The Hole in Our Gospel

I'm in the midst right now of reading The Hole in Our Gospel, a book by Richard Stearns, the current President of World Vision. The bulk of the book thus far has put forth what should be a powerful wake-up call to the people sitting in American church pews each Sunday - the people who have the resources and the calling to change the lives of the world's poorest people but aren't living up to their potential. If you're reading this blog, then you probably have a better perspective on international missions than most of those people, but I would still recommend the book to anyone. If you read it and don't feel convicted about the awesome potential that you have to help other people around the world, then pass it on to someone you know who has extra "stuff" laying around!

In proposing his challenge to the American church, Stearns spends a portion of the book describing the reality of poverty in the developing world - especially trying to answer the question, "why are all these people so poor?" One reason, which comes from an annual conference for the Clinton Global Initiative, struck me as especially relevant to the people that CARE for AIDS is seeking to help:

"For most of the poorest people in the world, their hard work doesn't matter. They are trapped within social, cultural, political, and economic systems that do not reward their labor. The result of this entrenched futility is devastating to the human spirit. A person, no matter how gifted or determined, cannot escape the trap in which he finds himself. He has lost the one thing that every person needs to thrive: hope - hope that he will somehow overcome his curcumstance, that tomorrow can be better than today, and that his children might someday have a better life than his. Such people discover that they are in an economic and social prison from which there is no escape - unless something happens to change their circumstances and to restore the link between their effort and their reward. (Stearns, 119)"

Many of the clients that we work with have been severely hampered by the systems that surround them, leaving them completely lacking in hope. Hearing from their society that they are worthless, denied education and healthcare, facing a total lack of market for their skills or products, and suffering from a hand-to-mouth existence that leaves no time or energy for personal development - it is easy to see how hope can vanish.

Amazingly, it doesn't take much to restore hope and connect a person's effort with his results. By educating and encouraging the clients, we are able to show them that they have value and are worth just as much as someone who is HIV-negative. By equipping them with skills and teaching them to use them efficiently, we are empowering them to make a profit for themselves - a profit that turns into a lifestyle improvement - an improvement that over the course of time turns into a transformation.

No water, No worries

Part of the reality of living in Kenya is that things aren't always available when they're "supposed" to be. This morning, for example, I went downstairs and we had no propane to fuel our stovetop. After that, I went into the office and we had no internet. A couple of hours later I went to the ATM and it had no money.

All of this is on top of the fact that I'm currently on day 5 of having no water in my house. Yep, that means no showers, no sinks, and no flush toilets. On the other hand, it does mean that I get to have the cultural experience of frequent trips to the "long drop" in our backyard...

I've learned through trial and error that there are a few ways to respond to these kinds of challenges. One is the "frustration route." This involves a lot of inside-my-head yelling: "how dare Kenya refuse me these things!" It also involves a very unpleasant demeanor, a negative focus on how greasy my hair is, a short temper, and a general lack of productivity. I learned pretty early on that the "frustration route" is pretty counter-productive. That's not to say that I don't get frustrated when I have to drive around and find another ATM, but it is to say that I've found some alternative ways of looking at things.

One option is to view these things as a test of patience. Now, patience has never been my strong suite, but I think God is slowly showing me how valuable it is, and I'd like to think that I'm making baby steps toward the ability to brush off these challenges.

Another option is to take these challenges as an opportunity to identify more with the people all around me. There are so many people here in Kenya who NEVER have running water. They have to walk to a well or a stream, sometimes several times a day, to get the water they need for cooking and cleaning. A large portion of the population here has NEVER used the internet - they don't need email and ESPN.com to get through their day, and maybe there's something to learn from that. Probably 99% of the population of Kenya has NEVER had money available in an ATM - what if I had to buy food to eat each night out of the money I'd made that very day? These are ideas and questions that might not cross my mind were it not for the occasional lack of things I deem vital.

The final option is to praise God for the hardship. Granted, it isn't the kind of hardship that I see facing the people of this country every day, but it's harder than normal for a privileged American like me. Note that I said praise God FOR the hardship - maybe that sounds strange? I've been convicted that God would only put these challenges in my life if he knew that I could pass through them with my eyes still on Him, and therefore I should be thankful that He trusts me to face them. I should praise Him for the reminders that I'm not in control and for the evidence that there is more to life than my comfort.

Above all of this, I should praise Him because He is God. He is my Father, my Lord, my Savior, and my Creator regardless of what He is giving me in a certain moment. So many times we praise God for His blessings - if each and every blessing is taken out of the picture, can we still give Him glory for the simple fact of his being, for the reality of his character?

Praise God. (period, full stop, end of story...that's all we should need)

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."
- Philippians 4:12

Onyango News

One of the coolest things about spending this much time in Kenya, living in a house with a Kenyan, working every day with a bunch of Kenyans - in general being part of an ethnic demographic that makes up less than 1% of the population - has been the opportunity to build very close relationships with the Kenyans I spend a lot of time with. One of those friends is Cornel Onyango, the CFA Director who currently lives in Kisumu and manages all of our work in the Western part of Kenya. Cornel is married to a beautiful wife named Irene, and they had their third child this past summer. On May 17th I received this in an email from Cornel:

"For today I have very good news. At 10:30 pm, that is Sunday night, we got a baby girl. She is called Sherry Linda (Mama Nick). Nick, we did not want to tell you this - I even asked you for the spelling of your mum's name in a very clever way. I hope i got it right or did i forget it? If he was a boy he was to be Nick. All is still a plus for me, i love your mum."

Wow! Cornel's two-year old son is named Justin (after Justin Miller), and I am so honored to think that Cornel would want to name one of his children after me. It has been so fun for both my mom and I to know that there is a little baby girl here in Kenya whose name will always recall a memory of our family, even if I've been gone from this country for years. The baby is about 3 1/2 months old now, and she seems to be doing great (although Jane says that she's the biggest baby she has ever seen)! Here's a picture of Sherry Linda Onyango:

Also, when Justin and I went to Kisumu last week, we had a big dinner for all of the staff at Cornel's house, where he surprised us with a big, cold pitcher of SWEET TEA!