Valerie Browning on the choices that led to her life among the Afar nomads of the Ethiopian desert.
---
“Why do you protect yourself? Life without risk is not life, it is simply not life.”
Valerie Browning is a nurse and midwife who has spent the last 30 years among the Afar people of Ethiopia. She has endured civil war and snakebite, extreme heat and malaria, and nearly died in childbirth. She daily takes on the hardships confronting her people: famine, cholera, infant mortality, illiteracy, climate change, and the real causes of poverty.
It’s an unexpected path for someone who was born in England and grew up in country NSW. In this interview, Valerie explains what’s wonderful about Afar life, explains how she keeps going in the face of overwhelming need, and puts us all on the hook for the choices we make in our affluent Western context.
“I see in the life of the Afar almost the life of the four Gospels. Where was Christ? Was he sitting in a very comfortable chair? Did he iron his clothes every day? Did he wear perfume? I don't think so. I really don't think so. Because he was with those who were the most neglected in the society. He seemed to be having a good time actually … It's up to all of us, in our own responsibility, in our own belief, to find out whether we're on the right path or not.”
---
You can learn more about Valerie’s work and support it here: www.barbaramayfoundation.com
Listen to our interview with Valerie’s nephew Andrew Browning here: https://www.publicchristianity.org/missionary-doctor/
Photo credit: Joni Kabana.
A full life found in the world’s trouble spots
The Vanishing
How CPX Writes About Easter
Being a chaplain in the ICU ... and prison
The Return of Religious Belief
Rebroadcast: To Change the World
Birth Days
Lent for Dummies
The Social Media Age
Christmas in a place of war
Brexit, Trump ... and the Voice? Australia’s political divides
Seen & Heard V: Getting disenchanted with disenchantment
Coming to Faith Through Dawkins
“Mere Christianity”: why does C.S. Lewis’s unlikely classic continue to hold such appeal?
Andrew Hastie: Lessons from the combat zone
The psychology of hope
Down the Rabbit Hole
REBROADCAST: The “Christian” Classroom
The wounds you can’t see
Gabriel Bani’s life in the Torres Strait
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Devoted To Prayer
Cast The Word
Let Me Be Frank | Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Podcast | Diocese of Bridgeport, CT
The Bible Recap
BardsFM