Tears

6:30 AM. Mercifully, the alarm goes off and I climb out of bed more weary than when I got in last night. I saw the time at least every other hour throughout the night…12:30…2:30…4:30. Ever since the earthquake in Haiti a week ago I’ve been having trouble sleeping. The images of broken bodies, broken buildings, and broken people circulate through my mind as I lie in bed reviewing all of the media coverage of the disaster. And now added to the images are the stories – stories of those who lived and those who died. Stories of people I know…and knew.

Yesterday I heard the story of Willard Metzger, our Director of Church Relations, who was in Haiti with a small team when the earthquake struck. Like so many of the other survivors, Willard talks about the incredible noise that accompanied the quake, likening it to a freight train in the room or an explosion just outside the hotel. The team was in Petionville and were in their rooms waiting for their orientation meeting when the ground started shaking. They had discussed meeting earlier since they were a bit ahead of schedule but decided to stick with the plan as originally laid out. That decision, made on the spur of the moment, may have been the difference between life and death.

Also yesterday, I attended the memorial service for Yvonne Martin. As has been well documented, Yvonne was the first Canadian killed in the earthquake. I didn’t know Yvonne well but we were in the same study group together last spring and she struck me as a humble, thoughtful follower of Jesus who sincerely took her faith to heart. As our pastor said yesterday, “The stirrings in Yvonne’s heart were the same stirrings of Jesus’ heart…that’s what led her to Haiti.” After arriving at their guesthouse 90 minutes prior to the earthquake, Yvonne had decided to go for a swim in the pool to cool off. As suppertime approached she went up to her room to get changed. Again, that small, seemingly innocuous decision made on the spur of the moment was the difference between life and death. Unlike the team from World Vision, this decision ended in Yvonne’s death in the rubble of a collapsed building in a country she loved and had come to serve.

Two stories. Two simple decisions. Two remarkably different outcomes. Yes, our lives really are that fragile.

I hadn’t shed a lot of tears over the situation in Haiti, which is fairly uncharacteristic for me. Perhaps it’s because I’d been so wrapped up in my work connecting with groups to assist them in their fundraising. Or maybe it’s the result of following the incoming news of the quake so soon after it took place (see my previous post) and going immediately into response mode. Whatever the reason, that changed yesterday as the tears began flowing in the morning and didn’t stop until we went to watch my nephew play soccer last night (a welcome reprieve from the heaviness of the last seven days.)

I’ve wrestled with a lot of emotions and thoughts this week…guilt at not doing more to help…wanting so badly to be “on the ground.” camera in hand, to document what was happening…longing to hold those terrified children and help them find their parents…anger at not seeing a change of heart in my local community (shouldn’t we all stop shopping and ordering our grande extra-hot cinnamon dolce lattes-at least for a couple of days?)…and horror at the sight of bodies stacked on top of each other waiting to be dumped into a mass grave never to be identified or reunited with their families again.

And on top of all of this came the question that so many people have asked: Why? Why does one of the poorest nations in the world, who was just beginning to see some positive signs of recovery, have to suffer like this? Why should those who are already so poor be subjected to such a greater tragedy? Where is God in all of this?

I’ve never asked that question before.

Like the cracked walls of an earthquake-ravaged building, for the first time in my life I've felt my faith shaken. Nowhere close to the point of doubt or disbelief, but to the point of questioning God’s motives, God’s concern. I understand the theology of natural evil and how the falleness of mankind has caused all of creation to fall into disarray, but still, why does this need to happen?

I don’t have an easy answer to that question. As a matter of fact I don’t have any answer to that question. But a story Willard shared yesterday about the immediate Haitian response at least provides some insight, some comfort at the difficult implications. You see, as Willard and the rest of the team were treating the wounded that were streaming into their hotel, which had transformed into a makeshift medical clinic (and would later become a morgue), a wail could be heard rising up in the middle of the night from the Haitian people in the valley below. A wail that was in fact a prayer:

"God forgive us...God we forgive you."

That prayer is so deep and so rich and so filled with the petition of the suffering. Despite the fact they have lost everything, they still cry out to God. But it’s not a cry of rejection, it’s a cry of forgiveness, yes, even forgiveness of God, which is more than most of our North American minds with our theological boxes, can even comprehend.

If I’ve learned anything from this ordeal, it’s that we who are rich (by the rest of the world’s standards) tend to turn away from God at a time like this. ”Where is God?” we ask. People will even turn away from their faith claiming that there can be no God if tragedies like this can occur. But the poor…oh we have so much to learn from the poor…the poor will turn to God as their only hope.

St. John Chrysostom, one of the early church fathers wrote, “The rich exist for the sake of the poor. The poor exist for the salvation of the rich.” Would you cry out to God in a similar situation to what Haiti is experiencing right now? Would you turn TO Him instead of AWAY from Him if faced with total devastation? I like to think I would, but until that time comes, I can only fall on my face before God asking Him to continue showing me the way of salvation so that when my own world shakes I can cry out the words of Psalm 121:1-2,

I lift my eyes up to the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD
The Maker of heaven and earth.

From Yvonne’s funeral to Willard’s stories to opening an envelope yesterday with the handwriting of a little girl named Rebecca who had donated $5 to the relief efforts, I cried and I’m crying still. I can’t quite put a name to what I’m feeling and surely it is nowhere near the suffering of the Haitian people, but in some miniscule way, I feel like I’m sharing in their pain. Perhaps that is the very best thing I can do for them. To feel, to share, and to pray to the God of the universe who is weeping too.

Timeline of a Tragedy

This has been a very difficult week. Last Tuesday we found out about the devastation in Haiti as a result of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the largest in the region in 200 years. Our televisions ever since have been filled with images of death and destruction and the ongoing attempts to pull people out of the rubble that has been left behind. Then on Wednesday we learned about the death of Yvonne Martin, a wonderful lady from my church community who was in Haiti serving God and serving the people she loved. And of course, working for World Vision, it has been a non-stop attempt to motivate as many people as possible to donate to our relief efforts.

One aspect that I have found fascinating about the media coverage of the tragedy is the prevalence of "social media" in the reporting and dissemination of information regarding rescue attempts, relief efforts, and fundraising activities of the various humanitarian organizations. If you weren't convinced of the value of social media prior to last Tuesday, you should be now.

The following timeline is an account of how Twitter and Facebook played a significant role in the immediate aftermath of the news of the earthquake both personally and professionally:

4:53 PM - Earthquake takes place in Haiti.

5:24 PM - Twitter message received: Haiti hit by 7.0 earthquake. The word is out only 30 minutes after the quake has taken place. This was the first post I saw about it. I'm sure it was out there even earlier.

5:27 PM - Knowing that Yvonne had left for the Haiti that morning, I informed my wife (who is on staff at Waterloo MB Church) of the earthquake and immediately turned on CNN. They had just begun their coverage of a "potential tragedy unfolding in Haiti."

5:38 PM - My wife calls our Director of Global Outreach (who hadn't yet heard about the earthquake) raising immediate concerns about Yvonne's safety. Sarah begins making calls to parties within the church who need to be aware of the situation.

5:58 PM – Tweet: Massive 7.0 earthquake just hit Haiti. This was my first tweet about the situation.

6:40 PM – Retweeted @hadleypaul: #Haiti live audio and chat reporting. This was live streaming audio of a radio station in Port-Au-Prince attempting to broadcast what was happening and taking early calls from hysterical survivors trying to find family members. At this point, CNN had virtually no live information of what was happening. Power was out and phone lines where down making it almost impossible to transmit images from Port-Au-Prince.

6:50 PM - Tweet: Helpful #Haiti earthquake exposure map from the USGS. This was a link to an exposure map posted by the United States Geological Survey explaining where the quake had been felt the strongest and what area would likely suffer the greatest amount of damage.

6:56 PM – Facebook: Haiti Is Going To Need Our help…watch for more details. I posted this to my World Vision Southwestern Ontario fan page. As far as I am aware, this was the first public posting by a World Vision employee in Canada.

8:56 PM – Facebook: World Vision’s website open for donations. Another post to the fan page. Again, I believe this was the first posting to let people know our website was ready to accept donations.

8:59 PM – Twitter: World Vision's emergency response to Haiti is now accepting donations. A real testament to our staff in the National Office that they had this web page functional within such a short time from the first news of the quake.

9:42 PM – Twitter: Please visit World Vision Canada's website to aid us in our emergency response to the earthquake in Haiti. Recognizing by this point we were looking at major devastation to an already impoverished country, I began reposting the donation message repeatedly over the next couple of hours and again throughout the following day.

In the meantime, Chris, our Regional Team Leader in Central Canada was in process of starting a $10 Challenge fundraising page on Facebook that as of this moment has 1,534 members with more than 19,000 people invited to join. That's a TON of word of mouth and just shows the power of social media to get the word out without costing World Vision a dime.

If there has been one star throughout the coverage of the Haitian earthquake it has been social media. Twitter and Facebook allowed me to notify key people within our church of a potential (soon to be all too real) tragedy as well as to get the early word out about fundraising opportunities for World Vision's relief efforts. Much has been done online by World Vision staffers since last Tuesday which I have had no part in, but I'm pleased to say that my "addiction" to Twitter allowed me to be an early voice in the unfolding coverage of the devastation that we have been seeing for the past week. I hope and pray that people will continue to donate long after the mainstream media has moved on to the next big news story. There will be no quick fixes in Haiti. They are going to need our help for years to even begin to recover their lives again.

Please text the word WORLD to 45678 to make a $5 donation via your cell phone or visit the World Vision Canada website for images, video, resources for teachers and church leaders, exclusive journals of staff who were in Haiti at the time of the quake, or to make an online donation. Thank you.

Let Your Heart Be Broken

I came across this beautiful hymn while on vacation, Such meaningful lyrics...

Let Your Heart Be Broken
Let your heart be broken for a world in need:
Feed the mouths that hunger,
Soothe the wounds that bleed.
Give the cup of water, and the loaf of bread.
Be the hands of Jesus, serving in his stead.

Here on earth applying principles of love.
Visible expression, God still rules above.
Living illustration of the living word,
To the minds of all who've never seen or heard.

Blest to be a blessing, privileged to care,
Challenged be the need, apparent everywhere.
Where mankind is wanting, fill the vacant place.
Be the means through which
The Lord reveals His grace.

Add to your believing deeds that prove it true,
Knowing Christ as Savior, Make Him Master too.
Follow in His footsteps, go where he has trod;
In the worlds great trouble risk yourself for God.

Let your heart be tender and your vision clear;
See mankind as God sees, serve Him far and near.
Let your heart be broken by a brother's pain;
Share your rich resources, give and give again.

Words & music - Bryan Jeffery Leech

The Hole In Our Gospel

I just finished reading The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Steans, president of World Vision U.S. I have to say first off that this is a remarkable book - challenging, enlightening, motivating. If you had any doubts whatsoever about God's call to serve the poor, they will be swept aside as Stearns shows us again and again what God expects of those of us who call ourselves Christ followers. You and I have a mountain called poverty set before us but with each of using our 'faith of a mustard seed' we can dig away at that mountain until it is removed.

Stearns makes it very clear that he is no superhero, he is simply someone who responded to God's call to do something, to make a difference, in the lives of those who suffer from poverty and injustice. After reading The Hole In Our Gospel you cannot remain the same, and do not read this book unless you are willing to be changed. That's not marketing hype, it's reality. You will have to respond, either by ignoring the call to get involved or by asking God what you can can offer so that His kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

The best summary comes from the introduction to the book itself:

"The idea behind The Hole In Our Gospel is quite simple. It's basically the belief that being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires more than just having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world." (pg 2)

A Message From God

There is nothing you could ever do that would make God love you less...

Crutches

It's been opined more than once that faith in Jesus is a crutch, something for the weak of spirit who can't deal with the pressures of life. True believers, it's said, just need something to look forward to when they die because they are so unfulfilled with their current lives. There may be some truth in that, yet when I look around at the cultural icons whose faces show up on t-shirts and posters, so many of them took their own lives (directly or indirectly) that it becomes obvious they could have used some crutches of their own. Just consider this short list:

Marilyn Monroe
Kurt Cobain
Jimi Hendrix
Elvis Presley
Jim Morrison

These are just the iconic ones; the ones most revered by our culture. There are literally hundreds of other celebrities who committed suicide because they couldn't deal with life. And of course, there are thousands of 'regular' people who try to kill themselves every year and millions more who are addicted to something that helps them get through the day - drugs, alcohol, food, sex, shopping.

So for anyone who says religion is for those who need a crutch my only answer is yes, you are probably right. But I'll take my Jesus as a crutch any day over a crutch that leaves me with a bullet in my head or a stomach full of sleeping pills.

Mall Thoughts

Spending hours on end working a sponsorship booth in a shopping mall gives you lots of time to observe and think. Here are a few of the thoughts I've thunk in the last two days...

Funny t-shirts are rarely funny.
People will do anything to avoid eye contact.
Europeans, even the young ones, will always greet each other with a handshake.
For all of the fashionable stores around, most people dress pretty much the same.
There are a lot of mentally unstable/socially awkward people in the world.
There is no designer clothing as beautiful as a traditional African dress.
Only 1 in every 100 people can really get away with skinny jeans.
Beauty has absolutely nothing to do with the clothes you wear.
Tattoo removal will be a booming business in about twenty years.
Teenage girls are still goofy. Teenage boys are still self-conscious.
Consumerism does not make people happy.
The razor thin beard from the sideburns under the chin looks like a hair net.
VBC (visible bum crack)...never a good idea.
Some people really want to encourage you (thanks Kevin!)
Trend watch - Girls: Flowers in the hair. Checkered shirts.
Trend watch - Guys: Same as usual...t-shirts and jeans.
The mall plays the same sequence of songs every day.

Too Much Is Never Enough

Watching people at the market today I was struck by how many look sad, angry, anxious...joyless. All this sadness in the midst of such abundance. When will we learn that stuff - food, possessions, money, etc. - will not bring happiness? It's by giving ourselves away that we discover our joy.

A couple walked past my table today looking absolutely miserable. As they passed, I heard the lady say, "There's nothing that we've denied ourselves. Nothing." I believe they were speaking in reference to having seen all there is to see at the market, and yet, having "done it all" they still appeared to be so unhappy. Perhaps the one thing that they had denied themselves was the chance to give something away. To do something for the good of someone else.

There is such profound truth in Jesus' words, "If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms." (Luke 17:33 MSG) Pursuing all that life has to offer when it is only for our own sakes is pointless. Our appetite for more is endless. If I can quote U2 here, "too much is never enough." It's true. Those who spend their time and resources acquiring things for their own pleasure are, generally speaking, very unhappy at the core of their being. I know this is true because I've done it myself. There have been seasons in my life when I've thought, if I could just get a new camera, or a new iPod, or if I could just eat at that new restaurant, then I'll be satisfied. But the pursuit of ones own happiness can be just as addictive and unfulfilling as heroin. The hit feels good when you first make a purchase, but the satisfaction only lasts for a while before you need another hit to maintain your high.

I need to constantly remind myself of this truth: consumerism ultimately will not bring me joy. It's only in giving my life away for the sake of others that true joy and happiness is achieved. I can think of no greater thing than to spend my life in the pursuit of serving others, particularly the "least of these" that Jesus talks about in Matthew 25:31-46. That is where we find life in all it's fulness - in serving others, in giving ourselves away. When God decides my time here is done, I hope to leave with an empty house and an overflowing heart.

Labels

People watching is one of my favorite pastimes when I am out and about. There's never any shortage of interesting or unique people out there. Standing at a display table in a mall or at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market as I have been this week provides plenty of opportunity to watch people as they come and go on the way to do their shopping.

Watching shoppers go by, I'm always amazed by the number of people who wear brand labels on their clothing. It's a continuous stream of Nike, Tommy, Holister, Old Navy, Nautica, etc. For some, this is an unavoidable fact of life in our marketing-saturated society. Personally, I try to avoid being a walking billboard as much as possible. For others however, these labels are an identifier, a way to tell people what "tribe" they belong to or what lifestyle they aspire to. After all, it's hard not to walk into a Nike store and suddenly feel like you can swing a club like Tiger Woods or shoot a layup like Kobe Bryant. And let's face it, who wouldn't want to be toned, tanned, and sexy like a Calvin Klein model?

But what if our labels...that which we aspire to...were character traits rather than designer brands? Is it possible we could replace Adidas, Roots, and Aeropostale with things like Kind, Generous, and Merciful? Just imagine if these labels became more important to us than those of our favorite clothing designers. If we see someone wearing a brand-name sweater we automatically pass a judgement on that person, be it positive or negative, depending on any number of personal factors. But if I saw someone walking down the street with Patient plastered across his chest, I'd be intrigued and would want to know more about how he got that label and where I could get it as well.

Next time I pull on a t-shirt, I'm going to think about what label I'm wearing.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

The phrase "may you live in interesting times" is considered by many to be the English translation of an ancient Chinese curse. There is no doubt that we do live in interesting times and that the not too distance future holds many changes for most of us. Changes which, in large part, will be driven by China and its ever-expanding economic influence.

I've been considering lately just what kinds of changes we can expect in the next 10-20 years as we see our world adapt to shifting power structures and new realities that will impact us all. So with a great debt to many authors, journalists, and my own late-night ponderings, I present my "amateur futurist" predictions of how our world will change over the next two decades.

1) Unemployment will soar as North American manufacturing moves offshore, leaving uneducated workers in the lurch. This is no great prediction as this is already happening on a daily basis. But to all of those poorly educated men and women on the picket lines demanding higher wages for low skill jobs, I would suggest you start finding another line of work...quickly. Those jobs are not coming back, no matter how much pressure the unions exert. We can't compete anymore so let's just get over it and let the retraining begin.

2) Most of us will be driving Chinese or Indian made vehicles with the Japanese and Koreans continuing to hang in there. The North American automobile will be a luxury item for those who can afford them, much like the Mercedes and Jaguar are today.

3) Oil companies will lose their positions of power as more and more of us switch to electric and hybrid vehicles. As a result of this switch, electricity companies will replace "big oil" as the new power brokers. My advice? Invest in your local power generation corporation now.

4) Newspapers and magazines will cease to exist in print form as they head online with an as-yet-to-be-figured-out pricing structure.

5) Evangelicalism will no longer be the primary religious preference of Christians in North America as young believers align themselves with a more inclusive brand of "Jesus follower" without denominational boundaries.

6) As China rises to world economic dominance, our interpretation and application of democracy will change dramatically as will our understanding of free market capitalism. I don't expect any sort of socialist republic being birthed in North America, but those with whom we trade will not necessarily agree that Adam Smith was the father of all economic wisdom.

7) Watch for new economies to arise as developing nations embrace and appropriate China's economic vision for themselves. If (and only if) Africans will demand transparency from their scourge of corrupt leaders, we will see a new dawn for the millions living in extreme poverty in sub-saharan Africa.

8) The concept of personal privacy will become a thing of the past. And we'll give it away willingly! Think about all of those Gen-Y folks driving you nuts in the mall as they text and talk incessantly on their cell phones. Do you think they're going to have any issues with giving up their privacy? Heck, they'd gladly give it up now if it meant more cool ways to connect with their friends.

This list is by no means complete or conclusive, and Nostradamus I'm not. These are just a few areas of observation but there are so many more...How will retail adapt to advancing technologies? What effect will climate change have? How will media conversion influence our day-to-day understanding of the world around us? To what extent will religious extremism continue to inflame violence locally and globally? Will the middle class cease to exist? With fewer farmers and less arable land, how will we feed a growing urban population?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but one thing I am sure of - we are in a time of rapid upheaval the likes of which we haven't seen since the Industrial Revolution three hundred years ago. While there will inevitably be some folks walking around with sandwich boards proclaiming the end is near, I'm not convinced that is in fact the case. God is still at work calling the church to embrace our role as emissaries of His radical life-changing Kingdom built on grace, peace, and love. May we continue to stick to our mission and stand firm while the whirlwind blows around us.

Missional Defined

“The missional church vision is not a programmatic response to the crisis of relevance, purpose and identity that the church in the Western World is facing, but a recapturing of biblical views of the Church all too frequently abandoned, ignored, or obscured through long periods of church history. It is a renewed theological vision of the church in mission, which redefines the nature, the mission and the organization of the local church around Jesus’ proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom. Missional Churches seek to respond to God’s invitation to join Him in His mission in and for the world, as a sign, a servant and a foretaste of this Kingdom.”

As published by Forge Canada

Scared

Have you ever asked any of these questions...



Are poor kids in Africa really as hard off as the charities claim?

Isn't the media just embellishing the problem because they need a good news story?

Why don't these poor people do something to help themselves?

Why should I help the poor in another country when I need to care for my own family here at home?

Why are all of these celebrities getting worked up over poor kids "over there" - aren't they just seeking publicity for themselves?

Why should I care...the problem doesn't affect me?


All of these questions and more can be answered by reading Scared by Tom Davis. I just finished reading Scared this morning and posted my review on Amazon. You can read the review for yourself, but, as someone who works for an NGO and cares deeply about children living in poverty, I ask you to please read this book. It will change your perspective. It will break you. It just might change your life.

Visit the book's website to see the trailer: Scared