Sunday, February 16, 2014
"This is an easy week," they said. "A very straightforward topic," they said.
But this is DTS. Nothing is ever that easy or straightforward.
I will admit, this week was easier than some of our others have been. Less emotional perhaps. But, wow, was it ever a lot to think about. It brought up a lot and I'll be turning these ideas over for months.
This week was World Issues week. We had three topics in three days: refugees, orphans and women. We heard about refugees on our first day.
Did you know: There are 15.4 million refugees worldwide. When you include internally displaced people, that number grows to 45.2 million.
80% of the world's refugees are hosted by developing nations.
(I was in the group that presented a report on refugees at the end of the week, so after our class on Monday and researching on Thursday, I am basically an expert.)
The needs of refugees are what you expect - shelter, food, clean water, sanitation. They also need health care, education and other essential services. One thing, though, that may not immediately come to mind, but is a huge issue is protection. Frustration can build in camps and lead to physical and sexual abuse. Refugees are vulnerable and can be easily taken advantage of. They often have no personal documents and are then very vulnerable to being trafficked or otherwise taken advantage of. They need a way to support themselves and be self-reliant.
Our refugee speaker also told us about the importance of praying without ceasing. Since last weeks topic was about the importance and power of prayer, it was easy to understand why praying without ceasing is such a big deal. He told us about this super cool website:
http://onevoice.tearfund.org
You can read other people's prayers, join them in praying, and post your own prayers. So that people from all over the world can pray with one voice. Let's get the world praying about the world!
Our orphans day was interesting. What the western world thinks of being orphans is actually called a "double orphan" (having lost both parents). There is also "single orphans", "social orphans" (parents unable to care for the child - neglect, abuse, addictions, etc), and "economic orphans" (parents unable to provide for child). So double orphans are actually a very small percent of the huge number of orphans in the world today. The organization that came and spoke to us, Keeping Families Together, was obviously very keen on...keeping families together. They were all about providing community support for families (temporarily removing children from very dangerous situations, counselling for abusive or addicted parents, micro-loans and helping start businesses for families in poverty). Family is so important.
Women's day was even more interesting. We were expecting trafficking or abuse or crisis pregnancies to be the topic. But the speaker talked about redeeming Christian feminism. The whole world shudders. Yes, people, feminism. She sparked some very interesting conversations in our crew after her talk. Some people were put off by the way she presented her opinion, but I agreed with a lot of what she said. Basically she said that women should be equal in the church and not be kept from positions in ministry for no other reason than being a woman. If a woman wants to preach, let her preach! If a woman wants to bake cookies for Sunday School, let her bake! People should be free to do what God has called them to.
The main point of this week was to raise awareness for issues in our world and take on a Biblical worldview. To see what God says about these things, and what his heart is. Let me summarize for you: Take care of people. Love them. This is a command, not a suggestion.
Some of us watched the documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls on Saturday night. This is a documentary about human trafficking, specifically in the sex trade. I encourage the whole world to watch this. Warning - it is a hard watch. Very intense, very raw. Very real. This is the world we are living in. There was a quote from William Wilberforce, slave abolitionist, at the end:
And this is now my goal in life. And should be the goal of every Christian. To be feeling alive to the injustices and suffering of the people we share this world with, and to do something about it.
Prayer Requests/Praise Reports:
starting to sleep better, yay! (I'm regulating my sleep schedule in order to do this, so I get up at 5:45 every morning. Whoot. But if it means I can actually sleep at night, I'm not complaining.)
our Bangkok International Tens Rugby Tournament this coming weekend - safety for all the players coming in from other countries, safety during the games, a positive atmosphere, for lots of money to be raised for ARK's rugby program
- as always, open hearts and minds as we go through class this week; that God will speak to us
"This is an easy week," they said. "A very straightforward topic," they said.
But this is DTS. Nothing is ever that easy or straightforward.
I will admit, this week was easier than some of our others have been. Less emotional perhaps. But, wow, was it ever a lot to think about. It brought up a lot and I'll be turning these ideas over for months.
This week was World Issues week. We had three topics in three days: refugees, orphans and women. We heard about refugees on our first day.
Did you know: There are 15.4 million refugees worldwide. When you include internally displaced people, that number grows to 45.2 million.
80% of the world's refugees are hosted by developing nations.
(I was in the group that presented a report on refugees at the end of the week, so after our class on Monday and researching on Thursday, I am basically an expert.)
The needs of refugees are what you expect - shelter, food, clean water, sanitation. They also need health care, education and other essential services. One thing, though, that may not immediately come to mind, but is a huge issue is protection. Frustration can build in camps and lead to physical and sexual abuse. Refugees are vulnerable and can be easily taken advantage of. They often have no personal documents and are then very vulnerable to being trafficked or otherwise taken advantage of. They need a way to support themselves and be self-reliant.
Our refugee speaker also told us about the importance of praying without ceasing. Since last weeks topic was about the importance and power of prayer, it was easy to understand why praying without ceasing is such a big deal. He told us about this super cool website:
http://onevoice.tearfund.org
You can read other people's prayers, join them in praying, and post your own prayers. So that people from all over the world can pray with one voice. Let's get the world praying about the world!
Our orphans day was interesting. What the western world thinks of being orphans is actually called a "double orphan" (having lost both parents). There is also "single orphans", "social orphans" (parents unable to care for the child - neglect, abuse, addictions, etc), and "economic orphans" (parents unable to provide for child). So double orphans are actually a very small percent of the huge number of orphans in the world today. The organization that came and spoke to us, Keeping Families Together, was obviously very keen on...keeping families together. They were all about providing community support for families (temporarily removing children from very dangerous situations, counselling for abusive or addicted parents, micro-loans and helping start businesses for families in poverty). Family is so important.
Women's day was even more interesting. We were expecting trafficking or abuse or crisis pregnancies to be the topic. But the speaker talked about redeeming Christian feminism. The whole world shudders. Yes, people, feminism. She sparked some very interesting conversations in our crew after her talk. Some people were put off by the way she presented her opinion, but I agreed with a lot of what she said. Basically she said that women should be equal in the church and not be kept from positions in ministry for no other reason than being a woman. If a woman wants to preach, let her preach! If a woman wants to bake cookies for Sunday School, let her bake! People should be free to do what God has called them to.
The main point of this week was to raise awareness for issues in our world and take on a Biblical worldview. To see what God says about these things, and what his heart is. Let me summarize for you: Take care of people. Love them. This is a command, not a suggestion.
Some of us watched the documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls on Saturday night. This is a documentary about human trafficking, specifically in the sex trade. I encourage the whole world to watch this. Warning - it is a hard watch. Very intense, very raw. Very real. This is the world we are living in. There was a quote from William Wilberforce, slave abolitionist, at the end:
“If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.” - William Wilberforce
And this is now my goal in life. And should be the goal of every Christian. To be feeling alive to the injustices and suffering of the people we share this world with, and to do something about it.
Prayer Requests/Praise Reports:
starting to sleep better, yay! (I'm regulating my sleep schedule in order to do this, so I get up at 5:45 every morning. Whoot. But if it means I can actually sleep at night, I'm not complaining.)
our Bangkok International Tens Rugby Tournament this coming weekend - safety for all the players coming in from other countries, safety during the games, a positive atmosphere, for lots of money to be raised for ARK's rugby program
- as always, open hearts and minds as we go through class this week; that God will speak to us
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