Week 3 - Rejected Nooma Video

Well, when I shared my poem on Sunday, I didn't mention that the whole group presented something in some way for that part of the course.  They were all brilliant, but unfortunately I can't share them all.  However I do feel the need to share Keith's contribution.  To really appreciate the video you need to have seen Nooma videos by Rob Bell.  So I present to you Keith Johnson's Mercy Ships Gateway Project - Rejected Nooma Video!

"I attended a 3 week training course called "Gateway" at Mercy Ships. Our last day we had to present a project sharing some things that jumped out at us. During this training a video by Rob Bell (Dust - a part of the Nooma series of teachings) was shown to us. I figured I'd make a copy/parody of the video to share a few things that popped out to me. Couple things to know:

1) 22 out of 24 participants were heading to Africa to serve as missionaries... I was one of the two staying in the States.

2) They fed us snacks (very yummy snacks) about every two hours... sigh... I miss that.

If you haven't seen the Dust nooma video by Rob Bell the "look" won't mean as much and some of the subtle jokes you wouldn't get unless you were part of the Gateway.... but it should still be worth a view. Our family had fun making it :)"

Week 3 (part 4) - True change takes time

As part of our assignments for this week we had to do something (poem, powerpoint, song, drama etc) about an aspect of what we had learnt over the week concerning the poor, specifically those who are the poor within the developing world.  I have to admit it took me a long time to do this as I had so many different things going around in my head and hadn't had time to process all my thoughts.  Having not written anything creative in years (I have worked with numbers and formal reports in the last four years and haven't really taken the time to be creative in a written way) I did find it quite refreshing, once I got past the writers block!  Anyway I wrote something which resembles a poem, and thought I would share it.

True change

True change, doesn’t start to disintegrate 2 hrs after the ‘missionaries’ have left.  It doesn’t fall apart at the first signs of difficulty or crumble when something doesn’t go to plan.  It’s change that develops as the community learns and can be applied to new situations.  It has the capacity to permanently improve lives, and to bring lasting growth and development. 

But bringing about true change is difficult and requires constant reliance and guidance from God.  It can’t be rushed, or forced on people.  It can’t be rote learnt like multiplication tables, or the alphabet.  It requires a complete change of world view.  But it’s hard to see where to begin for such a big change.

True change starts with love and understanding.  Loving people as created beings and meeting them where they’re at.  Initially the prospect of true change can seem impossible, as the results don’t appear straight away.  In fact, results don’t always appear even if you’ve been working with people for years on end.

But true change is not impossible.  God is bigger than any change.  He is sovereign and works in people in His time not mine.  So I choose to trust God and accept that true change just takes time.

Week 3 (part 3) - Hakini

Another powerful docudrama we watched was that of Hakini.   

"Buried alive because her tribe thought she had no soul. Plucked from the grave at the last moment by her brother. Then forced to live as a social outcast for three long years until sickness and neglect brought her once again to the doorway of death...

This is the story of Hakani – whose name means "smile" – one of hundreds of children who are targeted for death each year amongst Brazil's 200 plus indigenous tribes. Physical or mental handicaps, being born a twin or triplet or being born out of wedlock – all are considered valid reasons for taking a child's life.

A growing number of indigenous people are rising up to fight this practice. But when they seek help from the government, they are told that their children are not protected by Brazilian or international law, and that preserving culture is more important than saving individual lives.

Featuring actual survivors of infanticide as well as those who have rescued them, Hakani is a powerful docudrama that tells the true story of one girl's journey to freedom and a people group's struggle to find a voice – a voice for life."

Infanticide is unfortunately a practise which goes on in some areas of the world on a more regular basis than we would like to admit.  The story of Hakini was filmed because the  tribal Brazilians wish for people to understand their culture, a culture which is heavily animistic.  Whilst they do not wish to loose the good parts of their culture many of these tribal people do  want to end practises which are not good.  However, in trying to end these terrible practises of burying children alive they have come against opposition.  This saddens me that we can value 'culture' over life.  The change in the tribal values and the push to end infanticide shows a change of world view, not a loss of culture.  The opposition to change shows a lack of understanding of the difference between world view and culture.

Week 3 (part 2) - Garbage City

As part of our classes we looked at examples of different world views, and of transformational development.

First we looked at Garbage City in Cairo, Egypt and the work of Father Samaan.

You can see the video in two parts on You Tube: EL-ZABBALEEN: The Garbage Collectors of Egypt Part 1 and EL-ZABBALEEN: The Garbage Collectors of Egypt Part 2.  I highly recommend the videos.

The people in garbage city are the lowest of the low: Egypt's untouchables. But the garbage people of Cairo are not forgotten by God.  Father Samaan looked to share God's Love and Light in the Darkness of an area forgotten by others.  He approached people with tender love and gentleness, understanding that the people had an incredibly low value for themselves.  He was not there to try to convert them, but over many years (decades) he looked to love these people and live among them. 

Some of the things that really struck me about this was the incredible love and patience of Father Samaan over many years, and his obedience to God.  Ultimately, though the community still has its problems, it that has been transformed, it has direction and purpose.  I see people who are transformed, and whilst they may still work as garbage collectors, I hope they realise their value is not tied to what they do, but who they are.  Certainly I believe that the change in work ethic is testament to this.

Week 3 (part 1) - Working with the poor

This week has been long, and I have learnt huge amounts which is very difficult to convey on a blog, however, I shall attempt to fill you in on some of what has stood out for me.

The main themes this week have been the impact of world view on our perception of the world around us.  A world view is the set of assumptions and beliefs that determine how we live and how we interpret and respond to life's challenges.

The main categories are:

• Naturalism - where reality is viewed as ultimately physical
• Animism - where reality is viewed as ultimately spiritual
• Biblical theism - where reality is viewed in both spiritual and physical terms

In the West, the world view is generally naturalistic and in the developing world the world view is generally animistic.  Understanding someone's world view is key to understanding how they relate to the world.

In the context of understanding someone's world view we looked at how you go about working with the poor, and how to approach not only effective development but transformational development.  Sustainable or real change results from a change of world view, however, this takes time.  You cannot force a world view on someone, it needs to grow and develop in the individual.

When doing developmental work, it is not beneficial to a community if you come in and to try to change them, or to force on them technology and ideas which do not fit with their world view or culture.  It is imperative to understand the area you will be working in and to approach a community with love.  For instance, giving a community a shiny well with a pump is not always the answer, because if they don't have any connection to that technology, what will motivate them to fix it when it breaks?  Whereas a well with a rope and bucket may provide the same clean water, but when the bucket breaks they will get a new one, rather than abandon the well.  The community can connect with the concept of the bucket and rope, but the pump seems like technology which has been set up by the West and therefore they need them to fix it, even if this is not the case, this is the perception.  Essentially if the community does not understand what you teach them (whatever that may be, healthcare or water treatment etc) they will never maintain any change after you have gone as they have never understood or personally accepted the new idea.

Small group

During our time on Gateway we have small groups once a week where we meet together with four other Gateway participants with our small group leader.  My small group leader and her family previously lived and served on both the Anastasis (which was Mercy Ships flag ship prior to the Afric Mercy) and also the Africa Mercy.  We chat and share together and provide a smaller support group than the larger Gateway class.

Our small group leader is lovely and has us over to her house for dinner each week.  In our first week we went out for a walk after dinner...

And last week she took us out tubing on the lake near where she lives.  She drove the speed boat which towed a 'filled in' rubber ring, which we lay on as it was dragged around the lake, although that description really does not do it justice!  It was brilliant fun and I loved it.

Week 2 - Personal and interpersonal development

This week has been focussed around personal and interpersonal development.  We started by completing a DiSC personality profile to determine what our natural (most comfortable) personality type was (although needless to say people are normally a combination of the four types and can perform in a different category when necessary).

The types are: (from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment)

• Dominance: People who score high in the intensity of the "D" styles factor are very active in dealing with problems and challenges, while low "D" scores are people who want to do more research before committing to a decision. High "D" people are described as demanding, forceful, egocentric, strong willed, driving, determined, ambitious, aggressive, and pioneering. Low D scores describe those who are conservative, low keyed, cooperative, calculating, undemanding, cautious, mild, agreeable, modest and peaceful.
• Influence: People with high "I" scores influence others through talking and activity and tend to be emotional. They are described as convincing, magnetic, political, enthusiastic, persuasive, warm, demonstrative, trusting, and optimistic. Those with low "I" scores influence more by data and facts, and not with feelings. They are described as reflective, factual, calculating, skeptical, logical, suspicious, matter of fact, pessimistic, and critical.
• Steadiness: People with high "S" styles scores want a steady pace, security, and do not like sudden change. High "S" individuals are calm, relaxed, patient, possessive, predictable, deliberate, stable, consistent, and tend to be unemotional and poker faced. Low "S" intensity scores are those who like change and variety. People with low "S" scores are described as restless, demonstrative, impatient, eager, or even impulsive.
• Conscientious: People with high "C" styles adhere to rules, regulations, and structure. They like to do quality work and do it right the first time. High "C" people are careful, cautious, exacting, neat, systematic, diplomatic, accurate, and tactful. Those with low "C" scores challenge the rules and want independence and are described as self-willed, stubborn, opinionated, unsystematic, arbitrary, and careless with details.

I came out as expected that in a work environment people expect me to be D/C and naturally I am C/S.

We then built on this to look into how we can identify what our strengths are, and how we can ensure that we develop them and use them.  And also how we can go about setting goals and targets and putting in place strategies to achieve them.

We then went on to look at conflict resolution.  Particularly in a ship environment, when you are forced to live so closely with so many people, it is easy to conflict to arise.  However, if conflict is not dealt with the the right manner, it can be very destructive and lead to poor performance, hurt, and difficulties.  I found it really interesting to look at the importance of conflict resolution and strategies to deal with it.

Overall, it has been a really productive week for addressing things which I have not been so skilled at doing in the past and learning how to develop these skills so that they can be used in the future. 

Week 1 - Faith foundations

Sorry this is a bit late I've gotten a bit behind with my posts.

The first proper week of Gateway started with a few team building games to get to know each other, with the obligatory dressing up in funny costumes to play the chocolate game.

We then went on to learn about a variety of topics including:

• The God we Serve
• Kingdom principles
• Communicating with God
• Hot and Cold climate cultures

We have class 8-12 and then 1-4:30, and then some sessions at the weekend.

On the Friday evening we all went to one of our leader's houses for a BBQ (chicken, sausages and brisket - beef) which was lovely to spend time socialising outside of class or our dorms, and I saw quite a few hummingbirds although sadly I didn't get any pictures.

On Saturday we had a silent retreat.  We spent 4 hours at Tyler State Park which is a lovely park with lots of trees, tracks and a lake (which has turtles in!).  The idea was to be silent for the whole time, to spend the time listening to God, praying and reading our Bibles.  For me it was a lovely time to slow down and be peaceful after what had been a busy week.

Personal survival training

The final part of my trainings was personal survival specifically water survival.  We looked at the safety features on ships, how you get help, how you would launch a lifeboat or liferaft etc.  As part of our training we had another practical exercise at Tyler Junior College pool.  We donned the life jacket and the immersion (or gumby) suit, jumped into the water, got in and out of the liferaft (both in the life jacket and the immersion suit) and various other tasks.

This was all great fun, however, the immersion suits are not designed for people as short as me, needless to say what would have made a ridiculous picture in the first place (because you look like a teletubbie) looked even more funny when your hands are a foot away from where they should be!  So here are some pictures for your amusement.

The Gateway girls!

Deploying the sea anchor from the liferaft

 

Wearing the immersion suit (I think it's going to be the next big thing!)

 Jumping into the pool in the immersion suit

Swimming in a train in our immersion suits (I'm second from last in the train, the end closest to the camera)

 

 Getting into the liferaft in the immersion suits

In the liferaft

Flipping the liferaft

Fireman Steph!

When you live on a ship, calling the local fire brigade is a lot more difficult, so as part of our BST (Basic Safety Training) we learn fire fighting skills.

This covers:

• Safety and Principles of Survival
• Theory of Fire
• Fire prevention
• Fire detection
• Fixed fire extinguisher systems
• Portable fire extinguishing equipment
• Shipboard fire-fighting organisation
• Fire-fighting methods

I've been learning about the different classes of fire:

• Class A - Combustibles such as wood, paper, plastic, rubber and cloth
• Class B - Flammable and Combustible Liquids and Gases
• Class C - Fires involving energised electrical equipment
• Class D - Combustible Metals (magnesium etc)

And how you fight these fires using the different types of fire extinguishers (dry chemical, water, foam, and dry powder).

After our lectures they let us lose to fight some of our own fires!  For our practical exercises we had to:

• Don the Firefighters Outfit and SCBA (Self contained breathing apparatus)
• Search & rescue in a smoke filled space
• Extinguish small Class C fire (PFE - Personal fire extinguisher)
• Extinguish small Class B liquid fire (PFE)
• Extinguish large Class B gas fire (Hose)
• Extinguish large Class A fire (Hose)

Me in my fire fighter get up!

Fighting a Class B fire with a Dry chemical extinguisher

Fighting a Class B fire using the spray setting of a hose to protect us from the fire

(In the last photo I am meant to be running back from the fire because I am the hose man so I am running back, after turning off the gas, to make sure we don't get and kinks in the hose as we retreat)

And finally a picture of my BST class and our instructors

Basic Safety Training - First aid

This week I am doing my Basic Safety Training. It is a qualification relevant to working on any ship and covers:

• basic ship safety (such as things like muster lists which tell you different peoples jobs in case of an emergency evacuation or fire on ship, and how to read the ship map and cabin numbering etc)
• basic first aid (CPR, AED etc)
• fire fighting (using a fire extinguisher and fire hose)
• water safety (getting into an immersion suit and flipping a life raft)

Today I was doing basic first aid (American Red Cross style). We did CPR and resuscitation, using an AED (automated external defibrillator), treating closed and open wounds, first responder treatment of strokes, allergies, burns, poisoning, bites etc. The following pictures show me giving mouth to mouth to my dummy, CPR and practising using the AED (which you can find in places like airports).

It's the start of something new...

So after my 10 hour flight I have safely arrive at the IOC (Mercy Ships International Operations Centre) in Texas. I am really thankful for travelling mercies, I was sat with two very friendly people on the plane who made the whole journey so much more pleasant, although we were all disappointed that the ground was soaking wet when we landed and it proceeded to rain for nearly all of the two hour drive from the airport to the IOC. I had also forgotten how many fast food restaurants they have out here, and am desperately hoping I won't have to eat too much of it! (Oh and Natalie, I saw the sweet shop in the airport! Not so keen on the fact I saw Stephanie's liquor shop on the drive across to the centre).  

I am now unpacked in the room that will be home the next five weeks, and although I woke up around 4am here, I managed to stay in bed until 6 (and I had held off going to bed until 9pm local time last night) so hopefully the jet lag will all be gone by next week. Going to church later on today which will be good and I'll hopefully get to explore the centre a bit more and find out where everything is. I've currently met four people who will be doing the same course as me which is really nice and makes me feel a lot less on my own. Plus at least two of them are going onto the ship the same day as me so will be catching the same flight from Paris to Benin I expect which is great. Anyway I will hopefully keep you posted about my training using the blog over the next five weeks!