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‘Time and
sand’ – in the sense of God’s people on the long journey from Egypt to the
Promised Land – was my watchword the last time I wrote, in December. Now
I’m excited to tell you that if I haven’t quite yet entered the land God has
prepared for me, I think I can just about see it from here. Lots of
conversation back and forth right now between me, World Outreach (the missions
arm of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, EPC), Fuller Seminary, and Serge
(formerly World Harvest Mission) with whom I’m exploring the possibility of
serving as a mobile theological educator, based overseas developing connections
with and teaching in their partner institutions. No decisions yet but more
details soon, I hope. Meanwhile please do pray for God to continue to lead the
way and give everyone wisdom as we consider options and form plans. After two
years of recovery and rest I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to be moving
forward again.
At the same
time I’m grateful that God has already been moving, even while he’s had me
holding (relatively… like, for me, sort of...) still. Here’s a recap of
highlights in 2015:
In January I
went before the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic in the Evangelical Presbyterian
Church to transfer my ordination from the Presbyterian Church USA into the EPC.
After hours and hours of examination in committee and in the general meeting
I’m now the first woman ‘teaching elder’ (minister) in the EPC’s Mid-Atlantic
Presbytery, which spans the Virginias and Carolinas. Whoa. But I have to say
those guys have been really nice to me.
In February I
headed to Orlando, Florida, to help Caroline with wedding plans. Happy mom!
Just ten days ago, on May 23rd, we celebrated Caroline’s marriage to Will
Swartz – himself a missionary kid born in the Philippines and raised in
Slovakia. A few wedding pics below, thank you for asking! In July Caroline will
complete her two-year internship with Cru as a globe-trotting pastor to
missionary kids. She and Will are both middle-school teachers and their plans
include a couple of years in Orlando teaching and enjoying life as newlyweds
before exploring opportunities to teach overseas.
In March I
picked up a couple of new clients in the (very) part-time English tutoring I do
here in Charlottesville, VA. These are faculty members at the University of
Virginia who are non-native speakers of English, one from Korea, one from
Jordan. I'm helping them with their academic writing: anything from research
articles to emails to end-of-year reports to course syllabi. It gives me
practical experience for the MA in Teaching English for Academic Purposes (the
higher ed specialization in ESL) I’m working on through the University of
Nottingham, helps pay the bills, and keeps this global nomad happily engaged
with internationals in my local community. I also continue to connect as host
family for my two Chinese women grad students at UVA, one at the law school and
another doing a PhD in education.
In April I
began teaching my first ‘hybrid’ course for Fuller Theological Seminary. We're
just now wrapping up ten weeks of ‘Introduction to the New Testament’: nine
weeks online and one intensive face-to-face week at Fuller’s campus in
Pasadena, California, the first week in May. Don’t want to tell you just how
much fun that Pasadena trip was…
After that to
Orlando for the wedding, and now I’m home in Virginia catching my breath before
leaving on June 24 for China to spend the summer teaching English with English
Language Institute/China (ELIC, elic.org). It’s practical experience in
teaching English overseas, a wonderful opportunity to share life with these
Chinese students, and a vision trip for me to learn about life and work in East
Asia. After a week of orientation and training in Beijing, I’ll be part of an
ELIC team in Tianjin, China, at the Tianjin Institute of Software Engineering.
Thank you so much to all of you who are participating in this as my sending
partners. I’m very happy and grateful to tell you that all the financial
support I need is in!!
I’ll be back
in early August in time for my niece Jessica’s wedding, then in September I
hope to have meetings with EPC World Outreach and Serge (we’re exploring a
co-operative arrangement between the two agencies). In October and November
I’ll be back in Bangalore, India, at the South Asian Institute of Advanced
Christian Studies (SAIACS). In October I’ll teach the same four-week
hermeneutics course I taught last summer, and in November a new-to-me course on
Greek exegesis of Mark’s Gospel. A big thank you to the church I grew up in,
Kempsville EPC in Virginia Beach, for making this India trip possible!
And in
December? Who knows. What I’m really hoping is that by then God will have
revealed what this is all adding up to, what the longer-term plan might look
like. Wherever he wants me to end up, I confess that the sand in my shoes is
making me a bit itchy to get there...
****************
So grateful
to God for protecting me, Caroline, and everyone else involved, four days
before the wedding. But oh my poor car.
(Also grateful for good insurance)
But nothing
spoiled the joy of this wedding! My kids: William & Linnea, Caroline &
Will
Now just
three weeks until I leave for China to take part in ELIC's 'LinkU' English
language program, and then back
to India in late September to be reunited with these students and meet a whole
new batch
