Humanitarian Aid & Relief

Good Humanitarian Aid: Talk To The Chief.

Humanitarians in rural areas must talk with village leaders, like this chief in a remote village in Laos. — Humanitarians in rural areas must work with local leaders. World Concern employees shared many meals with this chief (center) in a remote village in Laos.

In tribal villages, you don’t barge in and demand permission to install an outhouse, or provide an education to the children who cannot read. After exploring World Concern’s humanitarian projects in six countries in Southeast Asia, I see that if you want something done in a tribal village, you must first talk with the chief.

I used to think of a chief as a wise old Native American man with a feather headdress, looking off into the distance as he calmly plots the tribe’s next move. Instead, in these SE Asian tribal cultures, the chief might be in his mid-30s or 40s, and wear a polo shirt and Adidas track pants.

First, let me tell you about a chief I met in a village in Laos. World Concern provides humanitarian aid in some remote places, and this is sure one of them. No running water. No power. To get there, we drove for seven hours on dirt roads, crossing two rivers. We found ourselves in a region still pockmarked by craters, from bombs dropped on Vietnamese convoys as they traveled through the jungle during the war.

Rickety wooden fences surround the village, to hold in the livestock, and to keep out whatever creatures may lurk in the jungle. We drove in and everybody stopped to look at the vehicle, a novelty in an area where people measure distances in hours or days to walk.

We found the chief at one of the larger homes built on stilts. Dressed casual, but very business-like. No surprise, though, because working in his village has been a team effort. Since we began our humanitarian aid here five years ago, he’s come to see what we’re all about, and wants more and more aid for his village.

Although he has a very limited education, he sees the hope that education brings, whether it is to improve personal hygiene or to provide schooling for the children. He held a couple of meetings while we were there, and in the end, after seeing how our projects work, he was stumping for further humanitarian aid.

Another chief I met was a man somewhere close to 50 years old, the leader of a village in the Myanmar delta. On the day I visited, he was preparing to marry off his daughter. In his home, bright streamers stretched across the room. On the wall hung a photo of his wife and young son, both killed during the cyclone last year. He was pleased to see us, and invited us to take photos of his village. Without permission, though, the rest of the villagers would not be comfortable with us wandering around with cameras.

It’s just how it is. The chief is respected and considered the village visionary and protector, and he carries a lot of influence. And we listen, not only because it’s polite, but also because listening usually makes the project better.

Obama’s Cairo Speech & Islam: Should the poor rejoice?

Obama's Speech in Cairo — CAIRO, EGYPT - JUNE 4: U.S. President Barack Obama makes his key Middle East speech at Cairo University June 4, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. In his speech, President Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims", declaring that "this cycle of suspicion and discord must end". (Photo by Getty Images)

I’ve just returned from Asia and, because World Concern works many places in the Islamic world, I listened closely to Obama’s Cairo speech. This morning I was in the middle of writing an email responding to a very conservative critique of the speech when I took a call from our Area Director for Africa. Because of the now uncontested control of Al Shabab in the two major areas of our work, we have had to table any plans for expansion even though the need of the poor increases. We will expand in Somaliland where there is greater stability.

The media report on only a few of the attacks of Islamic fundamentalists, especially if they target Europeans or Americans or involve a suicide bombing. Even more than those who are killed, though, the poor pay the price for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. They may flee their homes in the midst of fighting, as we now see tens of thousands doing in Somalia and Pakistan. They may remain as helping agencies are driven out or required to curtail their work as we are having to do. And they may not even be able to cultivate or harvest a crop. Men and boys who would be working to feed the family are forcefully conscripted into militias. The suffering of the poor is many times greater than those who are violently killed or maimed.

So will Obama’s speech make anything better? The conservative commentary that I read was a resounding “no” for one of these reasons.

1) Saying something does not make it so. Failing to challenge intolerance of other faiths even among non-fundamentalist governments and communities does not protect minorities. Policy differences still remain. Nothing is really different on the ground after the speech than before.

2) Fundamentalists are not going to change their beliefs and practices as a result of the speech because their actions are rooted in an Islamic expression that would discount the words of infidels.

I’ll concede those two points but that does not mean that “words are cheap” or that nothing has changed.

The criticism does not recognize and words and symbols are powerful, not in bringing magical solutions to seemingly intractable problems but in changing the context in which they are seen and discussed. Sure, a speech will not solve all of the contradictions within the doctrine and practice of Islam anymore than a Papal edict would have stopped the IRA until the power of the community had turned against the violence in Ireland. Yes, there is a significant difference between the foundations of Islam and Christianity in how we regard political power and nature of kingdom. Islam is too savvy to embrace grace and such impractical concepts such as loving enemies. The Prophet Mohammed entered Mecca at the head of an army from Medina and triumphed over those who had ignored him earlier, establishing a religious/political reign that has been contested ever since his death. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and was killed by his opponents less than a week later, triumphing only through his death and resurrection and establishing a Kingdom of servants. Islam and Christianity are different at their cores.

Even though words and symbols alone do not change circumstances on the ground nor reconcile true differences between faiths, peoples or nations, I believe in their power in changing the context in which debate and discussion happens. When I meet an obstructive government official who wants a bribe, I will not oppose him but try to include him in solving the problem that he has created. “Let’s see. It does look like we have a problem. How do we manage to solve it.” That approach has worked more often than not and certainly better than the confrontational approach that drips with judgment. I do not expect the official never to extort money again as a result of this interchange but rather to solve an immediate problem. By (hopefully) changing the context of the discussion from “me against you” to “we’ll solve this together”, my words and attitude make a difference.

I also think that Obama is right in presuming that most Muslims worldwide do not want to live under a fundamentalist regime, not even in Somalia. Muslims are created in God’s image and worthy of respect. They desire to live in peace and without fear. Fundamentalists of any flavor eventually hang themselves on their own rope but US rhetoric and attitudes have given the Islamists a lot more rope to work with before it begins to tighten. Obama’s speech shortened the rope and Obama and his team are not naïve enough to think that all will now be well. But we have a better chance for progress.

Finally, isn’t there an Arabic tradition of fine words and hospitable actions on the part of both guests and hosts while action, if there is any, takes place behind the scenes? Obama respected that tradition, again showing that he values those within Arabic and more broadly Islamic cuItures. I think that we need to look more closely at the responses of the Muslim man and woman in the street to gauge the success of the speech in accomplishing what the US hoped that it would—not in solving the problems but in beginning to change the ethos in which the problems are discussed. The last president to be able to do that effectively was Carter and the peace that he facilitated between Egypt and Israel has been among the few hopeful elements that has endured in the Middle East.

Do I think, then, that we’ll be able to immediately revive our plans to expand our work in southern Somalia because of a speech in Cairo? No, of course not. But I do believe that it incrementally reduces the power of the fundamentalists who sacrifice help for the poor among their own people to acheiving and maintaining rule over them.

And I believe, because we are created in God’s image, we wish to be respected and valued. Approaching those with whom we disagree with respect will not in itself close the gap that divides us but does make bridge-building easier.

Cyclone Nargis Inflicts Pain One Year Later

A Nu Mya looks out from her front door, reflecting on life one year after Cyclone Nargis killed her husband.

Every home along the main street of Myanmar‘s Aima fishing village has something in common.

It goes beyond the woven bamboo walls, metal roofs and identical 270 square foot floor plans.

You might see it in the eyes of a Burmese boy who is barely tall enough to peer out of his front window.

Or maybe you can sense it from the young mother crouched in her doorframe, hands on chin, looking out.

One year ago, 119 of the 940 people who lived in Aima lost their lives in Cyclone Nargis, often the husbands and fathers who were out for the day catching crabs or fishing.

The deaths here are a small part of the 140,000+ killed when Nargis ripped across the Ayeyarwady delta on May 2, 2008, an unforgiving wall of wind and water that leveled every structure that wasn’t steel reinforced concrete.

Among those who lost loved ones is A Nu Mya, a 30-year-old woman with four children.

Her husband was out catching crabs to sell in the marketplace when the storm hit.

He never came home.

A Nu Mya has known her husband since she was 15 years old.

The soft-spoken woman has a strong faith, though, and believes that it was simply an act of nature.

A Nu Mya told me, “God will help me rebuild my life.”

When World Concern began its humanitarian recovery work in Ai-ma and in other villages across the low, muddy plains of the delta, our work included distributing emergency supplies of food and water – as well as the formidable and grim task of finding and burying victims.

So many died, though, it’s still not unusual to discover human bones on the shoreline.

Many thousands of people will never be found.

Now in the next phase of humanitarian disaster response, World Concern has done amazing work, from building homes, water and sanitation systems, to distributing kitchen and bedding supplies.

World Concern is working with Habitat for Humanity to build the innovative homes, which use coconut wood frames and woven bamboo floors.

We’ve even replaced fishing boats and worked on schools.

Our aid has reached far into the community.

Much of it is to promote sustainable livelihoods, so that people there will be able to support themselves once we leave.

In many villages we’ve even worked with locals to built tall mounds of raised Earth, a place to go to escape rising flood waters of the next cyclone.

Walking the streets of the village, pain remains fresh.

I spoke with two fishermen and a woman. Interviewed separately, all told me that it seems like the storm just happened. It is often the first thought they have every morning.

I am proud of the way World Concern has helped thousands of people here rebuild their lives.

We’ve listened to their stories and are helping them create better lives.

But the hearts of these villagers remain fragile.

Say a prayer for the delta. It’s been a year, and people are still reeling.

Give to Cyclone Nargis disaster response.

humanitarian-myanmar-aima-village — Cyclone Nargis killed one out of 10 people in Aima village in Myanmar. World Concern humanitarians and Habitat for Humanity rebuilt 110 homes.

A Nu Mya holds her youngest son, age 2, inside their Myanmar home.

3,200 Children Will be Trafficked Today

This boy walking along the Cambodia border is at risk. The UN estimates 1.2 million children are trafficked annually.

It’s as if the boys and girls were set out to roam on a six-lane highway. Their lives are at risk. Over the last two days I have watched hundreds of children walk around the roads near Cambodia’s border with Thailand. Some sell trinkets to strangers, others just wander through the crowds for hours. Left alone, these children are in great danger of being trafficked to other countries, then becoming laborers or sex slaves.

I am writing this blog entry from Poi Pet, Cambodia, as I visit our humanitarian projects to prevent child trafficking. What I see here around the border is alarming.

Around here, men and women try to convince children to travel with them across the border in hopes of a job that may bring money back to their families. Instead, children trade their childhoods for months or years in misery. According to the UN, as many as 1.2 million children are trafficked every year. That’s more than 3,200 kids every day.

Public school is out of reach for many poor children near Poi Pet. They may not have a ride to school, or they may not be able to afford the required uniform. Without school, the kids do nothing all day. Parents may be at work, or gone entirely. So the children kill time by wandering near the border.

Humanitarian organization World Concern‘s working to stop the trafficking. Our work with a local non-profit agency, Cambodia Hope Organization, brings classrooms to villages.

Our 25 “School on a Mat” classrooms teach children the curriculum recommended by the government. It gives kids a chance a good education and a much better future. Beyond that, we teach children how to spot the lies of traffickers.

Because a lack of income often sparks risky behavior, we’re also giving young people opportunities for jobs. World Concern’s sewing and motorcycle repair programs give people real skills that they can use to find work or begin their own business. A stable family life often leads to better decisions.

So many children here have yet to find direction. They need the opportunity to attend a “School on a Mat” class, or need to learn life skills. I hope people you recognize the danger these children face, and are willing to do something to stop it.

Join World Concern’s “Free Them” 5K fun run to end human trafficking. It’s Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 9:30 am at World Concern’s headquarters in Seattle.

If you can’t attend, forward or re-post this story, and here’s where to give.

World Concern works with Cambodian Hope Organization to provide "School on a Mat," an education and child trafficking prevention class brought to villages.

"School on a Mat" helps villagers know the dangers of child trafficking, while providing children with an education that incudes health, language, science and math. — "School on a Mat" helps villagers know the dangers of child trafficking, while providing children with an education that includes health, language, science and math.

Young men learn how to repair motorbikes in Poi Pet, Cambodia, a border community at risk for Child Trafficking.

Girls learn how to sew in Poi Pet, Cambodia. Child Trafficking prevention must include opportunities for income.

Girls play with each other along the Cambodia/Thailand border, an area popular among those who traffick children.

Snapshots From A Bangladesh Slum

A boy wades through a festering trash pile in Bangladesh, looking for food. Humanitarian organization World Concern is working nearby, improving opportunities in the neighborhood with small business funding.

I knew we were on our way to a Dhaka slum, but on the way, the slum wafted into the car. The sour, stomach-turning odor matched what I began seeing: fly-covered piles of trash lining the sides of this Bangladeshi road. Crows and cows picked through the festering debris, hunting for food. Plastic bags and chicken bones emerged from the piles, all cooking in the sticky 100 degree heat. And on top of the mess: a couple of barefoot, shirtless kids.

The boys wandered through the piles, looking for something to eat. My van stopped nearby, and I popped open the door, holding my breath, which only works for so long. I watched one boy, maybe five years old, as he held a piece of scrap metal and poked at the garbage. He would head in one direction, then change routes, scanning the ground.

At one point, the tan, black-haired boy picked up what looked like half of a rotten melon. He brought it to his face, took a whiff, dropped it, then silently kept on moving. He eventually disappeared from view behind a shack, near where a woman (his mother?) was prodding at another pile of trash. It was almost as if they were thinking, “surely, this is not all there is for me.”

Across the street I saw row after row of ramshackle homes. Waterfront shanties, with front lawns of blowing trash. The nearby lake was red with pollution. Who knows what chemicals had been dumped in there to make that unnatural color. Later in my trip across Bangladesh, I saw a river that was black with grime, and saw a barge pump something grey directly into a lake. I am not sure if the fishermen nearby even noticed.

Without a doubt, this experience is depressing. Still, I know that World Concern is doing something to change this situation. A few minutes after we drove away from the slum, we visited a woman now able to provide for her family because of a small business loan. After that, I met another woman who has a growing screen-printing business because of World Concern.

We can’t take care of all of the problems in this slum, but we are doing what we can to change the picture of poverty here, one person at a time.

A woman picks through rotting trash in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Near a Bangladesh slum, heavy pollution near a turned this lake red. — Near a Bangladesh slum, heavy pollution turned this lake red.

A fly-covered melon is one of the treats to be found in a Bangladesh dump frequented by hungry children.

Humanitarian Aid Arrives By Fish

Abdul mends nets in the day, after waking early to tend to his fish. Good humanitarian aid works with people like Abdul, who sieze opportunities. — Abdul mends nets in the day, after waking early to tend to his fish. Good humanitarian aid works with people like Abdul, who seize opportunities.

Surely some of the excitement was just being able to hold the flopping carp for a moment. But the joy beaming across the face of a young fisherman was sincere. He and others had just pulled in their nets and revealed thousands of healthy fish, income for people who have struggled for so long. Once I learned the back-story behind this Bangladeshi fishing hole, and others like it, I was amazed to hear how it has come to be.

First, let me introduce you to Abdul. He lives in a Bangladesh farming community where small village businesses are set on stilts above rice paddies, and watermelons are piled high on the sidewalks. Here, it’s just as likely to travel by canoe as by car. Charming in its own way, but still incredibly poor.

Abdul has a large family; his wife and four of his girls were home when I visited. He was unable to support them on his meager income as a rickshaw driver. No matter if he worked eight hours a day – or 15 – he was still coming up short, and was not always able to provide them with enough food. No education for the girls. No savings. Not even a mindset of a future.

But about six years ago, Abdul was interested in World Concern‘s offer to begin a fish farming business. He began receiving – and repaying – loans for fish farm nets, feed and other supplies. And he got busy, making sure the fish had a healthy pond. He stuck to the plan. And it worked.

The fish grew, along with his confidence. He eventually was able to buy land for his family, and build a home. He makes and mends nets by hand. He saves at least $500 US every year, which is a tremendous amount of money in Bangladesh. In addition to the money, World Concern has walked with him, teaching him about fish farming and how to ethically run his small business. Now, he is the driving force behind this fish pond, one of many ponds in the area now able to support families in significant ways.

That happy young fisherman I described at the beginning of this story is one of many who benefit from World Concern’s humanitarian work with Abdul and other entrepreneurs. Many men in the village now raise fish frys, providing the men with steady income. The wealth spreads. Good humanitarian aid works that way, in changing the lives of not only one person, but in working through that person to help others in the community.

Abdul is buying cows now, building wealth. Sitting in front of his home, with his family inside about ready to sit down for lunch, he grinned and told me he is blessed and grateful to have the chance to live a better life.

My initial impressions of Bangladesh.

A teenage fisherman holds his catch from a Bangladesh pond, a large carp that will mean income or a delicious dinner. — A teenage fisherman proudly holds his catch from a Bangladesh pond, a large carp that will mean income or a delicious dinner.

When the fishermen drag the nets into the shallows, the pond explodes with life. I'm surprised a flying fish didn't poke out my eye.

An American's Impression of Bangladesh

Men muscle 3-wheeled rickshaws through the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The average income for a Bangladeshi: $1,500 a year.

I arrived in Dhaka at the peak of the summertime, where my sweat-drenched shirt never dries in the near 100 degree heat, and the power seems to go out every few hours (like it did as I typed this sentence).

During my first five minutes in Bangladesh, beggars approached us as we walked to our vehicle at the airport, then more beggars asked for our help as we drove on the streets. Crammed among the cars are 3-wheeled rickshaws driven by thin chauffeurs. If they’re not waiting for a customer, they’re standing on the pedals, straining against a load.

Other countries where I have documented World Concern’s humanitarian work face more significant problems with infrastructure. In Haiti, some roads in the city are in such disrepair, it is like they had never been leveled or paved. In fact, it was simply years of neglect – coupled with some storms. Dhaka generally has nicely paved streets, and many homes and businesses have power, outside of the frequent blackouts. In Kenya, access to clean water seemed like a greater need than here, though I have not yet seen conditions in the poorest homes made of scrap wood and sheet metal.

This is not to say Bangladesh does not have great need. I can see it in the man without legs who instead walks with his hands. I see it in the older gentlemen crouched on the hot sidewalk, without eyes, who was hoping that somewhere in the blackness, people would provide him with coins for a bowl of rice. The average income here: $4 a day.

Outside the wall of a World Concern-sponsored school that was in session, I see the need in the children without shoes or uniforms, who play marbles in the dirt instead of learning how to read in a classroom. Like in many places where we work, schooling here is not guaranteed. It is usually only a privilege for the wealthy, or for those benefiting from an organization like ours. We give 5,000 children an opportunity they may not have otherwise had.

I was not able to find a guidebook about Bangladesh prior to my trip here to document programs. It is the least Western country I have visited, with no familiar stores or advertisements, and very little English on signs outside of on the primary thoroughfares. From what I’ve seen so far, I suspect there are very few people from the West who visit Dhaka, which means less foreign investment, both financially, and in awareness of the country. Did you know Bangladesh is more populated than Mexico or Russia?

So far I have visited a medical clinic and a school, both packed with people and highly regarded in the community. Once again I am pleased to see World Concern working in areas of intense poverty. Though Christians amount to about one half of one percent of the population, I see the hands of Christ working through our humanitarians, both employees and volunteers. They touch the lives of those in desperate need of compassion.

Beautiful children outside a World Concern school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We have a special interest in seeing girls have an availabilty to education.

Hanoi Humanitarians Bring AIDS to Light

Migrant workers like this man pay about $10 a month to share a small room with 3 other people.

Within a five foot area on a concrete slab, a man poured water over his head to bathe, then washed clothes in a bucket. Shortly after, a woman arrived to gut a chicken. Under tin-roof canopies, people cook over campfires and live four to a room the size of a king-sized bed.

Life in a Hanoi slum is to live simply, then send as much money as possible back to the family living in the country. Rent is about $10-$15 a month. About 30 or more people live in the slum I visited, living lives separated from their families.

No one is getting rich in this cramped, grimy place. But, they make more money in Hanoi than they could in the rural towns in Vietnam from which they came. They work migrant jobs like pulling carts at all hours of the day. Some sell fruit on the street corner.

It’s a risky place in many ways. After dark, it’s a dimly lit maze of alleys and opportunities for theft or assault. And often, the stress and loneliness leads these migrant workers to use heroin or prostitutes, and both vices often come with AIDS.

Out of the many needs in the slum, one of the greatest is the need for knowledge. World Concern helps in several ways. Much of it has to do with educating people about HIV and AIDS. It’s been more than 20 years since the world has learned about AIDS, but in small Vietnamese villages, many people still don’t know what it is or how it is spread.

Migrants who get AIDS in the city are bringing back more than a paycheck when they visit their home villages. We try and make sure that doesn’t happen.

Through education, condoms, behavior change courses, medical check-ups and countless conversations from hard-working volunteers, World Concern is bringing AIDS to light in the slums. We’re telling people that the risks are real, and their decisions not only affect themselves, but their families, and even entire villages.

If we stop the spread of AIDS in Hanoi, we don’t have to respond to the disease spreading across the countryside. We are grateful for the support of the government to get access to those most at risk, and thank our donors across the world, especially Tearfund UK.

I was impressed with a man I met who goes out of his way to be an advocate. He works all night – and hasn’t lived near his family in years. He faces more challenges than I can fathom, and goes out of his way to volunteer, thinking of others before himself.

Anti-Government Protests Escalate in Thailand

Anti-government "red shirt" protesters climb on top of two tanks outside a busy Bangkok mall.

When I exited the train at a Bangkok mall, people were running to the railing, shouting and looking down. I thought this couldn’t possibly be a “red shirt” anti-government protest. But as I joined others and saw the street below, it was clear that demonstrators had returned to the city in force.

Two government tanks sat in the middle of what is usually a busy street. On top of the tanks were dozens of men in red; all around them were hundreds more. Some protesters waved the flag of Thailand, others wearing red bandannas over their faces pumped their fists in the air. In spite of the prime minister issuing a state of emergency to help keep Bangkok and other areas secure, police and soldiers did not do much to stop the protesters, from what I could see.

As I was getting out my camera, a lady next to me shouted down at demonstrators, who quickly returned her remarks with hostile gestures. Presumably, the woman has a “yellow shirt” mindset, a supporter of the existing government.

Looking through my viewfinder with one eye and trying to maintain my focus on the activities around me, I noticed red shirts running up the stairs into the rail station. One man with a red bandanna stood next to me, waving with both hands at his friends below, encouraging them to to join him. Behind me, police began to drop the emergency gates to block out the protesters. I raced inside the now-secure station just in time.

The basic story is that “red shirt” protesters want the prime minister and other leaders to resign and want a once-popular prime minster (who was convicted of corruption and was ousted in a coup) to return to power.

Just yesterday, “red shirt” demonstrators had stormed a hotel in a town 90 miles south of Bangkok, disturbing a summit between Bangkok’s prime minister and the leaders of other Asian nations. The intended goal of the summit was to plan a coordinated response to the economic crisis. Instead, the leaders had to leave by helicopter.

One reason why I wanted to exit the train at the Siam Center stop was that it was a very “Western” area where I could probably get a hamburger. It’s regarded as a safe place. Signs in the Siam Pavilion shopping mall are in English. You might mistake it for any luxury mall in America.

I still don’t think the area is unsafe, in spite of the rowdy protest. But other areas of Bangkok saw even more action, including an attack on what protesters believed was the prime minister’s car. The next few days will be telling. If the government decides to act with more force, I worry how “red shirt” demonstrators will respond. For now, the “red shirts” have considerable power.

Some say that the polarization in Thailand is growing, calling the country “ungovernable.” That causes me some distress, as the interests of the poor and marginalized are at the forefront of my mind. With an ongoing power struggle, it may be increasingly difficult to improve the plight of those with the greatest need.

Writer’s note: Humanitarian organization World Concern focuses on helping the poor and generally declines involvement in political activism. All opinions are the blog author’s only and not those of the organization. The author just happens to be in Thailand as he sets out on a 40-day visit World Concern’s humanitarian activites across Asia.

A "red shirt" anti-government protester motions to his friends to join him inside a Bangkok rail station.

Hundreds of anti-government "red shirt" protesters climb on top of two tanks in Bangkok April 12. — Hundreds of anti-government "red shirt" protesters surround two tanks in Bangkok April 12.

A "red shirt" protester wearing a mask uses a megaphone to help coordinate outside Bankok's Siam Pavilion mall.

"Red shirt" anti-government protesters move barricades without resistance outside a Bangkok mall.

Security officials at Bankok's Siam rail stop lower security gates as protesters arrive at the entrance.

Security gates shut out "red shirt" protesters and other potential riders at Bangkok's Siam rail station.

The Cross and the Poor: A Good Friday Meditation

Crucifix from Oberammergua

The Cross and the Poor: A Good Friday Meditation

“But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” John 12:32

For most of my life, when I read this verse, what really went through my mind was “But I, when I rise from the dead, will draw all people to myself.” Good Friday slipped by quietly, a whistle-stop on the way to Easter. I identified with the joy of Easter. In our family, we triumphed in the empty cross.

And, after all, it is triumph that draws people, is it not? Surely Jesus, had his thoughts not been haunted by the imminence of his death, would have realized that it the victory of Easter would draw people to him and not the horrendous pain, betrayal and abandonment of the cross. Don’t we flee from blood, torture, injustice, suffering and death? Those of us who grow up with little suffering, as I did, cannot understand the attraction of the crucifixion but eagerly embrace victory. Embracing the crucifixion threatens to drag us down toward death but the resurrection lifts us up to a life even better than the good one we enjoy now.

But then I went to live among the poor, like those with whom Jesus lived, and began to realize that Jesus’ words were incisive, not short-sighted. Preaching only the triumph of Easter among the poor often stirs up only the hopes of Palm Sunday-of enemies defeated, of riches obtained, of a good life-hopes that are dashed between Sunday and the next Friday. Drawn only to a god of triumph, they are betrayed.

But a God on the cross, one who understands their sufferings because He too, has suffered and still draws their pain and sin into himself-that God is one whose love they can receive .

I think back to a wood and thatch house raised on stilts over the stinky river that flows through Phnom Penh, Cambodia. With my hands on the shoulders on Chup Ly, a Vietnamese young woman in the last stages of AIDS, I prayed quietly as the Vietnamese pastor prayed aloud. Chup Ly, sold into sex work by her parents, had been drawn to Jesus and placed her belief in Him. As I prayed, I thought, “Shall I pray that I somehow take some of her suffering into myself and perhaps lessen it?” The answer came back, “Meredith, I’ve already done that and am doing it now. You are too small a person to bear such pain. It’s not your commission.”

“But I, lifted up from the earth, draw Chup Ly to myself.”

I think of the fright of a five-year old child in a village in Mozambique watching as his older brother convulses in a sweat-soaked bed from malaria, grows still and finally cools into death.

“But I, lifted up from the earth, draw this bewildered child and his brother to myself.”

I think of the helplessness of the father, waiting beside the road with other laborers, hoping that someone will come and exploit his labor for the day so that he can feed his children.

“But I, lifted up from the earth, draw this helpless man and his family to myself.”

I think of the resigned pain in the eyes of the mother who watches her infant suckle ever more weakly at breasts withered from starvation.

“But I, lifted up from the earth, draw this starving mother and child to myself.”

I think of the twelve year old girl sold to sex traffickers, who alone, enslaved and abandoned, waits in terror in a small, dingy room as the approaching footsteps of the first man ever to have bought her echo in the hallway.

“But I, lifted up from the earth, draw this terrified and soon to be violated girl to myself.”

On this Good Friday, as I remember Chup Ly, dying of AIDS in Phnom Penh, I know with deep certainty that I must embrace both Good Friday and Easter. “What is our calling then? We are called, simply, to hold on to (the risen) Christ and his cross with one hand, with all our might; and to hold on to those we are given to love with the other hand, with all our might, with courage, humor, self-abandonment, creativity, flair, tears, silence, sympathy, gentleness, flexibility, Christlikeness. When we find their tears becoming our own, we may know that healing has begun to happen….” (NT Wright, For All God’s Worth, pp 98-99)