team journal Jan 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th

12 January 2008

Today, we started our day off at the bookshop. Aaron spent some significant time speaking with the bookshop owner’s friend who wants to practice his English. Excited to practice with a native English speaker, Aaron’s new friend promised to return tomorrow.

While Aaron and Sarah rested, Janean and Allison caught a taxi to Seef Mall, which is right across the highway from Bahrain Mall. And we just found out that another mall will be completed in September along with Shop-o-holic Anonymous!

Everyone met at the bookshop to enjoy a Mexican dinner that Janean and Allison picked up from the mall. Once again, I’d like to bring your attention to the diversity experience in Bahrain – Cali couple, Japanese American, Swiss-German-Jordanian enjoying enchiladas, burritos, and tacos…..the excitement ensues. We then continued to work on inventory, labeling the DVD’s to sell in the bookshop and at the kiosk in Bahrain Mall.

Sarah and Aaron felt better when they woke up this morning, but as the day continued on, they started to feel worse. We continue to pray for their health and for the other teams.

We also had a surprise appearance from bird lady. Bird lady’s poor eyes require her to wear hideous magnifying glasses, which some may consider glasses. Anyway, she likes to inhabit our living room and randomly scare our cooing neighbors away. Against Janean’s wishes, the team has decided not to adopt Bird lady as a team member. Maalish!

13 January 2008

This morning, Janean’s friend who lives here dropped off a mobile phone for us to borrow. This allows us to communicate with the other teams, which is quite exciting. Half of the Oman team is sick so we continue to pray for them, and we haven’t heard back from the Yemen team.

We met at the bookshop for some team time then headed to the hospital where we met the CEO and other important people who gave us a tour and orientated us for our upcoming duties, which begin tomorrow. As outsiders, the hospital wants us to conduct surveys so patients can express their opinions without feeling threatened. This is great since we will be able to connect with local people.

At the bookshop, we have almost completed the inventory process. The DVD labels are coming along. Aaron spent about an hour with his new friend talking about all sorts of things. His friend is open to talking about politics, religion, business, life, etc. As long as he can practice speaking English. He brought falafels for us tonight and wants to bring a small meal for all of us sometime this week! Sweet.

The weather has been overcast and rainy so the malls have been relatively empty. However, we walked around the mall today covering this place with prayer.

We went to Seef Mall and split into two groups – Aaron and Allison, Janean and Sarah. We walked around on a prayer walk for a few hours and then ate dinner before going to the bookshop.

Sarah is feeling better; although, her throat is still a bit sore. Allison misses her darling daughters.


14 January 2008

Today, we started volunteering at the hospital. By we, I mean Allison, Sarah, and Janean. Aaron began his hospital excitement as a patient. He decided to see a doctor about his progressing death cough. The doc prescribed him cough medicine, which will hopefully help reduce and eventually end his death-like cough (Praise the Lord!).

Getting patient feed-back regarding services received at the hospital isn’t the most exciting job. The highlights include the rare conversation with patients healthy enough to have a decent conversation. Sarah got the contact information for a very nice lady, Janean made friends with a few of the nurses, and Allison was sadly placed in the worst section of the hospitals – where patients rarely come and nurses hide behind partitions all day. I’m not sure what goes on behind those partitions, but whatever’s happening, the patients want nothing to do with it .

Janean met up with her friend for coffee and had a great time! When she FINALLY returned to her patiently awaiting team, the girls headed to Bahrain mall for some groceries (which of course includes a “few” stops here and there….) and Aaron headed to the bookstore to get the latest on the football playoffs….I mean to work. Which he ended up doing all alone since a “few stops here and there” quickly (or should I say slowly) turned into a Girls’ Night at the Mall and Boy Night in the Shop. Funny how that works.

With the weather improving, we hope to get out a bit and see some of the sights. We hope tomorrow will hold a bit more excitement. In the meanwhile, last night we had a wonderful team de-brief, which consisted of prayer and acapella worship.

With about ten days left, we are hoping to make the most of our time. Far more familiar with public transportation, the next few days are sure to be full of memories and significant experiences.

On Thursday, the Ashura Festival honoring the martyred Hussein begins. This festival is for Shia Muslims and focuses on the suffering. The participants feel a need to suffer as Hussein suffered, which typically consists of cutting their foreheads and continually slapping or hitting their cuts in order to spill blood. Participants range from young boys to well-aged men. We have been and will continue to pray.

Ending on a good note, today we enjoyed a surprise visit from a jujitsu gypsy….I bet you thought they were extinct (Allison has a photo for proof): welcome to Bahrain. She lives in the bathroom of room 505 at the American Mission Hospital and enjoys sneak attacking unsuspecting kitchen dwellers. Once again, Janean is left disappointed as the team vetoes her attempts to inaugurate Jujitsu Gypsy into our team. Better luck tomorrow!

I look forward to updating you with more details…..I trust that our adventure will continue with excitement and anticipation as we search for opportunities to serve!

15 January 2008

Aaron’s health improves. Sarah, Allison, and Janean seem to be fully fueled, rejuvenated, and ready for the business of Bahrain (or lack thereof).

Putting our super surveying skills to use, we went to work about the hospital. Sarah had some great opportunities to speak with some women who decided to read the Bible in the waiting room. Speaking both Arabic and English, she is able to converse with many people. Janean got to eat some wonderful Indian food with the nurses in the pediatrics department while chit chatting about life, love, and…..food. One nurse shared her story – married off at 14, first child at 17, and desperately awaiting old age (to pass the time), this 30 year old nurse encouraged Janean to wait as long as possible to get married. Allison spent time roaming between different halls enjoying pleasant conversations with various people. Aaron spent the majority of his morning praying for patients coming in and out of the outpatient clinic. Since this corridor keeps busy, many people were lifted in prayer thanks to his dedication and perseverance.

Aaron and Allison had a night out, indulging in fine, American dining at the Hard Rock Café. Enjoying their freedom from Janean, Sarah, Bird Lady, and Jujitsu Gypsy (a rare commodity), they relaxed and spent necessary time together topped off with good’ol nachos, fajitas, and a brownie sundae. A date night in the Gulf, a dream come true, I’m sure. And they have the pictures to prove it……although, in typical fashion, the pictures do not include themselves, just the nachos and wall decorations. We’ll work on this 

What do you get when you put a Swiss-German-Jordanian-Half Jap-from Hawaii in an English, Arabic book kiosk in a Bahraini Mall full of Saudis, Filipinos, Indians, Europeans, and everyone in between? A night full of excitement, obviously. From conversations with a Filipino about starting your own business to a Saudi about the Bible and Qu’ran, the night continued with a lot of prayers, smiles, and friendly chit-chat.