{"id":2275,"date":"2013-12-12T08:25:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T13:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/?p=2275"},"modified":"2013-12-12T08:25:32","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T13:25:32","slug":"the-importance-of-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2013\/12\/the-importance-of-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe are so grateful you came to see us<\/i> again.” said Tebisa, a woman in Fangak.\u00a0 “I remember your first visit when you stayed with the commissioner [in 2009].\u00a0 Only James [Tang] has come back before, but now you have returned.\u00a0 I am very encouraged<\/i>.\u00a0 May your stay be filled with peace.\u00a0 May the dust on your feet be peace for us.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Visit<\/a>

Visit to grieving family in Pagak<\/p><\/div>\n

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How important is our presence? \u00a0I think that in our US culture we commonly underestimate the importance of presence. \u00a0Yes, we visit people in times of crisis, of sadness, but largely we live our own separate lives. \u00a0Presence, however, is very significant in the African culture.\u00a0 To visit someone in their village or their home says that you remembered them, you truly cared. \u00a0When someone comes from far, far away, from a different culture and climate I have heard villages say things like, “your willingness to come, your willingness to accept the climate and living conditions we have here, speak loudly of your love for us.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Another testimony from our recent trip. \u00a0On a trip to visit several churches in far western Ethiopia we included a to the village of Pagak which was back into South Sudan, just across the border. \u00a0Their 73 year old pastor had passed away in September. \u00a0One of the woman there said to us, \u201cThank you for the visit.\u00a0 It was very sad when [our] pastor died.\u00a0 Your visit today shows your love for us.\u00a0 We are one in the body of Christ.”<\/i><\/p>\n

After moving back to Congo in 2010 we had numerous friends come by to welcome us back. \u00a0Many times we heard someone say something similar to: \u00a0“Your presence is very important to us. \u00a0 It means to us that our country is improving, that the situation is becoming more stable. \u00a0It gives us hope for the future.” \u00a0We would receive their affirming words and then as we prayed together would give thanks to the Lord for making our presence possible.<\/p>\n

So as a \u00a0busy person, one who wants to accomplish, who always has a list of \u00a0things to do and loves checking things off the list, I am challenged. \u00a0I am challenged to be less focused on doing and to learn “to be” more. \u00a0To listen more carefully. \u00a0And in these challenges to see or hear God.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe are so grateful you came to see us again.” said Tebisa, a woman in Fangak.\u00a0 “I remember your first visit when you stayed with the commissioner [in 2009].\u00a0 Only James [Tang] has come back before, but now you have returned.\u00a0 I am very encouraged.\u00a0 May your stay be filled with peace.\u00a0 May the dust […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflection"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Importance of Presence - Ekstrands in Congo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2013\/12\/the-importance-of-presence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Importance of Presence - Ekstrands in Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWe are so grateful you came to see us again.” said Tebisa, a woman in Fangak.\u00a0 “I remember your first visit when you stayed with the commissioner [in 2009].\u00a0 Only James [Tang] has come back before, but now you have returned.\u00a0 I am very encouraged.\u00a0 May your stay be filled with peace.\u00a0 May the dust […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2013\/12\/the-importance-of-presence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ekstrands in Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-12T13:25:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2013\/12\/David-Weuring-addressing-group-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pete & Cindy Ekstrand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pete & Cindy Ekstrand\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/the-importance-of-presence\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/the-importance-of-presence\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pete & Cindy Ekstrand\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/08990b6f91da9939c5c3b5649490a92e\"},\"headline\":\"The Importance of Presence\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-12T13:25:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/the-importance-of-presence\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":407,\"commentCount\":3,\"articleSection\":[\"Reflection\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/the-importance-of-presence\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/the-importance-of-presence\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/ekstrand\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/the-importance-of-presence\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Importance of Presence - 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