Home Thoughts From Abroad

The very talented and opinionated Mark Steyn has made himself something of a local celebrity in Canada recently by his Muslim-baiting approach to some sensitive issues, such as freedom of speech and the question of what constitutes hate-speech. Mr. Steyn may have some cultural and ethnic axes to grind in his view of Islam; he does come from a Jewish background, a group not known to be particularly fond of their religious and ethnic half-brothers. But there is no denying that Steyn has touched a chord, especially among those who feel that Muslims generally, and fundamental Muslims in particular have been responsible for more than their fair share of the world’s problems of late.

I would like to suggest that Islam is not the problem, but there is something more fundamental as a root cause of much of the world’s unhappiness. The very real and very distressing outcome of this problem manifests itself as Muslim violence in many parts of the world. But that is only one part of the problem. The rape of the planet’s resources, the degradation of the environment, the plight of the poor in Haiti, Africa and many parts of Asia, the mind-numbing commercialization of every aspect of our lives, the deterioration of our families, the exploitation of women and children as sexual objects, and the obscene accumulation of wealth by a tiny percentage of the world’s population resulting in the grinding poverty of millions all arise from the same root: a loss of awe and wonder in the majesty of an Almighty God who created the universe by simply speaking it into existence, before whom every creature on earth will one day stand in judgment.

Our view of ourselves has degraded in exact measure as we have degraded God in our thoughts, words and deeds. To the extent that we no longer see ourselves as being made in the image of a holy God, to that same extent we pour scorn our husbands and wives, children and parents, friends and relations. To the extent that we will no longer be ruled by an Almighty God, in that same measure we will not be ruled by any earthly authority, resulting in chaos and anarchy, the breakdown of functioning democracies and the rise of totalitarian regimes. To the extent that we despise God’s moral law, to that same extent do we indulge in our own financial rapaciousness, and wink at those we do likewise in our societies.

To the extent that we scorn at any notion of final judgement, to that same extent do we commit all manner interpersonal atrocities, from the genital mutilation and honour killings of girls and young women in Hindu and Muslim societies to the sodomy of boys in Catholic churches by ordained ministers. To the extent that we do not see ourselves as male and female creations of God, to that very extent does half the world force their women to be covered black canvas bags while the other half forces them to expose themselves indecently at every possible opportunity and venue.

If God walked among us, He would weep. But there’s the rub: He did walk among us, and He did weep. And we have forgotten that essential fact; we will no longer be governed by its truth and its beauty. As a result we have become truly ungovernable. So we thrash about, looking to blame each other for the mess we have made of things, when the solution lies plainly before us. We simply must return to God, before we truly lose all that our civilization has brought us. I think at some fundamental level Muslims understand this better than we in the West do. They are seeking to get right with God in the best way they know how, and they are fighting hard against all the impediments they see in their way. And there is no doubt that the West in all in crass commercialism and godless pursuit of wealth even if it means the destruction of society itself stands in the way.

This is not to say that Islam is right. Clearly as a committed Christian I think they are misguided in some very basic fundamentals, such as the need for forgiveness. To imagine that forgiveness from a holy God is possible by any human action, no matter how well motivated or intended is a notion that either thinks too highly of man or too lowly of God. Jesus said the benchmark for entrance into heaven is “perfection” (Matthew 5:48). The Buddhists seem to understand this better than anyone, including Christians. They teach that our debt of wrong deeds, karma, is so great that it will take us many lifetimes to pay off even the smallest amount. What both faiths seem to recognize at some level and yet what they both lack is a Saviour. Only God can pay the debt we owe. That is why He came to earth. That is why He died.

The West used to know this. They no longer do. That is why the West is in decline. Look at history. God does not favour nations that do not uphold His name. Islam for all its faults is at least trying to recover that ground. Buddhists in Cambodia and Myanmar are beginning to recognize their social responsibility. These faiths are not our enemies; they are our natural allies in the struggle against all that is vile in human nature. So long as Mark Steyn and others counsel the West to fear Muslims, then all the greedy forces of the West will use this fear to maintain their grip on society and drive it further along the road towards its own destruction.

The Hebrew prophets when describing the reason for the destruction of their own people would simply say “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” That is the problem with the present age and the reason for all the woes that have befallen this truly wicked time. Seen in this light the Hindus, the Buddhists and even Islam is not the enemy of mankind; rather it is our own perverse and self-destructive lack of holy fear of all all-righteous and all-powerful God who will one day judge us for how we treat those whom He has made – male and female – in His own image.

The Moral Values workshop that we spent so much time praying and planning for is now over and it is impossible for me to put my feelings into words. We started out the week getting to know a lovely group of very well educated and committed Cambodians. Their hope was that their minds would be opened up to the impact that moral values have on the health of individuals, families and their country.

Throughout the week we used the illustrations of a dying “Tree of Despair” with evil roots and a flourishing “Tree of Hope” with roots of strong moral values. We stressed the need to dig out these sick roots and plant strong roots of right living and good moral values. Initially their concerns were all about the corruption, poverty, loss of family and cultural values, and their inability to address the despair that they and their families live with. With each new lesson, we saw the excitement grow and the vocabulary change. Rapidly they went from describing the family as a rigid structure with room for nothing but meeting physical needs to an understanding that the home needs to be a place where children learn about love, kindness, respect, forgiveness, faithfulness, responsibility and can develop a strong sense of self and the ability to resist temptation.

Another recurring theme was the process of character development: knowing what is good, desiring what is good, and practicing the good until finally it becomes a habit. Each lesson began with a role play or story, which everyone loved, followed by a set of questions designed to draw out the principles of the lesson. Joseph was such a big hit that Bill had to revise a lesson so that he could finish the story the following day. Small group discussions were then used to bring out the desired understanding and the learners really enjoyed this participatory approach and the respect for their own knowledge.

They told us that these words were not new to them. They had heard them all before, but just had no idea what they meant or how to apply them. Some of the concepts really challenged the way the Cambodian society functions. In one session we used the story of the woman caught in adultery and created a real stir when we suggested that the man involved may have in some way been at fault. The concept that children are entitled to be respected by adults was also pretty new. At the end of each session the participants wrote a personal application in a journal- one thing that they intended to change in their own life or family.

During the wrap up session the Executive Director challenged the staff to apply this to their own lives, begin to spread it to others in the workplace and integrate these lessons into the training for Volunteers and Peer Educators. With over 750 staff and 20,000 volunteers that is a huge task, but Dr. Vathiny said “we can do this now because we have a Tree of Hope”. One of her final comments was that Christianity is very rational and makes a lot of sense. Our prayer is that she and many others will continue to search for this hope. Thank you so much for your prayers for us this week. It has been an amazing journey.

Day Three was another incredible day; almost overwhelming at times. These are amazing people, but it is unbelievable the gaps in their culture and their understanding of things. They seem to be happy to be exploring new ideas even though every new topic gets deeper and raises more questions in their minds.  With each lesson it is evident that they are learning so much and it is so fun to  see their joy when a new concept becomes clear.

We are getting to the site by 7:30 and not getting back to my room until almost 9 each night so it is exhausting. My first facilitation went really well and I have my second tomorrow. Please continue to pray; teaching is not something that comes naturally to me.  The hotel is a lovely building but the air quality is very poor with a strong smell of mold and everyone is getting sick.  Bill had to cash it in by noon as he had a very high temperature.

I had a meeting a 6:45 this morning with Bernard – the guy from Holland who is responsible for our funding for the proposal that I have been frantically working on for months. He mentioned quite causally that the money for the project has in fact been approved and is available. He was a little surprised to hear that that was news to us.

TWR Cary is upgrading their server and I can’t access my twr mail, which is frustrating!  This did shorten my day somewhat as I was unable to finalize a meeting for this evening.  I am just now watching the miners being rescued in Chile, and it is awesome.