KRISTO NI MUZIMA

Burundi is a beautiful country that is coming out from a very long period of violence and political unstability. Today, while attending a workshop with local authorities and beneficiaries of several projects, my eyes come up to the legend "KRISTO NI MUZIMA" that is painted on the wall of the meeting room. After asking for the proper translation, it means Christ is alive. The meeting was held in an Anglican community centre.

More on my Church's forum

More news on PhD Thesis

Well, normally fridays are special since they announce the weekend, so peaceful and restful days. Today is not the case. I've been receiving some of the comments of the examen commission, and apparently, apart from minor changes, they are almost all accepting my manuscript. This means that under normal conditions and with God's blessing I will be able to held the defence of my thesis on November 22nd.

Apparently it is lots of time. However, I'm travelling on Sunday for 10 days to Bujumbura ... so i'm afraid that as usual, i will find myself doing late minut changes to the document. Please pray for me during the forthcoming days, so that i'm able to finalise everything on due time. The picture above reminds me that it is possible to get tired, to feel depleted and weak, but those who keep waiting for God's intervention will certainly be renewed in their forces ... to fly high it is only necessary to rest and wait for God's Spirit to carry you (Is 40.28-31)

Temptation

Working hard

Well, in periods like this, my work is basically "data management". Going through datasets such as the one in the picture becomes the daily bread of a researcher. The point is that finding mistakes in tables of 1050 cases and more than 365 variables ... isn't easy or rewarding. Often one has the impression of simply doing nothing for hours and hours and hours, till you find either that everything is ok, either you find the slight mistakes that are driving you crazy. I found the latter ...

I'm still waiting for the final comments of the Examen Commission that is evaluating my thesis. Either they like it, and allow me to defend it asap, either they will request many changes. Still, waiting for such a commission is stressing. If someobody happens to read this, please pray for me.

Psalm 137

A 80's classic song!

Enojy it!

Salmo 23 / Psalmen 23

Salmo de David.
1 Jehová es mi pastor; nada me faltará.

2 En lugares de delicados pastos me hará descansar;
Junto a aguas de reposo me pastoreará.(A)

3 Confortará mi alma;
Me guiará por sendas de justicia por amor de su nombre.

4 Aunque ande en valle de sombra de muerte,
No temeré mal alguno, porque tú estarás conmigo;
Tu vara y tu cayado me infundirán aliento.

5 Aderezas mesa delante de mí en presencia de mis angustiadores;
Unges mi cabeza con aceite; mi copa está rebosando.

6 Ciertamente el bien y la misericordia me seguirán todos los días de mi vida,
Y en la casa de Jehová moraré por largos días.

1 Een psalm van David.
De HEER is mijn herder,
het ontbreekt mij aan niets.

2 Hij laat mij rusten in groene weiden
en voert mij naar vredig water,
3 hij geeft mij nieuwe kracht
en leidt mij langs veilige paden
tot eer van zijn naam.

4 Al gaat mijn weg
door een donker dal,
ik vrees geen gevaar,
want u bent bij mij,
uw stok en uw staf,
zij geven mij moed.

5 U nodigt mij aan tafel
voor het oog van de vijand,
u zalft mijn hoofd met olie,
mijn beker vloeit over.

6 Geluk en genade volgen mij
alle dagen van mijn leven,
ik keer terug in het huis van de HEER
tot in lengte van dagen.

US Evangelicals fear the loss of their teenagers

Surfing & blogging today, I found a very interesting article published a couple of days ago at the New York Times telling how concerned are some Evangelicals in the US about their teenagers "abandoning their faith in droves". The article shows how a concerned youth ministry has been organising music concerts for teenagers, with a relative success.

Some interesting quotes:

Genuine alarm can be heard from Christian teenagers and youth pastors, who say they cannot compete against a pervasive culture of cynicism about religion, and the casual “hooking up” approach to sex so pervasive on MTV, on Web sites for teenagers and in hip-hop, rap and rock music. Divorced parents and dysfunctional families also lead some teenagers to avoid church entirely or to drift away.

Over and over in interviews, evangelical teenagers said they felt like a tiny, beleaguered minority in their schools and neighborhoods. They said they often felt alone in their struggles to live by their “Biblical values” by avoiding casual sex, risqué music and videos, Internet pornography, alcohol and drugs.

I wonder what the concept of "Biblical values" is ... When I became Christian as a teenager, the sub-cultural rules that were understood as "Biblical values" were similar: Do not dance, do not drink alcohol, do not smoke, do not hav a girlfriend. It took me some years to realise that the Kingdom lifestyle was far beyond that.

Anyway, this makes me think of what kind of message are we addressing to the adolescents in Church. Because if many are leaving is simply because the Church's language and practice is not anymore relevant to their actual needs. When I became Christian, the message was "rebel" since we had to rebel against the official church system and dare to be "true Christians" by committing to a relationship with Jesus-Christ. I think of the impact that some youth movements, playing rock music for worship had ... it was our kind of music being used for God's Kingdom ... Many leaders those days may have been shocked, but thanks God they allowed their youth to express themselves in an alternative way.

Another quote:

The phenomenon may not be that young evangelicals are abandoning their faith, but that they are abandoning the institutional church, said Lauren Sandler, author of “Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement” (Viking, 2006). Ms. Sandler, who calls herself a secular liberal, said she found the movement frighteningly robust.

“This generation is not about church,” said Ms. Sandler. “They always say, ‘We take our faith outside the four walls.’ For a lot of young evangelicals, church is a rock festival, or a skate park or hanging out in someone’s basement.”

Contradicting the sense of isolation expressed by some evangelical teenagers, Ms. Sandler said, “I met plenty of kids who told me over and over that if you’re not Christian in your high school, you’re not cool — kids with Mohawks, with indie rock bands who feel peer pressure to be Christian.”

This part of the article brings light to those who want to see. I would think of the prayer of Jesus

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17.15-19)

The Gospel is for people living in this world, not elsewhere, living a different lifestyle and being protected from the evil one while doing so. These kids understood probably that they are here to be instruments of redemption for all disciplines (arts, music, sports, education, academy, etc.) and models of a spring of living waters in a world of death and violence. A challenge is to show through our lives that something different is possible.

The last quotation I want to make from the article:

The reality is, when it comes to organizing youth, evangelical Christians are the envy of Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants and Jews, said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame

Probably because the unchanging message of Jesus is still preached by Evangelicals. Probably because amongst Evangelicals, despite the political agenda of some of their US leaders, there is still a sense of reformation, a sense of being guided by the Holy Spirit to be wise and harmless at the same time. Probably because some Christians live their faith on a daily basis. Adolescents and young adults need integrity not masks. This statement is valid for the developed world and the developing one. I often move frome one side of the globe to the other, and feel similar Church issues though. Shouldn't we think more about responding to the needs as Jesus would do? BTW The picture above shows a youth worship group in South Africa in 2005.

The following are links to other sites dealing with similar issues.
On youth and faith and On Emergent.

First World Congress of Public Health Nutrition, Barcelona

The First World Congress of Public Health Nutrition gathered researchers of the field from September 28th to 30th at the International Conventions Centre of Barcelona. Barcelona is one of the most beautiful Spanish cities. This Congress also put together the different generations of people who made and are shaping the field of nutrition, all the "big" names were present of course, as well as many promising young scientists.

In the first picture one can see José Ma. Bengoa and Francisco Mardones Sr. in both extremes, two pioneers of public health nutrition, and who worked together in the INCAP (Guatemala).

It was of course an opportunity for many to meet friends and strenghten existing collaborations between institutions, researchers or countries, and also to explore new options for joint research ventures.

In the second picture Professors Friel (Australia), De Henauw (Belgium) and Naska (Greece). In the third picture, Xochitl Ponce, who is finalizing her MSc in Canada, and will probably continue to a PhD.

The students of the last International Course in Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Gent, were well represented with posters and oral communications. In the fourth picture, Javier Medina a peruvian student presenting his poster. The University of Ghent was well represented: Dr. Christophe Matthijs, from the UGent's Faculty of Medicine received the prize to the best oral presentation in English.

The plenaries were challenging. Many truths have been said, it was about time, that for example, someone like Prof. Ricardo Uauy, the President of the IUNS, says something about the limitations of the FAO food balance sheets for public health nutrition purposes. Prof. Noel Solomons pointed out the developmental origins of health and disease as the new challenge for the field.



While on the lecture rooms we were dealing with improving dietary consumption in different populations, downstairs paradoxically, the first thing one could see after entering the exposition area, was the stand of a multinational company, well known for its "contribution" to the field of public health nutrition ... the one that reads, understands.


The program was too heavy, and probably it would have needed one day more. Suceeding to make short oral presentations of 7 minutes is an art, and isn't evident. Anyway, it was a great time, and congratulations to the organisers.