Things are moving very quickly here. Just as winter ended and I thought, "Great, we can enjoy spring and summer in the mid west." Then, we realized we are now 3 months from leaving, if we leave in August. August makes sense because the doctor I'm replacing leaves in July, school starts August 26th and we want to be over jet lag before the kids start. If we don't leave then, the next option is December, when it would be very hard to find someone to rent or buy our house.
We are in that area where we wonder if we are stepping out in faith or stepping out in front of God's perfect timing. Whenever we pray, God seems to be saying, "August" or is that just me? Logically, there are too many things to do before then:
Sell 2 cars
Lease or sell our house
pack a family of 5
raise 40% more support
start buying & shipping stuff we will need there
and that's just the big stuff.
Oh, did I mention I have my Board re-certification in July?
Just for fun, our kids are adolescents. They are not enjoying monster public schools after Nate Saint Memorial School. The whole school, K - 8, is the same size as most of their classes in the monster public schools.
So please pray we will receive wisdom, and most importantly, that we will be in step with God, not in front or behind. God is still on the throne, I just am not sure which way he is pointing, August or December.
P.S. Since I wrote the letter to a friend, the Lord has increased our support. It sure looks more like August.
Thank you, Lord.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Malawi Isn't in the News Much
Malawi isn’t in the news very much. It doesn’t have a war going on like Iraq or Sudan. It isn’t having atrocities like Congo or Kosovo. It isn’t even having piracy like Somalia or a cholera epidemic like Zimbabwe. What is happening in Malawi is too slow to get the attention of the news. Even the African press doesn’t see much newsworthy about Malawi. What is happening is that people are dying; not by thousands a day, and not in a way that looks gruesome in photos or videos. People are dying of AIDS, slowly, but a lot of them. Not enough to catch world attention, just enough to lose all that attention.
So what to do? Mother Theresa said, “We can’t do great things, just small things with great love.” We give AIDS medicines with great love.
We tested a child who was sick for a couple of months to see if he had AIDS like his mother. When she was told that her son was HIV negative, I saw one of the biggest smiles in my life. The people of Partners in Hope rejoiced with her, loved the woman and her son, and then made an appointment to see her the next month, so that she could keep getting the medicines and the love.
“A man with leprosy came to [Jesus] and begged Him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean.’ ” - Mark 1:40 – 41 (emphasis added)
How do you show love to a person with AIDS? The same way you show it to any other person: a handshake, a look in the eye, a smile, sharing the Word of God.
We look forward to touching the hearts of those with AIDS, and with your help, your prayers, your financial support, you can touch them as well.
"Behold, I will do something new..."
Lorraine, our 12 year old, had her hand up in the air and was tentatively saying “I have one”. We were in a Bible study group talking about God’s answers to our prayer. She went on to say that she had asked God to help her with the stress she felt about saving enough money to go to summer camp; she said “He answered my prayers by having the camp cancelled, so now I don’t have to worry about it!” I was amazed; I knew how much she had wanted to go to camp and how hard she and Alison had worked to save up the part they needed to pay. It reminded me about how God sometimes answers prayers in ways we don’t expect, and sometimes don’t like. The verse in Isaiah 43:19 came to mind..
“Behold I will do something new, now it will spring forth, will you not be aware of it, I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert”
-Isaiah 43:19
God is often doing new things in our life. Even when it seems to be all wilderness, there is a path we need to find and walk, by His grace.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Economic Meltdown and Teenage Boys
Whenever I turn on the radio or TV, I hear about how bad the economy is and how it’s only going to get worse. The unemployment rate keeps growing. The value of most people’s investments is falling. Most people’s homes are worth less than they were just a year ago. The price of gas for our cars goes up and down faster than the stock market. Trying to decide when to fill up my tank makes me feel like a futures speculator. “The price has been going up for the last two days. Is it going to go up more before I go home or will it go down by morning?” Making the wrong guess can cost me ten dollars per fill-up.
The people we are going to serve in Malawi don’t have to worry about the price of gas. They don’t have cars. However, the price of gas is reflected in things they buy, like school uniforms for their children, shoes, even the little bit of food that they don’t grow themselves.
When you live on less than a dollar a day and prices go up, where do you trim your budget?
Another phenomenon is watching my son Andrew sprouting like good Indiana corn. Every morning his pants ride higher up his ankles. For his after school snack, he eats his way through half the refrigerator, and then asks, “What’s for dinner?” If you are missing a child or small pet, you know where to look.
In places where there isn’t enough food, adolescent boys must always be hungry. In Africa, rice is food for the rich. Meat is a rare treat. How does a teen ager have a growth spurt on a diet of millet and corn mush?
Times are tough in the US and the whole developed world. In Africa, where people are living on the edge of survival, as the cliff starts to crumble there is only one place to go.
Even when we feel like we have nothing to share, Jesus asks us to share anyway. I think He might say, “You really have more than you think. Plus, real giving means giving up a little of what you need so that others can have something. Please share even when times are tough, maybe even more now that times are tough. Don’t worry. I really will take care of you.” (Luke 12:22-31)
The people we are going to serve in Malawi don’t have to worry about the price of gas. They don’t have cars. However, the price of gas is reflected in things they buy, like school uniforms for their children, shoes, even the little bit of food that they don’t grow themselves.
When you live on less than a dollar a day and prices go up, where do you trim your budget?
Another phenomenon is watching my son Andrew sprouting like good Indiana corn. Every morning his pants ride higher up his ankles. For his after school snack, he eats his way through half the refrigerator, and then asks, “What’s for dinner?” If you are missing a child or small pet, you know where to look.
In places where there isn’t enough food, adolescent boys must always be hungry. In Africa, rice is food for the rich. Meat is a rare treat. How does a teen ager have a growth spurt on a diet of millet and corn mush?
Times are tough in the US and the whole developed world. In Africa, where people are living on the edge of survival, as the cliff starts to crumble there is only one place to go.
Even when we feel like we have nothing to share, Jesus asks us to share anyway. I think He might say, “You really have more than you think. Plus, real giving means giving up a little of what you need so that others can have something. Please share even when times are tough, maybe even more now that times are tough. Don’t worry. I really will take care of you.” (Luke 12:22-31)
Friday, September 19, 2008
I Miss Group Prayer
I’ve been in the US for three months now. Something that I miss terribly is daily group prayer. In Shell we prayed every day at the beginning of rounds, at the beginning and end of our weekly staff meeting and we had a weekly Men’s Bible Study.
Here at the secular university, we don’t do any of that. Except for a very few patients, like maybe once a week or less, I don’t get to pray with patients. I miss group prayer. Jesus says where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is there. I pray for patients, but it’s not the same as praying with them. I pray for students, residents and colleagues, but it’s not the same as praying with them. We have rounds to discuss the patients, but they don’t start with prayer. I miss beginning the right way, in the Name of Jesus, very much.
The university is treating very well. I love the work; taking young doctors at various ranges of training and helping them move to the next level is the best part of my day. I have the privilege of teaching very new doctors how to look in eyes and ears all the way to doctors about to graduate how to find a job and not get cheated on their contracts. I also see patients, which is what pays my salary. But my heart feels empty at times without the prayer.
I’m praying more with my wife, and we are in a small group at church that meets twice a week, but it’s not the same as every day prayer for our patients, for wisdom and compassion in treating our patients and their families.
I’ll just have to keep praying on my own to the Lord, and praying for more brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with.
Here at the secular university, we don’t do any of that. Except for a very few patients, like maybe once a week or less, I don’t get to pray with patients. I miss group prayer. Jesus says where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is there. I pray for patients, but it’s not the same as praying with them. I pray for students, residents and colleagues, but it’s not the same as praying with them. We have rounds to discuss the patients, but they don’t start with prayer. I miss beginning the right way, in the Name of Jesus, very much.
The university is treating very well. I love the work; taking young doctors at various ranges of training and helping them move to the next level is the best part of my day. I have the privilege of teaching very new doctors how to look in eyes and ears all the way to doctors about to graduate how to find a job and not get cheated on their contracts. I also see patients, which is what pays my salary. But my heart feels empty at times without the prayer.
I’m praying more with my wife, and we are in a small group at church that meets twice a week, but it’s not the same as every day prayer for our patients, for wisdom and compassion in treating our patients and their families.
I’ll just have to keep praying on my own to the Lord, and praying for more brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Cultural Misunderstandings Can Happen in the US, Too
After a month working with the Family Practice residents at Indiana University, I have been happy to see that they are a group from all over the world; South Asia, East Asia, Latin America and Africa. They all really like each other and are all likable people.
For these young doctors, their second or third language is English and they speak English with each other, but they also communicate well in laughter and love. I see the new residents liking each other. It’s rewarding to hear the Pakistani resident learning to say good morning in Spanish so that she can greet her classmates from Honduras and Colombia. It is even more rewarding to see the residents starting their second year really love each other and laugh at their war stories like old soldiers. They are young doctors who know how much they have to learn, are dedicated to becoming excellent doctors and are caring people. It’s really a great group.
The hardest part of the hiring process must be finding truly caring people in a one day interview. Many people can fake being a nice person for a day or two, but by judging the results, IU seems to have separated the wheat from the chaff. I saw the difficulty while interviewing residents at the University of Arizona and in Ecuador, so I appreciate how much wisdom is involved in picking this group of residents. It’s a testament to the discernment of the people involved in the process and people who refined the interview process.
Just this morning I saw that cultural misunderstandings can happen anywhere, and can be embarrassing, no matter where you are. In Ecuador and much of Latin America, it is considered highly rude to walk between two people talking. It’s easier to avoid walking between people because Ecuadorians stand closer to each other than Americans.
This morning, I was walking down the hall. Three people were talking, one of them a resident from Pakistan. Seeing a small, brown person in a conversation, I kept making little steps to try to go behind her so that I wouldn’t walk through a conversation. Apparently, in Pakistan, walking through a group that is talking is not a big deal, so she kept making small little mincing steps to allow me to go through the group, not around it. We went through this little dance for about 15 seconds, then I finally remembered that this resident, although small and dark skinned, was not from Ecuador. I needed my second cup of coffee to get my brain out of first gear.
It’s a small thing, my little embarrassment this morning. I’m not even sure the resident would remember any of it, but I remember that I am out of the culture loop after five years overseas. My children are really out of the loop, since their last time living in the USA was almost half their lives ago. I personally love learning about the little things of other cultures, except for when I make a total fool of myself. I don’t even need to be in another culture to make a fool of myself, but it’s a convenient excuse.
When you’re on the mission field, if you haven’t made a fool of yourself at least once a day, it’s because you didn’t leave the yard.
Your ego, try to leave home without it.
For these young doctors, their second or third language is English and they speak English with each other, but they also communicate well in laughter and love. I see the new residents liking each other. It’s rewarding to hear the Pakistani resident learning to say good morning in Spanish so that she can greet her classmates from Honduras and Colombia. It is even more rewarding to see the residents starting their second year really love each other and laugh at their war stories like old soldiers. They are young doctors who know how much they have to learn, are dedicated to becoming excellent doctors and are caring people. It’s really a great group.
The hardest part of the hiring process must be finding truly caring people in a one day interview. Many people can fake being a nice person for a day or two, but by judging the results, IU seems to have separated the wheat from the chaff. I saw the difficulty while interviewing residents at the University of Arizona and in Ecuador, so I appreciate how much wisdom is involved in picking this group of residents. It’s a testament to the discernment of the people involved in the process and people who refined the interview process.
Just this morning I saw that cultural misunderstandings can happen anywhere, and can be embarrassing, no matter where you are. In Ecuador and much of Latin America, it is considered highly rude to walk between two people talking. It’s easier to avoid walking between people because Ecuadorians stand closer to each other than Americans.
This morning, I was walking down the hall. Three people were talking, one of them a resident from Pakistan. Seeing a small, brown person in a conversation, I kept making little steps to try to go behind her so that I wouldn’t walk through a conversation. Apparently, in Pakistan, walking through a group that is talking is not a big deal, so she kept making small little mincing steps to allow me to go through the group, not around it. We went through this little dance for about 15 seconds, then I finally remembered that this resident, although small and dark skinned, was not from Ecuador. I needed my second cup of coffee to get my brain out of first gear.
It’s a small thing, my little embarrassment this morning. I’m not even sure the resident would remember any of it, but I remember that I am out of the culture loop after five years overseas. My children are really out of the loop, since their last time living in the USA was almost half their lives ago. I personally love learning about the little things of other cultures, except for when I make a total fool of myself. I don’t even need to be in another culture to make a fool of myself, but it’s a convenient excuse.
When you’re on the mission field, if you haven’t made a fool of yourself at least once a day, it’s because you didn’t leave the yard.
Your ego, try to leave home without it.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
What I'm looking forward to in the US
As much as I’ve loved my time here in
- Electric lights that turn on every time you flip the switch.
- Toilets that flush every time you push the handle.
- Not having the fear that I will go to jail for a little fender-bender. Here, everyone in or near the accident goes to jail until the judge sorts it out.
- Public restrooms that are clean and have toilet paper.
- Not having the fear that any time you get in a vehicle it could be your last look at Earth. (The drivers here love to pass on 2 lane bridges, blind curves, and going up hills.)
- Pretzels. (There is every kind of junk food available, even Sour Cream and Onion Ruffles, but no pretzels.)
- Diet Dr. Pepper (You can’t even get regular Dr. Pepper here.)
- Tunnels that you can see in, because they have lights.
- The power is on always.
- Not having to change the propane gas tank on the hot water heater to get a warm shower.
- Drinking the water.
- Newspapers and books in English.
- News in English on the radio.
- Autumn leaves.
- Seeing as many of you as possible.
Blessings,
Jerry
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