The church's role in healing, meeting people's basic needs and reconciliation

A reflection from Henri Nouwen… good for the church and for organizations like Healing Waters.

"A Ministry of Healing and Reconciliation"

How does the Church witness to Christ in the world?

First and foremost by giving visibility to Jesus' love for the poor and the weak.

In a world so hungry for healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and most of all unconditional love, the Church must alleviate that hunger through its ministry.

Wherever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, listen to those who are rejected, and bring unity and peace to those who are divided, we proclaim the living Christ, whether we speak about him or not.

I think this is a representation of what the church's role is, and what we are all called to do as Christians. Just my two cents.

In Christ alone, my hope is found. . .

A few years ago Eric Moe was leading contemporary worship at Wellshire, as well as leading the youth praise band that lead worship with the youth group every Sunday night. He started rotating "In Christ Alone" through the song list. I loved this song as we sang it each week. Then this Sunday, the handbell choir at Wellshire played an amazing arrangement of the hymn "In Christ Alone." The music was glorious, and it got me thinking about the lyrics too.

I did some research, thinking that this was an old hymn set to a more modern score. As it turns out it was written in 2002 by a guy named Stuart Townend: "Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" (2002, cowritten with Keith Getty[1]), "

A common and sometimes accurate criticism of contemporary worship songs is that they are very repetitive and not very profound. That is true many times, but not in this case. These guys really knocked it out of the park with this song, rivaling any old hymn in depth of message.

The lyrics for this hymn are below and below that is a video of the Newsboys version of the song. I encourage you to read through the lyrics as a prayer of hope and thanksgiving. Stop and pause as you read, really reflect on them. Then if you want, listen to the song and continue to meditate on the lyrics. This is some powerful stuff!

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

My Birthday Wish. . . Access to safe drinking water for 10 more people!

The last time you had a glass of water, where did you get that water from? Did you get it from the faucet in your home? Did you have a glass of water at a restaurant?

When you drank that water, did you stop and ask yourself if it was safe to drink? Did you think about whether or not that water was going to make you sick?

Most of us don’t ask those questions; in fact those questions do not even cross our minds. We have the privilege of living in a country that distributes safe drinking water through our taps 99% of the time. We don’t have to wonder if the water is going to make us or our families sick; we don’t even think about it.

In much of the world, that is not the case. Over one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and billions more have “access” to buy safe drinking water at the store, but they don’t have the resources to pay for it. It is hard to buy bottled water when you live on less than $2 a day. As a result, they drink dirty contaminated water. And they give that same contaminated water to their children, not because they want to, but because they have no other options. And they live most of their lives in a constant state of sickness.

One organization working to change that is Healing Waters International. Their mission is to empower local ministry partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to poor communities by providing sustainable, safe water solutions. Their vision is to see safe water provided in the name of Jesus in every poor community of the world. And the way they pursue that mission and vision is unique and exciting. I really believe in this organization. (Conflict of interest disclosure statement, I work for them too!)

So my birthday is on Sunday. The Big 3-2 !!!! I have enough "stuff" so I would rather support this cause for my birthday. Every $50 donated to Healing Waters provides another person access to safe drinking water FOR LIFE! I hope to provide 10 more people access to safe water for my birthday, so I am trying to raise $500. Every little bit helps, so please donate! (The link to donate is below)

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/213213

I believe that access to safe drinking water should be a basic human right for every person on this planet. Healing Waters is working towards that while also empowering local partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to their communities. And their model incorporates long-term sustainability, so their projects continue to keep on distributing safe water, years after they are installed. It doesn't get much better than that!

Back from Guatemala, Snow Boots and Flip-Flops and other contrasts

I arrived safely back from Guatemala on Thursday night. It was great to be back with Jessica, Lil' A-P and Sol. We are mid-way through Week 34 of the pregnancy and cannot wait to meet our little girl.

Today I took a "travel comp" day to get caught up on things around the house and run some errands that I had neglected during my trip to Guatemala. I raked the leaves in the yard, cleaned the house, did some small home improvement projects and got caught up on work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church where I am the Youth Director.

The temperature today in Denver was in the high 70s. Just last week I was shoveling 20 inches of snow off my driveway and sidewalk. I love living here in Denver, a city of contrasts. We have almost two feet of snow one week and I am tromping around in my Sorel snow boots and the next week we have temperatures in the high 70s and I can walk around in my flip-flops. A few winters ago, I even went skiing on a Saturday and golfing on a Sunday.

These contrasts in temperature and weather are not so common in Guatemala. The weather tends to be pretty even keel there. However Guatemala is a land of contrasts, just not contrasts of temperature.

The contrast in Guatemala is the incredible wealth and the oppressive poverty. Last time I was in Guatemala I was visiting a coffee plantation. I saw workers in the field that were making an average of $300 per month, just a little more than minimum wage in Guatemala. While I was talking with one of the plantation workers a loud noise caught our attention. It was the owner of the coffee plantation, arriving to work in his own private helicopter.



The wealth in Latin America is impressive, even by our own standards here in the United States. One of the richest men in the whole world, Carlos Slim, is a Mexican. The upper classes in Latin America live well. Which is why it contrasts so much with the impoverished masses, the folks we have the privilege of working with in Healing Waters International.

I never cease to be amazed by the spirit of the people we work with. Despite extreme poverty contrasted with such wealth, the people we work with have profound faith and an incredibly positive outlook.

The class system in Latin America is not as rigid as the caste system of India, but the chance of moving from the lower classes to the upper classes is pretty slim. Despite this, and despite having this class contrast front and center every day with helicopters landing in coffee fields and Land Rovers and Mercedes driving by urban slums, the people we work with find joy in their lives, their families and their faith.

That is one of the things that drew me to Latin America originally and keeps me coming back. That spirit, the sense of faith and community, and the general sense of joy.

So as I settle back into my life here in Denver, trying to decide whether to wear my flip flops or my snow boots, that contrast will make me grateful for my time in Latin America and the people I am privileged to work with there.

Corriendo por todos lados en Guatemala! (Running all over the place in Guatemala!)

The past few days in Guatemala have been incredible! Whenever I am working in the field, I try to make the most of my time which usually means working 12-15 hour days. Fortunately most of my trips to the field are two weeks or less, so I am able to keep up a schedule like that. Being in the field always recharges my batteries and gives me a chance to see the work we are doing in Healing Waters International up close and personal. It is incredibly energizing and so the long days don’t tire me out.

Monday was a great day. After meeting with the staff in the morning, I jumped into a meeting with my two employees responsible for prospecting new partners and communities for water systems as well as managing the relationships with the partners after the water systems have been installed. We spent three hours talking about the process of finding and qualifying new partners and communities for systems. It was a great dialogue and I really enjoyed hearing their perspective and spending the time with them.

After a quick lunch of delicious tacos at a taco stand, we headed back to the office and met with a representative from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We spent about an hour in the office talking with them and then left to visit our newest water system.

On the trip there, we stopped at a gas station for a few things and I got out of the car and left the keys in the car. Well, as it turns out the alarm system in our cars here in Guatemala automatically lock the doors about a minute after you leave the cars. So the gringo made a rookie mistake and got the keys locked in the car (although I can’t say I “locked the keys in the car” because it was the car that locked itself automatically.)

This provided some amusement for everyone and also provided us a little more time to chat with the great folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We sat at some tables and chairs in the gas station while we waited for the other set of keys to be delivered from the office.

After that we visited the newest system in Comalapa. The system is really an impressive one and the folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino had lots of great questions.

Finally we drove back from the system to Antigua for the night. The system is about an hour from Antigua on a very windy road, and it was raining pretty hard. So it was one of those “white knuckle” drives and all of these news articles kept flashing through my head about missionary team members and NGO employees who died in fiery crashes on twisty mountain roads in Latin American countries. Fortunately none of that came true, and my year of experience driving in Ecuador along with all of the driving I have done in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and here paid off. I got us all safely back to Antigua!

Tuesday I spent the day meeting one-on-one with my staff members. The meetings were very productive and I was able to get a real sense of the day to day operations here in Guatemala. We have been without a National Director here for almost six months and I have been filling in for that time. Unfortunately some things are hard to do as the acting National Director from my desk in Denver, so these trips to the field are extremely helpful for a variety of reasons. I was here for a week last July-August as well. I wish I could spend more time in the field and with my great team here.

We drove into Guatemala City for lunch and had Ceviche which is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It is also a little bit of a risk to eat ceviche in a city that is not right on the coast, but so far I seem to be doing fine!

Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time with a missionary family down here. Jackie and Levi run the Sharing His Plan ministry here in Guatemala. They have been living here for four years and have quite a ministry going. They had helped us advertise our National Director position through a Intermission listserv that Jackie moderates and through that process I had come to know them digitally and was blessed to finally meet them in person. They have three beautiful, spirited and well-behaved kids who I got to eat dinner with.

After dinner with them, I headed to the airport in Guatemala City to pick up Jake, the Director of Field Operations for Healing Waters. He and I are going to spend Wednesday working with the staff on strategic planning, our 2010 plan and budget and a few other things.

So far the trip has been nothing but blessed. Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers. This is my last full day here and I head back to Denver tomorrow (Thursday.) This is the shortest trip I have taken to the field, but with Jessica being 33 weeks pregnant, I am grateful for that. I would love to spend more time here with my staff and at our water projects, but I am also anxious to get home to be with my beautiful wife.

Thanks for reading and LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!

Back in Guatemala, the kindness of strangers and a soggy suitcase. . .

I am back in Guatemala again. This is my fourth visit this year! (and my last with Lil A-P coming in December.)

I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers. On my flight yesterday from Denver to Dallas I started talking with the guy across the aisle from me, his name is Eric. I told him about the work of Healing Waters and why I was headed to Guatemala. He was on his way home from a business trip and a trip to visit his family in Colorado.

He gave me a code to use the wireless on the flight for free. So I was sitting on an airplane, 35,000 feet above the ground, and was able to chat with Jessica, do e-mail, and watch the Broncos game from the comfort of my exit row seat. Pretty cool stuff!

But it gets better. Once the flight landed in Dallas and we were walking off the plane, Eric says, “Can I get you into the American Airlines Admiral’s Club for your layover?” That is the private first-class lounge in the airport. Eric explained to me that his job didn’t always generate a lot of good karma, but he thinks that my job does, so he wanted to help me out and “pay it forward.”

So we went into the Admiral’s Club and watched some football. We talked a bit more and discovered we are both Labrador aficionados, he has a yellow lab and we have our black lab. He also has a 19 month old daughter, is first child, and Jessica and I are expecting our first child in December. Eric is an incredibly nice guy. He had a rather short connection so he left after about 30 minutes but I had a 3 hour layover, so I was able to sit in the lounge, catch up on e-mail with free wireless, have a few free glasses of iced tea and some snacks, and escape the fray of the airport.

It was like I got a little mini-vacation in the DFW airport before heading to Guatemala for work! I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers.

My flight arrived in Guatemala City at about 8:15 last night to pouring down rain. When my bag came out on the carousel it was kind of soggy. The drive from Guatemala City to Antigua was uneventful, although I was fortunate to have a driver and not be driving myself in the pouring down rain along the windy road to Antigua.

I got to the hotel Hostal las Marias (my home away from home here in Guatemala, I have stayed here almost a month over the past year if you add up all my trips) at about 9:45pm, touched base with my wife and my staff down here and went to bed.

Today is an exciting day. I have a staff meeting in the morning with all of the Guatemala Aguas de Unidad staff. Following that I am working with two of our team members down here on the process of finding new communities and new partners for water systems. We call this our “Pipeline Process.”

In the afternoon we have a meeting with a representative from Willow Creek church. This is a big church out in Chicago that focused on water issues for their global missions conference this year and raised funds to sponsor 5 Healing Waters systems in the Dominican Republic and 3 Healing Waters systems in Guatemala.

We are going to meet with one of the Global Missions guys from Willow Creek and the National Director for Red del Camino Guatemala. Red del Camino is an organization that networks churches with a shared vision for serving their communities. We are hoping that Red del Camino can find some good church partners for us to partner with for new water systems in 2010.

We are also going to visit our newest water system in Guatemala, one that was sponsored by Willow Creek. The system is in Comalapa. You can see some photos of the community by clicking here. It is a charming town of 15,000 that is about an hour outside of Guatemala City.

I am really excited for these meetings with the Willow Creek people and the Red del Camino people. I cannot wait to see what might come of the synergy between all of our organizations!

Thanks for reading the blog. LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!

Snow Day in Denver and Matthew 25. . .

I am sitting here at home writing this blog post today. Ed Anderson, my CEO at Healing Waters International called at 10pm last night to tell me not to come into the office today because of a pretty big snowstorm that started last night and is supposed to get worse as the day progresses.

The office for Healing Waters is on the campus of Lookout Mountain Community Church in Genesee. The church gives us office space up there, it is very generous of them. Genesee is about 15 miles west of Denver up in the foothills. So when we get snow in Denver, we REALLY get some serious snow up at our office. It is almost 2000 feet higher in elevation up at the office.

So I am working from home today. The change of scenery is nice and Sol (my black lab) is curled up at my feet. (Although that is not all that different from a normal day because Sol comes up to the office with me most days, Healing Waters is a dog friendly workplace.)

Snowy days like this make me think about our field offices in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Some of our field staff and most of the people that benefit from our water projects have never seen snow.

This makes me realize what a true life of privilege that I live. Here I am sitting in Denver with six inches of snow on the ground and watching it fall. On Sunday I will be hopping on a plane and flying down to Guatemala for work. When I am there, we stay in Antigua, which has an average late Oct. temperature of 75 during the day.

Beyond being able to jet-set around for a change of scenery and weather, I am really privileged to be able to go to my sink for a glass of water. Just like the people who get water at our projects have never seen snow, they have also never been able to get a glass of safe drinking water from the taps in their home (if they even have taps in their home.)

So my snow day is making me reflect on my privilege in life. And with privilege comes empathy and responsibility.

Empathy arises from a profound realization of intrinsic interconnectedness between all humans, a sense of connection that God calls us to recognize. As a result, I feel the suffering and pain of others - to varying degrees - and am called by something very deep inside to do what I can to help them.

Jesus words in Matthew 25:34-40 really speak to me on this point. The version below is from The Message:

34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
Iwas sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, (to the least of my brothers and sisters) that was me—you did it to me.'

So that is how a snow day in Denver and Matthew 25 are related.

Below is a video that we filmed at our office in Denver back in September. Ed Anderson, our CEO wanted to record a message for the inauguration of our 35th water system in the Dominican Republic. The day we decided to record the message we were getting one of our freak Colorado September storms. Kind of puts the snow day, and the work we do for Healing Waters in perspective. Enjoy!

Some great quotes on social justice, global missions, prayer and service

I am the interim youth director at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. For the past few weeks, with the help of Holly Inglis, our Director of Christian Education, we have been doing a really cool series with the youth group on prayer.

The first week we focused on "prayer for self." We set up prayer stations so the kids could focus their prayers. I built a cross out of rough-hewn 4x4 cedar and the kids were able to write their prayers on a piece of paper and then nail them to the cross.

Last week we focused on "prayer for others." The kids braided together strips of cloth representing themselves, the person they were praying for and God, symbolizing the way that prayer can bring us together and in closer relationship with God.

This week we focused on "prayer for the world." One of our activities was praying over headlines from the paper and quotes about service, global missions and social justice, and then lighting a candle and placing it on a big world map over the country or region the kids were praying for.

A couple of the quotes that Holly found for this activity are below and I wanted to share them with you. They really resonated with me and I hope they are meaninful for you too:

“It is not how much we do,
But how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give,
But how much love we put in the giving.”
-Mother Teresa


“Nakedness is not only for a piece of clothing;
Nakedness is lack of human dignity”
-Mother Teresa


“If we pray, we will believe;
If we believe, we will love
If we love, we will serve.”
-Mother Teresa


Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out Christ’s compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless humanity now.
-Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

A huge "shout out" to Holly for all of her help with this series we have done on prayer. She is a genius with a servant's heart. I am blessed to work with her. Thank you Holly and thank God for Holly!

Patience and a Father's Love

Watch this touching video clip given above which shows a conversation between a father and son.

This Greek short film (with English subtitle) was made in 2007.

Father and son are sitting on a bench. Suddenly a sparrow lands across them. The old Father asks son, “What is that?” to which the son replies “A Sparrow” and looks back into his newspaper. After sometime his father again asks him “What is that”. A little annoyed, son replies “I just told you father, its a sparrow”.

Then, the sparrow flies to the other side and sits there. The father repeats his question “what is that?”. This time, son replies “A sparrow father, a sparrow…s-p-a-r-r-o-w……” and when again the father repeats his question, son is filled with anger and says “Why are you doing this Father? How many times I told you its a sparrow!!!”

Father gets up and goes into the house to take his old dairy. He comes back and asks his son to read a passage from the dairy, which goes like this “Today my youngest son, who a few days ago turned three, was sitting with me at the park when a sparrow sat in front of us. My son asked me 21 times what it was and I answered all 21 times that it was a sparrow. I hugged him every single time he asked me the same question again and again without getting mad, feeling affection for my innocent little boy.”

This video really convicted me. I need to learn patience and practice patience more with the people that I love.

This is the kind of father that I had, and this is the kind of father I want to be.

Thank you Dad, for having such patience with me. Thank you for setting this example for me.

Thank you God for giving me a father that had that much patience for me and modeled that.

I pray that I can live up to my Dad's example and have that much patience with my children and with the rest of my family.

Boring. . . finding joy in the mundane

I stole the text below from my friend's blog, but think it is relevant and right on. Enjoy!

Well today I was in the midday doldrums in need of a spiritual zap. I was working on some tasks that are certainly important to keep things running smoothly, so that is good. But sitting in front of the computer can suck my brain out. The mundane is where we live most of our lives, and in this place we learn to love God, and serve people, even though we don’t always feel like it. This is called having character. Or most days, building character. For this I rejoice, because I love Jesus, and want to learn to love Him more. I want to learn character through the testing pressures of life, including functioning in joy during mundane tasks. I do though fail in this assignment regularly. The stir-crazy revivalist in me wants every moment to be a world changing, earth shaking, devil blasting, holy ghost hoedown. But not every moment of my life fits into that category. As Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer puts it “We focus on establishing our identity in God as we are faithful to serve in the mundane.”

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . .

The sermon at church on Sunday was based on Mark 2:13-17. The text is below:

The Calling of Levi
13Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

What an incredible relief! Jesus came for me, not just despite my sins, but because of my sins. This does not mean that I cannot intentionally keep in sinning, but it does mean that Jesus walks with me no matter what I do.

I am already accepted right where I am. Praise God!

Healing Waters Article in my hometown newspaper the AZ Daily Sun!

Below is an article that was published in the AZ Daily Sun, the newspaper in my hometown in Flagstaff, Arizona. I was back in Flagstaff last weekend doing some friend-raising and fund-raising for Healing Waters, and visiting my awesome parents. (Love you guys Moms and Pops, thanks for a great visit!)

I was the keynote speaker at the Missions Brunch at my hometown church, Federated Community Church. I also spoke to the Flagstaff Rotary Club, the great folks who sponsored me and Jessica to live in Ecuador back in 2001. In addition I met with the wonderful people at Faith Works to talk about Healing Waters and hear about their short-terms mission trips they run. Finally I met with the campus ministry group at NAU, where a great reporter from the Arizona Daily Sun joined us and wrote the article below. The original article on the newspaper website is here, but I copied and pasted the whole thing below. Enjoy!

On a mission for clean water


By BETSEY BRUNER
Sun Staff Reporter
Saturday, October 17, 2009


When Greg Allen-Pickett was working toward his Ph.D. in international studies at the University of Denver several years ago, he decided to toss out theories and get his hands dirty.

Inspired by a talk he had previously heard by a Healing Waters International representative, Allen-Pickett decided to leave school and join the nonprofit organization, which is based in Golden, Colo.

Two years later, Allen-Pickett, who was raised in Flagstaff, returned this week to his hometown to give several talks about the mission of the project, which creates clean-water systems in three Latin American countries.

A DAILY REALITY

When traveling, people from wealthier countries sometimes think they are the only ones who get sick when they drink water in Third World countries.

"The reality in 90 percent of the cities in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, the water coming out of the tap is so contaminated, you can't drink it, no matter what your nationality," he told a gathering Monday night at the Campus Ministry Center at NAU. "The daily reality is they just can't go to the tap and get a glass of drinking water, and they have to treat any water they are going to cook with, too."

The Campus Ministry venue was chosen for a talk because members of the ministry had traveled in March to Guatemala with Healing Waters.

His parents, Dean and Cindy Pickett, still live in Flagstaff and came to hear the talk at the ministry.

Allen-Pickett, who received a Rotary grant in 2001 to be a goodwill ambassador in Ecuador, also gave a talk Tuesday to the Flagstaff Rotary Club.

BAD WATER-BORNE ILLNESSES

In a PowerPoint presentation, Allen-Pickett showed a variety of water-borne diseases that affect people worldwide: Cholera, E. coli, salmonella, parasites, tapeworm, giardia and fecal coliforms.

Healing Waters statistics show that more than 1.6 million children under the age of 5 die from water-borne illnesses each year, and that diarrhea from water-borne disease is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children.

Allen-Pickett, 31, is the field operations manager, which requires him to spend several months a year visiting Healing Waters field offices. His wife, Jessica, a high-school English teacher in Denver, sometimes accompanies him on trips.

Work in the field includes distribution of free drinking water, raffles for free 5-gallon water bottles, bottle sterilization and the installation of water-purification systems in local churches.

"I'm so happy doing the work I'm doing right now. It's very fulfilling," he said.

CHURCH PARTNERS ESSENTIAL

The partnership with churches is essential to the success of the mission.

Allen-Pickett, who attended Federated Community Church while living in Flagstaff, told people at the talk that churches are ideal locations for water projects because they are stable, trusted and located right in the middle of communities.

"The revenue the church generates goes back to the community," he said. "There is no conversion talk. The Bible doesn't make health contingent on believing in Jesus. It was just, 'Come to the church, get some water.'"

He said Catholics and Protestants in Latin America are often at odds with each other politically. But working together on clean-water projects can unite them in a common purpose.

The relatively simple concepts of water purification can be complicated by government regulations, he said, but Healing Waters workers have received phenomenal cooperation from the Mexican government.

"It's an enormous problem, with one in six lacking access to safe drinking water," Allen-Pickett concluded. "But I don't think this is a story of sadness; it is a story of hope and opportunity."

Betsey Bruner can be reached at bbruner@azdailysun.com or 556-2255.

To learn more

For more information about Healing Waters International, visit the Web site at http://www.healingwatersintl.org.

Guest Blogger: Our Dysfunctional Christian Hearts

Below is a blog post from John Bell, senior pastor at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. He is brand new to the blogging world and his blog is still in Beta mode, so he hasn't made it public yet. As one of his "beta testers" I read this post and thought it was worthy of getting some public circulation, so here it is. Stay tuned and once Pastor Bell goes public with his blog, I will be adding it to my blog roll over in the right column. Without further ado, Pastor Bell's post:


This will not surprise anyone in my family: I was born with a small, hard heart. Literally. Most hearts are about fist size. Mine is roughly the size of a tennis ball. I have a congential heart defect. In a small section near the heart, my descending aorta never really grew from birth, and my heart remained small. It had to work extra-fast to pump the blood through the narrow place, so it became hard. This condition is called coarcation of the aorta. Had I been born 10 years earlier, I most certainly would have died as a young boy; however, the development of the heart-lung machine and new surgical techniques in the 1950’s now give people like me a second chance. Once my defect was discovered, my activity was limited until I had corrective surgery at the age of 11. More on this later … I’m sure.

Like the Grinch who Stole Christmas, who’s heart was two sizes too small, my heart is still naturally hard and naturally small. Therefore, I need lots of exercise and some medication to be heart healthy! (Notice I didn’t say a strict diet! I don’t have a problem with cholesterol. Don’t take away my macaroni and cheese! In fact, my daughters once dubbed me “Cheese Boy,” because of my love of all things cheese.) If I don’t exercise, mentally and physically - and probably spiritually too, I start to wear down, get crabby and easily can become Grinch-like. The medication I take keeps my heart soft and pliable, the way a good heart should work. My doctor at the Mayo Clinic says that with proper exercise and medication, I should live long and prosper. (Well, live long at least. Prosper may be a different issue.)

There is a lesson here for all of us. Metaphorically speaking, I believe that everyone is born with a congenital heart defect, and that none of us have hearts that work properly – without “exercise” and “medication.” It is clear that we weren’t born right. Jimmy Buffett says (sings!) that it’s clear the cosmic baker took us out of the oven a little too soon. Theologians have long called this the doctrine of original sin. We are not able to do the right thing all the time, we are not perfect, we somehow always fall a bit short of the expectation, we are born with a screw loose, we are flawed, we do not love as we ought to love: we were all born with slightly defective, broken hearts …

And we need “exercise” and “medication.” I do not know what this might be for you, but for me it means I have to set aside time and find ways to work at loving others. Love is not just a feeling, an emotion; love is an activity. It’s not enough to say that I love my wife; I have to occasionally do the dishes or clean the potty to prove it. It’s not enough to say that - like Jesus – I love the poor, I have to give up an occasional day off to work on a Habitat for Humanity house or travel to a remote part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and live among and assist an oppressed people for a couple of weeks. Love requires exercise. “Medication” for me means that I have to try to keep my heart open and soft, alert – and not allow it to become hard and callous. It’s easy to read the paper or watch the news and become jaded and cynical, effectively shutting down the heart by closing down that which we call: compassion. “Medication” (Bible reading? Prayer? Meditation? Worship?) keeps my heart soft and open, sensitive to the needs of others, alert to the presence of The Spirit.

My heart requires “exercise” and “medication.” Otherwise, I become Grinch-like, with a heart two-sizes too small and in danger of living a bitter life of cynicism, fear or self-hatred. I imagine your broken heart needs some work too! Love does not come easily or naturally to any of us. It requires time, work and discipline. Exercise your heart today: tell someone that you love him or her and … throw in a random act of kindness!

My second post. Whew. It’s 4:20 a.m. Time to head to the gym and hop on a cardio machine!

The Spiritual Practice of Justice

There was a great insert in my Sunday bulletin at Church that I wanted to share with you:

There can be little growth in holiness without growth in a sense of social justice.
-Edward Hays in "A Lenten Hobo Honeymoon"

We must be for the poor not simply a handout but a voice on their behalf where the poor are not heard and their pain is not registered. If we are to really minister, it is up to us to first be transformed ourselves so taht we can then be really transfiguring.
-Joan Chittister from "In the Heart of the Temple: My Spiritual Vision"

Develop a daily cue to remind yourself to practice justice

• Every time you take money out of your wallet, it can be your cue to "practice justice"
• Every time you start your care, it can be your cue to "practice justice"
• Every time you see someone in need, it can be your cue to "practice justice"

Pick your own cue and use that to keep your calling front and center.

Reflections

• Identify an injustice that troubles you. What first made you aware of it? Reflect on one action you have done or can do to combat it.
• Do you think that all people are born with a yearning for justice, or does it have to be taught? Think back to your childhood and recall your most vivid experience of justice or injustice. How can you participate in teaching justice to a younger generation

I really got a lot out of this bulletin insert and wanted to share it with you. There was also a great Psalm that someone quoted this week that I wanted to share in light of this social justice posting and the healthcare debate:

Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! The LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble. The LORD preserves them and keeps them alive, so that they may be happy in the land; he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies. The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and ministers to them in their illness.

God is calling us to take care of the poor and needy and promises to take care of us when we do. We are called to care and to be the hands and feet of God, ministering to the disenfranchised, the hungry, the weak and the sick. Let us not forget.

World Habitat Day

Pray for those who have substandard housing, or no housing at all. Habitat for Humanity is a great organization that is working to provide dignified housing to everyone.

Check out the info on World Habitat Day: http://worldhabitatdaynews.com/

Health Care and Christianity - Denver Post Article

I am fascinated by the health care debate, and especially from a Christian perspective. My last two posts were a sermon given at my church a few weeks ago. Below is an article from the Denver Post. This article below looks at both sides of the debate from a religious perspetive. Enjoy!

Ministries find mission in health-reform debate

By Karen Auge, The Denver Post
Posted: 09/28/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

When Health Care for America Now was putting together plans last week to protest what it considers health-insurance injustices, item No. 3 in a strategy memo advised holding "vigils featuring faith leaders."

The memo suggested recruiting "spokespeople who can wear clerical uniforms." Not that anyone has had to coax the nation's faithful into the discussion, or for that matter a sign-waving protest, over health care changes.

The often-bitter debate about how, or whether, to reform the nation's health care system has galvanized millions. But no group's effort to be heard above the din has been more heartfelt than that of faith-based groups.

From the conservative Christian Coalition, which exhorts followers to "stop the government takeover," to Jim Wallis, leader of the progressive Christian group Sojourners, who calls reform a "sacredness of life and dignity issue," a diverse collection of faith groups has mobilized with fervor over the issue.

Faith-filled activism

The Christian Coalition invites visitors to its website to stop a "drastic government takeover of our nation's health care system" by signing its petition, faxing elected officials and making donations.

"For the pro-life community, this has been an all-hands-on- deck effort," said Carrie Gordon Earll, spokeswoman for Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family.

The call has been heeded, Earll said.

"Since July, we've been asking constituents to contact members of Congress; we've had more than 25,000 e-mails and more than 6,000 phone calls tracked through our online action center," she said.

Earll said that's much higher volume than normal.

Wallis reports that when Sojourners hosted a conference call on health care reform this month, 140,000 followers listened in.

In the early 1990s, when the new Clinton administration proposed health care reform, the so-called progressive religious groups, which include Christians, Jews and other faiths, were barely heard from.

After making themselves a force in the peace and civil- rights movements of the 1960s, those groups were quiet and fell away from activism in recent decades, said Robert P. Jones of the Public Religion Research Group.

Jones said his polling has found a renewed zeal among those groups, as evidenced by their participation in health- system reform.

The faithful say they have good reasons for jumping into the health care fray, just as those already in the fight have good reason to seek support from religious leaders.

"It's really important to involve people from faith perspectives because they are tremendous message-carriers and leaders," said Leah Bry, lead organizer for Colorado Progressive Action, an activist organization pushing for health reform — and the group that received those memos on recruiting the faithful.

History of healing

So it was big news last week when a coalition of black clergy leaders who oppose abortion endorsed President Barack Obama's health-reform plan, in the process accepting his word that no government money will be used for the procedures.

"We wholeheartedly affirm the president's position that medical costs related to the abortion of fetuses shall not be covered by health care plans," Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr., a Los Angeles minister who heads the massive Church of God in Christ, said at a news conference Thursday.

"Health care is an issue that very clearly has moral resonance to it," Jones said.

It is also an issue with a long history among faith groups. Presbyterians, Lutherans and several Catholic saints still have their names on hospitals around town, reflecting a time when health care was a direct mission for many denominations.

"Health care is an issue related to the basic elements of human dignity, such as having adequate food, decent living, a just wage," said Jeanette De Melo, spokeswoman for Archbishop Charles Chaput.

"It's natural that faith-based groups would work to respond to secure these basic elements of dignity for people," DeMelo said.

But religious groups, even within the Christian faith, disagree on the direction in which faith points them.

For so-called progressive faithful, such as the Rev. Lydia Ferrante-Roseberry of Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the answer is clear.

"The basic place where I'm coming from is moving with compassion in the world. It pains me to know that there are people in my congregation without access to health care," Ferrante-Roseberry said. "How we are for the least among us affects all of us."

Politics in play

Focus on the Family, though, zeroed in on the prospect of abortions paid for by taxpayer dollars.

That, Earll said, strikes at the core of Focus on the Family's mission.

"We have guiding principles for our ministry that lead us in certain directions. We have 30- plus years of following that path. We are known as a pro-life organization," Earll said.

If there were specific exclusions of abortion in the health- reform proposal, "We'd pull back. That's not to say we'd support it, but we'd be less engaged."

That's not the case for every conservative Christian group.

The president of the Minnesota Family Council told followers that health care reform, as currently proposed, is against God's plan.

"God has created government to do certain things. When we reject His design for government, in a sense, we're rejecting Him," Tom Prichard wrote.

"That's a ridiculous opinion. It's unbiblical. It's just extreme right-wing, not a mainstream religious point of view," Wallis said. "Look at the Scriptures. Healing is consistent throughout. Jesus is the great healer. He healed rich and poor alike, but he didn't ask for an insurance card or citizenship ID before he healed them."

The Catholic church has staked out a more middle ground.

While the church's stand on abortion is unequivocal, it is also the faith home of millions of Latinos, who make up the single largest ethnic group of Americans without insurance.

"We have a history of advocating for health care reform and being very supportive of reform that broadens access," DeMelo said. "It's saying how that happens that has not been the place of the church."

That seems to be a line many faith groups don't want to cross.

"We don't need to be in the weeds of policy debates," Wal lis said. "We need to hold both sides accountable ... but let the politicians work out the plumbing."

Karen Auge: 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com

The Healthcare Debate and a Christian Perspective - Part 2

Two weeks ago the senior pastor at my church, Wellshire Presbyterian, preached a phenomenal sermon on the healthcare debate. I asked him for the text and have posted it in two blog posts. The first can be read here: http://blogadegregorio.blogspot.com/2009/09/healthcare-debate-and-christian.html

The second part is below.

Guest Blogger: The Rev. Dr. John H. Bell, Jr., Pastor - Wellshire Presbyterian Church

Sermon entitled "O Divine Physician"

Disclaimer: This is a copy of the notes that were used by Dr. Bell to preach on Sunday, September 6, 2009, at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. It was intended for oral delivery to a community of faith in worship. Minimal attention has been given to spelling and grammar in this manuscript.

In the Good News according to Mark, the story of the Syrophoenician woman is important primarily because it shows that Jesus cared for all – those who did not share his race or nationality – and even those who were demon possessed, but … the story is one of the most interesting stories in all of Scripture and presents great mystery and intrigue.

Did you notice that Jesus initially does seem to degrade or insult this woman by comparing Gentiles to dogs, saying it is not fair to give the food of the children to the dogs, meaning it is not fair to give the food for the Jews to the Gentiles? We understand that Jesus understood his mission to be primarily to the Jews, but to compare the Gentiles to dogs seems derogatory [… I heard a comedian the other day that when he was growing up, “man” is what men called their good friends. But “man” gave way at some point to “dude” and “dude” at some point gave way to “bro,” and now it seems men are expected to call their best friends: “dog.” … Perhaps, but Jesus was not using dog as a term of affection here.] In ancient Palestine, dogs were not the beloved, pampered pets that they are in Denver, but they were more like garbage disposals, whose job it was to eat up all of the discarded food and lick the floor clean.

Now, I know of no scholar or preacher who has a good explanation of Jesus’ initial insult: is this a display of his humanity? He was fatigued, he needed some rest, he wanted to be alone … did he simply just slip and say the first thing that came to his mind? … I am personally lost for a good explanation BUT what really matters is that Jesus relents and to a degree even repents: he changes his mind. The woman did not take offense at his insult; she did not blanch; rather she came right back at him, saying, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” Sensing her resolve and her desperation, Jesus is moved: he is moved from apparent indifference to compassion. He initially brushes this woman off but then decides to help her. . . . This point should be of interest to us in our prayer life, for here we see that the persistent plea of this woman actually moved Jesus to action. We talk a lot about how prayer changes us, but the Bible is unequivocal: prayer has the capacity to change God, to move God to compassion, to motivate God to benevolent action. Walter Brueggemann, one my professors, once said in class that ancient Israel had two types of prayers: “Help?” and “WOW!” The amazing thing about this story is – not that Jesus insulted the Gentiles by calling them “dogs”; rather, the amazing thing this woman’s plea pushed Jesus to act.

In your prayer life, you should seek to imitate this woman, who showed great courage, persistence and risked rejection … I find that fear of rejection is one of the main psychological barriers that people face – not only in their prayer life, but in life in general … I am always inspired by the example of Abraham Lincoln, who was born into poverty, lost eight elections, twice failed at business and battled depression throughout his life, suffering from at least one nervous breakdown. As a great man once said, you are not a failure when you lose, you are only a failure if you quite trying. In your prayer life, make it your goal to be like this woman who boldly approached Jesus, who did not back down when she was initially rebuffed, who was not afraid to risk rejection and who showed persistence and who – in the end – move Jesus to compassion.

The final point that I wish to make may be quite bland or obvious, but it seems to be lost on many Christians in the contemporary debate taking place in American, and that is: much of what Jesus did was heal people from disease and free people from physical pain or mental anguish.

In the first story, Jesus exorcised a demon, which most likely was - in modern terms – curing a child with mental or psychological difficulties; in the second story, Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. Another Gospel claims that Jesus healed every disease and cured every illness. Jesus was a Divine Physician, a doctor who did not recognize borders or treat people according to their ability to pay.

Now, I am going to be honest: I have not been following the details of the current health care debate and I am in no way, shape or form taking a position on the current health care bill before Congress. However, what I do find appalling is the clear lack of concern on the part of many for those who have inadequate access to health care. How in the name of Jesus Christ can any Christian justify a lack of concern for the physical and mental needs of the poor? – this is beyond my comprehension as a Christian, who reads my Bible and tries to follow Jesus Christ, who seems to have spent most of his time healing people from disease and illness.

We might and maybe SHOULD all disagree on how it happens, who pays, to what degree government is involved but Christians should be promote adequate health care for all persons on the face of this planet. Presbyterians once saw it as our Christian duty to start hospitals and send out medical missionaries to third world countries on our nickel. I understand that reasonable minds disagree when it comes to the details of health care and health insurance, but it is not acceptable for Christians not to care for the medical needs of the poor – and help pay for it.

Listening to the debate in the public square and at private parties, I wonder if Christians have forgotten the story of the Good Samaritan?

Here it is:

‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii,* gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” After telling this story, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘Go and do likewise.’

In the current, hostile climate, as we argue and fuss about what to do about health care, it would be wise for those who claim to be Christian – conservatives and liberals, persons in both parties!!! -- to hear and obey the Divine Physician, Jesus Christ, who charged his disciples to “Go and do likewise” – to be like the Good Samaritan, who saw a man in desperate need of medical attention, was moved to pity, bandaged his wounds, put him on his own animal, took him to an inn and paid the bill.

During one Christmas Eve worship service I accidentally called for an offering for the “less needy.” My father-in-law humorously said he had a vision of the ushers running out into the street and tracking down people in expensive cars and fur coats to GIVE them money from that offering.

Well apparently, some Christians think that’s the way it should be: rich get richer and poor get poor, but it is not so in Kingdom of God. It is not so. Christians have a responsibility to care for the least of those among us.

The Healthcare Debate and a Christian Perspective

Two weeks ago, the pastor at my church, Wellshire Presbyterian preached a phenomenal sermon on the healthcare debate. I asked him for the text and will be posting it in two blog posts. The first is below.

Guest Blogger: The Rev. Dr. John H. Bell, Jr., Pastor - Wellshire Presbyterian Church

Sermon entitled "O Divine Physician"

Disclaimer: This is a copy of the notes that were used by Dr. Bell to preach on Sunday, September 6, 2009, at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. It was intended for oral delivery to a community of faith in worship. Minimal attention has been given to spelling and grammar in this manuscript.

Listen for the Word of God: Mark 7:24-37
24From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 28But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter." 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

In the overall sweep of the Gospel story, as it is told in the Gospel of Mark, the story of the Syrophoenician woman contains lots of mystery and intrigue, but is important for one primary reason: this story clearly shows that Jesus did have compassion for Gentiles, as well as Jews. The Gospels are clear that Jesus thought his primary responsibility was to the Jews, the people of Israel. He obeyed Jewish law; he went to the synagogues; he made pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. He was considered to be “a rabbi” by his followers; he observed the Sabbath and Jewish Holy Days. BUT he did exhibit compassion for some Gentiles – like this Syrophoenician woman, suggesting that the Kingdom of God is open to all … and later the early church would decide that there should be no distinction between Jews and Gentiles - or for that matter slave or free or men and women, for, the early church recognized that we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord, that we are all the same in the eyes of our Lord and Savior.

It is not too strong to say that in Christ there are no distinctions among us, in Christ we are all equal, in Christ we all are expected to rise above our differences and stand together in Christ: Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, rich and poor, Presbyterians and Baptists – and Roman Catholics, black and white, Hispanic and Caucasian, the simple and sophisticated. Whatever differences we do have, whatever labels the world puts on us or categories that we are placed in, it is important for the witness of the church that we rise above our differences and seek unity.

Notice that the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman was demon possessed. This – to me – is particularly important, because today in America it seems that people want to demonize their opponents and dismiss them or destroy them. Many conservative folks on the right wing want to label those on the left evil or demonic, and many on the left try to do the same thing to those folk on the right. By labeling their opponents evil or demonic, they seek to devalue the humanity of their opponents, fuel their own anger and justify their own hate.

Friends, listen: Jesus actually had compassion for those that were generally considered to be “demon possessed.” He did not hate the daughter of this woman, he did not devalue her existence, he did not seek to humiliate her or dismiss her or lampoon her; no, he showed compassion to her BECAUSE she was demon possessed.

There is certainly a lesson here as you try to relate to those with whom you disagree, and it is this: do not demonize your opponents, do not devalue those with whom you disagree, do not seek to humiliate or destroy those that you consider to be your enemies. In the name of Jesus Christ love them, show compassion to all, learn to love your enemies, for you, Christian, represent the one who exorcised demons, made peace and taught YOU to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute YOU. This does not mean that we do not fight for our causes or stand up for what we believe; it does mean that we must treat our opponents with compassion, we must think of them as human beings created in the image of God, valued by God. This does mean we must be civil and respectful in all of our relationships, regardless of how others treat us or where others stand on the political or religious spectrum.

Ellie Weisel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, once wrote, “Even if I meet the devil himself on the street, I will be treat him as a gentleman, I will speak politely to him, I will try to divine his evil.” Now, Weisel is not a pacifist; he is not a naïve person; he is certainly aware of the power and the destruction that demonic forces can do, but he also recognizes the importance of treating every human with dignity, for the one who measures himself against reality of evil is always defeated.

9/11 Reflections

My wife and I were living in Ecuador on Sept. 11, 2001. We overheard our landlady talking on the phone that morning, just bits and pieces about bombs and the United States. Because of my perspective and where I was living at the time, I assumed the US embassy in Ecuador had been bombed. So we turned on the television and watched. . .



Helplessly we watched. . .



Two US citizens living in South America, totally out of touch with their families, and their country. We knew something was changing that day, but had no idea the scope of change.

We turned on the TV in our little apartment and watched footage from CNN (the local Ecuadorian stations were pirating CNN footage and then just speaking Spanish over the top of it, so if you listened carefully you could hear the English behind the Spanish.)

We sat there in shock and just watched. It is strange to feel like you are part of the US, but not be in the US when such a traumatic event is happening. I am sure other ex-pats living abroad at the time had similar feelings.

We called our families to make sure they were ok. Everyone on the other end of the line was in shock, disbelief. So were we, but we were stuck in Ecuador.

My mom asked us if we thought we should come home "to be safe." It was kind of funny, because we want to be close and turn inwards in a situation like that. But there weren't any terrorists flying airplanes into buildings in Ecuador. We were "safer" in Cuenca, Ecuador than we would have been in the United States on that day.

After a half day of watching gut-wrenching news footage with the TV muted, we left our apartment and wandered into the center of town to grab dinner. There weren't a ton of foreigners living in Cuenca, so we always stood out and people always knew us as "that really tall American couple." As we walked into town, complete stangers (at least strangers to us) walked up to us and asked us if we were ok, if our families were ok. We were treated almost like royalty for the days following Sept. 11.

We decided to eat at a restaurant called "New York Pizza." There was even a drawing of the New York skyline on their sign and their pizza boxes that included the twin towers. The owners were Ecuadorian but had lived in New York for years and then moved back to Ecuador to open the restaurant.

As we sat there, watching more news footage (this time in English because New York Pizza had satelite television) more people came up to us and asked us how we were doing. Those that didn't come right up to us stared at us, or looked at us with sympathy and even solidarity in their eyes.

We walked back to our apartment in a daze. I don't think we had any idea what kind of a long-term impact this would have on our country, our "homeland."

We spent weeks processing it. It would occasionaly slip from our conciousness because of where we were, but then it would be brought back by seeing a paper or watching the news.

I think the first time we really "mourned" was watching one of the telethons following the attacks. It was 10 days afterwards, the "America - A Tribute to Heros" broadcast. It was showing live on every channel in Ecuador. When Neil Young began to sing "Imagine" we just cried and held each other. I still get misty-eyed thinking about that moment.

I still think Jessica and I have a little bit of a disconnect from the events of that day. I am so grateful that we shared the experience together. It would have been even tougher to suffer through it alone.

I think this is the first time I have written down my reflections of that day, where we were, and what it did to us.

My inspiration for writing this blog post was from watching a video yesterday. The first "Daily Show with John Stewart" broadcast following Sept. 11. I listened to John Stewart's reflections and began thinking about my own experience with that day.

Below is a link to the video. The first 8 minutes are amazingly profound. I hope this means as much to you as it meant to me after watching it.

http://www.bangitout.com/videos/viewvideo.php?a=1463

Water use put into perspective

I saw this and thought it was pretty amazing. It is a graphic that shows how much water we use in a day, not just through showers and flushing toilets, but the amount of freshwater resources it takes to create some of the food we eat too.

Click on the link and then click on the graphic within the link to get it to a size you can read it:
http://www.good.is/post/transparency-how-much-water-do-you-use/

Another great water org with a very similar message

Yesterday I posted about not getting paralyzed by the scope of the problems we are facing in the world. Today I got an e-mail and a video from another water org that had a very similar message. I really like what they have to say, just at the end, kick over to Healing Waters website instead of the one that they suggest. :)

Enjoy!

"I've been reading a lot lately about the psychology of enormous problems. About how people will always rush to save one child but disconnect when faced with helping thousands of children. "One death is a tragedy, a million - a statistic," we're told.

Non-profits like ours that are addressing enormous problems (a billion people without clean water) are told to make sure we don't scare people off by communicating how big the whole problem is.

Author Seth Godin recently wrote that the problem with enormity in marketing is that it doesn't work. He said "Enormity should pull at our heartstrings, but it usually shuts us down. Show us too many sick kids, unfair imprisonments or burned bodies, and you won't get a bigger donation, you'll just get averted eyes."

While all this may be true, it just seems rather boring. Visionless. I believe people want to sign up for something bigger than just one. I did.

There's a proverb in the Bible that says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." People are certainly dying all around us, but could that be because we're terrified to tackle the enormous? Because we don't have the faith to see the entire problem solved?

I can't quite see to a billion people yet, but I'm getting closer.

So in the spirit of solving enormous problems, we want to step it up this September, and serve more people. Then keep going until every single person on the planet has clean and safe drinking water.

We shot a video that explains how we want to do that through the 2009 September campaign. Please watch it, share it and act."

Overwhelmed, paralyzed, what can I do?

The title of this post captures the sentiment that I have felt at times about issues of social justice, global poverty, starvation, the water crisis and other tough stuff that tugs at my heart strings.

There are so many issues out there, that we can be paralyzed into inaction because we are so overwhelmed by the amount of saddness and suffering around us.

But know that you can make a difference, even little you. In your tiny corner of the world, you can make a difference. I use the starfish parable a lot to describe this:

One morning an elderly man was walking on a beach. A high tide the night before had washed thousands of starfish up on the beach. Now that the tide was back out and the sun was coming up, the starfish were dying in the sun. He came upon a boy surrounded by thousands and thousands of starfish. As eagerly as he could, the youngster was picking them up one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean.

Puzzled, the older man looked at the young boy and asked, "Little boy, what are you doing?"

The youth responded without looking up, "I'm trying to save these starfish, sir."

The old man chuckled aloud, and queried, "Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?"

Holding a starfish in his hand, the boy turned to the man and, gently tossing the starfish into the water, said, "It will make a difference to that one!"

Find your starfish in your own little corner of the world. For me, it is safe drinking water in Latin America. For my wife, it is teaching in urban schools. For a friend of mine, it is working in soup kitchens and homeless shelters on her time off. Each one of us knows we can't fix all the world's problems, but we each work in our own corner of the world "making a difference to that one."

The video below has a cool spin on this too (and is also pretty critical of "reality TV" which is one of my pet peeves):

Principle-Centered Planning - by Dr. John C. Maxwell

Below is an e-mail that was sent to me by JJ Gomez, Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad National Director in the Dominican Republic. I think it has a lot of value in both planning for an organization and planning personally in our live, so I decided to share it on my blog.

I have been asked to serve as the part-time interim Youth Director at my church, Wellshire Presbyterian In this role, I am running the youth programs until we can get a new Associate Pastor hired. This new responsibility, along with my full-time job at Healing Waters International, means I really need to stay on top of planning, in both of my jobs and in my life as Jessica and I prepare for our new baby. This message really resonated with me, I hope that it helps you too.

Enjoy!

Principle-Centered Planning
By Dr. John C. Maxwell

If you've ever gone whitewater rafting, then you know the importance of planning. Whenever the raft approaches rapids, the guide has to plan the best route to navigate safely through them. If the guide fails to plan, then the raft can easily smash into a rock or capsize.

Four Types of Planning
Passive planning happens when leadership allows the raft to travel downstream at the mercy of the current rather than steering, rowing, and turning. This kind of non-planning eventually leaves you unprepared to face whitewater rapids. Worse yet, in the absence of a plan, the current may take the raft over the edge of a dreaded waterfall.

Panic planning happens only after the raft is in trouble. At this point, all of the organization's resources are scrambled in a reactionary pattern in an attempt to solve the problem. With panic planning, you may or may not come out alive and well, but you are guaranteed some bumps and bruises.

Scientific planning is viable, but can be laborious, mechanical, and often ends up abandoned in the process. Imagine if a raft guide constantly tried to measure the depth of the water, the distance between rocks, the wind speed, and the water current. Although the information might be helpful, oftentimes the water would be moving too swiftly to take the measurements. In a like manner, leaders often have to respond to change in an instant. There's no time to collect scientific data on all of the variables before deciding which course of action is best.

Principle-centered planning is the key to effectiveness. It is the artistic or leadership approach. Principle-centered planning recognizes that life in general (and people in particular) can't be graphed on a chart, but sees that planning still remains essential.

Reasons Why People Don't Plan
You don't have to be in leadership very long to learn that planning pays off. Even so, many people don't plan. Here are four reasons why people neglect planning.

1) They don't possess planning skills or knowledge.
Some people don't have an innate ability to project themselves into the future. They've never been taught to prioritize their day or to prepare for tomorrow.

2) They're caught in the tyranny of the urgent, and they believe that they don't have time.
Some people allow themselves to be pulled into the vortex of minutiae. As a consequence, they end up buried under a sea of details, and they can't pull their heads above water long enough to plan.

3) They don't like the perceived hassle of planning.
Instead of planning one event at a time, they become overwhelmed by the mountain of things to plan.

4) Many people don't plan because the outcome varies greatly.
"After all," they say, "When I do make a plan, it normally doesn't end up happening, so why bother?"

Why Planning Is Essential
We all have desires and dreams, yet we'll never accomplish our dreams in life just by wanting them bad enough. Planning bridges the gap between our desires and dreams by calling us to action. As noted by William Danforth, ""No plan is worth the paper it is printed on unless it starts you doing something." A concrete plan supplies us with tangible steps to take in the direction of our dreams.

Qualities of Principle-Centered Planning
• Principle-centered planning allows us to be flexible without losing focus.
• Principle-centered planning allows us to be creative without losing concentration.
• Planning is the structure. Principle-centered planning is the flesh.
• Planning is the roadmap. Principle-centered planning is the movement.
• Planning is the idea. Principle-centered planning is the action.
• Planning is the paper. Principle-centered planning is the power.

Summary

It's been said, "By failing to plan, you plan to fail." I wholeheartedly agree. People who ignore planning handicap themselves and stifle their effectiveness.
The good news about planning is that it's a relatively simple discipline. Anyone can do it. No PHD is required to make a solid plan - only a window of uninterrupted time for focused thought.

Sad News (although nothing totally tragic)

This just in from CNN.com. . .

Brace yourself: Beer prices are going up

Brewers say rising commodity costs and lower volumes are forcing them to raise its price tags.

By Ben Rooney and Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writers
Last Updated: August 26, 2009: 8:07 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Beer drinkers beware: The cost of a cold one is going up.

Brewers across the globe are hiking prices to compensate for lower volumes and higher commodity costs in the recession.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer and maker of Budweiser, announced plans to raise prices Tuesday.

"We plan on taking price increases on a majority of volume and in a majority of markets this fall," Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a statement. "The increase helps cover some input costs."

The U.S.-Belgian brewer said prices will go up "across different price tiers" including its high and low-end brands.

The price hikes are part of a broader industry trend.

Heineken, best known for its Heineken and Amstel brands, said Tuesday that its global price increases have helped it turn profits despite sagging volumes.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) was formed in November 2008 when InBev, which brews Beck's and Stella Artois, bought St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion.

The looming price hike comes as sales volumes in the brewing industry have declined. Anheuser-Busch InBev said earlier this month that total beer volumes were down 1.5% in the second quarter versus the same period last year.

Heineken, based in Amsterdam, said Tuesday that price increases helped the company offset the pull back in consumption. Heineken makes and brews 170 international beers and ciders, but is best known for its brands Heineken and Amstel.

"The economic and trading conditions remain difficult, and there will be continued pressure on volumes in the second half of 2009," CEO Jean-Fran�ois van Boxmeer said in a statement.

First Published: August 25, 2009: 5:41 PM ET

Guest Blogger: Sermon on "Appalling Acts of Radical Compassion"

My friend Paul Sundberg, who is a Lutheran Pastor, gave a sermon last Sunday that is worthy of reposting and publication. It is about choices, and the compassion with which we should be approaching choices in our lives and in the world. Enjoy!

As for Me (Sermon by Paul Sundberg preached on 8/24/09)

Appalling Acts of Radical Compassion

Joshua 24.1-2a, 14-18, Psalm 34.15-22 Ephesians 6.10-20 John 6.56-69

Choices are a part of life: some are really easy:
Tostitos and salsa or Ruffles and dip?
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Mariners or Yankees?
Ford or Toyota?
Boxers or briefs?
More or less?

But some choices are anything but simple. Some appeal to our need to be right; some bring joy to some and grief to others. And that means that they are the kind of choices that demand that we be genuine in our faith: genuine in the way Paul means it when he writes to the divided congregation in Corinth. He does not demand that they get it right, he calls them to be genuine – which he then goes on to describe as love.

I don’t like talking about choice from the pulpit. The worship band folks from our 9:00am service will tell you that whenever I see the word choice in the lyrics of the songs they sing, I write new lyrics. I’m no fan of choice theology, (it too easily leads to the idea that salvation and righteousness are up to me) yet I have come to grudgingly accept, as I have read the Bible over the last 37 years (as student, teacher, pastor and repentant believer), that just as light is both a wave and a particle – it depends on what you’re looking for – so faith is pure gift and choice.

Besides, with today’s reading I can’t avoid it. “Choose,” Joshua says to the assembled leaders and elders as he and Aaron’s son are about to die and a change of generations is about to take place. “Choose between the lesser gods of convenience and comfort or God who wrestles with us, leads us into physical and spiritual wildernesses, journeys and battles, who calls us into constant repentance and forgiveness, radical generosity and compassion, and hospitality to angels and saints, strangers and sinners.

He’s just echoing his mentor Moses, who said it more simply, “See I have set before you today death or life. Choose Life.

Jesus says it more personally, his teachings and actions are hard to take, and many of his disciples have left. He turn to the twelve and ask, “Do you also want to leave? Will you walk away from me or walk with me?”

But the choice isn’t easy, even when the gift of faith has been given. Jesus comes with appalling acts of radical compassion and love:
-Jesus calls hicks and dreamers to be his disciples
-Turns water to wine for an already inebriated wedding party
-Chases out of the temple those whose presence has been blessed by priests and Levites, but whose greed creates a barrier to those who just want to worship
-Tells a leader of the people he has to start over with a new life and new perspective
-Calls himself the son of God
-Forgives sin
-Heals on the Sabbath
-Calls himself the giver of eternal life
-Claims authority above and beyond Scripture
-Feeds thousands
-Offers himself, his body and blood, for the people

And that’s just the first six chapters of John. He will yet:
-Save the life of the woman caught in adultery and send her away without condemnation
-Shatter the myth of a connection between sin and physical defects and differences
-Heal the blind
-Raise Lazarus
-Let his feet be touched and anointed by a woman who is not related to him
-Wash the feet of his disciples
-Give his peace
-Choose weakness over power and submit to the authorities
-Die on the cross

You who say you love me…what will you choose…do you also want to leave?

It wasn’t and isn’t an easy choice. Our instinct is to return to the things that help us avoid wrestling with issues, that help us put life (ours and everyone else’s) in order, and make life convenient, profitable, and comfortable. The things that make it easy to not look beyond ourselves, not look at the consequences of our choices, not have to honor our interdependence, or confess our own sin first, or give ourselves away. We’d prefer the lesser gods of moral rectitude, self-righteousness, self-service and cultural accommodation.

If our choices are so self-focused, so turned in on ourselves, so demanding of a single mind, how will we turn to the family at the church seeking shelter? How will we continue to dig wells in communities that thirst regardless of the language they speak, the traditions they honor, the religion they follow? How will we speak the gospel of Jesus Christ to a nation that is wracked with anxiety, struggling to recover, and reeling from the divisive language of politicians and pundits and the fearful? How will we be Christ’s Church?

You who say you love me…what will you choose…do you also want to leave? Or, will you realize that these things I do, I do for you, freely in spite of your sin, because of your sin. The wine…it’s for you. Worship…it’s for you. New life…it’s for you. Forgiveness, hope, healing, me…my flesh and blood…my dying…it’s for you. I will let nothing stand in the way of my love for you. I am the Son of God who wrestles with you as you wrestle with life and what it brings. You who say you love me, do you also want to leave, or will you join me in appalling acts of radical compassion?

As for me and my house the only answer can be, “We will serve the Lord. After all, Lord, to whom shall we go? You, you Jesus, have the words of eternal life.”

Saturday on the Healing Waters International Transformation Trip to Tuxtla - Chiapas, Mexico

Saturday was another busy and fulfilling day for the Transformation Trip in Chiapas. We got up early and headed out to visit another Healing Waters system as well as meet a family that gets their water at the system. We headed up the hillside just outside of Tuxtla. The city of Tuxtla is in a valley and many of the poorest and marginalized communities are up on the hillsides surrounding the city. Below is a photo of a typical house in the community of "El Refugio" where Healing Waters has built a water purification system and a Nazerene church runs the system and distributes safe drinking water to their community.



We walked about three or four blocks from the system to the house of Maria Daisy. She is a squatter and has built her laminated tin shack on federal government property. She has been there for a few years and the government has not bothered her so she has made upgrades including a cement floor and even a pirated electrical connection to have electricity. She does not have running water and gets her drinking water from the Healing Waters system.

Maria Daisy hosted our group at her "house" and told us what a blessing the water system has been for her and her family. Her kids are no longer getting sick all the time and are growing more. Her husband has been missing less work due to illness and is able to work more to support his family. It is an amazing story.

Sitting outside Maria Daisy's house

Two of Maria Daisy's children

A view in the squatters community overlooking the city of Tuxtla

An outhouse in the background and the cooking fire in the foreground

Maria Daisy felt so honored that we would come visit her that she cooked us a meal of traditional chicken mole and rice and made us fruit juice from the safe drinking water she got at the Healing Waters system.

Enjoying a meal in Maria Daisy's house

The group and Maria Daisy with her family outside her home

After we visited her house we headed to Chiapa de Corzo which is a colonial town on the banks of the river that flows into the Sumidero Canyon. The town itself is charming and colonial, but we went straight to the river where we bought tickets on a boat to go up the Sumidero Canyon. This is a natural canyon that has walls that go up over one kilometer. It is a beautiful place and not to be missed if you are traveling in Southern Mexico.

The boats lined up ready to take people up the canyon. This is really a tourist attraction for locals and Mexicans as much as American tourists. We were the only "foreigners" on our boat cruise. We sang songs and had everyone laughing with our gringo antics.

Shane looking serious (or sea sick?)

The canyon and canyon walls

Jon looking up at the canyon walls.

There are crocodiles in the river, so you don't want to fall in.

I loved the creative use of a recycled old boat and tires to make this dock. This boat was probably taken out of service a few years ago, but still floats well enough to use as a dock.

Greg and Jenni enjoying the fast boat ride and the breeze!

Once we got back on land, we drove for about an hour to San Cristobal de las Casa. This is a charming colonial town in the mountains above Tuxtla. It is at a much higher elevation than the valley of Tuxtla, so it was cooler, a welcome break from the hot, humid weather. The town is really quaint and beautiful, many people think it is one of the nicest places in Mexico, take a look at the photos and you can decide.

Cobblestone streets and beatifully painted houses

Chiles in the market

Me standing with Elizabeth, the daughter of one of the Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad Mexico employees. A little bit of a heigh difference (she is standing on a bench.)

A local indigenous woman selling her hand embroidered blouses

Me standing in front of a cheese shop called "El Guero." That is another word for foreigner/light skinned/gringo.

The cathedral in San Cristobal

Beautiful cross with a cloudy backdrop

A night shot of a church in San Cristobal.

This was our last night together as a group for the transformation trip. At about 7:00pm as it was getting dark, we lost one of our group members on the streets of San Cristobal (I won't tell you who.) After a few hours of searching we were reunited. We decided since it was our last night and because we found our lost member, it was time for a group hug.

Our "last meal" was Mexican hot chocolate and churros. It was delicious! We piled back into the van, exhausted but content. We had early flights out the next morning.

All in all the Healing Waters International Transformation Trip was amazing. I would love to have the opportunity to travel with any of the trip participants again, and hope that I do.

Thanks for following along and maybe you will be able to join us next time.

LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!