Leadership Confessions

Canadian Battling Systemic Murder, Mutilation Of African Albinos

Note: This article is a re-post of an informative and compelling article by Kim Hughes from http://samaritanmag.com/1163/canadian-battling-systemic-murder-mutilation-african-albinos

"It is no exaggeration to say that being born "albino" in the East African nation of Tanzania is one of the unluckiest fates life can hand you. It's also fair to say that Canadian activist and philanthropist Peter Ash has done more to assist Tanzanians with albinism though advocacy, education, funding and sheer resolve than anyone else on the planet. 

In most parts of the world, albinism is seen for what it is: a congenital disorder characterized by the absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to the absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin.

People with albinism ("albino" is considered derogatory, Ash says, and is slowly being replaced by this new term) are highly sensitive to sun, classified as legally blind (development of the optical system is highly dependent on the presence of melanin), but are otherwise correctly perceived as ordinary if striking-looking people with white hair and fair skin.

In Tanzania — thought to be the albinism's physiological ground zero where the rate of incidence is 10-times higher than in other countries, occurring in roughly one out of every 2,000 people — people with albinism (PWA) are perceived as inhuman: ghosts or the evil spawn of an African woman and a white man.

Often, a best-case scenario for a Tanzanian with albinism is discrimination or being ostracized, denied an education and treated as a freak. Worst case scenario? Murder or savage mutilation; the guerilla taking of body parts which command a dizzyingly high price (by African standards) on the black market.

Influential witch doctors, who hold powerful sway over the populace, claim that an "albino" arm or leg can be used to create a powerful potion that serves as a gateway to wealth and success. Against this malevolent backdrop, Tanzanians with albinism are sitting ducks for persecution unless they're lucky enough to find themselves in the crosshairs of Vancouver's Peter Ash and his Under the Same Sun (UTSS) charitable foundation, which he founded and serves as CEO.

The mission of UTSS is summed up thusly on its website: "Under the Same Sun is passionately committed to ending the deadly discrimination against albinos in Tanzania. Through education and advocacy we envision a day when the genetic condition of albinism will be understood, and people with albinism will take their rightful place in all aspects of Tanzanian society."

Explains Ash, "In a few cases, we deliberately chose [to use the word] 'albino' only because the public gives us a blank stare when we use 'person with albinism.'  They get 'albino' — so we have to start there."

Himself born with albinism, Ash first learned with horror of the harassment and abuse raining down on his Tanzanian brethren in 2008 through a BBC World Service report. Since then, the onetime preacher has dedicated himself to stopping the violence while promoting education.

If the work at times seems insurmountable, the forthright and determined Ash, who spoke to Samaritanmag on the eve of yet another trip to Tanzania (he averages two to three a year) seems like the man for the job.

Samaritanmag: So the BBC brought this issue to your attention?

Peter Ash: Yes. Being albino, I was well aware of the discrimination that was out there, how Hollywood characterizes albinos as evil.  What was news to me was the sale of body parts, the human trade in albinism. Through a lot of digging, I managed to track down the BBC correspondent who filed the report, Vicky Ntetema (who now serves as UTSS' executive director in Tanzania where the foundation maintains an office and a staff of about 20, half with albinism).  I'd never been to Africa before, but I bought a ticket to Tanzania, went over and just started exploring. I was at a point on my life where I had been very successful and had had a few careers -- including commercial real estate -- so I had more time on my hands and wanted to do something meaningful.

People with albinism are particularly sensitive to the sun
Photo credit: UTTS

Samaritanmag: How did African albinos react to seeing you -- a Caucasian with the same condition?

Peter Ash: They thought I was Swedish or Scandinavian or something, just another white man. They thought albinism only existed in their country.

Samaritanmag: Why is the incidence of albinism so high in Tanzania?

Peter Ash: Every genetic mutation began at a point in time somewhere in the world. An American geneticist who is a specialist in this area theorizes it began about 2,000 years ago in Tanzania or quite near there. If it's true, it's ironic: the genesis of albinism -- the Garden of Eden in you will -- has now become the exact opposite. The gene pool is more concentrated where it began. Remember, in that part of the world, people are living in poverty and they don't move around much. So there is high incidence of inter-marriage and the introduction of new gene pools is limited. So it gets passed on from family to family. But both father and mother have to carry the gene for it to manifest in a child.

Samaritanmag: How did Tanzanian albinos come to be so demonized?

Peter Ash: Depending on the study you read, between 50 and 90 percent of the Tanzanian population believe in witchcraft. And it's been that way forever. It's a part of daily life. Imagine a society without medical data. You have these two black parents with five black children and all of a sudden this other baby pops out that's whiter than most Caucasians. People think it must be a curse from the gods.

People with albinism are considered ghosts, non-human. The family believes they are cursed so the notion of selling that child and maybe even profiting are not so bad. Witch doctors play upon those beliefs, suggesting that a child is evil, and saying that if they can harvest a limb and mix it into a potion and a customer can use that potion to become rich or lucky or whatever, it will make it okay. An albino arm could fetch $3,000 or $4,000 U.S. A complete set of albino organs could fetch $75,000 to $200,000, a fortune where the average median income is $800 a year. If you get $4,000 for an albino arm, that's like five years' wages.

Samaritanmag: Is the Tanzanian government on board with your advocacy and with fighting discrimination against albinos?

Peter Ash: Publicly they are very supportive and they're not standing in our way, but there is much more they could be doing. This is a big story in Tanzania and it's one the government wishes would go away; they have become known as the land of albino killers rather than the land of Mount Kilimanjaro and safaris, which is obviously the image they'd prefer to cultivate.  So I am not a popular person and have been told that by high-level government officials. I am seen as tarnishing the image on Tanzania. Rather than blaming the killers, they are shooting the messenger.

Samaritanmag: Just how widespread is this?

Peter Ash: There have been 101 documented crimes against albinos since 2006 -- 78 murders and another 23 attacks, attempted murders or abductions -- and only five of those cases have resulted in convictions. The government could fast-track these cases through the court system, but they haven't. The death penalty is still on the books in Tanzania and the president, Jakaya Kikwete, publicly said in 2009 he would use it against anyone found guilty of murdering an albino. And yet no one found guilty and given the death penalty has been executed. We believe it would be a deterrent to the killings in this country.

Children with albinism enrolled in the UTSS Education Scholarship Fund - Photo credit: UTTS 

Samaritanmag: Those numbers - and that lack of governmental response - are very disturbing in a nation often held up as a model of African progress.

Peter Ash: You have to ask yourself, in a country like Tanzania, who has $4,000 to hand over for an arm or a set of albino body parts? It has to be high-placed and wealthy individuals, the elite and powerful. So what are the odds of those people being exposed? That's why the prosecutions haven't been happening. The only people going to jail are the witch doctors and the killers, not the consumers of the organs, not even in the five cases successfully prosecuted. Even under the threat of death the witch doctors won't reveal [the identity of] their customers. Why? They know to do so would bring death to their entire families.

Samaritanmag: So what's the chief mandate of your foundation, Under the Same Sun?

Peter Ash: Education is our biggest focus and students are our biggest weapon against discrimination. Fast-forward 10 or 15 years; if we have students who are the first in their class, getting jobs and leading in their communities, it will be harder for the country to discriminate against people with albinism. Tanzanian albinos will ultimately win the war for themselves.

Samaritanmag: Where do you gather most of your funding from?

Peter Ash: Our website, www.underthesamesun.com, generates a fair bit especially when there's a media story about this issue. Plus there's word of mouth. We have a fundraising gala in Vancouver every year and we attract some corporate donors. But about 85 percent of the funding comes from me and my family. Hopefully, over the next five years, that ratio will shift to 60/40 coming from the public and coming from us. We want to expand and do more. We have 300 kids in school right now as part of our Education Scholarship Fund program and we'd love to double that number.

Samaritanmag: Do you see a time when UTSS will need to close its doors because this issue will have been resolved?

Peter Ash: Not in my lifetime. This discrimination is deep-seated. It's going to take years. Still, I have a dream that people with albinism will take their rightful place in Tanzanian society. One day."

 

What ABC's New TV Show 'GCB' Can Teach Us About Ourselves

Christians are notoriously poor at being able to laugh at ourselves.  When the media portrays us, it usually does so with extreme caricature which we then get all huffy about and then both parties end up missing each other in the conversation.  

That's partially why I was so intrigued to watch the pilot of ABC's new TV show last night "GCB".  Originally named "Good Christian Bitches" (after the book of the same name by author Kim Gatlin), then tamed down after protest to "Good Christian Belles" and then finally truncated to GCB, the show follows the lives of socialites in Dallas and is a mix of Desperate Housewives, the original Dallas (think big hair and lots of plastic surgery jokes), and High School musical - amongst other things.  

The show features a group of girls who went to high school together and who are conspiring to get their revenge on the mean girl who has come back to Dallas from California after her life has fallen apart.  Author Margaret Fienberg makes a compelling observation on CNN's BeliefNet blog:  

“GCB” acts as a mirror as to how Christians are often perceived, which is to say none-too-positively. But the “GCB” caricature doesn't represent the vast majority of Christians, who find themselves in generous, kindhearted congregations that serve their communities, from providing food and shelter for those displaced by recent natural disasters to providing clean water and much-needed aid around the world.

Still, “GCB” challenges every Christian – including me – to consider our own faith journey and if our talk really matches our walk. When do we fall prey to petty, gossipy, vindictive attitudes and actions?"

If GCB can keep it out of the gutter in terms of content (it may already have lost that game) and weave into the plot more deeply nuanced questions of faith and forgiveness, it has the potential to hold a mirror up for Christians to ask good questions about our own lives and how our actions are perceived by our culture.  If it can't walk this fine line, then GCB likely will go the way of Desperate Housewives. 

Navigating the Rapids: A Conversation About the [sometimes choppy] waters of Evangelical Anabaptism

Since the 1970s, Mennonite Brethren have claimed the unusual title of evangelical Anabaptists. Through the decades, we’ve found ways to blend two broad theological streams into one current of church ministry and life. Herald editor Laura Kalmar had an email conversation with Brad Sumner, pastor of Jericho Ridge Community Church in Langley, B.C., and Gil Dueck, instructor in theology at Bethany College in Hepburn, Saskatchewan, to discuss the joys and challenges of our Mennonite Brethren “dual identity.”

For some readers, the terms “evangelical” and “Anabaptist” may be unfamiliar. How would you define them? 

Brad: Part of the challenge we face as evangelical Anabaptists is the fluidity of both terms. Each one brings with it a weight of history stretching back more than a century, as well as a vibrant global conversation that has implications far beyond the borders of our nation. Having said that, I see “evangelical” drawing meaning from the four priorities suggested by British Baptist historian David Bebbington: “conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be called crucicentrism, a stress upon the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.” 

Anabaptism tends toward a specific subset of core convictions. As historian Harold Bender explains, it includes things like “discipleship, the church as a voluntary and separated brotherhood, and love and nonresistance in all relationships.”   

Gil: I see the term “evangelical” as consensus (mostly among conservative Protestants) around a high view of the Bible, an emphasis on conversion and individual piety, and a concern for mission and evangelism. Of course, none of these emphases are unique to evangelicalism – it’s the combination that is distinctive. Yet, there’s such an incredible range of perspectives that claim to be evangelical, I sometimes wonder if the term is useful.  

I see “Anabaptist” as an approach to the Christian faith that has historically emphasized following Jesus, love of enemies, voluntary and disciplined church membership, and a tendency toward separation from the wider culture. More recently, the word has taken on a few other connotations, due in part to contemporary writers like Stuart Murray (The Naked Anabaptist). This newer strain of Anabaptism tends to be associated with commitments to peace, social justice, and environmental concerns as contemporary expressions of discipleship.  

Do you think people in our church pews find these terms helpful? Do labels even matter anymore?

Gil: Among my students, there’s little recognition of either word. Many of them have little interest in, or patience for denominational labels – they prefer a “big-tent” approach to Christian identity. The challenge is to introduce terms like “evangelical” and “Anabaptist” in ways that enable students to think well about the real and significant differences that do exist between Christians, while avoiding the conflict that created “denomination fatigue” in the first place.  

On a personal level, I am sometimes a bit hesitant when I’m asked to identify with these labels because I never quite know what people think they refer to. Many associate “evangelical” with certain stock images of American fundamentalism that I don’t want to endorse. Conversely, I think some associate “Anabaptist” with a brand of social activism that’s indistinguishable from progressive liberal democratic sensibilities. Both terms are vulnerable to serious and persistent distortions.  

Yet, I believe that Anabaptism is a term worth spending the energy in clarifying. At times, I fear that just when many outside the church are becoming open to the Anabaptist perspective, we as MBs are walking away from it. In a secular, post-Christian context like ours, I think Anabaptism offers a way forward that evangelicism – with all its historical and political baggage – does not.

Brad: The reality is both terms are muddled or diluted in the minds of many people. There’s no “pure” strain of Canadian evangelicalism that hasn’t been influenced – both for good and ill – by our friends to the south, or by our heritage from across the Atlantic. Alternatively, the term “Anabaptist” has been highlighted recently by popular authors like Brian McLaren and Jim Belcher. 

But both writers seem to be dealing with a superficial caricature of Anabaptism. In that sense, they’re reflective of many people I encounter who claim aspects of evangelicalism or Anabaptism convenient to their own personal experiences and agendas, without acknowledging the messier parts of our cultural history and theological development.  

Canadian MBs are like a couple who gets married and learns they’ll have to pull out different strands from each of their families of origin to produce a new set of traditions and practices to define who they are. As a denomination, I think we’re still in the process of doing that. It’s a profoundly healthy and vibrant conversation!    

We hear talk about how evangelicals are only interested in getting people to pray the “sinner’s prayer,” and Anabaptists are only interested in social justice. Are the two terms really such polar opposites? Or are there areas of overlap – a beautiful synergy between the two?

Brad: Fundamentally, I don’t believe our dual identity is a deficit, or a case of conflicted or warring dispositions.  Rather, I think it’s a fusion of the whole church taking the whole gospel for the whole person to the whole world. It positions us uniquely in our largely post-Christian world to engage in mission like never before.

Gil: One of the major problems with our terminology is the way it sets up false tensions – the whole evangelism vs. social justice debate, for example. The idea that these are mutually exclusive practices is simply foreign to the Bible. 

This is where I’m increasingly encouraged in my work with young adults. There’s little awareness of this debate among the younger generation, and very little interest in it when it is described. For them, Jesus was committed to both – calling people to personal faith in him, as well as responding with compassion to the needs he encountered. Perhaps those who find the separation of these things bizarre are demonstrating an evangelical Anabaptist approach without even knowing it.

So what does it look like – practically – to be evangelical Anabaptists? How does our identity contribute to our mission in the world?

Gil: This is a tough question, mainly because it seems to be a rare thing to find a person or community that offers a uniquely evangelical Anabaptist approach to mission. The two “sides” often get played off against each other. Either you’re passionate about winning souls for Christ or you’re interested in meeting physical needs and alleviating suffering.  We’re so prone to filter things through the “left-right” spectrum, we can hardly conceive of the possibilitythere might be other ways of seeing things. To me, mission is one of the crucial areas in which evangelical and Anabaptist perspectives need each other.

Brad: In terms of practical outworking, I think of my friends who are dual citizens. The positive element of any shared identity is always the ease of movement it creates, and the capacity to identify with a multiplicity of cultural environments. For Mennonite Brethren, this means we can be comfortable in both Canadian evangelical as well as global Anabaptist families. 

But neither explains the totality of who we are. A dual citizen has something unique to share with each of their “home” cultures: the gift of perspective. As Mennonite Brethren, this sense of duality, if leveraged properly, could allow us to make a stronger critique of some of our own cultural and historical blind spots. It might also allow us to see more clearly the possibilities for future ministry effectiveness that carry less of the hurts, habits, and hang-ups of both our “home” cultures.  

So, the first call is for a deeper level of self-awareness. If we don’t know who we are, we’ll have difficulty inviting people to join us on a journey of discipleship.

Our churches look so different from each other! Why is that? Is there anything we hold in common? For example, if I visited both Willingdon Church in Vancouver and Lendrum MB Church in Edmonton, I may think they belonged to two separate denominations.

Brad: Because of our unique histories and geographies and leadership influences, each local church will manifest a different element of our evangelical Anabaptist DNA. But this lack of homogeneity isn’t a bad thing. After all, my children certainly don’t look, sound, think, or act alike, even though they’re part of the same family. We’re bound together by a commitment to our values and sense of mission. Part of this commitment involves making time for face-to-face relationships, as well as believing the best about each other.    

Gil: I, too, have noted the incredible diversity that exists among our churches. This diversity begs the question: What actually is it that holds these congregations together? Shared history? The relationships that exist within the denomination? The ministries or programs we collectively support?   

It would be hard to make the case that all MBs rally around the evangelical Anabaptist flag at a theological level. I’m sure there are a number of MBs who value the “creative tension” represented by these two terms – who believe these two ideals need each other in order to correct potential imbalances inherent within the other. 

But in my experience, there are also many MBs who prioritize one of the two terms, while patiently (or impatiently!) tolerating the other. As Brad said, our diversity isn’t a bad thing. But we can’t impose unity where it doesn’t exist. If the goal is unity within diversity, we have to figure out where that unity lies.

Not many other denominations have a dual identity. With that in mind, where have we succeeded and what mistakes have we made?

Brad: We’ve made the common Canadian mistake of defining ourselves but what we are not as opposed to who we are. We’ve drunk deeply from other streams of tradition and practice without critical reflection on the unintended consequences of unfiltered adoption.

We’ve also seen profound benefits! God has allowed us significant witness and mission in many parts of our country, and a voice that can speak with respect on many issues. Here in Langley, for example, MB churches work comfortably with the Salvation Army on issues of homelessness, and with mainline churches on hospital chaplaincy. 

My perception is that many of our MB churches across the country share a sense of partnership with other Christians to reach their city and our nation for Christ.  In Vancouver, our church planting network functions as a key resource and collegial hub for other denominations. In Ontario, some of our new church plants are intentionally interdenominational. 

Perhaps this is our unique strength: our history and experience as “dual citizens” have given us the opportunity to lead with humility, to partner with a gracious spirit, and to resource and support where the Spirit is at work in other parts of the Anabaptist and 
evangelical worlds.    

Gil: The danger of a dual or “blended” identity is that we may lose a sense of connection to what actually produced that identity. And because one half of our identity is the massive entity called (mainly American) evangelicalism, we’re at risk of borrowing so heavily from these influences that the Anabaptist half of our identity gets diluted. Perhaps the old moniker “MB=Mostly Baptist” is closer to the truth than we care to admit. 

As our executive director, Willy Reimer, observed at the recent study conference, we’re sometimes too influenced by north-south relationships and not enough by east-west relationships.  

Despite these challenges, we’ve seen many successes. Our dual identity has definitely pushed us into wider circles of influence than would have been possible otherwise. We’re a community that demonstrates a remarkable ability to form partnerships across the denominational spectrum. This is, no doubt, part of our evangelical heritage since evangelicalism isn’t a denomination, but a coalition focused on cooperative efforts in mission. This has been one of the main benefits of our blended identity – we’ve been forced out of our historical isolationism and into a posture of cooperation with other Christian communities

What Old Tomorrow Can Teach us Today about the Lost Art of Consensus Building

This week I spent an afternoon with a wise friend discussing, amongst other things, leadership styles and principles.  One aspect of our conversation centred around what skill set leaders need in today's cultural climate.  Obviously there's a multiplicity of answers but a few tend to dominate the contemporary conversation: public presence, communication abilities, and the ability to get things done.  

But these have not always been the dominate leadership traits, and perhaps looking to the past might provide some insight on a foudnational skill set for leaders today who work in fractured or volutneer-driven environments: the lost art of consensus building.  

Take, for example, Sir John A. Macdonald.  In 1885, he was bound and determined to see one of his projects, the Canadian Pacific Railway, move forward.  There was only one problem - no one supported him in this dream.  Not his finance minister, not his caucus, not the opposition.  And to make matters worse, CPR president George Stephen came knocking on Ottawa's door again asking for a government bail-out as the incomplete railway teetered towards bankruptcy.  Listen as author Christopher Moore describes the skill set brilliantly executed as the CPR story unfolds:

 

Macdonald knew the stakes. “The day the CPR busts, the government busts the day after,” one of his advisers put it succinctly. The money had to be found. If 1885 were 2012, that would have ended the crisis. Macdonald was the dominating political figure of his day and his re-elected government held a big majority. If Macdonald favoured the bailout, surely all he had to do was put the cheque in the mail. Isn’t that what a stable national majority government leader does?

 Instead, for another six months, Old Tomorrow kept Stephen waiting while the railroad lurched toward bankruptcy. The problem was Macdonald’s caucus and cabinet had deserted him. They could not stomach throwing more money at the railroad. Cabinet colleagues said letting the company fail was better politics than saving it. Backbenchers from the Maritimes and Quebec demanded something in exchange: help for their own pet railroads. His own finance minister, Leonard Tilley, thought the government could scoop up the assets of the bankrupt CPR and finish the job itself. In short, Macdonald led a majority government but lacked the parliamentary votes for a bailout.

Macdonald did not discipline his dissident ministers of 1885. The colossus of Canadian politics did not drive skeptical backbenchers out of politics as a modern leader would. Macdonald lived by the rules of 19th-century Canadian Parliaments: a leader answered to caucus, not the other way round. If a prime minister could not assemble a majority of his own MPs behind him on an issue, he accommodated.

That ability to accommodate certainly contributed to his reputation as Canada’s “nation maker,” as Richard Gwyn brilliantly portrayed him. But perhaps Macdonald’s greatest skill was as a majority maker. In a recent Historica-Dominion Institute project to promote the celebration of “John A. Day,” we suggested that what kept Macdonald at the top during his extraordinary career was rarely the authority of single-minded vision. More often, it was his uncanny ability to pull together majorities in the House when none seemed to exist." (Maclenas, Jan 23, 2012, page 25)

For those in church leadership, this situation will ring all too familiar.  There are boards, councils, deacons and various other volunteer groups to work with and under and for.  There are staff members sometimes with competing visions or strategies who need to be brought towards alignment.  Most contemporary leaders will default to using their positional authority to "get things done".  But not Old Tomorrow (John A's nickname).  He was patient and worked tirelessly at building consensus and helping people move towards alignment and vision through relationships and not coercion.  

And his railway project?  Well, the CPR was left unsure of it's fate until that May.  "Then came the Metis resistance on the South Saskatchewan, and it was the unfinished railroad that rushed troops to the West. Suddenly the CPR could do no wrong. Caucus came around, and the votes were there. The last spike was driven six months later. John A. Macdonald looked like a genius. Again." (ibid).  

What leadership challenge are you facing?  Perhaps rushing towards action instead of taking time to build a strong consensus may win you this battle, but you might loose the war.  Seems like Old Tomorrow just may have a powerful lesson for us still today.  

Do You Exercise Your Idea Muscle?

In 1975, after a year of intensely hard creative work, a young electrical engineer Steven Sasson was ready presented his new invention.  As history tells is "the device was huge, ugly, and took 23 seconds to record an image with a resolution of only 0.01 megapixels.  When Sasson finally showed the  gadget to his bosses, they were dumbfounded. 'Why would anyone ever want to view his or her pictures on TV?' they wondered, as he wrote in a blog post decades later.  Sasson earned a patent for his trouble but otherwise his project was forgotten." (from "I Want to be in Pictures" by Farhad Manjoo, FastCompany, Dec 2011/Jan 2012).  

The device?  You guessed it - a digital camera.  The company that failed to embrace creativity?  You guessed it, the same on that saw it's stock price plummet 60% on a single day in September of this past year: Kodak.  

So what lessons can you and I glean if your New Year's resolution is to become more creative?  Here's a few suggestions:

1. Get comfortable with failure.  Creativity means you are thinking outside the box, which means that the conventional approaches to the issue(s) you are working on changing do not apply.  And uncharted waters are full of jagged rocks.  Take James Dyson as and example (you know, the vacuum guy).  He tried 5,127 prototypes of his bagless vacuum cleaner before succeeding.  That means he "failed" 5,126 times!  If I was him, I would have given up around the 500 mark, which means I would have given up 10 times faster than him.  If you want to be more creative, settle in for a long-ish season of "non-success" and be prepared to hold the line and defend your experiments against the critics.
2. Exercise Your Idea Muscle.  It seems counter-intuitive to link creativity and discipline but listen to the advice of finance columnist James Altucher: Creativity "is not a talent.  It's a learned ability.  The idea muscle, like any other muscle, atrophies in weeks of non-use.  You start ever day with 10 ideas: people I should talk to, businesses I should start, books I should write.  It has to be a solid, doable next step.  You'll come up with nothing but bad ideas for the first month.  Between one and three months, you'll start coming up with good ideas.  After six months, honestly, life should be completely different.  it's not that your ideas are so good.  It's the sheer quantity and the honing of the muscle so you start to know more and more what ones are actionable and good." (Macleans, Jan 9, 2012, p.16-17).
3. Broader Your Horizon.  The challenge with the execs at Kodak is that they saw their world in very narrow terms: they perceived themselves as a film company.  This prevented them from understanding that in more broadly understood terms in the shift towards digital culture, they were actually a well-positioned company that provided pictures and images to people.  If they had been able to realize that (and they still could), they may be able to resurrect themselves from the doldrums of patent trolling.  The take-away here is to think beyond your traditional definitions or constraints.  What would it look like if you thought of yourself not only as a "youth pastor" but as a community advocate?  What would it look like if you thought of yourself not just as a "stay at home mom" but as a person with creative talents and passion to invest in your kids and school?  

Broadening your categories, generating and acting on as many ideas as you can and being increasingly comfortable when most of them bomb can help unleash some new creative ideas that just might change your thinking and your organization in 2012.  even if not organizationally, it might change you personally.  It sure did for Sasson, who ended up being inducted into the Inbventors Hall of Fame in 2011 and recieving a medal of honour from the US President.  It turns out that exercising your little idea muscle just might have the potential to change the world!       

Fat Wallets, No Friends

Christmas is a women's holiday.  There, I said it.  I came to this perhaps illogical conclusion in a strangely back-handed way...  It has nothing to do with whose job it is or isn't to prep for the 25th but rather everything to do with the inordinately high presence of women's Christmas events.  Couple this with the conspicuous absence of anything for us guys and my logic is unassailable (well, OK, almost).  

I'm certainly not complaining or asking for some kind of a craft or caroling night for us guys, I'm simply wondering what it is about the social and communal nature of women's Christmas events that simply doesn't translate well for dudes.  I mean, when was the last time you saw a Christmas event that was specificlaly organzied with men in mind?  

Thomas Joiner, in his book "Lonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success" tells the story of his own father "a successful businessman and family man who committed suicide at age 56.  'My dad had close friendships in early childhood but they faded or failed for whatever reasons...  The problem is not precisely that he lost them, the precise problem is that he did no replenish them - and I believe it killed him, or more accurately led him to kill himself.  His autopsy report should read: male, age 56, cause of suicide: friendlessness.'" (qtd in Macleans, Nov 14, 2011, page 95).

Why this lack of friendship?  Joiner postulates that "men, more than women, focus on attaining wealth and status, neglecting relationships.  'A lucky few can get by on the friendships they made back in the day.  But many can't, and over time, men drift away from friendship and simultaneously earn money and status.  This leaves them puzzled indeed - they spent years achieving money and status, finally got it, and yet they feel lonely and empty.'" (ibid).

The solution?  Get a gang.  "Gangship is essential to men's well being...  Lonely men at home crave a reconstituted gang.  Hence NASCAR and golf, the attraction to and fascination with, for men, represents an attempt to vicariously experience gangship" (ibid).  Another solution Joiner proposes?  An old-fashioned reunion - "it can be as juvenile a time as the guys can muster, and ideally it needs to occur regularly.  The goal of the reunion is to reconnect the man's social connections where they were at their peak" (95).  

So this Christmas, guys, while you spouse is at the ladies Christmas tea, why not pick up the phone and call an old buddy.  Or reach out on Facebook and put a hunting trip together.  Who knows, it just might wave your life. 

Persistence in Prayer

We're currently teaching a series on prayer at Jericho Ridge so I'm specially tuned to stories about the topic.  Here's one I came across in our MB Mission fall magazine "Witness".  It reminds me of the story of the widow in Luke 18 and how prayer knows no geography, doesn't require names (the names in the story have been changed) or direct contact with the object of my supplication - just persistence.

"One of our teams recently visited a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in a remote region.  Elderly people, fearful of their eternal destiny, walk endlessly and turn prayer wheel to 'make merit.'  "Sarah", an MB Mission worker, was approached by "Ani Pema" en elderly Buddhist nun who requested prayer because she was deaf.  Sarah and her husband had been asking God for demonstrations of His power and grace in healing to bear witness to the Gospel.  Sarah touched Ani Pema's ears and asked Jesus to heal he.  Immediately, Ani Pema indicated she could hear!

Soon others came with their illnesses and a long line formed.  For five horus the Spirit of God was poured out in healing power.  The deaf could hear, the blind could see and the lame could walk!  A number of people confessed Jesus as Lord.

That night, when Sarah told the team what had happened, a team member pulled out an old photo of an elderly nun and asked if Sarah had met this woman.  The team member had taken this picture at the same nunnery five years ago and had shown the picture to churches in North America, asking for prayer for her.  The nun in the picture was Ani Pema! 

For five years, our Father God has been collecting prayers on Ani Pema's behalf.  In His wisdom, He decided to pour out His grace and healing power on her." (page 3)

What are you praying for?  Perhaps it's been a long time and you are growing weary.  Consider that someone on the other side of the world, whom you have never met might be standing with you in lifting up your requests to our Father in Heaven.  Being heard and being known to Him, not always getting what we ask for, is the great privilege and reward of persistent prayer.  But sometimes, after 5 (or 15 or 55) years and countless -prayers, God breaks through! 

Some Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. Sometimes it feels like a one-weekend reprieve between the crush of back-to-school and the crass commercialism of Christmas. Its original intent was a day carved out to pause and reflect on the goodness of God and the generosity he demonstrates to us.

But in a society where we’ve increasingly lost touch with our agrarian and spiritual roots, we also seem to have lost some vital thanksgiving rituals that could further assist us in cultivating a harvest of gratitude in our busy lives. 

I grew up in a farming community so, for us, Thanksgiving was a big deal. With hundreds of hectares of wheat, soy, and canola under careful cultivation, and sophisticated machinery to keep the large wheels of modern agri-business running, Thanksgiving was still a very simple and almost archaic celebration.

The men would bring a sheaf of wheat to the front of the church. The women would bring canning and produce of various kinds, and it would all be presented at the altar as a kind of thank offering (Leviticus 7:12–14) for God’s amazing grace and provision. We would sing simple songs and acknowledge that “we plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand.” Bringing in the sheaves was a simple but profound way of saying to the Lord and to the gathered faith community that we are wholly and humbly dependent on him for our daily bread. 

But with most of us living far from our food sources, and with chip-enabled plastic cards automating the transactions that connect us to our daily needs, how do we intentionally  xperience and express this same kind of gratitude? 

How, when, and for what

Some of us give thanks in song. This not only has solid basis in Scripture (Ezra 3:11; Psalm 69:30, 95:2; Jeremiah 30:19; Nehemiah 12:26–47), but also makes it possible for non-farmers to participate. Still others offer prayers of thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1; Philemon 1:4) before meals or extemporaneously in corporate worship.

But there is a curious breadth of Scripture, however, that focuses not only on how we give thanks to the Lord, but also when and for what. It is here that we find thanksgiving can take root and grow in the surprisingly fertile soil of ordinary life. 

We are invited to offer thanks simply when God brings someone to our mind (Philippians 1:3); when we enjoy good food (1 Timothy 4:4); when we witness someone’s faith grow (2 Thessalonians 1:3); when we observe generosity in the lives of others (2 Corinthians 9:11); when someone comes to faith (2 Corinthians 4:15); when we ask something of God (Philippians 4:6); or when a person exercises his or her spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 14:16). There is also a long list of references where the mechanics of thanksgiving are completely subsumed in the rush toward the ultimate object of our thanks and praise: the Lord!

But the real challenge for most of us isn’t spiritual; it’s practical. How do we wring thanksgiving out of the watery messes of everyday floods?

G.K. Chesterton once suggested “the greatest of poems is an inventory,” and Canadian author and farmer Ann Voskamp takes this idea to new heights in her delightful book One Thousand Gifts. In it, she tells of how she was becoming consumed with the challenges of raising six kids, being caught off guard by grief, and missing God’s peace and presence.

Her solution? Make a list. Voskamp began a gratitude journal project, writing down the smallest evidences of God’s grace she could find each day as a way of priming the pump of praise. Eventually, her list reached one thousand items and she’s still going strong.

Voskamp wryly notes that for most of us, “every breath’s a battle between grudgery and gratitude and we must keep thanks on the lips so we can sip from the holy grail of joy.” I’ve started keeping my own list because I realized gratitude is like any spiritual practice – it needs to be repeated in order to take root and grow in a person’s heart and life.

So this Thanksgiving, if you find yourself lost somewhere between grudgery and gratitude, start making a list and see how far it takes you. I’m fairly sure you’ll end up affirming with the psalmist that “the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (100:5).

(Note: This article appears as a "Text Message" in the October 2011 issue of the MB Herald)

Embracing Your Inner Poverty

Asceticism or self-denial has always had an air of spirituality to it.  Whether historical (think the monastic movements) or current philanthropy (think about how you feel when you hear about a rich person giving away their fortune to the needy).  When we deny ourselves, something happens not only mentally and physically but also spiritually (this is why fasting as a spiritual practice can be so helpful).

But what often happens is that when we deny ourselves or give something away or serve the poor, we are doing it to meet a need in our own lives.  we want to feel good about how bad we feel or how much we have sacrificed.  

Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche communities reminds us that the Scriptures promise a blessing to the poor, not to those who pretend to be poor in order to fill a void in their own lives: "Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor, not to those who serve the poor!  I think we can only truly experience the presence of God, meet Jesus, receive the good news, in and through our own poverty, because the kingdom of God belongs to the poor, the poor in spirit, the poor who are crying out for love" (qtd. in Common Prayer, 427).

So at the same time that you are donating to relieve famine on the horn of Africa, ask yourself "where am I impoverished?  Where might my rejection of a poverty of spirit be preventing me from meeting Jesus?"

Stott's Final Book Imparts Wisdom

John Stott, noted Christian theologian, writer and clergyman, passed away yesterday.  Many fine things by have been written by highly distinguished people in the past 24 hours about his life and legacy and so I will only add to this in very humble measure by re-posting the wisdom I personally gleaned from his final book, which I reviewed for the MB Herald in May of 2010. 

The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of our Calling
John Stott
"Final words almost always have a sense of gravitas to them. So when a pastoral theologian, author, and evangelical heavyweight like John Stott says, “I am laying my pen down for the last time,” one pays close attention to the contents, context, and hard-fought wisdom that will most certainly flow from such a fount.

In his final book, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of our Calling, Stott compiles a list of eight characteristics that ought to mark those who follow Jesus. These include some familiar themes from Christ’s life and ministry, such as nonconformity. Stott urges the church that “over against the challenge of pluralism, we are to be a community of truth, standing up for the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Over against the challenge of materialism, we are to be a community of simplicity and pilgrimage. Over against the challenge of relativism, we are to be a community of obedience. Over against the challenge of narcissism, we are to be a community of love.”

Stott is always pastoral and his gathered insights read like a seasoned mentor passing along salient pieces of time-honoured truth to an eager apprentice. As such, this book will find good traction in a broadly-based catechetical kind of audience – post-Alpha is one example of a group with whom its deep simplicity could be wisely appropriated. 

Part of this is driven by Stott’s chief concern for evangelicals and Anabaptists alike: that 21st-century Christians have, on the whole, experienced “growth without depth.” This leads him to list Christlikeness, maturity, simplicity, and dependence among his eight core characteristics.

In some sections, such as the chapter on creation care, he quotes extensively from extant source materials, such that long-time Stott readers will find nothing new here. In other sections, such as the chapter on balance, he does such excellent work at beginning to plumb the depths of how “we are called to both individual discipleship and corporate fellowship” that I would have loved to hear more on the profoundly simple tensions that form Stott’s portrait of normative Christian living. 

Of particular interest and quality, however, is Stott’s final chapter on how Christians are continually called to discover life through death. Only a senior saint with the weight of glory drawing ever close could offer such insight and hope, and support it with such a significant legacy.

As parting thoughts go, this book will be a rich inheritance for the evangelical community for decades to come."

-Brad Sumner