In March 2003, Shane Claiborne and the Iraq Peace Team were in Baghdad during the war and bombing.  On their way out of Baghdad, they had a bad car accident and were all injured.  Within hours, they were taken into a town called Rutba where they were welcomed with open arms and hearts, inspite of the fact that their town was torn apart by the war.  With the hospital in Rutba having been bombed, doctors created a shanty clinic and nursed the wounded Americans.  Now, 7 years later, Shane and 2 of the other survivors of the accident in 2003, along with 5 others delegates (including a former US Conscientious Objector Soldier Logan Laituri, filmmaker Jamie Moffett, journalist Greg Barrett, and and founder of Muslim Peacemaker Team Sami Rasouli).  They will be meeting with the Mayor of Rutba, the doctor who helped them in 2003, and the people of Rutba… to listen to stories of hope and struggle… and to say thank you for saving their lives and forever touching their souls.

Mainstream media is beginning to address over-consumption as a dangerous and unsustainable model.  In a PBS interview last week, an expert on the Great Depression suggested the current economic downturn is good for us in the long run, concluding that our model of over-consumption is not sustainable.

He noted in difficult economic times those who have less share more while the converse is true for the rich.  He noted that community is emphasized more in tough economic times as we find ourselves needing to reach out to our neighbor wether we want to or not.  This is a difficult reality for such an individualistic culture, dare I say a hyper-individualistic culture.  (Note: This is my culture, I have these traits and I am speaking to myself in this post as well as a general audience.)

The Relational Tithe can be looked at in many ways, adapted and even partially followed; however, at the core of RT is this, Jesus loved the poor, Jesus called us to love our neighbor, including the poor, yet we often do not “know” (i.e. are in relationship with) anyone that is poor.  Perhaps we are so focussed on our own lives that we don’t make time for, or have time, for the poor.  Perhaps we will need to become poor before we reach out to the poor.

Is this really such a sad thing?

This is a hard reality as it will mean less money for our churches, struggling para-church ministries and other non profits that we so often write a check too (or an automatic bill pay arrangement).  Perhaps now is the time time to volunteer for these organizations, rethink our priorities and get to know our local needs.  Maybe we will start to have eyes to see and ears to hear the Spirit who is at work ahead of us.  Maybe we will start to recognize the Kingdom of God breaking in through the cracks in small ways with great love.

May we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

We are hoping that people who are organizing different local or national events will make those events known through our central calendar.  We are frequently asked about different events that may be taking place.  Having a place to direct people in this will be helpful in greater connection and collaboration.  Great news!  We are using Google Calendar interface, so you can integrate Relational Tithe’s calendar into your own calendar.

The main thing within relational redistribution is groups of people collaborating together.  We have been working hard to get a group creation module into a beta state so that people could start collaborating together.  The limited beta version is here!  I encourage you to create a group and invite others to join you.

The site has been up and going in its current state for six month.  The response has been great, but we need your help.  We realize that there are some areas that work well, while others do not work at all.  We also understand that there are parts that are virtually unused, that people are uninterested in. We could really use your feedback.  Please tell us what you like, dislike, find unnecessary, and any other suggestions you may have.

info@relationaltithe.com

The New York Times is running a series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible called The Debt Trap.

As a leading thinker on corporate social responsibility, Oded Grajew is challenging businesses, consumers, and governments to join in acting ethically towards a sustainable social good. With early roots in the Brazilian toy business, Grajew now heads the Ethos Institute for Business Social Responsibility. He shows that business can be a powerful force for positive change and shares methods of enlisting everyone’s help to build a sustainable society.

 

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Watch the video here

If you lost everything, how long would it take you to get something to eat, find a place to stay, and a get some work? Brazilian crazy pastor, Claudio Oliver (http://docaminho.com.br/), offers up a definition of poverty.

Music by Traci Howe/Restoration Village. Video by Travis at The Work of People.

We are appraoching the final spurt before the Joint declaration by Christian leaders on the occasion of Israel’s 60th anniversary goes public. In the past two weeks we have had some exciting new signatories like Desmund Tutu, Brian McLaren, Walter Brueggeman and a whole variety of different denominations. It is good to see that there are Christians across the denominational board taking the matter of a just resolution for both Palestinians and Israelis seriously. In the final days we have planned to publicize the declaration in the Arabic Palestinian media as well as in the letters section of the New York Times and the Times in the UK expectant that it will then be picked up by other media outlets. We want to communicate to the Arabic-speaking world that there are Christians in the West that are concerned and listening to their story, too often it is ignored by us. RT would be unique in that it would be the only communal signature.

Please consider joining. http://justpeace60.blogspot.com/

salam,
philip

After a four week visit I left Gaza today. During my time there I got to visit with Dr Attalah many times. He operates on people all over the Gaza Strip and in return he often gets invited for meals all over the Gaza Strip as well. He often invites me along, it’s a good way to get to know all sorts of people.

One of the most joyous experiences for me this visit was finding out that Dr Attalah oversaw the operation of my friend Dr Ghazi, a professor at one of Gaza City’s universities. Dr Ghazi is going blind because of his diabetes. When I lived here I would often visit him and just listen to his many stories of the past. He is a bit of an atheist or agnostic and former Marxist, which makes for good conversation. The diabetes is also making it more and more difficult for Dr Ghazi to walk while he also goes for kidney dialysis three times a week.  Recently he had a foot injury that needed an operation. Upon arriving at the Shifa hospital in Gaza he remember me telling him to ask for Dr Attalah if he ever needed something during his hospital visits. He tells me Dr Attalah took amazing care of him and thus we both ended up getting invited to Ghazi’s for a delicious meal out in the lemon groves.

After lunch Dr Attalah checked on Ghazi’s foot. His medical gloves got turned inside out and were then turned into balloons for Rita and Ghazi Junior.

The land is going quite well. Although there have been renewed incursions in the area none have reached or destroyed Dr Attalah’s land. The farmer who has rented the land is just about to plant a new season of potatoes. The increased siege since June of 2007 has hit the farmers very hard though. No chemicals, no seeds and no fertilizer have been allowed into Gaza while nothing has been exported either. The only good outcome of this closure has been that the potatoes I had at Dr Attalah’s were some of the most tasty chemical- and fertilizer-free potatoes I have ever eaten.

A weed has started to grow on one part of the land. The usual way that most farmers deal with this is burning it out with a certain type of gas. Although this damages the soil some it is the best way they know to deal with the weed. Since the needed type of gas is scarce in Gaza due to the closure Dr Attalah cannot afford it. Instead, he wants to hire a few laborers to remove as many weeds as they can. This is no permanent solution, but will reduce the extent of the weed and provide a few jobs as well. Any farmers in RT have any good ideas? Sadly, I only know the Arabic term for the weed, Sereda.

The strawberry farmers were forced to sell their strawberries, intended for European markets, locally causing them to barely cover their costs. With the borders closed the quantity was too large for Gaza, where prices are much lower anyway, swamping the local market. World-class strawberries sold for dirt cheap this winter in Gaza.

Dr Attalah was so grateful about the Relational Tithe help he received. He has just a small part of his loans to pay back, which he told me he will soon be able to do as his oldest son is in his last semester of studies in Jordan.