friday morning

It’s raining buckets on us today; though I’ve previously lived in Orange County for over four years…it seems like I can count on one hand how many times I’ve actually had to walk around in the rain. That’s either because (according to Albert Hammond) “It Never Rains in Southern California” or because (a song I should write) “You Never Have to Walk in Southern California.”

Yesterday was a pretty phenomenal day at the conference, though I must take issue with the organization of the sessions which are structured something like one of those torture scenes in movies (or likely real life somewhere in Guantanamo) where they lock your eye lids open and force you to watch hours of information. The speaker list has included everyone from Senator Hillary Clinton (I was all prepared to live blog her speech yesterday and then couldn’t take my computer into the session) to UN Undersecretary General Peter Piot to Her Excellency Mrs. Maureen Mwanawasa, First Lady of Zambia and Her Excellency Mrs. Jeanette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda. Saddleback, though in their zeal to educate us, have neglected to put enough interactive elements in place in order to allow more conversation and input from the many church leaders who are here and are not famous for publishing books. In spite of this though, I believe this to be the most important conference I have ever been to.

Senator Clinton’s speech yesterday detailed a comprehensive and ambitious plan to fund further AIDS research and treatment and to end Malaria permanently by the end of a possible second term in office. I continue to be impressed by Governor Huckabee, as he seems to be a genuinely compassionate conservative, both on immigration and AIDS. Certainly, this conference is impacting our national policy agenda this week at least and I think that is amazing.
I briefly met David Miller yesterday, who is one of the funniest, bluntest people I’ve ever heard speak. He is a board member of The AIDS Institute and is involved in some very radical activism and civil disobedience. Check out the AIDS Institute website.

The Real OC?

It’s more than a little surreal to be back in the familiar confines of Orange County, staying in the comfortable Marriott Courtyard, walking the plush walkways of the beautiful Saddleback church and talking so much about a chronic and often fatal disease that is without question, the greatest crisis in history. Today’s snack spread in the courtyard between sessions probably would have put Martha Stewart to shame…the only thing truly missing being good coffee, but probably they have some kind of secret deal with Starbucks where the church agrees to serve substandard coffee in order to not threaten the corporate giant. This is Orange County after all, the capital of Big Business and conservative politics.

There was an article today in the OC Register about some of the controversy generated by Rick and Kay Warren’s invitation of Obama last year to the summit and Senator Clinton at this year’s. The piece mentioned that a new(er) generation of christian leaders may no longer be using abortion and gar rights issues as a litmus test for who is acceptable to work with. I say Amen to that, if it really is true. One thing I know to be true, as was mentioned by Steve Haas this morning…a lot of defrosting needs to take place in the hearts of our church communities so that we can begin to look beyond the stigma of AIDS and start to minister to people not statistics, regardless of how they got the disease. It’s kind of amazing that the church has made such a big deal out of how people get sick with HIV/AIDS. In fact, I can almost bet you that a lifestyle of drug use and smoking could get you lung cancer and few, if any, people would ask you how you got it. If you’ve got AIDS, it has seemed to me, people care about whether you got it from sex, homosexual sex, or drug use. Which is kind of unfair considering the number one killer in America is heart disease and we know that disease is largely preventable if we’d eat better and exercise more.

what to do?

I am struggling with how to process all of this information and all of these stories into action. One day into the conference and it’s clear that my battery and typing skills are ineffective with keeping the information stream constantly open. It’s overwhelming …

all these deaths,
all these preventable infections.

For the last few years, I do believe that Bekah and I have been taking action directly/indirectly on the AIDS pandemic, mostly through our work with poverty-eradication organizations. It began very marginally, with us getting involved in 2003 with World Vision’s work in Zambia, to our work with Freedom From Hunger in Davis and working to educate teens through participating in WV’s 30-hour famine for AIDS and poverty relief in Africa to our advocacy for the ONE campaign. However, none of this seems sufficient, none of this seems to be enough. I know, instinctively, that’s it can never be enough. To stop AIDS and eliminate poverty, to care for the worlds 143 million orphans, it will take nearly everyone. But if the church is the hope if the world and I do agree with Bill Hybels on that one, than I need to figure out how to turn personal advocacy into church activism.

Steve Haas, Vice President of World Vision Church Relations, spoke in his address this morning about how he’s become something of a pariah at dinner parties because of his conviction about the HIV/AIDS crisis. I’m sure there’s a bit of hyperbole there but maybe those of us who care about this issue could stand with being a little more annoying at social gatherings for the sake of the dying poor.

HIV TEST

Today, after lunch and an exhaustive pre-summit on Orphan Care that will take me awhile to digest, I decided to take the free HIV test that was being offered. Fortunately, my test was negative. I was almost 99.8% sure that there was no way I would test positive since I haven’t used ID drugs and have only had one sexual partner. Still, it was a little nerve-racking none the less. I was surprised to learn that there is a test that can be done in only ten minutes and the avaiablity of this test means that everyone should be encouraged to get tested.

I forgot my power supply so this is the likely the last blog entry before tonight.

143,000,000

It’s not a statistic that you hear much outside of non-profits and medical NGOs but there are 143,000,000 orphaned and abandoned children in the world today. Any discussion of AIDS cannot ignore that the largest factor in children being orphaned is HIV/AIDS.

There are many shocking statistics and the problem is much too overwhelming to be summed up with only stats. We are kind of statistically numb in America anyway. However, 143 million, to these ears, is a stat that represents an impossible challenge. One that, also from my perspective, is a crisis that can only be solved by people who will co-operate with a God who gives significance to every one of the 143,000,000.

Another set of un-ignorable stats courtesy of Angela Wakhweya, Senior Technical Officer in the Orphans and other Vulnerable Children Unit, Prevention and Mitigation Division, Family Health International…

90% of all orphans are Sub-Saharan Africa.

In America, 99% of children born to HIV mothers do not have the virus. In Africa, that number is reversed.

Global Summit on AIDS and the Church

This Wednesday through Friday, I’m attending the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church at Saddleback in Lake Forest, CA. We got into town yesterday afternoon and got to spend some time drinking coffee (herbal tea for Bekah and squash for Amelia) at the Gypsey Den before going over to our great friends John and Lindy Thomas place for dinner.

I’m extremely privileged to be attending this conference and will simulcast (simul-blog?) here and at the northparkchurch young adults blog to share what I’m learning with you if anyone’s interested.

This morning’s extra session is on Orphan care…more to come.

In case you missed it

The last two weeks messages on Thanksgiving, including the one by me, your friendly neighborhood young adults pastor are available here:: Northpark Church Talks.

This week I’ll be attending the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church in Orange County. Look for updates throughout the week here and on my blog, The Living Room.

Weekly Update Nov. 21

Happy Thanksgiving everyone…a couple of words about the celebration on December 6th, 6:00 pm at Northpark for young adult small groups and anyone interested in our young adult ministries and anyone you might want to invite for some pizza.

This get together will be a time to celebrate what God is doing in our small groups and our already-formed relationships but it will also be an opportunity to invite some friends and other Northparkers who are not currently involved in any small groups. We will be working on ways for a big group of us to interact and get to know at least a few people better on that night.

See everyone on Sunday.

coming soon

Here’s a flyer I put together while baking some pies for the Beacon Society fundraiser. I hope Obey doesn’t sue me. Since our Northpark kitchen only cooks eight pies at a time, I helped (or tried to help depending on how you looko at) More details to come…

Thanks to everyone who bought pies…from what they were telling me tonight around 120 pies were sold which would buy a lot of toys for needy children this holiday season.

Weekly Update Nov. 15th

It’s not too late to come to a pre-Thanksgiving feast at Ryan and Bekah’s house tonight. 7:00 pm. Lots of people will be there and so could you if you message me or call someone you know. Seriously, there’s going to be SINGSTAR battling as well.

This Saturday is Serving Fresno Day…here’s the relevant info. If we were really good at ministry we would have set up pre-registration but we didn’t. Still, you should go. Who’s with us? More info at www.servingfresno.org. 

“SERVING FRESNO 2007” is a community-wide day of service made possible through the collaboration of United Way’s Day of Caring, One by One Leadership’s Agents of Grace, Fresno West Ministerial Alliance, Fresno Unified School District, City of Fresno Parks and Recreation, California State University Fresno, and The Volunteer Center of Fresno County.  These organizations have joined their efforts to produce One Great Day Of Service! 

Register Online Today!
Registration Extended to Wednesday November 14

(if you are volunteering as part of a group,
indicate the group name on the registration form)

Who:  Volunteers from businesses, schools, churches and various other agencies in Fresno will engage in service projects at local nonprofits, group homes, senior centers, parks, and schools.

What:  Working together in a community-wide day of service! 

Where:  We will gather between 7:00am and 8:00 am at 1727 L St., Fresno for service assignments and a huge kick-off rally.  We will then depart to service sites all over Fresno. 

When:  November 17, 2007 – The Saturday before Thanksgiving

Why:  There is no better time to Serve – Local agencies will be preparing for the holiday season and the need for services will be in high demand.  Projects and activities include:  Sorting food and clothing items, painting houses, planting trees, constructing fences, visiting seniors, encouraging the disabled, cleaning schools and neighborhoods, collecting books, and much more!