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!

Making disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples...

The Great Commission tells us that we are to make disciples, who can make disciples, who can make disciples. We need to make intergenerational disciples and build capacity in those we teach so the message doesn't rely on one person but can grow and spread.

Recently, while in Burkina Faso with DML leader Pastor Theo Pare, he mentioned a recent training of 1000 people that was done by a "third-generation disciple."  When I asked him to clarify, he said that he (first generation) had trained someone to be a DML trainer (second generation), who had then taught someone else to be a DML trainer (third generation), and that person had just done that training.  

Throughout my time with Pastor Theo, he kept referring to this or that person as second or third-generation trainers.  

It was thrilling to hear. It reminds me that we are "losing control" of the message and tracking it. I call it "Godly confusion" as people are traveling here and there to share this good news of "work as a gift" rather than "work as a burden."  Below are just a few pictures I have received over the last few weeks, as DML leaders are making disciples, who are making disciples, who are making disciples.  Please join us in thanksgiving for open doors, as well as in supplication for those spreading the message in difficult areas, and for those hearing the message of purpose and calling for their time, treasure, and talent.

DML in Congo Brazzaville:  Receiving the message for the first time from DML Cameroon leader, Sister Joy.

The DML Pakistan team is in action, bringing the message of "work as worship" to pastors in a second city this year, with three more cities planned for the remainder of 2025.

A new partnership with the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, made up of many denominations and 70,000 churches!  Three workshops were held in three cities, led by DML Kenya leader Caroline Sudi and DML Tanzania leader Anthony Kayombo.

105 new trainers in Burundi from three major denominations: The church is responding strongly in Burundi as it seeks to eradicate poverty through combined efforts in business, government, and education.

Last week's group in Egypt.

Egypt: For Such a Time as This

I'm writing this blog from a balcony in Cairo, a city of 24 million people, making this city's population higher than many countries worldwide.  It's been eight years since I was here, and there are so many new roads and tons of new apartment buildings.  In many places, Cairo seems to be a sea of apartment buildings.  It is quite a remarkable city, contrasting between "Old Cairo" and "New Cairo."  One has buildings that date back hundreds and hundreds of years, while the other is new and modern.  I've always said that Cairo is the one city I would never want to drive in, and while there have been significant improvements with expanded roads, I still stand by that statement!  The driving here is still crazy!

DML operates on a "pull," not a "push."  That means we don't have an agenda for working in certain countries or places.  We wait to see what God is doing in a particular place, as evidenced by His people who reach out to us, and then we have multiple online meetings to determine if there is an alignment of vision.  But we didn't always do it this way.  In the beginning, when DML was very new and unknown, we did a bit of pushing.  Egypt was one of those places, so it didn't take root.  (Read here to see the writing on the wall from our first visits in 2015.  The title of this blog was "A Problem for Every Solution.")

What a difference it makes to join God and His people who share a similar call!  I was able to meet a number of leaders from all sectors who have started, are starting, or feel called to start reclaiming the marketplace for God.  The time seems ripe, not just for Egypt, but for MENA (the Middle East and North Africa), as some of these partners work in multiple countries.

Last week, I joined a meeting of about 30 leaders from business, government, education, and the church, all discussing how Christians must work together to reclaim the marketplace for Christ!  Although they were speaking Arabic, these people were speaking my language! This group is about three months old, debating whether to engage the church or work directly with businesspeople. I did my best to encourage them to engage the church and bring them along on the journey.

The main group I came to meet held a four-day DML conference at a Christian retreat center in Beit El Wadi, about 60 miles outside Cairo. We had a pretty intense four days of teaching and learning about a theology of work, Kingdom-focused wealth creation, and stewardship. Those in attendance came from a number of cities across Upper and Lower Egypt. It was a rich time of fellowship, sharing, worship, and learning.  

Lastly, another group works with churches to move outside the four walls of their buildings to do community development, and they want to add economic development to their portfolio.  

God is good, and I am so grateful to see Him work through His people worldwide!  While on this trip, I received many pictures of the rest of the team at work as well - in Pakistan, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Burundi, and more!  

I leave for home on Wednesday, and ask for your continued prayers for these new seeds that have been planted!

Voodoo Easter

Travelling through different countries during holiday times gives interesting insights into the culture.  While Benin is more than 60% Christian, it is also considered to be the birthplace of voodoo, as I described in a blog post last year.  The common understanding is that when the Catholics arrived in Benin many decades ago, they allowed them to keep their animist gods, and since then, the two have blended.  While Benin may be the birthplace, voodoo is prevalent in many other countries, including Togo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Haiti, and elsewhere.

This past Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter, when we left the entrepreneurship training, traffic was backed up due to a considerable crowd on the road.  I was told that this was the voodoo Easter or voodoo Passover.  At this time, chickens are killed, and the blood is put on each person, which will then protect them for the next year.

January 10 is known as Voudon Day, a national holiday in Benin. For the first time this year, the President changed the celebration from one day to three days and offered international guests the opportunity to enter the country without visas to encourage tourism. When challenged by Christians, he reportedly said that this is their culture, the birthplace of voodoo, and it should be celebrated. During these days, various animals are killed, their blood is drunk, and ancestors are honored.

As always, seeing this in real life differs from reading about it. It becomes more real and sobering, and prayers for this country and its beautiful people become more urgent.

I observed another interesting fact in contrasting Burkina Faso to Benin.  Ouagadougou is known as a city with some of the highest numbers of motorcycles and scooters. It's a flood of these two-wheelers everywhere you go.  Consequently, there is no need for motorcycle taxis as most everyone has their own means.  You will see as many men as women driving them.  I learned that the goal is to give your son or daughter one of these as a gift when they graduate from high school.  Unfortunately, very few wear helmets, and I witnessed the death of one person as a result of a scooter accident.  

In contrast, in Benin, there are also many motorcycles and scooters, but they are only driven by men.  Parents are expected to give their sons these two-wheelers as gifts when they graduate, but not their daughters.  So, most women are riding on the back of these motorcycles as customers.  But everyone is wearing helmets! 

This observation informs me that these countries are doing better economically, especially compared to Burundi, where most families simply hope to purchase a bicycle at some point in their lives.  I have often observed three men pushing one bike up and down hills with their produce. Not an efficient use of time and we pray that this will change at some point in the future!

My time in Benin was encouraging, as I heard reports of people and the church doing better since they started the work of DML. The leader, Rev. David Sessou, the President of the Missionary Alliance Church in Benin, is now seeking to implement this in the seminaries and Bible schools and reach out to more denominations. While there, I was introduced to two other Presidents of different denominations.

I'm sending you this message from Cairo, Egypt, another unique city of 24 million people!  More updates on that next week.

While my Easter was a bit unusual, I pray this prayer from Peter Greig for myself and for you:

May this Easter day bring resurrection life to my heart and my home.  May renewal radiate within me and revival emanate through me.  May dawn displace the darkness, and spring replace the winter in my life.  May the God of hope so fill me with joy and peace this Easter, that I may overflow with hope by his power and life forever. Amen.

Butterflies and Terrorists

The butterfly effect states that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it causes a tornado in Texas. Small, insignificant events can have far-reaching consequences in complex, interconnected systems.

Last Wednesday, we were driving downtown Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to visit with the Senior Executives of the Assemblies of God church.  Traffic stopped for a while, and soon we saw the road was closed and people were forced to turn around.  

When I asked what was going on, I was told that it was because Algeria shot down a drone from Mali two weeks ago.  Curious as to what that had to do with the closed road in Ouagadougou, I was told the following:

Last year, Burkina Faso joined with Niger and Mali to form the Alliance of Sahel States.  [Sahel is the belt of land just below the Sahara Desert.] All three of these countries are ruled by the military (due to coups) and had been sanctioned by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  So, they decided to leave ECOWAS and work together.  They have broken their ties with France and are now partnered with Russia, who is supplying them with weapons.

Two weeks ago, Mali was flying an armed drone close to the border of Algeria, searching for terrorists.  Algeria claims it crossed the border; Mali says it did not.  Mali said that Algeria harbors terrorists. Regardless, things have escalated, and now Algeria has closed its airspace to Mali, and all the countries have recalled their diplomats.  

Therefore, in Ouagadougou, security close to the president has also been escalated, hence the reason for the closed streets.

What a complex and interrelated world.  It's beautiful and difficult at the same time.

There was one word in the explanation that caught my attention.  The word "terrorist."

The word "terrorist" seems to be a word easily used.  However, it is a word that dehumanizes groups of people, reduces the image of God in them, negates their stories, and gives permission for starving, torturing, and even killing without remorse.  It justifies bad behavior and is dangerous.  As Christians, we should be very careful about using such words.

Some governments label certain groups as terrorists simply because they don't like what they do.  Some groups that are fighting for the rights and freedom of their people end up being labeled as "terrorists" by the stronger party. It gets picked up and passed along news channels.  And before you know it, all people in that group, men, women, children, old, young, sick, and disabled, are seen as terrorists.

That's not to say that some groups aren't doing horrible things to others.  I had a conversation with someone in Burkina Faso who shared that in his grandfather's village, the Muslim extremists came, lined everyone up, counted people off, and killed every tenth person.  The goal was to convince all the others to convert.  Burkina Faso has seen, and continues to see, its fair share of unlawful and inhumane use of violence and intimidation. 

But it's complex.  Like a butterfly flapping its wings and contributing to weather changes thousands of miles away.  We like things to be black and white, easily differentiating between right and wrong.  But there is a lot of gray when we believe that every person is made in the image of God, with the capacity to love and flourish. Every person has the capacity to grievously sin; every person has the capacity to be redeemed through Christ.  Everyone has a story.

What to do with such complexity? I seek to live this prayer written by Thomas Merton:

Lord, give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride, which is the heaviest of burdens.  Possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love.  Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for you alone.  Amen.

In other news, I am hearing so many testimonies of how God is reclaiming the marketplace in Burkina Faso.  What a joy to hear of the passion of those who are doing their work as an act of worship!  As we have been working here for about six years now, I'm hearing about "third-generation trainers," meaning that the ones we originally trained have now trained others, who are training others.  This is a delight to hear!

I had the opportunity to visit some farms and businesses last week, which is always so much fun to do (although doing it in 42C/107F heat made it a bit challenging). I saw a farm with 800 trees, 300 of which were a variety of mango trees that were so small. The trees in the pictures are only three years old and already very heavy with fruit!  The challenge is that the fruit is so close to the ground that their chickens can no longer be free-range as they peck all the mangos! 

This week, I'm continuing a youth entrepreneurship workshop and teaching a foundational workshop for pastors and church leaders in Ouagadougou. On Thursday, I fly to Benin, where I will do another entrepreneurship workshop over the Easter weekend. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I will fly to Egypt. Meanwhile, another part of the DML team is in Burundi, then going to Ghana; another team is traveling from Cameroon to Congo Brazzaville; another part of the team is heading to Malawi.  We covet your prayers as this team is on the move!