In the groove

So I went to the doc on Friday to review results from my knee MRI and figure out a game plan.  He said I was born with several issues in my knee that I won’t bore you with here – except for one.  My knee cap sits quite a bit higher on my leg than it should, which means that my knee needs to be bent quite a bit before the knee cap will get “in the groove” that is formed by the leg bones; until the knee cap is in the groove it is more susceptible to dislocation.  Therefore, while most people are mildly susceptible to dislocation when their leg is straight, I am susceptible until my leg is quite a bit bent.  In other words, I was born with a condition that makes it more difficult for my knee cap to be “in the groove.”

I believe as Americans, we are born with a condition that makes it more difficult to be “in the groove” when it comes to global compassion.  We have to really make an effort to bend our eyes, ears, and brain to be “in the groove” of understanding what extreme poverty, disease, and suffering really are.  People that are born in places like Rwanda have an advantage in that they typically become aware of extreme poverty, disease, and suffering from birth.  Obviously, I’m not saying it is advantageous to suffer, but at least they don’t struggle with the same disease we have – being born with a condition where we live so far above “the groove” that, without great effort, we become susceptible to living our entire lives never getting “in the groove” with the global emergency that will characterize and judge our generation.

Underpasses in the rain

So I’m driving into work this morning and it is just pouring out here in the Cambridge area.  It is much needed rain and is very much welcomed.  But I had an interesting thought come in my head (at least interesting to me).  As I was cruising along with the constant noise of rain on my car, I went underneath the two bridges of the Highway 65 bypass on the east side of Cambridge.  The result was these two quick moments of unnatural silence; as if someone had just quickly covered my ears then uncovered, then covered, and then uncovered.  And just that quickly I was back to the constant noise of the rain.

This triggered the thought in my mind of how food might feel to the over 3 billion people who live in a constant state of emergency.  I hear & read story after story of those who rarely eat; I hear of the many people who, when they get food, go to sleep with a piece of it in their hand so they know they will have something the next day.  For those people who rarely fulfill the basic need of eating, I wonder if having something to eat is like going under an underpass in the rain.  I wonder if they feel that momentary, peaceful quiet like when the rain stops hitting your car for that brief instance.  I wonder if their constant state of hunger is like the rain pounding on the car; moment after moment; hour after hour; day after day; year after year. 

I figure this is sort of the case because it’s how I have felt during my $2/day experiment.  There is a constant awareness of being hungry that leave briefly when you eat; but it doesn’t take long to resume that feeling.  Obviously at any time, I can decide to park my perverbial car (my hunger) in a garage or under a tree and get out of the rain (lack of food), so it’s not a perfect comparison.  But I bet people that rarely eat feel like they are constantly being pounded by rain and just searching for that next underpass to give them a momentary break.

Our Response should be to create those underpasses for them to give them the momentary breaks that will allow them to continue driving, but much moreso we need to work with organizations that can create permanent shelters from the rain.  We must find ways to create sustainable economies and sources of food, clean water, education, and disease prevention.  As a society and as individuals, we have a responsibility to respond.

The Long Defeat

The phrase “the long defeat” describes a noble, yet seemingly impossible struggle.  It was used by J.R.R. Tolkien in Lord of the Rings to refer to the long battle against the evil forces of Morgoth &, later, Sauron.Tracy Kidder used the phrase in the book, “Mountains Beyond Mountains” to describe the efforts of Dr. Paul Farmer who served the poor in Haiti and other countries.  In the book, Dr. Farmer explained his work:

I have fought the long defeat and brought other people on to fight the long defeat, and I’m not going to stop because we keep losing. Now I actually think sometimes we may win. I don’t dislike victory…. We want to be on the winning team, but at the risk of turning our backs on the losers, no, it’s not worth it. So you fight the long defeat.

Some of you know Sara Groves, a singer who has become heavily involved in International Justice Mission (IJM) and other social justice efforts throughout the world.  She captured this notion of the long defeat in her song with that title:

i have joined the long defeat
that falling set in motion
and all my strength and energy
are raindrops in the ocean

so conditioned for the win
to share in victor’s stories
but in the place of ambition’s din
i have heard of other glories

and i pray for an idea
and a way i cannot see
it’s too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave

i can’t just fight when i think i’ll win
that’s the end of all belief
and nothing has provoked it more
than a possible defeat

chorus

we walk a while we sit and rest
we lay it on the altar
i won’t pretend to know what’s next
but what i have i’ve offered

and i pray for a vision
and a way i cannot see
it’s too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave

and i pray for inspiration
and a way i cannot see
it’s too heavy to carry
and impossible to leave
it’s too heavy to carry
and i will never leave

I invite you to join me in fighting the long defeat.  There may be times where it seems like we are losing, but that is the nature of battle.  We will have victories and we will have defeats, but we will fight on because it is impossible not to.  If you are reading this you are aware that much of the world is suffering extreme poverty and/or oppression.  If you are reading this, you also know that most of us (those making $25,000/year or more) are wealthier than 95% of the world; for those of us blessed with $50,000/year or more, we are wealthier than 99% of the world. So, once again, we pose the question: If much of the world is in the state of emergency and most of us are the wealthiest people in the world, then what is Our Response?

Impact of awareness

This was quite the interesting week for me; as some of you know from the last posting, I was in a position of working directly with the issue of homelessness.  The next day I was face-to-face with the issue of suicide as I helped walk someone through their options for life.  Earlier in the week I was counseling someone on marital issues.  Today, I was once again involved in conversation about homelessness & unemployment.  There is so much struggle and pain and stress in our world today and, frankly, I enjoyed my life more when I wasn’t aware of these things.  For many years I had no idea how many people in Isanti County struggled with homelessness, unemployment, poverty, disease, addiction, depression, and strife.  This made me much more comfortable in my life; and allowed me to more easily enjoy all of the comforts and relationships and security I have.  When I would hear about an isolated case of struggle, it was easier to think about it in terms of one persons “fault” or “issue” or whatever.  But when you peel back the covers to see that these issues are impacting hundreds of people in our small community, it’s shocking…. and then when you have conversations with the real people who are going through this life stuff, you begin to internalize it and it begins to impact your overall worldview.  

There is a beauty in not knowing stuff.  I don’t know if “bliss” is the right word, but there is a comfort in ignorance.  But there are some things that must be known no matter how uncomfortable they might make us.  As an individual, it is better to know that you have a disease (as tough as it is to hear) so you can treat it.  As a community, it is better to know that there are many people suffering (as tough as it is to hear the stories) so we can do something about it.  As a society, it is better to know that the gap between the rich & the poor is increasing at an exponential rate (currently over 75 to 1) so we can consider our response and move toward improving the standard of living for all of humanity.  

My outlook on life was much simpler when I was unaware of the magnitude of homelessness & depression in Isanti County; my life was more enjoyable when I couldn’t tell you the names and stories of dozens of people unemployed or un-housed; my ability to do what was in my best interest was much easier before I investigated the magnitude of global poverty; it was much easier to prioritize the consumption of my income around my desires when I wasn’t hampered by the needs of others.

We need to be aware that there are many people in our communities and world that are in desperate situations.  WARNING!  This awareness, if allowed to be internalized, may begin to haunt you; it will stir in you; and it will change you.  It takes a tremendous amount of courage to look at these situations and not ignore or avoid them.  I desire to be part of a revolution in this community and beyond that is symbolized by courage to understand the situations; that is  marked by the sacrifice of self for the sake of others; and is littered by story after story of people who have had their life positively impacted.

An apology

For the past several months, I have really been wrestling with the question of what God expects of me.  Today, I encountered a situation which brought this wrestling to the forefront of my life.  I had the opportunity to work with a homeless man who stopped by the church office today; I worked with him to get him accommodations for tonight, get some groceries, and figure out how we can get him to a hospital to get his physical health checked out.  I spent about four hours talking with him, praying with him, driving him around, making phone calls, and sending emails to see if anyone would be able to take him into their home.  It would be very easy for me to pat myself on the back, call myself a “good Christian”, and go to bed without another thought of what might happen to Len tomorrow.  But I’m concerned; I want him to be OK.  But I don’t know what my role is here; and I don’t know the role of the church.  I don’t think every situation is the same; I don’t think I should just always take the homeless into my home and I don’t think I should always just brush it off.  It’s a difficult wrestling.  I don’t want to do more than I am supposed to do and I also don’t want to be lazy. 

You might think this doesn’t have relevance to Our Response and our desire to ignite a local awakening of global compassion.  But it does.  I think each of us must wrestle with what our responsibility is to those around us who are in lack; or oppressed; or whatever.  Although I want Our Response to be a community-wide effort and not limited to area Christians, I want to finish this thought by relaying the words of Tom Davis in his book, “Red Letters.”  This section is called, “An Apology…” and it is how he begins his book.

“The Christian church owes an apology to the almost fifty million individuals in our world currently infected with HIV/AIDS. Those of us who claim to follow Christ’s teachings should be ashamed for what little we’ve done to help the countless millions of women, children, and orphans who have died or are dying.  Entire nations are going up in flames while we watch them burn.  Bono and the supporters of the ONE Campaign are right to use words like ‘crisis’ and ’emergency’ when talking about the situation in Africa.  The continent is on fire with AIDS, and unless drastic action is taken, entire countries will be wiped off the face of the planet by this disease.  Sadly, the church has been slow to act in response to this crisis.  Like the priest and Levite of Jesus’ parable, we have passed by the man on the side of the road, too busy or too ‘holy’ to involve ourselves in lending a helping hand.  Africa is indeed on fire.  But as we argue or fuss about how it started and who should be saved first, thousands more children are orphaned each day.  Every hour, another one thousand children will die.  Did you know that you are just a short plane ride away from a world where eight-year-old girls prostitute themselves for food?  The true state of emergency lies within the church – it lies within us.  It’s our problem.  We can’t leave Africa’s children lying by the side of the road as we pass on by.”

Our Response is committed to stopping by the side of the road, looking these children and impoverished in the eye, and doing what we can to love & help them.  I still need to wrestle with what is required of me in general and in specific situations – and I invite you to ask the same questions.

It will be Rwanda

I just received word that the Area Development Project (ADP) that our community around Cambridge, Minnesota will be building relationship with will be in Rwanda.  This has gone back & forth a bit between Rwanda and Kenya, but has not landed until now.  The area will be either in Kivuruga or Maraba; the details are still being worked. 

Rwanda is ranked 161st out of 177 by the United Nations in regard to their Human Development Index.  60% of Rwandan people live on less than $1/day.  What little economic & political stabiilty Rwanda had was desemated through the civil unrest in the 1990’s highlighted by the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis over 100 days by the Hutus and the subsequent fleeing of 2 million Hutus fearing revenge.  The infant mortality of Rwanda is 98 deaths per every 1,000 live births; nearly 1 dead for every 10 living – this is one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.  About 35% of Rwandans are illiterate and the average life expectancy is 49 years.  26% of Rwandans do not have access to safe drinking water and the average annual income per person is about $250 per year (US dollars).  Finally, Rwanda is the most densely populated country on earth with 9.46 million people in 10,169 square miles – about 931 people per square mile – here in Isanti County, that number is 71 people per square mile.

Certainly there is much work to be done.  World Vision is already having a material impact helping bridge over 23,000 children sponsored by those in the U.S. and 47,000 worldwide.  WV operates 13 development programs, 5 of which have U.S. involvement.  Lives & communities are being transformed, but there is far greater need than the current support. 

It is here, in this tiny land-locked country in Africa, that we will make our first statement in response to global poverty, disease & suffering.

Please join us in this fight.

Do Africans have knee problems?

For the past week I have been on vacation; this is the one week each year where I check out completely and take the family to a cabin by a lake.  It is wonderfully refreshing and a much needed end to the school year and kick-off to the summer. On the evening of our third day, however, I just finished a successful fishing trip (landing a 17″ small mouth) when I started walking to the back of the boat to start the motor and head back to our cabin.  On the second step, my knee buckled and I went down in a heap – literally.  My right need dislocated, sending the bottom part of my right leg sticking out at an unintended angle.  I’ve been down this road before many times with my left knee (resulting in a couple major surgeries), but never my right knee. Given my experience, I knew the best way to get the kneecap back in place and relieve the pain was to try to straighten my leg.  I pushed myself up with my hands to get my butt off the bottom of the boat, negotiated my right foot to a solid place, and then forced my weight down to straighten my leg.  It worked eventually; the kneecap popped back in and the extreme pain subsided (at least relatively).  Now all that was left to do was to somehow get to the back of the boat (which was joyous), start the motor (which took luckily only two pulls; more joy), drive the boat and dock it (fun), and then get out of the boat, onto the dock, work my way into the cabin, and onto the couch (this was very, very joyous).  Eventually my family found me and over the course of the past few days nursed me back to somewhat health while still trying to enjoy the vacation as much as possible – and we actually did enjoy it a lot.

What does this have to do with Our Response?  Well, as I thought about this, it dawned on me that I never hear about knee problems in Africa but they seem to be center stage here in the United States.  I bet over half the population here would know that ACL or MCL had something to do with the knee and probably that their favorite athlete was rehabbing theirs.  Could it be that African’s do not have knee problems like we do in the U.S.?  Could this be a curse of the western world?  Or could it be a statement of our amazing development as a society that knee problems of individuals become topics for water cooler and dinner conversations?  We are so blessed.  Just to give you an idea, I searched on-line for “Orthopedic clinic Africa” and “Orthopedic clinic U.S.”.  The difference in hits was 249,000 versus 7,000,000.  Now certainly this is not real scientific but I think it gives us an idea of priority, especially given the fact that the land mass of North America is about 80% of Africa and the population is about 60%.

Consider this, right now I am far more concerned about the swelling and pain in my knee than I am about getting my next meal; in fact I just enjoyed some spaghetti with sauce that even had meat in it.  Certainly my knee is my priority over what I’m going to drink tonight – I could have water, tea, Diet Dr. Pepper, or anything else if I wanted to jump in my car, drive to town, and pick it up.  Even though the mosquitoes are now coming out here in Minnesota, I’m not worried about making sure my nets are secured to avoid myself, my wife, or my kids getting malaria and dying (which is what happens to over one million people per year).  I’m more concerned about my knee than if my kids are going to get a decent education; in fact just a few minutes ago my daughter was reading to my wife and later her brother is going to read to her.  I know that whatever weather hits here tonight (rain, hail, heat, wind, or even tornadoes) that we’ll probably be just fine in our home – so I’m more concerned about my knee than I am about watching the sky; I guess the fact that we’ve had very little rain does create a bit of a weather priority for us because our flowers have to be watered a bit more often from the hose attached to our house that comes from our own private well. 

By now I’m probably beating a dead horse (one of my favorite expressions simply for the visual image that makes little sense), but I hope you get my point.  We have so much compared to so many others.  Therefore, our priorities are so different from those who do not have adequate shelter, water, food, clothing, education, or protection from disease.  It is imperative that if we are going to be the generation that helps bring justice to the oppressed and suffering, that we begin by understanding our abundance.  This is not to motivate through guilt (as I wrote about earlier), but to motivate through recognition of our opportunity.  We need to realize that our abundance (or just a sliver of it) can be used to radically improve the lives of other human beings and communities throughout the world.

So, do Africans have knee problems?  I don’t know; I couldn’t really find anything on a quick internet search to support if they do or don’t; so I’m assuming they do.  But when is the last time a relief agency has talked about knee issues.  Certainly our priorities are different.  I’m glad I can worry about my knee instead of my basic human needs.  But I’m also aware of how much of an affluent minority I am in as a result.

Background on Our Response

So, some of you have been asking for more details on what Our Response is and what the next steps are. I thought I’d take this opportunity to update you.  For the past couple years, I have been meeting with Bob Jonsson and Mark Radeke about the potential of starting a community-wide partnership with an area of eastern Africa (likely Rwanda) in an effort to shift some of our financial abundance to an area in an emergency state of survival.  Through these discussions, we brought in World Vision to provide the infrastructure for funding (through Child Sponsorships) and the expertise in how to get funds to the location, prioritize the needs, and make sure they are utilized to both meet short-term needs as well as move the community to long-term sustainability.  The purpose of “Our Response” is to ignite a community-wide financial response to global poverty, disease & suffering.  As we move forward, we will be explaining how individuals & groups in our community can participate through child sponsorships and other financial support.  We will be having discussions with many groups in advance of our trip in November, but really making the circuit following the trip in an effort to gain sponsorships and other financial support. The primary purpose of the trip will be to visit the leaders and residents of the community to understand their difficulties and priorities while building relationships that will continue beyond the trip. This trip will include traveling to locations where World Vision has been “on the ground” for several years to see first hand the impact our partnership can have in transforming a community toward self-sustainability.  Here are the current ways you can get involved:

Trip fundraising: We are still working out the details of who is going on this initial trip, but I wanted to let you know that there will be significant costs associated with going to Africa for our initial group of 3-5 people.  When we first confirmed our partnership with World Vision, their regional director put the word out about Our Response and an individual from Wisconsin whom none of us knows, stepped forward with a gift of $2,000 toward the cost of the trip.  There is still a sizable cost remaining so I want to invite you to consider helping us make this trip a reality.  We are in the process of creating this non-profit, but it is not yet established.  New Hope Community Church of Cambridge has agreed to facilitate these donations until Our Response is formally established.  If you would like to give to these efforts please write a check to “New Hope” with a memo line of “Our Response” and either mail or drop at the New Hope office located at 370 Main Street South, Cambridge, MN 55008.  Donations of any size are greatly appreciated.  All individuals & groups giving to Our Response will be recognized on published information (unless requesting to remain anonymous).

Volunteers: I am starting to put together a list of people interested in serving on teams related to Our Response.  If this is something of interest, shoot me off a note (steve@newhopecambridge.org).  Many different needs exist: website, event planning, administration, communication, research, networking, etc.

Endorsements: Prior to the trip, we are looking for businesses, groups, churches, and other organizations in the Cambridge-area to “endorse” this effort.  Even if those groups cannot give financially, we would like groups that understand the value of this effort to our community and to the global community to make a statement to that effect.  We want to be able to publicize the names of those groups who have captured the vision and encourage people to support it.  Any donation for endorsing organizations are entirely optional. If you are a decision-maker with a member of a local group, or have influence with those who are, please consider having them review the blog pages, watch the intro video, get in touch with me, and consider publicly endorsing our efforts.

Champion: Tell others about this effort; get them to follow the blog and join in the conversation by commenting for all to see; have them join the Facebook group “Our Response.”  Odds are if you are interested in this effort, you know others who are passionate also.  Get them engaged; let’s start a grass-roots revolution of global compassion!

Pray: Our Response aims to unit all residents, regardless of faith perspective, in responding to the emergency in eastern Africa.  If your spiritual beliefs include prayer, we welcome you to pray on behalf of this effort.  I am formulating a list of people who are praying for this effort to send specific prayer requests on a regular basis.  If you would like to be included in these communications, please let me know.

OK, this blog entry was quite “business-y” but I wanted to make sure you were up to speed on what is happening and what the needs are.  At the end of the day, there are two facts: 1) much of the world lives in a constant state of emergency and 2) most of us have the ability to help.  These facts lead to this question: What is Our Response?

Milunch instantaneo

Among the overwhelming piles of statistics is one that has grabbed my heart – about half of the world’s population lives on $2/day or less (in U.S. dollars).  Now there is a lot that needs to be considered if we really want to analyze what this means including the fact that $2 can buy a lot more in eastern Africa than in the U.S.  But the point is this… if we live on $2/day or more in the U.S., we have more wealth than half of the world.  Seriously?  Really?  That’s only about $730/year.  So if I make $25,000 year, my income is about 40 times more than half the world.  In fact, that $25,000/year is more than 95% of the people in the world.  Can we really fathom that?  I don’t think so.

This statistic led me to see what it would be like to eat $2/day worth of food (or less) each day.  I’ve been doing this since May 11th – now, note that I’m not living on $2/day or less – just eating that much.  I’m not counting the pop or water I drink; I’m not talking about my consumption of gas, toilet paper, water, or electricity; I’m not talking about the cost of my car, satellite dish, computer, or cell phone.  I’m only talking about food.  Not even close to living on $2/day or less; but none-the-less a reduction.

A very insightful friend recently asked me, “What has been the most surprising?”  I first had to note that I’m not starving to death; it’s perhaps not as hard as you might think in some ways.  But there have been two real a-has for me: 1) I am constantly aware that I am somewhat hungry; although not starving, I am always somewhat hungry; when I’m in meetings or driving or talking on the phone or typing a blog – I’m aware that I am hungry.  I wonder if people that are really hungry live with this same constant awareness of hunger; and poor people live with a constant realization that they are poor; or the thirsty, or oppressed, or enslaved.  Perhaps you can go on with your life and even function well, but there is a constant awareness under the surface.  2) The second thing is that I really have taken for granted all I eat.  It’s surprising how often I have to catch myself trying to grab a cookie, or cheeze-its, or something; realizing that if I do that there is a cost associated with it.  People that are in poverty and without food, don’t have food constantly surrounding them.  Two of the first three days of my $2/day challenge I had the opportunity to have a feast; although it would have been free to me, I didn’t partake because my challenge is in the value of food (not actual cost to me).  This made me realize how normally I would just roll up my sleeves, dive in, and enjoy a couple plate-fulls.  I’m not juding this activity as much as I’m learning how unaware I have been of how much food has been a central element of my life for the first 39 years.

So I type this as I eat my $0.50 lunch; my “Milunch instantaneo” which is a very salty, glorified ramen noodles.  It is satisfactory; in fact it’s chipotle flavor is a bit enjoyable.  And even with this, I realize that meals can be provided for the poorest for about $0.17 each – even the cost of this small meal is 3 times what a meal could be provided for.  With this math, there must be a way we can feed the world?  Right?  It seems there is enough for everyone; it seems we have enough to share something.