Our Team in Honduras, Summer 2011

A group of women from our parish returned to Honduras to host a spiritual retreat we call Christ Renews His Parish. The team is expected back today, June 28, 2011 and I’m sure they will have a great story to tell about their travels and the people they served there. Check out the presentation below to learn more about the mission.

Maybe One Day I’ll Go to Africa

I’ve never been to Africa and I know very little about it. Although I realize there are many wild places left on the planet, I always think of Africa as the wildest, with its sweeping vistas, open grasslands, tribal customs, and familiar wildlife. I have some African friends that have shared with me about government corruption, poverty, and widespread disease throughout many parts of the continent, especially in the rural areas. I’ve been doing a lot of reading trying to absorb the culture and the challenges facing people living there. And I’ve been listening to music from Africa – lots of music! The more I read and hear, the more drawn into the struggles of the underprivileged I become. There are so many problems: poverty, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, drought, violence, homeless families, orphans, unsanitary water and open sewage, lack of education for the kids – it is all so very overwhelming and sad.

 

Several months ago, I was asked to become involved with a non-profit organization that constructed and now supports a children’s home in a small village in Kenya. The Footprints of Faith Foundation (http://thefootprintsoffaith.org) recently opened their home in Rangala to 10 children who lost their parents for various reasons but now have a chance to live in a nice home with other children. They will go to school and help with a small farm on the grounds. The story about the founder of the foundation is amazing and from the first time I heard it, I became hooked. I began working on a song they could use however they wanted but primarily to raise awareness and funds for the upkeep of the home. This is why I started doing the research to learn more about Africa and quickly began to see and read about things I never knew and still honestly can’t believe. After several months of absorbing information and allowing the shock of these apparently hopeless situations to pass, I began to focus on the people and organizations that are trying to bring positive changes and assistance to those in need. 

 

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is one of the larger organizations in the mix. MSF is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. Naturally, they are doing a lot of work in Africa and the video below illustrates just one of the ways they broadcast their message calling for action. Check out “A Vulnerable Existence: Migrants in South Africa.” I’ve watched this video a few times and each time, learn something more. Visit the MSF website at http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org and spend a few minutes looking around. Get involved. Read. Follow MSF on Facebook and Twitter and forward the information to your friends and followers. I believe most of us have no real grasp of the size and complexity of these problems.  Maybe we don’t want to know. But I do believe we are capable of stepping up in a big way when we choose to. I may never go to Africa but I can still contribute..and so can each of us.

 

Video for the Footprints of Faith Foundation

Check out the new video message we did for the Footprints of Faith Foundation. When I say “we” I mean my good friend Mike Stephens and myself. I’ve known Mike for years and he is always willing to help out when I come up with an idea like “hey, let’s do a video” or “hey, let’s master the CD ourselves…” – he never says he can’t do something. He always listens to me, looks at me inquisitively, pauses for a minute and then says, “ok, let’s do it.” Mike is someone I can count on when I need help. And I usually need a lot of help. My wife Lisa is like that too. She is always by my side, encouraging me and trying her best to keep me focused – not an easy thing to do! Lisa and I are excited about working with the Footprints of Faith and see the incredible opportunity we have to help make a difference. These kids are counting on you and me and we can’t abandon them. Check out the video and then visit the Footprints website and read the story about the Foundation and their plans for the future.

Hope you enjoy the video. Spread the message to your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. The Foundation is hoping to step up awareness and increase interest in giving to the orphanage. Your help is appreciated.

Blood:Water Mission

I’ve become fascinated – almost obsessed – with the realization that there are people in the world that don’t have access to clean water and specifically, how the lack of clean water effects more than the obvious. You, like me and most people, think that clean water is just something we have…and plenty of it. We drink it (even in throw-away plastic bottles), bathe in it, use it to wash clothes, dishes, cars, dogs, little brothers, and to water our lush green lawns during the hot summers. (Note: some in my neighborhood continue to water their lawns in the dead of winter, spraying water on the streets in sub-freezing temperatures, creating ice, and driving unsuspecting motorists crazy as they slide through stop signs and traffic lights…). Having an almost endless supply of clean water also provides us with a luxury we probably don’t realize: more time. Time to do the things we love but also the things we must do to be productive people.

Take 3 min to watch the video from Blood : Water Mission, an organization that “creatively and thoughtfully raises awareness and the necessary funds for the provision of clean blood and clean water in sub-Saharan Africa”. This video illustrates the simple fact that people required to spend hours each day finding and transporting water to their homes/villages are not able to do much else. I never thought about it in this way before – obviously because I’ve never had to add it to my “to do” list. I go to work each day to provide an income for myself and my family. We need stuff – food is definitely important. Electricity, natural gas, and water are all part of paying the bills each month. But assuming I pay my bill, water, clean and plentiful, will generously flow from any faucet in the house on-demand. I don’t have to “find” it…it comes without much effort. 

But imagine if that one thing had to be addressed each day. I guess it was this way when we lived in small villages in our native countries. We woke up each day, fetched the firewood, milked the cows, gathered the eggs, and brought water in from the creek or well. If you sent the kids, it would be easier on you – which, by the way, would be focused on skinning and boiling something newly killed to eat for breakfast. Easy right? Now imagine you find out the water supply you are using is making your family sick from animal waste, mosquitoes, chemical runoff. What to do? You can send the kids down the road to the next stream or pond. But this takes more time and now the kids are missing school or other chores, becoming weaker and eventually, sick from drinking the only water they can find. Introduce other factors like who owns the water supply, etc. and you’ve got a real challenge on your hands.  Now, it’s about survival, not luxury. 

Many of these charitable organizations help by providing funds to drill water wells in villages throughout Africa or Central America. As the video points out, once people have access to clean water, children have more time for school and doing the things kids do.

Jennifer’s Story, Nyamonge, Kenya from Blood:Water Mission on Vimeo.

Are We Wealthy?

Monetarily speaking, I wonder what it would be like to be really wealthy. You know, the kind of wealthy where you don’t have to watch every dollar you spend so closely. What does that feel like? A good friend of mine likes to say that although we might have one set of financial woes, wealthy people have woes too – they’re just more expensive woes than ours. In other words: it doesn’t matter how much money you make, you still have financial challenges…another example of the “sliding scale” theory. I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying that wealthy people DO watch every dollar they spend and that’s why they are wealthy.

And I think that makes a little sense.

Wealth is one of those tricky things. On several occasions, Jesus warned the wealthy about the evils of money. It’s not that having money is a bad thing – it’s just what we do with it that counts. But being wealthy is something most of us probably do wish for, “secretly” maybe, and if not for ourselves, then for our families. There’s got to be a mathematical equation out there somewhere that takes a person’s gross income and subtracts yearly operating expenses, including taxes, Starbucks coffee, mortgage payments, bills, and haircuts and then determines by looking at what’s left over whether you can afford to purchase that 46″ Samsung flat screen TV – all WITHOUT experiencing buyers remorse. What is the “wealthy” threshold? When does it become crystal clear that “we have enough?” Can we ever really have enough? Tough questions.

Our pastor reminded us this Sunday that wealth does have a purpose and that purpose is sharing it with the poor. We are obligated to take care of our less fortunate brothers and sisters and we, the wealthy, will be judged on whether we carry out our obligation or not. Look at the outpouring of aid to Haiti. My gosh – yes, of course they need it! But look at the amount of money that is being donated. It’s amazing the amount of money the wealthiest countries in the world can fork over when we feel the desire to do so! Millions of dollars have been donated by individuals texting for $10 – that’s a lot of Starbucks coffee, my friend! Most people agree that Haiti will need money and assistance to rebuild its infrastructure for years to come. Will we continue to give as we should? Will we feel the tug on our hearts to continue giving? Will we skip the 46″ Samsung for those in need, even 5 years from now? Will we wait for the next crisis to once again open our wallets? I think we have to make a determined effort to be disciplined about giving. Each week or each month, through donations to our church or auto drafts from our paychecks, we have to give something from our abundance, something from our wealth. Pick a charity and support it. Choose an organization you believe in and give to it. Most of us do have enough to give regularly, even if we have to watch every dollar we spend – and even if it’s $10. We may never know what it’s like to be really wealthy, but we know we are among the most fortunate, the wealthy, and it’s our obligation to share it.

Africa – Water is Life

Great website found today and The Elms is a band worth listening to. They do a lot of charity work for different causes – most recently for the relief efforts in Haiti. I think this is what more musicians should do with their gifts. Many already do, and that’s great. I’m not preaching to anyone here. I just think it’s an effective way to get help to more people in need. Because music cuts through so many segments of the population, both in the US and globally, it reaches people like no other medium. With a click or two of the mouse, you can find music from anyplace in the world thru google, Facebook, twitter, etc. – all kinds of music at your fingertips, easily purchased, and downloaded for listening all in a few short seconds. People are already plugged in several hours a day listening to their favorite artists. Add a video, and potentially reach millions of people worldwide on formats like YouTube:

I believe musicians have an incredible amount of messaging power, especially to young listeners. If more would to take the opportunity to reach out to various charities and causes, just one, the money donated to these causes would increase exponentially. I think it’s great when artists come together during a crisis to help raise money – often millions of dollars in a short time – but I think more artists should adopt a charity or a cause and support it for the long haul. The Elms is one band that has set a great example.

A Health Care Exception–For the Amish

This is a few days behind the curve, but check it out – great thoughts from Raymond Arroyo:

January 12, 2010
A Health Care Exception–For the Amish
Posted by Raymond Arroyo

Both the Senate and House Health Care bills have one religious conscience clause. Unfortunately it only applies to the Amish and a few other religious sects. According to the Watertown Daily Times, the exception would allow the Amish to avoid the health insurance mandate and a fine should they refuse to carry health insurance. So get this straight: the Amish, Old Order Mennonites and possibly Christian Scientists can opt out of the health care plan, with no penalty, while Catholics and other Christians are bound to pay premiums that fund abortion. How is that fair? Hundreds of Christian, pro-life hospitals, doctors and nurses may soon be forced to violate their consciences and offer or perform procedures they consider morally objectionable. The Congress could care less. If the pro-life community fails to demand conscience clause protections, and loudly, they could find themselves morally compromised by this new health care regime. Even the leading voice for conscience clauses, the US Catholic bishops, have been muted in recent days, preferring to convey their desires via letters and statements issued by their Conference. Now is the time for a full throated, public discussion of this critical issue. The ethical future of health care is being negotiated now in the back rooms of Capitol Hill. Of course if everyone would rather focus on Harry Reid’s comments, I suppose there is the option of riding a horse and buggy to work. Though some Catholic doctors I know will look pretty silly in those straw hats. Let me know what you think at raymond@raymondarroyo.com

The Footprints of Faith Foundation / Relief for the Children of Kenya

I’ve been talking with a group of people working to help homeless and orphaned children in a small village in Kenya. Check out this site. It is an amazing story and the individuals leading this effort are nothing short of incredible.  Not sure where this will lead me and specifically how music will be included but I’m jazzed about the opportunity.

I’ve tried really hard to stay away from politics on this blog but I found something today that simply knocked me out. It is definitely relative to the people of Africa and clearly political. But I think you need to see it and send to anyone you think might be interested. No spin here: this is true, accurate, unbiased reporting about an incredible humanitarian and this story needs to be out there, especially given the political climate we find ourselves in today. Read the first paragraph:

What if a president, on his own initiative, under no demands from staff or from supporters or opponents, set out to spend an unprecedented amount of money on AIDS in Africa, literally billions of dollars, at a time when the nation could not afford it, citing his faith as a primary motivation and, ultimately, saved more than a million lives?

Now, read the rest of the story then pass it on.

Promotion is a Full-time Job! (and I already have one of those…)

Motivating people to act – especially people that have never heard of you or your project – is by far the greatest challenge I’ve faced since the release of the CD, “Build the House.” Promotion is a full-time job! It’s easier after the release: your family, friends, church members, etc. all jump in to help and in our case, it was a huge jump. We sold about 1000 CD’s in the first few weeks of the release and after that, the hard work began. I turned my efforts to the web, creating online stores, blogging, joining user groups, and getting mp3’s of some of the songs to people who might help distribute and spread the word. Below is a list of a few of those that have helped and continue to support the mission.

Please take a minute and visit these sites. Some are radio shows or podcasts and others are listener sites that utilize hits/page to push your song up the charts. I’ve started to see some purchases from iTunes and CD Baby by people not in my immediate network, including several from the U.K., which is very exciting and encouraging. One church community in Florida contacted me to ask permission to use the title cut as their theme song for an upcoming capital campaign. Comments and reviews have been positive and almost everyone mentions the good work we are doing for the mission.

Grapevine Catholic Music Magazine– a great online music mag, complete with podcasts – check out the podcast page and go to Episode #74, January 20, 2008. Contact Susan Bailey, editor, for more information. Susan will review the CD in the February issue, so check it out!

Catholic Music Express– wonderful, up-to-date online radio program, featuring many Christian artists and their latest releases. Link to other sites, etc. Visit the podcast page to listen to or download the January 6th, 2008 program, featuring “Blessing Cup.” Contact Jim O’Meara, owner, for more information.

Soundclick.com – music artist resource. Great site to listen, network, comment. This site receives thousands of hits/day, so any input you can provide will encourage others to check out the music too.

The only way this approach to part-time promotion can work is to forward what you’ve learned to those individuals in your network. Thanks for your continued help to get the word out! Lastly, please pray for our mission team as they travel to Honduras next week – may God keep them safe in their travels!

Anxiety vs. Peace

Anxiety vs. Peace. Which of these wins the battle in your life most of the time? I know for me lately it’s been a real struggle. It is fall – school is back in session, vacations are over and work has picked up, people are returning to church – more singers, musicians, etc. – so the anxiety level seems to be up and rising. I couple of days this week I woke too early, walked around the house once or twice and then couldn’t go back to sleep because my brain was cranking so fast I didn’t know how to turn it off. I just sat there with a not-so-interesting song chorus doing loops in my head and feeling like I had to tire myself out before I could lie down again.

Almost everyone I know drops little hints that they have too much on their plates, or so they say. We all probably think we do anyway. Just listen the next time you are gathered around the water cooler with co-workers: too many commitments and not enough down time to relax and enjoy life; too many meetings, appointments, long days and restless nights. So it’s not a stretch to look out across the community landscape to see a lot of us suffering from a load of anxiety – real or imagined, but easy to see either way.

How do we find the peace that overcomes anxiety, the peace that comforts and calms us? I think the answer is we have to ask for it. We have to pray for it. It’s within our reach…but we may not see it.

In Luke 24, Jesus appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus but they didn’t recognize him, even after walking with him for the better part of the day. They were filled with anxiety after the crucifixion so they were not able to see clearly who Jesus was. Just imagine the pain and confusion after witnessing him dying on the cross! Later that evening, while they were eating with him, he took bread and broke it – and their eyes were opened once again! He appeared later, saying, “Peace be with you” and this gave them the strength and encouragement to return to their work with great joy!

Today, more than ever, we need peace in our lives. Things have a way of getting too busy for too many of us. Let’s open our eyes again, ask for peace, and focus on the important things that need to be done. When a quiet moment comes our way, accept it as the gift it is and cherish it. Hold on to it! The disciples wanted Jesus to stay so they could continue to experience the peace he gave them. They wanted to hold on to him forever – he was their peace! And, he’s still ours right now. We have to make ourselves slow down, see him, and return to our work with great joy. C’mon, Anxiety – take your best shot! I’ve got peace in my corner.

Humility, Service, Sacrifice

The readings this weekend were about humility, which is simply putting the needs of others before our own. From the first reading (Sirach 3:17-22, 28, 30):

My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. For great is the power of God; by the humble he is glorified. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not. What is committed to you, attend to; for what is hidden is not your concern. With what is too much for you meddle not, when shown things beyond human understanding. The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the wise man’s joy. He who does a kindness is remembered afterward; when he falls, he finds a support.

In Luke’s Gospel (Luke k 14:7-11), Jesus goes to dinner at the home of a leading Pharisee:

He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

And then he delivers a huge punch in the gut to the host of the party (Lk 14:12-14):

When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Ouch! When was the last time you had a dinner party (or any other party) and invited strangers (the poor, homeless, sick) instead of your best friends and family? How weird for us? Don’t we usually think of a party or gathering as an event held for friends or relatives? But these readings illustrate for us that being truly humble is not as simple as we try to make it. I think we sometimes confuse being quiet and reflective or trying not to call attention to ourselves in a crowd as exhibiting humility. But it’s much more than that.

Remember the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper? They were embarrassed and almost ashamed of his behavior. But he said we must be like servants to each other, serving others in an outward display of humility. He showed them by his own actions that we must take the lowest position in society to do the work that needs to be done! Then, he goes and dies for us! The greatest sign of humility one can perform: to lay down one’s life for a friend! Of course, as you reread the passage from Luke, you can see clearly Jesus is talking about the final banquet where we will be repaid for our kindness when we feast for eternity with Him. Our pay-back will not materialize in this world, but in the next.

When I read these passages or imagine Jesus washing my feet, it overwhelms my ability to reason. I know I must become a better servant – to my wife and family, my community, my society – but it’s not an easy task. We are bombarded with messages counter to what we are taught and know is right. The environment we live in, our “Society of the Selfishness” screams at us and makes us feel like we’re foolish or naïve for even trying to serve another person.

A big part of the struggle for me is not giving in and listening to the false messages of our time. We’ve got to try to silence the screams of society by our actions of humility, service, and sacrifice. All we can do is pray for the grace to try and keep going.

Peace-