Continuing the Journey

Friday, January 01, 2010

Family Photograph

The family photograph was taken in April 2006 by Dale Gehman.

From left to right: Jessica (18), Alia (4), Mike, Cindy, Jordan (15).

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Leaving Africa

I've been wanting to write this for sometime, but couldn't seem to get started. It seems like a good idea to explain to friends what is happening in our lives, especially since we are going through a major transition.

We've basically lived outside the United States since we left for language study in France on New Year's Eve 1988. After a year in France, 16 years in Djibouti and 3 years in Kenya (plus some time in the US on home leave), we are returning to live in the United States for an indefinite period of time.

We left Djibouti in 2005 for a variety of reasons, including some difficulties in the educational situation for our children, a general fatigue from the way in which teachers are treated in Djibouti (The Ministry of Education tries to squeeze as much out of teachers as possible, then replace them when they burnout.), and a desire for further education.

We spent a year in Bird-in-Hand, PA then moved to Kenya in 2006. I taught at a theological school there. My desire was to teach about Islam, using my extensive reading in the area, the PhD I'd begun and my experience in Djibouti. While I did teach a course in Islam, I wasn't able to do as much as I'd hoped. I also found it difficult to work on my PhD - whether it was the situation, or a lack of self-discipline - I don't know.

Just a few months ago, in discussion with our boss from the mission, we decided to complete our service with Eastern Mennonite Missions and return to the US. While we were growing to like our work in Kenya, we never felt quite as called to it as we'd always felt in Djibouti. Cindy ended up doing a lot of administration work, and found herself in an awkward position of having lots of responsibilities without having any authority in them. We also found ourselves relating to other mission workers quite a bit, which was very different for me. My strengths had always been developing relationships with local people and learning languages and cultures. I've actually been pretty poor at relating to other workers, and I always found it more stressful being with Americans than Africans. I never was a very supportive co-worker. But in Kenya we found ourselves being with Americans more than Africans. Also, Jordan graduated from high school and now we have 2 children living in the US, so it seemed like the time to return here - for at least a few years. While this is all rather confused, it's been a part of our decision process. I'm still not completely convinced that we made the correct decision, but it has been made, and we must move on.

Our plans (if they can be called that) are to stay in the US for 3-5 years. We may buy a house, but we are still working through all the financial aspects of doing so. Jordan will go to Hesston in the fall. Cindy will go back to school to get her BSN (bachelor degree in nursing). She is already an RN. She will probably go on to study for a masters in nursing, or a nurse practitioner, or physicians assistant. Cindy will also work full-time and support us. I'll continue to work on my PhD from the University of Birmingham (UK) in Muslim-Christian Relations. I'll be spending a lot of time in libraries reading, researching, taking notes and writing. I hope to get a part-time teaching job at a local college.

Once Cindy and I finish our degrees, we may go back to Africa (or maybe elsewhere) to work and teach. We really don't know where we might go: Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya are places we know. We could go with Eastern Mennonite Missions again, or maybe with Mennonite Central Committee, or with who knows?? After a few years here, we may decide that we'd like to remain in the US. Then I'd search for a full-time teaching position at a university - and we'd move wherever I might get a job. As a nurse, Cindy can find a job almost everywhere.

Who knows! We may end up enjoying life in America, but for now we often think we'd like to return home to Africa.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Mike's Hospital Experience

Many of you know about my stay in the hospital, but also many probably don't. So I thought I'd write this little note to tell ya'll about what happened.

About a year ago I got hurt trying to sprint. It turned out to be an inguinal hernia. So this past Thursday, April 2, after my trip to the UK, I went into MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi for laparoscopy surgery for the hernia. I was scheduled to have the surgery, then spend the night.

The surgery went fine. However, back in the hospital room, where I was to spend the night, I began to get chest pains soon after coming out of the anesthesia. By 8 PM the pain was so severe, that I simply could not inhale. I think that it might have been the most painful experience of my life. The nurses called in doctors who gave me oxygen, and morphine to ease the pain and help me breathe. Then they took me into the Intensive Care Unit.

Before going to ICU, I telephoned Cindy on my mobile phone with the help of a nurse, thinking that it wouldn't be so great if she came in to see me in the morning and found that I'd died the previous night. So Cindy and Clair Good, our EMM boss who happened to be in Nairobi at the time, came to see me that evening in the ICU. I was hooked up to an EKG (ECG in British English) and the doctors took blood to see if I'd had a heart attack. It wasn't a heart attack. The doctors believe that it was a pulmonary embolism, which is having blood clots in your lung.

By Friday evening I was out of ICU and back in my private room. The primary treatment for blood clots is medicine that reduces clotting of the blood, what we sometimes call a blood-thinner. For some reason I wasn't responding to the oral medicine, so they had to give me injections, which is why I had to stay in the hospital for nearly a week. It seems that the oral medication is now working, so I don't have to get anymore injections.

So now I am home. Since Cindy is a nurse, I was actually able to leave a day or so earlier, and she gave me more shots until the pill began to work. Overall, it was a bit scary - probably more so for Cindy than for me.

I want to thank everyone who knew about it for their prayers. God is good, and I am doing fine. Because of the hernia operation I'm still walking a bit more slowly, but I'll soon be back to normal - not that I ever was exactly normal!

Monday, February 09, 2009

Facebook??

Cindy and I have both joined Facebook, which is an internet social thing. If you see our blog from time to time, and you have access to internet, you can find more frequent updates and more photos, there.

Facebook is easier and quicker to update, so we do it more frequently. We can receive communication, as well as post photos and stories. And it is much easier to put photos on Facebook.

You do have to join Facebook. It doesn't cost anything. Then you look for Cindy Brislen and then for Mike Brislen on friend finder and request to be our friend. Or if this is confusing, simply join Facebook, then send an email to brislen5@yahoo.com telling us and we will find you.

Visitors from Pennsylvania

In January we had 8 visitors from Stumptown and Mellinger Mennonite Churches. They were in Kenya for about 12 days and we managed to squeeze in quite a few experiences in that short time.

The group has also made a blog with better stories and more pictures. (Click this link!)

We began with a conversation with Kenya Mennonite Church leaders from Nairobi. We talked quite a bit with how we do church and mission in Kenya and in the USA. Then on Sunday we split up into 4 groups and visited all 4 of the KMC churches in Nairobi. That was quite an experience for most of our visitors, as most of these churches are in poor sections of the city. We were also able to visit Menno Academy at Mathare North Mennonite Church, Eastleigh Fellowship Centre and Mukuru Menno Academy at Mukuru Mennonite Church. Jonathan Pageau took us to an artisans cooperative where we met some of the men who make carvings for Ten Thousand Villages, as well as many more artisans. Jonathan has told us that the artisans were delighted with our visit, as they don't get many visitors, and our group made quite a few purchases, including Baraka the Giraffe.

The group also enjoyed a safari at Masa Mara Game Park. Two members of the group were unable to go with us, because they caught a flu bug. We spent one night at Sekenani Camp, which was excellent. We had two game drives. We didn't see as many animals as Cindy and I had become accustomed to on safaris, but our friends from PA saw more than they had ever seen. And we did see some lions from very close and a group of 4 cheetahs.

After the safari we stopped in Olepolos, which is a Masai village where a Mennonite church is located. The village has basically been transformed from one without hope into a village where children now finish school, fields are planted, cows are well-managed, and men are not drunk. We spent the night hosted by various families. For a few people this was a real stretch. On Sunday we worshiped together at Olepolos Mennonite Church, which is always a great pleasure.

A group photo.

The women's Choir at Olepolos.

Alia made a friend with one of David's daughters. David is one of the leaders at the church, and we spent the night at his house. Before the trip, Alia was complaining about going to Olepolos. (She can be the object of much unwanted attention - imagine being a little blonde-haired girl and having 20 kids watching your every move from a couple feet away.) However, once we were there, and Cindy had helped milk a cow, and Alia and I had played in the river and she'd found some friends - Alia told me that she now wanted to live in Olepolos.

Have you ever seen these Noah's Ark carvings at Ten Thousand Villages? Here is the artisan who creates them.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Teaching English

Cindy has begun teaching English to a small group of Somali ladies. These are the same ladies that I did Somali literacy with last year though in a different location. There are currently 4 - 5 ladies who come together each Tuesday morning. We start with a Bible verse in Somali, then I rephrase it in very simple English. Then we sing songs in Somali. We've also started learning the song God is so good. Three of the ladies are very motivated, and one woman especially wants to learn. I worked with her, working on pronunciation very closely. However, each time she sings this song, she sings:

God is so good,
God is no good,
God is no good, He's no good to me.

She gets the first line correct, but always changes that one letter from an s to an n, and changes the whole meaning of the song. We are having a fun time, laughing at silly mistakes, and hoping that this dear lady will get these words down pat.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

More News on Obama Day in Kenya

One of the leaders of the Mennonite Church in Olepolos (a Masai village) called Cindy and told her that people in the village and church were slaughtering bulls to celebrate Obama's victory in the elections.

Holiday in Kenya

Today has been declared a national holiday in Kenya to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as president of the USA. For most people here Obama is a symbol of hope that change is possible and that Kenya can succeed. At NIST, where I teach, people were very happy with his election and they assume that most White American Christian opposition to him was based on race. I, unfortunately, think there is probably a some truth to that.

In Nyanza province near Lake Victoria the celebrations are even more exuberant. This is the area that Obama's father is from. Culturally people are recognized as children of the clan to which their father belongs. National boundaries do not hold much importance. Therefore, the Luo people from this region consider Obama to their son. It can seem rather odd to us, especially considering that his father basically abandoned him when he was 2-years-old. However, for now people are very happy, and they seriously believe that Obama's election will help their region economically. I hope they will not be too disappointed.

Just including a few flower pics from our garden.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Throwing Heavy Things

Early in the school year Jordan had decided to lift weights rather than play sports. But he was told that the weight room was reserved during after school hours for members of the track team, so he decided to go out for track. He now throws the discus and the shot put. Last Saturday was Rosslyn Academy's first track meet of the year. The whole family and some other Mennonite missionaries went to Rosslyn to watch the track meet. Jordan finished 3rd in the discuss, and he was first in the shot put, setting a new Rosslyn record in his first meet.