Faith Comes by Hearing (but earbuds sure help!)

Every time we visit a language area, there are certain people and experiences that stand out in my mind.  In particular, I tend to gravitate toward the elderly, as you might guess from looking at my photos.  It touches my heart to consider how these folks have lived such long difficult lives without the benefit of hearing God speak to them in the language of their heart.  Whenever God allows me to share His love with these precious souls, I go for it.  Sometimes I am even blessed to be present as they surrender their very lives to Christ.

Showing her a photo of herself

Last week I was passionately explaining to Rosa, an 89-year-old Zapotec woman, about Christ’s love, with a native pastor translating my words into Zapotec from Spanish.  Several times she said something in Zapotec causing her daughter and two other ladies to burst out laughing.  Curious, I requested a translation.  She had looked straight at me and said, “I have no idea what you are saying, but I just love how you are expressing it.”

Later we introduced her to the audio Bible we had brought her, playing the first chapter of John.  Again, she smiled and seemed pleased, but made another remark in Zapotec, causing the ladies and the visiting pastor to laugh aloud again.  She had said that she liked it very much – even though she couldn’t hear it.  Oh, my.  We were having so much fun, and yet not one word was getting through to her aside from the sense that she was loved.

Digging in my bag, I found a pair of earbuds I had gotten on the plane.  As we plugged it into the audio Bible and put them on her ears, her smile changed to an expression of sheer wonder.  She loved the scriptures from the minute she could actually hear them.  We continued visiting with the other ladies, making sure they knew how to change the volume, the books, and the chapters of the Bible.  Occasionally Rosa would say something aloud.  Translated back to Spanish for us, we realized she was quoting passages she had just heard.

“Faith comes by hearing…”  Please pray that this dear woman and many others like her will grow to trust Jesus for their salvation as they listen to their brand new audio Bibles.

Dreams, Visions, and the Birth of a Harvest

Returning to the Isthmus of Mexico for the second week in a row, our prayers and ministry focus were directed to the Zapotec speakers in an area devastated by the earthquakes of last September.  Our joint evangelistic efforts proved to be a tremendous encouragement to the pastors who accompanied us.

After a day of visiting mostly “inconversos” (unsaved), we felt prompted to spend a day focusing on providing audio Bibles for the church leaders who could multiply the fruit by sharing the scriptures in Zapotec personally with their neighbors.

As we took the audio Bible to one of the founding members of the church, offering to pray for her and her ministry, she asked us to join her in visiting and praying for her sick neighbor, a man in need of our Savior’s touch.  Quickly it became apparent that God had prepared this neighbor for an encounter with us that day.

Our team prayed over Andre as he lay in his hammock, first commanding any pestering spirits by the authority of Jesus’ name and his blood shed on Calvary to depart from the premises, rendering them powerless to keep Andre in pain and unbelief.  Then we prayed for healing, thinking perhaps he had TB based on his description of chest pain and coughing up blood.

Andre then told us how some relatives had come to pray for him the night before, and how he felt the same sensation of a cool hand going over and inside his body, soothing and healing it.  We explained that the only way he would remain free was to call upon the name of Jesus himself, confess and repent of his sins, and accept the free gift of salvation. 

Andre began to relate a dream he had the night before, which our Zapotec interpreter explained to me in Spanish. In his dream, a visitor showed him a vision.  In the vision, Andre was in his hammock, and a group of eight individuals were gathered in front of him, like a chain, all inter-connected.  Before them was a big clay platter covered with ashes.  One of the eight picked up the platter and began to blow until all the ashes were blown away.  What remained on the plate were six kernels of corn.  The eight visitors debated whether they should plant the corn, since there did not appear to be any soil, just a hard concrete floor.

At this point, I was translating the dream into English for my team members, becoming more excited as the story progressed.  Just that morning, my husband Jim had again referred to the audio Bibles as “The Good Seed,” expressing a desire to only plant it in good soil.  Earlier in our visit, we were debating whether to give Andre an audio Bible.  Continuing to describe his vision, Andre said that the visitors did in fact plant the kernels of corn, and were thrilled that they all sprouted, a word in Spanish which literally means “were birthed.”  After the crop was harvested, the man in the vision burned the field, and then told Andre he used to be like that burned field, completely dead, but now he was like the fresh corn - new life!

The dream was easy enough to decipher.  There were exactly eight of us standing before Andre in his hammock, just like in the vision.  Our prayers to dispel evil forces were the breath that blew away the ashes.  The hard ground was the man’s heart prior to our visit.  The corn, obviously, was the Word of God bearing fruit.  The only puzzling part was the detail that there were six kernels of corn.  Later we learned that the man’s household totaled six souls.  We had prayed that Andre and his whole household would accept salvation that day.  In faith, we believe for a harvest of all six becoming believers even though we only had the privilege of praying with the one.  Andre cried actual tears as he prayed the prayer of faith, repeating the Zapotec words of his neighbor.

This is just a portion of all that transpired at one house on one day of two solid weeks of ministry, visiting in people’s homes, offering intercessory prayer, audio Bibles, and the gift of salvation for those ready to receive it in faith.  It was exhilarating to see so many people set free from the bondage of sin and Satan, and others healed of physical or mental suffering.  Many prayers were answered in dramatic ways, and we trust that the church leaders in the area will continue to visit the new believers and disciple them as they mature as Jesus followers.  Most of all we are thankful that God’s Word remains in their hands to help them grow in knowledge and wisdom and to bear much fruit for the Kingdom.

20 Vital Prayers for Team Trips

How can you pray for scripture distribution trips?  Here are some samples of prayers I have copied from my prayer journal for your convenience.

In summary, we are working so that God's Word might be readily accessible to those who need to hear it in their heart language, and praying that the scriptures would go out with the power of the Holy Spirit to

• evangelize the unreached

• disciple/train/instruct/equip even non-literate believers

• plant churches

• encourage and revitalize the saints, especially those enduring persecution

• bring conviction of sin where needed

• stir up worship and revival

Pray for...

1. traveling mercies throughout the trip, including safe arrival of each team member and all luggage
2. all audio Bibles and other equipment to clear customs without hassle
3. effective personal and group devotional times in preparation for ministry
4. the team to work stealthily hidden from the enemy's view, untouched by oppositional forces
5. hearts to be softened beforehand and prepared to hear the Good News in their own language
6. wisdom and discernment in tearing down of strongholds in the homes and villages visited
7. changed hearts and lives as people are dramatically rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Light
8. whole households to come to faith in Jesus
9. encouragement, hope, fresh vision for native pastors and evangelists we accompany
10. contagion of the gospel, spreading throughout the region, leaking to nearby villages, penetrating hearts with the message of truth, freedom, redemption, and love
11. team unity, "rhino hide and heart of a dove"
12. clear communication through interpreters
13. miraculous answers to prayer to enhance the evangelistic effort and bring glory to God
14. each team member to experience joy and delight, walking in strength, faith, confidence, health, and freedom from fear and grumbling
15. restful and restorative sleep each night, particularly for the leaders
16. protection for each spouse and family member back home and for each prayer partner involved in the spiritual battle for men's souls this week
17. flexibility and good attitudes when the plans change and God reminds everyone Who is in charge
18. the team members to catch the vision for reaching the unreached with scriptures in a language and format they can access
19. each audio Bible left behind to bear much fruit well beyond the scope of what we see and experience in one short week
20. God's kingdom to be established among this particular people group and His will accomplished this week

What else would you add to the list?  Please leave your comments below.

Can't We Just Send Money?

Many times we hear short term team members verbalize an inner conflict regarding the cost of their mission trip.  Seeing the many unfilled needs of the village, local church, and people, and the financial needs for our ministry with ASM, they ask sheepishly,

"Wouldn't it have been better if we had simply sent the money rather than spending it on our own airfare and ground costs?"

Our answer is always the same.  Yes, perhaps, but people don't.  No one understands the need until they experience it for themselves.  We have yet to be able to show pictures and tell stories that portray the reality of the needs in a way that stirs people's hearts.

Secondly, we remind our teams that God uses their visit to encourage believers who seldom have any opportunity to interact with believers outside their small flock.  Our teams infuse hope and joy into the lives of pastors and those struggling in their faith.  Together with teams, we bring them tools to use for evangelism and discipleship.  We remind our brothers and sisters that they are not alone.

Is it worth the price of the trip?  I would say it is!

Our prayer is that God would strategically raise up prayer and financial partners among those we have hosted on short-term teams.  As Pastor Jerrod (from a supporting church that has sent several teams to work with us) challenged his latest group: 

"Decide now what God wants you to do differently as a result of your week in Oaxaca.  The default is that each one will return to Ohio and go right back to your same way of living, interacting, and spending - forgetting the plight of the needy, the suffering, and the lost." (my paraphrase)

Please pray for those who have walked the dusty trails, driven along the mountain passes, eaten the local food, slept in modest homes with few comforts, and prayed for very real and impossible (barring a miracle) requests, distributing audio Bibles to people who desperately need the hope of the gospel.... Pray that their lives would be forever changed.

Pray that they would become passionate about the spiritually lost in their circle of influence and be bold about sharing the gospel truths, and that they would have a fresh missionary perspective of the world that will rock their church and community.  Pray that their own lives would be changed so drastically that they would daily experience and express the joy of their own salvation.

Lastly, please pray that some would become hooked on missions and obey the call to pray, give, and go wherever God leads, whether across the street or across the world.  May God

call some to be ambassadors for Audio Scripture Ministries, raising funds and awareness for our ongoing ministry to the unreached people of Oaxaca, Mexico, and beyond.

Hissing For the Bees

During our same visit to Oaxaca last month, we traveled to a near-by village, one hour by truck, or four hours by foot.  Thankfully a mudslide was cleared up in time for us to make the trip by truck, but the handful of believers were so eager to see us, they would have walked over if necessary. Instead, we piled into the back of two trucks and drove down to the valley, across a river, and then up to the other mountainside.

The name of the village is Abejones, which means "The place of the bees."

My prayer for this village was a continuation of the one I prayed for the other Zapotec village, based on the words from Zechariah.  However, this time, I used the AMPC version on Biblegateway.com, which says:

"I will hiss for them [as the keeper does for his bees] and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall increase [again] as they have increased [before, in Egypt]."

Zechariah 10:8

 
What a fitting passage for the people of Abejones who desperately need to hear the Word of the Lord hissing for them, gathering them in like bees.  Please pray that the little house church there would grow spiritually and multiply, and that they would remain strong in spite of persecution and difficulties they may face.

Photo by Debbie Loker

Our brave team from Ohio trusted God for their safety as we journeyed to Abejones to encourage the small house church with audio Bibles in their language.

Whistling their Names

When our seven children were still at home, I formulated a system of whistling for them (yes, perhaps inspired somewhat by "The Sound of Music").  I would whistle the cadence of my own exaggerated calling of "Chris-to-pher," "Tim-my," "Aar-on Mich-ael," "Han-nah Marie-e."  It saved me from yelling their names all day long.

What is interesting is that in southern Mexico, there are language groups that can communicate with whistles that reflect the tones and inflections of their native tongue.  Last month we witnessed this phenomenon in a Oaxacan village.  With no internet or cell phone service, it was a handy way for people to holler out to see if someone was home, or to get their attention on a pathway.


As I was praying for these people, I found a verse in Zechariah 10:6-8 which speaks of God "whistling" for his people, gathering them together, and redeeming them.  This is my prayer for the Zapotecos, that they would hear God's voice in the audio Bibles we distributed, and that God would strengthen them, save them, bring them back to Himself, and hear and answer their prayers.  I pray that they would be like mighty warriors, and that they and their children would rejoice and shout triumphantly in the Lord.  Lastly I pray that their church would multiply and spread to the other side of the mountain where there are still no believers.

Won't you join me in praying for the Zapotec people of Oaxaca?

Facts and Figures and a Very Cool Map

Thanks to our friend, Loren, for sending me this cool map based on the 2010 census data.

Write if you want me to send you a copy so you can blow it up bigger and see the actual languages in each bubble.

As for the facts and figures, here's a summary of the work we have facilitated these past 20 years in Mexico (for those who do not receive our monthly updates):

• 61 whole New Testaments recorded in 8 states in Mexico, mostly in Oaxaca
• Jesus Films dubbed in 44 different languages
• Around 5000 solar powered devices (Megavoice) of the New Testament distributed to individual families in 41 languages
• Nearly 1000 Proclaimers distributed to listening groups and churches in 36 language groups
• 57 team trips hosted, including scripture distribution teams, construction projects on 18 new churches, medical, and children's ministry.
   

We think that's pretty cool, too.  Looking at the map, please pray for the remaining 60 or so Bible translations that are still either in process or on the list for future linguists.  Pray for the completion of ten New Testaments that are in the publication stage.  Pray most of all that they will be utilized.  Pray that we can schedule, record, format, and distribute audio Bibles in each of these new areas, too.  Pray for a fruit-filled response to people hearing God's Word in their own language.

Big Changes Ahead

"Never say never."  How many times have we said this?  Yet here we are anticipating the unthinkable:  moving to the U.S. as our primary home base after 27 years of living in Latin America.

Yes, it’s true.  We are facing a significant move in 2014.  However, don’t get too eager to redirect your monthly missions money, because we’re not letting you off the hook just yet.  We are not retiring!  If anything, we are broadening our base and hoping to do even more in the area of Audio Scripture production and distribution world-wide.

Jim is the new Executive Director of Audio Scripture Ministries, effective April 1, 2014.   The family will transition to living in the U.S. as of June 2014.

It was a difficult decision for us, believe it or not, as we prayerfully agonized over the possibility of accepting this leadership position in Michigan.  The job description fits Jim perfectly, and honestly I (Jamie) can’t imagine anyone with more field experience, passion, and vision.  The hesitation was mostly a fleshly one, a dread of making the U.S. our new base of operations. We always presumed we would live and die in Mexico, which has been our home for all these years.

  

So, what does this mean?  From the sounds of it, you are only half finished with recording the New Testaments in Oaxaca.

True.  We are just completing the sixtieth audio New Testament, and there are at least that many more to be done, not to mention all the ones that will be revised to bring them up-to-date linguistically.  Our plan is to continue managing the recording operations long-distance, trusting our faithful group of recordists to continue in our absence.

Will you still be in Cleveland for furlough next summer and fall, as planned?

Unfortunately, no.  Instead we will be living in Holland, Michigan, and making weekend trips to Ohio to visit each of our supporting churches and friends to assure them of our continued commitment to our primary missions goals.

So you will still need monthly financial support?

Absolutely!  While ASM will cover Jim’s travel expenses to places like India, Nepal, Mozambique, Mexico, and who knows where all he will need to visit, we are still considered “missionaries” in every sense of the word.  If anything, we are hoping to expand our support base so that we can help fund other recording projects around the world. 

  

Will you buy a house in Michigan?

Lord willing, yes.  This is huge for us, but Jim needs to live near the home office in Holland.  A benefit is that we will have a home base a bit closer to the rest of the family.  The downside is that we will need to start completely from scratch.  We have absolutely nothing to furnish a house -- no furniture, no appliances… no nothing.  (And yes, that is a major hint-hint for anyone who might have surplus anything to spare.) 

Will you sell your house and belongings in Oaxaca?

No, no, no, no, no.  There are still many recording needs in Mexico, so we will be coming and going a lot in the coming years.  I have visions of our grown children thinking of this as a “time share” location where they will want to visit with our grandchildren in the future.  We have twenty years of memories wrapped up in this home.  Maybe we will even retire here someday.  No, we are not selling.

What about team trips?  Will people still be able to bring groups down to Oaxaca?

We may cut back on involvement with team trips at first, but occasionally Jim and I can bring small teams to help with audio distribution efforts or to help with practical needs among new indigenous churches.  We love to share our passion for the unreached by hosting “vision trips” for supporting churches, and we expect to continue doing short-term trips once we are settled in Michigan. 

  

Are you excited?

Yes!  At the same time we are nervous about this new cross-cultural adjustment.  We are not the same Americans who moved to Guatemala 27 years ago, and we are uncertain how our worldview may clash with the culture of Holland, Michigan.  Soon we will discover how weird we really are!

Mostly we’d appreciate prayer for all that this decision entails:

• ·      Buying and furnishing a house

• ·      Replacing one or both of our vehicles, leaving one behind for team trips

• ·      Redefining our roles in marriage and ministry together

• ·      Finding a supportive church in Michigan

• ·      Figuring out education options for Jonny and Debbie, who will be 15 and 17

• ·      Making new friends for all of us

• ·      Keeping things in Mexico running smoothly by remote

• ·      Maintaining a good support base with an increased cost of living

• ·      ETC. That etcetera is huge, and we trust God to direct your prayers as you think of us. Only He knows what we will really need in the days to come.

Bless you, as you hopefully remain partners in this ongoing ministry with us, reaching the unreached, non-literate people groups around the world.  We are forever grateful for your participation with us in the past, while we humbly submit our future plans to you.

May God be glorified in our lives as we seek to serve Him in greater ways through this new leadership opportunity.

"From Mission Tourists to Global Citizens"

Twelve Insights (for short-term missions teams) 

1.     It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world.

2.     That which is yet to be done in the world is far less than that which has already been done!

3.     People are more alike than their cultures.

4.     Love is the universal language.

5.     Short-term mission is a treasure hunt.

6.     In cross-cultural encounters we are meeting long-lost, distant relatives.

7.     God goes before you – you are catching up on a conversation that God has already begun.

8.     God does not send us to be critics.

9.     In the treasure hunt of grace, our encouragement and affirmation of people may be our most significant ministry.

10. Our privilege is to lift Jesus up in deed and word.

11. The quality of our love as a team and our incorporation of new team members may be our greatest witness.

12. God will not call us to do something without also giving us the resources to do it.

Taken from Short-Term Missions Workbook: From Mission Tourists to Global Citizens, by Tim Dearborn ©2003, Intervarsity Press.

The team that came down last month had a sheet printed out with these twelve insights.  During the week it became evident that they had internalized these truths as they approached difficulties as a treasure hunt, watching to see what God would do. It was a privilege for me to watch them lifting up Jesus in word and deed, as it says in number ten.  

Another thing I really appreciate is how they incorporated the new team members, not just Jim and me, but the local believers.  Normally teams try to discretely get Jim and me to take their photo so the folks back home can see "The Team."  This group made a point of including us and the local church folks in their "family photo."  I love that.

Truthfully I haven't read the book these insights came from, but it sounds like a good one to recommend to future short-term teams. I love the subtitle:  From Mission Tourists to Global Citizens.  Right on!

Exhausting, but oh, So Rewarding

Dear praying friends,

The "Treasure" (Audio New Testament) in Chatino

So much has happened since our last update, it's hard to know where to begin.  Last night Jim and I returned from a weekend at the beach with the kids following a grueling week of hosting a very rugged team from Michigan.  

Driving back up the mountain from sea level to over 5000 feet, I watched the compass on the rear view mirror vacillate from N, to NE, to N, to NW, to W and back, and sometimes even SW and SE, as we darted potholes, bounced over speed bumps, veered around washed out sections, and drove in an almost continuously snaking "S" up and down the mountains.  The outdoor temperatures ranged from 70's to 90's Fahrenheit depending on the altitude.

Sometimes our ministry feels like that.  It's a wild and bumpy ride, casting seed all over the place, through balmy lowlands and foggy highlands, and everything in-between.  Sometimes we get stuck behind slow moving vehicles, averaging a frustrating 20 mph when we'd rather be doing 60 on a straighter road, but eventually we get there.

Chatino believers and American visitors at the village church

Some villages warmly receive us, and are ripe for the gospel, and others are foggy and confused, cold to the message we bear.  This past week we had the privilege of visiting a Chatino village where believers have faithfully sown the Good Seed, and we were blessed to participate as several individuals gave their hearts and lives to Christ.  Talking with the native missionary who accompanied us on our audio Bible "Treasure" distribution effort, we learned about several near-by villages where the same variant of Chatino is spoken, but where there are no known believers, no evangelical witness.  The more we do, the more work there seems to remain.  Yes, sometimes it feels overwhelming.

Maybe I will blog about the actual week of long hikes, sleeping on the ground, living, eating, and ministering with the local people (minus anything remotely resembling an adequate wash room).  For now I just want to say thank you for your prayers - even though my last email listed the wrong dates for this trip.  It was a physically, emotionally, and spiritually stretching week, not just for our visitors, but for me, too.  Looking back, I realize I should have anticipated the level of spiritual warfare we might encounter, and I acknowledge that more prayer backing would have been helpful.  It was intense.

Shangana Christians with their Megavoice scriptures in Mozambique

Jim had only returned from his trip to Mozambique shortly before this team arrived, and he is still trying to get caught up on life and ministry details.  Maybe being disconnected from the internet for a week at a time is beneficial in some ways, but in other ways it is certainly a challenge.  He thoroughly enjoyed his time in Africa, seeing the recording studio there, and participating in a MegaVoice distribution outreach.  Already he is checking the calendar to see when he might return early in 2013.

Currently (today!), I am trying to get the kids caught up on school work, doing mounds of disgusting laundry and hanging it out to dry, hoping to get a new gas tank to replace the one stolen while we were away - so I can cook dinner tonight, and answering a long back-log of emails.  Jim is handling the ministry "business" plus looking to get both cars checked over and repaired with auto parts the team brought down for us.  Bless his heart, it looks like he has made getting gas to my stove a high priority.  Maybe I will reward him with an Aldi's chocolate bar that the team brought down, or better yet, some pumpkin muffins with the canned pumpkin they gave us.

A new generation will grow up hearing God's Word

Meanwhile out in other villages, our recording technicians have just finished another Zapotec New Testament which was sent up to the U.S. to be processed, they're continuing with Chinantec of San Felipe, and looking to start a different New Testament next week.  The technicians will invest three or four months for each New Testament recording, and then the fun begins as we distribute them to native speakers who have never seen or heard God's Word in their own language.  It's the same ol' same ol'.  In case you can't tell, we love it.

Life is good.  It's exhausting, but oh, so rewarding.  We wish each of you could experience a week in a rustic village just to catch the spirit of what we do and why.  Then again, it sounds cruel to wish that off on people we call our friends. 

Praise the Lord with us for safe travels all week in both our high mileage vehicles, for relative good health, for receptive hearts in the village, for new believers, and all that transpired.  Praise the Lord we survived and that we are looking at it from the rear view mirror now.  Please pray for current and future distribution efforts, for the Seed to be planted in good soil, as Jim preached to the Chatino people this past week.  Pray for the young believers to grow strong as they hear the Word in their language, and for more people to come to faith as they listen.  Pray for us to remain faithful and to not grow weary.  Pray as God leads.

Thank you for standing with us and behind us, for your encouragement through prayers and financial backing.  We thank God for each and every one of you.

Partners in reaching the unreached,

Jim and Jamie Loker and family

Oaxaca Rocks! (Memories of a youth team)

Back at the turn of the century, we hosted a super fantastic youth group that came to minister in a Chinantec area.  They were an exuberant group of willing workers who were stretched WAY beyond their comfort zones.  One reason they stand out in my decaying memory is that the youth pastor's wife helped them to make a scrap book/ autograph book in which they all contributed photos of themselves in action, along with notes of thanks.  Here you can see just the first three pages of the book.

Some of the remarks they left, in case you are interested:

"...our trip to Mexico was incredibly awesome!  It's one of those things I will remember FOREVER!!"

"This trip was the start of a larger plan for my life.  There was a heart change in me, at the time I didn't recognize it, but God wants me to shake the nations.  I was abruptly stopped in my tracks of selfishness.  I was shown that the rest of the world is not as well off as the U.S.  My heart was broken for those in Mexico who had close to nothing.  This is now a determining factor in how I spend my time and money."

"I still treasure the conversations and the incredible insights you shared with me.  You taught me that missions isn't a position, but a lifestyle!" 

As a sign of the times, a number of them thanked us profusely, describing us with words like "awesome" and "You rock!"   I love that.

My prayer is that each of those young people, now well into their 20's, are each making a difference in the world because of seeds that were planted in their hearts during that one week of the year 2000.

 

 

 

Medical Missions Journal...

Dr. Arlen Stauffer, director of Missionary Ventures Medical Missions, U.S.,  has posted his daily updates and photos from their week here in Oaxaca.  Rather than putting their experiences in my own words, I thought you might enjoy reading his tribute on his church's blog.  Click here to see more photos and read some awfully nice things about the Loker family.

Here's a bit of a teaser.  These photos I downloaded from our friend Glen Ball's Facebook.  Glen went with the team to help as an interpreter. (Thanks, Glen!)

Dr. Stauffer, Jim, and a Buckeye fan in the village

Portable dental chair

Patient returning across the river after dental and toe surgery

Slight detour was necessary after rains washed this road away

Veterinary Missions - this was a first

The group, plus Debbie (photo by me, I think)

Another Treasure Distribution Team

For more photos, go to this Shutterfly Website.  It was a great week with over 100 Treasures (audio Megavoice New Testaments) distributed among the Mixe people of Mazatlan, Oaxaca, and the Jesus film shown in several villages for the very first time.  Thank you for prayers offered for the team last week.

Poverty Tourism Can Make Us Thankful

What do you think of this article by Kent Annan?

The jolt in Port-au-Prince herniated a disk in my lower back last month. The pain is making it hard to sleep at night. I’ve walked with a sideways bent and haven’t been able to pick up my two young children since.

But here’s the thing: The jolt happened while riding a motorcycle taxi to a meeting in a tent camp where 50,000 people live under tarps. So I can’t much indulge in feeling sorry for myself.

I travel to Haiti regularly for work with a nonprofit, but right now I’m back in Florida where I have a safe, dry home to sleep in; I have a bed; I’ve already been to the physical therapist four times; I can afford ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Aleve; I eat more than enough each day. You get the idea.

So when I start complaining, then remember this context, it seems my basic choices are either to be grateful or to be an ****.

On one hand, this is the proper perspective. On the other, this is a potentially exploitative “benefit” of what are typically called some variation of a “service trip,” but are also sometimes critically called “poverty tourism.”

We see people suffering so much more than us, and then come back and say, “It just makes you so grateful for what you have.” Or, “It puts life in perspective.”

The motorcycle taxi driver I was riding with lost a staggering amount in the earthquake. The church he attends collapsed on more than 200 people inside, his friends, his relatives. After getting off his motorcycle, I was soon talking with people in the camp who lost everything and have little reasonable hope for improvement any time soon.

A sore back? Sheesh.

But if the longest lasting result of my working in or visiting a place with much suffering, is that I feel a little better about my own life … well, then I’ve probably exploited people struggling with poverty even more than they’re being exploited already.

So for me, three differences come to mind to keep these trips from being “poverty tourism”:

First, who and how do I visit people? Is it marked by dignity, without patronizing, with humility, as a learner. Are we visiting with people or an organization who have respectful, engaged relationships with the community? What kind of photos do we take or stories do we tell? What side comments do we make to our fellow travelers? Do we ask ourselves the hard questions? How do we, or shouldn’t we, talk about “them?”

Second, and related, does it make a difference to how I live “back home?” In how I give, what politics I engage in, or in whatever the area is that we each can make a difference to the systems that perpetuate pain. How do I think and talk and act?

Third, is my visit only the beginning of a long-term commitment to finding effective ways to help? Even if I worked hard to build a community center or learning language or to add on to a church building, it wasn’t much in the big picture. People are often gracious hosts and share the best part of their smiles and lives with us when we visit. But sometimes that seems to give us an excuse to quarantine the unsettling part of our experience, the part that might demand a lot of us.

These are some of the factors for me. I’m in Haiti many times a year, but I still need to check myself.

If we come back with a kind of souvenir that makes us feel more comfortable about our lives, then it’s likely been exploitation. If we come back and we’re more uncomfortable, and also committed to smart, respectful ways to help, then maybe we properly honor the hospitality we’ve received. (emphasis mine)

Can we find good ways to contribute to each other’s well being?

Some people think there shouldn’t be these exchanges at all. I don’t agree. I think they’re important for working for justice. But I do think there are differences between traveling as a poverty tourist and a citizen of the world.

Photo by Jodi Jarka, MV team member

Kent Annan is co-director of Haiti Partners (www.haitipartners.org), which has set up an Earthquake Response Fund. He is the author of After Shock, which explores questions of faith, doubt, and searching, and he is also the author of Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously, which is about living and working in Haiti.

Rambling Reaction to the News

Jim and Christopher, almost 25 years ago to the date

Father-son hike, January 1986

Twenty-five years ago today, as the media has been reminding us, the Challenger exploded.  Today I watched the video clip on the Fox News website and listened to President Reagan's memorable words for the first time.  Back when it happened, Jim and I were on a mandatory camping trip, out of radio contact, as part of Jungle Camp field training.  This was the first news we heard upon returning to base camp.  Wow.

Like everyone else, we were shocked and dismayed at the report.  As a result of this disaster, according to today's news report, more people became interested in the space program, and more astronauts were recruited.  Similarly, I have heard that missions recruitment was higher after the senseless murder of five missionaries in Ecuador in 1956, and again after the murder of Chet Bitterman in Colombia in 1981.

Interestingly, the news clip which followed this historic one about the Challenger was a report about the missionary woman who was recently murdered in northern Mexico.  That, too, was a tragedy.  In this case, the news reporter interviewed a former missionary to Mexico who declared that it is simply too dangerous to work here any longer.

I take issue with this conclusion.  To me, it would be regrettable if one woman's death caused missionaries to pack up and abandon their ministries, or if it resulted in short-term teams canceling their scheduled trips to Mexico.

When people ask if we feel safe here in Oaxaca, I say yes without any hesitation.  We believe we are exactly where we are supposed to be, and we trust in the sovereignty and protection of God.  We also rely on the power of prayer.  We do not presume that bad things will never happen to us, but we do know that God will sustain us and accomplish His will and purposes through anything He allows to happen in our lives.

Reading the news, would I send a child of mine to Virginia Tech if that's where he wanted to go?  Absolutely.  Would I go to Arizona?  Sure.  Would I go to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or any big city in America?  Yes.  Would it make me apprehensive?  Maybe momentarily.  Hopefully, I would just do what I have to do, and life would go on like it does for the overwhelming majority of people who live, work, and go to school in potentially dangerous places.

With that said, I understand why people might hesitate to come to Mexico in light of current events.  I would never encourage anyone to come down against their better judgment if he prays and senses he shouldn't come.  If teams do come, we would never intentionally put them in harm's way, but nor can we guarantee with any certainty that nothing bad will happen.  It is out of our hands.

In general, we feel very safe where we live.  In the villages where we work, drugs are not an issue like in the cities or in Northern Mexico.  It's not like these unreached people groups have the option to simply leave the country even if they did believe it was unsafe in their areas.  We must reach out to them where they live.  They will not be reached by Christian television, radio, or written materials.  They need to hear the gospel message and to see it being lived out.  That is why we are here.

For 2011 we were honestly hoping to see four or five teams come to Oaxaca.  Please pray that God will lead exactly the right people to come at precisely the best time to accomplish the greatest amount of good for the kingdom of heaven.  Pray for each team leader to have wisdom and for us as we lead them once they arrive.  Pray against a spirit of fear which would hinder work that needs to be done.

Likewise, the school where our children take English and Science classes three times a week is actively recruiting teachers for the 2011-2012 school year.  Please pray for the right individuals to volunteer in spite of the news, trusting God to care for them as missionaries have consistently done for all these years.

Actually we feel safer here today even knowing the news than we did when starting out in Guatemala back in 1986 at the end of the civil war which we knew nothing about until we arrived.

Loker family in Guatemala, August 1986

God is good.  He is loving, merciful, faithful, powerful, sufficient, gracious, and kind.  For us, that is more than enough.  (We still appreciate prayers, though!)