Friday, April 30, 2010

A Christian Perspective on Immigration Reform

Please re-read the title of my post before anyone starts to write angry responses. I specifically wrote the title as "A" Christian perspective on Immigration Reform, not "the" Christian Perspective. I understand and respect that other Christians might feel differently about this issue. I am just sharing how my faith influences my thinking on this issue.



A friend of mine who posted a comment on my last blog post pointed me to this site. I would encourage anyone interested in a Christian perspective on immigration reform to visit it:

http://faithandimmigration.org/

Below is some text from it that I thought was especially meaningful:


Our current immigration system does not reflect our nation’s best values. It is
time to enact humane and practical laws that move beyond the legislative
stalemate of the past few years.

As a Christian, I believe my faith calls me to view all people, regardless of citizenship status, as made in the "image of God" and deserving of respect; to show compassion for the stranger and love and mercy for my neighbor; and to balance the rule of law with the call to oppose unjust laws and systems when they violate human dignity.

These biblical principles compel me to support immigration reform legislation that is
consistent with humanitarian values, supports families, provides a pathway to
citizenship for immigrant workers already in the U.S., expands legal avenues for
workers to enter the U.S. with their rights and due process fully protected, and
examines solutions to address the root causes of migration.

I believe the current U.S. immigration system is broken and reform is necessary.
A few final thoughts from scripture that inspire my perspective on these issues of immigration in general and SB1070 in particular:

God was giving instructions to Moses on how to live:
Leviticus 19:33-34 (New International Version)
When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Jesus talking to his disciplies in parable:
Matthew 25:34-40 (New International Version)
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'


Ephesians 2:8-10,19-22 (New International Version)
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. . . 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.


James 2:1-5 (New International Version)
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

NY Times Editorial on SB1070 and a few additional comments

The editorial below is a repost of a NY Times Editorial that can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/opinion/30fri1.html

My comments are below in italics.

April 30, 2010
Editorial

Stopping Arizona

A fight is brewing over Arizona’s new law that turns all of the state’s Latinos, even legal immigrants and citizens, into criminal suspects. And this is not a local fight. The poison is spreading; there is talk in Texas of passing a version of the Arizona statute.

President Obama has called the law “misguided” and promised to keep an eye on it. But when racial separation finds a foothold in any of the 50 states, the president needs to do more than mildly criticize. He should act. Here’s a partial but urgent to-do list:

DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS The Justice Department needs to challenge this law forcefully in court. The statute requires police officers to stop and question anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant. Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law but says she doesn’t know what an illegal immigrant looks like, leaving that to others who think they do.

The Justice Department knows what kinds of abuse that invites. It is already investigating the sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, who raids Hispanic neighborhoods in and around Phoenix. His deputies demand people’s papers based on the shirts and boots they wear.

Federal law requires noncitizens to carry documents but does not empower police officers to stop anyone they choose and demand to see papers. Arizona’s attempt to get around that by defining the act of standing on its soil without papers as a criminal act is repellent.

STOP ARIZONA COLD Arizona’s scheme will rely on federal databases to determine immigration status. It will also need the cooperation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, in accepting detainees. ICE says its priorities are dangerous criminals and fugitives, not the peaceful workers and families who are overwhelmingly the targets of the new law. In that case, ICE will deny Arizona authorities data, cooperation and scarce resources.

TAKE BACK IMMIGRATION POLICY The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that states cannot make their own immigration laws. The Arizona debacle gives the Obama administration another chance to make it clear that the nation’s immigration policy cannot be left to a ragged patchwork of state and local laws.

As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama praised a federal court’s decision striking down a law in Hazleton, Pa., that made it illegal to hire or rent housing to undocumented immigrants. To start forcefully asserting the central federal role in immigration, the administration should rescind a once-secret 2002 memo from President George W. Bush’s attorney general, John Ashcroft, that declared that state and local police had “inherent authority” to make immigration arrests. It should have done that long ago. It should also weigh in against another reckless Arizona law, now before the Supreme Court, that revokes the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

The administration’s actions elsewhere have sent the wrong message. Janet Napolitano once vetoed extremist immigration-enforcement bills as Arizona’s governor, but as the homeland security secretary she defends the use of state and local police as “force multipliers.” Ms. Napolitano needs to end dangerous experiments like the 287(g) program and Secure Communities, which hand over vital federal duties to untrained, unsupervised local deputies, openly enabling racial-profiling and undermining community policing and public safety.

These steps are no substitute for immigration reform, the future of which seems pretty murky after Mr. Obama started gingerly backing away this week. But the federal government must react forcefully to the Arizona statute. Is our core belief still the welcome and assimilation of newcomers? Arizona has given one answer. It’s time for Mr. Obama to give the other.

There are two key points that I want to talk about in this editorial. The first is, the fact that SB1070 "turns all of the state’s Latinos, even legal immigrants and citizens, into criminal suspects." No person should be considered a criminal suspect and subject to additional scrutiny just because of their skin color and they fact that they "look" like members of a certain ethnic group. This goes against the very principles that our country was founded on that "All men are created equal." This law creates two statuses of people, those who are automatically criminal suspects and those who are not.

One potential solution to this part of the bill was proposed by the vice-mayor of Phoenix when he wrote on his blog,

My first recommendation is to have our Phoenix Police Department require
proof of citizenship from every individual that is stopped. It does not
matter if they are Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic,
European or of any other race or ethnicity.

You can read the rest of his blog by clicking here. Obviously this is one way to avoid racial profiling and still fulfill this law, but I just don't believe it is a reasonable solution, which is why the law must be repealed or challenged in court.

The second thing I like about this editorial is that it is a strong call to action to the federal government. The federal government has been flirting with immigration reform for nearly a decade, yet no one has had the guts and political will to do anything about it. No individual wants to move on this issue because it is so divisive, but that lack of action has led to a state law that is more broken than the problems it is attempting to fix.

My final point on this whole issue I stated in response to some previous comments, but want to restate here on the blog. Being in the country without proper documentation is a crime. I don't disagree with that point. And we need to deal with the issue, I don't disagree with that point either.

However, simply being in the country without proper documentation does not constitute a threat to public safety. I really want law enforcement to be focusing their limited attention and resources on crimes that are an actual threat to public safety like rape, murder, kidnapping and assault.

If anyone, documented or undocumented, is committing a crime that is a legitimate threat to public safety, that is where I want the police to be focused. But a person living in the United States without proper documentation does not directly undermine public safety, so while it is illegal and I wish the federal government would deal with it, passing a state law that makes anyone with brown skin a criminal suspect is not the right way to do it.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

More reflections on SB 1070, public safety, and what is wrong with this bill

I wrote a post a few days ago about SB1070 and what is wrong with it. You can read that post by clicking here. My post generated a few responses here on the blog as well as on Facebook and in some actual face-to-face conversations.

You can read the full text of the responses written to my blog by clicking here. I want to take some time to respond to those, to keep this civil dialogue going about SB 1070 and more generally about immigration in the United States.

I want to repeat what I started my last blog post with, I agree that illegal immigration is a major problem in the United States. I agree that it needs to be dealt with, however SB 1070 is not the right way to deal with it.

Many of the points made in the responses to my first blog post deal with illegal immigration itself and don't do anything to actually address what I said about SB1070. Again, I am not debating whether or not illegal immigration is a problem. While many of the points made about illegal immigration have some validity, unfortunately SB1070 does nothing to address those points, but it does have many negative consequences.

Anonymous stated, "Arizona is a portal for illegal immigrant trafficking in drugs and humans. Illegals are also coming across our border and murdering Arizona Citizens, they even killed our envoys in Mexico several weeks ago and you think this is OK? Mexicans steal over 50,000 trucks and cars a year, Phoenix is the kidnapping capitol of the country. The border patrol picks up thousands of illegal every year, and you think this is OK? Mexican coyotes bring hundreds of illegals into Phoenix and put them in drop houses and extort money from their families in mexico for additional money for their release,that is OK?" **I would like to see the sources for the statement about "Mexicans stealing 50,000 trucks and cars a year, Phoenix is the kidnapping capitol of the country."

And Don Brown stated, A state has every right to protect its citizens when the Federal government fails or refuses to do so. It is a crime to be in the US illegally and enforcing the Law is not racism. It is the duty of the police and the state officials to enforce the laws and protect their law abiding citizens."

Arizona is one of many states that sees illegal immigrant trafficking in drugs and humans, and it is true that immigrants have come across the border and killed Arizona Citizens and killed the envoys in Mexico (although that was in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, so it doesn't have much to do with Arizona or SB1070.)

Again, I think these are all tragic issues that need to be dealt with, and I don't think that they are OK to answer the question posted in the response. The point I was making is that SB 1070 is not the way to deal with any of this.

The primary argument being made in both of these responses is an argument for PUBLIC SAFETY. In the case of SB1070, it is not going to help resolve any of these issues or make the state any safer. In fact, SB1070 is probably going to make the state less safe.

First, refer to the point I made in my last blog post about reporting of crime.

Second, forcing local police to demand people’s papers and arrest those who can’t immediately prove their status will do nothing to make Arizona safer. What it will do is divert scarce police resources to address false threats and force officers to prioritize immigration enforcement over other public safety responsibilities. This is not going to help the murder rates in Arizona, the kidnappings, the theft of vehicles. SB1070 will actually make things worse relative to public safety.

Third, arresting more illegal immigrants simply because of their immigration status and putting them in city and county jails will overcrowd the jails so there will be no room for the criminals committing more heinous crimes.

Fourth, this will also overwhelm the criminal justice system and cost state taxpayers more money. SB1070 does not make the state safer and does not address any of the ills that were listed that come from illegal immigration.

That is why it is not supported by local law enforcement officials such as the Flagstaff police department and the Coconino County Sheriff's office as you can see in my previous post. Many other law enforcement agencies in the state have also come down against SB1070. Below are some quotes from law enforcement agencies, many in Southern Arizona, closest to and perhaps most profoundly impacted by undocumented immigrants:

Richard Muñoz, South Tucson police chief: Opposes the bill, citing concerns about racial profiling and saying it could hinder catching criminals. "With the majority of our population in South Tucson being Hispanic, I think they'll fear reporting crimes to us," Muñoz said. "That will hurt our ability to bring a lot of those criminals to justice."

Clarence Dupnik, Pima County sheriff: He called the bill nothing more than a meaningless exercise that leaves him and others scratching their heads about what the Legislature thinks. The requirements in the bill go too far and leave the possibility of racial profiling open to law enforcement leaders, depending on how they interpret the law, he said. Deputies already turn over suspected illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol on a regular basis.

Tony Estrada, Santa Cruz County sheriff: The bill is unreasonable, Estrada said, adding that his office can't afford to take on the job of federal immigration agents. "I have told people: 'Don't let this happen, because you will just be doing the federal government's job," Estrada said. "It's not our job. . . . I'm disappointed because they are painting all illegal immigrants with a broad brush," Estrada said. "Everybody is bad; everybody is harmful; everybody is hurting the economy. That is not necessarily true."

The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police Opposes SB1070. The chiefs' organization said that it could erode trust with immigrants who may be witnesses. The group also warned that it would be too costly and would distract police from dealing with more serious problems.

At the end of the day, when it comes to arguments about public safety and SB1070, the arguments just don't stand up to scrutiny.

For local law enforcement to be forced to deal with a person's immigration status diverts attention, focus and resources from more dangerous crimes like murder, kidnapping, burglary, home invasions, and car thefts.

I would rather law enforcement resources be focused on these problems whether the people committing the crimes are documented or undocumented. If a police officer has to make a choice between arresting someone whose only crime is not having proper documentation and arresting someone who is driving drunk and potentially putting at risk anyone on the road, I want the police focusing on the drunk driver.

Undocumented immigrants who commit other crimes need to be punished just like anyone else. However simply committing the crime of being in this country without documentation and mandating local law enforcement to deal with that does not improve public safety in the state of Arizona because it diverts scarce resources away from dealing with more heinous crimes that have a devastating impact on their victims.

Once again, I would encourage feedback and a civil dialogue about these issues. Please try to keep the comments on point and don't engage in personal attacks.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Arizona's SB 1070 and why it is so wrong

SB 1070 passed in Arizona on Monday. On Friday, the governor signed it into law. For information about it, you can read here: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14949266

I am deeply concerned about this bill and the impacts that it may have. Let me begin by saying I am not in support of illegal immigration. It is a problem in the United States and I don't disagree that it needs to be dealt with. But this is not the right way to deal with it.

There are two primary reasons I don't support this bill. The first has to do with the role of federal and state governments. States rights advocates are the first to stand up and scream "FEDERALISM" whenever the federal government passes a law that might limit the rights of individual states. So why, then, should states be able to pass laws regarding an issue that is uniquely federal in nature? States can't issue passports or visas, grant citizenship or deport undocumented individuals, that is the Federal government's job. SB1070 seeks to implement Arizona's own scheme of immigration regulation – separate and in conflict with federal government policy – when our Constitution envisions a unified nation under one federal set of immigration regulations.

The second reason that I cannot support this bill and will be actively working to get it repealed is the potential for racial profiling and abuse. States cannot go around making their own immigration rules, it is too easy to abuse, racially profile and undermine the basic human dignity of anyone who doesn't "look American." This is not the right way to address illegal immigration. Whether we are documented or not documented, at the end of the day we are all still human beings who deserve basic human rights and dignity.

Along the same line, people are appropriately concerned that this bill will lead to less reporting of crime. Think about it, if you are a U.S. citizen who has brown skin and you aren't carrying proof of citizenship, and you witness a crime, are you going to trust the police enough to call them and report the crime? The police are now OBLIGATED under this law to demand proof of citizenship from anyone who might not be a citizen, even in the case of someone reporting a crime.

Most people who are undocumented live with their families, and those families usually have a mix of documented and undocumented residents. Now even citizens or green card holders are going to live in fear of law enforcement.

I am privileged in a number of ways. My white skin and blond hair will make it very unlikely that I would be stopped on suspicion of being undocumented. But just because I won't get stopped or harassed doesn't mean I can sit idly by while others might. As I said earlier, we are all human beings who deserve basic human rights and dignity, regardless of our immigration status or skin color. This bill strips away those rights for anyone who might look "different."

I am not the only one that feels this way. People from all walks of life and even various political backgrounds do not support this bill for one reason or another. To read other people's opinions of the bill, check out these links below. Each one of these organizations and people has their own reason for believing that this legislation is ill-conceived and wrong-headed. I would encourage you to read through each of these articles below to see why such a wide mix of people and organizations, both liberal and conservative, representing law enforcement, education, and religious groups all feel as strongly as I do about this bill. I encourage feedback and dialogue on this and would be interested to hear your (civil) comments and feedback about this posting.

Arizona: Religious leaders urge Arizona governor to veto anti-immigrant bill

Los Angeles: Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles questions SB 1070
Below is an excerpt of his blog post about the issue:
The law is wrongly assuming that Arizona residents, including local law enforcement personnel, will now shift their total attention to guessing which Latino-looking or foreign-looking person may or may not have proper documents. That's also nonsense. American people are fair-minded and respectful. I can't imagine Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation. Are children supposed to call 911 because one parent does not have proper papers? Are family members and neighbors now supposed to spy on one another, create total distrust across neighborhoods and communities, and report people because of suspicions based upon appearance?

Various cities and states have tried such abhorrent tactics over the decades with absolutely no positive effect. Such laws have all been struck down by courts or repealed by wise citizens. Sadly, such laws lead to a new round of immigrant-bashing--usually in times of economic downturn.

President Obama: He spoke about this bill and the issue of illegal immigration during a White House Press Conference on Friday. You can read about his remarks in a Wall Street Journal Article by Clicking here.

The Flagstaff, Arizona Police Department, The Coconino County (Northern Arizona) Sheriff Bill Pribil, the Chairwoman of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors and Arizona State Representative Tom Chabin: You can read their statements on SB 1070 by clicking here.

The Arizona School Board Association: You can read their statement on SB 1070 by clicking here. An excerpt is below:
We fear that SB1070 will create a chilling effect that will make some parents hesitant to send their children to school, even if those children are eligible to attend Arizona public schools, thus inhibiting such opportunities for success.

Monday, April 19, 2010

A few quotes about prayer. . .


I saw a quote about prayer on the blog of my friend Peter Mahoney and really liked it. So I grabbed it and decided to post it and then dug up a few more quotes on prayer. Enjoy!

No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying.
-Leonard Ravenhill

Don't pray for lighter burdens, pray for stronger backs.
-African Proverb

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
-Gandhi

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Pray, and let God worry
-Attributed to Martin Luther (Protestant Reformation)

Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."
-Mark 11: 22-25 (from The Message)

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
-Ephesians 6:13-18 (from The Message)

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
-Phillipians 4: 6-7 (from The Message)

13-15Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
-James 5:13-16 (from The Message)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Thoughts about politics and the church, repost from a friend of mine

I am just getting caught up on reading my friends' blogs and stumbled across this post from a friend of mine. Paul Sundberg posts on his blog "JUST KEEP ASKING" He is a friend of mine, the father/father-in-law of two of my dear friends from college. His is the pastor of an ELCA Lutheran Church in the Pacific Northwest. I really appreciate his perspective and this is not the first time I have reposted one of his posts. Without further ado, enjoy:





Last night’s vote on health care reform in the U.S., was hardly the end of it. Our divided nation will be more divided. Wrangling and rancor will continue, and indeed, increase. That is the way of the world. It is most certainly nothing new. But what a sad display: it remains disheartening and disturbing.

Still a Christian, I am most disturbed by those who identify themselves as Christians and who see our government as an enemy and not as an instrument of compassion. I continue to be dumbfounded by those who care about the first three trimesters of life and are totally callous about the fourth trimester. I continue to be appalled by those who call this a Christian nation, demanding legislated moral constraints, without demanding care for the least among us. I continue to be saddened by the Christians that label such care as socialism, and sees solutions only in capitalism (as though it was a social mechanism baptized by Jesus himself). Have they never read about the communities of Jesus in the New Testament?

No wonder why fewer and fewer Americans are finding hope and solace in the church.

We have so much work to do to show we still matter.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Sushi in the Guatemalan Highlands?

This is a month-old blog post that I have just got around to posting with photos. I was in Guatemala the last week of February/first week of March. Below is my travel blog from the trip. Enjoy!

I arrived in Guatemala on Thursday night and went straight to my hotel in Antigua. I got up bright and early on Friday morning to leave at 6am. I joined Daniela, one of our project managers and Ben, the director of tech and maintenance for Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad, on a visit to a community we are prospecting for a water system.

The community was a 2 hour drive from Antigua. We arrived and were greeted by the pastor of the church where we are thinking about putting a water system. The pastor is also a doctor and runs a small medical clinic out of the church. In addition to being a pastor and doctor, he also received some dental training when he served in the military, so he also does tooth extractions at his clinic. This is not uncommon at all in Latin America, and especially in Guatemala for a pastor to have two or more jobs. I remember visiting one of our water systems in the Dominican Republic when I was there a year and a half ago and the water system was housed in a church that also hosted a dental and orthodontics office. The pastor had both a degree in theology and a degree in orthodontics.

The pastor had prepared a big breakfast for us. Typical of many churches in Guatemala, the pastor’s residence is connected to the church. So we ate breakfast as the pastor described his community and the work that his church is doing in the community. It was very clear to me from this conversation that the pastor has a very holistic vision of development for his community and sees the church’s call to provide tools and services for that development.

As we were finishing breakfast, some kids in their late teens and early twenties started showing up. These were all members of the church, active in the youth group, who were asked by the pastor to volunteer and help us with our community survey. Dani did a quick training session and then turned the five youth loose in the community with copies of our interview/survey.

Ben, me and the pastor in the church sanctuary talking logistics.

The outside of the church in Tiquisate


While the kids were out doing the survey, we walked around the community with the pastor to get a sense of the population density and culture that exists around drinking water. As we walked through the sprawling central market in the city, the pastor was greeting every third or fourth person by name. It was very clear that the pastor has a large congregation and is deeply invested in his community.

We returned to the church to collect the surveys from the youth group members and we sat around with them and talked. Once they heard that I am the youth director at my church, they got really excited. It turns out on Saturday night, they were planning on having a lock-in/prayer vigil all night. They invited me to come and preach and pray with them. Unfortunately there was not time in the schedule for that during the visit, but if we end of installing a water system in this community, I sincerely hope that I can go back to the church and spend more time there.

We packed up and left. Dani and I headed for Panajachel, the largest town on Lake Atitlan. The Guatemalan ex-pat missionary community has an organization called “Intermissions” and they were having a conference there last weekend. We decided to attend the conference to raise awareness about Healing Waters, look for new potential partners and to recruit for the National Director (ND) position.

It is always our preference to hire locals for positions in our field offices, however because the ND position has been vacant since July, we are trying to leave no stone unturned in our search for the ideal candidate. The difficulty is finding an ideal candidate. The position requires someone who has substantial experience (10-15 years) in business and can understand and help us grow our “water store franchise” model. But the person also needs to have a profound faith, an understanding of the ministry side of what we do, and be able to interact with authenticity with our church partners where we have the water systems. Add to that the need for a bi-lingual candidate and someone who ideally has a college degree, and you can see why this search is difficult and why the position has been vacant for nearly 9 months!

We arrived in Panajachel in the mid-afternoon, got checked into our hotel. Nearly every place here now has wireless internet access, which is an enormous blessing. I can use SKYPE to video chat with Jessica and Esther every day. Even though this trip is only a week long, it is so hard to be away and I don’t want to miss anything in Esther’s growth and development. So I called up Jessica and had a chance to see my wife and my baby girl. It was nice.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Intermissions conference. We set up a table and distributed literature and also had the chance to worship with all of the Guatemalan missionaries.

Set up with out "booth" at the Intermissions Conference

After the conference ended for the night, Dani took me to one of her favorite places in Panajachel, the “Pana Rock Café,” which totally ripped off the “Hard Rock Café” theme. There was a live band playing there and the food was delicious!

Me at the "infamous" Pana-Rock Cafe!

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel in Panajachel. They served us the Guatemalan version of "Pancakes" which they call "Pankekes." You can see how thick they are, almost as big as biscuits. But they were light and fluffy and Dani and I enjoyed them.

Dani enjoying her "Pankekes"

After breakfast we returned to the conference and continued interacting with the Intermissions folks. I attended two great break-out sessions. One was based on the book “When Helping Hurts” which I have written about in my blog before. The book deals with the negative impacts that development work has had in developing countries. I strongly recommend it for anyone who is or is thinking about doing development work. The person leading the session talked about the book and its relationship to missions work in Guatemala. It was great stuff.

The conference was winding down by the afternoon, so we packed up our display and left. Just outside of Panajachel is a nature reserve that has a series of high jungle canopy ziplines. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to go flying through the jungle like a monkey, so Daniela and I stopped off and spent about an hour on a series of 9 different ziplines. The views were incredible and it was a fun break from the conference.

Greg ziplining over the Guatemalan Jungle!

After the fun on the zipline, we left to drive back to Antigua. We got back around 7pm and decided to go to dinner. That is when I was introduced to Sushi Akai! Yes, Antigua in the Guatemalan highlands has a Sushi restaurant! And believe it or not, it was great. I could not bring myself to order any of the actual sashimi or sushi, but we ordered some rolls that were outstanding.

That's right, Sushi in the Guatemalan Highlands. And I didn't even get sick!



On Sunday morning I interviewed a candidate for the ND position. He drove up from Guatemala City to meet me at a nice café in Antigua. The interview lasted over two hours and was very productive. I think we have a pretty solid candidate who we will be continuing to interview. I have to get back to Denver and debrief with our senior team.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon back in the hotel working and catching up on emails. I did go out to grab dinner at The Bagel Barn, and very gringo bagel shop in Antigua that is just off the plaza. I felt guilty afterwards for frequenting such a gringo place, but such is life. As I was wandering back to my hotel, there were Lenten processions marching through the city. Imagine hundreds of people dressed in purple and white robes lining the streets. Down the middle of the street people have laid down “carpets” of flowers in intricate designs. Then they have a parade with huge statues on platforms that are carried down the streets and over the carpets. You can see a photo here:



Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all spent working out of our field office. I led a staff meeting on Monday morning with all of our Guatemala staff. I invited the ND candidate to stop by the office and meet the staff as well on Monday. For lunch we all drove into the city and had ceviche at a delicious restaurant. Tuesday and Wednesday I met one on one with each of the staff members to get a sense of how things were going in the office, clarify certain policies and procedures, provide some inspection and accountability to our staff there in absence of an ND, and to hear from the staff how they are doing.

Thursday morning I drove to the Guatemala City airport and flew it. It was a whirlwind trip, but very productive. This was my 5th trip to Guatemala in the past 15 months. I really love being there, but with Jessica and Esther at home, I really love coming home too!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Blog Post 100!!!!!!!!!

Me and the family, our Easter photo


I did it! I actually managed to write 100 blog posts in the past 15 months! It has been a fun adventure, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.


Blogging has been a fascinating experience for me. I have never been much of a diary writer or journaler. In fact, I really hated all of the forced journaling that I was required to do in college. So I wasn't too sure how blogging was going to go for me.


Well, it turns out it has been pretty good. This gives me an outlet to share what is on my mind, repost things that are interesting to me, and reflect on what is going on in my life and the world. I am a little curious why blogging has gone better than my attempts at writing in a journal or diary in the past. If I am going to be totally honest with myself, it probably has a little something to do with narcissism. I am posting in a public forum, a few people read what I write and they sometimes even comment on it.


I think I lead a pretty interesting life with my work and Healing Waters, my work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church and my amazing family. I enjoy sharing parts of my life with the world, back to the narcissism, perhaps it is a little bit of bragging?


Anyhow, I just thought it would be fun to share this milestone with everyone out there. I hope to keep on blogging for a long time. I have some interesting and exciting news to be sharing in the next couple of weeks that will probably have a long-term impact on the nature of my blog posts. So I guess you will all just have to stay tuned!


Finally, thank you to my loyal readers. Like I mentioned above, knowing that you are reading is at least part of what has motivated me to keep blogging. I especially appreciate comments and feedback, so keep that coming too. A shout out to all my brothers and sisters in the blogosphere. Keep writing my friends, I love to read about your lives too!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Pastor John Bell's Easter Sermon

Below is a repost of Wellshire Presbyterian Church Pastor John Bell's Easter sermon. I usually use baseball analogies to describe sermons (you struck out, or you hit it out of the park.) I even keep "batting averages" for pastors and their sermons, which will no doubt haunt me some day. My baseball analogies are especially fitting as you read below. This sermon was a home run!

Easter Sermon 2010: Back to the Garden

Read: John 20_1-18

The late comedian George Carlin, who has probably never been quoted in an Easter sermon, rightly recognized that baseball has spiritual value. This becomes clear when baseball is compared to football. He observed that:

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life; Football begins in the fall, when everything’s dying. Football has clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness; Baseball has the sacrifice. In football, the clock is often considered to be: the enemy; Baseball has no clock and no time limit! The game theoretically could go on for … eternity!

And finally, the objectives of the two games are very different:

In football, you want the field general to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz — even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing the air assault with a sustained ground attack until they arrive at the … end zone. In baseball the main objective is to go home, and, when you arrive at home, you want to be safe! You want to be home and be safe.

Now, it is not a stretch to say that the main concern of God-fearing, faith-seeking people, our chief objective, is – like baseball – to return home and be safe. The Psalmist writes, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.”

Bishop and former Dean of the Duke Chapel, Will Willimon, suggests that human beings “sigh for Eden” and want to go back to that peaceful and prosperous place where it all began — before sin and evil entered the world. We all have a deep desire for things to be placid and perfect, free and fruitful — the way we believe things should be — with no bullies, homework or over-draft fees — the way we imagine it was in the Garden of Eden when it was said by God to be “all good.” Some say that deep within every human heart there is some faint memory of Eden and a deep and abiding desire to re-wind the clock and return there.

As an oft recorded, popular song (Joni Mitchell, Woodstock) declares:

We are stardust.
We are golden.
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden.

We wonder: How are we going to get back to the Garden?

*****

News flash: the resurrection of Jesus Christ takes place in a garden!

If you go to Jerusalem today, you may go visit the so-called “Garden Tomb.” It is probably not the actual tomb of Jesus, but many believe that it probably looks most like what scholars believe the tomb of Jesus looked like. It is located just outside the city wall of Jerusalem. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, and very nearby the Garden Tomb there is a high rock formation which does look like a skull. The tomb is nice and large, and we know from Scripture that Jesus was placed in the tomb of a wealthy man. There is a large stone, which has been rolled away. However, the Garden Tomb is best known for – guess what? – its Garden! The tomb is located in the middle of a lovely, mature, fragrant, green Garden. The tomb is surrounded by trees and shrubs and flowers, chirping birds and buzzing bees. The courtyard is dotted with benches and well-raked, pebble paths and pools of living water. When Jesus came out of the tomb, he set foot in a lush garden …which probably looked something a bit like the garden, which now surrounds the Garden Tomb – minus the gift shop. Mary actually mistook Jesus for the gardener.

[By the way, this mistaken identity was actually reversed in Peter Seller’s hysterical movie, Being There, in which a would-be savior actually turned out to be only a simple gardener who only knew about plants and weather.]

The symbolism is clear: in the resurrection, which took place in “a garden,” Jesus is on his way back to “The Garden.” Easter morning represents the dawn of a new creation!

*****

It is a spiritual necessity to have a clear vision of Paradise, to use your imagination to envision with the eyes of your heart what life in the Garden will be like. Imagination is extremely powerful: Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard and best-selling author, claims that human beings are the only animals that possess the ability to think about the future. He writes, “To see is to experience the world as it is, to remember is to experience the world as it was, but to imagine – ah, to imagine is to experience the world as it isn’t and has never been, but as it might be. … As one philosopher noted, the human brain is ‘an anticipation machine’ and ‘making future’ is the most important thing it does.” [Stumbling on Happiness, p. 5]

The Hebrew prophets were an imaginative lot: the prophets of Yahweh speak of a place where there will be no more death, tears or pain, where each person can sit out in the open under his own fig tree trees and not worry about violence or vandalism, a place where justice will roll down like waters and righteousness shall flow like a swift-moving stream, a place where we will all know the Lord and God’s law will be written on our hearts, a place of perfect peace where we will not teach our children war anymore for implements of war – spears and swords – will be turned into plows and pruning hooks. In that place:

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them. [Isaiah 11:6]

And, in the New Testament, the last couple of chapters of the Book of Revelation offer John’s imaginative vision of a new heaven and a new earth, centered in a New Jerusalem, in which is found the Tree of Life, sitting of the banks of the River of Life, which flows from underneath the throne of God. There will be no night, because God’s glory will shine around the clock and angels will surround the throne, singing beautiful songs of God’s glory. What a glorious vision?

*****

It is natural to imagine what Heaven looks like or wonder where Heaven is located or who will be there to greet us when we arrive. BUT it is even MORE beneficial – to use your imagination to ponder: what spiritual condition exists in Heaven? What does Heaven feel like? What quality of life do people in Heaven experience?

You may come to a different conclusion, but, as I read and understand the Bible, Heaven is primarily a place of peace. I imagine that people in Heaven are perfectly at peace. In the Bible, “peace” [shalom] is descriptive of what people experience when things are the way God wants them to be. Peace means – not just the absence of unpleasant things like war, terrorists, talk radio and dishonest politicians, but the presence of all good things, such as healthy food, people to love, justice, equal rights, quality health care, affordable housing and baseball. I imagine that people in Heaven are perfectly at peace. Another way to say the say same thing is that people in Heaven will feel blessed – richly blessed, which is can also be translated in English: HAPPY!

“Happy” may be a seemingly trivial or small word. “Happy” is a word and an experience which is actually very hard to define. The Greek word “makaros” can be translated blessed or happy, suggesting those two words are virtually synonymous in Christian thought. “To be happy” is to feel richly loved and blessed by God. It may be helpful to think of peace as the condition that creates the feeling of happiness. People in Heaven are at peace, blessed, serene, content, HAPPY. People in Heaven will sport a grin.

It is spiritually beneficial to think of Heaven – not so much as a physical place to which you are transported after you die, but as a spiritual condition, because – listen up: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOU DIE TO EXPERIENCE HAPPINESS! The resurrection took place in a garden on the same globe that your feet are resting on now. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! It is near. It is right here, right now. The Good News of Easter is that you are invited to taste the Kingdom of Heaven now, you are welcome to experience it today! When you are at peace, perfectly happy, doing exactly what God created you to be, what Jesus taught you to do, it is not too strong to say: you are experiencing a little slice of Paradise, a little foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. You are the first fruits of a renewed, very happy humanity.

*****

… That’s good, because there are a whole lot of unhappy people on earth – and a high percentage of those people live in America. In fact, the happiness industry is big business. You can go to any bookstore and pick up hundreds of books with pictures on the cover of beautiful, rich people, with expensive smiles and fabulous hair, telling you how you can be happy – like they are. Don’t do it! Some of the books might be a helpful if you have a specific problem, but after you read most of those books you will probably be less happy because you are not as rich and beautiful as the author.

Actual research on happiness is fairly interesting. The most interesting thing to me is that human beings are remarkably poor at predicting what will make us happy. Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard, writes in a new book, “People are surprisingly bad judges of what will make them happy. In particular, they seem unable to predict the duration of the happiness or unhappiness brought on by many common events or changes in their lives. Instead, they attach too much importance to the immediate effects of a happy or unhappy experience without realizing how quickly they will adapt and grow to what has occurred.” [Politics of Happiness, pp. 5-6]

Daniel Gilbert, the psychologist that I quoted early in the sermon, says that most happy people simply stumble on happiness; they get lucky. He opens his book with a quotation from a play written in 1902, which summarizes his research: “One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour …” [Stumbling on Happiness, p. 1]

David Brooks wrote a piece for the New York Times which was picked up by the Denver Post on Thursday. If you were Sandra Bullock would you choose between an Academy Award, which brings riches and fame and celebrity, or a happy marriage? David Brooks wrote, “If you had to take more than three seconds to think about this question, you are absolutely crazy,” because marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining happiness – and everybody knows it, but we seem to ignore the truth.

Human beings are surprisingly bad judges of what will make us happy. Left alone in this world, it is all too easy to become lost and make bad choices … which is precisely why Jesus came to save us from ourselves and lead us back to the Garden! He came to tell us of God’s love and teach us how to find true, lasting peace and happiness.

*****

The problem is – and this is a very serious problem – that the advice that Jesus gives seems to do and be in contrast with that the world tells you to do and be.

The great author and Bible translator, J.B. Philips, wrote [I am not sure where this can be found. It has floated in my files for eons. I believe that it was published in his great little book, Your God Is Too Small.] the world is clear about how to be happy:

Happy are the “pushers”: for they get on in the world.

Happy are the hard-boiled: for they never let life hurt them.

Happy are they who complain:

for they get their own way in the end.

Happy are the blasé: for they never worry over their sins.

Happy are the slave-drivers: for they get results.

Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world:

for they know their way around.

Happy are the troublemakers:

for they make people take notice of them.

In contrast, Jesus says that there is a different way to be happy in Matthew 5:

3 ‘Happy are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ‘Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 ‘Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7 ‘Happy are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 ‘Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 ‘Happy are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

10 ‘Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’

sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The difference from what the world tells you will make you happy and what Jesus tells you is almost as great as the difference … between football and baseball. It would be harder, I imagine, to convince you of the truth in Jesus’ teaching on happiness than to try to convince you that he rose from the dead, setting foot in a garden.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Institutional Education and the Value of Information

Below is a video editorial made by a kid who just dropped out of undergrad. I don't agree with everything he says, but it is certainly thought provoking.

The video style is as little too edgy for me, and it is long, but if you are in any way involved in education at the k-12, undergrad or graduate level, it is certainly worthy watching. Enjoy!