Shake it for the LordIt was our first night in Sierra Leone: August 9th, 2012. After a warm welcome from our local hosts, our team of 34 piled into 3 vans with 6 seat-belts. We bumped and jostled our way through the streets of Freetown and arrived at Grace Church just in time for their monthly Worship Night. I took between Alec, my childhood friend, and David, a Leonean. The worship leader said, “Let’s worship the Lord!” Everyone stood. Expecting a gentle, tearful worship song like the ones we sing at home, I let out a deep breath, stuck my hands in my pockets. I was just closing my eyes when a trumpet blasted them back open. The whole congregation leapt into a rousing chorus of “You Are the Most High.” David’s hands were raised high in the air. Beside Alec, Caroline began to dance to the calypso rhythm. Alec and I attempted to clap away our discomfort. The music quieted. The worship leader cleared his throat: “Alleluia, alleluia,” he nodded. “He is worthy, worthy. Alright church, you know what to do! Are you ready?” Alec and I shared a confused look. “Now shake it for the Lord!” He began to booty-shake vigorously, stepping in a slow circle, the drums beating faster and faster. We looked to our left. David was shaking his booty for the Lord. To our right. Caroline was, too. We shrugged got wiggly, and joined in.
And it was fun! People were laughing, clapping, waving, and rejoicing. It was weird, sure. But as Brother Matthew would ask later: “How could one become before the Deity silent?” If God can’t make you dance, what will? That night in Sierra Leone I tasted how joy can be a part of musical worship. Sometimes I’m in charge of leading worship at church or at InterVarsity gatherings. While I don’t ask people to “shake it for the Lord,” I try to find other ways to help people rejoice in a good God through upbeat, fun-loving songs. |
Ebola ResearchIn December 2013, the world's worst Ebola outbreak started in Guinea and quickly spread to Sierra Leone. By the summer, Ebola cases were doubling every two weeks, and by now some 5000 West Africans have been killed. I was curious why efforts to contain this disease failed. This slide deck comes from my presentation analyzing the effectiveness of compassion-based and fear-based responses to Ebola.
EXPLAIN In West Africa, fear spread even faster than disease. People stopped trusting the hospitals, where many patients did not beat Ebola, and thus families hid their sick, diminishing their chances of survival and allowing for the disease to propagate. The government grew afraid, and on September 21 Liberia put all of West Point - a slum of 75,000 - under armed quarantine. Unable to care for...
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Stanford StorynightAfter taking a storytelling class, I workshopped a story about our travels to Florence and presented it to friends, faculty and classmates at Storynight.
You can watch it here. I am the first storyteller. |
Jordan's Dance-umentary |
The first thing you do when you move to Vancouver is buy a rain jacket. When I was 9, my family moved from sunny California to Vancouver. I expected the transition to be a breeze; I'd been popular in California, so surely I would be one of the "cool" kids in Vancouver, too. Right? Wrong. I made too many jokes that weren't funny. I talked trash at recess. Back in California, my friends liked my jokes. My friends liked talking trash. I missed them. I missed the sunshine. Every day I would walk home in the rain, a grey dot on the grey sidewalk under a grey sky. One of my favorite after-school activities was crying on the couch with my mom. "I want to move back!" I often told her.
Luckily, my friend drought didn't last forever. In my sophomore year of high school, I participated in an outdoor education program called TREK. My first trip was a 7-day hike along the Juan de Fuca trail. Our bus weaved its way out of the labyrinth of city streets, and buildings and billboards began to be replaced by mountains to our right and coastline to our left. We arrived at the trailhead and walked into the woods. It was so green! The forest was alive with rich verdant hues I'd never seen in California. Every tree branch was dripping with moss and rainwater. We reached the beach, pitched tents, and I began preparing dinner with my cooking team, Kieran and Filipe. "So what are we having - filet mignon?" I asked. Filipe laughed. We were off to a good start. |