Hello, all. I'm afraid that I've been quite remiss in writing as I should. Now I'm past the half-way point of my six-month deployment and I find I've only written a very few Tales from the Sandbox issues.
The truth is that I arrived here with a greatly mistaken impression of what my job would be like. My predecessor advised me honestly about the amount of work he had while he was hear and the amount of free time he had, and I thought I'd have a pretty reasonable amount of free time. Instead, I arrived here and was presented with a new job description that's different from the one my supervisors applied to the chaplain I replaced. I've been VERY busy. Most weeks I've worked six days a week and a few hours in the office on Sunday afternoons as well.
I'm not complaining. The work is not a waste of time - or not much of it. There's always a LITTLE bit of that in any military assignment. I'm making important contributions and my supervisors here and in Atlanta tell me they're very happy with my work. But it is definitely rather more strenuous than I was expecting.
And on top of that, I've taken on a mission project that I feel is very important and it takes quite a bit of time and energy - both emotional and mental energy - invested in developing a fund to provide scholarships for young men and women in Africa who might never have much hope of attending college without help from outside their communities. I am a firm believer that education is second only to knowledge of Jesus Christ in improving the lives of individuals, families and communities. In addition to coordination and fundraising, I spend a LOT of time providing long-distance pastoral counsel.
For now it appears we lack only a one thousand dollar lump sum to meet the initial tuition, books and start-up supplies, in order to be able to launch the student career of our first beneficiary with a full-ride scholarship. Please check out the article, "New IDA Mission Project". If the link doesn't work for you, the URL is http://www.cechome.com/?p=1225.
Well, enough for now. Probably part of the reason I blog so infrequently is that I have SO much to say, I don't think I can write it all so I don't even start. A perfect example of self-fulfilling prophesy. I need to get my laundry from the dryer and go to bed. I'll try to write more and less - more often and less in length.
God's grace and love be with each of you.
Jonathan +
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