thoughts while working on something else

What would I pursue if knew that I could not fail in the effort? What would you do?

What would I undertake if I lived in complete surrender to the Spirit, to do things in His way and timing? If I lived not in fear but in the power of the Spirit?

What does it mean that Christ is the head of the church, which is His body? What is "church", in the real sense? How american evangelicals (and others) practice it? Do our traditions really recognize Christ as the head of HIS church?

Is the Spirit active in our churches? How can we know? If not, why? Have we shut him out in order to keep "church" just one hour a week, or to do things our way? Is church more like a business in the way it is run? what are the marks of a Spirit-filled church? Spirit-filled followers of Christ? If the Spirit is not in our churches/fellowships, how do we get him back?

why does a church need a building, programs, ministries, an operating budget? does it? who says? How would a building-dependent church withstand persecution? What needs to change to effectively operate as "wartime Christians"? Structure? Function?

why do we seek to make the truth relevant to the culture, and where are we in danger of adding to or taking away from the Gospel?

Are we asleep? Why are so many "Christians" just like the culture? Why are we not, in general, not distinct in the ways we should be? Divorce? Affairs? Pornography? Substance Abuse? Language, Music, Movies? Standards? Desires, Values, Perspectives?

Why have we pledged ourselves to political ideologies, rather than the person of Christ? We don't even belong to ourselves! We have been bought with a price.

As I was working on my internship presentation, I was (momentarily) distracted by the box of Celestial Seasonings Green Tea sitting on my desk. Knowing that generally there is some sort of interesting philosophical perspective found in one or more places on these boxes, I looked and found this:

“Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed.Quit the evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.” -- Epictetus

On an initial level, this prompted me to "quit the evasions" and get back to work - papers and presentations don't write themselves. What I thought of next was the last sentence, especially the segment about fully inhabiting the situation one is in at present. This came to mind - wherever you're at, be all there. For several reasons, my mind is not here right now. It's off somewhere else. I'm ready to move on from school to what is next (what is next?). Anyhow, I suppose that I am open to the accusation that I'm not invested in my surroundings right now. In my defense, I'm only here for a net of 2 more months and I'm gone. But I still have work to do. There is a reason why I am still here, even though being here and in school is not where I prefer to be, nor what I prefer to do. I think somehow it boils down to the interconnectedness of patience and obedience - living a life surrendered to God even when don't understand why things are as they are.

I have no clue who Epictetus is. Look him up on wikipedia.

If Intentions Were Actual Posts...

You get the picture. More to come.

On Christian Hospitality

About a month ago, I finished reading a book called "The Irresistible Revolution" written by Shane Claiborne. Some of the things I read reinforced what I already sensed - that the body of Christ in America today seems to under-value hospitality, which is reflected in the way that we meet and interact. The best way that I can describe it is as "convenient isolation" of ourselves from our brothers and sisters. There's more I could say, but I have to go to dinner. Here's what Shane says.

"So, as congregations build larger buildings, gyms, and food courts, we find ourselves less likely to meet in homes and kitchens, and around dinner tables. We end up centralizing worship on corporate space or "on-campus". Hospitality becomes less of a necessity and more of an optional matter, a convenient privilege."

Think about it. What are the consequences of this paradigm? How can I work to change this?

A Well-Ordered Heart

Over spring break, I caught a glimpse of this statement while at a friend's house. I wrote it down to think deeply about it later. Admittedly, I was cleaning my room and found it waiting for me to consider. Here's what it says.

"A well ordered heart is this:
to love the right thing
in the right way
to the right degree
with the right kind of love."


Reflecting on my life, I conclude that there are many things that I would claim to love - God, my family, friends, people, and nature, for example. At the same time, my lifestyle either confirms or refutes my claims to love those things, and suggests that there are other things that I love without recognizing or admitting so - money, success, recognition, privilege, reputation, comfort, control, and certainly more. What should I do first? Examine my priorities, behavior, and values to discover where I place my affection and energy, then compare them to what I ought to be. Sifting through the many things fighting for my allegiance takes discipline, discernment, and discretion. It requires reflection, self-evaluation, and humble honesty to admit that my heart is not where it should be. That is my confession today, and every day.

There are times when I have chosen the right things to love, but did not show that love in the right way. So once I have learned what I ought to love, how do I properly display that? If I claim to love my family, it would be difficult for me to sincerely say so if I did not communicate with them, serve them, or support them. There are many practical ways to do so: spending time talking with and listening to them, finding ways to show appreciation for them, and praying for them. These are just a few examples.

I admit that another of my struggles is finding a balance. Some ethicists and philosophers writing on the concept of virtue describe it as avoiding extremes, which are vices. For example, courage is the virtue which avoids the bookend extremes of cowardice and recklessness. Loving the right things is good, but I must determine how much love is appropriate for each thing. This isn't to say that love is a quantitative measure, such as utility, but that different things require various measures of love. This is where I have to think very carefully about ordering the things that I value. What should be of greatest importance? What will endure?

Similarly to loving the right thing to the right degree is recognizing which type of love is appropriate for each right thing. For example, the love that I owe God is reserved solely for him. The love that a husband has for his wife is different from the love that is between friends, which is not the same as the love shared by families. I'm sure that there is more that I (or you) could say about this.

The complexity of this concise proverb is encouraging as wisdom, but also discouraging when I examine my heart.

I love some of the right things with the right kind of love, and maybe in the right ways (on a good day), but chances are that I don't love them to the degree that I should. Most likely, where I may succeed in one category, I fail in another. It's frustrating to compare my forward progress to the backtracking that I've done over nearly 22 years.

To me, it seems that the first step is to admit that I've got it wrong. My priorities are jumbled, my behavior is inconsistent, and my heart is imbalanced and sometimes chases the wind. I simply can't fix this, even in a lifetime.
Yet, by the goodness of God, I am being changed. It's slow, painfully slow. There are moments of hope amid seasons of failure. I have to admit with the apostle Paul that I am not what I should be, and I am what I shouldn't be. But God loves me in a way that I cannot fully comprehend, to a degree that is still breaking through to me. He doesn't love me because I love him, but because he loved me first, and promises to do so despite my incapability to love the right things in the right ways, to the right degree and with the right kind of love.

Ha!

Consider this an aside from writing on Guatemala, especially that really, really long technical report. Anyhow, in the last two weeks, I committed to co-coaching a U12 club soccer team until the end of school. It should be a blast.
One of the mothers from the team was asking the other coach if we could stay three weeks after the end of school (no way) to finish out the season with the team. The other coach explained that she couldn't because of work. When asked if I (who was not present during this conversation) could stay three weeks after school, my co-coach explained that I couldn't because of work.

Somehow, it came out that I was from Colorado, and...here's the kicker...the mother said, "Oh, is he like one of those raft guides or something?"

My co-coach responded, "Um, yeah, he actually is."

Awkward. I laughed when I heard the story.

Appropriate Technology in Guatemala

Building Better Stoves: Stove Improvements and Appropriate Technology in Santa Maria de Jesus, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala

Mike Wolford & Eric Peterson

Department of Environmental Science, Randall Environmental Studies Centre, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana 46989, USA

1. Abstract

As in many developing nations, current methods of cooking in the Guatemalan village of Santa Maria de Jesus have deleterious environmental, health, and economic ramifications. Mission Impact, a Guatemala-based Christian organization, works with local participants to address these issues through the Estufas Mejoradas Project (Better Stoves). By constructing fuel efficient, cost effective, vented cook stoves from locally available materials, they reduce preventable respiratory disease and avoidable financial costs while preserving traditional cooking methods. Mission Impact provides labor and pays 50% or greater of costs, although participants are welcome to assist with labor. Mission Impact assists the community of Santa Maria de Jesus to make positive changes for better physical lives, in concert with sharing the promise of a better life through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Taylor University will continue to support the Estufas Mejoradas project and Mission Impact through a short term missions course on water resources and appropriate technology offered every other January.

2. The Community Need for Improved Stoves

Santa Maria de Jesus is a Mayan village located in the mountains to the southwest of Guatemala City. Temperatures in the village can be cold by Guatemalan standards, though rarely reaching frost levels. As a result, traditional household cooking takes place indoors on an open fire or brick stove, which may not have ventilation structures included in the design. Indoor air quality in these non-vented, closed environs leads to easily preventable respiratory complications and diseases among women and children that spend hours each day cooking and near their mothers, respectively.

Furthermore, open fires and some stove designs are not as fuel efficient as they could be. Consequently, much of the heat produced by fuel wood is lost as waste heat. In addition, children and men must harvest from fuel wood outside the village. Unless harvesting is their primary occupation, the time which men spend collecting wood is time when they are not earning money for their families. Some families purchase fuel, which leaves less money for them to pay for things like health and education for their children, or for saving. One family spent 25 quetzales (~ $3.33 USD) per day on fuel wood for a total of Q 9,125 per year (~ $1,216.67 USD). Additionally, inefficient cooking methods sustain a higher rate of fuel wood harvesting, which causes environmental concerns such as deforestation of mountain slopes, soil erosion, and habitat loss.

3. Our Project Goals

The goals of the Estufas Mejoradas (Improved Stoves) project are as follows:

- to maintain traditional cooking methods and materials to the greatest extent possible while meeting the following goals;

- to increase fuel efficiency through combustion chamber design and durable insulating materials, and thereby:

o reduce the amount of time and/or money spent in fuel wood harvesting

o lower the community rate of deforestation, and thus soil erosion and habitat loss

o allow for time and money to be saved or reinvested in health, education, or employment

- to improve indoor air quality by designing stoves that include ventilation systems, and thereby decrease the incidence of cooking-related respiratory diseases, especially among women and children

· To assist the appropriate technology ministry of Mission Impact, and, specifically, that of Margarito Vasquez of Santa Maria de Jesus.

4. Proposed Solution

4.1. Community Preparation & Participation

Construction of improved stoves began with a lifetime resident of Santa Maria de Jesus, Margarito Vasquez. Margarito studied at Technologia Para la Salud (Technology for Health), an appropriate technology institute in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Margarito also has experience working with development initiatives such as Living Water International. Many years ago, Margarito began to recognize the needs in his village, and saw that improving stove designs could not only lead to better health, but to economic savings and a chance for children to receive education. Margarito joined the staff of Mission Impact, a Christian ministry focusing on evangelism, education, and development in Guatemala, and began the Appropriate Technology program in his hometown, Santa Maria de Jesus. Currently, Margarito has constructed approximately 80 improved stoves in his community of Santa Maria de Jesus, and is becoming widely known and respected because of his work in the community. The selection process for stove improvements is straightforward and simple. The projects began when community members approached Margarito regarding stove improvements. Each family or individual is added to a waiting list, and is serviced in turn based on location in the order as well as financial ability to participate. Once added to the list, participants meet with Margarito to discuss the nature of the project, necessary materials, period for completion, financial capacity of the participant, and other specific participant needs.

4.2. Financial Arrangements

The total cost to construct a ventilated cook stove is $115 USD, around Q 863. Mission Impact typically enters into a 50/50 cost sharing arrangement with participants, but this varies with participant needs. For example, when constructing a stove for a widow, Mission Impact carries much more of the project costs. Their flexibility is due to their desire to improve quality of life and to show compassion for people as a part of their Christian ethic, rather than concern for profit. During meetings, Margarito ensures that participants understand that readiness to begin the project means that the participant has the necessary funds, as agreed upon during the project assessment.

All materials for construction are available locally within the Sacatepéquez department. Bricks come from El Tejar near Chimaltenango, and the high quality steel planchas (stove tops) come from a special manufacturer through Technologia Para la Salud. The remaining materials such as cinder blocks, cal, and cement are available locally in Santa Maria de Jesus.

4.3. Stove Construction

The process begins with a level indoor surface, such as a concrete pad or dirt floor. If the surface is not level, then some excavation or concrete leveling is necessary. Critical stove dimensions are 69 cm (width) x 132 cm (length). Once the surface is level, the base is constructed using three layers of cinder blocks. In between each row of blocks is a layer of cement mortar, which we mixed in the proportion of one part cement to two parts coarse sand as a way of extending the cement. Blocks are placed with a fingers’ width space in between. After blocks have been placed in the outline of the base, the level and plumb of each block must be checked, as well as the level between blocks. Once the second and third layer of cinder blocks are complete, checking the plumb becomes important to ensure that the walls are erect and not bowing or leaning. At this point, the stove appears to be a box 69 cm x 132 cm.

Once the cement mortar between the blocks and rows has set, the interior of the box is filled with soil and rubble to the top of the cinder blocks. This adds height to the stove, and forms the base for the combustion chamber. Three large, flat brick tiles are placed on top of the earth inside the box, and set in place using a special heat-resistant mortar. The mortar is mixed as two parts cal, one part white sand, and a heaping trowel of dry cement mix.

On top of the cinder blocks, two vertical rows of bricks are set into place using the mortar, with a gap at each of the 69 cm ends of the stove, approximately the length of a brick in size. One gap will be the entrance for fuel wood, and the other the exit for smoke into the ventilation system.

The next step is to bevel (diagonally cut) one of the lengthwise corners of eight bricks. This can be done carefully using small but firm taps from a machete to score the brick. Four regular bricks are placed on the narrow lengthwise face along the inside of the 132 cm sides of the stove. The beveled bricks are placed on the inside of this row of bricks so that the bevel is facing upward and towards the interior of the stove. Bricks that are reduced in width by half are placed on top of the inner layer of standard dimension bricks. Two bricks that are reduced by half in length and depth are placed on the inside of the fuel wood gap. Resting upon these bricks is a standard brick that is flush with the top layer of bricks. Mortar is placed between all joints and all brick-to-brick faces. Again, checking the level within each row and plumb between rows is important. These steps effectively reduce the volume of the combustion chamber and optimize the cross section of the chamber for heat and combustion efficiency. The next steps involve setting the steel plancha in place on top of the stove, and sealing the stove with concrete mortar for added heat retention.

4.4. Participant Education

In terms of stove operation and maintenance, there is little instruction necessary. For optimal stove performance, smaller diameter wood (2-6 cm) is suggested. However, most of the wood harvested is not much larger than 8 cm, and the fuel wood opening in the stove limits fuel diameter, so that is not a major concern. Education that might be helpful to participants relates to the health, environmental, and economic benefits of the stove, and how it improves upon former conditions. Particularly useful to participants would be instruction on saving money from reduced fuel expenses for health emergencies and for sustaining education for their children.

4.5. Spiritual Integration

God is working in Santa Maria de Jesus, through local churches, schools, and people like Margarito Vasquez who have a passion for helping people to have better lives, not only in this world, but in the next as well. Although Margarito focuses on addressing issues related to the physical needs of his community, he loves talking with people about the real reason why he does what he does. If people ask why he works on appropriate technology projects, he simply tells them that it is because of his love for Jesus, and his calling to help the people in his community. People in Santa Maria de Jesus are hearing about Margarito, if they have not heard already, and connecting his work with his passion for improving the physical and spiritual quality of life in his community.

5. Conclusions

Margarito is not finished in Santa Maria de Jesus. More of his fellow villagers are approaching him with requests for stoves, and other projects. Last year, Dan Divelbiss, an engineering student, joined Mission Impact and now works with Margarito. Together, they have built over 100 stoves in Santa Maria de Jesus. During our week in Santa Maria de Jesus, our team completed nearly three stoves. More teams are always welcome to help on projects. The number of people that Margarito, Dan, and service teams reach with the stove projects is important – it is an indication of how many have better lives as a result. However, the success of the project is not in numbers, but in doing quality work, improving quality of life, and building relationships in Santa Maria de Jesus, for the betterment of God’s kingdom. We will continue to support Margarito through prayer and joining him every other year for the Guatemala Lighthouse trip and Water Resources and Appropriate Technology course through Taylor University.