For the Sake of Ten

Genesis 18:32

Haiti is beautiful. Palm trees frame the moon rising over the Atlantic. Tropical plants rise from the concrete. The people are beautiful. They smile through the dust and the dirt. The kids sing and laugh and play soccer. Their moms watch over them, keeping them in check. The men work and sweat and talk and laugh. Many people here have asked me, "Do you like Haiti?" I say yes. Then they ask, "Why?"  "Because Haiti is beautiful, and the people are beautiful."
Today was a rough day. We went to the prison to visit the people there. I confess I have never visited the prison in Pickens County, but I plan to remedy that when I return. Here, men are kept in cages about the size of our hotel room, with 15-20 men crammed inside. We also saw a cell for young boys that was the same, the youngest being 14. The warden said some of them murdered people and are in for life. Our interpreter said that men will put the kids up to the murder because people don't expect children to be a threat. The women were out doing the wash. Here's the real kicker; they all have to buy their own food with whatever people bring them. So we gave the boys some money for food, and we bought purses from the men. The misery was overwhelming, because here was something we could truly do nothing about, and people had brought it upon themselves, to some extent. It was humbling.
We had two Bible schools. Here is hope; children who have not been discarded and locked away, whose lives have promise. I have been telling the story of Jonah through an interpreter with a lot of physical animation. I finally got a laugh today for Jonah riding his camel, indicating that these children had more to eat than some of the others we had visited, and therefore more energy. I've had fun playing soccer with the boys. We went to the souvenir market for more depressingness. The people say, "Come, look, buy my stuff, because I'm hungry and I want to eat!" It's a very fine line to avoid getting ripped off, while not negotiating away all of their profit.
Anna took mattresses to the children in the orphanage who had 30 kids on a concrete floor. They were happy, but mostly they wanted food. She also went to the site where the church is almost complete. We will worship with the congregation there before we leave.
Haiti is beautiful; Haiti is hard.

There is a Great Divide Between Us

Luke 16:26

"Though we are from different nations, we are joined together by you, the one God." Pastor Davide prayed these words today with Tenny, Ernest, and me. Can you hear these words, in the midst of all the flag waving, wall-building, cheering and jeering that is blasting out of Cleveland this week? Those noises are muted for us in Haiti. The sounds here are precious children laughing, pastors praying together, people singing. The language is different, the children have no shoes, the songs have a different rhythm. But I am constantly struck by our sameness, our unity as children of God in Christ Jesus.
Haiti is so hard. The problems are so deep. But the people are people. When I brought out a soccer ball for the children who were helping load concrete blocks on our work site, suddenly laborers were children again. They hugged me and cheered like I was a combination of Superman and Santa Claus. Which is not really a good feeling, because it puts me over them in a weird way. One minute, we are loading block together, the next they worship me, the next we are all playing and having fun together. It's like that feeling when your kids open presents from you on Christmas, times 100 and with added dehumanization. They have become objects to make me feel good about myself, and I have become a dispensary of arbitrary gifts to those I deem worthy. It is hard.
People are always trying to get something from you, because you have something and they have nothing. It is dehumanizing, but understandable. That's what I thought was happening when Pastor Davide called the American ("blan", yes even my African American brother Ernest is called "white" here) pastors together. I thought he would ask us for something. He did. It was our prayers. He wanted to pray together. He wanted to pray for his people to get a place for worship; for our people to come alongside them in their need; for the Gospel to spread in Haiti; for the Gospel to spread in SC. We prayed and we committed to continue praying for one another.
The last two days we have been on the worksite for the church, shoveling dirt and rocks to make concrete, twisting and fastening steel tie bars, and hauling blocks. The work is hard, hot, and sweaty. The Haitian unskilled workers are volunteers building their own church. It reminds me of Genesis 2:7 " the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being." We are literally forming this building from dust, sand, rocks, and cement, bound together and shaped with precision by master masons into a building for worship and community activity.  So we construct a building, and God will breathe into it the breath of life to be a living being in this community. The churches we have visited so far double as orphanages, feeding centers, and recreation centers. There will be a living, breathing body of Christ in this building, seeking to love God, love their neighbors, and thereby spread the Gospel to all those around. Let us all be in prayer for the churches of Haiti.

All Things Are Possible Through Christ

"I have nothing in my pockets, but I am a rich man. God preserves my life." These are the words of Pastor Louis of Christ Church. He pastors a congregation of 150 in a tin roof, tin walled hut. He also attends the care of about 6 orphans who live in one room and sleep on the bare concrete floor. We talk about sacrifices pastors in the US make; this man was well-off enough to attend 7 years of seminary, and now he cares for the poorest of the poor. He loves Jesus so deeply; it shines out of his eyes when he talked. He said his congregation would pray for us to get more resources so we could come back again and continue to build our relationship and help his community. People in the neighborhood bring food by for the orphans and church members help care for them. Some had no shoes; all were tiny for their ages. We played soccer, sang songs, did crafts, and gave them some food and drinks.
If you helped fund this mission, I hope you feel blessed by the prayers of the Haitian people for you. Your money is going towards food and toys for orphans, cement and block to build a church, and pay the Haitians who are working so hard with us.
We also met with 25 or 30 local pastors. Good men who have given their lives to serve God leading congregations of the poorest of the poor. We discovered something interesting in our conversation. The are leading big congregations, but need buildings to meet and worship in. We have big buildings, but our congregations are dwindling. I wish we could come together with our buildings and people. One observation we have made. To be considered poor in Haiti means that your children are starving. It is normal for adults to not eat everyday, and for children to eat only once.

Blessed Are the Poor

Tragic. Sorrowful. Painful. Joyful. Funny. Vibrant. Haiti is an assault on the senses and the heart. The first thing that hit me is the garbage everywhere. Then it's the shabby state of everyone's clothing. The children with no shoes. The babies with no clothes at all. But when we hiked up the side of the hill through the Bel Aire neighborhood, I was struck by the life everywhere. Kids are playing with toy cars they made themselves. Others are laughing hysterically at us, shouting "blan, blan!" Which in Creole for whitey. They call Ernest that too, even though his skin is browner than mine. Moms are making supper and washing clothes. Dads are talking and playing checkers. The Haitian people are no different than the rest of us. Moms will be moms, kids will be kids. God is present bringing life and grace in the midst of soul-crushing poverty.

Off to Haiti

Tomorrow morning at4:45 we get up to head to Haiti. Anna and I are so excited to meet our SC team at the airport, Tenny and Ernest, and the rest of the Empowering Haitians team in Cap Haitian. Thank you again to everyone who made this trip possible with your financial support. Please keep us in your prayers. We will be working on a church in the mornings and playing with and teaching kids in the Bible school in the afternoons. We will also be meeting with 25 local pastors while we are their to learn from their experiences. Most of all we look forward to learning from Patrick and the rest of the Haitian team how to build a community empowering mission. 

Kids Today

So this will be the first of occasional thoughts that I put out for people to read. My goal is not to make these argumentative, but grace filled appeals to compassion and understanding. We'll see; arguments are easier.

I would guess that I spend more time than the average person my age with people who are 60 and over. These people are often wise, experienced, and caring. They have seen and experienced a lot, and they care for the communities and institutions that have been important in their lives. For better or for worse, many of these communities and institutions are changing and many are declining. Civic organizations, churches, you name it and these pillars of the 20th century community are in decline when measured by members and money. (One could argue that this is not the best way to measure such things, but that's not what I'm here to do.) And these folks are asking all the time at meetings and gatherings I attend, "What can we do to get millenials (younger people) to be a part of our organizations and institutions?"

Now, as a called and employed pastor in the institutional church, I admit that my perspective is probably bias. But, I do believe that civic institutions are not a dying vestige of an older culture. True, the culture has changed, but one thing has not changed. People still desire to be social with other people. That is how we are created. The very first problem that God identifies with God's otherwise "good" creation is that "It is not good that the man should be alone." (Gen 2:18). We are created to be in community with other people, and churches, clubs, and civic organizations provide venues for that. So, theologically speaking, these are good things that can help us be who we are created to be.

The problem that I hear identified most often by the leaders and members active in these organizations that is causing them to decline is with "kids today." It is usually expressed in general terms, to sum up an entire generation with a few words, and goes something like this. "Kids today don't want to join our [church, club, group] because: a) they are stuck in their digital devices. This usually refers to video games, FaceBook, or mobile phones. b)  they just want to be entertained. This implies a shallowness, suggesting this generation values good coffee and music above all else. c) they don't care about their communities or other people. Most solutions to the problem are based off of these assessments and there by seek to engage millenials through digital media, good coffee and music, and me-centered programs.

Here's the thing. The "kids today" I know do not bear out these diagnoses of their generation. The articles I read about the generation at large don't either. So, if institutions of the 20th century want to reach "kids today," they/we need to do some serious rethinking about who "kids today" are and what drives them.

I also interact with a lot of millenials. Although I am technically in "Generation X" and I am just old enough to remember a world without mobile phones and the internet, I am much more at home in the digital, social media world than my parents. I do not have these answers. But here is what I can tell you about kids today, based on the ones I know.

Our culture is placing tremendous demands on them without the promises of yesterday. You should be married and start a family by 30, but your chance of divorce is 50%. You should exercise and eat right, but your life-expectancy is lower than your parents' generation. You should go to college and get a career, until that interferes with expectation 1, in which case, women should drop their careers we told them to get and go back home. Oh by the way, college and day care are more expensive than ever, while wages have only seen moderate increases. And it is true that our culture at large no longer tells them that they SHOULD be a part of a church or civic organization. So, given all the other demands on their lives, many of them are not.

Kids today are not shallow people who want video games, coffee, and music. The ones I know work hard. Really hard. And they care deeply for their friends and family. Hmm, that sounds an awful lot like the people over 60 that I know.

Kids today want community. They don't just want acquaintances, people to talk sports and weather with; they want family. They want people to love and support them for who they are. And they want to love and support their communities, but not in the fundraiser way. They want to get involved, to have relationships, to get their hands on something, to see a face and shake a hand, not read a report.

Hope for the over 60s reading this: Kids today are not as different as you as you think. Yes, your organization may have to change a little about what you do and how you do it. But the fundamental principles of building community are still solid.

Hope for the kids today reading this: People over 60 are not as different as you think. Try to see past their generalizations. Yes, they want their organizations to continue. But fundamentally, they just want to be in relationship with you, to teach you what they know, to share their passions with you, and to love you.

Spring is Coming

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

¹⁰     My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;

¹¹   for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

¹²   The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³   The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance.

            Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

As I write these words, a snowstorm looms on the horizon, preparing to blow in frosty temperatures and drop a half-foot on us. We have already been through weeks of cold and ice. In the dark, depth of winter, it is difficult to imagine days when it will be warm again. Yet before the next newsletter, the grass will be green, the azaleas will be in full bloom, and we will have celebrated Easter, the resurrection of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

When we are caught up in the winter struggles of life, it becomes very difficult to see and imagine the blossoming warmth of a new life and new future coming to us. When we suffer illness and pain, it is hard to remember life without it. When things that we love are taken from us, whether a job or a friend, a spouse or a child, the cold darkness can seem to go on forever. When our church is struggling, there seems no end to the strife.

These verses from Song of Solomon, God's love song to God's people, remind us that God is always coming to us from a bright future where singing has resumed, health has been restored, and new life is abundant. Our Lord Jesus promises in John 14:18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you." Jesus is with us in the winter, and Jesus is coming to us, bringing new life of spring, of Easter, from the promised future God has prepared for us. The winter is short, but our time of rejoicing in God's steadfast love will endure forever.