two and two makes five

Stuff I Never Blogged About

When one blogs as sporadically as I do, one is bound to have tons of ideas for blog posts that never made it online. Lucky you, I've decided to post again - but the cheap and easy way by clearing out my blog idea folder. It is a very big folder that only grows and never shrinks... here is one small step toward the shrink.

• Eberhard Arnold's free .pdf version of the sayings of early Christians, including Polycard, Origen, Clement, and other people with fun-to-say names. Yes, a free .pdf book. What are you waiting for?
• The best article from issue 6 of theotherjournal.com of Mars Hill Graduate School. Issue 6 was all Africa, the best article was by Emmanuel Katongole, and The Other Journal is good to read. How this didn't ever merit a post, I have no idea. 
• Born, raised, and married in a refugee camp - the title pretty much sums up this story. This is real life, and I have no idea how to communicate this reality to Americans.
• A short article on controversial "slum tourism" in Kenya. This hits us as well - we don't take visitors to the shacks, slums, and townships "just to look." Well meaning, kind hearted, caring people want to see what it looks like in the informal settlements, but it's hard to find a way to let them know that it isn't cool to drive through and look at poverty. Another dilemma.
• I found the rejesus "Faces of Jesus" gallery fascinating, which led me to plan to explore the rejesus site. Turns out I never did that, although I was interested enough to plan to do it and then blog about it. So maybe someone out there will figure out what rejesus is all about and let me know. Thanks.
• I've read lots and lots about our old home, New Orleans, which as you may have heard, had a bit of water around just before we left for South Africa. Amy and I loved most everything about New Orleans, which made articles like this one (from almost two years ago) really sad and worth blogging about.  
• I also wanted to write more about Juba, South Sudan, which led me to this article describing the money changers under yellow umbrellas with big stacks of lots of different kinds of money. I've told lots of people my stories about these guys with stacks of money under umbrellas, and I finally found a legitimate news source to back me up. I thought that was worth a blog post. Alas, it only got a bullet point.  

  

Seriously, that didn't make a dent in my "want to blog about" pile. And that pile doesn't even include actual original ideas, which is a whole separate pile that I keep avoiding because you'll all be mad at me when you find out what I really think. :) 

Which leads to this question - did anyone actually read anything linked in this post? If so, what? And why did you choose that link? I'd love to know, because I'd like some help rethinking this blog. Until then, I'll just keep digging through that folder of old ideas that never made the cut.

A Month and Seven Days

It has been a month and seven days since my last post on this lonely blog. In case you were wondering, based on my last post, I'm actually back from Zimbabwe. Have been for a while.

A lot has happened in a month and seven days. Speaking of Zimbabwe, there is a new "unity government" with power shared between Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party that has been in government since 1980 and the two factions of the MDC. The MDC party(ies) holds an extra seat in Cabinet and the majority in Parliament, but no one believes Mugabe is down and out. We are hopeful that a new era has begun in Zimbabwe, but in any case, this welcome news is just the beginning of long road toward recovery. Keep up with Zimbabwe here.

On the home front, we've been busy with preparing for new business skills training, this time with a local partner. The sponsorships and Kids' Clubs in South Africa are on track, again, with local churches involved, and we're busy planning another Umzimba African Missional Theology Conference for July... yes, led, taught, and developed by local pastors and leaders. In South Africa, they say "local is lekker," and we believe that's true. Whatever we can do to empower and equip local churches to lead the way toward growing churches and sustainable development, we will do. 

ServLife is growing. We have new staff in Indianapolis HQ supporting us and a new West Coast coordinator. This is exciting, and we are off to Thailand next week for a time of team building and strategic planning with ServLife team members from Asia and the USA. 

Vusi is growing too. Seriously, he's the world's biggest and cutest baby. We can't believe how blessed we are to be his parents. He is a great gift, and we love him like crazy. Don't know if it will be before we get back from Thailand, but I'll post some pictures. You'll agree - he's off-the-charts cute.

And my parents are in town. To prove it, I'm posting a picture of my Mom that I took on my cell phone. Mostly, I'm just posting that to get her back for nagging about my lack of blogging. Love you Mom! Great to have them around, just hanging out, getting to know Vusi (and spoiling him, of course!), and helping out. They've been to all the tourist hot spots before, so this has been a great trip for Gram and Pop to spend time with their newest grandson.

Finally, I'm a little unsure about the direction this blog should take in the future. It has gotten pretty stale of late, with a few personal updates, a few ministry updates, and lots of links to information about Africa that you probably didn't read. Hmmm... this question is still rumbling around in my brain, so stay tuned.

Thanks to both of you, dear readers, for sticking around. We'll see if we can't spruce this blog up in the coming months.  :)

Off to Zim... Again

Back to Zimbabwe tomorrow for the second time in as many months. The crisis there deepens daily, and we are fortunate to have some new friends making the trip with me, as they have raised a nice chunk of money to help out the kids in the church home for orphans with whom we partner. 

Not that I ever blog anymore, but the blog will be on hold for a week while I'm away. In the meantime, here are today's newspaper stories from Zimbabwe...

• Armed police patrol as Zim crisis deepens 
• Zim doctors vow to uphold strike

Here's hoping Uncle Bob had a nice overseas holiday while his countrymen starved.

 

Last Zimbabwe Post of the Year

The brother and family arrive in a few hours. I haven't been grocery shopping, haven't cleaned the house, and generally haven't prepared anything at all. So instead of posting, I'm passing on four "must-read" links. Take a minute between glasses of champagne to read and remember Zimbabwe - there is no celebration there tonight.

• "How Mugabe Gets His Bullets" - The UN reports that despite all sorts of bans and sanctions, the Mugabe government in Zimbabwe is getting Chinese made ammunition and weapons through third-party shipping across the DRC and other neighboring countries.
• "New $10 Billion Bill" - Whoops - forgot to post this article from 19 December. Too bad it is already so out of date. In the 12 days since then, Zimbabwe has released a new $50 Billion note. Of course, it is not the same $50 Billion note that is sitting on my desk. That is from earlier in the year, before 10 zeroes came off the currency, but from after the first zero slashing that dropped three digits. Going back to the pre-zero-slashing days of a couple of years ago, the newest Zimbabwean note is actually a $500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bill. I have no idea what that number is, but it is the true reflection of the currency's worth - 50 billion with the thirteen artificially removed zeroes added back on.
• "Dollar is Key To Zimbabwe Survival" - A realistic account of how difficult it is to survive in Zimbabwe these days without access to hard currency (ie, the US Dollar). Without USD or South African Rand or Botswanan Pula, one can't buy anything. Now a shortage of USD in Zim is causing massive US Dollar inflation in the economy there.
• "The Death Throes of Harare's Hospitals" - The Harare central hospitals are closed. Closed. There is no specialist care available in the country. Surgery has stopped. Families were called to pick up their patients. One doctor puts it bluntly, "Everyone is being referred to private clinics, and if you don't have money, you die." 

The last two stories I heard repeatedly on my last trip to Zimbabwe a few weeks ago. I interviewed three anonymous Zimbabweans about their lives - a private school teacher, a government doctor, and a poor working woman. I could tell their stories, but you wouldn't believe me. Instead, listen to their stories on the new ServLife Africa Podcast here.

Get the podcast - the quality isn't the greatest, but you need to hear these three stories.

 

Back from Zimbabwe

I returned home today from a quick trip up to Zimbabwe - so many sad stories to tell - but I am in desperate need of a shower and warm bed. 

For now, I can confirm that this is a lie.

Headed to Zimbabwe - Can It Get Worse?

I'll be in Zimbabwe by nightfall Monday for a very short trip. I'm visiting our Zimbabwean friends who are caring for 64+ orphaned and abandoned children to support them, encourage them, and to bring cash and supplies from the ServLife sponsorship program. (There are still at least 30 children waiting to be sponsored for only $30 a month - you are literally saving lives with this donation.)

Here are the headlines from the past week or so (click the links to read the full articles):

• Growing fears of Zim collapse
• "No water" in cholera-hit Harare
• Eerie silence at Zimbabwe mine  
• Zimbabwe troops on streets as cash limits ease  
• Zim collapses  
• Zim is a "basket case"   
• Zimbabwe "set for cholera jump"  

The buzz is that everything is changing "soon." Of course, that buzz has been heard before, and The Old Man has managed to hang on a bit longer. The cholera epidemic is spreading throughout the country and is spilling over into South Africa and Botswana. Hospitals are out of medicine. Schools are closing down. The daily limit on cash withdrawals has been bumped up from the amount needed to buy 1/4 loaf of bread to enough to get two or three loaves. The army rioted and calmed down again. And there is no political resolution despite elections held in March. 

Can it get worse? Of course it can. But it can also get better. Pray for better. And pray for the poor who are suffering and starving while the fat cats sip their champagne. Pray for the Church and their influence.

Why would anyone voluntarily travel to Zimbabwe at a time like this? There is no limit to the number of Americans who ask this question, but now that it is being asked by South Africans and Zimbabweans alike, I'm starting to wonder. But the answer remains clear when I think clearly - God Himself identifies with the poor and the suffering, and during this season of Advent we remember more vividly that He became poor and suffered Himself. I am going to Zimbabwe to meet God. And I will find Him there in the joy and laughter and perseverance of His Church and I will find Him there in the faces of the children discarded by the world but created in His image. 

God is good. All the time. Even in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Update

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse...

"The Elders" - a group of internationally-respected leaders and former leaders (in this case, represented by former US President Carter, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and former Mozambican first lady (( and wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela)) Graca Machel) - were denied entry into Zimbabwe. They were to promote humanitarian assistance and assess the current situation. They say the country is headed toward complete collapse.

Zimbabwe's crumbling infrastructure has lead to a cholera outbreak. Around 300 people have died so far, more than 6000 are infected, and infected refugees are flooding into South Africa for treatment because there is no medicine available in Zimbabwe.

The current cash exchange rate is US$1 to (new valuation) Z$1.2 million. Real inflation is now estimated at over 1 billion percent annually. None of this is really relevant anymore, as the country has essentially run out of paper and ink to print currency, so hardly anyone can even find Zim Dollars even if they wanted to.

I'm finalizing my travel plans for next month - today the plan is to fly into Zim, but yesterday's plan was to drive. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. In any case, I'll be there in a couple of weeks to bring a first-hand report from the ground.

There are still 37 orphaned and abandoned children at Musha Wevana home for children that still need sponsors through ServLife. Click here to read about how to sponsor a child's food, education, housing, and medical care for just $30 per month. Be sure and type "ZIMBABWE" in the comments section.

Hunger in Zimbabwe

The World Food Program(me) says it has received "no response at all" to its appeal for $140 million to help feed hungry Zimbabweans at threat of starvation.

Up to one half (yes - 50% of the entire country) will likely need food aid before next April. Due to lack of funds because of the ignored appeal, the WFP has already reduced the amount of food aid being distributed to hungry families in an effort to make their supplies last longer.

Less than $0.50 per American (total - not per day) could feed an entire nation at risk of starvation. Yet that money is not available.

Zimbabwe Talks "Collapse"

Zimbabwe's MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) party, seeking to form a power-sharing government with long-standing leader Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF, has rejected the latest proposal by SADC (Southern African Development Community) to share the important Ministry of Home Affairs, which controls the police force among other significant powers.

The eight-week old talks which follow elections back in March, are now said to have "collapsed."

Election Thankfulness - Zimbabwe Still Waiting

I had a long conversation two days ago with a close friend from Zimbabwe. We talked about many topics, but one exchange stood out as we discussed the American election and the Zimbabwean political crisis.

We were talking about the disappointment being voiced on many Christian websites about the Obama victory. He said:

"All Americans need to be thankful for this election. Not about who won or lost. But about the fact that again and again, one party can be voted out of office and another party can take power. Even when the results are contested like in 2000, the transition takes place peacefully and the losing party accepts defeat and regroups to contest another election in the future."

Eight months after the Zimbabwean elections, the three main parties are still arguing about who won and what positions they will hold in a new government. Eight months after casting their votes, Zimbabweans do not have a transition. Eight months after going to the polls, no one in Zimbabwe is sure when or if their votes will ever be counted or if the parties will ever agree to lead the country. Eight months after the election, thousands of Zimbabweans are giving up hope that they will ever see family members again who disappeared after being beaten, stoned, and burned alive during the campaign season.

Pray for Zimbabwe. Pray that her leaders will put aside their differences and agree to move forward. Zimbabweans are flooding into neighboring countries and more than 1/2 of those left do not have food on their tables. And as you pray for their politicians, be thankful that in four years' time, you will have a chance to vote in peace for whomever you choose.

In related news, Zimbabwe has agreed to repay more than US$7 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria after (basically) admitting that they stole the money for political handouts.