Justice and Missions Week
It's Justice and Missions Week at Belmont. Aka: a week of inspiration, conviction, questioning, cynicism, hope, defiance, intrigue, and passion. About missions. About justice. About the "least of these," about the globe, about our lives and dreams and commitments; how we change the world, how we love people, how we follow Jesus.
Many things have stuck out to me so far this week as I've listened in on the various conversations.
"Staying is the new going."
"Committing to a place is as radical for Americans in 2010 as crossing the globe was in 1960."
"If we aren't doing 'justice' at home, we have no business doing it abroad."
"What does your heart break for?"
"People committed to justice and missions have a defiant hope."
"There's a real danger in short term mission trips."
"'Causes' diminish the humanity of the poor."
"Being a person who truly cares about individuals suffering around the world will mean being heartbroken again and again. But there's no other way to true joy."
"Our selves are the false center of the universe."
"My friends that live on less than $2 a day in Haiti experience life more close to global reality than anyone in the US."
"What will missions look like in the new age of global interconnectedness, excess, and a rejection of organized religion?"
"We should serve people like Jesus did. We don't enter a third world country without becoming learners. We live like them, learn their language and culture, work with them to make our food. We follow Jesus' example."
"What do we really need, and what do we want?"
"Americans, white people with money and American passports, get far more privilege in foreign countries than we deserve. We need to realize we are not the solution as missionaries (God is). We need to humble ourselves."
"Our language and understanding of 'other' is a symptom of the poverty of our friendships, because friends don't think of each other as 'black, white, gay, poor,' etc."
These are just the ones off the top of my head. So yeah, my head hasn't stopped spinning with all of this. As someone worried about justice, ethics, missions, people, the globe, and most of all Jesus, these things hit the center of my value system. It has been a great week, and I'm grateful for the new ideas (some of which I don't agree with by the way). This is one part of college I very much like. I just wish there was more time to discuss things with our speakers and other students and staff.
Because I'm a little confused now about what in the world I am going to do with my life. Wow, welcome to college, Jordan.
Staying in a place, as one of our speakers said, is certainly revolutionary in our time. We don't commit to land, to the people in our neighborhoods, anymore. We move around a lot throughout our lives, and we do missions the same way. We go to Haiti for a week. We go to San Francisco for three days. We go to Uganda for a couple weeks. But I think our friendships are still impoverished.
There are hundreds, thousands, of cinder block buildings in third world countries build by American or European organizations. And that's wonderful. But where are the people who built those buildings? They are back at home safe and sound! If instead of building buildings we built friendships, I don't think we could be such a mobile people. At least not as a rule. I think we would be far more likely to stay in places and put down some roots and start to see injustice melt away because of the presence of love. Because love ties us to people strongly. And love will take the 'other' out of our vocabulary.
You may remember me writing about Venera when I was in Russia. Venera is a Muslim. She has never left the Caucuses in her life. Those two things alone were enough for me to automatically assume I have no point of connection with her. To automatically assume she is not like me. Because I assume a Karachai Muslim girl is not like me.
Well, I was wrong. Our families are similar. Our pasts are similar. Our dissatisfaction with the world is the same. Our responsibilities and worries are similar. I could go on and on.
When i think about Venera, I do not think "my Muslim friend Venera." When I talk about her I do not say "my friend who has darker skin than me." No! No! I talk about Venera, the sweet girl with a generous heart and quick smile, who speaks three languages well and is incredibly smart and driven. She is beautiful and kind, and I will never forget her. That is Venera.
So, the sorts of things I am hearing this week are rolling around in my brain, and like everything, they are bumping into RUSSIA and my memories and longings and hopes and worries about that place, those people. I know the Lord is preparing me for something, I know He is doing something really big in my heart, but I just can't see what it is yet. All I know is that Jesus loves me, and because Jesus loves me, I love Him and I love other people. And my heart is especially burdened for Karachaevsk...
Have I ever mentioned how absolutely gorgeous Karachaevsk is? See the picture at the top of the page? That was taken on one of my trips. I know it looks like a postcard, like it was Photoshopped like crazy, but it is neither. Amazing. The sunflowers on the side of the blog are also in the Caucuses. If you ever have a chance, you should really go see them. They bloom every year, huge fields of them. Really, if you get the chance you should go fall in love with a place like that.
Many things have stuck out to me so far this week as I've listened in on the various conversations.
"Staying is the new going."
"Committing to a place is as radical for Americans in 2010 as crossing the globe was in 1960."
"If we aren't doing 'justice' at home, we have no business doing it abroad."
"What does your heart break for?"
"People committed to justice and missions have a defiant hope."
"There's a real danger in short term mission trips."
"'Causes' diminish the humanity of the poor."
"Being a person who truly cares about individuals suffering around the world will mean being heartbroken again and again. But there's no other way to true joy."
"Our selves are the false center of the universe."
"My friends that live on less than $2 a day in Haiti experience life more close to global reality than anyone in the US."
"What will missions look like in the new age of global interconnectedness, excess, and a rejection of organized religion?"
"We should serve people like Jesus did. We don't enter a third world country without becoming learners. We live like them, learn their language and culture, work with them to make our food. We follow Jesus' example."
"What do we really need, and what do we want?"
"Americans, white people with money and American passports, get far more privilege in foreign countries than we deserve. We need to realize we are not the solution as missionaries (God is). We need to humble ourselves."
"Our language and understanding of 'other' is a symptom of the poverty of our friendships, because friends don't think of each other as 'black, white, gay, poor,' etc."
These are just the ones off the top of my head. So yeah, my head hasn't stopped spinning with all of this. As someone worried about justice, ethics, missions, people, the globe, and most of all Jesus, these things hit the center of my value system. It has been a great week, and I'm grateful for the new ideas (some of which I don't agree with by the way). This is one part of college I very much like. I just wish there was more time to discuss things with our speakers and other students and staff.
Because I'm a little confused now about what in the world I am going to do with my life. Wow, welcome to college, Jordan.
Staying in a place, as one of our speakers said, is certainly revolutionary in our time. We don't commit to land, to the people in our neighborhoods, anymore. We move around a lot throughout our lives, and we do missions the same way. We go to Haiti for a week. We go to San Francisco for three days. We go to Uganda for a couple weeks. But I think our friendships are still impoverished.
There are hundreds, thousands, of cinder block buildings in third world countries build by American or European organizations. And that's wonderful. But where are the people who built those buildings? They are back at home safe and sound! If instead of building buildings we built friendships, I don't think we could be such a mobile people. At least not as a rule. I think we would be far more likely to stay in places and put down some roots and start to see injustice melt away because of the presence of love. Because love ties us to people strongly. And love will take the 'other' out of our vocabulary.
You may remember me writing about Venera when I was in Russia. Venera is a Muslim. She has never left the Caucuses in her life. Those two things alone were enough for me to automatically assume I have no point of connection with her. To automatically assume she is not like me. Because I assume a Karachai Muslim girl is not like me.
Well, I was wrong. Our families are similar. Our pasts are similar. Our dissatisfaction with the world is the same. Our responsibilities and worries are similar. I could go on and on.
When i think about Venera, I do not think "my Muslim friend Venera." When I talk about her I do not say "my friend who has darker skin than me." No! No! I talk about Venera, the sweet girl with a generous heart and quick smile, who speaks three languages well and is incredibly smart and driven. She is beautiful and kind, and I will never forget her. That is Venera.
So, the sorts of things I am hearing this week are rolling around in my brain, and like everything, they are bumping into RUSSIA and my memories and longings and hopes and worries about that place, those people. I know the Lord is preparing me for something, I know He is doing something really big in my heart, but I just can't see what it is yet. All I know is that Jesus loves me, and because Jesus loves me, I love Him and I love other people. And my heart is especially burdened for Karachaevsk...
Have I ever mentioned how absolutely gorgeous Karachaevsk is? See the picture at the top of the page? That was taken on one of my trips. I know it looks like a postcard, like it was Photoshopped like crazy, but it is neither. Amazing. The sunflowers on the side of the blog are also in the Caucuses. If you ever have a chance, you should really go see them. They bloom every year, huge fields of them. Really, if you get the chance you should go fall in love with a place like that.
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