Warriors and Infants Alike »
He sat perched on the half wall that surrounded the clinic’s waiting area. He leaned back against a pole, lightly balancing a green plastic pitcher on the tip of his relaxed fingers. His cheetah print hat sported a long fluffy ostrich feather. His wrists were hidden behind black rubber bangles, beaded bands and a gaudy […]
This Busiest Month »
July, already one of the busiest months for Akisyon a Yesu Presbyterian Clinic, has been especially active in 2018. While Chloe and I took a few days away helping to see the Okken family off, I got the call from the nurse who had been left in charge that they had seen 113 patients my […]
Bittersweet Goodbyes »
Goodbyes, goodbyes, how I wish to bid you adieu Farewells, farewells, if only you would take your leave This week, we said goodbye to dear friends and teammates Dave and Sunshine Okken with their children Caleb, Megan and Jacob. It is difficult to say how much they’ve impacted and shaped our work here. It all […]
Canoes Needed! »
The day after I posted a blog about the dry season, it started raining and hasn’t stopped. In twenty-four hours last week, we got six inches of rain. As you might imagine, streams turned into rivers, rivers turned into torrents and fields turned into flood plains. There were screams in the village about Noah’s flood […]
Learning to Laugh »
Learning a new language is also learning to laugh at yourself. I’ve never been very good at laughing at myself, as many of you know, so it is no small wonder that I love learning Karimojong so much. In welcoming new teammates and hoping to share with them the love of the language, I’ve decided […]
Holy Wind »
The wind is blowing (‘Ekusi ekuwam’). This saying becomes almost as common as a handshake in the dry season. We all look to the East and face the blow dryer that sweeps across the plain abducting any moisture in its path, sucking your skin parched and whipping up dust into every imaginable nook and cranny. […]
January Summary »
The problem with enjoying writing is that I simply cringe anytime I need to post just an update without any of the beauty that makes writing fun. And then it gets put off again and again until the news is stale. Well, here’s to a blog without any frills that isn’t quite yet compost. January […]
O Ye of Little Faith »
A mustard seed. I tried to pick up just one. Flesh on flesh lacked the dexterity. I pressed my finger firmly down upon it, hoping skin’s oil a strong enough adhesive. Then I rolled it gently between my fingers. Just this big. Unfettered, unadulterated, unbridled faith. Then it fell from my delicate grasp and disappeared […]
Job, the Beloved »
Suffering. We’re all acquainted with it in some form. It is acute to anyone who’s humanity began in Eden, the perfection we were made for and will never experience in this life. Death, disease, neglect, poverty, these things simply were not, but now they are and there’s no escaping them. That does not mean, however, […]
