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Since the Second World War the Philippines have been controlled by a group o wealthy and powerul amilies. Their

business interests, coupled with strong l inks to transnational corporations, have exploited both land and people, and thisonce lush group o islands has been almost completely deorested. Vast areas o countryside are now being destroyed by

opencast mining which is also poll uting the water resources. Mindanao, the second largest island, has long been troubledby clashes between government orces and two resistance movements. The New Peoples Army chal lenges the stranglehold

o powerul landowners and transnational business, while the Moro Peoples Liberation Front works towards independenceor the island. Meanwhile, small-scale armers try to get on with their lives.

I

Lent 1

Purok is a vil lage in Mindanao whose inhabitants have

always struggled to make ends meet. Some years agothe Department o Agriculture persuaded the villagers

to abandon their traditional rice crop or a new varietythat would produce twice as much. But the Department

did not tell the villagers that this new variety wouldalso require large and increasing amounts o expensive

ertiliser and pesticide.

Soon every amily was spending more on ertiliser andpesticide than they gained rom selling the extra rice

produced. The children grew weak with insucient oodto keep them properly nourished. Some o the men

became so rustrated with the lack o government helpthat they joined an underground resistance movement,

known as the New Peoples Army.

Through deep anxiety, Lorna, one o the women,decided to call together the women o the village to

see i they could nd a way to tackle their problem oincreasing poverty. The villagers could produce little

other than rice; they had a ew chickens and shared theownership o a couple o water bualo which did the

ploughing. They had no other source o income and the

only contact with the wider world was through aCatholic priest who came to celebrate mass and thepastor o the Wesleyan Holiness church whose prime

concern was to ensure that they had all been saved.

The women went through the options available to them.The vil lagers could improve their nutrition by

planting vegetables on the small plots o land betweentheir homes and the rice elds but how could they

obtain and pay or the seed?

They could obtain medical help or their children but

each consultation cost 25 pesos and the amily earningstotalled only 80 pesos a week.

They could move to the city but none o them had any

skills to oer the work market; they would probably livein a makeshit home, knowing no one and with even less

certainty o ood than now.

They could encourage the men to join the resistancemovement but that would leave no one to plant the

rice, the men might be ki ll ed and there was noguarantee that the resistance movement would

change anything.

Gradually the women began to realise that none othese solutions would resolve their problems: that the

only way to deal with them was by learning to trust eachother, thus developing ar deeper relationships with

each other and working more closely in harmony.

In the muddle o our daily lives,tempted to act on impulse, drawn to despair,give us, O Christ,the eyes to see clearly where we must go,the heart to eel deeply what we must do,and the hope o assurance to know your lovingpresenceeven in the hardest o times.Amen.

Year A Matthew 4.1-11Year C Luke 4.1-13

00 Stories Worth Telling: Lent

The temptations in the wilderness

For Jesus, the testing in the wilderness was a time to choose between alternative ways o achieving Gods

purpose in the world he could give people bread, startle them, or rule them. And i he rejects all these, whatoptions are let open to him? Only the one that will lead him eventually to the Cross.

The crisis at Purok


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The community known as The Bush consisted o 152amilies, their dwellings sandwiched between the main

railway line and a road that lead out o Cape Town. Mosthad settled there ater being evicted rom land they

had occupied, or ater losing their employment as armlabourers or domestic servants. They explained, with

some pride, how they had created The Structure aword which seemed to apply equally to the community

building they had erected at the centre o the makeshithomes, and the organisation o the community in

sections, each responsible or some aspect o thecommunitys lie.

When we had built The Structure, they said, we askedwhat the priority needs were o the community. First we

decided that we needed a regular supply o clean water.Until then we had had to walk several kilometres to

etch water. So we campaigned with the cityauthorities, until they agreed to supply us. Now a water

tanker visits our community regularly and replenishesthe tanks we have built or ourselves. Next, we decided

that we needed good latrines. Again we campaigned,and we given the materials we needed, with which we

built ty good lavatories to serve the whole community.Having done that, we considered what should be our

next priority (in appropriate contexts, the story-tellermight pause to allow the audience or congregation to

suggest what the community might decide).

We decided that the next thing we needed was a publictelephone. We needed to be in touch with our amilies

in other places we also needed to be able to contactthe authorities whenever necessary. At the time o the

visit, the concrete telephone box had been built, andthe community was waiting or the phone to be

installed. And what will be your next priority, asked thevisitors. Weve already decided that, they said. We want

a Post Oce box number, so we can receive and sendletters and documents.

Gracious God,whose presence makes holythe things we count as common,reveal your kingdom in clean water, good latrines,public telephonesand especially in the vision and determinationo men and women building community.

We ask this in Christs name.Amen.

Standing still, a sandstorm blowing,Lose your bearings, panic growing,Which direction are you going?What became o aith?

At the outset with convictionTravelled in a clear direction,But the map now reads like ction What became o aith?Hard now to deend it,Easier suspend it Dust and sand encrust your hands,Evidence o wanton dereliction:From the mills where God was grindingTracks through lie were clear though winding,Now the sands o doubt are blinding What became o aith?

So at last your steps have altered,

Dust and doubt all views have alteredAnd against your aith revolted:Here is ground or hope.Long to see the Way more clearly,Know and love the Truth more dearly,Follow in Lies ootsteps nearly Here is ground or hope.When the sands stop blowing,New horizons showing,Sensing rst a desperate thirst -(Living waters oered to the weary)Hoist your pack upon your shoulderOne more step, - - youll eel bolder;

Scars have made you wise, i older Heres the ground or hope.Timothy J Woods

February 2010

The Wilderness of Doubtsuggested tune: Men of Harlech

We know that poor people need material things ood, water, shelter and the like. But it is only when they

become known to us as individuals, sharing our common humanity, that we remember their needs are not onlyphysical, that, as Jesus says, people cannot live on bread alone. All human beings need dignity, relationship

and a sense o sel-worth. The justice o God does not ignore these needs, even though human institutions mayorget them. Every word that comes rom the mouth o God seeks and demands the ul l restoration o

humanity or all people.

In the years o apartheid many people in South Arica were marginalised on the basis o the colour o their skin.

Non-whites who were deemed useul to the white economy had a place, albeit a subservient one. Those whowere surplus were pushed out, orced to nd whatever place they could. Other societies continue to nd a

variety o ways to justiy their exclusion o those who they regard as o l ittle or no economic value.

Not on bread alone

II



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Israel has conducted a policy o deliberate ethnic cleansing since their conquest o the country in 1948 when three quar-

ters o a million Palestinians were driven rom their homes at gunpoint. A careully orchestrated campaign has made thePalestinians appear to be the aggressors. This story illustrates how that works, and how Palestinians mostly know that

giving expression to their anger plays into the hands o the Israelis. At a much deeper level, hatred rots the soul withoutdoing anything to solve the injustice o the situation. The Sabeel Liberation Theology Centre was created by Anglican priest

Dr Naim Ateek and has been working since the 1990s to embody Naims vision o achieving peace through justice, makingcommon cause with Palestinian Muslims and working with Jewish Israelis like Je Halper o the Israeli Campaign Against

Home Demolitions or a peaceul sharing o the land.

Lent 2

The German pastor just made it to the coach. The groupwas travelling rom the YMCA in East Jerusalem to theGalilee. People rom outside Jerusalem were not

allowed into the city so the second international Sabeelconerence decided to go to them. The pastor had been

staying in Bethlehem and he took the microphone to tellits passengers what had happened as he came in on the

bus.

Israeli Deence Force soldiers had boarded the bus atthe checkpoint to check papers, with guns swinging.

Today they were looking at dates o birth. Palestinians

under thirty years o age had to get o. Whether theyhad jobs to go to, hospitals or relatives to visit, whatevertheir reason or wanting to travel, they had to go back.

He remonstrated with the ocer but to no avail. What aterrible way to treat people.

Nora Carmi rom the Sabeel Centre in Jerusalem took

the microphone and responded; These things happento every one o us, every day. And we know that i we

hate them, we are lost.

Merciul and loving God, we give you thanks or the manyblessings you have so graciously given us.Thank you or your presence and guidance as we walk theway o peace.Bless the work o Sabeel and its riends, local and interna-tional.Guide its ecumenical, interaith and justice ministries.Grant us all the courage to conront oppression.Strengthen our commitment to the work o justice, peaceand reconciliation among all people and especially be-tween Palestinians and Israelis.Help us all to see your image in each other.Empower us to stand up or truth and to respect the dig-nity o every human being.

And to you alone be glory and honour, now and orever.Amen.

(Sabeel Prayer) Acknowledgement may be enough, but check when we areready to publish.

Year C Luke 13:31-35


The appeal to Jerusalem

Jerusalem has a long history o turning its back on Gods justice, regarding itsel as a unique and privileged

community beloved o God, and ignoring the act that its calling was to share Gods justice and mercy with thewhole world, including its immediate neighbours. Part o the purpose o Jesus ministry was to recall the people

to that task, but, just as they had reacted to the prophets in the past, they continue dea to his appeal.

The Sabeel conference

This story is also appropriate for Proper 3,

Years A and C: Love your enemies.


4/7

Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyas rst president (1963 to 78) banned opposition parties, claiming that they would only exacerbate

existing tribal divisions within the country. His successor Daniel arap Moi amended the constitution in 1982 making thecountry ocially a one- party state. This provoked considerable opposition. In 1991, ater much local and oreign pressure,

parliament repealed the one-party section. Although Moi was re-elected in 1992 or a urther ve years, opposition partieswon nearly hal the parliamentary seats, and urther liberalisation in 1997 allowed the number o political parties to grow

rom 11 to 26.

Lent 4

In the early 1990s in Kenya many young men were

imprisoned or political agitation. However, it was nolonger a crime or Kenyans to demand a plural political

system so there was no legal reason or them to be keptin prison and their mothers ormed a group to appeal

to the government or their release. They asked WangariMaathai, the ounder o the Kenyan Green Belt

Movement and an experienced activist or democracy,to help them.

It was agreed that on Friday 28 February 1992 a number

o the mothers, their supporters and Wangari wouldmeet in Nairobis Uhuru (Freedom) Park and walk the

short distance to the oce o the attorney general

with the appeal. They would also inorm him that theyintended to sleep in the park until their sons werereleased. And this is what they did much to the horror

o the government which had been hoping to delay anyaction. The women were joined by others, mostly men,who supported the appeal and wanted to be sure the

petitioners would be sae.

Evening came but there were no sons. So the womenlit 52 candles, one or each man in prison, and began a

hunger strike. By nightall the group had grown to 50.A second night passed with no sons, so on the Sunday

they held a church service. The crowds swelled aspeople joined them ater attending their own churches.

The women erected a board saying Freedom Corner.This gave courage to many others who had been

tortured by government authorities to come and telltheir stories.

By Tuesday groups o armed police had cordoned o

the area. Then came the order to the women to disperse,but beore anyone could move, the police threw teargas

into the camp and charged. A battle continued all

aternoon, spilling into the surrounding streets. Wangariwas knocked unconscious and had to be taken tohospital but the mothers remained in the tent, praying

and singing hymns.

When Wangari was suciently recovered, she called a

press conerence at which she insisted on the womensright to seek their sons reedom. But on 3 March the

police orcibly removed them rom the park and tookthem home. Freedom Corner was cordoned o and all

their belongings were seized.

But the struggle continued. All Saints Cathedral issituated adjacent to the park and the women sought

sanctuary there. Everyone expected the vigil to last anight or two but it continued or a whole year. During

this time the hunger strike was rotated: as one womanbecame weak, another would take over.

Soldiers surrounded the cathedral till eventually thegovernment agreed to discuss the situation with thearchbishop. The soldiers let but the mothers remained

and the cathedral became a centre o pilgrimage and anational sit-in demonstration.

Early in 1993 the vigil ended when suddenly all but oneo the sons were released. The group continued to ght

or his release which eventually came in 1997.

Source: Unbowed, Wangari Maathai, Arrow Books, 2008

Jesus, we name you in our prayers as we oten do.we are here to resist injustice. We are here waiting orpeace.We are waiting or what has been promised.We look around and see amiliar, much-loved acesFor we have been waiting or a very long time.

But whose is that ace there, standing with us?It is the ace we have known all our lives.

Jesus, we see you standing with us.

You know what it eels like to be arrested, beaten, andtortured.You know that victory against injustice comes to those whoare prepared to suer.

Not to those who have been taught to kill.You know that those who work violence want us to hatethem.Give us a share o your strength to resist hatred especially inourselves.

Luke 2:33-35 / John 19:25-27


Mothering Sunday

It is said that among people living under oppression all mothers give birth with the hope perhaps this child will

be the one nally to lead our people to reedom. But when those children begin to ull that hope the motherssufer, as they see their sons and daughters persecuted or standing up or justice. Some o the most determined

and persistent deence o the children comes rom those mothers.

Freedom Cornered


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Lent 4: The man born blind continued;

It is comortable in here,Jesus my Teacher,And I dont need to worry about the world;

But you worry about the worldAnd you worry about meAnd the secure walls o my lies cocoon.Help me to break outsideAnd to see and hear and smell and eel

What others know to be their lot.Teach me to listen beore I judge,To watch beore I earAnd to think beore I eel.And help me to be a disciple who is not araidTo be outside,Not annoyed to have others on my mindBut ready to be your companion inThe silent valleys o unknown despair.Amen.

This story is also appropriate for Easter 2, Year A

(Thomas doubts) and Proper 25, Year A (The healing

of a blind man).


Around the Great Lakes o Central Arica Tutsis (cattle herders), Hutus (armers) and Twa (orest hunters) co-existed orcenturies. But more recently some Tutsi clans established powerul monarchies which dominated large areas. When

European explorers and colonists arrived they took these Tutsis to be a superior race, reinorcing their power. Atindependence in 1960 the Hutu majority in Rwanda turned the tables and began to treat Tutsis as aliens. Ater a Tutsi-led

invasion rom Uganda in 1990 challenged their power extremist Hutus branded all Tutsis as inyenzi (cockroaches) who mustbe cleansed rom the nation, and, in 1994 massacred 800,000 Tutsis and other critics o their regime. Despite this, the Hutus

were driven rom power by the invaders and many fed to Eastern Congo. Some are still there, the source o much instabilityand confict, but most returned to Rwanda, where tensions continue, despite the new governments declared policy o We

are not Hutu, Tutsi or Twa, we are all Rwandese.

Lent 4 Year C Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32The prodigal sonWhen people who have done wrong repent and return, those who eel they have always remained responsibleand righteous oten nd it hard to welcome them without resentment. But to reuse to do so is to repudiate the

love o the Father who always grants a new beginning to ofenders.

The refuge es a t Karambi

The villages and arms in the district o Karambi arereached ater a dusty drive that winds down the es-

carpments o eastern Rwanda along dirt roads, over anhours journey rom Kibungu, itsel several hours drive

rom the capital, Kigali. Since the genocide in 1994 notmuch attention has been paid to Rwanda by the outside

world, and with the collapse o the coee and teacommodity markets the countrys wealth has ebbed

away. It is hardly surprising that no inter-continentalfights reach Rwanda: the country is nowadays on the

margins and has the status o being only a region withinthe East Arican economy.

When the amilies o the Karambi area tell the stories otheir experiences in the genocide visitors cannot help

eeling that they are with some o the most powerlessand un-noticed people they have ever met. The Hutus o

Karambi had fed into reugee camps in Tanzania in thelatter stages o the 1994 confict, earing reprisals rom

the advancing Tutu-led RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front).Having spent over two years in these camps they were

repatriated and given a re-settlement kit o blankets, ahoe, some cooking pots and enough ood to eed their

amilies or two or three meals. But the walk back to theirvillages took ve days and their ood had run out by the

time they reached home. At their own gates once more,they ound their homes had been destroyed when the

I had no idea what Iwas going to do but Iknew what I was not

going to do, and thatwas to drive on by.


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Lent 4: The prodigal son continued;

Front swept through, and that returnee Rwandese exileshad now settled on their land. There was simply no

welcome or them back in their own villages.

Seven years later, the village leaders o Karambimanaged to negotiate a compromise with their new

neighbours and everyone now shared the land amongst

the old and the new arrivals. Houses had been re-built.Most o the Hutu men o Karambi were in prison orparticipation in genocide-related atrocities.

The Baptist Union o Rwanda was working with their

amilies and in the neighbouring villages to increasepeoples economic strength and security. The simple

introduction o livestock banks, giving the rst amilies agoat and then distributing the kids to the next amilies

in the scheme had already made a dierence. ChrisantiRubonera and his wie Charlotte had already bred more

goats, bought some cows were now selling milk. He hadpaid school ees or his children and diversied his arm

by growing beans, passion ruits, maze and peanuts. Hehad bought a bicycle and iron sheets, and was planning

to buy solar panels with the prot rom his bean harvest.

Laurencia Niyera-Nzeyimani looks ater her eight

children whilst her husband is in jail. Ater returning romthe Tanzanian reugee camp with nothing she was given

her rst goat, and has now reared over twenty. She hasbought cattle and pigs, has paid the school ees or her

amily and has bought a sewing machine or her

daughters. The amily now has a clothes shop in the

village and Lawrencia plans to open a ca-tea shoplocally.

These people may be very ar away rom the centreso world media, and the global political and economic

power structures, but they have been noticed, helped tostand and to regain a toe-hold on lie. The Baptist Union

o Rwanda has made sure that they have not beenpassed over.

How can you go back when you know you have donewrong?Now that there are no excuses, no way you can justiy whathappened,even though you eel in your heart that you were led astray,used by people who were clever, who told you their lies,who used you to advance their plans.But you know that you heard the lies willingly,because they matched and conrmed things you hadthought or years,but had never dared voice.But then you were given permission, you were in the right,

they were the bad ones, the vermin who needed to becleared out,so our country could be ree and proud again.And how it all ended: so many bodies.So much that we did; that others did; that I did.Forgiveness is too much to ask.But a place, a corner,or now we have nowhere else to go.And perhaps, in time, we can be amily again.

This story is also appropriate for Proper 6, Year C and

Proper 19, Year A (both Ordinary Time).

Passion Sunday Year C John 12:1-8Anointing Jesus feet

When Jesus says You will always have the poor with

you does that mean we can do nothing about poverty?Ater all, we might say: I even Jesus thinks it is

inevitable, what can we do? But those who heard himspeak would have recognised instantly where those

words come rom part o the Sabbath Year law(Deuteronomy 15:11) which insists on the regular

wiping out o debts, precisely in order that there willbe no poor among you (v. 4). It is inevitable that some

people will all into poverty which is why action mustbe taken, not simply to relieve their immediate need, but

to ensure that their temporary distress does not becomea permanent and inescapable condition. The act that

Jesus quotes one small part o that passage romDeuteronomy must never become an excuse or us to

ignore the purpose o the whole.


there will be no pooramong you

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