Simplicity

We have all heard that from the mouths of babes comes truth, but I sometimes wonder how much we also pay attention to their actions and how often their actions are a reflection of our actions. On the grand scale of global conflicts most people have decided that violence is a complicated thing. We work diplomatic solutions while at the same time use the excuse of determent to feel better about housing large amounts of weapons that can kill more people than currently exist on the earth (which might be a bit excessive even in the name of security). The majority of the church both Roman Catholic and Protestant, at least in the Western world, has developed a complicated theology of justification for conflicts involving whole countries. This is a theology that has required the brains of great thinkers like St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. I think this complexity of thought has muddied up the waters of understanding violence. I also think my generation has a hard time focusing on violence in a real way because we grew up as part of a nation at war, yet whose daily lives have been largely unaffected by said war in the major ways that wars usually affect a country (the notable exception being families and friends who have lost loved ones as part of the fighting and will never forget that impact of the war…I am one such person).

In the last month a little child named Chacha has taught me a lot about how our actions can often be perceived by others. He has also taught me how simple it is to understand violence without the complication of the Just War Theory and nuclear armaments. Chacha is three years old, yet seems to have the mind of someone much younger. Since we work with orphans it is not uncommon for the full story of their lives up to the point of entering Angel House to be unknown. Chacha is one such child. Since Chacha’s communication skills is one of the things that has remained underdeveloped setting boundaries and discipline have been major problems for the staff. One of our steps of discipline after verbal instructions and discussion is a physical reminder. This is not beating, but can be anything from physically removing the child from a situation to a small spank to get the message across that an action is not good. This is used possibly more in Chacha’s case because communicating verbally with him almost never works. Chacha’s response though is the most interesting thing. He often times does not understand that he is in trouble or that he is doing anything wrong. He does not seem to have much of a sense of what a discipline system is so his response is often to spank back. I think this is a very telling response for a child that often acts on instinct more than any kind of fore-thought. He already knows at a young age that physical violence of any kind elicits a physically violent response. He is not old enough to understand that I am an authority figure whom he should respect or he does not have the forethought that I am bigger and could end up hurting him more than he can hurt me. He just goes on the instinct that you respond to violence with violence. I think this shows how much some things are a learned response and how much violence is being learned everywhere in the world. In fact earlier this week another child was crying and Chacha at first hit the other child and told them to be quite. He was much smaller and this didn’t hurt the child, but it was still disturbing. I came up seconds later and tried to sooth the child instead of using the “I’ll give you something to cry about” method. Chacha came up right behind me and copied my behavior of soothing. He, like most children, repeats what he sees. Children learn violence from abusive parents just as smaller communities learn violence from bigger, more powerful, abusive communities.

Chacha is also Kuria, one of the most violent tribes in Tanzania, one of the tribes most likely to fight with others and most likely to fight among themselves. This is a tribe whose members have learned violence as a way of life for generations. This is a tribe for whom I would say life has a different value than it does for most of us from the West. My hope with Chacha is that I can develop different, more intentional means of communication and discipline that can teach something besides violence. I often have the hope that a same simple, yet hard solution can also be found on the world stage.

Much like a scientific formula, violence on one side is always somehow balanced by violence on the other side. You can add more chemicals and more elements to change the makeup of the formula, but violence will still always equal violence. What we need is a new formula not a more complex formula, a new way of life instead of more of the old way of life, and a path that follows the person of perfect love and non-violence instead of the raising of the value of a death over the value of many lives.

It Ended Up In the Hole

My current time in Tanzania with Angel House has been a time of growth. Grass Roots (the organization over Angel House and the rest of our ministries here) is in a time of growth. We are building a secondary school, developing our staff to better take care of our kids, and even looking at different partnerships within Tanzania. All of this development is prompting me to step into roles and jobs that I have never done before. There is a lot of on the ground learning going on. One of the lessons I am learning well is patience.

Earlier this week the student bathroom that was the farthest along in the construction process decided it did not appreciate what its foundation was doing for it. The bathroom decided to fall in. I am sure that the rain and newly poured cement adding a lot to the weight of the foundation helped contribute to the fall. I also know that the fall contributed to my stress level as it sets our construction of the school back on the timeline. I have encountered many such setbacks, stalls, and roadblocks since we have been back. And unfortunately I am not a patient person by nature. Every time I find myself up against something that threatens to derail “our” plans once again I am reminded that what is often the most important thing in any situation is how you respond to it. It is easy to grow frustrated and it is easy to wait for someone else to figure out a solution. What I have learned to be more difficult, but worthwhile is to gather the right people around you and work together toward a solution.

I was reading in the Gospel of Luke about Jesus going to the temple and reading the passage in Isaiah that outlined Jesus’ ministry and named him as anointed by God. This was the verse that proclaimed that Jesus came to give sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and release for the captives. What most caught my attention in that passage though was that Jesus was simply doing what he always did. The opening few verses say that Jesus went to the synagogue as was his custom and that he read from a scroll that was handed to him. This was the day to announce in his home town the start of his ministry, yet this day was also just one in a string of faithful attendance to the place where he had grown up worshiping his father. This big day in his life was not altogether out of the ordinary. That is something I struggle with. I struggle to have the patience to do the day in, day out work awaiting the big days, even if the day in and day out are what make those big days possible.

I am learning patience. I am learning to deal with setbacks. I am learning to be constructive in slow, patient, steady ways so that someday the announcement can be made, on a day like any other, that it is the finally day we have been waiting for.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. ~Romans 12:12

A Haven of Peace

I was able to travel to Dar es Salaam last week for the first time. Dar is the capital of Tanzania and I was excited to be able to visit the obvious hub of much of what happens for the whole country of Tanzania (though for additional information there is also an administrative capital in Tanzania). Dar es Salaam means “Haven of Peace” and was named by some of the first Arabs to make it down this far into Africa. Now, I understand that Dar has developed a lot since the first Arabs came, but it was not what I would consider peaceful. It was on par with most big cities I have been to in that it was crowded and noisy. For Dar you have to add very, very hot because it is close to the equator, but also at sea level right next to the Indian Ocean so there was no relief from the heat due to altitude like there is in Tarime. Despite some discomforts I remained very excited about going to Dar.


My excitement lasted about 4 hours into an 18 hour bus ride that it takes to get there. This bus ride included Tanzanian gospel music videos, a Michael Jackson concert series, WWE wrestling, and Mike Tyson highlights. From there on out the task of simple transportation seemed to rule the trip with two 18 hour bus rides to get to Dar and back as well as several hours a day in city buses going from government office to government office. All that being said the trip was well worth it and fairly enlightening.

I was able to meet several government officials on the national level that will be able to continue to help our work here with Angel House and the soon to be opened school. Anna, our supervisor, went with me and we met with people in the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, Gender, and Children which over sees the Social Welfare Department, and people in the Ministry of Health about bringing doctors into Tanzania to help with free medical care. We were also able to meet with people from the Bishop’s Office of the United Methodist Church here in Tanzania. I am working on something like a local pastor’s certificate to be able to help with the church here in the Tarime area.

I enjoyed seeing a more developed part of Tanzanian closer to the center of what is happening in the country. It was a good glimpse of what is possible in Tanzania if we can only bring some of the best that Tanzania has to offer to the area of Tarime.

It was a productive trip which involved a lot of business. I hope to someday be able to return and experience a little more of the richness of the capital and less of government offices. Though some highlights of the trip included the ripest of oranges from street vendors and Mountain Dew something that has not made it to our side of the country yet.

I am thankful for safe travels and the deepening of relationships in a beautiful country.