Mississippi Relief Trip from February

I have no idea if this is going to work. Its not that I'm a technophobe. Its more that I'm a Bellsnwhistlesaphobe. I like technology. I'm not a fan of gadgets. So my lack of photos online is a direct correlation to my lack of willingness to get photos, digitize them, scan them, and upload them to various different programs all over the web. But these photos were too good to pass up.

So, now, if all goes according to plan, here are five photos from my mission trip to Mississippi earlier this year:

Here I am actually working. Not too many photos of this since I was mostly the support crew. In this photo, I think I'm holding something in place while the ladies are on the roof hammering it down. I worked on the ground and hence, took a lot of the photos.

Here I am holding a board which is being handed up to the ladies on the roof. In the distance you can see one of the ladies in conversation with the house's owner, Lee. For a point of comparison, most of that tree in the background was underwater during the Katrina storm surge.

At night, we surrounded the campfire - some for good times and conversation, but mostly to stay warm. It dropped below 20 degrees at night while we were there. In fact, it was colder in Mississippi that week than in Alaska (In February!) The only things we had to keep us warm was the campfire and our on again/off again heating blowers that blew warm smoky air into our cabins at night. But hey, it was too cold for mosquitoes.

Did I mention it was cold? On this particular morning, it didn't reach 20 degrees until about 10am. I think I had every layer covered with two or three things. But since most of the roof was finished (as you can see in the bottom of the photo) there wasn't a whole lot for me to do to stay warm. Where I'm standing used to be the backyard den of this house. It floated away during the flood.

Evidence of the infamous Sugar Fight at the Cafe Du Mond! On our last day in the area, we went to church in New Orleans and then got to explore the city for about two hours. We had beignets at the famous Cafe Du Mond which quickly erupted into a giant powder sugar fight. Nobody was left unscathed. After that, I had to find a Po Boy so that I could complete my New Orleans menu (we'd already done the Cajun gumbo and seafood boil the day before).

In all, it was a great experience. Not only did I get to meet some great new people, but I also got to live out my faith for an entire week (and I was well fed also... catfish and fried chicken and... ;) The fact of the matter is, this one week of work for me was more fulfilling than the remaining 51 weeks at any other job. If you get the chance this year to do something with your time off, I totally recommend serving others. You can't better the experience, no matter how much money you spend.

"From the Archives" Friday

This is probably the best response I can think of to the excellent six part documentary of Monty Python airing this week on IFC. As inspiring as the best of Monty Python is now, it was even more inspirational when I was younger - arriving at a time of comical development in my life. I immediately embraced its sense of anarchy, insanity, and utter silliness. This had a profound effect on my writing. Up until I was wrapped up under this Pythonesque spell, I was mostly a very serious Space Opera type sci-fi writer. Combined with these Python type urges, my writing style was utterly transformed. I became a Space Opera type sci-fi writer with some very strange concepts of humor.

As a result, although I spent the first six years of my writing career trying to write the Great American novel (in the Under 12 category) and failing miserably, as soon as I embraced the sillier side of my writing embrace, it was only a mere 18 months before I was writing my first novel length story (with some friends who have asked to remain anonymous).

Anyway, my thought this week was to start selecting some of the funnier bits out of these old writings. Humor, of course, being subjective (I found this stuff hilarious in High School ;) you might differ in your opinion of what is funny. So that's why I've decided to spare you by only printing small chunks and only on Fridays.

So here is the first of my new From The Archives selections:

We interrupt this program for an editorial statement from a concerned reader...

To whom it may concern... It has come to my attention that recently students at campuses such as UC Berkeley and Stanford have been staging riots and protests. Now there is nothing wrong with that, its the way they're doing it.

The other day I walked over to a local college and saw a guy walking in a circle, by himself, carrying a Gucci picket sign with the words, "Make Love; Not Dr. Pepper," written on it. What sort of protest is this anyway? Aren't our American youth protesting in peaceful ways? Is this what America has been reduced to, a nation of peaceniks? Why John Wayne would spit in his grave! I say the only way to a commie terrorist apartheid person's heart is through his guts. So let's drop those picket signs and grab picket axes and let's show the world what American protesters are made of.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Reader

The views expressed are not necessarily the views of management. But that doesn't mean that they ain't...

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Fritz Jordan and The Martian Papers

Chapter Seven: Too Close

(1985)

William Robison

Come back next week for yet more silliness... and have a good weekend.

Promoting What exactly?

I just read an article about a group of atheists and secular humanists getting together to put billboards in subway stations in New York. Now, I don't really have a problem with this, but what exactly are they promoting? I mean religion is an organized belief system shared in common with a large group of people. So, in essence, if they are trying to put a group of people together with an organized belief that there is No God, aren't these people in essence organizing a religion? Otherwise, what is the point?

I don't believe in Santa Claus, but that doesn't mean I have to put ads in subways looking for others that don't believe in Santa Claus - honestly, I could care less whether you do or don't. So what exactly are these people hoping to gain by organizing a group of people that don't believe in something? It seems like an awful lot of money to be spent to just say hi to others that share your disbelief.

I believe in a pendulum theory of human history. If the pendulum swings too far one direction, eventually it will swing back the other way equally as far. You go from a relatively staid 1950's, for instance, to the radical and turmoilific period of the late 60's and early 70's. I think this rise in secular humanism and atheism is a direct result of the oft-putting Moral Majority movement of the last ten years or so. As conservative Christians organized to take over school boards and elections in order to cram their religious beliefs down everyone's throats, there was bound to be an equal and opposite backlash at some point. This kind of excess has never been good for anyone. And while I don't expect a Spanish Inquisition (looking over my shoulder for Michael Palin now...) I think we haven't seen the last of the likes of Christopher Hutchins or his ilk any time soon. Considering how long the Falwell's and Robertson's of this world lasted, I suspect the atheists are here to stay for a while.

But to be honest, they've got a long way to go before they're ready to be subversive and subtle.

Things on my mind

Lots of things on my mind - my quiet here at the ol' blogging place not withstanding. I find that very few of them come up to the level of things that I wish to blog about. I guess right now I'm just doing a lot of thinking - mostly about what comes next. But there are a few things I wished to let you all know about...

1) If you're in the market for some fantastic items from Africa for extrememly cheap prices, our Kenya Group will have about four tables full of stuff from Kenyan artists for sale at the Alternate Christmas Faire at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in San Francisco on November 8th, 2009. Karl Morthole who has been our main leader in Kenya for years needed to fill up the rest of a 20' container full of coffee that he was selling here in the U.S.. So he asked his partner in Kenya to buy up a bunch of local crafts and art from Kenyan people and to ship this with the coffee. Well, about a third of the 20' container is still left. That means fresh Kenyan coffee and about four tables of authentic Kenyan crafts and art for sale at cost with 100% of the proceeds going to help the people of Kenya. How cheap you ask? We're probably going to have a $1 table, a $5 table, a $20 table, and a Bid Table (for things like wood carved Giraffes bigger than you are ;) I believe we're also selling 5 pound bags of Kenyan Coffee beans for $30 (I hear that's a good deal, but I really wouldn't know). Of course, some of the other things available at the faire are quite wonderful as well - a chance to donate an animal to the Heifer Project, or help with orphans in Bali, or buy a dinner/show ticket for an authentic Kenyan meal, and much, much, more... If you need more info, let me know.

2) If you're looking for something to get your boss or pastor for Christmas, my company (Yasutomo and Company - www.yasutomo.com) is having a sale on our popular Quad Pen's from Japan. These pens normally sell for $50 to $60 each. Right now, you can get them on our website for $29.95 - and there may be other deals coming down the pike before the end of the year. I'd check them out if you're looking for something a little on the fancy side for a cheap price.

3) If all goes well tonight, I should also be posting a new video to Youtube and on the Yasutomo website for a cool little project using origami and tealights - to make very wonderful decorations. Its something simple enough for kids to do and they really look good at any time of the year. I simply have to get the editing done and posted.

4) Just as an aside - did you know that there are Mandarin Immersion classes in San Francisco public schools? These programs are designed to take kids starting in Kindergarten and teach them for all but one hour a day in Mandarin. I guess the idea is that the students would become bi-lingual, but I'm not quite sure how that's going to work. Anyway, private schools do not offer these classes, so (mostly rich) parents are eagerly trying to get these programs expanded so that their kids can be enrolled in these prestigious classes. As I understand it now, there is so much pressure on the SFUSD to get these classes that in two years, SFUSD is planning to add the classes in every single school. In order to make this work, they will be converting one third of all classes (in the lowest grades, half in the higher grades) into language immersion courses. As a result of the expected lack of teachers capable of teaching only in the immersion language, they will be forced to hire teachers from foreign countries to fill the suddenly available teaching spots. This will no doubt lead to layoffs of qualified English speaking teachers. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I understand how you can teach a student ONLY in another language in an English speaking country and call them properly educated. How the heck are they supposed to pass the various tests if the tests they're given are in English? I'm not against the idea of bilingual teaching, but the only place I know of where immersion language classes are necessary are for situations where someone is about to be sent to a foreign country and needs to know the language. Anyway, chalk up another bizarre idea for San Francisco.

That's it for now... as usual, I danced around the real things on my mind, but I haven't yet decided whether I want to talk about those yet... someday soon perhaps.

Will, Out!

God's Comment on My Blog

God left me a comment on my blog post of yesterday in His usual way... scripture. Here I am trying to decide what His will for me is and whether I have heard Him correctly (or at all) and I open my Bible last night and read:

Isaiah 48:


15  I, even I, have spoken;
       yes, I have called him.
       I will bring him,
       and he will succeed in his mission.
 ¹⁶ "Come near me and listen to this:
       "From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;
       at the time it happens, I am there."
       And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me,
       with his Spirit.
 ¹⁷ This is what the LORD says—
       your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
       "I am the LORD your God,
       who teaches you what is best for you,
       who directs you in the way you should go.
 ¹⁸ If only you had paid attention to my commands,
       your peace would have been like a river,
       your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
 ¹⁹ Your descendants would have been like the sand,
       your children like its numberless grains;
       their name would never be cut off
       nor destroyed from before me."

One of the things that boggles my mind about non-believers is how they can keep their eyes shut to the vast number of "coincidences" that occur in our lifetimes. You JUST happened to be in the right place at the right time... but it doesn't mean anything, right? Your whole life becomes one long string of meaningless coincidences that when you look back on it (if you look back on it) JUST happens to form a convenient pattern that brought you to this place and this time with just the right skills to do the things that you have an opportunity to do. Law of averages or chemicals in your mind playing tricks on you to make you think there is significance in random chance... anything, but God.

My faith was not tested by these thoughts that I've been having. I think I was simply pausing in order to contemplate my path up until this point and wondering if I'd managed to arrive here by happy coincidence or by revelation. My answer to that - a direct and completely obvious answer from scripture - could not have been more clear. God influenced my path in just such a way that I happened to read that passage last night right after writing that blog post. If God can communicate to me in that way, why not through a daydream?

I agree with what Pastor Dave Lamb said in his comment about people seeing signs and portents in too many things and using those as excuses to do the most horrible things (though I'm not entirely sure they DIDN'T hear God, just that maybe they didn't understand Him). I use the words and actions of Jesus as a litmus test for all that God has told me to do. And so far, I can honestly say that I've never "heard" anything from Him that failed the test. I don't always understand why I'm doing what I'm doing, but so far I've never had a reason to doubt that what I did helped further His kingdom. But its easy to look at people who claim that God told them to torture other people and see that they're delusional. It's much harder to dispute people who claim that God told them to serve the poor or feed the homeless - though sometimes these people might do even more damage in their attempts to do "God's Will". In the end, I like what Randall Sherman suggested - that I should do what I think God is telling me to do and have faith that He'll knock me upside the head with a holy 2x4 if I start going down the wrong path. In my experience, this is probably the most accurate statement of God's plan that I've ever read - and I've got the 2x4 marks to prove it. ;)

Anyway, I've got my answer. Now to get back to work on Kenya.

My very name means Ego

God's Will. My Will. I'm Will. I don't know where my will ends, His will begins and Will exists. That is the quandry I find myself in and I can't wrap my brain around it. So forgive me if this comes across as a little random. I shall do my best to make coherent logical statements about incoherent thoughts and feelings - which is, in essence, the problem in a nutshell.

For the first time that I can remember, I have completely given over to His will. Kenya was not my idea. My first knowledge of Kenya was as a location for a book that I wanted to adapt (someday) into a movie - a true story about some Italian POW's who climbed Mt. Kenya. A few months later, I heard about this mission group looking into doing some sort of mission project in Kenya. I went to their meeting. I was not overly impressed, but I kept the idea in the back of my mind. Finally, after going to Mississippi earlier this year, I decided to see what I could do to help the Kenya mission. I figured that I was good to lend a hand on a fundraiser or something. Then something happened. I was sitting in church, minding my own business, and, well, the next thing I knew I could clearly SEE myself in Kenya, walking down a dusty road. When I found myself back in church a moment later, I KNEW that God wanted me to go to Kenya. And so, I'm going. Not of my own choice, but because HE wanted me to go.

This has created a bit of a dilemma in my head. If I choose to go to Disneyworld, for instance, I know where I'm going, why I'm going, and what I'm going to do when I get there. Kenya wasn't my choice. God told me to go. I have my plane ticket. But beyond that, I'm completely in the dark. This is a very strange place to be. And its made me contemplate the question, "How do I KNOW that God wanted me to go to Kenya?" I'm not doubting the feeling, I'm just wondering what it was about the experience that made me so certain.

If for 99% of my life, I've been making decisions entirely based upon some part of my conscious will - even if only to justify some unjustifiable act after the fact - the sudden handing over the reins of my life to some non-physical, non-verifiable, mystic entity is a little bit disconcerting. I can't exactly call God on my cell phone and say, "Did I hear you right? You want me to go to Kenya?" I can't go visit him at a coffee house. To be fair, I can't even really say that He exists. I certainly couldn't prove it. And no court in the world would except the following answer, "Because God told me to," to any question about motivation. So, where does this certainty come from? And why should I decide to obey a daydream for such a momentous decision?

I am conscious of this question for a second reason. Someone I know is contemplating a major life changing decision based upon what they believe God is telling them to do. I don't doubt the signs or their significance. I have told my friend much the same thing that he is coming to believe, and so have others. But does that constitute a message for God? Is that really how God works?

Its no wonder that skeptics abound. From the outside looking in, Christians make life altering decisions based upon feelings and whims and then call it the Will of God. To be honest, from the inside looking out, it feels much the same way.

In the end, I must have faith that what I perceived as God's Will really was His will and not some deep seeded quirk of my own ego telling me to do something completely random. In the past, God's call has taken me to some interesting places - but I always went because I wanted to go and because I thought I was doing the right thing. This time, I'm going to Kenya and I don't know why or for what reason. I sometimes even wonder if I can do anything of value there. But then I remember God's call and I put the thought out of my mind. Whatever I do in Kenya is what God wants me to do. Beyond that, I'm just going to enjoy the trip, take lots of pictures, and wait for some sort of divine revelation. I have faith that my reason for taking this trip will be made clear.

The FTC made me do it...

In case you were all wondering, no, I don't always pick up books completely out of the blue, read them, and write a very professional looking review just for kicks and giggles. Occassionally, Multonomah Press sends me e-mails asking if I'd like to read their latest book and write a review about it. In exchange for this courtesy, they send me every book I request. I admit that I haven't read every book they've sent me. Some look better in press releases than in real life. But the books themselves aren't bad, they're just not my cup of tea. I could review them and say, "You'll like, but I don't," but I can't guarantee that you'll like these books even if I do.

Reviews are strange animals. Blogs are about free press. I'm supposed to be allowed to say anything I want about anything I want. The fact is, I sometimes get into free movies. But its not because I have a blog - its just cause I know people. Does this fact change my opinion of the movie? Anyone who worked with me for 8 years in a movie theater would know that free movies do not change my opinion of them. So, I'm not quite sure what the FTC is playing at. Honestly, if you buy stuff just because someone tells you its good, then you deserve whatever you get.

Make an informed decision. Don't let the FTC nor I make it for you.

No Win Situation

Japan had an environmental bid - cleanest Olympic Games ever!
Madrid had Juan Antonio Samaranch - the greatest IOC President ever - in failing health making a personal appeal to the IOC to award the games to Madrid.
Rio had Pele and the Copacabana and the fact that the IOC had never awarded the games to South America before.
Chicago had...

And so, the President was doomed from the start. If he's smart and stays out of the Olympic bid, and they lose to one of the better cities, Chicago and the US blames the President for not representing the country. If he goes, like he did, and the bid fails (as it was bound to do), he is seen as ineffectual and tarnished. If nothing else, he's taken the onus off all future Presidents to have to represent their countries bids at the IOC.

Still... last place? How badly have we p-ed off the IOC in the last 8 years? Maybe they secretly wanted the opportunity to vote for San Francisco in 2012 and 2016 and the USOC screwed it up? Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. So the rest of the USOC will just have to imagine my tongue sticking out at them. Shame on you for not letting SF represent!

If God Is Good... by Randy Alcorn

If God is Good, is an excellent straightforward book of apologetics told by way of answering the question, if God is good why does evil exist? Written by Randy Alcorn, the book weighs in at a hefty 500+ pages, and yet I never found it dragging. I highly recommend this book to all with a Christian belief or for those who just want to know the answer to that question.

When I was at Idaho State University, I was required to take a Philosophy 101 course that was a survey of all the Philosophers and their philosophies. The course followed a pattern that basically summed up my disdain for philosophy. It would introduce the philosopher. Then it would summarize his or her philosophy. Then it would explain why that philosophy was ultimately discredited. It was basically an eight week course in mental thumb twiddling. “Hey, I know how the world works! Oh, no wait… never mind.” I asked the professor at the end of the course, “If all the philosophers have been proven to be wrong, why do we need to learn their philosophies? I mean, let’s be realistic, in any other area of study when you reach a point where you realize that you have gone down the wrong path, you don’t revel in it and teach it to future generations.” Needless to say, I was not asked back to the Philosophy Department.

I was already starting to realize that if you take a modicum of Christian belief, or even an open mind, you would learn that the Bible answers all philosophical questions about the meaning of life in ways that no other religion or philosophy does. It’s the only major religion where God appears to humanity, claims to be God, and does so in a historical context (not off in some desert, or in a pre-historic era, but at the crossroads of history during the height of the Roman World). There are faith elements involved, to be sure. But Christianity is the only religion that I know of that not only poses the tough questions, but answers them as well in a way that is consistent and irrefutable. It flies in the face of all other religions and philosophies because its not based on wishful thinking or bribery. And because its not based on human intellect, but divine wisdom, it is something easier to FEEL than it is to reason. We know it to be right, even if we don’t understand why.

There have been several books trying to explain why that is. These books of Apologetics have been written by some of the biggest Christian writers and philosophers ever known. St. Augustine, C.S. Lewis, and many others have all tried to write Apologetics to help non-believers come to Christ by explaining to them what the Bible means.

I’ve never liked books of apologetics because I thought they were trying to explain something to me that I knew infinitely better from having read the Bible myself. There was very little new revealed in these books – most books of apologetics are about as welcome to me as a summary clip show on my favorite sit-com. But If God Is Good… tackled apologetics from a different point of view and I felt sucked in to its premise long before I realized that it was still a book of apologetics. After I realized what it was, I kept reading because in answering its thesis question, it turned the Gospel on its head for me and explained Christ’s role as a victim of and a defeater of sin. The best thing you can tell a writer of non-fiction is that it allowed the reader to see things in a new light. It opened my eyes.

One of my favorite images painted by Randy Alcorn is of Christ on the cross absorbing the sins of the world. Sin, as most Christian theologians will tell you, causes the separation of the sinner from God. They can not experience God while they are under the punishment of sin. The theological implications of Christ on the cross then are that the very human Christ, who is also God, was separated from God by absorbing sin. He became apart from Himself so that He could die and thus defeat death. God became Not God in order to satisfy His own requirements for sin – while at the same time never really stopping to be God. Talk about truly mind-boggling. This image is one of many in this book that allowed me to see the Gospel in a whole new light.

Now, I don’t know that Randy Alcorn and I share too many of the same views on Christianity. He seems a little more evangelical than I’m used to. But after reading this book, I’ve begun to question some of my views. We all need books that push us off those pedestals of pre-conceived notions so that we can grow and learn and think. I don’t know that my views will change as a result of reading this book, but my views will definitely be examined a little more thoroughly than before.

Book: If God Is Good
Author: Randy Alcorn
Summary: Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Author Bio:
Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Devolutionary Thought - making order out of chaos

When I was in college, I wrote my senior paper on the idea of Devolution in Anthropological thinking. This did not go over well with my professors who did not agree with my central tenet that those of us in the West tend to think that our culture is the "highest" on the evolutionary rung. They thought that my paper implied a very Darwinian sort of evolution model to anthropological research, and that there was no right or wrong way to look at culture. I mention this not to debate the merits of my paper, especially since the paper was little more than an outline of an idea, but to say that this idea has stuck with me for years and its implications have shaped my life.

The basic theory goes something like this. If you buy into the idea that the Western World is the culture that works best, then you buy into all the cultural things associated with that. That THIS (look around you) is the norm. And that people wandering like nomads in Africa or living in what we would consider squalor in Borneo is not the norm, or not desirable. I further suggested that the world has been going downhill ever since we left the forests and hunting grounds of our nomadic forebears for the cities and supermarkets of today. Like I said, it was more of a sketch than anything else.

I was reminded of this thought last night while watching the first half of the incredible documentary, "God Grew Tired Of Us." This documentary follows the lives of three Sudanese Lost Boys from the time they had to flee Sudan, their ten years in a refugee camp in Kenya, and finally their acceptance into the United States of America in order to work and make a living. I found myself in tears at the description of their horrible young lives, and also in tears as the boys first encountered the United States and its complex culture. It wasn't condemning in any way, but certainly an incredible way to throw up a mirror on our society and to allow us to see this country through the eyes of others.

And again, this morning, I was reminded of this thought in relation to some news I received. I know people are going through hard times right now. I know people who've lost jobs and are, for all intents and purposes, completely broke - literally weeks away from homelessness. There are those that would argue, and  maybe rightly so, that these problems were of their own doing. But what does it say of our HIGH culture that we can allow so many people to fall through the cracks and be destroyed by the very thing that's supposed to make us the envy of the world. Would these people really have been better off had they been living in mud huts, raising cattle, or hunting and gathering their food?

Yet, I think there are lessons in all this - things that I constantly remind myself.

All this is temporary. It's here today, it's gone tomorrow and we should never get used to our status. Ultimately, we are all one incident away from returning to our wandering nomad ways. The sooner we embrace the concept that the only thing tying us to a place is the fact that leaving it means changing the life we are currently living, the sooner we are able to embrace change as not only a natural part of life, but as an opportunity to start over.

Starting over means starting from the beginning again - not trying to jump from the top of one pile to the top of the next without all the intervening steps. If we lose a million dollar home, we shouldn't expect another one to fall in our lap as a replacement. We should expect that maybe we have to start with an apartment again. If we lose our 6 figure salary, maybe it means that our next job is only 5 figure, or 4 figure and that we have to adjust to that new lifestyle. If we're eating steak today, maybe it means we eat chicken tomorrow.

Some control of a crappy life is better than no control at all. Even if you go from a million dollar home, a fancy job, a car, and all the trimmings, down to a one bedroom apartment in a crappy neighborhood, a crappy job, mass transit, and food stamps - at least you're doing something. To try and hang on to the fancy life when you can't possibly hang on anymore, only means that you will freefall all the way to the bottom - and maybe never recover - because you will never grasp that life isn't status.

And most importantly, belief in something other than ourselves is a must. We are not infallible. Therefore belief in our abilities is a fallacy. We will fail. You can believe that. If you want to survive, I would suggest turning to God for guidance and support. He made the world and He made you. He is the ultimate safety net.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do in a crisis is to step outside your life and view it with new eyes. By challenging the notion that my culture is right, I've been able to keep American Culture in perspective. This wonderful film has only reinforced that notion in ways that were profoundly moving. Yet, I believe that being able to see my life with outside eyes, being able to distance myself from my own world, has allowed me to focus on the things that are truly important and not the often self-serving goals of my culture. I am not guaranteed to come through these trying times without a scratch. But I am also not worried about it if I do. I already know what to do if bad times should befall me. And I know that no matter what my economic status, God will walk with me. 

Kenya Education - Mosquito Nets

Coming from an area that has very few mosquitoes, nets are not something I'm used to. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had bug spray before - even when I went to Mississippi last year (20 degrees outside tend to make mosquitoes very inactive). However, mosquitoes are a huge problem in Kenya. Every year, more than a million people die worldwide from mosquito born malaria.

One of the biggest issues that our partners in Kenya noted was that their children could really use mosquito nets for their beds. You would think that this would have been a problem long ago taken care of, but as this article below points out, nets need to be replaced or treated with anti-mosquito treatments once a year. When you're depending on the kindness of strangers just to eat, something like mosquito nets can often be overlooked. Yet, money spent to take care of children struck with malaria is far greater than the cost of nets. For just 50 Ksh (about 69 cents) a new mosquito net can be bought. It seems like a literal ounce of prevention.

MOSQUITO NETS

Mosquito nets are a very useful and practical way to prevent insect bites. There are a number of things to keep in mind when buying a mosquito net.
The mesh size should be large enough for air circulation but as small as possible to keep out the mosquitoes. A mesh size of 1.2 mm x 1.2 mm is the most common and recommended. For effective malaria protection, the mesh size that is recommended is 120-200 holes per square per inch.
Mosquito nets of polyester or polyamide are usually lightweight, long-lasting nets, and are available in different mesh sizes and thread thickness. On the other hand, cotton is susceptible to dampness, and weighs more when wet.
As for the shape of the net, it should obviously be wide enough to cover the person sleeping, without touching them. Rectangular nets offer more room around the person as opposed to the slanted sides of a tent or pyramid shaped net. Either way, the net should be tucked under the mattress. You can use screws, tacks, pins, or hooks to attach the upper point of the net above the bed. Pillows or blankets can be used to build a makeshift wall around the body to avoid touching the net. It is much more efficient to purchase a net that has already been dipped or sprayed with a high quality insecticide such as permethrin. The nets are pre-treated at the netting manufacturing plant and can last up to a year depending on the amount of exposure to sun and rain.

Bread and Circuses

I'm not entirely sure that I'll end up changing my mind on anything after reading Randy Alcorn's, "If God Is Good..." Some of what Dave Lamb suggests is true - some of what Mr. Alcorn writes is opinion parading as fact. I don't wish to live in a Post Modern world where good and evil are decried as a result of situational ethics, but I strongly suspect that when education, religion, and science are prone to the meddling of politics, the TRUTH is no longer knowable. There is at least a relaxing comfort in having someone say, "This is it. It's right here in the Bible in black and white. Don't take my word for it... YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!" Of course, much of what they're saying is their interpretation of what the Bible says, but their convinced of that interpretations veracity and their conviction is refreshing.

The other day I wrote on my Facebook update about the cost of food in Kenya - five meals for $1. One of the comments that befuddled me was someone who said, "Yeah, but the meals aren't nutritious." In America, a meal that costs 20 cents is very likely not nutritious. In fact, pretty much any meal under about $5 is probably not nutritious. But in a foreign country where most of the food is grown on farms, raised in nearby ranchlands, or picked from nearby trees - their food is probably MORE nutritious than most food bought here.

After all, how much does it cost to grow grain? You plow a field, drop in seed, water and wait. Plowing (other than the initial cost for equipment) only costs hard work. Water and sun are a free gift from God. Seed can't be that expensive - especially not versus the yield of such seed. The expense, it would seem, would come from things needed to sell such food (not consume it) - like packaging and fertilizer and preservatives and refrigeration and granary costs and delivery costs, etc... To grow food on your land to feed your own people, I can see a cost of about 20 cents a meal.

Do I think this person responded ignorantly? Were they just trying to cover up the fact that they don't want to give money to poor Kenyans? No, I don't think so. I don't think it was a question of race or indifference. I think it was mostly a question of perception. To their mind, sending a dollar to Kenya was only exacerbating the problem because these poor kids would be given bad food and poor nutrition wasn't something they wanted to pay for. Therefore, since they didn't trust the outcome of their benevolence, since they didn't trust that their money would be spent wisely to ease the suffering of the poor, they didn't want to waste their money at all.

This sort of attitude is unfortunately becoming widespread in this country. When there is no one person of authority that you can trust, then every proclamation is subject to suspicion and derision. If a scientist says that the world is getting warmer, you look outside and say, "Feels the same to me." Global warming is a lie. If a neighbor tells you that the bad economy is causing them to default on their mortgage, you say, "They never should have taken the mortgage in the first place if they couldn't afford to pay it back." If a new plan to fund health care for all people seems too expensive for the country, you say, "I've got my insurance and I don't want anything to screw that up." And on the flip side of those issues are others saying, "The World Is Going To Flood!" or "The Government Should Buy My House!" or "Free Health Care Is A Constitutional Right!" It's gotten to the point where nobody knows who's right or who's wrong, but we strongly suspect that we're right and they're wrong. And we strongly suspect anyone who disagrees with us of soft thinking or other moral deficiencies.

All of this is part of Alcorn's book and this part he gets right, because the one thing he returns to over and over again is C.S. Lewis's notion that deep down there are absolute goods and absolute evils that we don't want to admit to ourselves, but that we know. We can justify it anyway we want, but deep down we know that it would be GOOD to feed the poor, take care of the sick, and not kick people out of their homes. Very few people would ever disagree with these things. We all know that Greed and Murder are EVIL. But to have to confront these issues, to have to face the possibility that we've been complicit in them, even if we didn't do them directly, is not something we want to do.

No matter how much we complain, we want our bread and circuses a little too much - because the alternative means admitting that we're wrong.

Randy Alcorn - "If God Is Good"... first thoughts...

I read this last night and I thought I'd share it. It presupposes the argument that we all sin and therefore are equally guilty in God's eyes...

"Ironically, whenever societies recognize the human capacity for evil, evil is restrained and goodness is exalted. Yet whenever people view themselves as basically good, the greatest evils take place. Denying the doctrine of inherited sin leads to elitism and oppression. Why? Partly because people who view themselves as good place no restrictions upon those in power. But apart from checks and balances as well as moral accountability (implemented only when human sin is recognized), leaders inevitably become corrupt. Communism under Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot provide classic examples."

I'll have more thoughts on this in the future. Very interesting text. And somehow, reading about evil on 9/11 seems very appropriate.

Randy Alcorn
"If God Is Good... Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil."
Multnomah Press

One Seriously Crazy Nightmare

Last night, I had a nightmare... all the more memorable because I can't remember the last time I had a nightmare... and especially, I can't remember the last time I had a nightmare where Pizza wasn't involved. So any of you Freudian types out there want to interpret, I'm all ears...

I was hurrying to my previous dream destination (can't remember where I was or why I was in a hurry) when all of a sudden a giant wave of water swept in like a flash flood. I was swept away with the current, but instantly realized that I had somehow been separated from my Bible. I turned around and there it was, just floating there behind me.

Then things get weird and dark. I tried to reach for my Bible, but I could sense something there - something very dark and very sinister - preventing me from reaching it. And I knew that I just had to get my Bible. So I started yelling at myself to wake up and grab my Bible. I yelled and yelled and yelled, desperately, as if my life depended on it.

About half a minute later, my eyes fluttered open. But I was still in the throes of this nightmare. As I turned my head to look around the room and confirm that I was, in fact, awake, all I could see in every part of my room was cartoon and animated demons (like something out of a haunted house almost). I shook my head until the cobwebs cleared and finally reached over and grabbed my Bible off the nightstand and hugged it to my chest.

Eventually, I calmed down and felt the normal quiet return to my mind, heart, and room. I gently replaced the Bible on my nightstand and then fell into a normal sleep.

It was by far the weirdest feeling I'd ever had - half nightmare, half real. I now remember praying once I had the Bible in my hand (can't tell you what I prayed about or if it was even coherent). Totally bizarre.

Heck! If I'm going to dream stuff like this without the benefit of pepperoni after 10pm, then I might as well start scarfing late night pizza again!

Updates

I've been busy lately. Its that time of year for me at work where we're finalizing a lot of the new products for next year. So I'm getting a lot of testing done and going back and forth with manufacturers overseas on little things like packaging and pricing and artwork. Beyond that, I've got a ton of pokers in the fire that I'm working diligently to try and finish. But here are a few updates on previously mentioned issues...

Kenya - The trip dates are finally set. I'll be leaving here on Friday, February 5th and returning Thursday, February 25th. The cost for the airfare is $1407, of which I've managed to raise $407. So I'm $1000 short. Darn this economy!

Dane - We've resolved many of the technical issues and have been filming three of the past four weekends. This last weekend was our first with sound - and everything not only worked perfectly but looked pretty darn good too. It was the first time that I was able to "see" some of the movie finally coming together. Once we're done filming this current segment (it's a chase scene) we're going to do a rough cut and put it online as a trailer - hopefully on our new website.

Novel - I'm getting really close to finishing up the plot points for the third and final book in the trilogy. I'm doing the main synopsis for each of the two remaining books because the story is so complicated that I want to be sure that I don't back myself into a corner when I start writing the first book. Several things have already changed in the first book as a result of all this plotting (nothing major... just a few minor plot points) with the overall effect being a very strong story for the entire trilogy. I'm now just "casting" the final book, wrapping up some loose plot lines, and then I'll figure out how to make the third book entertaining, as well as devilishly clever. After that, I start writing. I'm only expecting about 120 days to complete a first draft of the first book once I get started (these things practically write themselves ;)

Other than that, I have a few other things to report on this week. I've been reading a great book by Steve Alcorn about the nature of Evil. Very fascinating. I've also been ruminating on the nature of turning 40, the idea of a legacy, and other terribly interesting topics. So come back again later and we can talk of cabbages and kings and other things.

Who we are

Terrorism is bad. Terrorists doubly so. Cowards who plan the mass killings of innocent people are the vilest scum on the planet. I don't think that you will find anyone, save a terrorist, who disagrees with these statements.

I have been following this case of the Lockerbie bomber with interest for the past few months. This convicted terrorist who spent only a few years in jail for the bombing of an airline over Lockerbie, Scotland, asked for a compassionate discharge to return to his home in Libya because his cancer is terminal. Last week, the Scottish government agreed to discharge this terrorist on compassionate grounds. The terrorist returned to Libya and was received with a hero's welcome, being greeted by Libya's ruler, Ghadaffi, as he stepped off the plane. International condemnation of the celebration was declared and many are now calling for a boycott of Scotland as a result of their act of compassion.

Was this release misguided? Should this terrorist have been left to rot in jail until he was dead? That he deserved no less is clear, but to my way of thinking, I think Scotland got it right.

We are in a battle for the very souls of humanity. It is a battle with many battlelines and many victims - some innocent, some not. Sometimes the forces of good win, sometimes the forces of evil. Oftentimes, its impossible to tell who won, who loss, and who was good or evil.

But compassion is never wrong. And showing compassion to your enemy is doubly never wrong. I know that it hurts the victims and I know that it hurts our sense of justice to see such an ugly display as the one that greeted this terrorist bomber in Libya, but the release of a dying man from prison was the right thing to do. Allowing a man to die surrounded by loved ones, even if he didn't offer the same comfort to his many victims, is the right thing to do.

In this battle, the only victory that can be declared is by the side that stands by what they claim to believe. Both sides say they are right. Both sides say that they love peace and justice. But one side released a sworn enemy from jail so that he could die with his family, and the other cheered a mass murderer like he was a war hero.

It might feel like ash in your mouth right now, but in the larger scheme of things, Scotland showed its quality and will taste something infinitely sweeter in the end. They showed the world who they were.

Friday Silliness

The election in Afghanistan is barely over and both Hamid Karzai and his rival for the presidency are declaring victory despite the fact that the votes have yet to be counted and probably won't be for nearly a month. It makes you wonder why it takes so long to count ballots. In the United States, news agencies declare the winner hours before polls even close. In Iran, recently, the victor was declared in less than 24 hours. In fact, this just in, the Ayatollah has just declared Ahmadenijab the victor in Afghanistan as well. The point is, how hard is it to count?

It seems that prior to Y2K, people holding elections the world over knew how to count. Before that magic date, the default election was a smooth, boring, affair where a victor was declared promptly and quietly and the winner got their ballons and the loser called and conceded. But, as with all things, elections weren't sexy enough. Instead, we had to have the Y2K election fiasco here and suddenly the world took notice that down to the wire, tight, close, only seperated by mere tens of votes, elections were MUCH MORE INTERESTING! (I.E. bigger ratings, more ad revenue, better odds in Vegas, etc...) And since then, if there's a vote, there's a voting controversy! Somehow we've elevated the act of watching people pick up a piece of paper, count it, and then put it down, into a blood sport that will someday soon have its own Cable Channel (You're watching the Voting Channel - next up, Paraguay Elections for Dog Catcher...)

I long for the days gone by when a voting controversy meant Chicago's dead voting for Mayor Daly. The voting seasons just seem to get longer and longer, the pre-vote coverage is stretching out more and more, and before long, I half expect to see the kind of "election" that is seen on one of those Pro-Wrestling shows. There was a brief time when I thought that More TV couldn't hurt. Now I'm thinking the birds should sue the US government to get the AIR back and we should pare down the FCC to cover only about three channels. If nobody is covering stuff, would there be news created?

Back in the Saddle Again...

Okay, I'm not 100% recovered from this lingering illness but I do feel better than I've felt in a week or so. I'm also back doing my regular job at work and no longer filling in for absent co-workers. I'll probably still be busy for the next couple of days, just getting caught up, but I'll try to get back here a little more regularly. Lots to talk about, including "DANE" SHOOTING - DAY ONE! So check back here later...

Busy, busy, busy...

Things are extremely hectic at work right now. With the economy being what it is, we were already really low staffed. But over the weekend, my co-worker's brother passed away. And on Wednesday, my other co-worker is taking a much needed Disneyland Vacation with her family. So, for the time being, I'm doing like four jobs.

Needless to say, this'll probably be the last time I talk at ya for a while. Thanks to everyone who made my Birthday special this last weekend (and Randall, I count your birthday wish as the first received ;) I'll try to get back to you all soon.

An Immediate Answer

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday morning. Who knows why, but I was in a foul mood straight away. As I climbed into my shower, I was in full rant mode ready to strike out at the first wrong look that came my way. I already started imagining the blistering blog post that I was going to write.

I was going to reminisce about the one time in my life when I really got overlooked. It was in 1990/1 when I was in the Navy. To make a really long story short, I REALLY REALLY deserved recognition for stuff I was doing during the first couple of months of the Gulf War. My section leader thought so as well. He wrote up a long commendation recommendation listing all the things I'd done since the start of the war and turned it in for approval. When the list of commendations came out, my name was not included for our division - in fact, there were No Names listed for our division. When my section leader asked why nobody had been recognized during that quarter, his boss said that they didn't feel anyone had done anything special. When I heard that my efforts had not been recognized as anything worthwhile, I completely soured on the Navy, on my job, and on my division. Any chance that I might have stayed in the Navy disappeared right then and there.

After dreaming up this blistering screed, I went to work, but was too busy to post my scathing blog post. I went home after work, still ticked off.

Waiting for me in the mail when I got home was this letter:

Dear Will;

Thank you.

Over the past several years, PDA has seen thousands of volunteers from across the nation making a difference for disaster survivors... You have volunteered with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, serving with survivors as they rebuild and recover... With your time and energy, your listening ears, and your presence, you have delivered renewed hope, joy, and the witness that Christ's love is unfailing. Please accept our deepest gratitude for your volunteer service...

Included was a Certificate of Appreciation suitable for hanging. I read it all and immediately burst into tears. I realized that not only had I been an idiot earlier that day, but that I had been craving the sort of recognition that is fleeting and unimportant. I did a good job in the Navy, sure, but the kind of recognition that I should have been craving is the kind that acknowledges love for fellow human beings. God answered my call for recognition with a powerful reply that made me feel proud and humble at the exact same moment.

The things that I did in Mississippi earlier this year, the things I hope to do in Kenya next year, are not the sorts of things that I want recognition for, and yet, they are the things I do that make me the most happy. A pat on the back at work is nice, but the smile of a person that I've helped is better than even the most generous of bonuses or raises.

I will put my certificate away now. I have received all the recognition I need - an immediate answer from God for my human craving for recognition.

An Addition to the last post...

As I walked off for lunch I realized that what I was saying might have left the wrong impression. I am pleased to be going to Kenya and that God is sending me there, but that isn't to say that you have to go to Kenya to share in God's blessings or in His righteous honor. I have felt just as honored to help build playgrounds or pack food for the poor or even to sing Christmas Carols for shut-ins. I once dug a path. That sounds like ho-hum, so what. But this path was to help a young woman that had been paralyzed in a car accident get into her house in a wheelchair. It is not what we are called to do that brings honor, it is the fact that God has given us this opportunity. Whether you help feed the poor in Kenya or give half a sandwich to a homeless person on the street near your work, either way you bring honor to the God who created you and have therefore earned the respect of all.

That's all I wanted to add.

Countdown to Kenya - Day Twenty One

What a blessing it is to be able to go to Kenya and do the Lord's work. What an incredible gift I've been offered. What a wonderful opportunity.

In each life there falls just a few such gems. When I was younger I was always impressed by two types of stories - ones where people had incredible once in a lifetime opportunities and ones where people had done incredibly righteous things. We are all impressed with Neil Armstrong - the first man to walk on the moon - AND Mother Theresa - who took care of the sick and the needy in India for her entire life. Ask Bono and I'd bet that he'd tell you the opportunity to be a rock star on a huge stage was second to helping the poor and hungry in Africa.

But the thing is, these opportunities don't come along all that often. Let's be realistic. Most of us don't have the time or the temperament to do either of these things. We aren't dedicated or talented enough to be Neil Armstrong, and we have too much normal living to do to be Mother Theresa. We have bills to pay and friends to see and families to raise and all sorts of other things. We can be impressed by the actions of others. We can applaud what they do. But we will never be them. We will never have that opportunity to be a rock star or a prophet.

So to get this opportunity, to reach a point in my life where I am in a position to let the rest of my world fall away for a short time so that I can help others in a far off land, is a truly incredible gift. God has blessed me. And I can't possibly take any credit for these actions. He calls. I follow. And I thank Him for this chance to be the kind of person and do the kind of thing that I most admire.

Another thing society has decided

I'm sick and tired of all these stories that suggest "Fat People are costing us all money!" As if somehow this was something that people do out of spite to skinny people everywhere. Its bad enough being ostracized from society, made fun of, and all the rest that goes with being overweight, but to have to take the blame for high medical costs as well?!

Do the math people! If 10% of all health care costs go to fat people that means that 90% of all health care costs don't go to fat people. Skinny people live longer. Therefore they use more medical expenses over longer periods of time. Further, the only reason fat people's health care costs can be quantified (allegedly) is that they tend to develop the same medical problems (heart problems, etc...). Well, by that token we could also quantify how much money is spent on health care for women (maternity and OB/GYN) or Black People (sickle-cell) or Gay People (AIDS) or whatever... Should we decide that women spend too much money on mammograms? Or perhaps we should just let people with AIDS die out since that would save some money there?

Everyone of us will develop some medical condition in our life. Some of these medical conditions will have been avoidable (like broken limbs from skiing, for instance). Some will not. The cumulative effect of all our medical conditions will decide the quality of our life. But to lump an entire class of people together because of one shared condition and then suggest that that condition is what keeps health care costs high is prejudicial and stupid. After all, people who have cancer spend WAY more on medical coverage than anyone else - and scientists have been telling us for years all the things that cause it. So clearly cancer is avoidable as well. Let's start talking about cancer patients as being drains on our pocketbooks and see how far that flies!

Okay, rant mode off. Some things you just have to get off your chest.

Buy Three Miles or One Lego Brick or One Bag O' Rice!

Somewhere in your life, there is money lying around doing nothing. Lazy Money is a problem that affects 99 out of 100 Americans. But fortunately for you, there is a cure.

In the far off land of Kenya there are people who have a very vigorous exercise program for money. You send your money to this program and it will be stretched, used, invested, and put to such good use that you will be amazed at how far your money can go.

For instance: For every lazy dollar you send, three miles of ocean, land, air, and other assorted planetary mass can be traveled over by one intrepid person (me). I should know. So far I have been able to leap over 300 MILES on just pocket change! That's very well exercised money indeed!

For instance: For just five lazy dollars you can buy one Lego brick. Now, that may not sound like much, but 700 of these Lego bricks magically transform into a complete HOUSE in Kenya. 700 plastic bricks = 1 home. That's not something that even Ty can accomplish on Extreme Home Makeover!

For instance: For just forty lazy dollars, you can clear a pad of ground, fill it with nutrients and water, plant seeds, watch it grow, cultivate the rice grains, dry them, bag them and deliver them to starving children in a home on a mountainside halfway around the world in Kenya - thus feeding the children for a short time. When was the last time your dollars even did half of that?

Your dollars are lazy, flabby things. Send them to me and I promise to make them strapping and handsome again! There won't be a bit of fat on them when I am done with them.

So, send your lazy do-nothing dollars to:

Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA)
201 Eucalyptus Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132

Please include a note that says: These dollars are for the Kenya Children Mission Project. And, if you'd like to help send me to Kenya, please also note: For Will Robison's Kenya Travel. Whether this money sends me to Kenya or helps children in Kenya directly, your dollars will not go to waste.

Thank you for listening to my message. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Lest I get into a rut...

Sometimes your life is about Kenya, sometimes not. As much as I want to go, I have to remember to maintain a fair and balanced life that includes my other interests. For some reason, my mind has wandered in different directions this week. That's okay. It'll come back to Kenya before too long - of that I am certain.

You see, I apply the same sort of lack of mental discipline in all things that I do. I let my mind free to wander wherever it may go. Unfettered it can take me into some pretty strange places, but eventually it gets bored with its wanderings and comes back refreshed and usually with some keen new insight into a former problem.

For instance, I have not applied any sort of rigid control on my brain in trying to figure out the brief synopsis of my second planned novel (of a trilogy). I just sort of let my brain wander. As a result, it has taken some time to get from point A to point Z, and my brain has taken some interesting turns along the way, but it finally produced a conclusion this week. I'm happy to say that the synopsis for novel #2 is done and its pretty good. Now, I let my brain loose again to finish off the trilogy so that I can finally sit down and start writing the first novel. (You see, I kind of need to know the ending of the story before I write the beginning - which is why I need to at least plan out the second and third books of the trilogy before I start writing the first).

My brain has also been distracted with the arrival of my new camera and the impending start of my second film. I've been cramming an entire semester's worth of digital film making knowledge into one week of study, just to get started. This sort of technical knowledge is fascinating and mentally draining - which tends to make my artistic side of the brain wander all the more and further afield (which explains why I am always a mental basketcase at the end of the school year).

So in pursuit of purely intellectual and artistic goals this week I have not had time nor the energy to work on Kenya. But I don't feel negligent, just absent. You see all of these pursuits serve some sort of higher purpose in the long run though I don't always know what that purpose might be - kind of like algebra in high school. Some of the strangest bits of knowledge that I've gleaned on these flights of fancy have proved to be rather helpful on occasion - I even remember one little bit of knowledge that calmed a storm brewing in Naval Intelligence (but, of course, I can't talk about it).

As you can imagine, I'm a big fan of the Beatle's song, "A Day In The Life." Where It will go, indeed...

Have a great weekend!

Countdown to Kenya Antarctica - Day Fourteen

Some people like warm, tropical climates. I mostly prefer cold isolated places. I can't explain it, but places like Iceland, Alaska, and Idaho (in the winter when the fishing is crappy) appeal to me. Perhaps its a natural reaction to growing up in a city full of people. At some point, you just want to get away from it all... far, far, away.

As a result, one of the places I've always wanted to visit has been Antarctica. When I was in the Navy, I even inquired about being stationed there for a six month tour. Being an intelligence specialist sort of kept me out of the loop on that one... not too much need for interrogating penguins apparently. So, instead, as I got older, wiser, and had higher limits on my credit cards, I started preparing for a trip to Antarctica.

My first bit of knowledge - it costs about $6000 on a good day to take a cruise there. That's pretty much where I stopped preparing. I don't mind maxing out my credit cards, but I'd like to do it a little at a time - not on one roll of the dice.

However, my dream of going to Antarctica has never been fully vanquished - not so long as there's a lottery to win. For the past several years now, I've been keeping track of cruise costs in the hopes that they would have gone down. Alas... they've gone the other direction and I'm further from my goal than ever before.

Now that God has made this rather inconvenient request of me to travel to Kenya and I've agreed to go that great tempter, Satan, has really gone out of his way to drag me back over to his camp. Not only has he thrown Antarctica back in my face again, but he's added a new wrinkle that is literally kicking me in the face with desire.

You see, National Geographic Travel sent me a flyer yesterday for their latest two week cruise to Antarctica with an added bonus - guest speaker and fellow traveler, Neil Armstrong.

Neil! Freaking! Armstrong! - the first man who ever walked on the moon - one of the greatest heroes in the history of heroes - will be traveling on a cruise to the place on the planet I most want to visit. I could go there together with this man. I could finally meet one of my most beloved icons and visit one of my touchstone locations at the same time and for the same price.

Of course, Satan didn't contend on one thing more powerful to my soul than even God's command. At heart, I've still got Scottish roots, and the National Geographic Cruise costs $10,000 or more. For that amount, Neil Armstrong would have to be my roommate.

Sorry Satan... Kenya is still my destination of choice.

Countdown to Kenya - Day Nine

My special thanks to Randall Sherman for hooking me on the "Reluctant Memsahib" blog from Tanzania. Anthea is the mother of four living in a far away outpost of Tanzania trying to make ends meet. Her blog is a story of Africa, but also a story of a family struggling with the day to day issues of life. As such it feels so familiar and yet so exotic - which is an incredibly mesmerizing and addiction forming combination. If there is a more perfect antidote for the kind of anxiety I displayed in my last post, I don't know what it is.

One of the issues I've been struggling with this week is the thought of why I am going to Kenya. At our last meeting, I heard the familiar refrains of mission travelers everywhere, "Why go at all? Surely the money can be better spent... blah, blah, blah..." These are the questions of people that have never taken any sort of mission trip, but that would never question spending thousands of dollars to travel to exotic locations on a vacation. The same argument could be made about a vacation, by the way. Why go to all the way to Italy when you could just visit North Beach in San Francisco and save thousands of dollars? However, every time the question is asked of me I still question my motivations.

For me, the answer is fairly clear. I'm going to Kenya because God called me to go. I don't say that like I've got some sort of direct line to Heaven and that God wanted me to go to Kenya specifically cause nobody else can do what I can do. I'm not some sort of savior of Africa. Heck, I don't even really have any idea what I can do there, or if I'm even needed. I might spend the entire time there sick with malaria for all I know. I say it because its a fact. Before God clearly told me to go to Kenya, I really had no notion of going. None. As a vacation, sure, maybe... but it's an awful long ways to go to see some animals in overgrown vegetation. And as far as being a missionary... there are other people way more qualified than I am. But my opinion on this matter doesn't count. God called me to go, and I have humbly accepted the task. What I do when I get there is anybody's guess.

But that lack of knowledge about what I can do in Kenya can really make one question their motives. Is there some secret desire on my part to go to Kenya? Did I imagine the whole God thing because deep down inside I've always wanted to go there? Am I really just acting out some sort of savior complex? Do I believe I'm going to make a difference and save Kenya?

I don't suppose that the fact that I think these questions are absurd clears me entirely. So, for the record, my answer to all these questions is no. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, no.

I'm going to Kenya because God is calling me there. Of my trip, I can say three things with certainty. I will not be able to go without God's help. I have no idea what I'm going to do there. And I'm sure I'll take more from Kenya than I'll ever be able to give back. I expect to be changed. I hope that I can also help Kenya change - for the better. But that's really in God's hands. I'm just going along for the ride.

Countdown to Kenya - Day Seven

A zebra charges Kenya Wildlife Service rangers at a ranch west of Nairobi on July 30, 2007. The rangers are relocating some 2,000 animals, including hundreds of zebra and impala, from this ranch and two other locations to Meru National Park, which has been devastated by poaching.

Photograph by Boniface Mwangi/Reuters

My thanks to National Geographic for this update from 2007. I saw this photo and it just made me laugh. I suppose being chased by a wild animal is not anything to laugh about, but at the same time, the fact that they can be chased by a wild animal, that there are still zebras to see in this world, can bring a smile to my face.

I've been browsing photos for pictures of Meru in particular and Kenya in a broader context. I'm experiencing culture shock in bits and pieces as I try to imagine myself inside these photos. A photo of a bus station in nearby Nanyuki looked so foreign to me that I almost could not imagine the sights and sounds and smells of the place.

I guess I don't want to admit to being a sheltered American. I've traveled, after all, and visited places all over the United States, Europe, and Canada. But the closest I've come to this kind of poverty was in Mexico when I was a kid - crossing over the Rio Grande from El Paso. It was so exotic and third world feeling that I admit to not liking it at all. Give me the sanitized street scenes of Morocco at Disney World any day. Let me marvel at the spectacle of Neunshwanstein in Germany. Pierce my soul with the haunting beauty of the Pieta in the Vatican. Don't let me get dirty in the slums of a distant country. Don't put me in harms way around people that don't look or act or talk like me. And definitely don't make me eat their strange food.

At heart, I guess I'm just an armchair adventurer. I want the thrill and excitement of Indiana Jones without all the muss and fuss of actually experiencing the foreignness of a place. I like Panda Express. I hate Chinatown. I like Taco Bell. I hate the Mission District. I have a hard time leaving my comfort zone. So much for being an anthropologist.

To be fair, it can be incredibly uncomfortable going to a new place and meeting new people. I have actually a fairly good track record when it comes to stepping out on my own and seeking adventure. Through the Navy and beyond, I've lived and worked in many places around the country and I've always adapted to the location that I've gone. My "reaction" to these locations is more a sign of my fear and anxiety about the unknown. Once I'm there and once I get to know a place, I quickly become a native.

I didn't know squat about Hawaii when I arrived (and talk about a foreign country ;) but within six months I was comfortable enough to walk 15 miles from my base to my apartment at night - just to see if I could do it. I may hate change and I may love the known a little too much, but I'm perfectly capable of thriving in a foreign setting.

I look at pictures of Kenya and I see a dirty, dusty, backwards town that scares the heck out of me (somewhat because of how Disney-esque it really looks ;) and then I think of what I'm being called to do and I just know that I will fall in love with Kenya. Fear is always irrational in the end.

Countdown to Kenya - Day Six

Praise God! For He provides all of our blessings.

I have been struggling to translate into words this feeling of inner completeness that I've been experiencing since last week. It flows, in part, out of my discussion on the faith of the disciples on the boat and Jesus's suggestion that they should have just calmed the waves themselves. I realize that that's just my interpretation, but I have found it to be a profound interpretation. I've spent the last week trying to figure out how to calm the waves.

Clearly the Bible is filled with God's miracles. In fact, you might say the entire book from cover to cover is just one long miracle. That the awesome and majestic creator of ALL things should want to have a personal relationship with me is pretty darn miraculous. Heck, I know plenty of people here on Earth that don't want to even give me the time of day. Some of that, maybe, I deserve. And that's the point. If I deserve being ignored by people here, imagine what I deserve in my relationship with God. And yet, He still wants to have this relationship with me - with all of us! That's pretty miraculous.

Understanding that calming the waves would be a miracle, however, doesn't tell me how to do it. Is there a certain flick of the wrist? A tone of the voice? Do I hold up a staff or bang it down on the boat and cry, "You SHALL NOT storm!" in my best Gandalf voice? See, that's part of the problem. My idea of miracles is shaped by Hollywood, and Hollywood's idea of a miracle is that SOMEONE has to do them - thus lending the power of the miracle to the person and not to the actual miracle. You don't get Danny DeVito to part the Red Sea, you get Charlton Heston. But I'm guessing Moses was probably closer to DeVito than to Heston.

So in my best producer like way, I decided to break down the problem one step at a time and I started with a relatively "simple" miracle - God's granting of a son to Abraham, despite his advanced age. I pictured this old man with his old wife (something like the happy couple at the beginning of UP) who have had one break after another and just haven't had a child yet. And God tells them that they will have a child. Abraham must have been thinking, "You're crazy!" but he just nodded and accepted that God could do anything He wanted.

How does the miracle work then? Is it simply faith? Did Abraham believe it would happen, so it did? No. There is no trigger. There is no formula. There are no magic words to make miracles happen, because a miracle is not magic.

When I was a kid and I got in trouble and I knew that I was going to be beaten within an inch of my life, I always found it to be a miracle when my parents would console me instead and treat me with love. In fact, any time where I was certain something bad would happen and instead it turned into something good, something beyond what I could have ever hoped for because it defied everything I knew to be possible, I chalked that up as a miracle.

Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac, beyond all their expectations in their old age because God granted them a child. God created the child for them, like He creates all children, out of love. It was a miracle that they had a child at such an advanced age - but the miracle was not in the creation of the child, the miracle was in the gift that they received from God. All such gifts show us that God loves us enough to personally intervene on our behalf. All such interventions are called miracles. Miracles are love just as God is love.

If I were a kid living day by day wondering if I was going to eat that day, struggling to survive in a hot and dusty slum in Kenya, dealing with all the terrible conditions there and not knowing any other existence, it would be a miracle if someone from the other side of the world who had never met me were to just show up one day and feed me, clothe me, and send me to school. This would be a miracle because I would have no expectation that people from half the world away would show such love to me. This would be a miracle because such a thing could not happen without God showing His love to me. There would be no magic words to make this happen. No special hand movements. No dance or song or anything I could do to make it happen. Impossible for me, but for God, its simply showing His love.

That is how I can calm the storm - with love.

Kenya Children's Mission Group Info

By Robert Taussig (reprinted with permission)

The Kenya Children Mission Project Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA)

Mission Statement: We assist poor, downtrodden children and their families in Meru, Kenya, children orphaned by HIV/AIDs, some raised by equally poor, single grandparents without housing or tillage; others living on the street, with no hope of a better life. We are partnering with Meru’s agencies and churches to provide these children with food, school fees/uniforms, healthcare and love, showing that real people care about them.

Affiliation: Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA), 201 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132; member of the San Francisco Presbytery and Synod of the Pacific.

Brief history: The Lakeside Kenya Children Mission Project has been in existence since May, 2008 and is a formally approved mission by the Session of Lakeside Presbyterian Church. The Mission Group was founded specifically with the objective of helping poor, hungry, downtrodden children living on the street or in rural settings without the means to grow up as productive members of their society. The first trip to Kenya was made in Jan-February of 2009 to focus on the township of Meru, about 180 kilometers north of Nairobi, where our mission leader, Karl Morthole, had taught in a ‘Harambee’ (self-help) secondary school from late 1969 to 1972 under the auspices of the UPC(USA)’s Commission for Ecumenical Mission and Relations, the Methodist Church in Kenya, and the National Christian Council of Kenya. During this trip, roughly 15 different groups were contacted and met personally in Meru to determine the extent and capability of their support for poor, orphaned children, and ability to partner.

From that survey, 4 groups were selected as the initial partners, with the understanding as our mission grows and diversifies with additional experience, that we might support additional groups and/or increase the level of effort for those that we had already selected. Our support will be in the form of school fees, funding for food, clothing, and medicine, and for hands-on support in Meru during our mission trips to supply direct nursing assistance, repair of homes, facilities, drilling for water and possibly supplying critical equipment such as computers, photovoltaic cell power systems, batteries, satellite dishes, and vehicles, depending on the urgency of the need.

Examples of how gifts to our organization are used: One hundred percent of all gifts to the Lakeside Kenya Mission will accrue to the benefits of the mission children and their families, and to the activity of our partner organizations in Meru supporting these same mission efforts. Gifts made through our church are tax deductible via our 501(c) 3 status. Our partner organizations are: The MCK Runogone Church, Ripples International, and the street children programs supported by the Methodist Church of Kenya at the Catholic Consolata Mission location in the Mjini slum of Meru, and in the Nkabune area of the Diocese of Meru.
The first mission financial contributions from our Lakeside Church congregation were delivered to each of our four Kenyan partner organizations in June, 2009 to provide funds for food, medicine, school uniforms and fees. Our mission team operating expenses are entirely supported by the mission members themselves. All mission members pay for their own trip costs to and from Kenya, and for their travel-living expenses within Kenya.

We are encouraged that college age members of our congregation are interested in this mission. We plan to bring them as young missionaries to Kenya as soon as it is feasible to do so. An effort is being made to involve other churches of the San Francisco Presbytery in our mission, to bring their special talents to aid these poor Kenyan children. Our hope is, God willing, to maintain our personal presence in Kenya for a month or so each year, and possibly more often, to help our world grow closer together in spirit and fact. We invite and will help to develop longer-term support for this mission in Kenya.

A key purpose of our mission is to support these children in the spirit of Christ and to ensure that our contact with them makes this purpose clear. Each of our partner organizations in Meru is devoutly Christian, carrying forth His message in their daily endeavors and devotions. Runogone Church has recently raised funds for another building on the church grounds to accommodate the increase in mission activity related to the poor children and their single parents or grandparents in their area. Ripples International has recently constructed a Chapel and three story hospital on a plot of land sufficient to provide housing, a vegetable farm and some livestock to increase their capability to care for both the health and the spiritual life of their orphaned children.

We encourage prospective donors to the Kenyan Children Mission Project of Lakeside Presbyterian Church to contact our mission group to get the most up-to-date news and information on this Project. We intend to periodically update this mission information and will list the latest entry date here: July 10, 2009.

Contact Information: Please contact us through our Mission Director, Karl Morthole, by email (karl@morthole.com), by telephone at 415-986-0227 or by mail at Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA), 201 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132 if you have any questions or would like to discuss the current status of our mission activities.

Countdown to Kenya - Day Three

Does it sometimes seem like everything hits at once? Kenya is getting called out by President Obama as needing to reform its corrupt practices. Even in my short time dealing with Kenya, I can see that these systems are in place and will probably need to be navigated around. Fortunately, none of the people we'll be dealing with directly are involved in any of that. But this can be a part of doing business in any part of the world (whether its called outright a bribe or disguised as a legitimate "fee", it still amounts to the same thing... Yes, I'm talking to you BofA!)

At the same time, Kofi Annan, former head of the UN, basically dropped Kenya into a world of trouble when he decided to, more or less, wash his hands of the whole Post-Election Violence investigation. It seems that the Kenyan's, rather than launching a legitimate investigation into the violence of nearly two years ago, had almost managed to get another one year extension on their ongoing investigation. Annan said, "Justice delayed is justice denied," and turned in all of his paperwork to the Hague which has decided to launch it's own investigation into the post-election violence. The Kenyan government is now scrambling to show that its investigation is ongoing and yielding results, especially since the current political leaders of the country will not be exempt from the Hague's investigation.

The same thing seems to be happening to my Friday, though on a far smaller and more annoying scale. Work is difficult... but at least difficulties mean that I still have work, and for that I'm grateful.

Have a good weekend.

Countdown to Kenya - Day Two

So yesterday, I stood in the harbor with my flashlight in one hand, my crown on my head, and a giant marble tablet in the other hand and I cried out, "Give me your tired, poor, huddled old coins yearning to breath free!" I collected all my old used coins, counted them all up, and am now $96 closer to Kenya. $96 down, $3504 to go! Of course, it took me like four years to save up those coins, so... I'm going to have to come up with other methods of raising money.

Now Dave Lamb (aka Pastor Dave... aka Ranger Rick... aka That John Denver Look-Alike ;) had an interesting question yesterday and I thought I'd address it. You all know why I'M going to Kenya, but you probably don't have a clue why WE'RE going to Kenya. So let me back track...

Really, this whole thing begins and ends with Karl Morthole. Back in the day he was a PeaceCorp volunteer in Meru, Kenya, working with a school as a teacher. Though he went on with his life after he left Kenya, Kenya never really left him.

Jump forward a number of years and Karl started going back to Kenya for visits and reunions. While there, he discovered that his former school needed some assistance, so he brought the issue to Lakeside and we generously donated some money for school uniforms and other projects. The Youth Group at the time even sponsored an AIDS Education program out of Meru.

But Karl started thinking there was more that he could do, so he decided to go back and help Kenyan farmers by setting up a coffee exchange here in the United States. Unfortunately, that's a rather tough market to crack.

All of this was going on sort of at his behest and completely on his own. Lakeside supported Karl and his efforts, but they were his efforts.

On a completely different tack, a group of Lakesider's were getting together to study missional programs and the deepening of their commitment to Christ. Out of this group, which included Karl, a number of them got together and decided that they wanted to form a small group Mission Study Group, to figure out if there was a better way of doing mission at Lakeside. After a relatively short debate, they realized that there was one person amongst them that already had a passionate mission going - so they formed the Kenya Mission Group.

I joined the group earlier this year and the very first thing that occurred after I joined was a short fact finding trip by two of the group members. They went to Kenya to find a mission program that Lakeside could partner with. Kenyan people helping Kenyan people with Lakeside helping them. We didn't want to be in charge, we only wanted to assist. Well, the trip was so successful that we had a real hard time narrowing the assistance down to four groups and six different missions.

We are currently supporting four different missions in Kenya. Two of the groups are children's feeding programs located near slum neighborhoods in Meru (and just outside Meru). These programs feed up to 120 kids a day and try to get them school uniforms and into schools. (Kenya has free education for grade school, but not free uniforms). These are the programs that I'll be working with mostly. Another of the programs is the Runogone Church in Meru that has taken a pledge to help up to 200 families in their community that are either in poverty or right on the edge. They are doing much the same as the other groups, but on a much larger scale. And the final program is Ripples International - a Kenyan program with funding from all over that has several different missions. The ones that we are working with are their programs dealing with AIDS Testing and Consulting, Abandoned Infant Care, and Help for Young Battered Women (teens and younger that have often been sexually assaulted).

We are raising funds and awareness for these groups and in less than six months, we will send a team of people to Meru to physically help in any way that is possible - including drilling a couple of wells to help them deal with crop sustainability.

This is an ongoing effort - not one that ends in six months and two weeks - when I return from Kenya. We have no illusion about our ability to completely end suffering, but we are doing what we can to help and God willing that help will go far.

I hope that answers all of your questions.

Countdown to Kenya - Day One

I've been visited today by my alter-ego, Dr. Wig. He is the fun side of my personality - the one who sees everything in a positive light. He's been woefully missing during the last couple of months and it was good to have him back in charge of the ol' brain for a while.

Of course, he's spent most of the day mocking me for my lack of faith on Kenya. He's reminding me of how far I've got to go on this whole faith thing.

For instance, I've always read that Luke passage that I quoted a couple of days ago as Jesus chastising his disciples for waking him when clearly the storm would have not killed them so long as Jesus was aboard. "Where is your faith?" Or to paraphrase, "Surely you didn't think God was going to sink this ship while I was aboard, did you?" But I suddenly realized this week that Jesus was not questioning their faith because the disciples were scared of sinking, He was questioning their faith because they bothered Him at all. "Where is your faith?" I.E. Why did you wake me? Why didn't you just calm the seas?

I've been setting out on the boat journey's of life with a life vest. I've taken my oars. I've remembered my fishing tackle, my GPS, my radio to call for help, my navigational charts, even my flares... but I don't think I've ever packed my Storm Quelling Kit.

It sounds ridiculous until you read the Bible and see what His disciples and all manners of great Biblical leaders were able to accomplish with little more than faith. Imagine walking into a gathering of crazed religious fanatics and challenging them to a duel of the gods. Imagine having them call upon their god to light a Weber Grill and failing... to be expected, of course. But imagine then taking the same Weber Grill, dousing it with water, and calling upon God to light that puppy from Heaven. What do you REALLY think would happen?

Or what if you were commanded to have the Earth spin backwards one day? Or you were being pursued by an entire army down to the banks of an impassable channel of water? Or what if you were commanded to attack an entire army with just a handful of men? (none of whom looked like Gerald Butler from 300 ;)

I think the least of God's troubles would be for me to find a way to Kenya. To Him, this might be the equivalent of worrying whether He'll remember to breathe in the next second. Get Will to Kenya? Got anything a little more challenging?

I mean how small must my faith be if faith the size of a mustard seed can move entire mountains?

See... Dr. Wig is a good mocker and I'm glad he's back inside my head for a while - even if it means more thoughts on my Broadway Musical... ;)

Now, to figure out how to raise $13,600 in the next six months ($3600 for Kenya, $10,000 for the Movie) and to lose 40 pounds. Anyone want to sponsor me to lose weight? $1 a pound! That's a real steal on the normal conversion rate which is closer to $2 a pound right now... All proceeds get me to Kenya... even if I have to walk or swim part of the way.

Thanks for reading.

In Memorium: Oscar Mayer

Sing with me one last time:

Oh I wish I were an Os-car Mayer Wie - ner
That is what I'd tru-ly like to be
'cause if I were an Os-car May-er Wie - ner
Ev-ery one would be in love with me.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Mayer.

Rock The Boat...

Luke 8:22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.

On Wednesday of last week I had the following thought: "Perhaps I'm taking on a little too much responsibility. I mean, come on, a movie AND a trip to Kenya? Not to mention all the other little projects I've got going on. Am I so arrogant as to believe that I can do all of this stuff? Am I perhaps being a little too much like Icharus? Are my wings on fire?"

Less than half an hour later, my boss called me into a meeting about various different things and let me know exactly that with tough times might come tough measures - including the possibility that I might not have a job in the near future. Needless to say, in these economic times, this news did not surprise me. But it did shock me a little. Its one thing to suspect things are coming. Its quite another to hear them spoken out loud.

My immediate thought was, "There goes Kenya." Even if I were to find a new job, and one that pays quite a bit more than what I'm making now, the odds of any new employer letting one of their brand new employees tromp off to Kenya for two weeks in January seems extremely remote. I also came to the immediate conclusion that if I didn't get outside money for my movie, it too was not going to fly.

As the week progressed and I alternated between moods of despair and hope, I wandered around lost. My mental ship of state had taken a wallop of a storm wave and was just swirling around and around like a canoe in a whirlpool.

Finally, I grabbed hold of myself and said, "Where is your faith?" The first storm wave had come along and I had let go of the tiller and just drifted - like a rookie seaman.

I knew that raising $3600 to go to Kenya was going to be difficult in this economic climate, but I guess, deep-down, I suspected that I might still accomplish it. See, I'm something quite special and I have amazing powers and... God had to rid me of that suspicion. There is NO WAY I am going to Kenya without His help. He will get me there and all power and glory to Him.

It is not Moses getting his people out of Egypt. It is God. I am not going to Kenya. I am being sent. And when I set foot in that distant land, I will rejoice and know that He has made it possible.

(That's assuming I don't drown in debt in the meantime ;)