Dan and Erin Holcomb

Full Reflections on Rice & Beans Month

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Full reflections on Rice & Beans Month

Well today is April 1st, which in previous years meant some silly practical jokes enjoyed with friends. This year the day has taken on an entirely new meaning. It marks the end of Rice & Beans month. For those unfamiliar with this event, please check out EatRiceAndBeans.com and especially view this video done by my friend Casey.

This month has been rich and profound for my soul. It truly has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences of my life. I'd like to share the experiences and results of the month with you below.

First of all, I realize that sharing personal experiences of a spiritual discipline may seem arrogant and counterintuitive. Jesus Christ called his followers to practice their giving and praying in secret in order to please our Heavenly Father who is unseen. I mostly would like to share my experiences in order to encourage you. I have received a lot of compliments this month, but I have been around enough truly noble and sacrificial people to realize that I haven't done anything extraordinarily hard or heroic. But for the true good that has come about from the month, I credit the process of turning over my natural desires in order to be formed more into a follower of the ways and person of Jesus Christ. I don't have naturally good tendencies in my soul, and it is in this process of giving up control of myself that I find life and beauty. Finally, in the same talk where Jesus told his followers to perform good deeds only for the audience of God, he also encouraged his listeners to "let your light shine before men so that people can see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Hopefully the words below do just that - honor God.

Also, the comments below are a very open discussion of generally personal matters.

About the Month
The currents behind this month have been building for a long time. As experiences and new insights came to our team, it became clear that this would be the right path forward.

First, my trips to East Africa over the past decade have prompted some turmoil in my soul. I've been making trips to war zones and slums where people are in desperate need. These human beings often are living in leaking grass or cardboard shacks, under constant threat of abduction and sexual violence, are brutally abused by corrupt governments, and are suffering from a variety of simple and complex diseases (everything from ringworm to AIDS). Many carve out a life with extremely basic meals that do not provide adequate nutrition. With all of the wasted food from U.S. farms, restaurants, and grocery stores, there are still human beings that are starving to death on our same planet. It's unbelievable.

On my trips to the Amazing Grace children's home I get to meet generous and intelligent kids who's parents have either died or are unable to care for them. We were stunned on the first trips to realize that the kids generally eat meat just once a month. Their regular diets consist of rice and beans, cooked corn or millet meal, and some seasonal vegetables, fruits, and peanuts grown in the area. As we've facilitated travelers to the different partnerships, many want to overhaul this diet to provide regular meat and other "luxuries". Our partner Susan Tabia is open to the idea, but then reminds visitors that they'll need to fund this new diet out of their own pockets. There are not enough resources locally to give the kids these meals. With gifts from outside partner organizations, along with food grown locally, the kids get just enough nutrition to live on. A couple of our long-term travelers tried living on this diet and experienced dramatic weight loss. They had to secretly supplement their diets with stashes of protein shakes that they had purchased.

It has been difficult living in two worlds with this constant awareness. My thoughts during the day continually come back to the desperate condition of these kids, and many times this provokes a sense of guilt for my day-to-day activities in the United States. The book of 1 John says "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" Wow. Is this scripture serious? John the Baptizer told his listeners that "the man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Seriously? How far should this go? And in our world of internationally televised bombings, famines, and earthquakes, how much can our souls absorb of the global suffering we read about on our iPhones?

A couple summers ago my friends at Camp Eagle in South Texas thought of a cool idea. They run week-long camps for kids, and families and churches pay for the week up front. Camp Eagle exposed kids to a simulation of life in Uganda, and then gave the kids the option of "donating" one of their lunches during the week to the Amazing Grace Children's Home. In several weeks of camps, the kids donated over $3,500! This had a profound impact on the Texas kids, and supplemented the nutritional needs for the Children's Home for a year.

Spiritual Disciplines
In addition to the experiences mentioned above, our community went through a time of exploring Christian spiritual disciplines. We enjoyed a weekly study last summer on The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, and more recently I've gone through The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard. These books do a great deal to "demystify" the ancient disciplines practiced by followers of Christ that lead (with the help of God's Spirit) to a more disciplined internal and external life. Disciplines such as fasting, prayer, solitude, simplicity, meditation on scripture, study, confession and celebration are covered in depth.

For those friends from the Christian Orthodox, Catholic, or Anglican traditions, these practices are not new and have been part of spiritual life for many centuries. My friends traveling down other religious paths have also regularly used spiritual disciplines to bring their internal and external life into submission.

Protestantism (and more recently the evangelical current) was wary of "working our way to rightness" with God and has been on a track of de-emphasizing the practice and power of spiritual disciplines. Other than "read your Bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow" the Christianity that I grew up with didn't have concrete paths toward a disciplined soul. It largely emphasized grace in the present life and salvation for the afterlife. Commonly stories of spiritual growth involved feelings and revivals and random acts of the Spirit (none of which are inherently negative). But the evidence of life lived exclusively in this manner is depressing. Christians in the United States generally share the same deficiencies as their neighbors. Levels of addictions, divorce, abuse, depression, anger, infidelity, stress, burnout, and other characteristics of Christians regularly match or exceed their neighbors (examine the many studies by George Barna for more details).

I often wondered as a young man, "is this the reality my heart should accept?" But I also read the words of Jesus who said that we "should make followers of all people... teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." And the apostle Paul writes that we should "renew our minds" and "forget what is behind and strain for what is ahead". There needs to be an element of willfully choosing challenging spiritual disciplines (by the grace of God and in his power and for his honor) so that our minds/bodies/souls are brought in line with the steps of Jesus Christ. We need spiritual disciplines, our families need spiritual disciplines, and our neighborhoods need spiritual disciplines. It's not mystical by any means, but is similar to the training a runner must do in order to compete in a race.

We've realized the shallowness of unordered spirituality and the regular tendency of our bodies and souls to fail when we live only by naive hopes of succeeding. The spiritual disciplines do not "earn rightness" with God, but they do assist in conforming our natural desires to God's desires.

Christian Spiritual Disciplines are practices where we can train our souls and bodies (again only through the power of God) to become more like Jesus Christ.

It's been great to dust off these practices and realize the benefits of exercising them.

Building up to a Month of Rice & Beans
Our team decided in the fall of 2009 to embark upon a month of eating Rice & Beans. This was to be a way to discipline our own bodies and allow group discipleship to take place while using some of the exciting new technologies of the internet and digital and physical social networks. It would be accessible to nearly everyone around the world and would be a simple way to share resources with brothers and sisters in need.

My wife and I had also been on a track of understanding more about the situation of the American food system and the rampant consumerism around us. In North America our obesity levels are skyrocketing. There are estimates that by 2015 that 75% of adults will be overweight while 41% will be obese (1). Our foods are doused in harmful chemical pesticides, injected with hormones, transported on average 1600 miles, and processed and altered beyond recognition before arriving at our mouths (watch Food Inc for more on the current situation). I've been overweight for a while, and recently my weight hit 235 pounds. I tried exercise and had cut out sodas and desserts on a regular basis, but still held steady at around 230.

Our North American minds are subjected to endless advertisements encouraging us to eat more, spend more, and live beyond our means. The average household is crushed under more than $8,000 of credit card debt (2).

We continually tell ourselves that when we have more time and more money we will be more generous. But this has been shown to be consistently false thinking. Two excellent books Rich Christians in an age of Hunger and Passing the Plate explore how the wealthier Christians become, the stingier their average giving becomes.

Something is seriously wrong with how we practice our daily lives and how Christians practice generosity.

We pondered how we could address these deficiencies with an experiential global movement that would change our hearts and in turn significantly alter the lives of our (global) neighbors.

So we set our sights on March 2010 (conveniently overlapping with the season of Lent) to invite people into a month of Solidarity, Simplicity, and Sharing by eating meals of Rice & Beans.

The Monthlong Experience
As we entered into March, we surprisingly found ourselves with an estimated 400 friends to join us in the experience! There were over 250 on Facebook and another 150 or so family members, neighbors, and others outside of the Facebook world that had pledged to participate. We had worked hard to use common technologies (Flickr, Facebook, blogs, and YouTube) to allow group excitement to build and travel along relational lines. Individuals and groups from the U.K, Tanzania, Canada, Puerto Rico, Uganda, and across the continental United States had decided to take part.

The beginning of the month was rough! Many young people in the United States had never cooked dry beans before, and were surprised that meals couldn't be prepared in fifteen minutes. Our addictions to cheese, caffeine, sugar, fats, and "variety" took down a good number of people.

We purposely left the month open to a wide variety of interpretations. Worldwide accessibility of rice and beans differed (high prices of rice in East Africa, and high costs of beans in Thailand were reported). And many had dietary issues or unique situations where adjustments were required for involvement. We let people know that their interpretations were appreciated and valid. The event was to be experienced for the ideas, not the specific practices.

Erin and I took this interpretation to allow for rice and beans with healthy inclusions of a variety of vegetables. We tried to mirror our diet to match the meals at our East African partnerships. Rice dishes were paired with beans mixed with vegetables. We drank mostly water with some allowances for cups of African tea. I took one meal off to join in celebration of my sister-in-law's wedding.

Some went a bit more radical than Erin and I, while others found ways to join us for simpler meals, a daily meal of rice and beans, or self-imposed restrictions on "no purchased groceries for the month."

By far the favorite stories of the month were of the courageous moms and dads who led their families in eating rice and beans! There are precious stories of children praying enlightened prayers, struggling with the lack of variety and flavors, and learning to appreciate the resources they regularly have access to. I know as a kid I would have had a terribly difficult time with a month of rice and beans - so I have huge appreciation for these kids and parents who ventured into the month with a variety of outcomes.

Halfway through the month we heard and read stories of fatigue by some and exhilaration for others. Many found it incredibly hard to cook from scratch or to eat with little or no variety. Others found a divine calm in the midst of the practice and began to understand the beauty of simple meals and a retreat from consumerism.

People began to ponder new things with deeper insight. They wondered if variety and accessibility could be a curse for our souls rather than the assumed blessing. Some wondered why they were so concerned for their immediate family's health during the month while generally being unconcerned about the health of their global family. Children wondered why some kids suffer and don't have enough to eat.

As the month drew to a close, many expressed gratitude at being able to participate in the month. People had enjoyed the simplicity, saved money, lost weight, ate healthier, prayed more, thought more, appreciated the solidarity and connection with others around the world, and were convinced that the experiences would shape the rest of their lives.

Erin and my experience
Erin and I have tried to eat simpler over the past year. We grew a garden, cut out many processed foods, ate less meat, purchased many organic products, and tried to investigate who made our products and if the goods were the result of a just or unjust process.

But we still snacked often, ate out weekly, and consumed things we knew were unhealthy. We host a student from Saudi Arabia, and the three of us have a grocery and household goods budget of $250 a month. We also budget in $100 for restaurant meals for the three of us. We pray that our budget will be used entirely for God and his purposes of loving others. On average we spent about $300 a month on food. This isn't to reveal judgement or pride in our decision making process - but just to be transparent with the world about our choices. Everyone around the world lives in a completely unique situation and has freedom to form their own convictions before God. But the average U.S. household of 2.5 persons spends $511 on food each month(3). Leisha Adams, our staff member living in Tanzania, estimates that the average Tanzanian family around her spends $50 on food each month. It's a pressing set of data to chew on. Should Americans just expect to spend more money on food than other humans? Should we feel guilt for our actions? What about the pros and cons of Capitalism and Socialism? What is the example of Jesus Christ?

We found shopping to be a simple process. We knew the ingredients we needed, and didn't spend long hours wandering the endless grocery aisles for newly packaged products.

We found ourselves praying more and intimately connected with those in need around the world. Each bite and each meal meant a decision to think about and pray for those with less resources.

At the end of the month we had savings of $202. This was a full 2/3 of our regular food budget. We realized that a family of three in the Pacific Northwest could eat nutritional foods at an average of $33 per person per month. This could have been dropped a few more dollars if we had spent less than we had on canned goods (tomato paste and beans from time to time). We were left with the awareness that the majority of our spending is for pleasure, not nutrition.

We found that it was extremely difficult to integrate with normal North American community life on a simple budget. From personal observations most people in the city of Portland enjoy community while consuming meals in restaurants, pubs, or coffee shops. It made it easy to carry on with the month because most of our friends and family knew that we were eating rice and beans. Many of them kindly cooked the meals when we visited. But now that the month is over, the expectations will be back to eat out regularly. It would have to take serious and sustained conviction to alter community expectations of the ways we consume food. On the other hand, we found the times of sharing rice and beans with a community of participants was very rewarding.

Our household waste dropped immensely. Regularly in our home we take out a full garbage bag of trash and a tub of items to recycle each week. With our new diet (especially with many raw foods) we disposed of anywhere from a 1/2 to 3/4 less waste each week. We've observed many times in East Africa that brothers and sisters there don't have waste baskets in their homes! The lifestyle there is much more sustainable.

We generally felt healthier during the month. At times right before meals (with a policy of no snacking) we found ourselves quite hungry. But the food was always filling and satisfying. From my high of 235 pounds, this morning I weighed in at 204 pounds. My belt tightened two notches and my watch band needing cinching. This significant amount of body weight lost was all excess weight that I've been uncomfortable with in the past.

Final Observations
This month has been one of the best of my life. It was better than any vacation I've experienced (to Vegas, Disneyland, or Paris). It was rich and rewarding and filled with great memories with a broad international community. All benefits were positive from the month.

I feel that my soul is more confident of living daily life in the power of Christ. My god is not my belly and I can be "content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry." I know I do not have to be drifting in a current of harmful and indulgent consumerism.

I have seen the benefits of spiritual disciplines. I know that many of the curses of modern life can be reversed by putting into practice the teachings of Jesus Christ. Some are called to a life of extreme sacrifice. Some are not. Yet all of us are called to "love our neighbors as ourselves." My desires for personal satisfaction, security, and comfort should not exceed my desires for those same things for my neighbors (whether in Portland or Nairobi).

It is good to practice regular disciplines. From this point on, I intend to observe rice and beans month each year to put a check on gluttony and selfish consumption. I know that regular feasts and celebrations are good and right as humans, but I also know that our Western modern lifestyle has shifted occasional and regular feasting into normal, purposeless, and excessive feasting.

Finally it is a huge pleasure to do this as a community with old and new friends from many states and countries. Much gratitude goes to Erin Gleason and our Portland team for the hours spent coordinating the month, and to each of you in your various cities who took part in a variety of ways.

Footnotes
1. http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/2007/wang_adult_obesity.html
2. http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/savinganddebt/p70581.asp
3. http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-the-average-us-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

Video of our week of Rice and Beans!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:47:00 +0000

Erin and I spent a week in December eating Rice and Beans. Here is how our test week went! Check out EatRiceAndBeans.com for more information or to sign up or share your photos, videos and recipes!

Day 4 of Rice and Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:39:00 +0000

It's a quiet evening here at the Holcomb house. Erin is straightening the Christmas tree, and Aziz is studying for his exams at PSU tomorrow. And we are on day 4 of the Rice and Beans diet.

It's been a really good experience so far. Here are the basics of what we are doing:

During the month of March we are inviting a global movement of people to eat a diet of Rice and Beans.
We are doing this as a community for the following reasons:

1. Solidarity - to stand with brothers and sisters in East Africa who can't afford basic food ingredients for their diets.
2. Simplicity - those of us who live in wealthier nations often eat for pleasure and eat in excess. We are choosing to eat simply for a month.
3. Sharing - we will figure out our monthly food budget, and anything saved by this diet will go toward the kids that we love so much in our East African partnerships.

Erin and I are going through a week of Rice and Beans this week to do a test run.

What are the guidelines?

Rice & Beans - Eat only meals of Rice and Beans for one solid month. Rice and Beans form a complete protein, so it ends up being pretty nutritious. But you do need to add some vegetables to get your vitamins and fiber in your diet. Erin and I have also been using our spice cabinet to add some variety. It's actually incredible how many recipes are out there for Rice & Beans. There are also dozens of types of beans and many types of rice available in most grocery stores. You can get pretty creative with the meals. Because East Africans drink a lot of tea, we have also allowed this as the only other beverage other than water (milk is included in East African teas for a spicy milk Chai).
Challenge by Choice - It will most likely be quite challenging for most people to go through a month of rice and beans. This is good, I think we all need stretched at times. But make sure that you wholeheartedly choose to participate - and make sure that if family members or friends join you - that everyone is on board.
Work with your situation - If you do have a lot of allergies or health problems, check with your doctor before diving in. Our East African friends told me recently that global food prices have gone up so much that rice is actually out of range for many. If you can't afford rice or don't have it available in your area, figure out another simple meal that works in your situation.
Include Community - Invite your family and friends to join in. Cook up some awesome meals together! Invite your school, college, or church to participate. It's much more enjoyable to do it with friends. And at the end of the month schedule a big feast to celebrate.
Have Fun! - Make sure that everyone around you is loved and understands what you are doing. Ideals aren't any fun when love isn't present.
Share Online - Post how things are going on our blog or Facebook page. Take a picture of yourself enjoying Rice and Beans and send it to us to add to our Flickr Stream. Share your recipes with us! We want everyone to get involved.

We've been learning a lot. First of all, I feel great! The meals seem to be satisfying and delicious. I don't have the candy, processed foods, and fatty food hangover that I experience when not eating this diet. It just feels really healthy. At the same time, I realize how much comfort is found in food. At various points during the day - especially after something extra stressful or exhausting - I think I should go out and get some coffee, or buy some candy. I've rewarded myself with pleasure foods for many years. Also, we've found that by eating simple meals of Rice and Beans, we cut out 50% to 75% of our grocery and eating out budget. Our final cost for the week (for rice, beans, and vegetables) is going to be about $20. And that includes a good number of organic choices.

The toughest meal to figure out has been breakfasts. My mom used to make something that we called "Rice and Raisins" which is rice, some milk, cinnamon, and sugar and raisins. That's worked pretty well so far - and helps with the leftover rice from the night before.

It's great to be able to do something very practical and invasive to my regular schedule on behalf of my love for the kids in our East African partnerships. I am committed to these kids growing up healthy and having nutritious meals. In this simple act I can be connected and thinking about them several times a day.

So that's day four! If you are interested in joining the event - head on over to our Facebook Event page and sign up! Also, for more details you can visit EatRiceAndBeans.com. And at the end of this week I'll upload a little video of our experiences to show you how we did our week.

What are you eating this March?

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:33:00 +0000

Celebrating life, light, and hope!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:06:00 +0000

The past couple of months have been the most sustained and intense that I can remember in a very long time. Erin and I traveled to Uganda & Sudan, held our second East Africa conference, and then came back to help put on the first Lahash banquet. It has felt like every part of me has had to be "on" for a very long time, and I've had to put in intense hours, cry, laugh, plan, dream, coordinate, learn, and come to grips with my limits and the messiness of community and human systems.

And here we are on the other side of it all (well, except for a board meeting this weekend), and I have a chance to breathe in a bit.

The really encouraging part to this whole intense half-year was going to two celebrations within two days of each other. The first was the Portland Rescue Mission banquet. Erin works in HR over at PRM and she is involved in small and large details and I hear of happy moments, intense moments, and issues that come up that we wish weren't a part of in life (including letting people go).

On Thursday we were able to join with a huge crowd of recovering addicts and former members of the homeless population, donors, staff, and volunteers and celebrate the year and the lives that have been changed! Wow, I wish you could have all been there! It's so gratifying to hug someone that has just been through hell and back and see lives being slowly rebuilt with patient and hopeful service. I'm so grateful to all of you PRM friends! Stay strong and may God encourage you each day.

Saturday night Lahash put on our first banquet. I've never helped put on anything this intense before. I would liken it to planning 3 weddings. We all wanted the evening to be pregnant with beauty, holiness, life, light, art, and relationship. And so we tried to think through every detail.

And finally after about a year of dreaming and about 8 months of planning - the night happened. The room suddenly was full of wonderful friends and partners! Casey had put together this movie of the Amazing Grace kids - so beautiful.

And we also showed this movie of Susan Tabia speaking to the Lahash community.

It was so good to celebrate the resurrection of lives, the power of the message of Jesus, the reality of hope, and the reward of communities that live out love for God and love for neighbors.

Two Worlds

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:31:00 +0000

I journey back tonight to a world insulated and isolated

Rooms kept warm by Milgard windows

Food that is ordered in the glow of neon lights and eaten in the car

Chicken that has no bones or tendons - and is often sold in the shape of mickey mouse or a dinosaur

Toothpaste, lip-gloss, deodorant, hairspray, specialty shampoos and conditioners

"Community" is found online late at night with witty electronic banter and tweets

I hold a half-dozen insurances to cover my back

Mornings agendas are set by Google calendar

Laughter is shared by staring at a flat screen and interrupted by aspirin and viagra commercials

A head resting on a BFR coated pillow

Rain is hated

I don't know where my water comes from or where it goes

Money is kilobytes clicked around from the source to the bill

They say my sperm count is decreasing with each hour my lap is graced by this computer

They say my brain cells are becoming cancerous with each call on the iPhone

The babies are in day-care and the grandparents are in nursing-homes

I worship God by pressing play and inserting white headphones

And I leave a world bright and raw and frightening

Children with ringworm and big smiles

Moonlit showers enjoyed with cold water and cockroaches

Fruit picked from the tree tasting sweet and covered in black spots

Sweaty armpits and strong body odor

Rain is loved

Chickens are slaughtered and tough and real in my teeth

Laughter is hearty and random and hurts my sides

And then I'm sobbing the next second by a new death from typhoid

We walk to the market to buy produce grown by the mama in the colorful dress

I sleep under a mosquito net to keep spiders and blood suckers out

Dirt is everywhere and the roof is alive with lizards and termites

Sunset brings the activities of the day to a close and lanterns illuminate teeth

Roosters and screaming babies and doves and singing wakes us each morning

They say I may die in a road accident or get Malaria today

They say tonight the rebels might attack

The grandmother is carrying her orphaned granddaughter on her back

We worship God with goat-skin drums and irregular rhythms under the stars

Destination: Pearl of Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:17:00 +0000

I'm exhausted. The last week went quite well as we were preparing for the conference, and then there ended up being so many last minute details to wrap up that I'm running on about 15 minutes of sleep from last night!

Casey Schilperoort and I are heading out to Uganda this morning. We have our cameras packed and our schedule mapped out - but are holding our plans loosely.

We'll be in Kampala Uganda for the first week. Kampala's a beautiful city on multiple green hills. Sadly recently there has been some tension between the government and a local kingdom that resulted in rioting.

It looks like things have mostly calmed down at this point.

In one week Erin will be joining me and we'll be heading up north with a large team of staff and volunteers from Lahash. Casey and I will be shooting video and checking up on how operations are going at our partnership. Leisha will be joining us and we'll be delivering a huge load of sponsor gifts for the kids at Amazing Grace Orphanage! I've been blown away by how many great gifts have come in during the past week.

Please pray for peace in Uganda, the presence of God's spirit, and good moments with our partners. You can follow along these next few weeks on this blog or on HopeIsAlive. Kwaheri & Masalam!

I recommend "Celebration of Discipline"

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:34:00 +0000

"Superficiality is the curse of our age" wrote Richard Foster thirty years ago as in introduction to his book "The Celebration of Discipline". I'm curious what prophetic words he uses now to describe our current lives of Facebook, Twitter, and Ticker Tape breaking news updates. I can too easily find myself on a treadmill of worries, busyness, and superficiality. The treadmill looks productive and exciting, but can often mask a loss of intimacy with our Creator God and those around us.

Our Lahash staff recently completed 12 weeks of study through Foster's book. We rediscovered the joys of fasting, solitude, prayer, and simplicity. This book is now on my "highly recommended" list. If you haven't had a chance to feast on these pages - go to a bookstore now!

Racing with nephew Zach!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:37:00 +0000

My nephew and I went out racing about a month ago on the ol' gokart track. Great fun!

Dan & Erin enter May

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sun, 03 May 2009 05:18:00 +0000

Thoughts on iPhoto '09

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:46:00 +0000

I enjoy all things Mac, and am somewhat of a geek when it comes to Apple. Recently Apple announced iLife '09 - which is their suite of photo, music, movie and web tools. I'm playing with iPhoto '09 this afternoon - and it's just a little creepy...

iPhoto has some new face recognition powers that (with a little coaching) can start recognizing faces as you import them. My library took all night to set up (347 minutes) - with 20,000 photos it requires some processing on the ol' Macbook.

Now that it has processed the photos, you go through and label a couple of photos and then iPhoto will suggest faces for you that match the one you selected.

I was fascinated to see that my sister and my wife were often confused! Yikes. Some faces were easily recognizable (my friend Mark Kulakoff with his beard for example). My brothers and I were confused at times, and then there was a similarity between Joel Strong, Matt Martin, and my brother Doug.

Some people have similar poses from photo to photo - others (like Erin and I) are very different and unique in photos which makes it hard to match.

It suddenly opens up questions about how I make friends, the power of family resemblances, symmetry, poses, and how a unique face (or hair style) can be more memorable.

With this new version of iPhoto, you can also label the global location, and add keywords. Along with the date stamp, faces, and events, I can see in 20 years down the road - someone could login to my facebook account or my iPhoto library and with two clicks complete a very accurate life journey of where I've traveled, who've I've met, what I listened to, and (if you really want to take it far) could piece together purchases with a debit card... and wow - you could get an incredible picture of a person's life with this info. Not that I'm into conspiracies or anything - but power corrupts, and things fall apart.

Now I'll naively go back to labeling my photos.

10 Lahash highlights of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:30:00 +0000

I just completed a video about 10 highlights from 2008 of our work with Lahash in East Africa. Thanks to all of you for playing a role in our journey and impacting the vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Snow comes to Portland

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:11:00 +0000

We've had some beautiful unexpected snow fall here in Portland today! We took a break from hot chocolate to make a snowman with the buildup on the lawn.

And with Hattan's help we even made a SnowSaudi!

It's so easy...

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:26:00 +0000

It's so easy to go through a day without listening to a great new song
It's so easy to forget to be creative in my love and appreciation of Erin
It's so easy to march on without pausing to connect with God in prayer
It's so easy to stay indoors rather than walking through a park and appreciating leaves
It's so easy to choose food that is filled with MSG, Corn Syrup, and pesticides
It's so easy to go through a week without doodling
It's so easy to be dishonest about doubts, sin, and depression
It's so easy choose stuff and status over people
It's so easy not to forgive

Wandering in the wilderness

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:24:00 +0000

Erin and I got back in town today after a week away from email, phones, news, and responsibilities. We enjoyed time together in rural Washington. I usually recharge away from people and close to the natural created sanctuaries of this planet - so I'm back refreshed.

We got a chance to catch up on some reading - and we just burned through those pages. I have two high recommendations for people. One is a book called "Love Busters". Cheesy title - but great concepts for married people. I don't think Erin and I even knew of all of the lurking landmines in our relationship. Criticism, annoying habits, finances, anger, and selfish demands are all dealt with in detail. One fascinating recommendation by the author is to fix annoying habits that bug your spouse. I think I held this as a privilege of being an individual before I read this book. Now Erin and I are working through those tough old habits.

A second must read is Tribes - by Seth Godin. For anyone interested in our current culture and where we are headed (re: post-post-modern) - this is the book to read. It's an intersection of technology, leadership, and psychology. Companies, religions, and organizations are no longer led from the top. They are led by passionate people willing to sacrifice and communicate and be a heretic and lead. I listened to the audiobook from iTunes (super cheap download). Great stuff.

Shane Claiborne Conversation in Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:04:00 +0000

On Friday Erin and I went up to Seattle to hang out with her brother and sister-in-law for the weekend. On Sunday we got to hear Shane Claiborne talk for an hour - and then share some responses to questions from the crowd.

Man. Shane is one incredible brother! His sincerity, simplicity, passion, accessibility, and deep wisdom make me wish I was a better follower of Christ. I'm challenged and inspired to live out my God-given calling of God Love and Neighbor Love. I got a chance to chat with him some at the break.
Shane's written two books - The Irresistible Revolution, and Jesus for President. These two books are essentials on my list. He mentioned that he's co-writing a book with John Perkins - and that will be another essential read. Here is a clip I took during the talk.

Blob Video

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:44:00 +0000

So Matt Martin and I shot a video at Camp Eagle in 2002 over the Nueces river. The camp director Anthony Scott put some zip lines across the river and we filmed people shooting off of a Blob into a river. Matt edited the video with some DJ shadow and put it up on youtube recently. It just reached 1/2 million hits!

Viewing optionz

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:40:00 +0000

Advent Conspiracy is a movement by Imago Dei Community - and now hundreds more churches around the world that are focusing on 1. Worshiping fully 2. Spending less 3. Giving more and 4. Loving all. Check out the video below and then head on over to AdventConspiracy.org to get you and your church and family involved.

The other day Erin and I watched an excellent documentary on America's use of corn - and some of the bad effects of this habit of ours. If you ever wondered what "High-fructose corn syrup" was - and the entire processing of growing corn (from subsidies to pesticides to industrial farms to caged-corn-fed cows to diabetes) is - watch this incredible film: King Corn

And a quickly spreading grassroots movement to highlight modern-day slavery is found in Call and Response. Erin and I watched this heartbreaking rockumentary the other night and spent an hour in silence before we could process it outloud.

Lake of Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:06:00 +0000

Abortion.
It's one of the most divisive issues of our time. Erin and I were settling down for a quiet evening last night and rented the movie Lake of Fire (rent it from iTunes here). The stunningly appropriate title should have been the first warning about it's content. I love documentaries and this has to be one of the best I've ever seen. I use the word"best" with caution. It is also one of most saddening, gut-wrenching, and graphic films I've ever seen. My stomach still feels like a "lake of fire."

Families, communities, and nations will easily split into hard line positions when the topic is raised. Recently it was one of the top issues asked about by Rick Warren of our two presidential candidates.

For many of my generation (say 15 to 35 year-olds) - the activist debate has lessened while the tough stances remain. For those raised in evangelical homes it is still an abhorrent practice. But most of us don't demonstrate or picket.

This film is extremely balanced in its presentation. Fundamentalists, professors, women, men, poor, rich, politicians, and pastors are all given a platform. It reveals the rediculous complexity of making political choices on the issue.

If you can stomach the film, I would recommend watching it. Then, you can come back and read my post-film thoughts:

Abortion has to be one of the most digusting practices humanity has ever been involved in. Watching trained doctors sifting through infant arms and legs is nauseating.
My niece Annika was born 3 months premature. Abortions are still performed on this age set around the world. Annika will celebrate her 9th birthday this month. It is hard to imagine that babies her size (2nd term) can be aborted.
I'm so proud of my parents and grandparents generations that kept this issue alive under fierce pressure. My wife's parents spent many years being a part of rallys and grassroots activism. They should be commended for their compassion and diligence.
There are no clear answers in this debate. Noam Chomsky raised the question about skin cells. With this era of cloning - skin cells from a woman could contain the basic material for another human being (with some modifications in the lab). When does life actually begin? Some orthodox Jews feel wasted sperm and egg are against God's design.
One human citizen cannot feel responsible for all the sin, sadness, and brokenness of the community, nation, or the planet. It is important to be engaged, but the guilt for all does not reside on the individual. We are each given our tasks and should be diligent with what is before us.
With all of that said, Christians need to step up to this challenge! We need a comprehensive attitude toward a seemless fabric of life. If we express concern for unborn babies we should be concerned with born babies, Iraqi kids, Darfurians, and our neighbors. Every Christian family should go out today and adopt a foster kid.

I believe that God is pro-choice, and he is also pro-life. God gives us freedom in life, but he asks that we choose self-sacrifice, love, life, and grace. So in some sense the pro-choice movement has a point. It is their choice. But what if Christians burst out of their closed communities and adopted kids, cared for the homeless and vulnerable urban poor, fixed their marriages, befriended those with pro-choice opinions and then - within a generation - abortion wasn't even a debate.

Those studying the debate have pointed out that abortions have actually increased during George Bush's presidency. We need a comprehensive attitude of compassion, love, and life. The battered single mothers struggling to pay bills, beaten by husbands, and ignored by Christians should be cared for first!

Any thoughts? Have you guys seen this film? What are your feelings about the issue?

Peace.

More Sabbath thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:33:00 +0000

This last month I wrote out some thoughts on the Sabbath in the Holcomb Update. Erin and I have thought a lot about it recently. I've continued on the conversation with some of you, but thought I'd share some of the Biblical and historical background on the Sabbath.

I believe that the Sabbath concept is an idea that is foundational to human existence. It is a transcendent value communicated by God throughout all of history to humanity. Before I go into more depth on God's value of Sabbath, I'll define what I understand Sabbath to be:

Definition: A "Stop" time that comes after a time of work or being engaged in activity. The Hebrew root means to "stop" or "rest". The period should come after six periods of non-stop activity. It is a period that is a blessing for humanity and should be used for the following activities: rest, prayer, worship, renewal, healing, feasting, and time with God. It should interrupt our usual activities.

Here is the Biblical and historical background for this concept:

Before Israel was a nation or humanity chose to rebel against the creator - God spent six days (or periods) working and creating. He then chose to rest on the seventh day (or period). Humans are made in the image of God and are therefore given this example for life (even before man technically had to work). (Gen 2:1-3)
The Israelites were given the Sabbath as a covenant-sign (pointing back to Creation) that would be a day of the week to stop work, rest, not collect food, and remember God. (Ex 20:8-11)
The people of God celebrate the Sabbath using Psalm 92 - which is a Sabbath Psalm. The prophet Isaiah encouraged the Israelites to not break the Sabbath - and pointed to blessing if the day was observed.
Jesus observed the Sabbath while he was on earth. His critiques of the practices of the time were to do with the myriad of rules that at that time trumped love. Jesus healed on the Sabbath - to show that we should love people over following rules. The disciples were allowed to eat grain - to show that enjoying food was more important than following rules. "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath". Jesus never said that the Sabbath was unimportant or should be ignored. Instead, he affirmed it's existence and importance by redeeming it from the confines of the Pharisaical rules.
The disciples and apostles continue to observe the Sabbath after Jesus' death and resurrection. Paul preached on the Sabbath in synagogues (Acts 17:1-3) - and the believers continued to hold a day of rest and prayer - although it often switched from Saturday to Sunday. The exact day of the week was unimportant - rather it was the principle. This following of the Sabbath is woven all of the way through scripture until Revelation 1:10 where John is caught up "in the Spirit on the Lord's day".
The church has observed a day of rest and worship from the earliest days of the church up till the present day. Those in leadership of the Catholic church - through to Luther - and onto the present day have taught the importance of a day of rest. It often is ignored by people by is rarely preached against.

So, there are six points to ponder on the Sabbath. Now I think I'll give my fingers a break... What is critical is not the details of this day - but rather the principle. Little rules should not be piled up to frame a period of frustration, tension, and stress. Rather it is a day of blessing, rest, and recovery that is foundational to our existence.

Mmmmm.

The Story of Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:39:00 +0000

Doug and I enjoyed our Monday lunch together and he mentioned a website called "The Story of Stuff" - OUTSTANDING... We have a ridiculous system set up as human beings - and especially as the military industrial complex that we've branded USA.

Let's change the system - change our lives - and change the world.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:51:00 +0000

Our weekend at the beach.

Some Summer Shots

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:41:00 +0000

Phil and Rea got married this summer (3 times!). Here's the wedding party on the lawn of Garden Vineyards outside of Portland.

Our college student and friend Hattan with his mom, sister and host parents (Dan and Erin).

Erin and Dan in Dodoma with Joseph Deus - one of the Lahash sponsored kids.

Little Kingdoms

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:03:00 +0000

I recently have been enjoying John Ortberg's thoughts both in print and online. His book The Life You've Always Wanted has chapter after chapter of good solid advice for living a full life for Christ in the Kingdom. But something he mentioned online really resonated with me.

He was talking on a panel of speakers and mentioned that each of us has been given dominion - we each have been created in God's image and so own a small kingdom that we are responsible for. We all have relationships, responsibilities, gifts, time, and resources.

I think I've had a hard time understanding this in life. Early on (in grade school and high school) I just neglected my "kingdom" - did a poor job at managing the things in my life. During college as I read about Jesus I found that he preached a message of the Kingdom of God - a vast, international, eternal, network of people and beings that loved God and their neighbors and enemies.

Suddenly I jumped from poorly managing my Kingdom to trying to manage the whole Kingdom of God.

As I traveled in East Africa this past year it was clear to me that my abilities and reach were limited (thank God for that). I am not responsible for the salvation, care, and hope of the world. I am part of a team of followers of Christ and we all have responsibilities or kingdoms that we are called to rule and take care of.

Thankfully this epiphany was given to me and I feel like I have a second wind right now. I want to understand the simple responsibilities that God has called me into and then do those really well.

Prepare for a streamlined Dan.

East and west.

noreply@blogger.com (Erin) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:57:00 +0000

June was a busy month for the Holcombs. We spent two weeks with the Lahash partnership in Tanzania, and then I (Erin) returned home while Dan went on to Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. Dan is returning to the U.S. on July 12th.

This was our first Lahash trip as a married couple, and it also happened to coincide with our first wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going out to a curry dinner at a local restaurant and having a delicious dessert of mixed fruit and vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Now that I am back in the U.S., I am trying to finish up a bunch of projects that I have put off for inexcusable amounts of time. Out of the fifty items on my list, I’ve probably only finished two of them. Most of them have to do with organizing various areas around the house.

I am extra motivated to get the house in order this week since Hattan’s mom and sister are coming to stay with us on Saturday. Wafa (his mom) and Hatoon (Hattan’s younger sister) will be with us through the end of August. With their room about to be occupied, I’ve discovered that we are facing a shortage of storage space in the house. Time to get rid of stuff. Anyone want to combine efforts on a garage sale?

While Dan is gone, I’ve been enjoying the company of my sister Bethany who is staying with me. Over the weekend we went to the Oregon coast with our parents and enjoyed a Roland Reunion with my paternal grandmother’s family. It was a beautiful weekend at the beach, and it was fun to go on a Willett family road trip again.

For those of you who want to know more about Dan’s travels with the Lahash staff, make sure you visit HopeIsAlive for the team blog. Please be praying for this last leg of their journey in Sudan.