I was looking at the literature distributed by Kisima and Worldvision concerning child sponsorship and it reminded me of my trip to Kenya, and some of the things I learnt whilst out there.

At the time, the world (well, the media anyway) was in a frenzy about Africa. The G8 were convening to discuss dropping the debts of a number of third-world countries, Bob Geldof was doing his thing with Live8 and the BBC were showing a series of programmes on Africa. It seemed like the problems Africans had to deal with every day might be solved. Well, if not everything, at least poverty.

Speaking with the average Kenyan though made me realise we need to do a whole lot different. (Well, maybe more as well, but certainly do something different to what was proposed). Yes, it’s all very well having the profile of Africa lifted, to have government debt cancelled and to receive large amounts of aid. Yes, these things are good, but if we don’t do something different, we’ll always be doing it, and poverty will always be with us – I say us, as it affects us, but it affects the Africans a bit more! Even in Kenya, which is one of the more prosperous nations on the continent, poverty was endemic.

To be blunt, most governments/administrations in Africa are corrupt. Yes, they can’t spend large amounts of money on public works as they’re saddled with huge debts, but even without the debts, would they spend it on public works? The Africans I spoke to had no idea what was happening in the developed world concerning them. When I informed them, they seemed mostly ambivalent, not really thinking it would affect them.

The Bible says “for the worker deserves his wages” Lk 10:7. The endemic poverty is largely because we in the developed world don’t trade on a level playing field. Many of the crops produced in the developing world aren’t sold in the developed world for what they’re worth, if they even make it to our local Tesco! EU trade tariffs and subsidies see to that. It’s even been known for crops produced in the developed world, under huge government subsidy and vastly overproduced, to be dumped in the developing world for almost nothing, effectively putting local producers out of business overnight.

Instead of dropping the debts of governments, would it not be better to pay a proper price for the goods we receive, produced by the people of Africa, that the money would end up in their pockets and not disappear in administration? This way the wealth gets to the people, to the employees of these farms and to their customers.

Instead of giving one off charitable donations, would it not be better to give continuously to a known cause which would “teach a man to fish”, teach a girl to become a physicist, teach a boy to become an agriculturalist, teach Africans many useful skills which they can use to improve their lot?

Will we search out fair-traded goods in the future or just sit in front of the TV with our “cheaply” produced food and say how terrible everything is?

Will we wait until the next disaster happens before we put our hands in our pockets, or will we search out long term projects to contribute to?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying what I’ve said will solve the problems of Africa overnight. Just a glimpse at Niger, Darfur, Somalia, Congo, Zimbabwe to name but a few help me to realise the problems are complex. I think the continued attitude of the developed world of aid, aid and more aid is not the answer though.

Does anything I’ve said make any sense?

The promises of God in his word are many. For the believer, many of these promises are a hope and comfort. For Abram, God promised he would be the seed of a great nation, even though Abram had only asked for an offspring. He did more than Abram either asked, or even imagined! God’s grace could be seen through how he gave Abram more than he deserved.

Eventually, as history unfolds, God’s promise is shown to be trustworthy and true, as the Israelite nation is founded and God’s plan of salvation is revealed.

God can also be seen to be unchanging and good. As such, we can trust God at his word, his promises, and know that he will, and has (effectively!), fulfilled them.

Another evening playing a board game, although at Ally’s this time! Risk was the flavour of the day and, to be honest, one of my favourite board games. Brimming with smugness after yesterday’s victory, and a subsequent 5-1 frame victory over David H at snooker this afternoon, I proceeded to occupy Australasia, only to be ousted by David H who had placed a vast army in Siam. The eventual outcome was slightly surprising to me, with Ally and Miriam becoming the architects of world domination. I say surprising, as usually, being girls, they aren’t so aggressive and have an unfortunate leaning towards mercy, allowing the boys to regain a foothold. So all credit to them for sticking to their guns. Ah well, my early exit gave me a chance to watch As Good As It Gets on the telly.

Spent a rather enjoyable evening playing Monopoly round Dave’s with some of the usual suspects. After rather a shakey start, with all the properties in each set being split amongst different players, the game picked up pace when a few deals were made and sets completed. Eventually, with a little shrewdness and a drop of good fortune, I slowly mopped up each player’s assets, despite Ally’s attempts to shore them up with her curiously accumulated wealth. I must admit it’s been a while since I’ve played Monopoly, and even longer since I last won, so a general smugness was in order I think. 🙂

Just saw Crash at Feltham. After reading short snippets about it, I had hopes that it would be a challenging film. By the end of it, I was pleased I had seen it.

As a peek into the human condition, it fulfilled its role. There was a good sense of reality, as each of the characters stumbled through life trying to do what was right, sometimes even managing to do what was right, yet falling unceremoniously when you least expected it. (Or in some cases when you most expected it).

It reminds me that all people are complex and have baggage of all sorts to deal with. It’s so easy to judge a situation with only a casual knowledge of it, rather than spending time looking at it and evaluating it with the time it deserves.

It also reminds me that rascism is not restricted to one group of people, but that anyone can be rascist, although how it manifests itself might be different in each person.

And yes, this film had profanity, lewdness and occassional nudity, but if you took those away, you’d lose the reality.

Do we know who we are?

Back on the football pitch after almost two months away for one reason or another! I was wondering how I’d get on with a slightly dodgy ankle, even though I sprained it ages ago… Whilst I wasn’t running around as much as I usually do – which isn’t much to be honest, I managed to cover quite a distance and even score a few goals. By the end of the game, my ankle hurt a little, but I think I probably did it more good than harm.

Different people treated the crucified Christ in different ways.

The Jewish religious leaders of the day were more interested in observing the ceremonial laws. It was the sabbath, and they had no intention of allowing these events to interrupt their observances. They had missed the whole point of Christ’s sacrifice, that Christ had proclaimed his work as done, there was nothing left for us to do.

The world, as represented by the secular authorities gets very little mention. Pilate is just used as part of God’s sovereign plan. Even though his actions were not according to God’s will, God used it.

The soldiers merely followed orders. They’d seen it all before. Yet, Jesus had died already, so they had no need to break any of his bones. They had no compulsion breaking the legs of the two thieves who were also being crucified though. Yet through this, the requirements of the ceremonially law were being kept – the Passover Lamb was to be presented without a single broken bone.

Finally there was the one who recorded all of what was going on. He believed in Jesus, the Christ, and preserved was he saw, that he might tell others what Jesus Christ had achieved.

Yet another week away, this time at the EMW conference at Aberystwyth! Alas, I think this is my last holiday of the year until Christmas now. As with all my holidays this year, this was well worth the time.

The main addresses for this year’s conference were by Stuart Olyott on the way to Godliness, expositing Romans 6,7 and 8. Here the apostle Paul shows Christians the way to Godliness, to be without sin, to be sanctified. Before even starting to consider Godliness, we first need to be justified through faith. Then, through understanding his word and through using our minds, we are led to Godliness by the Holy Spirit. This isn’t optional, but all those who are justified will be sanctified, ultimately giving glory to God. The speaker gave a very clear explanation of this, and any Christian could do a lot worse than listening to a recording of these addresses.

As well as the various other addresses and seminars, there was plenty of time just to relax and enjoy the benefits of the conference, whether it was sitting on the beach in the glorious sunshine and catching up with old friends and making the odd new one along the way, or having a very harmonious acapella sing song on top of Constitution Hill at one in the morning.

My only regret is that the week wasn’t longer! A very enjoyable week.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger for ever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103:8-18

“You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.” GK Chesterton

Despite the many breaks I seem to be having, my violin playing is still improving – ok it’s possible my playing is so bad it can only improve. I’m slowly able to use all four fingers on all four strings at will, rather than having to stop and think about what I’m doing – I just need to make it all a little less wooden and more musical. 🙂 Of course, then there’s the challenge of moving my whole hand up and down the fingerboard, but one thing at a time – still need to make sure my intonation is good. Most of the pieces I’m playing now are old grade 3 examination pieces, so my progression through the grades seems to be reasonable. I wonder how long it’ll be before I get to grade 5?

Saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this evening. I wasn’t really sure what I thought I was going to expect really. It had been so long since I’d seen the first film adaptation of the book, and an even longer time since I’d read the book, that I couldn’t really remember anything of the story! As such, some parts of this film left me wondering, “Was this in the book?”

What I did notice was that this film adaptation was darker and noticeably more sarcastic than the previous film, and the characters seemed a little more human. The Oompa Loompas, however, seemed to get sidelined a bit as their roles didn’t seem so prominent and I couldn’t for the life of me work out what the song lyrics were!

All in all, an entertaining film, although I’m not sure I get on too well with Roald Dahl’s stories.

After Jesus had completed his work on the cross, we are reminded of his humanity. The living water who quenches the thirst of all who put their faith in him was thirsty. He had waited until he had finished before exclaiming his thirst, he did not allow himself to be sidetracked in any way, staying focussed on his mission.
Yet, his love for us was exclaimed in its fullest as God the Son endured until he had completed his great task.