Troy Parfitt, a Canadian who lived and taught in Taiwan for a decade, invites us to travel with him through the two China’s.  The purpose of inviting along is to attempt to convince us of Why China will Never Rule the World.   I have to say I was a little suspect.  To me it is an analogous as a Chinese living in Canada for 10 years and traveling through the USA only visiting tourist places and writing a book about the insights of America.   I was pleasantly surprised.  Parfitt does visit the tourist locales in most of the Chinese Provinces but he mixes his experiences with insights in history and Confucian thought.   He writes with humor and insight.  The readers will feel like they are backpacking with him as he shares his insights.  I enjoyed following along with Troy and learning more about these countries.  I especially like the parts of his travels through Taiwan because I have never been there.

As someone who has lived in the Peoples Republic of China – if ever so briefly – I was familiar with the descriptions of the – shall we say – craziness that Parfitt or most any Westerner encounters when traveling to China.  I also have to admit though I was skeptical of his consultations that he reveals in the prologue, by the end of the book I began to see his point.  There are a lot of assumptions we have made about China because we only ‘learn’ them from the press who is allowed to see only what China wants them to see.

However, I think there is still something missing from this book.  One thing is that even though the author knows the language and much of the cultural nuances, I often feel he falls where most of us do when going from West to East.  (Unless of course you are Asian then you might feel more at home.)  Parfitt spends much energy critiquing the culture rather than becoming a cultural learner and ‘becoming Chinese’. Also while being a tourist is how most of us might ever experience China, it causes one to make false assumptions.   I found it interesting that at one point Parfitt finds his most interesting conversations to be just as he is leaving a city.  In China, because of her history of xenophobia and because of  ”Big Brother”, I have seen people were slow to open up until we developed a friendship beyond just a business transaction.

Despite some of the gaps, I think Parfitt’s book is well worth the read.  It’s funny and insightful. His point of view belongs to the conversation of China’s future.   He offers insight into what China is like especially for those wanting to enter the dragon.  I certainly know to avoid a river boat trip to the Three Gorges.

A few weeks ago, I read Tim Keller’s book “Generous Justice”.   Excellent book by the way.  In it, Keller referred to a story that I had never heard of about how on Martha’s Vineyard during the early part of American History there were a higher than average concentration of  hearing and speech impaired people.  Instead of viewing the deaf & mute as handicapped, the people on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, particular the community of Chilmark where a higher % of deaf lived, the entire community adapted and everyone spoke sign language.  I thought the story so interesting, I decided to check out the book Keller referenced.

“Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard” is an excellent book!  The author Nora Ellen Groce reveals her research into this incredible story.  Groce’s book is laid out like a disseration but I actually enjoyed that.   It’s like a documentary.  Even though I personally do not have a stake in the story of deafness, I love history, research, and genetics.  But foremost, its the social case study that intrigued me the most.

Groce, a cultural and medical anthropologist, not only tells the facts she discovers but presents an incredible study of what a true community could be like.  Because everyone learned sign language, the deaf were not limited in functioning as a vitle part of the community.  People would sign as they spoke and considered those around them that could not hear or speak.  It became a natural part of life to be bilingual.    As a result their community was richer.  I found it most interesting on how this made life better for those who did not live in silence.  Neighbors who could speak and hear would sign rather than shout.  Fishermen would signal to each other across loud waves. Children who pass signs in class behind the teachers back.

I highly recommend “Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language”. This book was written in 1980′s and may be hard to find though (except for a kindle version on Amazon). My local library had to secure a copy for me through an inter-library loan since there was not a copy available.

About a month ago I received an email from an author saying that he had read a review I written for another book on Amazon and asked if I would read his book and review it.  I was a little hesitant because someone sent me their book about a year ago and it was so bad I didn’t have the heart to give it a poor review.  (Or the stomach to even finish it).  But I agreed and Gary Sutton mailed me an autographed copy.  I was glad he did.  Below is the review I posted on Amazon but thought I would post it here too.

Oskaloosa Moon is powerful bittersweet tale of a deformed boy growing up in small town Iowa during the 50′s and 60′s. Author Gary Sutton superbly writes from the first-person of Moon who faces injustice after injustice at the hands of others. In fact, his writing style is so appropriate for the character, I keep asking, “Now this is a fiction, right?”. It reminds me of how Robert Morgan pens Gap Creek from the point of view of his illiterate Appalachian grandmother. Of course the setting of time in Oskaloosa Moon parallels the author’s life but the way he enters the main character’s head is touching and powerful.

Moon is not the protagonist’s real name but what he is cruelly called because his head is shaped like a crescent moon. Moon is physically deformed but gifted intellectually, solving mechanical problems and having a pure heart. (Even though he has a few vices like stealing.) Sutton’s story is most poignant when few treat Moon with kindness along the way and most painful when people treat him in inhumane ways. It’s interesting to note that the people who should be ones who treat a deformed boy with kindness – his mother, the local pastor, the town doctor, his principal – are the ones who are most cruel. It’s the ones who are also rejected by society that are not blind to the beauty of Moon’s soul – a boy with a speech impediment, blind girl and a homosexual college professor.

I as a reader was drawn not only into Moon’s story but a self-examination of perhaps ways and times I have treated others who looked or acted differently. I keep thinking of the phrase concerning young David in the Bible that “Man looks at the outward appearance but God examines the heart.”

I highly recommend Oskalaoosa Moon. It is an enjoyable read. It is a fine book simply as a novel itself but its power is in the story itself. You will laugh, cry and hopefully look at others beyond just the surface.

Yesterday I sat next to a Mexican-American businessman named Juan on my from Mexico City to Phoenix.  Originally he had 22E – the middle seat – between myself and Mary who was traveling with our group.  But I moved over so he could have the aisle.  After a few introductions I learned that Juan lived in the Phoenix area and was visiting family in Mexico City.  He told me that his mother is in the hospital and this is the second time he has flown down this month.  He didn’t expect her to live much longer. She is being kept alive by live support.

I shared with Juan that my mother passed away in August.  In fact pretty similar situations.  We talked about death and pain and sons losing mothers.  He remarked that death was a part of life.  Though I sensed he was trying to convince himself.  ”Yes”, I said, “it doesn’t make it right.  Death is the enemy of us all.  It the common enemy of every person on this plane and this planet.  And the pain of death is greater for those left behind.  They experience pain but we grieve and feel there loss.”  I also shared with him why i was in Mexico City and why I was involved in helping end injustice.  The conversation wained and I started reading a book.

Later in the flight he asked me if  I was a Christian.  I would like to say that he saw my compassion and felt I must be a follower of Christ.  But I think it was because of the book I was reading.  Juan said, “I used to believe in God but he hasn’t answered my prayers for my mom.”   He was not argumentative, or angry.  He said it as a matter of a fact.

In turn I didn’t argue or try to push my beliefs.  I felt for him thinking of what it must be like to go through this without faith and losing your faith.  I asked him about his prior belief and whether his mom believed in God.  ”Yes, she believes in God and is very devout.  I have believed in God all my life but I don’t anymore.  My brothers and I prayed and cried to God to heal our mother and He didn’t.  So He must not really exist.”  Juan also lost his first wife and his father in recent years.

I explained to Juan that I understand.  But I also shared with him what helped me.. helps me.  I told him that I believe we were not created to die.  That there was no death in the beginning when God created man and women.  We were not made to die,  to experience pain or injustice.  But the world is broken.  We are broken.  Death is the enemy of us all.  And God sent his Son to take on that enemy.  I told Juan that I believe He is real, that He cares and that He will make all things new.  That one day in His kingdom there will be no more death, no pain, no sorrow, no horrific injustice.  And that Juan’s mother who believes and trusts in God, she will soon see His face and be made whole.

We had some more good conversation afterwards.  Mary and he talked too while I excused myself to the facilities.  Coming back before the plane landed, I told Juan that I would pray for his mom – Maria Guadalupe –  and him.  We exchanged emails.  Juan faces a period of grieving and his life will be different without his mother but my prayer is that he will experience the reality of a loving God even in the midst of this suffering.  I hope that Juan will sense His presence, goodness and love.

Maybe some of this happened even on that flight as Juan said to both Mary and myself before he left, “I think God had me sit next to two angels today.”

Almost exactly two years ago, we started dreaming of the churches of Boulder uniting to make a difference in the world.  Tonight I sat in a hotel room in Mexico City with 6 others.  All seven of us attend different churches.  Represented are the first 4 churches that decided to partner together – Cool River (Emmy), Flatirons (Mark), Emmaus Road (Mary) and Cornerstone (myself).  Also two churches that later joined us – Origins Community (Brad) and High Way Community (Rachel) and Bryan who came out of Flatirons and is launching a new church in Denver called Inception.

Its beyond cool that we are partnering we people here in Mexico who give their lives to rescuing children and helping make things that are wrong be right.  But it also cool that God is using ‘the Church’ – not just one church – to come together to be a part of this.  As we prayed together – for our week, for those caught in slavery, for those doing the rescuing and for those being rescued – I was moved by how the Lord has united us for this purpose.  And because both unity and setting captives free is at His heart, we can know we in His will.

I was asked to write an advent for my church e-letter.  I’ll try my roughdraft out on you.

Read: Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 2:8-20

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” which is based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  You can watch a powerful rendition by Casting Crowns.

A year after his wife died tragically in a fire in 1861, Longfellow wrote: “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace.”   Then just three short years later in 1864, he got word that his oldest son was severely wounded in the Civil War.  That following Christmas Day, Wordsworth penned the poem “Christmas Bells” which was later set to music.

The poem & song speak of hearing church bells on Christmas Day repeat the carol of “Peace on Earth, Good Will to men”.  But then we read / sing the poignant words from Wadsworth’s heart in the second stanza: “‘In despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth’ I said.  ‘For hate is strong and mocks the song of Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.’ ”

Perhaps as you read this, like Wadsworth, the holidays are inexpressibly sad.  Maybe not inexpressibly but they are bittersweet for me as its the first Christmas without my mom.  And whether you have experienced tragic loss like Wadsworth or not, I’m sure if we are honest that we all can relate to the assessment of ‘there is no peace on earth’.  Hate is strong in our world and mocks the song sung by the angels that first Christmas morning.  Where is this good will among the human race?  We are hard pressed to find a place one earth where conflict and unrest does not reign.  No one on earth is immune to it.  War creates pain, death, loss, and separation.  It leaves behind widows, orphans and ravages our earth.  But not just on the evening news do we see unrest.  It’s in our neighborhoods, our workplace, under our roofs and even among the fellowship of believers.  We are not at peace.  Where is this promised peace on earth?  I thought He was to be the Prince of Peace.

The carol doesn’t end that there.  “The bells ring more loud and deep, ‘God is not dead nor does He sleep.  The wrong shall fail and the right prevail’ ”.  His kingdom will come.  One day soon the world will revolve from night to day.  One day soon oppression, injustice, pain, anger, unrest, bitterness and arguing will cease.  One day the weapons of warfare will be refashioned into implements that bring a harvest to the nations.  But even right now He wants this kingdom of peace to come to our hearts and homes, to our churches, to our communities and our world.  The kingdom that He brings is a kingdom of peace.  He gives us peace, not as the world falsely offers. Our hope is in Messiah Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  It is a peace that surpasses understanding.   He calls us to follow Him in the work for bringing the peace of His Kingdom and, as far as its possible, to be at peace with everyone on earth.

“I pray (this Christmas Season) that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”  – Romans 15:13

The Lafayette Cub Scout Troop 76 wanted to do something to serve a family in need for Christmas.  (Luke is in scouts and is a wolf.) Laurie Harris – whose husband Kirk leads Luke’s den- asked me to help.  She had tried to get help from her church to no avail.  Since the scouts meet at Ryan Elementary school and most of the boys like Luke attend Ryan, I thought this might be a good opportunity to serve the school.

See, a month or so ago, a few of us representing several local churches met with the Boulder Valley School Superintendent, Dr. Chris King.  Chris has a high regard for the churches in Boulder.  Over the years churches have provided thousands of volunteers to help improve facilities through weekends called ‘Sharefest’.   In the past few years, Sharefest has evolved to more than just school projects but also smaller projects where we have helped local non-profits or single moms and widows in need.

In talking with Chris, he really wanted to see our partnership with the schools continue.  Considering we saved the school board a lot of money in manpower during tight budgets, who could blame him.  Together, we  came up with a “One Church / One School” plan. The idea is a local church would adopt an underachieving school for facility upkeep needs but could also partner in other ways too like mentoring at-risk kids, appreciating the teachers or whatever was needed.  Each church and school would work together to find the best fit of needs and assets.  Our motivation as a united church would simply be to fill the Great Commandment of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Chris identified the schools with the greatest need and one of those was Ryan Elementary.  As a parent, you may not want to think your child attends an underachieving school but we saw this as an opportunity.  Not only does Luke and several other kids from our church attends Ryan but also six of the Burmese refugee kids our church helps relocate and transition to community.  Robin specifically serves as a liaison between the school and their families, so we already had the relationships and trust with the administration.

So back to the scouts… I thought this would be a good way to begin working with Ryan at a deeper level.  So I emailed the principal and ESL Teacher (who I knew and) Miriam Wright, the Family Advocate for all of the elementary schools in Lafayette, who I had yet to meet.  (By the way, Miriam is awesome and an angel!) The principal got her assistant involved and I met with them.  Together we came up with a plan to help 30 families who have kids at Ryan that are in need this Christmas.

A local business donated toys. The Cub Scouts donated food for 5 families – one per den.  Our church provided food for the remaining 25 boxes.  Each box had enough food for a family of five along with a gift card.  This past week, with help from others, I packed them all in nicely decorated boxes, loaded them into our van and delivered them to Ryan Elementary.  On Saturday morning the 18th, families came to the school to pick up the gifts and boxes of food.  These families, who had nothing, now have something for Christmas.

Robin & my prayer is that this is only the beginning of us loving our neighbor – Ryan Elementary and families in Lafayette.   Our prayer is that God will raise up others to help mentoring kids and serve the school & community with the love of Christ in tangible ways.

She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

We have two manger scenes sitting out in our home.  Both are from Mexico.  I think I bought the second one forgetting I already had the first, but they are dissimilar enough that it looks okay.  As I look at them, I can’t help but smile and think of when Luke was really small how he made baby Jesus a superhero flying around the room.

Our manager scenes have all the necessary ingredients – baby Jesus in a manger, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, animals and one has wise men (even though the magi probably showed up at a later time).  But one thing they both lack…. poop.

I mean if there were animals there, there would be poop… dung… feces… cow patties… manger muffins.  And if enough people were in town to bring out the ‘no vacancy’ sign at the local inn, there would have been tons of poop.

Seems to me its significant that Jesus was born in a place with a lot of stinky poop because He came to take away our poop.

You have to understand poop is a popular topic in our house of boys.  Robin is very gracious and let’s them … er us… be boys.   Poop was the first word both Jack and Drew learned to spell.  It makes them all smile and giggle.  Cleaning poop has been a part of our lives for 8 1/2 years now.  We can’t escape it.

And I can’t escape it in my life.  I have poop.  I sin. I do things I shouldn’t.  I think things I shouldn’t.  I get angry.  I’m selfish.  I’m stubborn.  I’m greedy.  I waste a lot… a lot of time, money, stuff… things that could be used to make the world less poopy.

I have poop.   You have poop.  All God’s children have poop.  Poop happens.  There is no way to escape it. Our dung-heap is high and stinks.

Sometimes our poop gets out of control.  Unsafe drinking water.  Hungry children.  Families wrecked. Disease and death.  Abuse.  Loneliness. Despair.

Jesus entered into the world of poop.   He enters our poop.  He takes it away.  He came to rid the world of poop…. to wipe it clean.

Tonight I shared this with my boys at the dinner table. (Normally poopy talk is off-limits at the table but Robin gave that rule a break tonight.) And so afterwards we added poop (in the form of chocolate chips) to each of our manager scenes.   And maybe on Christmas morning, we will eat the chocolate ‘poop’ chips.

I have a lot to be thankful for…

Jesus... He’s all I need

Robin… a wonderful, hardworking, caring, patient partner / friend / wife.

Luke… a mind full of wonder, uniquely gifted

Jack… an artist, a big smile and a warm hug

Drew… imaginative, funny, a big heart

My dad… his humor, his goodness, for being my dad, my friend, my pastor.

All my family… my sisters, my nephews, nieces, my cousins, aunts and uncles, my family by marriage.  Each a joy to my soul.

My job... that I have one in times like these.  But even so I have a job with the freedom just to follow my heart.  Get to work with some great people who inspire me.  Get to do things I love.

Bonus Stuff… I have a warm place to sleep at night, food on my table, in good health, means of transportation, no debt (except mortgage).  And I live in Colorado with a view of the mountains off my back deck.

The opportunity to serve and give… how alive I feel when I am serving among the needy, when I am giving and not taking, being the hands & feet of Jesus.

My mom... I am thankful for who she was… for  her love, for believing in me, for challenging me, for her generous heart.  I miss her today.  Hard to believe she is not here.

A year and half ago, a small group of us formed a network of churches in Boulder County (BoCo for short) with a desire to partner together in Mexico.  In the beginning, we represented 4 churches but we decided to call ourselves a ‘Boulder County’ network welcoming anyone else who wanted to join us.  We now have 10 churches collaborating together.

Last fall as we met, we discussed what was the ‘big ah’ of our group - where was there a unique opportunity and what did we all have a heart for.  It was clear to us that the opportunity was to partner with Rosi Orozco and her efforts to help end human trafficking in her country.  The only problem was Rosi – who several of us had met earlier that fall – had not asked us for our help and we knew we needed more expertise on human trafficking.  On the human trafficking end, we were all passionate about this issue because of one man – Brad Riley – so we decided we needed to invite Brad into our next gathering.  Brad Riley, who had been a pastor in Boulder, is the director of iEmpathize which  uses arts, film and photography to tell of both this terrible injustice and the hope found through ministries on the ground.

I also contacted Rosi, a Mexican congresswoman, and turns out she had just been won approval for a Human Trafficking Task Force that she had been lobbying for and was appointed its head.  There was going to be an initial event in February of this year and she invited us to join her.  So Brad came to our January meeting and even though we were just looking for his guidance, he jumped on board.  Brad joined us on the February trip, met Rosi and got a picture of the work being done there.

After that trip, we decided that the first BoCoMexico initiative was to send Brad and his team back to Mexico to create a Mexican iEmpathize experience which would be a tool to raise awareness (both in US and Mexico) and raise funds for Camino a Casa, the safe home Rosi started.  We all pitched in and raised the funds to launch the project believing that it was an investment that could help raise exponential resources.

Fast forward to October…   a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining Brad and 4 others in our network on trip to Mexico City.  We premiered the short film that iEmpathize had produced at a gathering hosted by the Anti-trafficking task force.  We spent time with Rosi and German & Lorena Villar who lead Camino a Casa further building our partnership. And we visited the girls at the safe home which is a highlight to be with these precious kids have been set free and given new lives because of some amazing followers of Christ.

Last Friday evening, we held a gathering at an art museum in  Boulder with 50 church leaders and their spouses. We each invited key people from our churches as well as friends from other churches who ahd not yet joined us.  We wanted to give these people a sneak peak at what we are doing and a chance to all be aligned to what we have agreed to do next.  We previewed the iEmpathize film and shared where the LORD was leading our effort.  As one church united together, we are trusting the Lord for a new safe home, vans to transport the girls and for the final production costs for the iEmpathize experience that will continue to tell the story in hopes of rescuing more kids.

There is a lot of cool things for me – one I get to be a part of seeing churches unite.  Also we get to build deep friendships in the process.  But the coolest thing is that we can make a difference.  Not just network for network sake.  But come together and make a difference in giving new lives to those held in bondage and hopefully prevent other girls and boys from experiencing this same horrific fate.