Real-life, Christian Communism (kind of...), Peruvian Style

Last night, I learned what a “junta” is (pronounced in Spanish “HOON-ta” -- NOT the military dictatorship kind). It is a microfinance lending and savings plan that is a very common practice among extended friends/families in economically poor or “developing” countries, but virtually unheard of (I think) in the US outside of immigrant communities. Or maybe it is well-known and I’m just ignorant. But I think (in theory at least) it sounds pretty cool and exciting, just because it’s so simple (so incredibly simple, in fact, that I had a hard time grasping how it worked and why I hadn’t heard of other instances where its been used: I can’t find any description of it whatsoever on Wikipedia – in Spanish OR English. ). So now I’m going to share how it works in hopes that some of you hadn’t heard of it, either.

Here’s a situation where a junta could be useful (note: this is a REAL idea proposed during an informal church session meeting, not something I just made up): Santa Isabel church (where I work/attend) would like to have a multi-media projector to show movies and powerpoint slides on a big screen or wall. The projector costs about $1000. That is a LOT of money in Peru, especially in neighborhoods like the one I live in, Comas/Carabayllo, in the northern cones of Lima. The church would like to have the projector now (well, as soon as possible), but there is nowhere near enough cash in the treasury to pay for it. The solution: get a loan from a bank? NO! Form a junta! Here’s how:

1. Find nine other people that have at least $100 of disposable income each month. Preferably, some of them (but not all) should also have aspirations for purchases in the next couple months that they don’t have enough money to realize. In the specific example given above, where the church is the primary beneficiary, the church’s treasury counts as an additional “person” – bringing the total number of participants in the junta to ten.
2. All ten people (i.e. nine people + the church) agree to pool together $100 each month for ten months.
3. The first month, the $1000 of pooled money (10 people x $100) ALL goes to the church. The church then buys the multimedia projector.
4. For each of the remaining nine months, a different person in the junta/pool gets a turn receiving the entire $1000 that is pooled together.

And that’s it. In the end, nobody makes any money and nobody loses any money. It’s just a type of accelerated savings plan. All in all, the church has basically budgeted $100 a month for ten months to pay for a projector. So over the course of ten months, it will have indeed pad for its own projector, but unlike what would happen if the church simply put $100 in a personal piggy bank each month for ten months, the church gets the projector at the BEGINNING of the ten months (after only having saved $100) instead of at the end of the ten months.

I should probably mention that I only put the word “communism” in the title of the entry to get people to read it. This isn’t communism. However, sociologically speaking, whether or not such a junta plan is successful depends on much of the same factors that determine whether or not communism can be successful. A junta will probably not work in a very large population of people. A junta probably will not work among a completely random or arbitrary group of people. A junta will probably not work among a very heterogeneous group of people. Ten people sharing in a junta have to be ten close friends with a high degree of personal contact and accountability. They have to trust each other very much. They have to all understand the goals and purpose of the junta, and they should probably have a common worldview and cultural/moral framework. There are just too many possibilities/risks involved for the person whose turn comes last to get screwed by the others dropping out and not making all ten monthly contributions. (I keep using the number ten, but obviously a junta can theoretically have any number of participants; though I personally probably wouldn’t want to go much higher than ten).

Many poor people in the world don’t have access to banks or credit. Even if they do, many have trouble meeting the requirements to qualify for loans/credit. But regardless, by participating in a junta, they don’t have to pay back any interest anyway. That being said, there are some types of juntas that DO involve payments with interest, because otherwise the person with the last turn receives no benefit whatsoever, and could potentially come out much worse off depending on the conditions of the larger economy. I don’t know if this is common, but my solution would be just to have two juntas back to back – with the order reversed for the second one.

Also, you’ve probably figured this out on your own by this point, but juntas are usually used by people who are starting their own small businesses. Without a bunch of money to pay for the start-up capital, the business won’t get off the ground. Participating in a junta solves this problem. Especially if the business is successful, the first beneficiary in the cycle of the junta could also potentially be someone who wouldn’t otherwise have the required amount of money available to pay every month. But after taking their turn at the beginning of the junta to create their business, they’ve secured a source of income that will allow them to continue participating in the junta and paying back the amount they received when they took the first turn.

Earlier, I talked about the importance of trust in the success of a junta. It can only be successful in a tightly-knit community. What I think is REALLY cool about a junta is the trust involved and created. While a junta isn’t really an investment of money (because although there is definitely high risk involved, in the end you don’t receive any more than you put in), a junta IS an investment of trust. As far as trust is concerned, it is a feedback system. The community has to have trust to begin with, but at the end of the junta, there will be a lot MORE trust among the community’s members than there ever was to start with. Upon successful completion of the junta, the community will be even closer, because the junta showed that their trust in each other did not fail. These social/communal benefits of trust and mutual dependence gained by a junta can NEVER be replicated with a standard bank loan.

This is an article that probably explains what a junta is (or as the author calls it a “rotating savings and credit association) better than I just did, if you want more information.

Baby Coming Soon

So tonight I had "the talk" with my host family, Javier and Raquel. Usually "the talk" refers to a conversation that starts off with the line "son, you might have noticed that your body and mind are going through important changes...." or the innocent question "where do babies come from?" The version "the talk" I had tonight was a little more advanced than that. It was more along the lines of "regardless of what happened nine months ago, this baby is COMING!"

Side note: For those of you who might be newcomers to Pensamientos Peruanos, Raquel and Javier are a married couple who form my host family in Peru (I would call them my host "parents," but that'd be kind of weird, because they're only about 12 years older than I). Raquel is pregnant (Javier is the father -- just to clarify) and the baby is due to arrive any time between May 15 - 31.

Raquel is planning on working all the way through May 8 (that seems like a long time to me, but I'm not exactly one to judge -- and let's be honest, I know absolutely nothing about being a pregnant mother, aside from the fact that it can't be THAT tough, because three years ago when I was running varsity cross country in college, my now-35 year old coach beat me by 30 seconds in a 5K road race while she was 6 months pregnant.) So given that the hour is fast approaching, tonight was as good a time as any to go through what exactly is the plan when she goes into labor.

Raquel's doctor that will deliver the baby works at a hospital that is about a 20 minute taxi ride from the house. We went over what would happen should Raquel go into labor while I'm at home with her and Javier is working (Javier is not planning on taking off work, and I'm home during the day 3 days during the work week) . It's up to me to find a fast, secure ride for her to get to the hospital. I have the numbers of four people with automobiles in my cell phone (which brings up another important part of the plan -- always have the cell phone charged and with sufficient credit to make calls.) If none of them answer or if none of them are in the area, I have to go out to the street to hail a taxi. This is sometimes difficult, because there are times when not many taxis are around our street. Javier's brother Roberto, who lives downstairs in our house has a car (but he doesn't drive) that he rents to a friend that uses it as a taxi. When his friend isn't working, the car stays downstairs in the "garage." It's an automatic transmission (which means I can drive it, theoretically) and for awhile Javier joked about what I would do if none of the taxistas answered their cell phones and the driver of Roberto's car wasn't working that day. The problem is, a lot of times I can't tell when Javier's joking.... (Also -- I never did ask if there's some sort of emergency/ambulance number I can call as a last resort -- I should probably do that.)

Another key part of the plan is for me to have my video camera always charged -- Javier wants to videotape the birth (I guess maybe I should have mentioned that the second person I call after the taxi will be Javier so he can leave work and be there to see -- and record -- the birth of his son).

Basically, all of this is extremely exciting and horrifying all at the same time. I feel so blessed to be able to share in such an important chapter in the lives of Javier and Raquel. Hearing Javier talk about how excited he is for the birth of his son (who will be named Rodrigo Alejando Fernandez Vega -- they assured me that they are NOT naming him "Alejandro"after me!) was indescribable. Javier is really, really happy. He also told me that the main reason he wants to lose weight (I go running with him for half an hour 4 mornings every week) is so he will be in good enough shape when he's older to play with his children. At the same time as feeling excited and blessed and thankful to have this experience, even though I'm a (supposedly) mature adult, I'm also thinking to myself "wow, it is going to be a LOOOOONG TIME before I'm ready to be a father!" My last two months in Peru are definitely going to be much, much different than the first 9.

AIPRAL Conference Part 2: Brazil and Stuff

So there's definitely much more to talk about with the AIPRAL conference than just bible studies and talks on economic justice. First and foremost, we had the opportunity to get to know about two dozen young Christians from all over South America: Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia. They were mostly 18 – 25-ish, either in college or recently graduated. There were maybe 14 males and 8 or 9 females. And of course, because of the geographical diversity, Sean and I got to hear a great variety of Spanish accents. The Chilean Spanish was probably most difficult for us to understand (well, apart from the Portugese, hahaha). Luckily, the guys who came to the conference from Chile spoke a decent amount of English. More importantly, however, they also did a GREAT job of putting on “gringo” Spanish accents. They could speak Spanish with a PERFECT California/valley accent. It was actually easier (and a lot funnier!) to understand them when they spoke with their fake North American accents.

We also participated in the “southern cone” tradition of hot tea (“mate”) drinking. The participants in the conference from Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina were constantly drinking tea. They each had a thermos and matching mug. The mug is filled about halfway with some sort of plant/herb, and then either cold or hot (depending on the outside temperature) water is poured on top of it. Then they drink the tea through a metal straw that you’re apparently not supposed to move. The cool part is that even though everyone brought their own, they each took turns being the “tea provider” for the day. That is, one person would bring their mug/thermos, and then be constantly sharing/passing around. In this way, it’s a much more community/social activity.

The first time I tried it, I had no clue what it was. And being totally clueless, (not having even seen anyone else drink from it) the first thing I did was take the straw out (a no-no) and look at it. And because the bottom part was wide, flat and sort of curved (resembling a spoon), I made a motion to ask them if you were supposed to EAT it (it seemed like a possibility – I didn’t know!!). So of course everyone laughed and quickly made sure I didn’t eat it. Finally, my last faux-pas was just sipping really slowly – I would quickly learn that they basically drain the mug in one quick, long swig, and then it gets refilled for the next person.

The slow sipping may not have been a bad strategy – they all claimed that the tea didn’t have any stimulants, but there is no WAY that was true. After my first morning of participating in one of their tea-drinking social circles, I was WIRED for the rest of the day! I guess “mate” is their version of the regular North American’s addiction to coffee.

Unfortunately, Sean and I didn’t get to see too much of Brazil outside of just the hotel and the waterfalls. The conference activities went all the way from 8 in the morning to 8 at night. However, the national park in Foz de Iguazu where we saw the waterfalls was pretty awesome. To start with, everything just seemed so green, compared to Lima which is technically coastal desert. The climate reminded me a lot of home / the deep south – hot and humid.

Of course, the waterfalls were nothing short of spectacular. You can check out pictures in my picasa album. There was a path that sort of winded along through the trees, down the hillside next to the river, and around every turn there was ANOTHER set of spectacular falls. I thought it would just be one big waterfall, but there were at least 5 different sets (maybe more like 7 or 8). There were also bridges with platforms that went out over the river so we could get close enough to feel the mist. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to cross over to the Argentine side (the Iguazu river forms the border between Brazil and Argentina) where you can walk on a bridge that passes pretty much directly over the falls, but we still had an amazing time. There were masses of other tourists everywhere from all over the world. South America, Europe, Japan, and even a guy wearing a University of Georgia baseball cap.

Finally, after seeing the waterfalls, I went white water rafting down the river (down river, not up river from the falls…). I’ve been rafting a couple times in western North Carolina, so I knew what to expect, but it was still a little disconcerting that our guide only spoke Portugese! There were actually only two real rapids – but they were both a lot bigger and more intense than any rapid I had rafted through previously! After the second rapid, we basically all jumped out of the raft and just floated down the river for the rest of the day. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I was told it would be a 2 hour rafting trip, but I wasn’t going to complain – the water felt SO good in the Brazilian heat and humidity.

All in all it was a good trip. The only other thing I guess I could mention is that we crossed the border (the OTHER border) from Brazil into Paraguay on the last day to do some shopping. This really isn’t noteworthy at all, besides the fact that crossing the border was so quick, easy and painless. The shopping consisted of street venders and a couple shopping mall-type buildings that offered very little in the way of authentic Paraguayan crafts and mainly just electronics, clothes, music and movies for higher prices than we would pay in Peru.

Part 2 of Alex’s Dissertation about Living Simply… AKA “My scatter-brained ramblings as I deal with a South American existential crisis"

Note: This is a long entry that doesn’t always flow very logically or get to the point right away (much like a lot of sermons I’ve heard, and some of the few that I’ve preached). But it is the culmination of something I’ve been thinking about a LOT over the past few weeks or so. I encourage you to please read all o f it (along with “Part 1,” from which the thought process of this entry follows directly), because I’d love your feedback, especially if you’re a current, past or prospective/future Young Adult Volunteer

So looking back on it, I now realize that there were some mixed motivations when I decided to become a YAV. And again, not all of that is bad – indeed there are far worse things that college grads could be doing just because it’s popular or “cool” besides volunteering in the non-western world on behalf of beneficial social/religious causes.

But Sean (fellow Peru YAV) asks an interesting question (as Sean frequently does): “If you couldn’t tell anyone about what you did this year, would you still decide to be a YAV?” Now, to be honest, I don’t think this is a completely fair question. Sharing your story is arguably the most important part of the YAV experience; I suspect that describing to friends, family and churches the things I’ve seen and done here in Peru will have a far greater positive social/economic impact than the actual volunteer work I’m doing here in Peru with churches and organizations that provide direct assistance for the poor. However, there’s always a dual nature of telling these stories, because although it would be wrong for us not to share such unique, life changing experiences, it’s almost impossible not to describe them in a way that is kind of self-righteous (whether intentional or not). There is a temptation to “martyr yourself” – intentionally put yourself in situations where you’re deprived of modern technological comforts – not only in an effort to create personal and spiritual growth/gain a deeper appreciation for life, but also because it’s a “cool” thing to do, and it gives you a great story that will make you a hit at dinner parties and wedding receptions. THIS is the possible danger of mixed motivations that Sean is getting at when he asks that question.

I’m not saying that I ever used to stand shivering underneath my cold shower, thinking to myself “this will be SO worth it after I get back and can honestly tell people that I took cold showers for a year straight.” The more likely scenario is that someone in the US will someday complain about their shower one morning running out of hot water, and then BAM! – I can chime in saying “well at least you didn’t have to take cold showers for a year straight like I did when I was in Peru, and like [fill in the blank with appropriate number] percent of the world does every day.”

Then there’s the even sneakier situation, when someone ELSE is talking about having to take cold shower while (s)he was living in a foreign country, and then I can come in by saying “Yeah, but what I think stinks even worse about not having hot water is when you have to wash your clothes by hand. You scrub and scrub, but they never really ever seem to get clean, and all the while your hands are FREEZING.” So basically in these ways, the well-intentioned person living simply abuses the tales of their experience to make others feel guilty for their own lifestyles. Or the simple-liver (“liver” as in “person who lives,” not the organ) uses the story of their experience to “one-up” other simple-livers to see who is the most “hardcore.”

Obviously, I’m getting really nit-picky, and there are also deeper issues of psychology/human nature at work here that I’ll spare you from exploring further (if you made it reading this far…). Suffice it to say that I know that to some extent EVERYONE does this sort of story-telling that is part genuine, part self-righteous. I may be guilty of doing it more than others. But I DON’T want to say that people should “censor themselves” when it comes to re-counting unique experiences. I think everything will be just fine as long as people have the self-confidence/esteem to acknowledge that one doesn’t need to proclaim these experiences to have a sense of self-worth, and that on the other hand, just because someone hasn’t had the experience of living simply and intentionally on another continent doesn’t make him/her less of a “good” person.

One other danger of “martyring yourself” is that it can potentially be HARMFUL for your personal physical/emotional health (as opposed to creating personal growth) if you neglect to give appropriate attention to your needs. With a little dedication, the typical North American can (relatively) easily live in a way that is simpler, more environmentally-friendly and also more in-line with how the rest of the world’s population lives. However, that does NOT mean that I can survive and be healthy for a year while trying to live EXACTLY like an Indigenous South American high-altitude subsistence farmer, because my body and mind has spent the rest of my life up to this point being a middle-upper class North American, not an Indigenous South American high-altitude subsistence farmer.

Another interesting element in this “living simply” debate is the attitudes of the people that I’m here supposedly being in solidarity with. Now, I haven’t had many up-front, extended conversations with Peruvian friends or church/host family members about the obvious differences in technological luxuries and comforts between my personal lifestyle in the US and the average working-class lifestyle here in Peru, but I would suspect (or at least hope) that people here appreciate the fact that I understand how great the discrepancy in wealth is, and that I’m here showing them that I care by being in solidarity. However, for many people (and especially, I think, for people where I live on the outskirts of Lima), the modern, western life of wealth and luxury is exactly what they’re working so hard towards! They would love to enjoy the comforts that I have in the US: automatic dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, high speed internet, affordable personal automobile etc. For me to come to Peru having rejected what they see as goals and signals of “progress” and upward mobility must be dumbfounding. So while I’m living in solidarity with them physically, I’m still on a different wavelength culturally/philosophically – no way would they make the same decision I did if they were in my shoes!

But maybe this is a case of where I really can “make a difference” socially/economically HERE in Peru through my ministry as a YAV (as opposed to just making a difference through “reverse ministry” back to the US through my correspondence and reports of my thoughts and reflections). I can show people that wealth, luxuries and technology, which may increase social status or make life “easier,” doesn’t always make life “better” or more meaningful. In fact, these things can inhibit us from connecting deeply and lovingly to each other as a community rather than a group of isolated individuals.

And I agree 100% with that message – it’s definitely true for me, and it’s one of the beliefs that factored into my decision to become a YAV. But at the same time, if the reason I’m here is to show these confused poor people in the southern hemisphere that their materialistic goals of wealth and comfort will turn out to be empty and unfulfilling, then aren’t I just guilty of a new type of western cultural imperialism – one that advances the agenda of a postmodern, liberal white North American? Isn’t this a perfect contemporary example of what not to be: the western aid worker who has gone to the “undeveloped lands” to give them a paternalistic hand up, courtesy of advanced western thought?

In the end, I don’t have the perfect answer. I think there’s got to be a middle road somewhere: a way that I can show through my life choice to be here that I think the fruits of high modern, advanced capitalism aren’t all they’re cracked up to be as far as improving the real “quality” of life – but without doing it in a preachy, paternalistic way.

So finally, back to the original point (and yes, I promise I had an original point!): What did I decide for myself in terms of dealing with the discomfort that being surrounded in comfort/technology gives me? Well, I decided I’m going to keep taking my hot showers. I’m going to keep using the washing machine. But I have also decided to intentionally cut back on using the internet and TV. I think that these things are keeping me from “being present” with my host family, and really forming deep relationships with them. I’ve been aware of this danger for some time now, but what really made me notice it happened just a couple days ago. On Saturday, Angelo, my ten year old “host cousin” that visits the house only on the weekends and loves hanging out with me, came upstairs to my room to ask me if I had time to come downstairs and play with him. I had spent the previous hour or two just mindlessly checking email, chatting and using facebook. Of course, I quickly turned off the computer and went downstairs, feeling guilty for having not done it earlier, and we had a lot of fun. See, from the two months of living with my first host family, I know that I can easily adapt to life without the internet or TV. I don’t really miss it too much when it’s gone. But when it’s there, it’s pretty hard for me not to get sucked in. However, I think by making this intentional, conscious decision to start abstaining, I will be able to break my “addiction,” and eventually be much better off for it. So if you happen to notice me spending time on g-mail’s chat service, skype or facebook, tell me to go out and live in Peru. Or at least make me feel guilty for whatever I say I’m doing that’s “so important” at the time.

I guess that’s the final irony in all this. I would very much like to have a discussion about the (many) issues I’ve raised with these two blog entries. However, starting this week I won’t “be present (that is, online) very much to contribute to it. I am planning on checking my email and blog comments occasionally, and maybe I’ll write down the comments so I can write about them later in my journal before efficiently and quickly transcribing them to my blog (which is actually the way I wrote these past two entries – on paper first so I could focus). Well, anyway, thanks for reading all this, and God bless.

- Alex

Tensions and difficulties with the YAV principle of "Living Simply" (Part 1)

Note: This is the first part of part two of a two part series of blog entries that have two parts. Part two of part one, which concerns the AIPRAL conference in Brazil, is coming soon!

I came into this year as a Young Adult Volunteer wanting to live simply. To get away from the silly preoccupations of materialistic American popular culture, and to learn to form real, genuine relationships with people. I was gladly willing to sacrifice things like internet access, TV and hot showers in order to have a “genuine,” year-long taste of how most of the world lives. I wanted to be in solidarity with the urban poor on Lima’s outskirts – a “place” (socially and geographically) that has a host of difficult problems that are unique from those of Peru’s impoverished rural provinces.

For my first two months in Peru, I did all of that fairly well. I was living in a modest home where I always took cold showers. If I wanted to use the internet, I had to walk down the street where I could pay an hourly rate (albeit a very, very small one – about 30 cents) to use a computer in an internet café. If I wanted to watch TV, I had to go upstairs from my room and join in whatever the other family members were watching in one of the bedrooms/living spaces with a TV. When my clothes were dirty, I either washed them by hand or paid my host sister or someone in the neighborhood to wash them for me. Overall, I spent a lot of time simply sitting and talking with the members of my host family. And when I needed time to myself, I read, wrote in my journal or just quietly prayed or reflected in my room.

But, as I discussed on my blog in December, there were some issues with my host family that posed risks to my physical and emotional well-being. Debbie and I, with the help of Hernando and Eduardo (two pastors who supervise my work with my church placements), decided these risks were unnecessary. We made the difficult decision to switch my host family.

My living situation with my new host family, where I’ve been for five months now, is very different from that of the first one. I now can take hot (or at least warm…) showers. I wash my clothes whenever I want in the washing machine. My laptop, which I originally brought to Peru so I could type blog entries offline and then save them to a flash memory drive before uploading them online quickly from an internet café, is now connected 24 hours a day to the (relatively) high speed internet connection in my bedroom. Also in my bedroom is a cable TV with a DVD player, which presents another option for occupying my time when I’m feeling anti-social and just want to “zone out” for awhile.

In other words, as far as technological comforts, I’m really not living too much more “simply” than I ever did in the United States of America. Sure, I don’t have a car, so I take public transportation or walk everywhere, and I dry my clean clothes on a line outside instead of in a machine – both of which are marked improvements in the “living simply” area – but that’s about it. Over the past few months, I’ve found myself spending far too much time mindlessly checking my email, watching you tube videos and online episodes of The Daily Show, checking people’s facebook profiles, and perusing the endless stream of constantly-updated weblogs and online news sources. And thanks to email, instant messaging and the ability of Skype to make ridiculously cheap international phone calls over the internet to US cell phones, I also spend a lot of time corresponding with friends and family (which maybe I shouldn’t mention, just in case you’re reading this and I haven’t kept in touch with you personally…). In fact, a few of my friends have discussed how “weird” it is that I keep in touch so well, since it’s usually impossibly difficult to maintain contact with people who are living simply on another continent.

And, from what I know of how other PC(USA) YAVs are living this year, my friends’ reactions are not unwarranted. My situation seems pretty unique. For most of them, time on the internet, when available, is utilized to maximum efficiency, because access is either rare, expensive or far away. Books are the other “hot commodity” besides the internet, because most YAVs don’t have the constant presence of TVs and computers to divert and entertain them. Finally, by now people have gotten pretty used to washing their clothes by hand, or else they’ve at least formed good relationships with the local people who wash their clothes for them.

However, just because it’s different doesn’t mean that every aspect of my living situation is “bad.” Keeping up with current events and world affairs is generally a “good thing,” in my opinion. And the opportunity to communicate regularly and personally with friends and family is something I’d rather not give up.

Moreover, I think the otherwise noble YAV principle of living simply creates some problematic unintended consequences. First and foremost, it becomes a bragging point. It’s easily romanticized. I think this is one of the reasons why the prospect of being a YAV was so appealing during my senior year of college. Taking a year off to help the poor is a “cool” thing to do. After coming back from Peru, I would be able to casually drop into conversations the fact that I survived (no, flourished!) during a year in which I rarely had internet access, took cold showers and had down-to-earth conversations with people instead of watching TV with them. I sacrificed technological and material comforts for the good of society and the good of the planet. Meanwhile, I was working as a VOLUNTEER – forgoing a year’s worth of wages – not to simply donate that money to the poor, but rather because I was living in solidarity and actually getting to know the poor (to borrow a line from Shane Claiborne).

AIPRAL Conference Part 1: Theology. A.K.A. "Alex Preaches To The Blogsphere Not Necessarily About Being A YAV In Peru"

So I'm back, once again to my original adventure after having returned from another adventure.

The AIPRAL conference was a breath of fresh air, theologically speaking. Sean and I had gotten pretty used to the very traditional biblical interpretations, forms of worship and overall "way of life" associated with the evangelical churches where we work and worship here in Peru. The main points of our churches' theology are pretty much as follows:

1. God is in charge of everything.

2. God's divine son Jesus Christ, the Messiah, lived on earth and sacrificed himself to be crucified so that the sins of whoever believes in him will be forgiven.

3. If you accept Jesus as your personal Savior, you will have eternal life in heaven after your life on earth is over. If you don't accept Jesus as your personal Savior, you will suffer eternal conscious torment in Hell after your earthly death.

4. In the meantime (during THIS life), you should "turn your life in" to Jesus. This means:
4a. Going to church regularly
4b. Reading the bible regularly (and memorizing as much of it as you can)
4c. Praying regularly (or even "without ceasing" - 1 Thes. 4:17)
4d. Abstaining with all your might from sin/idolatries (things that distract you from serving God) such as alcohol, drugs and sex outside of marriage.
4e. "Spreading the gospel" always by proclaiming your faith in effort to convert as many people as possible to Christianity so that they too, might be saved from Hell and given eternal life in Heaven.

5. The Bible (old and new testaments; the standard protestant canon) is God's authoritative, infallible Word. It was revealed perfectly by God Himself to writers inspired by Him. It is the Christian's definitive guide for what to believe and how to live.

Now, before I get into any metaphorical hot water, let me just say that although I don't agree 100% with these basic tenets of belief/doctrine that guide the churches with which I work here in Peru (and the majority of protestant/evangelical churches), I DO think that generally, they are a fine set of beliefs. They are most certainly Christian. They are most certainly biblical. They most certainly have created and guided life-changing spiritual/religious experiences for millions of people all over the world during the course of 2,000 years.

However I, along with the folks at AIPRAL, believe that Christians are called to more than just personal purity, and that people should have more to look forward to besides eternal life after they die. In addition to individual sin, there is societal/structural sin. And Christian beliefs can also do a lot of good in "saving" people from earthly "Hells" during THIS life, not just the next.

Enter the theme for the conference: Economic Justice. The majority of the first few days of the conference were dedicated to Bible studies and discussing just why exactly, from a Biblical point of view, Christians should be worried about poverty and global economic equality. Then during mostly the second half of the conference, we had some games/discussions/activities to learn about how/why economic injustice exists and what in the world we can do about it.

The first bible study was on 2 Corinthians 8, and discussing ways the church can be an example/beacon in demonstrating how communities can exercise norms of generosity, reciprocity and rejecting economic greed. We also discussed Isaiah 58 to demonstrate how God actually DEMANDS repentance for social sins of oppression, poverty and injustice rather than just personal purity.

The next bible study/discussion was centered around Revelation 18, in which God condemns the city of Babylon, a center of trade and city of great wealth, power and greed, to be destroyed. Although the connection was never explicitly made, there were implied similarities made to the United States during the discussion. This session wasn't really a bible study as much as it was a bible-based lecture on the history of external debt in Latin American countries. While over 50% of the population of Latin America lives on less than $2 per day, Latin American governments are using hundreds of billions of dollars a year to pay back loans taken from other countries, principally the United States. Because of compounding interest, the countries have already paid back several times over the amount originally borrowed, and will continue paying the interest for years and years to come. The most infuriating part is that these loans were used to finance the killings and "disappearance" of the government's own citizens during the tumultous 1970s and 1980s, the most obvious example being the "Dirty War" in Argentina, where the government accounted for an estimated 30,000 disappearances. The bible study leader asserted that the US government not only knew that it was funding dictatorships with the loans, but also that the other governments would never be able to pay the sums back. Biblically, we discussed the Jewish mandate of "Jubilee" years. According to Mosaic law, the Jewish people were to forgive all debts, redistribute wealth, pardon offenses, free slaves etc every 50 years, when God's mercy would be manifest. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus says he's come to do exactly that as he quotes from Isaiah 61:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor [Jubilee]."

The concept of Jubilee as being a manifestation of God's mercy/forgiveness of sins should be an example/inspiration for us to forgive debts ("forgive us our debts as we forgive our debters" -- very Presbyterian!). This biblical/theological point, as well as the story of Jesus' anger towards the money lenders in the temple (told in all 4 Gospels ex. Matthew 21) was used during the discussion to show how unchecked capitalism, as an economic system, is one of (or perhaps THE) biggest root of social/structural sin in our society.

So those two bible studies/discussion were the background going into the third bible study, which for me was the most interesting. This bible study was a theological discussion of Jesus' Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). In this parable, a "Master" of a great estate leaves on a trip. While he's gone, he leaves 3 "servants" to manage his money, giving 5 "talents" to one, 2 to another, and 1 to a third. When the master comes back, he finds that the first servant has managed his money well - using/investing the 5 talents to make another 5. So has the second: he's made another 2 talents with the 2 he was given. The third, on the other hand, simply took the 1 talent he was given, buried it in the ground and returned it to the master when he returned. The master, obviously, is pleased with the first two servants and ticked off with the third. While he promises the first two servants more responsibilities and privileges, he takes the 1 talent from the third servant and adds it to the total of the first, calling the third servant wicked and lazy. He then demands that the third "worthless" servant be thrown outside where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Traditionally, this parable is seen to be about spiritual "gifts" rather than money -- indeed it's supposedly the origin of our modern word "talent," meaning "ability." So the parable traditionally is taken to illustrate how some people are born with lots of talents, and others aren't. But the quantity/type of your talent/gifts don't matter; what matters is that you do something with what you have. This is the traditional moral: it implies that if you don't use the gifts God blesses you with, you will be shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is a decent interpretation/moral: nobody likes a lazy person. Many sermons have used this parable to preach the message that we should be thankful for what we have and dedicate its use to God, being good stewards. However the seminary student who led this bible study (named Mauricio), thinks there's a different meaning when you look at the original Greek (the language in which the New Testament was originally written).

While a couple versions say Jesus introduces this parable by saying "The Kingdom of Heaven is like," according to Mauricio, the ones that stick closest to the original Greek do not include this phrase. This parable then, isn't necessarily about the Kingdom of Heaven. Furthermore, this parable, along with the Parable of the Ten Virgins (another parable that is striking for its total lack of Grace - one of the cornerstones of protestant theology) comes smack dab in the middle of a discussion Jesus is having with his disciples about the signs of the end of the age! So this parable, according to Mauricio, actually could be about the evil in the world that serves as a sign that the Kingdom is near.

Furthermore, analyzing the Greek, Mauricio says that the word used to describe the "Master" in the parable is not keiros, the Greek word for Lord, which Jesus normally uses when describing "Masters" in parables about the Kingdom of Heaven, but rather the Greek word for "Man" (or human being - which is "anthros" or something like that, I didn't write it down). Additionally, the word that is usually interpreted as "servant" was actually the Greek word for "slave" -- you know, the people that Jesus claimed he was sent to set free, as I mentioned above.

By now, you can probably figure out where this is going. Mauricio is turning the traditional view of the Parable of the Talents almost completely on its head. But really, we're just getting started.

During Jesus' time, a Greek "talent" was a unit of currency worth 6,000 drachma. One drachma was the equivalent of a standard laborer's daily wage. So because I'm too lazy to do all the math, let's just suffice it to say that this "Master" was the ancient equivalent of a millionaire. And as most of us know, Jesus didn't exactly predict that millionaires would have a particularly easy time getting into the kingdom of heaven.

However, the most damning evidence that invites us to turn this parable's traditional interpretation on its head is the reason the third, "foolish" servant gives the master for simply burying the money in the ground: "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed." What's more is the master does not reject this claim but affirms it! He says: "So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed..." This is definitely the verse that frustrates the HELL out of traditional interpreters. In the traditional interpretation, where the master is seen to symbolize God, this makes absolutely no sense! No Christian believes in a God who would take as his own the fruits of someone else's labor. Such a God is unjust, deceitful and dishonest - a thief!

At this point in the Bible study, I got pretty excited. I had ALWAYS been frustrated with this parable, even as a little kid. I always sympathized with the third servant -- I mean, at least he didn't LOSE the money, right? Mauricio's interpretation seemed to resolve everything. Until, that is, you get to verse 29. In the parable, after the master takes the one talent of the third servant/slave and adds it to the 10 talents of the first servant/slave, he says "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." Reading this verse I became frustrated again, because it reminded me of something Jesus says in Matthew 13, after telling the Parable of the Sower. (The only reason I knew about this is because I happened to have preached a sermon on it to Km. 13 Church two weeks earlier.) After telling the parable of the sower, Jesus himself says plain and simple to his disciples almost the EXACT same phrase: "Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him" (Matthew 13:12). So during the bible study, I pointed out both instances of these verses and posed what I thought was a "checkmate" (as Stephen Colbert would say) question to Mauricio: If the MASTER in this parable is really the wicked one, why would he be saying the exact same teaching Jesus himself had said in an earlier parable?

Unfortunately, I asked this question during a moment of the bible study in which LOTS of people had things to say, and the time was running out anyway, so Mauricio didn't really have a chance to go through and give a thorough answer. So I had to reason it out on my own, but I think I figured it out.

In the context of the parable of the sower, Jesus says this phrase about adding to the amount of people who have a lot and taking away from the people who have none in reference to the Pharisees. Furthermore, he wasn't talking about money (much to the chagrin of contemporary religious right wingers who tout the "justice" of laissez-faire supply side economics) but understanding. The Pharisees/teachers of the law were positive that they perfectly understood God's law/will and had everything figured out. So they spent their time trying to force the regulations of the law on other Jews. Jesus, however, spends most of his ministry speaking out against the pharisees, calling them hypocrites and telling them that the people they consider to be "sinners" will actually be the ones who inherit the kingdom of heaven. Basically he tells them that despite (or perhaps BECAUSE of....) their pompous assertions that they are the experts on God's law/will and they kingdom of heaven, they actually don't have a clue.

So I think Jesus has the "master" in this parable use this phrase, the same phrase Jesus himself once used, to depict the master as a Pharisee. Like a Pharisee would do, the master takes the Word of God and COMPLETELY misuses it. He twists it to fulfill a purpose totally contrary to God's will. Jesus disciples (to whom he was telling the Parable of the Talents) would have recognized this phrase as something Jesus had said before -- and would also recognize that the character in the story had used it to justify evil rather than good. I think Jesus uses this part of the parable to illustrate/give an example of something he warned the disciples about just 1 chapter earlier while describing the signs of the end of the age: "Many will come in my name, claiming 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many" (Mat. 24:5). Included in that might be people who use the teachings of Jesus/word of God to try and justify riches, greed and economic injustice.

So there you have it. That's about it. The awesome thing about this parable, as with many parables and biblical passages, is that the traditional moral: using the spiritual gifts/talents God has given you to further the glory of God and the betterment of society rather than letting them go to waste, is still a beautiful moral. This just goes to illustrate the timelessness of scripture - as authoritative, special and unique for all peoples, in all contexts. The same parable can offer two distinct interpretations, both of which are helpful, life-affirming and prophetic in the right contexts. I don't say this to mean that there is no such thing as a WRONG interpretation of the Bible -- the Bible has been used to justify racial superiority, genocide, war, the oppression of women and a host of other social ills -- but rather that the Spirit of God moves in a variety of ways that we can't appreciate if we close our minds to keep out perspectives we hadn't previously considered.

Pensamientos Brasilenos

Last night Sean and I arrived safely in Foz de Iguazu, Brazil for our conference. We have already been greeted with much hospitality and grace. Perhaps the best example of this was when I accidentally paid $20 TWICE for my food during our 4 hour layover in the Sao Paulo airport. I gave the cashier a $20 bill for my $5 sandwich and then she gave me my change. I then realized that she had charged me for a bottle of water that Sean had already paid for, so she gave me a little more change. But somehow that convesation made us confused, and I somehow forgot I ever paid her to begin with, so I gave her ANOTHER $20 bill. About 30 minutes after we had finished eating and left the restaurant, the cashier found us sitting at the gate for our flight. She had tracked me down to give me that second $20 bill back. I don't think this would have happened in Hartsfield-Jackson or O'Hare airports.

We are still the only ones that have arrived for the conference. There will be another 26 or so people arriving later today, according to Isaias, the AIPRAL conference coordinator (who's also been nice enough to let us use the internet on his personal laptop). The others are from countries all over South America. It should be fun!

reporting on the beach retreat and giving thanks for community

So it's a little late, but I promised to make an update on our YAV beach retreat to Mancora, so I guess I'll do that now, and tell the story of my adventures in Brazil later.

For a week, our group of 7 (6 yavs plus 1 site coordinator) stayed in one of the "Twin Towers," a pair of two large, multi-story beach-front houses located 20 minutes (by motorcycle taxi) down a hilly, bumpy dirt road in a small town called Los Organos. Los Organos is about 8 KM south of Mancora Beach, which is perhaps Peru's second most famous tourist destination, after Machu Picchu. Our house was huge, and the stretch of beach in front of it was almost totally deserted except for us and a couple other small vacation groups/families. The two houses share a small, private outdoor swimming pool, which we also took advantage of when the 30 meter walk to the beach just seemed too far. For a week, we definitely enjoyed a much, much higher standard of living than we have at our site placements.

Though we spent most of our week just relaxing at the beach, there were some very intentional structural aspects to the retreat. Each morning, all six YAVs each took turns leading a time of devotion or reflection. Debbie then led a bible study each evening. The house had a full kitchen, so we made several trips to the local market and cooked our own meals every day. We all pitched in to prepare breakfast and lunch, while for dinner we were divided into pairs to take turns setting up, cooking, and cleaning. It was great to spend a week relaxing and functioning like a family.

The actual beach was amazing. It was very clean (compared with most beaches in Peru, especially those in Lima) and refreshingly undeveloped - no restaurants, piers, boardwalks, tacky shops etc. And it had great (huge!) waves for body surfing. We also enjoyed hanging out at the pool, throwing around the frisbee, and watching some gorgeous sunsets. The last night we built a campfire on the beach, roasted marshmallows, and sang along to Sean's guitar playing. Other nights we played some intense card games and went for (dark!) walks along the surf.

The other objective of our retreat was to renew our visas. We received visas good for 183 days (six months) upon entering Peru. The 183rd day fell on the third day of our retreat, so that day we made a 2 1/2 hour trip north of Mancora to cross the border into Ecuador. We stayed in Ecuador long enough to eat lunch and do some shopping before crossing back into Peru, receiving a new 183 visa that will keep us legal in Peru until we return to the States at the end of July. We had been told beforehand that the officials on the border might tell us that we had to stay in Ecuador for 24 hours to receive new Peruvian visas, but luckily we didn't have any problems.

The other cool thing I did on the retreat was go surfing. One day Leslie and I went into Mancora to take surf lessons. I was pretty skeptical that I would successfully be able to stand up on a surf board after only an hour long class, but I did it. (I didn't know how much they would "help" me with the lesson though!) First our instructors had us practice our paddling positions and standing-up techniques on imaginary surf boards drawn in the sand. After about 10 minutes of that, we each got HUGE surf boards to go do it for real. The giant surfboards are much, much more stable, which is why they give them to beginners. They're also much, much harder to paddle out with! Luckily, I didn't have to do much of the work. My instructor held on to the back of the surf board while we paddled out, and while I paddled with my hands he was wearing flippers and kicking to get me into position to ride the waves. So really, my ability to surf was more dependent on my ability to follow directions. He would say paddle, and I would just keep paddling, not even looking back at the waves for which we was positioning. Then, he would suddenly say "stand up!" and I would get up us quickly as I could (which was still really slowly) to ride the wave, while he meanwhile let go. It was kind of like learning to ride a bike for the first time with training wheels - all the sudden you realize your dad isn't holding on any more. It took a couple tries, but I was eventually able to successfully stand up 3 or 4 times, and even rode one wave all the way in.

All in all, it was amazing. Our group did some incredible bonding over the week, I think. Looking back on the retreat now that it's 2 weeks old, I have become incredibly thankful for the community I have here. Not only are the 6 YAVs and Debbie a community, but I also feel very welcomed, comfortable and "a part of" my local communities here in comas: the host family, kilometer 13 church and santa isabel church. They all told me how much they missed me while I was gone, and everyone was so interested to hear about my experiences when I got back.

Yep that's about it. Moral of the story: God's awesome, communities rock, and beaches are fun.

[Global] Southern Hospitality

Today I went on my own to visit Pastor Hernando (my "supervisor" for my work at Km 13 church) at his house, because he injured his knee over a month or so ago, and hasn't been able to work since then. His house is in a neighborhood that's about a 50 minute bus ride from where I live in Comas. As I'm waiting to catch a bus back home, I hear someone calling my name. It's a cobrador (person who advertises a bus's routes and collects the fares from the passengers), and he's telling me that his bus will take me home "to the house where Javier lives." I didn't recognize the guy, though his face looked slightly familiar. And he obviously knew me and my host family, so I got in and sat down.

As he came over to where I was sitting to collect the bus fares for all the passengers, I stuck out my hand with my fare. He gave me a smile, and grabbed my wrist, giving it a firm shake. He obviously wanted to shake my hand instead, but couldn't, because it was holding the bus fare, which clearly didn't interest him. He asked me how I was doing, and I explained to him that I didn't realize this line went all the way where I was trying to go. We continued chatting for a few seconds as most of the passengers on the bus looked back at me, wondering who was this gringo who knew the cobrador.

I sat back in my seat for the long ride back. A few minutes into it, the cobrador hopped off the bus to buy a couple sodas from a street vender. He gave one to his driver. I assumed he bought the other one for himself, but sure enough he came back to where I was sitting and gave it to me, with a big smile.

"So first you don't have to pay him your bus fare, and now the cobrador buys you a soda?" the sitting next to me asked jokingly. I gave a forced laugh, embarrassed. "He's a good friend," was all I could say. But right after I said it, I realized that was an outright lie. I didn't even know the guy's name.

So I know all of this might not sound like a big deal, but it really made my day. And I'm sure some people might say "well he obviously just wants you to do something for him in the future." Or people might say "he was so nice just because he's really good friends with Javier." And any of those people might be right. But it really doesn't matter. This guy, even though I still don't know his name, made my day. And it was just the latest of a long, long list of examples of how many wonderful, nice people I've gotten to meet here in Lima.

I figured out from talking to him later on my ride back that I met the guy when he visited Javier and Raquel one night while I was home with his wife and two young children. And his kids, about 3 and 4 years old, were adorable and thought I was hilarious.

Going to BRAZIL

Just wanted to announce that fellow Peru YAV Sean Kerr and I will be representing the Presbyterian Church USA at a conference for youth/young adults hosted by the Alianza de Iglesias Presbiterianas y Reformadas de America Latina (Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches of Latin America). The conference title is Acciones Juveniles para la Vida en Abundancia (more or less translates to Young Adults Acting for Abundant Life) and it will be held NEXT WEEK from March 19 to March 22 in Iguassu Falls, Brazil. We received first notice about the opportunity to participate in the conference from an email that was sent the day the group left for our beach retreat in Mancora/Los Organos, but since there was no internet access on the retreat, we didn't know about the email until we got back to Lima last Friday afternoon. So in the few days since then, we've been running around town (Sean and I, plus Debbie, our site coordinator) getting all of our documents in order, plane tickets purchased, visa applications done etc (Brazil has VERY strict requirements for giving visas to US citizens). But now everything is pretty much taken care of, and I'll be picking up our visas this afternoon (assuming there weren't any problems in processing them). Also, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Brazilian geography and/or famous waterfalls (like I am) the waterfalls that give Igaussu Falls its name are some of the largest and most spectacular in the world. I'll take lots of pictures, and will be sure to give a full report.