Been swamped around here. I just spent a great week with some volunteers in the countryside. They were all alot of fun. We sent 11 back to the states last night. It was hard to see them go. I'm a bit lonely today.
Some new pics are on the side bar.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
A Brother Stumbles...
A friend has fallen. About six months ago his wife left him. Her family doesn’t like him much so they convinced her to leave the country. The two talk on the phone and email occasionally, but he is clearly a broken man. He isn’t even a shell of who I knew a few months ago. His fire is gone; his joy is gone; his passion is gone.
I confess I forgot him. I stood beside him at the airport the day she left. Then I disappeared into my own life. I got caught up in my stress and my own busyness. I can’t believe I left him, but I did. I regret that I left my friend in his time of need.
His mourning has caused him to make some bad decisions. He works with us at a center we have. He runs the place. I guess more appropriate is he ran the place. It came to our attention in the last couple weeks that he was possible making calls to his wife on our dime. Then we found out he might be stealing some money. We hoped and prayed we were wrong. We looked for any other option. It became clear there was none.
This week my boss, with the help of two colleagues, confronted the situation. Our prayer had become not that we were wrong but that it could be handled well. It happened. He confessed to everything immediately. He stood up as a broken man, but an honest one. He had integrity in confessing his wrong doing. He chose to resign from his position.
My boss drove our broken friend home and prayed with him and shared scripture with him. He told him he was loved. He demanded that he not flee from us. I hope we keep our friend. This type of shame usually runs people off. I hope God allows him to stay in our midst.
Remember my friend. Ask that his wife will come home. Ask that he will again discover who he is and who he has been created to become. Pray that he will cling to his faith and that it will bring him out of this place he resides in.
I confess I forgot him. I stood beside him at the airport the day she left. Then I disappeared into my own life. I got caught up in my stress and my own busyness. I can’t believe I left him, but I did. I regret that I left my friend in his time of need.
His mourning has caused him to make some bad decisions. He works with us at a center we have. He runs the place. I guess more appropriate is he ran the place. It came to our attention in the last couple weeks that he was possible making calls to his wife on our dime. Then we found out he might be stealing some money. We hoped and prayed we were wrong. We looked for any other option. It became clear there was none.
This week my boss, with the help of two colleagues, confronted the situation. Our prayer had become not that we were wrong but that it could be handled well. It happened. He confessed to everything immediately. He stood up as a broken man, but an honest one. He had integrity in confessing his wrong doing. He chose to resign from his position.
My boss drove our broken friend home and prayed with him and shared scripture with him. He told him he was loved. He demanded that he not flee from us. I hope we keep our friend. This type of shame usually runs people off. I hope God allows him to stay in our midst.
Remember my friend. Ask that his wife will come home. Ask that he will again discover who he is and who he has been created to become. Pray that he will cling to his faith and that it will bring him out of this place he resides in.
Tickets...
Monday I went to book tickets. It was a bit like booking tickets for a vacation though. I set up plans to see my parents and my sister in the countries they now live in. (Whit goes August 2nd.) I got those set. And even though that is when I’ll quit my work here it didn’t carry much finality. It makes the most sense for me to fly roundtrip from here. So I’ll be back on the night of September 27, for one day.
Then Tuesday morning the others showed up. Our business manager is booking my stateside tickets. My itinerary was in my inbox Tuesday morning. It was a bit tough. It carried plenty of finality and way to much weight. I haven’t quite been myself since. It hurts to think of leaving.
It is odd. I am ready. I’m ready for a new adventure. I’m ready for discovering what is next. I’m ready to find people I will spend the next stage of life with. But it also hurts to leave a place I love. I left my hometown when I graduated…it carried finality. I left my college town when I graduated…again it made sense. I left my grad school town when I finished. All of these are times that it makes sense to go on. Everything for me had finished there. Now of course I still had family when I left my hometown, but my responsibilities, etc. were over.
I leave here and things don’t end. The work continues; I just leave it. The lost are still lost and those being discipled are still I process. My team stays hard at work and September 8th looks just like September 7th for them. But for me it doesn’t. For me my time here ends but my life here continues.
I read a book once that said once you go to Africa it gets in your blood. You may hate it or you may love it; but it never goes away. It got in my blood in the summer of 2003. Now it is more than in my blood; it is like a piece of me that I will always carry. Physically leaving will be hard, but I’m ready. At the same time I’ll never leave this place. An even more amazing part is Africa didn’t stop with me. It got Mom and Dad; it got Whitney. I hope it isn’t done grabbing hold of my loved ones.
Then Tuesday morning the others showed up. Our business manager is booking my stateside tickets. My itinerary was in my inbox Tuesday morning. It was a bit tough. It carried plenty of finality and way to much weight. I haven’t quite been myself since. It hurts to think of leaving.
It is odd. I am ready. I’m ready for a new adventure. I’m ready for discovering what is next. I’m ready to find people I will spend the next stage of life with. But it also hurts to leave a place I love. I left my hometown when I graduated…it carried finality. I left my college town when I graduated…again it made sense. I left my grad school town when I finished. All of these are times that it makes sense to go on. Everything for me had finished there. Now of course I still had family when I left my hometown, but my responsibilities, etc. were over.
I leave here and things don’t end. The work continues; I just leave it. The lost are still lost and those being discipled are still I process. My team stays hard at work and September 8th looks just like September 7th for them. But for me it doesn’t. For me my time here ends but my life here continues.
I read a book once that said once you go to Africa it gets in your blood. You may hate it or you may love it; but it never goes away. It got in my blood in the summer of 2003. Now it is more than in my blood; it is like a piece of me that I will always carry. Physically leaving will be hard, but I’m ready. At the same time I’ll never leave this place. An even more amazing part is Africa didn’t stop with me. It got Mom and Dad; it got Whitney. I hope it isn’t done grabbing hold of my loved ones.
A Weekend Away...
Weeks are flying by. It is hard to believe they are going as quickly as they are. Last weekend we had a fun trip to the countryside. Fifteen of us went. I took two teams of volunteers, two colleagues and a national friend. The trip started a bit rough. We were a little worried about one of the vehicles because of a strange noise it had been making. We stopped to fill up just outside of town. As we left the gas station on of the cars stopped running. It sputtered to a stop and quit in the middle of the road.
We gathered together and pushed it off the street. We kept trying to start it with no luck. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was…then it hit me. “Did we put gas or diesel in this car?” This vehicle happens to be the only one we have that runs on gasoline. I got out the receipt and either it was written wrong or we got diesel.
Now I wasn’t driving this car but I know how difficult a process it is. At the station there are two pumps one says “Gasoil” the other says “Regular.” A majority of vehicles in the country are diesel, so which is regular? Well we goofed up. I called another colleague to ask what to do in the situation. He told me we would have to drain the tank and start again. We found another gas station that helped us through the process. We were now quite a bit behind schedule…good we were living in a place where that is not only accepted, but expected.
We finally got there and then all the hotels were full. Finally on our fifth attempt we found a place to stay. It was exactly what we had hoped for. There are very distinct calibers of hotels in this country. This was exactly “middle of the road” and about $10 per night. The only flaw, lots of mosquitoes, but they had nets so it was fine.
It really was a great weekend. I’ve put some pics on the side. Enjoy!
We gathered together and pushed it off the street. We kept trying to start it with no luck. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was…then it hit me. “Did we put gas or diesel in this car?” This vehicle happens to be the only one we have that runs on gasoline. I got out the receipt and either it was written wrong or we got diesel.
Now I wasn’t driving this car but I know how difficult a process it is. At the station there are two pumps one says “Gasoil” the other says “Regular.” A majority of vehicles in the country are diesel, so which is regular? Well we goofed up. I called another colleague to ask what to do in the situation. He told me we would have to drain the tank and start again. We found another gas station that helped us through the process. We were now quite a bit behind schedule…good we were living in a place where that is not only accepted, but expected.
We finally got there and then all the hotels were full. Finally on our fifth attempt we found a place to stay. It was exactly what we had hoped for. There are very distinct calibers of hotels in this country. This was exactly “middle of the road” and about $10 per night. The only flaw, lots of mosquitoes, but they had nets so it was fine.
It really was a great weekend. I’ve put some pics on the side. Enjoy!
Friday, July 07, 2006
Good Days and Bad...
Been a while, I know.
So much has been going on. My bosses stayed gone for almost six weeks. I was swamped with trying to handle my work and some of theirs. But I really enjoyed it. I was able to really lead out on some things. I was probably most satisfied with my work during those weeks than any other time since I’ve been here.
We currently have 21 volunteers here working with us. Two will leave next week. Five more come just afterwards. Then by the first week of August they are all gone. So much great work is happening. They are pouring their lives into the nationals here. Great relationships are being built and nurtured. The volunteers are also a lot of fun. It has been very encouraging having them around. It will be hard to see them all go.
Speaking of going…I’ve got right about two months left here. It is crazy. I’m filled with mixed emotions. I’m ready to go and find out what is next in life. But it is also tough to leave this place. I love this place and these people. I am knee deep in so much work. It is hard to leave it behind. I know I have to trust the king to handle all that remains. “He” is able!
It was just a week ago although it seems like much longer. I had a day that will go down as a least favorite. I was in the car with 7 volunteers. We were going up the hill to a mountain that overlooks the city. In route, we had some trouble. A lot of people were on the street as always. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two children pop out from in front of a parked car in front of me. I jerked the wheel quickly to the left. They never even saw me.
Less than a second later I heard a thud. “Did we just hit something?” was the question asked from someone with me. “Yeah, two kids,” I responded. I was wrong. It was only one. He had not seen me and walked right into the side of my moving van. The police came and we took the boy to see a doctor. The doctor told me he was fine and gave me an antibiotic to fight infection. He had a big not above his left eye, but no other problems. His sister was with him and thankfully was fine.
It wasn’t one of my favorite days to say the least. I do however rejoice that everyone was okay!
Gotta go to the grocery. My houseworker is trying to make me some lasagna and cookies. She needs some stuff.
So much has been going on. My bosses stayed gone for almost six weeks. I was swamped with trying to handle my work and some of theirs. But I really enjoyed it. I was able to really lead out on some things. I was probably most satisfied with my work during those weeks than any other time since I’ve been here.
We currently have 21 volunteers here working with us. Two will leave next week. Five more come just afterwards. Then by the first week of August they are all gone. So much great work is happening. They are pouring their lives into the nationals here. Great relationships are being built and nurtured. The volunteers are also a lot of fun. It has been very encouraging having them around. It will be hard to see them all go.
Speaking of going…I’ve got right about two months left here. It is crazy. I’m filled with mixed emotions. I’m ready to go and find out what is next in life. But it is also tough to leave this place. I love this place and these people. I am knee deep in so much work. It is hard to leave it behind. I know I have to trust the king to handle all that remains. “He” is able!
It was just a week ago although it seems like much longer. I had a day that will go down as a least favorite. I was in the car with 7 volunteers. We were going up the hill to a mountain that overlooks the city. In route, we had some trouble. A lot of people were on the street as always. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two children pop out from in front of a parked car in front of me. I jerked the wheel quickly to the left. They never even saw me.
Less than a second later I heard a thud. “Did we just hit something?” was the question asked from someone with me. “Yeah, two kids,” I responded. I was wrong. It was only one. He had not seen me and walked right into the side of my moving van. The police came and we took the boy to see a doctor. The doctor told me he was fine and gave me an antibiotic to fight infection. He had a big not above his left eye, but no other problems. His sister was with him and thankfully was fine.
It wasn’t one of my favorite days to say the least. I do however rejoice that everyone was okay!
Gotta go to the grocery. My houseworker is trying to make me some lasagna and cookies. She needs some stuff.
