tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49621014294041239682024-03-05T00:21:59.161-05:00Helleman NewsAdrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-46113747121241071892012-11-23T19:17:00.001-05:002014-02-06T09:51:06.157-05:00Rebecca S. Dali defends her PhD thesis: "An Ethical Analysis of the Plight of Women in Violent Conflict in Northern Nigeria (1980-2008)"<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Rebecca
awaits the examination at the Unijos School of Post-Graduate Studies</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">November 5, 2012 was a pretty special day for Rebecca Samuel Dali. It
was the day for which she had been preparing herself for some years, especially
since 2003 when she entered the Master's
program in Ethics and Philosophy at the federal University of Jos
(Unijos), and took a graduate course with Wendy. At the time Rebecca had
already started the research which would become the heart of her master's
thesis on the effect of violent conflict on women. After the Jos crisis of 2001
she had followed up on those women, both Muslim and Christian, who, like
herself, had been deeply affected by that event. She asked them many questions
about injuries sustained, trauma and various kinds of loss suffered during the
crisis. The result was a thesis which argued that, because of their pivotal
role in the family and society, the effects of such crises were more devastating
for women than for men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">New Buildings at Unijos</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Although Rebecca wished to continue immediately with doctoral studies, a
number of delays at the university in calling on an external examiner for the
master's theses meant that she was not able to defend this thesis for some
time, and enrollment in the doctoral program was delayed until 2009. But that
did not stop her from beginning the work toward a doctoral thesis as an extension
of earlier work, now focused on the northern communities of Kaduna (the
crisis of 2000) and Maiduguri (the 'cartoon' crisis of 2006): <i>"An Ethical
Analysis of the Plight of Women in Violent Conflict in Northern Nigeria
(1980-2008)"</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">This time the focus of the thesis was somewhat different.
Rebecca used evidence obtained through interviews and discussions to argue that
in general there is far too little understanding of the plight of women in
violent conflict, and that, contrary to public perception, Muslim women were as
seriously affected by these crises as were Christian women. Rebecca submitted
the completed thesis to the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy in
June. Normally the thesis is first approved by a committee of the department,
before it is passed along to the Dean of Arts and Sciences. From that point it goes before the University Senate, and if this body approves, an external
examiner is called upon to come and examine the student in an oral defense of
the thesis, the <i>Viva</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Wendy working
with Rebecca to prepare her for the oral defense<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Compared to many graduate students, Rebecca's doctoral defense was
scheduled fairly soon after she completed and submitted the thesis to the
department. Some students wait a year or more before an external examiner is
identified, and is ready to come for the defense. Since Wendy, as supervisor,
was not in Nigeria at the time, she depended heavily on a Nigerian colleague,
Prof. Musa Gaiya, to take care of arrangements for inviting the external
examiner and setting the date. Even so, we were caught somewhat by surprise
when, on October 6, we received an urgent request from Prof. Gaiya to come for
the November 5 defense, and arrive in Nigeria by November 1 if at all possible.
A month is rather short for obtaining a Nigerian visa, but we did manage to get
it by asking for expedited service. And we arrived in Jos in time, by
Wednesday, October 31!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Rebecca with Prof. Gaiya and Wendy at the
defense </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Already the next day, Thursday, Wendy started working with Rebecca,
preparing her for the kinds of questions and challenges she might expect on the
arguments and positions taken. Rebecca appeared confident enough in these
discussions, so we were not overly concerned about her ability to hold her own
in the oral defense. Of course, when Monday came, the day of the defense,
Rebecca was rather nervous. And the external examiner didn’t help matters when
he started his examination with a barrage of criticism. Even so, Wendy noticed
that his critical remarks focused on rather insubstantial details, without touching central positions defended in the
thesis. This was a good sign. In the end the examiner affirmed Rebecca for presenting
'groundbreaking' work, and awarded the doctoral degree. She would have to
provide only moderate corrections; although she was given six months to
complete them, she will probably be able to finish them by Christmas time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Rebecca and Wendy with external examiner</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Rebecca signs the important documents<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">So, the time had really come to celebrate the event! We are so grateful
that Rebecca has achieved her desire to finish the doctoral studies. Many years of
educational effort have come to a climax with this examination. And Rebecca has
worked hard toward this achievement. Although, with her husband, Sam, Rebecca
now serves the <i>Church of the Brethren</i> (EYN in Nigeria) and <i>The
Theological College of Northern Nigeria</i> (TCNN), she began life in a family
characterized by a thorough mix of Nigeria's major religious groups: Muslim,
Christian and traditional African religion. She remembers the rote memorization
of Islamic prayers in early childhood. But that did not lead to her receiving a
regular basic education, for her herbalist father was more interested in having
her help in the preparation, brewing and distribution of his products. But one
day her older sister rescued her from this work, and had her placed in a
mission school. At the time Rebecca did not have the proper clothes for
schooling, but that did not stop her. Without further help from her parents, she
worked in the fields at harvest to earn the money needed for tuition and a
uniform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">From this beginning Rebecca acquired a deep desire for learning, and when she finished primary school she hoped to go on to secondary schooling. Once more, her parents had other plans. In order to pay the debt of one of her brothers who had been imprisoned, her father had promised Rebecca in marriage as third wife to a much older man. To escape this fate Rebecca ran away from home, but the relatives from whom she sought help returned her to her father instead. Again her older sister came to her rescue, telling her to run to the house of the Captain in charge of the local EYN Girls' Brigade, of which she had been a member since she was five. At this point the Captain and the local pastor intervened on her behalf to talk to her father, and introduce her to the Women Teachers' College Numa, a girls' boarding school. And once again Rebecca lacked the necessary means, but she was able to pay for her own room and board, uniform, books and tuition by helping a number of teachers with their housework. Rebecca did well at the school (1975-80), and upon graduation was able to teach in area schools for a number of years, until she married Sam, who was working in a mission dispensary at the time. The wedding was not a straightforward event either, for an older brother wanted Rebecca to marry a rich man, who could help solve the family's financial difficulties. Once again, Rebecca escaped to a relative who promised to help, but in fact did nothing. But Rebecca did get to marry the man of her choice, although the wedding had to proceed without the usual help from family members, and the young couple had little to claim as their own at the time; but the Lord has blessed their marriage with six children.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">In 1983 the Nigerian Church of the Brethren (EYN) sponsored both Sam and Rebecca for theological training at TCNN, and from 1983-87 Rebecca was enrolled in the Christian Ministry program there. Upon completion she taught for six years (1987-93) at EYN's Kulp Bible College. But this would not be the final goal of her studies, for in 1993 the Basel Mission of Switzerland sponsored her for further studies, first for her Bachelor's degree (1993-96) and following that, to work towards a Master's degree (1997-98) at TCNN. Since that time Rebecca has been teaching at TCNN on behalf of the Church of the Brethren. She did take a leave of absence for a number of years to complete her doctorate, and transferred to live in the north east of Nigeria, also because last year her husband became Executive President of the Nigerian Church of the Brethren, which meant relocating to Mubi, not far from Maiduguri. Aside from the NGO which she has established to help women victims of ethno-religious violence, Rebecca is teaching and preaching in that part of Nigeria for the time being. She hopes to go back to teaching at TCNN Bukuru from January through July 2013, before returning to Kwarhi, near the Mubi EYN Headquarters, until her husband Sam finishes this term of service to the church. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Time for celebration: Rebecca and Sam with
Adrian and Wendy</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Aside from her studies and teaching activities over the last years,
Rebecca has published a number of books: <i>Women in Ministry with Jesus: Where
are They? Reflections on Women's Activities in the Church Today</i> (2000); <i>The
Secret of Successful Living in the Christian Home</i> (2001); <i>Wealth
Creation and Savings: Some Biblical Principles</i>. Not long ago she managed to
publish her master's thesis on women in the Jos 2001 crisis, and we anticipate
that the doctoral work will soon join this list of publications.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Over the years we have asked many of you to pray for Rebecca as she
faced one obstacle after the other, to pray for Wendy's supervision of her
work, and for the successful completion of her studies at this level. This is
the appropriate time to thank you for your faithful support, which has made it
possible for us to celebrate this event. In her thesis Rebecca acknowledged the
help of many people who supported her along the way, and special thanks must
go to our department's Professor Umar
Danfulani (currently Dean of Arts and Science), who always supported Rebecca,
and initially encouraged her to work with Wendy. Also important for Rebecca's
work was church historian Prof. Musa Gaiya, who looked after all the
bureaucratic details of Rebecca's obligations to the Post-Graduate School of
Unijos, particularly when Wendy was already back in Canada, and was continuing
her supervision by email.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Rebecca working with Coleen Starwalt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;">Once Rebecca began collecting data based on her interviews, the
intervention and help of Dr. Coleen Starwalt of TCNN was crucial for the
analysis of the statistics on which her results are based. And Rebecca's work
owes much to the timely help of Mrs. Crozier and others at TCNN who helped her
to edit her thesis for English. But finally Rebecca's acknowledgements begin
with what has been most important throughout these years: <i>“My appreciation goes
to God Almighty who bestows His favour upon me in His ministry. 'My God is
God.' He opens doors for me, and has sustained and enabled me to this point.
Glory, honour and majesty belong to God.”</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-78157525423019495742012-11-23T14:44:00.004-05:002012-11-23T16:58:47.773-05:00November newsletter<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">November 7, 2012</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> "May he give you the desire of your heart, and make all your plans succeed.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">Psalm</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">20:4.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Dear Friends,<br /><br />1/ This was our prayer for </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">doctoral student Rebecca Dali, and we are happy to report that our Lord has graciously answered</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">. This past Monday, Nov. 5, <b><i>Rebecca successfully defended her thesis</i></b> on "The Plight of Women in Violent Conflict in Northern Nigeria (1980-2008)". The external examiner praised her for groundbreaking work on the topic. So we also want to thank all of you who have supported us over the years that Wendy supervised Rebecca's work. Through your support you helped to make it possible for Rebecca's work to come to a successful conclusion, and equip her to better serve both</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> the <i>Church of the Brethren in Nigeria</i>, and</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> the </span></span><i style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Theological College of </span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i>Northern Nigerian</i>, in Bukuru (close to Jos), where she teaches.<br /><br />2/ Please <b><i>give thanks</i></b> with us, also, that <b><i>we were able to travel at this time, and</i></b> <b><i>arrive safely in Jos</i></b>, about a week ago. Once we heard of plans for </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Rebecca's oral examination on Nov.5,</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> there were many details needing attention, especially with respect to travel arrangements and visas. We are especially grateful that we decided to travel via France; had we followed initial plans to travel to Lagos via New York, we would probably have been prevented by hurricane "Sandy", and not arrived on time for the defense! We have been warmly welcomed once again by former colleagues, and are now able to work with remaining doctoral students, and accomplish some editorial projects. Please <i><b>pray for our return journey</b></i> next week Wednesday, Nov.14. After a few days with our daughter Pauline and her family near Boston, we hope to be back in Toronto by Nov.19.<br /><br />3/ At this time we would also ask ongoing<b><i> prayer for Harro van Brummelen</i></b>, executive director of CSI. We pray that, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">if it is the Lord's will, Harro's life may still be spared for his family and loved ones. We </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">are grateful that chemo treatment and medications have helped to ease the pain. But these treatments do cause extreme fatigue, and we would ask your prayers for sufficient stamina for each day. Please uphold Harro and his family before the Lord, for his never-failing care and love.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12px;"> </span></span>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-38478781950798978282012-11-23T14:33:00.000-05:002012-11-23T16:58:19.676-05:00October newsletter<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;">October 4, 2012<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">by prayer and petition, </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4.5.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;"><br />1/ This is a season of thanksgiving, and we begin with a note of thanks for your prayers for the situation in the Gambia. We are grateful for <b><i>good discussions</i></b> last weekend between Stan Wallace of IICS in Kansas City and the Vice Chancellor of the <b><i>University of the Gambia</i></b>. The door is open on the part of university administrators, and we pray for constructive involvement of North American academics at that university. The role of the <i>Gambia Christian Council</i> for the Program in Christian Studies still needs clarification, however, and we ask your ongoing prayers for that process.<br /><br />2/ Your prayers for <b><i>doctoral student Rebecca Dali</i></b> are also being answered. Last year Rebecca’s husband Sam became Executive Secretary of the Church of the Brethren, and they now live in Mubi, in the north- eastern section of Nigeria, not far from Maiduguri, which is also the home base of Boko Haram. Troubles of the past months have resulted in malevolent destruction of <b><i>strategic communications towers</i></b> in that area, making phone and internet communications very difficult. But we did have a clear phone conversation this week, when Rebecca reported that approval of her dissertation for defense is moving along well. She also told of <b><i>27 students killed</i></b> in a local university dormitory; 3 students were killed only a few days earlier. Whatever the specific cause, please pray for the families of these victims. Pray for peace and resolution of conflict in this region, and <b><i>pray for the Lord’s special protection</i></b> for Sam and Rebecca, since their work in the area requires considerable traveling.<br /><br />3/ We want to ask your <b><i>special prayers for Harro van Brummelen</i></b>, who has so ably served as executive director of CSI for the past few years. Aside from his position at Trinity Western University (Langley BC), Harro is well known in the wider Christian community, in Canada and beyond, for his work in Christian education. A few weeks ago Harro was surprised to learn that his <b><i>severe back pain</i></b> was caused by spinal cancer, and by that time it had already spread to the point where it is difficult to control. Please uphold Harro and his family in your prayers, that they may know the Lord’s never-failing care and love in this difficult situation. Pray for relief from the pain, and wisdom for doctors as they make decisions regarding optimum care.</span></div>
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Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-43682196357810669352012-11-23T14:30:00.003-05:002012-11-23T16:57:45.040-05:00September newsletter<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">September 9, 2012</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 146.5-6</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;"><br />Dear Friends,<br /><br />Labour Day has come and gone, and a new academic year is starting. But we are still in Toronto. You have not heard much from us these past months, and there is a simple reason for that. We did not really know what was happening in the relationship between the University of the Gambia and the bishops of the Gambia Christian Council as it affects students wishing to enrol in the new program in <i>Christian Studies</i> at the university. To the best of our knowledge there has been one meeting during the summer, but we do not know the outcome, particularly whether a <i>Memorandum of Understanding</i> has been agreed on. This was to regulate the respective responsibilities and relations between the two parties.<br /><br />As we understand the matter, there is some difference of understanding regarding the nature of the <i>Christian Studies</i> program. While the bishops appear to be looking for something like a divinity school program which can serve ordinands for ministry in the major Christian denominations, the intentions of the university are for a more open program to serve a wide variety of both Christian and non-Christian students. But we must also tell you that this is only our deduction as we reflect on the tensions experienced during the months we spent in the Gambia earlier this year.<br /><br />This is the main reason why we are sending you a prayer note at this time!<br /><br />1/ So we ask your prayers once more for the <b><i>Program in Christian Studies</i></b>. Please give thanks with us that two introductory courses on Christianity are being taught by a Gambian Catholic lecturer. And these courses are attracting a wide range of interested students. Do pray that a <b><i>Memorandum of Understanding with the Gambia Christian Council</i></b> can be worked out in the near future, so that the rest of the program can be implemented. Many students, including those whom we got to know via our teaching in Gambia Theological Institute courses, are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to enrol. Pray with us that their hopes may be realized.<br /><br />2/ Please give thanks with us for <b><i>Rebecca Samuel Dali</i></b>, a doctoral student whose work was supervised by Wendy. She recently completed her thesis on the special <b><i>challenges faced by women in violent conflict</i></b>. Her research is groundbreaking for the Nigerian situation, and promises to be a major resource for organizations providing assistance in conflict situations. When her thesis is accepted by the university senate an external examiner will be appointed; she hopes to defend the work later this year. We hope to travel to Nigeria for that occasion, also to meet with some of our other students to advise them on their research. Please <b><i>pray with us for Rebecca as she prepares for the defense</i></b>; pray that her work will be well received, that she may be able to overcome any remaining hurdles for the defense.<br /><br />3/ We thank you for your ongoing prayers for Nigeria, and specifically for Jos. Many missionary colleagues have been encouraged to leave during the past months because the situation appeared so precarious. Please pray for them and their families as they resettle in North America or in other mission contexts. Give thanks with us that the situation in <b><i>Jos has remained relatively peaceful</i></b> the past few weeks. We also know that tensions are not far below the surface. So we ask continued prayers for our friends and colleagues, especially at the University of Jos, that they may be able to finish the present semester with a degree of normalcy. <b><i>Pray with us for stability and peace</i></b>; pray that government officials may find a solution which addresses the underlying causes of tension and conflict.<br /><br />We are grateful for your prayers! We know that our Lord hears and answers us when we bring our needs to him.</span><br />
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Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-42894561729023616532012-05-02T12:48:00.001-04:002012-05-03T17:38:52.302-04:00Our GTI students in ministry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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In June the Gambia Theological Institute (GTI) hopes to hold its first graduation ceremony for the students who have participated in these courses from the first (about three years ago) and successfully completed ten courses. So this time we want to feature some of these students in the context of their regular activities. </div>
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Since February we have taken time to follow up with them at their places of work and ministry. We had this opportunity because the Christian Studies program at the University of the Gambia has not yet fully started. We were in the Gambia first in 2010, when we each taught two GTI courses. This year we each taught one.</div>
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Adrian and Wendy meeting the new crop of GTI students</div>
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We begin with the brothers <b>Henry</b> and <b>Bola</b>, who have participated in the program from the very beginning. Both are lawyers, and as such they have been very helpful to the Christian Volunteer Movement as it has worked to be registered as a charitable organization in the Gambia. Henry and Bola come from an old established family in the Gambia, and belong to the Methodist Church, where both are active as lay preachers. This is one of the reasons why they have appreciated and benefited from the variety of courses on the Bible and Christian theology in the GTI program.</div>
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Bola (in forefront) at our GTI courses </div>
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While both brothers practice law, Henry is also our colleague at the University of the Gambia, lecturing in the Law Faculty. In fact, at the recent graduation ceremonies the Law faculty was singled out for its outstanding performance in an international forum for debate on legal issues, and Henry himself has been invited to represent the Gambia on many occasions.<br />
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Adrian and Wendy with Dr. Henry at Law Faculty </div>
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Dr. Henry with Wendy at UTG graduation ceremonies</div>
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We have enjoyed having <b>Jude</b> in our classes. Jude was always faithful in attending classes and did well in all the courses he took with us. Even for the most difficult questions we could count on Jude to give some constructive answer. His primary involvement is with a sports evangelism group, but he is also involved with prayer ministry as a means of establishing a group of believers.<br />
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Although Jude comes from Nigeria, and has spent some time in Canada, he has already worked in the Gambia for many years, and has a commitment to spreading the gospel here. In March Jude invited us to attend an evening session for evangelistic outreach in the center of Serrekunda. Most of the sessions were held at a hall owned by the Methodist church. We made the mistake of coming at the hour this program was supposed to start: 5.30pm. Even at 6.30 the only ones in the building were trying to get the musical instruments and sound system working. But by 7.30 -- at about the time we wanted to leave (so that we would not have to drive home in the dark) -- the hall was filling nicely.<br />
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Jude and Dorcas (seated)</div>
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Jude surprised us when we came back this past January by bringing his wife Dorcas. In the time that we had been away from the Gambia (since 2010), Jude had gotten married. Dorcas, who is also from Nigeria, attended only some of the GTI sessions, but at the outreach event we recognized that she is fully involved in ministry with Jude.</div>
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Mary with David Reed and Adrian </div>
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Mary at graduation</div>
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<b>Mary</b> has attended all our courses. At the February graduation ceremonies at the university, she received a diploma in Early Childhood Education, a real asset for her work with the New Life Children`s Centre, where she teaches small children the stories of the Bible. A few weeks ago we were privileged to attend the Sunday worship service held for these children, many of whom come from non-Christian homes and have no other place of worship. Coming from the Jola tribe in the Gambia, Mary has learned a number of languages, and so when the worship leaders use English she translates for the children whose primary language is Wolof.</div>
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Mary translating at children`s service</div>
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Children`s worship center sign</div>
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Mary is also involved in various outreach programs. From time to time she works as a translator for an evangelism group which goes into Senegal and has interacted with local religious teachers there. On Saturdays Mary also teaches at the Bible Training Centre (BTC). She told us she owed her own primary understanding of the Bible to the courses at this school, and is happy to be able to give back that training as she helps to disciple new believers.<br />
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Mary at BTC gate</div>
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Mary teaching</div>
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Finally, we want to introduce pastor <b>Stephen</b>, who is also involved at the Bible Training Centre, teaching courses in the New Testament. Stephen especially appreciated the course Wendy taught on the New Testament during our previous visit to the Gambia, because he wrote a short textbook on the New Testament for his students and asked Wendy to help him edit it. <br />
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Stephen is the pastor of Joy Baptist Church in the center of Serrekunda. We visited his church in April, when Stephen asked Wendy to preach on the Sunday after Easter. She was happy to share with these people the significance of the resurrection. It was the first time we have worshiped with a `Pentecostal Baptist` congregation. And we discovered that 'Joy' is certainly an appropriate name for the church. As the congregation, both men and women, came forward to pray, sing and dance, we recognized the joy with which these people worshiped.<br />
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Wendy preaching</div>
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Stephen's congregation</div>
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Stephen`s family</div>
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</div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-15599417459465871222012-04-13T17:22:00.000-04:002012-04-14T04:19:18.578-04:00Life in the Gambia<div>
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We live at the far left of the map, west of Serrekunde</div>
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The Gambia is a tiny country of less than two million people located on the West coast of Africa; it stretches along the Gambia river and is surrounded on three sides by Senegal. It is so small that it is hard to find on some maps. Although you may know quite a bit about our work here from previous posts, we also want to describe some aspects of daily life here. <br />
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We were rather surprised, when we arrived in January, to discover how "cold" it gets in the Gambia! Cool breezes from the ocean and harmattan, the dust-laden wind thats blows down from the Sahara, together have given us surprisingly cool days and nights ever since we got back. <br />
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We notice it especially in the evenings. During the day it can get quite hot, and even more when you are some distance inland, as we discover whenever we go to the university in Brikama. Thus, there are advantages to living where we do in Kololi, right near the ocean, although it is about 30 kilometers from the main campus of the university. <br />
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It can be cool even on the beach</div>
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In Nigeria it could also be cold in January and February, since we lived in Jos, on a plateau. We were not fully prepared for the cold, because the last time we were in the Gambia, October-December 2010, we found October so hot that we would sleep even without sheets, and the fans going full blast (when there was power, that is). Thankfully, it got a bit cooler in November that year, but we did not need any sweaters for those three months. During the past few weeks, however, we sometimes wondered whether we should have taken blankets and warmer sweaters along.<br />
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We are located about 10-15 minutes walk from the beach, which stretches as far as the eye can The see. These are not the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen, since they have been badly eroded by storms. A Dutch dredging company has tried to reconstruct the most severely damaged parts of the beach, but recent high tides have undone much of the work, leaving only piles of sand bags behind.<br />
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Since this photo was taken there has been further erosion</div>
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The most severely damaged part of the beach fronts two of the more popular local hotels. Kololi is the center of the tourist area of the Gambia. Numerous hotels and resorts have frontage on the beach, but they can also be found along the coastal road and some side roads leading to the beach.</div>
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The more popular hotels are quite pricey, but there are also apartments for less well-heeled tourists. And you can also find an endless array of restaurants, serving both Gambian and international cuisine at reasonable prices, at least by international standards. We can have a chicken dinner for two, drinks included for about ten dollars in total. Other dishes are slightly more expensive.<br />
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Our house is on a dusty street on the edge of the tourist area. It is actually part of a compound of two big houses that is rented by the Christian Volunteer Movement (CVM) to house the teams of surgeons, dentists, agricultural specialists, or pharmacists who come here every year for several weeks of ministry.These houses can sleep about thirty people, mostly on bunk beds. <br />
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During this period of our stay in the Gambia (January-May) we have had one house entirely to ourselves. We occupy a large bedroom, where we also do our work. The house has two more bedrooms upstairs, but none are in use at present, since no team is here at the moment. Some teams are expected in June, but we will have left by then. <br />
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Downstairs there is a huge living room with a large table that can seat about twenty students. This area is used as a classroom for the GTI courses. There is also a kitchen, a small dining area where we eat, and an office, where CVM has a printer. The other house is the mirror image of our ours in design, but without a classroom. <br />
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This year, because our stay has overlapped largely with the tourist season, we have found that provision of electricity has been better than in 2010, but it is still intermittent, and we never know when it will go off, and for how long. The tourist season is nearly over, and so we expect the power to become worse, but even so, it is certainly not worse than what we experienced in Nigeria, where we counted hours of available power, not the hours when it was gone. </div>
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A cup of coffee on the beach</div>
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When we stayed here in 2010, we had someone cook for us during the week, but we went out to eat on Saturday and Sunday. Since we are here for four months this time, we are happy that we can cook for ourselves, although we still go out occasionally. And can buy the basics within easy walking distance. The nearest grocery store is only 300 meters away. It is nowhere the size of the average grocery store in North America, but is quite well supplied for everyday needs. Thus we have survived quite well so far. <br />
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Fresh fruits and vegetables are also available at stands along the main road. But they are quite expensive, relatively speaking. There is a major market about five kilometers from here, but we rarely go there. And there are numerous outlets on any given street where one can buy fresh bread every morning. Gambia is noted for its tapalapas, which look like small baguettes, but are chewier. <br />
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Although we have the use of CVM`s vehicle, a Land Rover, we use public transportation as much as possible. The rates are fixed per distance and are not expensive. When Wendy travels to Brikama for her classes she uses a combination of taxi`s and mini-vans, and the total cost of traveling 30 kilometers is less than a dollar! <br />
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Walking barefoot along the beach</div>
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We enjoy walking. Almost every day we go for long walks along the ocean, especially when the tide is low and the sand is firm. The only drawback is that we are regularly approached by young Gambian men who want to sell us jewelry, get us to try their juice, or simply to engage us in conversation. Some who market themselves as tourist guides are called "bumsters," but they dislike the term. <br />
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They seem friendly, but they can be very aggressive. They latch on to tourists, and offer to accompany them wherever they want, for a fee, of course. And they refuse to take "no" for an answer. We have found it best to ignore them. Yet they are so persistent that at times one almost has to be rude to be rid of them, and walk along. But they can act highly offended and show rudeness in return. <br />
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Some of the young men clearly aim at forming a relationship with a female tourist, with the hope of going to Europe and the UK, which is where the majority of the tourists are from. Often one can see these "bumsters" walking had in hand with a "toubab," as foreigners are known here. They are quite noticeable, as no African would walk hand in hand, not even with their spouse. Recently, we saw a woman, who was at least 75, walking with a Gambian young enough to be her grandson. Sad to say, the women are complicit in this; they are often lonely and come here for companionship and sex. <br />
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This is sad. It is no more acceptable, of course, when older men find young Gambian women as companions on the beach. It the sordid side of tourism, which has become the most important part of the Gambian economy, since there is no industry to speak of. <br />
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Some Gambians keep cattle near the beach</div>
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Many Gambians survive by farming; even if they live in the city, they will have a plot of land in their village where they go when the rains come. But the rainy season has been reduced in the last few years; while it used to last from May to October, much as in Nigeria, more recently the rains have not come until July. So many people are hungry here.<br />
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Begging is common throughout Africa In the past most beggars here were people with disabilities, but in the last few weeks we see more, especially women with small children. We typically do not respond by giving money on the streets, primarily to avoid attracting attention to ourselves as having deep pockets. But we also feel that there are better ways to help Gambians survive. It is our hope that the help we give through education will, in the long run, give our Gambian friends a means of survival that protects their dignity. Yet our hearts are torn by the suffering we see everyday. <br />
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There is much more to tell about living in the Gambia. Words, and even images, cannot convey the sounds and smells of life here. There is much that makes us sad, but we are also very thankful that God has brought us to this country to help train pastors and other church leaders and to teach at the university. This is the reason why we are here.<br />
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</div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-77892449248681059392012-03-04T15:44:00.000-05:002012-03-04T15:47:27.152-05:00Gambia Theological Institute 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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CVM House where we live and teach the GTI courses</div>
<br />
As soon as we realized that the courses we planned to teach at the University of the Gambia would not be given this semester, because the program was not to ready to start, we began to focus on courses which we knew would be held, those we planned to teach on behalf of the Gambia Theological Institute: Adrian on Ecumenism, and Wendy on the Apostolic Fathers.<br />
<br />
Adrian is looking at the modern ecumenical movement by studying some its major statements, beginning with the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh (1910). His hope is that through better understanding of other churches, students might be inspired to examine their own views of other parts of the body of Christ. And learning how the ecumenical movement has inspired Christians in getting along and cooperating might also help them work for deeper unity among Christians in the Gambia.<br />
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Wendy teaching her course</div>
<br />
Wendy's course looks at a number of representative documents from early Christian leaders, Bishop Clement of Rome, <i>The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles</i>, or <i>The Shepherd of Hermas</i> to discover how they dealt with challenges of poverty and riches, false teachers, or persecution, as important teachings still valuable for twenty-first century Christians.<br />
<br />
Knowing the importance of adequate publicity, we began to work on a flyer to advertise the courses, and also contacted the students we had taught in 2010. The last GTI course, taught by Stephen Ney on the Psalms, was held last October/November, so the students had had a considerable break. Tina, the registrar hired by the Christian Volunteer Movement that sponsors these courses, arranged placing the ad in the local newspapers, and we ourselves sent out notes by phone, email and text messaging.</div>
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Arranging the two classes</div>
<br />
Even so the courses got off to a bit of a rocky start. Wendy's class on that first Friday (Feb. 10), had seven students, and we certainly expected more for Adrian's class that Saturday. Instead, only three students showed up, and we began to wonder whether we had missed our target in the publicity. However, after further phone calls and emailing, by the next weekend we had more adequate numbers to make the course worthwhile.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div>
We realized that the group of students who have been taking these courses from the beginning have taken at least ten courses, and thus have fulfilled the requirement for a diploma. They are now waiting to hear of their final marks, to discover whether they are eligible for a diploma. The challenge for these GTI courses will be to find another batch of students to take their place. Indeed, our students have assured us that there are still many who can benefit from these courses. Even with a somewhat disappointing start, students are enjoying the courses, participating in readings and discussion. They realize that here in the Gambia there are still few opportunities for them, as teachers or pastors, to receive an education for Christian ministry.</div>
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<div>
Our GTI students underlined the urgency of starting the university program in Christian Studies in September since some of them would like to enroll in that program. They too want to be able to get a theological degree in the Gambia.<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-29614457403849485052012-02-18T11:32:00.000-05:002012-03-05T14:31:40.803-05:00An Important Graduation<br />
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Little did we expect, when we arrived
last month in the Gambia, that we would participate in a graduation
ceremony at the University of the Gambia (UTG). Yet we were invited to attend the seventh graduation of
UTG and its affiliated college, held on February 16.</div>
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<br /></div>
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UTG was founded in 1999, and started
with a medical school and a law faculty in Banjul. Later a school of
business administration was added. Courses in Arts and Sciences
became possible when the campus in Brikama was opened, about forty km
from Banjul. About two years ago a new permanent campus was started
in Faraba Banta, about ten km beyond Brikama, away from the capital.
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Part of the new campus, with another building visible on the left</div>
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<br /></div>
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This campus is not yet in use, even
though its brand new classrooms are stocked with some of the latest
audio-visual and computer equipment. A fiber optic cable will provide
internet access to the students, a considerable improvement on
current wireless access, which is sporadic at best. But this is where
the graduation ceremony was to be held, this year for the very first
time, and we wanted to join the celebrations, in part to satisfy our
curiosity, and in part because one of our former students in the
Gambia Theological Institute program was graduating from a program in
early childhood education.</div>
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Graduates putting on the robes outside; the faculty had a room for this
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We were given instructions to be at the
Brikama campus at 10 am, and from there we would be brought by bus to
the new campus. So we left our home at 9 am, using public
transportation to get to Brikama. From there we joined some of the
faculty, found one of the numerous buses to be used, and arrived at
the new campus by 11 am.</div>
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There we waited with the rest of the
faculty, most of whom dressed in robes provided by the university. We
did not have the proper academic robes or hoods with us; indeed, had we
asked on time, UTG would have provided us with robes. Even so, we
found our colleagues were very tolerant of our somewhat unusual garb,
as we had to make do with our African clothes. However, these
ultimately proved much more comfortable as the day progressed, with
the hot sun beating down overhead.</div>
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Some of the graduates, with Master's students in the front rows</div>
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The graduation ceremony was held in a
huge tent set up for this purpose, or rather, a series of tents; in
fact these were enclosed (probably for security purposes), and were
supposed to be air-conditioned, but as they were filled with a few
thousand people, it became almost unbearably hot. The mainly
polyester academic robes were pretty uncomfortable for our
colleagues!</div>
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<br /></div>
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The program was to start at 12 noon,
and the students (some 2,000) were the first group to be ushered into
the tent by bagpipers; after them came the faculty, ushered in the
same way. By then it was 1 pm. The audience of guests and parents was
already seated. On large screens we watched the arrival of the
presidential party at about 2 pm; the president of the Gambia, who is
also the Chancellor of UTG (and thus its chief executive), was shown
waving from an open vehicle. However, that did not mean that the
ceremony could actually begin yet. In fact, the ceremony did not begin
officially until 3 pm, three hours after the scheduled beginning.
This is Africa, and people here are used to such long waiting. But even
so, very few could have been prepared for how long the ceremony
turned out to be.
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Some of the faculty, Wendy is visible in the fourth row</div>
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Protocol is important in Africa, and
each speaker duly mentioned all the invited guests, concluding with
the remark, “and all other protocol having been observed,” to cover any
possible omissions. That procedure was observed each time, and
invariably followed by a long speech. The two longest were by the
Vice-chancellor and the Chancellor, each of them speaking for more
than an hour.
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The speech of the former was very
informative, and was filled with useful facts, especially for us who
are new to this university. The speech of the president, whose full
title is “His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. A.J.J. Jammeh,”
was spiced with humor, much of which (unfortunately) eluded us.</div>
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President Jammeh, as Chancellor of the university, awarding a diploma, as witnessed on a screen
</div>
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The actual awarding of degrees did not
begin until after 6 pm. Throughout, the audience was very patient;
attendants did hand out packets of biscuits, water and soft drinks, but
that can hardly have made up for foregoing both lunch and supper. The
graduates numbered almost two thousand, mainly because the ceremony
had been cancelled last year. We stayed long enough to watch the
awarding of Master's degrees, but decided to leave by 7 pm so that we
would be able to get home in Kololi by a reasonable time, if not
before dark (even by taxi it took more than an hour to get home). In
fact, it is hard to find public transport later in the
evenings. And we discovered the next day that the ceremony had not
concluded until after midnight! Since Wendy had a class with the
Gambia Theological Institute scheduled for the next afternoon, it was
good we got home when we did. One of our GTI students received a certificate in early childhood education.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Mary Jabbang, a GTI student, is in the middle</div>
</div>
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<br />
We are grateful that we had this
opportunity to see the university in action, and that on the
significant occasion of awarding degrees. Even though we were not
properly garbed, we sensed that we were fully accepted by our
colleagues in the faculty. Many of them realized that we were the
“Canadian couple” who would be joining them in September to begin
the new program in Christian Studies. So, who knows, we may be able
to join them next year for the eighth graduation ceremony of UTG –
and in proper robes!
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Graduates being ushered to the large hall</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
</div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-55022618769776767932012-02-08T02:42:00.000-05:002012-02-08T16:31:49.001-05:00The Consecration of a Bishop<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
The Right Reverend Hannah Faal-Heim</div>
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It is not every day that a bishop is
consecrated, and certainly not in the Gambia. This past Sunday,
February 5, we had the rare privilege of witnessing the consecration
of Hannah Caroline Faal-Heim as The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in the Gambia.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Right Reverend Hannah Faal-Heim, to
give her proper title, is only the second Gambian to become a bishop
in the Gambia, and she is the first woman bishop in West Africa.</div>
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<br /></div>
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She was baptized and confirmed in the
very same church building where she was also consecrated. After
beginning her career in teaching in the Gambia, she moved to Great
Britain where she became a nurse and a midwife. Later she taught
midwifery in London. During one of her return visits to the Gambia
she became convinced of her call to the ministry. After some thirteen
years experience in lay ministry, and further training in theology,
she finished her preparatory work with an MA in pastoral theology,
while continuing to minister in various parishes in the UK.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Her colleagues in the Methodist church
of the Gambia elected her formally as their new bishop only two days
before her consecration. Since we had heard of this event we made it
our priority to be present at this service, never mind how long it
would take - more than four hours, in fact - with more than a
thousand people in attendance.</div>
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The newly consecrated bishop</div>
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<br /></div>
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The outgoing bishop, The Right Reverend
Professor Peter Stephens, officiated at the service. He was
accompanied by The Reverend the Lord Griffiths (he is a member of the
House of Lords in England), who was Hannah's pastor in the UK, and
preached an inspiring sermon for the occasion. In attendance were
several other Methodist bishops from the Congo and Ghana, as well as
the Methodist prelate of Nigeria. The Anglican Bishop of the Gambia
also participated.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Aside from the joy of being able to
attend and participate in such a service, we found the singing
impressive, for the liturgy included many beautiful and stirring
hymns, obviously well-loved by the congregation, whose voices filled
the church to the rafters. Where we were sitting, on one of the
balconies, it felt as if we were literally being uplifted by the
music! A combined choir from several Methodist churches added to the
beauty of music offered, particularly when they concluded the service
by singing the Hallelujah Chorus; but this was by not just an
offering of the choirs only, for large sections of the congregation
joined in to sing with them.</div>
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<br /></div>
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When we left the church after the
service we noticed that a large video screen had been set up for the
many who could not fit into the church and were sitting outside under an awning. But everyone was invited to the reception held in
the school yard next to the church, where food was served to all
those who attended.</div>
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The new bishop and her husband flanked by her predecessors
</div>
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<br /></div>
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We were happy to attend this
celebration not only because we witnessed the very joyful ceremony of
the consecration of Reverend Hannah as the first woman bishop in
West Africa. As the Bishop of the Methodist Church, Hannah takes over
from Bishop Stephens the position of chairing the Gambia Christian
Council, the body which has been appointed by the Gambian government
to oversee the Christian Studies program at the University of the
Gambia. During the dinner we briefly spoke with her and her husband
(the Reverend Dr. Kurt Heim, a noted Old Testament scholar in the
UK), and arranged to meet with them in the near future. We certainly
look forward to working together with her, to bring the new program
in Christian Studies at the university closer to reality.</div>
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The new bishop blessing the people </div>
<br /></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-85071656925459683302012-02-06T14:31:00.000-05:002012-02-06T14:41:31.872-05:00Churches, Students, and Books<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Through our IICS/CSI colleague Steven Ney, we were introduced to staff of GAMFES (the Gambian Fellowship of Evangelical Students in the Gambia, a branch of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students/IFES) within a week of our arrival at the end of January. Steve had organized a dinner at CVM House (where we live), to welcome staff of the IFES who had just arrived from a visit to Sierra Leone, and introduce them to other African staff. Since September Steve has been teaching English full-time at UTG, as one of many non-Gambian lecturers at the university, and he quickly got involved in the ministry of GAMFES.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Some of the staff of GAMFES, together with Steven Ney (in center, holding Agnes), some visitors from Canada, and the two of us</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: small;">GAMFES is active at the
university, and also at many small colleges scattered around this
country. Its goal is to have a vibrant biblical student ministry in
every tertiary educational institution. In the Gambia this ministry
was started by the branch in Sierra Leone. Local operations are
presently headed by Noble Robert, the first Gambian General Secretary
of GAMFES, who took over leadership from Rev. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Steven
Musa Kormaye.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
were especially happy to meet Noble Robert and his team, and shared
our concerns about academic life in the Gambia, because our aim in
coming this time is to help set up a program in Christian Studies at
the University of the Gambia (UTG) – although, as in 2010, we also
hope to teach one course each at the Gambian Theological Institute
(GTI), which provides training for pastors and other church leaders.
A program of Christian studies at the university level, clearly,
needs not only the lecturers to teach the relevant courses. What is
also very important is to be able to pass on high quality literature.
</span>
</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Office of GAMFES, which owns a large property with several buildings</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
availability of good literature is a big challenge here in the
Gambia. Unlike the situation in most Canadian cities, or even in
Nigeria, where Christian books are readily available, we have found
hardly one bookstore which sells good Christian literature, although
Bibles can be purchased. Even Sunday school materials are not always
of the highest quality. Of course, we realize that African culture
does not emphasize reading, and oral transmission is still the norm;
moreover, nearly all books are far too expensive for ordinary people.
But when we are thinking of university level teaching, that cannot be
accepted as an excuse. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
pastors too, need to have some resources to pass along to their
congregation. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Even though the Gambia is
more than 85% Muslim, there are quite a few Christians. The largest
churches are the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the
Methodist Church, each with their own bishop in this small country of
about 1 ¾ million people. There are also many evangelical churches,
although these are often small, their buildings tucked away into back
alleys, unlike the cathedrals of the large mainline churches that may
not dominate the main streets, but are still visible signs of a
Christian presence.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">Noble Robert and Adrian in front of gate at GAMFES -- a new sign is coming shortly</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: small;">This
past week we took the opportunity to continue the conversation on
these matters with Noble Robert, and were gratified to know that he
shared our concerns fully. Even more, he told us of their plan to
open up both a resource centre/library that will be accessible for
pastors and students, and a bookstore where Christian literature
would be sold.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-size: small;">GAMFES
has the necessary space for a library and bookstore, because it owns
a compound which is centrally located, with a number of buildings
that are already used as office space and for leadership training.
As well, in the last few years GAMFES has received hundreds of books,
that can form the basis of the library. More books may be available
from other sources. </span>
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;">GAMFES wants to build a library and bookstore, but as you see much work still needs to be done</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: small;">During
our visit and teaching in the Gambia in 2010 we had already discussed
with our GTI students various strategies for getting access to good
Christian literature, such as that published by Africa Christian
Textbooks (ACTS), a Christian publishing company started by our
long-time colleague in Nigeria, Danny McCain. The head-quarters of
ACTS is located near Jos, Nigeria. ACTS now has book-stores scattered
across Nigeria, and has expanded to Kenya; it hopes to expand to
other African countries. Since our discussions with Noble Robert, we
pray that GAMFES may become a partner for ACTS in the Gambia. Its
location, staff, and vision for Christian service to the
intellectual/reading community would make them a good partner for
ACTS. Bringing books from Nigeria should not pose a great problem,
since many Nigerians work here in business or as pastors; and they do
travel back and forth on an ongoing basis, so we hope they can be
persuaded to bring books on their return to the Gambia.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: small;">We
are thankful that God has brought us here, especially as we find
these doors which are opening for us. Aside from a supportive role in
the book ministry, Adrian will also be teaching a course in Christian
theology for the staff of GAMFES on Wednesday evenings. Thus even
before more the official parts of our duties commence at the
university or with GTI, we are happy to be involved in ministry
through GAMFES.</span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: small;"> </span></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-20995979461739246852012-01-22T12:32:00.000-05:002012-01-22T12:35:22.644-05:00Back in the Gambia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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University of the Gambia sign</div>
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It feels good to be back in the Gambia, after an absence of 13 months. We are here with a mission: to help start a program in Christian Studies at the University of the Gambia. This is an entirely new program that is intended to prepare Gambians to teach Christian Studies at in Gambian elementary and secondary schools.<br />
<br />
Islamic Studies has been taught since this university was established, but Christian Studies were never introduced, largely because Christians form a tiny minority in a country that is about 85% Muslim. Christians and followers of African Traditional Religion (ATR) make up the rest. The Christians are divided into two main groups: the mainline churches, meaning Catholics, Methodists and Anglicans, and the rest, a multiplicity of Pentecostal and other evangelical groups.<br />
<br />
At the university, the student body is similarly divided. We hope that we can help to bring Christians students together so that they and the churches they represent can present a united front where the majority are Muslim and/or ATR. Some Muslims, and even some Christians, tend to be syncretistic; they will attend their mosque or church, but they will also sacrifice at a shrine.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Ceremonial entrance arch to Banjul</div>
<br />
It is clear that an enormous challenge awaits us. This is compounded by the fact that the second semester has just started, but so far no applicants for this new program have been identified. We knew this already before we arrived, but we were not fully aware of the many hurdles that remain before this program can begin. Yet we are hopeful that it will be implemented very soon.<br />
<br />
We brought scholarship money with us for prospective students, but so far none of the churches involved have identified students for this program. Each of the mainline churches is allowed to nominate two students for a scholarship. Four more scholarships are available for students from the remaining churches.<br />
<br />
The scholarships are being made available by the Christian Volunteer Movement, a Toronto-based group that has asked us to help start the program at the university, as well as teach some courses at the Gambian Theological Institute GTI), which provides training for pastors and other church leaders. GTI is where we taught when we were here in the fall of 2010, although we also helped to lay the foundations for the program in Christian Studies.<br />
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The new program has been accepted by the university, but there are still many steps required before it can start. A committee of the Gambia Christian Council has proposed the criteria for acceptance into the program, but the three bishops have not yet approved them. The most important step for the students will be acceptance by the university. They also need endorsement by the head of their church.<br />
<br />
No announcements have been made about this program in the mainline churches so far, thus there have been no applicants yet. There are some prospective students in some of the pentecostal and evangelical churches, but in the absence of the criteria, there was little that they could do.<br />
<br />
We too are limited in our ability to move the process along much more quickly, except to pray that the program will start very soon so that we can get in a full semester of teaching. Please pray with us.<br />
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In Africa things may sometimes seem to move slowly, if at all, and yet suddenly they pick up speed, and the apparently impossible becomes a reality.<br />
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The Gambia is a very small country on the west coast of Africa, with a population of only 1 3/4 million people, that is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean on the fourth side. It is named after the Gambia River, which is its main feature.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDCmRzH9wQZiSSGSluRNJ-WFyWAR8-wVBisio0ZuK1fMs5JjC6TQsGz4r4bKwpPKEpa3ZiirxAL37toixEeCiZ4LHdk4lHezmjmVX1mduwtukN3yGv3DOsd6tHViUMOSQ4ZL5h2F-H0MX/s1600/450px-Gambia_Divisions.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDCmRzH9wQZiSSGSluRNJ-WFyWAR8-wVBisio0ZuK1fMs5JjC6TQsGz4r4bKwpPKEpa3ZiirxAL37toixEeCiZ4LHdk4lHezmjmVX1mduwtukN3yGv3DOsd6tHViUMOSQ4ZL5h2F-H0MX/s400/450px-Gambia_Divisions.svg.png" width="400" /></a></div>
We are living in Kololi, a suburb of Banjul, the capital<b>. </b>Kololi is the main tourist area. It is filled with resorts, restaurants, and bars, many of which are close to the beach. The CVM house where we are staying is about 10-15 minutes walk from the beach, thus we have the opportunity to walk along the beach every day. Even though today was a very windy and cold day, thus we walked for two hours. We have not gone swimming yet, but we hope to very soon.<br />
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We also want to visit many churches in the next few weeks, in particular those where some of our former students attend in order to publicize the GTI courses and the new program at the university.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1cyzFIkeOZisRxyN-Eu8g5hm1A1-QgR8au7h_pdhon-oGNyX3hzdSvRCpZPVMwqu4r1FMsfou0eP_qQzJkGILCKaDiYxdj8stKHxOcwP8IEC1a6ccMXI7YkMCOHT8bPy0o3aEH9QySqC/s1600/IMGP1255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1cyzFIkeOZisRxyN-Eu8g5hm1A1-QgR8au7h_pdhon-oGNyX3hzdSvRCpZPVMwqu4r1FMsfou0eP_qQzJkGILCKaDiYxdj8stKHxOcwP8IEC1a6ccMXI7YkMCOHT8bPy0o3aEH9QySqC/s400/IMGP1255.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The CVM house where we live, which recently received a new coat of paint (not shown)</div>
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The university is located in Brikama, about 40 minutes drive from our house. We have driven there several times a year ago, but now we plan to take public transportation as much as possbile in order to save money. Since the program has not yet started, many questions such as scheduling of classes are academic.<br />
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Fortunately, our courses have been approved, and we are ready to start teaching. In future blogs we hope to write more about our courses at both the university and GTI.<br />
<br />Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-72655048025682701712011-09-15T18:51:00.003-04:002011-09-19T20:09:19.453-04:00Prayer note--September 13<blockquote style="border-collapse: collapse;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> “From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.” Ps. 3.8</span></span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks so much for your prayers for the situation in Jos! The outbreak of violence expected after mosque prayers that Friday a little over a week ago did not materialize, and we recognize God’s mercy in response to the many requests raised in prayer.<br />
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In general the situation has calmed down. Even so, we <b><i>must not relax our prayers</i></b>. The spiral of violence and revenge killings has not abated, though it is no longer on the same scale as before.<br />
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Since the weekend there have been a number of <b><i>attacks in villages</i></b> close to Jos, where whole families of nine to fourteen have been massacred. It appears that there are some relatively well organized groups, using army uniforms, who come to the villages after dark every second or third night and attack innocent people, mainly to avenge earlier death.<br />
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Just a few days ago there was another <b><i>bomb attack in the centre of Jos</i></b>. Praise God that no one was seriously injured, since the first bomb, thrown out of a car window, landed in a gutter, and the second, sent a few minutes later, also caused very little damage. But you can imagine what this does for tensions in the city.<br />
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So, the <b><i>prayer requests</i></b> posted earlier remain very much relevant: </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1. <i>Safety</i>. As word of deaths gets out, there is often reaction and retaliation. Pray that this will not happen.<br />
2. <i>Pray for wisdom</i> to know what Christian leaders can do to encourage and enhance peace.<br />
3. Pray that pastors and elders are able to <i>bring violent youth under their control</i>.<br />
4. Pray for the <i>families of both Christians and Muslims who have lost loved ones</i>.<br />
5. And continue to pray for all involved in <i>the peace process</i>, who attempt to build relationships on a different footing. May their efforts be blessed, as Jesus promised (Matt. 5.9).<br />
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<b><i>PS,</i></b> a special thanks for those who responded to the last prayer note. Our apologies for those not already on <i>gmail</i>, for the trouble it caused in joining the <i>gmail contact groups</i>. But we do hope that the letters will continue to come through more effectively.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-38704821334274431102011-09-15T18:49:00.002-04:002011-09-19T20:08:34.834-04:00Prayer note--September 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Geneva;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: inherit;">For a few days already violent confrontation has returned to Jos. This time it is connected with celebrations for the end of Ramadan. On Monday a church was burned, and a pastor killed. A mosque was also burned. Since then tension has escalated, with considerable gunfire in various places in the city, including the university quarters where we used to live, and a number of market places in that area. There are no clear figures on just how many people have been killed to date.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Just what exactly started the trouble this time is not entirely clear; there are some indications of conflict and division among Muslims themselves on the date to start celebrations. Unfortunately it appears also that “Christian” youth have ignored the pleas of their elders and determined on retaliation for last December’s disturbance of Christmas celebrations . With modern technology, rumours about an (attempted) attack fly quickly, and most do not bother to check them out before acting on them.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> We have received the following requests for prayers from our colleague at the University of Jos, Dr. Danny McCain:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">1.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>Safety</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">. As word of deaths gets out, there is often reaction and retaliation. Pray that this will not happen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">2.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>Pray for wisdom</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">to know what Christian leaders can do to encourage and enhance peace.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">3. Pray that pastors and elders are able to</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>bring violent youth under their control</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">4. Pray for the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i>families of both Christians and Muslims who have lost loved ones</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">We would add to that there are now</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b><i>rumours circulating of serious attacks by Muslims tomorrow (Friday) after the mosque prayers</i></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">. Pray that these may be unfounded. Although the military presence has been of considerable support for our friends and colleagues, to protect, and calm things down, they must continually be on their guard, and careful. Pray that those who are trying to build peace will not become too tired and discouraged themselves.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i></i></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">PS, we have made some attempts to send email prayer requests in a different format, but keep running into various obstacles. A big problem with the present system is that we have no idea whether you are actually receiving these emails, and/or whether they are blocked as spam.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">PSS, As we work on this, we would appreciate hearing from you if would like to have your address removed from these lists. Simply respond with ‘Please unsubscribe’ in subject heading.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Of course, we also appreciate hearing from you, if you’d like us to continue sending these prayer notes.</span></span><br />
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</span>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-71762905771400656302011-05-21T16:46:00.005-04:002011-06-27T20:28:30.054-04:00Book launch and art show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><br />
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</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Thanks to all of you who joined us yesterday (Thursday, May 19) for the Crux bookstore launch of Wendy's two books, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><b><i>Solovyov's Sophia as a Nineteenth-Century Russian Appropriation</i></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><i> <b>of Dante's Beatrice </b></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">(2011), and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><b><i>The Feminine Personification of Wisdom: A Study of Homer's Penelope, Cappadocian Macrina, Boethius' Philosophia and Dante's Beatrice</i></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"> (2009), as well as the exhibit of Sharon’s artwork.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8MV3o4TDiqMuaha6cwa-Dq2MtAT3RleDOZk5sjlvIuC_tM1q7RMoYFlb7Gb_fSqINVmiMk3cMGl6ujrWxCdYIA9n696_2Xq_5Ep75lkakOkVGqP7K5ZwPBkO3uBYqko_3p7yLc8XgpC-/s1600/IMGP1469+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8MV3o4TDiqMuaha6cwa-Dq2MtAT3RleDOZk5sjlvIuC_tM1q7RMoYFlb7Gb_fSqINVmiMk3cMGl6ujrWxCdYIA9n696_2Xq_5Ep75lkakOkVGqP7K5ZwPBkO3uBYqko_3p7yLc8XgpC-/s320/IMGP1469+copy.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The two book covers<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">It was a wonderful occasion with friends, family, and a wider supportive community to cap the years of thought and writing which came to expression in these two books on feminine personification of wisdom. For those of you who could not join us at Crux Books, we want to give just a little indication of a lovely event. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Melissa Kuipers and John Franklin<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2itswL2_eO8MGx3HTdyBYXF3MFtMFTFOJ3JseNNL2PcGn8XRa-zYt3KR-vLllfi4n5O273j969e5dWVmb3OgkGey1NYDgqaxUfHbyXLdrZGBH4b5xMYxmtIoi0C46Voq7Tf5Ku9wL3SJK/s1600/IMG_0230+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2itswL2_eO8MGx3HTdyBYXF3MFtMFTFOJ3JseNNL2PcGn8XRa-zYt3KR-vLllfi4n5O273j969e5dWVmb3OgkGey1NYDgqaxUfHbyXLdrZGBH4b5xMYxmtIoi0C46Voq7Tf5Ku9wL3SJK/s320/IMG_0230+copy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Doug Blomberg and Bob VanderVennen<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As some of you may know, when we first planned this event in March, we hoped to do a combined event, to introduce Wendy's books, but also exhibit <st1:city w:st="on">Sharon</st1:city>'s work, particularly because she had done the illustrations for the book covers. She was in hospital at the time, but was able to work on a collage there, and she hoped to put together a new series, so that we would combine an art exhibit with the book launch. She was working on the theme of resurrection, of new life breaking through the bonds of earth and death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yQ9zFHJE3cMNdjap1Muchp8etE4yFpjDBRAE-UcARBw5d7AXlb26kpzMP0v3QpHdmPzUUJVwg0QiXQpUlqOkseQczHrDGUGfuFxmJ-rCJVabLI4nL6Gz9GPvXFsiEoLF0HXIshCogFja/s1600/IMGP1474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yQ9zFHJE3cMNdjap1Muchp8etE4yFpjDBRAE-UcARBw5d7AXlb26kpzMP0v3QpHdmPzUUJVwg0QiXQpUlqOkseQczHrDGUGfuFxmJ-rCJVabLI4nL6Gz9GPvXFsiEoLF0HXIshCogFja/s320/IMGP1474.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first major piece in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sharon</st1:place></st1:city>'s new series, Resurrection 2011: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"At the crack of dawn"<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although she came home for much of April, her energy levels did not permit her to advance very far with that project. Just after Easter she went back to St. Michael's hospital with a major flare-up of her auto-immune condition (Wegener's granulomatosis). So an exhibit as she had hoped to give was out of the question. In fact, she emerged from ICU just a little more than a week before this event, and was in no shape even for any decision-making on what, if anything, to present for an exhibit of her work. At that point she turned to her good friend, the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city> artist Sharon Tiessen, who took the time to review her recent work, and put together a small collection of pieces to help celebrate the occasion.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwUzSfrMCc_6OgfuNtizX4Z1yjhbMck_etGGYRATLx0osjHyah4zAT_qoI766SJWVAk8as-jqNZdDwZ_S214mJ8RhT8cX5cKZes2cuJkhRt3zaplFInEzCn0mg-rQgXHRf2PkMyONVqQbk/s1600/IMGP1479+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwUzSfrMCc_6OgfuNtizX4Z1yjhbMck_etGGYRATLx0osjHyah4zAT_qoI766SJWVAk8as-jqNZdDwZ_S214mJ8RhT8cX5cKZes2cuJkhRt3zaplFInEzCn0mg-rQgXHRf2PkMyONVqQbk/s320/IMGP1479+copy.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jonah series<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxmFXj3Edatx03_5Sj3CoMIeJzodbkq-kNfRoSuDkxaWvNU579QbZjppplLHZYCQmDF03SffLdHnZjVNbXOSrbBQlKYI0A-EH8Odl18XT7mkp2z_Osp6O9cHm90xSsLH9iDgUclbRFazH/s1600/IMGP1477+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxmFXj3Edatx03_5Sj3CoMIeJzodbkq-kNfRoSuDkxaWvNU579QbZjppplLHZYCQmDF03SffLdHnZjVNbXOSrbBQlKYI0A-EH8Odl18XT7mkp2z_Osp6O9cHm90xSsLH9iDgUclbRFazH/s320/IMGP1477+copy.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Two lilies and a dragon tree plant<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We appreciated the congenial atmosphere for discussion and socializing provided by Crux bookstore. The launch was held in Leonard Hall, a room which holds second-hand books and is also used for university lectures. Aside from snacks brought by friends, Crux had coffee, tea and cookies available, altogether making a great setting for the book discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuf45ZKzMxOCv80Pf7cxxFs4BRcr8aKK9_Oj2QCLxhMKFhRDB509mKQk3szY66dJwUiDLCHdHCoTfkY-_1kQ4j2vKUDRscaf69HeRFxPhqQD8p9rFV3Nk9MTOEcJNuwUe98j-LJ04kUBo/s1600/IMG_0238+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuf45ZKzMxOCv80Pf7cxxFs4BRcr8aKK9_Oj2QCLxhMKFhRDB509mKQk3szY66dJwUiDLCHdHCoTfkY-_1kQ4j2vKUDRscaf69HeRFxPhqQD8p9rFV3Nk9MTOEcJNuwUe98j-LJ04kUBo/s320/IMG_0238+copy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The room with several paintings<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzf3B65OvHdpFEC6SaLnQfEwTP_8Uv_bKa7AhUzCHdMSUVdnj18WF6DspsrgZ4ae11JFQ2OA2kU6KQHwfaThk9x8oTtuRiHMci7AH3EIWdDsv_JDmQDSgtV0mjIXrrKSjOtU04dullWl8/s1600/IMGP1484+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzf3B65OvHdpFEC6SaLnQfEwTP_8Uv_bKa7AhUzCHdMSUVdnj18WF6DspsrgZ4ae11JFQ2OA2kU6KQHwfaThk9x8oTtuRiHMci7AH3EIWdDsv_JDmQDSgtV0mjIXrrKSjOtU04dullWl8/s320/IMGP1484+copy.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wendy and Eleanor Irwin, a colleague at <st1:placename w:st="on">Scarborough</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Toronto</st1:placename></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">John Franklin wore two hats this day, for he was both chair of the board of Christian Studies International, the organization with which we have served overseas these years, and executive director of <i>Imago</i>, a Christian organization that supports the arts. He began by introducing <i>Imago</i> as the context for his introduction of Sharon's work, and then briefly introduced CSI, as the context for Wendy's academic work, and more particularly the writing of the two books that were celebrated that day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLMgZA0Vxyag8yeUPzzXiDMcd55vAlw7k-RcqG0oldbNv97YspYj9gibw40oWAJv_E8KBjh_Fe0gV8mzbOwBFpw9G7ezCBRUmflzdxOeVHVTK3DXZKDtJgga1qTG7rnvKcf0AA8QIV-ez/s1600/IMG_0235+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLMgZA0Vxyag8yeUPzzXiDMcd55vAlw7k-RcqG0oldbNv97YspYj9gibw40oWAJv_E8KBjh_Fe0gV8mzbOwBFpw9G7ezCBRUmflzdxOeVHVTK3DXZKDtJgga1qTG7rnvKcf0AA8QIV-ez/s320/IMG_0235+copy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">John Franklin with two posters<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In her introduction to the books, Wendy spoke briefly on what motivated her to do this kind of writing, highlighting the experience of teaching in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Russia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and encounters there with academic bureaucracy, as well as the experience of wonderfully warm friendships. She concluded by expressing the hope that her work might in some small way contribute to keeping alive the memory of Vladimir Solovyov as a scholar and writer with a broad vision for Russia on the world stage. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaVUzzTmj0A6ZJXMKyx5Yg32ZxN4IzH8WCyB0h75HMH93eKenTaBSao1r48q-qlVcCCete8Ygjk18SYmH6CwGF8doVBgIPu-VYHoaswTZwK5X9ROu3ku0FwnkOkbcT5RcXkOYbOB3gmKa/s1600/IMGP1489+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaVUzzTmj0A6ZJXMKyx5Yg32ZxN4IzH8WCyB0h75HMH93eKenTaBSao1r48q-qlVcCCete8Ygjk18SYmH6CwGF8doVBgIPu-VYHoaswTZwK5X9ROu3ku0FwnkOkbcT5RcXkOYbOB3gmKa/s320/IMGP1489+copy.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wendy with her two books<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW5eLMxUR6L5At7rqlCePdFFKPpWlfoEtyuBZzFZ__ae3LlfmJDaLxP_KprMANfTCWYLVvyrXsZ-UTGidSiSb1oZznewqZRdbLcFbrFg6eszDn_2IUoG2WXjlOYbi8EyviGpZI2TuBsLL/s1600/IMGP1494+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW5eLMxUR6L5At7rqlCePdFFKPpWlfoEtyuBZzFZ__ae3LlfmJDaLxP_KprMANfTCWYLVvyrXsZ-UTGidSiSb1oZznewqZRdbLcFbrFg6eszDn_2IUoG2WXjlOYbi8EyviGpZI2TuBsLL/s320/IMGP1494+copy.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">View of room and audience<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByk67yU-T39IdfnzSO1aD8lbrKCtL0AHymbMjxGUawnYw82BGLcqMoELMSCsx23l2JEhRmZ20zMAJ-b-mdUAf7OpdfykElEbAFk0YCJt5BOUIFEZXRwhK2mhY4a2jhIz2We8m8Hy4qz1b/s1600/IMG_0231+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByk67yU-T39IdfnzSO1aD8lbrKCtL0AHymbMjxGUawnYw82BGLcqMoELMSCsx23l2JEhRmZ20zMAJ-b-mdUAf7OpdfykElEbAFk0YCJt5BOUIFEZXRwhK2mhY4a2jhIz2We8m8Hy4qz1b/s320/IMG_0231+copy.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByk67yU-T39IdfnzSO1aD8lbrKCtL0AHymbMjxGUawnYw82BGLcqMoELMSCsx23l2JEhRmZ20zMAJ-b-mdUAf7OpdfykElEbAFk0YCJt5BOUIFEZXRwhK2mhY4a2jhIz2We8m8Hy4qz1b/s1600/IMG_0231+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Chaplain Brian Walsh and Marion Taylor of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Wycliffe</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">We want to thank all who came to help make this a day for celebration. And a special thanks goes to Sharon Tiessen, for without her preparation of the pieces, it would not have been possible to show </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sharon</st1:place></st1:city></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;">’s work. She could not be there, but thanks to our David’s photography and video recording, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sharon</st1:place></st1:city></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px;"> has gotten a pretty good impression of how it went.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-45401542454235300732011-05-11T08:52:00.012-04:002011-05-21T19:54:41.179-04:00Easter, resurrection and grace<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With Easter Christians celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This year we have been given special reasons to celebrate that resurrection, for we have experienced it personally. Although it has been some while since we last entered a blog, we want to share this experience with all of you who have followed our adventures over the years.</span><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some of you may know that Sharon, our eldest, has been affected by an auto-immune disorder, Wegener's granulomatosis. She was first diagnosed with it in 1998. Before Christmas she developed a benign mass in her lungs; this led to pneumonia and a number of infections, which landed her in hospital three times already before Easter. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Because she was coughing up blood again at Easter time, she went to the ER at St. Michael's Hospital for some more tests on Easter Monday (April 25). New evidence of activity in the right lung led the doctors to admit her. Early that evening she started shivering. She received medication and started to doze off. Before she did however, she told Adrian, who was with her at the time, "I don't want to die!" He assured her that she would not.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Early the next morning we received a phone call from the hospital that she had been taken to the ICU because of additional bleeding in her lungs. Wendy went down right away to talk to Sharon yet before they began sedating her, particularly to stop the coughing, which intensified bleeding. At that point the doctors also began an aggressive treatment of the Wegener's disease with steroids. Wendy saw her yet during the afternoon, and then went home for a rest. But a phone-call to the ICU late in the afternoon revealed that Sharon had lost quite a bit more blood, and her condition was critical. That evening we were both at her bedside. We were afraid that we would lose her. Wendy stayed the night in a room near the ICU.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For more than a week Sharon remained sedated, while the doctors tried to stop the bleeding and give her lungs a chance to stabilize; on several occasions she was given plasma exchange to rid her body of dangerous antibodies. She was also given a new drug, rituxomab, only recently approved for special cases like hers. She breathed with the help of a ventilator and breathing tube; it seemed there were more IV lines into her body than we could count. And all we could do was hold her hand, and pray. The doctors and nurses were helpful and kind, but they did not hide the danger of Sharon's condition; until last Saturday, when she was declared out of immediate danger. Even when she came out of sedation it took some time for reality to take hold; she has forgotten much of what happened those first days, but remembers Adrian holding her hand on Wednesday. She became more and more alert in succeeding days.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4yfdvwrb-c7e0BHqJK8af9cZ26N4CCF_z10Zpd6-gsY5gHtqNeso9iA7dYZi9-B5OiNMCiSsN-szNKBCt6NcyZ11mhE4e-eN4Dk8w_SPjZdzHBbqh355qd6wVDnEC8_6wyxpkCfwPGiT/s1600/st_michaels_urbanangel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4yfdvwrb-c7e0BHqJK8af9cZ26N4CCF_z10Zpd6-gsY5gHtqNeso9iA7dYZi9-B5OiNMCiSsN-szNKBCt6NcyZ11mhE4e-eN4Dk8w_SPjZdzHBbqh355qd6wVDnEC8_6wyxpkCfwPGiT/s320/st_michaels_urbanangel.jpg" width="250" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By that weekend (May 1) our youngest daughter, Pauline, who lives near Boston, had had enough of hearing of Sharon's condition from a distance, and decided to come down, to be near her sister. She was also considerable help for her parents, who were taking turns staying with Sharon. However, Adrian has been experiencing severe problems with sciatica over the past weeks, and sitting in a hospital chair didn't help. And Wendy experienced stress in the form of a nasty toothache. Besides, it was great for Sharon to share time with Pauline, now that she was more alert and aware of her situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On Monday, May 9, Sharon was well enough so that she could sit up. She received another plasma replacement treatment, and a third dose of rituxomab. And late last night she was finally transferred out of ICU, back to the respirology division, where she had already spent much of March. She will probably need a few weeks to recover, and regain her strength..<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oQo28xplU8H204QAunaor5RwvXRDAiaRZEb27tBe-ZrOxnVpteqg_iLZUIyiiXwPGd86DCCGdLPWY_RzBEFdI9MH9Mz9_DPKtwIHy2lvysCccL9gXT9GJCBan6xmOzy41Qdwz-B6Z4_r/s1600/SMH+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oQo28xplU8H204QAunaor5RwvXRDAiaRZEb27tBe-ZrOxnVpteqg_iLZUIyiiXwPGd86DCCGdLPWY_RzBEFdI9MH9Mz9_DPKtwIHy2lvysCccL9gXT9GJCBan6xmOzy41Qdwz-B6Z4_r/s320/SMH+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We are so thankful that we have received Sharon back from the dead, as it were. For her it certainly was a resurrection experience, all the more in that it followed immediately after Easter. During these two weeks we have experienced God's extravagant grace, also in the outpouring of prayer by many friends. While Sharon's recovery so far has been amazing, she will require months of further treatment. We ourselves are also improving, albeit slowly. And Pauline's presence for almost a week, accompanied by their youngest, James, was a special treat for everyone, especially for Sharon.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At this point we simply praise God from whom all blessings flow. What the future holds for Sharon, we don't know. But God has assured us of his love. Thank God with us.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6OqUkDqNGrha37jtWhFYv2j0aLu4qyuTR3FhtiLaDLoImVtWbP9QkeU-Hoco8uDGPFZib2HIQTIjUr5jlgA8YMZbQsD8CZs7tMFmjCi-4fdd6-92SenHP7x1OWYYwthwU5ZYAfMl9F-Y/s1600/IMG_1974.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6OqUkDqNGrha37jtWhFYv2j0aLu4qyuTR3FhtiLaDLoImVtWbP9QkeU-Hoco8uDGPFZib2HIQTIjUr5jlgA8YMZbQsD8CZs7tMFmjCi-4fdd6-92SenHP7x1OWYYwthwU5ZYAfMl9F-Y/s320/IMG_1974.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-61215218051227087632011-03-01T11:39:00.013-05:002011-06-23T18:19:38.088-04:00February reflections<div><div><br />
</div><div>The end of February is a good time, perhaps, to take stock of ourselves: where we have been in the last year and where we hope to go in the future. A few snow flurries are still falling as we are writing this, but the sun is much warmer than it was only a few weeks ago, which is a sign that spring is just around the corner. The cherry trees in front of our house that are already budding are yet another sign.</div><div><br />
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</div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579159187167127938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZi01cdUd2nkdSNeYZ_23ZJrc1zqykmtrS5YYljCH99pWJJRPvEEyOWLohyphenhyphen1FCCHh-jgKkUBein0cP5GZ-O_xQuEeDl9UeBDwBsocFBWTgte6JRAAlEx9-2hqprVd5EM464DSS1xWf9sT/s320/bougainvillea.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 239px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The street where we lived in the Gambia</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579179444459673170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGWY1JIDnf2kkLWZ-WJMQSEP2h1NaatP0pxwEpzfGm02q5-W9cRcZkjciRROaGvolBnAI4p0m_SRMRZIyQcdm9aaZrYn1eSbA0-XiPY-8naOM53bkGJS2aXVVr7NFShGOEbKbf9TNGNdU/s320/IMGP1255.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">CVM House, where we stayed</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">In mid-December we returned from the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Gambia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. After our visit to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> in early November, we each taught an additional course the Gambian Theological Institute (GTI), which trains pastors and other church leaders. We had many of the same students as in the first courses that we taught in October. We enjoyed teaching them, and from the reports that we continue to receive from them, they enjoyed it as well. Only recently did we finish marking the papers and exams for these courses, since we gave the students until the middle of January to submit their papers. A few papers are still trickling in, and we will have to mark them before we submit the results to our colleagues at <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Wycliffe</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>, which administers the diploma program at GTI. The students wrote their exams a few days before we left, which was a busy time for us, since we also had to pack for our return to <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579179440116314658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BspFYAAE5CifrwtDqNw2Usccqo1Ab09byYwK03_vcBzCak9Lel4T7DrmiducEeA9WI6-OgGQVBAcui0QtwilZJcAPtA9uU3jA04uxiyl8AaOR8id9uUjjhK6yb7ztgBJtkh3h5ItlzE7/s320/IMGP1242.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Adrian in class</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579159191677902162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkaTFub_gbZ67KCsullDC6xRu37-p9tlAlMwmKrcIlaV3QeWi-qAoikQHiFggkhkQ8MLjFGtNqQyF4uD9LyU76PX4dJPdYygT1W7X3IEbrdZsu18DCfre7ByjUfdlGbHkVTtllIUXCvoU/s320/IMGP1235.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Wendy in class</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579159196482234482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIi_ax2oTH8V36BSvGqbcwRFYHfwLuVARVZaoRhs6sOsysN4_f7DsZWzyg4FJgcgTdaxeX8uSTpOJIfp5Wlbjl50EyW-sSr9H06PLFMVQXDPzcwSCFlHgvKmvLH8U8-GUV2vPm_4L0sOp/s320/IMGP1238.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Some students</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579160086853104834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZJdnp_sqLFAyuWCP00-Soq4Ouv1zt7-bmNjt2QVNUkZMhtUPIs3fSiGCnKRpTB_fWDQnQukgnf0wHxa6hNEUNWR0KgSV20ym0hk_lJacmTzWd9nU0526PpnM2akVqiGIxUGCll7srIDy/s320/three+students+copy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Three more students</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579160082871838498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DH9oHACvHFLgLfbHzshm8S-8MSZsFZWykyYBTVHdcZFl65jKFLLeNDJN3agNcFyL1QPN-1WA34NHkZAvbZrZ5CoYInxfZ3KatrWyvYlkDO8WWCAlzr9tgf4yxSjQD8xq0_HynqwdUSB7/s320/Mary+copy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Mary Jabang, one of two women students<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The week before we left the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Gambia</st1:place></st1:country-region> we were interviewed on national television for a weekly program. Since this is the only TV station in the country, everyone watches it, as we found out later. We had been interviewed once before in November, when we told viewers about the courses we were teaching at GTI. This time we were asked, “What is the relevance for viewers of what you are teaching?” <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Adrian</st1:place></st1:city>'s latest course had focused on the nature and work of Jesus. In his response, he emphasized God's love in humbling himself and coming to us in his Son for our salvation. The divinity of Jesus is a major obstacle for Muslims, who accept him as the greatest prophet after Muhamed, but deny that Jesus can be the Son of God, since God has no children. Christmas was only a few weeks away, so that gave <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Adrian</st1:place></st1:city> an opportunity to talk about the incarnation of Jesus to Muslim viewers. He admitted that evangelical Christians sometimes have the opposite problem: they find it difficult to accept the full humanity of Christ—that he was a person like us, who got tired and who wept, but who also enjoyed good food and fellowship.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579160091826636690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4kx23f4yt2WdIRpEXFUTQ-T9lgpGn0xFQEWTiI57uCn7ogkAn2I5Yz1LozJkMEcwdo3TTernJSn1KcvQD35zO-_M5UiCD5TdBiC0n2Ohj9yd6-qKuTK1QADPdajvLN-W37Bc7aMO0rEQ/s320/IMGP1266.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The studio of Gambia Radio and Television<br />
<br />
</div></div></div></div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579159183020286354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1_9j9cZheGDvQvKbcbK138Y4tcgwBtRxRDheTjHb7Ld_A1fa_3c2AUtVKFJ9pHZhCEQ4pVoVMZzghj6VHh0tCA7WMt0vUtPY0Ji7K_cNCyFEh21S2nPJMZymiz2Fuj66q5X1Qggr5tB9/s320/a%2526wGRTS.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Wendy and Adrian at the studio</div><div><br />
</div><div>Wendy confronted the same question, and her response pointed to the theology of love developed by the 4th century North African giant of the Christian church, Augustine, who was the focus of the course she taught. In the legacy which Augustine left in church work, preaching, and teaching, his accent was on God's grace and mercy in coming to us, accomplishing for us what we could never achieve by our own efforts, no matter how sincere. In his classic work, <i>The Confessions,</i> he recognized the incarnation as a pivotal and irreversible point in time, demolishing the ancient understanding of time as an eternal circle, a view still prevalent today.<span style="font-size: 9pt;"></span>We are grateful for the opportunity to share something of our teaching on the meaning of Christmas for viewers who might never enter a church but who do watch this weekly program.</div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579160102462819682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLgfhbq6C-DjYoxaOQUpBa8p9Ka0qv6VZNYrHstBeLZwvDcLMXeF2QbocP82e7mpAuJsF0daNOZfpztfa7rANMIm0N79GZ0Xln6_t8MLx-uPk65UJbL5fQWARuMz52GOHw_lJrDVYxmI3/s320/IMGP1271.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">With Rev. Junisa, the host of the program</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We are also grateful for the opportunity God gave to serve at GTI for several months. We hope to be able to return to the <st1:country-region st="on">Gambia</st1:country-region> later this year, but this time to teach in the new program in Christian studies at the University of the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Gambia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. While the senate of the university has not yet given its final approval to this new program, we have been informed that the Dean of Arts and Humanities, who is a Christian, has been instructed to find students for it. We are encouraged by this information, and pray it will lead to full implementation of the program.<br />
</div></div></div></div></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-67595153534753842842010-11-29T04:11:00.034-05:002010-11-29T09:04:16.008-05:00Visit to Nigeria, November 4-16<div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal">Our visit to Nigeria earlier this month was a little like a whirlwind - it went much too quickly. Indeed, we accomplished our main goals, to visit and work with our graduate students, but we certainly would have liked more time to visit friends and former colleagues.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Lzs6pEyuXD6YLsRPkblqgGxAPc2N0hFtEqikHEVPKusr5Mx_bCjkGCU5_eddbmH9Twac4XcsXDRB-PrD1k4WOWUNEwgYJkCvWPTxZ3Bnyu-WfSxDw8n45yDPlPCAjb2Pc3xRshE0N5N_/s1600/welcomJos.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Lzs6pEyuXD6YLsRPkblqgGxAPc2N0hFtEqikHEVPKusr5Mx_bCjkGCU5_eddbmH9Twac4XcsXDRB-PrD1k4WOWUNEwgYJkCvWPTxZ3Bnyu-WfSxDw8n45yDPlPCAjb2Pc3xRshE0N5N_/s320/welcomJos.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544906294744340082" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPQykYpS8uI1xHAqqG1BTVpZMBiJj-b3spjpNyqie1obg1lOzD_70lrhUCcQdUQeT_BwD2C1qynss-EP57ZTuTbJ76y0XiiIV0m8LeXfN4qKkb2aXckG1rbPLgJorP9_NYGuQDzSUZhZ8/s1600/streetsjos.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPQykYpS8uI1xHAqqG1BTVpZMBiJj-b3spjpNyqie1obg1lOzD_70lrhUCcQdUQeT_BwD2C1qynss-EP57ZTuTbJ76y0XiiIV0m8LeXfN4qKkb2aXckG1rbPLgJorP9_NYGuQDzSUZhZ8/s320/streetsjos.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544906284166089330" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Streets and roads of Jos near the Unijos campus</div> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The trip started somewhat inauspiciously, because our flight was scheduled to leave Banjul around 2am, but did not leave until about 4.30. So we arrived late in Lagos and thus missed the connecting flight to Jos. With some coaxing of the airline staff, Adrian managed to change our ticket to fly to Abuja that same afternoon, and Mary McCain helped arrange for a taxi to take us to Jos. Although we left the Abuja airport at about 4pm, Abuja traffic was heavy, and we had not yet gotten to the stretch of highway leading to the Plateau when it was already getting dark. Needless to say, we were praying the whole way to Jos. Going up the Plateau there were numerous roadblocks to slow us again - we counted at least 20 before we got to Jos, even though the evening curfew is no longer in effect. The police or military at the checkpoints were invariably friendly, and the taxi driver was professional about his work, but we were really grateful to arrive at the McCains around 9pm! They greeted us warmly, and even had some food for us before we transferred to the house where we used to live on campus, just a few minutes walk from the McCains.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We were tired, since we had hardly slept the previous night on<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>the flight from Banjul. But the next day with the use of our cell phones we lost little time to get in touch with our students, to let them know we arrived and were ready to work with them on their projects. It was Friday, so it was a day when we would not ordinarily go out, certainly not in the afternoon unless it was necessary for marketing and groceries to get us going. But on that score Mary really helped out by having us over for the hot meal.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVohvNh097VVn_nliJ2XW0EHSq1GywDYfz8TSQFl_XRZmUz9GaZ9BIjPOM-_z0LyLjdDPc7MVI7MjYybiZR4qXRE-9c-spngRo16tv6L616uOJdiQO9TE4ogwgFIKtDu3vmrUXgd5Ks_Q/s1600/jostraffic.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVohvNh097VVn_nliJ2XW0EHSq1GywDYfz8TSQFl_XRZmUz9GaZ9BIjPOM-_z0LyLjdDPc7MVI7MjYybiZR4qXRE-9c-spngRo16tv6L616uOJdiQO9TE4ogwgFIKtDu3vmrUXgd5Ks_Q/s320/jostraffic.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544905840511290050" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Zaria Road</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikdqJK26fGDnm9tDaqKhPASiNnNbJhRgHB2hb03i-6JLikKC4NikNNcvqyW0AkwTtdY-Y_QzpNQlHOGxI8wypdJ_jXK0JSelLavsf77bOX5zG2InmN4GBjiaK141SBN-RQUa1txvaP4erb/s1600/zariaroad.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikdqJK26fGDnm9tDaqKhPASiNnNbJhRgHB2hb03i-6JLikKC4NikNNcvqyW0AkwTtdY-Y_QzpNQlHOGxI8wypdJ_jXK0JSelLavsf77bOX5zG2InmN4GBjiaK141SBN-RQUa1txvaP4erb/s320/zariaroad.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544905831375075074" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This double road is a wonderful new feature in Jos, finished in the last months, and passing through the city from north to south; it makes for a much smoother transition through the city.</div> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">During that day, Friday, our department hosted external examiners for master's students, and one of those defending was Wendy's former student, Sunday Gwomna, who had completed his thesis on Ephesians with Danny McCain. When he dropped by that evening with one of the elders of his congregation, we were happy to congratulate him. He in turn took advantage of the occasion to ask us to join him at his church on Sunday, and for Adrian to preach. It was not hard to agree to that request, especially on what would certainly be a festive occasion, at the completion of work on the thesis.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8jfSONEYWVU5ZGgZdnvd9IhrIZbhqTQ5Zjh5tQ8PoAjCGpaa55hMAK5d20HWmGpA5hMDAjNLD3vTVsd8XdJi7xVvXpYfVsS5O86Grhh7kpM4n1rWGuGnhtefPdlFNnfcO-B8O6YAx2vE/s1600/afterservice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8jfSONEYWVU5ZGgZdnvd9IhrIZbhqTQ5Zjh5tQ8PoAjCGpaa55hMAK5d20HWmGpA5hMDAjNLD3vTVsd8XdJi7xVvXpYfVsS5O86Grhh7kpM4n1rWGuGnhtefPdlFNnfcO-B8O6YAx2vE/s320/afterservice.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544905444494439026" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Adrian with pastor Sunday after the service</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PK4JcjW9OBrdRIhFKrdaWoSjpXlV1ohazVsatW99pXVhcBqpWf9xjgoXs1ole8kQz_H1C9hnUmykkOtozb20UbyiyPTh1KawDuWTlVFA5DkAWWTTxuuVdLNDMKXvG-LzkAseDIq2rDuS/s1600/outdoorclass.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0PK4JcjW9OBrdRIhFKrdaWoSjpXlV1ohazVsatW99pXVhcBqpWf9xjgoXs1ole8kQz_H1C9hnUmykkOtozb20UbyiyPTh1KawDuWTlVFA5DkAWWTTxuuVdLNDMKXvG-LzkAseDIq2rDuS/s320/outdoorclass.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544905181339636818" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4RQ9iT1fCe5jGR_YgRoKNu7ogiN5J5BD_HyUGPHQsREZNehVaOZRh2tcUI9hp-yU6la5G-HdhsZKeX3svu-NcadCwR_gW5nSC02dMWu1lVQ3OkzuRVxH3FiOgUyBJ6iu5gUy-pvXDD8_/s1600/sundayschool.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4RQ9iT1fCe5jGR_YgRoKNu7ogiN5J5BD_HyUGPHQsREZNehVaOZRh2tcUI9hp-yU6la5G-HdhsZKeX3svu-NcadCwR_gW5nSC02dMWu1lVQ3OkzuRVxH3FiOgUyBJ6iu5gUy-pvXDD8_/s320/sundayschool.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544905168892753234" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Sunday school classes between the two services, held outdoors</div> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">We joined pastor Sunday for two services, first the English, attended by about 50, most of them students, and then for the Hausa service, for which the hall was packed. Adrian's message on suffering as an integral and not abnormal part of the life of the Christian, was well-received. This was the congregation whose church, located not far from the university, in a predominantly Muslim area, had now been burned three times. So they were meeting in a community centre not far from their own location. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR6N2NDCS6Iqa_xXPIzY6wG1_raAuHRtGHCfgoCwF3VAOombvCfyO_4ek6oYYMBUjZKosIxxb6Zr9qRn0jF5uvJOYDI3pAKu2NkFNIqk9EqGjs29w8bnZhjBqMQ6qOIscpmb8MCkd2aiL/s1600/entrycommunityc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR6N2NDCS6Iqa_xXPIzY6wG1_raAuHRtGHCfgoCwF3VAOombvCfyO_4ek6oYYMBUjZKosIxxb6Zr9qRn0jF5uvJOYDI3pAKu2NkFNIqk9EqGjs29w8bnZhjBqMQ6qOIscpmb8MCkd2aiL/s320/entrycommunityc.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544904690109518498" /></a><div><br /></div><div>The entry to the community centre; the structure is made of local bricks, widely used.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPiF6bfatY3bAsHxWb_xLu9lxDeXjSZ2xypxTcf3Ht_yqA0rSc3PZBTtnfl4hdQz-N8F68z3Rj9wtFBkGkm1sLHxQgURNYuw3M3VdsYAR6vEMsU-9kMVnXkjHlz2cUQhH8XY468t_b7lB/s1600/childatchurch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPiF6bfatY3bAsHxWb_xLu9lxDeXjSZ2xypxTcf3Ht_yqA0rSc3PZBTtnfl4hdQz-N8F68z3Rj9wtFBkGkm1sLHxQgURNYuw3M3VdsYAR6vEMsU-9kMVnXkjHlz2cUQhH8XY468t_b7lB/s320/childatchurch.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544904322465647170" /></a><div><br /></div><div>But after the service pastor Sunday proudly showed us a new compound nearby, acquired by the church, with a much more secure wall. This will be the location of the parsonage and the chapel for English services, while they are rebuilding the walls of the older location.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmm8nfHjXvuvFtKtoFfMTPoAg3oSKhTDLq_5TLx68R0R8EBh4KjnUjHGcJRoYoLKKk8pWzd04CQo5oZNhwupsIRmnGxke1O0osa-hUm4BOz3loRt1Bs5BPlMFMqZLABK12NrUGfTOXp9fi/s1600/gatenewproperty.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmm8nfHjXvuvFtKtoFfMTPoAg3oSKhTDLq_5TLx68R0R8EBh4KjnUjHGcJRoYoLKKk8pWzd04CQo5oZNhwupsIRmnGxke1O0osa-hUm4BOz3loRt1Bs5BPlMFMqZLABK12NrUGfTOXp9fi/s320/gatenewproperty.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544903560276340386" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Sunday, Adrian and Wendy, in front of the new gate</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The new property will not be accessed until after Christmas time; but the high quality wall and gate are very important for this congregation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The important thing is that we did get to work with most of the students for whom we came. Although Cosmos had presented his proposal in an initial seminar at Unijos, there was still much to be settled, and Adrian had a few sessions with him, to get this proposal for research on a stronger footing. He also was able to contact Dennis, who is now teaching in a city at some distance from Jos; since our last visit Dennis managed to present the requisite number of seminars, and was ready for upgrading, and is thus at the same stage as Wendy's student Rebecca. </p><p class="MsoNormal">To help prepare Rebecca for this upgrading procedure, Wendy especially helped her strengthen the theoretical framework, a segment of the first chapter, which needed some work. We had time to go through a few versions, and were able to complete this far more efficiently than through email; so Rebecca was especially grateful for our coming. When we had completed the bulk of the work we celebrated the event with herself and her husband Sam by going out for lunch in a restaurant not far from Bukuru, where they live on the campus of the Theological College of Northern Nigeria. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge72q042ePlu_Pfw9bXb32LDHE_txgtpBXkl2we90Py8IPO5NGontQ4o-YTjkJow5FlO4ZSOS-Zz1sDvfAb66f9TkUnoLUoWlOoc_lg2aPtprKWoeYp9gDJRQLhxZezJmX9pEF2H9hz3ts/s1600/samrebeccalunch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge72q042ePlu_Pfw9bXb32LDHE_txgtpBXkl2we90Py8IPO5NGontQ4o-YTjkJow5FlO4ZSOS-Zz1sDvfAb66f9TkUnoLUoWlOoc_lg2aPtprKWoeYp9gDJRQLhxZezJmX9pEF2H9hz3ts/s320/samrebeccalunch.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544902961335882130" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Adrian, Sam, Rebecca and Wendy</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Wendy's other PhD student, Dauda, had in the meantime transferred the actual work on the thesis to a supervisor at the university of KwasuluNatal in South Africa. He had recently submitted the entire thesis for defence, so at this point Wendy only took the time for a careful reading, providing him some comments which will hopefully be helpful when the time comes for defence. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjoPT4o2_Kekm7ZOl6nQDDRqjBH-YHGvxais8xiFx_dZ3Xj9b9S8OmtTachilXp_itfQfJALofzkAxiXQCCX3dCXtaWdFfJI66FNaGaUE0-GIKSKLgIj4uCyEtHGh5KGAPskdEwwBITzE1/s1600/danfulkangdim.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjoPT4o2_Kekm7ZOl6nQDDRqjBH-YHGvxais8xiFx_dZ3Xj9b9S8OmtTachilXp_itfQfJALofzkAxiXQCCX3dCXtaWdFfJI66FNaGaUE0-GIKSKLgIj4uCyEtHGh5KGAPskdEwwBITzE1/s320/danfulkangdim.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544901724340849362" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">At the King's Bite: Danfulani and his wife, the external examiner, Wendy, Adrian and Kangdim</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvTzzdWkByJRI7GCIENpufYf-ZaIazcfk2VL92PMRpKmdQFGNaq8S43LqrJjjS_VDhSZatiDXrhzciE1C_-3EPXWOtM8wJuhfl69CLFzEUyqLLiVaR51GtLVI4kPixWW7JCFzbiPJhJ0M/s1600/danfulelias.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvTzzdWkByJRI7GCIENpufYf-ZaIazcfk2VL92PMRpKmdQFGNaq8S43LqrJjjS_VDhSZatiDXrhzciE1C_-3EPXWOtM8wJuhfl69CLFzEUyqLLiVaR51GtLVI4kPixWW7JCFzbiPJhJ0M/s320/danfulelias.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544901717334728018" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Elias Lamle, Danfulani and his wife</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Our visit also gave a pleasant opportunity to catch up with Elias Lamle, whom Wendy had helped with his thesis on joking relationships among the Tarok of the Plateau, a thesis he had defended successfully at Leuven in Belgium this past June. We appreciated the invitation of colleagues in the Religious Studies department, Umar Danfulani and Jotham Kangdim to join them for supper, together with Elias and the external examiner for the department that day. At the moment Elias is still examining various options for work including a position in a center for peace and conflict studies, a position that would certainly allow him to implement the work for his doctoral studies.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Aside from the discussions with our graduate students we also discovered that our department of Religious Studies has a new name; it is now the department of Religious Studies and Philosophy. To date no faculty has been hired specifically to teach philosophy, though one recently hired Master's graduate does have a background in philosophy from St. Augustine's Major Seminary, where philosophy is taught for three years to prospective priests, before they begin the work in theology. We did take some time to talk with our former graduate students, who were hired in the department at the junior level, with the understanding that they acquire a doctoral degree which will help qualify them to teach philosophy. It is difficult, of course, for a student to write a thesis at that level, when they are lacking in the necessary preparatory courses. We tried to advise them on a program of reading; but we also knew that St. Augustine's does have faculty members well qualified in philosophy, and so we took the time to the visit with our former colleagues at the St.Augustine's Seminary, so that there might be the necessary cooperation.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLLZmfhmkpz41KLiS1xnhVHF21HUB34JLbMDPoW5Wk8W6G8bcadbUofTcKEDfv_yv8qPrLLOb85ZgfUX7sJPrSkpuR01-u7iQ-_9GD0EkxRpCjdY7eSxvrFnZ1Cfr7h97NZEUm1EpncxH/s1600/st.augsign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLLZmfhmkpz41KLiS1xnhVHF21HUB34JLbMDPoW5Wk8W6G8bcadbUofTcKEDfv_yv8qPrLLOb85ZgfUX7sJPrSkpuR01-u7iQ-_9GD0EkxRpCjdY7eSxvrFnZ1Cfr7h97NZEUm1EpncxH/s320/st.augsign.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544900008420768178" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ70PA4v5omNWJoHDnNpTJiW3bKRZou9Y3hduKTvmGipXwIDSk_Ys0fc-M-xPQcORbJyyJ_KDHfAfDeALwu76W9NqCFTKkewtBsmRxxNIyXleCuq_YF0hxXOXzAmjkV_-jDhHiEiamXZuK/s1600/st.augustine.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ70PA4v5omNWJoHDnNpTJiW3bKRZou9Y3hduKTvmGipXwIDSk_Ys0fc-M-xPQcORbJyyJ_KDHfAfDeALwu76W9NqCFTKkewtBsmRxxNIyXleCuq_YF0hxXOXzAmjkV_-jDhHiEiamXZuK/s320/st.augustine.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544899994416842738" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Our friend and dean of the Seminary, Fr. Peter Kamai.was happy to receive some of our dictionaries and reference works for the Seminary library</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On our last Sunday in Jos we attended the NKST Anglo-Jos service, one of the few congregations of the Tiv church which has an English service. Many of the Unijos students attend. It was wonderful to worship there again, and to meet former friends and colleagues. During the ethno-religious troubles earlier this year the church and parsonage had been attacked, and although the church did not suffer much damage, the parsonage was still without a roof. In fact in that neighbourhood there were whole streets of houses still without roofs, and with considerable indication of fire damage. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the university one of the benefits of the recent troubles is that the university has finally put a solid fence separating the campus from the main highway, giving at least some slight protection for the campus residents when troubles arise.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPQcu4TiyLkaGgmzwgjqlqCdnmfe7tYZCkoxUj0uoX1V0j4JiR3_WwwH-mg9irgkEVy1FvJcQB9oHo8zs8rIpLo9oDR5cQVs_JBcwCip9EZ-JlNyXzZwchEPUzAhRMnkFDV7ZCCN8x9Tz/s1600/univgate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPQcu4TiyLkaGgmzwgjqlqCdnmfe7tYZCkoxUj0uoX1V0j4JiR3_WwwH-mg9irgkEVy1FvJcQB9oHo8zs8rIpLo9oDR5cQVs_JBcwCip9EZ-JlNyXzZwchEPUzAhRMnkFDV7ZCCN8x9Tz/s320/univgate.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544899452086888434" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6xX5myt0tD1L0isYbiGAlWerq_JUxjy-PjGBiUDCegcPxfD4ZGff-HK_vhqQMW9bTOYVYQysEK8pMxXkVgEmwtW07Orrwl-ObiwJPGMxmWBfDa20oZEgy1aSSChqmKMrtS4Bla6Hvq2T/s1600/univfence.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6xX5myt0tD1L0isYbiGAlWerq_JUxjy-PjGBiUDCegcPxfD4ZGff-HK_vhqQMW9bTOYVYQysEK8pMxXkVgEmwtW07Orrwl-ObiwJPGMxmWBfDa20oZEgy1aSSChqmKMrtS4Bla6Hvq2T/s320/univfence.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544899421676059218" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Entrance gate and the new fence of the Permanent Site campus of Unijos</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Although most of our days in Jos were packed, our last day was particularly interesting. Rather early in the day we walked over to the building which houses our department.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinV_nE0ElHeWrzChIqFX7XduTaZ5ISaF1rN2_jh4y9RkZVwFv0eVEHcT_07szGPRcQhC4FQDHOPrtni1-bjwfj4S4FZ-8HYXk3AmVKlDctTIHLfFMPwNXhhf_6wn64waRYebvYvhjxY63c/s1600/oncampus.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinV_nE0ElHeWrzChIqFX7XduTaZ5ISaF1rN2_jh4y9RkZVwFv0eVEHcT_07szGPRcQhC4FQDHOPrtni1-bjwfj4S4FZ-8HYXk3AmVKlDctTIHLfFMPwNXhhf_6wn64waRYebvYvhjxY63c/s320/oncampus.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544898891306109730" /></a><div><br /></div><div>We hardly recognized the campus where we used to teach; many new buildings are being added.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59bYjMNPYokWTfQMmQXQWwubm6fQDBeHrXGcNPzkoBGfh_ePgyM_kVPOYECVFbACikI3ojWthEI_VV6kFEJ6iILXGfuI6nnr9S1GGitJtKATzk-C7u1Dcdpj4KyR6nPttPxE0x3sU-FJR/s1600/adrianoncampus.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59bYjMNPYokWTfQMmQXQWwubm6fQDBeHrXGcNPzkoBGfh_ePgyM_kVPOYECVFbACikI3ojWthEI_VV6kFEJ6iILXGfuI6nnr9S1GGitJtKATzk-C7u1Dcdpj4KyR6nPttPxE0x3sU-FJR/s320/adrianoncampus.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544898396321409202" /></a><div><br /></div><div>Our expectations of meeting numerous colleagues were not disappointed, for this was the day when our faculty was to hold its election for a new dean. Our good friend and colleague Danfulani was standing for the position. Aside from the importance of the occasion for our department, we were happy for this chance to meet many old friends and colleagues gathered for the election, especially Gwamna as new head of our department. But it was special treat to meet Timothy Tseror, with whom we had worked in Tanzania; although he had stayed in Mwanza a year after we left, he was now back in Jos, teaching once more in the history department of Unijos. He invited us for supper that night yet, and honoured us by having pounded yam with a special meat soup!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeN9WNUyPrEFx4lVbcTeHW6qFPLLD6vhlXBgbTpEaTIEW6g3jTVLsk3JjsvneOj2UQbT30Gs4i21jhykQUi4f15SegCALZA73pPXLmS8Sgt2ccF4-8Uq1-FoqOd1Hznw5ihZX99TkM1zl/s1600/timothyfam.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeN9WNUyPrEFx4lVbcTeHW6qFPLLD6vhlXBgbTpEaTIEW6g3jTVLsk3JjsvneOj2UQbT30Gs4i21jhykQUi4f15SegCALZA73pPXLmS8Sgt2ccF4-8Uq1-FoqOd1Hznw5ihZX99TkM1zl/s320/timothyfam.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544898005907706690" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">Timothy's wife and his youngest daughter joined him for the second year he taught at St. Augustine's University in Tanzania, in Mwanza. It was a special treat for us that after we left he and his family was able to occupy the house given us, and which we had helped to furnish at the time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Tuesday morning we finished up what needed to be done at the house. Aside from work with students we had also taken the time to make decisions on a number of things we had left in the house in 2008, like books, thinking that our IICS colleagues<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>who would be staying at the house could use them.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTif7BKe-HBHMF02eDyJ1HDOi3QK9u83sdzsv-FyPoPT4UXNdHnxTsBWNO6a6P1hgvVPO1mNUqGOF-qnczbtdpxH9D11yO5lN2ndK1LD30HZ4TV7tVT8EcJpU1igNF0mtXho-TTGzv64f/s1600/housebouganv.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUTif7BKe-HBHMF02eDyJ1HDOi3QK9u83sdzsv-FyPoPT4UXNdHnxTsBWNO6a6P1hgvVPO1mNUqGOF-qnczbtdpxH9D11yO5lN2ndK1LD30HZ4TV7tVT8EcJpU1igNF0mtXho-TTGzv64f/s320/housebouganv.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544897512298170594" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJrsVD0DocVQq_UsQU1TIHmv3Yf55iqPwM5jDbxKfO-W1e8oFCeZD5Ls_BmOjZ7sdqxwCRDukXZbjxyiEMdsQcnTGBsdh-NtP1GuZdoIQdZQSpYsZ78ovchKvpP2WM62bxNrLy4_4E_m8/s1600/on+balcony.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJrsVD0DocVQq_UsQU1TIHmv3Yf55iqPwM5jDbxKfO-W1e8oFCeZD5Ls_BmOjZ7sdqxwCRDukXZbjxyiEMdsQcnTGBsdh-NtP1GuZdoIQdZQSpYsZ78ovchKvpP2WM62bxNrLy4_4E_m8/s320/on+balcony.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544897506857136690" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">So it was time to do some "housecleaning". Alongside books and equipment we found materials for teaching that had only been collecting dust. Some of these we managed to pass along to our graduate students, some to friends and colleagues at Unijos and TCNN, and finally. some ended up in a smoky fire in the pit behind our house! It was really time to say goodbye! So, we were off to the airport shortly after 10.30am, in time for the Arik flight to Lagos, which arrived a little late, but this time it was not a problem, since the flight to Banjul was not scheduled to leave until 8pm that night; it actually left on time, and after a landing at Accra in Ghana, flew straight to Banjul - not stopping first in Dakar, Senegal as we had anticipated. So we arrived at 11:30pm, about 30 minutes earlier than expected! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Although we were tired from a rather hectic schedule of visits and consultations, we had enjoyed the cooler air of Jos on the Plateau, and really appreciated the opportunity of meeting many friends, along with our students, encouraging them, as well as being encouraged ourselves by the good things which are happening in Jos, in spite of the troubles of these past months.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-20316906230447077482010-11-03T10:37:00.006-04:002010-11-03T11:06:19.004-04:00Finishing our first courses<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Last Friday and Saturday, respectively, we managed to finish the first two courses (Introduction to New Testament/Wendy, and Introduction to Christian Theology/Adrian), with students at the Gambia Theological Institute (GTI).</span></span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5B48ySVuh4MJO3KScDkZfeUmpyyuGRcYceCT0N3yflFEOIuGVPYRf0bq3Ac2RXMKfC70m273Yz6PzHUxQTGHAJ6rFsly8iHtbcQnXoTvwhhxkdiiGZNprNwcKbJAfn2kPaYhF7RvYhzP/s1600/ourGCCroom.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5B48ySVuh4MJO3KScDkZfeUmpyyuGRcYceCT0N3yflFEOIuGVPYRf0bq3Ac2RXMKfC70m273Yz6PzHUxQTGHAJ6rFsly8iHtbcQnXoTvwhhxkdiiGZNprNwcKbJAfn2kPaYhF7RvYhzP/s320/ourGCCroom.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535333713670018066" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Our GCC classroom</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFj0dAOFLd8bGkLCSKVjvRQnzcWDPyKQK6zQpgu7DmXemVibz88hASKX10xeWwwRG02tgNtREZ4P5v3yTdYbsms-MIe8Szs4Pz2RNu7GihIsXcHYv3ZOw_a3kiNkEi_BXRFU0NAJC11ur/s1600/wendy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFj0dAOFLd8bGkLCSKVjvRQnzcWDPyKQK6zQpgu7DmXemVibz88hASKX10xeWwwRG02tgNtREZ4P5v3yTdYbsms-MIe8Szs4Pz2RNu7GihIsXcHYv3ZOw_a3kiNkEi_BXRFU0NAJC11ur/s320/wendy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535333708263197826" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Wendy teaching</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Praise God with us, as everything went smoothly, and we have not found it difficult to translate skills acquired in teaching in Nigeria, for this new setting in West Africa. And thank you to all who prayed with us; the Lord heard and answered us!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">We have enjoyed working with the GTI students, who come from a wide variety of backgrounds! Although some have barely finished high school, others have finished teacher’s college and are working as teachers; most are pastors or working in some kind of Christian ministry, though we also have two lawyers.</span></span></span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnXa_05UpyLLwo4OwZehwkyqbbg2L11k_27evJCPn-MJ-HN05SQiyTXmC5_J5gBDIcX8VGFAt7InszoOMVswOekPravRiOm7MHgiI5l5gUuOqdlAtMAoF1msdNfnCntlIvYd8vi5jL1nJ/s1600/three+students.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnXa_05UpyLLwo4OwZehwkyqbbg2L11k_27evJCPn-MJ-HN05SQiyTXmC5_J5gBDIcX8VGFAt7InszoOMVswOekPravRiOm7MHgiI5l5gUuOqdlAtMAoF1msdNfnCntlIvYd8vi5jL1nJ/s320/three+students.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535333662500335538" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Three students</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">We have discovered that they are not shy in class, and ask lots of questions, just like our students in Nigeria. That is a blessings, for we quickly got a sense of whether or not what we were teaching was helpful and appropriate.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUJxCompaBnigu8BEAfmmUY5Yipy_EWHWILnvRC7kAzC-WcpfrzpsXgAfI10VG2W70h0QhyLokM84YLr51TEh-T1AFJzu5r6BemUvc9qWol5PDsjy_0b7YGBMDMDK-hb-w0veaSMOE_fS/s1600/Mary.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUJxCompaBnigu8BEAfmmUY5Yipy_EWHWILnvRC7kAzC-WcpfrzpsXgAfI10VG2W70h0QhyLokM84YLr51TEh-T1AFJzu5r6BemUvc9qWol5PDsjy_0b7YGBMDMDK-hb-w0veaSMOE_fS/s320/Mary.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535333659661207778" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Mary</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1K9XGtZTK-R-sF2Iz3EXLMnAB-AptA9QBO67oGHOxLfCFEbkspnZgenpoOYazm9dueI6GGidc-drcOb2yz2h6zzUgOIdJF94OY_gu2N7jhc16DiNlpFR-ZL9IRBcabERz7Cc1Lv-2KGB_/s1600/roomovervu.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1K9XGtZTK-R-sF2Iz3EXLMnAB-AptA9QBO67oGHOxLfCFEbkspnZgenpoOYazm9dueI6GGidc-drcOb2yz2h6zzUgOIdJF94OY_gu2N7jhc16DiNlpFR-ZL9IRBcabERz7Cc1Lv-2KGB_/s320/roomovervu.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535333654529705330" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Room overview</span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">By God’s grace, we hope to begin the second set of courses (Augustine’s Confessions/Wendy, and Christology/Adrian) by mid-November, when we return from Nigeria.</span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">So we would ask you to pray with us for safety in the travelling planned for the next two weeks, as we hope to visit Nigeria (leaving November 4, to return to the Gambia on the 16th). Our main concern is to work with our Unijos graduate students. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Please pray for constructive sessions as we help them more effectively than just by email. Pray also for colleagues at the University of Jos, both our IICS colleagues who continue their ministry in that context, as well as our Nigerian colleagues, who carry on their work under considerable obstacles, whether provision of light, water and internet, as well as ethnic/religion tension, which can still so easily erupt in violence.</span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><br /></p></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-45412227363910070892010-11-03T09:36:00.008-04:002010-11-03T16:19:34.035-04:00CVM in the Gambia<div><br /></div><div>During the past two weeks we have also taken time to do some "sightseeing" beyond Banjul, and we want to share with you some views from our visits, as well as typical views of the roadside, first from our visit to Brikama, about forty-five minutes drive south of Kololi (where our compound is located).</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBiXigd3s4SdFa1sKtVy5W_Pke87pi_blzDQ3ccGn2oQE1X1mHU5LLpSch4RB8wV9qWpOWyhzddISh27MR2he0DgxBxCnvt-qsBU987sKoUamj5puIZttU-lFGYDEJwGxONNgm1fZDsrD/s1600/donkeycart.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBiXigd3s4SdFa1sKtVy5W_Pke87pi_blzDQ3ccGn2oQE1X1mHU5LLpSch4RB8wV9qWpOWyhzddISh27MR2he0DgxBxCnvt-qsBU987sKoUamj5puIZttU-lFGYDEJwGxONNgm1fZDsrD/s320/donkeycart.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322953225684306" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3lIf4_PzFRiGtiE7-GPRgNEPPkKpIZVm_FNN1BBbBENzZr4cB7zDT33-nvq4G1HH4un3O6xvagKeVSKhC6VnldXH0OX8jCtLFX_WtrirxRfth6Qh82Wum8DswZWvObhtN7u3-3J8XvO5/s1600/furniture.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3lIf4_PzFRiGtiE7-GPRgNEPPkKpIZVm_FNN1BBbBENzZr4cB7zDT33-nvq4G1HH4un3O6xvagKeVSKhC6VnldXH0OX8jCtLFX_WtrirxRfth6Qh82Wum8DswZWvObhtN7u3-3J8XvO5/s320/furniture.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322951242216066" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwoghmA423_5BTRyhcF9y7HsIYuYRNNVt07HfKCzBGHVDUuqlffoKww5JN-iDGnbX6-Uyv2TEFj50AW__LqWJ-88li7YW8GG1-xYtWzPysQc5EvG1w3HozRZuj_uFDZ-uAAtd4OSrorLF/s1600/hajjsign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwoghmA423_5BTRyhcF9y7HsIYuYRNNVt07HfKCzBGHVDUuqlffoKww5JN-iDGnbX6-Uyv2TEFj50AW__LqWJ-88li7YW8GG1-xYtWzPysQc5EvG1w3HozRZuj_uFDZ-uAAtd4OSrorLF/s320/hajjsign.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322655762276114" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPg3r_9kim8QqCl93NvlbX0RZmNRJ6q2E97nOBuNHMHFRHvpgRxZhz0ToHVDjoP9n-PURgwTGB7onbTPBQScpbPBsqFH9iJzztENfQOgHCEiigC85Ak6jT_wHwgm5n8Yy61_D8W06IUJY/s1600/homesmosque.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPg3r_9kim8QqCl93NvlbX0RZmNRJ6q2E97nOBuNHMHFRHvpgRxZhz0ToHVDjoP9n-PURgwTGB7onbTPBQScpbPBsqFH9iJzztENfQOgHCEiigC85Ak6jT_wHwgm5n8Yy61_D8W06IUJY/s320/homesmosque.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322648266437106" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhQtr5bu4MNQNU7oHCJimABfZHTKo6mJiCVUFl2BP3DXOICp14c4Tzc0zcthlJOKr5uGC-343FSBYTfTy3EKTMaisqq8EC6Azib56K1SmZSdmLWmLSJ-o0QcTzLPJaGJpR9o0A_YQS4UA/s1600/roadsidemarket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhQtr5bu4MNQNU7oHCJimABfZHTKo6mJiCVUFl2BP3DXOICp14c4Tzc0zcthlJOKr5uGC-343FSBYTfTy3EKTMaisqq8EC6Azib56K1SmZSdmLWmLSJ-o0QcTzLPJaGJpR9o0A_YQS4UA/s320/roadsidemarket.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322647984398450" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63nUVG_OafcYE47NJzW5cdq5MIDncQyrdqyGqQp84PfybYTxky1kvJttnCq2pFYZ5s-EjkFeSMuL8SMQF25YOTiEb5GlW6yGOwY6MkK-lMMVShwiFcsYH8YPg1F1VYWm1eoifIj4mVtoJ/s1600/shops.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63nUVG_OafcYE47NJzW5cdq5MIDncQyrdqyGqQp84PfybYTxky1kvJttnCq2pFYZ5s-EjkFeSMuL8SMQF25YOTiEb5GlW6yGOwY6MkK-lMMVShwiFcsYH8YPg1F1VYWm1eoifIj4mVtoJ/s320/shops.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322641287545906" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm48oR1yrLEpB8neDVAPLYBUuYFri-L-Pf0y5-7zF_w99boTWdtN-iuMDXfE4d-k6sC5hyphenhyphenLXre71teV5k7Y9ymQPLDxmV1piGHEzJIAUE0N05Jt6kwF6d15OQ45y1CE6JJdG7EyLgahbC/s1600/tiresshop.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm48oR1yrLEpB8neDVAPLYBUuYFri-L-Pf0y5-7zF_w99boTWdtN-iuMDXfE4d-k6sC5hyphenhyphenLXre71teV5k7Y9ymQPLDxmV1piGHEzJIAUE0N05Jt6kwF6d15OQ45y1CE6JJdG7EyLgahbC/s320/tiresshop.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535322633120407938" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Brikama roadside photos</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For the first two weeks of our stay here we were the only guests at the CVM compound, but by mid-October we were joined by Stephen Wik, CVM staff worker from British Columbia. The next day we were joined by two pharmacists from Edmonton, Katie Wong and Rosanna Yan, who came to help out at the pharmacy of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital for two weeks.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENqGTfk3p-pXNAkCT0Q5qHTh6q3ftrGzYjqzGwKJ61J1QHdcRjCVlUuU7XCp0HKq6xZLE-X7PFmdoFbgpSIGHojtEAACJDZDg2BV3F24c1L2BmlgTw7exINUP-DyYAG_YEotyGotiagBi/s320/hospital.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535321224356445602" /><div style="text-align: center;">Katie and Rosanna in front of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital</div><div><br /></div>With Stephen, Katie and Rosanna we took a trip to the village of Jidda, south of Banjul, beyond Brikama. This village is special for CVM work, because it has been a focus of their wholistic ministry here in the Gambia, Typical of rural areas, the cultivation of groundnuts, or peanuts, as we know them, provides a staple crop.<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPag2QDfhsjxOu6R3rbGvLE9Rd0nLhvqs7BemSQNKU9o7yXKLLlVBy7fsP45WLXz8NTEFjH9JG4MI51Az0bPN30YAiYk93YsKvLjajnvc4LHJR4kTz0yTGFoZ96IICrye3UgQtWhN_tfc_/s320/groundnutfield.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535321222345643410" /><div style="text-align: center;">Groundnut field</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnACxkMPRdzXnnpffd2-BW3HvZh3y5YAkf-G9_ODZ0Y49kFizmn8TS0gNelQvbQyRGbNdVMrnYphEZYXBEfwscoO0_cOf7-vJM3lze7F_2Y4SDWxD4MW-bObpnqi_2xa1BfKiZNfoxHoTb/s320/groundnutplant.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535321218446555778" /><div style="text-align: center;">Groundnut plant</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3r-fjKRcvYA9q5ejgFMWMrwPdgj4rvqkqX2_UU5sWcQvfnen9_V-X1uibYSwreGWEzyHeZ1-pjywotu0vl3GdXzsCDBAJavMi1TN6Tv43RJnIec2noJXZamovuxTblCfwIJvtblgxwzUT/s320/cleaningplants.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535321216195593954" /><div style="text-align: center;">Cleaning plants</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We also visited the plot of ground, and small house which the people of Jidda have allotted to CVM driver/assistant Martin, in thanks for his considerable help to their community. He lost no time in digging the well, which has been a real boon to his numerous neighbours. He was certainly a hero to the children, and the centre of attention when he showed them his new Canadian laptop.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLEtner_z31ZlGS5IGwWODMVlf_JexR9p-GdbWXXeJIssjGjEmYS526473O3dM5kkERodZwKp1Kl4JUVhRUoThv0oIdmfTJEnJ4l8oTa7AWI6qo_lyNV6z6_U4Fa4-y9ydedexQFtDosh/s320/well.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535321230385219538" /><div style="text-align: center;">Well</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBilmsBtC5rjvVQQ54wWgTulVshWRFdy53Fdt9ofjzfe3swOiX7SG4vxnpQv9CuEwxTv5cb-A9P9Hao7JBG8lxIQ0bNu6iD_1yHzhx-B3cL5-8wwtb5S9009KKzgpYV_EwXOEQHfUG8T4K/s1600/laptopchildren.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBilmsBtC5rjvVQQ54wWgTulVshWRFdy53Fdt9ofjzfe3swOiX7SG4vxnpQv9CuEwxTv5cb-A9P9Hao7JBG8lxIQ0bNu6iD_1yHzhx-B3cL5-8wwtb5S9009KKzgpYV_EwXOEQHfUG8T4K/s320/laptopchildren.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535319919332417618" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Children with laptop</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As we waited for tea at Martin's house, we discovered that the day of our visit had been designated as a Gambia-wide day for immunization against polio. Although the immunization was given by mouth and not painful, the "strange" procedure elicited a fair amount of tears!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FAo3_A7wzhBaU4SGXiyfPwS-EXZ1XCAPZ_6SGDULIZP-JNkDvdcoOjQljZ0CKddw-sVmUo-SksUFPmU1tL2V9qFUbdccRifz_kSyzD5kFtpaAb-zLMDO0EB-Q_MB2AxLshfKaAa0ZdW6/s1600/polioimmunization.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FAo3_A7wzhBaU4SGXiyfPwS-EXZ1XCAPZ_6SGDULIZP-JNkDvdcoOjQljZ0CKddw-sVmUo-SksUFPmU1tL2V9qFUbdccRifz_kSyzD5kFtpaAb-zLMDO0EB-Q_MB2AxLshfKaAa0ZdW6/s320/polioimmunization.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535319913961755922" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Polio immunization</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Katie and Rosanna have already left the Gambia, since they planned to continue their visit to Africa with an attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Before they left we said goodbye to them with a restaurant dinner with the entire CVM team here, including not only Martin, but also Joseph, the night watchman, Ibrahim, and our cook, Victoria, with her little daughter, Agnes, who enjoyed herself immensely on this occasion.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZraWc7oW-hMSyO2w6RrvitPDo8qbFoS1P_cwUFfNoimhtLWEgBZYqpvJ4nS4qQHRLy9F3YL5AA2x_3mwfwCF7mMPnHS0i9F9G9MK0Nx9RtKRIiXjmDg7PNuFYKRcceTLa_A1N1T5nJVU/s1600/dinner2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZraWc7oW-hMSyO2w6RrvitPDo8qbFoS1P_cwUFfNoimhtLWEgBZYqpvJ4nS4qQHRLy9F3YL5AA2x_3mwfwCF7mMPnHS0i9F9G9MK0Nx9RtKRIiXjmDg7PNuFYKRcceTLa_A1N1T5nJVU/s320/dinner2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535319908077997906" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Dinner with CVM group</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4Y9HlHOBDkW2oRIPiDWNZT4LOvqPKtQ5YWR7Qp8Bhm5ZHq2bR_v4JI7L7AaaeA_T4uwFqPgqeXFUA0Q1czFg_DriVfIajT1XHncQpSajPQcnibgKk8o0A0hPD2qorIZUS3T1QAU5zdum/s1600/agnes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4Y9HlHOBDkW2oRIPiDWNZT4LOvqPKtQ5YWR7Qp8Bhm5ZHq2bR_v4JI7L7AaaeA_T4uwFqPgqeXFUA0Q1czFg_DriVfIajT1XHncQpSajPQcnibgKk8o0A0hPD2qorIZUS3T1QAU5zdum/s320/agnes.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535319907334770738" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Agnes</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GWzdFqIIG89VCavQduNJdLK_LiUaosAD4OT6mW6Yh1BN-r-t6sezOTWjuwFSST5lUn1ZdyF1a7c90m4i0wqFUrha79zEGunEo7dnRZ0oc68ZeXPghvP1g6QPsYTm_5m1dDv8GmH0d1RZ/s1600/cvmgroupphoto.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GWzdFqIIG89VCavQduNJdLK_LiUaosAD4OT6mW6Yh1BN-r-t6sezOTWjuwFSST5lUn1ZdyF1a7c90m4i0wqFUrha79zEGunEo7dnRZ0oc68ZeXPghvP1g6QPsYTm_5m1dDv8GmH0d1RZ/s320/cvmgroupphoto.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535319901043193730" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">CVM group photo</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-30646213237248480472010-11-03T08:53:00.013-04:002010-11-03T09:35:00.435-04:00New programme at the University of the Gambia<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">An important reason for our coming to the Gambia this year was to meet with some officials of the University of the Gambia, particularly to greet them, and to discover the status of the proposed programme in Christian Studies, which will be held on the Brikama campus of the University, approximately 35 km from where we are staying.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19u0DXLOaC8M2CxJuJQ6o2Q-foYNbOMKTRN-CV3G7aTL7s-ogfKVKQDeoxkgzGqouHoKLzJe1-uPSOtcprrW1UHILeKBM-leX_XwmvehPpo18iPcYRKCAsbL9vPfIJ0k6avvGGshoVECa/s1600/20101020_0013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19u0DXLOaC8M2CxJuJQ6o2Q-foYNbOMKTRN-CV3G7aTL7s-ogfKVKQDeoxkgzGqouHoKLzJe1-uPSOtcprrW1UHILeKBM-leX_XwmvehPpo18iPcYRKCAsbL9vPfIJ0k6avvGGshoVECa/s320/20101020_0013.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307670392215714" /></a></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Courtyard of the Brikama campus, with the building for the Department of Arts and Humanities</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">About a week ago we were able to establish contact with professor Gomez, who is head of the Department of Arts and Humanities, and also now acting deputy dean.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRsq3FC-fJ1LIgtgXJ2x3P3rVAC-avA-CsuLVs-euV70no9UdUp6pNLCzFxPNjCz2dzKW8CsfItrY53XpSsForUDHybUAcfTXIx-TKka676nPtSRcQbPtzkI0U6Gk58JcxDP4TTRzegea/s1600/courtyard.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRsq3FC-fJ1LIgtgXJ2x3P3rVAC-avA-CsuLVs-euV70no9UdUp6pNLCzFxPNjCz2dzKW8CsfItrY53XpSsForUDHybUAcfTXIx-TKka676nPtSRcQbPtzkI0U6Gk58JcxDP4TTRzegea/s320/courtyard.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307665084402466" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWNXCdX3LjChqpmtLx0aL_JfVeFugwmzIW8AVH-v6Evs2gwxjrMVO_hSo1izcfzRRjGYROlZrsfreNMxqMPWVMGsBgCVmYK2Kw-RUY4bguS_1TSShXEwN6bOiQ0zJSXhxNWAk4TeS11kD/s1600/profGomez.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWNXCdX3LjChqpmtLx0aL_JfVeFugwmzIW8AVH-v6Evs2gwxjrMVO_hSo1izcfzRRjGYROlZrsfreNMxqMPWVMGsBgCVmYK2Kw-RUY4bguS_1TSShXEwN6bOiQ0zJSXhxNWAk4TeS11kD/s320/profGomez.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307310503857874" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Meeting with Prof.Gomez</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Prof. Gomez is hopeful that the approval of the new programme will be given soon, in an upcoming meeting of the university senate. Please pray with us that this will indeed materialize.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since that meeting we have also met with the bishops of both the Methodist and Catholic Church, while we had a lovely supper with the Anglican bishop on our first night here in the Gambia.</span></span></span></span></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zMyuqoTgOy3j6qiKBuRDI4eCBT3WTfV-HT69vIDWYd-P_FCXKYu2wYtwRKu3S6uypE8EV5BETPwNPMdp90gvtrg6QNgcI2_BaWQqyaGBQBlkLl_nBR0vfEKjD4EgH-eLbgyzPFPG03Z8/s1600/W.P.Stephens+MethodBp.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zMyuqoTgOy3j6qiKBuRDI4eCBT3WTfV-HT69vIDWYd-P_FCXKYu2wYtwRKu3S6uypE8EV5BETPwNPMdp90gvtrg6QNgcI2_BaWQqyaGBQBlkLl_nBR0vfEKjD4EgH-eLbgyzPFPG03Z8/s320/W.P.Stephens+MethodBp.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307304431284754" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Meeting with the Rt. Rev. W.P. Stephens, bishop of the Methodist Church of the Gambia </span></span></span></span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bishop Stephens, together with his Anglican and Catholic counterparts, are very important in directing the affairs of the Gambia Christian Council, the body which will oversee the new programme. Please pray with us for these leaders, and their various contributions to this process.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknt8gOypNB5Cxq0s55Uy7iJ5-eilRrrmBOpi48CAfc_IOWgo1yACLTqO4uPCPjH6bfofE8gS88jN55d1ovOPZtQF35Fo-OVL6vSlJtbUh6VF7-yuAua-U1KO5cp_MeKOu_813XYxU8a57/s1600/GCCSecretariat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknt8gOypNB5Cxq0s55Uy7iJ5-eilRrrmBOpi48CAfc_IOWgo1yACLTqO4uPCPjH6bfofE8gS88jN55d1ovOPZtQF35Fo-OVL6vSlJtbUh6VF7-yuAua-U1KO5cp_MeKOu_813XYxU8a57/s320/GCCSecretariat.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307298176504402" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">GCC secretariat</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The GCC secretariat is located across the road from the University Law Faculty, not far from where we are living. The Brikama campus is further away. Another new campus is being built even further from Banjul.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjR_h875oZ8RLKbANm0tJ5BGMj347MRH7TxgS7bfARgyp_dAgZCYAoM1Y0jabcPdLeoe7GLtj3B7Tyxx6rf0e2hUqJmKjr66jwUvH18WL5bQmKtzsbunTjH2CtF4lZA-HWlUSP8CSRZOd/s1600/LawFaculty1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjR_h875oZ8RLKbANm0tJ5BGMj347MRH7TxgS7bfARgyp_dAgZCYAoM1Y0jabcPdLeoe7GLtj3B7Tyxx6rf0e2hUqJmKjr66jwUvH18WL5bQmKtzsbunTjH2CtF4lZA-HWlUSP8CSRZOd/s320/LawFaculty1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307289682427762" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5NvlUH5k2GavOtr-Vtjfl_vH8Ahmu9cAEMRtSVi23TUzWF5nFI2qIXtPvBJ75lkGL0bn78sE-wTneLFRJaoGXtIZesa1EJLSrLwuCis7haLMXfNhl9As2Xl4DTgWhPc1Qwh2YsBaQmNe/s1600/lawfaculty2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5NvlUH5k2GavOtr-Vtjfl_vH8Ahmu9cAEMRtSVi23TUzWF5nFI2qIXtPvBJ75lkGL0bn78sE-wTneLFRJaoGXtIZesa1EJLSrLwuCis7haLMXfNhl9As2Xl4DTgWhPc1Qwh2YsBaQmNe/s320/lawfaculty2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535307289663525682" /></a><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Faculty of Law</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; "><br /></span></p></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-83691886980042331812010-10-18T11:45:00.013-04:002010-10-21T05:43:37.673-04:00Beginning teaching in the Gambia<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8r1yXgmRCbXcoS_rrrKP6ELzWUK2jnbP-YoS67MYK8mv85gu95lLqoXrZH0CzTQLLN7l0eNyFMk9f266MMqJLNCE_wU6RUgC0MCWNwxTmuSZlSovKAxIa3LuIn_dVe31mz32BlQHxRqt/s1600/adrianwendyGCC.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8r1yXgmRCbXcoS_rrrKP6ELzWUK2jnbP-YoS67MYK8mv85gu95lLqoXrZH0CzTQLLN7l0eNyFMk9f266MMqJLNCE_wU6RUgC0MCWNwxTmuSZlSovKAxIa3LuIn_dVe31mz32BlQHxRqt/s320/adrianwendyGCC.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529419388264200898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span">It is hard to believe that we have been here in </span><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">West Africa</span></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span"> less than two weeks. For some reason it seems that we have been here much longer already! Perhaps that is an indication that we are able to pick up from our former experience teaching in Africa, in both </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Nigeria</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span"> and </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Tanzania</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">. Indeed, aside from the considerable heat (between 28-32 degrees C indoors) and humidity, we have not found the adjustment very difficult. And we do realize that this represents the answer to many prayers on our behalf. So we thank all those who prayed! The Lord has answered our prayers in a wonderful way. So it is time that we update you on what has happened in these first days in the </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Gambia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFeBd3JizgBwzefNhau_4A5rp9EXn3Y_C9wyEE56buQHC1Ak2ifajGbYzHrpYp2XNY8GlLT3zW3-S9WwF_v0Q_YR-mvQkZ8lqEHuKsCsImvCbFUpQl2FrI1ctQkUeBCyXQJEQunn1eSHA/s1600/barcelona.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFeBd3JizgBwzefNhau_4A5rp9EXn3Y_C9wyEE56buQHC1Ak2ifajGbYzHrpYp2XNY8GlLT3zW3-S9WwF_v0Q_YR-mvQkZ8lqEHuKsCsImvCbFUpQl2FrI1ctQkUeBCyXQJEQunn1eSHA/s320/barcelona.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529419386822510066" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; ">Adrian at Barcelona airport</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span">To begin with, our travels went very smoothly - something we have learned not to take for granted - and we are grateful for prayers for safe travel! We left </span><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Toronto</span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span"> on Monday afternoon, Oc.5, and flew BA to </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">London</span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span">, Heathrow. </span><span class="Apple-style-span">By noon of Oct. 5 we were on our way to </span><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Barcelona</span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span">, where we made the transition with Air</span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Morocco</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span"> to fly to </span><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Casablanca</span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span"> and </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Banjul</span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span">. We arrived almost exactly on schedule at midnight that Tuesday - a feat that is by no means the norm, as we discovered.</span></p></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf119qIONzUfZ1IRil6cnvjBgCIHjEvjQIYbZB6FzrAXa98WFlhmB3A0z16CJRsbpzy-0Uf1y-p2b6tuwXVLTYvBksZtL9fw7jw5M1XjNqWItPkVZ-QwGlGAFGILTekx63sLwpDVbLGggL/s1600/20101018_0007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf119qIONzUfZ1IRil6cnvjBgCIHjEvjQIYbZB6FzrAXa98WFlhmB3A0z16CJRsbpzy-0Uf1y-p2b6tuwXVLTYvBksZtL9fw7jw5M1XjNqWItPkVZ-QwGlGAFGILTekx63sLwpDVbLGggL/s320/20101018_0007.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530428838644303234" /></a><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt8BR4zgAKP6Ga2cWmWhUWT1cP3x64WMir95OXCUto5yFWxN1vRsUX7YoQH53PTuhoVnHdywCjg8hVOobV68ui2SV1m-fOYkhnbPjXyeyU_KLd9pI0iEJ8RvBT0jXx9nR18gMnofaJQGZ/s1600/20101018_0013.jpg"></a></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRUmGD_ejabck1XWfNZrw4uX4-fEXb-iIO3lNKXSuNwaXMTVUqp9mOsZ9eVEgigdWYfQfrdYGWY646WkQiwyJJu7AV4HA-6T3ZhSJQYCioHWbpq2CtBUpUnrmQagngKDyoGOYza8FEzPc/s320/20101018_0011.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529418691697066050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt8BR4zgAKP6Ga2cWmWhUWT1cP3x64WMir95OXCUto5yFWxN1vRsUX7YoQH53PTuhoVnHdywCjg8hVOobV68ui2SV1m-fOYkhnbPjXyeyU_KLd9pI0iEJ8RvBT0jXx9nR18gMnofaJQGZ/s1600/20101018_0013.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt8BR4zgAKP6Ga2cWmWhUWT1cP3x64WMir95OXCUto5yFWxN1vRsUX7YoQH53PTuhoVnHdywCjg8hVOobV68ui2SV1m-fOYkhnbPjXyeyU_KLd9pI0iEJ8RvBT0jXx9nR18gMnofaJQGZ/s320/20101018_0013.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529418703613383074" style="text-align: left; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRUmGD_ejabck1XWfNZrw4uX4-fEXb-iIO3lNKXSuNwaXMTVUqp9mOsZ9eVEgigdWYfQfrdYGWY646WkQiwyJJu7AV4HA-6T3ZhSJQYCioHWbpq2CtBUpUnrmQagngKDyoGOYza8FEzPc/s1600/20101018_0011.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span">CVM House -- The sign above the door reads 'Welcome to CVM House, The Gambia, West Africa</span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span">It was great to meet Martin, the driver assistant of the Christian Volunteer Movement (CVM) here in the </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Gambia</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">, who took us to the compound rented by CVM in Kololi, one of the "suburbs" of </span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Banjul</span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span">, not too far from the ocean. This is the place which we will regard as home for the next few weeks. It did not take long to find a bed - after such travels we were thankful to sleep on solid ground.</span>It has not been difficult to settle in. The home, two concrete buildings, is relatively new and well-built, thus in good shape, and with running water.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgL-C03-8ScSkX8GvVtnCOENBvaEZKQDb3rcv3K2XTGoGbKMuJmgS0YJ0H_MIKyQ5hAEHhWOduP6YZpuN4psCwgD44YnPulDruVTPSt6yFnK6JQAr0S9qbXKm7qxSYv4Zq5jpjijKm51Hh/s1600/approachgate.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgL-C03-8ScSkX8GvVtnCOENBvaEZKQDb3rcv3K2XTGoGbKMuJmgS0YJ0H_MIKyQ5hAEHhWOduP6YZpuN4psCwgD44YnPulDruVTPSt6yFnK6JQAr0S9qbXKm7qxSYv4Zq5jpjijKm51Hh/s320/approachgate.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529418674480583378" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; ">Archway, the approach to Banjul</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span">Those first days Martin took us around for some essential shopping, particularly for things we would need in teaching, and to orient us to our new environment.</span></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrbh6fK_B8su7RZShTwanrJkQhKie2OcVyHOP4JWdmIGT2cCgp3zloj53LO5TpfJ3APlxwWhpccidVlnMVFJ48bIsDzfdrh_YdXEXXECX0a8AiReVZ3fwNrjZVbyOLV0yfV9t6PwLGZDl/s1600/Adrian&MartinBanjul.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrbh6fK_B8su7RZShTwanrJkQhKie2OcVyHOP4JWdmIGT2cCgp3zloj53LO5TpfJ3APlxwWhpccidVlnMVFJ48bIsDzfdrh_YdXEXXECX0a8AiReVZ3fwNrjZVbyOLV0yfV9t6PwLGZDl/s320/Adrian&MartinBanjul.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529416580261514130" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center; ">Adrian and Martin near ocean in Banjul</div></div><div style="text-align: center; "><br /></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKce29tNmzsdpk8VlGEknNDtvV9RGu8SKwET3Qx_9STdltIQArrTlwk_h6mmX0UPcnYh-u2bv6RD7ZU3YvNTjmqsXQeLuGq-x5GKPJ1Fey8sMWiBD3OVl8pltQmiaQaX7lVm9ejH4nQSEb/s1600/crocodilepark.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKce29tNmzsdpk8VlGEknNDtvV9RGu8SKwET3Qx_9STdltIQArrTlwk_h6mmX0UPcnYh-u2bv6RD7ZU3YvNTjmqsXQeLuGq-x5GKPJ1Fey8sMWiBD3OVl8pltQmiaQaX7lVm9ejH4nQSEb/s320/crocodilepark.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529416570894502338" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Crocodile (a tame one)</div></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBynzmck34RYwnwF8cJmLWpwtPIWmjLxpnZ0_30hBMshfR01tL6A7LUsDs_I7heB4q3_rditm1drXj6w3MsbH7uBOK7J2iowh1R_aNrPzXqXVr5zEg-Sn1xHZrH0UtztRtYz4GclhK_tRq/s1600/nativedancecostume.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBynzmck34RYwnwF8cJmLWpwtPIWmjLxpnZ0_30hBMshfR01tL6A7LUsDs_I7heB4q3_rditm1drXj6w3MsbH7uBOK7J2iowh1R_aNrPzXqXVr5zEg-Sn1xHZrH0UtztRtYz4GclhK_tRq/s320/nativedancecostume.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529416564135051874" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center; ">Dance costume (in museum)</div></div><div style="text-align: center; "><br /></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATjNGIxAaedfdI8COkaDq2QOozsQPqJtsmV_UfGtbrHvUw0SrsaZPFFjouXXwfbiIon-uV5tc0OQFCMku_Xici1VGGaBC1LwlZ7j25orysORAgMkuhiDMhIGrRd43ATd5JmMM5yaIO_3N/s1600/ancienttrees.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATjNGIxAaedfdI8COkaDq2QOozsQPqJtsmV_UfGtbrHvUw0SrsaZPFFjouXXwfbiIon-uV5tc0OQFCMku_Xici1VGGaBC1LwlZ7j25orysORAgMkuhiDMhIGrRd43ATd5JmMM5yaIO_3N/s320/ancienttrees.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529416554152321394" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; ">Ancient trees</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">We took much of the rest of the week to prepare for our first classes at the</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "> Gambia Theological Institute</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">, an ecumenical institution for pastors and Christian leaders. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Wendy was to begin on Friday, and </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Adrian</span></span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">, Saturday. There was little electricity those first two days, but toward the end of the week the situation improved, and with it our ability both to tolerate the heat (with fans), and to set up email communication, since the internet connection does not work when the power is off.</span></span></span></span></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTw9anmP-OTmOrRGIUJqwjTVhZOBezEw-IO2_e76hUuW6vkjPVYlDvnmGMsQaBIWd31oXr3EinUMqDl0Le9jB9tlmevZ6zoFBvY77n0p7hYkNwkFmYg-9IP5kj3xGgWWGRpw1xbXu_OS0Q/s1600/farajaAnglicanchurch.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTw9anmP-OTmOrRGIUJqwjTVhZOBezEw-IO2_e76hUuW6vkjPVYlDvnmGMsQaBIWd31oXr3EinUMqDl0Le9jB9tlmevZ6zoFBvY77n0p7hYkNwkFmYg-9IP5kj3xGgWWGRpw1xbXu_OS0Q/s320/farajaAnglicanchurch.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529415334594413986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; ">Faraja Anglican church</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span">Although many of our students are pastors or church planters, in the class we also have some involved in other professions, including two lawyers who are brothers. Our students also represent a number of different countries, including </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Ghana</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Nigeria</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">, the </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">USA</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">, and </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Nepal</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span">. They are a lively enthusiastic group, not afraid to ask questions! Sometime we have to cut back a bit on questions, so we can present at least a fair percentage of the materials for the course at hand.</span></p></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeSIMTWOIGbUsZg753DL1iS0sgwsKIqBWKXZi4xnjlzBIetP2Zu9anHA92RghnCJ9Q7Vvuer7gbvKW6GMX58drRZCdVIX9g1i9avzPFPSpgMA2rjYkkKXAlrN908snlj5v6oNtd2JBOW5/s1600/IMGP1224.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 228px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeSIMTWOIGbUsZg753DL1iS0sgwsKIqBWKXZi4xnjlzBIetP2Zu9anHA92RghnCJ9Q7Vvuer7gbvKW6GMX58drRZCdVIX9g1i9avzPFPSpgMA2rjYkkKXAlrN908snlj5v6oNtd2JBOW5/s320/IMGP1224.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529779250783494802" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Ad for our courses in local paper</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Wendy is doing four sessions of five hours on Friday on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Introduction to the New Testament</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span">, while </span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrian</span></st1:city></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span"> on Saturdays for almost six hours introduces students to </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Systematic Theology</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span">. Friday afternoon is prayer time in this country. The courses were advertised in the local papers, and on the radio, and many students were contacted by cell-phone, but even so not all those who had enrolled in previous courses heard about these sessions in time. But the turnout of 11 and 18 in the respective classes the first meeting was sufficient for the courses to be held.</span></div><div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqw2EzBy64kUVwZRaWKRPnmXO59oNL9dFlT-rlVd2bu1Uwwk_TRHOW5migTrTaH7E8vFTlpgv0fp5zpG8YD30im7jNNh4GDxtYKHEMHJRqFBhHytIzljntQva6W6EJHREMJQQw0yjwpvui/s320/wendyclass.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529415321941714722" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IWzrT7mv914H8YmAaAa6MVc4LwVi5NneXUqyh1PEJirEf3VJ4V3OzoliNEMj0cP-m1m0e5FtBbWofTXcyO0M5s6dyWTUR3heqpyLqj9NkeuFX-MFJNQmNwih-X57vCDApLsJI2j34DHr/s1600/IMGP1415.JPG"></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IWzrT7mv914H8YmAaAa6MVc4LwVi5NneXUqyh1PEJirEf3VJ4V3OzoliNEMj0cP-m1m0e5FtBbWofTXcyO0M5s6dyWTUR3heqpyLqj9NkeuFX-MFJNQmNwih-X57vCDApLsJI2j34DHr/s1600/IMGP1415.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IWzrT7mv914H8YmAaAa6MVc4LwVi5NneXUqyh1PEJirEf3VJ4V3OzoliNEMj0cP-m1m0e5FtBbWofTXcyO0M5s6dyWTUR3heqpyLqj9NkeuFX-MFJNQmNwih-X57vCDApLsJI2j34DHr/s320/IMGP1415.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529415330492321314" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span">We have not yet met with officials at the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">University of the Gambia</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span">, but by God's grace we hope to do so in the coming week. Thank you for praying with us on these challenges</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> Prayer is the backbone of our ministry; so, please continue to pray that we may help our students constructively, challenging and providing them with adequate tools for their various ministries.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-38355979034512621952010-08-23T09:12:00.028-04:002010-08-23T15:30:27.311-04:00New project in the Gambia<div><br /></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For about a year now we have kept a low profile, except when we needed to ask for prayer in conjunction with the various crises in the Jos area of Nigeria. Not that we have been idle here in Toronto. Actually we have kept pretty busy with major renovations to our old Toronto house (for Adrian), and rewriting and preparing a book for publication (Wendy). So, is that what we plan to continue doing? Not quite! We certainly appreciated this year for changing gears, as it were, after many years of overseas service. We wanted that period of time to reflect on our experience, and to discover prayerfully what the Lord might have in store for us to do in these years (after turning 65). So, we are ready for a new venture, and it looks like a new venture is coming our way! Indeed, we have some interesting news to share!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Early this summer we were invited to participate in the development of a </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Department of Christian Studies</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> at the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">University of the Gambia</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. If you have not heard of the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, we can tell you that</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">it is not a big country.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEaDVvwmFbXrde4yYoD2s9mqM7SpTKgLJE2vFeXNoNu7C0oFpeaspu-zK2rrwRTP-lVrXbodTnjMjJNydRpT_SIiClYPLs8GjRuq2TrNjr1_AYbQweb5rHOHt-tfCxAp-TROEba3Mmwu1b/s320/gambia_pol88.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508600337153395362" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 320px; " /><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia is situated in West Africa. It is an agricultural country,</span></span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> with an economy dominated by farming, fishing, and tourism. About a third of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></p></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8mJ24KDQksQOZIVhtUd_HvDXR7xmZl0OX7d3QpcimyUhBvwIYUZbjkErzIAjMTGue3bQ2nW1F7646MjH55BrQDmP-3twGH2rUiS1cmPTyBLOuq7MEBPPVApLZm8KhzgbJsnznz7qzqmN/s1600/gambia_01.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8mJ24KDQksQOZIVhtUd_HvDXR7xmZl0OX7d3QpcimyUhBvwIYUZbjkErzIAjMTGue3bQ2nW1F7646MjH55BrQDmP-3twGH2rUiS1cmPTyBLOuq7MEBPPVApLZm8KhzgbJsnznz7qzqmN/s320/gambia_01.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508600321716037362" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 255px; " /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_K1VhevCarPKzYxtN_24aCuIqzpWp9fnF1SxtZtwPtfGhhVjTQsT1QQ6AAQB-Vh6sBUdcGmfiGX_1C7tQJVUzOFVH4fZfWZzQgzSu3mFetggeQNJjjvBTNVbeILi1jquDgp6CqSSX9iM/s1600/Gambia-014.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_K1VhevCarPKzYxtN_24aCuIqzpWp9fnF1SxtZtwPtfGhhVjTQsT1QQ6AAQB-Vh6sBUdcGmfiGX_1C7tQJVUzOFVH4fZfWZzQgzSu3mFetggeQNJjjvBTNVbeILi1jquDgp6CqSSX9iM/s320/Gambia-014.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508600316666063858" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Market scenes</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">As a former British colony in West Africa, the official language is English. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It has a population of a few million, of which about 90% are Muslim, though </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">it also has a long history of religious tolerance. But at the University of </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">the Gambia (UTG), where all students are required to take some courses in</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">religion, only Islamic Religious Studies have been offered. For some time </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">now, Christian students have been asking for a program in Christian </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Religious Studies. With the support of The Gambia Christian Council (a small </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">board of Christians representing the major Christian bodies, to liaise with </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">the government) they made an official proposal, which received the necessary </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">government approval.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> The head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at UTG, Prof. Pierre Gomez, a Christian, was instrumental in motivating further discussion, to accede to the request of students. The first crucial level of discussion, within the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, took place this past May, and Prof. Gomez was confident that discussions at higher levels (finishing with university senate approval) would not be a problem.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So how did we get involved? Through one of our supporting churches in Toronto, some months ago we met Glen and Marion Taylor, professors in Old Testament at Wycliffe College, the evangelical Anglican college of the University of Toronto; they, in turn, put us in touch with Steve Hewko who, with his wife, founded the Christian Volunteer Movement (CVM), as an agency for holistic mission to the Gambia. At present Steve is a doctoral student in theology at</span></span><st1:placename st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Wycliffe</span></span></st1:placename><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><st1:placetype st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">College</span></span></st1:placetype><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, but he has been travelling to the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> for many years already, even teaching at the University of the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> in the years when the university just got started, some ten years ago.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For more information about CVM, see the website: </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><a href="http://cvmcanada.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 65, 112); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">http://cvmcanada.com/</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbgzDM8cYCQ3iwr0-FbZdpmye-pUEOYx2wYJUoP5dnrwwiWAb8jUqVNBS_UPT3q0VTs6qf5mDKh1YCHzjfsB9Jba-GDwv6vpFCHqlwQDECgLNkiZUf9DPFJ7448_ycwROioGq_GpATAvH/s1600/award+doctorate.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbgzDM8cYCQ3iwr0-FbZdpmye-pUEOYx2wYJUoP5dnrwwiWAb8jUqVNBS_UPT3q0VTs6qf5mDKh1YCHzjfsB9Jba-GDwv6vpFCHqlwQDECgLNkiZUf9DPFJ7448_ycwROioGq_GpATAvH/s320/award+doctorate.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508649909067930578" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 182px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The University of the Gambia awarding doctorate degree</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">During this past year, together with Prof. Glen Taylor, Steve has been instrumental in starting an institute for training pastors, called the Gambia Theological Institute, which is intended to meet the growing need for formal theological education for the small but vibrant Christian community in this largely Muslim West-African nation. In this project Steve and Glen have also worked in close conjunction with </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The Gambia Christian Council</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, which is fully supportive of its goals. The Institute is an ecumenical institution where pastors and other Christian leaders can attend courses on a variety of subjects, and work towards a diploma in theology or divinity (which will be accredited by </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Wycliffe</span></span></st1:placename><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><st1:placetype st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">College</span></span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p></div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gqI0RIdt1glsSigCOT6ktefcnQIMwpFvRWIh29t48yxpXdpx-6HP1n4G62KgQ8DeTg-Ytt5RTlH7viM11S8vIZVOskOQF6-Oa2wjol_l7HVLB1AadR6Rc1LtW0qu5O-OYlFlqXAgDmDg/s1600/800px-Gambia_Banjul_0023.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gqI0RIdt1glsSigCOT6ktefcnQIMwpFvRWIh29t48yxpXdpx-6HP1n4G62KgQ8DeTg-Ytt5RTlH7viM11S8vIZVOskOQF6-Oa2wjol_l7HVLB1AadR6Rc1LtW0qu5O-OYlFlqXAgDmDg/s320/800px-Gambia_Banjul_0023.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508599258012293202" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Anglican church</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7RpF2tGSUbrWrKxChOlfELnVrPTMNCR4wHIGh3tsQ0_zqVNcb96J2qlUf2VkTbihEqAGPhjA6KkRFCAwan-7EbmSVYhFP357Od_gKGExSE5mM6xC8zIRaN1WV46WtzPTmW3R0lhN-1Dq/s1600/photo_lg_gambia.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7RpF2tGSUbrWrKxChOlfELnVrPTMNCR4wHIGh3tsQ0_zqVNcb96J2qlUf2VkTbihEqAGPhjA6KkRFCAwan-7EbmSVYhFP357Od_gKGExSE5mM6xC8zIRaN1WV46WtzPTmW3R0lhN-1Dq/s320/photo_lg_gambia.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508598315722086786" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Church women</span></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The program meets a real need, since at present the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> has no formal institutions for pastoral or theological training at all. The first group of students to take the program are now within a few courses of receiving their diploma. Many of the courses have been taught by graduate students in theology at Wycliffe. It is their hope and dream that this diploma program will eventually be offered through the University of the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, together with the program in Christian Studies.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The good news is that the University Senate has approved the new program in Christian Studies. It did not happen quite as soon as had been expected (in June). We heard of this approval early in August. At that time we also heard that the Vice Chancellor of the university advised postponing the program until January 2011 or perhaps even September 2011, to give the various university departments more time to submit the CVs of prospective faculty to teach in this department.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So what then, are our plans? With the blessing of the Christian Volunteer Movement we have decided to go ahead with plans to teach in The Gambia this fall, as we had originally planned. Although we will not yet be lecturing at the University, we will teach a number of courses for the Gambia Theological Institute. </span></span><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Adrian</span></span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> has been asked to some courses in systematic theology; Wendy will provide an introduction to the New Testament, and a course on </span></span><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">St. Augustine</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. As well, we will offer some public lectures at the University, and offer a seminar, if Prof. Gomez is open to that. This will give us a chance to foster relationships already established with partners at the University and at the Gambia Christian Council. And we can see at first hand the need and opportunity for further teaching there.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8SVDmgUiUBUaxMEWSCMST4uFeYAsDJHXteBILsiQ5ybJ3anqkfdDDVhx3YekNVi6HirRdwxM6SrUDruJ8A0d4ANiB7hChU7Fj7inTKkfrTZRNPuLKrI1zW7GvhC-7F83eW81Htw8Rjns/s320/univer-student.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508598309176781570" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px; " /><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">University convocation</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">At the same time we hope to use the opportunity being back in </span></span><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">West Africa</span></span></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> to travel to Jos, to take time for personal face-to-face consultation with our graduate students. One of </span></span><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Adrian</span></span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">'s students, Cosmos, has been offered a scholarship to finish his dissertation, and has plans to travel to </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">South Africa</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> when the money comes through. Wendy has two students, Dauda and Rebecca, whose dissertations are coming closer to the point of completion. So it really will be good to have opportunities for consultation on a more immediate basis, after working by email contact these many months.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Practically speaking, we hope to be on our way to the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> in late September, to give the first set of courses (one each) in October; by the end of October we hope to travel to </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Nigeria</span></span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> for two weeks, after which we return to the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> for another month of teaching. We hope to be back in </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Canada</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> by mid-December. The question of housing is being worked out. We expect to use the house which has been rented by the Christian Volunteer Movement, the umbrella organization through which Wycliffe graduate students raise funding when they go overseas to teach at the pastor's institute. Since we are both formally retired at this time, we plan to go out in a "volunteer" capacity with Christian Studies International, which has agreed to continue as an umbrella organization for this venture, and will continue to accept funding on our behalf.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUa2eYJbmaQXD2pGXXjPtY1pUDt34Wv-8jRAOC3mjDR3daIDv__FC_rubTUcx2gVThhRIAMQkR1ko6MOFC-fOWRrF_fFkEJI92w1UL5Rb5MEdAUHpAh5c6xmxeqSpQgCySCy6fP0HwbCC/s1600/school-kids-the-gambia-2.1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUa2eYJbmaQXD2pGXXjPtY1pUDt34Wv-8jRAOC3mjDR3daIDv__FC_rubTUcx2gVThhRIAMQkR1ko6MOFC-fOWRrF_fFkEJI92w1UL5Rb5MEdAUHpAh5c6xmxeqSpQgCySCy6fP0HwbCC/s320/school-kids-the-gambia-2.1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508684949673144306" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Girls</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQOStBHj6NFp5h31ulkfws1c9_jzyxPZ6VajnQsDLya2ax0_-4STV6GuJ0a1AP0rW4xj7M6PVB0cW1sXLKacXEh1fiFu3B9DHKXo4IVTvQQ7tp3rMQ9-vyt-dM_L-dTw8BeRh9YPGfyf7/s1600/800px-Gambian_classroom.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQOStBHj6NFp5h31ulkfws1c9_jzyxPZ6VajnQsDLya2ax0_-4STV6GuJ0a1AP0rW4xj7M6PVB0cW1sXLKacXEh1fiFu3B9DHKXo4IVTvQQ7tp3rMQ9-vyt-dM_L-dTw8BeRh9YPGfyf7/s320/800px-Gambian_classroom.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508684941638196674" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Classroom</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Aside from material needs for this venture, we would ask your prayers. Some wonderful doors are being opened up. This is an exciting opportunity for us, because it allows us to put into practice the experience we have gained teaching in very similar circumstances in </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Nigeria</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. For the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> too a rare window of opportunity has opened up for the profile of Christianity to be raised at the highest levels of education. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Even with a</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> history of religious tolerance, the profile of Christianity is currently not high, and academically it is rated as inferior to Islam. One of the big problems for the churches in the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> is the lack of proper theological training of its pastors. If the laity is not well educated either, one can imagine the range of beliefs, opinions, and even heresies that take hold. There is very little good Christian literature available, and no respectable academic Christian literature can be found in the university library. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This scarcity of literature is indicative of the state of education in the Gambia at all levels, starting with the elementary. Many church members, including some pastors, are barely literate.</span></span></div></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ppXQhLqz9oihmn6ChRFBr0dDUQ2eCQ_qSoOmpYCcnq27S9sVSO8x6-DdUKNa1shREd8kH1drRbzu_KYL4v7BI5ZC0KTLR8JikpBPsszzc49LjYK4NqjfxzNG6UdVl71Ih6_iYwjwpQF8/s1600/800px-Gambian_classroom.jpg"></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3MYUXktoeElajxhCxJpAaFPUnuDicoUWv1Yo26Edvw9bUWRaNam4OeoSnCRrhfwrMZEhonMOS6yEyvxipMyZH8Dpbwoby7_MA22W2HDrM21D_f40rnh1YFnBXk4uhgfDiPlHgZlPGiEE/s320/%5B5%5D_gambia-school-children.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508599249617833186" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWt79qbASiBoyOGmP09ojn0RAdKgb-RLXWuYJBf4p-dLHxKW2iffLsnUsgEOR9veGe5MAhZh9ofbNkK8fuVspbqBALn63v36zTjVEoeA7OaU1k52Xcah8KlN8FJVoX2Zbm80WdBxdPKm1/s1600/photo_Gambia-Press-Trip-14-18-Nov-08-102.jpg"></a></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWt79qbASiBoyOGmP09ojn0RAdKgb-RLXWuYJBf4p-dLHxKW2iffLsnUsgEOR9veGe5MAhZh9ofbNkK8fuVspbqBALn63v36zTjVEoeA7OaU1k52Xcah8KlN8FJVoX2Zbm80WdBxdPKm1/s1600/photo_Gambia-Press-Trip-14-18-Nov-08-102.jpg"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 219px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWt79qbASiBoyOGmP09ojn0RAdKgb-RLXWuYJBf4p-dLHxKW2iffLsnUsgEOR9veGe5MAhZh9ofbNkK8fuVspbqBALn63v36zTjVEoeA7OaU1k52Xcah8KlN8FJVoX2Zbm80WdBxdPKm1/s320/photo_Gambia-Press-Trip-14-18-Nov-08-102.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508597421812172402" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Children and classrooms</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So the Theological Institute is an answer to the prayers of many in the </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gambia</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. Recent developments at the university also mean new hope that a theological training program can eventually be incorporated into the regular university curriculum. Open to new development, The Gambia has accented university training for its people as an important step in that direction. At the university every student is required to take a course in religion. The new program will make it possible for Christian students to take courses in Christian studies, whether as a requirement, or to complete a major or minor for their degrees. And it will allow interested Muslim students to learn about Christianity from committed Christian professors. These new developments at the university have been greeted with much joy by many Gambians, as an answer to decades' long prayer for their country and the church. Please pray with us that these hopes will be realized, and that the Lord will bless our plans to participate in this new program.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-91549464545056400732010-04-02T17:52:00.007-04:002010-04-02T18:19:41.720-04:00Prayer for Peace, Sequel--April 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">"Praise awaits you, O God, in Sion ... O you who hear prayer. ...You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior." Psalm 65. 1-5<br /><br />Praise God for an awesome answer to the prayers lifted up for the peace initiatives in Bukuru yesterday, Thursday. This morning we received a remarkable account of what happened there from our IICS colleague Danny McCain, who participated in the talks. As we had suspected, and also heard through Bishop Kwashi's appeal in January, youth on both sides, Christian and Muslim, were a big part of the troubles of the past weeks in and around Jos ( </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Plateau State</span></span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Nigeria</span></span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">). And those troubles were not minor. Danny speaks of genocide like conditions in the villages. In Bukuru itself the main market with hundreds of shops was completely destroyed, hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed and dozens of people were killed. We do not wish to overemphasize the atrocity, but only when we realize how bad things are can we properly appreciate what happened. It was nothing short of miraculous.<br /><br />On Thursday (yesterday) Rev. Yakubu Pam, the chairman of the North-Central zone of CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria, the umbrella organization of all Christian denominations in Nigeria), had called a meeting as an effort to bring peace between the Berom Christian youth and the Hausa/Fulani Muslim youth.<br /><br />The event, held at the main Cinema of Bukuru, close to an area of severe fighting during the January crisis, attracted over a thousand people attending. Critical to the success was participation of the leaders of the warring factions, men responsible for so much death and destruction, Ishaya for the Christian youth and Magaji, the Muslim youth leader.<br /><br />Aside from prayers, speeches and appeals, the occasion was used to honor these leaders for restraint in a recent encounter, averting another serious crisis; in turn they were asked to pledge themselves to a new role as peace makers, so that when they learn of trouble, they will go to intervene, also to "encourage others to be peace makers until peace is restored to Plateau. So help me God.”<br /><br />This is clearly not yet the end of the story! But it is an extremely significant step in the right direction, and the first truly good news story that we have heard in quite some time. In his own speech Danny spoke about the need to forgive, if the cycle of vengeance is to be broken.<br /><br />*** So let us continue to pray:<br />** Forgiveness is not something that can be manufactured, but we can pray that such a spirit of forgiveness will begin to take root, to undermine the spirit of hatred and bitterness.<br /><br />** Let us also pray for meaningful employment for these youth. If these young men are to turn to a new life of positive contribution to their communities it is also vital that there be opportunities for meaningful work.<br /><br />** And let us pray for a solution to another big problem, endemic in these communities - as indeed in so many cities around the globe – especially among young unemployed or underemployed youth, the attraction of drugs. We also need to pray that such issues can be addressed.<br /><br />** But above all let us thank God for such a gracious answer to prayer. Danny writes, "I just wish that I could somehow communicate what happened in that old cinema hall yesterday. I do not have words and I am quite sure that pictures and even videos cannot adequately capture the emotions and potential good that will come out of that meeting."<br /><br />** Thursday's meeting was the second of the kind organized by Yakubu Pam and his organization for peace: ³Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Inter-Faith Foundation. The week before on 23 March he had arranged an amazing meeting between the Christian and Muslim youth in the Kwarafa Cinema almost in the heart of the Muslim area in Jos. Let us pray that God will continue to bless these efforts with much success.<br /><br />** Thank you for praying with us. As you share in the pain of these people, so far away, but close to our hearts, you will also share in their joy, as new directions take hold. </span></span></p><br /></span></span></span>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-62670553187539909182010-04-02T17:50:00.008-04:002010-04-02T18:24:31.085-04:00Prayer for Peace--April 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"By his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53.5</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dear Friends in Christ,</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We have just received word of a special prayer meeting to support peace efforts in the Jos area, </span></span></span><st1:placetype st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Plateau</span></span></span></st1:placetype><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><st1:placetype st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">State</span></span></span></st1:placetype><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (</span></span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nigeria</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">), to be held in Bukuru, just outside Jos, on 1st April, and would ask that you join in prayer for these efforts for peace.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A terrible massacre took place close to Bukuru, home of the Theological </span></span></span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">College of Northern</span></span></span></span></st1:city><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nigeria</span></span></span></st1:country-region></span></st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (where most of the students we supervise are on faculty), during the night of March 6. Three Christian villages of the Birom, the largest tribe in the Jos area, were attacked by what are reported to be Fulani (nomadic Muslim) herdsmen. Hardly a week later there were more killings in another village not far away. In these incidents men, women and children were brutally slaughtered, some 300-500 in the first, 13 in the second. From eye-witnesses we hear of merciless use of weapons of violence, machetes and guns.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The killings were supposedly a taking of revenge for Berom attacks on Muslim villages during the January riots, when Muslims attacked Christians and burned churches and property in Jos. "Christians," especially those from the Birom ethnic group, retaliated.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jos itself remains quiet, if tense, under strict curfew since the January troubles. The city has a considerable police/military presence. Outlying villages cannot be protected in this way, and are far more vulnerable to retaliatory attacks.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*It is vital that we pray for both Christians and Muslims in these conflict situations. The current troubles are not just an expression of religious hatred and intolerance; the causes are complex and deep-seated, involving ethnic rivalry, competition for land, and political allegiance.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray for continued peace, for all efforts to maintain peace, and to work for reconciliation; pray that somehow the cycle of violence can be broken.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray that the Christian community will remain watchful and careful without resorting to retaliatory violence. Pray also that church leaders will not feed into the desire for revenge, but will set an example in wise behavior, refusing to act on rumor or tribal agenda.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray that the truth may get a hearing in these contexts. There is so much suspicion, mutual distrust and fear. Often it is fed by the circulation of hasty text messages and rumor-mongering, passing on information which only foments jealousy and hatred.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray for the safety of our colleagues at the university and at the seminaries, missionaries, faculty and students. Pray especially for safety in travel in and around Jos.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray that a sense of justice and fairness may return to this situation. Pray that police and military intervention may be vigilant, impartial, acting with integrity and justice in dealing with perpetrators of violence.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray for our colleagues, as educators; we ask special prayers for IICS/CSI colleagues, the McCains, Wiebes, Lillos, Yilpets and Katrina Korb. It is difficult to concentrate on meaningful academic work in a context of tension and violence.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray especially for political leadership, for the state governor Yang, and </span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for acting President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks to install responsible leaders. There has been so much confusion about </span></span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nigeria</span></span></span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">'s President Yara'dua, who has hardly been seen in </span></span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nigeria</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> these last weeks and months. Pray for his health and ability to help bring healing in this situation.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">*Pray for both Muslim and Christian families who have been affected by all the troubles of this year. So many have been killed in interreligous and tribal attacks these last weeks. So many are suffering the after-effects, in loss of life, possession and community. May the Lord provide comfort also through those who are working for peace.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we remember the suffering of our Lord on our behalf, we would ask you to pray with us for those who are suffering in </span></span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nigeria</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and specifically in the Jos area.</span></span></span></span></span></p></div></span>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962101429404123968.post-41283387169442364292010-04-02T17:45:00.007-04:002010-04-02T18:23:41.631-04:00Prayer for Jos, Sequel--January 28<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; "><span><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.” Psalm 10.14<br /><br />Dear praying friends,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />Thank you for praying with us! Since writing you last week we have heard from numerous friends and colleagues who testify to the power of prayer to give peace in the midst of violence and suffering.<br /><br /></span></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*Praise God for a degree of normalcy</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> that has returned to Jos. Federal troops moved into Jos in large numbers to help bring the situation under control, to restore order and enforce the curfew, which is now relaxed to 6pm to 6am.<br /><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*Pray for those who have lost so much</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. The numbers of those known to have been killed are more than 300, probably closer to 400. The number of those injured or displaced, traumatized through the loss of loved ones, their homes and possessions are far higher. Pray for speedy help for refugees in the thousands, without adequate food, water, or blankets, with no place to return to. Many are too afraid to go back.<br /><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*Pray particularly for the English-speaking congregation of the Reformed (NKST) church in Anglo-Jos</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, where we and many NKST students from Unijos have worshiped. The parsonage was badly damaged; the photo attached with this represents many other homes destroyed. One of our Unijos students, Abel, lost everything in the crisis when his house, next to the parsonage of the church, was set ablaze along with it. He was thankful to escape with his family and a few vital papers before the attack came. But we are also sad to hear of destruction to the Muslim neighborhood in retaliation for attempts on the church. Pray that Christians will not forget to model the behaviour which Jesus taught, and that Christian leaders will encourage a way that makes for peace and good relationships.<br /><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*Pray that violence will not spread </span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">further in a radius from Jos to the lower Plateau State and neigbouring states. We received horrific stories of massacre from outlying villages, where it is far more difficult for troops to bring order. There has also been significant conflict at the college of education in Pankshin where the Wiebe’s are teaching. Most of these communities have a relatively small cluster of Hausa Muslims, mostly traders, at the center of town, while mainly Christian local people, “indigenes”, live on the outskirts. Through the use of cell phones and texting the news of violence spreads quickly; over the past years those who hear of trouble have inclined to taking matters into their own hands, retaliating against the group perceived to be responsible.<br /><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*Please pray that those responsible can be brought to justice</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, and an attempt be made to address the underlying causes. This week more than 300 were arrested in connection with the violent attacks, and some taken to the capital Abuja for questioning. The amazing discovery was that those who perpetrated the present crisis are for the most part the very same ones arrested last year, but set free on bail, and never prosecuted.<br /><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*Pray that the real causes for the violent attacks can be addressed</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It appears that the crisis started with a clash </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">over the redevelopment of some land by its owner in Jos; opposition to the project escalated into a religious crisis, with ‘suspected’ Muslim youths attacking Christians and churches. But the truth is hard to come by, because Muslim authorities are at pains to deny such allegations, for the simple reason that it almost inevitably leads to reprisal against Muslims in other communities. So the blame is placed on Christians, which has the opposite effect, resulting in identifiable Christian communities or institutions, and particularly churches and seminaries being targeted. There is a high price for exposure of true motives and actual perpetrators. As a nation Nigeria can be compared to a tinderbox; it seems to take the smallest provocation to set off a vicious cycle of reprisal.<br /><br /></span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">* Pray that God will bless the various efforts to address the underlying issues</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">which are certainly not just religious, but represent a</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> struggle for ethnic and political superiority in Jos. The latest crisis clearly </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">resulted from resentment for last year's rioting, and desire for revenge.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pray for those who attempt </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">to bring reconciliation betwen the Hausa/Muslim and local tribes/Christian communities.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> With a series of riots between 2001 and 2008 the city has steadily divided into Christian and Muslim areas, the southern part comprising mostly Christian “indigenes”, with the northern part (where the university is located) mainly Hausa-speaking Muslims, who are still classified as settlers and thus are restricted politically and in other ways, though they have lived in Jos for decades. But the “indigene” restriction has worked in the favour of Hausa/Muslims in northern cities like Kano, where traders from other states, mostly Christian, are similarly restricted, and church buildings are probably more vulnerable than are mosques in Jos. Until the "settlers" in the northern states are granted rights, any modification of settler status in Jos is rather unlikely, particularly because in the last years Jos has taken in many who fled the northern states over imposition of conditions of shari’ah there.<br /></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />We close by quoting the prayer of the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin A. Kwashi </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />(</span></span></span><a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/14-21.0.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">http://www.christianitytoday.<wbr>com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/<wbr>14-21.0.html</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">):<br />“We must also pray for our state government, our Houses of Assembly at state and federal levels and our law enforcement agents, that they may choose the path of truth and justice, and deal with crime by its proper name, so that no-one, no matter how high or low, no matter of what faith or creed, should be exempt from facing the law. The national leadership should be lifted up to God, that they may rise beyond a concern for political success and seek to do good and right in all things for the benefit of all people. This is a most urgent prayer request, because Nigeria as a nation has a large and ever-increasing army of leaderless, lawless, unemployable, unemployed, demoralized, and near hopeless youth. This, to my prophetic mind, is the big security issue which the governments at local, state and federal levels are not taking seriously. For example, every crisis in Nigeria in the last ten years has been executed by this generation of young people. With each passing year, they perfect their skills, and when they run out of a supply of money—or when they become bored with any situation—then any opportunity for action gives them satisfaction. This army has no religion, but can choose to go under the name of religion to achieve its motives. They are uneducated, and so their values are totally different, as are their ways of handling weapons or choosing how issues are settled. Please pray for us.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div></div>Adrian Hellemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12611563345804489187noreply@blogger.com0