Merry Christmas from me...

Every year, growing up, my mom would create a piece of artwork for our family Christmas card. She inspires me even though she’s been gone for six Christmases now. This is my attempt at a rendering of an early 17th Century Ethiopian icon of Mary and Jesus. I hope that your season’s celebrations are filled with the awe of the coming of the Savior and all that he brings to the redemption and meaning of our lives.

As you know I spent the last three months on Afrizo tour. It went well and the team returned safely to Kenya. We all agreed it was a successful trip and we grew from the experience. The tour raised about $250,000 for scholarships for Daystar University. My work with Daystar US is nearly finished, though I’m still receiving support through Daystar.

During this time of transition I am now seeking God for what He has next for me. There are several possibilities before me – I could go back to school, back to a different African country, or go elsewhere in the world. Recently I enquired about joining a short term team to Ethiopia this spring. This will be a good step toward investigating something tangible. All these options sound intriguing and are of interest, but I really need to see God’s clear hand in directing me for the next step, so I would appreciate your prayers for the future.

I’m still reachable by phone at 612-462-2077 (text or voice), my email remains the same; korbel.jc@gmail.com and my snail mail goes to my house 2514 12th Ave. S., Mpls, MN 55404 even though I’m not staying there at the moment. (Let me know if you’re mailing something urgent.)

I’d love to see folks over the next few months, so please contact me so we can get together if you are in the Twin Cities.

May you see evidence of Immanuel (God with us) this season, Jan

Driving the US

One thing I thought a lot about near the end of the trip around the US was how different Americas are depending on their region. It shows up in all different ways. And I’m sure I’m not an expert in this. I would have had to spend more concentrated energy on Specific observations if I were to make a more accurate analysis of the whole topic.

One area that leaps to mind if how people drive and car culture in general. In Minnesota we are somewhat polite – at least in certain ways. We are pretty mindful of cars merging and will slow down main highway traffic trying to let someone in. It’s not like that on the east coast or just about anywhere else. We did a concert in Pontiac, Michigan. Just the name tells you cars are important there. I think someone told us that a lot of people are car owners, like more cars per capita than other places in the US. I should check that out.

We did learn about making left turns there. Most roads of any size require you to go straight through the intersection you want to go left at and then do a U-turn so you can make a right at the intersection. Crazy, huh? It’s called a Michigan left and it’s considered safer than a normal left turn.

New Yorkers, of course are often carless. At least those in Manhattan. Most of the team stayed in the City proper and therefore with families that don’t own vehicles. I stayed in Queens with a friend I hadn’t seen in years so we had a place to part the van and trailer. Not sure what we would have done without here.

Now don’t get me going about LA. The 4 or 5 or 6 lane freeways weren’t as overwhelming as we thought they’d be, maybe because we were so used to all the freeway driving. But also because we didn’t tackle them during rush hour.

I recently watched the movie LA Story, Steve Martin visits a neighbor two doors down and has to drive there. That kind of driving culture might be true, but I can’t say I saw it firsthand. I did stay 4 streets over from where the group met and I walked it several times. I noted the only others on foot were walking their dogs.

I will think up more, but this entry got long so I’ll stop there.

Well Maybe…Not So Much

I thought I was adjusting to life back in Minnesota so well. Then it snowed! While I still think I’m not complaining too much, I was not prepared! Yesterday I finally dug out my winter coat and snow boots from the attic of my house (that I’m not living in).

Honestly though, I forgot about super dry skin that makes you cold. I forgot how serious static hair is in winter. And I really haven’t figured out shoes yet. I did put away all my open-toed shoes, but I still haven’t worked out the best options for what to wear now.

Living out of a suitcase for an extended period of time makes it easier to make do with a small variety of clothing. When I got my sweaters out of the attic I realized that I have way more sweaters than I should or anyone person should have. I think I counted 4 red ones and I hardly ever wear red! (At least one has to go.)

I still need to work on the car being ready for winter. I need to find my jumper cable kit, top up the wiper fluid and get a scraper/brush. Come to think of it – I was using an old broom for a snow brush last time I had a car in winter.

All of this winter shock makes me think that maybe deep down I am a bit Kenyan. Of course I miss my Kenyan friends. There are aspects of Kenyan culture that seem to be inside me. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the climate! National Geographic once called it “the ultimate climate in the world.” But for now I’m doing my best to adjust and enjoy.

It's All Perspective

I think I spent a good deal of this journey on autopilot when it came to cross cultural dealings. I feel I can trust my autopilot because I have lived cross culturally so much. But there are times that I realized in a profound and fresh way that even when we think we are all speaking the same language and seeing the same things our cultural worldview is like a pair of glasses that are tinted with our perspective. It just changes the way things look.

In the first half of this trip I remember having ‘ah ha’ moments when I realized that a team member had a very different perspective of the same thing we just experienced together. Maybe it’s safe to say that after a few of those it was normal or easy for me to remember and operate from the realization that we are always coming from different angles.

However I also remember being surprised a few times during our debriefing on the last day about what our dear Kenyans thought of Americans in general. Actions one names as pride, I would call openness. And if you look at it, it’s understandable from a Kenyan perspective how that action would be considered pride if a Kenyan had done it.

One lesson learned is that even 3 months of touring dozens of families doesn’t necessarily yield a correct assumption. I like to think I’m a good life long learner. And I was always discovering new things about Kenyan culture, but one thing this tells me is that perhaps even after several samples and long observations, I may have come to wrong conclusions about what happens in Kenyan culture.

For all my questioning I still think I have come up with some new insights into American culture. I hope to explore those in the coming entries. Stay tuned.

I'm from Minnesota

Yesterday I got to thinking that even though I haven’t experienced a winter for the last couple of years and I don’t really have a winter coat per se, I seem to be taking this cold weather in stride. Today it dawned on me I like that I’m from Minnesota.

I’ve seen what Northerners are like and specifically those who live in the northeastern part of the US. I’ve had conversations with Tennesseans and Texans. I have a feel for those from the Southwest and Californians too. But there is something about where you are actually from that makes you who you are and gives you an innate understanding of your environment.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Kenya too. There is so much about there that warms my heart. And in some ways I feel more at home in Nairobi. But this place is in my fiber. I know how to drive on the highways, I know the proper etiquette for shopping, I love the evening dusk sky looking west from downtown. This place is home. (At least for now.)

Afrizo Tour in Retrospective

I think I have just done the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I was the tour manager for the Afrizo singing group from Daystar. They arrived on Aug 30 and left of Nov 22. The relationships are worth it. I was working for Daystar University scholarship funding so when I think about the many students who used to come to my office for assistance it’s worth it.

That said, I don’t think I could ever do it again. It was the longest extended time that I was so saturated with a task I literally could not think about the future. It was just one day at a time or maybe two ahead. I am facing a huge transition now but I had absolutely no time to process it.

I also had a hard time processing what was happening as we went along. I wish that I could have been writing in the van, but the little reading I did in the van sometimes made me a bit nauseated and gave me some eye strain. So it’s a good thing I didn’t try. I would however like to try to do a series of posts related to the trip for the sake of remembering and noting some of what I learned from this venture.

I am so thankful to have traveled the entire US in a three month span. With the Afrizo team I stopped or passed through 25 States. The team hit another 3 States without me, as I was back in the office for two different weeks during the time the team was here. I think there is about a dozen of the continental States I haven’t set foot in, mostly in the South and New England. Someday I may have to round that out, but for now, I’m happy to stay put for a bit, even if it means enduring a Minnesota winter.

Please check back as I hope to fill you in on more of my cultural tour guide travels.

It’s already September!

The weather I love is here. I’m just not sure how I will survive a Minnesota winter. But warm days and cool nights! I’m lovin’ that!

At the end of August 8 ‘friends’ arrived in Minneapolis. To be more precise, 8 people from Daystar University, one teacher and 7 students – the touring singing group, Afrizo! They are here for three months of scholarship fundraising concerts across the entire United States. And I’m going with them! The students come from all over Kenya and one from the Congo (DRC). The director, Hellen has been here a number of times and was even a part of last October’s Lausanne Congress in South Africa as she joined the worship team there.

Every single day is filled with all kinds of new things for this team. While my coworker in the office, Hannah set up everything it’s still a load of logistics on me to get these guys all over. Thankfully we also have a very helpful driver, Sven for the entire trip also. My responsibilities lie in a number of areas.

For the week and a half they’ve been here I’ve managed a few days when I could get into the office to try to get my head around the next step. Though I started off feeling only a millimeter ahead of them, I’m still not a lot more ready. I wish I had the time to think through all the pieces of debriefing every day and cultural exchanges. Not to mention being ready with a Bible study each week and encouragements for the team members.

Sunday evening we start our first road trip. Its 13 days to Oregon and back. I will actually switch off with another staff member and get the last half of that trip off, back in MN without the team. Maybe that is when I will mentally catch up. But then on October 3rd we start the big loop: Chicago, Detroit area, Pennsylvania, NY, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, and finally Los Angeles. They fly home from there two days before Thanksgiving.

All this is to say. I hope to blog about this grand trip seeing most of America through the eyes of dear Kenyans. But I won’t make any big promises. I will just have to see how it goes. I will however update Facebook often. And if you want to follow what the team is doing you can “like” the Afrizo! public figure page on Facebook. The one with the exclamation point is our traveling team.

Thanks for your many prayers to see me through this incredible season.