Matthews Family Herald

"Fahrshule" literally means "travel school" but is understood here (in Germany) to mean driver's education. My sons love the fact that since "Fahrt" means here to travel by vehicle, they can yell out this word in public without the usual reactions they'd get in America. I named this post "travel school," though, because that's where I've been.

When I first arrived in Germany, I had big hopes of getting a little car that I could use for work. Instead, I ended up using the public transportation here for several reasons. The Lord said to :), saves a lot of money, gets me just about anywhere, better for the environment, etc. Germany has an elaborate system of buses, trolleys, and trains. At varying times and in intervals of usually about 20 minutes apart (like labor contractions - not that I've been in labor), there's some form of transportation that will make a stop at nearly just about anywhere. What's so cool is that for one, flat rate, you can use them all and mix or match your way to a destination.

At first, I kept trying to "manipulate" or "play" the system with different combinations of travel modes and locations in order to try and get home faster. But no matter which way I chose to go, I'd either arrive at the same time anyway or end up being late because of unfamiliarity with new surroundings, etc. It reminded me of how I used to switch lanes while driving in a traffic jam (stawberry ones are my favorite, Grape ones I cannot stand), only to find that the lane I moved to ended up being the slower lane later on. Grrr! (Yes, I just said "Grr.")

I was thinking about how that all ties into walking with God (not the labor contractions and strawberry jam part). He also has a plan for our lives that plays out each day through an elaborate and well-orchastrated series of circumstances. It's so tempting, and I think we all try (at least sometimes) to find a way to get what we want (stawberry jam, for example) our way (by going into labor, perhaps) or to speed things up (hurry with that bagel, this next contraction could be "the one!") or change the outcome, but in the end, we just make things worse when we do that. (Honey, I can't believe you just ralphed stawberry bagels all over the delivery room people!) We have to trust what God is doing, how He works, and how He has things unfold and realize it's okay. We'll get to where He wants us to go and no need to try and control the situation and bend it to our advantage. That's what I learned at Fahrschule today, mama.

The Greatest Force on Earth/Die größte Kraft auf der Erde

I've been listening to an audio book co-authored by world famous singer, Stephen Curtis Chapman and by Scotty Smith, Stephen's pastor. It's called "Restoring Broken Things" It's theme is that the expansion of God's Kingdom is summarized in the title of the book. Each time any of us makes a move to restore something from brokenness and back to wholeness, we are expanding His Kingdom. I couldn't help comparing this with current military events and to the justice system. To illustrate it in a personal way, I would rather have restoration than justice if someone hurts me. Rather than punished, I just want that person to choose differently, to apologize and make amends, and to restore the relationship. That's what God wants from us, right? Otherwise, He wouldn't have sent His son. He chose restoration over what we deserved. But would it work in the justice system? It's a hard call but it's why the death penalty makes me uneasy. Why? One person is worth however much it costs to give them the chance to eventually be reached, to come to terms with what they have done, to be restored unto Jesus, and to perhaps made an impact in the world before they die of natural causes. How? By perhaps writing a book or answering newspaper interviews, or who knows. I know this, love, God's love is the MOST powerful force in heaven and on Earth. No revenge, no wrath, no evil, no darkness can ever defeat God's love and those who choose it over retaliation. Certainly, if it's called for, it's not our place. "Vengence is mine, says the Lord, I will repay." Choosing it,expressing God's love, I mean, means a greater personal sacrifice, it means needing more patience, and it might mean watching what looks like things going the wrong direction and losing for awhile. But in the end, absolutely NO force can overcome and be victorious over God's love.
-James D of Germany

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Ich höre auf eine Audio-Buch mit dem Co-Autor von weltweit berühmten Sängerin, Stephen Curtis Chapman und Scotty Smith, Stephen's Pfarrer. Es heißt "Wiederherstellung der Gebrochenheit" Das Thema ist, dass die Expansion des Reiches Gottes zusammengefasst im Titel des Buches ist. Jedes Mal, wenn einer von uns macht einen Schritt, um etwas aus Gebrochenheit wiederherzustellen und wieder zurück nach Ganzheit, erweitern wir sein Reich. Ich konnte nicht umhin, einen Vergleich dieser mit den derzeitigen militärischen Ereignisse und der Justiz. Um es auf eine persönliche Art zu illustrieren, möchte ich lieber als die Wiederherstellung des Rechts, wenn mir jemand weh tut. Anstatt bestraft, ich will nur diese Person anders zu wählen, um sich zu entschuldigen und sich bessern, und die Beziehung wieder herzustellen. Das ist, was Gott von uns will, nicht wahr? Andernfalls würde er seinen Sohn nicht gesendet haben. Er entschied sich für die Wiederherstellung über das, was wir verdient haben. Aber wäre es Arbeit in der Justiz? It's a hard nennen, aber es ist, warum die Todesstrafe mich unruhig macht. Warum? Eine Person wert ist jedoch viel es kostet, um ihnen die Chance, letztlich erreicht werden, um die Bedingungen mit dem, was sie getan haben, kommen, wieder hergestellt werden zu Jesus, und vielleicht hat diese Auswirkungen in der Welt, bevor sie eines natürlichen Todes sterben. Wie? Mit vielleicht ein Buch zu schreiben oder beantworten Zeitung Interviews, oder wer weiß. Ich weiß das, Liebe, die Liebe Gottes ist die stärkste Macht im Himmel und auf Erden. Keine Rache, kein Zorn, kein Böse, keine Finsternis kann je Niederlage Gottes Liebe und diejenigen, die es vorziehen Vergeltung. Sicherlich, wenn es gefordert, es ist nicht unser Platz. "Die Rache ist mein, spricht der HERR, ich will vergelten." Die Auswahl ist, Ausdruck der Liebe Gottes, ich meine, bedeutet eine größere persönliche Opfer, bedeutet dies, brauchen mehr Geduld, und es könnte bedeuten, beobachten, was aussieht wie die Dinge die falsche Richtung zu verlieren und für eine Weile. Aber am Ende, absolut keine Kraft überwinden kann und über die Liebe Gottes siegreich. -Jakobus D. Deutschland

So much has been happening and God has really began pouring out opportunities to fellowship and meet others.




For example, we were told by another homeschooling military family here about some missionaries who came here to Germany from Washington state about a year ago and who believe they are called to the Tibet refugees that came to Europe from China. What's even more amazing is that these missionaries live only 14 kilometers from our rent home in Neckargemund.



The husband, Mike, speaks German pretty well and rides the train into Heidelberg several days a week for ministry stuff he does with Calvary Chapel and other things he does "free lance" if you will, ministry that he does to groups such as "The Hell's Angels of Germany" or something close to that. Basically, rough and tough bikers who need to know about Jesus' love for them. Mike says the ministry opportunities that present themselves to him while he rides the public transportation to Heidelberg and back is enough in itself! Anyway, they came here with no financial backing and with not much money, he and his wife and two children. God has sustained and cared for them and Mike and his wife shared a million stories of all that God has done for them.



Perhaps topping the list or to share for starters is that he himself, Mike, has personally met (briefly) the Dalai Lama, shaken his hand, and told him "Jesus loves you." (I think Mike said he's person number 49 to have done so.) The circumstances leading up to that moment were miraculous. He's also taught Lama monks how to skateboard and I've seen a photo of pehaps the first such monk to learn the art. It's pretty cool.

But anyway, if the "coincidence" of them living less than 10 minutes away from us isn't enough, (we live in a small town about 25 minutes from anything military or big city) Mike's wife, Amberlea, also happens to be into herbal and natural medicine and reads the same child rearing books that we do by Mike and Debbie Pearl. These are a few signs. Thirdly, they have two children who match right up in ages and gender to two of ours. Mike and his wife had been praying for companions for their kids. I've included some pictures of them for your enjoyment:




Here's Nathan and Zion, followed by Mercy and Hannah, and a third photo all four of the "pair-up children" together.


Mike and Amberlea cover their calling to Tibetans on their blog site at:


http://becausejesuslovestibetans.com/


When they, Mike and Amberlea Macy, knew they were called to Tibetans, they tried to come over to Tibet but God kept shutting the doors. "Tibetans, Lord, so Tibet, right?" they were saying. "Tibetans, yes, but not IN Tibet...in Germany,"...the Lord was saying. :) "Germany...oh. Okay." And God began having them meeting individuals from Tibet and also groups of them all over the place in Europe. I have to admit that when I first heard they were called to Tibetans I said to myself "isn't that Tibet. I think I've heard that word before." I had to look it up. "Oh, China and persecution. It makes sense now." :)

Please be in prayer for Mike and his wife as his wife has a number of health concerns. They are also getting a car soon but all of the circumstances haven't yet worked out. Mike believes he is to make a trip back to the States soon and is not yet sure how the Lord will provide for that.



Additionally, a German couple came over for tea yesterday and brought the most amazing, Cherry filled dish. I wish I had taken a picture of it but I didn't. It was circular like a pie and had heart-shaped crust parts placed in a circle around the top. Beautiful and time consuming to make, I'm sure. Anyway, we enjoyed several hours of talking and sharing with them and so we are excited about all that God has in mind for us in growing a friendship there as well.

The German couple I just mentioned we ask for prayer about as they face a large legal and financial battle over some roof troubles they are having. They have a teen son as well.

We have family of friends who lost children in an auto accident and are injured severely also and we lift them up in prayer.

We ask for prayer for our family and that all the work to do in my office would be completed. We have some concerns in our home that be ask for prayer about but also know the Lord has already said are going to work out.



There is quite a bit more going on and things I want to share but this isn't the best time to do so.



Take care,


James and family

Time to start writing/typing "2010" on every document. How many times will you accidently write "2009"? I will try not to do it at all. :)

Thanks to God, we are finally moved in to our new place in Neckargemund.

Our household goods are set to arrive on Monday and Wednesday and our "move out" inspection of the on-post quarters is set for Tuesday. I have a court-martial case to record on Thursday and Friday and so you can see we have a very busy schedule set for next week.

Last week at our third home fellowship, our son Jacob heard the Lord and asked to be water baptised/immersed. (This photo is not of him.) He had already decided to follow Jesus with all of his heart and life a few years before but now felt the Lord leading him that this was then the time to be immersed in obedience to the Lord and by the example, in so doing, of our Lord Himself. (Say that sentence three times without slipping.) So, our family gathered in the bathroom and Jacob was baptised in our bathtub. (German bathtubs are just as long and twice as deep as those we are accustomed to back in America. Did you know that being immersed did not begin with John the Baptist but was a custom of the Israelites/Jews long before then?) It meant so much to me to be able to immerse him as his physical father and I suddenly felt more connected than before with centuries of leadership before me. I felt hope in continuing to secure in my family the things of the Lord for those coming after us. This was affirming on so many levels.

It's so wonderful living in Neckargemund. If that weren't enough, we have the most amazing landlords, Herr and Frau Heise. ("Herr" is the equivalent of "Mr." but perhaps means more than that. The bible in German uses "Herr" for the same word we translate as "Lord.") They are more like grandparents, really, and have made this move so much easier and pleasant. We moved in on New Year's Eve and so this was reason enough to celebrate. But here in Germany, it's legal to shoot fireworks from your home. This was surprising because Germany has given us the impression, thus far, that the society as a whole tends to be more careful and to "err" (if one could really call it "err") on the side of caution. But I will say that it had rained for a good part of the day prior to the New Year's Eve celebrations here.

The point is/was that we live up on a hill-top neighborhood and so people began shooting fireworks at about 10:20 (2230 in German time. Germans use the 24-hour clock just like the US military.) These shootings were just random and "here and there," if you will. But just moments before the New Year turned over, the citizens began shooting them off in droves. We could see bursts rocketing from homes, lighting up things below us, on either side, and all around us for miles in a panorama of explosions of sound and color. This went on for over an hour and so it was likely the most spectacular fireworks show we had ever seen and certainly the most beautiful. The best part was just being upstairs, the whole family huddled into Micah's room and watching the show together by the window sills and enjoying the children's fascination with the whole thing.

Today, we go with the intent to complete the cleaning of the home, perhaps get the new tires I need to have our family van pass the German inspection, shop for groceries, and hopefully get the bills paid before Monday.

I have found an awesome tool, Google Translator! Yeah! Through the use of this, I have located and joined in to website forums made for other home fellowshipers in Germany. I found this chiefly through the website of an author, Wolfgang Simson, who wrote "Houses that Change the World." He is a German who lives, I believe, in Stuttgart but travels the world. The afore-mentioned book was the first house church book I ever read, back in 2004. Little did I know then that I'd be in Germany some day. :) How I long for fellowship here...

There's so much more to share...perhaps later when we are more settled in. Planning to get more pictures up soon as well. Heather and I are really enjoying the comments left here by readers and we will do our best to reply back anytime anyone leaves a comment on one of our posts or asks a question.

With that, I'm going to close. Here's an appropriate picture of Jacob putting all of his trains down to bed for the night.

Take care,

James

Good Sunday morning to all,

We are so excited to finally have our family van here. I was able to pick it up Friday and it's been a huge blessing to be able to use.

Heather will be taking her driving test here on Monday and then we'll both be able to cruise those Germany autobahns...

Rachel leaves in a day or few and we are going to miss her. She'll pick up our lil blue Yaris after the Bachert family brings her from the Tucson Airport to Sierra Vista. She'll spend a few days there and then head to see her almost fiance and his family for a couple of weeks.

We are enjoying the third day of Hanakkuh and the kids are excited about what tonight's gifts might be. I'm making latkes and Heather is making a big roast and it's all part of our holiday feast we'll be eating tonight. We played the dreidel game a night or two ago with jelly beans and Jacob was the winner. We'll play "hide the geld" pretty soon and that's always fun for the kids and the adults. Kinda like finding Easter eggs but with chocolate, golden foil covered coins. We tie in how Jesus as the Messiah ties into this celebration in many, many ways but a couple of them are that: Hannukah is called "the festival of lights" and that Jesus is "the light of the world." Also, the lead candle which lights the others and is centered and placed higher than the other candles is called the "shamash." We also teach that this candle represents a hidden mystery in Jewish custom pointing to Jesus.

Micah is enjoying volunteer work at the library but has been unable to go lately since he's not feeling so well. Various family members haven't felt so well as we traverse through the cold season.

I've already helped record or transcribe a few records of trial and I've got more to come this week.

We should be moving into our off-post rent home here in a couple of weeks and we can't wait to get our big family into a home with a little more room.

Oh, it started snowing today and the kids were so thrilled over it. I was too, watching them and remembering how excited I was when the first snowflakes began to fall each year, as a child.

We love you all and keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

-The Matthews in Germany

Hi family and friends,

Here's some rapid fire updates for you:

-Micah landed a volunteer slot at the on-post library here in Germany. He started yesterday and he really loves it.

-We've found a homeschool group consisting of other military families here in Heidelberg.

-Rachel is due to head back to Arizona and spend a few weeks with her almost fiance and we are going to miss her. She's scheduled to return to Germany in early January.

-Our family van is already "in-country" and we should be able to pick it up this week or the next.

-We should be moving into our home off-post in early January.

-Our missionary friends in Kenya just gave birth to their newest baby girl:

www.purechristianity.blogs.com

-Hannakuh starts this Friday.

-Our friends in Arizona who are in the early stages of building an intentional community in Missouri have launched their website:

http://thisismyfamilysblog.blogspot.com/

-Please keep my Uncle Terry in prayer for some significant medical concerns and we are asking for God's healing.

-We held our first home fellowship last Saturday night and it went really well. I made my homemade Sabbath bread and we enjoyed sparkling grape juice for the opening ceramony and then some excellent, Southern style iced tea to go along with our meal of chicken egg noogle soup. After dinner, we listened to and sang praise songs with accompaniment guitar playing provided by our daughter, Rachel. We read from Proverbs and then went into a discussion of all that was going in life. Among the things discussed, I recall one topic was: what would be the effect of an apology from white persons on behalf of the wrongs committed against those of African descent in our country by previous generations of white folk. One of us had a dream where we were apologizing on behalf of our ancestors for what had occurred in the past. Those apolgized to we extremely moved and received such healing. Only later did we realize that MLK day is coming up. Would an apology help things? I think it would.

Hello. In light of the current, special time of year, I sent this explanation to a Germany friend here of what Thanksgiving means to us. Thought it might help to share about what perspective we'll be celebrating it from here in our home:

"This weekend is an important Holy day, of sorts for us although not commanded in the Bible. It's a time when we remember, as you probably know, when those followers of God wanted freedom to worship and to live with less corruption around them and so they took their families to Holland. After a time, Holland wasn't the right place either and so they set sail for what is now America. My family and I know that not everyone who came to America back then came for the right reasons and some of them wanted to take advantage of the natives and exploit them. All of that aside, I still believe there were those people who sincerely came because they wanted to start a new life and serve God honestly and if their were natives, those good people did not want to take advantage of the natives but to share with them. So, after arriving, those first pilgrims had a terrible winter and suffered. However, some of the natives came to their aid and shared food and resources. The next spring, the natives also taught these settlers how to farm and there was a big crop. So, those seekers after God and after a pure life (they called themselves "Puritans") were both grateful to the natives who helped them and to God for helping them by way of the natives. so, in a spirit of mutual friendship and in thanksgiving to God, they help a great feast and offered thanks to God. So, that was our first Thanksgiving celebration in America. Unfortunately, the holidays as they are now called instead of "Holy Days" are stripped of their actual meaning and so most people joke around about "Turkey Day" since we eat a lot of Turkey and then get sleepy. :) But in truth, it is a celebration offering thanks to God for delievering our ancestors and also a thanks to God today for caring for us and blessing us no matter what hardship we have come through."

Today, I noticed that our family was getting sloppy and undisciplined and I started wondering how I could address the situation. Okay, "a lotta bit" sloppy and undisciplined over the week because we are pretty laid back, overall and so for me to say something means it's gotten pretty bad. Anyway...

As we all talked about it together, my wife and I tag teamed the discussion, so to speak, and began talking to our kids about how we wanted them to develop their life habits, their approach to challenges, and to developing self discipline. Heather and I ended up coming up with "The Temple Technique."

There are four basic level to the temple and we compared them in this manner: Let's say someone realized cleaning up a city park was needed. So, they decided to plan, organize and execute a clean up and renovating project. Level 4 would be those who choose not even to enter the outer courts and so they walk pass by the project and don't get involved. They might gossip about it or whatever but they are not interested in helping. Level 3 would be the "outer courts" and these are the people who are interested enough to volunteer to help. They do whatever that one thing is that they agreed to volunteer for and that's it. Level 2 guys are the "inner court" folks who not only do the work they volunteered for but they also come in and maybe either help set up and/or help tear down. They might even help recruit other volunteers. Now, the Level 1 guys are the ones who enter into the "holy of holies." They dream up the plan, organize it all, get everyone motivated, and then make it happen.

I challenged my kids to try and be "holy of holies" dwellers while admitting that I have spent much of my life in the outer courts and I've also delved into the inner courts quite a bit. Once in awhile I have dwelt in the holy of holies but I think I could do a lot more of this in the future. What about you?

Our family and I have undertaken to move to Germany and are currently finishing up the 5th phase of the 7-phase plan that takes us from preparing to leave America, over the Atlantic ocean, and on to full integration. Throughout this long process that began in August, we have experienced a wide variety of change in location, circumstances, and people we've been around.

We went from our normal routine of life to sleeping on mattresses, all in the same room, and having no furniture and few possessions. As rough as that was, we kept in mind that we still had it better than most in the world. Next, we lived for 12 days with a friend and his family. We lived in a little shed there that had no running water. There was a lot of dust and friendly spiders, ants, and bugs to share the shed with but we still had an air conditioner, electricity, and cell phones. Two of our kids contracted chicken pox during that time.

From there, we moved to a hotel room while making last-minute preparations to launch into San Diego, California. In Cali, we turned in our family van for shipment and moved into another hotel while enjoying the company of some friends in that area. We next lugged our 24 bags into an airplane and traveled for what amounted to about 18 hours across America, (changing planes once b/c of engine trouble) and then the ocean, until we arrived in Germany. We next traveled by van for an hour or so and finally checked into a hotel near Heidelberg and are now adjusting to a lifestyle where people are accustomed to much smaller living spaces and higher prices for everything.

If you read through all of that, I want to thank you for sticking with me and getting to the main point of all of this. The struggles and coordination that went with this move were and have been challenging but we thank God that it went smoothly, overall. As I talked to my family about all we had been through, it seemed right to me to point out something significant. We are a family. Through all the changes and all the places we have lived and been, we've stayed a family. Family isn't about where you live, what you have, or what you are going through. It's about serving our God and about being together. No matter what goes on in our world or our circumstances around us, we always have our God and we have the bond of each other to sustain us. This is the constant, the anchor, that gives life meaning and makes it worth living.

-Dad

Ps. Heather says that after getting used to life without all these possessions and after enjoying so much time together as a family living in close proximity, she is praying that the boat with all our stuff sinks. It's been so liberating to be free of all that "junk" and I have to agree with her. We are really planning to downsize and share life more in the future. This whole thing has been a great re-focusing experience.

Hi,

Thought you might like an update. After a million-and-one things to get done, it seemed like we'd never get out of Fort Huachuca. After analyzing all the details and circumstances, and after prayerful consideration, I made a "command decision" to push on San Diego instead of stop halfway there and get a hotel room. So, we finally set sail at about 5pm and made it to Miramar (Marine Corps Air Base) at about 3am. We slept well and the hotel here is amazing; the best military lodging we've ever seen. We are heading out to meet some family friends for a day at the beach and an evening of hot dogs, hamburgers and smores. Tomorrow, we'll plan to turn our van in for shipment to Germany and then take the rental van to Sea World and the zoo here. Shipping out, God willing, on Wed. afternoon to Germany.

Take care and planning to update again soon.

James and family

Nothing too profound, but just wanted to share two stories from experiences I had this week; experiences that have some sort of spiritual nuggets tucked in within them.

I'm not normally a church goer but I did so more than once while in Virginia last month. This experience wasn't all bad, apparently, and this is proved by a funny event that happened while returning to work this week. I was feeling pretty happy about being back around the people I am called to work with and I had enjoyed greeting and catching up with them throughout the day. During the course of doing that, one especially macho-type guy there greeted me and shook my hand. He then moved for a paper on the printer behind me, but the way he moved and reached gave my subconscious the impression he was greeting me with a hug, like people do at church. I responded with returning the hug gesture and the co-worker backed up and said something like "you know I don't roll like that, man." It was awkward and funny but also made me sad that such a gesture would be considered abnormal. It wouldn't be if we were in heaven.

The other thing that happened was that upon returning home from Virginia, I noticed that our Beta's fish tank was looking pretty murky and in need of a cleaning. I decided to take care of that today, and when I opened the lid to begin the process, I was shocked to see that the water was chrystal clear looking down from directly above. The sides of the tank were dirty and gave the impression that the water was nasty. Not what you'd expect to be the stuff of spiritual inspiration or insight, but I recall wondering how many times we get it wrong in life by measuring what's inside by what we see on the outside.

Muhammad Yunus has helped millions of impoverished people; ninety-something percent of those helped being women.

Why does he focus most of his energy on women, anyway? That's a question I wanted to ask and a statement from him that I didn't really like. The honest truth, though, is that I already knew the answer. In his own words, he answers the question by saying, quote:

"... Women have plans for themselves, for their children, about their home, the meals. They have a Vision. A man wants to enjoy himself ..."

It should not be this way, but largely, it is. It's not impossible for things to be set right. I'm a man who has some vision for his family and obviously, there must be other men who do as well. Dr. Yunus is a man, after all. I know of many Godly men who are connected with their wives and with their families.

But the reality is that this sort of man seems to largely be a minority in our world. I here of women in destitution because of the men they have married or been with from my missionary friends living in Kenya. I see woman after woman in the Army who are single Moms or who live with deadbeat men who won't lift anything but a beer can or a video game controller. Just this week, I've met two single Moms who work at the hotel desk where I'm staying in Virginia.

Women are amazing creatures and for all the feeling inside and irritation I sometimes feel when ministries or governments focus more on women, well, goodness, why are we as men surprised? Men of integrity, we all need to step up and alleviate the need to focus on women in crisis if we want things to balance back where they belong.

Women carry the weight where we leave off. It's something to tear your garments over, to throw ashes on your head over, and weep and mourn because of. Thank a woman today, hug your Mother, and then challege your fellow men to step up.

Isaiah 3:12
Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.

A good friend of mine, Bram Warrick, asked me if I'd ever heard of "microloans" years ago. I opened the newspaper last Sunday and found that Muhammand Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and father of the "microfinance" movement would be speaking at the University of Virgina that day. I quickly got dressed and heading down to hear him speak.

Muhammad Yunus has helped millions of impoverished people; ninety-something percent of those helped being women. He had the following to say concerning the battle against poverty:

I strongly believe that we can create a poverty-free world, if we want to.... In that kind of world, [the] only place you can see poverty is in the museum. When school children will be on a tour of the poverty museum, they will be horrified to see the misery and indignity of human beings. They will blame their forefathers for tolerating this inhuman condition to continue in a massive way.

... Invisible Berlin Walls must go. We are not even trying to make it happen. Whenever we talk about the people at the bottom or the poor people, our usual reaction is to write a cheque. Okay, take care of them, feed them, clothe them, give them some place to live. But we don't touch the wall. We simply say, let them stay on the other side of the wall, but feed them a little. What I'm saying they don't need your throw-away money, they don't need handouts. They need an opportunity, a fair deal. They don't get a fair deal right now. Poverty is the denial of all human rights. I am talking about establishing their human rights. If we do that the walls will disappear. Poverty will go ...

If you think creating a world without any poverty is impossible, let’s do it. Because it is the right thing to do.

We got rid of colonialism, we got rid of slavery, and we got rid of apartheid – everyone thought each one of them was impossible. Let’s take the next impossible, do it with joy and get it finished with and create a world free from poverty. Let us create the world of our choice.

You can learn more about Muhammad Yunus at: http://muhammadyunus.org/

-James Matthews

When it comes to charismatic leadership or sports performance, I don't shine out as awe inspiring. In the workplace as well, I'm a "Jack of all trades and a master of none." This state-of-affairs gets old and frustrating, and leaving me wondering what purpose and significance I have "out there" in the big world.

My wife reminded me today that God sometimes allows us to stay humbled in some areas of life to increase our "usability" in other areas. I thought I'd share two recent examples of how I have been useful in hopes to helping a kindred hearts reading here.

In my Virginia class of 19 students, we have a kind person and a mean person who happen to share a room. The mean person lost an important, work-related item and the kind person happened to find it. The kind person, after having endured weeks of antagonism from the mean one, let go of kindness and decided to throw the item away and and revel in sweet revenge. I handed the item back to the kind person and said "are you sure you don't want to take this chance to make peace," with a smile. The kind person actually agreed, took the item out of my hand, and looked happy to do the right thing.

Today, a fellow classmate's wife and his 3-year old son had traveled here to visit my friend over the weekend. However, a last-minute change had all of us back in class on Saturday at 8am. It was now 1:30pm and my friend was distressed but holding his frustration well. I came to him, hoping to encourage him to ask to leave, and said "I can't see why they wouldn't let you go with your family. We are basically finished here." Although I didn't know it, a key class leader was right behind us and heard what I said. Minutes later, my friend had been released quietly and I saw him looking full of joy and leaving with his family at last. The rest of the class didn't leave until after 3pm and I heard one person complain that our classmate left early. I guess "misery loves company" but I felt good about what happened.

Our significance at home is more obvious when we look at our children and our spouse. But even in the wide world out there, we might not get fame, great wealth, or attract large followings with our leadership, but God uses even those like me (and you) to make a great difference in our world and in the lives of others.