Book Review: Just Generosity by Ron Sider

"Just Generosity" by Ron Sider aims to motivate American Christians to re-consider what it means to be a Christian in terms of living in the midst of extreme wealth and poverty.  Sider's perspective is refreshingly balanced, looking to recognize both moral (personal) as well as societal (structural) causes to poverty.  His basic argument states that God desires that all humanity have access to the resources required to escape poverty.  He concludes that the American civil society, business, media, education, health, and governmental sectors should be held accountable by Christians to making God's vision of justice a reality. 

Sider's first point is to clarify the Biblical framework regarding justice in relation to poverty.  Focusing on God's commands to the nation of Israel, he shows that justice does not merely imply the just application of laws throughout society.  Beyond that, God asks His people to practice redistributive justice whereby the rich are prevented from accumulating too much (the natural outpouring over over-accumulation being oppression) and the poor are granted regular opportunities to escape poverty.  Key ideas in this section are the jubilee years, where slaves were freed, debts were forgiven, and every 50 years land was returned to its God-given family.  Also, Sider points out that God wanted His people to hold the attitude of stewardship above that of a right to personal property.  Clearly, God desired for His people to work hard and reap the benefits of their faithfulness.  However, ultimately the resources of production (specifically in the ancient Jewish context, land and labor) were His and He desired all His people to have access to them.

Subsequent chapters look at particular areas of American life that play a pivotal role in tackling the problem of poverty in America. Areas focused upon include work, family, health care, education, and welfare.  Each issue is considered as it is today and then policy recommendations given for the media, business, civil society, and government.  One theme that Sider returns to regularly is the interaction of Christian-run charitable organizations partnering with the government to provide services that address physical and spiritual needs.  He believes Christ-centric social services are best-suited to help the poor overcome both the sin in their life and the structural barriers that have led to their poverty.

Overall, I found the book engaging and compelling.  Sider uses copious amounts of statistics to prove his points yet remains humble, not marginalizing people who may disagree with him.  Living with the Maasai has revealed how both personal and structural barriers can create poverty and I completely agree that any approach to addressing poverty must tackle both (sorry Jeffrey Sachs).  Finally, I was impressed and convicted by his Biblical analysis of God's perspective on poverty.  I thought he made convincing points and did not sense a political agenda behind his interpretation of scripture.

So, to anybody looking for a God-centered perspective on poverty in America, I recommend "Just Generosity" by Ron Sider.

Born in (kinda) the USA!

The Kistler Women Say, "Happy Fourth of July!"

Last week our girls received their paperwork to prove their US citizenship. USA! USA! We picked up a document called a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) which officially certifies that our girls were US citizens at birth. Its basically a certificate sized paper which has cool holographic strip on the side. They also picked up their passports. The passports are valid for 5 years and have a picture of them at 2-months old. I wonder how helpful a picture of a 2-month old is in ID-ing a 4 year old girl...oh well... Once the girls get their Social Security card they'll be all documented up and ready to return to their home for the first time.

Mesmerized by Music:

Given both of our love for music, we've always assumed our kids would enjoy music. Each day has music-listening time and part of the bed-time routine for the girls is a hymn-sing. One new development is Sophia's incredible interest in the violin. As the day winds down the girls get tired and generally fussy. Earlier this month, Steph started playing violin to the girls as a way to calm them and Sophia is completely mesmerized by it. If she is crying she stops as soon as the bow touches the string. She can listen to Bach without turning or blinking. Steph's playing seems to cast a spell on her which is a wonderful respite from the evening's whine-time. The next step is getting a 1/32^nd violin......

Trees

Last week, encouraged by the recent rains, I decided to add more trees to our compound. I've always liked the idea of a tree-lined drive so I planted 12 papaya seedlings as well as 4 jacaranda and 2 pepper trees along our driveway and in the yard. Yesterday, I worked with MFSP's nursery manager, Ann, to visit homes that had planted trees from the nursery and train school children on the importance of trees at two primary schools.

All this tree-related work has got me thinking about trees. I truly believe tree-planting is a massive act of hope. You rarely see the full value of the tree you plant. You plant trees for your children and grandchildren so that the earth they inherit is more beautiful than the one we received from our fathers.

At one of the primary schools I was asked to talk and felt like God was nudging me to share that when we restore our land, we're partnering with God (in Kenya there's no concern about separation of church and school). The idea was that God made the earth good. The introduction of sin into the world permanently stained not only humanity but nature itself. As stewards of the land, we have regularly misused, abused or destroyed the land. Christ has come to redeem us and the world, bringing His kingdom to earth spiritually and physically. God uses us, His people, to do that work in acts as simple as planting a tree.

In our community, the desert is rapidly expanding, consuming once-productive land and expelling dead dust. Planting and caring for trees helps slow and even reverse that process, reclaiming dead land that it might be new again. To me, that act of caring for and redeeming that which was lost reflects God in us. Like a tree, these simple acts are long-lasting and beautiful to behold when fully-matured.

Our MCC Family

Every quarter all of MCC Kenya has a team-meeting which is always great fun. The most recent one last weekend reminded us how blessed we are to have our MCC family. The team includes ten international service-workers (like us), 2 shorter-term SALT (Service and Learning Together) workers (only a one year term), and three Kenyan workers who basically do similar work as the service workers. What makes our team great is that we all get along so well. The meetings are filled with jokes and joys, but we are still able to get the necessary administrative work done.

For us, the meeting was a great opportunity to enjoy free child-care. Everybody loves to see and hold our babies which made our lives considerably easier. For much of the meeting, the girls were being passed from one adoptive grandmother to another which was fun to watch. Truly our team is like family, and we couldn't ask for a better group of friends or coworkers.