Tackling the Tough Stuff

So, for the past few days I have been working with the top African management to work through issues of salary, health care, travel fees, relocation costs, and the list goes on. All of this must be talked through to help set the budget for this upcoming year. The conversations have been really good and so exhausting. It is hard to break through your own cultural paradigms to understand the culture of another. In Africa, they have a base pay set by the African government and that is the only thing taxes. From there you have Primes, that are given for responsiblity, production, risk, and the list goes on. Why we can't just set a salary and be done with it begins to overwhelm me. Also, when the list keeps growing you start to think man you guys are milking me. To shut yourself up and acknowledge that we are all allowed to be different that is the freedom God gave us and yet we are still worthy not matter our operation...well, lets just say it isn't an easy thing.

In one of the conversations, we talked about travel and food for travel. I was asking them to set a rate. They said that they wanted different rates for different levels. I was not up for that. When a worker is on ICDI time, I want to value everyone the same. We are all equal. Yes we value a function better than another but the individual is just as valuable and I want to be able to feed them equally. They came back with a clear...uh, no everyone is not equal. That is not the way it works here. There are people who are worth more. I can't put my mind around it....but this was honest. This was truth for them. At the end of this conversation, my co-worker Bob (from the states) broke down in tears. He was overwhelmed by the dialogue. The fact that we were able to engage in an open honest conversation about our views. To see that we were different and to not judge it. He has been a missionary for years and has rarely heard the dialogue we have engaged in for the last few days. To hear the mutual respect even though the cultures were different. Oh, I know he can explain it better...needless to say. His overall comment is what we have done this past week is powerful.

Personnally, I have been doing better. I have read the book the shack and realized a good amount about the lies that I am believing. It is funny how various books while I am out here have helped me. Last trip it was Eat, Pray, Love....and dang I really like that book. This time the shack. It is quite releasing to realize God's love. I have been taught a lot of things by the "church" that really aren't the truth. And I know they did not intentionally do it but I still took it all the same. I believed there is a list of right and wrongs and even though I am saved by grace God himself will punish me if I do something too high in the wrong list. I believed that if I loved something too much God would take it away so that I would love him more. Those are just quick thoughts and I probably should do the explanation much more justice but oh well...there is a quick thought.

Still, I am ready to be home. I would like to have a more comfortable bed. I really would like to not constantly have some bug crawling on me. I had a little lizard crawl up the inside of my leg pants at a meeting. It freaked me out nice and good. I would love to have my friends around to chat and hang out with. I really miss the comfortableness of those I love and enjoy.