Life is Funstrating

Christmas 2009

2009-12-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

As Christmas approaches I can’t help but reflect on where we have been and where we are going. I am going to assume not all of you will finish reading this letter but my hope is that you do. These days when people hear the words “Christ” or “Jesus” they usually put their fists up. It makes sense when Christianity, particularly in America, is lately being stereotyped as: unforgiving, hypocritical, homophobic, consumerism, bigotry, paternalism and much more.

These words are quite different then the words used in scripture explaining a follower of Christ. Galatians says, “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) I think many are trying to figure out how this change happened. Why aren’t his “followers” today living the way Galatians says to live? I think one of the main problems is we really aren’t looking to the people who once turned this world upside down. We are more influenced by what’s going on around us and the traditions of our day.

Eberhard Arnold said, “The original witness of the church must lead us all, though still in very different camps, into the unity and purity of the clear light. The period of original revelation must be the point of departure for any dialogue between the many churches, sects and movements of our own day. The awakening and uniting of all who truly desire to follow Christ will be given the source, and nowhere else.”
Looking back to the time of the Apostles you see something very different then what you are seeing today.

“We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We are patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” (2 Corinthians 6: 3-10)

Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment. (1 Corinthians 4:10-13)

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
If you only love those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:27-36)

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2)

There was a century of Christians who lived life followed by the Holy Spirit and turned that world upside down. But then something happened. People conformed. The church conformed.
Between the years of 140-200 AD was when the New Testament was given its primary form. Eberhard Arnold said, “AD 180 marks the turning point in the social and political stance of the church. From now on, Christians exerted increasing power and influence in politics and public affairs; they were no longer criminals in the eyes of the State like the first Christians.”
“From AD 313 to 325, Christianity was no longer a struggling religion trying to survive the Roman government. It was basking in the sun of imperialism, loaded with money and status. To be a Christian under Constantine’s reign was no longer a handicap. It was an advantage. It was fashionable to become a part of the emperor’s religion.” (Pagan Christianity, 2008)
Sound familiar?

These days many people are turned off from Jesus. Not because of Jesus but because of the people who claim to follow him. They claim him with their lips but their lives show something completely different. But this isn’t surprising. Scripture said this was going to happen. And many were going to do it. Today we find mass conformity. Many Christians in the Black Friday mobs, Christmas trees filled with presents, expensive homes filled of stuff, expensive cars, expensive habits, abusive spouses, and people consumed with themselves while not even realizing it. Imagine the 1 billion or so “Christians” today living like the early Church; going against what society has to offer. Imagine them living a life that demanded an explanation. Imagine if the body of Christ in America spent $230 billion dollars on the world’s crises instead of church real estate.

Ghandi said, “I like your Christ. I don’t like your Christians. You’re Christians act nothing like your Christ.”
My friend put it another way, “I love our Christ but I am sick of our Christians. They are nothing like our Christ.”
I hope sooner than later we can realize what Ghandi was saying…
The way I live life has been questioned a lot. The funny part about it is that many people who have questioned it happen to be Christians. But for some reason they live a completely different way of life than me. Am I wrong? Are they wrong? I don’t know if anyone is. At the end will Jesus really ask me why I didn’t take more? Why I didn’t buy more and more things for myself? Even though he preached about money and possessions and he told us to not store our treasures here on earth. Will he really tell me I should have spent more time and money on myself? For some reason I don’t see him asking those questions. As followers of Jesus we are called to give up our lives and everything else and follow him. He never said it was going to be easy. He said it was going to be very hard and many people will give up. I see what he meant. I see it almost every day. I believe all the people who gave up everything for others will find true treasures in everything they have done.
Again, 2 Corinthians 6: 3-10 says, “We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God”

The greatest gift you can give this Christmas is accepting our apology. We are sorry for causing many to stumble. We are sorry for living a life which contradicts the faith we claim. We are sorry for not showing you the true Christ. We are sorry for not loving our neighbors as ourselves. We are sorry for not forgiving. We are sorry for not showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are sorry for not acting like followers of Christ.

Relationships

2009-12-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been thinking about the life of someone I barely knew. He had a short life on this earth. His going was sudden and confusing. I find myself wondering why I even think of someone I didn’t know and briefly encountered close to 15 years ago. With the thoughts of him roaming in my head I have also been pondering this quote:

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" - Clarence Oddbody

Why do I feel like he has left an awful hole? I didn’t even know him. He touched my sister’s life more. I think I still feel the pain she suffered.

I can’t help but think of relationships and how people impact others. Relationships are the most important thing in life. But today we are becoming busier and busier. Why? For what? Are we becoming busier building relationships? Or busier making money? More and more we take people for granted. When they are in our presence we aren’t as thankful as when they are gone. Why do we pick up our phones when we are talking to someone face to face? Don’t we see that we are really saying, “Well, you’re not that important.” Society tells us to be busy. Work hard. Make money. Buy that house. Go for the newer car. Get your retirement set. Do anything it takes. Climb that ladder. A friend sent me this a while back:

"The things society says are important are not important. Your profession, your money, your looks. Loving people, having a deep connection with people, taking care of people, that is important."

What has made us become so concerned with our worldy lifestyle? We feel the need to tell the world what we’ve accomplished. What if we took more time to build relationships? Made less money. Watched less television. Spent less time on the internet. Spent less time at work. Reduced our style of material living. And used that time to make current relationships stronger and made new relationships with strangers. What if stopped to sit on that park bench and simply talked to people. What if we didn’t fear the unknown? What would happen if we didn’t fear change? What has caused us to become cold? Beauty comes from people, not from things. Imagine how much more beautiful life could be…

Once our time here is done nothing material comes with us. But the love we have shown to others does.

Why do we act as though we will live forever? We all know we are going to die. But we really don’t know when. It could be any second. But why do we act as though it won’t happen? What would happen to the world if we all loved more? Not just our families, but even strangers. Imagine fixing that broken relationship you neglect to address. Maybe opening your heart again and being humble instead of prideful. It’s never too late. What if we were slow to anger? Would it really hurt? What if we were happy to be interrupted in our busy lives. In this we have the opportunity to touch other lives and to be touched back. Think of how much more rich life would be.

I remember being told Askia was dead. My heart hurt. It still does. I can only imagine the hearts that still hurt after all these years. Thinking of him makes me think of the identical twin brothers from my high school. One morning one of them never woke up. Imagine the words his brother never got to say before his brother died.

We don’t know when our life might be over on this earth. Be grateful for the people in your life, even the strangers. Tell them how much they mean to you. Show love to all. It lasts forever.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

I love you all. Thank you for touching my life.

Chamwino update- 5.11.09

2009-11-05T11:04:00.002-08:00

It is amazing how fast time flies. It felt like I just sent out an email about the guests arriving and it is approaching a week that they have been gone. The two ladies had a good time. They taught three classes per day, four days a week. Each class they had a local translating which they admitted was a life saver. When it comes to teaching English things continue to be baby steps. At this point I see 3 people eager to learn and I believe they will be translating for guests in the near future.
Last Saturday I was the Muzungu cameraman at a local wedding. It was great. It was a long day and I was definitely tired but I had a blast. The night finished with some dancing at the reception. Good times. I took about 550 photos that day and I plan to make a DVD for the newlywed’s.
Sunday I made a quick 2 day trip to Dar to visit one of ex-coworker’s from Peet’s. She was traveling with her boyfriend throughout Tanzania and I was able to have dinner with them the evening before they left. They seemed to have had a great time.
Since returning to Chamwino I have taken over 2 of the classes which the ladies were teaching. I have a pretty full schedule at this point. I am teaching English every morning, afternoon, and early evening. I am trying to keep some room for the randomness of life.

return from Rwanda

2009-11-05T11:04:00.001-08:00

This is a quick one. I just wanted to email to say that I made it back to Chamwino one week ago. Now we have two wonderful guests, for 3 weeks, who are helping with teaching English. Lewis is back too.
Rwanda was beautiful. It rained. I saw a large body of water (Lake Kivu). Lots of hills (it’s the land of 1,000 hills...they aren’t joking). I experienced Genocide memorials.
It was surreal being in Kigali and surrounding areas knowing quite well the atrocities which happened 15 years ago. People in Rwanda are peaceful and are still healing. The government seems to be trying hard to unify its people. The Kigali memorial was powerful. There have been too many genocides in the past 100 years. Let me rephrase that, there have been too many human beings killing other human beings, in mass amounts, in the last 100 years.
I met a man named John. He is 33 years old and Tutsi. He was in secondary school at the time of the Genocide. He lost 5 brothers. He is a wonderful man but you know his heart hurts. He said he can’t see the memorials…it would be too hard.
I went to a village near Lake Kivu where in 1994 every 9 out of 10 Tutsi’s were slaughtered. At the time they were 20% of that village’s population.

25.09.09

2009-11-05T11:03:00.001-08:00

I have not updated in a little over a month. I haven’t had the words. I still don’t know if I really do. But I will try.
This past week has been challenging. I have been living by myself and I don’t like it. I like living life with people. I am in a wonderful community with great people but living in the corner of the village by my-self is not my most favorite thing. Today I saw a truck and on the back it said, “Don’t walk alone.” Seeing that really hit me. I have been feeling like I have been walking alone for some time now. This has been a huge challenge for me, which I am trying to think through and work through.
Steve was living with me for the past month but now he is back in Zimbabwe. Lewis is supposed to be returning from Zimbabwe but his return to Chamwino has been delayed due to his family stuff.

So, what have I been up to???
Every Tuesday and Thursday a man named Ezra teaches me Kiswahili in the morning and then in the evening I help him teach Secondary and Pre-form 1 students at a nearby primary school. I was helping with debate/discussion and now I am helping with some mathematics. This is turning out to be a good trade off for the both of us.
I am still working with the same group as before in the mornings and most evenings. The trade-off I just talked about changed things a little bit but not much. I have also been trying to remain available to help with the construction project when needed. At this point they have been working on the plastering of the toilets. I believe the completion of everything is expected to be done around the beginning of November.
When it comes to learning languages I have noticed the biggest difference between me learning Kiswahili and the locals learning English is resources. I have about 4 books to teach me Swahili but the people of Chamwino lack these materials. It would be extremely helpful if they had books in Swahili which would be teaching them English. I haven’t seen any. Also, I am speaking Swahili every day. I am learning more every day. It is hard for the people here to speak English more frequently because communication is easier in Swahili. Don’t get me wrong, people ARE trying and they ARE learning, but it’s harder for them because of these reasons. Because of this I made a 3 page document, for starters, and passed it around to many people. This will allow them to practice at home, like I do. The information is pretty much all the initial things I wanted to learn when I first started learning Swahili. The document is in Kiswahili and in English; this will help them see the patterns in things like greetings.
A little over a week ago Steve and I headed to Dar. He was getting ready to head back to Zimbabwe and I just needed a little time to regroup. We decided to make a trip to Zanzibar. We went for 3 days and it was nice. It was a little too touristy in the main areas but overall the island was beautiful. We were there during Ramadan so many of the shops were closed but it was good we didn’t have to mess with the craziness of daily life. It made it peaceful. The first night we stayed in Stone town and then the following morning we headed to the north of the island to an area called Kendwa. The island of Zanzibar has white powdery sand and clear blue water. The day before we left we took a boat trip to a coral reef and did a little snorkeling. I uploaded some pictures on Facebook. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2087386&id=39204366&ref=nf. (sorry I use FB to show photos. I know not all people have it but it is the easiest way for me to do it.)

Next Saturday I am leaving the country of Tanzania, BUT NOT FOR GOOD. My visa requires me to leave every 3 months even though my visa is a year. It’s crazy, I know. October 6th is already the 3 months mark. So, the 3rd of October I will take a bus journey to Rwanda. The bus ride will be 2 days both ways and I think I will stay in Kigali for at most 1 week. I chose Rwanda because they don’t require me to get a visa and I have someone I know there who said I can stay for free. This helps keep cost down a lot!

When I return to Chamwino Lewis will be here and so will two visitors from the states. It will be nice to have people in the house.

Chamwino update 19.08.09

2009-11-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

Things here in Chamwino are well. Everyday has been sunny, windy, and quite peaceful. I have not seen a drop of rain or even a cloud which looked like it had a rain drop in it. This area of Tanzania does not see rain until usually late November. It is extremely dry and sandy. When the winds come so does the sand. The other day I walked by a guest house and in the courtyard I saw a patch of grass. I stopped and thought to myself, “is that grass?” People here rely on their water taps for water and it’s a good thing water follows regularly; otherwise I don’t know what we would do.
Lately I have been helping with the current construction project and I have also been doing a few English lessons. Time has been a challenge. I have constructed a schedule where I devout certain time to people and often they are late. They don’t understand that their time is then cut short because I may have another group to meet with after. I am trying to find the best way through this but it is taking time.
Every evening there is a large group of kids hanging around the house. If I bring out the soccer ball you will soon find about 20 kids kicking the ball around. Many of the kids are too young for school so during the day they are hanging around playing in the sand. (I have attached some pictures of the kids)
Swahili is coming along very slow. I am picking up a little day by day.

Chamwino update 28.7.09

2009-11-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

A little over a week ago I arrived in Chamwino, the village I will be living in, and opened the door to my nice house but had one slight problem…IT WAS EMPTY! (I have included a picture of our kitchen and a picture of our view from the front door) Haha, to be honest I knew this was going to be the case but I didn’t know they REALLY meant it. After a week I headed back to Dar es Salaam to buy house supplies. (Kedmon, you will be happy when you return home…thanks again for letting me stay in your house.)
Yesterday I returned to Chamwino and now it is time to start “living.” Today I made a trip to Dodoma town on the daladala to finish up my house supplies shopping. The house still looks fairly bare because I am only getting what I need. It is funny to have guests over and they are surprised I don’t have much! They seem to have all the things for daily life around the house and I don’t. They laughed at me because I only had ceramic mugs for both water and coffee/tea. Good times…
Chamwino is much different then what I expected. I think I had a mixed vision from my past trips to Uganda. Chamwino is 2 km’s off the main road. It is small but spread out. The President has a state house, which he seems to never use, and there is also roughly 10 gated houses (nice houses) for his entourage and these houses are also vacant because the President is never here. It is strange to see this in a village where people mainly survive off their farm crops.
Right now it is very dry and in the village there isn’t many crops growing. June, July and August from my understanding does not have rain. Rainfall usually starts late November/early December and then continues until about March. January usually sees the most rain but even that is less than 8 inches for the whole month! The rains came late this year and now the crops are suffering and there is a lack of water.
During the night it gets really cold. The first week I had a sheet and I woke up at 3am freezing my butt off! I now have a blanket.
Yesterday I met with the Head Mistress of Chamwino Secondary School. This school had about 575 students and only 8 teachers (they should have 14-17 teachers…). At some point down the road I will begin tutoring during free periods and after school and maybe even help with coaching soccer.
For now I will begin living life here on a regular basis, becoming more familiar how things work and better my Swahili. I am going to start working one on one with a few specific people who are involved in the partnership. They have been working on increasing their English and now they need more time talking. I am excited to see how they respond through time. The community seems to be looking forward to me teaching English and assisting with other tasks.
Chamwino life is slow and I was told this front the get-go. I experienced this the first time I was in Gulu. The thing I like best thus far is the lack of cars. Most people walk around the village or use bicycles. Sometimes when I walk I feel like I am going to fall over because I am walking that slowly but I think about it and just laugh. Being late doesn’t seem like too much of a problem…that is always a challenge for us because we are always time conscious but in the end it always seems to work out.
The people here are WONDERFUL and I think I am going to enjoy living here. Tomorrow I am washing my clothes. I don’t think I can go any longer wearing dirty clothes. Haha.

Hope all is well and sorry this is long.

My heart wasn't ready for it...

2009-07-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have made it back to Africa. I am in Dar es Salaam.

I sadly have to say my joy turned to sadness within 4 hours. I went with three others to run some errands and on our way back we saw people screaming and trying to put out a fire. A Daladala, a minivan which carrys many people as transport, somehow caught fire. Before we knew it a women with a badly burned baby came running to our car. As I sit in the front I looked back and saw the skin dripping from the baby while she cried "mama mama." We are arrived as Dar es Salaam University hospital and soon after another car arrived with another baby, and 2 adults who had been burned.

I wish I could have started with something better but T.I.A. (This is Africa)

A response to a friend...

2009-04-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

The big picture is not looking good. It is overwhelming. There are people in this world who are very powerful and only care about their interests.

This is what I have come up with and I think it works for me...for now. I am one person. I have the choice to make this world a better place by the time I leave it or make it worse. I choose to make it better. I am one person. I can live differently even if others don't or say it is stupid the way I live. People have lost the meaning of chershing life and seeing God in one another. What has happened to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."? What if people lived this way? What if people loved God and loved People? Instead of use God and use Peope?!

Too many people tell others that it is ok in certain circumstances to kill. I disagree. People kill with direct actions and indirect actions. Someone tells someone to kill someone or they will kill them. Just like rebel groups. What if the kids said no, I will not kill. They will probably be killed but still they didn't kill. Gangs in America kill others for street cred. and it is accepted. It's ok to kill in war. American soldiers are "hero's" for killing. Has there ever been a good war or a bad peace? Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?

All I got to say is that another world is possible. Things have been going wrong for far too long. It IS overwhelming.

I am one person and you are one person. What does this mean? To me it means that I can fight for change. I can fight for justice. I can love people, no matter what. I can give up my life for someone else but I won't take a life. I am capable of doing what is within my means. Even if this world gets worse I can say that I did what I could to make this world a better place. and in a way you have. You have affected lives. You have loved with a love that doesn't make sense to this world.

This quote is on my wall, "when we treat others with love, we help them to see God. When others treat us with love, it reminds us of how God loves us. One of the greatest things we can do to remain in God and to remain aware of God's love for us is to simply love each other."

Look at the way people interact with one another on a daily basis. This is becoming hard to find. People have become complacent and don't genuinely care about others. People look our for their own selfish gain. This needs to change. But first we have to change it in ourselves and then it may ripple towards others.

Too many people in America are concerned with the American dream. They want the luxuries, the tight ride, the big house and the retirement. What if we sacrificed that? What if financially we "loved our neighbors as ourself"? How different would things look? People buy homes and give hundreds of thousands of dollars to banks in INTEREST! and many many "christians" have fallen into this load of crap!

overall: we can change ourselves. We can't feel responsible for changing others. If we felt that way we would be belittling God. If God is as big and powerful as we hear then He is the one that can and does change hearts. even without us. Learn to live selfless. Don't deceive yourself. Leave this world a better place with the way you choose to live life. That to me is worshipping God.

Life transformation: selfish to selfless

2009-04-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a movie and it has caused me to think about the meaning of human life. Many of our current actions towards others come from past situations. Many people react due to past pain, suffering, and at times even happiness. I always ask myself, “Do I care so much for others that I will give myself up for them?” This is a simple question to ask but not as simple to do. I believe the action of this comes from the conditioning of our hearts. Through the years I have seen many hearts hardened from past experiences. Through this humans have become disconnected.

The movie I watched focused on a man who lived through a painfully tragic situation. He felt responsible for the death of seven people. When you watch the scene of the accident one might say that he was selfish. The definition of selfish is:

concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for other

While driving his car he seemed to be more concerned with the message on his phone then with the safety of his wife or even other possible drivers on the road.

Through this tragic event his life changed and I saw his heart change. It was as if he became a humanitarian:

1. One who is devoted to the promotion of human welfare and the advancement of social reforms; a philanthropist.
2. a person who has the interests of mankind at heart

The story line followed his journey of finding people, good people, to help. He felt as though he took seven lives and because of this he felt like he needed to change seven lives to make things right. He gave up his needs and interests for others. He gave up body parts for others to be well. He once was selfish but then he became selfless:

1. Having no regard to self; unselfish.
2. putting other people's interests before one's own

Through all of his experiences I saw meaningful relationships formed; lives being changed. In his heart he was more concerned with the interests of mankind over anything else. He gave up his life for others.

Relationships are important. People are important. More important than we can even imagine. Imagine if we all lived somewhat like this? Imagine how much of a transformation in this world we would see. Imagine mass amounts of pain turned into joy and happiness. I can see it.

Why aren’t we all humanitarians? People who have the interests of mankind at heart. Instead of being concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for other.

Many times I have heard that it’s great that I am a humanitarian. I think why aren’t we all? Is it really not meant for all people? To me that thought is crazy.

A little while back I was talking to my friend and she told me about a friend of hers who was showing a group of friends his pictures from his military tour of Iraq. He told her she shouldn’t look at a certain picture because she is a humanitarian. The picture was of a soldier holding an Iraqi head, no body attached.

Like I said before: why aren’t all people humanitarians? What will it take to see all people living in a way where they put other people’s interests before their own? Many might say this is impossible. I say, “why?” I say, “It is possible.”

Do you care so much for others that you will give yourself up for them?

The Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean

2008-12-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

I am going back to Africa.

For how long? Indefinitely. As many of you know, Africa stole my heart with my two trips to Uganda. I always thought that’s where I would go again for a longer period of time but I also didn’t want to limit where I would go.

Where am I going this time? I am going to Tanzania. I will be working in a village called Chamwino, which is 25K East of Dodoma (the unfinished capital of Tanzania), which is Central Tanzania in East Africa.

What will I be doing? A lot. This is still being figured out but it looks like I will be overseeing development projects, learning Kiswahili (Swahili), teaching English, help with avoiding financial corruption, and numerous other tasks.

How did this come about? Well, I met a 75 year old woman who has fallen in love with Tanzania and knows they could use some help. Her church has partnered with a church in Chamwino and they would like to help expand the educational opportunities there. In the village people have their tribal language and they also know swahili (it’s learned in Primary school) but not many know English. One would learn English in Secondary school but many have not had the opportunity to get that level of schooling. In Africa there are a lot of primary (elementary) schools but a lot less secondary (high) schools. This has made it extremely hard on the people to get out of poverty.

What is the hope? Well, I would be taking the place of a man named Kedmon. In March he is coming to Seattle to get his doctorate and then return to his home village. The hope is to have education from preschool to doctoral studies within a closer area. Kedmon could come back after his studies to teach at the University of Dodoma or somewhere else close by. My understanding of it all is to have all levels of education within a certain amount of kilometers to make it easier on the people in the area.

Why do I say I could be there indefinitely? Kedmon’s doctorate could be 2-5 years. Would I stay that whole time? I don’t know. Would I be needed that whole time? I don’t know.

Right now, I am working to pay off my student loans so I will have no financial debt when I leave. I downgraded in cars so I no longer have car loans. I think I can be out of debt sometime in early 2009 but I am looking to be in Tanzania by July 2009.

This position is NOT paid. I have to have enough money set aside for an unknown amount of time. I am hoping to raise my support (initially for a year) and have people, once again, be a part of my trip.

What are the total costs? I want to be completely honest so here is the breakdown for a year:
Monthly living expense:

$100 A MONTH FOR HOUSING. $7 A DAY FOR FOOD, INCLUDING WATER AND SOFT DRINKS, CANDLES AND FIRE WOOD (EST. $200 A MONTH). TRANSPORT TO DODOMA PERHAPS TWICE A MONTH AND PERHAPS ONCE A MONTH TO DAR COULD BE ESTIMATED AT $40 A MONTH AND CELL PHONE CHARGES PERHAPS $20 A MONTH AND OTHER GENERAL EXPENSES PERHAPS $40 A MONTH (SOAP, BASIC MEDICINES, ETC.).
A TOTAL OF $400 A MONTH

Overall costs:

1. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT PLUS VISA $3,000
2. Shots $500 +/-
3. LIVING ALLOWANCES $5,000
4. EXTRAS $500
A TOTAL OF $9,000 FOR THE YEAR.

Depending on how much I can set aside after paying off my debt I am looking to raise about $6,000 or less. I think I should be able to set aside a good chunk of money…

There are a few options to raising support. Please consider one of the following:

1) make a one-time donation to help get me there and other related costs. This can be done by sending a check, made out to me, to 1881 NE 169 St., Shoreline, WA 98155. Or by sending money through PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2119186)

2) Commit to making a monthly donation each month. This will open up the possibility of me being able to stay longer. Once I am gone the easiest way will be through Paypal.

3) Throw an Acholi Beads house party (the proceeds help me to get to Tanzania and the women of Uganda and you get great jewelry!)

If you are able to help in any way (financially, prayerfully, or opening your home to gather) that would mean so much to me.

Thank you for being a part of my life.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Karl

Greed

2008-11-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched a movie with my buddy called "The Big One." It is a Michael Moore documentary about the tour publicizing his book Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American, in which he criticizes mass layoffs despite record corporate profits. Among others, he targets Nike for outsourcing shoe production to Indonesia.

This lead me to looking at www.responsibleshopper.com and the informaiton it has about Nike. In 2005 the Nike CEO was said to have made nearly $17 million in total compensation. I was shocked and looked at the website to find a whole lot more then I really wanted to see...

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/index.cfm

The link above is the CEO pay database.

The chief executive officers of large U.S. companies averaged $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, according to the latest survey by the United for a Fair Economy.

Here's the real eye opener:

Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

What is greed? Greed is the selfish desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others.

Corporate capitalism is a term used in social science and economics to describe a capitalist marketplace characterized by hierarchical, bureaucratic organizations which are legally required to pursue profit. All or most of the means of production are owned by the corporation.

So, when I see these extremes my heart drops. Where do I turn to for truth and answers? I turn to my Father's word.

First off, I know not all CEO's and people who give into the corporate latter believe in God and submit to his word but there are most likey quite a few out there that claim Christ as their King.

His word talks about the rich and the poor:

Proverbs 30:7-9 (NIV)

"Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

Psalm 82:3-4

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Matthew 6:19-24
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 19-16-22
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

18"Which ones?" the man inquired.

Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"

21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

James 5:1-6

1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Acts 4:32-35
32All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

When I read Acts 4 I think about if Jesus' way looks like a corporate system, or is he showing us something completely different??? I see something completely different...

Mark 12:41-44

41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

Does Jesus look at money the way we do? Here in Mark He says the lady who gave almost nothing in our eyes gave more then the rich people who gave out of their wealth. If you ask anyone today who gave more, most people would say the rich man. Would Jesus agree with you?

I write this because I wonder what we are doing. What have we done? and what have we become? When will we stand up and rise up agaisnt the injustices of this world that we give into?

I myself am trying to make a change. I work at Peet's Coffee and Tea because I love interacting with people. Last night I found out my CEO makes about $700,000 a year. He makes my 2 week salary in 2 hours!!!!! Something is horribly wrong. If my CEO takes an unexpected day off the company still brings in half a million dollars. But if all the little people (the barista's and managers) take an unexpected day off at the same time the company looses half a million dollars!!! SO, looking at this situation who is more important? The little people!!!! If we are that important for this company then why do we struggle to live while he lives so well???

This isn't the way of Jesus.

We can't say "God why are you letting this happen?"...Because his response would be, "why are you letting this happen? You are my hands and feet."

Actions speak louder than words

2008-08-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about how we as Americans and as Christians live here in America. When people come to know Jesus we find out that he has called us to a higher standard. Jesus' 2 greatest commandments were "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40)

In Matthew 15:8 Jesus says "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

When we think of 'love your neighbor as yourself' do we only think of the family next door? As Christians we should believe that all people, no matter where they are on this planet, are our brothers and sisters. They are our global neigbhor's. This is the body of Chirst.

I sent my buddy a text, it read: "The things we buy. Won't we don't know won't hurt us...only others."

Our "blessings" here in America in reality are causing harm and pain to our brothers and sisters throughout the planet because we have given into the American way or if you want to call it "the American Dream."

Many of us like Chocolate. When buying it we don't think twice of who was working on the Cocoa farms. We don't realize that it was children forced to work. Do we consider fair alternatives? Usually not, because it takes too much effort.

Here in America we love our brand new clothes. Do we think about who made it? Do we consider if they have rights? Are they in servitude? These are our brothers and sisters they we may never know but that doesn't mean we don't have to care.

Jesus said to Love your neighbor as yourself. When I think of this I ask myself "If I were in their situation would I want someone to help me?" My answer has always been "yes." and this causes me to think and live differently.

There is a website called Responsible Shopper. The link is: www.responsibleshopper.com.

You can go to this website to see what companies are violating our brother's and sister's human rights and many other things. Until we start living differently we won't see this world change. Ghandi said "Be the change you want to see in the world."

At least 27 million people are in servitude today. More than any other time in history. America is about 9% of the world's population but we consume over 50% of the world's resources. That is not a good thing for this earth or the people that live on it.

A few weekends ago I went to an IJM (International Justice Mission) advocate training. International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.

At the training I was blown away by a few things: 1) the snacks were M&M's 2) the beverage was Coca Cola 3) It was at a megachurch where when people left they were saying "wow! look at this, this place is awesome!

My response: This comes from Responsible Shopper "Hershey, along with M&M's/Mars, dominates the $13 billion dollar chocolate industry, much of which comes from the Ivory Coast. It has been found that children have been forced or tricked into leaving their homes to work as indentured servants on cocoa plantations. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 children work on these plantations, some as young as 11 years old. The children work an estimated 80 to 100 hours a week. The Ivory Coast is said to provide 43 percent of the industry's cocoa.

Labor unions have filled suits against Coca-Cola, alleging that in Colombia, workers at Coca-Cola bottling plants have had their safety threatened and even been murdered by Colombian paramilitaries for trying to unionize."

and lastly when it comes to the megachurch and the response of the attenders...

Matthew 13:1-2 says "As he was leaving the temple, one of the disciples said to him, 'Look, Teacher! what massive stones! What magnificent buildings!' 'Do you see all these great buildings?' Replied Jesus. ' Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

I am not too sure Jesus would be too happy. As we entered the building I wanted to cry and I think Jesus would without a doubt be weeping if he entered the building as well.

The positive thing that came from this is that I wrote to the person at IJM and he told me that they made some bad calls and they, as an organization, are looking at how they can live differently. So they can "practice what they preach."

If we want to end slavery, we can't do things in our life that add to it.

James 2:26 "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

It time to stop talking and start acting.

Role models/consumers = sweat shops

2008-04-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Venus Williams, 50 Cent, Yao Ming, Curt Schilling, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Donovan McNabb, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Andre Agassi, Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, David Beckham, Kevin Garnett, Reggie Bush, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Peyton Manning...

the list goes on and on.

It seems as though we often look up to athletes/celebrities as wonderful people who are doing great things. We love to watch them on tv and many can't get enough of them and the gossip about them....

Do we really see what's going on??? Adidas, Nike, Reebok, and many other companies give huge endorsements to these people. Do we really think how this can be? How can these corporations make so much to endorse these people?

Well, it seems as though most of them pay workers in other countries less than adequate wages. It is all about profit and we, as consumers, are a huge part of this. I am guilty of this too. I am becoming better educated about this.

Look at what we're wearing? Where does it really come from? Who made it? Do we really care? We often believe that what we buy is ok but it's not. Why have corporations neglected the most important part of the chain? The people who make the products! Without these people the products would exist! But the money hungry just want more money. And we give in. Look at most things we buy. The people who run companies like this just want to make even more money no matter the costs.

It is time to open our eyes. Become educated.

Check out the link below. It is a 20 minute clip about a group in the UK trying to educate people about sweatshops and attempting to bring an end to this issue.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4437068924602860186&q=the+case+for+solidarity&ei=s3UKSOuUKp6W4ALLkqy6BA&hl=en