Visitor from Namibia

Last Thursday my family had the honor of hosting a visitor from Namibia. Pastor Paul Hatani Kisting is the deputy bishop for ELCRN a Lutheran synod in Namibia. I had met him briefly during my visit there in June and was happy to hear he was coming to the US and my church was asked to share our lives with him for a week. 

Jay and I rushed to get Kyle's bedroom set up as a guest room, something we had been talking about for over a year but never seemed to get around to. We have all decided that the now guest room is the best bedroom in the house (you can watch the waterfall while lying in bed,) and all are fighting over who will sleep there LOL

Thursday morning Pastor Nagle and I picked Pastor Kisting up at a church in Jersey City and set off to envelop him in our world for a week. We visited the Statue of Liberty, participated in various classes, walked at the celery farm, worshiped together and then had a pot luck dinner for him. He got a chance to play his trumpet with a friend of ours who plays one professionally. We went to a swing club in the city, shopped for his family and just spent a lot of time talking. 

Every time I have been to Africa I have come home and had trouble re-acclimating to life here. Spending this time last week with him was even harder. Seeing my community with a filter of someone from Namibia just made things even clearer. So many time I heard myself saying something or asking something and realized how spoiled I am. There are so many luxuries we have that I don't even notice. He couldn't get over all the cars on the road with only one person in them. That just doesn't happen in Africa. If someone is going somewhere the car will fill up with others needing to do something in that area too. I thought how many times my family are all going to the same place but our timing is a little different and so we all take our own cars. Can you say wasteful? So many things need to change.

But just as there were so many times when I died a little inside with embarrassment there were also times that he had me see something so wonderful that I also overlook. His amazement of self check out registers that talk to you and drive through bank windows.... you just don't see those things in Namibia either. 

Most of all I loved connecting with the quiet, faith-filled pastor. We have adopted him as a brother and I look forward to continuing to come to know more of him, his family as well as the beautiful country they live in. While some people would ask me why I would welcome a guest for a whole week with all the work it entails but I feel we were blessed every moment he was here and I will welcome him gladly at any time in the future.