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Serving Others

Sorry-Sorry

Posted on February 23, 2010 at 8:45am. No Comments

I’ve posted below a guest blog post from Don Truslow.  Don recently traveled with CAC to Ethiopia.

“Hammer” and “sorry-sorry” were the only English words my new friend knew, as far as I could tell.  Addal works as a guard at Camp Langano, the SIM camp located four hours outside of Addis that has been bringing the Gospel to young Ethiopians for many years.  I was part of the mission team assigned to tackle a few of the myriad of projects at the camp.  I met my new friend unexpectedly one evening while I was repairing some window screens for one of the cabins.  Addal tentatively approached me, and then reached out to help hold the screening while I trimmed.  For the next hour and a half, we were a team, taking turns trimming, sharing the hammer, and uttering “sorry-sorry” when one of us broke a piece of quarter-round molding or missed the intended target with the staple gun.  While we did not share a language, we had little problem communicating.  It was great fun.

Ever since my youngest daughter traveled to Ethiopia five years ago, taking such a trip has been on my heart.  This trip was one of the most impactful, broadening, and fulfilling experiences of my 51 years.  As promised, it put me “outside my comfort zone”.  My international travels have been mostly business related with stays at some of the world’s top hotels such as the Connaught in London, and the Hotel de Crillon in Paris. The mission trip to Ethiopia was a little different from these past travels.  It was far better in so many ways.

As a first-timer, it was difficult for me to emotionally process seeing the widespread poverty and unimaginable living conditions, especially the lack of clean water.  Yet, I was even more taken by the beauty of the people, their warm smiles, and their emphasis on personal relationships. The believers we met were incredible.  Their testimonies and life stories were rich and inspiring.  They seemed to live their faith continually, relying on God’s blessings to meet their most fundamental needs throughout every day.

I was amazed at how much work our team accomplished.  It felt good to serve. I gained a better appreciation of why works are important in combination with faith (James 2:14-26).  Not surprisingly, our work opened the door for God to work in each of us.  I know that I grew spiritually and returned home with a deeper sense of just how big our God is. 

During the trip, two themes from the group discussions and devotions kept coming to mind.  The first was a formula: Change in place plus change in pace equals change in perspective.  The second related to Christ’s second great commandment: Love thy neighbor (Matt 22:37).  But who is my neighbor (Luke 10:29)?

My temporal life probably could not be more different than that of my new friend, Addal.  But in the eyes of God, both of us are His children.  Addal is my neighbor and my brother in Christ.  I am pretty sure I would have missed that without a change in place and a change in pace acting to change my perspective.

I look forward to returning.  There are plenty of projects left to be done at Camp Langano and plenty for God to work on within me.


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