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!