What kind of priorities do we

Schoolchildren dancing at the launch in Alepe.

set for ourselves?  What kind do we set as a community, a people, a nation, a world?  Right before we boarded the plane, I was reading an article in the sports section of my local paper.  That particular editor was opining that Texas was the leader in high school football.  He had plenty of good reasons to support that argument, and he went on to applaud the enormous organizations, the intensive amounts of time and money, the professional-quality programs and facilities, and the season ticket holders and sponsors who made it all possible.

It’s not that I don’t like football; but is that really what our highest priority ought to be?  I couldn’t help but think of the contrast between the Friday Night Lights and what is going on here this week in Cote d’Ivoire.  My team spent the day in Alepe, which is about an hour and a half outside of Abidjan.  The official launch celebration for the national health campaign was taking place in the center of town.  We sat with a number of dignitaries and non-governmental organization workers, as well as what seemed like most of the town.  We watched the schoolchildren play games and dance while we waited.  We also waited for a bit at the Alepe Methodist Church, where a young couple are the pastors.  They have 26 churches they take care of on their circuit.  They’ve been at it a month.

We heard the Minister of Health speak at the launch.  He named all of the partner organizations which were helping on the ground…even the Latter Day Saints are helping with communications!  It was a remarkable litany of agencies, non-profits, and the church, all working with the government.

I sat at the end of the day in the minibus with local malaria control workers and the Methodist district’s lay coordinator of the effort.  They took so much care with what they had been entrusted.  They acted as if their integrity and honor depended on how they looked after the nets they were delivering.

What priorities does a young Ivorian couple have that makes them want to spend their life preaching the gospel and sharing God’s compassion and love? What priorities does it take to bring together Methodists and Mormons, governments and organizations, sports fans and philanthropists…and try to save some lives?

Our translator is an English teacher in Alepe.  And as the net distribution outside Alepe at Monga would proceed, he came time and again to ask us questions: can we help this person? What about a child that is too old? His concern and care for his own people inspired me to care for them like they were my own.  And they are! They are my people, and yours too, and Christ’s.  The priorities which we set and the way in which we go about fulfilling them say a lot about our own character, our own values, our own faith.  The integrity and responsibility of hundreds of Ivorian volunteers, the patience and good spirits of thousands of Ivorian parents and children, the hospitality and genuine warmth of more hosts than I could count…all these teach me about the kind of priorities which I need in my life and we need in our world.

What are your priorities?