How to host American Thanksgiving

Sometimes, when living in another culture, you have to give up certain cultural traditions and festivities from your home culture. But fortunately, others you can bring with you. And often many of your new friends will even be interested in sharing in those experiences from your home culture. Such was the case with American Thanksgiving.

Many of my friends here have seen Thanksgiving on TV or in movies, but have never actually tasted a turkey or experienced it for themselves. So I decided to host American Thanksgiving and let them all be part of my traditional holiday experience. So here are my steps on how to host American Thanksgiving while living abroad:

Step 1: Make up a menu list including but not limited to turkey, homemade stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, mac & cheese, cornbread, corn-on-the-cob, pumpkin pie, apple pie, ice cream, etc.

Step 2: Hand out good American recipes to all your friends who are brave enough to try. Assign others to bring store bought items like drinks, sweet corn, ice cream, or plastic utensils.

Step 3: Warn your friends that this is not a Namibian braai so there will be more vegetables than meat.

Step 4: Purchase two small, over-priced turkeys and allow them to thaw a few days in advance.

Step 5: If you like cold apple cider, make it from scratch a day before and put it in the fridge. If you like it hot, 3 hours before will do the trick. Ensure you make a little extra because it won't all make it to the event because someone needs to taste test and it's delicious.

Step 6: Mix up your homemade stuffing.

Step 7: Stuff the pre-brined birds just before you stick them in the oven.

Step 8: Welcome guests to the lovely aromas coming from your kitchen and the familiar sound of football on the TV.

Step 9: Remove the lovely smelling birds from the oven when the little button thing pops out.

Step 10: Announce that now is the time to take selfies with the birds.

Step 11: Carve the birds.

Step 12: Organize the spread and take recipe-book worthy photos.

Step 13: Load up the plates (ladies first, of course!)

Step 14: Find a spot in the shade and enjoy!

Step 15: Play games to allow time for the food to settle.

Step 16: Pull out the tasty treats!

Step 17: While enjoying dessert, everyone shares something they are thankful for.

Step 18: After everyone heads home, lay down and drift off into a tryptophan-induced coma.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Early Rains

Namibia is often called the 'Land of Contrasts' and for good reason. You can drive east from the lush, cool ocean town of Swakopmund and within 15 minutes you're surrounded by the most arid, dry, hot desert you've ever seen.

Similarly in our dry season it seems to be about 0% humidity and you don't see a cloud in the sky for months. But then sometime around October the clouds start to reappear. Some late-afternoon it will get dark and cool, and then the sky opens the floodgates. Yesterday afternoon's showers were even accompanied by lightening and hail! In many places of the world rain storms signify troubles and force us to cancel plans and stay inside. But here we pray for rain and see it as God's blessing on the land and go outside to enjoy the wet drops on our faces.

Soon these early rains will stop and for the next two months it will get hot hot! Then from January to March we'll get our real rainy season. And such are the cycles of life in the desert.

This is about as close as I'll get here in Namibia to making a "snowball."

Photo of the Day

Caught this African Paradise Flycatcher in our garden this morning. A new lifer for me!

The Gospel According To David

Psalm 51 is one of the most famous and beloved chapters in the Bible, and for good reason! It allows us a glimpse behind the scenes of how the "man after God's own heart" responds to his sin. David is honest about his sin and pleads that God not treat his sins as they deserve. This past Sunday I preached on this text at my church hoping to stir us to a deeper love and appreciation for God's great grace and mercy through the gospel. You can find the download link here if you'd like to hear it.

The Holiness of God and the Sinfulness of Man

The story in 2 Samuel 6:1-11 of Uzzah being killed when he touched the Ark of the Covenant is one of the most confusing and misunderstood stories in the Old Testament. It seems to lend credence to the theory that God is just rash and impulsive. Yet when understood properly it gives us a rich appreciation for God's love. I had a chance to preach on this text at my church this past Sunday. You can find the download link here if you'd like to hear it.

Hospitality

When you’re out of town on a Sunday and find a church to visit, most people in the West would be content to sit in the back relatively unnoticed, maybe greeting a few people around them and the pastor at the door as they exit after the service. So naturally I was a bit uncomfortable when I visited the Kehemu Evangelical Bible Church in Rundu and one of the church leaders invited me to sit up on the platform next to the pastor and service leaders. Feeling like the whole congregation was staring at me, the pastor leaned over to ask me if I had a message to share with them that morning. I was reminded of Paul, the traveling evangelist, who would visit a new city, find the synagogue and be invited to share a word. But it’s not as if the pastor hasn’t prepared his own sermon for that day, or that he’s somehow intimidated by or inferior to the Western missionary. Rather the invitation is their expression of hospitality.

Hospitality can be one of the most confusing and misunderstood cultural differences mostly because we don’t expect it to be different. We expect everyone to do hospitality in the same way we do it. Our culture is what’s normal to us. But while the value of hospitality is shared, how different cultures express it can be very different.

What anthropologists have called “hot-climate cultures” typically express spontaneous hospitality. Visitors can drop by any time without an appointment or invitation. Guests are invited into the home and share drinks or food if it’s mealtime. The guests are not imposing on their hosts because they simply join in with whatever schedule or activities the host is involved in. If they are visiting from out of town, accommodation is often provided and the host takes care of all the expenses. Hosts typically wouldn’t take guests out to a restaurant because that’s not personal enough. If an invitation is made to go out to eat or for entertainment, it includes the expectation that the inviter will pay the bill. The host is concerned with making the guest feel welcome and comfortable. Likewise in church, the host church wants the visiting pastor to feel welcome and respected, thus giving them a spontaneous opportunity to share.

But “cold-climate cultures” typically express arranged hospitality. Visitors either must be invited, or make an appointment before coming to visit. Visits often take place at a neutral location like a restaurant or coffeeshop. If it is at home, the host has everything prepared in advance so they can give their undivided attention to the guests. If the guests are visiting from out of town, they are expected to arrange for their own accommodation and they themselves are responsible for all expenses. When invitations are made to go out to eat or for entertainment, everyone is expected to pay their own way unless previously stated otherwise. In these cultures, the guest is the one concerned with not inconveniencing or imposing on the host. So both cultures are actually being considerate and thoughtful, it’s just a difference of who is inconveniencing themselves for the other.

It’s easy to imagine how confusion would arise when cultures collide. Perhaps an African family feels that their Western neighbors are cold and unfriendly because they’ve never spontaneously come over for a visit, but all along the Westerners have just been waiting for an invitation. Perhaps the Westerners finally pick up on the spontaneity idea and drop in on their neighbors, but they end up being offended because their African hosts are continuing about their daily activities rather than giving their guests their undivided attention. Perhaps the Westerners invite their African neighbors out to a restaurant, then when the bill comes they ask for separate checks. Hopefully the neighbors brought some money!

So how does one deal with such culture clashes? Simply understanding these cultures differences is the first step. Recognizing the culture of your guests/hosts to set your expectations accordingly is the next. Then finally interacting with grace, love and humility is always essential. Then hopefully we can all learn to be both good guests and good hosts and enjoy the depth provided by cross-cultural friendships.

Spring has Sprung

It's two more weeks yet before it's official, but spring is already busy 'springing' in Namibia. The days are getting hotter and the nights aren't so cold. That chilling bite in the evening air and early mornings has all but disappeared. Shorts are coming out and sweatshirts are being put away. Clocks sprung ahead one hour this past weekend, so the sun is setting later. New blossoms are appearing and the desert plants are sprouting new leaves. Clouds have reappeared in the sky and the other night I even heard the once familiar sound of raindrops on the tin roof. Not a shower by any means, just a few sprinkles. But hopefully a sign of what's to come!