Unpacking Ideas

Lent schment.  We’re in it and I don’t like it.  You’ve heard of Lent.  When the Church devotes about 40 days to preparing our hearts and minds for something really powerful and transforming that’s about to happen – the gift of Christ and Easter resurrection.  Sounds cool. 

The power part is cool.  Getting ready is not so cool.  Lent can be depressing, actually.  It’s a time of prayerful repentance, sacrificial giving, and self-denial.  Golly … who wants that?

Over the years – maybe because Lent is so hard to do – the Church has adopted various expressions of self-denial that are less ominous.  For example, the most famous expression of Lent is when we “give up” something.  

I’ll Give Up Lent For Lent

I’ve never given up anything for Lent.  Does this make me a bad pastor?  The truth is I’d like to give up Lent for Lent.  Why not?  It would be a noble sacrifice for the good of all.  Then we could turn our sorrow into joy early, and enjoy the blessings of God’s grace sooner!  Great idea!  Let’s get to the good stuff now!

OK, I get it.  Maybe I do need Lent in my life.  Maybe I need to slow the madness of my self-absorption, and honestly examine what I am — a flawed and limited human.  Maybe I need Lent, but I don’t have to like it. 

When It Comes To Flaws, You’re More Interesting

I think a much better idea is for you to slow the madness of your self-absorption and honestly examine what you are.  Yeah, let’s look at your flaws.  It’s a lot more fun to talk about you.  When it comes to flaws, you’re more interesting. 

I’ve often wondered why Jesus’ little parable about the log and speck never shows up in the lectionary during Lent.  This would be a perfect self-examination parable — when Jesus confronts us for criticizing the little flaws in others while ignoring the big flaws in ourselves.  He calls us hypocrites.  Ouch!   That’s honest!

What log?  There’s no log in my eye.  Besides, what about you?  Look at that ugly speck in your eye. 

I don’t want to talk about my weaknesses, remember?  Yours are more fun (because they’re not mine!).  The best way to avoid “spotting” my weaknesses it to deflect attention to yours.  So, even the big log in my eye is tiny compared to that speck of dust in your eye. 

Once I Had Blind Spots, Now I See (What You Have Always Seen)

Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham were a couple of psychologists in 1955 who developed the Johari Window¹  to help us understand our tendency to ignore those negative aspects about ourselves that others plainly see.  Luft and Ingham called them blind spots, which they describe in terms of an opaque “window pane” because it prevents me from seeing things about me that everyone else sees plainly.  We all have blind spots.  It’s a bit embarrasing to think of all the stupid things about me that others see and I don’t…or won’t see.  Am I blind, or is the log in my eye a sequoia?

I have hope.  Sure, the log is huge, and I might be blind to the crud in my life I have ignored for so long.  But the dark shadow of Lent will soon bask in the bright morning light of Easter.  This is the power I mentioned earlier.  

Think about this.  Sure, it’s hard to honestly examine myself, especially given my many and huge flaws and limits.  But the tough truth-telling of honest self-examination washes (like spiritual Windex!) the window, revealing more about myself, but also revealing more about a loving who God already knows everything anyway!

So, OK.  Even though Lent might be good for me, I don’t have to like it.  But there is good news coming.  I think I can see it. 

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, PhD (2010).

1. Luft, Joseph (1969). Of Human Interaction, Palo Alto, CA: National Press

Lately I have been working with a couple of congregations to help them change their approach to leadership.  Ugh.   Getting an organization to change is difficult.  They know it, I know it.  But we try. 

The good news is they want to change.  Good start.  In both churches we enjoyed frank and detailed discussions about their leadership using the first three of four workshops I developed for this sort of thing.  (Summaries of the content of the four workshops are available at Schedule A Workshop .  Look for the Nonprofit Leadership Seminar Series. For a series of short articles on leadership and change, see the Transformational Leadership article category to the right or click here: http://www.unpackingideas.org/?cat=42 .)

They admit they need change, and they want to change.  This is a healthy beginning for any organization that wants to become more effective.  

My particular shtick in the organizational development world happens to be working with organizations that are dependent upon — and driven by –volunteers.  These are organizations that might have paid staff, but cannot accomplish their mission without volunteers.  In this regard a volunteer-driven religious congregation is no different than any other volunteer-driven nonprofit, just a different mission.

It’s About Volunteers

So, we talked about volunteers.  Why are they so important for our mission?  What are effective and ineffective ways to recruit volunteers?  To manage volunteers? 

What’s the difference between a volunteer at the board or council level in an organization and a volunteer working at the committee level, or a volunteer who has agreed to do one or two time-limited tasks (I call these special volunteers “power dots”)?  What does a new volunteer mean for our mission? 

Then I Drove Away

At the end of our time together, they affirmed that the ideas I shared will be helpful.  They seemed encouraged and motivated and thanked me for providing a new way of thinking about leadership in their congregations.  Cool.  Then I drove away…wondering…what, if anything will happen?  What, if anything will change?  And when?

Change is difficult.  So, we agreed that in a few months I will return and talk with them about their progress and about how they might evaluate (measure) their improvements.  This will be a good opportunity to ask them:  Has anything changed? 

More Slow Change

During our sessions together I hounded them about the hard-to-accept reality of slow change.  Change in any organization takes a lot of time.  Be patient.  Don’t give up.  Change always takes a long time, change in a volunteer-driven organization seems to take longer.

As I was driving away, I wondered when they might enjoy the fruit of the cool things we talked about in the workshops.  I was also very aware that my own congregation struggles with the same thing — slow change.  Just because I teach this stuff doesn’t guarantee fast results.  Even the most motivated congregations change slowly. 

A New Model For Change: Bit By Bit, We Muddle Through

I am reminded of something I read a long time ago in graduate school.  Have you ever read something that so dramatically disrupted your assumptions you never forget it?  It happened to me.  I read an article over fifteen years ago: The Science Of Muddling Through, by Charles Lindblom.¹ .  He wrote it decades before I read it — which goes to show how resilient his ideas are.  Lindblom was a economic policy analyst and was writing about the slow, incremental nature of policy change.  Few, if any, changes in public policy are large, sweeping, dramatic changes.  Most change occurs slowly, over time, incrementally.  Lindblom called it a process of “successive limited comparisons”.  I call it making small improvements bit by bit, and never giving up.    

Local nonprofit organizations are the same as large government agencies.  When it comes to change, we are sluggish.  We might change, but slowly, bit by bit, if we can stay focused on making small improvements in the right direction — so that where we are tomorrow is a bit better than were we are today. 

Leading Slow Change

I think the true test of effective transformational leadership is when a leadership team sticks to the long term plan for change even when the changes are small.  A leadership team is effective when it clings tenaciously to each incremental change, as long as its in the right direction.

So, here are a few tips for a leadership team seeking organizational change:

• Keep your eyes on the long term outcome.  Never lose sight of what you want the organization to look like in five years.
• Be satisfied with incremental changes, as long as they are in the right direction.  Be patient with small changes as long as what you are today is better than what you were yesterday.
• Do not give up. 

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, PhD (2010).

1. Lindblom, Charles (1959).  The Science Of “Muddling Through”.  In Democracy And Market System,  1988.  London: Norwegian University Press.

Who are the children of immigrant families?  Actually, what I really care about for now are the children of undocumented immigrant families.

Let’s back up and consider a few things.  As I see it, an undocumented immigrant is a person born in another country who enters our country illegally (without proper documents).  An undocumented immigrant might be living a totally legal and productive life in our country now (which is often the case), but he or she came here without proper documentation and so is considered an illegal immigrant. 

Let’s Do The Numbers

• We estimate that there are close to 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the US now.  Of these, slightly over 8 million of them are in the labor force (based on 2008 data).  
• Nearly half (47 percent) of the undocumented immigrant households in the US consist of couples with children.¹   

What’s The Right Question To Ask About Undocumented Immigrants?

We are in the midst of a public conversation about immigration reform, and one of the questions in this conversation is this: What do we do with the illegal immigrants currently living in the US? ²   

This is a good question, but it forces us to consider an important next question:  What do we do with the children of these undocumented immigrants?  Remember, nearly half (47 percent) of undocumented immigrant households consist of couples with children.     

Do We Want a Policy That Will Split Families?

So, let’s consider the better question:  Who are the children of these undocumented immigrants?  Did you know that about 74 percent of the children living with one or more undocumented immigrant parents is a US-born citizen?  We call these families “mixed status” families.  Perhaps, a reasonable (and biblical) approach to immigration reform will remember that an undocumented immigrant is likely to be a parent caring for a child, and that child might be a US-born citizen (one of us…).³  

As I see it, a policy that blindly removes undocumented immigrants from their homes and workplaces will likely split families.  My hunch (follow the sarcasm) is that it’s not a good idea to develop or continue a policy that knowingly creates more single-parent families, or worse, more orphans.

Lot’s Of Emotion

Whether we admit it or not there probably is hidden within most of us a smidgen of residual nativism.  Sure, we might agree that, unless we are Native American, such nativism is disingenuous.  Nevertheless, we tend to lurk comfortably and protectively behind the thoughts ”We were born here.  This is our land.  These are our jobs.”  Instead, perhaps we should be saying, “Hey, those are our children.” ⁴    

For a moment, for the sake of good conversation…at least for the children… let’s try to set aside a knee-jerk emotion that provokes us to “hunt down all illegal immigrants and deport ‘em”.  For this conversation, let’s at least wonder together, let’s be open to doubt.  Let’s doubt our assumptions just long enough to allow for a more humane treatment of our children and their families. ⁵   

For the children, let’s consider that our lingering resistance to comprehensive immigration reform might need to be questioned.  Can we doubt our old ideas about immigrants and immigration reform long enough to have this better conversation and get a bit closer to a rational, more biblical policy that cares for all of our children?

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. An undocumented immigrant household is defined as having at least one undocumented immigrant living there, usually an adult.  See the Kids Count Data Center of the Annie Casey Foundation, http://datacenter.kidscount.org, or the Pew Center’s 2009 report on unauthorized immigrant families, http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=107.   The information for this article is taken mostly from the Pew Center report.
2. To read what I think  about comprehensive immigration reform generally, see my previous article: Effective Immigration Reform And The Murky Middle . 
3. I feel compelled to add, from a biblical perspective, that one need not be a US citizen to enjoy welcoming love and care from others.  However, from a Constitutional perspective a US citizen regardless of heritage or origin or age is to be granted certain rights afforded all other citizens.
4. Many of us, after all, one way or the other, try to follow the Christ who not only welcomed the children but welcomed all the strangers in our land.
5. Doubt is especially good for this conversation…I think.  See my articles on doubt and a good conversation in the “Conversation” category to the right.  Try this one for example: Doubt Is Good, Certainty Is Bad, I Think .

By “radical,” I understand one who goes too far; by “conservative,” one who does not go far enough; by “reactionary,” one who won’t go at all.   Woodrow Wilson, Nobel Laureate, Peace, 1919¹

Effective immigration reform belongs in the middle.  For me as a Christian, immigration reform makes perfect sense.  And there’s good news.  A middle-way approach to how we respond to our immigration crisis is being embraced by a growing group of centrist religious leaders across the country.  Kudos to the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE, http://www.nae.net/resolutions/347-immigration-2009), for example, for their courageous and open support of comprehensive immigration reform.  It cost ‘em, though.  The NAE took a hit from a few reactionary extremists.  But many of us standing with the NAE in the murky middle see such extremist reactions against reform as rooted in fear at best, or nativist hate at worst. ² .         

Immigration Is Everyone’s Problem, And Everyone’s Solution

I think  the immigration problem in the U.S. is everyone’s problem.  As well, a solution will be good for everyone.  So, join me in the middle (again)³ .  As I’ve said before, the middle ground on most religious or public policy issues is a tough place to stand.  The middle ground is murky, muddy.  The middle ground is difficult to talk about because the middle ground lacks those snappy, emotive sound bites that sting the opposition and attract media attention.

Comprehensive immigration reform has a good home in the religious and political middle.  OK, what do I mean by “comprehensive immigration reform”?  Without going into too much detail, here is what I think — just the opinion of one guy in the middle.

First, from a biblical perspective, I stand in a long line of religious folks who believe what the Bible says about God’s special concern for the most vulnerable among us.  Our nation’s immigrants (most of them) come to us looking for help and hope and safety.  How we treat them is a decidedly biblical issue.  Most followers of Jesus agree (and have agreed for centuries) that we should love them, welcome them, and care for them. 

Second, I believe we need a rational and humane approach to securing our nation’s borders.  Security is a good thing.  Comprehensive immigration reform must address our border issue.  Let’s agree, most immigrants are good people.  Apart from the Native American community we are a nation made up entirely of immigrants.⁴   But some immigrants do seek to harm us and enter our country for illegal purposes.  There must be a rational and humane way to secure our borders so that those seeking to enter for work and safety are welcomed, while those seeking to enter for illegal purposes are stopped.

Third, let’s be reasonable about how to deal with the close to 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S.  We could spend billions of dollars to hunt them down for deportation.  Raids make good evening news, but they are not very effective, and cost a ton of money.  Also, since a large portion of our undocumented immigrants have been here for many years, deporting them tends to split families, leaving behind millions of parentless children (who are legal residents because they were born here).  Good policy should not create more orphans.  If we care about families, we need a better way.  God’s grace teaches me a better way.  I think comprehensive immigration reform should provide a reasonable pathway for undocumented immigrants who are currently living and working hard in the US to receive legal status.  This would be good for everyone.  Think about this — it is estimated that our current pool of undocumented immigrants would increase our nation’s tax revenue by close to 60 billion dollars if these workers were granted a pathway toward legal, open status as taxpayers.

Fourth, let’s be reasonable about making it easier for potential workers to enter our country safely and legally.  The current system is so restrictive (paranoid?) that an enormous and dangerous underground illegal system of  exploitation exists.  Immigration fueled by clandestine illegal operations encourages human trafficking and unsafe workplace conditions.  The truth is, even with our difficult recession and employment problems here, our economy needs immigrant labor, so let’s help them to help us, legally.

Comprehensive immigration reform makes perfect sense, from a biblical perspective and from an economic perspective.  It’s the right thing to do.  I stand in the middle on this issue, with a growing number of evangelical and mainline Christian communities, along with other faith communities in our country.⁵ .  Be reasonable.  Join me in the murky, but effective, middle.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
2. I am concerned, for example, about the reactionary outbursts against all immigrants (even legal immigrants) from groups such as NumbersUSA, a well-organized extremist group that prefers to capitalize on our fear rather than our goodness as Americans.
3. I love the middle ground on most issues.  I call it the “murky middle”.  For a series of articles about the middle way and middle way thinking see The Murky Middle category to the right or click on one of these articles:  Three Cups Of Tea Fell On My Z ,  Just War, Nobel Peace, And Obama ,  How Are Our Children? ,  Doubt Is Good, Certainty Is Bad, I Think (Part II) ,  Doubt Is Good, Certainty Is Bad, I Think ,  My Feet Will Follow ,  Doubt, Dancing, And A Good Conversation ,  Slow Change ,  Transformational Leadership: Lots Of Questions, Waiting For A Few Good Answers ,  As Far As I Know ,  Transformational Leadership: Effective Change In The Murky Middle ,  Back To The Murky Middle: Inviting our atheist friends ,  Dandelion Seeds: Problem-solving from the middle ,  Meet Me In The Middle
4. This is interesting.  I guess one could conclude from our own history that it is unwise to welcome immigrants.  Look what happened to our Native American friends when they loved, welcomed, and cared for us! …hmmm.  So…perhaps we’ll learn from our mistakes.
5. For example, in my own faith tradition, in May 2009 the United Methodist Church Council of Bishops released a Statement on the U.S. Immigration Situation (http://bishops.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=21&mid=13506).  See also the centrist coalition of Christian groups, Christians For Comprehensive Immigration Reform (http://faithandimmigration.org/).  Faith In Public Life (http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/) is an organization seeking to provide media access and advocacy resources for moderate faith voices (Christian and otherwise) on public issues.  An innovative issue advocacy group Third Way (http://www.thirdway.org/) seeks non-traditional (read: neither liberal nor conservative) solutions to sticky policy problems. 

• “What matters today is not the difference between those who believe and those who do not believe, but the difference between those who care and those who don’t.”  Georges Pire, Nobel Laureate, Peace, 1958.
• “Everywhere, everywhere, children are the scorned people of the earth.”  Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate, Literature, 1993.¹
• Vulnerable (adj.)  Capable of being wounded.  From the Latin vulnerare or “to wound.” ²

There are days when I am a bit embarrassed to be a Christian.  It’s not that I am ashamed of my personal faith in Christ, but the label “Christian” sometimes carries embarrassing baggage. 

After the breaking news about the so-called Christians from Idaho who were either ignorant or malicious in their treatment of Haiti’s children, we are hearing of other, previous forays into ignorance by groups struggling to do good in Haiti in the name of Jesus or…doing bad under the cover of the name.  There are too many examples in the Church of the oddly fine line between ignorance and malice. 

Today I Agree With Pire, The Better Question Is Whether Or Not We Care. 

I wish it wasn’t so hard to tell the difference between caring and not caring.  When it comes to vulnerable children around the world, I want it to be clear.  This isn’t a debate about some obscure point in theology or history.  This is about vulnerable children. 

We either care or we do not.  Sure, accuse me of simplistic naivete.  The accusation might stick.  But it seems to me that when it comes to the most vulnerable among us we ought to be clearer about what it means to care or not care for them. 

Today, I think Georges Pire was right.  The Church has devoted (wasted?) decades if not centuries debating what it means to believe, or what we should believe, or how we should articulate our beliefs…on and on leading sadly to splits at best and violent confrontations at worst between groups who disagree about the nature of our beliefs.  As Pire seems to suggest, a better debate may be whether or not we care.  More than words.  Action.

What Are We To Do With Haiti’s Children?

So, what are we to do with Haiti’s children?  How do we clearly care about them?  Let’s start by not scorning them.  Let’s start by not hauling them away from their parents or relatives.  Duh.  Let’s feed them.  Let’s clothe them.  Let’s give them water to drink.  A famous member of our Church once said something about caring for the least of these…you know, the most vulnerable among us.  Who said that?  I thought he was fairly clear.

If we are not careful, Haiti’s vulnerable children are capable of being wounded even more.  The famous member of the Church I mentioned above was known to focus persistently on those who are the least, the last, and the lost.  In his religious tradition, a faith community is to give special preference and care for those who are most vulnerable — widows, orphans and strangers, for example.³

So, what do we do?  Start by doing no harm.⁴  Then, carefully, prayerfully, let us support the good work of the relief agencies (religious or secular) engaged in repairing and rebuilding the people of Haiti.  See my January 15 article There Must Be Something I Can Do for ideas.

At the least, let us be clear.  Let’s just feed the children and give them clean water to drink.  Let’s just clothe them, and keep them safe from harm.  If this is not clear, then let us get out of the way so others who are willing to care can help.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Both quotes found in David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
2. http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/vulnerable
3. I’ve been a bit narrow in my expression of the “most vulnerable”.  Of course children in poverty, including orphans, deserve our special care.  But our Judeo-Christian tradition also has much to say about caring for strangers (or aliens or sojourners).  There are many among us today — our neighbors and co-workers – who are strangers among us because they are from a different place and have few, if any, of the legal and social protections the rest of us have a citizens.  I believe we are to care for them in the same way we care for other vulnerable groups.  Our nation’s immigrants deserve the Church’s special care.  Look for more from me in the future on this issue.
4. I offer here an apology to the rest of the world for a few stupid Christians who are either ignorant about what it means to care, or sadly seeking to exploit vulnerable children.

My worms are warm.  Warm worms are happy worms.  I feed them fruit and vegetable scraps from our kitchen.  Recently I expanded my worm farm.  Now I have two bins.  More worms eat more trash. 

I’m glad my worms are happy.  When they are happy they do their redemptive work.  The worms eat the bacteria that forms on decaying vegetable matter.  When they eat and digest my trash, the end result (get it?) is nutrient-rich excrement.  Really.

Worm Excrement Is Good

I like worm excrement.  Don’t laugh at me about this.  Its a simple thing.  Worm excrement is good because it is packed full of good things that help plants grow.  So, I like worm excrement especially when it is mixed with the soil in my garden or planting pots.

But there’s more to my fondness for worm excrement.  The worms (and their crap) remind me that something good can come from my trash.  This gives me hope.  Even my kitchen trash can become a nutrient-rich blessing for potting soil.  Sure, I know, this trash-to-blessing journey takes a detour through worm excrement.  But the end result (there I go again!) is good soil!  Something good can come from my trash.

I think worms are a gift from God.  I happen to be one of those sappy optimists who believes God will make good things happen — even when the raw materials are not so good…smelly and decayed.  Like me, for example. 

Worm Excrement Gives Me Hope

This is the up side of worm theology.  The worms remind me that God’s love for me (and you) is so strong and so tenacious that even the smelly, rotting parts of me can be transformed into something good.  This gives me hope.

We need hope.  Lots of people need hope.  I am thinking about the children in Haiti tonight.  They need hope.  Tens of thousands of them are new orphans.  They just lost their moms and dads.  They are alone.  Children.  That’s a lot of trash in their young lives.  That’s a lot of decay.  But I have hope that God’s love for those kids is enough.  I have hope that even though the children have been ripped from the safety of their homes and families — somehow, someday, they will feel safe and loved again.  I learned this from my worms.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

[To read more about orphan care and our response, or about vunerable children even in our own country, check out the following articles and resources:   There Must Be Something I Can Do , Who Is My Child? , The Most Vulnerable Among Us , How Are Our Children? ,  An Open Letter To My Young Friends In Ivanovo , Grisha's Story: You didn't forget about us , Yana's Story: Do not pity me! , Kolya's Story: Jesus in disguise . ]

Where there is tragedy, there are orphans, more of them.  War, famine, natural disasters, social decay, all of it tends to rip apart families, leaving vulnerable children without the care of a parent.  This is no surprise.  Tragedy makes us all a bit more vulnerable.  For children its worse.

And so its no surprise that the recent earthquakes in Haiti left tens of thousands of additional children newly orphaned.  Before the earthquakes, Haiti was home to over 380,000 orphans, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)¹ .  Now there are more, thousands more.

Some Children Will Go, But Most Should Stay

Some of Haiti’s orphans were already in the pipeline to be adopted by families in other countries, so officials are expediting these adoptions quickly in order to remove as many children from the current crisis as possible.  

There’s a problem, though.  Given the enormous number of orphans already in the country and the thousands more added to the ranks, officials struggle to provide adequate care for the legitimate orphans while doing their best to confirm whether the new children under their care are truly orphaned or simply displaced and separated from their families.  For this reason officials are cautious to implement an airlift style extraction to transport large groups of children to somewhere safe with adequate medical care.  Officials rightly fear that accidentally removing a displaced child from his or her family would only make matters worse in the long run.  For true orphans, its a different matter — if we know whether or not a particular child on the chaotic street is truly orphaned. 

Its hard to know in these circumstances whether or not an abandoned child is a true orphan.  An injured mother might be under medical care somewhere else in the city and unable to look for her child.  A father might have been working across the island when the earthquake struck and is now unable to find transportation to the city to find his child.  

So, the children need to stay, unless and until we are sure they are true orphans.  For now, they need food, clean water, and medicine to treat diahrrea — a common problem — as well as more serious injuries or illnesses.

We need to help relief agencies do what it takes to care for the children in country and not feel pressured for lack of resources to pluck the children from their homeland and away from family members.  

Three agencies working in Haiti have committed to keeping the children in Haiti until true orphan status is confirmed:

• United Nation Children’s Fund or UNICEF (http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561),
• Save The Children (http://www.savethechildren.org/), and
• Salvation Army (http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf). 

In addition, the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) has a permament office in Port-au-Prince and has established a long term presence for relief ministry there (www.umcor.org – Click on ”Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325.”)

Give to these organizations (or another organization you trust) and designate that your gift support orphan children in Haiti.

Thanks.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Voice Of America, January 22, 2010, http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Earthquake-Puts-Haitis-Orphans-in-Greater-Peril-82275902.html 

Let’s just kick ‘em while they’re down.  It is no secret the people of Haiti have struggled for decades to gain any semblance of a dignified existence.  Haiti is listed year after year as the poorest (or one of the poorest) nation in the world.  And now this.

You’ve heard the news.  Surely you have seen the images of death and destruction further crippling the people of Haiti.  The 7.0 magnitude earthquake leveled a capital city and left tens of thousands of Haitians dead. 

We Must Do Something

Regardless of your perspective on Haiti’s history, or your perspective about people living in chronic poverty (I figure most of you are fairly well-educated folks, and most of you are at least middle class), regardless of your perspective about the causes of poverty, this is different.  If we are at all human, surely we must do something for the people of Haiti.

Let’s leave the historical analysis and criticisms to the pundits for now.  For me, I want to do something.  Anything.  There must be something I can do.  There is.

• First, dust off my sense of powerlessness.  Sitting here in pleasant Virginia, surrounded by comfort and gentleness, I must become confident that there is still something I can do.  Even if it’s a tiny contribution, I can do it.
• Second, if I am a praying person (it’s OK, not everyone is), start praying for God’s mercy.  For me, this is a good and necessary step.  But prayer is only the beginning.  If we don’t do more, who will?  We are living in the most prosperous nation the world has ever known.  I happen to believe there is a reason God has blessed all of us with so much.  If you are reading this you are probably fairly well-fed and probably have at least one car.  We know you have access to a computer.  We have lots of stuff.  So, the way I see it, praying to God for mercy is a necessary first step, but it should not be the only step, because we have lots to give.
• Third, become annoying to my friends and family about why and how we can do something for the people of Haiti.  Even if you’ve never done anything like this before, even if you’ve never mailed a check to help others before, even if you’ve never done anything but watch helplessly as others struggle, this might be different.  This could be a new beginning for you.  Pester the people around you about it.  This should be different, and that’s a good reason to annoy your friends and family about giving something or doing something.  Besides, giving even a tiny amount will change you (as well as help the people of Haiti).
• Fourth, pick one relief organization to support.  I think its a good idea to focus your giving through one organization.  Choose carefully.  Pick an organization with a name you recognize and trust.  If you prefer a secular organization, give to the American Red Cross, for example (http://www.redcross.org).  The important point here is to pick an organization with which you are comfortable, and stick with it.  There are plenty of good organizations out there¹ .  If you are comfortable with a religious relief organization, its best to connect with a mission effort associated with your religious group or denomination.  This will help you stay connected longer.  There are many good faith-based relief organizations.  I am partial to our United Methodist Committee On Relief (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor).  UMCOR has a reputation for consistent service as early responders, as well as a commitment to remain on location for ongoing follow-up support long after other organizations (and the media) leave the troubled area.  Another reason I like to support UMCOR is their Advanced Special Program.  If you give to the Haiti Emergency Advance #418325 (http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=418325&id=3018760) , 100 percent of your gift will be used for direct services and supplies for Haiti relief.  An Advance Special gift is never used to cover administrative costs.  It’s a good deal.
• Fifth, go.  Get off your butt and go.  Perhaps you can go to a relief organization in your local community that is receiving donations to be shipped to Haiti.  Go, help them pack, help them sweep, help them answer the phone.  Clean their bathrooms.  Just go.  It won’t cost you a dime, just your time.  Maybe you want to go to Haiti.  Slow down — don’t expect to go right away because in the next days and weeks Haiti does not need the average volunteer like you and me.  They need professional emergency workers now (If you’re one of those — go now!).  The rest of us will get our chance.  Soon, the rebuilding efforts will begin.  Consider joining or forming a mission team.  In the United Methodist Church we have what we call UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers In Mission) teams (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/mv/) .  Find one near you that is forming and volunteer your time or money.  Or check out the mission relief efforts of your own faith community.  Here’s the thing:  Go!

At times like this we ask: “There must be something I can do.”  Yep.  There is plenty I can do — even if I have never done anything like this before.  First, realize that I can do something.  Then pray, annoy my friends and family about getting involved, give money carefully and generously to an organization you trust, and go.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. The Wall Street Journal just released a good article about smart giving for Haiti: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/make-sure-you-donate-to-haiti-relief-not-scammers-2010-01-14?reflink=MW_news_stmp 

Of course, God roots for everyone.  But when someone is getting pushed around I think God chooses a favorite. 

Last night Alabama beat Texas in the BCS championship game for the national title.  Congratulations Alabama.  By the time I tuned in, Alabama was winning handily.  It looked like there was no hope for Texas, especially since their star quarterback had been injured and was out of the game.  Their back-up QB was young — they called him a ”true” freshman which means he really was 18!  Imagine his perspective  — “I am one year out of high school and leading my team on national television toward a possible comeback victory for the title!”  No pressure, young fellow.

The Penn State Game Is The Only One That Really Mattered To Me

Frankly, I didn’t care about either team.  My college football season ended quite nicely when Penn state beat LSU in the Capital One Bowl.  Last night’s game didn’t matter to me.  I didn’t care who won…until I sensed an underdog.  Texas had been getting their tails whipped and were now trying to scrape out a late game comeback.  Suddenly, that was my team.

Funny how that is.  Could have been either team.  I tend to root for the underdog.  Why?  Is it more fun?  Does it lower my expectations to help me brace for disappointment?  Or, is it possible a tiny bit of God’s preference for the underdog lingers in me?¹

God Cares About The Underdog 

I happen to believe God has a special preference for our most vulnerable — the underdogs in our world.  We talked about one group of special underdogs — poor children — in a few previous articles.  Check them out:  How Are Our Children? , The Most Vulnerable Among Us, and Who Is My Child? 

I also happen to believe our preferential treatment of the most vulnerable among us is not to be determined by our (too often capricious) judgment about whether the person or group deserves our help.  Pamela Couture of Saint Paul School of Theology in Missouri  says it this way:  “In the biblical story, the emphasis is not on the qualities of individuals but on the gift of generosity and freedom God gives to all people.  All people then are expected to extend these same gifts to one another.  Biblical law also commends as normative the community’s generosity toward those who may be socially and economically vulnerable.” ²

Uncomplicated Applied Theology

So maybe I was working out a little applied theology last night.  Sure, college football is just a game, a sport, for fun.  But orphans are the real deal.  Widows and strangers are all around us.  Not only are they the underdogs, they aren’t even in the game yet.  I happen to believe God has made it quite clear what should matter most to us:  widows, orphans, and strangers in our land.  In other words, anyone who is most vulnerable, the underdogs among us. 

I like the underdog.  I’m gonna’ root for them.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Trust me, I’m not suggesting I have some super-spiritual sensibility.  Not at all.  I do believe, though, that all of us have embedded within us a bit of God’s image.  Perhaps my caring about an underdog is a bit of evidence that God hasn’t given up on me! 
2. Couture, Pamela (2007).  Child Poverty: Love, Justice, and Social Responsibility.  St. Louis:  Chalice Press, p18.  This book was developed as part of the author’s work with the United Methodist Church Council Of Bishops Initiative On Children And Poverty.  In 2001 the Initiative developed a preliminary theological statement: http://archives.umc.org/initiative/statement.html 

“Women are ultimately the key to development, they are the key to the eradication of poverty.  Once you empower them, you empower a nation.”  — Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate, Peace, 1984 

This is a true story.  An omen, perhaps.  When I woke up after an apparently restless sleep I saw that the book had toppled onto my laptop keyboard.  I had been reading Three Cups Of Tea by Greg Mortenson.¹  That the book landed on the keyboard during the night is no big deal.  What horrified me (sense the drama) is that the book landed with enough force to knock the “Z” out of place.²  

How does one cope without a “Z”?  I immediately felt fortunate that I am not a zoologist who studies zebras, or that my name is not Zach (although Zach is a very nice name) or that I do not live in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, although I hitchhiked there once and briefly enjoyed the lovely town . 

I was unable to snap the “Z” back into place because my eyesight is poor and my thumbs are too fat.  Fortunately, I happened to be visiting my parents at the time.  My Dad’s eyesight is worse than mine but he has a better grasp of details and “Z”s and was able to complete the repair in a few minutes.  Disaster averted. 

Then it occurred to me.  It’s not about the “Z”, Jeff!  (If I had a nickel for every time I’ve said that…)  It’s about the book!  Pay attention to the book, Jeff!  The broken “Z” was merely an attention-grabbing ruse.  Very sneaky.

“I will build a school…I promise”

Three Cups Of Tea is indeed a very cool book even though it is not about zebras or Zelienople.  The author Mortenson was a mountain climber who in late 1993 attempted to reach the summit of a mountain known as K2 in northern Pakistan.  After the attempt (which failed for a variety of reasons) and during his descent to find his base camp, Mortenson became separated from his team and his guide.  He spent several days alone in very cold, snowy conditions without food, and unsure of his location.  Nearly exhausted and very cold and hungry, he stumbled into the village Korphe where the kind people there saved his life.  They fed him and kept him warm until he regained his strength.  During his recovery he noticed that the children of the village had no school building and no teacher.  Every day they gathered on their own in an outdoor clearing to practice their lessons together.  Mortenson was moved by their dedication and he vowed to build them a school.

The rest of the book along with its follow-up, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan³ describe Mortenson’s incredible effort to make a long term difference for the people of Korphe and their neighbors.  He established a nonprofit organization in the United States called the Central Asia Institute (http://www.ikat.org) with a mission to “promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.”  As of 2009, the Central Asia Institute (CAI) has successfully established 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide (or have provided) education to over 58,000 students, with an emphasis on ensuring that girls are educated.  CAI’s emphasis on education for girls has led to some of their schools being targeted and destroyed by extremist groups in the region.

Community-based Development Is More Effective

In short, Mortenson believes that effective and lasting peace for the troubled region of Pakistan and Afghanistan will be accomplished not by the use of bombs and guns but through meaningful, community-based development, in particular through education for girls.  The story is not over, but it is already evident that CAI’s approach seems to be working.  Today, because of Mortenson’s success, our U.S. military has recruited him as a consultant on how to build better relationships with tribal leaders and village elders in that region.

Mortenson’s work is a practical example of what Nobel Laureate⁴ Amartya Sen has been trying to tell us for many years. Sen (born and raised in India) won the 1998 prize in Economics for his work on welfare economics with a particular interest in poverty and famine in developing nations⁵  In his 1999 book, Development As Freedom ⁶  Sen argues that “development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy” (p. 3).  For Sen, those freedoms extend beyond politics and voting to include economic and social opportunities.  He observes for example: “What begins as the neglect of the interests of women ends in causing adversity for the health and survival of all.”⁷  I suppose that’s not a popular idea among extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Bombs Or Schools Or Both?

Which brings us back to Mortenson and his effort to build schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The story continues, as more schools for girls are being built.  We will see whether Mortenson’s efforts actually bring peace and freedom to the region.  The change will be slow, but effective change is often slow.  Mortenson’s method (schools instead of bombs) will be criticized by the hawks among us.  Others might conclude that the most effective solution might be in the murky middle utilizing a lot of schools for girls along with a small number of well-place bombs.  The rest of us might say “enough with the bombs, let’s sink our money only into schools.” 

Hard to know for sure. We continue to follow Mortenson’s work to see what happens.  Amartya Sen might have something more to say about it.  I am thankful his name does not begin with a “Z”.   Zen…hmmm?⁸ 

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin (2006).  Three Cups Of Tea. New York: Penguin Books
2. I readily acknowledge that this is a senseless and bizarre introduction to this article.
3. Mortenson, Greg (2009).  Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Viking
4. For more articles about Nobel Laureates, see the category to the right.
5. David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
6. Sen, Amartya (1999).  Development As Freedom.  New York: Anchor Books.
7. David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
8. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen), Zen emphasizes the direct experiences resulting from meditation.  Zen (not Sen) de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor of direct, experiential realization through meditation and practice.  Either way, with Sen’s theoretical knowledge or Mortenson’s direct practice, it appears that development and freedom are intrinsically linked, whichever comes first.

I received good news from Russia yesterday morning.  Anya sent an e-mail filled with Christmas good-wishes.  Anya is one of the talented and dedicated staff persons at the Ministry Center in Ivanovo.  Anya and her co-workers provide programs and support services for orphanage graduates living in the city. 

Anya mentioned Grisha in her letter.  You might recall Grisha from one of my earlier articles, Grisha’s Story: You didn’t forget about us (For more articles, visit the Orphan Care article category to the right), or read more in the daily travel log I posted during last May’s mission to Ivanovo (See the Orphan Care Project page).

Anya reported that Grisha has been coming to the Ministry Center more often, and that he agreed to deliver some of the letters I had written to his friends.  This news is encouraging because the entire purpose of our work there in May 2009 was to motivate orphanage graduates to begin utilizing the Center and its staff.  Grisha’s use of the Ministry Center is evidence that he wants to connect with people who care about him and can guide him as he finishes school and seeks employment.  This is huge!     

Relative Blessings

Today is Christmas Eve, a time when we tend to reflect on the many ways God has blessed our lives.  This is especially easy for most of us.  Consider this, if you are reading this article it means you own or have access to a computer connected to the internet.  Grisha’s only access to a computer is at the Ministry Center.  With the help of the staff there he can access the internet for his studies. 

This time of year we also tend to reflect on how blessed we are to have family and friends we trust and who love us.  It is sad to consider that many young people, like Grisha and his friends who are orphans, do not have family members they can count on. 

Where Will They Spend Christmas Eve?

Where will Grisha spend Christmas Eve?  Anya mentioned in her letter that the Ministry Center is hosting a Christmas Eve party today!  I hope Grisha goes.  And I hope our other young friends go to the party too — Yana, Vova, Anya, Slava, Alyona, Andrei, Sergei, Ira, Natasha, Nastya, Zhenya, and others — to connect, and be reminded that they are not forgotten.  To our young friends in Ivanovo, Russia I write this short letter –

To the young graduates of the Petrovsky orphanage and others among you,

I wish you a warm and happy Christmas.  I wish you a Christmas filled with hope.  I wish for you a new confidence that the coming year will be better for you than all the years before.  Most of all, I wish for you a confidence that I will never forget you.  I am proud of your hard work, I hope you are too!  Do not ever give up on your future — God will never give up on you.  I hope to see you again soon.  In the meantime enjoy your holiday, and trust that God loves you, and I love you.

Grace to you, and peace,

Jeff (Christmas Eve, 2009)

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2009).

Let me drag you back to a conversation from a few months ago¹ . 

We return to transformational leadership.  What is it, and why does it matter to me, an everyday kinda’ guy in a local community?  Why does leadership of any kind matter to me – who cares whether its transformational, transactional, or any other kind of “-tional”?

Does effective leadership matter to a typical Sunday School teacher?  A typical pastor or board member in a church?  An employee for a local non-profit?  Does effective leadership matter to that hard-working teacher in the elementary school down the road?

Why are we still talking about this?²    

We might be getting a bit closer to understanding why transformational leadership is so important, especially if we want our organizations to be effective.  So, let’s talk about it again.  I was motivated recently by a series of articles in a book edited by Joanne B. Ciulla, Ethics: The Heart Of Leadership³ .  James MacGregor Burns wrote the forward!  The book consists of a series of essays debating the meaning and efficacy of transformational leadership (as opposed to other forms of leadership).  The final essay by Bernard Bass is a very helpful summary of the key issues raised by scholars and practitioners over the decades.

I was most intrigued by the article by Robert Solomon, Ethical Leadership, Emotions, and Trust: Beyond ”Charisma”.  Solomon helps me get to the heart of the matter, especially if I expect leadership to matter to everyone involved in my organization.  After effectively debunking the age-old myth about the role of “charisma” in leadership, Solomon concludes, “Charisma distracts us from looking at the relationship between the leader and the led, and, in particular, the relationship of trust” (p. 98).  In short, Solomon suggests that leadership is effective when a trusting relationship exists between the leadership team⁴ and everyone else in the organization.

As A Regular Kinda’ Guy, What Am I Being Asked To Trust?

Permit me to take Robert Solomon’s excellent point one step further.  As a regular kinda’ guy in a local community — maybe I’m a volunteer for a local non-profit, a teacher in a school, a volunteer in the local church — I need to trust that the leadership team I follow is unequivocally dedicated to the mission of our organization.  Without that level of trust in my leadership team my willingness to follow them wavers.  My commitment to our organization depends greatly on my perception that our leadership team cares singularly about the mission of our organization.  To the extent our leadership team becomes distracted by other priorities, my commitment weakens.

Of course, we need to wonder, as we should, what is the mission of our organization?⁵   Beyond this primary question, however, we might wonder: 

• How did the decision our leadership team made last week contribute to the mission? 
• How does the new program our leadership team recently launched contribute to the mission? 
• Does the behavior or our leadership team during meetings display their commitment to our mission, or do they tend to be distracted by less important matters? 

These are hard questions, but they point to my willingness to trust our leadership team.  In particular, I am intrigued by the potential distraction of even a good program.  I wonder if we are sometimes lured off-course by our passion for the success of a good program instead of our focus on accomplishing our mission.  Fine line here, but regular kinda’ guys notice this sort of thing.

In short, the heart of transformational leadership is that everyone involved in our organization has confidence that our leadership team believes in, clings to, and tenaciously implements our mission. This is mission trust⁶ .
 

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2009).

1. Apologies for the unattractive title.  Bloggers everywhere are groaning.  As well, I am guilty today of shifting topics, apparently willy-nilly.  More groaning.  You might be saying, “I’d rather talk about Neil Young, or Obama!”  OK, so I’m changing topics.  Too bad.
2. If you are coming into the conversation late, check out the series of articles I wrote  in the summer and fall.  Click on the “Transformational Leadership” category to the right.  Scroll down — some of the articles are only indirectly related to leadership.  See especially From Mission To Flesh: The Central Idea For A Non-Profit Organization ,  Mission, Change, And Transformational Effectiveness, Part 1 ,  Mission, Change, And Transformational Effectiveness, Part 2 , Transformational Leadership: From Mission To Flesh ,  Transformational Leadership: Effective Change In The Murky Middle , and Transformational Leadership: Change to make change .
3. Ethics: The Heart Of Leadership,edited by Joanne B. Cuilla (1998). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers
4. I won’t re-state my previous argument that I believe effective leadership — at least in the church — is not about the nature of an individual leader (e.g., pastor) rather it is about the nature of a team – this is body leadership which is, in my view, a more biblical leadership model.
5. In the United Methodist Church, for example, our mission is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
6. This is closely aligned with the idea of mission mindfulness that I introduced in Mission, Change, And Transformational Effectiveness, Part 1.  When volunteers recognize their leadership team is mindful of the mission, they are more likely to follow.