George Martzen "georgos"

Last week nearly all of the pastors of The Methodist Church in Singapore gathered for a retreat in Johor, Malaysia. Bishop Willimon of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church was the speaker. Bp Willimon is a good writer and preacher. He is one of those who still believes in the power of the spoke word to make a difference. He doesn't use powerpoint or any of the other hi-tech gadgets that modern day speakers lust after. In fact, his American southern wit and pacing exhudes meaning that goes beyond the words. Theologically, Willimon follows Barth over against the Niebuhrs. To him it is more important to declare the distance between humans and their cultures than to falsely close the gap. But it is the Mennonite theology of John Howard Yoder, et. al., that has put the radical edge on his thinking. The Christian's first identity and loyalty should be the Kingdom of God. He challenged the Singapore Methodist pastors to preach the radical gospel of Jesus, no

Today as I strolled along busy Orchard Road in downtown Singapore, I was reminded of another orchard in a land far, far away - East Orosi - the place where my mother grew up. Today is the fifth anniversary of my mother's death. She passed away about a year after my father and about a year and a half after I entered missionary work. That other orchard is quite a bit different from the one I was walking through today. This touristy shopping centre is seeing property values go through the roof. And the pace of new building indicates the joy of the developers. The pace of shoppers starts picking up mid-afternoon. Locals race past, tourists gawk and snap pictures. Trees and other greenery soften the lines of the high-rise shops, hotels condominiums towering over the street, and remind the eye of the tropical location, one degree north of the equator. That other orchard had nothing towering over it, save the massive granite uplift that forms California's Sierra Nevada mountain