"Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger"

Lohutok, Sudan

Today, the men mudded the inside walls of my hut.  I helped them by bringing some of the water.  I did that so I could mix up the chlordane in the water.  They still have to put the peak on the roof and we may have them put mud on the outside.

I finished re-reading "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" by Ron Sider.  The proposals for living a radically simple lifestyle seen much less radical to me than they used to.  I am living without many of the things I used to take for granted and which most Americans consider necessities.  I do not miss those things at all.  In fact, I think I could happily do with less.  The Lotuko have much less than I do.  If I were to become like them, I would miss the adequacy of food, health care, education and opportunity to travel that I have.  Perhaps this makes me a materialist.  I would not really miss the television, big houses (or even dorm rooms), electricity, tractors, combines or "culture".  I think my experience here is making me less materialistic.  I want to seek happiness in the simplicity of my wants rather than in the multiplicity of my possessions.

I started making bunk beds for Kristy and Katie today.  Maybe I will finish that tomorrow.

View from Above the Mountain Garden; More Thoughts on Materialism

Lohutok, Sudan

I walked to the mountain garden this morning.  There were eight children there this time rather than the six I counted last time.  They were there to scare off monkeys.  The two boys and one girl I talked with were children of Atalino.  They seemed to have been hollowing out a log for a bee hive.  They had a small bag of sorghum which I would assume they were going to grind while watching for monkeys.  They were thus making good use of their time - guarding crops from monkeys, making bee hives and preparing food all at the same time.  They had some groundnuts (peanuts) and "malwa" in a little sack.  I think malwa is a cooked nut from a tree, possibly what Daniel referred to as "mule" when I talked with him on June 18.  The children had a vegetable spinach (cooked) called magi and some from another plant (freshly picked) called inore.  I noticed a maize (corn) plant tasseling in the mountain garden.  I had been told this garden was planted to sorghum.  Now I have learned there is also some maize.

I climbed on up above the gardens to the pass.  I could not see too well from the pass, so I went on up to the peak to the south.  The napier grass up there was a foot or two tall.  I could see to the Boya Hills.  There were gardens along the base of the Lopit Mountains.  Further out, there were trees which were fairly thick.  After those was what looked like fairly open grass savannah, perhaps with scattered trees.  I could see some bare, sandy spots among the thicker trees.  The trees extended into the savannah along watercourses or low-lying areas.

I looked through one of Martha's magazines called The Other Side.  It seems devoted to encouraging a simpler lifestyle, doing away with military force and helping the impoverished.  One of the articles was critical of the Urbana mission conventions for not dealing with social and political action as they relate to missions.  (I attended Urbana '76.)  I think the criticism was a bit exaggerated but perhaps somewhat valid.  I was convicted by the articles about economic lifestyles.  Sure I could go home to the U.S., tell everyone how I am living here and be complimented for sacrificing for Christ's sake.  Yet I am sure the Lotuho think I am rich and are correct in so thinking.  It does not bother me to see them live in conditions (nutritional, medical, housing, educational, transportation, government services, etc.) that I would not tolerate.  I have a double standard.

Thoughts on Materialism; Observing Crop Conditions

Lohutok, Sudan

This morning, I was to take Martha to a couple of clinics to give vaccinations. It rained, so we dared not venture forth on the muddy roads. Instead I stayed around here and read. I finished The Mountain People which is about the Ik tribe of northeastern Uganda. I understand they are similar to the Taposa of southeastern Sudan and the Turkana of northern Kenya. It was sad to read that the Ik's society degenerated to an "every man for himself" one and continued along that path even when there was enough food for everyone. The author said this should teach western society to pursue social values, not just what Francis Schaeffer would call "personal peace and affluence". I think it is true enough that selfish materialism will be the undoing of western society. But I think it will take more than an appeal from an anthropologist to prevent that. Man will have to turn to God for individual healing before society can be healed.

I went on a long walk today, perhaps four miles. Quite a few of the sorghum and millet fields (called "gardens" by the local people) were heavily weed infested. But other fields looked as good as I would expect to see in a fairly typical Kansas field except for uniformity of size. Uniformity may not even be considered a benefit here. Uniformity is necessary for mechanized agricultural operations. But where crops are harvested by hand, a labor bottleneck might be created if all the plants in a field matured at the same time. Planting multiple varieties in a field may also reduce the risk that any one disease, insect or other disaster could wipe out the entire crop.

I saw Abele and Kelero Onuha who were planting across from the school. They are going to plant a strip of local millet next to a short season, short statured cultivar they got from Norwegian Church Aid's project in Torit. Josiah's plot won't be the only one planted to this cultivar. I hope this high yield variety (HYV) does not need fertilizer and special treatment to do well.

There are some maps available in Khartoum for this area showing topography and quite a bit of detail. Hopefully supplies last. I saw a fairly good magazine called Sudanow. I ought to check whether Cornell University gets it.

Thinking About Materialism, Incarnational Evangelism and Sin

Lohutok, Sudan

This morning I walked up to a field in its first year of "grow back".  It was a mountain field.  This afternoon I went back to the new mountain field I first visited.  I saw six people there.  Their job was to scare monkeys away.  Some of them were grinding something or doing other things as they waited for monkeys. They were late getting to the field yesterday and the monkeys did some damage.
 

Above:  Boys guarding the mountain field from monkeys

 
One of the missionaries was talking this evening about things she wishes they had and things they left in Kenya.  It made me think again about how materialism is not defined by how much one has, but by how satisfied one is with what one has.  I also wonder what "incarnational evangelism" implies for missionaries in a place like this one.  I think that to live among the people as they live would greatly increase the credibility and effectiveness of my witness.  It would also greatly decrease my standard of living and life expectancy.  I don't know if I could bring a wife or children into such a situation.  This is definitely something for a missionary to consider before marriage.  I doubt that real, honest-to-goodness incarnational evangelism could be done through most established mission organizations.  I don't think it is a possibility for me this summer.  I wonder if I could find a few people willing to do that sort of thing with me?

Another of the missionaries seems to often complain about the response of the people.  It must be discouraging for her.  I think I can understand why the people act as they do in some instances.  For example, many of us grow up with a feeling that pre-marital sex is wrong.  We would experience great cognitive dissonance or guilt feelings if we sinned in this way.  But the young Christian Lotuko woman who is now pregnant probably had no such feelings to help her overcome the temptation.