The LSCC Zimbabwe trip postponement has "officially" been set for Aug 6-23 2009. I use the term loosely as it is always subject to change depending on the situation there. : ) It seems like a long time from now, but time flies and it's nice to have a date set once again. You can find pretty good coverage on the BBC world news website if you want to keep up with what's going on there. Be praying for our team, the plans and God's direction as we utilize the extra year we have.
I'm off to a meeting to help a small group plan their trip to Kenya in October! Life is good!!
Thank you for your prayers and support!
AJ
Monday, July 21, 2008
New dates!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Video
There is so much info about the disturbing situation in Swaziland, a country spiraling downward at an alarming rate. Here's a short video that describes AIMs response and gives a glimpse of the precious people there.
Untitled from Rusty Jackson on Vimeo.">
Swaziland
Swaziland has been on my mind over the last 6 or 9 months. Somehow I know that is where I will end up for a while in some capacity. Swazi is part of the reason that I'm still lamenting a bit over the fact that I'm not going this year. Not all the time...just every once in a while. But then I'm reminded of all the good things God has going right now....so I can wait on His timing. Regardless, I still ache and daydream for Swaziland.
Here are the Swaziland facts in a recent article:
One in three Swazi women have suffered some form of sexual abuse as a child; one in four experienced physical violence, a new United Nations survey revealed.
The study by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is the first of its kind conducted in a country where anecdotal evidence suggests an alarming number of female children are victims of abuse. More disconcertingly still, the mushrooming population of orphans and vulnerable children in Swaziland provide yet more opportunities for sexual exploitation to occur.
In two years, 200,000 Swazi children will have been orphaned by AIDS - more than one-fifth of the current population, according to UNICEF. With HIV prevalence at 33.4 percent among people aged between 15 and 49, the country has the world's highest infection rate. As a result, life expectancy has halved from nearly 60 years in the 1990s to just over 30 years today.
Read the rest of the article here:
Someday I'll make it to Swazi as a nurse Lord willing...
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Trust and waiting...
Sometimes I'm struck with sadness that I'm not going to Africa this year. Most of the time I'm fine knowing I'm only waiting another year, but then sadness will come over me at the most inconvenient time....like at work or in the car. Right now, I'm sitting on the back porch on a beautiful morning with an incredible view of the valley finishing up quiet time, but really I long to be sitting with my friend Michelle in her little house, smelling the kibera smells and listening to all the people and matatus outside on the busy road. Or sitting in an orphanage in Swazilnd....something like that. On really hot days, if I close my eyes, it almost feels like I am there...minus the smell which I don't miss as much. : )
Another missionary that is on medical furlow for a while is frustrated in similar ways. Hers is different given that she has lived in Nigeria for years and is home in Texas by necessity and has no idea when she will get to go back. I'm really sad for her becuase I have a very tiny taste of what she feels. Recently, she read a book I read in Kenya that I had completly forgotten about called "Hinds Feet on High Places". She wrote about it in her blog and I thought it was a perfectly divine reminder for me as well:
It is an allegory about a character 'Much Afraid' who has two traveling companions 'Sorrow' and 'Suffering'. They are on a journey to get to the High Places, where the Shepherd lives and promises joy and freedom. They face many obstacles, including traveling through a desert, with the High Places out of sight.
When they reach the desert, Much Afraid cries out to the Shepherd, "You really mean that I am to follow that path down and down into that wilderness and then over that desert, away from the mountains indefinitely? Why ( and there was a sob of anguish in her voice ) it may be months, even years before that path leads me back to the mountains again. O Shepherd, do You mean it is indefinite postponement?'
The Shepherd replied 'It is only postponement for the best to become possible... Do you love Me enough to accept the postponement and the apparent contradiction of the promise and go down there with me into the desert?'
He was leading her away from her heart's desire altogether and gave no promise at all as to when He would bring her back.
Much Afraid replied with tears and trembling, "Even if You cannot tell me why it has to be, I will go with You, for You know that I do love You, and You have the right to choose for me anything that You please." pgs 109,110
I'm reminded of the importance of trust. God knows both what I desire and where I'm actually headed. More than I long for Africa, I long to not get in the way of that.
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