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iranian food, iranian friend.
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bible study.
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honey wallah cum mobile phone thief.
Yesterday, Julie and I had one of our favorite visitors – the local honey wallah. The young man in the video comes every three or so months to our neighborhood to extract honey from one of the dozens of hives drooping from building overhangs. Our quest for pure, unadulterated, local-as-possible honey landed us in our own block. It is amazing. And dirt cheap. This cache is part of 110 pounds of honey from one comb. Since a pound of honey demands visits to two million flowers, that’s quite an accomplishment. We bought 31 pounds for $40. Our neighbor has been buying from this man for a decade. Our knowledge of…
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where religion is politics.
Our family spent Good Friday morning at the botanical gardens. On our arrival we met a festival with food, music, and performances. Religions compete for calender space, and it is not uncommon to see Hindu festivals on Christian holy days. Top state officials flanked the mayor to do puja (worship) together at a Hindu temple atop a rocky hill to celebrate the founding of our city. It was fascinating to watch several rituals – giving offerings, taking sweets, releasing balloons, lighting a torch. I was trying to imagine Congress taking communion together in the U.S. You’ll notice from the grainy i-phone pics below I pushed my way front and center…
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laptops.
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rock climbing.
A group of us struck out west of the city for some rock climbing. Two of my American friends are very experienced and have their own gear. But this was my first time (besides a couple trips to an inside wall). I had a blast and hope to go again soon. Our new friends gave plenty of climbing advice from down below. I finally realized that when they were shouting, “there’s a massive ledge by your right knee,” they meant, ‘there’s a an invisible spot the size of a dime to balance your pinky toe on.’ After a few goes at the bunny slope I was ready for the big…
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discipling pastors.
An army of 118 national church planters in our denomination are laboring in cities or remote villages spanning four states and five languages (here’s a clip of me preaching in four). For these men, some new to the faith, few with any formal theological training, a robust, flexible, mobile, contextual discipleship effort is needed. Our goal is to launch healthy, sustainable, multiplying churches in the least reached corners of the country. It is an enormous task. This past week I spent several days between three groups of pastors, preaching, teaching, and discussing church planting. During these times I get to hear incredible stories from the front lines where the gospel…
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a year of reading.
2011 kicked off my first reading journal. I hope from now on to write down every book I read, every year, and a few lines about it. It’s been fascinating to look back over the year and see what books I read. It says a lot about me. I read fifty-six books last year (counting a few unfinished books that I read at least 200 pages of). Yes, I set aside books that don’t grip me or better me. Julie will never forgive me for reading half of her favorite novel David Copperfield and quitting. Some notable unfinished works of 2011 are Crime and Punishment, Shantaram, and I hate to…
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rwanda bdc.
The purpose of our trip here is to become licensed in Rwanda’s Business Development Center and launch our own in May. The BDC is a terrific 14-week course that trains entrepreneurs and small and medium-size business owners how to create and grow their business with ethical principles and a broader purpose than the bottom financial line. We hope the BDC will stimulate strong businesses in South Asia that employ and empower many. We’re also excited to have a mentoring role in the lives of many potential business owners. Below are some pics of the course and our facilitator training. The BDC office and building. Small group work during…
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rwanda today.
I’m writing from Kigali, Rwanda. Jonathan and I are here to get licensed for a Business Development Center we hope to bring to our city. I’ll write about that later. For now, I am gushing over this little nation that has overcome tremendous obstacles to become the beautiful, bright country it is today. For most of us, the only thing we know about Rwanda is her scarred history – a 1994 genocide that claimed a million lives. In a hellish frenzy of racial violence, neighbor hacked neighbor to death with blunt weapons in the worst human catastrophe of recent history. I walked through her genocide museum and saw unspeakable crimes.…