Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Merry Christmas!

By Sara:

We want to wish you all a merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior!


And one of the outtake photos...
Caleb did not want to come into the house for the picture (he stays outside all the time) so we had to drag him inside.  And he also didn't like sitting there between us.  At one point he just gave up.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

"Poor Economics" Book Review

By Sara:

Anthony and I recently read a really interesting book about poverty and poverty alleviation called "Poor Economics" by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.  If you are interested in this topic (which you very well may be since you're reading our blog), we definitely want to recommend it to you.

https://makewealthhistory.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/poor-economics.jpg

Even though it is written by economists and sounds like it could be kind of boring, it is actually quite engaging and an easy read.  And not only is it a page-turner, it is also quite informative.  This book is based on a lot of in-depth research about specific people and projects in poor countries.  The authors look at surprising results from poverty alleviation efforts and try to investigate the reasons why some of these efforts work really well and others do not.  They ask questions like: why do really great projects sometimes totally fail?  or: why do poor people sometimes totally reject small, simple changes that would improve their lives?

I liked how they talked about positive and accessible solutions to various problems in the world because when we only focus on the problems, it can be really depressing and keeps us from having hope.  This book is hopeful and gives some concrete examples of how poverty alleviation has been/can be done well.

There were all kinds of fascinating stories and data about health, agriculture, microfinance, and more.  One random thing that I found especially interesting was when they talked about how a lot people in poor countries tend to have the sense that the most effective way to get medicine into their body is through the blood.  As a result, they prefer doctors/clinics that are willing to treat them through giving injections.  I had noticed in Uganda that people were getting injections or were "on drip" very frequently for all sorts of different maladies (whereas in the US, you'd be prescribed pills).  But I never understood why.  It makes much more sense knowing that lots of people perceive the blood as the best way to get treatment into your body quickly.

I also appreciated the emphasis on experimentation and seriously investigating the effects of your programs.  Sometimes organizations just assume that what they are doing is working or improving peoples' lives without actually looking closely at the results.  Like Anthony and I have mentioned before, this is the importance of "overhead costs" in development organizations.  It is important that NGOs can look into the work they are doing, keep accountable with the work on the ground, and check to see whether what they are doing is effective.

So, if you have the chance, we hope you'll go out and read this book!  If you do, we would love to hear your thoughts about it.

Fun Animal Things

By Sara:

Just for fun, here are some animal pictures for your enjoyment.  You may recall that I got some rabbits not too long ago.  I'm still waiting for babies, but I'm sure that's only a matter of time.



Caleb felt jealous that I was giving the rabbits so much attention, so I had to give him some love too.


I brought the rabbits home in a box and they refused to get out of it when I was trying to put them into their hutch, so I just put the box in with them.  Since then, they've enjoyed the box for so many different things.


Eventually, they chewed a hole through the back of the box (an escape route?) and enjoy staying in the box and just sticking their head through the hole to eat.


Finally, I feel very pleased with the accomplishment below.  I built a rabbit tractor so I can put the rabbits out in the grass sometimes.  I think I did a pretty good job and it definitely makes them happy.


And finally, who doesn't want to watch rabbits eating.


Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Christian Music Recommendations Part 3

By Anthony:

Here is part 3 of my Christian music recommendations.  This is the last post on this theme.  See my previous posts for explanation:
Christian Music Recommendations Part 1
Christian Music Recommendations Part 2
  • Phillips, Craig & Dean - Revelation Song.
          
  • Rachael Lampa - Day of Freedom.
      
  • Rebecca St. James - Carry Me High.
      
  • Relient K - For the Moments I Feel Faint.  I love the chorus that says, "Never underestimate my Jesus."
      
  • Revival in Belfast - All for Jesus.  Live recording, one of my favorite albums of worship music.
      
  • Rich Mullins - My Deliverer.
       
  • Sacred Harp Singers - I'm Going Home.  Very unusual Southern Christian music but I love it.  If you listen to other songs, many sound the same.  But I really appreciate this hymn.  Note these lyrics - "Farewell vain world! I'm going home! My savior smiles and bids me come, And I don't care to stay here long!" I realize that this creation is good, though broken, and I look forward to this world being redeemed. I'm not an advocate of the type of Christianity that tries to flee away from the world and just sit around waiting for Heaven. There is work to be done, and we can take part in God's Kingdom work now in this world. That is such a privilege that I enjoy. But at the same time, it's still true what Paul says, "to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This world, as it is, is not our home and we shouldn't get too comfortable in it. It's hard to wait and be patient, when I don't care to stay here long!
      
  • Sara Groves - When the Saints.  I love the building momentum in the second half of the song.
      
  • Sonic Flood - Holiness.  The lyrics are simple but they make for good heartfelt prayer.
      
  • Susan Ashton - You Move Me.
      
  • Take 6 - Amen.
      
  • T-Bone - King of My Life.  This is one of my favorite songs to play at Easter time since the background singers keep saying - "He is Alive."
      
  • Third Day - I've Always Loved You.  This song is a great comfort to me and I play it when I need to be reminded of God's great love.
      
  • Tree63 - Blessed Be Your Name.  When Sara and I got engaged, and then married, this was our theme song.  I believe we played it at our wedding reception.  I'm really not sure why.  But we both liked it.  And after the wedding, as we faced difficulties in marriage (as we all do), this was a great song to have in our minds.  We praise God when it's easy and when it's hard, and God uses tough times to help us grow.
      
  • Vineyard UK - Be the Centre.
      
  • Yolanda Adams - Victory.  This could be one of my top five Christian songs.  It pumps me up, and fills me with joy in Christ.

Talking to Hindus Class Assignment

By Anthony:

For missions and evangelism class, I came up with an interesting assignment and I wasn't sure how it would go, but God blessed it!  I will tell you how in a minute.  Each student individually, or in pairs, had to go and try to talk to a Hindu person in town.  While there are some Indians in Kenya who are Christian, by far the vast majority are Hindu and they are one of the unreached people groups in Kenya.  Unfortunately, there is a very bad relationship between most Kenyans and most Indians, without much mutual respect.  I've seen Indians look down on and treat Ugandans very badly as well.  But like everyone else, they need God's love, they need the Gospel.  Unfortunately, most Christians don't ever bother trying to talk to them (myself included most of the time).  And my students, like most Kenyans, are very afraid to talk to them.

The assignment in summary was that the students had to go find an Indian, a Hindu person, and talk to them.  They could offer to pray for them, or try to share their faith, but most of the students chose the basic option of telling the Indian that they were doing an assignment and needed to learn about their beliefs, about Hinduism.  They talked to people that they happened to be walking by, or people working in shops, and other places.   I told the students to be very gentle, very loving, very humble, and very respectful if the Indians told them they did not wish to discuss.  I know the students followed this instruction carefully.  In the process, they were able to build relationships with Indians, and learn about the beliefs of Hinduism.  This is a picture of the students who did this assignment, even though it is a photo taken during Sara's farming class.


Unfortunately, some of the students' fears were validated.  About half of the students were rejected.  Some students tried to talk to as many as four different Indians, and each time were rejected.  Sometimes it was just that the person was too busy working, but other times people shouted at my students to go away.  One shop owner accused the students of being thieves and threatened to call for security.  But they left so that threat was not carried out.  Another student in a different situation was slapped hard across the face, and he ran out of the place in fear and embarrassment.  But for this student, he was a witness for Christ by not returning violence with violence.  For these students, I thanked them for their courage, and we talked about how the work of mission involves suffering and at times rejection, and that they are following in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul who was also rejected.

But about half the students were not rejected, which is awesome because they expected that all of them would be rejected.  Two students were able to talk to a shopkeeper, after waiting for two hours for him to finish with customers.  They were able to hear about his beliefs, but he also let them share about their Christian faith.  One of these two students was even able to share his testimony, how he used to worship idols, but how now he is a worshiper of Christ.  The Indian man even let them pray for him.  They hope to go back again and keep getting to know him.

Two other students were able to talk to a salesman who was very interested in their Christian faith.  His boss would not allow him to keep talking, but he was so interested that he gave them his email address, and they will continue talking over email.

Another couple of students talked to a different salesman for a long time.  For some reason, he did not want to tell them about his beliefs, but he was very interested in hearing what they believed.  They were able to tell him all about their beliefs and go through the whole Gospel message with him.  He was very attentive, and they hope to go back to talk to him again and keep building the relationship.

My favorite story though, is of another student who alone talked to an Indian man.  My student was working at the time, but the Indian came to the shop and they got to talking.  He allowed my student to make an appointment with him at a hotel for the next day.  They met and talked for a long time and both were able to share their beliefs with one another.  The Indian was suspicious of who gave such an assignment.  He apparently said that he could not imagine it was a Kenyan who gave such an assignment.  He expressed that he was very grateful for such an assignment, and he wished that more Christians and Hindus could come together in love and peace to discuss their different beliefs.  This Indian man also expressed that it's very hard to go against his culture, and that there would be consequences in the family if someone was to become a Christian - they would become rejected and isolated.  My student then shared his personal testimony about how he also previously would put culture first and shared how his tutor (me) helped him to realize how Jesus needs to come first before everything else in his life (see this previous post).  After their talk, the man let the student pray for him.  Incredibly, he even expressed a wish to get together all of his extended family, and have the student come and continue the discussion about Christianity and their Hindu beliefs, with that whole group of family together.  You can please pray about this.  My student is going to try to follow up (he has the man's number), and try to make this happen.  If it works out, I plan to travel to Nairobi and join my student in this if I am welcome, so that he is not alone for it.

Pray for all of these students as they follow-up!  God has used their willingness and courage to make a change.  Even if these Indians don't come to faith, this assignment is building bridges of peace among Kenyans and Indians.  But also pray that God would work in the hearts of these Indians, that they would come to know God's love, and come to know Christ and the salvation that is found only in him!

Again, these are the students you are praying for as they follow-up: