Global Village Construction Set

The GVCS Tractor
Source: OSE, GNU FDL 1.2 / CC BY-SA 3.0

It hasn't been too long since last I blogged about Open Source Ecology (OSE), but I love this idea. It's essentially a matter of making making practical designs for farming and industrial equipment freely available, in an "open source" manner. The idea is that economically-challenged individuals and those in isolated regions where spare parts can be scarce should be able to build their own equipment. The designs could also be adapted based on resources available and the local context. Open Source Ecology is calling this collection of 50 industrial machines they are building the "Global Village Construction Set" (GVCS).

The GVCS has categories for Habitat, Agriculture, Industry, Energy, Materials and Transportation. In a pinch, post-apocalypse humanity could take these designs and begin rebuilding civilization with a decent modicum of comfort. In developing regions, people can work with these designs and build the equipment they need.

OSE aims to have 50 designs out by the end of 2012, working with a budget of only $2.4 million.  They are also apparently selling finished machines, and are currently taking pre-orders for the Soil Pulverizer, Tractor, Power Cube and Compressed Earth Block Press.

The following, taken from the OSE-GVCS page, are the "key features" of this project:

• Open Source - we freely publish our 3d designs, schematics, instructional videos, budgets, and product manuals on our open source wiki and we harness open collaboration with technical contributors.
• Low-Cost - The cost of making or buying our machines are, on average, 8x cheaper than buying from an Industrial Manufacturer, including an average labor cost of hour for a GVCS fabricator.
• Modular - Motors, parts, assemblies, and power units can interchange, where units can be grouped together to diversify the functionality that is achievable from a small set of units.
• User-Serviceable - Design-for-disassembly allows the user to take apart, maintain, and fix tools readily without the need to rely on expensive repairmen.
• DIY - (do-it-yourself) The user gains control of designing, producing, and modifying the GVCS tool set.
• Closed Loop Manufacturing - Metal is an essential component of advanced civilization, and our platform allows for recycling metal into virgin feedstock for producing further GVCS technologies - thereby allowing for cradle-to-cradle manufacturing cycles
• High Performance - Performance standards must match or exceed those of industrial counterparts for the GVCS to be viable.
• Flexible Fabrication - It has been demonstrated that the flexible use of generalized machinery in appropriate-scale production is a viable alternative to centralized production.
• Distributive Economics - We encourage the replication of enterprises that derive from the GVCS platform as a route to truly free enterprise - along the ideals of Jeffersonian democracy.
• Industrial Efficiency - In order to provide a viable choice for a resilient lifestyle, the GVCS platform matches or exceeds productivity standards of industrial counterparts.

To see some of the equipment in action, check out the video below.

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See also:

Open Source Hardware for the Developing World

In Chains: Freeing Women and Girls from Sexual Slavery

The film described above was funded last year through Kickstarter and should be released this year (2012). Here's the description from the Kickstarter page:

Nicaragua is the least developed country in Central America and the second poorest country in North, Central, and South America. With little to no education or skills, women who are abandoned by their husbands or widowed are forced into prostitution as the only means for supporting themselves and their children. Additionally, girls 5 years old and younger are routinely sold to brothels and forced to sexually service men.

There is a never-ending list of girls and women that are routinely raped and abused, with no apparent way out of this life.

Watch our overview video to hear just a few of these horrible stories.

In Chains is a documentary project that will show the reality of life for these victims. The startling truth that exists right now, that as you read this girls as young as 7 are being rented to men and raped. Women, seeing no other option, are selling themselves in order to support their family, even as their children look on.

Sex trafficking exists all over the world, in every city. However, in Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the world, something amazing is also happening. In the capital city of Managua an organization called "House of Hope" is successfully rescuing women and children from prostitution. In the middle of absolute desperation, people are reaching into the darkness and saving the lost and the hopeless.

Our goal with this project is to paint a picture of the reality of these women and children, with the hope that it will inspire and empower others to do what House of Hope is doing: helping to solve the sex trafficking issue.

Book Review: The Hole in Our Gospel

Originally published on IgneousQuill.org, 29 November 2010.

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“Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” - Bob Pierce

For quite a while I kept hearing good things about Richard Stearn’s book, The Hole in Our Gospel. Someone at my church read it and said it revolutionized his thinking. The book was available for purchase for a while at church, and others who read it agreed that it was eye-opening. Recently I got around to reading it for myself. While I appreciated the book a great deal, I suspect that it was less less of an impact on me because most of it really wasn’t news to me. I’ve been trying to get informed over the past few years about issues of poverty and justice around the world, and so perhaps that prior knowledge stole some of this book’s thunder, so-to-speak.

One part autobiography, one part World Vision promotional work and one part Bible study, Mr. Stearns crammed a lot of data and quite a few stories into slightly less than 300 pages of text. These three threads are interwoven throughout the book.

The autobiographical portion details how Mr. Stearns became a Christian, going from a convinced atheist to a committed Christian, his professional rise (with setbacks) in the business world, and finally his struggle with the call he perceived to accept the role of president of World Vision USA. It was on this latter decision that the narrative becomes a little tiresome in places. I suppose because it was such a monumental shift, not only for him but also for his wife and children, he wanted to convey how hard it was to step down from a place of wealth to one of much less wealth. Further, he clearly didn’t believe he was the one for the job due to his lack of prior experience with poverty and relief work. Still, not so many words were needed to get this point across. On the other hand, I appreciated his story of coming to faith in Christ so much that I shared it with my teenage daughter.

Clearly, as World Vision president Mr. Stearns has a duty to advocate on behalf of the good work his organization is doing. This isn’t something I can criticize, but only note as fact regarding this book. Clearly this is where his experience lays as well, so it is natural that he would cite more examples from his charity than any other. At the same time, he does mention throughout the book several other ministries that do great things for the poor around the world. So it isn’t “all World Vision, all of the time.”

Perhaps the most important aspect of this book for many Western Christians, and evangelicals in particular, is the Bible study. Verse after verse is presented to support helping the poor as a biblical mandate. He mentions The Poverty and Justice Bible, which I have discussed elsewhere, and emphasizes the reality that around 2000 verses or more of the Bible deal with poverty and justice issues. This fact may surprise some Christians, particularly those who only think in terms of Christianity as a transaction that gets them to heaven (personal salvation through Christ, avoid egregious sins, repent often then wait for eternity to come) rather than as a call to grace-filled, Spirit-led active discipleship in this world while we prepare for resurrection and New Heavens/New Earth.

This book is generally very good, but I would recommend it in particular to anyone who wants to begin exploring for the first time what the Bible really says about helping those in need. It will most certainly help give you a clearer vision of God’s heart for the poor.

Baptism: Water and Spirit

All Scripture references from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

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After coming around only with great difficulty to accept the place of immersion baptism in becoming a disciple of Christ, imagine my surprise at finding I was still holding to a minority view regarding this act.

In the Roman Catholic Church I had been taught that baptism, by any mode, conveyed salvation. Although in adults faith was required in the form of assent to certain core doctrines, in children this really didn’t matter. This was one of the doctrines I specifically rejected in leaving that communion. My convictions were thoroughly evangelical.

What do evangelicals believe? In general they hold that salvation occurs when someone trusts in Christ as Savior. Some call for a “sinner’s prayer” to be recited in one form or another, others say that even being able to believe is a gift of God’s grace that precedes faith. By far the majority agree that whatever else, baptism has nothing to do directly with salvation. As the Baptists have put it, paraphrasing Zwingli, “baptism is an outward sign of inward grace.” In other words, baptism shows that we are already saved, not that our salvation is beginning at that moment.

While in Bible college a friend of mine read a book by Billy Graham on the Holy Spirit. In it, Rev. Graham explained that the baptism with the Holy Spirit took place at the moment of saving faith. As a person accepts Christ, in Graham’s view, he or she is baptized with the Holy Spirit. Later this person may or may not be baptized in water, but this plays no role in salvation.

The Assembly of God denomination has traditionally taken a different view of baptism. While they agree that salvation is by “faith alone,” they then require baptism in water for church membership. Baptism in the Spirit is something that happens after salvation, separate from that event, which is evidenced by speaking in tongues.

Through my personal study while attending Central Christian College of the Bible I came to understand that baptism in water is necessary to become a disciple. This is the moment in the believer’s life when sins are remitted and the gift of the Holy Spirit is given.

"Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." – Acts 2:38

At Harding University, an a cappella Church of Christ school, I fully expected to be at variance with the disciples there in regards to a few matters, not least of which instruments in worship. For the most part I kept quiet, though, studying out any explanations that didn’t fit what I already believed. So, as I already mentioned, it more than surprising to learn that I didn’t agree with what was being taught about baptism in water and the Spirit.

The professor, who will remain nameless, lectured one day about how the baptism in the Spirit happened on the day of Pentecost and never again. He held this perspective against the – as he put it – majority view that held there were spirit baptisms first on the day of Pentecost, then at the home of Cornelius. Rather than two separate events, he argued that the second was a continuation of the first.

My head was spinning. It got worse. As I began to research the topic I found that the common belief within Christian Churches/Churches of Christ (instrumental) were little different. One way or the other, baptism in (or with) the Spirit was something strictly for the earliest days of the church, on two separate occasions.

Fortunately, I slowly began to learn that there were a few scholars and preachers in both the above-mentions branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement who held to a view similar to my own. One of these is Jack Cottrell. Whatever else we might disagree about, there is harmony where baptism is concerned. There is only one baptism, consisting of water and Spirit. There are not two baptisms, one of which is defunct.

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." – Ephesians 4:4-6

Off an on over the following weeks I studied the topic further, trying to examine all viewpoints. In the end I concluded that I had been right all along. It’s just as well that the topic came up, or else I may never have examined the Scriptures more deeply on the topic and gotten blind-sided later.

What follows are a few key passages that touch on the topic. Explaining what happens at baptism was not the main point of any of these verses, but they do tell us what the accepted, apostolic teaching was on the topic.

"Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

To me, this couldn’t be clearer. When one trusts in Jesus and confesses him as Lord, resolving with the help of God to turn away from sin, forgiveness is bestowed and a new life is given. This happens through the working of the Holy Spirit. On the outside a ceremonial washing takes place, while inwardly the Spirit of God is making all things new. Since “baptism” is nowhere specifically mentioned, it can be argued that the “washing” is indeed baptism and the rest a simple description of what the Spirit does, without calling it “baptism with the Spirit.”

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." – 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

In the above verses a description is given of becoming part of the “one body,”which is the church. Once again, baptism is connected to salvation (becoming part of the church) and the entire event is the work of the Spirit. It was “in the one Spirit” that “all were baptized into one body.” One interracial, international family, created and bound together by the Spirit.

In summary, Christian baptism is the moment at which the finished work of Christ is applied fully to the believer. Sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the heart and life of the new disciple of Jesus. There is now only one baptism, one in water and Spirit, a symbolic outward washing and a simultaneous new creation behind the scenes.

There will be objections to what I’ve said. Some will point to Pentecost and Cornelius (I may deal with these separately). Others will says I’ve just got it wrong. Evangelical friends will surely be gritting their teeth and wondering how I could have missed grace so completely (I haven’t, I just see it happening in a different sequence from what you believe to be true). Nothing I’ve written here is meant to imply that anyone’s baptism is lacking. So far as I can see in the New Testament, the requirements for baptism to be effective are faith in the Lord Jesus, a turning from sin and the correct mode (immersion). That’s it. It’s highly unlikely you fully understood every aspect of what was happening when you were baptized, if you were baptized. You may have thought you were already saved or else not understood that you’d be receiving the Holy Spirit (let alone that this was the baptism with the Spirit given by Jesus). However apostate this may make me in the eyes of some, I’m satisfied that this understanding as a whole is thoroughly orthodox.

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." – Titus 3:4-7

In the event that anyone reading this has not yet been baptized by immersion for the remission of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to seek out a church that can help you find out more and start a new life in Christ.

Church Locators:

• International Churches of Christ

• Christian Churches (USA only)

• Churches of Christ

Honduras January 2012 Community Service Brigade

"All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along." - Galatians 2:10 NIV

Great reports continue to come in from community service brigades sent out through HOPE worldwide. The one featured in the video below took place this year (2012) in Honduras. Volunteers completed 1,100 medical visits and filled 3,000 prescriptions free of charge in just 3 days.

The next one is scheduled for Managua, Nicaragua this June. If you are interested in volunteering, click here for more information.

Haiti's Second-Hand Clothing Market

When it comes to second-hand clothes and Haiti, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. If it were in my power to stop all shipments of second-hand clothes to Haiti today, I'd do it (that much power in my hands would be scary!). At the same time, when teams go to Haiti from the Central Jersey Chapter of HOPE worldwide, my family sends clothing.

The trouble with sending second-hand clothing to Haiti in large quantities is simply that it floods the market with low-cost product that eliminates most local competition. With cheap clothing available from overseas, why buy from local vendors? The only exceptions that comes to mind for the average person are school and work uniforms, and that market is hardly sufficient to sustain many tailors. If second-hand clothing, called "pepe" in Haiti, were removed from the market, local clothing manufacturing could flourish.

Of course I realize that it's likely a big help to Haitian parents to be able to buy inexpensive clothing for their children, but who's to say that with adequate competition, locally-made apparel couldn't be reasonably-priced? Further, with people actually able to make money off of their product, more money would be circulating in the economy. There could be more jobs in the industry, from the factory to the retail locations.

As I mentioned above, my family does send clothing donations to Haiti. I don't feel too bad about it, though, because it's a small quantity that gets distributed freely in a singly geographic location. What's given certainly helps someone out, and I'd consider it more of a personal gift than anything else.

Current produced the following short video that gives a little on-the-ground perspective on "pepe."