It has been a little over two years since I last wrote on my blog. I am going to make a go at it again this coming year. One of the hard things about staying motivated in blogging and writing newsletters is the feeling that perhaps few people read and appreciate it. When talking to different people one gets reactions from both ends of the spectrum from "I don't have time or desire to read blog entries" to "I really appreciate it". Often when on furlough we get told that we need to do a better job communicating. While we agree, communication is also a two way street and requires not just for us to do our job, but also the listener to give feedback and respond.
With that out of the way....... the last entry I did was about the turmoil in Guatemala related to a massive government scandal that ousted many important government officials including the president and vice president. Many of these officials are still in jail awaiting trial.
Since that time we had elections and an upstart rose rapidly to power and popularity and ended up becoming Guatemala's president. Jimmy Morales is a Guatemalan businessman who professes to be a Christian who is the current president. His time in power has had mixed reviews. He has done some very positive things and then there are other things that haven't been so good. Having said all that, it is extremely difficult to be in government and leader of a country that is controlled by wealthy elite and organized crime. Furthermore, it is hard to operate when a foreign anti-corruption entity (CICIG) backed by the international community has more power than the government. While CICIG has done many good things, there is also a political agenda behind them. That is what you see in developing countries all the time that the international community has an agenda and they want to impose that agenda on the country under the pretense of "helping". The reality is that few really want to help, but want these countries to hold to the same "morals, standards and ethics" (or in my opinion often lack thereof) as they do. It is really is another expression of colonialism, imperialism, and expansionism. It is another arrogant way of saying "we are more advanced, developed, and superior than you and you need (and want) to become like us. Also there exists this idea that all the people in the world desire what we have and want to be like the developed world. I feel that this way of reasoning comes from the evolutionary teaching that is prevalent in the world today.
Please pray for the developing world as they face these battles daily to hold on to their identity, autonomy, morals all the while needing to change and getting pressured by the international community to hold to a "progressive" agenda. Pray also for Guatemala's president who appears to be motivated to do what is right, but faces a lot of pressure from the outside world and the press who often paints him as being incapable. Jimmy Morales had a comedy show on TV in which he portrayed a man from the rural area who gets close to becoming the president of the country. Because of his show the press often refers to him as being a comedian or clown running the country. In reality he is well educated not only in business and politics but also theology. The reality is that even if he was a clown, he can't do any worse than many of the other "clowns" that have run Guatemala or the ones that are running different countries in the world including our own countries in the so called "developed world".
