Pictures from the Wedding

We just returned to Grand Rapids and have received a few pictures from our photographer that we thought we would share with you.  We are so thankful for all the family and friends who showed their support to us during our courtship and wedding!  We were amazed and humbled at how many people traveled great distances to celebrate with us - from Ghana, West Africa; from California, Boston, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois; and from many places in Canada, such as Thunder Bay, Toronto, Niagara, Chatham, Hamilton, and Georgetown. [Some people said this was a Canadian wedding because there were so many Canadians present!]

Lighting the unity candle

The Happy Couple :)

(L to R) Noah, Hannah, Michael, Renita, Jonathan, Benjamin, Mary Ellen (Michael's sister), Michel (Michael's brother-in-law)

Our cake also had two chocolate computers on the top, one reading "Dear Michael" and the other reading "Dear Renita."

Ah yes.  Live long and prosper.  This is what you do when your new spouse and your children and the photographer are all Trekkies!

Proof texting

This week Saturday, June 7, I will marry Michael Thomson.  Family and friends will begin arriving on Wednesday.  Lots of busy plans.  Lots of activity.

Today, Monday June 2, Michael will go to the hospital for a heart catheterization test due to chest pains that have not gone away, have actually increased, and seem to be responding to nitroglycerin which may indicate a heart problem.  Not a fun thing to go through at any time, let alone five days before your wedding.  We are asking for your prayers that nothing major will be found and that the doctors may begin to look elsewhere for the root of his chest pain. 

In many, many ways, my world is changing.  In many, many ways, that is scary.  I was pretty down last week and have to admit that I spent a few days in self-pity mode, feeling overwhelmed.  Thanks to the prayers of some dear friends, I was able to snap out of it and find joy again despite the challenges and stresses.  There is great joy in our upcoming marriage, despite the stresses of the wedding, changing roles, and the health issues.  Keeping my eyes focused on the big picture as opposed to the little ways my world is changing is important. 

One specific way that my world has changed is that I am entering the world of publishing with a theological press.  As Michael is an acquisitions editor for Eerdmans, I am discovering a whole new language relating to biblical studies and theology.  Some of our social time is spent with authors.  Sometimes Michael and a given author will speak a language that is somewhat foreign to me. I recently accompanied Michael to a conference that focused Patristics (early Christian history and thought that pertain to early Christian writers often referred to as the "Church Fathers."  I also accompanied him to a conference in Medieval studies.  Some of the debates that take place among academics on these topics are interesting to me.  However, I have to admit that not all of them are.

One term that has come up in some of these conversations that especially caught my attention recently is "prooftexting."

Theopedia defines proof texting as follows:

Proof texting is the method by which a person appeals to a biblical text to prove or justify a theological position without regard for the context of the passage they are citing. At its worst, for example, "theologian A claims to have a more 'biblical' theology than theologian B, based upon counting up verse in parentheses (on a random page from each work) and claiming to have three times as many."

If you think about it, pretty much any position that you want to take on any issue can be supported by Biblical texts.  You find your "proof" and therefore you believe you have an answer.  You must be right because it is in the Bible.  The challenge comes in, of course, when people with opposing views are quoting Scripture to each other without any attempt to learn, meet, understand, grow, or discern from the Holy Spirit.  People who rely on proof texting their point of view often feel a need to live in a world that is black and white - where right and wrong are obvious.  Unfortunately, most of the world is not black and white. While it may feel more secure to believe in an absolute right and wrong on every issue, it quickly becomes more apparent that it is more comfortable to the person applying the text than to the person to whom the text is being applied.

I recently was on the receiving end of someone's proof texting, which is what piqued my curiosity into the concept.  Trying to explore the meaning of a Biblical passage with those who proof text seems to cause them to dig their heels in a bit deeper. It's as if my attempt to take a closer look at the meaning and context of a passage was perceived as an attempt to sweep the "plain meaning" aside, making me doubly guilty.  Not only was I sweeping the plain meaning of the Bible under the carpet, I was seen as rationalizing, using the Bible to "justify" my position.  They claimed the moral high ground by simply stating that "that is what the Bible says."

After facing this confrontation, I had the opportunity to listen to a sermon preached by Michael's brother-in-law, Michel Belzile at his church in Oakville, Ontario.  His church is going through a book called Prodigal Christianity (by David E. Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw) and he was preaching that Sunday on Prodigal relationships, focusing on 1 Corinthians 5.  I have heard Christians use this verse as a reason to shun other Christians whom they have judged to be immoral.  Verse 9-10 says, "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world."  Hmmm...there is the proof in that text that we are to shun those who are sexually immoral - not those who aren't brothers and sisters but those who are.  But wait...the text goes on... 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler.  Don't even eat with such people.

Well, now.  That is a little more difficult.  I shouldn't associate with anyone who is greedy?  an idolater?  a slanderer?  Suddenly my world could get pretty small.  There would be few left in the Church that I might yet associate with (or truly, who might be able to associate with me).  How do I decided who is greedy?  Is owning two cars greedy?  Two TVs?  A winter home and a summer home?  And what is idolatry - the idolatry of comfort?  of self-righteousness?  of pride?  Suddenly what looked so black and white was no longer black and white.  Michel did a great job of looking at the cultural times of this text, who wrote it and to whom it was written, and how does this text line up with other texts written by the same author (Paul in this case) which apparently contradict this very text (like 2 Corinthians 2:5-8 where the offender must be forgiven and the love must be reaffirmed again) or the words of Jesus in Matthew 7 which tell us not to judge, lest we be judged. 

His message was a great example of how to wrestle with a text, how to struggle with it; how to not to rush to a conclusion to ease our own minds or hearts or less charitably to stand over others in judgement.  It was refreshing to hear a pastor struggle and wrestle with this, at a time when I was wrestling as well in terms of being a recipient of proof texting.  [Here is the link to his message if you wish to hear it, used with his permission:  http://www.cbcoakville.ca/sermons.]

And so part of my new world is acquiring a new language relating to theology, debating issues relating to Scripture, and recognizing how little I know.  New worlds are not always comfortable.  They don't always feel safe.  But when you believe that God has called you to them, there is no safer place to be.  And He promises to be there.

This week begins a number of new worlds for me.  I can't wait to marry Michael and to enter these new worlds, even if there is some fear and trembling.  I can't wait to see what God has for both of us as we learn from each other and from Him.  Next week, I will be Renita Reed-Thomson.  A whole new world. 

The Zero Sum Game Fallacy - is China a threat to the US?

As you may be aware, I have been working on my MBA in Sustainable Development over the past year and will continue to hit it hard this summer.  While some courses have been long and boring, more have been invigorating and challenging.  One of the things that I am growing to love about economics is how nonpartisan, factual, and logical it seems to be - it seems to fit well with my personality type.   I've especially enjoyed macroeconomics, which looks at economies at a national level.  I'm thankful that my professors know of the work that I am doing and have allowed me to focus on Africa along with a faith aspect to my papers.  I just completed a paper on the economic history of Africa, which is fascinating.

But there is one subject that continues to come up which I have found to be especially helpful, especially giving the changing dynamics of the world economy today.  And that is the fallacy of the "zero sum game." You may be aware that recently the much awaited International Comparison Summary of World Economies was recently released by the World Bank.  In this report, it is projected that China may economically surpass the US not by the year 2019 as was earlier predicted, but by the end of this year, 2014.  (By the way, did you know that China was the largest economy in the world in 1890?  They are simply reclaiming their crown from the US, 125 years later.)

Only so much wealth in the "pie."

This announcement caused many people in the US and other countries to react with some agitation.  The idea that China has had such quick growth feels threatening to many.  But does it need to?  The sense of threat often has the assumption at its foundation in a fallacy called the "zero sum game." The zero sum fallacy is the belief that as one person gets richer, another person gets poorer - that the amount of wealth in the world is like a pie and as one country grows their wealth or share of the pie, that the pie slice for another country must get smaller.  The belief is that they work in dynamic relationship to each other. This is not only seen in how we view country economies but also in terms of how we see poverty and wealth in individuals.  Sometimes we focus on wealth distribution - taking wealth away from the wealthy - as opposed to wealth creation for the poor.  When we do that, we are again believing that there is only so much wealth available in the "pie" and it must be redistributed, as opposed to focusing on the more long term solution of helping the poor create their own wealth, which is renewable.  I teach in my classes that wealth is a renewable resource from God, based on Deuteronomy 8:18 which says, "But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today."  Wealth is not something that God gives once and then needs to be held on to with tight fists.

The individual pieces of "pie" (wealth) can grow.

One of my professors said in his lecture that we should celebrate when other countries do better!  The pie can grow.  China's success does not mean the US demise.  India's growth should not threaten the US.  These are good things!  Even though these economists are not Christian, they are celebrating greater equality in the world.  Let's be happy about this and celebrate those countries who have struggled so hard and long with poverty and are now beginning to emerge.  For many of us who have been involved in poverty alleviation or giving to charities in developing countries, this news should bring great joy!

Whether or not this growth will last for China or other rapidly growing economies is one thing that economists are considering, however.  For example, the Chinese are currently saving at 50% as a population (the US saves lower than most other countries, at about 18% factoring in retirement, etc.  People don't save when things are going well; remember the US recession in 2009?  Prior to that recession, the US was at a negative savings rate for personal savings - spending more than they earn - however when the recession hit, people remembered the importance of savings and the savings rate began to increase again.).  Personal consumption in China is pretty low,  however as incomes begin to increase, the Chinese are expected to begin to want home ownership, social security, and health care, to name a few.  As people begin to spend instead of save, it will also affect national economic growth, potentially causing a slow down.  Just something to watch as well.

Health Update

Update on Michael:

There are not many people who have a heart attack and continue to work and function without missing a beat.  There are not many people who carry on while the right coronary artery closes due to bursting, caused by extreme stress, and the heart muscle begins to die off.  I have never heard of that before (not that that says a lot).

That was the diagnosis of the cardiologist this week.  A portion of Michael's heart was "destroyed" through a heart attack some time ago and is now "dead and gone."  There was no need to try to do open heart surgery for a bypass as that muscle is now dead and is turning into scar tissue.  His heart is now functioning at about 70% of a "normal" heart.  This means life changes for the rest of his life as it relates to medication and monitoring of his heart.  And therein lies another problem.  Michael is a rare person whose body doesn't register pain in a heart attack (called silent ischemia).  The sudden news of a heart attack with a now compromised heart is scary enough, but learning that your body doesn't sound any warning or alarm complicates it further.  The cardiologist kept telling Michael to "pay attention to your body," but how does one do that when the body is not communicating?  The value of pain is so important.  We don't like it but pain does save lives.  I reread Philip Yancey's book, Where is God When it Hurts on the way home last week and was reminded about the value of pain.  So that the fact that Michael does not feel pain in his heart is an added concern.  The rest of his heart seems to be functioning well so he is beginning new medication treatments that will have to continue for the rest of his life, as well annual stress tests.

This news is very sobering.  It is a harsh reminder of our mortality.  It is scary to hear this type of news at any time and even more so a month before our wedding.  The part of the vows that say "in sickness and in health, til death do us part" is not a part that we want to have in our face too soon.  Michael does not want me to become a widow again.  He knows that had been one of my fears in getting into another relationship. So, a lot of feelings; a lot of fears; a lot of tears; a lot of unanswerable questions; a lot of reassurances going both ways.

This has been a very difficult week.  I'm so glad I came home - I needed to be here in person for this.  I think I am feeling a little more peace about it than Michael is at this time.  I am already so thankful and grateful for what Michael has brought into my life.  Each day is richer because of him.  And we will continue to trust God even though He obviously doesn't guarantee health or long life. I think this event is further proof of how amazing Michael is in terms of his ability to survive very difficult circumstances.  I think it is further proof of how amazing and complex the human body is, even when it disappoints us.  And I think it is even further proof of our amazing God - He knew when this heart attack happened and He knew when we would discover it - He was not surprised by any of this.  He chose to keep Michael alive at that time.  Please continue to pray for Michael as his body begins to adjust to the new medications and their side effects, and as his mind adjusts to the fact that he has had a heart attack and there is a new normal that needs to be considered.

Update on Alfred Kibairu 

Alfred is showing signs of improvement.  He is still in the hospital but hopes to be released this week.   His skin has been drying out slowly - I have included a couple of pictures to show how devastating this has been to his body.  His mouth and lips have been the slowest to heal, which has continued to give him problems for eating.  Alfred was thin before but now he is very thin.

Please pray for continued healing for Alfred.  If he checks out of the hospital, they will require the bill be paid before he will be able to leave.  The total medical bills to date are around $3000 USD.  So far approximately 80% of that amount have been covered and we praise God for that!  We still do need another $600 US however and so please pray with us that these funds will be found so that he can return home, rejoin his family, continue his recovery, and eventually get back to work. Again, if you feel led to contribute any amount, please go to www.icmusa.org, click on "Donate" and enter "20065M."

Thanks to so many of you for your messages of encouragement and prayers in this past week!

And the team takes a hit...

The ICM Marketplace Ministry team, having moved with great strength over the past six months, has gone from three people to one in the course of a week.

A healthy Alfred and I, worshiping in Kakamega in April

Alfred Kibairu, the ICM Marketplace Ministry Coordinator, fell sick approximately four weeks ago.  It started while we were on a trip to Kakamega to do mentoring and he complained of back pain.  He went to the doctor the next day and was told it was pneumonia.  Huh?  When asked why, he said the doctor told him that it was probably pneumonia because of the sore muscles, and he put Alfred on an antibiotic.  Then other symptoms began to pop up, and the doctors put Alfred on other meds.  Then last week, while I was conducting a training outside of Nairobi, he lost his ability to walk (extreme pain in his feet), lost his ability to hold things (hands were numb), his vision became significantly impaired (eyes were very bloodshot and cloudy), and he broke out in what he called a rash all over his body.  We got him to a better doctor and then to a hospital in Kitale.  However, hospital standards in Kitale are very low (he had to crawl on his knees down the hall to use the restroom and stayed in his street clothes the entire six days in the Kitale hospital) and we saw no sign of improvement.  They continued to treat the symptoms and not test or look for any underlying causes.

A not-so-healthy Alfred

This past Thursday we convinced him to go to a better hospital in Eldoret.  My car acted as the ambulance as I tried to avoid the many potholes to get there as quickly yet pain free as possible.  The hospital looked and felt great - it felt a bit like a hospital in the US.  Unfortunately, the cost also reflected the costs of US hospitals (not quite but on the salaries here, the same) and after 48 hours, Alfred felt he had to move again to a lesser hospital due to the high bill.  The cost of his treatment thus far is about 100,000 KSH (about $1200 US - a huge amount).  They have done a number of tests for which we are still awaiting the results, but it seems to be a rare condition called Steven-Johnson syndrome, a severe reaction to a drug he took.  The "rash" as Alfred called it, is actually blisters all over his body, like 3rd degree burns.  The skin is now moving from his body in chunks, making open wounds all over his body, susceptible to infection.

The blisters that are covering his body.

Please pray for rapid healing for Alfred and wisdom for the doctors.  Alfred is married and has two children - one aged 8 and the other just over one year old. 

Upon my return to Kitale on Thursday night, after having been on the road for thirteen hours that day and being sick myself, I got online with Michael, only to find out that he had some discouraging news from the doctor that day as well, relating to some potential cardiac issues.  After some more extensive testing and discovery of some potential problems on Friday, which is requiring yet more testing, I decided on Saturday morning to go home early and be by his side.  By the time you see this blog (I'm writing it in the Amsterdam airport on Sunday morning), I will be back in Grand Rapids.  We pray that the more invasive testing that will take place this week will tell us that everything is okay, but it is scary to be sure.  I have made several such scary trips in my life now and the amount of fear that explodes in me is palpable.  Michael, of course, is nervous as well.

So my return is several weeks earlier than planned.  Jeff Bloem is holding down the fort right now - a capable man for the job!  He drove me to the airport on Saturday, then transported Alfred to a third, more affordable hospital.  Many in Kitale have commented that Satan must not be happy with what we are doing for such attacks to take place.

Regardless, we covet your prayers and hope to report better news next week!

[If you feel led to contribute to Alfred's hospitalization costs, please go to www.icmusa.org, click on "donate" and in the comment section, write "20065M - Alfred Kibairu."  That is one way hospital and life insurance works here - the community contributes as they can, when they can.  That way, when you get sick or have a funeral, others will also contribute.]

Carriers of Light

Yesterday was an amazing day.  We had the commissioning service and graduation for 34 Marketplace Ministers in Kitale.  It is always an exciting for me to see more Marketplace Ministers released and affirmed in what they are called to do.  This is probably the twentieth commissioning service I've been a part of and maybe the 40th graduation.  But I think this was the best yet.  I'm not sure if words and pictures can capture it - you really have to be there to experience it! - but I will try to describe why it was so meaningful to me.

First, this class was taught almost entirely by those who went through the first class in Kitale with me last Spring and have since gone through the Training of Trainers.  They worked together as a team to teach this class, with three different churches represented by the trainers.  That is a great accomplishment!  Second, this team wisely decided that if they want to reclaim the redeemed Marketplace, it needs many churches and denominations.  So they reserved half of the slots for Friends (Quakers) and the other half for other churches in Kitale.  Sixteen churches were represented in this class!  The word has gone out to all of these churches and the pastors are coming out to find out more about this new ministry - this word is spreading quite organically!  The commissionings are happening as much in possible in the home churches of the members so that it is the church that is sending these Marketplace Ministers out; the graduation was a separate event in the afternoon for all the graduates to come together and celebrate.

Pastor Jarius and wife at their home. He is also a sugar cane farmer.

Yesterday morning began with the commissioning service from the host church with Pastor Jairus Igunza, the General Secretary from the Friends (Quakers) North Annual Meeting (meaning he is important if you aren't familiar with their structure) gave a GREAT message to the Marketplace Ministers on being carriers of the light from Acts 13:47:

For this is what the Lord has commanded us:  "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth."

and Isaiah 42:6-7

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.  I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

The class singing "How Great Thou Art" in Swahili-beautiful.

Pastor Jarius brought a lantern, a candle, and another open kerosene type light with him to demonstrate how we are different and unique light bearers.  He pointed out that without the light, these instruments are useless, but how the light needs to be carried by something - meaning us.  He told the marketplace ministers that it doesn't what they are made of, but it is important that they shine. It was also pointed out that shining a light where there is already light doesn't do much.  But shining even a weak light where there is darkness can make a big difference.  The work of shining the light, of being the church, doesn't take place within the four walls of a church - the command is to "Go" to where there is darkness.

One graduate being hugged by her pastor....notice the smiles...

...and then receiving the certificate from me...again, notice the joy.

The commissioning was then followed a celebratory graduation.  All fourteen ministers were brought up front to congratulate their members as they received their certificate.  It was a beautiful picture of so many denominations working together and joining the Marketplace Ministry movement.  The joy, as evidenced by dancing and singing was very tangible.  The graduates were then lined up and were given "encouragement" (see the tinsel leis in picture above) in a time of great joy where all family and church members were able to join in the celebration and love on their loved ones for the work and diligence in this class.  One representative speaker for the class defined Graduates as this:

G - We are to be Godly in our business; 
R - We are to be Reliable in our business.
A - We will be Admired as in 1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12, winning the respect of people who observe us.
D - We need to be both Disciplined and Diligent in their work as Marketplace Ministers.
U - We will bring a greater Understanding to the Marketplace. 
A - We are Ambassadors of Christ in the Marketplace.
T - We need to work on Time Management!
E - We will be Excellent Servers, caring for the Environment, with an eye on Eternal Life
S - We will be Successful!

Amen!!!

April 2014 Family Update

It is time for a family update.

Hannah is turning 21 years old this week, on April 25.  As with most parents, I think, it's hard to grasp that my oldest is 21 years old.  Hard to believe that she is that old and hard to believe that I am that old!

Hannah was a very independent child - I had prayed for a strong-willed child and God answers prayers!  Hard to believe given how sweet Hannah has turned out to be.  She walked by eight months, skipping crawling as it seemed beneath her; she knew all the letters of the alphabet by 21 months, and was reading by age three.  Her favorite phrase for a very long time was, "Who dat?"  When we would go out with her, she would point at every person and say, "Who dat?"  We gave up trying to explain to her that we didn't know everyone and just began to randomly name people.  "That's Joe, Mary, Peter, Julie."  When we asked her, "You tell us - who is that?"  She would say with great pleasure, "Boa."  Not sure how that became her favorite name but it was.  She almost never wanted our help with things - "Hannah do it" was another favorite phrase. And she always had to do it very well.

Hannah is now completing her junior year at Calvin College and will be a senior this fall.  She is double majoring in Psychology and Social Work, with a third major looming in French.  She hopes to take a semester after her senior year in France to complete that major.  Ever the high achiever!
She took a second job this past year, with all her spare time :), and now works at the library at Calvin as well as at the Q'dobe on 28th St.  She will continue working those two jobs this summer.  She lived at home this past year and managed the house with a couple of college students as roommates. We hope to get her a car soon to help her juggle her schedule.  She also just got her hair cut.  She had been trying to grow it long enough to be able to donate it, and she was successful!  You can see the before and after pictures.

Noah is 19 years old and is completing his second year at Calvin, going into his junior year in the fall.  Also hard to believe!  He is working on a major in International Relations with a minor in Economics.  He served as a Barnabas (floor chaplain) in his dorm this past year and really enjoyed it.
He seems to be a natural at counseling (wonder where he gets that from?) and decided to go for being a Resident Assistant (RA) next year.  He got it!  He will be a RA in Schultze Eldersveld, which if you are familiar with Calvin, will be a challenge for him coming from two years and a family history in Noordewier-VanderWerp! He loves wearing suits and yet also loves wearing jeans and black shirts.  He has been working as a dorm tech this past semester, leaving his job of cleaning the field-house with no regret!  He is still looking for a full-time summer job so email me if you have any ideas for him!  The challenge is that his RA position starts in the beginning of August so typical summer jobs won't work.  He too is driving now.

As for me, life has been very busy.  The pilot project is in full swing and growing rapidly.  I have been teaching a lot and working on my MBA in Sustainable Development every evening and any day off.  Planning a wedding (in 46 days) also takes a chunk of time, not to mention the fact that we are starting to work on having the basement finished for a bit more living space.  So lots going on!

Hannah was not the only one to get her hair cut.  Michael decided to cut his hair as well, which I was able to watch via Skype.  Here are a couple of pictures of how we typically see each other during the course of the week.  We are very thankful for how Skype lets us stay connected!  However, it is not seamless - with frequent power outages in Kitale, internet not working, delays, and other tech issues, we have learned our fair share of patience with communication.

This Easter weekend, I leave you with the words from the song, "How Deep the Father's Love for Us":  Why should I gain from his reward?  I cannot give an answer.  But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom."  Amen!

Lastly, here is the video I made of Hannah for her high school graduation.  Seems fitting to show it again.  I love you, sweetie! Happy Birthday!

Two steps forward, one step back

Kenya, like Ghana, is an interesting mix of progress and tradition.  Sometimes the progress you see is surprising.  Sometimes the traditional beliefs you see are surprising.

One example of amazing progress in Kenya is mobile money.  There have been 200 experiments with mobile money in the world and only four or five have been successful.  Kenya is one of them.  Kenya's system, called M-Pesa (pesa is money in Swahili) allows people to move money through their cell phones to pay loans, utility bills, send money to any other person who has a phone, and so on.  People "bank" their money with an M-Pesa dealer, and then use it when they need it.  Statistics tell us that 70% of the adult population in Kenya use M-Pesa and 25% of the GDP flows through this mobile money system!!!  There are 40,000 agents in Kenya working M-Pesa.  That is huge.  [In fact, we have a number of M-Pesa agents in our business programs.]

There are a couple of reasons why it succeeded in Kenya - in part because of low regulations by the government and also because of high fees in more formal sectors causing the demand for cheaper options.  Interestingly, the post-election violence in 2007 also caused for people to begin using this more and more as they tried to get money to family members.  Both Nigeria and India have tried to launch these networks but because of the regulations going through the banking industry instead of the phone industry, it has been much slower and more cumbersome.

Examples of its amazing helpfulness can be seen on a daily basis.  The other day I needed to hire someone to do something for me and he needed transport to bring him to Kitale, so I was able to send him money via the phone.  Another day I was driving somewhere and the passenger in the car asked me if I had money in my M-Pesa account.  She needed to send a payment for her business, had the cash in her hand to reimburse me, and I could send it to her person just by pressing a few keys.  Amazing.  And for those of us who deal with loans to help businesses grow, this technology makes things much easier.

In contrast to this amazing forward moving - forward thinking business development, we have an example of a tradition that makes the country feel much less developed.  The government recently passed a bill, which the president yet needs to sign, trying to bridge the gap between civil law (which allows a man to marry only one wife) and customary law (where multiple wives are allowed).  The new marriage law allows men to take as many wives as they want, but with the new provision that they no longer need to get prior approval from the first wife.  Apparently, the men complained, women weren't giving permission (hmmmm...no real shock there).  One male member of parliament is quoted as saying, "When you marry an African woman, she must know the second one is on the way and a third wife… this is Africa."

To add insult to injury, plans to ban the payment of bride prices were struck down and women are only entitled to 30% of marital assets after death or divorce, provided she can prove that she contributed to the couple's wealth. 

Remarkable.  On the one hand, saying "Woo-hoo, Kenya!  Lead the world!"  On the other hand, hand over mouth, shaking my head, and lamenting for my Kenyan sisters.

My Brother's Keeper

Last week, I was driving back to the Africa Theological Seminary from the central business district of Kitale.  As I came around a bend in the road, I saw on my right a mass of people that had gathered.  It looked as if someone was being beaten.  People were running across the road to watch.  One man ran across the road and jumped right into the fray.  I looked to see if it was the result of an accident, as mob justice can sometimes kick in, but I didn't seen any evidence of an accident.

I felt sick.  Nauseated.  I wondered if I should stop.  I kept driving...

...Let me back up a bit.  One of my biggest fears of living in Africa is getting into a car accident.  I have heard horror stories of what has happened to expats who get into car accidents.  No matter who's fault it is, if you are an expat, it will be your fault.  And driving is a challenge with few traffic laws, pedestrians, bikers, motorbikes, cows, sheep, and goats all over the road. 

In Liberia, I bumped a pedestrian on a busy road with my side-view mirror, while going about 15 MPH.  A mob of sorts ensued. The police were right there.  They stood, watching, and as I found out later, hoping a fight would start so that they could fine and pocket the bribes.  Other times the police would say, "Call us when it's over and we will come and take a report - we aren't armed or equipped."

About two months ago, we were driving to Kakamega and came up on an accident that had just happened; it was a rural area.  A car had hit a motorcycle, which then hit two pedestrians.  The car fled, leaving three very bloody victims at the scene.  We took one injured person in the car with us and rushed to the hospital in the next town.  While there, the people who caused the accident showed up.  They acknowledged responsibility and said that they fled the scene because they were afraid of mob justice.  They watched from a distance, saw us pick up one of the victims and followed us to the hospital.

Back to the present...

As I continued driving, I was plagued with guilt.  Should I have stopped?  Could I have convinced anyone to stop the beating?  Could I have been able to make myself heard?  Would I have become a subject of attack as a white person, trying to interfere?  Should I go back?  I kept driving.  I began praying for the person. 

The next day, I heard that a man had been beaten in Kitale for stealing maize.  He had died during the night.

I felt sick again.  So very sick.  The man died. 

Martin Luther King Jr is quoted as saying, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Was this man's blood on my hands?

Another flashback to Liberia, and the many people who knocked on our gate, day and night, looking for help.  I remembered the one man who came for help because he was sick.  Our response was to recommend he go to the hospital as we were not doctors.  [This was after a stream of people and exhaustion on our part; we were grumpy that day and resentful of the requests.]  He died the next day.  We felt guilt for a long time after that.

I flashed back further to a time when I worked with severally emotionally impaired junior high students.  When they would get into a fight, I would often jump in the middle as I couldn't stand to see two people fighting.  I would get in trouble for this, as I was told that the emotional strain would be much higher if they hit their teacher than each other and that I should just stand by and watch.  

How do we decide when to get involved?  How do we decide when not to get involved?  I teach risk management - is there a percentage of risk that needs to be factored in?  If there was a fifty percent chance that I could have stopped that beating, should I have stopped?  What about ten percent?  How do we make decisions like this?

I thought about my kids and how they have already lost one parent.  I thought about Michael and our desire to spend many years together.  I imagined many people telling me I should not stop - that it would be unsafe for me.

I thought back to the number of times that people have told us not to do something that seemed illogical or unsafe at the time:

• Don't move into the Madison-Hall area of Grand Rapids, where there is high crime and drugs...especially with two young children.
• Don't move your children from Oakdale Christian to Jefferson Elementary Public, a school that is failing and slated for closing, where they will be the only white kids.
• Don't lose your job at Calvin College over sending your kids to Jefferson - this is your livelihood, your career.
• Don't move to post-war Liberia, where there is high crime and little rule of law....especially with your two children.
• Don't stay in Africa after Bob's death.  Come home where you can be with family and friends and recover from your loss.
• Don't move to Kenya by yourself.  Take a position in Grand Rapids.
• Don't get remarried - it will threaten your ministry.

Hmmmm.  Apparently I'm not very good at listening to the advice of loved ones.

I am to love my neighbor as I love myself.  That means caring about his provision and protection.  I am my brother's keeper.

I don't know who that man was.  I don't know why he stole maize.  I do know that regardless of his sin, he did not receive justice that day.

As I processed this with Michael during the week, he reminded me though this is a horrible event, God has the final word.  God's justice and salvation story will have the final determination on this story, even as we don't know how that unfolded story looks.

And I can't assess ahead of time what to do in these situations when faced with danger.  I can only to do my best to love my neighbor and be his keeper one day at a time.  I know that part of loving my neighbor involves protecting myself for the sake of my children and Michael, as well as my work.

I will fail sometimes and sometimes I will get it right.  [In fact, as I wrote this post, I received an email from the US Embassy warning all Americans to stop travel to Kenya and those who reside in Kenya to assess their personal safety due to recent attacks from Al-Shabab.  I believe I am safe.  But if the attacks were to move closer to Kitale, at what point would I choose to leave?  Which neighbor do I choose to love in this case?]

I don't know if I failed in the instance of the man who stole maize.  But tomorrow I will try again.

The Story...or rather...the Randomized Control Trial... of His Glory

Jeff Bloem has been working with the ICM Marketplace Ministry team as the research assistant in Kitale, Kenya since September of last year.  He will be with us until July of this year, after which he will return to the US and enter grad school in September.  I have worked with a number of interns over the years, all of whom have been unique in their own way.  Jeff, too, is unique and it has been a joy to work with him and get to know him.  Jeff lives and breathes economics.  Seriously.  All the time.  It's quite remarkable how much this guy reads and processes, and thinks and processes, and debates and processes, and processes and processes.  We almost never have a quiet car ride as we spend hours in the car each week driving from city to city to do this work.  It's been great fun and I've learned a lot from him. 

He wrote the article below about his reflections on his work here and it does a great job of defining the problem and explaining how our work is trying to address it.  Enjoy!

================================================================

Mary's bakery is bustling. So much so, that Ushindi Snacks cannot keep up with the demand for it’s fresh baked goods. Her business has room to grow but seems trapped at its current level.

Mary (left) owner of Ushindi Snacks

Beatrice sells beans and grains by the cup. Her shop is small, consisting of seven or eight bags of beans and rice under a temporary structure of lopsided scraps of wood and plastic tarp. Her unnamed business doesn’t grow; she has sold her goods off of the same 4x6 table for the past eight years.

Edward manages a consulting and management business, aptly named Strategic Management Firm LTD. His business grows on a quarterly basis and his employees are encouraged and equipped to work creatively and productively.

These are just three of the sixty-three business owners who signed up for a basic business skills training organized by their church in Kakamega, an emerging city in Western Kenya. And here lies the inherent problem.

The problem is not that Mary has to turn down sales and profits on a daily basis. It is not that Beatrice’s tabletop business has been the same for the last eight years. It is not that Edward is perhaps one of only three business owners attending the training that may actually be realizing his or her gifts and expressing traits of entrepreneurship.

While those are all very real issues, they are tangential to the larger problem at hand. The problem is obvious, almost never understood, and until recently rarely acted upon. Mary, Beatrice, and Edward are all different from each other. Half of this seeming banal platitude goes without saying, while, unfortunately, the other half often goes unsaid.

This problem is only exacerbated by the all too clear fact that the other sixty-three business owners are all different from each other in the same way Mary, Beatrice, and Edward are different. 

Ushindi Snacks in full operations

They all have different desires, different needs, different skills, different knowledge, and different businesses. A singular story about one person from this training would be—depending on your purpose for reading the story, either: (a) interesting and entertaining, (b) informative but probably misleading, or (c) uninformative and completely useless.

Here’s the thing. Those tangential problems discussed above remain because the larger problem is rarely addressed. Over the past half century developed countries have spent about $6.5 Trillion to assist the developing world develop and grow. Most of this money has been guided by loose fitting macroeconomic trends, fun to read stories containing anecdotal evidence, and bleeding heart good intentions.

Invariably what happens is some of the loose fitting macroeconomic trends predict actual growth, some fun to read stories containing anecdotal evidence are true for whole populations, and some good intentions lead to beneficial outcomes.

The negative rub is recognized when experts have a hard time discerning what worked and what didn’t. Today we have experienced remarkable progress in terms of poverty reduction and development around the world, and very little knowledge as to why that progress actually occurred. Until recently, poverty eradication and development have been run like a business that doesn’t keep accounting records.

This is all changing. In recent years researchers have been making remarkable advancements to project evaluation. The major innovation: randomized controlled trials. The methodology is taken almost directly from the medical profession and drug testing.

Jeff interviewing Edward, gathering statistics before the project starts.

For example how do we know if giving textbooks away to schools in developing countries will help raise test scores and improve school attendance numbers? The logic checks out—free textbooks mean more students read, and more kids learn. There is undoubtedly a heart-warming story of a young student who, after receiving a free textbook, went on to become a doctor. But does reality align with the logic? Was the student who would later become a doctor simply an exceptional student? Beyond speculation, what was the actual impact of these free textbooks?

The way to test this is to identify double the number of schools the program has funds to support. Randomly select half of those schools to receive free textbooks, while leaving the other half with none. Then compare the test scores of these two groups of schools to see if the textbooks had any sort of recognizable impact.  [As it turns out, giving textbooks away for free doesn’t work—at least in Western Kenya, where this four-year study took place. (Read more about it here.)]

Randomized control trials provide great feedback for governments and organizations looking to solve any sort of social problem. The major roadblock is evaluations of this nature is that they are often expensive and always challenging to execute well. Studying human beings in real life is much more challenging than studying a medical drug in a controlled laboratory environment. Human behavior, achievement, and success are dependent on seemingly endless factors. The best randomized evaluations control for as many of these factors as possible, but to do this completely in a real world setting is extremely challenging. It is impossible to say, “Lets run 2008 over again and this time there is no global economic crisis.” 

Beatrice's cereal business

For the past six months and the next twelve months a randomized evaluation is occurring in Western Kenya on the impact of the International Christian Ministries (ICM) Marketplace Ministry on churches and business owners, utilizing the curriculum from Partners Worldwide. This business-training curriculum is used in many countries where Partners Worldwide operates. In all of these places an NGO or financial institution organizes the training. Earlier this year the question was raised: would the effects of this faith-based business-training be increased if it were presented in a church supported context? In short, what happens when we train business skills in a church with an affirming pastor and a supporting community of believers?

The results of the evaluation will not be complete until 2015, but initial effects seem to be intriguing. During a training session last week the question was asked, “how many priests or ministers are in this room?” One hand was raised; it was the actual pastor of the church. After a discussion on the Biblical foundation for work, a Godly perspective on wealth, and a missional understanding on God’s intentions for the tasks and responsibilities of His people from Monday through Saturday, the question was asked again. This time, with the understanding that their work in their businesses was just as spiritual as the church’s work on Sunday, everybody in the room raised their hand. Everybody identified themselves as a priest or minister in their own life and work.

The significance of this monumental attitudinal shift remains to be seen. Remember, this story is anecdotal; the facts, however true they may seem, may not necessarily be reliable. The most encouraging aspect of this whole story is that, in the face of their differences, Mary, Beatrice, Edward and all the other attendees of the class experienced something similar and behaved in a uniform manner. 

This is the kind of finding the final evaluation aims to discover, a uniform change across a diverse population. We will then know if training business people in a church works better than training them in a financial institution. We will begin to actually know what works and what doesn’t.  

The Bible tells the story of His glory. Part of the fulfillment of that story is being told through hundreds of stories in Western Kenya. It lacks charm and rhyme but this is a randomized control trial for His glory. 

Jeff Bloem is a Research Assistant working on this evaluation in partnership with International Christian Ministries and Partners Worldwide at the African Theological Seminary in Kitale, Kenya. Follow him on Twitter @JeffBloem or email him at jeffb@partnersworldwide.org. 

Flashback

I spent the last week in Nairobi, conducting a training of trainers for my former colleagues from Partners Worldwide.  It was a great joy to see old and dear friends from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Kenya, as well as develop some new relationships.  We worked long and hard all week to get through the material and then had some play time at the end of the week.  For the West Africans who are already doing the business training, this was a refresher with some additional new content; for the East African attendees the material was pretty new so they had the chance to learn the material afresh.  The goal is to get the African partnerships who are not yet doing training to start very soon, hopefully mentored by those who have done it for a while.  I was able to present the opportunity of bringing this work in and through the church and saw some potential synergy in this for an ongoing partnership between ICM and Partners Worldwide.  We'll see what God does with this!

My teaching schedule has been pretty nonstop since the beginning of March.  I have this next week without teaching, giving me the much needed opportunity to attend to a number of other important issues, and then I begin teaching another class on the 31st.  I'm thankful to God for the opportunities!

Enjoy some pictures of the week!

Not a great picture but two great people!  Allen Gweh, National Director of LEAD and Daniel Weetol from Liberia. Ever the comedian, Daniel kept us laughing all week.

The beautiful and talented Beatrice (left) from Hopeline Institute in Ghana.  This dedicated woman came to Kenya not only with her seven month old son, but also with her mother in tow so that she could attend classes and keep nursing her baby!

My dear friend, Fanny Atta-Peters, director of Hopeline Institute in Ghana.  We snuck away when we could to talk!  She is hoping to come to my wedding in June with her dear husband Dennis, my protective big brother!

Boadu, also from Ghana, also the entertainer in the group, as can be seen on the faces of Mary (Uganda) and Jackie (Grand Rapids).  We had some great debates together as a group and a lot of laughs.

The week ended with the "businesses" facing the "bank," both of whom took their jobs VERY seriously and did great jobs! 

Then off to have some fun.  Martin Mutuku scales the rock climbing wall with ease.

Two of my favorite people, Allen and Fanny, lounging on a Friday night.

Loss and Gain

March is a rough month - as it has been for the past four years.

March 20 is the day that Bob passed and this year marks the fourth anniversary.  There always seems to be a bit of a sense of disturbance in the atmosphere, if you will, when the calendar turns to March.

Bob's family, picture taken in 2005; Keith is in the front center.

To make things worse, this March started with processing the loss of Michael's father on February 27, and the loss of my father-in-law, Keith Mosher, on March 4. Both funerals took place on March 8, a mere 650 kilometers apart.  While I mourned not being able to be with my loved ones during a time of grief - both to comfort and to be comforted - I also recognized that even if I had been in North America, there is no way I could have been at both services.  I also knew that these type of events would happen.  It is a given when you live overseas that you wonder who will die in your absence.  We have been very blessed that since 2005 there have not been many family deaths. 

But logistics aside, losing loved ones is always significant and causes a lot of nostalgia and reflection. As I watched family videos on my computer during the funerals, while being so far away, I contemplated both loss and gain.  I contemplated the brevity of life and how quickly it changes.  I reflected on my life and remembered a poem that I had read some time back by Longfellow:  

Loss And Gain

Hannah and Noah with their Grandpa and Grandma.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.

I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.

But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

Said of this poem:  "The life of beloved poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is proof that good can come from sorrow and difficulty. He received great honors for his many successes, but—like all of us—he also knew his share of heartbreak and grief, including the tragic death of his wife. From the losses he suffered, however, Longfellow gained insight and strength that found voice in his poems. Longfellow's poetry lives on today not only for its rhyme and rhythm but because it expresses courage and optimism, even in the face of disappointment.  In his poem "Loss and Gain" Longfellow writes of regret, of longing, of the wisdom born of humility, and of the hope that can come when we have faith in the future."

Who shall dare to measure loss and gain in this wise?  Indeed.  Wise words.

Bob's mom and step-dad, Lucille and Keith, married 44 years.  While not Bob's biological father, Keith was a loving grandfather to Hannah and Noah, and I know he loved me very much as well.  

 So in memory of Bob, for those of you who knew him well and miss him too, let's play a little game called, "What's he saying."  Bob was very expressive...very, very expressive...and you could interpret a lot from his facial expressions.  So, looking at the pictures below, guess what he is saying:

#1:  Location:  Ghana.  This first one is easy.

#2:  Context:  We are in a hospital in Milan, Italy (Bob is the patient) and they just brought in the hospital food.  What does the look on his face mean?

#3  Context - Liberia:  A nightly ritual of helping children get jiggers out of their toes.  Bob has a needle in his hands and those are Enoch's feet.  What is he saying to him?