Browsing all posts in "Muse".
Helpless
Water flows out of the well and onto the dusty hands of 50 or so laughing school children who crowd in to get a drink during a break between classes. The school is a cinder-block shell along a sandy road deep in the bush of southern Mozambique and the very fact that it exists at [...]
Selling Out
In lieu of my last rant let me tell you about a couple people I met just this last week that inspired me. The first is a college guy by the name of Chris who loves music and is a serious guitar player. Chris started feeling convicted about doing something to address poverty and so he went out and sold three of his four guitars, as well as some other stuff. He told me it wasn’t easy to let go of some of his highly prized instruments but he felt like it was important to serve the needs of the poor and that he could slim down his lifestyle.
Purchase with… Prudence
If you haven’t been in on the latest trends in charity PR moves of the last 5 years, you may have missed out on “Product (Red)” and other similar concepts. (Red) products are an attempt to get our consumer-driven society to aid impoverished nations without actually having to sacrifice our consumeristic lifestyle. The basic premise [...]
Of Course…
Late last year when traveling through a village in central Kenya Jena and I came across a 4-year old orphan girl suffering from club foot syndrome. For those of you not familiar with club foot, it is a birth defect that affects the feet, typically causing the feet to turn inwards and sideways. It’s a [...]
A Recipe for Sunday Traditions
Growing up in my house, we had very few traditions; we were a transient family with few roots and somehow traditions seem to require roots before sprouting leaves and maturing into anything permanent and steadfast. However, in the hazy recollection of my childhood memories, there stands the petrified remains of a few bygone traditions which [...]
Communities of Hope
The following is a post from the Blood:Water Mission blog which I wrote while in Africa this past May: I’m in Africa. It’s been 9 years since I last set foot on this continent and I must confess that I have missed it greatly. There is a certain rhythm that pulses through this continent; a [...]
A Tribute To My Father
My dad just turned 60 this year. He’s an amazing man for whom I wrote the following: I was 14 and my brother was 11. Collectively, we had trouble tipping the scales at 140 pounds. At 30 feet long and 24 inches in diameter, the tree trunk we were trying to rotate out-weighed us by [...]
Veil Thom Summary
Transforming Rural Communities in CambodiaThrough Community Development In 2004, my family moved to Cambodia where we were involved in community development work in rural communities in eastern and southern provinces. This is the story of our primary community and how they changed over the two years that we were there. Among third world communities, the [...]
Mundane Routine
Swirling the last dregs of my ritual morning brew, I sit at my desk and ponder some of the more difficult issues I face as a development professional in Cambodia… Is it better to risk cancer and use Equal or suck up the calories and use regular sugar? Should I brave non-dairy creamer’s link to [...]
Seven Loaves and a Few Fish
Pastor Savon: Lay pastor for a small Cambodian church Education: none Theological Degree: none Background: Buddhist monk, 8 years; government foot soldier, 2 years; Location: Isolated rural community in the jungles of Southwest Cambodia Population: 350 families; 1700 people Demographics: 80% of men are ex-communist soldiers 70% of families have an amputee victim. Religion: 96% [...]
