Speaking at Faith

Leah and I will speak about the trip this weekend at Faith Lutheran. The church is located at 127 2nd Ave. E in West Fargo, and worship is at 5:30 on Saturday or 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday morning. The church will also take a special offering next weekend (May 3 and 4) to help in our fundraising . Yippee!!!

BIG news!

I got a great birthday present today. Thanks to the help of Vicki Schmidt, our trip to Africa will receive financial support from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Because of Vicki, Thrivent will support us with matching funds for all of our fundraising efforts. Generously, Thrivent will match 20% of everything raised up to a sum of $2,500. For example, if you donate $100, Thrivent will donate $20 on top of that. If we raise $10,000 total, Thrivent will match that with $2,000. WOW! Thank you so much Thrivent and Vicki Schmidt. This is incredible!

Zac

Thank you and other thoughts

Thank you
Lately I find myself watching the clock inch towards 1:00 p.m. No, I'm not taking a time-sensitive prescription medication or on a crazy diet; I certainly haven't developed a love for daytime drama. One o'clock, rather, is the time the mail typically arrives at my home. For me, this afternoon hour is marked with excitement and humility.

As you know, I'm fully in the midst of my fundraising efforts to head to Africa on a volunteer trip this summer. When I wander towards the mailbox at the end of my street in the early afternoon, I am anxiously awaiting more results from my fundraising letters sent out over a week ago now. Swinging open the metal door of the mailbox, I sift through the water bill, piles of useless coupons, Time magazine, and yet another special offer for an American Express card until I find the small white envelope addressed to "African Impact '08".

After making the short walk back home, I clumsily rip into the envelope always thinking one of these days I need to invest in a letter open. Upon reviewing the generous gift inside, I'm struck with the dual emotions of excitement and humility. The first emotion, I suppose, it not hard to understand. To use an April-appropriate comparison, it's like getting an IRS refund check every day of the week! Humility, though, is an equally strong response to the donations I've received. Asking for money from friends and family is a difficult task for most, and I'm no exception. Sorting through the checks, I'm taken aback as I see $50, $100, $200, even $300 being given to me to use for my trip to Africa. One cannot help but reflect on his blessings in an instance like this. How lucky I am to have people in my life who support me this way! Nonetheless, it remains an unenviable task to ask for and later receive financial gifts like this. I wish I could cut a check to the volunteer agency in Africa, punch in my credit card number on the airline's website, and withdraw some cash from the ATM and be done with it all. That, however, is not my reality. So, I am struck with a great sense of humility as checks keep coming in the mail and words of encouragement keep coming my way. Perhaps it's the proud prairie culture I've grown up in that guides my response in this matter, but whatever has shaped this part of my personality, I'm truly humbled by all of your support.

For now, I'll end this thought with a simple thank you for everything.

Other thoughts
*You've heard by now the news out of Zimbabwe regarding its recent national elections. It appears that after decades of dictatorial rule by Robert Mugabe, an opposition party has emerged victorious in both parliamentary and presidential elections. As any good dictator would do, though, Mugabe continues to impose his atrocious rule on Zimbabwe as his ruling party has been instrumental in delaying the release of official voting numbers throughout the country. Under any reasonable measure, Mugabe has destroyed his nation and its people since rising to power decades ago. As the United States fears possible recession, we ought to realize that Mugabe has presided over 100,000% inflation (that's not a typing error) in Zimbabwe. While I know virtually nothing about the opposition party in Zimbabwe, it appears the country has reached the "anybody but Mugabe" stage in its political evolution. It appears official results might be coming this week, so stay tuned. If you want to follow this story, I've found the BBC has the best continuing coverage. Let's hope and pray that Zimbabwe resolves this election dispute without the terrible violence seen in Kenya.

*This time last year, I would have only paid slight attention to an election in Zimbabwe. Now, however, I'm following it with almost as much zeal as I do Barack vs. Hillary vs. McCain. It's an understatement to say I have a personal interest now. Let me provide a quick geographic comparison regarding my travels this summer: Livingstone, the town I'll be staying in during my volunteer stay, is in extreme southern Zambia. Zambia is bordered on the south by Zimbabwe. If Livingstone where Fargo, then Zimbabwe would be Moorhead. I'm literally that close to this international story.

*To make matters worse, it looks like Mugabe's party might delay a possible run-off election for three months. Hmm....April to May (1), May to June (2), June to July (3). Here I thought I'd be missing out on politics while in Africa. It just turns out I'll be dealing with a whole other set of candidates where the stakes appear to be much, much higher.

*I've been trying to network with others involved with African Impact via facebook and other online resources. I stumbled across a couple of young women who travelled to Zambia last summer and came home to the UK not wanting to simply leave Africa behind. Instead, the women are organizing fundraisers to continue the work they started in Zambia. Check out their efforts here. You might want to view some of their videos to get a better idea of what I'll be doing in Livingstone myself. I couldn't help but chuckle (more in the ironic sense than joyful laughter) at their assessment of healthcare in Zambia: After witnessing long lines of folks being turned away in rural clinics outside Livingstone, the girls asked why this was happening. The clinic staff explained to them that these patients did not have the money to afford a doctor's visit that day. The girls were outraged. They commented that in the UK, they take for granted the ability to seek medical care regardless of one's ability to pay. How could anyone ever be turned away because they lacked money? It struck me that, at least in this one sense, the health care system in the United States is closer to that in Zambia than in England. Perhaps it's time we address this problem...

Until next time,

Zac