Change

The dry season has finally released its grip and the dark clouds of rainy season have arrived. I’m not sure I have every appreciated the sweet smell of rain as much as I did a few days ago. You really respect contrast when you’ve have four months of bright sunny days to fully cherish the rain when it comes. In a matter of days since receiving rain, my little town has transformed from a dusty near desert landscape to a lively not quite lush green. With the arrival of rain comes the reemergence of wildlife. The rainbow of birds have reappeared. Our pet bat Batty has reclaimed his perch atop our light fixture. The safari ants have started to putter around our veranda again. The maggoty bugs with wings have returned to aimlessly fly toward the lights outside, only to be caught and eaten by Batty.
It really has amazed me how quickly things have changed around here with a little bit of rain. Everything has gone back to the way things were when I first arrived here. Life is in full swing not waiting for anything and on full display.
This change has really reminded of how beautiful contrasts can be. Without some low points or dry seasons its makes it hard to really appreciate how beautiful life is. I never minded the immense wildlife all around but when it all disappeared during dry season, I missed it. I began craving rain or just plain cloud cover. I can honestly say that I appreciate the wildlife and clouds so much more now having a period with everything on hold. Up and downs come and all forms but sometimes they just appear crystal clear. Now that the rain has started to fall, in many ways I’m happy for the dry season. Not to say I was happy for the 4 months of tough conditions but I appreciate the contrast. Not that I’m suggesting reveling in low points but rather we should embrace them as part of life and expect to learn from them because there will be a time when things are better and it will be so much more sweet when we leave them.

Celebrating A Little Different

Most folks consider Rwanda a Christian nation but it doesn’t stop them from celebrating others holidays. Friday marks the end of Ramadan called Eid. Its a nice monthish long fasting during sunlight hours to get a little closer to God. I think its quite nice and will participate next year. Eid is a national holiday for all of Rwanda. All Rwandese holidays are announced the night before on the radio in Kinyarwandan. Even if it’s Women’s Day or Heroes Day, which have a specific date set out every year, nobody knows if you have the day off until it’s announced on the radio the night before. For some reason I was somehow convinced that Thursday was going to be Eid and that we would have it off. This prompted a late night out and couple extra hours of sleep. It turns out that I missed the moon and announcement. When I got moving this morning, I realized I missed the first 3 periods and Eid would be on Friday. I jumped the gun on the usually celebrated feast and party and missed out on the fasting (I’m such a heathen). This celebration stretches a lot farther than the 3-5% Muslims in the country. I think it shows a great deal of acceptance of other religions and the ability of 2 differing religions to coexist.

It seems to be the opposite case in America. I hear about this pastor in Florida who is going to burn Korans on 9/11. How Christ-like. Too be honest I’m not sure how this guy got so much publicity. It’s a shame when America’s leaders have to waste their time and put out statements suggesting that this is a bad idea and will endanger American lives to be disrespectful and burn others holy books. Not only this incident but I have also been reading about a mosque being constructed near the World Trade Center’s site. There has been outrage over its construction but I don’t understand why. Why has there been such a surge in Islamofascism. Let’s try to put this in perspective here. Those responsible for the 9/11 attacks represent about .03% of Muslims. Also, since then, our little Christian nation America has managed to torture or kidnap and send to known pro torture countries hundreds of thousands of people, most of them being Muslim and most of them not charged with anything other than a hunch or suspicion. There are bad apples on all sides, so why can’t we acknowledge that and work to ask them why, call them exceptions and bring them to justice.

You might be thinking, hmm well if Rwanda had an attack like 9/11 then they would probably hate all Muslims too and throw everyone in a big group. Two months ago there were several bombs that went off in the Kampala, close neighbor to Kigali where many Rwandese knew people killed in that attack. This was done by the radical Muslim group al-shabab but people here are able to make the distinction. Well my neighbor is Muslim and I have no problems with him or her so maybe not all people of Allah are bad. Maybe we could treat those who have respected us with respect and ask better of those who do not and promise respect regardless of how they treat us. Hate and fear are powerful weapons. Let us live bigger than hate and fear and make a push for hope and love to triumph.

Heretic?

As my time here in Nyagatare is winding down and the possibility of continuing to teach at my school has been eliminated, I’m trying to look to the future. For numerous reasons, I have felt pushed to look for a position with a Christ affiliated organization. As I have started to apply for various NGO’s, I have realized that I don’t really adhere to many of the views that they simply want me to click and agree or disagree in a box to a specific version of Christianity.
I’m going to go down the list for you.
I don’t believe the Bible is infallible. I do believe it is the inspired word of God and shows in the way it’s been able to move communities for generations. I don’t see it as a constitution of laws but a beautiful collection of stories about a growing community of people and thier interaction with God for many years dealing the growing pains of grappling with a God that bigger than we can imagine even when he was sent in human form.
I’m not sure if Jesus is the only way to heaven. Actually, I’m not sure if there is a definitive heaven after life period. I certainly don’t believe in hell. Well, hell in the form of eternal suffering in flames. Honestly let be real here. Those who have read some of the Bible or at least some of the Gospels can you really imagine Jesus having this conversation? ‘Here’s the deal, the reason I’m here is to start a new religion and yeah I’m want to name it after me. Oh also, if anyone doesn’t accept this new religion named after me, they’re going to be tortured for eternity. Cool? Good talk.’ I think heaven and hell are both here and now on this earth. I think if you ask some of the women living in eastern Congo, they would tell you that hell is knocking on their back door. And if you asked me as I vacationed in Tofo I would tell you that heaven is at hand. The contrasts are stark and are dually present right now. This is where I feel called, renewing the Eden that once was this world. Helping heaven spread past the edges of humanity and reach the inner caldrons of hell and fill them with hope, love, justice and peace; to be part of creating the new peaceful Kingdom of God. Everything comes from God, everything is spiritual. Regardless of what religion someone is part of, they can have part of the restorative power of God with them. I believe in liberation for salvation.
I don’t believe that I or we are fallen unwanted people. Of course there is sin but I don’t think it’s the definitive factor between us and God. Were missing the picture, it’s about life and heaven here and now not a collection of exact beliefs to make it in the club when we die. I believe that we are called to leave the destructive ways of this world and be reborn into the restorative Kingdom of God. Please, liberate yourself from the ideals of this world and join me in thinking up and looking out to stand alongside God helping to bring his Kingdom here and now. I think this is the only way true salvation will be delivered.
I love liberation theology, the emergent conversation and being ok with the unknowns of an infinite God but will these organizations with large segments of strictly evangelical supporters accept me? I think the family is big enough for a person like me but I couldn’t check yes to the beliefs of the World Evangelical Alliance box. We shall see.

Check It!

A friend sent me this CD the other day. I felt so so about it the first listen, but when I really gave it a good chance I realized how good it is. This song has been my heartbeat the last couple of days. I think its inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Hints the song title Cave

Actually, I love this song so much right now that I’m going to give you my interpretation of it. This is one beautiful thing about songs with lyrics this deep is that you can take them in many different ways. It’s refreshing to see a song with lyrics so thoughtful that I can dive in and really chew it around. So this is my take and maybe you will grab something from it. I also want to give you a run down on the Plato’s cave allegory. Don’t worry I couldn’t remember it all from philosophy class, I had to look some of it up. So the idea is this, there are a group of people in a cave completely shackled without the ability to move facing a cave wall. Behind them is a big fire in which people with objects and cut outs walk across and the shadow is reflected on the cave wall. So their reality becomes the shadows, because that’s all they can see. Also when they are freed, they turn toward the fire and it hurts their eyes so they return to their reality of the shadows.
It's empty in the valley of your heart (There is something deeper there, in hard times its hard for a majority of folks because they don’t know)
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears (I think these 3 lines are hinting toward the cave, maybe sun being fire, and fear of leaving what they knew. I also think this applies to humanity as a whole too. Comfort in what you know and fear of change)
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see (I know its more cave talk but for me, I’m hoping he is also mentioning the instability of how much meat people eat and that its destroying the earth)
But I have seen the same (more cave talk but also a challenge to the enslaved cave dwellers to say hey, I know what you are going through but I’ve seen the other side and you can break from your reality of shadows and join the world that brings hope and love)
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke (I’m going to try my hardest bring hope and help the world change from its destructive ways.)
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain (God never said life is going always be rainbows and butterflies, we need to learn from and expect times of pain. Growth can come from them)
And I will change my ways (I really think these last 2 lines are Biblical. We must change our destructive ways. I think its by following Jesus’ way and bring his peaceful kingdom on earth)
I'll know my name as it's called again (Maybe referencing the numerous changes in actions that goes along with changes of name in the Bible. For example: Saul to Paul, Simon to Peter and Abram to Abraham. I think there are even more)

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth (Let me break out of the ways of the world. I understand if you wouldn’t come with me but for me it’s the only path)
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears (I’m not sure about this line, Christ’s crucifixion comes to mind)
I can see widows and orphans through my tears (I can’t ignore what I see that needs to be changed)
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears (I’m trying really hard despite how scared and how imperfect I am)


So come out of your cave walking on your hands (more cave talk)
And see the world hanging upside down (I think this is more God’s kingdom talk. See things from a new perspective. The last will be first and the first will be last type of deal)
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's land (good line, haven’t nailed it on the head but my guess would be a I’m with God, I mean look around at his beautiful creation, how could we not be?)

So make your siren's call (The Odyssey reference here. The American dream can look pretty and you can try to lure me but just like the sirens, it will lead to death so I’m not listening)
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be (Searching for God’s will in helping to bring his kingdom here)

But its Tradition

A couple of months ago I was invited to a wedding. It was so long ago ago that I almost missed it when it last weekend. Two days after the invite, I was invited to the wedding giving party. This consisted of many people in the library drinking Fanta while going down a list of things that needed to be paid for to have the wedding. People pledged to donate anywhere from $5 to $125 for various wedding expenses. As I looked over the list I didn’t know what half the things were. After some questions and answers I agreed to pay $30 for the “wedding spray” which I understood to be champagne. It wasn’t until the wedding that I learned that instead of spending $30 on champagne, I spent $30 on about 6 sparklers which apparently is “wedding spray” in Rwanda. Really in the scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal to contribute to a wedding but when you have many people who are just scraping by and its pretty much required that you contribute to the wedding it’s tough for me to take.

So let’s move onto a little description of the wedding. If I had to describe it in 3 words it would be: long, extravagant and boring. I know, how culturally insensitive of me. But it’s not only me who shares these sentiments. So first up you have the dowry which is the traditional cow giving ceremony. This starts at 8am and is at the bride’s house about 2 hours away. This part seemed ok as the man expressed how much he loved the wife and proceeded to actually give her a cow. This lasted about 3 hours. Then everyone went back to Nyagatare for the church service. The preacher stole the show and turned their vows into an evangelical opportunity and somewhere inside the yelling they passed rings and made it official with God. Another 3ish hours spent. Next in line was the first reception. This was at a local bar that has a concert hall. This was also where my wedding spray came in. Everyone came in and turned to watch the bride and groom come into the building, this was accompanied by really loud music and a Rwandese style play by play announcer. At this point the bride and groom looked just plain exhausted and ready to sleep. We went through 4 hours of cutting the cake. At this point it was about 10pm. You would think it’s done at this point but nah. Now it was time to go to the groom’s house. Everyone arrives and waits about an hour for the bride and groom to get there. I was hoping that they took a nap. (Did I tell you that power had been out for about 3 hours at this point?) They get there, everyone eats and then it’s time for friends to speak. One by one friend’s from both sides get up and shares their life story related to the bride and groom. I decided to dip out at about 1am and they were still going strong.

All in all it wasn’t so bad. What flustered me the most was the ridiculous extravagance. It wasn’t just me who noticed the overspending either. The topic was approached with some of my Rwandese friends and they felt the same way as I did. They didn’t want to make all their friends pay lots of money for their wedding. I think it’s a fine line. A wedding is supposed to be a nice time being a special rare occasion and people should have fun every once and a while. I just hope people think about their friends in planning their next wedding and maybe not go with the wedding spray.

Change is hard to come by. I think most people know that they aren’t really helping their friends out by making them carry the load for their wedding but this is justified with tradition. That this is the way things are done here. Our conversation spiraled into how hard it is to bring about change and then it hit me, yeah change is hard. It’s bad to screw over your friends and make them pay a healthy portion of their salary for your wedding but it’s another thing if you actions are causing the entire earth to be thrown off balance and threaten the lives of thousands around the world. Boom, you could have guessed. Climate change jab. I ask the question again, what will it take for us to change our actions and reduce our footprint on this earth? Sorry I'm a jerkface but I guess it just shows whats on my mind.

Facing Our Fate

As I ran through my few minutes of internet, trying to catch up on world news I just felt ill today. It seems as though all the glaring injustices I see in the world today have come home to hit hard and hurt God’s children.

First and most prominent to my life now, has been climate change. We are still dragging through the dry season here and it’s rough. By midday the temperature bounces around 105F and it’s super dry. Dust and dirt rolls across the courtyard of school penetrating everybody’s eyes and throat. This coupled with severe scarcity of water makes life tough. It’s so hot that everyone should be drinking water all the time but it’s tough when there is hardly enough water to go around.

I’ve been reading that the flooding in Pakistan is almost unimaginable and that over 1 million people are lacking basic necessities like food and clean water, let alone any chance at stability and getting a livelihood back. The UN is reporting donor fatigue and a major lack of resources needed to help people. I don’t blame donor either, many have just contributed to other disasters related to climate change. This on top of mudslides in China, the wildfires in Russia, the scorching heat in the US has made life very hard for many people including me. On the other side of things, Chile is desperately trying to save miners who spend a majority of their time underground in harsh conditions trying to bring up expensive dirty fuel that contributes to more greenhouse gasses. It strikes a chord with me that so many people and so much of our precious environment is sacrificed to continue the worlds dirty fuel habits. I don’t know what it will take to learn

Second is changing the way we eat in America. I saw that 300 million eggs were recalled. I’m not surprised as this has increasingly been a problem for America. Factory farming leads to more diseases and horrible environmental degradation. The way American’s eat meat is not sustainable. I’m going to put it out there and say that I now fully believe that it is morally wrong to support the industrial meat industry of America. Not to mention to the fact that other countries are following in America’s footsteps (Botswana). If you aren’t sure how I’m connecting the dots here or why I feel so strongly, please email me.

Lastly and also most crushing to my heart is the Democratic Republic of Congo. The other day a rebel group attacked a fairly large village and in the process of destroying most it, rebels ended up repeatedly raping over 200 women. These rebels do this not just for pleasure but as a weapon of intimidation. They forced other family members to watch as they repeatedly raped wives, women, widows and children. Just pause for a minute and try to fathom a large group of men running into your home or town or area in which you live and either repeatedly raping you or forcing you to watch as this was done to your loved ones. This has gone on way to long and must be stopped. The situation is really complicated but it doesn’t change the fact that as a world body we can’t collectively do something to stop it. The conflict minerals bill was a start but it’s going to take much more to heal the deep lasting wounds of the Congo.

I realize that I have quite a contrast here going from Tofo, a near heaven on earth to the despair of today but that the reality we live in. Heaven and hell are both present on this earth here and now and I feel called to push out hell and bring heaven to the darkest corners of the earth.

Slice

I meant to tie the last post with this one but it just didn’t fit. So after a couple of weeks traveling we arrived at a place called Tofo. It looked nice on the tronz, but pictures do not express how great it is. It really felt like a slice of heaven on earth or what I would call a thin place (from Celtic Christianity, also I really like Celtic Christianity, you should check it out) I really like the description of a “thin place”. Its a small little coastal town in the southern part of Mozambique that’s has a few little hostels and that’s about it. We had small straw hut bungalow with a straw mat floor over the sand that overlooked the beach. This was about $11 a night. I had read that there was a company that offered snorkeling with whale sharks (I think a whale shark is hybrid breed that a mad scientist from Germany created by breading a killer whale and a great white shark, not confirmed), manta rays, and dolphins. If this was going to be anything close to the previous game drives we went on, we might be able to see some seaweed and jellyfish. My expectations were low as we hopped in the boat. After 10 minutes, they can’t get the engine to crank. Sweet, good start. We have to get out and wait almost an hour for them to fix it. In that time I shared my awesome sand castle building skills with some folks from Holland. (Benefits of taking local beach trips every summer) Right as the waves broke through the moat and castle wall, the boat was ready to go.

We cruise out and drive around for no more than 15 minutes when the guide causal says, put on your fins and snorkel. Everyone scrambles and I was stuck with one fin way too large and one way to small. No Problem. He say “the whale shark is just there, jump in”. I’m thinking yeah right, and slid into the perfect chilled water with my mismatched flippers. Right when I jumped in, I looked around and saw nothing. The word liar came to mind. Then I turned all the way around and then realized just how big whale sharks are. This giant fish was swimming straight toward with its huge blood stained teeth. (Nah, I’m lying, whale sharks are filter feeders, but they are pretty damn big though). It was quite impressive. At that moment all my years of summer swim team paid off. They let those who are able, to just swim next to the whale shark as it was just cruising along. This equated to me, my roommate and a guy named Dr. Dennis who has spent his entire life studying whale sharks. There we were, just swimming about 300 meters with this peacefully quite giant of the ocean.

We repeated the process 3 more times with 2 more whale sharks and a herd (maybe the word school?) of dolphins. Too be honest dolphins aren’t that cool, they are way too fast. We also saw a monster humpback whale with its 3 day old baby calf just cruise right by the boat. All in all I would call it a success trip out.

The other nice thing about going to thin places like Tofo, is that you get to meet awesome people. People who take great risk for great reward. People who love to travel and can tell you crazy stories from across all continents. For example: Dave. Dave grew up in Edinburgh Scotland, had a normal life, studied biology in university and got a job at Xerox when he graduated. He worked there for 2 years and one day just said that he was done. He sold everything that he had except for a bag of clothes and got on a plane to South Africa. 3 years later, he is leading ocean safaris for one of the upscale dive companies in Tofo. I felt like I heard countless stories similar to Dave’s. People who are civil engineers who work really hard 8 months out of the year to save up to travel the other 4. People with non-profits in exotic areas with great need who have some time to themselves to unwind and can easily hop over to places like Tofo.

I know I’m repeating myself here but out of the I would guess 100+ people that I met only 3 were American and 2 had to spend a night in the Maputo jail. I met many people from all over the world, even people from not so developed countries like Ecuador and Pakistan.

So I guess what I’m saying is, what’s the deal America? Why can people get their travel on? Let go and go. Meet some new folks. It might make them more human and as an unfortunate side effect, you might care more about them.

I met this girl named Sarah, maybe from Germany? She had saved up a lot of money and decided to go surfing up the eastern coast of Africa. (Sweet deal right?) In her travels she met many street kids who are obviously struggling to make ends meet. They touched her heart. Instead of spending a majority of her time surfing, she spends time hanging with the street kids along the coast, teaching them new skills. They walk the beach together to find cool shells. She then teaches them how to make necklaces and bracelets to sell to people. She also tries to teach them a little bit of English so they can sell the things they make. She’s making little entrepreneurs out of them. I ended up buying 5 bracelets from some kids she helped. I know it’s not perfect but hey I think it’s great. She will continue on her surf trip up the coast but now she has greater purpose in her travels.

I want to leave you with that, the limitlessness. What can come when you take a risk, dive in and listen to your heart.

just to give you an idea

I thought of this song quite a few times while in Tofo