Thoughts on Sandy Hook

Well, I've been home now for almost a full week.  It has been great to see family and friends, even my brother made the trip home from Switzerland for Christmas this year so that's pretty cool.  I hadn't seen him for over 2 years. so in a way it was like getting to know someone all over again.  Most of my family that I've seen so far I hadn't seen in at least a year so it's been similar in the sense of getting to know them again as well.  As I joked with my brother, it seems we missed the memo about needing to get paired with a significant other or get married and start making babies.

 

The recent shootings in Sandy Hook have come up in conversation a few times, with very different perspectives as was the case in Sarasota as well before I came up north.  It seems that a lot of people think the answer is found in more people carrying guns, just making sure the right people are the ones with the guns to answer the bad people carrying guns.  For me, I'm not so sure about that type of logic.  As my friends in Czech Republic pointed out, isn't that how the arms race started?  They have weapons so we need more weapons than they do and eventually you have a buildup of weapons great enough to destroy the earth however many times over.  Dr. Seuss wrote a great book entitled The Butter Battle I believe that was a great description of war in general and in particular I believe he may have been talking about the arms race with the Soviet Union although I'm not sure on that one. 

 

Sandy Hook really took everyone off guard and caused a lot of terror in the hearts of people.  It hit home with me obviously since I teach kindergarten.  It's impossible to understand something so heinous, but almost as baffling to me is many people's reaction to it.  Many people think that teachers ought to be allowed and even mandated to carry concealed weapons.  This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me at least since I have students who are constantly hugging me every day and that would probably cause a whole lot more problems than solve anything really. 

 

Not to mention the fact that most people in that situation are not trained, either mentally or skillfully, on how to handle the moment in such a way as to shoot the gunman with a direct hit while adrenaline is pumping through your blood and your hands are super shaky.  Have you ever felt a surge of adrenaline?  There are certain things I've done where I get just a taste of adrenaline, like skydiving or bungee jumping.  Your heart is pumping, your mind is racing, your whole body is shaky and amped up for a while afterwards.  How am I, or anyone untrained for that type of thing, supposed to be calm enough to kill someone in the given situation?  Provide everyone with training, right?  That certainly sounds easy enough.  Even if you did though, another problem would persist.  As my brother rightly pointed out, teachers are not immune from moments of insanity.  Would you really want one of them holding a gun when a student is pushing their buttons the day after they found out their spouse has been cheating on them for the past year?  Sounds like a terrible thing to even mention, but it must be mentioned if we seriously consider going down this road.

 

I read a quote by James Dobson, saying this was God's judgement for us allowing abortions and gay marriage.  This breaks my heart and angers me at the same time.  Ironically, the same day in China saw a man terrorize school children with a knife by cutting off ears or fingers but not killing anyone.  Dobson and others must realize that we are not, nor have we ever been, a Christian nation.  Take a basic look at our history and I don't see a lot of Christian behavior being practiced even if it was the major religion.  Was it Christian to steal land from Native Americans?  Was it Christian to hold slaves?  People used the Bible to defend slavery, which causes the question as to what are we using the Bible to defend today that is obviously not right? 

 

Freedom isn't free, to be sure, but what type of freedom and what type of price have we paid for it?  I believe the freedom the Christ talks about in the Bible has little to do with being able to worship out in the open as Paul talked about freedom from a jail cell many times.  How many times did Christ advocate ruling by the sword?  Was He not the One who told Peter to put away his sword, that those who live by the sword die by the sword?  How is making sure everyone is armed not living by the sword?  He was talking about swords and not guns obviously, but I'm pretty sure He wouldn't change it to say we should live by the gun if He were walking around earth today.

 

We need to think about our definition of freedom and what price we are willing to pay for it.  Over the past several years, I've read about and loved the idea of non-violent resistance.  Pacifism is the opposite of military engagement, but non-violent resistance is a third way of doing things.  Walter Wink has a very insightful book about Jesus and the third way that I would highly recommend, but I'll try and explain a little bit of it here.  When Christ taught his followers to go a second mile, it wasn't simply a command to do what you're told.  Roman soldiers had to follow the law, and the law at the time stated they were allowed to have a Jewish person carry their pack, but not farther than a mile.  When Jesus taught them to go a second mile, He's teaching them to resist and turn the tables of power.  Imagine a Roman soldier trotting after a Jewish peasant begging them to put their pack down!  How foolish he must've looked!  This was the brilliance of Jesus' teaching, that there was and I would argue there still is a third way.

 

Americans love their so-called freedom, all the while being enslaved to many things like entertainment, consumerism and celebrityism.  True freedom is found in Christ alone, whether you live in a democratic society or a communist one.  We are to no longer be enslaved by the things that once enslaved us while we were still sinners.  Yes, we may still sin, but that is no longer how God views us on account of Christ.

 

Many of my friends in Florida are gun loving people and say that a safe society is an armed one.  I'm not really so sure of that though.  How many people die of gun violence every day in the states?  Do you really think that if just enough people were armed that gun violence would suddenly go down?  I wonder what the statistics are of people in other countries with stricter gun laws.  Do they have more gun deaths since the only people with guns are the bad guys and the policemen?  Something to think about anyways.

Here I am, send me!

This week, I've been finalizing some stuff with my friend Ryan who lives in Myanmar for me to be able to go over there this coming summer.  We worked together on putting a job description together, which I will include later on.  It sounds like it's going to be an amazing trip where I will learn a ton and also contribute a ton to the cause.  He also mentioned that if I could raise an extra $500 to go than I could sponsor one of the students with their micro loan to start their own business.  How cool is that?!  Not only do I get to go and see firsthand what God has been doing through Ryan, but I also get to have people support me and in the process support one of the students in the school who will be using a micro loan to launch their business.  If you couldn't already tell, I'm super excited about this opportunity!

Ryan has started an entrepreneurship school in Myanmar to address the unemployment problem, in particular among the youth there.  I should probably explain here that youth in developing countries means people aged 16-30.  Just so we're clear that youth doesn't mean 10 year olds, not sure they should be starting their own businesses, quite yet anyways.  When he first told me about this I was super excited for him and was telling everyone about it.  Then another friend of mine, also named Ryan ironically, talked to me and asked me the pointed question, "If money wasn't an issue, what would you do with your life?"  To this I answered that I would open an entrepreneurship school in Haiti.  As of now, that's my big 3-5 year goal in my life.  It may not be an entrepreneurship school exactly, but I want to do something to provide jobs in developing countries.  It may not even be Haiti, I really don't know at this point, and this leads me to my next thought.

At church this morning, my friends were talking about how we are a sent people.  We gather together to be sent out again.  I told them it really resonated with me because of all the stuff with Myanmar and Haiti that I had been thinking through and asking God to send me and use me mightily.  There's a cheesy Christian cliche that I remember that seems to fit what I'm going through right now.  God doesn't call the equipped, but He equips the called.  On the outside looking in, this school idea doesn't make any practical sense.  I know practically nothing about business, except that I know I didn't want to go into it after growing up with my dad always being in the business world and working his tail off every day.  When I graduated high school, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, I just knew I didn't want to be in the business world.  God has a good sense of humor though, as that seems to be exactly where He's leading me lately.  And who knows, I may keep teaching during the school year and go down to Haiti or wherever on breaks and such and have a manager in place for when I'm not there, I'm really not sure at this point.

What I do know is that God calls us to be faithful, wherever we're at and in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.  Right now, I need to focus on being the best teacher I can be for my students.  I need to get involved with some local ministries which I'm trying to do and serve those around me.  Not everyone is called to go to Haiti or some developing country.  As another friend of mine said in church today, senders are just as important as goers.  Both are equally needed.

In the past, I've always paid my own way for my mission trips when I go overseas in the summer.  This time around though, I'm going to raise support and rely on God to move His people's hearts towards giving to support me in this.  I think it will help hold me accountable in reporting what I'm learning about while I'm there as well as give people a chance to be a sender.  I'll go and you send.  And next time, you go and I'll send.  It's beautiful how the body of Christ works, isn't it?  I raised support for my position at church when I was on staff (which I had to give up recently due to needing to focus on my primary job more) and that was a humbling/faith building time.  I have no doubt God will allow me to raise the funds to go to Myanmar this time around as well since I've seen Him be so faithful in the past.

So, there you have it.  You have the opportunity to send me to Myanmar and to invest in what God's doing in my life.  I'd love it if you wanted to come alongside me on my journey and support me prayerfully and financially.  Maybe you can't give a lot but maybe you could give a little each month until I leave for Myanmar in June and it would really add up over time.  Or maybe you can give a bigger one-time donation.  I would be hugely thankful either way.  Below is a link to my donation page on Paypal which is how I'm raising money for this trip.  Please prayerfully consider coming alongside me either prayerfully or financially or ideally both.  Below that link, I've also included my job description for when I'm there in case you're wondering what all I'm going to be doing while I'm there.

Job Description

Justin Hemming

Learning

-       Getting an Entrepreneurship Program off the Ground

From idea creation to implementation you will get a chance to hear how you can begin an entrepreneurship program from simple tasks to creating partnerships.

-       Creating programs that impact

You will understand how to use indicators of impact in an entrepreneurship program.  Measuring success can be difficult but real measures of success must be found.  This all includes evaluative tools and implementing what’s learned through trial and error.

-       School management and processes

1.     Understanding staff development and managing them

2.     Creating processes that help with efficiency

3.     Project management: timelines, budgets, reporting

Teaching and Mentoring

-       Teach English 2 hours a week to staff (business English)

Every Wednesday Afternoon for 2 hours teaching our 4 staff business English.

-       Teach Business English Class once a week for Myanmar Business Professionals

Every Thursday Evening teach Myanmar Business Professionals an English Class

-       Mentor Students in Business Plan Creation

Some afternoons spend time with ON students helping them work through their business plans

Curriculum Development

-       Read through Opportunities NOW curriculum

Become familiar with ON curriculum and why we have the curriculum the way we do

Ryan will sit down and explain how the curriculum meets the specific needs of youth in Myanmar

-       Create a class for Opportunities NOW 3 month program

Once the curriculum and students level is understood you will have the chance to create a 5 session class for ON’s future programs.

*A calendar of events will be given closer to the time of your arrival

Sabbath, teaching and faith

Today, I decided to take a Sabbath.  I try and do this every week, and am still experimenting with it.  Honestly, it feels a bit like an excuse for laziness since I'm so used to going, going, going.  I would argue though, that a rest day is necessary.  It's woven into the fabric of creation, God rested on the seventh day from his work of creating the world.  It makes sense than, that he commands us to rest from our work as well.  Maybe this is one of the most counter cultural things we can do in American culture.  I know people like to argue that it's not a New Testament thing, but I dare say Jesus was a practicing Jew and therefore observed the Sabbath.  Yes, He did heal on the Sabbath, but doesn't it make sense to give people freedom on the Sabbath?  About a year ago, I dove into a book about keeping the Sabbath and got about halfway through it, like I do most of my books.  Recently, I purchased another book about keeping the Sabbath that's been really good to read as well.  Not sure if I'll make it through that one or not yet.  In the Bible, God says to remember the Sabbath day because it is holy.  Maybe the holiest thing we can do all week is to simply be.  Rest in God's assurance that He loves us and that He can take care of the world perfectly well without us for a day.  

If anything, I tend towards the opposite extreme, where I want to take a Sabbath about every other day.  This isn't good either, because it's known by another name, laziness.  Ever since high school when I realized I could do far less work than was required and still get an A in the class, I've tended towards laziness.  It is something that I constantly battle against in my heart and in my soul.  Sometimes, I read the Proverbs just to try and scare myself into working harder.  That is probably the wrong approach.  In Scripture, we're told to work as if working for the Lord.  Either I don't take that verse very seriously, or I need to reevaluate my picture of who God is.  In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us again and again that man can do no better than to enjoy the wife of his youth and the fruit of his labor.  In Proverbs it talks about how a laborer's sleep is sweet.  

What would the fruit of my labor look like in my own context, I wonder?  Back then, I'm pretty sure Solomon was referring to actual fruit, as in a vineyard or some other agricultural process.  That doesn't seem to apply to my situation, pretty sure if I tried to grow anything it would die right off the bat.  

What does the fruit of my labor look like in regards to teaching kindergarten, though?  Let me brainstorm a little bit here, if you will.  I think I saw it the other day, when an ESOL aide was in my class and said that my students were doing much better with sounding out words than they had been in the past.  I've been working pretty hard with them with our little readers, getting them to sound out words and memorize our site words that you can't really sound out and just have to memorize.  

The best fruit of my labor in kindergarten would be if my students left my class knowing how to read.  Another teacher has been coming in and helping my students with writing, and the kids just love when she comes in.  It's precious to see my kids excited about writing, and this will obviously help them become better readers as well so it's truly a double bonus.  

Another fruit of my labor as a kindergarten teacher would be if my students know all their numbers from 1-20 and can do basic addition and subtraction by the end of the year.  Other teachers tell me that for years kindergarten students weren't expected to be able to read by the end of kindergarten, it was more a time for them to adapt to playing well with other kids and learning how to socialize in general.  We may have lost something there, but ideally you can do both and I would even encourage it when possible.  At my school this can be difficult as kindergarten itself is quite the culture shock to a lot of my students.  It's hard to remember what my students are going through when they first enter my room, but I have experienced it myself in regards to traveling to other cultures and experiencing culture shock myself.

A fruit of my teaching kindergarten would also be teaching students how to learn.  Now, this may sound ridiculous at face value, but hear me out for a minute.  Many students, whether they be in kindergarten of 5th grade for that matter, want the teacher or someone else to do all the work for them.  They don't really want to learn anything, they just want to be given the answers so they can move on with their lives.  If we don't teach our students how to learn, said another way how to think, than who is going to?  Who is going to get them to think critically about social issues and the problems that will address our nation and world as they come of age?

A dear friend and coworker of mine says one of her main motivators for teaching is so students can read and find things out for themselves.  Otherwise, they'll just believe anything they hear on TV that may or may not be true.  My own mom did a fabulous job of this when I was in high school and wrestling with some issues of the faith.  She encouraged me to seek out answers to the questions I had, not to just settle for what she or the church had to say about things.  I had started asking questions because I was learning about evolution in high school and the question of why there was a need for God was impossible to escape.  At the time, this was a very difficult lesson to learn, one that took me getting hospitalized to realize that God is indeed real and He does answer prayers.  You see, there was a time that I specifically remember where my grandma had stood by the hospital bed and informed me that many people were praying for me, up and down the phone lines.  She then posed the question of whether I had prayed for myself yet.  I had not at that point due to not even knowing whether I believed anymore or not.  That night was the first night in a long time that I took the time to pray.  It was something along the lines of, "God, I don't even know if You're real or not, but if You are, I could sure use Your help right about now."  The next day the doctors prescribed a new drug for me and I was on my way to recovery at last.  God is someone to be experienced and trusted, not some argument that needs to be addressed.  There is room for apologetics, of course, but to me arguing does very little in the minds of naysayers who can point easily to the Church's hypocrisy as a reason to not believe.