Weird things happen to you when you live in Africa. It is simply a fact. If you come visit, weird things may happen to you too! No one is safe :) The last couple of weeks paranoia spread throughout the camp. 25 Sports Friends Field Leaders gathered at Camp Langano for training - about half of the attendees were originally from the US, but all have been living abroad. About halfway through the training, the baby (Levi) on the compound got a case of mango worms. Now this was the second confirmed case this summer. The worms (yes multiple) were discovered during dinner one evening. Someone noticed a curdled rice looking lump on Levi's back, his dad was tasked with investigating the strange growth. Rice for dinner anyone?!?! :P  After some poking, prodding  and squeezing, a little white worm popped out from under his skin. Over the next 36 hours, 9 worms were removed from Levi's back, arms, and head. In addition 2 other individuals, who live on the compound, became victims to mango worms. You should have seen the panic in the eyes of all of the Americans. Reports of people being 'uncontrollably itchy' and random 'worm checks' being were conducted. :)  The theory is that these mango flies lay eggs in damp clothes or linens hanging out to dry. Apparently a good way to get rid of the fly larvae is to iron your clothes - hahaha! Not a chance, you will catch me ironing all of our clothes - life is too short! So far Bryan and I have been worm free :) But I'm sure our time is coming!

Recently we started construction on a new housing duplex for the clinic staff. We hired an additional foreman to be in charge of the project in an attempt to expedite the construction process.  Despite our best efforts, the project got off to a rough start due to poor communication and big misunderstandings. You see, things are done slightly differently here, so I (Bryan) did not have all of the supplies ready when all of the workers arrived. Furthermore, our remote location makes it very difficult to get supplies delivered and our little Toyota Tacoma can only carry so much rock, cement and block. So about 2 weeks ago I went out in search of a dump truck to come and carry a few loads for us. Since it seemed like a daunting task, I brought along our camp manager to translate for me. Fortunately we found a truck rather quickly and agreed on a reasonable price per load. The truck followed me as I drove back down the road to pick up the rock. At one point there were a few donkeys scattered across the road that I had to avoid (very, very common on Ethiopian roads). I went to the right and the dump truck following me went to the left of the donkeys. That’s when I saw him, a boy riding a bicycle down the hill on the road. I watched my review mirror in horror as the boy’s attempt to get out of the way failed. He fell off of his bike and dump truck bumper hit the boy’s head. Before I had time to think, my truck was turned around and headed to the nearest “hospital” about 30 miles away with the boy and 5 others in the back.

I drove as fast as possible down the bumpy dirt road, then down the paved highway, trying to focus on the road and prayer, not the moans and blood behind me. It seemed to take forever, but we finally arrived at the hospital. The boy was carried into the “ER” and placed on a bed. We waited for an hour to see if there was any news. The hardest part was seeing him in so much pain, receiving little attention from the staff and nothing that I could physically do to help. I can’t really put into words the pain I felt for the boy as I prayed for God to find a way to use this horrible accident for his glory and honor. My heart was broken and getting ripped out.

After getting contact info from some of the men who came with the boy to the hospital, we left. Later we found out that, by God’s grace, the boy did not have any fractures or broken bones. A few days after that, we found out that the boy is the son of a guard on our compound who does not believe in Christ. We also found out that another boy was also on the bicycle the day of the accident, but he had just gotten off at the top of the hill. That boy saw the entire accident and died the next day from some form of heart problem or attack.

Things like this don’t make sense to me. Yes we live in a fallen, sinful world. Yes we all deserve to die for our sin. No, children are not innocent, but my earthly heart says that things like this should not happen. Yet, Christ allowed Lazarus, a dear friend, to die, just to show his power, glory, and love. In the end, this just reinforces the need to share the Gospel with everyone around you. Without Christ, there is no hope in death; only an eternity of punishment in Hell. Will you share Christ with someone today?

Please pray for the families of both boys in this difficult time. Pray that God’s love, grace and sovereignty would be obvious and praiseworthy to them.

“But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!”

UPDATE: The boy that was hit by the truck came to our clinic today for a check up. A cut on his leg is infected, but the wounds on his face are all healed. It looks like he has a bad concussion, but the nurses here expect him to make a full recovery. Praise be to God!

Every morning good ol’ Shaun T’s voice shouting, “ARE YOU READY?!?!” echoes through the meeting hall at camp. My groggy, exhausted response is almost always undistinguishable. For the last 4 weeks, the ladies of Langano & Brian Hall (my boss) have been going through the Insanity workout program. I’ll be honest; I’m tired and sore! And the workouts STILL kick my butt. If you are unfamiliar with the program, Insanity is an intense cardio circuit-training program. The workouts consist of a series of cardio exercises designed to target and strengthen your entire body. Currently I have a love/hate relationship with Insanity. I love getting my heart pumping and the endorphins flowing, but the workouts start SOOO early in the morning. The exercises make me feel so un-athletic and out of shape, but it is fun to workout hard again. This week is ‘recovery week’ and I’m not exactly sure what it will entail but I’m hoping it will not include any type of squat because I don’t think my legs can handle anymore! 

Praise be to the Lord!!! What a joy it is to gather with people from
all over the world to encourage, worship along side, strategize, and
plan church-centered sports ministry across the globe. This week we
are blessed to have Sports Friends’ leadership, both US missionaries &
local leaders, serving in Malawi, Zambia, jndja, Senegal, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Peru, Ghana, and Nigeria here at Camp Langano for leadership
training.  The amount of Biblical knowledge and spiritual wisdom
permeates the meeting room is amazing. A passion to see the church
bring the Gospel to unsaved youth through sport seems to ooze out of
everyone’s pores. It has been such a joy to hear how the Lord is
working in the lives of coaches and youth in other countries. The
testimony of faithful believers as they labor for the sake of the
Gospel has been blowing my mind this whole week. At first many church
leaders scoffed at the idea of the local church using sports as an
outreach tool. Now, 10 years later, Sports Friends (SF) Ethiopia has
over 62,000 youth actively participating in sport teams that are
coached by members of local churches. Men and women of all different
tribes, speaking different languages, all across the world are now
using sport to build relationships for the purpose of sharing the good
news of the Gospel with their community. I can’t help but smile at the
fact that God chooses to use sport coaches as a means of grace to tell
others about himself. It is so stinking cool!!! To God be the glory!