Thinking Big
Some interesting links from around the web on some of the ’30,000 feet subject’s’ that are often neglected when we think about our work in this world…
- One of my favorite development bloggers takes a look at where religion and development work intersect. It shows how far our sides have drifted apart – he seems to be writing about making the first tentative steps toward an alien race – but historically and on the ground, Development NGO’s, people’s organizations, and religious bodies have long been steadfast partners.
Photo: Charles Ayoub
- What? The world’s largest escalator in one of our favorite cities? Medellin rocks! (like the MetroCables, this escalator serves some of the cities most isolated and impoverished neighborhoods. Medellin has a world-class system of public voting on development projects, and this escalator is a prime example of how people want to improve their neighborhoods.)
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from brandspankingnew.net
What is the population problem? by Claire Melamed. This is from the slew of articles came out when the world’s 7th billion person was both last year. A good look at the deeper questions of justice and equity that are raised when one considers the current state of how we use our world’s resources instead of only thinking of population numbers.
- A great look at the impacts, both positive and negative, of short-term mission trips, from our friend and Co-Worker in Guatemala Amanda Craft.
Which story?
In an effort to stop worrying about not posting and get some fresh posts flowing, I’m vowing to put up some good, recent articles I’ve seen with just a bit of commentary. Hope it is interesting and brings a bit of Colombia back to your digital doorstep…
From The Guardian’s Poverty Matters blog, an interesting article today about the push and pull of storytelling from the ‘developing world’. Its is worth a read for the whole picture, but it also helpfully relies on the author’s history of working with an NGO here in Colombia.
His central question is ours as well – how to share the full story of a place such as Colombia? I sit and write in a vibrant part of Barranquilla, overlooking a bustling and growing city, bursting to celebrate Carnaval. And in the past week I also sat and listened to a story of one person’s violent upheaval and terrifying flight to find a new place to live, if not in peace, at least out of the path of bullets and machetes.
So which story to tell?
Here are the author’s conclusions:
Given that it is impossible for anyone to know more than a handful of countries very well, the second best option is simply to mistrust stereotypes and generalisations completely. While they often have elements of truth in them, they also tend to misrepresent a more complex reality.
Along with mistrusting sweeping statements, a balanced view of progress is also worth nurturing, one acknowledging that steps forward and backward coexist in most countries at most times. Some will insist all is rosy, others will say everything is getting worse; the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
A balanced view. Here’s hoping we can all find that one of these days.
In the mean time, if you have a little more time, you can watch the following TED talk called “The Danger of a Single Story.” It is another take on the same question, and it is well worth its 19 minutes.
Prayers/Mission Yearbook
So, Happy New Year! More on where we have been on a different day, but first we wanted to be sure you saw this!
A while back we wrote about the Mission Yearbook, and how great a resource it is. Well, today is the day to pray for Colombia! Here is the entry as it appears in the yearbook (though with a fancy color picture). More on how to order a yearbook for you or your congregation is at the bottom.
Thanks for your prayers!
Saturday, January 21
Studying Bonhoeffer, singing karaoke, worshiping together – these are just a few of the ways Presbyterian sisters and brothers from Colombia and the United States made manifest the partnership they have shared for the past 10 years. Through a retreat in the countryside of Medellin, leaders from both presbyteries have been able to study, worship, play, and envision a better future together.
The Presbytery of Winnebago in Wisconsin and Uraba Presbytery in Colombia are always looking for new ways they can grow together. Their partnership is not one of “us and them” but rather of “we and our.” They have visited one another, prayed for one another, and shared the ways that they find God moving in their lives. In their look at challenges facing the Reformed tradition, Colombians found themselves looking at how to deepen their knowledge of the worldwide Reformed tradition. Meanwhile, Winnebagans were struck by the continuing reality of living one’s faith under fire – literally – as their partners shared stories about the violence they have suffered and the ways they have found to proclaim God’s love through it all.
These deep and transformational conversations could not have happened without the history and trust this partnership has built over the past years. But with those roots, and the shared and life-giving faith in the God at work in all the world, this retreat bore the fruit of two peoples working together in pursuit of God’s kingdom here on earth.
— The Rev. Mamie Broadhurst and Rev. Richard Williams, PC(USA) mission co-workers, Baranquilla, Colombia
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) People in Mission
Presbyterian Church of Colombia (IPC): Rev. Mamie Broadhurst and Rev. Richard Williams, pastoral accompaniers on human rights and displaced people * Rev. Alice Winters, professor of Bible, Reformed University of Colombia
Partners/Ministries
IPC: Rev. Javier Rodriguez Sanin, moderator, Rev. Diego Higuita, executive secretary * Reformed University of Colombia: Rev. Milciades Pua, rector * Reformed Synod: Elder Martha Raquel Nino Duran, moderator
Presbytery Partnerships: Presbytery of Chicago, Presbytery of the Miami Valley, Presbytery of Tres Rios, and Presbytery of Winnebago with the IPC
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Herbert Beverly, OGA
Elder Beneva C. Bibbs, GAMC
Let us pray
Gracious God, we pray that partnerships the world over might flourish. May the fruit of those ties show themselves in a safer, kinder, more just kingdom on earth. Amen.
Daily Lectionary
Morning Psalms 56; 149
First Reading Genesis 12:9-13:1
Second Reading Hebrews 7:18-28
Gospel John 4:27-42
Evening Psalms 118; 111
Experience the 2012 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study for yourself:
• The single copy price is only $14.95 plus shipping and handling.
• Quantity pricing is available for as few as 10 copies.
• Order through the Church Store, or call (800) 524-2612 and order item 978-157153-100-1.
Yet More Advent Reflections
“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
I am trying desperately to hold onto this.
I keep up with a number of blogs that report on international news. Some are focused on Colombia, some are quick updates from around the globe, and one is a set of pictures from the Boston Globe called “The Big Picture“. I don’t always have time (or bandwidth) to scroll through everything they put up, but when I do I am rarely disappointed. From photos of the lunar eclipse to global carnaval celebrations, there is often a little of everything from a little bit of everywhere.
This week is the Year in Pictures, and this is where my Advent hope has been flickering.
To be honest, crap happens in Colombia all the time. So-and-so official was collaborating with paramilitaries, DAS (the now defunct intelligence agency, sort of like our FBI) is revealed to torture and trace and threaten judges, reporters, and civil leaders, floods paralyze the country and more die in landslides, farmers and their non-governmental agency partners are accused of faking their own displacement while 700 towns are said to have known illegal armed group activity.This is the stuff of every day. We don’t write about it all the time because…well, sometimes one can’t even keep up. But more than that it is because even for us these things are the backdrop to daily life. If you’re not careful, they can become wallpaper – texture to a life that you can walk by and not even see anymore. It could be laziness; it could be survival tactic – hard to say.
Add to that the remembered pain of the world in this year’s pictures – tsunami in Japan, tornadoes in Alabama, gunman in Oslo, famine in Somalia, and the children…starving, in refugee camps, playing beside ridiculously polluted rivers. How does light shine into all that darkness? And might that light include that of a flash bulb – taking the pictures so that we might all see this pain? If so, why do we do nothing about it?
It is old news to say that Jesus is the reason for the season, that presents are not the purpose, that much of what we do is trimming as much as are ornaments and tinsel. We know that. We just don’t change much. But when lives are at stake, and we know it, why do we still stay the same? If, as my devotional says, this is indeed “the most outrageous season of hope and anticipation” then what indeed are we waiting for?
Come, Lord Jesus, Come – and help us follow.
More Advent Reflections
The online devotional I have kept up with most regularly this year is called Following the Star. I enjoyed the first weeks better, but I appreciate the accompanying music and it has consistently given me something to chew on.
One thing that has stuck with me is a particular meditation about the star in the east. It was from one of the first days of the devotion:
“We’ve seen the star in the east, so let us begin our journey to Bethlehem. On this Advent road, the star illumines our greed, our fears, and our ambivalence.
On this Advent road, the star lights our path with hope and comfort.
On this Advent road, let us follow this star with the fear of the shepherds and the joy of the angels.”
I have always thought of the star as offering guidance and light for the journey, but I have thought of it in a comforting and warm sort of way. It reminded me of the Moravian stars up all over my hometown at Christmas time and the way they make the street look cozy, or how the one in my window can welcome me home at night without making me squint as I come from the dark into the light. It is a light that already knows about the Christ child.
When I read the words by Michelle Thomas-Bush, the light burned brighter. Certainly it still held the possibility of comfort and calm, but it also shined further into the corners and tucked away places of my life and of the world. It lit up the ugliness that I need to try and remedy in order to make the paths straight and the way clear. It reminded me that the shepherds watching their fields by night may have been afraid because of the odd message and display, but that we all ought to approach the manger with a bit of fear and trembling because we don’t often change much for this world-changing child…
Still, it is fear and joy. Concern and hope. Either one without the other is a little empty, perhaps like the clanging of gongs if there be not love.
Now toward the end of Advent I can’t say that I have cleaned up my act completely and that my baseboards aren’t dusty. But I am looking differently. I am not turning from the light – from either kind. And that’s something I think.
Twofer!
A group of committed donors has offered to match all gifts sent for mission personnel support now through December 31, 2011, up to $100,000. This includes gifts from individuals, churches, presbyteries, groups, or whomever will get doubles so that your gift of $50 today will be matched with another $50 to provide $100 or your $500 one will become $1,000 when matched. That is very good news for all involved I think!
To donate online you can click here to support us, here to offer general support for mission personnel, or here to find any other mission co-worker in any other country. A gift to any of us is a gift to all of us. Just make sure to write “matching gift” in the comments field, and it’s on.
If you have recently given to us or to another part of Presbyterian World Mission, we can’t thank you enough. If not, we hope you might take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to double the impact of your gift.
Thanks for all the ways you support us – including reading this blog!
We are Famous!
Well, sort of.
Richard and I are in an article in Presbyterians Today – the award-winning, general-interest magazine of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Published 10 times a year, it explores practical issues of faith and life, tells stories of Presbyterians who are living their faith and covers a wide range of church news and activities. Our story is part of one called “Launching Pad to Mission” which highlights some former Young Adult Volunteers and how our experience with that program helped lead us to long-term mission.
As we have said before, the Young Adult Volunteer Program was critical in our lives. It changed our direction. It connected us to the church as never before. It opened the world to us and us to the world in ways we never expected. If you know a young woman or man who might be interested, please feel free to put them in touch with us or just send them to the website. The deadline for service in 2012 is January 20th, so there is still time!
Okay you crazy kids, now go read even more about us. 
Advent Reflection
We have been dismally bad about getting the blog updated this month. I think it has been due to a mixture of things seeming hectic (even though we are not going on big shopping trips, we aren’t trying to keep the house clean for guests, and we got all the decorations up on “Thanksgiving” weekend) and feeling quietly (read: non-internetty) reflective. Still, there has been a lot on my mind.
For one, the Colombian church does not so much do Advent. It is really not a particularly liturgical calendar church, though they do follow the lectionary for Sunday Bible readings and our church even changes the communion cloth and other array to go with the season’s colors. Still, there is little or no talk of Advent as a time of preparation and expectant waiting. There has been little focus on John the Baptist. Life, in many aspects, seems just the same…and I am not sure how I feel about that.
I am clear that folks here can do whatever they do; it is me that is trying to figure out how I cope with a mismatch of my interior and my exterior life of faith. I am not always super-good about caring for my interior life of faith, but there are times that I feel a gnawing to pay attention differently, and this Advent has been one of those times. I have followed an online devotion that has helped me feel part of an Advent community, but I have missed having the same opportunity in my real live community.
Still, Advent seems so much weightier to me this year than it has in some years past. I think there are a lot of reasons for that. First, this is our third Advent in Colombia. I am more used to where I am and how things work this time of year, so I am not working extra-hard to figure out what is going on in day-to-day life. Second, we are staying here and we will be going it on our own this year. We are a bit sad that we won’t have any of our family here, but it has also freed us from worries about scheduling and airports and heavy-duty cleaning…
Third, and perhaps most importantly, we have Nora. I was not even pregnant in year one, and while we technically had Nora with us last year, two months into her life I was not exactly reflecting on Advent. As those blurry days bubble up in my minds’ eye, I think I was reflecting on when I would get to go to bed next and whether I could hold my beautiful, fabulous, incredible daughter without actually having her touch me since we were both sweating like North Carolina in July. Like I said, not so much the wreath lighting hope, joy, peace, etc kind of year.
This year is different.
This year I feel more connected to the idea of expectant waiting. I can really think about what the last weeks of Mary’s pregnancy must have been like as she wondered each day if this was the day. It finally hit me that that is the kind of waiting we are meant to do in this time. It is not just any old waiting, it is “ohmygoshthiscouldbeit” kind of waiting – every day.
It is fear mixed with incredible expectation.
It is love
and prayers
and wonder
and confusion
and uncertainty
and excitement and
second-guessing and
hope and
fear and
readiness and
never-readiness and
love all over again.
I am no Mary, yet I do know Mary. And I know how I felt the day I met Nora. I can only imagine how extraordinary it will be the day I get to meet Mary’s kid.
Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!
To all our family, friends, and fellow travelers on the way, Happy Thanksgiving!
Celebrating a particular day when we give thanks for all we have been given in this life is a bit different when you are the only ones doing it, but we managed to share this day with our wonderful co-workers, family (via skype) and our extended family here, the Smiths. We certainly have much to be thankful for!
We continued our Colombian tradition of savoring the big meal at Crepes and Waffles (even in the same table, Philips!). There was lots of good food and sharing what we are thankful for in our lives. Who says tandoori chicken crepes aren’t traditional Thanksgiving fare?
Of course, no visit to Crepes is complete without the tasty desserts. Nora, in particular shows her gusto for the ice cream (Flavor: a spectacular one from the little gold foil wrapped chocolates – Fererro Rocheros…or something like that…)
And we capped the day off with a fun meal and evening with our vecinos (neighbors), the Smiths. Pasta with shrimp, Colombian reality TV shows, jokes, stories, and Moravian ginger cookies from North Carolina – new Thanksgiving traditions on all sides! We could not be more grateful.
Latinoamerica
I once heard someone say that all music is of the Spirit – all music is in some way people expressing their cries to God. In that vein, here is Calle 13′s Latinoamerica – a wonderful taste of the breath of this land.
LATINOAMERICA by Calle 13
(a little smoother translation than the subtitles)
I am
I am what that they left
I’m all about what that was stolen.
A village hidden on the peak,
My skin is leather that’s why it stands any weather.
I’m a factory of smoke,
A peasant working hand for your consumption
A cold front in the middle of summer,
Love in the Time of Cholera, my brother! (more…)
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