27 April 2013

Greetings from Kenya… I think! After two months in Ethiopia, now ten days at home in Kenya, then ten days in the UK starting next week, then planning to arrive in the US in mid-May, I (Stephanie) am finding it a bit hard to keep track. First a report on my Ethiopia trip, then Bill’s update, and then I’ll tell you about our plans for the rest of 2013.  

I finished up my Term 2 courses at the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST, part of Africa International University) a bit early at the end of February and headed to Ethiopia on 1 March. This was my first time back to teach at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) since we moved from Addis Ababa in 2008. So many new impressions – how dramatically Addis Ababa has changed with new roads and new high-rise buildings everywhere, how much EGST has grown both in student numbers and in facilities, how many familiar missionary faces have moved away and new ones have come. But lots still the same – that great taste of Ethiopian food and fresh juice drinks from tiny storefront cafés, speaking my stumbling Amharic, old friends I hadn’t seen in years, and the vivid reminder that as one of the least developed countries in Africa, logistics in Ethiopia (accommodations, phone, internet access, transport) can be challenging. By comparison we call super-globalized Nairobi ‘Africa lite’ or ‘Africa with training wheels’, and I sometimes feel that my life here looks like a typical suburbanite’s anywhere. At least in Addis Ababa I felt like a real missionary again.  

Three highlights from my two months in Ethiopia: First, the 24 students in my Advanced Hermeneutics class at EGST were fantastic, one of the best groups I’ve taught in years. I was energized by their enthusiasm, their academic capacity (including more ability in English than I remember from five years ago), and by having a small handful of very capable women in the class, several of whom are in EGST’s Female Faculty Development Program. So exciting to have the opportunity to speak into their lives at this point in their professional growth. And a big difference from the years when I was the only woman in Ethiopia with a PhD in a biblical or theological subject, and would normally have only one or two women students in each class – or often, none. Secondly, I had the chance to travel to the remote north of Ethiopia to facilitate a weekend women’s retreat for ten missionary women who rarely get a break or a ‘top-up’ in their ministries. So lovely to be with these dear friends and committed servants for rest, Bible study and fun. And thirdly, during Bill’s short trip to Ethiopia over Easter weekend we were able to visit the new pastor and many of Bill’s former staff members at the International Evangelical Church where Bill was senior pastor for four years. After a painful ending to Bill’s ministry at the church (not related to any of these people), the opportunity to sit down together for coffee and great memories was such a gift. A very healing event.  

While I’ve been in Ethiopia, Bill’s been beavering away at St Paul’s University, teaching undergraduate courses in Church History and Systematic Theology, and post-graduate courses in the History of Eastern Christianity, The History of Monasticism and Research Methodology. He’s also produced proposals for St. Paul’s new PhD programs in Christian History and in Systematic Theology, and otherwise tried to keep his head above water. He preaches monthly at the Orthodox cathedral in Nairobi and has preached at several rural parishes as well. And he’s been busy writing, or at least trying to get things he has written published. Some good news: his article “Offended Christians, Anti-Mission Churches and Colonial Politics: One Man’s Story of the Messy Birth of the African Orthodox Church in Kenya” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Religion in Africa. Bill’s still searching for someone to publish the book he’s written on varying approaches to spiritual authority among Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox, so please pray that someone might want to pick that up.  

Now I have one more week in Kenya to organize my life (hah!) before leaving for the UK and a longer than usual stay in the US. Bill will finish his term at St Paul’s and we’ll meet up in Virginia in mid-May. I’ll be in Cambridge from 5-12 May, looking forward to seeing UK friends and supporters there. It’s been four years since I’ve visited, so lots of catching up to do. Then to Virginia until December 2013. This will be the first time since 2003 that we’ve had a ‘home assignment’ of longer than 2-3 months. Ten years! The first big event will be Caroline’s graduation from the University of Virginia on Sunday, May 19th. Following that we’re looking forward to some extended time for reflection and counseling at this point in our life and ministry, asking God to show us the way forward personally and professionally. It’s ‘home assignment’ not vacation, so it does involve work: Bill will be raising support for his new ministry relationship with The Antioch Partners, and I’ll have plenty to do on my MA in Teaching English for Academic Purposes, including volunteering in UVA’s summer English program for incoming international students for the month of July, and will continue to supervise NEGST PhD students by email and Skype. We’re also looking forward to visiting all of you who give so generously to make our part in theological education in Africa possible, but fortunately this time we get to do that at a more leisurely pace. And as you can imagine, I’m very excited about having nearly eight months in our cozy little house near Charlottesville, VA. My first autumn in the Blue Ridge mountains in ten years. Fall leaves. Apples. Farmers’ markets. And best of all, our kids nearby. Bliss.

Ethiopia Missionary Redux
Unfortunately I’ve lost my camera, so I can’t show you all the great photos I took. But here are a few highlights I managed to pull together…

First Sunday back – Lunch with missionary friends (me at back right) 

 

My Ethiopian driver’s license has expired, so I spent a lot of time in those blue-and-white taxis

 

Me in my classroom at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST)

 

Love these students! 

 

 

Tuesdays, 12:30 pm: EGST faculty lunch. That’s EGST Director, Dr. Desta Heliso, in the center 

And me enjoying the faculty lunch (do you notice a food theme?!) 

To remote northern Ethiopia for a women’s retreat – this is pretty much what it looks like up there 

View from the car: you drive through a few little towns… 

…and lots and lots of countryside 

We made it! Gheralta Lodge – those eco-friendly stone buildings on the left are our bedrooms 

Studying together about resurrection and the new earth and what it means for us today… 

 

 …plus lots of down time for missionary women needing a break – Kristi’s found her happy place on the veranda!

The view from my window at 6:30 a.m. God’s beautiful creation