Who’s going to wash the dishes?
Who washes the dishes? I remember when I was in college and my roommate and I would have our guy friends over for dinner. These were the nights when we would go all out and actually buy meat. But, there was one rule: if we buy the food and cook, you do the dishes. In my new apartment in Chicago, we do things the real American way: everyone does their own dishes (for the most part). It’s fair. But in India, it’s not how things are done. The wife, mother, or servants do the dishes. If you are in a cafeteria setting, maybe you do your own dishes, but the boss or person of authority will rarely be allowed to wash his dish.
My friend, Yuvraj is the kind of guy by Indian standards who could go his whole life without washing a plate. That would be very normal. He’s a U.K. educated upper-middle class twenty-nine year-old from a good family. But, Yuvraj is a follower of Jesus. And sometimes when people follow Jesus they find themselves in very different roles than would be seen as normal.
He has recently moved out of his comfortable family house and into a very simple cement house in the slum. Him and his wife now sleep on the floor; carry water in from a hose outside to wash dishes, and share a bathroom with at least twelve people. Why? It’s not easy, and it’s not that they have some weird preoccupation with suffering… They are real; they want nothing to do with hypocrisy. They believe that the Creator of the universe cares about the suffering people of the world, and sent his son Jesus out of love for them. The God of the universe cares about the woman who lives across the gully from them in a three-sided shack with her children. God sees this sweet lady who never asks for anything and whose children get bitten by rats while they are sleeping. So Yuvraj and Mary see her through God’s eyes, and they insisted that she accept a bed from them—so her and her children have a chance to sleep through the night without rat bites. They imagine that if Jesus were living in their neighborhood, he might do something like make friends with her.
But back to dishes—plates. So Yuvraj started this training program in which he goes into a small town or village area and teaches a group of people problem solving skills, has them get into groups and try to think of solutions to real community problems they are facing. And, when he hears the best problem—solution he has a grant that will help them start working to implement these solutions. And, each day of the seminar starts with a time of spiritual reflection. So one day my friend Yuvraj taught devotion about Jesus washing the disciples feet. Most of the participants were Christians and all of the participants were rural Indian farmers. Then they started the training for the day and at lunchtime had a cafeteria-style-wash-your-own-plate-routine. On this day Yuvraj finished his lunch first and after washing his own plate turned to the next man and said, “Would you allow me to wash you plate?” The man blinked, and stepped back, with his month open. You have to understand that Yuvraj is so well spoken in English that sometimes people think he is a foreigner. The third man elbowed him and reminded him of the teaching of Jesus washing his disciples feet. Yuvraj laughed and said, yes, but I’m not going to say like Jesus that you have no part with me, if you don’t let me wash your plate. I am only requesting that you allow me the honor of washing your plate. As the men continued to come up to the sink, some allowed him to wash their plate and others didn’t.
Later Yuvraj brought this up to me, because we were talking about foot washing—which is something I love to do in a worship service, but Yuvraj was saying that foot washing has been ritualized beyond meaning in some contexts. On Good Friday, the priest will wash the communicants feet and it is like receiving a blessing—but the ordinary yet disruptive act of Jesus washing his followers feet has been lost. In Jesus’ cultural context, you would come in the house from a day of walking around on dusty streets and either a servant would wash your feet or you would wash your own feet. It was just a normal thing, like sanitizing your hands after moving around in a crowded place, buying lunch, pouring a glass of water, or washing the dishes in your neighbor’s house.
Not My India: Social Justice and Responsibility
“To all of you who, after watching Slumdog Millionaire or reading The White Tiger, say “This is not my India”, well I just have to ask whose India is it, then? Because that is the India I see every day from my auto or bicycle rickshaw, or when I go to teach English or visit Doral Putty in the Wazirpur slum, or when I go to KFC and see Punit almost get kicked out.
But don’t worry, after traveling for two hours and watching the India that is “not yours” pass me by, then I arrive in Gurgaon and get to see “your India” too. I walk in your pristine malls and there are no Punits anywhere in sight.” (Punit is a friend who drives a rickshaw).
This is something I wrote a few weeks ago, while trying to process life in India and Amy read it and asked me to write about social justice.
In order to fully understand social justice one must first define what “social justice” is. According to the Wikipedia entry, “social justice” is “a term, generally applied by the left, to describe a society with a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as equality of opportunity and equality of outcome.”
Many people in the United States believe that social justice is for heart-bleeding liberals and not at all in line with traditional capitalist, conservative and thus Christian ideology. For example, who wants to redistribute property or income if they worked hard for it and those who lack wealth only lack it because they have not taken fully taken advantage of their opportunities. And they are right, equality of outcome, while appealing, is unrealistic.
However, according to the American Heritage Dictionary justice is “the upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law”. I believe that this definition of justice is also the definition and essence of social justice. To deny humans an equal opportunity and quality of life is, well, inhumane. As one blogger put it “every person deserves a certain fair share of society’s benefits and burdens” and I would argue that social justice is not about equality of outcome but equality of opportunity. The idea that “all men are created equal” is the foundation of our constitution and country and this idea is effused throughout our entire society and educational system. Though India has similar rights and protections written in its constitution, due to a culture and tradition of caste (or ‘jati’), it is still in need of social justice. The opportunities for citizens are not the same. From education, to jobs, to social status in society, discrimination still runs strong. These barriers must be broken down and I would argue that it is Christians, out of all religious and ethnic groups, who have the greatest mandate to achieve this goal.
Some Christians say that they are unwilling to “jump on the social justice” bandwagon, however, I believe that “social justice” can not only be accepted by those of Christian faith but that fundamentally it should be! Social justice is supported by both the Old and New Testament. Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.” Social justice is intrinsic to the teachings of Jesus and there are countless verses on loving your neighbor, helping the poor and in general, caring about others and their welfare.
I will leave you with two thought provoking quotes. The first addresses the consequences of ignoring social injustices. The second addresses (once one has chosen to advocate for social justice) how to be effective. Having warm and fuzzy feelings about helping people, will not aid anyone in the end. Real action is required.
“It is no service to the country to turn away from the hard problems–to ignore injustice and human suffering. It is simply not the American way of doing things. Of course, there are always a lot of people whose motto is ‘Don’t rock the boat.’ They are so afraid of rocking the boat, that they stop rowing. We can never get ahead that way. We can only drift with the current and finally go over the falls into oblivion with nothing accomplished.” -Harry Truman
“Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Above is the first ever guest blog post. It is written by Lynnelle, who is not only married to my brother, but is also my good friend. Recently she spent three months here in Delhi.
Can Uneducated People Change the World for Good?
A friend of mine named Francis works as an advocate for the people of a slum in Delhi and he has married into a poor Muslim family. Yesterday he brought two of his young brothers-in-law to join our program: Shamim and Mohammad. These teenage boys have been working most of their lives. Just last week Shamim ironed jeans in a factory and Mohammad worked as a demolition laborer. They have never been to school or learned to read or write. They kept their eyes downcast as I tried to welcome them and explain to them the housing arrangements. I asked Francis if they wanted to be here, he insisted that they did. Francis looked at them and told them that they are good, don’t let anyone tell you that you are bad. In other words, do not let anyone look down on you. Then Francis turned to me and said, “you know Jesus used a small group of uneducated people to change the world once before. It was a miracle; we are just hoping He will do it again. We need a miracle. Let’s see.”
Already this morning they were clapping and laughing with the rest of the group. After we sang and danced a little, I said that our God loves us so much that it makes God happy when we enjoy worship. One of the other students told me that he never knew happiness before he met Jesus and joined this knew family.
According to the United Nations Development Programme Report of 2007/2008, India had a literacy rate of 64.1%. The United States has a 99% literacy rate and Burkina Faso has the lowest literacy rate in the world at 23.6%.
We want to help Shamim and Mohommad learn to read and write—but even more than that we want the love of God to transform them and to use them to change their world for good.
The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
One night in May my parents and I, camped out in my brother and sister-in-law’s motel-room-sized apartment in D.C. My mom just wanted us to be together. My parents had a futon to sleep on; I slept on a papasan chair cushion on the floor. It looked like a doggie bed.
The next day I looked at their book-shelf and realized I needed a book to read. Mire Bobbi (Hindi for my sister-in-law) recommended The Blue Sweater. My Dad said he wanted to read it, and took it out of my hand. My brother said, “Wait I haven’t read that yet, you can’t take it.” Mire Bobbi insisted I should take it, because he had plenty of other books to read first. Then we sat outside and I “read,” while she “studied.” Within a few pages my mind was going wild with ideas and we just kept talking about what I was reading. Here are some of the first words of Jacqueline Novogratz that stirred me up as I sat in my home nation’s capital:
In America, my grandparents raised 6 children, who then brought another 25 individuals into the world. My cousins and I stand on the shoulders of our grandparents and people like them who never asked for handouts, but supported one another and shared suffering and, through hard work and determination, gave their children better futures in a country that assured them hope and opportunity, if nothing else.
Today poor people the world over are seeking opportunity and choice to have greater dignity in their lives—and they want to do it themselves, even if they need a little help. Today we have the tools and the technologies to bring real opportunities to people all across the world.
The time has come to extend to every person on the planet the fundamental principle that we hold so dear: that all human beings are created equal.
Novogratz tells the readers that in this world that is getting smaller, markets, public policy, and philanthropy all play a vital role in offering this opportunity of equality all of humanity. But if you are afraid that this idealistic book of methods is not for you, you are wrong. This book is written much like a memoir with fascinating stories of adventures around the world, yet it challenges the reader to action.
I am under no illusions that we can make equality for all humanity happen. I am not an Enlightenment child. And as I read Novogratz story, the cycle of evil that grips our world is made clear. She spent years working in Rwanda before the war/genocide, making what seemed like progress. And yet two of the founding members of her organization that gave small loans to poor women and helped charities turn to profitable business, ended up in prison for their involvement in the genocide. Yet like Novogratz, I believe that we must do what we can.
I believe that our service to the poor is worship to the one who created all humanity equal. We can be the people who do not refuse the thirsty person a drink of water—and not only that but we can be the people who show people where to get the clean water and how they can sell the water to the people who need it and in doing so, improve the lives of an entire village.
Poverty Profanes the Gospel
He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with the princes,
With the princes of His people.
-Psalm 113:7-8
Last week my grandparents, whom I am staying with, had a houseguest from Uganda. His name is Hamlet. He is a priest in the Church of Uganda, a former parliamentarian, current chaplain for the Parliament of Uganda, an entrepreneur, and more than everything else an activist. Being a person with a vision for the economic and spiritual development of his people, he had so many words of wisdom for me since I have a heart for the economic and spiritual development of the people I work with in India.
He was surprised to discover that I do not have a car in India. He asked me if it was because I was afraid to drive there. I said, “yes, that’s a big part of it, but we also want to live a simple life as the people we work with for the most part do not have cars.” He said that while there is value in “living like the people,” there is also an importance to modeling social upliftment. He said that, glorifying poverty was one of the mistakes of the missionaries that went to countries in Africa. They pointed towards heaven and encouraged the locals to be content instead of working hard and trying to make their situation better in this life.
In another conversation, Hamlet lamented that so much of Europe regrets having ever sent missionaries to Africa. But, “they don’t realize that the gospel corrects itself. They don’t realize the value of the gospel,” Hamlet said to me. He went on to explain that after a generation of people grow up with the gospel, if the gospel is internalized the people start to realize the inconsistencies they were fed along with the gospel and they reject the mistakes. It is like John Wimber used to say; they “chew up the meat, and spit out the bones.” (Yes, yes, I realize that saying only makes sense in cultures where people do not chew up the bones).
In this case, one of the mistakes to be rejected in Africa is the glorification of poverty. While Jesus did come to earth, and live among us as a lowly human—he did not just stay that way and encourage us to stay that way. Instead, Jesus transformed himself through the resurrection—and encourages us to follow. So, perhaps we are not just called to live among the poor and handle our finances like the poor but we are called to model how to live a better life where we do not have to live in fear of how we will feed our children or pay our rent because we run sustainable businesses and we budget our money wisely.
I have seen the “poverty mentality” eat away at beautiful, intelligent, and gifted people. They run from crisis to crisis, never looking ahead and therefore they are unable to live to their potential. I want to be a part of helping people out of that destructive cycle. Because good news is not good news unless it is good news to the poor, and as Hamlet said to me, “poverty profanes the gospel.”
Girls Beat Up for Going to a Pub: Where’s the freedom?
The other day it was first publicized in our news papers that there was an incident in Mangalore where girls and males who tried to defend them where beat up for drinking and smoking and simply going to a club. Today the front page of the Hindustan Times read “All against pubs? Women drinking is against ‘Indian culture’ say people across political divides.”
From a country with a woman president and Sonia Gandhi who leads the Congress party (who is in power) this is shocking. Sometimes India truly is the land of contradictions. Even talking about ‘Indian culture’ is controversial . Just last night an uncle who proudly reminded me that he was three years older than his beloved India, said that India has so many different cultures. Are all of these cultures against women drinking? And, how does this make sense to have one standard to men and another for women. According to the Hindustan “Both smoking and drinking can be injurious to health, but the opposition is not on those grounds, and those addictions among men are never opposed.” Apparently, drinking and smoking is masculine behaviour. Even female politicians are quoted in the paper as supporting the positions that women should not drink–because they are respected as mothers.
If it was really about respect, that would be one thing. But how is beating up women showing women respect? There is great Hindi saying that is asked of men who are sexually-harassing women (or as they call it here Eve-teasing), it translates “You don’t have a Mom or sister at home?” Some have claimed that the men who brought the women to the pub were abused, not the women themselves but this is highly contested.
India is a great upcoming nation. A nation who gained it’s freedom without violence. Why the violence now, mother India?
see link below:
Fools for Christ at the Traffic Signal
The following is written out of the struggle of how to live in a place where poverty is everywhere with the frustration of knowing many people who are so calused that they do not see the street people. Even being in my second year I find myself less apt to feed a random street kid. It is great to be with Abby who is in her first few month here, because she wants to feed and talk to almost every street kid we encounter. If we buy street food for ourselves within a few minutes we have given it away and we have to order more (luckily it is cheap enough that we can afford to buy more).
Jesus looked out at the crowd and he had compassion on them because they were helpless and harassed like sheep without a shepherd. If Jesus were here in Delhi today I think he would feel the same way. His insides would turn with love for the poor. If he were pushed by the crowd getting on and off the metro or if he were pick-pocketed in Sarojini Nagar Market—he would have compassion. But more often than not when we have to face the crowd, we are filled with anger and resentment. We shout abuses, we grumble under our breath, we see how foolish the people are.
And when we see beggars we have a whole system built up that protects us from having compassion for them. We know the facts: the government offers free education. Why aren’t these kids in school? If they would go to school at least they would have a hot meal each day. These people must be bent on a lowly life, they enjoy it. They are trying to con me. That little kid has a shirt. He is only hiding it so people will feel bad for him and give him money. He can have a shower and clean water anytime he wants, he just is making himself dirty so he can make more money off of begging. I am no fool. I know these people making a killing on their cons at the traffic signal. I won’t give a Rs.
I saw a whole movie based on this senareo, it’s called “Traffic Signal.” In the movie the people seemed happy to be living out their existence of the generosity or lack there of—of the people who stopped at their traffic signal. And, I know there is truth there in that film. I know people fake. I know people, those people make up sob stories. Homeless people in the U.S. do that too. But I also know that a few weeks back when I my frineds and I made some hot food and we went to the local traffic signal/flyover to feed the beggars, they ate like they were hungry—very hungry. Have you ever seen a hungry person eat?
If the choice is between being foolish and compassionate or being wise and compassionless—I want to be foolish and compassionate. It is ok for us to be foolish in the eyes of the world. God’s wisdom is different that the worlds. Jesus was born not as a rich King, but as a poor laborer’s son. And we can use that same knowledge that we are tempted to use to protect us from feeling obligated to help the poor, to help them. Perhaps parents of boy with the clown face and hat doing the dance does not know that going to school is free or that going to school will increase their son’s chance of going somewhere in life. Perhaps they need someone like you to help them, to do more than hand him a few coins. Perhaps you need to start with learning his name.
John Wimber once saw a street evangelist wearing a sign board that read, “I’m a fool for Christ, who’s fool are you?” He thought the guy was insane but once he gave his life to Jesus he got it. Let’s be fools for Christ in Delhi–even at the traffic signals.
