Meeting with Blood:Water Mission
Yesterday Karin and I were able to meet Jena Lee of Blood:Water Mission, and talk about their vision for Africa. Dan Haseltime of Jars of Clay popped in for a bit to chat and give his perspective on partnership, arts, film, the church among other things.
I was pretty impressed with what Blood:Water is doing. Jena is 24, just graduated from Whitworth college, and has taken on this huge task of battling AIDS. She and the band started out this past year with 1000 bucks in the bank and a dream. Now they've been able to drill 58 wells, meet with some world leaders, and have raised a million dollars this year. Of course they've made some mistakes along the way, but Jena was humble about that and honest.
I think one of the first mistakes an American makes when trying to get involved is come in with a heavy hand and an outsider's agenda. In fact, Lahash originally was "Grassroots Aid for Africa." I've since changed that to "Grassroots Partnerships with Africa." It's a critical switch in my opinion. True development takes place in a relational partnership where culture, faith, and the long term health of a community are the focus. And aid can be a one way street and patronizing to one party. But a partnership reveals that both parties need each other, and I solidly believe that the faith, community, and culture of the people in Africa can teach us immense truths about ourselves and God.
Dan Haseltime spoke a bit about our generation's disinterest in "story" and how Napoleon Dynamite is an example of how all we are interested in is "character." His goal is to focus on artistically telling the true stories of Africa, and one of his ideas is to create an institute where students can study about social justice, arts, aid, and the gospel. He also wants to set up a film festival where students can travel to Africa, film a movie or documentary, and then become the storytellers back in the United States.
It was an encouraging meeting, and I'm really glad Jars of Clay is taking the opportunities that they have as spokespersons for their concert goers to speak about the realities - both the hurt and the hope of Africa.
Yesterday Karin and I were able to meet Jena Lee of Blood:Water Mission, and talk about their vision for Africa. Dan Haseltime of Jars of Clay popped in for a bit to chat and give his perspective on partnership, arts, film, the church among other things.
I was pretty impressed with what Blood:Water is doing. Jena is 24, just graduated from Whitworth college, and has taken on this huge task of battling AIDS. She and the band started out this past year with 1000 bucks in the bank and a dream. Now they've been able to drill 58 wells, meet with some world leaders, and have raised a million dollars this year. Of course they've made some mistakes along the way, but Jena was humble about that and honest.
I think one of the first mistakes an American makes when trying to get involved is come in with a heavy hand and an outsider's agenda. In fact, Lahash originally was "Grassroots Aid for Africa." I've since changed that to "Grassroots Partnerships with Africa." It's a critical switch in my opinion. True development takes place in a relational partnership where culture, faith, and the long term health of a community are the focus. And aid can be a one way street and patronizing to one party. But a partnership reveals that both parties need each other, and I solidly believe that the faith, community, and culture of the people in Africa can teach us immense truths about ourselves and God.
Dan Haseltime spoke a bit about our generation's disinterest in "story" and how Napoleon Dynamite is an example of how all we are interested in is "character." His goal is to focus on artistically telling the true stories of Africa, and one of his ideas is to create an institute where students can study about social justice, arts, aid, and the gospel. He also wants to set up a film festival where students can travel to Africa, film a movie or documentary, and then become the storytellers back in the United States.
It was an encouraging meeting, and I'm really glad Jars of Clay is taking the opportunities that they have as spokespersons for their concert goers to speak about the realities - both the hurt and the hope of Africa.
posted by Dan Holcomb - Lahash at 9:06 AM
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