Greed:More Internationally Infectious Than H1N1

I'm Just Wondering... when will Western-based NGO's and churches figure out that they have bought a bad bag of goods in regards to the ideas of Development in the Developing world...

There is the totally crazy idea that Western-based works... be they faith-based works for church-planting and discipleship, as well as social-development works like water drilling or health-care... that Western leaders, pastors, teachers, healthcare worlers, etc can go into a Developing-Least-Developed Country, "raise up leaders" "disciple and release leaders", "pass the vision to up-and-coming national leaders"... many forms of this ides... then somehow, at some point the nationals "get it", will take it over and aggresively find ways to "bless their own people" with continuing and expanding the said work (church-planting, drilling wells, taking care of the sick, etc) with their own resources and efforts... as the Westerners sneak out the back door and self-congratulate each other for having pulled it off...

TWO OBVIOUS THINGS

FIRST... in the history of Development, either fatih-based or NGO work, the few works like this are exactly that... RARE. I have RARELY seen it (20+ years of international work), NEVER read about it in any way that lasted longer than a few years, and never past a rare one or two national who actually tried it.

I know that my heros like Bryant Myers and Dan Fountain worked hard to raise up nationals in Development, but their systems didn't last longer than 5 years, then 'economic entropy' spun them to a standstill in Zaire/Congo, Haiti, Ecuador, Guatemala, etc...

Definitely, the national pastors from xyz denomination or group go OUT OF THEIR WAY to create funding-stream ties that will INCREASE from the West, never diminish... I call it 'pocket-rattling', and in Zambia, I became weary of evangelical pastors trying to see how much they could get out me, how much money I could secure from them from America...

SECOND... how can the idea that the start-up of a work can be done with monies from the West, then (happily) shift to internally-funded-by-nationals sustainability??
This idea is based in a hippie-flower-child concept that the poor in Africa, Asia and South-Central America want to invest in thier own welfare... all they need to be shown is how to do it...

The missing reality is that the economies of most of these places really stink... few opportunities, graft-corruption run rampant, employers who are worse than slave-owners, monthly salary that a 19-yr-old working in a US Starbucks exceeds in one day of wage+tips.

So the Westerner gets off the plane, wearing tennis shoes worth a 6-month local salary, a huge amount of money behind him (or her) to get to country... to find a way to convince nationals to start something that that THEY have to pay for??

Give me a break...

TRUTH: The economy created by NGO's is a major factor in so many places in the world. I saw it in Zambia. The NGO's hire nationals, and for those nationals, they are great jobs. They have NO intention of letting the Westerners bring their project to the place where they 'pull out because it's self-managed and self-sustainable'.. because they know that as code-speak for 'the Western money dries up, and they want us to dig the ditches on our own time them... with no wage..."

Sorry Bono, but how do we create 'justice for the poor' in Africa and not go in with big $$$ programs... when they don't have an economy to build anything for themselves, it's hand-to-mouth existence, day-to-day economic survival...

I am convinced that we need to find a different paradigm for development. The previously-mentioned idea is, quite frankly, bankrupt.

I am not sure how to do it well... I'm working on that... I do think that Moyo (Dead Aid) may be on to something...

c

What do THEY think about Christians?

I'm Just Wondering... how will we ever cure the 'them vs us' problem of those outside of faith in Christ and the Church... and those inside the box...

New book: uNChristian: What a Generation Really Thinks about Christianity, by Kinnaman and Lyons. (2009).

Research by the Barna group (good work in the past), via interviews with thousands of people late teens to early 30's (key demographic) who are agnostics, atheists, non-Christian traditions and 'unchurched' (and don't want to be).

Findings: negative opinions of 'born again' and 'evangelicals'.
Negative to the Christian 'swagger', how Christians project a (undesirable and offensive) 'sense of self-importance'.
Some report that Christians 'have bark... and bite'.
Six broad themes captured:
<>hypocritical
<>too convert-focused
<>anti-homosexual
<>sheltered
<>too political
<>judgemental

Authors make suggestions on how those professing to be Christians can move from negatively-viewed 'unChristian' positions and behaviors to being Christian (a positive).

OUCH!!

C

08 October Health Insurance Reform, not Healthcare Reform

I'm Just Wondering... when the rhetoric from Washington will get it straight... all the hankering and yelling and partisan fighting is totally about health INSURANCE reform, and not healthcare reform!

I heard this on the radio when driving around in Reno, NV, some Nevada doctor who is a major public health person there... just so you know it's not my idea...

I still think requiring ANY healthcare entity... big pharm, insurance magnets, hospital and clinic systems, med equipment suppliers... that ANY company that receives ONE DOLLAR of public (writ large: govermental grant) monies MUST be NON-PROFIT... now THAT would be reform!!

Healthcare 09: No Public Option, No Reform... Period!

I'm Just Wondering... will Healthcare Reform really happen in 2009, or will special interest win again??

Bottom line... NO Public Option for healthcare access, NO reform... period.

If the healthcare insurance industry wins this bit, with the Republicans being the go-to boys for their wishes... it will be same-old-same-old thing... dressed up but "Mission Accomplished" banners over every major healthcare insurance, hospital and Big Pharm location in the country...

and the 60 million + uninsured-underinsured will probably swell to 100 million...

... just watch!!!

Sotomayer and wise Latinas

I'm Just Wondering... what will happen to the Republicans the next time there is a Supreme Court nomination...

They are 'majoring' on her 'wise Latina' comment as a HUGE part of their 'objections' to her judicial wisdom... a comment made in jest at a public dinner...

The current Republican leadership better wake up and smell the coffee, because they are about to self-inflict mortal wounds that can make them the party of extinction. Hatch and Kyle and McConnell need to write better legislation that is about people and not profit corporations, be origional in their insights and comments (and ignore the Republican play-books that we've all seen leaked), and learn to be quiet when faced with the choice of 'say something that elevates trivia to partisan politics' or simply 'defer'.

We all love and respect genuine debate and problem-identification. Hanging your argument on a public, 'off the record' quip at a dinner table shows nothing but desparation on the part of Republicans to make some point...

... and the point then becomes that the Republican party leaders have nothing relavent to say... and next time, their seats may all be vacant...

Healthcare Debate 2009... for Profit or Health4All??

I'm Just Wondering... when will the fog that is set over the current healthcare debate clear away, and we will see that the FUNDAMENTAL issus is... healthcare as a for-profit industry, or Health4All Aericans???

Bill Moyers (check out pbs.org, click Bill Moyers) ran the most provocative show last week about healthcare. His guest is a 'wistle-blower' from the Insurance industry. Bottom lines: the industry worked 100 hrs/week to kill reform in the 90's under Clintons, workded hard to discredit Michael Moore and his 'Sicko' project (not hard, becuz Moore is a bit of a crank, but 'Sicko' was alarmingly right-on and a bit of a uncovering investigation on the daily sins of the Health Insurance business)... and are now 100% geared up to defeat any healthcare policy change that includes a public health option... BECAUSE the for-profit healthcare mulit-trillion dollar industry would be closed for business and found out to be the shake-down operation that it is.

Unfortunately, the Republican leadership have become the lackeys for the for-profit healthcare industry. Read Luntz's playbook for the for-profits, then listen to the Republicans. This breaks my heart, as I used to be a Republican, and I accept many Republican ideas of government and taxes... but they have become the front-men for the Industry.

Bottom line, America. For-profit Healthcare at the same price we now have... or Health4All, and the Industry and their Republican front-men lose all their huge cushy profits (and political contributions).

TLC's Jon & Kate... living in a vaccuum 2009

I'm Just Wondering... how long this totally detached, individualistic, non-community culture can survive on this planet??

OK, yes, been on 'grand-baby watch' at my daughters house near Reno, and watching alot more cable/satalite TV than I normally do... no, we only have local basic service at our house (who needs more? I get to watch every Padre baseball game, and LOST when it's running!)...

... and I became acquainted with the TLC phenom "Jon & Kate", which any cable TV-goer knows is this show about a young couple (Jon and Kate... uhhh...) and their 8 kids... living a pretty lower-upper-class lifestyle in the eastern USA... yeah, they have a Hummer and pretty nice house and clothes... so the $$$ ain't the issue for them... of course, the TLC thing is filmed like a reality show, and I'm sure Jon and Kate get a nice bit of $$ for the gig...

Anyway, the shows I saw were all about two young married people in total angst about their lives and their marriage... Kat e weeping and weeping, "I can't do this anymore..." but a constant "we are keeping it together for the kids" (and there are 8, so they must have had some marrital bliss along the way... )

... and in the last week of June, announced that they have filed for divorce... and TLC is trying to plumb the viewing public if their ratings would be high IF they continue to film the show during the break-up... or will there be a back-lash against TLC for being so shark-ish and continue to film, using the plight of the children to grab for ratings... I vote for shutting off the cameras...

ANYWAY, it made me wonder... what are the root problems with the JON & KATE situation???

Here's what I suspect... during the shows I saw, I viewed a very, very, VERY thin level of relationship outside their little bubble... no significant flow of family around them (they admittedly live away from their families, with the occasional and perfunctory visits annually), no strong social group around them (friendships are very neat and tidy and 'clink wine-glasses'... but not very real or involved)... no church or real faith-based group contact...

For my part, JON & KATE are about the real, 2009-ish couple that have 'everything'... and a totally isolated, non-community, sterile, modern-times nuclear family... and it's all melting down!!!

I'm not suggesting some quick solution to their terrible problem... it is heart-breaking.... but it seems to be a poster-child example of what the 'end result' of our Western culture is heading for... the 'nuclear family' idea of the New Mellinium leads to a smoldering heap of radio-active waste that is toxic to human life!!!

"It takes a village to raise a child" does not mean the American cul-de-sac of a million-dollar home and SUV, and nobody is really relating... or being all nice and PC and civil... but very, very fractured in reality

"It takes a village..." does not mean a quaint little church group that meets on Sunday, shakes hands, listens to some nice sermon and goes off, not to be all intertwined together the rest of the week...

Jon & Kate (and children) are the normal outcome of non-relationship culture.

I'd like to suggest that "It takes a village to raise a child" be grafted together with "We are all in this together" and the proverbial phrase of my fav TV show, "Live together, die alone".

Jon and Kate and kids... I'm praying for you to find a real community of peeps for you. Yes, it's all messy and there are tempers and bad dispositions... but "It takes a village, we are all in this together, and definitely, it's live together, die alone!"

Healthcare Debate 09, the Republicans and Frank Luntz

I'm Just Wondering... when the discerning American public will see through the crafty attempts of rhetoric to steer the Healthcare For All debate towards the master plan of the Republicans and the Healthcare Industry...

In the mid-90's, when the Clintons valiently forwarded an attempt (though faulted) to address the growing healthcare problem of "the rich stay healthy while the sick stay poor" (a quote from Bono, song 'God Part 2')... the Republicans and the Healthcare Industry came up with the burning phrase "socialized medicine" for the Democratic plan. Their polling showed that the term evoked the idea of Socialism in the minds of Americans, and the fear of the recent-fallen Spoviet Union fueled a repulsion of the Clinton attempts.

Move forward to 2009, nearly 14 years into the future. Healthcare in the United States is in a far worse position than the mid-90's, quality of care is decreased, helathy patient outcomes have diminished... while Americans are paying more for healthcare than ever before, the Healthcare industry profit margin is larger than ever before (forget investment banking or big oil...), and over 60 million Americans have NO or essentiall no healthcare access except public emergency rooms.

Yuck!

Enter the Obama Healthcare debate. Enter the Democratic attempts to place a "Public Option" for people who cannot afford the high premiums of the private insurance companies.

The initial volley by the Republicans, who are heavy contribution-recipients from the Healthcare industry, about Socialized Medicine... but with the Soviet threat a distant memory, and many of us read their playbook from the 90's ... well, the 'socialized medicine' sickle - and- hammer scare didn't work during the Presidential campaign of 2008.

Public Option are the words of the Dem leadership... and they are sticking to message. If you have your healthcare plan and you like it... keep it! If you have a doctor (or writ large, if you can AFFORD your own doctor!)... keep him or her!! BUT...If you don't have a plan, or can't afford the high premium, then a Public Option will be created.

(By the way, the ideas of Biblical Justice and responsibility should come into this conversation right about HERE....)

The Republican leadership, like Sen. McConnell and Sen Alexander, however are trying desperately to keep the 'Public Option' off the table... why? Because their contributors, the Healthcare Industry are trying to force legislation that requires ALL Americans to have health insurance, but it is all private, without a Public Option... meaning, they control the table and all the profit potential. Sen McConnell defends that this is sound economically, "let the market regulate the healthcare industry".

Guess he hasn't studied recent history, or is aware of the 60 milliion Americans with little to no healthcare access.

However, the Republican playbook for their message recently leaked. It is a paper written by a very smart word-smith and national message-crafter, Frank Luntz, called "The Language of Healthcare 2009".

David Welna of npr.org reported today on this playbook, and how the major Republicans are staying on-message, directly out of that document. Check out the Morning Edition text from 16 June.

Luntz did extensive market research with two key terms that he found made Americans cringe or repulse in the healthcare debate:

"Government Plan" and "Washington Takeover".

His playbook: use these terms, never let 'Public Option' stand up in the debate... and the Republican-Healthcare Industry will win, as they did in the mid 90's.

If you want to test the accuracy of this blog, just Google Senator McConnell or Senator Alexander, and look at the transcripts from their recent speeches or interviews about the healthcare bill. They are tripping over themselves to say "Govt Plan" and "Washington Takeover" at least three times in each sentence, and trying to get on every political show and Sunday morning "Meet the Press" they can to get their message out.

I am hoping that Americans will not be fooled by this rhetorical attempt to scare us.

Let the Republicans debate the facts and reality of modern healthcare, not play the 'good ole' boy' game and try to protect their vested campaign contributors.

cbaj

Biblical References in U2 Lyrics

I'm Just Wondering... how do they do it??

The good peeps from the huge U2 fansite "@ U2 dot com"... and good peeps they are, I got to know many of them during the Vertigo tour opener in San Diego... they have an over-the-top web page that has all the (found) Biblical references in U2 lyrics... including the latest album "No Line On The Horizon"

Here's the website:

www.atu2.com/lyrics/biblerefs.html

Enjoy!

(ps, the upcoming U2-360 tour, with it's 'in the round' center stage is going to be mind-numbing!)

Deconstructing the Harmful Society

I'm Just Wondering... when we will all appreciate the power of the 'fallen nature' that is inherent in Free Market economics?

A couple decades ago, I took a course in Biblical Economics from the philosopher and theologen John Peck from Brittian... one of the original fathers of the modern Christina movement in the UK... and he really fronted the case that free market economics is based in a non-Biblical assumption, and is inherently filled with the potential for evil.

He went on to lay out the economic structures that God built into the Old Testament Hebrew nation, all of which was to bring a Divine factor of grace and correction into play against free market economies. The kicker is the year of Jubilee, where every 50 years everything was given back...

OK... anybody notice all the things on the current political storefront? Big tobaccoo is about to be regulated by the FDA like Vicodin, USA HealthCare Inc is about to be choked away from huge profits on the broken backs of the sick and infirm, the massive industrial-military complex is going to be tied up and unable to play Jack Bauer-Rambo in their torture techniques, and the industries that had cushy 6-figure plans for putting 3 screws in a floorboard are going to find out that they can't make the same wages as brain surgeons. Then the oil industry had their wonderful last-minute sweetheart deal to drill on every lovely bit of American public land reversed and put on hold...

The 'Harmful Society' of the West has run out of credit, and the bill just arrived via a very large Gorilla who wants to collect - and re-arrange all the furniture at the same time.

The theme seems to be... sensible economics, as best as can be had in a fallen system. No, you can't sell cigarettes to kids. No, you can't make billions on the suffering of the sick and young children. No, you can't torture, even if that means your gov't contract goes away. No, you can't drill anywhere you want to make windfall profits. Hey, de-facto socialism in 6-figure incomes for whatever work you do (or don't do) cannot be sustained.

Time for across-the-board adjustment.

This is going to be painful.

The God Movie... ready or not... in-coming!!!

I'm Just Wondering.... how, in the middle of this current crisis of economics and deep personal struggle on the part of many in the West, how the apologists (ie, thought-defenders) in the Christian church will be able to effectively respond to this one...

It's a movie called THE GOD WHO WASN'T THERE. It is showing around the country in many of the 'art house' movie venues. It's sub-titled "a film that's beyond belief". It seems to be drawing a significant amount of viewers, and is now for sale in DVD, and will be widely distributed by Blockbuster and Netflix for rental and viewing.

No small deal.

It's getting a fair amount of attention by Time and Newsweek magazines. Newsweek said that it "irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed" and wrote that it will definitely bring up the church-vs-secular culture wars to a new notch.

I encourage you all to go to YouTube and type in the movie title, and watch the 2-and-a-half minute trailer. (I won't put the link here... it keeps bogging up my blog account)

SOOOO... looks like this rather articluate group of scholars and social scientists are saying that there have been many stories of Jesus-types who yes, born of a virgin, did miracles, was killed by execution, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven... all part of the 'Hero Myth' of the 100 AD timeframe. Oh, and that the Jesus of the Gospels didn't exist for real.

Wow!

I'm going to investigate more, so further comments pending... but this may be a better-formed attack than everybody in churches thought would come from the DaVinci Code a few years back...

One thought off the top... the apologists of today had better suit up for the back-and-forth debate without using or quoting the Bible as their key text... that book gets shot down and dis-regarded pretty early in most debates today, and most non-believers will dismiss everything you say that is 'chapter and verse' there...

That means the Living Christ, signs and wonders and vibrant "I talked to God today, so I know He is there" will have to come into the conversation...

cbaj

Facebook is like the Chatterbox Cafe on the Internet

I'm Just Wondering when the pundits and critics of social networks will realize that they are the digital equal of a local Cafe for our insane, crazy and fragmented world called The New Milennium.

For me, Facebook has been like Garrison Keeler's "Chatterbox Cafe" in Lake Wobegon.

I'm running into old friends and people I haven't heard from in years... ALL PRECIOUS AND MISSED... and hearing about the woes of rearing toddlers and cold, windy days and the sadness of family loss and economic struggles. I also hear the giggles and joy over a great chocolate ice cream dish, or the wonder discovered in a spring flower breaking through the ground.

Every day that passes, I realize the THE most important and precious thing on this planet are people... like in the movie Cosmos, "the only thing that makes the loneliness bearable is each other!"

Come join Facebook, pull up a chair and chat in!

Few Canadians to USA, many Americans to Mexico for Helathcare

I'm Just Wondering... how the arguments of the right-wing, mainly Republican, hugely pro-healthcare-for-profit business people hold up??

Take into account the banter about how the Canadian 'univeral health' system is (supposedly) such a failure, forcing hordes of Canadians to come to the USA to seek basic and necessary healthcare.

Well, a recent research article says that is all wrong.

Katz, S.J., Cardiff, K., Pascali, M. et al (2009). Phantoms in the snow: Canadians use of health care services in the United States. Health Affairs March 2009 (Published on-line). Retrieved at
http://content.healthaffairs.org

Their conclusion is the number of Canadians coming to the USA for healthcare is "only a handful, rather than hordes".

However, Dr Gwen Driscoll of UCLA (email at gdriscoll@ucla.edu) published that in the year 2001, 952,000 people from California (alone) went to Mexico to receive health care, due to the high cost of health care in the USA, or a total lack of health-care insurance or coverage. This was a study done for the California Health Interview Survey. (ed note: not sure when the data will be journal-published).

SO... no, a significant number of people are not coming from Canada for USA healthcare, but nearly a million Americans a year are going to Mexico for affordable health care.

The pro-healthcare business people are trying to make us all scared of Univeral Health because they stand to lose soooo much $$$$ from their profit margins.

cbaj

two ps:
<>I and my family have been received healthcare from Mexico now for 18 years, and you get better care for dimes on the dollar. Anyone who wants to argue with me can contact me directly and let's go at it...
<>The 'incidental' stories about Canadians coming to the USA for healthcare are usually related to people who want exotic or unproven treatments, usually at a huge expense to the government. Odd cancer drugs... unique surgeries... high-priced treatments for rare disorders that have not proven to work... and these people have the $$ to come to the US and seek it out.
The trip on that is that those people, for the most part, would also be rejected here in the United States from public programs for those exotic or unproven treatments.
To be fair, there are a few stories of people who had problems like chronic gall bladder issues, and didn't want to wait for surgery, so they came up with the $$ and paid for it privately...

The Home-going of Dr Ralph D Winter

I'm Just Wondering... how the gap left by the challenging brilliance of Dr Ralph Winter will be filled...

Dr Winter, one of my personal sources of inspiration and challenge as a missionary Christian, went HOME to Heaven on May 20th.

I know he has fought some tremendous health issues for years. Word is that he passed peacefully, with his family at his side

The US Center for World Missions ministry he built is mourning his loss, but rejoicing in his home-going.

Dr Winter was willing to put out there controversial and challenging ideas about our contemporary mission movement. He was willing to embrace the complexities and wade into the unpopular ideas that were outside the currently 'politically correct' church-ey way of framing and thinking things. My personal times with him were noting less than exciting; he was one of the few clear-thinking, world-class minds in the modern mission movement.

Dr Ralph, you will be missed.

Health as a right, Health for All... USA 2009

I'm Just Wondering... when the Elephant in the Room related to Health for All in the United States will finally be dealt with.

Paul Krugman, a long-time supporter of Universal Health, posted this bit from the Politico ( contrary-to-Universal Health group) today:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Quote
Politico:
Health care could soon go the way of the automobile, with users having no choice but to buy insurance coverage.
Within four years, every American could be required to own health insurance or pay their way through tax penalties. The odds of such a sea change rose last week when chief Democratic and Republican Senate negotiators on a health care bill acknowledged that many on the Finance Committee considered the so-called individual mandate essential to lower insurance costs for those who already have coverage.
…
President Barack Obama didn’t embrace the individual mandate during the campaign, which means he would essentially start from scratch in terms of selling the idea to voters.
The mandate was a central policy difference with Hillary Clinton, who argued that a mandate was the only way to achieve universal coverage. Obama disagreed, saying enough people would purchase insurance voluntarily if the costs could be brought down.
Progressive policy experts widely agreed that Obama’s plan would have left out about 15 million people. Clinton, with an assist from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, regularly assailed Obama for his no-mandate position. "

Krugman added,
"Actually, I don’t care who gets credit, as long as we actually get universal health care."

Now, my bit...
Universal Health Care is the only way to have a means for the poor and marginalized in the United States to get access to Health Care. The only way. Why?? Because Health Care is a huge, huge, elephant-in-the-room FOR PROFIT industry that makes trilliions of dollars every year for it's executives, owners and share-holders... doctors (yes, the AMA is nothing but a big investment-advocate group, not a medical society), hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, bioteck, medical suppliers... there is way more profit to be had in modern US healthcare than modern banking... That's why all the health-care 'stakeholders' ran to the White House last week, hoping to shore up their vested profit interest with President Obama and his move to have a Universal Health option for the poor... why??

Because these healthcare industry people stand to loose their million dollar bonuses and cushy profit margins... ahhhhh!!!

Here is one for everyone to chew on:
WHY NOT MAKE ALL HEALTH CARE NON-PROFIT BY LAW???

If you want to be a health-care provider corp in any way (see above list) in the USA under the new healthcare reform, you MUST be non-profit, especially if the agency (or corporation) receives one dollar of public monies to function... like HHS grants, Medicare payements, etc...

Watch the Elephant in the room get up and begin to bellow like a wounded T-Rex....

Bottom line, Mr Krugman, and Mr President... any semblence of for-profit health care in the USA is a conflict of interest... and the (THE) feature of healthcare in every other Developed nation is not that they have all these open clinics, but that any agency receiving public monies MUST be non-profit... THAT's how they make care available to everyone, and keep the costs within reason...

I know that if this gets injected into the conversation, somebody is going to take a bullet...

H5N1 + H1N1 could = ???

I'm Just Wondering... how things like Pandemics start...

Here was my morning email from Yale Infectious disease (top-notch scientists and doctors and researchers, maybe the best of the best)... and realize, these people are not alarmists... note the Moderators H5N1 + H1N1 comments, which are really science-speak for nightmare scenario...

AVIAN INFLUENZA (36): CHINA (QINGHAI), WILD BIRDS***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post<http://www.promedmail.org>ProMED-mail is a program of theInternational Society for Infectious Diseases<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Mon 18 May 2009Source: Huanqiu.com [trans. Rapp.AH, edited]<http://healthmap.org/ln.php?199052&u3439>

On 17 May 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture announced that the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory had confirmed avian influenza among migratory birds in Qinghai province. According to the briefing, the regional veterinary departments in Gahai found dead migratory birds on 8 May 2009. Specimens were collected and sent for testing. On 12 May 2009, the Qinghai Provincial Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center detected weak positive signals for highly pathogenic avian influenza using RT-PCR. On 17 May 2009, the birds were confirmed to be infected with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza by the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory. As of yesterday [17 May 2009], 121 wild birds had died.In response to the outbreak, access to the affected area was restricted for disinfection and culling of backyard poultry. All 121 dead wild birds and 600 culled poultry have been processed.At present, there has been no disruption of life. No outbreak among poultry has been found in Qinghai province.- --
Communicated by:HealthMap alerts via ProMED-mailRapporteur Angela Huang

[An official notification on the said outbreak has been sent to the OIE by Dr Zhang Zhongqui, Deputy Director General, China Animal Disease Control Centre, Veterinary Bureau, Beijing, PRC on 17 May 2009. According to the report, the measures to be applied are: "Vaccination in response to the outbreak."
See, with map, at <http://www.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=event_summary&reportid=8107>.

Information on the species involved in this so-called "migratory birds" event is anticipated. An extensive outbreak in wild geese and other wild birds was observed in Qinghai exactly 4 years ago, in May 2005. It was followed by an outbreak in neighboring Xinjiang autonomous region.Since the appearance of the novel A/H1N1 swine-related virus in the international arena in April 2009, the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has been put, unjustifiably but not surprisingly, somewhat outside the public spotlights. Simultaneous circulation of both viruses may lead to serious consequences, particularly in countries with considerable pig populations, in case co-infection of pigs with both viruses occur, potentially followed by virus reassortments. These may, if the worse scenario materializes, potentially combine the infectivity in humans of the novel H1N1 with the high pathogenicity of HPAI H5N1. China has the potential to be the site of such development, deserving close follow-up and effective, immediate control measures. - Mod.AS]

H1N1... testing, testing...

I'm Just Wondering when we are going to get serious about emerging infectious diseases.

H1N1 "swine flu 2009" was just a dry run for the really really nasty 'next one' coming... we got off very, very nicely with a flu that acts basically like the normal seasonal flu that kills ONLY 1 out of 1000 people that get it.... we found the genome quick, able to replicate it for vaccine, it stayed a STABLE virus (not always the case)...

So... what is the Church going to do in the face of an overwhelming pandemic disease in 2010 that has no vaccine, has no medicine to treat it, is highly infectious within the general public, and has a high mortality rate??? Is every "Bible - believing Christian" going to board up their houses and keep people away with a shot-gun security system??

As a healthcare worker, I am struck with the fact that (reportedly) half of the physicians that entered medical practice in the 1800's contracted Tuberculosis, many of these docs dying of the disease. I am struck by the history of foriegn missionaries who suffered a near-50% mortality within the first 5 years of foreign service, usually due to malaria, yellow fever, typhoid and dissentery.

More than the data, I am struck that so many people, knowing that reality, chose anyway to practice medicine and become foreign missionaries... they counted the cost, and followed Jesus into the place they were called by Him... fearless, it would seem...

Hmmmm....

Star Trek, Visions of the Future and $160 million

I'm Just Wondering... why it costs so much for us to examine ourselves?

The movie Star Trek came out last week, it is totally 10/10 movie for me (disclosure: I saw the first Star Trek episode broadcast, and have been hooked ever since). I have always loved how Star Trek was (and is) a platform for looking at our culture, race and relationships... as well as culture, war, racism, role of technology, etc...

Basic facts: the new movie Star Trek runs 126 minutes. The movie finally cost (as is being reported in the Hollywood blogs) $160 million dollars (Paramount reported initial budget of 120)... so, FYI, that is 1.269 million dollars PER MINUTE...

Think of that when the wierd scene takes place where the young Kirk is running across the screen on the ice planet...

SO... it takes 1.269 a minute to collectively do some self-examination and dream ourselves into a better future.

(Yeah, I know, Paramount will make a Billion on this movie in the next year...)

Anyway... bolding going where no one has gone before.... cbaj

Mexico's response to H1N1 flu

I'm Just Wondering ... how did Mexico really do in the emerging H1N1 crisis phase?

Important analysis article about this in the Economist today...

http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13610935&source=hptextfeature

I do know the Baja power-play/drama played out very strange, with denials by the Governor and the Secretary of Health that there were any (any!) cases of H1N1 in Baja, while the World Health Organiztion published on their website 3 days before the 4 comfirmed cases in Mexicali, and ProMed (Yale Infectious Disease) that cases were + in Tijuana... nothing happened from this wierd situation, the patients apparantly all recovered...

... but what about next time? What about a real regional emergency with higher stakes??

cbaj

Happy is a Yuppie Word, but...

I'm Just Wondering... what is it that is missing in our culture that makes us sooooo painfully looking for the exit....

Bob Dylan is creditied for answering the question to him, "Are you happy?" by answering "Happy is a yuppie word. It's either that you're blessed... or not..."

So this article turns up on Yahoo! today

"World's Happiest Places
A new report reveals where people feel most positive about their lives" at
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-27761674;_ylc=X3oDMTFzODRwOWZjBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjcxOTQ4MQRzZWMDZnAtdG9kYXltb2QEc2xrA2hhcHB5cGxhY2VzLTUtOS0wOQ--

says "Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands rated at the top of the list, ranking first, second and third, respectively. Outside Europe, New Zealand and Canada landed at Nos. 8 and 6, respectively. The United States did not crack the top 10. Switzerland placed seventh and Belgium placed tenth."

Then it had this kicker... quote

"According to a 2005 editorial, published in the British Medical Journal and written by Dr. Tony Delamothe, research done in Mexico, Ghana, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K. shows that individuals typically get richer during their lifetimes, but not happier. It is family, social and community networks that bring joy to one's life, according to Delamothe."

I'll have to check out this BMJ reserach, but... IT'S FAMILY, SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY NETWORKS that bring joy to one's life... hmmm, sounds like somethings that Jesus said about the Kingdom...

cbaj

Truth in tension versus Kumbaya... and the economy 09

9 May

I'm Just Wondering... when will we all be able to understand that the Universe is built on tension of opposing forces... it's not about Kumbaya and flowers gently floating down...

My physicis classes at the University were filled with the fundamental laws of Thermodynamics and the Forces of the Universe... and they all live in opposition to each other, but with relationship and repect can live IN the tension... matter of fact, without the strong attraction being opposed by strong repulsion at an elemental level, all matter (and that means anything that matters...) would either collape upon itself, or go flying apart...

The Framers of the United States Constitution NEVER envisioned bi-partisanshop... quite the opposite! Having two opposing discussions helps to find the political balance! Keeps us all honest and needing to entertain another idea.

The US economy has moved off the main radar screen of the media, but not the slow meltdown that the average American worker and family is experiencing... the 'econ crisis weariness' has set in, and only rosy economic news seems to be 'leaking' out...

I strongly suggest we keep an eye on a radical economic theorist... Paul Krugman... his blog is
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
Yes, he's a screaming liberal (admittedly), but we'd better think that maybe he has some things to say...

When I was younger, I thought like a child... that we should all hold hands and sing Kumbaya together.... now I understand that our differences and differing ideas may actually be a Gift to course-correct all of us... because all have fallen short of the Glory... especially me!

Baja Mexican Officials: Old (Bad) Mexico 2009

I'm Just Wondering... when the Baja Mexican officials and Church Leaders will wake up and figure out that the Old Bad Mexico won't work anymore.

The Governor of Baja Norte, Osuna and the Baja Norte Secretary of Health, Dr Bustamonte have both repeatly denied that there is H1N1 flu confirmed in Baja Norte. The CD and World Health both have (at least 2) positive confirmed lab tests from patients in Mexicali. Osuna and Bustamonte say the lab tests are wrong, and they have run those tests in their labs and found them to be negative.

Liars.

There is a very, very old Mexican authority problem. It is authority believing their power means "You will do what I say, and you will believe what I tell you, and you will not question any of it!!" Yes, it is not exclusively a Mexican problem.

However, my last 5 years of mission ministry has been dealing with this very issue in Mexican Church leadership, even when the facts are exploding in thier face.

It complicates the Latin ethic of saving face... first the facts the authority don't want to face, then their 'I am in charge her, so do what I tell you', then that all unravels... then they become more abusinve in an attempt to maintain control and save face...

This triggers my disgust for lies in Mexico. I have had to abondon working with 2 Mexican healthcare ministries in Baja because the chief (Mexican) doctor refused to admit to officials that a pastor was having sex with a nursing home resident, even when the facts were quite the opposite (like an STD) and he privately admitted it all to be true... "but I am in control, and if we remove the Pastor, the ministry will close down..."

Duh.

The thing about the truth... it eventually comes out, and the liars and cover-up artists look worse than if they just admitted to the truth. "Walk in the light" hasn't quite gotten into the DNA of many in authority inside and outside of the Church... now THAT would be a great virus for everyone to catch!!

Pandemic Preparation for the Church of America?

I'm Just Wondering... when (not if) the real, hugely fatal Pandemic finally hits the United States... what is going to happen to the Church??

How will the Evangelical and Protestant Church of America behave in the midst of a huge and highly fatal Pandemic-Infectious Disease?

Hmmmm....

A few years back, when the H5N1 ("Avian Influenza" Bird Flu) Pandemic Prep was beginning to emerge, I was part of an on-line Bulletin Board for Church leaders on this very topic. SARS hit, and that BB heated up for a few months... but it pretty much fell off into quietness.

However, along the way, there was a great amount of belief among the Christian Pastors there that their churches would become 'beacons of life and hope' in the middle of a Pandemic with high mortality... but a few of the Pastors were less than sure that their church would 'wade straight into the Pandemic', and that their congregations would become hugely self-survival focused and isolationist.

A previous post about the 90% 'pastors believe their Church is there to reach out', while the 90% of congregants surveyed believed 'their Church was their to meet their needs' comes to mind...

A book I'm starting back into is Charles Colsen's 'Against the Night', a treatise about the behaviour of the Church in the Dark Ages...

I'm Just Wondering how the American Church will respond... if the last 25+ years related to HIV/AIDS is any indicator, I think we're in for a wild ride...

cbaj

It Takes an Epidemic to Provoke Our Base Attitudes

I'm Just Wondering... how do people generally, and the Media specifically keep their racist and fear-mongering motivations under wraps in normal times??

The H1N1 Influenza Epidemic (soon to jump to full Pandemic Status officially) has done nothing but provoke two nasty sides of the human heart:

<> I'm hearing a great deal of racism towards Mexicans and Mexico for being the epicenter for the disease emergence... when the "Spanish Flu" of 1918 that killed 100 milliion people was wrongly named since it emerged in the United States (The Spanish got the distinction because they kept good data...). The virology of this virus means it could have 'jumped' anywhere to it's current form... matter of fact, the 'synchronicity' theory of viral emergence has re-surfaced to post that this H1N1 virus may have jumped to human-to-human transmisison silmultaneously in Mexico and a few other spots... there rarely is ONE jump spot...

<>I'm beginning to hear media outlets (sic: Channel 9 and 10 in San Diego) that, desperate for a 'scoop' have begun to dip into low-ball reporting and do everything they can to fear-monger and over-exagerate the H1N1 data for the day. There is some great media going on, like NBC national news and NPR radio... then there are the local bottom-feeders...

This H1N1 influenza will be significant, but in the range of a true Pandemic... just wait, we're actually due for a couple REAL nasty diseases... everybody needs to read Laurie Garrett's "The Coming Plague", which is a brilliantly-informed history of the last 100 years, and a portrait of why we are perfectly set up for a really significant, highly fatal Pandemic. This H1N1 ain't it; H5N1 may become one. My guess is the next one is brewing in the antibiotic-steriod soup that has become our US poultry industry.

cbaj

Mexico is a Developed country 2009... get it right!

I'm Just Wondering... when are American Christians, especially Californians, going to recognize that Mexico is truely a Developed country, and stop (stop, STOP!) believeing/acting/treating it as a "Third-World Poverty Country"...???

Hmmm???

OK, to start out with, just about everybody with any regard for working Internationally has declared that all the reference to "Third World" is very degrading, and is some big-dog attitude about "well, WE are the First world!" garbage... Dr Bryant Myers from World Vision, now Prof of Intl Studies at Fuller said at a lecture I attended last year that anybody who calls any country 'Third World" has shown how uninformed they really are, and probably shouldn't work internationally!

OK, here is the data source for my claim about Mexico: The United Nations

Visit: http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/

Better yet, download the data tables at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDI_2008_EN_Tables.pdf

The United Nations Development Project (UNDP) 2008 tables are solid, well-documented aggregate data from 2006. They are enormously dependable. Definitely, looking at the national Life Expectancy (average), it will give you a clue as to many aspects of the situation.

The "Human Development Index" (HDI) is a very well-positioned ranking of nations and their overall realities. There are 179 nations ranked in 2006.

The HDI breaks the nations up into "High Human Development", "Moderate" and "Low".

Iceland is at the top of the "High" list with Life expectancy of 81.6 yrs... the US is 15th with Life Expectancy of 78 yrs

The "Mod" list starts at 76 with Turkey being the 'top-mod' country, Life Expectancy 71.6.

The "Low" list starts at #154, with Nigeria being that 'top-low', Life Expectancy, 46.6 years.

The last 15 nations are considered in most literature the "least developed countries" or LDC's, and distinguished by very high mortality, disease burden and low Life Expectancy. The bottom of the list is Sierra Leone, 42. 1 yrs. Ouch.

OK, about this particular rant of mine... what about Mexico??

According to the UNDP and the HDI, in 2006, Mexico is ranked as a High Human Development nation, with a ranking of 51, and a Life Expectancy of 75.8 yrs.

In addition, a 91.7 % literacy level in the adult population, only 5% of the population with absolutely no access to drinkable water, only 5% children under weight (under age 5) and 17.6% of the population under tha national poverty line. Not bad.

If you peel into the UN reports deeper (as I have), you will find that the problem of such countries as Mexico is that a significant percent of the population lives remotely, and creates difficulty in providing development, public health and education. As well, the transition away from remote indigenous populations opposed to any kind education and public health interventions (they are getting old and dying off) are decreasing, and more schools and health centers are being located and accessed by the Mexican population in remote locations.

It always gets down to access and the economy of a country...

Yes, there are still problems in Mexico. Actually, looking at Bryant Myers writings and what he calls "Structures of Sin" will give great enlightenment to the real problems of Mexico. Alcoholism, spousal abuse, tobacco, drugs, sex trade, tribalism, machismo domination and violence... as well as narco-traffikking are keeping Mexico locked in some pretty nasty stuff.

Mexico needs the liberating Gospel of Jesus more than it needs non-Spanish speaking outreachers dropping off old clothes and bags of beans!

However... anybody who calls Mexico a "Third World Country" should never be in mission leadership (or be allowed to go on a Mexico trip, for that matter!) and any American Christian involved in any work in Mexico needs to start viewing the reality of Mexico as a High Human Development nation with a developed and stable level of an economy.

Final thought: why do so many Americans hold Mexico as "a Third World pit of Poverty" country??? My suspicion is that
[1] it's the only place they've been to outside of their region of the USA or Canada,
[2] they have no education or experience in understanding what they are seeing,
[3] Christian leadership in mission trips and the like also lack any skills in International relief/development, and really don't know what they are looking at either, and finally...

[4] it's something I'm currently writing a bit on: the difference between Perceived Disparity (what the visitor sees is significantly poorer than their home neighborhood) versus Total Poverty (a total lack of basic human resources of safe water, basic food, safe shelter, safe waste disposal, basic health services and educational opportunities). Many times the Christians see a significant Perceived Disparity and confuse it/believe it to be Total Poverty... when yes, the neighborhood they are in is poorer than their home experience is cozy San Diego or Ohio, but the people in that Mexican neighborhood with dirt roads have safe water, adequate food, relatively safe shelter, adequate waste disposal, kids go to school, there is a health center a Km away, and the people live to average Life Expectancy of 75.8 years in that neighborhood.

(But don't forget about the Structures of Sin... )

Cbaj

Pandemics: Swine Flu... or just swine-ness??

I'm Just Wondering...

The synchronicity of events is sometimes a bit wierd.

Today, the news broke a story of the "Swine Flu Variant" virus.

Yes, it's terrible. Over 600 cases with possibly 60 dead in Mexico City, many healthcare workers (my brothers and sisters!)... Mexico City health officials think the incidence (# people sick) may climb to 1500 by next week... here in San Diego, we are one of the US epicenters...

Track all this on a good site without Apocalyptic panic www.cdc.gov

Those of us who read Laurie Garrett's "The Coming Plauge" know this is not alarmist, but the normal emergence of a new disease in the 21st century. There will be many, many others to come.

However, the synchronicity comes with the release of a study this week from one SDSU professor (with another author from Texas) regarding how 'narcissism epidemic' has taken over the culture, particulary in women.

Read the 'brief' at : http://www.sdsuniverse.info/sdsuniverse/news.aspx?s=71137

Just wondering... which is worse?? cbaj

Santa Muerte and Jesus Malverde in Tijuana

I'm Just Wondering... and confused...

The Mexican Gov't (as reported in the San Diego Union Tribute, front page Sunday 05 April 09) is taking direct action against the devotional shrines towards 2 minor deities called "Santa Muerte" (saint of death) and Jesus Malverde. These worship shrines are set up by many people who pay homage to these two 'saints', but with a large following in the narco-traffic culture.

I see these shrines dotting the local roads and in many of the poor colonias of Tijuana and down in San Vicente...

The Tijuana police have been destroying these shrines (as the SD U-T reports), hoping to break the superstitious ethos of the drug trade...

Odd to me is the major outcry that the Catholic priests in Tijuana have raised over these shrines being destroyed...???

Another bit to consider that 88% of Mexicans claim to be Catholic, but only 46% attend Catholic services regularly...

The Hard Data for Mexico and Baja Norte... Protestants

I'm Just Wondering... about Mexican Protestantism and the advance of the Gospel in that country.

Here is the hard data, with source citations:

Basically, the Mexican 200 Census reports that 9.9% of the population are Protestants overall, and that in Baja California Norte, the percentage is 5.6%

The main data site, which was established in April 2006 by the Mexican Gov’t reports a great deal of different data than I had in my little notebook from previous Mexican government info.

Here it is:
http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mrel08&s=est&c=2589
Here are the big numbers (some obtained from other parts of the main site www.inegi.org/mx :
(important to knote that my calculations are taken from the raw data: how the www site came up with some of their stated % stats is beyond me…)
Total Mexican Population, 2005 Census 103,263,388
Total Mexican Protestants, 2000 Census 4 408 159
Calculated Percentage: 9.9 % (see note 1)
Total Population Baja Norte, 2005 Census 2,844,469
Total Baja Norte Protestants, 2000 158, 874
Calculated Percentage: 5.6 % (see note 2)

Commentary: Yes, there is a mixing of the 2005 and the 2000 census numbers. This is because the Mexican Government does census on general population every 5 years, but the demographics of religion are only done every 10 years.

Note 1: The percentage of Protestants to Population may be higher 2000-2005, but not less.
Note 2: The percentage mix of Protestants to Baja Population may have also shifted 2000-2005, but probably not less.
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Catholics
The Mexican gov’t site reports Catholics (people stating they were Catholics) as 88% of the total Population in 2000
http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/sistemas/cgpv2000/religion/rel01.asp?s=est&c=11938

However, in another section, they break out that only 46% of those who stated they were Catholic attend weekly Catholic services.

<><>
On the Catholic statistic, the other 42% may, as Patrick Johnstone infers in "Operation World" be reflective of 'cultural Catholics' who will respond "I am Catholic" in the Census, but only attend a church service on Christmas, baptisms, 15th birthdays, weddings and funerals...

Thanks for keeping me honest...

20 Apr

I rec'd an email from a very astute friend, asking some questions about my numbers on Mexican Protestants.

I went to my books, then did some internet searching... guess what! A new Mex Gov't site had totally different numbers...

Anyway, I will err on the side of published data and go with their numbers... so the previous blogs were edited to reflect these numbers.

I humbly apologise if I misled anyone with previous numbers... I'll work harder in the future, and appreciate people 'holding my feet to the fire'...

CBaj

Bono gets it right:NYTimes Op-Ed

I'm Just Wondering... if anyone has thought of the bigger 'spiritual' implicaitons of our societal economic crisis besides "it's all gonna burn!" and "a man reaps what he sews..."

Bono has, and it was his Easter New York Times Op-Ed

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19bono.html?_r=2

Aptly named: It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?

A really good read... better the third time. Be sure and catch his self-description of repentance in a French church.

Chris

Something Wonderful about Susan Boyle

I'm Just Wondering... is it cheering for the 'common, non-glam underdog'... or to watch Simon eat his shoe??

Susan Boyle Singer Britain Got Talent BGT - AGT 2009 Episode - Saturday 11th April

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow-1Xl5Ttu0&feature=rec-HM-rn

Great, great stuff! Watch it at least twice... listen to the lyrics of her choice from Le Miserables

Missionaries Still Need Mission Health Training 2009

I'm Just Wondering....

...why, over the last 7 years, I have met nothing but a stone wall with mission leaders and mission pastors regarding their missionaries... both short-term and long-term... to take a little time and recieve training, especially preventative, in the sub-speciality of Missionary Health for themselves... ??

These leaders have pretty much blown me off, citing either theological "God will protect them/us" stuff (which is not supported by the fact that half of the field missionarues in the 1800's died of Malaria, Cholera or Yellow Fever... which is hugely preventable now), or that 'we'll just deal with any illnesses IF they happen"... assuming they will be mild little problems that a week of antibiotics will take care of... also writ large in that is "we don't have time/money to do all that stupid health stuff... so stop bothering me..."

I get that alot.

Case To Point of why this is a bad idea: Center for Disease Control (CDC) Report 16 Apr 09

I just recieved my weekly CDC update.

Here is the ABSTRACT: "CDC received reports of 1,505 cases of malaria among persons in the United States, including one transfusion-related case and one fatal case, with onset of symptoms in 2007. The highest estimated relative case rates of malaria among travelers occurred among those returning from West Africa. Of 701 U.S. civilians who acquired malaria abroad, 441 (62.9%) reported that they had not followed an appropriate chemoprophylactic drug regimen. Persons at risk for malaria infection should take one of the recommended chemoprophylaxis regimens appropriate for the region of travel and use personal protection measures to prevent mosquito bites."

(Reference:
http://www.cdc.gov:80/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5802a1.htm?s_cid=ss5802a1_e

April 17, 2009 / 58(SS02);1-16
Malaria Surveillance --- United States, 2007
Sonja Mali, MPH Stefanie Steele, RN, MPH Laurence Slutsker, MD, MPH Paul M. Arguin, MD )

COMMENTARY: Malaria is a horrible disease to contract. Even when you take the pills, you can still get a minor case with lesser long-term problems... but Malaria kills 9 million people every year in the world... including missionaries. I have had 3 cases of returning missionaries in my practice who didn't take the meds or do the 'don't get bit!" stuff, and they got cerebral malaria and still can't walk a straight line and have all kinds of health issues, many years later...

Seeing the CDC data, and the "441 (62.9%) reported that they had not followed an appropriate chemoprophylactic drug regimen"... I'm Just Wondering how many of that reported number of Americans who contracted Malaria in West Africa were pastors or missionaries who didn't take the meds because "God will protect us" or "we'll just deal with it if it happens" or "I ain't got time/money"...?

CLOSING: I have posted on my website www.bajmission.com a couple of general pages of missionary health stuff, mainly prevention... and prevention of the stuff that can kill you or really goof up your life for a long time. It's free of charge... I hope more people read it and do something about it!! And yes, I am still hoping to do seminar and training sessions for missionaries so the Stay Healthy on their Mission Trips... cbaj

Baja Mexico 5.6% Evangelical: Mexico 9.9%... why??

I'm Just Wondering... why Baja Mexico is only reporting at 5.6% Evangelical Christians, while the overall Mexican naitonal average, as reported by the Mexican gov't in 2000 was 9.9%

A good Mexican pastor friend of mine brought this to my attention a few years ago... then posed the really obvious thing: why is Baja less than the national Mexican average, when Baja Mexico is one of the most-visited and possibly largest recipient of short-term mission outreachers, donations and projects... in the world ???

Baja Norte... the Mexican state with a population 2.8 million Mexicans... being the most visited (estimated 700,000 short-term outreach visitors per year), receiving tons of donations (sooo many San Diego based ministries bringing truckloads of donated food, clothing , blankets, household supplies... estimated to be around $20 million worth in 2005... mainly because of proximity to the US border...) and projects (estimated that there were over 2,000 houses built by various groups from the US and Canada in Baja in 2005).... and most (not all) the groups are faith-based that do all this outreaching, donating and projects (every church I know of in San Diego claims to have some ministry arm in Tijuana, the largest city in Baja)...

His point was that intuition would say that Baja, with all the above being true... Baja should have a HIGHER percentage of Christians from all that outreach effort than the Mexican national average... at least the same.... certainly not less...

But there it is... 5.6%!

(By the way, actual practicing Catholics run about 40% in Baja, a stat that has remained constant for about 20 years... practicing means they attend church every week).

I'll leave this installment at this point... do visit my previous blogs about my hopes for the church of Latin America and Mexico...

I'm Just Wondering... what in the world is going on that screams out "only 5.6%"...??? cbaj

(Editors note: This blog was updated on 20 Apr because I had better numbers from the Mexicna govt... the short-term outreach numbers came from a working group I was a part of, consisting of Protestant missionaries who live and work in Baja,... based on a number of data points gathered from the internet, local news... also, important to note that not all short-term work in Baja comes from faith-based groups; Habitat for Humanity builds a 100+ houses in TJ every year, the Rotary has a pretty active housebuilding and dispensary program... and of course the Catholic outreach programs are quite huge in Tijuana... CBaj)

$$ and Decreased Short-Term Missions 2009 Part 2

Part 2: A Better Future

Hello! In part 1 of this 2-part blog, I've asked questions about short-term outreach business in the grips of the economic crisis.

I ended Part 1 with the following question: SO, what will happen to the work of the Lord and the National Church in the countries that see a drop in short-term missionaries from the USA???

ANSWER: Not sure, but there is the massive potential for a better future of the National Churches and the work of God in all the countries of the world.

Background: 15% on average

Here's the background. In the Latin block, which includes Mexico... from the US-Mex border to the tip of Argentina in South America... the data indicates that each Latin country has around 10-20% of it's population reporting to be Evangelical Christians... average of 15%

The Mexican government is reporting an overall 9.9% Protestant population (be careful when you visit their website, the math is confusing... I calculated off the raw data numbers)

WHHHHAT? You say! Yes, toss all that stuff about 'Mexico is 99% Catholic'... Mexican Govt, 2000 says the Catholic % is 88%, but that only 46% attend Catholic services regularly... most people believe that 'cultural Catholicism' accounts for the other 42%, meaning they think they are Catholic, even though they only attend Christmas, 15th birthdays, weddings and funerals...

The rise of the middle class in Latin America has corresponded directly with the rise of a significant percentage of Evangelical Christians. Some countries run average 12-15%, while others run 22-25%. Romine Ministries reports Guatemala at 22%, the Assemblies report Nicaragua at 18%. In Mexico, some regions run 14% (Chiapas and Tobasco), while other areas run less (Baja Norte/Tijuana: 5.6% ). These statistics are actually, in many cases hard governmental census data, such as the Mexican numbers.

In Mexico, the politics of the country has made a significant outreach to the Evangelical voting block, and the current Mexican President, Filipe Caldaron is a declared Evangelical.

OK... so basically 1 out of every 5-10 Latinos are Evangelicals. 10-20%.

The Better Future

Here's my idea: let the economic crisis keep the short-term missionaries home. It's time the 15% Latin Evangelicals get out of their nice chairs and begin to do the China thing.

What's the China thing? Well, communist China is closed to short-term missionary efforts. The vibrant Chinese church has gone totally ballistic in reaching out to people for the Kingdom. More people become Christians every day in China than all the other places on earth combined ... and the evangelism is 99% done by Chinese Christians.

Maybe a closed China is the best thing.

Maybe a Latin America unvisited-by-Western-short-term would also be a great thing.

SO... here I am, hoping that the Latin Evangelicals will get up out of their chairs, see that the Americans are not coming any more, and hear the still, small Voice of God that it's now their time to set aside their dependant-on-American ways... and RISE UP within their own countries and cities!!!

This could be a glorious and better future... a Latin church that is walking in responsibility, having seen that taking such responsibility and action gets quite the backing of GOD on their behalf... a strong and healthy and effective Latin church for Latin America.

My greatest hope is that, in a decade, the Latin leaders will invite us all over for burritos and show us how they did it.

That, in my view is a better... and more Biblical... future for Latin America.

(note: this blog updated 20 April becuase I had goofed the numbers previously... for the Mexican Gov't numbers, go to
http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mrel08&s=est&c=2589

... I apologise for trusting old data notes, when the Mex gov't has revised their numbers to be more accurate)

King Canute and the commanding of the tide

Ever hear of the story of King canute?

I personally dig the discovery of something that everybody thought they had figured out...

This comes from Reg Connolly and the NLP Institute (Neuro-Linguistic Programming Institute, http://www.pe2000.com/canute)

Well, the popular story of King Canute is that he placed his throne on the beach so that he could sit and command the tides not to come in. As the story goes, yes, the tides came in and the good King was sitting with water swirling around his ankles and his chair in the surf.

It is usually quoted as an example of trying to do things that are absolutely impossible in a real world, and the foolish people who try them.

Well, Connolly has found the bit usually cited is not the whole story…

First, the King was real. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Canute

Cnut the Great, also known as Canute or Knut (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki;[1]died 12 November 1035) was a Viking king of England, Denmark and Norway.

The full story is that King Canute had a very demanding and cantankerous bunch in his Kingdom. He was always being taken to task by the people in his kingdom for not doing enough, or not accomplishing what (the people thought) should be done.

(Of course, it’s always easy to push somebody to the place of responsibility… in politics, academia, ecclesia… put them up on the pedestal… then go find your pistols…)

So, this wise King put his throne out on the beach and commanded the tide to not come in. When the tide came in, as he expected it would, he used it to teach his people that even the king was not omnipotent and all-powerful to make anything happen…

Wikipedia has more to say:
Henry of Huntingdon, the 12th-century chronicler, tells how Cnut set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes; but the tide failed to stop. According to Henry, Cnut leapt backwards and said "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws." He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again.[79]
This story may be apocryphal. While the contemporary Encomium Emmae has no mention of it, it would seem that so pious a dedication might have been recorded there, since the same source gives an "eye-witness account of his lavish gifts to the monasteries and poor of St Omer when on the way to Rome, and of the tears and breast-beating which accompanied them".[80] Goscelin, writing later in the 11th century, instead has Cnut place his crown on a crucifix at Winchester one Easter, with no mention of the sea, and 'with the explanation that the king of kings was more worthy of it than he'.[81] However there may be a "basis of fact, in a planned act of piety" behind this story, and Henry of Huntingdon cites it as an example of the king's "nobleness and greatness of mind".[82] Later historians repeated the story, most of them adjusting it to have Cnut more clearly aware that the tides would not obey him, and staging the scene to rebuke the flattery of his courtiers; and there are earlier Celtic parallels in stories of men who commanded the tides, namely Saint Illtud, Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, and Tuirbe, of Tuirbe's Strand, in Brittany.[83]
The encounter with the waves is said to have taken place at Bosham in West Sussex, or Southampton in Hampshire.
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King Canute… may we all capture the meaning of true humility seasoned with reality!!!

$$ and Decreased Short-Term Missions 2009... Part 1

09 Apr 09

I'm Just Wondering... again...

Will the economic crunch of 2008-2010 (and that's a short prediction of duration, according to everybody!) result in a significant decrease in short-term missions???

Part 1: Yes, the numbers appear to be dropping

For me, there are three 'mission areas' that I am always watching... domestic (ie, never leave the borders of the continential USA), Mexico/Latin American block, and the 'rest of the world'.

Why those three? I think the 'proximity of desination and ease of travel' have alot to do with it (versus the usual bluster about a Divine call to go somewhere and be with some peeps there...)

Well, data from Mission Makers Magazine 2009 (p19) , which is a pretty well-put-together trade paper for the short-term mission trip business... well, it says in recent years (read: before the Econ $$ Implosion of 2008), that 1/3 of all short-term misisons went to 'domestic' sites (like Katrina relief), 1/3 to Mexico (mainly Mexico) and the Latin block, and the other 1/3 around the world.

What of post-economic crash numbers?

It may be too early to tell, but preliminary reports for the current 2009 spring-break short-term mission season... which is only dwarfed in market share by the summer break short-term mission blitz to come... are that bookings and travel by groups internationally, including Mexico and the Latin block... are way, way down for 2009.

This could be interesting to watch. In the last financial crunch of the mid-90's, so many groups cancelled their international trips and suddenly changed their plans, 'feeling called to go to Mexico instead'... once again, proximity seems to be a big bit of Divine discernment in hard $$ times...

Definitely, the mission travel to Tijuana and Baja Norte, Mexico are super-way down, mainly out of fear of the drug war violence here (which is very, very real and heart-breaking), and the US State Dept posting a "danger, Will Robinson (robot arms flailing at this point...)" on their website. Not bad advice: Tijuana is a dangerous place right now... not for the run-of-the-mill short-term outreacher...

Regarding the Short Term Misisons and the Econ $$ Crash of 2008... My prediction IS....

I predict the short-term numbers to drop way out in the next 18 months. My estimation: > 50%... over half of the groups or people who may have been going (and previously predicted to go, based on the ever-increasing trend) on a short-term missions trip internationally will choose to go locally or stay domestically... Katrina, rebuild the flooded towns from the river swellings, etc... Local soup kitchens may actually get some much-needed help from the church down the street...

SO, what will happen to the work of the Lord and the National Church in the countries that see a drop in short-term missionaries from the USA???

That will be Part 2....

cbaj

Short term missions encouraging long-term missions???

I'm Just Wondering...

Does short term mission participation encourage long-term mission service???

This is an important questin to peel apart, because soooo many pastors and short-term mission agencies put out as intuitively true that short-term mission involvement will spark long-term mission committment.

In other words, the hypothesis of Christian leaders is that short-term mission involvement will result in persons making long-term mission committments.

This means that an increase in the number of people involved in short-term missions should correspond with an increase in persons serving in long-term mission positions.

This data analysis tried to look hard at international-only situations: "domestic missionaries" (people calling themselves missionaries while working and living in the West and working in the West were considered as domestic church workers and not international missionaries).

I decided to peel apart the data on this question.

First, is there data? Yes. Tons.

Why data? Well, any intuitive assumption, regardless of theology, should be able to hold up to scrutiny.

("Reality is what's left over after you stop believing..." Philip K Dick, sci-fi author)

The Journal of Christian Nursing will be publishing a data-driven article I wrote about short-term health care missions. I looked at short-term missions by the numbers.

They didn't look so good.

Here's the data:

Short-term mission involvement (mostly defined as activity of less than 30 days in country) went from
540 participants in 1965
120,000 participants in 1989
>500,000 participants in 1998
2,500,000 participants in 2003
2,800,00 participants in 2005 (estimated)

(Sources: Loobie, 2000; Honig, 2005)

Meanwhile, during the period of 1988 to 2005, the number of full-time, internationally-serving missionaries from the West decreased from 65,000 persons to 35,000... a 47% reduction over the same time-period.

(Source: Lucas, Sterns & Sterns, 2006)

Analysis of the data:
120,000 short-term participants in 1989 compared to 65,000 full-time international missionaries in 1988 means a 1.8 to 1 ratio of short-term to full-time.

2,800,00 short-term participants in 2005 (estimated) compared to 35,000 full-time international missionaries in 2005 means a 80 to 1 ratio of short-term to full-time.

Analysis of the hypothesis that "short term mission participation encourages long-term mission service" is not, in any way supported by the data or statistical facts.

Actually, these are opposing curves of information: Short-term is exponentially increasing, while full-time missionary service is on a clear linear decline. The group comparison ratios are strongly disparate.

Summary: "Short term mission participation encourage long-term mission service", by any measurable trends or data is NOT generally true.

Discussion: Yes, I have been personally involved in a three cases where the person considering full-time work did go out on a short-term trip to 'try it on'... but they went already primed for mission service, and the short-term trip was a further step towards those pre-trip intentions.

I have not personally seen somebody NOT interested in missions go on a short-term trip and find themselves serving full-time at a later time.

Reflecting on the classic mission writers of the 1800's, where there was no such thinkg as 'short-term', the missionaries produced on a 'sight-unseen' basis seems to have a different preparational dynamic. I'd love to know Willima Carey's take on this data and the 'short-term paradigm'.

Closing: Ouch! It hurts when something we assume does not hold up to scrutiny. I would like to hold that God is a God of reality, not assumption. Francis Schaeffer, when I heard him speak in the 1970's, said "all truth is God's truth, and we need not be afraid of the truth".

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The article to be published in the Journal of Christian Nursing Summer 2009 issue is titled
"Evaluating short-term missions: How can we improve?" by Christopher Bajkiewicz.
I'll post when it's out. Sorry, because of copyright agreements I signed, I can't post a version of the article.

CompassionArt

Just tripped into a great worship+social justice project

CompassionArt

Martin Smith from Delirious? brought a couple dozen major worship songwriter-leader type peeps together in Scotland on this theme... and the first CompassionArt recording just came out.

The artists are a 'who's who' of modern worship recordings...

Besides some amazing music, the theme of God's concern for the poor and social justice is a major arch.

They are also trying to launch it as a long-term project

visit compassionart.tv for more info

What is the purpose of the Church... pastors vs congregants

I'm Just Wondering....

Within the modern American church...regarding the concept of "What is the Purpose of the Church"

Here's the thing I tripped into... the article didn't quote the hard source, so I'll take this one with a grain of salt... but it feels pretty close to my experience...
(if anybody has the source.... chris@bajmission.com please)

There were 100 pastors and 100 congregants in various areas of America asked the question,
"What is the purpose of the Church?"

Over 90% of the pastors said that the purpose of the church was to preach the Gospel, proclaim Christ to the world, and for the members of the church to reach out and give to those in need.

On the other hand, reportedly over 90% of the congregants asked the same question responded that the purpose of the church is to meet their spiritual needs, provide a place for their families and children to come together, and to help them meet their need for fellowship and material security.

I'm just wondering... what do we do with this complete disconnnect???

Crisbaj

Where Are They?? Blurb #1 Are they hiding amongst us??

OK... I'm Just Wondering...

all those people that Jesus healed in the New Testament... all those blind and deaf and leprosy victims and lame that the living, breathing Jesus touched and healed while He was living here on the planet... exactly as recorded in the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John...

where are they now??

This question... well, is driving me a bit buggy. WHERE ARE THEY???

This is not a trick question.

This bit of a Blog is going to span over a great distance of time and words. I'm kicking around writing a new book on this one. This is the first blurb.

Where are they? Are they all alive, hiding in a cave somewhere in the Middle East? Are they dispersed among the peoples of the world, walking around Caracas and Cairo and Mumbay and New York city? Are they ducking around, trying to stay 'under the radar' and not be found out by the 'fountain of youth' seekers?? Are they conducting themselves as a secretive society, meeting in caves and hidden locations??

Are the 'healed of Jesus in 25 AD' hiding amongst us... ???

This is not a nutty question... I mean, they were actually touched and healed by Jesus directly... no?? Their healings and restorations are documented in the Scriptures!

Imagine that... actually touched by Jesus! Their healing must mean something special.... no??

What about Lazarus? He was peeled away from the grave... raised from the dead! Is he now living in Berlin or Moscow or Lagos, running some top-secret world-wide network of 'the healed'?? Has he outlived a couple dozen wives, hiding his identity of the real Lazarus raised from the dead by Jesus of Nazareth??

Yeah, this sounds a bit like some sci-fi, X-Files-Lost-Fringe insanity. Something for some wild hollywood (or Baliwood?) crew to be shooting...

Why am I wondering about this?? OK, if you think about this... it means alot to the topic of Divine Healing, and the whole stew-mess we currently have in and out of the Church regarding the Ways of God in Healing...

Insane for now... will make perfect sense in a dozen Blogs form now...

Next Blog : The questions of today are not "can God heal?" or "does God heal?", but... !!

When the Saints go home... why all the sour grapes?

24 Feb

I'm Just Wondering...

why, when a true saint of God, who has lived their life in the hope of Heaven and the reality of the Kingdom and looking forward to the end-point of this life... to see the veil peel away and finally see Jesus face-to-face... why, when that saint's body gives out on this planet and they die...

why do so many self-proclaimed 'Christians' still here on the planet turn into sour grapes over that 'home-going'?

OK... in the past year, I have expereinced a couple of 'home-goings' of friends and acquaintences... they died... but I knew them pretty well, and I am nothing but confident that they are now dancing in the Presence...

These are not in isolation.

... meanwhile, their spouses and kids and friends act like God murdered their loved one, and how dare He do such a hateful thing??? The say "oh, yes, he's with the Lord"... but their entire life is all sour grapes, they scowl and moap, they go on and on about "I don't understand..."

I'm just wondering... why has the Church produced a crop of sour grape people who have no joy in the home-going of a loved one??? If living here is a preparation to live with God forever, and somebody lives like that... wow!

In my line of work, which is health care, the really bad way that MOST 'Christians' act over critical illness and death in the life of a spouse, parent or family member... well, most doctors and nurses are pretty convinced that Christians don't really believe in God by the way they behave, by the venom and 'you killed my dad, GOD!' attitude that they actually play out... terrible wittness...

I'm Just Wondering if pastors and leaders need to take a different tack with the people we lead... somehow, the current way our congregants see sickness and death is not Biblical, healthy or drawing those far from God towards Him...

Chris

U2 - No Line On The Horizon... how do they do it?

I'm Just Wondering...

U2... been making music together since 1977... and now they release the new work

No Line On The Horizon...

Well, you can't buy it until 03 March, but being a long-standing member of the U2 Universe, I am sitting here on 24 Feb listening it streamed on U2.com...

How do they do it??? This is way too cool of a record. Totally off the track from their last 2 records... Pop meets Unforgettable Fire and car-crashes into Yellow Submarine... lush, huge in the headphones, complex, deceptively structured (this is going to take a year to figure out all the underlying rhythms and guitar parts)... "Magnificent" is a total worship tune... there's electronica, funk, garage-band rock...

Yeah, I'm a fan... but why not??? Long live Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry!!

Chris

I'm Just Wondering opener 05Feb09

Opener 5 Feb 09

Well... I've been pining to have an avenue to post some random thoughts and stuff as I trip through a very complicated world now swirling in chaos and confusion.

The New Mellennium has turned into the Great Global Crash... hear we go!

The purpose of "I'm Just Wondering" is not to rant or rave or attack... but to wonder "why we do what we are doing?"... to probe areas of assumption and praxis that may have become "the way it's done" without analysis or discussion of the results and outcomes...

It will look at missions, ministry, music, worship, world affairs, church and the people who call themselves as "Christian".

I'm Just Wondering will strive to ask uncomfortable questions that may not currently have answers.

A few years ago, while on a 'what to do with my life' prayer retreat, I was heavily struck by the following verse:

Isaiah 55

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.

Check out verse 2... spending our resources (time, talent and treasure.. and Jack Hayford would say...) on things that do not satisfy... satisfy what? Our real, fundamental needs. The real and fundamental needs of others. Not wants or selfish, sinful desires. Oxygen, protein, light and water.

This blog will be looking for a City... as Hebrews Ch 11 V10 says,
10 ...looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

your pesky traveling companion,
crisbaj

chris@bajmission.com