Excelsior

Salvation, California-style

2012-01-22T09:28:00.004-05:00

(http://gearjunkie.com/images/3902.jpg)

You're dead. Practically anyway. You're floundering on the floor of Death Valley, and it's merely a matter of time until the buzzards move in.

Good news: Jesus is there. He's come down into Death Valley, and He asks you if you want to live. When you say yes, He takes your hand. At that instant, you're saved. You've crossed over from Death to Life.

But Jesus doesn't stay still for long. He lives on top of Mt. Whitney, and He wants to take you with Him. But that entails movement--a constant stream of choices. "Will I keep holding His hand here?" "What about here?" "I'm tired; it's hot; I'd rather go the other way."

Salvation is simply a matter of clasping the hand of Jesus and choosing to keep holding on.

Ever Upward

My Battle

2011-11-07T08:25:00.003-05:00

The youth in Battle Creek are, as a general thing, allied to the world. But few maintain a special warfare against the internal foe. But few have an earnest, anxious desire to know and do the will of God. But few hunger and thirst after righteousness. But few know anything of the Spirit of God as a reprover or comforter. Where are the missionaries? Where are the self-denying, self-sacrificing ones? Where are the cross-bearers? Self and self-interest have swallowed up high and noble principles. Things of eternal moment bear with no special weight upon the mind.

God requires you individually to come up to the point, to make an entire surrender. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Ye cannot serve self and at the same time be servants of Christ. You must die to self, die to your love of pleasure, and learn to inquire, Will God be pleased with the objects for which I purpose to spend this means? Shall I glorify him? We are commanded, Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do all to the glory of God.

How many have conscientiously moved from principle rather than from impulse, and obeyed this command to the letter? How many of the youthful disciples of Battle Creek have made God their trust and portion, and have earnestly sought to know and do his will? There are many who profess to be servants of Christ in name, but they are not so in obedience.

Where religious principle governs, the danger of committing important errors is small; for selfishness, which always blinds and deceives, is subordinate. The sincere desire to do others good so predominates that self is forgotten. To have firm religious principles is an inestimable treasure. It is the purest, highest, and most elevated influence mortals can possess. Such have an anchor. Every act is well considered, lest its effect be injurious to another, and lead away from Christ.

The constant inquiry of the mind is, Lord, how shall I best serve and glorify thy name in the earth? how shall I conduct my life to make thy name a praise in the earth, and lead others to love, serve, and honor thee? Let me only desire and choose thy will. Let the words and example of my Redeemer be the light and strength of my heart. While I follow and trust in him, he will not leave me to perish. He shall be my crown of rejoicing.

Testimony for the Church at Battle Creek p. 17

Excelsior

Two Ways of Living in Anticipation of the Latter Rain

2011-10-15T14:23:00.002-04:00

http://agbioresearch.msu.edu/saginawvalley/Pic_Tour/01C01plowing.jpg

How many of us like John are praying for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, while by our actions we are telling those around us that we don’t really believe?

Click on the title of the blog to read a pointed (for me anyway!) parable about the Latter Rain. God's really been prompting me lately to get serious about preparing my field for the approaching rain, and I thought this little illustration was a good way to sum up a important lesson.

Singularity

2011-10-09T16:24:00.004-04:00

http://withfriendship.com/images/h/37499/Singularity-wallpaper.jpg

In keeping with the theme verse of this blog, I thought I would direct your attention to this blog by Pastor Shawn Brace. He highlights some of the key circumstances that lead him to the conclusion that we're rapidly approaching this world's singularity.

Do you agree?

Excelsior

Intimations of the Ocean

2011-09-04T14:47:00.004-04:00

http://dawnminchin.com/images/photography/sandcastle.jpg

Our boundary-settting rights protect us from the seemingly overwhelming responsibility that would flow from a recognition of unity. This is, I think, a frightening form of the "oceanic feeling", intimations of which have reached us. We fear being "invaded," "taken over," not just by threats but by demands - the overpowering demands of those in pain and hunger all around us. We wall ourselves off from their cries - genuinely do not hear them most of the time, even though we "know" they are there - by telling ourselves that we are "within our rights," that rights define our obligations as well as our entitlements, and that as long as we have violated no one's rights, we are doing nothing wrong in our daily non-responsiveness...

From Law, Boundaries, and the Bounded Self by Jennifer Nedelsky

Study Subjects

2011-08-29T07:58:00.005-04:00

http://www.atheistconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/bible-studying-pen-papger.jpg

The experience of Enoch and of John the Baptist represents what ours should be. Far more than we do, we need to study the lives of these men,—he who was translated to heaven without seeing death; and he who, before Christ’s first advent, was called to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight.

Gospel Workers 51

The Ambulance Down in the Valley

2011-08-27T14:10:00.005-04:00

http://prideandpoison.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1w3ryr

Have you ever read this little poem? Somehow I missed it when Teddy first posted it, but upon reading it today, I was really struck by the potency of the concepts it sets forth. There are a number of applications; in healthcare, in education, in the political arena, in humanitarian work, and perhaps most importantly in the spiritual realm.

God's prohibitions are fences. We often look at the Law as a constraint, as if there was a plethora of delights kept just out of reach on the other side of the fence, when in reality, it's meant to keep us from plunging off a dangerous cliff. More than that, I think we too easily succumb to a false feeling of claustrophobia, adopting the spurious notion that God's Law locks us into a narrowly enclosed pasture to keep us "safe." If we could just climb above the fog of the world, I think the view would look a little more like a vast garden, with a fence around one of the trees. . .

Excelsior

Welcome to Durham

2011-08-14T20:38:00.002-04:00

Today I arrived in Durham, NC. I promptly found a library and enquired about a library card (ID and a letter addressed to you in Durham), then moved in to my new abode, Open Air Camp, high above the banks of the Eno River. After I had everything unpacked, I set out on my next important task; exploring the area for prospective running routes. Fortunately, we're on the edge of Eno River State Park, and just down the hill and across the river is a lovely trail that wanders along the river bank for about four miles. I saw four deer, two squirrels, one rabbit, and one black and yellow snake. The welcoming committee was out in force!

Orientation for 1Ls at Duke Law School starts Tuesday, and classes begin in earnest on the 22nd. I'm a unsure of what to expect, but tentatively excited. At least I have a nice place to come home to :)

Excelsior

Meet Dinah

2011-06-08T12:57:00.002-04:00

Currently averaging 51.6 mpg :D

I think the singing is what I miss most of all

2011-04-30T20:52:00.002-04:00

Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians: $15.61
Mild case of poison ivy: Inconvenient
1,200 miles worth of gas: $155.88
Getting to spend the weekend with a few of my best friends: Well, you know :)

Excelsior!

Pro-Choice

2011-04-29T19:52:00.004-04:00

While babysitting a two-ton air handler today, I snatched a few minutes to read from the third chapter of Steps to Christ (our staff devotional for camp this summer.) As I was reading, a concept became clear to me and I want to share it with you.

You always have a choice. Jesus died so you could have a choice. Never let yourself believe that you don't have a choice between doing what's right and sinning. No matter how firmly a habit is ingrained, or how deeply embedded a genetic predisposition is, Jesus lives to give you the right to choose. Your ability to choose is the most respected right in the Universe. Satan can't force you to sin, and God won't make you do right. No matter how far you've fallen, God will give you (through the Holy Spirit) the power boost necessary for you to be able to make an honest choice.

Our problem is that too often we go through life without thinking about the choices we're making--except perhaps to regret them after we've made bad ones.

I can pretty much guarantee that within the next few days I'm going to be faced with a multitude of choices. But the first decision I will make--consciously this time--is to believe that I have a choice, thanks to the One who poured out His life to restore my right to choose.

(Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 1:29-33, etc.)

Excelsior

Prayer Meeting

2011-04-12T20:14:00.002-04:00

Grammie and I went tonight. First time in a long time (inspired by this sermon.) It was really good. I think I'll go again next week.

Excelsior

What do Glenn Beck and the Ayatollah Khomenei have in common?

2011-03-31T21:28:00.015-04:00

So as I've been keeping up with world events lately, I noticed something a little disconcerting. Take a gander at the following recent news clippings:

NY Daily News 14.3.11

Glenn Beck says Japan's earthquake might be a "message" from God.

"We can't see the connections here," he said on his show Monday. "I'm not saying God is causing earthquakes - well I'm not not saying that either!"

"What God does is God's business," Beck continued. "But I'll tell you this...there's a message being sent. And that is, 'Hey you know that stuff we're doing? Not really working out real well. Maybe we should stop doing some of it.' I'm just saying."

Beck continued trying to make a connection between human behavior and the natural disasters that have wreaked havoc in Japan, even casually mentioning "radical Islam" before revealing what he called "the answer."

"The answer is, buckle up!" he said. "Because it's going to be a bumpy ride."

In light of the disasters that have devastated Japan, the Fox host stressed people should follow the biblical Ten Commandments, or what he referred to as "10 rules of thumb."

"What do you say we start doing those things?" he asked. "Because the things we are doing really suck. And they're notgetting better."

(click here to read more)

The Daily Planet Dispatch 28.3.11

A new video set to be released by the Iranian government and targetting Muslims all over the world, describes the latest Middle East troubles as a sign that the prophesied Mahdi, or Twelfth Imam, is near, heralding the End of Times or Judgement Day and the destruction of Israel.

(click here to read more)

Is it just me, or do those ideas sound eerily familiar? You know, it's just like the devil to use somewhat disreputable characters to discredit the truth (Acts 16:16-18.) Disasters are one way God gets our attention (Luke 21:11, 28; 1 Kings 19:11-13) The Ten Commandments are indeed where we should be focusing in the last days (Revelation 14:12.) Time is short.

The question is, are we--the world's foremost experts on end-time events, as delineated in the Bible--going to sit idly by while Glenn Beck and Iranian imams steal our lines??

Excelsior...

Discoveries at the Asian Market

2011-03-10T12:36:00.004-05:00

Today Grammy and I visited the Asian market. In addition to our regular purchases (veggie meat and produce) we each got something new to try, something we'd never had before. Grammy got a small can ofmelon-flavored milk. Turns out it was carbonated melon milk. Interesting.

I got a jar of pickled lemongrass. Very interesting. Anybody have a good recipe that uses pickled lemongrass? (Emily?)

Excelsior

Last Installment of Kotobi Church Pictures

2011-03-06T13:44:00.004-05:00

This is the welcome sign for the town. We took this picture on our way to the inaugural church service :) Notice the public service announcement on the bottom of the sign. Apparently the notion that malaria comes from mosquitoes isn't as widely held as you might expect.

And this is the (mostly) completed church from the road, as it looked Sabbath, January 22, 2011.

A closer shot.

Some of you more knowledgeable builder types might wonder why that the roof overhang becomes well nigh nonexistent towards the back corner. We're slightly ashamed of that, but once we noticed it, there wasn't much we could do. The problem partially stems from the fact that our roofing sheets, while obtained in Juba at a substantial discount from Mundri prices, were apparently two centimeters narrower than those used in our calculations. This magnified what we think was the root cause; that our building wasn't exactly square. But at least the sheeting extends over the walls. Shelter-seeking churchgoers will just have to stand under a different eave during the rainy season :)

Church members bringing their chairs to Sabbath School.

Song service. You can get a sense of approximately how wide the sanctuary is by noting that there are only three chairs per side in a row. It's cozy, but the high walls and the tall windows give it an airy feeling. (The plentiful ventilation and hilltop breezes help with that too :)

Luke and I both shared a little bit during Sabbath School.

On Sunday, we completed the veranda roof and poured a suspended slab over the pit latrine hole (not pictured).

Kids excited about the new church.

One thing that really amazed me was how hard the little girls work. By the age of 5 or 6 they're full-time babysitters, water-haulers, and all-around helpers. Unfortunately, this often leads into an unbalanced lifestyle where women do a lion's share of the work.

Luke is standing next to Sylvester, our faithful assistant, helping us with building, masonry, digging, mixing concrete, and whatever we needed to get done. He's a really sweet guy who works his heart out to support his family and extended relatives. He's relatively new to Mundri, having recently been repatriated by the UNHCR from a refugee camp in Uganda. During the war, he and his family fled from Maridi during heavy fighting, walked to the Congo, and finally ended up in Uganda, where he grew up.

Luke, Pastor Julius, and I, in front of the new church.

Pastor Julius with his wife and daughter.

The church, shortly before we left for Kenya.

This is a neat object lesson of what God wants to do in each of our lives. To me, it is clear that the Kotobi SDA church would not have been built without Divine supervision and intervention at every step. But Luke and I had to work awfully hard as well. God wants to craft each of us into a temple for Him to dwell in. We can't do it without His miraculous aid, and He won't do it without our earnest effort. But in the union of the human and the Divine, a beautiful monument to the glory of God, for the blessing of humanity, can be built.

~Excelsior

Kotobi Church #3 - The Last Week

2011-02-25T16:58:00.003-05:00

Luke is putting together box-forms for pouring the bond beam. Doesn't he look nice in this picture? (He is in real life too :)

Here you can see a lot of different things going on. The pre-fabbed trusses are lying in two halves on the ground in preparation for being welded together. The bond beam on top of the walls is finished. And the little boxes on top of the pillars are Luke's ingenious solution to our problem of having trusses wider than our foundation (and thus, walls.) Rather than building a complicated form to go around each of the pillars, we just poured an extra level of beam on top of the pillars, connected with rebar 'S's to the main beam, and sunk the metal sleeves (for holding the tabs on the trusses) into them, centered on the pillars, rather than on the wall. It was a little tricky because the sleeves had to be spaced pretty precisely in order for the trusses to fit into them. Thankfully everything fit perfectly!

The day came when we needed to weld the trusses together and get them set up in place in order to stay on track for our opening Sabbath on January 22. The only problem was that we had been unsuccessful in our attempts to obtain a welding shield. A search of our container turned up some strange things but no welding shield. A subsequent perusal of the Mundri shops, following rabbit trails all around town, turned up only some sunglasses and a welder who had a pair of slightly darker goggles, but wouldn't loan them to us. Next we heard that there was a welding engineer at the Oxfam compound just outside Kotobi who might have a shield he'd loan us. Luke headed over to follow up on this rumor on his motorbike early that morning, only to find that while there had indeed been an engineer who did welding there, he was long gone, and all his equipment with him. So, dead end, right? Not with Luke on the case. He proceeded to beg several pieces of broken plate glass off of our new Oxfam friends and smoke them over a kerosene flame, producing a highly functional, if somewhat bulky and fragile, welding shield. He then cheerfully held it for me as I welded all five trusses together, tacked them to their metal sleeves on the wall, and them put braces onto the system to keep the trusses from swaying. It was definitely a bush solution, but it worked!

This is the view from the church, looking down the hill to the main road. The trees on the left are on Paul's compound, the church elder who helped spearhead the project.

And this is how the church Thursday morning, right before we started putting on the roofing sheets. The whole last week was an extraordinarily busy time. We'd been busy before, but this week we worked until well after sunset almost every night, trying to get things finished enough so we'd be able to worship in the new building on Sabbath. Thanks to the hard work of Sylvester and Estban (our masons), Sabit and Immanuel (assistants), and Paul, Julius, Phillip Muhammed, and many other church members who came to the church workbee on Friday to clear brush away around the outside and sweep, scrape, and mop the inside, and the tremendous blessings of the Lord, we met our goal and had church together that Sabbath.

Kotobi Church #2

2011-02-21T10:33:00.002-05:00

In addition to stones, sand, cement, and bricks, another critical--and somewhat scarce--building material for the church was water. We were fortunate to have the remnants of a small river about a half mile from the church, and with the use of one Toyota Landcruiser pickup, about fifteen 25L jerry cans, and the help of what often seemed like twice that many eager little volunteers, we kept well-supplied with the precious stuff.

We poured the slab in four sections over about a week. It's quite a lot of work when you're doing everything by hand. We hired four guys to mix concrete and Luke and I and Sylvester (our head builder) spread, screeded, floated, troweled, and finished it. The reason why that section is wet is because slab strength increases with drying time.

Here we've just started laying up the walls. Behind the right corner, in the little cleared area you can just see where the hole for the pit latrine is being dug.

This is a shot of the front yard of Pastor Julius' house in Kotobi, where we stayed during the week. The blue mosquito net on the right is where I slept most of the time; Luke stayed in the tent behind it. You can see Luke starting breakfast in the background. For a while it was quite cold in the mornings, meaning that we were quite motivated to get a fire going and start cooking oatmeal!

This isn't market day, nor is it all of the market, but I think you can get a pretty decent idea of what the Kotobi Market was like from the picture. Every day, 6-10 ladies (and a few men) would gather under these trees with their rough lemons/oranges, sweet potatoes, cassava flour, mandazis (fried dough balls), packets of glucose biscuits, local bread (similar to white, low sodium hot dog buns), various greens, papayas, bags of Gnut paste (peanut butter), beans, sesame seeds, onions, and cooking oil.

Kotobi Church Pictures #1

2011-02-18T12:42:00.007-05:00

This is the building the church members were meeting in originally.

It was well ventilated, but not in particularly good repair.

Luke is admiring the inside. Right behind me is a large termite mound. (Built-in pulpit?)

We're in the process of pouring the pad that will form the basis of the footings. The weeds around the perimeter are actually a sorghum field. The lady who planted them was a bit unsure at first that this new structure springing up in her field was worth the loss of her ripe sorghum!

One large problem we encountered was getting enough gravel for the concrete slab. The church members donated many hours of labor crushing large stones into small ones. This particular gentleman whom everyone called Mzee (pronounced "Muzay," a respectful Swahili title for a wise old man) came faithfully every day with his small hammer to break stones for a few hours. He told me that he had prayed for a church for a long time and was just happy to be able to actually see it happen. For my part, I was honored to work along side such an awesome guy.

A Month of Sabbaths

2011-02-16T20:04:00.004-05:00

It's good to be home. I've been enjoying home cooking, reveling in the stark beauty of a New England winter, and delighting in plentiful and meaningful communication with family and friends. Today Mom and I collaborated on some creamy potato broccoli mushroom garlic soup and a batch of roasted garlic spelt bread. Substantive bread was one of the hardest things to do without in Sudan and Mom's homemade artisan bread is much appreciated :)

This Sabbath I'll be sharing at church about our experiences in Sudan. I've definitely had a variety of church experiences over the past month, particularly with regard to music. January 22 we had our first service in the new church in Kotobi. Luke and I sang #448, "Oh When Shall I See Jesus" for Sabbath School, but the musical highlight of the day was these kids, who did the special song for the church service.

Youth choirs in South Sudan have a defined pattern. They march up to the front singing the first song, then sing their main number, and then march back to their seats with a closing song. Three special songs for the price of one :)

January 29 was spent with new friends at the Torit Seventh-day Adventist church in Eastern Equatoria, where Luke and I were again asked to sing. This time we chose #465, "I Heard the Voice of Jesus." Feruary 5 found us worshiping under a beautiful blue sky in Kawai, Kenya at the Masai. There was a neat Masai women's chorus who led the music for church, so I don't know why they asked us to sing as well. Unfortunately we didn't have our hymnals this time, but we had #448 down by now, so we sang it again, with the addition of Eric Johnston.

Then last week I was enjoying a wonder Friday night vespers at Southern when I found out that I had been volunteered to play special music at the Village Chapel the next day. No, I didn't play #448 (although the thought did cross my mind); Timothy and I played cello/violin medley of What Wondrous Love/The King Shall Come/Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (162/215/662). Based on recent history, I should probably come to church with a special music prepared as well as a talk ;)

Excelsior

Back in Kenya

2011-02-09T08:08:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! Just a quick update on how things are going here in Africa.

Luke and I have arrived safely back in Kenya, and after a few days of
work (and animal-spotting) at Africa Mission Services/Mara West camp
on the Masai Mara game preserve, we're getting ready to return home to
the States. You probably already know the gist of what I'm going to
say about how things have been going--basically, God answers prayer!

Five intensely busy weeks of work after we started laying the
foundation, on Sabbath, February
22, Luke and I and the local congregation worshipped together in the
new building. This was by far the highlight of our trip. Finishing
Pastor Julius' house was nice. Pouring the slab at Eyira Adventist
Vocational Academy was gratifying, but worshipping for the first time
in a church you helped design and build from the ground up is. . .
incredible!

On top of that, God answered our prayers for Divine wisdom as Luke had
a series of discussions with the Mundri church and a couple of unhappy
individuals, succeeding (at midnight, the night before we left) in
working out solutions that seemed to solve the major issues and leave
everybody on friendly terms. Thank you for praying with us about
this! There were a number of times when we wondered whether
everything was going to fall apart, but God proved that He has a
thousand ways to work things out.

I'll be posting pictures of our progress sometime next week (when I
can find a place to get film developed!) so be sure to drop back by
and see what the new church looks like :)

Once again, we can't thank you enough for your prayers and
encouragement all throughout our latest African journey. I've learned
a lot about building buildings, and hopefully about building character
as well.

Excelsior!

In Which We Become Church Architects

2010-12-02T02:16:00.001-05:00

Luke and I have taken on a new project. We've agreed to help oversee
the construction of the Kotobi Seventh-day Adventist church. This was
definitely a providential appointment, as the church seems to be a
perfect fit for our needs and resources. First of all, it's in
Kotobi, which is only about 20 minutes from Mundri. Second, it's a
small enough project that we should be able to complete it within our
remaining time in Sudan. Third, it's a step up from building a house,
but it's doesn't appear to be beyond our technical ability :) Fourth,
we already have the metal trusses stored in our shop, so we don't have
to pay for them to be transported up from Uganda. Fifth, and perhaps
most importantly, it's a project that both sides of the current
tenseness within the church agree upon, and support. This opens a way
for us to safely navigate through the troubled waters of the South
Sudan Field. Praise the Lord!

So, we've already met with the church elders and the supervising
pastor (Pastor Julius, whom we've been building a house for in
Karika), marked out the site, started people procuring sand and
stones, and dug the footings! Hopefully by the end of next week we'll
be ready to begin pouring the slab. The church is not going to be
very large--6x10 meters--but then, neither the number of church
members in Kotobi, or the amount of money we have allocated for the
project is very large either.

Luke and I are excited about getting to design and build this church.
We've already started sketching out arched windows in the dirt and
coming up with decorative brick designs for the back wall (the SDA
flame logo is a bit tricky to put into a brick wall, but Luke has a
few ideas!) It's going to be a neat experience. God has answered our
prayers, and yours as well. Thank you for remembering us in your
prayers, and please continue to pray for the church here, as well as
the political situation.

Excelsior!

Pictorial Update 25.11.2010

2010-11-25T12:46:00.001-05:00

Excelsior

Technical Note

2010-11-15T03:02:00.001-05:00

Because I am posting blogs via email, I cannot put captions under my
pictures. However, if you view the file name of the photo (either by
clicking on it and then looking at the end of the web address or
downloading it or some other way) you may be a little bit more
enlightened :)

Joel

Occupation and Recreation

2010-11-15T02:55:00.001-05:00

Pictures of Julius' House

2010-11-15T02:42:00.001-05:00

Sudan Update 15 November 2010

2010-11-15T02:34:00.001-05:00

Since my last post we've mainly been working on building a house for Julius,
a long-time evangelist, in Karika, a small village about 38 kilometers
west of Mundri. The site already had a slab and walls brick walls
laid up to about waist height, built on a previous Frontline trip.
Together with Sylvester, a local bricklayer who's worked with the
Busls before we've laid up the walls the rest of the way, built some
window and door frames and installed them, poured a bond beam around
the top of the walls (to hold everything together) and then laid a few
more courses of bricks on top of that, put up trusses and half of the
tin roofing sheets, and added a small veranda on the front of the
building. Stay tuned for pictures! We've been camping under some
mango trees by the Karika SDA church while we work on the house during
the week and
returning to Mundri on the weekends.

Here in Mundri Luke and I have started a small youth Bible study that
meets every Thursday night. The group is pretty small right now but
they're interested and it's a blessing to get together with them and
study Bible prophecies that are so relevant, particularly in war-torn
and -apprehensive Sudan. We've also been assisting the local church
in a few evangelistic projects, transporting poles from the bush to
make benches, ferrying the youth choir to Lui for the start of a
series there, (it's an unforgettable experience to cruise through the
African bush with a full choir, complete with instruments, praising
the Lord joyfully from the back of your truck!) and helping wire up
the lights for the meetings being held here in Mundri.

On another occasion we rode Luke's motorbike to Eyeira, 40 miles west
of Karika, to visit the Adventist vocational academy there. We were
warmly welcomed by a few members of the school administration, as well
as an American couple, Lowell and Neria Jenks. Mr. Jenks is teaching
woodworking and small engine repair and maintains the nicest workshop
you've ever seen:) You'll probably be hearing more about Eyeira and
the Jenks, because our next project is going to be helping Mr. Jenks
add on to his shop to make space for some additional woodworking
machines and hopefully a small furniture manufacturing industry to
help support the program.

We hope to wrap things up with Julius' house this week and then spend
a week or so at Eyeira pouring a slab floor for the expansion on the
vocational building.

Other miscellaneous notes; we've made some tasty Mexican food on our
charcoal burner, including excellent corn tortillas using freshly
ground corn on our charcoal:) We've started remodeling a termite
mound behind our house into a cob oven (with a slight bit of
difficulty--apparently termites require quite a bit of convincing to
set up housekeeping elsewhere). Papaya season is starting, as well as
orange/tangerine/lime season! Luke has started seeing dental patients
in his spare time, and has successfully installed five or six fillings
using Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) techniques--no shots or
power tools, and very little pain as well! He's come to the
conclusion that what South Sudan really needs are dentists--everybody
has major teeth problems!

Thank you for your continued prayer support. The church in South
Sudan is going through some problems right now, and we're trying to
figure out how to navigate through the politics without becoming
entangled--the situation definitely needs prayer, as well as the
upcoming referendum. Voter registration starts today and the topic is
on everyone's hearts and lips here.

We're also looking forward to the quickly-approaching day when Jesus
will come to claim all those aliens and strangers who are longing for
a better country--a heavenly one!

Excelsior!

Joel

--
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2

24

2010-11-06T14:03:00.002-04:00

Written 3.11.2010

Today we returned from Eyera Adventist Vocational Academy (about 30
miles from Karika, where we've been staying) on the motorbike this
morning and then worked on Julius's house until sunset. Tomorrow we
raise the roof!

I celebrated by taking a splash shower with <u>heated</u> water under
the stars, adding some brought-from-home barbecue sauce to my beans at
supper, and savoring a biscuit dipped in wild honey for dessert. Now
I'm in the truck writing this blog on my laptop, listening to the
soaring melodies of Johannes Ockeghem's Requiem before retiring to my
sleeping pad under the mango trees in a few minutes.

It's been a lovely birthday:) Thank you, Lord!

And thanks to everyone who sent me birthday notes as well :)

Excelsior

Where We Live

2010-10-31T15:15:00.001-04:00

Pictures from the Trip Up

2010-10-31T15:03:00.001-04:00

Trip to Juba

2010-10-17T10:33:00.001-04:00

One of the reasons we had had trouble driving through Juba on our way
up was that the vehicle registration was out of date. So this past
Thursday, Luke and I came into Juba to get the registration renewed.
We didn't expect it to be a long process, since all we needed was a
stamp and a signature on our logbook, and we didn't want to chance
getting fined again, so we decided to take the bus into town Thursday
morning, do our work that afternoon, spend the night at the ADRA
compound in Juba, then finish up any loose ends and head back to
Mundri Friday morning. It would just a brief trip in and out; no
tarrying in Vanity Fair for us!

So, Thursday morning, we got to the bus station about 8:30, only to
find that the last motatus (minibuses) had just left. That meant we
would have to take the slower bus, which was expected to arrive in
Juba around 3:00. This meant that we would be cutting things close,
but we still had Friday morning to finish up paperwork. So, we
purchased two tickets and boarded The Mundri Express. The vehicle
itself is an interested contraption: a collection of old bus seats,
wrapped in rectangular metal body that reminds one of a large tin can,
bolted to a truck chassis behind a separate driver's cab. Because the
passenger compartment was just tacked on the back of a truck, there is
a distinct lack of the kind of conveniences you would normally expect
to find on a bus, including, apparently, shocks. This makes for a
rough ride, as demonstrated by the poor shape of the seats. The poor
guy in front of Luke had no seatback to lean against, our own seat
kept threatening to split into separate parts, and the three seats
across from us collapsed completely during the trip!

We were scheduled to depart at 9:00 and were pleasantly surprised to
find the bus pulling away at 9:05. But our hopes were dashed when it
turned away from Juba and headed in the opposite direction. Had we
somehow completely misunderstood the destination of this bus? Now,
Sudan has little in the way of formal traffic rules, but the few they
do have are rigidly enforced. One of these, we've learned from
experience, is the importance of traffic circles. Perhaps, we
surmised, it was necessary for the bus to go back to the center of
town and circle the roundabout before heading on its way! As it
turns out, the driver simply needed to fuel up. After that it was
back to the bus station to pick up more passengers, a few more stops
on the way out of town, and then we were off.

The appellation Mundri Express is rather misguiding. It was most
certainly not an express trip to town. But at least we had plenty of
opportunities to stretch our legs and see the sights on the way :) We
finally arrived in Juba about 4:30, and thanks to the help of our kind
fellow passengers, managed to find the ADRA compound without too much
trouble. We spent the evening with Pastor Okayo, the district pastor
at Juba, and made plans to head out first thing in the morning.
Pastor Okayo already had guests, a mission group from Perth, so we set
up our mosquito nets under a tree on the compound.

The next morning, Luke headed out into a pouring rainstorm at 7:30 to
do battle with the traffic police bureaucracy with Sylvester, a friend
of Jared's, while I waited at the compound in the hopes that someone
from ADRA would help me change money. My day turned out to be quite
successful. I was able to get our money changed, charge my computer,
write a few of these blogs, and, thanks to the help of my sister,
figure out the settings to get internet access on our phone again!
Luke's day, on the other hand, was a bit more frustrating. Apparently
the traffic police are in the middle of changing the process of
vehicle registration, and that fact, combined with the complications
and general pace of life that accompany African bureaucracy meant that
what should have been a simple visit became quite a labyrinthine
procedure. First of all, the office didn't open until 10:00. And then
because of the rain, many employees were delayed. Then several needed
to take tea. Finally, once people started arriving, he and Sylvester
were shuttled back and forth between numerous offices, collecting
signatures and receipts and paying fees. They were just about
finished, having paid all the fees and collected all the necessary
paperwork, and were lacking only the final laminated card, when the
office closed for lunch. So they waited until after lunch. But then,
upon returning, they discovered that the power was off, and the
generators could not be started. "Come back on Monday," they told
him... So, that's what we'll have to do.

In the meantime we've had a lovely time, going hear Pastor John
Horvath, the pastor from Australia, share about the group's
experiences in Wau for vespers on Friday night, camping out under the
stars, and sharing in Pastor Okayo's hospitality. Sabbath morning I
wasn't feeling too great, but I decided to go with Luke and few others
to visit the Juba Prison. I'm glad I did; it was an insightful
experience. Before entering the prison, each person had to surrender
their cell phones (no pictures allowed) and take a visitor card.
"Don't lose it or you can't come back out," the guards told us. I
think they were joking.

Inside the tall walls was a large compound with a few hundred men
standing around. We went behind one of the buildings and found about
50 young guys, excited to have church with us. After a few energetic
songs ("Don't be lazy about praising the Lord!" the prison pastor
admonished everybody), the visitors were introduced to much applause.
I, however, was not included. "I am not going to introduce this
brother, because he will introduce himself before he gives the
sermon," said our host. Having been recently informed of this, I was
frantically looking through my Bible for ideas. I think the Holy
Spirit helped me find something, and I ended up speaking about how
immediately after his greatest triumph, the prophet Elijah fled into
the desert, scared and dejected, and how even at his lowest point, God
strengthened him and patiently waited until he was ready to listen.
As James says, Elijah truly was a man just like us, with shortcomings
and frailties, yet God used him to do powerful things in Israel.

Luke and I certainly have our share of frailties, but I hope and pray
we can be used by God here in Sudan, in 2010.

Excelsior!

Baptisms

2010-10-17T10:31:00.001-04:00

This past Sabbath was a special Sabbath at Mundri; we had 8 baptisms!
Now I didn't understand exactly what this was going to entail, but I
definitely gained an education in the proper way to do a baptism in
South Sudan. After church, Pastor Nelson announced that we would be
going to the river for the baptisms. This made sense, as the church
has no baptistry. But as the congregation started to march through
town singing, I began to realize that this would be more than just a
simple trip to the river. We proceeded to parade through the entire
town, right up main street; the youth choir in front, then the
baptismal candidates in white robes, and then the rest of the
congregation following behind. We walked past the shops, past the
restaurants, past the traffic police, past a political rally, all the
way across the Mundri bridge, about two miles from the church.

By the time we arrived at the riverbank, we had gathered quite a lot
of spectators, and, not one to miss an opportunity to reach a crowd,
our friend Charles, a former Global Mission pioneer preached a rousing
sermon about Jesus' example of baptism by immersion. It was quite a
warm day, and by the time he was finished, I bet he could have
collected several more willing volunteers for an immersion!

Finally Pastor Nelson called each candidate out into the water and
baptized them, alternating between speaking in Arabic and English.
Everybody cheered and we all sang a few more songs. While all this
was going on, several Indonesians from the local UN camp drove across
the bridge to the other side of the river and commenced with their
weekly bath. I wonder what they thought of all the commotion across
the river :) Anyway, it was quite an experience; baptism is supposed
to be a public demonstration of a life-changing decision, and this was
definitely public!

Excelsior!

Mundri

2010-10-17T10:30:00.001-04:00

Mundri

Jared gave us a whirlwind tour of Mundri and the surrounding area on
Sabbath and Sunday, and then he and Eric caught an AIM flight out of
Mundri on Monday morning. Since then Luke and I have been working on
a variety of things, but primarily on fixing up the compound and
making connections with local church members, government officials,
and other missionaries in the area.

The people in Mundri have made us feel quite welcome. We were
introduced in church and have made friends with several different
church members. We've started learning our way around town and have
even located the local pita bread baker :) Mundri seems to be laid
out in a straight line East to West along the main road from Juba,
with most of the shops and government offices (Mundri is the county
seat) along the road and then people's homes further back.

Frontline Builders has a fenced compound is several hundred meters
north the road on the west side of town, in the residential section,
past the Mundri SDA church compound. The compound is very green right
now, with lots of trees--and plenty of brush! The different fruit
trees we've found on the compound so far are guavas (just finishing),
bananas (just ripening), oranges, papaya, pineapples, mangos, and
tamarind! Unfortunately we're going to miss the mango harvest, but
I'm looking forward to some delicious papaya and bananas and trying
some tamarind pods as well! There are also a few acacia, palm, teak,
and umbrella trees as well.

We've spent much of our time over the past two weeks cutting back some
of the less welcome plants from around the compound. Other activities
include fixing numerous holes in the fence, getting the solar charging
system working again, replacing the rear break pads on our cruiser,
and planting an experimental vegetable garden. Luke has lots of
different varieties of vegetables that he wants to try in the Mundri
climate, and we've planted 10 or 11 kinds of beans, 8 kinds of
tomatoes, cucumbers, sorghum, amaranth, peppers, carrots, different
kinds of greens, beets, onions, corn, cilantro, parsley, etc., etc.
Should be interesting to see what turns up.

One interesting project that we tried just the other day was making
our own hot sauce. We found a plant full of tiny red peppers. I
wasn't fooled by their cute appearance, having encountered them before
in Fiji--they're fiery! We've already burned through one of our two
bottles of Kenya-bought hot sauce, so I was eager to work on a
replacement. With gloved hands, we carefully collected a bowl full of
these little firebombs in preparation for some homemade hot sauce. We
don't have access to any refrigeration, so we decided to make a
brine-based sauce that will hopefully last a little longer. We
pan-roasted the peppers first, and then boiled a few spoonfuls in some
fresh lime juice with a teaspoon of salt, before mashing the mix and
straining the liquid into our old hot sauce jar. In the process we
spilled a little of the mixture on our front porch. I washed it off a
few minutes later, and found that the hot sauce had etched a small
hole in the surface of the concrete. I think this variety should last
just a little longer than the store-bought stuff :)

So since I've tantalized you with a bit of information about our food
situation here, let me say just a little more. Luke and I have
decided not to hire a local cook, both to economize and because as
Luke said, "Doing our own cooking and cleaning is good for our
characters." (We have compromised a bit in the area of laundry :) So,
mornings we usually have oatmeal or a little granola and pitas with
peanut butter and jelly, and--as of the ripening the first of our
banana trees--some bananas, and often some milk tea. Lunch usually
consists of some kind of beans or lentils, sometimes rice, some sort
of vegetable dish--eggplant, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, etc., and
pitas and bananas and peanut butter. For supper we eat leftovers and
pitas and peanut butter and jelly and usually some bananas. Yes, we
do go through a lot of pitas, peanut butter, and bananas! In fact,
we're thinking about building our own brick kiln oven, and purchasing
a grinder, so as to stem the flow of pounds from our pockets to the
local bakers and peanut butter vendors!

Most of our cooking and daytime living centers around a little room in
the small house on the compound. We store our food and things in the
room and cook and sit out front. But as darkness falls, we retreat to
our mosquito net-ensconced beds in "the loft." The loft is a
second-story platform with a thatched roof across the compound.
Because the platform is open on all four sides, it's a little cooler
than sleeping inside; the only drawbacks are that wasps seem to like
sleeping in the rafters as well, and that the termites don't
sleep--instead, they appear to enjoy dragging mud up from the ground
to the second story and building tunnels through my clothes. I've
since relocated all three of the above: the wasps, the termites, and
my clothes!)

Because darkness falls fairly early, we usually have a little time to
read in the evenings before going to bed. Luke has been reading me
humorous excerpts from Bill Bryson's "The History of Nearly
Everything," among other things, and I've been reading a bunch of
different books as well. In addition to the Books of John and James,
which I've been reading for devotions lately, I've been learning a lot
about African history through such books as "Emma's War," about South
Sudan's fight with Khartoum, "Wizard of the Nile," about Joseph Koney
and the LRA, "Into Africa," about Livingston and Stanley, and "Heart
of the Nile," about Sam and Florence Baker's explorations in Sudan.
I've also been delving into some of Luke's agriculture books, as well
as a book about the new shape of world Christianity and the EGW
compilation "Adventist Home." I'm going to need to procure some more
books soon, I think.

Excelsior!

The Trip North

2010-10-17T10:28:00.000-04:00

The Trip North

Well, we're here.

Actually, we've been here for two weeks now, but I haven't had
internet access until now. Thank you for your prayers and your
patience!

Wow, so much has happened! The trip north from Nairobi to Mundri took
about three and a half days--long days. The four of us, Luke and I,
Jared, and Eric left Nairobi about noon on Tuesday, the 28th of
September. We slept around a fire the first night beside the road,
high up in the Kenyan mountains. We were surrounded by beautiful pine
trees, and it got quite cold--not exactly what I had expected! The
next day however, we descended into the furnace. The winding road
took us abruptly out of the woods and down into the desert, and the
scenery changed to scrub brush, termite mounds, and camels.

I really enjoyed seeing all the different vistas, which was fortunate,
because I had an unobstructed view of these changes from my perch on
the back of our loaded truck--the seat I maintained for the entire
journey :) We arranged the luggage so that Luke's motorbike was in
the middle of the truck bed with our bags on either side, our
thermarests and blankets arranged on top, and then a large tarp over
all that with tie-downs running over everything. Don't worry Mom, I
was in no danger of falling off; the two of us who were riding in the
back reclined underneath the tie-downs. I even managed to doze a few
times :)

Anyway, we continued through the desert, stopping at a town called
Lodwar that evening. Jared has a friend, David, who works at the
petrol station in Lodwar, and he invited us to his compound for the
night. I was really touched by David's generous spirit. Not only did
he allow us to spend the night at his house, and feed us two meals,
but because he has a job that provides some amount of steady income
(although meager), he has taken on the task of providing for his
brothers, his mother, some of his wife's siblings, nephews in school,
and so on. He really takes Paul's injunction for believers to care
for their family members seriously.

The next morning we made it to the Sudanese border, and after quite a
bit of negotiation, paperwork, and taxation, we were allowed into the
country. As Jared and Luke were busy with all that, I made friends
with several of the soldiers sitting around. They were quite
interested in America and seemed to think that all of my explanations
were hilarious. One of the things that struck them as particularly
funny was my attempt to explain why I was not yet married. Most of
them had several wives, but I, a comparatively wealthy, healthy man of
marriageable age, had none. When I explained that I was waiting to
find the right one, they roared with laughter. "You have spent 23
years in America and you haven't found the right one yet?" they asked.
"Maybe after another 23 you will find her!" "Perhaps I will find one
here in South Sudan," I said. This was greeted with additional
laughter, and they kindly explained that I didn't have enough cows to
buy a Sudanese wife. "You would need at least 100 cows," they told
me. Apparently I'm too picky for an American wife and too poor for a
Sudanese one. I guess I'll have to wait a while longer :)

We spent a short night a little ways into Sudan, at the town of
Kapoeta. It was considered a full day of driving to reach Juba, and
we needed to go at least 4 hours past Juba, to Mundri. Friday morning
we headed out at 4:00 am, and fortunately, due to the hard work of the
UN World Food Programme workers who were doing some road renovations,
we made it to Juba around 2:00. After some more hassles in Juba,
which left me with a distinct aversion to the town, we left for Mundri
around 5:30, less some money, and carrying another passenger (a friend
of the military police who stopped us at the checkpoint on the way out
of town and who wanted a ride to Mundri.) This made for a rather
crowded four hours, as the volume of the money we left behind was more
than taken up by the person we picked up. Needless to say, we were
grateful to arrive at Frontline's compound in Mundri shortly after
9:00 pm Friday evening. It was quite the trip, and we're very
thankful that God kept us safe and enabled us to arrive without any
major delays. I hope to be able to post some pictures of the trip in
a little while.

Excelsior

Learning

2010-09-25T12:22:00.001-04:00

Thinking back over the past week, the string tying up the bundle of
disparate experiences seems to be learning. This Sabbath finds me
more educated, in a very diverse group of fields, than the last one
(although I suppose that should be the case every week). May I share
some of my new knowledge with you?

After spending Monday and Tuesday finishing our leach field ditch and
measuring, labeling, and sorting several hundred panes of glass for
the windows in the orphanage, we packed all Jared's things from his
house along with our bags in to his old Land Rover truck (see the
previous post for a picture). While waiting for Jared to finish up a
few things, Eric Johnston, Luke, and I decided to try out Jared's
kite. At the orphanage site there is plenty of open land and it's
almost always windy; perfect for kite flying. Jared's kite is a 5.5
meter, two-handled kite, and is quite a bit bigger than any I've ever
flown before. Wow! It's a totally different experience than the
little kites you fly as a kid. It was kind of like trying to wrestle
a powerful flying horse with a devilish sense of humor all around the
field :P But it was lots of fun, and a good workout too!

Next Luke and I got another opportunity to practice an essential
skill--essential at least in Africa--riding in the back of a truck.
Africans have developed this into a fine art, perching atop mounds of
sundry luggage with apparent ease. I have yet to master it, but
thanks to Luke's advice and lots of practice (around town in Nairobi,
5 hours out to the orphanage on Sunday, seven hours back on Tuesday,
etc.) I've learned a few tips. First, it helps to come prepared: a
Thermarest is crucial to long-term comfort! Second, a tarp is also
critically important, both for protection from the rain and to deflect
the cold wind. With these two components and room to stretch out,
riding in the back is actually preferable to the cab. Unfortunately,
with all of Jared's furniture, and Moses and Thomas, two of Jared's
employees along for much of the ride, stretching-out space was a
little limited, but we managed :)

Back in Nairobi, the learning experience shifted into high gear.
Before we could leave, there was two vehicles that we needed to make
some minor repairs to; the orphanage's Land Cruiser Prado and
Frontline Builders' Land Cruiser truck. Both needed to have the front
ends rebuilt; the Prado also needed to have its 4WD hubs switched to
the more reliable manual version along with a few other things, and
the truck needed new front shocks and some work done on the rear
bushings. Because much of our days were spent running errands and
going through the process of getting travel permits for S. Sudan, we
got a little behind on all this work. We planned to start driving
north on Sunday, so things were starting to get tense when Thursday
evening rolled around and we were about halfway finished with the
Prado and hadn't yet started on the truck. So we decided to utilize
some of the free time between dusk and dawn :) Unfortunately, one set
of nuts and lock washers on the right axle inside the spindle on the
Prado didn't fit very well, and the snap ring wouldn't quite go on.
After putting all the pieces on, discovering the problem, stripping
everything back to the knuckle, including removing the studs from the
spindle, putting it all back together again, having it still not work
and disassembling and reassembling yet again, finding a prodigal
gasket and going back to put it on, I have learned quite a bit about
the inner workings of Land Cruiser axles! We ended up going to bed
about 3:00, because we were missing a bearing on the truck. Thank
goodness!

Friday was one of those days where, as Luke said, you probably would
have accomplished about as much--and been much cheerier--if you'd just
stayed home and had a party. Practically everything went wrong; parts
were the wrong size or missing altogether, shops were closed for lunch
or for the weekend, traffic was terrible, we were 15 minutes too late
to pick up our travel permits, the pump broke back at the orphanage
(Jared had to go back today to get the water working), and last but
not least, a swarm of bees from next door, upset about having their
honey stolen by the neighbor, made things very unpleasant for Luke as
he tightened the last few bolts before Sabbath! Guess what Friday's
lesson was?
Patience!

Fortunately we closed out the day with a delicious supper of
freshly-made salsa: tomatoes, onions, garlic, chiles, cilantro,
lemon, and salt. Mmmm! And then it was Sabbath. We sang some hymns
and fell asleep in the living room. God's day of rest is definitely a
blessing!

Jared and Eric left today to go fix the pump. Luke, Linda Shin (an RN
who works at the AMS clinic in the Mara), and I stayed here, listened
to lots of wonderful music and a good sermon, and then did a little
exploration of the area on Luke's new motorbike. We happened upon a
nice little surprise, the Langata Botanical Gardens, during our trip,
and stopped to walk around. We saw lots of different flowers and
birds, and even a little three-horned chameleon :)

Other highlights from the week: receiving a nifty rugged blanket with
water-resistant canvas on one side, complete with a little carrying
case, perfect for sleeping out in the bush, from Andy Aho, learning
how to ride a dirt bike, reading two excellent books --
'Cross-Cultural Servanthood' by Duane Elmer (thanks Mindi!), and
'The End of Poverty' by Jeffery Sachs. Really good reading; I
definitely recommend them for anybody interesting in working in the
third world!

So, that's the news. I'm blessed beyond belief; good friends, honest
work, lots of learning experiences. Even when things were going crazy
Friday, I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be, or anything else
I'd rather be doing. God is good.

Excelsior

First Week at Jared's Orphanage

2010-09-19T03:55:00.006-04:00

I like Kenya. The weather is pleasant, the scenery reminds me of Arizona, there isn't too much malaria, we've already seen a variety of wildlife, and I've met some new friends. We weren't planning on lingering here for quite this long, but I'm glad things have worked out this way.

We've been here a week and a half, spending about half ourtime in Nairobi getting supplies for Sudan and running errands, and the rest at Jared's orphanage project. The orphanage is five hours west of Nairobi, on the eastern edge of the Masai Mara game preserve, near the Tanzanian border.We drove out to the project on Friday and saw two giraffes on the way! Did I mention how neat it is to be here in Kenya? :)

The Masai Development Project Orphanage

Jared's Mansion

On Sabbath we sang and hiked and rested. If I had known what we would be doing for work that week, I think I would have rested some more. I also listened to two excellent sermons by Eugene Prewitt on revival and country living. I guess we've got the country living part down, hours away from civilization in the African bush :) Sunday, after a pancake flipping contest (which Luke won handily with a neat double flip), we started work with a bang, digging the first of several ditches. Monday we scraped cement off window bars and I helped supply the masons with stones and concrete to finish the interior walls in the dormitory. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent with a pick and shovel, clearing out somemore ditches for a leach field. With all that digging, we had no problems falling asleep at night!

Luke

Joel

Wednesday evening we drove through the bush down to the Tanzanian border and saw lots of wildebeest, antelopes, dikdiks, and some zebras! Thursday we headed back to Nairobi for more errand running. We met up with some Peace Corps volunteers Thursday night for supper at an Ethiopian restaurant! I enjoyed using some of my rusty Amharic to order our food :) Friday we picked up Eric Johnston at the airport and ran some more errands. Eric is here as an SM from Southern and will be working at the orphanage and with Jared's uncle for nine months.

One of Luke's errands

On Sabbath we went to church at Maxwell Academy on the campus of the East Central Africa Division. It's interesting how similar the academy here is to academies in the States--and all the connections we had in common with the expats there. Pastor Crutcher and his wife from GCC, a family from Union Springs Academy, and some SMs from Union. Amazing how meeting friends of friends makes for such entertaining conversation :) After lunch in the cafeteria we went hiking in the Rift Valley. The geology in the Rift Valley is fascinating. It's basically a huge crack in the earth where two tectonic plates are pulling apart. Because there's so much less pressure on the crack, magma pushes up through the crust more easily. Hence all the volcanic activity along the Rift, and the presence of the mountains for us to climb. (Don't worry Mom, the ones we were on were long extinct :) Bob and Joy Butler graciously invited us to their home for supper and we spent the evening visiting with them.

The plan is to head back out to finish up a few more things at the orphanage, put in the windows, finish the leach field, and a other odds and ends, before coming back to Nairobi, purchase the last few needed supplies and leave for Sudan a week from today. We'll see how that works out!

It's good to hear from everybody back home. We're excited to see how God has worked things out for us so far. Thank you for your prayers!

Excelsior

First Update

2010-09-09T09:18:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

Our very fine African adventure has begun. Luke and I left Tuesday in a flurry of preparations and last minute errands. Bags had to be weighed, repacked, and reweighed. Money had to be changed (post-2001 series, please), and friends and family needed farewells. In what may be the first miracle of the trip, a package of LSAT study materials and a letter for me made it into the PO box at Collegedale literally moments before we left for Atlanta. Thank you Lord!

Thanks to Emily, Luke's extremely gracious sister (thanks again for the burritos!), we made it to ATL in time for our flight, only to realize that Luke had left his laptop bag back at home :( Anybody coming to Kenya in the next week or so?

Those seat-back display screens have been upgraded since the last time I've flown. Luke and I learned lots of interesting trivia facts and figured how to play Othello on our way to Amsterdam, and we started to learn Arabic and sent text messages en route to Nairobi--all via the little display in the seat in front of us. Amazing! The food was pretty good as well, although we were definitely glad to supplement it with Kristin's granola and Mom's trail mix.

Upon arriving in Nairobi, we realized that we didn't know "the precise address of our stay in Kenya," as requested on our visa forms. Fortunately this oversight apparently wasn't a deal-breaker, as the customs officials were more interested in whether or not our money was counterfeit or not. Outside we met up with Jared Busl and Andy Aho, and after a few errands, we eventually arrived at Andy's house outside Nairobi.

Our tentative schedule for the next week or so includes finishing up an orphanage for the Masai Development Project that Jared has been working on near Masai Mara, getting supplies here in Nairobi, and doing some maintenance on our little Toyota truck. Apparently the front axle needs some TLC before we hammer it for 1500 km on our way to Sudan.

Thank you for your prayers and for all the encouragement and help!

Excelsior

Sudan Information

2010-09-02T15:19:00.031-04:00

What's Going On?

Many of you have asked for more information about what I will be doing in South Sudan. I will be updating my blog with new information along the way, but here's what I know for now.

South Sudan has been hit hard by years of civil war with North Sudan, unstable neighbors, marauding militia groups, tribal unrest, and uncooperative weather patterns. The 2009 UN Human Development Report ranks Sudan 150 out of 180 countries on the Human Development Index, a composite measure of national health, education,and quality of living prospects. To put this in perspective,that's just below Haiti and Papua New Guinea. The average life expectancy is about 58. Around twelve and a half million people don't even have access to clean water. (more info)

I can't do much to change these figures. But, I can make a difference for some people. Luke Fisher and I will be working under the auspices of Frontline Builders, a non-governmental, OCI-affiliated organization that has been working in South Sudan since 2001. We will be based in Mundri, several hours west of Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Our primary mission is to serve in whatever capacity is most needed. Some of the things we will probably be doing include lay evangelism training, basic medical and dental work (Luke is an RN), agriculture, possibly some building, and lots of planning and praying about future possibilities.

Who's Going?

Luke Fisher Joel Kurtz

How Can You Get Involved?

Pray! "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much" - James 5:16
Pray some more! "And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea" - 1 Kings 18:44
Send us encouragement: Luke, Joel
Keep checking my blog for updates - If you would like to receive the posts via email, let me know!
Donate - If you feel impressed to give funds, you can donate either through OCI (tax-deductible, be sure to designate your donation "Frontline Builders - Mundri") or directly to me, via Paypal (not tax-deductible.)

OCI

Thank you. Your prayers and encouragement mean a great deal to me.

Excelsior - Ever Upward!

Funny Error Message

2010-08-31T18:23:00.002-04:00

Winnie

2010-08-30T17:30:00.004-04:00

This past weekend I had the privilege of witnessing one of the most beautiful events I have ever seen. Baptisms are always wonderful, and I particularly appreciate it when they're outside. This particular baptism took place in Upper Saranac Lake, at Camp Cherokee, a place very dear to my heart, which was another factor in the specialness of the occasion. But the best part about this sacred event was that the lady getting baptized was deaf. And blind. She is also one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

Winnie Weisgerber Tunison has been deaf since she was born and blind since she was forty. She been married for forty-three of those years to John, an incredibly kind gentleman with a terrificly dry sense of humor to boot. Winnie is not only sweet, she's also very sharp. When I talked with her, she told me a little bit about her experience going to Gallaudet College (where she graduated summa cum laude) and about how she checks her Facebook account with her Braille laptop. She has two daughters and several grandchildren around the country, and she enjoys visiting them when she can. Green is not her color, although she likes yellow, she signed, and she particularly loves butterflies and orchids.

Butterflies represent freedom and sensitivity, she told me through an interpreter. They are free to fly wherever they please, and they also gain information about the world around them through their antennae, or feelers. Orchids are fragile, costly, and beautiful. They require special care, but they reward dedicated caretakers with delicate blooms that are highly prized for their rarity and beauty. Winnie can relate.

Winnie's primary connection to the outside world is through her hands. She not only speaks through them, but she can also hear and read. By placing her hand on the hand of someone who is signing, she is able understand what they are saying with remarkable accuracy. It was through her fingers that she learned about Jesus and about His soon return, and after studying for some time, she decided she wanted to be baptized.

Winnie couldn't see the sunlight flashing on the water or the flower petals that were sprinkled in the lake; she couldn't hear us singing Shall We Gather at the River; but then, that isn't what it was about, really. Winnie was testifying to the metamorphosis of her heart.

May I be as responsive to the Spirit's call, as open to His penetrating light, and as sensitive to His touch as Winnie is.

Excelsior

Sailing Faster than the Wind! (Updated)

2010-08-29T08:23:00.005-04:00

This article details the story of a wind-powered vehicle that traveled straight downwind at 2.8x the speed of the wind! It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea, but their physics check out, apparently!

Here's the official site.
God's physics continues to amaze me

Excelsior!

This Winter

2010-08-27T21:05:00.002-04:00

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Mundri, West Equatoria, South Sudan
Frontline Builders
Luke Fisher
7.9.2010 - 10.2.2011
Agriculture, Evangelism, Friendship-Building, Planning, Health Training, Construction

Excelsior!

Updates: Summer 2010

2010-08-11T10:19:00.015-04:00

A lot has happened since my last post. I graduated from Southern with a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in History on May 2, alongside my lovely sister, who finished up her B.S. in Nursing, and my cousin, who also got a degree in Business Administration. And guess who that beaming beauty in the middle is? :)

I attended a couple of weddings--most notably that of my sister and Barry Howe on June 6 :D More pictures here

The rest of my summer (June 19 - August 8) was spent at God's retreat in the Adirondacks, Camp Cherokee.

It's been a terrific couple months, spent with wonderful people, doing awesome things, in gorgeous places. I am blessed beyond belief!

I'm excited to see what God has waiting in the wings for the next act!

Excelsior!

One Argument for Human Freedom With Sovereign Power

2010-04-22T13:11:00.004-04:00

This is an essay I wrote for Honors Seminar this semester.
If God is, man is a slave; now, man can and must be free; then, God does not exist. I defy anyone whomsoever to avoid this circle . . . Michael Bakunin, God and the State[1]

This provocative statement forms the heart of Michael Bakunin’s passionate argument against the tyranny of religion in general and of God in particular. I tend to believe that God is and that man can be free. Here’s why.

The first three words of Bakunin’s statement assume at least two things: that God is all-powerful, and that He is like humans—that His motivations and thought-processes are fundamentally no different than ours. I have no problem with his first assumption; it is the second part that prevents us from seeing eye to eye. Is it possible that the universe could contain a being with motivations that are completely foreign to our way of thinking? Is it not reasonable to imagine that if an alien being exists, it would have alien thought-processes and alien abilities? If you will allow for the possibility of sentient existence other than humanity, then you must allow for extra-human thoughts.

This is a difficult concept to identify, let alone allow credence, because we are steeped in human reasoning. Why should we as humans imagine anything other than what is natural for humanity? Powerful humans have exhibited a despairingly consistent tendency towards oppressive behavior over the past few millenia; hence the axiom, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[2] Time and again through history we have witnessed power and tyranny stalking hand in hand, from Periander and Dionysus I of Ancient Greece, to Caligula, to Pope Pius II, to Stalin and Pol Pot of the previous century. It makes sense then, that if God, a being to whom is attributed power of infinitely greater scope and magnitude than the most tyrannical human, were anything like us, His sovereignty would inherently preclude individual freedom.

Can a self-avowedly omniscient God exercise voluntary restraint? I don’t believe this negates God’s sovereign power—indeed, it might stem from His omniscience. Even in human culture, recognizing and abiding by self-imposed limits does not indicate weakness, but rather strength of character. If an extra-human being with extra-human abilities exists, then it makes sense that this being could exercise extra-human restraint. This is especially plausible when we realize that coming from outside of humanity, this being would necessarily draw motivation from a source that is entirely foreign to human inspiration.

In addition to being all-powerful, God claims another fundamental quality: love. By definition, love is other-centered. Love is not selfish; it does not seek power over others—to dominate them for selfish reasons—but to serve them. If we can conceive of a God who is an extra-human Being, with extra-human power, motivated by extra-human love, then it is not inconsistent for Him to exist along with human freedom.

The way to escape Bakunin’s circle is by recognizing the possibility that the character of God is so incredibly different from us (a presupposition he already granted by assuming Divine omniscience) that not only could He do something we have not been able to do—possess sovereign power while allowing freedom of choice—but that He does so on the basis of His incomprehensible love for us.

[1] (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), 25.

[2] John E. E. Dahlberg-Acton, letter to Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887, Essays on Freedom and Power, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1949), 364.
Excelsior:)

Art, Religion, and Entertainment: A Quote

2010-04-15T20:50:00.002-04:00

It has been said that in ancient Greece, art killed religion; later in Christian Europe, religion killed art. That alone is worth some reflection. But we can add that in modern America, entertainment is killing both art and religion--a situation that leaves very little space for the Christian artist.

William D. Hendricks, Exit Interviews (Chicago: Moody Press, 1993), 196.

A little snippet from the best class ever--Dr. Ashton's Music in the Christian Church!

Excelsior

Logic, Faith, and Feelings?

2010-04-05T21:45:00.004-04:00

God created us with feelings; what is the proper role of those feelings in the context of the Christian walk?

Excelsior

Question

2010-03-29T10:05:00.002-04:00

Do short-term mission trips = Christian tourism?

Excelsior

I have a theory

2010-03-28T18:51:00.002-04:00

Feelings (preferences, mood) should stem from logical actions--not the other way around.

Respond

Excelsior

Returned

2010-03-25T11:04:00.002-04:00

Well, we're back. Thanks for your prayers. God blessed our endeavors immensely. The trip to Haiti was a whirlwind of airports, work, friends, heat, and miracles. I should have some picture up shortly.

Please pardon my infrequent posting--I'm trying to graduate in a month :)

Excelsior

Away Message

2010-02-27T23:02:00.004-05:00

Flight canceled, flight found; trip delayed, trip is a go. God is good.

We leave tomorrow at 3:00 am and should be back in approximately eight days--Lord willing.

Thank you all--your support has been uplifting and overwhelming. Please continue to pray for us!

Excelsior

Sign of the Times

2010-02-25T13:50:00.003-05:00

http://griffith055.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/copy-of-therapist.jpg

Quote from 25 Feb. NY Times article, Watch How You Hold that Crayon, by Peg Tyre

In Manhattan, the brutally competitive nursery and kindergarten admissions process is leading many parents to sign up their toddlers for therapy. “Preschool admissions tests loom large,” said Margie Becker-Lewin, an occupational therapist on the Upper West Side.

Preschool admissions tests?!? Sounds like the parents are the ones who need the therapy!

Excelsior!

Wedding Questions?

2010-02-19T10:11:00.006-05:00

So as most of you probably already know, my sister is getting married in June. I just found out pretty recently myself, so if you didn't know, that's okay :) Anyway, if you're interested, I just found this interesting website on which you can ask them such intriguing questions such as:

"If someone offered to pay you and Barry $100 for every day you delayed your wedding, what would you do?"

Wouldn't you like to know that? :)

Congrats Christy and Barry, and I'm looking forward to playing you-know-who's canon at your wedding :P

This is the earliest picture I could find of Christy and Barry together. See, she's already piqued his interest.

Excelsior!

Spring Break

2010-02-04T22:32:00.000-05:00

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Unnecessary - Joel's Necessity Network... Part 2

2010-01-27T12:09:00.003-05:00

To understand this blog, you'll need to be familiar with Joel's Necessity Network Part 1. In brief, I posited that only three things were absolutely necessary in life:

A saving, love relationship with Jesus Christ
Bringing others into a saving, love relationship with Jesus
Wisely managing the resources God has given us to fulfill our commission in Necessary #2

Now for Part 2...

Notice what is lacking from the list. It is not necessary to have a good time. It is not necessary to be comfortable, or even safe. It is not necessary to have the approval of your family or friends. It is not necessary to save the environment, or to make the world a better place.

Let me be very clear. These things are not bad or sinful in themselves; they are simply not of primary importance. If you were in the military and your commanding officer commissioned you to carry a message to another unit, would that mean that you shouldn't grab your boots, or eat supper, or shine the buttons on your coat? No, it just means that these activities are not your top priority. Your job is to carry out your mission effectively and efficiently.

Do you understand my point? I'm not bashing environmentalism, or humanitarianism, or activism, or consensus, or safety, or fun. I'm simply pointing out that as Christians, our first, last, and overarching priority should be Christ and His Kingdom.

Don't try to excuse my point by bringing up Augustine and his idea about how the City of God is dependent on the City of Man. Yes, I appreciate our civic structures, yes, I believe we should vote, yes, the environment is important, yes, the situation in Darfur/Afghanistan/Somalia/Sri Lanka/Haiti is something we should be concerned about, BUT. . . Ultimately, primarily, we have something much more precious and important to offer -- Living Water, the Bread of Life, Overcoming Peace, Eternal Joy, Everlasting Life.

Love your neighbor as yourself, feed the hungry, defend the widows and orphans, help the poor, heal the sick, but do this with the knowledge of the End and a mission of leading others to Christ.

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness"

Excelsior

Day 20

2010-01-25T15:49:00.004-05:00

http://episode100.org/wp-content/uploads/escher_day_night.jpg

I'm halfway now, and I have some reflections.

First, a confession: I've gone over my allotted two hours per week twice now. However, the good news is my online time has been drastically reduced, and the quality of my online activity is a great deal higher than it was before. Limiting oneself to the bare minimum is an extremely effective way of sifting one's priorities. So while I'm somewhat ashamed to admit my lack of abstemiousness, I am buoyed by the overall result.

Second, I've learned a profound lesson. It seems to be impossible to fast from one thing without feasting on another. Stated in another way, nature abhors a vacuum. Jesus conveyed something similar in a story He told in Luke 11:24-26. “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” (NIV) In my situation, when I decided to cut Internet time out of my schedule, I didn't realize the importance of finding wholesome things to replace it with. As a result, I left myself vulnerable to temptations to fill my new found time with activities equally bereft of value. I conquered Need for Speed: Carbon. I read some pointless books. I found things to do that were really no better than what I was trying to escape.

Now that I understand this, it seems so obvious. What is the point of fasting? To remove obstacles, to clear up the lines of communication, to refocus. If we remove those obstacles, clear up space for communication and take steps to refocus without clearly defining our destination, target, and the object of our focus, we will inevitably miss the mark. Even worse, fasting still facilitates a connection, and if it's not with Jesus, then . . .

With this in mind, I propose to complete my initial proposal. I'm still going to limit non-school/work/devotional internet use to two hours a week until February 14. But I am also going to add another component: feasting. I purpose to match my decreased internet use with an increase in Scripture reading. I want to get closer to my Maker and to have a clearer understanding of His will, and as my favorite text reminds me, this requires not only abstaining from conformation with the world, but also transformation through the renewing of my mind.

Excelsior!

Free Audits for SAU Students!

2010-01-12T11:24:00.003-05:00

http://neilschwartz.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ExcitedPeople.jpg

You all get one FREE audit every semester! That class you always wanted to take but couldn't justify because it was out of your major? You can now audit (take for no credit) it at no extra cost. Previously this privilege was limited to faculty and staff and Southern Scholars, but this semester they've opened it up to everyone. The school isn't making a big deal about it, but it is definitely in effect :)

Excelsior

Update on My Internet Moderation Policy

2010-01-11T12:38:00.003-05:00

http://sagasranillos.iespana.es/frodopeli3luz.jpg

It's tough.

I cut a few corners, (like writing this blog--I'm not adding it to the two minutes I have left this week :P), but on the whole, I stuck with the plan, and it has been really nice. I added one more site to my exceptions list: www.bibledoc.org. Check it out some time:)

Excelsior

The Web

2010-01-05T13:38:00.007-05:00

http://www.semiantics.com/images/spiderweb_fractal.png

The Internet is sucking up way too much of my time. My neuro-pathways need some drastic rerouting. So, I am going to start an internet fast. For the next 40 days, I'm going to limit my internet use to directly class-related activity, blueletterbible.org, and two hours a week for email/news/blogs. I'll let you know how things work out.

Excelsior

Unconditional Love

2009-12-20T17:52:00.005-05:00

Thank you for teaching me a little more about it.

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

excelsior

Darkness at Noon

2009-12-02T12:34:00.003-05:00

http://www.nightskyinfo.com/solar_eclipses/eclipse_nso.jpg

I just read Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler, and when I finished the last sentence, I wept.

Never has the philosophy of the world seemed so utterly dark, and never has the truth of Jesus shone so brightly.

I resolve to make my life count; to live and die pursuing the only worthy objective in the world.

Life must have meaning, else all is darkness.

Excelsior

Undeserved Blessings

2009-11-12T21:24:00.004-05:00

Friends, thank you. Thank you for calling me early in the morning to go running with you, even after I've said no the past four times you asked. Thank you for remembering my birthday, even after I forgot yours. Thank you for asking me how my day is, even when I'm scowling. Thank you for writing me thank you cards, and cheery notes, and sending uplifting emails when I'm having a rough time. Thank you for the invitations to your houses and apartments, even though I don't reciprocate. Thank you for making time for me, even when I'm too busy to listen to you. Thank you for bringing me food when you know I don't have time to eat supper. Thank you for bringing me things I've forgotten. Thank you for listening when I want to talk, and talking when I don't. Thank you for encouraging me, for smiling at me, for rebuking me, for playing ultimate frisbee with me, for singing with me, for praying for me. Thank you for being my friends. Thank you for sharing Jesus with me. Thank you.

Excelsior

Educate Truth

2009-11-11T10:48:00.002-05:00

Check it out - quality website about the La Sierra evolution controversy.

Excelsior

Fascinating Chart

2009-11-09T15:25:00.004-05:00

What does this say about the future?

Excelsior

The Adamist

2009-10-30T23:29:00.005-04:00

An essay I wrote for Expository Writing, in the style of G. K. Chesterton--specifically "The Methuselahite."

I read an amusing story a while ago that illustrates a central notion in modern morality. A man was imbibing merrily at a bar one evening when he glanced over at the patron seated next to him and noticed, under an upraised glass, a clerical collar. Now to be sure, one finds all sorts in a bar, drinking being, like many vices, no respecter of persons. But the man certainly hadn’t expected to find a minister there. Understandably reluctant to discuss this seemingly incongruous behavior, yet filled with curiosity, the man hesitated for a few moments before greeting his neighbor and asking awkwardly if he was actually a member of the clergy. “Why yes, I am an Adamist minister,” the stranger replied. Confused by this plain admission, the man asked why he was at a bar if he professed to be a minister. The Adamist responded, “I’m doing research for a sermon I’m writing on the evils of strong drink.”

In the interests of complete disclosure, I must confess that I have altered this account in one particular. The minister did not claim Adamism as his professed religion. But insofar as he was demonstrating the same fallacy for which Adam fell in the Garden, and because I do not intend to dispute with a particular religion, but instead with a particular philosophy, I have settled on the designation Adamism.

Now, taking this as an illustration of the prevailing moral sentiment, that answer of that minister says more than a hundred truckloads of movies and TV shows and magazines and popular songs today. All of society seems to be endeavoring to entice us with their particular version of contemporary morality, and yet this one phrase preempts them all. Just as Alexander sliced through the Gordian knot, so the words of this Adamist expose the inherent contradiction at the heart of popular morality.

Now when I am visited by an envoy of contemporary thought (and there is always a very large crowd waiting to accost me) I shall not be bamboozled by their sophisticated veneer. “In a classic tale about how crime doesn’t pay,” one begins, “our heroes steal the stolen gold back from the thieves . . .” “Stop, Adamist,” I shall say sharply, “I know who you are.” “Neo,” shouts another “represents a messianic figure who fights for . . .” “Oh no you don’t,” I shall interject, “there’s the door.” A third figure, dreadlocks flying, rushes in—“In his valiant struggle against the oppressive regime, our patriotic freedom fighter, V, uses terrorist tactics . . . ” “Hail, Adamist,” I will cry, and matching his frantic gesticulations with my own, I shall kindly bid him farewell. “I am not exactly sure what these lyrics mean,” begins the fourth, “but they contain some profound ideas, . . .” “You might not, but I do,” I shall say. “You’re writing a temperance sermon in a bar, and I will not listen any longer!”

Most contemporary morality is a merely the mixture of some constant good with some new bad. There have been theorists who polluted faith with intolerance, and called it the Defense of the Faith. There have been theorists who contaminated rationality with a contempt for the Scriptures and called it a Scientific Revolution. And we have heard of theorists who concocted that horrid brew combining honest scientific observations with a disavowal of Divinity and called it Naturalistic Evolution. It was only a matter of time before some brave society should stop beating around the bush and get straight to the mixing of plain evil with good. And in this vacuum of moral ambiguity, with what weapons shall we fight? “We must learn the value of filth before we can truly appreciate beauty,” says the artist framing a urinal. “I must know what slop really is before I can create a delectable dessert,” comes the voice of the chef from atop the compost pile. “How could I ever learn to be a successful pilot if I didn’t know how to crash,” queries the man emerging from the rubble of a 747. It would be quite as easy to defend an evil act as it was to call the inquisitor a Defender of the Faith or the atheist a progressive. And indeed, this very thing is happening with great frequency throughout our society today. People everywhere proclaim that they are better able to distinguish right by virtue of their wide exposure to wrong. But unfortunately, they aren’t.

For indeed, the weakness of this philosophy may be found in its blatant disregard for that great principle of the mind: by beholding, we become changed. Therefore, the seeds of its ultimate failure are evident in its very ambitions. As a matter of fact, no men are worse judges of morality than Adamists. The neglected paradox of morality is that the more a man knows of goodness, the better he is at discriminating between good and evil. Surely you have experienced the fallacy of Adamism in real life. For there is one riddle in that case which cannot easily be cleared up. What parishioner would be converted by a sermon about the evils of alcohol when he had been drinking with the minister in the bar the night before?

Excelsior

Toleration: A Two-Edged Sword

2009-10-14T09:34:00.003-04:00

http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/willow-tree-garden/water-sloping-border.html

This also originated as an expository writing assignment--isn't it great that I can justify blogging for class?

Toleration is a ~~funny concept~~ great idea. Supposedly it means the act of acknowledging the right of someone else to be different. But if you take this concept to its logical end, you’ll understand how ~~ludicrous~~ wonderful it really is. Let’s say Joe wants to play loud music right outside my room. If I’m a tolerant guy, then I should let him do that, right? And when Ulrikke decides she needs to practice her axe-throwing skills in living room, then I should try to be understanding of our innate differences. Then when she gets bored with my car and starts hurling axes at me, I should just duck tolerantly, right? Can you see how this ~~might not be~~ is such a wonderful concept.

“No, you’ve completely misrepresented toleration!” What’s that? I haven’t presented both sides fairly? Hey, it’s my post, right? But because I'm tolerant, we’ll look at the other side.

Proponents of toleration would say that the above scenarios aren’t fair, because they ignore the fact that Joe and Ulrikke should be tolerant too. Ideally, Joe would realize that I preferred not to have loud music played next to my room and demonstrate toleration by desisting. Ulrikke should be tolerant of my desire not to have to duck flying axes in my living room. Then, we’ll all be tolerant together and we’ll each be tolerant of every other and nobody will be hurt by another’s intolerance.

Is that the way it works? No, obviously our world does not function in this utopian state of idealistic toleration. You can probably call to mind hundreds of instances of intolerance—someone cutting in line ahead of you, living next to a loud roommate, getting a parking ticket, having to abide by a dress code, getting a poor grade on a paper, being shushed in church, being told to turn your music down, etc. Yep, our world is chock full of a lack of tolerance.

You still don’t like my examples? What’s wrong with them now? Why are you feeling uncomfortable?

I’ll tell you why—because these are all examples of people being intolerant to you. It’s a lot harder to think of times when you’ve been intolerant to others than to recall times when you’ve been wronged. And that’s the ~~problem with~~ great thing about the doctrine of toleration. If you’ve been wronged, you can cry ‘intolerance,’ and if someone complains about your actions, just tell them to look up the meaning of the word ‘tolerance.’ It’s ~~diabolical~~ perfect!

Why I Like Mornings

2009-10-14T09:21:00.004-04:00

Jonathan Gerrans, Fall '07.

I like the morning because it’s when the Sun shows up. Everything is dark at first—dark and quiet. Then a bird trills, and you realize that the landscape has begun to brighten. More birds begin to sing and there’s this overwhelming sense of excitement. You can almost smell the expectancy in the air.

Suddenly, it happens. A ray of light only eight and a half minutes old streaks over the hill and crashes straight into your face. The moment when the when the door of darkness cracks open and the brightness beams through is the most glorious experience of the day—maybe even of the century. You realize that you have been waiting for this moment all your life without even knowing it. The day is born, the world is new, and you were there to see it happen!

And then your roommate’s alarm goes off and fluorescent light sprays across the room; you remember that you have a test today and a paper to write, and that you really ought to fold your laundry. But somehow, the prospective is not as dreary as it should be. Because it’s morning and the Sun showed up.

Hello,

2009-10-14T09:07:00.003-04:00

my name is Joel, and I’m a senior at Southern Adventist University.

It’s been so long since I’ve posted anything, I thought an introduction/explanation might be a good idea.

Since last time I have: written an awful lot, read a whole lot more, and learned even more than that, ran in a triathlon, passed my senior oral exam, learned Mendelssohn’s 5^th symphony, and received an invitation to Google Wave, among other things.

I have not: exercised very much, spent much time with my friends, had regular meals, been bored, been overwhelmed—barely.

I look forward to a time when I can post more regularly, but that time is not now. Thanks for your patience and your prayers.

http://JACAC.deviantart.com/art/A-tree-and-a-storm-sky-107064667

Excelsior

Brief Update

2009-08-28T18:15:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything of significance. I'm still around, just pretty busy. Camp ended, then we moved to Massachusetts, then Christy and I came back to Southern, and now I'm studying like crazy for my Senior Oral History Exam. I'll be back from that after the 15th of September--if you see me before then, tell me to go study!

Excelsior

Caritas in Veritate

2009-08-05T20:47:00.004-04:00

So, the Pope recently issued a long (like 100 pages) encyclical, section 67 of which contains the following noteworthy paragraph (emphasis original):

In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth. One also senses the urgent need to find innovative ways of implementing the principle of the responsibility to protect[146] and of giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making. This seems necessary in order to arrive at a political, juridical and economic order which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity. To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago. Such an authority would need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good[147], and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth. Furthermore, such an authority would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights[148]. Obviously it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties, and also with the coordinated measures adopted in various international forums. Without this, despite the great progress accomplished in various sectors, international law would risk being conditioned by the balance of power among the strongest nations. The integral development of peoples and international cooperation require the establishment of a greater degree of international ordering, marked by subsidiarity, for the management of globalization[149]. They also require the construction of a social order that at last conforms to the moral order, to the interconnection between moral and social spheres, and to the link between politics and the economic and civil spheres, as envisaged by the Charter of the United Nations.

Please understand that I am not the type of person to disseminate wild rumors needlessly... I started reading the encyclical (and I still haven't finished the whole thing yet) for the very purpose of dispelling what I figured was one of those rumors. I'm not going to draw any conclusions for you, and it's probably not time to run for the hills yet, but it's definitely something to pay attention to.

In other news, I was the subject of a very funny blog by a fellow Cherokee native, Francis Kelly. Check it out!

-Excelsior

Part 3: A Puzzle Solved!

2009-06-07T16:29:00.016-04:00

*Warning, while some parts of the following blog are completely true, others might be considered farcical. Please read at your own risk!

Last December, while exploring off the tourist path, in Lalibela, an ancient complex of underground churches in northern Ethiopia, I came across a deep chasm in the side of a mountain. I managed to find a way down into the crack, and followed it as it wound through the earth. Suddenly, around a corner, I came face to face with a group of people. With no chance of an unnoticed retreat, I made a flash decision to advance and attempt to befriend the strangely-appareled natives. This approach paid off, and they invited me to have tea and chat with them, before pressing a small, wrinkled piece of paper into my hand. I thanked them and made good my escape, up the chasm.

Once safely away, secreted in an abandoned tunnel in another part of the complex, I paused and took a moment to examine the paper. To my surprise, it appeared to be an ancient map! "Hmm," I pondered, "those people must have been archaeologists, (that would explain the funny hats) and perhaps they discovered this paper, but needed to hide it from their unscrupulous overseers (the ones who secretly snapped the shot posted above!)" I knew that there was a well-known legend that the Ark of the Covenant was hidden somewhere in Ethiopia. I had to keep that paper safe!

Fortunately, I managed to hide the scrap of paper in my belongings well enough to elude said searchers' scrutiny, and escaped with the map. Unfortunately, with all the commotion of the next few days, I completely forgot where I had hidden the map! "Oh well," I mused, "perhaps it was all for the best."

I moved on to other things, and it wasn't until recently that the map came back into prominence. The other day, as I was sorting through some of my memorabilia from Ethiopia, I happened upon an unused tube of toothpaste. While applying some of the contents to my toothbrush, I suddenly remembered where I'd hidden the map! I'd stuffed it into an empty jar of Marmite, knowing that no self-respecting thief would attempt to steal Marmite!

I dug it out, and wonder upon wonders, it WAS a map. But as I studied its contours closely, in conjunction with perusing Google Maps, I couldn't find any similarities between the map and the Ethiopian landscape. Finally, giving it up for a lost cause, I sat back in my chair and began eating a peach, hoping somehow to assuage my lack of progress.

Perhaps due to an fugacious anomaly in the Earth's gravitational field, my peach suddenly tumbled out of my hand, bounced off my keyboard, and landed on the scrap of paper. This caused the Google Maps viewing window to oscillate wildly before coming to rest with the Northeastern portion of the United States in focus. I quickly cleaned up the mess on the keyboard and threw the crazy peach away. I would have thought nothing more of the matter, except that while cleaning off the the map, I noticed that some hitherto invisible words were scrawled on the paper. "T..yer Ho... near Was..acc...ond in S.....ancas... The peach juice must have been the catalyst to bring out the invisible ink!

I puzzled over this cryptic phrase for a while longer, and again, ran headlong into complete failure. I looked back to my computer screen and happened to see that the browser window was directly over a little place called Washaccum Pond, near South Lancaster, Massachusetts. "Weird name," I thought.

Thinking nothing of it, I proceeded to read the news on my iGoogle page, which included a story from the Adventist News Network (an RSS feed I follow) about a commemoration of some historic building, the Thayer House, also in Massachusetts. The article mentioned something about how Norman Wendth, the president of Atlantic Union College was trying to trace the descendents of the Thayer family. "We've gotten as far as the MacDonald family, before losing the trail," he was quoted as saying. "Please contact me if you have any more information about this. There's a possibility that their descendants might have some claim to the Thayer Mansion, and we're willing to arrange a settlement to ensure that this historic building stays in the hands of the College." "That's interesting, my grandmother was a MacDonald before she got married," I pondered, before continuing my browsing.

A few weeks later, I received an official-looking envelope in the mail, with a surprising offer. Apparently the physics teacher at AUC had been in contact with Dr. Kuhlman, a physics professor at Southern who I've worked for in the past. He, remembering that I lived "somewhere up there," had recommended my name to help teach the physics labs at AUC during the summer!

I already have a job for the summer (Camp Cherokee), so I wrote him an email explaining that I couldn't accept the position. Undeterred, he replied with an eloquent argument for me to come work with him--culminating, in a mad flight of fancy, with the ridiculous notion that I might just find the love of my life while at Atlantic Union College. "Poppycock," I exclaimed. "This guy's even more eccentric than Dr. Kuhlman! Besides, I'd be teaching physics, not chemistry!"

Well, to make a long story longer, the next day, Dad informed the family that he had accepted a position at AUC, as Comptroller, and that we were going to be moving there sometime this summer. "Hmm," I mused, "this AUC stuff is starting to get a little over the top! I wonder what I'll find when we get there... "

??? _

Excelsior! :)

Joel's Necessity Network... Part 1

2009-06-04T12:40:00.006-04:00

I would like to thank Barry for the thought-provoking entry on his blog and my mother for an insightful conversation on the same topic, which sparked the following cogitations. Oh, and, as I just noticed, Barry recently posted a blog on a similar subject, but with a slightly different perspective. You should read it as well ☺

Joel’s Necessity Network: An Unnecessary—But Hopefully Useful—Theory

Feeling that it could be constructive to establish some sort of a framework from which to discuss the concepts of necessary and unnecessary, I have come up with the following theory to determine what is really necessary, and along the way:

the purpose of life, and
what is required for fulfilling that purpose.

This, hopefully, will then enable a more informed and productive discussion regarding necessary/unnecessary items.

Before I begin in earnest, I want to get one thing out of the way: the answer to the very basic question, “necessary for what?” Necessary for fulfillment, happiness, and peace while alive on Earth, and eternal life, post-Earth.

Okay, first I posit that there is just one fundamental necessity. There are subsequent and dependent necessities, but everything is based on this cornerstone. Necessary #1 is a saving, love relationship with Jesus Christ. This might seem obvious, or simplistic, but I believe it is all that is truly necessary in life.

As long as one has this necessity, even lack of access to such essentials as food, water, shelter, or anything else is not a serious problem in the grand scheme of things. You can still be assured of fulfillment in this life (however short it is) and in the Hereafter. Consider the thief on the cross; he didn’t have any of the so-called essentials, but he did gain fulfillment and entrance into eternity by way of this simple key.

But before you accuse me of advocating a sadhu-type existence; there is a second, dependent, but no less important, point. Once one has entered into a saving, love relationship with Jesus, and assuming that the prospect of continued life is relatively positive, then something else becomes necessary. Accepting Jesus as your Savior means accepting His commission. Necessary #2 is to bring others into a saving, love relationship with Jesus. If God grants us an extended existence on Earth, our “transcendent purpose” becomes to be fishers of men. That’s it. That is our purpose in life!

These first two Necessaries correspond exactly with the two commandments Jesus classified as being of utmost importance when questioned by the truth-seeking scribe. “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mt. 12:30-31) If we truly loved our neighbor, wouldn’t our utmost wish for them be to see them in Heaven?

When you have those two necessities, then a third becomes applicable. Necessary #3 is wisely managing the resources God has given us to fulfill our commission in Necessary #2. These resources include such things as time, money and other assets, talents and abilities, health (physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional), heritage, education, and relationships. This is where everything else comes into the picture. These are things God has given to each of us, for the purpose of bringing other people into the Kingdom. They are not merely for our enjoyment (although that is an undeniable aspect); they are tools, provided to be used for a specific task.

This concept is illustrated in the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25. The master gave his servants resources to invest for the purpose of earning a good return. Likewise, our Master has entrusted us with His possessions—His wealth, His creativity, even His life—to gain a bountiful harvest.

-Parenthetical Remark: Granted, this parable, and much of my argument only emphasize one aspect of God’s relationship with us and there are many other facets, which are ignored to our detriment! Christ calls us His children, His people, His body, even His bride! These elements are equally true and equally worthy of emphasis, I’m just working on the puzzle from a purely practical, business-minded perspective, because that’s my strength.

Perhaps a diagram would be helpful at this point.

As you can see, each successive level is built upon the ones below it, and is hence untenable by itself.
______

Okay, that’s enough for now. Unpacking Necessary #3 will have to be the subject of another blog.

Puzzle: Part 2

2009-06-02T11:00:00.007-04:00

Okay, so the answer of the first puzzle has been discovered. The picture is indeed of a tree in South Lancaster, MA, on the campus of Atlantic Union College.

The second part of the puzzle is a little more straight-forward: why did I post a picture of AUC when I'm registered for classes at SAU?

A Few Things More

2009-05-31T17:42:00.002-04:00

I'm adding a resource page. This page will basically be a place for me to store the text of news items I find interesting, as well as facilitating any discussion that happens to spring from the reading thereof. If you're interested in seeing what interests me, feel free to check in from time to time. Think of it as kind of my personal Drudge Report :)

Excelsior

A Puzzle

2009-05-29T20:46:00.004-04:00

Can you tell me where this is?
If you figure it out, then I'll post the second part of the puzzle.

My First Ultra

2009-05-26T14:33:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, Christy, Barry, and I participated in the 4th annual Pineland Farms Trail Challenge, in the 25k, 50 mile, and 50k races, respectively. Amazingly enough, we were all able to finish (although I had had my doubts, considering that I'd sprained my ankle pretty badly five days prior to the race), and even do decently well. The human body is quite an amazing creation!

The course consisted of a 15.5 mile loop through woods and fields--quite a scenic trail. Barry started his 50 miles, or a little over three loops at 6:00 am, I started the two loop, 50k race at 8:00 am, and Christy ran the 25k loop once, starting at 10:00 am. The weather was about perfect, in the 60s and overcast most of the time, gradually turning into a drizzle, and then a decent rainstorm around 12:30, with the sun reappearing around 2:30.

Christy finished strongly in 2 hours 22 minutes, with a 9:10 mile pace, I staggered across the finish line about an hour later for a total time of 5 hours 20 minutes and a 10:20 pace, and Barry cruised across the finish line after a grueling 10 hours and 40 minutes, to finish 50 miles at an average pace of 12:49 per mile.

Although during the race I made several firm promises to myself never to attempt such a foolish venture again, I've since decided that it really was quite satisfying to run that far, and perhaps I I could even do better with more training. And that silver cowbell is pretty cool! Thanks to the Howes for their hospitality, Barry for your inspiration, and Christy for helping me walk back to the car!

Excelsior!!

Old Man --> New Man

2009-05-15T13:20:00.005-04:00

Simple Abundance

2009-05-12T18:21:00.004-04:00

I was motivated to write this post after looking at your blogs and thinking, "I wish they would update their blogs more often!" . . . .

Well, I'm home now. I haven't had any trouble adjusting really. In a sense, it's like I just woke up from a nine-month-long dream. I can still drive American-style. I wasn't swamped by the overwhelming swell of people at Southern's graduation (although there were a few moments of terror right at the beginning of the weekend!) And I've figured out what to do on the internet other than just checking my email (read people's blogs on the no-longer-blocked blogspot!)

Here at home I've been busy catching up on books I haven't seen in a while, chatting with my friends, and working around the house. I've definitely enjoyed using reliable internet, being able to pick up the phone and call most anybody, and eating a huge variety of delicious food. But something inside me has changed.

One of the things I've learned from my time in Gimbie is that more isn't always more. I actually kind of miss the slow, spotty internet (more time with real people) and the simplicity and joy of having plain food most of the time (it really made the weekends, when we cooked for ourselves, more enjoyable.) Sometimes excessive variety can get monotonous.

I want my life to be simple, because I think that's when it's truly abundant.

Excelsior

P.S. Have suggestions about how to live life simply? Let me know!

A Few Farewell Photos

2009-05-12T17:36:00.007-04:00

Gamachis and Mulisa (Assistants Extraordinaires)

Woginesh and Birassa (Accounting Clerk and Purchasing Officer)

Jonah and a Big Red Ball

Keressa (Head of Pharmacy)

Mark Squires (COO)

Pink and Orange Flowers

Tadese (Head Cashier)

Jirata and Damaqa

Sister Consuela and Sister Susie

Excelsior

Going Home

2009-04-23T10:51:00.001-04:00

Going Home

I'm going home soon!
Just a little under two weeks now.
I'm trying not to think about it very much...

Last Saturday night the hospital had a farewell party for me and a few
other volunteers who are leaving soon. I hear it was a really nice
event, with speeches and games and food. I wasn't there because I had
to drive to Addis at the last minute, Friday morning. They even
presented Shaunda with a nice native costume for me--somewhat baggy,
but nice:)

Now the employees know that I'm going soon, and they've been coming to
talk to me. Some to tell me how much they've appreciated having me
here. Some just to ask (politely) for money before I leave. But all
of them seem genuinely sad that I'm going.

I'm going to miss my friends. Firomsa, the faithful gardener.
Alemayehu, our loyal head guard. Tamiru, the slow, cheerful cleaner.
Belaynesh, my shy, diligent billing officer. Tadese, the meticulous,
stickler-for-the-rules cashier. Mulisa, cheerful, competent,
heart-of-gold administrative assistant. And Tinsay, and Teka, and
ticklish, wistful Tsegaye, and Yohannes (both of them, actually) and
Birassa, and Gamachis, and on and on...

And that list doesn't even include any of the expat volunteers!! My
housemates and death-march pals and fellow strategists, cooking
buddies and juice-bar attendees, painting partners and Hogan's Hero
watchers, Rook players and egg sandwich cookers, late night office
workers and early morning running friends... Renée and Shaunda and
Mark and Trudy and Jonah and Paul and Petra and Stephanie and Stevie
and Zach and Alicia and Allana and Monica and Ansley and Kristin.

It's been a good eight months, and I'm happy to be going home to see
my family again. And I'm sad to be leaving home and departing from my
new family.

Thank you God, for new experiences and new friends. Thank you for
African sunrises, for ripe mangos and pesky monkeys, for the perfume
of Eucalyptus trees while I pant up the steep hills in the morning.

Please come soon so I won't have to say goodbye any more.

Excelsior

Choices

2009-03-10T14:07:00.001-04:00

Choices

Today I drove a girl home from the hospital. Her family wanted her to
die at home. I drove the green truck very carefully, trying to avoid
as many of the bumps as possible. Every so often her family and the
staff who had come to help with the stretcher and try to provide
comfort had to get out so I could drive across a stick bridge or make
it up a steep hill. I did my best, but she still cried out in pain.

Seventeen-year old Asaitu didn't know that by choosing to become
intimately involved with her friend would lead to pregnancy. Trying to
salvage her reputation and get rid of her "problem," she decided to
try to self-abort with a stick. She had no clue about the
consequences of these decisions. How could she have predicted that
she would get an infection, that her left leg would become gangrenous
and have to be cut off at the groin, and that the infection would
spread to her other leg, sealing her fate?

Sleeping with her boyfriend and then having an abortion; obviously bad
decisions, but still, two mistakes and now she has to die? Why does
she have to bear the brunt of her choices, and so many other people
don't? I've sinned before, and I'm still alive; why her? These are
the thoughts that whirl in my mind as I grip the steering wheel
tightly, trying, by sheer determination to keep from jarring the
stretcher balanced on the bed of the truck.

Later, at her house, I tried to think of a scripture to read. All I
could think of was "Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." Scott
Barlow, the hospital matron, shared about the hope we have in Jesus,
and then prayed and annointed her. A few Ormos also gave little
sermonettes while the flies gathered and the sweat dripped from our
faces.

Most of the people who rode back to Gimbie with us weren't notably
sad. In fact, one boy asked me if I was all right. Life is
difficult, he said. Yes, I guess so.

So, I keep living, meeting my own challenges, making my own poor
choices. I don't often think about the consequences of my decisions.
I usually just do whatever seems best to me, given the information I
have.

So did she...

Recent Clinic Trip

2009-03-10T13:54:00.001-04:00

Recent Clinic Trip
On Wednesday, Shaunda, Renée, and I, along with Priscilla, the new
doctor from Argentina and a dentist, druggist, and eyeglass prescriber
from the hospital, and Ashiber, the driver, left in the ambulance to
go visit the four clinics west of the hospital. We stopped at Inango,
Dalati, and Guliso clinics in quick succession. I helped Shaunda do
payroll briefly, but spent most of my time during the stops fixing
latrine doors. I rigged up a couple different several latches and
reattached a door that was falling off the frame. Then we drove three
hours past Guliso and got to Dembi Dollo, where we spent the night.
The next day we drove to Mugi and started seeing patients. Priscilla
worked really hard; in spite of the delay caused by having to
translate everything from either Amharic or Oromifa into English, and
then into Spanish, and then vice versa, she still saw about 90
patients in a day and a half. Tsegaye, the dentist, also stayed
pretty busy, but he wasn't nearly as popular as Yohannes, the
maintenance man turned eye glasses dispenser. Yohannes worked with
Dr. Hans, the German eye guy who was here for a while, and now he's
learned enough to dispense the spare glasses we have by himself.
Everybody crowded around him and the eyechart, and he pulled in a lot
of the money we made on the trip, selling bifocals for $5.50 and
regular glasses for $3.60. I helped Shaunda with inventory, and
Yohannes with the glasses, and measured the well behind the clinic so
we can find out if it's worthwhile to put in a pump to get running
water (it's not, unfortunately; there's only three feet of water in
the bottom of a fifty foot well.)
Thursday afternoon Shaunda and I went to talk with Merdassa, a SDA
nurse who used to work for the hospital, and who has now opened up his
own competing clinic. Last time Shaunda was there, he expressed a
desire to work for the hospital again. The benefits when
self-employed apparently don't measure up to to those we offer. We
were hoping that we could talk him into taking over the management of
the clinic in Mugi, since he's familiar with the place and seems
reasonably competent and trustworthy. However, when we went and
talked with him, he told us that he was sick and tired of Mugi, and
that he was leaving whether we hired him or not. So, we told him we'd
get back to him. I think he would be an asset to the hospital, but
hiring somebody here is a very momentuous decision, because it's very
nearly an irreversible decision.
Thursday night the girls slept in a tent behind the clinic and I slept
in the ambulance. Ivan's Christmas present finally arrived, so we
watched two episodes of Hogan's Heros before retiring :D Friday we
left around 2:30 and drove back to Dembi Dollo, where Shaunda and I
stopped off at the Zonal Health Office. We'd made an appointment when
we came through on Wednesday, but the guy told us no one was there.
Fortunately we persisted, and he finally went and found the assistant
director. We had a good visit with him, basically just explaining
that Mugi clinic was in pretty poor shape financially and that among
the options we were considering was closing the clinic. Initially he
was opposed to this, but when we showed him the financial statements
and other documents, he agreed that it didn't make much sense to
operate a clinic that was losing 3000 birr per month. We haven't
given up completely yet, but we've learned that doing things slowly,
and laying a paper trail is essential when working with anything
involved with the government.
We met up with everyone else and waited for a couple hours while
Ashebir got a two tires fixed on the ambulance. Fortunately we were
able to make good use of our spare time teaching Priscilla how to play
Seven Up, Seven Down, an essential part of the Gimbie experience ;)
By 6:15 the tires were finally fixed (or so we thought), and we
started on the remaining 4.5 hour drive back.
At 10:30, as we were just getting to the paved road outside of Gimbie,
both front tires went flat. This stumped us at first, because we only
had one spare (and the steel belts were showing quite prominently).
But we ended up making do by putting the threadbare spare on one side
and switching the other flat with one of the good tires from the rear
duals. Finally, by 12:30 am, we were on our way again, just in time
to meet Mark Squires and Gadisa and Tinsaye, who had gallantly come to
rescue us. Pity they hadn't arrived in time to help with our
complicated sequence of raising and lowering the ambulance with a
jury-rigged jack handle!
Anyway, we all got back safely, the ambulance suffered no permanent
damage, three latrine doors are fixed, the government feels like
they're in the loop, and most importantly, there are now lots of
satisfied Mugians, with new glasses, fewer teeth, and hopefully, in
better health:)

Excelsior

Miracles In Gimbie

2008-11-03T10:26:00.001-05:00

Miracles in Gimbie

Hey everybody! Thank you for your prayers! God has definitely been busy here lately. The number of amazing events I've witnessed just in the past few weeks is astounding! If you want some assurance that God is still in the miracle business, read on.

As you may know, we're working on building another building for the nursing school. So, we needed gravel to mix with the concrete, and apparently the only way to get it was on the black market (diverting truckloads from the local road construction project.) That's what everybody else was doing. But I wasn't too sure if that was a good idea. So we decided to go directly to the Chinese contractors and ask if they would sell us the gravel. That was an adventure. A few days later, Henock (young Ethiopian accountant I work with) and Justin (SM from Walla Walla) and I drove out to where they were working on the road and tried to explain our situation to the Chinese foremen. That seemed like it was going to be a dead end, until one guy made us understand that we would have to ask his boss at their camp 70k out of town, and wrote us an introduction letter to this mysterious Mr. Li. A few days later Justin drove out to see Mr. Li. He was apparently very friendly and willing to help us, except he had to have permission from the local government to use the gravel for anything other than the road construction project. So the next day Justin and Yohannes (our well-connected HR director) went to see the mayor of Gimbie. That was also a successful visit; the mayor agreed to tell the Chinese to give us the gravel, and what's more, he would also ask them to pave the driveway to the hospital!!

Another huge dilemma we've been dealing with recently is keeping the hospital stocked with medicine. Patients frequently have to go into town to get the medicine the doctors prescribe because our pharmacy doesn't have it, which is not good. We're going through drugs at a rapid clip, and as you can imagine, they're not cheap! Well, Keresa, the hospital druggist (we don't have a pharmacist, which is a huge problem in itself—no pharmacist's license means we can't buy certain drugs, and we can't get discounts on others) was in Addis to purchase drugs and he needed money—about 50,000 ETB. Which we didn't have. I checked the cash balance and it was hovering at about 4,000. AHI donated money a few months ago to pay for large credit pharmaceutical purchases the hospital had made, but there wasn't enough left from those funds to pay for these drugs. Tadese, the head cashier hadn't deposited the patient receipts for about three days, but we usually make 6,000-10,000 per day, and there was no way that it would be even close to the 50,000 we needed. But we asked Tadese to expedite his deposit anyway because it was our only chance. We prayed frequently that morning as Tadese counted the money. When he left to go to the bank, we asked anxiously how much he was going to deposit; 53,000 birr. It was a miracle: there's no other explanation! And then God worked another miracle to help us to wire the money to Keresa in Addis in time so he could pick it up before the bank closed. Pretty amazing day!

So our cash balance was still basically at zero, because we had used the money to purchase drugs. And payroll is coming up. There were about 10 days between then and payroll, and even less working days. Even my most optimistic calculations showed us missing payroll by a large amount. But God wasn't going to let us down. The hospital works closely with a group called Maternity Worldwide; basically they subsidize Labor and Delivery procedures through something called the Safe Birth Fund. Well, we decided to calculate how much money the hospital was going to receive from the SBF for the month. Usually we get something like 30,000-40,000 birr per month—no small sum, but not nearly enough for us to meet payroll. You can probably guess what happened; when we totaled everything up, the SBF subsidy was over 80,000. The biggest one-month total yet. Incredible!

(FYI, we met payroll today!)

In addition to all the financial excitement, there have been lots of other crazy happenings. For example, the water situation; the water is always off and on, but lately it's been off more than it's been on. As you can imagine, it is pretty hard to try to operate a hospital without water. Things came to a head one day last week when Tsegaye, head of the OR informed Scott Barlow, the Matron, that he didn't have any water to sterilize instruments, they'd used all of their clean sets, and therefore he couldn't do any surgeries. This presented a pretty serious problem, because in the event of an emergency situation, we couldn't operate. Fortunately Mark Squires and Mamo, the plumber, had succeeded in hooking up the new water tank (remember the miracle of the water tank?:) and it was about half full of water. However, we couldn't use this water for the autoclave because it wasn't connected to that tank; it was connected to our tanks up on top of the hospital. So somehow we had get water into the tanks up on top of the hospital. Mamo was working on a solution to use an old pump to pump water from the tank out front up to the tanks, but it wasn't really working out. Then Paul came up with the idea of forming a bucket brigade! It wouldn't fix the problem, but it might be enough of a temporary solution to provide time to come up with something better. So Paul and I ran around organizing the bucket brigade, drafting the voluntaries from their various jobs around the compound and gathering buckets from anywhere we could find them. In the midst of this, Belinda, the Danish midwife, came in looking for someone to give blood for an emergency case. Most of the volunteers had given recently, but I learned that Mark Squires, our new COO hadn't, and he had the right type of blood, so I found him and sent him down to give blood. In the meantime, we got the buckets moving. Three people were working filling them at the tank and handing them down about six feet to ground level, then others carried them into the lobby, up the stairs to the second floor, down the hall, and then up a ladder where two more people lifted them up and poured whatever water remained into the tanks. It was quite an operation! And it was also a lot of work. All of us were pretty tuckered after about an hour and a half of this. Fortunately by then, Mamo had been able to hook up a direct line from the tank to the OR. But the autoclave ran for about 45 minutes thanks to the bucket brigade:)

That wasn't the end of our water troubles however. Two days later, this past Friday, I found out that again we didn't have water. Only this time we were completely out. None of our tanks had any water. Since Paul and Mark were both gone to Addis, I was kind of responsible to think of something. (Well, I wasn't, God was in charge, but you understand.:) Henock thought it would be a good idea to contact the Chinese and ask if we could use one of their pumper trucks. I also thought we should ask the mayor about what was going on (since he's good friends with Justin now, thanks to the gravel deal:) so Henock and Justin call to see about that. In case that didn't work, I figured it would be a good idea to have a backup plan, so I rounded up some of the voluntaries and some 55-gallon drums and sent them with Tinsaye in our little green truck to the river to get at least a little bit of water. Justin got in touch with the mayor, and he told us that the water company generator was damaged, and nobody had any water. So we decided to go talk to the Chinese. But Tinsaye was taking the truck, and our Landcruiser was gone to Addis. (It would really be helpful to have another vehicle around here…which is why we're hoping to buy one and get it shipped somewhere and drive it here:) So we decided to drive the ambulance! But we promptly figured out that the battery was dead. So much for that idea. Henock and Justin headed out to find the Chinese on foot, and I decided somebody should stay around the hospital in case anything else happened. And of course it did. First I came back to find Mulisa, the Administrative Assistant hiding in the back room from some irate lady who was yelling about something. I finally figured out that she was an employee of the hospital who was mad that Mulisa told her she couldn't get a medical allowance from the hospital for her niece. I solved that problem temporarily and got her to go away only to be confronted with another. The day before, Mamo stopped the water company from shutting off our water (because apparently we were five months behind on paying our bill,) and I had sent him to pay 4,000 birr on our bill. Now he had returned with a notice that they were going to shut off the water if we didn't pay an additional 9,000 birr. So I decided to go talk with them. About that time the green truck came back in with the guys and full barrels of water. They started siphoning the water into our main tank and I was about to leave when Henock and Justin came driving down the driveway in the cab of a big tanker truck! They'd found the Chinese and gotten permission to use one of their tanker trucks!! Henock had also convinced another one of the truck drivers to bring us a truckload of water. Mulisa and I finally got to the water company office, where I found out that they wouldn't even give me our overdue bills—apparently they give you your bill after you pay it!? But they did agree to up to town and make copies and give them to me, and they promised not to turn off the water until Monday at least. As I was walking back to the hospital, the tanker truck drove by with about half of our voluntaries riding on top on their way to the river! By the time the tankers left we had almost a full tank of water, and the water had come back on so our other tanks were starting to fill as well:)

Excelsior!

Changing Habits

2008-10-13T11:57:00.001-04:00

Changing Habits

I just finished Desire of Ages! Now I'm 3/5s of the way through the
Conflict of the Ages series. I'm going kind of backwards; I started
with the Great Controversy in 2005, then read Acts of the Apostles in
06-07. Now I'm going on to Prophets and Kings, but I think I'm also
going to read GC again.

I think there are two factors that are contributing to my increased
pace and interest in this series; I have more time for discretionary
reading (i.e. not assigned reading), and there aren't a lot of "more
interesting" options, like there would be at home. I've read tons of
exciting literature in my life, and it's been a challenge to get
interested in spiritual things. I've read a lot of quality stuff as
well, but usually because I "knew it was good for me," similar to the
way some people eat salad. But if you persist with salad-eating long
enough, and especially if other, unhealthy alternatives are removed,
it's very possible to develop a taste for the stuff. And that's what
God is doing for me.

You know, as I think about it, this same process is evident in every
part of my life. God is working with me to purify and elevate my
tastes and desires. For instance, last night, we watched a very
funny, mostly quality film called The Gods Must Be Crazy II. It was
produced quite a while ago, and so has very few questionable elements
in it. But still, there were a few moments when I thought, "why did
they have to put that in," and I came away from the evening with a
slightly bitter taste in my mouth. Yes, it was 99% good, very funny,
and it even had lots of moral lessons; in fact, it was more wholesome
than a great majority of other things I've watched, but I still felt
kind of disappointed afterwards. It was sweet in the mouth and bitter
in the stomach. I think I want to try to make the same committment
that David did; "I will set no unclean thing before my eyes."

Given the times we're living in, I think it is especially important to
commit to God 100%, in everything we do, or read, or listen to, or
watch.

What do you think? God has high standards; should ours be high as
well? Has He really called us to holiness?

Excelsior

What I've Been Doing

2008-10-13T11:54:00.001-04:00

What I've Been Doing

Hello everyone!
Yes, I'm still alive; things are just getting so busy around here that
it's getting harder and harder find time to blog and email. It's
interesting how God works things out. On Monday last week, I was kind
of depressed, because I felt like I wasn't really doing anything
important. I was trying to find things to keep myself occupied. I'm
used to being busy, independent, and productive, and it was a new
experience to have to depend on other people, to try to find things to
do, and feel like you're not really making a difference. But I talked
with God about it, and came to the realization that if I can best
serve Him by doing little odd jobs in the accounting department here,
then I'll work hard to do my best at that. That very afternoon things
picked up, and now I'm absolutely swamped, and loving it! For
example, here is a sample of some of the things I did last week.

Took minutes for Administrative committee meeting. Hired some
blockmakers to teach the volunteers how to start cranking out cement
blocks. Drew up new organizational chart for the hospital. Went to
town with Henock and purchased mattresses for the incoming volunteers
and lots of flour for the Kitchen. Went to the bank with Mulisa and
wired money to Ashebir. Wrote a check for petty cash (first time by
myself) and worked on posting some misc. cash payments. Drafted work
statements for Personnel Director regarding a nurse formerly employed
by the Hospital who is seeking employment in Australia. Wrote a blog
for the hospital. Fixed some accounts in Peachtree. Paid
blockmakers. Tried to come up with volunteer schedule. Wrote up OPD
Doctor report form for Yohannes. Wrote up volunteer questionnaire and
internet use schedule. Participated in orientation for Barlows. Got
them started on clearing out storeroom. Negotiate with their
cooks—one doesn't like the other, they don't know if they can handle
the work load. Drafted letter to gov't. concerning closure of Dongoro
clinic. Started tabulating results of volunteer questionnaire. Met
with some guys who offered to lift our water tank onto the
platform—today! Got gardeners to come up; one guy climbed the tree
overhanging the platform and chopped off a couple of branches so the
crane can get in. Helped chop some limbs down. Drafted letter to OHB
regarding their annual grant to the hospital—asking them to give us
the money allocated to us. Crane came, so I went out and helped with
that. Paid them 2,000 birr, plus 50 for the broker. That was kind of
an interesting deal because the crane operators used a crane owned by
the Chinese road construction crew, without telling them. It was sort
of a side job. Coordinated Barlows activities for Thursday and
Friday. Did a lot of computer troubleshooting. Started exploring
process necessary for filing quarterly OHB report. Found a bunch of
dept. report forms that apparently aren't being used (need to get
those into use so we can get data from the depts. about numbers of
patients seen, cases, etc. Began posting latest construction expenses.
Talked with Gadisa—apparently the hospital is out of propane, so he
wanted the okay to send our tanks to Addis to be refilled. Went back
to the house and had vespers with all the faranjis. I'm beginning to
think a significant part of my job from here on out is going to be
volunteer coordinator. Oh, and Paul came up with another title for me
as well; projects director. So those go along with accountant,
administrative assistant, and co-business manager. I am sure not
having problems finding things to do now!

God was just waiting for me to stop trying to make things happen on my
own, and let Him work them out in His time.

In a different vein; have you been following the news lately? Could
this be It? Definitely motivation for a closer study of prophecy; at
least it has been for us here.

Excelsior!

2008-09-19T11:16:00.001-04:00

(The picture is of our group, minus Anthony who was taking it. From
right to left, Paul, Luke, JH, me, David, Laura, Heather, and Meg.)

This Sabbath afternoon was the occasion of our most vigorous Sabbath
Stroll yet. After a large potluck lunch at Paul and Petra's house, we
decided to embark on our adventure. The members of our expedition
included myself and Paul, Joel Hatline (to be referred to as JH, to
avoid confusion) and Luke Pierson (American construction volunteers),
Meg, Heather, Laura, and David (British med students), and Anthony (an
Australian engineer.) We started out in the pouring rain, only to be
halted by the locked gate at the back of the hospital compound. The
guard who usually mans the gate, being much wiser than the crazy
faranjis, was inside somewhere, out of the rain. Determined not to
robbed of our Sabbath afternoon walk, Paul, JH, Luke and I hopped the
8 foot chainlink fence topped with barbed wire (sustaining a few minor
injuries) and continued on. At least for a few feet, until we
realized that the rest of the crew (those hailing from countries other
than the USA, I might add) had not followed our example. So we
graciously waited for them to go back up through the compound, out the
main gate, and then back down to where we were.

We proceeded down a steep, muddy road (it had stopped raining btw),
which turned into a trail, which turned into a meadow. By now the sun
was shining and as befitting the now exuberant spirit of the day, I
scampered down the path, practicing my mudskating skills, while the
others came along at a slightly more sedate pace. Next we came to a
small stream, which, to my slight dismay, everybody crossed without
incident (oh well, I guess we were all pretty wet, even without a swim
in the stream.) Then up a steep little hill we panted, serenaded by
the chatter of a group of excited young cowherds. Most of the people
here seem to view anybody with light skin as some sort of zoo
escapee--especially the kids. They're always excited to see a
faranji. Once up, we followed a few cowtrails around the curve of a
few more hills, dashing through the jungle, trying to chart a safe
path between the thistles and the mud. It was turning out to be a
gorgeous day!

It was at this point that I decided to climb higher up the hill we
were skirting in an effort to avoid a patch of underbrush. Because of
the steepness of the hill and my rate of ascent, and because it was
probably easier and definitely shorter to just go through the
underbrush, I was not joined by my companions. I was planning to drop
back down to meet up with them after clearing the brush, but I had not
counted on what I would find at the top of the hill. I got to the top
and was admiring the view, when I noticed two things. First, I saw a
tall hill in front of me, the tallest one around. We hadn't climbed
it before in our wanderings so it was definitely calling my name. I
was about to go back down to the group and head toward the hill with
them, but then I saw the second interesting sight; human heads bobbing
up and down beyond a row of bushes. Intrigued, I ventured over to see
what they were doing and discovered a fairly well-traveled path.
Enticed by this winding way, I stepped onto the path and was soon
skating down slick slope with the rest of the travelers.

The trail dipped into a valley below and crossed a rushing brown river
over a cool log bridge, before beginning to climb the tall hill I'd
had my eye on earlier. I was still separated from the rest of the
faranjis, but I figured the rest of the group would probably head for
the tall hill as well. So I started up. And up. And up. It was a
really steep hill! At one point I staggered through a herd of cows
and shortly after heard surprised shouts below me. "Youyouyouyou!"
Two small cowherds were apparently shocked to find that a faranji had
somehow appeared on the hillside above them (I guess they hadn't heard
my gasps as I passed them.) After a little while longer I finally
reached the top. And boy, what a view! The air was crystal clear and
I could see the hills and vallies roll for miles. I was on the side
facing the hospital and it looked surprising close (and it probably
was--as the crow flies anyway.) The side of the hill I'd been
climbing was mostly cleared, but at the top it was covered in a dense
forest. I waited for the others for a few minutes and then decided to
explore the forest. I circled through and stopped to take in the view
from the other side before coming back to look for my companions
again. They still were nowhere to be found.

By now it was about 4:45. I decided that the chances of meeting up
with the rest of the group were now probably pretty slim, so I decided
to forge on and check out another cool hill I'd sighted, to the north.
It was strangely pyramid-shaped, with a bunch of spiraling lines
circling it. It was bare except for a little patch of trees on the
top. I plotted my course to the hill from my lofty vantage point and
set off. Since I didn't have to worry about waiting for anybody else,
I ran down the slope and across the little valley. There was a few
houses and some people working out in their corn patches who I greeted
as I passed by. Then I crossed the path that I'd been following
earlier. There were still plenty of people walking back from town and
one young man accosted me as I burst onto the path. "Hey, were you
go?" "To that hill," I pointed, before continuing down into the forest
off the trail. Judging by the shouts behind me, they were definitely
not used to faranis' Sabbath walks--especially not ones who didn't
stick to the safe paths. I preferred to think that they were cheering
me on. I crossed another small stream at the bottom of the valley and
then headed up the pyramid. The sides were pretty rocky, and I think
the rocks were igneous, which might explain the curious shape of the
hill (or it might not--I'm definitely not a geologist!)

I reached the top around 5:00 and peered curiously into the gloomy
forested patch. I had to see what the forest was hiding at the very
top of this pyramid. Unfortunately, this forest patch was blanketed
with nettles. Now, I don't know if any of you have had previous
experience with nettles, but they're nasty stinging plants. And these
were african nettles--they bite even through your clothes. Now I was
really curious to see if anything special was at the top of the
pyramid, both hidden by the forest and guarded by the nettles. So I
armed myself with a stick and set about creating a path into the
center. After a few minutes of flailing, I broke through the ring of
nettles and found myself at the base of an enormous tree. It was
higher than all the others and right at the peak of the pyramid. It
was pretty cool:) But there was nothing else terribly exciting that I
could see, and since it was getting on towards sunset, I figured I'd
better head back. I whacked a path back to the outside world and got
my bearings for the return trip. The route I'd followed thus far was
two sides of a narrow triangle, with long sides and a relatively short
base, between the two hills. I could see the Hospital from where I
was at; it's set on a the side of a hill and is a pretty good
landmark.

I set off running down the side of my pyramid and circled around to
follow a ridge that was roughly in line with the Hospital. This was
probably my favorite part of the trip, running into the sunset,
following the little trail as it dropped down the ridgeline,
zigzagging through the woods, darting through bokolo (corn) fields,
and through little clusters of huts. Occasionally I would come around
a corner to see a few of the inhabitants of the huts. I can only
imagine the thoughts going through these people's heads as they hoed
their gardens or washed their clothes or whatever, peacefully whiling
away the hours, only to be abruptly startled out of their daily
routine as a crazy faranji dashed through their backyard, with a
brief, cheerful, "Fayadha!" The adults were merely startled, but the
kids were always terribly excited. Several even followed me for a
little bit. Finally the trail dropped into a valley and turned right,
following a large stream. I needed to cross the stream to continue my
line back to the Hospital, but I couldn't find any way across which
didn't involve fording the flooded stream. So, I found a decent
place, took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my pants, and waded
across. This is where I sustained my only other injury of note (the
first being when I tumbled over the fence), twisting my ankle slightly
between two rocks as I forded the river. Fortunately it wasn't
serious, and I was able to continue on without much trouble. I
climbed the hill on the other side, and thanks to the help of a
friendly farmer, found my way back onto familiar territory, coming out
onto another path, which we'd traveled down on previous Sabbath hikes.
I returned to the Hospital without incident, arriving about 6:10.

Petra and Shaunda were just heading out the door to go play for the
patients, so I changed and joined them. By now I was feeling the
effects of my vigorous excursion, and despite my large lunch, was
famished, as well as tired. We played some hymns on each of the wards
and then headed back to the house for some much-appreciated supper and
rest.

For those who were wondering about the rest of the group, they
eventually made their way up to the tall hill, arriving there about
the time I was getting to the top of the pyramid. From that point
they turned south and headed back to Gimbie (whereas I had ventured
north.) They managed to find a swamp on the way back and from what I
heard (and saw), had an exciting time; especially when the mud came
over the top of Laura's wellies (boots). :) But they all got back
safely, a little while after I did.

All in all, it was a wonderful expedition!

P.S. Thanks for the comments on the blogs. I can't actually see my
blog once it's posted (Blogger is blocked here--I email posts to my
blog and it emails me the comments); hence the lack of replies, but I
do appreciate the feedback. If you want to get in touch with me and
actually get a response, email (sonic1100atgmaildotcom) is the best
way.

Excelsior!

AY Talk- Man of God

2008-09-02T05:40:00.001-04:00

These are my notes for a talk I gave on Sabbath for the local AY
group. They are fairly rough for at least two reasons: first, since I
was speaking with a translator, I had to adjust my talk, and second, I
haven't edited my speaking notes into a proper written essay. Please
don't judge them too harshly:)
It was really cool how God gave me a topic. Friday morning I opened
my Bible up to 1 Kings 13. I hadn't read this story for at least a
year, but as I was reading it, the Holy Spirit brought all kinds of
lessons to my mind. That afternoon I sat down to compile my thoughts
and the talk virtually seemed to write itself! It was pretty neat
watching the Holy Spirit at work.
The presentation went well (until my laptop battery died and I had to
give the last third from memory) and God blessed. There were at least
80 people and they seemed to enjoy the talk. I hope it was as much of
a learning experience for them as it was for me! Thank you all for
your prayers:)

The Man of God: Miracles and Mistakes

Background
Israel has been split in two. A man named Jeroboam rebelled against
King Solomon's son, Rehoboam. He took 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel
and they started their own nation.

Things seemed to be going pretty well for Jeroboam. After all, he had
10 of the 12 tribes with him. That's a pretty large majority. But
there was one thing that troubled him. The Temple was in Jerusalem,
in the land of Judah. Rehoboam had control over Jerusalem. Jeroboam
didn't want his people going to the Temple in Jerusalem--they might
want to return to Rehoboam.

So he came up with a plan. He would build two golden calves in his
territory and let the people worship them. Then they wouldn't go to
the Temple of God where they might think about deserting him. Do you
think God was happy about this? Do you think He liked the idea of his
people worshiping idols; golden statues that couldn't think or feel?

Let's pick up the story in verse 1 of chapter 13. (read through verse 3)

Man of God is sent by God to Jeroboam with a message: "You're going
the wrong way! You're worshiping false gods, and even worse--you're
teaching the people to do likewise. This is an abomination!"
This message is a warning. God was merciful--He didn't kill the
rebellious king and his people right away, He wanted to give them a
chance to repent. He even worked a miracle to try to get their
attention; the altar cracked in half and all the ashes fell onto the
ground.

But instead of being grateful for God's mercy and repenting, King
Jeroboam reacts in anger. He calls for his guards to seize the man of
God. King Jeroboam had no respect for God's messenger. It is clear
what he thought of the message of mercy. But God still didn't strike
the king dead for his arrogance. The king was worshiping false gods;
he was even leading the people to follow his example in worshiping
idols. Then he reacted with anger when God gave him a chance to
repent. But God was still patient with him.

Now God tries even harder to get the king's attention. As Jeroboam
gestures furiously at the prophet, singling him out for certain death,
God causes the king's hand to wither. Finally, He has Jeroboam's
attention. "Please ask God to heal me," he says to the Man of God.
Notice that Jeroboam did not acknowledge his sin. He did not ask for
forgiveness for leading the people of Israel astray. He was concerned
only about his own welfare. But God listened to the prayer of the Man
of God and healed Jeroboam's hand.

What happens next? King Jeroboam invites the Man of God over to his
house for food and offers to give him gifts. What is he doing? He's
trying to buy him off! To bribe him! Jeroboam thinks God can be
bought. Can God be bribed? Jeroboam still isn't listening to God.
First he tried to silence God's messenger by force, now he's trying to
pay him to be quiet.

The prophet might have been tempted by the king's offer. I imagine
King Jeroboam could have given him some pretty nice gifts; good food,
horses, clothes, money... If I was him, I might have been tempted.
But God in His wisdom had given the Man of God advance warning. He
had given the prophet a special message designed to keep him safe.
The Lord had told him "You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor
return by the way you came." And that's what he did.

Wow! What do you think of this guy? He's bold huh? First he travels
into occupied territory and boldly tells the enemy king that he's
sinning against God (in the presence of all his soldiers), then he
stares down the angry king and waits for God to save his life, and now
he even refuses the king's gifts! This is truly a man of God!

But the Bible does not record only the nice things. The Bible tells
the truth. And the truth is even brave men of God can make mistakes
and turn their backs on Him.

There was another prophet who lived nearby. But he was a false
prophet. He had not followed God, and Satan used him to bring down
the Man of God. He heard about what had happened and. . .

Read 14-19

And just like that, the Man of God fell. Satan is tricky, isn't he!
But he uses the same tricks over and over. By looking carefully at
the principles of this story, we can resist Satan. Just like God gave
the prophet a message that was intended to keep him safe, He has given
us a message to keep us safe.

So what principles of resisting Satan can we find in this story?
Let's learn from the prophet's mistakes.

Wrong place - God told him to return, and judging by his command not
to stay around long enough even to get a drink, He wanted him to
return promptly. Instead, he's sitting down on the job. He is
resting under a tree. He was probably thinking, "I've gotten past the
hard part. I was faithful in delivering the message; I stood firm
when the king threatened me; I even remembered what God said about not
eating the food when the king was being nice. I think I've done a
pretty good job. Surely it's okay to rest under this tree for awhile.
God probably doesn't mind me slacking off for a little while." He
was resting when he should have been moving forward.

Luke 9:62 says no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for the Kingdom of God. If we want to successfully resist Satan,
we can't be lazy. We need to pay attention and work diligently to do
what God says.

The Man of God was in the wrong place at the wrong time by his own
choice. Sometimes God allows hard things to happen to us, but many
times we bring temptations on ourselves. Some situations we can't
avoid, but there are many things we can avoid, that God has warned us
about. We need to be careful not to put ourselves in danger by
stepping outside of God's will.

Second, he allowed himself to get in an argument with Satan's agent.
When Jesus was being tempted by the devil, He didn't try to reason; He
quoted Scripture. The devil is much smarter than we are, and if we
hang around and try to reason with him, we will fall. The Man of God
knew what the motive of the false prophet was; he shouldn't have
lingered to have a discussion.

So the first mistake the prophet made was to put himself on dangerous
ground by not diligently carrying out God's commands. The second was
hanging around to parley with the enemy.

And the third mistake was allowing himself to be persuaded to directly
contradict God's instructions. The false prophet directly
contradicted what God had told the Man of God. God hadn't given him
confusing commands. It wasn't hard to understand "Do not eat or drink
anything while you are there." But by putting himself on dangerous
ground, the Man of God had lowered his defenses and now he could not
withstand even the blatant attacks of the Enemy.

You probably know what happens next. The Man of God succumbed to the
temptation and on his way home, after eating with the false prophet;
he was killed by a lion.

You know, this is very similar to another story in the Bible. Do you
know what it is? Does this sound familiar? There was another tree,
which another person was tempted to linger by. She stayed to try to
reason with the Enemy, and then was persuaded to disregard a plain
command of God. This was the very first deception on Earth; when Eve
was tempted to eat the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil.

And you know what? Satan hasn't changed his tactics. He used the
same tricks with the Man of God. And he uses the same tricks today;
that's why studying this story is helpful to us.

We can learn about the nature of God from this story. Exodus 34:6
says He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
love. And that is the case in this story. God repeatedly shows mercy
to the wicked king Jeroboam, even healing him when the Man of God
prayed for him. God doesn't want anybody to die. He wants us to turn
from our sins and live.

There are also many lessons in this story for our church. God has
called us to give a message to the world. It is not an easy message.
Sometimes there will be scary situations. But God wants us to witness
for Him no matter how scary things may seem. Satan will try many
different ways to keep you from giving God's message. He will try
intimidation. He will try to bribe you with nice things. Money, land,
excellent food, cars, all the luxuries of the world . . .

God wants to keep us safe from the traps of Satan. That's one reason
why this story is in the Bible; so we can learn from it. When Satan
tempts us, we can remember the principles of resisting that the Man of
God didn't use. Don't put yourself outside of God's protection by
neglecting to be diligent in doing what He says; don't linger to
reason with the Enemy, and when confronted with something that is
plainly counter to God's commands, run away!

God has called us to be Men and Women of God today. He has provided
clear directions. And He has promised to protect us from the roaring
lion. May we be faithful to Him.

Excelsior!

2008-08-28T08:36:00.001-04:00

As I was eating my peanut-butter and guava sauce-covered plank and
drinking tea with fresh squeezed lemon and wild honey this morning, I
suddenly realized what day it was. Thursday, August 28--the first day
of classes at Southern. Wow. For the past three years this was one of
the biggest days of the year. And if I really want to get nostalgic,
this is the first time I haven't been starting school now for 10
years. That's slightly discomforting. I guess it's because after all
these years, I had the routine pretty much figured out. Move into
your room. Get your books. Meet up with old friends. Figure out
where your classes were.

This time, I have no relevant points of reference. I don't know
what's going to happen. I don't see old friends everywhere. I don't
recognize my surroundings. I don't have my comfortable old room 1318,
A-wing, Talge Hall. My roommate is thousands of miles away. My
family is even further away.

But my God is here.

Many of you are probably starting school today. It's stressful--I
know, and I'm praying for you. Many of you are not; perhaps you have
settled into a comfortable routine, perhaps you're in the same
situation I'm in. But wherever you are,

God.
Is.
Here.

Excelsior

Re: The Beginning

2008-08-25T02:03:00.001-04:00

Well, I've made it! Shaunda Helm and I arrived at Gimbie Adventist
Hospital at 11:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. EST) Wednesday, after
quite the journey. Let me give you a brief update on what's been
happening so far. 

Our adventures started before we even got to Africa. First, while
checking in at Dulles, I was a bit worried because my bags were all
pretty heavy. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to bring the bee
hive foundations that I'd stuffed in my bags at the last minute. Sure
enough, after hoisting the bags on the scale, each one was about 7-8
lbs overweight. Fortunately, God had led us to a merciful ticket
agent, who allowed me to take the bags without any hassle at all. And
that was just the beginning of how God was watching out for us!

About an hour and a half after leaving Dulles airport at 9:00 p.m.
Monday, our pilot told us that they'd been having a few glitches and
that we were going to have to return to the airport. Nobody was very
happy to hear about the delay. But after experiencing a rather bumpy
landing and then being promptly surrounded by a convoy of fire trucks
and ambulances, we managed to swallow our complaints. Prayers at
work?
After a night in the terminal, we left Tuesday morning. I was
fortunate to meet two very gracious Ethiopian gentlemen while on the
plane who kindly told me a little bit about their country and helped
me start learning some Amharic words. One man even showed me some
Ethiopian coins, insisting that I keep them. Almost everybody I've
met so far has been very friendly.

We finally arrived in Addis Ababa at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
After collecting our bags and changing some money, Shaunda and I got
in the (rather long) queue to go through Customs. I'd heard stories
of other people having some pretty intense experiences getting
through, and I was praying pretty hard as we approached the front of
the line. Here again, we saw God's hand at work as one of the
officials came up to me and asked if I had anything to declare. I
told him I had changed some money in the airport and that I also had a
laptop with me. "Okay," he said motioning, "Go through." I somewhat
incredulously gathered my bags and walked past the long line of
people. Shaunda quickly explained that she was with me, and he let
her through as well. I kept expecting somebody to yell for us to
stop, but nobody did. What an answer to prayer!

Now we just had to find Ashebir, the person sent to meet us. We
didn't see anybody with signs and after looking around for a few
minutes, I decided to find a phone and call one of the numbers Paul
had given me. Using the coins that my friendly seatmate had given me,
I was able to get a hold of Ashebir. He and Gemeda, the Business
Manager for Gimbie and Laura, an incoming medical student from the UK
had been about to leave because they heard that we weren't going to
arrive until later. Another thing to add to the praise list

We spent a little time figuring out how to pack everything in the Land
Cruiser and then we were off! Driving through Addis is really an
experience. There are beggars everywhere; sitting on the sidewalks,
sprawled in the middle of traffic roundabouts, sleeping on the
medians. . . Many of them are children. Sad stuff:(

Heading out of town, the traffic soon thinned out. The road itself
was pretty nice for a lot of the way; apparently a contracting company
from South Korea recently finished constructing one of the nicest
highways in the country from Addis to Ambo, a distance of about 120
km. There were still plenty of obstacles however. In addition to all
of the people bringing stuff in to sell in Addis, there were lots of
donkeys, cows, goats, and sheep. They all seemed pretty unfazed by
our hurtling Land Cruiser, which led to a lot of honking and swerving
and screeching of brakes. Auto horns are put to good use here; a
double honk is the equivalent of saying, "Hey, I'm coming." In fact,
it's one of the few road rules that is actually followed.

The scenery is beautiful one you get out into the country. Everything
is very green (unless it's mud, in which case it's red) and there are
lots of eucalyptus trees and shrubs and other foliage. I want to
describe a few of the most commonly appearing sights along the road.
One is a few cows off grazing along the side in the care of a six or
seven-year old child who will frequently jump up and shout "Faranji!"
as soon as he or she sees you. Another is some women bent over under
huge bundles of sticks they're carrying to the market. Another are
the piles of logs and dirt randomly piled on the (nonexistent)
shoulders of the road. I guess the dirt is for repairing the road and
the logs are waiting to be sold to trucks coming along. We even saw a
few monkeys.

We made pretty good time to Ambo, arriving around 12:30 p.m. Ashebir
needed to repair something in the suspension for the Land Cruiser, so
we stopped at a really nice hotel and had lunch. We had injera and
some awesome shiro. For those who have never had the privilege of
eating this delectable food, injera is a type of thin, sour pancake
made from fermented teff (endemic grain) dough which serves as a plate
and, when torn into pieces, as a spoon and fork also. Shiro is the
sauce that goes on top of it, generally incorporating lentils, onions,
spices, etc. It's wonderful stuff! Then we went out to shay, a kind
of really sweet tea, served in a little thimble cup. Finally we met
up with Ashebir and continued on our way.

From Ambo to Nkempte, a distance of about 180 km, the road is not so
good. Ashebir was trying to make up for lost time, so we careered
along at quite a good clip. He's pretty good and we missed most of
the major caverns in the road, but we hit enough that just as we
entered Nkempte (after about 5 more hours), we had to stop and change
a flat. This must be a fairly frequent occurrence, as Ashebir carries
two spares with him.

The next section of road is pretty good (at least it's paved most of
the way), so we were able to travel the remaining 120 km in about 2
hours. We saw a hyena during this section. The seating arrangements
were Ashebir, me, and Gameda in the front and Laura and Shaunda in the
back seat, holding back a cascade of blankets and luggage. The
luggage area was completely jammed full of stuff and there was a few
more bags of oranges and guavas, propane tanks, and some more blankets
strapped on top. I had a really hard time staying awake during these
last two hours, but since it was virtually impossible to rest my head
in one place for longer than twenty seconds, I had the interesting
experience of mini-dreams every time I closed my eyes

We finally got to the hospital just before 11:00 p.m. It sure was
nice to see Paul and Petra's smiling faces! They gave us a very warm
welcome and after unloading everything, invited us down to their
house, where after giving them some of the things I'd brought over for
them (and showing off the bee foundations) we fell asleep.

The next morning Paul kindly woke me up at 9:00 so I could start
getting used to the new schedule. He gave me a tour and a little
orientation and then I started right in. My first task was updating
the hospital's price list. Inflation is about 15.9% so far this year,
and that's really eating into the hospital's profits. I became a
little bit more familiar with the hospital as I worked my way through
the departments trying to figure out what the current rates were for
things. (This is proving to be a bigger task than I anticipated as
I'm not quite finished yet, 3 days later.)

The next day, Petra and I went running at 6:00. It was just getting
light and there weren't very many people around, which is good,
because they're not used to seeing anybody running for exercise, and
farenges to boot. The mud was pretty sticky; Petra encouraged me by
saying that it was like having built-in leg weights! Boy, if I keep
running with the weights and the altitude will really get me in good
shape. (Andrew will never be able to keep up;).
Later that day, Shaunda and Petra and I went out to Dongoro clinic.
It was really neat to see how one of the outpost clinics operated.
The nurse there, Ngadaye, was pretty overwhelmed with all the
patients, so we brought along another nurse to help out for the
afternoon. They are set up in a little round hut and the patients
come up to her table and tell her what's wrong. She does a little
examination and then gives them a prescription or refers them to
Gimbie. They then take the prescription over to the cashier and pay
for their pills or injection or test or whatever. Often they don't
have enough money to pay for the $2 or $3 dollars worth of meds so she
tries to prescribe something cheaper. Then they come back and she
dispenses the meds and explains how to take them. It was pretty crazy
as she often had eight or nine people clustered around her. I tried
to act as crowd control and just help wherever I could.
After the clinic closed, Shaunda and I counted the money brought in
over the previous two days and compared it with the patient receipts.
Then I returned the money and receipts to Gimbie. We also bought a
new lock ($1.13) and put it on the door to cut down on the loss of
drugs. Petra found a good deal on some musi faringi (sweet little
bananas) and a jackfruit (a huge thing, about the size of two
basketballs and weighing around 25 lbs!) so we managed to fit them
into the Land Cruiser, along with all 10 of us

Sabbath was very welcome! Friday night, Paul encouraged us to take
showers because the water is often off on the weekends. Warm water is
quite scarce, so showers are usually quite short. Fortunately we've
had water and electricity pretty consistently so far.
Paul and I headed off to pull together something for the Sabbath
School lesson, which was about the Apostle Peter. The
English-speakers have our own Sabbath School, and we had a really neat
discussion. About 10:40 we headed over to church and were treated
with an amazing performance by the children's choir. They sang
several songs, first in decently recognizable English, and then in
Oromifa. It was powerful! When they sing, they really sing! They
were ably led by an eleven or twelve-year-old choir director

Petra sang with the A choir (I guess they have B and C choir too) for
several songs and Shaunda accompanied them on the piano. They sang
hymns that I recognize (ex: Crown Him) but in Oromifa and they were
pretty good too. Next AY choir sang a song based on Matthew 24. The
guitar player accompanying them was grandly out of tune, but nobody
seemed to notice. Then Fromsa, the head gardener for the hospital
preached a sermon. The church kindly provides an interpreter, so it
was possible to follow the sermon.

We had potluck at Paul and Petra's house for lunch, along with all of
the British (and one Canadian) medical students, Linda and Amber
(visiting midwives from the US), and Becky (the matron, also
American). The food is generally fantastic here. I'm going to post
another blog just about the food, but probably on the hospital blog.
The highlight of the meal was the sugar cane.

Afterwards, Paul, Petra, Laura, Becky, and I headed out for a hike.
We went down the hill and toured the hospital garden (needs some
attention), and then hopped the chain link fence and went exploring.
We climbed a couple hills, forded two streams, fought stinging nettles
and a few biting ants, clambered up trees, picked some berries (which
I succeeded in turning into mush by the time we returned), found
evidence of African Porcupines, as well as some lovely flowers, and
met a few of the locals, before heading back. The evening we spent in
good conversation and a quick game of 7-Up before heading to bed.

That's pretty much what's happened so far. Shaunda's got her hands
full figuring out how to help manage the outer clinics; starting
today, I'm going to be in charge of the finances for the clinics, the
nursing school and the upcoming construction project. Henock, (the
accountant I work with) and I are going to take inventory for the rest
of the week first, before I really get started on that.

It's incredibly busy and it's going to be a huge task just to keep the
hospital's head above water. But God is here; He's done miracles to
get us this far, and He's got lots more in store, I'm sure. Keep us
in your prayers!

Excelsior

--
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2

The Beginning

2008-08-25T01:51:00.001-04:00

--
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2

African Epoch

2008-08-18T12:06:00.006-04:00

Well, the day has come. I'm leaving in a few hours for the mountains of Abyssinia. I ask for your prayers as I take on a new adventure. God is leading; I know He will take care of my future. He's going to teach me how to 'sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land.'

Thank you for all of your support, calls, encouraging emails, and prayers. I'm sorry I didn't have time to respond to everybody, but you all will be close to my heart.

As the icon of American radio famously says, "Stand by for news!"

Excelsior

Darkness Before Dawn

2008-08-07T12:54:00.005-04:00

What follows is my summary of the thesis of Richard Swenson's book, Hurtling Toward Oblivion. Quite convincing, I might add.

The exponential growth of profusion (more of everything) through irreversible progress has a dark side: the accompanying explosion of negatives, which,when they reach critical mass, will bring about the collapse of the world system with commensurately exponential speed.

The final events will be rapid ones. . .

Excelsiorr

Lakeview? Or Lost...

2008-07-09T20:07:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm here at Camp Cherokee for another terrific summer. Things are exciting and busy, as always. For example, today I spent four hours driving boats, (complete with an injured camper waterfront drill), I tried to convince my cabin that resting during rest period was a good idea, tried to teach them how to clean a bathhouse properly (we got a perfect score, so either they learned well or I did too much;), dealt with a homesick camper (literally sick:( , and was recently subject to a frightening Indian raid, wherein the whole of camp was carried off by fierce-looking painted savages to the Teepees for the evening program. In between all that I've been busy taking trips to the ER (no more appendix--and hopefully I'll be able to keep the rest of my apparently non-vital organs), and trying to finish up the details to be able to go over to Ethiopia in a month. I've still got to mail things off to get my visa, figure out my insurance, and decide what to take with me; minor details like that.

Unfortunately, despite the awe-inspiring surroundings, despite the amazing, bountiful spiritual feast of camp meeting, despite the morning and evening chapel programs here at camp, the staff worships, our daily cabin devotions, and my own personal worship time (not as much of a priority as it should be), I'm not feeling alive in Christ. Somehow during the day, between my attempts to instill good behavior in my campers, the few witnessing moments I catch, and fights I stop, the relentless striving to be a competent staff member, the advice I give, I'm losing the little bit of the Lifewater I managed to scoop up in the morning. Dr. Clouzet shared a thought from an article by John Ortberg that I just recently recalled. It goes something like this, "One of the best things you can do to improve your spiritual life is to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."

I'll let you ponder that and take from it what you will.

This is what it means for me. If I don't have time for God, then I'm just a walking, talking exhibit from the wax museum, labeled Christian. I might look real, even act fairly nice, but it's just a sham.

God, I've lost You somewhere among the orderly chaos of my own pursuit of excellence. Help me to slow down and listen.

Excelsior.

A Thought

2008-06-13T11:00:00.001-04:00

They say it takes rain to appreciate the sun.

Well, it takes pain to appreciate none.

Excelsior

Summer School

2008-06-03T13:10:00.005-04:00

Pictures are coming, I promise!

Some things I've learned during a two-week, 4,000 mile roadtrip with Timothy, Temple, Shama, and Brian, and then two weeks at my grandparents' farm with Ivan, in no particular order . . .

1. God can find the best camping spots ever!
2. A better appreciation for the song, "The Happy Farmer."
3. How to prune blueberry bushes
4. I'm not cut out to be a goat doctor
5. How to build a fence across a stream cut down into a gully
6. How to weld without a welder (it involves a torch with a heating tip and a lot of time)
7. Human flight is possible--it's just the landing that hurts (Sorry Brian)
8. Just how much you can fit in a Ford Taurus!
9. How to amuse yourself in airports (surreptitiously hide non-transportable items in the bushes without getting arrested, flip pennies into cups, long for a hackey sack)
10. That I really like the Psalms of Ascent (120-135)
11. Grandparents are one of the best ideas God ever had (I'm so glad I got to spend some time with all of mine!)
12. Chickens are lots of fun--it's like Christmas every day, trying to find their presents scattered around the barn
13. How to train goats that it's not a good idea to try to run through electric fences
14. That I have the most fun when I'm helping other people
15. How to eat Injera and Wot (now I'm really looking forward to Ethiopia!)
16. What fun it is to meet familiar people in strange places (Your eyes sure got big Kelsey:)
17. How to do a backflip (Thanks for your encouragement Nana!)
18. What it's like to drive 46 miles on a dirt road through the desert (and how to hang on when a jungle-trained driver is behind the wheel!)
19. Not to spray Dr. Brauner's Peppermint Oil Soap in your eyes (Seems pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?)
20. That haircuts are much more exciting when it's your hair stylist's first time
21. Living rooms are meant to have hammocks hung in them
22. How to pack a car like never before! (see number 8)
23. Pea soup and grapes and carrots are lovely breakfast food if your Grandma can't remember anything else to make
24. That it's much easier to catch goats with someone to help you
25. How to explore the inner workings of a medical clinic without getting kicked out (Stride boldly down the hallway and don't hang around to talk with anybody official-looking)
26. How to get in to an exclusive restaurant just to look at the decorations (same as above, only with the addition of a determined Grammie)
27. How to drive a truck and trailer with aplomb (I had more practice after I left Montana, I promise:)
28. Roadtrips are more exciting if you have adventurous compatriots and manage to avoid planning every moment (Thanks for your advice Timothy)
29. That Wafflehouse tastes really good at 11:00 at night (and that some waitresses aren't sure where Maryland is!)
30. How to scale trees and then descend with the greatest of ease (have your friends belay you:)
31. That Adult Sabbath School is very different than Primary
32. Waking up to NPR at 5:30 in the morning is slightly obnoxious (I sympathize for you guys at OA!)
33. That there is still a lot of snow in some parts of the country (over 6 feet in the Blue Mountains south of Walla Walla, WA), and that Crocs are wonderful snow-storage spaces, (although this action may have unexpected consequences when the Crocs are otherwise occupied!)
34. Driving long distances is much improved by the addition of odd rituals:)
35. It can sometimes take longer to get from Y to Z than from J to Z
36. Beware of opening your mouth when known mischief-makers ask you too
37. A day just isn't complete without singing three hymns and having worship
38. It's handy to have a tractor around when you get stuck
39. To pay more attention to the special little things that God does for me (I call these mini miracles "angel kisses" :)
40. What a huge blessing Godly friends are (I realize this anew every day!)
41. Oregon has full-service gas stations (and the prices reflect the extra service!)
42. Shade is a very special treat (Ps. 121:5), whether you find it during a hike in the Grand Canyon or after pounding fence posts on a hot and humid Maryland farm
43. It's nice to to have your labor appreciated (and goats and dogs sure are appreciative when they've been fed!)
44. Desert sand makes for soft landings while slacklining--as long as you avoid the cactus spines!
45. How to get ketchup out of a bottle without making a big mess (Thanks Kravigs!)
46. Following hunches while driving can make for beautiful excursions and terrible detours (I don't advise doing it when it's dark, on roads that aren't on the map, and while driving a Uhaul truck pulling a horse trailer--you might have to try to execute a 25-point turn on a little dirt road and end up getting temporarily stuck in a ditch!)
47. Some tricks for getting optimum gas mileage (go slower than the speed limit and make friends with big trucks)
48. If you want to really get to know somebody, either drive across the country with them or build a fence with them or trim goat hooves with them (Common points between the three are lots of time together and sharing lots of pleasant and some stressful situations)
49. A little bit of sand goes a long ways (especially when used as a seasoning!)
50. And I've learned that it's possible to be homesick for a place you've never been too. Being separated from people I love makes me long for our eternal Home more than ever.

Wow, all that and more (I didn't want to take all of your time!) and it's only been a month! I wonder what God has in store for the rest of the summer:)

Excelsior!

Montana or Bust

2008-05-11T02:16:00.005-04:00

Enroute to Trout Creek, Montana on the world's coolest roadtrip, with some of the most amazing people ever: Temple Bragg, Shama Eller, Timothy George, and Brian Glass. Map of our route.

While Rome Burns*

2008-04-27T22:10:00.003-04:00

Ivan and I have just feasted on a sumptuous meal of tender Broiled Gluten with Lime Garlic Sauce. MMMmmm good. It took quite a while (2 and a half hours) to proceed from start to finish, but the end result was definitely worth it! For those who are interested, here's the recipe, thanks to Mr. Marsh.

1 cup pre-seasoned gluten flour (season with Mckay's Chicken seasoning)
2/3 cup cold water
1/3 cup peanut butter (chop into dry mix before adding water)

Knead until formed into one dough ball, squish into oven-suitable container (caution, this mixture is akin to Flubber!), and bake for about 2o minutes at 350 until firm. Remove from oven and cut several slits in the dough. Then cover with your favorite salsa (Lime and Garlic in this case) and return to the oven for another 45 minutes or so. Wait eagerly and then carefully remove from the oven. Serve however you like (we had sandwiches) Delicious!

Now, back to those pesky books!

Excelsior!

*For those confused by the title, see my Distractions post:)

Revolutionary

2008-04-21T00:11:00.005-04:00

http://jeddaka.deviantart.com/art/Sword-42041021

I found something very profound and I want to share it with you. This is a selection from Sandra's blog.

Interpretations. Is Bible all about interpretations? You mean when I read it and explain the idea it presents in simpler words its already my interpretation and wrong?

This week, I learned that to say "I believe", or "I think this is how it is" really works. Among my friends my interpretation doesn't count. So no longer do I even say these words, because what I believe will not change the world. It might change my actions, my character if I truly cling to what I believe in the Bible, but my spoken word of my faith will not proof that that's what necessarily Bible is speaking.
How did Jesus defend His truth? "I believe..."???? No. Rather here are the texts that He used in His confrontational situations:
Lu 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Lu 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve
.Lu 4:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
Lu 19:46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Lu 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
John 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Jesus quoted the scriptures. God Himself abiding in His own word. He knew it, knew it in His heart, because Bible doesn't say "Jesus ran to the synagogue to get the book of Isaiah so He could read to the devil who was tempting Jesus in the wilderness".... Not at all, because He kept saying "It is written..... ".
I am convinced, time after time when I am asked certain questions and am confronted with what I say from the Bible, whether I read it to the questioner or quote it my self, that there is no way of proving the Bible but through quoting, or showing what it speaks for itself . . . There can only be one truth . . .
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Pr 16:25

Wow! Is it possible?

Thanks for the inspiration Sandra!

Excelsior

2008-9?

2008-04-16T19:20:00.001-04:00

View Larger Map

Lists

2008-04-15T16:10:00.014-04:00

In case you're interested, here are some of my latest musical and literary acquisitions :)

Music I've been listening to recently:

Vaughn Williams: Orchestral Works performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Palestrina: Complete Masses performed by Pro Cantione Antiqua

Holst: St. Paul's Suite performed by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

Eager Steps performed by Sarah and Jonathan Otto

Books on my shelf:

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt

Planet Narnia by Michael Ward

Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation by Bede

A Brief History of the Paradox by Roy Sorenson

1066: The Year of Conquest by David Howarth

Lord, Save My Church by Richard O'Ffill

Excelsior!

Helpless?

2008-04-15T09:15:00.003-04:00

(http://a-aracnaphobic.deviantart.com/art/Rose-Petals-62466239)

She sits in silence,
Her heart hurts.
I want to save the day,
But I cannot.

My heart breaks.

She speaks in sorrow,
Of life's woes.
How can I help her now,
What can I do?

My heart aches.

There is One who was
Silent and sad.
He bore our wounds and grief.
I can tell Him.

Peace awakes

Excelsior