Who is my neighbor?

Image used under Open Government License from Wikimedia

Now, hundreds in Paris are mourning the loss of a loved one. Now, thousands of Syrians flee from terror in their homeland. And while profiles on facebook supportively turn white, red, and blue in solidarity with our neighbors in France, thirty-one US governors symbolically slam the door on these other neighbors from Syria in need.

And my heart breaks. It breaks for those in France. It breaks for refugees who faced horrors we can't even imagine, only to be told they aren't welcome. It breaks because of the fear that wants to keep out those with nowhere else to go. And it breaks that some who call themselves followers of Christ seem to so completely forget his words.

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, “What is written in the Law? . . ,” And he answered, “You shall love. . . your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Fear speaks loudly. But love can speak louder. And sometimes a story can break down walls.

They welcomed me into their living room, this family who'd arrived as refugees years ago.  "Have you eaten yet?", the mother asked. "No, but I will eat when I get home".  "No, no. Look, we have food left from dinner.  Do you eat chicken? Let me heat it up for you."  Passionately, she told me about her dreams for her two daughters, her love evident in every word. She lit up as she told me how wonderful it felt to see her daughter learn to read. She told me how she narrated stories to her children in her first language so they would grow up multilingual, even though the language she most wanted them to become fluent in was the one of the country they were now living in. 

This was a story of love, of family, a story any mother can relate to.

Jesus replied, “A man . . . fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was. . .

Their mother went on to tell me how she wanted her children to know where they came from and be proud of who they are. "Your identity is made up of foundation posts- your culture, your personality, your language and your religion" She continued, faith radiating from her as she spoke, of her Muslim beliefs, the way her heart responds in faith, and how she hopes to pass her beliefs on to her children.

Now this story, like that of the Good Samaritan, takes a turn that isn't quite as easy to relate to. The Jews, listening to Jesus' story, would have been suspicious when the Samaritan arrived on the scene. After all, their faith was not to be trusted.  And too often, we can have the same uncomfortable, suspicious knee jerk reaction to the Muslim faith. 

. . . and when [the Samaritan] saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

But just as the Samaritan proved to be a neighbor, this lovely woman and her family I met showed this same ability to be neighbors, to show compassion, to love. The boundaries of religion do not mark who is or isn't our neighbor.

We cannot beat hate with more hate. Only love conquers hate.

This is the America I want to be part of:

"Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome. . ." 

(excerpt from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus)

(Writing a blog post seemed an insufficient response to a crisis of these proportions, so I hopped over to Ann Voskamp's blog A Holy Experience and followed one of her suggestions. If you'd like to know a way you can respond, she has a list of practical suggestions and trustworthy organizations you can contribute to here)

Thoughts from a KGB prison

Walking to the back of the cell made me nervous- what if someone decided to slam the door shut behind me as a trick?  As I peered into the gloom, I saw a platform, about the size of a personal pizza, sticking up above the sunken floor.  A helpful sign next to the door explained to me that this cell was used as an especially cruel form of solitary confinement.  The room was flooded with ice water, leaving the prisoner to stand on the tiny platform or fall into an ice bath.  

My stomach churned.  This was evil.  Cruelty cleverly conceived.  

The words and images I'd seen over the past few days washed over me: A snap that looked like it was from a child's overall, found at a mass grave.  A sentence from a museum exhibit"There were 29,000 Jews in Riga; 25,000 were killed in one day."  A photo of 4 small children clustered around their mother, exiled in Siberia.

I was filled with a new sense of gratitude.  I take it for granted that I won't be locked in prison for my political beliefs, murdered under government orders for my religious beliefs, exiled to a distant land because I dared to protest.  

At the same time, I was filled with a sense of urgency.  The peace and security I've grown up with, that hasn't been the norm for most of human history.  Poverty, war, famine, genocide have followed us out of Eden.  It would be comforting to think, "but that was then, this is now.  I live in the modern world in a democratic country".  

The truth is though, that modern times and democracy don't protect anyone.  

Right now, in Venezuela, shortages of staple foods and things like toilet paper and violent crime are sparking protests against the government.  And, the supposedly democratic government has responded by sending armed gunmen into neighborhoods and censoring the media.  A friend posted on facebook on the 20th, "Please Pray for my family in Venezuela right now the soldiers are shooting in the neighborhood they live in". At least 13 protestors have been killed.  That same friend who posted for us to pray asked about getting home overland.  "Don't try" was the general consensus.  Bus terminals are closed and even with a car people are getting stuck.  

And that's just Venezuela.  Ukraine is having even more violent protests, but I don't have any Ukranian friends, so it isn't as real and present in my mind.  But the bus terminal in Merida that's closed?  I've been there.  I know people in Venezuela now, and others who are outside of the country and worried about their family members who are there.  

My heart aches for them.  And I pray.  But is there any other action I can take?  The sober truth of this quote hits me: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke) I'm realizing the tenuousness of our security.  And the necessity to not let our freedoms be eroded, to stand up against corruption and power-seeking.

"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy."
(The Prayer of St. Francis)

A pearl of great price

My friend Paola works at the YWAM base in San Jose, Costa Rica. She is beginning a ministry to women and children who have been trafficked and those who work in prostitution. Recently, she shared the stories of 3 women she has gotten to know.

Let me share the excerpt of one with you:

One day after I finished working I was going home and a group of guys took me and raped me. I was only 14. After that not knowing what to do, I told my dad and he never believed me. He even told me it was my own fault. When Ana was born I decided to give her to a family because I knew that I was too young to take care of a child. . . I started working on the streets as a prostitute out of desperation, I needed money and also I felt dirty after what happened to me. . . . A couple months ago I accepted Jesus into my heart and life, and I have already seen a lot of changes. I still work in the streets but I am tired of it and ready to stop this life style. Please pray for my kids and for strength on me, and wisdom for how to make the changes I need, and for a way out of this life…

So much pain, so much despair, yet in the midst of it, hope. I'm thankful for women like Paola and the others on her team who are reaching out to people who most of the world rejects. I don't know what to do in the face of so much brokenness, but I know the One who does. So, I pray. I pray for those who already work with hurting women. I pray for myself, that God would show me what he wants me to do beyond praying. I pray for the women around the world, trapped in a world of pain and degradation. And I pray for the women who work the streets just a few blocks east of where I'll be living. I pray that if it's God's will for us to start reaching out to them, he'll show us what to do and how to do it.

Please take a few minutes to read the rest of Paola's post and pray for these women.

Help spread the word

My Mom let me know that "The Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation is donating a total of $1 million to these four charities — National Parks, Keep America Beautiful, American Forests and Water.Org. $100,000 will go to each just for participating, and the remaining $600,000 will be distributed based on your votes."

She encouraged me, and now I'm encouraging you- go online and vote for water.org

From their website:

Water.org is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization committed to providing safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries

I love our national parks and forests. I want America to stay beautiful. But those aren't life and death situations. They have a lot of public funding. And, a million dollars would be swallowed up easily.

Water, on the other hand. That's a life and death issue. Thousands of people (roughly 40,000 if I did my math right) would have their lives changed if $1,000,000 was invested in water projects. With clean water health improves. Did you know 3.5 million people die each year from water-related diseases? That diarrhea is the second most common cause of death in children under 5? It doesn't need to be that way.

Did you know that for millions of women and children, collecting water can take several hours daily? When there are clean, safe, local water supplies, women can contribute in other ways economically and children (particularly girls who otherwise are likely to have the task of going for water) are more likely to attend school. A clean water source has spiraling effects.

Check out their website, and then go vote. (You can vote once a day until Jan. 21) And then, help spread the word. Blog about it. Tell your friends. Stick it on your face book page. We can help make a difference.

(And, if you're interested in the topic, this site also has some great facts about access to water)

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward." Matthew 10:42

Just One Child

Sunday night, I drowsed on and off all night, as I rode a bus down out of the Andes mountains of Quito to the Pacific coast town where Damaris, the child I sponsor through Compassion, lives. At 7:30 am, the bus finally pulled to a stop at the Panamerican bus station. The lady next to me asked where I was staying, and, fortunately for me, she knew where it was and, even better, it was just down the street. After finding the price for the cheapest room available ($8) I walked up 3 flights of stairs to room 310, and decided I’d pretty much gotten my money’s worth. The fan worked, the room was small, and the shared bathrooms and showers down the hall were on the sketchy side. After a whole night on the bus, I decided I needed a shower, however sketchy they might be, so I showered and changed. It was only 8:45, and I was supposed to meet my sponsored child at 9:30. I decided something with caffeine would probably be a helpful way to get me through the day, so I headed downstairs to see if there was somewhere I could get some black tea.

I paused at the bottom of the stairs. There were a lot of people in the lobby, and I wondered if my sponsored child had showed up early. I scanned the faces. There was a girl, sitting on the couch. She looked familiar, and my mind went back to the most recent picture I’d gotten of Damaris, holding a pair of shoes she’d bought with the birthday money I sent. Was it her? She looked at me, and the same question was obviously reflected on her face. We both decided the answer was yes, and headed towards each other with big smiles. She came right to me and gave me the biggest hug. She didn’t want to let go. I was so happy in that moment I had come, because I knew that I didn’t just want to see her, she wanted to see me too.

Her mother was there with her, and the 3 of us headed to a local park. We talked as we walked around the park, taking pictures and playing on the playground equipment. She asked about my siblings and my favorite colors. I learned her favorite color (pink) and that she likes almost any food but vegetables. While we were waiting for a taxi to take us from the park to the harbor, her Mom shared how Damaris had been praying that I would be able to come to visit. It was so special for me to hear that.

After our trip to the harbor, I went with them to their house. I met Damaris’s sisters, her father, a cousin, a nephew and a niece. While I was there Damaris showed me her photo album. It was in a box, and in the box were most of the letters I’ve sent her over the past 4 years. She read some of them out loud to me then showed me her photo album. Mixed in with photos of parties and trips were photos I had sent of myself and of our family. I was amazed the way my simple letters and photos had become such a big part of her life.

The other day a friend posted a link to a really powerful post about the plight of children around the world. In it, she shared that there are 169 million children in need around the world. That number seems a bit overwhelming, until you look at the number of Christians in the world. There are 2.1 billion Christians in the world, according to her post. God’s people can care for each of these children. If only 8% of us would look out for one child, meet the needs that no one else in their life can or is meeting, pray for them faithfully, and love them with the love God has given us, there would be no more children in need in the world.

Will you be one of the 8% who will make a difference? Sponsor a child through Compassion. Send a child orphaned by Aids in Zimbabwe or Zambia to school through Forgotten Voices. Pay for a life changing surgery through Cure. Mentor an at-risk kid in your neighborhood. Adopt. Foster a child.

If you’re already doing that, thank you for being Christ’s hands in a hurting world. Pray with me that God will move more of his people to take up their responsibility, and be encouraged that each of us is only part of Christ’s body, no individual has the responsibility to care for all the needs and brokenness in the world. But, if you’re thinking that maybe you’ll let someone else take the responsibility; after all, it only takes 8 in 100, and money and time are tight, let me share something with you. The day I left Damaris’ hometown and headed back to Quito, two of her sisters were on the same bus as I was. Her oldest sister sat down to talk with me. She told me, how when she was young, her family lived in a house of cane. To pay her school fees, in the afternoons she would go out with a 2 liter bottle of soda and sell individual cups of soda to people on the street. Now, her family has moved ahead. Damaris doesn’t need to sell things on the street. They have a house made of cement block, and even have electricity to run their refrigerator. Even so, her mother is only making $75 a month, her father about the same. Imagine trying to raise a family on $150 a month. When she told me that, it suddenly put my own affluence in perspective. I could afford a plane ticket to come and visit them. If Damaris’s sister saved every penny she made for an entire year on the $25 a week that she earns, she would earn just about $100 more than my 3 destination plane ticket cost me.

America is an affluent nation, and without even realizing it, we have come to see as needs what are really luxuries. I expect internet access and hot water. I don’t want to eat the same thing at every meal. A 40 hour work week and a 2 day weekend seems like a given to me. Ezekiel 16:49 says, "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” I’m afraid that those words are true for far too many in the United States as well. For most of us living in the United States, giving is a lifestyle choice we can make. Maybe we won’t buy as many new clothes, or go out to eat as often, or rent as many movies, or choose the unlimited texting option for our cell phones. But, while there are still children who don’t go to school because no one can afford to buy them a uniform, children dying of preventable diseases because they have no access to medicine, children dying of starvation because their parents have no food to feed them, I think it is our responsibility, as Christ followers, to make those lifestyle choices. The next verse in Ezekiel says, “They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” Let’s not become a nation like Sodom. Lets “learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).

World Next Door

I just discovered a new organization, via another blog. Check out their article on an orphanage for Ukranian boys with disabilities. It was heart-breaking and eye-opening. Read it, and then check out their website.

Here's their "about us" below. It made me smile. :)

World Next Door, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

More than just a statistic.

Our mission is to use entertaining, thought-provoking and heart-breaking journalism to change ordinary people into wild-eyed revolutionaries and to unleash them on local and global issues of social injustice.

This website is part investigative newspaper, part travel magazine, part web journal. It’s like National Geographicmeets Bizarre Foods meets an online blog, all with a social justice focus (issues like poverty, hunger, AIDS, etc.).

Economics

First off, I don't claim to know anything about economics. It's one thing that gives me a head ache. But everything in the news lately about AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Lehman brothers has gotten me thinking. I don't know how the government should solve the "financial crisis" I'm not even sure they should get involved. Maybe it's better to let the actual crisis hit, and then build on a new solid foundation than going into debt to buy bad debt (not sure aobut hte logic on that one. . .)

Anyway, this is the quote on the radio that really got me thinking. I forget who it was exactly, but some government official taking about why they bailed out some financial institution said that if they had not bailed out the financial institution it would have "lead to the reduction of American household wealth". Exactly. And would that really be so catastrophic?

What exactly would happen if the government left well enough alone? Would we really have a crisis? Or would it lead to a reduction of American wealth? Right now in Zimbabwe, they're experiencing a REAL economic crisis. Inflation was at 11 million percent (just as a comparison, our inflation rate is currently 5.37%) The bank of Zimbabwe had to print 100 billion dollar notes. As in the denomination is 100 billion, not that is how many 1 dollar notes they are printing. In July they redenominated their currency system- for all you world travelers out there, you can turn in your old Zimbabwe dollars for New Zimbabwe dollars. 10 billion old dollars will get you 1 new Zimbabwe dollar. And despite that immense currency change, one new dollar is currently exchanged for not quite 1 US penny. (1 ZWD = 0.00991326 USD)


In Zimbabwe at least 80% of the population is unemployed. I've heard 90-95% from people who are from/were recently in Zimbabwe. August unemployment in the US was 6.1%. In 2007 per capita GDP in Zimbabwe was $200. In the US it was $45,800. 80% of Zimbabweans live below the poverty line (for a Zimbabwean, below the poverty line means earning less than $41 a month). 12% of Americans live below the poverty line- and our poverty line is a LOT higher than theirs- $867/month for a person living alone.


So, as the media focuses on impending doom and financial collapse, I just don't find myself all that worried. I can't feel the doom and gloom. Perhaps it's because someone else is providing for my food and lodging. Maybe it's knowing that hopefully in not too long I'll be in a country where the economy isn't as good as it is here and surviving on less than I do now. Maybe it's because I know in the long run, the economy is bound to recover. And partly, I think it is knowing that our poverty is wealth to much of the world.


statistics were found at:
http://inflationdata.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe#Economy
www.xe.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Zimbabwe
http://stats.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm

Justice

Let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24


I've been thinking about justice lately, or maybe, more precisely, injustice. What started me thinking was the rising price of gas, the growing global food shortage, and the correlation between the two. We knew that as more grain products were used for ethanol, the price of grain would rise and the availability of grains for human consumption would decrease (Already 20-30% of grains grown in the US are used for biofuels). What we (at least, we the general public) did not expect is that it would happen so quickly. In our search for a way to maintain our lifestyle, and even in our desire to be more "green" and less oil dependent, we created a crisis which the rest of the world has to deal with.

It seems so unjust. We (the privileged people of the world) created this problem. We are the ones who consume too much. We are the ones an eventual oil shortage would most effect. And yet, when we try to solve the problem, they (the people who already have less) suffer. Sure, food prices are rising here too. And there's a lot of talk about recession. But I don't know anyone in danger of starving, not even one of the 98% of the students at my school who qualify for free or reduced lunch. We are cushioned here in this land of opportunity.

But our problems become the worlds' problems. According to an e-mail from my friend Jason, "Prices for staple foods like rice have more than doubled over the last four months in places like Cambodia. Rice, the main source of
nutrition for many of the world's poor, is now priced beyond what they can afford. To the already 1 billion people that struggle to live on less than $1 a day, the U.N. now estimates that an additional 100 million of our global neighbors will struggle to avoid starvation."

An NPR special on the global food shortage said, "UNICEF and the World Food Program are falling behind in donations, unable to keep pace with the spiraling cost of rice. It has hit $950 a ton, three times what it was at the start of 2007."

For people living on a dollar or two a day, that sort of price increase makes survival nearly impossible.


What do we do in response to all this? In an article entitled "Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle" Ralph Winter suggests that we rethink our lifestyles. There are lifestyles appropriate to peace, and lifestyles appropriate to war. We are at war. In Matthew 10:34 Jesus says "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus is bringing about his kingdom here on earth. The power of heaven is fighting against the rulers of this world, and God has called us to join the fight. He tells us to go, preach the good news, disciple the nations, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the widows and orphans, visit those in prison. That is our battle command. And knowing that we are soldiers in battle should effect our lifestyle. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: 3&4 "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." We should not be entangled in the pleasures of this world. There are so many unnecessary, frivolous things that we even begin to see as needs, or at least as our due. And meanwhile, millions are dying without the chance to hear of the One who died for them.


Think about these statistics for a moment from Serving India Ministries
Experts estimate that for $13 billion a year we could provide basic nutrition for every starving person in the world. American Christians spend $21 billion a year on cable TV.

For $6 billion a year we could educate every child currently not in school. American Christians spend $11 billion a year on coffee.

For $9 billion a year we could provide safe drinking water for the millions who die without it. American Christians spend $21 billion a year on soft drinks.

Approximately 160 million adults in America claim to be Christian. If each one of us would increase our giving by just $15 per month to ministries who are effectively serving the poor, we could feed every starving person in the world, educate every child currently not in school, and provide safe drinking water for the millions who die from lack of it.


How will you respond?

2 Timothy 2: 1-4
"Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."