First Irrigation Installed!

Here is the first Irrigation System installed. Running off a 5 Gallon (20L) bucket. Notice the garbage around the area? Yep this is where we had to scrap out a plot to grow stuff for Hourna's family. He works hard and is a very smart man (Black T Shirt) They neighbours all came to watch and when we added water and they saw how the Drips of water worked they were pretty excited. Anyway, tomorrow we will be installing for a family who has no house. They are squatting in an open garage. They have NOTHING!'

More Photo's here

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Islamic View of Sin is Often Vertical Rather than Horizontal Shame versus Guilt

This is a keen insight that also apply to the animistic people I lived among. Relationships are paramount.

Guilt is a normal reaction of a Western Christian to sin. His conscience is smitten; this leads to remorse and often to repentance. Sensitivity to and the definition of sin depends on many factors. Conscience is conditioned by culture, moral codes, and parental teaching. Sin is regarded primarily as a rebellion against God and secondarily as rebellion against fellow man.

"By contrast the Muslim focuses on the penalty for sin. He does not usually experience sin as guilt but rather as shame and embarrassment losing face is the crucial issue. Lynn Silvernale describes this reaction to sin in the life of a Muslim Bengali. “Shame or embarrassment is a primary social control, that is, it causes a person to try to keep himself in a socially acceptable position.. . . The Bengali governs his behavior by asking himself, ‘What will people say?”

Three-wheeled cycle rickshas are very common in one Muslim country. The drivers arc notorious for their behavior on the road. Often the police will grab one of these drivers and punish him by making him grab his ears, stick out his tongue, and do scores of deep knee bends. The public laugh and ridicule as they pass by. The embarrassment of this simple, nonviolent mode of punishment bums deeply into the heart of the offender.

A consequence of the Muslim perspective is that it is difficult to communicate the biblical meaning of sin to a Muslim. His outlook is horizontal rather than vertical. Often the key criterion of a definition of sin is whether or not a person is caught. ......Repentance and tears come quickly to people with this perspective when they are apprehended in the act. But seldom does guilt lead Muslims to take the initiative and confess a sin of social consequence. The ideal would seem to be a merger of the vertical and horizontal guilt before God along with the shame and embarrassment one feels in relation to other human beings. These forces acting in concert can serve as an effective deterrent to sin."

(Muslim Evangelism: Contemporary Approaches to Contextualization. Phil Parshall. Gabriel Publishing. 2003 p. 96-97)

Muslim Cultures see Extraction Evangelism as Abhorrent!

A case for family conversion & methodologies

"Note also the remarks of Michael Youssef, who says, “As a Christian Arab, I know that Arabs do not like alienation. Their whole life is centered upon family, friends and peer groups. We, therefore, have put unnecessary barriers before them in emphasizing the individualistic approach in evangelism.”

This last point is of greatest importance. Up to the present, the most common form of evangelism employed by Westerners has been to win individuals to Christ. This has, in group-oriented cultures, led to extraction from society and, often, to total alienation. This approach should be repudiated. In Western culture, which sees individualism as a positive trait, this is an acceptable form of evangelism. In Muslim countries, however, it is abhorrent. New approaches must be probed that allow for whole groups to come to Christ at once. The high value given to the interrelatedness of society must be retained. This is a good and positive sociological characteristic that must be appreciated and preserved.

(Muslim Evangelism: Contemporary Approaches to Contextualization. Phil Parshall. Gabriel Publishing. 2003 p. 90-91)

Missionaries - Put your watch away & your Calender down if you Love these people!

It's hard to adjust to new Cultural views of time & events. But buck them and cause relational damage.

"In another part of Africa, a church service went on and on without regard to the lateness of the hour14 The missionary looked again and again at his watch as his level of irritation soared. The service continued on into the night as more people than usual wanted to testify of the work of God in their lives. When the African pastor stood to preach, it was nearly midnight. The missionary was so upset that he stormed out of the church and went to his home nearby. When the service showed no signs of ending, he switched off the main electricity supply, causing the church to plunge into immediate darkness. Usually the lights at the mission station were switched off at ten o’clock, so the missionary felt he had been more than reasonable. When the African pastor realized what had happened, he broke down and cried. The missionary was highly time-oriented in a Western sense, whereas the national church was event- oriented. They were enjoying themselves immensely and had planned to stay on, without regard to time, until the event ceased to be meaningful."

(Muslim Evangelism: Contemporary Approaches to Contextualization. Phil Parshall. Gabriel Publishing. 2003 p. 44)