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Dear friends in my supporting congregations: I'm writing this during a wonderful two weeks at home when I'm clearing from the garden the weeds I wasn't around to pull out when they were smaller. There's no dramatic news to report; I write just to keep you up to date on the work that you so generously support. The summer managed to fill up unmercifully, and time I had set aside for vacation got subverted for other purposes. I spoke in many places about the conflict in Darfur, and even preached once at Lyda's congregation here in Eugene. Since the beginning of August, among other activities I've covered a United Methodist-sponsored gang intervention program in Los Angeles, spent two weeks with Catholic and Methodist church leaders in Cambodia, photographed a congregation of homeless women in Seattle, covered the work of a United Methodist ministry on the California-Mexico border, and led a workshop in Switzerland on photography in disaster settings. In coming weeks, I'll photograph the life of the United Methodist and Orthodox congregations in a small village in the Aleutian islands, and then head to Asia to prepare a series of articles for Response magazine on Pakistan-one of two countries to be studied in next summer's schools of mission. After that, I'll go to Sri Lanka and Indonesia at the end of November to prepare stories for the one-year anniversary of the tsunami later in December. While home I've also spent some time writing affidavits for Central American women who are victims of domestic violence and have applied for asylum in the United States. My written and telephone testimony has focused on the inability of the respective Central American legal systems and political cultures to protect the women from further abuse. I got started doing this after one lawyer read an article I'd written on the subject, and she asked me for help. I was glad to, and word got around; I've since provided testimony in several cases. It may seem from the laundry list of assignments I've had recently that there's not much in common between these tasks. And while it's true that there's a huge difference between the context for mission in these different settings, I've been struck by the common tasks faced by people of faith. In southern California, for example, I covered the work of a UM-sponsored mission institution - a residential treatment center for troubled teenage girls - that in recent years has begun doing workshops on bullying and harassment in public schools. A few days later I was in Phnom Penh, where church folks are working with teenagers to deal honestly with the violence of the Khmer Rouge period, a history many young people there are encouraged by today's politicians to deny ever really happened. Wrestling with violence and its long term effects are often at the center of the evangelical vocation, and I rejoice to see people of faith responding creatively to this challenge in many disparate settings. Lucas is entering his last year of high school, and when he's not thinking about soccer, the guitar, or his girlfriend, he's not thinking of much else. Abi continues generating high drama for our family. She's a sophomore, and we switched her this fall to an alternative high school. Gray hairs are appearing more frequently on our heads. With all of you, we watched the events of Hurricane Katrina unfold. I was asked by ACT to go to Louisiana to cover the disaster, as some European church agencies were helping out in the emergency response. I declined, as I'd been away from home too much. Moreover, I prefer to focus on stories that are under-reported. In the case of Katrina, the media responded well. It was fascinating to watch the U.S. media find their backbone and courageously report the truth, no matter how disconcerting it was to the political elites. I have long felt that disasters place in sharp relief underlying social and economic vulnerability, and that was certainly the case with Katrina. It was also, like the tsunami a few months earlier, another case study of generosity and solidarity from around the world, including that of people whose offer-like that of hundreds of Cuban health professionals-was refused, despite the dramatic need of people suffering and dying along the Gulf coast. Once again, political myopia trumped compassion. By contrast, the response of church folks on the ground and far away has been inspiring. Thank you and your congregation for your part in helping the victims of Katrina, as well as all you do to apply Gospel values to the injustice that leaves people vulnerable to wind and rain. Blessings on your ministries in your community and around the world.
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