traffic was light; shops were closed.

Yesterday, we kept the kids home from school. We heard the presidential results would be released sometime yesterday, and our area is a bit of a hot spot for the opposition. HOPAC closed early anyway, once it was confirmed that the results really were coming.

So, we spent another day at home. Gil and the kids prepared games for Josiah’s birthday on Saturday. Twice, military jets flew over, low to the ground. Everyone looked up in awe, except for Johnny, who ran into the house in fear. The government’s point was clear: No Messing Around.

It was one of the few times when I wished we had television. I kept refreshing the news page, over and over, about 67 times. But in the end, we didn’t need the newspaper to tell us the results. At 4:00 in the afternoon, we heard the cheering all around us, from miles around. Magufuli had been declared the winner. Cars honked, people celebrated, for at least the next hour. The air was electric with excitement.

Not everyone is happy, of course, especially the 40% who voted for the opposition, and I’m still not sure how I would have voted if I had been given the chance. But with just a few exceptions, it looks like Tanzania successfully pulled off a peaceful election, and that is remarkable. Was it fair? Was it lawful? Did the party leaders behave themselves? It’s hard to know for sure. The people, however, are to be commended for their dignified conduct.

Tanzania has a lot of problems. It continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world, and it has its fair share of corruption and infrastructure problems. But today, I am proud to be a guest in this country.

Tanzania has been one of the only countries in Africa to avoid war or major unrest since it’s independence. It’s been one of the only countries in Africa where it is assumed that the president will step down after his term is over. It’s been one of the only countries in Africa to hold peaceful elections, even when the race was tight.

“By the end of the 1980’s, not a single African head of state in three decades had allowed himself to be voted out of office. Of some 150 heads of state who had trodden the African stage, only six had voluntarily relinquished power. They included…Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere [the first president].”

(Martin Meredith, The Fate of Africa) Nyerere set the foundation for peace, and Tanzanians have steadfastly persisted in that legacy.

Well done, Tanzania. You have much to be proud of. And congratulations (and Happy Birthday, ironically!) to Mr. John Magufuli, 5th president of the United Republic of Tanzania.

We All Wait.

By Amy Medina

On October 27, 2015

In Other

Saturday was filled with an air of anxious anticipation.

Motorcycles raced down the road in packs, with red and blue Chadema flags waving behind them. Young men crowded into the backs of pick-up trucks, shouting and cheering. Church parking lots were filled, as many held services on Saturday instead of Sunday. The grocery store was packed. The ATM machines were out of money. There was a line at the gas station, which hardly ever happens here.

Grace asked, “Mommy, one boy in my class says that his dad is hiding his car. Why would he do that?” People were excited, but people were nervous.

Sunday was election day. All was eerily quiet, as no one was working and no one was in church. Voters waited in long lines, sometimes for a number of hours, but proudly leaving with a purple pinkie finger.

Teachers sent out emails with, “If your child has to stay home this week, here’s some work for them to do.” Monday morning, we cautiously re-entered the world and took our kids to school. Many who live farther away stayed home.

So far, there is peace. But the presidential results have not yet been announced.

Collectively, the country holds its breath.

(picture from Shelby Rhee)

You Can Ice Skate in Tropical Africa….Or Maybe You Can’t.

By Amy Medina

On October 16, 2015

In Other

A local mall started advertising that they had an ice skating rink.

Seriously? In a city that rarely goes below 80 degrees?

And, um, often has no electricity?

But as soon as our girls saw the large banner of the Olympic skater gracefully gliding on ice, they knew they had to go. So, we gave them a goal to work toward, and they finally earned it. This week was mid-term break, so we headed over to become the next Olympic ice skaters.

You would think, however, that ice skating required, uh, ice. Silly us. Apparently it doesn’t.

It was white. It was hard. But it was definitely not ice. Why is it called “ice skating,” you ask? Well, apparently “plastic skating” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

At least we had the whole place to ourselves….

….well, except for the polar bears. The only ones you’ll ever see in Tanzania.

Yes, Johnny, what are we subjecting you to?

He just wasn’t too into this skating thing. But he did like being pushed.

If you ever see a Tanzanian Olympic ice skater, you’ll know where she got her start. Right here on the plastic.

Sometimes Africa Scares Me

By Amy Medina

On October 11, 2015

In Other

Africa and me, we have trust issues. I love this continent, but sometimes it scares me.

When I was 13, rebels took over the government of Liberiaand started a civil war. My family was on home assignment at the time, but all the other missionaries were evacuated. Our house was looted, the mission station was bombed, and I never got to say good-bye.

We relocated to Ethiopia, and I went to boarding school in Kenya. I was fourteen. The students were told to keep a bag packed of essentials; something that we could carry for at least a mile in case of an evacuation. I don’t even remember why we were told this; I think it had something to do with the Gulf War.

While I was in Kenya, a revolution started in Ethiopia. My mom and my brother were evacuated. My dad stayed behind, and spent his nights sleeping with some other men in a windowless hallway. One day in our apartment, he watched a stray bullet come through the roof.

Now we’ve been 11 years in Tanzania. It’s one of the only countries in Africa which has been peaceful since it’s independence–over 50 years now. For about 20 years, it had a socialist government, but in the mid-80’s, it became a democracy. However, since then, it’s been primarily a one-party government. During past elections, there’s only ever been one viable candidate for president. Makes the voting process pretty simple.

Until this year. For the first time in Tanzania’s history, two candidates are running for president. (Interestingly, one of them happens to be the grandfather of one of Grace’s best friends.) This is the third election cycle we’ve witnessed, and it’s strange to see two faces plastered on billboards instead of one.

Because of this, people are nervous. Will this election mirror other African countries? Will there be rioting and violence? Just a few years ago, 1000 people were killed in election violence in Kenya, our neighbor to the north.

A few weeks ago, our house worker asked me, “Will you stay in Tanzania in October?”

“Of course,” I answered. But her question made me anxious.

All universities are closed until November. We cancelled our training classes for this month. We’ve been carefully reading news updates and memos from outside agencies. One of them suggested, “Pack a bag of essentials.” It feels all too familiar.

The elections are two weeks from today. But what can we do? We stock our pantries; we fill up our gas tanks. And we pray: for peace, and for a government with integrity. We pray for safety but remember that’s not always the most important thing. Instead, that the gospel might go forth, no matter what.

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.

Fifteen Years of Gil and Amy

By Amy Medina

On October 7, 2015

In Other

Our story was an unusual one. Good friends for two years, dated for a month, engaged for 5 months, and then 9 months after we were married, we were off to Tanzania. If you didn’t read the long version I wrote on our 10th Anniversary, I invite you to read it today.

Since then, we’ve spent 11 out of 15 years in Tanzania. We’ve lived in 8 different houses and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean way too many times to count. We’ve had one miscarriage and adopted four children and 6 dogs (the children are all still with us; all the dogs are not.) We’ve worked together in five different ministries.

I thought about whether I had something profound to say about marriage after 15 years. But I don’t think I do, because our marriage is still a teenager. And what do teenagers really understand about life?

I know if I were to talk to my 23-year-old self in October of 2000, I would give her some advice. Forgive a lot more quickly. Find your wholeness in God, not in Gil. Look for, and focus on, the strengths that go along with your husband’s weaknesses. And my mantra for wives? Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. (Sing with me now!) There’s very little in a marriage that’s worth griping or fighting over.

But the truth is? I knew those things 15 years ago, in my head at least. We had great mentors. I read all the great books. I just had to learn them for myself. And perhaps the hardest lesson of all? That I was not, or never would be, the perfect wife I thought I was. We’re smiling in all the pictures below. Of course, you don’t take selfies when you are not speaking to each other, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

“Marriage by its very nature has the ‘power of truth’–the power to show you the truth about who you are. People are appalled when they get sharp, far-reaching criticisms from their spouses. They immediately begin to think they married the wrong person. But you must realize that it isn’t ultimately your spouse who is exposing the sinfulness of your heart–it is marriage itself. Marriage does not so much bring you into confrontation with your spouse as confront you with yourself.” (Tim Keller)

But what I most wished I had known 15 years ago? Persevere. It might get harder before it gets better. But it does get better. The last five years have been the best of all.

I have no regrets. Gil is still my very best friend, and he leads me so well. He gives me wise advice; he makes me laugh; he respects my thinking; he pushes me to do more, to be more, to love Jesus more. He is the very best Daddy a kid could ask for. There is nothing I have done to deserve this gift.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” (Tim Keller)