Reflections on Africa

 “Reflections on Africa”

 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sunday, June 3, 2012

Text: Psalm 10// Series: “Taste & See: A Journey Through the Psalms”

Well good morning, friends.  I want to invite you to come on back in and take your seats and as you do I want to ask you a question.  How many of you can remember your driver’s test?  For some of you, this will be stretching waaaaay back into the recesses of your mind, for others it might be a pretty fresh experience.  I lived in suburban Toronto as a teenager and there, like here in BC, there is a graduated process to getting your ticket to ride. And I can remember so clearly as an eager 15 year old getting my hands on the crisp little instruction booklet that the province published with all of the rules of the road and little pictures of what to do at 4 way stop signs, how to convert miles to km/hr, how fines doubled in construction zones and all kinds of other tantalizing pieces of safe driving information.  I read it and re-read it and went in to take the written portion of the test and I passed.  So naturally, I thought I knew everything there was to know about driving.  After all, I had it all locked away up here ready for use as soon as I turned 16 and could slap an “L” on the back of my parent’s car. 

I don’t know what your experience was, but I also remember vividly my first time getting behind the wheel as I pulled out of the licensing office several months later only to realize that my head knowledge now had to be put to use in real-time.  And I couldn’t drive with the instruction book on the dashboard, flipping from page to page and making sure that what was in my head was accurate to what was in front on me.  Though it struck a little bit of fear in my heart, I was going to have to allow the information that was in my head to inform my reflexes, my choices and my operation of an actual motor vehicle.  And it took some time – some might say I am still a work in progress – but my driving eventually moved from something that I merely know intellectually to something that I knew experientially.    

Maybe learning to drive wasn’t like that for you but perhaps you can identify with a situation where something that was theory in school became a reality.  Medical & counseling students of all varieties go through this, where things have to become more than simply a listing in the DSM – they become diagnosis and treatment of a real person.  Teachers in training go through this experience.  Where classroom management moves from theory into the actual practice of getting a group of 22 8 year olds to pay attention to what you are saying about subtraction.  Or as a real estate agent or accountant, you move through your first difficult legal extrication and the theory that you knew in your head becomes a reality to you as you live and work it out in real time.   

Today, I am going to try to weave together two things that I held in my head as interesting pieces of information into a synthesis and a call to refection and action.  Because part of the goal of Sunday morning’s together is to get each of us to begin to move things that we may know intellectually into the realm of knowing them experientially.  To take the longest and most challenging journey in the world: the 12 inches from our head into our hearts.  Let’s pray together as we look into God’s work.

Well, last weekend Jared Crossley launched us into a new and exciting series called “Taste and See: A Journey Through  the Psalms” and so  this morning, I want you to invite you to open your Bible to Psalm 10 and your Momentum Journal where you can record your thoughts and follow along this morning.  As I was saying earlier, one of the challenges each of us face is taking something that we learn in school and translating it into reality.  As a young student of theology in my undergrad, I remember being introduced to the Psalms – a wild and unruly book of ancient Hebraic poetry and songs that didn’t follow the conventions of some of the other parts of the Bible.  And there was one category or style of Psalm, in particular, that was intellectually interesting for me but I really had no place for.  That was these Psalms called “imprecatory” psalms.  These were the Psalms where the author called down curses on the heads of his enemies and asked God to kill them and punish them and drag them away.  Personally I preferred liked the nice calm and peaceful Psalms that talked about quiet waters and gentle streams and made for nice easy listening worship songs.  These imprecatory Psalms where you basically asked God to rain down fire on the heads of your enemy were interesting to study theoretically, but I had no need for them.  They remained an intellectual and theological category for me – until about 3 weeks ago when I spent 12 days on the ground in Tanzania in East Africa.  Walking with and listening to families who’s worlds have been turned upside down but violence and cultural prejudice so deep seated that it results in the murder of innocent children.  Until I came face to face and toe to toe with the power of evil in the form of local witchdoctors who place and receive orders for the body parts of people with albinism so that they can make a potion for their wealthy clients so that they can get re-elected.

And I realized again that when I need words for an intense experience, I don’t go to the Pauline epistles.  Most often throughout history, people have gone to the Psalms because they provide a voice for these kinds of experiences.  They express emotions that I am not as familiar with – anger, deep fear, hope and longing.  They express themes that stray off the well-worn path of suburban life, which is perhaps why they are so well loved on the surface but seldom explored beyond a cursory reading.  The Psalms are a road map into the deeper places of our hearts.  And so as I prepared to go to the country of Tanzania, in our Momentum Journal reading, I stumbled across a Psalm that because emblematic for me of my time in east Africa.  It’s not a neat and tidy Psalm… It shakes me from disinterest and general platitudes about Africa and drills down into my soul to provide a framework for staring evil in the face.

But it does this in a very unusual way that isn’t readily apparent in our English translations.  If you look in your Bible, most Psalms will have a heading at the top of the chapter.  Some kind of instruction musically or otherwise.  But look at Psalm 10… notice anything different here?  There isn’t one is there?  And that’s because Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 were originally one unit in the ancient Hebrew song book.  They actually are written as an acrostic, meaning that verse one of Psalm 9 starts with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and then verse 2 moves to the second letter, and so on.  And so in many ways, these two are to be read as a single unit.  In the interest of time, I’m going to focus on Psalm 10 but Psalm 9 really sets the stage by praising God for His power and mighty works.  By calling people to declare and sing praise to God for His intervention in history and in their lives.  By reminding God of his character that is just and right and true.  And then Psalm 10 begins with quite a different tone. 

Now, in order to understand my connection with this Psalm, you have to understand a brief history of the people group that Don, Peter myself and other members of the team were connected with – persons with Albinism or PWA’s.  My introduction to persons with albinism was with Peter Ash.  I first met Peter 8 years ago in Walnut Grove and then he and his wife Debbie began attending JRCC.  We chatted a few times casually and he began the labour intensive process of educating me about the genetic condition of Albinism.  At the risk of oversimplification, albinism is a genetic condition that exists in every race around the world but is particularly prominent in East Africa, where it is thought to have originated.  Albinism results in a lack of melanin in their skin, hair and eyes, hence the need for the donation of sunscreen and hats and sunglasses that we called for and you responded generously to – PWA’s need protection from the sun because they don’t have protective pigment in their skin in the way you and I do.  But more than this, the gene for albinism also affects the development of the eyes so that they don’t form like your eyes and mine do in utero and so people with albinism also have low vision.  Which, if you think might make life in North America challenging, imagine what it might be like in a culture that makes no accommodation for those with disabilities whatsoever.  This is why we did low vision clinics while over there with a specialist from Southern California.

But what was more shocking to me as I was watching TV one night was to see Peter on 20/20 saying that people with albinism in Tanzania were being hunted down and killed because of ancient beliefs that they were non-persons.  Their arms and legs were being cut off because they were considered ghosts or zeru-zeru in Swahili.  And that because of this, witch doctors in Tanzania and other parts of Africa were actively trading in the body parts of PWA’s!  It was unthinkable to me.  Which it was even more so to Peter, himself a person with albinism, who got on a plane in 2008 and went over to Tanzania to see what could be done to help.  And as a result of this, started a charity in 2009 called “Under the Same Sun” whose purpose is to reduce discrimination and end the attacks and killings of PWA’s.  They work hard at doing this through advocacy – whether it is speaking at the United Nations or influencing the position of the government of Canada, or through media here in North America and also in Tanzania – this team of dedicated people is on the ground using the press to brining change to attitudes and actions.  One thing that we did was tour with a documentary film that you can see at the booth entitled “White and Black: Crimes of Colour” and we would go right into the areas where there had been a killing or attack and set up a giant inflatable movie screen and sound system and host a movie night.  And it was amazing to see whole communities come out and learn and discuss and express their support to see change come to their country. 

The second pillar of the work of Under the Same Sun is education.  Because historically, when a minority people group has moved from the margins to the centre of society, it has been because they have taken their meaningful places of leadership in business, politics, social life, education and all facets of society.  So there’s been a push in the past 4 years by UTSS to see kids with albinism receive a solid education.  So one of the activities we did was to visit schools – both government schools where conditions are quite rough and UTSS is providing food and basic care but also to visit English middle schools in the Mwanza region up on Lake Victoria, where almost 300 kids are getting a good quality education as an investment in their future and in the future of the country of Tanzania. 

I was there to explore how JRCC could stand together with our brothers and sisters with albinism in Tanzania for justice and peace and to prayerfully consider how we might move this information from our heads into our hearts and work together so that we could be a part of seeing the day when discrimination against PWA’s in Tanzania is a faint memory.  And one of the primary things I learned is that Psalm 10 is accurate in its assessment of reality… this will be a long, uphill battle.  Listen as I read Psalm 10:1-11 from the New Living Translation: [5 slides]

One story that captures these verses for me is the story of the child on the bottom right of this photo, Adam.  {Tell Adam’s story} – 4 slides in total

When I hear this, my response is imprecatory! Psalms 10:12-18 [2 slides]

You see before, I might have read these verses as a theological curiosity or an intellectual exercise.  But now, when I read about God going after these people, I think about Adam’s attacker or even his parents who were complicit in the attack.  When I read about mere people terrifying the helpless, I think about the screenings of the film that effectively unmask the witchdoctors as charlatans and as evil crooks who prey on their helpless victims.  And I cry out with the Psalmist “how long oh Lord will this have to go on?” 

Prior to the middle of May, I think I could have even sat back and said “wow… Good for Peter and Don and UTSS.  I’m so glad they are involved in this!” and left it as information that sat in my head.  But now that I have seen what I have seen and met the people whom I have been privileged to meet, I can’t let it reside anywhere but in my heart.  Which moves me to action.  And so I want to invite you to join me in 2 concrete action points:

1. Get informed: if the information isn’t in your head, it can’t move into your heart

• Learn about albinism & PWA’s in Tanzania

Visit with Don at the booth, come talk to me, ask Peter or someone you know with a disability how they see the world and how you can stand with them in the struggles and victories that they face day by day.  If you are particularly interested in the stories of PWA’s in Tanzania, you might want to save the date for the annual

• UTSS is holding a banquet Thur, Oct 25, 2012 

I’ve been every year and it’s always been a time of challenge and a time of inspiration.  I’d love to see a table or two from Jericho Ridge at this fundraising event so come talk to Don and myself after and we’ll get you an RSVP.  But beyond getting informed, the

1. Take Action:

• Adam is coming to Vancouver this fall!

This young man wants to go to school more than anything else and so UTSS has arranged that he will be coming to Children’s to have reconstructive surgery on his thumb and forefinger so that with God’s grace and modern medicine, the use of his right hand can be restored!  If all the logistics can be put together, this will be happening in late August and he’ll be here in Vancouver for 3 months.  So there’s a couple things he’ll need from us.  One is clothes – remember, he’s coming from Tanzania with the clothes on his back and they’re not fall in the Pacific Northwest clothes so we’ll need to find ones in his size in your closet that you can bring to JRCC and we’ll get them to Adam.  Also, we’ll need to give him some of the things that every 9 year old boy wants – some toys to have fun with.  So if you’ve got some items you think he would enjoy when he is in rehabilitation, talk to myself and Don and we’ll work to connect those dots.  I want us as Jericho to take a keen interest in Adam while he is in town and so if you can help us find him & his caregiver a place to live close to the hospital or can provide any other form of assistance, it would be an amazing and practical way to spring into action and stand with the orphans and oppressed.   

This is a lot to take in over the course of a morning – I’m still processing what I’ve seen and heard - and I am conscious that one of two things is perhaps going on in your mind that are voiced in Psalm 9-10, and this brings us to our take away for this morning:

Psalm 10 Take Away:

Our temptation is to live in the extremes…

• To retreat from reality when it becomes too harsh or too hard

People see God’s promises as a security blanket and when life becomes hard or they hear hard things or see images on TV, they wrap themselves up and say “la, la, la, la… the world is a nice & happy place. God will make it so. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, the Bible says so”.  And if you move too far on this continuum, these people shirk their responsibilities to partner with God in His project of brining shalom and justice and peace to the world.  They hope and pray that someone else will do that because it’s just too hard or too messy to get involved.  They avoid CNN because it’s full of bad news, they just read their Bible and hope it all goes away.  But the second extreme is just as dangerous…     

• To reject God’s promises in light of present realities

This person looks at a situation like Tanzania and says “it’s useless, God is dead.  He has abandoned Africa.  Where is God in the middle of all of this horrible stuff?  Why does he let people suffer and die like this?”  Not an easy question at all, is it?  And when faced with the harsh realities of our world, sometimes people reject God, they reject that He exists or they reject His promises that he will bring justice to the oppressed and that He will deal with the wicked.  They simply give up hope in the face of present realities. 

But remember how Psalm 9 recounts God’s work in the world?  It forms the counterbalance to the intensity of Psalm 10.  And what the writer is inviting us to do is to hold them BOTH up together…     

The real challenge is to set the contradictions side by side and leave their resolution to God

To trust, as Jared reminded us last week, that God is still in charge of your life even though it may seem out of control.  That God still cares about your situation, though it seems completely hopeless.  Don’t give up. For Adam, for PWA’s in Tanzania, for you and the financial and parenting struggles you are facing, the centre of this Psalm holds true:

Psalm 9:7-10

But the Lord reigns forever, executing judgment from his throne.

He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness.

The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

We are going to sing a song that calls us to action.  The prayer team is available, name that place of doubt or struggle and let God lead you into a place of deeper confidence in His care for you today.  Let’s pray.