mcmeeshi

Before delving further into my new series “When Helping Hurts” about service to the poor, I wanted to offer some background about how the faith perspective fits in. Please add your own thoughts, recommendations, questions, etc. in the comments section. Here goes…

It wasn’t until one of my college classes invited a guest speaker to share about poverty in the Bible, that I first heard about God’s “preferential option for the poor.” I was shocked at how many Bible verses referred to taking care of the poor and the oppressed. How had I never heard of this before? Later as a volunteer intern with Children of the Nations in the Dominican Republic, while we spent our days working in poor communities, our leaders guided us through a book that revolutionized how I see the world. It is called: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity by Ronald Sider, and I still refer to it often.

Growing up in a church-going home, the words “Good News” were always just a vague catch phrase. However, in my pieced-together education about poverty, these words took on real meaning as I saw the Bible in a completely new way. In the Old Testament, God intervened to liberate the poor from Egypt (Exodus 3:7-8; 6:5-7). He warned and even destroyed kingdoms because the rich were mistreating the poor (Amos 2:7, 5:10-15, 6:1-7; Ezekiel 16:49-50; Micah 2:2; Jeremiah 5:26-29, 7:5-7; Isaiah 1:10-17, 1:21-26, 5:8-10; Hosea 1:8-9). In Old Testament times, “the rights of the poor and disadvantaged to possess the means to earn a decent living [took] precedence over the rights of the more prosperous to make a profit” (Leviticus 25:15-17, 25:35-38; Exodus 23:6-12; Deuteronomy 15:1-18). Over and over, from the beginning of time and throughout Biblical history, God showed his favor for the poor (Isaiah 58:3-7; Deuteronomy 10:17-18; Psalms 10:14-18, 146:1-9; Proverbs 14:31, 19:17…). I couldn’t believe I had never noticed this theme before. And the above references, which come from the Rich Christians book (chapters 3-5), don’t even touch on all the ones in the New Testament. I learned from Luke 4:18-19, Jesus states his purpose: “to preach good news to the poor… to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…” Maybe I used to think that these were just spiritual terms, but I’ve since found that they are literal as well. Jesus- himself from a lower-class family and a refugee- paid particular attention to the poor, the sick, the despised, and the marginalized during his time on Earth. At that time, Jesus coming into the world was quite literally Good News for people in those categories- as it still should be today. What am I getting at with all of this? Simply stated, I discovered that God deeply cares for the poor and the oppressed; and so did His son. His care went beyond occasional charity. It was about Justice.

If something is important to God, shouldn’t it be important to His followers, too? I’ve found the Christian concept of the Body of Christ to be very important in talking about this: we should be like many different parts of one organism, each with their own role in the here and now to achieve Christ’s work. What is Christ’s work? Things like Restoration, Renewal, and Reconciliation- slowly making things On Earth As It Is In Heaven. “When people look at the church, they should see the One who declared- in word and in deed to the leper, the lame, and the poor- that His kingdom is bringing healing to every speck of the universe.” (When Helping Hurts) One of my favorite examples of people living out Christ’s example and God’s calling comes from the first Christians, as reported by philosopher Aristides in AD 125:

They despise not the widow, and grieve not the orphan. He that hath, distributeth liberally to him that hath not. If they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof, and rejoice over him, as it were their own brother: for they call themselves brethren, not after the flesh, but after the spirit and in God; but when one of their poor passes away from the world, and any of them see him, then he provides for his burial according to his ability; and if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible that he may be delivered, they deliver him. And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.

Two hundred years later, Julian the Apostate- a pagan- admitted “that the godless Galileans [Christians] feed not only their poor but ours also.” That’s sounds to me like a great way to make our world a little more like it should be, like bringing heaven to earth. That is the way I believe we are called to act.

One of my favorite authors, Shane Claiborne, wrote some powerful, life-changing books like Irresistible Revolution and Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers. In an effort to demonstrate our call to serve the poor and oppressed, Claiborne depicts a conversation with God that goes something like this:

Us: “Dear God, our world is hurting and people are suffering. Please do something!”

God: “I did do something. I made you.”

Although convicting and- you might say- intimidating, I really appreciated hearing it put this way. We have a responsibility to our neighbors; and if we don’t act, who will? God is still the Mastermind with the Plan, but He relies on us to do the work on the ground. In this way, the burden of “saving the world” is off our shoulders and we have only to do the part that He has put in front of us. Although I feel I’ve only touched the surface of this subject, I’ll end with this poem/prayer on the subject from Archbishop Oscar Romero:

It helps, now and then, to step back
and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No programme accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Other “When Helping Hurts” series posts: Intro: Caring, Intro: God and Poverty, Context Is Critical, Hung Up On Material, What To Do When, How To Be Positively Helpful (Part 1), How To Be Positively Helpful (Part 2)

* Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts, Videos

A 90th Birthday and Family Reunion

September 11, 2011February 5, 2012 mcmeeshi

We’ve had the unique opportunity in this season to do some extra travelling. We were so lucky to be available to attend my (Michelle’s) grand-mère’s 90th birthday in New Orleans last weekend. It was a whirlwind weekend in more ways than one! Tropical Storm Lee hit right after we arrived, and we stayed only about 48 hours in order to get to our next destination. My grand-mère is a great inspiration to me, and it was neat to see the impact she’s had on the people around her. Plus we got to see all my aunts and uncles again!

From New Orleans we hopped over to Florida where we are spending about two weeks helping Jedd’s “great” aunt, Aunty Alma, pack and clean up for her move across the country. It has been such a privilege to not only meet Aunty Alma for the first time (for me), but to spend time with her (and her friends and neighbors). I feel lucky to get this rare glimpse into a retirement community. We have met fascinating and delightful people who come here from many different places, and they all are a great support for each other. Over all, this trip has been a great experience for us!

* Michelle Thoughts, When Helping Hurts

When Helping Hurts Intro: Caring

August 31, 2011December 1, 2013 mcmeeshi

As I (Michelle) mentioned in my last post, I’m starting a blog series related to what I’ve been learning lately. A central part of my study has been the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself, by Corbett and Fikkert, and their online resources at the Chalmers Center. The concepts and quotes in my next posts will primarily come from these sources.

When I was about eleven years old or perhaps younger, I stumbled upon the notion of privilege. I say stumbled because the thoughts that I pieced together at the time seemed to be coming from somewhere other than my own, simple childhood brain- though it was less like stumbling and more like I was deliberately being led down a particular path of thought. Sitting in my room, surrounded by toys, a dresser full of clothes, a house full of nice things, and a beautiful view out my second story window, I realized that all these things had been given to me without even having to ask. Soon, the image of an African girl came to my mind. She was my age and she didn’t have any of the things in my room. She had experienced a childhood altogether different than my own, where safety, health, and basic necessities were never certain because she was born into a different house on another land. I wondered what she thought of me, if she was angry with me. It wasn’t fair, I decided. But other than feel guilty and try to be more grateful, I didn’t know what to do about it.

In high school and college, my understanding of the injustices around the world grew as I learned about historical and current events. I can still remember watching a video about Ghana during a youth group “30 Hour Famine” when I learned that children were forced to kill their own families with axes. Horrific. The sickening image was a wake up call as to the enormity of ugliness, brokenness, and evil in the world. I was so thankful everyone had their eyes closed in prayer as my face had become a mess of hot tears and snot- it was one of the first times I felt so deeply that our world is not as it should be.

The introduction of the book, When Helping Hurts, says:

North American Christians are simply not doing enough. We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong in the world. … We do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth. But we do need to get up every morning with a deep sense that something is terribly wrong with the world and yearn and strive to do something about it. There is simply not enough yearning and striving going on.

I don’t consider myself to be an emotional person but from time to time, I have had experiences similar to the “30 Hour Famine” where I’ve been deeply moved to mourn for what is wrong in our world. Recently I had a break-down after watching Defiance (Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests in order to protect themselves and about 1,000 other Jews) because it reminded me how inherently messed up and distorted the human condition is, and how desperately we need God. I recall my own shortcomings- how I want to be a better person yet I keep criticizing my husband, I don’t express love and appreciation enough in my relationships, I defend myself instead of taking correction, I take the self-serving path much too often… On a personal level, we all fall short no matter how we try. Our relationships with others are broken as well, evidenced by everything from divorce rates to road rage. Our neighborhoods and cities suffer from crime, inadequate education systems, isolation of the elderly… Our nations are plagued by income inequality, political slander, irresponsible corporations, apathy, war… The lists go on and on. I don’t mean to sound so pessimistic, but I think it’s important to realize the depth of our problems- that we are in over our heads and we can’t get ourselves out. Why? Because then we realize how we desperately need God. He is quite literally our only hope.

I know we are not meant to be in a state of mourning all the time- that would be depressing and, in turn, debilitating. But I think it is far healthier to let the weight of the world hit you profoundly from time to time than to feign ignorance and live as if nothing is wrong. This means allowing yourself to see the ugliness in the world, paying attention to current events and being aware of historical injustices. Look people on the streets in the eye, literally and metaphorically, acknowledging their existence, acknowledging that all is not right. Don’t let yourself become desensitized. When I accompanied a group of college students to Arizona (see video blog here), they asked an immigration lawyer working in Operation Streamline how she copes when her clients are continuously treated so unjustly. Her response was that she doesn’t cope and doesn’t want to. She cries- in court- because she refuses to be desensitized or to go on as if nothing was wrong.

Caring about people and the situations they’re in is the first step. The next step, taking action, goes hand in hand. And when we do take action, we must also desire to act in a way that is not only effective but also avoids any harm.

That leads me to our topic for the series which is to follow. I want to address one more thing before I really get into the concepts of serving others without harming them (or yourself). As you can already tell, I’m coming at this from a faith-based perspective, as does the book “When Helping Hurts.” Faith doesn’t just fit into the picture, it is central to it. More on that next.

Other “When Helping Hurts” series posts: Intro: God and Poverty, Context Is Critical, Hung Up On Material, What To Do When, How To Be Positively Helpful (Part 1), How To Be Positively Helpful (Part 2)

* Michelle Thoughts, When Helping Hurts

Are you still paying attention?

August 20, 2011December 1, 2013 mcmeeshi

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/july-dec11/paulfarmer_07-28.html

I made a commitment to myself after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti that I would never forget about Haiti and that I would stay involved in one way or another. One way I’ve decided to do this, as I mentioned in my “Bucket List: From Now Until Take-off”, is that I am trying to educate myself and practice advocacy during my free time before we go into the Peace Corps. In my research, I recently came across this interview, above, with Paul Farmer (you may know him as subject of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World ) which is a reminder that although the earthquake was over 19 months ago, we still need to pay attention.

As Farmer puts it in the interview: “Haiti has had a lot of difficulties after the quake, political unrest, the cholera epidemic, and then a lack of follow-through from some of the big development agencies and those who made pledges. So, it’s going to — so, as I said in January, it’s going to be a real long haul, a long row to hoe.”

How do you and I stay in it for the long haul? Just because we don’t hear about Haiti from the main-stream media anymore, doesn’t mean the need is gone. We can’t all go and serve in Haiti- even if we could, is that really what is needed? As I’ve been doing my online research and reading lots of books, I’ve developed a desire to share what I’m learning with others- especially Americans who tend to be privileged, like me, as well as a bit unsure about what to do with our privilege in light of the great disparity in our world. There are very important things we can do but I think we are often confused about what they are.

One problem we face in America is apathy. Another problem, however, actually comes from those of us who want to help. I think we don’t necessarily know how best to help. Many of us have gone on short-term “missions” to developing countries- or impoverished areas in the U.S.- and more often than not, we come home feeling that we’ve been changed more than we’ve made change for someone else. There’s something to that… Also, we’re often not aware of all the complexities that impact the community we’re visiting, so we don’t always realize how our projects truly impact people after we leave. Our intentions are great but our actions can end up doing more harm than good. No one wants that. This is the subject I hope to shed some light on.

I don’t claim to be an expert but I’m attempting some “independent study” in relation to this idea of helping without hurting, the situation in Haiti being sort of a case study. I think being an educator in this way (sharing with Americans who want to go serve) could potentially be in my long-term vocational path. I’ve thought about working on Youtube-type videos that are catchy and can easily explain important, yet often misunderstood, concepts (sort of like the Story of Stuff video but for different topics). Another idea would be to develop educational activities and programs that would be used to prepare groups who are going abroad to serve, or used for general consulting purposes with churches and non-profits.

Those are some long-term ideas. For now, my thought is that I’ll do a short blog series on related topics in an effort to practice communicating the concepts I’m learning. I hope you’ll bear with me! Also, I would really, really appreciate your interaction with these upcoming posts. Asking for clarification, sharing your own thoughts, pointing me to other resources, and giving feedback will help me refine my vision for this work. Please share!

So more on this subject to come… In the meantime, to learn more about the situation in Haiti, I urge you to read Farmer’s new book, Haiti After the Earthquake and consider signing up for updates and “action alerts” from the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. As I’ll discuss in future posts, having a better understanding of the context of a place and its people is key to being able to serve there effectively.

* Michelle Thoughts, Videos

Family Video

August 18, 2011February 5, 2012 mcmeeshi

I have been meaning to do something with the video footage I took during the month of July when much (though not nearly all) of my Mom’s side of the family joined us for the 4th. I decided to test out one of the iMovie templates that’s in “movie trailer” style. Here’s the result. Enjoy!

* Michelle Thoughts

What is Church?

July 31, 2011 mcmeeshi

Is church just a place to go on Sundays? As Francis Chan would say, did Jesus come and die so that Christians would go somewhere once a week for a service? Thinking about the true meaning of church and getting creative about what it can look like is something we find ourselves doing from time to time. I thought it was worth sharing the following excerpts of a letter written by my (Michelle’s) former pastor at New Community Church in Spokane, who is now the president of a church-planting organization, Christian Associates International:

I see many churches being planted at this time, but many of them are really simply starting worship services. The reality is, we don’t need more worship services. Most churches in most cities have plenty of seats available – right? Read what veteran missionary and theologian Howard Snyder says about this dilemma:

“The church gets in trouble whenever it thinks it is in the church business rather than the kingdom business. In the church business, people are concerned with church activities, religious behavior in spiritual things. In the kingdom business, people are concerned with kingdom activities, all human behavior and everything God has made, visible and invisible. Kingdom people see human affairs as saturated with scriptural meaning and kingdom significance. Kingdom people seek first the kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people think about how to get people into the church; Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; Kingdom people work to see the church change the world… If the church has one great need, it is this: to be set free for the kingdom of God, to be liberated from itself as it has become in order to be itself as God intends.”

For many years, the church to me was the place where I should go if I wanted to be a “good person” and fulfill my weekly duty of giving some time to God. Since then, I’ve witnessed churches like New Community and Christians like Shane Claiborne who view the church not as a location but as a group of people. Specifically, the church is the Body of Christ in the modern world because it is a diverse “body” of people who are actively carrying out the work of Jesus. This work includes restoring justice, bringing about reconciliation, and transforming lives on personal, community, and international levels– in other words: being Good News to the world, bringing the Kingdom to Earth (as it is in Heaven), and being Christ’s hands and feet.

Over many years, I’ve come to realize that Church isn’t just what happens on Sundays and showing up at service doesn’t actually qualify me to call myself a follower of Christ. There’s a lot more I could say about what Church is, including all the ideas Jedd and I have discussed about creatively meeting the world’s needs, but I’m overwhelmed trying to put all my thoughts into words at this time. Much of what I’ve learned about all this comes from seeing love in action through others but also from reading some really great books. So I’ll take this time to encourage everyone to take a look at my new recommended book list (there’s also a link on the right side of our blog page) which are primarily about being the active Body of Christ in today’s world, a.k.a. the Church. Please pass on any book recommendations you have for me as well and share your own thoughts about Church below.

* Michelle Thoughts

Intentional Politics

July 17, 2011December 1, 2013 mcmeeshi

Recently, I came across this great blog post from Pastor Eugene Cho of Quest Church in Seattle. In a general sense, Jedd and I really like what he’s about, and this specific post about being a person of faith who is engaging in politics is one example why. It triggered the idea to write about my own journey into the world of politics. First, here’s an excerpt from Eugene’s post:

“I’m not interested in politics for the sake of politics.

But I care about politics because politics impacts policies which ultimately, impact people.

And by people, I mean that everyone matters. We’re all important but in a system where the poor are often without powerful lobbies, platforms, and megaphones, I believe that the Christian community has both the obligation and privilege to assist them and their needs to be heard. Let’s not be mistaken. God does take sides but they have nothing to do with the sides of liberals or conservatives, Republicans or Democrats, but rather, God takes the sides of the poor and marginalized.” -Eugene Cho (Blog: A Moral Budget…)

By the time I was in college, I was already highly skeptical of politics, mostly because I felt it was divisive, and aligning myself with one party or the other didn’t really fit. Plus, I didn’t really know how getting myself involved politically could possibly make a difference, and I didn’t understand how much American policies have an affect on people- especially the poor.

All of this changed when Jim Wallis came to speak at my school and shared a new way of viewing and participating in politics as a person of faith that I had never heard before. Wallis was sharing from his book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It
And it finally made sense to me. “Values Voting” is about more than two issues. Alleviating poverty is a moral value- as is caring for creation, protecting human dignity against discrimination, fighting for the rights of workers, valuing life even in regards to war, and many other issues. Moral values are innately tied up in political policies.

Three or four years later I was actually able to attend a conference called The Mobilization to End Poverty in D.C., put on by Sojourners (of which Jim Wallis is CEO), where I learned even more about being an active citizen, a walk-the-talk Christian, and an advocate for justice on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized. Through the past three years in my (former) job, I was lucky enough to work alongside and learn from other folks who were pursuing this same Biblical call to social justice. The quote above by Eugene Cho is a great summary of what it’s all about. So if you’re a Christian but you shy away from politics, or if you’re really into politics but have been jaded by the “single issue Christians,” maybe take another look…

* Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts

Bucket List: From Now Until “Take Off”

July 11, 2011 mcmeeshi

First, I want to share another blog post by Portland author, Donald Miller, that goes really well with our “simply intentional” theme: Facing Your Fears. And the video that goes along with it:

Next, the To List. One of the former superstar students I worked with at U.P. recently posted “25 things to do before twenty-five” as a sort of bucket list on her super creative blog, Purplest Pecalin. Both reading this and having lots of time to think during our month-long road trip, I was inspired to make a To Do list of my own- except it would be things I want to do in this particular chapter of life (our “limbo” until we find out what’s coming next).

1. Learn some Japanese – My goal is to memorize and be able to read japanese characters and to learn some beginning language.

2. Read the Old Testament – I’ve been reading a little bit each night for the last month or so, and there is some crazy stuff that went down back then. I want to try and make more sense out of some of the stories and laws by doing a little background research. So far, I’m looking at this site: Torah Class.

3. Try out some “homesteading” practices. I want to learn how to make my own yogurt, berry jam, and perfect some bread recipes. So far I’ve made some tasty bagels and basic yogurt.

4. Self-educate and practice advocacy. I want to take some extra time to educate myself and then hand-write letters to congress about issues I care about like international trade, policies affecting Haiti, etc. So far, I’ve come across cool sites like: Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Other Worlds Are Possible, and I’m currently reading When Helping Hurts.

If you have any suggestions to help me attain some of these goals this summer, please share!

* Michelle Thoughts, Other Travels, Videos

Redwoods and the Oregon Coast

July 3, 2011November 22, 2017 mcmeeshi

Thanks for tuning in to our adventures! This is the final video blog post of our month-long road trip. After Yosemite, we had one of our longer driving days to get to the Redwoods. We decided to spend only one night in the Redwoods area so we could meet up with my (Michelle’s) family. It has been family tradition since the 1950’s for my Mom’s side to camp at Honeyman State Park in Florence, Oregon. I grew up going there every summer with all the cousins but now many of them have gone separate ways. So this time was a very small gathering of the clan. As you’ll see in the video, Jedd was very excited to end the trip catching two fish back to back since his other catches the week beforehand were too small to keep.

We are now in the Portland and Salem areas enjoying more time with family. What does the rest of the summer hold for us? Well, we’ve been pretty successful lining up house-sitting and work-exchange-for-rent (but we can always do more- let us know), so we continue to be nomadic. We’re excited to do some more traveling as well, with a trip to celebrate Mère’s (Michelle’s grandma’s) 90th birthday in New Orleans and then help Jedd’s great aunt get ready to move from Florida in September. Jedd is working about 3/4 time with Relevant Studios while I am basically doing odd jobs around other people’s houses. We expect to have more information from Peace Corps at the end of the summer, whether that be a final placement or more waiting.

* Michelle Thoughts, Other Travels, Videos

Yosemite!

June 26, 2011November 16, 2013 mcmeeshi

Many say Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places in the country, so we decided to spend five nights there. After an arduous hike, the view from the top of Yosemite Falls was well worth the climb. Another hike took us to an unforgettable waterfall at Hetch Hetchy Resevoir in a section of the park that has fewer visitors and allowed us to escape the weekend crowds. One of Jedd’s college friends, Tyler, was able to fly out to meet us to experience this leg of the epic road trip together. We’re appreciative that he made the effort to join us! As in many of the other parks, we also took advantage of the Ranger programs, which always provides deeper insight to our experience (and usually good laughs from the cute things enthusiastic children contribute to the talks).

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