Salted Rim

This is mostly a teaser since I haven’t posted in such a long time. I have been reading the book Naked Economics. It has been a wonderful read. I already enjoy economics but Charles Wheelan explains and applies the theories in terms that aren’t incomprehensible and boring. One area of interest, especially for those connected to work in the developing world or the most poor around the world, is that of wealth creation, or in development terms income generation, and how that happens.

In very simple terms, productivity equals wealth creation or income generation. The more highly productive someone is the more opportunities they have to generate income and eventually wealth. This brings us to the 10 million dollar question: why are some countries rich and others poor? I don’t want to sound over simplistic but I have been working through and struggling with this very question as it relates to productivity. How do different countries compare to the rest of the world in poverty, income distribution, and productivity and how does that relate to their per capita income?

I am no economist and I think it is far more complex than simply increasing production, but at the same time thinking though the policy issues, the corruption, rule of law and myriads of other factors involved, how much would/could change if everyone understood that by increasing production there is an opportunity to generate more income and thus create wealth? This is a question and thought that has been running through my head; hopefully there will be more to come on this topic in the future.

If you have thoughts you would like to share on this topic please comment or send me a message through email or Facebook. This is an invitation for us all to consider the realities of this world and how we might change the story for the so many around the world living in despair because of extreme poverty. This isn’t an economic issue alone, it isn’t a justice or policy issue alone, but it is without a doubt a Biblical issue, it is a part of our brokenness that undoubtedly weighs on the Father.

Check out this book!

Todd, a classmate of mine, is spending his field practicum working with PDR, the development arm of the Church of Uganda (COU). The Church of Uganda is part of the Anglican Church and represents an incredible number of Ugandan Christians. As the development programs of the COU grew, it became necessary for their department to go through a process of strategic planning. I was given the opportunity to sit in on one of their meetings. It was exciting to see a group of Ugandan leaders diligently working to understand their current context, so they might see where they want to be in the next 5, 10, and 15 years. I will be curious to see how their word by word discussions of how they described themselves will go as they extend their programing into the future. COU has much to teach those of us highly educated aid and development workers about our desire to help the poor, broken and vulnerable.

Hello, I have not posted in quite a while and mostly because I haven’t had much to post about. I am sure I have had stories that were notable or experiences that might seem exciting; still I have not written a word about it. But, here is a time for a fresh start, a new journey and a new direction.

Since I wrote the last post, I have quit my restaurant job after rising to management. I have nearly completed a master’s degree and am working to do so by spending the next 9 months serving in Kigali, Rwanda.

It goes like this – I have spent the last year building incredible friendships that will last forever. I have studied like mad with the very people I have grown to appreciate so much. I have learned so much, at points I thought my head would explode. We have studied, laughed, cried, partied and danced the nights away all together training for these moments when we go our separate ways, to serve people and our God, to bring the kingdom of God to earth as it is in Heaven.

That said, I am here now sitting at a desk the night before I leave. I am looking back at the memories of first walking into my house on Upper Gulph. I had only spoken with Panom (Peter) a few times on the phone and only slightly more with Ryan throughout the summer before our start. We showed up to orientation to meet the many new faces. During our first encounter with Todd Ferwerda little did I know what a friend he would become. I looked into the crowd knowing only my two housemates but was excited and eager with anticipation.

With classes, new friends, games, cards, parties, exploring our new city, dancing and more time with friends, it was then I knew my family had grown. I grew to know and care for these new people with whom I spent my days. There is a story for everyone. Maybe we can share some of those later. It was a year for the books. I surely won’t forget.

We all knew that the end would draw near. I never really understood how fast it would come. I never really imagined how much I would miss everyone. Yes, I sit here at a desk typing away. I am excited, eagerly anticipating what tomorrow will hold much less the coming months. I am scared and anxious with joy all mixed together; yes, who knew I would feel this way.

Tomorrow will soon enough come, and I will get on an airplane and be on my way. At 4:20 PM local time I will leave for Amsterdam (somebody is laughing about that coincidence I know). I will then leave a few hours after my morning arrival for Nairobi, then final destination by air is Uganda.  Thanks to Todd I will have a place to stay for my first few nights before traveling to visit Jocelyn in the north and then later to Rwanda to start my job as Director of Moucecore in Kigali.

I am so excited. I can’t wait, yet I am anxious of all the unknowns.

I will miss you all very much…keep in touch…

I am not an experienced aid worker or the CEO of a major NGO; although I have traveled nearly around the world. The dynamic of western relief must change. The dynamic of how we in the west look at challenges and their solutions domestically and internationally must change.

Christians must embrace a personal responsibility not rely solely on the prayers and invisible hand of God to correct all that is wrong. We must embrace people and show love as Christ loved. Christians must stand to the challenge of the prophetic voices of our time. No longer will an aid package be the answer. Well-fare is no longer the only solution.

Christians have a concern for the state of our society and the souls of that society. It is time that we own the problems and be the solutions the answers to the prayers of the masses. The church can no longer be just interested in saving peoples souls. Nor can they be entirely interested in notching another soul onto their belt of success. The ministry that Jesus calls us to be part of is not one of getting people saved alone, but bringing people to life and one lived well.

Challenge our ideas about education and our roles in education. Running to the private schools will never be the answer to the question of salvation for the lost or of owning a problem in society while functioning as the solution.

I was once a recruiter for a missions agency. My role included but not limited to engaging college students with the world beyond their world. To tell those stories that go untold. The question is how can we be Jesus the great physician, how can we be Jesus the master chef, how can we be Jesus the teacher and mentor, how can we be pastors, finally how will we be the hands and feet of Jesus.

How can we afford to pay for things like this? Who will pay for it? All great questions, but far less important than who will go. You see for me out there where the people are, money is not the greatest need people who love and sacrifice are the greatest need.

Money can buy all kinds of things it can feed people for days. However, people you see can feed people or better yet help people to feed themselves for life. You see your checks are important the money we give is crucial, but more than money, we need people. Money does not save anybody. People led by the will of God and his compassion, acting as reconciliatory agents for His world.

The king of pop as weird or strange as he could be engages this idea with a challenging message for Christians in this world with his song, “Man in the Mirror.”  It is in that song where the true trial, what our Muslims friends call Jihad starts. I can only ask people to do so much but at some point, I have to buy what I am selling.

I am a bartender and I sell food and drink. I am there to provide an experience but the I limit myself by how well I know the very experience that I am selling. We have to start with ourselves. We have to look in the mirror and stop ignoring the problems we see and passing responsibility off on the government or the minority population of any congregation that bears majority burden.

We cannot be those who identify the problem but only complain about the jobs of those who are actively working to be the solutions. I have to challenge us with more than a thought. Our lives have more meaning than merely that which we might have thought or said. Jesus’ life was remembered as much or more by what he did as to what he said the Gospel’s are full of the things he did.

Today I challenge you to consider the problems of society, the neighborhood, the school, the … you fill in the blank. Identify the problem and seek out an opportunity to be the solution. Find those who are interested to help and rally the community to fix or improve what is not at it’s best. We might find that the very children the laborers of God might answer the prayers that people have been praying.

Matthew 9
³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”