Mustard Seeding

Loss of HMS 'Ramillies', September 1782: on her beam ends. Artist: Robert Dodd This is a blog I've been debating about but burning to post for some time. I would say "Don't @ me" but I'd love to start a discussion, even if you disagree or think I sound whiney. Here's the question I want to ask-- How can a person be a missionary (or any full time ministry worker) when they don't have enough support to survive on? There's a few caveats here too, that are obviously part of my personal story, but important to put into question. Especially when said ministry worker or missionary has been living off of support for many years. (I do think this is a different question entirely when someone is just starting out.) Especially when the person is in a country or area where just "go out and get a job" doesn't really apply.  In my specific circumstance, if people have a job here, most of the time it's because they came...

I've been back in Tanzania for some time. The artist residency in Nairobi was too amazing to leave without a blog post. First of all, what is an artist residency? Wikipedia defines it: "Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities exist to invite artists, academicians, curators, and all manner of creative people for a time and space away from their usual environment and obligations. They provide a time of reflection, research, presentation, production and immersion into a new culture. They often allow an individual to explore their practice within another community; meeting new people, using new materials, experiencing life in a new location and potentially integrating elements of that experience into their art. Art residencies emphasize the importance of meaningful and multi-layered cultural exchange and immersion into another culture." I used this definition because I love it. Its such a perfect explanation of where I was for 3 weeks! S...

I just got back from Nairobi, Kenya doing an artist residency there. It was an incredible time that will likely produce at least a couple of blogs. But the first story I want to tell is the one of Denis and Fred and their ministry “I Thirst” Denis, Me and Fred Nairobi is one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities in East Africa. Densely populated, with skyscrapers and more busses on the road than I’ve ever seen in any city— there are highs and lows. The very rich and the unfathomably poor. The poverty is showcased in several large slum neighborhoods, and for the purposes of our artist residency we ended up focusing on one of these in particular, Korogocho.   Korogocho from the 2nd floor It’s not the largest slum but it borders on one of the largest garbage dumps in the entire region. Approximately 200,000 humans press into only 1.5 square kilometers (0.579 square miles.)  This is probably why it's called Korogocho-- in Swahili it means “crowded sho...

Hello 2018! I've returned to my Tanzania home and ready to tackle the new year. Each year I try to choose one word for the year, and during my week in Sullivan's Island the word came easier and more obviously than it ever has before. "Thankfulness" It was partly influenced by this video “The Key to Unhappiness” , by PragerU. Once I had decided on this word, I wanted to read something to start the year off right. So I followed one of those blog trails and ended up finding Ann Voskamp’s book “One Thousands Gifts”, where she took a dare to make a list of 1,000 things she could find to be thankful for. It’s beautifully written and I highly recommend it. That blog trail was from God. How do I know? Saturday night I found the book and used an Audible credit to download it. The next morning on Sunday my pastor preached out of THAT VERY BOOK!!! So I was like OK God, I get it. 2017 was a year of tears, sorrow and waiting. And somehow, even if the situation doesn’t change,...

“How shall I pray? Are tears prayers, Lord? Are screams prayers, or groans or sighs or curses? Can trembling hands be lifted to you, or clenched fists or the cold sweat that trickles down my back or the cramps that knot my stomach? Will you accept my prayers, Lord, my real prayers, rooted in the muck and mud and rock of my life, And not just the pretty, cut flower, gracefully arranged bouquet of words? Will you accept me, Lord, as I really am, messed up mixture of glory and grime?” Guerillas of Grace Ted Loder