Congrats, Kenya! ... I think...(and some sad news)

In my Church-based Business as Mission ToT class, we take a close look at the economic situation in Africa as we discuss the gap between the rich and the poor and the role of the church in the reconciliation of that gap. On Monday, I asked my class the question, "From 1960-1990, the four countries in Asia that led the way in economic growth (called the Asian Tigers) were Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  What are the four Lions of Africa?  Most people come up with Nigeria and South Africa pretty quickly, but struggle to come up with Egypt and Algeria.  And since I am teaching a class to Kenyans, most students put Kenya on the list;  I have to tell them that I am sorry, but Kenya is not in the top four.

That was Monday. On Tuesday, BBC announced that Kenya had done some recalculations of their economy, using 2009 as the base year rather than 2001, and including the two areas of communications and property which were not previously included.  The result is that the Kenyan economy is 25% bigger than previously calculated, and it now moves up to the number four slot on the continent.  Additionally, Kenya is now considered a lower middle-income country.  The economic growth rate for Kenya went from 4.7% to 5.7%.  [Growth rate for the US is 1.9% in 2013.]

I got to announce to my class on Wednesday morning that I was wrong and they were right.  That brought cheers but also some sobering discussion.

Being considered a middle income country means that Kenya will not qualify for some assistance from the IMF or World Bank.  To be considered a middle income country, the per capital income per year has to be between $1045 and $12,746.  The per capita for Kenya is $1246, with poverty levels at 45.9% and life expectancy at 61 years.  That is just over $100 per month which is a very difficult income level to survive on.  Not to mention that the tax rate is 44%.  And the unemployment rate is 40%.

The change may increase foreign investor interest in Kenya, which is a good thing, but also can be problematic if foreign investment comes in the form of foreign ownership of local resources at the expense of Kenyans ability to own their own resources.  Foreign investment often means the resources are used, Kenyans are paid a minimum wage, and all the profits go back to the country of origin for the foreign investors.  

To some degree, this makes the work that we are doing a bit more urgent.  Because most people are raised to pursue employment in the formal sector and when they fail to do that they "have to" get into business, doing business is a sign of failure.  Furthermore, business is viewed as a dirty business and the belief is that to succeed, you must be corrupt.  That perception begins to change when we understand the God of business, the purpose of work, and the calling on each of us to "be fruitful and multiply" to fill the earth and help provide goods and services to allow the seven billion people on earth to flourish. 

Additionally, the barriers to do business in Kenya are immense.  In a study by the World Bank, Kenya ranks as 121 out of 185 countries for the ease of doing business (the US ranks as #4, Canada as #17; Singapore is #1).  As one of the trainers said this week, "The sustainability of the whole concept of Church-based Business as Mission lies in Advocacy - in fact, not just sustainability but mobilization and coordination as well."  They declared very loudly that we must develop a national voice, so that the small and medium size entrepreneur has representation as well as options to move ahead in this growing economy...so that they are not left behind.  We will have a meeting this week with a subcommittee to look more closely at that issue.  We have had several associations and cooperatives grow out of our work but each has been geared toward a specific industry.  Developing a national voice would be a bit of a different challenge.

So it's an exciting time and also a challenging time.  I believe the Church has a role to play in this.  I believe the Church doesn't stand aside and watch economies develop.  In fact, I'm writing a paper right now on the role of religion in economic development, and it is quite fascinating to study the role of the Church over the last one hundred years.

As a side note, and as a result of our own development, we are changing our name.  We are no longer the ICM Marketplace Ministry.  We are now "Discipling Marketplace Leaders:  Church-based Business as Mission."  This work is not about just training business people to do business better.  It is about the Church discipling business people to reclaim the redeemed marketplace; and as business people rediscover their calling and recognize that the work of the church is in their parish - their business - they in turn impact the marketplace.  It's not about business as usual.  It's about business as mission.

Postscript:  I just learned of the death of Rev. Augustine Zar from Liberia due to Ebola.  If you visited us in Liberia (and a number of you did) you met him.  He was the Principal of Christ's Friend Children's Academy as well as the pastor of the Christian Reformed Church in Thinkers Village.  [To read a story that Bob wrote about him, click here.] Rev. Zar wrote me a few weeks ago to tell me of his wife's death. They had nine children who are now orphans.  I can no longer pray with confidence for God to do something miraculous in Liberia.  I think His answer is that He will do it not supernaturally but rather through His people - His hands and feet - the body of Christ, His Church. But what to do?  Michael and I sent money for food, and specifically asked that some go to Rev. Zar's family for the funeral of Mary.  Seems a tepid response.  I have been tempted to go to Liberia myself but I don't have medical skills.  I could go and care for the patients, and help clean and bury, but is that a reasonable, rational response?  I've been told it is not.  Why is there not an urgent cry for volunteers to go and help?  Americans will be medically evacuated if they contract Ebola.  They will get treatment - we've seen this.  2 Chronicles 7:14 keeps going over and over in my head: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face....  God, show us what the Church should be doing regarding Ebola!

Rev. Zar is in the front row, next to me, in purple.

And we're off!

Last week Tuesday, I started a gauntlet of three back to back classes at the Africa Theological Seminary that will carry me until the end of October.  The one day off per week that I do get (usually Sunday) is filled with driving to Kakamega or Eldoret to do continuing work with the groups there.  My evenings are filled with reading and writing papers for my Masters, so my time is very full.  [I know what some of you are thinking - good, then you won't miss Michael as much.  But it doesn't work that way.  :) ]

The current class is a Training of Trainers session, this time with 28 students.  I thought that it might be a bigger class but you never know until the day of, and this time, most of the people who said they were coming actually came. [This presented some problems, as I only had 12 textbooks, but we made due.]

What was so exciting about this class is that this time the two other churches in the pilot project showed up with strength.  The Deliverance Church not only brought three more trainers from their church but also four other pastor from area cities to begin this work as well.  The Anglican Church of Kenya sent three delegates from St. Mark's Church in Eldoret to become trainers.  In addition, a number of other pastors and business leaders from Kitale and a number of cities are also in this class, including two pastors from the Christian Reformed Church of East Africa!  We now have over fifty churches involved in this work across Kitale, crossing many denominations!  There has been great debates and discussions.  I am loving it.

In addition, there are now three simultaneous business classes going on - one in Kakamega and two in Kitale, with a total of about 85 businesses, all run by partner churches.  The trainers are working together and sharing the load to get the best training out to our participants.

We had a Trainer meeting on Thursday and had 29 trainers present!  When we look back and see how we started, it was great to see a room full of trainers who are passionate about this work. And they had such great input as to how to make this program better and better.  It was exciting.

And so, we are off and running.  Please pray with us that Church based Business as Mission will continue to spread in a way that will bring glory to God.  We want to be part of "discipling the Nations" by discipling the Marketplace!

A prayer for all of you foolish people out there like me - this spoke to my heart:

Ahhh...Ghana...

I just spent a whirlwind four days in Ghana. 

The International Council for ICM was meeting, with all the country directors including:  Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, USA, and Canada.  Liberia and a few others were not in attendance due to other issues.  It was very good to hear the reports of what is going on through the work of ICM in these other countries, both the strengths and the challenges.  It was especially good to spend time in prayer and to refocus our attention on the big picture of what it is we are trying to achieve by equipping Church leaders.  Every country is independently run and it was wonderful to see so many strong leaders wrestling with the changing times in theological education and the changing times in the Church as well.  I was privileged to sit at the table with them.

ICM Country Directors from Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana.

I was given the opportunity to present Church based Business as Mission (CbBaM - get used to this acronym - you will see it more) and was pleasantly surprised when the International Council decided to have CbBaM as one of the three focus areas for ICM going forward.  There was a lot of interest in figuring out how to go forward in the respective countries, so that is very exciting, but also challenging for me.  I additionally had a chance to see a bit better how I fit into the ICM USA team and whether or not there are needs/opportunities/callings for me to get involved in the greater work of ICM.  There are some definite areas of convergence between some of my gifts of organizational development and business and some of the needs of the individual partnerships.  Time will tell.  Dr. Walker continues to encourage me to "narrow my focus and go deeper."

The International Council for ICM

They have done great advertising as well!

As the IC was meeting from 8 am until 7 pm, I had to sneak in meeting times before and after with other dear friends and colleagues from Ghana, like Laurie Korum, Emily Daher, and the whole Hopeline Institute team.  On Friday morning, Hopeline Institute had a breakfast meeting for all their businesses and I was able to meet a lot of old friends and acquaintances.  It was great. 

Hopeline has had amazing growth in the two years that I've been gone.  When I met them in 2009, they had one small office and seven staff.  They now have 25 staff, serving over 6000 businesses, have a central office, a microfinance unit that looks and operates like a bank in the central market area, a full training center with three simultaneous classes going on at a time, and an IT center with sixteen computers, teaching businesses basic computer skills.  It is amazing.  Despite all the growth and success that they have had, they continue to be very grounded spiritually and seek to serve all those with whom they come in contact.  The servant leader heart of Fanny Atta-Peters, the Director, has infected the hearts of her staff, and that is very apparent when you meet them.  In fact, the day I was to fly to Ghana I realized that I would not be able to get a visa upon arrival as I had earlier been told.  The staff there went into full swing to do everything in their power with their contacts in immigration in Ghana to make contact with the Ghanaian Embassy in Nairobi, and with their help I was able to get a visa within a few hours, rather than missing my flights and having to wait 24 hours.  They then met me in full swing at the airport to greet me at ten pm, despite my flight having numerous delays and ICM having a bus to take me to the guest house. 

The Hopeline Microfinance Unit and staff in the Market.

Think that's amazing already?  Well, the next day, I found out that the day I asked for help for my visa, their office had been broken into during the night and they lost most of their laptops and equipment.  While they were helping me, they were dealing with police and with this major loss.  But they didn't speak a word of complaint and instead were gracious and helpful and called me every twenty minutes or so to check up on me.  THAT is a team that is amazing and has a servant heart.  I am honored and blessed to know them.  [By the way, if anyone wants to bless them with a laptop to replace one that was stolen, let me know!]

On Saturday, before taking off for Kenya again, Fanny and Dennis had me over to their house to have every Ghanaian food that I have missed, as well as to visit the new window factory that Dennis has started.  It is called "PROFAD" (with FAD standing for Fanny and Dennis) and it really is quite remarkable.  Several years ago, they brought me to this plot of land in the middle of nowhere where Dennis was producing cement blocks for his construction work.  They have now built this huge factory on that same piece of land, and the area is so developed now that I didn't even recognize it.  Dennis was trained in this work in Turkey when he went there to get windows for the housing development that he built.  He now has so many orders that it is a challenge for him to keep up with the demand.  Praise God!

But things are not easy in Ghana right now.  We stopped for gas while we were out and Fanny asked for 220 Ghana cedis of petrol to be put in.  I looked at her with astonishment and asked how big the tank was, as when I was in Ghana it only took 50 Gh to fill my tank!  When I left Ghana in 2012, the exchange rate was $1 US to 1.5 Gh (it had been that rate pretty consistently for the three years we lived there).  At the beginning of 2014 it increased to 2.5 Gh and right now it is 3.6 Gh.  Prices have increased with the increase in the exchange rate but salaries have not kept up.  So someone making 300 Gh per month at the beginning of this year, is now barely able to do much more than fill a tank of gas with that same salary.  The business owners we met expressed much stress and fear about this trend.  A number of businesses have closed.  When you add to that the high interest rates on loans (upper 30%s) and the frequent power outages, it reminds me how to pray for our brothers and sisters in Ghana. 

Please pray with me!

sigh...Heaviness...sigh...

The last couple of weeks have been quite heavy for me.  The adjustment to Kenya was more difficult than I anticipated.  I miss my husband and my children.  I had to move into a room that is just big enough for the bed, no dresser, and so all my things are piled on top of each other with no where to move.  I moved into a small house with six other people who all seem to be very extroverted (and I am very introverted).  We didn't have any water on several different occasions and in one day the power went off at least twenty times.  A few days after arriving in Kitale, I had to travel again for a training near Nairobi.  And in a few days I will travel again to Ghana.  I have felt very blue.

But I didn't want to share with anyone, although Michael let me vent pretty consistently for the better part of a week, bless his heart.  He encouraged me to share and ask for prayer, but I resisted.  And I realized recently why that was.  I think it is because under the personal heaviness of moving back to Kenya by myself, there is an even greater heaviness for what I see around me.  The Ebola crisis in Liberia occupies my mind much of the time - I pray constantly for my brothers and sisters there.  My brother there shared with me that not only has the economy ground to a halt and prices of food are rising significantly, but he has to pass by countless people on his way to work who are sick with Ebola, laying outside the gate of a hospital or clinic because there aren't enough beds for them to get care. I can't imagine how heartbreaking that would be.  (How can I complain about being away from my husband and children in light of that? Or about the size of a bedroom?)

New weigh bridge in Kenya.

And this week, while conducting a training outside of Nairobi, I heard the following lament of a Kenyan business owner.  The woman I spoke with runs a construction company with her husband.  He is a contractor; she is a supplier.  She has been running this business for about 15 years and for most of those years, business was very good.  But business regulations have changed of late with the government organizing itself in different ways.  This business owner shared that there is a new fee for transport trucks on weigh bridges along the road:  there used to be no weigh bridges, but now, if your

Trucks waiting to be weighed on Kenyan roads.

truck is over 25 tons, you are fined 400,000 Kenya shillings (or $4700 US).  Trucks used to carry 50 tons in order to turn a profit.  Since they can only carry 25 tons now, those who had taken loans for their trucks are simply letting them get repossessed as they can't make a profit with these new rules. 

Permits are now required for digging sand out of the river bed and those new permits went from zero to 60,000 KSH per month (or $700 US).  Her business can't afford that (nor can the customers) and work has slowed down considerably.  She is unsure this business can continue. The challenges to do business are immense.

Add to that the insecurity issue.  I spoke to a man this week who was supplying specialty produce to hotels in Mombasa, but because of Al-Shabab most of the hotels there have closed, tourism has dried up, and he had no buyers for his product.  It all went to waste as Kenyans don't eat it.  The heaviness of doing business in this environment:  new regulations and fees at every turn and insecurity.

One of the buildings with beautifully manicured grounds at KEFRI

So...weight...heaviness...and lots of sighs.  I know that we can always find someone that has it worse than us.  I know that this world will always have troubles. Michael has reminded me over and over that just because others have it worse doesn't negate my discomfort or sadness.  But more than anything, I pray for Christ to return.  And soon.

Growing bamboo is encouraged.

Yet in the middle of this, I had the opportunity to stay at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute for several days as the training that I conducted was held here.  It was a place of beauty and forward thinking - researching trees and their uses; nurseries everywhere with people tenderly caring for these plants; carefully nurtured flowering trees and beautiful plants everywhere; it was quite and serene amidst a world that is chaotic.

This week someone posted this poem by Mary Oliver on Facebook and it resonated with me and spurred me onward:

"When it's over, I want to say: all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder

if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,

or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.”

― Mary Oliver

Ebola, Flat Tires, and Resettling

Dr. Rick Sacra doing what he loves.

This past week I learned that our former doctor and friend in Liberia, Dr. Rick Sacra, who works with SIM, was infected with Ebola and evacuated back to the US.  Rick had been in the US but returned to Liberia at the beginning of August to help reopen the wing of ELWA hospital for prenatal and maternity care.  Rick is a great doctor and such a compassionate man.  He couldn't stay away from Liberia knowing that people were not getting the care they needed for malaria, deliveries, and came knowing the dangers - the hospitals, for the most part, are just dealing with Ebola and all other issues are falling to the wayside.  What he did is heroic in my eyes.  He was diagnosed last Tuesday and was flown out of the country on Thursday.  His wife, Debbie, gave a powerful testimony during a press conference about how to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Our family is fervently praying for Rick's healing. [To read more about this story, see the news report here.]

Of course, many people in West Africa are not so lucky to be evacuated and receive special treatment.  On Tuesday, the WHO reported that the death toll had gone to 1900 with 40% of those deaths taking place in the last three weeks.  On Thursday, the death count was 2100.  What is interesting is what the US is learning about Ebola from the three evacuated missionaries - they are learning that there are some similarities between Ebola and Cholera.  A major part of the issue is the loss of electrolytes due to constant diarrhea and vomiting.  These electrolytes keep the heart beating regularly and without it can cause a heart attack.  If people can get on a saline solution early, have their electrolytes monitored and replaced, there is good hope of recovery.  Unfortunately, in countries like Liberia, that is easier said than done.  (For more on this go to this website: Faith, Medicine or ZMapp?)

This was also a big week in the news for this area: the US conducted airstrikes against Al-Shabab and have taken out their key leader.  Al-Shabab just named a new leader and vowed revenge; area governments are gearing up for attacks.  Additionally, the president of Kenya who was elected despite indictments by the International Criminal Court just had his trial adjourned indefinitely as key witnesses kept pulling out.

For me, my trip back to Kenya was relatively uneventful, other than the bush plane that I flew in from Nairobi to Kitale.  The 12-seater plane had a flat upon landing and it felt like we were sliding on ice.  Thankfully the pilot got control pretty quickly and we were able to get out safely.  Quite the change from the 600+ passenger plane that I was on the night before! 

I am settled back at the Africa Theological Seminary, although because of construction, I am in a room about a third of the size of the one I had before.  My little 10 x 10 room is now home for the next four months, although I leave on Tuesday to do a training outside of Nairobi; then I fly to Ghana for the International Council for ICM.  It has been raining pretty much non-stop since my arrival but the rainy season should begin to draw to a close.  The farmers are hoping it will end soon so that the corn does not begin to rot.

It is good to be back, to catch up with colleagues, brothers and sisters in Christ, and to enjoy the activity of Kenyan roads (all by bodaboda - taxi motorcycle - so far, as my car is apparently broken down and in the garage to be fixed).   

God bless you all this week!

Return to Kenya

On Tuesday, September 2, I return to Kenya for four months (except for a ten day visit back for the Partners Worldwide International Conference, accompanied by two Kenyan church leaders, at the end of October).  It is, of course, a bittersweet time.  Leaving my new husband for that long of a period will be difficult.  Leaving my children is always tough.  But I do love my work and I do love Africa.

These days, talk of Africa brings immediate questions about the Ebola virus. As I write this, Ebola has not yet been discovered in Kenya, although the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that

Fruit bats are considered to be the major carrier of Ebola.

Kenya is at high risk because it is such a hub for Africa.  But the landscape does keep changing.  I check BBC now every couple of hours to keep track of what is happening with this virus.  I just now went to check and see that the first case was discovered in Senegal.  Yesterday, the WHO reported that the number of cases may get as high as 20,000, may take six months to eradicate, and may cost as much as $489,000,000 dollars.  The day before, Nigeria decided to close all of the schools in order to try to prevent the spread.  And so it goes.  It is heartbreaking to hear the fear and the alarm from brothers and sisters in Christ that you care about and love.  It is painful to know of the food shortages, the businesses closed, the looting that happens as people panic.  It is difficult to hear the doubt from nationals who believe that the government is lying about this virus in order to profit in some way - it speaks to a deep rooted mistrust.  I continue to pray fervently every day for God's intervention and for the brave people who are risking their lives to combat this disease.

As for my travel to Kenya, Michael and I have decided that my decision to go or stay needs to be made as objectively as possible, so we are relying on the US Embassy and Department of State for how they advise US citizens in Kenya.  Thus far, the only advice from the US Embassy in Kenya is to not travel to the east side of Kenya due to Al-Shabab terrorist activity.  Thankfully, I work on the west side, so that is not a problem.

All of this reminds us that our lives are not our own but we are called for a purpose.  We don't make decisions out of fear or out of a desire to stay safe.  We make the best decisions we can make to do what we have been made to do and then trust God's will to be done.  And I have learned that God's will is not always to keep us safe or alive, but never-the-less, we still trust.

Hannah working at Qdobe on 28th St.

Please continue to pray for the Ebola crisis, for the challenges of Al-Shabab in Kenya, for the work of the ICM Church-based Business as Mission, and for my travel throughout this time.

A quick update on Hannah, Noah and Michael:

Hannah is entering her senior year of Calvin after having a very busy summer of working three jobs.  She is working on a triple major of psychology, social work, and French.  She is a very hard worker and high achiever!  She continues to struggle with the fatigue that has plagued her for a number of years now, which makes her feat even more impressive.  Thankfully she is only working two jobs this fall, and I'm hoping that will become only one!

Noah (far left) and the RA Team for Schultze Eldersveld.

Noah is a Resident Assistant (RA) this year at Calvin.  Last year he was a Barnabas (floor chaplain) and he enjoyed being in a leadership position. It seems to be a role that he rather easily slips into.  I hung out with him for a bit on his floor and it was very cool to see how many young men were seeking him out.  I am reminding him, though, that he is a student first and an RA second.  He continues to want to work in the Foreign Service field and was able to get some advice this summer from a member of one of our partner churches, specifically for the path to take toward working in US Embassies in the Consular section.

As for my dear husband, Michael, parting for four months just shy of our three month wedding anniversary is a challenge, but we will fall back to old routines that did work well for us - Skype and Facebook.  The fall is a busy time for Michael with lots of work travel as well, so that will also help to make the time go quicker as well.  We had a very busy summer with lots of travel for both of our work and for the most part we were able to accompany the other, learning more about each others work and meeting colleagues. I will miss him!

Our wedding cake

Wait! Before you snap!

I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with taking pictures in Africa over the years.  I have observed more than a few altercations with Africans objecting to their picture being taken by North Americans.  I encourage guests to get permission before snapping photos.  Yet, I feel I need to put photos up every week on this blog; every quarter I try to include pictures in my prayer letter; and every time I do a presentations in North America, I want to use pictures, which convey "more than a thousand words." 

The problem comes through the idea that people want to see (or perhaps more viscerally respond to) pictures that connote need, heartache, hunger, disease, or poverty. 

I'm taking a class now on culture and global change, and it described pictures of African babies with swollen bellies and flies hovering around them as "pornographic."  Really, I thought?  That is a very strong word.  But looking up the dictionary definitions, pornography is "obscene pictures with little artistic merit;" obscene is defined as "offensive to morality or decency."  The author of the book goes on to say this:

Photography combines voyeurism and control because visual images are taken by the powerful of the powerless; the subjects of the photograph are transformed into objects by virtue of being 'shot.' So photography can produce the colonized and the powerless as fixed realities:  entirely knowable and visible, but equally 'other,' irreconcilably different:  the objects of desire and derision. (Young 1990: 143).

These pictures are negative images which often lead to the wrong type of development, focused on charity, stripping of dignity, and development of dependency.  And wrong development has been pushed by many for many years   Development that objectifies and paints a helpless, hopeless picture.  Development that expresses need without expressing innate capacity.  Development that damages rather than restores - often by well intentioned people who wanted to help but do so with a short term perspective and maybe even self-serving in making ourselves feel good about what we are doing.

Contrast these pictures to this advertisement below by Christian Aid, where a young woman is on a bike, a national doing something positive in her community.  This is a positive image in which there is a name given to the person, she is working, there is mobility, a sense of community, and the need for health care which is universal.  This is a great picture of a glowing empowered subject: independent, competent, and self-determined,  instead of an object of development who is hopeless and despairing.

(BTW, "Third World" is no longer politically correct.  "Developing countries" or "Majority World" or "Two-thirds World" is better.)

So what to do with this dilemma?  I want people to see a positive, hopeful Africa.  But I also need to raise funds.  I want people's hearts to be moved by the positive, sustainable change that we see in the work that we do.  Yet pictures of classes or pictures of businesses are not as evocative as pictures of orphans or orphanages.  The challenge to myself is not to objectify people and justify my behavior by trying to raise funds for a good ministry. [Michael reminded me of the Benny Hinn story where he took a sad-looking boy, stood in front of a dilapidated building, with a makeshift orphanage sign, and raised a bunch of money. I wish I could say that I haven't experienced similar stories across Africa.  Ask me sometime to share what I think about orphanages in Africa because of these experiences.]  And my challenge to all of us is to be careful how quickly our emotions are moved by a picture - make sure that the brain has a chance to keep pace with the emotions; and if there is an opportunity to travel internationally, be careful in how those pictures are taken or presented. And feel free to hold me accountable if you catch me drifting toward bad development!

So....What's next?

"You're married now...your time in Kenya is wrapping up...the pilot project is coming to a close...what's next, Renita?"

That is the main question I have been getting of late; an answer that I'm happy to report that God has been slowing revealing as He had prepared it for me way in advance!  I continue to love Him and trust Him with all the twists and turns that my life takes.

I went into this summer knowing that those questions would need to get some serious answers.  Some of those answers already began to show themselves last year when Dr. Phil Walker, the Founder and President of International Christian Ministries, challenged me to do an eighteen month pilot project on Church based Business as Mission, and then to write a report on the research to see whether this work could translate globally.

After many conversations, prayer time, and reflection, this looks to be the path ahead, knowing that our sight is often limited by our humanity, and wanting to remain open to His direction.

• I leave for Kenya on September 2.
• I hope to return for a ten day trip in late October for the Partners Worldwide International Conference with four Kenyans who have been implementing this work in Kenya, and will have opportunities to share about this ministry on their church and denomination. 
• I will then move back to Grand Rapids toward the end of December, with the pilot project mostly under completion.  Some of the final interviews (which must be done by someone other than me) will take place in January.
• Beginning in January, I will start looking at the results of our work and begin writing an extensive report on the work and on our findings.  We are beginning to think that what may come out of this is a church program for Church based Business as Mission that can be applied across many contexts, denominations, and cultures.  The development of that work will take priority for me in the first half of 2015.
•  I will be back in Kenya for the month of March to teach at the seminary as well as follow up on the work there.  I will also be working hard to finish my MBA in Sustainable Development in the first half of 2015.
• Beginning the second half of 2015, assuming that the research results look as we suspect and I am able to write comprehensively on the subject, I will begin to roll this work out globally, starting with two countries.  It is too soon to tell, but the countries that we keep talking about are Egypt, Nigeria, or Ghana.  We would like to try this work in a country that is not "Christian" which is why we are thinking of Egypt (plus ICM and Christian Reformed World Missions have partners there already), and also under consideration are Nigeria and Ghana as they have some excellent foundations already which could be built on.  So I plan on spending some time in each of the two countries selected in the second half of 2015.
• I will travel back to Kenya at least once or twice more in 2015 (for a total of 2-3 months)

That's the plan as we see it at this time.  Lord willing, we will continue to take a step forward each day and trust Him to direct our paths in this work and its development. Please continue to pray for this work and that God's will is done in it!

Remembering Bob...

41st birthday (with Noah six months old)

This Saturday would have been Bob's sixtieth birthday.  Sixty years.  Wow.  Hard to believe.  We were fourteen years apart and I think as we grew older that gap would have made itself a bit more obvious.  I'm sure he would be rolling his eyes at the fact that I am even writing this.  Not just because of the number but also because I'm drawing attention to his birthday.

Bob was not a big fan of birthdays...AT ALL!  When I threw him a surprise party for his 50th birthday, he made it very clear to me that he was not one of those types who says not to make a big deal of it but secretly want the attention.  He did NOT want the attention.

40th birthday (with Hannah at 15 months)

But as August 9 approaches, I can help but remember and celebrate the gift of his life.  I remember the countless apple pies or rhubarb pies that I made for his birthdays.  We had a tradition of picking our favorite meals to cook for birthdays.  For Bob, it was often ribs.

Bob continues to live on in our hearts and memories.  Not a day goes by where the kids or Michael and I have some brief comment or memory of him.  (It is such a gift that Michael knew Bob as well and can share in our memories and even contribute!)  In part, the daily memories is because much of our language is peppered with "Bob-isms."  He was constantly quoting lines from movies or songs.

As many of you loved "Yers Trooly" as well, I thought it appropriate to share this birthday with you.

We love you and miss you, Robert Allen Reed!  We thank God for your life and the gift that you have been to so many!  I still have people come up to me whom you counseled who tell me that your words continue to have an impact on their life!  We celebrate the day that you received life 60 years ago!

Celebrating his birthday with my family.  My parents anniversary is August 10 (this year is 57 years!) so the celebrations often were side by side.

This picture was actually taken when I was about to drive to Toronto with Hannah as a baby and he was worried....asking me to drive safely.  But this plaintive look is one I would get in terms of not doing anything for his birthday as well.  He had such an expressive face!

Transforming an Ugly Character

Depending on the circles you are in, missionaries are viewed as either very good or very bad.  When I am in the US, I tend to be introduced as a "missionary" and I am listed as a "missionary" by the churches who support me.  However, when in Africa and I have to fill out "occupation" on the customs and immigration cards, I never say "missionary" nor do I identify myself as such in any introductions or conversations.   

Recently, I was given an article recently by my friend and brother in ministry, David Graf.  It was from Christianity Today, entitled "The World the Missionaries Made."  It addressed the stereotype of missionaries as closely connected to colonialism, with great cultural insensitivity, paternalism, racism, self-centeredness, and exploitation.  This is the description I hear the most of in Africa; it is the image portrayed in the well-known book, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.  Instead of this stereotype, this article addressed research done by a dean at Fuller Theological Seminary, Robert Woodberry, who studied the statistical link between democracy and Protestantism.  Could it be that missionaries did some things right?

Robert Woodberry studied why some nations developed stable representative democracies in which citizens enjoy the rights to vote, speak, and assemble freely, while neighboring countries suffer authoritarian rulers and internal conflict.   He also looked at public health and economic growth in countries that had seemingly similar geography, cultural background, and natural resources and created a statistical model to test the connection between missionary work and the health of nations.  He looked very carefully to be sure not to confuse correlation with causation.  For example, what if missionaries went to places predisposed to democracy?  Or what if the colonizing country was actually the catalyst for the move toward democracy?

What he found was that the impact of missions on global democracy was huge. This became his claim:  "Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women) and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations."

He had proof that missionaries had educated women and the poor; they had promoted widespread printing of tens of thousands of religious texts; led nationalist movements that empowered ordinary citizens; and mass education and mass literacy were very deliberate projects of missionaries as they wanted nationals to be able to read the Bible.   Literacy, of course, leads to democratic movements.

This research has since been picked up by the American Political Science movement and Woodberry has received awards for his work on the subject.  It is beginning to change the way scholars, aid workers, and economists think about democracy and development.

There is something here for the church to learn as well.  The ugly character of the missionary can be transformed and we can see a sign of God's greater purposes being worked out through the lives of imperfect but devoted people.

For me, it helps me not to cringe as much when I hear the word "missionary" ascribed to me.  It makes me feel affirmed in the work that I do in church based economic development, which I also hope leads to greater democracy, voice for the poor, and greater justice overall.

This past week we gave out a second round of loans, this time to four groups and four individuals, including several new church groups and including the city of Eldoret now.  Kitale started a new class with ten new churches in attendance again.  The three new associations formed through our work thus far are meeting and continuing to find their voice in their sector.  I always thought I was a different type of missionary, doing business development rather than church planting - but now I feel like I fit in more closely.  I still probably won't refer to myself as a missionary, but maybe I won't cringe as much when it happens.

For the full article from Christianity Today, go here.

"Want to Love your Job? The Church Can Help..."

Michael found this article from Christianity Today and even though I wasn't going to send out a blog this week, I thought this article is helpful in illustrating the work in which we are involved.  So here it is (website can be seen at here).  As the writer notes, the church has to emphasize faith-work intervention...and you have to show up.  I love that this is research based and US based.  The question I now struggle with as we move from pilot project to global implementation, how do help churches focus more on faith-work intervention?  Do we understand the benefits of Christians loving their job?

Home > Archives > 2014 > July

Want to Love Your Job? Church Can Help, Study Says

The catch: The church you attend has to emphasize faith-work integration—and you have to show up.

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

[ posted 7/16/2014 05:38PM ]

If they can be tempted away from their workplaces to worship, churches can make parishioners happier with their jobs, new research shows.

Regular attenders who frequent a church that teaches God is present at your workplace, work is a mission from God, or that faith can guide work decisions and practices is a good sign for your career, according to a recent study from Baylor University.

Those who often attend churches with that philosophy are more likely to be committed to their work, be satisfied with their work and look for ways to expand or grow the business.

The effect isn't huge, but it is statistically significant, said Baylor researcher Jerry Park. Park and his fellow researchers point out in the study that the small effect size might be meaningful in another way: As an indication that current survey questions and methods do a poor job of measuring the importance and influence of religion in respondents' lives.  (CT previously reported on the anomalous non-Christians who say they interpret the Bible literally, and The Atlantic pointed out the difficulty of asking survey respondents to decide if religion could answer all the world's problems or is old fashioned and out of date.)

"Being at a church identified as emphasizing faith-work integration was not sufficient to predict job satisfaction," Park said. "Similarly, just going to church, regardless of what is being taught, has little effect on job satisfaction. However, when one frequently attends a church that emphasizes faith-work integration, job satisfaction increases."

As Park points out, one challenge might be in getting to church in the first place: 24 percent of religiously affiliated Americans mention practical difficulties, including work conflicts, as a barrier to church attendance, according to a Pew Research Center study.

Of church attenders—not just those who identify with a religion—more than a quarter say their work schedules make it difficult for them to regularly participate in congregational events, according to a 2008 Faith Communities Today survey. Church distractions associated with this "secularization of Sunday" also come from children's sports programs and school-related activities, that survey found. A 2013 study published in the Review of Religious Research confirmed the attraction of sports.

Despite our busy schedules, reports of U.S. church attendance have held fairly steady over the last decade. Pew found that 37 percent of Americans in 2013 say they attend worship services at least weekly (vs. 39 percent in 2003), and 29 percent of Americans today say they seldom or never attend worship services (vs. 25 percent in 2003).

CT profiles workers who integrate faith in their jobs, including Harrison Higgins, a woodworker whose theology informs his furniture making. CT tells his story here.

CT also often covers workplace issues, including how a job at Costco gave one man his dignity, how mentioning your faith on your resume makes you less likely to land the interview, and how addiction to work, among other things, is the spiritual disease of our time.

Perspective in Austria

Schonbrunn Castle with 1400 rooms.

Michael and I just returned from an eight day trip to Vienna, Austria.  Michael had to attend a conference there of the International Society of Biblical Literature, and I was able to tag along with him as a part vacation/part honeymoon/part writing-a-paper-for-my-Economics-class.  When Michael learned of this opportunity shortly after our engagement, he began to give plasma regularly to save up in order to buy my plane ticket.  It was a great gift of love he gave me in this trip.

Overview of Vienna

Vienna is an incredible city.  The architecture is beyond the ability to capture by camera.  The buildings are beautiful.  The landscaping is inviting, with benches everywhere beckoning people to relax and take in the sights.  The history and culture is rich and deep.  The food is very rich and the desserts are to die for.  Seriously.  A.MAZ.ING. I've never had desserts like this before.  We visited a church that is 1000 years old; we spent time in a castle and a museum the likes of which I've never seen before.

And this is where perspective begins to come in.  The week starts out with the conference, and Michael is introducing me to authors who are experts in their field as it relates to Biblical research, history, and worlds that are yet unknown to me.  When I talk about Business as Mission, there is some interest, but I'm reminded of how small a part of the world my passion fits in.  These people too are part of a very small crowd of people who deeply delve into aspects of the Bible that are unique and intense!

Inside St. Stephens Cathedral, built in 1100 AD.

Then as I tour this historically rich and ornate city, and visit museums with artifacts that date back to times before Christ, my perspective increased even more.  People were creating the most beautiful artifacts 2000-3000 years ago, with detail and talent that I could never muster.  Translations of the Bible or the Koran dating back hundreds and hundreds of years ago, captured on little scraps of papyrus, that require skills and dedication in both the translation and the preservation.  This world is so rich with creativity and talent; people made in the image of God over centuries, living out their purposes and their callings.  We often found ourselves shaking our heads as we walked through this city, having been reminded of an amazing perspective on this world and its people.

St. Stephen's Cathedral - damaged during WWII.

I admit that I struggled with being in such a rich place.  While I typically live amidst great poverty, I found myself both admiring these incredible works of art and rich cultural pieces, while knowing the financial cost that it takes for those to be made and preserved.  Additionally, I am acutely aware that most people I know and work with will never get to see such wealth and such beauty.  It raised up conflicting feelings during the course of the week. We wondered what things would be like in heaven - whether such great works of art and creativity would be replicated there as well.  We wondered what God's appreciation is for these types of pieces would be. 

It was a beautiful week, filled with learning about God's people.  Vienna boasts that it is home to Mozart, Freud, Johann Strauss, Einstein, Hayak, von Misis, and many, many others.  Praise God for His creation and His people!

Two things we noted about Vienna:  first, they love rich meat and desserts; they don't love vegetables.  Second, they walk and bike a lot, but they also smoke a lot - all ages, all the time!

The Parliament

City Hall, which also hosted a free film festival each night on the large screen pictured here.  We were able to watch a 1940 showing of a Romeo and Juliet ballet one night, under the stars, with hundreds of others.  It was beautiful.

Freud's apartment and office.

We were in the room where Mozart gave his first concert, at the age of 6, to the imperial family.

This beautiful cafe, Cafe Central, had the most amazing desserts. Yes, this beautiful building with intricate ceiling work is just a cafe.

The Museum of Art History - the building was as beautiful as its contents.  One could take a day just to explore the building, let alone the amazing artifacts found inside.

We were so thankful for this time and opportunity to see another piece of God's world, as well as to have this time with just the two of us!