Posted 400 days ago

Following Jesus in Uncertain Times

by Tom Sine, Mustard Seed Associates



Reportedly almost 80,000 people have lost their lives in the horrific cyclone that struck Myanmar recently and over 55,000 are still missing. Almost 70,000 lost their lives in the earthquake in China soon after. Christine recently taught a class at the Overseas Ministry Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut, where she worked with five students from Myanmar, including a pastor whose five colleagues and their congregations were swept away by the floodwaters.

A major difference between these two natural disasters is that the Chinese Government was well prepared to respond to their disaster while the Myanmar Government was not. Because of the fear of outside influences, the military leadership has allowed a very limited response from those outside Myanmar who were prepared to help in such disasters. This undoubtedly will result in the death of additional thousands that could have been saved.

As you may know, the US government was not adequately prepared to respond to the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina. Churches were among the first responders in the New Orleans area, and even though they were not really prepared either, residents gave them very high marks.

Since then, churches all over the United States have developed disaster preparedness plans for their communities. For example, Chinese Baptist Church in Chinatown, San Francisco, remembers when their congregation had to rebuild after the quake that leveled San Francisco in 1906. Since they are aware that another big shake is anticipated in the Bay Area, they are working with other churches and community organizations to be prepared.

June 1st is the beginning of hurricane season in the Americas and forecasters are predicting the hurricanes are likely to be much more destructive this year. Many churches throughout the southern states will be ready this time, but many of our neighbors in the tropics will not.

There is growing evidence that our affluent SUV lifestyles in the US and other Western nations are contributing not only to global warming but also the frequency and intensity of weather-related natural disasters for our poorest neighbors in the tropics. We want to encourage those of us who are a part of churches in the north to not only reduce the amount of carbon we dump into the environment, but also to reduce how much we spend on our lifestyles. That way, we can provide resources to enable churches in Latin America, Africa and Asia to prepare to deal with the growing number of weather-related disasters in their region.

In this Seed Sampler, we want to explore ways we can follow Jesus by being prepared to serve those in need in uncertain times. We will seek to awaken readers to the new reality that we seem to be living in an increasingly volatile world that will require all of us to imagine and create new ways to prepare for life in these difficult times. This is an invitation to be God’s compassionate response, not only in disasters, but in possible economic downturns, too. We will explore ways that you, your family, your church and community can prepare for life in an increasingly uncertain future. We are going to encourage you prepare by:
1. Anticipating new challenges in these uncertain times so we can be proactive instead of re-active;
2. Identifying the implications of these challenges for our lives, families, congregations, communities and our most vulnerable neighbors;
3. Imagining specific new responses to these challenges that reflect something of God’s good news in tough times.

Of course we recognize that it is not possible to predict most natural disasters. But we can and must do a much better job of anticipating and preparing for other kinds of change that impact our lives and the lives of our poorest neighbors. Part of the vocation of Mustard Seed Associates is to enable Christians everywhere to take the future more seriously and creatively prepare to live and serve those in need in increasingly uncertain times.

Like the fabled Rip Van Winkle, many of us need a wake-up call to a world that has changed enormously in the past ten years and will continue to change at warp speed. As we wake from our sleep, we look around and discover we now live in a new global neighborhood. Distance is dying; borders are melting. We have awakened to life in a global economy that presents us with both new opportunities and new challenges. The opportunities include our growing access to information, food and arts from all over the world.

The middle class and poor, however, face a host of new challenges. If you shopped at a grocery store lately you know about the concerning inflation in food prices. This is particularly hard on those living in poorer countries who spend a much larger share of their marginal income on food. If you have stopped at a gas station lately, you are also aware that gas soaring to over $4 a gallon in the US. In Germany it has already hit $8 a gallon. What you may not be aware of is the rapidly growing thirst for oil out of China and India, which could push the declining supply of oil from $135 to $200 a barrel. Rapidly rising oil prices in turn could not only impose severe hardships particularly on the poor, but also could cause global inflation to spiral out of control in emerging economies and even trigger a major global recession.

Clearly, in the last ten years this new global economy has worked brilliantly for the rich and a whole new population: the super-rich. But it has not worked nearly as well for the middle class, and many of the Western poor and global poor have been left way behind.

It is also increasingly clear that this new global economy is incredibly complex, volatile and unpredictable. As a consequence, I believe our lives, communities, and particularly the lives and communities of our poorest neighbors are going to be at greater risk as we sail into the future together. But if we act now we can reduce our vulnerability and increase our availability to be a part of God’s kingdom response to those who are already at tremendous risk. As you will see, part of what will be needed in countries worldwide is to create ways to increase our agricultural and economic sustainability locally and regionally so we are not as vulnerable to the swings of this volatile global economy.

In the first section of this e-zine, Penny Carothers and I will seek to identify some of the new challenges likely to face the middle class and the global poor. We will also identify some of the implications of these challenges as well some innovative ways to respond. We would love to hear how you and your church are seeking to prepare and reach out in uncertain times.

Then, Jack and Cherie Minton of Hope Force International invite you to prepare for major natural or human-created disasters in our shaking world like the tragic disasters in Myanmar and China. They will share some resources on emergency preparedness and explore not only how we can all prepare for disasters where we live but how we can help the most vulnerable to be better prepared as well. Again we would like to hear how you and your congregation are getting ready and helping others prepare for possible disasters.

In all times, we know as followers of Jesus we are called to be an expression of God’s compassion to those in need. In uncertain times, many of us are likely to be limited in our ability to express God’s love to those in immediate risk because of our own vulnerability. Therefore we encourage you and those in your church to follow Jesus by 1) reducing your vulnerability to unexpected change, 2) simplifying your lifestyles to have more to share with those at risk locally and globally during times of crisis, and 3) developing preparedness plans as a community for both economic down turns and disasters.

Doesn’t it make more sense, living in uncertain times, to proactively create new ways to re-order our lives and churches to address challenges that are now evident, as well as preparing for possible disasters that we can’t foresee?

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