Your invitation to pray with us
can you describe poverty?
I'm reading this really really great book called "When Helping Hurts". It is written to the North American church and beggs the question, what the **** should we, the wealthiest people to have ever walked the face of the earth (materially speaking) be doing to serve the poor? But more importantly it looks at all the things we have done and are doing that have the best intentions but are actually hurting those we are trying to serve. It all starts by defining poverty. I found this exercise to be intriguing...
"What is poverty? Make a list of words that come to your mind when you think of poverty"
The following responses have been taken from a study in the 1990's from the World Bank-the responses listed below are words that the poor used to describe their own situation:
"For a poor person everything is terrible-illness, humiliation, shame. We are cripples; we are afraid of everything; we depend on everyone. No one needs us. We are like garbage that everyone wants to get rid of." -Moldova
"When one is poor, she has no say in public, she feels inferior. She has no food, so there is famine in her house; no clothing, and no progress in her family." -Uganda
"[The poor have] a feeling of powerlessness and an inability to make themselves heard." -Cameroon
"Do you see any difference between how you described poverty at the start of this chapter and how the poor describe their own poverty? Is there anything that surprises you? While poor people mention a lack of material things, they tend to describe their condition in far more psychological and social terms. North American audiences tend to emphasize a lack of material things such as food, money, clean water, medicine, housing, etc... This mismatch between many outsiders perceptions of poverty and of poor people themselves can have devastating consequences for poverty alleviation efforts.
When a sick person goes to the doctor, the doctor could make two crucial mistakes: 1) Treating symptoms instead of the underlying illness; 2) Misdiagnosing the underlying illness and prescribing the wrong medicine. Either one of these mistakes will result in the patient not getting better and possibly getting worse. The same is true when we work with poor people. If we treat only the symptoms or if we misdiagnose the underlying problem, we will not improve their situation and we might actually make their lives worse.
The problem goes well beyond the material dimension, so the solutions must go beyond the material as well."
So how then must we define poverty?
a good day
PREFACE: If you could listen to Mumford and Sons-Timshel-while you read this, it would greatly enhance your reading pleasure...seriously.
Timshel<<click here to listen
We have been meeting with two guys in a place called Bhobhoyi for the past 7 weeks. We meet to read the Bible together and talk about how we can become more obedient to His word. One of the guys we meet with is kind of a church goer, kinda not. When we met him he was in a "trial period" with God. He had tried some of his cultural things, ancestor worship, animal sacrifice, etc... and wasn't seeing any thing positive happen in his life. So he tried God...he's trying God. The other guy is not a church goer at all. His family goes to the Zionist church, but he doesn't attend. He wasn't really against God, but not really for Him either...neutral sort of.
Watching them read the bible and hearing their responses-what their learning, what they are doing in response to what they are learning, has been one of the coolest things I've ever seen or done in my life. Derek and I don't teach or tell them our opinion, we leave that part up to God-we figure He can do a better job than either of us. I'm watching them learn what it means to love from the One that created it.
One of the questions we ask when we meet is "is their any needs of each others we can meet this week, and if not, is there a need or stress in our community we can meet?" Today they told Derek and I they had been visiting a boy and his family that used to meet with us. The boy is 16 years old and his mother is really sick. He isn't going to school because he moved to Bhobhoyi after the school year had begun. They asked us if we would visit the family with them. Of course.
We walked into a little one room flat. It had a bed squeezed in one corner, a wardrobe in the other and a little burner in the other. The boy is living their with his mother and two siblings. They must have a mattress they pull out at night and sleep on the floor. Another neighbor was their visiting as well. During our conversation the neighbor told us that the boy is going to have to get a job and provide for the family sense the mother can no longer work. She reminded him that he had the brains and the physical ability to work and care for his mother. The boy stood their and shook his head and my heart broke...he's 16! 16! He needs to be in school and playing soccer and laughing with his friends... But that's not his reality. His story is the story of so many 16 somethings here...I hate that. I hate it.
But the two guys we were there visiting with piped up. They just said "we're here to encourage you, we're here to say hello and to sit and talk with you and visit you. This isn't the last time we'll be here, we'll keep coming." The boy smiled and shook his head again.
It was one of those moments.
Where everything stops for just a second. It's so bad, but it's so good. These guys we meet with have nothing to give. They have no money, no answers, not even a prayer (not yet, not yet, we're still in Genesis)...but they were there. They are just two twenty somethings holding arms with a 16 year old kid going through a hard time, a really hard time.
Tonight I was doing the dishes and that song came on, Timshel by Mumford and Sons...and my eyes welled up with tears-
Cold is the water
It freezes your already cold mind
Already cold, cold mind
And death is at your doorstep
And it will steal your innocence
But it will not steal your substance
But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand
Hold your hand
And you are the mother
The mother of your baby child
The one to whom you gave life
And you have your choices
And these are what make man great
His ladder to the stars
But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand
Hold your hand
And I will tell the night
Whisper, "Lose your sight"
But I can't move the mountains for you
Today reminds me why I'm here...what could South Africa look like if a few more people would crack their bible and begin asking, what will I do about what I just read? Would they stand with their neighbors, with nothing to give but to remind them they aren't alone? We stand with you, for no gain of our own. What would the world look like...now I'm getting a little extreme and sappy, but really??
We show up every Thursday morning to read the bible with a couple of guys from Bhobhoyi and our only hope is that He does too.
The Blow Torched Body Slam
Wow. Just finished watching an interview of Derek and I before we moved here, talking about this big African adventure ahead of us...and I barely recognize the people sitting on that stage.
These two newlyweds with a pretty packaged two year plan excited about saving the world. Living in the Eastern Cape and workin with this little ministry... I'm writing this today from my couch in the KwaZulu Natal province, doing nothing I thought I would be doing, with my husband I've been married to for 3 years and wondering how I got here?
I hear myself talking about the "need" in this nation, man-oh-man I had no idea...I don't think I really knew it at the time, but I was out to meet those needs. And I've been shown and convinced and body slammed with the truth that I just can't solve all South Africa's problems. That all those good things I wanted to do, were nothing compared to what it could be like if my job was just preparing a little space for Him to do. And sometimes for a "doer" like me that feels a bit like being tortured with a blow torch. It requires my trust be in Him and not me. It requires talking to Him more than talking to others. It requires asking questions when I just want to give 5 steps to happier tomorrow.
I just listened to my 2 years ago self say "I think it's comforting to investors and our parents that we're not just losing it and moving over to a foreign land where we know know no one and know nothing and have this dream of starting something new"... but that's actually, exactly what God had in store.
I'm no where I thought I would be, on so many levels. And sometimes I resent that and it feels unfair and I wonder if I'm moving backwards. But if I wasn't here I don't think I would be exactly where He wants me. Sometimes people put "missions people" or "ministry people" up on a pedestal. I'm becoming increasingly convinced we just might be the worst of the worst. I think He knew He'd have to drag me allll the way here to teach me who's boss.
defining people of peace
Headed to Durban today to meet with a team that longs to bring healing and transformation to South Africa through discipleship and excited about how we may be able to add strength to their efforts.
We are also meeting and speaking with a small church mostly made up of brand new Christians who are longing to carry His message into where they do life. We are really excited to have the opportunity to work alongside of them and invest into their lives.
Found such encouragement through Him and His word this morning...
"13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us." Acts 16:13-15
"30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household." Acts 16:30-34
Just a little reminder that He is at work in the hearts and lives of those around me. Trusting Him to lead us to these kind of people, these 'people of peace' people who are open to discovering who He is, and eager for their families and friends and neighbors to do the same.
Praying for existing teams and individuals we are working with...Mr. Vumile, Ms. Vava, Mr. Bongile, Mr. Derrick... that they would be provided opportunity for relationships like these...that families and entire villages and communities would be transformed from the inside out.
a way out of the muck
Haven't started reading her book "Dead Aid is Dead Wrong" however I am really excited to-her views intrigue me. She's speaking straight to my heart with her hope and vision for the future...the 10, 20, 30 years from now Africa. Sustainability makes my heart sing. I love to see African's fighting for Africa, and a woman at that--get it Ms. Moyo.
Praying for more African's in every field to find the will and passion to fight for this place. Thanking Him today for the opportunity to fight alongside of them.
Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho off to Qumbu we go
Today we are driving through Transkei to Mr. Vumile's home town (or should I say Village) of Qumbu. He has invited us along with our friend & partner Raymond to come train his simple house church of about 15 people in CPM principals. We are so very excited to provide the support and tools for Mr. Vumile to lead his community in reaching those that are far from Christ within their village and to be the church body within their rural African community.
God has begun doing some exciting things within this area. We see a team of African leaders developing around Umthatha, all who have a passion for bringing their friends and neighbors into a life-transforming relationship with Him. It's beautiful-each of them have their own contribution to communities that also provide them access to other influencial leaders in these areas.
As we go this week we are praying:
-for clear communication and open receptive hearts and minds for the folks we are going to build relationship with and train
-we are thanking God for the team of African leaders He has begun constructing in the Eastern Cape and praying for their unity and relationships this week as they spend a bit of time together connecting with Him and finding ways of reaching their communities together
a day without dignity?
I hesitate to post this video because we personally do not find that attacking others attempts at aide is going to change the situation in Africa. We recognize that aide to Africa has become a controversial issue. However the statistics in this video are alarming enough to pose the questions are we often harming more than we are helping without even realizing it?
"Handing out free goods out competes local markets"
"Used clothing imports to Africa caused 50% of the increase in unemployment between 1981-2000"
"Between 1992-2006 543,000 Nigerian textile workers lost jobs due to imported clothes donations"
I enjoyed a few other viewers suggestions and thoughts about the possibility of Tom's sourcing locally to provide a bit more dignity and sustainable change??
build deep to build wide
What a pointless structure...sure it's something to admire as a great work of art, but it's mostly useless. Scaffolding is meant to help build something-to leave something that is much sturdier and far more secure behind. The point isn't the scaffolding but the structure.
"The mission society is like scaffolding that is used to build a building, and the scaffolding is designed to be moved elsewhere eventually. As long as it is there, one cannot really see what the building looks like. Sadly, the kind of scaffolding that some mission societies erect and maintain is the kind that actually holds the building up. Removing it could jeopardize the structure!
Have you ever seen a building or bridge made with poured concrete? The builders put wooden or metal trusses under the bridge, and then pour concrete over the top to form the road over the bridge. Suppose for a moment that the engineers and the construction people built such a structure with concrete so weak that they couldn't take out the framework used to hold it up. That is sometimes why mission societies hold on the way they do, because the structure they built is tied to the mission. And if one were to "take down" the mission scaffolding, the fear is that the entire structure would collapse. It may take a heap of Christian grace to acknowledge when this is the case and to do something about it."
We had an incredible week with Mr. Derrick and his wonderful family. He has built beautiful 'buildings' all over eSikhaleni. But he's in the business for a little renovating. We have committed to working alongside him and each of his teams and church body to plant the gospel through eSikhaleni and Zululand. Mr. Derrick has this inspiring drive and passion to see the church BE the church within their communities. To reach those in his neighborhood, places of business and surrounding communities that are so far from living out of their relationship with their creator.
Each night we were there we joined him and the church he leads at their "Easter week tent revival". Each night Mr. Derrick shared a bit of his vision for what their community could look like if the gospel was at the heart of life in Esikhaleni. He motivated his church body to "be" the church in stead of "doing" church. He even gave a brief training for how they are going to get there.
Mr. Derrick has a dream of planting 35 million simple churches over the next 7 years throughout South Africa. You may be laughing, and you wouldn't be the first. Each time he shares his dream and vision the room erupts into laughter. But Mr. Derrick doesn't mind because he has a plan. This year he is heavily investing in 12 people. The next year he's going to help each of them invest in 12 people and the year after that he'll help those 12 invest in 12 more... Mr. Derrick understands the principals of multiplication and understands even more that he could never build a building big enough to hold, let alone attract 35 million people to himself--beautiful isn't it?
Scaffolding was made to support a structure so it could be moved to help build the next building. It was never meant to be the building. There is no way for it to function the way a building ought to. Plotting, planning and praying as we support Mr. Derrick and his enthusiastic endeavors to bring a bit of heaven to earth throughout South Africa.
Blogroll
- Church Planting Movement
- Discipleship
- Hunt SA
- meaningfulchurch.com
- Mercy Alliance
- roymoran.com
- Shoal Creek Community Church
Categories
Archives
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009