Where did all the samaritans go?

Today a man, a refugee from Zimbabwe did what many others have given up on. He submitted himself to the “process” that is South African Homeland affairs in order to complete his asylum paper work. At the “reception” center security guards lashed out at him and others beating indiscriminately, leaving blood splatters on the wall and hospitalizing the man. Did he have a gun, was he threatening safety? No he was simply Zimbabwean, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Zimbabweans can only go to this reception center on Fridays. But right now I don’t want to talk about xenophobia or the zimbabwe situation.

When I saw this man’s photo, lying on his back it reminded me of another man lying beaten on a road between Jerusalem and Jericho. A nameless man who was passed up by religious people who did nothing for him. Until a foreigner walked by, picked him up, fixed him up and set him up with money and a place to stay. And I wonder if Jesus didn’t tell that story to remind us just as we are ready to shake our heads and pass by that there’s really something else we’re supposed to do.

Yesterday a refugee died inside the same facility. You know there is a hierarchy of need. This man’s picture clarified the reason Jesus illustrated loving our neighbor with a story of caring for beaten man who would otherwise have died. Loving the person beaten up with no one to stand up for him might just be a more important way to show love than some of the other good things we’re doing.

I know and struggle with the fact that we are insulated by our suburbs, separated by so many factors. But you know what, there’s a great invention called the car. Can I suggest that some people in Cape Town who follow Jesus’ teaching, get in their cars and drive over to Maitland. What would it mean for you to walk in and say personally to someone

“I’m South African, I came because I heard what happened, I am so sorry that this is the way people are treated here.  We’re supposed to love each other and this place just represents the exact opposite of what my faith following Jesus is all about. I just want you to know not all South Africans are like this. We are going to talk to the security guards and the people in charge because this has gone on long enough. And by the way do you need anything”.

 

 

You can leave a comment, or watch the video of this story at www.facebook.com/MukanaProject

I resolve

I resolve to…

1. Read one book each month
2. Blog each idea I can’t get out of my head
3. Start a thankfulness// prayer journal
4. Read 3 chapters of scripture each week day, pray daily
5. Have a family date and a kid date each week, a Kathryn date every other week
6. Exercise once a week
7. Start up my Masters program
8. Develop 3 new friendships
9. Find a mentor
10. Volunteer at a homeless shelter
11. Create the Mukana website and refine Project Mukana’s direction (state side)
12. Choose a missions agency and set a time line for going to South Africa
13. Set work goals at my new job
14. Evaluate my resolutions weekly, monthly and quarterly
15. Support Kathryn’s goals

When you feed the hungry eat with them

When I was in seminary (I never finished but after a few years of not finishing I now refer to that time in the past tense!) we had a project. Visit 5 organizations in our city that were serving the poor… and of course write a paper, did I mention I dropped out of seminary .

I remember 1 visit very well. Instead of meeting with a CEO/ director to discuss client services I drove to a store front on Chicago’s south side. I parked my car, locked  it, checked that it was locked and walked up and down the street trying to find Southwest Chicago PADS. After a few passes I realized the gate covered broken door was in fact the entrance and tried to open it. This scared a volunteer inside who thought I was trying to break in but when I persuaded her otherwise she took the chain off the door and ushered me in to a cavernous store front filled with faces hanging from decorated paper plates off the ceiling.

There I met Sr Therese who was far more concerned with getting to know me then answering my questions. As she showed me around I saw more pictures of men and women stuck up on paper cut outs of homes. These were all the guests that had now found homes through PADS. As we sat on the wooden benches eating the left over food from last nights homeless dinner she explained that the homeless guests had done much of the work to restore the space we sat in. I ended up volunteering. And loved it! We brought food and ate with the guests, cleaned up together then turned on a T.V. in the front of the room and all sat down to watch whatever random show was on, oh and I took people out back for a smoke break.

Ironically people lining up were given a number to save their spot in line. Ironic because no one was a number there. Everyone was known by name and we weren’t there just to serve food, we were there to eat and enjoy it and watch TV afterwards. In a real sense we were all guests together sharing what we had. I learnt and unlearnt so much from the homeless guests outside in the winter night on smoke breaks. And I learnt from Sr. Therese’s example when you feed the hungry, eat with them.

life in America is like life in a cult

Life in America is like life in a cult.

We’ve been recruited into behaviors and patterns we did not consciously choose.

Dreams by definition are supposed to be unique and imaginative. Yet the bulk of our population is dreaming the same dream. It’s a dream of wealth, power, fame, plenty of sex and exciting recreational opportunities. -Kalle Lasn

“When the entire culture is dreaming the same thing, imagination has been taken captive. An alternative dream requires animation by a different narrative.” - darren whitehead

The American dream is so unquestioned, the middle class existence so “deserved” that breaking free to dream our own dreams is radical, not normal. Even when we act for the good of others less fortunate we are often motivated by the idea that they would be better off if we could give them the American dream (Extreme home makeover). And while wealth, power, sex, fun etc. are not the enemy it’s not hard to see that we’re all way to caught up in them. What is hard for most of us is to break free and imagine a life animated by an alternative narrative.

That’s why I’m excited to read darren whitehead’s book Rumors of God. Here’s a link to the chapter the above quotes are taken from.

http://www.rumorsofgod.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Rumors-Of-God_Chapter-Two.pdf

Social Media Cheat Sheet!

If you ever wanted a cheat sheet for how often to tweet, what kinds of things to put on facebook and the tone to take with your not for profit social media strategy check out this awesome cheat sheet.

Highlights: be genuine not greedy,generous not grandstanding,grateful not grabby. Good stuff!

http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/docs/socialmediaessentials.pdf

 

 

 

 

Waiting for traffic to clear

When we first hatched the idea of a project to provide development, training and employment to refugees in South Africa we knew it would be huge undertaking. Right now I’m sitting at the O’Hare oasis outside of Chicago’s main airport waiting for rush hour traffic to clear; this after a failed attempt to get a shipment through customs. And I’m wondering how to map out the uncharted waters that lie ahead. I’m wondering who will help us navigate the unknown, and who will stand alongside us, support us and work with us as we build an ambitious project to provide opportunity to refugees in South Africa.

Tomorrow I’m meeting with a customs specialist at the department of homeland security to help us understand the complex codes and paperwork we’ll need to use as a commercial importer. They offer this service to first time commercial importers. I’m planning on calling up our shipping company later tonight to get their perspective . I’ve spoken to NGO’s similar to what we’re starting up I guess I need to reach out to those contacts as well to make sure we’re not missing something, that we’re on the right track.

After our first shipment passed so easily through customs I wasn’t expecting to have to revisit the shipping conversation. The unwelcome surprise makes me wonder what what other surprise lie in wait. I wonder about Mukana, our future and how we can best serve the refugee community. But I am resolved to do what it takes to make Mukana a success for the refugees we’ve already provided hope (and employment) to. We’ll get customs taken care of tomorrow and continue to reach out for support along the way. We’ll get there! It looks like the traffic has cleared.

Mukana

Mukana is the shona word for opportunity. It’s what many refugees in South Africa lack which is why we started Mukana, a social enterprise dedicated to creating social and economic opportunity for refugees in Cape Town, South Africa.

I’ve lunched a facebook page which has a short video intro to Mukana -> Check it out here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mukana/112549188828884

Over 1/4 of all Zimbabweans are in exileand there are well over 70, 000 DRC refugees in Cape Town. All told South Africa receives more refugees than any other nation. And yet the government and local population treats these refugees in ways that are not just unconstitutional but inhuman. Our start up social enterprise, Mukana, works to create opportunity for refugees through discovering their skills and valuing their contributions. We train and commission refugees to make items like reclaimed wood picture frames and beaded pens etc. and pay them a living wage for their work. But more than that we consider the people we work with to be valued partners, right now a group of 5 refugee women are preparing a fundraiser dinner for the new enterprise, they meet together with Janice our wonderful social worker and Cape Town project leader to help plan the menu and prepare to share their stories with guests.

Please think about being part of Mukana in some way, if you would like to help market or sell our products or buy something for yourself or as a gift visit the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mukana/112549188828884  for more info. Our first shipment should arrive in June 2011! If you are a person of faith pray for the over 2 million refugees in South Africa and for Mukana as we reach out tosome ofthem.

Coming Up Short

Recent figures out of Zimbabwe show it costs the average Zimbabwean family of 5 about $506 a month to cover food, rent, water and electricity*. With an unemployment rate of over 80% those who do work earn an average of $200 per month.**

Political persecution aside, is it any wonder that more people have fled Zimbabwe than any other nation on earth? Over 25% of the country is now in exile!*** While Zimbabwean politicians continue to deny reality, things don’t appear to be getting better in the worlds worst economy.

* The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe **Wellington Chibebe, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. *** The Zimbabwean

Libya gets “whatever action is necessary” from the UN

What kind of leader says these words? “I will rule you or I will kill you.”A leader set to analiate his own people with the country’s military… and yet this has been Gadafi’s plan. Until the UN finally decided to stop him.

I am not sure what happened behind the scenes, the president’s speech today would make anyone think he had been actively pursuing a course of action leading to this point, but in reality he appears to have broken with the last 2 weeks of of indecisiveness, as Mr. Boot at the CFR pointed out just two days ago in a Wall Street article.

On March 3, President Obama said that “Colonel Gadhafi needs to step down from power and leave. That is good for his country. It is good for his people. It’s the right thing to do.”

When the president of the United States publicly proclaims that the head of another state needs to “step down,” his words carry considerable weight—or at least they should. Yet what has Mr. Obama done to back up his rhetoric? Not much beyond saying that “no option” is “off the table” and that he is actively “consulting” with American allies about how to act.

And a full 15 days after his initial statement president Obama backed up his words but, it would appear, only after others had done the hard work of advocating for this resolution i.e. the Arab Leauge, and France. If Obama felt that Gadafi had to go and publicly called on him to step down why didn’t the U.S. publicly play a more decisive role over these last two weeks leading to this point?

I respect the way Obama held to his conviction that the U.S. should work through the U.N., he may not have taken the appropriate leadership role, or moved quickly enough but he did support the resolution.

The bottom line is that we have a resolution that ensures the people of Libya will not be slaughtered by their own army at the hands of Gadhafi. And I will say this resolution does something to restore my faith in the U.N. However they will need to act quickly as the latest news out of Libya is not promising…

Despite the Government’s official recognition of the UN no-fly zone, this morning a loud explosion followed by anti-aircraft fire was heard in the rebel-held city of Benghazi.

Al Jazeera is reporting that Gaddafi’s troops have moved on Benghazi. Communications in the area are down, this morning we’ve been unable to reach anyone in the city by phone. – Elizabeth Jackson on AM australia

Death Penalty Perspective

The question is not whether the death penalty is justified in certain cases, the question is whether the death penalty system is just in practice.

If  the death penalty appears appropriate in certain cases, would allowing a system which murders innocents along with the guilty not negate this justice? If we rightly hold intellectual theories that are pro death penalty at what point to do the heinous atrocities of this system as it is practically administered prick our conscience?

I feel Justice Harry Blackmun best articulates this…

“Twenty years have passed since this Court declared that the death penalty must be imposed fairly, and with reasonable consistency, or not at all, and, despite the effort of the states and courts to devise legal formulas and procedural rules to meet this daunting challenge, the death penalty remains fraught with arbitrariness, discrimination, caprice, and mistake.”

– U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, February 22, 1994

Research cited by Amnesty International –> http://ht.ly/4ccaH <– support Justice Blackmun’s assertion…

The death penalty claims innocent lives. Since 1973, 138 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful conviction. In this same time period, more than 1,000 people have been executed.

The death penalty is arbitrary and unfair. Almost all death row inmates could not afford their own attorney at trial. Local politics, the location of the crime, plea bargaining, and pure chance affect the process and make it a lottery of who lives and dies. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 80% of all executions have taken place in the South (37% in Texas alone).

The death penalty disregards mental illness. The execution of those with mental illness or “the in- sane” is clearly prohibited by international law. In the USA, Constitutional protections for those with other forms of mental illness are minimal, however, and dozens of prisoners have been executed despite suffering from serious mental illness.

There are too many cases of torturous deaths at the hands of the state, too many innocent convictions and undeniably innocent executions, too many “voluntary death penalty” cases and too much racial, cultural and other  bias for me to support the death penalty in the U.S., despite what I may think about it being justified in particular cases. Because while it may be justified in certain cases, if it is administered frequently where it is not justified, then it is not just in practice.

I welcome your thoughts and I’ll give the last word to John Holdridge quoted here:

Executions in this country are carried out as part of an unequal system of justice, in which innocent people are too often sentenced to death and decisions about who lives and who dies are largely dependent upon the skill of their attorneys, the race of their victim, their socioeconomic status and where the crime took place,

Such arbitrary and discriminatory administration of the death penalty, which comes at an enormous financial cost to taxpayers, is the very definition of a failed system, and the state of Illinois is to be commended for ending it.