I've been meaning to post this for a while now but when I got home things got busy as you can imagine. I've been back for a little over a month and I've had a lot of opportunities to talk to people one-on-one about the trip.
One of the blessed things I did during the trip was to jot some answers to the question, "Where have I seen God this week?" This was inspirted by one of our nightly devotions. Here are a few of my answers:
1. In the faces of the children smiling as they clutched onto their net.
2. In the smiles of the mothers as their children received shots, medicine, and nets.
3. In the caring faces of the nurses and doctors as they served.
4. In the passion of church volunteers that explained the how and why to use the nets.
5. In the work of UMC agencies, UN Foundation, NGO's, Ivorian governemnt, and the Ivorian UMC coming together to do a great thing for the people of Cote d' Ivoire.
6. In the older siblings who brought their younger siblings to the sites.
7. In my fellow teammates who worked long hours to get the nets out.
8. In our Ivorian UMC coordinators who took care of us all work.
9. In the instant friendship of the Ivorian college students who were our interpreters.
10. In the realization that by the grace of God that the nets got to the people.
These are just a few but they are my favorites.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
See you back in the States
I am not going to have time to post anything on Sunday. We have a busy day of church (and we know that will take all morning), lunch (not going to be quick either), and then back to the hotel for a shower and final packing before we leave for the airport at 6:00 pm. As far as we know now, we should make it out on our flight and we are going to the airport as planned. We are all packing what is left of our clean clothes and our essentials in the carry-ons. Pray we make it back as scheduled.
I am planning on posting more reflections and pictures when I get back. Josh and I also want to put together some kind of presentation to share with the people of Wesley UMC and others too. See you back in the USA on Monday. Au revior from Cote d’ Ivorie. I am going to miss this place full of God’s grace and glory.
I am planning on posting more reflections and pictures when I get back. Josh and I also want to put together some kind of presentation to share with the people of Wesley UMC and others too. See you back in the USA on Monday. Au revior from Cote d’ Ivorie. I am going to miss this place full of God’s grace and glory.
Radical Hospitality
All week we have been blessed with gracious and radical hospitality over and over again. Today was no different. Our Site coordinators and interpreters went out of there way to be sure we were able to work and able to minister by talking with the people of Basaam. The owner of a local hotel who is a member of the UMC in Basaam provided out lunch all week and it was a delicious spread each day of chicken, fish, or beef with rice, potatoes, or vegetables. People over and over in the villages and towns welcomed us into their homes to see their nets and let us help them.
This radical hospitality was capped today when the pastor of the UMC in Basaam invited us to tour this 100 year old church built in colonial times and then welcomed us into his home for refreshments and to “share the news.” This is an Ivorian tradition to welcome honored guests into your home to share about their day. The pastor had his son begin a video and it was of this pastor’s graduation ceremony from pastor’s school and “commissioning” as a pastor. It was held in Jubilee Church and its celebration put any of our Ordination or Commissioning services to shame. It was full of music and choirs from multiple churches. The new pastors knelt together on the floor of the church (NO KNEELERS) for a long prayer. I shared with the pastor (through interpreters) that I understood how proud and exciting a moment this was for him and his family. We then shared a while about the UMC in America and Texas and the Ivorian UMC and the differences. It was an insightful conversation.
The pastor then led us on a walk through the colonial area down to the beach. We stayed their a while talking and then it was time to go to dinner. The whole Texas team had been invited to dine at the home of the man who owned the hotels which had provided our Basaam team lunch all week. Our Ivorian friends said it was just a bit down the beach. This was a Texas-sized bit and ended up being a hike down the beach.
The home was a beachfront mansion estate. Notice above I said “dine” and dine we did. It was a delicious meal in a beautiful setting. At the end of the meal, our host had his son read a speech thanking us for our work this week and our love for the people of Cote d’ Ivoire.
This night and day was the culmination of week of blessings we received from our new friends and all of the people of Cote d’ Ivoire. Perhaps we can all learn a lesson of being that neighbor Christ calls us to be each and every day.
This radical hospitality was capped today when the pastor of the UMC in Basaam invited us to tour this 100 year old church built in colonial times and then welcomed us into his home for refreshments and to “share the news.” This is an Ivorian tradition to welcome honored guests into your home to share about their day. The pastor had his son begin a video and it was of this pastor’s graduation ceremony from pastor’s school and “commissioning” as a pastor. It was held in Jubilee Church and its celebration put any of our Ordination or Commissioning services to shame. It was full of music and choirs from multiple churches. The new pastors knelt together on the floor of the church (NO KNEELERS) for a long prayer. I shared with the pastor (through interpreters) that I understood how proud and exciting a moment this was for him and his family. We then shared a while about the UMC in America and Texas and the Ivorian UMC and the differences. It was an insightful conversation.
The pastor then led us on a walk through the colonial area down to the beach. We stayed their a while talking and then it was time to go to dinner. The whole Texas team had been invited to dine at the home of the man who owned the hotels which had provided our Basaam team lunch all week. Our Ivorian friends said it was just a bit down the beach. This was a Texas-sized bit and ended up being a hike down the beach.
The home was a beachfront mansion estate. Notice above I said “dine” and dine we did. It was a delicious meal in a beautiful setting. At the end of the meal, our host had his son read a speech thanking us for our work this week and our love for the people of Cote d’ Ivoire.
This night and day was the culmination of week of blessings we received from our new friends and all of the people of Cote d’ Ivoire. Perhaps we can all learn a lesson of being that neighbor Christ calls us to be each and every day.
Saturday: The Final Day in Basaam
Today was our last day of work on behalf of Nothing But Nets and the Cote d’ Ivoire campaign. We were back in Basaam to walk around and help people be sure they are using the nets. We split up into 2 groups with an interpreter each. My team was also paired with a couple of local boys who spoke the tribal language in the area we would be walking through. Early on we came across many who were using the nets with some needing to be lowered a bit to be sure they can be tucked under the bed. But again, we came across some who didn’t understand or had done things wrong or hadn’t even taken it out of the package yet. Even though it was frustrating to encounter this, we knew that by explaining and helping them we were making a difference and that the good information about using the nets would spread through the area.
It was a very hot morning so we needed a break on the air-conditioned bus after a couple of hours. We then set out again in a different area and encountered the same mix of results. However, I was touched by one father who took us to the area homes where he and his extended family lived. He was worried that he had hung the net incorrectly. However, his was the best one we had seen yet, it was tethered in such a way that the net was expanded to its full width and length and the height was perfect. That capped a great morning in Basaam and gave us hope that more would be using it perfectly. Our interpreters and Basaam hosts also shared that all the pastors in the churches were asked to stress the importance of using the net if you had received it and had volunteers that would continue this work. And that the church members would be the voice to their neighbors about using the nets.
This points out how important a church family can be to a community and the influence we can make. We need to be willing and ready and answer that call God gives to us to make a REAL difference in our community and our neighborhoods. Even if it is as simple as making sure they have hung up a net.
It was a very hot morning so we needed a break on the air-conditioned bus after a couple of hours. We then set out again in a different area and encountered the same mix of results. However, I was touched by one father who took us to the area homes where he and his extended family lived. He was worried that he had hung the net incorrectly. However, his was the best one we had seen yet, it was tethered in such a way that the net was expanded to its full width and length and the height was perfect. That capped a great morning in Basaam and gave us hope that more would be using it perfectly. Our interpreters and Basaam hosts also shared that all the pastors in the churches were asked to stress the importance of using the net if you had received it and had volunteers that would continue this work. And that the church members would be the voice to their neighbors about using the nets.
This points out how important a church family can be to a community and the influence we can make. We need to be willing and ready and answer that call God gives to us to make a REAL difference in our community and our neighborhoods. Even if it is as simple as making sure they have hung up a net.
Friday, November 14, 2008
When will we get home…the ongoing saga
If you’ve caught any world news today, you may have learned that about 40-50 percent of the Air France pilots will be going on strike over retirement age. The strike will begin on Sunday and end on Monday. Of course, these are our travel days with Air France. Not all flights are affected but in preparation, Air France has cancelled Saturday’s flight from Abijdan to Paris. We are working with our travel agent and trying to figure out what will happen. Once again, we just have to be flexible. At this point we don’t know when we will get home or through what cities in this part of the world or how long our layover will be in those cities. But, I am not going to dwell on that and enjoy my days in missions in Africa. But, we can pray so please help us all out with that. Good night from Cote d’ Ivoire.
The Collision of Two Worlds
Eventually in our stroll around Samo, our group connected with up with some the UM Communications reporters who wanted to walk with us and photograph and video some from the village. We came to a school were the teachers who lived on site had received nets and were using them for their children. One teacher said he was telling his students that if they received a net to beg their parents to put it up if it hadn’t been hung yet.
We next came to another woman who had a net but hadn’t hung because she was very pregnant and couldn’t reach the rafters in order to hang it yet. Her husband was away working in some fields for a few days. So, the reporters wanted to capture us helping her and interviewed me afterwards. Then they wanted to interview her but she only spoke a tribal language, Jabu (spelling??). So, picture this: We are in an African village and a mud hut structure with a thatch roof. A camera is filming a very pregnant woman and her 3 year old. The mother has a wireless lapel mike on her She is speaking Jabu. A church member is translating Jabu to French. Our interpreter is translating French to English. This goes back and forth for a number of questions. Amazing.
Another great day of a different experience in Africa. Let me wrap this up by saying how rewarding it has been to be at four different sites having four totally different experiences and learning so many lessons on life and faith.
We next came to another woman who had a net but hadn’t hung because she was very pregnant and couldn’t reach the rafters in order to hang it yet. Her husband was away working in some fields for a few days. So, the reporters wanted to capture us helping her and interviewed me afterwards. Then they wanted to interview her but she only spoke a tribal language, Jabu (spelling??). So, picture this: We are in an African village and a mud hut structure with a thatch roof. A camera is filming a very pregnant woman and her 3 year old. The mother has a wireless lapel mike on her She is speaking Jabu. A church member is translating Jabu to French. Our interpreter is translating French to English. This goes back and forth for a number of questions. Amazing.
Another great day of a different experience in Africa. Let me wrap this up by saying how rewarding it has been to be at four different sites having four totally different experiences and learning so many lessons on life and faith.
Friday: A Stroll around Samo
Our journey took us back to the village of Bonoua (I just realized I need to add some pronunciation guides - “Bon-wa”) today. Two from our team of six were back at the Mayors office and two were at the hospital. Both of these sites still had large crowds coming even though it was the fourth day to have the campaign at theses sites. Carmen and I were asked to be partnered with two volunteers from the church to walk around the village of Samo (“Sam-oo”). So, the bus took us their and dropped us off with these two, our intrepeter, and a soldier from the Genmardine (military police) who have been our security while in country.
Let me say this was an interesting journey and a new experience of Cote d’ Ivoire. Samo is a picturesque African village with very poor people who are rich in heart. They seem to be basic subsistence living but content and happy in life. However, we discovered many had not hung the nets they had received the day before. So, we began to urge them and explain to them why. The church members used our presence as motivation and said things like “these have come to help you and you are not using their help.” They said they would be hanging the nets. One mother said she didn’t have string to hang them, but we suggested she use strips from the tattered cloth she had hanging to dry. She ripped it into strips and we went into her home and hung her net for her. Word spread and 3 others asked us to help them too. So this was a rewarding time to know we not only gave them a net but helped them actually use the nets. And that is what this is all about. Give a net, save a life!
Let me say this was an interesting journey and a new experience of Cote d’ Ivoire. Samo is a picturesque African village with very poor people who are rich in heart. They seem to be basic subsistence living but content and happy in life. However, we discovered many had not hung the nets they had received the day before. So, we began to urge them and explain to them why. The church members used our presence as motivation and said things like “these have come to help you and you are not using their help.” They said they would be hanging the nets. One mother said she didn’t have string to hang them, but we suggested she use strips from the tattered cloth she had hanging to dry. She ripped it into strips and we went into her home and hung her net for her. Word spread and 3 others asked us to help them too. So this was a rewarding time to know we not only gave them a net but helped them actually use the nets. And that is what this is all about. Give a net, save a life!
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