Some Good (and not so good) News on the HIV Botswana Situation

According to the local news, this morning the National AIDS Co-ordinating Agency (NACA) here in Botswana released figures of the latest country-wide survey (which is done every 4 years).

First the not-so-good news:

Despite the noble goal in the Botswana 2016 Vision Statement of wanting no new infections by 2016, the survey showed that in reality, in a population of 2 million, Botswana has approx 10,000 new HIV infections every year!

The overall Prevalence rate has increased from 17.5% to 18.5%, with the rate among women aged 35-39 almost 51%!

Then the good news:

The infection rate among young adults aged 20-29 is going down. (Among 20-24 year olds it is 10 percent down from 12 percent in 2008, and among 25-29 year olds it is 21% down from 26% in 2008)  

Maybe its unrelated but it might be just possible that the Face The Nation Program of Open Baptist Church here in Gaborone that has been having specific HIV prevention programs into the Senior Secondary Schools right across the country (approx 16-19 year olds)  for about 8 years, has been part of the impact. (it includes an annual 3 weeks in every school mid-year and an all-year presence in a few schools). Right now they are in the midst of the annual mid-year program and would value your prayers.

The death rate from AIDS has also decreased due to the availability of free ARV drugs, and this includes many babies that are born HIV free, who would otherwise be infected from birth and usually die as young children.

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1,2,3 Jesus Loves Me - Part 2: Head, Heart, Hands

In the previous post, I mentioned that as humans we find it easy to remember things in '3's', just like teaching my little 'grand-daughter' the rhyme '1, 2, 3 Jesus Loves Me'.

Here is another '3-fold' concept that relates to our honour/shame research that will hopefully help you see some further implications of what we are discovering....

Head, Heart, Hands

This is a threesome that is often linked with ensuring that Biblical Application is complete and thorough.

Jackson Wu recently had something to say about this in his blog and I want to quote what he said:

Every single thing we ever do in our life follows the certain sequence, whether we are talking about getting married or going to the bathroom. Our actions are born out of the same process, one that can never be skipped.

• First, we have a thought or idea (whether it be true, false, conscious, or unconscious).
• Second, we have some sort of heart or volitional response to that idea.
• Third, the head and heart then produce in us an action expressing that idea and want.

That's the way God made us; it's inescapable. Why does this matter? I'll briefly mention a few reasons.

1. If we skip immediately to actions (as if that were the only true meaning of "application"), then we will inevitably have to motivate those actions with something else.

However, that idea in the head or desire in the heart may not be all that pure and holy. Actions that appear godly may in fact be motivated by the ambition to people-please or get some other benefit. Mere external conformity to a standard can hardly be considered the obedience God wills for our lives.

Basically, it is all too common to focus on one kind of the fruit to the neglect of other types (i.e. love, joy, peace, patience,….)

2. What you look for will greatly affect what you find.

If we insist that application is "really" about our hands (rather than head and heart), then we will overlook countless texts with their implied applications for our lives. In other words, we will only obey (apply) a small fragment of the Bible and ignore the rest.  What we look for greatly influences what we find. We need to be aware of this dynamic; otherwise, we will misinterpret and misuse a lot of of Scripture. We will skip major portions of the Bible.

He carries on in his next blog...but the points he makes here are extremely important especially in an honour/shame cultural context.  You see, in that context, the 'what to do' totally consumes a person's mind.  The whole culture is about 'doing' what is acceptable and carefully copying the actions of elders so as to be acceptable.  Asking questions as to 'why' and considering 'how to think' is an almost foreign concept.  So when a person becomes a Christian, and they just begin to 'copy' the church elders or find out 'what to do' to be acceptable, if proper head/heart/hands discipleship isn't taking place, the 'right' actions are performed from very 'wrong' motives. Conforming to an outward pattern is not God's goal for us. Following a ritual without understanding and responding to the reality behind it will ultimately leave us empty, fruitless, dry and victory-less.  (Currently in our home during the week we have a group of young people going through a video series by Charles Price (Living Truth) on this very thing called "Maintaining Spiritual Reality", looking at the book of 1 Samuel....and they are being greatly challenged at the heart-motive and mind-thoughts level - PTL)

We have to remember that behaviour is the fruit not the root!  Just trying to change the fruit will ultimately be unsuccessful. The condition of the roots is what determines the quality of the fruit. The mouth speaks out of the heart, so even if we give the mouth some new words to 'say' for now, sooner or later what has been in the heart will still emerge. (Luke 6:45) It's how we are WIRED - Worldview, values Internally Respected, behaviour Externally Delivered.

His second point is also worth considering in the light of how much of Scripture is profoundly dealing with the concepts of honour and shame, yet those of us in a 'guilt-based' and 'law-emphasis' Western context can all too easily look for the 'rule to obey' and not look any further.  We all too easily totally miss all that Scripture has to say about honour/shame because we aren't even looking for it.  We will never find it if we aren't looking for it.  And we won't look for it, if we have never been awakened to its reality in our lives, let alone the reality of it in relation to the lives of those immersed in an honour/shame culture.

So, join me in the prayer of :  1 - 2 - 3 "Let - Me - See" - clearly rather than through cultural and 'traditional' tinted 'sunglasses'! ....... for we need the Lord to help us to see the fulness of the meaning of His word and how He wants to make us more like Jesus, in thought, motive and action, so that we don't just see external 'behaviour change', but worldview replacement and a total re-orientaion of internal values!

1 2 3, Jesus Loves Me - Part 1: Worldview

I so enjoy having our little 'grand-daughter' around.

Her visit to us with her parents these last weeks has meant she has begun to acquire a little bit more English in her vocabulary.

Since she has just turned '3', I thought that to assist her to count to three in English I would teach her this little rhyme - "1,2,3 Jesus Loves Me".

It got me thinking about learning things in '3's.  Even the words in the rhyme are '3'...Jesus - loves - Me.  

God seems to have given us a special ability to remember things in '3's.  But that should not be so surprising since He is a God who is characterised by the number 3 in his very being, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - He is a 'Tri-nity'.

We have 3 point sermons, and lets not forget that we observe our world in 3 dimensions - length, width, depth and then there are the 3 states of matter - solid, liquid, gas.  

But just in the last few days I have had cause to be reminded of a couple of other '3- fold' concepts in relation to our honour/shame research that I will share over two blog-posts.

The first is:

Worldview, Values, Behaviour.

This is a three step process we talk about in our little brochure about 'Unlocking the Dynamics of Honour/Shame".  The first step to understanding the honour/shame issue and its effect in various cultures, is to understand that every one of us functions on the basis of our worldview - how we view and understand our world.  And different people in different parts of the world have different worldviews.

Jim Plueddemann coined the 3 step process of "Worldview, Internal Values, External Practices" in his book 'Leading Across Cultures" and summarised a worldview by asking if it is :

"to acquire wealth and fame? Is it to please God? Is it to be happy? Is it to live a life of sacrifice for others?"  It is here that we also determine "Is there a God, and if so does he know me and care about me? Is there a heaven and hell? Does the physical world really exist, and if so, is it orderly?  Are people good or bad? Do people have a free will, or is life controlled by the environment?  Do evil spirits and angels exist?  Is there such a thing as absolute truth? These philosophical and theological presuppositions subtly direct all other cultural values..."                          

(p70 "Leading Across Cultures" by Dr Jim Plueddemann)  

It is from our Worldview that we build our life's values and from those we behave in certain ways.  Sometimes we will coloquily say someone acts a certain way because its how they are 'wired' - like wires that connect between the battery power source to a machine.  To create an acronym from WIRED we could say: Worldview-- Internally Respected-- Externally Delivered. Our values are like what we respect and honour as important and thus direct what we 'deliver' to those around us in the form of our behaviour/activity.  Each one of us is 'WIRED' a particular way.

Typically the 'honour/shame' culture around us has a worldview where the elders/ancestors are the mediators to a distant Creator God far removed from humans. The ancestors must be always honoured above all else as they are the guardians of life and success on earth.  Here in our part of Africa there is essentially no concept of heaven and hell - just an 'afterlife' where everyone who dies joins the ancestors unless they did especially evil and despised things in their life and thus become 'evil spirits'.  Essentially the elders/ancestors are the ones who hold and dispense all relevant and 'correct' information for community life and should not be questioned.  This leads to establishing various values within the aspects of life (birth, death, sickness, food production, knowledge acquisition etc) and thus various behaviours are 'required' to carry out those values in the activities of daily community life.

For anyone on this planet called earth, we could say that Behaviour is the fruit and the Worldview is the root.  What we believe to be true, then directs what we treasure and this then determines where and how we wish to toil -  to preserve and promote what we believe....and the cycle continues.

But to take the WIRED analogy, we can be re-WIRED, in Christ!  What a cause for rejoicing!!

As I read the first part of Colossians yet again this morning - this very 3-fold pattern 'hit' me as I read what the Apostle Paul says.....it is a powerful contrast to the above worldview around us, and a wonderful summary of my/our own worldview ....

maybe you can say with me.......

1:   Worldview Colossians 1:15-23: Paul talks about the pre-eminence of Christ by whom and for whom everything was created, that He is the head of the church, firstborn from the dead.  The fulness of God dwells in him, through the blood of his cross we are reconciled because we were alienated, hostile in mind and doing evil deeds. Because of His death we are holy, blameless and above reproach (without shame) before Him.

2:  Values Internally Respected Colossians 1:24-28: suffering is something that can be rejoiced in, personal sacrifice for Christ and His church is good, we are stewards of what God gives us and calls us to do, the Word of God which has now been revealed should be made fully known to everyone by proclaiming the truth, warning and teaching so that people can come to maturity in Christ.

3:  Behaviour Externally Delivered Colossians 1:29:  because of this he is willing to 'toil', struggling with all the energy of Christ that powerfully works in him!

JESUS LOVES ME!

Part 2 follows on next post

The Danger of the Cell Phone drug!

An interesting news items came into my inbox today from the Australian ABC news and it prompted me to think about applying the principles of the commands to Love God and love others in relation to use of our cell phones:

Here's the news story:

*Texting while walking 'like having alcohol on board'*


Doctors and police have raised concerns about the number of pedestrians being hit by vehicles while distracted by their mobile devices.

Trauma director at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, Dr Tony Grabs, has told 7.30 distracted pedestrians near roads are as at risk as someone under the influence of alcohol.

He said as winter sets in and more people are out and about in poor light, he is expecting the number of injured pedestrians to rise.

"You only have to walk out on the street and see what people are doing to see that this is a real problem," Dr Grabs said.

"People need to be aware of the risk - it only takes a split second to be hit by a car.

"It is just like having alcohol on board, you don't realise what is going on around you, so the phone is almost like a drug."

One young student, Ibrahim, a Saudi Arabian national who is studying English in Sydney, knows just how dangerous being zoned out can be.

He was hit by a bus which was travelling at 40 kilometres an hour in Sydney's busy CBD. The impact was so hard, his head smashed the windscreen.

quote

"I was listening to music and walking. I stepped out on the street wearing headphones. After that - accident," he said.

"Maybe if I didn't have the headphones I would have seen the bus."

Fortunately Ibrahim only sustained bruises and no significant damage to his head in the accident.

Dr Grabs, who treated Ibrahim in hospital, said he was extremely lucky with pedestrians wearing headphones, texting or talking risking a serious injury.

"When people get hit by a car it is not a minor injury, you can injure your legs, you can injure your pelvic bones, you can injure your head," he said.

"When you get hit by a larger vehicle such as a bus, sometimes people don't survive."

Call to penalise distracted pedestrians

Police say it is hard to quantify the exact number of pedestrian accidents where a mobile device may have been a causal factor because this sort of information is not automatically recorded at the accident scene.

However, NSW Police's Traffic and Highway Command's Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith has warned pedestrians to stay alert.

"We have certainly got gaps in the way data is collected in crash investigations," he said.

quote

"If you step on the roadway with your mobile phone in your ear, it only takes 30 kilometres an hour by a vehicle, truck or other vehicle on the roadway to make it fatal."

Pedestrian Council of Australia spokesman Harold Scruby wants to see laws changed to make it an offence not to cross the road safely.

"If you are wearing noise cancelling headphones, or ear buds, you can't hear someone yell 'watch out' or a siren or a horn. You are in la-la land," he said.

"It is illegal to drive and text while using a mobile phone, but it is not directly illegal to cross the road while using one of these devices. The only thing the police could get you for is obstructing traffic, or crossing against the green light."


-------------------------

And yes this is a problem here in Botswana as well!

Apart from it possibly becoming a chargeable offence in Australia, for sms-ing or texting or listening to music or talking on the phone while crossing a street, it really is not loving and honouring God or loving and honouring our neighbour......its not loving God to not be taking due care of the body He has given us and its not loving God to not love our neighbour......and its not loving our neighbour when we act in careless ways that are going to cause avoidable damage and grief and trauma to others' lives and property.

I'm sure as we more and more become a generation of 'technology' users there are many other ways in which we need to stop and 'think' about how we should be aware of our self-centredness, selfishness and lack of love for God and others in our use of these little bits of technology.  There are other aspects of cell phone use that could be thought about in this way too.  I am sure we have all had the experience of talking with someone face to face and their cell phone 'bips' to indicate a message has come and the person gets out their phone and starts to press buttons and 'respond' while still 'talking' with you....yes it even happens here in Africa!  

I'd love to hear your experiences and other suggestions as to how we can Honour God and love others better as it relates to the technology of cell/mobile/smart phones.