connecting with the heart

May 12, 2010 in Cross-cultural awareness, Human factors, Root Causes by admin | 2 comments

When Jesus met the woman at the well in John 4:1-26, he immediately overcame cultural issues and connected with her heart. In my previous post, I described how Jesus met her on the level of a common need; he knew about her life and he addressed her spirituality. These were all things that had to do with her heart. While Jesus’ example at the well, does not directly use the term to “connect with the heart”, I think this is what happened in each of the three parts there at the well.

In the first instance, connecting with the heart addresses a mutual need. As a traveler, Jesus was weary and thirsty, so he approached the woman as a fellow human with needs similar to hers. As he asked her for a drink, he was not only one to give, but he was ready to receive from her.

Second, he connected with the heart by knowing about her and showing interest in this. She was not simply a person with needs, but she had struggles and sins and Jesus was ready to discuss and engage with her about these. He challenged her to ask for living water. He challenged her to bring her husband.

Third, Jesus helped her to see what she worships. This also connects with the heart, because as Jesus explained, we worship what we know and this makes us true worshipers. In other words, Jesus connected her with the source of worship and all she is. He helped her to know God. God is seeking true worshipers regardless of the background and need or the sin and personal crisis.

As I meet and face the complex issues of refugees, I must navigate the barriers that exist due to different cultures, legal codes and human limitations, but above all, I need to address the heart issues. For the woman at the well the issues that defined her were her background and need as a Samaritan, her failures and struggles and her spiritual heritage.

For refugees, the defining issue is forced displacement. No matter what the geographic, political, ethnic or religious issue may be, all refugees share a common story of forced displacement. Therefore, if I hope to connect with the heart of refugees, then I first need to understand their forced displacement.

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John 4:4-26

April 30, 2010 in Scripture by admin | No comments

Title, subject or idea of the passage
John 4:4-26
Knowing Christ as the messiah overcomes cultural barriers, addresses personal struggles and failures and meets the spiritual needs of the Samaritan woman.

Jesus reaches out to the Samaritan woman by meeting her on a human level, addressing her moral life and supplying her spiritual needs.

Context in the passage that relates to us:
Verse 4-6
v.4 – “He had to pass through Samaria.” Mark these words, because in Matthew 10:5, Jesus instructed his disciples to stay out of every Samaritan city, and in Luke 9:51-53, the Samaritans rejected him.

Most Jewish travelers went around Samaria to the north.  From a geographic, historic, political and cultural perspective, Jesus did not HAVE to go through Samaria. He was there for a divine appointment. When Jesus reaches the well in the heat of the day, he is hot, tired and thirsty.

Verse 7-16
v.7 – Jesus and the woman meet on a human level as two people looking to supply their needs.

v.9 – Samaria was the territory between Jerusalem and Gallilee. Jews and Samaritans disliked each other with a passion and they were worlds apart. The territory of Samaria was where Israel’s forefathers had settled (v.5-6). They had worshiped there and were buried there. But it had become like a foreign country, populated over the centuries by non-Jews who had been exiled there from other places. Once when the returning Israelites tried to build a temple there, the two groups could not work together and eventually the inhabitants protested and opposed it. (Ezra 4:1-4).

v.10 – Jesus challenges her to ask for living water.

Verse 16-26
v. 16-18 – Jesus knows the issues that she faces. Her life is full of broken relationships whether through abuse, rejection or her own sin, and the issues are so personal that she changes the subject.

v.20-21 - Our heritage and background is not the deciding factor in our spiritual lives.

v.22 – Instead, we worship what we know.

The thread that holds this dialogue together is knowing God as our saviour and the saviour’s knowing us.  This is John’s point in v.26, as Jesus reveals himself to the woman as the Messiah, and it was most likely part her testimony as she spread the news through the village that Jesus knew all that she ever did (v.39).  “I know the messiah, and he knows me!”  

When Jesus first met the woman at the level of their human need, he challenged her to ask for living water and he connected this with the need to know him (v.10). Similarly as Jesus engaged with her in v.16-18, he demonstrated that he knew all about her personal life and the struggles that she faced, which the woman later confirmed in v.39. Finally, at the end of the dialogue, knowing God makes it possible to worship him.


Context in our life that relates to the passage.
Joseph once told me he did not plan to meet any Christians when he arrived in Europe as a refugee. He said, “This was not my plan, but it was God’s plan.” 

Joseph met a few Christians and they got to know each other.  One in particular took care of Joseph’s needs. Joseph said,

“He knew me like a brother, and I could talk about my life with him. I became a Christian because of the love I had seen in those I got to know. I had never seen anything like this.  I did not plan for this to happen, but it was God’s will.”

The thread that links people together from different backgrounds is the knowledge of each other. We are linked because of our mutual needs. We are linked by getting to know one another personally, and we are linked by knowing the creator who supplies our need and rescues us from both our trouble and our sin.

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giving immigrants a bad name

June 30, 2009 in Christian viewpoints by dann | No comments

Recently there has been a video on You Tube about current Muslim demographics that point to the decline of Christian culture. It has had over nine million viewers on You Tube, and its aim is to “wake up” Christians to the reality of the world around them and to challenge Christians to take steps to share the Gospel.

Fortunately, several commentators have already helped to point out the errors of this video. To me, the film is unfortunate because it not only misrepresents the situation, but because it mainly seeks to justify the xenophobia in people that readily blames the immigrant for society’s decline. I think it creates a motivation for engaging the culture around us that is rooted in fear and protectionism. I don’t think this is ultimately a very helpful or viable reason to take action as Christians.

The video concludes that our society will change due to Islamic immigration coupled with the high birth rate of Islamic families. This is only one side of the equation. Our culture has changed even without the influx of Islamic immigration. There has always been some aspect that is changing the world we live in -whether this has been through exploration and discovery, politics, immigration or technology. Check out another video on you tube about the changing world.

These films raise the question of what it all means for us today? but I think we should also ask what the Western values, ideals and agendas are that have led to the place we are. Maybe change would be good. Maybe it is time to face and reckon with the course of self-destruction that western culture has been on.

The video refers to the alarm that western states like Germany and France themselves raise at the prospect of growing muslim populations. The implication is that Christians would no longer have a political culture and society that is their own. Yet isn’t this the case now?

Western society would be unrecognizeable in an Islamic state, and Christians might be discriminated against. However, while this seems like a difficult and dangerous situation –at the risk of historical error– wouldn’t this be more like the world that existed at the start of the Christian age -before Constantine tied government and religion together? Didn’t the church once grow and thrive in a world that was not “Christian”, and depending on the time, in a world that was outright hostile and violent towards Christians.

I would question the understanding of faith that is so tied and limited to a single culture. Instead, I would argue that the spiritual health of Christians in this world has more to do with the level of trust that we live by and dependence on God that we demonstrate.

Migration has been part of human history since the Garden of Eden, and the scriptures give witness to God’s use of migration, particularly forced migration, to accomplish his plan in this world. Many immigrants today are forced migrants, whose story and journey will lead them to a new identity in Christ. As migrants they bring new ways of living, but they will also potentially bring the roots of a new and renewed Church.

These immigrant Christians are witnesses to the fact that to be Christian is not tied to a particular culture -neither the current western one or some Islamic culture that might be forced on someone. Rather Christian faith for them is found in a new identity with Christ. To me the current demographics are a helpful reminder that it is not our culture that makes us Christian. Instead being a Christian is about the transformation of identity that happens when one embraces the Gospel.

The call to me when I consider these demographics is not to reverse the trend somehow by rolling back time or by converting ones different from me. Rather the call is to embrace and to trust that God is still in control even when the odds might be stacked against me, and to promote faithfulness among those who identify themselves with Christ. The former call takes an anthropological view of the world, that emphasizes all that humans do to control and shape the world, while the latter call takes a Christological view that places God in the center as creator and provider who still, in spite of a world gone off course, will remain intimately active in transforming hopeless situations.

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driving through calais

May 24, 2009 in Life Issues by Paul | No comments

I drove through Calais recently to see for myself what the refugee situation is like that I have been reading about in the news as far away as Germany and Austria.  I picked up a city map at the tourist office and, they pointed out the museums and beaches and several other attractions.  I felt like a real tourist.

I approached the city from the tunnel terminal and the further I drove into Calais, the more refugees I began to see walking along the streets. I saw groups gathered on corners or around phone booths. Within 5 minutes I counted over a 100 refugees and then stopped counting. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mike -7: show the way

April 24, 2009 in 1 to 1; "Adopt-a-Refugee" by Paul | No comments

I visited Mike again nearly 2 months ago. I had hoped that I could bring someone with me from the church to introduce to Samy whom I had met on my last visit. As usual Mike was glad to see me and invited me in for a cup of coffee. We each gave an update about all that we have been doing since our last visit –the usual.

Mike has nearly finished his first year of school in order to get the basic school diploma for Austria. He has one more year to go. He had just passed the final exam in English. With the diploma, he’ll be able to enroll someday in a trade school, and his dream is to start a business.

Sure enough as we spoke, several other refugees dropped by including Samy. Mike turned on the TV and fixed coffee for everyone. They asked the usual questions: What do you do? How long have you been here? What do you think about Obama? I was doubly sorry that I didn’t have someone with me who was from the church.

When I was alone with Samy, with the help of Mike as a translator, I told him that I had hoped to bring someone with me from the church.  Samy sort of looked down at the floor as if he was a little embarassed that I would give him this kind of attention. I told him though that actually he would be more than welcome if he went alone to the church. I told him where the church was and when they met. I assured him that they would be glad he was there.  Although it would all be in German, I said, it would perhaps be an encouragement to hear the music and prayers, and it would be the chance to worship with other Christians. Mike seemed more eager about the idea than Samy. I explained again where the building was and he noted the name.  He didn’t write anything down.

That was it. My time was up and I explained that I had to go. I don’t expect that Samy will actually make it to the church unless someone first comes to help him get there.

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1 Peter 3:8-22

April 21, 2009 in Scripture by Paul | 1 comment

Title, idea or subject of the passage
1 Peter 3:8-22

What we do flows out of who we are. Our good deeds in life and the morals we live by are the side-effects of who we are. Therefore when we face difficult situations and need to explain ourselves to others, we don’t focus on the beliefs and morals, rather we tell people about our dependence on God who through Christ provides for us, fills us with hope and give us a new identity. This is counter-intuitive. Read the rest of this entry »

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will the real criminal please stand up?

March 30, 2009 in Christian viewpoints, Justice by Paul | No comments

Recently RefugeeHighway.com raised our attention to the French government’s plan to arrest 5000 people in 2009, who offer help to illegal migrants and refugees.  Apparently this will be an additional effort alongside the already existing expulsions of refugees aimed at curbing the flow of unofficial people entering into the country.  This is clearly a bold and drastic measure that appears not only to assert the State’s national sovereignty but absurdly to redefine the limits of Christian love, compassion and obligation.

If the French follow through fully with their policy as they have already begun, then at best the Christian foundations for such agreements like the Geneva Convention will be significantly eroded, and at worst, I might be doing my work behind bars.  Countries across the wealthy world are building a new wall on the foundation of national pride and xenophobia, that does nothing more than to polarize the issues even further into the north and south, the rich and poor, the good and bad.

Just today, I listened to an ORF radio report on the public schools in Austria. Because many of the schools in Vienna have over 80% immigrant children, there are efforts by some to establish schools that are open only to Austrian children.  We don’t need to look far in our well-off societies to see the extent and proportion of the illegal immigrant problem, and neither do we need to look far to see the inadequate understanding and response.

The current French plan is only one small step away from seeing destitute people like refugees -ones without a family, home and country- as unworthy of the respect, compassion and care that fellow humans might choose to show them or have the capacity to give, and thus in some way as less than human. In the name of national security, prosperity and culture this approach in one divine sweep, criminalizes acts of kindness and compassion, and calls what is good, evil.

In the name of French Law the plan forbids God’s Law, and in so doing reveals its own poverty and loss of life.

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living without a country

February 25, 2009 in Life Issues, Religious freedom, Scripture by Paul | No comments

I recently met a refugee who talked about the struggle to live without a country. I am trying to imagine what this must be like. The word that comes to my mind is grief, and the need is for vision.

When I fled as a refugee, I saw Hindus and Budhists, Christians and Muslims all living together in a single country. Before in my country this was unthinkable. I lived as a refugee for 5 years, and worked as I was able.  When I thought the danger was over in my country, I returned to help rebuild it.  However, soon after returning, my life was threatened, I saw the impossibility of my culture. It is like a lost country that has dropped off the end of the world. I had to flee again. It is hard to live without a country. I am here in the hopes of getting a passport so that I can finally settle in a country. I have 2 children and it is so difficult to be without them.

His life will never go back to the way it once was. As a refugee he is continually faced with what he does not have, like honey inside a jar that he can’t open.  He will face grief at every turn he takes and his children will never know their father except through the face of grief.

His testimony reminds me that the birth of a dream carries a lot of grief with it. Ecclesiastes 5:3 wisely points out that a vision is the sum of many steps. The big view in scripture is that these steps will be painful, and there are many tears to testify to this.

Jesus reminded his followers that there is no one who has left home who will not have to make a sacrifice. As Christians we will face grief as we follow Jesus, yet the scriptures promise that the Lord knows our pain, comforts us and he cares for us.

As I hear refugees share their loss like this man faces, I also see the birth of a vision. I remind myself that in helping someone like this to face loss as great as living without a country and a family, I am also helping him to embrace a vision greater than all of this -a vision of God’s Kingdom and God’s family.

There are at least two things that come to my mind that would be helpful.  Can you add anything else?

1.  I can ask, “What step is he trying or needing to take?  What does he need in order to take the next step and how can I help him to do this.”

2. I can point out and remind him of the promises of God, to know our grief, to comfort and to care.

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Helping Samy

January 30, 2009 in 1 to 1; "Adopt-a-Refugee", Church involvement by Paul | 2 comments

I am planning to visit Mike again soon and I remember on my last visit I met Mike’s neighbor who is filled with God’s Spirit.  I remember leaving and thinking to myself how helpful it would be if someone from the local church could meet Samy and begin to visit with him as I have been with Mike.

Unfortunately, I simply don’t have enough days in the week to add another visit onto the calendar.  I went away with the idea of trying to find someone from the local church who could begin to visit Samy. The purpose of these visits could be simply to help Samy learn German.    This person could give Samy the Take-a-long German course and offer to meet once a week to review what he has been learning. I would recommend that they agree to meet 8-10 times for the tutoring. The options are unlimited.

At the very least, the church member could meet him and invite him to church. He could help Samy understand when and how to get there. He could offer to pick him up or to meet him. He could encourage him to come again and in a very small and doable way offer Samy the hope of getting to know fellow Christians.

So, I called the local pastor today in order to ask whether there might be someone interested in going with me on my next visit. I’d love to take someone along with me to meet Mike’s neighbor -Samy.   I pulled over on the side of the road and rang up the pastor.  “Does Samy speak German, because it might be hard to find someone if he doesn’t know the language?” I think the pastor was very aware that unfortunately the average person may not feel confident visiting a stranger in another langauge.

I think the key is to think outside of the box in order to make this kind of relationship work. This is about hospitality and reaching out in a genuine way. It’s about meeting the need of a stranger. In a recent UN report about reintegrating 400,000 refugees into local African communities, the writer identified the involvement in local churches as refugees,  as a significant factor later in the success of starting life over (Kaun, 2009, p.27).  I think the issues and points made in this article are comparable as well to refugees in Europe who one day may finally integrate into a new life. The connection to other people shapes the connection to a place

I hope the church will think about the kind of connection they can offer to refugees? The relationship that Samy needs is surely not the same kind that we might try to build with the neighbor next door whom we hardly know.  There are dozens of options for extending to Samy our Christian hospitality and help.  One of them might be simply to travel back and forth to church with hand signals, serve him a cup of tea and offer him the chance to be around other Christians for a few hours.  If it is a God thing, I bet that Sammy will soon come on his own to church and eventually even learn a little German.

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faith strategy

January 19, 2009 in Christian viewpoints by Paul | No comments

This weekend I had the opportunity to hear first hand a couple accounts of how people have responded to the stress of migration.

The first was at an exhibit about how the movie industry handles the subject of migration and specifically the strategies that are presented for handling the stress.  Clips were shown from several films to draw out aspects such as the hidden cost of leaving home and family, the danger and uncertainty of the journey, coping with the many needs along the way and the unbending power of humanity on the move.

What caught my attention to the exhibit and discussion was the idea of “strategies at work” among migrants.  Quite clearly the presenters and films can choose whichever strategies they want to highlight. However who is asking which strategies refugees are choosing?  I wondered if the practice of faith would count as one of the strategies.

Then on the following day, I heard the account of a refugee who indeed had recently trusted Jesus. He briefly described how he had come to faith in Jesus as a forced migrant. Click here for the 2 minute story in German. The audio quality is very poor, so I have included the translation below.

“(In the past) I had heard about Christianity and had contact with Christian people. Sometimes I thought about this, but it was not serious. Five months ago, I met – Christian- Christians, and the friendship between us was very good. I was invited to the church, and I could feel firsthand the love and joy and friendship. On a Friday evening the church had a meeting, where a teacher from Germany came. He spoke very well about Jesus and why he died, and why we should believe in him. I heard it and Jesus touched my heart. Immediately I knew I wanted to invite Jesus into my heart and into my life as Lord. Jesus has done a lot now in my heart and I am very glad now to be a child of God. Before my faith I was was anxious, and had no peace in my heart, but now I am at rest and full of peace. I still have problems, but they do not make me anxious like before. I am very glad that now I have brothers and sisters and belong now to God’s family.”

I believe this is a strategy, that has turned the world upside down.  Afterwards, I found my refugee friend to congratulate him on his step of faith, and to remind him that even when life gets hard to remember that he belongs to God. He commented simply, “God chose me.”

There is surely a lot of talk about the strategies at work among refugees as they flee for life. Yet when refugees exercise faith, which many do, then we can also speak of God’s strategy. It is a strategy that helps some to cope with the pain and the cost they have incurred along the way.

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