GC Report 2

April 29, 2008

I was within 20 feet of the president of the republic of Liberia today. And I got hugged by a bunch of little dancing children from Africa. Uganda to be specific. They were great dancing singing little machines. Seriously, I got tired watching then with all their energy. Apparently these kids are orphaned and vulnerable kids from Uganda. Orphaned by war or by AIDS they lived in Internally Displaced Person’s camps where they lived in cramped mud huts with many people.

 I am not sure how I feel about it. Are they singing for their supper now? I mean, I think if they had to choose, they would chose, as I would, singing for their supper over cramped mud huts. But aside from that. Zoo animals to be viewed and forced to perform on command. But perhaps I am just too cynical.

 I had the opportunity with the other staff of the Secretary of the General conference to talk to the children and thank them for blessing us with their presence afterwards. They were loving children who wanted to hug me when I went to shake their hands. Whatever, I said that weird, but they hugged me and I hugged them back. I’m just saying. Its good that they are not in a hot cramped mud hut (I realized I am saying that with all my American privilege) and I certainly don’t begrudge them but something like the prostitution of culture or of self to the great white American people…keeps popping up in my head. Maybe exploitation of the children...

Am I really just too cynical and projecting my issues on this children’s choir? Maybe, but I would like to add that my conference sent a Native children’s choir that sang the day before and we just got one photo in the Daily Christian Advocate (the daily report of General Conference happenings) and the Uganda children got a entire page write up. Is it because our children sang in native tongue and not in English as the Uganda children? Our kids were just as cute and talented but perhaps it was because the Uganda children were more grateful to great white America and our kids and our conference wouldn’t have been.

Yes, I also think I sound bitter but I am here listening to various people making comments like, “I will support the Native American Comprehensive Plan as long as the money would not be used for gambling.”

Though I suppose to be fair (it is a bad habit of mine, this unrelenting desire to be fair) the pacific islanders got shut down with their request for funding to do ministry to their community. It was scary to see how quickly and easily the floor rejected their need.

And I got to be within 20 feet of the president of the Republic of Liberia. It could have been twenty feet of G. W. Bush. Luckily he sent a letter declined to attend General Conference this year. I was much more excited about Liberia.