Are we like sheep? Two wooly experiences from Christina McNeilus

6: “Are we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7: He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent. “ Isa 53: 6,7

Experience 1: Isa 53:6

The significant of Christ as our Sheppard came alive to me this year. In Ethiopia, livestock is a source of wealth, food, and well being for the people here. Nothing can explain Christ unconditional love for us than the good Sheppard. Sheep live up to their general characteristic. They are absolutely one of the dumbest animals in the kingdom.

It was a typical Gimbie day. Work in the morning break for lunch at 1:00.  I was down at my house preparing for lunch, when I heard the bleeding distress call from a little lamb. A pack of wild dogs came unto our campus. Apparently did they not get the “mommy memo”- don’t play with your food.  The mother lamb was nowhere to be found, and the little, redheaded-Sheppard was nowhere to be found as well.

At first I tried to not notice the bleeding sound, but being the animal lover that I once use to be, I had to do something.  I started throwing rocks at the pack of ravenousness dogs. Believe it or not, once the dogs scampered off became the real challenge- catching the unwilling, retarded little lamb.

After hours of chasing, and what felt like gallons of sweat pouring off my back, the worn-out lamb and the blonde headed-Sheppard were past the point of exhaustion. If only the lamb knew I was there to protect him, if only he knew I was there to take him back to the flock.

How many times is Christ there to protect us, to guide us, to lead us to the eternal flock? How many times will we run away because we want to do our own way? There is a way that seems right to man, but leads to a tasty meal, and there is a way that is right for God, and leads to eternal meal at an overflowing banquet table.

Trust in the Good Sheppard. Follow Him to eternal happiness.

 (The little wooly lamb returned safely to the flock)

Experience 2: Isa 53:7

In Ethiopia all celebrations start with an innocent sacrifice of a lamb. Here at Gimbie we wanted to celebrate and uplift the wonderful, dedicated OR staff. A team from Florida Adventist Hospital came to Gimbie and conducted 25 prolapsed uterus surgeries in less than a week. This was something to celebrate.

They brought the lamb to me early that morning, first mistake.  I had all morning to stew over the fact that this innocent animal was going to the slaughter.  He was happily eating away at the grass outside my front door, when judgment was cast down upon.

I wasn’t brave enough to watch them slit his throat and drain out the blood. But, being around that made Christ’s greatest sacrifice vibrant and real.  Even though this was a sad moment for my bonding lamb and I, it made me realizes the sacrifice and the blessing that comes only from the Precious Blood of Jesus.

Praise His Holy Name that our sins are blotted out with the Lamb’s blood.

Experience of Arthur E. Westphal, Volunteer

I came as the expert from the U.S. My main assignment was to build two
large concrete containers which would contain the sand filtration
system for purifying the water. My strong nephew, Bill Clark, was
along to do the heavy work. From the blueprints I figured just how I
could build this quickly, efficiently and of quality at home. Upon
arriving I had a list of materials I would need. I suppose if the
materials were available they would be too expensive and would require
many weeks for delivery.
The hospital had many old steel forms. However the hardware to
assemble these forms was long ago forgotten and missing. The crew
assigned to me included, Fikiru. He had served five years in the
Ethiopian Army with the Corps of Engineers. Fikiru and the men cut
down eucalyptus trees and wedged sticks in to the old, bent up metal
forms. I did not sleep that night wondering how I would accomplish
everything. By morning the Lord helped me figure out how to do the
job. Fikiru spent a few days building the outside forms with a few
locals while Bill Clark and I, with lots of help, cut and tied the
re-enforcing steel.
Knowing there was no OSHA approved scaffolding I asked Fikiru to build
scaffolding while I built the inside forms from scraps of lumber. The
crew cut down more eucalyptus trees and put together a frightening
maze of sticks that looked adequate for a monkey. Noting that I was
slow and unsteady, they nailed some sticks together and told me that
was a ladder I could use. I was the one to use that ladder to climb
the scaffold. To my amazement no one fell or was injured by the
scaffold substitute.
With much frustration we built the inside forms. Then with imagination
we tied the two forms together. I was wondering whether we should cut
the steel forms to put a pipe through or simply cut a plastic pipe to
put in the forms. Both ideas had serious draw backs. Fikiru said we
put a section of banana stalk in there before pouring the concrete. If
I put a piece of wood there it would swell and be stuck but the banana
stalk was spongy and easily removed after the pour.
The night before pouring concrete for the job I slept fitfully,
worrying about all the things that could go wrong. The men had
concrete boxes where they placed the sand, gravel and cement into,
thus guaranteeing a perfect mix. I had read in textbooks how to do
this but had never been that careful in the U.S. The pour went without
a hitch. When it was time for the second pour I was confident.
However, to be sure I reminded our engineer that we must have
electricity for the entire morning for our cement mixer. In the
morning there was a large crew and no electricity. I angrily started
the half hour walk up the hill to chastise the engineer. He tried to
tell me he’d been up early taking care of emergencies with a higher
priority. When we walked back Fikiru had the crew mixing concrete on
the ground as he’d learned to do in the military. When the engineer
finally got the electricity, Fikiru explained the crew was too small
to operate the mixer! I was left having to apologize to the engineer
and for all the work he did! I believe I taught the crew a few things
about building but these Ethiopians taught me a lot more! I thank God
for the great learning opportunity I had while helping the hospital
get the pure water.

A different Christmas: Kendrick Mensink

My time in Gimbie is more than half over. But after a day like today, I believe it's getting better and better. For starters, my boss of sorts, Paul Howe, suggested I start attending staff worship at 8 am. I haven't gone in months. It conflicts with my breakfast. But I agree my example to the Ethiopians I work with needs to be at a decent standard. So I prayed last night for God to wake me up on time, and with energy. Amazingly, prayer answered exactly! I made my own breakfast, instead of waiting for the volunteer dorm's cook, which I also haven't done in months. I even helped feed a doctor from California who is really helping to improve patient care. He gets up early, no surprise. So maybe it isn't all that amazing to wives who do this everyday, but to them I say Read the end of Proverbs. I also did that today, and I say "well done" to all those wives who honor their husbands with behind the scenes labors of love. The day continued with usual requests for money, to which I simultaneously resist and give. I have diarrhea again, so frequent are my trips to the bathroom. But for some reason I'm energized. I get the crew going on a new road project, trying my best to think how to build it best, though I don't actually have to break my back to make it happen. I get a rare opportunity to ride into town on an errand. I use it wisely to pick up Xmas packages at the post, where I run into another friendly hospital employee who helps me like Santa's personal elf. Also I mail off some more postcards to loved ones back home in cold, white winter wonderlands. I'm in my own wonderland, but Xmas this year is so foreign I would miss it if it wasn't for writing dates on cash voucher authorizations each day. I also pick up "muzii" at the market, aka "banana". Our errand is to investigate buying gravel for the hospital's water project. Turns out we'll have to pick it up another day, but that's Africa to me. "TIA", this is africa. It means waiting, it means enjoying relationships, it means unique cultures, and means corruption, it means nothing can be expected. After an excellent shiro and injera lunch, Paul V, a fellow SM doing his best business administration work for the hospital, calls a meeting with the head of maintenance and myself. We discuss how to better prioritize our projects around the hospital, and then we work together to make deadline goals for each project. I communicate clearly through a trusty translator, Mamo, and then we post on paper and whiteboards our deadlines for all passerbys and staff to see. I hope this with make our work faster, more prioritized, organized, and more optimistic. At least that's how I feel today. I little push here and there to use one's brain for oneself can be an infectious and productive idea. If only every African could take a hold of that.

Gimbie: Ben Mora

Living and working at GAH has been an exciting and adventurous experience the last few months. I just finished teaching an Epidemiology and Statistics course to third year nursing students. The students are nervously studying for their final exam tomorrow, which falls on the Monday right after Christmas. As terrible as an exam date immediately after Christmas would be for Americans, in Ethiopia, Christmas isn’t until January 7. So the students don’t mind. It’s been interesting challenging the students with increasingly difficult quizzes to see where their true capabilities lie. I’ve been very impressed and pleased with what they’ve been capable of. The marks have overall been strong on both the tests and assignments. The final assignment was analyzing a research paper, a randomized control trial. They found it very difficult to read but in the end they all got excellent marks. The biggest difficulty is the language barrier. It’s difficult for a lot of the students to follow along during the lessons. I have to pace myself and pronounce words slowly and carefully. But despite difficulties in understanding English, all the students have managed to demonstrate a wonderful understanding of the material. I’ve been very pleased with them. My experiences teaching at the nursing school have been great!