Reading our cohort colleague's book, "Red Letters:  Living a Faith that Bleeds" is another eye-opening account of the reality of suffering in places around the world, in particular the continent of Africa.  As our cohort for the George Fox University Doctorate of Ministry program in Global Missional Leadership prepares to leave for Africa within a week for our next advance, this book helps us set some more context for the things we will see and experience.  Tom takes the reader on a spiritual journey, "learning to live a faith that is so real, it makes you bleed Jesus."  (28)

Globalization with the impact of the West on Africa has opened up the stories of greed for resources, lack of proper drinking water, famine and genocide to the watching world.  But no issue is seemingly as disheartening and oppressive than the pandemic of HIV/AIDS that Davis outlines.  The spread of the HIV virus through poor practicies and a lack of education/awareness (sometimes stipulated through superstition) is no longer a problem, no longer a tragedy, no longer an epidemic . . . it is now a pandemic.  Unspeakable death and suffering.  The statistics and the human reality are very difficult to read and process.  Entired communities wiped out with a single sickness.  It threatens to continue to wipe entire generations.   It makes Hope seem such a distant idea.  Davis writes this reflection from an African girl named "Happiness" orphaned due to losing her parents from HIV:

This Christmas, I will not be getting a gift from my mama or papa.  They are so silent in the grave.  Before they went away, I was sure of Christmas gifts and three meals in a day, new clothes, repsect, and love.  Today, I am just another statistic.  They call us African orphans, orphaned as a result of AIDS.

Death is a criminal.  Whether it comes through a road accident or a sickness, it is a robber.  To us in Kenya, we will never forgive death for taking away our parents and loved ones.

Davis suggests there are at least 2 reasons why we don't act on the information given, simply put it makes us uncomfortable.  We have discomfort with 1) interuption and 2) fear.  Davis confronts us in the West living in a consumer culture where the American dream is about pleasure and security, not interupton and fear.  But if claim to be followers of Jesus and desire his Way, we cannot sit idly by in our consumer lives, they must be mortified for the sake of the Christ in the world.  This is not a popular teaching, but taking up our cross has never been easy or comforting.

What can we do, Davis outlines a doable plan he calls Five for 50:  (155)

• Give 5 minutes a day to pray for those suffering from HIV/AIDS
• Give 5 hours a week to fast for those suffering from HIV/AIDS
• Give 5 dollars a month to the Five for 50 fund to support worthy causes
• Give 5 days a year to travel overseas to help alleviate poverty and suffering
• Give 5 people an opportunity to join you on your jouney

In my spiritual community, we tend to follow the theme of "ordinary" in context to our Chrisitanity and the things we can do.  Our very name is "Ordinary Community".  One of our mantras we often say taken from an old friend of mine, Jim Henderson, that says: "if ordinary people can't get it done using ordinary means, ordinarily it won't get done."  This may sound like a pragmatist kind of Christianity, and perhaps it does carry that tone.  But within the western church, we tend to over-simplify, over-dramatize and over-state our flowery words and look over the details of actually getting something done.  At some point you have to stop talking and do something.  Start somewhere, start small, start with something doable.  There are dreamers and there are doers, perhaps we need a touch of both.  Start with where you are, not with where you aren't.  There is already poverty around you, both physical and spiritual.  What can you do about it?  Africa has overwhelming needs, but you can probably do something.  You can probably give something, you can probably make yourself more aware, you can probably not buy something you don't need here in the capitalist west so that you can push resources to the needs of the global south.  The Red letters of Jesus were not just meant to be preached and be found guilty in, they are meant to transform us to do something with our lives. 

Another phrase I stole from Jim Henderson is "do what's doable, it may be all you're going to do anyways."  Too pragmatic?  Perhaps, but at least your doing something.