Mission Safari: The Next Chapter(s)

Great Member Care

While I was in the US, I had time to spend with a good friend from Yazoo City Mississippi. He has been a great encourager to me since my work with MTW began. I wrote him the following letter tonight.

Dear Dave,

I wanted to write and tell you how great it was to see you last week. It could not have come at a greater time for me personally. As I have struggled of late in Kenya, being around you was an encouragement. I think you have this member care thing down.

But let me share a few thoughts about your "ministry" and how others can go and do likewise for their missionaries. First, it gives instant credibility that you have spent some time, even though short term, overseas. You have seen the things I am seeing. You have met some of the people I have met. You have "been there". That makes it "easier" for me to share my stories and life with you.

Second, you pay attention to what is going on in my life. You read the newsletters and prayer updates. You pay attention to the details. And, you pick up on the habits and interests that I have. And so, when you email me or when we meet, you speak into my life. You asked about the details. You are interested. You talk about the Cardinals season. You talk about Kenya. You ask about my kids and my wife. And that ministers so much to me.

Third, because you pay attention to my life, you have made it inviting for me to share my deeper thoughts and struggles. You allow me to be honest, to show all the warts. You allow me to complain about whatever is bugging me. I don't have to give a sanitized version of life on the field - you want the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And you allow me to do this in a confidential and safe environment. You emphathise with me. You don't judge me.

Fourth, you laugh with me. And you make me laugh at you. You offer a "cheerful heart" as it is "good medicine". You are fun to hang out with. You cut jokes, you allow me to cut jokes, and we laugh and laugh. You spontaneously take me to local dives to show me off-beat collections. I would have never thought I would see rooms filled with cases of trophied wildlife - an elephant, giraffe, rhino, tiger, lion, cheetah, leopard, buffalo, and bear to name the big ones, in a bar in little old Ligonier, Pennsylvania on a Saturday afternoon (when we should have been hanging out at the campsite). And then to celebrate the event you bought us matching t-shirts.

Fifth, I know you pray for me. And for that thanks.

So Dave, I just wanted to encourage you with this email. I know you will be working on your D. Min starting this month. I know you will do well with the course work because you are already doing the life work in this area.

With Great Affection,

Tim

Observations about America

My time back in the US was truly too short to make many reflections about my home country. And, we have only been away 11 months, so it doesn't seem that too much can change in that short amount of time. However, I did have a few impressions that struck me last week.

First, America is Efficient. My flight from Amsterdam to Detroit was delayed by about 2 hours because of a plane change. When I landed I only had an hour and a half to get to the gate for my next flight. This would have been impossible most anywhere. But I got off the plane, went through Immigration, collected my bags, went through customs, and made my way through the airport to my gate for my next flight. THAT IS EFFICIENT.

Second, it seems everyone in America has a tatoo. Old, young, men, women, rich, and poor - everyone has a tatoo. I even saw one lady in the airport with so many tatoos on her arms that it looked like she was wearing some colorful pyschadelic blouse.

Third, lots of men wear earrings. I don't see that much in Africa.

Fourth, America has good roads. It was amazing how smooth the roads are. It was also amazing how well marked they are with good road signs, lane lines, and the like. And the roads are always being improved. Construction crews were everywhere making some changes, small and large.

Fifth, Americans are orderly. Standing in line there was no "cutting" or pushing. Everyone respected "personal space." I noticed this especially at the ball park in Pittsburgh. It was crowded but orderly. There was no mad rush to the doors when the park opened. Even traffic seemed orderly and safe.

Sixth, America has clean safe water. I found myself not using the tap to get drinking water. I was used to looking for bottled water. That is a simple fact you take for granted when living in the US.

Lastly, I had a few weird "reactions" while there. The first reaction was after I finished the paperwork for my car rental in the Pittsburgh airport. As I got in the car, I started to panic thinking that I would not be able to drive the car safely - I was sitting on the left side instead of the right and I would be driving on the right side of the road and not the left. This was very weird for me. This improved (thankfully by the end of the day).

So those are my main observations of my brief trip back to my homeland. I sure do appreciate the United States a lot more these days. She has her problems, but she is a great country.

Jet Lag Sucks

Jet lag is no fun. I struggled with it all last week and now I am struggling with it this week. When I was in Pittsburgh, I had trouble sleeping the first few nights. Then I felt like I had been hit by a Mack Truck by 5pm local time. I had looked forward to being home and sleeping in my own bed.

Although I slept well the Monday night, I was tired by 7pm Nairobi time. I went to bed by 8:30. But unfortunately I woke up at 1:30am and was up for about 2.5 hours. I would probably still be sleeping except that the house alarm went off next door.

So, I feel like after being hit by the Mack Truck I flipped in the air and was hit by another truck in the other lane. Bummer!

Bad Baseball, Good Baseball

I took in the Cardinals and Pirates game last night at PNC Park.  For a baseball fan, it was fun to see another beautiful baseball stadium.  The weather was awesome - clear skies and cool weather.  The views of the ball diamond and of downtown Pittsburgh were incredible.  BUT, the Cardinals got blasted 10-0.  It was painful to watch.  It was bad baseball.

But, the upside of the night was that I got some autographs of some of the Cardinals.  I was able to get Larry Walker, Jim Edmonds, and Mark Mulders signatures.  It was worth bringing the baseball all the way from Kenya to get them to sign them.  Ben and I are excited.  THAT is good baseball.

What Do I Miss?

Sunday as I was flying from Amsterdam to the US, I was listening to the in-flight music and came across the "country music."  I am not a huge fan, but it reminded me of South Carolina and so I listened for a while.  As I did, I started writing in my journal.  Here is what I wrote.

I miss friends, hot sticky nights, going inside to cool air conditioning , and sweet tea.  I miss walks around the neighborhoods on nice sidewalks seeing friends and patients.  I miss running in the early morning through downtown Newberry watching the small little Main Street come to life. I miss driving around town in my old beat up pick up truck with the windows rolled down.

I miss being busy at the office with my nurse keeping me pointed in the right direction always looking for ways to help.  I miss taking care of big and little medical problems.  I miss talking to my colleagues during rounds at the hospital.  I miss talking to my partner about baseball, family, and the practice.  I miss working in the Emergency Room at nights.  I miss doing deliveries on patients that I followed throughout their pregnancy.  I miss working hard and then coming home to chill out.

I miss our big yard that I had to keep up - I miss pulling weeds, cutting grass, and trimming bushes.  I miss walking to Pharoahs or JezeBelles.  I miss Mexican food.  I miss going to the Opera House and eating at Steven W's.  I miss planning our next vacation to Kiawah. 

I miss watching the St. Louis Cardinals.  I miss watching ESPN Sports Center.  I miss high speed internet, regular water and electrical service, and having the bills arrive in the mailbox on time.  I miss seeing the postman and the UPS drivers.  I miss WalMart.  I miss good roads, stop signs, stop lights, and relatively good drivers on the road. 

I miss home.  I miss a sense of belonging.  I miss being understood for who I am. 

I miss being cheerful and optimistic about the future.

I am struggling more than I realize.  The past few weeks have been very trying.  The daily grind of "drip, drip, drip" is wearing me out.  It is a struggle to understand whether this is lack of faith or contentment on my part, spiritual discouragement from the enemy, or God stretching me for new things. 

Sunny Saturday

We have seen blue skies all day. It has been the first all day sunny day in over 2 months. We all feel our spirits lifted, even in light of the fact that I will be leaving shortly for a quick 9 day trip to the US.

This morning I continued my one on one rounds with my family. Sarah and I walked up to Karen. We enjoyed the warm weather. We also enjoyed the new deli that serves breakfast. They have awesome chocolate donuts.

This afternoon I had a chance to take Marti to the Karen Coffee Garden. I have mentioned it before. It has great jazz playing on Saturdays. It was good to get some alone time.

I will miss my family this week. They are all so awesome. It will be fun to spend some time in America, but it will not be near as fun without them.

More Baseball and More Bicycles

I continue to keep my eyes open for baseball hats and bicycles. I have a few more to add to the lists.

This week, I saw a Cleveland Indians and a Toronto Blue Jays hat. These now make 17 of the 30 teams. Not bad for a soccer crazy country. The teams spotted so far include: the Cardinals, Yankees, Red Soxs, Devil Rays, Orioles, Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Mets, Diamondbacks, A's, Astros, Rangers, Giants, and Mariners.

On the bicycles I have observed a man transporting 8 "flats" of eggs. Each flat holds 30 eggs. I wonder how many eggs ended up "flat" when transported on the back of bicycle? And this week, I watched a man transporting another lawnmower on the back of his bike. The heaviest article observed being biked around was two large sacks of freshly cut thatch. Each bag weighs around 80-100 lbs. That is heavy transport.

Camping Out in the Yard

I am traveling back to the US Saturday for a Disaster Relief Training Conference. I will be in the Pittsburgh area for 8 days. I have been too busy this week trying to get stuff organized.

Last week Ben gave me an invitation to a camp out in our yard. Sam wanted to go. Ben didn't want him to. So I invited Sam the night before to a "camp out" on our balcony. This worked. He and I had hot chocolate and I read him some of his favorite books.

Last night, I spent the evening with Ben. We pitched out tent. We made a nice fire on the mini-BBQ grill. We read a book, Little Britches, that we started when we arrived here. We finished the book last night. And then we slept.

I guess the boys wanted to help get me ready for the outdoors portion of the Disaster Relief Training next week - some of that includes a campout. I must confess however, it would have been nice to sleep in my own bed this week. But I also know that it meant a lot to the boys for me to spend some one on one time with them. And it was good for me as well. I will miss them.

Working Too Hard

I realize that I have been working too hard lately. I have been squeezing in a bit too much. I can make the excuses but I won't.

We have made a decision as a family to have me move my office out of the house. Currently I spend one and a half days at the hospital. The rest of the time I am based out of my home office. I find that because I am here, I work longer hours because sometimes I take longer breaks than I should. So, I blur the lines of start and finish time for work. This is not working for us.

Fortunately, the Medical Education building at St. Mary's Hospital has an office that I can use. I moved in some of my stuff there this week. It is quiet, and set apart from the hospital. I am going to rearrange my schedule to be there 4 days a week. I will take Thursdays off. I will get more work done in 4 days there than I do here. Because I am doing more reading and lecture preparation, I need more quiet.

One thing that I will have to do in this arrangement is to take the matatus to St. Mary's. What will usually be a 15 minute trip, will now take 1 hour. But, I tried the "system" out the other day. I can actually do some reading on the matatu. This will maximize the use of my time.

Pray that this move will help me discipline the use of my time and that I will be more relaxed and accessable to my family. They have been putting up with one grumpy bear lately.

Medical Student Conference Update

We returned home this afternoon. We are pretty tired. I did not sleep well Friday night before the conference. I wasn't worried, I just woke up early. Then besides the energy it takes to lecture two hours in a row (there was a small 5 minute break), we were kept up last night by a Street Party outside the hotel. The band played Hip-Hop and African music until 6:00 am this morning.

But other than that, the conference went quite well. Actually, it went great. There were about 130 medical students from East Africa. The majority were from Kenya but there were students from Uganda, the DRC (Congo), Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. I was the only American there.

The workshops went quite well. I had about 25 attendees the first session and 30 the second session. I was asked to talk about Condoms and Abortions. I ended up putting together a one hour talk on the introduction to Medical Ethics from a Biblical Perspective and then spent the second session discussing Sex and Medical Ethics. The students were really engaged.

In the first hour I laid a foundation that our knowledge of the "right answer" in Medical Ethics was worthless if we did not keep the basics of "faith, hope, and love" active in our dealings with patients. I reminded them that first and foremost God is a God of Grace and Mercy and we should act accordingly. From there we looked at the way the world usually makes ethical decisions (gut feeling, consensus, reason, relativism, outcomes, and so on). I then challenged the students to consider making their decisions based on the Authority of Scripture. And then we discussed the importance of learning how to rightly interpret Scripture and then how to make loving application in our lives. I also reminded them that we must be careful to remember the principles of Christian Liberty while applying Biblical truth to our lives and practices as physicians.

Before getting into the more controversial aspects of contraception, abortion, and other issues, I reminded the students of how God was the creator of relationships, marriage, and sex. We talked about the beauty of this particular creation of God. And then we discussed how the fall (sin) introduced shame into our lives and how this led to sexual sin and perversion. At this point we discussed the important question of "When does life begin? Does it occur 'before conception?' At fertilization? At implantation? Or at birth?"

We finally delved into whether contraception was allowed or prohibited by Scripture and how we as Christians were to come to terms with these very difficult questions. We discussed the even harder question of how to lovingly apply these understandings to the care of our patients - many who will come to us because of the results of sexual sin.

Afterwards there were several students who had more questions. Some had positive comments. One even invited me to do a series of lectures like this for the Pro-Life Movement at the University of Nairobi.

We are excited about the opportunities like this to encourage and exhort African Medical Students to share their faith in Christ in a Biblical way in the practice of medicine for the Glory of God!

I Sat in President Moi's Chair

This weekend I spoke at the ICMDA Regional Medical Student Conference. It was held outside Nakuru at Kabarak University. This school sits on the property of the past president of Kenya, President Moi. It was initially a high school (Moi High School).
We met in the auditorium. In the middle of the auditorium I noticed a big red comfortable seat. It had no seats immediately next to it. I sat in it. One of the students informed me that I was sitting in the chair that President Moi used to sit in. While he was president, no one ever sat in the chair except him.

I hope to post a few pictures from the Conference on the web. I will include one of me sitting in Moi's Chair!

Bicycles as Transport Vehicles

A while back I wrote a blog about the number of bicycles on the roads here. They are actually quite a danger to both themselves and drivers. The roads are too narrow for them to be riding on the road (the roads are too narrow for cars for that matter!).

But I have noticed lately that many folks depend on the bicycle for more than just getting from place to place. They use them as transport and delivery vehicles. Over the past couple of weeks I have been keeping a list of all the things that are being hauled on the backs of bicycles. It is an amazing list.

1. Sacks of Charcoal stacked 10 feet high.

2. Crates of bread stacked 10 feet high.

3. Crates of milk stacked (you guessed it) 10 feet high.

4. A metal office desk.

5. A wheelbarrow.

6. A grinding wheel used for sharpening blades.

7. A lawnmower.

8. Lumber.

9. Another bicycle.

I will keep my eyes open for other things hauled by the bicycles.

More Baseball in Kenya

I have seen a few more baseball hats in Kenya. The total of different teams comes to 15. Here are number 12-15. (See the July 2005 Archives for Numbers 1-11).

12. Houston Astros

13. Texas Rangers

14. San Fransisco Giants

15. Seattle Mariners

They Are Getting It

We had Medical Student Bible Student at our place again tonight. It is always such a joy to get together with these guys. The food was per usual great. Thanks Marti!

Tonight we studied "True Repentance". In our last session we covered false repentance by looking at the life of King Saul. He basically justified and shifted blame when confronted with his sin. We also looked at Micah 6. The people tried to buy their way out of sin. But the writer tells us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Tonight in our study we looked at the story of the prodigal son. We also looked at King David when he was confronted with his sin of adultery with Bathsheeba. His sin was great: lust, adultery, cover-up, and then murder. When confronted with his sin (would you have wanted to be in the prophet Nathan's shoes?) he confesses his sin. We see the depth of his repentance in Psalm 51. In verse 17 David says that God wants a "broken and contrite" heart.

The guys got some major points tonight. As they thought back to our study on false repentance and compared it to tonight's study, they saw a fundamental difference between the different characters. The ones truly repenting were "owning their sin" and "did not make excuses". One student said, "Psalm 51:17 confirms that God does not want sacrifices but a broken spirit."

Praise God that they are "getting it." May God's Word challenge and transform their lives.

Drip, Drip, Drip

I am still a bit melancholy but I am feeling better. Sometimes it is hard to explain why this happens. Certainly there is a spiritual component at work - both the struggle within myself with my sinful nature AND with the spiritual dark places.

I think the enemy uses the daily annoyances to bring frustration into our lives. I mean each individual thing that happens is "no big deal" but added up and it is like some sort of water torture. For instance in the past twenty four hours I have had the following things happen:

1. The refridgerator wasn't working properly. The freezer portion was putting out "snow". It blocked the vent to the fridge compartment. I had to remove the ice to allow flow of air from the freezer to the fridge.

2. The LP gas tank ran out on the dryer. We had to re-wash a load of clothes.

3. The toilet is not working again in the bathroom. The plumber has replaced the equipment twice in the past month.

4. The shower stall is leaking again.

5. A drinking glass broke.

6. Ben's violin is out of tune.

7. The power went out for 30 minutes while I was working on my Power Point Presentation for the conference this weekend.

8. The internet café with the higher speed connection was closed today.

9. The main entrance to our road is blocked for repairs. Our new route is worse than the first.

10. It continues to be gray and cold here.

I am not whining. But the toll that these inconviences take on you day after day, week after week, make moods a bit low.

Sex and Medical Ethics

On Friday afternoon Marti and I will be traveling to Nakuru for two nights. I have been asked to be a speaker at the Regional International Christian Medical Fellowship Meeting. It will be a conference for medical students. There will be about 175 participants. Half will be Kenyan students. The other half will be medical students from Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa. I am excited to be part of the workshop speakers.

I have been asked to give a workshop entitled, "The Gray Areas: Condoms and Therapeutic Abortions." Essentially the conference organizers want me to lead a workshop on medical ethics (hence, I have changed the title of the workshop to "Sex and Medical Ethics". I am overwhelmed in their confidence. As I look at the roster of speakers and workshop leaders, I am the only "Mzungu" (American). It is a privilege to be asked to participate.

Please pray for the following this week:

1. Pray that I will have adequate time to wrestle with the information of medical ethics.

2. Pray that I will put together a thoughtful, Biblical approach to ethics. In particular help me to deal sensitively with the issues of human sexuality, contraception, and abortion.

3. Pray that I will be culturally sensitive in my presentation.

4. Pray that the medical students will be challenged and changed in their approach to dealing with ethical issues in medicine.

5. Pray that God will be glorified in the whole conference.

Mrs. Hospitality

Marti is really shining tonight. She is hosting a Pride and Prejudice movie marathon. She has invited three other missionary wives who have daughters Sarah's age. There is a total of 4 ladies and 5 daughters. They are having a great time.

Besides preparing some awesome dishes (the boys and I have hid ourselves away for the evening but came out for the food!) she has decorated the table and dining area beautifully. She has our finest plates out (Blue Willow pattern), candles everywhere, name cards, and fresh flowers. She has tea cups and saucers with special tea spoons. Everyone felt so special to have the place decorated with nice plateware, cloth napkins, and so on.

Marti talked me into making the fire. I have been popping in and out of the den keeping the fire hot and blazing. The girls are snuggled all close together as the moms are sitting on the furniture. Everyone is in pajamas and covered with throws.

Marti has an incredible gift of hospitality. Everyone feels relaxed and at home. The struggles of life in a developing country is muted this evening. Tonight, they are being treated well.

Well, it sounds like intermission out there and I here talk about dessert. I am sure it is delicious. I will go and mess with the fire and then wander to the dessert table!

Another Reason to Blog

A while back I wrote out some of the reasons I blog. Today I received the following email from a complete stranger. This is another reason I blog.

"I just wanted to drop a quick note to say 'thanks' for your blog! My husband and I are praying and thinking about moving our family (we have two kids, 7 and 2) to Dar es Salaam with a team from our church. In the midst of my internet research I stumbled on your blog.
Over the past few days I've read through your archives and have fallen in love with your family. Thank you for keeping such a wonderful journal of your ups and downs. It is wonderful to read a realistic yet God-filled view of such a transition!"

Continent in Crisis?

The other day I was listening to the radio reports about some of the problems in Africa. Next door in Sudan there have been riots for the past week since the new Vice President there, John Garang, died in a helicopter crash. His death threatens to unravel the fragile peace in Sudan. He was the rebel leader of the SPLA which was the main rebel group in Southern Sudan for the past 19 years. Over 130 people have died in riots in Sudan this week.

In the West African country of Mauritanian, the military staged a coup while the head of state there was out of the country to attend the funeral of Kind Fayad of Saudi Arabia. The military promises a democratic process and states it will only stay in control for two years. The African Union has condemned this coup. So far there has not been any fighting.

In Niger the famine has put thousands of lives at risk. Food programs are just starting to get in to help with the famine. Neighboring Mali is also under threat of famine.

So with all this "bad news" you might suspect that Kenya might also be at risk, that there might be some tension or what not. And yet, as I have gone through the week I have noticed business as usual. Commerce is moving forward, fruit and vegetable vendors are pushing their produce, street hawkers continue to push their wares, people are playing football, and the hustle and bustle of a city of 3 million continues. This is not to criticize Kenyans. Rather it is to point out that just because there is widespread "bad news" in Africa, life goes on. Families certainly struggle with many issues here, but there does not seem to be a sense of panic or tension. In some ways it is rather amazing.

When you hear bad news from the African continent, don't make the mistake to generalize the news to the whole continent. There is still much hope here.

A Night Out

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to the movie theater for the 5:40pm matinee. It was our first visit to the new movie theater in Nairobi. We were pleasantly surprised.

The first surprise was the price of the tickets. We paid less than $20 for all 5 of us. That was awesome. Had we not eaten an early dinner, we could have afforded the concessions - a coke was $0.90 and a large popcorn was $1.25. Candy bars were $1.00.

Once in our seats it was like being in the US. The screen was huge, the sound system incredible, and the seats very plush and comfortable. For an hour and half we forgot where in the world we were (except of course I was more relaxed because I didn't have to take out a loan to take the whole family to the movies!) We watched the movie Madagascar. It was a hoot.

This was Sam's first trip to the movie theater. He loved it. He laughed out loud so many times. In fact we all did. Laughter is good medicine.