School in Liberia is out for the summer, so Sonny and I have come home to spend time with our boys, our family, and friends. It is wonderful to be home for a long visit! I have not had too much culture shock since being home, but I have also avoided Walmart, Costco, fine dining (one meal in this town costs as much as one month’s salary in Liberia), among other things. Today, I went to the dentist, and the extreme differences in my 2 worlds hit me smack in the face. I needed a filling, so I drove to the dentist office, waited less than 5 minutes in an air-conditioned lobby with a TV, then was escorted to a private room. The reclining chair in the room massaged my back while the dentist worked on my tooth with the latest, most advanced equipment. I felt no pain, and was done in 30 minutes. When I got to my car, I couldn’t help but cry. You see, I have served at several dental clinics in Africa. Some people have to wait years for a dentist to come even close to their village. I have seen people who have walked for 2 days just for a chance to have their tooth fixed (which usually consists of pulling it). They will wait in line for hours, and sometimes even through the following day. If they get through the doors of the clinic before it leaves town, they are seated in a wooden chair in a crowded room. The dentist will work on their teeth usually with no numbing beforehand, and 9.9 out of 10 times the tooth/teeth get pulled. If available, they may get an aspirin for the pain afterwards and then walk home. I write this without judgement. I write this merely as an eye witness. A witness to these extremes on each end of the spectrum. And these experiences raises so many questions. Questions that I have no answers for. Questions like, “How can this be?” and “How can this change?”. Also, “Am I part of the problem, or part of the solution, or a bit of both?”. Like I said, I have no answers. Only hope.

Romans 15:13.

Blessings,
Shawn