“The lack of a caring community that incarnates the Word makes us more and more incapable of being heard.”
- Melba Maggay Filipino theologian

There is strength in numbers. The louder the protest about injustice, the more likely it will be heard. The louder the protest about issues of mercy . . .the more people who care others through actions, thoughts and words, the more likely others will take notice.

Save Darfur: Al-Bashir Genocide, War Crimes Charges Underscore Need for Security Council ActionFowler: ‘The world at-large, primarily the Security Council, has allowed al-Bashir to continue his reign of destruction, recalcitrance and violence with utter impunity. Moreno-Ocampo has…Read more

We need to keep up this momentum and push this issue to the forefront of politics and global communities.

What do you know abut Darfur? What are you doing about it?

The most powerful tool in your arsenal is your voice. Tell others. Encourage them to add their voice to the community of those who vehemently oppose the genocide in Darfur. Pray to God, let God hear your cries for those with no voices.

Love Christ. Be Christ’s hands, feet, and voice and love your neighbors on earth (regardless of location). Raise your voice high. Stop this insanity.

(Care + Community) + (Notice + Action)= Resolution & Justice

Here are some places to get involved NOW. Today. The next place you click.

Save Darfur: http://www.savedarfur.org/content
Genocide Intervention Network: www.genocideintervention.net
Waging Peace: www.wagingpeace.info
International Crisis Group – Darfur: www.genocideintervention.net
STAND: Student Anti-Genocide Coalition:www.standnow.org

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

Why are you still here? What are you waiting for?

Time to get up to speed

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”The first thing we have to do is change hearts,” Betancourt told McClatchy in an exclusive interview. “We have to change the vocabulary of hate. When I dreamed of being free, I told myself that I could not engage in hate or rancor.”

”It’s a neurotic world, and there are lots of conflicts,” she said. “There’s a food crisis and an energy crisis. People are very anxious about this. We need to reflect on how we behave.”

”The guerrillas are our enemy,” Betancourt said in the interview. “But we shouldn’t insult them. We should show them how to seek a dignified exit through peaceful negotiations. If we don’t defeat them correctly, we will sow the seeds of hate for the future.”

- Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio

_____________________________

The short-term exacting of righteous, perhaps even justifiable vengence does not seem to be in Betancourt’s vocaulary. Hostage of FARC for over 2K days, she does not resort to ‘justice,’ in the sense of our version of justice. The justice of tried in court and punished. True to her polictal leanings, Ingrid shows a Christ-like view of reconciliation for the better good of all in her country.

Do we in America do the same? We are under the impression that might makes right. Perhaps we can learn from Ingrid in some instances. I know at a personal level, I need to rely less on justice-based retribution. This is a hard lesson to learn, to apply.

I would be curious as to how she would address Darfur and Zimbabwe. When force and genocide of masses of people are at stake. Then, of course, the US still does little in these areas to help other than a few policies a the state level, official statements at the national level and the protests of non profit organizations. One can only hope it will not be too little too late.

What is our current vocabulary of hate? What can we personally do to change that? Things to think about anyway.

Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio (born December 25, 1961) is a Colombian-French politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist. Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on February 23, 2002, and rescued from captivity six and a half years later in Operation Jaque, along with 14 other hostages (three Americans and 11 Colombian policemen and soldiers), by Colombian security forces on July 2, 2008, who tricked the FARC into believing they were a leftist non-governmental organization. In all, she was held captive for 2,321 days after being taken while campaigning for the Colombian presidency as a Green.*

* Green Party of Colombia Option Center is a Colombian political party associated with the philosophies of the Green party, the “political middle”. The party advocates for having an ecological conscience, social justice, participative democracy, non violence resolutions, human sustainability and respect for diversity in order to improve the Colombian social, economic and political struggle and bring to and end the Colombian armed conflict.

A long time ago, I was bent on being famous in fiber art. Most of my extra time was for this purpose. Weekends, evenings after work deep into the night were spent creating art in my studio, honing my craft. My end game were competing in exhibits, selling work and looking towards when I would be a part of museum collections. I spent other time updating a website store, buying supplies, teaching and conversing with other fiber artists to extend my network online. I thought about ideas for creating pieces while I drove to my 9-5 job and sketched out ideas on scraps of paper during droning meetings. I dreamed of quilting patterns as I walked at night and as I did the laundry. And for my efforts, I reaped some benefits of all that energy. But in retrospect it was a lot like spiritually treading water.

A little over 5 years ago, several of the people I know began the journey of starting a new church in our town. We knew it would be lots of work and time commitment, but most of us felt the call to do so. But really, we had no idea what this would really be like. None of us had ever planted a church before. It was about half way through this time that I realized that God really wasn’t in my life that much. I had put God in the garage so to speak. God was still accessible, but truly not part of my daily living space. For most of my life, I gave God little thought outside of any ‘church activity’ such as worship, church events and the like. My life was God or other, not both.

Convenient

Compartmentalized

Safe

But as my service to planting this church increased, I realized this view would have to give way to something else.

Our God is a wild God, and cannot be tamed. God cannot be defined, categorized or controlled. God is God and we are not, no matter how much we try to lord over our lives. I began to understand this as I learned to practice the presence of God, to read the scripture more and wrestle with it, to learn to talk to God anytime. Often my talks or prayers were not the calm, eyes closed version of contemplative prayer. Indeed, I raged and lamented to God with my eyes wide open, openly yelling in protest and anger. But through this God let me rail and wriggle but kept whispering what had to be done next. Then in slow AND in great leaps. . . things starting shifting.

Unnecessary commitments dropped. I spent my time, my energy in different directions, for different reasons. I began to realize that discipleship was more than going to church on Sundays. Discipleship was a mix of joy and sacrifice, sometimes pleasant and often unpleasant and confusing, challenging my perception of the word Christian. This was not the bill of goods my born-again colleagues touted in college. There some tried to convince me that being saved for heaven was within my grasp if I just said a certain paragraph of word and I was ‘in.’ It seemed to good to be true, and now I know it isn’t that easy. This was not what I understood from my UMC roots. This did not fit any of my experiences in various churches and denominations as we traipsed across the country during my husband’s Navy years. God was in my face all the time. God was making me look into the mirror or myself and there when I cringed at what I saw.

For some reason I never put it all together until recently. I am a firm believer that there are many time lines in spiritual growth (not everyone is at the same place at the same time). God uses all in the time that is needed based on who we are. Indeed, I am often more like doubting Thomas than I care to admit. Therefore, I must put myself in the spiritual late bloomer category, giving new meaning to the phrase, “Great Awakening”. I learned that instead of the easy road, discipleship will require much more than just some words, it requires action, a lot of tripping on bumpy roads and several roller coaster rides. It requires constant challenge and transformation. The journey is messy, gritty, and unpredictable. It requires me to be more foolish and less cool. It shows me my pride and humbles me in the same instance. The more I listen to God whispers the less controlled and contained my life becomes. Yeah, God does drive me crazy.

What I do now is so different than 5 years ago. And even in the past year, this has shifted to a more intense focus on areas of concern to God…poverty, justice of the oppressed and mercy. This is so different than me from the past ‘famous artist’ stage where I had no time to commit to service projects or extra money for charities. I read a lot more as well. Bell, Claiborne, Willard, Zacharias, McLaren, Yancey, Wright, Lewis, and Miller have challenged my understanding of Christian discipleship, service and sacrifice. Now God lives not only in my house, but in other places I go . . . work, play, the kitchen, the bathroom, the backyard and places in between. As my good friend Ben Simpson said last week in his sermon, the spirit of God fills our cups and overflows into our lives and those around us. It seems that right now, I am always stepping in spilled water from my cup or someone else’s.  The scales are off my eyes and my lenses are focused on what needs to be done in God’s Kingdom.

I do still create, but with words, not fabrics. I used to write a lot before the artist thing. Now I am back at it, one of my original loves. If only a few people read my blogs, that’s okay. I will still write as it is truly how I process thoughts and this discipleship ride. I still have the studio, but it is for the most part, inactive and I’m not sorry for it. It seems as if others are more concerned about my lack of ‘art piece production’ than I am.

Instead my thoughts are on other things. Mostly Micah 6:8, Isaiah, Genesis 11 and 12, all of James and Jesus.

Now as I drive, do dishes or walk, my creativity focuses on ways to affect what is happening in Darfur, how the children in Tanzania and Uganda our family sponsors are doing, how to help fulfill the needs of the hungry and homeless, what is the best way to be a socially-conscious consumer, how can I pass this passion on to the youth of our church and my daughter and also trying to move towards being as green as possible. My time is also spent talking to God about these things and in prayer for others. For me, this is a better type of creativity. Onward.

My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? Faith that doesn’t lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!

Suppose someone disagrees and says, “It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds.”

I would answer, “Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them.” You surely believe there is only one God. That’s fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear.

Does some stupid person want proof that faith without deeds is useless? Well, our ancestor Abraham pleased God by putting his son Isaac on the altar to sacrifice him. Now you see how Abraham’s faith and deeds worked together. He proved that his faith was real by what he did. This is what the Scriptures mean by saying, “Abraham had faith in God, and God was pleased with him.” That’s how Abraham became God’s friend.

You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe. For example, Rahab had been a prostitute. But she pleased God when she welcomed the spies and sent them home by another way. Anyone who doesn’t breathe is dead, and faith that doesn’t do anything is just as dead! James 2: 14-26

I liked writing random thoughts so well last week, I thought I’d do another. These are grouped under the lyrics and themes of “Deliver Me” by the David Crowder Band. The lyrics for the song are bolded. I’ve been listening to the version Kev and I did a couple of Sundays ago over and over this week.

Scripture I am chewing on and sorta shows where my mind and heart are at this week:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. – Isaiah 43:2-2

“Deliver me out of the sadness”

The numbers are staggering. The suffering, immense. . .

“The confirmed number of dead rose nearly 10,000 from the day before to 51,151, Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin told a news conference. Another 29,328 people remained missing and nearly 300,000 were hurt in the May 12 quake centered in Sichuan province, he said.

The disaster left 5 million people homeless and leveled more than 80 percent of the buildings in some remote towns and villages near the epicenter. In bigger cities entire apartment blocks collapsed or are now too dangerous to live in because of damage and worries about aftershocks.” Yahoo
News

In the news Wednesday: “The secretary general of the United Nations is heading to Myanmar in an effort to step up relief efforts for survivors of Cyclone Nargis.” Please God, help us to help them.

“Deliver me from all the madness”
“We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.” Marian Wright Edelman

Anyone want a really nice cat named Clarence?* He needs special food, but is very lovey. Of course, he has the ability to vomit randomly throughout a carpeted room in no time flat. Some may even call that a talent. We just call it an unholy mess. Gross. * Note: No, we are not giving Clarence away, although the thought crossed my mind Tuesday, the day of the totally disgusting ‘occurrence.’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King, Jr

“Deliver me courage to guide me”
What should we be ‘spending’ our refund checks on? Erase debt? The poor? The ravaged in China or Burma? The movies? Another few pair of shoes? Grocery hoarding? Clean water projects in 3rd world countries? A vacation?

Finished Jesus for President. Yet another Claiborne book that really tests preconceptions about service and Christianity. Pick it up. Read about our modern empire. This will book change you forever.

The danger is that we can begin to read the Bible through the eyes of America rather than read America through the yes of the Bible. We just want Jesus to be a good American.p194

“The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian
religion.”-John Adams

From the litany of resistance: (Jesus for President Appendix)

One: From the arrogance of power
All: Deliver us
One: From the myth of redemptive violence
All: Deliver us
One: From the tyranny of greed
All: Deliver us
One: From the ugliness of racism
All: Deliver us
One: From the cancer of hatred
All: Deliver us
One: From the seduction of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From the addiction of control
All: Deliver us
One: From the idolatry of nationalism
All: Deliver us
One: From the paralysis of cynicism
All: Deliver us
One: From the violence of apathy
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of poverty
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From a lack of imagination
All: Deliver us
One: Deliver us, O God

“Deliver me Your strength inside me”

There’s nothing like driving with the windows down, driving to work and drinking coffee. Okay, I lied, take the driving to work part out of that statement and, it would be even better.

Rocket Dog, my new bowling ball, you let me down this week. Whereas the week before we were on fire, the pendulum swung back to the other extreme for Rocket Dog and me. It was truly embarrassing to bowl less than 100 with your own equipment. Seriously folks, totally embarrassing.

On the horizon is a 3 day weekend. I can’t wait. I need this.

Finished: The Gutter: Where Life is Meant to be lived by Craig Gross
Guess what? No matter where you live, there are gutters. Gutters are physical places. The are also addictions, selfishness, pride, loneliness, the ability not to forgive….we all have secret dark places. Jesus dwelled in the gutters throughout the gospel. . .and today. Craig Gross is a pastor in his 20’s who founded Fireproof Ministries as a way to train and disciple Christian youth, and XXXchurch.com, to help Christians break addiction to pornography. Guess what? God loves those who make porn. Get your mind around that.

“We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.” Bishop Desmond Tutu

“CHORUS:
All of my life
I’ve been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You’re here
Now that I’ve found You
I know that You’re the One to pull me through”

Prince Caspian was awesome. Aslan is back! Lessons for the kings, queens and princes (and us all) in the movie: 1) You can’t do it yourself 2) You don’t need any proof of Jesus or God to have faith 3) Motivation through hatred is never the way, although the temptation is immense and alluring. 4) Righteous honor pleases God. God hates honor for power. See it. You will not be disappointed.

“There is a war going on for your mind. We are the insurgents” – Flobots lyrics

“Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I’m bearing
Oh, deliver me”

I’ve been developing a youth curriculum for Institute. It’s called, “iStand for God’s Justice & Mercy (There’s war going on for your mind)” If it is accepted, it includes part IJM, part Flobots, part Invisible Children, Part Darfur Now and some killer quotes. Also wall drawing, collages and letters sent to students after the class they write about what they want to do next. LEARN about it, DO something to help. TELL others. Love your neighbors everywhere.

“Jesus, Jesus how I trust You How I’ve proved You o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
Deliver me”

Planted years-old seeds we found in the garage hiding in stacks of old papers. Not sure how they got there, but thought we’d throw them into our clay-pot soil. How’s that for planting seeds of faith?

Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World by Kevin Blue
Right thinking. Right action. Just living. God calls us to step up and get involved. More on this later.

“Come and pull me through Come pull me through”

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.Do
not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen
against me,and they are breathing out violence. Psalm 27:11-14

“Civilians throughout Sudan face new peril as the peace agreement that ended the two decade war in southern Sudan seems increasingly fragile and new violence in Darfur appears imminent. The United States and the international community should take immediate steps to halt the fighting in the south and deter al-Bashir’s planned assault on Darfur.”

“When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do”
Surely We Can Change by the David Crowder Band

“Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all,
thou shalt not be a bystander.” The Holocaust Museum

What have you done to help alleviate suffering or draw attention to the Darfuri people? Are you a bystander?

so much pain
we don’t know how to be but angry
feel infected like we got gangrene please dont let anybody try to change me ..
me just me.
in a sea full of faces..
full of races’
some laugh
some salivate
whats in your alley recycling bins or bullet casings
its not equal its not fair
we’re different people but we’re not scared
we ain’t never scared to pave a new path
make a new street
build a new bridge
hey can you see by the dawns early light
free slaves runnin
songs words weren’t right now a new days comin
if you stay stuntin while the many are handsome your soul stays alive
but they want it for ransom
the bass drummin is the anthem we step to the heart beats of our granddaughters and grandsons
(chorus)
and rise together
we rise together
we rise
together
we rise
together
we rise
together ….

Rise by the Flobots

Most would agree that being sick is no fun. Being sick away from home is even worse. This week I was both away from home and sick. In a hotel, no familiar remedies at hand, no liquids at my fingertips to hydrate me. No familiar bed or extra covers. No comforts to help through the fevers and chills, no family, no friends, just me and the germs for company. It only takes an experience like this to force into the forefront the importance of home, friends and family during times like these, or any other sorts of stresses.

My home dilemma was solved on Friday when I flew back from North Carolina to Kansas. For me, it could not be soon enough.

Millions of others face this fact every day, but instead of a temporary displacement, their loss of home is permanent. Across Darfur and Chad, over 2.5 million Darfuris live in displacement camps, some away from family, friends or tribe due to war or death from war. Their lives uprooted, often with the clothes on their backs as their only possessions, fleeing from bullets often at any hour of the day and night. They fled from their homes, soon burned to the ground. Entire villages erased, leaving nothing but smoking piles of rubble.

Living in camps alone would be a hardship enough, but their means of sustaining their life now depends on organizations across the world struggling through red tape and rebels to get their shipments to the camps. Living in camps also encourages disease and sickness due to close proximity and limited medical supplies. And of course, there is always the threat of more attacks by the Janjaweed rebels and government forces attempting to exterminate these peoples. And so it continues.

What hope would you have?

What will happen to them next?

For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. Psalm 72: 12-14

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:2-16

You are their best hope. Yes, you.

Visit www.savedarfur.org to learn more about how you can help right now.

If you are in the Kansas City area, you can learn more about this region by attending a movie and conversation around, “The Devil Came on Horseback” on Thursday at 7PM. 138 Main, Gardner, Kansas. Contact me if you can attend. We’d love to have you there.

“No one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”- Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Language
September 27, 1973

Spending summer weeks at my mother’s parents conjures up other fond memories. There was no pool in town, so my grandma got out her old wash tub, filled it with water and I splashed in that. They grew raspberries (my favorite fruit to this day) and we enjoyed them with half and half or in a fresh pie. There were zoo trips and dinners out with other great aunts and uncles. Sometimes cousins visited and fun was had by all. I learned how to fry chicken and crochet. I showed my prowess around scrubbing out sinks after doing dishes. I helped bake bread and count the number of canned vegetables and jams in the basement. I learned how long it takes to polish a rock in a polisher. And yes, I did catch fireflies in on of grandma’s old mason jars for a nightlight, only to release them each morning to start again that night.

These memories are in stark contrast to the collection of drawings I looked at this week from children in IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps of refugees from the Darfur area of Sudan. Instead of pictures of family life and events of joy, children in these camps, witnesses to the ongoing genocide in that country, drew frightening and consistent pictures of homes being burned and people being attacked. For them, there is no peace. The drawings can be viewed in full here. Here is one of them.

The five hundred drawings collected by Waging Peace amount to a form of criminal evidence from silent witnesses. The killings, bombing and looting shown in the drawings directly contradict the Government of Sudan’s version of events over the last four years of bloodshed. The pattern that emerges from these drawings corroborates what we know has been taking place in Darfur and shows a worryingly similar pattern of attacks developing in Eastern Chad.

There have been 5 years of conflict in this region. Now there are school age children who are living in camps that no nothing of peace. Over 1 million of Darfuri children know only a life of destruction, not of home.

This young boy was 8 when his village in Darfur was attacked in 2003 by Janjaweed and Sudanese armed forces. He is now 12 and living in a refugee camp in Eastern Chad.

In this drawing the attackers, on camel and hose backs and in armed vehicles, are setting the houses on fire and shooting at civilians from all corners (note how the bullets are crossing each others paths). The villagers are also fighting back with spears and arrows, while the Janjaweed and Sudanese forces are attacking them with machine guns.

The skin colour of the attackers is lighter than that of the victims, clearly denoting the ethnic character of the attacks.

The tribes of the Darfur region in Sudan are African, not Arab. As the Janjaweed rebels (backed by the Sudanese government) put it as they slaughter villages, “They are too black.” At the crux of this conflict we find race, not religion. More than 400,000 Black African people have been killed, and more than 2 million Black African people have been forced to leave their homes.

Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Deuteronomy 24:17

“Never again” was the rally cry after the Holocaust. “Never again” was shouted after the Rwandan genocide in the early 1990’s. Yet, it is happening again. A child is a child of God, no matter where they live, how they worship, or what color their skin happens to be. It’s time to LEARN about this conflict and genocide. DO something to help. TELL others.

Start here.