The following letter was mailed last week:
August 12th, 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
Three generations ago it was common for missionaries to pack their belongings in caskets and leave for the field quite aware of the challenges ahead. Times have changed, and one of the challenges today, ironically, may be a lack of awareness of the complex environments in which missionaries serve. (more…)
Thomas Malthus theorized that as the world’s population increases, the amount of resources available for each person decreases. Charles Darwin expanded Malthusian theory and proposed that natural selection (survival of the fittest) occurs when the weak in body or mind are eliminated due to defect or to an inability to access the resources needed to survive and reproduce.
While in Miami last month, some friends took me to see the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, with Ben Stein. Expelled contends that those who champion the subtle views of Malthus and Darwin supply the building blocks for horrific applications of hereditary improvement by genetic control. Stein illustrates how opponents of an “Intelligent Designer” court a dangerous worldview that diminishes the sanctity of life.
The 869-page, Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People 1492-1995, by Robert, Nancy and Michael Heinl, is arguably the most complete history of Haiti in print. In the introduction, the authors state, “Besides having too many people, too little land and few roads, Haiti has practically no natural resources.” Among those who visit and assess Haiti, this is the simple definition of the problem and the majority view.
Why is this significant? (more…)
When people in abject poverty face difficult decisions, good options seldom exist—the choices are simply bad or worse. When a mother has more children than she can feed, where does she find help? In Haiti, there is a culturally acceptable and clandestine child-trafficking arrangement resulting from these difficult decisions and those who prop-up and benefit from the structural evils that force these decisions in the first place.
Restaveks: 300,000 child-slaves blend into the landscape here. They are visible only by understanding what to look for—most foreigners do not. Conversely, tens-of-thousands of families in Haiti rationalize this form of trafficking by promising food, shelter, and education in return for household help. Unfortunately, in too many instances these arrangements fall victim to human depravity, and children are exploited.
The following video was produced by Compassion UK:
The following letter was mailed to our family and friends in December. Since then we have received a considerable amount of positive feedback and felt it appropriate to post online.
December 4th, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
There’s a story about two farmers who desperately needed rain. Both of them prayed for rain, but only one of them went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Which one trusted God to send the rain? God will send the rain when he’s ready. We must prepare our fields to receive it. (more…)
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