We Are People But He is God

I write to you all from a drizzly and cloud covered Kona. The weather here is reminding me of home. Those of you in beautiful Washington State may already be at odds with the blustery weather conditions, but strangely enough, I often find myself missing those blustery weather conditions.

The last couple weeks, our class has spent largely focused on preparing for our upcoming distribution tours for our book, Sex & Money: A Global Search For Human Worth. Rather than the normal lectures we would usually have during the week, we have received some much needed time to devote to getting next quarter’s outreaches going in the right direction. So far, my team (Koala and I) has finalized a majority of our promotional information that we will be sending to venues (churches, cafes, galleries, and the like.) In addition to this, we have been working on other logistical aspects of our tours, such as budgets, itineraries, and other details of getting from place to place. Fairly dry subject matter to discuss in written form, but I figure it is good to keep everyone in the loop.

In addition to the all-American celebration of Thanks that is to be celebrated this next Thursday (I am thankful for purple Hawaiian sweet potatoes) the next couple weeks will be mostly the same. In the days to come, Koala and I, in addition to our class, would greatly value your prayers. Specifically:

-We are currently working with our contacts in the various countries to arrange speaking arrangements, exhibitions and such. We have been blessed with contacts in each of the places we’ll be visiting, but we could use your prayers to get the right events finalized at the right places and times.

-A lot of times, I feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of coordination that is necessary for two people to take this project through six countries in three months. I know it is possible, but it is evident that my know-how and abilities only go so far. I guess you could say I could use an extension of faith and wisdom.

-With this project, I feel like I am now a place of preparing “to step out of the boat.” I have been to the third world countries, I have seen various instances of need, but to now portray these needs to the western world in a way that will motivate people to act will be something new, and certainly challenging.

I appreciate the partnership and interest you have taken in this project. I believe this upcoming time of new-ness will be fruitful, both as something that increases action in opposition to injustice in our world, as well as something that will enlighten my heart more to the character and competence of our God. I am already becoming more aware of my humanity in contrast to His divinity.

FYI: This last week marks the celebration of the purchasing of my ticket to Reykjavik, Iceland. I think this is cause for celebration. {!} I shall embark for the far north on January 2.

The Looming Distribution

*Click on the pages to grow them into something more viewable.

introduction:

The following seven essays were written regarding the creation process, a process which was initiated by the loving, personal, triune God of our universe. My aim here is neither to be entirely comprehensive, nor is it to be an expert scientist; however, an aim I do have is to direct attention to the nature of a God who is not only entirely powerful, but also wonderfully personal. Looking at the technicalities contained within creation, it is clear that science does not have to be about placing God into any sort of constrained system; rather, God seems have allowed Himself to be made known through all the empirical formulas and chemical reactions that occur within the universe - after all, He was the one to initiate them.

If you find my understanding of science to be dodgy, it probably is. Please feel free to enlighten me to a more accurate understanding of our world.

light.

(North Kohala, Hawaii, USA)

The night is far spent, the day is at hand…

Romans 13:12 (NKJV)

Light came with words. The spirit of God was hovering over the waters in a world of darkness, and with the voice of God, light was spoken into existence. No longer were things hidden, obscure, but they were made evident, defined. With light, we are graced with the ability to take in and comprehend the beauty of the world around us, specifically through colors; colors, however, are not what they would automatically seem.

In 1665, Isaac Newton, at the time a young student in Britain, conducted an experiment with light. Newton allowed a ray of sunlight to pass through a prism, and found that that when the sunlight was refracted, it refracted a band of many colors, or what is actually the entire spectrum of visible color. Newton came to the conclusion that “white light” is not in itself white, but is actually made up of all other colors (Burnie).

Thanks to these experiments, we can know that certain objects are not colored in and of themselves; rather, we only see color in objects because of the type of light they absorb, and the type of light they reflect. This process is known as “color subtraction.” For example, when the three primary colors of the spectrum (red, green, and blue) are directed towards an object, if the object absorbs the green light and reflects the red and blue light, our eyes will mix the reflected colors of red and blue, causing the object to appear as a magenta tone. If the spectrum of light is shone at an object, and all the colors are absorbed, reflecting no light, the object will appear to our eyes as black (Burnie.)

When light was made to exist, an interesting turn was taken for all that had existed previously (at this time it sounds like there was only a formless sum of water). With reality illuminated, no longer was existence absorbed in “blackness;” instead, the world was made capable of something new: hues, gradients, textures, pigment, and eventually even the knowledge of these. With the addition of such a dimension, no longer would darkness keep all things hidden within itself, but there would now be lightness, made to contain and communicate all colors, existence, and truth.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:4-5 (NKJV)

Source:
(Burnie, David. Light. 18-19, 28-33. Dorling Kindersley. 2000.)

atmosphere.

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!..."

1 Kings 8:27 (NKJV)

The English word atmosphere comes from the Greek word atmos, meaning, “vapor,” and sphaira, meaning, “ball” or, “globe.”

Our atmosphere is comprised of four main layers. The first layer, the layer of the atmosphere in which we will spend most of our lives is known as the troposphere, which extends upwards about 7 miles (11 Kilometers) from the surface of the earth, though these distances often vary by a few miles. The average temperature of the earth is 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius,) but for every mile you go up in elevation, the temperature drops around 17 F per mile (9.4 C/km). So, once you reach the uppermost part of the troposphere, the temperature is somewhere about – 61 F (-52 C). Most all weather takes place in the troposphere, and cycles of wind also circulate throughout the troposphere, keeping systems of air and weather properly balanced in different areas of the world (Vogt.)

The next layer, the stratosphere, goes to around 30 miles (48 Kilometers) above the surface of the earth. The main role of the stratosphere is to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays that radiate from the sun. Because the stratosphere contains the gas known as ozone, it is able to protect us from what would otherwise be very harmful concentrations of sunlight. Because the stratosphere absorbs so much sunlight, the average temperature is slightly warmer. Starting at about -62 F (-52 C) its lower part, it increases to as much as 27 F (33 C) (Vogt.)

Above the stratosphere lies the mesosphere, which extends somewhere around 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the surface of the earth. Like the stratosphere, the mesosphere also absorbs a significant amount of energy from the sunlight, however at its upper reaches, its average temperature is a bit lower, around -130 F (-90 C) (Vogt.)

The outermost layer of our atmosphere is the thermosphere, which stretches to around 370 miles (595 kilometers) from the surface of the earth, and it is most certainly the warmest layer, with temperatures that often climb to more than 3,100 F (1,700 C). Because there are so few molecules in this layer, the molecules that do exist are quickly affected by the sun’s energy that is entering our atmosphere (Vogt.)

Looking at the layers of the atmosphere, it seems as though the layers were designed to act as a sort of filter from the harsh circumstances that attempt to (and sometimes do) enter our planet. Without the layers and molecules and currents running around in the skies above, we would have no chance of withstanding the unforgiving elements that are trying to enter in. Because we would certainly be done for without protection, it seems evident that in creating the atmosphere, and the layers therein, God was implementing a sort of safeguard, to save us, along with all the rest of creation, from harmful radiation, AKA certain destruction.

Source:
(Vogt, Gregory. The atmosphere: Planetary Heat Engine. 22-25. Twenty-First Century Books. 2007.)

plants, etc.

You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothes with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.

Psalm 65:9-13 (NKJV)

God is the good farmer. God created the land, and the plants that fill it, purposing that there would be a yield from that which He created. The creation of vegetation wasn’t just a one-time thing, but it was something that was designed to be sustaining, that would continue to carry itself out over the course of the future. With the creation of plants and all forms of vegetation, God was making provision for the living creatures that He would eventually create. Some of these provisions include the food we harvest from plants, the healing remedies they offer us, as well as the way in which they act as a sort of filter for the air we breathe, to name a few.

Organisms that obtain their energy from sunlight are known as photoautotrophs. During the process known as photosynthesis, with energy provided by the sun, plants, algae, and certain bacteria convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen. In plants, sunlight is absorbed by chloroplasts, which are basically small compartments containing the light-sensitive pigment known as chlorophyll. It is estimated that for every square millimeter of leaf, there are somewhere between 450,000 and 800,000 chloroplasts. The sugar and oxygen created through photosynthesis provide sufficient energy for a couple of things to take place. First of all, the sugars act as the fuel that allows the organism carry out all processes that are necessary for existence. The plant does make use of a small part of the oxygen that is produced through photosynthesis, but a majority of the oxygen is releases through the stomata (microscopic openings through which the plant can breathe) (wikipedia.org.)

Considering the process of photosynthesis, it is easy to see the importance of the sun – not just for plants, algae, and bacteria, but for the entirety of creation. The sun basically powers the energy cycle of the entire earth. Without the sun, we would have no vegetation, and without vegetation, we would either:

a. Die of hunger, as there would be no food. No, their wouldn’t be animals to eat – without plants they also would go hungry.
b. Suffocate and/or become polluted with toxic air.
c. Both of the above.

The cycle of energy God has created is extremely functional, but with this functionality we are also faced with our frailty. Try as we may to configure our economies and alter global politics and live a life characterized by “success”, at the end of the day, without food, without air, without a God who is love to hold us in the balance, we would certainly waste away. Existence is fragile.

Sources:
(Photosynthesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis#Oxygen_and_photosynthesis : accessed on October 8, 2008.)

John Paul Vicory. Phone Interview.

stars.

(Mauna Kea, The Big Island, Hawaii)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

Psalm 8:3-4 (NKJV)

Astronomers estimate that the universe contains about 100 billion galaxies, each containing an average of 100 billion stars (Eyewitness.) With these numbers in mind, it is hard to imagine that any one being could manage all these, not to mention all the other life processes taking place, even down to the molecular scale. Somehow though, the one who holds the outermost of galaxies together is also the one who sustains our hearts when we find ourselves in precarious positions.

Within our solar system, there exist clouds and dust and gas. These are known as nebulae (singular: nebula). Often, nebulae will appear to be bright shining clouds floating in the midst of a field of stars; they appear this way as the dust and gas they contain is often lit up by the light and radiation of the surrounding stars (Kindersley.) (Do recall the earlier essay regarding our ability to see color.) Just as we continue to find various nebulae throughout the universe, we find that our universe is growing, expanding, continually being created (perhaps it is an enjoyable hobby to create new existence from exceedingly large amounts of solar dust and accumulated sums of chemicals, measuring increments in light-years).

Nebulae provide a platform and material for which the formation of a new star can take place. When material within a certain portion of a nebula begins to condense into a concentrated area, what is known as a globule begins to form. Because of the gravity that begins to increase in the globule, other material in the surrounding of the nebula begins to be drawn to it. This accumulated material is what is known as a protostar. Over time, these protostars grow, become full grown stars, and as we see with many stars, they eventually die out, either exploding into supernovas, or slowly fizzling out into black dwarfs (Kindersley.)

Hotter stars will glow in a bluish tone, whereas the cooler stars will emit more of a reddish color. The sun at the center of our solar system is a fairly average star. Its diameter is about 870,000 miles (though many stars are about 450 times smaller, some stars exist that are at least 1000 times bigger than our sun). In the core of the sun, hydrogen is being converted to helium through nuclear fission, a process which gives off a significant amount of energy, i.e. enough to energy and heat to sustain the necessary processes for life on our planet, i.e. photosynthesis (Kindersley.)

Processes like those mentioned above are happening all across the universe, at varying intervals and various moments in time. It’s an intimidating reality. What are we that our interests and needs should stand in front of the billions upon billions of nuclear reactions that must be managed, orchestrated? It is strange to find the shortcomings of our hearts and the practical neediness of our hands are suddenly looked after, as we find our imperfect selves cherished by the being who says, “I love you more than any amount of stars, galaxies, or nebulae.” Perhaps this is the more intimidating reality.

Source:
(Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries. The Visual Dictionary of the Universe. 12-13, 18-23, 28-29. Dorling Kindersley. 1993.)

flying.

(Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA)

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:26-27 (NKJV)

By the time man finally began to partially figure out the technicalities behind aviation, the science of flight had long since been perfected in the animal kingdom, the most obvious instance being birds. We will often think ourselves so clever, as we hop from continent to continent in a matter of hours, but this process was made possible not with innovation that was thought up by Boeing or Airbus. The real “technology” was initiated into reality by the mind of a slightly more sovereign engineer.

Let’s talk about internal framework. Should members of the avian family have been created with a more bulky bone structure, science shows that they would have a hard time flying in any sort of efficient manner, that is if they could even fly at all. In designing birds, it was evident that weight reduction would be necessary, and we can see the effects of this executive decision in the lightweight, hollow bones that mark members of the flying kingdom. Other weight-reducing aspects include the replacement of teeth with a gizzard; less joints; and a lightweight beak instead of a heavier jawbone (Markle.)

Once weight was reduced, it was time to move onto the logistics of actually allowing a living creature to change it’s position in altitude and geography floating on nothing more than air. Bird’s wings were created in the shape of an airfoil, which basically means that the leading edge and top of the wing are curved, while the bottom surface of the wing is relatively flat. Because of this, when a bird’s wing moves through the air, the air going over the top of wing must move faster than the air traveling beneath the wing. This creates lift, which allows the bird to fly in an upward direction from its original location.

There are certainly other factors and variables contributing to the flight efficiency of birds and other members of the animal kingdom that make use of such technology, but these are some of the basic keys to flight - the fruits of which we often see in the technology we use to move from place to place. As aircraft manufacturers continue to battle it out over who can produce the most efficient, appealing, and luxurious aero-liners, it would not be surprising to see that more innovation has yet to be discovered in the deeper technicalities of the structures and processes found in flying creatures. This does not go to say that we need to consider replacing the jawbones of our 767’s with lightweight beaks, but certainly the innovation that is visible in this area of the animal kingdom should provoke our thinking. Does innovation come from the heart of man, or has it already been copy written by the mind of Divinity?

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10: 29-31 (NKJV)

Source:
(Markle, Sandra. Outside and Inside Birds. 8-11, 23. Maxwell Macmillan. 1994.)

sight.

(Pebane, Mozambique)

He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

Psalm 94:9 (NKJV)

It seems strange that our eyes, spheres of tissue and pressurized liquids, can allow for the transfer of reflected rays of light from the world around us into an image that we are able to see, process, and sometimes understand. Without sight, to say the least it would be hard to process much that occurs in our surroundings.

The first place that light enters the eye is through the cornea, which bends surrounding light into the eye (Seymour). The colored part of our eyes is known as the Iris, while the opening at the center of the iris is identified as the pupil. In dark conditions, the Iris will relax, allowing the pupil to increase in size and thus become more sensitive to the little amount of light that is available. When more light is present, the iris will contract, thus decreasing the size of the pupil, therefore limiting the amount of light that is allowed to enter the eye. Once it has passed through the pupil, the remaining light travels through the lens, which is the consistency of a hard jelly. To bring objects into focus, ciliary muscles surrounding the lens contract to make the focal length of the lens thicker, and relax to make it thinner (Burnie).

Once light has passed through the lens of the eye, it travels through the vitreous humor (the liquid material that fills the eye) and is projected onto the retina, which is basically the back surface on the inside of the eyeball, which is full of light-sensitive nerve endings, identified as either cones or rods. Rod cells are sensitive to shades of brightness, and are helpful in seeing in black and white. They are most useful in low light conditions. Cone cells function best in bright circumstances, and enable us to view colors. Most cones are concentrated around the center of the retina, while most of the rods exist on the periphery of the retina. Each rod and cone is connected to the brain through it’s own individual nerve. All the nerves connected to the rods and cones in the retina come together to form what is known as the optical nerve. As light strikes the different rods and cones in the retina, they transmit signals of an image to the brain through minute electronic signals (Seymour). The information sent to the brain by each individual rod and cone is then processed by the brain to compose an image. Originally, this image is upside down, but the brain is able to analyze the signal and reverse it into its proper form, as it exists in reality.

Perhaps God gave us these tools because He had (has, will have) something to communicate to us, that He wanted us to more fully understand. Do we chose to live with our eyes shut, covered, averted, or are we willing to make ourselves vulnerable to the visions of need in the world in which we are placed?

Sources:
(Burnie, David. Light. Dorling Kindersley Limited. 1999.)
(Simon, Seymour. Eyes and Ears. Harper Collins. 2003.)

rest.

(Seinne River, Paris, France)

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)

It is hard to feel at rest in a world that is constantly moving. After bringing into existence all that is, the God of the universe decided it was time to take a pause .

In Deuteronomy 5:14-15, the Hebrew translation of Sabbath is shabbath, meaning, “intermission.” In the same context, these verses make use of the word rest, which in this instance translates to nuach, the Hebrew word which communicates settling down, ceasing, withdrawing, or giving comfort, (among other things) (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries). In this context, in which God gave to Israel the Ten Commandments, God was setting up a sort of social code of conduct for the Israelites (ISBE), as they had just come away from a life of harsh exploitation beneath the Egyptians. By commanding the Israelites to take an “intermission” from their work week, he was giving them a system by which all people involved - Israelites and their workers and their livestock - would be treated fairly, allowing them to live healthy lives in which they could relate to their God, rather than making their work into something more important than the God with whom they were created to relate.

It seems as though Israel went through two different extremes with the Sabbath; at times they completely brushed off the requirements of the Sabbath, working themselves, their workers, their land, and their livestock to exhaustion, while later they began to over-observe the day of rest with an overzealous sense of self-righteousness. “The prophets found fault with the worship on the Sabbath, because it was not spiritual nor prompted by love and gratitude. (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).” By the time Jesus came onto the scene, the Sabbath had become something extremely legalistic, and devoid of the original meaning with which it was created. Humans had allowed a law come to stand in the way of the God it was meant to point them towards. Jesus proclaimed, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also LORD of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28).

Paul professed a Christian liberty that existed in every day, or every season (ISBE). In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul states, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” Paul is not deeming a Sabbath day as unimportant; rather, he seems to say that because of our being made right with God through Jesus Christ, the day in which the Sabbath is observed is not what is important, but rather we must give honor, and place our relations to Him before every other priority that could ever enter into our lives, hearts, or minds, on any day of the week.

What appears to be evident is that we are more important to God that anything we could ever accomplish, construct, complete, observe, or achieve. In rest, we come to encounter a God who is less concerned about doing, and more concerned about our being. Will we love this God who dies to be with us, or will we embrace more warmly a sticky-note of tasks we must accomplish?

final steps and the invisibly changing seasons

I guess a lot has happened since the last update, therefore I will gladly inform you.

As many of you know, our group returned to Kona, Hawaii to begin making a publication with the photos and stories from our last year of travel. I am still here in Kona, and a lot of ground has been made in the process of putting together our book. Over the last month especially, the pace of work on the project has increased quite a bit. When I originally heard in June that we would be sending a book out to print in mid-September, it seemed nearly impossible. However, though things have been fairly hectic, it is amazing to see the ground that has been made in such a short amount of time, and we are now looking to send the final design and layout to the printer by the end of the week.

Since the original steps of brainstorming and discussing the vision of the book, (something which took a significant amount of time in itself,) we then had instructors come to bring their insight and experience in regards to the logistics of assembling the material into a form that could be sent off to print. For the design portion, we had Kathrin Fietz, a graphic designer from Germany/London, come to walk us through the process of designing and laying out our book. After this, we had Andrew Kooman, a writer from Canada, join us to take us through the process of recording our personal experiences from the last year into written material that can be effective for communication.

Once we had collected all the “raw data” of writing and stories, we were able to begin consulting with a graphic designer in Germany (our school leaders have worked with him for publications they produced in the past.) The last week has consisted largely of conferring back and forth with him, to get the look we feel the book should have. As the deadline for the printer is soon approaching, the few days we will be working back and forth with the designer to make the final changes and alterations. We don’t yet know the exact date for when we will have a printed book in our hands, but it is still hard to imagine what it will be like to see actual printed material in our hands.

In this process, I have come to see what a responsibility we have with the words we say. Growing up, I was often told, “Think before you speak.” This was always a very valuable insight to carry with me; but in the process of writing in a book that will be read and heard by thousands of people, the importance of this saying has only been multiplied. When I think about speaking to just one person, it is usually fairly easy to assess how to speak, and understand how they will interpret the words I say. However, with writing to an audience that is not familiar with myself, my heart, or even the heart of this project, I see the importance of portraying truth in a way that can be understood on a broad, universal sort of scale. Whether they are reading from a “Christian” or “Secular” point of view, God’s message and heart for the world remains the same. So, my challenge? - learning to say something of value without at the same time putting my foot in my mouth by saying something that a certain demographic could take out of context. To say the least, it’s a learning process.

With the finalization of the material, our group would certainly value your prayers. Throughout the course, of writing, selecting photos, and editing the final content, we have been seeking to honor God with the pictures we show and the words we speak. Please pray that we will have eyes to see the changes that need to be made, and the aspects that need to stay as they are. Because we have become so deeply involved in this project, it is often hard to see what needs to be changed, so we would value your prayers for God to give us eyes that can look at our work objectively, understanding what in fact we are communicating.

This Wednesday will also be the end of the summer quarter here at the University of the Nations. We have a one-week break before we will begin fall quarter. In the current quarter we have been focused on getting the book out to print. For fall quarter, it looks like we will be preparing for the tours that we will begin this upcoming January, when we will distribute and explain the heart behind the book. When I find out more specifics about what these things look like, I will keep you posted. More details soon to come…

in kona, a project takes flight

I realize it has been a few weeks since my last update, and not a lot has changed here since then, but I did want to keep you all in the loop as far as what is happening with our program here in Kona. It does feel as though we are finally beginning to settle down here. It is weird to think of being in a place now for more than a month.

For those of you who don't know, our class is now going through the process of making a publication from our photos and experiences over the last nine months of travel. It is a daunting task, assembling the minds of about 20 people and trying to achieve a common vision and result, but we've been seeing God working unity into our minds as we take small steps. Basically, the aim of us making a publication is to then go out distributing the publication in different areas around the world, using it as a tool to bring awareness to people regarding different issues of injustice in the world, and motivating people to get involved with those areas of need with their time, resources and energy. Our hope is that we will be able to portray areas of need in our world in a relevant way, showing people the reality of injustice in our world, but at the same time, showing the hope for change that exists with those needs. In this, we would very much value your prayers.

I appreciate all of your involvement in the process thus far. It has been an amazing experience to see so many places and meet so many people and learn about so many different issues. These next months will be quite a bit different, but I'm looking forward to learn how to portray these places, people and issues in an effective way, from the perspective of God's heart. I am blessed by your partnership with me in this.

¿cultura en la tierra?

Somewhere around 1000 years ago, a people group known as the Maleku tribe existed with little or no conflict in lands that are now included in what we would define as the nation of Costa Rica. The land was free; there were no private owners. The Maleku could go where they wanted and do what they pleased, with nothing to stand in their way. At this point in time, the population was believed to be somewhere around 20,000. Gradually, as the Maleku people continued to branch our to surrounding areas, they eventually arrived in what is now part of Nicaragua. As those from the Nicaraguan area became aware of the Maleku people, settlers in the area of Nicaragua slowly began to take advantage of the Maleku people, and there were many cases of these people going to the Maleku land, killing men, taking their wives, in addition to whatever resources they could get their hands on, such as the rubber that was grown on much of the Maleku land. As outside peoples began to infiltrate Maleku land, they influenced many of the Maleku people to give up their land on unfair trades for horses, dogs, booze and the like. Land, which originally belonged to the Maleku people, ultimately ended up in the hands of private landowners, with little or no connection to the blood or culture of the Maleku people. While the original population of the Maleku tribe was at one point over 20,000, two hundred years ago the tribe only existed in the amount of 1,000 people. Today they exist in the number of somewhere around 600.

(Rio Celestial - phosphorus from the nearby volcano mixes with the water to make it a bright turquoise color.)

(the active volcano, Arenal)

Over time, the population of Maleku people has continued to decrease. In 1977, the Costa Rican government approved a law in favor of the indigenous people groups in the country, providing lawful grounds for much of their original land to be returned. In reality, very little of this land has been returned to the possession of the Maleku tribe. The problem with the law is that the land set apart for the Maleku people is currently in the possession of private landowners. So, even though land may have been designated for this indigenous people group, they cannot really be in possession of the land until it is purchased back from the private landowners. Unfortunately, the Costa Rican government has not seen this as much of a priority, and has therefore not devoted the amount of money necessary to buy back the entirety of the land. There are currently three Maleku villages near Guatuso, Costa Rica: Palenque Margarita, Palenque Tonjibe, and Palenque del Sol (Palenque is a word meaning “indigenous community.”) Currently, the approximately 600 Maleku people currently living in these villages exist on less than 5% of the land that is in law entitled to them.

As the government has not made much ground in the process of returning the land to the Maleku people, some of the leaders in the Maleku community have taken it upon themselves to develop programs by which they can raise money for the purchase of the land. Currently, a friend of the Maleku tribe from the United States is attempting to raise money through selling coffee from Costa Rica in the United States (they are currently contemplating plans to begin a coffee plantation run by the Maleku people themselves, but it is not yet certain.) 10% of the profits from this coffee business will go help the Maleku people purchase their land. This program is currently just in the beginning stages, and as the current profits are small, it is not certain if it will be fully effective for the procurement of such a large and expensive amount of land. It is not clear what will transpire with the Maleku people, their land, or the continuation of their culture. They seek to obtain their land, because, they say, “The culture is in the land.” Currently, as they are not possessing the entirety of their land, many of the Maleku tribesmen feel that they are not possessing the entirely of their culture.

(Bienvenido Cruz, and his wife, Celina)

Bienvenido (the Spanish word for welcome) Cruz, 60, the father of six, and a leader in the Maleku community living in Palenque Tonjibe, has been working most of his lifetime for the return of the land that his people are by law entitled to. From his standpoint, one of the biggest contributing factors to the degradation of the Maleku culture is Christianity, or at least what he sees of Christianity. This brings up some interesting issues.

(the extended cruz family)

Before the arrival of missionaries in the last few centuries, the traditional Maleku culture was involved in worship of Toku (the Maleku word for God.) Toku represented everything that exists. They would worship him in ceremonies involving cocoa, which was sacred simply for the reason that it was created by Toku. They would take cocoa butter, rub it on their arms and face, and begin speaking and singing to Toku in the Maleku language. These ceremonies would also usually involve chicha, a fairly hallucinogenic drink. Often the worship would be in thanks for provision of food after returning from hunting trips. The Maleku people worshipped Toku, (and a few people still do), but there was not a direct means by which they could personally interact and speak with him. The Toku they worshiped existed in the form of a single carved image, and only one man, the Cacique (similar to a priest) would communicate with the carved image, and communicate commandments and instructions to the people. Any right or wrong would be communicated through the Cacique to the people, but these commandments of right and wrong would usually change from generation to generation. Nowadays though, those who continue to worship Toku do not know the whereabouts of the carved image, and even if they knew where it was, there is no longer a Cacique to communicate with the image. Bienvenido, a worshipper of Toku, says that he still worships, but he cannot communicate with Toku. Bienvenido worships, but he doesn’t know the image. He feels that if he were to come to a faith in Jesus, he would be renouncing his culture, and says that the rest of the community would be wiped out as a result.

(los chanchos.)

Some of Bienvenido’s children have come to find a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Missionaries brought the gospel message many years ago, but people in the Maleku community have not come to faith out of being forced by missionaries; rather, they speak of how they have come to see Jesus as a personal God, who loves them, with whom they need no medium to communicate. Followers of Christ in the Maleku community still acknowledge their desires for their land to be returned, and they do express a concern for the preservation of their culture, but they are also aware that there were many areas of their culture that did not align with the ultimate truth of the gospel. These people have found God to be personable. They have found Him to be love. For these they have retained a value of their culture, but a value that is kept in moderation by the ultimate reality of truth. Sadly, followers of Toku, such as Bienvenido, feel that because followers of Christ have given up parts of their culture in accepting Christ, God must not care for the culture of the Maleku people.

(Reception is hard to come by in Palenque Tonjibe. This is the mobile hot-spot for the Cruz family.)

(A local pastor has a weekly spot on the local Maleku radio station. He interviewed my friends and me for the week's show.)

(Gabrielle. The day after consuming an entire squirrel.)

Often we speak of how our God is a God of every tribe, tongue, and nation. Before going to Palenque Tonjibe, I had never been forced to see how this applies when the gospel seems to come up against the traditions of a people-group. With the Maleku people, I see how God is one that cares for the nations, the culture, the traditions, the festivities, but in a more roundabout way than I had once thought. In this instance, it seems that because God has so much value for the Maleku culture, He desires not simply to leave the culture as it exists in and of itself. By caring for their culture, He is bringing reform to that which does not align with His heart, and allowing to remain that which does not hinder His plans, thus allowing their culture to one day walk in its complete perfection. Not wiping out the Maleku culture, forcing it to adorn suit and tie and stand in pews to worship in a way they do not understand, but enabling them to come to a place of walking out their culture to its truest extent, putting them in a place where they are able to begin effectively pursuing the return of their physical lands (in addition to the spiritual lands) He has provided for them.


God has deep concern for culture and tradition, but it is not His biggest goal for our lives. It seems apparent that He is more concerned about us becoming adopted into his family, no matter what type of roots we come from. The Maleku culture is one that needs perfecting. Our own culture is one that needs perfecting (wherever you may exist.) The perfecting is available to us, but will we allow it?

Wed to a Cause: Farming in a Dry Land, or rather, this wasn't what I was expecting.

Tunisia was most everything I wasn’t expecting. However, in all actuality, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a good thing. Going to the country in a small group of five others and myself, in addition to going on short notice, we didn’t have a very clear idea of what to expect, but we envisioned, remote, exotic, and certainly removed from large packs of tourists (the latter proved to be the most difficult criteria to fulfill). Though much of what transpired was contrary to our thoughts of what we thought we would be doing in Tunisia, God exposed us to much that, though not a part of our vision, was very much included in His. This was challenging in that it wasn’t taking-a-lot-of-pictures or finding-remote-villages; but God revealed to us what, though slightly less noticeable, was significantly more profound.

(Hedi: wanted me to send him some English tea.)

(Nabil: Makes a killer mint tea)



(pathway in the catacombs)

Going to Tunisia, I was very unaware as to just how much early church history that the area contained. Much of Tunisia is in fact built above the ancient catacombs, where members of the early church would live and function underground to avoid persecution. We were told that nowadays it is not uncommon for areas of ground to simply fall through after rain, revealing new underground passageways where the literal underground church would have existed. The early church existed in this area during a time where Christians were being persecuted harshly, but when the church was growing rapidly. As we were underground in some of the catacombs, our contact walked us through some of the stories of the people who gave their lives in commitment to everything that Christ had called them to. What stood out to me was that when confronted with opportunities to compromise in their faith, even in the smallest of areas, even when it would have saved their lives or allowed them to continue caring for their families, these believers remained completely devoted to everything that Christ had called them to be. Because they had known Christ for who He really was, they were in no position to live in any other way than what He had called them to. This made me think. Am I, as Christ’s beloved, completely wedded to his causes and purposes for my life? After experiencing the catacombs, I desire to come to the place where I can respond in the affirmative.

(Beneath the floor of the coliseum in El Jem. Many Christians may have waited her before being brought out to gladiators, vicious animals, etc.)

It was once said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Many of the remains of the early Christian martyrs still exist buried in the catacombs to this day. It could be said then, that Tunisia, is built on seeds for the church. Though many seeds exist in the soil, there are few farmers working in such a land.

While in Tunisia, it was a blessing to meet some of the workers that are cultivating the soil, so to speak. Seeing significance in numbers, they spoke of 2007 as the year of completion, and in turn, they now see 2008 as the year of new beginnings for God’s work in the country. It became apparent that God is indeed beginning a new work, even in such a seemingly dry place. Workers have been coming to Tunisia since the early 1900’s, but until recently, “Christianity” was not something that a majority of the population could connect with. It had yet to be something truly relevant, and even to this day, only about 15% of the population feels any connection with a traditional sense of the Christian faith. Christianity is still seen as something very western; and more than a relationship with God it is associated with much of the debauchery and scandalous activities that so often take place in our culture and are portrayed to the people of Islamic cultures through our music, movies, and other media.

(The edge of the Sahara Desert near Douz)

(Fadel: tour group operator)


(Mohammed: "My heart is in the desert.")

(Moussa: Mohammed found him orphaned in the desert, and is now raising him. )

(Mohammed and his mother: Their family are originally Nomads in the Sahara, but have become more settled in the last couple of years.)

(Fermented Milk: Best consumed extremely quickly)




(One portion of our trip was made alongside a group of Polish tourists. They didn't speak English. We didn't speak Polish.)

The work in Tunisia is moving in a new direction. We were reminded that Jesus wasn’t preaching Christianity; rather, He was preaching the Kingdom of God, which is something He wanted all peoples to be incorporated into. With such a new approach, we are no longer seeking to win people to Christianity, we are seeking to draw people into a realization of their place in God’s family. With this comes a lot of un-learning of what we always thought was necessary for a Christian faith. With the work in Tunisia, workers have found that the simple things are the things that have life. They spoke of how history shows that revival has flown much more quickly in open surroundings, outside of traditional church buildings. Revival did not take place in passive congregations under single pastors; rather, revival occurred where entire congregations as a whole were seeking to live as Christ Himself lived. No longer do we need a formal church building complete with steeple and cross. No longer do we need a bulletin with a schedule of the next week’s events. No longer do we need five worship songs (3 slow, 2 upbeat) followed by a 35-minute sermon (no more, no less). Church can take place in these settings, but it can just as well take place wherever people meet for fellowship, prayer, worship and communion – which could take place in an abandoned warehouse or a comfortable living room complete with matching sofa sets.

It was encouraging to be around people whose minds were so completely geared for the long term. With traveling around over the last many months, we’ve just been getting short glimpses of what God is doing in many different parts of the world. With this program, we are spending short amounts of time in these areas, but in using our photography to expose God’s heart, I am reminded that our goal is in fact to bring about a lasting, long-term change towards the heart of God for each of these areas. In focusing on the long-term, the necessity of commitment to the people, places, and issues involved becomes quite apparent. It’s not something that I need to remember one year, and forget the next; instead, it is toiling when it’s easy, and toiling when it’s difficult, to see a people come to a knowledge of the life (beyond this one) that is revealed to us through Christ Jesus our Lord. Our worker friend told us, “There’s an anointing that goes with the commitment.”

This trip surely challenged me. It challenged me in learning to find what God is doing beyond what I think he should be doing. There is a lot more hope and potential than would automatically seem to be apparent; it just looks different than we would expect. I surely don’t feel like I came away with any pictures that blew my mind, but I do feel as though God accomplished something in my heart, and he taught me so much more about what He is doing, and wanting to do, in our world – in an Islamic context and beyond.

(They're scanning. They're searching.)

Ways you can pray for Tunisia/North Africa:
-Empowerment for the committed workers. In a dry land with overwhelming odds, they need vision, knowledge, wisdom, encouragement, and more.
-That God would bring about influential relationships in the communities for the workers in these areas.
-That the relevance of the gospel would be evident in an Islamic context.
-Leadership in churches – expressed in all members.