Some Thoughts on “Super Sunday”
On Sunday, February 5 2012, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots by the score of 21 – 17. The dramatic victory by the Giants came in what has evolved into a significant cultural event for Americans – “the Super Bowl” – where conspicuous commercialism and over indulgence are the real winners. The half-time performance featured Madonna, the so-called “Queen of Pop,” whose performance followed in the footsteps of other rock ’n roll stars from previous Super Bowls. Coincidentally, another notable event took place on the same day: the world’s Muslims remembered the birth of the prophet Muhammad. These two disparate events share a surprising common thread – both Madonna and Muhammad were orphans and each, in their own way, implore us to care for the orphan, recognize the needs of the orphan and work to relieve their pain.
The United Nations defines “Orphan” as a child under the age of 18 who has lost one or both parents. UNICEF estimates that there are over 200 million orphans alive today – what I have come to understand as the silent and scandalous issue of our day. The World Health Organization reports that 26,000 children die daily from the effects of extreme poverty, an annual toll of 10 million. The vast majority of these causalities come from Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC).
Roger Dean Kiser tells us: “It is not the physical pain that endangers orphans the most. It is the mental pain caused by stress from years and years of being neglected, pushed aside, disregarded, unloved and made to feel undeserving. Even more is the lack of unconditional love, the right to be accepted, as a child and to be loved, as a child, no matter what you do.”
Muhammad, aka Muhammad Ibn `Abd Allāh Ibn `Abd al-Muttalib, was born in 570, six months after the death of his father Abdullah. He became fully orphaned at age 6 when his mother, Amina, died. He spent the next two years under the care of his paternal grandfather, Adb al-Muttalib, until his death, whereupon Muhammad came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib.
Madonna, aka, Madonna Louise Veronica Ritchie, lost her mother to breast cancer when she was five years old. Though her father remarried Madonna’s life was dramatically shaped by this tragic event: “There was so much left unsaid, so many untangled and unresolved emotions, of remorse, guilt, loss, anger, confusion. “I saw my mother, looking very beautiful and lying as if she were asleep in an open casket. Then I noticed that my mother's mouth looked funny. It took me some time to realize that it had been sewn up. In that awful moment, I began to understand what I had lost forever. The final image of my mother, at once peaceful yet grotesque, haunts me today also.”
Despite his difficult childhood, Muhammad rose in prominence and established one of the world’s great religions, Islam, which means “peace.” He once said: "‘I and the caretaker of the orphan will enter Paradise together like this,’ raising his forefinger and middle finger jointly, leaving no space in between." (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Sayings of the Prophet)
Despite her difficult childhood, Madonna rose in prominence and is considered one of the greatest entertainers in world history. The woman who was once the object of intense criticism for pushing sexual boundaries and identity has now adopted two orphans from Malawi and established, with Michael Berg, the non-profit organization called Raising Malawi, whose mission statement includes these words: “Since 2006, Raising Malawi has been dedicated to bringing an end to the extreme poverty and hardship endured by Malawi’s one million orphans.”
There are some significant differences between the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These differences have led to centuries of conflict and continue to this very day. But the three religions are in fact siblings, each looking to Abraham as their spiritual ancestor and each united in texts commanding their followers to care for the orphan, as seen in this Christian text: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Creator, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1: 26 – 27)
I believe that the followers of these great religions would do well to team together in order to address the plight of today’s orphans. Doing so would have these results:
- Those who help with orphans will feel their own hearts strangely warmed as they serve the least, the last and the lost.
- The orphans themselves will benefit as loving, caring individuals touch their lives.
- Working together, relationships will be built between Jews, Christians and Muslims that will foster peaceful dialogue and conversations and provide a place for common ground.
Madonna’s halftime show ended with the star disappearing in a cloud of smoke while the words “World Peace” were displayed on the field.
The football game ended with a desperate pass by the Patriot’s – a so-called “Hail Mary” in which the prayers of the Patriots and their fans were focused on a single miracle play that would enable them to seize victory from the jaws of defeat. The New England prayers went unanswered as the final pass fell to the ground just beyond the extended arms of one of its players.
I believe people of faith are faced with a similar critical moment. The orphan, I believe, is our “Hail Mary” and it is my heartfelt prayer that humanity does not “drop the ball” on this important issue but instead we see the challenge and seize upon this defining moment in history.
The Rev. Wayne Lavender, Ph.D., is a professor at the School of Human Development in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and the director of the Foundation 4 Orphans.
A Different Kind of Thanksgiving
I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel all of my life and have now been in 17 foreign nations. My first trip outside of the United States was to England and Ireland following my high school graduation in 1976 – I went as a member of a youth delegation to the World Methodist Council in Dublin, preceded by a week in England visiting sites important to Methodism.
But this is the first year I have been outside of the US on Thanksgiving. It is also the first year that I have been away from my family.
But I am not alone. I have met many wonderful people here in Sulaymaniyah, the city where I am living and teaching. The faculty at the university are well educated, dedicated and diverse. I am greatly enjoying my time with them. So are the students who, like American college students, range in age from 18 – middle age (or beyond depending on our definition of middle age).
Today my new friend Ra’uf treated me to a Kurdish feast complete with Turkey. Although there was no stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams, pumpkin or apple pie – there was still an abundance of food including a plate of special appetizers, 4 kinds of soup, 2 kinds of beans, two kinds of bread, a dish featuring rice from India and another rice from Iraq, 2 wheat based foods and a wonderful dessert. We spoke of family and friends, of history and the future, of life and death. I had a wonderful time and spent the next two hours walking it off around the city.
Thanksgiving is about food – for sure – for Americans. I have read on Facebook already this morning the different preparations many of you are making for the day. It is about turkey and pie, it about family and football, for sure. But it is mostly about giving thanks. Thanks to God who has given us so many things to be thankful for.
I am blessed – blessed with a new job in a foreign nation, blessed with new friends, a wonderful apartment and place to live and an abundance of food. I am blessed with a great family – a wife I love more than I can express, a loving mother who has always been there for me, wonderful siblings, great children and friend whom I adore. God has been very good to me.
The apostle Paul must have felt the same way. In his second letter to the Church at Corinth he described how God has blessed him so that he may in turn bless others. I have not been blessed so that I can hoard it to myself, but that I might freely share it with others. This then allows us to multiply the blessings in an every expanding fashion. I give thanks for the blessings I have been given: and I give thanks that I, in turn, may freely give to others in which I can receive further blessings and help those most in need.
My New Friends and Their Beautiful Mountains
There is an old saying that the Kurds have no friends but the mountains. For centuries this region in central Asia has been subjected to conquering armies and foreign control. The list of foreign occupiers includes the Babylonians, the Greeks (under Alexander the Great), the Romans, the Arabs, the Ottomans and the British. Today, the Kurdish homeland is divided between five nations: Iraq, Iran, Russia, Syria and Turkey. Each of these nations has had a piece of “Kurdistan” since the end of WW I – and each nation has, to different degrees, persecuted the Kurds through these years.
Since arriving in Sulaymaniyah, one of the major cities in the Kurdish region of Iraq, I have heard personal stories of how Saddam Hussein’s regime brutally persecuted these wonderful people. Many Americans know that Saddam gassed his own people, but few know the details of this gruesome attack.
The gas attack took place on March 16, 1988 (now known as Black Friday) in and around the Kurdish city of Halabja –towards the end of the war between Iraq and Iran. Saddam was upset with the Kurdish people, in part, because they had not strongly supported the war with Iran. In preparation for the gas attack, the planes first dropped paper to determine which way the wind was blowing, and then used conventional bombs which had the effect of sending the civilians to their basements for shelter and cover: after the bombs exploded, aircraft and helicopters dropped a combination of deadly gases, including mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX. These gases are heavier than air and hence settled into the lowest locations, like basements, where the people were hiding. An estimated 5,000 persons died from the attack, with many more succumbing in the years since as a direct result of the attacks. There were many other villages that suffered from gas attacks but the attack at Halabia was the worst and is now a symbol and memorial for the others around the nation.
I also learned of a young man who was killed because he sang a Kurdish anthem in school. He was taken by the police that night from his home and executed. To make it worse, the next day soldiers arrived at his family’s home and told the parents they must pay for the bullets that killed their son: if they refused, they too would be executed as enemies of the state. According to the Fact Sheet from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and Bureau of Public Affairs, as many as one million persons are believed to be missing in Iraq as a result of executions, wars and defections, of whom hundreds of thousands are in mass graves and of whom as many as 85 percent are Iraqi Kurds.
Listening to these stories reminds me of the potential for evil within humanity. I realized that the Kurdish story is, in many ways, the story of human history. Although the Kurds have often been the victims of brutal regimes and evil activities, so is the history of humanity’s treatment of humanity. Since the beginning of time history has been written in blood and tears – it continues to this day. War and killing, death and destruction, violence and viciousness tell the story not only of the Kurdish people, specifically, but of history itself. Who has studied world history without learning of Julius Caesar, whose campaigns in Gaul (Spain) were said to be so bloody that rivers of blood flowed from the battle sites, or Charlemagne (Charles the Great) who waged war in Europe for 30 straight years, or Genghis Khan, or Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin . . .
But listening to these same Kurdish people I also see another side of humanity. I have been told how Kurds mourned Saddam’s execution –that even though he was an evil enemy they are, in general, opposed to the death penalty and public execution of anyone. I have heard individual after individual telling me how much they despise war and why they are committed to non-violence and peaceful solutions to international conflict. There is a yearning and hunger for peace here that is profound – and this is the other face of humanity, a face that turns away from war and killing, death and destruction, violence and viciousness and embraces grace and peace, mercy and love. It is the face of peace with justice.
The struggle between these two paths is as old as the mountains themselves. And while I have found the mountains here in Kurdish Iraq to be absolutely beautiful and stunning, it is my hope and my prayer that the Kurdish people will have many more friends than the mountains – that the world’s nations will find in these special people the face of one human family. We are all brothers and sisters after all and must learn to embrace this simple truth as we learn that human caused suffering anywhere is unacceptable.
Salaam Alaikum
The words “Salaam Alaikum” (Peace be upon you) were mingling in my ears with the sung adhān, the traditional Islamic call to prayer, as I walked into a large Mosque in downtown Sulaymaniyah this morning. Salaam Alaikum were the words of welcome I and others said as we greeted each other, while the adhān was being broadcast from the loud speakers high in the minaret (tower) of the Mosque. They each reminded me that I was no longer in Kansas, but headed towards a special experience in my life – my first Islamic worship service within a Muslim nation (I have worshipped at Mosques before but never in the Middle East).
My host was Dr. Ra’uf Kareem Mahmood, Dean of the College of Languages at the University of Human Development where I have been hired as an associate professor (technically I am considered a lecturer by the Department of Higher Education in Iraq but I prefer to think of myself as an associate professor). This morning he was dressed in a traditional Kurdish outfit that I often see being worn around the city that I can best describe via the photo on my Facebook page but it is a one-piece suit from coat to shoes with a wide sash at the waist. Because I had showered prior to the worship service Ra’uf and I walked past the area where others were washing their faces, hands and feet in preparation for worship. We entered into a large, beautifully decorated open sanctuary that probably holds up to 1,000 persons. Arriving just before 12 noon, we took out seat towards the back of the room, surrounded by perhaps 500 other worshippers.
The Imam, a middle-aged man with a Ph.D. in theology, spoke for approximately 30 minutes in Kurdish. I split my time between personal prayer and curiously looking around the room. The Mosque is relatively new and huge – with a great dome and beautiful symbols and artwork on the walls. The Mosque has no chairs – we sat on the floor, and the Imam spoke from a second floor balcony overlooking the great room. (Later Ra’uf told me he spoke of how things have changed since the time of the Prophet Mohammed and how we must learn how to understand the eternal message and truth with current knowledge and information) After the sermon we stood and moved forward until the entire room was filled with men standing shoulder to shoulder in rows stretching from one side of the hall to the other. At the words of the Imam we moved through a series of positions, including standing, bowing and kneeling – forehead and nose on the ground. These positions were repeated twice and the service completed.
On the way out we were re-united with our shoes and Ra’uf and I were greeted by dozens of other worshippers, each wanting to welcome me to their Mosque (even though I am trying to blend in it is apparently not working too well – everyone can tell I am either a European or American at first site and hence they know I am a foreigner). In addition to wanting to welcome me, many were interested to know if I were a Muslim. When I or Ra’uf told them that I am not a Muslim they seemed even happier to welcome me in their midst – thankful that a non-Muslim foreigner would take the time to worship with them.
I can hear the sounds of the adhān calling Muslims to prayer five times per day all over the city, from my room to the school to every place I have traveled. I have witnessed the city virtually stopping all activities today – the day of worship – much as I understand the US once was on Sundays. I am convinced that these people, my new brothers and sisters, know God – and are seeking his will and his peace, in the same general manner as I am. We may walk slightly different paths, but our roads are headed in the same direction – the ultimate route of God that leads towards peace with justice, undeserved grace and forgiveness boundless mercy and unconditional love. I am truly thankful and blessed to have been invited here, and look forward to more experiences like today’s.
A Methodist Minister in Iraq
They say that Istanbul is the meeting ground between East and West. Located on the Bosphorus Strait, it stretches from Europe to Asia ad is the only city in the world that spans two continents. It is one of the largest cities in the world with a population over 13 million persons.
My stay in Istanbul was limited to a 6-hour layover in the airport (circumstances working against a visit to the city included my arrival at 5 PM when the city’s museums and Mosques had closed, a $30 visa, $30 taxi into the city and 40 pounds of carry on luggage I could not leave). I will, Insha’Allah, return to Istanbul in the future and see the city properly.
However, I was fascinated by what I observed in the airport. The Istanbul Airport is one of the largest airports in the world and certainly a modern crossroad of international travel. Within the terminal I saw the American influence at the Burger King, Sbarro’s and Popeye Chicken – but there were also Turkish, Asian and Middle Eastern fares as well that I chose for my lunch / dinner (it was 6 PM in Istanbul when I chose to eat but my internal clock was still on the East Coast time of 11 AM). I had some Turkish pastries, vegetables and fruit and ate at a kiosk with other travelers.
The people in the airport represented many different cultures. I met a man returning to England from the Haj– the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. He told me that his father was from Libya and mother from England: his parents met in England when his father was a student there and now the young man I met works in London as an engineer. I saw many women dressed from head to toe in black – with black gloves and slits so small for their eyes I wondered how they could see – while other women were dressed in contemporary Western clothing. There was a striking young couple – the man in beautiful white clothing, from headgear to foot – the woman in beautiful black robes, from head to foot – walking arm in arm around the airport looking in duty free shops of designer names found on Madison Avenue. Other couples looked like they came from the fashion shows of Paris.
The terminal where my trip connected on to Iraq had departures for Dubai, Tehran, Medina, Bucharest, Odessa and Beirut. I was an interested observer of the differences in people – from racial, language and clothing, that lined up for security checks and then boarding lines for the planes – waiting patiently for the airport officials to do their work so that the flights could arrive and depart.
I saw no arguments – no cross words, no tension or conflict. It occurred to me that “The Airport” is the contemporary meeting ground for travelers, the highway and by-ways of the modern world. I have been in many airports around the world, from Johannesburg to London, Paris, Rome, New York, LA, Moscow and Sao Paulo. I have seen impatient and weary travelers – but I have never seen any fights or overt conflict (well, I have seen folks get upset over missing luggage). Cultures mix at The Airport. People find common language and currency to address their needs. There are many smiles and friendly people trying to help you along the way. It is not a bad place to spend an evening.
I realized that The Airport provides the world with a model for peaceful coexistence where all people – regardless of nationality, race, religion, clothing or gender - can get along side-by-side in peace with each other. What do you think?
There is a Better Way
This was published in 40 different news agencies around the world on September 11th 2011.
By Rev. Wayne Lavender
Virginia Beach, VA - Human history has been written in blood and tears. The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 was simply one more act in a long running play: they kill us. We kill them. Repeat. This is the eternally contemporary drama of human interaction since the time of Cain and Abel.
It is said that one definition for insanity is doing the same activity over and over again but each time expecting different results. However, this we know: the death and destruction caused by war creates a vicious circle that leads to ever increasing levels of violence.
But there is another way: the pathway of peace with justice – where cooperation and collaboration replace competition and conflict. This has been the road less taken. But it is the road we must choose now because continuing to do what we have done in the past – complemented by technological advances in humanity’s ability to kill – will lead to towards a dark and destructive future.
What is the opposite of a terrorist?
No, this is not a joke. It is actually a question I posed to my congregation in the weeks following the attacks of 9-11. I’ve come to the conclusion that the opposite of a terrorist must be a builder. A terrorist, after all, destroys, demolishes and devastates. A builder, on the other hand, innovates, creates and constructs.
A terrorist creates fear: a builder produces hope.
The most effective way to confront terrorism is to build a world of peace with justice. Peace begins when hunger ends. Peace begins when people have access to decent housing, education, access to health care and gainful employment. Peace endures when justice prevails – thus mitigating the anger and despair that often leads to violence.
When I think about what a just world looks like, I consider the next generation, youth and children. An estimated 10 million children die yearly from the effects of extreme poverty; this is an average of 26,000 children per day. In the decade since the attacks of 9/11 approximately 100 million children have died as the result of extreme poverty. This, in fact, is the silent and scandalous terrorism of our day. Distracted by other concerns, persons of faith have neglected the cries of these children.
A recent UN report indicates that there are as many as 200 million orphans alive today – mostly concentrated in the poorer nations of the global south. Alone in the world these children often have no one to love, care and raise them. They contribute more to the death total of children than any other demographic.
How can we address this crisis? Some answers come from our faith traditions. The Abrahamic religions share together a belief in monotheism. We also share multiple references within our sacred texts to care for The Orphan. For instance, in the Hebrew Bible (and Christian Old Testament) we read “do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, “ (Deuteronomy 24:17) and in the Quran “and they give food, in spite of their love for it (or for the love of Him), to the poor, the orphan, and the captive” (76:8). Sadly, we also share in the ability to widely ignore these admonitions.
In my experience, I have learned this: interfaith dialogue is important, but talking is only a starting point. Interfaith work is better. Interfaith work builds relationships, creates networks, fosters trust, breaks down stereotypes and constructs a space for understanding and peace. In the few months since I established the Foundation 4 Orphans (F4O), an interfaith, international Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to supporting the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the Orphan.
I have been blessed by in my work by Jews, Muslims and Christians. I received the first gift for F4O from a Muslim friend and had my first speaking engagement in a synagogue. I have Jewish, Christian and Muslim board members. We have come together as brothers and sisters to accomplish three things: build a world of peace and justice, fulfil our mandated obligations and change the operating paradigm of human history.
We can continue to practice what many Jews, Christians and Muslims have practiced for thousands of years: if you strike me, I will strike you back. This is the eternally contemporary cycle of violence. It is the response the US made following the attack of 9-11. But what has all this war accomplished?
There is a better way. We have the ability and option to forge a new path – a pathway leading towards peace and justice where the obligations to love our neighbor and care for the needy are taken seriously. This is the better way. The decision of which pathway to choose is ours. Let us make this decision wisely.
My Dad and the GPS
My dad seemed to lose his sense of direction as he aged. Not that he was ever a natural pathfinder – I remember several trips with him when we lost his way, but as he grew older I noticed he got turned around more often. To make things worse, after my stepmother died he moved to upstate New York to be near one of my sisters – and was perpetually lost thereafter.
But he developed a coping mechanism. He got a GPS and set his home address into it. Then, returning from church, the grocery, a doctor’s office or just a leisurely drive through the country he would simply push the “home” button and follow the instructions. It was the right solution.
I think sometimes that the Christian Church within the US needs a GPS system to show us the way home. We have lost our way and are adrift in the wilderness. The sad part is that most of us don’t even know we are lost.
This past Sunday I worshipped in a large church with a beautiful stain-glassed window depicting Jesus surrounded by children. The window included the Biblical phrase: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” (Matthew 19:14, NRSV)
But the church has been slow to address the needs of the children in the developing world, where an estimated 10 million continue to die annually from the results of extreme poverty. A recent UN report concluded that there are 200 million orphans alive today – many living on the streets of the towns and cities in which they were born
.
My friend, the Rev. Carolyn Belshe, retired United Methodist pastor and former missionary to Mozambique, has dedicated her life to improving conditions for orphans in the Global South. She speaks harshly of the contemporary Church whose leaders have failed to seriously confront the consumerism and greed so pervasive in our culture. She cites the Biblical story found in Luke of the rich man whose land produced abundantly. Wondering where he could store this bumper crop, he decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones. The story has a sad ending for the rich man (find the full story in Luke 12: 13 – 21) but should serve as a prophetic warning for those of us blessed with an over abundance of wealth.
Carolyn’s primary concern is to help us understand that The Orphan is the prophetic voice of Jesus Christ. A voice crying out in the wilderness, The Orphan can lead the church back home to its mission and purpose. I have learned this fact: when we serve The Orphan – we are the ones blessed. It is as simple as that.
I invite you to join me in this amazing work.
Gotta change hearts....
During the past 6 years I have had the opportunity to speak in front of thousands of persons as the executive director of Passing the Peace. I have shared presentations that have focused around my book (Counting Ants While the Elephants March By) and dissertation (Worldview and Public Policy: From American Exceptionalism to American Empire). I have addressed congregations in church and district events, audiences in academic settings, and professionals at the United States Institute of Peace, the US State Department and Pentagon. Each setting has been unique and I have enjoyed these experiences.
The phenomenon known as “The Tea Party” has highlighted, if nothing else, the difficulty of changing person’s perception of reality. A recent poll indicates that 18 percent of the American public believes that President Barack Obama is a Muslim – while 22 percent of Republicans still believe he was not born in the United States (this is after his long-form birth certificate was released). Members of The Tea Party believe cutting more taxes and cutting social programs and reducing the role and scope of the government can best address the US federal budget deficit. They support unfettered capitalism and market solutions to economic and political issues despite what I see as clear evidence that these policies are ineffective.
I had a wonderful discussion with Daniel Berrigan on this topic several years ago. Berrigan, a Roman Catholic priest and peace activist, told me that debating the morality of war with church members almost always leads to an entrenching of people’s beliefs and understandings. He was quite doubtful about the ability to change people’s minds on this and, by extension, other topics. His solution to this problem was to write and speak from his heart but to decline opportunities to enter into debates or arguments with others. I witnessed him practice this several times: after speaking Dan took questions from members of the audience. When challenged he simply stated what he believed without escalating the discussion. It is a model I have attempted to replicate in my speaking engagements.
But I am more and more convinced that Berrigan is correct. All of the facts and information in the world will not get someone fixed on a particular opinion or position to change his or her mind. We are entrenched with our worldview and little can change them.
But I have witnessed the power of personal transformation – through mission – orientated service projects. I have led 3 Volunteer In Mission trips to Mozambique. Among those I have taken are Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Working with orphans has produced dramatic results in these person’s lives – some going so far as to devote their lives to this issue.
Seeing leads to believing. I don’t know what it is about being in the presence of extreme poverty that transforms us – but I know it is true. I want to change the world – to be more peaceful, just and happy – and now understand the best means in which to accomplish this is through transformation of personal lives. In the coming years I hope to lead hundreds of Americans to the developing world where they will see and have their hearts opened in ways unimaginable. Thus changed, these persons will become involved in service to The Orphan – the most vulnerable group – in turn transforming these children’s lives and enabling them to have access to food, shelter, potable water, health care and education.
This is the path I am taking on my journey to change the world – one step at a time – through personal transformation of Americans and The Orphans.
I SEE you...
"The eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing.
" - Publilius Syrus
Toward the end of the blockbuster movie Avatar the Na’vi named Neytiri says to Jake Sully, “I SEE YOU.” The line, also used in The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, references true sight and insight – the ability to recognize and appreciate more than what the eyes "capture" visually and then convey to our brains. Neytiri SEES Jake in a new way – she sees his genuine character, his soul and understands him in a way not possible before.
The human eye is a miraculous and complex organ enabling us to receive and process information about the world around us. But what we see depends on HOW we look and understand. What have you been seeing recently? What have you been watching? Are you really fully SEEING what I am SEEING?
I SEE a recent UN report indicating that there are approximately 200 million orphans (children under the age of 18 whose parents have died) today – the majority of whom live in the Global South (Central and South America, Sub-Sahara Africa, Asia). Alone in the world without parents or other adults to care and nurture them, a great many of them are homeless, living on the streets of small villages or large cities. Orphans are the largest contributor to the ongoing total of 26,000 children dying daily from the results of extreme poverty (10 million children per year).
To those with eyes to SEE, the needs of The Orphan are great but so are the rewards. The Orphan offers those of us in the developed world a pathway away from consumption, self-absorption and narcissism and places us on the pathway of grace and compassion. SEEING the needs of The Orphan and responding transforms our lives: it is the central key of living. All of the world’s religions are consistent on this issue. We receive when we give, we are blessed when we share, we live when we help others to live.
God has given us the gift of sight – and for those of us who fully use this gift, we also receive the gifts of grace, compassion and service to others. F4O SEES the world of The Orphan. We want to respond - won't you help us?
A God Moment
General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) asked that I come speak to them about my dissertation and research. The groups responded well in that they, as outsiders, see the US as an empire more clearly than those of us living in this nation. We ran out of time and I was surrounded during our break with further questions and comments.
After the presentation was over I joined them at the well-known DC restaurant “Poets and Busboys.” I drove four students to the restaurant and we continued our conversation and became friends.
After dinner, as we were getting back into the car, I overheard one of the women describe the growing number of orphans her nation (Liberia) is experiencing. Her colleague (from Angola) replied that her nation is also overwhelmed with orphans. I told them that one of my primary interests was the plight of orphans in the developing world: it opened a floodgate of emotions and requests. One woman, with tears running down her face, asked me to come to her nation (Uganda) and help provide for the orphans who are suffering there. The others quickly followed suit. Each person present with us at that time requested that I come to his or her nation and help find solutions to the incredible needs of The Orphan.
I experienced this as a God-moment. For the past six months I have been feeling called to continue my peacebuilding ministry through working with orphans in the developing world. The numbers are staggering: a recent UN report indicates that there are an estimated 200 million orphans alive today, mostly concentrated in the Global South. This is the silent and scandalous issue of our day.
I invite you to visit my new website, The Foundation 4 Orphans, at F4O.org , and comment on this and other blogs at blog.f4o.org. I also would like you to consider ways in which you, your community of faith, school or other organizations may become involved in building a world of peace and justice through service to the least and last – today’s orphan, a demographic with no voice, power, leverage, lobbying or interest group to represent them. We have the means, the power and the resources to not only change the status quo for these children, but to change our lives as well.
