Global Mind: Miniature Earth

If the whole population of the earth was scaled down to 100 people, this would be true...

Global Mind: Cedar Rapids Flooding

Over 4th of July weekend 30 students from Veritas went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to help out with flood relief. I was excited for the trip, but the impact it had on us and on the people we met up there was more than I could have thought or asked for. Parts of the city are absolutely devastated, but amid all the disaster we saw so many things to be thankful for.

Day One:
When we arrived we got a short orientation on the hazards of working in a flood zone and how to use all the supplies we would need, then immediately dived into work. We went to Dave and Starla Smiths home. Dave and Starla had been working on rebuilding since they were able to return to their home after the flood waters receded, and a lot of the nasty work was already done. The guts of their house were pulled out and separated into piles on the street. I heard that in the first week after the flood those piles were higher than the cars and every direction you looked in the worst affected neighborhoods the streets looked like they were lined with trash walls. Within a minute of our arrival one of the Smith’s neighbors walked out and met some people from our group and got around to asking if we could gut her house while we were in the neighborhood. We had lots of people eager to do something, so we agreed. The rest of the afternoon we worked in the two houses across the street from one another, pulling down drywall, insulation, and the accumulated possessions of the two homes and shoveling them into trash bins to be thrown on the curb.


Around dinner time we packed up, said our goodbyes and went back to the car dealership where we were staying. Karen Mickey, a former member of The Crossing who lives in Cedar Rapids, is the owner of a Volkswagen dealership, which she opened to house our team. That’s the place we came “home” to each night to rest, shower, eat, and spend time together as a team. We were not the only occupants she had opened the dealership to – there was a professional disaster relief organization using the dealership as a warehouse to store their supplies who, after the first day, came to us and let us know that we should feel free to use all of their supplies for whatever we needed free of charge.

Day Two:
Day two brought some nastier work. We went to an area of town known as Czech Village to help clean up some businesses along the main street. When we got there the owner of the businesses, Jon, gave us a crash course in Czech Village history. His love for his community was evident and infectious and helped give us a deeper vision for what we were really doing and the impact that it was having on the surrounding community. Jon’s exuberance and thankfulness overflowed during the two days we spent with him. He was constantly stopping us to thank us, getting us to take pictures with him, and telling us what a great thing we were doing.

During the second half of day two we went to a church in one of the worst affected areas in the city, a neighborhood known as Time Check. The church was so busy helping its congregation that no one helped the church. When we arrived it was basically untouched except that someone had removed the pews. The walls were covered in mold and the building stank. The basement was even worse off. The floor was covered in two inches of black, slick mud. I think we were a little overwhelmed at first, but then put our masks and jumpsuits on and got to work. It was easier to just put our heads down and work and not think about the devastation we were moving through. It was easier to simplify our time there down to a single shovelful of sludge at a time, and not think about how the church would ever rebuild or the long process of recovery for the whole community.

Day Three:
Day three brought the hardest work of the whole trip. We drove 30 minutes out of the city to a house that had not even been entered until we got there. It was in a floodplain within eyeshot of a river and was built on stilts. The people in that little community were used to floods, but this one was worse than anything they had ever seen. Even on 10 feet of stilts the water rose high enough to cover everything but the roof. The smell of rot and mold assaulted us as we opened the door. For the next seven hours we threw Tom and Renee’s (the owners of the house) possessions out of the front door and straight into the dump truck waiting below. The house was too small for the whole team to work in simultaneously, so we had a lot of time to wait outside and talk with Tom and Renee. As their story came out of them it cast what we were doing in a different light. Tom and Renee live on very little. Tom built the house with his own hands, every step of the process from digging the postholes for the stilts by hand to building on each additions paycheck by paycheck. It was a process that had taken them six years and before the flood came all they had left to do was spackle the ceiling in the second room and then at last it would be done. I wonder what it was like, given that he drove every nail himself, to see us tossing his drywall out of his front door, or hear the sounds of banging and kicking coming from inside all day. They told their story over and over to people who would approach them and they cried often, but it wasn’t the sadness of their situation that made them cry. It was the fact that we had come there to help them. They were blown away by it. They didn’t know what to say. Tom told me that before we came he had almost given up on ever entering the house again. He had thought of simply letting the contract on the land expire and moving somewhere else, abandoning the house he had built, but, looking at the inside of his house as we were packing up he said that now they had a chance to return. When we arrived that morning all their possessions were piled in the center of the house, looking as though they had been torn up inside a blender and covered with the same black sludge we had seen in the basement – everything was slick and stinky with it. By the time we left the floor was cleared down to the plywood and the walls were stripped to the studs. All the foul smelling ruins that had become of all their things had been carted to a dumping site. We took a picture together and went home.

Day Four:

The final day most people went back to Czech Village to help them clean up for a rally they were having the following Tuesday, and some people stayed behind at the dealership to clean it up too, but I had the unique privilege of going to Wal-Mart, Home Depot and a number of other stores and spending the money The Crossing sent us up there to distribute ($6,500) to buy gifts for people we helped that weekend. The day before we had put our heads together to brainstorm what would be the best gifts. To Dave and Starla we gave a gift certificate to Sears (Dave runs a small motor business out of his garage and many of his tools were destroyed), a new mattress, as well as money to Wal-Mart for them to use on food and essentials while they put their lives back together. To Jon (who had been so generous with outfitting us out of his own pocket for the supplies we needed to work while we were with him), we gave $1,000 to pay for more supplies that he would need to rebuild. It was just a fraction of the money it is going to take to put the business back together, but it is still something. To the congregation of the church we helped, we gave $50 gift certificates to Wal-Mart to every member of the congregation. Tom and Renee said that what they needed most was money for food and gas, so we gave them $600 to Wal-Mart as well as $300 to Home Depot to pay for a new deep freeze (Tom hunts some of their food and had a freezer full of all the meat they were planning on living on over the winter). When we came back and delivered the gifts, they didn’t know what to say other than "thank you" over and over.

For more on this story, visit the Missourian website.

Global Mind: Myanmar and Nargis

Read Nathan Tiemeyer's post on the crisis in Myanmar in the wake of hurricane Nargis, posted on Every Square Inch.

TED Talks: Microfinance and Thoughts on How to Fight Poverty

Jacqueline Novogratz talks about the work she has done in creating real change in poverty in Africa and around the world. Watch the video here.

Quote from her lecture:
"We so often don't realize what our action and inactions does to people we think we will never see and never know."

"4 billion people on Earth make less than $4 a day."

"A couple of principles [of microfinance]: Build small, make it infinitely expandable, and affordable to the poor."

[about Malaria bednets] "$5 save a life. Malaria is a disease that kills 1-3 million people a year...We can send people to the moon, we can see if there is life on Mars, why can't we get $5 nets to 500 million people?"

Feature: Why Poor Nations Remain Poor

Wayne Grudem offers his thoughts on how a biblical worldview affects economic development and how that had contributed to the history of economic growth globally.

Thoughts about Jamaica and Home

I just spent a week in Harmons, Jamaica building houses, hauling piles of rock up hills, getting to know Jamaicans and the American who were with me. T. S. Eliot was right when he said, "...the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." I have felt that effect a bit since coming home. It's ironic to learn about America by learning about Jamaica, but that's the way it goes. So I wanted to put some thoughts down about Jamaica, America, and an incredible week.

• On the flight down I sat next to a man named Ken who told me that he is away from his family traveling 40 weeks out of the year. I looked out the window and was astounded at the beauty of the earth from above and I asked him if in flying so much seeing that beauty ever got old. He leaned over me and looked out the window and said, "Yeah, I've seen more beautiful things than that," then he paused and added, "but it's all beautiful if you can learn to see it right." If there was a theme of my time in Jamaica it was this. We were surrounded by Jamaica's tropical beauty staring at us out of every window. I saw beauty in the Jamaicans, in the hospitality they extended to us, in the work we did together, in the wonderful sense of community they share. I saw beauty in an infirmary we traveled to one day. This place was described to us as "the worst nursing home in the states multiplied by 1,000". When we arrived people were half-clothed, laying about in their own mess, barely able to pull themselves upright, see, move, or speak. We 24 Americans began to wander around the Infirmary and people would call us aside and pull us near them and asked to be read to. I could not help thinking that beyond the mess my eyes can see on the outside of this person is a human being and then I tried to offer them the simple grace of human touch, or a smile, or a listening ear.

• One road runs through the valley of Harmons. All the houses are strung up the hillside with paths leading back to the road. Walking down the road you see Jamaicans standing on the side of the road or walking down along it. Driving down the road you hear all the drivers honking at each other, not because they are angry, but to say hello because they know each others names. If you have extra seats, pick someone up and give them a ride a bit further down the road. I couldn't help compare the topography of the culture of the village with our culture. Harmons is literally a valley, but it is also a valley culturally, with all the people tending downhill towards one another, sharing common space and common lives. Whereas walking around campus you see half the people with little white wires sticking out of their ears or cell phones in front of their faces and their own private smiles on. I wonder if we are losing our common world in ways that are not good for our souls. If Harmons is a valley, American culture is a sphere, with every individual facing the danger of sliding away from every other individual if they are not careful. A large degree of shared life is a common starting place for culture in Harmons, but here we have to fight for it. When we come into a circle of people or a place where this is not the case, where people have made some change and are living life along different lines than the sphere it is an oases and an exception. But surely the gospel calls us to live a different way than the trend of our culture. The gospel leans us toward one another, binds us together and makes us a people radically for one another. Yet it is so easy to simply pick up our feet and let the current carry us somewhere else, and this should make us wary.

• Happiness is about being filled, but joy involves emptiness. There were moments of joy in Jamaica, but it was mixed in with some small pinch of sorrow. Sometimes it came in the form of a longing for home, for food, or for rest after a long, tiring day. Whatever it was the joy came in the context of weariness, loneliness, or pain and in those moments the small, simple graces the God gives were big enough to be enough. This is different from the happiness I pursue at home. At home I have enough control over my life to chase down and eliminate pain and loneliness and boredom and longing at the first sign of them. The cup stays full, but I think I might be missing something in it never being empty. Perhaps this is what St. Francis of Assisi meant when he said, "God is always trying to give us good things, only our hands are too full to receive them." I met a man named Peter who was barely able to raise himself from his bed. His arms and legs don't work. He sat out side and someone had put a tarp up in front of him to block the sun from the little spot he sat all day long. Other than that, there were few of the comforts that inundate my life. When he saw me walking toward him he started to laugh and smile and make small sounds of happiness, showing all the joy that his body would let him show. I sat down next to him and he stretched out his hand. It meant so much to him to have me simply touch him. He motioned to the Bible in my hand and worked to get the words Psalms 23 out of his broken mouth. As I flipped through the Bible and read it to him the promises asleep on its pages woke up and chimed. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. In my Fathers house there are many rooms, I go to prepare a place for you. None who wait on the Lord will be put to shame. His sounds of joy punctuated every verse...
  

Global Mind: Friends in Kenya (3)

Here is another story from a friend of the Crossing in Kenya:

Matayo’s (Kenyan translation of Matthew) comes from one of many broken families in Kenya. His father became an alcoholic after loosing a good government job as an accountant. Matayo’s father was blamed for the embezzlement done by more powerful men from a more favored tribe. This is a common tale especially among less favored tribal groups who suffer accusations & suspicion due to Kenya’s lingering tribalism. When Matayo’s family became destitute, his parents took the kids back to their home area, far away from Nairobi. In the busy street market of this distant city, the father sent the kids on errands to get a few small things. While the kids were busy and dispersed, he pushed their mother onto a bus and left them all behind. (Matayo learned this part of the story many years later when he was able to locate his mom & his still very drunken father. He says their life is terrible & he would not want to have to live with them. He has pity on them & has forgiven them for what they did. He also took his youngest sister from them because she was not getting educated & was mistreated.) When they were abandoned the kids were very young (ages 3-14 years old). They thought their parents accidentally got separated from them and must surely be searching for them. Fearful and without resources, the kids searched the town in vain. Thus began their struggle to survive. The oldest brother died not long after their abandonment, leaving them grief-stricken & less protected. Eventually, they begged their way back to Nairobi, the only place they knew to look for their parents. Since they found no trace of their parents, they lived in the streets of the slums, begging, eating trash & scattering to survive however they could. Eventually, one brother got a small job delivering cans of water. He was given a little food & a corner where he could sleep. Since he was no longer transient, he became their point of connection, a place to check-in and hear news about one another.

Matayo’s path of survival led to joining a street gang. He doesn’t talk much about the gang but he says, “You would never want to be near such things. We were terrible.” During his time on the streets, he earned the nickname, Tati, which means boxer or fighter. Eventually, Matayo heard the gospel through missionaries. He was taken in by them and he began to have a better life & education & worked his way up in their ministry program. But like the seeds in the parable that fell among thorns, the gospel message was choked in him & he was persuaded by his gang brothers to betray the trust of the missionaries & return to gang life. Accused of being an accessory to crimes the gang perpetrated, Matayo spent time in prison. His time in prison brought home to him how much he needed God. He repented & sought forgiveness putting his hope again in Christ. When he was released He praised God for working on his behalf but still his walk of faith was sporadic and disjointed with much contradiction remaining in his life. Through the help of different missionaries he was given a second chance & was able to gain entrance into college. On campus, he came into contact with a group of sincere Christians. He grew greatly in the Lord through his friendship with them & their Bible studies. As he got into deeper friendship with these believers & grew spiritually, he became involved with New City Fellowship church. Now he helps with their youth and soccer programs. As his faith has grown his burden to help his family has also grown. Most of Matayo’s siblings suffer deeply from mental illness & addiction. Some are incarcerated for stealing & prostitution. He has only two brothers who are able to work & who take care of their families. Matayo now helps his nearest brother care for the teenage sister he brought away from his parents’ farm. They had her attending school until she became pregnant last year. Now she & her baby live with the brother’s family. Matayo also helps them support & educate the abandoned kids of another brother who is abusive, mentally ill & addicted. Matayo is thankful to be able to rescue them so they won’t go through what he faced on the streets. He sees this as part of God’s blessing of his life. Whether sharing a new bit of understanding about a passage of scripture or dividing his meager funds to provide for someone else’s tuition or shoes, everything Matayo gains he passes on to his family members. He has also become an eager volunteer helping with orphanage & school projects funded by members of The Crossing.

Matayo is a growing follower of Christ. His family experienced much trauma during the recent post election violence. During the riots, Matayo’s brother was badly injured in a machete attack while defending his family & preventing them from being burned alive inside their slum dwelling. Matayo got a call about their peril & walked far from his small college room, around the violence in downtown to reach his suffering family members. Then, he carried the small children as the family carefully made their way back through the violence convulsed city to his place. All in all, 12 of them stayed in his small place for several weeks. They did not have adequate water or toilets for so many but at least his place was in a safer neighborhood near campus and they all survived. Matayo was able to help his family because he has been helped by members of The Crossing. Matayo lives sacrificially so he can share with his family and keep the young ones in school. He does this because he knows he’s been brought up from the lowest place by the love & grace of the Lord. He readily confesses it is not because he is worthy that God has shown him grace.

Matayo in his own words from recent emails:
Early January (2008): “Over here it has not been a happy new year for Kenyans. Things have been so bad there has been blood shed everywhere. One of my brothers had been cut on the head several times, but he is doing fine. I had to go and get the rest of my family from [the slum] and bring them to my place. They called me and told me that they were surrounded by a mob that was burning houses in the slums. It was a very horrible experience for them, were it not for my injured brother they would have been burnt in the house. But I thank God for protecting them. I went and took all of them out. They are at my place at the moment. It is safe there compared to [the slums.] Now I have 12 people in that small house of mine. We hope and pray that things will become calm. The past 5 days have been so terrible for everyone here. Please pray for Kenya that God’s will prevails.”

Middle January: “Over here things are a little bit tense at the moment. I have been struggling the past few weeks trying to maintain a big family at my house. I thank God that somehow I managed and also I thank God for [missionary friends] who were there for me. They really helped me through prayer and everything else. It was a very difficult and trying moment for us here, things are turning back to normal and we are praying that God will see Kenya through these trying moments. We have already opened College but I have not yet reported back, as I am very down at the moment in every way. I have also found a new school for my sister she will be joining soon and continue with where she left before she got pregnant. This has also exhausted every penny I had.”

Early February: “It is good to know that God is taking care of me because sometimes things seem to be very difficult, especially when almost everyone in my family looks at me in times of trouble. These past few days have been so hard but it is good to trust in God. I am still learning how faithful God is every passing day. My family went back to my brother's place and I have already resumed back to college. My brother is getting well, the wounds are drying and he can work. Their place is peaceful at the moment but there is still some tension and people are yet to recover from the trauma. [A member of The Crossing] has passed on some cash to help us live this month, I am so thankful and may God bless you all in every way. I sincerely don’t know how to express my joy. I am also very happy that some of the cash I have been saving has helped me put my sister back to school. These are miracles that God is doing to me. My sister has been doing well & her baby is also fine. She is 4months old now... God bless you so much and may he keep you well.”

Global Mind: Friends in Kenya (2)

Thanks to Luke Miedema for the following:

"Most of you are probably aware of the tribal conflict, violence, and political instability that has consumed Kenya in the past month and a half. My guess, however, is that fewer of you are familiar with the partnerships The Crossing has with a number of ministries working and living in this East African country.

Instead of explaining the details of the conflict here, I want to use this space to inform you of the direct affect the violence and instability has had on just a couple of our partner ministries in Kenya. (There are many good summaries of the overall situation elsewhere. See the links at the bottom of the page.)

One ministry we have been supporting for more than two years is the Pamoja Hope Orphanage in Ijogi, Kenya. Paul and Martha began inviting 40-50 orphans from their community into their home offering them one solid meal a day (which they paid for out of their own pocket). The majority of the kids suffer from AIDS passed on from their moms in childbirth. Martha currently houses 55 kids in the orphanage building The Crossing funded, runs a pre-school out of the building for more than 100 kids, provides tuition for some older kids to attend primary and secondary school, and takes any sick ones to the hospital for medicine and care.

I received this email from Martha just a few days after the violence began in the country:

“Thanks for your prayers, we really needed that. Yes, there was some bit of rioting in our area especially targeted to us because we don’t come from Meru. About 30 youths came at around midnight and started shouting and throwing stones towards the dormitory. They destroyed five windows and the children got really scared.

At around 3am, I gathered courage and I went to talk to them. God gave me favor, they stopped shouting and we even prepared them some coffee. That’s the worse it got.
Everything is now back in order and I know that Kenyans are peace loving people and its my honest prayer that something like this may never happen again."


New York Times - Kenya 1
New York Times - Kenya 2
BBC - "600,000 Displaced in Kenya"
Reuters - "Election Disputed"

Global Mind: Friends in Kenya

I asked Cami Wheeler, a member of the Crossing who has lived in Kenya for the past two years, to tell the story of a few people God is using in remarkable ways in Kenya.

Here is Erick's story:
"Erick is the oldest of 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. They live in a slum called Kawangware in Nairobi, Kenya. They were orphaned when Erick was in his early teens and Joshua, the youngest, was just an infant. Initially, they were given into the care of a distant uncle. This man sold their farm for his own profit, deprived them of education and forced them to work as house and farm slaves. They endured much abuse while living with him. Erick, being the oldest, knew it was up to him to find a better life for their family. He fled and made his way from their rural area to the capital city, Nairobi. He hoped to find work so he could rescue the others. But work is hard to find and like so many others who come to Nairobi full of hope Erick ended up disappointed and destitute. He became a street-boy in Kibera, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. He was deeply depressed and suffering more abusive treatment in the slum. He determined to end his life and secured poison to accomplish his goal.
The day he was planning to take the poison a friend of his father found him in Kibera and shared the hope of the gospel with him. This man had been searching throughout Kibera and other slums in Nairobi for many months in hopes of rescuing Erick and sharing the love of Christ with him. God’s timing brought him to Erick at just the right time. Upon hearing the gospel Erick was immediately filled with the hope and gave his life over to the Lordship of Christ. He says grace found him and brought him back from the brink of death. Now Erick has finished high school and is in his early-mid twenties. He has rescued his siblings from their uncle and he raises them himself. Life in their slum is often hard but they are thankful and happy to be together. The second brother, Ezekiel, is in a carpentry apprenticeship in Western Kenya thanks to missionary support Erick raised for him. Their sister, Dorothy, has a seizure disorder & is mentally handicapped. She has been through many difficulties. Last year she was raped and conceived a baby that she carried to term despite many people pressuring the family to get her an abortion. Thankfully their commitment to the Lord kept them strong. And the support provided by The Crossing and other ministries helped to pay Dorothy’s hospital fees. Baby Mary is now awaiting adoption in an orphanage in Nairobi because their family just does not have the resources to raise her. After much searching and prayer Dorothy has been accepted into a wonderful school for the mentally handicapped and is safe and thriving. Effi and Joshua are the youngest. They attend grade school in Nairobi and are doing pretty well. Erick is in a Microsoft Computer Technician training program and hopes to complete it in the next year if he is able to get support for his tuition and testing fees. He wants to eventually go on to get a university degree in computer science. But raising his siblings and providing for their education is his highest priority. So he hopes to find a job that will allow him to continue in school while providing income for the family. For now Erick and his family members are dependent on the support of friends and churches like The Crossing who help with tuition and living expenses while he is in school.

Erick in his own words:
"It is really tough for me to be the mom and dad at the same time, and sometimes I do have questions in my heart and even complaints, but pray that the Lord will teach me how to focus on him alone. I pray that I will be strong in all this. Life has not been easy at all, but I am rejoicing in the Lord for how good he has been to me and my family. I am lifting his name high and I want my heart to bless him, I was reading Psalm 103 this morning and I almost cried. 'Bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless his Holy name.’ He has done great things in my life and I want to live praising him. Help me pray that I will be always reminded that this world is not my home and that I am just passing by. The world has taught me a lot and I can not wait for the joy that is waiting for me in heaven, I am even glad that if I die now, I will be rising up with Jesus when he comes."

In the recent post-election violence in Kenya these words and the faith behind them have been put into practice. When the violence broke out Erick endangered himself by caring for his neighbors who were victims of greater violence because of their tribe. He continued to do so until because of his action on his neighbors behalf it became to dangerous for him to remain and he was forced to flee his home. Erick and his family are currently safe, but surrounded by ongoing violence.

Please pray for Kenya and Erick and his family. If you want to know more about the Crossing's ties to people in Kenya or how to help Erick and his family email Patton.andy@gmail.com

Global Mind: Mountains Beyond Mountains

On a trip back from Iowa today I listened to an excellent book called Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder. The book chronicles the life of the Paul Farmer and his remarkable achievements in advancing global health. Kidder followed Farmer for years in his travels all over the world and the result is a book that tells the story of one of the world's great men. Farmers story left me with the feeling of being impacted, and the suspicion that I would continue to learn as I milled the book over in my head and wrestled with the questions it raises. If recommend the book if you are at all interested in making a sick world well or if you are at all tired of feeling comfortable in your comfort.

Here are some quotes from the book. Thanks to Riches for Good, where I found the quotations.

In his mind, he was fighting all poverty all the time, an endeavor full of difficulties and inevitable failures. For him, the reward was inward clarity, and the price perpetual anger or, at best, discomfort with the world... (210)

[Many people] think all the world's problems can be fixed without any cost to themselves. We don't believe that. There's a lot to be said for sacrifice, remorse, even pity. It's what separates us from roaches. (Paul Farmer, 40)

I think there's a point where you realize the world has just been revealed to you...It's sort of, Oh no, things will never be quite the same again. (Ophelia Dahl, 74)

If people could be kept from dying unnecessarily, then one had to act. (102)

Lives of service depend on lives of support. He'd gotten help from many people. (108)

Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. (Margaret Mead, 164)

The problem is, if I don't work this hard, someone will die who doesn't have to. That sounds megalomaniacal. I wouldn't have said that to you before I'd taken you to Haiti and you had seen that it was manifestly true. (Paul Farmer, 191)

I imagine that many people would like to construct a life like Farmer's, to wake up knowing what they ought to do and feeling that they were doing it. But I can't think that many would willingly take on the difficulties, giving up their comforts and time with family. (213)

It should be enough to humbly serve the poor. (Paul Farmer, 256)

That's when I feel most alive, when I'm helping people. (Paul Farmer, 295)