Margin

Forty-eight hours ago, I was in Wichita, Kansas, feverishly answering emails, voicemails, and text messages in an attempt to prepare myself to leave for Africa. When we landed in Denver, I was still working. The same was true in Washington, DC. This pace continued until the moment that the Ethiopian Airways Flight Assistant insisted that all electronic devices be turned off. At that point, I realized time was up. Whether or not I was ready or was at a stopping point, the Atlantic Ocean brought silence and I was finally forced to check out.

I spent many of the 13 hours on the way from DC to Addis Ababa reading through a book called Margin by Dr. Richard Swenson.  In his writings, Dr. Swenson discusses the crazy lives we live in America and how we don't even know the meaning of margin as it is applied to our lives.  He insists that we've traded peace for progress.  

"Because most of us do not yet know what margin is, we also do not know what marginless is.  We feel distressed, but in ill-defined ways.  We can tell life isn't quite what it used to be or perhaps not quite what we expected it should be.  Then we look at our cars, homes and big screen TVs and conclude that our distress must be in our imaginations."

Admittedly, I've been to the Ashland Clinic in the last month or so with chest pain and no good explanation for it.  My family doesn't have a history of heart issues.  I'm in (relatively) good health.  After a thorough examination and an EKG, I was told it was stress-related.  

Fast forward two days and I'm sitting in the home of a Zimbabwean farmer who oversees the agricultural operations for Eden Children's Village, an orphanage in Doma, Zimbabwe.  He explained that many of the orphans and staff at ESV have somehow contracted HIV/AIDS, primarily due to infidelity among husbands and fathers.  Sexual abuse runs rampant in the culture and many of its side effects go untreated due to the absolute absence of professional counselors.  There are times when food reserves are low and they are unsure how they will feed everyone.  His wife, an RN, also serves as the local veterinarian, performing C-sections on cattle.  No one else in the village is better trained to meet this need.  Though the children within their care are healthy and loved, there is still so much work to do here.  

Yet somehow, in spite of the overwhelming tasks in front of them, there is peace with them.  

"Progress has happened under God's timing," he explains, "and these issues are in the hands of the Lord."  More to come in the days ahead...

-Benjamin