Food Pantries - Good for the Soul?

Returning from coffee, an immigrant Pastor of a refugee community and I, watched as donated food was loaded onto a trailer, headed for another village in SW Missouri. 

I asked the Pastor if the people in his community received free food from the pantry?

He thought, pensive for a couple of minutes. 

Then he said, "No. I don't think so. I don't think it would be good for their souls. I don't think it would be good for their perseverance."

_____

It has been my observation, in almost 30 years of ministry and community development, that when food pantries build bigger buildings and run massive add campaigns, they are not decreasing poverty, they are seeding it, first into the soul, then into the culture. The end result of bigger pantries is a growth in the food pantry business (because growth is good?), a larger customer base. To put it succinctly: poverty grows when food pantries expand.

I have watched, for 7 years, as the people of the refugee community, represented by their pastor, have persevered: working in a variety of factories, trying to learn english and the ways of a new culture, acquiring tutors for their kids, planting and harvesting on the smallest of garden plots. Hope and Joy are tangible fruits of their perseverance. They encourage me, to persevere, and behold the beauty to come. 

With the Eyes of a Foreigner

 1 Peter 1.1 - This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

1 Peter 2.11 - Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners”

       A week ago I had the privilege of taking part in an intellectual retreat in Grand Rapids, MI. The retreat centered on the development of religious liberty in America, and it utilized texts written by colonists and founders from 1610 to 1815. Included in the text were sermons, letters, drafts and final pieces of early state constitutions, notes from constitutional debate, and Supreme Court reflections. 

    The reading was invigorating and insightful. The discussion was engaging and robust. At the conclusion of a couple of sessions, one and one-half hours in length, participants celebrated with applause at the end of our time, not for its conclusion, but as prize fighters pleased with that round and ready for more. 

    The discussion did not stay on the texts themselves. Engaging with the texts often brought modern concerns that were embedded in the text. There were times when the conversation was hopeful and there were moments of despair. A trademark of most Americans is our capacity to despair about the state of the country, regardless of political affiliation. We are united in despairing that the 'more perfect union' has yet to achieve its goal. 

    One of the beautiful aspects of the retreat was the inclusion of 'temporary residents and foreigners,' to use a line from the Apostle Peter. At least 1/4 of the participants were foreign born. They came with perspective insights, superb questions, and an appreciation for the prospect of the American experiment, not only as it was in the text of old, but what it offers to the world at this very minute. 

    Reflecting on the hopefulness and appreciation of those who were not born here, and their ability to see with the eyes of a foreigner, their thoughts sent me back into history, past Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1835), to the writings of Saint Peter and the Prophet Jeremiah. Saint Peter called the church he wrote to as 'God's chosen people, living as foreigners.' Peter did not have in mind just one state of being a 'foreigner' but two. The recipients he addressed were most likely not Roman citizens, but neither were they citizens of other earthly kingdoms; they belonged to the Kingdom of Heaven. 

    In Jeremiah's writing, chapter 29.5-7, the people in exile were told to:

“Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”    

They were to invest in the place they lived. Some would call this the task of putting down roots, even as their hearts longed for a restoration of Jerusalem. How does one do this? How does one put down roots and retain the eyes and heart of a foreigner? How does one pine for a place that was, or a place that is to come, and invest in the moment and love the place you find yourself in? 

    I suggest, we who have seldom or never been outside our own borders have much to learn from those who live everyday as 'temporary residents and foreigners.' The eyes of the foreigner can see what we take for granted. They eyes of a foreigner has an eye for what is possible. The eyes of a foreigner imagines how they can plant gardens, and invest, even while pining for a different place. Since it was a foreigner God made covenant with in Abraham, we might say it's in the eyes of a foreigner that we can perceive 'the earth is the Lord's' (Psalms 24.1). This frees us to appreciate, to wonder, to celebrate, to rejoice, to invest, and to pine - for the place where we are, and where our hearts long to be. 

    

   

Faith at Work in a Hospital Room

As I stood in the hospital room with the family, around the body of one who had just taken their last breath on this earth, a nurse entered the room.

The wife of the deceased said, this precious nurse sang my beloved to sleep last evening when he was so agitated; she has a lovely voice.

The nurse embraced the wife. She leaned her forehead forward until their heads touched, and she began to sing:
   When peace like river attendeth my ways
   When sorrow like sea billows roll
   Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
   It is well, it is well with my soul

   It is well, with my soul
   It is well, it is well, with my soul

The room was silent for a moment.

The widow had a couple of brief questions that the nurse answered tenderly with assurance. Then she left the room; there was other work to do.

I left that room thankful for the followers of Jesus who out of their discipleship have started so many excellent centers of healing and compassion. I was thankful that some of those centers have retained their mission and vision to address the whole person; body, mind, spirit. I am thankful for a nurse whose own walk with Christ is not constrained by a false bifurcation of work and faith, nor was her spiritaulity so sentimantilized to make it distracting - she was on point.

This experience leads me to pray for businesses and institutions; that their mission and policies would reflect values of human flourishing, and reject the silos of task, faith, work, home, etc. I am also led to pray for followers of Jesus, that faith would be integrated in every arena of life - as Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!" 

In that moment, in that room - the nurse was like Jesus, comforting the sorrow in Mary and Martha. And His comfort is Good.

May your business, your enterprise, your vocation be one in which the goodness of God and purpose of humanity is cultivated and celebrated.

Teamwork advice from Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch wrote seven letters on a journey from Antioch to Rome, ad 107-110. One of those letters was to the young Polycarp, a leader of the church in Smyrna. Ignatius' language within the letter sounds similar to Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus. He continues a trend in those letters to utilize present cultural metaphors to convey his encouragement. His favored parallel is sport. At one point he writes, "Be vigilant as God's athlete. The prize is incorruption and eternal life" (ch 2). In another spot he writes, "What makes a great athlete is the fighting and then achieving victory. We must especially endure all things for God's sake that he may endure us". In his encouragement of Polycarp and other leaders in the church he appeals to the analogy and reality of sport.

When he turns his attention from Polycarp in particular to the church he combines the metaphors of  sport and military to give advice on teamwork.  

Work with one another, compete together, run together, suffer together, and get up together as God's stewards, companions, and servants. Seek to please the one in whose army you serve. From him you receive your wages. Let none of you be found to be a deserter. Let your baptism remain your weapons. Your faith as your helmet. Love is your spear. Endurance is your full armor. Your down payment is your works so that you can receive back wages. Be patient with one another as God is with you (ch 6).

Some might call his counsel common sense advice, but there is a unique difference - Ignatius' emphasizes the role of "together", in other places he names this as "unity". Ignatius applies what he understands about the nature of the Triune God to the kind of life we are called into when we join the way of Jesus. Ignatius' advice is good for life in the church, or working in an organization. It is also good advice for all those who are about to embark upon sporting endeavors. I am especially thinking of my boys who begin their football season tomorrow.

Chasing the King

On October 1, the 2011 Beeson cohort along with the class of 2011 Beeson International Leaders, flew to California for the most interesting and engaging leadership experience we have ever had. Imagine finding yourself in a situation completely different than what you have ever been in, and then embarking on something like the TV show, The Amazing Race. 

Our location in California was Huntington Beach, which is in Orange County, on the south side of Los Angeles.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel that looked out at the beach and then the Pacific Ocean.  It was a great joy to run on the boardwalk as the sun came up.  The sun was so bright when you faced it that it was difficult to make out the faces of those who ran or biked by you.  They were persons illuminated by the rays of the sun, an almost angelic feeling.

Staying put along the beach would not hold the bulk of our time.  As we arrived at the airport we discovered that our group of 15 would be divided into 4 teams.  Our Sunday morning meeting at 5 AM gave more details to the objective of our teams.  We faced two questions that needed to be answered by 2 PM on Friday:  1) Where are the breaches in the walls of the King's land, or where are people falling through the gaps? and 2) Who are people who are filling in the breaches, who is a repairer of the wall?

These questions would guide our work which included visits with a number of people.  On Sunday we visited with church leaders in San Diego and in downtown LA.  The rest of the week we did most of our research around LA.   

The team I was a part of included Yeongjang and Ho from Korea, and Abraham from India.  As we faced the two questions these guys tapped into their world-wide contact list and the multi-ethnic side of LA went on display. Abraham led us to an Indian Pastor, Ho to a Korean man running a ministry for Koreans that looked like Special Olympics.  That ministry is in LA and 12 other metro-centers in the US.  Yeonjeong led us to the largest CRC church Pastor in the US.  Each of these three guys were unique and incredible. 

The Indian pastor was about the age of my dad.  Abraham and I noted he looked like my dad.  They have the same hair line, a similar bone structure, a similar voice tone. I was amazed to find my dad's twin was born half-way around the world from him.

The Korean pastor leading the ministry to those with special needs shared with us about the work in the Korean community to help the community value fully the humanity of those who are not physically or mentally whole.  As a young business man of 30 he was involved in an accident in LA.  The accident left him paralyzed.  In his culture, shaped by Confucianism, a debilitating accident or disease is symbolic that one has dishonored ones parents.  A similar worldview is expressed by the disciples of Jesus in John 8 when they encounter a man who was born blind.  They asked Jesus who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?  Jesus said neither sinned. He healed the man.  The question of the disciples is shared by people all around the world and it is still active.  This Pastor/Ministry Leader is reminding his people of the words and works of Jesus.

The Pastor of the largest CRC church in the US leads a congregation of mostly Koreans on the north east side of LA.  To get to the church we went north and east of Burbank into one of the valleys.  The church serves about 4000 people on its site.  Its service however goes far beyond LA.  When the Pastor arrived in LA the church shared space with a Latino congregation near Korea town. In their sharing and interaction the Korean congregation heard the Lord calling to Mission on behalf of Latin America.  Today they publish a discipleship magazine that reaches 60,000 in Mexico and Latin America, they supply classes that reach another 40,000 Latino's, they have planted a Seminary in Juarez, and they have plans to plant 800 churches in Mexico and Latin America.

The ministry I led our group to was Homeboy/Homegirl Industries in downtown LA.  I heard about Homeboy in January when their founder, Fr. Greg Boyle, spoke at Calvin College's January Series.  
The story of Homeboy's is long and filled with great joys and great sorrow, just listen to Fr. Greg and his talk at Calvin or read his book.  Since he started serving in east LA in 1985 he has buried 170+ persons because of gang violence.  Yet in the midst of darkness he and others listened to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, they decided to let their light shine in the darkness and the darkness has not snuffed it out.  Their motto at Homeboys is "nothing stops a bullet like a job."  At the downtown location we saw people in 12 step programs, people working in a bakery, people receiving job counseling, people working in a cafe, and people exploring urban gardening. 

Fr. Boyle quoted from O Holy Night in his talk at Calvin: "Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth."  In LA, we discovered that the breaches in the wall are those that have been present everywhere for all time - chief of those is loneliness (yes, that's the number one description of LA by its residents that we interviewed, a city of 21 million is a lonely city), from God and from one another.  Thanks be to God we also found people who are workers in the King's land, working to overcome loneliness with one another, and chiefly with God.  The Indian pastor said, "we know when someone is moving into the neighborhood from India, our calling is to meet them, to welcome them into community."  The Korean business leader turned ministry director overcomes loneliness by creating welcoming spaces for kids and families who feel marginalized by the culture.  When Jesus appeared, and when those who carry the life of Christ let their light shine, the souls feel their worth - and of what great measure they all are, and we are to God.

One side note to this journey, this chase.  Each team was supplied a vehicle to drive.  Before we left Kentucky I was designated a driver for a vehicle. Anna warned me that I was going to have drive differently than when I am out in the country. I have never been on roads so expansive or so busy in all of my life. My Indian friends tell me that I will get a real experience of traffic when I visit them in their homeland.

While all the other teams had great success with traffic and vehicles, our team had some challenges. On Sunday, returning from San Diego, a rear tire started to go flat. We changed it on the expressway.  On Monday, after interviewing the Indian pastor, we were rear-ended by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel. When we got out to look at our Suburban we noticed a few scratches on the underneath side of the bumper.  The poor chap who fell asleep drove away in a Honda Accordian, the hood was buckled up and the front end abused.  We were all glad to be riding in a Suburban.  Our final incident involved getting pulled over by a LA police officer because he thought I was weaving too much.  We had been up before 6, it was past my bed time and we were almost back to the hotel, in other words - it was time to go sleep and I was close to doing that on the expressway.  He gave me council that I was glad to take - get a cup of coffee. 

The leadership side of the game came through in ways that supported our adventures.  I am looking forward to taking it and crafting it for others in the future.  It is a great learning tool, and in the midst of it, we see who we are in the bright light of God, sometimes we are lacking and ugly, mostly we see with fresh eyes, and we begin to feel our worth.  
 



     

Pursuing Impact or Pursuing God?

Phil Vischer the creator of Veggie Tales has a new project out called What's In the Bible.  World Magazine has a good interview with Vischer that would be well worth the read.  
Here are a couple of quotes. 

• "We're drinking a cocktail that's a mix of the Protestant work ethic, the American dream, and the gospel.  And we've intertwined them so completely that we can't tell them apart anymore."

• "I realized I'm not supposed to be pursing impact, I'm supposed to be pursuing God.  And when I pursue God I will have exactly as much impact as He wants me to have."

• "We have this American industrial thing where we want to build the McDonalds and Coca-Colas of evangelism and come up with formulas and systems that are guaranteed to work and it can be highly effective, but I don't know that it's highly Christian."

The Spirit of Detroit

If you've seen the adds by Chrysler featuring their "imported from Detroit" car, you've seen this sculpture.  It is an impressive work of art in front of City Hall in Detroit.  While the image of the sculpture is powerful, we should take heed to the words written on the wall behind the sculpture and those on the plaque in front of it. 

Livestock Auction, a cultural event on MLK day

This morning on NPR (national public radio) there was a lot of talk about how people were going to be observing or not observing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Serge attends Mt. Pleasant High School and they had the day off.  One of the places I told him early on in his stay that he would need to visit is the livestock auction in St. Louis, Michigan.  I prepared him and Moses and Asa that we'd head down to the auction for a little culture today.
The first part of this culture on a day like today is knowing how to dress to survive in the cold.  They dressed in snow gear, I dressed in the requisite insulated carhart gear.  The first stage for the auction is the outside portion where the items for sale include hay and straw bales and firewood.  After about 15 minutes the tugs started on my arms - the boys wanted some shelter from the cold.
We acquired a tip that the hog and lamb barn might be a warmer venue.  We were off.  Opening several doors we found our way to an alley way where we could look at the hogs that had been brought to market.  Serge was surprised to see the flock of barn swallows that inhabited and ruled the air without any real regard to humans or hogs within the shelter.
After looking at hogs we made our way to a familiar scene in any good auction barn - the catwalk.  Like a catwalk in a theater that allows one to walk over the stage, a catwalk in an auction house is usually accessible from the auction ring and it extends out over the holding pens to allow all interested parties an opportunity to inspect the animals that have been brought in for sale.  We saw baby calves, young feeder calves, cows and fat steers.  I pointed to the cows and said to the boys, "Next time you'll see them is at McDonalds."  OK, maybe not at McDonald's, but they are the largest retailer of beef in America and a cow brought to the auction on Monday is headed for the hamburger line.
Looking at the cows Serge said, "You know what I want, I want a big steak."
"Hungry, eh," I said.  "Let's go to grab some lunch."
Just about every auction barn I've visited has a restaurant somewhere on the grounds.  We stopped into "The Cattleman's Cafe."  There were a few tables available.  We picked a 6 seater because we anticipated Roger Brookens, a guy from our church, and a friend of his were going to join us.  Before long the manager who was the only wait person came by.  She brought us water and welcomed us.  She was especially nice to the boys.  Before long the order was in.  The four of us had some kind of burger.  Serge has discovered a real appreciation for McDonald's Angus burgers.  After he finished his burger there I asked, "how does it compare?"  He indicated that they were both very good.
Serge had a slide of coleslaw, a first for him, and Asa had a side of onion rings, a first for him.  Both of them downed them.  Serge said after eating  the coleslaw that it reminded him of fare he would have had in Kazakhstan (the land of his birth).  He's observed that more of the food in America seems to have similarities with food in Kazakhstan than it does in his present home in Germany.  
Roger asked if we liked the sign that read "Welcome to the Roadkill Cafe. You kill it, we'll grill it."?   Of course we liked it.  That's part of the culture we were taking in and engaging in, a salt of the earth humor that deals with  reality. 
Before we left the cafe I encouraged the boys to have a piece of pie.  I noted that this might be the only time we'd be by this way while Serge is staying in America.  He responded by saying I could get him out of school anytime to bring him to St. Louis for lunch and a visit to the stockyards.
It was time to watch the beginning of the auction.
As we climbed our way to the top of the auction arena and looked for seats we discovered that other people had a similar idea.  The chairs that an hour earlier were empty were now all taken.  We found a wide ledge to take a seat upon.
After a few minutes the auctioneer welcomed us with a less than inspiring speech on MLK day.  He noted that those who were present didn't seem to be observing the day.  "Here at Producers, you'll find us open today and just about every other made up holiday like Memorial Day, Labor Day.  About the only day you'll find us closed is Christmas, and then it's hard." 
Every culture has its positive contribution and its less than commendable attributes.  The sentiment expressed, in my perspective, a continuing animosity in race relations that is saddening. On this day, when we're asked to remember a man who had a dream of all of God's children choosing to make judgments on character instead of skin color, it remains evident that there are plenty of pockets where the color of ones skin is the preferred course of commentary, assessment, and determining if we can live in community.
What is needed here and in every culture is the witness, call and life of Jesus and His church. Only He can save us from our prejudice and scapegoating of others so that we might be at and be at rest with ourselves and others.

With the introduction completed, the cattle began rolling into the sale ring.  We saw calves sell at $1.00 a pound down to 40 cents a pound.  Every time I'm in a setting like this I see cattle that my dad would do well with and I've always got a little temptation to raise my hand.  Thank the Lord for saner thoughts and the assurance of Anna that I had better not. 


After several head had come and gone it was time to address other events of the day.  As we were walking to the van I asked Serge what he thought.  He gave the sign of two thumbs up.  Another slice of life in America had been encountered.  It was beautiful, it was ugly, it is in need of redemption, it is being redeemed.