I watched a documentary last night called Darwin's Nightmare. It may be the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life. This Academy Award Nominated Doc's premise is basically...

People introduced a gigantic monster fish into Lake Victoria that destroyed it's ecosystem completely. Then Europeans came and set up factories. They then paid Tanzanians pennies to fish for these monsters. Most end up working ALWAYS and dying from diving with crocodiles while their wives become prostitutes to the European workers and die from AIDS. But it's OK... since most in Tanzania were starving at the time... they would sell them a pile of rancid fish carcases at a hundred dollars a pile that made them sick.

Oh yeah... and the Russian planes that they hire to take the fish to Europe are actually bringing guns, bombs and tanks to Africa from arms dealers. The fish money is just to offset the cost of the flight. They target and fund the countries where wars are already raging while introducing new weapons to peaceful countries, while raping a land of its natural resource and sodomizing their passed out children who are high from burning and sniffing the plastic packaging of the fish plants.

I have sales guy at work who grew up in Newfoundland but thinks he's Rush Limbaugh. He loves telling me all about how he won't drive into Mississauga. He calls it Mississaugastan. He believes it to be the hub of terrorism in the Great White North because of the high middle eastern population. Nice eh?

(We actually have a family member who works in the Canadian equivalent of the Jack Bauer CTU and tells us that Saskatchewan is actually the hub... they hide in silos maybe?)

In fact his attitudes compared to those in the 30 and under demographic are a stark contrast. I grew up with people from all over the world. I don't think he did. I grew up in the story of the modern vision of Canada. It was the cultural mosaic in its purest form. The idea of racial differences never once crossed my mind until the sixth grade.

One day, someone threw a penny on the ground and told my friend to pick it up. He yelled out, "I ain't no Jew". My 6th Grade teacher heard this and went BALLISTIC (and rightfully so). She was awesome. She cancelled regularly scheduled classes for a week and launched into a series on racism and prejudice. She taught us about how our great country intentionally created a place where people could come and be free to be themselves.

She had an aunt who was a missionary on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. Our pizza day money bought "Mama Jen's" kids soccor balls. She played us Midnight Oil albums and taught us about the plight of the Aborigines. She showed us about how fascinating, unique, and beautiful culture can be... and how we need to respect others. She showed us that this was a value of Canada.

Happy Birthday Canada.
God keep our land glorious and free.

Jenny and I share a lot. We got this beautiful hand-painted card from Liberia the other day. African art is beautiful. I wish I had bought more of it. Inside she wrote this...



I LOVE going places with Jen because we see funny situations and want to hear each other's sarcastic comments about them. And Africa's got "100 funny things a day" in it. And now we get to share Africa too!

Today... Jenny "got me" on MSN:

Jenny says:
have you heard of the Mormons?
Dave at Work says:
yes, i think so... ha
Jenny says:
they are a really cool group that I have gotten hooked up with here in Monrovia
Jenny says:
they have a lot of "extras" to offer that I had never heard of
Dave at Work says:
are you being serious?
Jenny says:
DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

Wacky chick. I love 'er.

This picture is of a group of mostly girls in Accra that we hung out with on Sunday nights for a "teens club" as they called it.

They all lived the in the same apartment complex and therefore had a Bible Study and Fellowship group together. I say therefore... because it is somewhat of a foregone conclusion in Ghana.

Christians meet together and get closer to God with each other. Lot's. Often. Many times a day. In many forms.

Krissy and I had been youth leaders for many years before going to Ghana and for many years after too. But Ghanaian youth ministry was very different. They were polite. They KNEW the Bible. Being a Christian was a badge they were proud to wear.

It was actually somewhat eerie at times to this jaded Canadian sarcasm dispenser. A group of 18 year old teens would sit in a circle and have sword drills and be completely enthralled by it. Honestly. We'd say, "let's pray" and they prayed! No kidding. No bribes... no culturally relevant gobbledygook con job...

I remember watching them at some distance. It made me really sad one night. Heart broken really. I remembered the youth group at the church back home. You couldn't even get kids to show up for laser tag! Afraid to tell their friends that they were going to a church on a Friday night. If we had suggested a "sword drill"... the room would have emptied.

Homer: So I realized that being with my family is more important
than being cool.
Bart: Dad, what you just said was powerfully uncool.
Homer: You know what the song says: "It's hip to be square."
Lisa: That song is so lame.
Homer: So lame that it's... cool?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Am I cool, kids?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Good. I'm glad. And that's what makes me cool—not caring, right?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Well, how the heck do you be cool? I feel like we've tried everything here.
Homer: Wait, Marge. Maybe if you're truly cool, you don't need to
be told you're cool.
Bart: Well, sure you do.
Lisa: How else would you know?

1. Found a fascinating web site called "Dear God". Just people writing to "Whoever's out there". I love praying for the felt needs of people. It's very expository about the human condition to hear what people would say to a deity if they could. Some great photography here too.

2. You know that friend who always hands you a CD and says... "you gotta listen to this?". Well my friend handed me Glen Kaiser and Darrell Mansfield's double "Trimmed 'n Burnin'" & "Slow Burn" Christian Blues Discs. Have a listen.

I want to share a good long chunk of my sister Jen's recent blog about "Ward Church" on The Mercy Ship in Liberia.

It paints an amazing picture of something that Krissy and I also found remarkably moving...

(Check out our Africa gear BTW!)

"Sunday morning, at ward church, I started to cry. Ward church is when we get all the patients together in one ward (which, yes, is a huge violation of every infection-control precaution, but, this is Africa!). The patients, nurses, doctors, and other crew have “church”. We squeeze anyone that wants to be there into one tiny ward and pack as many people as possible onto the 10 beds. Like most African church, it consists of a lot of singing. Some preaching. Patients tell testimonies of how their lives have been transformed. Then more singing. That’s when I cry. I can’t really explain why, except that I am a “happy-crier”. Happy movies, triumphant moments, ceremonies of great accomplishment, reflecting on wonderful memories, or anything that stirs up overwhelming feelings of joy are all successful in bringing me to tears. It has happened on more than one occasion here. I can’t exactly pinpoint the common factor that causes me to melt, but, I know that when the ward fills with the radiant sound of joyous, broken people celebrating their source of hope, it is literally “music to my ears”.

I am trying now to think about what makes the music so incredibly unique and wonderful. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Africans have an inherent sense of rhythm and musicality that probably rivals any other group. It is ironic that in the ward of a hospital ship off the coast of Liberia, with simply a set of bongos, one sasa, and about a hundred incredible talented voices comes potentially the most wonderful sound I have experienced in my short life. How much money, time, energy goes into creating albums and songs that will never even begin to compare with what they have going on here? But anyways, the point: some of it is just raw talent.

And then some of it has to do with the passion underlying it all. There is something amazing about a completely uninhibited expression of art. It seems that they have nothing to prove. Nobody to impress. No restraints. With this comes a freedom that I believe I can hear in their music.

Lastly and probably most importantly, I think that their music makes me cry because of the emotions that drive it. When I hear a nation of people who have been brutalized and known unthinkable horrors sing that they "will give God their lifetime” and to “tell Papa God thank you”, my heart breaks. So much emotion wells up within me.

They actually have no reason to be joyous or thankful. I looked at Blessing who will be in the hospital for the next few months as the doctors reconstruct her non-existent face. I looked at Edwin, who actually has no skin on his back and will most likely not make it if his skin-grafts aren't successful. I looked at Georgia who hates people in scrubs because she needed skin grafts after an African hospital experience gone-wrong. I watched all of the patients and families in the room belt out amazing expressions of love and thanksgiving to a God who, by all tangible measures, has not been evident to them. That proves to me that God’s love is bigger than the tangible things. He is not limited to expressing his love in the ways we think he should. If they can give God their lives and tell Him how they love him, then there is no way that his love is not absolutely real.

Their songs are not empty. They are so clearly driven by love. I am so thankful to serve and be loved by a God who can inspire that kind of thing and I hope that I never forget the feeling of being a room where the love is so present you can actually “feel” it."

One the biggest differences between African Culture and North American is that here... to even mention the supernatural precludes you from being rational person.

There... "not getting good enough witchcraft" is an official reason for loosing a soccer match. I remember when we were in Ghana, the Accra team called "The Hearts of Oak" were in a major tournament and country officially called on the nation for Intercessory Prayer! This from a Ghanaian newspaper...

Note:
ju·ju /ˈdÊ’udÊ’u/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[joo-joo] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun

I talk about it a lot. But 7 months in Africa changed me. It took me from being one person with a fixed set of social norms, God expectations, cultural assumptions... and made me into a fuller human, a better husband, and a clearer thinking Christian.

I want to share my private journals with you to show you some of my process... because it wasn't a simple one.

I learned lessons that I wasn't expecting to learn, but what God did during this "marinating" time has been foundational for me as I've launched into adult ministry.

Today my little sister Jen leaves for Liberia. You should follow her blog called "When I grow up, I want to be nurse in Africa... or a ballerina." Also my friend Sarah in Kenya took some astounding shots of Kenya last weekend. Check out her blog for more, "Out of Africa".

Just had this great chat with one of my best friends Matt... (who is about to embark on an excellent adventure of his own)

Matt: you think you'll ever go back to Ghana?

Dave: yep, but i don't think africa will ever be my focus. I think i'll go back for fun

I TRULY believe that there will come a day where there is enough wealth for Christians to do the ministry they dream of and there won't be the need for so much cross cultural stuff

Matt: ya man

Dave: and we won't need to go to africa to see poverty to be impacted. I think that's such crap that people go to see horrible situations and come back "changed", and then live high on the hog and send their 30 bucks a month to a kid

Matt: haha!

Dave: like.... PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE and context doesn't matter. Get a heart for people and go!

Matt: totally. i couldn't agree more. Even just the mindset that what people see, is worse than what they live in is such a twisted thought. like, why do we assume that our living conditions are superior just because our houses are bigger?

i honestly couldn't care less if people live in huts...i actually think it's great

Dave: ditto

Not lots makes me truly, angry, angry. But our world's discarding of Africa does. I read this today morning and it INFURIATED me that we're in sackcloth and ashes over Heath Leger's death while 45,000 die in Congo EVERY BLOODY MONTH and we neither hear... nor care.

There are often times where people can get on my nerves. Not SPECIFIC people... humans on the whole. But there are a few people on this planet that are exempt from this category. My sister Jen is one of these people.

She's nurse in a hospital to very premature babies. It's a very difficult job. She sees situations (and makes quick decisions about them) every day that would be paralyzing for many of us even think about. And she does it with grace, compassion and a quick sharp wit.

This year, Jen intentionally moved home our city (even though now she has to drive a good distance to work). One of the reasons was so that she could be a part of our family life. She's a generous, loving and committed aunt to my kids. They love it when Aunty Jen is coming over! She's actively involved with a terrific church plant in Brantford called Generations.

This winter/spring, my little sister is headed to West Africa on "Mercy Ships" to do some intensive medical mission work in Liberia and then may head to Med School. Jen is astoundingly beautiful and is a bright star who lives to honor God and others. It's said about many... but the world needs more people like my sister.

She's so legit.

I love bragging on my siblings. Sometimes I joke that they are collecting credible job titles! Doctor, Nurse, Reverend, Officer...

I know that Jen's really "My Little Sister" because of the "Your My Big Brother" way she looks at me and talks to me. It's often in the form of laughter.
We laugh a lot. We mock things a lot. We agree on lots and disagree on some.

I used to called her "Karen" after Gaby Hoffman's character in Field of Dreams. It used to drive my little sister monkey nuts.

While I was partly joking (as I have the tendency to do), I did it because of the way Ray Kinsella looked at his young daughter. Lovingly. Like she was the apple of his eye. With the same unwavering warmth that I felt when I saw my "little sister Jenny".

Last night after talking with my little sister late into the evening, Krissy turned to me in a half sleep and told me, "That's how I knew you'd treat our daughters like Princess's... because of the way you treat your sister."

Ghana 2: USA 1

I read an article yesterday in which the president of Ghana JA Kufor (who is Ghana's first TRULY democratically elected president: JJ Rawlings who was an elected dictator simply does not count) said that these World Cup victories are the best thing to happen to Ghana since it's independance in 1957!

The whole country had the afternoon off to view this game... and what an uproar the city of Accra must be in right now. Wish I could see it!

People do put unwarrented importance on sport, but tell me something... what was the last image of Africa that you have seen without a child covered in flies in it? This was one of things that our friend Albert was most bothered by about North America. The Compassion and World Vision programs are great and all... but it re-enforces the World's view of Africa as the charity-case in world. It infects us... and seeps into African mindsets too.

Bob Marley said, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery"

Africa (surprisingly) is EXTREMELY wealthy. It's just hoarded by a select few. It's people are amazing, resourcful, passionate people... and it's RARE that African culture and it's people are celebrated. This is why I love this team. It's more than about soccer. Honestly, this means something more to a nation and it's people. Spirit move in Ghana tonight.

This is the card that my good friend "Bono the cussin' Christian" is promoting. It's a the best! 1% of all of your purchases throughout the year are given to prevent AIDS in Africa. Except it's only available in the UK. This Must change. I need one. Say buh bye VISA boy!

What an amazing example of what can be accomplished when business teams up with genuine passion. Everybody wins. Tell me one party that losses in this transaction. Today, Bono bought an ENTIRE NEWSPAPER for a day, just to say "No News Today... just that 6,500 Africans died today as a result of a preventable, treatable disease" Look out!

Bono's the man. Sure he swears, drinks, and sure seems to be angry alot... but you should read what a sober, refreshing view of Christianity he has. And he actually uses what he's been blessed with to change the world to look more like Christ! Try arguing that. He puts 99.9999...% of me and my brothers to shame. Go team Red!