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May 2007
Sometimes this CSM thing can be hard to explain.
I had a vivid experience along these lines recently in China. I
was with a group from my denomination visiting various types of work that we are
supporting in that country. Some of the work is such that I can't go into detail,
but one very cool place I can mention is the Oasis Training Center in Pingliang in
central China. Pingliang is a city of 200,000, which in China makes it a village.
(There are more cities of 5 million and up in China than you can imagine.)
Anyhow, here is what Oasis does: They work directly with the government
to teach English classes in one of the public high schools in Pingliang. They have two
classes going all the time (one first-year and one second-year), around 35 students each.
These are kids who have completed China's school system (which runs ten levels and ends at
16), but have no chance for further education unless they can develop English proficiency.
In addition to the two ongoing classes, they also teach a third beginning-English class to
students still in the high school itself.
The goal for Oasis is to build relationships with these students, most of
whom are boarding at the school. Since they come from throughout the outlying areas, they
live at the school and go home only occasionally. So that means a lot of down time where
caring Oasis staff can develop friendships with these kids. This can often lead to spiritual
conversations (everyone in China assumes that all Westerners are Christians), which the Oasis
staff are free to conduct as long as the student initiates the dialogue. Over the past five
years, a number of students have become believers.
The afternoon we were at Oasis, one of the teachers corralled Todd (a
fellow group member) and me to be "guinea pigs" for her class with the public-school students.
She had them write questions (in English) which they would then ask us. The questions were
about anything--what we thought of China, our families in the U.S., our favorite sports heroes,
etc. (China travel tip: Bring pictures of your family. Todd had a mini-album of family shots,
and I had a couple of photos I carry around in my wallet. You'd have thought they were candids
of Britney Spears.)
So this is where the hard-to-explain part comes in. One of the first questions
I got was, "What do you do for a living?" In trying to explain (as simply as possible),
"Volunteers...community development work...helping the poor..." it quickly became clear that
they had no frame of reference to understand what I was talking about. The more I tried to
explain, the worse it got. I finally kicked it over to Todd (a pastor), who wisely answered,
"I'm a fireman."
But here is the real "aha" related to their confusion: In China (and many other
parts of the world), the idea of intentionally working to help those less fortunate is simply
unheard of. One's station in life is regarded as fate, and while there is definitely simple
charity in places like China (usually in the form of giving alms to beggars), young people or
adults volunteering to work in community development or any kind of social service or ministry
is not even on the radar screen.
This "aha" moment reminded me of something very encouraging: For all of our
faults and foibles here in the West (and we've got plenty), it is very cool that so many young
people and adults in North America are investing their time, talents, and treasure into urban
and community ministry. CSM is a part of that, of course, but by no means all. There are many,
many worthy organizations and groups in addition to CSM who are helping people to connect with,
and minister to, needs and opportunities of all kinds.
It's really amazing when you think about it, and it is a value that I really
appreciate about the folks who choose to work with CSM and with other worthy organizations.
Blessings,
Noel Becchetti, President
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