chris and becka warner

ok, so it’s not a recent video, and it has nothing to do with new years. but i think it captures my emotions during this holiday perfectly…

BtNmqlnDonI

If this is the time of the year for reflection, then we cannot help but remember what amazing family and friends we have! Thanks so much to each of you who have helped send us, through your encouragement, prayers and support! God has done so much in our lives this past year, and each of you are very much a part of His work in us. We pray for you often, and we hope that you know how much we appreciate you. Here are some pics from the last year!!

january february

march april

may june

july august

september october

november december

I’ve been trying to get my head around poverty in Africa for a while now. I wish I could say this is my brilliant explanation for why things are the way they are, and what the solution is, but the truth is my middle-class mind has been blown away by the sheer magnitude of the issues here. Maybe I am still just coming to terms with life outside of the American bubble, but what has really stunned me is the damage that has been done in international (including Christian) attempts to “help.” Below are some of my favorite quotes regarding poverty and development. It’s not really fair to generalize a continent as large and diverse as Africa, and this is a very limited perspective. However, I think the following quotes describe what I’ve observed thus far; especially the last one.

“Conventional economists tell us all will be well in the long run, because there will be a “trickle down” of wealth to raise the living standards. The obvious fact is that very, very little ever trickles down. After decades of this development ideology, the poor majority in most third world countries remain extremely poor.” -Ted Trainer, “Development-the essentials” in Development Bulletin Vol. 35, Oct 95

“Power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of those who benefit from growth and use that power to preserve those benefits.” -Dudley Sears, The Meaning of Development, 1989

“In reality, fifty years after the beginning of the independence era, Africa’s prospects are bleaker than ever before. Already the world’s poorest region, it is falling further and further behind all other regions of the world. More than $500 billion of Western aid has been sunk into Africa, but with little discernible result.” -Martin Meredith, The State of Africa

I disagree with the first sentence; I think Africa’s “prospects” have never been better. At least, that’s what I want to believe. However, he is merely observing that the facts do not give an encouraging picture; many areas are worse off today than fifty years ago, and the current strategies obviously aren’t working.

“To me, the root of all the problems [in the Burundian church] is the missionaries. They roll in with their big crusades and nice things. They throw their money around and cause division and dependency. Our pastors stop looking to Jesus. Our hope is in the Mzungus (white-people), not Jesus.””  (paraphrase) -Leon, a follower of Jesus, a Burundian pastor, and a good friend, commenting on why the Burundian church is so plagued with division and power struggles. The first time I met him, he offered to give me his car, to “move in the opposite spirit” of dependency. He was serious. I declined, but I doubt I’ll ever forget what he has taught me.

Now I’m down on my luck, and I’m black and blue, gonna give you another chance. I’m all alone; I’m expecting you to lead me off in a cheerful dance. I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife, I can live on rice and beans. Some people never work a day in their life, don’t know what work even means. -Bob Dylan, Workingman’s Blues #2, Modern Times

“We were never poor until the white people told us we were. The truth is we are rich in ways that westerners don’t understand.” (paraphrase) -Theo, Burundian Pastor and friend.

“We must face the matter squarely that where there is something wrong in how we govern ourselves, it must be said that the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are ill-governed. We know that we have it in ourselves, as Africans, to change all this.” -Nelson Mandela, OAU summit meeting, June 1994

“When shall we outgrow the charity mentality and see that at the bottom of all relations between rich and poor there is a problem of justice.” -Dom Helder Camar, Archbishop of Recife, Brazil 1984

Christmas has arrived in Burundi. Downtown Bujumbura is a swarming buzz of people and potential presents, and of course, cheap imitation Christmas trees. One of the houses on our block even put up lights! It’s more likely to be a wet Christmas instead of a white one, but some things are the same the world over.

General and burundi and chris' journal | Comments (1)