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My training at SIFAT
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8-5-02
I arrived at SIFAT. The land is beautiful, and the place is wonderful.
There is a swinging bridge between the lodge and the main complex.
The main complex has an administrative building, several sheds and work areas, a class
building, and a dining hall.
Growing here are sorghum, corn, watermelon, squash (both green and yellow), llamas, and four
pigs (two of which are named Ham and Eggs), among other things.
Dividing the property into several sections is Mad Indian Creek, a stream which is at most a foot
deep, except at the swimming hole.
SIFAT stands for Servants in Faith and
Technology, and they teach missionaries from the USA and citizens from
other countries what are called appropriate technologies, which they can
then use when, respectively, they go on their missions or return to
their home countries. SIFAT also offers short-term courses for small
groups, and teaches these groups some lessons much-needed in this
nation. I think my church should send some teams to SIFAT.
Applied technology means using materials readily available in an
unindustrialized country to make needed things, rather than trying to ship expensive and
nearly-impossible-to-repair gadgets and widgets from the USA. A well for pumping water can be
made with PVC pipe, some stiff wire, and a little bit of rubber, or even PVC pipe, a rope, and
the sidewall of a flat tire. Many useful things we take for granted can be improvised using
trash already in a particular country. SIFAT offers a ten-week course in applied technologies.
After a meal at SIFAT, leftover food is not discarded. It is fed
to the pigs. This makes the trash output lower, wastes less food, and improves the efficiency
of the whole operation.
The view from the lodge house near the swinging footbridge is
very nice, with a grassy slope and a few trees, the brick path, and the wide stream laid out
before.
It is a romantic and peaceful place.
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8-6-02
Today, we were left, in groups of three,
to our own devices in a foreign culture: Birmingham. You may laugh,
but this truly is not the same culture as my home. Each place has its own peculiarities.
We had a set of objectives, but no map (except in emergency; our
observer had a map). We had $13 each for expenses, and (after a prayer),
we headed into our journey. Our first task was to look at our
surroundings and think about what they tell us about the culture.
My group walked almost everywhere, because we decided each time, except
the first, that we would reach the place we were going at that instant
faster if we didn't wait for the next bus.
Our tasks included: Catching a bus into the city center.
Locating a significant landmark, the 16th Street Baptist Church, and learning why it is significant.
Locating a statue of an important figure, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Learning the cost of a train ticket to Atlanta, and then a bus ticket.
And locating a post office.
It was a fun and insightful day. We
learned much about being in a foreign culture, and we learned about
communicating with people of other cultures.
I saw Christ today in the helpfulness of
every person we met and in their willingness to tolerate a group of
ignorant foreigners. I would say that the city is a credit to the
character of our nation.
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8-7-02
Today was an interesting day.
We spent most of the day in discussion sessions, and we learned many
interesting things, but in the afternoon, we did something you may find hard to believe.
We watched Star Trek: The Next Generation(tm).
Well, we didn't just turn on the television and tune in. We watched
a specific episode. "Darmak".
The episode involved a meeting between the federation and another
culture. The other culture, though they used words found in English, communicated in an entirely
different manner. This taught us, in a very unique and profound way, about communicating with
other cultures. I found this very enjoyable, though I do not consider
myself in any sense deeper than mildly and shallowly, a fan of
ST:TNG(tm). This, though, should remind us all that God can use the most
unlikely things to teach us His truths.
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8-10-02
The rest of the week, we learned many of
the nuts & bolts information we would need on our missions. I will
post a needs list later. We watched The Mission, we toured SIFAT,
and we reflected on our faith journeys.
I am posting mine here.
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8-10-02
I am whom I am today because of whom
Christ is every day. I am nothing particularly wonderful, of my own
worth. Throughout my life, I have been a selfish person.
I grew up learning to acquire my own
desires, looking out for myself before others, and most often just
seeing my own needs while ignoring the needs of others. So, you can see
that I was not a good man. I was not someone who would give of myself
for the needs of others. I was not chosen because of my worth.
I might tell you my story in a few short sentences.
I might say: One day, God looked out over
the world and said, I think I will make something worthless beautiful,
today. And God put His hand down into the slimy part of humanity,
brought me up, and cleaned me and made me useful and beautiful.
God chose me because I needed Him, not
because He needed me. God could have left me in the condition I was and
still accomplished His purpose. God chose me to be one of His children
because God loves all people.
There is power in prayer. I did not know,
but my mother prayed for me every night. Prayer works. I am here because
my mother, showing God's love, prayed for me.
I was going through a rough time. My
girlfriend had dumped me, I had no job, and my life had no purpose. I
was living a sad existence devoted to trying to please myself. And do
you know? I wasn't happy. I didn't know, but I needed God. I did not
find God at a church service. I wasn't going to church. I didn't meet
God in a brush with death. The only danger I faced was Hell.
God meets us where we are. Over a period
of months, God showed me that I was not sufficient to meet my own needs.
I needed God. He met me where I was. And one night, I accepted His gift:
for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God so loved me, unworthy as I was, that He gave His only begotten Son,
and I believe in Him, and I shall not perish, but shall have everlasting
life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
I am a new creation. No more do I ignore
the needs of others. Now, I help where I can. No more do I push others
aside to gain my own pleasures. Now, I let others go, and I wait my
turn. No more do I seek self-serving ends. Now, I seek to serve God.
I am not what I am today because I was
good. I am what I am today because, even though I do not deserve it, God
has extended His grace and love to all the world, even to one such as I.
Because of God's love, my life has a purpose. God is loving and just and
holy.
I am whom I am today because of whom God is every day.
—Lincoln Sayger
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