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July 31, 2007
The Parable of the Orchestra
A certain king prepared an orchestra for his son’s wedding, that the orchestra might play a concert to honour his son at the wedding feast.
Everyone was invited to join the orchestra. To each person who accepted the invitation was given an instrument, that they should learn to play in harmony with everyone else.
Some of the players used their instruments every day, practising in preparation for the great day. They began to join with others to practice together, and they started playing in public. Some people laughed at them. But many loved the music. And some said they would come to the concert, and that they too wanted to learn to play.
Other players were too busy, or too afraid of people laughing at them, and so they practiced in secret, but never joined with other musicians to play in public. And so they never got as good as they should, and they never learned to play in harmony with an orchestra. And the people didn’t understand when they said they were musicians, for they never heard the music.
Still others wrapped up their instruments carefully and hid them in the cupboard so that they would not spoil. They were glad they had received the gift from the king, and that they were to be in the orchestra. But when others said they should use their instrument, they got angry. “The instrument is for the king’s feast. It is for his pleasure, not for the pleasure of the people”, they replied. “You think you can earn your place in the king’s orchestra. We cannot earn our place by being good enough – it is given to us. We should keep ourselves for that day.”
On the day of the great feast, the orchestra assembled. But there were those who brought their instrument, still shiny like new, but they were unable to play. And they were covered in shame on that day.
“Did I not freely give you your instrument and a place in my orchestra?” asked the king. “And should you not therefore have used your instrument for others, so that my concert hall might be full, and that a beautiful symphony might be played to honour my son? For it is in playing for others that you would have learned to play for me. But now you cannot play. So what now shall I do with you…?”
Tags: christianity church parables orchestra mission faith kingdom of god
July 29, 2007
Arrival in Burkina
The flight from Air Maroc finally landed 2½ hrs late, at 5am on Thursday.
I stumbled blearily to a nearby taxi and headed off to the SIL guest house to grab an hour’s sleep. There I discovered that the delay on the flight had given someone enough time to break the padlock on one of my cases and rummage through to see if there was anything worth stealing. Fortunately they chose the wrong case. They didn’t seem interested in my socks and underpants.
I should be in Gorom-Gorom by now. But I'm not. I was planning to go straight up there to see how things are going, then come back in 3 days to pick up Pete and Maggie, who are coming out to help with the Kids’ Camp. However, I finally decided that would be silly. If not stupid. I am tired from the last month’s work and from the journey. The road to Gorom is cut off at the moment by flooding from the recent rains. It could take me three days to get there. So have decided to take a break in Ouaga and just wait for Pete and Maggie. I have spoken to Seydou, Pascal, and others in Gorom, and things seem to be going ahead okay.
Changing plans has been less straightforward than expected. No space at SIL or the other guest houses. But kind friends have put me up. Have difficulty with email, but good internet access. And it is an unexpected and needed opportunity for a few days rest.
Nice.
July 26, 2007
Heading back to Burkina Faso
Thank you as ever for your support and prayers. This is just a quick update as I head back out to Burkina Faso tomorrow. It was great to be here, and especially to be best man at Steve and Charlie's wedding. But it feels as though it has been too short a stay this time in the UK. I need over the next year to get into a better rhythm of travel. But I am excited by all that is happening, and looking forward to getting back out there.
Coming Up...
As I head back this time, it is the middle of the rainy season. Here is some of what is coming up in these two months, although the rains of course affect every aspect of life:
- A question of survival. As you know, last year a flood wiped out half the houses in Gorom-Gorom. Many lost everything, with no insurance, of course, and many still have no home rebuilt. The region is also still suffering from the loss of crops following the bad season last year. So good rains are desperately needed this year. Things seem to have started well around Gorom so far. Please pray that they continue.
- A minor inconvenience. Of course, rain makes travel difficult in the area. Apparently Gorom is already cut off, which may cause me problems as I have a lot of travelling to do.
- Kids Camp. The two churches in Gorom-Gorom will be holding a children's camp from the 6-11 August, with support and help from Pete and Maggie from my home church, Glenwood, in Cardiff. We are expecting about 100 kids, of whom about 80 should be from local Muslim families – Fulani, Tamacheq, and Songhai.
- Food Aid. According to Reuters: "A recent OCHA evaluation mission in the Gorom-Gorom commune of Burkina Faso showed that the 6,000 people there would need humanitarian assistance "at least" up to the next harvest in September 2007." Working with the churches in Gorom, we will be doing some more food aid at the most vulnerable time.
- Relationships. I hope to spend time with several of the pastors in the province, as I continue to seek how we can help them fulfil their mission to bring the good news and kingdom of Christ to the region. I will also continue to look at some of their ideas – from wells, to a school, to a youth ministry centre, to a training seminar for pastors, to Aids awareness programmes... - to see if we can help them make any of them reality.
- Visitors. I expect to have a few visitors during this time, from the UK and US. The last visit by Tim and Paul from Glenwood, was excellent. Such visits are encouraging for myself and the Christians here. But also they are wonderful opportunities for the visitors to meet God in a new way, to be inspired by the example of local Christians, and be challenged to re-assess their own priorities within the life of the kingdom of God.
I will try and email – and even write more on my website – when I manage to get access to the internet.
Thank you again for your continued support and prayers.
July 20, 2007
Education Education Education
1. Education and My Website.
I was recently contacted by Taecanet to ask if they can use a page from my website on their "e-learning website". Apparently, my page "has been chosen by an expert subject teacher to illustrate principles which children need to understand to achieve core curriculum objectives." Wow! Bet you never knew my site was so clever, Certainly I didn't. Well, of course, it is only one page among thousands that they will use, but I am thrilled nevertheless.
Taecanet looks really interesting - it uses "safe and secure web based delivery" of material for both Primary and Secondary schools - go and have a look.
Oh, and the page they want to use...? This one.
2. Education and Burkina Faso
At the same time, I am continuing to investigate how we can help support education in Gorom-Gorom. (The photo shows a classroom in a nearby town - looks a bit different to a school in the UK, doesn't it?) I continue to run an education fund, which exists for two main reasons:
- to help put children through primary school who cannot afford to go. The cost of this is about £30/year (see here)
- to give grants to young girls of secondary school age to go away to a Christian college where they can receive a good academic and spiritual education in a protected environment (see here). Young women like this are vulnerable to the sexual advances of local men if they stay at home. The cost of this is about £450/year. "B" has now finished her schooling, and I am committed to putting at least 3 more girls through college currently, including "L", who recently became a Christian.
We are also looking at the possibility of starting a primary school in the region, and I will let you know as things progress. Education is one of the Millenium goals, and a priority in Burkina, where literacy (according to the 2005 UNDP report) is 12.8%.
(If you want to support this education fund, you can send cheques to World Horizons (in the UK or US) for the "Burkina Faso Sahel Education Fund")
3. Education for All.
My good friend Neil Logue has recently started an initiative called "Education for All" that captures the unseen potential of school refurbishment in the UK to help promote education world-wide, while at the same time helping protect the environment.
Items from the schools, instead of going to landfill, are re-furbished and re-used. EFA aims to provide "materials, equipment or knowledge, to enable local UK and overseas developing school communities to build for themselves sustainable schools and learning environments for their future." It is a great vision, and I hope to link up with them somehow.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso education gorom-gorom schools
July 16, 2007
They have so little, but...
Anyone who has spent time in Africa, and has an open heart, has probably said this, usually followed by "they are so generous with what they have", "they are so happy", or "they are rich spiritually".
(Try Googling the phrase "they have so little but" + "africa", and go and read the results.)
The starkness of this realisation is usually accompanied on the return to "home" in Europe or the States, with a sense of dislocation, and of the superficiality of our lives here. It is a constant theme I have heard many times, and yet after a short while, the impact passes as we re-adjust to the busy-ness of life, and it becomes but a poignant memory.
But what was going on there? Was God, in that moment, not giving us a glimpse of something? A hint that maybe life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions, or the success and security that we are striving after? That maybe with our wealth we are actually the under-developed nations of the world socially and spiritually? That by our single-minded pursuit of the goal of economic prosperity, we are destroying community, shutting out God, and reaping social breakdown, with its violence, immorality, isolation, and disfunctionality? That we cannot serve both God and money?
And maybe that God has chosen the poor - that they may be rich in faith and inherit the kingdom? (Ja 2:5)
And, if so, what shall we do about it? Is God maybe calling us to adjust our lifestyles? To swap material wealth for spiritual wealth? To exchange security for a life of faith? To pursue the good of others rather than just our own agenda?
What do you think?
Tags: africa wealth riches poverty faith christianity discipleship
July 09, 2007
Congratulations Steve and Charlie!
My colleague and good friend Steve got married this weekend to the lovely Charlotte, otherwise know as Charlie.
God bless you guys!
