Out of Africa: Part 13 – Back in America

This will be the final entry on the Africa series. As I sign off on this for now, note the following:

Since returning from Africa, I have realized these facts:

I not only missed the finals of the baseball playoffs, but the entire World Series.

Fountain Park Church had two Hope Sundays on December 4 and 11. We sponsored about 45 children in the area where I visited. After the low administrative fee World Vision takes (less than 10% I think) that means over $17,000 will be going to this area annually from Fountain Park! So stinking cool!!!

We took up offerings for the area and received an additional $2,000 for the area.

I received my first letter from my sponsored child this week. I am in the process of sending him a letter as well.

The latest HIV facts:

* 4.9 million people were newly infected with HIV
* 3.1 million people died from complications of AIDS
* Sub-Saharan Africa – 25.8 million in 2005, up 3.6% from 2003
* South and Southeast Asia – 7.4 million in 2005, up 13.8% from 2003
* Latin America – 1.8 million in 2005, up 12.5% from 2003
* Eastern Europe and Central Asia – 1.6 million in 2005, up 33.3% from 2003
* North America – 1.2 million in 2005, up 9.1% from 2003
* East Asia – 870,000 in 2005, up 26.1% from 2003
* Western and Central Europe – 720,000 in 2005, up 2.9% from 2003
* North Africa and Middle East – 510,000 in 2005, up 2% from 2003
* Caribbean – 300,000 in 2005, no change from 2003
* Oceania – 74,000 in 2005, up 17.5% from 2003
(from UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update 2005)

A fact to put some things into perspective that I read in USA Today Friday, December 30, 2005 from National Park Service: Americans flush 6.8 billion gallons of water down toilets every day while 1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to clean water.

Out of Africa: Part 12 (Continued) – Flexibility, Change and Not Hurrying are African Mantras

On my recent trip to Africa, I disciplined myself to keep a daily journal of what transpired and how I felt about it. These entries are from that journal

Friday, October 28, 2005 – I think!!!

Many hours have passed since the last sentence. I am now in the Amsterdam Airport completely exhausted. I have not slept well this entire trip and my body sort of thinks it is 6:30 am and sort of has no idea what time it is. Couple that with the fact that I hardly got any sleep on the flight from Nairobi. If you have legs, coach seats are small and tight to begin with, and the woman in front of me was an absolute . . . well and absolute something. When we cleared 10,000 ft. she was the first one to lean her seat back and did not put it upright until told to by the flight attendant. This does not sound like a big deal, but tell that to my knees that were continually rammed with the seat back. Add that to the fact that she was up and down, the entire time. Each time she rose, her seat would whack my knees full force hurting like crazy! She was consistently turning around and looking backward; her feet kept getting under the seat and kicking my feet. Add to that – about 3 hours into the flight, the lights came on full and an announcement was made that they were in need of a medical doctor. Okay, that is enough whining from an overly tired, road weary traveler. It will be good to arrive home. I will have a very short turn around for preaching on Sunday. Good thing the message is mostly done! Does it show I am getting a little punch drunk?

Over the upcoming months I am sure I will have much to say as I process this trip. It will be nothing like what I have been writing. In the future it will have to do with Fountain Park and strategic thinking. Right now I am having a tough time just doing simple thinking, so strategy can wait until I get in my bed and sleep!

Out of Africa: Part 12 – Flexibility, Change and Not Hurrying are African Mantras

On my recent trip to Africa, I disciplined myself to keep a daily journal of what transpired and how I felt about it. These entries are from that journal.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Well, here is an entry I did not expect to make. I am sitting in the airport at my gate waiting to board. I have already been through five security checks, had my camera, cell phone and laptop gone over several times and been thoroughly frisked once. Security in international travel is indeed a bit heightened these days!

Thursday evening (at least I think it was Thursday) we were preparing to leave Kenya. We caught a 45 minute prop flight from the Masai Mara to the Wilson Airport in Nairobi. (I think this is right, I am not doing my best thinking right now! Airport floors do not rest very well.) We picked up our bags and boarded vehicles to fight the Nairobi rush hour traffic to get to the International Airport for the second of four flights that would take me back to Pittsburgh.

A week ago, when we left orientation, we all packed a day bag with non-essentials for our site visits that we would leave and reconnect with upon arrival back in Nairobi. As is expected there have been many glitches in this sort of trip, but this was a major hurdle. The bags had been misplaced at our original hotel last week. After a long phone call using up much needed travel time, they were finally located – still at the first hotel! Those of us who had remained in Kenya were all missing our other bag. It was a needed bag to repack items for our return flight.

We all jumped in the transfer vehicle and fought the Nairobi rush hour traffic once again, this time twice in two opposing directions, to retrieve the bags at the hotel. You have not really lived until you have ridden in a vehicle with a foreign driver in an emerging third world country. It is interesting to say the least. On one of the three driving legs I sat up front in the nine-passenger Toyota min-van. Read those words carefully and think sardines. You get the picture. Our driver did his best, but some things can appear doomed from the outset. Thus this unexpected entry.

Out of Africa: Part 11 – Departing a Changed Person

On my recent trip to Africa, I disciplined myself to keep a daily journal of what transpired and how I felt about it. These entries are from that journal.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Thursday began with another game drive. There was not much exciting about this ride. We did see a hyena, a cheetah, and a pride of lions that numbered 15 or more. It concluded with an outdoor cooked breakfast beside the famous Mara River. Interesting to eat an omelet while hippos (safely down an embankment) look on when surfacing.

I am scheduled to fly out today at 4:00 pm on the first of four flights that will take me home in about 30 hours. I should arrive in Amsterdam about 5:30 am departing for Detroit about 2-1/2 hours later. I have a 2-3/4 hour layover to clear customs and then fly to Pittsburgh Friday afternoon. I hope not to miss any connections which I was just told are okay. One frequent traveler of this route told me that I could be bumped if overbooked because this is the last leg of my flight and I have no connections. That is not good since the flight from Pittsburgh to Detroit was overbooked by about 12 folks and they talked to me about being bumped then. In any event, I soon will be home in a day or so. This has been an exciting and life changing trip.

I have been on several mission trips with varying purposes, so expecting to be changed was clearly on my radar. The biggest change this time is that I am in a position to affect change in a community of faith. I now must ask what is that change?

Out of Africa: Part 10 (Continued – E) – Full Day of Debriefing, Reflection and Relaxation

On my recent trip to Africa, I disciplined myself to keep a daily journal of what transpired and how I felt about it. These entries are from that journal.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Experience #6 – And Still More Animal Reflections

Ostrich – We were able to observe a male and a female. They run, and even walk “funny.” Since it is mating season, male took off at about 40 miles per hour after the female.

Cheetah – They are just as sleek in person as on TV. Our guide said they are very tame. They will sit on the hood of a jeep. (Actually he said “bonnet” but you know what I mean.) A cheetah will come right up to a man and lick their hand.

Termites and Ants – Hills are everywhere on the savannah and they are huge; some are as high as 4 or 5 feet. Once it was cool to see a bird sitting atop the hill as if it were a buffet.

Lizards – Prolific and everywhere. In this luxurious dining room, they are on the walls and ceiling above you.

Cows – Seems odd to talk about cows in Africa doesn’t it? If you were here it would not seem odd at all. Cows are everywhere in Masailand. The Masai do not take their presence lightly. To the Masai the cow is the most important creature on the earth. They receive them as gifts, and consider them as family member and currency all at the same time. A Masai knows his cattle by name. He may have 5 or 1,000 but he will know each of them and know if one is missing. If it is, he will leave the others to rescue the lost one. Does that remind you of any Biblical imagery?

There were some points of learning even here. As we were returning from one school visit, we came upon some cows in “road.” There was one large bull, who simply would not move. He was off the left of our front bumper with his hind right quarter blocking our path. Ole Masi told me, that this bull thought we were another bull and this bull was preparing to mate with a cow just to his left, and he was preparing to fight us for her.

Sheep & Goats – They share in the same herd and we ate a lot of each while here. The one interesting point was regarding the separating of them which occurs at one point in the year. The shepherd will separate them for a variety of reasons. Goats are loud, boisterous, and trouble makers. Goats will urinate on sheep. They have at times gone into other farmers land and caused dissention. They do not like to walk on wet land and will get on top of the sheep. They can be generally abusive to sheep if not kept in check by the shepherd. The goats are extremely loud when mating and multiplying. Sheep on the other hand are very quiet when mating and multiplying. Also, after being separated from the goats, the sheep will multiply at a much faster rate than when the herds are mixed. Biblical imagery anyone?

God’s creation is truly amazing.