Faith is a Verb

Sign on Bike & Build trailer in the
First Congregational Church of Granby, CT parking lot

“To have faith in something is an inducement not to dormancy but to action. To me, faith is not just a noun but also a verb.” – President Jimmy Carter

I’ve had the good fortune and honor of meeting President Carter a few times including being invited to sit right beside him at lunch on a Habitat for Humanity work site in Haiti, as well as, to attend one of his Sunday school lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. What has always impressed me is his true interest getting to know a person as an individual -- you, me, whomever he is with. As his friend Rev. Eloy Cruz taught him, people need “to love the person who happens to be in front of  [them] at any particular time.” That is, it's vital to deal in specifics (what we actually will commit to doing) in our relationships with the people around us -- those we know, those who are strangers, those we serve, those who serve us, those who need protection from injustice. It led Carter to a question he continues ask himself to this day, “What shall I do?” It’s a question we should ask ourselves always, individually and as a group.

President Jimmy Carter welcoming the congregation
before teaching his Sunday School lesson
at Maranatha Baptist Church, Plains, GA

To help keep me focused on President Carter’s question, I frequently listen to These Hands a song sung by one of my favorite singers Dave Gunning of Nova Scotia. It’s a song I’d like my church to sing. Here are excerpts from the lyrics by Dave Gunning and George Canyon:

Dave Gunning performing at the
Salmon Brook Music Series in Granby, CT

Some hands have held the world together
Some hands have fought in wars forever
Tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine

Some hands have blessed a million people
Some hands helped free the world from evil
Tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine 

The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine

Some hands can stop a life from dying
Some hands comfort a baby crying
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine 

The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine

I want to sing it from my heart, I want to hear it in the wind 'Til it blows around the world, and comes back again All that we can ask, is for ours to be free To use them when we want, for whatever the need

Some hands give voice to a nation
Some hands wrote "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine

The world could use a hero of the human kind
So tell me what shall I do with these hands of mine

To fulfill our individual and collective responsibility to build a better world, we must answer the question, What shall we do with these hands of ours? Faith is a verb for all of us.

Don Shaw, Jr.

Writer and Editor

RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Photos by Don Shaw, Jr.

"The time is always right to do what is right"

It's August 2017. The United States of America is in the grip of divisiveness and hatred. A grip tearing our social fabric. A fabric woven of freedom and fairness for all people as envisioned by our country's founders. A fabric celebrated in our Constitution. The Constitution of the United States of America is a framework intended to sustain us on an evolving path "in order to form a more perfect Union," following the lead of our Declaration of Independence's call for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for everyone.

This month's tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a signal event demanding action to break the grip of those who would deny the recognition, respect, and rights a just world should afford everyone.  

Two United Church of Christ pastors from my hometown of Granby CT offer their calls to action in my blog today. Please read them and follow their lead. Catch the stones we are prone to cast at, or throw in the path of the marginalized, vulnerable, and victimized among us, which prevents them from realizing the recognition, respect, and rights a just world should afford everyone. Every step, a stride short or long, is needed to walk the path ahead. Be a stonecatcher!

Don Shaw, Jr.

Writer and Editor 

RedTruckStonecatcher.com    

Evil Must Be Confronted
By Rev. Dr. Virginia A. "Ginny" McDaniel, Senior Minister
First Congregational Church, Granby CT

The gathering of white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 was legal, but it was also deeply evil. Yes, our Bill of Rights guarantees the right to free assembly and free speech. But a rally of heavily armed people who identify as neo-Nazis and white nationalists, people who came from all over the country brandishing clubs and flags and swastikas, needed to be met by demonstrators against their hatred. And the act of an angry young man from Ohio who drove a car into the crowd, killing Heather Heyer and injuring scores of others, needs to be named for what it was: terrorism.

For those who identify as Americans, this moment calls for patriotism of the highest order-to actively insist on the equality and dignity of each person. For those who identify as white, it is our responsibility to acknowledge the cancer of racism that has scarred this country since the first Africans were kidnapped and brought to North America almost 400 years ago, and to work to bring healing. For those who identify as people of faith, it is our job to actively pursue how it is we might make the world a better place for all of God's children. 

Many faith traditions call on people to defend the rights of the oppressed and the marginalized. We are reminded to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, offer shelter to the poor, and to welcome the 'stranger,' to stand with the weak, and work to lift up the downtrodden. It doesn't matter what your political affiliation is; these values are the foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and should bring us together. In the words of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "The time is always right to do what is right."

You do not have to be part of a faith community to share these values. We must not remain silent about the violence that is daily perpetrated against religious, ethnic, or sexual minorities. We must not shy away from talking about these issues with our children. We must not be afraid to talk about this evil because some may deem it too political. Our silence will not save us.

These are frightening times. But it's never too late to become part of the solution that creates a positive change in the world.

Pastoral Reflections on Charlottesville, VA 

By Rev. Dennis P. "Denny" Moon, Senior Minister

South Congregational Church, Granby, CT

In the wake of the white supremacy march in Charlottesville, VA, I want to underline what has been said by others:

No matter how many club swinging anti-racist protesters there were at the march, there is no moral equivalence, whatsoever, between them and white supremacists.

The basic assumption of Nazis, the KKK, and the Confederacy, is the inferiority of people of color. The goal of white supremacy is to either exclude people of color from society (by apartheid, reservations, or prison) or to destroy them (by abuse, neglect or execution). The assumption that people of color are less than human suspends the necessity of ethical behavior toward them. Violence is inherent in their views. This is not the case with the anti-racist protesters.

The founders of our nation were ambivalent about white supremacy. 

They wrote “All men(sic) are created equal.” Yet they owned slaves and freely broke treaties with American Indians. As Debby Irving wrote in her book Waking Up White, they were part of a larger historical pattern of “white Europeans invading countries, exploiting resources, and ‘civilizing’ people they considered to be savages, all in an entangled quest to dominate through Christianity and capitalism.”  

Our founder’s hearts were divided. 

This American Ambivalence led, eventually, to the Civil War, after which white supremacy found new systemic expression: Jim Crow laws, lynching below the Mason-Dixon line, outlawing the practice of Native American religion, the practical exclusion of soldiers of color from the G.I. bill, redlining, etc., etc..

We continue to live in the wake of our Original Ambivalence.

While there is ample evidence of ambivalent Christian behavior in history, the assumptions of Christianity are not so. The equitable inclusion of all peoples is the purpose of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. “Love God and your neighbor as yourself.” The oppression of people of color is the purpose of white supremacy. Any white supremacist group that claims Christian identity clearly misunderstands Jesus.

What can be done?

First, read the book “Waking Up White” and join us in our discussion on Oct. 15 at 11:30 a.m. as we try to understand how deeply the idea of white superiority is embedded in our culture and minds. You may not agree with everything in the book but it is a great tool for self reflection.

Second, express your anger among friends. Then, be curious toward those with whom you disagree, inquiring, with specificity, as to the line of logic they use to arrive at their conclusions and the picture of the society that they think their assumptions would create. Think through the connections between your own assumptions and the world you seek to create and be willing to share those ideas. Be curious about your own biases. Test your own assumptions. Disagree respectfully and wonder aloud about why two intelligent people would differ so. Different experiences? Different sources?

Third, do not be afraid. Fear drives white supremacists. The opposite of love is not hatred, it is fear. “Perfect love casts out fear.” (I John 4:10) Know that the light of God’s love has led you to the path of the inclusion of all peoples: it is the path of Moses, the prophets, Jesus—and Buddha and Mohamed, and Secular Humanists as well. Trust that if your life is taken while walking this path, like Heather Heyer’s in Charlottesville, God rest her memory, that you will have given your life for the highest purpose possible, the oneness of humankind and the effort to have God’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

As a follower of Jesus I believe that all supremacy, including divine supremacy--which allows people to use the bible as a brick instead of a bridge--was crucified with Jesus. And, if you have a discussion with a white supremacist, you may want to gently remind them: Jesus was not white.

Homer Found a Home

Marj's Signed Welcome and Blessing at Hartford Habitat's House of Faith Groundbreaking

Homer arrived quite unexpectedly at Rev. Marjorie Davis's home in early April. He was a fluffy little thing, cute and cuddly, in need of a home -- but what was she to do with Homer? How could she help him?

Marj is hardly what I would call a retired UCC minister. She's always working on some project, attending a workshop, or advocating a just cause. She's a good friend to all who know her here in Granby, CT. Like many in town, I have a shared passion with Marj. Ours is Habitat for Humanity -- she's a long-time Habitat advocate and donor. I fondly recall her participation in Hartford Habitat's House of Faith groundbreaking at the corner of the city's Case and Laurel Streets (Marj's parents, Swedish immigrants, once lived on Laurel). Habitat's House of Faith program is an interfaith collaboration where multiple faiths work side-by-side to build a new Habitat house.  During the ceremony's traditional board signing she inscribed her welcome and blessing to the new homeowners-to-be on one of the two-by-fours designated for the home's first wall. I have displayed a picture of it on my computer screen for inspiration ever since.

But Marj's question remained -- what to do with Homer? His arrival was a surprise. Would her home be the best place for him? He's awfully cute but, you see, Homer is a stuffed animal -- a puppy with the words Habitat for Humanity displayed on a bright green collar. Marj wondered if Homer would be better suited for a young child. It turns out Habitat for Humanity International sent Homer Marj's way as a thank you memento for her recent donation. 

"Hello, Don? This is Marj Davis" I heard answering her call. Quickly she explained Homer's arrival, and gently peppered me with questions to which my responses were equally quick: 

"Do you know someone who might like Homer?" "Yes."
"Does the family in the new Granby Habitat home have children?" "Yes."
"Do they have a young child?" "Yes, her name is Shelby. She's eight years old"
"Would she like Homer?" "I think so."
"Would you be a able to deliver him?" "Yes." 

I had been meaning to pay Ralph and Jaime Wyman a visit to see how they were settling in to their new Habitat house so Homer's arrival proved fortuitous. Soon I was at the front door of Wyman's West Granby home -- a home that they moved into just in time for Christmas four months earlier.

The Wyman's New Habitat Home

Shelby was away on a playdate when I visited, but Jaime and Ralph assured me Shelby would be thrilled with Homer -- just as they all are thrilled with their new home. Some school teachers had told me Shelby was a chatterbox who couldn't contain her excitement about moving in to her Habitat house while it was nearing completion last fall.

Shelby and Homer

When she returned home and saw Homer waiting to greet her, Shelby jumped with joy. So thrilled that she immediately wrote Marj a thank you note, and just as quickly dropped it in the mail at the post office across the street. Shelby's charming note included a drawing of her new home in which she and Homer are looking out the front window enjoying the view of their brand new world.

Homer found a home.

Thanks Marj.

Shelby's Thank You Note to Marj

Don Shaw, Jr.
Writer and Editor
RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Photos of new Habitat home and Shelby courtesy of Jaime Wyman
Shelby's thank you note courtesy of Rev. Marjorie Davis
Photo of Marj's Signed Welcome by Don Shaw, Jr.

The Connecticut Forum's Religion in America 2016

The Connecticut Forum's Religion in America 2016 on September 29, 2016 kicks off the Forum's 2016-2017 season. I'm looking forward to a lively discussion on "The changing role [of religion] in our culture, politics and lives." It's great opportunity to listen, learn and grow.

Follow the link above to the Forum's website for more information about the panelists, and to purchase tickets.


Don Shaw, Jr.
Writer and Editor
RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Saving Children and Marines in Mogadishu

A Happy Day at Restore Hope Orphanage 1993. 

A scarlet, key-laden lanyard hung around Khadija Mohamud's neck. The gold lettering was unmistakable: United States Marine Corps. My question obvious; her answer emotional. Khadija's story quickly unfolded. "Two Marines were forgotten, left behind. I had to do what I had to do," Khadija said recounting her unhesitatingly selfless call to action in saving two U.S. Marines in war torn Mogadishu. I knew then that Khadija's story must be shared with others, many others.

Khadija and I met at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, VA in what she described as "such an unexpected circumstance." We were both among several chaperones guiding a "getting to know you" interfaith youth gathering. She for the Muslim youth of Dar Al-Hijrah, and I for thirty Granby, CT high school youth on a week long trip to Washington, DC, which focused on gaining perspective on Race, Religion, and Privilege.

Khadija and me at Dar Al-Hijrah, August 4, 2016

The trip, which is a whole other story, sponsored by First Congregational Church of Granby, purposefully took the Granby youth out of town to engage with Washington-area youth in collaborative activities ranging from a Black Lives Matter workshop to LBGTQ discussions to Aging-in-Place service projects with in-need elderly to the Holocaust Museum to a White House tour to a Muslim prayer service at the Capitol, and to the thoughtfully-planned meet, greet, and play with more than 50 youth from DAH Youth, and 20 more from ADAMS Center and The Young Leaders Institute. Intense, provocative, and enlightening, the week was a huge success.

Saving Children

The year 1991. The city Mogadishu. 

After 13 years in the United States pursuing her education and career as an accountant, and becoming a citizen, Khadija (known to some by her nickname "Lul", which means "Pearl") had returned home to Somalia for a short visit to check on the well being of her family. The short visit to help secure the safety of family and friends turned into an eight year life-changing mission in Mogadishu to save children whose lives were torn apart by the horrific combat raging throughout the city. 

Fighting had injured hundreds of children; many had lost their parents. Mothers desperately needed help for their children, their husbands killed in the fighting. Access to food and medicine was increasingly difficult, clinics were closing, and others were treacherous to reach.

Somali Child in Mogadishu

With her friends, Khadija responded to the crisis by organizing their grassroots Somali Relief and Development Organization, "a group of volunteer professional women who wanted to do something for the children of Mogadishu." An abandoned building was found, and a mother and childcare center established. Instantly, it was "providing medical care and food for 150 injured or malnourished children and mothers." But in November 1991, as the civil war exploded throughout the area, with rockets raining down, gunfire piercing the air, and looting rampant, "overnight 10 times more children came to our center." As medical supplies and food ran out death became routine. The images seen around the world were horrific.

Khadija, desperately seeking more help, returned to America to solicit aid in the U.S. and Canada. The Somali-Canadian community responded immediately arranging the first ton of medicines and first aid supplies to be shipped safely through international relief agencies and the United Nations. Khadija soon returned to Mogadishu. Her unflagging efforts led to an additional assignment. She was appointed as Feed the Children Program Officer in Mogadishu.

Khadija was saving children. Soon she would be saving two U.S. Marines. 

Saving Marines

The year 1993. The city Mogadishu. 

Khadija now was serving as Feed the Children International Country Director for Somalia, as well as managing the Restore Hope Orphanage in Mogadishu North "with well over 2,000 orphans, abandoned and needy children, ages 2 to 12."

Khadija's Feed the Children ID

In early October the Battle of Mogadishu was fought. It was the battle in which two U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, a tragedy documented in the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. The fighting resulted in thousands of Somali casualties, along with several U.S. soldiers dead and many more wounded. Later in October, even though the city remained extremely dangerous, a UN visit to the Restore Hope Orphanage proceeded as scheduled.

The following narrative is Khadija's recounting of saving two Marines as told to me: 

It was October 24, 1993. In celebration of United Nations Day, U.S. Navy Admiral Jonathan Howe, the Special Representative for Somalia to UN Secretary General Butros-Ghali was scheduled to visit the orphanage along with other dignitaries and high-ranking military officials from various countries. 

Security was tight due to the orphanage's location near the so called Green Line, a dangerous no man's land dividing Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia into North and South between warring factions. 

That day, a large area around the orphanage compound was secured by the U.S. Marines and there were several armored military vehicles strategically positioned inside, outside and around the orphanage's compound.

A Somali Youth Approaching a Mogadishu Security Checkpoint

Inside the orphanage, a great deal of time before the arrival of Admiral Howe and his entourage, a unit of the U.S. Marines took position in several corners inside the building, first floor, second floor, entrances to second floor, on the roof, front and back entrances of the orphanage compound. There was a large contingent of media personnel from around the world. 

The visit lasted about 45 minutes. Guests toured the Center, interacting, playing, singing, and taking pictures with the children and staff. Then everyone departed. 

It was through our program that we, along with Feed the Children, provided everything for the children: food, medicine, clothing, education, recreational activities to keep them off the streets during the day where their would be role models were killing and looting. 

However, at the end of each day before nightfall, we released the children to their extended families.  We worked diligently to locate the children's closest kin and place them with relatives so that they would not be institutionalized, but grow up in a family environment. On top of that the security situation would not have permitted us to keep the children at the orphanage compound after dark. Clashes, shootings, mortar shelling and looting were the norm. It would have been strategically impossible to evacuate over 2,000 children. The consequences would have been devastating if fighting broke out. 

The sun was setting, it was getting dark. I was getting ready to close. I sent my guards to secure all gates and doors of the compound when I came to find out that two U.S. Marines were forgotten, left behind. 

My first thought was: "No, it is not possible."

I walked down to where they were positioned, I saw two very young soldiers, one black and one white, holding tight onto their weapons, seemingly alarmed. They were very young, I guess maybe between 19 and 21 years of age. 

I thought: "Oh my God! What now?" 

I went up to them and told them that everyone of their group had left, but in reassuring them I said to them: "Don't worry, I am American like you. These are my guards, and I promise no one will harm you. Come with me and I will take you to safety to the Italian Military base which is the closest." 

I felt they became a bit relaxed but they told me that they must follow rules and must stay where they were last known to be. 

Night was approaching. It was unsafe for me, too, to be trotting around. Mogadishu was in the hands of armed militia who took the city hostage. Throughout the night you would hear gunfire and random rockets being fired. There were security checkpoints set up by local police, however, in the darkness if anyone halted you to stop, you were doomed if you stopped, and you were doomed if you did not stop, because there were also some checkpoints set up by thugs for the purpose of looting and rape. In the darkness, with no electricity, you could not distinguish the good guys from the bad ones. So you do not stop, never. You take your chance of avoiding bullets raining down on you as you flee. 

The U.S. Military base was in Mogadishu South, we were in Mogadishu North. But I had to do what I had to do. 

I got my driver ready with my pick up truck, loaded the back with armed men, some of my security guards, and left for the Italian Military base, which was nearest to the orphanage. 

Needless to say that to approach any military base, day or night, was very dangerous. Fortunately my vehicle was easily identifiable with Feed the Children's flag and logo on the doors, plus they knew me. The gate opened and I drove in. I asked to see the General who was in charge of the base, presented to him the situation. Right away he summoned one of his captains, who with some soldiers, quickly got into an armored vehicle and followed me to the orphanage. 

Before we left the Italian Military base, the General communicated by radio, I believe first with the U.S. Military base in Mogadishu South, and then following instructions he radioed the head of the Nigerian Military Contingent, which was based at the old port of Mogadishu also not far from where we were. We headed there.

The Italian General tried to see if it was at all possible that the two Marines could be air lifted by helicopter back to their U.S. base in Mogadishu South. Usually airlifts were done by flying over the sea to avoid ground area. By flying over the Green Line there was the danger that militia would shoot rockets to bring the aircraft down. 

The head of the Nigerian Military expressed concern as there was a ban for airlifts at night, but said that they would stay in communication by radio with the U.S. Military base, and in the meantime the Nigerian base would host the two Marines for the night and take them to the U.S. base in the morning. And so it went.  

After I had secured them in the Nigerian's safe hands, it was my turn to try to get home safely. While all this is happening, I was expecting my son, my first born.  

I am grateful to God that He has given me the opportunity to do good. My faith teaches me that ".... If anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind" (Quran, Chapter 5, Verse 32). I guess I got double of that. 

I would also add that the U.S. Marines adopted the orphanage, which was named after the UN Operations in Somalia: Operation Restore Hope. When we first occupied the building, which was an old Catholic private boarding school, and my elementary school as a child, the walls were riddled with bullet holes and marked with war related graffiti. The roof and the structural support were in pieces. U.S. Marines and Sailors began helping. They even shared their MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) with the children, if we ran out of food. To honor their involvement, we painted the center with the colors of the U.S. Marines: GOLD and SCARLET. I hold them dear in a special spot in my heart. Semper Fidelis! 

It's been 23 years since that day and I always ask myself: "Where are those two Marines now? They must be in their late forties, fathers or even grandfathers. Would they remember me?" Who knows, but I wish I could know.

Epilogue

The situation deteriorated throughout Somalia in late 1993 and into 1994. Most U.S. troops were withdrawn in 1994, and completely by 1995.  Khadija recalled how the country fell back into chaos and renewed fighting between factions. As a way to arm themselves the local militias looted food convoys and exchanged food for weapons. Mogadishu's main seaport and airport fell into the hands of thugs and criminals. Ships could not dock at the port because rocket fire scared them away. "I stayed behind even after all foreign presence was gone, [even] while relief agencies left due to security reasons," she said. Foreigners were targeted for kidnapping for ransom.

Eventually, as food ran out and what security there was declined further, Feed the Children closed all programs in Somalia by the late 1990s. Khadija was relocated to the Feed the Children office in Nairobi, Kenya. "I continued to support some of the children in Mogadishu on my own, but however little, my assistance was not reaching them," she lamented.

For a couple of years Khadija worked as a Program Coordinator for another agency, and later as a Fundraiser/Project Proposal Writer for a Nairobi Catholic mission, the Diocese of Rumbek.

In 2003, Khadija returned to the United States, settling in Fairfax, Virginia. She resumed her career as an accountant, and, as she said, "a full-time mom to her children, Edoardo and Sarah," now 22 and 20, respectively.

"As far as for me," Khadija sighed, "I feel my mission was not complete."

Khadija did what she had to do in Mogadishu.

Khadija will continue to do what she has to do.

Khadija is a stonecatcher.

Don Shaw, Jr.
Writer and Editor
RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Source documents, photos and images from Khadija Mohamud; Don Shaw Jr.; CIA World Factbook; Defense Technical Center; and Amazon.com