Monthly Archives: July 2008
Power Blackouts
Some of you may roll your eyes at this analogy I’m about to propose, but the power situation I experienced in Nepal, India and Bangladesh over the past few weeks flooded into my mind as I was sitting with one of my in-country partners at Dhoni Restaurant in Dhaka my next to last night in Bangladesh. The power in our … Continue reading
You know you're in Dhaka when…
You know you’re in Dhaka when… Originally uploaded by t4global The markets, people, rickshaws, and refuse collide. The picture is not that great – but if you stop in Dhaka, 100 vehicles will get in front of you! 12 million people live here – 30 million work here. Rush hour is not limited to an hour on either end of … Continue reading
The Church
If you drive around Lexington, KY (world headquarters of T4 Global) you’ll see some enormous church buildings. Some of them are lovely buildings, some are just big. One looks like an airport with multiple terminals. The same is probably true in most American cities. The fact is, we often forget that the church is not a building, it’s people. The … Continue reading
Cross-Cultural Communication
At an International Orality Network seminar, the speaker made a point of reminding us that if our indigenous friends laugh at appropriate times while talking with us, we’ve bridged the cross-cultural communication gap. Thankfully, we’ve done a pretty good job of communicating in Kenya.
An Update
The work in Kenya is going well. Roughly 4000 folks are listening to the devices each week. Elders from a village that didn’t receive the “redio” walked a great distance to ask one of the distributors when the “redio” was coming to their village. A great problem in ministering among the Samburu is the separation of men and women. As … Continue reading
Western Euphemisms in play
The more I travel, the more I’m confronted with the mixture of western culture in the 3rd world, which is where I travel most of the time. Some euphemisms that have struck me as funny coming from the lips of friends and strangers here are as follows: Nepalese using the phrase “I don’t/they don’t have a clue” (first heard by … Continue reading
Uncle Jesus
Derek Eggers is at work with the Nigerian International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES) HIV/AIDS Program Director, Bola Lawal. His name among the Nigerian students is now Uncle Jesus – for obvious reasons. He could easily be cast for the next Jesus epoch for the big screen, and the Nigerians love him. Derek’s work with Bola will evaluate the effectiveness … Continue reading