Continent of Contrasts

As we prepare for our upcoming trip back to the continent of my birth, I can not help but remember both the victories and the defeats of my previous experiences.  Little comes close to the excitement surrounding the adoption of our son, Ki two years ago.  The joy of becoming a father for the first time has been unbelievably satisfying. Contrasted to that have been my experiences with suffering and death.  My mind has been plagued with questions for years.  Why do the innocent, especially the children, suffer and die from preventable diseases?  Why do humans, especially the children, have to suffer and die from malnutrition.  Why do people have to live without the chance to advance themselves or create a better life for their families?

After years of contemplation, and both long term and short term trips, I believe that I have the opportunity to provide solutions.  Three and a half years ago I had the opportunity to learn about Community Health Evangelism.  Immediately I believed that this tool would go a long way to providing long term solutions for some of these problems.  After all, if we don't work on long term solutions, what good have we done?   And of course if we are concerned about long term solutions, what could be more important than being God's servants to bring the news than an eternal existence with God is not only possible, but is going to be more wonderful than our wildest dreams?  Yes, we need to focus not only on physical problems, but spiritual ones as well.

This year God has been faithful to us and given us the opportunity to spend 6 months a year in Africa.  St. Francis Hospital and my hospitalist partners have been unbelievably gracious to let me have a contract which allows me to be gone 6 months out of the year, while still letting me work the other 6 months to provide for my family.  How wonderful is that?  We have also been blessed by the interest and support of our new church, Chattahoochee Valley Church of Christ.

September 2 is our departure date for Uganda and the beginning of the next chapter in our lives.  So, please partner and pray with us that we will be the servants that God wants us to be.