Without at Camera

If you read anything I wrote while in Israel you might remember my thoughts of the streams of people cycling up to the front of a famous site, snapping a picture, and then heading back to the bus. Well, over the past 24 hours I have not seen a single camera. No one is taken pictures of the cobble stone streets, the small tiendas, the worship spaces, the plazas, the families washing clothes in the river, the women gathering flowers to take to Saturday market, or the kids who have little more than the clothes on their backs playing while their parents work. Not even me...

Thought: Israel is where Jesus was. In places like this is where Jesus is. He said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” Is this where it is possible to take a picture of the face of Jesus today?

Less Deep Thought: I need to carry my camera whenever I leave the guesthouse. I find myself visiting the church that Tammy serves, without any way to share it with others. It is not the Church of the Annunciation, but it is a much better expression of local believers creating a place for them to worship in “spirit and in truth.” I find myself being lead up the mountains behind the house by Maddy – a fun 3^rd grader. Jashton and I are just going out for a walk. And the next thing we know Jashton is seeing how people do laundry when they don't have running water at home. Dozens of people scrubbing clothes (often as a whole family) on the rock by the rushing stream, and drying them on the bushes. It was just a walk, but it really was so much more.

While the Dome on the Rock is famous, there is great value here – time to carry my camera so I can share it.  

"snow day" in Cochabamba

Now it is three hours later and now I'm sitting in the sanctuary of La Trinidad, part of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Bolivia. Over the past three hours Jashton and I flew 30 minutes over the majestic snow capped Andes mountains, we were picked up at the airport by Tammy, we avoided major roads and headed into a more rural “suburban” community where our friends Rusty and Tammy live. After unpacking, breakfast and a quick nap, I came to town with Tammy. She is currently functioning as the pastor here at La Trinidad after the resignation of the priest over the summer. So while she gets some work done before lunch, I can get a bit more of the lay of the land, and enjoy this simple sacred place surrounded by the sounds of Bolivia. Jashton stayed up at the house with Thomas and Maddy who are home from school today.

I'm going to have to get my head around sharing this experience in a blog. In Israel everything was new, I only knew what I was told, and we were constantly seeing and experiencing the big and the dramatic. Here I know much more of the back story, I want you to get the right understanding, but it is so far from the frame of reference of North America I don't know what will be possible. My attention is drawn a bit more to the detail, but I want it to be something you want to keep reading...

So, there was much more in the initial paragraph than meets the eye. Tammy was supposed to pick us up at the airport after dropping the kids at school, but today is a “paro” day – no school and she could be there when we arrived. “Paro” techincally is a strike, but really what's going on this week are “bloqueos” which are blockades. People are protesting due to price increases, and wage stagnation. (vast simplification) The protestors block the main roads, so the school is closed. These days are the Bolivian equivalent to snow days in schools in the northeast. Often there are rumors they are coming (a forecast), but you have to wait until the morning of to see if things are closed, and then you never know how severe they will be until they get going. Where we are traveling (on the north side of the city) things are proceeding like normal, but I understand that in the center things are pretty blocked up. I won't go downtown today.... but I wasn't planning to anyway. Nothing new, happened regularly when we lived here, but it may impact plans during our stay. There is absolutely no danger, just inconvenience.

I'll have to get photos of the “suburban” town where we are staying – it would require too many thousands of words to get your mind's eye wrapped around the reality. It is wonderful, but definitely foreign.

As for the church. This church is 17 years old, and in the last decade they have been able to purchase property, build a temporary worship sanctuary, and are currently building offices and classrooms. I love the creative use of simple materials which create a “set apart” space. This is not the church I was part of, it is a Bolivian congregation. I was part of the International Church for people desiring to worship in English. I'll get there on Sunday.

Rusty & Tammy's House

It is a real blessing to be back in Bolivia!

Landing in La Paz

I just saw the word factura. It is a term I haven't seen, heard, or thought about in 9 years – but instantly it all comes back. Factura is an official receipt for tax purposes, and it was on a sticker I had to purchase (at a special window) for the back of my boarding pass – tasa – the airport tax. Yes, traveling here is much easier having done it before – I had totally forgotten about the “after you get the boarding pass, before you head to the gate” step. The ticket agent saying, “tasa y puerta ocho” would not have gotten me to the right place... at least not without some back tracking.

Jashton is doing great. It is a tough trip, leaving Miami at 10:30 pm, arriving 5:30 am, at 13,000 ft. waiting in lines, high altitude, little sleep, but he's taking it all in stride. It's great traveling with him – I'm thinking the younger ones would be super miserable at the moment. The current moment is sitting on the plane, waiting to fly to Cochabamba. Fun to walk the tarmac, past all the active airport stuff, and climb the steps to a full sized 737 Boeing jet – which is just getting ready to take off – more later.  

Travelogue Again - Bolivia

Tomorrow I board a plane heading south with Jashton, to the land of his birth.  It will be a week long trip of reconnecting, celebrating, learning, sharing.

The 10 year anniversary the Cochabamba International Church (CIC) is the catalyst for the journey.  Jen and I had only been in Cochabamba for a few months (after moving from La Paz), when we learned that an English speaking congregation was going to be starting on Easter.  We jumped right in; Dirk with organization, doctrine, preaching and other odds and ends; Jen with worship leading and teen discipleship.  We were a small part of a great team, and as I reflect back it must have only been for about 15 months.  But they were formative in our life and in the life of CIC.  Ten years later the church has property, a building, over 300 people involved, and a fruitful ministry to internationals and even more importantly to internationally minded Bolivians (a strong part of the original vision of Graham and Gregg).

It is exciting to go back, celebrate with the church, and share Bolivia with Jashton who left Bolivia when he was only two.   It looks like we will also be able to see some of the development work we were involved with in our role with Food for the Hungry.  It will be interesting to see what has changed in the rural areas over 8 years.

Unfortunately due to the limitations of life it can't be a family affair, but Jen graciously said we could go (even if she was jealous).   We depart April 14 and return April 23 - so we can be together as a family, and with our church family, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus together on Easter morning.

I'll share as much of the trip as I can in my blog.

All guys are jerks, some are just better actors.

A teenage friend of mine posted this on facebook not too long ago.
"All guys are jerks, some are just better actors."

Sorta fun to think about - what's true in her statement?


False - most time "all" is used, it negates the statement.
      But this takes an emotional statement and applies logic filters, and that misses the point.


True - teenage males are a few million neuron connections short of fully developed neural pathways which are needed for a rational brain.  Therefore, they are going to be jerks, at least some of the time.  That is a good reason not to get to "into" a guy before the age of 20 - but scoping out the options so you know a good one when you see him can be a reasonable strategy...


True - if most gals knew what was going on inside the heads of most guys....

False - is thinking differently, processing differently, prioritizing differently - and the inherent conflicts which arise - worthy of the label "jerk"?


False - there are lots of nice guys, but for some strange reason they don't start getting the girls until the girls are done with the teenage years.  Looking for cool, confident, adventurous - then don't be surprised by the eventual "jerk" factor - for these traits in the teenage years seem to be tied into a self-centered rebellious nature.


True - but the net is cast too narrowly.  All people are jerks, some are just better actors.  Left on our own, we are self-centered, self-focused, self-absorbed - we are jerks!  Jesus came to model and enable a better way.  Allowing God to transform us into something new, something better, something much less "jerky" - it sure beats having to continually work at perfecting our acting skills.  Some adults are really good actors - but transformation of the heart is the best.  


Stop acting - I am Dirk Gieser, a recovering jerk through the grace of God.

My Mom wanted to see this one again

I wrote this back in March of 2005 (pre-blogging). As spring breaks into the northeast (finally) on behalf of my mom I dug it out to share with you.

Do you want to go for a walk?  I grew up in the country, and this was a regular question in our house.  Whether it was with my parents, my sisters or just the dog, walks were an important part of life.  While I have gone on many walks by myself, if given the option I will always choose to walk with someone I care about.  If you want to build a relationship with someone, going on walks together is a great way to do it.

Why is that?  Part of it is the focus, or maybe I should say, the lack of focus.  If you are working with someone, you both are focusing on finishing a project.  If you are out shopping together, you are focused on things and discovery.  But when you go for a walk with someone, the purpose is the walk.  You normally don’t have to concentrate about where you are going, and you can walk without thinking about putting one foot in front of the other.  Walking comes naturally, so you are freed up to focus on what is around you and who you are with.  Going on a walk with someone is a very relational activity.  You are side by side, able to talk, think, enjoy.

But what does this have to do with church?  Well, the amazing thing is that God invites you to go on a walk with him.  Our God is a walking God!

• In the beginning, God comes walking through the garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve.
• God says to Abraham, "I am God Almighty; Walk before me, and be blameless.”
• The nation of Israel is told, “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
• The Israelites are told repeatedly to walk in God’s ways, in effect; to walk where God walks.
• And we are told clearly in Micah 6:8 what God requires of us in relation to himself, we are to walk humbly with our God.

So what does it mean when God says, walk with me?  Rather than focus on a list of things to do, and create another long list of things not to do, we need to realize the core reality behind this invitation.  God is a Relational Being!  The all powerful, the eternal, the creator of all, is Relational.  Walking is by its nature relational, and one who invites others to walk with him is relational as well.

God cares about how we live our lives.  God does want us connected to a group of others “walkers” in a church.  God does care what we do with our money, with our time, with our abilities.  But more than anything else, God wants you!  God wants a relationship with you.  God says, come on a life long walk with me.  God sees each one of us as his creation, God wants to adopt every human as a child, but ultimately God yearns to have you as his friend.  Someone who is walking with God, talking with God, sharing their life experiences with God, someone heading where God is heading.

Over this month, as we celebrate Easter, I encourage you to consider your walk with God.  God is saying, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Yes, I watch Survivor - finding redemption

Right now, there is only one show I try and see every week - Survivor.  My wife says I shouldn't admit it, but some time after Wednesday I go to cbs.com to watch what happened to this season's castaways.  It is fascinating to watch the relationships, the motivations of people, the manufactured suspense - it is a bit of societal research.  I've noticed something interesting this season, but to grasp what I'm talking about, you will need to bear with me as a I fill in the non-survivor watchers about this season's "new twist."

The sub-title this season is, "Redemption Island."  The "twist" is that when someone is voted off, they are not gone for good, but sent to live by themselves on Redemption Island (though I see no real indication they are on an actual island).  Then, when the next person is voted off, they too are sent redemption island, where the two face off in a duel - the winner remains, the loser is gone for good.  At some point in the game, the person who has survived redemption island is brought back in and rejoins the tribe.

This season, the second person voted off was Matt.  Matt is self identified as a committed Christian.  This always makes me, as someone who goes by the same label, a little nervous.  But Matt was seemingly voted off because he was a nice guy, because he was bonding with people, because (from what I could tell) he was doing his best to be like Jesus.  He didn't preach, he didn't annoy - I'm liking Matt.  And Matt is still on the show - he has won four duels so far on redemption island - every time pulling up from behind and winning.

But here is the observation:  Matt understands the concept of redemption.  Others on the game do not.  A few people were able to observe the redemption duel, and then report back to the whole tribe what happened.  Matt said to the host something along the lines, "If I can pull this off, it will be greatest story of redemption in Survivor history."  Being one of the first to Redemption Island, he knew that if he could win all the challenges and make it back into the game, it would be amazing, and something worth talking about.  A story of redemption.

But when it was reported back to the tribe, the observers said, "yeah, Matt was all talking about revenge."  At first I thought they must not have heard him right, but then I realized, they might not have the frame work to think like Matt was thinking.  Yes, he was blind-sided.  Yes, he was voted out for being a nice guy.  But Matt wasn't focused on revenge, they couldn't fathom this.  Matt has a faith which helps him grasp forgiveness.  But he also understands the glory of redemption - being restored, bought back, getting another chance.

Redemption - it is not a common theme today.  It will be fun to see if Matt can redeem himself in the game of Survivor, but regardless, he knows that he can never redeem himself in the reality of life.  For the redemption that really matters, we must rely on something beyond ourselves.

To Redeem:

• to make up for; make amends for; offset (some fault,shortcoming, etc.)
• to obtain the release or restoration of, as from captivity, by paying a ransom.