Rob and Heather Blanks MOZAMBIQUE

Earlier this year Heather and I were interviewed on “Missions on the Frontline” Radio Program.  Hans Finzel was so gracious to host us.  Thank you Hans!

It was definitely a new experience.  We had to speak through a pop filter, which is a little  wire screen between your mouth and the microphone.  This screen is placed a couple of  inches from your mouth.  Using a pop filter was a trip.  I kept thinking I was going to bite it.  Adding to the awkwardness for me was that it is impossible on the radio, obviously, to make eye contact with your audience.  I did not know where to look.  I kept looking at the pop filter and the microphone, but that made my eyes cross.  It was nerve wracking in a new fun sort of way!  

If you venture, you can listen to the programs: Rob and Rob and Heather.  As you listen, try not to think of me with my eyes crossed trying to eat the mic…

Third Culture Kid —

An individual who, having spent a significant part of the developmental years in a culture other than the parents’ culture, develops a sense of relationship to  all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any.  Elements from each culture are incorporated into the life experience, but the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar experience.

David C. Pollock

Rob and I are in Orlando, FL for a conference about educational planning for our children on the mission field.  We left a few days early to have to some time together before the conference and we have been gone from our little people for almost a week with 2.5 days left to go!  We have already learned so much and the conference has been so beneficial.  We’re down here in tropical Florida thinking through complex issues of the kids’ personalities and learning styles, their stages of childhood development, available educational options, etc.   It includes discussing how one ‘abstract random’ parent and one ‘abstract sequential’ parent teach a ‘concrete random’ child who is kinesthetic learner but the parents are visual and auditory. If it sounds confusing and complicated, well, that’s because it is…and isn’t!  The learning theory and child development  information sounds messy but it is insightful and helpful.  The mix of four different children and two parents ( who are nearly opposite) make it a bit sticky.   That is to say nothing of the different schooling options in several upcoming locations.  Basically, by the end of our conference week we will have built a plan for the rest of our kids’ lives under our care (gasp). That sounds somewhere between unrealistic and devious!  No, seriously, we are feeling the weight of being good caretakers with the four precious little lives that God has entrusted to us.  At the same time, we are aware of our desperate need for His wisdom and guidance in the planning process and the days of education to come.  We need His grace to cover their lives through so much transition.  We ask for your prayers for the kids–for good schooling experiences and faith to trust in God during difficult seasons which we know will come.

Honestly, it has been painful at times for us to sit through a conference and listen to lectures about and plan for things that you KNOW will be hard for your kids.  The first session, our speaker talked about the difficulties and effects of growing up as a TCK. At one point, I (Heather) was asking myself , “why would you do this to your children…on purpose?”.  She went on to explain that sometimes they turn out really well.  For instance, the next president of the United States will be a TCK.  Before you get nervous…both parties nominees are TCK’s!  So, as unnatural as it feels to expose our kids to hardship we are working out our faith (with fear and trembling) to trust that God will use it for the kids’ good and for His glory!

In the meantime, we are so anxious to leave all the       abstract and sequential theories behind and go back to our concrete and random little people– where our real world is with its chalk, and Fox and Socks, and Slush, and blankie Cars, and a billion pieces of Lego,and reading The Little Engine That Could by memory, and drinking Chai with too much sugar, and breaking up fights, and holding hands to pray, …back to that wonderfully real world!

On a road trip recently, Heather and I listened to A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beahon, on CD–minus the first CD which was missing when we got it from the library.  I recommend this book for a glimpse into the horrors and depravity of the world of boy soldiers in Africa.  It will open your eyes, and may cause you to feel physically sick.  Warning, some of its graphic material would cause many R-rated action movies to reel.  

It offers a window into the world of syncretism–the mixing and matching of different parts of multiple religions.  In this case it is the mixing of Islam with Anamism.

Here is an example Ishmael gives us:  Ishmael has a very good memory, even photographic.  His good memory is no accident.  It comes from his grandfather who had a special Arabic prayer for good memory.  This prayer was written out with chalk in Arabic on a slate.  The chalk was then rinsed off the slate and the water collected in a glass.  Ishmael then drank the solution giving him great memory, which consequently helped him in school.

It is this type of syncretism that we will be facing in Mozambique.

How can we help the lost and destitute of Africa in a way that produces sustainable and reproducing life transformation through Jesus Christ?  

Many good hearted attempts are made to help Africans by giving financial aid handouts.  While this is a good stop gap measure, it is not a viable long term solution.  One study we recently read indicated that the countries in Africa that have received the most foreign aid are doing the worst.  We know that Christ has commanded us to care for the “least of these my brothers and sisters,” but how do we most strategically accomplish this with our limited resources?

We think part of this answer involves presenting not only the Gospel and Bible teaching to the least of these, but also physical help through the planting of a sustainable small business governed by Biblical ethics.  Helping Africans establish a profitable small business brings many potential benefits.  First of all, it provides a job to a family when good jobs are scarce.  This income then allows for housing, food, and medical care. Employment renders accountability by weeding out those who would rather have a handout than work.  It creates relationships, credibility, and trust with the community.  It provides a great opportunity for evangelism and discipleship (especially in areas closed to the Gospel).  It builds psychological health.  It gives hope and promise to the future when life in Africa is fleeting.  Why plan for the future, they reason, if you are not even sure if you are going to have food to eat today?

Our colleagues Rodger and Lynne Schmidt have been in Mozambique five years.  They have developed an internship program with eight Mozambican young men.  They are discipling these men and training them for future church leadership and ministry in Mozambique.  As part of this discipleship program they are launching a chicken egg business, MozOvos.  This discipleship model is designed to equip these Mozambicans for life, ministry, and employment simultaneously.  We are excited about this ministry and can’t wait to join them, and give them the help they need!