"No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10: 29-30)
I hope so!
I hang on to the promise of eternal life, although I worry that it can become an opiate...
Yes I have experienced persecutions. In the past year these include deprivation by an abusive boss who has held back over 50% of my annual income, isolation like Elijah in the cave, hate-speech, and invasion of my privacy. Was it "for me and the gospel"? I say so - because I stood up for justice, I blew the whistle on corruption, I hated evil (Romans 12:9) and I contested xenophobia. Even the deprivation of my salary was justified in one deposition on the grounds that I am a missionary and therefore should contribute my time to community service. (Even though this same guy had signed an employment contract with me 2 months earlier!)
You have heard this all before, in one prayer letter or another! So I will move on to the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.
Tomorrow is the fourth major meeting in as many weeks. It started on Monday Feb 4th when I met a Director General in Pretoria and 6 of his advisors, accompanied by a fellow C4L Board member.
That meeting had a domino effect... on Tuesday Feb 12th a Round Table of 15 role-playes was convened to hear C4L's case. The consequence of that meeting was an invitation by our counterpart organization to meet again in Pretoria on Tuesday Feb 19th. By this time they realized that we had "blown their cover" and that they were in check.
Tomorrow I hope we can put them in check-mate at the fourth meeting, here in White River, in the offices of C4L's attorney.
I was surpressing tears this morning in church as we sang these words from an old hymn: "That Christ has regarded my helpless estate". I can tell you, Elijah in a cave is truly a "helpless estate". That is where I was only weeks ago. But He can turn weakness into strength. The same One who created a universe out of nothing promises me "much in this present age".
Please remind Him for me of His promise, and that tomorrow's meeting could seal the deal that will put C4L back into its righful place in an equitable and just Joint Venture.
Nevertheless, we are still insisting on Partition. Once bitten, twice shy. We want our counterpart organization to work on the highveld and let C4L run the CWP programming where we are located, here in the Lowveld. We are citing irreconcilable differences and just asking that a space be carved out for C4L in its own natural habitat.
My counterpart is facing several counts of fraud and his NGO is shaken by the prospect of his possible departure - to jail. DV. So they are back-peddling.
So please pray for me as we enter this final phase of negotiations. Failing which C4L is in a legal position now to effect dissolution. And speaking morally, to do so without it seeming like we are suicide bombers! For the consequences of dissolution are chaotic. But all the role players are now forewarned and forearmed and there is growing recognition that C4L has been abused, sidelined, maligned and deprived... so no one will be too surprised if it comes to that.
Thanks for your prayers.
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Sunday, 15 March 2015
Expecting the Unexpected
Summer is here is all its glory. Longer days, such heat that it generates “weather” that closes in and cools down temperatures. Plenty of good rainfall, making the hills and mountains green, green, green.
Christian Week is one of the journals that I receive from Canada on e-mail. The current issue has an article by Glen Shepherd, the president of Health Partners. In it he mentions a booklet by Henri Nouwen - A Spirituality of Fundraising - in which one of my favourite writers contends that fundraising is the opposite of begging. It is actually, says the late Nouwen (who was a Dutch Catholic priest), a form of ministry: “fund-raising is as spiritual as giving a sermon, entering a time of prayer, visiting the sick, or feeding the hungry."
If you think that I write too much about charity and giving then please look up this link. From my work with NGOs, I have learned that the more senior you become in an organization, the less you can escape this ministry! Truly I enjoy my involvement in programming more, but you can’t enjoy driving or the scenery unless you stop periodically to refuel! It’s a fact of NGO life, and of my life.
I was recently reflecting on the contextual changes that have affected this ministry in recent decades. It took me back to the first years of my life in colonial Africa, and through several phases up to the present. In fact, I would say that we are still in transition to another new phase, but no one is sure exactly what it will be like. The following table sums it up. If you want a deeper analysis, contact me and I will send a 2-pager to you:
Speaking of CSI, there is an annual CSI Handbook published in South Africa and C4L’s solar/youth programme is featured in it, thanks our corporate donor – ABSA Foundation. Just released!
By the way, at this stage grantmaking has not been entirely replaced by CSI, but there is a fair level of disappointment with the project paradigm. It was mainly an exit from the previous phase! But it was not a final destination after all. CSI has also had mixed reviews, so there is experimenting going on with new paradigms. Four of these are:
On a personal note
As many of you know, I am hoping to announce soon, possibly in my next prayer letter, a new conduit of Canadian funding for C4L. There are always two sides to the ledger, and my decision to stay put at C4L comes with some costs to C4L. These costs do not relate only to orphans, although C4L’s Child Protection programme does continue to operate. To a great extent, my role at C4L has been, is and will continue to be resource mobilization. The ministry of fundraising. To some, this news may feel like a throwback to the colonial missionary support paradigm. But I like to think of it as support a person rather than a project – an inspired individual, if you will.
Expecting the Unexpected
In a way, a fundraiser never knows for sure which one of numerous contacts in the “proposals pipeline” is going to be approved. So although you are doing this continuously, year in and year out, you never know what to expect! But nevertheless you have expectations!
As C4L’s cash flow drooped in late 2011, I wondered what would happen. It was nerve-racking. We came right to the edge of insolvency. Then the awaited unexpected happened, in the last week of December. God is good, all the time! This week there have been two promising signs. First, ACEK school renewed its boarding of learners on campus for 2012. We knew they were looking at their options, so we didn’t know what to expect. Second, ABSA Foundation very suddenly requested a major proposal within 24 hours – because they discovered some residual funding that was unspent in 2011. Another submission deadline on January 31st – a lot of ministry work to do!
Christian Week is one of the journals that I receive from Canada on e-mail. The current issue has an article by Glen Shepherd, the president of Health Partners. In it he mentions a booklet by Henri Nouwen - A Spirituality of Fundraising - in which one of my favourite writers contends that fundraising is the opposite of begging. It is actually, says the late Nouwen (who was a Dutch Catholic priest), a form of ministry: “fund-raising is as spiritual as giving a sermon, entering a time of prayer, visiting the sick, or feeding the hungry."
If you think that I write too much about charity and giving then please look up this link. From my work with NGOs, I have learned that the more senior you become in an organization, the less you can escape this ministry! Truly I enjoy my involvement in programming more, but you can’t enjoy driving or the scenery unless you stop periodically to refuel! It’s a fact of NGO life, and of my life.
I was recently reflecting on the contextual changes that have affected this ministry in recent decades. It took me back to the first years of my life in colonial Africa, and through several phases up to the present. In fact, I would say that we are still in transition to another new phase, but no one is sure exactly what it will be like. The following table sums it up. If you want a deeper analysis, contact me and I will send a 2-pager to you:
Context
|
Missionary outreach
|
Approach
|
Colonialism – Major economies ruled areas overseas
(ended in the 1960s)
|
Like David Livingston, close alignment with colonial powers… mostly expatriates
|
“Support” – regular giving from families, friends and churches. Long periods away.
|
Independence – New countries emerging under the U.N. framework needed “balance of payments support” (until 1980)
|
Mainline churches declared a “moratorium on missions” but this was not observed by most evangelicals
|
“Mission-initiated churches” expected programme funding from their mother agencies, who found it hard to wean them
|
Grantmaking – Donors wanted more transparency and to target their funding to “projects” (peaked around 2005)
|
Missions were able to wean some expenses, like schools and hospitals, and to switch the focus to other priorities
|
Paradigm-shift caused resources to flow to agencies like World Vision more and to classical Missions less
|
Corporate Social Investment (CSI) – Government funding mainly for bi-lateral or U.N. while NGOs tap funds mainly from private sector
|
Strengthening civil society in every country has caused a huge proliferation in the number of “partners” – to say nothing of “projects”!
|
For better or for worse, churches and even companies began to be more “hands-on”, bringing a more corporate ethos to “the business of aid”
|
Speaking of CSI, there is an annual CSI Handbook published in South Africa and C4L’s solar/youth programme is featured in it, thanks our corporate donor – ABSA Foundation. Just released!
By the way, at this stage grantmaking has not been entirely replaced by CSI, but there is a fair level of disappointment with the project paradigm. It was mainly an exit from the previous phase! But it was not a final destination after all. CSI has also had mixed reviews, so there is experimenting going on with new paradigms. Four of these are:
Context
|
Missionary outreach
|
Approach
|
Quick Wins - $200,000 was raised in one afternoon in Oregon to save a beached whale. From fast-food and Polaroid to aid: “We want that problem fixed – now!”
|
Short-term missions allow the givers to get involved – like CSI. A Kindle run by solar energy now offers a listening Bible in the vernacular for $5! Literacy just takes too long!
|
On-going missionary support or programme funding seem tedious by comparison. But some things – like that 9 months gestation period – just cannot be hastened!
|
Augmentation – The opposite of proliferation. The business world thinks “merger” unlike churches and NGOs which have tended to split easily.
|
C4L is hosting foreign learners attending a local private school. This raises C4L’s occupancy rate and generates some baseline income.
|
C4L never wanted to split, and is looking for other synergies. For example, with another NGO specializing in rainwater harvesting, to link to our Solar.
|
Inclusive Business – When it comes to job creation and some sectors like Renewable Energy, it may be better for business to be the channel, not an NGO?
|
C4L has started the Africa Power and Light Co-op in part because NGOs really can’t do business (it would be unfair trading as we are tax exempt).
|
This is basically what St. Paul did – he produced tents to support his own ministry. One missions paradigm is thus called “tentmaking”…
|
Supporting key people instead of projects – For example, Tearfund has a programme called “Inspired Individuals”. The funding is linked to a person rather than a plan.
|
Mother Theresa was partly funded on this basis. For example, she could board KLM going anywhere, at no cost. That is how the airline honoured her and her work.
|
It may take time for those “Inspired Individuals” to become recognized? That could be another trap that favours the advantaged and disfavours Youth?
|
On a personal note
As many of you know, I am hoping to announce soon, possibly in my next prayer letter, a new conduit of Canadian funding for C4L. There are always two sides to the ledger, and my decision to stay put at C4L comes with some costs to C4L. These costs do not relate only to orphans, although C4L’s Child Protection programme does continue to operate. To a great extent, my role at C4L has been, is and will continue to be resource mobilization. The ministry of fundraising. To some, this news may feel like a throwback to the colonial missionary support paradigm. But I like to think of it as support a person rather than a project – an inspired individual, if you will.
Expecting the Unexpected
In a way, a fundraiser never knows for sure which one of numerous contacts in the “proposals pipeline” is going to be approved. So although you are doing this continuously, year in and year out, you never know what to expect! But nevertheless you have expectations!
As C4L’s cash flow drooped in late 2011, I wondered what would happen. It was nerve-racking. We came right to the edge of insolvency. Then the awaited unexpected happened, in the last week of December. God is good, all the time! This week there have been two promising signs. First, ACEK school renewed its boarding of learners on campus for 2012. We knew they were looking at their options, so we didn’t know what to expect. Second, ABSA Foundation very suddenly requested a major proposal within 24 hours – because they discovered some residual funding that was unspent in 2011. Another submission deadline on January 31st – a lot of ministry work to do!
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Responsibility & Complicity
The late great Peter Drucker wrote a lot about management and organizations for a period of over 50 years. Later in his career, he turned his focus to nonprofit organizations. Noting the fact that these are often named for what they are not (e.g. nonprofit, non-government), not for what they are, he came to the conclusion that the bottom line for them is changed lives.
Changing lives involves many facets – education and health are usually the first two that come to mind.
There are different modes as well – from giving people fish to teaching them how to fish, and on to making sure that the waters they depend on are not over-fished.
There are different motives, too, from selfish (e.g. Japanese ODA includes a lot of road building!) to altruistic.
Change must be holistic as well – for if you don’t change deep attitudes and superstitions, often new behaviours are only superficial.
Change agents can themselves be among the causes of social injustice – part of the problem as well as part of the solution. The chickens come home to roost. When we are busy as change agents, we ourselves have to be open to change. Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Alcoholics Anonymous promotes the slogan: “If you want to change others, first change yourself.”
The story that follows captures several important themes. Remember it next time you pass through the airport named after him!
First, that change agents cannot totally externalize the blame for what has gone wrong in the world. They may be admirable, but they are not blameless.
Second, that we have to give of ourselves to save others. We are not merely brokers between donors and beneficiaries. Taking it personally is mission-critical.
Third, that we are too often too quick to blame the victims for their problems. Any “situation report” or “problem analysis” needs to be reflective not just journalistic.
In 1935, on a winter night, Fiorello LaGuardia, the mayor of New York City, showed up at night court in the poorest part of the city. He let the Judge go for the evening and he took over the bench.
A woman in torn clothing, charged with stealing a loaf of bread, was brought to stand before LaGuardia. She told LaGuardia that her son-in-law had deserted her extremely sick daughter, and that her grandchildren were starving. The shopkeeper refused to drop the charges, however, saying she needed to be punished.
LaGuardia sighed, turned to the old woman, and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail."
As soon as he pronounced the sentence, however, LaGuardia took a $10 bill out of his pocket and threw it into a hat. And he said: "Here's the $10 fine, which I now remit. Furthermore, I'm going to fine each person 50 cents in this courtroom for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The next day, a New York newspaper reported that $47.50 was turned over to the grandmother who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren.
Dorothy Day’s philosophy was “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable”. Change agents have to do both. For we all share both responsibility and complicity.
The bend in the road
Could be the end of the road
If we fail to make the turn.
Changing lives involves many facets – education and health are usually the first two that come to mind.
There are different modes as well – from giving people fish to teaching them how to fish, and on to making sure that the waters they depend on are not over-fished.
There are different motives, too, from selfish (e.g. Japanese ODA includes a lot of road building!) to altruistic.
Change must be holistic as well – for if you don’t change deep attitudes and superstitions, often new behaviours are only superficial.
Change agents can themselves be among the causes of social injustice – part of the problem as well as part of the solution. The chickens come home to roost. When we are busy as change agents, we ourselves have to be open to change. Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Alcoholics Anonymous promotes the slogan: “If you want to change others, first change yourself.”
The story that follows captures several important themes. Remember it next time you pass through the airport named after him!
First, that change agents cannot totally externalize the blame for what has gone wrong in the world. They may be admirable, but they are not blameless.
Second, that we have to give of ourselves to save others. We are not merely brokers between donors and beneficiaries. Taking it personally is mission-critical.
Third, that we are too often too quick to blame the victims for their problems. Any “situation report” or “problem analysis” needs to be reflective not just journalistic.
In 1935, on a winter night, Fiorello LaGuardia, the mayor of New York City, showed up at night court in the poorest part of the city. He let the Judge go for the evening and he took over the bench.
A woman in torn clothing, charged with stealing a loaf of bread, was brought to stand before LaGuardia. She told LaGuardia that her son-in-law had deserted her extremely sick daughter, and that her grandchildren were starving. The shopkeeper refused to drop the charges, however, saying she needed to be punished.
LaGuardia sighed, turned to the old woman, and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail."
As soon as he pronounced the sentence, however, LaGuardia took a $10 bill out of his pocket and threw it into a hat. And he said: "Here's the $10 fine, which I now remit. Furthermore, I'm going to fine each person 50 cents in this courtroom for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The next day, a New York newspaper reported that $47.50 was turned over to the grandmother who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren.
Dorothy Day’s philosophy was “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable”. Change agents have to do both. For we all share both responsibility and complicity.
The bend in the road
Could be the end of the road
If we fail to make the turn.
On Volunteering and Voluntarism
A great writer, one of the greatest, wrote a book about two cities…
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…
The best of times
Saturday was Mandela Day. Taking my own advice from the previous C4L bulletin, I got out there for 67 minutes of community service. I identified a visible need – to clean up the litter strewn along Touyz road, which C4L’s long laneway empties into. It is a paved city street, traveled by car and traveled by foot – depending on which of the two cities you come from.
From beer bottles to cigarette butts, I picked them up – by hand. I got some exercise, but not exactly fresh air considering the unpleasant aromas that I encountered. To the passers-by, I explained that it was Mandela Day and that I was serving my community by cleaning up the environment. Mostly, they laughed.
Last year in a media interview, Desmond Tutu “slammed ordinary South Africans who have no regard for the rule of law and carelessly litter, drive dangerously and neglect and abuse children, among other things…” We live in a land of littering.
What can you do? Mandela Day seemed like a good opportunity to make a start. It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness. I filled four green garbage bags with litter and left them at the end of the lane for garbage day on Friday.
The worst of times
Sunday morning I went to church. After church I did a bit of shopping, having long since re-interpreted that commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy.
When I turned into the lane, almost home, I got quite a start! The green garbage bags were disappearing. The garbage remained clustered in the form of bagging, like some weird modern-art sculpture, but the outer balers had disappeared!
Sure enough, someone had untied the knot at the top of the bags, turned them over, and snafooed those green garbage bags!
Foolishness and incredulity indeed... it just took the wind out of my wisdom and belief! Is the grip of poverty so tight that the balers used to bag garbage are of sufficient value for someone to steal? Bag lifting?! Carpet baggers takes on a whole new meaning – not just for a northerner like me who went to the South to make money…
Was there still a “Yankee go home” message in there some where? Or just pure poverty? The term carpetbagger became synonymous with any outsider who meddles in an area's political affairs for his own benefit. Is there some xenophobia brewing again?
Interestingly enough, carpet bags were an early form of recycling. Saddlemakers rescued old worn out rugs and cut them up, salvaging remnants still in good condition to make cheap bags. I wouldn’t mind if they recycled the garbage – but the garbage bags?! Give me a break.
The epoch of incredulity
I learned yesterday from Adam Habib, a reliable source, that 70 per cent of the funding that fuels South African NGOs come from government sources. So much for them being non-governmental organizations!
South Africa has been described as a first world country and a third world country occupying the same space. Another tale of two cities. Some say that the problem is poverty. Others say the problem is disparity. The best of times and the worst of times travel down the same street, Touyz Road, right at the end of C4L’s long laneway.
Habib says that unemployment in South Africa had doubled since the first democratic elections in 1994 – before we entered the Great Recession. Food for thought.
Some of you know how I have agonized – for a year at least - over the proportions of C4L’s support base. 85 per cent over the past 10 years from sources outside South Africa is too high to suggest the degree of local ownership that is a propos of a mixed campus community. C4L may have a spectacular track record in terms of service delivery, but government is moribund when it comes to sharing the loot with NGOs. (Which, in turn – on average – draw 70 per cent of their funding from government sources. In that respect, C4L is a conspicuous exception!)
We live in a culture of looting. Not just the disappearing act at the end of our laneway, but this could go a long way to explaining why there is so little “trickle down” for NGOs. It’s the Colorado River syndrome – very little gets through to the poor, who are left to rob people’s garbage bags off the street.
No wonder that people are rising up violently in the townships of Mpumalanga to protest the lack of government service delivery. One new minister in the new cabinet bought not one but two Mercedes cars – one to use in Pretoria the other to use while at his Capetown office – for over one million Rand. That would run the whole gamut of C4L operations for 6 months!
Worse yet, the Department of Health and Social Development in our province was the only ministry in 2008 that actually returned money to the Treasury – that it couldn’t spend! Other departments asked for and received budget increases, but DSD sent millions of Rand back - because they underspent!
C4L exists to develop the capacity of people, organizations and networks in civil society – the nonprofit sector. It promotes both volunteering and Voluntarism. It is never been convinced that a minimum wage for volunteers makes sense, but tries its best to adapt and contextualize in recognition that there are two cities, a world apart.
But it ain’t easy at times!!!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…
The best of times
Saturday was Mandela Day. Taking my own advice from the previous C4L bulletin, I got out there for 67 minutes of community service. I identified a visible need – to clean up the litter strewn along Touyz road, which C4L’s long laneway empties into. It is a paved city street, traveled by car and traveled by foot – depending on which of the two cities you come from.
From beer bottles to cigarette butts, I picked them up – by hand. I got some exercise, but not exactly fresh air considering the unpleasant aromas that I encountered. To the passers-by, I explained that it was Mandela Day and that I was serving my community by cleaning up the environment. Mostly, they laughed.
Last year in a media interview, Desmond Tutu “slammed ordinary South Africans who have no regard for the rule of law and carelessly litter, drive dangerously and neglect and abuse children, among other things…” We live in a land of littering.
What can you do? Mandela Day seemed like a good opportunity to make a start. It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness. I filled four green garbage bags with litter and left them at the end of the lane for garbage day on Friday.
The worst of times
Sunday morning I went to church. After church I did a bit of shopping, having long since re-interpreted that commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy.
When I turned into the lane, almost home, I got quite a start! The green garbage bags were disappearing. The garbage remained clustered in the form of bagging, like some weird modern-art sculpture, but the outer balers had disappeared!
Sure enough, someone had untied the knot at the top of the bags, turned them over, and snafooed those green garbage bags!
Foolishness and incredulity indeed... it just took the wind out of my wisdom and belief! Is the grip of poverty so tight that the balers used to bag garbage are of sufficient value for someone to steal? Bag lifting?! Carpet baggers takes on a whole new meaning – not just for a northerner like me who went to the South to make money…
Was there still a “Yankee go home” message in there some where? Or just pure poverty? The term carpetbagger became synonymous with any outsider who meddles in an area's political affairs for his own benefit. Is there some xenophobia brewing again?
Interestingly enough, carpet bags were an early form of recycling. Saddlemakers rescued old worn out rugs and cut them up, salvaging remnants still in good condition to make cheap bags. I wouldn’t mind if they recycled the garbage – but the garbage bags?! Give me a break.
The epoch of incredulity
I learned yesterday from Adam Habib, a reliable source, that 70 per cent of the funding that fuels South African NGOs come from government sources. So much for them being non-governmental organizations!
South Africa has been described as a first world country and a third world country occupying the same space. Another tale of two cities. Some say that the problem is poverty. Others say the problem is disparity. The best of times and the worst of times travel down the same street, Touyz Road, right at the end of C4L’s long laneway.
Habib says that unemployment in South Africa had doubled since the first democratic elections in 1994 – before we entered the Great Recession. Food for thought.
Some of you know how I have agonized – for a year at least - over the proportions of C4L’s support base. 85 per cent over the past 10 years from sources outside South Africa is too high to suggest the degree of local ownership that is a propos of a mixed campus community. C4L may have a spectacular track record in terms of service delivery, but government is moribund when it comes to sharing the loot with NGOs. (Which, in turn – on average – draw 70 per cent of their funding from government sources. In that respect, C4L is a conspicuous exception!)
We live in a culture of looting. Not just the disappearing act at the end of our laneway, but this could go a long way to explaining why there is so little “trickle down” for NGOs. It’s the Colorado River syndrome – very little gets through to the poor, who are left to rob people’s garbage bags off the street.
No wonder that people are rising up violently in the townships of Mpumalanga to protest the lack of government service delivery. One new minister in the new cabinet bought not one but two Mercedes cars – one to use in Pretoria the other to use while at his Capetown office – for over one million Rand. That would run the whole gamut of C4L operations for 6 months!
Worse yet, the Department of Health and Social Development in our province was the only ministry in 2008 that actually returned money to the Treasury – that it couldn’t spend! Other departments asked for and received budget increases, but DSD sent millions of Rand back - because they underspent!
C4L exists to develop the capacity of people, organizations and networks in civil society – the nonprofit sector. It promotes both volunteering and Voluntarism. It is never been convinced that a minimum wage for volunteers makes sense, but tries its best to adapt and contextualize in recognition that there are two cities, a world apart.
But it ain’t easy at times!!!
Sunday, 15 February 2015
Holding Captivity Captive
When he ascended up on high
he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men
- St Paul quoting Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8
I have always liked the irony of this phrase – captivity being led captive. God is great, and he can even capture the captivities that hold us captive. Death of course is the ultimate captivity that he now holds captive through resurrection.
But before death come a variety of lesser captivities - possibly alcoholism or other addictions? In the developing world, poverty is popularly seen as the last frontier of captivity.
Perhaps for others it could be psychological – paranoia or bipolarity?
It could also be attitudes – like stigma or racism – that hold people in the captivity of prejudice. This is at the root of many disparities, including gender inequities.
Even marriage can be seen in this light. DH Lawrence wrote:
Wild things in captivity
while they keep their own wild purity
Won’t breed, they mope, they die.
All men are in captivity,
Active with captive activity,
And the best won’t breed, though they don’t know why.
Liberation often means victory, overthrowing an enemy. In ancient military imagery, the defeated captivity has to be led by the conqueror through the arch of triumph and all the way up to the citadel. In this case, when God carried off those captivities to his place “on high”, he gave gifts unto men. This is the story of empowerment and delegation. St. Paul goes on to describe different kinds of leadership gifts that are bestowed on the regents that he left behind.
This is the work of C4L – “equipping the saints”. But first, he had to clear away captivity. For some people in living memory this may have been the Civil Rights movement… I saw them weeping tears of joy the day that Barack Obama was inaugurated. Captivity held captive indeed.
For others, it was seeing the Berlin Wall come down and the “Second World” of communism all but disappear, leaving only vestiges like North Korea and Cuba behind.
In Africa, it was seeing the end of apartheid. Most other countries had become independent by then, freed from colonialism. But the end of apartheid was truly the end of an era.
The release of Nelson Mandela from prison meant that racial supremacy was finally taken captive. It is no longer free to circulate – captivity is held captive. (In South Africa, at least, because it appears to be on the loose again in Sudan…)
In his state-of-the-nation address last week, South Africa’s new president declared July 18 will become Mandela Day. You can visit the Mandela Day website which aspires to get other countries on board. Could it become a global holiday? It challenges people to get involved in fighting social injustice – including on that very day.
The interesting thing to me is that by toughing it out relentlessly in prison, Mandela came to the point where captivity was led captive away, when he emerged a free man. Just as the Treason Trials which convicted him and others were cleverly handled by the defense in a way that really put apartheid on trial, not the activists who opposed it. They used the media coverage of the trials to make the whole world aware of the structural injustice. These kinds of insights and ironies are among the gifts that God gave to men as he ascended on high.
Leadership is what we commonly call it today. St. Paul spoke of apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets and teachers – in other words, not just leaders but the leadership. Many of them in the Early Church were martyred and others courageously resisted captivity and eventually took it captive, tribe by tribe.
The focus of Mandela Day is community service. For 67 years, Mandela has been fighting injustice, so people are being encouraged to do 67 minutes of volunteer service on that date. Leadership is essentially about inspiration and influence.
We have had an American volunteer from the USA Peace Corps at C4L for 2 years and she is on her way home this week. We still have another volunteer from Europe with us, thanks to the German Development Service. We have a team of 14 young Canadian volunteers arriving later in the week. Meanwhile, there is a family in Winnipeg planning to come for 4 months as volunteers in early 2010.
Not everyone can come out to Africa and work for a voluntary organization like C4L. But there are always opportunities nearer to home. So in the spirit of this new impetus to encourage volunteering, we recognize an opportunity to take people’s eyes off of profits, career, benefits and gain for at least 67 minutes, and to connect them with nonprofits – sharing, being downwardly mobile and even sacrificial.
Ghandi said: “The planet contains adequate resources to meet everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greeds.” Among the gifts that God gave to men, and to the leaders among them in particular, are generosity, altruism, and philanthropy. C4L encourages you to get involved, one way or another, in the fight against social injustice. Too many people are still in captivity – let us rise up and take it captive!
he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men
- St Paul quoting Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8
I have always liked the irony of this phrase – captivity being led captive. God is great, and he can even capture the captivities that hold us captive. Death of course is the ultimate captivity that he now holds captive through resurrection.
But before death come a variety of lesser captivities - possibly alcoholism or other addictions? In the developing world, poverty is popularly seen as the last frontier of captivity.
Perhaps for others it could be psychological – paranoia or bipolarity?
It could also be attitudes – like stigma or racism – that hold people in the captivity of prejudice. This is at the root of many disparities, including gender inequities.
Even marriage can be seen in this light. DH Lawrence wrote:
Wild things in captivity
while they keep their own wild purity
Won’t breed, they mope, they die.
All men are in captivity,
Active with captive activity,
And the best won’t breed, though they don’t know why.
Liberation often means victory, overthrowing an enemy. In ancient military imagery, the defeated captivity has to be led by the conqueror through the arch of triumph and all the way up to the citadel. In this case, when God carried off those captivities to his place “on high”, he gave gifts unto men. This is the story of empowerment and delegation. St. Paul goes on to describe different kinds of leadership gifts that are bestowed on the regents that he left behind.
This is the work of C4L – “equipping the saints”. But first, he had to clear away captivity. For some people in living memory this may have been the Civil Rights movement… I saw them weeping tears of joy the day that Barack Obama was inaugurated. Captivity held captive indeed.
For others, it was seeing the Berlin Wall come down and the “Second World” of communism all but disappear, leaving only vestiges like North Korea and Cuba behind.
In Africa, it was seeing the end of apartheid. Most other countries had become independent by then, freed from colonialism. But the end of apartheid was truly the end of an era.
The release of Nelson Mandela from prison meant that racial supremacy was finally taken captive. It is no longer free to circulate – captivity is held captive. (In South Africa, at least, because it appears to be on the loose again in Sudan…)
In his state-of-the-nation address last week, South Africa’s new president declared July 18 will become Mandela Day. You can visit the Mandela Day website which aspires to get other countries on board. Could it become a global holiday? It challenges people to get involved in fighting social injustice – including on that very day.
The interesting thing to me is that by toughing it out relentlessly in prison, Mandela came to the point where captivity was led captive away, when he emerged a free man. Just as the Treason Trials which convicted him and others were cleverly handled by the defense in a way that really put apartheid on trial, not the activists who opposed it. They used the media coverage of the trials to make the whole world aware of the structural injustice. These kinds of insights and ironies are among the gifts that God gave to men as he ascended on high.
Leadership is what we commonly call it today. St. Paul spoke of apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets and teachers – in other words, not just leaders but the leadership. Many of them in the Early Church were martyred and others courageously resisted captivity and eventually took it captive, tribe by tribe.
The focus of Mandela Day is community service. For 67 years, Mandela has been fighting injustice, so people are being encouraged to do 67 minutes of volunteer service on that date. Leadership is essentially about inspiration and influence.
We have had an American volunteer from the USA Peace Corps at C4L for 2 years and she is on her way home this week. We still have another volunteer from Europe with us, thanks to the German Development Service. We have a team of 14 young Canadian volunteers arriving later in the week. Meanwhile, there is a family in Winnipeg planning to come for 4 months as volunteers in early 2010.
Not everyone can come out to Africa and work for a voluntary organization like C4L. But there are always opportunities nearer to home. So in the spirit of this new impetus to encourage volunteering, we recognize an opportunity to take people’s eyes off of profits, career, benefits and gain for at least 67 minutes, and to connect them with nonprofits – sharing, being downwardly mobile and even sacrificial.
Ghandi said: “The planet contains adequate resources to meet everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greeds.” Among the gifts that God gave to men, and to the leaders among them in particular, are generosity, altruism, and philanthropy. C4L encourages you to get involved, one way or another, in the fight against social injustice. Too many people are still in captivity – let us rise up and take it captive!
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Mendicancy
I have been reflecting on the mendicant orders. Just like no one wants to eat pig, but they will will eat pork, mendicant is a much more refined word for begging.
It started in Africa. An Egyptian, St Anthony was the first of the “desert fathers”. Around 300 AD he became a recluse, acting alone, not asking anyone to join him.
The first one to actually organize a monastery was Pachomius, about 320 AD, also in Egypt.
The first monastery in Europe was started by an African – St Athanasius – in about 335 AD. He was in exile, in what is now Germany.
St Martin started the first monastery in France around 350 AD.
St Augustine was the first to form a celibate community, in 395 AD. It was another first for Africa – in Hippo.
St Patrick Christianized Ireland starting in 432 AD, after ministry preparations in Gaul. His use of Abbeys was unprecedented – the Abbots were the main church leaders, as opposed to the European configuration which organized dioceses around bishops.
It was not until around 550 AD that Canadorius deployed monks for the first time in the translation of manuscripts.
During the so-called Dark Ages, around 575 AD, the Celtic Church re-evangelized Europe, founding 40 monasteries. Pope Gregory I noted that the Celtic monks were the first to dress differently, with robes and distinctive haircuts. He was the same pope who promoted the rigorous Benedictine Rules, which had been formulated by an Abbot by that name.
Bible Translation
Concurrent to these dates was another phenomenon – the emergence of Bibles in the vernacular. This is often associated with the much-later Protestant Reformation about the time that the printing press emerged, but the truth is that several translations had been undertaken long before that.
Armenia was the first nation to declare itself Christian, in 303 AD. By 400 AD, the Bible had been translated into that language.
Around 340 AD, Bishop Ulfilas translated the Bible for the Goths. This is at the root of Gothic influence over church and community life for many centuries – particularly in architecture.
When St Jerome translated Scripture into Latin, in 405 AD, it was still a live language. Too often his Vulgate is remembered as part of the “hocus pocus” syndrome that emerged - long after Latin ceased to be spoken in streets and homes, like Hebrew before it. But at the time this translating was done, it was part of a trend have scripture into the vernacular.
So it was only a question of time before Canadorius thought of deploying monks in the translation of manuscripts.
From Self-denial to Self-reliance
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...
Ignatius, who was the first person to coin the phrase “catholic church”, was also the first to distinguish between the offices of bishop, elder (presbyter) and deacon. He saw the bishop reflecting God's role, the elders reflecting the role of church councils, and deacons reflecting the ministry of Jesus. Structure was starting to set in, although a quick look at I Timothy 3 and Acts 15 will confirm that this thinking was in line with practice and teaching in the early church. Like Tertullian, who coined the phrase “trinity”, such new concepts and structures were evolving during the turbulent era after the Apostles and before the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, in 312 AD.
In 361 AD, the last pagan emperor ascended. From 363 onwards, all emperors were Christian. At this time there were various bishops and none was paramount. Thus the rise and fall of various heresies and tendencies, as these were debated and defended.
By 390, St Ambrose, bishop of Milan, actually excommunicated the emperor! This was a far cry from a persecuted, underground early church.
Leo I became the first pope – in 440 – by declaring the supremacy of the bishop of Rome. By that time, Patrick was already evangelizing Ireland! There was no pope yet at the time that he set out from Europe to evangelize the emerald isle, where he had previously been captive in slavery.
Unraveling
The following centuries see the Roman Church asserting its predominance – over the emperor and the state, the Church of Ireland, the Eastern Church and even crusades against Islam. In the same way, the Vulgate became the paramount translation, even when and where most people no longer understood it! The self-denial of the desert fathers gave way to self-reliance in the monasteries (ora et labora – pray and work) and to self-indulgence on the part of bishops and popes. That is the background to the mendicant orders...
From Desert Fathers to Urban Brothers
St Francis of Assisi was quite an amazing person. He saw through it all; self-gratification had replaced self-sacrifice. He questioned the pursuit of wealth and political power – when most people received stones after asking for bread. He looked for a way that was opposite to institutionalization and alliance with the state. This meant that he had to steer clear of both the wealthy Bishops engaged in the intrigues of city life, and also the powerful Abbots whose isolation was no longer in a cave like St Anthony, but in a position that dominated rural life. He started a poverty movement. As Jesus had told his disciples: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
“Go and preach, 'The Kingdom of God is near!' Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded epidemics, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid. Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your pockets; do not carry a beggar's bag for the journey or an extra shirt or shoes or a stick. Workers should be given what they need.” (Matthew 10: 7 – 10)
It was a rebuke. There were portents of Ghandi's non-violence in his approach. It was called “mendicant” - that nice word for begging. The Franciscans called themselves brothers, not fathers. They did not retreat into the wilderness, they engaged in community servicve. They were activists, not just pietists. Their lifestyle was as much a witness as anything. It spoke volumes about their faith. They didn't just believe in miracles, they counted on them.
Post-Modern Mendicancy
We live in a different time, but there are parallels. I read in Wikipedia this week that Evangelicals now outnumber both Catholics and “main-line” denominations in America. They are only outnumbered by Fundamentalists. But the real discovery for me was that there is now a new movement called the “emerging churches”, whose members are referred to as “emergents”. While this came as a surprise to me, it is familiar, for the Africa-Initiated Churches (AICs) are a force to be reckoned with in my part of the world. The biggest denomination in South Africa is the Zionist church. It took the gospel from missionaries who came from Zion, Michigan (not Israel!) and like Francis in his era, it re-invented the church. Not only has Africa been Christianized, but Christianity has been Africanized. It sounds like these "emerging churches" are something of a rebuke to the institutional church as well.
But how can you translate scripture, preach (especially in the expensive media), heal, raise the dead, treat dreaded epidemics (especially when anti-retroviral drugs are so expensive) and drive out demons when you have no currency or commodity reserves? You can't even take a guitar case with your guitar – so bunking for money at the subway stations is ruled out! There goes the self-reliance factor of the monasteries.
Jesus has a plain explanation: “Workers should be given what they need.” Ya, but by whom? Government? Philanthropic foundations? Churches? Generous people? The beneficiaries?
In today's world, "riches in heaven" is a bit of a pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by. So does fundraising come across as a kind of mendicancy? To beg for resources, you no longer have to take an oath of poverty - the emphasis has shifted to tax deductibility. This certifies two things – that you are a bona fide nonprofit, but also that the donors themselves can benefit from being generous. It gets confusing. I just hope that the emergents can get a handle on it!
It started in Africa. An Egyptian, St Anthony was the first of the “desert fathers”. Around 300 AD he became a recluse, acting alone, not asking anyone to join him.
The first one to actually organize a monastery was Pachomius, about 320 AD, also in Egypt.
The first monastery in Europe was started by an African – St Athanasius – in about 335 AD. He was in exile, in what is now Germany.
St Martin started the first monastery in France around 350 AD.
St Augustine was the first to form a celibate community, in 395 AD. It was another first for Africa – in Hippo.
St Patrick Christianized Ireland starting in 432 AD, after ministry preparations in Gaul. His use of Abbeys was unprecedented – the Abbots were the main church leaders, as opposed to the European configuration which organized dioceses around bishops.
It was not until around 550 AD that Canadorius deployed monks for the first time in the translation of manuscripts.
During the so-called Dark Ages, around 575 AD, the Celtic Church re-evangelized Europe, founding 40 monasteries. Pope Gregory I noted that the Celtic monks were the first to dress differently, with robes and distinctive haircuts. He was the same pope who promoted the rigorous Benedictine Rules, which had been formulated by an Abbot by that name.
Bible Translation
Concurrent to these dates was another phenomenon – the emergence of Bibles in the vernacular. This is often associated with the much-later Protestant Reformation about the time that the printing press emerged, but the truth is that several translations had been undertaken long before that.
Armenia was the first nation to declare itself Christian, in 303 AD. By 400 AD, the Bible had been translated into that language.
Around 340 AD, Bishop Ulfilas translated the Bible for the Goths. This is at the root of Gothic influence over church and community life for many centuries – particularly in architecture.
When St Jerome translated Scripture into Latin, in 405 AD, it was still a live language. Too often his Vulgate is remembered as part of the “hocus pocus” syndrome that emerged - long after Latin ceased to be spoken in streets and homes, like Hebrew before it. But at the time this translating was done, it was part of a trend have scripture into the vernacular.
So it was only a question of time before Canadorius thought of deploying monks in the translation of manuscripts.
From Self-denial to Self-reliance
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...
Ignatius, who was the first person to coin the phrase “catholic church”, was also the first to distinguish between the offices of bishop, elder (presbyter) and deacon. He saw the bishop reflecting God's role, the elders reflecting the role of church councils, and deacons reflecting the ministry of Jesus. Structure was starting to set in, although a quick look at I Timothy 3 and Acts 15 will confirm that this thinking was in line with practice and teaching in the early church. Like Tertullian, who coined the phrase “trinity”, such new concepts and structures were evolving during the turbulent era after the Apostles and before the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, in 312 AD.
In 361 AD, the last pagan emperor ascended. From 363 onwards, all emperors were Christian. At this time there were various bishops and none was paramount. Thus the rise and fall of various heresies and tendencies, as these were debated and defended.
By 390, St Ambrose, bishop of Milan, actually excommunicated the emperor! This was a far cry from a persecuted, underground early church.
Leo I became the first pope – in 440 – by declaring the supremacy of the bishop of Rome. By that time, Patrick was already evangelizing Ireland! There was no pope yet at the time that he set out from Europe to evangelize the emerald isle, where he had previously been captive in slavery.
Unraveling
The following centuries see the Roman Church asserting its predominance – over the emperor and the state, the Church of Ireland, the Eastern Church and even crusades against Islam. In the same way, the Vulgate became the paramount translation, even when and where most people no longer understood it! The self-denial of the desert fathers gave way to self-reliance in the monasteries (ora et labora – pray and work) and to self-indulgence on the part of bishops and popes. That is the background to the mendicant orders...
From Desert Fathers to Urban Brothers
St Francis of Assisi was quite an amazing person. He saw through it all; self-gratification had replaced self-sacrifice. He questioned the pursuit of wealth and political power – when most people received stones after asking for bread. He looked for a way that was opposite to institutionalization and alliance with the state. This meant that he had to steer clear of both the wealthy Bishops engaged in the intrigues of city life, and also the powerful Abbots whose isolation was no longer in a cave like St Anthony, but in a position that dominated rural life. He started a poverty movement. As Jesus had told his disciples: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
“Go and preach, 'The Kingdom of God is near!' Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded epidemics, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid. Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your pockets; do not carry a beggar's bag for the journey or an extra shirt or shoes or a stick. Workers should be given what they need.” (Matthew 10: 7 – 10)
It was a rebuke. There were portents of Ghandi's non-violence in his approach. It was called “mendicant” - that nice word for begging. The Franciscans called themselves brothers, not fathers. They did not retreat into the wilderness, they engaged in community servicve. They were activists, not just pietists. Their lifestyle was as much a witness as anything. It spoke volumes about their faith. They didn't just believe in miracles, they counted on them.
Post-Modern Mendicancy
We live in a different time, but there are parallels. I read in Wikipedia this week that Evangelicals now outnumber both Catholics and “main-line” denominations in America. They are only outnumbered by Fundamentalists. But the real discovery for me was that there is now a new movement called the “emerging churches”, whose members are referred to as “emergents”. While this came as a surprise to me, it is familiar, for the Africa-Initiated Churches (AICs) are a force to be reckoned with in my part of the world. The biggest denomination in South Africa is the Zionist church. It took the gospel from missionaries who came from Zion, Michigan (not Israel!) and like Francis in his era, it re-invented the church. Not only has Africa been Christianized, but Christianity has been Africanized. It sounds like these "emerging churches" are something of a rebuke to the institutional church as well.
But how can you translate scripture, preach (especially in the expensive media), heal, raise the dead, treat dreaded epidemics (especially when anti-retroviral drugs are so expensive) and drive out demons when you have no currency or commodity reserves? You can't even take a guitar case with your guitar – so bunking for money at the subway stations is ruled out! There goes the self-reliance factor of the monasteries.
Jesus has a plain explanation: “Workers should be given what they need.” Ya, but by whom? Government? Philanthropic foundations? Churches? Generous people? The beneficiaries?
In today's world, "riches in heaven" is a bit of a pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by. So does fundraising come across as a kind of mendicancy? To beg for resources, you no longer have to take an oath of poverty - the emphasis has shifted to tax deductibility. This certifies two things – that you are a bona fide nonprofit, but also that the donors themselves can benefit from being generous. It gets confusing. I just hope that the emergents can get a handle on it!
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Disaster Watch
My first disaster-related assignment was in 1985 with World Vision. The Horn of Africa drought of 1983-1984 was so severe, it eclipsed what had happened in Mozambique. A combination of drought and detrimental government policies brought that communist country to its knees, and I suddenly found myself deployed in a huge Relief and Rehab operation, the biggest that WV had at the time. We handled a lot of food and other commodities. I was introduced to Logistics as a way of supporting peace, not war. We worked in conditions that were dangerous and uncertain.
One thing really impressed me during those years, before I moved on to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and started working the other end of it - in A Christian Response to Hunger. People's needs - when disaster strikes - are so basic, that Survival needs take over higher levels of need like Security and Socialization (vis Maslow's hierarchy of needs). As a result, one rarely even has time to talk to beneficiaries or comfort them – simply due to the tyranny of the urgent.
So I have been a disaster watcher ever since, and enjoyed some years of mentoring by Dr Ian Davis of the Oxford Centre for Disaster Studies. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was a case of “Physician, heal thyself” because no country delivers more aid to other countries than the USA. And yet, it stumbled a bit, and learned a lot about managing major disasters at home instead of abroad.
Of course, in a natural calamity like a hurricane, even those charged with disaster response can't escape. Communication lines go down and emergency response teams can end up cut off and working somewhat autonomously, even though disaster management functions in theory like the military - in a fairly centralized, orchestrated way. (Logistics didn't – and did - find its way into disaster management by accident!) One such response team in New Orleans was stranded in a stadium for some days during that hurricane, and just kept on operating – with distinction – until their heroism was later discovered.
Last week I watched a CNN weatherman point out on the map a huge storm at sea that was headed in the direction of Burma. Then it hit the peninsula... Yesterday I heard that a school collapsed in China and killed 900 children. I suspected that there was more to this than the first reports... Today I watched the news at lunch time and they reported bombs exploding in Jaipur. Seven deaths were reported. But by supper time, this was up to dozens.
It really hit me – how the numbers keep rising in disasters. People are bereaved, bewildered and in a state of shock. But survival needs are paramount – medical care, drinking water and food. Perhaps out of sight some people in distress may receiving counseling or prayer, but the main focus is always to find more survivors and to get water and sanitation services working again.
The first plug I am going to make here is for you to give generously through those who are positioned to intervene. I see that World Vision was already working in Burma. I have also heard that EMAS (Evangelical Medical Aid Society) has representation in Hong Kong. God knows that they have been working in China for many years. Take your pick; don't miss your cue.
Slow Onset Disasters
In China, children went off to school yesterday morning routinely. By the end of the day, they were no more. Fast-onset disasters are a terrible thing, burying children in the rubble of a school.
Whereas the famine in Mozambique that was my doorway into disaster management took some time to cause loss of life. (Although in the end, over 100,000 lives were lost in Tete province alone.) This is different from an earthquake or cyclone. For one thing, you have some lead time and the opportunity to mitigate the effects of disasters. But there is a dark side to this – they can go unnoticed. They lack the shock-value that fast-onset disasters have. In this sense, they are even more cruel.
Without meaning to diminish what millions of people in Asia are trying to cope with this week, let me remind you that 60,000 people are dying every week in Africa of HIV/AIDS - 6,000 of these in South Africa alone. The loss of life every week in Africa is roughly equivalent to the combined cyclone and earthquake in the past week in Asia.
This has been going on for several years, and is likely to keep rising for another decade or more. It is not a case of school children failing to return home one day. It is manifested in other ways, like drops in life expectancy. In Swaziland, this has sunk to 28 years of age - hidden away in bedrooms in the shadows of a stigma.
I have wondered about the ethics of even writing this bulletin. I could be accused of insensitivity. Forgive me if you find it offensive. That is not where I am coming from. But those who can remember the media images of the Great Famine in Ethiopia know how deadly slow-onset disasters can also become.
One key aspect of dealing with the slow-onset disaster of HIV/AIDS is that there is no shortage of time for counseling. Blessed are the comforters, for they shall be comforted. It starts with giving advice to people to be tested voluntarily. It includes counseling those who are sero-positive in terms of their lifestyle and treatment options. Then there is comforting for those who are assailed by opportunistic infections, or who reach full-blown AIDS. It doesn't end there, either, there is care for the bereaved, especially when they are orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). They basically need therapy and huge doses of TLC.
Typically of disasters, the emphasis in response to HIV/AIDS is on things you can count. Condoms instead of sacks. Numbers treated with ARVs instead of number of tents distributed in a refugee camp. Morbidity and mortality rates.
The field of psycho-social support is relatively uncharted terrain. As such, it is not as high on the priority list as it is on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
OVC care is sometimes seen as the last vestige of the disaster, at the end of the line. In fact, it can also be seen as the first steps of reconstruction and disaster mitigation. For disaster is cyclical, not linear. Put another way, orphans need protection and conditions of safety more than they need institutions or adoption.
I know that mega-resources are needed urgently for Burma and China and I pray that the commodities needed can reach people in real time. Since I remember that detrimental government policies were one of the causes of famine in Mozambique, it does not surprise me that Burma's military dictators seem to be more part of the problem than part of the solution. The failings of government in South Africa, especially its delays in rolling out ARVs, are legendary, and continue to complicate getting access to adequate resources.
This month is Asia's month. Give to survival needs in Burma and China. But don't forget Africa next month, and don't ever forget the psycho-social needs of orphans and vulnerable children. These will keep rising for at least another decade. The scale is unprecedented, so much so that even the media and technology of today can't manage to convey it. The terrain is uncharted, so there is still danger and uncertainty. That is just a reminder that AIDS is a disaster, not just another STD.
One thing really impressed me during those years, before I moved on to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and started working the other end of it - in A Christian Response to Hunger. People's needs - when disaster strikes - are so basic, that Survival needs take over higher levels of need like Security and Socialization (vis Maslow's hierarchy of needs). As a result, one rarely even has time to talk to beneficiaries or comfort them – simply due to the tyranny of the urgent.
So I have been a disaster watcher ever since, and enjoyed some years of mentoring by Dr Ian Davis of the Oxford Centre for Disaster Studies. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was a case of “Physician, heal thyself” because no country delivers more aid to other countries than the USA. And yet, it stumbled a bit, and learned a lot about managing major disasters at home instead of abroad.
Of course, in a natural calamity like a hurricane, even those charged with disaster response can't escape. Communication lines go down and emergency response teams can end up cut off and working somewhat autonomously, even though disaster management functions in theory like the military - in a fairly centralized, orchestrated way. (Logistics didn't – and did - find its way into disaster management by accident!) One such response team in New Orleans was stranded in a stadium for some days during that hurricane, and just kept on operating – with distinction – until their heroism was later discovered.
Last week I watched a CNN weatherman point out on the map a huge storm at sea that was headed in the direction of Burma. Then it hit the peninsula... Yesterday I heard that a school collapsed in China and killed 900 children. I suspected that there was more to this than the first reports... Today I watched the news at lunch time and they reported bombs exploding in Jaipur. Seven deaths were reported. But by supper time, this was up to dozens.
It really hit me – how the numbers keep rising in disasters. People are bereaved, bewildered and in a state of shock. But survival needs are paramount – medical care, drinking water and food. Perhaps out of sight some people in distress may receiving counseling or prayer, but the main focus is always to find more survivors and to get water and sanitation services working again.
The first plug I am going to make here is for you to give generously through those who are positioned to intervene. I see that World Vision was already working in Burma. I have also heard that EMAS (Evangelical Medical Aid Society) has representation in Hong Kong. God knows that they have been working in China for many years. Take your pick; don't miss your cue.
Slow Onset Disasters
In China, children went off to school yesterday morning routinely. By the end of the day, they were no more. Fast-onset disasters are a terrible thing, burying children in the rubble of a school.
Whereas the famine in Mozambique that was my doorway into disaster management took some time to cause loss of life. (Although in the end, over 100,000 lives were lost in Tete province alone.) This is different from an earthquake or cyclone. For one thing, you have some lead time and the opportunity to mitigate the effects of disasters. But there is a dark side to this – they can go unnoticed. They lack the shock-value that fast-onset disasters have. In this sense, they are even more cruel.
Without meaning to diminish what millions of people in Asia are trying to cope with this week, let me remind you that 60,000 people are dying every week in Africa of HIV/AIDS - 6,000 of these in South Africa alone. The loss of life every week in Africa is roughly equivalent to the combined cyclone and earthquake in the past week in Asia.
This has been going on for several years, and is likely to keep rising for another decade or more. It is not a case of school children failing to return home one day. It is manifested in other ways, like drops in life expectancy. In Swaziland, this has sunk to 28 years of age - hidden away in bedrooms in the shadows of a stigma.
I have wondered about the ethics of even writing this bulletin. I could be accused of insensitivity. Forgive me if you find it offensive. That is not where I am coming from. But those who can remember the media images of the Great Famine in Ethiopia know how deadly slow-onset disasters can also become.
One key aspect of dealing with the slow-onset disaster of HIV/AIDS is that there is no shortage of time for counseling. Blessed are the comforters, for they shall be comforted. It starts with giving advice to people to be tested voluntarily. It includes counseling those who are sero-positive in terms of their lifestyle and treatment options. Then there is comforting for those who are assailed by opportunistic infections, or who reach full-blown AIDS. It doesn't end there, either, there is care for the bereaved, especially when they are orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). They basically need therapy and huge doses of TLC.
Typically of disasters, the emphasis in response to HIV/AIDS is on things you can count. Condoms instead of sacks. Numbers treated with ARVs instead of number of tents distributed in a refugee camp. Morbidity and mortality rates.
The field of psycho-social support is relatively uncharted terrain. As such, it is not as high on the priority list as it is on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
OVC care is sometimes seen as the last vestige of the disaster, at the end of the line. In fact, it can also be seen as the first steps of reconstruction and disaster mitigation. For disaster is cyclical, not linear. Put another way, orphans need protection and conditions of safety more than they need institutions or adoption.
I know that mega-resources are needed urgently for Burma and China and I pray that the commodities needed can reach people in real time. Since I remember that detrimental government policies were one of the causes of famine in Mozambique, it does not surprise me that Burma's military dictators seem to be more part of the problem than part of the solution. The failings of government in South Africa, especially its delays in rolling out ARVs, are legendary, and continue to complicate getting access to adequate resources.
This month is Asia's month. Give to survival needs in Burma and China. But don't forget Africa next month, and don't ever forget the psycho-social needs of orphans and vulnerable children. These will keep rising for at least another decade. The scale is unprecedented, so much so that even the media and technology of today can't manage to convey it. The terrain is uncharted, so there is still danger and uncertainty. That is just a reminder that AIDS is a disaster, not just another STD.
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