What can you do with $6.71?

What could you do with $6.71?  For many North Americans, it is not a lot of money and so it doesn't inspire a lot of imagination.  We easily spend that amount on a cup of coffee, without thinking twice.

However, in Burundi, the story is different.

I was blessed last week to have attended our second Youth Work as Worship conference in Burundi, attended by 400 youth.  We are halfway through a five-year study to assess the impact of workplace discipleship on young adults aged 18-35 in four different cities and twelve different churches.  Last year, after 1.5 years of teaching and training on entrepreneurship, we were already hearing exciting testimonies.  But this year's testimonies topped those.  

I couldn't capture all the testimonies, but the first three young adults shared a similar theme: how they used the equivalent of $6.71 to get their businesses started.  This was the amount of money that each youth was given at last year's conference to help them get from their homes to the bus pick-up point, and to cover their food for their travel.

The first woman, Janet, shared that before starting with DML, she believed students couldn't earn money - they just had to study.  But after the training, she learned differently.  She had been taught to differentiate between her needs, wants, and desires, and began to save some money (about $11) when she was given the $6.71 travel funds. While her peers were buying food and getting transport to their homes, she decided to keep that money and add it to her savings.  Now she had almost $17.  With that money, she bought a piglet.  She raised it and sold it for $117.  She purchased another piglet for $34 and diversified her business by investing in a rooster and a chicken.  Those two produced seven chicks, and in a few days, there should be six more. 

Janice tells a similar story.  She had been doing business but was taking loan after loan and not moving forward.  At last year's Youth Work as Worship conference, she was awarded a prize for "Best Business Idea" and received an award of $17.  Then she received the transport funds of $6.71, and now she had $23.51.  With that, she purchased flour, sugar, and charcoal in bulk and began selling them retail.  Eventually, she too bought a piglet, and that pig is now full-grown and about to give birth to piglets.  She no longer takes loans, saves regularly to invest in her business, and is thrilled to see that the culture is changing, allowing women to do business.

Lastly, Jessalyn used her transportation funds to buy bananas.  She turned that $6.71 into $67.  She bought a goat for $60, and it turned out to be pregnant.  She continued to sell and save and then purchased another goat, who also turned out to be pregnant!  So she soon she will have four goats.  She also has purchased a chicken and hopes to start enjoying eggs soon.  She is no longer dependent on her parents.  

These are just a few of the results of teaching over 2.5 years.  A successful Burundian businessman who started with nothing told them that they all have capital - their mind, their hands, their feet, and their health. 

This week, we spent an intensive time teaching them about conservation agriculture, including how to plant high-yield crops, how to reduce the cost of inputs by using natural products, how to make compost, and os much more.  They were taught how to raise rabbits.  They were taught the importance of saving, which serves as a refuge, and how to save even with a very small income.  They learned how to make perfume, how to problem-solve and innovate, and how to package. They heard inspirational testimonies from Burundian businessmen who had failed repeatedly in business until they finally succeeded, and they chanted, "Never give up!"  They were told that they could make a difference in their families, communities, churches, and country.  And they didn't have to leave Burundi to do so.

At the same time, leaders of four different denominations were present and they are ready to go full steam with this for all their local churches.  They have already been trained to be trainers and have a full-time person assigned to disseminate this message across Burundi.  And two of the pastors where the youth are attending told us that they have been able to build new church buildings because of the increase in tithes.  

God is good!  And when people change their mindset from poverty to potential, it is amazing!  We are deeply grateful to our partner in Burundi and their ability to convey this message with such passion and integrity.

The Gospel According to the Ground

Greetings from Burundi!  

In DML's 2024 annual report, we announced that this year would have a special focus on agriculture, as we recognized that the majority of members in our partner churches and denominations are farmers.  While we had been equipping people to do their work as an act of worship and teaching basic business principles, we continued to face the significant challenge of "hungry farmers" (as addressed in this blog this past March).  

When an opportunity came to partner with an organization that was teaching conservation agriculture through the church, it didn't take long to see the potential of working together.  Conservation agriculture aims to improve soil health, increase water use efficiency, reduce labor and input costs, enhance biodiversity, and increase crop yields (by 4 times, we are told).

We planned to have three pilot studies:  Sierra Leone, Burundi, and India.  

But as our other partners heard about this opportunity, it became apparent that they didn't want to wait for the results of a pilot study.  They wanted in!  

Our partner in Burkina Faso came on board.  They have been trained to be trainers and have taken this message beyond their borders and into Togo and Guinea.

Our partner in Nigeria came on board.  They were trained to be trainers and have taken this message beyond Nigeria, to our partners in Tanzania and Kenya.

Our partner in Uganda will attend a training next month.

And at the same time, Sierra Leone is moving forward.  The training in India happened last week.  

This week in Burundi, we are hosting our youth conference, which will bring together 400 people over three days, with a focus on agriculture.  Last week, 30 trainers were trained to coach the 400 young adults, along with the DML Cameroon leader, who wants to start in this in Cameroon as well as other Francophone nations!

It's been an exciting season.  

Yesterday, I spoke at a church with approximately 1,000 people about creation care and our call to preach the gospel to "all creation" (Mark 16:15).  

I reminded the church that creation care is a gospel issue.  From Lausanne, “If Jesus is Lord of all the earth, we cannot separate our relationship to Christ from how we act in relation to the earth. For to proclaim the gospel that says ‘Jesus is Lord’ is to proclaim the gospel that includes the earth, since Christ’s Lordship is over all creation. Creation care is thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.”

Job 12:8 says, "Speak to the earth and it will teach you." We listen, we learn, we teach, we preach.

To those who have supported this effort through your partnership with our scholarship fund, we extend our sincere gratitude.  Enjoy this video from Burundi, worshiping as they prepare the land!

Shifting Perspectives in a Parable: On Being the Injured Jew

I can't tell you how many messages I've heard about the Good Samaritan.

I can't tell you how many talks I've given about the Good Samaritan (a businessman who had compassion, capacity, competence, and courage).

It's a great parable with numerous applications to almost any time and place.  

I'm not sure about you, but when I seek to understand a Scripture, I often place myself in the text.  With the Good Samaritan, I've most often pictured myself as the Good Samaritan, which makes sense as that is how Jesus challenges us to act.  Sometimes, I've pictured myself as the Priest or Levite, recognizing my issues and challenges with "getting involved."  

Never have I pictured myself as the person who was beaten.  I find that interesting and wonder whether that is the case with others.

A friend and DML board member recommended that I read "Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest" by Bonnie Gray, who explores this perspective.

In this book, the author writes that she has always known that she is the wounded stranger, "a casualty stripped bare on the side of life's highway...That stranger is me, too wounded to step closer to joy."  She sees herself as a time-waster to the Levite, who is too busy and needs to get to his temple duties.  She sees herself as an unacceptable risk to the priest who doesn't touch anything lifeless.  She then says that she is both priest and Levite because she also passes by the wounded "me," trying too hard to be useful, and neglects herself.

It's easy to stop for others.  But will we stop long enough for ourselves?

Some cultures believe that doing self-care is a sign of weakness, and they engage in "boundary shaming" for those who attempt to protect themselves.  Other cultures may have taken self-care too far, allowing people to prioritize their comfort to such a degree that they are never willing to love their neighbor sacrificially.  I'm not speaking of either of these extremes, but I do believe there is a call for balance.

It is out of this balance that creativity, ingenuity, and thoughtful engagement can emerge.  It is out of quietness that we can hear the voice of God.  It is often when we take a break from something we have been working on that we have an "aha" moment for how to solve it.  

Jesus not only wants but needs me to stop on the side of the road of my busy life and take care of my wounded self.  He needs me to acknowledge the wounds in my soul and address them.  We take time to offer kindness and compassion to others, but we shouldn't neglect ourselves in the process.  We should not become a stranger to ourselves by being so outward-focused.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says that we are to "make it our ambition to lead a quiet life."  For most of us, those words make no sense.  A quiet life as our goal, our ambition? Our world, instead, tells us that we are supposed to be faster, louder, busier, and more engaged.  

Alternatively, God calls us to engage the world with thoughtful creativity, seeing life as an adventure, as ambassadors of God.  Our goal is not just to avoid stress, but to cultivate the opposite.  We aspire for spiritual rest which brings joy and healing.

May God grant you spiritual rest this week as you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, minding your own business, and working with your hands.

Remembering Walter Brueggemann: Sabbath as Resistance, Saying NO to the CULTURE OF NOW

Last week, Walter Brueggemann, a theologian who has written 50+ books, passed away at the age of 92.  A group of DML leaders just finished reading his book, Sabbath as Resistance, Saying NO to the CULTURE OF NOW, the day before he died.  We were reading this book in our leadership self-care group (where we hold each other accountable for sleep, eating, exercise, tech use/abuse, and Sabbath), challenging ourselves and each other to honor the fourth commandment.  In honor of his passing and a life well-lived, I would like to share what we learned from this book.

Most Christians can recite the Ten Commandments fairly easily, and many would say that they try (imperfectly) to follow them.  But the fourth commandment, to rest, is one that many Christians almost brag about breaking.  We say that we are too busy, too needed, too compelled by others to take a Sabbath.  We don't usually directly say it, but it is implied in our excuses that we are too important, too critical in our circles of influence, to take a Sabbath.  

In this book, Brueggemann argues that the fourth commandment is a BRIDGE between the first three commands to love God and the last six commands to love our neighbors.  He states that for me to love God and love my neighbor, a Sabbath must be taken.

There are more words used for this command to rest than for any of the other nine commands.  Inside this command, everyone was to rest - people and animals.  Sabbath is the great day of equality.  Not all are equal in production or consumption, but on this day, all are equal in rest.

There was no Sabbath while the Israelites were in Egypt.  They were to work seven days a week, in an anxiety-ridden situation.  Through this command, God nullifies anxiety-ridden production and emphasizes committed neighborliness.  A system of rest counters a system of anxiety.  As someone who has struggled with anxiety, I know that I am not at my best when I am anxious.  I don't love well.  I don't listen well.  I don't focus well. I need rest to remember how to love God and love my neighbor. 

Our world behaves like Egypt during the Pharaoh's time of Israelite captivity.  Anxiety-driven connectivity without rest.  

God shows us that after creating a world that was new, young, and unproven to take care of itself, He rested.  He trusted that it was good.  He stopped.  He enjoyed.  

Can I trust my little influence in my little world to operate without me?  Do I have the courage to disconnect?

My personal Sabbath is from 6:00 p.m. on Saturday to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.  I have found that this rhythm works best for me, and I have someone in the DML team who holds me accountable for this.  (It doesn't often work when I'm on the road, but when I'm home, I can do it.)  I love my Sabbath time.  But I'm learning now that unchecked rest is not good enough.  It's not enough to nap, read, and stay off technology.  

It's not just a pause.  It's a pause for transformation. 

It's an occasion to reimagine all society "away from coercion and competition to compassionate solidarity.  Such solidarity is imaginable and capable of performance only when the drivenness of acquisitiveness is broken."

"The economy is not just a rat race in which people remain exhausted from coercive goals; it is, rather, a covenantal enterprise for the sake of the whole community."

I still have a lot to learn about taking a Sabbath.

It's interesting to note that there is no command to work.  Working is what we have been created to do.  There's no command to breathe or to sleep.  It's also what we naturally do.  But there is a command to rest.  As we preach a theology of work, we also need to remember to teach a theology of Sabbath and rest, to help people maintain balance.

Thank you for your work, Dr. Brueggemann!  Rest in peace!

Looking Out and Up: A Call to Humble Work

I love the joke I heard as a child about the boy who received a medal for being humble, then had it taken away the next day because he pinned the medal on his jacket.

Growing up, I knew that humility was a goal, but it was a tricky one. How do you seek it and still remain humble?

As an adult, I have come to a better realization of the call of humility. The irony of the joke I just shared is that one could argue that the boy should NOT have had the medal taken away. The adults may have been confused between the words modesty and humility. What the boy may have lacked in wearing the medal was modesty, NOT humility.

Let's explore this further.

I recently read Healthy Calling: From Toxic Burnout to Sustainable Work by Ariana Molloy, which reminded me of the important difference between these two words.

Modesty is focused on avoiding attention, even to the point of belittling our accomplishments. It can appear to be a lack of confidence or be phrased as "thinking less of yourself."  It can get caught up in being consumed with one's faults and failures.  

The modest person looks down, not seeking attention.  

But humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less (C.S. Lewis). Molloy points out that an identity of humility is not looking to please people, but to please God.  The humble person is not blind to their strengths; they are looking to see how their strengths can help others.  They are self-aware without being self-consumed.  

The humble person looks out and up, seeking to connect with God and others. The humble person sees that they and others are made in God's image.  

Therefore, humility is not a personal virtue but a relational one.  A humble person prioritizes the needs of a group or relationship rather than focusing on self.  

Molloy argues that gratitude is the foundation of humility. Colossians 3:15 says that we are to recognize that we are members of one body and be thankful.  

Healthy humility involves three things.  

1. It is knowing your strengths and weaknesses.  
2. It means being teachable, embracing an openness to learning.
3. It means knowing how to step away, delegate, take a break, and remove yourself from work, trusting that it will be fine without you for a short time.  This involves a vulnerability of resting and reflecting, acting on the strong belief that EVERYONE needs refueling.

Another way to think of the three essentials of humility is know, learn, and rest.  

So what does this have to do with the call to work?  

When we work, we do it with humility, knowing that we have something to offer that is needed.  We work hard, and we do it with excellence, looking up to God as our role model for working, and to others for contributing to their flourishing.  We are aware of our strengths but it is not for us, but rather for others.  We are aware of our weaknesses and seek to partner with others with different strengths, remaining teachable by those different from ourselves, in terms of culture, age, gender, and other forms of diversity.  We are in relationships with a global people in a global marketplace where our work releases the potential of others, and the work of others releases our own potential.

It's a beautiful thing.  May God bless you this week, as you do your humble work!

Tanzania: From Charcoal to Creation Care

One of the four goals we teach every person to consider in their workplace is creation care.  While this goal has lagged behind missional and economic goals in the past, it is rapidly catching up as people see themselves as partners in caring for the world God has made.  Here is one story recently shared with me from our partner in Tanzania, relating to charcoal, which many people use for cooking.  Valuable trees that took twenty-plus years to grow are cut down for cooking without considering the environment.  But now people are looking for alternatives:

From Charcoal to Creation Care - A story from Tanzania

In a profound act of change, a former charcoal maker has purchased 100 trees, which were distributed for planting as a personal commitment to creation care. (Pictures show the handing out of trees and planting of trees) His decision to quit the charcoal trade is especially significant, as he was a key distributor who sourced from many local makers. This change is bound to inspire others in the industry to follow his lead.

In his words: 

"There was a time when these hands made charcoal—cutting down trees and wounding the earth. The land suffered, the air darkened, and creation cried out.

But now, by God’s grace, we have turned. The same hands now plant trees. Together, we have made a commitment—to care for creation, to restore what was broken and to honor the God who made all things good.

May every tree we plant be a sign of healing, hope and new beginnings."

The mandate for creation care comes from Genesis 2:15, where God commands us to "work and care" for the earth.

The Cape Town Agreement from Lausanne says this regarding creation care: 

"The earth is created, sustained, and redeemed by Christ.  We cannot claim to love God while abusing what belongs to Christ by right of creation, redemption, and inheritance.  We care for the earth and responsibly use its abundant resources, not according to the rationale of the secular world, but for the Lord's sake.  Creation care is thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.

Such love for God's creation demands that we repent of our part in the destruction, waste and pollution of the earth's resources and our collusion in the toxic idolatry of consumerism.  Instead, we commit ourselves to urgent and prophetic ecological responsibility. We support Christians whose particular missional calling is to environmental advocacy and action, as well as those committed to godly fulfilment of the mandate to provide for human welfare and needs by exercising responsible dominion and stewardship. The Bible declares God's redemptive purpose for creation itself."

Our teams celebrate this on different days and in various ways. (Pictured here is tree-planting in Kenya.)   April 22 is Earth Day, June 5 is World Environment Day, and September is the "Season of Creation" month, supported by Lausanne and many other organizations.  We are excited by this declaration as the church has ironically lagged behind the rest of the world in creation care for many years. 

We are thankful that the Global Church continues growing in its advocacy of caring for this earth, to the glory of God, and the flourishing of all neighbors!  We are also excited about all the advocacy we have been engaged with so far this year regarding farming God's way.  Below is a picture of a "black forest cake" (aka compost pile) made in Kenya with the DML Kenya team, as taught by Dr. Gaga, DML Nigeria team leader.  Yum!