Church

I woke up at 6:45 am...man is that a doosy for me. We got in the car to drive to chruch for the 7:30 am french services...and typical with Africa every church we stopped at did not have a french service today. So, we scrapped it and went home for breakfast on the porch. I had to get up early for nothing...I guess it is good for me to stretch myself :)

It was overall a slow day. However, I found myself a little bit more struck by the poor conditions. As we were driving, I noticed a few more children with the expanded stomachs from lack of food. I was reminded of the guards as we drove to Berberati. Every few Kilometers there was a guard station at which point we always provided a pen. It is sort of a good will token to provide easier access...however, I learned that the government demands that they write down the numbers of vehicles passing through for security reasons. Yet, the government does not provide pins. These pour guards have no way to perform this simple task b/c their income is not sufficient to cover this price. As westerns, we easily would just say come on guys figure it out...but we have no way to fully comprehend the depth of poverty and how hard it is to survive or perform the simpliest of functions.

The government in CAR has not be able to pay their civil servants for 4 months now (I think that is the right number). As you can imagine, that starts to stir some unrest in people and they are beginning to strike...the teachers, doctors, guards, etc. Although we did not have french church, the missionaries get together for a service every Sunday night at 7. Tonight an African joined the time. He has been studing English at the University and wanted to worship with us. As we presented prayer requests, he requested that we pray for the spirituality of his family and that as he ends his studies that he will be able to find a job that provides income so he can provide for his family. I believe he was tearing up as he talked about this....he is nervous that with all of the strikes he will not be able to find a way to provide for his family. Again, I can not imagine the fear of this...if push comes to shove for me I might just work for Starbucks and take a ton of jobs to make ends meet. I would find a way... but those ways are all the harder to find in Africa.

Although they are poor, I find these men and woman amazingly skilled and knowledgable. I am constantly amazed with how they are able to fix vehicles, electricity, build buildings, etc. with out much training. They do a great job with I guess we would call them apprenticeships. Many of them have gone through university...yet it is still very poor. I feel that they are without capital nor training on how to operate successful businesses to grow the economy. It makes it all the more exciting to be a part of ICDI as their vision is to empower the Africans to become everything God has created them to be.