Christmas in Cochabamba

I thought I would dread spending the holidays so far away from my family, my friends, and my church, but I'm really enjoying Christmas in Cochabamba. Thankfully. It's quite an experience, to say the least.

Dec. 15th was our big Christmas production at el Centro. It poured rain, we started an hour late, one of the boys vomited all over the floor, and the other kids trekked the puke all over the place. But other than that, it wasn't too much of a disaster. We had a crowd of about 70 people, which was pretty encouraging since our numbers have been low for a while. And it was fun to pass out clothes, toys, and candy to all the kids. So at the end of the year we went out with a bang. A little bang, but a bang nonetheless.

You can see some photos in my online gallery: gallery.mac.com/greeneyesopening. I would have more photos to share with you, but I had to help direct the little kids and then mop up vomit.

I have such a glamorous life...

Now that Christmas is just 2 days away, the decorations are out in full force. Multi-colored lights are strewn all over town without any rhyme or reason, and the best part is that they all play terrible, mechanical versions of Christmas carols. And of course, the carols don't play simultaneously, so it really just sounds like very high-pitched locusts have taken over the city. It's hilarious and wonderful at the same time.

Tomorrow, Dec. 24th, is actually the big day here. The familes get together to celebrate Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) by having a HUGE feast at midnight on the 24th. After gorging themselves in middle of the night, everybody exchanges Christmas gifts around 3:00am and then sleeps half the day away on the 25th. It's an interesting way to celebrate Christmas, and I'm jumping right in. I'm joiing Sra. Carmen (I live in her backyard) and her family at 9:00ish tomorrow for the big party. I won't be gorging myself so much because the food is mostly meat, but there will be plenty of delicious, gooey pastries to eat. And I hope to bring cookies to share, but that depends on whether or not my oven wants to cooperate.

Then on Christmas day, I have 4 single missionaries coming over for brunch at 10:30. It's going to be amazing...fresh squeezed OJ, french toast, eggs, cheesy hasbrowns, LOTS of fresh fruit (fruit that we don't even have in the US), hot cocoa, coffee, and who knows what else.

We're going to watch some Christmas movies and probably play games, but I'd really like to have a devotional (for lack of a better word), a time of reflection, and maybe communion.

It'll be different, but it should be a good day.

Intentionality

I love Cochabamba.

It is so good to be here, serving and loving the little ones- the forgotten, neglected, and abused ones. They're dirty. They all have skin diseases, warts, and lice. Their teeth are brown and broken. Their toenails are caked with dirt and grime. But they are so precious in His sight. So I hug them and kiss them and tell them how beautiful they are.

They ARE beautiful...and so resilient. Under the radar, there is a lot of sexual abuse going on. The physical abuse is more evident. Neglect is the most common problem. Many of the kids have been abandoned by their parents, who have journeyed to Spain is search of a decent job. And somehow, the kids survive all of this. But it does change them.

Maria's mom left her and her 2 sisters last year to move to Spain and work as a maid. I hadn't seen Maria (in the middle of the photo) since 2005, and it is obvious to me that there is a sadness inside her that no 5 year old should have.

Maybe, more than anything, the kids just need someone to love them.

And I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.

Wait, I take that back. There are plenty of things I could IMAGINE myself doing. I'd love to live in a cabin in Northern Minnesota, own a vineyard in California, or even just be near my family and friends so I can tour around the country with FBS or hold Madilyn, my baby neice.

Every time I see Madi on the webcam, it's all I can do to not dive through my computer screen and kiss her chubby cheeks. It breaks my heart that she is going to grow up while I'm thousands of miles away. But Madi has a lot of people around her who love her, and most of the kids down here don't have anyone who loves them and treasures them.

So I realized a while ago that life isn't just about fulfulling my dreams or even just creating comfort for myself. It's about living with intention and truly following the Jesus of the Bible (not the Jesus you hear about from televangelists or the like). Its about waking up each morning with a purpose, not just a schedule.

That's why I'm here.

How could I possibly NOT be here?

I may not be able to do much about the social sins of Bolivia. I'll never eliminate poverty or child abuse, but I can do the little things.

Sometimes, it's the little, unexpected things make the biggest difference.

I want to share a story with you that is retold by Rob Bell in his book, "Sex God." It's really a journal entry from a British soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Mercin Willet Gonin DSO, who was involved in liberating a German concentration camp called Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

"I can give no adequate description of the Horror Camp in which my
men and myself were to spend the next month of our lives. It was just
a barren wilderness, as bare as a chicken run. Corpses lay everywhere,
some in huge piles, sometimes they lay singly or in pairs where they
had fallen. It took a little time to get used to seeing men, women and
children collapse as you walked by them ... One knew that five hun-
dred a day were dying and that five hundred a day were going on dying
for weeks before anything we could do would have the slightest effect.
It was, however, not easy to watch a child choking to death from diph-
theria when you knew a tracheotomy and nursing would save it. One
saw women drowning in their own vomit because they were too weak
to turn over, men eating worms as they clutched a half loaf of bread
purely because they had to eat worms to live and now could scarcely
tell the difference. Piles of corpses, naked and obscene, with a woman
too weak to stand propping herself against them as she cooked the
food we had given her over an open fire; men and women crouching
down just anywhere in the open relieving themselves ... [a] dysentery
tank in which the remains of a child floated."


Horrible. Disgusting. Anti-human. It's nothing like a concentration camp- even in the poorest of areas in Bolivia, but there is something anti-human about the way the poor people have to live here. No one should have to live with lice and fungal diseases all over their skin, or live in a house with a dirt floor and a straw mattress, or have to bathe in a poluted river where cows are watered and cars are washed.

Anyway, the journal goes on...

"It was shortly after the British Red Cross arrived, though it may have no
connection, that a very large quantity of lipstick arrived. This was not
at all what we wanted, we were screaming for hundreds and thousands
of other things and I don’t know who asked for lipstick. I wish so much
that I could discover who did it, it was the action of genius, sheer
unadulterated brilliance. I believe nothing did more for these internees
than the lipstick. Women lay in bed with no sheets and no nightie but
with scarlet red lips, you saw them wandering about with nothing but
a blanket over their shoulders, but with scarlet red lips. I saw a woman
dead on the postmortem table and clutched in her hand was a piece of
lipstick. At last someone had done something to make them individu-
als again, they were someone, no longer merely the number tattooed
on the arm. At last they could take an interest in their appearance. That
lipstick started to give them back their humanity."


Intentially giving people back their humanity can change everything.

Katrina Hits Bolivia

Well, it's not exactly a detailed update from yours truly, but I thought this article was worth sharing. It explains why I've seen so many American cars that definitely were not crusiing around the streets of Cochabamba a couple of years ago.



CARS RUINED BY KATRINA SOLD IN BOLIVIA

By DAN KEANE – Nov 17, 2007

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AP) — The bathtub ring of mold on the ceiling of Colleen McGaw's Mini Cooper marks how high Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters rose inside the sporty red coupe.

"There was this mold, this grossness all over it," McGaw says, recalling how she found the car, her college graduation present, three months after the storm submerged her New Orleans neighborhood. "I cried. It may sound lame, but I cried. I had wanted a car like that since I was a child."

Two years later, McGaw was shocked to learn from The Associated Press that her beloved Mini turned up 3,600 miles south in Bolivia. Its new owner — stuck with a complete overhaul at $23,000 and counting — is feeling her pain.

Tens of thousands of cars were damaged or destroyed by Katrina, which submerged much of New Orleans in a corrosive broth of saltwater and mud. U.S. officials warned Americans to beware of buying the drowned cars.

But many "Autos Katrina" were shipped overseas, often sold through Internet salvage auctions now globalizing the auto recycling industry.

Totaled cars used to be sold mostly at local auctions to scrap metal dealers and serious gearheads, who well understood the risks of the trade. But in the past five years, an explosion in online sales has lured shoppers around the world. It's a "Wild West marketplace" of tainted dream cars at rockbottom prices, says U.S. auto insurance industry analyst Brian Sullivan.
"Information is in short supply, and you have to be smart and know what you're doing," he says.

Suspected Katrina cars — with their jittery wiring, sand in the cracks and the telltale mildewed stink — have cropped up in a number of countries, but Bolivia has become a particular target. One local environmental agency believes 10,000 or more flooded U.S. cars may have ended up in the landlocked nation, drawn by loose import rules, a thriving smugglers' economy and an insatiable hunger for cheap wheels.

The hurricane relics are part of a deluge of used imports rapidly transforming South America's poorest country. Fueled by money sent home by migrants abroad, the number of vehicles on Bolivia's few paved highways is expected to double in the next five years.

McGaw's Mini is still a long way from joining the traffic jam.

Hauled south on a container ship, imported through the Chilean port of Iquique and trucked over the mountains to this Andean valley city, the coupe is now perched on a hydraulic lift, stripped to its chassis and surrounded by its rusty innards.
The new owner — worried that publicity will reduce the car's resale value and perhaps smarting from automotive heartbreak — declined, through his mechanic Ramiro Sanchez, to be identified or interviewed.

"He's totally demoralized, but he doesn't just want to give up on it, either," Sanchez says.

The Mini's odyssey began as the McGaw family fled New Orleans on Aug. 28, 2005, the day before Katrina made landfall.

"I just started packing random things — a cocktail dress, shorts from the 7th grade," says McGaw, who has since finished a law degree and clerks for the Orleans Parish District Court. "I didn't think it was going to flood."

McGaw left her 2004 "chili red" Mini in a backyard carport and rode out of town with her parents.

The next morning, Lake Pontchartrain's storm surge burst through the 17th Street Canal levee, flooding their Lakeview neighborhood in eight feet of water and completely submerging the Mini.

When McGaw finally saw her car again three months later, it was dry but coated in salt and slime. A beer can had floated in through the broken windows.

McGaw's insurer, Geico, left a check for $18,500 and towed the car away. A vehicle history report listing the Mini as a total loss names the insurer as the car's final owner.

But nothing's final in the global used car business. The Mini began a second life when it was sold to Copart Inc., one of the U.S.'s largest auto salvage companies. Copart listed the Mini in an online auction in early 2006, saying it had suffered from "waterflow" but not mentioning the hurricane, Sanchez says.

Geico declined to comment on this case, and a Copart spokesman did not return repeated calls seeking comment.

The Bolivian buyer paid $7,000 for the Mini, but it took another $5,000 in shipping costs and import duties before he could kick the tires. He immediately towed the car to his friend's shop. About 50 other Katrina car owners have come to Sanchez for help since then, he says, but he's turned nearly all of their vehicles away as beyond repair.

The Mini's history was easy to spot, Sanchez says: mud caked to the engine block, pedals rusted in place, and a New Orleans safety inspection sticker on the windshield.

Undeterred, the owner shelled out an additional $7,000 — plus $4,000 in tax and shipping this time — on the parts from a second Mini from Copart, this one condemned after a front-end collision. Parts from a third are now on their way to complete the job, Sanchez says.

How much will all the labor cost? He's a friend, Sanchez says with a shrug. He'll cut him a deal.

And despite the new owner's pain, getting a brand-new Mini shipped to Bolivia would probably hurt even more — about $35,000 with taxes and shipping costs included, Sanchez estimates.

Bolivia is taking in the first world's castoff cars at a pace unmatched in South America, where its neighbors now strictly regulate car imports.

The total number of registered cars in Bolivia leapt 11 percent in 2006, from 537,000 to 602,000, says Freddy Koch, who monitors used car imports for nationwide air quality program sponsored by the Swiss development agency Swisscontact. All but 5,000 of the additional vehicles were used.

Factor in unregistered used imports that slip into Bolivia, and the annual growth rate is a staggering 20 percent, Koch says.
Bolivians pay a steep price for their new mobility: on dry winter afternoons, air pollution in Cochabomba (pop. 600,000) now rivals that of downtown Los Angeles.

Back in New Orleans, the McGaws tore down their mold-blackened home and rebuilt on the same lot. They used the car insurance settlement to buy Colleen a new 2006 red Mini — this time with cruise control.

In garages a hemisphere away, recovery from Katrina drags on.

"The tragedy continues," Sanchez says. "These cars just keep causing problems."

Hasta la Vista, Baby.

I bought plane tickets! Thank you, Jesus!

I fly out of Chicago on Monday, Oct. 29 at 3:20pm and will arrive in Cochabamba on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7:35am. Yay!

It was wonderful to be here for the birth of my niece, Madilynn, and the first few days of a beautiful Midwestern autumn, but now is the time for me to go. I threw my timeline out the window back in June and have been relying on the movement of the Holy Spirit to guide me in all this. I believe that this is the right time for me to take that first step into the life God has planned for me in Bolivia...and I couldn't be more excited!

Now, I begin packing things up and saying goodbye.

Please pray for safe travels, and that the next 10 days will be fun and stress-free. I want to enjoy the time I have with my family and friends and not worry about my trip.

In other news...

I am dreadfully behind in sending out thank you notes. Forgive me.

I am now on Skype and will be able to communicate with the outside world once I reach Bolivia.

Praise God, I got a Mac!

I really doubted that I would actually buy a computer even though I know how necessary it will be once I get to Bolivia. I just didn't want to spend the money. But God is so good, and He always provides for our needs. Thanks to so many generous one-time gifts, the finances have come in to purchase a laptop.

And so, I am officially high-tech.

I bought a laptop (a MacBook Pro to be specific), and it's amazing. I have programs to put together videos, modify photos, create a webpage, and write fantastic newsletters. You'll be able to see updated photos and videos from El Centro all the time! Basically, it will make keeping in touch with everyone from Bolivia so easy.

I also set up a Skype account. If anyone is interested in chatting for FREE via webcams or online phones, go to www.skype.com to set-up a account.

What a blessing technology can be!

Evo on the Daily Show

Bolivia's leftist president, Evo Morales, made an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart a couple of days ago. Good interview. And in case you missed it, here you go:






Also, here is a link to a much longer, detailed interview at the Democracy Now website.


Enjoy!

If you are thinking of visiting Bolivia...

I read the Cochabamba newspaper online quite frequently (with a Spanish dictionary in hand) because I want to stay up-to-date on the happenings down there.

I'm also hooked on the blog updates at the Democracy Center's website. You can find political updates and the like in English. I copied/pasted the following from that blog:

On December 1st it is going to get a whole lot more complicated for visitors from the U.S. to get into Bolivia, but how much more complicated remains unclear. Today in La Paz, Bolivia's Foreign Minister laid out the specifics of the long-awaited new entry rules first announced on New Years.

Up until now entry to Bolivia from the U.S. has worked like this. You get off the plane in the bone-numbing cold of dawn in La Paz, adjust to trying to stand at an elevation equivalent to Mt. Whitney, then pass through a swift moving immigration line. There an officer opens your blue passport and gives you a free 90-day tourist stamp and waves you on. To leave costs you $45, but that's another story.

In January, in the name of "reciprocity" (i.e. it sure isn’t that easy for Bolivians to get on the plane going the other way) the Bolivian government announced that it would begin requiring visitors from the U.S. to obtain visas. In the eight months since, anxious tourists-to-be have waited for details to emerge.

In an official announcement, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca explained:

Citizens of the U.S. that come to the country as tourists now can no
longer step on Bolivian soil without a visa, after December 1. We have completed
a bi-ministerial resolution that governs the requirements for the entry of
foreigners. This deals with citizens of the U.S. and protects
tourism.

According to Bolivian news reports, Bolivia will classify the U.S. as a "Category 3" country, subjecting it to the most stringent visa standards of any nation in the world.
On paper, for now, those requirements include:

- Filling out a form with your basic personal information
- Providing a 4x4 cm color photograph with a red background
- Presenting a passport good for at least six more months
- Presenting some form of formal police document stating that you aren’t a
criminal
- Providing either proof of a hotel reservation for your entire stay or a
notarized letter of invitation from someone in Bolivia who promises to pay your
costs of being here
- Presenting your round trip airline ticket- Providing documents
demonstrating your financial solvency in the U.S.
- Providing proof of a yellow fever shot

The new visa will also cost $134, which is actually $20 more than the cost
of a visa for Bolivians to the U.S. Bolivians, however, pay the fee just for
applying, even if their request is denied. "What for us is expensive, for them
is economical," added the Foreign Minister.

Obviously this represents a substantial ramping up of the bureaucracy involved in making a visit to Bolivia. But still unclear is the question of whether visitors can do all this here on arrival or must do so beforehand with one of the handful of Bolivian consulates in the U.S. Choquehuanca told a La Paz news conference that the new visa could be obtained directly at the point of entry, be it an airport or a bus station, after previously completing the requirements. But, so far, no official has made it clear whether that means the paperwork all gets done beforehand in the U.S. or not.

One reason for this is probably that Bolivian consulates in the U.S. have already told the government that they are unprepared for the avalanche of paperwork headed their way if the processing happens in their U.S. offices.

There are several possible scenarios here.

1. Tens of thousands of U.S. visitors per year will now swamp Bolivian consulates (those who decide to still come) with visa requests. The result will be a really big mess.

2. Tens of thousands of U.S. visitors per year will now have to complete a complicated visa screening process on arrival at the airport or bus station. The result will be a really big mess.

3. The whole thing will evolve into something much less strict than it looks right now on paper. The result will be that getting into Bolivia will now cost $134 and be more of a hassle.

I can certainly understand, from an emotional standpoint, why many Bolivians, including the leaders of the current government, would want to adopt such a policy. The U.S. makes it very, very difficult to make the trip north, while the road south is cheap and open to all comers. That said, let’s just be clear about the practical implications if the visa rules are implemented in full:

** Thousands of young backpackers, having wrapped up their visit to Machu Picchu will not say to each other, “Hey, Bolivia sounds really cool, let’s go check it out.” They will not cross the border. They will not spend money in Bolivian hotels and restaurants. They will not buy wool sweaters. They will not increase employment and opportunity through tourism. They will not learn something about the country and take that experience and enthusiasm home.

** Hundreds of parents of Peace Corps volunteers, semester abroad students, and other young people here from the U.S. will not decide to take their family’s summer vacation in Cochabamba. They will not buy Aeorsur tickets. They will not book hotel rooms. They will not buy tours to visit the Chapare. They will not tell their friends in the U.S. that they saw first hand what a great country Bolivia is and what a great place it is to travel.

** Hundreds of independent journalists and filmmakers who are interested in what is going on here and who want to spend a few weeks here to help educate audiences abroad will not come here. They will not deepen U.S. understanding of Bolivia.

** Hundreds of young people from the U.S. will not come here to be volunteers in orphanages, hospitals and schools. They will not bring their creativity and goodwill. They will not write to their friends and neighbors to send money to help buy books, medicines, and diapers.

The irony of course, is that the people in the U.S. who are hell bent on making it so difficult for Bolivians to go there are not the people with any interest in visiting here. The people Bolivia will end up losing as visitors are the ones who would end up being some of the country’s biggest U.S. boosters.

I am not a Bolivian. I am a guest in this country, albeit one with a (more appreciated than ever) residency visa. If Bolivians place such a high value on the dignity sought by making it very complicated for people from the U.S. to get into their country, that is Bolivia’s sovereign right to decide. But let’s not pretend it is a policy without real implications for tourism and understanding.

She's Here!

My darling, little niece was born yesterday at 3:02pm.

Madilynn Grace Lucas
7.13 lbs. & 21.5 inches

Building a Ship

Last Monday, the National Council of Churches distributed an excellent open letter to churches in the US, God's Earth is Sacred. The document calls us to heed the full measure and magnitude of Earth's environmental crisis, and to respond in ways that are faithful and ethically grounded. It is a powerful statement that deserves wide circulation, and should be the basis for deep and prayerful reflection.

Something I heard yesterday, though, makes me worry that the Christian church in the US may be incapable of responding to that passionate and timely message.

I heard that a seminary class on religious education used God's Earth is Sacred as the focus of a group discussion and project. Two dozen aware, informed, committed people, training for careers in Christian ministry, read through the document. They were touched by the statements about the scope of environmental problems. They agreed with the theological declarations of sin, and of the need for repentance. They affirmed the eight norms for social and environmental responsibility.

And then, my informant tells me, then came the stumbling block. "What do we do?" was the question posed by the class exercise -- and no one could answer.

The document says, "the imperative first step is to repent of our sins, in the presence of God and one another." But repentance means change, and a turning away from sin, and it seems that the seminary students could not conceive of a way to live as Christians in the US that would embody the depth of repentance that is necessary.

The students could concur with all of the theology and all of the analysis, but they could not envision an option. They might as well have been asked to repent of breathing.

+ + + + +

Last night, I re-read a well-worn volume from my bookshelf, Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination. The imagination about which he writes is what was lacking in the seminary classroom. It is lacking in most of our churches, too.

Brueggemann takes it as a given that the church in the US "is so largely enculturated to the American ethos of consumerism that it has little power to believe or to act." In such a setting, in a time when we have given in to "the royal consciousness", he lifts up prophetic ministry as the hope for transformation.

Part of the prophetic calling is bound up with a critique of the way things are. But Brueggemann asserts that an essential -- and often neglected -- piece of the prophetic is the ability to lift up the fact that things can be different than they are.

He asks a question that speaks directly to the experience of the seminary class: "quite concretely, how does one present and act out alternatives in a community of faith which on the whole does not understand that there are any alternatives, or is not prepared to embrace such if they come along?"

It is important to understand the depth of what Brueggemann means when he speaks of an "alternative". Knowing that we are all steeped in the culture that must be changed, he says, "We need to ask not whether it is realistic or practical or viable but whether it is imaginable." "The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined."

Part of the student's inability to answer the "what can we do?" question goes to our inability to even imagine a society that is not inherently exploitative of the rest of creation, one that is not founded on unsustainable growth, one that is not driven by human privilege and power. If we cannot imagine that there is a "promised land" that is just and sustainable, then we will never be able to think about starting the exodus. And if our notion of faithful Christianity is tied to affluence and privilege, then we will never be able to image lives of sacrifice and acts of resistance, let alone begin to live that way.

The prophetic imagination entices us when it proclaims that it is possible for humans to live just and fulfilling lives without destroying the planet. The prophetic imagination is transformative when it allows us to believe that it is possible to live in sustainable, harmonious relationships with all of God's creation. The prophetic imagination is a threat to the royal consciousness when it offers us even the possibility of living and acting in ways that will replace the destructive empire with a better way of life.

The seminary students had not had a chance to study God's Earth is Sacred before the class. In a very limited class time, they were pushed quickly to the question of "what can we do?" Their paralysis speaks to a common situation, but does not need to define it.

What can we do? As clergy and church leaders, an essential part of what we must do is exercise our imagination. We must find ways to speak of God's shalom that express hope and joy, and that celebrate sustainability and justice as delightful possibilities. We must find ways to speak of faithful Christian life as different from the American dream. We don't need a blueprint with all of the details. We do need to be able to proclaim, not only that the current situation is wrong, but that another way is possible.

Only then will our repentance lead us into changed lives. And only then will we feel compelled to find a way to make that joyous vision real.

+ + + + +

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Shalom!
Peter Sawtell
Executive Director
Eco-Justice Ministries

Good Riddance!

"You cannot serve both God and mammon." Mammon: an Aramaic word meaning property.

This is the issue that has been at the forefront of my mind during the past few weeks as I have been systematically selling all of my belongings. The garage sales (both of them, because once wasn't enough) were a success. I sold my bedroom furniture, lamps, pots and pans, winter coat, dishes, decorations, etc, but I was surprised by how difficult the whole thing was. Seeing everything I own on display and priced for pennies on the dollar was surprisingly uncomfortable. Apparently, I had become quite attached to my possessions. I know that once I board my flight to Bolivia, I won't think twice about having rid myself of my things. After all, I believe that God has called me to live a life of radical simplicity. And so, these verses have been running through my mind recently:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (lit: "mammon")." Matthew 6:19-24
It's not a choice of whether we serve, but of what or whom we serve. I choose to not serve mammon, or any earthly thing for that matter. I really believe that the attachment I felt to my things came right from the devil himself. That attachment to stuff (and the desire for more stuff) is a successful trick the devil uses against us. Mammon (possessions, the pursuit of wealth, etc) becomes a distraction, and it keeps us from focusing our energy on what's important.

Without preaching anymore, I'll just say this: no more distractions and no more on the fence, trying to serve two masters. And so I say "good riddance" to all my stuff.

1/11/07

This is borrowed from The Democracy Center's Blog from Bolivia.

Cochabamba's Day of Bloody Conflict, Six Months On



Yesterday, Cochabamba marked six months since that bloody Thursday in January when a standoff of rival political positions turned into a violent melee between rival mobs, leaving two men dead (and later a third) and more than 100 other people injured. As with the conflicts, the city marked its sad anniversary divided.

At a church in the city's wealthiest neighborhood, Recoleta, a crowd gathered to mourn Cristian Urresti, the 17-year-old killed that day as he joined with backers of the local governor, Manfred Reyes Villa. A mile away, a group of about 100 people joined with the widow of the coca farmer slain that day, Juan Ticacolque, at La Plaza de las Banderas, where a simple monument was erected for those killed and wounded in January (the photo above).

Both sides continue to demand justice for the brutalities committed by the other. Loyalists to the slain youth from the city's affluent north still demand punishment for whoever wielded the machete with which he was killed. None make mention of the footage showing crowds of youth from the city's north breaking through police lines to initiate the beatings that turned the standoff into violence.


At the erection of the monument, a 14-year-old youth spoke; a boy who had four bullets pierce his leg that day.


The rich want to keep earning more and we work for them. Manfred Reyes Villa doesn't have a conscience about anything. Before he wanted to sell the water and then he wanted to kill us. The people who have power don’t have a conscience. Look how they kill people who are humble.


Here none make mention of the blockades and the burning of the state building that provoked the conflicts.


While Cochabamba appears relatively quiet and peaceful on the surface, the memories of January remain raw in many quarters and reconciliation and middle ground are hard to find.


Local politicians, who on both sides did a good deal to provoke the violence and nothing to stop it, seem still intent to fan the flames. Reyes Villa quickly denounced that no one had permission to erect the monument on public space – it sits on a small patch of lawn on an island in the middle of the street. Passing city youth yesterday pledged to tear down the Andean Cross. Neither seemed to voice similar objections to the monument erected six months ago to Urresti on a downtown street corner. That monument has never been the target of any objection or vandalism to my knowledge. Nor should it.


Podemos Senator Tito Hoz de Vila took the spirit of reconciliation a step farther, vowing to wage a battle in the Bolivian Congress to take down the new monument. As if the nation's Congress has nothing better to do than debate the artistic merits of a ten-foot tall plaster cross.


Stepping back, January 11th represents that place where Bolivia could go in this hard moment of political transformation, a place where the political process can no longer contain the conflicts and those spill onto the street and into bloodshed. Since January 11 the political conflicts at hand have gone back into the world of negotiation and public rhetoric and that is a good thing for the nation.


Honoring the right of both sides to mourn and remember the costs paid that day may also help remind all sides of the cost if they don't find a way to negotiate political change in Bolivia.


In a Bolivia where unity is hard to come by, politicians who seem intent to fan the flames of division over the trivial, regardless of party or side, clearly have something else at heart than the nation's interests. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that both sides have a right to mourn and to have a physical symbol of that mourning.


Now both sides do – until some of Cochabamba's protectors of democracy decide to tear it to pieces in the dark of night.

Bread Upon the Waters

Be not afraid to follow Me, neither draw back in doubt. For I will provide all that ye are lacking, and I will pave the way for you with My bounty.

Ye are not treading alone. Lo, there are many with thee on the same road. It is the road of faith and trust, and ye shall have sweet fellowship, for there are others who shall join thee in this walk.

Ye shall rejoice with exceeding joy, and thy joy shall be shared by angels. Lo, they walk beside thee and guard thy way.

Never limit Me. I will take thee through, though cliffs should rise before thee. There will always be a provision. and in My mercy I shall see that ye find it.

Be humble and be patient. I am nearer to thee than ye think, and will do more than ye expect. I work in every heart to bring conformity to My Word. Ye only need give it. I will do the subsequent work. For My Word is Living and Powerful. It shall not come to failure. It shall accomplish My purpose, though My purpose may be entirely hidden from thee.

So cast thay bread upon the waters, even though they be turbulent flood waters and it shall return unto thee. (Ec. 11.1)

the spitting llama

Brilliant!

And here's the website: The Spitting Llama

between then and now

I was bound and determined to raise massive amounts of support in an extremely short amount of time and get to Bolivia to finally do ministry by June.

Did you notice the "get to Bolivia to finally do ministry" part? It's not that I haven't been doing ministry at my church in Chicago where I've been the children's minister for 2.5 years. And it's not that Bolivia is the only place where I can do ministry. I just hadn't really thought about this transitional time between Chicago and Bolivia and how God might want to use me RIGHT NOW.

So, yeah, it's July 2 and I'm in Ohio. SO WHAT?! God apparently has His own departure date set for me and a few things He wants me to do between now and then.

I met someone about a month ago who is going through some seriously heavy demonic attacks. Very in-your-face, very supernatural demonic attacks. Most everyone else has tried to medicate this person or pass the problem on to a shrink. Nobody seems to want to confront the issue and deal with the demonic (the voices, the visits, the visions), which is the root of this person's problem. Anyway, I feel like our meeting was divinely arranged. I'm familiar with spiritual warfare, and I know that I need to play a role in getting this person where he/she needs to be to battle Satan's attacks. Right now, the person being attacked, myself, and another spiritually sensitive friend are praying for a body of believers to come along side us with a desire to see freedom and deliverance in [insert name here]'s life.

Also, I've had really beautiful times of prayer and discussion with several people that I've met with for support raising appointments. I make the mistake of being totally focused on Bolivia and the needs of the people in Cochabamba, and I forget that the people I meet with to share about Bolivia are hurting and needy in different ways. Well, God finally got through to me (I can be so thickheaded!) and I feel so blessed to be able to pray with people and encourage them. Ministering to people's hearts is way more important than spouting off a list of statistics about Bolivia.

I've also been learning things...so many things...about the Kingdom of God on earth. Now that I've finished all my missionary training I've been able to dig into some books that I've been wanting to read for a while. Topping that list is this:

I recommend this book to everyone I know. It's not that Shane Claiborne provides all the answers, but he sure asks the right questions.

Anyway, God is good, faithful, and sovereign, and despite all my shortcomings, I'm just trying to follow Him.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Psalm 148

Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens,
praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for he commanded and they were created.

He set them in place for ever and ever;
he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and maidens,
old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

He has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his saints,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the LORD.

Bats that flit,
snakes that spit,
rats and mice- not awfully nice;
ugly toads, spotty frogs
things that live in rotten logs.
In their cobwebs jewelled with dew,
spiders, that seem ugly, too.
Though for you they have no charm,
do not do them any harm.
Jesus loves them one and all,
He watches for them when they fall.
In spite of their unlovely features
pity these who are God's creatures.

Busy-ness

I can't believe it is already the middle of May! Time flies when you're having fun...

Updates:

I FINALLY quit my waitressing job! Considering I don't live in Chicago anymore, it didn't make a lot of sense to still work in Chicago. I'm still doing things at Risen Savior in Chicago mainly because I want to stay closely connected to the people until I actually fly out of the country. So in the meantime, I am traveling around the Midwest and staying with friends and family in Ohio. I haven't "lived" somewhere since January.

This week, I am going from Chicago to Michigan to Ohio and speaking at a couple different churches. I'm talking at a youth retreat on Friday and Saturday, which is all new to me. I'm great with 6 year olds, but I have yet to see what happens with 16 year olds.

Then, on Sunday, I am talking at VNC, which the church I grew up in. I'm really excited about this because I've known so many of the people there for years. I have a 30 minute presentation to share with them that will take us right into the heart of Bolivia.

I am seriously aiming to leave the country in July. I just decided to head out with FBS (myspace.com/fbs) one last time at the end of June just for Cornerstone... I can't miss Cornerstone! I gotta get the rock 'n roll out of my system before I move to South America. :)

Water

Water ... has an enormous range of meanings for us as human beings. Our bodies are mostly water, and our thirst reminds us to replenish that water. We are born from the waters of the womb, and something about a pool draws us to plunge back into it and covers ourselves. But if we stay under for too long, it means death. Coming up to the surface and breathing again is almost like being reborn. ... Water washes us clean and makes us feel fresh and new again. Baptism takes - and adds to - all these meanings.

- Hoyt L. Hickman

Water is a precious commodity in Cochabamba.

...

In 2000, the oft divided people of Cochabamba united in a revolt against the Bechtel Corp. and won. You can read about it at The Democracy Center.

Photos of the water revolt in Cochabamba taken by Tom Kruse.

"The Right to Water - Fulfilling the Promise" A chapter by Jim Shultz from the forthcoming book, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Latin America: From Theory to Practice. A look at the larger issue of access to water across the world and the Bolivian water revolt in the context of the struggle to secure water as a human right.

...

The lack of water has a direct affect on the people in the barrio around the Center. Of course, lack of fresh, safe water leads to dehydration and illness. But something we don't often think about is the fact that no water means no toilets, no sinks. Simple tasks like washing dishes or doing laundry become enormous productions and require a trip to the river (if it isn't dried up) or a visit to the public, outdoor sinks. And forget about washing your hands after using the bathroom (i.e. squatting in the designated corner of the yard), because that's a luxury!

Some of the people can afford the few dollars it costs to buy water from the water trucks that come around. They drive through the barrio, pouring their precious cargo into each household's open, rusty, metal 55 gallon drums, from which the people scoop it out for washing or for cooking.

Any water is better than no water.

Even the wealthy people have to deal with the lack of water in Cochabamba. I lived with an upper class family, and we were always cautious not to use too much water. Just doing the dishes or taking a quick shower could use up the water supply. At which point, we'd have to run out back, turn on a pump, and wait 20 minutes for more water to pump into the pipes.

It is such a beautiful thing to give someone a glass of cool water, in the midst of the dust and the dryness, and share with them about the living water that can eternally take away their thirst.

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.
It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."

John 4:13

Yard Sale

HUGE YARD SALE

Thursday, May 24

8am to 4pm

at my folks' house in Dayton, OH

I'm selling all my stuff and would LOVE to take your donations. The proceeds are going to get me to Bolivia.

Support Raising vs. Punk Rock Tour

For several years now, I have toured around the country with a missions-minded streetpunk band (myspace.com/fbs) as often as I can. We go into the dirty, nasty bars and music venues with the purpose of reaching out and loving the punks that most people can't connect with. We try to be a living light in the utter blackness. It's an amazing, exciting, and dangerous (only sometimes) life, and I LOVE it!

God made me with a very nomadic spirit, so naturally, support raising, which requires lots of traveling, is fun for me.


Support Raising = 4000 miles in 6 weeks (gas prices are killing me!)
Punk Rock tour = 4000 miles in 6 weeks

Support Raising = new town every few days
Punk Rock tour = new town every night

Support Raising = living out of a suitcase
Punk Rock tour = living out of a backpack

Support Raising = sleeping in guestbeds, on couches, or on inflatable beds
Punk Rock tour = sleeping in the van while driving through the night, staying a crowded hotel room, or crashing on someone's floor

Support Raising = showering in someone else's bathroom and using the guest towels
Punk Rock tour = brushing your teeth in a McDonald's bathroom

Support Raising = sharing my vision and passion with all my friends and family
Punk Rock tour = playing punk rock (I just sell the merch) for tattooed, mohawked people

Support Raising = good, healthy food thanks to the hospitality of good friends
Punk Rock tour = greasy diner food, spaghetti, or pizza (all vegetarian) thanks to the band contract requiring vegetarian food and water at each show

Support Raising = new friends and connections all over the Midwest
Punk Rock tour = new friends and connections all over the [insert tour location here]

Support Raising = boring drives because it's just me in my boat of a car (97 Ford Crown Vic).
Punk Rock tour = van with a DVD player, Xbox, and 4 other friends.


See? They're kind of similar. Support raising is really so much easier than touring. If I could just get some company on the road, this would be great!

New Beginnings

I'm just beginning.

I'm tying off loose ends and packing things up.

I'm sharing my vision and building a support team.

I'm preparing to bring good news to the mountains.

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

- Isaiah 52