Just got back from a round trip through Central Europe. Together with the CHE director of
Hungary we visited the teams in North-Macedonia and Kosovo. It is encouraging and inspiring
to see how God works there through the CHE teams, and also nice that we can be an
encouragement to them.
Right after this we went on to the annual CHE Gathering in Albania. This year an interesting and
alternately program had been put together with several workshops. One of them for example
was about healing from trauma. In fact every person to some extent carries trauma with him, but
especially when it ’s about people who are constantly living in poverty and experience ongoing
stress about there livelihood security. Like for example the Roma. Then all of a sudden their – in
our eyes sometimes strange and annoying – behavior becomes explainable. Recognizing
trauma, learn to understand it and after that learn to deal with it is crucial to get to a healthy way
of living.
Another workshop was about dealing with disabilities. The woman who gave this workshop was
married to a man who was in a wheelchair. During the workshop he gave testimony about how a
motor accident had totally turned his life upside down, but also how God had used that for the
better.
It was very discovering to see that in the Bible several people who were used by God in a
special way were also handicapped – Isaac, Jacob, Moses and others. Next to that we also
here discovered that practially everybode carries some kind of handicap with him, since after
the Fall nobody still has a body that functions perfectly…
That teaches you to look with different eyes at people with a notable handicap: instead of seeing
them as a burden to the community especially they can be a special supplement and asset to
others and be used by God. So certainly as a CHE community it is imported to emphasize this
in cultures where handicapped people are being put away out of shame or because they are too
much of a burden.
Together with all the inspiring meetings with people during this conference we received a lot to
take home and to work out. That trip back home went from Albania through Montenegro and
Bosnia to Croatia and finally Hungary. My passport is getting fuller and fuller with all these
stamps.