What Was I Thinking?!

Remember back in August when I told you I’d applied to Serge (serge.org, formerly World Harvest Mission) to work in global theological education and would be attending their ‘assessment & orientation’ week in Philadelphia in mid-September? And also I was planning to go to Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) headquarters in Michigan the week before that to interview for a co-operative missionary appointment between Serge and EPC World Outreach? And then I said something perky and optimistic like “Hopefully all this mission admin stuff will be sorted before I leave on Sept 23rd for India”? Really – what was I thinking?!! Any experienced missionary should have known the process was NEVER going to move that smoothly. The past few months have been filled with all sorts of back and forth, ups and downs trying to sort out how to make this happen – and not knowing for sure whether it would happen at all, or whether the Lord was shutting those doors and I needed to search out a completely different one. I’ve worked my way through the psalms of lament: “How long, O Lord?” and “Why?” At this point in life, do I really need this sort of drama?

But God is good, as always, and just this week things have been coming together. Serge has designed a position to match their needs with my gifts and we all agree that for the foreseeable future I should live in (drumroll)… Dublin, Ireland. The goal is to become a theological education specialist based with Serge’s team in Ireland but “primarily serving the needs of the developing world through online teaching and extensive travel to consult and teach” (says Serge). As part of the team in Dublin I'll also help support Irish churches and church planting efforts, primarily by teaching in an Irish theological college for part of each year. I never did make it to Michigan in September, but now I’m scheduled to interview with EPC World Outreach on December 2nd & 3rd, with the hope of emerging from that as an EPC missionary serving with Serge in the Republic of Ireland – which some say is the least-evangelized English-speaking country in the world.

If anyone interested in cross-cultural ministry wants to know what it looks and feels like to ‘get there from here,’ this is it. Twists and turns and confusion and creativity – and tears and trust – are part of the package, at least in my experience. What happens next is that I begin looking for the pray-ers and givers God’s putting in place to make this ministry possible.

Meanwhile, in His goodness I’m in Bangalore for two months teaching at the South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (saiacs.org), one of my favorite places anywhere. A wonderful ethos at SAIACS, thoughtful colleagues, a strategic role in South Asia's small Christian context, and very eager and able students from India, Nepal, and beyond, engaged in reaching out to their Hindu and Muslim neighbors. For the month of October I had sixteen first-year MA students for their foundational course in biblical hermeneutics – the beliefs, approaches and methods we bring to studying the Bible. This month eight upper-level MDiv students and I are reading through the first third of Mark’s Gospel in Greek, focusing on improving their Greek and their skills in New Testament interpretation. Since I'm here for eight weeks this time instead of the usual four, I’ve also had more opportunity than ever before to get to know people beyond SAIACS, attending a local church (Bangalore New City Fellowship, newcityfellowship.in) along with a weekly home group that’s part of the church. Plus I get to eat great Indian food every day and wear beautiful Indian clothes!

At the same time that I’m teaching here in India I’ve been teaching a very similar hermeneutics course online for Fuller Theological Seminary, with students in Hawaii, various parts of the continental US, and Barbados. The good news is that a week or two ago Fuller gave me a small promotion, which means more teaching and a higher rate of pay – which should be just about enough to cover my basic living expenses for the first half of 2016 while I’m raising missionary support. (Deep sigh of relief and gratitude…)

Only two more weeks here in India and then back to the US in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. And then to EPC World Outreach interviews… And then? I guess we’ll see what God does next…

MA Hermeneutics class at SAIACS 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating the end of a successful course!

 

At SAIACS faculty members, students, and support staff eat together every day

 

Thursdays are my favorite - egg curry and pumpkin

 

Continuing the food theme... lunch last week at a church friend's house -

including an amazing cooking lesson in her kitchen

 

  

Back to work: Greek Exegesis of Mark class,

with some very intense and hard working students!

 

'How Was China?'

"So how was China?!” Always a challenge to know where to start with that question, but the short answer is that on the whole it was wonderful, with the usual quirks of any short-term project. A few highlights from my six weeks this summer with ELIC (www.elic.org): 

• Surprise! Turns out I was not teaching Chinese teachers of English as I’d expected, but instead teaching oral English to undergraduate and graduate students from several universities in Tianjin (just east of Beijing), hosted by the Tianjin Institute of Software Engineering. Yes, flexibility is essential.

• Truly loved being with these Chinese university students, whose hearts are so open to us and to the world at large. I’m a Cold War baby myself, so the opportunity to connect with this rising generation of Chinese professionals challenged my own stereotypes and gave me a privileged glimpse into future global relations.

• I learned that it’s OK to be a Christian in China, but it’s not OK to talk about it (much). On the one hand, I was thrilled to attend officially registered ‘Three-Self’ Chinese churches and hear the Bible taught openly, and there were times when I had the chance to tell people about my own life and interests. On the other hand, our teacher team was constantly aware that our words and actions were being monitored. I don't know of any significant spiritual breakthroughs as a result of our time in China, but I suspect that the Lord will use the sweet relationships we enjoyed in ways beyond my imagination.

• I also learned (as one billion people already know) that you can eat Chinese food three times a day – with chopsticks – and it’s actually very good. I’m now a convert to the joys of dumplings!

But perhaps most importantly, I came home convinced that my own call is to theological education rather than teaching English. I was glad to be in a very different type of service this summer, in an unfamiliar cultural context, since I’ve been wondering how much of why I feel drawn to theological education is that at this point in my life it’s familiar and comfortable. Teaching English was great. Really great. But I kept noticing that my heart felt fullest when I was teaching the Bible – spontaneously asked to lead an English Bible lesson at a Three-Self church, speaking to our teacher team at our home-grown Sunday worship services, whatever. I think that's what God made me for.

So… here’s what’s happening next. I’ve applied to Serge (formerly World Harvest, www.serge.org) mission to help them define and develop their involvement in global theological education. They’ve invited me to their ‘assessment & orientation’ week in Philadelphia, Sept 13-18. Assuming we all feel the same sense of confirmation by the end of that week, I’ll become a theological education specialist with Serge, a role that involves traveling to teach in various theological schools worldwide where Serge is developing partnerships. Still trying to discern whether it’s best for me to be based here in Charlottesville or with one of Serge’s teams somewhere overseas – we’re waiting on the Lord for some of those ‘small’ (!) details to become clearer.

At the same time, I’ve applied for a co-operative appointment between Serge and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), which means also becoming a missionary with EPC World Outreach (www.epc.org/wo), fulfilling a dream of mine to be an extension of my church and denomination serving overseas. Still doing all the paperwork for that, but the door seems open and I think I’ll end up going to Michigan for a few days the first week in September to meet people in the World Outreach office there.

Hopefully all this mission admin stuff will be sorted before I leave on Sept 23^rd for… India! I’m returning to the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (www.saiacs.org) in Bangalore to teach hermeneutics and Greek for two months. This will be my fourth visit to SAIACS and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with former students as well as meeting a whole new batch. Plus, while I’m in India it looks like I’ll also be teaching an online course in hermeneutics for Fuller Theological Seminary. (Very good news, as I need the income – not gonna lie!)

You’ve probably figured out by now that after two years of wandering through the hot dry sand of the wilderness it seems like the Lord is finally leading me forward. That’s a great feeling. But I also want to hold onto the sense of intimacy and dependence he’s given me during several of the hardest years of my life. I’ve learned two very important things during these dark times: God is right here with me in the midst of it. And, he is good.

Such a privilege to spend the summer loving on 

these undergrad and graduate students in China!