.jpg)
Last Saturday night I found myself in Dearborn, Michigan, sitting in the home of a large Muslim family from Iraq,
along with a bunch of smiling Presbyterians – all of us drinking tea
with lots of sugar, eating sesame seed cookies still warm from the oven,
and singing Christmas carols. As part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church’s
get-to-know-you weekend for new and prospective missionaries we went
caroling in a neighborhood of predominantly Shiite immigrants. Just to
say ‘we love you’ and ‘we’re glad you’re here.’ We newbies weren’t quite
sure how we’d be received as our team wandered around in the dark
singing as hopefully as we could. But then one young man came out to
meet us on the sidewalk and invited us into his mother’s house. And from
that point on it was just plain fun. At the end, after lots of
conversation and prayer for the family, our new Muslim friend said,
“This is like a small miracle. Today I was looking at social media and
feeling bad about how terrible things are in the world. Then I heard
your music and saw you outside. Thank you for coming.” Another team
reported that an Arab woman in a fluffy blue bathroom invited them into
her home, fed them and told them, “I’m so glad you weren’t afraid to
come inside. We’re not all terrorists, you know.” As a newcomer to the EPC’s missionary family I’m delighted to discover that in EPC World Outreach this is how we roll.
Yes, it’s official! As of last Thursday I’m now a missionary appointee of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church’s World Outreach (epc.org/wo), in a cooperative appointment with Serge (serge.org) to serve as a traveling international theological education specialist based with Serge’s team in Dublin, Ireland. Whew! That sounds like a mouthful, doesn’t it? As many of you are well aware, this has been a long time coming, and I’m grateful that for the first time in several years the Lord's given me a clear picture of what happens next. We structured-type people really like this sort of definition.
My responsibility is to bring my international experience in theological education – all those years in the US, UK, Africa and India – to Serge’s fields of ministry around the world. I get the opportunity to serve the Kingdom of God by teaching in theological institutions alongside Serge’s church-planting efforts, helping Serge develop and strengthen partnerships in theological education, and inviting and equipping others to participate in theological training in cross-cultural settings. To be honest, I get to invent my job as we go along. Doesn’t that sound amazing?! Many of you know my passion to help train the emerging generation of Christian leaders worldwide who’ll shape global Christianity in the 21st century. In God’s economy none of my previous experience is wasted. Everything comes together in this new role.
You won’t be surprised to hear I’ll need partners in this work – give-ers, pray-ers, friends and encouragers. From January-May 2016 I’ll have a chance to reconnect with many of you who’ve been such faithful partners in the past and I’ll reach out to the new partners God’s bringing into this. You may be wondering how you can start helping right now. That would be great! You can give to Serge here or send a gift to the address in the sidebar. (You’ll also be able to give through EPC World Outreach, but there’s still some paperwork and committee approval needed before that’s available. Because, we’re Presbyterian.) Thank you so very much! Once all the financial support is raised I’ll be able to relocate to Dublin, hopefully by September 2016 in time for the new academic year.
Meanwhile, I finished teaching at the South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS, saiacs.org) in Bangalore, India, and returned home just in time to head to South Carolina for Thanksgiving with extended family. People keep asking, “How was India?” and the answer is, I felt like I was totally in my sweet spot. The opportunity to teach biblical hermeneutics and Greek exegesis of Mark’s Gospel to these eager young Indian and Nepali leaders feeds my soul. God willing, I’ll return to SAIACS next July to repeat the hermeneutics course with a new crop of entering MA students.
Now I’m home in Charlottesville for a couple of weeks, then to Orlando for Christmas with Caroline and Will, then finally back to Virginia to stay for a while. I have much to celebrate this Christmas as I look back at the healing and renewal God has worked in me over this past year. I'm ever more grateful for the costliest gift of all – the birth of Jesus, God-with-us, born to offer us life and hope. Good news for each of us. Good news to share with the world.
Yes, it’s official! As of last Thursday I’m now a missionary appointee of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church’s World Outreach (epc.org/wo), in a cooperative appointment with Serge (serge.org) to serve as a traveling international theological education specialist based with Serge’s team in Dublin, Ireland. Whew! That sounds like a mouthful, doesn’t it? As many of you are well aware, this has been a long time coming, and I’m grateful that for the first time in several years the Lord's given me a clear picture of what happens next. We structured-type people really like this sort of definition.
My responsibility is to bring my international experience in theological education – all those years in the US, UK, Africa and India – to Serge’s fields of ministry around the world. I get the opportunity to serve the Kingdom of God by teaching in theological institutions alongside Serge’s church-planting efforts, helping Serge develop and strengthen partnerships in theological education, and inviting and equipping others to participate in theological training in cross-cultural settings. To be honest, I get to invent my job as we go along. Doesn’t that sound amazing?! Many of you know my passion to help train the emerging generation of Christian leaders worldwide who’ll shape global Christianity in the 21st century. In God’s economy none of my previous experience is wasted. Everything comes together in this new role.
You won’t be surprised to hear I’ll need partners in this work – give-ers, pray-ers, friends and encouragers. From January-May 2016 I’ll have a chance to reconnect with many of you who’ve been such faithful partners in the past and I’ll reach out to the new partners God’s bringing into this. You may be wondering how you can start helping right now. That would be great! You can give to Serge here or send a gift to the address in the sidebar. (You’ll also be able to give through EPC World Outreach, but there’s still some paperwork and committee approval needed before that’s available. Because, we’re Presbyterian.) Thank you so very much! Once all the financial support is raised I’ll be able to relocate to Dublin, hopefully by September 2016 in time for the new academic year.
Meanwhile, I finished teaching at the South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS, saiacs.org) in Bangalore, India, and returned home just in time to head to South Carolina for Thanksgiving with extended family. People keep asking, “How was India?” and the answer is, I felt like I was totally in my sweet spot. The opportunity to teach biblical hermeneutics and Greek exegesis of Mark’s Gospel to these eager young Indian and Nepali leaders feeds my soul. God willing, I’ll return to SAIACS next July to repeat the hermeneutics course with a new crop of entering MA students.
Now I’m home in Charlottesville for a couple of weeks, then to Orlando for Christmas with Caroline and Will, then finally back to Virginia to stay for a while. I have much to celebrate this Christmas as I look back at the healing and renewal God has worked in me over this past year. I'm ever more grateful for the costliest gift of all – the birth of Jesus, God-with-us, born to offer us life and hope. Good news for each of us. Good news to share with the world.
My hard-working Greek exegesis students at the South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) in November
