appreciating

today appreciation is the thing that stands out...

appreciation that the 80 year old mother of our team leader who fell in a store the other day broke only her arm and not her hip.

appreciation that today we sat in a service of a house church...it meets in an open air shack and has about 8 people in membership thus far (they are a little less than a year old). They preach the gospel face forward and are strong in both spirit and truth. Their worship lasted 30 minutes and ended with a bi-lingual version of "Amazing Grace" and "How great thou art" that reduced me to tears.

appreciation that I have had some time to kick back, read, and catch up on sleep the past two days...which have both refreshed me and renewed a fresh energy and passion for the coming days.

After our grueling days in Rabai (where we saw 310 patients on the last day alone) we were ready for a few days at the orphanage. These work days were shorter, the patients smaller, and the population generally healthier. It was wonderful to return to our housing before dark and have some energy for a card game or a devotional or a chat in the evening after dinner.

A few nights ago I found myself on the beach very late at night with my teammates Matt (a internal med doctor) and Andrew (a med student from Kansas city). We watched the stars in awe, admiring a completely new hemisphere that blended perfectly with some familiar constalations usually on the opposite horizon in the northern hemisphere. Matt is a buff and pointed out Scorpio and the southern cross (stop drooling, Dad...) and we also saw a meteor shower. As we walked along to get away from the lights, the moon began to rise over the Indian Ocean...as sight that definitely made my top 5 "life beauty moments"...it was absolutely breathtaking. We stood in silence and watched if for a full 30 minutes, and finally, after feeling our human frailty in full form, returned to the cabins for sleep.

Tonight our host is throwing a big party with authentic African food and lots of decorations. It will be open to the public but we will be honored guests. The people here are the warmest and kindest I've ever met. We can't deserve their hospitality.

The bus is leaving in 3 minutes, so I must scoot...more soon.

Please pray for us this week as we have 5 straight days of work in 2 different sights, both of which will have high populations and pretty sick people. I'm looking forward to another report next week!!

Love and miss you all,
morgs