Do missionaries still live in mud huts?

It's a good question.

Yes some may.  But we don't.

Although the photo at the top of our blog depicts mud huts of the Kalahari, and we currently live in a stone house with a thatch roof, up until a couple of years ago we lived in fully cement brick houses with a metal or tile roof.

In this 21st Century where Westernisation has almost permeated every corner of the globe to one degree or another, two factors influence the fact that we don't live in a mud hut.

1. Most locals don't live in mud huts anymore

- many see 'mud huts' as old fashioned and almost shameful.  Most don't understand the benefits of mud walls and thatch roofs for cooling in a hot desert climate.  They just want the prestige of 'modern', and something that doesn't burn down so easily, is easier to keep clean, doesn't need a roof to be replaced so often, and that is more secure.  Even in villages, locals want to upgrade their homes to cement brick walls and metal or tile roofs even if its just a tiny house.  And they want plumbing in their houses, flushing toilets, electricity and satellite TV.

Even out in the Kalahari desert, local folk want to 'upgrade' from a mud-hut to a plastered cement block house.

2. We are essentially missionaries in an urban context

- there has been a huge urban migration in Africa and Botswana is no exception.  More than half Botswana's population live in urban centres and 25% of the population live in the capital city greater area.

Urban context missions might sound quite cushy.  Going to 'darkest Africa to live in a mud hut' was maybe once the picture people had in their minds when they thought of the word 'missionary'.  Living in a 3 bedroom western style home or apartment maybe doesn't have the same 'traditional' idea of how a missionary lives.  

On my 21st birthday some friends gave me a set of pretty doilies for my dressing table with a note that they were so that wherever I ended up in the world I could have something pretty and feminine - even in a mud-hut.  I appreciated their thoughtfulness but they have never been used in mud-hut.

There certainly is a mind-set that has a strong connection between missionaries and rural village contexts, but as the world changes, so does missions.  Whether a person lives in a mud hut and ploughs a field during the day or lives in an inner-city apartment and works in an office all day doesn't determine whether or not they are eligible to hear the gospel or not.

Living in an urban cross-cultural context, doesn't however automatically remove cross-cultural stress or the challenges of living in a 'developing' country.  

Some things to keep in mind:

• Urbanisation also doesn't eliminate traditional beliefs, practices and religion across the country.  Witchdoctors still exist, family honour is still strong and traditional practices and rituals continue as much as possible and cultural taboos are still avoided in most situations.  
• Many locals who live in the urban areas are also only there because of work and don't see the city as 'home' - everyone has a 'home village'.  If you want to really get to know someone, you don't ask where they live...in fact that's a question that will only elicit a confused look.  The two questions to ask are: Where do you stay? and What is your home village?
• There are of course definite influences of urbanisation and effects of exposure to the world outside of the village (through travel and media and education), which mean that some people hang onto traditional ways less strongly than others.  

But with the West pushing the idea of 'don't lose culture' and the local traditions having deep societal roots, under the appearance of westernisation there is still a great deal of tradition. It's just not as obvious.

And that doesn't make it easier - in some ways it makes it harder.  

We can be lulled into a false view of the culture and miss underlying motives and values. 

So what is it like as a 21st Century missionary, particularly in an urban setting, and what should prayer-partners pray for?

In some up-coming blogs I hope to answer such questions.  But for now remember just two things:

1. Missionaries are still normal people with normal joys and normal struggles.

2. Missionaries still do face some unique challenges

And in both areas we value your prayers and support whether we live in a mud hut or not!

Dry and Dusty Deserts = Double Down Time!

Dust!

It's more than just the housewife's constant irritation!

Right now it seems to engulf our living environment.  Last rainy season hardly gave any rain, so the dry dusty season has come earlier and with ferocity!  The city sits in a constant 'dust cloud', which when you are in it, you don't even realise its there....but now living out of the city, as we drive in or out, we can see it as plain as day!

But whether we realise it or not, the dust is there and has its effects.

It doesn't help that the local practice is to pull out every blade of grass in one's yard and then 'sweep' it every morning which further stirs up the dust. Dust is further increased in winter with smoke from fires as people attempt to get warm at night.

Dust is such a minute substance that, apart from it being a nuisance and irritating our nasal passages, can do immense and costly damage!

Desert - or edge of desert - living, can create some challenges.

*A few weeks back we noticed our solar hot water system didn't seem to be heating properly - the water wasn't very hot at all.  Then we remembered, it had been a while since we washed down the panel - it was covered in a very thick blanket of dust/dirt which was doing a great job of insulation!  After the wash down the water is piping hot again.

*Last week we also had a problem getting the car key into the ignition.  The mechanic eventually squirted 10 squirts of lubricant into it to get it workable again - he said 'its just the dust'!.

*We have just had spent a week with the drivers door of our vehicle jammed shut - primarily due to dust!  And just yesterday, another car owner was telling us of a similar problem with a car door.  Dust and grit just get in through every possible minute crack and can become an abrasive or totally jam up a whole mechanical system!

Dust gets into everything!  But in a desert, the dust is gritty and sandy.....and there's lots and lots and lots of it!

Our sudden car door problem at first quote was going to cost $1200 to fix because a whole new mechanism was required - $1200 we don't have 'spare' in our budget.  

We are very thankful for a  great mechanic who went on a search for one at a wreckers yard somewhere....and Praise the Lord he found one that did actually match our car, for close to a quarter of the cost of the original quote.  That little almost invisible substance called dust, can throw a budget into complete chaos!

Most of the world's consumables are made for an average level of humidity and not high dust levels.  The environment of Japan or Singapore or Korea, where most cars come from, is not exactly the same as the Kalahari Desert!

We are reminded once again about the issues of living in or on the edge of a desert.  

The air is dry and the air is dusty.  

Dry means everything dries out - including plastics and rubber.  Rubber seals dry, shrink and crack.  Plastics actually do the same.  We don't tend to realise, but we have learnt that plastic does need some level of moisture for it to last.  In the dryness of the desert it becomes brittle and breaks, or simply disintegrates.

And for cars, add that to often poor road conditions - potholes, gravel, and sand - and cars take a battering.

And of course the older the car, the drier they have become and the more dust has slithered in through the cracks - so our 20 year old vehicle is not on the 'healthy' end of the scale of vehicle 'dry and dust' resistance!

Many years ago, during the 'Desert Storm' war in the Middle East, I remember reading that the British were saying their helicopters were having double the normal 'down time' for repairs etc simply because of the hot, dry, dusty environment.

Double 'down time' or vehicles and machinery needing repair twice as often also means maintenance costs are going to be twice what they would be in the average environment.

I found these paragraphs below on the Global Security website about the problems for military in Desert contexts and what was learnt from the time in Saudi Arabia.  It certainly confirms our experience...(except although we have to clean and change filters more often we don't tend to clean them every day - but then again we are at the 'edge' of the desert as opposed to right in the middle I suppose)......

.... just so you don't think we've made it all up!!.....

" Dust, sand, rough terrain, and temperature extremes cause an estimated 50 percent increase in repair parts required to support a combat unit. In general, parts subject to friction fail with greater frequency in the desert than under U.S. or European conditions. In this category are practically all engine parts, brake shoes, upper and lower control bushings, wheel bearings, and carburetors. Carburetor failure can be forestalled by preventive maintenance. Vehicles parked for long periods in the sun tend to sustain damage to exposed plastic and rubberlike dashboard tops, wipers, and trim. Rubber seals are prone to dry rot. A combination of heat and dryness makes plastic parts in the engine compartment particularly susceptible to breakage.
LESSON(S) LEARNED: Mechanics will need additional stocks of friction-bearing parts, plastic and rubber parts, and rubber seals. Also, cracking and breaking of cast metal parts is common due to constant excessive vibration during operations."

&

" Air, fuel, and oil filters require daily servicing in the desert. Ambient air that appears clean is actually laden with fine dust, even on a clear day. Replacement of all filters must be on a more frequent basis than recommended. Close attention to filters pays in fewer maintenance problems. It is not uncommon for an air filter to become completely useless in 3 days even with daily or more often cleaning."
LESSON(S) LEARNED: Greater numbers of filters of all types should be stocked for use in desert operations."

&

 "Oil should be changed about twice as often as recommended, not only because grit accumulates in the oil pan, but also because uncombusted low-octane fuel seeps down the cylinder walls and dilutes the reservoir.
Diluted oil lubricates and cools less effectively and evaporates at high temperatures generated during engine operation, necessitating more frequent topping up. High-grade 20W-50 oil has served well in desert conditions.
LESSON(S) LEARNED: Oil changes and lubrication of undercarriage points at more frequent intervals will prolong engine and vehicle life under desert conditions."

*******I shouldn't neglect to say that there are a couple of very definite positives about living in a dry environment 
1. the shower has almost no problems with mold build-up!!!
 and
 2. I can get perfect dried roses where the colours remain quite vibrant, so any roses my hubby buys me I get to enjoy for many months afterwards!!!

Developing vs Disintegrating!

African nations are often categorised as 'developing' nations.

So does the West exemplify the 'developed' nations?  Maybe we should instead categorise the West as 'disintegrating'!....or maybe even 'self-destructing'!

'Developing' is a bit of an ambiguous word in many ways anyhow - after all, into what is Africa supposed to be developing?  

I sincerely hope Africa doesn't want to develop into what the West is becoming.

I think of the image of a water-slide, where it is easy to slide down with gathering momentum, but getting back up to the starting platform takes the hard slow slog of climbing the stairs one by one.

Africa is trying hard to climb the stairs to get to the levels of success that it saw the West having....meanwhile the West is sliding down at a speed and momentum that is hard to even keep up with!

And sadly the slide is not down into refreshing water.....the West are propelling themselves further toward a mirage! 

And the reality once they get to the logical end is not even an empty dry desert, but a slimy, poisonous, foul sewer.

Not only is it only a couple of weeks since the USA Supreme Court decided to redefine marriage to include same-sex marriage but.....

In the last 48 hours a video was released as the culmination of an undercover investigation, revealing that the organisation Planned Parenthood in the USA has been participating in selling aborted fetuses or parts of a fetus, specifically teaching abortion doctors how to avoid damaging certain body parts such as the liver, heart and head when they kill the unborn baby in the womb!

On the other hand, also in the last 48hours I learnt that the UN has just passed a resolution that re-affirms the importance of the traditional family.  But that resolution didn't pass because the West voted for it, but because Africa and other nations did.  The USA and various other Western nations actually opposed it!!!

President Obama is soon to visit Kenya, but Kenyan leaders have warned Obama not to raise the issue of same-sex marriage during his visit.  Christianity Today magazine reported that Kenyan church leaders have very strongly come out to clearly state that as Africans and as Christians they are totally opposed to such a thing.

Many Africans are not happy about the USA Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage.

Once upon a time the West called Africa the 'dark continent' and called people here 'savages' or 'heathen'.  I think Africa just about has the right to now call the West 'heathen' and 'savages' don't you?

But although it is Christian Africans who are standing boldly on God's truth about marriage, African culture also takes a strong stand against homosexuality.  Why?

Because it halts procreation and the ability for humanity to continue on. 

And in the African context it disables your tribe from continuing on, which would be the ultimate dishonouring of the elders, ancestors, tribe, family and life itself.

As one African spokesman in the article mentioned above said, if two men are the only ones on a deserted island, no children will result.  It's as simple as that.

Although it might be a mis-placed honour toward cultural elders and one's earthly tribe, that drives some of their intense reaction, it is a better reflection of the mandate God gave Adam and Eve to 'multiply and fill the earth' than what the West is now promoting, both in most parts of secular society and in many areas of 'church' society.

The West (whether it be the secular area or the church) is flying in the face of one of the only two commandments God gave Adam and Eve in Genesis.  There is a blatant disregard for the laws of God and his commands and total disregard for God Himself as the giver of those laws.

Only two commands were given in Genesis to Adam and Eve - one positive 'do' and one negative 'do not'. 

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over [it], was the 'do' command. -  Genesis 1:28

Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was the 'do not' command. - Genesis 2:17

They disobeyed the one 'do not'.  

We might point the finger at Adam and Eve and say 'how could they have done what they did and put the whole human race under the curse of sin?'

But we are now disobeying the only other command given - if anything this is a very clear example of no reason to blame Adam and Eve for their choice to dishonour the Creator's rulership and disobey his command.  We are doing the same.

Here the West is openly and speedily going further and further from this one positive command - the USA (and many other Western nations) is not only further condoning and promoting relationships that don't have any possibility of procreation, but they are also killing thousands and thousands - millions - of unborn children.  And as if  that isn't bad enough, they are now trying to go even further into the sewer of sin, by trafficking the body parts!!

Pray with us that those in Africa will be bold enough to stay strong in standing up to the bullying and ever worsening example of the West, and press on in their efforts to climb step by step.....but that the climb won't just be to 'be like the west', but to develop into the nations, tribes, families and people who God wants them to be.

Pray that Africa will not seek to gain their honour first on an earthly scale in the eyes of other nations, but will come to know the honour God wants to give them if they will give Him the Highest Honour above all.

Underlying Worldviews

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said

 "changing position on China's claims to the South China Sea

 would shame the country's ancestors, 

while not facing up to infringements of Chinese sovereignty there 

would shame its children."

(see this link for background to the comment related to China building a 3km airstrip on a new man-made island in the South China Sea)

As we develop the "HITES of Success" course for workplaces, helping them to identify and overcome and optimise honour/shame vs guilt/innocence intercultural dynamics, one of the issues we are including is that of identifying the various influences in a 21st Century predominantly honour/shame culture.

While such a culture may have a dominance of honour/shame mindset values, the Western guilt/innocence/individualistic way of thinking has so pervaded the world's business sector, that at first glance this sector 'appears' to function similarly world over.

However, below an appearance of world-wide consistency in Western business principles, is a cultural worldview - a mind-set - a perspective, which is most times vastly different and often directly opposing the Western business practice seen on the surface.

Westerners can be lulled into thinking that all the world is really just like it, except for a few 'minor' differences - especially in the modern cities or among the rich and educated.  But what might be assumed to be 'minor' differences can suddenly become 'major' issues when they emerge.

I couldn't help but notice this very problem not only with the airstrip China is building in the South China Sea but also, when I read a recent news bulletin about a group of tourists who climbed a Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia and posted their group photo on facebook.

The headline stated:

Malaysia arrests nudist foreigner for urinating on Mount Kinabalu before quake

A little further down the article I read:

"In the wake of the disaster, Malaysian social media users and some Sabah officials have focused on the nudists, suggesting their actions angered the spirits and led to the earthquake.

People commented on the photos with scathing comments, and even death threats.
"This will certainly bring misfortune... we can't play with the spirit of the sacred mountain," deputy state chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan had told reporters."

This is not a comment by someone still living deep in an isolated jungle somewhere, it was made by a high ranking politician.

The situation is not so different across Africa.

We must recognise that external behaviour does not constitute a worldview change at heart level. 

It is worldview which ultimately has the greatest authority in a person's life.  

Whether missionaries, international business or tourists, we have to realise the dynamics which are at work in the country we enter.

This situation in Malaysia came down to a belief that the 'spirits' were not honoured in the way they should be, and that if the 'spirits' (ie ancestors) are dishonoured there are nasty consequences.

The honour of the ancestors was of utmost importance. 

 The slopes of Kinabalu are the home of the hill tribes of Kadazan Dusun who believe the mountain to be the resting place for spirits of their ancestors and therefore remains sacred to them. Earlier attempts to climb the mountain had been forbidden, as to do so would have disturbed these spirits and incurred their wrath.

   It was only in 1851 that Sir Hugh Low led an expedition up the mountain. A compromise with the locals was reached and a sacrifice to appease the spirits was made at the halfway point. This spot was named Panar Laban, a Dusun word meaning 'Place of Sacrifice'. The local guide sacrificed a white cockerel and seven eggs to appease the mountain spirits and is perform annually to this day The name 'Kinabalu' is derived from the Kadazan Dusun words 'Aki Nabalu' - where 'Aki' literally means 'ancestor' and 'nabalu' is the word for 'mountain' - thus, the sacred resting place of the ancestral spirits

The fear of what happens if the 'spirits' are dishonoured, is what ultimately guides a person's reasoning.  Appeasing/honouring the ancestors is of highest priority.  And if foreigners ignore, disregard, dishonour or disrespect such beliefs, there are bound to be consequences that come from local people. Another on-line article about the event quoted a local authority: "They (the tourists) have no respect for local beliefs.  It is only appropriate they be punished for disrespecting and breaking local native laws".

"They (the tourists) have no respect for local beliefs. It is only appropriate they be punished for disrespecting  and breaking local native laws." - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tourists-who-allegedly-angered-mt-kinabalu-spirits-to-be-charged-in-sabah-n#sthash.NvVtWHNv.dpuf

"They (the tourists) have no respect for local beliefs. It is only appropriate they be punished for disrespecting  and breaking local native laws." - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tourists-who-allegedly-angered-mt-kinabalu-spirits-to-be-charged-in-sabah-n#sthash.NvVtWHNv.dpuf

Despite a degree of 'Westernisation' on one level, there is much below the surface that is very 'non-Western'.

Whether its a modern looking tourist resort or a Western looking business/building or a church in Africa using microphones and keyboards, the 'Western' appearances don't automatically mean there is a worldview change occurring.

And....its the worldview through which even those in the church 'hear' and interpret the gospel.

Or as David J Hesselgrave puts it in his article on Worldview and Contextualisation from the "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" (1992/C-45)

 "From a communication point of view it is imperative that we analyze the worldview of our respondent cultures.  It is in the context of these worldviews that our message will be decoded and evaluated."  

One of our main goals in ministry is to help both locals as well as international missionaries and business people realise that its 'worldview' and 'internal values' that are the most important, and will be what emerges in 'crunch' situations.  Helping folk to understand what a worldview is and how internal values are developed, lays a foundation for also helping them to understand that behaviour only truly changes when worldviews change.

Who it is, that a person believes deserves highest honour, has wide ranging impact!

Wordwatch - Blessing

Living cross-culturally in an African context where English is widely used, has granted me many opportunities to hear English words used in some rather interesting and often humorous ways.  But it has also further fueled my desire to see words used accurately.

Words and word accuracy in communication has been something that has interested me for some time.

Some years ago the Aussie ABC TV had a program called 'Can We Help?'. It was full of segments that just answered people's questions.  One segment featured Professor Kate Burridge answering questions people would write in about the meanings or history of various words.  I very much looked forward to downloading the show each week, and in particular watching that segment.

When words are not used accurately, mis-understanding can too easily occur, truth can be obscured or prevented, and life can be a great deal more complicated.

When it comes to biblical words, biblical truth can be at stake.  If people mis-understand meanings of words there can be wrong doctrine promulgated, and Christians can be cheated of the fulness of truth impacting their lives.

One of the ways biblical words can become obscured in their meaning is simply because they become abstract terms - terms we use in speech because its popular to do so, or it sounds spiritual, or our favourite preacher uses it and we consciously or subconsciously copy.

From time to time in future blogs, I might take a look at various words which my cross-cultural setting has highlighted as 'words to watch' in how we use them - both so we don't miss out on the fullness of meaning intended, but also so we don't pass onto others an incomplete, warped or even false understanding of a word.

The first word I want to highlight is

  BLESSING

This is such a common word in our Christian vocabulary, but it has become so common that much of the usage I hear is almost meaningless. It has almost become 'the thing to say', and not much more.  We say 'bless you' when someone sneezes, we talk about blessing the food before we eat, we might sign off a letter or farewell a friend with 'God bless', or we comment saying 'what a blessing you are'.

But it is a word rich in meaning,

The Word...

'Blessing' is really a word associated with honour.

Although I'm no Hebrew or Greek scholar, from what I understand, Biblically the Hebrew word is 'barak' and the Greek word is 'eulogeo'.  It's where we get the English word 'eulogy' - that story we tell of a person's life at their funeral that tends to say a great deal about the good things a person did and conveniently ignores any negatives we might know about the person.

The word is made up from two words - 'eu' meaning 'well' and logos meaning 'word'.   So it really means to 'speak a good word'. ie to praise someone and even show thankfulness/appreciation

That is why in Matthew 25:36 some bible translations use the word 'blessed' and some say 'gave thanks' in relation to the bread and fish, before Jesus fed the 5000 people.

In Matthew 5 what is translated in English as 'blessed' is the word makarios in Greek incorporating the root 'mak' meaning 'become large'.  KC Hanson has said these 'makarisms' could be translated 'how honourable' or as David deSilva suggests in his book 'The Hope of Glory', 'how favoured'.

Examples in Scripture

Scripture is full of the word 'bless' or 'blessing' or 'blessed'.  

God told Abraham He would make him a blessing (Gen 12:1-2)

Jacob fought with the Angel of the Lord until He blessed him. (Gen 32:26)

King David sang in the Psalms 'Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name' (Ps 103)

Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount - 'Blessed are.....' (Matt 5:1-11)

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the people shouted 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'. (Matt 21:9)

With each of the examples above, the word 'blessed' can be seen to mean 'honoured'.

Replacing the Mis-placed

Inevitably meanings of words in common language don't remain static - the meanings slowly change with the times.  But the words in God's Word have intended meanings that do not change.  We must ever be careful that as meanings in our common language change that we don't take biblical word meanings along with them.  We must attach words in our language to biblical meanings and not attach biblical meanings to words in our language.  We must be constantly aware of the need to re-look at word meanings and we many find we either need a new word in our language to accurately translate a biblical word so as to maintain a right meaning.  We may also find that we need to take the time to re-define a biblical word so as to prevent a biblical word being interpreted through the lens of cultural meaning.

The word 'blessing' is no exception.

Here in my corner of Africa, a 'blessing' often has almost a mystical or magical connotation, particularly in regard to food.

I have observed that generally for Christians/church goers it is extremely important to make sure the food is 'blessed' before they eat it.  That might sound innocent enough.  You might think as I once did that it was just their way of saying that they want to make sure they don't forget to be thankful for the food.

However, I learnt it was more than that.  They believed that you had to say the 'blessing' to ensure that the food would be safe to eat and would not harm you.  It is seen as the spiritual antidote to any 'curse' that might be in the food or on the food from evil spiritual forces.  It is understood that if the 'blessing' is not said, then the curse could still have effect and people could get sick and die.

This might sound crazy, but when you live here and know how many people get sick after village gatherings where food is served, you understand where they are coming from.  'Runny tummy' is very common after eating food at funerals and village ceremonies.  Local folk have very strong beliefs that people are often poisoned at such gatherings, and such beliefs are only further entrenched when further family members die after a funeral.  One such situation immediately comes to mind of two brothers who died following their other brother's funeral.  (A lady we know was married to one of the two brothers who died).

It is important to help people to understand that when Jesus prayed before feeding the 5000 he was not doing some 'magic ritual', but simply honouring His Father who provided the food and thanking Him/praising Him for His provision to feed hungry people.  Giving thanks before a meal is not a magic incantation to neutralise evil curses, but giving God the honour He deserves for being Jehovah-Jirah, our provider.

BUT before you point the finger toward Africa for thinking such thoughts about the meaning of 'blessing',  let's take a look at Wikipedia says about saying 'bless you' when someone sneezes.

The practice of blessing someone who sneezes, dating as far back as at least AD 77, however, is far older than most specific explanations can account for.^[9] Some have offered an explanation suggesting that people once held the folk belief that a person's soul could be thrown from their body when they sneezed,^[9] that sneezing otherwise opened the body to invasion by the Devil or evil spirits,^[10][11] or that sneezing was the body's effort to force out an invading evil presence.^[9] In these cases, "God bless you" or "bless you" is used as a sort of shield against evil......

National Geographic reports that during the plague of AD 590, "Pope Gregory I ordered unceasing prayer for divine intercession. Part of his command was that anyone sneezing be blessed immediately ("God bless you"), since sneezing was often the first sign that someone was falling ill with the plague."^[7] By AD 750, it became customary to say "God bless you" as a response to one sneezing.^[8]

Interestingly the following comment was submitted to the guardian.co.uk about sneezing and blessing -

IT WAS believed that sneezing was the way for the body to rid itself of the devil's evil influences. The act of blessing a person subsequent to a sneeze was meant to act as a safeguard against the devil's evil influences returning. However, if the sneezer should thank the blesser for the blessing it was thought to invite the devil with all his evil influences to re-enter the body.

This fits in with the fact that 'blessing' and 'being thankful' are similar concepts - to thank someone was believed to be giving back the blessing/honour to the devil.

The practice of saying 'bless you' has become to a great degree in Western English, an automatic response of 'just what you do' when someone sneezes, or an abstract term of courtesy, but is maybe still a term we need to think about before we use it. 

So when we 'bless the Lord', we are simply honouring Him, praising Him and giving Him the thanks He deserves.  When we say someone is a blessing to us, we might be thinking of them as a 'help', but the root meaning is that they have honoured us with their time and energy.  Thanking them for that is then 'blessing' them in return.

When Scripture says 'blessed are the peacemakers' etc, it is saying that peacemaking is an honourable activity according to God's standard of honour.

When God's word says to bless those who curse you, it simply means we are meant to still treat others with honour and love even if they do the opposite to us.

So....

Are you living so as to be eligible for God's blessing in your life?

Is your life one that blesses the name of the Lord?

Are you being a channel of God's blessing and bringing blessing to others?

Funerals - with a difference.

Death is something that evades none of us, no matter what country or culture we are from.

We were reminded again these past weeks of local traditions surrounding death and funerals when a old lady who lived on the same property as ourselves, died.
(she was originally from South Africa, came here in the 60s, became a citizen and had no family but had endeared herself to many locals over many years) 

We thought you might be interested to read of some of the ways death is dealt with here........

A few days before last Christmas the dad of a friend of ours also died.

The lady was buried in our local village graveyard, our friend's dad (of Scottish heritage) wanted to be cremated.

Village burial required several guys with shovels to dig the grave the day before the funeral. Then as part of the graveside proceedings some guys again shovel the dirt back in, as everyone sings - till its done.  The interesting thing about this process is that often when the coffin is lowered, they discover the hole isn't big enough so the coffin has to be raised again while the diggers do more digging and the coffin-lowering process resumes - and everyone keeps singing as they dig.

 The only crematorium in Botswana is not in the capital city, so if you don't want to pay extra costs for body transportation you have to approach the local Hindu society who are the only ones in the Capital city who have a cremation facility.....but its open air funeral-pyre style.

In the village there aren't 'headstones' or plaques for the grave but 'covers' - welded steel framed structures that look like little houses that have shadecloth draped over them.  The deceased person's name and date of birth and death are done by creating the letters and numbers out of steel.  The 'covers' are meant to be 'shades' so that the deceased person doesn't get too hot - a sign of honouring the dead person.  (before we think that is a bit crazy - we should think about Western 'old times' where people were buried under trees??)  This is very much a local practice and the Mozambiquan welder who was asked to do the 'grave piece' didn't know about 'shades' and made a 'headstone' style steel structure...and then had to remake it!

For cremation Hindu-style, a family member has to light the funeral-pyre and clean up the out-door space afterwards.  They take the bones and ashes home if they don't want them put into the Hindu cemetery.  Our friend still has the bones and ashes awaiting a time he can drive to CapeTown to spread the ashes in the sea as he wants to do.  He still hasn't worked out what to do about the bones.

For the village funeral, the ceremony starts at 6am normally on the Saturday morning.  (if a Memorial service occurs in addition it will have maybe been the day before). Many will have the body laid out all night for viewing the night before.  For an hour each evening of the previous week there will have been what they call 'prayers' at the deceased's house (which is normally more like a mini church service - singing, prayer for the family and a Pastor will preach a short sermon and then everyone stays to eat snacks and one by one visit with the bereaved family who will be quietly sitting in the house).

For the cremation the Hindu society prepare the body and funeral pyre - the deceased's family just have to supply a few requirements of wrapping cloth and oil etc. The guests sit under a lean-to awning to watch the cremation.

For the village funeral, after the graveside part, all the guests come back to the deceased's family home (through a gate at which there is a bowl of water to 'cleanse' from death so as not to bring it back to the house after the body has been buried), and to eat a feast provided by the deceased's family - they do the preparation and have to cover the costs.  The cooking traditionally happens all night the night before - the ladies cook the maize-meal and the men cook the meat in large 3-legged cast iron pots over open fires.  I once explained to the lady who helps with our house chores about how in Australia the family don't pay for all that or do all the work, instead the friends, extended relatives and church family do the work and provide the food.  Her comment was that was a good idea but it would never happen in Botswana as the family would be too fearful that someone could put poison in the food.  Again that might seem a strange fear but its there because of real experiences - people feel there is high 'risk ' of others dying after funerals.....sometimes the locals feel the others are too much 'specific others'!

For our friend's dad, there was the option of having a few friends go back to the house after but the time and day was such that most of them had to get back to work.  It was also two days before Christmas and many folk had already left for holidays so it was decided to postpone such an even to a more suitable time....which hasn't happened as yet.

Death - however it is dealt with, its never a 'nice' thing.  It signifies decay, separation, the end of what our eyes see as life. It wrenches apart physical connection to love.

In the West death has become a very clinical - dealt with at a distance separate of 'normal life' and the home. Most people in the West die in hospital or a hospice and are then transported to a funeral home and then to the place of the funeral and cemetery.  We often don't experience family members slowly dying at home, we don't have body viewings, we don't dig the graves ourselves and we don't light the cremation fires ourselves or stay to watch the body burn.  We have become detached from the raw realities of death.  Even here now, especially in the cities, the families don't prepare the body for burial,....its done by a funeral company.   I am actually very glad that we had my dad at home until his death from cancer and were able to be involved in his care and not be separated from the whole experience.

But here is some more food for thought from Joni Eareckson Tada on how we should think a little more about death.  She was surprised on a visit to a funeral home to see even themes advertised for 'celebrations of life' - eg. if fishing was the theme then fishing rods and tackle etc would decorate the room.  She says:

"We are kidding ourselves when we romanticize death as the beautifuly climax of a life well lived.  It is an enemy. Its even a greater enemy to an unbeliever, for death then becomes his threshold to hell (that's nothing to celebrate!)  Jesus spoke of hell more than anybody, and he made plain that rejecting his offer of eternal life would result not in nonlife, but the misery of God's wrath (John 3:36).  As hell is the worst outcome of this life, so eternal life is the best.  It is the supreme and ever-increasing happiness where all sin and all sadness will be erased, all that is evil in this fallen world will be removed, and all that is good will be preserved and intensified.  We will be changed so that we are capable of more happiness than we could possibly conceive in this life.  That's something to celebrate!.........Oh, if only unbelievers could see the unspeakable horror of treating God with indifference or contempt in this life.  Unbelievers have only this earthly life in which to hear the gospel and respond to Christ's invitation.  Today, will you be encountering someone who doesn't believe in Christ?  Share with them your testimony and pray for their salvation."
(from "Pearls of Great Price" devotional)

Two observations on the USA Supreme Court ruling on Same-sex marriage from a Cross-cultural Missions perspective

- MARRIAGE -

Last Friday marked a sad milestone in the Western world as the Supreme Court of the USA ruled that same-sex couples are not to be denied the right to 'marriage'.

Various leaders and groups within the USA have already commented on their websites and blogs.  Within hours of the ruling we had emails tumble into our inbox from many such places.

Here are some links if you want to read further what some Christian leaders are saying:

Al Mohler has a special edition of The Briefing to talk it through. John Piper shared a lamentation. The Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission released Here We Stand, a statement of dissent signed by a whole series of Christian leaders. CBMW released an official response. Living Waters made comment and advertised their DVD.

Two things stand out to me from the perspective of 'looking in' from an outside cross-cultural perspective.

1. Marriage has been re-defined by the culture - but that doesn't change God's definition of marriage according to the Creator's design.  Life around us here in Africa is full of mis-defined  and mis-understood concepts.  I've lost count as to how many times I have been told by the lady who assists in our home, that from a biblical perspective, Africans have no idea what marriage is.  The mis-placed beliefs have to be replaced. We always need to be alert to where a 'cultural' meaning is eroding or in conflict with a biblical meaning of a concept. Even heterosexual 'marriages' can be a far cry from God's idea of marriage.  We need to seek a personally ever deepening knowledge of the truth on marriage and pro-atively teach it wherever we can.

2. This ruling was more about honour, not the law - As I listened to Albert Mohler's 20 minute radio comment on the ruling, he referred again and again to how the Chief Justice of the USA (who himself is pro-gay-marriage) was a dissenter on the ruling because he saw this was a ruling based on the personal moral views of the people making the ruling, not an upholding of the law.  This was not just about equal 'rights' in daily living but more about a desire for equal dignity - in other words 'honour'.  In fact the conclusion of the document states : "They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law".  

As Al Mohler mentioned, this was about a desire for gay couples to feel like they were of equal worth and 'belonged'.

I find it rather interesting that in quite an unplanned way,  my previous blogpost was all about whether the USA/the West is 'allergic to honour' or not.  My conclusion was 'not', but that we might be allergic to the 'word' honour even though the concept is influencing daily life all the time.  This ruling is a significant 'case in point'.  It is astonishingly clear in this document just how much the concept of 'honour' (in various terminology) is growing in Western society especially the USA, and how much it is influencing the Western worldview.

The arguments used in the ruling were cased in honour terminology such as:

gay marriage should be approved so children of gay-couples don't have to live with the 'stigma' of being looked on as 'less' and suffer 'humiliation'

exact wording: "children suffer the stigma of knowing their families are somehow lesser.......marriage laws at issue here thus harm and humiliate the children of same-sex couples".

"Same sex couples are denied benefits afforded opposite sex couples and are barred from exercising a fundamental right. Especially against a long history of dis-approval of their relationships, this denial works a grave and continuing harm serving to disrespect and subordinate gays and lesbians"

"Men and women suffered pain and humiliation"

"It is demeaning to lock same-sex couples out"

"The lifelong union of a man and a woman always has promised nobility and dignity to all persons, without regard to their station in life"

"Far from seeking to devalue marriage, the petitioners seek it for themselves because of their respect and need for its privilages and responsibilities"

"The state must accord them its respect"

"Many who deem same-sex marriage to be wrong reach that conclusion based on decent and honorable religious or philosophical premises  and neither they nor their beliefs are disparaged here.."

"Same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite sex couples and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right"

Words like 'dignity' or 'humiliation' or 'respect' were recurring throughout the documented ruling and in fact occurred 4 times just in the last few lines summary of the document.

The document did not emphasise 'justice' in the eyes of the law, but 'dignity' in the eyes of the law.  This is not a legal emphasis language but an honour emphasis language. This was not just about equal 'rights' in daily living but more about a desire for equal dignity - in other words 'honour'.  In fact the conclusion of the document states : "They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law".  

So what's my point?  Although our research was initially with the purpose of better reaching Africa it may well be used on a different continent......as I've said before....if the West wants to reach the Post-modern West with the gospel that will be heard at a heart level, it MUST factor in the reality of 'honour'.  

People must come to understand true honour in Christ if they are ever going to be willing to put aside a desire for honour in the eyes of the world around them.