Grace>Guilt

 
     As I sit here in the midst of 15 American collage students recently arrived in Africa, I'm hearing the word GUILT over and over. It is a common process. Many Americans have no idea how the average African lives. They are shocked when they see a child bathing on the side of the road or an old woman with 50+lbs on her head. But what are they guilty about?
     These students don't feel guilty about the lives of Africans, but about their own American lives. The question "WHY" needs to be answered.
     Why does Angela from Atlanta have a more secure life than Fatima from Tanzania?
I could give answers from books I've read on psychology, sociology, and politics. But these are not good enough for everybody. Yes, there is still a lot of corruption. Slavery, human trafficking, genocide, and starvation are a reality for much of the world, but not for Angela. Her culture has different problems. So, why does God allow some people to have a long comfortable life and others have a short difficult life? Hmmm.
     I remember one day in the jungle of Peru a man asked me a question I will never forget, "White man, how long have your people lived out from among the trees?" I had to think about the question for a moment, before responding, "Pablo, we have lived 1,500 years in the open ground." What a question. What a sobering moment for me, a 23 year old American. But, there was a time when northern Europeans did live in nomadic family groups. Our lives were filled with hardships and violence. Atlanta was not built in a day. When I look at our two cultures, I see two very different levels of progress. I am from a world of microchips and refrigeration; my friend, from a land of earth and spears. My culture has migrated many times; Pablo, lives in his native land. He lives in the ebb and flow of hunger and disease. I do not.
      In writing this story, I am looking 8 years back and I have learned much since then. I hope Pablo's culture will one day have access to good medical care. I hope that they will not live with seasonal hunger year after year. And I don't want my family to live like his. I have searched for answers and I have found only GRACE.
     By grace we have education and healthcare. By grace we have cooperative societies and equality. And by grace we have been given the opportunity to see other societies become more accountable and responsible. It is my conviction that following the teachings of Jesus is the greatest change for the good any society could make. I am not saying the message of the church, but of Jesus. Now, I live in a country tormented by death. South Sudan is under staggering oppression from hunger and violence. How can I help? What is the best way to make a difference in South Sudan? I believe that Jesus changes lives, lives change families, and families change societies. Matthew Parris was a brilliant commentator and staunch atheist, however, even he could not deny the unbelievable change that Christianity can make.  

    "I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa:   sharply distinct from the secular NGOs…Education and training alone will not do. In Africa  Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good." -Matthew Parris

The world's wounds are festering with infections. Please move quickly past the Guilt. Guilt will keep you moving forward for such a short time! But grace sustains for generations. I am here not because I feel guilty about my Americanness, but because I was shown the grace to make a difference.





         

All You Need to Know About the Millennial Invasion

     There has been so much talk lately about our millennial generation. We are a unique group of young people and only becoming more unique. We are all uniquely, unique in various ways. That is what makes us different from others. We like to analyze our world. Then after thinking about something for whole minutes we write about it and then look at pictures of cats doing funny things and then back to abstract philosophy. If you are a bit lost, wiki can provide some good info on who we are and how you can better relate to us on our terms.
     We millennials crave authenticity and experience. We are jealousy for a cause and love to make our voices heard. We hold the older generations in high regard because they pay taxes so we don't have to and that is a big help. We love the president because "RT: @mr.president is making our world a better place." Someday we will all be presidents and he makes us feel like we too can also run the country. We have a little more tolerance for authority than our older siblings, the Gen Xers and we think they're pushy and wear baggy clothes.
     We can be hard to figure out, if you are not looking at life from our perspective. We need a cause. We need a rallying point. Why, you ask? That way we never get lonely. We long for something to bring us together and stave off boredom. We did not have the luxury of living during the protest age of the 60s and 70s so we protest because it looks like fun. Hey, why not occupy Wall Street we don't have anything better to do. No honestly, if you don't have a job and have differed on $200,000 of student loans, hanging out with all your friends on any street is really nice. We also have the added bonus that dogs no longer bite street protesters. So where's the downside?
     And if that is not enough, there are children in Uganda that need our help. If we retweet their cause and wear their images, we can help stop a psychotic madman from making them have another bad day. This is only the start. As soon as we can get it together we will [each] start an NGO and save the world. The whales and Tibet are too small for us. We need to save it all. And don't question our motives because that's not very important. And don't question our manliness. I mean how could you question our manliness, we have beards to beat the band. What more do you need?
    If you don't believe us, it is because you don't believe in us and that hurts our feelings. Why would you treat someone like that? We know the problems that need to be solved and with a Mac, ESV, flat white, and skinnies we will make our voices heard. We will blog our way to a better world. If you don't like what we have to say, then don't repost it, but please don't criticize. We have heard enough of that, we were raised by Boomers.
So, if you want our opinions, check Facebook. If you want our input...that is what we have been saying all along. But still, we need you to tell us we're great. If you don't, you are a bad parent even if you are our boss or professor. Yes, we are hardwired to network. You call it "social media" (we don't even use the phrase) we call it communication. Yes, we do value conversation. We value two or three conversations at a time. Face to face is also fun as long as the freely traded all organic coffee has plenty of ice and sugar. You may think we're shallow, lazy, and noncommittal but that is because you don't really know us. I'm on level 871 of Candy Crush. Does that sound noncommittal to you? Who's lazy now?

Bullying and the Bullied

Bullying has recently come to the forefront of pop-culture. And the issue is receiving some much needed attention. Everyone from Jamie Foxx to Desmond Tutu has weighted in on the conversations. I am a bit confused to see why nearly all the attention is is focused on helping kids deal with being bullied. The U.S. Government defines bullying as:

 Unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. 

     Why do we choose to reduce the cultural issue to the school yard and social media of school aged children? The problem is much much bigger. We need to take a step back and look at the issue a bit more objectively. Does our American culture make room for this type of aggressive behavior outside the school yard, yet criticize the very same behavior when children simply imitate adults. What does the Bible say about bullying? How should handle the larger culture issue? 

The Bible says much about the issue of how we should treat one another. The "Golden Rule" comes to mind, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). I cannot tell you how many times I heard this expression during my childhood. And so often I wished that the guy picking on me knew it as well as I did. But there has to be more than simply giving anecdotal advice to the kid getting picked on. King Solomon said, “drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease” (Proverbs 22:10). Think about this in the context of social media. Facebook is a powerful platform for bullies. Twitter allows many horribly embarrassing comments and photos to hurt adults and children. 

The bullies are no longer the big kids with an attitude. They are often individuals that feel no other recourse is available to resolve conflict or pain. How easy it has become the belittle others with complete remote anonymity. This problem is sharply felt in the lives of our kids, but it is an adult culture that feeds into the patterns of our youth. We must drive out a scoffer, but with what? The answer is found in the words of Paul.      

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -Romans 12:20-21

     The aggression and hurt that is passed around on social media must be displaced by love and encouragement. Yes, the bullies need to be punished and misbehavior should not be tolerated by those in authority, but what can we all do to reverse the culture of insult retribution? Make Facebook a place of positive communication. Create a culture among your friends where the scoffer is not inspired to tear down others. Do not allow an insult to go unchecked in our adult lives; and in doing this, we can set an example and standard for our children and youth culture in general.     

The Reality of Suffering

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I 

am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake 

of his body, that is, the church. -Paul (Colossians 1:24)

This can be an extremely confusing verse. Was the atonement of Jesus not enough? The scriptures show us that the death of Jesus was sufficient. Paul's own word make this clear. So what is Paul talking about? 
     Paul is making reference to his own sufferings for the sake of Christ and the unreached being the beneficiaries of this suffering. When you go to the unreached and stand before them having endured trials and hardships just to make Jesus known among them, you can say, "In me behold the love of God, as I sacrifice to come to you and preach to you, and risk my life."  -Piper
     What is lacking in the sufferings of Christ is that millions of people don't know Jesus suffered for them. In 2014 the person of Jesus cannot suffer for the Dinka. That piece of history has passed. And the very suffering of Christ has been passed to us, the church.       When you go to that unreached people group and risk everything, including the lives of your children. You are making the sufferings of Christ complete. You show people the incarnational Christ in you and through you they will see Jesus suffer for them... (I have to stop here as tears fill my eyes. This has been our greatest honor in life. To have the opportunity to suffer together as a family is an unimaginable joy.) This does not mean the suffering will be easy. The pain still burns and the wounds still bleed, but we suffer for Christ with His own strength. When my two month old baby was vomiting blood, I was scared out of my mind. I thought I might loose my son. But, I found strength in my wife as we both found strength in Jesus. When gunfire erupted all around our home we fell upon the will of God as we dropped to the floor. For LOVE we endure and show others the sufferings of Christ made evident in our lives and in the lives of our families. What a great blessings to be given anything by Christ. Even hardship if it comes from Jesus is a blessed and wonderful gift.        

a Linguistic take on Discipleship

The world of our experience must be enormously simplified and generalized before it is possible to make a symbolic inventory of all our experiences of things and relations, and this inventory is imperative before we can convey ideas. -Edward Sapir

To put simply the words of Sapir, words are poor communicators. In the context of discipling and mentoring we have to remember that there is no substitute for bringing someone along side you as you live your life. I am all for meetings and conversations, but lets not make this a substitute for real life shared. To teach someone to obey Christ we much use our lives as the medium. We have to know that true discipleship true Christlike discipleship is about time and experience. This is why Jesus came. The prophets had been teaching about Jesus for hundreds of years but man did not truly know Jesus until he came to live with us.  

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14

The people we disciple/mentor need to see us about the work of God. We need to give them something to see. Something that they can model their lives after. This cannot be done over Skype or email. These are great ways to communicate but not the best. So, make yourself available to those who need you and your words. Yes, this takes time but it seems like this is how God planned it! Our example has to be complete. Our words explain our lives and our lives expound our words. May we never say, "do as I say, not as I do." My generation has had enough of that. We see through the lie. We have to say with Paul:

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. -I Cor 11:1

only then will our words have strength. Only then can we move the church out of the mire of hypocrisy. We know the words of Christ were true because his life proved their worth. Now, we are not Christ and we will fall, but we must get back up as we follow the example of Christ and show others how to return to the truths we teach.
  

The Birth of a Church

Dhel is strong even for a Dinka. He is broad through the shoulders and sets upon a set of powerful legs. The traditional marks on his forehead tell an untold story of cattle keeping, raids, and skirmishes fought with other tribes that inhabit the swamps of Warrap. His early youth as a cattle keeper came to an end and the season to take a wife had come. 

Dhel choose a young woman as strong as him. She told him he would make a good husband but he was lacking one thing. He had no training in the Word of God. She made this a requisite to her entering his home. With his new inspiration, Dhel came to our training. Bob and Nancy Calvert had traveled to Kuajok to teach our young leaders how to communicate the stories from the word of God and plant a church. After a week’s training Dhel returned home to Oun-Abyei. There he began to tell the stories he had just learned. The people liked the stories and many came to hear. The Dinka Rek do not yet have the Old Testament translated into their language; for most, this was the first time to here the story of creation, Abraham, and Noah. Upon hearing these stories more than thirty believed for the first time the truths of Gods Word. 

The next Friday Moses came the my house and said, “Robert, there is now a church in Oun-Abyei.” The following Sunday Moses and I went to see this young church. We appointed leaders and saw the baptism of 35 Dinka Rek who are now identified as followers of Christ. 

Pray for the new church in Oun-Abyei. 

Now starts the persecution.   

Update On The Current Meandering of the Lanes

These past few months have been a challenge. Our lives are lived in the pendulum of extremes. Our difficult times are brutal and our good times are elating. This is part of who we are. I will go back and unpack a few of these events in subsequent posts but for now I am wanting to catch you up on where we are in reverse order. So make a cup of coffee and enjoy the next four minutes. 
We are currently in Johannesburg, South Africa for meetings with our organizations. Jo'burg is cold and we have been loving the chill. Shep on the other hand is concerned with the temperatures. We attempted to condition this equatorial child to the cooler weather by placing him in our freezer three times a day (this last fact is completely untrue). 
Shep has enjoyed the interaction with the other kids. He loves to stand in the midst of the playground and watch the others play. I find this interesting because in Sudan the roles are reversed and the local children generally watch him play. The children here all speak english and my son speaks an odd form of pidgin gibberish, but he has encountered little trouble in the making of friends. 

Our travel to South Africa was nothing short of an adventure. We had planed to make the drive to Wau and catch a flight, but the plane had a mechanical issues and our tickets were canceled. Maridith went into overdrive finding an alternate means of travel. The most efficient option would be to charter a small plane. The least would be to travel by foot, but we estimated this would take six years and we would need to travel with a small militia, which was available for a price. After some discussion we opted to give the boys a raincheck and travel by air, which makes for a less interesting story, it was a good flight nonetheless. I found Juba calm and after tasting the pizza–the best in the country–I understood the abundance of soldiers on the streets. The next day we traveled on to Nairobi and then to Entebbe. Entebbe is a happy place where Mrs. Renee had prepared the most delicious of meals centered around a tender pig. Still after all these years pork takes me home. Being southerner we love pork and I guess if I had to be cast out of the body of a man, I too would choose the body of a swine (please don't think on that for too long). 
Ok, where was I? Yes, Sudan. We labored in Kuajok for only a short time before we saw many lives changed. We had the privilege of hosting Bob and Nancy Calvert last month. Bob led a training for local church leaders and planters. Nancy led the teaching for the women. It was an excited time for us all and a landmark in the work with the Dinka. I will introduce you to one young man named Dhel and the young church he planted in his home...Shoot I got to go. Stay t(y)uned and I will get his story up asap. 
-Much Love