i miss the rains...

Culture Shock: Why I haven't Experienced too Much of it.

2012-01-22T04:15:00.002-07:00

During my stay back here in Kenya, countless people have asked me if I have experienced culture shock or any kind of adjustments in being back. They ask me if I miss home. My honest answer has always been, "not really." I have lived in four countries and travelled to fifteen during my 25 years of life. I've 'been around' more than the average person. Coming back to Kenya in September was for me more of a coming home. During my four years of boarding school here I grew to love Kenya. I must admit however, that this time I have taken a much deeper plunge into Kenya than I ever had in those four years. I live closer to the average Nairobian than I ever have before; yet at the same time, I am different. For reasons due solely to the womb I came out of and the mother and father who forced me to come out of that womb, I am who I am. Two of the most significant aspects of Roland that are different to the average Kenyan are my skin color and my access to money. By American standards I am no where near to wealthy, or by no means did I grow up in a wealthy home. In fact, I would say I'm actually relatively close to the lower class economic group. Yet, by Kenyan standards, that makes me seemingly wealthy. Those are just a few of the differences between myself and most Kenyans.

As far as culture shock goes, there are three things which have really helped me to grapple with it quite well. Firstly, as previously stated, I've been here before. Secondly, my education has caused me to view cultures from more of an insider perspective. Particularly during my education at my current school, Nazarene Theological Seminary, this idea has been ingrained into how I reflect on other cultures. I've read probably around 10 textbooks that deal specifically with this aspect of cultural respect. Cultural respect views others as equals yet as unique. The way they think is very unique to who they are. Lastly, my faith has caused me to view others differently. As a follower of Christ, I try to consider others as equals in light of their creation in the image of God. God showed no favoritism in his creation, and neither should we. The ministry of Christ and his death on the cross ensured that others have just as much value in God's eyes as I do.

Lately I have been rather disgusted (yes, a strong word, but truthfully I have) by individuals who somehow think that they are greater than others for a variety of reasons; whether that be skin color, education, age, etc. In my view educational discrimination is just as horrible as racial discrimination. Just because you have a few letters after your name does not mean that somehow God created you with a little more of his image engrained into the fabric of your makeup. It is therefore my desire to treat others as equals, to love others as equals, and to live as if this is true. I know I fail at times, but I think it is through the understanding of failure that we can become stronger. We have to make the choice to do so however.

There have been times when I have realized over the last few months just how different my mutt of a culture is to the Kenyan culture. Just this week I have realized this, especially in relation to hospitality and to issues of time. However, it is in these instances of realization of cultural differences that those from the outside can shine in their interaction with those on the inside. There is a choice to be made. Do you view these differences through the lens of your own culture, or do you view these differences through the lens of the kingdom of God?

Great thoughts on Jeremiah 29:11 from a good friend

2012-01-22T04:08:00.002-07:00

One of my good friends from seminary recently commented on a comment thread about Jeremiah 29:11. Often times this is a passage which is quoted from an individualistic stance. I love what he had to say:

Very humble suggestion: Remember as we read these words that the English 'you' that we read today is translated from the Hebrew ' אַתֶּם ' from the Old Testament. It is a plural 'you' referring to the entire people of Israel. I only present this because this passage is often presented and read in a very exclusive manner with 'plan' and 'prosperity' interpreted in a very individualistic and financial/economic approach. However, our modern understanding of 'economy' and society not to mention the 'individual' would be quite foreign to the context in which this passage was written. As we are encouraged by this passage, let us remember: that God established Israel to be a light to all the world and desired for them to prosper in that plan and for that plan to be the future they hoped for as this passage maintains. Because God desires that all, that ' אַתֶּם ' would prosper in the plans that God knows for us. For God's love is for all the world (John 3:16) and this 'plan' and 'prosperity' are intrinsically communal. So, let us 'individually' seek to prosper in servitude and death to Christ (Philippians 1: 21-30; Philippians 2: 1-11) Constantly putting the 'prosperity' of God and neighbor first before ourselves. We are who we are because of God, and God created and shapes us within community and God will redeem us in community (Every knee, every tongue) so let us read this passage and interpret our very lives through a communal lens.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, Indian nor Coloured, White nor Black.

2012-01-06T12:42:00.008-07:00

South Africa: it's my home country. I was born there 24 years and 4 months ago. I haven't spent massive amounts of time there (only a total of 2 years and 10 months of living and around 4 months of vacation time there), yet I feel a deep sense that South Africa is my home. To a large extent that is because SA is where my roots are. As I said above, I was born there. It's also because I just flat out love it! South Africa has so much good going for it. Firstly, it's a beautiful place! South Africa's natural environment is so diverse, filled with a wide variety of landscapes. There are vast amounts of coastline both on the east and west sides of the country. There are huge mountains that dot the landscape inland from the ocean. There's a large desert in northwest South Africa. There are numerous game parks spread throughout the country with countless varieties and species of Africa's great animals. Secondly, South Africa has very diverse people groups. There are 11 official languages in the country and four distinct races in South Africa: black, white, indian, and colored (not a racist term, it's an actual race there). Thirdly, South Africa is a sports crazy nation. My favorite sport there is rugby, and man do we breed rugby players well! We've won two rugby world cups, and more will surely follow. Other key sports in the country are football, cricket, field hockey, surfing, golf, etc. In school, students are almost required to play a sport, and each grade level has on average five teams for the main sports. Lastly, I love South Africa because of the food! South Africa is home to as much diverse food as it has people groups and more! When I was there I surely gained at least five pounds feasting on all the good things South African cuisine has to offer. I ate massive amounts of meat at braais (Afrikaans for grill, thus BBQs) for three consecutive days and at least another two days non-consecutively. Are you starting to get the picture? Wanna visit sometime? You should!

Yet with all that there is to love about South Africa, one massive, dark cloud still hangs over the landscape of a country supposedly 17+ years on from Apartheid. I saw it vividly during my two and a half weeks there on vacation recently. The racism of South Africa is the key element to that dark cloud. Within the first 24 hours of my time in South Africa I saw its affects and heard its brutality. People asked me numerous times, "How are the blacks in Kenya, they aren't like our's are they?" "Surely they're better," they were thinking. It was during these moments that my heart broke. Driving through South Africa I'd go from affluence to incredible poverty in a flash. Most of the racial dividing lines set up by the Apartheid government during their oppressive reign at the helm of South Africa still stand today. Not because the people don't want to move out of their ghettos, but because there is no way to be able to do so. They simply cannot afford it. I realize that some have moved out, and some are doing quite well for themselves. But the vast majority of people have not left the now invisible barricades once enforced through papers and police people who kept them inside of particular sections of metropolitan areas.

It's at times like the moments I spent back in South Africa that I had to ask how does God view this place? What difference should his kingdom make in this landscape? This is where the road must feel the rubber running all over the top of it. This collision of rubber meeting the road has to happen every day. It's when words are turned into action. When the followers of Christ stand up and speak up for the oppressed of South Africa.

South Africa sort of has a minimum wage. But, millions work for less than that because there simply are not enough jobs at minimum wage to discover. And it's true. These jobs bellow minimum wage are needed, and people are thankful to at least be making something. It is this something that will provide food and some kind of sustenance to survive. But I have to ask, would I ever work for that? Would people of my skin color ever work for that? Most certainly not. I would never in my life work for less than $1.50 a day. Never would I work for less than 20 U.S. cents an hour. Yet, this is what is happening. Could it be that the people deemed lazy simply don't have the energy and motivation to work for piddle sticks? $10.50 a week. Would you work hard for that when you're used to a minimum wage of many times that a week? The honest answer is of course I would not, and definitely most of you wealthily enough to be reading this on a computer would not. Why? Because there is a heavenly kingdom that has come to earth that says this inequality has got to stop.

Please don't think I'm only bashing the fair skinned people here. I'm not. I know there is a government of empty promises in power. This is a government that promised the impoverished of South Africa hope. They promised a better future. They promised jobs that not only allowed people to live, but allowed them to enjoy life. Sadly, it's not happening. At least not on the grander scale. Many of those promise givers are living the glorious life, but at the expense of the people they made promises to. I'm not necessarily agreeing with suspended ANC party member Julius Malema who says that he wants to see white domestic workers in South Africa in 10 years. What I am saying is there needs to be true equality. Not only on paper but in reality.

So what is the solution? That's tough to answer. But I think it starts when people truly begin to think about the fact that there is now neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. In other words there is now neither white nor black, indian nor colored, Sandtonian nor Sowetoan. There are no longer dividing lines, we are ONE in Christ. This week I read Ephesians 2:11-22 with new eyes. I hope you can too:

Don’t take post Apartheid South Africa with a grain of salt. It seems like only yesterday that blacks, indians, coloureds, etc., had no idea what it was like to live like the whites. You hadn’t the faintest idea. You knew nothing of what it meant to be the chosen ones. Had no idea what it meant to go to a nice school, or drive a nice car, or work a decent job. But now, because of Mandela and the struggle of some fine men, some of which died for your freedom, you who were once out of it have now been given a chance.

Things have been made better between us, and apparently there is supposed to be equality. Both whites and darker skinned people are now one. The walls of hostility and segregation have now been demolished and we are supposed to be living in the same neighborhoods. The constitution has been rewritten, so that those laws which hurt us more than helped us have been erased. And we have now started over. We live in a democracy. Instead of continuing to live in our own places, separated by hundreds of years of aggression and hate, there is now a new creation, a new nation, a rainbow nation.

Democracy was supposed to bring us together. We were supposed to shake hands and hug our neighbors. The hostility was supposed to be over. There was supposed to be peace and equality. Through peace we are supposed to have equal access to quality education and well paying jobs.

That’s pretty simple right? We’re no longer supposed to be separated, looking for a better future. The bright future is now here. We’re no longer enemies, people living in different suburbs, neighborhoods, shanty towns, slums, villages, etc. We have a new country, and we all have access to it, irrespective of skin color. Let’s build a new nation, where everyone has a place, and an equal place at that. There is one thing that holds us together, and that is that we’re all created in the same image of God.

_________________

I realize that I'm asking for something that is way beyond reality. But, you have to remember, the kingdom of God is something which is way beyond reality as well.

Airports bring out the worst in me...

2012-01-02T00:21:00.004-07:00

I wrote this blog on the plane to South Africa on December 12:

Yesterday I preached on the lectionary passage for the day. The passage of scripture which I was preaching from was John 1:6-8, 19-28. The main question that I asked in the sermon was, “What kind of a savior are you witnessing to?” Little did I know yesterday that today I would utterly fail at witnessing to a savior. In fact, there was probably little to no resemblance of the savior that John witnessed to, the savior seen in Isaiah 61:1-2 and following. Today I am flying down to South Africa to spend a couple of weeks with family. I’ve been looking forward to this day for quite sometime. In a sense, there’s a real advent them to that.

I arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya at around 1:30 today. It’s not a foreign place to me. I flew out of that airport on my way home to Malawi upwards of 12 times during my stay at boarding school in Kenya for my high school years. If there is any place where western culture and Kenyan culture clash, it’s at that airport. In the west, we want things done right away. Time is key not the event at hand. Kenya’s a culture where time is not considered higher than the event going on. This was extremely evident the first night I arrived back in Kenya back on September 6. The visa counter workers were having fat chats, texting and calling friends, all whilst hundreds of passengers queued in their lines waiting to get their passports stamped so they could get into Kenya.

Once again, things were taking a good amount of time today at the airport. I approached the ticket counter and turned over my passport. The desk attendant asked if she could see my health card. I passed it to her. She told me, “Isn’t there a way you can fabricate the date for your yellow fever vaccine?” On my health card, next to the vaccination I had 10 years ago for combating yellow fever, stood the date December 5, 2001. I’d noticed this long before arriving at the airport today. However, I’d seen in the fine print below this yellow fever vaccination that the ten years start ten days after you receive the vaccination.

After saying I’d rather not fabricate the date of my vaccination she called over her supervisor. This supervisor then began to tell me that they look at the date of the vaccination, and that this is the date that matters, not the ten days afterwards like my health card officially stated. I tried to comprehend why, but when I was given the notorious, “that’s just the way it is” statement, I felt the animosity growing within me towards this lady. My voice got a little louder, my face most likely a little more crimson, and my body language a little more stiff. Finally she did let me go through. It was in those moments that I was failing to witness to the Jesus that John was witnessing to. John was witnessing to a Messiah who would handle situations with love, albeit with righteous love at times. In those moments this afternoon, I was not pointing to any kind of love! Sometimes you have to practice what you preach eh?

I'm groaning...

2011-12-06T10:08:00.002-07:00

Lately I’ve started to come to understand Romans 8:18-30, and particularly Romans 8:23 more than I ever have before. The biggest theme of the Advent season is one of waiting with expectation for the day when we celebrate the coming of our Savior into the world in the form of a baby. I’ve definitely been focusing much more on such a theme of expectation during this season of Advent than I have ever done before. That entrance of Christ into the world was revolutionary.

There are those events that take place in our lives that we look to as category shifters. We look at them by saying something like: “there was life before 9/11 and life after,” or “life before colonization and life after,” or “life before the day I met you and after,” etc. The birth of Jesus took that to an extreme. No other single event in history has caused us to completely change our calendar to express life before and after an event. Isn’t that incredible? And so it is now that we eagerly await the day when we celebrate his birth; the day history changed forever. But, for those who are followers of that very Jesus, we eagerly await something else as well.

As followers we eagerly await the time when he will come again, when the kingdom of God is brought to complete fruition. This too has become all the more evident this Advent season for me. So many places in scripture we see prophecies pointing to this baby, even referring to the very way that he would come, as a child. For hundreds of years they had been expecting this Savior! And now it is the same with Christians. For hundreds of years we have been expecting our savior to return to us. Paul tells us in the aforementioned passage that creation itself is groaning out for the future hope. Think about that for just a second. Creation is making a deep, inarticulate sound, in response to the pain and despair it is going through as it eagerly awaits the finality of the kingdom of God.

So it is during this season that I pray that as an individual who has experienced the moving of the Holy Spirit, that I can groan inwardly because of the pain of all of creation, longing to be restored to it’s rightful purpose. Not only do I long to groan, but I long to respond the way that Jesus did. If my faith is not revolutionary, something is deeply wrong. Faith in Christ is something that should be a category shifter. Our faith as believers in the savior that came into the world as a baby should cause us to create those same events that we look to as life changers. People should be saying, “there was life before Roland and life after Roland.”

You see, Christ never separated the spiritual from the social. Yes, his salvation is personal in the sense that we must believe in him and allow him to change our beings. But there is something else that happens with belief. Belief leads us to social action. In all of Jesus’ miracles, the miracle itself either freed the miraclee (ya, I just made up that word) to live in society in ways that they couldn’t have before, or Jesus miracles directly impacted a social situation or social thought process. Salvation meant a complete shift in some sort of social understanding. This Advent, I’m groaning. That groaning isn’t a selfish groaning, it’s a groaning for change in this world we live in; a groaning for the moment when the kingdom has completely come.

I'm Anxious...

2011-12-05T14:30:00.001-07:00

I only feel this way once in a blue moon. Actually, it's rarer than that; for blue moons come relatively often compared to how often I feel this way. I shall describe it like this:

Imagine you have been friends with someone for a decent amount of time. Then, some significant moment in your life comes, and you wonder, will they remember?

It's like that, but not like that at all. It's anxiousness of a different sort.

It's like waiting for the first snow fall. It's supposed to come at some point in winter, but you have no idea what it will look like. Okay, it's actually not like that at all. It's anxiousness of a different sort.

It's like devoting yourself to a cause, with only your best given, and wondering if that cause will lead to something greater. That's exactly what it's like. I'm anxious.

Behold, I send my parcel before your face...

2011-12-04T02:51:00.006-07:00

For my high school years, I attended a boarding school here in Kenya. At that school I became friends with a quality chap named Robert whose parents were serving in Zambia. They moved up to the town where our boarding school was. Many times in the two years they were in Kijabe I'd go down and experience their generous hospitality. I'm so thankful for people like that, who come into our lives and make it better! It's been six years since graduation from our boarding school. I'm still friends with Robert, and his family has still shown that same generous hospitality to me in various ways over the years. One of Robert's many brothers was flying back to the States a few weeks ago to share the Christmas break with his family. Robert's mom asked if I would like to send any Christmas presents to my family in the States. Naturally, you can't pass up on such a speedy courier service from here in Kenya when the normal postal service can take on average anywhere from 3-6 months to get your parcels to the States.

My family had no idea what was coming. Yesterday a parcel arrived at their post office in Utah with no name in the sender box, just an address from somewhere in Roseburg, Oregon. That box of presents would be heralding Christmas from a son thousands of miles away in Kenya. My mom is going to place the presents underneath their Christmas tree, signaling the coming of Christmas day when they can open their presents.

Two thousand years ago someone else was signaling the coming of a parcel the size of a baby from a far away place as well. "John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.... 'After me comes one who is mightier than I.'" Whilst that parcel which I sent to my parents heralds the coming of a certain day where they can open gifts, John's ministry in the wilderness was heralding something so much more significant.

We as humans can often get caught up heralding the coming of things that pale in comparison to the very thing that John was heralding. During this Advent season, I pause to think about the things that I point to in my life. Do I point to/speak of things that have such little significance to the kingdom of God, or do I point to the One who ushered in that very kingdom? John had a very important ministry; he prepared the way for the One who was to change history forever. We too are called to be messengers. We are called to prepare the way for the coming of our Lord for the second time. What are you pointing to today?

Cultural Respect

2011-11-21T13:58:00.001-07:00

The world is a huge place with billions of people from thousands of cultures. We just recently passed the 7 billion people mark on the planet. This means that there are people from various different walks of life, each with their own particular worldview. A worldview is a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world. I’m a firm believer that just as no two people are alike, so no two worldviews are alike. Yes, people who grow up in the same family, neighborhood, suburb, city, state, or country may have aspects of their worldview which are the same, but when it comes down to the nature of an opinion, it is something formed in the end, whether through influence of others or not, solely by an individual.

With the uniqueness of every single individual on the face of the planet, we must learn to respect others and where they come from. Part of this fact means that we must come to terms with the fact that others have been influenced in ways different to ourselves. Giving respect to others means that we have a feeling of deep admiration for them or their character which is elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. Inherent to respect means that we must forget about our nature and our character and focus on the other. In my time spent in other cultures, I have seen those who live with cultural respect oozing from their lives. They look to other cultures and are amazed by the new and glorious things which they can learn from them. Sadly, I have seen the opposite as well. I have seen individuals go across cultures and always use their worldview and culture as the benchmark for grading the other culture. What are the downfalls of such a perspective? Such a perspective leads individuals to refuse to learn from others. It causes humanity to be inward focused and be concerned with the self rather than with the community. There is so much to be learned from other people and their cultures. Our experience with them allows us to acquire knowledge about them and who they are. As Christians we believe that God created us in his image. I believe that being thus created means that in others we have a chance to see a glimpse of God. When we fail to reach out to them, we fail to reach out to the God imaged in them.

A Journey to the Ends of the Earth

2011-11-21T13:43:00.002-07:00

This past summer I got an email from a pastor in Vancouver, B.C. wanting to connect about Africa, while he was in the KC area. He would be heading to Kenya this fall and wanted to touch base on my experiences in Africa. The crazy thing was I had met him around 15 years ago when he and the evangelism professor at my now seminary came up to Omaha, NE where my parents were pastoring for a weekend. It was great to meet him and dialogue about Africa, theology, etc. A few months ago he asked if I’d like to join them on their trip to the towns of Narok and Naroosura. I definitely wanted to do this. It would be a great opportunity to see how God is working outside of the Nairobi area here in Kenya and to see some parts of Kenya I’ve never seen before.

This past Thursday, it was time to depart with the team for the two towns. Off we (Pastor Grant, his son, a man from their church who has been working with their project, the NCM coordinator for the field, and the driver/project lead when the team isn’t there) went. The drive to Narok was beautiful! The first part of it was all too familiar. The journey takes one up one of the main highways North of Nairobi, then splits off to the northwest. That drive is one that I have taken before and is incredibly awe-inspiring. You begin by climbing up around 2,000 feet in elevation out of Nairobi. Then when you exit to the northwest, you descend into the Rift Valley. Along the route are numerous mahindi choma (roasted maize) sellers. I am mahindi choma’s biggest fan, and so I had to suggest we stop and get some. All of us in the van were now fully loaded with this lovely snack (all for a mere 20 cents each). Then it was back to the views. I saw those views for around 33 months during my stay at Rift Valley Academy, just a stones throw from where we were.

This view includes the valley floor below, two volcanos rising from that floor, as well as the sides of the valley towering above you. The road to Narok slowly rises back out of the beautiful valley to the city. There was one time on our journey when I remember thinking, “this is sure a long hill.” Right after I thought that, the thermostat on the minibus we were traveling in, blew. Hot water began gushing from the bottom of the bus. We stopped almost at the crest of the hill. People came running down from the top of the hill to help out. Our driver talked to them in Swahili and asked them to bring a mechanic down. After about 25 minutes we were back to a new normal. The solution? Just take the thermostat out and keep going. It basically worked! We just had to make sure the minibus had enough water for the rest of the trip.

We made it into Narok safely and arrived at our hotel. On the way there, Bessie, the NCM coordinator, had called a man to tell him to meet us there. She referred to him as the chief. We would meet him there and then head out to the area where his home is to check out the new church which had been built on land he had donated. It took me a while to register who this man was. We picked him up as well as one of the Africa East Field Media crew and headed out to the location. It was about 30 minutes from town. I suddenly began to register that this was the actual chief of the area. You wouldn’t have guessed it by his appearance or demeanor. He was’t concerned with his status and didn’t want us to be either. The church property he took us to was huge! It was out in the midst of pastoral lands. Cows were being herded on either side of the church. It was in a beautiful spot, and had so much space.

After checking out the church we came back to the hotel for the night. I rested for a while before heading down to dinner with my roommate Charles, who was the driver, to meet the rest of the team. Dinner was tasty. After playing farkle with Grant, it was time for bed. Charles and I talked long into the night about culture. It was such an intriguing conversation, I didn’t want it to end, but was starting to fall asleep. As I rolled over to close my eyes, Charles told me, “I hope you don’t mind that I sleep with the TV on.” “Oh no, not at all!” I replied. Wondering exactly what sleeping with the TV on meant. It literally was blaring for the duration of the night. I woke up during the night to hear many intriguing things coming from its’ interior. In the morning I woke up to Christian taebo, things like, “okay now, left foot up, back straight, now kick, and kick, and kick,” greeted my ears for about an hour.

It was time for a big breakfast before heading out to Naroosura. All of the day before Bessie and Charles kept on telling us to wait for the wildlife tomorrow whenever we saw a measly impala on the side of the road. I didn’t really know whether to believe them or not, but I would soon believe their words from the previous day when the sights around me helped out my lack of faith. We went back to the same turn off for the chief’s plot of land he had given for the church. But then, we slowly realized that Bessie and Charles weren’t lying about another thing they said the day before: the road for today. The road is a worn down dusty road through thousands of acres of Maasai land. In many places it had been washed out, so you’d simply follow a new path to get back to the good section of road. It was a bumpy and harrowing experience. A couple of times I seriously thought we would tip over and remember once saying vocally, “Oh Lord help us!”

As we passed through a series of thickets, we were soon out in an open area. When I think of the Lion King, I think of this area. It’s a vast, wide open savannah filled with wildlife. Wildebeest, impala, zebra, ostrich, dik dik, eland, kori bustards, and other animals are scattered about for miles on end. This area is semi-close to the Maasai Mara game reserve. Yet here, the animals are not restricted by park boundaries. Truly an eden! Slowly we began to see more and more Maasai homes and their inhabitants scattered about. Maasai houses are made of mud on all sides, including the roof. This is different to your typical mud hut which has a thatched roof on top. The Maasai have great respect for cattle, and so juxtaposed to the wildlife were these domesticated animals grazing as well. It took about 3 and a half hours to go around 80 kms. Then we began to see more modern houses rising from the countryside. A town had to be close. Bessie had called the local chief to tell him we were near. We went straight to his office and picked him up. He looked much more official and had a nice army looking hat on with a baton carried in one hand. He climbed aboard the minibus and off we went.

Our destination was further than I had realized it would be. We drove through the countryside to a series of hills. We began to ascend those hills and saw various Maasai folks farming or working around their homes. As we climbed, the road got worse and worse. Finally we reached the settlement. School buildings partially funded by this team and also by the Church of the Nazarene as a whole began to rise from the Kenyan countryside. Hundreds of students fluttered about as we arrived. I spoke with some of them in my very broken Swahili, telling them my name, where I was from, that I liked their school, and asking them who they were and where they were from.

After a short time of checking things out and the initial greetings, we went on a short hike down into a ravine to check out a water project which had been started with help from the church in Vancouver and NCM (Nazarene Compassionate Ministries). It was nice to have a chance to walk around in this beautiful area. The water which feeds the stream comes from a natural spring up in the hills, making the water very clean. The goal of the water project is to divert the water into a water catchment area and then pump it back to the school. This would provide irrigation to the land and allow them to start growing their own food in the area. This would help to cement a true partnership as the local people take ownership of the land and farm it for their own good and purposes. On the hike back from the ravine, I chatted with the headmaster of the school. He was from the area, and a local Maasai as well. In desiring to know more about their culture I asked him, “what are your staple foods?” He replied, “it used to be milk and blood.” “That’s all? Really?” I asked. “Yes, that’s all. But now we have begun to eat other vegetables and the like because of the influence of others.” I was amazed by that conversation, and again just so thankful to be interacting with this group of God’s creation which still lives quite similarly to how they have for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Back at the school we chatted with the locals and saw where a new Nazarene church would be built. You could tell that God was working amongst this people group and helping to bring about education and agriculture to their lives. It’s not like that will be their savior, but such things would provide help in the case of things like severe drought. There would be something that could help them outside of their sustainable lifestyle. I’m wrestling with what it means to help others and if they need it, and that seems a logical helping point for this group of people.

Towards the end of our stay in this settlement, the team had a time of gift giving to the school. They had packed many school supplies back in Vancouver to bring to them; things like pencils, markers, erasers, crayons, soccer balls, etc. It was a joyous occasion to see the people accepting the supplies. Many of the students, parents, and tribe elders gathered together into one of the classrooms. The Maasai women sang a song of thanks and gratitude to God for the gifts.

As is typical in many African cultures, the people had prepared some food for us. This is not just a meal, but it’s an act of gracious hospitality. People use their resources to give of what they have in order to express their hospitality to others. I honestly don’t know if there are many things that compare to such an act. It’s a time where everyone says, we are humanity, together, sharing with one another. It is essential to accept such acts of hospitality. I’m thankful for parents who emphasized that to me during my growing up years. Rejection of food is rejection of the people and who they are.

After the food we said our goodbyes. In the Maasai tribe, people, especially the ladies, will take off some of their jewelry and give it to you. Pastor Grant and his son were given a necklace and a bracelet respectively. I had never seen this done before, and it really made an impact on me. Once again reaffirming my love of African hospitality.

We were soon off to a pastors house to drop off some items and then on to another pastors house for more food. Not gonna lie, I love Kenyan food. I think I ate far too much in those days of our journey. It was neat to be able to fellowship inside of this pastor’s home. It was my first time in a Maasai house. The food and fellowship was great and after a short time we were off. We needed to get back to Narok before dark as the road to there is so horrible. As we left, a Maasai woman gave me a necklace. A moving experience, as I stated before. We then braced for the ride back. We saw beautiful sights as the sun set over the African plains. Wildebeest and their fellow animals dashed around. I’ll never forget those sights.

Back in Narok we were bushed. We ate dinner and hit the hay. Saturday we made the journey back to Nairobi. Mt. Longonot, one of the dormant volcanos previously mentioned, looked a lot more formidable from this side of the valley. We chatted, laughed, ate more Mahindi Choma, and finished off our trip.

I’m so thankful to Domenic, Pastor Grant, Graiden, Bessie, and Charles for allowing me to tag along on this journey. I’ve been given a deeper respect for the Maasai people, and most of all for the God who is working amongst them and who created them.

84 Days in Memory of Grandpa

2011-11-14T13:37:00.004-07:00

November 14, 2008. For most, that was just another ordinary day. For my family it was our last day with my Grandpa. Grandpa had battled cancer for a while, the battle growing increasingly tough for him that previous summer. I remember one day as I was gearing up for my senior year, feeling the urge to scrap my housing plans for the year and instead move in with my Grandpa and Grandma. I had been set to move in with two friends and a new student in one of the senior apartments on campus. It would have been a fun year with them! But instead, I went and had dinner with my grandparents and told them what I had been feeling. I moved into the main guest room in their house and got settled for the year. Little did we know that just a matter of days later, things would begin to get more gruesome for Grandpa.

It got to the point where he was having to go to the bathroom multiple times a night and needed someone's help to get there. A couple of nights, I spent the night on the couch next to my grandpa's chair where he slept. I remember how horrible he felt having to lose his dignity in front of me as I helped him go to the bathroom. I kept on reassuring him that I really didn't mind. I honestly didn't. This was a man who I loved dearly. He'd been my role model all my life. I can remember following him around at their home in Colorado as he did various things. He always had some sort of a fancy project going on. Sometimes I didn't understand what these projects were about, but I followed him around and helped him nonetheless. One summer in the late 90s my grandparents were gearing up to sell their house in Colorado Springs and move to the Nazarene missionary retirement center in Temple City, California. I went out to help them clean and fix up various things. One loss of dignity moment that came long before Grandpa's final months was when I walked upstairs during that time to find my gramps fresh out of the shower standing in his birthday suit just chatting up a storm with my grandma in the hallway. Grandpa let out a "Whoops here" and scurried off into his room. We laughed about that a lot afterwards.

One of the memories I have of Grandpa during that time of his getting more sick was his faith still standing strong as ever. He would sit in his chair and read one of his newest Bibles. An English Standard Version leather bound Bible with a crown of thorns indented into the cover. I inherited that Bible after his death. In it, just like the rest of his devotional Bibles, Grandpa had underlined and scribbled different things in the sections that he was reading. In those last few days in his house in Nampa, Grandpa had been going through the Psalms. On August 13, 2008, Grandpa underlined Psalm 37:4 which says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." On the 29th he underlined Psalm 31:14 which says, "But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, You are my God. My times are in your hand." Next to that verse he wrote, 'my pain'. In other places he underlined various verses and put the initials of various family members next to them. In one such place he underlined Psalm 34:7 for my sister and I. That reads, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."

By this stage in my Grandpa's life he was in lots of pain. Yet, his faith stood firm. His trust was still as strong as ever in his Lord. My Grandpa was a man of unrelenting faith. He faced so many different circumstances in his life, yet through all of the ones that I saw him face, his never let his faith in God lose any ground. In those days of severe pain, he was still being as sacrificial as ever and considering others needs and their struggles above his own.

Grandpa passed away about two and a half months after I moved in with him. During those last few weeks of his life on earth, his faith still stood strong. He saw visions of angels, prayed as fervently as ever, and lastly surrendered his life over to God, this time for eternity. The day he passed away my parents, my grandma and I were there with him. I turned quite horribly sick in his last few hours on earth. I threw up multiple times. As Grandpa was breathing his last, we sang various hymns; ones he had asked us to sing in the time before his death. That afternoon a couple of children's choirs were touring the care facility where he was. They too sang songs to Grandpa.

Grandpa passed, and as he did, in my sickness, I began to faint. Suddenly someone gave me Grandpa's oxygen mask. I breathed deep and alas I didn't faint. In Grandpa's death, he was still giving of his resources to help others, albeit unknowingly in this case!

My grandpa was 84 when he passed away. Today I will begin an 84 day challenge. Hopefully it will go longer than that. There will be some practices which I will take up, and others which I give up. Through this period, I hope to live my life more like my Grandpa. Not to put any savior characteristics on my Grandpa; but rather to try and live my life like a man committed to his faith, family, friends, and world. Thanks for everything Grandpa!

A Crazy Matatu Ride

2011-11-03T08:30:00.003-06:00

Most Kenyans or people who live here in Kenya will laugh at that title and respond with something like, “Aren’t they all?” The truth is, yes, they are all quite an adventure in the make up. Matatus assume in many cases that they have the right of way in Kenya. Often times you will be traveling in a Matatu and they will pass another car even with head on traffic coming directly at you. Last Friday I was trying to get up to RVA for the weekend to see some old friends and watch the soccer teams participate in a tournament with other local schools. I’ll tell you more about this in my next post. But for now all focus on the Matatu ride and journey to Kijabe.

First off, I left the ANU school grounds about 2:30 pm. I climbed aboard a tuk tuk with five other ANU students. Four of us were crammed into the back seat. Tuk Tuk seats are way smaller than car seats. It was a squish! We made it to the junction with the main road called Magadi road which then takes you to Langata road and then from Langata road you can get to many places in town. The matatus at the junction will take you all the way to one of the main Matatu depots in town which is based at the Nairobi Railway Station. Everything was normal until a spot which is normally about 6 minutes from the depot. All of the sudden traffic was at a standstill (I later found out that some were stuck in this jam for five hours). So our Matatu driver looked ahead and took the last turn possible before the jam. Off we went on a road that took us in a big circle around southern Nairobi. The problem was that we weren’t the only ones doing this. The normal ten to fifteen minute drive to Railways, as they tend to call it here, took about an hour and half. I had gone to this depot in good trust after a friend here told me I could get a matatu to Kijabe from there. I should have known by the look on his face he had no idea what he was talking about! I got to the depot and asked what number matatu I could take to Kijabe. They told me there were no matatus at the depot that you could take to get there. But they pointed me in the direction of a large green building that had some matatus I could take there. I walked over there hurriedly, for by this time I was already going to be a tad late to Kijabe. When I got to the green building, I found the line of matatus I thought would take me to Kijabe. Unfortunately, they didn’t! A driver pointed me in the direction of a boda boda on the street corner that could however take me to the place where you catch such a matatu to Kijabe. I climbed on back and he held up his helmet inquisitively. He said, “Will you wear this, or do you want me to?” Quickly I responded I would most definitely wear it. I have taken this risky form of transportation often in the more rural area around ANU, but never had I taken it in the city. An ANU student actually died this past year taking this form of transport. The city is full of all of the crazy Kenyan drivers one could desire. I hopped aboard and we dotted in between traffic for about fifteen minutes till we arrived at the correct matatu depot. This depot is not very depotish in nature as it really is only a few matatus at any given time and is designated only for Kijabe and surrounding areas. Many people who need to visit family and friends at the AIC Kijabe Hospital often gather here for a lift. Upon hopping in, I chose a seat in the front of the back cabin, i.e. not up by the driver. The front of the cabin is generally less claustrophobic. I also chose the outside seat by the door so I could get air when I wanted. Kenyans get cold easily. They also consider cold 75 degrees and below, so when matatus get stuffy, I like to have an escape to fresh air. We started out, and immediately I could tell we’d too be part of the crazy Friday afternoon traffic. It was okay though, because soon we’d be to the main road, the A104 which takes you up to Kijabe. Or so I thought.

My first sign that this matatu was worse than most appeared as I saw raindrops begin to fall from the big, dark, clouds which I had spotted as I previously circled through South Nairobi. As the rain drops started, the driver and his compadres up front noticed the windshield wipers weren’t working. What would we do? In the western half of my brain, I figured maybe they would have us all switch matatus since that is rather unsafe. However, the African half of my brain soon began to reason through the brainwaves with the chaps up front. In the traffic jam, one of the passengers up front got out and put the left wiper (in Africa the non-driver’s side wiper) straight out. in other words, pointing directly out like an antenna searching for a signal from the cars, buses, lorries, matatus and others we’d be driving behind. Problem solved! The left one stuck straight out and the right one cleared the drivers side of the windshield. But, after a few minutes of success, the wiper on the right failed to work. The obvious solution? Hit the windshield as hard as you can until it begins to slowly move into normal working order.

Those clouds I had witnessed previously, were as ominous in their contents as they were in their aesthetics. It was a torrential down pour. As we reached a new flyover in town, I began to see the rivers of water flowing down the road. These rivers continued almost until we reached Kijabe. So the next exciting aspect of the trip was found directly stationed to my left. The sliding door to the matatu was not sealed properly, if at all. Every single river or puddle we passed trough meant that I would get splashed. As the rain poured down, our bodies heated the inside of the matatu. The windshield was soon covered with the moist, warm air from our bodies colliding with the cooler air outside. I pretty much feared for my life the entire trip in ways above and beyond the normal fear I feel when in the bounds of a matatu’s shell. However, these drivers are experienced. They have driven through the deluges of of Nairobi and other places in Kenya before. There is a weird faith that I am able to put in them. A faith that I know what they are doing with our lives as we hustle upon the tarmac of Kenya’s roads.

We made it to the turn off at Kijabe. Every time we would stop on the way to release passengers and receive new ones we were inundated with the pervasive crowd of business people at the stops longing for you to purchase some roasted maize, sausage, fruit, vegetables, toys, etc. I would have purchased some maize, for I love that stuff, but I had a big lunch before the journey. Good thing, because it was a long one! We reached Kijabe in the familiar fog that gathers in those high areas in the hills. I thought we’d actually go down to Kijabe, but it was just a stop at the turn off. I’d have to find another means down. Thankfully, Deborah, a teacher at Kijabe Boys High was there to help me coerce the taxi drivers for a cheap ride down to Kijabe itself. We found some fellow travelers and we meandered our way in the taxi down the hill to the infamous school in the clouds. In all, the journey took about four hours to complete, a trip that can take as little as an hour or so, just as it did upon my return Sunday afternoon.

This is Kenya

TIK

2011-10-14T05:20:00.004-06:00

Friendliness from strangers

Potholes, and lots of them

Horrid traffic

Matatus

Various sizes and shapes of buses

Tuk Tuks

Boda Bodas

Piki Pikis

Bicycles

Acacia Trees

Jacarandas

Swahili

Sheng

Kikuyu

Dancing

Drums

Melodious singing

Roasted Maize

Shambas

Road-side sausages

Java House

Dorman's

Sarit

Yaya

Galeria

Pizza Inn

Galitos

Creamy Inn

Dusty paths

Walking Everywhere

Chai

Chai Time

Milo

Samosas

Chapatis

Sukuma Wiki

Ugali

Githeri

Mandazis

Passion Fruit

Passion Fruit Juice

Free range goats

Free range cattle

Free range chickens

Bird calls beginning at 3:30am

Dust reducing rains

Hospitality

Smiles

Rugby

Football

Cricket

DSTV

Amazing sunsets

Non-vehicular policepeople

Bribes

Tusker

Mombasa

Wazungu prices

Bartering

Markets

Bottled Water

Maasai

Beads

Roadside plant nurseries

Slow internet

No night travel

Christians

Loud worship services

Joyous worship services

Muslims

Call to prayer

Peace

African traditional religions

Witchdoctors

Mangos

Vegetable ladies

Roadside butcheries

NGOs

Mission agencies

Poverty

Slums

Wealthy people

Mansions

School uniforms

Animals normally only seen in the zoo

.... much, much more!

What else do you think of?

Dear True Love by Sleeping at Last

2011-09-19T12:07:00.000-06:00

Dear True Love
A writer without any words
I'm a story that nobody heard
When I'm without you
I am a voice
I am a voice without any sound
A treasure map that nobody found
When I'm without you
Dear True Love
I'm a lantern without any light
I'm a boxer much too afraid to fight
When I'm without you

So with this ring
May you always know one thing
The little that I have to give
I will give it all to you
You're my one true love

I am a memory
a memory bent out of shape
a child hurt already bruised with age
when I'm without you
So Dear True Love
I'm an artist without any paint
A deal that every one breaks
When I'm without you

So with this ring
May you always know one thing
The little that I have to give
I will give it all to you
You're my one true love

I am a whisper
I am a secret nobody keeps
A dreamer of someone else's dreams
When I'm without you
Dear True Love
I'm a farewell that came too soon
I'm a hand-me-down that dreams of being new
When I'm without you

| Sleeping At Last - Yearbook: February |
Official Website
Check out their February EP on The Drop

The Valley...

2011-09-17T13:45:00.002-06:00

The valley is a dry, empty, nutrient less place.

My soul is thirsty,

My spirit hungry,

My body desires nourishment.

I let the sun bake down upon me

Not knowing what lies beyond the above ridges

There's redemption up there

Lasting comfort and love.

To make the hike is the mission.

A Marvelous Weekend

2011-09-12T12:14:00.003-06:00

One of the very first people I met here on campus was a man by the name of Lucas Dibo, but everyone calls him Dibo. He’s finishing up his masters degree in the Religion Department here at ANU and is also a TA there. I will most likely be working a lot with him this year. Friday night he called and asked if I’d like to go over to his house the next day and then go to the organizing service of his mom’s church, called Soweto Church of the Nazarene in Soweto, Kenya, on Sunday. I said sure and was quite excited for the next day.

Saturday came along and Dibo came and met me at my flat here on campus. We then walked the one kilometer or so over to his house. Dibo is married to Jeanette, a current student at ANU from Oregon. They have a beautiful boy named Xola. Saturday it was great to just spend time making new friends and share fellowship over Monopoly Deal and tons of great food. We also spent some time walking around the area and visiting some local shops. I had more of my favorite Kenyan food with them on Saturday as well as some new foods such as Blue Band pasta. Those of you RVA friends will know what that is and may have some certain views on that once hearing Blue Band was in it:) It was a great day of getting to know the local culture more and meeting some awesome people of God. I’m excited to see where God leads that family.

This morning we woke up early and got ready for a busy morning/afternoon. We walked down to Magadi Rd a main road that takes people from Nairobi to Ongata Rongai (the town where the school is). At that intersection we got into a Matatu (A Kenyan mini-bus taxi that fits 14 passengers) and headed to one of the main if not the main train station in Nairobi where we would walk to our next Matatu ride. That walk took us right through a massive market. There were thousands of people there selling and buying a huge variety of things from fruit to shoes to furniture. Those of you who have been to Africa or a good global market before know what I am talking about. We reached our Matatu after Jeanette and Me were called various American names such as Michael and Steve for me and Mary for Jeannette. That Matatu would take us pretty close to the Soweto Slum where Dibo’s mom’s church was having their first organized service. We walked about a km into the slum again through very busy streets with various folks practicing their trade. The last time Dibo had been to the church it was in a different location in the slum and was about a year before. We had taken a wrong turn, but managed to find our way after Dibo called for help.

The church is not like anything you would ever find in America. I wish I had a picture from the outside, but it’s basically tree branches holding up a tin/metal roof with metal surrounding the building as walls. We had missed a good portion of the service since we were lost, but we made it in time for the official organizing of the church and in time to hear some great stories from people there. As well as sing some music as part of the worship time. At the bottom of this blog you'll find a video clip of the District Superintendent speaking.

It was such a great time with the people of the church there. I was reminded of the true global nature of Christianity today, not just with the people in Soweto, but as we were traveling throughout Nairobi via Matatu, I head the worship services of many different churches coming through the church windows and into the street. God truly is moving in and amongst his people in Kenya.

We had some great stew and chapatis for lunch with the church there in Soweto before following our same route back to Ongata Rongai. The Lovett’s, a missionary couple here, were kind enough to cut out the first leg in the Matatu by giving us a ride to the second stop. We had a refreshing glass of Fanta and a few more rounds of Monopoly Deal at the Dibo’s before Dibo pushed me (walked me back to) Campus at around 6:30.

I am so thankful for the neat opportunities which I had this weekend. It was great to take a deeper plunge into life here and to make new friends and visit a church on the other side of town.

Check out my photo page on here for more photos from the weekend.

Peace!

Roland

Support me Through Sponsoring a Kilometer of my run in the Nairobi Marathon

2011-06-13T17:52:00.005-06:00

A marathon. It is one of the greatest running events in the world. It’s also a sign of personal achievement and determination. Last fall I ran in the Kansas City Marathon. Last week I began training for the Nairobi Marathon 2011. The race will take place on October 31, 2011 through the streets of Nairobi. Running has slowly become a passion of mine over the last 10 years. Only recently did I begin to get “marathon” serious about it, however.

I now have just under three months till I depart for Kenya. Many people have already given generously to my cause, and I am thankful beyond words for their kindness and generosity in doing so. I also have a few “deputation services” lined up in the next few months which will also help to continue to show God’s provision in this journey back to Africa. Good grades have also provided some vital scholarships for school fees while I take classes from Nazarene Theological Seminary online whilst in Kenya. But, the bottom line is that I am still in desperate need of continued support from family and friends.

A marathon is 42 kilometers. I have a challenge for you. If 42 people pledge $100, or in other words if 42 people sponsor a kilometer of the race, I will have a good chunk of my remaining funds raised for Kenya. You can feel free to sponsor more than one kilometer if you like. One question: Will you team with Roland and take him to Kenya? Whatever you feel led to do, please see the below information on how to support my trip to Kenya.

Tuition Expenses

Tuition expenses for the 2011-2012 academic year will be roughly $9,000. Support for tuition expenses is tax-deductible. While living here in Kansas City, I have a job to help pay for tuition, but as I go to Kenya, I won’t have a job, I will be doing mission work and studying full time. If you’d like to help with Roland’s tuition funds please send monies to:

Nazarene Theological Seminary

Attn: D. Martin Butler

1700 East Meyer Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 64131

Make sure to place “365m Scholarship: KENYA” on the memo line.

Non-Tuition Expenses

This includes everything from travel costs to Kenya, insurance, room and board, etc. The average flight to Kenya from Kansas City comes in at around $2100. If you’d like to help with Roland’s non-tuition expenses, please send monies to:

Nazarene Global Ministry Center

Attn: Molly Cole

17001 Prairie Star Parkway

Lenexa, KS 66220

Make sure to place “ROLAND TEDDER 365M KENYA” on the memo line.

Those who are part of the Church of the Nazarene will receive mission giving credit for their local church for funds donated towards Roland’s non-tuition expenses.

Online Giving

The 365 program is teamed up with Nazarene Mission Corps. You can check out my Nazarene Mission Corps website at http://web.nazarene.org/goto/rolandgoestokenya

Purchase Fair Trade Kenya Coffee From me, Support my Year in Kenya

2011-06-10T08:14:00.005-06:00

Many of you know that I will be venturing to Kenya next year with a program at my school called 365M. I will be a missionary apprentice whilst still taking classes online from my school here in Kansas City, MO. My year in Kenya is not cheap, yet I know that God has called me and I can't turn away. You can support my trip to Kenya through purchasing some of the best coffee in the world! I am selling fair trade coffee beans for $15 per 1lb bag for Kansas City locals, and $20 for those outside of KC. I have purchased the beans from a company that pays Kenyan farmers at least 50% higher than the base fair trade regulations, sometimes as high as 100% or more. Not only are you supporting my trip to Kenya, you are providing a fair wage for local Kenyans. E-mail me at roland.tedder@gmail.com if you are interested!

I'm headed to Kenya next year!

2011-05-05T19:28:00.005-06:00

Family and Friends,

Starting September 2011, I will be investing a year at Africa Nazarene University (ANU) in Kenya, just outside Nairobi. You are invited to “go along with me” on this jo

urney of faith!

Each journey begins with a single step that eventually leads to a divergent point. My life journey continues with my most recent divergent point coming in the form of a letter from Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS), saying “Congratulations, you have been accepted to Kenya.” NTS in Kansas City, Missouri, is where I have been pursuing a Master of Divinity degree. It offers a program called 365M in which NTS students are sent to countries all over the world to minister and be educated in a cross-cultural setting.

Last year I was approached about joining the 365M program going to Ireland. While that would have been a fantastic experience, I hadn’t been released from my life and studies in Kansas City just yet. However, when the opportunity for Kenya opened, I applied. It was really a “no brainer” for me since I am a dual citizen between the U.S. and South Africa. I also went to boarding school for four years at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya, an hour away from Africa Nazarene University.

While I had my heart set on going to Kenya, I needed to make sure it was God’s desire as well. For several weeks I prayed for God’s leadership. One afternoon I was reading in the Gospel of Luke. I had been taking a class on Luke at the seminary where we were discussing God’s hospitality. The God we serve is a God who practices hospitality with his creation. His Son Jesus replicated this hospitality as well. Now, it is our turn to be sent out to show hospitality to others, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus sent out his disciples—whether they were ready for their mission

or not, whether they had materials to take with them or not. That afternoon, I knew that I, too, was being sent. Like it says in Luke 9:62, I can’t look back, for if I do, I am unfit for the Kingdom of God.

My assignment in Kenya will be:

--Teaching (both at ANU and via extension education in rural areas)

--Ministering in Ongata Rongai, Nairobi and other areas

--Building relationships with local students

--Ministering under Dr. Rod Reed, the deputy vice-chancellor at the university

--Taking online classes from NTS

--Embarking on many other journeys

I ask you, as I begin this new journey to Kenya, to partner with me in prayer. Prayer is a vital part of ministry and I feel strongly about it. My prayer is that the people of K

enya will be open and willing to hear the gospel through our friendship, testimonies, and shared experiences. So please be praying for God’s work already being done in Kenya and our work that lies ahead. Please pray for me as I prepare for this journey that will help shape the rest of my life. During my time overseas, I will be updating a website that you can follow at http://web.me.com/roland.tedder. If you prefer to go directly to the blog, check out http://web.me.com/roland.tedder/Roland Goes to Kenya/Blog/Blog.html. There will be pictures and weekly updates about the ministry being done in Ongata Rongai and beyond.

Not only would I seek your prayers, but your financial support if you feel led. Since I will be living overseas and will not be able to work at a paying job, I need to raise money for my year-long ministry by August 15, 2011. May I ask you to pray about financially investing in my overseas ministry. The cost of this journey is over $10,000 for the entire year. My previous life steps confirm God takes care of me—always. I am extremely grateful to, and blessed by, those whom God has prompted to support me financially. Thank you in advance for your contributions of prayer and financial support for my endeavor in Kenya. They will be thankfully accepted and wisely employed.

If you feel led to financially support my journey to Kenya, please choose from the contribution channels listed below.

Grace and Peace,

Roland Jerry Tedder

If you feel led to financially support my journey to Kenya, please use the following contribution details:

TUITION EXPENSES – for the 2011-2012 academic year will be roughly $9,000. Support for tuition expenses is tax-deductible and can be sent to:

Nazarene Theological Seminary

Attn: D. Martin Butler

1700 East Meyer Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 64131

Be sure to designate “365M Scholarship: KENYA”

NON-TUITION EXPENSES—includes everything from travel costs to Kenya, insurance, room and board, etc. The average flight to Kenya from Kansas City is around $1700. Monies for these expenses may be sent to:

Nazarene Global Ministry Center

Attn.: Molly Cole

17001 Prairie Star Parkway

Lenexa, KS 66110

Be sure to designate “ROLAND TEDDER 365M KENYA”

Those who are part of the church of the Nazarene will receive mission-giving credit for their local church for funds donated toward these expenses.

ONLINE GIVING

The 365M program is teamed together with Nazarene Mission Corps. You can check out my Nazarene Mission Corps website which has information on how to support me online at http://web.nazarene.org/goto/rolandgoestokenya.

Note:

My goal is to keep in contact with as many people as possible who want to know my steps since I believe God is pointing me toward full-time ministry overseas. My 365M steps are a big part of that journey. If you would like to be placed on an email list to get updates from my adventure, please email me at roland.tedder@gmail.com. Please let me know how you would like to keep up with my life steps in the journey God has placed me on for Him.

post lenten reflections 1

2011-04-27T17:22:00.002-06:00

this year i decided to do lent a little differently. part of the reason for that was because i didn't really think of anything to give up around lent time. another was that i wasn't theologically ready to do so. as i contemplated lent and what it means during lent, i thought about how necessary it is for followers of Christ to have the same attitude outside of the lenten season that they do during lent. part of lenten theology is giving up something that you have a lot, or think you can't live without, in order to think of Christ and his ultimate acts of self denial in going to the cross. Jesus utterly denied his will when he went to the cross. as a human being, he wanted life, not pain and suffering. thus, why he asked God for God's will, not his.

so, with that, monday i began a post-lenten journey. my goal is to make the way of the cross ever more evident in my daily life, not just forty days before easter. there are several things which i am attempting to give up this year. it will be a task which goes against my will, and that is my goal.

in these first few days of my journey, one of the biggest ideas which has been floating around my mind comes out of the book of philippians. there we see a verse which says do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility consider others above yourself. how utterly revolutionary of an idea! how many followers of Christ actually live this out? my guess is not many. i most certainly do not. however, i've tried to let this pass through my mind often in the last couple of days. i pray that it is not just often, but always.

the journey continues,

rjt

It isn't well with my soul

2011-04-21T18:37:00.002-06:00

Suffering. It's a fact of life. Everyone will go through it at some point or another. The main reason we go through it is because we weren't created for death. God breathed his very life into us so that we could thus enjoy his creation. We weren't created for sorrow or tough times either. That wasn't God's intention when he created us.

Recently, there has been a lot of suffering going on in several of the facets of my life. This year, I've known several people who died from cancer. I also know several more people diagnosed with cancer. And I know several who have continued their journeys through cancer. One is a seven year old boy with a twin brother and two young sisters. Another is a twenty something lady. I also know of several friends who have recently lost their jobs.

This really hit home this lenten season when our seminary president's wife found out her cancer had returned. Our seminary community was devastated. Today our president preached his final chapel service at NTS as president for he and his wife will be moving to California to be near to family during this time of what will probably be her last days on earth. She was there today to listen to her husband preach. As we began to sing, I couldn't look over at her and at the same time sing the lyrics to a him proclaiming that was fine with my soul. Yet, at the same time I was deeply moved by it.

The reason was because she and her husband could sing those two hymns. They knew that whatever their lot, God had taught them to say, it is well with their soul.

In moments of pain and moments of sorrow, we aren't ever promised that things will be easy. Our lots in this journey through life can be down right miserable. But the fact is that we have a God who journeys with us through those moments of infirmity or destruction. I don't understand why, and I am still learning to say it is well with my soul. But today, I was moved by two people who can firmly say in the face of sorrow that it is well with their soul.

I will be living in Kenya next year...

2011-03-20T12:34:00.002-06:00

I've been accepted into a program at my school called 365m, a program through which students are sent all over the world to do mission work and take classes all at the same time. Check out my website at web.me.com/roland.tedder for more info!

I interrupt this normal blogcasting moment to ask a favor:

2011-02-07T11:07:00.003-07:00

I really love rugby. My favorite team is the Natal Sharks. They are in a rugby tournament called the Super 15 with other teams from South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The tourney kicks off in two weekends. There aren't too many places to watch it here in the states. One of the last places to do so was Fox Soccer Channel. They are thinking about discontinuing their coverage. Please send them an e-mail through http://msn.foxsports.com/feedback and ask them not to do so. If you have a heart, if you are human, if you have two hands, heck one that can still type, please send them a message!

Part of missing the rains down in Africa entails missing this:

2011-02-06T23:33:00.003-07:00

My good friend Robert is currently back in Kijabe, Kenya where we went to boarding school together. I saw this view a few times on hikes with him and others. I miss it so! Glad he gets to be back experiencing this!

What does it take to be the hands and feet of Christ?

2011-02-04T20:28:00.002-07:00

it takes courage.

recently, i think that God has been placing people in my life for a reason. as i noted in previous posts, i took a course called the gospel of luke as a module course here at seminary. in that class two of the biggest subjects we dealt with were the hospitality of God and liberation for the poor. well, low and behold a few situations have occurred in the past several days that have dealt exactly with this.

last weekend, my sister and i had just finished grocery shopping when a lady motioned at us and came walking up. then she began her story. generally i just start to tune them out when that story starts and look for some change to give to them. but thankfully, my sister helped me not to do that. the lady's name was rochelle. she worked on the side of town where we were shopping, but lived with her young children at least twenty minutes away. she and they were hungry and cold and she didn't have a way to get back to them. we offered to take her to the bus depot, and she didn't want us to bother. but she did want us to pray. there in front of aldi's we prayed with her.

then tonight after a week of reading more into the gospel of luke, where just this morning i read about the good samaritan, about helping to usher in the kingdom of God, about asking God for our daily bread; libby and i encountered another similar situation. a gentlemen named terrance came up to us in westport, kansas city and told us of his young girls who needed diapers and nutritional milk. again, i longed just to end the conversation with me sticking my hand in my pocket and taking out some coins i got at the tip jar as a barista today, but thankfully yet again my sister continued in dialogue with the man. we went down to the local grocery story and got him what he had asked. he didn't come in with us, because he said he was already caught stealing some diapers earlier. this man had said that he had come to kansas city in hopes of a fresh start. he'd been a druggie in chi town, and wanted to take proper care of his wife, azetta and his girls.

it's times like these that we're faced with decisions. we can either just say, sorry i've got to go, or look to the scapegoat of some loose change. or, we can physically try to help these people. sure, there are cons out there. maybe even these people were cons. but we cannot be the judges of that. we're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the least of these. it's something that takes courage. it takes courage to take that step of getting out of our comfort zones and helping strangers.

yet, i also know there's so much more that can be done. i hope that i can find some meaningful ways, and i hope that the church can find some meaningful ways to help the rochelle's, terrance's, and azetta's which are all over our cities, our world.

the way we experience church

2011-02-03T16:46:00.005-07:00

first off, i don't want to title this the way we worship. worship should be our very existence. there should be no separation between our life and our worship as followers of Christ. so therefore i entitle this the way we experience church. for now, i just want to touch on the notion of music in church. there will forever be a battle between the generations as to how we partake in the said subject whilst at church. i'm reading a book about christian ethics, by a collaboration of authors, at the moment, and in it the author of a chapter talked about music styles and whatnot. basically he was concerned that music styles play too much to the current culture. i agree with this. i don't think that church needs to be some flashy place that caters to the desires of the cnn and itunes followers. however, the author did seem to advocate the hymns of the past as the way to go. hey, i enjoy hymns, no quibbles with that. but the fact is that those hymns are culturally relative in themselves. yes, many do speak a great theological wonder and biblical truth, but many of them do not as well. i think i am coming to the point where i believe wholeheartedly that theological significance should be the way we deem music suitable for the church. personally i'm a fan of hillsong united. i don't necessarily advocate everything the leader of their parent movement, brian houston, preaches, and i find a certain youtube parody of their church quite accurate in many regards. but, some of their songs speak of what the gospel is all about, and i wouldn't mind singing this in church sometime. this song is called solution. especially after this gospel of luke class that i was in, i think it sums up some key points we believe about Jesus, his love, compassion and hospitality:

It is not a human right
To stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey now
As we hold to our confession
Yeah

It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey Now
As we hold to our confession

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

Higher than a circumstance
Your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest line and dollar signs
Your love is all we need

Only You can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only You can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a Father to the fatherless
Our Savior and our King
We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet
We will run this race
On the darkest place, we will be Your light
We will be Your light

We will be Your hands , we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We'll sing

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

what i've learned in seminary this semester: modules

2011-02-03T14:29:00.004-07:00

so this semester started for me two and 1/2 weeks ago on january 17th. i was in a module class. a module class at nazarene theological seminary is a two week intensive course. they are just that, quite intense. my module class met every week night for 4 hours and 45 minutes. some people take two of these and so they are in class for 9 and 1/2 hours. most modules have pre course work, course work, and post course work. they are crazy.

i was in the gospel of luke. i was pretty excited for this class. the learning started right away. my favorite book before the course started (during the pre course work) was Jesus and empire by richard a. horsely. this book really gave me an in depth look at what the roman empire was like during Jesus' day. i really discovered how brutal the empire was. in fact this book helped me during my writing of a sermon that my sister Libby and i co-prought (past tense for preached) at our parents church, salt lake city first church of the nazarene, the day after christmas. it was entitled the refugee God. basically we talked about how Jesus was born into life as a refugee, for his family fled to egypt right after his birth because of the brutal killing of male babies which herod imposed on the people. maybe i will post our manuscript on here sometime.

during the class the biggest themes which we talked about were hospitality, liberation and jubilee. the liberation and jubilee themes were talked about in relation to leviticus 25 and how this chapter talked of the year of jubilee which would be practiced every 50 years by the people, where debts were forgiven, where land would lie fallow, and where basically everyone would have a new start (it's a lot more detailed than that, so you can go look it up if you like). liberation was highlighted in the fact that Jesus brought liberation to people who were oppressed, both spiritually and physically.

lastly, we talked about hospitality. i was in a group which focused on the book "the hospitality of God" by brendan byrne. this book focused on how luke highlights the fact that Jesus practiced the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers in the gospel of luke. this all started through God's gracious hospitality which he extended to his people through sending his Son Jesus to them. then we saw how Jesus extended hospitality to those he came in contact with and how some of those who came in contact with him did the same.

my friend Jared brought up a good point, that maybe as wesleyans we would refer to this as prevenient grace. i think that i tend to agree with him, because God was preceduous in his extension of his hospitality through his love, both throughout the old testament, but also through sending his son to us.

it was definitely an intense couple of weeks of study. i enjoyed learning from my peers and learning from our gracious professor as well. i'm really glad that i took the class. it's opened up my eyes to how Jesus lived his life and how we are called to replicate this.

the city of fountains

2011-01-08T23:01:00.003-07:00

i'm thankful for this place that i live. i'm thankful for friends here.

the new year

2011-01-08T22:58:00.002-07:00

i will:

stay in shape

- physically

- spiritually

it's out there. i'm committed to this.

What are you willing to sacrifice for a friendship?

2009-12-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

Five and almost a half years ago, I started my senior year of boarding school in Kijabe, Kenya at Rift Valley Academy. Three years prior to that I started out there for the first time, in 9th grade. When I first got there, a few great friends welcomed me the best they knew how. One of them was a friend who had lived there for all of his life. We hit it off from the get go, our passions for rugby and football draw us together. His family too welcomed me in the kindest way possible. I spent many hours at my friend’s house either working on homework, studying about God, fellowshipping with friends, or just resting. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. God had blessed me with a best friend.

Now back to five and a half years ago. It was the start of our senior year there at RVA. My friend and I had taken a liking for a girl who seemed to have the qualities that both of us looked for in a lady. We were on a collision course for disaster. I had known that my friend had liked this girl the previous year. I had as well. But, when I found out that he liked her, I made a mistake. I continued to pursue my own selfish desires. This meant that there was now something which had come between us. We were both fighting each other’s testosterone and our own friendship for something which in the end was all in vain.

My friends told me to stop. I didn’t listen. I continued on down a path of selfishness over friendship. Eventually, our friendship was almost nil. If we weren’t in the same Sunday School class and teammates on a rugby team, we wouldn’t have interacted much at all. The damage had been done, I had lost most of a friend who had meant three years of brotherhood in all aspects of life to me.

Thankfully, the pathway to reconciliation was started at the end of that school year, and today we’re friends again. But, the truth is that I regret the time that was lost. I regret not being able to be there for a brother who had been there for me.

Yesterday that brother got married. I couldn’t be more happy for a friend than I am for him. And I couldn’t be in more agony over the pain of what I had done to cause the rift in our friendship.

I hope that something can be learned from the stupidity of my example. I hope that others will seriously consider what they are sacrificing or giving up in their friendship with others when they enter into another.

Love you man. As you start this journey, I pray you have a life of blessedness with your God and your wife.

It’s fall. This means:

2009-10-23T16:29:00.001-06:00

Trees with an array of beautiful colors.

Hikes through the woods.

Pumpkin Spice Latte’s.

Hot Chocolate.

Football.

Colder weather.

Run’s on frosty days.

Sleeping with the added quilts on the bed.

Dressing up in fantastic costumes for spectacular parties.

Not wanting to get out of the hot shower.

Faint traces of snow.

Turkey.

Family.

The not-so-distant sound of Christmas music.

Amazing 4 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom 2300 sq. foot house for rent/sale in Meridian, Idaho. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell all!

2009-09-29T20:05:00.001-06:00

This comes from my parents:

" We own a lovely home in Northwest Meridian ID and are a mere fifteen minutes from MAF headquarters in Nampa. Currently the home is available for rental and is a delightful family home - with four bedrooms (each with walk in closet) 2.5 bathrooms – fenced and landscaped backyard with sprinkler system. It even has an above ground pool. It is well maintained in a quiet neighborhood sub division with access to schools. shops, etc in Meridian and Nampa, and Boise is just 15 minutes down the freeway.”

*** So, if you should know of anyone needing to rent here are details:

For Sale - $238,000
For Rent - $900
3290 N Morello Ave. Meridian, ID, 83646 Just NE of Ten Mile / Ustick - located in Hartford estates
Four Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom
2300 sq. foot
Landscaped yard and sprinkler system
2 - car garage
* You can find it on Craig's List and MLS Listing as well

For more information shoot me a line!

del.icio.us Tags: house,for,sale,meridian,idaho,ustick,ten,mile,2300sqft,4bd,2.5bth,pool,1/4ac,lot,buy,rent,$238000,$900

An update on my life…

2009-09-22T15:54:00.001-06:00

Hello friends. I got motivated recently just to give a quick update on my life and what’s going on.

In May I graduated from Northwest Nazarene University up in Nampa, Idaho, just outside of Boise. Those four years flew by so fast! I made some good friends there and it was sad to say goodbye! I had some awesome experiences there such a mission trip to Guatemala and a mission trip to Mexico. The trip to Guatemala was especially impactful because while we were there in October of 05, Hurricane Stan it. We could have easily lost our lives as we traversed a road where mudslides were falling all around us, and were wiping out whole villages right around us. Somehow God protected our bus as we ventured through that state of emergency. Somewhere around 1000 - 1400 people I believe were killed.

The mission trip to Mexico was awesome because four of us students and a prof planned it and led it. We built two houses while we were down there, and saw God in a completely different culture. Also while at NNU I was able to be an RA and be in the BRICK house. Both of those experiences were great and taught me a lot about myself and others. I made friends through those times that will last a lifetime.

For the past three and a half years I worked at Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene in Meridian, Idaho. It was such a blessing to have such a caring church home, and to be able to work with some of the best teens on the planet. For the three years I was there I worked mainly with the youth, worked with the kids some, and also helped with a Saturday night service. Those teens changed my life! I was given many chances to preach, particularly this past summer as the old youth pastor transitioned out. I definitely feel more prepared to preach and the experience was great. Over the years we had some great bonding experiences on mission trips and camps. I’ll never forget all I learned there. I worked under one amazing youth pastor. He cared greatly that the mission of Jesus be spread into the hearts and lives of those teens. He became one of my best friends as we spent two summers together and also some weekdays during the school year together.

I was also privileged to have a former Nazarene District Superintendent and now associate pastor at Valley Shepherd as my mentor. He taught me so many fantastic things, and the experience I had under him will effect my life and ministry forever. He became a great, great friend and ping pong partner.

At the end of August I moved to Kansas City, MO to attend Nazarene Theological Seminary. I am looking into getting a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Inter-Cultural Studies. I just started last week, but have really been enjoying classes and friends so far. Kansas City itself is a great place too. We live in a very non-white area of town, which is nice. Just down the street is the starlight theater. It’s a massive outdoor theater. During the summer Broadway shows come and tour through it. Last week we saw Mama Mia. It was pretty amazing stuff.

Last week I went to my friend Phil DeJong’s wedding. It was surreal to see one of my RVA friends get hitched. But it was also amazing to be with him and other friends who I haven’t seen in a while. I love the friends I made there… Unforgettable people…

That’s basically an update on my life… I’d love to hear how the rest of you are doing too. Drop me a line sometime. Or give me a ring…

A memorable night…

2009-07-22T16:11:00.001-06:00

9 and 1/2 years ago I started 7th grade in South Africa. My family had just moved back to South Africa after spending 11 years in Omaha, NE. I was born in South Africa, and we had visited twice to see family while we lived in Omaha, but I wasn’t prepared for the culture shock I would face. I left all my friends back in Omaha, and was now in what was at the time more of a foreign country to me. I started 7th grade at the beginning of the South African school year which starts in January at a elementary school called New Germany Primary School. It was the most frightening day of my life. To start it off I had to where shorts that were only half way down my thigh in front of all these girls at school. I also had to wear a Speedo to c0-ed swimming lessons a couple of days a week. And to top it off, my mom walked me to my first day of class, all the way to the classroom door, in front of all of those cute South African girls.

Yet, in the midst of the scariest moment of my life, a kid in my class befriended me. His name was Babayile Shabalala. He was awesome! He bought me snacks at school, introduced me to all of his friends, and just accepted this new white kid to the class. He always told me that he was the grandson of the lead singer of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a Grammy Award winning men’s choral group from a couple of hours away from where we were attending school. I left South Africa and Babayile two years later, but always remembered him, and what he had told me about his family heritage.

The story continues 9 and 1/2 years after I first met Babayile. My grandma and I had seen that Ladysmith Black Mambazo was coming to Nampa, ID, and she asked if I wanted to go as a part of my graduation present. We were able to get close to front row seats. Last night was the night of the concert. It was amazing! I had always admired their beautiful voices dancing through different harmonies and rhythms, but to hear it in life was unforgettable. I was so excited I took out my phone and regular camera and took a bunch of pics and videos of them. At intermission a guy came up and told me how distracting that had been to the people behind me, haha! If only he could have known of the connection I had with the group.

At intermission I also bought some CD’s and a DVD of theirs. After the last song had ended I dashed out with grandma to get it all signed by the group. Three members of the group were signing everyone’s CD’s so I also got in line. When I got up there I double checked to make sure that the group was all related to each other. The guy I talked to said yes, and then I told him I knew Babayile, that guy from all those years ago in New Germany, South Africa. He was just as shocked as I was at the news. He told me to wait a couple of seconds and then I could go back stage to meet his dad and grandpa. My grandma and I followed some of the guys back into the change room and we found all of the guys gathered together. Sure enough, there was his dad and grandpa. I told them of the connection, and we shared in some happiness. I got Babayile’s address and I gave them mine. I went around and shook their hands and gave Joseph Shabalala a hug, while my grandma stood on the side as many of the guys changed their pants and shirts while she looked on, haha! They noticed this however, and tried to come up and talk to her and distract her. It was so great to see some South Africans again and to make a connection with the family of a good friend I had while living in South Africa. After a final picture together we said good-bye, and grandma and I left laughing and smiling about how great the night had been! Truly unforgettable! Go and check em out, they are awesome! They have been apart of soundtracks on movies, as well as sung with some of the world’s great singers!

Bring RUGBY back to the Olympics! Sign this Petition!

2009-05-30T00:11:00.002-06:00

sign this petition to bring rugby back to the olympics:

www.olympic-rugby.org

Help me decide…

2009-05-06T23:04:00.001-06:00

So I am here at the end of college… I have been blessed with some nice graduation money as well as I have just done well saving up money for a while. My current computer is literally falling apart, the screen is hanging on by a thread, so it’s not like I am just gong for the upgrade, I actually do need one. So I have some options as to how to spend it…

Option A: The MacBook Pro

Option B: The MacBook plus ipod touch

Option C: HP Pavilion dv5t plus ipod touch

Option D: HP Pavilion + Trip to Australia

Option E: HP Pavilion + Shopping for new clothes

Option F: New Clothes + Trip to Aus

Any thoughts?

song of the week

2009-03-27T00:34:00.001-06:00

smile like you mean it – the killers

this video is less than quality, but it was all i could find on youtube

song of the week

2009-03-18T01:25:00.001-06:00

this more adequately would go under a post ‘video of the week’. yes… the song is good, but the video is absolutely amazing. I am not copying P.W. Antilla, for in fact, I showed it to him first a few months back ;) But here it is:

life in technicolor ii – coldplay

song of the week

2009-03-12T00:19:00.001-06:00

fix you – coldplay

song of the week

2009-03-03T22:33:00.001-07:00

a lack of color – death cab for cutie

You think the US has a bad economy? It’s really not that bad!

2009-03-03T19:18:00.002-07:00

Before you read any further, I would like to say that I am saddened by the current economy in the US. Yes it is sad that people are losing jobs, and that people are having to go to food banks and homeless shelters. I am so sorry for those who have lost their 401k’s or who have lost great numbers of their retirement, or who have been cheated out of money by investors. Again, don’t get me wrong, I feel very blessed to be getting an education and to have a place to live. However, what we are facing here in the US really isn’t that bad, and it could be so much worse!

Zimbabwe is a place that is close to my heart. My uncle and his family (wife and kids) lived there for many years, my uncle lived there for over 40 years and he and his family are Zimbabwean citizens. My grandma also lived there for many years as well. I lived in two countries which bordered Zimbabwe, so what happens there matters to me.

10 years ago, Zimbabwe was thriving as a country. It was known as “the bread basket of Africa.” The reason for this is because it was supplying enough food for itself and many other countries in Africa. Now, ten years later, the country has gone done the tubes thanks to a greedy leader named Robert Mugabe.

The economy there is now the worst in the world. Many of its statistics rank amongst the worst in the world.

So we have an unemployment rate of 7.6% right now here in the U.S. Statistically speaking that is equal to 11,000,000 of Americans that can work. That is a lot of people!

However, the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is 94%! Apply that to the amount of Americans that can work and you come up with 145 million people. That is hard to imagine! Can you imagine 145 million Americans without a job?

Zimbabwe has roughly a population of 12.8million people. Using the statistics of Americans that can work, that would mean 6.4million Zimbabweans can work. With an unemployment rate of 94% that means that 6,016,000 Zimbabweans are without a job.

Zimbabwe’s population is 4% of America’s yet the unemployed people of Zimbabwe already represent half of our unemployed people in the US. Remember, that would be 145 million Americans without a job.

Another big number to look at is the inflation rate in Zimbabwe. 6 months ago it was at 231,000,000 %, and their economy has done nothing but fall apart since then. Right now the inflation rate in the US is at roughly 4%. that is 1/58000000th of Zimbabwe’s.

Yes the American economy is bad compared to what it has been before. But we are no where near as bad as it could be. The Average American has food on the table. The average Zimbabwean gets a meal once every four days. If that isn’t sobering I don’t know what is.

In these times of a bad economy who can we turn to for hope? Where does your allegiance lie?

A REAL way to HELP Zimbabwe!

2009-02-18T17:32:00.003-07:00

Hello everyone...

Today I came across a real way to help the people of Zimbabwe, please sign the petition at the following link to urge the African Union (Which is similar to the European Union or United Nations but for Africa) to stay true to it's promise to do everything it can to help the new government in Zimbabwe. This is a REAL way in which you can help the desperate people of that country! Go to this link:

http://www.one.org/zimbabweandtheau/index.html?rc=zimbabwefb&t=Zimbabwe+in+Crisis

Roland

Zimbabwe

2009-01-22T00:05:00.001-07:00

my heart breaks for you... and for the rest of the African and worldwide nations which are so often overlooked...

There is one thing for certain

2009-01-20T00:31:00.001-07:00

God is good...

you all should read Sacramental Life by David A. DeSilva... Life changer

Don’t pee outside in a closed park and then drive on the grass instead of the road…

2009-01-15T13:30:00.002-07:00

So two years ago I was in Omaha with my family for a wedding. My friend from Africa, Pete came out to visit me while we were there. One night we were really bored. So we drove around for a while. It got to be 2am or so, and we went to this park. There was nothing that was stopping us from getting in and we didn’t see any closed signs so we kept going.

We then proceeded to pee in the Missouri river. Then we got back in Pete’s truck and he backed up onto the grass in the park instead of going on the road.

And then this cop turned on his lights and we stopped. And we got tickets. Then he told us that we would have to go to court, back in Omaha. But then we found out we could just write to the district attorney with a check for the ticket. I found my letter and here it is:

I haven’t blogged in a little while…

2008-12-03T02:17:00.002-07:00

This past month has been very busy. And it has had emotional highs and lows. On November 14, 2008 at about 3:30 in the afternoon, I lost my grandpa, one of my heroes. I knew that his passing was eminent, and I thought I would be ready, but I wasn’t. Oh how I miss him. I just want to go into your office and see your big smile and talk. Maybe add some more additions to your desk. Grandpa there is so much I wish I could talk with you about. I miss you. Your legacy was left across the world. You’re the best grandpa I could have ever asked for. Love you.

Since then I was up to a lot as well. My roommate from boarding school flew into the states mid November. It was good to be with him. We headed down to Salt Lake City and saw the most legendary band of my generation. Coldplay, you guys were amazing. Thanks for putting on an awesome show. It was quite something to be packed into the Energy Solutions arena with 15,000 fellow fans. Hope to see you again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-j4vB0B6Mg

Then Wray and I headed out east to meet up with another 17 of our classmates from Kenya. Wow, it was such a memorable time. Some of you I hadn’t seen since 05 and it was great to be able to see your faces again. It was awesome to be with people who understand my third culture craziness. Thank you to the Duncan’s and your family for allowing us to crash your place and thank you so much for all you guys did.

While in West Virginia we did a lot of fun things. One of these things was running a 5k race in 27 degree weather. That was pretty chilly, and having frozen sweat on my face at then end of the race proved it. It wasn’t too fun having to throw up 6 times during the race either, but I finished, and that was fun. I also watched the new Bond again, and this time I thought it was great. The first time I slept through parts, and now I realize that those were some good parts, and that missing them made me miss the plot. So yes, that was actually a great movie. It was quite the experience to be on the local news in Parkersburg, WV. I wish I would have talked in my South African accent though. Oh well. Anyways, all that happened in West Virginia was awesome. Thanks to all of you former classmates that were there to share in the fun.

Now I must get back to adding the finishing touches to this paper due tomorrow. Only one more week and a few days left and then this semester will be finished. Wow it flew by.

Technorati Tags: Floyd,Jerry,Perkins,Africa,RVA,West Virginia,Thanksgiving,Coldplay,Turkey,Trot,5k

You will forever be missed…

2008-11-15T01:28:00.001-07:00

Grandpa, I am so glad you have no more suffering. It was so great to be with you as you passed on. I love you, and will never forget all that you have taught me. You were the greatest example anyone could ever give me. Thank you for living your life of faith, hope and courage. I will miss you so much. I am so glad that we got to see each other so much the past 3 1/2 years. I love you, and I hope heaven is amazing.

Check it out now.

2008-11-01T14:22:00.001-06:00

So this is the costume that I wore for TWIRP (The Woman Is Required to Pay) last night. It was probably my best costume ever… By the way, that stache is real, 100% human hair, made in China. So I don’t know who’s human hair, but it’s real baby!And I bowled my best game ever wearing this, so that must be a sign. I was at 180 and then we had to leave. Sad.

Politics

2008-10-30T17:41:00.001-06:00

I definitely used to have set out views on politics. I will admit that I was one of those people who liked republicans just because I was a Christian. Now I have changed. Now I am wondering if Christians really should be so in to politics. I mean I have no problem with being excited with how the government works and all of that. But should we really be expecting to get the kind of change that Christ wants to see through the avenue of politics? Should we be labeling people as the “Matthew 25” president? I really do not think so at all.

Christ has called us to be the ones to be the change we want to see in the world. He has called us to feed the hungry and to clothe the poor. I honestly believe that we shouldn’t look to the government to do that. Yes, they most certainly can help, but should we put our hope and trust in them?

No, we should not. As a follower of Christ our hope and trust should be placed in the hands of God. We should be willing to do the things that Christ has called us to do. If Christians actually lived out what they believed, and are told to do by Jesus himself, the world would see the change that presidential hopefuls claim they can bring.

Yes, I do have my views on politics. And I do believe in certain rights, and in certain ideologies. But I will not look to a president to bring change. Either republican or democrat. They simply cannot bring about all that they promise.

My vote is with Christ and what he has called us to do. We are to do whatever necessary to bring the Kingdom to earth. Yes, I will cast my vote for the next president of the USA, but I will not do it because I think that will bring about huge change in America.

“Be the change you want to see in the world”

What do you guys think of this?

2008-10-20T23:12:00.001-06:00

This is a pretty long video. But I wanna know what you think about this…

Technorati Tags: How,He,Loves,John Mark McMillan

I don’t know why…

2008-10-20T23:08:00.001-06:00

We get into the circumstances that we do. But I do know that we can learn from each of them. As I have grown older in my life I have realized this more. And I have also had less and less regrets as I learn to make wiser decisions. But the truth is that life can hurt sometimes. But I am one of those people who believes that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes this reason is because our choices have taken us there, but most of the time it’s because God wanted us to experience something. I have always been a person who regrets some of the things I have done, but now I want to be one of those people who doesn’t have regrets.

Throughout life we are faced with many different circumstances. And for whatever reason we have the possibility of doing one thing or the next. But like I said, I believe that all of this happened for a reason.

I want to move on from my past. I know this is really childish, but it’s what popped into my head: It’s like on the Lion King when Simba gets all sad about his circumstances and mad at himself for being the “cause of his dad’s death.” Even though he wasn’t in the end. Simba couldn’t move on from that pain. I don’t want to be the old Simba. I want to be the Simba that was ready to be king. I want to be ready for the circumstances in the here and now.

I didn’t go down the path I wanted to 3 years ago. And that left me in pain, just like Simba had been. But now I have the chance to live for the moment… God has something else in store. And I’m hoping I can live for that, rather that live in the past and live in the happiness that I once had. True happiness comes when we are in the center of God’s will. I haven’t been for some time, I will freely admit that. It’s time to turn over a new leaf.

Oh to be a monk…

2008-10-06T23:42:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I had the privilege of going to up to Jerome, Idaho to stay at the Monastery of the Ascension with my Spiritual Formation class. When I heard we were going to a monastery, I figured it would either be like one of those old stone castles or it would be like one of those old wooden churches from Europe. It wasn’t really either. It was actually more like a small catholic church with a conference center attached to it.

But it was a great time up there. Whether it was Father Norbert saying damn or the monk from Spain falling asleep before it was his turn to lead a chant, it was all great.

I had the chance to think about my life for the last three years. I am now a senior here at NNU and a lot has happened. But my mind kept on travelling back to one place in time that happened two years and four days ago. It was one of the best days of my life. But I screwed it all up. She meant a lot to me, and has never left my mind or my soul. I miss you and would go back in a heartbeat.

It was a good time of reflection. I was thankful for the beauty of the countryside and for the rain that came down as I journal-ed. I was able to look back and think about the good memories, and the bad. The happy times and the sad.

Those monks live an interesting life. But it is one of great spiritual devotion. In some ways I wish I could live like them, and have my devotion structured the way they do. I learned so much from them. Just because they do things differently doesn’t mean it’s wrong, in fact, what they do is extremely inspiring to me.

There were some funny moments while I was up there. Like Josh and his lady. And like getting sprayed with Holy Water. Like saying the wrong words in the services. Like walking through the corn fields. Like Matt’s knitting.

Oh to be a monk…

This thing is so cool

2008-09-29T22:42:00.001-06:00

So I am writing this from Window Live Writer Beta. First off, Windows Live Beta has been out for a little while now, but it is the most awesome thing ever. It comes with the latest messenger, then this blog thing that lets you write blogs easily while offline or online from a program on your desktop.

It also comes with this picture editing program. It’s all pretty pimpin.

Plus it comes with Windows Live Mail, which you can use all of your e-mail accounts on and you can use it offline and it will send your stuff the next time your online. But think about it, all of your e-mail accounts from one place. It rocks my socks.

So you should all go and download it, so you can see how amazing it really is.

This past week…

2008-09-28T22:59:00.001-06:00

This past week has had its good and sad moments. First off, the sad. My Grandpa’s prostate cancer has spread to his back. Not good. He is in so much pain, and it is very sad to see. My grandpa has been one of the biggest influences on my life. He has been a man of great integrity, and has led a life by example. He starts radiation this coming week, but only to stop some of the pain, not stop the cancer.

It was good to be with my parents. They were up at a retreat in McCall, and spent some time down here as well. We had fun.

Finally this past weekend was spent up at McCall on a retreat with the religion department here at NNU. It was pretty fun. I really enjoyed getting to know some of my fellow students and staff better. And we played two ball a lot. The one of the best games ever!

Also, I enjoyed this song:

OMG!! They ran out of gas in Tennessee!!! Look at Zimbabwe!

2008-09-20T23:20:00.002-06:00

So the headlines on CNN today read that 3/4's of the gas stations in Nashville were out of gas today. What a catastrophe! We won't be able to drive down to the mall or go down to the local McD's for lunch! Saddest day of our lives...

Ok, now think about the country of Zimbabwe.
They have had acute fuel shortages for almost a decade. People would wait in line for gas over night sometimes. Often times lines were at least 200 hundred cars long. I watched the news the other day and people were so upset to wait for 10 cars in a line. Somewhere in the Southeastern US.

We have become such a demanding society.

We only care about us. But seriously! Think about the people of Zimbabwe, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Rwanada, Congo, and the list goes on. People are suffering daily around the world, and they become accustom to living lives that Americans could never ever dream about living.

Seriously lets try not to be so ignorant, and lets try and be thankful for what we have.

$5 a gallon for gas? What about $18 a gallon in Sierra Leone.

A bad economy? What about inflation at 70 MILLION PERCENT in Zimbabwe!

Hungry from taking a 24 hour fast? Try not eating for 120 hours in a row, a reality facing many people in Zimbabwe.

one chance...

2008-09-02T20:34:00.002-06:00

The average person in the US lives 2,453,500,800 seconds. Does anyone else think that isn't really all that much? i mean, ya that is definitely a big number, but those are only seconds, not minutes or hours or anything. they go by sooo fast. blink and another one is gone.
so with that in mind, think about how many times you only get one chance to make an impact...
I know personally it happens ALL the time...
i wrote this little poem thingy:

One chance

I see the man with no money
But I look the other way
I see the angry woman walking down the street
But I fail to smile
I see the friend who is so sad
But I don’t give them a hug
I see the most beautiful girl in the world
But I neglect to say hello

I see the dying yearning for help
But I look the other way
I wake up to the most spectacular day
But I fail to smile
I see the person who has experience a loss
But I don’t give them a hug
I see a complete stranger
But I neglect to say hello

In life we have thousands of one chances… But they could be our last

Babies everywhere!

2008-08-26T00:09:00.003-06:00

So school starts tomorrow! Wow... It is going to be interesting for sure.
It is my last year of college... I am a senior, for those of you who are still wondering what that means. haha
I bought my 23 books for 1st semester today. Guess how much they cost?
$607! Can you believe it?
What a crazy world.
Tonight I also moved into my grandparents.
That wasn't where I was going to be living when this school year rolled around.
But I feel a peace about it.
But ya, here goes another year of my life.
I think it will be great.
It starts at 9:30 am tomorrow

Video from Portland mission trip

2008-08-12T21:41:00.001-06:00

So here is a video from the recent mission trip to Portland. Abbey Howard you are stellar for doing an awesome job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpqUZymRU7A

I have been challenged...

2008-08-12T01:02:00.003-06:00

This past week was awesome. I went with the senior high youth from the church I have been interning at for the summer (Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene) on a mission trip to The Community of Adsideo in Sellwood, Oregon. We spent the week with them. And it was flat out awesome.
How many times in the Bible do we see community being talked about? A lot is the answer I am looking for. How many times does your average church here in the US actually get involved with the community? Not a whole lot.
But this was a different story. This church really practices being the embodiment of Christ to those there in Sellwood and Portland as a whole. The people of this church have a remarkable desire to know people, no matter who they are, at a deep level of community.
This is what church is intended to be about. It's about being the church, and being Jesus the whole week! Not just for 90 minutes on a Sunday morning.
Adsideo challenged me, and I am stoked for the future. I hope you are too...

Peace and Love

It is well with my soul... Dedicated to those who have passed this week

2008-07-19T16:07:00.004-06:00

This week has been rough. A few people that I have known have gone on to heaven. Today at the memorial service for one of those people, this hymn was sung. If anyone ever needs encouragement, I would suggest reading the story behind the author. It is pretty awesome stuff. To go through the things he went through yet to still say, "It is well with my soul," is downright incredible. But this is what faith in Jesus Christ is all about. Just this past week I read of how even through losing your oldest son who was just twenty years old, a father could still sign off a letter, "With great joy in a great God!"

It Is Well with My Soul

Text: Horatio G. Spafford
Music: Philip P. Bliss

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
 when sorrows like sea billows roll;
 whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
 It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
 It is well with my soul,
 it is well, it is well with my soul.

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
 let this blest assurance control,
 that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
 and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
 (Refrain)

3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
 My sin, not in part but the whole,
 is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
 praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
 (Refrain)

4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
 the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
 the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
 even so, it is well with my soul.
 (Refrain)

The world has lost a great man but heaven has gained him

2008-07-15T22:38:00.002-06:00

I was so deeply saddened by the passing of Ben. It doesn't seem fair at all to me. He was a friend. One that I didn't know too well, but still, a friend. He was almost always smiling and this is what sticks out to me about him. Maybe God brought him to this earth for the purpose of brightening people's days. I think that is a possibility. Thank you Ben...

do this peeps!

2008-07-14T23:01:00.001-06:00

Matthew 25:35 & 36
"35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'"

Jesus is calling us to do this... Why don't we? Let's get on it!

San Francisco....

2008-07-06T21:28:00.002-06:00

Was awesome.
For those of you that don't know, I went on a mission trip down there with the junior highers from my church. It was great. We went with the organization CSM (Center for student missions.) They did an awesome job. It was probably the busiest mission trip I have been on, and one of the coolest. We worked with the homeless, poor, kids, AIDS victims, tons of people. It was awesome to be able to give food to people, to show them love, to play with kids. Just great stuff. I wish I was back there.

it's been a really long time.

2008-06-20T23:31:00.002-06:00

It has been forever since I have blogged...
So much has happened since my last blog.

1) I finished my junior year of college
It wasn't my favorite year of my life. This school year I kind of just pulled away. For those of you that don't know (which I don't really know why you would be reading this if you don't), I am a missionary kid. As a missionary kid I am also seen as a third culture kid. This means that I have a home culture which is my parents, another place that I call home, and I have lived in a place which is neither of those two. Because of both of the previous criteria, this means that I am different to your average American kid, or your average kid anywhere really. It also means that I have experiences that most of my peers have not had. It also means that I don't really consider America home. Being a TCK also means that I really miss being around others who know who I feel. Because of all of the previously stated facts, I just don't really get all that close to my average peer at NNU. I get close by their standards. This is because I can generally act like them and even talk like them. But I am still missing out, and longing for that connection I made with friends in boarding school and with other MKs. Anyways, with all of that said, I sort of was tired of life, and tired of faking being close to people. So I withdrew, and I basically hung out by myself for most of the year. It was a good time for me. It was a good time to sort of think through my life.

2) I went to Mexico with a team from NNU going with Amor Ministries.
This trip was awesome. I had been longing for some third culture experiences basically since I got back from my last experience last summer. And I had also been planning this trip with a professor and three other students. The team that we had was awesome. It was great to be with some neat people, and above all to really just do the work that God calls us each to do. He calls us to love one another, and what better way than to build a house for fellow human beings. It was just great. I loved being on bumby roads again, and I actually liked being back in horrible traffic. Mexico is a great place. I hope that I can remember some of the lessons I learned on that trip.

3) I started a summer internship
This summer I am the Pastoral Intern at my church, Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene. It has been a great experience so far. I share an office with the youth pastor, who is pretty neat. The rest of the staff are great too. So far I really have learned a lot about church dynamics, and how the pastoral staff work together. It has been a busy job, and everday I learn something new.

So those are really the highlights.

It seems to me like I am really just stuck right now. I have kind of reached a point where I am fed up with some things. Life is good. But at the same time it is meaningless. And I find that all around me there are just more and more things that can hinder our relationship with Christ.

I am tired of politics. I am tired of egos. I am tired of the media. I am tired of...

it goes on

Strawberries and Rugby

2008-04-12T00:24:00.001-06:00

Two things I am indulging in right now... both fresh, both juicy... go lions

Servanthood

2008-04-11T16:28:00.004-06:00

Hey people, guess what? There is much more to life than you, your girlfriend, your TV, your computer, etc. Being a follower of Jesus is all about being a servant and giving up your comfort for other people. It isn't about spending 24/7 with your girlfriend and forgetting about your friends. It isn't about watching your TV or being so addicted to a show (like the office) that you forget about helping someone out with a need.
Life is about sacrificing your time, your grades, your needs, your emotions to further those of others... Forget yourself and remember those around you.

American Media is so BIAS

2008-04-11T16:12:00.000-06:00

So, flip on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, or most other channels of the like, and when they talk about politics, most of what you see is Barack Obama. I don't really know who I am voting for yet, but based on those channels you would think that Obama has a clear lead over everyone. But, the truth is, John McCain has the lead... Isn't it funny how you never hear about such things? I just think it's ridiculous how the media tries to decide for you who should win the elections all because of their owners and those pumping their money in are democrats. Wow, let's grow up America!

Also, when was the last time you heard something good about the war?! Never! I am not trying to express my views on the war here, and whether or not the USA should be over there at all, but seriously, the US is doing a decent job over there. All you see on CNN is "The war is so bad, the latest poll thinks the US should get out." Who the hell are they polling? Lawmakers in Washington DC? Check any US government website and you will find out the true results of what is happening in the war.

Last year there was a special speaker in my Human Resource Management class who spoke on the above topic. And he let us know what is really going on over there, instead of the crap that Ted Turner is trying to make the world believe. It saddens me that people will actually believe what they see on TV without a grain of salt. Please think about what you are believing, and actually try to back it up before you believe it. Change you can believe in huh? That is the same change that the last 6 presidents have promised as well...

http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/mccain-erases-obamas-lead-in-new-poll/20080410150809990001

Christianity = Love

2008-04-03T18:59:00.000-06:00

So… For the first ¾’s of my life, I struggled with what Christianity truly was. Maybe not so much of a struggle, but more of something that I wasn’t sure of. I knew how to become a Christian, and how to generally live a good life. But, as of late, I have discovered more of what it means. Around December of 2003, I was listening to the song “In Christ Alone”. As I listened to it, I started to realize some things. One of these was as the words ‘up from the grave he rose again’ spoke to me. Here is Jesus Christ, the man whom we follow, and the entire reason why he came was first of all to die on the cross, but secondly to raise from the dead. Ask most people why Christ came to the earth, especially little kids in Sunday school, and they will tell you he came to die on the cross for our sins. But, how amazing is it to realize that he actually came back from that death? ‘Up from the grave he rose again.’ The next part of that lyric is also awesome. ‘Now as he stands in victory, sins curse has lost its grip on me. For every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I stand.’ We are free because of his death. Yes, this is pretty commonly taught in the church. But, how much do we here about his life? Obviously we hear about it a lot during this Easter season. I hope we can think about it for the rest of our lives.

Then we as ‘little Christ’s’ are called to live like him. What did he live like? He loved. What does it mean to love? It means to give your all to God, and to treat others as you would yourself. How many of us do this (I am talking to myself too)? I would say a pretty small fraction of us. What if we fed the poor as much as we would like to eat? What if we gave them the warmth of a bed or a house that they would like at night? These are part of the reasons I want to go back to Africa. I am not saying that people here in the USA don’t need this type of attention either. But God is leading me to Africa. I am not going there to implement a culture on their lives. In fact, I want to become part of theirs. I just want to treat the people of Africa the way I want to be treated. The only way to do this is through love. I am definitely trying to take the plank out of my own eye, because I know I don’t love others the way Christ did. I am also sorry for people who turn away from Christianity because of people like me who don’t love like we should. The way of Christ is a challenge, but one that I am willing to partake in.

One last thought. Imagine if we didn’t judge each other… Christ didn’t judge people. ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone’ Yes, we all make mistakes, but should we let that get in the way of how we think of people? n o

Judging others and prayer two things in my mind lately

2008-04-01T17:24:00.001-06:00

Judging one another is something that we all do. If you are someone who doesn't please stand up and be counted. But, think about a non-judgmental world.... What would that look like? Just think about it. No misconceptions about anyone... No prior ideas about anyone or anything. In my eyes this would be the perfect world. Just this week I heard a story of someone who looked at me and thought I was a horrible person for how I treated someone, when I know they didn't know my side of it at all. But.... I do the same exact thing. I am so judgmental about everything that has come my way in life. I stand on the other side and look down upon the people I have made relations with and if they have failed, I judge that person and those around them. This is what I am talking about. What if we didn't judge them, and they not judge us. I think that would bring us to a point of recognition of others where we can view them for who they are, not who we think they are. I think it would honestly open the doors of intercommunication with hundreds more people who we are not in communication with right now. I want to personally apologize to each of you who I have judged in my life... Old friends, ex girlfriends, everyone...

The unfortunate thing about this Utopian society is that there has to be judgment in life, unless we all are non-judgmental. For one person who is judgmental will cause a ripple effect like we see today.

Next, Prayer...

Recently I preached a sermon on prayer. I came to some conclusions. Prayer isn't something to be afraid of. Often times we think that prayer is something that has to involve huge words which we know nothing about. God has called us not to 'babble on like the pagans', but rather to pray simply like we see in the Lord's prayer. The Message paraphrases the Lord's prayer and the surrounding scripture amazingly. It says:

Matthew 6:5-15 (The Message)

Pray with Simplicity

5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

14-15"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.

____________________________________________________________________

I just love that whole passage. People shouldn't be afraid to pray... It's an easy step we can take to further our relationship with God. Prayer isn't having the ability to sound righteous. It isn't about making people like you. It is between you and God, and you can praise him, ask him, talk to him, do anything you like to in prayer.

Love

2008-03-26T23:44:00.000-06:00

It's driving me crazy

thoughts on Love, social justice, and non-violence: part one

2008-03-14T04:36:00.000-06:00

This is something that I wrote a few weeks ago... a lot of my views have changed since then... so more will come later... but yes, indulge your senses

We as Christians are commanded to love one another, and bless those who persecute us. I agree with this whole heartedly. Christ died upon the cross to save us from our sins. He did it in the most humble way, no complaints at all. Why did he do it? The answer is for our salvation. The way in which he did it was to make a point. He did it without questions to show the world his love, and God's love for us. Did Jesus ever have opinions? Yes, he most certainly did. Did he ever take action? Yes he most certainly did. Christ lived a life of standing for what he believed in. Healing on the Sabbath day, associating with the down and out, and tossing the tables in the synagogue.
I believe that as Christian's we need to fight for social justice. Social justice is the fight for justice in every level of society, not just the law! It is our responsibility to condemn wrong doing, to fight for the down and out, and to respect all people. By respecting all people, this means to respect every race! Not just respect the blacks through the civil rights movement, but also to respect the blacks, whites, yellows, reds, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Moromons and stand against the hatred seen in society through music, media and entertainment.
Mr. Al Sharpton, it isn't just the whites who discriminate! Look at some of the rap music and other forms of media. Evey people group on earth discriminates, and we need to stand against it. You are no reverend in my mind, after all some bishop claimed you as one when you were nine years old, after going through no schooling or other form of teaching to become one.
I would like to ask some questions. Who here would let someone come into your home and rape your mother, sister or daughter and say, "Go ahead and rape them, you know I love you sir, so please rape them!" "Please stick foreign objects in their private parts and destroy their body, please go ahead while I stand here and love you so much!" Which lady out there would say, "Please execute my husband while I stand here and love you!" All of these are horrific forms of violence which should not take place. So why do we let it happen around the world? We must make it stop. We have to fight for what is right. All of the religions aforementioned in this note claim to be peaceful and promote non-violence, so then, why is their cruelty toward humanity occurring around the world? Obviously something is not right. No matter what religion you are, this should not be happening. It is not just an American agenda to go and promote democracy. Social justice in all religions says that violence is wrong. But to stop violence, you cannot just sit and say, "please stop, while I stand back and love you." Is that going to work? No! Many different people groups and countries have tried that throughout the history of the world. For social justice to work in the world, something must be done. I believe that the three in the title of this note can coincide together. Will they ever? I don't know. But, I do know a way to try and get them to do so. That is to stop the hatred and the violence through action against the people that are creating it! Yes, I believe that violence should be used against leaders of countries or people groups that are killing or hurting the innocent. These people have been given the chance to stop what they are doing, but have they?
Another thing I believe strongly in, is not sitting by while people gear up their armies to destroy the innocent. For years no action was taken against terrorist groups in the middle east. If we had stopped them when they began, so much of what they did to humanity would not have occurred. Instead we had leaders who did not take action against them, and instead let them build up their hatred and animosity. Is this right to let them do this? Is it ok to let someone come rape your sister or mother? No! Action is appropriate in some cases. As we come closer to the election in the US, let's try and think of a leader who will fight for social justice, not just here in the US, but around the world. Someone who will fight for what is right. Not sit back and focus on some little Americans and what will do them the best. Combine the two. Fight for social justice in the US and the world. Let's stop being so selfish.