This is it, as it would seem, for the next couple of years. We are once again this year flying across these United States on our way back to Africa. We have had a great year here in the US visiting many of you, learning new things and in general, having a good time. Now, because of our responsibilities in Côte d'Ivoire, we are on our way back to that part of the world that we call home. On one hand we are glad to return to something that is a little more normal and down to earth than the land of look alike Wal-Marts and Burger Kings. On the other hand, it is always hard to say goodbye to family and friends.
Even today as we gave my folks a last hug and said goodbye, I wondered how many more times we might get to hug them and spend time with them. As supportive as they are about our being in Africa, it is hard for them as they send us off to what is so unknown. Every day is like that though. One cannot know for sure what any day will bring. God does though and we rest in the assurance that He has got it all worked out. That does not preclude struggle and difficulty. Most often it is an integral part of our lives, but He knows what we need for each day.
It is why the blessing given before going to bed at night by the Dioula is: “Ala en kélén kélén wuri” translated meaning, “May God raise us each one up one by one”. The general notion is that if everyone gets up at different times in the morning that there has been no disaster and no death has taken place during the night. Of course as we leave family we are all hoping that during our separation we will not receive a call telling us of some tragedy or difficulty, but again we know and are certain that God is not obliged to have us walk smooth paths in this life. We are His and our lives are literally in His hands, regardless of how much we may think we can control them.
As much as we would like to control the world around us and all that it offers, we have seen that even in this great country, men are not immune to the violence of nature. As we have recently observed in the case of our countrymen to the south in the Gulf States, we can build dams and levies and other great engineering marvels to keep back the rivers and the sea. With these levies however, as in the case of our rivers, we have simply succeeded in raising the level of our rivers and creating even a greater need for more engineering marvels. As in the case of some cities, we have found that the levels of the sea can at times overwhelm our best attempts to hold them back.
Returning to Africa our thoughts turn to the realities of life on that continent. I find myself thinking about the fact that the world’s number one killer, malaria is still alive and well in Africa. I just read, in the Delta Airlines September 2005 Sky magazine, an article that said that every day the number of children that die each day from malaria could fill seven jumbo jets! The fact that the majority of those deaths are in sub-Sahara Africa makes it a rather unimportant issue in the West. Having experienced malaria first hand and having seen colleagues from both Africa and the US loose children to this disease; it angers me that so little is being done to fight it.
Recently I had a high fever which took me one Saturday while at the drop zone. A skydiving friend told me of his neighbor, Dr. Makler, who has done extensive research in malaria research. This skydiver called Dr. Makler who was very excited to see me at his home. That afternoon he had me drive up to see him so that he could take some blood samples and test for the disease. He not only tested me but he also gave me a contact where I could pick-up a self test that he had developed but which was being marketed by someone else. I actually tested negative that afternoon but he was fairly sure I had malaria. When I got home I took some meds that we can get in Côte d'Ivoire but which the FDA in the US have apparently yet not approved. Dr. Makler said that that what I had at home was the best medicine that I could take for malaria. In the end I took the meds and felt better after a few more bad spells.
One of the interesting things about Dr. Makler is that he has come up with a self test using small blood samples, strips of paper and a buffer. If the test is done correctly you can tell that malaria is present in the blood as well as indicating what kind of malaria it is, without having to have a full laboratory available. This is very interesting in light of the fact that it is still a number one killer in our part of the world. So many times we are treating non malarial fevers with malaria drugs simply because we assume that fever is malaria in this part of the world, which many times it is. With such a simple test available we could be more precise in the treatment of this disease. The following websites are interesting for the fight against this disease: http://www.malariatest.com/ and http://www.accessbio.net/.
So, here we are, back in Africa. Angelika is in Bamako, Mali I hope and I arrived in Abidjan last night. Aside from loosing two bags, the trip went well and I slept well last night. If you have just read through all that I have written above you might want to remember that the difficulties we experience are only occasional. For the most part we are healthy and life is normal. I have meetings scheduled for today and I am not too concerned about malaria. We mention these things to raise awareness not to alarm. I guess that at times alarming can raise awareness and that raised awareness can produce action. Yep, we would like to see action! Check out the above mentioned sites and get involved if you think you can.
23 September 2005
20 September 2005
We're Outta Here!
It would appear that we will soon be on our way outta here ! We have come to the end of our visit to this country and we are on our way back to Africa. We are going with mixed feelings. On one hand we are glad to be getting back to where life seems a little bit more normal, where the lives of pets and people do not hold similar values and where hurricanes and tropical storms are not blamed on the government but are still considered acts of God.
It has certainly been an interesting year back in this country. As we pack our bags we are sadden as well to know that some of you we will not be seeing for a very long time and others of you we may never see again. As with every departure some of you may be more overjoyed than others of you to hear of our imminent leave taking. Whatever your inclination however, our departure is on the books and in the works.
This time back, both Angelika and I will fly to Paris together. In Paris, on the other hand, I will fly on to Côte d'Ivoire and Angelika will continue on to Bamako, Mali where she is to attend a missionary women’s retreat in that city. I think she is excited to go and probably glad to be off on her own again for a spell. We hope to meet up in northern Côte d'Ivoire around the 26th or so when I am scheduled to have a meeting with our field leader.
I plan to get up to Bouaké around the 22nd or the 23rd all things being equal. Of course we know that they are not which would lead us to wonder just when we will get to Bouaké and even if. At this point the situation remains relatively calm although there is talk about renewing hostilities. One thing we are learning to weigh is the weight of words. After multiple peace talks and multiple peace accords signed and agreed to we are beginning to understand that many times men do not really mean what they say or sign. With that in mind, hearing all of the threats to take up hostilities again sounds a little far fetched. At the same time, we realize that it does not take much for a country like Côte d'Ivoire to fall into outright anarchy in a flash.
I had a great time the other day taking Doug Hazen on his first skydive. He is our Northwest Area Director for WorldVenture. He had wanted to make a jump with me for a number of months and it finally worked out for us both to end up at the same place on a sunny day in Oregon. He had a great time and so did I. Thinking about that jump now, I realize that he is the first boss I have ever jumped with! Pretty remarkable when you think about it, that he would trust the likes of me. Not to brag or anything (of course that is just what I am doing having said that I am not) but that should tell you how good an employee I am, or what a fool he is! I will let you be the judge!
You are probably wondering if we are going to keep up this blogging stuff once we hit Côte d'Ivoire. We certainly hope to but we will be at the mercy of the latest internet café scam that is going once we get there. I would expect that we will write more often, not having all the normal distractions you poor folks have to put up with in the West. Of course the fact that we will even be blogging might be an indication of how “West” we have become in this past year.
Speaking of West, some of you probably knew my good friend Doug West who died last month in London while on a ST missions trip. He had finished leading a team from Illinois in prayer before the morning’s activities and boom, he was down and died a few days later in hospital. The last time I had seen him he was picking up his daughter from Tadmor high school camp. He had been one of those guys that prayed for me and then us ever since we began this missions stuff back in 1986. He became a champion for me in the early days making t-shirts for the “Côte d'Ivoire Skydiving Club” (the t-shirts were his idea and it might have taken off had it not been for this little war we have going on) and even coming out and skydiving with me. Now you know a friend is a friend when he will do such a thing with you! Doug did. But what I am going to miss the most are is short notes of encouragement out of the blue and his dedication to pray for us. I am sure God has got that end of things worked out though or else he would not have taken Doug out of the equation. I know that Corban College, formally known as Western Baptist College, where Doug used to work, is missing him greatly as well. His kids, all three, are missing him a great deal as is Carrie his wife. Our loss, though great, is nothing compared to theirs. If you think about it you could pray for Carrie and Doug’s kids. They are great. God is going to use this in their lives in ways we may never know. Wow, to pray and then die, what an idea. Can you imagine, talking to God and then to find yourself standing before Him! Now that is living right or something.
So it has been an amazing year being back in this country where all Wal-Marts look the same and everyone speaks English for the most part. It has been an interesting 12 months and it will be good to get back to some measure of normality. Think of us from time to time and again, if you are in the habit of talking to God about your friends, you might mention us to him. Then again, if you are not in that habit you might let us know and we will pray for you! To all of our friends and family we say goodbye!
Rod and Angelika
It has certainly been an interesting year back in this country. As we pack our bags we are sadden as well to know that some of you we will not be seeing for a very long time and others of you we may never see again. As with every departure some of you may be more overjoyed than others of you to hear of our imminent leave taking. Whatever your inclination however, our departure is on the books and in the works.
This time back, both Angelika and I will fly to Paris together. In Paris, on the other hand, I will fly on to Côte d'Ivoire and Angelika will continue on to Bamako, Mali where she is to attend a missionary women’s retreat in that city. I think she is excited to go and probably glad to be off on her own again for a spell. We hope to meet up in northern Côte d'Ivoire around the 26th or so when I am scheduled to have a meeting with our field leader.
I plan to get up to Bouaké around the 22nd or the 23rd all things being equal. Of course we know that they are not which would lead us to wonder just when we will get to Bouaké and even if. At this point the situation remains relatively calm although there is talk about renewing hostilities. One thing we are learning to weigh is the weight of words. After multiple peace talks and multiple peace accords signed and agreed to we are beginning to understand that many times men do not really mean what they say or sign. With that in mind, hearing all of the threats to take up hostilities again sounds a little far fetched. At the same time, we realize that it does not take much for a country like Côte d'Ivoire to fall into outright anarchy in a flash.
I had a great time the other day taking Doug Hazen on his first skydive. He is our Northwest Area Director for WorldVenture. He had wanted to make a jump with me for a number of months and it finally worked out for us both to end up at the same place on a sunny day in Oregon. He had a great time and so did I. Thinking about that jump now, I realize that he is the first boss I have ever jumped with! Pretty remarkable when you think about it, that he would trust the likes of me. Not to brag or anything (of course that is just what I am doing having said that I am not) but that should tell you how good an employee I am, or what a fool he is! I will let you be the judge!
You are probably wondering if we are going to keep up this blogging stuff once we hit Côte d'Ivoire. We certainly hope to but we will be at the mercy of the latest internet café scam that is going once we get there. I would expect that we will write more often, not having all the normal distractions you poor folks have to put up with in the West. Of course the fact that we will even be blogging might be an indication of how “West” we have become in this past year.
Speaking of West, some of you probably knew my good friend Doug West who died last month in London while on a ST missions trip. He had finished leading a team from Illinois in prayer before the morning’s activities and boom, he was down and died a few days later in hospital. The last time I had seen him he was picking up his daughter from Tadmor high school camp. He had been one of those guys that prayed for me and then us ever since we began this missions stuff back in 1986. He became a champion for me in the early days making t-shirts for the “Côte d'Ivoire Skydiving Club” (the t-shirts were his idea and it might have taken off had it not been for this little war we have going on) and even coming out and skydiving with me. Now you know a friend is a friend when he will do such a thing with you! Doug did. But what I am going to miss the most are is short notes of encouragement out of the blue and his dedication to pray for us. I am sure God has got that end of things worked out though or else he would not have taken Doug out of the equation. I know that Corban College, formally known as Western Baptist College, where Doug used to work, is missing him greatly as well. His kids, all three, are missing him a great deal as is Carrie his wife. Our loss, though great, is nothing compared to theirs. If you think about it you could pray for Carrie and Doug’s kids. They are great. God is going to use this in their lives in ways we may never know. Wow, to pray and then die, what an idea. Can you imagine, talking to God and then to find yourself standing before Him! Now that is living right or something.
So it has been an amazing year being back in this country where all Wal-Marts look the same and everyone speaks English for the most part. It has been an interesting 12 months and it will be good to get back to some measure of normality. Think of us from time to time and again, if you are in the habit of talking to God about your friends, you might mention us to him. Then again, if you are not in that habit you might let us know and we will pray for you! To all of our friends and family we say goodbye!
Rod and Angelika
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)