tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81767359097081511462024-03-13T22:24:28.968-07:00ParadoxUgandaDrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.comBlogger2169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-25720368623139746002024-02-17T04:43:00.000-08:002024-02-17T04:43:22.559-08:00Back-to-School FANTASTIC news and yet . . help our unbelief!<p> <b>Two weeks into the 2024 school year</b>: Ugandan schools follow a year-round calendar-year schedule, with three 3-month terms spaced by three term breaks, the longest one being between years and encompassing Christmas/New Year so just over. Every <a href="https://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2024/02/ragged-rainbows.html" target="_blank">late January</a>/early February finds us repairing/mending/improving the physical buildings, gathering teachers for training and spiritual formation, praying, and then receiving our Senior 2 to 4 (O level) and Senior 6 (A level) students back . . . while also promoting the enrolment of new Senior 1 and 5 classes. That's where we are right now.</p><p>The new students come a week or two after they old, because they must wait for the release of their end-of-school exam results by the country. Primary School (P1-7) finishes with the PLE (Primary Leaving Exam) whose results determine qualification for S1. Secondary (O Level) is judged by the UCE (Uganda Certificate of Education) exam at the end of S4 whose results send students into S5/6 or other pathways, and the Advanced "A" level UACE exam at the end of S6 determines who goes to University. In the last two weeks, the PLE and the UCE have been released, which allows us to rank applicants . . . but the UCE and UACE ALSO allow applicants to judge us. So we were very very grateful on Thursday to find that our Nov 2023 end-of-O-level UCE scores were amongst the best ever, <b><span style="font-size: medium;">and by a LONG margin the best in the District. </span></b></p><p>Bundibugyo ranked 133rd out of 136 districts for secondary school exam results this year, nearly the bottom. <b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">That's why we are here after all. God sends his people to the margins,</span></i></b> to the places that most need to hear good news . . injustice is not equally distributed in this world, meaning those called to model and sweat for justice need to be in places like this. So when Christ School's results show <b>75% of our students scoring in the top two divisions,</b> and all our averages making us comparable to the top 10-15% of schools in the country, we're thrilled (to put it another way, we are living in a place that otherwise is in the 2.2%ile from the bottom but by God's grace we're enabling students to get to the 90th%ile!). </p><p>All good news, but all that shining costs more than most families can afford, to pay fair teacher salaries, buy some books, and feed everyone. Yes, thanks to our loyal and generous supporters EVERY STUDENT pays a <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/christ-school-bundibugyo-365-club" target="_blank">subsidized, reduced tuition</a> cost, a bargain compared to similarly-performing schools closer to the capital. And 10 students per class receive full <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/christ-school-bundibugyo-ovc-program" target="_blank">OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) scholarships</a>, targeting kids who are even needier than the baseline. We gave 76 students the opportunity to join S1, but likely many will not show up on their first day on Monday because even our subsidised fees stretch their single moms or their grandparents raising kids left behind or their intact farmer families just trying to scrape by. Every half hour it seems another parents is knocking on our gate asking for help. </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So the back-to-school reality carries the same paradoxes as most of life here.</span> We are so proud of our staff's good work and our students' great performance. We believe in the way this education allows kids to serve their district, sets them on the road to being nurses and teachers and pharmacists and politicians and pastors. And we know that the zero-tolerance for cheating or abuse means they are safe here, and the daily value of worship and Bible study shapes their souls. So much hope as the new school year starts! And yet . . . the poorest parents will struggle to pay and so opt for crowded government day schools instead of CSB, and the few who have steady incomes will often succumb to the illusion that it's always better to send their kids far away so opt for schools in Kampala. We and most of our team mates will help those we can, but we also long to see the community believe and invest. This morning Scott contributed to a dad of disabled twins, but we wonder if he'll have the courage to commit to sending them. It is emotionally and spiritually exhausting to live with such flimsy filters of protection from all the sad stories. . . . but even more exhausting to be a parent trying to do your best for your kids, or a student dreaming of belonging.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Faith never gets easy. Lord we believe, help our unbelief, just as the parent of the child in Mark 9 exclaimed</span>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCu3KCvJQnD1cD6AzAHSaJwWSsH0QZZZamo2MmLESJ6drl8WEnqdUomYizjhwG833QEVimhl1QVMNJaczVM1QZ6eQlxWEhdj87C8jsDuwU_T24IG74PbWXggg9W3gTx8L3K4LCjZE4JvdmjiR1gYCZhD5HVeuM3iOO2eoRMybtnx4ARDmb2wzCe_jIR2R/s1280/IMG_0845.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNCu3KCvJQnD1cD6AzAHSaJwWSsH0QZZZamo2MmLESJ6drl8WEnqdUomYizjhwG833QEVimhl1QVMNJaczVM1QZ6eQlxWEhdj87C8jsDuwU_T24IG74PbWXggg9W3gTx8L3K4LCjZE4JvdmjiR1gYCZhD5HVeuM3iOO2eoRMybtnx4ARDmb2wzCe_jIR2R/w640-h480/IMG_0845.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>First chapel back to school for 2024</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtzXPNAZh1XhKkj_nLHk2VYE5Mz9XCLHYAyrVK89hO29kYwtXE_t1-1U2yMashqqiqVZH7l3p31rOhGAocdBihAxPkBS2o8cdJ12dF_ZcP2lWMtCrQTz7YSAD_QqMzbXxoeHxF96WSIFCVKhhmHa6BsZUjN_vXkKlzh9LVkCRjtWrNhmQ5A2rSvEb7oP9/s1280/IMG_0838.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtzXPNAZh1XhKkj_nLHk2VYE5Mz9XCLHYAyrVK89hO29kYwtXE_t1-1U2yMashqqiqVZH7l3p31rOhGAocdBihAxPkBS2o8cdJ12dF_ZcP2lWMtCrQTz7YSAD_QqMzbXxoeHxF96WSIFCVKhhmHa6BsZUjN_vXkKlzh9LVkCRjtWrNhmQ5A2rSvEb7oP9/w300-h400/IMG_0838.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Cocoa prices enable school fees: eat more chocolate for Bundibugyo!</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3e9JwNrz6vjeTzRN_Kv6xKUebwAGGJs3zRqAQRlyKE_R8-iaqrGXAAcenJMkylrmcYStJDwkAF33JtsWN8GOHKl1uvSUJFtmBV2qx9E2WtcvSSKZq-dDgTp8TTf1rp9AzaBY5d4sczG2mateNBBLSjJsnGrEfADvNUxxQ3MwACoNPWKEVXGsdVEmez64/s1280/IMG_0840.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3e9JwNrz6vjeTzRN_Kv6xKUebwAGGJs3zRqAQRlyKE_R8-iaqrGXAAcenJMkylrmcYStJDwkAF33JtsWN8GOHKl1uvSUJFtmBV2qx9E2WtcvSSKZq-dDgTp8TTf1rp9AzaBY5d4sczG2mateNBBLSjJsnGrEfADvNUxxQ3MwACoNPWKEVXGsdVEmez64/w400-h300/IMG_0840.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Repairs to the stoves and chimneys to cook 3 meals a day for 300 people ... </i></span></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDvEbP4-nUByw0ufKyfPc7DHF5BD30Vtn0bOJIRQAcR9_prq2WccTndvm5Oz02fubUD8-SgCRUPxjbVSJh8GVgYNiva2OVGGJhcbXEVxHg4eyPHbyyVFgGGkVcLMD_Fjexl2Z8hmbsYN7Xc3j1OMPwvgx3Gg25vNUQyzt3eSf65ufYnQuSUqgHMkULTeS/s1280/IMG_0908%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDvEbP4-nUByw0ufKyfPc7DHF5BD30Vtn0bOJIRQAcR9_prq2WccTndvm5Oz02fubUD8-SgCRUPxjbVSJh8GVgYNiva2OVGGJhcbXEVxHg4eyPHbyyVFgGGkVcLMD_Fjexl2Z8hmbsYN7Xc3j1OMPwvgx3Gg25vNUQyzt3eSf65ufYnQuSUqgHMkULTeS/w300-h400/IMG_0908%20(1).jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Leadership team organising entrance interviews</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGOHRLHfPJOOi1R9Ese7_G3eeEsqgex94bwwtn3gOsDFmSDgh2o9ej_CBODSGJhii9w4wznlE0v0ADM2gp_WmhyjAX5rjs0IYJWPCbTSFUVnHhXEjkqGJmv_98PTXGZT4yGS3akfPWScMrjgK50XZJph8GQLgSpAulNs31DqRUiVebJ-MIaZUcbXX3CAQ/s1280/IMG_0909%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGOHRLHfPJOOi1R9Ese7_G3eeEsqgex94bwwtn3gOsDFmSDgh2o9ej_CBODSGJhii9w4wznlE0v0ADM2gp_WmhyjAX5rjs0IYJWPCbTSFUVnHhXEjkqGJmv_98PTXGZT4yGS3akfPWScMrjgK50XZJph8GQLgSpAulNs31DqRUiVebJ-MIaZUcbXX3CAQ/w400-h300/IMG_0909%20(1).jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Running a school means stocking a clinic to treat minor illnesses. . . especially malaria!</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN4-JXzcu3_-q-IQ1vad8mYypPgpsJCcCnwZ2y0yeaW17Qei9cBG4GQam2gQgoLlBuxTK_wgF2w4fQqK52QoW_PQetfrzDgkAWdkVuzzImS0rZmT_s7XnNfMR1JsZUXHoMqhjlf3RUrOZ8yQ7rNPtVYUHZRQDC59d3uK6HInXNaUweRAAfUClUun8TbLT/s1280/IMG_0920.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN4-JXzcu3_-q-IQ1vad8mYypPgpsJCcCnwZ2y0yeaW17Qei9cBG4GQam2gQgoLlBuxTK_wgF2w4fQqK52QoW_PQetfrzDgkAWdkVuzzImS0rZmT_s7XnNfMR1JsZUXHoMqhjlf3RUrOZ8yQ7rNPtVYUHZRQDC59d3uK6HInXNaUweRAAfUClUun8TbLT/w640-h480/IMG_0920.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The hopeful new students taking an entrance exam, managed by our excellent Director of Studies Kiiza</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mXWHltCVziPwQKx6zAE9Isk-gY7LcRRc4ysqpHFhyphenhyphenvqfImITkgOgGQ5jZQU7RTEzyB8o9t40vLZD0VlVUJX3DKDtULHOOWgsvEitj0lmOcOW8rvD48xG0PSVFPhYDgXMVovlYU8MBuUgzGdcKIUwD9x8_2twUNz0yCJhIZaO_9m9azcQ8qC0bEqEE84t/s1280/IMG_0940.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mXWHltCVziPwQKx6zAE9Isk-gY7LcRRc4ysqpHFhyphenhyphenvqfImITkgOgGQ5jZQU7RTEzyB8o9t40vLZD0VlVUJX3DKDtULHOOWgsvEitj0lmOcOW8rvD48xG0PSVFPhYDgXMVovlYU8MBuUgzGdcKIUwD9x8_2twUNz0yCJhIZaO_9m9azcQ8qC0bEqEE84t/w400-h300/IMG_0940.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The never-ending projects include improved drainage around the entrance gate and . . </i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCs9A_lLfMdEDgobcX7-ErwCfuIFTxMMFcL6kTOz7PUBDWfXGhS5MHki-_7Z4XSZzFCGyKTPDj78i_tszOoXPmh8BWIY9fPNg1xpP-0YLh1ni5iSVe0CgsTxFpHNvnosxAOb6ZkfFjbFhX7SDdm79cnYASANvdYe7JFP9AzMlxHcCBXOsZoS2xvt0DzthM/s1280/installing%20final%20smoke%20alarms.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCs9A_lLfMdEDgobcX7-ErwCfuIFTxMMFcL6kTOz7PUBDWfXGhS5MHki-_7Z4XSZzFCGyKTPDj78i_tszOoXPmh8BWIY9fPNg1xpP-0YLh1ni5iSVe0CgsTxFpHNvnosxAOb6ZkfFjbFhX7SDdm79cnYASANvdYe7JFP9AzMlxHcCBXOsZoS2xvt0DzthM/w300-h400/installing%20final%20smoke%20alarms.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Installing the many new smoke detectors we brought back. Chairman of the Board wears many hats, and climbs many ladders. </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-87181232125528627512024-02-06T23:30:00.000-08:002024-02-06T23:33:48.218-08:00Ragged Rainbows<p> Dry season has failed to blow in in Bundibugyo. Usually right around Christmas a hot wind heralds a departure of the daily rains and begins a multi-month stretch of scorching sunshine, turning the grass a crunchy brown. This year we've continued to have frequent clouds heavy with moisture, and almost daily outbursts. Yesterday for the second morning in a row our morning walk left us damp with misty cloud and dripping rain. As we turned back towards home, the rising sun behind our backs peaked over the mountains with enough sparkle to form a ragged little patch of rainbow ahead of us. If an arch is 180 degrees, this wasn't more than ten of those, with indistinct tattered margins.<b> It wasn't much of a rainbow.</b></p><p>In my head I heard the scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" where Jimmy Stewart meets Clarence, whom he's just rescued from drowning, and the pudgy little nobody with outdated clothes claims to be his guardian angel. Jimmy Stewart says "well, you look just like about the kind of angel I'd get." That was what I thought about the rainbow, just the sort for us in 2024. It only lasted a minute, and was so partial and subtle and early that I doubt anyone else remarked much on it. But it was there.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Such is hope these days. A muddled, scraggly sign more than a stunning, admirable sight.</b></span></p><p>One month into the year, and the way ahead feels <b><i>foggy.</i></b> School started this week in Uganda. As always, we have lots of competition for the OVC scholarships but it's more challenging to get paying students to enrol (even though every student is subsidised about 50%) ... our niche is families with capacity and will to invest a very modest school fee into their kids' education, but without the capacity to send their kids out of the district (the dream of anyone with an upwardly mobile life plan and a steady government salary). Part of the challenge of living in a marginal place is that everyone deeply believes that outside is better. Slowly we are giving the confidence and pride in the performance of the poor, but every year it's a struggle of prayer. The cloud here is a life of poor nutrition and substandard primary school and undependable subsistence, but the sunrise ray that lights a rainbow was the staff prayer walk on Saturday night. 25 years into this project, the 25 or so teachers KNOW HOW TO PRAY, they see the needs and have the vision for academic excellence and servant leadership for the good of Bundibugyo and the glory of God. For an hour or two we went from class to dorm to office to infirmary to kitchen to chapel to lab to pitch, praying for 2024.<i><b> A ragged rainbow glow.</b></i></p><p>Half of January we were in the USA for a Serge leadership annual "objectives" meeting, putting practical plans onto the strategies we formed in September. More cloudy days of discerning the spiritual and physical needs of the world and our people, and debating priorities and praying for grace. We dashed around multiple states before and after that week to touch base with both moms, my sister, and each of our kids, for a day or two each, plus visited two of our supporting churches on the two Sundays we were there and a third church for a midweek lunch. The ray of rainbow-producing hope in all that non-stop interaction was the <b><i>beauty and strength of relationships holding onto us over decades</i></b>. Within Serge, within our church, and particularly within our family. Another Wonderful Life line fits here: "no man is a failure who has friends .. . a toast to my brother, the richest man in town." Amen.</p><p>Now we are back in Bundi, in all its murky dampness and heavy responsibility, three multi-country many-leader zoom meetings in the last week-plus as well. The complexity of partnerships, the health challenges of isolated families, the inescapable reality of illnesses and injuries not easily fixed, the scramble to meet deadlines and write teaching and pay attention to everyone here, made cloudier by the inevitable trials of people we love on the other side of the ocean too. Both of our moms are plucky and independent, but both have had a harder time in the last few months. And all our kids seem to be approaching transition in 2024, the one first on our heart is the eldest who has several job offers, none quite ideally clear. Carrying the weight, asking God to enlarge our hearts. Then one day last week a shockingly large gift to BundiNutrition from the estate of a person we don't even know how we are connected to. <b><i>The fragmented light assembles temporarily into bands of colour and beauty.</i></b></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here is a ragged rainbow recap of the opening weeks of 2024 . . wish I had a pic of the actual ragged rainbow, but this will have to do:</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cGOW1wrqpQ1gHgSQTD91UWymg_N_33HBY226aMZ9KgltZYM8GM5hH5F-cXPMcpSJJsYv0_pUJVYM0NnZFOLJwxSBMW4FDLpCNkLHcZBF4VfORyYTgVb8CRvfxfQ4jvB_XvPvlUVi9JA2uy6JbW8zicZanOCkQdHUDPMkxu8_YEiSuK3_v5vqlUeXxXvz/s3000/MT%20January%202024%20Eden_%20secure.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1696" data-original-width="3000" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cGOW1wrqpQ1gHgSQTD91UWymg_N_33HBY226aMZ9KgltZYM8GM5hH5F-cXPMcpSJJsYv0_pUJVYM0NnZFOLJwxSBMW4FDLpCNkLHcZBF4VfORyYTgVb8CRvfxfQ4jvB_XvPvlUVi9JA2uy6JbW8zicZanOCkQdHUDPMkxu8_YEiSuK3_v5vqlUeXxXvz/w640-h362/MT%20January%202024%20Eden_%20secure.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Ministry Team: All Area Directors and Executive Leadership<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTX0zMH7dbfKo_hj38e9BA1vWC5DfPOA6HWgviEA3MOezoDbHZWkBHobIWHdhMKjflW8rg7lxIa96Am7rJ5rQqSeaKbZ9sWAyjlMXggMboHwbW27ZD9FAd6bGIjrNrLqJIeEVYMxesWdh7mvjEVwvAuQFsrpKseC9hKUYEvhw_2vQScJaPWw_Fa8HXZIJ/s1280/home%20pffice.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTX0zMH7dbfKo_hj38e9BA1vWC5DfPOA6HWgviEA3MOezoDbHZWkBHobIWHdhMKjflW8rg7lxIa96Am7rJ5rQqSeaKbZ9sWAyjlMXggMboHwbW27ZD9FAd6bGIjrNrLqJIeEVYMxesWdh7mvjEVwvAuQFsrpKseC9hKUYEvhw_2vQScJaPWw_Fa8HXZIJ/w640-h480/home%20pffice.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And our faithful Home Office Staff with whom we met that week as well</div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv6iTAx-zLw8RbG-ieqvrH0NLlqdVAg3sCATQmCKnqqDB2Gf5xrCYz9DrSKL26cg2H7nNfqw6YpEof-I7jRCRnwROzjxPjyh-HNIfKdEm8jj_DCVGHj3gTGuFtwiI3SMTTPTxnbBouMmzvHYYFA-ZbJPbNal9xDphRYG5Mg0VLToW0bDhtpwZL98hgERM/s1280/biggerstaff%20fam%202024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv6iTAx-zLw8RbG-ieqvrH0NLlqdVAg3sCATQmCKnqqDB2Gf5xrCYz9DrSKL26cg2H7nNfqw6YpEof-I7jRCRnwROzjxPjyh-HNIfKdEm8jj_DCVGHj3gTGuFtwiI3SMTTPTxnbBouMmzvHYYFA-ZbJPbNal9xDphRYG5Mg0VLToW0bDhtpwZL98hgERM/w400-h300/biggerstaff%20fam%202024.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My sis and fam!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNOhhovYEfLnrwy-UK6t3QJk82ribL54Ogs3WP1CHz8NUaBVpg1EPRuI3QVveVeO0j_L1ZC11PZitjvy59V6XB7RbO9Tnm_fVZEJuRMRqfHZi2NBQNWxgHWRcHJs4ONjjzmX_syZPwHd-j_iRkQ0xvcxzc0Y6GhXyLWpXGVfnHIwgNkWYAtfdDsIPg0Mi/s1280/caleb%20storage%20unit%202024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNOhhovYEfLnrwy-UK6t3QJk82ribL54Ogs3WP1CHz8NUaBVpg1EPRuI3QVveVeO0j_L1ZC11PZitjvy59V6XB7RbO9Tnm_fVZEJuRMRqfHZi2NBQNWxgHWRcHJs4ONjjzmX_syZPwHd-j_iRkQ0xvcxzc0Y6GhXyLWpXGVfnHIwgNkWYAtfdDsIPg0Mi/w400-h300/caleb%20storage%20unit%202024.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Most photos in early Jan are in front of Christmas trees, but Caleb was moving the next day for a 6 month assignment elsewhere, so we helped pack his house into a storage unit.</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi933n6izScEMAoIzOrAgPQGZ52MVb6JEODef68dic0gu56k1IVA1nJk4IWo2PK_k8LyRj8gyqpdjeKz2pMUCtUjEtnx8EmKCSX5IjXZktsBKHtYdfgu7on92cv8PsZG-PLJycW6dlJbFWcwesaqFK7DtCADY5WndV6jOa3SppawocQUDMHu5zpddM9wATJ/s1280/jack%20and%20julia%20by%20tree.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi933n6izScEMAoIzOrAgPQGZ52MVb6JEODef68dic0gu56k1IVA1nJk4IWo2PK_k8LyRj8gyqpdjeKz2pMUCtUjEtnx8EmKCSX5IjXZktsBKHtYdfgu7on92cv8PsZG-PLJycW6dlJbFWcwesaqFK7DtCADY5WndV6jOa3SppawocQUDMHu5zpddM9wATJ/w640-h480/jack%20and%20julia%20by%20tree.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back to Christmas trees, Jack and Julia in SLC</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yrjC2SLgaQBMjjONU-zFuHZiGxpBji8fOedm7En6I5S_PqYiLS24vezkBQfoLZCAGWhysaddEj6QGdCvAUCvd9_0fBjzkdDE21USHgi_54aX2y_Ar7vdLzYTL-9T0sgl87_0Bw5O8vwO8A9vstVtnN_8OUMLy5B2YAy-JLs8m3q7rJ-FRqaLSsRp_lw7/s1280/luke%20and%20abby%20in%20baltimore%20jan%202024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yrjC2SLgaQBMjjONU-zFuHZiGxpBji8fOedm7En6I5S_PqYiLS24vezkBQfoLZCAGWhysaddEj6QGdCvAUCvd9_0fBjzkdDE21USHgi_54aX2y_Ar7vdLzYTL-9T0sgl87_0Bw5O8vwO8A9vstVtnN_8OUMLy5B2YAy-JLs8m3q7rJ-FRqaLSsRp_lw7/w640-h480/luke%20and%20abby%20in%20baltimore%20jan%202024.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Luke and Abby showing us their Baltimore neighborhood</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02CN3eV1-H6tGbmT8aFaWG6asMWsDWVznfbxS3AW_YHeIbwVvaySVC28mr1yM6MPaLaYOPoqk_WirlPyUly0HMwfe90Bmn_zRRZRgKR80A69QkJi0yy_nMMYmKF-UoN5TX2EmkdCGZBhNV0kCYcqKpW2Q_NjRzygQLkWrAyMR9akpmyFiXqr0I-7FFJkf/s1280/tacos%20with%20ruth.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02CN3eV1-H6tGbmT8aFaWG6asMWsDWVznfbxS3AW_YHeIbwVvaySVC28mr1yM6MPaLaYOPoqk_WirlPyUly0HMwfe90Bmn_zRRZRgKR80A69QkJi0yy_nMMYmKF-UoN5TX2EmkdCGZBhNV0kCYcqKpW2Q_NjRzygQLkWrAyMR9akpmyFiXqr0I-7FFJkf/w400-h300/tacos%20with%20ruth.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our favourite lunch stop on highway 1, with Scott's 91 year old mom Ruth!</div><span> </span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcM-Qn3sUEuJuZ1uiBGzpCWammej4XLOCkZr6cP0pR004kF79c2tvw7h-ZUmMI2BJE0fjGpxP58OItc2ifWE5v8_dHbK_dk_05yrq_dv-o9yrSsVUmEsQejLs5V6SNEL3UsVpYaleN4-KHfPofuOcbcVZ4PINsUjYk7riIb3PZfBKE8KWCfVKyABuYeV7/s1280/with%20my%20mom%20in%20Jan%2024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcM-Qn3sUEuJuZ1uiBGzpCWammej4XLOCkZr6cP0pR004kF79c2tvw7h-ZUmMI2BJE0fjGpxP58OItc2ifWE5v8_dHbK_dk_05yrq_dv-o9yrSsVUmEsQejLs5V6SNEL3UsVpYaleN4-KHfPofuOcbcVZ4PINsUjYk7riIb3PZfBKE8KWCfVKyABuYeV7/w400-h300/with%20my%20mom%20in%20Jan%2024.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And in my mom Judy's lovely home</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWa0G65z9mLfF5ZMIY811cHf-By6sEkY7rI2b2H3ugzb0WdJPh1u2-P5KvoBHbrdG6R7oXm1Ow-4_7G8t-o8bBCO6XlSHMylRcV8enIM36aHylBDtSpwkVh9sInfcrnBuxtuaxw1eHhFQzyxD7pdQ41ZQAyHbAZtfPaKbVMiydeAcoqa6WqQWVAV_Yjb-F/s1280/missions%20committee%20grace%20opc.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWa0G65z9mLfF5ZMIY811cHf-By6sEkY7rI2b2H3ugzb0WdJPh1u2-P5KvoBHbrdG6R7oXm1Ow-4_7G8t-o8bBCO6XlSHMylRcV8enIM36aHylBDtSpwkVh9sInfcrnBuxtuaxw1eHhFQzyxD7pdQ41ZQAyHbAZtfPaKbVMiydeAcoqa6WqQWVAV_Yjb-F/w400-h300/missions%20committee%20grace%20opc.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Grace OPC missions committee sending us off to the airport to return, after church and lunch. Grateful!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Then it was back to Uganda . . . . <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkVRhxhwPGyt_4EZqk3JbFu-LjzXj1XoBibmijYGPvCB70Eu9e_e9HwnojnevwIaVkx-w_Q3RH0gJdU04XetDyXekQiZbE4unzTPjIdsVlxCkLCTY3F3-F4ZJ-yD0dYtRn7-HRiWuFTxtnYPznhrRefKwT0qn4bj4qNIxFj_UvLvnDGiGyST40c66R_mk/s1280/prayer%20walk%20circle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkVRhxhwPGyt_4EZqk3JbFu-LjzXj1XoBibmijYGPvCB70Eu9e_e9HwnojnevwIaVkx-w_Q3RH0gJdU04XetDyXekQiZbE4unzTPjIdsVlxCkLCTY3F3-F4ZJ-yD0dYtRn7-HRiWuFTxtnYPznhrRefKwT0qn4bj4qNIxFj_UvLvnDGiGyST40c66R_mk/w487-h366/prayer%20walk%20circle.jpeg" width="487" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The annual beginning of school staff prayer walk, best way to start the year</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGEf8zszbtcfRBZzex3bQ8x4unNp_WQpr9yYzSPL8UxGwBeft5-UQe-uzrEcuTrSncEuflQJ0ToKUMOGp737wg170UG6CRmVgrh1VEUkXu50unxLJy0lLjU0cMnhFubRHvFECNGA8cATE6YyidC1l87hy5wIx2yj8HELL7G5O9e11NDfTO3QNoHT12x-aj/s1280/scott%20inspecting%20school%20projects.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGEf8zszbtcfRBZzex3bQ8x4unNp_WQpr9yYzSPL8UxGwBeft5-UQe-uzrEcuTrSncEuflQJ0ToKUMOGp737wg170UG6CRmVgrh1VEUkXu50unxLJy0lLjU0cMnhFubRHvFECNGA8cATE6YyidC1l87hy5wIx2yj8HELL7G5O9e11NDfTO3QNoHT12x-aj/w400-h300/scott%20inspecting%20school%20projects.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Scott supervised 23 infrastructure maintenance and improvement projects. 100 buckets of paint do a lot.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qFJRFrKJYZ36byovdjPGMlnnHhFixjyvXi-E2Q8uY7295Dez0NRkj5Sdnt0teROpLxaO3y9K3WUI1Z8j0C1oiXmk-KtCeT7rOPV8XK9PA57o-0UGK-2jYYdGgakLH45J9-ZjkqOpX82XhF8r0nK7tQCSorJeSf-c17UFlfzmNN8PaPrmJdL2e1BvaT0v/s1280/singing%20on%20prayer%20walk.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qFJRFrKJYZ36byovdjPGMlnnHhFixjyvXi-E2Q8uY7295Dez0NRkj5Sdnt0teROpLxaO3y9K3WUI1Z8j0C1oiXmk-KtCeT7rOPV8XK9PA57o-0UGK-2jYYdGgakLH45J9-ZjkqOpX82XhF8r0nK7tQCSorJeSf-c17UFlfzmNN8PaPrmJdL2e1BvaT0v/w400-h300/singing%20on%20prayer%20walk.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More prayer</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwR6WOWARIQJAS4LJ0roTYW828bKUUk9V1zsr3hrwLueZA9A2bDH5ao2NyJ54Tshr4UD13YMb7haQPxpAInc9bHjtbw2jSARWe2pVajCVUxmdHXFVRu91y1horteywKfy3_0v8-rJ9gpkXu_oIej6_Ot9E1BJeUUowIcwfmRDjun72LAk_Y98B2poyL1n/s1280/staff%20training%202024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwR6WOWARIQJAS4LJ0roTYW828bKUUk9V1zsr3hrwLueZA9A2bDH5ao2NyJ54Tshr4UD13YMb7haQPxpAInc9bHjtbw2jSARWe2pVajCVUxmdHXFVRu91y1horteywKfy3_0v8-rJ9gpkXu_oIej6_Ot9E1BJeUUowIcwfmRDjun72LAk_Y98B2poyL1n/w400-h300/staff%20training%202024.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Staff in the teacher lounge for inservice and worship</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgFMw_eKqvXnMKxc9EPRWYSetu0NGkBdUlZwxrKjlBne1rYrpgXF9p11mratfp_AMsM1rvDsp_-WHYp21G-ZTQX-jIutyZcJlnbeqEpT7V28P4ga2MWTxx98vUJGn1urBwkrBgJz_qSgIyW-zKnsp9AOu_R5Swxv0iNLCKHEfwjzLwwv_47-Av6WbyY5b/s1077/staff%20training%20CSB%202024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="1077" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgFMw_eKqvXnMKxc9EPRWYSetu0NGkBdUlZwxrKjlBne1rYrpgXF9p11mratfp_AMsM1rvDsp_-WHYp21G-ZTQX-jIutyZcJlnbeqEpT7V28P4ga2MWTxx98vUJGn1urBwkrBgJz_qSgIyW-zKnsp9AOu_R5Swxv0iNLCKHEfwjzLwwv_47-Av6WbyY5b/w640-h410/staff%20training%20CSB%202024.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our theme was Be Moses: a leader BElives, MOdels, SErves, and EquipS. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIodAefnm4ru1_Qvmso-lN17xxochL8oowc1xuxsgNik7p88ibegwksv-937vLH3Hu-nQ_XQ4CW_SkiGKaAwAdg24CjZIvsFRrQk_9Tb7OkGbw1y29elG5oq2r5j7CnN0J0hSZfgbSg_4BKx9bCYORZwF1MrVjt3EAimyAEPyrW5UTbqCp2Wv0XlkDnbKl/s1280/team%20photo%20with%20visitors%20Jan%2024.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIodAefnm4ru1_Qvmso-lN17xxochL8oowc1xuxsgNik7p88ibegwksv-937vLH3Hu-nQ_XQ4CW_SkiGKaAwAdg24CjZIvsFRrQk_9Tb7OkGbw1y29elG5oq2r5j7CnN0J0hSZfgbSg_4BKx9bCYORZwF1MrVjt3EAimyAEPyrW5UTbqCp2Wv0XlkDnbKl/w640-h480/team%20photo%20with%20visitors%20Jan%2024.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The January team, with visitors!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcDWXHfe6QGX9LQcUtqUUhAM7KjLrZdrkcVO7NXB5NylCC_gDsal8O5jx8fHtxEcAfCxiWbWZZiSRWNqprJgBv0RTVL-omfjV8JUC3AYkOd3DZOxddQL2o_Z9lCQYDzX_eVMR2CQZRu5XWWaaks6dpJ4AcoVkiV6lFXjUBUciMGz3e5jWZXW-1IN38hwZ/s1280/luke%20and%20abby%20on%20computer.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcDWXHfe6QGX9LQcUtqUUhAM7KjLrZdrkcVO7NXB5NylCC_gDsal8O5jx8fHtxEcAfCxiWbWZZiSRWNqprJgBv0RTVL-omfjV8JUC3AYkOd3DZOxddQL2o_Z9lCQYDzX_eVMR2CQZRu5XWWaaks6dpJ4AcoVkiV6lFXjUBUciMGz3e5jWZXW-1IN38hwZ/s320/luke%20and%20abby%20on%20computer.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My computer . . hard to work when I'm just wanting to pray for these two. Join me.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-91263266425172483962023-12-29T03:12:00.000-08:002023-12-29T03:12:49.768-08:00Bucolic, exotic, horrific : why complex stories matter<p> Mostly our Christmas readings tend to sanitise the historical event with a focus on miracles, angels, light, gifts, bucolic shepherds and exotic wise men. Cue the orchestral music, the peaceful candles and cozy cows. Which is not entirely unreasonable, given the fact that the events of that night instigated a cosmic shift in the trajectory of the human story from tragedy to glory. All memory is impacted by the outcomes of events, and a hard labor that ends in a joyful healthy baby is recalled differently than one that results in a stillbirth. I love putting out my wreath and hanging stockings and ornaments just as much as anyone. Beauty and community and joy <i>are </i>central to this story.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But the second half of Matthew 2, after the kings and gifts, is as horrific as any story ever told</b></span>. And as horrific as the nightly news from the area in 2023. Herod can't find the individual infant that his constituents are beginning to suspect could be the answer to prophecies, the awaited king, the potential disruption to a political and social order where he and his court are quite comfortable? Well then, just send in overwhelming force to indiscriminately kill all infant boys. To be safe, given the imprecise timing of stars and camel-paced approaches, all boys two years old and under. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, refusing to be comforted because they are no more . . .</span></b> not the phrases we put on our Christmas cards. But certainly the lived experience of most of the world. Including the same area today, where the powers with weapons have justified killing 8,663 children among the 21 thousand (mostly) civilians killed so far. </p><p>This story is one of the many I'd prefer to edit out of the narrative. But as a mom who once scooped kids and ran from evil men with guns shooting at us and our neighbours, as a doctor who has been present at the moment of too many child deaths to count, as an aging senior who prays for and supports so many families facing danger . . .<span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>I think this horrific chapter needs to be included. The incarnation does not magically make life immediately perfect, not even safe.</b> </span>And the need for the infiltration of God's ways into our world is seen in the blood of the babies. It's a serious story with real consequences. <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Evil really is evil</b>.</span> Jesus doesn't shy away from the worst our world can conjure. He entered real weeping, and because of that the end of the story will be no more tears.</p><p>I call my preferred movie genre <b><span style="font-size: medium;">"dark and redemptive"</span></b>, because that's the truth of the world. Walking into darkness and not sugar coating the losses. BUT . . walking through that to light. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4ldjqeA7JbGy6vjjTH_rB33qte9A8xl8okzECGBEWB68efs-KXIXpAG_0j7191_K1F1sqeeoCqZxc-GusMTwYBZLOCsOLglmaxp56B4AEhQDr1QHIN5H9wg_RDjEyaNiq91k7rFnBnWqA8Mp1n8lvBNe8XdYzVe-NC8BDmbKZh_IRGXlOpl2GwkL8Qba/s1280/2023_DEC-team%20funny%20pic%20by%20Josh.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4ldjqeA7JbGy6vjjTH_rB33qte9A8xl8okzECGBEWB68efs-KXIXpAG_0j7191_K1F1sqeeoCqZxc-GusMTwYBZLOCsOLglmaxp56B4AEhQDr1QHIN5H9wg_RDjEyaNiq91k7rFnBnWqA8Mp1n8lvBNe8XdYzVe-NC8BDmbKZh_IRGXlOpl2GwkL8Qba/w640-h428/2023_DEC-team%20funny%20pic%20by%20Josh.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EkNAizonhvx4WS4ahzvZfwtjFRm-XGMXwNcI3P_-91du12TvtaEnO4OYBlTpsAONmBT2WFhRfNhRduyqd5sl34hMkDgouvIOKb-2grpNuhKvUbc2Sz7dEH0LvqtnGMfRF1ae9BB5u5Iwe20QWAFssHPal7V6t0tvH3PBcPVRqlM0759W44xhoI7d1Gkt/s1280/2023_DEC-team%20pic%20by%20josh.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EkNAizonhvx4WS4ahzvZfwtjFRm-XGMXwNcI3P_-91du12TvtaEnO4OYBlTpsAONmBT2WFhRfNhRduyqd5sl34hMkDgouvIOKb-2grpNuhKvUbc2Sz7dEH0LvqtnGMfRF1ae9BB5u5Iwe20QWAFssHPal7V6t0tvH3PBcPVRqlM0759W44xhoI7d1Gkt/w640-h428/2023_DEC-team%20pic%20by%20josh.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><b><br /></b><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Merry Christmas from the Bundibugyo Team</b></i></span></p><p>(since it's the 29th of December, probably incumbent upon us to remind any readers with end-of-year impulse to plot-twist some stories on our side of the globe towards the beatific . . .</p><p><a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/christ-school-bundibugyo-one-time-needs" target="_blank">Christ School Bundibugyo</a>, <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/bundi-nutrition-fund" target="_blank">BundiNutrition,</a> and the <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/scott-and-jennifer-myhre">Myhres</a>, all plod on by your kindness.)</p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-13485880923701761452023-12-24T09:41:00.000-08:002023-12-24T09:41:40.495-08:00Turn Over, Bear Under (the lament and hope of Christmas 2023)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqBdyQ8OpyyOL-TI6yAWpsfqHF7UFnJEzmpM8WtgYHMiD22adgwysfml3YOEjDr8JYdjpEvUpTVTsHkAWGOFAwSlaTSd1xryOrsQwslSAVZL-Y9akbdGXllHsBtZWYUmKauIWKZ5SfGCnMerqthJCss9f78LOxUrGGyemFU_Ai7BbVJqHJb2fEgXnmG32/s1180/2023%20christmas%20poem%20Turn%20Over,%20Bear%20Under.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqBdyQ8OpyyOL-TI6yAWpsfqHF7UFnJEzmpM8WtgYHMiD22adgwysfml3YOEjDr8JYdjpEvUpTVTsHkAWGOFAwSlaTSd1xryOrsQwslSAVZL-Y9akbdGXllHsBtZWYUmKauIWKZ5SfGCnMerqthJCss9f78LOxUrGGyemFU_Ai7BbVJqHJb2fEgXnmG32/w274-h640/2023%20christmas%20poem%20Turn%20Over,%20Bear%20Under.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><br /><p></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-72489406280542762622023-12-23T03:46:00.000-08:002023-12-23T03:46:17.436-08:00Christmas in the Ruins . . . choosing to be a doorway to good<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68NzCm6M4y36DcO-44JwBVF2tIGcOH2TIPV44Q_E7f3yhR617ZQ5OZeTPlSBcLzELLgDgjREltx0Dx0vPEYZVIWp5Ju3C47TGDESO06w1Xqm6Nz2mHuKnPs59SfVI-v3_i8ymnJw7a0aAsUVTjH3S684INnM5fPn2FrpP8oJNqugq6SjDE4yoqf_MGdMp/s680/Gaza%20family.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="680" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68NzCm6M4y36DcO-44JwBVF2tIGcOH2TIPV44Q_E7f3yhR617ZQ5OZeTPlSBcLzELLgDgjREltx0Dx0vPEYZVIWp5Ju3C47TGDESO06w1Xqm6Nz2mHuKnPs59SfVI-v3_i8ymnJw7a0aAsUVTjH3S684INnM5fPn2FrpP8oJNqugq6SjDE4yoqf_MGdMp/w640-h402/Gaza%20family.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Christmas Eve Eve . . .since the 24th and 25th will both have major church services, and today is market day, it feels like we are fully into Christmas. "Webhale Bhilo Bhikulu!" we greeted this morning on our sunrise walk. Literally, thank you for the valuable/important/old/big days. In this community, people feel a sense of gratefulness and accomplishment for living through another year. The New Year's greeting is "Webhale Kwiko", thanks for reaching, making it, arriving. As the light faded in to the cloud-covered rainforest that is Bundibugyo, we passed women sweeping any twigs and leaves from the smooth dirt compounds in front of their homes, lines of kids carrying water or firewood, adults washing clothes or tending fires to prepare for cooking (and sadly a few tipsy men still reaching home from a night of drinking). A few hours later we needed a couple of things at the market, which was a chaotic mass of boda (motorcyle) taxis and last minute preparations. And now as I cook and clean and prepare, I can hear more traffic in five minutes than used to pass in a month. The sense of bustle and anticipation is palpable.</p><p>But it all occurs in the <span style="font-size: large;">context of a place where the rubble of a broken world still longs for redemption to break in more brightly.</span> This morning was the second time in two weeks that one of us has found a car window smashed from thieves who managed enter the fenced compound in the dark, searching for anything they can grab. Yesterday evening we visited our two nearest neighbours whose lovely welcoming spirit shone even though we found one grandmother quite ill. We've been harassed this week by a man who reported Scott to the police for taking a picture of his business sign (so we'd have the phone number!), just a person angling to make up an offence that he could "sue" us for. All while still reworking budgets that suffered from our own losses due to embezzlement, keeping in close touch with our DRC team during disorganised and protested elections (but thankfully no violence), all our Ugandan team mates as the ADF attacked a village about 50km south, and all our teams facing their own struggles. This world we live in has little veneer to create the illusion of glory. And in the world of Gaza, pictured above in a side-by-side painting of Mary and photo of a Palestinian woman in 2023, the suffering is almost unimaginable. </p><p>But that painting and photo capture Christmas exactly. <span style="font-size: large;">A baby has been born who incarnates hope, who has entered into the very debris of our lives with the power and love to crush evil</span>. Mary didn't get to see the final restoration of all things, and niether do we, yet. Like her we are asked to <span style="font-size: large;">participate on faith.</span> To open our lives to God who is in the process of making all things new, while those things still apparently teeter on the edge of disaster. </p><p>From Alea Peister on Biola Advent two days ago:</p><p>"<i>In Advent we take four weeks to remember how we, like Mary, live in a world that is ill. It is broken down and violent. It is a place where people are isolated from each other and God. It is a world where we seem to always choose the wrong thing. It is a world that is dying. And we are, like it or not, participants in its death.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>As we do so, we find – like Mary – that God visits us and asks: Will you let me dwell in you and remake you? Will you let me burn up the chaff within you and restore the wheat? Will you become the place where I reside, become yourself my throne and temple? (1 Cor. 6:19-20)</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>We cannot possibly know what our assent will lead to. We can hope for specific outcomes – but that is, in the end, not the point. Our task is simply to become a residence for the life of Christ, a doorway through which he will make his love known to the world. When God visits and asks if we will say yes, we find life can have no other eventuality than our total, simple, and grateful assent. </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Behold, we say with the Theotokos. I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word</i>."</p><p><br /></p><p>That captures <span style="font-size: large;">life in the ruins of creation </span>pretty well. We are part of the problem, and we suffer the impact of much of what was already broken before we added to the mess. <b>But by grace we accept the calling to become a doorway of Heaven, a place where others can glimpse the feast of goodness to which we are invited, and where God can reach through to feed the hungry and comfort the weary.</b> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYHOg4PvOwCDb3T63VRDZwaTej9CqnJUWz1Vds87dqDbLOWm0A8BJZDC4AuIak6XRI1tGhjVgTYHEhBKGU3T98eRLKfDU_yX6A7q07YX37Tb2rFWM-sKeuW2vVfFDp2vfwUNXXe24d_tMFFablH0x8zbP_pvTMVv6J4afDM0CLjdXA6dBUa2T1SL4rwRi/s1792/advent%20book.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1792" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYHOg4PvOwCDb3T63VRDZwaTej9CqnJUWz1Vds87dqDbLOWm0A8BJZDC4AuIak6XRI1tGhjVgTYHEhBKGU3T98eRLKfDU_yX6A7q07YX37Tb2rFWM-sKeuW2vVfFDp2vfwUNXXe24d_tMFFablH0x8zbP_pvTMVv6J4afDM0CLjdXA6dBUa2T1SL4rwRi/s320/advent%20book.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Been reading this excellent, thoughtful book on Advent as a time of spiritual formation, a fast before the feast.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NOdFvu0VAL4vH4cjhf2ZlQH6aZbNqEZMN-DxOEbi9xpgm7sBDsoRmcHPC_ifWyquNeJXerlkS4ef6BIQwTctuN9NHPeBbY_z1IxX8g4l4D6UDoNT0ktyl0IDW7MFfc8r33oPIchHj6g8k4f34WF_V9Lc1vpqpBXKZYZcU47wp90nBu9TGZwcV-84kiLr/s1024/bundinutrition%20team.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NOdFvu0VAL4vH4cjhf2ZlQH6aZbNqEZMN-DxOEbi9xpgm7sBDsoRmcHPC_ifWyquNeJXerlkS4ef6BIQwTctuN9NHPeBbY_z1IxX8g4l4D6UDoNT0ktyl0IDW7MFfc8r33oPIchHj6g8k4f34WF_V9Lc1vpqpBXKZYZcU47wp90nBu9TGZwcV-84kiLr/w640-h480/bundinutrition%20team.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The BundiNutrition team Christmas party is the type Jesus would enjoy . . 1178 kids got 9 weeks of locally made supplemental food this year, and they all survived.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCi1mjcrXVFtg5zST5y4UJF0AYYC896m7D2oCFWEovO5ioRfLlSrJ4e3ZNXbSkw2PL1pZCjVfwn7XRneGwuV4MvsyIgG6mpHetr6teOFX9NUxY6lT6pY9cVw2DgRS2Ohcp5a7fRNrfESiXzQnxNkC7M2_fSk8i1lV1MLQN53vE3Q8ezR9k3D1Ekd5cVjj/s1280/cfdb4357-7d86-4a2c-8f7b-5403206647cf.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="854" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCi1mjcrXVFtg5zST5y4UJF0AYYC896m7D2oCFWEovO5ioRfLlSrJ4e3ZNXbSkw2PL1pZCjVfwn7XRneGwuV4MvsyIgG6mpHetr6teOFX9NUxY6lT6pY9cVw2DgRS2Ohcp5a7fRNrfESiXzQnxNkC7M2_fSk8i1lV1MLQN53vE3Q8ezR9k3D1Ekd5cVjj/w268-h400/cfdb4357-7d86-4a2c-8f7b-5403206647cf.jpeg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Speaking of parties, this feast was followed by our very own Rwenzori Mission School Christmas Pageant, organised by the indomitable Miss Michaela below with the cast</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPKNedZLOEyVR-qPkAp81uB3JMedeCW3sHGtznMhKohSDgcglk6ZfLZr3xcnH7HeVfXoPKOIg_b26JUrVYd0sLTsRY7EtqHZKCXTnZ3xdMHArhGzBWZW-lwQ-UWmGvtjFi76OULzPYhReV9dlIkAnM3ah1dqdDbnrM9_eM2-JFVHPcu0yOg8q1xxP-0Q9Q/s1280/christmas%20pagaent.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPKNedZLOEyVR-qPkAp81uB3JMedeCW3sHGtznMhKohSDgcglk6ZfLZr3xcnH7HeVfXoPKOIg_b26JUrVYd0sLTsRY7EtqHZKCXTnZ3xdMHArhGzBWZW-lwQ-UWmGvtjFi76OULzPYhReV9dlIkAnM3ah1dqdDbnrM9_eM2-JFVHPcu0yOg8q1xxP-0Q9Q/w640-h480/christmas%20pagaent.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xBHZAEbpsqCgUUpfwbhCXUFXRAgCb88eZco_xI-bJAJ0W7T_9htnPIj3s_MooPW2wNb9HICE4AANseY5vlM6PhXTQwvCvd-u5HQQc6b6wIF-Nv0vS2jZPiWobwOshCqgJc8kwqBYDF7bcmMtpemIazvLZIbWm_MfvpC7Z4fTipejeo8is9gowu2oKwMf/s1280/contracts%20USS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xBHZAEbpsqCgUUpfwbhCXUFXRAgCb88eZco_xI-bJAJ0W7T_9htnPIj3s_MooPW2wNb9HICE4AANseY5vlM6PhXTQwvCvd-u5HQQc6b6wIF-Nv0vS2jZPiWobwOshCqgJc8kwqBYDF7bcmMtpemIazvLZIbWm_MfvpC7Z4fTipejeo8is9gowu2oKwMf/w400-h300/contracts%20USS.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Final weeks of the year mean budges and new contracts and a lot of meetings and work. But this crew keeps us all going, very thankful for them.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkk_0adZDD7wZV0-VCmuwJMrxliP1p6BBCif58zOrHDBF7DnSbDjvW1JeQfAdpRL8P2s9PoreaYxBVVBC7r0dF9e3Dd3eXpmELhwyBSrPVAj8VCDmeJn5wMLFiyEpDwFvpxs_hnpIlg9_KQ71wYO2-Bk1h4N-ufHaVJhbNkE7srLyuHqaQxj8O6JwPea5L/s1280/fruits%20of%20the%20homestead.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkk_0adZDD7wZV0-VCmuwJMrxliP1p6BBCif58zOrHDBF7DnSbDjvW1JeQfAdpRL8P2s9PoreaYxBVVBC7r0dF9e3Dd3eXpmELhwyBSrPVAj8VCDmeJn5wMLFiyEpDwFvpxs_hnpIlg9_KQ71wYO2-Bk1h4N-ufHaVJhbNkE7srLyuHqaQxj8O6JwPea5L/w400-h300/fruits%20of%20the%20homestead.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A few pauses in a non-stop week to actually harvest the bounty IN OUR OWN YARD, cocoa, mango, avacado and papaya are all in season.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvXJgTox2NDUV2HTJN1M6IKC9ub1q5Knxe5SDEqUWbAqXLT5ypUXCxLCdR0K1lewFjKcRHK6TXRSDQ1-T4UnNlqFv20ZTfD2ZmEEuKnftSXGmcBCpoBoAoEgC6zk-_eoaBlZ5CnPRyDYNayKxRflmArrWlGtjeBV0Q9LxA7UKD7NaORicTKbry8uAUoOe/s1280/IMG_9874.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvXJgTox2NDUV2HTJN1M6IKC9ub1q5Knxe5SDEqUWbAqXLT5ypUXCxLCdR0K1lewFjKcRHK6TXRSDQ1-T4UnNlqFv20ZTfD2ZmEEuKnftSXGmcBCpoBoAoEgC6zk-_eoaBlZ5CnPRyDYNayKxRflmArrWlGtjeBV0Q9LxA7UKD7NaORicTKbry8uAUoOe/w400-h300/IMG_9874.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Second year to lessen our impact on the planet by just cutting branches off trees planted years ago and stringing lights and ornaments to make it a Christmas tree</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOt3B6zKDKXBOgwWYdPyu3PusSSODFFk4LHZhTZnslkPvW_XKP5MZNvrlsJTfiLVn6yiQjvCdVeHPFExDHlb-pBIm69HN95e6IknEFw-Dmv9xl2SvPAUjGKvkgOf_pbl8typGewLZgFklbX9FVTeRWwDwzAE6ZL-ZThsanHxupLrow72DI_bo2HzkVr9C/s1280/IMG_9886.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOt3B6zKDKXBOgwWYdPyu3PusSSODFFk4LHZhTZnslkPvW_XKP5MZNvrlsJTfiLVn6yiQjvCdVeHPFExDHlb-pBIm69HN95e6IknEFw-Dmv9xl2SvPAUjGKvkgOf_pbl8typGewLZgFklbX9FVTeRWwDwzAE6ZL-ZThsanHxupLrow72DI_bo2HzkVr9C/w400-h300/IMG_9886.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Bailey and the library crew ... love the safe space with old books from all the mission families shared with the community.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gQzlvqKJhw1DcWqpeZ0twu4bac3TKxUDZn1885-lbFuprlIWKBB9vUt9bjQh10GERPlE1Xus2PqLV9BgCtJGIXiWYIC-T9KNDMggjJhoyE_LME6mvnzFrqAzgV7YoSYk0PnNtj88Mzb0QOOnXa6kwSKiXGtK297mdjU9SdlbP8thmCU3taS7O7tXqaNO/s1280/wonderful%20life.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gQzlvqKJhw1DcWqpeZ0twu4bac3TKxUDZn1885-lbFuprlIWKBB9vUt9bjQh10GERPlE1Xus2PqLV9BgCtJGIXiWYIC-T9KNDMggjJhoyE_LME6mvnzFrqAzgV7YoSYk0PnNtj88Mzb0QOOnXa6kwSKiXGtK297mdjU9SdlbP8thmCU3taS7O7tXqaNO/w300-h400/wonderful%20life.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Annual watching of this movie hit home in our hearts this year. It's our story. </i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJpwxRdb1YRIsS026ee5E5RHKmcSPd4u0VCBoM04B1zcif3l0Yf0BZpApk28AOcO_-T1oV99vEEUvgZK0USCwASwyGVvdtQTkfpsInMNrpXmnqsN3b-GaUm4ald5pXRqapBVmMP11k90UyosjIzudiwN0_KIMrmpkG-y4xB68gcfoTEczWBcDK5IrZiKX/s1280/wtih%20Ivan.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJpwxRdb1YRIsS026ee5E5RHKmcSPd4u0VCBoM04B1zcif3l0Yf0BZpApk28AOcO_-T1oV99vEEUvgZK0USCwASwyGVvdtQTkfpsInMNrpXmnqsN3b-GaUm4ald5pXRqapBVmMP11k90UyosjIzudiwN0_KIMrmpkG-y4xB68gcfoTEczWBcDK5IrZiKX/w640-h480/wtih%20Ivan.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Sweet to see kids we helped grow up now as parents themselves, particularly ones like Ivan who embody the spirit of this blog post, a doorway of good for the world.</i></span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-62071655467420202862023-12-18T06:22:00.000-08:002023-12-18T06:22:13.330-08:00Creativity as an act of both beauty and survival<p>This morning I read a quote by musician Jon Batiste, discussing a lullaby he wrote for his wife when she was hospitalised with relapsed leukemia awaiting her second bone marrow transplant. He called the song writing process <span style="font-size: large;">"a testament to creativity as an act of both beauty and survival." </span></p><p>Amen. It isn't often that a phrase knocks one over as a succinct capsule of the truth of life. </p><p>Beauty and survival, inextricably intertwined because we are humans grappling through a broken universe, but resonant with the spark of God. So we see the goodness in colour, harmony, form, light, taste .. . but we also see goodness in making it through another day. Today we walked around Christ School again with Alex, the facilities manager. <span style="font-size: large;">Beauty and survival could be his job description, and ours</span>. And creativity is called out by our scarcity, our limits.</p><p>Many of the buildings and campus of this school are about to start their 25th year of service. . . and 24 years of heavy rain, abundant insect life, generations of student use, pounding equatorial sun, the occasional earthquake and landslide and flood and war, well,<b> it takes a toll on all of us</b>. Particularly when we started a quarter-century ago on a limited donation-dependent budget, using local materials and builders in a place where few concrete buildings existed. Perks of surviving, we are now past the establishment phase and squarely into the major maintenance and repair stage. Which sounds much less noble and exciting. </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But repair and restoration put us squarely into Jesus' redemptive story of all-things-new.</span> In Bundibugyo these days, it's about replacing termite-crumbled doors and frames with welded metal ones, about re-plastering crumbled cement, about modifying beds to more securely hang mosquito nets in this malaria epicenter, about digging out clogged drainage trenches, about fixing leaks and repairing bent rusted roofing sheets. A lot of survival. And then about new coats of paint to brighten and clean the students' bathing room spaces, to make new chalk boards for learning, to bring neatness consistency to the appearance of classes, to replace ceiling holes with new white tiles. A lot of beauty too. </p><p>It's actually a very tangible example of all of life here. The repair and restoration of<a href="https://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2023/12/global-tangible-contemporary-what.html" target="_blank"> hungry little bodies </a>or the wresting of drinkable water down a mountain slope or the patient teaching of young people all are ways we push back against the entropy of decay and give life into the groaning creation. With Alex today we tried to prioritise the many needs of the school, to choose the projects that we could do. Do we have to replace all 27 doors that are falling apart, or could we start with 20? Do we have to replace the whole ceiling in this room, or could we just do half? Even the budget we cut and modified will nearly empty our Serge fund. Scott sent out a fundraising letter, but if you read this far and <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/christ-school-bundibugyo-one-time-needs">want to participate feel free to click here and join in. </a> We need the help, and the act of creatively figuring out how to make this place renewed leads to survival and beauty. Not a bad goal for Christmas!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2joJK-3ylNqPdECzagXIvcKVXlrplU__H7KIoqlasUnacZyNa9W-R5rQ85ZHsaRcCamuqdwcKocMJhg9eNVejM0j1bCzIHgXq7WUIYcN07NNRSWAGyUu01-F5jPIVQgQ5bM47YJh9ytmNFBKb2J_Qsp38U8Rtp3Iohb-7jd_heG73v4K9NLgH_P-wfms/s1280/IMG_9774.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2joJK-3ylNqPdECzagXIvcKVXlrplU__H7KIoqlasUnacZyNa9W-R5rQ85ZHsaRcCamuqdwcKocMJhg9eNVejM0j1bCzIHgXq7WUIYcN07NNRSWAGyUu01-F5jPIVQgQ5bM47YJh9ytmNFBKb2J_Qsp38U8Rtp3Iohb-7jd_heG73v4K9NLgH_P-wfms/w640-h480/IMG_9774.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is how the day looked: Scott and Alex pondering the needs (above) or showing a worker how to dig out the drainage ditch (below)</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_TsjSpqvkOOoyW3Cuxugv0Yp18Mvg7l9Oe22W_QFcDR_r6M6o8c0DTNyYjjTEaPNLKf-dsv_Zmw2X2_4qFtZi8fj3W5IouF3UV6wLKey6CE31LSs2UJSn1DvKa42Gp5qZf4msV815lrEhaCT6qBtMR2p2580x4IYEkwlsZV45RmZ4YVLQXJMLO59guBh/s1280/IMG_9767.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1114" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_TsjSpqvkOOoyW3Cuxugv0Yp18Mvg7l9Oe22W_QFcDR_r6M6o8c0DTNyYjjTEaPNLKf-dsv_Zmw2X2_4qFtZi8fj3W5IouF3UV6wLKey6CE31LSs2UJSn1DvKa42Gp5qZf4msV815lrEhaCT6qBtMR2p2580x4IYEkwlsZV45RmZ4YVLQXJMLO59guBh/w558-h640/IMG_9767.jpeg" width="558" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGDmopaTQzGuUPtxd-lvXshtq7S4w3Ks4hiSbm1ADVpc_66UzqimLfzbwCl2xZqQhWncgiT9T2d0GD3PsCS57l8DawBwes4SGwvcRZCqXdv1SHqja9eXmMH8unAMHAamJKXKOnmbpxPNdKAp_6DWWhcSH_jt8tXKHLjhq6ppnW-0d3CzGYrNRe63Yr31P/s1280/IMG_9770.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGDmopaTQzGuUPtxd-lvXshtq7S4w3Ks4hiSbm1ADVpc_66UzqimLfzbwCl2xZqQhWncgiT9T2d0GD3PsCS57l8DawBwes4SGwvcRZCqXdv1SHqja9eXmMH8unAMHAamJKXKOnmbpxPNdKAp_6DWWhcSH_jt8tXKHLjhq6ppnW-0d3CzGYrNRe63Yr31P/w640-h480/IMG_9770.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>On to the next set of dorms and classes . . .</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfm7vkMAt2xdtw3FlhyphenhyphenYt0BKFofZ9NDofRkfP4tlYqTGGcdMkdou6hKqeExBDscUl1PSnTZMACEJrXz2vHTjN1IfYcZHYred-Z7L8yTtlhh8Ono0CpxEkPky4CvgGWdTG5mltnjPHDRkTWdr3BWs83nR46vPl2JGh5JTMySRp4TmilGh8P30Z4MjApkOB/s1280/IMG_9771%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfm7vkMAt2xdtw3FlhyphenhyphenYt0BKFofZ9NDofRkfP4tlYqTGGcdMkdou6hKqeExBDscUl1PSnTZMACEJrXz2vHTjN1IfYcZHYred-Z7L8yTtlhh8Ono0CpxEkPky4CvgGWdTG5mltnjPHDRkTWdr3BWs83nR46vPl2JGh5JTMySRp4TmilGh8P30Z4MjApkOB/w300-h400/IMG_9771%20(1).jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Termites munched the door frame above, and time has not been kind to the latrine below.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmTKfpK9PZF7kgTSS1BDg8UhoSQXekGBuMhvb9hTi1qOrRPBUwzEOBMNI5HZdyXy2Kuju3teiR1SvbdOrJcOMQ78ZA9_M8ohXPSFQwMeDox8F3YI3NotA21UNvJqto5qmC3OeEfYXYprzExS9krkxzeVaIx1ftq6cZ8mOlpTT3oMLbBE5Do_g7tHtWi-k/s1280/IMG_9769.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1280" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmTKfpK9PZF7kgTSS1BDg8UhoSQXekGBuMhvb9hTi1qOrRPBUwzEOBMNI5HZdyXy2Kuju3teiR1SvbdOrJcOMQ78ZA9_M8ohXPSFQwMeDox8F3YI3NotA21UNvJqto5qmC3OeEfYXYprzExS9krkxzeVaIx1ftq6cZ8mOlpTT3oMLbBE5Do_g7tHtWi-k/w400-h245/IMG_9769.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMrHVMVn_I1Zh9tFoysXIkyM0Li9oHsk1H8OjfqlgatN10Ni2Lb1WYT7ydRPlTOsDpU7DtUUz7zWe4U0M6R3Zkpq6NIYUALZQkKfVBhOW_5krY7CQDc9we483AdPMEKCmYqylGx7yyPxfTii2z-zde-XoR50JptfgmFNsOSnQZIh-YrlgbfS2WG6c0jiz/s1280/IMG_9775.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMrHVMVn_I1Zh9tFoysXIkyM0Li9oHsk1H8OjfqlgatN10Ni2Lb1WYT7ydRPlTOsDpU7DtUUz7zWe4U0M6R3Zkpq6NIYUALZQkKfVBhOW_5krY7CQDc9we483AdPMEKCmYqylGx7yyPxfTii2z-zde-XoR50JptfgmFNsOSnQZIh-YrlgbfS2WG6c0jiz/w640-h480/IMG_9775.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Leaking roofs ruin the paint and ceilings in the classrooms</i></span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-45598803975875826312023-12-16T06:29:00.000-08:002023-12-16T06:41:42.148-08:00Global, tangible, contemporary ... what the prophets saw, and we see<p> Week 3 of Advent took us to Isaiah and John the Baptist, two prophetic voices sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. Like most American Christians I think, we visualise the "salvation" the prophets preach as an appeal to the individual to shape up, and we think of that shaping up as a spiritual matter of inner belief, that matters mostly for an after-death dichotomy of eternity. Individual, spiritual, future . . . sort of an optional self-help program that can be indefinitely delayed. </p><p>So it was a refreshing wake-up to be reading long portions of Isaiah this season (check out chapter 35) and also study the no-holds-barred words of John the Baptist. <span style="font-size: large;">These messages paint elaborate pictures of hope, and don't mince words calling out anything that stands in the way.</span> Their visions include the <span style="font-size: large;">entire world</span>, people of many languages and social classes streaming towards the mountain of God, forming a new community. The transformation they call for is practical, <span style="font-size: large;">tangible,</span> physical, tasteable. And while we live between the times of Jesus' incarnation into humanity and full enthronement over the universe, the all-things-new power of healing has <span style="font-size: large;">already begun.</span> Global, tangible, contemporary wonders fill the pages.</p><p>If Isaiah and John were looking at Bundibugyo, here are a few images of the week that they might have described.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">BundiNutrition</span></b> served 1178 kids in malnourished kids in 2023, with 80% improved enough to exit the program after 9 weeks of care. And we fed mothers of prematures and surrogate breast feeders, and supported clinical care and education. We're calling this global because donors from one side of the world plus dedicated workers from the other side combine efforts to shine light into the darkness of hunger, and fill kids with ground nuts and soya and vitamins and love. <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/bundi-nutrition-fund" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Entire cost of food and medicine and staff</span> </a>is $40/kid .. . pretty efficient for 9 weeks of feeding and care. So in spite of the heart-breaking financial mismanagement we experienced in other parts of the mission this year, BundiNutrition still managed tangible, real-time good. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GLiFMDpFIPp4UYZF3O0XJ92LctV7hZzhZ_3XEdgS8LxPgmGBdGMZ_GP7nN-HJmRRMlLmlZsniFp2aKRXOajbyVVH50PsHeiUYC0OkIC9unyee5yKSGjpf5cI97fonoluOnEMEl2FnwZCvQzr90Ri0m66IZZEVP1M-4MKuFtzBQB70Cxc43uiPe0s3kSy/s1280/IMG_9730.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GLiFMDpFIPp4UYZF3O0XJ92LctV7hZzhZ_3XEdgS8LxPgmGBdGMZ_GP7nN-HJmRRMlLmlZsniFp2aKRXOajbyVVH50PsHeiUYC0OkIC9unyee5yKSGjpf5cI97fonoluOnEMEl2FnwZCvQzr90Ri0m66IZZEVP1M-4MKuFtzBQB70Cxc43uiPe0s3kSy/w640-h480/IMG_9730.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Bwampu has done an excellent job managing this program! </i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimX3TGRqUa8J5EOw_bDwZSBsdN0oWyz3xXPAgdo09i8iIf-DNmCGMPjyk3uNv_E1NhHQlHb4a7rkPu8BTX9jLAt_SvpeFQXkb9dj2BmSX3OB44HR7Zvmrglq5eseo6eKSsiB-7o-koc3S-n3_iDbRkTrGSlxQxXbW9VFD9AnPMnNaKhoW-HmCLRUMhLahI/s1280/IMG_9732.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimX3TGRqUa8J5EOw_bDwZSBsdN0oWyz3xXPAgdo09i8iIf-DNmCGMPjyk3uNv_E1NhHQlHb4a7rkPu8BTX9jLAt_SvpeFQXkb9dj2BmSX3OB44HR7Zvmrglq5eseo6eKSsiB-7o-koc3S-n3_iDbRkTrGSlxQxXbW9VFD9AnPMnNaKhoW-HmCLRUMhLahI/w640-h480/IMG_9732.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>End-of-year means budgets and contracts and untangling the losses, so the team Finance Committee (these three plus me) have been putting in some long hours.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XGoDzgeYH0AneehkM08kIpIhQzIXgZdadmFxCgproZSh4pIO-O29uLL7lO8pkFDv4y6l7NLRnX-e64Jb1XTQjCYQVDeDkF0HdtVlwp3jMQIb5DN1rFXv1GYyr8ZRuvTVZoesvRXZ2GcObMo_ojhTo5ocb39Q0QNj5yHBSvlh7DgYUjHMuIjImD3ckWmG/s4032/IMG_5434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XGoDzgeYH0AneehkM08kIpIhQzIXgZdadmFxCgproZSh4pIO-O29uLL7lO8pkFDv4y6l7NLRnX-e64Jb1XTQjCYQVDeDkF0HdtVlwp3jMQIb5DN1rFXv1GYyr8ZRuvTVZoesvRXZ2GcObMo_ojhTo5ocb39Q0QNj5yHBSvlh7DgYUjHMuIjImD3ckWmG/w640-h480/IMG_5434.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Quick glimpse of new patients on Friday, why all the budgets and recored matter.</i></div></div><div><br /></div>Our Executive Leadership of Serge traveled to <b><span style="font-size: medium;">Burundi </span></b>to sign the new MOU we had earlier gone there to negotiate with our partners. . . .and this is definitely a global, tangible, and immediate blessing to the world. In the first decade our team and this hospital treated 300,000 patients and performed 30,000 surgeries. We are so grateful for the McLaughlins and Alyssa (pictured below) and the entire enterprise.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXttWm50oqHSMJ9sfH6cAo57PnTP4515a5X7N236PMHEmYKLvHFR_IWdZ0ytC7fVcX6j0VMT2SgqyKGZ8K_zbql6ILxbD0i3yaPvsVDjQHiQKCZc_kzTRGap-71bDB61WHy5QJcZk1pbS_zjegQ9YeA2bOVDX-ieGe04oihYg2kjwRYzlk44d7lO8dg5o/s1024/d0bab3e9-6295-4dbb-b62d-aab4876da9ac.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXttWm50oqHSMJ9sfH6cAo57PnTP4515a5X7N236PMHEmYKLvHFR_IWdZ0ytC7fVcX6j0VMT2SgqyKGZ8K_zbql6ILxbD0i3yaPvsVDjQHiQKCZc_kzTRGap-71bDB61WHy5QJcZk1pbS_zjegQ9YeA2bOVDX-ieGe04oihYg2kjwRYzlk44d7lO8dg5o/w640-h480/d0bab3e9-6295-4dbb-b62d-aab4876da9ac.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly a few smaller celebrations. We spent a morning with a very impressively professional epidemiological <b><span style="font-size: medium;">public health team</span></b> investigating a potential viral cause to some clusters of neurologic symptoms.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqujIgoy-eYQFdhTjO4ME1OCaiSO5ctemPzQ-UXUCWShDu5jMlKDLBaa5RByIbq0YjFndzng0qapd74Jy-E9h8hx2KkXiw9gp-u1UFLDRmPTqxHpKA6URSKpmW7JYGJw7524hga2p3WJ49nmYw5fRoeC-F1Zjr8Smp0hKRjkMchP1YZQrGwQ0u8bzEQsKf/s1280/IMG_5421.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqujIgoy-eYQFdhTjO4ME1OCaiSO5ctemPzQ-UXUCWShDu5jMlKDLBaa5RByIbq0YjFndzng0qapd74Jy-E9h8hx2KkXiw9gp-u1UFLDRmPTqxHpKA6URSKpmW7JYGJw7524hga2p3WJ49nmYw5fRoeC-F1Zjr8Smp0hKRjkMchP1YZQrGwQ0u8bzEQsKf/w400-h300/IMG_5421.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>And engaging <b><span style="font-size: medium;">team kids in Advent </span></b>and Christmas does my heart good.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5dWsMEEOnGUstqcM4J9visdmmB9OgtO93KqJ2OEiFhxW3SaegWOIHpG19tQt-5_NigprEUNgKmtO1202mbWHQWuuqGaWx65tfivMCSiJejAU0ZB4-y8fORKjtSqFBYr5nNNc_UCF_IX1RDaMYYGXJw1ce4E43tJ0cr0wenLUTF0U0Wcc2p0JwI-Pc0fx/s1280/IMG_5429.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1280" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5dWsMEEOnGUstqcM4J9visdmmB9OgtO93KqJ2OEiFhxW3SaegWOIHpG19tQt-5_NigprEUNgKmtO1202mbWHQWuuqGaWx65tfivMCSiJejAU0ZB4-y8fORKjtSqFBYr5nNNc_UCF_IX1RDaMYYGXJw1ce4E43tJ0cr0wenLUTF0U0Wcc2p0JwI-Pc0fx/w640-h453/IMG_5429.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>A huge blessing for Bundibugyo is that <b><span style="font-size: medium;">BundiWater project </span></b>has almost completed 5 km of pipe laying in Mabere, and this week Josh's team succeeded in a ferrocement design for pressure break tanks along the pipeline.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuBvxDsTW3nhzaJbFPZkTHUZ8Z1D0AxR4KoGijNsS3ciMcsJOUvdgXCoFtFhh5l9g8LJEzJNlMoqg7VJTShy8g10Q5BW5ETXgyAA7DP5F8jmy6psFr-IY4y8rvXt6UuloUg29OuVkRjy3rZkwpKp1cd76SG83ijMJPTmst75CqdDTWJMMnFNYbcG0M3Ul/s1280/IMG_9679.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuBvxDsTW3nhzaJbFPZkTHUZ8Z1D0AxR4KoGijNsS3ciMcsJOUvdgXCoFtFhh5l9g8LJEzJNlMoqg7VJTShy8g10Q5BW5ETXgyAA7DP5F8jmy6psFr-IY4y8rvXt6UuloUg29OuVkRjy3rZkwpKp1cd76SG83ijMJPTmst75CqdDTWJMMnFNYbcG0M3Ul/w300-h400/IMG_9679.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just a glimpse of some of the <b><span style="font-size: medium;">many people </span></b>we are thankful for, Zawadi and Abel.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUg3tOUQq7Rt5LDrSuDld4-kxmwSjZyQgCCYB-0ha0S2BXiSzJFcMTsknMJwsurnaZX1M0Odz1aQm0SCAIuVyMa04vZ-bMPAJhk5DllBC008QDUm8-6JUUohulr_pH76Dj1b_YTxlBrF45KtVTHQ-auk3BhEWw_fqrLvHcGeiwbYmbeS1rIPtzdPogQZ6b/s1280/IMG_9687.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUg3tOUQq7Rt5LDrSuDld4-kxmwSjZyQgCCYB-0ha0S2BXiSzJFcMTsknMJwsurnaZX1M0Odz1aQm0SCAIuVyMa04vZ-bMPAJhk5DllBC008QDUm8-6JUUohulr_pH76Dj1b_YTxlBrF45KtVTHQ-auk3BhEWw_fqrLvHcGeiwbYmbeS1rIPtzdPogQZ6b/w640-h480/IMG_9687.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And finally, seasonal shopping in Bundibugyo means buying <b><span style="font-size: medium;">vanilla</span></b> beans seen drying out in front of dukas (look closely for Scott improvising a weighing scale with a water bottle and a tire iron).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_h9fJHeDmHXqE1ymnlcq-Qmto04I8evZRkueLqJjr40W-qK_Wxbz_XDeF1rsA8ADzCDnKIXxLWhqdwitL7FMDchivPshji0Tu7H2m5WspYNDuybKGNCPxMiJMstwFN8mN_0WWOg5QyjS8wHA7GC1uO1Po_oN0aXc5fyWEyXJK5fTzBDum4hB9wjRYhqD/s1280/IMG_9725.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1235" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_h9fJHeDmHXqE1ymnlcq-Qmto04I8evZRkueLqJjr40W-qK_Wxbz_XDeF1rsA8ADzCDnKIXxLWhqdwitL7FMDchivPshji0Tu7H2m5WspYNDuybKGNCPxMiJMstwFN8mN_0WWOg5QyjS8wHA7GC1uO1Po_oN0aXc5fyWEyXJK5fTzBDum4hB9wjRYhqD/w618-h640/IMG_9725.jpeg" width="618" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We bought vanilla and sold <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>chocolate</b></span> . . the final pictures are of our few cocoa trees and the pods and beans we harvested today. Merry Christmas!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AEpRbybWarzEwbyd-Mm66H6ExmlltcgeZ-YB89eahHwx4PpGJJ5PKR-BDwzWVd9LUb1TRN7sc53pevGNPyp49i4DFqcONF4UjWSKEvQrTtE0gQd9MGA_v8TweSkWGuUHdujPvYSIUxgIHBOdW35uCRQuDhaf7NWTRf1YAEGuUDmp6XJos4DO_-N5CQ-5/s4032/IMG_5439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AEpRbybWarzEwbyd-Mm66H6ExmlltcgeZ-YB89eahHwx4PpGJJ5PKR-BDwzWVd9LUb1TRN7sc53pevGNPyp49i4DFqcONF4UjWSKEvQrTtE0gQd9MGA_v8TweSkWGuUHdujPvYSIUxgIHBOdW35uCRQuDhaf7NWTRf1YAEGuUDmp6XJos4DO_-N5CQ-5/w480-h640/IMG_5439.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VWkifZ6ZhDBYSa_C8gH3Chzfu1zC9n4o4Ix499JEllbQmT2tm7eKShQwY-aqOv0u9oyz5g16zecuB7MiX4gOECn2zkHc57dMj9de1YXUGMTYFL0WVr3bq-BZWy0oXVRmqAeWPmPzeolsn5b3Ie5Lzm6o1uyD1WCPGYw5lOcojP9KR7TSPWhPgGgi53MF/s4032/IMG_5440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VWkifZ6ZhDBYSa_C8gH3Chzfu1zC9n4o4Ix499JEllbQmT2tm7eKShQwY-aqOv0u9oyz5g16zecuB7MiX4gOECn2zkHc57dMj9de1YXUGMTYFL0WVr3bq-BZWy0oXVRmqAeWPmPzeolsn5b3Ie5Lzm6o1uyD1WCPGYw5lOcojP9KR7TSPWhPgGgi53MF/w480-h640/IMG_5440.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-73593493893915577662023-12-09T03:51:00.000-08:002023-12-09T05:46:05.789-08:00When it rains it pours: a season of trouble this Advent<p><span style="font-size: large;"> Advent season is a fast before the feast of Christmas</span>. In 2023, for perhaps the first time, the "fasting" nature of Advent has become more real for us. <b>A season to humbly acknowledge all that is wrong in the world and in us, to take stock of the darkness where we wait for the light. </b></p><p>A few nights ago in the deep dark part of the post-midnight hours of a waning moon, our dog Lindi started barking quite emphatically. For better or for worse, my waking thought was that we had accidentally left her outside (she usually sleeps in our front room) and therefore she was agitated by her exclusion or awakened by people on the road. I felt a bit annoyed with the interruption to sleep, but she so rarely barks at all I forgave her in my heart and when she stopped, went back to sleep. In spite of the fact that we live near a tenuously secure border and on the urbanizing edge of a growing town, it didn't even occur to me that something might really be amiss.</p><p>When morning came, it turned out she had spent the night in the front room as usual, but she had good reason to try to get out. Our big car gate was pushed open and we found our car parked in it's carport with the rear side window smashed. Some money we had left in the console was missing. Oh. <span><span style="font-size: large;">Thieves</span>.</span> Perhaps they tried locked containers and looked for anything portable to remove, and finding none, took a piece of rebar from the workbench and broke into the car. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67GyIjnssGl9YYQYycmHVGWB33HJtLYBl1VzvTM7IyqjLqfQmgaAp9wSa6BZxj997DsTELnUYY0fn3mkAQi7qtY9ujmU-6yuj513V04CCyV3lZoWhQTrQvqjDYLyafb25d75y1N3AZh5cE-xd5sEaehtDYqS5J-QLGWtzodA2uLoxLmDuV1vmekV4M0_V/s1280/IMG_9485.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67GyIjnssGl9YYQYycmHVGWB33HJtLYBl1VzvTM7IyqjLqfQmgaAp9wSa6BZxj997DsTELnUYY0fn3mkAQi7qtY9ujmU-6yuj513V04CCyV3lZoWhQTrQvqjDYLyafb25d75y1N3AZh5cE-xd5sEaehtDYqS5J-QLGWtzodA2uLoxLmDuV1vmekV4M0_V/w640-h480/IMG_9485.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>waiting for light</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSmPqoX86hoxL_k291zKDJFhcGF3TknEw74dEYjhOmOcMv45lhaOoI9bCYkqwCbRbsU02UujyNpjYRySmA-zW_vEJehetwJtH1VCRAjUGgLAc3rgEAcF4LLS81CDEy50imq6WlaBVsH5iRAjGThzE3p2q6b3Sp3fwrIQZE_H-cgtrErXtE7ccuXT9zNeb/s1280/IMG_9488%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSmPqoX86hoxL_k291zKDJFhcGF3TknEw74dEYjhOmOcMv45lhaOoI9bCYkqwCbRbsU02UujyNpjYRySmA-zW_vEJehetwJtH1VCRAjUGgLAc3rgEAcF4LLS81CDEy50imq6WlaBVsH5iRAjGThzE3p2q6b3Sp3fwrIQZE_H-cgtrErXtE7ccuXT9zNeb/w480-h640/IMG_9488%20(2).jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP7UVcmfizQ7ISyauL-TeHQoN2U6yLoO_6ZvdR24sktFac2DCeSsmVl5hX-n8NBy-rHRKJlcrFDrtPVHGM2LuoWhZlv2LlLuRtOT6AspV9miQVfy0InlE2fqMcRNHHsxQpSKJYQPSyjuIaFqN0_DkvMgYGl5YjKcVkRUqZI7qRoAI_1vaOfj07uHBLXWWa/s1280/lindi.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP7UVcmfizQ7ISyauL-TeHQoN2U6yLoO_6ZvdR24sktFac2DCeSsmVl5hX-n8NBy-rHRKJlcrFDrtPVHGM2LuoWhZlv2LlLuRtOT6AspV9miQVfy0InlE2fqMcRNHHsxQpSKJYQPSyjuIaFqN0_DkvMgYGl5YjKcVkRUqZI7qRoAI_1vaOfj07uHBLXWWa/w300-h400/lindi.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Why don't they listen to me?</i></span></div><br /><p>That morning two different neighbours told me about goats stolen that night, in one case the young man woke up to blood in the front room of the house because the thief had slaughtered the goats there (for silence?) and in the other, goats tied to stakes disappeared. The day before this happened I had read <a href="https://nolon828254.medium.com/beyond-our-walls-2b5f378436e5" target="_blank">this</a> written by a friend in Nairobi, the gist being that <span style="font-size: large;">when you work for justice, you might find yourself scared by the same wounds that your community suffers.</span> We foreign workers have way more social safety net, but are nevertheless not immune to trouble.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The night-time break-in was a concrete, small, visible point of loss.. . . in the context of the last month where we discovered a pattern of much more significant loss due to corrupt bookkeeping, borrowing mission funds for personal use by someone we trusted. We are both sad and weary, reeling from the implications and working hours and hours of extra time to recover. And of course we can all look around us, including in the mirror, for constant evidence that this world is not OK. This morning we saw a friend's relative with advanced infection into bone needing transfer for specialised surgery, then were visited by a nearly blind young man needing help to get to a follow-up, then an older man who was hungry, a mom feeling desperate about her kids' schooling, a young couple trying to burn bricks to build a home. In 2023, our local community mirrors the desperation of the whole world, with wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza and dozens of less-reported places like Sudan. Our friend's article begins with this quote:</span></p><p><span face="source-serif-pro, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-size: 20px; letter-spacing: -0.06px;">“We live out our call most fully when we are a community of faith with arms wrapped about a community of pain.” — John M. Perkins</span></p><p>We want our faith walk to be a twinkling Advent of spiced cider, warm cookies, and beautiful lights. <span style="font-size: large;">But the light comes to shine in the darkness. Advent season takes a realistic and sober look at the darkness in and around all of us, the very hard places we live, and chooses to hope. </span>To look for that small star that beckons us on towards a future that shines in glory, even though the current story feels heavy.</p><p>So we keep on keeping on. The rainiest rainy season continues, the power flickers in and out, we miss our moms and kids, and wonder what God is doing in the pain around us. But tomorrow we'll light a second candle and read more truth and affirm that the <span style="font-size: large;">light is coming</span>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_iNjDVxcsk6A3aI0eUmzwHMGnHkO6WLz8ym_iSpSU-thB5xLHNRAc32759bRboPfSXvGYvh4T3BbLKf3V9roq_QesfgzfkB66eod8qxgEcY7bX7hYdutAoTb4T3jzvE15D0lQO8g4SVyWVew5kVhRk8-ELRqmzW8n_uYh16EzA6xwLYbG9_e7ag2LXOic/s1280/IMG_9552.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_iNjDVxcsk6A3aI0eUmzwHMGnHkO6WLz8ym_iSpSU-thB5xLHNRAc32759bRboPfSXvGYvh4T3BbLKf3V9roq_QesfgzfkB66eod8qxgEcY7bX7hYdutAoTb4T3jzvE15D0lQO8g4SVyWVew5kVhRk8-ELRqmzW8n_uYh16EzA6xwLYbG9_e7ag2LXOic/w400-h300/IMG_9552.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>First we find the broken window . . </i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJIapFk-RmxgqJlzR550paa4gKhn70kl9kzzcglomwsLBhc9WGX255wTynHUDd8Lt_1ycHtBqddYvhjDGUvPL3fe5pKAvEs7N2GFmZsSwiIVounRI4bAJxeSa9t-ruXe-AuCmfL42UZkLtP3sPW4aFBRMeHgevN15H8uOCqoFxZY4jayiUsyaipTX_K1DX/s1280/IMG_9570.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJIapFk-RmxgqJlzR550paa4gKhn70kl9kzzcglomwsLBhc9WGX255wTynHUDd8Lt_1ycHtBqddYvhjDGUvPL3fe5pKAvEs7N2GFmZsSwiIVounRI4bAJxeSa9t-ruXe-AuCmfL42UZkLtP3sPW4aFBRMeHgevN15H8uOCqoFxZY4jayiUsyaipTX_K1DX/w400-h300/IMG_9570.jpeg" width="400" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Then we take the vehicle to our trusted long-time rescuer Atwoki in Fort Portal</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPZOZCmQeMAgcC_fUCRDGf4zW4Cn-GTKogBfZSTgoN49zdSLCb0HrFuaQLPd2KjgnTa267P0qWriikpwvCKz1dTXIe3LuACFL4qBYaMOCGUy8YZignnFwohiNhYRdOzzVn-EwWB7NPSPtq0Yk64kFUr9TIA4d88STQnxQAGSCFJ1gMrb5b5IHjeFKmHb5/s1280/IMG_9587.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPZOZCmQeMAgcC_fUCRDGf4zW4Cn-GTKogBfZSTgoN49zdSLCb0HrFuaQLPd2KjgnTa267P0qWriikpwvCKz1dTXIe3LuACFL4qBYaMOCGUy8YZignnFwohiNhYRdOzzVn-EwWB7NPSPtq0Yk64kFUr9TIA4d88STQnxQAGSCFJ1gMrb5b5IHjeFKmHb5/w400-h300/IMG_9587.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>And he rescues us once again</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHfJj2N8uxALpCjhcGIBy-9coBMdr51yHPIyzBHKFq6ByMkqaGndtSMk8riNCQnrOdAIcxBAvRhKXesX4pB1kUPo1pBrZCdb4iCScputY5Vl0jQxuPiNZxn1fO9OgTzCLy-NMI4lRKHAhdOwzpn_l3LecP4xniFTy3KOMgpzOVcTFWvy-CNA5qNYKpW_E/s1280/IMG_9560.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHfJj2N8uxALpCjhcGIBy-9coBMdr51yHPIyzBHKFq6ByMkqaGndtSMk8riNCQnrOdAIcxBAvRhKXesX4pB1kUPo1pBrZCdb4iCScputY5Vl0jQxuPiNZxn1fO9OgTzCLy-NMI4lRKHAhdOwzpn_l3LecP4xniFTy3KOMgpzOVcTFWvy-CNA5qNYKpW_E/w640-h480/IMG_9560.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>School holidays are a good time for Ann's Bhuhanguwa (creation) camps, teaching kids about God through environmental education and activities</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9qmuMH2Z8xDFRYh4_OouD90-OQhUMwBb6looRoP7JD2VjrTmiDFQO3YjPsbzPj_Ln2jNjvGFEewtxa7XDwmlqoO6DfcEAExDz5cSKan9r3zHjA9BXIT0-sAkTnEFyWCw7uixuEXeIkYo4MZl7NUGzr1hKkW8eTyB93Ua_VWMetuwlOldg60QhWMK-R0u/s1280/IMG_9536.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9qmuMH2Z8xDFRYh4_OouD90-OQhUMwBb6looRoP7JD2VjrTmiDFQO3YjPsbzPj_Ln2jNjvGFEewtxa7XDwmlqoO6DfcEAExDz5cSKan9r3zHjA9BXIT0-sAkTnEFyWCw7uixuEXeIkYo4MZl7NUGzr1hKkW8eTyB93Ua_VWMetuwlOldg60QhWMK-R0u/w640-h480/IMG_9536.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Advent week one (see the single lit candle)</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOhy0asD2dAymtN4iq_J3KoUzJ3UbL7RWNTtTi-ODnunqBRtTWCI4RuLXoFZoE0cIFnKYc2SHt-vd5bTv5yDuychANu2phmnz7L2WZuhS20JM4LPBiTslCtgCNYOxPebDSq7NGRYmkVQyAKOhRTIaQ1GUmA2rrwPuG3ueCYodoloSO8gB0_oE-zxO-tu6/s1024/csb%20staff%20photo%20end%20year.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1024" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOhy0asD2dAymtN4iq_J3KoUzJ3UbL7RWNTtTi-ODnunqBRtTWCI4RuLXoFZoE0cIFnKYc2SHt-vd5bTv5yDuychANu2phmnz7L2WZuhS20JM4LPBiTslCtgCNYOxPebDSq7NGRYmkVQyAKOhRTIaQ1GUmA2rrwPuG3ueCYodoloSO8gB0_oE-zxO-tu6/w640-h544/csb%20staff%20photo%20end%20year.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A lot of loss and sorrow this year, but these staff give us hope</i></span></div><br /><br /><p></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-44820858755031260162023-11-29T04:28:00.000-08:002023-11-29T04:28:24.866-08:00Fragments creating a Mosaic<p> Sitting in a circle with ten women who work cross-culturally and sharing prayer requests, some common late-November themes are how we miss our extended families, how we try to keep up with other workers in our countries or areas, how we are asked for help a dozen times a day, how we juggle kids' needs for structure and for freedom, for attention and for independence, how we value our friends from earlier phases of life and our new friends in our communities now, how we want holidays to be both familiar and fresh, meaningful and fun, how we bear the concern for health of distant parents and grandparents and nearby neighbours and friends, how our work takes us into contact with one language group or another cultural niche. As we prayed for each other, the word that came to me was <b><span style="font-size: large;">fragmentation.</span></b> Truthfully telling God that we feel fragmented. Our hearts stretch, our capacities stretch, and it feels like too much. I prayed for a centering reality, for that solid rock of rest that allows the fragments to fall into place.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">And a few minutes later, my colleague Anna prayed that as those fragments arranged, they would become a mosaic.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Not just a manageable pile, a work of art. </span></p><p>What a hopeful and true picture of life. <b>Not that we won't break but that our pieces will be curated by the Spirit to tell a story, to depict a truth, to draw our hearts to beauty.</b> As November draws to a close, that seems to be a faith-aspiring way to see our days. A mosaic of broken pieces whose fit into the big picture we only rarely understand. </p><p>So here are some pieces from the week, in a few sentences and a string of photos. Our DRC team visited, for a festive Thanksgiving meal, a pizza party, prayer times and meetings, walks and talks, sharing lives. We spent hours in extra team "finance committee" meetings sorting through our 2023 reports, finding problems, looking for solutions. We visited a dear friend who is chronically ill, another about to deliver a baby, another who we just haven't seen for a while. We wrapped up final chapels and cell groups and leadership meetings with the school, working on contracts and budgets. We listened to testimonies from graduating seniors who spoke about finding a home at CSB, about getting second chances, about choosing faithfulness. We (royal we, mostly Scott) fixed broken things, cleaned gutters, mowed grass. We had to suspend a drunk guard and rearrange plans a dozen times. Do some consults and brainstorm how to stretch dollars. All in a week's work, all fragments with their own colour and texture, and all parts of the new story God is writing here and in us.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAc3s9LXNugrr1uNG51ZJVruYHykVNrISmueGdBGHZ4PZP3jIQd5aDJlUHFgDLRX7NJSs64ONhRC_Wb_AtS5phKjRNJ9Aq2qnxaAUehemhZnJtN1LA0Kr8jWt2rAXkTj5_FGmbnb7YGBstVPL6Owv63_RhWnEy0ZX6q83fSrD7-RfDTgVoG-zBO0KAH0jI/s1080/congo%20bundi%20team%20thanksgiving.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAc3s9LXNugrr1uNG51ZJVruYHykVNrISmueGdBGHZ4PZP3jIQd5aDJlUHFgDLRX7NJSs64ONhRC_Wb_AtS5phKjRNJ9Aq2qnxaAUehemhZnJtN1LA0Kr8jWt2rAXkTj5_FGmbnb7YGBstVPL6Owv63_RhWnEy0ZX6q83fSrD7-RfDTgVoG-zBO0KAH0jI/w640-h480/congo%20bundi%20team%20thanksgiving.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Two teams on Thanksgiving</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_6zm5vkyCXc4nj1zZMeY8sjjz1wJQz8-nxIq8NE2p-GSUx26zcVpTH2hazxl_UkoqYVVwR0gVJAFed9HUb3zr-yF1ydbpi1DWIFw6WgGz6jBRh4KyXyRI7qCsw9WgznC2ocCH06xJyEutWvCaodrSNEWomxOUcsMcNVnnwibB7yr6_ds8YO1nv7xYtOh/s1280/csb%20cell%20group%20with%20Anna.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_6zm5vkyCXc4nj1zZMeY8sjjz1wJQz8-nxIq8NE2p-GSUx26zcVpTH2hazxl_UkoqYVVwR0gVJAFed9HUb3zr-yF1ydbpi1DWIFw6WgGz6jBRh4KyXyRI7qCsw9WgznC2ocCH06xJyEutWvCaodrSNEWomxOUcsMcNVnnwibB7yr6_ds8YO1nv7xYtOh/w400-h300/csb%20cell%20group%20with%20Anna.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our final cell group meeting for 2023</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMB7m48bb8T4MxF_w-wrKQwM1ihiIfSEPGXT-uW94evvaCPfWlZLMsVEwuyOkeqbWMl4Lr3leZzkHE4HIDJz-d4BeIGBG3Y9WkOW04tOGHgmvr0Pt77TyTYNe5sP_0O_JnNJKFUdPwdmHTEwLG9YcJAZjjOY7PHqU6OKIv4ze9zmifFSOVvDVl3gvv94E/s1280/grasshopper%20season.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMB7m48bb8T4MxF_w-wrKQwM1ihiIfSEPGXT-uW94evvaCPfWlZLMsVEwuyOkeqbWMl4Lr3leZzkHE4HIDJz-d4BeIGBG3Y9WkOW04tOGHgmvr0Pt77TyTYNe5sP_0O_JnNJKFUdPwdmHTEwLG9YcJAZjjOY7PHqU6OKIv4ze9zmifFSOVvDVl3gvv94E/w300-h400/grasshopper%20season.jpeg" width="300" /></a>'</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The district feels the festivity of grasshopper season and school holidays</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeovOD2kBoIh8ULH-onSycS4aa8WK_4S5ZmdbGqASTLI5k2O5CnipBFc2L2w54AvwoDF_B7FPUj6WeUxE8OXc4RoWVoLXi6PTAYRnmaaO2hCpCffXhN-Kds0yd-Nx2YBTEf4mZ6AsT17XpI3aT3PPvX0Hz4Ie1GmxZAKOehfIcoXXhMGTMVho8MIoO8EB/s1280/kitubbi%20meal.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="1280" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeovOD2kBoIh8ULH-onSycS4aa8WK_4S5ZmdbGqASTLI5k2O5CnipBFc2L2w54AvwoDF_B7FPUj6WeUxE8OXc4RoWVoLXi6PTAYRnmaaO2hCpCffXhN-Kds0yd-Nx2YBTEf4mZ6AsT17XpI3aT3PPvX0Hz4Ie1GmxZAKOehfIcoXXhMGTMVho8MIoO8EB/w640-h202/kitubbi%20meal.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Monday night our friend Asita cooks for the whole team</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvYL7RNyDJ2z-xu5c7jMG3hK0dIGyu4-1WOrv57BTTPm-776XtxT7cz6MWaJtKHpAvfMcg8flmoyqqifQX6hAyISN4OtlsIKJx6FUaAl7sNtXztVH4glf5YrcZhwdH0VtFzAN7p6NdRrCWda4viEfZ6-25fZn9QFJkkwiVvz3mJslGjZnRDKRVFGC-TKv/s1280/kym%20holding%20zuriel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvYL7RNyDJ2z-xu5c7jMG3hK0dIGyu4-1WOrv57BTTPm-776XtxT7cz6MWaJtKHpAvfMcg8flmoyqqifQX6hAyISN4OtlsIKJx6FUaAl7sNtXztVH4glf5YrcZhwdH0VtFzAN7p6NdRrCWda4viEfZ6-25fZn9QFJkkwiVvz3mJslGjZnRDKRVFGC-TKv/w300-h400/kym%20holding%20zuriel.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Youngest baby for Thanksgiving this year, Pat's granddaughter Zuriel</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DPQvSZJDMc1-uSDMeLKmwL4AJleYjrufkCkXkrfytzLyIjlSZA6SX_e3__POs3JTyHQwgT8uS3GnNxBXMbT6dhuC5pnfhPyyWWLjvj2efNPMrAyz1qyUd7VLswpb91HEyJhFDTIr62tA4F74il3zU8ZyYRRSiEw9ESUdLjk457vWmFNH9DMdBg5ss3lv/s1280/ladies'%20walk%20selfie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DPQvSZJDMc1-uSDMeLKmwL4AJleYjrufkCkXkrfytzLyIjlSZA6SX_e3__POs3JTyHQwgT8uS3GnNxBXMbT6dhuC5pnfhPyyWWLjvj2efNPMrAyz1qyUd7VLswpb91HEyJhFDTIr62tA4F74il3zU8ZyYRRSiEw9ESUdLjk457vWmFNH9DMdBg5ss3lv/w400-h300/ladies'%20walk%20selfie.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Morning walk with the DRC team and our adventurer Kacie</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVH2gGNoPuOzlcnCJOab9iUAGNUymT4xCzEaRoAASoTK-9ilydHJTA2LA_MUU0FPwFPSOU9bLrcfrgGVmH6wdJZbukXCHO_GslIFo1r3b2wXcfwXesziQD8HiNjUPa7qNebHpufl5D_IGcqXXYb0Mr4fG6xYkmrIkmJB6SgRQquByVUBBCvU3TWHX6leBT/s1280/pizza%20with%20'biira.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVH2gGNoPuOzlcnCJOab9iUAGNUymT4xCzEaRoAASoTK-9ilydHJTA2LA_MUU0FPwFPSOU9bLrcfrgGVmH6wdJZbukXCHO_GslIFo1r3b2wXcfwXesziQD8HiNjUPa7qNebHpufl5D_IGcqXXYb0Mr4fG6xYkmrIkmJB6SgRQquByVUBBCvU3TWHX6leBT/w400-h300/pizza%20with%20'biira.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dr Jonah's daughter Biira is now a lawyer!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Yi8nt6W9_Drf9lcBFxGul0YKCxhGgYE60XATko3EnswYxaWFOrQstiLw1LS8gcU9Yz_JHleGSGy7H5gM5FaQPPdEtIKgp9NWSwpD3urafwYLtmty4OIHkYzadDikKLNWzwY0z0WZGVY3zoZzCKV1GKP4DrYzOHwhjPCoLn8p2YShnENf71H_vC8evJl7/s1280/staffords%20and%20JAM%20on%20departure.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1280" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Yi8nt6W9_Drf9lcBFxGul0YKCxhGgYE60XATko3EnswYxaWFOrQstiLw1LS8gcU9Yz_JHleGSGy7H5gM5FaQPPdEtIKgp9NWSwpD3urafwYLtmty4OIHkYzadDikKLNWzwY0z0WZGVY3zoZzCKV1GKP4DrYzOHwhjPCoLn8p2YShnENf71H_vC8evJl7/w400-h359/staffords%20and%20JAM%20on%20departure.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Stafford family a little like the Myhres 25 years ago, doc-doc couple and oldest boy Luke ... </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_tbBbFer6OcR3rP1OdK8Sb51eoTVkloiKxWkkNl7yiIRofsKkyYXuWS6wS5GFqfDhQhyVrZBy4PAqT4GlQuy9FYMBJmwiIA741Byw0Z5ahuYeIMR6PibttuEnuuQNP_5WGnyw0uZHqD_dht9C85Ufevt4lw_GC8JTFP9wnjH4QvQTEvKbenOKn1rcFKv/s1280/table%20at%20thanksgiving.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_tbBbFer6OcR3rP1OdK8Sb51eoTVkloiKxWkkNl7yiIRofsKkyYXuWS6wS5GFqfDhQhyVrZBy4PAqT4GlQuy9FYMBJmwiIA741Byw0Z5ahuYeIMR6PibttuEnuuQNP_5WGnyw0uZHqD_dht9C85Ufevt4lw_GC8JTFP9wnjH4QvQTEvKbenOKn1rcFKv/w480-h640/table%20at%20thanksgiving.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Thanksgiving spread </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRBi42JuYMe0qy6c5_f-gjeKV8itOXnyb9_WYEv-qKtpVFJycw8C_ygJgSYmj9bRXfARe9M6-y0AxWwARuaEPm0uFKsu5EhaV1meQbI7iSaSFGSHVvf2hyphenhyphenfn4KLvKTqyYnd5CwnbSFW3TWEI2tP33LQ0z3zqJBlgDHP139JW_Qcqw7H7CSIBBP2Pyp30X/s1280/turkey%20by%20house.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRBi42JuYMe0qy6c5_f-gjeKV8itOXnyb9_WYEv-qKtpVFJycw8C_ygJgSYmj9bRXfARe9M6-y0AxWwARuaEPm0uFKsu5EhaV1meQbI7iSaSFGSHVvf2hyphenhyphenfn4KLvKTqyYnd5CwnbSFW3TWEI2tP33LQ0z3zqJBlgDHP139JW_Qcqw7H7CSIBBP2Pyp30X/w300-h400/turkey%20by%20house.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tropical turkey at home above, and in last moments below</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxgC5unep7mBnySJoQLn7ydNSdsB851PMULjpABfAaYsOJTT5hbGmCIVCwprbEd6D4ovpTyM-mT2W-PnKMiKS5SGTLiCvwhcUK4jjSHP4O2Ca_IAc9e5YzjfDyoolHwcVBLRQngD8AwrD7XffF0Kgb4Cg2lDCxfq8gzPDl3nxwjLi4jAlzo5mscBaOnaD/s1280/tropical%20turkey.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxgC5unep7mBnySJoQLn7ydNSdsB851PMULjpABfAaYsOJTT5hbGmCIVCwprbEd6D4ovpTyM-mT2W-PnKMiKS5SGTLiCvwhcUK4jjSHP4O2Ca_IAc9e5YzjfDyoolHwcVBLRQngD8AwrD7XffF0Kgb4Cg2lDCxfq8gzPDl3nxwjLi4jAlzo5mscBaOnaD/w300-h400/tropical%20turkey.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBu4fZWPCAJDHo2PIvXBtx33a0AozGDBjuAwCRIoQgZlYkOEG9l8yiM1nXMvF0-dLVJ_k3B_df7haaKme7YVMgmqmbF-NdlrIM1YS5hYvyE-q51adlQa6oB1SzCDcUcEfgWZbWID5lgxC45mx4IaLFuaID_OYivHVZmsIiqgSw3w98hQIOjgRphP8vkjsA/s1280/wedding%20ronald.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBu4fZWPCAJDHo2PIvXBtx33a0AozGDBjuAwCRIoQgZlYkOEG9l8yiM1nXMvF0-dLVJ_k3B_df7haaKme7YVMgmqmbF-NdlrIM1YS5hYvyE-q51adlQa6oB1SzCDcUcEfgWZbWID5lgxC45mx4IaLFuaID_OYivHVZmsIiqgSw3w98hQIOjgRphP8vkjsA/w300-h400/wedding%20ronald.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our friend Kisembo has been a faithful pastor for decades. This is his son's wedding a few days ago!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-22384015823027631022023-11-27T02:36:00.000-08:002023-11-27T02:36:13.212-08:00It's a matter of justice<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JA6ZFqPTme_-nxBbuEMzppQpYDdGZ1Ak816hfCMjAGtqaCj8kcohHY6V59gdnL9Zg03GojzQifMurSDT0NpwTZ-XRufuS4tOvrqdcV0skXA9Lz0n0VLOmHITY9NEfmOlqBjwQ6GBHzwPLZjql0fjDqrU85Ox9yxwLMTtAumPUJhvZIK-IEcytLGSfpO6/s2698/Screenshot%202023-11-24%20at%2012.24.14%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="2698" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JA6ZFqPTme_-nxBbuEMzppQpYDdGZ1Ak816hfCMjAGtqaCj8kcohHY6V59gdnL9Zg03GojzQifMurSDT0NpwTZ-XRufuS4tOvrqdcV0skXA9Lz0n0VLOmHITY9NEfmOlqBjwQ6GBHzwPLZjql0fjDqrU85Ox9yxwLMTtAumPUJhvZIK-IEcytLGSfpO6/w640-h320/Screenshot%202023-11-24%20at%2012.24.14%20PM.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><br /><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> <em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;">The education of girls and young women -- with its dividends of poverty alleviation, gender equality, HIV/AIDS reduction -- is the<u> single most effective means by which so many of the problems blocking Africa's development can be overcome.</u> </span></span></em></span><p></p><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">- <strong>United Nations statement on Girls Education</strong></span></span></span></em><div><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></span></em></div><div><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><strong>It's indisputable...Educating girls:</strong></span></span></span></em></div><div><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><strong>Reduces poverty</strong></span></span></span></em></div><div><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><strong>Reduces Childhood Mortality</strong></span></span></span></em></div><div><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><strong>Reduces Maternal Mortality</strong></span></span></span></em></div><div><em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><strong>Reduces Domestic Abuse</strong></span></span></span></em></div><div><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48);"><b><i>Reduces HIV infection Rates</i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48);"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><strong style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); color: #402f30; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: red;">Please, take TWO MINUTES to view this video about Girl Education in Bundibugyo!!</span><br /></strong></div><div><strong style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); color: #402f30; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></strong></div><div><strong style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/828753994"><span style="color: #fcff01;">CLICK HERE TO WATCH!</span></a></strong></div>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-16504937120874009492023-11-19T01:30:00.000-08:002023-11-19T01:30:50.860-08:00Walking with the unnamed characters<p> As the Uganda school year draws to a close, the teachers at Christ School assigned the final full Sunday's worship to Scott, to bring the final sermon in the Luke series. They've been preaching through chapter by chapter. And chapter 24 is LONG. He worked hard on an interactive, comprehensive talk, focusing on the way Jesus in his post-resurrection appearances connected current reality to the Hebrew scriptures. In the process, the distraught women, the minor-character pair walking to Emmaus, the confused 11 huddling in an upper room, experienced understanding that went from their minds to their hearts. Their eyes were opened to recognise his presence, meaning, truth. Scott left them with inductive Bible study methods we learned in college from Inter-Varsity, so that in the long 8-week break approaching they can continue to encounter Jesus on their own. But Scott's phrase that jumped out for me from the sermon:<b><span style="font-size: large;"> Jesus comes to humble people in their sadness. </span></b></p><p>A resurrection chapter sounds like a good time to jump ahead to glorious thrones and light, to the end of all suffering, to victorious angels, and sumptuous feasts. Instead Luke 24 is set in a deserted cemetery at dawn, in gathering darkness on a road at dusk, in a late night hidden cowering of devastated followers. Jesus didn't KAZAAM!! appear to the kings, burst in irrefutable power to the leaders and crowds. <span style="font-size: large;">He came to humble people, in their sadness, walking alongside, sharing meals, asking questions, grounding them in hope.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">That's where we're still called.</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Our teams in this area partner with humble humans in their real-life situations which are too often quite sad.</span> Yesterday, one team invited dozens of refugees from across the borders to a Thanksgiving meal. Another offers surgical correction of war wounds and congenital anomalies, and tells the stories for world awareness. Another provides training and sewing equipment to village women to make marketable quilts and clothes. Another gathers aural-learner rural pastors and teachers to memorise the Bible as a series of connected stories that can be shared under trees and stars. Another hosted a weekend lakeside training retreat to equip counsellors as part of the painful healing process for sexually abused girls. Just a glimpse of a few of the actual happenings of the last few days . . . in the context of Luke 24.<b> No TV cameras at these events, no fame, no celebrity. Intentional dispersal to the margins, intentional seeking out of the sad. And in every case, the message communicated: Jesus is here.</b> Jesus comes to you in his sent people, and in your sorrows, walks alongside. To connect your life to the big story of God's redemption. To love you practically, and give you the view forward towards the all-things-new. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5yMilY06_JuvyMXvz9dNpsxcpamoum7udaaS6gcFnD9ULaVbU3Nxt3ADm-vY5NU1k6HbuFc1H-9G8NEa3tpLZBl61QanlYMgEW-HYuJjwu-cCrrpQ7clUYLokYAuzoB4yHEclmBHdkdzFN2yYrb1NAgH_a59KvYyf5S6-6H13P4edokJ_cZj1y9_nkvl/s1280/IMG_9193.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5yMilY06_JuvyMXvz9dNpsxcpamoum7udaaS6gcFnD9ULaVbU3Nxt3ADm-vY5NU1k6HbuFc1H-9G8NEa3tpLZBl61QanlYMgEW-HYuJjwu-cCrrpQ7clUYLokYAuzoB4yHEclmBHdkdzFN2yYrb1NAgH_a59KvYyf5S6-6H13P4edokJ_cZj1y9_nkvl/w640-h480/IMG_9193.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>this captures it all: in the constant rain working to nourish others, and God sends a little light to paint a bow of hope</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We</span> are some unnamed characters who long for all-things-new as well. An 8-hour PTA annual meeting Friday, numerous budget meetings, working out nutrition responses to increased refugee flows, reacting with security measures to an ADF attack just 20 km away over our border, coaching calls with most of our six countries to listen and pray, preparing a Bible study. Having the preaching and the PTA and a dozen other things in the same few day stretch was a lot for Scott . . . particularly meeting with parents from the community to listen and learn what they seek. But that day we also delighted in seeing our staff reflect the values and impact of their time at CSB. As Scott was trying to answer a father's complaint that our football (soccer) performance disappointed him this year, the teacher translating launched into a heartfelt story of when he was a student almost 20 years ago and after CSB won the district tournament, public pressure mounted to not send our inexperienced students to nationals but to allow the district to supply their best semi-professional mercenaries so Bundibugyo would shine. Kevin B who was head teacher and coach at the time said no, these boys worked to win the district tournament and they deserve to go, it was about promoting good for students not looking good for the country. Two decades later, he still embraces that attitude now as a teacher: we won't cheat, we won't cut corners, <b>we won't sell out for glory. We'll stick with Jesus, and the poor.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFFBgb4Lu5U2BHqP5PfB08zzcomSqEtGriXXfRezaRvFhMIjXrRLw8ti_N_DYzucZ87oTvR_j-q03K3K9DD7r5qMsvBy_g5bYhKLCfX2B5-MlMvX80klZARZ12vl7fw5dDYKvw_uj5c3cmR107mFw7tK8H0Wb0HLmMkxsntRnkSAKXwlYxtUr6T8KhHUH/s1280/IMG_9188.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFFBgb4Lu5U2BHqP5PfB08zzcomSqEtGriXXfRezaRvFhMIjXrRLw8ti_N_DYzucZ87oTvR_j-q03K3K9DD7r5qMsvBy_g5bYhKLCfX2B5-MlMvX80klZARZ12vl7fw5dDYKvw_uj5c3cmR107mFw7tK8H0Wb0HLmMkxsntRnkSAKXwlYxtUr6T8KhHUH/w400-h300/IMG_9188.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>visiting some old friends whose smiles in spite of losses inspire us</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje738la1E253l72_76NnNz-7qlsUn9WwkfBKl1RUrDBREf2rHveJB4sPOxGlR6MS5ldgwhoR45PSBe7fA6471V-h7j-r3pMiD9bI8-z8Iy2NTTUdxEONHPR-oY6Lm8oSDXNJS8ZmPEgbVd9u5BF7q2wgmD7HTwpFzDtcuQdQvIh8cy1S7MtuV0nui9TsEP/s1280/IMG_9190%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje738la1E253l72_76NnNz-7qlsUn9WwkfBKl1RUrDBREf2rHveJB4sPOxGlR6MS5ldgwhoR45PSBe7fA6471V-h7j-r3pMiD9bI8-z8Iy2NTTUdxEONHPR-oY6Lm8oSDXNJS8ZmPEgbVd9u5BF7q2wgmD7HTwpFzDtcuQdQvIh8cy1S7MtuV0nui9TsEP/w640-h480/IMG_9190%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Scott spends a lot of time fixing problems and helping the school stick to this vision and mission</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yUglCvzUvprSJQ2obPEJGtCmheDXLc8EIqA-DP67h_d8Yo2Oq1tbR56TY7C6Cke0DC5DXbwq82eBoAaktnhdprjEhEPv1jB9UxW1dFoOWe96XiHEUCkiBGYAbNChsJqeiwEq74pcvEsOXvGqzbeGwDGIOCNNy1zwNlRvI5w_k5NtRnxcrLBqx8GXuCmV/s1280/IMG_9191.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yUglCvzUvprSJQ2obPEJGtCmheDXLc8EIqA-DP67h_d8Yo2Oq1tbR56TY7C6Cke0DC5DXbwq82eBoAaktnhdprjEhEPv1jB9UxW1dFoOWe96XiHEUCkiBGYAbNChsJqeiwEq74pcvEsOXvGqzbeGwDGIOCNNy1zwNlRvI5w_k5NtRnxcrLBqx8GXuCmV/w400-h300/IMG_9191.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>One problem fixed this week: the copy machine, in time for end of year exams</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4PyOY3O4x4lpGtr1f4eId4Zp0za4mMjTJWyxDBL4BHedMch3RqoYn7eZvJnICoQ97eYDiDNsRT9faW4T0BgIc9IoyVc0YBlfjav_p6ap1JD3RHod3h2zLGI78WaCdkgIl6o8PZHee8WVeeEWs5vxWTaCfalYzaK3m4prWe6w8z8VoUWKs80NjUcUd8Yy/s1280/IMG_9207%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="1280" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4PyOY3O4x4lpGtr1f4eId4Zp0za4mMjTJWyxDBL4BHedMch3RqoYn7eZvJnICoQ97eYDiDNsRT9faW4T0BgIc9IoyVc0YBlfjav_p6ap1JD3RHod3h2zLGI78WaCdkgIl6o8PZHee8WVeeEWs5vxWTaCfalYzaK3m4prWe6w8z8VoUWKs80NjUcUd8Yy/w640-h274/IMG_9207%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> photo above and below, showing the parents a Serge East Africa Media (SEAM) video <a href="https://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2023/11/new-christ-school-video-for-2023.html" target="_blank">(see it yourself here!) </a></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7F7w5DV0YrrdkmUhaEhn0JDXtZwAHSjjZK7QYI1wRhrfSNgPN_dsdlSMayGdfPspZiWVcBAYYUJSrTBAfp0a6IrbAgwnWFa8zsibFEPmko4iKQWvG9LzY1lZl66viujYrWxGh8br8e6KK4mDKUm4hNYkOZktNO4YQJeif0t6VThFfugfyvVnq_2qCXo3/s1280/IMG_9219.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7F7w5DV0YrrdkmUhaEhn0JDXtZwAHSjjZK7QYI1wRhrfSNgPN_dsdlSMayGdfPspZiWVcBAYYUJSrTBAfp0a6IrbAgwnWFa8zsibFEPmko4iKQWvG9LzY1lZl66viujYrWxGh8br8e6KK4mDKUm4hNYkOZktNO4YQJeif0t6VThFfugfyvVnq_2qCXo3/w400-h300/IMG_9219.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2i0kwu7Wi5hMY-RuDTGTee9VYFgATk-tRrFt1dpzRTbejl9yfIoQJVkOrufg2a4ZcKXe_tQxBM6KtRwyZVhI5TlIbXRIdncnfPlw5gG_NU6EjaL84ffcFqnyF1zJ1fDeaRZVszRHGaYuwrFpRhfd4KPWrSUXVSHZbCsr8xSrlsFWAxdusB4-enuNUvle/s1280/IMG_9214%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1280" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl2i0kwu7Wi5hMY-RuDTGTee9VYFgATk-tRrFt1dpzRTbejl9yfIoQJVkOrufg2a4ZcKXe_tQxBM6KtRwyZVhI5TlIbXRIdncnfPlw5gG_NU6EjaL84ffcFqnyF1zJ1fDeaRZVszRHGaYuwrFpRhfd4KPWrSUXVSHZbCsr8xSrlsFWAxdusB4-enuNUvle/w400-h226/IMG_9214%20(1).jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Thanks to all who helped us rebuild the burnt dorm, in the Head Teacher's annual report</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_Mt4Q7JyD_hpu0xAmzy2K24mzhfT8gx5ObX92w1SZbEyfUT35mooHFVmpZyOTNIiICbFwgKHE_0Y5jGbHCAHYeQHGArQTY_Crk43iEHheAprIaXDnGRxDieDZa4PubOp3fIlYs6UbBPhlR8l5BuRVyR0QFXY-xNGOFsloezj-_TrMu8oY6VdIWw596E2/s1280/IMG_9224.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1280" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_Mt4Q7JyD_hpu0xAmzy2K24mzhfT8gx5ObX92w1SZbEyfUT35mooHFVmpZyOTNIiICbFwgKHE_0Y5jGbHCAHYeQHGArQTY_Crk43iEHheAprIaXDnGRxDieDZa4PubOp3fIlYs6UbBPhlR8l5BuRVyR0QFXY-xNGOFsloezj-_TrMu8oY6VdIWw596E2/w640-h572/IMG_9224.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Reminding the parents and teachers of our shared vision</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJLNyteDXm7C8LRmayF6UI7bdMKrt5rboACP-XV0UyHNvVqqIpfj2lUDW232C2rTgNwHaeQgV3Guh5QrSASmL5TJQEJbTGVvrDI0fMsx7bs0l7tHT_oP_yf5hk93TjBfVXIBChyamuYd8zhF_23OwX2IkJaFRI98csxPqFN2YK5TLbQqyVeFxGVHoXz7h/s1280/IMG_9251.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="1280" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJLNyteDXm7C8LRmayF6UI7bdMKrt5rboACP-XV0UyHNvVqqIpfj2lUDW232C2rTgNwHaeQgV3Guh5QrSASmL5TJQEJbTGVvrDI0fMsx7bs0l7tHT_oP_yf5hk93TjBfVXIBChyamuYd8zhF_23OwX2IkJaFRI98csxPqFN2YK5TLbQqyVeFxGVHoXz7h/w640-h258/IMG_9251.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Above and below, Scott preaching today on our last Sunday with all the students before break</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5Y9ZJ6Jk7UvQqKv0VUfNx-4_31T8KdlK_16nLJFOFDHo_vY_THQ7Fb3AnzIrSJHLruW4XFbo3Z9_xUKpQVxoBhCA7OdTnX5UeisF68hPN17thrI8P7hSqp1BtfRqk4fFq9woewwmJanHKOXn2xEVVMXL8R9tHVvADBWSeCboWm3Y_vK-El0XeKO2omSH/s1280/IMG_9255.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1280" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5Y9ZJ6Jk7UvQqKv0VUfNx-4_31T8KdlK_16nLJFOFDHo_vY_THQ7Fb3AnzIrSJHLruW4XFbo3Z9_xUKpQVxoBhCA7OdTnX5UeisF68hPN17thrI8P7hSqp1BtfRqk4fFq9woewwmJanHKOXn2xEVVMXL8R9tHVvADBWSeCboWm3Y_vK-El0XeKO2omSH/w640-h316/IMG_9255.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiO_SHYIGxa5zXG_poivPC39zMO3xiYPj-2auXfeCaN3VQ6D6A0lc5jEoXeJQK37hvFvUoz30iaR9h43N9nIBE_CTiXuywut8vVEG9_UNzqThtY2nhIQDTJWenMfCw2Sz0t-zzjaxw_G0MF61OBTL430shRCdsmjqhuputRRTvc-e9nRhCTaEopZSe4Aak/s1280/IMG_9257.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="1280" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiO_SHYIGxa5zXG_poivPC39zMO3xiYPj-2auXfeCaN3VQ6D6A0lc5jEoXeJQK37hvFvUoz30iaR9h43N9nIBE_CTiXuywut8vVEG9_UNzqThtY2nhIQDTJWenMfCw2Sz0t-zzjaxw_G0MF61OBTL430shRCdsmjqhuputRRTvc-e9nRhCTaEopZSe4Aak/w640-h350/IMG_9257.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoU7VQaFUumtCeetS39iYvq0IdYmUhDeiLkqaIRsfK_gJ74xIY5c8qKpGXIifEVxq_K2lLf3c2D2YWhYy_0phm2obcctD0zpcY8x1ZGfQGn3obpxZbarjF4QeYDjyKT8kdRHJXbB20JgBt8_hfJg4_Q2lPdEqlvvES4cq_viPyUox5K8_ANynKvqEvWJfR/s1280/IMG_9258.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1071" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoU7VQaFUumtCeetS39iYvq0IdYmUhDeiLkqaIRsfK_gJ74xIY5c8qKpGXIifEVxq_K2lLf3c2D2YWhYy_0phm2obcctD0zpcY8x1ZGfQGn3obpxZbarjF4QeYDjyKT8kdRHJXbB20JgBt8_hfJg4_Q2lPdEqlvvES4cq_viPyUox5K8_ANynKvqEvWJfR/w335-h400/IMG_9258.jpeg" width="335" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Cocoa connects to school fees and thriving and development . . 'tis the season to harvest and dry the beans.</i></span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-77076180295893023572023-11-11T06:02:00.004-08:002023-11-11T06:04:17.220-08:00New Christ School Video for 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/858705826" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1818" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6-6IvHHHuMJJqZIqe7xf27X4KY6E5KE20Wy7vfA6L7MZsTYm5H2QC61c99mrfgOGjGMSPm12iJ9GvEN5hUZwWpLXiF4Ma0aHtnkdpQlVxcstlga4UytiEUjOyr1tkYhyphenhyphenxE241F2_IW-dxHnZE5-ooT3pjabfklNZJlWUqbfm3h3dJCPRA_3b-f67_iFa/w640-h354/Screenshot%202023-11-07%20at%2012.27.29%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: white;"> <em style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Practically speaking, high dependence on tuition is a good sign that an institution will not likely survive for long. “Tuition alone has never, that I know of, kept any college sustainable,” </em><span face=""helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-size: 13px;"><em style="font-size: 14px;">says </em><em>Virginia Shapiro of Boston University</em><em style="font-size: 14px;">. </em></span></span><p></p><span style="color: white;"><span face=""helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-size: 16px;">---<span style="font-size: 12px;">from</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> <em><u style="font-size: 14px;">Inside Higher Education </u></em></span></span><span style="background-color: #dedac7; caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"></span></span><div style="caret-color: rgb(64, 47, 48); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span><span face=""helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, verdana, sans-serif"><span style="color: white;"><strong>The 365 Club is working.<br />We currently have 180 students who are covered by donations of $365/year<br />(roughly half the <em>ACTUAL</em> costs to educate one student for a year )<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 20px;"><u><em>but we need another 120 people willing to give $1 PER DAY </em></u></span><br /><br />to push us towards sustainability for Christ School.</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 18px;"> If you have not yet joined the 365 Club<br />There is no better time than <br />TODAY!<br /><br /><em>Watch the video <br />Investing in tomorrow's African Leaders today will yield fruit <br />for this broken world <br />for generations to come</em></span></span><br /><br /><strong style="color: #402f30;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/858705826"><span style="color: red; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-style: solid;">Click here </span><span style="color: red; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-style: solid;">to watch our new VIDEO on Vimeo</span><span style="color: red; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-style: solid;"> </span></a></span><br /><span style="color: blue;">-- or click on the image of the student above)</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">And Click here to connect to our</span><br /><span style="color: #402f30; font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/christ-school-bundibugyo-365-club" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="color: #ef4135; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; text-decoration-style: solid;" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">SERGE CSB 365 CLUB GIVING PAGE</span></a></span></span></div>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-34691538437399312372023-11-05T02:59:00.001-08:002023-11-05T03:34:24.108-08:00Of ancestry and fire, deep roots and difficult dangers<p> How does a team, a group, a community, <span style="font-size: large;">become a family</span>? </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSkVlNAUm3g70hIC7zaAStXvhA9fLNCCZi9nomoFAxelmbWD-si5ayNPIXnASWfTN9wW9Uloppj-og5Zo5bmDWpVNgU_Kx5abR31nS59xvNTEHJYZrznO2nVto0sGTUUelD3aysYLIrLUDSS7fFm0UvdnAqbtCdMYfNE1g7nfgdCO3osV5V3O9KeR8Iku/s1280/team%20in%20our%20house%20nov%202023.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSkVlNAUm3g70hIC7zaAStXvhA9fLNCCZi9nomoFAxelmbWD-si5ayNPIXnASWfTN9wW9Uloppj-og5Zo5bmDWpVNgU_Kx5abR31nS59xvNTEHJYZrznO2nVto0sGTUUelD3aysYLIrLUDSS7fFm0UvdnAqbtCdMYfNE1g7nfgdCO3osV5V3O9KeR8Iku/w400-h300/team%20in%20our%20house%20nov%202023.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>team praying together for a needy colleague</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH8nMqyuhc2PAgZzkgNg3XFqGQMp_CcpP0HC9Slpa4JpTAIjWt_8e2EBYPrXVJiJCQ4Gp42d26eH9CCLX9tK1105GQ-gFvH4NbtTrIkCtOChW7O5YF7I33tDDtHHEs9LvDc7JguuA38SP8eIJktqZ-Dns51Mb_eDH-iSbFxHCtaLnjYnGA8YuqBR77M5Q/s1280/desmond%20senior%20sunday.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1280" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH8nMqyuhc2PAgZzkgNg3XFqGQMp_CcpP0HC9Slpa4JpTAIjWt_8e2EBYPrXVJiJCQ4Gp42d26eH9CCLX9tK1105GQ-gFvH4NbtTrIkCtOChW7O5YF7I33tDDtHHEs9LvDc7JguuA38SP8eIJktqZ-Dns51Mb_eDH-iSbFxHCtaLnjYnGA8YuqBR77M5Q/w640-h342/desmond%20senior%20sunday.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dean Desmond preaching today at CSB on Luke 21</i></span></div><p>As the CSB year draws to a close, the reference to the school's collection of teachers, staff, students, workers as a family has surfaced several times. The seniors said goodbye this Sunday, having completed the gruelling month of nationalised standard exams, one or two half-day papers per subject for 8-10 subjects. The education system in Uganda is evolving to incorporate more innovative hand-on projects and ongoing grades but until this point, these exams are the sole determinant of performance, the sole measure to sort out who gets to proceed on a university or job path. Tomorrow they will check out of school, but today they led worship in chapel with a song that repeated a chorus of thanks for each teacher by name. They were genuinely celebratory of all they had received. Their class teacher, Dean Desmond, who after 20 years here carries the vision and mission more deeply than any other staff, gave the sermon from Luke 21. Like Jesus, he did not promise them a glorious path of ease, in fact he told them the truth, that they would look back on their years here as amongst the best as they go out from here to face hardship, hunger, conflict, thieves, witchcraft, jealousy. But the assurance of Luke 21 and Lamentations 3 is that <span style="font-size: large;">when the Lord is all you have, you have enough. They go out in faith knowing they will not escape troubles, but they will never be alone. The foundational connection of shared faith, shared roots, shared geography, shared experience, unites.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9p0h8LfOM5GRj8jsZw7yPnKDVIouSLw9IiNixs-OR9VHnPyXlydmLtfA6q2QaHByhNrtPoVvCy_hIKVk3_bRN1g6h0BtKehgK9NPIiL7r2g5NXnHI4wgmJtX_XR_baWdaAspPDVmD8mVZt_kiLAo2P2hyNP-5tai6Uhs2yY7s_EqO9JI6DtcAcP6cGAry/s1280/baby%20hammond.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9p0h8LfOM5GRj8jsZw7yPnKDVIouSLw9IiNixs-OR9VHnPyXlydmLtfA6q2QaHByhNrtPoVvCy_hIKVk3_bRN1g6h0BtKehgK9NPIiL7r2g5NXnHI4wgmJtX_XR_baWdaAspPDVmD8mVZt_kiLAo2P2hyNP-5tai6Uhs2yY7s_EqO9JI6DtcAcP6cGAry/w400-h300/baby%20hammond.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Auntie Jennifer visiting baby Hammond</i></span></div><p>A week ago, that same teacher had traveled across the country back to his home village to bury his mother, and while he was gone his wife went into labor with their third son. Hard to imagine a more stressful week in a place where labor and delivery too often end in tragedy, where the greeting for a new mother translates "thank you for surviving", for working your way through this danger. While we were still in Burundi, the school staff came together and in spite of extreme distance and the ongoing exams and rainy season and limited funds, decided to send the deputy head teacher to take several cross-country bus connections to the burial to be with Desmond and his extended family. And the school nurse and others accompanied his wife here in Bundibugyo to the hospital, stayed with her through labour, and brought her and baby Hammond back to their home in the staff apartments. Once Desmond finally made it back to Bundibugyo, he sent the whole staff a long and heartfelt acknowledgement that <span style="font-size: large;">this community stepped in like a family, to fill the gaps when there was need. </span>It struck me that this CSB staff has come to function just like we try to encourage a Serge team to be: they live and eat and worship and work together, but more than that <b>they are the reliable first line of provision when emergencies arrive. That sounds like a family.</b></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Common roots in ancestry and the interdependence forged by challenges in life </span>make a clan a family, and make a school staff or a Serge team a family too. We call God our father, and we hold each other up in the storms.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhro_l5CO48wjTEN2pvcuxPgYjsSGJGaIKATLrDshihtf_62j0P0fYoKp2Floay19WlROf6OhGZqEysf0nn7QLFZaJSUmEtU7epYWEtWmjLRLQO34Q_6hQivvfVYMkOOIadydpAXijQeO2PoDQLc7WGxdYhrPbkMiGjC6PJu2XlsoDKCHNIZJrcYJyGNY0P/s1280/csb%20in%20rain.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1280" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhro_l5CO48wjTEN2pvcuxPgYjsSGJGaIKATLrDshihtf_62j0P0fYoKp2Floay19WlROf6OhGZqEysf0nn7QLFZaJSUmEtU7epYWEtWmjLRLQO34Q_6hQivvfVYMkOOIadydpAXijQeO2PoDQLc7WGxdYhrPbkMiGjC6PJu2XlsoDKCHNIZJrcYJyGNY0P/w400-h241/csb%20in%20rain.jpeg" width="400" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>CSB Chapel in the rain this morning, CSB board at the end of our meeting Friday below</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTg3J84X_7MhhEdRBCvf_3hnEbd8AT87X8q56pzY8Ok4RQTuPVk-mTE8Mf8t6lyNfrF8ENTVx4_ltcFpi0S0DFyvvf9vaeJVwohuhVhrZBoTX18GyY7I_0JXN8sFwI5jn9_STkZPPN_Ki3L25aQunNymt0l_6i6qU1IgchMVUdoyNKbmRdT5akSN6b-Pvz/s1280/board%20CSB%20nov%202023.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="1280" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTg3J84X_7MhhEdRBCvf_3hnEbd8AT87X8q56pzY8Ok4RQTuPVk-mTE8Mf8t6lyNfrF8ENTVx4_ltcFpi0S0DFyvvf9vaeJVwohuhVhrZBoTX18GyY7I_0JXN8sFwI5jn9_STkZPPN_Ki3L25aQunNymt0l_6i6qU1IgchMVUdoyNKbmRdT5akSN6b-Pvz/w640-h516/board%20CSB%20nov%202023.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2J9edhe1cu6kRP81WcpVy9CjhH6JPpjA1SdgwBVaLwNq2L-vKs4WASY9eyT0EFuSBU_myC4E218AWFRe7-Jx8kgF0d_S3Xjwv17s4hJM1QiNb6kk02RjNMhY-eLd6pfpBhIx4tLGW1ZssChZ0YdQttZDktJIkaLyv6X4EvzxllbTWJlxA-8zo7IDrKOQU/s1280/csb%20boys%20singing%20thanks%20S4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2J9edhe1cu6kRP81WcpVy9CjhH6JPpjA1SdgwBVaLwNq2L-vKs4WASY9eyT0EFuSBU_myC4E218AWFRe7-Jx8kgF0d_S3Xjwv17s4hJM1QiNb6kk02RjNMhY-eLd6pfpBhIx4tLGW1ZssChZ0YdQttZDktJIkaLyv6X4EvzxllbTWJlxA-8zo7IDrKOQU/w400-h300/csb%20boys%20singing%20thanks%20S4.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Senior Four boys singing out their thanks, a glimpse of why it's all worth it</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ597nBpDjWM6Ies5uyKF8mfG5t1RL4zve1X7Mh9k8U1I8Y-NIcPn1UhboAnHj7k8oweUSobngcuLrYHC3jAAazUegUgnhGBR2c1BN7BVIbHwlvVpOBlECXaLKyHB4hkCB_CLfd1BAsDajYoFRBE-9p0CuEEwnjBQZifLB9S4egWlb7SLY6avjBaGPN3Ib/s1280/IMG_8904.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1280" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ597nBpDjWM6Ies5uyKF8mfG5t1RL4zve1X7Mh9k8U1I8Y-NIcPn1UhboAnHj7k8oweUSobngcuLrYHC3jAAazUegUgnhGBR2c1BN7BVIbHwlvVpOBlECXaLKyHB4hkCB_CLfd1BAsDajYoFRBE-9p0CuEEwnjBQZifLB9S4egWlb7SLY6avjBaGPN3Ib/w400-h228/IMG_8904.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>a shot of one of the many reports listing the good done by CSB this year . . another glimpse </i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnq4LtSPx-ypxhjgaL3-FNgivhebdtGcCTeEPbrMZ562QScuBxlPjaiFcj2KzDRruPRACjazC0r2m8M91CI5zWGhjhJnyizqwoybNclJ7qvvTQE35wrEa6wb2OSWA3z5zE3yDJYwWh4K4Z4iSA7Kz-UBPOKTahIPlxrjh-I3DIAwtOuDhpXUfSJhq6mTWX/s1280/scott%20talking%20to%20board.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnq4LtSPx-ypxhjgaL3-FNgivhebdtGcCTeEPbrMZ562QScuBxlPjaiFcj2KzDRruPRACjazC0r2m8M91CI5zWGhjhJnyizqwoybNclJ7qvvTQE35wrEa6wb2OSWA3z5zE3yDJYwWh4K4Z4iSA7Kz-UBPOKTahIPlxrjh-I3DIAwtOuDhpXUfSJhq6mTWX/s320/scott%20talking%20to%20board.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Scott listening and explaining and advocating and compromising . . it's a tall job to be chairperson Board of Governors</i></span></div><p>Preaching to ourselves, <b>because it's been a stormy week. </b>The seasonal rain drenches us, but we hit the ground after the<a href="https://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-paradox-of-lament-and-hope-to.html" target="_blank"> Burundi trip</a> with a drenching of sorrows. That is the nature of living in a place with fewer barriers to insulate one from poverty, so that daily encounters with broken things, hungry people, sick children, thwarted plans, just keep pounding down. Our CSB board held it's second meeting of the year, and while that is encouraging in many ways as we pour over the annual reports with parent and political representatives, teaching and administrative staff, and missionaries representing the founding body (our enrolment this year of 255 students is 49.4% female, our kids went on a richly immersive "geography" trip, our girls' football went to nationals, 7 of 8 students who qualified for university scholarships from our district were our grads, we have upgraded our computer lab and improved security, and so on), a significant part of the 8-hours of board deliberation includes the general sentiment that fees are too high for parents to afford while at the same time complaining that the school should buy a bus or build more buildings. All good things, but not humanly possible to accomplish. We struggle with funding, accounting, deficits, rising food costs, and a thousand details, with cultural understanding and trust. And that's just this local team, the 11 teams in 6 countries that we're supposed to supervise and support all have similar struggles.</p><p>As we begin a new week, we know we wouldn't be bobbing along in this stormy mess without family. Our Ugandan colleagues and Serge team and area, our Serge leadership network of life long friends, our financial and prayer supporters, own kids and siblings and mothers who cheer us on. Scott's mom Ruth turns 91 today, and our daughter Julia is there baking her Nana and friends a lemon meringue pie and taking her to church.<span style="font-size: large;"> If a family comes from a common root and a trial-by-fire life, we take today to be thankful for both.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVI6Rv7ZVCDuV4uhkHNrLpj4zShY1dZJto1StJy8CIGCBDZNV4tDl0UvA0d3qTxMSVICEZqu8QI61E3GRDA4747zHBodDWK-fnnAExXyMCmLl7Dy64phMcIupB-9ac56iEOI4Xh8g01ioGn9z-k_Lr8MRXfgwnmCOhbDdkLilEsDdlelp4pY96Lx9zW1_/s1280/ruth%20feeding%20scott%201960s.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="917" data-original-width="1280" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVI6Rv7ZVCDuV4uhkHNrLpj4zShY1dZJto1StJy8CIGCBDZNV4tDl0UvA0d3qTxMSVICEZqu8QI61E3GRDA4747zHBodDWK-fnnAExXyMCmLl7Dy64phMcIupB-9ac56iEOI4Xh8g01ioGn9z-k_Lr8MRXfgwnmCOhbDdkLilEsDdlelp4pY96Lx9zW1_/w400-h286/ruth%20feeding%20scott%201960s.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The birthday girl a few years ago feeding her firstborn . . . </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1280" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HseOZWxHnp56MzlZf24MhW0h8flFRnJfjiT3COVyEwOBn0mZkEVRzoqbQ6rO_bzfXTrw240Vhis7a_Yrn0FQd1rCci1feubzm0N1_khOizm72A9ezPLsdDpgkytRvJ43wjPFI96fzXcyWHTmARzm83Ao-lX2BsMr0To2pkUUiqAc2w_XsttxkxjNug2B/w400-h271/ruth%20and%20dave%201970s%3F.jpeg" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>And a few yers after that with her husband Dave at her parents' farm</i></span></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvz2fwhMFjybdmvvZXQulHIB7FpDV8M6XP0PpynXxfBJAaH56aaQs2gvyFMZDkr0bzfNtq6VelAAPWevHiAUpDR08i5mbwGcn1XXH7l0mzVEjQE0ZTMxStaKh-7Wia6TQUAwTmrLDXGc5XR_LCsIE5k6pjfLaIryrzm3IkuruV71tTEK5Fe84Q9_RO3iW/s1280/with%20ruth%20beach%20walk.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvz2fwhMFjybdmvvZXQulHIB7FpDV8M6XP0PpynXxfBJAaH56aaQs2gvyFMZDkr0bzfNtq6VelAAPWevHiAUpDR08i5mbwGcn1XXH7l0mzVEjQE0ZTMxStaKh-7Wia6TQUAwTmrLDXGc5XR_LCsIE5k6pjfLaIryrzm3IkuruV71tTEK5Fe84Q9_RO3iW/w400-h300/with%20ruth%20beach%20walk.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>And a few months ago with us in Half Moon Bay</i></span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-16943420427645832252023-10-30T21:15:00.002-07:002023-10-30T21:15:58.991-07:00The paradox of lament and hope: to Burundi and backBurundi, Bundibugyo, and Ituri/North Kivu provinces of the DRC are contiguous areas of the Albertine Rift, sharing overlaps of rainforest and culture and language roots, of equatorial heat and volcanic heights, of distance from the colonising coasts and from the centres of commerce and development, of political insecurity and injustice in recent years but also of eagerness for change and life. We have teams in all three areas, and just spent this past week visiting the Serge team in Burundi. This visit marks 10 years of our team's service and was timed to work on a new "Memorandum of Understanding", the documents that outline and define our partnerships on the ground. That might sound administratively dry or tediously straightforward. But anytime you throw two very disparate-background groups of people into an intense work and life environment and have thousands of people to serve and hundreds of thousands of dollars to account for, the paperwork is far from dull. <div><br /></div><div>Our team leaders spent days in a working group prior to our arrival to create a draft, and then we spent a day preparing with them followed by a solidly long non-stop 8 hours around a table with the chairman of the church's board, the Rector of the University, and a legal advisor, combing through word by word, asking questions, expressing intentions, debating composition of committees or supervision of projects, making sure we understood each other and agreed. The next day we set aside to celebrate, to give speeches and look at numbers and marvel at what God has done. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHlenc4jxvduEEsAYZLgqgxyC3MbxpF29FYxRoPO8f4z7B5G1BayV6-vfbR-dZtsNn6OvenCxvNulNJyuHNoV1Mc3jNSOT3TQv7qdAx5iabFZcyOEkkEKMlQxw_WxSBFhtjUqIKFiwwSi5s1gd2xTZGddFwJ8SQlo1OJ6_yTOnJB1Qu9dbPU_OwWzQczm/s1024/445cb5ad-c587-4acc-b13f-45d738d4aaf6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1024" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHlenc4jxvduEEsAYZLgqgxyC3MbxpF29FYxRoPO8f4z7B5G1BayV6-vfbR-dZtsNn6OvenCxvNulNJyuHNoV1Mc3jNSOT3TQv7qdAx5iabFZcyOEkkEKMlQxw_WxSBFhtjUqIKFiwwSi5s1gd2xTZGddFwJ8SQlo1OJ6_yTOnJB1Qu9dbPU_OwWzQczm/w640-h434/445cb5ad-c587-4acc-b13f-45d738d4aaf6.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNydtiyB2Vrr6Br-40LDsLe9cnD_bUNEQQzJgk2lWwk6RMwDNEFhfpRIgZlyHJNnv5UDwff2mRJd5wp5CaE4FmmiVAi6KxiJUcHBhx_n4HFAaPzIXlUqVa41qaWHPRzp8E7idpw4c3_dIpGXQQuKvYmyk3ifk069oCAY_enEGSV5gnsmYn3170m-eQEpQE/s4032/IMG_8675.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNydtiyB2Vrr6Br-40LDsLe9cnD_bUNEQQzJgk2lWwk6RMwDNEFhfpRIgZlyHJNnv5UDwff2mRJd5wp5CaE4FmmiVAi6KxiJUcHBhx_n4HFAaPzIXlUqVa41qaWHPRzp8E7idpw4c3_dIpGXQQuKvYmyk3ifk069oCAY_enEGSV5gnsmYn3170m-eQEpQE/w640-h480/IMG_8675.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Ten years in a country that has known Burundi-level suffering must acknowledge lament.</span> Our work has not been perfect, and our team has spent that decade face to face with some of the highest maternal and child mortality, hunger, poverty, and limited options, in the world. Our families were caught in the trauma of an attempted coup, and one experienced a violent break-in, robbery, assault. Every step forward seems to be followed by one or two back. Our partners have seen so much death including the loss of the Bishop we began our whole relationship with, and have faced the incredible risk of trusting foreigners who look like the same sorts of people that brought division and war to their doorstep. We lament together the lingering effects of conflict and COVID, of famine and failure. </div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">And yet a ten-year arc of story carries a hopeful weight of glory. </span>The Kibuye Hope Hospital has treated 300,000 patients and performed 30,000 surgeries in that time, each an inflection point of a life beset by injury or disease that could have otherwise ended in permanent loss. Thousands can testify that God sees them and cares about their needs. 300 new doctors have been graduated from medical school, a noticeable inflection point upward in the graph of health care over time. The Rector's final comments focused on how these new doctors not only have excellent training in medicine, they have been shaped by the atmosphere of asking questions, going the extra mile, praying to God, creating community. And that doesn't even mention the more visible, concrete (brick actually) evidence of a decade of good: power, water, wards, offices, homes, food. </div><div><br /></div><div>After our days in the capital with our partners, we drove up to the more central village where the team lives. Which is always a highlight, to not just banter documents and speeches, but to walk into life. To accompany rounds, talk to the kids at chapel, join in the pizza-evening tradition, listen and pray with various groups. The new Paediatric building draws the most complex kids from around the country. It was encouraging to welcome one doctor back from a national association of surgeons, where he collaborates with Burundians about the training and services all over. And get a demonstration of 3D virtual reality from another, for teaching anatomy. That perfectly highlights the spark that an outsider with surgical and computer skills can bring to remote central Africa while it's still cutting edge for the most prestigious schools in America. These families labor in construction and accounting, in treating cancer and malnutrition, in teaching preschoolers and residents. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUJmBFSOHJUcRBStDUVQMWncvKzcYiYcTUwejJnwFW4oJdyEep2qa7IZrEI0RMfZ-_HqNONO8l1sd5A1aipcA-HYv2jrfBLdB2DW1J3JH4N1b5ZlCphJgwUi4DbS65IxeCHAQ-tkrcSWyH1l96b8wKDDc8UnuYF1-2Br3_kKsd88jILKKddU_8pkABQyl/s855/2c0e4177-30da-4a6d-b836-8ffb6f38433c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="855" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUJmBFSOHJUcRBStDUVQMWncvKzcYiYcTUwejJnwFW4oJdyEep2qa7IZrEI0RMfZ-_HqNONO8l1sd5A1aipcA-HYv2jrfBLdB2DW1J3JH4N1b5ZlCphJgwUi4DbS65IxeCHAQ-tkrcSWyH1l96b8wKDDc8UnuYF1-2Br3_kKsd88jILKKddU_8pkABQyl/w640-h396/2c0e4177-30da-4a6d-b836-8ffb6f38433c.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5gJiXsEXByGXrZ3qcisTWHs1KbdQ0cVI4v2mktxGf6sUjlfYZyxg4MNhSoRCvR7buUA6skNWCz60nAvpyDU9Un9Bek7KCFsh7yc0L9-Fz3ZKAIM79YZGZYtKkknlV0Qyk7pTKg50f2ZMJGh8x7cpQ8cshyYITi62jANJpJQqniusWZT8sC9xmn2oiUpk/s3195/IMG_8707.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="3195" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5gJiXsEXByGXrZ3qcisTWHs1KbdQ0cVI4v2mktxGf6sUjlfYZyxg4MNhSoRCvR7buUA6skNWCz60nAvpyDU9Un9Bek7KCFsh7yc0L9-Fz3ZKAIM79YZGZYtKkknlV0Qyk7pTKg50f2ZMJGh8x7cpQ8cshyYITi62jANJpJQqniusWZT8sC9xmn2oiUpk/w400-h243/IMG_8707.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-w1vNGoIEZ343hRhnUi__Jm_twf7R858nRFJSpJRCo2Rn2bimjgvg8BT-_VY6z1fofFsZMbjRoSIK9udxkA-KirQ8GM4c1m6qw1EaXONiAr0CJHF9TbdDrKb5Ll6-j7bVEt2jxU8wEVjefrDLXJAEBo0f2ldcBwMP-sBHnC9kwbuidy5_5U3LMZw3tfq/s1867/IMG_8793.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1867" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-w1vNGoIEZ343hRhnUi__Jm_twf7R858nRFJSpJRCo2Rn2bimjgvg8BT-_VY6z1fofFsZMbjRoSIK9udxkA-KirQ8GM4c1m6qw1EaXONiAr0CJHF9TbdDrKb5Ll6-j7bVEt2jxU8wEVjefrDLXJAEBo0f2ldcBwMP-sBHnC9kwbuidy5_5U3LMZw3tfq/w640-h344/IMG_8793.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56e3ffyJsjzpzygp7-MZfzZmliCMXgMv9xbq3ae1gaqGsQZKKU3DhZYS6TWc7TcDwXzn_EnJZJjvIZbNbHgyhz1I4qW7lxYKhH9MqiypolYsgDAFH2JAs80OnPQZnAsC5solXvPE1AUmcoQfltbo855Nr11nPBq6BA8QTVcAVE_OQxaZkEVwu566ETiji/s4032/IMG_8799.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56e3ffyJsjzpzygp7-MZfzZmliCMXgMv9xbq3ae1gaqGsQZKKU3DhZYS6TWc7TcDwXzn_EnJZJjvIZbNbHgyhz1I4qW7lxYKhH9MqiypolYsgDAFH2JAs80OnPQZnAsC5solXvPE1AUmcoQfltbo855Nr11nPBq6BA8QTVcAVE_OQxaZkEVwu566ETiji/w480-h640/IMG_8799.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjID4so-yTq7XxwumJad2KBBW386Ui9jE0z0TNj1ZkRxNeTcsrystdeIqVF6hqmUOylJtk9s3NJi_IlzSWhCtQWx4Gavy7P3-fwmThYY5vVI_M2HzgBSjxBufSVaDi9OaVuhV9FbixOGXb0dYV4L5BN3N8Rj-MkFpy35F2fbUegzjSNc1E4YqgU44GkR95E/s4032/IMG_8806.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjID4so-yTq7XxwumJad2KBBW386Ui9jE0z0TNj1ZkRxNeTcsrystdeIqVF6hqmUOylJtk9s3NJi_IlzSWhCtQWx4Gavy7P3-fwmThYY5vVI_M2HzgBSjxBufSVaDi9OaVuhV9FbixOGXb0dYV4L5BN3N8Rj-MkFpy35F2fbUegzjSNc1E4YqgU44GkR95E/w640-h480/IMG_8806.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfVvjOQadrPIBKvBIa7TAWHrnSzFAxAgeWedCqz2zbfptuXLdK8sK6SujWWm3m23ExYruiHMtZ6wOKjlB880yiM-OlIiU86y_ulg_IbWgNZMT59Mi7aLaCv1EYzKhuANWeCzJrvvuiaKkE2dmII_hSv8DKepYJazsr46RB6rx9zRhBIAFGNvKOxbLKlOg/s1480/IMG_8813.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1391" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfVvjOQadrPIBKvBIa7TAWHrnSzFAxAgeWedCqz2zbfptuXLdK8sK6SujWWm3m23ExYruiHMtZ6wOKjlB880yiM-OlIiU86y_ulg_IbWgNZMT59Mi7aLaCv1EYzKhuANWeCzJrvvuiaKkE2dmII_hSv8DKepYJazsr46RB6rx9zRhBIAFGNvKOxbLKlOg/w602-h640/IMG_8813.jpeg" width="602" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The day we left, <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/november/i-stumbled-in-steps-of-good-samaritan.html" target="_blank">Team Leader Eric's article about his real-life Good Samaritan story came out in Christianity Today magazine</a>. Read if for a more in-depth ponder of the toll of responding to a neighbour's need in the midst of our own neediness. This is the life Jesus modeled, and now empowers. We celebrate the seeds of change and growth and joy, but we do so with a sober view of our difficult reality. Lament and hope, gratitude and grief. On to the next ten years.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEOITgRhnGQIoAI5gwDi6psh6VNYkz6_O5NAKiiTY3Q2_lGk_bfF3wtcnQzw-bKAryK8TJxzKSBpk_w7EFOxXP8YIoo2vvGH2BpZTFP0zqSKZbBzFlNuHn41N29iPZI8MOObNUCb_LqhN_1RwOv4aS-mA5zcvdk0X3JjSqtCEMbaoQF5SsUkV1OYWNfSX/s4032/IMG_8776.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEOITgRhnGQIoAI5gwDi6psh6VNYkz6_O5NAKiiTY3Q2_lGk_bfF3wtcnQzw-bKAryK8TJxzKSBpk_w7EFOxXP8YIoo2vvGH2BpZTFP0zqSKZbBzFlNuHn41N29iPZI8MOObNUCb_LqhN_1RwOv4aS-mA5zcvdk0X3JjSqtCEMbaoQF5SsUkV1OYWNfSX/w640-h480/IMG_8776.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-57267896851029730882023-10-14T03:02:00.002-07:002023-10-14T03:59:17.875-07:00Two trips, two countries, 30 years: in the wilderness leaning into grace<p> <span style="font-size: large;">Thirty years ago today,</span> we touched down in Entebbe with 8-month old Luke and our trunks. Those were the days before cell phones or internet, so when no one met us at the airport, we sat on those trunks on the curb for a couple of hours plotting what to do next. Swarms of lake flies surrounded us and I envisioned them being malarious mosquitoes that might end my baby's life before we even found our place. We knew the only way to make a phone call out of the country was a phone booth in the Sheraton Hotel about an hour away, but by the time we were ready to hire a taxi to find it, John Wilson Atwooki pulled up in a truck. The family who had planned to meet us was all sick at the Church of Uganda guest house in the capital, and he had been deputised to take us there. </p><p>And so the themes were set for the last thirty years. Atwooki has continued his occassional timely rescues (just a few months ago he saved us with a broken down car), we have continued to be blessed by the Church of Uganda (which just this year established a diocese IN BUNDIBUGYO and the new Bishop is speaking at CSB tomorrow!!), sicknesses both tropical and typical continue to throw up many of the day to day barriers to our plans (already consulted on one sick kid this morning, and exchanging emails with a family that has to travel for extra work up and care), and we continue to stumble through new travel experiences where <span style="font-size: large;">we're a bit lost and dependent upon the kindness of others and the grace of God.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This past week, Congo (DRC).</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpYbpNuimQwQtIVZBxsnYMK4Ux0HMApjzfCOSkMgs3phwnBf_KfLoPunL4Ik15krt2pq942Mi_EufCqx1Nax2pjV5uXIsNDK8lT00iDpftANP-qYan8yBcBWN7AZcXVTHWJIy2jyFsqz1gxTF7cZAaDehud80Ds6BqqiRKXPmwsQLjN7XSW2dq5-Ihz2v/s1024/8694a110-ddc6-4c47-b049-4aea0366b978.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1024" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpYbpNuimQwQtIVZBxsnYMK4Ux0HMApjzfCOSkMgs3phwnBf_KfLoPunL4Ik15krt2pq942Mi_EufCqx1Nax2pjV5uXIsNDK8lT00iDpftANP-qYan8yBcBWN7AZcXVTHWJIy2jyFsqz1gxTF7cZAaDehud80Ds6BqqiRKXPmwsQLjN7XSW2dq5-Ihz2v/w640-h472/8694a110-ddc6-4c47-b049-4aea0366b978.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p>Actually, more than 35 years ago, we had formed a team of college friends in America to go to eastern Congo to an area that had been identified by other missions as needing Bible translation, and had almost no church presence or health care. . . .but in the process of trying to get there we learned that the Babwisi of Bundibugyo were related to the Congo tribe over the border, spoke that same unwritten language, and that Serge had started to work in church and health on this side and needed us to join in.<span style="font-size: large;"> So we did. </span>Our Uganda team has continued to care for patients and refugees who cross the border, and enfold church leaders from Congo in training, and about 5 years ago we added a team in Nyankunde to Serge. Between insecurity there, COVID border closures, my accident, and the strain of life, we hadn't visited that team in too long. Last month when we were in Kampala we stopped in the Congo embassy and paid for visas so we could make a visit in October.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ69A4zjiAlYl0ZBBSHQpYWxORrBK6UMtKHu1XixTkF7xkhnm2skWx0ZALBGCj5s0AYHTX4riJWUPsj6OHJ9buzJnUOcBvwjv6g1O7C6JDH_LF4HP3IVkgy6BUcKvlrfEGjWYIsSl6OTk-vGe4B_Ic8nxLy-FjFYh32hfDZ3fXrfCJx8Uo6bqiQ8rjRwCq/s1280/IMG_8365.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ69A4zjiAlYl0ZBBSHQpYWxORrBK6UMtKHu1XixTkF7xkhnm2skWx0ZALBGCj5s0AYHTX4riJWUPsj6OHJ9buzJnUOcBvwjv6g1O7C6JDH_LF4HP3IVkgy6BUcKvlrfEGjWYIsSl6OTk-vGe4B_Ic8nxLy-FjFYh32hfDZ3fXrfCJx8Uo6bqiQ8rjRwCq/w640-h480/IMG_8365.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Can you see our boat waiting? Note the photos below of the process .. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FGgtpjtBixZEgO3JE4iajyqGaHD2aYRskTqCEDzSwX1dyFeUNQSp-xCp9JYIi0gSRl9ZzyA2yaRsLGFc4ZVCBUw_xBgDIz0H7DVXLooTvEPxxfoLNi8dPB4zoIa4E_LXWuZXFQS1dPSvv13YFK-I7A0MvZxlyqmz_GmDr6YZruDcvTe_q58h_1h0X71v/s1280/IMG_8374.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FGgtpjtBixZEgO3JE4iajyqGaHD2aYRskTqCEDzSwX1dyFeUNQSp-xCp9JYIi0gSRl9ZzyA2yaRsLGFc4ZVCBUw_xBgDIz0H7DVXLooTvEPxxfoLNi8dPB4zoIa4E_LXWuZXFQS1dPSvv13YFK-I7A0MvZxlyqmz_GmDr6YZruDcvTe_q58h_1h0X71v/w480-h640/IMG_8374.jpeg" width="480" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBAddbgZAGrcxZTCfBMux1AiJgpoMzvkOc4M4QTcq22Lpugj1lyETiEMsCfDoFdnKqs6RTMFooDZ6vZH2zjD-ZOpWG49hM0XsVcwAWwmAdu1Q9FhSeEA18S2-Y_RzekpQKPyFh_Vc_4lQKnDbIiQvOqOkhQCy2ziL17eNrZiTXbsjkDlBNWRnF4ZvZPhc/s1280/IMG_8118.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBAddbgZAGrcxZTCfBMux1AiJgpoMzvkOc4M4QTcq22Lpugj1lyETiEMsCfDoFdnKqs6RTMFooDZ6vZH2zjD-ZOpWG49hM0XsVcwAWwmAdu1Q9FhSeEA18S2-Y_RzekpQKPyFh_Vc_4lQKnDbIiQvOqOkhQCy2ziL17eNrZiTXbsjkDlBNWRnF4ZvZPhc/w640-h480/IMG_8118.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nMV0Naw7xExeoJjrHLODAJISJ1wpUmtrMRvVAL2LdaMN5Toyl09_wBm7rSAyJYs-tinhejFyRVEPk2mN-VZKRBC727UbIjXfg57D_BIm1_3bL16wCBhUQcLz8tSHMCHSE3Jv8OJmgMyZR6703NEZ87Z5se62OMgo2Q3OpQD_cJo3DK2xhD5JJF28PgdY/s1280/5adbd57e-a732-4519-967f-6ed0685d7bfa.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nMV0Naw7xExeoJjrHLODAJISJ1wpUmtrMRvVAL2LdaMN5Toyl09_wBm7rSAyJYs-tinhejFyRVEPk2mN-VZKRBC727UbIjXfg57D_BIm1_3bL16wCBhUQcLz8tSHMCHSE3Jv8OJmgMyZR6703NEZ87Z5se62OMgo2Q3OpQD_cJo3DK2xhD5JJF28PgdY/w640-h480/5adbd57e-a732-4519-967f-6ed0685d7bfa.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Bunia is only 70 miles as the crow flies from our home in Nyahuka. But that's 70 miles of no real passable roads and of villages frequented by rebel groups, so it's not easy for us to get there. We've gone by a circuitous road route in the past (150 miles), crossed the Semiliki in a little canoe to meet a MAF plane once, flown from Entebbe into Bunia too. But recently a couple of small companies started running a "high speed ferry" (a 20 ish foot long boat with bench seating in a glassed-in central area and a motor that crosses in about 1.5 hours) across Lake Albert. Our team leaders, the LaRochelles, tried it out, and it sounded so much easier than driving 8 hours to Entebbe to fly back across Uganda . . . so this trip we took the boat too.<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Long day into a short story, we haven't learned a LOT in 30 years. .</span> . .once again the timing was ambiguous, finding the right people and procedures tedious, the departure point in Uganda is about 2 hours from us and the arrival point in Congo nearly 2 hours from our team, so it's still an all-day effort. But all went well. We moved with only small daypacks and our visas, and were well cared for by our team.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The main highlight of 5+ days in Congo is the Congolese</span>. For a people who have known some of the worst colonial injustice, some of the most intractable and devastating war, and some of the most lethal diseases (King Leopold, Mobutu, and Ebola are all pretty rough but accurate words for Congo), the atmosphere in person is incredibly welcoming. We had six formal meetings with partners, and without fail they thanked our team for expressing the <b>solidarity of presence and the practicality of love,</b> and asked us to stay. We shared meals and toured camps and hospitals and listened and prayed. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnATEDUt7Ido5kQIkrI9U0w7sgEbidazvlGE-cTn_v7d8aRECVeJhdGnvYGbjYcL1YrhyphenhyphenZBRKwIJv-zEFdoto3gkyKOmve6U9bXcxYHsAvz5GINfGsKPf7iGHoGEJ4prl0AmX3jEzlwh4bg7ScNimaghHvypPzsGPMBzZcRE09RXAEOr5uQsRHe6rFeaHM/s1280/IMG_8267.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1280" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnATEDUt7Ido5kQIkrI9U0w7sgEbidazvlGE-cTn_v7d8aRECVeJhdGnvYGbjYcL1YrhyphenhyphenZBRKwIJv-zEFdoto3gkyKOmve6U9bXcxYHsAvz5GINfGsKPf7iGHoGEJ4prl0AmX3jEzlwh4bg7ScNimaghHvypPzsGPMBzZcRE09RXAEOr5uQsRHe6rFeaHM/w640-h424/IMG_8267.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHKWdA3IdCivz7ks2PVk7TwtD1qTUghoMxxj1mMmJwZnlgaAjuLlCo9F297RCkqT0GgB8jrYUl97t42VT8WczhBzCE4v-Tk3kGNINVb6Jqbh53Ve8c-W9reaWxvBnXcKJJq_d2HM-OFVsnfkWsBNSCAPziZARr0-qhXi6mLxLl98D6BIdIkSrCQXbzKpC/s1280/IMG_8158.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1280" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHKWdA3IdCivz7ks2PVk7TwtD1qTUghoMxxj1mMmJwZnlgaAjuLlCo9F297RCkqT0GgB8jrYUl97t42VT8WczhBzCE4v-Tk3kGNINVb6Jqbh53Ve8c-W9reaWxvBnXcKJJq_d2HM-OFVsnfkWsBNSCAPziZARr0-qhXi6mLxLl98D6BIdIkSrCQXbzKpC/w640-h402/IMG_8158.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMoqBKr9xOQUn9OCPa79PAALxzAzm0CqVNmgiJl9hCwlwJ94C3OaLhqr5bcuFTl8mEJnYyK_1iNxzfFaJjBf1BBeEv3izsTWMNWDNl3ltIGkrqskBmblmjuaf2fKT8br9iRrIgOx2kCH78X5HVR3_8-RxBZ4dCA7GBE3m2gMDg85eP1JNhIg0BUVAriI66/s1280/IMG_8173.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMoqBKr9xOQUn9OCPa79PAALxzAzm0CqVNmgiJl9hCwlwJ94C3OaLhqr5bcuFTl8mEJnYyK_1iNxzfFaJjBf1BBeEv3izsTWMNWDNl3ltIGkrqskBmblmjuaf2fKT8br9iRrIgOx2kCH78X5HVR3_8-RxBZ4dCA7GBE3m2gMDg85eP1JNhIg0BUVAriI66/w640-h480/IMG_8173.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKrzfD6wPQaiCpzwGMVmEdKJmzOF-TIMI4A5Ihr0jZ9CMF8VgrVpOK6_o5On5rkOGQHxQ8kGhYhVrG_Nl2NOmYiLFbCrmJX9eSiRORsPUvLYAcdkt17C-pnogNhFPmW1vg9CamP5qhFNJQBUlxfyISkwgRTU-6jEissRVFen24RayZxNfjgLfjqHmCCHK/s1024/43f3dd2d-a247-4363-951b-89338eac433b.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1024" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKrzfD6wPQaiCpzwGMVmEdKJmzOF-TIMI4A5Ihr0jZ9CMF8VgrVpOK6_o5On5rkOGQHxQ8kGhYhVrG_Nl2NOmYiLFbCrmJX9eSiRORsPUvLYAcdkt17C-pnogNhFPmW1vg9CamP5qhFNJQBUlxfyISkwgRTU-6jEissRVFen24RayZxNfjgLfjqHmCCHK/w640-h434/43f3dd2d-a247-4363-951b-89338eac433b.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p>The second highlight was the team. The LaRochelles (in about 2015) and the Staffords (in about 2020) came as Samaritan's Purse post-residents to Nyankunde and in spite of multiple evacuations and sorrows remain committed to blessing the people of Congo. They live in a hard place, difficult to access, with little capacity to share the work loads or find respite. <b>But they both carry a strong vision for the world's good and God's glory, for restoring all things in partnership with Jesus who is making all things new.</b> Inspiring words that obscure the hourly reality of a jolting unpaved road, unpredictable access to water or power, the lurking threat of skirmishes between armed groups, hungry kids and patients in advanced stages of problems that should have been addressed months or years before. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaME5N5vxcQhrurwvDLNNHDrDjVCbEM0MXRDC7nd-cbm9UAqYX4sX6fF9V1_1CHCt02DD5vsJTS_Y1TarI95a_9ziNDFzK3LG5R0Q9GoiFvmzCIU0m-aP2F10Rz4yZCtmfQ88Yd_vKEwFpcxf636n8-krMwXyEI_yXYM5xoRX6C0nfm8PVriTCBDUKHvUC/s1280/IMG_8221.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaME5N5vxcQhrurwvDLNNHDrDjVCbEM0MXRDC7nd-cbm9UAqYX4sX6fF9V1_1CHCt02DD5vsJTS_Y1TarI95a_9ziNDFzK3LG5R0Q9GoiFvmzCIU0m-aP2F10Rz4yZCtmfQ88Yd_vKEwFpcxf636n8-krMwXyEI_yXYM5xoRX6C0nfm8PVriTCBDUKHvUC/w640-h480/IMG_8221.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oucDHyQ6MNfoK83U7LSYRz0sb5xZrAhytBqZeuG4NEqucRBG_TNVZEdiUBQEqClQklE_8f9GKOXPwvEikLaiO2rfFtpLh_I29rGYEyYcBbiHDG3BAj3bC0PKLg5GGo7hHgo9LM9f99bHqEgbqcIY9aLGXMohVgNCi-SDVlpZE9OmLoHj8VffbCtzloEZ/s1280/IMG_8238.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oucDHyQ6MNfoK83U7LSYRz0sb5xZrAhytBqZeuG4NEqucRBG_TNVZEdiUBQEqClQklE_8f9GKOXPwvEikLaiO2rfFtpLh_I29rGYEyYcBbiHDG3BAj3bC0PKLg5GGo7hHgo9LM9f99bHqEgbqcIY9aLGXMohVgNCi-SDVlpZE9OmLoHj8VffbCtzloEZ/w640-h480/IMG_8238.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtISN6JCv3KD3zfObJZjhnvhks0z5mfPNuTtSAJBTcix8ghILRCUMnc3EiNLmjWkgP8mEA4-m1LKZ5-_JSUvP1O5RFN-cjcxDboBfbue5AxFeRRDl39uR_Qj3XN43j-G4xjl8GA4ji3bAA1S0kz5uAf_vb9H-LS7kfdqYl8Dn2jm7NHG9dqKBuykMk23vX/s1280/IMG_8278.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtISN6JCv3KD3zfObJZjhnvhks0z5mfPNuTtSAJBTcix8ghILRCUMnc3EiNLmjWkgP8mEA4-m1LKZ5-_JSUvP1O5RFN-cjcxDboBfbue5AxFeRRDl39uR_Qj3XN43j-G4xjl8GA4ji3bAA1S0kz5uAf_vb9H-LS7kfdqYl8Dn2jm7NHG9dqKBuykMk23vX/w640-h480/IMG_8278.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>One of our meetings opened with a Congolese security advisor saying "<span style="font-size: large;">you know, Congo is a conflict zone.</span>" One of the driving urgencies of our visit was to assess the complex interplay of a hundred tribally based militias, a couple of larger international rebel groups, a national army, the UN's long and less-effective-than-hoped-for peacekeeping mission which the DRC government has asked to draw to a close, thousands of people displaced from home, upcoming national elections in December . . . all as a background to our faith-based NGO and a few others as well as western government-funded aid trying to forge some safety nets. </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In this world you will have trouble,</span> Jesus said. The DRC would not dispute that summary of life. <span style="font-size: large;">But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world</span>, Jesus concluded. Over and over God leads people into wilderness to lovingly teach them to lean on grace. You can pray for our team's stamina to keep pouring out for the needs of Congo, to keep living the hard story of the Gospel. And pray for us and other leaders to wisely embrace a holistic, long-term view of bringing hope into that place.</p><p>This week the DRC might not even seem like an important story in light of rumbling horrible aggression in the Middle East, Europe, elsewhere. God holds all these tears in a bottle, cares for every sparrow that falls. Deaths in the last year or last week, compared to USA losses in 2001:</p><p><span> </span> DRCongo civilians in Ituri/North Kivu killed by rebel militias this year 1,800 (6 million in 20 yrs)</p><p><span> </span>Ukrainian civilians killed in Russian invasion 9,614 (military combatant numbers too obscured)</p><p><span><span> Israeli and Palestinian civilians killed in this week's attacks 2,300 and climbing</span><br /></span></p><p><span><span><span> USA civilians killed in 9-11 attacks 2,977 people</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span> USA civilians killed annually by guns (both suicide and personal aggression) 48,000</span><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>We all need the good news, that love is stronger than death.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>Come Lord Jesus.</span></span></span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiNhxZ9YpcKHD9KmNag2Er_SN4rru3wQPuKFZh4NkqXUUgTg96HJG2SQ7esRoKnSfK0hzCcrtvoaukmF0BVfk6FYrQtEmk93nhRYpMnzTE2YyceF0w5v6Coifx7OotT0jwmP1aI6HWaYoeApL1roWGk6PGaRCPnCHXv890udQaJal4gWwIO3uuViw1qlG/s1280/IMG_8293.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiNhxZ9YpcKHD9KmNag2Er_SN4rru3wQPuKFZh4NkqXUUgTg96HJG2SQ7esRoKnSfK0hzCcrtvoaukmF0BVfk6FYrQtEmk93nhRYpMnzTE2YyceF0w5v6Coifx7OotT0jwmP1aI6HWaYoeApL1roWGk6PGaRCPnCHXv890udQaJal4gWwIO3uuViw1qlG/w640-h480/IMG_8293.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFaD2ifDFJiLivKK0kjYjUPy_sfTzwf5Ebf_IAe0OeLuaTCixLAIGb-1fgpndi8OFKaOEi1otF7JKssPUxaF3FYOR5NYIWCcokXjZJTzmvlMK-Ym4pHYcDjzxLW8QlUrKlq_fNoP1d3TiTEArhdjCUe6krfczRWZiE3U-j_Cw-LdgsxdOct9T1y5oXRDt/s1280/IMG_8244.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFaD2ifDFJiLivKK0kjYjUPy_sfTzwf5Ebf_IAe0OeLuaTCixLAIGb-1fgpndi8OFKaOEi1otF7JKssPUxaF3FYOR5NYIWCcokXjZJTzmvlMK-Ym4pHYcDjzxLW8QlUrKlq_fNoP1d3TiTEArhdjCUe6krfczRWZiE3U-j_Cw-LdgsxdOct9T1y5oXRDt/w480-h640/IMG_8244.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rpHu0PVjgcoWDfc2KyBLfqMQUkfSjJUPQ7HvEpPkEyHleyrMqOKQg090z2FTmHVUNwwcQTAcd_rhPgqnwVX-9tIdQ3bNWCxSgb6nnj3XhGxcEPvIpJcHisM3iDLybHFqXzn3lI3d7w2VaodNc0CWHVBFrWxjN2PfP8rpo4PKn1EhU3KNRHlMFQRY9wo5/s1280/IMG_8220.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="1280" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rpHu0PVjgcoWDfc2KyBLfqMQUkfSjJUPQ7HvEpPkEyHleyrMqOKQg090z2FTmHVUNwwcQTAcd_rhPgqnwVX-9tIdQ3bNWCxSgb6nnj3XhGxcEPvIpJcHisM3iDLybHFqXzn3lI3d7w2VaodNc0CWHVBFrWxjN2PfP8rpo4PKn1EhU3KNRHlMFQRY9wo5/w640-h386/IMG_8220.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span><span> </span><br /></span></p><p><span><span><br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-75034868249956617332023-10-01T07:45:00.010-07:002023-10-01T07:47:15.215-07:00On being a peg<p> No matter how many times I read the Bible, there are always new phrases that pop out. One day this week the lectionary assigned Ezra 9, and as the prophet laments the state of exile and failure he says in verse 8 says that for a little while grace has been shown to give us a peg in the holy place. A tent-peg, a pin that holds the temporary shelter anchored in a storm. </p><p>That captures some picture of what we are here. Not super strong or beautiful or famous, but still a reliable little wedge that holds on in the muddy realities of life. </p><p>This week back after the glories of the mountaintops (see <a href="https://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2023/09/114-miles-of-sabbath-and-september-news.html">previous post</a>) has been a challenging pace of problems, not unexpected after a few weeks of deferred engagement. But in the middle of things falling apart we had two full days of celebration. On Thursday, Dr. Isaiah Kule married Masika Emily. Isaiah entered CSB as an orphan and graduated in Caleb and John's class, his determination and good will catching the eye of Dr. Travis back then who advocated we include him in the Dr. Jonah Kule scholarship fund for medical school. He came back after graduation and worked on the paediatric and neonatal wards with me here in Bundibugyo until he became convinced he needed to do a Paeds residency, which we also sponsored (along with some government help). He's just finishing his final thesis project to graduate with that master's degree (residency in Africa) and decided this was the time to marry Emily (whom he went to university with, she's a pharmacist) in the church. Isaiah gathered a wide net of support for this huge party, not just us but the CSB alumni, the hospital, the mission, his residency colleagues, his uncles, etc. His integrity shines, and his joyful face through the many hours of the ceremonies and celebration. We pray that he and Emily have a partnership to pour into the neediest places in this country with their lives and skills.</p><p>On Saturday, the Christ School candidates party pulled us into another day of music, dance, speeches, food, and hope. The Senior Four and Senior Six classes will begin intensive weeks of exams, sitting for 3-4 hour papers every day or two in many subjects. There is no "graduation" with a diploma, because everything about their future comes from the exam results which won't be released until early 2024. So before the gruelling testing period each year, the kids get a day to dress up and dream big. </p><p>On both these occasions we are the only foreigners and probably among less than a handful of people over age 60. It's not our party. . . . and yet we sense that our presence brings that tent peg anchor of stability that the young people seek. We've been around their lives since their birth (longer) and so represent continuity and consistency, a steady foundation in a changing world. We also represent being seen by distant places in spite of living at the end of the road. And we try to represent the loving connecting community of God's family that transcends age and ethnicity. </p><p>So here's to being old tent pegs! Prayers that we can stand firm.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7or3pZrNMjoOrFRVkAyj47qOa0cXhVUdgsnSJ7J1613GAI08H60KxoKzluRSfOKvP6L_7-4syKGdhQrFuY1jda7tn8BAXmnGLi1ucKs5fNUETfcl8dlljn9voaNBCL2JW6-H8LZb7dp1dIEVUBJs58jZyx3dLWkINsnleEYMsI0ztMbVpIMzC2bscokEt/s1080/1841117c-af17-4103-854c-830297d234a6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7or3pZrNMjoOrFRVkAyj47qOa0cXhVUdgsnSJ7J1613GAI08H60KxoKzluRSfOKvP6L_7-4syKGdhQrFuY1jda7tn8BAXmnGLi1ucKs5fNUETfcl8dlljn9voaNBCL2JW6-H8LZb7dp1dIEVUBJs58jZyx3dLWkINsnleEYMsI0ztMbVpIMzC2bscokEt/w640-h480/1841117c-af17-4103-854c-830297d234a6.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXA9sOi_8RiNrO_pXIDFmRd1WqCxwgn50lsXGjf4J2a1VxTLhKr5xckG7ZMaEzD57CIdVMfQA6GhpiWE4Aya6ztpWJqHecLcn8-O9FQ7yuXUE3l1xNQa2U21zDaXePU613gw63Km-ncAeZ8CLC_jGuPYEiH7vDJjxhwPnHSzfEH2yE_90jOSB3I4jk2X2/s1280/IMG_4872.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXA9sOi_8RiNrO_pXIDFmRd1WqCxwgn50lsXGjf4J2a1VxTLhKr5xckG7ZMaEzD57CIdVMfQA6GhpiWE4Aya6ztpWJqHecLcn8-O9FQ7yuXUE3l1xNQa2U21zDaXePU613gw63Km-ncAeZ8CLC_jGuPYEiH7vDJjxhwPnHSzfEH2yE_90jOSB3I4jk2X2/w640-h480/IMG_4872.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-Og64S-OsxGgZHG5Zduy44ykKytM5JkkvhEm3Fd_Gm3J1aWAzPVILXYFtte4-VGG-cVUuwTgR0RTHc9AwVFklfA4KsZsgGWDv9UdamU93fp26yANqWQxQtByOweE_hanOM9Ekx6FECQ5rzg5ZEW9YTWeCxtVBJxP23zCQkhVU9gTv9nMuZjRDrEOBYKF/s1280/IMG_4908.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1280" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-Og64S-OsxGgZHG5Zduy44ykKytM5JkkvhEm3Fd_Gm3J1aWAzPVILXYFtte4-VGG-cVUuwTgR0RTHc9AwVFklfA4KsZsgGWDv9UdamU93fp26yANqWQxQtByOweE_hanOM9Ekx6FECQ5rzg5ZEW9YTWeCxtVBJxP23zCQkhVU9gTv9nMuZjRDrEOBYKF/w640-h442/IMG_4908.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjYOyjLMdMiPsALYl4juUT6oIe2cNu7bQShP3xIXpGbjUMHoFyyjqfo4H_Ds7vdcF5IsRDUvA1BlK9lQKvXJ-9KtESvUIblYbjI16fcKlrMOvlYijMwDJog4NEDSfYqndXbdkO4emunycwNDFnnVUWpQKpFXebDHDL1vlZ97qeLChgP9iuAP7T3NBHggK/s1280/IMG_7936.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjYOyjLMdMiPsALYl4juUT6oIe2cNu7bQShP3xIXpGbjUMHoFyyjqfo4H_Ds7vdcF5IsRDUvA1BlK9lQKvXJ-9KtESvUIblYbjI16fcKlrMOvlYijMwDJog4NEDSfYqndXbdkO4emunycwNDFnnVUWpQKpFXebDHDL1vlZ97qeLChgP9iuAP7T3NBHggK/w640-h480/IMG_7936.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPP1KGbsJ3PmYvY1o2cA0sg-tfmhp_aVSRoVxDg_jOYfpgiMPP62hMOXltPk4JLd6vuU8kPe-vdIQ3Z2XByao090If2mpTZl6uqIMXkukkQds9ZBu5TsH5cwwoHJJyl8hqTfzo14iYxSDzsB-KpY5Ud6ci7J8bYWBa4qF_0GW40y5vIYBbmufJ5qwNof8T/s1280/IMG_7944.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPP1KGbsJ3PmYvY1o2cA0sg-tfmhp_aVSRoVxDg_jOYfpgiMPP62hMOXltPk4JLd6vuU8kPe-vdIQ3Z2XByao090If2mpTZl6uqIMXkukkQds9ZBu5TsH5cwwoHJJyl8hqTfzo14iYxSDzsB-KpY5Ud6ci7J8bYWBa4qF_0GW40y5vIYBbmufJ5qwNof8T/w640-h480/IMG_7944.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRcuCDiKLRUScejZHcIZ6OL6ww9dAipbGpMkdGkRkbxanpYB4-RdMjGkaEuE8VGUYWW4EmSWXdWmQw1-hTCWBiS-D9vcNk1_Xxo2nLU6MUhhh5OzOWxR5N9GbwtATYrc1Ja3wWXBDQ79xOd5SrRQC46Wtg3m_fP9dzUrTrOo6cpZgmCXy3Oq-_bDmjNo0/s1280/IMG_7970%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRcuCDiKLRUScejZHcIZ6OL6ww9dAipbGpMkdGkRkbxanpYB4-RdMjGkaEuE8VGUYWW4EmSWXdWmQw1-hTCWBiS-D9vcNk1_Xxo2nLU6MUhhh5OzOWxR5N9GbwtATYrc1Ja3wWXBDQ79xOd5SrRQC46Wtg3m_fP9dzUrTrOo6cpZgmCXy3Oq-_bDmjNo0/w640-h480/IMG_7970%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-8467883952129407382023-09-24T07:50:00.001-07:002023-09-24T11:04:03.133-07:00114 miles of sabbath, and September news<p> September began and ends in Bundibugyo, but the three weeks in the middle saw us travel out to Kampala, meet our Burundian partners, fly to Serge leadership semi-annual meetings for a week, take a ten-day off-line off-work real leave by hiking in the Alps, and then return into the usual fray.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCee0hbUKmfJ72K_SKFE4YrrBMGpV6nQrYxBPqvRCUg7ImtQugM0881AUsz5q0hOrGvwklow6hRC6DI7U9Q9TZEr8XrpvgYvp3urJF6woO2uoeX4WLd-G-P3PoStBJfG5Asc8btFLGUvpuRsPW2KHDypm9KeNBUxuaZARtzF5ykkDGYmJ1S9lqARMhfk7M/s1405/IMG_3397.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="1405" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCee0hbUKmfJ72K_SKFE4YrrBMGpV6nQrYxBPqvRCUg7ImtQugM0881AUsz5q0hOrGvwklow6hRC6DI7U9Q9TZEr8XrpvgYvp3urJF6woO2uoeX4WLd-G-P3PoStBJfG5Asc8btFLGUvpuRsPW2KHDypm9KeNBUxuaZARtzF5ykkDGYmJ1S9lqARMhfk7M/s320/IMG_3397.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: large;">This post is in praise of rhythms of reflection, and of rest.</span> Not as the ultimate goal, but as the nod to our frail and limited humanity. God set 3 different week-long festivals of gathering for feasting and worship and memory in the ancient calendar . . . which makes more and more sense. And not that we had a grand plan, but the requirement of the meeting led Scott to propose that we return to the hike we started for our 30th anniversary 6 years ago that we aborted to be with his parents as his dad died. No regrets that we left and were able to spend Dave's last days with him and Ruth, an honour. And this year is still a 30th, not of marriage but of life in East Africa (we moved to Uganda 30 years ago in October). </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The juxtaposition of the meeting and the hike hits the beauty of a break from two directions.</span> First, in the meeting we were with 17 Serge leaders, some of whom we've worked with those entire 30 years. And we had been tasked to gather data from all 11 teams/6 countries in our Area, which led to deep reflection on God's mercy and grace. We spent hours praying together, and reading Scripture, and sharing meals and stories. And hours generating strategies to bring our teams into the years ahead. I read today that a "<b>sacred space</b>" is like a circle, everything relates to a center and exists in the now, with distractions falling away . . which is true of these meetings. So while a week of required leadership work is not exactly rest, the focus on what matters with people we love, getting away from normal life, did make it a bit like a festival.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW75dah3TCEaJ4DBpZBE96mOTIUygktLguEZhaF-5Wj6Qd60EKgrv2er-gtI230Fdqx29iF3nFJrA-Ao6nrWpuoGFWYqUsbYTNx0D0Vh8OxmnWm3-jy5PMKpsnNWGCZPkIeABPSHtsAow4Yu9wqJILhVi1f4XmCXGra-DmknkOVN2ug7SIpkuP_qJ3L47-/s4032/MT%20Team%20Sep%202023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW75dah3TCEaJ4DBpZBE96mOTIUygktLguEZhaF-5Wj6Qd60EKgrv2er-gtI230Fdqx29iF3nFJrA-Ao6nrWpuoGFWYqUsbYTNx0D0Vh8OxmnWm3-jy5PMKpsnNWGCZPkIeABPSHtsAow4Yu9wqJILhVi1f4XmCXGra-DmknkOVN2ug7SIpkuP_qJ3L47-/w640-h480/MT%20Team%20Sep%202023.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>But the ten days following were the other side of true rest: we were outdoors, largely in wild high regions, unplugged and fairly solitary, climbing and walking and praying and meditating and occasionally talking, gasping for breath and watching for footing and awed by the views. We circled Mont Blanc, daily ascending and descending the roots of the mountain, ending in quaint towns with inns each evening and scaling precipitous ridges or strolling through meadows each day. The trail was more challenging than I had imagined as a person with brain injury impact, though I'm thankful for Scott's patience and my sturdy hiking poles. We were pushed to the limits (mine at least) physically and gifted with peaceful quiet and stunning views of glaciers and forests and rivers. It is a rare time in life to disengage for ten days and walk with God. And doing that on a mountain made the journey <span style="font-size: large;">reflect life. Not easy, right on the edge of possible, but good to encounter both the dangers and the beauties <i>together</i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBo1mQ5XOcCwpWMmcIaV4w-g_SD2_Bdl0UwcuYyG-VurxUXxPOYEbB-qVbgIuAXGg84bBCHLu3pKN7hA_K1QJjFNhBJYtOkTkfa8y3Fwykd2FyDNIPaHZIa4nO_f36dXKqan7xV69848P02NeQE1zRvw5m4xSNA_vVIi9vxebPXS8FvW0-P6C8p6QJxRwX/s4032/IMG_4733.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBo1mQ5XOcCwpWMmcIaV4w-g_SD2_Bdl0UwcuYyG-VurxUXxPOYEbB-qVbgIuAXGg84bBCHLu3pKN7hA_K1QJjFNhBJYtOkTkfa8y3Fwykd2FyDNIPaHZIa4nO_f36dXKqan7xV69848P02NeQE1zRvw5m4xSNA_vVIi9vxebPXS8FvW0-P6C8p6QJxRwX/w640-h480/IMG_4733.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNi5s8lDxadOia8gpqNHgngq5eoBaOm4Itcv9A1VSSrC4-V7JePJd0Z0Xo2Wzqnc-gabffHu001GgaHQmCVTR3wQZ0KdzWjxhquYkLMOGpi1zFgpvyrqFyGVEgbhEJo_f-8oEgkaYyEQ_0WvJEmRJqB7fbw0SP2rbXn9RBBBPqp2RPuxnaMfqFnsn9ZoGg/s4032/DJI_20230910_120336_168.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNi5s8lDxadOia8gpqNHgngq5eoBaOm4Itcv9A1VSSrC4-V7JePJd0Z0Xo2Wzqnc-gabffHu001GgaHQmCVTR3wQZ0KdzWjxhquYkLMOGpi1zFgpvyrqFyGVEgbhEJo_f-8oEgkaYyEQ_0WvJEmRJqB7fbw0SP2rbXn9RBBBPqp2RPuxnaMfqFnsn9ZoGg/w640-h480/DJI_20230910_120336_168.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Vbb1Jqn8qSee-Sbhi5HsllkLmsAEHwDzFcD6nEav9bJmRHQuzIPTfTI6ShQY2hwo9AHaveH21_6yJ64vXBmpSDSx-5VIY_lG52zYnwinPM9VrVnmfxELxUPrY63cRMxz5jbj3CqgVSWJvkRuCvzWwNoKBnvXAcVO8nYHAA-STFB4JS4gRPM0EQsP1eeh/s4032/IMG_3913.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Vbb1Jqn8qSee-Sbhi5HsllkLmsAEHwDzFcD6nEav9bJmRHQuzIPTfTI6ShQY2hwo9AHaveH21_6yJ64vXBmpSDSx-5VIY_lG52zYnwinPM9VrVnmfxELxUPrY63cRMxz5jbj3CqgVSWJvkRuCvzWwNoKBnvXAcVO8nYHAA-STFB4JS4gRPM0EQsP1eeh/w640-h480/IMG_3913.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYET3STedfF8RzXF_Lz-J9Dm7eYdvqfG6CHGSbY22d5GTIGP8K27YwEDODTZo91VFex6SmFp_v3Th3xnjEDSEOHScSW24wcbJhpxbDKI32eSgNwAQUvFGHxjQ-kfTlohsTKqITsP0TG1_Qi3UVBlI57cKX3VHFlmPuvAvY1yewK-GVPwtITIgr4q0PE0B/s4032/IMG_3591%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLYET3STedfF8RzXF_Lz-J9Dm7eYdvqfG6CHGSbY22d5GTIGP8K27YwEDODTZo91VFex6SmFp_v3Th3xnjEDSEOHScSW24wcbJhpxbDKI32eSgNwAQUvFGHxjQ-kfTlohsTKqITsP0TG1_Qi3UVBlI57cKX3VHFlmPuvAvY1yewK-GVPwtITIgr4q0PE0B/w640-h480/IMG_3591%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOg2m-rztGnJwAwUu-BVjVftyoVIq1u8elrQqQWaJ6iJzKNJ_QMxc8XF7IgLA0HeLYnFOtAs9zu74pqME58rb1U4Otdc5CbWqGzSxjmVbFeV6p5c1XS0k7D8GQNbPMdXMWy6uCoYF2h4bL04zo1ZOhiqMKadsWW1yrF_PN63XwQ-0vDObeqMOyatczJbvg/s4032/IMG_3924.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOg2m-rztGnJwAwUu-BVjVftyoVIq1u8elrQqQWaJ6iJzKNJ_QMxc8XF7IgLA0HeLYnFOtAs9zu74pqME58rb1U4Otdc5CbWqGzSxjmVbFeV6p5c1XS0k7D8GQNbPMdXMWy6uCoYF2h4bL04zo1ZOhiqMKadsWW1yrF_PN63XwQ-0vDObeqMOyatczJbvg/w640-h480/IMG_3924.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4OBeG3szq_w6OfIY2IQYvjSfu3yMD-4q6YBDKjtUYCO7OQw2UjUFt3nqOe1NKI8IqfZA7_VVRFZ3_k8gT2FAQM88SIDf3XRETV0131Kx6tepW5DW3ROaviTqHQnHYis_NGeiAm1iG7g-GNoUt5z1f8xXwpbY-mMWCKGfSBpQMjyZQn0OYpMtPQ_ckYE-/s4032/IMG_4122.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4OBeG3szq_w6OfIY2IQYvjSfu3yMD-4q6YBDKjtUYCO7OQw2UjUFt3nqOe1NKI8IqfZA7_VVRFZ3_k8gT2FAQM88SIDf3XRETV0131Kx6tepW5DW3ROaviTqHQnHYis_NGeiAm1iG7g-GNoUt5z1f8xXwpbY-mMWCKGfSBpQMjyZQn0OYpMtPQ_ckYE-/w640-h480/IMG_4122.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusI-Em54DIntN75FHfwWelsSuwVUzDfRZ9b-WKrvmcNaxgZyoSu7GPnqSyKyn_Ns8fA9eV-AbYO1SIw8a8oSG3agFxHGo-gm9SnJGJJxFqn2_mvkrdbzN6ririXPrXfImXVimvR_BOjnkcSYiJMAd8BYesaJifNC5YjBVoEj6WAzTXtKWc8qm4DdeWUWf/s4032/IMG_3665.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusI-Em54DIntN75FHfwWelsSuwVUzDfRZ9b-WKrvmcNaxgZyoSu7GPnqSyKyn_Ns8fA9eV-AbYO1SIw8a8oSG3agFxHGo-gm9SnJGJJxFqn2_mvkrdbzN6ririXPrXfImXVimvR_BOjnkcSYiJMAd8BYesaJifNC5YjBVoEj6WAzTXtKWc8qm4DdeWUWf/w640-h480/IMG_3665.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn3mvgywqabdTG1_cGjTnf1sI5i0ZgyZO1bhNdpD42czq7WP73aBiZJKYAnGeszVi8SIWeXpdO__hs5fvv0o0RbNLnOdf8UtN18E6ym5eGHd_QES8Gluo4GdF60YHPINI2e4xAtmsO-qoXwsg_qAe1aB6tZaoHiy67A4eF2O3ipgqTMQsQ_y1kEypPxmq/s4032/IMG_4451.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUn3mvgywqabdTG1_cGjTnf1sI5i0ZgyZO1bhNdpD42czq7WP73aBiZJKYAnGeszVi8SIWeXpdO__hs5fvv0o0RbNLnOdf8UtN18E6ym5eGHd_QES8Gluo4GdF60YHPINI2e4xAtmsO-qoXwsg_qAe1aB6tZaoHiy67A4eF2O3ipgqTMQsQ_y1kEypPxmq/w640-h480/IMG_4451.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_iVz2d1f7-x1GwXV6HINfSDPFTtUP1JQyFY5ULBBbl6usyEG_eOe6x5__CRAOsGqifjTDCFxnrpD9FagOmSTGA-2tREhK_O19tSF3F0UsGEWIB2qGNSuCU7S3jU3K7m_MiA8FQb_JLvRfA8aDeqWpiH7ut5Vu5bByg40R77_jlOx621rpALlcq7MYX1r/s4032/IMG_4697.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_iVz2d1f7-x1GwXV6HINfSDPFTtUP1JQyFY5ULBBbl6usyEG_eOe6x5__CRAOsGqifjTDCFxnrpD9FagOmSTGA-2tREhK_O19tSF3F0UsGEWIB2qGNSuCU7S3jU3K7m_MiA8FQb_JLvRfA8aDeqWpiH7ut5Vu5bByg40R77_jlOx621rpALlcq7MYX1r/w640-h480/IMG_4697.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3u0O7th0gPvuPoPZf0XHdk-Rxm3xHsPEnAqPxW_uDpV09Bc2XTmQLz4_C_WTg82W_JZLC-loOduqqBciuDTl9pHPOuU1VZjhyKnXvazadg4F5l4I7AOfswCfS1SJib2Gs2CfQZGOR4iMpY6F-uhI1wHS37_TQGV49LqJ3o0r7xevGoTqCxeCzuKOzmZdI/s4032/IMG_3830.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3u0O7th0gPvuPoPZf0XHdk-Rxm3xHsPEnAqPxW_uDpV09Bc2XTmQLz4_C_WTg82W_JZLC-loOduqqBciuDTl9pHPOuU1VZjhyKnXvazadg4F5l4I7AOfswCfS1SJib2Gs2CfQZGOR4iMpY6F-uhI1wHS37_TQGV49LqJ3o0r7xevGoTqCxeCzuKOzmZdI/w640-h480/IMG_3830.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Last night we pulled back into the home where we have lived longer than any other, welcomed by our team and our dog Lindi. Ahead we have hard decisions and paucities of wisdom and energy and clamours of need and clouds of obscurity. But behind us we have the solid memory of a leadership team of real friends, and an Alpen route of true wonder. And a re-set spirit to remember that God is with us.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobHncWFsaBtjPgUGpkbCaZxbQ-yfJXCnk3vE_BYILbT3Rzq4SgIfvZuV7tyeqcZiWycaIXARWA5t_LJ0hd-sL9EHI6DV-eSmQL_u4y2-BIZZBxFdsnhlfgTBIuLTiM9WkBL6BwId9-XEeJ7LcMaIj1Wsblb1H3n35Op4sjFvYy1Okahx9DWNl_fTYJ3Nt/s4032/IMG_4837.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobHncWFsaBtjPgUGpkbCaZxbQ-yfJXCnk3vE_BYILbT3Rzq4SgIfvZuV7tyeqcZiWycaIXARWA5t_LJ0hd-sL9EHI6DV-eSmQL_u4y2-BIZZBxFdsnhlfgTBIuLTiM9WkBL6BwId9-XEeJ7LcMaIj1Wsblb1H3n35Op4sjFvYy1Okahx9DWNl_fTYJ3Nt/w480-h640/IMG_4837.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-69992156645355492042023-08-06T08:52:00.002-07:002023-08-06T08:52:27.815-07:00There and Back Again . . . 2+ months, 2 graduations, 2 moms, 2 moves, 2 continents<p>The first Sunday afternoon in August, and our second back here in Bundibugyo, has both the rooted familiarity of feeling we never left, and the head spinning reality of holding onto an increasingly dual-track life. In 1993, when we made our initial move here, we didn't have cell phone service or email or even a post office in the district, so the dislocation felt deeper and yet the singularity of living in the present more natural. Now in 2023, particularly post-COVID, the capacity and expectation to keep up with multiple worlds besides the one where we are actually located is real. This has many advantages, when we were in America for 2 1/2 months we had many facetime/zoom meetings with teams in Africa, and now that we are back in Africa we can text and call with family and interact every few hours it seems with our mission office or colleagues in other countries. Very helpful, but also jarring. </p><p>On the helpful side, perhaps the greatest advantage was that immediately after the dorm fire (see post below in late June) we could communicate the needs of Christ School, and so many people responded generously to right the wrongs of destruction and injustice. On a concrete level that means we could immediately re-house students in other dorms with new mattresses, sheets, uniforms, books. And we could embark upon a dorm re-build, plus contract for safety improvements in wiring and smoke alarms and extinguishers campus-wide. The truth is that in our hours of need we often find out just how many people do care for all of us here. That heartens those discouraged by danger and loss. And while most of the response was from supporters in the USA, not all of it was. Last year another school in our district had a similar fire and we donated some of our Christ School funds to help them. Last week that school sent a delegation with ten 20L cans of paint for our dorm. This is the Gospel. We are not in competition, we are all collaborating to bless Bundibugyo and glorify God. </p><p>After 2.5 months of visiting in America, celebrating graduations, driving about 5000 miles to help various family moves, a full week of vacation with our 5 kids which is nothing short of a miracle to align as they now have scattered back to their disparate jobs and schools . . . we are now back in Bundibugyo, back where we started. The same weaver bird colony is noisily commenting on the sunset. We had an in-district team "retreat" day to pray and study the word together and look ahead to the year. We've been at CSB nearly daily with meetings and projects, budgets and chapel and greetings. We've had visitors too, hosting a family we knew 20 years ago here in Uganda. We've connected with several of our leaders in our Area, seeking input, making progress. We've tried to catch up with our kids on this side of the ocean, those we've sponsored and fostered, meeting new babies born in our brief time away. </p><p>There and back again, a privilege of the richness of life in more than one world, and the weariness of a heart divided amongst many people and places.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhLwmFCWpJc0eAjegBmf6bcW-eOnIea0W2jHc-wKtv2OlaIAskZfuqDA2ePm4hZgJJgP2IIC7OdZmeS82jsfSeZHyW5OtYfXS_4h5d0OrqOXfGhvBxAB9oa9_xEpBcGvM291MVls4Hhd0g55PrBQYo12nAASb_j0qg3MuvSiwKLLgwcD3bxuWvZYB-RkN/s1280/team%20Bundi%20July%202023.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhLwmFCWpJc0eAjegBmf6bcW-eOnIea0W2jHc-wKtv2OlaIAskZfuqDA2ePm4hZgJJgP2IIC7OdZmeS82jsfSeZHyW5OtYfXS_4h5d0OrqOXfGhvBxAB9oa9_xEpBcGvM291MVls4Hhd0g55PrBQYo12nAASb_j0qg3MuvSiwKLLgwcD3bxuWvZYB-RkN/w640-h480/team%20Bundi%20July%202023.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>The Bundi Team . . August 2023</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotLAQLHlJmXU64k7a_hoGkgyQ1JeJKn_pOwTBcpp_oxVDwNuGIG0mM-GtHxuNxWP72ow243bWG2rZTsSnj8NHQCPYni7cnjaT0rY16RgvCc1CZNK_Rp5nr--FMGQV1bweIbVdZtBld-T8vgSa0U822O2WGqBA1A9-uB-hizzettNNcHjRFfAFV4NVEo50/s1280/mutegheki%20and%20Oliva%20and%20Ariella.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotLAQLHlJmXU64k7a_hoGkgyQ1JeJKn_pOwTBcpp_oxVDwNuGIG0mM-GtHxuNxWP72ow243bWG2rZTsSnj8NHQCPYni7cnjaT0rY16RgvCc1CZNK_Rp5nr--FMGQV1bweIbVdZtBld-T8vgSa0U822O2WGqBA1A9-uB-hizzettNNcHjRFfAFV4NVEo50/s320/mutegheki%20and%20Oliva%20and%20Ariella.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Baby Ariella</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMfhwNHXCh5tlQw9r-LDPWO4SrIE91Fn_dudiu3cNc0esOl0OMFJURX_y-rU5aWS4Pu2fhAo-QodizBl-Qr59MN1hS5IWHgPwzx-S-fzx3ZKtqfnblI_FfUdPKuGdhplfKo7NK6elmFHitqrYcFVgBfFkBh_NWRiZuuQGsOoHND-JFZGh1JBc_EswGXkGA/s1280/Aidah%20ane%20Elsie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMfhwNHXCh5tlQw9r-LDPWO4SrIE91Fn_dudiu3cNc0esOl0OMFJURX_y-rU5aWS4Pu2fhAo-QodizBl-Qr59MN1hS5IWHgPwzx-S-fzx3ZKtqfnblI_FfUdPKuGdhplfKo7NK6elmFHitqrYcFVgBfFkBh_NWRiZuuQGsOoHND-JFZGh1JBc_EswGXkGA/s320/Aidah%20ane%20Elsie.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Baby Elsie</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kNufL0GLaeFqAO2b3_uAW9RT4ZlXhMJmYOKJl5--7DJVN_q_2S_92MCY88FgLuc0IbcewQu2M5KojcWxrb10r3HZRXDO_RCOnT8N2PXXl3pHgsgZ6BaqQkBKRdlPbMcnlJDf19CYL7umyEcRMQAhkbqmGb39gPjyOGociLFG0-qYMeJ4rkrMGOgN2teb/s1280/Basime%20and%20fam.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kNufL0GLaeFqAO2b3_uAW9RT4ZlXhMJmYOKJl5--7DJVN_q_2S_92MCY88FgLuc0IbcewQu2M5KojcWxrb10r3HZRXDO_RCOnT8N2PXXl3pHgsgZ6BaqQkBKRdlPbMcnlJDf19CYL7umyEcRMQAhkbqmGb39gPjyOGociLFG0-qYMeJ4rkrMGOgN2teb/s320/Basime%20and%20fam.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Basime and family coming to greet</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4cCHVhbzMXypYay5XEyHMaJ403kGGF7jLFYMLLIjPwhf8wKGPWLdHPeg1t9P_qoleJdrhGTgKHNgdaYLUyl5WzmubJsXjg9wEHLBAPI7J2IdDisgYpNgV87ZJt4pQx6GV2OMYDq0867g4_HyxM2oEQc_v5R8MM372zh7MeJhCmuu-gMes9VPdQ8BOgm4/s1280/computers%20for%20CSB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1280" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4cCHVhbzMXypYay5XEyHMaJ403kGGF7jLFYMLLIjPwhf8wKGPWLdHPeg1t9P_qoleJdrhGTgKHNgdaYLUyl5WzmubJsXjg9wEHLBAPI7J2IdDisgYpNgV87ZJt4pQx6GV2OMYDq0867g4_HyxM2oEQc_v5R8MM372zh7MeJhCmuu-gMes9VPdQ8BOgm4/w640-h416/computers%20for%20CSB.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Scott taking the four new donated laptops to the computer lab </i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbigW5zrfXn-DkSzBjTAL4mXjjsboAGnmSE2Rj3idzdYajxuMvM1uyLZY4iVs_KwgeIRLz09H-mysc4OSccfD6-8TaPEfGLYFLi2JfzHHFhDEtk9bxw3mvogE03mow1HyQvl9Qr7h0C-HRnVhw_kxK0hQNxftDNFK0_egcHVTO_hz2QtRl3Tq2uakXD-f0/s1280/dorm%20rebuild%20in%20process.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbigW5zrfXn-DkSzBjTAL4mXjjsboAGnmSE2Rj3idzdYajxuMvM1uyLZY4iVs_KwgeIRLz09H-mysc4OSccfD6-8TaPEfGLYFLi2JfzHHFhDEtk9bxw3mvogE03mow1HyQvl9Qr7h0C-HRnVhw_kxK0hQNxftDNFK0_egcHVTO_hz2QtRl3Tq2uakXD-f0/w400-h300/dorm%20rebuild%20in%20process.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Inspecting the dorm rebuild, so far so good</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5wS9gh_NS09fI-rA10GRLniSj-9THVMo_k5VfQtWsS4u6rZZijJrOfdyRR6IPwAFj7xnnkNObBkaESzIE88iVYKcHXjisH_LyQBZ0WAkj0_W0JNSWVMrJ0c9R2Qzbk5RRFF8vKIleoNkN-fShN7o0TiYlwriS70cbkRxhNkK9LpR_IwzEvR30h5VDeHO/s1280/me%20with%20dickenson%20kids%20on%20swing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5wS9gh_NS09fI-rA10GRLniSj-9THVMo_k5VfQtWsS4u6rZZijJrOfdyRR6IPwAFj7xnnkNObBkaESzIE88iVYKcHXjisH_LyQBZ0WAkj0_W0JNSWVMrJ0c9R2Qzbk5RRFF8vKIleoNkN-fShN7o0TiYlwriS70cbkRxhNkK9LpR_IwzEvR30h5VDeHO/w400-h300/me%20with%20dickenson%20kids%20on%20swing.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A very cute greeting delegation, the Dickenson kids!</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv62rx_UNfSENK60SFu54mjLsQQjqTBr0RUXPDIBG74iwIZLnxrAX0qfWe6JMqOeAyUDr1TJC6jGkawyVibyyE3TcqbhT1cY4dtYYZBIa3chNRzP03nIg1esJb7sn2N_eHdos0jec7WJJOZRVWbypaEQEM3u-w8TPbE8PNGKK5FXq4cXFwkMiGgWeqexrk/s1280/kym%20and%20zuriel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv62rx_UNfSENK60SFu54mjLsQQjqTBr0RUXPDIBG74iwIZLnxrAX0qfWe6JMqOeAyUDr1TJC6jGkawyVibyyE3TcqbhT1cY4dtYYZBIa3chNRzP03nIg1esJb7sn2N_eHdos0jec7WJJOZRVWbypaEQEM3u-w8TPbE8PNGKK5FXq4cXFwkMiGgWeqexrk/s320/kym%20and%20zuriel.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Baby Zuriel</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSadm4xYttmgaDcTabixj4zgvAmv9qstHMNkY8ovOmamFEIqMG5ZmI-7R2Akv_pOV4N5cfb1BinRhXzH0bD_q5fU4MVqWhPwxcgpFnWJLXMRGQwf5vmkLVVOZU3aKyXY4GjDS8cTan7h_BTpqfJbK6aV8eZ6wXGO_oY2AbG3hxOKCaGK-rK8q4CtBe17r/s1280/team%20pizza.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSadm4xYttmgaDcTabixj4zgvAmv9qstHMNkY8ovOmamFEIqMG5ZmI-7R2Akv_pOV4N5cfb1BinRhXzH0bD_q5fU4MVqWhPwxcgpFnWJLXMRGQwf5vmkLVVOZU3aKyXY4GjDS8cTan7h_BTpqfJbK6aV8eZ6wXGO_oY2AbG3hxOKCaGK-rK8q4CtBe17r/w400-h300/team%20pizza.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Team pizza again!</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5juQWzmBnaZZdXdLfJIcl6DSZDJ6lF-g5wWdEKTgwsSH4KPPwCh9FHsRDDNW7Y9lk2t-vy49J-JFV3WAhRsRLUTZRqH0naYJ5E-rSAbzmB4BT8MUTjWWJRDmdeITsrZ8trQ7eX0zPUggiVQUnqOnh12T41Sg7Vh7jSGX-9yCj5kJGoPsBriuRUV3l_7yu/s1280/new%20sign%20csb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5juQWzmBnaZZdXdLfJIcl6DSZDJ6lF-g5wWdEKTgwsSH4KPPwCh9FHsRDDNW7Y9lk2t-vy49J-JFV3WAhRsRLUTZRqH0naYJ5E-rSAbzmB4BT8MUTjWWJRDmdeITsrZ8trQ7eX0zPUggiVQUnqOnh12T41Sg7Vh7jSGX-9yCj5kJGoPsBriuRUV3l_7yu/w640-h480/new%20sign%20csb.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Scott had this sign printed on metal, and here is installing it on the school gate.</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhrbt_wjuGki8wGBbBuitShnNCxuNdstpncBvbaFB0-zm6aUnRSWMHNDrzn-JjpjUYjV16WjcoJUHsoBSmX_EJTicFQr-WCfiQS9ADttzVOUJx50bgKNx6U5ra_5m43ZzNhaQ73rlPU4C-OSYEPzaZxSVDY_9f98jiXeI7WVjZetnkwOSP7VNBbBCUZlC/s1280/meeting%20Bwampu%20in%20BundiNutriton%20office.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLhrbt_wjuGki8wGBbBuitShnNCxuNdstpncBvbaFB0-zm6aUnRSWMHNDrzn-JjpjUYjV16WjcoJUHsoBSmX_EJTicFQr-WCfiQS9ADttzVOUJx50bgKNx6U5ra_5m43ZzNhaQ73rlPU4C-OSYEPzaZxSVDY_9f98jiXeI7WVjZetnkwOSP7VNBbBCUZlC/w640-h360/meeting%20Bwampu%20in%20BundiNutriton%20office.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Bwampu in the BundiNutrition office describing the program to visitors </i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTFlAFTrBCAo2tSEJLvehed7Z4uAjXzuvyU66LrUOssxVsqe6scGr6AO-eWuVVr5jIFuw8iQGd6NwLygikgKjNska-G1SR0YrttlLzjQa83JTfn8ahV84Lo2elwp_GUq-lVFAJ1B3AI9nSBOu4VzgJ3fv0MH6xJUF8pHyxdihw_12PnSjqQ3roRWZDvvG/s1280/zawadi%20and%20eugene.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTFlAFTrBCAo2tSEJLvehed7Z4uAjXzuvyU66LrUOssxVsqe6scGr6AO-eWuVVr5jIFuw8iQGd6NwLygikgKjNska-G1SR0YrttlLzjQa83JTfn8ahV84Lo2elwp_GUq-lVFAJ1B3AI9nSBOu4VzgJ3fv0MH6xJUF8pHyxdihw_12PnSjqQ3roRWZDvvG/w300-h400/zawadi%20and%20eugene.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Baby Eugene</i></div><br /><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-75524892985966554212023-06-20T15:12:00.000-07:002023-06-20T15:12:13.112-07:00Another school on fire, this time OURS<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-79okQHN9pst16ksBGAql5TNYTvxmNs5mq_qGj7YU3ENbixDWAmhRXojwygiprLg6-sedgk_nrRDlb65Wt1QlyJ-XrPNLbwKmJbD-l8xHLeMXBaaNksF3uKkN-n8BJ40TZhS0-fwriglA_zCzaypXUGA7kTrYWqWn54HskhKeieL092eYSWSmf4J_5pAT/s1280/IMG_2682.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1280" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-79okQHN9pst16ksBGAql5TNYTvxmNs5mq_qGj7YU3ENbixDWAmhRXojwygiprLg6-sedgk_nrRDlb65Wt1QlyJ-XrPNLbwKmJbD-l8xHLeMXBaaNksF3uKkN-n8BJ40TZhS0-fwriglA_zCzaypXUGA7kTrYWqWn54HskhKeieL092eYSWSmf4J_5pAT/w640-h381/IMG_2682.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>At 2 pm Tuesday afternoon in Bundibugyo, smoke began billowing out of one of our boys' dorms and the two attached staff apartments. The students were in class, but some kitchen workers ran in and saved the lives of two small children napping in the apartments as a major fire gained strength. No one knows how this fire started. An electrical short is suspected, an accident with a cooking device or candle considered likely, but a malicious arsonist can't be ruled out. The context of a boys' dorm in a school SO SIMILAR to and so close to ours being firebombed by ADF rebels to kill students a few days ago (see previous post) had everyone on high alert and feeling anxious already. It's not surprising that the rumour that rebels had attacked quickly gained momentum. Parents and community members streamed into the school compound looking for their children even as the staff scrambled to respond, to take a roll call, to use any means they could to control the fire. The nearest actual fire brigade is hours away so all they could do was stop anyone from trying to reenter the disaster scene as the roof imploded. It was a terrible day.</p><p>Now night has fallen in Uganda. In case you see the story, we wanted you to know what happened. We are very thankful that:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>No child was injured, all 39 dorm boys and both staff families are fully well and accounted for.</li><li>The Serge team and the CSB staff mobilised to control the situation effectively and compassionately. We are so thankful for their tireless work today.</li><li>All the students have gone home for the rest of the week, given the context of the ADF targeting border boarding schools and the trauma of watching a dorm burn, we thought they needed rest and safety.</li><li>The police will investigate the cause. A week or so ago an anonymous letter of threat to burn the school down was received after a kitchen staff worker was fired for theft, so the possibility of intended evil exists even though we think that at 2 pm on a Monday a faulty wire or human error are more likely.</li><li>We will be <a href="https://give.serge.org/donate/christ-school-bundibugyo-one-time-needs" target="_blank">raising funds </a>to replace the destroyed properties (all those kids lost everything, their clothes, books, money, shoes, sheets, mattresses, towels, papers .. . the metal bunkbed frames may be salvageable but not much else) and to rebuild the dorm.</li></ul><div>PLEASE PRAY for the students, staff, and families who lived through the chaos and fear today to find the peace that passes understanding filling their hearts tonight. Pray for wisdom and clarity in the investigation. Pray the we can resume school quickly and safely. And keep praying for the Mpondwe parents who lost so much more.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Evil will not have the final word </span>but it is shouting a lot of painful horrors this week. It's why we need to hold onto our witness and live by Romans 12: <span style="font-size: large;">"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." </span><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-39087072657323241492023-06-19T18:31:00.000-07:002023-06-19T18:31:08.612-07:00Paradox summer: grief for the place we love and live, gratitude for the people who send and surround us<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpNPlM529ISjdZYgUkZ7IJQSvVdXXEXJ6d6_3LHfVPJ6yEGVEWSnEmgUyzVhgNA_n2O5jiNhJVaZhxFsjgseMzcPZkFZIHGfQKODnzIj6gjJcTbYk_HRb7q0JrRQtftUXwRb6gV7YFKwd4o8sjepz8vYZ0PUq-5fLSqCdjLVCri9B4EKHoEZqPu36cIsn7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpNPlM529ISjdZYgUkZ7IJQSvVdXXEXJ6d6_3LHfVPJ6yEGVEWSnEmgUyzVhgNA_n2O5jiNhJVaZhxFsjgseMzcPZkFZIHGfQKODnzIj6gjJcTbYk_HRb7q0JrRQtftUXwRb6gV7YFKwd4o8sjepz8vYZ0PUq-5fLSqCdjLVCri9B4EKHoEZqPu36cIsn7=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The image above is from the New Vision Newspaper in Uganda, taken in Mpondwe NOT in Bundibugyo, of mourning families and coffins, unspeakable grief. Late Friday night, <span style="font-size: medium;">ADF rebels attacked a school</span> about a hundred miles south of us on the Congo border. They burned, looted, abducted and killed. 37 students and at least 4 others lost their lives, locked into a burning dorm or shot or hacked by machetes. The assailants took off back over the border with food and girls. But more than that they grabbed attention and headlines, highlighted Uganda's vulnerability and presumably impressed common enemies with their chaotic destructive prowess. <span style="font-size: large;">The point of terrorism is terror. And terror ensued. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The school that was attacked had so many similarities to Christ School we are <span style="font-size: medium;">sobered as well as outraged and grieved</span>. Started by a north American NGO that was trying to help families who could not afford education, pouring in computers and buildings and books, working with a local board, located on the very western edge of Uganda at the foot of the Rwenzori mountains. This one was on the south side and ours is on the north. In the two days since, the UPDF (Ugandan Army) has visited our school, and though we had already been using night guards and locked gates and barred doors for years we are very much on edge. And thankful for the donors who supported completion of the perimeter safety wall this past year. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ADF have been wreaking havoc in Uganda and Congo for 26+ years . . . It was June 1997 when we personally first fled from them. As soon as CSB opened in 1999 we had to move our students out to Fort Portal for a while to escape their menace. And countless times since we have had smaller attacks, threats, dangers, including some significant incursion just six months ago. But the scale of this attack and the choice of the school as a target represents a real escalation. Our hearts are heavy with the reality of evil, and with sorrow for those who suffer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This weekend we arrived in California at the <span style="font-size: medium;">half-way point of "HA" or "home assignment"</span> which is a somewhat oddly paired name for what workers like us do periodically to stay connected with our origins and stay accountable to our supporters. The first 5-6 weeks were about half in WV and half in Utah and the second will be about half in California/Oregon and half on the road. Half-way is a good point to summarise the purposes of an "HA" and share a summary of our life . . . but then the ADF struck again and our souls feel scrambled and drained. How can we even mention joys when so much is deeply wrong in the world? As it turns out, one of our team leaders with Serge in our Africa area, Dr. Eric McLaughlin, wrote an article last week about this very dilemma. <a href="https://mereorthodoxy.com/mourning-and-rejoicing-simultaneously" target="_blank">Please read it here</a>. He eloquently paints the richly hued picture of our redeemed life with it's celebratory days of joy occur in the context of painful days of sorrow. Neither negates the other, both are true and real. For us, and for Jesus too, weeping for Jerusalem the same day the city was erupting in hosannas. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So if you started with the <span style="font-size: large;">weeping of Mpondwe, please follow into the paradox of a few hosannas</span>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>Family Milestones and Family Service</i></b></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo90PSum45tDMkOUFKghLHrijPmeNkqZqdyqYCi2LqPc7U4hJN9RG6zBrkCYetyL6sllZz29yYj-bINj9G8B1OVBv0q45hQKguLm-JyAveVxGM_goX9wohtxMhU0eoGIYfxbvezBaTP3apylVff4FvVcm6zgp4d5ycFbeWdBKHPKqmAgptBAQ7jQfCFJIX/s1280/family%20at%20Luke%20grad%20june%202023.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1280" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo90PSum45tDMkOUFKghLHrijPmeNkqZqdyqYCi2LqPc7U4hJN9RG6zBrkCYetyL6sllZz29yYj-bINj9G8B1OVBv0q45hQKguLm-JyAveVxGM_goX9wohtxMhU0eoGIYfxbvezBaTP3apylVff4FvVcm6zgp4d5ycFbeWdBKHPKqmAgptBAQ7jQfCFJIX/w640-h458/family%20at%20Luke%20grad%20june%202023.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOcinbaVe4KQgZClTmAkOmPWl6P96vqJNZvfb5htour54iH4hkh3AQkr1RpBfmFuvFA_dWlCBMvWjYkcmj3-0nsqpga5if8f29BnXS76QnrrHiZVfEmDEV2C0-ecGyFLhVE6LFM8yKdGH1vUVVobAopQZ-rrTBhLl7xHDv3gRtLxUmX1s1y1h4gCLEECA/s1280/family%20utah%20hike%20with%20snow%20mountains.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOcinbaVe4KQgZClTmAkOmPWl6P96vqJNZvfb5htour54iH4hkh3AQkr1RpBfmFuvFA_dWlCBMvWjYkcmj3-0nsqpga5if8f29BnXS76QnrrHiZVfEmDEV2C0-ecGyFLhVE6LFM8yKdGH1vUVVobAopQZ-rrTBhLl7xHDv3gRtLxUmX1s1y1h4gCLEECA/w400-h225/family%20utah%20hike%20with%20snow%20mountains.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmgpJe_GHztSy7j2cCM9Ui3MqsKOdRejpAX5r5sdMOPZ5Pp7klC4cBzacHZlQb6Ozl7kPHbnP4suuhfBx_RDhwCRThAjafYSy6QLQZciSCpJ4GdiFNoD0X2MUUCWnU0ZI5lEtC_-rY26DgdyXPjyI4Le-Iixp0Xnsi_d9KWNh-WdOse86KE7vPf5Vh-bn/s1280/julia%20with%20us%20in%20cap%20and%20gown%20before%20grad.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1141" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmgpJe_GHztSy7j2cCM9Ui3MqsKOdRejpAX5r5sdMOPZ5Pp7klC4cBzacHZlQb6Ozl7kPHbnP4suuhfBx_RDhwCRThAjafYSy6QLQZciSCpJ4GdiFNoD0X2MUUCWnU0ZI5lEtC_-rY26DgdyXPjyI4Le-Iixp0Xnsi_d9KWNh-WdOse86KE7vPf5Vh-bn/w356-h400/julia%20with%20us%20in%20cap%20and%20gown%20before%20grad.jpeg" width="356" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyJpRwpAgvAMWOngxFcHrmFszdyg4Dw2b34jk6IDKO0XRuANBnWlQvafOQBBpauK2cmt2k3t1Z65FYFy07dLGcq74iyIkVmeQNnpqaZFuw8hZONwXEuSp0YERwzKrF54Or9VCbkOtRKuGUF4ys7B5VjAi5gsc7ls7LcNwLYoWYMH-DyBIWzDVRbYN-ygJ/s1280/UMBA%20Julia.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1280" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyJpRwpAgvAMWOngxFcHrmFszdyg4Dw2b34jk6IDKO0XRuANBnWlQvafOQBBpauK2cmt2k3t1Z65FYFy07dLGcq74iyIkVmeQNnpqaZFuw8hZONwXEuSp0YERwzKrF54Or9VCbkOtRKuGUF4ys7B5VjAi5gsc7ls7LcNwLYoWYMH-DyBIWzDVRbYN-ygJ/w640-h476/UMBA%20Julia.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Living seven to ten thousand miles from our family means we miss most of their lives, the daily contacts that give depth and meaning . . . and distance and COVID meant we missed our soldier's ceremony for finishing his most intense training, and Jack's masters' graduation from Cambridge. <span style="font-size: large;">So with Julia and Luke both completing their studies in Utah this summer, </span>we planned this HA to encompass both. Julia received her MBA in early May, and Luke's orthopedic surgery residency celebrated their six seniors with a day of research presentations, speeches, awards and dinner in early June. In between we based ourselves in WV where my mom and niece have been staying and my sister and family visited too, plus our son his army buddy who cared for me in the ICU in 2021. And now we are with Scott's 90 year old mom for two weeks. We have been delighted to see our kids in their work and study contexts and the impact their passion for justice in the world has in their communities. And we've been trying to support our brave moms who are independent and brave but too often alone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLZlMHlNkh5CARW3IJ6zIMNrM45yLVu6Acmu2O_PoDcWUAKYVgKoVGZNyEA45Cm-A3_0SUI0H693Os48gQZBdDJGRy1uj6oe-7GuQPMyMP4UVNyR2YConKFm_mgUUOo4QqC_rXDHOJlvC6X7you99WRyAHnJNGYnXLW7hX42r6dcpv11ipB54uA8DBeyr/s1280/with%20Janie%20almost%20heaven.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1034" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLZlMHlNkh5CARW3IJ6zIMNrM45yLVu6Acmu2O_PoDcWUAKYVgKoVGZNyEA45Cm-A3_0SUI0H693Os48gQZBdDJGRy1uj6oe-7GuQPMyMP4UVNyR2YConKFm_mgUUOo4QqC_rXDHOJlvC6X7you99WRyAHnJNGYnXLW7hX42r6dcpv11ipB54uA8DBeyr/s320/with%20Janie%20almost%20heaven.jpeg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReHREuWF9-glPVydVcrauW3az50HmGKXXIKuBhgrJ_rTf8pMCgUULP8gkxo-siEX6iSAlExRy5EJEUhIMHQxzfGydraLOWoZM2QcrDQbaCQKh8emkKBxdxNxJ16Lnmb93g4kJxj7Bym4KA4sFshy2v3DZQaWLFpW5hdegVMGz4U6k9THKPDmVNM-La8n4/s1280/with%20mom%20and%20janie%20steve%20micah%20WV%20church%20camp.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReHREuWF9-glPVydVcrauW3az50HmGKXXIKuBhgrJ_rTf8pMCgUULP8gkxo-siEX6iSAlExRy5EJEUhIMHQxzfGydraLOWoZM2QcrDQbaCQKh8emkKBxdxNxJ16Lnmb93g4kJxj7Bym4KA4sFshy2v3DZQaWLFpW5hdegVMGz4U6k9THKPDmVNM-La8n4/w400-h300/with%20mom%20and%20janie%20steve%20micah%20WV%20church%20camp.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>Supporter Thanks and Reports</i></b></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1y8-JIHOSW5FEESKKFJUrEMkSdaCiOTtlgxawpeGFdHsDbR2foXQo3FMoZtO8t7rZIlKTH8O3SWHARmooIrsVItsFdYCs3Ydg-ngiXM9xUZAX0s8xx77I9IIwssVRJtnSW86KtNUrK6qqOIlV4j5B1ltPYtnKRGAmd2RGP_TzK8y9ipkiwwimyHild5-/s1280/grace%20opc%20withj%20sign%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1y8-JIHOSW5FEESKKFJUrEMkSdaCiOTtlgxawpeGFdHsDbR2foXQo3FMoZtO8t7rZIlKTH8O3SWHARmooIrsVItsFdYCs3Ydg-ngiXM9xUZAX0s8xx77I9IIwssVRJtnSW86KtNUrK6qqOIlV4j5B1ltPYtnKRGAmd2RGP_TzK8y9ipkiwwimyHild5-/w400-h300/grace%20opc%20withj%20sign%20.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nAMtLuAmDUAxqy0NAgbOh7WFwo4W1IaNHNX3UXuCnEAFczOk0krTVki5_479WtwhrRGpWxKpdnOhUyWMM8mulNKB1nrwRdKoLGzNrZowW5u4KXS35NUrZZhtOUGbAzi4QFValDJKkrzJzhlA8Vtu6324Sr9-VTdUsTvOQgFhf46koGXbE2uFYJJhBOVo/s1280/Ruth%20in%20HMB%20church.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nAMtLuAmDUAxqy0NAgbOh7WFwo4W1IaNHNX3UXuCnEAFczOk0krTVki5_479WtwhrRGpWxKpdnOhUyWMM8mulNKB1nrwRdKoLGzNrZowW5u4KXS35NUrZZhtOUGbAzi4QFValDJKkrzJzhlA8Vtu6324Sr9-VTdUsTvOQgFhf46koGXbE2uFYJJhBOVo/s320/Ruth%20in%20HMB%20church.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgguCEIufJEbMesYQRfm-Udsdfr98CWiXjy4zp67C9Yp4KTs2xh55OjbjxK20NlCI5ahY59Xlm0pyhzHftVcnkW8he2_phluS-DdAVlUlMcWpma84O8gjS4sPGM1pICbk7PdVFtqE2yzZEE0YdM6GGyTgw0iOrT4sPPa11GLflZUHfrvoKTS1WME-At-Q/s1280/sago%20Baptist.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgguCEIufJEbMesYQRfm-Udsdfr98CWiXjy4zp67C9Yp4KTs2xh55OjbjxK20NlCI5ahY59Xlm0pyhzHftVcnkW8he2_phluS-DdAVlUlMcWpma84O8gjS4sPGM1pICbk7PdVFtqE2yzZEE0YdM6GGyTgw0iOrT4sPPa11GLflZUHfrvoKTS1WME-At-Q/s320/sago%20Baptist.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Grace Church </span>has been our bedrock for nearly 30 years overseas, not to mention most of my life . . . so we were grateful to spend an evening with some leaders and a Sunday speaking and greeting and thanking them. As we've crossed the country we've stopped to see a couple of supportive families, giving personal greetings to individuals and a few groups who have prayed us through the ADF and more. From Sago Baptist to the Methodists here in Half Moon Bay too, we need all the prayer we can get!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>Projects, Maintenance, Serge work and Life</i></b></h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkC3AeA6ASHDsJlvAko4vE3DX3faknbxAkxXrmD4bahh_iUJ3lqPQSjLzZ_Q1aAE6ckI76pHFCTOLbAIRlDtLiCmT6hYYtqfBY2y6mlKsyrink8jvUF5n5E9mNcEtsGQiSpSbWtAi5TH-OQ0s1T9ZSsIup5DpfBN49tmosoHWbrwo5cEaHilt0SVCOcaSj/s1280/IMG_4885.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkC3AeA6ASHDsJlvAko4vE3DX3faknbxAkxXrmD4bahh_iUJ3lqPQSjLzZ_Q1aAE6ckI76pHFCTOLbAIRlDtLiCmT6hYYtqfBY2y6mlKsyrink8jvUF5n5E9mNcEtsGQiSpSbWtAi5TH-OQ0s1T9ZSsIup5DpfBN49tmosoHWbrwo5cEaHilt0SVCOcaSj/w640-h480/IMG_4885.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieVkXLnRJ-IrxDRo4bBpbnsdT8MPsewZhHnJn31blXPEQiNzse1x2cfKelcsEREsHdEHi1oJVxUKEoD0fugF2PDJ1zeIFfDOKTQMG_C6VE0Wco4Z63Xn-JFEnWibE6DGCBh5cu__phZhbQsV9M-XmMl83PXuO5_PGYoWTf5fe6wPxsrb7oWJINqh5nsKFc/s1280/IMG_5674.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieVkXLnRJ-IrxDRo4bBpbnsdT8MPsewZhHnJn31blXPEQiNzse1x2cfKelcsEREsHdEHi1oJVxUKEoD0fugF2PDJ1zeIFfDOKTQMG_C6VE0Wco4Z63Xn-JFEnWibE6DGCBh5cu__phZhbQsV9M-XmMl83PXuO5_PGYoWTf5fe6wPxsrb7oWJINqh5nsKFc/s320/IMG_5674.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKuEmahoJOeQyBUSjcb0cgY4S618iB1No_eEC9srWSTMrN27cI8iZx97W6JN3yDzVPeaDaNZlDhxT6LQVjXx1uimp30XefnCdHPw67as8sh-99mNYrvB2E3fKM79LpLlkjEWLvG7lWsWAQ8RIpb2sDARF25UlfRvCHiVN6dE9ZQ_42pG8jHElHpIGV9OQ/s1280/IMG_5819.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKuEmahoJOeQyBUSjcb0cgY4S618iB1No_eEC9srWSTMrN27cI8iZx97W6JN3yDzVPeaDaNZlDhxT6LQVjXx1uimp30XefnCdHPw67as8sh-99mNYrvB2E3fKM79LpLlkjEWLvG7lWsWAQ8RIpb2sDARF25UlfRvCHiVN6dE9ZQ_42pG8jHElHpIGV9OQ/s320/IMG_5819.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We try to keep a hundred-year-old farm house we inherited from my family inhabitable even though we're rarely there, and to be reasonably parental in assisting with two cross-country moves for our offspring. Which means power washing and meadow mowing and weeding and packing and just the normal parts of life. And as Area Directors, most of our job transfers remotely and follows us along the road. This morning we had a 6:30 am conference call with Uganda, followed by a supporter coffee here in California. Most days in the last 5 weeks have included hours of communication, study, mentoring, administrative paperwork, planning, only this time squeezed not by the neediness of a remote rural African village community but by the desire to be present and participant in our family's lives. The 2023 reality of internet allows a great degree of multi-time-zone effectiveness, but also makes it challenging to keep so many balls in the air and people in the heart. We did get to meet our Serge boss IN PERSON as we each drove half-way between WV and Philly, which was a rare treat in the virtual world. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">6 weeks down and 5 to go, hope this gives a glimpse of Home Assignment reality. Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep, as Romans 12:15 commands, pretty much sums up this itinerant period. We are giddily thankful for the graduations, dinners, hikes, fellowship with so many whom we love. And we are bearing still the burdens of our home-assignment country's divisiveness and our adopted country's loss of life today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-3cCZlahxnl8_rT5uPi8NdulP19kSH7Rzceuy5dnkpS0aEP4_yu4Jai-X8xB_KQqhRpEDxPhvDoNkS4UoWB7DFjmfRybWqGyC6T9q4Qp62tAXSHyZgXUjZbmbt1mRRdvE3X_N_wGTV1BArA2M5V4tV4dWxxpUDZd1vZlGK36QMGTYMyl14aI2ysHH2H3/s1280/paradox%20plate.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-3cCZlahxnl8_rT5uPi8NdulP19kSH7Rzceuy5dnkpS0aEP4_yu4Jai-X8xB_KQqhRpEDxPhvDoNkS4UoWB7DFjmfRybWqGyC6T9q4Qp62tAXSHyZgXUjZbmbt1mRRdvE3X_N_wGTV1BArA2M5V4tV4dWxxpUDZd1vZlGK36QMGTYMyl14aI2ysHH2H3/s320/paradox%20plate.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is an appropriate end to a long post, it's our license plate. The fact that it's on a truck that we're driving probably 6000 miles or more these couple months makes it representative of the dedication to presence and service, and the fact that it says paradox makes it representative of the days filled with both beauty and brokeness. . . and what better holiday than Juneteenth to post on, a day that constitutes celebration but was necessary because of injustice. We thank you for traveling with us in places characterized by both, where we need to be and where we love to be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-32263185462402047332023-04-07T04:29:00.004-07:002023-04-07T07:28:06.484-07:00Losing for Lent, and other reminders of the season<p><br />Today Good Friday, Passover, and Ramadan all intersect, holidays that have shaped cultures around the world to remember that <span style="font-size: large;">the path to redemption passes painfully through deserts of deprivation</span>, rocky wildernesses where we are called away from what makes sense, what looks sure, what our natural inclination towards self-preservation and self-promotion would cling to. We've been at this a few decades now, but the truth still startles. The pivotal moments of our Christian story remain: not a battle or a coronation, but an obscure displaced birth of a baby forced to flee across borders, and then a public execution of that child grown into an itinerant teacher with no official title or position, chased down by manipulating crowds and fears and courts. </p><p>In that spirit, we had our (we hope) final meeting yesterday with the wealthy, highly placed, political police fire brigade commissioner, plus his parents, and his three sets of lawyers, who have drug us through court <span style="font-size: large;">for 9 years </span>to reclaim land that his father sold the mission over twenty years ago when money was needed for this man's school tuition. The property was a small piece of farmland which we used for the first decade or so for food production for CSB students as well as agriculture practical education, until the seller changed his mind. We lost the land, lost the appeal, and to add insult to injury were presented with an exorbitant bill for the court costs for those who orchestrated the injustice. Months of negotiation later, they agreed to a quarter of what they initially asked for in legal costs, which is still more than the actual value of the land (but thankfully we had quickly sold another piece of mission farm land as soon as we lost this one to cover the expenses.) Nothing like sitting in a room for hours with people who have stolen from the poor of Bundibugyo, using the court system, to really enter into the spirit of Good Friday. Sigh. We think of ourselves as nobly being on God's side of the dispute . . . but that does not translate into being on the winning side, as Jesus showed us that day. We've shed tears and hours and sweat and sorrow over this court wrangle, but not blood. Jesus did both. </p><p>Sitting here on Friday now, <span style="font-size: large;">we take it by faith that the weekend will progress to Sunday, to resurrection and transformation</span>. All of history drew to a point on a hill that Friday, to darkness and agony. And all of the future began at that chiasm, spreading out to a new way of the universe operating, as Mike preached this morning. <span style="font-size: large;">Those hours of cross and grave were the mysterious unseen unimagined way that evil was defeated forever. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">And so we are called to keep walking on those wilderness ways, away from insta-glory, into areas that are risky and uncomfortable. And as we do so, we trust for the moments where all-things-new joy presages the peace and wholeness of "today you will be with me in paradise", the home Jesus prepares.</span></b></p><p>_______________</p><p>A few of those moments have been ours this month, visiting teams in Rwanda and Burundi (as well as Fort Portal and our usual Bundibugyo both in Uganda) where we walk into the hard stories each person carries of burdens for kids struggling close by or aging parents far away, of cross-cultural faux pas or danger from insecurity or lethal disease, of new regulations or old prejudices that just make this sojourner life hard . . but even as we walk into those realities and grasp them we also catch views of the beauty God is working.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Kigali, Rwanda</span>, Cropsey family and RIIO eye clinic and teaching (our new partners even gave us a certificate!)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhr5ZrKyLA0Ntn69cHxJs--uPy_wBjVCOHIkrpLQH6MPg58vddLxVQBlAT2cgU98Yc9WHwYbd68gQDXhbuBqxo-P4wUR_ij6VaGhzlYVx3tfB14F1u82ZK-P378FJvoP-X0Nlv93Fs_GhONxaC0QZ88NaWBcKeG1N67SVz1t3QB8kzmtRUQR8zmXJ7g/s1280/IMG_2733.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhr5ZrKyLA0Ntn69cHxJs--uPy_wBjVCOHIkrpLQH6MPg58vddLxVQBlAT2cgU98Yc9WHwYbd68gQDXhbuBqxo-P4wUR_ij6VaGhzlYVx3tfB14F1u82ZK-P378FJvoP-X0Nlv93Fs_GhONxaC0QZ88NaWBcKeG1N67SVz1t3QB8kzmtRUQR8zmXJ7g/w640-h480/IMG_2733.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqk5eZh_ravkmTDlfnPluvoZjkj9BM__u_A8Zpm-d8dyRrUvG4pGOgsIaSgJK3cJ-a6a1bhXKFuuq7zdApWO8ZAF55V3f9s63gJYQrHrj_1rA9F4xBAj62TxdENu_ruHAjFqwgpwZ88B6CgPhKihVDyPe3jO2s7qMCzZuYlnTczPHx7lGTmM8faD2qw/s1280/IMG_2739.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1280" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqk5eZh_ravkmTDlfnPluvoZjkj9BM__u_A8Zpm-d8dyRrUvG4pGOgsIaSgJK3cJ-a6a1bhXKFuuq7zdApWO8ZAF55V3f9s63gJYQrHrj_1rA9F4xBAj62TxdENu_ruHAjFqwgpwZ88B6CgPhKihVDyPe3jO2s7qMCzZuYlnTczPHx7lGTmM8faD2qw/w640-h440/IMG_2739.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQolAUWaxY_W2ZXxL1vpfBZV5f2EkCr1cK9CkJnjX_Swoci3sZcDBaFnl2lL_5LKWmILFwU9njQDYyrZBci1qNZp6ten2ds49Z7kfBPNHJD391sGSKwbaupClXLeNUuV9ZbL_B4L0ptAlIoZJErWf1enxVqNw8ZPtXEnvG3ydvStFLiOyzF2TbBtA4A/s960/with%20RIIO%20partners.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQolAUWaxY_W2ZXxL1vpfBZV5f2EkCr1cK9CkJnjX_Swoci3sZcDBaFnl2lL_5LKWmILFwU9njQDYyrZBci1qNZp6ten2ds49Z7kfBPNHJD391sGSKwbaupClXLeNUuV9ZbL_B4L0ptAlIoZJErWf1enxVqNw8ZPtXEnvG3ydvStFLiOyzF2TbBtA4A/w640-h480/with%20RIIO%20partners.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kibuye, Burundi,</span> our biggest area team, dozens of meetings, and the unexpected treat of getting to see our SON as a surgeon (he was finishing up a month there!).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YHT8EGr85eudKKoj0GtSjc_g0JeX5pDIzI2bVYUck2T5IYrTZiIw8T5ZYuO8DQ5d55sfta7AzD9zQXdaN5tW4-6Isuh0vuDZj5g5eB_aZHoIsWBcEsScgYoPS-CAncCB4AWTttwoFEKGAyN3E_QXEmBboQEmiMZJl3v1zv8ZrlidKl154d8ilr6FSA/s1280/IMG_2811.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1280" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YHT8EGr85eudKKoj0GtSjc_g0JeX5pDIzI2bVYUck2T5IYrTZiIw8T5ZYuO8DQ5d55sfta7AzD9zQXdaN5tW4-6Isuh0vuDZj5g5eB_aZHoIsWBcEsScgYoPS-CAncCB4AWTttwoFEKGAyN3E_QXEmBboQEmiMZJl3v1zv8ZrlidKl154d8ilr6FSA/w640-h498/IMG_2811.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPudu_r9CpBuW70oSSJ7dJvadqlf6GMseSESIj8acobBB9TSXQhTVg_jivd4KFSWYF7wXtWwVcX5CxxA-F-AWiab1XOUgfSdfzr2vAUIIWaf2zUgRMbNaztqd1FCJWPB95XNkGpqe-l93mmxp2vH-tIxWiQW6Ifa9tlD_YAlAiljFjfe_u-RH8GTRCtA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5464" data-original-width="8192" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPudu_r9CpBuW70oSSJ7dJvadqlf6GMseSESIj8acobBB9TSXQhTVg_jivd4KFSWYF7wXtWwVcX5CxxA-F-AWiab1XOUgfSdfzr2vAUIIWaf2zUgRMbNaztqd1FCJWPB95XNkGpqe-l93mmxp2vH-tIxWiQW6Ifa9tlD_YAlAiljFjfe_u-RH8GTRCtA=w640-h426" width="640" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqGpvDnc72CkCyMJ1cDh1vbuvm4SA3b7uZJ2XAf7DZzvTCiknSnxWC-OY02jT-XCQRYZpl_tkZ6-5kIVs1dWOqpdXoqmjR9bMp_sXkVSDQs4ssIOXToMvGKq6hS1aXCC6u46JmhqhJ3GefuqyeO2AiasJfbRqwc3PoJjlLLyoZerx4RIArp5VcU5xSA/s1280/IMG_2909.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqGpvDnc72CkCyMJ1cDh1vbuvm4SA3b7uZJ2XAf7DZzvTCiknSnxWC-OY02jT-XCQRYZpl_tkZ6-5kIVs1dWOqpdXoqmjR9bMp_sXkVSDQs4ssIOXToMvGKq6hS1aXCC6u46JmhqhJ3GefuqyeO2AiasJfbRqwc3PoJjlLLyoZerx4RIArp5VcU5xSA/w640-h480/IMG_2909.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3wwv7usY_AHQrjYiWWnQ8Xw7TqQVMy9tEGlKGgV3mbD_R6V3yZELzGaYZtJAzomeyZF1ulJfqOh1RIY243zTD5WQ8haTPE81LTF1jfbVdfuF445HvQbtyN2vYGfkK3_1D-pvgWKp8m2z6DZlseL01wFYTHJBfwEUBGKyHWakzKaIcUrdESct3ZE7VA/s1280/IMG_2933.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="1280" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3wwv7usY_AHQrjYiWWnQ8Xw7TqQVMy9tEGlKGgV3mbD_R6V3yZELzGaYZtJAzomeyZF1ulJfqOh1RIY243zTD5WQ8haTPE81LTF1jfbVdfuF445HvQbtyN2vYGfkK3_1D-pvgWKp8m2z6DZlseL01wFYTHJBfwEUBGKyHWakzKaIcUrdESct3ZE7VA/w640-h365/IMG_2933.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssJKyxcRvbe8b5k2in323iIYWG4kfwg7oTxyhRC2wfk0mmQYbH91zUMwZ_ioRLvvLkR8BgIBjn0ZTdPSRZRfTG5Orj-00i2XfjYNexOzxUa46ukspJIwTthqS8zJxdMDjRqP9cB_kDwGqil5gIYObw0KOt_yKZ4AJPfStwB7_iao4CBxwuPZ5gHlyeQ/s1280/IMG_3004.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1280" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssJKyxcRvbe8b5k2in323iIYWG4kfwg7oTxyhRC2wfk0mmQYbH91zUMwZ_ioRLvvLkR8BgIBjn0ZTdPSRZRfTG5Orj-00i2XfjYNexOzxUa46ukspJIwTthqS8zJxdMDjRqP9cB_kDwGqil5gIYObw0KOt_yKZ4AJPfStwB7_iao4CBxwuPZ5gHlyeQ/w640-h640/IMG_3004.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And at the end of that week . . Abby arrived!!! </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5rqE5UBVQRbSlBvEYjHU48pGLNq-EKiiYXTtjJg_w_afyVouavkugI0Fgp9g1Z5rfLVn75L02DiO-NcSYYWLIdzjZ8zRSTnwc4rQuJXtAZe8ieBplinIl7lt8x-4Ldai9dXFU0o6xav6AFvHIjOoaOIGvZ-WiaAn-BxSppkYlIf6jc5bQDZ_8YGyxA/s1280/IMG_2960.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5rqE5UBVQRbSlBvEYjHU48pGLNq-EKiiYXTtjJg_w_afyVouavkugI0Fgp9g1Z5rfLVn75L02DiO-NcSYYWLIdzjZ8zRSTnwc4rQuJXtAZe8ieBplinIl7lt8x-4Ldai9dXFU0o6xav6AFvHIjOoaOIGvZ-WiaAn-BxSppkYlIf6jc5bQDZ_8YGyxA/w480-h640/IMG_2960.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which began an epic <span style="font-size: large;">road trip to Uganda</span>, her first time to see where Luke grew up! We camped in the wild at a game park, hiked a shoulder of the Rwenzoris, immersed in the Ngite Falls and saw the Ituri Rainforest hot springs. More importantly, she met teachers and friends who had shaped Luke's life since infancy. Luke spoke to the students at Christ School and visited his old Rwenzori Mission School (and Bundimulinga Primary). We watched the district football tournaments, and after three packed Bundi days visited Aunt Pat and other friends in Fort Portal and then Kampala and then out via Entebbe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIyhNpQTiiOxIK-9yuWAorJkOlOc5gUC7RkGC33LN6rLYrvce0twspGvGRsMf1cxv0RViRwjNVy_0uLzIKwKt_0Fsiz9KSIaDLMeF4Aem5VwlOwcRGH2U3gR7lR-i4E81LHTATdq0M6G5_VYj23MCyFIETmNPdB0SDxdiS30pCbX8tGmbGp1lr7b-ag/s1280/IMG_3096.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIyhNpQTiiOxIK-9yuWAorJkOlOc5gUC7RkGC33LN6rLYrvce0twspGvGRsMf1cxv0RViRwjNVy_0uLzIKwKt_0Fsiz9KSIaDLMeF4Aem5VwlOwcRGH2U3gR7lR-i4E81LHTATdq0M6G5_VYj23MCyFIETmNPdB0SDxdiS30pCbX8tGmbGp1lr7b-ag/w640-h480/IMG_3096.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3uayEq5d0p7ij9EB96jQ1CMfAmCw9sQjkM7pZQ3GnSKQHGXetnqKptkxRzai9w1_Y6hTu_b8Wv0bWhCjZN-SvIu7syBEXCm2o72PS2BoEBv9fOBJHzjGDLu7UfzvnvrJrPWPF2A5Uh-kct7IsNLI47wrwz9drj6E51rQffnVZ8b0OuQNkyTBB4c9Xzw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4391" data-original-width="7824" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3uayEq5d0p7ij9EB96jQ1CMfAmCw9sQjkM7pZQ3GnSKQHGXetnqKptkxRzai9w1_Y6hTu_b8Wv0bWhCjZN-SvIu7syBEXCm2o72PS2BoEBv9fOBJHzjGDLu7UfzvnvrJrPWPF2A5Uh-kct7IsNLI47wrwz9drj6E51rQffnVZ8b0OuQNkyTBB4c9Xzw=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lbvqXTKX2HY5c6XMqwY47XshvynNy1IFCd_Q_tAniNf15cUaXS5ywZMYFc17mh8msk4GytkMUDvH3NOZCl5TsD39GcID3-9cr_IiLlTdvdKlhplcn3FBV06vGPFYJAh6BlKnki8LiZY3oCRecZ4z_2yaLGVbQ7qyJyUbbSvWlTu6mRPTSiOOwuUUcw/s1280/IMG_3146.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lbvqXTKX2HY5c6XMqwY47XshvynNy1IFCd_Q_tAniNf15cUaXS5ywZMYFc17mh8msk4GytkMUDvH3NOZCl5TsD39GcID3-9cr_IiLlTdvdKlhplcn3FBV06vGPFYJAh6BlKnki8LiZY3oCRecZ4z_2yaLGVbQ7qyJyUbbSvWlTu6mRPTSiOOwuUUcw/w640-h480/IMG_3146.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYlHNSgZ8BM62-naB6MLMqY4EA0TOM74RIZoU9EPgX2O25xxK5PrNYgvj51STmPfwt9hth_Jc5hqKiwZ8wJ5e45Q7uIpUmrvnYfj9kykuYc0VtOXDvu8vACVvMHQOQCUlowQME0h_zftRmNCxWLREc4e1IwEMLfioom5eUsQZsr276kqm-aI6EwhwHIg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5464" data-original-width="8192" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYlHNSgZ8BM62-naB6MLMqY4EA0TOM74RIZoU9EPgX2O25xxK5PrNYgvj51STmPfwt9hth_Jc5hqKiwZ8wJ5e45Q7uIpUmrvnYfj9kykuYc0VtOXDvu8vACVvMHQOQCUlowQME0h_zftRmNCxWLREc4e1IwEMLfioom5eUsQZsr276kqm-aI6EwhwHIg=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqTd-7TIGOt0AQBnDlSVHZhl0wTzmR0wDvQvomDD75mG_uwcEBlOl1Ujt37_t527IfrXuZw1H6iogGW1R5JVHCMKyseeAVtwWu9xaYfmBtSyqG8yxzG3SQAYXku2im0dhOrCPW2cuROYKx82SEB0lmJVPlPyNE-sSW7fTnTfmGV1AOACOWe13mtv3svQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5464" data-original-width="8192" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqTd-7TIGOt0AQBnDlSVHZhl0wTzmR0wDvQvomDD75mG_uwcEBlOl1Ujt37_t527IfrXuZw1H6iogGW1R5JVHCMKyseeAVtwWu9xaYfmBtSyqG8yxzG3SQAYXku2im0dhOrCPW2cuROYKx82SEB0lmJVPlPyNE-sSW7fTnTfmGV1AOACOWe13mtv3svQ=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivqv3VB7sPwXuq4hvk8XrQcvx2jA3Ndl9h3fdgjbLNsRxEUBedp7sBK3Vwbt1fXyubjwC9AZZ9eXnwT5wtAhP9rJGzH3JnQwPHr1vf_vaU2_uhqYIpaoN2uQQPL3bJgubeEFVNUKzyCp6BHUyvWk4_gTdEUbBqF87U0c9LbIfRzKGciQ5_7RLh7IYEGw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3852" data-original-width="5725" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivqv3VB7sPwXuq4hvk8XrQcvx2jA3Ndl9h3fdgjbLNsRxEUBedp7sBK3Vwbt1fXyubjwC9AZZ9eXnwT5wtAhP9rJGzH3JnQwPHr1vf_vaU2_uhqYIpaoN2uQQPL3bJgubeEFVNUKzyCp6BHUyvWk4_gTdEUbBqF87U0c9LbIfRzKGciQ5_7RLh7IYEGw=w640-h430" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwk_flXkdSJnl9OTFdeM83OeO7Vh62qoFEDkf1QOwoky9zTRuOUrsSoGNbx7B2Uwmtu7NeurJMhrnSnqm_swqKTljVbOHvpBRjE640O4MWYrQi-RrEQ5huXXIX-ui-rEb5uruKmu5XVUqC7-9fkVNOqDMyP39csjPi0TiYn0dOkivEsfx_mqk-Lnma8Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5464" data-original-width="8192" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwk_flXkdSJnl9OTFdeM83OeO7Vh62qoFEDkf1QOwoky9zTRuOUrsSoGNbx7B2Uwmtu7NeurJMhrnSnqm_swqKTljVbOHvpBRjE640O4MWYrQi-RrEQ5huXXIX-ui-rEb5uruKmu5XVUqC7-9fkVNOqDMyP39csjPi0TiYn0dOkivEsfx_mqk-Lnma8Q=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNWHRwUeICLn8KEXzD4bD95Umw53R_-i1mEFSj3GxuRpRYt_9b6WDy1Ioa93PZOPxshuAKm0nkhCP6XRVSLKi4v2BPc82LIJNQezGAxElFHCP6vRMBQOSSyf-uuXZuXSf_apqhKCXm2q0jG_3XmFfkN3c8BYxqHr28Guehjfi5rcW3mDabQRGlkbJdw/s1280/IMG_3187.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNWHRwUeICLn8KEXzD4bD95Umw53R_-i1mEFSj3GxuRpRYt_9b6WDy1Ioa93PZOPxshuAKm0nkhCP6XRVSLKi4v2BPc82LIJNQezGAxElFHCP6vRMBQOSSyf-uuXZuXSf_apqhKCXm2q0jG_3XmFfkN3c8BYxqHr28Guehjfi5rcW3mDabQRGlkbJdw/w640-h480/IMG_3187.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfxmI5kVReevp5cH3w_eNKnFKQLufltwWQ_JbiLISk5zaWY0x7ar4pBUVY6JIUBPcGtAfcAyGVmvkJESCn1FX93SPbRMg5fQ_xg4Ce-5TnvnMcyWp47F_3tLSqMSJI8W9-_cpTXUHUU8ut5nIHAirzcBBHvhu2wpSMGLLdiUg9uBkAKhlQhwyu6OM0WA/s1280/IMG_3191.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfxmI5kVReevp5cH3w_eNKnFKQLufltwWQ_JbiLISk5zaWY0x7ar4pBUVY6JIUBPcGtAfcAyGVmvkJESCn1FX93SPbRMg5fQ_xg4Ce-5TnvnMcyWp47F_3tLSqMSJI8W9-_cpTXUHUU8ut5nIHAirzcBBHvhu2wpSMGLLdiUg9uBkAKhlQhwyu6OM0WA/w640-h480/IMG_3191.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVVP9SVIcxN6JiScfZNykI6v75K4mghwFBDex7jsWpDqaoShxufYJ_urNHRao9nd5Y4FwnGGHQJ64QBtlG5kDd8-bOKMAMEXZJqWOv_yK5OLXeGzA4vb1myg-7qS5NDRiZ7Yh_BV-iJk9qkoCkFFTjoApdh0xpLQt74W8t-fTzpA82SifMakey5U7WQ/s1280/IMG_3258.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVVP9SVIcxN6JiScfZNykI6v75K4mghwFBDex7jsWpDqaoShxufYJ_urNHRao9nd5Y4FwnGGHQJ64QBtlG5kDd8-bOKMAMEXZJqWOv_yK5OLXeGzA4vb1myg-7qS5NDRiZ7Yh_BV-iJk9qkoCkFFTjoApdh0xpLQt74W8t-fTzpA82SifMakey5U7WQ/w640-h480/IMG_3258.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VmTAXgy7PVMDUZlBlFhpCOz2SmMblG-9ZgLnkAvKxrhp4sf2BwKnLpBmA7aFuwywGr1a1O-PoIPkZuec3H9ww_HSed_O5iUJuCDJ1Ai9YYGS_ly8_y2aZe6g5cfHlosnJAgOmzNW5hNyJJI_YGXIEIh0tD29Mq-wW_qXZzPWHBpuPrnSwia1KN_AiQ/s1280/IMG_3272.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VmTAXgy7PVMDUZlBlFhpCOz2SmMblG-9ZgLnkAvKxrhp4sf2BwKnLpBmA7aFuwywGr1a1O-PoIPkZuec3H9ww_HSed_O5iUJuCDJ1Ai9YYGS_ly8_y2aZe6g5cfHlosnJAgOmzNW5hNyJJI_YGXIEIh0tD29Mq-wW_qXZzPWHBpuPrnSwia1KN_AiQ/w480-h640/IMG_3272.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhzZO_W_ULvWnZgGTWwWwEL4UXNTIaVqd34yQI-kVebKW5mU7xDefS936reuEReHE5_b1GncR5x1z7fm4Z_WfKQ5gjFxtV_4l8TbXvlrHkG_xKzr0dsiQfti9PhlpE19BdJmC1nBXWCwAmQk5Vj0_mI3zn8d-ZKi7ZFmgFz2x50gIc7lFx7-Dw19LQw/s1280/IMG_3280.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhzZO_W_ULvWnZgGTWwWwEL4UXNTIaVqd34yQI-kVebKW5mU7xDefS936reuEReHE5_b1GncR5x1z7fm4Z_WfKQ5gjFxtV_4l8TbXvlrHkG_xKzr0dsiQfti9PhlpE19BdJmC1nBXWCwAmQk5Vj0_mI3zn8d-ZKi7ZFmgFz2x50gIc7lFx7-Dw19LQw/w480-h640/IMG_3280.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZhtmE8TAlVfrXOTZ9Aj13UsoOA8052OcTXag5TT36VnuVHUVw9Zl8rhMtfEER9zsp4TDGOWvy34pr0Z3H6qSmVnx9H_GRlGYGmx8uoCr_HdhnTZbqpgDpElEvXqySclm6y8QBzntWlOnvwpcNdMpE9-147f-95TMjfs68ed6SrEnt9okZAqRcrTEaQ/s1280/IMG_3317.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZhtmE8TAlVfrXOTZ9Aj13UsoOA8052OcTXag5TT36VnuVHUVw9Zl8rhMtfEER9zsp4TDGOWvy34pr0Z3H6qSmVnx9H_GRlGYGmx8uoCr_HdhnTZbqpgDpElEvXqySclm6y8QBzntWlOnvwpcNdMpE9-147f-95TMjfs68ed6SrEnt9okZAqRcrTEaQ/w640-h480/IMG_3317.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPBqd_redbP43ThizS_smM2Wdkw7wSxosGRCClx6L9lQhJoC0ILaxlIsNukZ2vLG8UDZvL-3iWH6z7FT4opRZ0znqpOEiJJ6wkOloaamXBG0zYwMszTaQ9lvTMqTZvHCzcgiPLNKrMRijC2W6_RWElhUKc2nCfB1du16lcgIceSsSVFzlvGIXV-U4dg/s1280/IMG_3327.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPBqd_redbP43ThizS_smM2Wdkw7wSxosGRCClx6L9lQhJoC0ILaxlIsNukZ2vLG8UDZvL-3iWH6z7FT4opRZ0znqpOEiJJ6wkOloaamXBG0zYwMszTaQ9lvTMqTZvHCzcgiPLNKrMRijC2W6_RWElhUKc2nCfB1du16lcgIceSsSVFzlvGIXV-U4dg/w640-h480/IMG_3327.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtc1bHncuXkLEWsyj_BrVUodK9e6O4HztBbUSauRyUUy-MsPRqTiZpDmwUun8gqQXpiBc484iVDAFKteFuz3c3uhkclEP3YfEuUMVi89_eAxrd_1kMmUuYD6esw7LCnH1p58BcqEixU9M4IfrBDG9H7Eo_FrggSygjswNcOt23LPZ0M0BDCVjzr5bfug/s1280/IMG_3366.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtc1bHncuXkLEWsyj_BrVUodK9e6O4HztBbUSauRyUUy-MsPRqTiZpDmwUun8gqQXpiBc484iVDAFKteFuz3c3uhkclEP3YfEuUMVi89_eAxrd_1kMmUuYD6esw7LCnH1p58BcqEixU9M4IfrBDG9H7Eo_FrggSygjswNcOt23LPZ0M0BDCVjzr5bfug/w640-h480/IMG_3366.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr4hfjE33vAj_X81HiALYmM9Dh-PK16nR_7Olx40nHhUOD3FL70HXtBBOVxGP10pIErh8rICakqtRsPmrTZXq9R0YDnhYXbEUVyYV_t4aE8XV3rrg11y6-byYUMIvkogx1hlBfjF8FVa367s0bGkBhwEYqTcHe6et98LxAYDSdFKT7XZwi-RAuaqoi0w/s1280/IMG_3369.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr4hfjE33vAj_X81HiALYmM9Dh-PK16nR_7Olx40nHhUOD3FL70HXtBBOVxGP10pIErh8rICakqtRsPmrTZXq9R0YDnhYXbEUVyYV_t4aE8XV3rrg11y6-byYUMIvkogx1hlBfjF8FVa367s0bGkBhwEYqTcHe6et98LxAYDSdFKT7XZwi-RAuaqoi0w/w640-h480/IMG_3369.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQg3NEpUYBil1QPljem8dMLTBGnrr0ZoivFyTcOX0OmgBC-nS2EY62pIz4PJmLJtnGuhtb-eRPz3y1yfKDNwpsyd_k3QIvvPD5qk3-ugv8GcrcN_qHHpgHM6kzPK23Ziehfuv8ZHmzCvNbp94IX0yFsG-J_GVBQTnohztoNBvtFj8Ka9yG_cACzeyNw/s1280/IMG_3371.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQg3NEpUYBil1QPljem8dMLTBGnrr0ZoivFyTcOX0OmgBC-nS2EY62pIz4PJmLJtnGuhtb-eRPz3y1yfKDNwpsyd_k3QIvvPD5qk3-ugv8GcrcN_qHHpgHM6kzPK23Ziehfuv8ZHmzCvNbp94IX0yFsG-J_GVBQTnohztoNBvtFj8Ka9yG_cACzeyNw/w640-h480/IMG_3371.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0guA10q8RqK1S8sUynwPHDj5i6apoK4v-Jm3HEibzXZJEEmPQPlMiCrO0ETD4b-3iIWeiS603G8S3mJVzIqelsg1fi87msAIUSXByKKNoyaD3uHVk8JTTfagCqKJjWf8SwY9IO_RWb73hxOt670sMFQBm38KcJB5Poxtdm6sgZ_ySVcr0iX6HA5xXow/s1280/IMG_3401.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0guA10q8RqK1S8sUynwPHDj5i6apoK4v-Jm3HEibzXZJEEmPQPlMiCrO0ETD4b-3iIWeiS603G8S3mJVzIqelsg1fi87msAIUSXByKKNoyaD3uHVk8JTTfagCqKJjWf8SwY9IO_RWb73hxOt670sMFQBm38KcJB5Poxtdm6sgZ_ySVcr0iX6HA5xXow/w640-h480/IMG_3401.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEjUeywnHVTpoToBXKVicITvLM9PYiEMC4SudnAQzV2uveuO-XQStSxyXkHIL6AaiC-xMz6xGfkkWy_l0BXPZ2d55IEUOT_qOemc1Igh478rPr66SJtB0nnDyouaCKOQlwBHCE56m4CNgCGjTrDaCp3ThHPp7b1IgqChHd0z0PgzfAPqrdtT3oicKRw/s1280/IMG_3428.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEjUeywnHVTpoToBXKVicITvLM9PYiEMC4SudnAQzV2uveuO-XQStSxyXkHIL6AaiC-xMz6xGfkkWy_l0BXPZ2d55IEUOT_qOemc1Igh478rPr66SJtB0nnDyouaCKOQlwBHCE56m4CNgCGjTrDaCp3ThHPp7b1IgqChHd0z0PgzfAPqrdtT3oicKRw/w640-h480/IMG_3428.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtYfOv0eHcnOyt5Z0pW0iET7TMVM5jMyq9zLK3Utc5m_-y9IOJSIdj_biq_juwX-d4lokBb3t8xbepb08jTE9uStEcigo72QiIB1Yt3sxic6nJTK26Q_j7HfBch0Pcive-j5teDadg0pB6NGqYgcTCxR0FoptqPaK5A0Myrf_JqmWejMxHRVSuoqBlQ/s1280/IMG_3493.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtYfOv0eHcnOyt5Z0pW0iET7TMVM5jMyq9zLK3Utc5m_-y9IOJSIdj_biq_juwX-d4lokBb3t8xbepb08jTE9uStEcigo72QiIB1Yt3sxic6nJTK26Q_j7HfBch0Pcive-j5teDadg0pB6NGqYgcTCxR0FoptqPaK5A0Myrf_JqmWejMxHRVSuoqBlQ/w480-h640/IMG_3493.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEAApgpahHVBI3kSqAXYS30COGqfmcFd2FACUkG10y466WIZiP3Fvd4mTZvPgEB3c9DLnBIt7uiYPuNOCFkPevrVk3anEZ3iR4x9GvGNbjaeN1gzS5NhU7BFfXo56f3E1bmXDAGqGcy28JzvKfEnQPKgzQcEFJca5sm7upHojExPI3_VyCKBRb9RaSw/s1280/IMG_3518.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1202" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEAApgpahHVBI3kSqAXYS30COGqfmcFd2FACUkG10y466WIZiP3Fvd4mTZvPgEB3c9DLnBIt7uiYPuNOCFkPevrVk3anEZ3iR4x9GvGNbjaeN1gzS5NhU7BFfXo56f3E1bmXDAGqGcy28JzvKfEnQPKgzQcEFJca5sm7upHojExPI3_VyCKBRb9RaSw/w602-h640/IMG_3518.jpeg" width="602" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyMbNynL3U8uHgkZUgN56ldT7_-esPiCLXg8dQg_ee4Ydp2xtyximyCWTbtEvsWoypGOyna_xZnKMOw-Zz3S8KxUM3KhTE8Jpn9JRoQXJFz3FqNr_XOSFDUn9_nEqIujPiLi2C2VviOZ_9JFEXHAsSqJEdg-PEmTzzMtcV1-ASI1h-iFvsCg0Bi9S1A/s1280/IMG_3616.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1280" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyMbNynL3U8uHgkZUgN56ldT7_-esPiCLXg8dQg_ee4Ydp2xtyximyCWTbtEvsWoypGOyna_xZnKMOw-Zz3S8KxUM3KhTE8Jpn9JRoQXJFz3FqNr_XOSFDUn9_nEqIujPiLi2C2VviOZ_9JFEXHAsSqJEdg-PEmTzzMtcV1-ASI1h-iFvsCg0Bi9S1A/w640-h462/IMG_3616.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>That's a lot of life in a few weeks, many miles, many faces, many conversations and questions. Luke and Abby came to us in an excruciating (cross-filled) time, and their perspective and loyalty and love reminded us that this path is truly worth it. Thanks for reading and prayers . . . and may all of us hear Jesus calling us by name this Sunday.</p><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-76700761983478815642023-03-14T05:22:00.001-07:002023-03-14T05:22:11.189-07:00Making the extraordinary ordinaryA bit over 24 hours into the week that has <span style="font-size: medium;">so far included</span>: two newborns (one Monday morning, one Monday afternoon) with severe congenital malformations that needed urgent surgical attention, each brought to the gate of our yard with a small family entourage looking for reassurance and advice and financial help to seek care more centrally at a more resourced Ugandan hospital than our District can manage. A meeting with the highest elected official in our district to plead the injustice of a relatively wealthy policeman (big nice house and business in the top 1%) using the courts to not only reclaim a 7-acre piece of land his dad sold the mission 23 years ago to finance this man's education, but also to attempt to extort from us fees amounting to three times the actual value of the land. (Which is money that comes right out of the capacity to buy new textbooks for Christ School students, or send those first two babies mentioned above for specialised care). Management of our Area by what's app video calls with 3 different countries, each filled with the rejoicing alertness of God's work in various lives but also with unsolvable dilemmas occasioned by living unreachable by elderly parents or living with the trauma of nearby warfare and displaced people and intractable poverty. Trekking down to CSB for a couple hours and marking the goodness of having had a "Director of Development" for the last 3 years, an experienced educator pour into the capacity of staff to change the lives of students, and hearing those staff recognise the milestone of such service with thanks. Spending another couple hours with that family's kids as they prepare to move to Kenya, taking time to verbalise the paradox of gratitude and grief. And in between all the above, sometimes during it, the peppering of lesser issues, quick meetings about schedules or strategies or needs, queries from a former student who is distressed by lack of employment, a parent who had hoped his child would be sponsored for school by us, neighbours with chronic hypertension or diabetes or a resolving infection or just a proposed project that want empathy and assistance. <br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">That's actually a pretty ordinary start to a week,</span> though the nature of the rare <span style="font-size: large;">anomalies</span> and the sheer scale of the <span style="font-size: large;">corruption</span> and the deep <span style="font-size: large;">grief </span>of saying goodbye to 7/22 team mates within a week's time felt extraordinary. </div><div><br /></div><div>As we keep marching through the Jesus story in John this Lent, today's poem (Biola Lent site, Mary Karr) said </div><div>"But we want magic, to win</div><div>the lottery we never bought a ticket for. . . " </div><div>Yep, that's what I want. But the poet goes on to say voice of God is "small & fond & local". </div><div><br /></div><div>And there is the dilemma. When the broken world's edges scratch us, <span style="font-size: large;">they feel extraordinarily damaging and sorrowful, even though we know that the entire continent is reeling with the same</span> babies prone to early death or greedy men stealing from the poor. When we miss our own family and have to say goodbye to team mates, it feels extraordinary, even though our choices have caused that pain for others too and in 2023 global mobility is widespread. When we, like the people of Palestine scrutinising Jesus, see that he can suspend entropy and remake eyes and turn water to wine . . . we ask for the magic ticket to fix everything and do it now. He heals a finite number of sufferers, feeds a countable number of people on a hillside, even raises a friend from the dead. Extraordinary events, so shocking we call them miracles. But their very notoriety exists because they are the exception, not the rule.</div><div><br /></div><div>Instead Jesus refused to call down angel armies and burn through all evil instantaneously. <span style="font-size: large;">He left us with an example and a mission that is small, fond, and local.</span> Helping the two families with babies on our doorstep, while knowing there are dozens and hundreds and thousands more with challenges. Struggling to keep one school afloat, which has slowly infiltrated many aspects of this place with life even though we are a tiny drop in the national picture. Resisting one person bent on injustice even though so many others are not stopped. And not in that 24 hours but the 24 before it, praying with a family devastated by a teenage pregnancy that sent a life into a tragic direction . . we can't fix that at all, and carry the weighty sorrow that that story is one of hundreds around us. </div><div><br /></div><div>But we stick with all those tiny bearing of burdens and small flickers of light, because the end of the story has a plot twist. <span style="font-size: large;">The extraordinary will become ordinary. The exception will become the rule.</span> The newborn will be young as a 100 year old Isaiah says, the Psalms are full of visions where justice reigns and ends evil, Revelation pictures us in a crowd of beauty with no more goodbyes. Until then, here we are.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yhvRXORBiPa019HqOwPROxgOWBEop7i2S7zuG_X6k9tcUxnXbtAKhWu_hPsbrrxdhozqFJYcKSOm7aUIfp1oh9bci2R6wAStsXobFsKNnWrt4VliXnkFGdsiMaagKmVfHsG4pugE-T4zKWvpYUSKNscfvd9XGWb1Wo_PWUFnYYrhiSaRCowk9b66Rw/s596/8754458C-6F62-45E0-8F74-AFD670E47973.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="596" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yhvRXORBiPa019HqOwPROxgOWBEop7i2S7zuG_X6k9tcUxnXbtAKhWu_hPsbrrxdhozqFJYcKSOm7aUIfp1oh9bci2R6wAStsXobFsKNnWrt4VliXnkFGdsiMaagKmVfHsG4pugE-T4zKWvpYUSKNscfvd9XGWb1Wo_PWUFnYYrhiSaRCowk9b66Rw/w640-h374/8754458C-6F62-45E0-8F74-AFD670E47973.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqi8q2TWxcMbIWO4PXsO9xJzs6MPFLGtuWH0cjKnxygWv41FRhJL3waNzGEk6Hqrsn6mGZ1-1mRWeQ7Ir1sVC7WOqzsm-8cguIcWo1wT_ya0IJqxvBAALU1MWyAH0Jq67oSGIC3bq4Xhsv7RiuDgj4TDYP_TxiHhN0AliigoQdo--nlbaLezVDWmqIw/s4000/Bundi%20Team%20March2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2328" data-original-width="4000" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqi8q2TWxcMbIWO4PXsO9xJzs6MPFLGtuWH0cjKnxygWv41FRhJL3waNzGEk6Hqrsn6mGZ1-1mRWeQ7Ir1sVC7WOqzsm-8cguIcWo1wT_ya0IJqxvBAALU1MWyAH0Jq67oSGIC3bq4Xhsv7RiuDgj4TDYP_TxiHhN0AliigoQdo--nlbaLezVDWmqIw/w640-h372/Bundi%20Team%20March2023.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimt07LwCL1qItZa9HyBgEKfwF-g4Zy6dE8eLzMqtMTDh6buICyLlPwhxbQnkECaP9MhpW72koZYJuSYq4u1S9TStHOBpXPY6qfjZG_GRrXYNt9nQPzIkechKr_ETWu1pe1Zij-RX_VkOXT2inzOUkHZKfYNJ65VFUCvHd9uyJeo0MVLsPuDC9Q3qKyqQ/s1280/IMG_2456.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimt07LwCL1qItZa9HyBgEKfwF-g4Zy6dE8eLzMqtMTDh6buICyLlPwhxbQnkECaP9MhpW72koZYJuSYq4u1S9TStHOBpXPY6qfjZG_GRrXYNt9nQPzIkechKr_ETWu1pe1Zij-RX_VkOXT2inzOUkHZKfYNJ65VFUCvHd9uyJeo0MVLsPuDC9Q3qKyqQ/w400-h300/IMG_2456.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXL0uY7Q0dbroc0NbeLOslA8Jhl15xwfRp92vFmMNrggZhkmmFN7FyXSjg_DQZ9Y7np3dv-qhsl181vEw1tGwUUUeo9sry5pA3jzStGINn-g0qRDnLy-mNXkYmdQi0Jp9q8qSQKYFgIzfWkwcfOus8Yao-7CNgRkq6bTflwCZbmD3uuhqmDM7fRX8NA/s1280/IMG_2513.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXL0uY7Q0dbroc0NbeLOslA8Jhl15xwfRp92vFmMNrggZhkmmFN7FyXSjg_DQZ9Y7np3dv-qhsl181vEw1tGwUUUeo9sry5pA3jzStGINn-g0qRDnLy-mNXkYmdQi0Jp9q8qSQKYFgIzfWkwcfOus8Yao-7CNgRkq6bTflwCZbmD3uuhqmDM7fRX8NA/w300-h400/IMG_2513.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr1vF3meGD39-6hh2PueX5qVoGXNT_LIi0XwRQfHUpwHBzkmH6NdHISog1wbHdhizettCYl9Kg_GMYe6TH2uppJRdon9MrB96JV0s3lx4EuCf2jkQEcSKPo-Ad4Owtm6sn0zbEguz2GiZXmZwdoiq1HxExp6NzldWzn1RN95L_suEyXNRczaH16-d5Q/s1280/IMG_2526.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="1280" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr1vF3meGD39-6hh2PueX5qVoGXNT_LIi0XwRQfHUpwHBzkmH6NdHISog1wbHdhizettCYl9Kg_GMYe6TH2uppJRdon9MrB96JV0s3lx4EuCf2jkQEcSKPo-Ad4Owtm6sn0zbEguz2GiZXmZwdoiq1HxExp6NzldWzn1RN95L_suEyXNRczaH16-d5Q/w640-h250/IMG_2526.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmys-_8XhYaxlJAjRyyqAIfnG2T1F71XORNqMWaP_ZrV-iE_qDXpI6dXk3-dHhym3Kpto2TkMnFI6b5AgmSmKc3kmeu6cNDUvxw81sV3gup8417V_YHQJ1_WeSH8Zl5MBFFy8rG7-TGyjwVivuPFM9wgfY-HPUsHiO940Dn7dVVJ4Rrh2EHAQviynsmQ/s1280/IMG_3054.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmys-_8XhYaxlJAjRyyqAIfnG2T1F71XORNqMWaP_ZrV-iE_qDXpI6dXk3-dHhym3Kpto2TkMnFI6b5AgmSmKc3kmeu6cNDUvxw81sV3gup8417V_YHQJ1_WeSH8Zl5MBFFy8rG7-TGyjwVivuPFM9wgfY-HPUsHiO940Dn7dVVJ4Rrh2EHAQviynsmQ/w640-h480/IMG_3054.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAngCx0trlGLFe3y2h2j0k3J0Hnt2Y8EUOQn6d34r3g2vUyhQYeYh3hHC9DAro_qIokW4dldXLsxtxIatjKrxbVlAtEVRbcl1QqmVgN6NfKukdcLpotBxwsqGwg_3FF4oD24lXdNB3iYokJ3hm_vyMuVmhun38UUJrQXcVBxOj8DWOMHEMj99y8DGzg/s1368/McClure%20Family%20Feb2023-3%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="1368" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAngCx0trlGLFe3y2h2j0k3J0Hnt2Y8EUOQn6d34r3g2vUyhQYeYh3hHC9DAro_qIokW4dldXLsxtxIatjKrxbVlAtEVRbcl1QqmVgN6NfKukdcLpotBxwsqGwg_3FF4oD24lXdNB3iYokJ3hm_vyMuVmhun38UUJrQXcVBxOj8DWOMHEMj99y8DGzg/w400-h400/McClure%20Family%20Feb2023-3%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2T_NAB-c1xeSshbpuUs4HEMXrcXFerUL-s70aKjieAeX2R-YCb_mlrWAtYvH2WBe0BZ6bGIrKK7pbvDZp57BgKVEHB6zS0SPvLvFTULiIkVunXcyPPhGbm8xazXYf0GPYGmQo99vYaPvhMhtL0IiVTvKg4FZhA3s1bn91RzIvI0STChifmdYvZJusw/s6176/RMS%20March2023.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4019" data-original-width="6176" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2T_NAB-c1xeSshbpuUs4HEMXrcXFerUL-s70aKjieAeX2R-YCb_mlrWAtYvH2WBe0BZ6bGIrKK7pbvDZp57BgKVEHB6zS0SPvLvFTULiIkVunXcyPPhGbm8xazXYf0GPYGmQo99vYaPvhMhtL0IiVTvKg4FZhA3s1bn91RzIvI0STChifmdYvZJusw/w640-h416/RMS%20March2023.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-700077567695561062023-02-28T03:58:00.004-08:002023-02-28T03:58:45.788-08:00Sustenance, Safety, and Significance: giving them up for Lent or forever?<p> One day this week, Scott was gathering supplies for fixing Christ School's broken pieces and deteriorated problems. A phrase I read in Isaiah for the beginning of Lent came to mind: you will be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell in. That's Scott's groove, repair and restore, re-settling scraping doors, repainting peeling walls, finding solutions for trash or for water run-off, remaking an unusable stove or rehanging a broken gutter. The reality is that people leave and moth and rust do corrupt and thieves do break in and steal, so those who stick around have some non-glamorous work. He sorts through barrels of nails and screws for the right one, talks to curious people in the market, does small experiments to see what works. <span style="font-size: large;">Sustaining</span> a school is no joke, or a team, or an Area. Or a wife. We constantly feel needy, for so many things.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2ofO8uSVcpGBItq6SOgXvYSPzl9iOPNUWJpcBrKn0n0P-LE27aFhlYunfrpqrgiLpaggY1hc5Ips-S3BIm3L4O8VvUcumOsXGYx3mMzH7Z-eTfx-pEhas4oV4M2wyzLWg2Vyk02FjPnZQqJRl6_YJlTIgCcUHyaQR3CuDgDrZ-MXOcQMRZpkZ-uQtg/s1280/IMG_2161.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2ofO8uSVcpGBItq6SOgXvYSPzl9iOPNUWJpcBrKn0n0P-LE27aFhlYunfrpqrgiLpaggY1hc5Ips-S3BIm3L4O8VvUcumOsXGYx3mMzH7Z-eTfx-pEhas4oV4M2wyzLWg2Vyk02FjPnZQqJRl6_YJlTIgCcUHyaQR3CuDgDrZ-MXOcQMRZpkZ-uQtg/w300-h400/IMG_2161.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>While he was scouring town for supplies, I was walking up the road in the mid-day sun, the dry embers of a rain-deprived season that has left even our jungle crunchy, hazy, parched. I had come past the old airstrip, marvelling at the hours we used to spend hauling the mower and meeting planes, grateful for the road now but a little sad to see the encroaching gardens confirming the end of that small-plane era. Once upon a time, that airstrip was a <span style="font-size: large;">lynchpin of our safety.</span> (Today is son #2's 28th birthday, and he made it to a term delivery partly in thanks to the fact that we were one of the early flights out of here to deliver at Kijabe). So may memories of this airstrip during ADF attacks, during Ebola. A mile later I happened to be passing a village that is difficult to recognise now with the pavement and bridges and change, but I remembered the many times I had followed up on a little girl who lived there, K. Grace. She was my patient for some years whose rare neurological infection made her limbs and voice spiral out of her control, but did not dampen her spirit. She had a family that managed with some nutritional help and support of a padded chair to keep her in school, which she loved. Her life was short, but I'm still glad to have been part of it. But sobering to raise kids in a place that needed an airstrip and that had dangers like Grace encountered.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsOGwkazVkjjC48Go48htNS_nNNxcFE7DrqT4XhM3tfYyHI2GNEc0vnHDYBq5eS8y64MoA8a5oCdH_ShmEqB3WSDbfN5DmHoOzmMnpN2m2WZDqGu3J77WvosKXO_Kp577wszAxZzgFQQR7F18OwV0PfCh4uy6BjzPdA9p8DNp4W9JTuCAjaoP3Hrwrg/s1280/IMG_2183%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsOGwkazVkjjC48Go48htNS_nNNxcFE7DrqT4XhM3tfYyHI2GNEc0vnHDYBq5eS8y64MoA8a5oCdH_ShmEqB3WSDbfN5DmHoOzmMnpN2m2WZDqGu3J77WvosKXO_Kp577wszAxZzgFQQR7F18OwV0PfCh4uy6BjzPdA9p8DNp4W9JTuCAjaoP3Hrwrg/w640-h480/IMG_2183%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Yesterday we were in Fort Portal getting car work done, and while we waited we walked up to Mountains of the Moon. This used to be almost the only place in town to order food, which took hours to prepare, but we would come and open our mail from the post office and the kids would chase a ball around the grass while we sat reading the letters and the staff no doubt scoured around town to find the one or two items on the menu to prepare. Decades later, the grass and porch remain but the whole place has received a major upgrade, and the road nearby has offices for Dutch and British and Irish government assistance, Baylor's AIDS project. Dozens of non-African organisations now base their work here, choosing the pleasant climate and order and convenience of this spot. The area carries an<span style="font-size: large;"> aura of significance</span>, of people with money and skills that make things happen, people in the know. I have to admit that looks tempting, the climate and the tea and the respect. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSG-Du07JxfrL6Ayu9_8t_FJoiDeiQu0dYylLWofX2T1ZvIZK6GNwebExRZ854_wJizwD8tOEA5LeWwNFobHMTx73SL55i-m-N1bR3O0BYPxNxxh4tH4AM9N8YU05TdyzA6DM7s9KTlFoGgpCkl-EKGjcCV8U3FlE_WlyZ2MR5MU68q6KnF222VyCrCg/s1280/IMG_2232.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSG-Du07JxfrL6Ayu9_8t_FJoiDeiQu0dYylLWofX2T1ZvIZK6GNwebExRZ854_wJizwD8tOEA5LeWwNFobHMTx73SL55i-m-N1bR3O0BYPxNxxh4tH4AM9N8YU05TdyzA6DM7s9KTlFoGgpCkl-EKGjcCV8U3FlE_WlyZ2MR5MU68q6KnF222VyCrCg/w640-h480/IMG_2232.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_t7IMH0vB45Qoq_BffvY2h6EEm_lIcF9Tw1TBXtNAsUczL2P6YHpkXbnn8GY24zAeI7IX-ya35-PL9p3a-7ZQZ3MTSffdObXdGhOsjaZjk1KbSFsjydJCL1KCqpnbCUWdUSfQJ7yD4sZbq4KVbi56tvUAxvIp1T4iybG8N_X8LEBK3PLZwG1kuB2lQ/s1280/IMG_2231.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_t7IMH0vB45Qoq_BffvY2h6EEm_lIcF9Tw1TBXtNAsUczL2P6YHpkXbnn8GY24zAeI7IX-ya35-PL9p3a-7ZQZ3MTSffdObXdGhOsjaZjk1KbSFsjydJCL1KCqpnbCUWdUSfQJ7yD4sZbq4KVbi56tvUAxvIp1T4iybG8N_X8LEBK3PLZwG1kuB2lQ/w400-h300/IMG_2231.jpeg" width="400" /></a></p><p>These three little moments do have a relationship, besides occurring within a couple of days. Fixing broken things and people still take up many hours of the days, struggling to sustain ourselves and our work. Listening, researching, making decisions, helping with referrals, we still spend lots of energy on the safety of people we care for. And the increasingly tedious piles of administration usually done from a 90+ degree home office don't always feel significant, but we do try to make a difference. Those seem like good goals.</p><p>Jesus started his ministry with 40 days in the wilderness, and the Lent readings start there too. Not straight to the seat of power, but out to the rough edges. This time reading through the temptation narrative it struck me:<span style="font-size: large;"> how reasonable to ask God for sustenance</span> (turn these stones to bread), <span style="font-size: large;">for safety </span>(send angels to catch the fall),<span style="font-size: large;"> for significance</span> (let the people respect the good you're trying to do). I certainly pray for those things. It's not like the tempter was trying to lure Jesus into an orgy or to benefit from drug money. Food when we're hungry, a barrier from harm when we slip and fall, success in our realm of influence. If this was any normal Kingdom, that's exactly the kind of wins we would expect to be promised. They all sound good, and indeed they all can be good. But Jesus didn't take any short cuts to Heaven. He held onto the paradoxical way of the cross. Even at the beginning he was choosing a lonely counterintuitive path that would require death to bring life. He said no, to the quick fixes of bread, of help, of power.</p><p>So as we now are a week into Lent, and almost 30 years into this life, and we have to keep asking for God to mercifully give us <span style="font-size: large;">what we need not what we want.</span> To choose Him over sure-fire success in being established, safe, recognised. To walk with Jesus through this wilderness of uncertainty and hardship, <b>trusting that even hunger, danger, and obscurity will be redeemed for good.</b> Not going to pretend we have that down pat in spite of all the opportunity to practice. Still need grace.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr73S644pOL8ZuOx6zZ9ydsyc2scCIRLME5BTM3QIeNEIF4wrwrlBrXVHwe7JbbgZf6KN-q6cANrt6TtD35Xqyb9CYiX48pE0whCGvd5Vnec3EqTWbh-DuNakPWI4jpghG94XXxzxL0SUbQCAwWBr_i-Cr_fPRK3jc3MgEVoI3YnRkzrKFPxNNbA08tg/s1280/caleb%202022%20with%20mom%20and%20dad.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr73S644pOL8ZuOx6zZ9ydsyc2scCIRLME5BTM3QIeNEIF4wrwrlBrXVHwe7JbbgZf6KN-q6cANrt6TtD35Xqyb9CYiX48pE0whCGvd5Vnec3EqTWbh-DuNakPWI4jpghG94XXxzxL0SUbQCAwWBr_i-Cr_fPRK3jc3MgEVoI3YnRkzrKFPxNNbA08tg/w400-h300/caleb%202022%20with%20mom%20and%20dad.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Just one Happy Birthday photo to end with . . . </div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-35784186548587778732023-02-22T01:56:00.003-08:002023-02-22T02:50:34.600-08:00Ashes and Dust : Lent as a narrative re-set<p> Ash Wednesday turns a corner in the year, from the celebratory relief of Christmas and Epiphany, incarnation and escape and the good news crossing national and cultural boundaries, the songs of Mary and Simeon and Anna full of vision for the triumph of good over evil, for the remaking of all things into a just world of reversal and joyful surprise . . . <span style="font-size: large;">to the somber reality of how that will happen.</span> We trade in the sparkling lights and festive gifts. Now we enter a 40-day reflection symbolised <span style="font-size: large;">by ashes and dust. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8MKLxEc0b6PzMvsQmC3cw2EBZywPVTIyd8BVZokJDHf0H9kBiBBTgYj7vrVvIilD-PVcH_KpC8PTeIje96ahOGFsX-iHDSLTIQLGiZFkv3FkxnQ61CuWOXIWY3IRCQoBKXWg8b7ia9pZTQjYBV8LdF1X_yD3BEPl7PkbqsvdXNmYRtSriggNjUkM7g/s1280/IMG_1847.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8MKLxEc0b6PzMvsQmC3cw2EBZywPVTIyd8BVZokJDHf0H9kBiBBTgYj7vrVvIilD-PVcH_KpC8PTeIje96ahOGFsX-iHDSLTIQLGiZFkv3FkxnQ61CuWOXIWY3IRCQoBKXWg8b7ia9pZTQjYBV8LdF1X_yD3BEPl7PkbqsvdXNmYRtSriggNjUkM7g/w480-h640/IMG_1847.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_YIgtV6zqhPAr4w5ZuhlkaN1YNd0fH2Y660YlKo-foUK7wEfwFxqXjvHYEVGW9Aoic-vyCCpM-95HlHUDwMtT03FoNG_NoybXgY5YxMcNujg-l6LNwYtL443zaa9EqCsOFQONQyAyjJVpsTjXcSKgcqGinbg2iJlBf3eqalCP-4fOFPy9uI8EWJobQ/s1280/IMG_2097.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_YIgtV6zqhPAr4w5ZuhlkaN1YNd0fH2Y660YlKo-foUK7wEfwFxqXjvHYEVGW9Aoic-vyCCpM-95HlHUDwMtT03FoNG_NoybXgY5YxMcNujg-l6LNwYtL443zaa9EqCsOFQONQyAyjJVpsTjXcSKgcqGinbg2iJlBf3eqalCP-4fOFPy9uI8EWJobQ/w480-h640/IMG_2097.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(just scrolled back on my phone to find these photos of a brick kiln and the roadside, dust and ashes in Bundi)</i></span></div><p></p><p>Abraham and Job used that phrase, ashes and dust, to mourn their powerlessness. <b>Ashes, the remnant of an offering consumed by fire, destroyed beyond recognition. Dust, the poetic substrate and ultimate state of the carbon-based world of life, including humans. </b></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Lent asks us to reset our drive to control and produce and succeed. To reflect that God's method of salvation does not align with our choice narratives.</span> My Bible reading last week was from Mark 9, which pretty clearly lays out this dilemma. Jesus takes his close friends up on a mountain to pray in peace and quiet, and they witness for a brief time a truer vision of who he is, filled with light and speaking with heroes of the faith in another dimension. They even hear the voice of God. They are all in. Ready to stay there for the duration, build shrines. But Jesus says no, and quotes from Isaiah 53, asking them to grapple with that prophecy of a suffering servant. He changes the story from glowing glory, to a rejected and bleeding figure. In the aftermath of seeing a Heavenly power, they resist the path of death. As do we all. They trudge down, begrudgingly, to find a crowd. The disciples have tried to heal a young boy, using power they thought they could wield over an evil spirit that harmed him. Jesus sighs and talks to the parents about belief, fasting, prayer. Lord I believe, help my unbelief, says the father. An honest prayer of struggling faith, followed by the boy appearing dead but standing up when Jesus takes his hand. One quiet healing, personal and draining. But not yet the dramatic victory that the mountaintop seemed to promise.</p><p>Me too, I'd like to see Jesus and Elijah and Moses with fire and sword blaze right through Bundibugyo, East and Central Africa, eliminating child hunger and deceptive traps and desperate poverty and selfish curses, like to see everyone so overwhelmed by God's beauty and power all else pales. Frankly the interminable bureaucracy, hourly knocks from people who are sick or hungry or lonely, the students who will miss out on education due to lack of funding, the corrupt processes, the inevitable moving on of people we depend on and care about . . . when you're living at the edge of the fray, <span style="font-size: large;">it's easy to want a dramatic narrative of visible victory</span>. I'd like to be more comfortable, or more famous, or feel more worthy.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Instead, we need a 40 day pace of dust and ashes, of reality check.</span> The prizes that appeal, the crutches that numb distress or distract from sorrow, none of those are the real goal. A new world is coming, but not by might. Jesus leads us to the cross. To a call to let go of what looks like life, and trust him for what really is life. To hold on through hard, hard days and weeks and years because He's bringing goodness by His own suffering. To stay in the story because the days of Lent and crucifixion end in Easter and resurrection. Life is coming, not in spite of dust and ashes, but because of dust and ashes.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The call to ashes and dust is an invitation to God.</span> To mercy, love, justice, hope, healing. May we spend the next tough weeks of February and March believing that. Our world is dusty and singed and we pray with a kernel of belief, but needing help for our unbelief. And that's what is promised.</p><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Some dusted-off pictures of the hope we're heading towards, from this week:</i></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHuzaJ5WlJQ8wF80aoXeQv_j7HYBEXTZmrqiGtTvMeG3_DzIfSNzi4qc2KTzz05cm4ls7Q_HelcrcluQzws-4IZzXaVggZXiNx69IgPW1fwq13S8XtI-annFCEzOCGuFy5ps0Q3SoFl7eMvdJYDhfLJKzNDvzbIcD8YdfLGIKhwnTwuth7WL8_7lYug/s1280/IMG_2077.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHuzaJ5WlJQ8wF80aoXeQv_j7HYBEXTZmrqiGtTvMeG3_DzIfSNzi4qc2KTzz05cm4ls7Q_HelcrcluQzws-4IZzXaVggZXiNx69IgPW1fwq13S8XtI-annFCEzOCGuFy5ps0Q3SoFl7eMvdJYDhfLJKzNDvzbIcD8YdfLGIKhwnTwuth7WL8_7lYug/w640-h480/IMG_2077.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Piper's birthday with her beloved teachers</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMuzPbDog0Imp8H9fpvlBCrugT1H5qL_9SmJp3g7cIjEt_1N7Dy5ctUKTJVHFC0f-UIiLre-kFTnsjfqLfOm2PfIFy6LnyZiGMXSaEqPZDTnGwcCCJ3sdgAVaqyc-w42LRFmjWqTV1R7X2RBZX7gtnqTd_C_r3xOpuAU8YLcJ5ubv3AZy3WFkOPGYZA/s1280/IMG_2100.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1280" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMuzPbDog0Imp8H9fpvlBCrugT1H5qL_9SmJp3g7cIjEt_1N7Dy5ctUKTJVHFC0f-UIiLre-kFTnsjfqLfOm2PfIFy6LnyZiGMXSaEqPZDTnGwcCCJ3sdgAVaqyc-w42LRFmjWqTV1R7X2RBZX7gtnqTd_C_r3xOpuAU8YLcJ5ubv3AZy3WFkOPGYZA/w640-h370/IMG_2100.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>CSB new class of senior one students arriving .. . . </i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPUpoQZEO5rLY2a8b2GV-FgPrQnF0nCElVvUXJDak9EwRvzxg5BKs30ow_YCUbLLbH6dVNjk6Y1aGwDY6WwEaDqoTsBwJJJ6j4oWAW2rUl-zg0g49kHc5bTt_hi3yj2f3n3yNd7g8Bwa707GzfTOntWPbDlhivajdnVRIsuQWiUnxxdI2t4Fw3622Xvg/s1280/IMG_2112.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPUpoQZEO5rLY2a8b2GV-FgPrQnF0nCElVvUXJDak9EwRvzxg5BKs30ow_YCUbLLbH6dVNjk6Y1aGwDY6WwEaDqoTsBwJJJ6j4oWAW2rUl-zg0g49kHc5bTt_hi3yj2f3n3yNd7g8Bwa707GzfTOntWPbDlhivajdnVRIsuQWiUnxxdI2t4Fw3622Xvg/w480-h640/IMG_2112.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Helped by upperclassmen and student leaders to move into the dorms.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLbm1qIF0cVyjv8z-oPPFgrNYOk7rBds3XYdGIFvsZG4N_KPT8-JJkvFJes7r53rdg81UjKSPBbEeQNes2ivLVlROtdK-8uvRtPFNTxaUtDBnr7dIxPv08axLazFZLtwQ_snmUTZ3tw8hxKTelUppZnU5wUW9n84m6vbNhF12uj6_ssHYs1E64XIKuQ/s1280/IMG_2152.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLbm1qIF0cVyjv8z-oPPFgrNYOk7rBds3XYdGIFvsZG4N_KPT8-JJkvFJes7r53rdg81UjKSPBbEeQNes2ivLVlROtdK-8uvRtPFNTxaUtDBnr7dIxPv08axLazFZLtwQ_snmUTZ3tw8hxKTelUppZnU5wUW9n84m6vbNhF12uj6_ssHYs1E64XIKuQ/w400-h300/IMG_2152.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Weekly women's bible study transformed to a birthday celebration for Alexis</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsD_VaRuM_o4iXmdPcjURg_yUPOOJW57Xra8vmWg9kuDjpZCo7z5_Cxxn-zThbezm1ppjVFsoAXZtSy3CYBgIsfokU_VKRlp0QB-WzMO3UCnitz8sd7KJkuqfg1LAyaMBqJ2SeXmElDIsIK3pMDS0KnpgMY8T7JPz6LnjhGqBnvCVQTwB72E5wiP1YTQ/s1280/IMG_2156.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsD_VaRuM_o4iXmdPcjURg_yUPOOJW57Xra8vmWg9kuDjpZCo7z5_Cxxn-zThbezm1ppjVFsoAXZtSy3CYBgIsfokU_VKRlp0QB-WzMO3UCnitz8sd7KJkuqfg1LAyaMBqJ2SeXmElDIsIK3pMDS0KnpgMY8T7JPz6LnjhGqBnvCVQTwB72E5wiP1YTQ/w400-h300/IMG_2156.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Our BundiNutrition Administrator Bwampu keeps this huge, important program running to feed hungry children. We were delighted to visit him this morning as his wife delivered their 4th last night. Welcome Anna.</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4UTEHPD9HvEDeDZHSFGLUh3fLDJiIQV6FQpYYYAwIUS3HuCEIa5ZO6VweTt9ln31OI-gaTdhSHwK8iVOfl1GG5mjUHJ1SPcR7IZOQ6UuvBUGLiUIPtM76mi2VIrS3_TI3Ht9HBYPslLNfLRohcrZhljKDaVZrCAaDDzWJAJ1qGyMakA1Jh_XcGhxtA/s1280/IMG_2157.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4UTEHPD9HvEDeDZHSFGLUh3fLDJiIQV6FQpYYYAwIUS3HuCEIa5ZO6VweTt9ln31OI-gaTdhSHwK8iVOfl1GG5mjUHJ1SPcR7IZOQ6UuvBUGLiUIPtM76mi2VIrS3_TI3Ht9HBYPslLNfLRohcrZhljKDaVZrCAaDDzWJAJ1qGyMakA1Jh_XcGhxtA/w400-h300/IMG_2157.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This is real: dust became flesh, a baby willingly entered the burning destruction of ashes to pull us through to life. And so we wait through Lent two thousand years later, still trying to reset our story to grasp such mystery.</i></span></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">IF your'e still here . . . two resources. We have loved the <a href="https://ccca.biola.edu/lent/" target="_blank">Biola University daily Lent</a> and Advent offerings for years, they combine art, music, poetry, scripture and meditation. 2023 Lent will focus on the Gospel of John, and we are focusing here daily as a team. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Serge has a great post listing some free resources as well as recommended books for <a href="https://serge.org/blog/from-winter-to-spring-gospel-renewal-for-lent/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=from-winter-to-spring-gospel-renewal-for-lent" target="_blank">Lent here.</a> </p><p style="text-align: left;">I also try to keep up with daily lectionary readings,<a href="https://lectionarypage.net/" target="_blank"> here</a> or what I actually use is the<a href="https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/app/lectionary" target="_blank"> app</a> created by Church House Publishing. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8176735909708151146.post-1871022403496705372023-02-12T03:17:00.000-08:002023-02-12T03:17:51.560-08:00Stars, Rain, Trees: equatorial truths on a blazing Sunday<p>Perhaps we are all concrete and pictorial thinkers. Certainly a truth in a sentence does not enter the soul with the same power, or endure in the memory as long, as truth in a story, experience, picture, person. And the combination of visual, tactile, exertional beauty when out in the natural world makes that a key place to encounter authenticity. Psalms often paint a picture that challenges or settles the spirit. </p><p>Our team is almost through Isaiah, and the last two weeks we've looked at 55 and 58, rich with metaphor and poetic invitation, landing in the reality of hunger and injustice. Three pictures end chapter 55 and keep coming back to me, finding them everywhere as <b>reminders of how to survive this world.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgly36PpVNgphg_xU2l8QhfkC9RgsT_6ZftONOt6adkLnUXyxiVFizkoHa-LSVhzE7Zk_MwqH370l49Dcn0x7Sfp6iYCFvHjQhhLBRC8yIbpMRfwLTUa_E0mVwcMPLsCCW-eUbJ1BgBg6C3D16JT4XwLtTQaaDveU-A4gjm3pLQqQWFvaFvXPyWpId21A/s1280/IMG_1905.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgly36PpVNgphg_xU2l8QhfkC9RgsT_6ZftONOt6adkLnUXyxiVFizkoHa-LSVhzE7Zk_MwqH370l49Dcn0x7Sfp6iYCFvHjQhhLBRC8yIbpMRfwLTUa_E0mVwcMPLsCCW-eUbJ1BgBg6C3D16JT4XwLtTQaaDveU-A4gjm3pLQqQWFvaFvXPyWpId21A/w400-h300/IMG_1905.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: large;">First, STARS.</span> The nighttime sky in equatorial Africa, often undiluted by electric lights, a glimpse into enormity. God's thoughts are not our thoughts, ways are not our ways, just as we can barely imagine lightyears and relativity and black holes and galaxies. The austere beauty, mystery, constancy settle our soul into trusting that as much as we try to systematise and predict and take responsibility, we are limited to a tiny sliver of atmosphere in a universe of wonder. The book of Job is synonymous with suffering, and God's answer is chapter 38. Look at the complexity and intricacy of all God has made. Stars remind us that we are limited, and called to faith.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Second, RAIN</span>. We're in dry season here in Bundibugyo, but we still have gathering clouds and rumbles of thunder. Rain comes to earth, sometimes in deluges but more often in intermittent gentle showers, longed for, not always convenient, certainly not entirely predictable and never controllable. Rain seeps into the ground in hidden ways, and out of view has the effect of germinating seeds and causing growth, of filtering into streams and rivers and bringing life. God's work in the world is like that. Jesus said, consider the lily, to say don't worry, God is at work. Stars picture God's transcendence but rain God's hidden nearness, a humble behind the scenes building for good, that we also must wait on with patience.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">And last, TREES.</span> Branching to the stars above, reaching down roots to the rain below, trees give us a glimpse of the Eden to come, the all-things-new to which we strive as redemption changes the world. Isaiah says they will clap their hands. Romans 8 is a perennial favourite but today verse 18 grabbed my attention: the sufferings of this present time (which are real, half our team is sick and kids missing school and wheezing, and all of us face deception and disagreement and danger and disappointment) are not worthy to to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. It's easy for me to long for better times by looking back into the past, and resign myself now to the slog of entropy. But this actually says that the best is still to come. We're headed to something. No matter how hard life seems, there is a promise of better.</p><p>February in East Africa is hot and bright and dusty and energy-sapping. It's 90-some degrees outside and almost that inside our screened home. But we still ponder the stars, revel in the limited raindrops, and try to stay shaded by our massive mango tree.</p><p>Stars, because we don't grasp all the mystery. Rain, because we depend on the inexorable work of the Spirit. Trees, to remind us of hope. Now these three remain, faith, love and hope. Thanks for praying we can remain too.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpzL8TXjp-tf4y4qHl8gCobViHTpJTTNqMCtSkkLHG8eY1u0Q8avTaQ-NqbAVN9X0n3wmfy-2ISevFHFldFEegiW5nS1_8Nyfoh4W2WkDaP4F76vdmamabTDR3xi97KYaTXaY9bu9ULy42QTUxfviUVdnZtF-54I8lSwg0GmFHRPeYmITgeymGojy7w/s1280/csb%20church%20day%20one%202023.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1280" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpzL8TXjp-tf4y4qHl8gCobViHTpJTTNqMCtSkkLHG8eY1u0Q8avTaQ-NqbAVN9X0n3wmfy-2ISevFHFldFEegiW5nS1_8Nyfoh4W2WkDaP4F76vdmamabTDR3xi97KYaTXaY9bu9ULy42QTUxfviUVdnZtF-54I8lSwg0GmFHRPeYmITgeymGojy7w/w640-h342/csb%20church%20day%20one%202023.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>CSB first Sunday morning service of 2023. Pray we can lead a few hundred kids into faith, hope, and love too!</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EKqTXFvgJPaKdQ5zVySQGCg3pG_ndoQs7uqoPv07sx9MDWCZEaLJ5yWXMq1Xrk9EjgGYF1EnFma5hfj-CKjBT_n5O-8BB__5MKD9Mwzm30NFtdxQe6phy4Pe3o7C65rYquHkX3AJSUCOOgI4S23WaQbBeNHodq6Yt19XvlqzncbBw_-uF-ST1pMGOQ/s1280/house%20with%20banana%20trees.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EKqTXFvgJPaKdQ5zVySQGCg3pG_ndoQs7uqoPv07sx9MDWCZEaLJ5yWXMq1Xrk9EjgGYF1EnFma5hfj-CKjBT_n5O-8BB__5MKD9Mwzm30NFtdxQe6phy4Pe3o7C65rYquHkX3AJSUCOOgI4S23WaQbBeNHodq6Yt19XvlqzncbBw_-uF-ST1pMGOQ/w640-h480/house%20with%20banana%20trees.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Rain does its work, banana and cassava and palms giving life to this home.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeZLJ9xZ9s_Z-_-wJ_Izen2omwLNqJju2mEDEXLlSv7QFUXdmDMD-uYbVokrKou5mPntaoeEEsDQQDgzxYb9OlU2YWbgvseH5unt0SlcQOX7qqayHd1Pqit6_r7LMumvHBwSwxPSCfYnQhRPYQ2bwDUa0tTgEInc9JjOCitH-Sa5957NQX8MNIkYHWw/s1280/team%20photo%20pre-Travis%20walk.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeZLJ9xZ9s_Z-_-wJ_Izen2omwLNqJju2mEDEXLlSv7QFUXdmDMD-uYbVokrKou5mPntaoeEEsDQQDgzxYb9OlU2YWbgvseH5unt0SlcQOX7qqayHd1Pqit6_r7LMumvHBwSwxPSCfYnQhRPYQ2bwDUa0tTgEInc9JjOCitH-Sa5957NQX8MNIkYHWw/w640-h480/team%20photo%20pre-Travis%20walk.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDYLftDArvbdqr8RaS6OCbvgR751_Pt2RG5XGIJ9vPnL95YGsbAJVu0B2xeyT8QYH8D-Oo_lOiDuD6RaGbd1Px-cAj9auxnbFzrLp2YmoIfZTsLsaZ-zgXq9lKbQG5qRNdQVK-tMvY6-SbwjZqSttdbFf3z2NYd7N4dRP4Iehw8AMtkTft419Rm3G8Q/s1280/tram%20on%20bridge%20travis%20walk.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDYLftDArvbdqr8RaS6OCbvgR751_Pt2RG5XGIJ9vPnL95YGsbAJVu0B2xeyT8QYH8D-Oo_lOiDuD6RaGbd1Px-cAj9auxnbFzrLp2YmoIfZTsLsaZ-zgXq9lKbQG5qRNdQVK-tMvY6-SbwjZqSttdbFf3z2NYd7N4dRP4Iehw8AMtkTft419Rm3G8Q/w400-h300/tram%20on%20bridge%20travis%20walk.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Yesterday our team did a walk in memory of Dr. Travis Johnson . . tomorrow will be 3 years since he died. The Johnsons joined our team in 2010, as leaders and a much needed doctor/teacher combo. Their story reflects Job and the mystery of God's ways not being our plans, as he discovered metastatic colon cancer only a couple years into his mission service, and their road took an unwanted turn to years of therapy and struggle. But they held onto God's sweet rain at work, and hope of a new heaven and new earth and new body where we will all see Travis again. Until then we honour his life and mourn his death, and wait.</i></span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>DrsMyhrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06617472350016164272noreply@blogger.com0