Three Cups of Tea

I finally finished Three Cups of Tea this week! It's a great book, just one of those that I only got to read a little bit here and there so it took me a while. It is the first-hand account of Greg Mortenson's attempt to bring peace, literacy, and hope to an area of the world that has suffered turmoil, war, and poverty for too long. Mortenson's story shares the triumphs and the struggles of his journey, his passion. A couple of things struck me as I read through this book...
1. Mortenson's passion to help people. His parents were missionaries, but the story doesn't indicate that it is his faith that was the driving force for his efforts. There are accounts of sleepless nights worrying about how to make education a possibility for Pakistani children, especially young girls. Would missions be different if more Christians had sleepless nights and overwhelming burden for those who have yet to hear the revelation of God in Christ Jesus?
2. Mortenson's success largely depends on his willingness to learn and adopt and even cherish the customs and culture of the villages that he visits.

About half way through the book the story of Mortenson's realization of his necessity to meet the needs of the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has been walking around with his ledger book, his plumb line, and other tools trying to oversee things and make sure everything is happening on schedule and just as he wants it to, as a frenzied American. Haji Ali, the chief of Korphe, the first village where he establishes a school, takes all of his tools and looks them up-removing Mortenson from the task at hand, at least for a while. Haji Ali urges Mortenson to have some tea and sit down for a lesson of life that he hadn't yet learned.

"If you want to thrive in Baltisan, you must respect our ways," Haji Ali said, blowing on his bowl. "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die," he said, laying his hand warmly on Mortenson's own. "Doctor Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."

"That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life," Mortenson says. "Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them" (50).

What would happen to the church in the 21st century if more believers took those words to heart. How quick we move from meeting to meeting, mission project to retreat, to evangelistic efforts...all filled with half-hearted people who are as concerned with what is going to be their next meal as they are the power of the gospel taking hold in their lives and the lives around them, thus transforming their community. Perhaps we would be better served to meet people where they are in their journey of life and learn from them, inviting them to follow The Way, The Truth, and The Life, not our church, denomination, or theological group. It's so easy to get wrapped up in evangelizing the "lost" that we forget that those people are PEOPLE! Let us learn to love people for who they are and meet them where they are and invite them to be moved by the only Mover that can change their lives.

Thanks for letting me borrow the book Sarah Mooney!!

You can check out more about Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute at www.threecupsoftea.com