The Right Path

I was blessed to receive an invitation to a dinner that Dr. Chris was attending this past Monday night. He was only in town for one night and had spent the day at a conference held in Washington D.C. The conference is a yearly one for the Conrad Hilton Foundation humanitarian award. Dr. Chris was nominated to receive the award last year. There are only 200 organizations around the world who get nominated for this. The award is a VERY large monetary one. He was told the only weakness in his organization, that needs to be corrected for it to be the recipient of the award, is a better tracking device. They want to know success in numbers. This was really hard for me to understand at first. His remarkable story alone is not enough. Dr. Chris needs help with his stats. If he had better stats he could be receiving certain monetary awards that would be amazing for Faith Alive. I like to write stories. Is there anyone out there who could help Faith Alive with some type of tracking device for their patient success stories?

Where are you Paris Hilton? If she would just visit one time. Don't laugh. It could happen. It might happen. Okay prayer warriors I have a job for you. And to my fellow writers please keep posting. It is a battle in this world. We have so much to do. We are so easily distracted. It is hard to stay on the right path. I have my family responsibilities and so much more. My family has to come first. But if I always put them first it seems there is no time left and I'm actually unemployed right now! God is putting so many opportunities at my feet in this one direction. All I know is that it is Him. I have to keep trying to follow His will for my life.

I have been reading Psalm 25 this week.

O Lord, I give my life to you.

I trust in you, my God!

Do not let me be disgraced,

or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.

No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,

but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

Show me the right path, O Lord;

point out the road for me to follow.

Lead me by your truth and teach me,

for you are the God who saves me.

All day long I put my hope in you.

Remember, O Lord your compassion and unfailing love,

which you have shown from long ages past.

Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.

Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,

for you are merciful, O Lord........

Turn to me and have mercy,

for I am alone and in deep distress.

My problems go from bad to worse.

Oh, save me from them all!

Feel my pain and see my trouble.

Forgive all my sins.

See how many enemies I have

and how viciously they hate me!

Protect me! Rescue my life from them!

Do not let me be disgraced, for in you I take refuge.

May integrity and honesty protect me,

for I put my hope in you.........

This Psalm says it all perfectly. So often scripture has a way of doing this for us. His word is the way (path). It's all about asking for God's help to stay on the right path.

TP

Angels All Around Us

A reflection upon her time at Anawim Home from Becky Zawodny:

What does it mean to be an angel? Maybe that seems like a silly question- we all know what angels are. Angels are God’s messengers. He sends them to protect us, to show us the way. Angels are sent here for us.

There has not been a day so far in my life that I did not believe I had a guardian angel watching over me. On good days and bad, normal days and the days when I feel like I’m lucky to have survived, I have always believed that it wasn’t just me by myself. Some days it comes from my family, other days from friends, sometimes strangers, and often just divine providence, but always from somewhere. This is something I have never doubted. I never doubted it, but I also never looked at it from the other angle.

Then I went to Nigeria. It was Sunday, August 2, our first day there. We had just arrived at the Anawim Home in Gwagwalada. We were tired, it had been quite a while since any of us had showered, and we had no luggage. Things had been a bit of blur so far; getting from the airport back to Anawim, talking to Sister and taking in the scenery, thinking to ourselves, “Wow, this is it. We’re here.”

Our first stop once we arrived at Anawim was a small sitting room at the front of the complex where most of the nuns live. We sat down, and Sister opened our visit with a prayer. I don’t remember the exact words, but she said something along the lines of: “Lord, thank you for sending us these angels.” Angels. She called us angels. I have always believed that there were angels watching over me, but never in my life had it occurred to me that anyone thought of me that way, especially someone I had only just met an hour before. Immediately I asked myself if she had really just said what I thought she said. Angels?

I went on this trip because I believe in justice for all people. I believe that we are all human and deserve to be treated with dignity, and it is through this core belief that I find my faith and my spirituality. I see God when I serve. It’s as simple as that. And, as much as I do go into every project, every mission, with the goal of service in any way possible, I also always go in realizing that those whom I serve are angels in my life. They show me God.

I don’t know if it’s humble or selfish that I never thought of myself that way—sure, there is humility in not thinking highly of yourself, but had I put myself in the shoes of those I was serving, wouldn’t I have realized, or at least wondered, how they thought of me and my role in their lives? I guess it doesn’t totally matter now. What does matter is that now I do know. Now, hopefully, we all realize what we are to these people and what a huge responsibility that is; a responsibility and an honor.

The Nativity : Nigeria mission has grown over the past few years, from a little sprout of an idea, to something that is bigger than any of us. Water. We have set a goal to provide the people of Nigeria with water, the source of life. Does that make us angels? Who knows? I freaked out a little bit when sister first called us that—like I said, it seems like such a huge responsibility. God sends angels to protect. He sends them to save. And someone called us that.

Now that I’ve been back for over a month and have really had time to reflect, though, I have realized that whatever you want to call us, we have had that very same responsibility ever since we took up this mission. Ever since we decided to adopt these people into our lives we have made their welfare of concern to us. Now I guess I just see it more clearly. Now being called an angel isn’t quite so scary.

The people I got to know in Nigeria, both the ones I met there and the ones I came with, are all angels in my life in some way. And when I think about what that means to me, I now cannot help but to become absolutely overwhelmed with joy at the realization that maybe I, too, have affected someone the way so many have affected me. Angels are all around us.

A Grateful Mom

Gin Gin & Team E

Christy, Gin Gin, & Funmi

A reflection on a day at Faith Alive Hospital by Dr. Gin Gin Diokno:

At Faith Alive, they have come up with a very good system in taking care of HIV patients. Once a person is “enrolled,” aside from getting all of the necessary demographic information, hospital record numbers, lab numbers, etc, etc, he or she is assigned to a Team. It consists of a doctor, a nurse and a TSS or treatment support specialist. He then follows up with this team on a regular basis, depending on the severity of his condition. When the staff found out I have a background in pediatrics, they immediately welcomed me to join Team E, the kids’ team, although I found out later that they see adults and out patient cases too to share the load.

There is a stark difference between medical care in Nigeria and underdeveloped countries versus the U.S. Lack of financial resources and technological advances are real challenges they face daily that impact the quality of care they receive. By the same token, this environment demands the health care providers to become even more resourceful and practice “practical medicine”. A lot of unnecessary tests are avoided. I saw somebody with low back pain and another older woman with shoulder pain, both of whom would probably earn prescriptions for Xray and MRI if they were seen in my sports medicine practice. This time, it was back to basics.

Another hurdle is the patients’ awareness of HIV and AIDS. A common theme in the team approach is continuously educating them about these conditions. Telling a 16-yr old new bride how not to contract the virus. Going over medication compliance with a mother who has left it up to an 8-yr old girl to remember taking her 3 anti-retroviral drugs. Explaining to the recently diagnosed mother that her newborn is healthy but was exposed and that you can’t tell for sure if the baby is HIV positive until she’s 18 months old. How they deal with these struggles day in and day out give me pause on how much impact they have in the communities they serve.

I do believe that they even have more lasting impact due to the population they serve - the children - the future and hope of Nigeria. It was an honor to be embraced by this team realizing they know much more about HIV than I would in my lifetime. As much as the staff was very proficient in the English language, most of the patients I encountered weren’t so. After one language-barrier-laden visit, this Mom got up after tying her infant to her back. I thought she said “thank you” but it sounded more than that. She told our nurse that she was very grateful; that even though I did not speak Hausa and she did not speak English, we still understood each other and she thanked us a second time. We exchanged smiles and I gave her two thumbs up; clearly she understood and she gave me a nod of appreciation. That was a rewarding Team E day for me.

All Kinds of Water

When both teams came back last month, there were tons of ideas and things that we decided we wanted to complete in the near future. However, it became apparent that there was one pressing and immediate need. The toilets and some of the plumbing at Anawim Home were direly in need of repair. It had become a sanitation issue and it was clear that action needed to be taken soon. The teams came together and decided that this was something that they wanted to tackle internally. Today, the final details were figured out and the project should begin early next week. It was awesome to see the team come together to fund and complete the preparations for a project that will make an immediate, healthy and significant difference in the lives of those living at Anawim Home. Thanks for all of your support!

The Little Girl in Us

She says she is my friend. She calls me her "sweetie". I can't tell you her name because she asked for her story to be confidential. Dr. Chris said to us, while we were standing with him - "You have a friend in her" - pointing to each of us. Then he told her,"Teresa is a prayer warrior. Tell her your difficulties. She will pray for you and share your story in the U.S. on her church's blog."

She had been trying to find me to talk to me all week. I kept seeing her but I didn't understand. "Teresa! Teresa! You are back! Do you remember me? I have your card that you gave me last summer and I have been looking for you." She is a counselor I met at Faith Alive last summer. We first started talking because she said she was new to Faith Alive. She had just been hired. I told her well, I'm new too! I had never visited Faith Alive before. We hugged when we saw each other this summer and she cane running to see me with the card in her hand. "I'm going to come visit you at counseling" I said. She said "Okay". I said "What time tomorrow?" She said "Okay God's time". This happens a lot there.

One time she was standing outside of social services, actually looking for me, as I was going in. "Teresa, there you are! Where are you going?" I said "I'm going to discipleship class". "Okay, come see me after". "Okay", I said. But this wasn't God's time. Some of my teammates, when they heard me saying 'I have to get with her,' said "Why don't you just make an appointment?" Over there, after a while, you realize this is very "American thinking". Of course, there are actual times set for certain meetings. But mostly, they are for patient/staff devotional meetings. Pastor Ben let everyone know one afternoon at the daily (3:45) patient/staff prayer meeting what he thought about staff who were missing - let's just say it better be an emergency. So much of FA daily activities has to do with kind of being ready for what might be around the corner. If you have too much planned you will miss out on a lot. That doesn't mean they don't work hard. They DO. It means that the personal relationship part (and I mean in person) of their day is always very present and important. Therefore, no cell phones are allowed to interrupt. However, if someone knocks at an office door, it is answered. Even if that staff person is talking in person with someone else at that time. I know this because it happened to me many times. It can seem annoying! The door kept being knocked on and the staff person would just say "yes, come in". When the person would enter and make a request or statement, the staff person would answer "Yes, of course, in just a minute". But it would not happen. And then another interruption - another "Yes, come in" - another request - another "Of course" . I can just hear all of you protesting as you read this about how disorganized this seems. I'm not saying we should adopt this entirely! But FA has taught me a lot about personal relationships. Anybody at anytime can come around the corner and a whole conversation can start that is really incredible! They want to tell you their life stories and how important Jesus Christ is in their life. They are practically giving testimony constantly. Only to them, it is not really giving testimony but its just how they live their life. They just don't talk about it either - they live it. Every day is about people - welcoming, befriending, kindness, helping and of course healing. At one of the special prayer meetings for patients and staff (called Support Group) which are held on Sunday afternoon, Pastor Esther told a new patient something great. The new patient had stood to tell everybody she had just been diagnosed as having HIV and how much FA had helped her. She said it was hard to tell people she was HIV +. That was when Pastor Esther said "Don't worry, we are all positive (+) here". "Everyone is positive." This drew applause.

So my friend who calls me "sweetie", I am praying for you. May you overcome your current hardship of illness as you are trying to be a faithful worker, a good wife and a great mom to 5 children. Please, all who read this, pray for my friend. She does so much for others. Her troubles have to do with the enormous poverty she and her family live in daily. She lives in a compound with four other families that share one bathroom facility, no refrigerator and little food and water. I will not forget how you finally ran to the FA guesthouse in the rain to finally talk to me. God's time had come. I still see you perfectly in your beautiful purple dress. You had your hair done that day by the social services salon and you were proudly wearing the bracelet I made for you. The first time I had met you, I was so touched by your soft ways. We recognized something in each other right away. Somehow we knew about our similar childhoods. The afraid little girl in us peeked out at each other from behind the curtain. We do not have to be born in the same country, or what even seems like the same world, to share the similar story of feeling like we don't belong. I never forgot you after the first trip and I will never forget you. It was so hard to answer your question "Will you come again next summer?" I don't know whether I will ever see you again. But I know it is true what Dr. Chris said to us "You have a friend in her".

Teresa Pompa

Little Ways

Here we go into the fall season. I love every season - except winter here is a little too long. All this rain reminds me of Jos, Nigeria. August is part of their rainy season.

OK, fall or school starting, it all begins - parent/teacher nights, beginning of year parent class parties, start of fall rec leagues and all that good stuff. Of course a new church series and tent weekend. Is it really mid-September already? It's a rainy Friday night and I'm just happy to be home with my family. Today, my son had his picture day at school. First dress day for a coat and tie - the whole works. He is a 6th grader now. And at his school - an all boys private school - this is a big deal -new rules, new building. Big guy stuff. The other night he was so upset because he had his hair "cut" for the picture and plus it was pretty close to the "not below the collar of your shirt" rule. Big upset until all his classmates assured him his hair was still "cool". My daughter started 6th grade too (they are only 10 mos. apart). Who is my daughter? Long legs and long blonde hair flying by me. Where has the time gone? All I can think about lately is children and trying so hard not to miss my kids' moments.

I pray every day for my children as I'm sure every parent reading this does. What I pray for them is to know God loves them and for them to know that Jesus Christ is their Savior. If I know they kind of know this, I will be able to feel I have done my job as a parent. Because, if they know that, then they will be able to face their problems easier and to know that He is always there for them.

What I learned in Nigeria at Faith Alive this summer is that they want this for their children. For most of the two and half weeks there this summer, the focus was mainly about children. They have started a new discipleship program for children. They have had one for young adults, but they hadn't done one for children yet. They want their children to "get it" as soon as possible. If they can save their children - for them to know what is possible for them instead of a life of knowing what they don't have and a life of only desperation, then they think maybe that will save their country too.

Leaders there walk around saying "Be confident in Jesus Christ. Do you know your name?Do you know the name God gives you?" There is no talk of self esteem or self confidence. It is - do you believe what He said? It's all about Him.

This so hit home for me in a personal way. I've had a problem in this area all of my life. I never had even thought about life as they talk about it, until I started coming to the Church of the Nativity about four years ago. All of my life I kind of let a lot of people reflect their negative view of me and what unfortunately became a negative view of myself a lot of time - not all the time. But I know I'm starting down that road again - the wrong road when the voice is saying "you can't do that, you are not smart enough or basically not enough. Or, one person can't make a difference or that feeling that your life is set somehow. Take the easier road. Take the easier road? There is no easier road. As they say at Faith Alive - without Jesus Christ you are in crisis. You are just going the wrong way. I've spent much of my life going the wrong way. And so one thing about age is it can allow wisdom. Doesn't have to, but it can lead to some wisdom ! :-) Patterns aren't patterns until there is a pattern! We all have a story. Until we know our past and where we've been, I don't think we can know where we're going or supposed to be going.

I'm feeling happy, content and safe at home with my family. I had a great morning with great friends who encourage me and show me God's love. I'm thinking I kind of know my name. As I told the Faith Alive staff ( I had to stand in front of them and lead a prayer devotion meeting) - this would have been an absolute terror for me in the past. There was a room full of people, paying full attention, waiting to hear what I - the returning American lady - had to say. And now, in front of these loving people I wasn't afraid. I told them I don't know what my given name actually means, but my mom prayed to St.Therese for intercession when she was pregnant. She decided to "order me". She prayed - "may she have blonde hair and green eyes like her father - but most of all may she be kind". She named after St. Therese as she is the saint of "little ways" She is called the "little flower". I've decided it's kind of a good name. I'd like to live up to the kind "little ways" part. "Little Flower" give me your childlike faith to see the face of God in the people and experiences of my life and to love God with full confidence. My mom honored me with this name and her prayer. I didn't like it growing up - too Catholic school girl proper. And yes, my mom chose the "other" spelling of the name. I still get "is that with an h or without?". And she would not allow for Teri. I know this is not really about our literal names. Do you know your name? My mom has been telling me this St. Therese story all my life. It just didn't click until recently. Nice mom story. But then this church - then Nigeria and then today there it was on my friend's kitchen table - the St. Therese prayer card. So anyway, here's the novena prayer. I would like to offer it tonight to all our children here, at Anawim Home and at Faith Alive.

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands.............

St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did, in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way" each day.

Amen

Teresa Pompa

God Knows Our Name

I can still clearly hear Dr. Chris' voice when he was speaking at the Faith Alive Community School site - "Church of the Nativity", it would be wonderful if you can partner with us on this". Partner - an interesting new term - they certainly don't want pity or even donations just thrown at them. No they want a partnership. A different idea - can we share a vision, care about the people and educate ourselves about their lives - help them in many ways, but in ways that helps to sustain their vision and values. The Faith Alive Hospital, which also includes social services, and now is branching out to even more services, calls itself the Faith Alive Family. They believe in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They do not in any way refuse to serve people with other beliefs. But they say who they are and share their faith. They let us know that they believe God knows their name.

The song our team shared with the children was "I Am Not Forgotten", one that fellow team member, Marina Lynch and I learned from the Time Travelers Children Ministry at Nativity. "I am not forgotten...I am not forgotten...I am not forgotten...God knows my name", was sung by our whole team and Dr.Chris and the teachers sang along and danced with us. It was a joyful moment even though we were in such a "poor place" and saw how much they needed. Their hope and faith that God will help them was so inspiring.

I have been thinking of the Faith Alive team and have been a little bit emotional about all that we experienced together. I am still trying to get over my bronchitis - so maybe it is a little too much cough syrup! The return home is great but so much is going on with school start up and end of summer events. Labor day weekend for us is so busy. But it is a blessing to have "so much" - people who want to see us and celebrate with us.. I wanted to take a moment to just let all of the emotions come together and share with you.

I was very excited to read the blog posting stating it looks like an OK for the water and school projects in both communities for Advent. Wow! I didn't think Faith Alive was going to be a part of the Advent program. None of us knew what was going to happen. But God heard a prayer and I believed He showed us His will. This is not an easy thing to discern. I am not an expert - but it is what I and our team believe. He always has a bigger and better plan than we do. But we have to be open and searching. And that is exactly what happened. Our church was open and had a vision of helping a community with maybe one well for clean water and God showed us two communities, which not only need clean water, but the wells would be attached to schools. I feel the match of the Faith Alive Community School and the Church of the Nativity is a "match made in heaven". Wonderful things are going to happen out of this partnership for both of our communities. I really feel, as our whole team does, that this is the real reason we all went to Nigeria this summer. It wasn't easy for any of us. But somehow we were put together and we all felt moved to go on this trip. We went through hardships (lost luggage, very high humidity, lots of sweating, no running water, a broken generator for four days, stomach aches, headaches) that weren't really hard because we laughed a lot. We needed to learn how to communicate as a group so we could get anything done together. Thus the "talking stick" was invented. It was actually a glow stick (there was a lot of darkness) that had to be handed to you before you could speak at our meetings. Because of everyone's enthusiasm, we all talked at the same time, until we used this process. This is a team in which we all have different gifts and we had to learn to work together. A special thanks to Ed, because you were our leader - you put up with us when we weren't at our best and we felt discouraged. Yes - this happens. I'm letting everyone reading this blog know we are not saints! ED, you are a good man and I hope we will be lifelong friends.

The leaders of these two communities know God knows their names and they were actually teaching on this while we were at Faith Alive It reminded me of how our church discussed this during our series on Foundations last January - to know our identity in Jesus Christ. These leaders help to educate their communities but they also have much in common with what we're being taught at our church. We can help each other learn. They want us to share our stories with them and to hear about us and our faith's journey. Much of our time there was set aside to meet their requests for praying and sharing our faith with them. I believe there can be a relationship formed between our church and these two communities that will not only change their lives, but our lives as well.

This all got started three summers ago, a story was brought to our church, our pastor made a commitment to seek and send four courageous young people to Nigeria and the story goes on. Now we are being asked by our church to do more in a certain direction. I think we're all going to look back and see this coming Advent as special. We are going to learn things as a community that we can't even possibly know yet. But I know this - this team is not at an end of a trip, but a beginning of a journey. Thank you so much to the Home Team for your support and all the parishioners who have supported and prayed for us. And thank you to our pastor for the wonderful opportunity to be just a part of this story, for your faith in this ministry and your devotion to the divine mission of our church.

Go Team & God Bless Our Church!

Teresa Pompa

Love & Water

This video about water was made from the footage shot by both teams this year in Abuja & Jos, Nigeria. In it, you will see many of the men, women, and children we worked with during our time there. You will see the places in which they live, work, and play. Also, you are able to see the water in the stream where the people of the village near Hwol Yarje school drink and bathe.

Love Story

Gin Gin barely towering over the children at Hwol Yarje School.

Artwork at Hwol Yarje School outside Jos.

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."

Newly built Faith Alive Community School at Hwol Yarje.

A reflection from Gin GIn Diokno of the Faith Alive Team:

They say when you fall in love, you think about that person day in and day out. You can’t wait to see him again. You only want to do things to make him happy. If that’s the case, then I have fallen in love.

I’ve fallen in love with a special place called Jos and a farm called Hwol Yarje. This is our story.

People in this farming community do not have access to clean potable water. Yes, that is still the grim reality even in the outskirts of the city of Jos. Children did not have access to school. Dr. Chris and Naomi, later joined by Amos, the architect, told us about the history of how the temporary school structure came about. We entered the three classrooms adorned with simple posters of alphabets, letters, and drawings hanging on the aluminum walls. We walked a few paces further, and there it was: an empty lot full of promises.

In front of us was a football field of grassy untended land, surrounded by a low hollow brick fence, waiting to be dug and built upon. This is where 200 plus kids can comfortably sit on their desks learning not just about Science, Math, Reading, Social Studies, English but also their Christian Faith. This is where girls and boys will gather to sing to their visitors at the top of their lungs in unison:

You are welcome to Faith Alive Community School

You are welcome to Faith Alive Community School

You are welcome to Faith Alive Community School

You are welcome….

This is a place where they can play in the courtyard during their recess breaks. This is where they can have a library and read to their hearts’ content. This is where young girls like Blessing can pursue her dream of becoming a nurse someday, and her classmates can dream of becoming a judge, or a doctor or a pastor. They will learn that with the efforts of their community hand in hand with Faith Alive partners and their hard work studying their lessons, nothing is impossible. This is where children will dream big and pay it forward.

This opportunity fell on the Faith Alive Team’s lap and everybody embraced it. I felt this was our higher purpose. No commitments were made except the ones we made to ourselves that we will make it known that this is a special place. We can make a big difference in this community, in the lives of these children and their future. We saw hope in those children’s eyes. A clean well will meet a basic human need for these people. A school will further feed their minds and their souls.

I joined this trip with an open mind and an open heart. I guess you find love when you least expect it. God works in wondrous ways.

Bringing Everyone Back Together

Last night, we got all three of the teams together for the first time since they have returned from Nigeria. It was awesome to get everyone back in the same room and the reminiscing started almost instantly. Charles even brought his kids. Pictures were passed around and everybody had some awesome stories. We also started to delve into the projects we will be working on in the future. It looks like we will be focusing on some water and possibly school projects at both Faith Alive Hospital and Anawim Home. This ties into the larger Church vision and the relationships which we have continued to build with both organizations and communities.

Also, this weekend at Church of the Nativity, there will be a short video during all Masses compiled from footage shot this year in both locations. Also, we are hoping to post it on the blog as well after this weekend. Team members will be out and about at Nativity this weekend and are more than happy to chat about their experiences. Thanks for all of your support.