Postscripts....

One week ago today I was in Alepe a small village northeast of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. From there we traveled to the village of Nemni. Our task on Saturday, November 15 was to go from home to home to home to measure the effectiveness of the campaign to encourage families to install their bednets. What a joy it was to find many of the nets hung. As I noted in my last entry, we also helped several families hang their nets.

As I think back over the past week I am overwhelmed with the experience of meeting new friends, working together on behalf of God's children and discovering God's presence in the most unexpected places. Below you see the team that worked together over the course of the week. Our team included six persons representing the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, three persons from the United Methodist Church in Cote d'Ivoire, two interpreters, and two government security guards. We were fortunate that General Gen. Philippe Mangou is a United Methodist and member of the Jubilee Methodist Church in Abidjan. He oversees all military forces in the West African Nation. At first the presence of guards, with weapons, on our team was a bit disconcerting. But over time, we built relationships with each other that were warm and caring. On the last day of visiting in Nemni, it was a joy to work together with one of our guards to hang nets in the modest homes of net recipient families. He has two children of his own and was extremely compassionate in working with the parents and children to explain the importance of hanging the nets for the children.

Many have asked me in the past few days about my "most memorable experience." That is a difficult question to answer. Perhaps the only way to answer it is to identify the most memorable experience in several categories of the trip. So here goes.....

Most Memorable Experience(s)

Category 1 - Travel to and from Cote d'Ivoire - Being led through the airport at Abidjan by personnel that treated us like "rock stars." We past through customs as a group and upon arrival outside the terminal were greeted by a band and many persons who were truly glad to see us. It was a joy to be greeted with such warmth and pass through the protocols of entry into a foreign country so easily.

Category 2 - First Day in the Villages - When we traveled to Alepe the first day for the opening celebration of the campaign there were hundreds of children lining the road on both sides at several points waving and cheering. It was overwhelming! See the picture below.

Category 3 - Distributing Nets - Seeing the long lines of mothers and fathers with their children waiting for as long as four hours to receive a net and medical care for their children. In many cases there were mothers who had walked for miles with children strapped to their backs to make sure that their children were vaccinated and received a life-saving insecticide treated bed net.

Category 4 - Devotional time - Every night all members of our delegation gathered together for a devotional time to end the day. Everyone of those moments was a faithlift, but the devotional at the end of the day on the first day we distributed nets was particularly meaningful for me. Several persons shared moments when they were touched by the presence of God. The stories shared were straight for the heart. There many tears and words spoken through hearts that were touched by the extraordinary presence of God.

Category 5 - Worship with the Methodist Christians of Cote d'Ivoire - Three hours of worship on two separate Sundays passed by like it was forty-five minutes and even though I was dressed with a tie and a clergy robe and stole, I was unaware how hot I must have been. (My clothes were soaked with perspiration when I took off my robe and stole.) But the most meaningful moment of worship on both Sundays actually involved two moments. First, the joy of celebrating the Sacrament of the Lords Supper with clergy and laity of Texas and Cote d'Ivoire was particularly meaningful. Secondly, I have to discuss the offering again. To experience the joy and celebration of the offering was something I had never seen or known before in all my ministry. Every single person in the worship celebration brought their offering forward. It was 15-20 minute worship moment of praise and thanksgiving to God never known in my personal experience. To realize that here was a people making their offering to God whose average per capita income was less than 1 tenth of what we have in the US was convicting. Not only did all participate in the offering, but they did it with such joy and celebration. If our worship in the US were able to capture that same joy and celebration in the offering, our churches and ministries would never have financial problems. God's goodness would be shared and shared abundantly. The church's ministry would be multiplied across the land like Jesus with the loaves and fishes. How often do we truly back to God out of the abundance we have received? It happens sometimes, but certainly not everytime we gather for worship. We can learn a lot from the Ivoirian people regarding "passionate worship and extravagant generosity." On our last Sunday in Cote d'Ivoire we worshipped in the Jordan United Methodist Church in Abidjan. The church building was partially completed. It had a roof and a concrete floor, but no walls and no permanent seating and limited electricity. The wind blew through and we heard the sounds from the street beside us. Yet, it was truly a place and moment of worship. Without the accoutrements of a completed worship space, the spirit of God was present in that place in a way that I have never experienced God in the the most stately and completed sanctuaries. To God be the glory!

It will take me months and years to fully process the faithlift of our days in Cote d'Ivoire. My prayer is that the experience might in some way enhance the effectiveness and the faithfulness of the churches and the people of God that I have been given pastoral responsibility for.

This is not my last time to write.....check back soon!