For those who follow this blog and DON'T already know it, or know very little... it's time I share about our potential plans to relocate to Southern Africa.
You probably already know about my (our) growing passion for the people of Africa. Our desire to serve overseas goes back many years prior to our marriage, and has been a common thread throughout our life together. At the time we married, we anticipated being deployed overseas, serving with Brethren in Christ World Missions, within a few years of being married. God redirected us... and for how long, we didn't know. We ended up at The Meeting House 4.5 years ago, and it's been a wonderful place for us to serve, grow and engage in community.
And yet, that desire to serve overseas never died.
As a church, we desired to take a very active role in compassionate ministry to the people of Africa. We sent Joel and Julianne for 10 months to research how we could do that. The decision was made that we needed to partner with an organization that is already there, already doing great work. The last thing we wanted to do was to be a big church with big money, going in and doing things our own way. There's already lots of very intelligent, skilled people on the ground doing great work in Africa. God has gifted us with financial resources... we need to use that to support the great work that's already in place. The organization we feel we are best suited to partner with, and with whom we have the opportunity to make the biggest impact, is Mennonite Central Committee. (Learn more about them at www.mcc.org.)
So our goal as a church is to double MCC's budget for Southern Africa over the next 5 years. We want to raise millions of dollars for them to use to strengthen existing programs in Africa, and to create new ones.
Part of our committment was also to provide personnel... in several ways. Our leadership wants to send a couple (or family) from the church to live in Africa, to fulfill a couple of objectives:
- Communication
If we are asking people in our community to give millions of dollars, we have a responsibility to communicate with them how those finances are being used. We place a high value on communication within our community.
- Logistics
We want to not just send money, but also people. People to serve in various short-term capacities. People to just go and "do life" together with our African family. People who can come back to Canada and share with passion about what's going on there... keeping the vision alive for partnering with MCC and our African brothers and sisters. Others who desire to use specific skills and educational experience to work alongside the Africans for a short period of time.
So we are hopeful that by the middle of 2008, our family will be on the ground, in Africa, fulfilling this role. In so many ways, this is a very good fit for Arja and I. It fits our passions and our skills. It fits with our desire to serve others, and it fits with our desire to serve together as a family. It's the ideal time for our children, and we know that they will gain incredible life experience from it.
Our trip to Zimbabwe in November served to affirm our desire. We came back with a love for the people, for the land, and a passion to use our gifts to serve. We gained a huge appreciation for wonderful things that are happening there, and a burden for the very saddening state of affairs in some regards.
There are many things we will give up when we leave Canada. We will sell our home, our cars, and 99% of our possessions. We will give up our salaries. We will give up much. But we will gain SO MUCH MORE. We will learn to live simply. We will learn to value community over commercialism. We will live, travel, learn and work together as a family. I will learn to slow down (I know many people are waiting to see that happen!)
We trust that through our work, we will help a community of nearly 5000 people in Canada engage in meaningful ways with millions of people in Africa, carrying out the practical teaching of Jesus to love our neighbours. We will be a part of helping people's physical needs be met. We will witness people die of HIV/AIDS, and we will witness others live because they received ARV treatment that they couldn't afford themselves. We will meet people who are starving, and we will work alongside people as they plant gardens with seeds they bought because of micro-loans. We will use video and blogging to tell people's stories... people like Rebecca, whom you can meet through our November Zimbabwe video... (see it here)
I can't wait to meet more of these people, and to introduce you to them.
This posting isn't formalized yet. We have been in discussion with MCC and The Meeting House leadership team. In January, we will formalize our application and interview with MCC. From there, we need to work out a few logistical details, and then, if all goes smoothly, by July, we'll be packing our stuff and boarding a plane.
Where, exactly, we will live, is yet to be determined. It will likely be either Choma, Zambia, or Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. But our role will take us throughout all of Southern Africa.
Stay tuned in the new year as things progress.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wow - this is intense.
I LOVE church production! I love lighting, video, creative elements. I love creating relevant experiences for the churched and unchurched alike. I love taking "the world's" music and using it for our purposes - tying it into themes that serve the purpose of sharing Jesus.
That's my job.
The Meeting House does a pretty good job of it.
So what is it about this video from Buckhead Church (a campus of Northpoint - whom I have alot of respect for) that strikes me as "too much?"
We always tread the fine line between relevant, and over-produced. Maybe it's my evergrowing passion for Africa that makes this seem over-the-top. It's not a secret around here that I'm feeling less passionate about this stuff personally. I know that what I do is very important for The Meeting House to function... but I'm personally less and less excited about "production" in the church context. I'm just becoming more passionate about using my skills to serve people in Africa and helping our community engage with that part of the world, as opposed to pushing the sensory envelope in church here in Canada.
What Buckhead has done here is not at all philosophically different from what we do at TMH. It's just that they have bigger budgets and can do more. Don't misread me - I mean no judgement or disrepect to Buckhead. They, and the whole Northpoint family, are incredible, and passionate about Jesus, and do a great job of moving people into community, doing life together following Jesus.
What do you think?
That's my job.
The Meeting House does a pretty good job of it.
So what is it about this video from Buckhead Church (a campus of Northpoint - whom I have alot of respect for) that strikes me as "too much?"
We always tread the fine line between relevant, and over-produced. Maybe it's my evergrowing passion for Africa that makes this seem over-the-top. It's not a secret around here that I'm feeling less passionate about this stuff personally. I know that what I do is very important for The Meeting House to function... but I'm personally less and less excited about "production" in the church context. I'm just becoming more passionate about using my skills to serve people in Africa and helping our community engage with that part of the world, as opposed to pushing the sensory envelope in church here in Canada.
What Buckhead has done here is not at all philosophically different from what we do at TMH. It's just that they have bigger budgets and can do more. Don't misread me - I mean no judgement or disrepect to Buckhead. They, and the whole Northpoint family, are incredible, and passionate about Jesus, and do a great job of moving people into community, doing life together following Jesus.
What do you think?
A fun experiment
Not sure I believe this... but I'm certainly going to try it. I will post my results after I've given it a whirl!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Reflections on Zimbabwe
A video piece I put together while Arja and I visited Zimbabwe with Joel and Julianne.
Images of Zimbabwe
An African mud hut!
I had to go around the world to milk a cow!
Playing volleyball with some students from Ekuphelini Bible Institute.
Beauty speaks for itself.
Arja and a new friend!
Rebecca - probably one of the most beautiful people I have met. Not long ago, she was on death's door because of HIV/AIDS. Now, thanks to ARV drugs, she is regaining her strength!
I had the privilege of praying for this woman. Unfortunately, she will probably die of AIDS.
At the peak of Lupate - a local mountain.
Arja saying goodbye to the Grade Zero class at Mshtabezi Primary School. There were 83 children in this class with one teacher.
More school kids.
Cynthia - an 11 year old who stole our hearts.
Vuio - the son of our Zimbabwean hosts.
What's in the backyard? Oh, just some clean laundry drying on the line...and cows.
The Danhoundo Family - MCC Country Reps in Zimbabwe, originally from Benin, West Africa.
The pictures that follow are of Shelton, Magret and Concilia - 3 young children (the oldest is 12, I believe) who live on their own. These are 3 kids - kids who have been orphaned by AIDS - that I will never forget.
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