Lessons learned…and learning

Does one ever reach a point in life when you feel entirely capable and qualified to accomplish what you're called to do?   I've struggled so much with feelings of inadequacy and incompetence here.  Philippians 4:13 often comes to mind when I get down on myself, as well as 2 Corinthians 12:9 – My grace is sufficient for you because my power is made perfect in weakness.  I know that anything productive that is accomplished by these hands is from above.  

I tend to relate to Martha in the Bible – the one who seeks to be busy and finds her self-worth in doing something.   Recently, I received a copy of an interview with Rick Warren in the mail where he talked about becoming too task-oriented.  He said, "God did not put me on this earth to fulfill a to-do list.   He's more concerned about what I am than what I do.  That's why we're called human beings, not human doings." This concept has been freeing as I've struggled some days with finding enough work to keep me busy.  When that happens, I feel like a failure and go back to the inadequate and incompetent section again.   I pray daily for wisdom and guidance to see the needs around me, particularly with regards to the garden and fruit trees that I've been brought here to take care of.   But I also don't want to neglect the importance of relationships with the people here and sharing Christ's love.

Ultimately, our worth comes from God and not man.  I've heard this numerous times throughout my life, but I still strive for approval from man.   Several weeks ago, I was blessed to encounter a couple visiting Project Mercy who share a special gift of praying for individuals and receiving special insight and revelation from God about the individual.   They prayed for me and then shared what God revealed to them.  Through that experience, it finally hit home to me that I am uniquely created by God and have a specific role to fill in His kingdom.   There's no need to strive for acceptance from man because God has already accepted me.  It's still nice to have confirmation from others for a job well-done, but my self-worth doesn't depend on that.  

So to all you people-pleasers like me, remember our primary purpose in this life.  Keep it all in perspective, and your load will be much lighter!

            It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own.   Our

            qualification comes from God.                                    2 Corinthians 3:5

Thanksgiving

I enjoy spending Thanksgiving in another country.  It really puts everything in perspective of all we have to be grateful for.  This year we were blessed to have a chef visiting from Denver, Colorado, who prepared a lovely feast for us.  Noel owns a restaurant in Denver called Strings, and after sampling some of his talents, I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be in the Denver area.  Our Thanksgiving meal was traditional, with an Ethiopian flair - turkey, stuffing, roasted potatoes, gravy, cucumber and tomato salad, with injera and wat as well.  The turkeys, which were smaller than the customary American turkey, were imported all the way from Brazil!  Globalization at its best!  I'm currently reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, which comfirms the theory that technology and globalization are leveling the marketplace around the world.
In the afternoon I watched some of the kids at Project Mercy make glass beads.  The group from Denver have taught some of the young people here how to melt glass and make beautiful, colorful beads.  They create bracelets and heart pins, which are then sold in several venues around Denver.  The bracelets are now available online to purchase at the Cunningham Foundation's website: www.cunninghamfoundation.org  All of the proceeds go to Project Mercy.  It's really fun to watch the kids develop this skill and allow their creativity to blossom.
My Thanksgiving day ended with a massage given by one of the team members who is a massage therapist in Denver.  What a treat!  And now you know how much I suffer in Africa! 

How much things cost

exchange rate: $1US = 9 birr

 

Mailing a letter to the States ------ 3 birr 45 cents

horse cart ride 10 kilometers ----- 5 birr

minibus ride 4-5 km in city ------- 1 birr 20 cents

an hour on the internet ------------ 20 birr

an hour on internet @ the Hilton - 109 birr (!!!)

doctor visit -------------------------- 5 birr

renting a VCD (like a dvd) ------- 2 birr

cup of coffee ------------------------ 1 birr 50 cents

a pound of coffee ------------------- 30 birr

steak dinner ------------------------- 30 birr

watering can ------------------------ 45 birr

cell phone --------------------------- 600 birr

packet of tissues (called 'softs') - 1 birr

bottle of Coke ---------------------- 3 birr

can of Diet Coke ------------------- 45 birr (!!!)

sunglasses --------------------------- 15 birr

School Kick-Off

Kids Waiting

KG Kids

KG Kids

The Crowd of Kids

Class of 2007

Families Watching

Making Faces

Me with Salam

Kitchen Ladies

J and R making faces

Armani and Salam

Riots

How much is an education worth? 

This week was the KG (kindergarten) registration.  Children from who-knows-how-far-away lined up at the compound gate Tuesday morning after word spread that the registration would happen that day.  Many kids even left their current school to vie for a spot at the Project Mercy school…why?  Because here they are fed 2 meals a day, have class in a well-lit, concrete building (as opposed to a mud structure with small windows that allow scarce amounts of light), and are virtually guaranteed an education through grade 10. 

By around noon the crowd outside the gate had grown to over 2,000.  The children sat apprehensively in front of the gate as the parents hovered on the outskirts.  They didn't have advance notice to fix their hair or wear clean clothes; they came just as they were.  One boy was wearing his father's shoes, it appeared.   Marta began the selection process, initially judging only by size; those who appeared to be around 5-6 years of age came through the gate.  This process of selecting by size proved futile as parents would instruct their child to get back in the line-up and try again if they were turned away.  So, the next plan was to bring all the children into the compound, leaving the parents outside.  The children streamed in through a doorway, but somehow the large gate slipped open and floods of people poured in… Utter mayhem…children were separated from their siblings and parents, terrified and screaming; parents were yelling for their children to get in the right line; children were losing shoes, but the they couldn't retrieve them for fear of being trampled by the crowd.  It was a horrifying scene.  These poor young children really couldn't comprehend what was happening or why.  Thankfully the guards were able to effectively get the crowd under control and send the parents back out of the compound.  Then there was a "manageable" group of about 1,000 children to sift through for the 200 KG spots.  The criteria really wasn't too demanding…the child needed to be between 5-6 years old, not registered in any other school, and live within a reasonable distance of the KG school.  They were each individually interviewed to find these things out. By 5:30pm, a list of 160 names had been compiled; there was room for more names, but this was sufficient to start with.  More children will still show up the first day of kindergarten, so a few open spots will come in handy.    

The very same day, a medical team from the San Francisco area held a mobile clinic in a village nearby.  The people were so desperate to see a doctor that the crowd became uncontrollable.  Some of the nurses were shoved into walls by the overpowering crowd. The team was unable to see as many patients, as a result. 

We just can't comprehend desperation.  Reason goes out the window.  It doesn't matter if your neighbor is bleeding or too weak to walk; your own needs take precedence.  And those parents just want their children to have opportunities not afforded to them.  We can be so quick to criticize these people as uncivilized, but until we've walked a mile in their shoes, or lack of shoes in most cases…

Ethiopian Safari

Ethiopia is not renowned for its plentiful wildlife
the way that Kenya and Tanzania are. However, they do
have some, and this past week I got to see a lot of
it.
The first spotting was a jack rabbit the size of a
medium dog. Its ears alone were the size of a typical
bunny in the States!
There was a group of 4 people visiting for several
days, and the General (he's the administrator of
Project Mercy; a retired leader in the Ethiopian
military who spent 11 years in prison during the
Communist regime. He's got some stories to tell!)
offered to take us out one evening to look for hyenas.
You could call this the Ethiopian version of
spot-lighting. There's a specific spot where people
dump their garbage that the hyenas frequent most
evenings. So we went at dusk and parked beside the
trash pile. As you can imagine, not many people sit
around waiting to spot a hyena. They can be quite
dangerous, killing small animals and children. We sat
quietly for about 20 minutes and I began to strongly
doubt that we would see anything. Oh me of little
faith…out of the village one lone hyena stalked over
to the trash. It was much larger and scruffier than I
had imagined. We had the headlights on, and it just
stared back at us. Hyenas usually travel in packs, so
I believe God sent this one to satisfy our curiosity.
On the drive back to the compound, we chased a fox
along the road and saw another rabbit, but this one
wasn't as big.
The next day, the General (that is what everyone calls
him) asked if we wanted to see monkeys. Well, I wasn't
jumping at that suggestion given my bad experience in
India of being attacked by one. However, I still went
along for the ride. The General knew of an eye clinic
nearby that also had a miniature zoo…only in Africa!
We pull up and the gate is closed, meaning the eye
clinic and zoo are closed…minor setback. I mean, we
are with a retired General. He honks the horn a bit,
and when no one came, he got out and opened the gate
himself. I was mortified at the audacity, but when in
Africa…. We start roaming around the property until we
spot a small sign that says "zoo." It wasn't 10
seconds after reading that sign that an unexpected
guest appears out of nowhere – an uncaged monkey! The
General had brought 2 bananas to feed them and it took
no time for the loose monkey to spot them. He was all
over the General. It scared the wits out of me. The
General gave him 1 banana, but he still knew there was
another. There were 2 other monkeys, as well as 3
porcupine, 4 goats and 1 duck all in cages –
everything one would expect to see at an eye clinic
zoo. The General wanted to give the other banana to
the caged monkeys, but the loose one wasn't going to
allow that. He hissed and clawed at the General and
eventually had his way. The rest of us stood back
with clenched teeth and white knuckles while the
General authoritatively let that monkey know who's
boss.

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