I have been doing a lot of thinking and writing lately about consumerism and economic justice. I started a new blog site for some of these ideas. Please check it out at Camels and Needles

Posted under Uncategorized

Emily and I traveled to Chicago last weekend, and we had the opportunity to spend some time with some new friends from an organization called Trade As One. They are doing some incredible work with Fair Trade producers around the world, and I encourage you to check out their website and order some stuff from them. The stories of how Fair Trade changes lives is truly amazing!

Posted under Uncategorized

It’s now officially hip to love Africa. Over the past several years, Christians have heard the rallying cry about rampant poverty in Africa and have responded in remarkable ways. Churches are talking about AIDS, hunger, education, and micro-enterprise. Thousands of American Christians travel to Africa each year to love and serve people who have been forgotten and marginalized for decades.
And I think it’s great. I believe that the church has stepped up and recognized that caring for the poor and oppressed is core to our calling as followers of Jesus. I applaud the church for hearing the call and responding.

My first trip to Africa was in February 2006. I visited a town called Goma on the eastern edge of Congo. This trip changed everything for me. I describe it as the most difficult place I have ever experienced, and yet one of the most beautiful and hopeful places I have ever been.

On returning home, I decided that I needed to educate myself about issues of poverty and development. I started an MBA program oriented around international development. I read everything I could get my hands on – Jeffrey Sachs, William Easterly, Jean Vanier, Paulo Freire, Ron Sider, Paul Polak. I talked to everyone that could give me insights about development and Africa.

I started thinking through and developing programs that would connect our church community (the Upper Room) to the people of Eastern Congo. We built homes for women who had no homes. We began a sponsorship program for 65 children. We provided bed nets to 500 children, and food to children who suffer with HIV/AIDS. We made lots of mistakes, but also were able to do some really good things.

Over the last 2 years, I have learned many lessons. One lesson in particular has been the most challenging for me…

I have come to realize that many of the things that we do to help ‘the poor’ may actually do more harm than good. In our efforts to love and serve people, it is easy to create unhealthy dependency, and even to hinder people’s ability to work and provide for themselves.

I am learning that there is a place for mercy – giving help to people for immediate needs. But mercy is not enough. We must also seek after justice – to help create systems and structures that allow people to live with dignity and provide for themselves.

Let me share a story that may help illustrate. The first time I visited Africa, I was amazed that just about every man that we passed on the street was wearing an American t-shirt. I saw football jerseys, t-shirts from golf benefits, college t-shirts, and countless other shirts that had been made in the US, worn a couple of times, and then donated to charity.

My first thought was that this was a great and simple way for Westerners to provide help and support for folks in Africa. We didn’t need the shirts, and apparently people here did. Then I had a conversation with a friend who had lived in sub-Saharan Africa for many years. He told me that the endless donations of shirts had actually severely damaged the textile industry in Africa. Business can’t compete with free shirts. So, an industry which could employ thousands of people in this part of the world simply doesn’t exist.

Mercy says that we should give clothes to someone who needs them. But justice says that we must not take jobs away from people who would make clothes. Justice says that we should invest in textile businesses that would employ people and provide clothes at a reasonable price.

Justice looks at systems that cause oppression and poverty, and tries to develop long-term solutions. Justice is not just concerned with meeting immediate needs, but with creating dignity. Justice says that ‘helping’ people sometimes causes more harm than good.

At the risk of damping the enthusiasm that has begun to develop, I would suggest that the way Christians in which engage with issues of poverty must mature and change. While affirming the desire to reach out and help people, I propose that there is a next step to be taken.

What is the next step? It is a movement from addressing immediate needs toward addressing systems and structures that cause poverty. It is a movement from doing things ourselves to equipping people to live. It is a movement from mercy to justice.

Over the past several years, I have worked with a variety of different development organizations and church communities and have seen examples of aid and development that have truly transformed the lives of individuals, families, and communities. But I have also seen countless examples of Westerners coming to Africa with ideas that foster dependency, create tension and jealousy, and provide little lasting benefit. In some cases, our attempts to help can actually keep communities from developing and prospering.

The reality is that it is much easier to address immediate needs than systemic issues. It’s much more gratifying to point to a specific problem – a lack of water and food, or needs for an immunization or a malaria bed net. We can then respond and feel good that we have ‘solved a problem.’ Churches and development organizations have gotten really good at packaging videos and marketing stories move us to respond to these immediate needs.

Yes, these are good things. I don’t want to demean these types of investments. I am so thankful that the church is building wells, packaging food to ship to famine zones, and buying bed nets. But I believe that this is a starting point, not a finish line. I love the first steps that the American church has taken, but we cannot stop at the first step. As communities of Jesus followers, what we ultimately need is not quick fixes, but long-term investment that empowers people.

The reality is that some of the next steps are much less fun – they don’t give us the same sense of accomplishment. And, to be completely honest, these next steps don’t feed our egos in the same way. We feel good when we package meals and ship them to a poor community. It’s much more ambiguous to invest money in an agricultural co-op in an African village that provides seeds and drip irrigation technology to farmers that enable them to grow new types of crops.

And yet, these complicated and slow investments are what will ultimately transform communities.
So, where might we begin? What does justice look like for churches and Christians who want to help? Let me suggest 2 practical starting points for movements of justice.

First, we can begin to invest in administration, staffing, and infrastructure for locally run development organizations. Virtually every development organization that I have spoken with says that it is much easier to get program money than money for staff and infrastructure. We love the idea of ‘saving a child’, but ultimately we may do even more by helping to pay the salary of a talented individual who works for the development organization. These people often know what is best to help lift a community out of poverty. They are able to provide programs and resources that will help people build their lives.

Second, we can seek to invest in programs that promote long-term community development. Education, new industries, and micro-enterprise are all great ways to empower individuals to build their lives. There are lots of organizations who do these types of activities. You can jump online with an organization like Opportunity International or Kiva and help support an entrepreneur in a developing country to build a small business. Just a couple of hundred dollars can transform a family.

It’s my hope and prayer that the church will continue to invest in caring for those who live on the margins. I want us to continue to provide for the very real immediate needs that millions of people have. But I also hope that we look to be agents of justice, helping to provide opportunities to empower people to live with dignity. For those who have little or no opportunity, these movements of justice have the potential to build lives in ways that movements of mercy never can.

Posted under Uncategorized

I had the chance to speak at Upper Room last Sunday. It went quite well (I think), and I enjoyed the process of putting a talk together. I shared some of my thoughts about how we often get caught up in the pursuit of ‘small stories’, and miss out on the ‘big story’ that God is inviting us into.

If you want to take a listen, you can find it on the Upper Room site

Posted under Uncategorized

Emily and I just returned from a 3 1/2 week trip to Congo and Tanzania. It was so great to be back in Congo, and to connect with my friends from HEAL Africa. The first part of the trip we were working on some computer and technology stuff, helping to put together the infrastructure to help the hospital track their patients and treatments. The second week was spent with a group from the Upper Room, doing a variety of different things. One of the highlights were the English classes that we taught each afternoon. It was a great opportunity to connect with 50-60 Congolese students and talk about life, faith, and politics!

At the end of our trip, Emily and I also had the chance to go on safari with some good friends in Tanzania. What an amazing thing to see the beauty of creation and these animals in the midst of it all!

Anyway, there are some photos on the Pictures page - feel free to check them out!

Posted under Uncategorized

I have been trying to be more intentional about writing these past few months. Part of the reason is that an article that I wrote a couple of years ago was recently published as a part of a compilation called “Out of the Ooze”. It’s a series of very interesting articles that have been published on the Ooze website over the past several years. I am honored to be a part of this project, and it has provided some good motivation to keep writing!

Posted under Uncategorized

On October 12, Emily and I got married at Christ Presbyterian Church. It was an amazing celebration, and we felt so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many friends and family. It was overwhelming to see the amazing people that have invested so much in our lives and we felt surrounded by love. Thanks to all of you who celebrated with us!

You can check out the Pictures section of the site to see photos of the wedding and our honeymoon in Banff!

Posted under Uncategorized