Not So Far Away

For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

Colossians 2: 5 (NLT)


I’m glad so many of you enjoyed last Monday’s “Week in the Life” blog! While I do my best to describe my life here with words, sometimes I wish I could walk around with a GoPro, live streaming day to day life with you so that you could see how truly beautiful and joyous this place and these people, this life really is. 

This weekend our excitement entailed getting our TV fixed!  When I was living in Morogoro I purchased a TV, but in the move to Bukoba, the screen cracked.  Joseph was able to find a shop in town that could replace the screen and he spent most of the day Saturday building a stand for it and installing the dish on the side of the house, of course, surrounded by a group of students watching and learning as he worked.  When they were called back to the dorms to bathe I laid down on the couch and popped in a "Bones" DVD.  Of course, I dozed off within minutes, and when I woke up I was surrounded by dozens of children staring intently at the screen, watching Dr. Temperance Brennan examine the bones of a murder victim and Agent Sealy Booth question suspects.  They had turned on the closed captions and some of the younger students were reading along.  I decided that while they were definitely interested, "Bones" probably wasn’t the best show for them to watch so I put on a Disney movie instead.  The crowd grew quickly and the kids instinctively crunched together to make room for everyone.  Before long, the living room was full and there was a large group outside on the porch, standing on their tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the screen. I took another late nap on Sunday afternoon and when I woke up, Joseph had used the Chromecast to stream my mom’s church service in College Station to our TV.  Thankfully our WiFi signal was strong enough to stream the entire service.  We followed along just like everyone was doing back home, and I couldn’t help but sit and bask in the perception that home wasn’t so far away after all.   

Back in June, in light of the recent injustices against people of color, I started leading a Zoom book study on Ijeoma Oluo’s book, So You Want to Talk About Race.  The group has met faithfully each week, vulnerably discussing difficult and uncomfortable topics, focusing on learning and growing as people and allies for people of color (if you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it).  When I returned to Tanzania, the group graciously shifted our meeting day and time so that I could still participate from Tanzania.  And while my WiFi doesn’t always cooperate and sometimes my audio or video freezes up, we have been able to continue these important conversations week after week.  Spending my Sunday nights with what has become a community of friends, some of which I didn’t even know before this study began, brings me so much joy.  And as I sit in my room here in Bukoba talking and laughing with my friends thousands of miles across the world, the distance shrinks to nothing. 

While there is something to be said for a life without all of the technology that has seemed to take over our life in the U.S., seeing the joy that something as simple as a movie brought to my students, experiencing the closeness I felt watching my mom preaching on our TV, listening to the laughter of friends all over Texas, it makes me appreciate the ways technology enhances our life.  Is it necessary? No.  Are we as Americans too dependent on it? Yes.  But when we are separated from the normalcies of life, from our family and friends, whether it be due to a pandemic or living on the other side of the world, and our dependency shifts from a mindless habit to the only way we have to be connected to one another, our appreciation shifts too.  At least mine has. 

I pray that you have found ways to stay connected with those you love and have experienced the joy when the distance between you seems to disappear.  I’m sure many of you are totally burned out from online interaction, Zoom meetings, and technology in general, and I get that.  If you’re feeling like it’s all too much, it’s okay to take a step back and just turn it all off for a while.  But when you do have to log back in and your frustration with technology starts to grow again, maybe try to imagine how lonely this time would have felt without it. 

 

Mungu akubariki,

Allee


If you would like to donate towards my work in Tanzania, you can send donations electronically using: 
Venmo: @Alison-Gomulka
Cash App: $AlisonGomulka
PayPal: PayPal.Me/AlisonRGomulka
Zelle: alisonrg24@gmail.com

If you would prefer to send a check, you can mail it to:
Alison Gomulka
15601 Shady Brook Lane
College Station, TX
77845








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