Friday we were graced with a visit from our country director and regional directors. They arrived around 1:30 pm on Friday and left around 10 am Saturday. It was a quick visit, but we tried to schedule as much as we could into their time here. We had a few meetings with partners as well as some cultural activities and it seemed to go well.
The region reps are new to the position and used the trip as an opportunity to meet some of the partners and hear their stories. I went along to two of these meetings, as one was with the rector here at DCU and the other with the leaders at Good Shepherd Charitable Fund (orphanage and children's shelter); the two places that my work takes me.
Being here is sometimes very difficult and draining for me. It sometimes feels like I am not doing much and little is happening, and these are some of my most-hated feelings. Then I get the opportunity to listen to some partners talk about their vision. I hear the rector talk about the difficulties of operating a Western-style Christian university in a system unaccustomed to (and maybe even biased against) such universities. I hear the director of the orphanage talk about dealing with 30+ children, 24 hours a day for up to 17 years. Both organizations talk about how funds always seem to be severely lacking. But they don't dwell on these things; they can clearly see God at work. And it serves as an example for me to keep plugging away and have faith that, in the end, I used my time to the best of my ability.
Dave
