That's Amazing

You would think we came for the food, the way our team responds at mealtime. First bites rarely fail to produce a sigh of satisfaction or a “that’s amazing” from at least one of us. What culinary delights qualify for such praise? Recent successes include rice and peanut sauce, sliced cucumbers with salt and pepper, and raspberry Jell-O.

By any measure I am a blessed man, but like many Americans I struggle to live with the thanksgiving and deep gratitude that my situation warrants: gratitude for knowledge of God’s love for me, for family and friends, for my church, for good work and ministry, for material comforts, and the list goes on. At home in the US I am more likely to grumble than give thanks for mediocre food and cold showers, but here we thank God daily and with utmost sincerity for these things.

I would have to say that my African friends complain less and show more joy in life, in general, than I or my American friends. My African friends are poor. Their children die or become disabled much more frequently than in wealthy countries. If it does not rain more soon their crops will not grow and they will go hungry. Even so, they have time for each other and love to laugh. My African friends are not as impoverished as my American friends by loneliness. Africans are about the hardest working people I know, but (and I can’t explain this) they are not busy.

Perhaps the busyness of the wealthy comes from the illusion that with just a little more human effort we might achieve certain cradle-to-grave material security and avoidance of harm. Things are good for me in America enough of the time that I take “good” for granted, and grumble even at its small absences. We are tempted to obsess over every disappointment, to worry over every possibility of disappointment, forsaking the thanksgiving and joy that can be ours today in vain pursuit of a self-defined perfect day tomorrow.

Africa shatters the illusion of human control over the world, freeing our team members to be amazed that God’s goodness is continually breaking through the brokenness of the world; freeing us to practice generous stewardship over what God has given us. When we stop thinking of our material wealth and political freedom and power as ours alone, and cease using these assets in vain effort to secure for ourselves what only God can provide, we are freed from the endless busyness of self-centeredness to look upon the world with compassion, to speak and live out the Good News about Jesus.

Thank you to all who are praying for the team. We are thankful that Justin, Mike and Randy are restored to good health. For years I thought teams like ours focused too much on “self centered” prayers for health and safety, and did not pray enough for the people around us. This week reminded me that to bring good news to others is also to share in their sufferings. Our team takes many costly precautions to stay healthy: better housing, different cooking, bottled water to brush our teeth, and Cipro (an antibiotic) in our suitcases. Even so, it is difficult to prepare food in this environment and not have some risk of contamination. The people in Mahadaga live with this every day, and for now so do we. We must pray, for ourselves that illness will not hinder our ministry, and for the well being of all those for whom this is a constant reality, for those who do not have a ticket to America in their pocket.

Please also pray for encouragement and perseverance. We are thrilled that yesterday Bethany and Katie began their Summer Enrichment Program with children from the Center for the Advancement of the Handicapped; and that Mike was able to build a bio-diesel reactor for the testing of various oils available for fuel production. Matt Walsh, an alumnus of the Collaboratory and now a leader of the ministry here, has planted Jatropha, an oil bearing plant that does not compete with food production for space.

For the second visit in a row, however, we learned that the wall thickness of the tubing acquired by our partners for the tricycle project is too thin. As we wrap up the design phase of this project, and with so many people waiting to take charge of their own mobility, we must solve this material supply chain problem. Charlie, Alex, Justin and John have maintained good spirits in spite of this setback, and are working hard to develop a temporary solution. We are glad to see that others groups in the US and Europe have recently contributed good innovations in mobility technology for the developing world, but without a long term commitment to work and struggle in a community there is little hope that innovation can be made sustainable in the local culture and economy. Please pray that we will persevere.

I leave you with something beautiful that I saw in Chad while visiting my son on the way to Burkina Faso: The offering on a Sunday morning came at the end of what for me was a long and hot worship service, one where I struggled to pay attention. Each believer left their seat to come to the front with their gift, circulating into the center to form a giving line and then back around the outside to return to their seat. As the offering proceeded the people in line became more animated, and the music more energetic, until something very close to dancing broke out. It was as close to a Conga Line as I have ever seen in worship, a party to celebrate God’s goodness through generosity.

It was not lost on me that these partying Christians are among the poorest people in the world living in a country torn by civil war. I remembered what Jesus had to say about the widow’s mite. May we who have so much be encouraged to not be outdone in generosity among the brothers and sisters in Christ, whether in the sharing of wealth, or time, or deeds.

-David