and you, africa?

Last night, along with millions of other Americans, we attended an elaborate Christmas Eve church service in a multi-million dollar building. There were enough candles to light a village. And for those that didn't want to leave the house, you could even watch it online. Church online. How brilliant.

Africa, how do you celebrate Christ's birth?

On Christmas morning, we complain about the eager children's early rising. And then we unwrap our gifts. Gadgets, clothes, books, movies, vacations, money. Some get what they wanted, some what they needed. After throwing away potentially recyclable wrapping paper, we eat. We eat lots and lots. And we play with our new toys.

Africa, what does your Christmas look like?

The day after Christmas, we rush to the stores to return the gifts we didn't like and rummage through sales to buy whatever we didn't get. There's pushing and crowds and lines and unhappy people. They picked up that sweater for $9.99 first. The rat race has continued.

And you, Africa?

dance africa dance

Africa is a child who is overshadowed by the athletic talents of an older brother and the book smarts of his sister. Yet the family has failed to notice Africa’s ability to dance. This continent stands in the shadows, anxiously waiting for the world to see its potential. When the athletic brother is no longer able to compete and the sister’s mind begins to digress, Africa will still be dancing. But let’s hope she’s noticed before then.

smells of yesterday

Today still smells of yesterday
To remind us
Our hands hold power
To execute evil atrocities
To suggest subtle harm
To craft calloused wounds

Tomorrow hopes on the smells of yesterday
To remind us
Our hands bear promise
To restore rightful dignity
To embrace equal peace
To create colorful love

And maybe one day, we will be a sweet fragrance.
[2 Corinthians 2:14-15]

do good

social justice: ideal; a work of virtue aimed at the good of humanity as a whole, which unites people of all beliefs and political principles

the breaking of agreed rules that constitute fairness; tragedy :social injustice

“When I feed the poor, they call me a saint;
when I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist,”
Brazilian Catholic Archbishop Hélder Câmara

"Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows."
Isaiah 1:17

What is your ideal for greater humanity? What tragedy moves you to action?

unity through justice

These days there is always a fundraiser for this or a protest against that. We are bombarded to join a “cause.” And Generation Y, especially, is at the forefront of such efforts.

Christian students are traveling to Africa to share their faith. College graduates are committing two years to the Peace Corps to teach about HIV/AIDS in Asia. Young business owners are donating their profits to build houses in Mexico. Filmmakers are producing movies that unveil global tragedies.

Celebrities like Bono and Angelina Jolie have used their fame to raise awareness for global poverty, orphans and the AIDS epidemic. Companies like Apple and Sprint have created products that directly benefit different social causes. Thousands of Americans rallied behind the victims of natural disasters by donating money, time and other resources.

All of this is done in the name of “social justice.”

A Sicilian priest, Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio, first coined the term “social justice” in 1840. He used this term as an appeal to the industry leaders to meet the needs of the urban workers that had been adversely affected by the Industrial Revolution.

In modern thought, social justice is a work of virtue that is aimed at the good of humanity as a whole. Conversely, social injustice is the breaking of agreed rules that constitute fairness.

Author, philosopher and Director of Social and Political Studies at the American Enterprise Institute Michael Novak dissects the meaning of social justice in his essay, “Defining Social Justice.”

“The skills it requires are those of inspiring, working with, and organizing others to accomplish together a work of justice. It aims at good of the city, not the good of one agent only,” Novak says.

If such is true, social justice is open to all kinds of ideals- liberal, conservative and moderate. Instead of dividing, it unites people in a quest for common good, regardless of differences.

“The virtue of social justice allows for people of goodwill to reach different, even opposing, practical judgments about the material content of the common good (ends) and how to get there (means),” Novak says. “Such differences are the stuff of politics.”

So where did we go wrong? Why do we still allow the fight for humans rights to be divided between blue and red? If humanity cannot unite for the sake of each other's rights then we're a lost cause.

published in magazine "Generation WHY"

a tug of worlds

As I leave my adolescence behind, I find myself in the middle of a ferocious tug of war. After many touching encounters with the world’s underprivileged, I have wanted to forsake my lavish American lifestyle. However, the desire to meet societal standards makes it a challenge. For a humanitarian spirit like myself, to buy or not to buy is a troubling dilemma.

At first glance it may seem simple. I must simply avoid the unnecessary acquisition of stuff. But I, like many American Generation Y-ers, was raised in a world where happiness, acceptance and success were all implicitly measured by the designer brands you owned, luxury cars you drove and extravagant vacations you enjoyed. I live in a land where 16-year-olds receive new SUVs and sports cars for birthday presents. A place where college students, including myself, carry their books about poverty, disease and other world injustices in designer bags. And where private schools schedule ski vacations so families can make use of their “snow homes.”

I always had an innate sense of caring for others. I would put money in the offering at church for those starving African children, and my family made several trips down to Mexico to give away our old clothes. I was well aware that there were many people in the world who lived nothing like I did. But it never really affected me. That is, until my first trip across the big pond to South Africa. There I made friends which shoeless children dressed in tattered clothing. There I held children whose parents’ lives had been stolen by a rampant disease called AIDS. At the formative age of 16, I found myself in a place that didn’t put value on brands or appearance, but rather on life, simply because life is a luxury there.

Upon returning, my heart had been transformed. Instead of longing for a new Coach purse, I wanted to see shoes on the feet of the AIDS orphans I had held. Yet within months, I was competing with my Juicy Couture-clad friends. I was spending $700 on purses. I was asking for a new, faster car. And I was concerned with the weight of Nicole Richie.

Year after year I returned to South Africa to see my friends who were delighted with their one tattered uniform and the chance to attend school with poor lighting and no heat. I held one dying child after another. And I would return each time to the States adamant that in remembrance of them, I would not succumb to our materialistic society. And time after time, I would fail miserably at my resolve.

As I am about to return to the poverty and crime plagued country that changed my heart three years ago, I wonder if seven months will be enough to transform my whole heart and mind. When I return, will I be able to ignore my society’s demand to impress? I’m not sure.

As an American Generation Y-er, consumer is my middle name. We are notoriously known as big spenders. A recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Marketing found that Generation Y responds to advertising and marketing. They are much more likely to spend compulsively. Growing up in an age of the cell phone, the credit card and the Internet, we have learned how to get what we want when we want it.

So what do we do? I’m not sure I can give any answers. So for now, I will continue to wrestle with what it means to be a globally aware young American. With time, I am certain this tug of war will be resolved and I will find myself in a place of true harmony.

published in magazine "Generation WHY"

ubuntu

As you are all well aware of by now, South Africa has stolen my heart. Actually, it’s probably safe to say that South Africa has taken me hostage.

“A person is a person through others,” states a Zulu proverb and my personal favorite adage.
This maxim reflects the sub-Saharan Africa ideology of ubuntu. It is the belief in a collective bond of sharing that unites all humanity. It has been translated as “humanity towards others” or “I am because we are.”

“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed,” South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said.

As I am about to move to the country that was founded on such a principle, I ask myself what does it mean to become “human” through other people? How am I going to allow the people I come in contact with over the next seven months to shape who I become?

My new community will consist of Xhosa and Afrikaans speaking South Africans. I will be learning the languages, eating the food, attending their churches and building relationships. When I return to the States seven months later, it is my hope that I can be called a person with ubuntu.

Tutu wisely advises that true self-assurance comes from being a part of something bigger than ourselves. In our American society the individual is emphasized, but I believe life is meant to be lived in community.

So as we prepare to leave the APU community for the summer, the semester, or even for good, I encourage you to engage in a new community. Whether it’s a missions team, a study abroad program, or a new job, immerse yourself because who you become over the summer can be the result of something bigger than yourself.

Engage by learning the language or memorizing the mission statement. Find out the history of the organization, school or country you find yourself a part of. Get to know your coworker’s favorite childhood memory or their big dream. Whatever it is, take the time to engage.

I leave you with a question wonderfully posed by former South African President and civil rights pioneer Nelson Mandela. “Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve?”

drink up

A few weeks ago I went to church in a bar.
Yes, a bar.
I walked in to a nightclub and was greeted by a mammoth shark tank. To my left was a well stocked bar and on my right were billiard tables. The dance floors were now covered with chairs. The lighting was dim, but made for a cozy atmosphere. My roommate and I pulled up some barstools and took a seat.
The room was full of all kinds of people: the blonde Newport mom, the teenage music enthusiast, the biker guy with enough ink on his body to write this column, the artsy college student, the surfer with salt water still in his ears and the sweet old lady that acts like everyone’s grandma.
It seemed like truly everyone was welcomed in this place.
During regular hours, the Shark Club is a swanky nightclub. But on Sunday mornings cocktails and clutches are replaced with Starbucks and Bibles.
This Newport church isn’t the only one to hold church in unusual places. Florentine Gardens in Hollywood and The Mayan in L.A. are also transformed into places of worship.
At first impression, church in a bar may seem odd.
But I think it may be the closest thing today to Jesus’ kind of ministry.
Ideally, all ministry is Jesus’ kind of ministry. However, not all modern day ministry is done how Jesus did his. That’s not to say other approaches aren’t valid. Many forms of evangelism are effective for different audiences.
What I’m talking about is meeting people where they are instead of drawing them to us. Jesus hung out with people most of us wouldn’t spend more than a minute with. He sought after the prostitutes, the liars and the cheaters.
Jesus went out to teach, he didn’t stay in the synagogue. He seemed to only be at the temple to reprimand them or re-teach them something they thought they already knew.
His ministry was out on the lake and in the towns, wherever the people that needed to hear his message were. He didn’t make them come to him.
So often I believe we focus on making church relevant for the nonbeliever. But I think the best approach is go out of our comfort zones to meet them where they feel at ease.
I’ve always had a problem with mass evangelism. I know it can be effective and powerful. I went to a Billy Graham crusade in high school and saw the Lord do great things.
However, I personally cannot stand on a stage and try to convince people I don’t know to come to Christ. And I think more and more of my generation is feeling the same. Recently, there has been much more emphasis put on relational ministry. Sure, it may not yield as many big numbers right away. But relationships having lasting implications.
I will never forget the people who have taken the time to get to know me before ministering to me. The times I’ve had with such people have been forever impacting. To be honest, I don’t remember many sermons, but I do remember the actions of those who have met me where I was. And that has been my saving grace.
Without being pantheistic, God is everywhere. And we can find him in the most unexpected places, even a bar.

oh to resolve

New years resolutions: go to the gym 3 times a week, eat less carbs, go to bed earlier, stop drinking coffee, make my bed every day, do homework on the weekends, shop less and never skip church.
What a lovely list.
Now let’s see, what will I actually do?
Well, I’ll probably go to the gym 4 times this semester. When I actually do have a free time, why would I want to go to the gym?
As long as I go to APU I will never be able to escape the carbs.
There will always be something more fun or important to do than go to bed.
No coffee? Hah.
My bed is lofted. No one will know if it’s messy.
Weekends are notorious for wasting time.
Shopping less could be a ligitimate goal. Only because my bank account continues to shrink.
And well, if I keep wasting my weekends, Sundays will be chained to homework.
So what’s my new year’s resolution for 2007?
Do life better than in 2006.
Pretty simple.
I can’t say I’ll loose those extra pounds The Clause has so graciously given to me or give up being known by name and drink at Starbucks.
But I will do what I did last year, better.
So I might make it the gym only 4 times this semester, but that’s a 100 percent improvement from last semester.
And with a smaller bank account, I guess I can be more prudent.