Taking Responsibility

Refection #1 from my West Africa Trip

Sometimes I wonder if one reason for our global economic crisis is so that non-Western, national ministries can be weaned off of financial dependence on places like the United States.

If so, I think I started to see the effect of that very thing during my recent trip to West Africa.

Most of the time when I visit grassroots ministries in developing countries, there is always the discussion about lack of adequate funding for various projects. Usually the discussion ends up with the question of when a greater increase in money from America can be expected so that local ministry can continue.

This time, however, I did not hear that sort of question. Instead, I witnessed testimonies from church planters in northern Ghana praising God for how they were now able to fully support themselves thanks to the two bullocks and plow that had been made available to them three years before.  Land in that part of the country is readily available, but farming the dry, crusty ground is not easy—especially if you have to hoe it all by hand. But, with a bullock-powered plow, a single farmer can cultivate five times the size field for the same effort turning his work into a viable, profit-making enterprise.

 The stories we heard from a dozen or so couples all indicated that as a result of being self-sufficient, they were now able to spend adequate time leading several church-planting cell-groups in surrounding villages. One couple had started work in seven different villages—all places that were predominantly Muslim.

In a similar way, speaking with the leadership of the Evangelical Church of Gambia, I was encouraged to hear one of the key priorities of this national denomination is to help each pastor in the whole country become a successful businessman in order to fully support himself and not be dependent on the local church or foreign handouts for survival. In one case, we met a young man who with the aid of a digital camera, computer and printer, was doing just that with a thriving photo studio business thanks to a micro-enterprise loan received a couple years before.

I don’t think any of this get’s us as Americans off the hook in terms of our responsibility to share our wealth with the rest of God’s people around the world. But, how refreshing it is to hear such stories and to think that maybe there is a new day dawning of national organizations taking on themselves the responsibility for financial sustainability of their own ministries.

Jon

Following the Master's Example

West Africa Trip Report #5 (Final)

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matt 9:35-36 NIV

These last two days of our visit here in Senegal have been a wonderful illustration of how this verse is being lived out in our world today. We’ve had the chance to get an up close and personal view of two partner ministries that are not only following the example of Jesus in preaching, teaching and healing but also in truly having compassion for special communities that are definitely “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

One of those is the Inter Senegal Mission that has built the Bartimaeus Hospital in the city of Thiés. Serving an area of over three million people, this complete medical center is providing care for both the spiritually and physically needy. But in addition, it has become the single point of hope in the entire nation of Senegal for children born with a cleft palete. As in many African contexts, the typical belief is that such a deformity is the result of an evil spirit’s curse and often such children are killed at birth or left to die in the jungle. Those who live on are always a source of deep embarrassment to the family and live a life of constant personal shame. Talk about harassed and helpless!

Thanks to the International Smile Foundation, volunteer doctors and nurses visit Senegal every year to offer totally free surgical procedures for children with cleft paletes. But to do so, they need a hospital environment where the foreign medical team can adequately handle the complex procedures and do so with efficiency so as to treat as many children as possible. The Bartimaeus Hospital is the ONLY place in the whole country that the Smile Foundation wants to use for a base of operations.

The day we visited Batimaeus, the evaluation process of cleft palete children was in process. The hallways were lined with mothers and their children who had come from every corner of Senegal.  Just a glance at the little tykes with their twisted mouths was enough to bring a tear to the eye. Over three hundred evaluations were being made of which about forty will be selected for the special operation to be performed this November when the Smile Foundation team arrives. As with all patients that come to Bartimaeus, every mother and child will leave having heard and experienced firsthand the love of Christ through the caring ISM hospital staff.

Two hours away, Senegal’s capital of Dakar is a city of some five million people. One-fifth of them live in a huge slum area called Pikine, just east of the city. I’ve lived in Kinshasa, Zaire, seen the favélas of Brazil, and visited the slums of New Delhi, but I can say Pikine will rival any of them in its filth and squalor. Rampant with disease and malnutrition, the area is also a den of drug addiction and prostitution.

Smack dab in the center of Pikine is a community center run by the PM International mission. The vision of a team of Latin Americans, this outreach has been strategically positioned in order to be available to the masses of “harassed and helpless” that live in the area. Offering a variety of health, nutrition, and vocational training services, the PMI team are truly demonstrating the compassion of Christ in this place. 

After entering the tiny reception area and making our way through the three floors of the cramped center, we are impressed how these folks have transformed a dirty, old building in the middle of this slum into a clean, attractive facility. “Every day, in our two little consultation rooms, we deal with dozens of people who have basic health needs,” says Jose Rocha Jr, a medical doctor from Brazil. “Meanwhile, upstairs, we provide nutritional training for mothers with infants as well as vocational classes in cooking and tailoring for women at risk.”  Two young Senegalese staff show us more of the center, including a micro-sized church in one room that can probably hold fifteen at maximum. “There is so much incredible need here in this Pikine area,” Jose continues, “so we hope soon to build a larger facility nearby.”

 Our visit to West Africa is now over, and Anita and I and Kazuo Kinouchi, our colleague from Japan, will be winging our way home. What a privilege it has been to spend this quality time of sharing and encouragement with ministry partners like these. The last verses of Mathew 9 say, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Without question, these faithful men and women are definitely the workers God has raised up at this particular time for these particular harvest fields.

Under His wings,

Jon

Senegal's Street Boys

West Africa Trip Report #4

Taliban!

What sorts of images and emotions does that word generate for you?  Fundamental Islamic extremists? Dangerous Afghan radicals? Suicide bombers? It did for me until I learned that the word is also associated with one of the worst social tragedies in the country of Senegal.

Talibés street boys in Dakar, Senegal

Taliban comes from the Arabic word talib with simply means student or disciple, referring to boys or young men who are trained in a Koranic school led by an Islamic teacher. Whereas Middle Easterners added their own ending to the word to create taliban, in West Africa, they did the same thing and today call the boys talibés.

But, the talibés of Senegal are a far cry from the radical guerillas of Afghanistan. Instead, they are homeless, malnourished, street-kid beggars who barely eek out an existence in the cities of this country. The estimate made in 2008 puts them at more than 100,000 across Senegal.

For centuries, the tradition in Senegal has been to send boys off to Koranic schools for religious education. The idea is that a wise Imam teaches them all they need to know to become good Muslim citizens. But thanks to their African heritage, these teachers, called marabouts, are more of a combination of witchdoctor with Muslim cleric. Resembling the character of Fagin in Oliver Twist, the marabouts send out the talibés to beg, steal and cheat folks on the streets all day long in order to bring back a few coins, sugar cubes or crackers. With barely a shower a month and never a chance to wash their clothes, this ragged army of hungry and abused boys is one of the saddest realities in Senegal today.

Bruno Camara in front of the drop-in center

That is why one of the ministry endeavors we have been visiting here has been so impressive. As missionaries with the Bethany Mission from Brazil,  Bruno and Celene Camara have been working for years in Dakar, Senegal trying to find practical ways to address the plight of the talibés. Starting first with a drop-in center, they created a place where street boys could come, play games, get a shower, learn to read and write, and even get their clothes laundered. Building on that, they now have opened a traditional Brazilian churrascaria barbeque  restaurant  where older talibés boys can learn how to work and earn a living.

Enjoying lunch at the churrascaria restaurant

We enjoyed a fabulous Sunday lunch at the restaurant,  feasting on slices of succulent beef, pork, marinated chicken, and chorizo sausage. In between bites, I dusted off my childhood Portuguese to chat with Bruno about how his ministry has grown. “At first, we just offered the boys breakfast and tried to teach them Bible verses,” he said. “Then as we added more spiritual and academic training, we wanted to offer the boys something more practical that would ultimately lead them off the streets and allow them to hold a real job. That’s when we thought about starting this restaurant.”

Today, the chrrascaria restaurant  employs fourteen former talibés and have already placed dozens into full-time jobs around town. Meanwhile, the Dakar drop-in center impacts just under 1000 street boys a year, many of whom give their lives to Christ as a result of the caring ministry.

“If all goes well and we get the needed funding,” Bruno continues, “we hope to open a new center and restaurant up country in the city of Thiés. Our hope is to do this in partnership with the Inter Senegal Mission, which has a similar objective to reach the talibés of Senegal.”

Street kids having fun at the drop-in center

I’m not sure which has given me more satisfaction—hearing this heart-warming story of making an impact in the lives of the talibés of Senegal, or having my stomach full of the tasty fare from the churrascaria! But I give praise to God for placing visionary folks like Bruno and Celene in a place like Dakar where they are truly bringing real hope to a generation of boys who otherwise would have none.

Under His wings,

Jon

 (To read more about the talibés, click on this link to an excellent article by the Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2008/0915/a-senegalese-beggar-unmasked)

Gambia - The Small and the Big

West Africa Trip Report #3

They call it lecheri. And they have told us it is really special—like serving guests a T-bone steak or roast turkey. Except instead of a meat dish, it is made up of white corn flour mixed with curdled sour cow’s milk (like yogurt) sprinkled with sugar.  Actually, it isn’t really a dish at all, since we’ve all been given soup spoons, and we’re tackling this delicacy out of a large plastic bowl in the middle of the floor!

Enjoying a taste of lecheri

Benteh Kanteh and his family

Where is this feast taking place? In the home of Benteh Kanteh, located a rugged two hour drive south of Banjul, capital of the Gambia. Traveling in a stout Toyota Land Cruiser that can handle the bone-jarring drive on a mud road with pond-sized potholes, we’ve come here to meet the first Christian in this entire region of the country.  With 99 percent of Gambia practicing folk-Islam, Benteh faced significant opposition because of his decision, such as having his in-laws take back all three of his wives! Fortunately, after seeing that his conversion did not turn him into the evil, wicked man her parents said it would, his first wife decided to come back to him. Now they have filled their little mud hut in this jungle village with eight kids! And, for the first time ever, she has three white folks sitting in her house eating lecheri!

As Benteh’s neighbors have watched the transformation in his life and how God has prospered his farm and animals, they are slowly changing their mind about Christians. This simple man who is living out his life in this very simple little house, has definitely become a beacon of God’s Truth for the tribal people of southern Gambia.

This is just one of our experiences here in the tiny but fascinating country of Gambia. Hosted by the Evangelical Church of Gambia (ECG), our ministry partner in this country, we’ve filled three days with visits to an amazing list of projects and ministries:

·         The Omega Training Institute that offers computer skills training to Muslim young people and meets in the facilities of the worship center of the Omega Church.
·         The House of Wisdom—a church shaped like a mosque that has been successful in making Christianity more attractive and acceptable to Muslim neighbors.
·         A micro-enterprise grain mill that after two years has been so profitable that the reinvested income has allowed for purchase of four more milling machines and two more milling sites.
·         A vocational training center where women at risk are taught to make fabulous tie-dyed cloth and then sew it into high-demand shirts and dresses.

House of Hope - a church built
to look somewhat like a mosque.

This impressive array of programs function well thanks to a dedicated core team that lead the ECG: Alieu Bayo, Modou Camara, Francis Gomez, Mathias and Ayeisha Agedo, and Steven and Helen Musa-Kormayea. Rarely have I seen a leadership group in Africa that appears more unified and demonstrate more cooperation than this group. And even more rare is to see one with wives functioning as co-equals on the team along with their husbands.

The ECG may be a small church in a small country, but their vision and commitment is huge. They want to see a church established in all thirty-six districts of the country. They want to reach the business and government communities with seminars on business ethics. They want to impact Gambian youth through launching  professional Christian musicians into successful careers. They even want to tackle the evils of the sex trade and human trafficking that plague the fancy sea-side resorts frequented by vacationing Europeans.

I will leave this first visit to Gambia with two major impressions: 1) The problems and challenges  this country is facing seem to be inversely proportional to its size. Tiny though it may be, the issues of social justice and basic civic infrastructure are huge. 2) Gambia’s greatest hope for the future probably lies in successful grassroots transformation realized through the creative vision of men and women like those who lead the ECG.

Under His wings,

Jon 

Step Dancing - Ghana Style

Here's a video clip to give you a taste of some of the dancing we experienced on our recent trip to northern Ghana. You can see the special "stomp routine" they like to do in the middle of the dancing circle.