Summer Slowdown

I have been very busy in the literal heat of summer. It has been very humid with spotty light rains nearly everyday in our neck of the woods here in Alabama. I have been illustrating for the Haiti book. Today my AC quite working at our house.........

I am not finished Two Ears of Corn yet. I see the price of the book sky rocketed-- so I would like to share some of the good points it brings out.

My vocational school project ideas has brought a new perspective. I talked with a brother that has really advocated the vocational prospect. He advised me that the main way such a project would work is to establish a business and outsource work abroad to our brethren. Starting in a small way under the radar--as it were until it is undeniable that it is bearing forth good fruit. I have continued to pursue electronic and electrical training for myself so that perhaps in the future it will come in handy to teach, etc. I also thought of a rickshaw manufacturing and taxi service. Salvaging motorbikes and building them into rickshaw or tuk-tuks.

I am waiting for a debate about the pros and cons about colonizing abroad by someone that grew up and latter observed colonies as a missionary.

As for this blog and internet I am slowing down my involvement--I have said all I have to say and few have more to add. I will publish letters and news from various places, but as far as I know there may be fewer posts here on out. Thank-you for the interest and don;t forget what season we are in..........

Very Sad Day for the Nation

Prayers to the grieving ones in Colorado. To those that are suffering in the hospital.  Wishing that our culture would not tolerate the glorifying of violence and immorality in the entertainment industry. Pray that this could cause a deep inner look into what we want to be represented as as a nation. For those that are abroad: 70 people have been shot; 12 of those killed by a lone gunman in a movie threatre last night at 12am.

To Agree or to Disagree: Patrick Enike--Wiebe Quotes

Our disagreement over one matter today should not mean we cannot work together or we cannot get along with ourselves.  If it does, it shows our sense of carnality and spiritual immaturity in our Christian experience.  Remember that is not only they with whom we always agree that challenges our capability but with they whom we sometimes have some differences.  The challenge of our capability is an opportunity to improve in the areas where our weaknesses might have been revealed by reason of our differences.

Apostle Paul confessed of Mark that he is profitable unto him for the ministry.  Brothers, sisters and family members, we are profitable unto one another.  Be our differences what they may, we are profitable unto one another.  The weakness of one another is to provoke one another’s strength.  Where a fellow brother or sister or a fellow labourers might not be useful or relevant in one occasion, he or she might be relevant and useful in another.  For such reasons we should strive to maintain harmony among us….

…We cannot afford to create enmity between us for any reason whatsoever.  The points of our agreement are usually more than the points of our common disagreement.  Let us always strive to maintain harmony in our relationship because many more reasons for our agreement are ahead of us.  Such was the case and the comments of Apostle concerning Mark.

Patrick L.O. Enike--Nigerian Minister

Paul versus Barnabas and Mark

(Acts 15:39-40 & 2 Tim. 4:11)

The Voice of Christians’ Fellowship

May 2011

Zimbabwe has Brother Falsely Jailed for Auto Theft

A report from CSI ZIM
As near as I can tell July 12 ,2012
    We just wanted to let you all know that we are facing a challenging situation here. As you all probably know, Takemore & Tracy are members here in our congregation. We call them Baba & Amai Charlene. The night before last we recieved a call from Amai saying that Baba Charlene had not come home & she didn't know why. After some investigating we found out that he had been taken to jail because a car had been stolen. He is a professional mechanic here at Nissan in town. As it turns out he happened to be the last one to have worked on the car. So he is also the last one to have seen it. Amai was very sad & was crying. The next day we took her to see him. He doesn't get fed anything there so she (or we) have to take him food. We talked to him just a little. Needless to say there were tears in all of our eyes as we talked to him through the bars. At this point he is still locked up & we don't know when he will be released. They are waiting on more information before they can let him go. So this could take a while. Amai is quite sad & fearful & wants to just be with us for now. So she has spent the night at our house. They have a 2 yr old girl & a baby boy. Last night we knelt & held hands & had a special prayer for them both. We asked God to help them to get the rest that they need & that He could grant them the courage & grace to face whatever the future holds. I just hope that they will not lose faith. We are begging for you all to pray. They are both very faithful in their spiritual lives & he takes his place quite faithfully in our services here. He does all of our translating as well as leading the Shona songs etc... because he is the only brother that we have. His small family also needs him. They miss him very much. We have only been here for 2 months but have become very close to this couple already. I will try to keep you updated as to what happens. We are going to take him food today & see him again.


Updated:


  I have wonderful news this evening! We just took Baba Charlene home. He is a free man. I will briefly relate what happened today & maybe later provide more details. Samantha & I took Amai Charlene to Sherugwe this morning to see him & take him food. We were able to talk to him through the fence for 10 minutes or so. Needless to say his courage was quite low. Our courage wasn't so good either by that time. He was slammed into a very small cell with 8 or 10 other guys & by what I could see through the door opening I wouldn't have wanted to set foot in there! We sadly watched as he was led back into the cell & walked away trying to keep from crying. His boss Mabika was with us & was determined to do everything he could to get him out. We ended up staying at that police station almost all day because they kept giving us a bit of hope that something would work out. When I was almost ready to give up, the Lord provided our miracle. The car that had been stolen was found! Immediately 3 officers jumped into our car with us & off we went way back into the boonies to inspect. (remember we provide quite a bit of transport here) :) This information happened to be the missing link for them so after we inspected they told us to take them back to the station & they would withdraw the case & we could take Baba Charlene home. Of course this took a couple more hours it seemed like. They let me come back to the cell again when they let him out & I immediately threw my arms around him. He had been locked up since thursday so he seemed quite confused & not sure what was going on. His boss also gave him a big hug then we followed the case officer into his office. He had to ask a thousand more questions then they let us go. I will never forget the feeling of being able to put my arm around him & lead him out to the car. Many happy tears there were! I knew he was tired but I told him that if we could take him to our house he could have a warm shower (he didn't smell too good) & we would feed them supper. So that is what he chose to do. We had a prayer of thankgiving to God then we took them to their own house! All of your many prayers were answered! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!!! To God be the glory!! We all are so so happy!

Miracle Worker: Play About Hellen Keller and Anne Sullivan

    About two weeks ago we went to Tuscumbia  AL to the Hellen Keller birth place to see the Miracle Worker play. It was very interesting to become reacquainted with the Helen Keller story. However the story revolves around Anne Sullivan who was formerly a blind orphan that comes to Alabama from Yankee Boston to the house of a Rebel captain to help his blind and deaf daughter break out of her dark cocoon. First you arrive at the birthplace grounds and tour the plantation house and outbuildings. After you go to the bleachers. In front is a multilevel stage for various scenes that take place in the house, yard, and outbuilding, train station, etc. They are cut-aways. All through the act they have to mimes using sign language to interpret the act's dialog to any who may be deaf. They mixed up our reserved seating tickets and forgot to assign us numbers so they placed us in the VIP seating upfront by the stage. It worked out okay though being the modest Mennonites that we are, we were at first a little self-conscience. More so because our rowdy boys are a little unpredictable in such settings. 
     The play starts with Helen's birth and skips along at a pretty brisk pace. Her teenage brother and also the cook bring a little comic relief. The Captain did a good job booming around and acting big and yet in the end shows his soft side as in the end he gives in to his "Helen". Imagine having a little savage girl going around the dinner table sampling everyone's food. She was rather spoiled. 
     Throw young disciplinarian Anne Sullivan on the scene and you soon have chaos. I liked the skit and it made me appreciate the Helen Keller story more. Though I would say the drama is even more appreciated by the femmine part of your family. It is amazing what perseverance and determination can accomplish against great odds. However I believe desperate prayer on the behalf of mother and Anne Sullivan and the blind girls definitively played a big part --though not mentioned in the skit. It was a miracle there is no doubt. 


    However I would say more but perhaps you would like to discover it out yourself. Northern Alabama, Tuscumbia at 6:45 pm -10:30pm. Apparently the word is out amongst the Mennonites because we seen quite a few couples and youth there from Mississippi. 


    To me it was a testament to the mercy of God and that when helping someone in a seemingly hopeless situation---one needs to look up to God: 


     With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matt 19:26

Two Ears of Corn

 
Whoever makes two ears of corn, or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of mankind, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together --Jonathon Swift


I am so excited today! I received my Roland Bunch book, Two Ears of Corn, A Guide to People Centered Agriculture Improvement. Last week I crunched in 440 pages of "Up from History, The Life of Booker T. Washington" to get solid background on the Tuskegee model. Today I started on The Life of George Washington Carver, the "Peanut Man" that worked at Tuskegee. I recommend anyone interested on what we have been talking about here on OP-Noah to read up on these two men. God Centered Science and helping the man down back up through teaching honesty and hard work ethics. Inspirational to say the least. 


However Two Ears is written by Dr. Bunch who has done alot of work in Honduras. He has spent decades working with agriculture projects in Third World countries. This book should be on the shelves of CSI directors. It talks and discusses methods of implementing workable projects that will work long term in poor villages. I will definitively report on it when I am finished with it. It is a 1982 book still used by Peace Corp, Universities, and NGOs. However it looks pretty humble with hand drawn illustrations. I had to pay a price for my dog-eared copy.  Just reading the headings and illustrations and the material----I am like where has this book been? 
The Barefoot Architect by Johan van Lengen is also an awesome book. It is written by a Dutch architect in Brazil. Nearly 700 pages of illustrations and simple to follow explanations of the why's and hows of building communities and housing in Third World countries. How to build Adobe to bamboo houses. Thatch roofs. Cisterns. Water Treatment. Solar Heating. Basic design to a lot of things related to sustainable living. How to build to utilize using your natural enviroment. Good news is is that it is also written by a man that has done it with his own hands and you can follow his blog on TIBA in Brazil. Anyways call me overblown, but I like these books and think they would be good material for CSI oriented individuals to consider on their bookshelves. A few dirt stains on the pages is okay in this case. 
Okay I got to get back to a wife and two boys, a Bible and alot of off time reading. I am still working on the Haiti book. I want to sit down an illustrate tonight with my boys. Today at work we slugged away on finishing half a mile of fence-seven braces (equipment faliure leaves about 400ft unfinished), drove poles for a retaining wall, and a couple of the guys finished another half a mile of stapling up fence along a creek----so yes we are busy and hands on...........


The price of this book has sky-rocketed since I even have purchased it.

Spiritual Capital: How the Church is Able to Break Poverty Cycle

Not to be mistaken for a Health and Wealth Gospel  article-- I believe their is some food for thought to be found here. A brother sent this to me and I believed it fit. I am not sure of the original source, other than the author. 

Spiritual Capital

How the Church Is Uniquely Equipped to Break the Poverty Cycle

July 01, 2011 by Ken Eldred

Excerpts from God Is at Work (primarily) and The Integrated Life
Please don’t send us money; it only creates division. But do send us business people who can create jobs for us, that we can build ourselves up.” The Eastern European Christian leaders at a 2004 conference in Bulgaria were unified in their call for the Western Church to send Christians skilled in business to bless their nations economically and spiritually.
Rajesh, an Indian leader of an organization that coordinates the efforts of 15,000 Indian missionaries, agreed. “We need to learn how to live our faith in the workplace; how to work and witness,” he said. “We need models of doing business and outreach.”
The question arises: Should mission efforts even concern themselves with business activities? Isn’t that a secular pursuit of mammon that runs contrary to the mission of the church?
I believe this thinking is wrong on both accounts. Properly understood, the work of believers to influence the marketplace and serve others in their jobs is every bit as spiritual as the more direct ministry which churches and missions agencies conduct. I further believe Christians are uniquely positioned to address the cycle of poverty at its root cause—in a way secular efforts are unable to do. And the concept of spiritual capital explains why that’s the case.

What Is Spiritual Capital?

Spiritual capital is the collective societal faith, trust and commitment to do what is right—not only what is right in our own eyes or what benefits us the most, but what is right in the eyes of God. Showing integrity, being accountable and honest, offering hope, being loyal and trustworthy, loving and encouraging others, exhibiting good stewardship, being fair, creating order and serving others—these are not, for the most part, covered by the laws of the land. We have no legal compulsion to love others, exhibit good stewardship, create order or serve each other. There is no legal compulsion to encourage one another to pursue new ventures in hope and faith, trusting that God will go before us. But where these biblical values are exhibited, spiritual capital is built.
If spiritual capital is the faith, trust and commitment that we and others will do what is right, it then follows that spiritual capital can increase or decrease based on personal experiences.
Imagine that there is a spiritual capital account that accrues to the individual and to the country. Like a bank account, it can grow or shrink due to deposits to or withdrawals from the account. The spiritual capital currency that is deposited (or withdrawn) is the exercise (or lack of exercise) of biblical principles: integrity, accountability, honesty, hope, love, trust, stewardship, fairness, order, loyalty, service, and so forth. For example, if one sells something with true weights and measures, then he has completed an honest transaction and has added spiritual capital to his and the nation’s account. However, if one fails to fulfill his commitment to replace any defective products he sells, then he has proven untrustworthy and dishonest and has withdrawn spiritual capital from his and the nation’s account.
A lack of trust can turn a simple transaction like purchasing a chicken into a horrendously costly exercise, never mind more complex transactions. By contrast, where much spiritual capital is present, others are given the benefit of the doubt, and transaction costs are lower. This has profound implications on the development, success, and culture of an economy.

Spiritual Capital: The Missing Leg in Economic Development

Spiritual capital is critical to economic success. Dr. Theodore Malloch calls it “the missing leg in the stool of economic development.” He’s spot on. There’s a relationship between economic prosperity and the pervasiveness of biblical values in the culture. Douglass North won a Nobel Prize in economics for demonstrating which “institutions” in a society characterize successful economies. He proved that the trust factor, when pervasive in a society, is one of the “institutions” that lead to a better economy.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the founders of sociology examined the origins of successful capitalism. Why, asked Max Weber, did capitalism thrive in certain parts of Europe and especially in the United States? His conclusion was simple and powerful. He noted that predominantly Protestant nations had adopted values of vocation, hard work, and personal piety that led to greater economic success. Neighboring countries with similar resources and people groups didn’t fare as well. Weber noted that in Catholic societies, the pious served in the Church; in Protestant cultures, the spirit of personal piety permeated into the marketplace and built spiritual capital. Applying internalized biblical values to business resulted in successful capitalism.  Almost a century apart, Max Weber and Douglass North reached very similar conclusions—that a society’s beliefs and values are strong determinants of its economic success.
Indeed, it is interesting to observe that with very few exceptions, every nation at the top of the GDP-per-capita list has a long Judeo-Christian tradition. That’s no coincidence. There’s a relationship between economic prosperity and the pervasiveness of biblical values in the culture. When biblical principles are practiced in business, spiritual capital grows, and economic success follows. Thus, spiritual capital provides the link between biblical principles and business success.

Depleting the Trust Fund

Most developing nations are trying to build their economies with very little spiritual capital, and they lack the business practices and institutions necessary to grow that capital. In these situations, people who draw on the nation’s spiritual capital account can bankrupt it. After the fall of communism, Western corporations rushed into the former Soviet Union, attracted to cheap labor, an educated workforce, and a large market. However, many were stung by corruption and lost millions of dollars in the process. Russia is not an isolated case. Companies have encountered similar situations in China and other emerging economies.
“Most have been dismayed by the adverse business environment fostered by corruption,” observed Askold Krushelnycky, a British-born journalist to Eastern Europe. “Many western firms and investors have withdrawn or reduced their activities because they are fed up with becoming the targets of corrupt officials demanding bribes, of being cheated by corrupt businessmen, of being at the mercy of a corrupt legal system. . . . In sum, corruption corrodes a society. When nepotism replaces merit, when cunning and cheating replace trust and honesty, when force and murder triumph over the law and a sense of decency—then the threads binding together a civil society are weakened and eventually destroyed.” A nation that has little or no spiritual capital reserve runs the risk of bankrupting the account and freezing the nation’s economy.

Misguided Development Efforts and the Failure to Recognize Spiritual Capital

The lack of recognition of spiritual capital’s importance has led to disastrous outcomes. For example, it has been thought for decades that the world’s financial community holds the keys to success for developing nations. What’s holding back certain regions of the world, the argument goes, is a lack of access to economic capital. Bangladesh has been the focus of the largest microenterprise development programs. More than 10 million people have received business loans over the past thirty years, yet poverty is still pervasive, and the economy hasn’t developed much. Why? Bangladesh also suffers from the highest perceived corruption in the world. Development efforts provided economic capital but not the tools to build the nation’s spiritual capital.
Likewise, billions of dollars have been invested in African economies, but it hasn’t made a dent. In fact, economic data suggests these nations are worse off today than they were before they received funding from the West. “Most African nations today are poorer than they were in 1980, sometimes by very wide margins,” note Haber, North, and Weingast. “More shocking, two-thirds of the African countries have either stagnated or shrunk in real per capita terms since the onset of independence in the early 1960s.”  Much of the money disappeared and is suspected to reside in the Swiss bank accounts of various corrupt leaders and dictators. Where funds did reach the local economy, they failed to achieve any sustained economic growth. The large-scale attempts to reform African economies fell flat because they focused on the lack of economic capital and poverty but did nothing about the woeful lack of spiritual capital so evident in the marketplace.

Building Spiritual Capital: The Transforming Power of the Gospel

Spiritual capital is the foundation for successful commerce, and the Church is uniquely equipped to develop and produce Kingdom business professionals who will equip the nations with the life-changing means of growing their spiritual capital account. We shortchange a nation if we introduce laws that facilitate commerce and teach principles of accounting and yet fail to equip the nation with the means to establish a spiritual capital base on which to build its economy. Without the integrity, morality and love that comes from the Spirit of God transforming the hearts of men and women, nations will fall short of God’s ultimate blessing.
Not all Christian-based groups involved in economic development see the connection between their work and the development of spiritual capital. But failure to bring the gospel is helpful neither to the individual nor to the nation. It may well lead the nation down the wrong path, one in which spiritual capital cannot accrue. And that will not improve or bless the nation.
Say there is a villager who buys wheat by the sack and sells it by the quart, but he cheats his customer. If there is no alternate vendor, the customer may return, and the villager does well financially. However, the result is ill will and a loss of spiritual capital, and the nation fails to learn the value of honest weights and measures. There is an immediate economic penalty as well, since transactional costs are higher where there is low spiritual capital. For example, the other villagers may need to buy their own scales and conduct their own measurements in order to counter the cheating seller. In the long run, the lack of spiritual capital makes for an unhealthy and destructive business environment, and the nation, including the dishonest villager, will suffer. We see this today in many African states where a low level of trust has held back many economies.
Jesus’ parable about the wise and foolish builders (see Matt. 7:24-27) is particularly instructive here. The wise man builds his house on the rock. The foolish man builds his house on sand. Business principles, technical training and start-up funding are just the walls, doors and roof of business. The transforming gospel of Jesus and the ultimate authority of God are the rock foundation. The businessperson must be committed to pleasing Jesus and doing what is right, or his business will be built on sand. If these rock principles are not in place, they will not support the business structure in times of trouble. When the economic storms of life come, the uncommitted businessperson will revert back to what he fundamentally believes.
The gospel is an important component of developing an economy and blessing the nation through Kingdom business. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to transform the hearts of men and women. Only the gospel can work at the core level and alter the collective DNA of a society. Only the gospel can ingrain the biblical values that lead to spiritual capital accumulation and successful business.
Transformed hearts lead to renewed minds. Fundamental beliefs, values and attitudes are radically changed. Spiritual capital is built, laying the foundation for economic development. And that’s why the church is uniquely equipped to break the poverty cycle.f

Projects For the Poor: What Works Here May Not Work There

Another article by R Miller

When doing Projects for the Poor, and you are starting from scratch, and you are scratching your head,

to know where to start, then you come across some article or plan that someone else is doing in another

country, usually our first reaction is, that's nice but it'll never work here.

That's what we want to analyze in this article, there are certain principals that apply to all projects, but not

all projects are the same in each country, culture and land opportunities.

For example: In Paraguay you SHOULD NOT serve visitors rice and beans, when we went to Nicaragua, some

days we had beans Morning, Noon and Night!!! However rearranged in different forms.

So my short term of service in El Salvador was real helpful, to help keep in mind that there can be huge

differences in the possibilities from one country to another.

That's why in the future as this Projects for the Poor slowly develops, the goal is to have people that have served from each country analyze what could be done there, then this information passed on to the next

missionary.  What I see happening is, one missionary goes and tries his ideas, some work and some don't,

the next one comes along and he does the same thing, some work and some don't.

This tends to be very confusing to the locals, as here these "gringos" come in and they are all enthused,

set something in motion, then poof it was a flop. Then he starts something else, wow that works, but

bingo, he now goes home, and the next one, naw that is not his thing, so now that project also dies.

So after a while the locals throw their hands into the air and say, let them come and go as they please

but they sure don't know what they are doing.

One thing to keep in mind, locals tend to think that missionaries all come from the same place, have the same

goals and will keep on doing what the previous missionary was doing, when that does not happen they begin

to lose faith in the foreign missionary, because all they can see is the disorganized way they go about

doing things.

The main goal for this discussion group is to eventually, have subgroups especially for each country,

then those groups will analyze the possibilities for that country. That way we won't bog down the system

where we will share those articles. Hopefully this will give future missionaries some helpful insights on what

has happened in the country that they will be serving.

Country Comparison Analysis

El Salvador and Paraguay are the two countries that we want to compare.

Keep in mind these are approximates.

El Salvador has 8,123 sq. miles, with a population of 6,071,774.  = 748 people per sq. mile

Paraguay has 157,046 sq. miles with a population of 6,459,058. =   42 people per sq. mile

El Salvador is very mountainous and has a lot of rocks, with a low rate of tillable soil mechanically.

Paraguay is fairly level and a high percent of the soil that is tillable mechanically.

El Salvador has a climate of six months of rain and six months of dry.

Paraguay has a fairly stable climate, with not any pronounced dry season.

El Salvador has one planting season.

Paraguay has two planting seasons in one year

El Salvador has places were it is difficult to access by road.

Paraguay also has a poor road system, however when it is dry, most places can be accessed.

These are to mention a few.

When I was in El Salvador, my wife packed some lunch and I went out to help the neighbor

work in his field.

Here are some observations.

I was huffing and puffing till we got to the field, kinda felt like a days work just to get to the field.

Rocks everywhere, some small, some large, some you step over, some you had  to climb over.

However, the field had a nice stand of corn.

So now how do you relate such an environment to the articles that we have already looked at.

For example: Soil preparation, we would not get to first base, trying to get the people in El Salvador

to use plows, disks and planters, it just doesn't work in all those rocks, but just suppose all of a sudden

a family moves down from the rocks, and has a fair sized plot of tillable land, but the only way he knows how to do farming

is how he did it on the rocks. He will need encouragement and teaching on how to do farming now more efficiently,

since his circumstances have changed.

This principle is very important to teach to the locals, how to adapt new technology to current farming possibilities.

What I see happening is, on the mission field the locals rapidly adapt to bad technology, such as cell phones, opps ect.

However the missionary does not take any steps to provide new available technology, and trains the locals to become

more efficient in supplying the needs that they may have, well they have always done it that way and we suppose they

should just keep on that way.

The missionary has great opportunities to interact with the community, especially giving teaching on new techniques that

are beneficial, and use that as an opportunity, to bring God into the picture.

Bad technology is sweet, good technology needs to be taught.

Submitted Mar.10, 2012

R Miller

Indiana 

Not Called! Did You Say? --William Booth-- Wiebe's Corner Quotes

'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his mercy to the world."

William Booth 'Founder of Salvation Army'

1829-1912

Vocational Training Feedback

I hope you found a couple of the past articles interesting on Ideas of Vocational Training for Youth and the International Situation (See June 2012 Archive), because I believe if you keep on reading this blog you hopefully will read more on this needful subject. The last week or two I have received a variety of articles down this nature. It is a time of research and critical thinking to see how it would be possible to make such a project fly. This is not a idea that is solely original to me by any means. Before I left to teach school with my wife in Belize, these thoughts started to really stir in my head. When I got there I found the deacon brother there had likewise been wrestling with the same issue. As time passed and I heard about some of the unrest with Nigeria and Haiti youth---it would come back. After my last trip to Haiti, I heard alot more about the situation there. Finally I share it here to share and discuss. If it is God's will--it will happen in it's time. The facts are that something needs to happen. The mission is open to ideas and why not develop them to give them more options to work with. Too me one of the keys is to look at the situation of our national brethren's shoes of these different countries. Alot of what I write is what I gather from conversations with them.


I e-mailed a certain brother and he sent me this in response to Vocational Training article. I greatly appreciated it's view points. 

1.       I like the idea to make the program two years long. In Nigeria, some of the young people are required to give two years of national service, usually working for the government teaching or something. Perhaps this program could fulfill that requirement. Also, a two-year program would be of sufficient length to provide substantial teaching and growth among the young people. On the other hand, how many of our young people at home are willing to commit themselves to a church program for two years? Some are, but certainly not the majority.

2.       Such a program would provide a definite spiritual benefit. Our youth members in Nigeria are struggling. Many young people are leaving home and congregational settings in pursuit of profitable careers and are struggling spiritually as a result.

3.       In Nigeria, we wouldn’t want to focus too much on agriculture. Many of the young people have no agricultural background, and trades are more likely to be successful. At the same time, I would certainly support having a garden or field plot. Such skills are useful for anyone to learn. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t focus overly much on agriculture.

4.       Running a salvage yard is an excellent idea. It would also work really well for the young people to run community projects such as garbage clean-up, recycling, etc.

5.       I think it would be quite easy to come up with a product to manufacture and sell. Many products are currently being imported to Nigeria due to lack of local industry, so I think the opportunities are wide open.

6.       I absolutely agree with Booker T. Washington’s principles. His story is inspiring.

From the “Industry Based Vocational Training” article”

1.       I agree with the need to start small. As we can see from the dollar figures given in the article, a project like this can be quite expensive. Recruitment for both instructors and students will be difficult. Perhaps an initial class of ten students and two teachers would be ideal. It might be best to start with one Nigerian and one North American instructor.

2.       I also agree that we should eventually use graduates of the program as instructors/helpers. This, in my opinion, is a crucial step for the project to become self-sustaining.

3.       It’s interesting that they required a 1:5 teacher to student ratio in the Philippines. That seems high to me, but I suppose it’s probably necessary.

4.       I agree with the thought that the students’ time should be highly structured. This is something that could probably improve in the American units, but it is especially important in other countries due to the lack of a general Christian culture.

The challenges I see:

1.       A project like this would require a major commitment from the local staff and brethren. I’m afraid this is likely to be the first and hardest challenge. This is not due to a lack of concern or spiritual vision from the local staff. The local staff are already extremely busy and overburdened, and a project like this would be a huge time commitment.

2.       The second major challenge I see would be difficulty in recruiting young members. In North America, there is a social expectation that young men and women should spend time in a unit. This is missing in developing countries. Also, it will be difficult for young people to commit two years of their lives to a project such as this.

3.       It would be unrealistic to expect such a centre to be self-sustaining during the first couple years of operation. The unit would require funding for initial capital costs and ongoing operational costs for at least the first several years. Such funding would have to come mostly from North America.

4.       One concern we have had in working with the Nigerian brethren in a business capacity is a lack of “spiritual capital”. I’ll send you a copy of an article that does a good job defining this problem. In brief, spiritual capital is defined as a business culture that is permeated with Christian practices and values, such as integrity, accountability, responsibility, honesty, humility, trust and a good work ethic. Even in North America’s current ungodly environment, we are still benefiting from a long heritage of Christian virtues in our culture. This has played a major part in our current economic success. Many of these virtues are largely missing in the cultures of developing countries, and this also affects our people. My current teaching program in Nigeria has been focusing on these aspects

Projects for the Poor: Ideas and Funds

Here is an article by R. Miller from Indiana who has spent 8 years in the mission in Paraguay for the Beachy-Amish. He runs a series of agriculture articles called Projects for the Poor. He chronicles the different experiments and projects that they implemented and their outcomes. I thought he had some interesting points and experiences to learn from.

Ideas and Funds

Before we get to far into the projects for the poor, there are two issues that are very important to take note of.

Ideas:

The poor folks have all kinds of ideas, they are sure they will work, all they need are some funds, and bingo

they will forever leave their poverty behind, never to be haunted again.

The missionary comes along and he has a whole lot of ideas, that he is sure that will work, however he does

not want to sink the capital in that is needed to start the idea, for fear that he will loose it.

The mission board usually has plenty of "white elephants" to take care of, they are extremely reluctant to release

funds for a number of reasons, number one is all the past flops that the missionaries have accomplished, so hence forth

very little funds are available.

So what could be a possible solution?

One of the important things, is to gather information, written information is helpful, however what I have experienced,

is to sit down with some one that is doing it, that is one of the best ways to gather some of the most beneficial tips, shortcuts and things to avoid. Find someone that is already doing it, even if it is on a very small scale.

Second do it on a small scale trial basis, and take notes, compare different ways of doing it.

If you find someone that is already doing it, ask for helpful hints, or if it is possible become involved and see if

you can help that person to become more efficient and productive with what he is already doing. We did that

with a poor family, that was raising Stevia, more on that in a later article.

Missionaries, if you want to get the foot in the door, spend just a wee bit of time with the local folks, especially

in their every day work, one simple suggestion, or an idea how to do it better, faster and maybe a donated small

piece of equipment, can make you friends for life, and opens the door wide to discuss deeper issues of life.

Funds:

This is a very complicated issue, the poor folks know exactly what they need, the missionary feels he has a good

idea how it would work, the mission board is sure it is another white elephant.

No funds from the board, the poor folks say this is a worthless missionary, if he can't help us put food on the table

there is no way he can show us the way to heaven, if he can't help us out of our poverty, there is no way we can trust

him for anything else.

After all this person left heaven "the USA" to come help the poor people, because they are the ones that need help.

Now any one in their right mind would not leave the USA, unless he has lots of money and loves to go out and help

other people. So all missionaries are rich, and if you explain that you are not rich, no problem, you still have all the

rich backing you up and there is unlimited amounts of money available to help them. 

No money = Worthless missionary!

Its interesting, the way to test if a missionary is worth something, is to see if he "loves" you enough to give you

a personal loan. This is like the sweet and sour sauce of mission life.

So missionary, if you really love someone, please do not make a personal loan to them, if they need it, just simply

give it. Then ask God to somehow give it back to you as he sees fit. You know, maybe you can recuperate it from

the birthday money people send to missionaries.

However, sometimes it comes in handy!!! I know it sounds like a paradox, one good way to rid your self of someone

that continually is asking for money, spend some time explain how a loan will work and that it needs to be paid back.

Give a small amount, one talent, usually the will go and bury it,  it ends right there. After all one talent is hardly worth the effort!!

A number of ideas on how to fund a project.

A. You can use your own money, but be prepared to loose it.

B. Find friends that like to loose money, and ask for donations, most mission boards require prior approval, for special projects.

C. Sometimes you find people in the country, that are looking for honest people to produce for them and they will fund it.

The last option has proved to be the most successful for me down here in Paraguay. Most of my friends don't like to

lose money!!

A good Christian friend from Germany, that does imports to Germany has given substantial amounts of money, for

us to experiment and go thru the process of the different kinds of projects, and also given valuable information on

how to compete in the international markets. More on that later.

Also a elderly Mennonite man, that has a heart for the poor, for two years gave interest free capital to get the peanut project

going.

With a bit of perseverance, a organized approach and a willingness to work, we can make a huge difference in the

lives of the poor, financially and it opens the door wide, to present the gospel to them.

Please submit additional ideas for fund raising techniques.

submitted Dec. 10, 2011

By Roman Miller

Paraguay