Small Missionary, Big Mission

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the delay in posting- I have added a few things to my schedule so life has started to become busier for me. I’m happy to say that after 3 months of trying to figure out how to best make cost-efficient, yet aesthetically pleasing comic books, we have finally figured out the workflow and I finished Comic Book 1 out of 13! Although this first book took me 3 months to complete, the weeks and weeks of troubleshooting and planning have paved the road to efficiency, so now I am able to complete one comic book in about a week. Here are some photos:

My fuzzy cubicle buddy has multiple sleeping positions in a day

These comic books series will be distributed all throughout East Africa, to be accompanied with 13 30-minute animated episodes! Our partners, VisionFund and World Vision have been really stoked about the quality of our projects ☺ It’s really quite something to see what a small group of dedicated, passionate people can do.

And if you’re curious, here are some of the other projects Pamoja has done, including one of the first Swahili television series for children, and a beautiful Swahili musical about a girl choosing freedom and love over enslavement to spirits of witchcraft (a very real issue here in Africa.)

Apart from work, I have also been exploring a lot more of Africa- I went to some safari trips, I went hiking a few weeks ago with a friend, joined a community group from church, and I also made a dress out of some traditional fabric that I bought!! My language skills are also improving- I wish I had more time/discipline to practice on my own, but I’ve also realized that the best way for me to learn is just to go out there, speak Swahili, and not be afraid of sounding like an idiot. But above all, I have also been reflecting a lot on why God has placed me in Tanzania, and the lessons I have learned here since.

Sunday outing with church friends

I made a kitenge dress!!

Tash photobombing me

some of the awesome feser kids

waterfall hike in a national park!

natural hole in the middle of a hugeee fig tree

we were sooo lucky to see lions in the national park

*** 

Small Missionary, Big Mission 

When I hear the word “missionary,” one of the first images that come to mind is a radical evangelical Christian—actively proclaiming the gospel in a third world country. Maybe she runs an orphanage, takes bucket showers, and lives in a hut with the people she is trying to reach. Maybe he has to keep his faith a secret in order to avoid persecution from the government. I sometimes think of John the Baptist—arguably one of the first missionaries, and envision some crazed hippie dressed in camel hide eating bugs and honey—screaming “REPENT!” and baptizing anyone who would listen.

And here I am, sitting on a queen sized bed after taking a hot shower, typing on my macbook pro with unlimited Internet in Tanzania, trying to decide if I want to keep my hair green or not (although the power did just go out). Unlike John the Baptist, it is highly unlikely that I will be beheaded here, or significantly persecuted for my faith—but I too, am a missionary.

Over the past few months, I have been musing over why God chose to place me here, in the relatively peaceful country of Tanzania. Instead of traipsing through jungles or wandering LA’s skid row, I work in an office. I am not actively fighting against homelessness, human trafficking, or injustice, or poverty. On a normal day you will find me staring at three screens rendering out gazillions of comic-book images. I have no heart-wrenching stories of “starving African children” to share, but I can tell you about the frustrating hours I have spent wrestling with Autodesk Maya and reorganizing computer files. I can tell you about the tight-knit community that Pamoja shares and the dreams we have dreamed together, in unison, for East Africa. They are lovingly and painstakingly pieced together with visions of Swahili musicals and stories; intertwined with the hope of weaving more of Jesus into Tanzanian culture. And I begin to wonder whether God’s intention of leading me here was.

one of Tanzania's beautiful national parks

I’ve learned that missions work isn’t always explicitly “humanitarian” or “charitable” –nor should it be. In fact, when missions is run purely out of “passion” without education and professional expertise, it often does more harm than good. Our popular Christian culture has done us a disservice by convincing us that the ideal missionary runs an orphanage in some developing country. As an animator with a heart for missions therefore, I never dreamed that there might even be a place for me in the mission world outside of sharing with coworkers—and I am sure that I was not the only soul feeling misplaced.

But one does not build connections with an elderly, traditional Hong Kong woman and an educated Muslim Tanzanian in the same way. Likewise, to spread the hope of the gospel means that different people must approach this task with different tactics. Admittedly for quite some time, I was having internal conflicts because unlike the Los Angeles Urban Project where I lived in unsafe neighborhoods and befriended people in shelters—efficient missions at Pamoja means getting the comic books printed and distributed. Our different focus and goals require different strategy. If I took bucket showers, hand washed my laundry, and had no electricity, nothing would be accomplished—and I daresay we would even be laughed at. If we don’t come up with creative ways do missions outside the box, we will only ever reach people in the box.

There are a number of things I’ve learned since coming here, and perhaps the biggest blessing and challenge was knowing that animation is needed in missions—that creative skills are so useful in bringing stories filled with truth, hope, and love. Sometimes making financial literacy comic books feels small, because this isn’t the grand, cinematic, spiritual-warfare-ridden mission that I envisioned. But in addition to curbing my ego, I am blessed that I don’t have to live in fear due to my faith, and that I can come home to a clean apartment, hot shower, and warm bed every night. This is the missions field that God has called me to for the past few months—a softer, more comfortable place for me to experience God’s quiet majesty—but missions nonetheless. Maybe in a few years my missions field will be elsewhere—safer, or more dangerous—who knows? For the moment I am learning to delight in my role as a small missionary, taking part in God’s big, big mission.

Coffee tour- and yes now I have green tips in my hair ;)

Prayer Requests:

Container shipment 
In order to print and distribute the financial literacy comic books I am making, we need the huge shipment of printers we ordered from the states 6 months ago. However, they are still in government custody and we are waiting for them to release it to us, which can take anywhere from a few days to months. We are already delayed in delivering the comic books to some of our sponsors, and we cannot do much without the printers. Please pray for a speedy delivery of the printers to Pamoja Ministries!

Software issues 
One of the annoying things about working with the animation software Autodesk Maya is that it is such a deep program with such a high learning curve, that when something goes wrong it can hours to work out. I am much more familiar with the workflow now so many of those issues are minimized, but prayer for problem-less days with the program would also be greatly appreciated.

Health/sickness
Lately many of us have been getting sick with some type of flu- I was sick briefly last week and just got a minor fever again today. Please pray for health for everyone- our staff, volunteers, missionaries, and local friends. There is a lot of work to be done already without sickness.

elephants for days :D

Asante sana everyone for your support and prayers! Sending love to everyone back home.

Con tanto amore,
Kayee

A Time to Celebrate

Hello, family and friends! 

I realize I haven’t updated in a while—I had been telling myself that I would post updates for a while now, but the weekends keep getting away from me! It’s hard for me to believe that it’s February already, which marks my two full months of being in the country, with only four left to go.

January has been a particularly pleasant month for a number of reasons, some of which include getting more used to life at Pamoja, slowing improving in my Swahili, and having opportunities to experience more of Tanzania. And for some strange, delightful reasons, a plethora of celebrations happened to occur all at once in this month, including my 23rd birthday, a Tanzanian wedding and sendoff, Australia day (in honor of our one Australian,) and the birthdays of two kids on base. Here are some pictures of the celebrations and the wedding we attended.

Diana put up a the Happy Birthday banner for me!

borrowed a mosquito net to keep those nasty things away

Pamoja celebrating Danny's first birthday

I caught a baby gecko! Seriously look how tiny it is

Ben Feser celebrating Australia day with a watermelon hat!

Selfie with the Pamoja crew- Natasha, Martina, Me, Justin, and Angela :D

Some of the Pamoja staff at Florah's wedding send-off

Wedding day!

Bride and Groom- I think Tanzanians don't smile so much in formal events to be more respectful 

All the single missionary ladies plus Natasha Feser :)

In between days, I have also had the chance to go to town and market more often now. Even though I’m barely conversational in Swahili, it’s good to immerse myself in the environment and become more familiar with the sounds of the language. This past Saturday I even went with Pamoja to an absolutely stunning waterhole! It had a rope swing where you could swing yourself into the water. IT WAS AWESOME. Unfortunately, I cut my foot on one of the rocks and got it mildly infected for half a day- oops. But thanks to Polysporin it’s all better now so don’t freak out mom and dad.

check out this bomb diggity waterhole

In the middle of nowhere

Lucy and I

That white blob is me swinging into the waterhole

In the midst of all this, I have been frequently reminded of the best reason to celebrate no matter what- because compared to the constant hope we have in Christ, life is merely the appetizer for the infinitely better kingdom to come. And when groups of people work together in anticipation for that hope, beautiful things happen. Greater purpose gives us greater reason to love, hope, and rejoice deeply.

Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Communities such as Pamoja are a testament to the impact such a small group of people can have when we work together for a greater purpose. With a company of less than 20, we are creating the first Swahili animations for children, filming 26 episodes of Swahili puppet shows, printing a series of 13 financial literacy comic books that will be distributed all throughout East Africa, animating 6.5 hours worth of the financial literacy curriculum, and screening our Swahili movies and musicals all over Tanzania!!! And the response I have seen has been overwhelmingly positive. Praise the Lord indeed ☺

progress! The color comics are coming together

Shiner became part of the experimental process in dyeing cloth for the puppets

Sarah and Raha :D

Lastly, prayer requests for this week/month include:

Efficiency and smooth workflow: We are all very busy juggling multiple projects, which is particularly difficult in a different country. Please pray for less unexpected problems, grace when importing materials/going through customs, and fresh bursts of creativity.

Strengthened community: With things getting busier, it’s also easy to forget the importance of community or become impatient for each other. Even though I think we’ve been doing a good job of looking out for each other and reminding ourselves of our purpose here, please continue to pray that we would be able to maintain a positive attitude towards each other.

More cultural/language growth: Thank you for all your prayers last time about my growing culturally! I am now able to understand a fair amount of children’s televisions shows, and have been venturing out more. However, I would still like to be much better at Swahili than I am right now (I have the talking level similar to that of a 2 year old), and I would like to go out into town more. This is difficult because of such long workdays, but I hope to have more chances to push myself out of my comfort zone on the weekends, and maybe even weeknights.

My first view of Kilimanjaro at a Nipe Jibu showing :)

Con tanto amore,

Kayee

p.s. I got twists in my hair today with pink tips! so now I look like a rasta girl. But that will be a post for next time ;)

One Month In Tanzania so far...

Hello everyone!

I have officially been in Tanzania now for about 6 weeks, and feel quite settled in. The newest member of Pamoja, Kirsten from BC, Canada, just arrived on Tuesday who will be working on construction around the campus. It’s exciting to see the Pamoja family grow a little bigger, and frankly I’m stoked to have another single young woman on base with me :)

Raha has also been a fantastic constant companion,
which makes dealing with the negative effects of culture shock far less painful :)

my cubicle space in the office

Now that I am familiarized with life here, my days are also fairly scheduled, so I quickly dove into the project that I came to Tanzania for. On weekdays I work roughly from 9-5 on the financial literacy comics, which are a series of comic books to accompany an animated curriculum. The story follows a local East African man named Maswali (meaning “questions” in Swahili,) who learns basic financial concepts such as record keeping, budgeting, investing in banks, and good stewardship of finances in a way that both honors God and benefits their community. While culturally relevant, the stories also promote the importance of female education and loving marriages—awesome principles to encourage in a patriarchal society. For example, the name of Maswali’s wife is Upendo, which translates to “beloved.”

Maswali- screenshot from the animation

mockup of comics

original prototype comics

The past month been filled with lots of experimenting as we try to figure out economical yet aesthetically pleasing designs for the comics. I even had to learn some scripting in Photoshop, and rack my brains to do some mathematical calculations which would give us high image quality without using too much ink. Anyone who knows me fairly well understands that any type of math is my worst nemesis, so going through this is a big deal for me. Who knew that math and programming would come to haunt me in Africa? I also learned that while I may have increased my knowledge at USC in certain subjects, I definitely haven’t gotten any brighter at math.

finding ways to save ink through a bitmap filter (that's the little white dots)

cover design ideas

Thank you again to all my supporters, due all the prayers and contributions I was able to arrive in Africa with awesome equipment for Pamoja! -As you can see in some of these images, I’ve using the Cintiq, a high quality digital drawing tablet, to create designs for the comics!

Now that I am settled into Pamoja with a steady work schedule, it is tempting to remain in my Pamoja/missionary bubble and ignore the local culture that I came here to serve. As I have noticed whenever I travel abroad for extended periods, my introverted tendencies tend to emerge once I begin to pass the honeymoon stage of culture shock. I can hide in my apartment and read books, skype friends, or watch American movies; or I can push myself to learn more of the language, travel around Arusha, and interact with local Tanzanians.

Even though I often talk about how enriching it was for me to engage with local Italians while I lived in Florence, I also forget how difficult it is for me to go beyond what is culturally comfortable. It’s not comfortable for me to speak in broken Swahili, nor will it be comfortable for me to venture out to a local Swahili-speaking church. It is really not comfortable to be labeled “mzungu” (foreigner or white person) everywhere I go.

But Jesus’ ministry would not have been so revolutionary had He chosen to “love” the world from comfortable places. Jesus’ love is like no other because He is willing to share our pain, our laughter, and our lives. His love is unconditional despite fully understanding and enduring the brokenness of humanity. Likewise, I now need to ask myself—am I willing to share life with Tanzanians instead of recreating my own American bubble? It is a humbling and uncomfortable question.

So! Prayer requests for the upcoming week include:

Challenging myself: 
As mentioned above, I don’t want to remain in my cultural bubble. Please pray for courage to step into Tanzanian culture, faith that God will guide me, and grace/humility to deal with any differences/difficulties that I am sure to encounter.

Finding time for Jesus: Lastly, in the midst of everything it can be tempting to sleep until I absolutely must get up for work, or spend my evenings crashing in my apartment. Please pray that Christ will remain in the center of my life, and in everything I do here at Pamoja :)

And here are some more pictures that capture the past month here!

the Pamoja team went on a safari to Arusha National park the day after Christmas! 

standing on top of a mountain with Lucy and Angela (missionaries from Tanzania)

babboon

Natasha helping me draw for a book

I caught a sunbird the other day!

Sunset during our Nipe Jibu showing (a musical film from Pamoja)

the local church we showed the film at

Kwaheri kilamtu!

Finding a wealth of community and time

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,  so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11

Mount Meru

(As I write this there is a huge African wasp buzzing around me in my cubicle so I'm a little antsy right now.) This past Wednesday evening marked my first complete week of being in Arusha, Tanzania! This also means that I am fully over jetlag, although God is good and it was quite easy for me to transition within the first few days. I think this really just means that I don't have an excuse to be lazy and tired anymore, haha.

sometimes I burn these wood chips that Ruby gave me

There are way too many things that I have seen and learned during the short time that I've been here, so here are two main observations thus far:

1. Community is rich here
First, thank you all so much for praying for me and my transition quite literally (11 hours difference from LA) to the other side of the world! As some of you may remember, finding community was something that I was worried about, but luckily for me, there are peoples of all cultures, ages, and backgrounds here so that I have landed myself in a rich community of resources, wisdom, and love. Admittedly, it is not the college community I am used to, but it's quite wonderful to sit at the feet of those who have generations of wisdom and insight to share. On the flip side, I've also had tons of opportunities to look at the world through a child's eyes again by hanging out with the missionary kids around campus.

Ben is obsessed with millipedes. I am not.

Dinner with the Radoslavovs

In addition to a diversity in generations, Pamoja is also composed of people from many, many backgrounds. Many of the American/Canadian missionaries here grew up as missionary kids in Africa. There are also two young women around my age from Kenya, which is really neat because African missionaries to African countries are very rare. I am particularly thankful for them because are something like culture bridge-builders for me; while they speak fluent Swahili and are African, they are also seeing Tanzania from an outsider's perspective and of my generation. (In my naiveté I didn't realize how different Kenyans and Tanzanians were.) Others are missionaries from Bulgaria and Australia, so you can imagine the wealth of cultures here! The goal is to one day have an international (not just Western) ministry.

going to Vineyard Arusha

baptism

2. I have time!
Since we live in a somewhat jungle-like area, it rains a lot. One day Sig, the executive director of Pamoja and I just finished chatting together when it began to drizzle. Raindrops started falling on the concrete steps where we were, and as I was about to return to my work Sig suddenly drew my attention to the dotted patterns the wet raindrops were making on the pavement. Some big, some little, some falling in triplets or doublets in random polka-dotted patterns. "Look how beautiful these droplets are." He said, "You can almost find constellations in them." Indeed they were extraordinarily beautiful, like a galaxy of tiny dark stars, and it was then that I realized what a gift of time I had been given when I came to Tanzania.

There is no way I would have even dreamed of stopping to watch raindrop patterns in my fast-paced Los Angeles (not like we really had rain until recently anyways). Here I have the time to read and learn from books, participate in community dinners, play with kids, journal, wake up early without feeling exhausted, go to market... the list goes on and on. I can participate in recreational activities that may not be goal-oriented at all, but are far more life giving in the long run.

Took a stroll around Lake Duluti last Sunday

collecting wood in the koko tinny (Swahili for pullpull cart) with Paul

Monday will be my second week of work here as I start on the Financial Literacy Comic series. I don't think I quite understood the impact of the project I was working on until I got here. For many, if not most Tanzanians, even concepts such as "supply and demand," "budgets," and good record keeping are foreign. I know my missions trip may not sound as glamorous as building houses and feeding "those poor starving African children," but as I've seen on skid row, systems like these often create dependency. It's cool to have the opportunity instead to give Tanzanians tools to better manage their finances and businesses themselves.

look at the Animation bibles they have here!!! :D

I'm thankful to be part of a ministry that doesn't pretend to know everything about Tanzania, but constantly takes the posture of a learner. Last Sunday Sig was noted how we (as Westerners) often think of love simply as being kind and gentle, but in Philippians Paul tells us to abound in love, with knowledge and discernment. My goals as a mzungu (foreigner) here is to learn as much of the culture as I can, because what I've learned from LAUP and Pamoja thus far is that missions and constant learning go hand in hand.

Anyways,  here are some more pictures of life in Pamoja. (You can also expect lots of pictures of animals because furry friends always make my life better.)

Pamoja's woodshop

Mt. Meru and Kilimanjaro are often hidden by clouds

RAHA THE DERPPP

Oops! The muffler fell off on the way to church today

Tasha being a shepard for the Christmas play today

Paul in his angel costume

con tanto amore,
Kayee