Chapter 1: Bergsma, C. 2018. ‘Yelling at God about poverty’ in Where spirituality and justice meet. Edited by Steve Bradbury and Lyn Jackson. Wantirna, VIC: MST &Graceworks Private Ltd. pp 43-64. Available here. This book is a collection of student essays from one of the units of the Masters of Transformational Development that I completed late last year.
Chapter 2: Luetz J.M., Bergsma C., Hills K. 2019. ‘The Poor just Might Be the Educators We Need for Global Sustainability—A Manifesto for Consulting the Unconsulted’ in Sustainability and the Humanities. Leal Filho W., Consorte McCrea A. (eds) Springer, Cham. pp. 115-140. Available here. This chapter expands on my Masters research paper to suggest that if we want to talk about global sustainability, a good starting place might be listening to and learning from the folks who live more sustainably than anyone else – people experiencing poverty.
A verse: I love the song ‘Instruments of Peace’. While there’s a number of versions, it’s a beautiful prayer that’s loosely based on words ascribed to St. Francis of Assisi. Phil Graham, Mark Curtis and myself led this song at the TEAR conference, but as we were prepping for it, I felt the tension between the hopefulness of the song and the reality of the shallowness of my ability to be an ‘instrument of peace.’ So I wrote a spoken word/poem thing and we used it as a type of mid-song reflection.
Long story short, my brother Delroy heard it and offered to record it. It was fun to experience the process of recording a song, and Del has a real gift for capturing what you’re after while adding layers and editing it to make it sound better than you’d have hoped for. So thanks heaps Del!
If you have ears, have a listen.
Phil Graham: lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, foot-tamborine thing.
Delroy Bergsma: back-up vocals, production wizardry.
Yours truly: back-up vocals, mid-song mumbling.
Location: a lounge room in Beaconsfield, Western Australia, and a few square metres of carpeted shed down the road in Hilton.
patmos 
Hi Clinton,
The music link is not working. Aduh!
Kind regards
Diane Bosveld
Hey Ibu Diane,
Try it again, I think I had set it up the wrong way, but I’ve changed it now. You should see a bar instead of clicking on a blue ‘here’ link. Let me know if it still doesn’t show up!
Thanks,
Clint.
Hey Clint, Just letting you know the links in your blog post work, except for the song, which I got Del to forward to me instead. It was beautiful, love the lyrics you added near the end as well. Music is such a beautiful way to express the thoughts and conflicts inside of us and your thoughts echo many of mine in regards to my own place in life and usefulness or not as God’s tool, as well as the questions I wrestle with about the reason for the way God orders and allows life to be such a challenge for so many people while others around me (myself included in many ways) live such superficial, meaningless lives, wasting and barely acknowledging the great gifts they/we have been given.
I do want to encourage you that although I get the impression that you feel inadequate in some of the tasks God has set before you, the fact that you are aware of your limitations is a testament to you being the right man for the job. You are well educated and open and respectful of the people you serve and aware of complications in aiding and walking beside those from a different culture. You are always willing to learn and explore the possibility that you may not have all the answers and adjust accordingly to your experience and knowledge. You have a heart for the suffering and struggling and God is able to turn even your inadequacies for the good of the people you serve and your personal growth also. I guess in my awkward way I am trying to encourage you, because I see a gift in you that you may not even see in yourself. I look forward to chatting to you more but I want you to know I am proud of you (in a totally Biblical, unprideful way….hehe).
Not sure if you can make much of my 10pm ramblings, sometimes I can’t even figure out my own brain but those were my thoughts and impressions from your song tonight. Maybe we make things more complicated than they need to be, maybe we should just sit back and allow God too work without questioning and fighting it all the time. Or maybe I still haven’t a clue because I definitely have more questions than answers.
Love you, in case that didn’t come across….
Roze xo P.s. let Michelle know her shoes arrived safely….
Sent from my BlackBerry – the most secure mobile device – via the TELUS Network
Hey Roze, thanks so much for your encouraging words! They mean a lot, and I appreciate you taking the time to share them. I do at times feel overwhelmed, but the majority of the time I feel like the various things I’m involved with are a good pairing for my gifts, and most of the time I have a vague but persistent sense that I’m serving where God wants me.
I’m so looking forward to spending time with you! Take care, and thanks again for your kind words – I certainly feel loved by you and hope the feeling is reciprocal.
See you soon!
Love Clint.
I keep coming back from time to time to listen to this song. It is perfect – the arrangement, the harmonies, the spoken word bridge – adjectives fail at the moment, but it is a blessing to me and makes me want to be an instrument of peace.
Well that means a lot to me coming from a musical wiz like yourself! Thanks heaps for the encouragement Simon, and I’m glad it resonates with you.
Beautiful!
Thanks Nicole!
You are a real blessing to others Clint! I love the song, and love how you spoke in the middle… It made it feel so real. Thanks Clint, just what I needed today!
Oh, you’re a kind and lovely sister! Thanks for your kind words and I hope you and the family are doing well…