I-phone; something to think about...

Osman Hope, Inc... bringing hope to the children of Honduras.

Osman Hope is a non-profit ecumenical organization that is dedicated to eliminating the cycle of poverty in the country of Honduras. Osman Hope provides day shelters to the poorest of the poor children... Find out how you can help by sponsoring a child or providing a scholarship by visiting www.osmanhope.org

The heart of bailing out...

As I thought and prayed about what to say in this blog on this day of prayer, fasting and advocacy, I had originally planned to speak to the poverty we find here within the United States. Specifically, I was going to speak to the high rate of infant mortality that is truly an epidemic among poor African Americans here in my own State of Tennessee and across the rest of the nation. I was going to speak to the fact that this phenomenon is a replication of the plight of poor folks all over the world and how it is a matter of the “haves” and “have nots” living separate lives, even though we are next door to each other... but I will save that for another blog here soon.
Instead, I decided I would speak to the one thing that has been in our thoughts and minds all week; the “melt down of Wall Street”. Now I know some of you might be thinking I have gone off the deep end by daring to compare the collapse of the American economy with the plight of the extreme poor in the world. However, it occurred to me this week that the root of the turmoil on Wall Street and the existence of extreme poverty are absolutely related. The problem of ending extreme poverty in the world seems on the surface to be an issue of “not enough resources”. We know that it would only take 0.7% of the world’s wealth to put an end to extreme poverty. Yet there is something that keeps us that are living in privilege from doing that. And that “something” is a heart problem...
You see, both the collapse of the economy and the poverty of the world are symptoms of our mindset and general approach to life. We have let our greed infiltrate us to the core and take over our hearts. We have let our fear of loosing what we cling to pull us into the mire of avarice. The privileges we have been blessed with have become our curse. The God we say we worship and say we trust in is only a concept. We hold up “family values” and belief in God as what drives up. But our actions and way of life points to something different. The recent events of this week and last are the evidence for that... As my friend The Rev. Mike Kinman so eloquently put it, “we dole out resources to the poor with an eye-dropper...” Then we build monuments to the almighty dollar that has printed on its side, “In God We Trust”. It is truly the definition of irony...
The leaders of our country will be making some hard decisions this week about how we are going to handle the crisis with the economy. It is pretty poignant to think that at the same time that congress is debating in Washington what to do about bailing our Wall Street, that in New York, the leaders of the world will be discussing the crisis of extreme poverty. It is so incongruous. Nevertheless, it is really dealing with the same issue. It is a matter of the heart and taking a hard look at what we really value.
Even though I know it will not happen this week, but I have wondered something... What would our world be like if we were to bail out the people of poverty in the world with the same fervor as we are wanting to bail out Wall Street... What if... we spent 700 billion dollars on the Millennium Development Goals... My hunch is that if we did that, the turmoil in the Middle East would come to a screeching halt; terrorism would see a drastic decline; there might even be a decline in global warming! But most importantly, the hearts of men and women all over the world would be changed. We would be “transformed by the renewing of our minds”. Jesus said, “"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money...” (Mat. 6: 24-25) We have the opportunity to serve God. We have been serving money and look at that outcome...
My prayer on this day of advocacy for the Millennium Development Goals is that our nation and world will have a transformation. I pray that our leaders will have the insight and courage to truly trust in God and end the cycle of greed and poverty in the world. I pray too, that our hearts will be healed and that we will move from the fear of loosing what we think we are entitled, to becoming true stewards of what God has given us by his grace. I pray for forgiveness from the sin of greed. I pray for comfort to all those who suffer from hunger and poverty. Lord give us peace in the world and change our hearts. Help us to show your love through our actions. All this we ask in your name. Amen...

Osman Hope Mission 2008

This past month(July 19-27) eight people from across the US went to the country of Honduras for a mission trip to work in the Osman Hope Children’s Shelters. Glenna Depew, Gordon Brewer, “Sister” Brewer, Rebecca Brewer, Donna Adams, Brian Dennis, Kimberly Dennis and Ed Warnol went for a week of ministry in Honduras in all three of the shelters run by Osman Hope, Inc. Osman Hope partners with local churches to provide day shelters in Honduras for children living in extreme poverty. Osman Hope is an ecumenical non-profit organization committed to working toward the Millennium Development Goals. Osman Hope is dedicated to ending poverty in Honduras and Central America by providing, nutritional meals, safety from the streets, help with schoolwork and spiritual guidance to the poorest of the children of Honduras.
Honduras is a country of contrasts. On one hand you have a country that is filled with tropical forests, lush green mountains and abundant in beauty. On the other hand, it is a country in which the majority of the people live in extreme poverty on less than $2 a day. Honduras is the second poorest country in the Caribbean and the poorest of the Central American Countries. Most effected are the children. It is not untypical to have several young children left to fend for themselves for weeks at a time while their parents are out trying to find work and/or scrape out a meager existence just to support the family. It is also, not uncommon at all to find a 6 year old left to care for children younger than they are or even infants.
Our week was spent traveling first to the town of Santa Cruz de Yojoa located about an hour south of San Pedro Sula. In Santa Cruz is the largest of the Osman Hope shelters where about 50 children are served. We were able to help another group in working on a water tower to supply water for new “banos” (toilets) and showers for the shelter. The second half of the week was spent in San Pedro Sula and Villanueva working and playing with the children in those two shelters. (Incidentally, the shelter in Villanueva is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras) Glenna was able to use her expertise in organizing games, art projects and activities with the children. We had a great time playing and interacting with the children. It was truly a ministry of presence in that most of the kids get very little love and affection at home.
Another highlight of the trip was to visit a new project that Osman Hope has become involved with in an area outside of San Pedro Sula called Rivera Hernanadez. Rivera Hernandez is a slum area developed on a levee of what is called the Rio Negro (Black River or River of Pollution). The families are squatters, living illegally on government land. In the middle of this muddy and disease infested village is a church. The church is run by Pastora Maria Flores. Pastora Flores has started a children’s feeding program and young adult literacy project program in this area of Honduras. Osman Hope has made a commitment to help with this project by subsidizing their feeding program.
Whenever you return from travel outside of the country, it seems like it is only natural to need a few days just to be re-acclimated to what is familiar and “back in the groove” of life in general. Even though this was my fifth trip to Honduras, it always takes me a few months to reflect and get my brain around all that was seen and experienced. The extreme poverty we witnessed is truly overwhelming to see and experience. It would be very difficult for one single group or mission trip to make a major difference. But I truly believe that lives are changed and enriched by mission trips. Not only on the receiving end, but it is ten fold on the giving end. It would be fair to say that our lives are changed by having been in Honduras, interacting with the families and children we encountered. Sure, we were able to give some things away and provide a lot of fun activities for the children in the shelters. But he significant change came through building relationships and sharing in the lives of the people. As a result, in the words of St. Paul, we were “transformed by a renewing of our minds”. I can dare say, that for most of us in the group, we gained much more than we were able to give. At the same time, we felt God’s presence along the way as we attempted to minister to the children and families of Honduras.
For more information about Osman Hope you can visit the website: www.osmanhope.org or contact Gordon Brewer at lgordonb@charter.net.

Preparing for Honduras

It really has not sunken in yet for me that in just two more weeks I will be leaving for Honduras again. This trip will be my fifth mission trip to Honduras and it is interesting how my preparation for the trip has changed from my first trip. I guess the main difference between this trip and my first one is that my perspective has changed drastically. I remember well how my preparation for the first trip involved months of planning and how I began packing several weeks in advance. (As I write this, I have not so much as even pulled out a suitcase). On my first trip, my expectations were fueled totally by my imagination and facing an adventure that was totally unknown. I remember expecting that I would be very uncomfortable and that I just needed to be prepared to bear what ever came my way. In particular, I remember expecting that I would be ill with “stomach distress” the entire trip and that I just needed to be prepared. I was very vigilant in making sure I had plenty of Imodium, Pepto-Bismol, Cipro and toilet paper to face the inevitable... or at least be able to face bravely all the horror stories of “Montezuma’s Revenge” I had heard from folks that had traveled in Central America. Needless to say my imagination was much larger than the reality that came after I made the trip; not the first hint of stomach distress or “discomfort”...
As I prepare for this next trip I am reminded of my first few trips. But what I am reminded of has nothing to do with any discomforts I might have experienced. If you have ever been on a trip in which the purpose was doing short-term humanitarian/mission work, you know what I am talking about. Any “discomfort” a person might feel is quickly forgotten when you are humbled by the conditions of people living in abject poverty in another part of the world. You are hit square between the eyes with how privileged you really are. You come home left with the indelible images of children left to fend for themselves on the streets with absolutely none of the privileges we all have here north of the tropics... You leave with a sense of guilt knowing that you are returning to the comfort of your home with all the things we take for granted everyday. ..Things like safe water to drink, a dry place to sleep, and three meals a day with more food in one meal than many of the folks you have left behind would even see in one week... You go home to an unlimited supply of everything... Where the shoes you have on your feet cost more money than most of the folks you left will ever see in a year...
When you stop and think about the expense of traveling to places like Central America, Africa, Asia or any of the Third World for that matter, the question always comes up, wouldn’t the money you end up spending on a trip like this, be better spent by just sending it directly to the folks in need? That is a very legitimate question and to be honest that might be true. But, one of the common things that most anyone who as done mission or humanitarian work will tell you is that you receive far more than you are able to give when you go to a place like Honduras. What you receive is not tangible. It is true, to just send just the money you might be able to provide more very needed food, clean water, medical care or housing. And that would be the easy thing to do. But what you wouldn’t receive is the self-awareness, growth and compassion. In other words you would not come away “...transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom.12:2). You would be void of the relationships that are so vital to becoming aware and connected to the people living in poverty. Not going and simply writing a check would only be throwing more money at a problem without having to engage with the people and their lives.
The time for my trip to Honduras will be here before I know it. Preparation as far as what to pack and what to be prepared for is second nature now. My focus now is NOT on how the trip will be potentially uncomfortable. Rather, my focus now is on renewing the old friendships from previous trips. I am excited to see again the children and families that touched my life in a very real way the first time and every time. I won’t just be giving things to children... I will be participating in the lives of Baldemar, Johana, Edgard, Luis, Paola, Lupe, Juan, Brenda, Emma and Isaac... You see, “those people” and “those children over there” have names... When you learn the names and share in their lives you are transformed. The poverty you see is no longer "their problem"; it becomes your problem and you take it personally. When you look into the faces and see from whence they come, you are transformed. In a very strange and different way, you know and feel the presence of the One who died for us all. For in the faces of “those people” you no longer see just “them”; they are you and I. And when you share in their lives, you see the face of Christ...

Osman Hope - Bringing hope to children in poverty...

Everything, Everywhere

On the back of my office door there is a collection of tote bags that I have gathered from the various conferences I have attended over the last few years. I am not sure how the tradition got started, but it seems to be a pretty good idea. Inevitably, I come away from conferences loaded down with all kinds of “stuff”. Most of it is seemingly useful stuff, like pens, pencils, luggage tags, tape measures, and notepads. Other stuff is maybe not quite as useful, but more on the “fun” side of things like stress-balls, balloons, and foam hats. When I look at the totes hanging on the back of my door, I wonder what I really took away from those conferences besides all the pens, refrigerator magnets and stress-balls…

On the weekend of June 6th there were about 300 Episcopalians and Anglicans from all over the world that gathered at a conference in Baltimore, MD. And despite all the anxiety about the “issues” in the Episcopal Church, not once did any of that come up; thanks be to God! This conference was different… “Everything, Everywhere” was the first of its kind in which 300 people came together to pray, think, hear and discuss the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). You know all that stuff we are really called to do… The “stuff” I came away with could not begin to fill any sort of tote bag. The “stuff” was a sense of purpose and calling that was shared by the people in the conference. There was a resolve that echoed through out the conference that the Millennium Development Goals are not just something we MIGHT do, but something we MUST do.

The MDG’s are pretty basic goals: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality 5. Improve maternal health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability and 8. Develop a global partnership for development. At first these goals sound pretty overwhelming. When you realize that all it would take is 0.7% of the world’s wealth to accomplish these goals by the year 2015, it sounds a little more doable. It can not be done alone. It will take a lot of collaboration by the people of the world to accomplish this. But, the paradox of it all is this: it has to start with each of us individually, by recognizing how one can contribute a minimum 0.7% of what we are each privileged to have here in our part of the world.

I came away from this conference with a lot of thoughts and ideas to process. First of all, with all the poverty that we still continue to see here locally, why even focus on global issues? I guess the main reason is that it is something we are called to do by virtue of what it truly means to follow Christ. But to put it in more concrete terms, now more than ever, with the increasing global economy, the rest of the world is truly more of our neighbor now than it has ever been. Other thoughts: we do have a lot of need in our own country and we need to continue to help those in need that are literally next door to us. However, even the poorest of our poor here in our country have a much larger safety net to help out (school lunch programs, federal/state aid, Medicare/Medicaid, food banks, etc.). True, the safety net is not perfect and we need to continue to help our local neighbors who are in need, which in reality is just as much part of the MDG’s as global reconciliation. Nonetheless, the level of poverty found outside the US in third world countries is exponentially much more severe and widespread than we find within our own borders. The first step in trying to tackle this momentous task of ending extreme poverty, illness and starvation in the world is to become aware. And once we are truly aware, we can be motivated to action through our prayer, use of our resources and the things we advocate for in our ability to vote.

In the end, I did come home with a few trinkets typical of most conferences. But the real stuff, the stuff that matters most, was the common resolve of the participants of the conference to keep spreading the good news of Christ throughout the world through our actions. The main point of it all: “The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” (Matt. 25:40)

If you want to find out more about ways you can help visit these websites:

Episcopalians for the ONE Campaign (www.episcopalchurch.org/ONE)
Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (www.e4gr.org/)
Episcopal Relief and Development (https://www.er-d.org/MDGs/)
The Millennium Campaign (www.noexcuse2015.org/)