Submitted by Wright (not verified) on Thu, 05/24/2007 - 21:04.
Whatever you do, the key is to remain united. I'll provide a few examples of development, neither of which is related to religion, per se, that seem to have generated a residual divisiveness similar to the submissions previously posted.
Most recently, I was for some strange reason watching 60 Minutes one Sunday evening. One subject was a MIT professor's efforts at bringing laptop computers to school children in developing countries. The initiative certainly worthy, but as the interview pushed along, he stated his ill feelings towards other companies' efforts to bring similar computers. He claimed he was not in it for any reason at all, yet he vigorously denounced the companies' for-profit efforts. Why should the professor be upset if a for-profit company can help out with more computers at a lower price? To further highlight the parallels here, I'll mention that each brand of computer had different strengths and weaknesses. It seems the professor failed to check his ego at the door. How much the professor resembles one church and the other companies resemble other churches.
Secondly, I recall an experience I had while in Haiti. In the run-up to the 2000 elections, the local candidates campaigned by re-invigorating their civic groups. The re-invigoration in several cases was a direct product of these politicians' ability to bring in micro-loans to their voter bases. Whether or not microfinance loan officers in the field particularly targeted the political re-invigoration as a market is not known to me. What I do know is that it destroyed the non-political, non-religious savings & loan cooperative I was advising. While people locally certainly got their loans, they got them at the expense of any unity in their locality. How would the lack of unity affect them when it came time to improve a water source which was used by persons of all political stripes? I recall opening discussions about the water source, but the post-election divisiveness limited how helpful I could be. Just in case you were wondering, all persons involved were baptised Christians.
The point of this treatise, lest I go on much longer, is to point out how not realizing you're on the same team can be so damaging. We need EVERYONE to please check your ego at the door. Too much ego in this development business. Sure, condoms don't have a 100% success rate. Sure, people commit errors. But not being perfect did not stop any of the 12 apostles. God is about love, folks, not about pointing out failures. Peter, who failed Christ perhaps more than any of the other apostles, built the early church. I know for a fact that Bryan is a very good man who loves Haitians. I can also assume that John the missionary loves Haitians, too. Pointing out the weaknesses in either Bryan or John is not going to solve much. Pointing out one's weaknesses without working towards unity is not part of Christianity or Vodoun. We each know our weaknesses--it's the place where our egos are most inflated. The key is that to bring John to let down his defenses, he has to feel safe. Chastising him is only going to make him more defensive. And, my Christian brethren, chastising Bryan is not going to get anywhere, either. Coming together openly and humbly will, however, get it done. The Haitians are waiting on us to make ourselves presentable.
We're all in this together
Whatever you do, the key is to remain united. I'll provide a few examples of development, neither of which is related to religion, per se, that seem to have generated a residual divisiveness similar to the submissions previously posted.
Most recently, I was for some strange reason watching 60 Minutes one Sunday evening. One subject was a MIT professor's efforts at bringing laptop computers to school children in developing countries. The initiative certainly worthy, but as the interview pushed along, he stated his ill feelings towards other companies' efforts to bring similar computers. He claimed he was not in it for any reason at all, yet he vigorously denounced the companies' for-profit efforts. Why should the professor be upset if a for-profit company can help out with more computers at a lower price? To further highlight the parallels here, I'll mention that each brand of computer had different strengths and weaknesses. It seems the professor failed to check his ego at the door. How much the professor resembles one church and the other companies resemble other churches.
Secondly, I recall an experience I had while in Haiti. In the run-up to the 2000 elections, the local candidates campaigned by re-invigorating their civic groups. The re-invigoration in several cases was a direct product of these politicians' ability to bring in micro-loans to their voter bases. Whether or not microfinance loan officers in the field particularly targeted the political re-invigoration as a market is not known to me. What I do know is that it destroyed the non-political, non-religious savings & loan cooperative I was advising. While people locally certainly got their loans, they got them at the expense of any unity in their locality. How would the lack of unity affect them when it came time to improve a water source which was used by persons of all political stripes? I recall opening discussions about the water source, but the post-election divisiveness limited how helpful I could be. Just in case you were wondering, all persons involved were baptised Christians.
The point of this treatise, lest I go on much longer, is to point out how not realizing you're on the same team can be so damaging. We need EVERYONE to please check your ego at the door. Too much ego in this development business. Sure, condoms don't have a 100% success rate. Sure, people commit errors. But not being perfect did not stop any of the 12 apostles. God is about love, folks, not about pointing out failures. Peter, who failed Christ perhaps more than any of the other apostles, built the early church. I know for a fact that Bryan is a very good man who loves Haitians. I can also assume that John the missionary loves Haitians, too. Pointing out the weaknesses in either Bryan or John is not going to solve much. Pointing out one's weaknesses without working towards unity is not part of Christianity or Vodoun. We each know our weaknesses--it's the place where our egos are most inflated. The key is that to bring John to let down his defenses, he has to feel safe. Chastising him is only going to make him more defensive. And, my Christian brethren, chastising Bryan is not going to get anywhere, either. Coming together openly and humbly will, however, get it done. The Haitians are waiting on us to make ourselves presentable.