Category Archives: The Mission

About Hillary — we can do better

The Mission,

Well, THAT was a convention! I always think the balloons should fall faster, but that is just me – and perhaps a secret wish that it would all be over! The DNC was a well-choreographed spectacle of hopefulness, exceptionalism, saber-rattling and Trump bashing, with lots of faith thrown in. I’m old enough to remember that it seemed a lot like a page from the Ronald Reagan playbook. To be honest, Hillary reminds me a little of Richard Nixon — I kind of think she is a crook, but boy, can she do policy!

But a woman was nominated, people. She works for children. Does anything else matter? William Barber was allowed to give the best speech. Isn’t that great? Secret fat cat donors funded the thing (Johnson and Johnson was apparently the biggest donor with a face), but at least she threatened them. Bernie Sanders was the most gracious curmudgeon to endure Hillary’s moment – shouldn’t you be as nice?

Katy Perry's Powerful Performance, Hillary's 'Hamilton' Shoutout and 8 More Musical Moments from the 2016 DNC | Entertainment Tonight

I’m trying to go along a little. I truly admired the eloquence and organizing capacity of the Democrat crew (except for Katy Perry and her malfunctioning ear mics)! I do not believe in their view of America, but it would be great if I did. As Hillary proved, in her own way, “We can do better.” But we Christians are not running an election campaign for our brief moment in office to rule and change the world (are we?). We must do better than holding out America as God’s gift to the planet.

I have the blessing of traveling a lot. The United States is not God’s gift to the planet. I also pray a lot. The country has positive points, but I have not gotten the impression that it is central to the Lord’s redemption project. If anything, China has been better for that, in my lifetime.

But let’s be positive (as if anything could be more positive than the anti-RNC DNC!). The Democrats have a lot to offer

  • They unabashedly talk about love and building community.
  • They are on the side of “the least of these,” and quote the Bible about that conviction.
  • Both Hillary and Tim Kaine have public service resumes that looks like serving.
  • Even if they are obviously in the pockets of corporations, they talk back to their overlords.
  • They mentioned mass incarceration, generosity to immigrants and equal pay for equal work.
  • They are into protecting rights.
  • It cannot be underestimated how revolutionary it is to nominate a woman, and a qualified one!

I don’t think Hillary has a chance of getting most of her agenda passed through Congress, since it appears the Republicans have suppressed voting and gerrymandered the system so well it will be very difficult to dislodge them. So if she is elected, expect her to be a lot testier than Barack.

We must do better. We Christians must not get looped into the glittering promises of Hillary’s great compromise – the first George Bush meets Lyndon Johnson. Just because Johnson and Johnson let Christian speakers on the platform, doesn’t mean the United States is any more Christian. Most of these people are part of the Baby Boomers’ last stand of peace and love. But the legacy of those Boomers looks a lot like all the other promises of politicians. We always need to do better.

It is tempting to spend another four years hoping things will get better – and the government can and does makes things better, as it should. But we still don’t put our hope “in chariots and horses,” that is, in the capacity to threaten ISIS, the wealth to promise free education, or the exceptionalism of our supposed democracy. So let’s not fall into temptation. Someplace, Jesus needs a platform to speak the truth. Someplace, normal people need to struggle face to face in faith and do what they can do, not dependent on their corporate overlords to allow it. Someplace, the alternative to two years of vying to be the top dog has to be available. The church is the Lord’s people and we are, like it or not, the best hope of giving people real hope in a 46%-43% society. I think our witness has been drowned out by big money, big systems and our own complicity (in general). But Jesus is still making connections and is still using us. I’m with Him.

About Trump — we can do better

The Mission, ,

 

I watched the Trump acceptance speech – all of it. I also watched Ivanka. In Trumpspeech: “Not that pleased with the first – Surprisingly pleased with the latter — Believe me.”

I live among people who are not happy with Trump. But sometimes I think they are posturing, since they probably have a relative from the South or Middle Pennsylvania (or keeping quiet in Philly, at least) who thinks Trump is great. So they must have some sense of affinity with the guy. Don’t worry if you do or you don’t — It is crazy politics, people, but it is still just politics. And even if the election turns out to be a life and death matter for some people, we are still Jesus followers. Every election serves to remind us why we are glad to have a savior who triumphs over death. I don’t say that in a fatalistic way, just a realistic one. I know Americans think they can control everything so nothing bad will happen or happen again, but how many times does our control system need to be proven faulty until we give up on it?

In the spirit of charity I would like to try a third way to judge Trump – not work hard to take him seriously and gloss over his faults, and not just point out all the lies he told last night and despair over his angry, divisive approach, but a caring way. I want to try an understanding look at Trump from the bluest of cities. Why are people voting for him? And why might he win the presidency? Here are seven things that people  find positive about him:

  1. He understands how irritating the overreaching government is — all the way down to telling you how to speak.
  2. He understands how people are tired of the 1% getting away with everything. Hillary’s emails are another example. He at least admits he gets away with things. People admire how he hoodwinks the system for his own benefit because that is what they have to try to do to get by.
  3. He understands that people want Americans to be Americans. It is a nationalistic country. People don’t want it divided up and don’t want people to call them bigoted when they want a citizenship standard.
  4. He understands why people are mad and scared. It is hard to get by. Every time you turn around someone has their hand in your pocket — mostly the government and those who have the inside track with the government. It is hard to feel safe. People all watch TV all the time and don’t trust anyone to tell the truth, but bad things are happening all over and we know about them.
  5. He understands that people have finally gotten wind that the system is rigged against anyone who is not rich. People want the authorities to “do their job” and lock up people who sidestep the law.
  6. His children are good looking, well-spoken and loyal, even if they did come from three mothers.
  7. He has gotten things done and the government has been a gridlocked mess for sixteen years. Every major decision that is made seems half-baked (Obamacare) or wrong (Iraq).

Jesus followers can see the good in everyone, or at least we can have some empathy for why they think what they believe is good. We love people.

When I was watching the RNC reality show, I kept thinking of what Hillary tweeted during it, “We we are better than this.”

 

I am not sure Hillary can do better (unless she can repent of skirting the law and the truth all the time). But I do think we Jesus-followers (at least the ones who are not trying to run the world) can do better. We ought to do better, too, rather than just reacting to politics as if they are the focus of all our hope or the end of the world.

I think we and many Jesus followers are doing a LOT better. If we speak the truth in love and build communities that look and act like we share the love of Jesus, then we can offer people an alternative that is better than whatever is already messing them up. Whoever gets elected is going to need a lot of prayer; they are winning a position that is nothing but trouble — what else is new? But Jesus told us not to let our hearts be troubled with the latest trouble. He still overcomes the world, no matter what the trouble in whatever country. Let’s overcome with Him. Why should people get stuck with Trump and Hillary as if nothing better is available to them?

The twentysomething church

The Mission

Twenty years old! It does not seem possible, especially if you just showed up in Circle of Hope last week! What are we to you, you person who just showed up?

  • Are we like a well-aged wine you just opened?
  • A great old song that was just updated for your genre?
  • A miracle you experienced when you thought they didn’t happen anymore?
  • A new friend who feels like you’ve known them your whole life?

People say such things.

To me, we are like Nathanael. I see us like the guy Jesus saw under the fig tree in Bethsaida. I think he was a guy, about as old as our church, maybe, a twentysomething who was wondering what was going on with the world, the oppressive government, his out-of-touch parents, his no-future job, the weird guy from the desert, John the Baptist, and his own soul, which he was thinking about taking seriously. We are a twentysomething church and often act like all the twentysomethings we know: susceptible, nervous, energetic, risky, learning like crazy, sometimes a little out of control, unfinished, just getting started. I could go on.

Nathanael under the fig tree by my man, James Tissot.

But the way we are like Nat (name too long to type) is how we really like how Jesus SEES us. We love it when anyone sees us for who we really are, as ourselves, not someone’s kid or some school’s pupil. Nat’s friend Philip told him he’d found the Messiah and he should “Come and see.” When he got to Jesus, the Lord told him “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nat worshiped him. He was seen; he was known. This is a big deal for people who are bits of data to their leaders and fodder for the big institutions that run them.

Jesus responds to his worship with, “You haven’t seen anything yet!” (essentially). “If you liked the miracle of how I knew you, loved you, looked for you before you knew me, then you will really like the miracle of me revealed in all my glory, when the whole world discovers that God knows their every suffering, loves them with a self-giving love, and is looking for them to claim their rights as the children of God in the restored kingdom I’m giving to you!”

To me, we are like THAT Nat to whom Jesus is unfolding the secrets of eternity. We like how Jesus found us. And we are just getting started on what the Lord is going to reveal next. We haven’t exactly been hanging out under a fig tree for twenty years, but it is like we have been building toward this moment our whole lives.

Thinking back about the Grill and Chill last week I worship Jesus for how he found us and built us together into a splendid piece of alternativity. Jesus keeps finding people and they keep finding themselves in him.

But Jesus told me again after the party, “You haven’t seen anything yet!” In this wild era, this growing megalopolis, this diversifying city Circle of Hope has an important role to play that is worth our effort, our love and our resources. The Map we affirmed is kind of a taste of new wine, the first bars of a new song being written, the next example of the miracle that began us – and it didn’t even try to express all we have become! I’m with Nat, “You ARE the Son of God” Jesus!

How do YOU think people see your church? : Examine it

Leadership, The Mission, , , , , , , , , , ,

The first question we asked our cells in order to gather some discernment about where God is leading us was this:

“When a newcomer or unbeliever gets to know us, whether in a cell or Sunday Meeting, through one of our events or teams, or through an individual, what are the things they will most immediately notice about us and what gifts will they find easiest to access?” 

What do you think?

We dared to take Paul seriously when he tells the Corinthian church:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5).

If we can be honest about what others see in us, we will not just follow the scripture, we will probably follow our humility right into spiritual growth! We are who we are, but who knows what we might become if we listen?.

Our cells had a LOT to say about this question (and all the other questions!). When I set my mind to sort all their responses, I came up with eighteen different headings for this first one! I was encouraged by what the cell members thought people see in us when they first get to know us. I thought you might be encouraged too. I am not going to list all eighteen things! But I thought I would give you ten. I’ll give you my heading and then one of the answers I culled out which intrigued or moved me. So you get my heading and one answer verbatim.

Whether you are part of our church or not, these things might give you something to think about. What’s more, I don’t doubt someone who is in our church will think the person I quote does not completely know what they are talking about. So we all might have more to think about, too. Regardless, I think we’d all like to be a church moving in the direction these thoughts signal.

Whether you think your church is seen in these ways or you think it just ought to be, let’s pray that we get there. Yesterday was Pentecost, and the Spirit of God is moving to take us into our fullness.

Here are ten ways the cell members think newcomers see us:

We are welcoming/hospitable/friendly/open.

  • You can be who you are.  You are relevant.  You have an opportunity to an actual path where God is leading you.  Walk with us – not your fear or a stereotype.

We create a distinct atmosphere.

  • We create an atmosphere where we try to attract those who are timid with things like the bible through our vulnerability showing it is OK to have doubts and disbelief.

We are a connected community.

  • We are not an obligation – this community is real and authentic and people are here out of choice.  We are not a thing to do.  We want to know you.  

Leadership is respected and varied.

  • Leaders don’t have to be older, mature people who have all their stuff together. Anyone can potentially be a leader and should see their gifts and insight valued and nurtured (not just for white male extroverts).

We have an open seeking spirit.

  • Vulnerability in sharing by both women and men. It’s good modeling by those in leadership because it sets a space to be real and to address deep set needs – we are a deep people because of this.

We are devoted to compassion.

  • Our good works are a natural progression from our togetherness

We share.

  • It is not hard to get resources of spiritual direction (informal), counseling, financial help, job connections.

We take action, are ambitious, intentional.

  • We are doers of the word. While other may talk about examples of how you may get involved the overwhelming expectation is that we are people who live through action and action particularly for both one another and those with need.

We expect people to participate.

  • They can get connected to anything (cell, team’s, leadership, etc.), the church is their oyster.

We are committed to dialogue.

  • It is the judge-free zone.  We all pretty openly discuss a lot of topics, personal and otherwise with widely varying opinions sometimes, and no one is upset.  

When you answer the question about your church, what are the answers YOU get? Let’s keep praying for the Holy Spirit to move us into the place the Lord would like us to be.

[Originally published on Circle of Hope’s blog]

My Iraqi seat mate and the Golden Rule

Film/TV, The Mission, , , , , , , , ,

The travel day began with the Zambians sending our new South African friend’s bag to Philadelphia and sending our beloved Bethany’s bag to some undetermined place. It ended with waiting in line for about an hour while the skeleton crew at customs processed us and a Hunger-Games-esque video from Homeland Security repeatedly welcomed us. In between, I watched movies on the plane and tried to sleep in between the baby screams. I watched most of Qatar Airline’s catalogue, I think. I even watched Deadpool, which I had been avoiding (even though no one else did — it has earned $761 million worldwide) – I admit it was clever and funny, even when vile. I think we were in the air for 22 hours, so there was even room for vile.

Burial place of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq

Near the end of the last leg of the journey, I finally met my row mate. I found out he was an Iraqi returning home to his job at a Red Lobster in Kentucky after attending his mother’s funeral in Najaf, home of Imam Ali’s shrine. When he arrived in Najaf he learned his visit would start with the funeral of his cousin, who had just been killed in an army battle. Eventually we talked about religion, since I also told him why I had been travelling. Part of that conversation is what I want to talk to you about, mainly.

The universal rule

After we both recounted our horror at the bombing campaigns that devastated Iraq at the beginnings of both wars (he evacuated just before the first), he brought up how people should treat each other like they would like to be treated, like it says in the Qur’an – and in the writings of all the other major religions. His version is that Allah is the one God, the same as the Jews and Christians, so we will all be judged by him for how we follow the rule. We had been talking about how refugees, especially in Palestine, never get the justice they want by repossessing their homes, even though everyone knows that they would hate to lose their homes, their friends, their feelings of belonging, and hate to have to work long hours at Red Lobster to buy a ticket to attend your mother’s funeral 6500 miles away.

It seemed, as usual, very tidy of him to sum up all the religions with one rule – the one thing they all seem to agree upon. And, in the case of Islam, to tidy things up with one Ruler who will judge people according to their capacity to fulfill the rule:

“Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him is (the knowledge of) the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How clearly He sees, and hears (everything)! They have no Wali (Helper, Disposer of affairs, Protector, etc.) other than Him, and He makes NONE to share in His Decision and His Rule” (Surah 18:2). 

In the end, the Moslem is judged according to their full submission to the way of Islam, and their deeds. Like many Christians do with Jesus, Muslims reduce the requirements of belief to following the rules and avoiding judgment — especially following the “golden rule,” since everyone thinks that makes sense.

Poorly working rule

The problem is, people are very bad at following the golden rule. Israelis are not giving people back the land they know the dispossessed want and Palestinians are not forgiving them for taking it. The people of the United States do not rise up in revolt because the government dropped 265,000 bombs on Iraq in 1991 and did not stop for twenty years, even though they would not like someone to do that to them. We keep learning the lesson, but never seem to get the application right. We don’t treat our children the way we wish we had been treated as a child. We don’t even treat ourselves the way we wish someone would treat us. Even when we think God is treating us well, we don’t love as we are loved. The whole thin plot of Deadpool was about his quest to get his mutated face restored so his girlfriend would not judge him ugly and reject him. He was sure she would not treat him well unless he was unjudgable; he is a realistic superhero.

Jesus repeats the common sense of the golden rule. Unlike in Islam or Buddhism, he is not giving people a maxim to sum up justice or balance, he is commanding the self-giving love he will demonstrate on the cross. Regardless, when he says it, it serves to point out just how badly we need a Savior. We all love the golden rule and long for it to be applied, but it never gets applied, even by those who are devoted to it. My Iraqi friend looked at me after he talked about Daesh squeezing into a crack in the system so they could get the power and money that the greedy rulers all want, and he said, “I just don’t see a way for this to change.”  I have been thinking of him saying that ever since.

I don’t know everything about Islam or all the other religions. I tend to feel generous about people seeking God from wherever they start. But I don’t think all the seeking merely leads to the need to follow the golden rule no one follows well. I think the seeking leads to Jesus whom God has made the final judge. Life is not about becoming good enough to love or not being bad enough to kill. The way Paul describes his experience with Jesus is that he has already received the mysteries of God and lives with a clear conscience. Not because he is perfectly knowledgeable or faithful, but because Jesus has poured out the love of God. That undeserved grace is holding back the end of time with its inherent judgment. We can live in the hope God gives us in the middle of our personal and corporate failures to follow what we all agree is the truth.

Christ in Deadpool

What I finally hear from pondering my conversation with this friendly Iraqi is that Jesus entrusts us with the golden rule, not condemns us with it. Like in the ending of Deadpool, Jesus removes the mask that hides our mutancy and kisses our scarred face, and the scarred soul that goes with it. Only that will undo whatever evil we have committed or will commit – like the impending sequel.

Will we concede Southern Africa to Islam?

The Mission, , ,

Our last day in Zambia was full of contrasts — and Lusaka’s traffic jams! We shopped at the mall with the rest of the 1% and looked over an unpaved alley full of vendors. We had our last baked beans for breakfast, lunch on a posh balcony, and had a farewell dinner at The Retreat — a poolside eatery inside a walled suburban tract.

Levison Soko, Lusaka area overseer for the BIC

While sitting in traffic we had a lot of time to check out the sites. One of the surprises was to see three large mosques in the downtown area. During lunch, I asked our guest, the district overseer for the BIC in Lusaka, if he felt the impact of Moslems in Lusaka. He immediately became more animated. He told us that big spenders were coming in (reportedly from the Middle East and Indonesia, we heard) to put up big new meeting places. To go with them, they attach free schools and often free clinics. Poor people, mostly Christians at some level, are taking advantage of the free gifts, since they have nothing else. Soon their children are followers of Islam. This is the strategy: convert the children of Zambia, village by village.

We told him that some people in the U.S. doubt the evangelistic value of MCC, which supplies our compassionate mission, complete with schools and health care components. They think the ministry of the word is enough. He was flabbergasted. He could not understand how the spoken and enacted word could ever be separated, and reinforced that the BIC in Zambia consider MCC and the BIC to be one movement. Then he quoted the word to us as a final admonition: “If you have done it to the least of these you have done it to me” (Matthew 25). Works of compassion are the first steps of evangelism; isn’t that why the Lord’s teaching often follows an act of healing or dispossession?

I received his admonition. But as a church planter, I have to admit, my competitive juices also began to flow. Will we actually concede Southern Africa, where we have been supporting successful church planting for over 100 years, to the Muslims? Have we conformed to the world so completely that we would follow liberal irreligiosity or conservative protectionism instead of following Jesus, who is waiting for us to unite his resources in the cause of redemption? We have capable partners already in Zimbabwe and Zambia, I have learned. But they certainly don’t have our resources — or those of the local imam’s apparently!

The other Africa posts:

April 13
Circle of Hope travels to southern Africa.

ZIMBABWE

April 18
First thoughts from Zimbabwe

April 19
Being poor is tough

April 20
Going around doing good

April 22
Coming up against the powers

ZAMBIA

April 25
The food chain

April 25
The work of the Lord

April 26
Showing God’s love in practical ways

April 27
Will the northern hemisphere ever grow peace clubs?

April 30
Will we concede Southern Africa to Islam?

 

Will the northern hemisphere ever grow peace clubs?

The Mission, , , , ,

We had a less-packed day today — a peaceful day devoted to peace clubs.

MCC peace worker, the prison’s teacher and the warden

A peace club in prison

I hope I have this story right because it seems like the greatest thing I have ever heard. An MCC service worker, Kajungu Mturi, from Tanzania was assigned to do peace work in the Choma, Zambia area. He was interested In applying the peace club curriculum in schools developed by Issa Ebombolo of the Congo. He had an inspiration to apply it to the local prison and asked the superintendent for permission. He met with skepticism. That man was replaced and the new leader immediately called him back to tell him he wanted the program implemented immediately. I felt privileged to hear from both men this morning.

The work is strangely successful. We heard from the most recent leader of the club from among the prisoners. He told us about the five modules: conflict, violence, cross gender violence, reconciliation, and trauma healing. They come at it as Christians (the Zambian BIC peace coordinator will probably be instrumental in keeping the program going when the service worker is gone). This is peace evangelism. People accept their wrongs. Often the offended are brought to the prison before the sentence is complete so amends can be made. They re-enter society as transformed people, not vengeful recidivists.

The MCC folks did a study that validated their success in fomenting transformation. When the President of Zambia does his general pardons to reduce prison overcrowding, members of the peace club are first to be pardoned. The warden is happy to repeatedly be number one in pardons. Now another warden wants training to start peace clubs. The warden and teachers would love it if donors built them a classroom In which they could hold their classes, including the ones that teach the peace club curriculum — they even hope to open the peace curriculum to the community to learn alongside the prisoners.

A SALTer and her peace clubs in schools

Brook Strayer took us to a BICC school to tell us about her work on peace clubs in school. Although she had never heard a sermon on peace in her home church growing up and her senior paper on the BIC U.S as a peace church did not encourage her, she still felt she should contribute to teaching the way of peace. She is applying the Issa Ebombolo curriculum as it was first intended, to teach children alternatives to unreconciled conflict and violence. In the boarding school, this is very useful. It is useful all over the world. There are not only clubs in Africa, they exist in Colombia and Laos, we heard. I wonder if they will ever move into the Northern Hemisphere more  widely? We could use them in Philly.

Apparently, one pastor answered Brook’s questionnaire for her research paper by saying he would discourage people from attending Messiah College because she did this investigation! Another said Jesus was not concerned with peacemaking so we should not be either. I suppose those responders need to be in a peace club, learning to deal with their anger, how to respond when they feel threatened, how to practically apply what it means to love people who are enemies, and how to follow the Lord, who is our peace — not just peace with God, but with others, the Lord who blesses the peacemakers.

The other Africa posts:

April 13
Circle of Hope travels to southern Africa.

ZIMBABWE

April 18
First thoughts from Zimbabwe

April 19
Being poor is tough

April 20
Going around doing good

April 22
Coming up against the powers

ZAMBIA

April 25
The food chain

April 25
The work of the Lord

April 26
Showing God’s love in practical ways

April 27
Will the northern hemisphere ever grow peace clubs?

April 30
Will we concede Southern Africa to Islam?

 

Choma: Showing God’s love in practical ways

The Mission, ,

Our day revolved around Choma, Zambia today, the home of the Brethren in Christ in Zambia and the new provincial capital. We found a new South African pizza chain for lunch (whatever); we walked the main street. I think we all felt a bit of the strain of understanding how foreign we are and how daunting being Zambia feels to us. For instance, the hotel just turned on the generator, since the country is on rolling load shedding and we only have power for part of the day — a problem most people do not expect to be fixed for years

But we were with people all day who like to fix things. They show God’s love in practical ways by helping people find inventive ways to survive and even overcome the crushing difficulties they face — love in action, not just words.

Innovative tomato farmer

More conservation farming

Conrad (do not expect “Zambian” names here) and his team introduced us to three farmers who are being trained to farm in a less invasive and more productive way. Their old methods use more scarce water and expensive fertilizer than necessary. They are committed to maize. It was interesting to tromp around fields and see how people farm.

My favorite was the proud tomato farmer who bragged that last year’s tomatoes were purchased by people as far away as Livingstone. He had taken the risk to learn tomatoes and stop planting corn altogether. The BIC farm consultants helped him with the knowledge he needed to do more with less as MCC supplied them with theory and practical support.

Ron s calling Todd out of the woodshop to meet with us

A self-sufficient training program

Todd is an MCC service worker from North America who feels the pull to use his advanced engineering and science degrees to serve in Africa. He was placed in a church-run job training program that has promised its European partners it would become self-sufficient for many years. It isn’t self-sufficient but it will be if he has anything to do about it.

They teach people computer skills, tailoring, wood working, sewing and basic life skills that will help them turn skills into their own business. Most Zambian jobs are entrepreneurial. Probably only 20% of all workers are employed in trackable jobs. Todd got the center starting with Quickbooks so they could see if they made any money. He got involved with the cabinet-making shop when he discovered they made cabinets and furniture with some wet wood that warped. He turned a big shipping container into a solar-powered drying kiln. He is having the time of his life.

What should we do when our compassion seems like a drop in the bucket? — people don’t heed our advice, they misuse the resources we give, they don’t even honor or receive the love and generosity we show! We keep dripping, because the love of God overflows — not necessarily to produce results, although it surely does, but just because that is what God’s love does.

The other Africa posts:

April 13
Circle of Hope travels to southern Africa.

ZIMBABWE

April 18
First thoughts from Zimbabwe

April 19
Being poor is tough

April 20
Going around doing good

April 22
Coming up against the powers

ZAMBIA

April 25
The food chain

April 25
The work of the Lord

April 26
Showing God’s love in practical ways

April 27
Will the northern hemisphere ever grow peace clubs?

April 30
Will we concede Southern Africa to Islam?

 

Macha: The work of the Lord

The Mission, , ,

The last three days have been an intensive dip into the BIC homeland in Zambia. Keith Cober (gregarious connector, historian and much-needed plumber) keeps telling us how much has developed in Macha since he was first involved and even since 2000. The hospital, nursing school, and especially the Macha Malaria Research Institute have created something of a small city, which looks to me like it might reach some kind of critical mass of urbanism some day. To hear everyone tell the story, it is all the work of the Lord. As before, there is too much to tell you about it all. So let me theme it as: three ways we saw the work of the Lord, with the emphasis on the work.

Getting ready for worship in Macha with Phil and Elaine Thuma

Macha Brethren in Christ

Phil and Elaine Thuma and John and Esther Spurrier should probably be more famous than they are. They are the main engines of Macha Mission’s development since the 90’s, and before. I sat next to Phil during the fascinating and often moving church service we attended. It was a blessing to have him keep leaning over and explaining why things were happening. Odd things: The adult men and women sat on separate sides of the church, which is about as old school BIC as you can get. Some ladies were in the BIC uniform. Visitors have to stand in front of the church and explain why they are there (I gave them greetings from you, Circle of Hope, and they voiced their delight). Great things: Various musicians, including choirs, are invited each week to register to lead the church; we had five groups including a man who played a home made guitar, the extremely well-rehearsed youth choir and a woman’s choir with a solo by a 70-year-old that generated applause. We learned to sing traditional hymns in Tonga.

The church and the work of the Lord are central to everything we have seen. The work week begins on Sunday.

On the Spurrier’s porch for tea

We experienced the blessing of a history lesson on Macha Mission Hospital and the Malaria Research Institute by the Thumas and Spurriers on a beautiful afternoon. Here is an article on Phil from a main funder that can give you more. I have known the Spurriers for many years and the Thumas mainly by association. It was a treat to relate to them in their native environment. One of the encouraging things they reported is how they feel more supported as a mission than ever. They are delighted with Jonathan Lloyd as a leader. They think the relationship of MCC and the church in Zambia is exemplary and report the historic relationship between MCC and the hospital as invaluable. Their work is laced with friendship, humility and joy.

Jose lining up kids at Macha Central

Institutions: MRI, Macha Central school, Macha Hospital, the nursing school

Macha, Zambia is a hub for BIC-founded enterprises: schools, hospital, and the amazing Malaria Research Institute (which is a work of God but independent).

  • Let’s start with the MRI (also MRT and other names depending on the registration with various powers). Most of you do not know that this jewel exists in an extremely unlikely, out-of-the-way place in the world. Who would think the the BIC would come up with a world-class research institute in their remote mission station! Phil Thuma is a funny, lucid, salesman saint and the engine behind it. I wanted to sit and listen to him teach me everything I could absorb of what he knows about viruses of every kind and how to get a university to send you a $35K machine.
  • Likewise, John Sprurrier (and the two are a tag team) has been the work horse behind what appears to be a well-run hospital. Upwards of 10,000 HIV AIDS patients are in active treatment, among many other things. MCC provided all the linens and blankets for the 200-bed hospital; in the state-run hospitals, you provide your own.
  • When it comes to the schools, there is a consistent theme: not enough. At Macha Central school we learned that many kids get up with the rooster at 5am and start walking without breakfast. They arrive at school by 6 to a class of 40, at least. No food will be provided; the homes for teachers have no electricity; and there is no money to complete the needed classrooms or even the fence to keep the goats off the soccer field. MCC’s Global Family project helps, but also does not have enough. As I’ve said before, it is daunting.

Nevertheless, the people exude hope, competence, community, spiritual passion and invention. There has been a lot to learn on the learning tour.

The other Africa posts:

April 13
Circle of Hope travels to southern Africa.

ZIMBABWE

April 18
First thoughts from Zimbabwe

April 19
Being poor is tough

April 20
Going around doing good

April 22
Coming up against the powers

ZAMBIA

April 25
The food chain

April 25
The work of the Lord

April 26
Showing God’s love in practical ways

April 27
Will the northern hemisphere ever grow peace clubs?

April 30
Will we concede Southern Africa to Islam?

 

The food chain

The Mission, ,

We had a couple of days to travel and reflect. What stays with me at this point is what it feels like to be at the bottom of the power “food chain.” Of course,  I know I am disguised by white privilege and empire power. But our travels give me some small empathy for people in Zimbabwe and now Zambia.

We went to the game park and they took us to see the animals. That gives one the best idea of the actual food chain and how it works. New factoid: elephants crashing through the underbrush wrecking trees helps new trees to grow. They are like forest farmers.

I forgot to count how many police check points we went through on the trip out of Zimbabwe. It was at least 15. At each one the policeman might require a bribe to let us keep going. It was a bit exhausting to know that any minute a gun-toting young officer was in charge and held sway over what we could do.

At the border we had to get out of the Zimbabwe exit process, walk a mile of “no man’s land,” and then get through the Zambia entrance process. It felt tense. We were at the mercy of potentially capricious clerks. Our handlers were a bit anxious. The whole time vendors swarmed looking for a sale or a handout. At Victoria Falls (which is right on the border) the baboons swarmed looking to raid someone’s picnic. We felt preyed upon. It is an unusual feeling for us, but it is an everyday feeling for most of the people in the countries we are visiting. They adapt to being powerless. The U.S. dominates them. Their governments dominate them. The local police and corruption dominates them. Then there are the traditional chiefs who still allocate land in less organized areas. I think most people feel like they are at the bottom.

Zamian Bishop and grandson

We met the Zambian bishop yesterday Saturday. He seems like a good man. Our MCC guide made sure we paid him a courtesy call on the way into the country. He seems to be a bit like a religious chief. He’s the top of the local food chain. He told our moderator when he visited the U.S. Church should act with MCC like the Zambian Church does: as one mission. I somehow missed the report Alan Robinson gave on his travels. I hope one of you will forward it to me.

The other Africa posts:

April 13
Circle of Hope travels to southern Africa.

ZIMBABWE

April 18
First thoughts from Zimbabwe

April 19
Being poor is tough

April 20
Going around doing good

April 22
Coming up against the powers

ZAMBIA

April 25
The food chain

April 25
The work of the Lord

April 26
Showing God’s love in practical ways

April 27
Will the northern hemisphere ever grow peace clubs?

April 30
Will we concede Southern Africa to Islam?