Border emergency: ground-level reports
MARCH 16, 2019
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THE CROSS Christians strive to survive in Syria
SOUTHERN BAPTISTS: Facing abuse CAMBODIAN CHRISTIANS: New life HOMELESSNESS: Community first?
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CONTENTS |
March 16, 2019 • Volume 34 • Number 5
34
21
40
44
48
F E AT U R E S
D I S PA T C H E S
34 Survivors in a great war
7 News Analysis • Human Race Quotables • Quick Takes
ISIS-led tragedies and destruction breed a fierce determination among Syria’s down-but-not-yet-out Christians
40 Authority in question
Sexual abuse in churches isn’t new, but Southern Baptists face a fresh crisis over an old conundrum: How can they hold autonomous churches accountable?
44 Soils of suffering
Forty years after the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian church has multiplied but hopes a new generation can move beyond the pain of the past
48 One family’s ordeal
Unable to enter the United States and unwilling to return to El Salvador, the Yanes family waits in Mexico
C U LT U R E
21 Movies & TV • Books Children’s Books • Q&A • Music NOTEBOOK
53 Lifestyle • Medicine Technology • Sports • Media VOICE S
4 Joel Belz 18 Janie B. Cheaney 32 Mindy Belz 61 Mailbag 63 Andrée Seu Peterson 64 Marvin Olasky
ON THE COVER: A cross lies in the rubble of a destroyed church that was blown up by Islamic State militants in the deserted village of Tel Jazira on the Khabur River in northeastern Syria; photo by Hussein Malla/AP
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Notes from the CEO With this year’s World Journalism Institute (WJI) course in May, we begin our third decade of training aspiring Christian journalists in the disciplines of Biblically objective journalism. We ended our second decade with a class of 26 students last year, the largest in WJI’s history. Our move to the campus of Dordt College two years ago, along with increased support from donors, enabled the recent growth: more space, more staff, and lower per-student costs made it possible for our instructors to provide to a larger number of students the one-on-one attention that distinguishes our brand of journalism training. The growth is not an end in itself. The world needs more good Christian journalists, and so does WORLD. A small number of WJI grads work with WORLD, but most work elsewhere. Both groups are doing important work. In addition to the increasing number of students, WJI has expanded its training from its original emphasis on magazine journalism to include tracks for daily web news, audio news production, video, and photojournalism. Underlying the instruction on various platforms, though, are the core principles of Biblically objective journalism, which apply to all kinds of reporting. This year’s WJI course, also at Dordt (this year, it becomes Dordt University), is coming up in May. If you’re a student or you know a student, I urge you to apply soon, because the application deadline is March 29 and the process will take considerable time, thought, and effort. WJI alumni would tell you that the course is difficult, but also life-changing. Applications are accepted online at wji.world/apply-now, and scholarships are available to all accepted students.
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Kevin Martin kevin@wng.org
HOW TO CONTACT US
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WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A NATION LONG ENDURE?
s ubstitute called socialism, can survive. We already know it can’t. The issue is instead whether what replaces those communistic and socialistic governments is ultimately any more durable. Abraham Lincoln asked the more profound question (at least for us) in his Gettysburg Address, when he noted that the war in progress then was to test “whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” The Civil War ended, and in it the United States passed one notable test. But the test of which Lincoln spoke remains immeasur-
If it really happens that the socialist government of Venezuela is upended sometime during the next few months, the question will look bigger and bigger: Who gets to shape the government of Venezuela’s future? It’s not a binary choice. Every student of foreign affairs should be reminded that the disappearance of one bad dude doesn’t necessarily mean he’s been replaced by an angel from heaven. Go back 30 years, for a very different example, to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. (Fascinating, isn’t it, that we were talking about walls way back then?) This column asked: “What if hundreds of thousands of people from communism’s eastern bloc, pressed and bruised for generations by an iron heel, dash to the wall’s free side only to discover nothing ultimately worthy of so dramatic a journey?” A possible key is the word “ultimately.” Certainly, refugees from one bleak and bankrupt totalitarian state will find much in the free world’s storehouse of riches to make them accept what are often long, long waiting periods. And they will discover a variety of freedoms they never dreamed of—a commodity much more important than having a chicken in every pot. The right to decide is at the core—whether it will be chicken or beef or fish, or something altogether different. But after Venezuelans have discovered how to restock their supermarkets and begun to digest the richness of a free market in dozens of other facets of their economic lives, what then? Will they find a substance deeper than that of some exotic perfume they’ve never breathed before? After they’ve begun to participate in a genuine multiparty system and tested the incredible liberties of a free press, what then? Will they explore with confidence a freedom of spirit that made the struggle worthwhile? The issue is not really, in the end, whether Marxist communism, or a watered-down
ably bigger. It is finally a test of whether government “of the people, by the people, for the people”—fallen people, mind you—can survive on planet Earth. If some kind of constitutional democracy comes in the weeks and months ahead to Venezuela (and to other nations that have been made abjectly miserable by evil government), we should and will rejoice. But after all these years of unruliness from the top down, what promise is there that Venezuela’s people will cooperate, from the bottom up, with even a thoughtful new government? Here in the United States, we’ve been blessed for more than two centuries with a rugged Constitution to balance the whims and fancies of a popular democracy. And yet, even with such a carefully crafted harness, there’s almost always been a tendency to run frighteningly wild. And although Venezuela has incredible natural resources, nothing remotely like the U.S. Constitution exists in Venezuela. No such restraints are in place. Nor is there any pattern or model for the nation’s new leaders to follow. Which means Abraham Lincoln would probably be asking the very same questions there, too. A
The Venezuela test R
A Venezuelan protester wears a headband with the Spanish word Hope during a rally against Nicolás Maduro and in favor of Juan Guaidó.
jbelz@wng.org
NATACHA PISARENKO/AP
4 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
The issue is not really whether Marxist communism can survive. We already know it can’t.
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DISPATCHES News Analysis / Human Race / Quotables / Quick Takes
Venezuelan upheaval
Protesters attempt to move a burning bus during a Feb. 23 clash with the Venezuelan National Guard in Ureña, a city near the border with Colombia. National Guard members fired tear gas at protesters who tried to clear barricades that President Nicolás Maduro set up to block humanitarian aid trucks from entering his socialist country. RODRIGO ABD/AP
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March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 7
D I S PA T C H E S
News Analysis
Never give an inch? A FORTNIGHT IN NEWS: ABORTIONS, BORDERS, AND MONEY TRAILS by Marvin Olasky
8 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
This time, the 44 Democrats cannot even justify their votes by saying they favor democracy and follow the wishes of their constituents, however malformed. A YouGov national survey of 1,145 American adults in February revealed that 4 out of 5 Americans think it unethical to abort a child in the third trimester. Even among Americans who call themselves “pro-choice,” 2 out of 3 don’t support third-trimester abortions— let alone killing babies born alive. The Academy Awards on Feb. 24 should have handed out Oscars for cruelty to abortionists and to Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s socialist president, who had just aborted the delivery of trucks full of food and pharmaceuticals to starving and sick people. Refusing to give even a centimeter, his troops killed four peaceful protesters, but 150 soldiers joined the resistance, and many more are likely to follow. Donald Trump, meanwhile, gave inches but insisted on miles of walls.
MADURO: RODRIGO ABD/AP • TRUMP: SUSAN WALSH/AP • WITT: FBI
“Never give an inch” was a patriarch’s slogan in Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion—and it now seems to be the motto of a Democratic Party sold out to abortion extremism. Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Feb. 25 showed their true colors—newborn babies turning blue—when they voted against a bill that would ban infanticide. Sponsor Ben Sasse, R-Neb., urged “my colleagues to picture a baby that’s already been born, that’s outside the womb gasping for air.” And yet, 44 Democrats killed the bill requiring babies born after botched abortions to receive medical care. Three Democrats—Joe Manchin, Bob Casey, and Doug Jones—opposed such infanticide. One Republican, Lisa Murkowski, abstained. Two pro-life Republicans missed the vote because of flight delays, but it wouldn’t have mattered: The 53 yes votes fell seven short of the 60 needed to cut off debate so a final vote could proceed.
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Given his plan to ignore Congress, many conservatives criticized the president’s unilateral action to grab $5 billion for border barriers. They (and WORLD) had criticized Barack Obama for his unilateral action on immigration policy, but in February the GOP matched its appeasement policy on national debt (now $22 trillion and counting) with acquiescence on presidential imperialism. Some had practical objections: Researchers at the conservative American Enterprise Institute declared, “The long-underfunded Pentagon can’t afford to have money diverted for a border wall.” Meanwhile, Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi crowed that after the next election they could declare a gun emergency and confiscate weapons. That may be too extreme, but when a future Democratic president declares a state of emergency to subvert democracy, it will be harder for Republicans to save the republic. Money also talked in higher education, and many professors squawked when Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, whose state faces a $1.6 billion deficit, proposed a 41 percent cut to the University of Alaska System. Some institutions, though, have found
SMOLLETT: CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT VIA AP • TIMES SQUARE: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES ARIZONA: OSKAR AGREDANO/CRONKITE NEWS
ways to grow despite a backlash against academic radicalism: Grab grants and contract dollars from Muslim countries. According to the Department of Education, the two top recipients just happen to be in Washington, D.C.: From 2011 to 2018 Georgetown took in $378 million and George Washington University (GWU) $101 million. The problem, though, is that money influences curriculum, sometimes with fatal results. As journalists wondered why Monica Witt, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist, allegedly committed espionage at Iran’s behest, some pointed to her master’s degree in Middle East studies at GWU. Witt apparently headed left while serving in Iraq, but The New York Times reported that her radicalization “accelerated while she was in graduate school”: When she attacked American foreign policy in class, “everyone just kind of sat and watched.” Professors are not responsible for the wrong turns of their students, but they should demand that students back up their claims—and sometimes, like catchers in the rye, they can help them not to fall off cliffs. And who now can help Jussie Smollett, a main character on Empire, a Fox soap opera, who alleg slee@wng.org @sophialeehyun
Maduro; Trump; Witt; Smollett; billboards in Times Square directed at Ocasio-Cortez; Arizonans rally against a pro-abortion bill at the state Capitol (from left to right).
edly made up a mugging story? Some say he wanted more money, o thers more significance: In either case his grab for “victimhood chic” left him potentially facing a prison sentence. (But after the “assault” a surveillance camera showed Smollett still holding onto his Subway sandwich: Great product placement, guys.) What of the New York City unemployed who hoped to work at a new Amazon headquarters? The battle between socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who want more jobs only if government controls them and liberals who practiced crony capitalism and offered Amazon $3 billion in benefits for coming to town was something to behold. The rest of us could only gape in this remake of a King Kong vs. Godzilla movie that ended with Amazon pulling out, as if it were a massive snowflake unable to take any heat. Some good news emerged from the BosWash corridor. For all his ethical flaws, President Trump is becoming
consistently pro-life in words and actions. He berated Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., for supporting abortion, even though Coons calls himself “a devout Presbyterian.” (Politico reported that Trump was “in his face about it … extremely worked up.”) And Trump is putting federal money where his mouth is: A new administrative rule is likely to make it much harder for Planned Parenthood to treat the U.S. Treasury as its piggy bank. And some good news from flyover country: With all the sad news of New York and other states removing protection from babies born alive after failed abortions, it’s good that Arizonans on Feb. 20 pushed back against the trend. When Phoenix legislator Raquel Teran introduced a bill that would repeal a law requiring that physicians try to preserve the life of such a baby, 200 Arizonans showed up in front of the state Capitol to oppose the change. Here’s where inches really mattered: Some Arizonans wore T-shirts declaring that “Baby Lives Matter” and “A Person’s a Person, No Matter How Small.” The legislative committee agreed: It voted 8-0 to kill the bill. A —with Arizona reporting by Victoria Johnson March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 9
D I S PA T C H E S
News Analysis Central American migrants line up for donated food inside a former concert venue serving as a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.
An international emergency
UNWANTED ANYWHERE, FLOODS OF MIGRANTS OVERFILL SHELTERS IN MEXICO by Sophia Lee
10 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
only to become easy prey to greed and cruelty on their journeys. Many who join caravans for safety and protection once again become victims—victims of political agendas and theatrics by activists and politicians, of indifference and mischaracterization from people who fear or despise them, of disillusion and despair when they realize they’ve left a horrible situation for a horribly ambiguous situation. The truth, they quickly realize, is the United States does not want them. Both the Obama and the Trump administrations have tried to use Mexico as a barrier, but that hasn’t worked. Now, President Donald Trump describes the migrants as “invaders” and “criminals” and has declared a national emergency to funnel billions of dollars to build the wall he promised but Congress blocked. He has also made it more difficult for migrants to seek asylum: Traditionally, U.S. policy has allowed asylum-seekers to stay in America while awaiting their court hearing. But starting on Jan. 25, through a new policy dubbed “Remain in
REBECCA BLACKWELL/AP
By geographical misfortune, Central America’s Northern Triangle—Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala—is the passageway for drug shipments between Colombia and the U.S. market. Together with grinding poverty and political corruption, the drug empires have corroded the Central American society and economy. Honduras and El Salvador have the highest murder rates of any country in the world. Guatemala and Belize aren’t far behind. They have incompetent politicians, oppressive military governance, and vicious gangs that terrorize neighborhoods. Education levels are dismal. Jobs are scarce. Wages are low. Crime and addiction are rampant. Meanwhile, their image of the United States twinkles with mythical possibilities. They see on TV Manhattan’s glittering skyscrapers and the beautiful mansions of Beverly Hills. They see opportunities they’d never procure in their own homeland. Victims of oppression and injustice in their motherlands, some head north—
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Mexico,” the Trump administration now requires asylum-seekers, mainly from Central America, to remain in Mexico while the United States processes their legal proceedings, which could take months and years. And yet, Mexico also does not want these migrants and has been unwilling to invest in basic aid for them. A November 2018 newspaper poll found 7 in 10 Mexicans saying the migrants will increase crime and steal jobs from them. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has offered temporary work permits and asylum to these migrants—a sharp departure from Mexico’s previously harsh approach— but resources are still scarce. Regardless of whether the United States faces a national emergency, Tijuana, a border city south of San Diego, faces a local one. Floods of migrants overfill shelters to the point where previous occupants—mostly Mexican deportees from America—have had to move out into tent cities. Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum has declared a humanitarian crisis, and many Tijuana residents are also fed up with foreigners camping on their streets. They blame the “bums” for affecting their economy and increasing crime. And evangelical Pastor Alberto Rivera faces a church crisis. He didn’t plan to make Agape Mision Mundial, where he has pastored since 1999, a shelter. He wanted caravan arrivers to find a decent shelter elsewhere, but he allowed a family
of six to sleep in his church last October. When they asked if other family members could come, Rivera said yes, and suddenly about 20 people showed up. Later, when officials shut down a warehouse-turnedshelter, 70 occupants were left without a place to go, so Rivera took them in as well. Rivera quickly realized his church facility was unprepared to house so many people—they were all sharing one restroom and sleeping hip-to-hip on the floor with no beds or hot water. Churches and individuals, mostly American, sent donations, which Rivera used to build more rooms and restrooms with showers and to buy bunk beds and Lenovo laptops so guests can go online and contact their families back home. The church now provides three hot meals a day. Local businesses pop in to offer day jobs—washing cars, mechanic work, masonry. To keep spirits alive, Rivera sometimes takes the migrants out to get fresh air at the park or the beach. Some of them began calling him “Papi” or “Abba”—Dad. On a cold February night I sat with Rivera in the church kitchen, which smelled of bitter coffee and chicken soup. Babies wailed, kids ran around, and dinner conversations rumbled around us. It sounded and looked like a normal communal dinner at a Tijuana village, except nothing was normal. Rivera sees that the longer people languish in shelters, the more dejected and lifeless they become. At El Barretal, a nightclub-turned-shelter, about 2,000 people were living in tents, eating food served from a military-style kitchen, and catching skin ailments such as rashes, lesions, and lice. By the time I visited, most of the 2,000 residents had already left, having either crossed the border or found jobs and rental units. Of those remaining at the shelter, half of them had lost all motivation to live on, said Marlo Medina de la Torre, a National Institute of Migration officer: “They do nothing all day. They have no plans to work, no plans to apply for a sylum or work permits, nothing.” In effect, they’ve given up on life. In late January, officials closed down that shelter. Where did the rest of the people go? Nobody knows. A —For more reporting from the border, see p. 48
slee@wng.org @sophialeehyun
B Y
T H E
N U M B E R S
47%
The share of Americans who identified as pro-life in February, up from 38 percent in January, according to the Marist Poll. The increase came as Democrats in multiple states advocated for late-term abortions.
$21 million The settlement the city of Simi Valley, Calif., will pay to Craig Coley for his wrongful conviction in a 1978 double murder case. DNA evidence exonerated Coley after he spent nearly 39 years in prison.
13.1%
The share of Americans who hold advanced degrees such as a master’s or a doctorate, up from just 8.6 percent in 2000.
541
The number of anti-Semitic acts reported to authorities in France last year. The total represented a 74 percent increase over 2017 figures.
61.1%
The top income tax rate paid in Slovenia, the highest marginal tax rate in Europe. March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 11
D I S PA T C H E S
Human Race camps. After the war, Bialer became a member of the Polish government and the Polish Communist Party. In 1954, he traveled to the U.S.S.R. and began to see similarities between Stalin’s Russia and the Nazi regime. He defected in 1956 and began to write and testify about what he had seen. He joined the faculty of Columbia University and earned his Ph.D. in political science. Bialer taught at Columbia for 33 years. LGBT activists at the UMC Conference in St. Louis
Decided
Charged
Chicago police say actor Jussie Smollett staged a 12 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
fake hate crime on himself in order to boost his career. Smollett, who is black and gay, reported to police that two people shouted racist and anti-gay slurs at him, beat him, threw bleach at him, and put a noose around his neck. Smollett’s story received immediate media attention, and support poured in. Detectives, however, found evidence Smollett had staged the incident with two friends. A grand jury charged Smollett with falsifying a police report, a crime punishable with up to three years in prison. The actor claims innocence.
Died
Seweryn Bialer, Soviet defector and U.S.S.R. expert, died on Feb. 8 at age 92. Bialer was born in Germany in 1926 and raised in Poland as part of a prominent Jewish family. He was 13 when the Nazis invaded. He spent the first years of the war in a ghetto before being imprisoned in the Auschwitz and Friedland
Unknown gunmen kidnapped 176 students and staff from Saint Augustin’s College in Kumbo, Cameroon, on Feb. 16. Church officials negotiated a safe return of all hostages, but they had to agree that the school would close. The diocesan communications director, Elvis Nsaikila, told the BBC that the diocese had not involved the army on purpose to avoid unnecessary deaths. Human Rights Watch says rebel groups were behind the kidnapping. Militia groups began to operate in the area after violence over protests by English speakers calling for schools and courts to use English. The rebel groups
Arrested
Federal officials arrested a Coast Guard officer who allegedly made plans for a mass killing. Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson now faces charges of illegal possession of guns and drugs. When agents searched his house, they found 15 guns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition. According to a statement by Coast Guard spokesman Chief Warrant
Officer Barry Lane, the investigation is still open, forcing the Coast Guard to keep further details private. However, court documents suggest Hasson is an alleged white supremacist who was following the manifesto of Anders Breivik, a Norwegian who killed 77 people. The documents alleged that Hasson had a hit list that included famous Democratic Party politicians and CNN journalists.
Released Saint Augustin students are helped into a truck.
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METHODIST: KATHLEEN BARRY, UMNS • SAINT AUGUSTIN’S COLLEGE: JOSIANE KOUAGHEU/REUTERS/NEWSCOM
The United Methodist Church at an international conference in St. Louis, Mo., voted to reject a proposal that would have left decisions about same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT pastors to regional and local churches. The conference instead voted to strengthen enforcement of the denomination’s bans on such practices. Forty-three percent of the delegates to the Feb. 23-26 conference were from outside the United States, mostly from Africa, and they overwhelmingly uphold the Biblical stance on marriage. “We Africans are not children in need of Western enlightenment when it comes to the church’s sexual ethics,” the Rev. Jerry Kulah, dean at a Methodist theology school in Liberia, said in a speech. The vote will likely prompt a fracture in the UMC.
Freed
want to create their own, independent state.
D I S PA T C H E S
Quotables ‘As a conservative, I cannot endorse a precedent that I know future leftwing presidents will exploit to advance radical policies that will erode economic and individual freedoms.’
‘I spent so long in front of cameras that I forgot how to be a person.’
Student activist and Parkland, Fla., school shooting survivor CAMERON KASKY on his confrontational approach to lobbying for gun control following the Parkland massacre. “I regretted saying the name of the shooter to Sen. Rubio and telling him I can’t look at him without seeing the shooter,” he said. “That’s not true.”
U.S. Sen. THOM TILLIS, R-N.C., on opposing President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in order to fund the building of a wall on the border with Mexico.
Chicago Police chief EDDIE JOHNSON at the beginning of a press conference on the allegedly staged attack on actor Jussie Smollett.
‘But federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity.’
The U.S. SUPREME COURT in a per curiam ruling on the question, “May a federal court count the vote of a judge who dies before the decision is issued?” The ruling overturned an appellate court decision that included the vote of Judge Stephen Reinhardt after he had died. 14 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
‘There’s a scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult, and it does lead, I think, young people to have a legitimate question: Is it OK to still have children?’ U.S. Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, D-N.Y., on climate change and the future.
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KASKY & TILLIS: ANDREW HARNIK/AP • JOHNSON: ASHLEE REZIN/CHICAGO SUN-TIMES VIA AP • REINHARDT: DAVID BUTOW/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES
‘I just wish the families of [victims of ] gun violence in this city got this much attention.’
D I S PA T C H E S
Quick Takes
Handbag in hiding
Excess energy
Federal officials are on the lookout for thieves who are armed—with an abundance of energy. The FBI is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of cargo pilfered in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 2 or 3. According to authorities, thieves stole a tractor-trailer from a parking lot overnight. Local police found the vehicle days later, but the trailer, which contained nearly $65,000 worth of energy drinks, remained at large.
Choppy ride
A new $227 million fleet of Canadian vessels has hit a major snag: It’s making Canada’s sailors sick. Crews of the Hero-class vessels reported the ships rolled “like crazy,” causing sailors to suffer intense seasickness during a trial run by the Canadian Coast Guard. According to reports obtained by the CBC, designers promised the 140-foot ships would operate well even in choppy seas. Now the Canadian agency is trying to figure out how to retrofit the pricey vessels with stabilizers so the ships can operate in normal seas.
A law with teeth
Residents of one French town are being held accountable for their dogs’ actions. Mayor Jean-Pierre Estienne of Feuquières in northern France signed an ordinance placing a ban on dog barking. Saying that incessant barking had created “an unbearable situation” in his village, Estienne announced that owners of loud dogs could be subject to a $77 fine. “The town has nothing against dogs,” Estienne told Le Parisien, “but when you decide to have them, you educate them.”
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EVERETT: JEFFERSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL 1955 YEARBOOK • PURSE, CARD: GREATER CLARK COUNTY SCHOOLS • CANADIAN COAST GUARD: DEAN PORTER • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • DOG: ALAMY
Martha Everett recently recovered the purse she lost at Jeffersonville High School in Jeffersonville, Ind., but she didn’t get it from a lost-and-found bin. That’s because Everett is 82, and she lost the purse when she was a student at Jeffersonville High in 1954. Workers found the purse behind cabinets in a science classroom when they were demolishing part of the school in January, and school officials used social media to track down Everett in Florida. Among the purse’s contents: a wallet, a prom invitation, lipstick, photos, and gum wrappers.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: TOWSON UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT • IKEA MAP: SAGE TESTINI/TWITTER • POOCH: NWS CLEVELAND/TWITTER • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • DOG: NWS CLEVELAND/TWITTER • AERIAL VIEW: ISTOCK
Mom on a mission
Police in Towson, Md., are warning local university students about a woman haranguing female students. According to a Feb. 8 missive from Towson University Police, an unidentified woman in her 50s has approached females and prompted them to look at pictures of her university-aged son on her cell phone in hopes of getting him a date. Chief Charles Herring said officials don’t want to arrest the woman, but simply want to warn students about the woman.
Zero coordinates
A slight error from furniture giant Ikea has upset residents of an entire country. One shopper in Washington, D.C., noticed that a world map being sold at a local Ikea store inadvertently left out New Zealand. After the shopper posted the mistake to social media, New Zealanders began to take notice. The cartographical error has become common enough that last year Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern launched a promotional campaign—called #getNZonthemap— that included Kiwi celebrities. In an apology to the BBC, Ikea took responsibility for the mistake and said it would pull the erroneous maps off the shelf.
Blown over
Cleveland’s National Weather Service office issued an unofficial “Small Dog Warning” wind advisory on Feb. 12 ahead of gusty weather. The agency predicted wind gusts up to 50 mph, saying that residents should be prepared for downed trees, power outages, and blownover trash cans. The agency also warned residents to pay attention to their pets. “Hold on to your pooch!” an official posted on the office’s Twitter feed.
Two-letter mistake
The Flint Hills factor
Think Kansas is flat? Six states are flatter, according to the published findings of a team of University of Kansas geographers. Back in 2003, researchers in the journal Improbable Research demonstrated that Kansas was statistically flatter than an IHOP pancake. But now, KU researchers writing in Geographical Review have found that Illinois, North Dakota, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Delaware are all flatter than Kansas. And, according to the recent research, Florida is the flattest state of them all.
For one Kentucky couple, it was the thought that counted. Misunderstanding his wife Nina—and having a poor understanding of horticulture—Allan Harris of Hartford, Ky., accidentally purchased turnips for his wife on Valentine’s Day this year. She had asked for tulips. “I didn’t know how to react,” Nina Harris told WCMH. “It dawned on me. I didn’t think he was really paying attention when I suggested [tulips].” Nina said she asked for the perennial flowers because she wanted to plant them in her front yard and enjoy them every year. When the embarrassed husband figured out his mistake, he quickly went and bought tulips.
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March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 17
VOICE S
Janie B. Cheaney
Mind and body
MENTAL ILLNESS, LIKE PHYSICAL ILLNESS, MAY AFFLICT CHRISTIANS IN THIS WORLD
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No servant is greater than his master; if Jesus was anguished, so may we be.
jcheaney@wng.org @jbcheaney
KRIEG BARRIE
“Don’t tell me a Christian should never need psychiatric treatment. In my opinion, a Christian may need treatment even more than an unbeliever, because the life Christ asks us to lead is so fundamentally opposed to the way the world works.” Does that shock you? It did me, especially as I heard it in a sermon by a Presbyterian pastor. That was many years ago ( just how many is another shocker), and the quote isn’t word for word, but that was the gist. Agree or disagree? We can certainly agree that the Lord promises life in abundance and joy in adversity, and heartening surveys consistently reassure us that believers enjoy greater well-being than nonbelievers. Yet anxiety runs rampant in our society, and whatever afflicts the world also affects the church. God does not shield His people from all the plagues of Egypt. We understand that when it comes to physical ailments, even terminal ones. If cancer is the way we go to meet our Maker, so be it. But mental illness seems like something that should not come near us. When it does, when it plagues our own husbands, brothers, daughters, and wives, we don’t know what to do. We’re unsure even how to think about it. Simonetta Carr has written many biographies for children featuring outstanding figures of Christian history, from Athanasius to Jonathan Edwards. Her biography of John Newton describes how Newton cared for his good friend, the poet and hymnodist William Cowper, who struggled with mental illness most of his life. Newton’s own adopted daughter spent years in an asylum, where he could only stand outside and wave to her. But Simonetta’s most recent book is a memoir: Broken Pieces and the God Who Mends Them: Schizophrenia Through a Mother’s Eyes. It details the three nightmare years in which she and her husband watched their bright, charming son descend into irrationality, self-
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destructive behavior, and violent threats. While frantically seeking help for him, and not always finding it, his mother also fought doubt and guilt. Prayer didn’t always comfort, and verses quoted by well-meaning friends didn’t always affirm. A pastor struggling with depression told me he sank to a point where Biblical counseling and prayer had no effect. Another friend says the same: “I am wrestling with God, and being told to ‘just pray’ or ‘just read’ doesn’t help me. In fact there are times when I try to do those things and I just get angry.” My friend went through several Christian counseling programs before finding a medically trained therapist who was also a Christian: the right combination for making progress. The pastor, also, found himself stuck in a spiritual ditch until he could get a handle on certain physical issues. Mental illness is the place where mind and body miscommunicate, and while there may well be a spiritual dimension to that failure, treating the spirit alone could be a dangerous mistake. But—But—(we stammer in protest)—isn’t Jesus all-sufficient? Yes, He is. Jesus is not standing apart from the problem. Jesus is in the problem, just as He is in the cancer or the diabetes or the hypertension. The Spirit indwelling the body is not apart from the body, and if we wouldn’t withhold food from a starved stomach, we shouldn’t automatically block the careful use of meds or secular insight from a frayed mind. “The gospel has tremendous power,” writes Simonetta Carr, “but it works in ways that are counterintuitive, mysterious, and even imperceptible, transforming into conformity to the image of Christ—a Christ who, in this life, was more anguished than we could ever know.” No servant is greater than his master; if He was anguished, so may we be. Depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, and a host of other disorders are not antithetical to the Christian life—the peace Jesus promises is “not as the world gives” (temporary and superficial), and may sometimes seem the opposite. But God has given us the means to battle them on physical as well as spiritual fronts—and ultimate victory, in this life or the next. A
CULTURE Movies & TV / Books / Children’s Books / Q&A / Music
Movie
A healing story UNIVERSAL STUDIOS AND STORYTELLER DISTRIBUTION CO.
GREEN BOOK HAS A MESSAGE THAT IS WORTH CELEBRATING by Megan Basham One of the most depressing hallmarks of our time is a tendency to read the worst motives into any public statements, including films, on thorny subjects like race and gender. We seem increasingly unwilling to give each other the benefit of any doubt. Some of the reactions to the newly crowned Oscar winner for best picture,
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Green Book, are a perfect illustration of this trend. The New York Times raged against the true-ish story of a black pianist finding friendship with a blue- collar Italian bruiser for the crime of “retrograde portrayals of race dynamics.” (Given that the movie is set in the 1960s, it’s hard to see how it could have any other kind.) The Hollywood
mbasham@wng.org @megbasham
Reporter fumed that it tells the story from the white protagonist’s point of view. (There’s a simple reason for that too—the movie’s screenwriter is the white protagonist’s real-life son.) Green Book is part of a long tradition of mining odd-couple pairings for humor. Classical pianist Don Shirley hires bigoted nightclub bouncer Tony “Lip” Vallelonga to drive him on a concert tour through the segregationera South. Both men are consciously exaggerated types. The fascinating Mahershala Ali (left) and Viggo Mortensen
c ontrast at the center of the story is to what degree and for what reason each of them chooses to be. Tony (Viggo Mortensen) wears clichés about being Italian as a badge of honor. His bada-boom, bada-bing colloquialisms help him blend seamlessly with mobbed-up guys in his neighborhood even as he uses his good-fella routine to graciously deflect their job offers. As he explains, if someone suggests “guineas” only eat pasta and pizza, he’ll laugh and tell them he’s proud of it. Dr. Shirley (Mahershala Ali), on the other hand, strives to distance himself March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 21
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Movies & TV
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optimistic vision of racial reconciliation. This charge is true. Even toward the end of Green Book, after his heart has changed, Tony says things that make us (and Dr. Shirley) cringe a bit. That’s the point. We cannot love another person while dissecting every word they say for potential offense. We cannot share real community where a spirit of fear pervades. Where will is clearly good, offer grace. For that matter, where will might plausibly be good, offer the benefit of the doubt, and then offer grace. As Dr. Shirley does in finally letting Tony—with all his poor diction and appalling table manners—into his life. Green Book set out to be an amusing, heartwarming tale about two real-life buddies from an imperfect past whose unlikely friendship casts a hopeful light on our future. There’s nothing wrong—and a lot right— with celebrating a movie like that. A
Stine
Movie
Run the Race R
BOX OFFICE TOP 10 FOR THE WEEKEND OF FEB. 22-24
according to Box Office Mojo
CAUTIONS: Quantity of sexual (S), violent (V), and foul-language (L) content on a 0-10 scale, with 10 high, from kids-in-mind.com
S V L
1̀ How to Train Your Dragon:
The Hidden World PG. . . . . . . . . . 1 3 2
2̀ Alita: Battle Angel* PG-13. . . . . 1 7 5 3̀ The LEGO Movie 2* PG . . . . . . . . 1 3 2
4̀ Fighting With My Family* PG-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 4 5̀ Isn’t It Romantic PG-13 . . . . . . . . 3 3 6 6̀ What Men Want R . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2 9 7̀ Happy Death Day 2U PG-13. . . . 4 6 5 8̀ Cold Pursuit R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7 5 9̀ The Upside PG-13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 4 10 Run the Race* PG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 2 ` *Reviewed by WORLD
Former NFL quarterback turned minor league baseball player Tim Tebow and his brother, Robby, are the executive producers of the new Christian film Run the Race. Tebow told the Christian Post he wanted to make an “authentic” film because “the Christian life isn’t cookie cutter.” Well, it’s true some faith films convey simplistic resolutions to hard times. To be sure, Run the Race stays in its lane, but credible dialogue, convincing performances, and solid production make it one of the faith-film genre’s better moments. In Run the Race, hard times abound. Brothers Zach (Tanner Stine) and David (Evan Hofer) have lived by themselves in near- poverty for two years. Their alcoholic father (Kristoffer Polaha) abandoned them after their mother died of cancer, although he still lives in town. A head injury that ended David’s promising high-school football career continues to plague him. Zach’s prospects of earning a college football
scholarship take a hit when a knee injury sidelines him. David’s faith remains strong, but Zach has walked away from his church upbringing. “You stack the cards against me, and then expect me to believe in You?” Zach asks God. But around the corner lies yet another tragedy—and a real test of faith. Will a secular audience appreciate a PG-rated film (underage drinking, gratuitous male shirtlessness) that makes no effort to disguise its Christian message? What about this story might favorably impress unbelievers? Some might identify with the boys’ response to their father: One forgives, while the other wants nothing to do with him. Zach and David’s strong, brotherly relationship will move viewers, both seekers and saved. And when Zach sees the light, he challenges unbelievers with what they know deep down, however much they might deny it: “There are only two ways to run—to God or from God.” When we run to God, we discover that long beforehand He ran (Luke 15:20) to meet us. —by BOB BROWN
RTR MOVIE HOLDINGS
from caricatures ascribed to African-Americans. In overly mannered tones, he informs Tony that he’s never tasted fried chicken or heard the music of Chubby Checker. To excel in his field, he’s had to carve out a cultured persona so far from what prejudiced whites expect that he lives his entire life as a performance. Though Green Book would have done better to offer more nuanced characterizations (including of the moustache-twirling Southern bad guys), this feels more like the common failing of shorthand screenwriting than a lack of racial awareness. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman suffers from the same problem in the exact same way. The film’s treatment of Shirley’s homosexuality is more impressive for being based in realism and resisting the easy bait of equating racism with religious convictions about sexuality. A brief scene that implies Shirley has an anonymous encounter with a stranger in a YMCA shower hardly paints a positive picture of his emotional and spiritual health. Nor does his severe alcohol abuse. And though Tony comments that after working as a bouncer in New York clubs for 20 years, he’s not shocked, neither does he say anything affirming. He does use plenty of profanity though that pushes the bounds of the PG-13 rating. In a scathing review that echoes the complaints reverberating through Hollywood now, The New Yorker accused the film of offering a—gasp!—
Movie
FIGHTING: ROBERT VIGLASKY/METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURES • WIND: ILZE KITSHOFF/NETFLIX
Fighting With My Family R It’s a long way from the wrong side of town in Norwich, England, to the glitz and glamour of America’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). But that is the unlikely journey Saraya Knight (Florence Pugh) travels in Fighting With My Family, a film based on a true story. All the members of the Knight clan are professional wrestlers— professional in the sense that they are paid for their work, although just barely. The crowds are small, a far cry from the stadiums full of screaming fans they dream of. Saraya is reluctant to join brother Zak (Jack Lowden) in learning the sport, until he agrees to dress up as a girl for their first match in the ring. Zak and Saraya become wrestling fanatics, particularly of WWE with its over-the-top acting and storytelling. In their Norwich neighborhood, they teach a small band of local kids how to wrestle, including a blind teenager whose mastering of moves is really inspiring. When WWE comes to London, Zak and Saraya are among dozens to
Simba and Ejiofor
audition for talent scout and trainer Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn). Morgan encourages the aspiring wrestlers to see their sport as storytelling, “soap opera in spandex.” Saraya is the only one of the group invited to the USA to see if she can make it on a bigger stage. Along the way, she meets Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who plays himself admirably). With the stage name Paige, Saraya chases her dreams despite many obstacles, including the jealousy of Zak, who is devastated by his failure to make the grade. Saraya reminds him of the value of his continued work with neighborhood kids: “Just because millions of people aren’t cheering when you do it doesn’t mean it’s not important!” It’s too bad the writers and producers of Fighting With My Family infused the PG-13 film with so much unnecessary sexual humor, sensuality, foul language, and blasphemy. The storyline otherwise has an unexpected sweetness, championing the values of hard work, love of family, and service to others. —by MARTY VANDRIEL
Lowden and Pugh
See all our movie reviews at wng.org/movies
Movie
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind tells the true story of a Christian family living in the African nation of Malawi in 2001. British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) wrote and stars in the Netflix film and also directed it on location in Malawi in just 37 days. Trywell Kamkwamba (Ejiofor) and his wife are farmers and Christian leaders in their small Malawian village. While the couple is poor, they value education and spend precious funds to send their 14-year-old son William (Maxwell Simba) to school. From a young age, William has shown an exceptional ability to fix and build electronics, and he’s excited about learning even more in his science classes. But when famine destroys crops and starves villagers, the family’s prospects falter. The famine forces William to drop out of school, but his knowledge of electricity gives him an idea of how to stop his village from experiencing the ravages of famine. Still, building
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the solution will require his father’s help and complete trust—something Trywell isn’t ready to give to his adolescent son. During the famine, the Kamkwambas continue to believe God will provide. But William helps the family realize God has also given humans knowledge and tools to solve difficult problems. Beyond being a delightful story about the power of education, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (rated TV-14 and including a violent scene) teaches valuable lessons about respect and obedience. As stress builds, the Kamkwambas’ oldest daughter rebels against her parents in order to save her own future, while William chooses to support his family. Trywell initially won’t let his son try out his idea, fearing it will fail. In desperation, William considers forcing his father to help him. Instead he obeys his father’s wishes, even though he doesn’t understand them. Eventually, in mutual love and respect, father and son stop the famine together. —by SARAH SCHWEINSBERG
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C U LT U R E
Books
The folly of man THREE BOOKS TOUCHING ON ATHEISM by Marvin Olasky
Stanley Corngold’s Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic (Princeton, 2018) is a biography of the scholar best known for his attempt in 1950 to change the reputation of Friedrich Nietzsche from proto-Nazi to humanist existentialist. That’s tough sledding, because Nietzsche’s hero was the Übermensch, the superior person who possesses a will to power and does not let thoughts of mercy turn him aside from his struggle. Nietzsche’s villains were compassionate Christians who practiced charity toward the poor and the weak. Kaufmann tried to turn Nietzsche’s emphasis on mastering others into a drive for self-mastery, much as some Muslims turn jihad from conquering others to conquering the self. Corngold in turn tries to make his subject seem more mellow than Kaufmann’s heated attacks on Christianity suggest. This double-marinating makes the biography unreliable, but its 744 pages illuminate academic prejudices. The 170 tightly written pages of John Gray’s Seven Types of Atheism (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018)
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are far more useful. Gray, himself an atheist, recognizes the weaknesses of “the new atheism” of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, which he calls a throwback to the 19th century that “contains little that is novel or interesting.” He then pulls apart “secular humanism, a hollowed-out version of the Christian belief in salvation in history,” and ends that chapter with a vivid look at Ayn Rand, who rejects Christianity’s concern for others. The third folly Gray names is “the kind of atheism that makes a religion from science, a category that includes evolutionary humanism, Mesmerism, dialectical materialism and contemporary transhu-
manism,” and often has a racist element. (Gray points that out in the writings of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Voltaire.) But that’s not all: In the next chapter Gray critiques “modern political religions, from Jacobinism through communism and Nazism to contemporary evangelical liberalism,” and shows how Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky had beliefs as murderous as Josef Stalin. Gray’s fifth folly is “the atheism of God-haters such as the Marquis de Sade,” who wrote, “The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind.” Gray also writes about William Empson, who thought the devil was really God and made Eve the heroine of Genesis. Gray finally says what kind of atheism he likes—that of
BOOKMARKS
Alan Rusbridger’s Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now (FSG, 2018) provides amusing anecdotes from the top editor for 20 years of The Guardian in London, but no clear directions for positive remaking. Princeton professor Lee Clark Mitchell academically ponders Late Westerns: The Persistence of a Genre (Nebraska, 2018). Mark Coppenger’s A Skeptic’s Guide to Arts in the Church (Wipf & Stock, 2018) includes good thinking concerning 20 questions, starting with “Doesn’t the use of visual art risk violating the second commandment?” —M.O.
academic atheists like George Santayana, Arthur Schopenhauer, Benedict de Spinoza, and Lev Shestov— but he seems despairing and concludes that “belief and unbelief are poses the mind adopts.” Atheism in theory and practice always has bad results, sometimes leading to communism, fascism, or a general decadence, which David Weir assesses in Decadence: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2018). His historical chapters on Rome, London, Paris, and Berlin describe societal debacles that fed off each other: In 1926 Berlin had 100,000 female and 35,000 male prostitutes, along with so many Communists that Berlin was “the reddest city in Europe besides Moscow.” Nazi propagandists styled their party the alternative to both decadence and leftist dictatorship. That’s relevant to contemporary decadence because Weir ends his book with a look at a fictional French alliance of leftist and Islamist opponents of decadence, and their success in roping in a professor by promising him three wives, one of whom is an excellent cook. As Washington life more and more resembles that of ancient Rome, we have cause to wonder who’s next: Caligula, Nero, or Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius now made famous by the movie Gladiator.
Books on counseling reviewed by Charissa Crotts
WELCOME TO ADULTING: NAVIGATING FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, FINANCES, AND THE FUTURE Jonathan Pokluda
Pokluda wrote this book for recent college graduates learning to be independent adults. He gives readers Biblical perspective and guidance on topics like purpose, work, money, dating, and worry. The book is easy to read and includes illustrations from Pokluda’s own experience in learning to “adult.” The content will not surprise those who grew up with Christian parents, but any young adult who feels overwhelmed could benefit from its reminder that the Bible addresses all the basics of living as a godly adult.
DIEHARD SINS: HOW TO FIGHT WISELY AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE DAILY HABITS Rush Witt When sins become deep habits, the ability to change seems difficult. Pastor and Biblical counselor Rush Witt explains that dealing with “diehard sins” is normal for Christians. Faithful Christian living is not meant to be easy or joyless, but rather a “joy-filled fight.” Witt begins each chapter with a story and ends with reflection questions. He expertly balances theological truth with practical strategies for changing daily habits. While some readers may have heard Witt’s advice before, this is a helpful resource for regular Christians seeking to understand and fight sin.
DOUBT: TRUSTING GOD’S PROMISES Elyse Fitzpatrick
The first thing longtime counselor Elyse Fitzpatrick tells readers who struggle with doubt is that they are not alone: All Christians struggle with doubt from time to time, some more than others. She provides 31 days of encouragement and loving challenge to help strengthen the reader’s faith. Each two-page day contains a Scripture verse, thought-provoking content, practical “homework” (like listing the most troubling thoughts you have and praying for answers to each one), and two truths to remember. This devotional is accessible and practical, and Fitzpatrick writes so warmly it feels as if she’s sitting across the kitchen table.
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REAL CHANGE: BECOMING MORE LIKE JESUS IN EVERYDAY LIFE Andrew Nicholls & Helen Thorne In this short workbook, the authors present a diagram that illustrates how change happens. The diagram shows two trees, one with fruit and one with thorns. Both trees receive the same heat, but they produce different results because of their different roots. In the same way, our hearts determine how we respond to circumstances and pressures of life. Each chapter highlights one element of the diagram and offers discussion questions and Scripture passages for readers to apply. Practical and succinct, Real Change is a good introduction to how sanctification looks in everyday life.
To see more book news and reviews, go to wng.org/books
AFTERWORD In 2014, Paul David Tripp’s life radically changed. He walked into a hospital for a minor checkup but ended up hospitalized with kidney failure. Despite his previous healthy life and habits up until then, he endured terrible pain, perpetual fatigue, and six surgeries. In his book Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense (Crossway, 2018), he shares his experience and offers Biblical hope for sufferers. He identifies six traps— including fear, envy, and doubt—that Christians can fall into when suffering. Then he offers six comforts—including awareness of God’s grace and God’s purpose—we can hold. Tripp’s writing is clear and smooth, and throughout he provides good stories to illustrate key points. The “Read and Reflect” questions and “Heart Reset” Scripture passages at the end of each chapter make the book a great counseling tool that’s easy to apply personally. —C.C. March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 25
C U LT U R E
Children’s Books
Persevering people
RECENT BIOGRAPHIES FOR KIDS reviewed by Mary Jackson SECRET ENGINEER: HOW EMILY ROEBLING BUILT THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE Rachel Dougherty Emily is a curious learner as a child and later marries Washington Roebling, an engineer who is the son of the famous bridge builder John A. Roebling. When Washington’s father dies, he takes over plans to build a bridge across the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. But Emily must step in after Washington falls ill from spending long hours digging in caissons at the bottom of the river. At first, Washington dictates instructions to Emily, but she grows in knowledge and eventually carries the controversial project to completion. Dougherty delivers an engaging biography enhanced with bright- colored illustrations and an undaunted heroine. (Ages 5-8)
CYRUS FIELD’S BIG DREAM Mary Morton Cowan Cyrus Field could have retired at age 34 from a successful career as a paper merchant. Instead, in 1857 he takes on the ambitious goal of establishing the first transatlantic telegraph cable. This feat proves to be a challenge, and readers will hold their breaths as one thing after another goes wrong but Field refuses to give up. Widespread jubilation ensues when Queen Victoria sends President James Buchanan a Morse code message on Aug. 16, 1858, but the connection quickly breaks: It takes eight years to restore it. Cowan provides extensive historical context while presenting a man who glorified God in both trials and accomplishments. (Ages 10-12)
BETHANY HAMILTON Jenni L. Walsh Bethany Hamilton had won two surfing championships by age 13. Then a 14-foot tiger shark bit off her arm. Although the attack thrusts Hamilton into the limelight, she refuses to let it define her and decides one month later to get back in the water and try to surf again. Hamilton’s faith propels her, and she credits God and her family for the courage to surf competitively again with “Stumpy,” the nickname she gives her missing arm. In Bethany Hamilton, which is part of Scholastic’s new She Dared series, Walsh highlights a worthy role model for young readers. (Ages 8-10)
ELVIS IS KING! Jonah Winter
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In We Are the Gardeners (Thomas Nelson, 2019), HGTV’s Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines chronicles her family’s planting trials, blunders, and successes with a simple message for children: Never give up. Gaines wrote her debut children’s book with help from four of her five children. Their story begins with a flop: over-watering and over-loving a little windowsill fern. Once they master indoor plants, the family ventures outside for a grand-scale garden. Gaines interweaves proverbial wisdom as the children learn to tend a garden, warding off weeds and aphids and cheering for earthworms and ladybugs. When animals destroy the family’s garden, they consider throwing in the towel. Instead, they build a fence and start over, learning “every hard thing we choose to do makes us braver for the next time.” Soft watercolor illustrations enrich this story’s simplicity with botanical displays, and the Gaineses’ family values shine. —M.J.
To see more book news and reviews, go to wng.org/books
HANDOUT
Elvis Presley began singing in church and from there seized every opportunity to take the stage. When he heads to Memphis with his parents, they are banking on his talent to earn a living as a performer. Elvis dyes his hair black and dons head-turning outfits from thrift stores. This classic rags-to-riches tale does not mention his ignominious end but instead portrays a man who thought he found “salvation” through music. Red Nose Studio, aka Chris Sickels, bolsters the book with theaterlike clay figures and sets, and an author’s note provides a new generation with perspective on Elvis’ beginnings and unique appeal. (Ages 8-10)
AFTERWORD
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C U LT U R E
Q&A STEPHEN BASKERVILLE
Connecting the dots ASSESSING THE INTERACTION OF ADULTERY, NO-FAULT DIVORCE, LGBTQ TRENDS, POVERTY, AND CHURCH SURRENDER by Marvin Olasky
Patrick Henry College professor Stephen Baskerville is the author of Not Peace But a Sword: The Political Theology of the English Revolution. His most recent book, The New Politics of Sex: The Sexual Revolution, Civil Liberties, and the Growth of Governmental Power, brings a sword to some current debates. Here are edited excerpts of our interview.
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Should we mourn the abandonment of that old-fashioned word, fornication?
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As Christians and non-Christians approach the elephant, does one group fixate on the long trunk and the other on its massive legs? Christians
deal with homosexuality and transgenderism. Non-Christians emphasize issues like campus rape, Harvey Weinstein, allegations. Christians tend to stay away from those. They often don’t talk to each other and don’t see the bigger picture of what’s going on. In The New Politics of Sex you connect the dots. Our multifaceted sexual
revolution has had a huge impact on our society, but scholars, journalists,
Christians, and our clergy have not shown the interconnections. Cohabitation didn’t come purely from the culture. It also came from public policy changes like the creation of the welfare state that offered a very clear financial incentive to have children out of wedlock. It’s almost 50 years since no-fault divorce began in California with a bill signed by Gov. Ronald Reagan. How did that eventually lead to changing ideas about same-sex marriage? It abolished
marriage as a legally enforceable contract. The state was saying it can dissolve your marriage over your objections without you having done anything wrong. From then on marriage retained its moral power but was no longer legally enforceable. That also had an effect on the homosexuality debate? Same-sex
MIKE KEPKA/GENESIS PHOTOS
Many churches are deserting their posts, and language is an indication. Even from the pulpit today, let alone in public policy, we don’t hear words like fornication, adultery, cohabitation, even sin. We hear words like misogyny, sexism, sexual harassment. We’ve substituted legal jargon for Christian morality and have allowed political ideology to replace Christian sexual morality.
Instead of emphasizing families, pastors, churches, and local communities— moral pressure—we’re bringing in police, judges, and lawyers, the instruments of the coercive state to enforce a new kind of sexual morality dictated by the government.
arriage activists said, “If you want to m go back to the monogamous, legally enforceable marriage of the 1950s, go ahead, and we’ll stay out of it.” Only when marriage became serial monogamy, something you could get out of easily, did it fit the promiscuous lifestyle of many homosexuals. Were churches sleeping when nofault divorce emerged? Some churches
did raise their voices, but much of their attention was diverted at the time by Vietnam and civil rights. There was very little debate, very little discussion. No-fault divorce, the welfare state, and the cohabitation explosion were all usurpations of the church’s role by the state. Governmental power was inserted into a realm of private life that had been the realm of the churches.
The churches withdrew from private life? And the state moved in. What
had been the role of pastors and priests became the role of lawyers, judges, and social workers. The church has never tried to reclaim its turf, and has been a major contributor of secularization, of people feeling the church is not part of their life when it’s not enforcing the marriage contract. What can be done now? The church has got to step in. Much of the history of the Christian church has been brave churchmen speaking out when the state overreaches its authority. This whole area of sexual morality is, frankly, our turf and God’s turf. The state has a role but is overstepping. Pastors sometimes do counseling.
It’s common when there’s a divorce case that the man often loses access to his children. He goes to the pastor and says, “Look, you married us. Don’t you have something to say about this?” And the pastor says, “I’ll certainly pray for you, and I can help you find a lawyer.” That’s about it. Why do many Christians talk more about the effects of homosexuality than the effects of single-parent homes? The most destructive trend in
our society is raising children without fathers, yet it’s being promoted as a good thing. … The consequences of single-parent homes and unwed childbearing are much more severe than the
molasky@wng.org @MarvinOlasky
problems caused by homosexuality. Most of our domestic budget goes to solving problems created by the fatherless.
destructive lifestyle and our society is also making destructive choices. We need to be assertive on both of those courts.
How many people promote singleparenting as a good thing? Look at an
Can we apply some lessons from history and sociology? The Puritans
organization called Single Mothers by Choice, or the spate of books with titles like Raising Boys Without Men. Promoting single parenthood as an empowering move is destructive, and the next logical step is raising children by homosexual couples. These different aspects of the sexual revolution feed upon and exacerbate one another. What ideology are churches up against? The first claim is for unlimited
freedom, but there’s also a corollary to that—and we’re starting to see now the
emphasized family, and that led to periods of enormous prosperity, political freedom, and social stability. Truncated relationships open the child to hypermasculinity and gangs. We have an epidemic of fatherlessness in our society: How many of those children are developing same-sex attractions because they don’t have a healthy male to identify with? You also point out the povertyfighting aspect of this. Churches have
authoritarian side to it. Civil liberty violations in the name of sexual freedom, both feminist and homosexualist, are growing. This is much more than just a problem for Christians. It’s a problem, a crisis, for our society as a whole.
always preached relief for the poor. It’s an absolute Christian imperative. Virtually all the poverty in democratic countries is the result of family structure. We don’t have starving children walking around with distended bellies: The people we call the poor in America are poor mostly because of family structure—single-parent homes, for the most part. Christian missionaries fed the poor, but they also taught them morality, including sexual morality: Have children when you’re married, and stay married. Many churches now emphasize relieving the poor but not building strong family structure. The Puritans emphasized both. The purity in Puritanism was not just sexual purity but purity in things like alcohol, drugs, lust, evil thoughts. Purity is the beginning of what makes us free. In the English-speaking world, it’s what makes us citizens, with purity the rite of passage to be an active citizen: When you’re wallowing in sin and license, you’re literally enslaved, in hock to the devil. You’re only truly free when you have control of yourself.
Churches and pastors feel enormous pressure. There’s a feeling that
We need to recapture that understanding? Our rivals in the Islamic
‘Virtually all the poverty in democratic countries is the result of family structure. Many churches now emphasize relieving the poor but not building strong family structure.’
the churches have only two choices, either to present a dogmatic Biblical view or to surrender. Churches should combine compassion with Biblical principles and find ways to show homosexuals that God loves them and the church loves them, but at the same time they’re embarked on a very
world understand this keenly. I obviously don’t agree with their answer to the problem, but they understand that dialectic between purity and freedom, and they’re playing on it. In contending with radical Islamists we need to recapture that element of our political history and our political culture. A March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 29
C U LT U R E
Music Lemke
Waiting actively
AUSTIN MUSICIAN REDEEMS THE TIME WHILE SINGING OF CHRIST’S RETURN by Arsenio Orteza
30 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
made pretty early on to give me some creative limitations and to check any perfectionist impulse I might have.” He understands, in other words, Paul’s command to “redeem the time,” an injunction—it’s sometimes easy to forget—issued in expectation of Christ’s imminent return. Lemke’s latest eschatological song, “Tired, Waiting,” can be found on his new album, Thy Tender Care. “The end’s been near for quite some time, for my whole life,” he sings in a yearning, sandpapery tenor, giving fresh voice to an ancient Christian complaint. But there’s a twist. After the final go-round of the refrain—“I am tired of waiting for You”—he asks, “Are You tired of
aorteza@wng.org @ArsenioOrteza
MATT SEAL
At 27, the Austin, Texas–based singer-songwriter Harrison Lemke is too young to have experienced firsthand the rapture fanaticism of the 1970s. Nevertheless, as the titles of his 2013 single “We Wait” and his 2015 EP Sound Check at the Eschaton imply, hopes and fears associated with the Second Coming haunt the 93 observant and soul-searching lo-fi folk (and sometimes rock) songs that he has recorded and released on six albums, four EPs, and two singles over the last six years. It’s an impressive output by any standard. “I’m just hounded by a sense, instilled from childhood, that I need to make good use of the time I’m given,” Lemke told me. “That, and I don’t have a lot of patience for polishing things. The fact that I record on fourtrack tape was a conscious choice
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waiting for me too?” Call it 2 Peter 3:9 for Modern Man. Lemke draws inspiration from the waiting associated with the First Coming too. He released the fulllength Some More Advent Songs on Christmas Day, 2017, and concludes Thy Tender Care with “Leaving Midnight Mass,” a song that, in typical Lemke fashion, casually interweaves the ordinary and the transcendent. “There’s something terribly compelling to me about a season of waiting for God,” he says, “of waiting for this bizarre moment, the Incarnation, in which the whole creation mysteriously meets its purpose. What was the point of all the time that came before? What’s the point of all this waiting now? It feels like another way of asking: What’s the point of life itself?” Lemke has been asking that question for a long time. Reared in what he describes as a “an evangelical sort of environment” that was “pretty sheltered” and included “a lot of Bible reading,” he attended a Christian school through eighth grade and had “a strong sense of being set apart, of being marked or chosen.” At times, he recalls, he took that chosenness very seriously. “I felt the weight of it: that I belonged to God, that I owed Him a response, whether I wanted to or not. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that this sense—of being saved, but not quite sure what one has been saved from, of an expectation of gratitude and an uncertainty about how to express it with any kind of sincerity—probably hangs over many evangelical kids.” That uncertainty and Lemke’s honesty in addressing it make many of his songs seem more like questions than declarations. “Feeling lost, longing for a purpose—this feels like the common experience of my generation,” he says, “and that’s a lot of what I write about.” And, as already stated, he writes a lot about it. “I like to be prolific,” he admits. “But I also try to tell the difference between what’s worth releasing and what isn’t. “Whether I succeed there is for others to judge.” A
Tommy Smith
New or recent albums reviewed by Arsenio Orteza
THE MARITIME SUITE: “WE HAVE FED OUR SEA FOR A THOUSAND YEARS” Peter Bellamy Broadcast by the BBC in the 1980s and available on cassette from Bellamy himself until his death in ’91, this bracing collection of Songs of the Sea from the Saxons to the 19th Century (the subtitle) has never been issued on CD until now. One wants to say “Better late than never” except that Bellamy died by his own hand, depressed over the dwindling demand for a traditional, clarion-voiced folk singer such as he. Strange—you think someone could’ve hooked him up with A Prairie Home Companion.
MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE FILM ROMA Various artists
Whatever one makes of Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, seeing it is a prerequisite for fully appreciating this homage. Sonido Gallo Negro’s hijinksy “Cumbia del Borras,” for instance, salutes the film’s dog, Billie Eilish’s eerie “When I Was Older” expands on Pepe’s past-life musings, and DJ Shadow’s “We Are Always Alone” distills Sofía’s resentment toward perfidious men into pure atmosphere. Curiously, the two most striking cuts, Beck’s “Tarantula” and Patti Smith’s “Wing,” have no prerequisites at all— that is, unless the originals (by Colourbox and Patti Smith respectively) count.
STAND TALL Jason Ringenberg Jason Ringenberg has made the most of his recent tenure as Artist in Residence of Sequoia National Park. Besides providing him with two back-to-nature songs that even non–tree huggers can love (one calm, the other rip-snortin’), the experience has sharpened his narrative knack (killer Civil War and Ramones tales) and his sense of humor. If the title track’s faux spaghetti-Westernisms and the Waylon Jennings pun in “Lookin’ Back Blues” don’t rustle up some grins, “John the Baptist Was a Real Humdinger” sure as shootin’ will.
WILL TODD: PASSION MUSIC, JAZZ MISSA BREVIS
COLIN ROBERTSON
St. Martin’s Voices, the Will Todd Ensemble Arrangements for seven-piece jazz ensemble meet an 18-voice choir and the soulful Shaneeka Simon singing sacred texts originating with the Gospel of John, the Latin Mass, Thomas Aquinas, Robert Herrick, Mrs. C.F. Alexander, Samuel Crossman, Mary Elizabeth Frye, whoever wrote “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” and the Stabat Mater, and the project’s composer and arranger, Will Todd. Sometimes the cross-pollination, especially on the livelier numbers, is merely interesting. At other times, “Were You There” in particular, the results are positively supernal.
To see more music news and reviews, go to wng.org/music
ENCORE Twenty-five years ago, Wynton Marsalis’ PBS series Marsalis on Music introduced children to the basics of music appreciation by juxtaposing jazz-band and orchestral renditions of well-known compositions. Now, thanks to the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s swinging new live recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf (Spartacus), a new generation can experience something similar. As arranged by the SNJO’s Tommy Smith, a flute still represents the bird, a clarinet the cat, and drums the hunters. But a trumpet replaces the oboe (the duck), a baritone sax and a bass replace the bassoon (Grandfather), trombones replace the horns (the wolf ), and a piano replaces the string quartet (Peter). What really pricks up the ears, however, is Tam Dean Burn’s exuberant Scottishaccented narration. “I wasnae supposed to open the gate, wasnae supposed to go oot beyont the gairden wall,” says Burns, “but full o’ devilment, full o’ curiosity, that was me!” And it’s off to the races from there. —A.O. March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 31
VOICE S
Mindy Belz
Man of peace
FROM EVERY SIDE SYRIA’S DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION HAS BEEN SIDELINED
32 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
Moshe
Moshe’s dignified profile shouldn’t fool anyone: He’s actually an enemy of the state.
mbelz@wng.org @mcbelz
MINDY BELZ
QAMESHLI, Syria—Gabriel Moshe is the sort of gentleman whose coat and tie look morning-fresh though it’s nearing midnight, and we are talking by the last light and heat before the electricity shuts down. Rationing the power grid is just one routine part of life in a war zone. Moshe’s dignified profile shouldn’t fool anyone: He’s actually an enemy of the state. President Bashar al-Assad’s regime arrested him in 2013 and held him for 2½ years, a man of peace caught in the politics of war. Moshe heads the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), a prominent party founded in the 1950s. ADO draws support from Syriac, Chaldean, and Assyrian Christians who dream of a day when they will have truly representative government and equal rights under the law. His stature—and threat to the state—grew as the plight of Christians and other minorities in Syria worsened. The 56-year-old in many ways is a man without a country. Born in Qameshli and arrested by its state security bureau, Moshe returned to live here. He grew up among Arabs and Kurds in this city with churches on nearly every corner. His father owned a shop in the Jewish quarter. Such diversity served Moshe in building a wide political base, though today Qameshli is divided, with war driving out perhaps half its population. In an uneasy truce, the Syrian army controls some sectors and opposition Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) others. Offices for anti-Assad groups like ADO and the Syriac Military Council actually sit inside a government-controlled area. Moshe operates now on the periphery, and under the watchful eye of the state. Though a long-standing partner in the opposition, Moshe’s ADO opposes taking up arms, making it an uneasy ally with militias governing northeast Syria (see p. 34). If that’s not enough, he and other Christians find themselves at odds with their Christian
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brethren. The patriarchs and most leaders in Syria’s established churches continue to support Assad, seeing him as despotic enough to control jihadists and other enemies of the church. It was a political disagreement with Barnabas that sent the Apostle Paul back to Syria, so we shouldn’t be surprised that eight years into the Syrian War, Christians find themselves divided. Yet the breach has consequences, especially as Assad retakes most of the country and appears stronger than ever. A long record of injustices starting with Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father who ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, has taught Moshe and democracy advocates like him to yearn for something altogether new. He and others formed the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change in 2006 as a secular coalition calling for gradual and peaceful transition. When 2011 Arab Spring protests ignited in Syria, the coalition evolved into the leading voice for political change— democratic, non-Islamist change—all the while struggling to win deserved recognition and support from the West. The jihadist armies that hijacked Syria’s anti-Assad revolt confined the democrats’ gains to this enclave east of the Euphrates. Moshe endured setbacks from the Assads and from the terrorists. Like many in the opposition, he thinks the two are linked. With war underway in 2011, Assad without explanation released Islamist fighters from Sednaya Prison. Many went on to head the al-Qaeda–linked forces fighting in Syria—raising speculation that Assad actually contrived to use jihadist groups as a justification for all-out attacks, which have included chemical weapons and barrel bombs. All opposition groups became “terrorists,” justifying Assad calling in Hezbollah and beckoning Russian intervention. The Assad regime has notoriously not protected some Christian populations in the war. That includes Damascus and Aleppo with their loyal church bases, where church leaders were kidnapped under government-held areas, raising suspicions. But in historically Christian Hasakah, the region that includes Qameshli, populations that also opposed Assad were left particularly vulnerable to attack by jihadists. U.S. strategists have been slow to understand the complex battlefield, allowing Russia and Assad to gain the upper hand, perhaps only putting off a coming cataclysm for people who most deserve support. “It’s the peaceful people who are attacked and suffer most here,” he said. A
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A GREAT WAR ISIS-led tragedies and destruction breed a fierce determination among Syria’s down-but-not-yet-out Christians
by MINDY BELZ in Hasakah, Syria
| photo by Hussein Malla/AP
Zaya Youkhana, an Assyrian Christian, stands on the rubble of a destroyed church blown up by Islamic State militants in 2015 in a deserted village in the Khabur River Valley in northern Syria. The Arabic words (written by an Islamic State militant) read, “Worshippers of the cross.”
March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 35
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36 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
announcement from President Donald Trump declaring ISIS defeated and a U.S. withdrawal from Syria imminent. The confusion surrounding the U.S. policy shift rattled a fragile nonMuslim population faced with an array of menacing opponents. Assyrians were among the first to convert to Christianity, with their churches, their Aramaic Scriptures, and their ancient hymnody (Syrian chant is the forerunner to the better-known Gregorian chant) taking hold between the first and third centuries. From the world’s earliest church sites in Tur Abdin in Turkey, Assyrians spread Christianity across what today are Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Repeatedly threatened by Muslim armies and government authorities, their communities today sit visibly near extinction, even as the Syrian War itself may soon end. Tel Nasri was a growing village along the Khabur River with about 1,200 residents when it replaced an old and small mud church with a new and expansive building in 2007. The new church included a barrel vault with six windows and two bell towers, each about four stories high with rounded domes, topped by crosses. ISIS emptied the village in early 2015, fought Khabur Defense Units and Kurdish forces for nearly two months, and on Easter Sunday blew up the church. The debris, including bell towers toppled like playthings, lies scattered among olive groves and vineyards left to grow wild. Only four Assyrians have returned to live in Tel Nasri, I learned, yet I couldn’t find one to talk to on the February afternoon I visited. In other villages I found handfuls of residents, or completely empty towns. “It’s very easy to rebuild the churches and the houses. We can raise some money and rebuild whatever is needed,” said Athneil, From left: toppled “but to create confidence for people bell tower and to return is much harder. I don’t know water tower in Tel that we can do that.” Hormizd; destroyed church in Tel Nasri Athneil found himself at the center
MINDY BELZ
VEN ON A DAY of biting February wind, the fields are lush with grass across the Khabur River Valley and so brilliantly green it hurts the eyes to look at them. A boy hurries sheep up a muddy path, while two women in bright headscarves bend over a plot of chard, picking. Near the entrance to the village of Tel Hormizd, a bombed-out water tower, lying sideways near the riverbank, signals visitors that this is no rural idyll. ISIS fighters destroyed the tank when they captured this area in 2015, and no one has returned to repair it or a vast landscape of surrounding destruction. Four years ago—on Feb. 23, 2015—ISIS militants overran the 30 villages that make up this valley. They bombed and destroyed 12 churches, multiple homes, and structures like the water tower. The fighters kidnapped more than 250 Assyrian Christians and drove away thousands of residents. Seven months later, they dressed three captured residents from the Khabur villages in orange jumpsuits, then videotaped their execution. Not long ago there were 20,000 Assyrian Christians living in the Khabur River Valley, said Mar Afram Athneil, the Assyrian Church of the East bishop of Syria: “Now we have less than 800.” The civilian atrocities of Khabur are but one episode in a Syrian War that’s left at least 500,000 people dead and much of the country in ruin. But the targeting of a stubborn Christian population—mirroring how ISIS sought out, threatened, and destroyed Christian communities in Mosul and its surrounding villages in Iraq—has become emblematic of what many Christians fear may be their future in the Middle East. Fierce fighting here has moved east, but security is proving elusive. Many feel betrayed by the unexpected December
TURKEY
Kobani
Afrin
Tel Tamer
an Se a
Aleppo Idlib
Qameshli
Tel Nasri Tel Hormizd
Raqqa
Hasakah
Khabur River
take more than defeating ISIS militarily to make life for Christians possible here again. It will take specific—and lasting— freedoms and protection.
H
M ed it er ra ne
OW TO GAIN such protection has divided Syria’s churches. Deir Ezzor Athneil told me “most of the IRAQ Christian peoples are pro-regime.” They support the government of President Homs Bashar al-Assad because he represents Baghouz stability and has protected non-Muslims. Qaryatayn They believe he will take a hard line LEBANON against terror groups like ISIS, despite the looming influence of Russia and 3 Syrian army and pro-Assad Iran. Plus, he has regained control of forces, including Hezbollah, Damascus Iranian militias, and Russian just over half the country. Failing a installations negotiated settlement requiring a Golan 3 Self-Administration in Heights transitional government (called for in North and East Syria the UN Security Council’s Resolution with U.S.-backed Syrian ISRAEL Democratic Forces JORDAN 2254 guiding faltering talks), he may 3 Al-Qaeda–linked militias retake all of Syria. 3 Turkish troops and Free But many Christians who have Syrian Army of negotiations with ISIS for the release of his captured s urvived the war see an opportunity 3 Islamic State parishioners, who ranged in age from 6 months to 90 for pluralism and for religious freedom years old. ISIS tried for weeks prior to the kidnappings not allowed under Syria’s current to impose on the villages jizya—a tax for non-Muslims—then constitution. Attacks like that in Khabur Valley bred a fierce demanded exorbitant ransoms, exceeding $12 million total. determination to secure Assyrian homelands, and for some a The bishop and others raised an unnamed sum from a worldnew willingness to take up arms against Islamic jihadists. wide network of displaced Assyrians. If Assad remains in power, said Gabriel Moshe, head of the With payments, the militants released the residents in small Assyrian Democratic Organization, “there will never be any groups over the next 13 months, starting with the elderly but security, there will never be any settlement. Any terrorist holding many families with young children for a year or more. organization can arise again.” ISIS fighters threatened the hostages, holding guns to fathers’ Despite epochal clashes with Kurds, Assad opponents are pinheads and demanding they convert to Islam. Early on, they ning their hopes on a Kurdish-led political and military coalition selected five girls to be enslaved as ISIS brides. Four were that controls what for centuries were predominantly Christian released, but one of them, areas. The coalition operates a political federation now called the now 16 years old, remains Self-Administration in North and East Syria (SANES), an area of 4 in ISIS captivity. million people extending east of the Euphrates and encompassing What ISIS did not Jazira, the ancient homeland for Assyrian and other Christians. destroy outright it has Within the self-administration zone Kurds, Christians, and dismantled through such Arabs have established political leadership and military conprolonged threats and trol over strategic areas liberated from ISIS and other jihadist intimidation, prompting groups. They have set up a loosely federal structure of local Khabur families plus others cantons they say are committed to preserving individual freeto emigrate. I interviewed dom, including religious freedom and equal rights for women. multiple families, yet few The zone currently protects 100,000 people in historically wanted their names to Christian populations, along with 21,000 new Muslim c onverts— appear in print, still fearful according to the Syriac National Council, one party in the four years after the attack. federation. Aramaic, the first-century language of Christians Kidnap victims stood firm still used in the ancient churches, is an official l anguage alongagainst ISIS demands to side Arabic and Kurdish. convert to Islam, yet as a Their control grows out of ground war victories involving result their families have the Kurdish YPG/YPJ units, the Assyrian-led Syriac Military been scattered, with relaCouncil (MFS), and several Arab militias—all fighting now tives in Sweden, Australia, under the loose banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). or the United States. It will Their efforts, supported by U.S.-led coalition air power, have Euphrates River
SYRIA
March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 37
ON THE FRONT LINES reduced ISIS territory to mere patches of land south near Deir Ezzor. The wins have come with a price: More than 14,000 SDF soldiers have died or been wounded in battle. ISIS beheaded captured Yazidi women in Baghuz, one of the group’s strongholds, as its fighters fled. While ISIS as a caliphate may be on the verge of defeat, the war is far from over. Al-Qaeda–linked militants remain in control in Idlib to the west, where fighting and civilian casualties spiked in recent weeks. Turkish-backed militias control Afrin in the northwest, an area now cut off from the rest of Syria, with tens of thousands of mostly Christian and Kurdish residents displaced from there. Turkey invaded that area last year, seeking what it called a safe zone to defend itself against Kurdish militias. Turkish forces occupy up to 40 miles of territory inside Syria near Afrin and continue in a tense standoff with Russian forces backing the Syrian army of President Bashar al-Assad. What does it all mean for the Christians in Jazira? On every side they confront potentially hostile forces, particularly if they remain opposed to the Assad regime, and especially if the United States cuts ties. Leaders in the self-administration zone joined about 40 U.S. religious freedom and human rights groups in a January letter to President Donald Trump, protesting the planned U.S. withdrawal. Such a decision, they said, “breaks commitments our government made to protect the area and support its democratic aspirations.” The groups also warned of genocidal threats and war crimes, not only by ISIS but also Turkey and the jihadist militias it supports. “Most ethnic Christians now living in the [self-administration zone] are descendants of people driven out of Turkey 100 years ago by the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides. They are terrified,” they wrote. Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, delivered a similar message when she visited Washington to meet top officials in February. Following those meetings, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Gen. Joseph Votel, traveled to northern Syria and met with the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces—an hourlong meeting and a symbolic show of support. In a reversal on Feb. 23, the Pentagon announced the president had ordered 400 troops to remain in Syria as part of a multinational force. Already the United States has withdrawn some heavy equipment from its base at Manbij, and in coming weeks may continue to draw down military personnel from the current level of almost 2,000. At the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Mike Pence told world leaders a Syria withdrawal represented “a change in tactics, not a change in mission.” SDF leaders hope an incremental withdrawal is preceded by enhanced U.S. air coverage for northern Syria to hold the hard-won territory and fledgling steps to democracy.
38 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
Besides the Khabur attacks, ISIS struck multiple Christian targets and took hundreds hostage in the mostly Christian city of Qaryatayn. Most remain unaccounted for. Nearby, militants blew up the 1,500-year-old Mar Elian monastery and held hostage for five months its prior, Syriac Catholic priest Jacques Mourad. He lives in Europe now, and the city sits mostly empty, its houses destroyed by ISIS.
MINDY BELZ
W
ITH WAR the Christian population throughout the country has plummeted—from about 8 percent in 2011 to 2 or 3 percent of the population today. Attrition has come through targeted killings, kidnappings, and emigration.
With U.S. backing and air cover, the mostly Kurdish forces now making up the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fought and eventually won a six-month battle against ISIS at Kobani in June 2015. Experts say the Kobani victory was a turning point in the Syrian war, one of the first serious setbacks for Islamic State, which until then had made only territorial gains. The victory spurred a Kurdish-American partnership that allowed U.S. forces to shift more support to local forces on the ground. The coalition went on to liberFeryal and her daughter ate from Islamic State other key cities, including in 2017 Raqqa, the selfdeclared capital of the ISIS caliphate. With control of Syria’s northeastern quadrant, SDF since late last year has fought ISIS down the Euphrates to the Iraq border, where fierce fighting in and around Deir Ezzor has led to thousands of casualties. There the Kurdish-led SDF again headed the offensive, while at the same time coordinating a humanitarian response as thousands of ISIS families began deserting in February to the other side. Numerous wives and children arrived with bullet wounds from the fighting, reported David Eubank of Free Burma Rangers, a U.S. aid team working alongside SDF in the area. SDF rescued on Feb. 14 at least one Yazidi woman who escaped ISIS with her son. Feryal, the woman, said she was from a town near Sinjar in Iraq, where ISIS captured her and the boy in 2014. After another round of fighting, 200 people arrived just after sunset and as temperatures dipped below freezing. They needed water, food, shelter, and medical care, said Eubank, and all were in short supply. As fighting and desperation in Baghuz intensified, Eubank’s team fed 4,000 people in one day. Eubank said it was “inspiring” to see Kurdish and Arab SDF fighters who have fought ISIS work through the night to provide blankets and food, which Eubank’s team distributed along with medical care. One ISIS woman told Eubank, “We were told we would be raped, tortured, and killed by the enemy if we left ISIS and ran to the SDF lines. This is amazing, thank you.” —M.B.
MONASTERY: VALERY SHARIFULIN/TASS VIA GETTY IMAGES • ANTAR: MINDY BELZ
The Mar Elian monastery destroyed by Islamic State militants; Elias Antar at home in Tel Hormizd
At the same time, war and displacement have a way of feeding the church, too. Some churches in the north are starting or growing, fueled mostly by conversions of Kurdish Muslims. In Kobani, a church of Christians displaced from Afrin is drawing converts. It has 50 families and is growing. In the Shahba canton near Aleppo, also part of the selfadministration zone, the first church in the area is growing out of 5,000 displaced people from Afrin forced to take refuge there. They receive humanitarian aid from other churches, and workers say many among the displaced are coming to faith in Christ. Even in the Khabur Valley, heartening signs of life can appear. Elias Antar, 72, has returned with his wife Shamiram to live in Tel Hormizd. He said they were among the last to be kidnapped by ISIS and the first to return. Too impatient to wait for demining teams after Kurdish YPG and local Khabur Defense Units kicked out ISIS, “we checked for mines ourselves and risked our lives to come back.” Antar, an Assyrian Christian, has become a kind of spokesman for the Khabur villages, reaching out to Assyrian families who fled after Feb. 23, 2015, and needling them to return. “We challenge all those who are running away by growing things while they are hunting for work,” he said. “We have sheep, bees, olive trees, and grapes.” Antar convinced two Assyrian-Americans to come back and persuaded residents from nearby cities Hasakah and Qameshli
mbelz@wng.org @mcbelz
to make regular trips to work on the village. As we talked, several families picked greens in a field near his home. Up the lane a boy herded sheep from their pen, and a young woman shooed chickens. Four hundred people lived in Tel Hormizd when ISIS attacked, Antar said. And now? I ask. He paused, then said, “Maybe 15. Twelve or 15.” At the other end of the village, up winding streets lined with houses pockmarked by bullets and gutted by fire, the village church overlooks the river and the town, or at least it used to. ISIS completely leveled the building. Only a flat space of flooring remains, where residents sometimes bring chairs for informal worship services. The church’s bell tower is toppled to the ground but still rings. We talked and drank tea in the airy home Antar was born and grew up in, the windows opened toward the river. When its banks overran with wavy grass in the spring, families from throughout Jazira once came for picnics. Cotton and wheat were the staple crops, and many families raised livestock and grew olive, apricot, and plum trees. Some breadwinners worked in cities like Hasakah or Qameshli by day but farmed also. The Khabur is the largest tributary of the Euphrates—rich in ancient lore and mentioned in the writings of the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, and the author of 1 Chronicles. Khabur is the site where the ancient Assyrian king TiglathPileser III once exiled Hebrew tribes, including the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The most recent forced exile to Khabur was in the 1930s, when the League of Nations deeded “strips of land twenty-five miles long and over three miles wide on both sides of the river” to Assyrian families who endured multiple 20th-century massacres. The families who moved here had survived the Armenian genocide under the Ottoman Empire, when the Turks massacred an estimated 300,000 Assyrians alongside more than a million Armenians. The Assyrians then survived an armed campaign by Arabs and Kurds in Iraq. The trek of Antar’s parents was typical for the Assyrian refugees. “My father was displaced from Hakkari in Turkey to Iran, then to Russia, then to Greece, then to Lebanon, to Iraq, and finally to Syria.” He met his wife, also a refugee, in Iran. “They moved in groups then, not scattered like now,” Antar said. “With ISIS, we simply have flown.” Of seven children, Antar’s eldest son lives in Ukraine, while two sons live in Tel Hormizd. Four married daughters all have emigrated since the attacks, two living in Germany and two in Australia. “It’s difficult to be here, but we accept the hardship,” he told me. “We work and have activities. This is my life and I have no empty time. I was born in this village in 1946. And I will die here.” A March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 39
F E AT U R E S
Authority in questIon Sexual abuse in churches isn’t new, but Southern Baptists face a fresh crisis over an old conundrum: How can they hold autonomous churches accountable?
40 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
BY JAM I E D E AN
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hen Malcolm Yarnell read the Houston Chronicle’s devastating investigation into sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches in mid-February, he grieved for the survivors and received an unexpected phone call from his mother: “I need to talk to you.” Yarnell, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, has also been a Southern Baptist minister for decades. Shortly after his ordination, his mother left the Baptist church and became a Roman Catholic. In February, she told her son why: When she was 3 years old, she began enduring sexual abuse from a church leader that went on for a decade. Many years later, she struggled when Yarnell entered Baptist ministry. Yarnell didn’t know this part of his mother’s history when the Chronicle stories appeared online, reporting the abuse of some 700 survivors by a reported 380 Southern Baptist ministers, youth pastors, and volunteers over the last two decades. But Yarnell began speaking out, and he called on Southern Baptist churches to protect the lambs from wolves. Yarnell’s mother, now in her 70s, called her son to commend him, and she finally revealed her abuse. They both wept: “My mother told me, ‘I know you’ve been following God, even when it hurt me. … And on this I want to encourage you to continue following God—because I know you do follow Him.’” For leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), following God means finding a way to protect the millions of people in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination from those who exploit power to abuse the vulnerable.
The endeavor poses a huge question: How does a enomination composed of autonomous churches enforce d accountability? And what are the deeper cultural and spiritual issues local churches must face if they want to end the abuse in their own backyards? That question forms the even longerterm work ahead of Southern Baptist churches, says Yarnell: “You can set up a system, but the culture needs to be reshaped.”
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lick on the Houston Chronicle’s investigation of the SBC, and you’ll find a searchable database of some 220 former employees or volunteers from Southern Baptist churches who have pleaded guilty to or were convicted of sex crimes since 1998. Rows of mug shots include links to each offender’s record and media reports about the crimes. The investigation reports that at least 35 who had exhibited predatory behavior found work at other Southern Baptist churches. For a denomination that claims 15 million members, the newspaper’s reported numbers are far fewer than the thousands of Catholic clergymen who perpetrated abuse over the last several decades. But abuse is often underreported, and Keith Whitfield—a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.—says the issue for the SBC isn’t primarily about math, but neglect. He says downplaying the problem is dangerous: “Denial creates a safe haven for abusers.” In the days after the report appeared, many Southern Baptist leaders didn’t downplay the problem. SBC President J.D. Greear—pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh, N.C.— lamented what he called “pure evil.”
Second Baptist Church’s Cypress Campus in Houston, Texas LOREN ELLIOTT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A few days later, Greear outlined 10 steps Southern Baptists should take based on recommendations from the SBC’s sexual abuse presidential advisory group. The steps included investigating churches highlighted in media reports for their handling of sexual abuse, and exploring possibilities for a registry of sex offenders. Greear named 10 specific churches to examine. Less than a week later, members of the SBC executive committee’s bylaw working group released a statement saying it believed only three of the 10 churches on Greear’s list warranted examination. The move created consternation among some abuse advocates who thought a few days wasn’t long enough to determine the next steps. In a written statement, Greear said: “While we do not presume the guilt of any [of the churches named], the advisory group and I believe that the public nature of these media accusations warrant a public response.” At the SBC’s annual convention in June, delegates—known as messengers—will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to identify neglect in the area of sexual abuse as a cause for the SBC to expel a church from the denomination. (The SBC constitution requires voting on any proposed amendment at two conventions, so the amendment’s earliest passage would be in 2020.) An even more vexing question: How can the SBC work to prevent abuse now? A closer look at examples of abuse on local levels offers key areas to consider. In Texas, where the Chronicle found more offenders than in any other state, the report focused on a handful of churches, including Second Baptist Church in Houston. The church is one of the largest in the denomination, and its longtime pastor, Ed Young, once served as president of the SBC. Chad Foster had a much shorter tenure at the church. According to the Chronicle, Foster moved to Houston soon after a divorce, a history of hard drinking, and a recent conversion
MARK HUMPHREY/AP
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to Christianity. Second Baptist hired him and later ordained him as a youth pastor. The paper reports Foster later said, “When I took the job, I didn’t know anything about it.” He told a judge he had no training on how to teach or counsel youth. The church fired him in 2010 after receiving complaints about lying and other inappropriate behavior, according to court documents examined by the Chronicle. (Second Baptist officials said they had not received reports of sexual abuse during his employment.) By 2011, Foster found another job as a youth pastor at Community of Faith Church. The pastor of that congregation later testified that Second Baptist gave Foster “a great reference.” By November 2011, authorities had arrested Foster, and he later pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of online solicitation of a minor. He had met two of his teenage victims at Second Baptist. One of the girls told the court: “My innocence is gone. I no longer have a relationship with God, and that was something that was very special to me. I don’t trust anyone in churches anymore.” Second Baptist underscored to the Chronicle that it did not learn of the sexual assault allegations until after it fired Foster. The church declined a request from WORLD for comment. Members of the SBC committee included Second Baptist in its list of seven churches they didn’t believe warranted further inquiry. But Foster’s reported ordination to the ministry as an untrained man with a rocky personal history and a recent conversion raises concerns. Quick ordinations aren’t uncommon, according to some in the Greear speaks to SBC. Indeed, SBC president Greear the denomination’s singled out examining the ordination executive commitprocess as one of the 10 steps Southern tee on Feb. 18 in Nashville, Tenn. Baptists should take in seeking to prevent abuse. But this remains a local issue: Each Southern Baptist church sets its own process and requirements for ordination. The process may be rigorous depending on the congregation, but Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Florida and executive director of Founders Ministries, says it’s not uncommon for a church committee to examine a man with a few simple questions in the afternoon and perhaps ordain him that evening. That includes youth pastors, and the Chronicle reported that more than 100 Southern Baptists described as former youth pastors or youth ministers are “in prison, are registered sex offenders, or have been charged with sex crimes.” The most common targets were teenage girls and boys. Even if a man is ordained hastily, a church still has the power to revoke his ordination if it finds him unfit for ministry.
Given that some employment laws can punish employers for information they share in a reference, churches may worry about whether they should reveal concerns about an employee to another church, if asked. Jon Whitehead, a Southern Baptist and an attorney, says courts usually side with the church giving the reference, and generally recognize this kind of communication as protected speech. Still, he concedes the law is complicated, and he says churches should consult with attorneys about how to give a proper recommendation in such cases. (Having a policy in place before an incident occurs is helpful for legal purposes, he says.) But he also notes churches have a Biblical obligation to be honest with another congregation about a candidate’s fitness for ministry. “[The Apostle] Paul says ministers should be ‘above reproach,’” he wrote. “But on sexual misconduct, churches can end up with ministers ‘not quite convicted.’”
since then, and he believes there’s now a greater awareness and commitment to preventing abuse and helping survivors. “We’re still autonomous,” he says. “Autonomy isn’t the reason we didn’t do anything. We didn’t do anything because we didn’t want to.” It seems clear some in the SBC want to address the issue now, but it will remain dependent on local churches voluntarily committing to the work it takes to screen volunteers and employees, train church leaders on how to prevent and respond to abuse, and participate in any larger initiatives like a potential database to alert other SBC churches to sexual offenders. All the SBC state conventions signed a commitment in February to follow a set of steps for abuse prevention and response, and each Southern Baptist seminary agreed to add
LOREN ELLIOTT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
I
n handling abuse better, the local level may be a critical place to start. Most SBC churches not only belong to the national denomination, but also to state conventions and local associations geographically much closer to the local churches. With some 47,000 churches in the SBC, it makes sense for these local groups to be the front lines of prevention. On the church level, Tom Ascol says church discipline was once a robust reality in Baptist life for all sorts of issues. Churches confronted members living in unrepentant sin, and removed them from membership if they didn’t repent. (In the Baptist form of government, the whole congregation would vote on whether to remove a member.) The same happened in churches straying from Biblical doctrine or practice. A local association would hold a trial and vote on whether to remove the church from its association’s roll. This sometimes still happens, but the practice is largely missing from Southern Baptist life, says Ascol. Today, he notes the gap between Southern Baptist membership and church attendance: For the year 2017, the SBC reported total membership as a little over 15 million. It reported weekly church attendance at 5.3 million. Ascol finds the gap of 10 million people missing from worship each week alarming: “If we don’t care about people’s souls, how are we going to care for their sexual safety?” (Different churches also operate in different ways: Some SBC churches have elders to help make decisions and keep pastors accountable, some have deacons in leadership authority, and some have solo pastors who exercise all or most of the authority.) The Baptist commitment to local church autonomy could prove challenging to some kinds of abuse-related reform: Though churches often associate with local, state, and the national convention, no outside body exercises control or authority over a local church. A local, state, or national body can remove a church from its association, but it can’t make binding decisions over a local congregation. Some leaders cited that reality in 2008 when the SBC rejected a proposal to create a registry of registered sex offenders, noting there would be no enforcement mechanism to require churches to participate. Today, SBC president Greear and other Southern Baptists say they are open to the proposal. Wade Burleson, an Oklahoma pastor who suggested such a registry a decade ago, says the culture in the SBC has changed jdean@wng.org @deanworldmag
training to the required curriculum for students. The SBC announced it would release a new set of training materials for local churches in June. A sexual abuse advisory group has already been meeting for months. Another major step on the horizon: Many in the SBC are watching to see whom the executive committee chooses as the committee’s next CEO. The position has been vacant since former CEO and pastor Frank Page resigned last year, citing a moral failing. Burleson says it’s a key post to fill with someone who affirms he’s eager to work on a robust agenda of working against sexual abuse: “If he doesn’t, they shouldn’t hire him.” Whitfield and Yarnell also suggest a process to find advocates for victims at each level of associations, and for churches to voluntarily enter a covenant to pledge to take certain steps to be well-prepared and trained to handle crises. Whitfield says that would require churches voluntarily making themselves more accountable to each other: “The challenge is whether we’ll be sacrificial with the solution if it requires more from us in terms of time, money, and other resources, and whether we’ll be willing to freely give up some of our autonomy—not have it taken from us—but freely give up some of our autonomy for this greater good.” A The front page of the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of accusations of abuse in the SBC.
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F E AT U R E S
Soils of sufferi Forty years after the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian church has multiplied but hopes a new generation can move beyond the pain of the past by Angela Lu Fulton in Phnom Penh, Cambodia PHOTOS FROM NEW LIFE FELLOWSHIP, CAMBODIA/FACEBOOK
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ON A SUNDAY MORNING in Phnom Penh, motorcycles, SUVs, and colorful tuk-tuks (motorcycle-pulled rickshaws) try to squeeze past each other on a busy road. Off the main drag and next to a multistoried mall stands New Life Fellowship, its open doors facing an indoor shoe market. Inside, past the megachurch’s coffee shop, greeters hold open doors to a dark, air-conditioned sanctuary where hundreds of young Cambodians have gathered for worship. Colored lights flash as rock-concert-style worship music booms loud enough for shoppers next door to hear. “God, you love me, how you love me / Your heart for me will never change” read the lyrics in both English and Khmer as the congregants jump, dance, and sing along. After nearly an hour of worship music, Pastor Jesse McCaul addresses the congregation in fluent Khmer about the need to hear God’s voice. He then declares 2019 a year of greatness for God’s people. With more than 2,000 congregants each week, the charismatic New Life Fellowship is one of the largest churches in Cambodia. Churches of this size in Phnom Penh would have been unthinkable 30 years ago, when Christians had to meet New Life secretly in homes and could be Fellowship, arrested for carrying a Bible. Cambodia (all photos Today, churches of all sizes— this page) megachurches, 100-member churches, and smaller cell groups—meet on Sunday mornings all over the country. January marked 40 years since the end of the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime that wiped out a quarter of Cambodia’s population and devastated the country. After the regime fell from power, fighting between the Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge, and noncommunist factions continued for the next decade, ending with a peace treaty and United Nations–backed elections in the early 1990s. Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid and the government’s claims of democracy, Cambodia runs on a corrupt, patronage-based political system headed by strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has maintained power for the past 34 years. Still, most Cambodians are grateful to live in peace and to see their standard of living improve: Cambodia’s per capita income quadrupled from 1993 to 2013. Miraculously, the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge opened the door
for Christianity to permeate the Buddhist country. The number of Cambodian Christians has increased from likely only a few hundred believers in 1979 to 470,000 in 2010—3 percent of the population, according to Operation World. Today Christians worship and evangelize freely, with the promise from Hun Sen that they won’t face persecution as long as they stay out of politics and don’t criticize the government. While New Life Fellowship’s size points to the remarkable growth of Christianity in the country, its youthful congregation reflects a new generation of believers many local pastors and ministry leaders are counting on as the future of the Cambodian church at large. The church in Cambodia today faces particular challenges as many of its leaders lack education and theological training, churchgoers give little to offering plates, and prospective pastors are lured away from the pulpit by higher-paying nonprofit jobs. In a country where 65 percent of the population is under 30 years old, many see the younger generation as a new hope, a group that grew up in relative peace without the scars of past persecution that the older generations carry. CAMBODIA’S CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT was largely sown in the soils of tribulation. When Chhinho Saing was a toddler, the peasant soldiers of the Khmer Rouge marched into Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh, overthrew the Khmer Republic, and forced the city’s residents out into rural areas in an attempt to create a new agrarian utopia. Under the brutal leadership of Pol Pot, 1.7 million Cambodians would die of starvation, forced labor, or execution in the next 3½ years. The genocide ended only after Vietnamese troops captured Phnom Penh on Jan. 7, 1979. In Battambang province where Saing’s family lived, conflicting reports buzzed among the survivors: Some claimed they needed to move into Vietnamese-controlled territory for safety, while others urged staying put. Saing’s father wanted to move, but his mother feared it was a trick to
March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 45
46 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
visit relatives and share the gospel. Underground churches also emerged in the ’80s. Heng Cheng, an ethnically Chinese fourth-generation Christian, was a high-school teacher when the Khmer Rouge took over. His job could have resulted in a death sentence, but he escaped to Vietnam, where he reconnected with his Christian faith and studied at a secret Bible school. In 1984, he returned to Cambodia to start an underground church for Cambodian, Chinese, and Vietnamese believers. For five years they met secretly in homes on different days of the week to avoid detection, their numbers growing to 100 people meeting in groups of 20. The Cambodian government began to recognize Christianity in 1990, and
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its new constitution in 1993 guaranteed citizens freedom of religion. Authorities gave Cheng’s church permission to gather openly, and he started the first Assemblies of God church in Cambodia. The 1993 elections also opened the door for foreigners to come in, including missionaries and Christian aid groups that were allowed to evangelize openly. In 1996, churches created the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia, an umbrella organization bringing together different denominations, with Cheng as its first general secretary. Today the fellowship represents about half of all the churches in Cambodia. Saing remembers how quickly Christianity grew in those early years. During the day, he and his classmates would study under missionaries at the Phnom Penh Bible School, then do evangelism and church-planting ministries
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after class. “Everyone was excited and wanted to serve the Lord,” Saing said. The introduction of missionaries and aid groups into Cambodia brought both benefits and challenges. On the one hand, many of the groups were able to tackle pressing issues like sex trafficking, community development, land mine injuries, and education. On the other hand, churchgoers began to rely on foreign funds to pay pastors and grew accustomed to receiving rather than giving. Pastors tried to inflate the number of converts in their reports in order to increase donations. Christian nongovernmental organizations also sought to hire Bible school graduates, some of whom jumped at the opportunity to avoid pastoral jobs at rural churches and instead stay in the city and work at organizations providing high pay, a consistent work schedule,
ANGELA LU FULTON
kill Cambodians. In the end, Saing’s father took him, his brother, and three sisters with him while his mother, grandmother, and eldest brother stayed behind. A few days later, those who stayed behind received confirmation that they would be safe in Vietnamese territory, so they started the journey to reunite with the rest of the family. But before they could reach them, Khmer Rouge soldiers cut off the route. Neighbors reported to Saing’s father that they had seen three dead bodies on the side of the road: a young man, a middle-aged woman, and an elderly woman. Although Saing had grown up in a Buddhist family, during the horror of the Khmer Rouge his father remembered the gospel message he had heard from a relative. Afterward, he told his children that they were a Christian family and would not worship in Buddhist temples like their neighbors. Saing and his siblings didn’t know what it meant to be a Christian, but obeyed. One day, the family bought a small radio, and while turning the dial they heard a radio announcer mention the name “Jesus Christ.” Intrigued, they started listening each morning and evening to the Christian program, aired by the Far East Broadcasting Company. Every day as the preacher on the radio asked listeners to repeat the sinner’s prayer, they followed along and prayed. In 1990, the first Christian and Missionary Alliance church opened in Battambang, and Saing felt elated to hear the preaching of the Bible in person. He decided that he too wanted to be a pastor. Saing was the first student at the Phnom Penh Bible School when it opened in 1992. Today the 45-year-old is the head of Shalom Mission Cambodia, which has 30 churches throughout the country, a Bible school, a Christian school, and after-school English programs. Many other Cambodians came to profess Christ while living in refugee camps along the Thai border after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Foreign missionaries evangelized the survivors, and many who had lost faith in Buddhism during the genocide found hope in Christ. Missionaries sponsored the converts to move to the United States, and while some fell away, others became pastors of Khmer congregations. When Cambodia opened its doors in 1990, the Cambodian diaspora returned home to
(1) Phnom Penh Bible School. (2) Chhinho Saing. (3) Heng Cheng. (4) Vuthy Son.
and opportunities to travel. Saing points to this shift as a factor behind a recent slowdown in the growth of Christianity, along with another factor: a lack of education and Biblical understanding among Cambodian pastors—a lingering consequence of the Khmer Rouge’s anti-education policies. THE SCARS OF THE BRUTAL genocide remain on the people and land of Cambodia. Along the roads of Phnom Penh, tuk-tuk drivers accost foreign tourists and ask a little too cheerfully: “Tuk-tuk to the Killing Field?” At Choeung Ek Killing Fields where 1 million people were executed, tattered clothing and human bones continue to emerge out of the dirt-filled pits after rainfalls. At Tuol Sleng, a school-turnedprison, walls still bear the marks and scratches of the 20,000 prisoners held there, many tortured in those classrooms. Only a handful of the prisoners survived, and two of them spend their days at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, signing books and talking to tourists about their experiences. Other scars are harder to see. Under the Khmer Rouge, so many spies existed that even husbands and wives couldn’t be completely open with each other, and Cambodian people today still struggle alu@wng.org @angela818
with trust issues. A survival mentality has caused many Cambodians to focus on their personal security rather than the welfare of others. Many are still wrestling with anger and bitterness. These problems have carried over into the church, leading to clashes and conflict within church leadership. Because the Khmer Rouge targeted the educated class and shut down schools, few surviving Cambodians among the middle-aged and older generations were ever fully educated. Many of the current church leaders are in their late 40s and 50s, yet some have only an elementary-level education, and others are unable even to read the Bible. Cheng, the Evangelical Fellowship leader, says training these pastors has been difficult as they struggle to analyze texts or grasp complex theology. But he hopes younger, more educated Christians will carry the torch of church leadership forward. Vuthy Son, 43, is an example of the younger generation of church leadership. Son grew up in a refugee camp where missionaries told him the gospel and gave him a Bible. He read each page—then proceeded to smoke it, finishing the New Testament in two years. Later he came to profess faith in Christ after comparing Buddhism and Christianity and realizing the Christian God was the one true God. After Son returned to Battambang, a pastor from the refugee camp asked to use his house for Sunday worship services. Then one day, the pastor left and never returned.
Son was only about 16 at the time, but because he could read and write, others pushed him to lead the church. Son attended Phnom Penh Bible School in 1996, graduated, and started a church in his hometown. He then studied at Sydney Missionary & Bible College before returning to Phnom Penh Bible School as a faculty member. He was later promoted to academic dean and three years ago became principal of the school. Today the Bible school has a spacious campus with clusters of dorms, a redtiled sanctuary, and a covered canteen for meals. Western professors eat lunch with 60 Khmer students, most of whom have recently graduated high school. The school now has a stricter admission process, requiring applicants to obtain a high-school diploma before they can attend. After his experience seeing his own pastor abandon his flock, Son has questioned whether some of the earlier Cambodian pastors were serious about their faith or were only in ministry for personal gain. As a Bible school principal, he now stresses the importance of Biblical understanding and says he spends extra time with students before graduation, encouraging them to build strong churches in Cambodia. SAING HAS HIGH HOPES for his four children, who range in age from 6 to 15. He believes they can achieve great things, freed from the emotional baggage carried by previous generations. For them, the story of what their father endured under the Khmer Rouge seems far removed from current reality. “They can’t believe people would do that to each other,” Saing explains. Still, through all he’s experienced, Saing sees God’s hand in Cambodia’s history. “Why did God allow the Khmer Rouge to happen?” he asks. “We lost a lot of lives; I lost family members, so I don’t want to say this is a good thing.” Yet Saing believes the atrocities shook his countrymen from spiritual complacency. “After the Khmer Rouge, everything flipped upside down. People were seeking new hope, new opportunity, so were open to the gospel,” he says. “If we look at the spiritual side, the Khmer Rouge was an opportunity to open the hearts of the Cambodian people.” A March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 47
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ONE FAMILY’S
ORDEAL
Unable to enter the United States and unwilling to return to El Salvador, the Yanes family waits in Mexico BY SOPHIA LEE 1 Kenny Yanes and his wife Ezequiel lived in a gang-infested, poverty-wrecked barrio in El Salvador. A full day’s labor in the fields earned them $7 each. “There’s no freedom,” Kenny told me. “The gangs watch every move you make. What kind of life is that? Forget about finding a job. Forget about living life. That alone should make anyone want to leave the country.” But they stayed, because they’d heard horrific stories about the migrant’s journey to the United States. Throughout the years many Central Americans have headed north for a better life, and many have perished along the way. Drug cartels, bandits, and corrupt police extort, abuse, kidnap, rape, and murder migrants. Coyotes (smugglers) rob, abandon, or sell their clients to A person who trekked for sex traffickers. over a month across Last October a Central America and Mexico within a caravan Facebook page, of Central American since deleted, and migrants in the hopes of a WhatsApp group, reaching the United “Caravana Santa States holds a U.S. flag at a shelter in Tijuana. Ana,” mobilized Salvadorans to PEDRO PARDO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 49
head 2,700 miles to the Promised Land together in a caravan. Migrant caravans provide safety in numbers: With big numbers come media attention and international scrutiny, which pushes authorities to behave and evildoers to look for victims elsewhere. When Kenny and Ezequiel heard about the upcoming caravan, they stuffed two changes of clothes into a backpack and scraped up all their cash—about $80 in all. Together with Kenny’s nephew Alexis and Ezequiel’s cousin Marcos (they only gave their middle names, stating fear of harm from authorities), they showed up on Oct. 31, 2018, at the capital of El Salvador and joined 2,000 others. They began on foot: Most wore hats or draped T-shirts over their faces to keep the blazing rays away. They walked what seemed like endless miles, lying down when the sun set and continuing the journey when dawn broke. A few days later, the caravan crossed the border to Guatemala, where the Yanes family hitched rides from passing vehicles. When they reached the Guatemala-Mexico border, the Guatemalan and Mexican police let them through to Chiapas. Throughout the trip, they relied on charity from local residents and priests. In some towns, people offered them tortillas, bread, snacks, and bottled water. In others, residents glared and slammed their doors. On those days, the Yaneses went hungry. Their caravan did not take the shorter, northeastern route to Texas, which crosses precarious, crime-ridden Mexican states. It took the longer but safer northwestern route to reach Tijuana, which has more shelters and nonprofit volunteers than any other border city and is adjacent to California, a “sanctuary state.” The Tijuana the Yanes family entered on Nov. 27 was a city already buckling under the burdens of housing thousands of
migrants like the Yaneses. Ezequiel said she assumed when they reached Tijuana they’d breeze right through, just as they did at other border cities. Instead, “everything came to a halt,” Ezequiel said with a despondent smile: “I’m disillusioned.” Mexican officials put the migrants in an openair sports complex close to the border, but rain created muddy swamps. Just after Thanksgiving, hundreds of frustrated people rushed the border, inciting Border Patrol guards to release tear gas. Officials then moved many migrants to a vacant nightclub 10 miles away from the border, but the Yanes family stayed behind in another shelter closer to the border, as did many others who refused to lose sight of their destination. When I met the Yaneses in early February, they were sharing a tiny room at Agape Mision Mundial, an evangelical church perched on the edge of a dusty hill that used to be a city dumpsite. When that church’s pastor, Alberto Rivera, found the family, they were living in dismal conditions, so Rivera invited them to stay in his church, which currently houses about 65 Central Americans, including three unaccompanied minors. Now the family lives in a tiny but warm room with concrete floors, a Rivera small desk, and a full-size bunk bed.
THE LURE OF THE NORTH
50 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
American migrants in Oaxaca, Mexico, says Pueblo has “cheated” the migrants and “told them lies” about what to expect at the U.S. border, making it sound as if it’s easier to cross than it is. Solalinde, like many volunteers helping the migrants, has advised them to stay in Mexico and seek asylum instead. Pueblo organizer Alex Mensing says such public censures have led to a series of death threats against him and other volunteers. He says Pueblo never promised anything or made decisions for the migrants: “We didn’t bring them here. We just accompanied them. … We say to them, ‘Look, this is how the [U.S. immigration] system works. It’s horrible. You’ll probably get detained, but if you still want to go, we’ll accompany you.’” But when people are in such desperate situations, even a promise by eloquent American activists to accompany them can tip people toward a decision they
Solalinde
might otherwise not make on their own. Pueblo planned the route to Tijuana, helped arrange transportation, and raised money online for shelter and food. It says the United States is responsible for the repressive systems in Central America. Last October, volunteers helped several hundred migrants illegally cross the river into Mexico on rafts. (Mensing didn’t respond by press time to a request for Pueblo’s financial information.)
RIVERA: SOPHIA LEE • SOLALINDE: REBECCA BLACKWELL/AP
1 As Kenny and Ezequiel Yanes wonder what to do next, cousin Marcos prowls the internet, rifling through conspiracy theories about the migrant caravans. Even the migrants themselves wonder who’s funding and profiting from the caravan movement: George Soros, the leftist billionaire philanthropist? Democrats? Republicans? Leaders of Honduras or Venezuela or Russia? Some human rights leaders say caravan organizers like Pueblo Sin Fronteras (aka People Without Borders) used migrants as pawns to promote their own political agendas. Pueblo, founded in Dallas, is not registered as a nonprofit. Migrants had already been moving in caravans for years, but Pueblo was the first to coordinate caravans large enough (one grew to 7,000 last October) to draw international attention. Catholic priest Alejandro Solalinde, who founded a shelter for Central
the border illegally. The idea of returning home fills them with dread. They feel stuck. The Yanes family is better off than many others. In December, robbers killed two boys, ages 16 and 17, from Honduras after they left a youth shelter for another shelter. Pastor Rivera has met many unaccompanied children clutching tragic stories: “There is not one minor I’ve met who’s not going through some kind of emotional trauma of abandonment or abuse.” One 14-year-old boy from Honduras who came to Rivera’s church alienated everyone else by constantly stealing from them. Rivera understood the boy’s plight: He has no legal guardian and cannot legally work, which means he’s always fending for himself. Later, the boy befriended some young American activists: Rivera says they offered him marijuana, which is illegal in Mexico. Rivera showed me videos of the activists nonchalantly smoking inside their cars while police officers tried to convince the boy to return to the church. The boy crossed his arms and snarled, and when an officer leaned in, the boy kicked, screamed, tried to bite him, and pulled out a switchblade. “Poor boy,” Rivera said. “He’s scared. He needs special help. I tried my best to help the boy, but you can only help so much.” Kenny Yanes asked me, “What are the chances that the Trump administration will grant people like us asylum?” I told him, “Not good.” His expression remained the same, but the light in his eyes dimmed. A Migrants line up for food in Tijuana.
TOP: OMAR MARTINEZ/PICTURE-ALLIANCE/DPA/AP • BOTTOM: GREGORY BULL/AP
Kenny and Ezequiel are unsure about what to do. Now that their optimism has burst, fear and apprehension have oozed in. They don’t dare seek asylum from Mexico or the United States, fearing they’ll be targeted and deported. They don’t dare cross
The group also encourages migrants to confront government officials publicly. In November, Pueblo activists helped lead protests in Tijuana: During one of them, some migrants suddenly shoved their way past the police to jump the fence, prompting U.S. Border Patrol to shoot rubber bullets and tear gas. Pueblo says it advised people against such action, but can it convincingly claim innocence when it stirs a cauldron and the contents boil over? Last December, as it became clear that the United States is not softening border policies, Pueblo stopped organizing caravans and opened a migrant shelter on a rented alleyway between two buildings on the side of a shadeless hill. On the day I visited, some migrants were working odd jobs, some did chores, and a small group of men watched soap operas on a boxy TV. Bue tarp-covered tents sheltered 40 people (including six c hildren) and dripped from the week’s continuous rain showers. Two women from Honduras cooked something with beans in a big pot. They rely on donations and usually have
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enough for two meals a day. Sometimes, all they eat is cooked rice. Both women said they’re on the waitlist to request asylum in the United States, and Mensing drops in often to update residents on the asylum waitlist. Oscar Carcamo from Honduras, 25, was in charge of day-to-day maintenance. He is handsome with lean cheekbones and dark eyelashes, but his eyes are yellow, his lip split, and he looks tired and A man at the border wall in Tijuana
malnourished. He said he left his girlfriend and mother in order to look for work in the United States after years of getting robbed while selling produce on the streets. He tried to enter the United States illegally two years ago, but immigration authorities caught him and sent him back to Honduras. When Carcamo heard about the caravan last year, he decided to try again, even though he knew he would not gain asylum because of his previous deportation history. He’s heard that many churches in San Diego provide sanctuary for migrants, so he plans another illegal entry: “Tijuana was never my destination. The goal was always America.” That’s a common sentiment among migrants who refuse asylum in Mexico, which frustrates some humanitarian volunteers. Yabes Manokaran, a Global Mission Fellows volunteer from South India, said the migrants “close their ears” to his advice to settle in Mexico: “They don’t want to listen to anything except the story of the American Dream.” —S.L. March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 51
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NOTEBOOK Lifestyle / Medicine / Technology / Sports / Media
Lifestyle
JAY JANNER/AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN VIA AP
Building a community
A TEXAS PROGRAM TRIES TO BE A FAMILY FOR THE CHRONICALLY HOMELESS WITHOUT REQUIRING CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR by Harvest Prude & Charissa Crotts in Austin, Texas Alan Graham is a tough old man with a big heart for sufferers. He lives with his black lab Franny (named after Francis of Assisi) in a tiny house in the homeless village he founded. Wearing a ball cap, blue button-up
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shirt, glasses, and a silver crucifix necklace, he makes his rounds through the village, greeting residents by name. One July afternoon, he stopped to greet a white-haired woman and her two fluffy dogs running underfoot.
“Are you making enough for everybody?” he called to an African-American man grilling pork chops on his front porch. Gary Floyd, a resident of the Community First Village, sweeps the steps of his house.
In his mid-60s, Graham has seen a lot. Twenty years ago, he started going to the streets to feed the homeless. Along with five friends, he started a food truck ministry called Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) in 1998 with only a minivan. The ministry gives its 19,000plus volunteers a chance to do something toward the visible problem of homelessness in Austin, Texas. In January 2018, the city of Austin (population 950,715) identified 2,147 homeless people living in shelters or on the streets, a March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 53
NOTEBOOK
Lifestyle
5 percent increase from the previous year. To address the problem, the city partnered with local nonprofit Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) to develop Austin’s Action Plan to End Homelessness in February 2018. Organizations like the Salvation Army, Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, and Caritas of Austin work together to provide a range of services and programs to match individuals with permanent housing. But Austin residents still cannot go far without seeing grocery carts stuffed with belongings lined up under bridges and people with cardboard signs panhandling at intersections. Though he partners with the city to manage information about the homeless and receives referrals from them, Alan Graham believes, ultimately, government efforts to help the homeless are ineffective because they misdiagnose the cause of the problem: He says his Christian convictions and years of interacting with homeless individuals have shown him homelessness comes from a “profound and catastrophic loss of family.”
e vangelical pastor, Matt Freeman. While Graham is Roman Catholic, Freeman is Protestant, and staff members come from a variety of denominational backgrounds. Some people live at the Village for the purpose of reaching out to residents with the gospel. Some of these “missional f amilies” moved from other states to serve in this way. Residents are not required to work on-site, though several do. According to Graham, 80 percent receive government subsidies that cover their cheap monthly rent (the most expensive is $430 plus electricity per month). Sometimes he sees residents panhandling at intersections, begging for money as they did before moving to the Village. Graham acknowledges that the Village is not the answer for everyone. It is designed for the chronically homeless. Most have been on the streets for so long he believes it would be impossible for them to keep a n ormal full-time job or have an independent life. Graham believes the best thing he can do for them is give them a safe, comfortable environment and friendship. Richard moved to Community First after 12 years of homelessness. He has thin brown hair, graybrown stubble, dimples, and blue eyes with pinpoint pupils. Richard said he used to juggle on the side of the street, only c aring about his next high, until his mom pushed him toward the Village. When he first moved in, all he would do is finish work and go home to watch Netflix. Neighbors reached out, but he wanted nothing to do with them. Then, one day, he had a stroke from the heat. He was out of work for three weeks and couldn’t pay rent when the time came. Instead of evicting him, the Village gave him time to get back on his feet. Now he works in the gardens, greenhouse, and
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54 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) operates from the belief that what homeless people need most is housing, so it adopted a Housing First model. Graham believes homeless people most basically need a family, so he started the Community First Village. “Housing will never solve homelessness,” he said. “But community will.” The first resident moved into the Village in 2015. The residents live in 100 RVs and 140 houses that each cost approximately $29,000 to build. It only accepts chronically homeless individuals who complete a Coordinated Assessment form, fill out an application, and tour the property. To avoid eviction, residents must pay rent and comply with community rules. How much, or how little, they participate in community life is up to them. Community First offers residents the Alan Graham (second from chance to particileft) shares a pate in weekly worThanksgiving ship services, Bible meal with studies, and mission Community First residents. trips led by an
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inn, and he knows everyone within 10 houses of him in every direction. “You can’t force people to change,” he said. “Only love them and show them a better way and hope they join in.” Not all the residents respond to the opportunity for a better way, though. Staff members try to exert positive peer pressure on residents to change in the context of friendships. But Graham acknowledged a few residents keep to themselves, and no one ever sees them. People can live at the Village permanently without working, going through counseling or job training, or passing drug tests. Graham and other staff members keep track of which residents use drugs. He said that five minutes before Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks drop, those people line up at the ATM in the Village, even though it’s a few minutes before midnight on a Wednesday. Graham and other staff members talk to the residents who are addicted, letting them know they aren’t hidden and offering help to change. But they leave to the residents the choice of whether to use. Graham said the Village offers entrepreneurial, social, and spiritual opportunities for residents to grow. He talks about helping residents achieve dreams and reach their potential, but he does not believe in measuring success, in contrast with Transformation First approaches (see sidebar). “We don’t use words like ‘cured’ and ‘solved.’” The only goal Graham articulated for the residents was “I hope that they die and are buried here.” Fifteen residents have died since the Village opened. Their cremated remains rest in a memorial garden in the community. Providing people comfort, opportunities, and love gives them dignity, according to Graham. Even if they do not change their lives or embrace the community, they are still better off than they were. He contrasted Community First Village with the reality of Austin’s streets, where drug addicts camp outside the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH): “Go down to the ARCH,” Graham said. “Go look at the debacle. Look at the trash can of humanity. Compare that to the exact same people here.” A
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Christopher Fay works with a Homestretch client.
‘A UNIFIED THEORY OF CHANGE’ In northern Virginia, Christopher Fay also runs a program distinct from the mainstream. He agrees that the Housing First model misses something, but he and Alan Graham (see mainbar) serve different populations of homeless, and they differ on what their clients need first. Homestretch is a program that challenges the homeless to rise out of poverty to independence through hard work. The program offers housing for only two years, and during that time the staff members do all they can to remove obstacles (lack of child care, transportation, job training, or education) from participants’ paths. Though the state sends Homestretch their toughest cases, 90 percent of people in their program successfully graduate. Fay said, “What we’re trying to do is change the narrative about what the homeless family can achieve. We’re trying to demonstrate no one need be confined to poverty, homelessness, to despair. Everybody has within them the capacity to fundamentally change the course of their life.” Many of their clients are younger—often single mothers who want a better life for their kids but come from backgrounds of domestic violence and feel overwhelmed by debt, job pressure, and lack of education. Fay said the basic underlying philosophy of Homestretch is that people need to be “on a pathway toward achievement in which they can experience a sense of growing accomplishment.” Staff members help clients take small steps forward, showing them change is possible. When people no longer feel trapped, they can dream about the future and work to achieve those dreams. “For me, we have a clear definition of success—the family has moved out of poverty, and we can define that by proof of changed income, changed credit score, evidence of skills and education,” he said. “A unified theory of change.” Sometimes Homestretch clients show themselves not up to the challenge and drop out. But the majority who start the program finish it, equipped with the skills to improve their lives. “You have to believe that they’re capable of it and create a pathway where they can experience it firsthand,” said Fay. “Something they can try and then succeed. So that faith in themselves becomes ignited, a fire within themselves, to the point where it gains its own momentum. Then their dreams and their imaginations expand.” —by Charissa Crotts
March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 55
NOTEBOOK
Medicine
Anatomy of an epidemic
DIAGNOSING THE CAUSES OF THE OPIOID CRISIS by Charles Horton, M.D.
56 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
control, but those guidelines stemmed from Big Pharma. Lembke discovered that the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) received almost $2 million in support from opioid makers. The FSMB in turn “urged state medical boards to punish doctors for undertreating pain. Doctors lived in fear of disciplinary action from the board, and the lawsuit that usually followed, if they denied a patient opioid painkillers.” In 1999 the Department of Veterans Affairs declared pain level to be the “fifth vital sign,” which meant it had to be checked whenever a nurse or doctor checked a patient’s vitals. In 2001 the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations said appropriate (i.e., aggressive) pain control would be a factor in maintaining accreditation. Doctors listened: A University of Southern California study found American opioid prescribing rose 471 percent between 1996 and 2012. Purdue offered various educational
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JESSICA HILL/AP
Massachusetts officials are suing Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, alleging that its sales tactics fueled a surge in opioid addiction. Massachusetts is also suing the Sackler family, which owns and runs Purdue Pharma. The lawsuit underscores the controversy over the pills: Did the increase in opioid prescriptions reflect doctors finally addressing untreated pain or becoming tools for sales at any cost? Psychiatrist and addiction specialist Anna Lembke argues in the 2016 book Drug Dealer, MD that doctors believed they were finally addressing pain issues. They viewed as outdated the World Health Organization’s 1986 guidelines, which advised doctors to start with non-opioid drugs (like Tylenol and Motrin), proceed if necessary to opioids like codeine, and reserve stronger opioids like morphine for when other drugs failed. But had medical opinion changed or was propaganda at work? New guidelines emphasized aggressive pain
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and promotional materials, even via the Joint Commission’s own website. Purdue’s representatives canvassed the country, promoting OxyContin as an ideal choice with a time-release formulation that was both convenient and less likely to produce addiction. OxyContin may have been convenient, but time proved that it certainly was addictive—especially when users realized that crushing the original version of the pills released all of the active ingredient at once. (A 2010 reformulation later addressed the problem.) A burgeoning street market for the drug showed addicts knew about this feature. Potential profits induced many people to get prescriptions and illegally resell them. Some doctors remained skeptical of the fifth-vital-sign approach. A 2006 study found the new dispensation did not improve pain control, but the CDC took a decade to issue guidelines calling for reduced opioid use. Yet even before those restrictions, patients who had grown dependent on opioids often sought illegal sources when they could no longer get prescriptions. That’s even more dangerous now that drug gangs have learned to counterfeit popular prescriptions: When the musician Prince died of an overdose in 2016, pills found with him bore a code for generic Vicodin, but proved to contain fentanyl and two other drugs. Both Lembke and the CDC guidelines offer practical advice: nonpharmacological and non-opioid pain management whenever possible, rational opioid prescribing to prevent further addiction, and—perhaps most important now—strategies to help those already addicted. But why stop there? Let’s replace our society’s current addiction to rules and guidelines with a commonsense understanding that life after the Fall can’t be entirely devoid of pain, any more than corporate funding can be entirely without strings. Let’s bring back the idea of doctors and patients knowing each other, as individuals, and of doctors using that relationship to help encourage patients as they manage their pain, one day at a time. A
NOTEBOOK
Technology
Nondisposable proposal
Even though customers won’t have to clean the empty containers—a barrier to many who would otherwise recycle—critics of the initiative are skeptical whether the project will ever be profitable or will change consumer behavior. However, advocates say it’s significant that major brands are coming together to solve the plastic waste problem. Of the 10 companies Greenpeace lists as the world’s largest contributors to plastic waste, eight are part of the Loop consortium and the other two are in talks to join, according to Fast Company. In addition to reducing plastic waste, an industrywide shift to reusable containers would ultimately reduce manufacturing and energy costs, proponents say. The key, they believe, is making the new paradigm attractive for consumers. “You simply have to start somewhere to test it and see what the barriers are and who actually buys into the model,” Unilever’s research and development chief, David Blanchard, told The Wall Street Journal. “If there are sufficient people then you can scale it.”
MAJOR BRANDS LAUNCH EXPERIMENT TO REDUCE WASTE THROUGH REUSABLE CONTAINERS by Michael Cochrane Until well into the 20th century, most Americans had their milk delivered to their door in refillable glass bottles. The milkman also picked up the empties. Now a coalition of major consumer brands is testing a packaging and delivery platform that will use the “milkman model” for products as diverse as ice cream, deodorant, and laundry detergent. The consortium of 25 companies—including such big names as Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and PepsiCo —worked with recycling experts for more than a year to develop the platform, called Loop. Online-ordered products would arrive in a reusable tote that would also serve as a receptacle for empty containers. A delivery service would pick up the full tote and return it to a facility where the containers are cleaned, sterilized, and prepared for refilling. Loop’s developers believe that, while recycling
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has its place, the waste problem is really a disposability problem. “To us, the root cause of waste is not plastic, per se,” Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle, one of the project’s partners, told Fast Company. “It’s using things once, and that’s really what Loop tries to change as much as possible.” In a pilot program to be launched this spring in
New York and Paris, customers will be able to buy familiar brands such as Pantene shampoo and Tide detergent in packages designed for up to 100 uses. While the cost of the products will be about the same as those bought in single-use containers, the user will also have to pay a refundable deposit of between $1 and $10 per container, as well as some shipping charges.
HANDOUT PHOTOS
A NEW SMELL TEST Bodily excretions have long been thought to provide evidence of disease, and ancient Greek physicians frequently smelled a patient’s breath in an attempt to diagnose illnesses. It turns out they may have been onto something: An international team of scientists has developed a robotic “nose” that can detect 17 diseases in exhaled breath. The system, called “Na-Nose,” uses nanotechnology and machine learning to detect volatile organic compounds in human breath that are associated with disease, according to Psychology Today. The researchers, led by Hossam Haick of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, trained an artificial intelligence system on 1,404 breath samples from both healthy subjects and those with one of 17 diseases, including Parkinson’s, prostate cancer, and multiple sclerosis. The robotic nose learned to identify the unique “breathprints” of each disease with 86 percent accuracy. —M.C.
March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 57
NOTEBOOK
Sports
Play-by-play gamblıng
NEW FOOTBALL LEAGUE PROVIDES A BRAVE NEW WORLD FOR GAMBLERS by Laura G. Singleton
The Alliance of American Football (AAF), the latest effort to fill the post–Super Bowl void in pro football action, began its inaugural season on Feb. 9. The feel-good premise of the AAF is that it’s a “league of second chances,” where young hopefuls or veterans with something left in the tank can showcase their skills. AAF players sign three-year contracts but can leave for work in the NFL at any time.
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Behind all the warm fuzzies, however, lurks a high-tech data collection platform, powered by wearable devices on player uniforms, that optimizes the league’s appeal for gambling. MGM Resorts International invested in the venture and has an exclusive partnership for gambling rights. Scott Butera, MGM’s president of interactive gaming, told USA Today the technology will “allow almost immediate transmission of data and what’s going on in an event to your mobile device, which will allow us to have play-by-play gambling, which is non-existent today.” Bettors could relish dozens of bets within each game: Will the next play be a run or a pass? How many yards will be gained? AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol proclaims innocence: “We are not a gambling company.” He describes the league’s mobile app as something “for families to play. Think of it more like Candy Crush.” But last September he told CBS Radio that in-game betting would be available, with players “able to make money every time they get picked on a fantasy team, every time they get picked on a bet, every time a fan likes them on Facebook.” For now, AAF fans will get points for correct guesses on game events, simulating the betting process. Actual mobile betting, which would flow through MGM rather than the league’s own app, requires wider legalization of sports gambling, but last May’s Supreme Court ruling gave states leeway, and many are moving that way. In addition to MGM, AAF financial backers include PayPal founder Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and the Action Network, a site focused on sports betting news and data. —Laura G. Singleton is a World Journalism Institute mid-career course graduate; the Associated Press contributed to this story
DATA-DRIVEN BASEBALL
58 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
AAF: MIKE EHRMANN/AAF/GETTY IMAGES • BASEBALL: ISTOCK
Job-sharing is on the rise not only in many companies but in major league baseball. Advanced statistical analysis leads managers to piece together day-by-day lineups based not only on platooning—lots of right-handers if a left-handed pitcher is starting, and vice versa—but batter performance against specific pitchers. As Tom Verducci reported in Sports Illustrated, from 2000 to 2007 most baseball teams had regular second basemen who started at least 125 games, but last year only 10 players were regulars at that position. Since statistics show batters do better when they’re up for a third time against a starting pitcher, managers are using more relief pitchers: The number of starters throwing at least 200 innings has dropped from 50 in 2005 to 28 in 2015 to only 13 last year, the fewest in any full season since at least 1889. Teams are also doing more with players in their 20s and less with older players, since statisticians have shown that younger players are generally healthier and have more defensive range (and are also less expensive). From 2000 to 2009 an average of 26 players older than 32 started at least 125 games: Last year, the number was nine, with only two of them in the National League. That’s why players are pushing the NL to have a designated hitter spot: Old hitters go there to fade away. —by Marvin Olasky
NOTEBOOK
Media
Slayton
Bootstrap publishing
AUTHORS HAVE TO WEAR MANY HATS TO PUBLISH THEIR OWN BOOKS by Victoria Johnson Maintain social media platforms. Arrange public events. Attend conferences. Purchase paid advertising. Manage cash flow. Analyze data. Spot trends. If that doesn’t sound like the job requirement for an author, think again. All authors have to do some marketing, but for selfpublishers it’s crucial. Shonna Slayton is one such author. She’s a homeschooling Christian mom and author of Spindle, plus other novels in the genre
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she calls “historical fairy tales.” After using a boutique publisher for her first three books, she’s now self-publishing through Amazon and Ingram. Slayton has learned that success in her writing “side-hustle” requires her to be both businessperson and writer. Self-publishing isn’t a new concept. After failing to find a publisher for The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter self-published in 1901. The next year a publisher that had originally
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rejected it picked up the story. Today Potter’s books sell more than 2 million copies each year. In 1931, Irma Rombauer and her daughter put together the illustrated cookbook The Joy of Cooking. Five years later Bobbs-Merrill Co. acquired the rights, eventually selling more than 18 million copies. The internet and technological improvements have made self-publishing more common. In 2012, almost 400,000 self-published books had received an official International Standard Book Number, or ISBN. By 2017 just over a million had one. One reason for the increase in selfpublishing is the rise of e-books. Another is the increased quality of printon-demand technology: A company like Amazon prints a book only after receiving an order, but the quality is almost indistinguishable from a traditionally printed book, and no one has to store boxes of books. Slayton thinks selfpublishing is the way of the future, simply because bookstores can only hold so many books. Self-published authors need some business skills to market their books. For Slayton, that includes maintaining social media and scheduling book signings at local indie bookstores. She looks at her data every day to see how many books she has sold and how much she has spent on advertising. She tries to spot trends: What is working, what isn’t? Why did the paperbacks outsell the e-books in December and January?
She’s learned the value of developing good relationships with local booksellers. “You do an event, you send a thank-you note,” she says. “Be friendly. Be friendly and a good author.” Slayton says writers often ask her advice on how to self-publish. She tells them if they have the funds, they can hire a professional team similar to one a traditional publisher would provide: developmental editor, designer, proofreader. They might even be the same people who work for the publishers but take freelance work on the side. If the aspiring authors don’t have the capital, they can start off by trading
An image from Slayton’s Twitter feed
favors with other beginners who are also trying to establish themselves. “Bootstrap it,” says Slayton. “Just bootstrap and get started. Because you’ll get better, and you’ll learn as you go. And you’ll start off small, and no one will know who you are, so make all your mistakes when no one knows who you are.” A —Victoria Johnson is a graduate of the World Journalism Institute mid-career course March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 59
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Mailbag
Nowhere to live
[ Feb. 2, p. 30 ] Milton Hershey founded a town to provide workers in his chocolate company with affordable housing and entertainment. And he lived in the town, not some walled-off compound. Modern titans of industry should do the same thing. Faith motivated men like Hershey to care for their employees, but faith may be lacking today in Silicon Valley. —ANDREW BRACKBILL / Lititz, Pa.
Thank you for this timely article. The term “affordable housing” can be a bit of a lightning rod. I teach economics in a Florida high school, and this article will help my students wrap their heads around the problems and some possible solutions. —H.A. SMITH on wng.org
I live in Seattle, where we face some of the same housing issues, so I get that the choices are hard. It’s not just teachers; middle-income earners of all walks of life struggle to afford housing. But once a city starts subsidizing one group, like teachers, why stop there? And who gets to decide? —JENNIFER MURRAY on wng.org
I appreciate how Sophia Lee gets into the middle of issues and presents the complexities, giving the reader a new understanding. It’s so refreshing compared to journalism today that is often just propaganda. —N. BROOKS on wng.org
California house prices are extremely high in the big coastal cities and Silicon Valley. But in the inland areas housing is much more affordable, about $250,000 for a new home where I live. —TED MACKEY / Brawley, Calif.
The fight for Chinese rights
[ Feb. 2, p. 40 ] The whole article is both troubling and inspiring, but one quote nearly took my breath away. “Are you willing to experience the trials and ridicule that our Lord faced Visit WORLD Digital: wng.org
on this earth?” I have never heard words like these at any baptismal service. We can learn much from our Chinese brothers and sisters. —MARLENE GARDNER on wng.org
Thank you to June Cheng for this excellent piece of reporting. Those willing to face trials and persecution for the sake of our Lord gave me great hope for the Chinese people. May we lift up our brothers and sisters in prayer. —HOLLY McMILLAN on wng.org
In China, the state is suppressing citizens’ rights; here LGBTQ activists and others are imposing control through our courts, supported by a secular media propaganda machine. While we focus on securing our border, we are being conquered from within. —WAYNE KAMINSKI / Cuero, Texas
Past its prime
[ Feb. 2, p. 14 ] I wonder if our postmodern mindset is also a factor in the decline of the history major. My history, your history—we all have our own version of history. —REBECCA LINSCOTT WALLICK on Facebook
As a sophomore English teacher, I constantly see students who lack a larger perspective. Many do not want to ponder questions in short stories about love, contentment, sacrifice, and forgiveness because they are addicted to convenience and amusement. Christians can best restore a thirst for wisdom by standing for Biblical truth. —CHET BAUMGARTNER on wng.org
Liberal arts and social sciences departments have for years taught that there is no absolute truth, so now students believe that history isn’t really true anyway. Why would they waste their time? —L.T. JACOBSON on wng.org
His mighty acts
[ Feb. 2, p. 3 ] Thank you so much for Joel Belz’s excellent piece on looking for God’s memorable deeds. Since then I have been pondering that message and looking for His works. —LIZZIE KIESLE / Temple, Texas
TVs at my local gym always have on the Weather Channel, ESPN, and sensationalist quacks like Dr. Oz. It’s all fear-mongering, trivia, or idiocy. And then there is the gospel! I agree with Belz; good and accurate news is hard to come by, but WORLD is where to get it. —STEVE SHIVE on wng.org
I am writing a long letter to my granddaughter to let her know all the things the Lord has done in my life, from the miraculous to the mundane. This column encouraged me to get it done. —SHIRLEY FOX / Springfield, Mo.
‘The love is here’
[ Feb. 2, p. 36 ] Wow! Our churches are filled with people with some connection to the raging opioid epidemic. Recovery House of Worship offers a great model for dealing with them. We all crave acceptance and purpose; this March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 61
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Mailbag
place gives it to them. I’m adding it to my yearly donation and prayer lists! —REXANN BASSLER on wng.org
A tale of two books
[ Feb. 2, p. 64 ] Wayne Grudem always delivers solid, Biblically based instruction. Thanks to Marvin Olasky for pointing to two sources that reveal clear distinctions between law and grace. —MARK B. BLOCHER on Facebook
Good news wins
with the Army in the first Iraq war and contributed to the planning of the second. Invading Iraq was definitely the right course. If we had not gone in, both Iraq and Iran might now have nuclear weapons. The sacrifices of thousands of soldiers were not a mistake, and those who change their positions in hindsight do them a great disservice. —PAUL J. PERRONE / Springfield, Va.
More equal than others
[ Feb. 2, p. 28 ] Thank you for this wonderful column about finding beauty in the midst of ugliness, joy in suffering, and ministry amid pain. We all should think this way.
[ Feb. 2, p. 59 ] Ray Hacke is right. The NCAA’s willingness to overlook a lesbian athlete who crowdfunds her education is secular, self-righteous hypocrisy. Clearly it is time to pray, for we live in a very fallen world.
—KATHRYN M. LEE / Indianapolis, Ind.
—CHARLES ROBBINS on wng.org
Cost analysis
[ Feb. 2, p. 24 ] I was disappointed in William Inboden’s comments. I fought
A GREAT CITy
DISTINCT LY C H R I STIAN & REFOR MED
Quotables
[ Feb. 2, p. 10 ] Rep. Steve King is a good man and a trusted conservative. The
way he was treated after he was quoted in a New York Times interview is outrageous! Why would WORLD pile on? —JEFF & VICKI TAYLOR / Watertown, Tenn.
On the Basis of Sex
[ Feb. 2, p. 18 ] I’m glad the reviewer highlighted the way the movie depicted the Ginsburgs’ marriage, a sweet personal story parallel to the courtroom drama. —ROSA EDWARDS on wng.org
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Andrée Seu Peterson
A hometown trip I HAD A PURPOSE FOR IT, BUT GOD HAD A DIFFERENT ONE Last week I drove six hours to my hometown to convert my elderly aunt and to get an éclair from Wright’s Farm. I accomplished the latter, am uncertain about the former. It was a single sentence in our pastor’s sermon that broke my mental stalemate about the wisdom of such a trip: “Take a risk,” he said. Things didn’t go the way I expected, which I already expected: Things never do. I felt I had to get in the zone to meet Simone because there is some never-articulated junk in our relationship, and because I am sensitive to the impression my family has of me as a condescending, holier-than-thou religious know-it-all. I find that when I am with people who see me in a negative light, I see myself in a negative light. Does that happen to you? So I drove around town ginning up a mood, hitting replay on Ella Fitzgerald singing “Midnight Sun” because it is a direct nerve to memories of my mother and how short and sad life is and how I missed the boat in many ways. One street brought back memories of how I sinned there, and another street of how I sinned there, and another street of how I was a coward there, and the overall assessment that I have been controlled by fear all my life. I think the people who come back from near-death experiences and say they saw their whole life pass before their eyes are telling the truth. (We shall find out henceforth how true all clichés were.) There is something about returning in your 60s to a place you played tag in that compresses the decades to a measure apprehended at a glance, and renders a verdict. Looking things over—hollow-eyed textile mills that blow no more noon whistles, steepled churches converted to museums, populations of different skin tones who “knew not Joseph,” as it were—I remembered the apostle’s words: “The things of this world are passing away.” Not will pass away, but are passing away. Even as we look.
KRIEG BARRIE
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aseupeterson@wng.org
‘The things of this world are passing away.’ Not will pass away, but are passing away. Even as we look.
Simone recognized me, and we chatted about this and that, my plan being to return the following day and move in for the kill, large-print-Bible gift in tow. The plan was foiled. Next morning I arrived to learn she’d been signed out of the nursing home by her daughter. Masterfully circumventing HIPAA rules, I learned they were to lunch at Kay’s restaurant. I showed up and was warmly welcomed. But the closest I came to hazarding anything spiritual was when I mentioned, in a reasonably plausible context, the head covering I wear in church because of 1 Corinthians 11. Nonstarter. My aunt would return to a room with a large-print Bible on the bed and a handwritten note about trusting Jesus to forgive sins. I had to leave it at that. Queasy about the Woonsocket Motor Inn, I called a Christian cousin and his wife, asking if I could crash on their floor while on my mission, and they obliged. It was there, observing their marital interactions and the blessings of God on them, that I learned God’s purpose for my journey. Helen showed me every wedding picture in her albums. I could see that she enjoyed that too. In a final impulse I decided to look up an elderly couple my sister knew, if I could find the house. By a series of necessary coincidences I did find it, knocked on the door, and said, “Hi, I’m Andrée, Lise’s sister. I thought you lived on Kenwood.” An old man replied, “We moved to this rancher 40 years ago.” It just so happened (as they say) that I was walking into a scene of Mrs. Hemond weeping over her sister Muriel, and she hugged me so hard and was so happy to see me that you’d think the pope had come in. William Carlos Williams wrote a short poem: so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. So much depends upon—so much is altered by—the smallest act of risk in venturing back to the old country. A March 16, 2019 • WORLD Magazine 63
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Marvin Olasky
Clemens and Jordan
YEARNINGS OF THE STARS 25 YEARS AGO
64 WORLD Magazine • March 16, 2019
Clemens seemed to yearn for a simpler life of bat, ball, and maybe Bible. Michael Jordan similarly mused about religion.
molasky@wng.org @MarvinOlasky
CLEMENS: TIM FITZGERALD/AP • JORDAN: JOHN SWART/AP
In the spring young men’s hearts turn to romance and old men’s hearts to baseball. As James Earl Jones intones in Field of Dreams, a great but flawed movie, “The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.” During my first decade of WORLD editing I sometimes played at being a sportswriter, taking a different son each year to spring training. An article I wrote 25 years ago included interviews with two great but flawed athletes, Roger Clemens and Michael Jordan: Both were then 31. I sat next to them in locker rooms and asked their thoughts about God and church. They talked with a mixture of yearning and public relations—I still don’t know what the percentages of each were—but their comments were interesting. Here was the lead of the 1994 story: “It was only a spring training workout, but Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens grunted as he threw pitch after pitch in the warm sunshine of Fort Myers, Florida. … He is determined to return to league-leading form this year, and also is thinking about getting back to his theological roots.” Maybe. Here’s what he said: “My father passed away when I was nine. … When I was young, going to church was like the sun coming up. You could count on it, Wednesdays and Sundays. Then when he passed away, my mom took on three jobs and raised six of us. She was the force behind us all, she still is, but that church consistency was hard. … I’ve never really had it since then. … There’s so much media and off-the-field stuff.” So much stuff. I thought about that in 2008 after the Mitchell Report on the illegal use of steroids named Clemens 82 times, and
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newspaper reports accused Clemens of adultery with five different women. But after a grand jury indicted Clemens for lying to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, two juries failed to convict him. Nor did his wife Debra divorce him: They have four sons and will have their 35th anniversary this year. Sportswriters have refused to elect Clemens to the Baseball Hall of Fame because of the apparent drug use and perjury, but 25 years ago he seemed to yearn for a simpler life of bat, ball, and maybe Bible. Michael Jordan similarly mused about religion a few months after his dad was murdered and he gave up his greatest-of-all-time basketball glitter for a lowly minor league baseball life. In 1994, with legs stretched out before his locker, Jordan said, “These days I think about God a lot. … I read the Bible a lot. … I see that whatever happens, happens for a reason; I wouldn’t be here without the will of God. And my father’s dying last year, I try to get something positive from Clemens that.” Jordan said he had been thinking about his parents and hoping his children could have a religious upbringing like his: “We had to go to church every Sunday. I learned that God’s in charge.” But fame made Jordan the center of attention whenever he went to church: “It’s not good for me, it’s not good for my kids, to get that attention. Sometimes my wife or my in-laws will take my Jordan kids so it will be a normal situation.” Jordan in 1994 said he was finding sustenance from reading the Bible, talking with pastors, and just playing in fresh air and running on grass: “I got so tired of arenas. … God knew that it was a thought of mine to play baseball, something I always dreamed of when I was a kid.” But that year Jordan learned he couldn’t consistently hit a curveball. In 1995 he was back amid NBA bling and on his way to three more championships. By 2013 Jordan was ultra-rich but had little joy, according to a lengthy ESPN The Magazine article that closed with a 1 a.m. portrait of him watching Westerns on his bedroom television, as he did every night: “The film on the screen is Unforgiven. He knows every scene, and sometime before the shootout in the saloon, he falls asleep.” A
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