Greetings from the desert! My coffee is perking and the call to prayer is echoing across the wadi from the nearby mosque. Early morning has once again arrived; a new day is here.

After weeks of enforced waiting, I finally made some definitive progress this week. Many of you know I am not good at waiting. I like to make a plan and go forward. If the plan needs to be changed, so be it, but waiting is not one of my gifts. Several years ago a friend of mine also named Tim gave a talk at a men’s retreat about “wait training.” Athletes all know the value of “weight training” to improve their performance; Tim shared his thoughts of the value of “wait training” to improve ours. Last year I watched a video of the “times between times” from a Willow Leadership conference series which again instructed of the value of wait training. Israel had left Egypt a rough slave mentality, idol worshiping group. Through desert time, they were prepared for their calling to inherit the promised land. I, too, entered the desert to wait. Kenya needed to drift behind me as a good memory and previous calling; Al Ain is now in the forefront as I ready to start anew. Waiting can, at a glance, be wasted time, but all time has a purpose if you are on His journey. I need to be quiet and wait.

My licensing journey has been long, starting back in the US months ago. First, all my certificates from the remote times of high school onward had to be notarized — the easy part. Then the documents had to be authenticated by the State of Michigan and the US government. After wading through this process, the documents went to the embassy of the UAE in Washington. Meanwhile, I had to get letters certifying my work experience from Iowa, Michigan, and Kenya. I needed a letter from Wayne State School of Medicine stating that indeed the medical school I attended is a medical school. I had to scan and send copies of every page of my passport. Letters of good standing added to the pile. Copies of licenses and pictures were heaped on. My marriage license, a certified copy, was sent as well. I had a several-page form to fill out for the UAE and others for proposed privileges at Oasis. I am sure there were other things I sent but have repressed the experience. Gathering all of these items from all the different places was indeed a challenge. They even requested my high school grades but I think waaaaay back then, records were chiseled into stone that is now long gone. They did waive that requirement.

When the papers finally wound their way through the US system and embassy, I sent them to Al Ain. The papers looked very official with stamps, ribbons, and letters. These letters joined my UAE file. The health authority declared my file complete and then sent it to an independent agency to evaluate my documents. This agency would assess if the documents were real, true, and valid once again.

Weeks passed slowly. Finally, I received notice that the agency had approved my documents — Hoorah! Not done yet, of course, but a start. The documents then went to HAAD (Health Authority of Abu Dhabi). HAAD had to decide if my training was adequate for my claim as a physician and also an orthopedic surgeon. A few more weeks and I was told I passed this stage. People tell me that the process was remarkably quick for me; I ground my teeth and smiled — “wait training.” Now that I was approved, I was going to be given a date for an oral exam; this could take weeks or months. Ouch!

Once again I received a call from the hospital after a mere couple weeks, “You have been offered a date for examination!” They were amazed; wait training, Tim, smile.

Monday morning early, Roy from the hospital and I started off to Abu Dhabi. We drove along the beautiful divided highways lined by trees to Abu Dhabi. All the trees are irrigated for their survival in the desert. Flowing mounds of sand in shades of brown and red stretched as far as the eye could see. Occasionally you see a sign of a small town or notice of a date farm, but the landscape is primarily the quiet sands of the desert. We arrived at the modern city of Abu Dhabi. Roy knew exactly where to go; after all this, no one wanted to chance me getting lost and missing the test. If you miss your date, there is a three-month minimum wait enforced before they will give you another date.

I arrived to find four other men were being tested this day for orthopedics. Waiting seemed now easier as the process neared. Finally it was my turn. I was given an oral exam by two orthopedists with a HAAD doctor overseeing the process. The testing went fine. The test was a series of cases and a couple other questions. I thanked the men for their time. Could you imagine giving these tests, each lasting 45 minutes to an hour? At the end of the day they must be very tired, and their busy work schedule still pressed on. Finishing the test was a blessing; I had shared that if I could not take and pass an oral test after these years, then I would quit and flip burgers some place. I talked with the HAAD representative as I was ushered out. She shared I would receive the results within a week or so. I thanked her; a week is nothing!!

Thursday, Jana and I drove to Dubai to seek another miracle. I needed a business visa to go to Ethiopia. I had made a mistake and thought a tourist visa was adequate, but it was not. In the midst of filing papers my mind had quit. What? Ethiopia? Wait a minute and I will explain.

While in Dubai my phone rang. I passed the test! Hoorah again!!! Done? Nope. But we are closer. Now off to security for checks and then a few more offices and visa application and then I see patients.

Ethiopia? Yes. Sunday I am going to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. CURE has a hospital there. I will volunteer the next month there as I wait. My mind had been bound in the UAE style forms and had refused to read the Ethiopian information correctly. So yesterday I drove to the Embassy to see if I could rectify the situation. I met a few people who finally decided I needed to see the Vice Consul. I explained my dilemma; he smiled and said, “No problem.” I was on a roll. By 2 PM I had a business visa. A visa and a “pass” in one day; what a great day!

Since I messed up the plans, I now will have less than the best travel schedules, but I am planning to go to Addis Sunday. Jana will travel as well; she will leave Sunday for Kenya. So now the Meads are scattered across the US and Africa once again.

Wait training has been a trial for me. I have spent time reading, writing, and planning. The time has allowed us to find a place to live and get a car and some furniture. We have explored a bit of the UAE and our new town, Al Ain. Wait training has given me time to refresh and time of quiet to wander the wadi and listen. I am not sure why I have been called to Al Ain Oasis yet; my vision is not clear. I know the work and challenges will be different from what I was doing in Kenya. But I wait in the desert knowing for sure I have come here to serve. I wait and serve in His grip.