Special lectures

Already during the first week of our return to Jos we were pleased to host Nick Lantinga and Isaac Mutua of the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education ( IAPCHE). They had come for special meetings, lectures and consultations to promote networking among the supporters of IAPCHE.

Although the lectures were held at TCNN, in Bukuru just outside of Jos, both Nick and Isaac came to visit Unijos the next day, and we were pleased to learn that our dept. of Religious Studies is willing to sponsor a conference to help faculty in general deal with the issue of integral Christian scholarship for Africa.

As a university we are privileged to have guest lectures come from time to time. In the middle October Prof. Henk Vroom who specializes in Philosophy of Religion at the Free University of Amsterdam (Faculty of Theology) was a guest of the university to give a number of lectures on the topic of Religion in the Public Square, and the relationship of Religion and the State, with a special focus on Muslim - Christian relationships.

These lectures were much appreciated by our student group, which comprises both Christian and Muslim students. It is a pity that they were cut short when the buildings in which we regularly have classes were unexpectedly occupied for the purpose of university entrance exams. Although there was a bonus in that we as faculty had more chance to interact with Prof. Vroom.

Inaugural address of Professor Imo

Cyril Imo, one of our colleagues and the head of the section of Ethics and Philosophy where we do most of our teaching, was scheduled to give his inaugural address, "Religion, Ethics and Globalization" on Friday Oct 26. It would be one of the rare celebration events for the entire Department of Religious Studies. But for this occasion too we soon discovered that the main lecture hall of the university was to be occupied for university entrance examinations. At first the lecture was going to be postponed. That would have created great difficulties for Imo's family, especially, since the event had been announced on radio and television and, as is customary, the family had already gone to great lengths to cook food for more than a hundred guests. Several colleagues pleaded with the administration to allow the lecture to proceed, and indeed, we finally learned that the event was to begin at 1pm. We ourselves had gone home to find some lunch in the interval, waiting for the phone call to signal us to come back, but a considerable audience had waited patiently outside the hall for the even to begin.

After the introductory proprieties of this official university occasion, Imo spoke. We had a copy of the lecture - it had been printed in advance so we could follow along. All 67 pages! Would he cut that short? In fact, the opposite happened. He had provided a summary on a power-point presentation, with added illustrations for the benefit of those who did not have the printed copy. And he took a number of occasions to enlighten us on the importance of the illustrations. The ceremony ended at about 4pm, and at that point we were quite ready to join him in refreshments at his house, only a few minutes' walk from our own.

Back to Jos

On Friday, October 5 we left Toronto to return to Nigeria. We arrived in Jos, finally around noon on Sunday, October 7th, our anniversary. But because the following Monday would be Thanksgiving day in Canada, our Canadian colleagues had arranged a Thanksgiving dinner, and we were grateful to join them, and be welcomed back with such hospitality!

It did not take long to get back to the work. Students who had done their writing in our absence soon came around for our input. And Wendy started her class in ancient philosophy at St. Augustine's Major Seminary with a new batch of students, 56 in all! Graduate classses which had been cut short for the strike now had to be completed.

One of the joys of coming back to our house in Jos after numerous weeks of absence is to find that many things just don't seem to work. Our house, however, is beautiful.

Even though our house is never completely unoccupied, it appears that electrical and plumbing fixtures regress quickly when not in use on a regular basis. The water pump refused to work, and numerous lights were out of commission.

None of our security lights around the house were working. At first we thought that voltage fluctuation might have caused the problem. But when we finally got an electrician to check the situation more closely we discovered that bees had taken up residence in one of the fixtures, and wasps had taken over another!

September 2007 in North America

The month of September passed us by in a whirl of visits, talks and other preparations for return to Nigeria.

At the beginning of September we spent 10 days in Florida to have major dental work done by Dr. Leong, also a board member of IICS. Adrian was especially grateful for this visit, since Dr. Leong discovered and took care of an abcess of which he had not even become aware. Wendy had corrective work done to replace the tooth extracted in Nigeria the year before. We are so grateful for the hospitality of the Prentice's while we stayed in Florida.


After the initial round of treatments, while we waited for the 'hardware' to be prepared we took advantage of the presence of the ocean nearby, to relax a bit. These opportunities are a rare treat for us, because we still find the ocean a great help in relaxing from the busy-ness of our travels and numerous visits of our summer in North America.

Immediately on our return to Canada we left again for a 10-day trip to Calgary and Edmonton, . to meet with friends and supporters, to speak at various schools, and participate in a conference at the King's University College in Edmonton.

In Calgary we appreciated the hospitality of Henk and Willemien Verhoeff. Henk certainly went the extra mile to make sure all arrangements were in place to visit the Calgary Christian Highscool, where we addressed classes in Christian Ethics and Vocations. That Sunday we spoke at Woodgreen Presbyterian Church.

By Monday afternoon we were on our way to Edmonton where we were hosted by Henk and Vicky van Andel; Henk is the director of our Canadian organization, Christian Studies International.

The highlight of the week was our participation in the King's University College Interdisciplinary Studies Conference, where we gave a workshop, "Heartbreak and Hope in Interfaith Relations in Nigeria", enjoyed interaction with students and faculty. While we kept up a rather busy schedule with talks for the Christian students at the University of Alberta, visits with friends and supporters, and speaking for Fellowship CRC that Sunday, we also took time out for walks, and were surprised to find a peaceful path along the river which runs through the middle of Edmonton, giving us a lovely view of the university campus just opposite, and the highrise buildings of the centre of Edmonton in the distance to the north.

Back in Toronto, we enjoyed some unusually mild days for that time of year. We were grateful, for the weather was just perfect for a late summer barbecue which helped us say goodbye to Sharon and our friends at our house on 43 Northumberland Street in Toronto.

Prayer Notes for Sept 10, 2007

1. In just a few short weeks we hope to be back on our way to Nigeria. We know that the strike at Unijos is over, but it appears that the process of students actually returning to the classroom is somewhat delayed. We are grateful that we were able to finish most of our graduate courses before leaving. Over the summer we maintained email contact with a number of students who continued to work hard at their projects and dissertations, in spite of the strike and our absence. Please pray that there will be no further obstacles for this new academic year at the university.

2. Thank God with us for the academic conferences we were able to attend this summer, Adrian at the Vision conference of IICS/CSI in Kansas City, and Wendy at a conference on Sophia in modern Russian/East European literature of the modern period, as well as the Patristics conference held every four years in Oxford. These are occasion which uplift spiritually, as we renew acquaintance with colleagues around the world, and are stimulated in our own academic work, and challenged to keep up with developments in our respective academic work.

3. The entire Helleman family was together for the third week of August, and this was the very first occasion in five years that all of us could be together! We had planned this week as a belated celebration of our 35th wedding anniversary (October 2006); it was a special time of celebrating God’s goodness to us in the years gone by.

4. We have heard of some heavy storms in the Jos area. Although such storms are not unusual for the end of the rainy season, we know of friends of ours at the college of education in Gindiri (just outside Jos) who suffered significant damage to property and destruction of a bore hole, which means there is no safe drinking water for students. Please pray for our colleagues as they deal with these emergencies, and particularly for health concerns raised by these storms.

5. Thank God with us for his protection in keeping us safe in all our travels this summer. We ask your prayers for upcoming travel to Calgary and Edmonton, where we hope to connect with friends, visit churches, and participate in the all-college Interdisciplinary Studies Conference at the the King's College (September 19 and 20), presenting aspects of our work at the workshop, "Heartbreak and Hope in Interfaith Relations in Nigeria.” We certainly would appreciate your prayers for effective communication as we share the joys and challenges of our ministry at Unijos.

Summer's end

This summer of 2007 has been unusual, even for our typically erratic schedules of teaching, traveling and varied speaking engagements. Originally we planned to leave Nigeria for a two month break from early August, just in time to attend the conference in patristics or early Christianity held every four years in the UK, at Oxford. But a Nigeria-wide strike at the universities (probably connected to the April elections for all levels of government), changed those plans.

Wendy had already prepared a paper, “Solovyov’s Sophia as a Mediating Principle”, for the conference on ‘Sophia’ at the University of Nymegen (the Netherlands), and rather than send this paper to be read for her, she decided she might as well go in person to present it, particularly because the topic was close to the theme of the book she is now preparing for publication with Slavica (Sophia, Beatrice and Mary. A Study in Personification of Wisdom based on Solovyov and Dante). After the conference she wanted to stay in Europe, to make use of excellent library facilities in preparing the papers to be presented in Oxford.

Key to this decision was not only the approval of the head of our Department of Religious Studies but also the concurrence of her sister, Pat Verbrugge, who lives just outside Amsterdam near Utrecht, that she could stay with them during the intervening weeks.

At the Verbrugge’s, a place of peace and quiet near Utrecht

While Adrian went on ahead to Toronto, and was able to attend the annual Vision Conference of IICS/CSI in Kansas City, as well as spend special time with family, Wendy stayed with her sister, and took the time to renew acquaintance with the family too. By the end of July the necessary papers had been written, and she was ready for the trip to England. The Oxford conference was the main purpose for the trip, but she also managed to visit dear friends and supporters of our work, Mel and Vera Macleod in Manchester.

Mel and Vera

Vera and Wendy

And she took a few days to travel to Durham and visited friends and former colleagues (while we were in Moscow), Robin and Penny Minney. Durham cathedral was especially impressive.

Robin and Penny

Wendy at Durham Cathederal

The Patristics conference at Oxford is the single most important international conference for those who are specialized in the study of early Christianity, and Wendy values the opportunity to attend. This year there were close to 800 registered. It is a wonderful occasion to hear good lectures, meet colleagues in one’s area of specialization, find out about new publications, and particularly to have one’s ideas challenged by others who have similar interests.

Wendy in Oxford

Wendy gave two presentations, first a paper on the fourth century Augustine’s work on the Trinity, examining his argument for attributing ‘Wisdom’ to Christ (as in 1 Cor. 1.24). The second paper was based on our teaching work in Jos, and discussed the special challenges of a course on early Christianity, taught to all incoming students, Christian and Muslim alike. But a very special bonus of attending was her meeting longtime friend of IICS Thomas Oden, and hearing about a special project of IVCF publications which he is spearheading, to publish stories of the earliest years of Christianity in Africa.

She was no sooner back in Toronto, and it was time to prepare for another special highlight of this unusual year, a weeklong gathering of our family at a cottage in the Kawartha’s, about an hour’s drive from Toronto. It had been five years since our family was last together, all of us in one place, and we planned this week as a belated celebration of our 35th wedding anniversary (October 2006).

Celebration couple

It was a special time of gathering, celebration, walks, playground activities, swimming, fishing, and canoeing. Oma and Opa were happy for extra time with the grandchildren, while Pauline appreciated a chance to catch up on all the reading she never gets around to except on vacation.

Pauline

The first few days were a little cold, and we took some drives and long walks.

At the Fenelon Falls playground, Chris loved that turtle; and Gracie the slide

Sharon, who found this cottage for us, also did the lion’s share of preparation for this week. it really did take some effort!

We also took time for games inside the cottage.

We are truly thankful to God for this opportunity to be together and celebrate His goodness to us in these past years.

The Helleman family

In just a few short weeks we hope to be back on our way to Nigeria. We know that the strike at Unijos is over, but it appears that the process of students returning to the classroom is somewhat delayed. Over the summer we are grateful to have maintained email contact with a number of students who continued to work hard at their projects and dissertations, in spite of the strike and our absence. Please pray that there will be no further obstacles in starting the new academic year at the university.

We have heard of some heavy storms in the Jos area. Although such storms are not unusual for the end of the rainy season, we know of friends of ours at the college in Gindiri (just outside Jos) who suffered significant damage to property and destruction of the bore hole, which means there is no safe drinking water for the students. Please pray for our colleagues as they deal with these emergencies, and particularly for health concerns raised by these storms.

As we look back over the summer, we are thankful to God for His protection through the many stints of travel. We do not take this for granted. But we are not finished yet, and ask your prayers for upcoming travel to Calgary and Edmonton, where we hope to visit friends, a number of churches and participate in an all-college interdisciplinary studies conference at the the King's College (September 19 and 20). We will present aspects of our work in Nigeria in the workshop, "Heartbreak and Hope in Interfaith Relations in Nigeria.” We certainly would appreciate your prayers for effective communication as we share the joys and challenges of our ministry at Unijos.

Separated for a few weeks

Wendy and I have been separated for a few weeks already. The reason is a practical one: we both needed to attend conferences that, unfortunately, were on different continents. Last year Wendy wanted to attend a conference in the Netherlands on the topic of Sophia. But it was postponed until the end of June this year. She might not even have attended then, if not for the strike at the university, which was still going on when we left Nigeria (in the meantime, it has ended, though we don't know all the details yet). We left Abuja on June 25 and flew together to Amsterdam.

The next morning I helped Wendy get on the train to Nijmegen, and then I went back into the transit area and flew on to Toronto. Wendy made a presentation at this rather small conference, with scholars coming from many European countries.

After the Nijmegen conference, Wendy went to her sister's place, who lives in the Netherlands, but was visiting Alaska at the time. Wendy stayed there alone for two weeks, until her sister returned. Next week she flies to England to vist friends in Manchester and Durham, before she goes to Oxford for the International Patristics conference, which is held every four years. She will make two presentations at this major international event.

While in the Netherlands, whe visited many people, including her nephew, who had an addition to his family a few months ago, and some friends from our Russia days, who live in the Netherlands now. He is Dutch and she is Russian.


In Toronto I went immediately to our little basement apartment, in the house we own there, where oldest daughter, Sharon, also lives, and which she manages. It is wonderful to have this house as our base when we we are in Canada.

In July I flew to Kansas City for the annual vision conference of the International Institute for Christian Studies, which is the US sister organization of Christian Studies International in Canada. All professors are required to attend this conference every other year. I made two presentations, one of an academic nature. A few years ago scholars were invited to make presentations. This year more than 80 presentations were made. There were also four major speakers: Norman Geisler, J.P. Moreland, Randy Newman and Paul Vitz.

I returned to Toronto by way of Boston, where our youngest daughter, Pauline, lives, together with her husband, Greg, and two young children, Grace and Christopher. It was great to be with them for six days, especially since Pauline has not been well for a while. She is slowly recovering from a major gastro-intestinal infection. Early this week she learned from a specialist in Boston that she will get over this infection eventually, although the symptoms may last another year or so. In spite of this, she is encouraged by the news. The week I was at her place she had a minor recurrence and thus she was happy that I was there to help her take care of the children.

On August 6, David, our son, who works as a journalist and newspaper editor in Istanbul, will arrive in Toronto. He has not been home for several years, although we did visit him last year. At the end of the same week, Wendy will return and the four of us will be reunited again.


In the third week of August, the whole family will be together at a cottage north of Toronto. We are looking forward to that occasion. It will be the first time in many years that all of us will be in the same place. Since a number of birthdays already have occurred or will occur about that time, we hope to celebrate all everyone's birthday at the same time. More on that event later.