<div style="color:black;font: 10pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks, Dick, for your witness. What an adventure and convergence of minds and mission.
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<div>Ellie :)</div>
<div>elliestock@aol.com <br>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black"><font size="2">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Richard Alton via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net><br>
To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>; dialogue-owner@lists.wedgeblade.net<br>
Cc: Richard Alton <richard.alton@gmail.com><br>
Sent: Thu, Oct 20, 2022 7:26 pm<br>
Subject: [Oe List ...] Mystery<br>
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<div align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">Airplane trip to
Africa</div>
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<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">Just copied the Land of Mystery chart from Frank Knutson and
then had an awesome trip to Kenya that manifested this mystery. I knew this trip
would be different. Being COV19 housebound for like two years, it was a big
decision to get out in the real world again… never know what is out there. It
was a huge task to just get a Kenya visa. Trying to figure out how to get
through the Kenya COV19 public health check station was nerve racking. But I
did it and it was an amazing adventure and the people I found out there, made it
all worthwhile.</div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">This has happened to me before when strange people just show
up in my life: Found my Chicago seat for the first leg of Chicago to Qatar and
then onward to Nairobi. The plane was almost full, but my window seat was still
empty- would be a great help if the seat stayed empty. And just then a young
lady burst through the plane door with two gigantic bags and came running down
the aisle screeching to a stop in front of me. Hands me her passport- “Hold
this!”- and throws one of the bags over my head to the seat next to me… “Be
back!”. This was the beginning of a thirteen-hour remarkable trip with this thirty-one-year-old
American school teacher presently teaching in Bangkok, Thailand. The stories
she had to tell about her seven years there. The most amazing part was her side
business of raising ten dogs of which none weighed more than 2.2 kilos- so I
got to personally meet all ten dogs, their names and each’s adventures- photos,
videos and awards. Much better than watching movies. Oh, yes and her name is
Kay which just happens to be one of my daughter’s names. And this Kay’s mom
also raises dogs- a long family history of dogs… an amazing world we live in
that people do such things</div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">My second encounter was at the Qatar airport. Of course, we
missed my connecting flight. The explanation was that since Qatar was hosting
the Soccer World Cup between November 18 and December 18 this year and they
expected millions of spectators, they had put in a huge number of new systems
that were still being figured out like how to get people from the planes to the
terminal.</div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">So I waited my five hours for the next flight and got in line
for my Nairobi flight. I am pretty good at chatting with people. The African
lady standing next to me- an older woman who had a strange looking
passport- so asked her what country she was from. She explained that this was
the new East Africa Regional passport. “Nice- you are from Kenya? “Yes”, she (her
name turned out to be Charity Gathuthi) had just come back from Australia from
visiting her daughter. “Nice. What did she do?”: “A water consultant”. “What do
you do?” Well, I am retired in Chicago but still work on local community
development and was attending a gathering of people to look at climate change.
I used to live in Nairobi- Kawangware</div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">Charity looked at me really funny, like I was from another
world. “Are you with ICA?” Yes, you win the prize for an astonishing guess. “Well,
I know and have worked with the ICA staff, Nathan Ambunya, Patrick Mbullu and
Henry Mpapale plus I did Kenya Cooperative consulting work for many years with
Terry Bergdall. Have been away and have not had contact with ICA for a while. But you tell Patrick, Nathan and Henry to
give me a call.” Now that was amazing- like finding a needle in a haystack.
Makes you wonder how many related ICA people are out their wandering the
planet.</div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">Now, I told you about the Thailand Kay encounter. Kay has
unbounding energy in relationships with other people. She was standing in the
toilet line and started talking to a stewardess and it turns out that they may all
look the same, but they are from different countries- part of Qatar wanting to
be the future Global airlines. So sure enough, I found two Philippine stewardesses.
Found out a lot about the Philippines and other countries like Tajikistan. So,
I am sitting there reading a book by Momaday called Earth Keeper in preparation
for presenting the ICA’s new Climate Change Manual- look up and there is an
African Stewardess standing in front of me; “What a great sounding book- Earth Keeper”
I am from Zimbabwe and we need earth keepers. I will come back, and you can
tell me more. </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">The page I was reading when she interrupted me: <i>“And so
Great Mystery you who dwell in the endless beyond, you who spoke the first word
and made of your breath the mountains and the waters, the trees and the
grasses, the man and the woman and the child, hear me in my small voice. I am
your thankful creature. My people and all the birds and animals are your
thankful creatures. Hold us! Hold us in your hands and make us worthy of your
blessing. Tell us the old stories of your greatness, that our minds and our
hearts may be nourished with wonder and delight. Let us see your likeness in
the stars and let us hear your voice in rolling thunder and in the wind and
rain. Be with us forever in the sacred smoke of your being. These are my words,
my offering to you, Great Mystery ( Earth Keeper by N.Scott Momaday)</i></div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal"> </div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">And this is just one journey from Chicago to Africa. Life is
amazing if you dare to go out and meet it.</div>
<div style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;" class="yiv2664457852MsoNormal">Dick Alton, Co-Director, ICA Kenya, 1980-86; still believes
that one should write a witness on one’s birthday and mine is quickly
approaching, so this reflection </div>
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<div>Richard H. T. Alton</div>
<div>ICA Global Fund</div>
<div>Methodist Eco-Sustainability T/F</div>
<div>T: 773.344.7172</div>
<div><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" ymailto="mailto:richard.alton@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:richard.alton@gmail.com">richard.alton@gmail.com</a></div>
<div>Make Plain the Vision, Habakkuh 2:2<br>
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<div><font size="2">Won't you be my neighbor?</font></div>
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