Doing Theology from El Norte

Quote of the Week

2010-12-29T16:53:00.006-05:00

"In overthrowing me you have cut down in Saint Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are many and they are deep."

General Toussaint L'Ouverture
Hero of the Haitian Revolution

Quote of the Week

2009-11-05T13:12:00.005-05:00

"As believers we will want to do all we can to ensure genuine freedom for all persons. . . . No matter how uneducated and uncultured, unkempt and unclean, vile and course, wicked and immoral, every person is something wonderful and of importance to God, for he has made all of us in his own image."

Millard J. Erickson (1932- )
Distinguished Professor of Theology
Western Seminary

Julius Scruggs on Prosperity Theology

2009-11-02T15:39:00.007-05:00

From Ethics Daily's interview with the Rev. Dr. Julius Scruggs, newly elected president of the National Baptist Convention.

"I think that the prosperity gospel is a threat to Christianity. Period," said Scruggs of the belief system that God shows favor to believers through wealth and material possessions.

Such teaching is "a subtle distortion of biblical truths," he said.

"I'm one who believes that God will take care of all of us … But I'm not one who believes that that means that the pastor ought to drive a Bentley car or live in a million dollar house or fly on a corporate jet," said Scruggs, who has been pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Huntsville for 32 years.

"That kind of prosperity is influencing the pulpit and the pew in American life today, and that's unfortunate because it takes us far and away from the Jesus who talked about foxes have holes and birds have nests but the son of man doesn't have anywhere to lay his head," said Scruggs. "There is always a tension between that aspect of Jesus and the Jesus who brought the abundant life to everybody."

Warning of the allure that money had for clergy, he said, "One has to be grounded in what Christianity is all about to not allow that temptation to get them."

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

R.I.P., Mae Kelly, 1917?-2009

2009-10-26T16:27:00.004-05:00

Mae M. Kelly, former American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS) missionary in Haiti for 36 years, died October 6, 2009 at the age of 92.

Mae was born into a Christian home in Jamaica, as Mae Marguerite Lord. Her parents were active in the Christian Missionary Alliance and were instrumental in planting a church. Mae accepted Christ at the age of seven and was baptized at the age of 15, while attending boarding school in England. She had family members who were missionaries in China and South America and her grandfather made several evangelistic trips to Haiti, so the missionary vision was constantly placed before her.

When Mae met Charles Stanford Kelly he had already felt a call to ministry in Haiti, so together they dedicated their lives to be missionaries there. After marriage to Stan on November 26, 1938 he gave up a business career in Jamaica so they could attend the Radcliffe Missionary Training College in London, England, for theological preparation for mission service. In 1940 they moved to Haiti, where Stan became a pastor with the status of a native worker. They were appointed in 1944 as missionaries under the American Baptist Home Mission Society and in 1946 left the pastorate to serve as general missionaries. With the transfer of Latin American work to International Ministries in 1972 they became part of the ABFMS.

Mae had giftedness and love for teaching music and in particular the piano. She did so in churches, in women’s and children’s work, at camps and conferences, at the Christian University of Northern Haiti (UCNH) and to missionary children. Laurie Casseus, who currently serves in Haiti and is the daughter of former IM missionaries Harold and Ivah Heneise, remembered Mae to Annis, one of Mae’s daughters, with these words: “I have so many wonderful memories of her. She is the reason I studied music and do what I do. Praise God. Of course, I did have the encouragement of my folks, but my inspiration and my teacher was your mom. I would say she was a mentor to me, and I was blessed to have such a godly mentor.” “Auntie Mae,” as she was fondly called, was also the ultimate hostess, especially when it was time for “high tea.”

Mae was predeceased by her husband, C. Stanford. She is survived by her sons, Derek, Ron, and Brian; daughters Annis and Kathy; eight grandchildren; one great grandchild; and one brother. There will be a small memorial service at the Fraser Canyon Lodge in Hope, BC and a family graveside service in Victoria, BC. The family suggests that memorial gifts may be made payable to UCNH, designated for the C.S. Kelly Scholarship Fund and sent to the following address:

Laurie Casseus
UCNH
c/o Agape Flights - CAP-1370
100 AIRPORT AVE
VENICE, FL 34285-3901.

Click here for more information on American Baptist missions work in Haiti.

Quote of the Week

2009-09-20T22:09:00.003-05:00

"Justice will bring about peace. . . . If you want peace, work for justice."

Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)

New Blog Series on Immigration

2009-09-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

Dr. Danny Carroll--my former Old Testament professor at Denver Seminary--is doing a blog series on Christian faith and immigration based, in part, on his latest book Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church and the Bible. Click here to check it out!

Justice and Health Care

2009-09-13T21:23:00.001-05:00

"Justice and Health Care" is the theme of this month's lecture series (Mon Sept 28 or Tues Sept 29) at Denver Seminary's Vernon Grounds Institute for Public Ethics. If you're in the Denver area, please consider attending.

Click here for more information.

Quote of the Week

2009-09-09T12:29:00.005-05:00

"And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?"

Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Where the hell is Matt?

2009-09-07T20:35:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Week

2009-09-04T21:53:00.002-05:00

"The theologians have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it."

Philip Berryman

Quote of the Week

2009-08-28T13:18:00.007-05:00

"One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth."

W.E.B. Du Bois

Dieppa-Báez named EM for Puerto Rican Baptists

2009-06-02T17:27:00.008-05:00

Breaking news from the American Baptist News Service . . .

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 6/2/09)—Dr. Roberto Dieppa-Báez has been named the new executive minister of Las Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico (the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico) effective on July 1, 2009.

Las Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico is a regional partner of American Baptist Churches USA.

A pastor for the past 28 years, Dieppa-Báez studied at the Inter American University and the Evangelical Seminary in Puerto Rico, and earned his Doctor of Ministry from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL.

As the associate executive minister in evangelism and new church planting from 2002-2008, Dieppa-Báez established ten new churches in Puerto Rico, as well as the Institute for Congregational Transformation, the Social Pastoral Institute, and the Institute for New Church Planters. He also designed a denominational profile to study the growth of the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico.

He was the founder and director of Initial Counseling Center for persons battling alcoholism, drugs, and domestic violence.

Dieppa-Báez has coordinated missionary trips to Haiti, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia.

He and his wife, Abigail Pérez, have one adult son, Axel Dieppa- Pérez, and live in Juncos, Puerto Rico.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.

R.I.P., Ralph Winter, 1925-2009

2009-05-25T12:15:00.003-05:00

Ralph Winter, a former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission, was one of the leading American missiologists of the 20th century. Read more about his life and legacy here.

Colorado Death Penalty Watch

2009-05-21T20:17:00.002-05:00

State Sen. Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) and State Rep. Paul Weissmann (D-Louiseville) have written an interesting commentary regarding the possible repeal of the Colorado death penalty. While they dismiss moral reasoning as being not very helpful to the present debate, they advance two pragmatic arguments. For example, they note that Colorado is a defacto no-death penalty state, having only executed one person in the last forty years. But during that same time period there have been 1,435 unsolved murders in the state. Yet, Colorado spends millions of dollars each year on legal expenses related to the death penalty that could be better spent on putting murderers behind bars.

A secondary argument is that the death penalty is irreversable. In other words, if someone is wrongfully convicted and incarcerated, he can always be released later if he is exonerated. But if that person is wrongfully executed, then there is no way to bring him back to life. While there are no known cases in Colorado where somebody has been wrongfully sentenced to death, this has been a problem in other states and at least 130 persons have been exonerated from the death penalty after it was later found they were not guilty. As Carroll and Weissmann point out, there should be a zero margin of error when it comes to sentencing someone to death.

While I differ from Carroll and Weissmann regarding the weight that should be given to moral arguments in evaluating the death penalty, I think both of their arguments should be given serious consideration by all Coloradoans when this issue is raised again in the next legislative session.

Quote of the Week

2009-05-12T09:56:00.005-05:00

"I am so tempted to give up on a Christianity where preachers from their pulpits preach a personal piety that ignores public responsibility. Like Muslim apologists who keep reminding us that true Islam does not condone terrorist acts, I am placed in the position of having to argue that true Christianity does not condone torture."

Read the full article here.

Miguel De La Torre
Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Iliff School of Theology

Reflections on Denver's Cinco de Mayo Celebrations

2009-05-11T11:48:00.006-05:00

Cinco de Mayo celebrations were observed in Denver this past weekend, serving as a reminder of the large influx of Hispanic immigrants into the Denver area and the state of Colorado during the past two decades.

When I was growing up in Denver, I don't recall being aware of the Hispanic community here, though certainly there must have been one. After going away to college and spending nearly six years in the Hispanic Caribbean, I returned home to attend seminary and discovered a booming Spanish-speaking immigrant population. The area around my grandmother's house in north Denver, near the old Lakeside Mall--which was largely Anglo during the time I was growing up--had become predominantly Hispanic. Indeed, a shopping trip to the Lakeside Mall in Denver was not a whole lot different than a shopping trip to the Mayagüez Mall in Puerto Rico.

My awareness of Denver's Hispanic community was heightened during this time, in part, due to my wife's job as a bilingual substitute teacher in the Denver Public Schools and also through my interaction with Spanish-speaking clients at Curtis Park Community Center.

Following my graduation from seminary, we spent another four years in the Caribbean and then returned home to find that the Hispanic community had begun to extend far into the Denver suburbs. It was not uncommon to hear Spanish being spoken in places like Arvada, Westminster or Thornton in the north suburbs (or Aurora in the south suburbs) and even where Spanish is not heard it can be seen on the storefronts of carnicerias and floristas in what used to be predominantly Anglo areas. Interestingly, a recent article in the Denver Post suggested that while the City and County of Denver is becoming increasingly whiter, the Denver suburbs are becoming more culturally and racially diverse, making the Denver suburbs some of the most integrated neighborhoods in the United States. Certainly, this resonates with my own observations of the changes that have taken place over the past two decades.

Cross-culturally speaking, it is an exciting time to be living in Denver. And last weekend's Cinco de Mayo celebrations were but one of many reminders of that fact.

Colorado Death Penalty Watch

2009-05-06T21:54:00.001-05:00

Sadly, the Colorado Senate has voted down a bill to repeal the death penalty.

Colorado Death Penalty Watch

2009-05-04T21:56:00.003-05:00

It looks like there might not be enough momentum to push the current legislation through the Colorado Senate. We should know the outcome by tomorrow.

R.I.P., Victor Mercado, 27 April 2009

2009-05-01T15:03:00.004-05:00

My only encounter with Victor Mercado was through my participation in a week-long workshop that he offered on the Baptists in Latin America at the World Mission Conference in Greenlake back in the summer of 1990. Mercado retired six months before I became a volunteer American Baptist missionary in January 1993. Notably, he was the first area director for Latin America to be hired by International Ministries (IM) after American Baptist missions work in Latin America was transfered from the American Baptist Home Missions Society (aka National Ministries) to the American Baptist Foreign Missions Society (aka International Ministries). This was done, in part, out of recognition for the need to shift from a paternalistic approach to mission (in which our Latin American neighbors were viewed as a part of the U.S.'s back yard) to a mission of mutuality. Needless to say, Mercado provided much needed leadership to IM and its national partners in Latin America during this critical period of transition. He will be greatly missed.

MERCADO, LONG-TIME AMERICAN BAPTIST PASTOR AND LEADER, DIES

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 4/30/09)—Rev. Víctor Mercado, long-time American Baptist pastor and leader, passed away on Monday, April 27, 2009.

Mercado earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the University of Puerto Rico and worked for the General Electric Instrument Corporation before pursuing his seminary training at the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico.

After seminary, Mercado served pastorates of churches in Caguas, Trujillo Alto, and Santurce. He also served as the president and treasurer of the Baptist Convention of Puerto Rico, served on the ABC Nominating Committee for several years, and held various positions on the Evangelical Council of Puerto Rico.

In 1975, Mercado joined the board of American Baptist International Ministries as area director for Latin America. He later served as the area director for the Carribbean. His ministry focused on training leaders, strengthening congregations, encouraging inclusivity, and pursuing interdenominational cooperation. He was passionate about a holistic approach to evangelism and church growth, including prophetic and justice concerns. In 1984, Mercado was named the associate director of the Overseas Division of International Ministries.

In 1992, to honor his distinguished work in Latin America, Mercado received the Arturo Parajon Order award—the highest distinction granted by the Baptist Convention of Nicaragua. He received an honorary doctoral degree, “Honoris Causa”, in Latin American Theology, from the Baptist Seminary of Mexico. He also received numerous other honors and commendations from various American Baptist organizations, including the Hispanic Caucus and the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico.

When Mercado joined International Ministries, he commenting on how he viewed his ministry in the ABC, saying, “I see my work as being an interpreter to American Baptists, and of finding ways to help Hispanic people. Not all Hispanic people are alike; each country and group has its differences, and we must learn about them.”

Mercado knew how to defend and give a privileged place to ABC mission partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, where he was considered a champion of their cause. He interpreted the missionary cause as key to liberation, integrity and dignity.

Reid Trulson, executive director of International Ministries, said, "Victor was a wonderful inspiration. His strong voice for justice was both powerful and prophetic. He leaves a rich legacy of faith and leadership in the American Baptist Churches, and his work will continue to bless International Ministries and our partners for years to come. He will be missed."

Said American Baptist General Secretary A. Roy Medley, “Rev. Mercado was a tireless voice for economic and political justice. While his words were not always easy to hear, they were always offered out of concern for the well-being of the poor and oppressed, the health of the nations, and the integrity of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was my personal privilege to have worked with Rev. Mercado when he served with International Ministries and I with National Ministries. Through our conversations and our work together, he stretched my thinking, deepened my concepts of justice, and broadened my perspective. For this, I am forever grateful. We in the American Baptist Churches were made a better denomination and better disciples of Jesus because of Victor.”

A viewing was held at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, April 29, followed by a memorial service celebrating Mercado’s life and ministry, and a funeral service was held April 30 at the Funeraria Ehret in Rio Piedras.

Doing Theology from Colorado???

2009-04-26T20:34:00.005-05:00

Well, at least for the next few months anyway!

Lest any of my readers be confused by my last two posts, I should point out that my wife and I returned to Denver about a month ago for a six-month home assignment. After that, International Ministries will be reassigning us to a new ministry in Latin America. So far, possiblities under consideration include Nicaragua and Bolivia. Though, it's entirely possible that something else might emerge before a final decision is made. We should probably have a better idea of which direction we're headed within the next several months.

In the meantime, I expect to continue posting--as time permits--on topics related to the Caribbean and Latin America but will also be commenting on issues pertinent to my current social location here in Colorado.

Colorado Death Penalty Watch

2009-04-26T20:25:00.003-05:00

Looks like the Denver Post published my letter to the editor along with two others on this topic.

Colorado House Votes Down Death Penalty

2009-04-22T16:09:00.003-05:00

Anti-death penalty legislation barely squeezed through the Colorado House yesterday, passing by just one vote. It will still have to get through the Senate and Gov. Ritter's office before it can become law.

If the bill passes in the Senate, it is unclear as to whether Gov. Ritter will be receptive or not. As a former DA, he has typically been supportive of local prosecutors and they are in favor of keeping the death penalty. On the other hand, Ritter is a devout Roman Catholic (and even did missionary work for a couple of years in Africa) and is one of the rare elected Democrats to adhere to a pro-life position on abortion. Thus, he might well adhere to Catholic seemless-garment of life ethic, which advocates for the preservation of life "from conception until natural death."

On a related note, Gov. Bill Richardson of NM--also a devout Catholic--recently signed off on similar legislation in New Mexico so it will be interesting to see what parallels, if any, take place here in Colorado.

That being said, I was pleased to learn that Colorado has only executed one person since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Hopefully, it will also be our last.

Bahamas Watch

2009-04-08T19:58:00.004-05:00

PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 14/001/2009
06 March 2009
UA 65/09 Fear for safety / ill-treatment
BAHAMAS Detainees at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre

A number of recent media reports in the Bahamas have indicated that people being held at the country’s immigration detention centre are being ill-treated. Amnesty International is concerned for their safety. The Carmichael Road Detention Centre, which is located in the capital, Nassau, houses foreign nationals alleged by the authorities to have breached immigration laws, including asylum-seekers, some of whom are believed to be children. A journalist from a local newspaper gained access to the facility on 26 February and managed to speak to ten detainees who described the conditions of their detention. A Dominican national who was detained on 24 February claimed to have been badly beaten by guards who were trying to extract information from him. The beating caused him to cough up blood and he was repeatedly struck on his genitals. Three Cuban men have reportedly been on hunger strike since 25 February in protest at the ill-treatment they have received and their conditions of detention. One of them claimed to have been severely beaten leading him to lose several toenails and fingernails. The detainees claimed that all those held at the Centre, including women and children are marched outside three times a day in order to be counted by heavily armed guards who push them with the butts of their guns. There were also claims that there were severe problems with overcrowding with some detainees forced to sleep on concrete floors. The Bahamian authorities have publicly denied the abuses but said they would investigate. Amnesty International, however, is concerned that any investigation would be conducted internally without independent review and oversight.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Asylum seekers and those deemed by the authorities to be irregular migrants, including women and children are currently detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. In most cases they are subsequently returned to their country of origin. There have been frequent reports over a number of years of poor conditions at the Centre, including beatings and overcrowding. There are also allegations that some asylum-seekers have not been granted access to a fair and effective refugee determination procedure. In October 2004 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment raised serious concerns about conditions of detention in the Carmichael Detention Centre. This followed the receipt of several allegations of beatings by guards, including that of several Haitians on 9 October 2004 following the escape of a number of them from the centre. While under review at the UN Universal Periodic Review in December 2008, the Bahamas promised to respond “without delay” to concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur on the conditions of detention in the Carmichael Detention Centre.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:

- expressing concern at reports that people being held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre have been beaten and ill-treated;

- calling on the authorities to provide appropriate medical treatment to those detainees who have been ill-treated;

- requesting an immediate, thorough and independent investigation into these allegations, ensuring that anyone found responsible is brought to justice;

- calling on the authorities to allow independent monitoring of the facility by civil society including human rights organizations;

- urging that no asylum-seeker be returned without access to a fair and effective refugee determination procedure, including the right to appeal to an independent tribunal and access to effective legal assistance, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and interpreters;

- urging the authorities that the detention of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers should only be used as a measure of last resort and to ensure that alternatives to detention are available and accessible, in law and in practice, without discrimination.

APPEALS TO:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Honourable Brent Symonette
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Goodman's Bay Corporate Centre
West Bay Street
P. O. Box N 3746
Nassau, The Bahamas
Fax: +1 242 356-5990, 328-8212 or 326-2123
Salutation: Dear Deputy Prime Minister

Minister of National Security
The Honourable Tommy Turnquest
Ministry of National Security
Churchill Building, 3rd Floor
P. O. Box N 3217
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax: +1 242 356 6087 or 356 7444
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of State for Immigration
The Honourable Branville McCartney
Hawkins Hill
P. O. Box N-831
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax: +1 242 326 0977
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO:
Newspaper
The Tribune
P.O. Box N 3207
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax: + 1 242 328 2398
and to diplomatic representatives of BAHAMAS accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 17 April 2009.

Anthony Williamson in Song

2009-04-08T18:09:00.007-05:00

The following videos feature the Rev. Anthony Williamson, one of my former student from Atlantic College. Enjoy!

"Lamb of God"

"Until Then"

Quote of the Week

2009-03-26T20:05:00.005-05:00

"Studying about missions is different from doing missions. Hearing a sermon about doing for 'the least of these' is different from doing for the least of these. Talking about evangelism is different from doing evangelism. Many have become keepers of the aquarium instead of fishers of men. Dropping money in the offering plate to send people to Africa or the Middle East is different from interacting with and ministering to someone of another race or culture in your own community."

Michael Helms
Pastor
Trinity Baptist Church
Moultrie, Georgia

Peacemaking Begins at Home

2009-01-21T14:41:00.006-05:00

We often think of peacemaking in terms of negotiating a cease-fire between two warring countries, arranging a truce between street gangs, or even breaking up a fight between two angry kids on the playground. While all of these efforts are important and worthy of our support, we should not forget the importance of modeling peacemaking at home in our personal relationships with our spouses and children.

Below, I have reposted an article from M&M's monthly health update which offers some helpful tips for doing precisely that. While my wife and I do not have children and, consequently, have not used this exact approach in our own home, we are familiar with and, on occasion, have used the speaker-listener technique for couples which is very similar to the method outlined below.

Peacemaking is something that is needed and can be practiced at all levels of society, ranging from small disputes between spouses all the way up to major geopolitical conflicts involving several nations. Perhaps if we were to practice peacemaking more on the personal level, we wouldn't find it to be so challenging in other, more complex areas of our lives.

A FAMILY ROUNDTABLE

Occasional family conflicts are normal, so it's best to have a strategy for resolving disagreements. Try a family roundtable with these steps.

Gather the group and appoint a moderator. For initial meetings, this should be a parent. As family members learn the routine, the moderator role can be rotated.
Explain the ground rules. No blaming, labeling or name-calling. Everyone has an equal voice.
Work on one problem. Clearly state the issue to be discussed, such as: "We're here to discuss how to divide the responsibility for walking the dogs."
Allow each family member to state his or her opinion. No interruptions allowed.
Brainstorm solutions. List all ideas without judging or reacting to them.
Narrow the field. Give each person a chance to choose his or her preferred solution.
Seek agreement. If you can't agree 100 percent on one solution, look for a compromise. For example, combine two solutions, or agree to try each idea for one week and discuss the outcome.
If tempers flare, take a timeout. Meet again at another time.
Ask for help. If, after repeated attempts, your family members aren't able to resolve a challenging problem, consider using a mediator, such as a clergyperson or a licensed mental health provider. Some communities also offer local mediation services. Check with your local government to see if one is available in your area.

Nicolette Bethel on the Cuban Revolution

2009-01-13T15:59:00.003-05:00

Bahamian anthropologist Nicolette Bethel makes some astute observations on the significance of the Cuban Revolution:

"In many ways the Cuban revolution parallels Haiti’s, which succeeded 155 years earlier, and the success of each revolution depended as much in many ways on the reactions of the countries beyond as it did on the will of the people within the nation. Haiti’s revolution ended in abject poverty and long-term chaos for that nation — not because of some inherent flaw in the idea of freedom for slaves and descendants of Africa, but because of the intolerable demands placed on the nation by the slave-owning countries around it. Cuba’s is sliding into poverty, but despite the best efforts of the Cuban exiles in Miami, and despite the fondest wishes of those who believe Communism is an unworkable system, chaos has not yet begun."

"I am not a communist. However, I am fundamentally an admirer of Castro’s Cuba because Castro achieved what the rest of this region, with all its variable riches, cannot even imagine achieving: a sense of self in a post-colonial world, a justifiable sense of pride in that self, and an understanding of the place of oneself in history — all of which are rare in the post-slave societies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."

Read the rest of the article here.

Bahamas Watch

2009-01-13T15:52:00.004-05:00

Looks like we now know which cruise ship passenger torched the Carmichael Road Detention Center last month. Didn't it occur to him that some of the people he was trying to free might have gotten hurt?

Today in Caribbean History

2009-01-10T21:40:00.003-05:00

Following the Bahamian election of 10 January 1967, Lynden Pindling of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) brokered a deal with Randol Fawkes' Labour Party to form a black coalition government, thus defeating the white led United Bahamian Party (UBP) and ushering in a new era of Black Majority Rule. As the nation's first black premier and, later, first prime minister, Pindling would remain in power for the next twenty-five years until his party was defeated in the 1992 elections.

Life in the Diaspora

2009-01-02T19:30:00.003-05:00

“So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.” Matthew 2:14

When we think of Christmas, one of the first images that comes to mind is the baby Jesus lying in a manger, sleeping peacefully under the watchful eyes of his parents while angels, shepherds, Magi, and even barnyard animals gather around to worship him. Such tranquil images often cause us to overlook the fact that this momentous event—the birth of our Lord—took place amidst great political, social, and economic turmoil.

We forget that the baby Jesus was born into a backwater province of the Roman Empire where strong anti-Roman sentiment characterized the feelings of Jewish peasants who were barely able to eek out a living after paying their share of taxes to Rome. Likewise, we overlook the brutal tactics employed by Roman rulers in order to insure that nobody—not even an innocent baby boy rumored to be a king—would challenge their hold on power. Thus, Joseph and Mary soon found themselves fleeing with their newborn to escape the politically-motivated slaughter of baby Jewish boys in Bethlehem.

While Matthew briefly records Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt and notes that, following the death of King Herod, they were able to return home to Palestine, he mentions nothing about their actual sojourn in Egypt itself. While we can’t be certain, it is not unrealistic to assume that Joseph and Mary might have taken refuge in the large Jewish expatriate community in Alexandria and, as was the case with Jewish migrant communities elsewhere throughout the empire, they undoubtedly faced the stigma of being foreigners in a Gentile world.

Twenty centuries later, Matthew’s account of the flight to Egypt continues to resonate with migrants around the world who have had to flee their homes due to political, social, and economic turmoil. And like the expatriate Jewish communities scattered throughout the Roman Empire (and beyond) during Jesus’ day, today’s migrant communities must also confront the stigma and discrimination so often inflicted upon them by the majority culture.

We first met Kevin two summers ago when a Haitian lady who lives across the street from our church came to register him, along with her own small children and grandchildren, for vacation Bible school. Later we learned that when he was just two years-old, Kevin’s pregnant mother was arrested by Bahamian immigration and, lacking proper documents, deported to Haiti. Since Kevin’s father, who had never married his mother, works on one of the Family Islands and only comes to Nassau once per year, this lady offered to take Kevin in to her already overcrowded home. While accepted into her home, Kevin has never really become a part of the family and, frequently, is blamed and severely beaten for the misdeeds of the other children.

Now six-years old, Kevin has been a regular participant in our weekly after-school homework program for the past two-years. Even though he is in the second-grade, Kevin—like many other public school children his age—is still unable to read. Despite his turbulent home life and poor academic performance, Kevin is surprisingly very pleasant and helpful. He is often the first child to arrive at the church and the last to leave, insisting on helping us to load and unload supplies from our car. And one night last summer when Estela stopped by the church to take care of some things for the next morning’s vacation Bible school, Kevin appeared out of nowhere and followed Estela around as if he were her bodyguard, refusing to leave her side until he saw that she had safely gotten in the car to drive away.

What does the future hold for Kevin? Will he learn to read? Will he someday be reunited with his mother and siblings in Haiti? Will he graduate from high school? Will he regularize his immigration status and find a job? As this year’s Christmas season comes to a close, let us not forget the many Haitian children just like Kevin who—like the Jewish migrants of Jesus’ day—routinely face hardships and discrimination because they are foreigners in a strange land.

This article originally appeared in News from Daniel and Estela Schweissing on 2 January 2009. The painting, titled "The Flight into Egypt," was done by Vittore Carpaccio in A.D. 1500.

Today in Caribbean History

2009-01-01T10:29:00.011-05:00

New Year's Day marks the remembrance of two significant events in Caribbean History--Haitian Independence Day and Cuban Liberation Day.

On 1 January 1804, following history's first and only successful slave rebellion, Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti's independence, making Haiti the second independent country in the Western Hemisphere and the first Black Republic in the world. Today, Haitians throughout Haiti and the Haitian diaspora will eat soup joumou (squash stew) in remembrance of this momentous event.

On 1 January 1959, Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro succeeded in wresting power from right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

Bahamas Historical Society -- January Meetings

2008-12-31T13:46:00.004-05:00

The Bahamas Historical Society has an exciting line-up of meetings and speakers for the new year. Please join us for the following presentations:

1. Thursday, January 15th, 2009 – Ward Minnis: “National Identity, Tourism and the Fergusons of Farm Road, 1970-74.”

When majority rule came to the Bahamas in 1967 the black population was in an exuberant mood. Despite their newfound pride though, blacks were still working to serve whites because of the country's economic dependence on the tourism industry. Reports of tourist harassment were soon on the increase and the new government worried that low levels of tourist satisfaction would have dire economic circumstances.

Enter "the Fergusons of Farm Road." This radio soap-opera was designed to educate Bahamians on the importance of tourism to the economy and to thus encourage them to improve their attitudes towards white vacationers. The show started in 1970 and became immensely popular. Thus the show exists on the cross-roads between tourism, economic policy, national identity and cultural production, and as such is worthy of study. The show sheds light on the tensions existing in Bahamian society in this crucial phase of its history. Tensions between the government and the governed, between blacks and whites, and between the tourist and the native, issues of gender, race and the potential for black leadership are all there in the surviving episode scripts. The show also raises questions about the media as a form of social control.

2. Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 – Dr. Munir Rashad, Secretary of Jamaat-ul-Islaam of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas: “The History of Islaam in the Bahamas.”

By inviting Dr. Rashad to talk about the history of Islam in the Bahamas, we hope to illustrate that Bahamian history and culture is indeed rich and multi-facetted. May this be the first in a series of lectures to include groups that are often “overlooked” in the Bahamian mainstream.

3. Thursday, January 29th, 2009 – Dr. Peter T. Dalleo: “‘That Boasted Land of Negro Liberty’: Afro-Bahamian Sailors and the Union Navy During the U.S. Civil War.”

Dr. Dalleo has identified 62 sailors about whom he will present a group profile that includes their place of birth, occupation prior to enlistment, age at enlistment and where enlisted, names and types of vessels on which they served. He has chosen a few of them to highlight as examples of types of actions in which they were involved and an assessment of their contribution to the war effort. He will also speculate about the reasons that they enlisted in the Union Navy.

¡Feliz Navidad!

2008-12-24T11:33:00.008-05:00

El Ayuntamiento (City Hall), Higüey, Dominican Republic.

Museo de Las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Plaza de la Hispanidad, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

El Ayuntamiento (City Hall), Higüey, Dominican Republic.

Bahamas Watch

2008-12-24T11:28:00.003-05:00

The Bahama Journal reports that "An early morning fire gutted one of the holding dorms at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre on Monday, leaving immigration officials scrambling to place 21 illegal immigrants in new quarters."

Victims Families Call for Halt to Death Penalty

2008-12-16T11:38:00.004-05:00

Recent protests to resume the death penalty in the Bahamas have prompted a member of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights to write a letter to the Tribune arguing that killing murderers is not the solution to murder.

Twenty years ago, two shotgun blasts took my father's life in the doorway of our family home, right in front of my mother's eyes. That day changed my family forever, and as a result I feel a unique solidarity and kinship with anyone who has suffered the devastating loss of a family member to murder. I share the grief, outrage, and desire for recognition felt by the victims' family members who marched in the streets last month. Where we differ, however, is in regard to whether the death penalty is the best way to address our pain, our loss, and the injustices we have experienced.

Read the rest of the letter here.

Women in Ministry: Cheryl Allen

2008-12-15T11:27:00.003-05:00

Ethics Daily has recently run a compelling and inspirational series of articles (see here and here) on the Rev. Cheryl Allen, who is believed to be the only female Baptist senior pastor in all of Africa. She is the former pastor of Berea Baptist Church, which is located in one of the roughest, highest crime neighborhoods in Johannesburg, South Africa. Presently, she serves on the executive board of the Baptist Union of Africa. She is best known for her work with Door of Hope, a ministry that she founded to save abandoned HIV-infected infants, nurse them to health, and put them up for adoption.

R.I.P., Amparo Palacios, 1939?-2008

2008-12-13T11:12:00.003-05:00

In memory of Amparo Palacios, Baptist peacemaker extraordinaire:

Peace Activist Amparo Lopez Palacios; Fought U.S. Aid to Salvadoran Military

By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 11, 2008; B05

Amparo Lopez Palacios, 69, a Mexican-born peace activist who fled El Salvador in 1989 under armed guard and then lobbied Congress to stop U.S. aid to the Salvadoran military, died of lung cancer Nov. 14 at the Washington Home hospice.

Mrs. Palacios and her husband, the Rev. Edgar Palacios, had worked to stop the 1980-92 civil war in the Central American nation, actions that landed them on the military junta's death-squad list.

It was a violent time -- in March 1980, Archbishop Óscar Romero was shot during Mass, a month after publicly asking the U.S. government to stop military aid to the government. At his funeral, bombers and snipers massacred 42 mourners.

A National Guard death squad raped and murdered three American nuns and a laywoman in December 1980. The El Salvador government killed tens of thousands of civilians during that decade.

David R. Nagle, then a Democratic member of Congress from Iowa, was the couple's guest during a fact-finding trip to El Salvador in the late 1980s. He recalled visiting a prison where thousands of people were crowded into cells meant for 400, and how activists would suddenly disappear after irritating the military.

"She and her husband were just fearless," Nagle said. "It was intimidating enough to go there once, because bombs were frequently placed in buildings where opponents to the government were gathered. I remember going back to Washington, and it wasn't like I'd been in a foreign land, but on a foreign planet."

The couple ran the National Debate for Peace, which Nagle described as a "middle way" group between the opposing forces of government and rebel fighters. But after six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were killed in November 1989, the Palacios left El Salvador under the protection of United Nations troops.

Mrs. Palacios began working as executive director of the Washington office of the Debate for Peace in El Salvador. She also began walking the halls of congressional office buildings, urging an end to U.S. aid to the military in her country.

"Ultimately, she was successful," Nagle said. "No one could have been as effective as she was, because she had been there."

She and her husband sat in the front row at the United Nations General Assembly when the peace treaty was signed in 1992.

Mrs. Palacios was born in Guadalupe Victoria, in the north-central Mexican state of Durango. She graduated from the Hispano American Baptist Seminary in Los Angeles and married in 1969.

After coming to Washington, she joined Festival Church, a small, multicultural, ecumenical church in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, where she was ordained in 1993 and served as an outreach pastor. She also belonged to Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, where her husband is pastor of a Spanish-speaking congregation and the minister of education.

Since 1996, Mrs. Palacios had been a caseworker at the Family Place, a drop-in center serving pregnant women and young families. She taught prenatal and parenting classes, ran support groups for victims of domestic violence and accompanied people to court, hospital and school conferences. Her home in Washington became a refuge for destitute women and children over the years.

Besides her husband, survivors include three children, Edgar Palacios Lopez of Navojoa, in Mexico's state of Sonora, Amparo Palacios Lopez of Washington and Ana Xochitl Palacios Lopez of San Salvador; three brothers; and six grandchildren.

BHRN Celebrates Human Rights Day

2008-12-12T09:54:00.009-05:00

The Bahamas Human Rights Network (BHRN) celebrated Human Rights Day at the HUB in Nassau this past Wednesday December 10th. The celebration was in observance of the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also marked BHRN's second anniversary since it was publicly launched in conjunction with Human Rights Day 2006.

Prof. Michael Stevenson, head of the law department at the College of the Bahamas, led a discussion on the topic of human rights and the Bahamian constitution. The discussion was followed by a reading of the Bahamian constitution which then flowed into Express Yourself--the HUB's weekly open mike poetry, spoken word, and other performed arts night.

Appropriately, the past week has also marked a significant milestone for human rights in the Bahamas. The Bahamian government has announced its intention to repeal the law permitting corporal punishment during the upcoming legislative term, a move that has been applauded by BHRN as well as Amnesty International.

Sadly, we were also reminded that much still needs to be done to confront religious bigotry and human smuggling.

Haiti Watch

2008-12-02T19:51:00.004-05:00

Amnesty International is calling on the Haitian government to do more to tackle the widespread rape of girls, often by gangs of armed men. Amongst other things, Amnesty reports that 55% of the 105 rapes reported so far this year were of girls aged under 18.

Read a BBC report on the situation here or, better yet, read Amnesty's extensive report on the subject here.

Quote of the Week

2008-12-02T11:18:00.003-05:00

"Like Bush's 2000 campaign slogan, Compassionate Conservatism, Word of Faith preachers often give lip service to their church's community service projects yet worship at the altar of hyperindividualism and unregulated capitalism. Many of these televangelists spend millions of dollars of church funds on luxury jets, take huge salaries out of church coffers to build themselves mansions, and treat themselves to other luxuries like clothes, vacations, and high-end dinners. They use the free advertising of their churches and television shows to sell countless books, tapes, and DVDs of their sermons, raking in millions that go into for-profit church-related enterprises that line their own pockets. All of this activity is rationalized as obeying Jesus' command to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Yet it is all possible precisely because there is virtually no oversight of the preachers' activities. Tax-exempt churches do not file tax returns and are under no obligation to divulge their finances to donors or the public. Where profit-driven church meets the cornerstone of conservative economic ideology, televangelists have been enriching themselves in an unregulated marketplace trading on God, the cult of personality, and American dreams of riches and success."

Sarah Posner
Author of God's Profits

Women in Ministry: Margarita Campos Marileo

2008-10-18T09:52:00.007-05:00

This is a guest post by Carlos Bonilla and Mayra Giovanetti, American Baptist Missionaries to Chile.

"Behold! My servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights! I have put my spirit upon him . . ." Isaiah 42:1

This is a key verse for Pastor Margarita Campos Marileo, who trusts it is the Lord who upholds here as His servant, who delights in her and who has put His spirit in her.

As we think of men and women of God who surprise us, we think of Margarita. On March 1, 2008, the Convention of Baptist Churches of the Chilean Mission and the Baptist Church of the New Redeemer in San Bernardo made history. Margarita became their first woman Baptist pastor to be ordained to ministry.

Margarita began her church life at Grandma Orfelia's side. Since age 15 she has held posts at the Second Baptist Church in San Bernardo and for the last 18 years she has held different posts with the Women's Convention Board.

As an adolescent it was prophesied that she would be "arrowhead to something big in her Jerusalem and to the nations." Back then there was little knowledge of prophecy, but Margarita knew God knew her. During a Sunday service she acknowledged in her heart to be a pastor and that the Lord was calling her. She attended the Baptist Theological Institute while struggling with her call and refusing to accept it.

The Lord kept confirming He was calling her to pastoral ministry and after a trip to the United States in 1999, she never again ran away from her call. For the first time she publicly acknowledged and accepted in front of the women, with fear: "God called me to be a pastor."

The Lord moved her and her family to the New Redeemer under the pastoral leadership of Victor Aguilar who with the church recognized Margarita's pastoral call. The preparation process for Margarita, her husband Patricio Bravo, and their son Adolfo was their school.

We have witnessed in Margarita the Lord's ministry in a church that is constantly growing, where the presence of His Spirit is evident, doing miracles, and showing His delight in a woman who is now an ordained pastor and surprises us.

This article first appeared in the Guide to Global Servants, 2008-2009, which is published annually by American Baptist International Ministries.

Today in History

2008-10-18T09:33:00.004-05:00

On 18 October 1929, the Persons Case, a legal milestone in Canada, was decided.

Five women from Alberta, later known as the Famous Five, asked the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on the legal status of women. Some decisions of Magistrate Emily Murphy had been challenged on the basis that she was not a legal person, and she was a candidate for appointment to the Canadian Senate.

After the Supreme Court ruled against them, they appealed to the British Privy Council. The Privy Council found for the women on this day (eight years after the case began and eleven years after women received the federal vote), declaring that women were persons under the law.

October 18 has since been celebrated as Persons Day in Canada, and October as Women's History Month. The other women activists in the Famous Five were Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby.

Bahamas Human Rights Network Meeting

2008-10-17T18:54:00.002-05:00

The Bahamas Human Rights Network is having its next meeting on Thursday, October 23rd at the HUB on Bay Street, at 6:30PM.

We are pleased to announce that Francise Dillet will be giving a special presentation that evening on "Domestic Violence: current legislation and its effectiveness."

We hope you will be able to join us that evening and participate in the discussion. Please feel free to bring along friends whom you think might be interested in the discussion.

The HUB is located on Bay Street, just east of Victoria Avenue. It is on the south side of the street and there is parking adjacent to the building.

See you there!

Making Peace and Justice a Post-Election Priority

2008-10-17T17:45:00.007-05:00

Will the outcome of this year's U.S. presidential elections make a difference for the world's poor, oppressed, and marginalized?

Seven months ago, while the presidential primaries were still underway, Baptist ethicist Miguel De La Torre argued that:

So far in this campaign, all three (Clinton, Obama, and McCain) have ignored the fact that the gap between the rich and poor has more than doubled between 1980 and 2005. All three candidates will defend free-market policies and none will seriously address the undemocratic distribution of wealth, resources and privileges in this country.

Noting that "all three (of the candidates) are ontologically white males," De La Torre went on to explain that:

It does not matter if a black man or a white woman is elected president. If the national politics and economics of the captains of industry were to be threatened with a reversal caused by the needs of U.S. marginalized communities--be they blacks, women, or poor whites--the future president would rally all the forces at his or her disposal to maintain the prevailing economic power structures that exist, even if those structures are detrimental to communities that share their gender or skin pigmentation.

On the international scene, whoever the future president may be, it will be her or his job to protect the interests of the empire abroad. Therefore, in terms of U.S. global economic policies, it really doesn't matter if we elect a black man, a white woman or conclude that all the change we really need is another white man.

Ultimately, De La Torre concludes that regardless of who wins the White House in November, that person will simply be the new "face of a global neoliberalism that continues to privilege the few at the expense of the vast majority of the world's population."

Sadly, this year's elections are turning out just as De La Torre has predicted. Even though economic justice for the poor is one of the central themes of both the Old and New Testaments, neither of the two major party candidates, both of whom claim to adhere to the Christian faith, have addressed this concern in the last three presidential debates. While John McCain tries to dance around the fact that his economic policies favor America's wealthiest citizens, Barack Obama has firmly positioned himself behind American's so-called middle-class, most of whom--while not anywhere near as rich as McCain's constituency--are still amongst the world's wealthiest people.

The good news is that, just a few days ago, the leadership of the National Council of Churches in the USA wrote an open letter to Senators Obama and McCain, calling upon them to make the poor and poverty, both in the U.S. and abroad, a major priority in their campaigns. While it seems unlikely that such a letter will be cause for a major shift in either candidate's campaign at this late date, it is still important because it alerts the candidates, the nation, and the world to the political priorities of the American church. Regardless of who wins the election, the NCC has made clear that it stands on the side of the poor and will seek to hold the occupant of the Oval Office--whomever that may be--accountable to that priority.

Poverty, of course, is just one of many priorities that we as Christians should have when it comes to the struggle for peace and justice. And like poverty, few--if any--of those priorities have been addressed by McCain and Obama. Regardless of the outcome of this year's elections, we will clearly have our work cut out for us.

IOM Report on Haitian Rights in the Bahamas

2008-10-15T20:23:00.004-05:00

I've been a bit negligent in posting regularly over the past two months or so. Nevertheless, life goes on and quite a lot has happened regarding our understanding of the Haitian situation in the Bahamas.

In 2005, the International Office of Migration--an intergovernmental group--collaborated with the College of the Bahamas to produce a comprehensive review of all available literature and data on Haitian migration. This was combined with a survey of 500 Haitian residents on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera sanctioned by the Bahamian government and the Haitian Embassy. The results of that study were recently released.
Larry Smith, a columnist for the Nassau Tribune has provided an in-depth discussion of the above mentioned study here and here.
Bahamian geographer Dawn Marshall, who in 1979 wrote the first (and for a long time the only) study of the Haitian migration to the Bahamas has also weighed in on the subject.
Meanwhile, the Bahama Journal has published an editorial, suggesting that it is time to rethink the matter of Haitian migration to the Bahamas.
While not entirely related to the IOM report, I recently stumbled across an online version of Amnesty International's book Living in the Shadows: A primer on the human rights of migrants which is a fantastic resource for those who might be interested in human rights for migrants of any nationality.
[Added as of 10/17] The latest edition of the College of the Bahamas Research Journal includes a helpful article on "The Stigma of Being 'Haitian' in The Bahamas."

The Diary of Anne Frank: Similarities between the Jews and Haitians

2008-10-14T15:58:00.009-05:00

This essay was written by one of the Haitian-Bahamian students in our ministry--a tenth grader at a local public high school--in response to seeing the film The Diary of Anne Frank. I have posted it here with her permission.

The similarities between Jews and Haitians starts with the government. Because of the government they had, the Jews found their country to be unsafe and unsuitable to live in. The Haitians had the same problem. I believe it started with Papa Doc. The Haitians became poor and found Haiti unbearable so they did only one thing they could have think of and that is to escape.

Of course for both nations because of the fact they don't have anyone and don't know anyone, they try to find someone to help them and they end up sharing a place with other people so that they could hide. Jews and Haitians can't just decide to roam the streets without documents or they would be shipped off back from whence they came.

Jews and Haitians have no choice but to get along with the person they're living with because getting kicked out is not an option, because they have no where to go. Just like the Jews Haitians when they are caught they are kept in a detention center. They could be there for days before deportation. They both have to keep a low profile or not be seen at all. All Jews and Haitians are in danger and they hope that each day that goes by they don't get caught.

Race and the (U.S. Presidential) Race

2008-10-13T12:13:00.005-05:00

Regardless of which candidate you might favor in this year's U.S. presidential elections, I think it's safe to say that this year's race is turning out to be quite a case study in race and racism that will be analyzed and cited by academics, activists, politicians and pundits for decades to come. Two recent columns in the New York Times help to shed some light on the situation.

Frank Rich focuses on the nature of the increasingly overt racism that has been observed amongst McCain-Palin supporters in recent weeks.

All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.

What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.
That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder.

While such instances of overt racism as described by Rich are no doubt having an influence on the election, Nicholas Kristof argues that the type of racism that is really driving this election is much more subtle and, typically, unconscious on the part of the persons who wield it.

The racism is difficult to measure, but a careful survey completed last month by Stanford University, with The Associated Press and Yahoo, suggested that Mr. Obama’s support would be about six percentage points higher if he were white. That’s significant but surmountable.
Most of the lost votes aren’t those of dyed-in-the-wool racists. Such racists account for perhaps 10 percent of the electorate and, polling suggests, are mostly conservatives who would not vote for any Democratic presidential candidate.
Rather, most of the votes that Mr. Obama actually loses belong to well-meaning whites who believe in racial equality and have no objection to electing a black person as president — yet who discriminate unconsciously.

The bottom line is that Barack Obama--America's first black presidential contender--is plagued by race on both sides of the aisle. On one hand, he must confront the shameless racial and ethnic slurs from overzealous McCain supporters. And on the other, he must overcome the invisible, unconscious racism that is deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of those who sincerely believe that they support racial equality. No doubt, the barriers posed by the latter group will me much more difficult to overcome.

UPDATE:Michael Westmoreland-White over at Levellers identifies some additional resources on race and the Bradley effect (or lack thereof) in this year's election.

U.S. Policy Pushes and Pulls Migrants

2008-10-13T12:00:00.002-05:00

Miguel De La Torre, a columnist for Ethicsdaily.com notes that the United States is one of the only nations in the world to make humanitarian aid a crime.

Haiti Watch

2008-10-13T10:09:00.007-05:00

Following Haiti's devastation by four back to back storms last month, editorials in the Miami Herald and the New York Times (see here and here) have joined Haiti's president René Preval and members of congress in calling for the Bush administration to grant temporary protected status (TPS) to undocumented Haitian immigrants currently residing in the United States.

After the storms, the Bush administration temporarily suspended deportations but has not yet taken the next step of granting TPS. In the past, the U.S. has routinely granted (and the Bush administration has regularly renewed) TPS to Hondurans, Salavorans, and Hondurans when their countries faced similar devastating catastrophies yet, as the Miami Herald puts it, Haitians can't seem to "catch a break." Haiti's poverty, which was already the worst on this side of the globe prior to the storm, has--practically overnight--become infinitely worse. The last thing Haiti needs right now is, as the New York Times argues, "a forced influx of homeless, jobless deportees."

If you are a U.S. citizen, consider contacting President Bush and your congressional representatives and encourage them to support TPS for Haitian nationals. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you can also encourage support for this measure by contacting the U.S. ambassador in your country of residence.

Race in the Bahamas

2008-10-10T16:22:00.005-05:00

Ward Minnis over at Mental Slavery has written an informative post about race in the Bahamas. Too often, we overlook the fact that race is not so much a biological or genetic phenomenon as it is a social construction. If you have any doubts about that, consider for a moment how race is understood in the Caribbean, in general, and the Bahamas, in particular.

Minnis writes:

This color line is tricky. It’s no where near as rigid as the “one drop” rule that governs blackness in the United States. The Bahamian black/white line is a fluid boundary that varies in different islands and even in different settlements / villages on the same island. For example on the same island of Eleuthera, I am read as black in Tarpum Bay and white in Lower Bogue.

More interesting still is how race is often closely linked with national identity. Back when I was studying TESL in Puerto Rico, I had an American classmate who had previously spent five years teaching English in Taiwan. While there, he observed that the English language schools preferred to hire Germans and Swedes rather than African Americans who were native English speakers because they assumed that "real" English could only be spoken folks who were white or, in other words, fit their preconceived notion of what Americans and Brits are supposed to look like. Likewise, Minnis points out how linking blackness with Bahamian national identity has had the reverse effect in the Bahamas.

As it stands the Bahamian identity is constructed as black, ghetto and male. This construction ignores, deliberately I believe, the 20 percent or so of the country that happen to be white. I have inadvertently asked a few white Bahamians “so, where are you from?” It’s polite conversation with a tourist but it’s the surest, most direct way to insult a native . . . To be called white in the Bahamas is another way to say that you do not belong.

You can read the rest of Minnis' post here.

Lest We Forget: Remembering the Other 9/11

2008-09-11T11:04:00.004-05:00

Today marks the 20th anniversary (September 11, 1988) of the destruction of St. Jean Bosco Church in the slums of Port-au-Prince. While Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide was giving mass, armed thugs working for the Henri Namphy regime entered the church and, in a siege that lasted several hours, massacred over twenty parishioners and injured many, many more before setting fire to the church. While Aristide managed to escape with his life, the incident eventually led to his expulsion from the Salesian order on December 15, 1988. Aristide, a liberation theologian and Roman Catholic priest, led the popular movement that led to the downfall of the Duvalier regime on February 7, 1986. Twenty years (and two not-so successful Aristide presidencies) later, Haiti continues to be mired in poverty and violence.

Let us continue to work for peace and justice for the Haitian people.

Hurricane Relief Efforts Underway in the Caribbean

2008-09-11T10:22:00.007-05:00

There are many disaster relief organizations that are doing outstanding work in the wake of the destruction left by Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike. For those who might be interested in supporting the relief effort but have not yet done so, I would encourage you to consider giving through the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS). The OGHS is an ecumenical effort and you can give through the participating denomination of your choice. For American Baptists (whose current relief efforts are documented in the article below), contributions can be made by making an online donation or sending a check to:

American Baptist World Relief Office
P.O. Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851

In either case, be sure to indicate that your gift is for "Caribbean hurricane relief."

International Ministries helps Caribbean after hurricanes
by Marlon Millner, Managing Editor

American Baptist International Ministries has provided almost $15,000 in emergency grants to our Caribbean partners, as they help victims of recent hurricanes. In Jamaica, the partner has received a $3,000 grant. In the Dominican Republic, $3,500 has been released. Haiti has received a $5,000 grant. At least another $3,000 in emergency aid is planned for the region. These initial emergency grants were made after these Caribbean nations weathered Hurricane Gustav, which struck the Caribbean beginning Aug. 26 and Hurricane Hanna, which took a surprising turn to hit Haiti and then Cuba beginning Sept. 1, and most recently Hurricane Ike, which hit the Caribbean over the weekend.

International Ministries is presently accepting donations for a hurricane emergency relief fund.

The grants will allow our partners to provide immediate emergency aid, such as food and clean water. The funds were provided by One Great Hour of Sharing, an offering raised each year by American Baptists. Lisa Rothenberger, who administers OGHS as the world relief officer, says more is needed.

"These initial grants will help meet some of the immediate needs but there will be great need for additional support," Rothenberger said.

The Haitian Baptist Convention confirms this view.

"We are very worried by this disastrous situation, which is added to the various problems to which we face each day with families who cannot eat, send their children to the school, [or] go to the hospital," said Pastor Emmanuel Pierre, the convention's general secretary. "The situation, certainly, is alarming," Pierre said.

News reports initially undercounted the death toll in Haiti, but recent reports suggest as many as 500 people have died from the recent storms in that country alone.

With the most recent storm, Hurricane Ike, which has caused damage in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica, International Ministries expects the need to rise.

In Jamaica, Jamaican Baptist Union head Karl Johnson told International Ministries, "We are still assessing as we speak but [Hurricane] Gustav claimed approximately 11 lives and badly damaged the country’s infrastructure."

And according to news reports Hurricane Ike affected Eastern Cuba, where we partner with the Eastern Cuba Baptists.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti are on the same island, and missionary Madeline Flores-Lopez says the DR has been affected as well.

A whole community called Batey Yabacao was taken out of their homes due to the river [overflowing]," said Madeline. "Of course the river [flooded] the community so they lost everything."

"Our partners all over the Caribbean need our prayers and support at this time," said Dr. Jose Norat-Rodríguez, area director for the Caribbean for International Ministries. "This has been an unusual storm season because really quickly one storm has hit after another, with the people not having time to recover. So we want to prepare to meet the need that has been made worse by multiple hurricanes"

American Baptists wishing to support ongoing hurricane-relief efforts can do so through their church’s monthly report of mission support, designating contributions “OGHS-Caribbean Hurricanes.”

Since 1950, several American Protestant denominations have annually received the One Great Hour of Sharing offering to support their ministries in disaster relief, refugee assistance, and development aid. American Baptists joined this effort in 1973. Today, nine Christian denominations currently raise about $20 million annually through this offering. Each denomination retains what it raises to support vital ministries in more than 70 countries around the world.

American Baptist International Ministries, organized in 1814, is the oldest Baptist mission agency formed in North America. We serve more than 2,500 short-term and long-term missionaries annually, bringing U.S. and Puerto Rico churches together with partners in 76 countries in cutting-edge ministries that tell the good news of Jesus Christ while meeting human needs.

Hurricane Memoirs: Michelle (2001)

2008-09-10T08:14:00.004-05:00

Some of our neighbors hurriedly went about the task of boarding up their homes. Our own house was littered with large containers of water, canned meat, dried food, spare batteries, and flashlights as we underwent the task of relocating our books, computer equipment, and sermon illustration file to the inner recesses of our home. To the uninitiated, we might have looked like Branch Davidians awaiting an imminent invasion from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, or perhaps a couple of Y2K fanatics preparing for a technological apocalypse. Actually, it was neither-just our routine seasonal preparations for yet another hurricane threat.

Hurricane Michelle began its assault on the northern and central Bahamas islands early Monday morning, affecting Andros, New Providence, Bimini, the Berry Islands, Grand Bahama, Abaco, and Eleuthra. Here on the island of New Providence, we experienced about an hour and a half of heavy rains and 80+ mph winds. The storm itself was preceeded by heavy rains that had begun on Saturday evening.

In the aftermath of the storm, the main damage sustained here in New Providence seems to be limited to lots of fallen trees (no surprise as the soil is shallow and rocky), fallen utility lines, roof damage (primarily in the form of missing shingles), and heavy flooding in some of the low lying areas (the islands are basically flat, so drainage is a problem). Based on reports that we have received, the situation seems to be similar on the other islands, with the exception of Andros, which seems to have taken the brunt of the flooding. There were no casualities as a result of the storm.

Much of the islands were left without utility services. In our neighborhood, water service was restored by Tuesday morning, electricity by Tuesday evening, and, finally, internet access this morning. Local authorities estimate that at least 90% of utilities will be completelyrestored by the end of this week.

We have been in contact with Pastor Exante of the New Haitian Mission Baptist Church as well as a number of church members. At this point, it appears that the members of our partner churches have not been adversely affected. This is consistent with news reports that we have received from around the island, which seem to indicate that that as water begins to drain and cleanup is underway, most local residents have been able to return to their homes. In addition, most businesses reopened yesterday and the public schools resumed classes this morning.

This article originally appeared in News from Daniel and Estela Schweissing on 8 November 2001.

Climate Change and Human Rights

2008-09-10T08:06:00.002-05:00

The International Council on Human Rights reports:

Policies on climate change have so far ignored its likely human rights impacts, according to our new report, Climate Change and Human Rights: A Rough Guide, published on 24 June. The report argues that human rights principles can guide climate change policy by focusing on individual suffering and exposure to risk. To date, little systematic research has examined the human rights dimensions of climate change, yet almost every human right is threatened. Climate change will create new health risks, threaten food and water supplies, destroy land and livelihoods, and lead to forced migration and conflict. Global warming will disproportionately affect countries already lacking the resources to meet basic human rights obligations.

Human rights principles can help mobilise and direct adaptation funding, the report finds. They provide criteria for evaluating mitigation and technology transfer policies. The report also examines decision-making processes and accountability, the merits of litigation, and a range of ethical and policy dilemmas that climate change generates.

Five Things You Need to Know About Hurricanes

2008-09-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, notes that "Three years after Katrina and a week since Gustav, we are in need of a sobering reminder of some basic truths.

I Like Ike

2008-09-09T07:57:00.003-05:00

"I like Ike" might have been a spiffy sounding campaign slogan during the U.S. presidential elections of the 1950s. But mention the name "Ike" today and you’re more likely to invoke images of Haitian peasants carrying their meager belongings on their heads while wading through waist deep flood waters, residents of the Florida Keys anxiously boarding up their homes and businesses while evacuation buses make their rounds, or Dr. Steve Lyons giving the latest hurricane update on the Weather Channel.

It’s hard to believe that less than a week ago the Bahamas was threatened by three major storms lining up to take aim at us: Hanna, Ike, and Josephine. Compared to Ike—a very dangerous category 4 storm—Hanna and Josephine were child’s play and so the prospect of Ike’s imminent arrival quickly became our main focus of concern as we began our hurricane preparations.

By Thursday afternoon, most folks were prepared for the worst. But the worst would have to wait. Hanna—a "mere" tropical storm—was first in queue and, as it turned out, it made its northward journey just to the east of the Bahamian archipelago, leaving us with only a smattering of light rain and occasional gusty winds. When we woke up to clear skies and sunshine the next morning, we also learned that Tropical Storm Josephine—which had been trailing along behind Ike—had fizzled out midway across the Atlantic. So far so good. Two down, one more to go.

Then we waited. And we waited some more. For three days we meticulously studied the incoming hurricane updates while the sweltering tropical sun baked us inside our boarded up apartment building. But due to a high pressure system, Ike continued on a steady westward trajectory, totally bypassing the central and northern Bahamian islands and leaving us with not so much as a single drop of rain and only an occasional minor gust of wind.

Our neighbors to the south were not so lucky.

Early Sunday morning, Ike made its first landfall on the British owned Turks and Caicos Islands, destroying over eighty percent of the homes, leveling trees and utility poles, leaving the local hospital without a roof, and inflicting severe damage on the already overcrowded prison. Inagua, the southernmost island of the Bahamas, was next in line where, amongst other things, Ike ripped the hurricane shutters off two local storm shelters and caused the roof to collapse on another. Nearly two days later there are still, unbelievably, no reported fatalities from either locale.

Yesterday, the Cuban mountains put the brakes on Ike, slowing it down to category 1 hurricane. Though, that may be of little comfort to those in western Cuba who were left homeless following Hurricane Gustav’s visit just a little over a week ago. Of course, we can’t forget the Dominican Republic and, especially, Haiti, both of whom were already saturated with flood waters from Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, and Hanna and didn’t really need to experience their fourth major storm in just three weeks.

As hard as it may be to believe, we are both very disappointed and greatly relieved that Ike never made it to Nassau. Given all the hard work that goes into preparing for a hurricane and, then, all of the sitting around and waiting that comes after that, how could one possibly not be disappointed? Yet as we look at the destruction that has followed in the wake of Ike and recognize the inadequacy of even our best preparations in the face of such a powerful storm, we are greatly relieved that we did not have to live through such a terrifying experience, let alone its aftermath.

But with relief also comes guilt as we struggle with our own version of the age old question, "Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?" Why was our island spared while other islands (or entire countries) with greater poverty and fewer resources continue to be hit over and over and over again? Even a cursory glance at the map makes it clear that if a hurricane misses us, it’s almost impossible for it to slip through without striking elsewhere. Thus, our salvation comes at the expense of someone else.

But spared we were, at least for now. Meteorologists predict that there will be seven more named storms during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Three of those storms will be hurricanes and one of those three will be a category 3 storm or higher. Since hurricane season is not over until November 30th, there’s still a good possibility that Nassau may be hit. And if it doesn’t happen this year, there’s always next year or even the year after that. The hurricane calculus is really quite simple. It’s not a question of if we’ll be hit but when. So for us, Hurricane Ike was a sobering wake up call—a call to be better prepared the next time around.

This article originally appeared in News from Daniel and Estela Schweissing on 9 September 2008.

Bahamian Anglicans Ordain Two More Women

2008-09-08T10:29:00.005-05:00

The controversial ordination of "The Philadelphia Eleven" on 29 July 1974 was deemed by the hierarchy of the U.S. Episcopal Church to be "irregular" and it wasn't until a resolution was passed to change the church's canon law on 16 September 1976, over two years later, that the ordinations of these women were finally recognized. The church of England did not approve the ordination of women to the Anglican priesthood until sixteen years later on 11 November 1992. And here in the Bahamas, it would be eight more years until Angela Palacious would become the first Bahamian woman ordained into the Anglican priesthood on 30 May 2000. Since that time, four other Bahamian women have been ordained to the Anglican priesthood as well. The most recent additions are Paulette Maria Cartwright of St. Paul's Anglican Church on Long Island and Marie Antoinette Roach of St. Gregory's Anglican Church on Carmichael Road in Nassau.

The Nassau Guardian reports:

It was on Monday, Aug. 25, that Deacons Paulette Maria Cartwright, assistant curate at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Long Island, and Deacon Marie Antoinette Roach, assistant curate at St. Gregory's Anglican Church, Carmichael Road, were both ordained to the sacred priesthood during the Feast of St. Bartholomew, the Apostle, at Christ Church Cathedral, bringing the number of Bahamian-born female priests up to five. The Rev. Erma Ambrose is foreign-born but married to a Bahamian.

Cartwright says that in itself is a remarkable feeling.

"I feel that being a woman has nothing to do with my calling or nothing to do with God calling me. If I had allowed the fact that I was a woman to dominate my thoughts when God called me, then I would not be where I am now. But I know within myself, and I'm quite comfortable with the fact that God has called me to ministry and that He has placed me into the ministry that I am in today, even though I am a woman."

Despite the fact that there were people that protested Cartwright doing what she has done, she said that she did not allow the negativity towards women in ministry to bother her.

"If I had dwelled on that fact and said that ministry is not for women and convinced myself that I was going to have a difficult time then I wouldn't be where I am," she said. "I was just simply being obedient to God."

Cartwright says she can honestly say that she knew what God wanted her to do, and is obediently doing it, which makes her feel all the more comfortable with who she is, what she is, and that she has done the right thing.

Despite her enthusiasm, Cartwright was not always on this road. She was a teacher for 20 years, before she was ordained to ministry.

"Many years ago, I received what most people would call, a call from God to return from the city of Nassau to live in Long Island. I'm sure it was because He had work for me to do here. I was involved in the various ministries within the Anglican Church and during that time I just kept within myself wondering what it was that God wanted me to do. It just never seemed as though I was actually doing what he really wanted me to do. So it was in 2002 that I received another revelation to go into ministry and being obedient that's what I did."

Cartwright says she would encourage other women in her position to follow their dream if they want to become priests. "But, in encouraging them I'm not going to make it seem to be something that's going to be an easy road for them. I'm the type of person who uses my life experiences to help somebody else and so I will share all that I had experienced with others. I'm not hesitant in doing that. Also, I want every young person and young lady who so desires to enter the ministry and to become a priest to do so because I don't want to hinder God's call for anybody, and so if I believe that your call is a genuine call from God then I will encourage you. And in encouraging you, I would prepare you as best as I can for what may or may not lie ahead."

Roach is just as delighted to be one of the five Bahamian-born female priests in the country. "Saying that this feels good is a very simple way of putting it ... It feels like I'm in the right place and its been a long journey to get here, but there is now a sense of peace within me because I know that this is where God wants me to be, and it's good to be His servant and to be used by Him."

The recent joint ordination opens more doors for more females, according to Roach who says that there are more out there who have been called to the ordained ministry.

"I think that a lot more women are realizing that the call of God is not just for men and that its also for women of all ages, from all different sectors of society. God chooses who He wants, and I think a lot more people who have been questioning their call in the past are now realizing that this is something that they can do," she said.

With the ordinations of Cartwright and Roach, the number of female priests in the Anglican Diocese in the country has increased to six. The ordination was also historic, for Roach, as she and her father, Canon Neil Roach became the first father/daughter priest combination in the country.

The above testimony suggests that the journey of Bahamian women into the Anglican priesthood has been much less controversial than was the case in either the U.S. or the U.K. Even the journey of the Rev. Angela Palacious, which I inquired about during a Q&A session following a panel discussion on Bahamian religion at the College of the Bahamas back in 2003, was more similar to the testimonies that Cartwright and Roach recounted above than that of women who were part of the "Philadelphia Eleven" in the U.S. or the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) in the U.K.

Congratulations to both Rev. Cartwright and Rev. Roach and may God richly bless your ministries!

Hurricane Memoirs: Frances (2004)

2008-09-07T08:53:00.001-05:00

We watched in awe as the powerful 140mph winds flipped cars down the street like tumbleweeds, tore plywood off of windows like scotch tape, and snapped palm trees and utility poles as if they were nothing more than cheap #2 pencils. Hurricane Frances was finally making its long awaited landfall in Palm Beach, Florida.

Fortunately for us, we were not eyewitnesses to this destruction. But as we nervously watched it transpire on CNN from the safety of Estela’s sister’s home in the Dominican Republic over 1000 miles away, we couldn’t help but wonder how our own home had fared as Frances had spent the previous forty-eight hours crossing over the Bahamian archipelago.

A few days later, our arrival at the American Eagle terminal in Miami was greeted with an eerie silence. The normal hustle and bustle of passengers boarding shuttle buses to catch their planes, fidgety children, loudspeaker announcements, whining babies, and blaring televisions was mostly absent. What would normally be a miserable three-hour layover turned out to be a pleasant evening. As we walk around the terminal and checked the locations of the outgoing flights, all but one—Nassau—were destinations within Florida. While Miami International Airport was theoretically open, the destruction left behind by Frances meant that most folks had evidently decided to cancel their vacation plans to Florida and the Bahamas—leaving us to enjoy the quiet of an empty terminal.

After catching a forty-minute flight back to Nassau on a half-empty plane whose passengers were mostly returning Bahamian nationals, we were relieved to see the city lights of Nassau from the air as our plane prepared for landing. During the taxi ride home, we asked our driver about the hurricane. How long was the electricity out? Three days. Was there a lot of damage? No, not really. How much flooding was there? What do you mean there wasn’t hardly any rain? Hmmm . . . don’t believe everything you see on television.

Upon entering our house, our first surprise was that everything was basically intact, exactly as we had left it. Glass windows remained unbroken. Pictures were still on the walls. Curtains hung in front of open windows, seemingly undisturbed. And even an old pair of flip flops sat untouched on top of the propane gas tank on our patio. Truly amazing, though, was how much dirt and debris the hurricane strength winds were able to push through the window screens while leaving everything else unscathed.

We were lucky. It only took about two days to clean up all the dirt in our house. Our fellow Nassauvians, who make up two-thirds of the population of the Bahamas, were also lucky. Overall, damage was minimal. Sure, there were plenty of downed fences, trees, utility poles, and traffic lights. And the trees that are still standing are mostly leafless. Tap water was rust colored for a few days and water pressure is still low. The Ministry of Education canceled classes for the first week of school so people could clean up after the hurricane. But in a few more weeks, everything will basically be back to normal.

Apparently, storm conditions are not uniform in all areas affected by a hurricane. While other Bahamian islands were being whipped around by 140mph gusts, wind speeds in Nassau never exceeded 115mph. The most dangerous thing about Frances was the rain, especially after its winds slowed down significantly over the Florida peninsula. In many places, flood related water damage was much more serious than anything the wind destroyed. Yet ironically, Nassau remained mostly dry throughout the entire episode.

Other Bahamian islands were not so lucky. The Bahamas’ 700 islands are spread out over an area the size of the state of California so each island was affected differently. The hardest hit were heavily populated Grand Bahama and Abaco in the northwest as well as more sparsely populated San Salvador in the southeast. In Abaco alone, over 600 homes were destroyed. Grand Bahama was worse. Airports, phone lines, electricity, and water were totally disabled on both islands. And while limited services have been restored in high priority areas, such as hospitals, during the past week, most people will have to wait for weeks, or even months, before things get anywhere close to normal.

On Sunday morning, we attended worship at Emmaus Baptist Church. For the most part, we found that the members of Emmaus—not unlike members of other local churches we’ve been in contact with—managed to survive the hurricane with minimal damage. One exception is Mme. Dolean Joseph, a member of Estela’s women’s group, and her husband. The roof of the house that the Josephs share with two other families was seriously damaged during the hurricane. In order to make repairs, the landlord has asked all three families to move out by this coming Saturday. Although the Josephs have spent the week looking for another rental, they’ve not been able find anything they can afford. In the meantime, the members of the women’s group are brainstorming ways that they can help out. Even though storm damage was minimal here in Nassau, there are undoubtedly many exceptions like the Josephs who are in need of help.

The islands that suffered the worst damages, Abaco and Grand Bahama, both have large Haitian communities. While we don’t work directly with churches in either of those communities, we have been in contact with the Haitian Ambassador who plans to visit both locations early next week and assess the damage. Even though substantial relief efforts are now underway on both islands, we are concerned that Haitians may be underserved or even overlooked altogether. Meanwhile, we await more information.

By the time it’s over, 2004 will definitely be on the books as a record breaking hurricane season. Just three weeks before Hurricane Frances’ visit to Florida and the Bahamas, Florida was hit by Hurricane Charlie. As we write, Hurricane Ivan heads through the Gulf of Mexico to the southern U.S., already having left serious damage behind in Grenada and Jamaica. In the meantime, Tropical Storm Jeanne is picking up speed as it heads towards the Bahamas and will likely be reclassified as a hurricane within the next twenty-four hours.

Dan often says that he’d much rather deal with one of Colorado’s annual hundred-year record breaking blizzards than live through another hurricane. Hmmm . . . maybe next year we can try to break some more records by asking God to send us some snow to the Caribbean.

This article originally appeared in News from Daniel and Estela Schweissing on 14 September 2004.

Converting the Church

2008-09-06T19:35:00.007-05:00

"When we read the Book of Acts, all too often we misinterpret the book's central thesis. Most of us have been taught that Acts is the story about how the church converted the world to Jesus Christ. In reality, the book of Acts is the story as to how the church constantly had to be converted in order to make the message of Jesus Christ relevant to a hurting and spiritually hungry world."

Miguel De La Torre, author of Reading the Bible from the Margins and Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Iliff School of Theology

Read the rest of the article here. If you like this article, you might also be interested in reading this commentary or this study guide on the book of Acts.

Hurricane Memoirs: An Overview

2008-09-06T07:42:00.017-05:00

As a native Coloradoan, I would much rather deal with a major blizzard than to experience a hurricane of any size. But as a transplant to the Caribbean, I've become all too familiar with the annual routine of hurricane preparation and watching, waiting, and hoping for the best.

As I type, we are waiting to see if Hurricane Ike--a dangerous category 4 storm--make a direct hit on the Bahamas or pass by to the south of us. Since Ike shouldn't be arriving until sometime tomorrow, I've decided to kill some time (and take advantage of the fact that we still have electricity) by compiling a list of all the hurricanes that I have prepared for, lived through, narrowly escaped or, otherwise, had a personal stake in their outcome since first coming to the Caribbean in January 1993.

For clarification (and to avoid the appearance of inflating my hurricane resume), I have placed an asterisk next to the storms that I've actually experienced personally. I've chosen to mention the others because (1) I still had to board up the house or otherwise prepare for them or (2) close family members or our home and personal property were in danger even if we were not actually present at the time of the storm. Also, I'll plan to come back and update this post from time to time as we will undoubtedly experience more tropical storms and hurricanes in the future.

Tropical Storm Cindy* (Aug 1993) -- During my first "hurricane" experience, I was largely unaware of the serious implications of what was taking place. I was living in the parsonage of the church (along with the pastor and his family) where I was serving as a volunteer in La Romana, Dominican Republic. At the time, we were hosting a small work team from Monadnock Bible Camp, who were staying in the dormitory above the parsonage. The night before the storm arrived (back in the days before internet and the weather channel), Pastor Phanord told us to close down all the windows in our rooms because a "hurricane" was coming and that the team would not be going to the work site the next day. Apart from that--to the best of my knowledge--no other preparations were made for the storm. We didn't board anything up and had no food or water supplies in reserve beyond what we normally would have had for a visiting work team.

We spent the entire next day inside the compound at the parsonage while it rained quite hard for most of the day. I don't recall any significant winds but I do remember that by the time things started clearing off in the evening we had quite the case of cabin fever and were ready for things to be over. Thanks to Wikipedia's extensive records of the annual Atlantic hurricane season, I recently learned that TS Cindy had actually been downgraded to a tropical depression just before entering the Dominican Republic and, subsequently, dissipated the next day. Hence, the reason we experienced mostly rain and hardly anything in the way of wind.

Hurricane Luis (Sept 1995) -- My first real hurricane preparation experience didn't take place until after moving to San Germán, Puerto Rico. I had married Estela earlier that year and, shortly thereafter, moved to Puero Rico to find a job, set up house, and begin the application process for us to study at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico while Estela waited in La Romana for her application for permanent residency to be processed.

Then in early September, just four days after I had finally brought Estela to San Germán, I found myself standing in a line behind umpteen million people at Supermercado Pueblo wondering if I'd ever be able to get out of there before the arrival of incoming Hurricane Luis. After a few hours, I did finally make it to the cashier, paid for as many emergency supplies that I could reasonably carry on my bicycle and then headed back to our apartment where our landlord and I proceeded to board up the entire building.

As it turned out, none of that preparation was necessary as the then category 4 Hurricane Luis ended up veering off to the northwest, totally bypassing us, after destroying most of the homes in Antigua and Barbuda. We later received first hand reports on the storm from my sister-in-law in Antigua, whose home was amongst those destroyed, and one of my colleagues at ICPR Junior College spearheaded a local effort to collect food and clothing to donate to the hurricane victims in Antigua and Barbuda.

Hurricane Marilyn (Sept 1995) -- This category 3 storm, which followed just a week behind Hurricane Luis, bypassed those of us in southwestern Puerto Rico entirely. Though, others parts of Puerto Rico were not so fortunate.

By that point, I was beginning to get a bit annoyed as we had just boarded up and deboarded our house two weeks in a row. I remember asking our landlord, "Are we going to have to do this every week around here?" Later, I saw an editorial cartoon depicting a family frantically boarding up their home with the caption, "Just like Christmas. Same thing every year." No kidding, more like every week!

I did learn an important lesson about hurricanes that month: Since the actual path a hurricane takes, despite the best efforts of weather forecasters, is always a bit unpredictable, lots of time is often wasted boarding up buildings and, then, sitting around sweating inside those same buildings as they bake in the heat if the fierce tropical sun and, later, deboarding them. Too often, one does all this work only to find later that (1) it was not necessary because the storm never showed or (2) one has vastly over prepared for what little bit of storm actually appeared. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Hurricane Bertha (July 1996) -- As our landlord was out of town, we didn't bother to attempt boarding up the house on our own, though we probably should have. Evidently, parts of northern and eastern Puerto Rico were pummeled fairly hard by this category 3 storm while those of us in the southwest enjoyed a nice quiet peaceful sunny day. Having not yet experienced anything worse than TS Cindy, I pretty oblivious to the seriousness of what was taking place elsewhere on the island, not to mention would could have been happening to us.

Hurricane Hortense* (Sept 1996) -- Puerto Rico took the worst beating from this category 4 storm, though neighboring countries were also affected. I suspect, but don't really know for sure, that the wind speeds near San Germán were significantly less than category 4 winds for the simple reason that the Puerto Rican mountains should have slowed the storm down quite a bit before it ever got to us.

I remember sitting in our apartment around ten or eleven o'clock at night right before the storm hit. Everything was boarded up so we couldn't see outside. We opened our door to take a look outside and it was so calm and peaceful that it seemed impossible that a hurricane would be so close. Indeed, it was downright eery because the radio broadcasts were reporting power outages, flooding, and general mayhem in neighboring towns all around us. Then, in the blink of an eye, the power went out and a fraction of a second later the wind began to howl like I'd never heard it howl before. It spent the night huffing and puffing but, thankfully, it did not blow our house down.

The next morning we awoke (yes, I'm actually pretty good at sleeping through stuff like that) to find the town of San Germán strewn with debris, downed utility poles and light posts, and the occasional roof from a tool shed scattered here or there. But other than that, we really didn't experience a great deal of damage, with all of the houses and large building having remained fully intact. The electricity came back on that night, less than twenty-four hours after having gone out. So overall, we were minimally inconvenienced by the storm. Though, later we learned that other parts of the island had experienced severe flash flooding that had washed away entire houses and spent weeks without electrical power. Indeed, we were quite shocked by what we saw on subsequent television coverage as it was a far cry from what we personally had experienced.

Though we didn't know it at the time, this would turn out to be our last direct experience with a hurricane until our run in with Hurricane Michelle in the Bahamas over five years later.

Hurricane Erika (Sept 1997) -- Passing to the north of Puerto Rico, this formidable category 3 storm--the worst of the 1997 hurricane season--wreaked some havoc in San Juan and nearby areas with tropical storm force winds on its perimeter.

Down in San Germán, I think we were vaguely aware that a storm might be affecting the northern part of the island but I was totally taken by surprise when I showed up at Universidad Interamericana on a bright sunny morning to teach my first day of class and was turned away by the guards at the entrance to the campus because the University had been shut down due to the hurricane. Since nobody else around town had bothered to board up and everybody seemed to be going about their business as usual, Estela and I made a few jokes about the university being overly cautious and paranoid and, then, enjoyed our day off.

At this point, you'll note that the next several years on my hurricane resume are a bit thin. That's because Estela and I moved to Denver for two-and-a-half years while I was attending Denver Seminary and not due to any decrease in tropical activity during that time.

Hurricane Georges (Sept 1998) -- The biggest storm to impact our lives during my seminary years is the massive category 4 Hurricane Georges that made landfall in the southeastern Dominican Republic near Estela's hometown of La Romana. The effects of this hurricane were catastrophic, destroying or otherwise severely damaging the homes of numerous close family members and friends and leaving thousands without food, water, or adequate relief assistance.

The hardest part about this experience is that while we were safely out of harms way in Denver, we were out of contact with Estela's family for about two weeks. The initial first-hand reports that came back to us via missionary colleagues in Santo Domingo suggested that there had probably not been any fatalities amongst amongst the church members in La Romana but also confirmed that the storm was just as devastating as we had feared. Eventually, the lines of communication opened back up again and we learned that Estela's family was safe, that the roof of their house was one of the few in the neighborhood that hadn't blown away in the storm, that many of the church members had been sheltered in the church sanctuary when the storm blew the roof off of the church building, and that the mother of one church member we knew had been killed by flying debris from the storm. Over the weeks and months that followed, we continued to get similar reports of harrowing experiences and, later, courageous responses as relief efforts were implemented and the process of rebuilding the Dominican Republic got underway.

Hurricane Michelle* (Nov 2001) -- Thanks to the mountainous terrain of Cuba, this former category 4 storm was severely weakened by the time it entered the Bahamas. But after observing the destruction wrought by Hurricane Georges from afar, I had finally come to appreciate the power of the hurricane and had no intention of messing around. Frustratingly, our landlord didn't quite see things the same way we did and, consequently, our house did not get boarded up for this particular storm, our first after relocating to the Bahamas.

While we never were able to find out what the actual strength of the storm was when it passed over the Bahamas, I'm guessing it was no greater than a category 2 and, perhaps, even less as none of the windows in our house were broken by the winds. The storm moved through Nassau quickly, arriving around mid-morning and departing late in the afternoon. Since our house had not been boarded up, we did get an excellent view of what was going on outside as we watched the shingles blow off a neighboring house, one by one, and our crazy neighbor running around his yard trying to pick up debris.

Thankfully, the damage was no worse than what we had experienced with Hurricane Hortense in San Germán five years previously, and was basically limited to downed utility poles, lampposts, and tree limbs but no major structural damage to homes or buildings. Electricity here in Nassau resumed within about 24 hours after the end of the storm, at least in our neighborhood, so all-in-all we were minimally inconvenienced by this storm.

Hurricane Frances (Aug 2004) -- In early August we departed to the Dominican Republic to spend a month with Estela's family before the beginning of the fall semester. Since Hurricane Charley--a category 4 storm--had just struck nearby Florida, we happily departed for our trip on the foolish assumption that hurricanes, like lightening, never strike in the same place twice. At least not in the same storm season anyway. And as far as I was concerned, Florida was close enough to Nassau that we should not have to worry about anything in our absence.

Boy was that a mistake! I was soon to learn that hurricanes, unlike lightening, can strike as many times as they darn well please. By the end of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Florida would experience four hurricanes and the Bahamas would experience two.

Towards the end of our vacation in the D.R., we were a bit disturbed to learn that a category 4 storm was headed towards the Bahamas, especially since we knew that our landlord--who was also out of town--would probably do nothing to secure our house which we had left behind with all of the windows open and our car parked on the driveway in front. Unfortunately, we had no idea what was really happening as the hurricane made its way over the Bahamas. The U.S.-centric cable news stations seemed to be more interested in interviewing home owners who were boarding up their property in Florida than reporting on what the storm was actually doing in the Bahamas.

Later, we would learn that Nassau did not take a direct hit and that our home and car remained undamaged, though we spent an entire day cleaning our house out after we got home as everything was coated with a thick layer of dirt. Again, downed utility poles, lampposts, and tree branches seemed to be the extent of the damage in Nassau, most of which had been cleaned up by the time we finally got home. Unfortunately the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama incurred very serious damages from the storm, resulting in massive relief efforts directed towards those islands.

Hurricane Jeanne* (Sept 2004) -- This category 3 storm joins the many others in the "could have hit us but didn't" department. While the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, still catching their breath from Hurricane Frances, were clobbered yet again, those of us in Nassau simply experienced a seemingly typical rain day and, to the best of my knowledge, no damage of note was incurred on our island.

Hurricane Katrina (Sept 2005) -- This major category 5 storm--like Hurricane Georges and Hurricane Francis--falls into the "storms that happened while we were AWOL" department. The Bahamas has the dubious distinction of being the location where Katrina began to form before moving on to the Gulf Coast and making its now legendary landfall in New Orleans.

Of course, at the time that it began to form, we had no clue that things would get anywhere near as bad as how they ultimately turned out. We were speaking at a church in Ontario, Oregon eight months into our home assignment year on the Sunday morning that we first realized what was going on. After the morning service was over, I went to the church office and called a friend in Nassau to find out what was going on. My biggest concern was that all of our furniture, appliances, books, and so forth were stored in a flimsy storage unit out on Blake Road just a stone's throw from the beach, so I was just checking to make sure our stuff was okay and was assured that it probably would be. (How we ended up storing our stuff there is a story for another blog post but if I knew then what I now know about storm surge I would have never rented the place).

As it turned out, the Bahamas just got a lot of rain, our stuff survived just fine, and our initial concerns turned out to be irrelevant compared to the devastation that would take place in New Orleans a few days later. Following the busy hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, we were greatly relieved when Mother Nature basically gave us a break during 2006 and most of 2007.

Hurricane Noel* (Nov 2007) -- Our first hurricane after returning to the Bahamas from home assignment, this small category 1 managed to do quite a bit of damage on a number of other Caribbean islands but didn't do too much damage in the Bahamas. For the record, the living room of our third-floor apartment was flooded out (to the extent that anything on the third-floor of anywhere can flood) while we slept during the night that the storm passed overhead. But that was due largely to faulty construction of our apartment building and, hey, when you're on the third-floor the water will eventually head for lower ground anyway so it really wasn't a big deal. While there was flooding in some parts of the Bahamas (and many locations around here will flood during a mere thirty-minute rainstorm anyway), the electricty here in Nassau never went out and, as far as I could tell, there was nothing significant in the way of debris or damage following the storm.

Tropical Storm Hanna* (Sept 2008) -- Earlier in the week, the Nassau Guardian warned that the Bahamas would be hit with a double hurricane and, at the time, there were actually three major storms taking aim at us: Hanna, Ike, and Josephine. Josephine has since fizzled out but Ike (see below) has been the real object of concern this week. Hanna, on the other hand, ended up dancing around in circles over the Turks and Caicos for several days while simultaneously causing severe flooding in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. When she finally started to head north again, she did so just to the east of and parallel to the Bahamian archipelago. Some of the outlying islands in the eastern part of the Bahamas such as Abaco and Cat Island were hit a bit harder than us here in Nassau (where we mostly just experienced a day or so of gusty winds and occasional scattered showers). But in spite of any inconveniences caused by Hanna, the main concern this week has been to prepare for Hurricane Ike and its deadly category 4 winds.

Hurricane Ike (Sept 2008) -- Expected to be back up to a category 4 storm by the time it enters the Bahamas tomorrow afternoon or evening, it looks like there's a good chance that only the southeastern islands of the Bahamas will be affected. We'll see. Once it's clear what precisely is going on, I'll post an update on Hurricane Ike.

To sum up, my life has been affected--directly or indirectly--by fourteen tropical storms or hurricanes during the last fifteen and-a-half years since I first came to the Caribbean, nearly an average of one per year. I've only personally experienced six of those storms and, of those six, only two of them were direct hits that resulted in a lot of damage: Hurricane Hortense (1996) and Hurricane Michelle (2001). And of those two, both were probably category 2 or less at the time we were hit by them. So given that most of the storms on the above list were category 3 or higher, we have been relatively fortunate in not yet having to experience a storm of that magnitude. If we continue to reside in the Caribbean, I suspect that it is just a matter of time before we experience a major hurricane (meaning a category 3 storm or higher). It's not really a question of if but when. But as I learned back in San Germán over thirteen years ago, the biggest part of the hurricane experience is preparing, watching, waiting, and hoping that you don't get hit. And so we wait . . .

Ehrenreich on Prosperity Theology

2008-09-04T09:42:00.005-05:00

"In the theology of Christian positive thinking, 'everything happens for a reason' . . . But there's another possible message from on high: that this brand of Christianity fosters a distinctly un-Christian narcissism . . . Plenty of Christians have already made the point that the positive thinking of Christianity Light is demeaning to God, and I leave them to pursue this critique. More importantly, from a secular point of view, it's dismissive of other humans, and not only flight attendants. If a person is speeding, shouldn't he get a ticket to deter him from endangering others? And if (Joel) Osteen gets the premier parking spot, what about all the other people consigned to the remote fringes of the lot? Christianity, at best, is about a sacrificial love for others, not about getting to the head of the line."

Barbara Ehrenreich
Author of Nickled and Dimed

Read the rest of the article here.

Justo González on Revelation

2008-08-26T11:31:00.003-05:00

"Why is it that a book that for its first readers was a word of comfort causes terror in us? Could it be that our place in the world and in society is very different from the position of those early Christians? Those churches in Asia looked upon the cataclysms announced in Revelation as a metaphor for their final vindication. It is difficult for us today to see things in the same light. Could it be that we have such an investment in the present order that we do not want it to pass away? Could it be that our perspective comes closer to that of 'the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and the powerful'? If we really saw and experienced the wickedness of the present order and were among the many who suffer as a consequence of that order would we not see its end with the same joy with which the first readers of Revelation were invited to see it?" (Italics mine)

Justo L. González (1937- )
Theologian and Church Historian

Quote of the Week

2008-08-23T16:56:00.002-05:00

"Make no mistake, there is no end of racism. It lurks insidiously in literally tens of millions of souls. Some scholars estimate that as many as 25 percent of whites--45 million--are still hard-core racists. While far fewer than years ago, consider this alarming result: for every two African Americans, there are three hard-core racist whites . . . Millions of these hard-core white racists are in our nation's Christian churches. What is the church doing wrong that racists are comfortable in our pews, choirs and Sunday school classes--even in our pulpits?"

Chris Rice, author of More Than Equals and Co-Director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation

Today in Church History

2008-07-29T18:32:00.003-05:00

On 29 July 29 1794, in a converted blacksmith's shop in Philadelphia, former slave Richard Allen assembled a group of black Christians who had faced discrimination in the local Methodist Episcopal Church. They formed the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, now known throughout the world.

Today in Church History

2008-07-26T19:13:00.004-05:00

On 26 July 1833, having abolished the slave trade in 1807, Britain's House of Commons banned slavery itself. When William Wilberforce, who had spent most of his life crusading against slavery, heard the news, he said, "Thank God I have lived to witness [this] day." He died three days later.

Today in Church History

2008-07-25T14:33:00.004-05:00

On 25 July 1918, Walter Rauschenbusch, Baptist pastor and theologian of the Social Gospel, died. His books, including Christianity and the Social Crisis and The Social Principles of Jesus, influenced many—among them Martin Luther King, Jr., who observed that "Rauschenbusch gave to American Protestantism a sense of social responsibility that it should never lose.

Honoris Causa or Honoris Fraude?

2008-07-24T12:07:00.008-05:00

A number of recent articles in Ethics Daily (see here and here) have sought to expose as fraudulent high-profile conservative religious leaders in the U.S. and Canada who hold academic and, more commonly, honorary doctorate degrees from unaccredited institutions that generally require little or no academic work in exchange for a degree.

While white North American Baptists are making a fuss over this practice, it continues to be a widespread and, largely, unquestioned part of Black church tradition, both in North America as well as the Bahamas. Here in the Bahamas, for example, it often seems as if the country has more D.D.'s than M.D.'s and when one hears somebody being addressed as "doctor" it is rarely in reference to a physician. One of the reasons that honorary doctorates are so widespread is due to an unaccredited U.S.-based institution that comes here each year and hands them out like candy. Even so-called "earned" doctorates are not much more credible, generally being issued from fly-by-night correspondence schools in the U.S. that are really no better than advanced Sunday school when it comes to academic rigor.

So why has the popularity of unaccredited honorary and correspondence degrees remained largely unquestioned in the Black church tradition? In part, this is because for many years Black clergy were not allowed to attend accredited schools where they might have earned an academic doctorate. Consequently, the Black church has offered the same respect and status to its clergy who have acquired a doctorate degree through alternative means as is commonly bestowed upon those who have had the opportunity to earn one through an accredited institution. Given that opportunities for Black clergy to earn a legitimate doctorate (e.g., Ph.D., Th.D., or D.Min.) are much more prevalent in North America today than in decades past, is it possible that the value of unaccredited doctorates will begin to decline in the Black church? I'm not sure. But here in the Bahamas, where accredited theological education is still hard to come by, I suspect that non-accredited degrees will remain popular for a long-time to come.

Today in Church History

2008-07-24T12:03:00.001-05:00

On July 24, 1725, John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace" and other hymns, was born in London. Converted to Christianity while working on a slave ship, he hoped as a Christian to restrain the worst excesses of the slave trade, "promoting the life of God in the soul" of both his crew and his African cargo. In 1764 he became an Anglican minister and each week wrote a hymn to be sung to a familiar tune. In 1787 Newton wrote Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade to help William Wilberforce's campaign to end the slave trade.

Just Peacemaking: A New Ethical Paradigm

2008-07-23T19:07:00.003-05:00

My friend Michael Westmoreland-White has recently posted an index to his blog series on the ten practices of just peacemaking. I'm providing a link to that index here and would strongly encourage others to read through the series and consider how these practices might be applied in their own contexts.

As a college student, I remember having many frustrating and, generally, non-productive debates (or, more precisely, arguments) with my roommates about the merits of pacifism versus militarism. My biggest problem, of course, was that I was rarely able to offer credible alternatives to war and the few that I could manage to come up with (e.g., the violent resistance of Gandhi and King) were often dismissed as being unpractical methods of resistance to modern warfare. Thanks to Glen Stassen (and the many colleagues that have joined him in this endeavor), just peacemaking theory--based on a synthesis of Christian ethics and international relations theory--seeks to scientifically identify and articulate those specific practices that help to promote peace in our global, local, and interpersonal relationships. It bypasses the age old ethical debate of pacifism versus just war theory by focusing on the practices that actually work when it comes to peacemaking.

For pacifists, then, just peacemaking theory provides credible and scientifically proven alternatives to war. For just war theorists--all of whom would argue that war should only be used as a last resort anyway, just peacemaking theory offers an inventory of "first resorts" that can and should be attempted before opting for war as a last resort. In other words, the brilliance of this theory is that it stakes out common ground where pacifists and just war theorists can work together to further world peace.

As you might suspect, the practices of just peacemaking are hardly foolproof and, of course, don't prove effective 100% of the time. So even if they are practiced diligently, there will still be occasions where pacifists and just war theorists may have to part ways as the latter opt for war as a last resort. Nevertheless, if these practices were better known and more widely implemented, the reality is that we would probably find ourselves in a world where war and violence were much less commonplace than they are now.

A Critique of Bahamian Theology and Religion

2008-07-23T14:20:00.004-05:00

As I tend to be suspicious of anonymous newspaper columnists, I don't normally read the weekly column by "Simon" in the Nassau Guardian. Last week's column, however, offers a helpful critique of the shortfalls and limitations of Bahamian popular theology, particularly as it was articulated by the Bahamas Christian Council at this year's Independence celebrations.

Amongst other things, "Simon" challenges the prevailing ethos of prosperity theology which teaches that bad things never happen to God's faithful.

Moreover, the notion that God has spared the Bahamas from natural disasters and has instead allowed other lands to be ravaged is spiritually presumptuous and scientifically problematic.

To wit, why do natural disasters happen to good people in various locales on the planet while seemingly more sinful people are spared from calamity? Perhaps it has more to do with geography, chance and the scale of national development.

The thousands who perished in Myanmar did so because of an accident of geography, and because of substandard housing, bad infrastructure and a corrupt government. Not at the caprice of a vengeful God.

Natural disasters tend to ravage the poor because they do not have the means to protect themselves, as do the more affluent.

Additionally, "Simon" points out that the Christian Council (not to mention other publicly outspoken preachers) tend to disproportionately focus on narrow questions of personal morality while ignoring broader questions of social concern.

Rather, the focus was on the usual host of sexual sins and personal morality, while other issues of human dignity and social solidarity were largely ignored.
Access to health care, poverty alleviation, educational reform and the preservation of God’s earth, gave way to a relentless preoccupation with fornication, homosexuality and adultery.

It is not that such matters should be ignored. But a myopic focus on these is like cutting the Bible into a third and ignoring the rest of Scripture.

Since I have sought to address both of these concerns in my own teaching and ministry (see here and here), I am glad to see that others concur.

Today in Church History

2008-07-11T13:22:00.005-05:00

On July 11, 1656, Barbados expatriates Ann Austin and Mary Fisher became the first Quakers to arrive in America. Officials promptly arrested them and deported them back to England five weeks later.

COB Grants Resident Tuition to Non-Citizens

2008-07-10T13:56:00.002-05:00

As the recent documentary Can you see us? makes painfully clear, Bahamian-born Haitians face a great deal of social and legal discrimination here in the Bahamas. Since Bahamian-born children of foreigners are not automatically granted citizenship on the basis of birth (but instead must wait until they are eighteen to apply for it and, even then, wait years for their applications to be processed), one of the biggest problems facing Haitian young people aspiring to pursue a college education is that, until recently, they did not qualify for resident tuition rates at the College of the Bahamas and, instead, were required to pay the non-resident tuition rate. Needless to say, this policy has prevented many otherwise qualified Haitian-Bahamians from going to college simply because they were unable to pay the non-resident tuition rate, which is double that of the the resident rate.

Thankfully, those days are behind us as C.O.B. has recently approved a new tuition policy which reclassifies most Haitian Bahamians (as well as Bahamian-born persons of other nationalities) as residents for purposes of tuition. In other words, Bahamian citizenship is no longer the sole factor in determining who does or does not qualify for resident tuition. C.O.B. is to be commended on this change in policy as it will go a long way towards making a college education more accessible to the growing number of people--Haitian or otherwise--who were born here, grew up here, and continue to live and work here. Hopefully, the Bahamas government will now follow C.O.B.'s lead and make efforts to more quickly and efficiently process the backlog of citizenship applications from the many Bahamian-born persons who consider the Bahamas to be their home.

Chilean Baptists Ordain First Woman Pastor

2008-07-10T12:13:00.010-05:00

While the ordination of women is pretty much a non-issue amongst moderate and progressive Baptists in the United States, it's still fairly uncommon and, in some instances, quite controversial amongst many (but certainly not all) Baptist groups in Latin America and the Caribbean. But that is beginning to change. On March 1st of this year, Margarita Campos--a Chilean Baptist--became the first Baptist woman to be ordained in Chile.

My colleague Mayra Giovanetti of Chile reports:

Women pastors from Central America, Chilean Mission’s leadership, and missionary colleagues came to Margarita’s ordination which marked a historic event in our Convention and the Baptist Church New Redeemer in San Bernardo that she pastors. Three of the guests were missionary colleagues Sheila Heneise, Mylinda Baits, and Magda Aguirre. Our local colleagues Dwight and Barbara Bolick were also present. Margarita rejoiced with all the love and prayers she felt from those physically present and those who sent her notes of encouragement and congratulations. You will read more on the 2008 Global Servants Guide.

Mylinda Baits, a fellow missionary from Costa Rica, adds:

The women in ministry in Chile have suffered under a strong gender preference in pastoral ministry, but are now seeing a new day and freedom to live out their callings, because of this one woman's patient perseverance to hold onto to God's truth and purpose for her life. Having not experienced such strong resistance in following our own callings, Ruth and I were surprised by how precious and significant the ability to speak God's Word and be heard was for our sisters in ministry who have had to struggle against structures and prejudices that want to silence instead of celebrate them. To see the joy expressed, the humbleness honored, and the truth told was a gift to each of us present. Not only were we privileged to be a part of a historical event, we were blessed to see God at work, breaking down barriers and building up the whole Body of Christ which is neither male nor female, but one in Christ.

This event does indeed signal the dawn of a new day for Chilean Baptist women. Congratulations, Margarita!

Happy Independence Day, Bahamas!

2008-07-10T08:57:00.002-05:00

Celebrate and join this weekend's festivities.

Quote of the Week

2008-07-09T09:21:00.005-05:00

"When people live under oppressive structures, they turn to the Bible for the strength to survive another day, not to figure out how long a day lasted in Genesis 1. The Bible is not read with the intellectual curiosity of solving cosmic mysteries; rather, most people on the margins look to the text to find guidance in dealing with daily life, a life usually marked by struggles and hardships. Debates over the scientific validity of the Scriptures become a luxurious privilege for those who do not endure oppressive and discriminating structures."

Miguel De La Torre, author of Reading the Bible from the Margins and Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Iliff School of Theology

Today in Church History

2008-07-09T09:15:00.004-05:00

On 9 July 381, Nestorius, the first patriarch of Constantinople, was born in what is now Maras, Turkey. Nestorius attained fame for his teaching that Christ had two natures and two persons (rather than two natures in one person), which the Council of Ephesus in 431 condemned as heresy.

Want to make a difference in your community?

2008-07-07T12:06:00.001-05:00

Try this.

Today in Church History

2008-07-05T11:12:00.003-05:00

On 5 July 1865, William Booth founded The Christian Mission to work among London's poor and unchurched. Later, he changed the mission's name to the Salvation Army.

Today in Church History

2008-07-01T20:33:00.002-05:00

On July 1, 1896, abolitionist writer Harriet Beecher Stowe died. She averaged nearly a book a year, but Uncle Tom's Cabin remains her legacy. Even one of her harshest critics acknowledged that it was "perhaps the most influential novel ever published . . . a verbal earthquake, an ink-and-paper tidal wave."

On Whiteness and Black Theology

2008-06-30T12:31:00.004-05:00

My friend and fellow blogger Mike Broadway, a professor of theology and ethics at the historically black Shaw University Divinity School, has been blogging a helpful series of posts on the topic of whiteness and black theology:

Part I - Black Theology: A New Word, a Critical Project, and a Consolidation of Tradition

Part II - Responses to Black Theology from the Perspective of White Theology as the Assumed Norm

Part III - Denying the Dogmatic Significance of Black Theologies: Racism in Churches as Merely Moral Failure

Part IV - Inadequate Responses of White Theologians to Black Theology

Man created God in his own image . . .

2008-06-30T12:03:00.004-05:00

. . . and, in this instance, the Son of God as well.

Today in Church History

2008-06-30T11:54:00.003-05:00

On June 30, 1881, Presbyterian preacher and African-American abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet is appointed minister to Liberia. The former slave shocked the abolitionist community in 1843 by calling for violent rebellion. "Rather die free-men than live to be slaves," he preached.

Today in Church History

2008-06-25T10:10:00.004-05:00

On June 25, 1865, English missionary J. Hudson Taylor formed the China Inland Mission. Its missionaries would have no guaranteed salaries, nor could they appeal for funds; they would simply trust God to supply their needs. Furthermore, its missionaries would adopt Chinese dress and press the gospel into the China interior.

The Legacy of Native American Boarding Schools

2008-06-20T10:05:00.006-05:00

Written from a Canadian perspective, this article by Philip P. Arnold of Chicago University Divinity School's Marty Center explores the tragic legacy of church sponsored boarding schools for Native Americans. Thanks to Pastor Bob Cornwall for bringing this to my attention.

The history of Native American boarding schools clearly illustrates how the US and Canadian Governments and various Christian denominations have actively collaborated to "convert" and "civilize" Native people. Under the mantle of "Kill the Indian, save the Man," Colonel Richard Henry Pratt founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania in 1879. Several hundred other schools opened in the following decades that were run by a variety of Christian denominations (Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Quakers, among others) but they were all financed through the US and Canadian governments.

For nearly seventy years, sexual abuse, torture, and murder occurred in these boarding schools. These Christian-run and government-funded boarding schools dedicated to 'civilizing' Native Americans were the means by which private interests acquired vast tracts of valuable land.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

How rich are you?

2008-06-19T14:16:00.005-05:00

As many of us struggle to make ends meet each month, we might be tempted to look enviously at those who are richer than us, wondering what it's like to have that kind of money. But have we ever thought about where we sit financially in relation to everyone else in the world? Or, more precisely, has it ever occurred to us that a great deal of people might be enviously looking at us, wondering what it's like to have our cash? Here's our chance to find out. More importantly, this is an opportunity to rethink our spending priorities in light of how we might help those who are needier than us.

Thanks to Cool People Care for pointing out this site.

Quote of the Week

2008-06-18T12:54:00.004-05:00

"The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."

Audre Lorde (1934-1992)
Author of Sister Outsider

Honoring Gardner C. Taylor on His 90th Birthday

2008-06-17T13:05:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow is the Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor's 90th birthday. On this occasion, he will be remembered by many who have been influenced and shaped by his legacy. Below is a profile on Taylor's life and ministry that was recently published by American Baptist National Ministries.

Dr. Gardner C. Taylor: America’s preacher turns 90

Dr. Gardner Calvin Taylor, one of the twentieth century's most celebrated preachers, turns 90 this month. In keeping with the modesty that has characterized much of his life, Taylor will mark his June 18 birthday at his home in Raleigh, N.C., with little fanfare, says his wife, Phyllis. But that won't discourage the good wishes and tributes paid to this beloved and legendary preacher who has touched the lives of so many during his half century in ministry.

For 42 years, Taylor served as senior pastor at the 14,000-member Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y., one of the largest American Baptist churches in the United States when he retired in 1990. Concord gained a deserved reputation for its social activism and community outreach under the leadership of this faithful servant of God.

Looking back over countless accolades and professional honors received throughout his life—the Presidential Medal of Freedom notwithstanding—Taylor considers "Sunday mornings in the pulpit at Concord" his greatest achievement. His successor and longtime protégée, Dr. Gary V. Simpson, now Concord's senior pastor, reflects on Taylor's storied preaching:

"Of all the contributions that Dr. Taylor continues to make to my life and ministry, I am most indebted to the sacred, serious discipline he modeled as preacher in the Concord pulpit. There is no question that the people of this congregation have a uniquely earnest expectation of any preacher—to convey a word of life in a culture that portends death. It is overwhelming to think that his preaching is the high bar of what was normative and usual on Sunday mornings. His voice has unequivocally decreed, 'There is a Word from the Lord.'"

Although Taylor is distinguished by his eloquence in the pulpit—having preached more than 2,000 sermons—his audiences were not limited to his Concord family. Taylor's sermons are still studied in schools of divinity throughout the country and abroad, and they continue to be read and listened to by an even wider audience, thanks to several books and recordings published by Judson Press. Today the lifetime sales of those resources approach $750,000. Taylor's longtime Judson Press publisher and friend, Laura Alden, recalls the generous spirit of this man:

"Judson Press has been privileged to serve as Dr. Taylor's publisher for these many years. In addition to being a great preacher, pastor and author, Gardner Taylor is a gracious and generous man of God. The Judson Press staff who have worked with him are readers, listeners and absolute fans of Dr. Taylor. We have relationships with all our authors, but this relationship is different—it's in a special category. We are Baptists, so, of course, we don't officially have saints. But if we did, Dr. Taylor would be our top candidate. He has been a blessing to all of us."

Taylor seems comfortable letting others speak about his "legacy." Perhaps the most important of his "earthly" tributes have come from peers. Certainly, being called "one of the greatest preachers in America" and the "dean of the nation's Black preachers" is no small achievement for a Louisiana-born itinerant preacher's son and grandson of slaves. It is also notable when pastors like the venerable Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., a legend in his own right, pay him homage:

"With gentleness, modesty, wit and some humor, Dr. Taylor continues to mentor me, and many ministers in the generations after me, to work for excellence as servants of the church and as representatives of Jesus Christ."

Although not initially brought up with American Baptist roots, as he puts it, Taylor "inherited" an American Baptist congregation in Concord, which became God's launching pad for his great success. Fellow pastor and National Ministries' Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III recounts Taylor's contributions to the Black church and Protestant tradition:

"I am most appreciative to Dr. Taylor for his role in radicalizing the Black church and having a revolutionary impact on mainline Protestantism throughout the 1960s and beyond. His co-founding of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is still sending reverberations of racial justice and racial reconciliation across this land. I am proud to have benefited by and learned from his legacy."

These days Dr. Taylor devotes some of his time to mentoring aspiring seminarians and young preachers and the rest to combing through his exhaustive collection of writings, interviews, speeches and sermons for materials that will become part of his archive.

When asked what scripture passage he would choose for his final sermon, Taylor responded without hesitation in that full-throated, resonant, vibrato that is his trademark: "Now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

Happy birthday, Dr. Taylor.

Exegeting the Word and the World

2008-06-17T08:58:00.004-05:00

Pat Loughery over at In the Coracle has written a helpful post on exegeting communities. Normally, those of us in ministry think of exegesis in regards to analysis and interpretation of biblical texts. But a growing number of urban ministers are finding that to do effective ministry, it is just as important to engage in careful analysis and interpretation of the community one serves. Pat's post, which is based on material he is studying at Bakke Graduate University, offers some helpful tips for getting started with this type of exegesis. For a more thorough look at this subject, I would recommend Ray Bakke's book The Urban Christian.

Taking a Break

2008-06-04T16:39:00.002-05:00

I will be taking a break from blogging for the next two weeks or so to focus my attention on some work related issues that need to be taken care of. That means (1) no new posts and (2) no comment moderation will be taking place during that time. (Okay, I might cheat and check in once or twice to moderate comments. But if I don't, it's not because I'm ignoring you. I'm just not here.)

Thanks for your patience. See you in a couple of weeks.

Today in Church History

2008-06-04T11:10:00.006-05:00

On 4 June 1873, Charles F. Parham, founder of the Apostolic Faith movement and one of the founders of the modern Pentecostal movement, was born in Muscatine, Iowa. In 1900 he founded the Bethel Bible School, where speaking in tongues broke out—launching the Pentecostal movement.

Rwandan Genocide Survivor to Speak in Nassau

2008-06-03T13:12:00.008-05:00

Come hear an inspiring story of a harrowing escape from death, and the power of compassion and forgiveness to resolve conflict and change lives for the better . . .

Immaculée Ilibagiza
survivor of the Rwandan genocide,
author and philanthropist

FREE LECTURE
Thursday June 5, 7:00-9:00pm
St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, West Street, Nassau

With the sponsorship of the John Templeton Foundation, Immaculée llibagiza, an ethnic Tutsi and a survivor of the horrors of the 1994 holocaust in the Central African republic of Rwanda, is coming to Nassau. lmmaculée, author of the inspiring book Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (Hay House publishers), will share the remarkable story of her 91 days in hiding from murder gangs, from which she emerged with a great spirit of understanding and forgiveness that allowed her to pardon those who massacred her parents, two of her three brothers and other members of her family. This is an unforgettable story offering hope for all who live in these challenging times. Left to Tell is available at Logos in the Harbour Bay Shopping Centre and Chapter One Bookstore on Thompson Boulevard.

For further information, contact Eileen Fielder at The Counsellors Ltd at (242) 322-7505/1000.

Bahamian AIDS Activist Remembered

2008-06-03T12:00:00.005-05:00

The AIDS Foundation will host a candlelight vigil in memory of the late Solomon Wellington Adderley on Tuesday June 10th at the Anglican Diocese office at Addington House on Sands Road here in Nassau. For more information, call (242) 325-9326.

Adderley, a fellow Baptist and a colleague from the Bahamas Human Rights Network, was an administrator for the Aids Foundation of the Bahamas. His activism on behalf of persons living with HIV/AIDS was recognized in the Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean region.

More information about Adderley is available here.

Previous blog entries on his death are posted here and here.

What is liberation theology?

2008-06-02T16:55:00.004-05:00

Tony Campolo offers a helpful answer to that question here:

Tony Campolo
What is Liberation Theology?

With all the upset over Jeremiah Wright and his so-called Liberation Theology, many have been asking what Liberation Theology is all about. Well, it is not very complicated! It is the simple belief that in the struggles of poor and oppressed people against their powerful and rich oppressors, God sides with the oppressed against the oppressors.

Those who adhere to Liberation Theology point out that all through the Bible we find that God always champions the cause of those who are poor and beaten down as they struggle for dignity, freedom and economic justice. When the children of Israel cry out for help as they suffer the agonies of their enslavement under Pharaoh, God hears their cry and joins them in their fight for freedom. God sides with the Jews as they seek deliverance from Egyptian domination.

Read the rest of the article here.

A History of American Baptist Missions in Haiti

2008-06-02T10:21:00.008-05:00

While revising an article this morning on the late Julio Laporte for the Journal of the Bahamas Historical Society, I came across an old copy of the following article in my files which gives a nice concise summary of the major developments in American Baptist missions work in Haiti. Unfortunately, I didn't note the source of this article when I first filed it. I believe it was published in the Nov-Dec 2004 edition of American Baptists In Mission but, if not, it was most certainly written as a publicity piece (by my former IM colleague Eleanore Lundy) for some other purpose.

Before posting the article, I'd like to note two important points that were omitted from the section on the Haitian diaspora, subtitled "Mission with and to Haitians beyond Haiti."

1. American Baptist Home Missionary Society (ABHMS) missionaries in Cuba led a vibrant outreach to Haitian cane cutters in Cuba throughout the 20th century up until the takeover by Fidel Castro in 1959. Today, many of those Haitian Baptist Churches in Cuba have been absorbed into the Spanish-speaking Cuban Baptist Convention that American Baptists still work with out of Santiago, Cuba. Also, many of the Haitians who came to Christ through ABHMS in Cuba, later returned to South Haiti and started a Baptist Association there which remains completely independent of ABC's historic work with the Haitian Baptist Convention in Northern Haiti.

2. In the States, American Baptist Churches have a thriving Haitian Caucus (now with 40+ churches) that is reaching out to Haitian immigrants to the U.S. Many of the pastors and leaders in the Caucus are graduates of the Baptist Seminary in Limbe. The late Julio Laporte, for example, is the recently retired director of Haitian Ministries for National Ministries. Laporte graduated from the Baptist Seminary in Limbe back in 1958 before migrating to Nassau, Bahamas, where he pastored Emmaus Baptist Church (where Estela and I currently work). Later, Laporte was active as a pastor in a Haitian congregation in New Jersey before being called to serve as the denominational liaison to the ABC Haitian Caucus for National Ministries.

Also, for those who are interested in reading more on Haitian Baptist history, the late ABC missionary Ivah Heneise has written a wonderful book on the Haitian Baptists, titled Pioneers of Light. It is possible that some copies are still available from the Haiti Hope Fund. For more information, e-mail info@haitihopefund.org or call 904-284-4165.

In the meantime, enjoy the article:

Mission in the Footsteps of Peter and Paul
Serving Christ and the People of Haiti for 180 Years
by Eleanor Lundy

During 2004 alone, One Great Hour of Sharing has provided over $15,000 in emergency funds to aid Haitian people suffering from the effects of civil unrest and natural disasters.

During the first decades of Christian mission, Peter and Paul were inspired to encourage fellow followers of Jesus in ways that are still vitally important. Peter urged believers to recognize that God’s grace has come to us in an amazing variety of forms, and we need to contribute whatever gifts we have received to the cause of Christ (1 Peter 4:10). Paul urged believers to persevere when they were tempted to grow weary, always looking in hope to the harvest that God would produce (Galatians 6:9). Between them Peter and Paul call us to do mission in many ways and to hang in there when the going gets tough. American Baptist work with and among the people of Haiti embodies both of these principles.

Natural disasters and political strife have brought Haiti into the news again recently. The situation in this tiny island nation continues to be incredibly difficult. But the Haitian Baptist Convention and American Baptists are working together to bring hope and the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of this troubled country.

A brief plane ride from Miami, the Republic of Haiti is a world apart. Located between Cuba and the Dominican Republic, with which it shares the island of Hispaniola, Haiti was colonized first by Spain and then by France. Both countries developed huge sugar and coffee plantations and exploited the native Indian populations as laborers, later bringing African slaves to work in the fields. In 1804, with heroic effort, Haiti gained her independence. And not long afterward, Baptist missionaries began arriving in Haiti.

Laying the Groundwork
The first of these missionaries was Thomas Paul, the son of freed slaves from Exeter, New Hampshire. Paul sailed into Cape Hayti (later Cap Haitien) in 1823 with crates of Bibles and tracts, and for six months he preached, baptized, and laid the groundwork for the establishment of the First Baptist Church there. Paul’s stay in Haiti, despite its brevity, was an authentic sign of what was to come: he was followed by many Baptist missionaries from America, Jamaica and the United Kingdom. Their ministries have taken many different forms and have been supported in many different ways (including several different mission organizations formed by American Baptists). The common denominator has been a desire to see the grace of God in Jesus Christ bringing new life to the people of Haiti.

Thomas Paul was sent by the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society. A dozen years later, William Monroe was sent by the agency we now call International Ministries. From the 1840s to the early 1900s, many American Baptists served in Haiti under the auspices of the Baptist Free Missionary Society (which rejoined the Northern Baptist Convention in 1911). The American Baptist Home Mission Society (now National Ministries) began to send missionaries to Haiti in the 1920s. Supervision of ABC mission involvement in Haiti passed to International Ministries in 1973.

The Haitian Baptist Convention
Throughout this period, God was also raising up gifted and dedicated servants of Christ among the Haitian people. Overcoming opposition from governmental, Catholic and Voudou leaders, Haitian followers of Jesus gave courageous and sacrificial leadership to the growing Baptist work. In 1852, Jean Jacques Lillevoix became the first ordained Haitian pastor. 1964 saw the birth of a new indigenous organization within the part of the Baptist movement with which American Baptists are most deeply involved, the Haitian Baptist Convention (Convention Baptiste d’Haiti or CBH). Today the CBH has some 110 churches, hundreds of preaching stations, and over 90,000 baptized believers. In the midst of the political turmoil of recent years, God has used the Rev. Emmanuel Pierre to provide a steady hand at the helm of the CBH.

A Wide Variety of Ministries
Baptist witness to the grace of Jesus Christ in Haiti has long been embodied in a wide variety of ministries. Primary evangelism and church planting have long been done most effectively by Haitian Baptists themselves. Especially during the last sixty years, American Baptist missionaries have complemented Haitian-led evangelism with demonstrations of the Lord’s concern for improving the lives of God’s children in the areas of education, health, agriculture, women’s ministries and leadership training.

Touching Minds with the Light of Christ
From the founding of a Christian school for girls in 1942 (the Ecole [later College] Pratique du Nord) to the founding of a Christian university in 1993 (the Christian University of Northern Haiti), Haitian leaders and American Baptist missionaries have borne consistent witness to God’s desire to develop minds as well as hearts. Haitian leaders from Edith Robinson (founder of the Ecole Pratique du Nord) to Jules Casseus (founding President of the Christian University of Northern Haiti) have invited a large number of short- and long-term missionaries to serve alongside them in ministries of education.

It is worthy of special note that the Christian University of Northern Haiti (UCNH) grew out of the educational work to which missionaries Ivah and Harold Heneise were called in the late 1940s. The Heneises were sent to Haiti in 1947 to launch a school to train Haitian pastors, the Baptist Theological Seminary of Haiti. The Heneises have both gone home to be with the Lord, but their faithful work has been multiplied by missionary successors and dedicated Haitian professors. Pastors continue to be trained at UCNH, but so do hundreds of other students who are preparing to serve in agronomy, business and fine arts.

Touching Bodies with the Love of Christ
From the founding of a small rural clinic under the mango trees of the seminary in the late 1940s to the current high-tech operation of the Cap Haitien Eye Center, missionaries and Haitian leaders have worked together to demonstrate the love of God in Jesus Christ through a wide variety of health ministries. The little clinic begun by Ivah Heneise and Nevart Yeghoyan became a major medical facility, the Good Samaritan Hospital of Limbé. This transformation was guided by William and Joanna Hodges, who served as American Baptist missionaries from 1958 to 1995, providing outstanding leadership and incorporating the gifts of thousands of volunteers from all across the U.S. (The hospital continues its ministry as an independent institution today, due to a break in relationships with International Ministries in 1995.)

The Cap Haitien Eye Center was founded in 1989 by Hollis and Wanda Clark, with the support of the Haitian Baptist Convention. The Eye Center provides services ranging from eye exams and glasses to surgery for glaucoma and cataracts. It is now staffed entirely by Haitian personnel, most of whom were trained onsite by the Clarks. Many are evangelical Christians, including one of Haiti’s best ophthalmologists, Dr. Carmelle Lucien. The Center accepts all patients regardless of financial status, and continues to function in spite of political and economic chaos. Says Dr. Lucien, “There is always somebody in the waiting line!”

Missionaries Create a Legacy of Love
Bernice and Herbert Rogers served in Haiti for 28 years. Herb Rogers, who served for many years at the Good Samaritan Hospital and then at UCNH, now coordinates American Baptist volunteer work teams through International Ministries and teaches microbiology as an adjunct professor in the department of agriculture. Bernice Rogers was the founder and director of Jericho School, a missionary children’s school. She currently serves in International Ministries’ home office in Valley Forge.

For fourteen years, until their recent call to serve in D.R. Congo, Katherine and Wayne Niles served the Haitian people in medical ministry and agricultural development. Katherine worked at the Danda Clinic and facilitated outreach in villages stricken with AIDS and tuberculosis. Wayne helped farmers to design and build simple irrigation pumps, and also developed the “Kids for Kids” goat-raising project in cooperation with local Baptist churches. Still going strong, this self-perpetuating project entrusts responsible children and youth with raising the young goats, with the first offspring brought back to the church to be given to another child. Additional kids are raised and sold, with the income making it possible for many youth to pay school tuition.

In September 1998, International Ministries commissioned Mabudiga and Kihomi Nzunga for service in Haiti. The Nzungas previously taught at the Christian University of Kinshasa in their homeland of D.R. Congo. Mabudiga teaches theology at UCNH, administers a scholarship program, preaches in churches, and helps rural schools with needed supplies. Kihomi works in family counseling and women’s health issues, and supports the women’s association of the Baptist Convention of Haiti. In the autumn of 2001, the Nzungas organized a successful intergenerational soccer game that attracted 1,500 people from the surrounding community.

Mission with and to Haitians beyond Haiti
Haitians, like many of the world’s peoples, now contribute to the lives of many nations beyond Haiti. Haitian Baptists are an enthusiastic and growing part of American Baptist life in the U.S. With leaders like Lemaire Alerte and Edgard Nicolas, the Alliance of Haitian Baptist Churches is making an important contribution to ABC witness in the U.S. while maintaining a vital relationship with the work of the CBH.

International Ministries has missionaries serving other parts of the Haitian Diaspora, especially in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Missionary nurse Kristy Engel ministers to Haitian workers and families in the bateys (work camps) of the sugar cane plantations of the Dominican Republic. Daniel and Estela Schweissing work with Haitian immigrants, many of them undocumented refugees, in the Bahamas. Madeline Flores-López coordinates American Baptist volunteers throughout the Caribbean, many of whom serve Haitian communities.

Getting Involved
When First Baptist Church of Lockport, New York, sent fifteen members to serve in rural Quartier Morin, Haiti, it was a life-changing experience. The volunteers worked with American Baptist missionaries and congregation members to build a preaching station. Lockport volunteer Mike Edmister says he has grown “immensely” in his spiritual life through participation in such mission trips. “Now I feel the Lord tugging at my heart to be a missionary or a children’s pastor,” Edmister said recently.

Similar experiences awaited the students, faculty, and friends of Central Baptist Seminary who went with members of First Baptist Church of Kansas City, Kansas on a “Work and Learning” trip to the Christian University of Northern Haiti in January 2004. Among the volunteers were a doctor, an emergency room nurse, and a drug enforcement officer. “We visited a church that held a 6:00 a.m. Sunday worship service, with over 1,000 in attendance and 175 that could not get into the building,” wrote the Rev. Robert Southard, pastor of First Baptist, Kansas City and coordinator for the trip. “The drug enforcement officer worked the streets with Haitian police and stayed an extra week to lead training sessions for the police.”

Peter was right: working side by side with fellow police officers, attending patients, doing construction, raising goats, doing HIV/AIDS education, training pastors, restoring sight to the blind, teaching tomorrow’s agronomists and businesspersons, encouraging the leadership of women . . . truly, the grace and gifts bestowed by our Lord are wonderfully diverse. Paul was also right: in the midst of the continuing crises that burden the country of Haiti, it is vitally important that followers of Jesus — including American Baptists and our Haitian Baptist sisters and brothers — do not grow weary in doing what is right, but continue to look to the Lord of the harvest. Pray for Haiti. And, as you pray, listen: perhaps the Lord may be calling you to become more deeply involved!

*With special thanks to Herb Rogers and Stan Slade of the IM staff for their contributions to this article.

Missionaries to Haiti Supported by American Baptists1823 to 2004
Charles and Grace Chapman
Hollis and Wanda Clark*
Ann and William Clemmer
Millicent Engel
Gene and Margaret Gentry
Suzette Goss
Deborah and Kenneth Heneise
Harold and Ivah Heneise
Evelyn Hillman
Barbara Hodges
Joanna and William Hodges
Elizabeth Howard
Nancy and Stephen James
Elizabeth and William Jones
Nancy and William Judd
C. Stanford and Mae Kelly
Electa Lake
Dorothy Lincoln
P. Reidar and Sigrid Lindland
Vera McAllister
William and Mrs. Monroe
Amy and William Moore
William Newman
Katherine and Wayne Niles
Kihomi and Mabudiga Nzunga*
Thomas Paul
J. Alfred Pearce
Edith Robinson
Bernice and Herbert Rogers
Laura Belle Romeus
Ronald and Susan Smith
Mark and Sandra Jo Thompson
Philip and Rose Uhlinger
Alice and Arthur Wood
Nevart and Zenas Yeghoyan
Nancy Yeghoyan
Helen Yost
Polly Young
...and thousands of short-term and volunteer missionaries

*Currently serving

Justo González on Prosperity Theology

2008-06-01T17:30:00.003-05:00

"The saddest part of this situation is that such cheap theology turns out to be very expensive. The price we pay for such theology is that we do not dare speak of our sufferings and anxieties, for they are our fault and an indication of our own corruption and lack of faith. The price for such theology is that the poor must internalize their oppression, for they are told that if they are poor it is because of their sin. The price for such theology is a church in which, in contradiction to what is taught in Scripture, the poor, the orphan, and the suffering are shunned, and the rich, the powerful, and the healthy are praised. In short, the price of such theology is abandoning the cross of Christ and its meaning."

Justo L. González (1937- )
Theologian and Church Historian

Amnesty on Haitian Rights in the Bahamas

2008-05-30T11:04:00.005-05:00

This week Amnesty International released its annual report on the state of human rights around the world. Below, I have posted a summary of the section of the report on the Bahamas that deals specifically with Haitian migrants.

Treatment of migrants has been a constant theme in Amnesty’s evaluation of The Bahamas. Its review of things that transpired in 2007 was no different.

"The authorities continued to deport migrants, the vast majority Haitians, in large numbers," the report noted of The Bahamas.

Amnesty reported specifically on the May 4 shooting of a Haitian migrant by a member of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force during an operation carried out in New Providence. It said the court found that there was no evidence that the man had resisted arrest and the Defence Force had no legal authority to conduct such an operation without immigration officers present.

The latest repatriation figures released from the Department of Immigration show a slight increase in the first four months of 2008 compared to the same period last year.

According to the statistics compiled, between January and April 2008, 2,388 Haitians were returned to their homeland compared to the 2,361 returned during the previous period.

Today in Church History

2008-05-30T08:22:00.003-05:00

On 30 May 1822, a slave betrayed the plans of African Methodist (and former slave) Denmark Vesey to stage a massive slave uprising on July 14. Of the 131 African Americans arrested in the plot, 35 were executed (including Vesey) and 43 were deported. Vesey's Charleston, South Carolina, church was closed until 1865.

Bahamian Converts to Non-Christian Religions

2008-05-29T07:53:00.004-05:00

The following article from the Nassau Guardian profiles three Bahamians who have converted from Christianity to Buddhism, Islam, and Rastafarianism. While Christianity is by far the most prevalent religion in the Bahamas, accounting for well over 90% of the population, the reality is that non-Christian religions such as those profiled below are making inroads into the Bahamian religious landscape. Undoubtedly, this is a trend that will continue--albeit slowly--in future years. In the meantime, pastors and churches would do well to ask themselves why a growing number of Bahamians are dissatisfied with Christianity and, likewise, what they are finding in other religions that is not being offered by the Christian church. While I suspect that the answers to these questions are complex and multifaceted, my initial response would be that increasing legalism, nominalism, emphasis on the "get rich quick" ethos of prosperity theology, and the huge disconnect between what the church preaches and actually practices are all major factors that have encouraged a growing number of Bahamians to embrace alternatives to Christianity.

Owning your religion

By Nadine Thomas-Brown
Guardian Lifestyles Reporter
nadine@nasguard.com

If Bahamian religion could be seen as a fabric it would probably be Androsia cotton with little if any room for Gabardine or Kente Cloth. Usually when one thinks of religion in The Bahamas, Christianity with its variant denominations is the only one that comes to mind. However several faiths call The Bahamas home.

Among them, Buddhists, Muslims and Rastafarians. Though many people do not wear their religion on their sleeves, some faiths have no choice due to their doctrines, but to sport some tangible proof as evidenced by a Muslim's clothing and a Rastafarian's dreadlocks. Unfortunately these characteristics of their religion label them and at times make them outcasts in their own country.

James Rolle, 35, (name changed) is one in what may be a growing number of practicing Buddhists. However it is difficult to ascertain the exact numbers that practice the religion here in the country. Rolle does not want to be identified for personal reasons pertaining to his religion. He explained that in his faith, Buddhism, while aiming to eradicate suffering, is about looking at and thinking about one's own life. It shows how to understand one's self and how to cope with daily problems.

Though brought up between the Anglican and Catholic denominations of Christianity, Rolle says he was formerly introduced to Buddhism seven years ago, shortly after meeting a relative who had practiced it for many years. "It just seemed to be the most practical thing for me because I am still wary of what religion does to people and families and it overwhelms you when it is supposed to be a unifying element, but it creates division and that part of it has always made me apprehensive," he said.

Buddhism has brought him peace and comfort. But says his biggest fear as a practicing Buddhist is that of being ostracized. "I am always fearful because anyone knows that the worst thing that you can talk about is religion. It always ends up as an argument." Rolle says that the conversation often positions you in opposition to Christianity which is not the case. "I just believe that people, particularly in Buddhism, believe that we try to take responsibility for ourselves in the environment in which we are in".

As the father of a toddler, Rolle says that he will expose his child to both Christianity and his Buddhist beliefs (his wife is not Buddhist). "I would never force him or anyone to follow my beliefs."

As far as future conflicts for his child because of his religion, Rolle says that so far he has not heard of anyone being subjected to religious persecution because for the most part a Buddhist's faith is not something public per se.

This is not the case for 39-year-old Abdul Hakim, a Bahamian who converted to Islam while living in the United States. His faith, which has been made very public through the years because of it's association with the civil rights movement and 911, has made Muslims the victim of religious bias and persecution.

Hakim says that he became a Muslim because of his disillusionment with Christianity. "After experiencing Christianity and seeing that there was a lack of connection to the creator and the attributing of the creator to other things, I did some research on Islam which brought me to the understanding of our purpose here as humans beings and our relationship with the creator and how we should worship him," he says. Hakim says he chose the religion because he found that it was the closest thing to anything in any other religion as far as worship to the creator was concerned.

While living in the U.S. before 911, Hakim said that he had no problems with prejudice pertaining to his religion. However he said that post 911, attitudes have changed significantly both in The Bahamas and abroad. "They will say that you are worshipping Iraq or something other than the creator," he said. The attitudes are fostered by the media, according to him.

Hakim says that his family and he have gotten accustomed to the name calling and the dirty/curious looks because of the way they dress — the women are covered up, their faces and hands are the only exposed parts of their bodies. Men wear the kufi — a small knitted skull cap.

"My family and I do not go out that often but when we do we get different comments," he said. " Because we know it's an obligation upon us as Muslims we don't let it bother us." While the community of Muslims is not a large one, according to Hakim, it is growing.

Another religious group that is well known in The Bahamas are the Rastafarians — a group which just like the Buddhists, the Muslims and the Christians is made up by varying sects, each with their own way of doing things.

Dwayne Wilson, 26, is Bobo Shante a branch of the Rastafarian faith, which according to Wilson. Bobo Shante is the Ethiopian word for "royal Ethiopian". "This is how we see ourselves," he says.

According to Wilson, the teachings of Bobo Shante originated in Timbuktu, Alexandria, which is in Africa and was brought to Jamaica at Ten Miles, Bull Bay by King Emanuel Charles Edwards.

Wilson said that though he was from a predominantly Christian family, he was led to the faith by certain facts in the Bible which he studied.

"Many faiths come about by people's deciphering of Bible verses," he said. "I had a firm belief in Christianity and 'clean-hearted Rasta' who wants to get away from drinking and smoking usually join up with the Bobo Shante," he said.

Rastafarians are largely misunderstood according to Wilson. "I have experienced a lot of discrimination from friends, family members and others," he said. He said that a lack of acceptance and tolerance also plays a part in the way that Rastafarians are perceived.

Wilson is the father of a child. Though the child is not yet wearing the trademark dreadlocks which would mark him as Rastafarian, his father plans to remedy this soon. "Dreadlocks is the nature and is a sacred pledge between God and the individual," explains Wilson on the significance of the hairstyle in his religion. Wilson said that while he has apprehensions about his son's inevitable interaction with society (his son is a toddler), he has learned and has been prepared through the struggle of other Rastafarians with the system to raise his son.

Even though people may look upon these religions as being vastly different from Christianity and each other, one unifying thread runs throughout each. They say they are striving for peace, love and enlightenment.

Rolle believes that even though he is Buddhist his faith does not preclude his respect for the fact that the society is predominantly Christian. "The rhythm of the society is Christian and is dictated by the Christian calendar and the holidays and the whole mentality. So you need to be flexible, you need to be respectable and you need to say this is where I am. But if I have a belief or conviction strong enough for me to want to adopt a different faith or to believe something different then you have to take it. It's not shocking that the average person of a different faith is going to look at you and go oh you are crazy."

"We worship the same God as Abraham did," Hakim says.

As for Wilson he says that the Bobo Shante believe in the Bible and practice the teachings of the Bible. However he believes that "the only way you can see God is through one another."

The "Secret Garveyism"

2008-05-29T07:31:00.004-05:00

Last week UCLA professor Robert Hill came to Nassau to speak on the topic "Secret Garveyism" at the College of the Bahamas. Unfortunately, I had a prior commitment and was unable to make it. For those like myself who missed this opportunity, a recent article in the Nassau Guardian gives the basic gist of the lecture:

The 'Secret Garveyism'

By THEA RUTHERFORD
Guardian National Correspondent
thea@nasguard.com

UCLA professor and prominent Caribbean scholar, Robert Hill, introduced an audience on Thursday to a Marcus Garvey that perhaps many of us have never known.

For decades after his death in 1940, the world has been most familiar with the military Garvey, the "Africa for the Africans" Garvey. And people of African descent have celebrated the Garvey who established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914, a vehicle for pride amongst blacks living in a time when crushing racial prejudice seeped into the psyche and tortured self esteem.

Yet during his lecture given at the College of the Bahamas' Michael H. Eldon building, and jointly hosted by BACUS and the college's School of Social Sciences, Hill presented images of a multifaceted Garvey, one far too big to be stuffed into one chest of history. In Hill's presentation "Marcus Garvey's Mission," the historical and controversial figure emerged as yes, a soldier for black pride, and a gentleman but most of all a thinker, a scholar.

Hill argued that Garvey's foundation was his huge emphasis on acquiring and retaining knowledge. The "Africa for the Africans" Garvey came much later, after years of extreme self discipline in his personal quest for knowledge.

To encounter this Garvey, Hill took the audience to St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, where Garvey was born and grew up. Faced with the options of becoming a cow herder or a wharf man in a rural town, Garvey chose to read, to escape the limitations of his environment through books.

"I was born in the country town of St. Ann's Bay," Garvey recalled in a speech he gave in 1935 before embarking on his exile to England. The speech was recorded in a Jamaican newspaper. "Naturally, as a little black boy I grew up there and I saw the limitations of society. If I had elected to remain in the town with the limitations of the town I would have gravitated towards becoming a cow boy or a wharf man or a laborer. But I was saved from accepting that because my father, after dissipating what wealth he had, left us as the residue some good books, and in my tender years I went to the shelf and I read."

Arguing that so many have either wittingly or unwittingly chosen to separate Garvey's pedagogy of imbibing knowledge with an unquenchable thirst from his African pride-infused ideology, Hill called for a refocus on this intellectual foundation of Garveyism.

"That is Garveyism - the secret Garveyism - that most people never know about," said Hill. "All they know about is the man with the plumes. All they know about is this man who was preaching back to Africa ... it's a much more complex and pertinent story than this pastiche that Garvey has been reduced to."

It is this focus on attaining knowledge that will prove timeless, that can empower generations of people across racial lines. Garvey's roots in education became the springboard for his frequent discourses on pride in identity among people of African descent. Such a springboard continues to be relevant for a new generation whose identities may be lost in a sea of materialism, ultimately resulting in waves of crime.

"How many little Bahamian boys grow up here and they look at the society and the society says these are your limitations, and what do they then do do?" asked Hill. "[Do] they accept the limitations or do they challenge those limitations?"

Garvey used education to challenge his limitations, and his influence went far beyond the island of his birth, settling in The Bahamas in the 1920s. Decades later the spirit of challenging limitations lived on in Bahamians who have made the world recognize their tiny home. Hill acknowledged a few of them at the beginning of his lecture, urging their countrymen to learn more about them.

"I'm extraordinarily proud to be received by you ... I feel that I'm encountering here in The Bahamas something of the ancestors of the great Dr. W. E. B. DuBois. Part of DuBois' ancestry comes from The Bahamas," he said. Hill also noted that the mother of James Weldon Johnson, the father of the Harlem Renaissance, was from The Bahamas. He mentioned that the country was the birthplace of theater great Bert Williams, and highlighted the accomplishments of Sidney Poitier and the Golden Girls. One of Garvey's own mentors - Dr. J. Robert Love, a Grant's Town native who became the first black man to be elected to the legislative council in Jamaica - was also from The Bahamas.

Garvey's tradition has the fuel to continue, as Hill pointed out in Lesson One of a mail correspondence course that he began in 1936 called the School of African Philosophy. In 1987 Hill published the transcripts of the lessons in a volume entitled "Marcus Garvey Life and Lessons" for the centenary of Garvey's birth.

The school began with 25 lessons on varied topics of African nationalism and the UNIA. But foremost was the very first lesson on "Intelligence, Education, Universal Knowledge and How to Get it." In the lesson Garvey instructs students, among other things, to read four hours each day.

"Lesson number one is not about reclaiming Africa," said Hill. "Lesson number one is not about African colonization. Lesson number one is not about Africa for the Africans at home and abroad. It is about intelligence, education and universal knowledge and how to get it. You only get to Negro nationalism after you pass intelligence and universal knowledge. That is what we have lost touch with. That is the Garvey that we have ... almost erased. We have to find a way to get back to that process that Garvey himself followed that enabled him to emancipate his mind from mental slavery."

While fielding questions after the lecture, Hill told the audience what he would tell someone who asked about this Garvey.

"I would say, how many hours are you prepared to read?"

BHRN Press Release on Adderley Murder

2008-05-28T15:48:00.002-05:00

The Bahamas Human Rights Network has issued the following statement in response to the murder of Wellington Adderley:

The Bahamas Human Rights Network (BHRN) takes this opportunity to extend its most sincere condolences to the family of the late Wellington Adderley. I was first introduced to Wellington, as he was affectionately called, one and a half years ago when a group of us got together to form BHRN, a group dedicated to preserving the fundamental rights and freedoms of any individual within The Bahamas and in the international community.

Wellington was a man of sterling character, who I personally came to respect and admire! He was committed to defending the rights of women, children, persons living with HIV and/or AIDS, the poor and marginalized, persons in the immigrant community and persons in the gay and lesbian community.

Wellington preached a message of love for humanity, he despised intolerance and hypocrisy. Wellston you are loved and missed!

Therefore, on behalf of the members of BHRN we stand with one voice and say as Wellington would have said it: "We condemn all acts of violence in our society. BHRN is now more than ever fortified in its commitment to eradicate the scourge of violence that plagues us all and we call on ALL members of our community to work with the police to solve this matter and bring the person(s) to justice."

Elsworth N. Johnson

Acting President BHRN