“Today, we have a clean city piped water within our reach and we are celebrating with the entire community-calling it a big relief. The water project is intended to kawangware community and we are selling the commodity at a reduced fee of Ksh.5 and at the same time the orphans at the centre will have clean water for drinking (This is indeed good news to upako and the community).

The Nairobi water company supplies water to kawangware once a week on Tuesdays. This means that we received our first supply yesterday.

We have a storage plastic tank with a capacity of 8,000 Liters at any given time when the supplies stops, however during day time when the supply is still on, we sell directly until it stops.

Like yesterday, we sold 4,000 Liters, collected and stored 1000 Liters in small containers for children to use and stored 8,000 Liters in the big tank for sale. This is a total of 13,000 Liters that we shall have collected this week.

 If we sell the water (we are selling even now) ,will be able to collect approximately Ksh.3000 per week-translating to about Ksh.12000 a month (about 48,000 Liters of water a month).The city charges are approximated at Ksh.1,600 per month. Expected income will be Ksh.10, 400 a month and children will also have water through out the month. (if the storage capacity is bigger, we can collect more water)

I will keep proper records so that we may know the exact profit generated from the water sales every month and keep you posted.

This is the report that I can give as at now.We are excited and we can see how much this water was needed.”

Reprint: Richard Stearns – Cutting Foreign Aid: Not The America I Love

I watched the Republican debates from my hotel in London this week, where I am meeting with other World Vision leaders. Being overseas, and watching them hours after the live event, provides a more objective perspective on home. During part of the discussion that evening, I found myself thinking: This is not the America I love.

One audience member asked a question on foreign aid. She said, “The American people are suffering in our country right now. Why do we continue to send foreign aid to other countries when we need all the help we can get for ourselves?”

Truthfully, this is a tough question. More Americans than ever since the Great Depression are out of work. Families have lost billions of dollars in net worth as their investment accounts have plummeted and housing values have sunk. Many people have lost their homes. Shouldn’t we get our own house in order before trying to sweep up someone else’s?

I have to be honest. While America’s house needs a thorough spring cleaning, millions of the poor around the world are barely hanging on to survival, living in mud huts or under no roof at all. Those fleeing the famine now occurring in the Horn of Africa are building tents by tying pieces of cloth to sticks.

The very real needs of Americans pale in comparison to the needs foreign aid addresses. Poor families around the world are right now starving to death. If we cut American aid, we can be sure that millions will die. At a time when our politicians are considering how to cut as much as $1,500 billion from the federal budget we shouldn’t try to cut the $33 billion we spend annually to assist the victims of malaria, famine, or natural disasters.

If I were advising the Republican candidates, I would encourage them to clear up some misperceptions about American foreign aid.

First, American aid is a small fraction of the US budget. Aid to the poor is less than 0.5 percent of the federal budget. It amounts to 14 cents per American per day. It hardly makes sense to think we can solve our fiscal problems by cutting funding to the poorest people in the world.
Despite its small proportion to the budget as a whole, American aid is extremely effective. Three million people today are alive because of the PEPFAR AIDS program, which provides lifesaving drugs and 2.5 million AIDS orphans are being cared for. American assistance in the fight against malaria has saved an estimated 1 million lives. Preventable child deaths have declined from more than 20 million in 1960 to 7.6 million in 2010. Lives are at stake in this discussion.

Foreign aid promotes liberty and prosperity. A study of American assistance found that it led to increased democracy in the countries that received the aid. We are providing to others the freedoms we enjoy, allowing them to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This wins America friends and creates goodwill. It even leads to jobs back home as half of US exports go to developing countries.

Ron Paul was wrong when he said, “Foreign aid is taking money from poor people in this country and giving it to rich people in poor countries.” Foreign aid isn’t perfect, and not every dollar spent is as efficient as it could be. Solving poverty means dealing with a complex equation. But the money spent on foreign assistance for the poor is some of the most effective in the US budget. I’ve seen the rigorous controls our government has in place. Just because it’s not perfect, doesn’t mean we should stop doing it.

Doing good around the world is what I love about America. I have seen first-hand the incredible work our country does. I’ve seen the goodwill it builds. I have met people who are alive today because of American assistance. I believe in America, and that is why I believe in American aid.
In his parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told the story of the man who had compassion on the victim of robbers. While others passed by, Jesus commended the person who acted as a neighbor. “Go and do likewise,” he said. (Luke 10:37)

Are we accurately reflecting our great nation if we simply pass the buck to others, with comments like, “We ought to get the Chinese to take care of the people,” as one candidate said? We are not the kind of nation that asks others to do the hard work and to care for the most vulnerable. Throughout its history, American has acted as Good Samaritan, as neighbors, to the world.

Foreign aid isn’t a campaign issue to bicker about. It’s not an issue of left and right. It’s about right and wrong. In the toughest times, the choices we make reflect our deepest character and values. Now, more than ever, the world needs America to go and do likewise.

This is a picture of a painting titled something like “The Mark of Cain”. At the time I took the picture (2004), it was hanging in the Musee d’ Orsay in Paris.  It wasn’t there in 2010 so I don’t know where it is now.  I’m glad I took the picture when I did.

This picture represents pretty well my spiritual journey of the last couple of years. I’m not sure which character I am but I identify with the mood of the painting. These folks are obviously struggling to survive in a barren land. That fits my intellectual journey into faith. There is no option but to keep on moving but the end is not in sight. My companions are few and as lost as I am.

Most of my Christian friends haven’t seen what I’ve seen.  They haven’t been challenged in the ways I am challenged. They don’t want to talk about it for it is too disturbing. I don’t hear sermons on these topics that challenge me so much.  There are no Bible classes on them. There are no signposts to point the way but to stay where I’m at would be fatal. I’m not sure where I’m going but I have to move on.

Maybe I’ve seen too much.

When we returned from China, we reinstated our ESL Talk Time and, through it, met many young Chinese couples who have emigrated to our area to work at places like Microsoft and Amazon. We had the great pleasure of hosting an Alpha@Home and sharing basic Christian concepts with them. I was the one who learned the most and have never been more challenged in my life.  Since most of our participants were born and educated in mainland China, they grew up in an atheistic environment. The Bible has no special standing anymore than the Koran or other religious writing.  Their two moral compasses were Chinese tradition and the teachings of Confucius.

This meant that every topic, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Satan, Good and Evil to name a few, had to be discussed in the light of reason and experience. I found myself in deep water from the start.  One good example is a discussion on how I perceived the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. After explaining how my understanding of the Holy Spirit conditioned my interpretation of my experiences, one of the participants said: “It seems to me that it’s all in your head.” I was stunned, then amazed by the insight and then challenged to examine my own views on how the Holy Spirit works–because he was right: it is all in my head–in the mental model of the world that exists in my brain.

The brash honesty of the group challenged me to be completely honest about how I acquired and accepted my personal beliefs. I came to realize how much I relied not only on the Bible but what I had been told about what the scriptures mean. Being forced to “defend” my beliefs made me reexamine everything I have been told about the Bible and even how my “mental model” affects the way I understand the scriptures. This reexamination has led me to a distrust of much, if not most, of what I’ve been told.

If I can’t, in pure honesty, defend my “mental model” of faith to myself, how can I convince them of the validity of Jesus’ teachings?

As best as I can, I have started to rebuild my faith and understanding in a way that I can honestly and convincingly share with others.  One brief example is the foundation of my faith.  It is purely based on the hope that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was an actual event. It is possible that it wasn’t and possible that it was. There are strong arguments on both sides. I choose to believe in the event because I hope the things that Jesus taught are true, especially about eternal life. My greatest hope is that I am right, my greatest fear is that I am wrong. But because I believe, I modify my behavior toward the teachings of Jesus.  To me, that is the definition of faith and obedience.

This reexamination is really scary and very hard on me. The interaction of scripture, experience and reason in an environment of honest examination is a huge challenge to me. The warm and fuzzy God portrayed by so many doesn’t reconcile well with untimely and often painful death of so many of His chosen disciples. We are here at His pleasure and for His purposes.  Our personal happiness and welfare do not appear to be His primary concern. We are here to be used by Him. Beyond our confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, He doesn’t appear to worry nearly so much about what we believe but rather what we do in accordance with His purpose for us. This God has a sharp edge.

Sometimes I long to go back to the simple faith of “Jesus loves me, this I know”.  But if the truth is “out there”, it must be sought. And there is no turning back.

Before I first traveled abroad, at the age of 55, I was an American bigot.  I believed that the best of everything in the world could be found in my native land. After all, I had experienced the best of every material thing that most people in the world only dream of. I attended (and still attend) a comfortable middle class church in a somewhat pretentious suburb of Seattle, Washington. I have a nice middle class home, a nice middle class wife, and nice middle class children and grandchildren.

You would think that working in urban and rural Kenya would make me even more appreciative of my material blessings, and it did.  But it also woke me up in several ways.

The first thing I learned is that people living in abject poverty have a greater faith in God and His goodness that most wealthy Americans I know. In their poverty, even the smallest blessing seems manna from Heaven.  I saw people with next to nothing drop their “widow’s mite” in the church offering box.  I saw people in pain and hunger laugh and sing in their misery.  These people, who suffer like Job (literally) praise God instead of curse Him. I have seen miracles happen in Africa that would be ignored in the US. I have come to believe that, like Nazareth, the West has too little faith for Jesus to work His wonders.

I also learned that God does not work the way I was taught and the way I believed He did.  Western Christianity has a strong sense that God will provide the physical necessities to good Christians (although C.S. Lewis says that “good Christian” is an oxymoron) and keep us from serious harm.  The “health and wealth” folks push this idea to the extreme. The sense is that if you truly need something and pray hard enough, long enough and in the proper form and manner, God will provide.

In Africa, God lets the hungry starve by the tens of thousands.  He lets thousands of children under the age of 5 die every day from malnutrition and disease.  These are not “heathen” people.  A large percentage are Christians. God’s expectation, I believe, is that the malnourished and sick are a problem left to Christians who have bounty.  Poor in America is bounty in most of Africa. I am so greatly blessed by Rich Stearns’ book “The Hole in Our Gospel” for validating my experiences.

So does this mean that God doesn’t care? I don’t know what it means. I just know it’s true. We wealthy Christians tend to gloss over the fact that, at most, only one of Jesus’ disciples died a natural death.  We forget Paul’s beatings, stoneings, shipwreck and other distress that He suffered doing God’s will.  My current belief is that view is that His people are to be used for His purposes and that the collateral damage is part of the package.  That certainly seems to be the gist of Acts.

This is getting too long for one post.  Part 2 is what I learned from China and Chinese people.

Greenhouse from Recycled Doors and Windows

We needed something to fill in an unused corner of our garden where we needed some interest.  It all started with the broken stained glass window (from Second Use) that I’ve had for a few years.  It looked like a good focal point.  I had a used 8′ door (from Second Use) from another project. I also had lots of salvaged wood from a project that I was not happy with. So the idea of a small greenhouse emerged from all of this clutter.  I went to Second Use and got an old set of french doors (for the back) and two exterior doors for the sides. I also got the two sidelights from you and my wife picked out the glass door knob.  There was no design, the greenhouse just evolved as each piece went into place.  We closed all of the open space with plexiglass to hold the heat in the winter.  We poured a Sakrete floor and entryway using a form to make it look like stone.  We’ll use it to over-winter our hebes and other cold intolerant plants.

Simon wanted to know where Jesus is.  Myles explained that God/Jesus is everywhere. “Even in my room?” asked Simon.  “Yes, even in your room” Myles replied.

“I don’t want Jesus in my room!” replied the now agitated Simon.  “Dad, get Jesus out of my room!” continued Simon.

I love this story because, like Simon, I don’t want Jesus in my room.  It’s OK that Jesus is everywhere but just not in my room.

My room is my private place where I get to think the things I want to think and do the things I want to do.  I don’t want Jesus there judging me.  It’s MY business, not His!

I want Jesus in a box with a tight lid.  When I need Him, I’ll open the box.  Otherwise, Jesus, stay out of my room!

My experiences with the poor in Africa led me to question my own religious world view.  African Christians and their children die from malnutrition and preventable disease.  They live lives of poverty and filth not of their own choosing.  This certainly calls into question the belief that God will always provide for His children’s physical needs.  I note that all of Jesus’ intimate disciples (with the possible exception of John) died from persecution.  So much for the belief that God will always keep His children from harm.  The Bible is pretty clear that we are here to advance God’s purposes and that God is not there to advance our goals and desires.  The poor and martyred earnestly pray for God’s deliverance but it often does not come.  So much for the belief that God answers all prayers of faith.

Then, as I began to tell my young Chinese friends about my Christian beliefs, so much of what I was saying no longer made sense to me. Because of their education in Communist China, they come without the sectarian biases of Christian denominational-ism.  Their questions are so honest and fresh and push me to rethink the simple formulas I was given and have always used.  They deserve honest answers even if some of them are “I don’t know”.

This pursuit of “honest answers” has caused me to look at the scriptures in a new way–not in search for “proof texts” but for real answers that are rational and believable.  This has produced more questions than it has “honest answers”.

I have attended many churches and listened to many sermons.  I have read many books and meditated on the author’s views.  So much of what I hear and read is contradictory.  The preachers/authors are all learned people with degrees from approved colleges and universities which leads me to the conclusion that advanced education does not automatically produce “truth”.  They all know what is written in the scriptures but differ greatly on what it means.

My best source of “objective” information about the Bible comes from documentaries usually found on public television.  They are biased in their own way but their approach brings new light on my understanding.

And, of course, I deceive myself.  I want to shape God in my own image.  I want to explain His works to suit my own viewpoint.

So, like Pilate, I keep asking myself, “What is truth”?

I watched the news on “The National” on CBC last night.  The Canadian viewpoint is refreshing.

Maybe blogging about it will help.