I heard a description in college about three different ways of viewing the world: The Western way is atomic. It breaks things down into the tiniest parts and analyzes them. Our great big world is made of minuscule atoms, of individuals. The Eastern way is oceanic. It views everything as one whole. Every littleContinue reading “Spider-web Relationships”
Category Archives: Social Justice
A World Where Short Term Trips Aren’t Needed
“But when we are honest, too much of the time our service projects cover up the reality that our way of life is what makes the service project necessary to begin with. In that way service projects don’t function to change the status quo, or even push against it, they actually function to maintain it. TheyContinue reading “A World Where Short Term Trips Aren’t Needed”
“I feel like a Queen in a palace now!” Gretta exclaimed after she saw her repainted kitchen at Sbukosezwe creche. The team of 8 from Leek, England, had spent the morning repainting it, and helping Gretta with the 67 three to five-year-olds that were attending the creche that day. While iThemba doesn’t like to makeContinue reading
Development: Getting to the Root Causes
I joined the APU lectures on Community Development this week. Even though it was the second time hearing them, they were still very inspiring. We were given permission to take some videos to use in preparing teams to come out and serve with iThemba. Here is the famous “Drowning Babies” story that I wrote aboutContinue reading “Development: Getting to the Root Causes”
Welcoming the Stranger
“How long, O LORD? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?…They oppress your people, LORD, hurting those you love. They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans. “The Lord isn’t looking,” they say, “and besides, the God of Jacob doesn’t care.” Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? Is theContinue reading “Welcoming the Stranger”
Dance of Service
“Isn’t it awesome seeing the Church being the Church?” Sam commented to me, as we were discussing the Kids Crew Christmas thank you dinner. She didn’t mean this specific church–although Hilton Baptist played a huge part in providing volunteers to make the evening happen. She meant the Church—us, followers of Christ–actually being the body ofContinue reading “Dance of Service”
Privilege
Living in Hilton and working in Sweetwaters means I am constantly confronted with my own privilege. It’s not just a matter of working in schools that are understaffed, under-resourced, and under-qualified, when I know I went to amazing schools just minutes away in Hilton. It’s not just a matter of sitting at Life Groups inContinue reading “Privilege”
A Safe Person
A study of at-risk children by the University of Michigan showed that children who said they had an older person that they could share things with were much more likely to finish school and succeed later in life than their peers. The area of Mpumuza is lacking “safe people.” Apartheid, with its pass-laws which determinedContinue reading “A Safe Person”
Worldliness: Hemlines or Helping Outsiders?
Romans 12:1 “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world…” “Worldliness” brings to mind junior-high lectures about the proper length for skirts, throwing out CD’s with bad words, and saying no to smoking. I was pretty good at following all those rules, so I used to gloss over those verses thinking, “Check, GotContinue reading “Worldliness: Hemlines or Helping Outsiders?”
Obedience, Not Sacrifice
I just read about Saul, who disobeyed God’s command regarding the destruction of all the plunder from the Amalekites. Saul keeps the best of the plunder and then says, “But it was all going to be for a sacrifice to Yahweh. That’s why I kept it!” Samuel responds by saying, “Does the LORD delight inContinue reading “Obedience, Not Sacrifice”
Stephanie Ebert 