Hard times have hit. Maybe we are in another recession. In my home state, Texas, an old school problem, drought, has led to a modern day catastrophe. Many people today are facing very hard times indeed. But, as I prepare to go into ministry and as I learn more about the world and its history, I can't help but question a few of our assumptions. Part of what has started this questioning was my grandfather telling me about the "good old days" (you know the days when we drove with leaded gas, air travel was in its infancy, and people used the post office to communicate with others). Especially after reading this article from USA today, I knew that this installment of "Toward a Theology of Orphan Ministry" would have to be about the true picture of the abundant wealth we all live in today.
We know that Christ has called us to live amongst and minister to the poor. But I think that in hard times we have a mental impediment that keeps us away from true service. Here is the obstacle: We don't realize that we are incredibly wealthy. Perhaps our bank account is small- yet we live with incredible access to credit, loans, and networks of family and friends that few people in history have known. Perhaps we have lost a job recently- yet somehow, many Americans know that they will be able to find work of some kind at some point- low-paying work perhaps, but work nonetheless. Perhaps we are really at rock bottom- yet if we have family (a spouse, a mother or a father) then we have more than the orphans residing at The Harbor have.
The USA Today article has reminded me that I have very little to complain about. I own a car, I have access to running water, I live in a secure location, and from time to time I can go out for ice cream! I have an abundance. Most of us have easy access to cheap goods and a general belief that our future will be at least as good as our today. May God teach us humility, grant us gratefullness and show us how to share our wealth with groups like The Harbor or to relieve those caught up in disaster, such as the one in East Africa.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
What is Wrong with Us?
In reading Alex Krutov's story I can't help but think, "What is wrong with us?" A person could argue that the particular history of the Soviet Union led to the abandonment of so many children. Maybe, but Russia is not unique in the abandonment of the young. One only has to read about the abortion crisis in America, the forced abortions of China, the abandonment of female children in India, the child soldiers of Africa, the street children of the Philipines living amongst the graves, etc... etc... to know that humans are not great at taking care of their children. I know enough folks who work in social work homes to know that even in America we abandon our children. The problem is widespread and its effects are obvious. But there is more to the story.
We would be wrongheaded to simply look at this issue and try to alleviate the suffering without asking some deep questions. What is at the root of this plague? Why do we hate our own children? Why do we give birth, only to despise God's gift of life? The issue is deeply rooted in our selfishness, our lack of concern for our neighbor, and oftentimes our lack of concern for ourselves. Our life is a gift from God, how much more the lives of the young and innocent! Only when we look at the root of the problem can we begin to address the issue at all.
Perhaps this is a sidenote, but it is one worth making. I know several people who read the statistics, who visit the orphanages and dismal "baby houses" and give up; on faith, on God, on themselves, on hope... I think we do oursevlves a disservice to see the suffering and to then decide that there must be no meaning or central purpose or call to the universe. I also think it is intellectualy/philosophically indefensible to argue that since there is so much evil in the world (and in our hearts) that therefore the world has no purpose, there is no God, and Christ is a farce. This approach is only looking at one-half of the dataset. There is not merely a "problem of evil", there is in a sense a "problem of good". If there is no meaning or rationale for seeking justice, then why do so many sacrifice for the greater good? Why do so many of parents take care not only of their own children, but take care of the children who have been abandoned by others? How did Alex Krutov find hope? How did the trans-Atlantic slave trade end? How do I get up and face each day with a sense of peace in my heart? I think all of these "problems" demand an answer. My faith journey has led me to believe Christ offers the answer to the question "How can we hope?". May God make it possible for increasing numbers of Russian orphans to hear this hope proclaimed in the future.
We would be wrongheaded to simply look at this issue and try to alleviate the suffering without asking some deep questions. What is at the root of this plague? Why do we hate our own children? Why do we give birth, only to despise God's gift of life? The issue is deeply rooted in our selfishness, our lack of concern for our neighbor, and oftentimes our lack of concern for ourselves. Our life is a gift from God, how much more the lives of the young and innocent! Only when we look at the root of the problem can we begin to address the issue at all.
Perhaps this is a sidenote, but it is one worth making. I know several people who read the statistics, who visit the orphanages and dismal "baby houses" and give up; on faith, on God, on themselves, on hope... I think we do oursevlves a disservice to see the suffering and to then decide that there must be no meaning or central purpose or call to the universe. I also think it is intellectualy/philosophically indefensible to argue that since there is so much evil in the world (and in our hearts) that therefore the world has no purpose, there is no God, and Christ is a farce. This approach is only looking at one-half of the dataset. There is not merely a "problem of evil", there is in a sense a "problem of good". If there is no meaning or rationale for seeking justice, then why do so many sacrifice for the greater good? Why do so many of parents take care not only of their own children, but take care of the children who have been abandoned by others? How did Alex Krutov find hope? How did the trans-Atlantic slave trade end? How do I get up and face each day with a sense of peace in my heart? I think all of these "problems" demand an answer. My faith journey has led me to believe Christ offers the answer to the question "How can we hope?". May God make it possible for increasing numbers of Russian orphans to hear this hope proclaimed in the future.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Toward a Theology of Orphan Ministry
Who are you? Who am I? These basic questions are ones that dominate our lives, throughout our lives, and it seems the answer changes in ways as time goes by. However, at every point in life our being- our identity, is inexorably rooted in where we came from. Try to imagine then the profundity of this question when you are an orphan.
Few of us can begin to imagine what life is like with no family connections- no one to spend holidays with, no one to call on the weekends, and no network of support when times get hard. Even harder to imagine is having next to nothing to base your very identity on. Anya and I are students of the issues surrounding life as an orphan. We do not know much, but in observing and listening to the lives of orphans we hear one constant refrain- the one thing an orphan knows and remembers about their family, is that the orphan has emerged from the family unwanted.
Because of the depth of these issues, a ministry like The Harbor must be absolutely clear about its objectives.
* The project of The Harbor then is much more than providing housing- The Harbor provides a HOME
* We do not merely teach vocational skills- The Harbor instills VALUE into the orphan by enabling them to work with their hands
* The Harbor does not merely counsel the orphan- The Harbor introduces the orphan to their FATHER
Thank God that our value, our worth, our identity is not found solely, or really, in our earthly lineage.
We are who we are because of whom God has called us to be. He is our Father, our Creator, and our Savior. From him we have come, and he beckons us to return to his nail scarred arms.
Few of us can begin to imagine what life is like with no family connections- no one to spend holidays with, no one to call on the weekends, and no network of support when times get hard. Even harder to imagine is having next to nothing to base your very identity on. Anya and I are students of the issues surrounding life as an orphan. We do not know much, but in observing and listening to the lives of orphans we hear one constant refrain- the one thing an orphan knows and remembers about their family, is that the orphan has emerged from the family unwanted.
Because of the depth of these issues, a ministry like The Harbor must be absolutely clear about its objectives.
* The project of The Harbor then is much more than providing housing- The Harbor provides a HOME
* We do not merely teach vocational skills- The Harbor instills VALUE into the orphan by enabling them to work with their hands
* The Harbor does not merely counsel the orphan- The Harbor introduces the orphan to their FATHER
Thank God that our value, our worth, our identity is not found solely, or really, in our earthly lineage.
We are who we are because of whom God has called us to be. He is our Father, our Creator, and our Savior. From him we have come, and he beckons us to return to his nail scarred arms.
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