Big Ears

In Yirgalem, Ethiopia in 2010, our team was conducting the first training in what would become a

Janet - my mentor, big sis, and fellow ice cream junkie!

long and extremely successful project. Our participants were community development workers, educators, and health professionals from both our partner organization and the Ethiopian government. If you want to know more about how life-changing this training was for all of us, read my very first post in this blog series. One day, Janet was facilitating a lesson on the attitudes of a successful community worker. To illustrate, she drew a simple cartoon face with huge ears and a tiny mouth. The point was that they should spend much more time listening to the people in the communities than talking to (or worse, at) them. Through the resulting laughter, the truth of this message resonated with all. One wonderful young woman burst into tears after confessing that she had admonished people for not responding to the lectures she had given them on visit after visit. She had come to realize that the fault was not with them, but with her. That illustration has served us well in several countries with different languages and cultures. And the message is still true.

Why do I bring up this old story now before I leave on my trip? Because God has been working on my heart in a number of ways to remind me that the message applies to me, too. In my enthusiasm on these trips, I have an unfortunate tendency to talk too much and listen too little (my humble apologies to all my previous team members!), and I'm getting the message that I need to be very intentional about changing this pattern. In my last post, I described my role this time as an "observer". Now I know I should include "listener" in my job description as well.

Another way to describe this is humility. It's terribly easy to fall into a pattern of believing that we come with all of the expertise and experience and simply download all of this into people's mental hard drives. What arrogance! And while I have never consciously thought of myself as superior to any of the people I've met, I know I've been guilty nonetheless. So here's another role - "learner". I know well from experience what amazing stories the community members and the development workers have to share. This time, I want to be intentional about learning and recording those stories.

While my intentions are good, I know how hard it will be to be consistent in this behavior when I'm excited, exhausted, or exasperated. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would fill me with the character of Jesus each day, and that all that I meet would feel honored and respected - and listened to. And I promise to share some of those stories when I return!

Jim/Whit/Tesfalem

A New Perspective

It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since my last post - and since my last trip with Lifewater. It's been a very eventful interlude, but I've still felt that something was missing from my life. Well, not for long! I leave next week on a new adventure with a new perspective. All of my previous trips have been as a field trainer, equipping community development workers to be more effective in implementing WASH programs in rural villages. I've been a seed planter, with a focus on the future, and I've only had second-hand reports and occasional glimpses in person of the fruit that grew from those seeds. And indeed, with God's great blessings, the harvest has been rich! On this trip, my roles will be different, as I have a wonderful opportunity to witness current and past project activities in two countries. In all, I expect to visit about 30 remote rural villages!

Part of our amazing 2015 training group

My trip begins on Wednesday, July 5 with a flight to Chicago. There I'll take an Emirates flight to Addis Ababa (with an overnight stay in Abu Dhabi), arriving on Friday afternoon. I'll have two days to visit dear friends and "family", whom I've written much about previously. I'll then join up with a Lifewater Vision Trip team led by Christine, who I've worked with on two previous trips in Ethiopia. Also on the team will be my buddy Karen, with whom I've shared many adventures. We will travel south on Monday July 10 to the Sidamo region which has been my second home for the past 10 years. We'll travel out into the countryside to visit two Lifewater project areas that have implemented the Vision of a Healthy Village program with local Lifewater staff. You may recall that I helped to train one of those teams on my last trip in 2015. We'll get to see the staff at work in these villages, and the tremendous progress that has been made with their hard work and God's grace and provision. It will be such a joy to see my friends in the field and to celebrate with them! I also hope to see a village that Cindy and I have sponsored that has replaced its dirty water hole with a new capped spring. We'll return to Addis on Friday July 14.

The intrepid Karen and her tippy-taps

The next day, Karen and I will fly to Entebbe, Uganda - a new country for me! I've longed to visit for over 40 years, as my brother served in the Peace Corps there after college. We'll spend one day relaxing on the shore of Lake Victoria and preparing for the long days of work ahead. On Monday July 17 we'll fly in a tiny Mission Aviation Fellowship plane to Lira in the northern part of the country. For about 5 days, we'll join with staff of Lifewater's partner, Divine Waters Uganda, to drive and walk to villages which were part of past projects. Our task will be to observe the conditions of the wells that were installed as part of those projects, and to interview (through interpreters, of course!) people in each community. All of this information will be recorded on an app on Karen's tablet, and we'll upload the data each night for staff in California to review. The goal is to learn what has worked well and what could've gone better (all Lifewater trainers will recognize those phrases), and to assess how sustainable the improvements brought through the projects have been. This information will be valuable to both Lifewater and Divine Waters in helpings these communities and to plan future projects.

 

We'll return to Entebbe on Monday July 24, and I'll reverse the travel itinerary on Tuesday and Wednesday, returning to Cindy and Pippin on Wednesday July 26 - almost exactly 3 weeks after I departed.

I will post again shortly before I leave. In the meantime, please pray for all of us involved in these trips, and especially for those in the communities - that we would bring them respect, encouragement and the love of Christ.

Jim/Whit/Tesfalem

"Old Hat"? Never!

Hat in Mint, a Still Life

On Thursday, October 15 I will fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to begin my tenth trip as a Lifewater Water Corps volunteer trainer. The "old hat" in the photo stills fits this old head well, as it has on all of those trips. I'm sure that some of you that read that will respond with a rousing yawn, that "Jim is off on another Africa trip, like all of the others". Of course, it is easy to say but hard to explain that every trip is different. This one, however, is unique in a couple of particular ways.

First, this training is part of the very first "Lifewater University". Our East Africa Director, Zerihun, has hired 8 outstanding community development workers as Lifewater field staff. This is the first time Lifewater has employed in-country workers rather than training staff of other organizations or government employees.  This approach has several potential advantages. It will allow for more intensive training with much better follow-up and accountability, and will also increase the probability that the people that we train will continue to work in the project communities for the long term, rather than being lured to other jobs.

This guy will be there!

The curriculum will be an update of the mWASH program that we used in Malawi last year with
great success. We've also added a 2-day "crash course" in sanitation and construction of simple pit latrines. Six of the participants will be new to us, but two will be good friends from previous projects, including Teshale in the photo. And, I just learned today that our translator will be my dear friend and brother in Christ, Mesfin Abebe!

There is an even more unique and exciting aspect to this trip - Cindy will join me after the training to meet some of my closest friends in Ethiopia (or anywhere else, for that matter!), to travel to some of my favorite spots, and to explore some new ones together! We have prayed for this opportunity for a long, long time. This means so much to us, for her to finally share some of the people, places and experiences that I've been telling her about for 7 years. She has been so incredibly supportive in every way of my work with Lifewater, and has spent many weeks alone here in the States during my adventures. She has earned this!

I do not expect to have much internet access during this trip, and so will probably not be posting anything until our return on November 9. In the meantime, I and the rest of our team (Julie, Christy, and Karen) would very much appreciate your prayers. Thank you in advance for your love and support!

Jim/Tesfalem

Khalani Chikondi

It means "Live Love" in Chichewa, the most common tribal language in Malawi and the second official language along with English.  It's also the name of our partner - Live Love Malawi (http://www.livelovemalawi.com/ or on Facebook).  On the wall of their office is the slogan, "Speak love. Act love. Live love. Change the world."  Does it sound "cute" or "idealistic" or "unrealistic" to you?  Then you haven't met the Live Love team.

Live Love Malawi was founded in 2012.  It was born from the vision of Blessings Chibambo, Live Love's Director and an alumnus of the African Bible College in Lilongwe where our team stayed during the trip.  Blessings and two fellow alumni, with support from a US church, have adopted the rural community of Chipampha, about 20 km west of the city. Their mission is "to bring holistic transformation to individuals, families and communities."  This holistic ministry responds to the spiritual, physical, social, and emotional needs of the people.  Examples of their service include WASH (the reason for our training), medical clinics, building homes for outcast widows and orphans, after school tutoring, child sponsorship, and ministries to men and women of all ages.  And they do this with a staff of three people.

How do they do this?  Their army is a group of young volunteer interns who are undergrads at ABC. These young people serve as many as 20 hours each week in this community which is 40 minutes from campus during dry season.  I have no idea how long it would take during the torrential rains.  They do this without pay and without academic credit while maintaining a full academic schedule and working part-time jobs to pay tuition and expenses.  Their primary job in the community?  Relationships.  They aren't community workers who come to give something.  They are friends who come to visit.  Yes, they teach and lead programs.  But they also encourage and mentor, and laugh and cry with the residents.  They sometimes spend the night on the floor of a hut in order to spend more time talking with someone who needs a good listener, and then hurry back for morning classes.  And never complain, but thank God for the opportunity.

Why do they do this?  It's all in the name.  They know what it means to "live love".  Love is not an emotion, it's an action of the will.  They love the people of Chipampha because they understand that God first loved them.  They are compelled by God's love (2 Corinthians 5:14) and are his ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).  Yes, they are full of youthful enthusiasm and energy.  But they are also full of faith, full of joy, and full of hope.

I am honored to have had the opportunity to learn with these young people for two weeks, and to call them my brothers and sisters. And I'm proud to wear a wrist band with the phrase "Khalani Chikondi" that was given to me by Fiki, Live Love's Program Director. It's not just a regular reminder to me to pray for my dear friends in Malawi.  It's a challenge to me to live my life by the simple principle of demonstrating God's love in every word, every action, every encounter with another person.  Care to take on that challenge with me?

Double Blessings

As I looked over my last post (Khalani Chikondi), I realized that, although I had praised Live Love Malawi as a group, I had ignored the impact they had on me as individuals.  Well, to those of my Malawian friends who find their way to this blog, this one is for you!

Blessings "C" loses at Bawo - again.

This training was a remarkable opportunity to live almost full time with an amazing group of young people.  Our daily schedule was to join them for devotions at 700 AM.  Each day they took turns leading the worship, prayers, and Bible study, and these sweet times with God really set the tone for the day.  We began training after breakfast, and with breaks for energizers and lunch, we finished around 430 PM.  Then we had free time which typically involved a variety of games.  Susan was always looking for challengers in Bawo, a local game that I never did figure out.  Jon had ongoing Monopoly games with several participants.  And Julie was in the midst of the very competitive football (OK, soccer to you Americans) matches on the "pitch" behind our training home.  And yes, Lifewater, we even found time for some lesson prep! After our third (filling) meal together, our team finally headed back to ABC for team devotions around 800 PM.  Thus, we spent about 13 hours with the participants every day!  Even on Sunday of their weekend off, many joined us for worship at a great local international church and a long, lazy afternoon capped by an ice cream social.

With this amount of time, along with their outstanding English and boundless energy and enthusiasm, we made some wonderful friends.  We were blessed with two Blessings - Blessings "C", Live Love's Director,

James and Chris, who always made me feel young.

and Blessings "M", as well as Innocent, who will be a great preacher someday.  There was James the future journalist and Chris the wise-cracking DJ for ABC's radio station, who constantly joked(?) about moving in with Cindy and me in the US.  Duwa, the loving and wise mother of two who dreams of using her life's story to serve as a missionary to transform the lives of others.  Dorothy, the sweet soul with bold spirit.  Tusha, the rapper and football star with a humble, generous heart.  Richard, Vice-Director and our driver, who cut his honeymoon short to join us.  Fiki, who was the behind-the-scenes organizer and constant cheerleader.  Not to forget Augustine, Sharon, Dyana, Pemphero, and Enelless!  There was no "us" and "them".  We were all peers, all friends, all part of the team.

I think that the hardest thing for me to communicate to my US friends and family about these trips is how emotionally and spiritually close we grow to our new friends in such a short time on these trips.  And this trip was the most remarkable in that regard.  I may be Facebook "friends" with some of this gang already, but I'm also true friends with each and every one of them, for all of this life - and the next as well!

A not-so-solemn graduation ceremony to cap off an outstanding training!

Things Unseen

When Pastor Mike and all my friends at Hope Church prayed over me last Sunday, one phrase leaped out at me.  He asked God to "show Whit things that he hasn't seen before."  Later that day, a friend prayed the same thing.  When someone prays something for me that really stirs my spirit, I take notice.  When it happens twice, I take notes!

So what might I see on this trip that I haven't seen before? Well, since I've never been to Malawi, the easy answer is - "almost everything"!  I've seen beautiful scenery and wildlife in Ethiopia and Kenya, but this will certainly be a different experience.  Yet I'm sure that this is not what the prayer was about.

Beautiful Lake Awassa in Ethiopia, 2012

Maybe it's about seeing new people?  Of course, the people are far more important than the scenery, and I treasure the opportunity to make new friendships like the ones that I have with my brothers and sisters from my previous trips.  But that still isn't it.

How about seeing something new about myself?  Well, every trip reveals more to me about my inner self - and sometimes it's not a pretty picture!  I've learned a lot from the mistakes I've made, and I'm sure I'll learn even more on this trip in the same way!  But throughout my preparation for this trip, God has been urging me to be less introspective, not more - to focus on others - my team, our partners, our participants, and everyone I meet - rather than on myself.

The key, I think, is in a line from Hillsong's Hosanna that, not coincidentally, we sang last Sunday.  It says, "Open up my eyes to the things unseen." In other words, the things of the spirit realm, the things of God.  I believe that these prayers are asking God to show me what He sees.  Another line from Hosanna is, "Break my heart for what breaks yours."  God is already at work in Malawi to rescue the people He loves from disease, poverty, and hopelessness.  As Mike reminded us in his message, Henry Blackaby describes "experiencing God" as seeing where He is already at work and joining him there.  And there, I believe, is the meaning of that prayer, and the message I needed to hear before I leave.  I am not going to Malawi to help people learn about sanitation and hygiene.  God has invited me to witness and join Him in His work to redeem a nation.  Can there be any greater privilege?  So, I join my friends in that prayer, and humbly request that all of you join us as well.  I promise to return and report God's answers that will be far beyond what I can hope or imagine.

Malawi Travel Plans

For those of you who are detail oriented (like me)...

I leave Charlotte at 605 AM on Friday (pray for poor Cindy driving me to the airport at 430 AM!)  I meet up with the other four in the team at Dulles, then we have a 12.5-hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Unfortunately, I won't have time there to visit so many dear friends!  Another 4-hour flight takes us to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.  We'll arrive at 1220 PM Saturday local time (620 AM EDT).

We'll be staying in a guest house at the African Bible College in Lilongwe.  Sounds like a beautiful campus. We'll have the remainder of the weekend to rest, worship, and prepare for the first day of training on Monday morning at 830!  We expect 20 participants, who we think will all be community workers with our partner, Live, Love Malawi (check out their website or their Facebook page.) The training schedule is very tentative, particularly because this curriculum is brand new.  We're scheduled to run from 830-430 everyday, and we hope to have dinner with the participants most nights, which will be a great opportunity to develop relationships.  We should wrap up the training by Wednesday 8/27 or Thursday 8/28.

Hopefully we'll have time for a little R&R Thursday night, then we're back on a plane Friday at 110 PM local time (710 AM EDT).  Unfortunately, my return connections are horrendous, so I don't arrive back in Charlotte until 630 PM on Saturday 8/30 - almost 36 hours later!?!

Our team has been reviewing the new curriculum in preparation, and we have each been assigned the lessons we will facilitate.  I'm really excited about a couple of the lessons I'm doing, and will share about the experience after I return - no matter how it goes!

Be on the lookout for another post before I leave, as I have some pre-trip thoughts that I want to share - then I probably will not have the opportunity until after I return.  I'll try to do a quick Facebook status and/or email update once in a while.  Thanks for your prayers!