{"id":911,"date":"2013-05-02T17:41:55","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T17:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/?p=911"},"modified":"2013-05-14T14:27:55","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T14:27:55","slug":"divine-appointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/divine-appointment\/","title":{"rendered":"Divine Appointment"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is almost exactly 24-hours later that we meet with the folks from the U.S. Embassy.<\/p>\n

I have been trying to get this appointment for two weeks, and after an incredibly frustrating series of missed phone calls back and forth, have managed to arrange a conversation with two senior USAID staff in Kampala, along with a member of our board, Dr. Ben Khingi, plus Hellen and Calvin.\u00a0 Anthony has been taken away for a funeral way up in Gulu and is not able to make it.<\/p>\n

\"R<\/a>

R to l: Dr Ben. Calvin Echodu and Hellen Grace Akwii from Pilgrim Africa. Dr. Seyoum Dejene and Dr. Kassahun Belay from USAID.<\/p><\/div>\n

The meeting takes place in a lovely restaurant called La Petit Caf\u00e9.\u00a0 I know it should be Le Petit Caf\u00e9, and I\u2019m annoyed every time I have to write it, but that\u2019s really the name.\u00a0 When we\u2019re all gathered, I start to introduce the agenda in the usual strolling Ugandan way.\u00a0 But these guys are thoroughly Americanized and waste no time.\u00a0 They want to know our anti-malaria credentials, and they want to know them now.\u00a0 When Calvin begins to describe the pilot protocol in Katakwi back in 2009, they pepper him and Dr. Ben with technical questions, mainly around the mass distribution of antimalarials, a highly controversial approach.\u00a0 But as we talk, they seem convinced that Pilgrim is a serious player, and they offer a hand in partnership, describing the USAID grant application process and giving us some other very useful information.\u00a0 This is more than I was expecting from an initial meeting, but of course, we are all delighted.\u00a0 When one of them has to leave, we are left with Dr. Kassahun Belay, who offers himself as our major contact with the agency.<\/p>\n

Dr. Belay has just come to this office from Nigeria, where he directed the distribution of 53 million nets.\u00a0 He is a perfect blend of scientist, policy wonk and implementer, and seems to have encountered and addressed in Nigeria every possible thing that could go wrong in a massive intervention such as the one coming up on the 10th<\/sup>.\u00a0 As he talks, I can\u2019t believe I what I am hearing.\u00a0 Yesterday we were handed an impossible job and today God introduces us to the man who can help us get it done.\u00a0 Yes, we have huge work to do, but we have already figured out that one key will be to supplement the Village Health Workers by mobilizing the churches down to the village level.\u00a0 Thanks to cell phones, this can happen faster than you might imagine, and Kassahun thinks it\u2019s a great idea.<\/p>\n

Then, the bombshell.\u00a0 \u201cGod is always ready to do a great thing, and He will do a great thing here.\u00a0 We are just trying to do some little thing for Him.\u201d\u00a0 Can I believe my ears?\u00a0 USAID does not generally speak the language of faith.\u00a0 Is this man a believer?\u00a0 He laughs easily.\u00a0 \u201cI am so glad we have managed to have this meeting,\u201d he says. \u201cI am so sorry we had such a hard time connecting.\u00a0 After your e-mail, I am not sure what happened.\u00a0 I said to my assistant, \u2018I think I have lost my bishop.\u2019\u00a0 But then we found you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m relieved,\u201d I replied.\u00a0 \u201cA lost bishop is a very lonely thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughs again. \u201cYes, I have found my bishop.\u00a0 I am so glad.\u201d<\/p>\n

And suddenly ten days seems like plenty of time.\u00a0 \u00a0And as ready as I am to go home to Pittsburgh, part of me wants to stick around to see what God will do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is almost exactly 24-hours later that we meet with the folks from the U.S. Embassy. I have been trying to get this appointment for two weeks, and after an incredibly frustrating series of missed phone calls back and forth, have managed to arrange a conversation with two senior USAID staff in Kampala, along with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pilgrim-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3rrkF-eH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":947,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions\/947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}