A Year @ Queen's

Small World: A JBU Alumni

2009-09-23T18:35:00.004+01:00

Safa, a JBU alumni, and I.

You'll never guess what happened today! It was one of those crazy small world experiences. I popped into a local Christian bookstore today wearing a grey John Brown University t-shirt. After looking around a bit I start to walk out and the owner/manager asks me if I went to John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR. That had me pretty weirded out - I mean, what are the chances that someone in the middle east would know about John Brown University - this small, Christian school in northwest Arkansas.

Well come to find out, the owner of this bookstore is Safa, a JBU alumni from the late 90's. He went with JBU on their firstever summer studies trip to Ireland in 1998. Billy Stevenson and I had just been talking about him and his brother this summer. He went to JBU for two years, transferred to Asuza Pacific, then returned here eight years ago and married a Palestinian Christian gal. They have one son, Quais, and have another coming in the next month. He started this Christian bookshop - coffeeshop a few years ago.

What are the chances that in a large city like this I would step into the one bookstore that was begun by a JBU alumni? Then, on top of that, Safa's only at the store a couple hours a week - and he just happened to be there when I was. He'd love to get together for tea/a meal while I'm here, but we'll see. I'm not sure if there'll be the time to make it happen. But, he is hoping to connect with JBU's Abila archaeological dig group when they come in the summers - which would be really cool - for him and for them.

Anyways, I just shook my head, amazed at the small world we live in and excited for what Safa's doing here - in the middle east - and the role he has in this community. So, just had to share the crazy story of the day!

Travelling Adventures

2009-09-22T21:39:00.001+01:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on here. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks: turned in the dissertation, got to climb a mountain and visit Donegal - two things I hadn't had the chance to do all year. JBU's semester team arrived at Lakeside, I said goodbye to friends, and so much more. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, with many a 2am morning.

As I type this, I'm laying on the couch in my sister and brother-in-law's beautiful apartment, watching, of all things, 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' on arabic t.v. (an edited version, as they all are here) - and I could be watching anything from BBC World news to CNN to Al Jazeera to SAT 7. The mashup of cultures just blows my mind - as our world struggles to cope with/adjust/change/absorb/process globalization. Even in writing my dissertation about 1947-8, I was amazed at the level of globalization in the years following WWII - and here we are 60 years after that. Oh, to prove the point further, I wasn't in my sister and brother-in-law's apartment for 15 min before a friend from the US called about a possible job opening. It was so crazy to be hearing the voice of a great friend from AR on a phone in the middle east, having just left N. Ireland this morning.

Now that I have a week to rest and relax, I'll probably be posting about our adventures and sharing pictures. The first story, as I bring this to a close, was a bizarre cultural experience on the plane tonight.

My seat on the 6 hour flight from London Heathrow was 15c, an aisle seat. I took my seat next to an elderly couple. A couple hours into the flight, the man, sitting next to me, gets up and starts walking up and down the aisle. Shortly after he begins this routine, the guy across the aisle to my right gets up to go to the bathroom. The guy that was sitting right next to me with his wife plops down in this other guy's chair that's across the aisle from me, as if it was no big deal. I mean, the guy had his own personal things in the seat back pocket and underneath the seat - and yet the guy next to me had sat down in this stranger's seat as if it was no big deal. Come to find out, it was a cultural thing, because the guy returned and didn't seem too fussed about it - but I don't think they knew each other.

In the first four hours of the flight, the guy must have been up and down about half-a-dozen times. About four hours in, he and his wife both get out. When the husband returns he pushes me over to the window seat - where his wife had been. He doesn't speak English and I know enough about Arabic culture to know that you respect elders, but I wasn't really excited about moving or having someone else sit in the seat with my ipod and backpack right in front of them. Well, the wife comes back, and the husband just scoots over and I'm stuck in the window seat for the next two hours.

What made it slightly worse was the cultural differences in body odor. Needless to say, to an American nose, the BO wasn't the most wonderful smell in the world. Well, when he pushed me over to the window seat where his wife had been sitting, I just felt like I sunk into this fog of it as the smell settled over me. Bleh.

As we began to decend for our landing, the husband then leaned over me every couple of minutes to see if he could see lights and the city. In my mind I was like, 'If you wanted to see the lights, you could have kept the window seat?'

It was definitely a cultural experience in personal space, smell, and so many other things. It was my welcome back to this wonderful place that I got to spend 7 weeks in a few years ago. A very, very different place then Belfast or the USA, but so very wonderful in its own way.

Making it all the more wonderful is my 5 month old nephew Ben that I got to see for the first time tonight - which was amazing!! He's so adorable and his smile is the best thing in the world! His dad, Allen, was holding him and said, 'Here's your Uncle Daniel' - and Ben instantly reached out his arms to me and gave me a big hug. Oh man, it was amazing!! He's so adorable, loves hugs, and has this great smile. I'm so excited to get to be here for these 6 days with him and with my sister and her husband, love on them and get to rest in their company.

Chaos Ensues :-)

2009-09-08T19:02:00.004+01:00

Oh man, what a day! Who would have thought that today, Tuesday, 8 September, would have been such a crazy day!

Today marks the one-week mark for my dissertation deadline. During my editing this morning, I realized just how much work I still have left to do this week. I'm just finishing editing Ch. 1 - so I have 2, 3, 4, 5, and the Conclusion to go - before figuring out how to format the more difficult parts, print it off, and get it bound before turning it. So, there's a certain level of stress involved there - and then the day got crazy! :-)

The JBU students arrived today - which was great and no big deal. The rest of the staff took care of welcoming them and getting them moved in while I worked on my dissertation. Then....

...about 2pm I get a phone call from John Lenschow my roommate. You see, for the last 3 weeks we've been trying to find out from Belfast Bible College whether or not they had students who were going to live here this semester. We had heard NOTHING from them, so Billy and I make the common sense gamble that they probably weren't going to send anyone - they'd been having major problems with visa's for their students. Well, John calls me at 2pm to let me know that one of the couple's arrived today and was on their way over - and, ON TOP OF THAT, there are 6-7 other students that will be hear by Friday/Saturday! Yikes!

Well, it took us a couple hours to get the breakdown of guys/girls in the Belfast Bible group - but once we did, it meant shuffling around nearly everyone. All the guys had to move rooms and all but two of the girls had to move. There's not as much room to spread out and everyon's living a lot closer together. The JBU students were great and understanding once we explained it to them - but to have moved into a room, be tired from jet lag, and then be told you had to move into another room with more roomates - they had a lot of reasons to not be too thrilled.

With the Belfast Bible students and JBU students, we only have 1 bedroom free in the entire house right now - until I leave in two weeks. Well, there's a JBU family coming in on Saturday to spend the night here until Tues - and it's a family of 3! Yikes! So, the parents are going to go in the one bedroom adn we're going to set up a bed in a spacious office room for their daughter.

Needless to say it's been a crazy day! I don't feel like I've made much progress on my dissertation and now that I'm sitting down to it I'm having a hard time focusing (obviously, since I'm blogging) since I've been busy all day having to trouble shoot rooming logistics.

So, there's a part of me that's loving having the students here and I kind of wish I was sticking around for the next three months to experience life with them (and Hadden Wilson could really use another driver). They've got a lot of energy and seem like an amazing group!

But, it's days like today that make me so ready for a vacation. The deadline for Fulbright and other scholarships are less than a month away and I haven't gotten to put enough time into those. So, I'll finish my dissertation next Mon/Tues and then start working on scholarship/grant applications. Oh, and the Oxford app's re-opened, so I need to try to get that app in ASAP to hopefully get some money from Oxford. I need to apply for jobs in the US - both substitute jobs and others, close down a bank account here, and tie up loose ends...

Man, it's a crazy time.

A Prayer

2009-08-30T16:12:00.006+01:00

This summer Derek, the pastor at my church, asked if I might be interested in speaking at a Sunday night service. That didn't end up working out, but this week I had the opportunity to participate by giving the intercessory prayer* in the middle of the service. It was encouraging to be asked and a neat opportunity to be a part of a Sunday service.

I thought I'd post the prayer here, not because it's anything wonderful, but because it's my hope and prayer for us as God's Church around the world. For those of us in the Church, my prayer is that this would be true of us. For those who are not apart of the Church or who don't believe in Christ as their Lord and Saviour, I pray that, if and when they do interact with the Church or with Christians, this is the sort of church they would experience.

[Note: I've put in verse references to the passages from Scripture that are referred to, in case you were curious.]

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples:

'A new command I give you: [...] As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another' [John 13:34-5]

Will you join me in praying that this would be true of us - as God's dearly loved children [John 1:12] - and of His church - who are His ambassadors to the world. [2 Cor 5:20]

Dear heavenly Father,

We come before you, deeply grateful that while we were yet sinners, you loved us so much that you sent your sinless Son to die that you might have a relationship with us, a sinful people. [Rom 5:8]

Father, we look around at this broken world and are daily reminded of the darkness that is here. Our hearts break for the young girl who was found, locked in a shed, 18 years after she was kidnapped. Our hearts break for her pain, and our hearts are heavy for those who perpetrated this crime against her - that one human could do such a thing to another is hard to believe. And our hearts go out to the grieving families affected by this week's accident near Newry.

Father, we pray that your Church would be agents of love and healing in both of these situations. May your Church, of which we are a part, be conduits of your love and healing throughout our city, our nation, and this world. May the World experience, through us, the richness of your love. Give us boldness and courage, that your Church might step into the darkest areas of people's lives and shine the light of your Son.

As students begin to return to University and others begin for the first time, help us to reach out to those in our community. That as you bring them into this place - whether it be for a meal, a chat, or to find You - they would experience your love through us. Father, may this be a place where, even as you reached out to us when we were sinners, in the same way, we would welcome - in spite of the colour of their skin, the quirks of their personalities, or the sin in their lives - all those that you bring through our doors. May our lives testify to the abundant life [John 10:10] we have in You and we pray, most of all, that through us and through this place, others would come to experience, for themselves, the freedom [Gal 2:4, 5:1] and joy [Phil 1:26] of a relationship with You in Christ!

Father, we reflect on our own lives and remember what Christ said his disciples: that the world would know they were his disciples by the love they showed for one another. [John 13;35] As we sit today, among your family - this body of Christ, of which we are a part - we think of those seated to our right and to our left, of those we enjoy spending time with and those we have not spoken to in years. May we spur one another on in love and good deeds [Heb 10:24] - that we might reach out to one another. If there are relationships in our lives, ways in which we interact with each other, that aren't loving, give us eyes to see and repentant hearts to change. May we lay down our bitterness, our anger, or our jealousy by serving one another, in love. Help us to make the decision each day to think of others as more important then ourselves [Phil 2:3] - and may we love and serve one another with that in mind.

Christ showed his disciples his love when he washed their feet the last night he was with them. [John 13:1] Give us eyes to see ways in which we might serve one another - and the humility of heart to do act on those opportunities. We are told that greater love has no man than this, than he lay down his life for his friends. [John 15:13] Holy Spirit, grow us into a people that lay down our lives - every part of them - our pride and our preferences, our desires and our wants, our accomplishments and our egos - to serve those around us - this wonderful body of Christ we are a part of. [Eph 5:21] May we become the Family you have called us to be and, in so doing, be a beacon of your Light to the World that is around us and among us. [Matt 5:14-6]

Where there is hurt and distance, may we reach out in love and forgiveness. Where there is loneliness and heart ache, may we reach out in tenderness and compassion, choosing to be a part of one another's lives. As ministers of Your Gospel - in this world and to one another - help us to lay down all of who were are - for you, Lord - and for each other.

We ask that all these things would be true of us and of your Church around the world, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - who empowers us and enables us to show Your love to each other and to the World we live in that desperately needs you.

We pray all these things in Your name, Amen.

My prayer: That the Triune God, and His deep love for His creation, would be known by all through our love for one another.

*It struck me last night, when I finished writing this, that it isn't really a prayer of intercession...I don't think anyways. Oops!

The End, the Beginning, or the Middle?

2009-08-18T19:19:00.004+01:00

The last of the laundry from this summer's JBU groups is done.
I'm really excited - a load takes over 3 hours between washing and drying.

In preparation for next year's staff - two great couples, the Goldfain's and the Beckman's, and my great housemate this year, John Lenschow - arriving at Lakeside over the next four weeks, I moved out of my room and into one of the guest's rooms. I move from this being my home to a place of transition. I leave in six weeks (hard to believe that I've been here for nearly a year!) and between now and then there's a lot that will happen - much of it for the last time.

Tonight I'm getting together with a group of friends from Queen's. While I'm guessing we'll get together as a group again before I leave, members of the group start leaving this week to head to jobs and graduate programs in the US. I'm still not feeling great (I've been down with a cold or flu since last Fri), but I'm going to dose up on medicine and my goal is to try to be there for an hour before I'm completely worn out. By far, this group has been one of the best things that's happened to me this year!

Having grown up as a missionary kid, attended a missionary school in Kenya, been a part of a mega-church in Little Rock, and gone to a Christian university, my life has been lived around evangelical Christians - whether simply cultural Christians or those who really do know the joy of life in Christ. Within minutes of stepping off the plane last September, I met three amazing people that have been wonderful friends this year: Megan, Jude, and Melissa. They come from really different backgrounds, with sometimes very different perspectives on life. Their experiences in life, their passions, their knowledge, and their beliefs have helped me grow in huge ways this year. They've stretched me to think about what I believe, what I know, and how I understand the world. They haven't always changed my mind, but I'd like to think that, through it all, we've sharpened one another.

Through them, and the beginnings of a four-person weekly dinner, the group grew into nearly 20 people who have been an absolute blast! I've made great friends from Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Pheonix, Missouri, Magrefalt, Dublin, Belfast, etc.. We all see the world in different ways and understand religion and belief from a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. Through several of them, I was introduced to the joys of the Catholic church and the many there who love Jesus, Scripture, and God's heart for the world.

So, tonight, in many ways, is the last time we all have the chance to be together, as people leave. It begins a season of lasts, at least for the time being, for me. I'll turn in my last paper (my dissertation) to the history office four weeks from today. I rented what will probably be my last rental car here and showed friends around the North Coast for the last time this past week. I just finished the final loads of laundry for Lakeside. Here in four weeks, or so, I'll worship for the last time, for now, with the wonderful church family at Fisherwick - a family I've grown to love, who have welcomed me so warmly, and who I will deeply miss. In a few weeks, I'll go out for the last time with the S.O.S. Bus on a Friday night. I'll pay my last phone bill to Orange and order pizza delivery from Bella Italia for the last time.

This year has brought so much into my life. I am sad to see the end, but really, I'm more occupied with the wonders and the richness that have been a part of this year. The writer of Eccliasastes points out, rightly I think, that our life comes in seasons. This year was never meant to go on forever, but I'm deeply thankful that it's been part of my life. C.S. Lewis, in Peralandra, which I'm reading now, comments that an experience is wonderful because it's not common. This year has been anything but common and it has been wonderful.

This morning I posted on my Facebook status that moving rooms today meant the beginning of the end. In several ways that's true. It's one of the first events, with a number to follow, that mark the end of my year here in Ireland. A year I never expected 14 months ago would happen.

A wonderful friend, who's really more of a brother, Justin, pointed out that maybe it's really just the end of the beginning. Knowing Justin, I had to laugh at his quip, but there's truth to it. In many ways, this year marks the end of over 20 years of schooling. Sure, I hope to go on to a PhD, but that's really all that's left. The beginning of my life was characterized by institutional education. This marks the beginning of a lifetime of learning primarily in non-institutional forms.

After Justin, Dr. Robbie Castleman, one of my professor's at JBU who has deeply impacted, in awesome ways, my life, wrote that maybe this is 'somewhere in the middle of that which you know not at this time.' Probably in more ways then either of the previous two, her comment is true. I don't really believe life is what we make it or that we're simply on a predetermined course - that fate somehow has dictated the steps of our life. I think both extreme do not do justice to the experience of our lives. I would say that life is somewhere in the middle, in the tension of the two - that they hold each other in check. That we have the ability to make decisions in our lives, but our influence only goes so far. There's someone far greater than any of us, who's acting and moving at the same time. And it's my choice to follow in step with His movements, His lead, and His direction - but He'll never force me to. I'm not stuck in fate's predetermined track, nor am I left up to my own to make my way in this world.

And so it's somewhere in the middle of eternity that this year finds itself. For you see, I always existed in the mind of God and I will exist for eternity. So, this year - this wonderful, stretching, growing, life-changing, enriching year - comes as part of that story. In following Him, this year plays a part in what He has planned for me. Like everyone, I have the choice to follow Him.

However, after 26 years of incredible adventures, people, and experiences, I don't plan to ever stop following. I celebrated my birthday last week - as friends reminded me, if I was a fish, I would have been flushed down the toilet long ago :-) - and, perhaps more so then ever, this year in Northern Ireland and this year's birthday celebration have both solidified my commitment to follow Him - it's been one heck of a ride and I think the best is yet to come.

Life's Interuptions: An Unexpected Day

2009-07-29T20:27:00.006+01:00

A Jackson Pollock painting.

Today felt like a 'Jackson Pollock' painting. Lines coming from every direction, unexpected, seemingly chaotic, that eventually come together to create a larger picture. C. S. Lewis has said that interruptions don't stop us from living, but rather, the interruptions are our life, given to us from God. That the interruptions ARE life - rather than simply events that interfere with life. The unexpected, rather than the planned, describe the majority of our days on this earth. Thankfully, unlike a Jackson Pollock painting, God promises that the 'chaos' has purpose and meaning (Rom 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11).

Today felt like a Jackson Pollock painting, with 'interruptions' coming at every turn. I had four things planned for my day, and by lunchtime I had to throw the plan out the window.

Today's 'Plan'

What Actually Happened

Work on Ch. 5
Take a taxi to Forest Side
Visit with Catherine
Bike to and from gym
Go to Gym
Stop by Library

Read Lonsdale Article
Sort out rental van for friends visiting next week
Visit with Seth & Julie
Seth & Julie give me a lift to Forest Side (a huge blessing!)
Visit with Catherine
Bus drops me off downtown, so:
Fill up empty bus card
Get haircut
Stop by pharmacy
Pick up gift for a friend
Go home, then bike back to gym
Stop by library
Get feedback from Megan on ch. 3 & 4 (Much appreciated!!)
Get feedback from supervisor, Prof. Jeffery, on Ch. 4 (also much appreciated!)
Go to gym (only to find out membership has expired)
Offend a friend after misunderstanding what he had offered to do
Bike home
Eat dinner
Write blog
Still to happen:
Take shower
Hopefully some work on ch. 5

Needless to say, this hasn't been the day I expected. It was full of changes and surprises. I definitely thought my gym membership was good through the end of September and didn't see the offer from this friend coming - making my offense even worse. Didn't plan on spending the afternoon downtown waiting on a haircut or running errands, nor meeting with Megan or Prof. Jeffery.

This morning I posted on my Facebook status that there are days where I just have to trust God to work out the details because life feels like it's falling apart. That was today. I have no idea how I'm going to get this chapter written before Sunday morning, nor how I'm going to fit in all the other pieces that need to be sorted before friends come - train tickets, car rental, house ready...but I'm trusting that what needs to happen will happen. I'll work to remain faithful to the tasks God guides me to do or places in my path, and trust Him. Trust that God, whom Lewis says brings these interruptions, knows what He's doing. (At almost 26 years old, I've learned that He does - but man, sometimes I wish I could see the whole picture! :-)

It's been 'one of those days'. It's also been a day that I realize I need to learn to roll with 'one of those days' better, to flex with the changes and roll with the punches. To really trust God in the midst of it and go through it in joy and gratitude. I'm working on it and I'm sure there'll be more chances too. So, here's to future chances to grow and be stretched.

When I Don't Rest

2009-07-22T21:34:00.008+01:00

Van Gogh, 'Noon: Rest from Work'

I worked straight through this last weekend. It's not something I usually do. With two weeks till friends visit and behind on deadlines (self-imposed deadlines, I should add), I felt the need to keep working through the weekend. Chapters 4 and 5 were due Monday and I was way behind going into the weekend. In the end, neither were completed by Monday and I just finished up chapter 4 yesterday.

Working through the weekend, and missing the deadlines, has reminded me of something I had forgotten. Simply put, it's this: every part of me needs the break of a full-day away from work. There's a lot of reasons for this:

(1) A seven day week has turned into 10 days, and my body's wondering when the weekend is going to come. After a 10 day work week, my body is exhausted.

(2) Not taking a break has meant that the breaks during my days don't feel restful, because they're never enough to make up for what I skipped. Whether I take two hours for a movie with friends, go work out at the gym, or take a nap, at the end of each of the activities my body, mind, and spirit beg for more.

(3) As a result, I'm constantly looking for 'more' and my discipline and focus wains. This attempt to find that break comes out in all sorts of ways. Ironically, I blog a lot more when I haven't had breaks - it's a chance to get away from the paper or book I've been absorbed in. I sleep in later than I normally would; I spend more time on Facebook; I watch more T.V. These, and a host of other things, are all attempts at getting the break my body needs - but they're never enough.

(4) What had started as a 'work weekend' to get more done, has left me feeling tired, antsy for a chance to stop thinking about the project, a chance to let my imagination roam, to stop being productive for more than 30 minutes at a time, to rest.

It's a need for rest, not a break or a nap or a distraction. All of those are short and focus on the fact that there's something to get back to. They, inherently, infer that there's something we're stepping away from. Rest brings with it a sense of stopping, of ceasing from activity. It's what I realized I need.

Perhaps I'm the only one like that. I have friends who seem to always be working or thinking about working. I don't know if they ever take a full-day off and rest. Maybe they've been going 24/7 for so long that their minds and bodies have gotten used to it.

I've come to realize this week that I need that rest. I need to take a day in my week where little has to be done. Where my mind, body, or spirit can wander: through a novel, the outdoors, a devotional book, or a Psalm of David. It's that chance to give my whole being a break, not just who I am phsyically, emotionally, or spiritually, but every bit of me.

There's a word for it. It was something I've been told ever since I was a young boy. Truth be told, it's something that's been said for thousands of years. It's been abused through the years, like so many words and ideas that were supposed to be good for us - love, fear, submission, humility - that have been twisted, misunderstood, or abused.

It's a simple word, from an old language: sabbath, or, in the Hebrew, shabat. That day which God put into his ideal for the world, before sin ever entered it. The call to rest, having finished all the week's work. I forgot this week how much I need that rest. I forgot that the 'sabbath' was made for me - not as another day to have a list of things to accomplish - but as a rest from that productivity. My body, my soul, and my mind - all that I am, entirely created by God - needs it.

I think this weekend, I'll be taking a break. Scratch that. I'll rest and take a sabbath.

Learning a New Language. English.

2009-07-21T20:25:00.004+01:00

A better title might have been, 'Relearning a Language I Thought I Knew'. I'm in the midst of my dissertation writing. As I complete each chapter, I send it to my supervisor for feedback. Today, we sat down to look over the first three chapters I had sent him. Among other things, I learned that I don't know the English language...well, at least not British English.

I was amazed at how many things are different. For those of you contemplating academic work on this side of the globe, here's some things I've learned:

Quotation Marks: In the U.S., the double quotation mark, ", is what we use to open and close quotations. If there happens to be a quotation within a quotation, we then use single, ', quotation marks to designate this interior quote. Well, turn everything on its head to fit in over here. The single quotation mark is used first, with the double quotation mark used for quotations within the original quotation.

Example (US): Koinange wanted to "give his life to assuage 'the educational hunger of three millions [sic] natives of Kenya'."

Example (UK): Koinange wanted to 'give his life to assuage "the educational hunger of three millions [sic] natives of Kenya"'.

You'll notice that quotation marks aren't the only thing that's different, but also where you put them. In the US, the punctuation almost always go inside the quotation mark.

Example: Berman writes, "Administrators in Kenya came to believe that there was no necessary linkage between African socio-economic problems and political action."

However, once again, flip it around here. With the rare exception that a complete, standalone sentence is used within the quotation, the punctuation always goes on the outside.

Example: Berman writes, 'Administrators in Kenya came to believe that there was no necessary linkage between African socio-economic problems and political action'.

Commas: Commas are also used differently here. For example, in the US, commas separate items in a list:

Example: Billy played soccer, basketball, and baseball.

Over here, there is no comma used in the last pairing of items.

Example: Billy played football, basketball and baseball.

The way we do it in the US is also known as the 'Oxford comma'. It seems as though they are one of the few places in the UK to place a comma in the last pair of items.

Spelling: Perhaps not surprising, words are spelled differently here than they are in the US. Here's some examples:

Where we would use 'ize' in the US, they would use 'ise' here.

Example (US): recognize

Example (UK): recognise

Where we would use an 'ense', they often use 'ence'.

Example (US): defense

Example (UK): defence

They like to add extra letters. For example, where we would use 'o', they'll use 'ou' and where we use one 'l', they'll use 'll'.

Example (US): color and traveled

Example (UK): colour and travelled

Where we would use 'er', they use 're'.

Example (US): center

Example (UK): centre

Introducing Persons and Quotations: In JBU's history and bible department, we were always taught to establish the credibility of someone we're citing. For example:

Jack Gallagher, the revered Cambridge scholar, gave a series of lectures on the British empire at Oxford University.

Here they expect that when you cite someone in your paper, they're an expert. As a result, you leave out the accolades.

Example: Jack Gallagher gave a series of lectures on the British empire at Oxford University.

[Side note: At this point in my paper, my supervisor, who trained under Jack Gallagher, made the comment, 'If they don't know who Jack Gallagher is, they have no business reading your paper.' :-)]

As well, if you're using a quote from a scholar, no need to say who you're using it from, your footnote does the work. So, for example, in my writing at JBU, I would have written:

Drake writes that Koinange "was on a political mission representing [the] KAU."

Here, however, it's better to just write:

Koinange 'was on a political mission representing [the] KAU'.

The footnote then tells the reader who it is that said it.

In Conclusion...
There are certainly lots of others intricacies that I've learned as I've stumbled along this year, these are just a few of them. We may both be speaking and writing in a language that goes by the same name, English, but there are times where I feel like I'm having to learn it all over again.

This doesn't even get into the way they grade over here (a mark of a 70 is an excellent mark and two professors grade your 'anonymous' paper), the use of Dr. vs. Prof., and the expectations for student-professor interaction. It's been a whole new ballgame! :-)

Thoughts on 'Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince'

2009-07-21T10:25:00.003+01:00

I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts before moving on to dissertation editing. So, in no particular order, here are the thoughts from seeing the new Potter film with friends tonight:

*Don't start with this one - if you've never read the books, or haven't watched the other movies, at the very least, don't begin watching Harry Potter with this film. You'll be completely lost.

*The weight matches - part of the Harry Potter series is the maturing of the characters, there movement from childhood to adolesence to adulthood. As with reality, with age comes dealing with life's heavier things: death, war, disease, etc. It's in the latter years of high school that we start having to wrestle with the pain of loss. The books follow this, as the years in school (each Harry Potter book is one year in school) go by, the characters begin dealing with heavier and heavier things. This movie matches that well. While they balance it incredibly well with humor and laughs, there is a darkness that sets over the story as the showdown between good and evil comes ever closer.

*Contrasts and foils - I don't remember the book doing as good a job of this, but perhaps it did. There was a wonderful and vividly clear contrast throughout the movie tonight between the opposing sides. (1) Harry Potter is the 'chosen one,' but it doesn't become his all consuming identity or prideful. The foil to that is Draco Malfoy, Voldemort's 'chosen one' who lives in fear, takes it as his identity and pride - an identity that distances himself from everyone else in the school. (2) Harry's promise to follow Dumbledore's instructions is trusted, no need for anything more than Harry's word. For Snape and Narcissa though, especially for Bellatrix, there is no trust and so the unbreakable oath has to be made. (3) This theme of trust and mistrust contrasts the opposing sides of good and bad throughout the story. That for the 'good' guys, their is trust, faith, and loyalty in and towards one another. For the 'bad' guys, there's mistrust, traitors, and a lack of faith.

All in all, it was a really fun film and a great way to spend a couple of hours. Plenty of laughs, plenty to think about, and plenty to enjoy from the detail in the scenes to the CGI. As always, plenty to relate to: from Ron feeling like king of the world after doing really well in a sporting match to teenage infatuation to broken hearts to faithful friends to life's deepest regrets and to choices that redefine who the character is. A lot of fun! Looking forward to the next two!

Random Fact: Professor Severus Snape, played by Alan Rickman, is 63 years old and Maggie Smith, who plays Professor Minerva McGonagal is 75. Amazing to see these two actors still in these movies!

Why I Enjoy Harry Potter

2009-07-20T15:11:00.002+01:00

I just finished an email to a friend who had asked why so many Christians my age (and younger) enjoy the Harry Potter books and films. The Harry Potter stories have, ever since they came out, been something that the Christian church has divided over. Point in fact, my parents don't like me bringing the books home or watching the movies, because of the part magic plays in the stories. I know my parents are not the only ones that have reservations and questions about the Harry Potter films.

I'm going tonight to see the new one, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which has gotten great reviews from both secular and Christian movie reviewers. I thought, in light of that, I would post the email I just sent to this friend, in case anyone else might have the same question: Why would I spend time watching the movies and reading the books?

Note: Two things to be aware of: (1) this was originally an email, so it reads like an email and (2) the question was why Christian's enjoy the books, so my comments look at how the Harry Potter books reconcile with a Biblical worldview - not that they 'are Christian books' - but rather, how does the message, themes, story agree with and/or conflict with the message of Scripture. Please, if you're not a Christian, don't take this as a, "He's making them Christian books when they're just stories." :-)

Worth reading: World Magazine's Review and New Testament Pauline Scholar Ben Witherington III's review.

--------
[SPOILER ALERT: This was written to an audience that won't likely ever read the books, so it talks about the storyline of all of them - right up to the last book.]

On the most basic level, we enjoy them for the same reason anyone enjoys them - Christian or non-Christian. They're well written. They're fun stories that weave the reality of life, friendships, and tragedies into the life of the characters. They're fantastic, in that they carry the imagination like few books do these days. It's the same reasons that Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' and Lewis 'Chronicles of Narnia' still captivate the imagination and mind of both adults and children. They are stories of good fighting evil, of loyalty in friendship, of growing up, of making mistakes and learning from them.

Which, is also why, as a Christian, I really enjoy them. The very foundations of the Harry Potter stories are things that reflect a Biblical worldview. In a post-modern world, where nothing is right and we hate to speak of Sadam Hussein as evil or terrorists as evil, the Harry Potter stories declare, strongly and boldly, that the Potter world is a world of good & evil. There's no vagueness in it. And it is clear that the good side has won before and will win in the end, but only if good people choose to do something about it. Very much like Paul, who calls us to fight the good fight, to push boldly forward in this battle against the dark powers of this world.

Even more so, the stories are founded on the premise that the greatest power, greater than any magic, strength, or ability, is the power of sacrificial love. I'm assuming you likely won't read the books anytime soon, so I won't be giving away anything. But the premise of the book is that Harry Potter's mother died, sacrificing herself, to protect him. That love then, throughout Harry's life as an orphan, is what protects him - it 'seals' him. And it's that sacrifice and that love that Voldemort, the bad guy, spends the entire series battling against - to no avail. The last book (which the movies haven't come out yet), ends in Harry sacrificing his life for his friends, for his school, for his family. And, once again, it is what breaks the powers of Voldemort and evil. It's the one thing that Voldemort can't get his head around - because he can't imagine a world in which his life and his ambitions aren't the most important - and it ruins him. And yet, the answer of the Harry Potter series is that the greatest power, the greatest act, the greatest thing we can ever do is lay down our lives for others - even to the point of death (it echoes so strongly Christ's words to his disciples, 'greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends).

And that's why I, and I think why many of my friends, really enjoy the books. They're fun, they're exciting - but above all, the values they uphold and that they show to be worthwhile are values of friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, and love. Often Harry Potter disobeys someone or fails to trust others, but it almost always ends up with him paying the consequences - someone else is hurt or put in danger.

Now, as for the place of magic in the stories. The reality is, and any Christian I know who's read the books seems to agree, that the magic is the stage for the story, it's not the story. There's sure to be better analogies, but it's like kids playing cops & robbers. We let them shoot each other, 'rob' things, etc. - because we know it's them using their imagination to have fun, to wrestle with the ideas - as small as they are - that there are good guys and bad guys in the world. But, they know that growing up being a robber isn't an okay thing and that shooting people or stealing things isn't okay. It's similar in these stories. The magic is part of the story telling, but a small part. The themes that come behind the magic are themes of faith - in ourselves and others - of serving others through our abilities (the 'magic'), and of growing up and developing confidence in who we are. At the same time, in the books, there's a very clear delineation between what's appropriate and what's not - in other words, what's okay magic (magic that serves and protects others) vs. evil magic (that harms, injures, or kills others).

J.K. Rowling, an Anglican Christian, has created a world - using the same literary methods of Tolkien and Lewis - where there is good and evil. Where there are choices we make and we pay the consequences for them. And, ultimately, that the greatest choice that has ever been made for us - or we can make for others - is to lay down one's life for another.

This 'Emerald Isle' & that 'New World'

2009-07-06T22:19:00.007+01:00

Top: My cousin Tyler and I hanging out on the beach at Sullivan's Island.
Bottom: The Mourne Mountains overlooking Dundrum Bay.

What is it about anticipation that so preoccupies my mind? Throughout this year, I've had short spots of homesickness, where I've missed something particular in the US for an afternoon or a day. Now that I know I'm going back to the US and not staying in the UK for another 3 years, I find myself thinking about the States frequently.

The smell of the salt air and the beach as my family and I drive over the bridge from Charleston, South Carolina to James Island, anticipating getting to see and catch up with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. The feeling of the sand between my toes, walking along the beach on Sullivan's Island at sunrise or sunset. Going for a bike ride from mom and dad's house in Arkansas out to the peninsula that sticks into the Arkansas River. The smell of the fresh air and the tingle of the cool water, skiing and swimming on Lake Ouachita.

What is it that makes the longings for these memories so strong the closer it gets to the end of September?

Perhaps more importantly, or just as important, how do I make sure to enjoy the most of being here, in Ireland for the time I have left? There's so much here that I've fallen in love with this year.

The beautiful drive along the Antrim coastway, passing Carickfergus Castle, the Glens of Antrim, and looking out across the water at England and Scotland. The smell of the bay in Dundrum as the tied comes in, the Mourne Mountains looking on, smiling with me at the wonder of the ocean. The slower paced life and the love for conversation, over a hot cup of tea. The tastes of Banoffee, Caramel digestives, and fish & chips.

My life is so rich. I love the anticipation of heading back to the US - of feeling my 90 year old Grandma's arms around my neck as she calls me her 'boyfiend,' my mom and dad's smile as I drive up to the house, the chance to be with new friends and old friends.

But that anticipation is mixed with a realization that leaving this wonderful place I've called home for nearly a year, will be bitter sweet. There is so much that is left behind. Wonderful people who have opened their homes and their lives to me - the Gilmores, the Wilson's, the Beatty's, Hetty & Dawn, the McKelvey's, the Wrights, and the list goes on. A wonderful church that I feel like I never really got to get as involved with as I'd hoped. To say goodbye to the Prayer Ministry, Bible Study, and Discipleship Group that I so wanted to be a part of, but never had the chance. The 'gang' from Queen's and our weekly dinners that have been an incredible part of this year.

To say goodbye to this Emerald Isle and cross to the shores of the 'New World'. It's something I'm anticipating with great excitement, and yet, I know that as soon as I step foot on that 'World', I will begin missing the gems of this Isle.

What Does That Have to Do with Dating and Friendships? - A Follow-up

2009-07-03T15:26:00.002+01:00

I had someone point out that the last post, 'Why do Guy's "Cut 'n Run"?' looked at a passage on marriage, not dating. Very true. So, the natural question, what does love in marriage have to do with me, as a guy, having healthier friendships and dating relationships?

I think it has a lot to do with it, actually. No one wakes up one morning and decides to go run a marathon without months of training. Likewise, waking up this morning wishing I had the discipline to learn a language isn't going to undo all the years I haven't been disciplined enough to learn Spanish, Greek, or French. I think it's important to think about relationships in the same way. That I, and we as guys (really, all of us), have to intentionally develop disciplines and mindsets - in this case, an attitude of self-sacrificial commitment (agape love). It's a love that is most significantly tested in marriage, where our selfishness is seen most clearly/painfully by someone that we spend every day with.

It seems that our culture realizes that agape love - a committed love - is what we all want. It's why we don't want friends dating a guy (or girl, for that matter), who seems to have another girlfriend (or boyfriend) every week or month. We recognize their lack of commitment and know that that's a recipe for disaster and hurt.

Now, an agape commitment in marriage is different then anything else. We don't begin friendships with a mutual decision that says, 'through sickness and health...etc.' I will be faithful to you. Nor do we start dating relationships that way. That's one of the things that's so unique about marriage. There is NO other relationship in our lives where we commit so completely as we do in marriage. And, that's the way it should be. It's why marriage isn't a decision we make in one day. As well, it would be disastrous if all of our friendships and dating relationships carried the same commitment as marriage.

We've all been in friendships or dating relationships that really were not good or healthy places for us (or the other person) to be. We knew it. Those around us could see it. In those sorts of relationships, we start off the relationships with good intentions - of being a 'true friend'. This often used phrase insinuates a hoped for level of commitment and loyalty - the idea that that friend has our back, and we there's. But, as time goes on and we get to know the person, we realize that it's not a relationship we should be in.

For example, both of my parents were very close to marrying someone else. My dad was dating a girl that, had she not broken off the relationship, they might have been married. My mom was engaged to a guy and then realized that it wasn't where she was supposed to be. I can't even begin to tell you how GLAD I am that those previous relationships didn't work out. Mostly because it meant that I'm here :-), but also because I love seeing my parents together. At nearly 60 years old, they are still one of the cutest couples I know.

While our perspective and approach to friendships and dating relationships should be one of agape love - of being a 'true friend', that love that Jesus calls us to show to all people - dating and friendships are relationships that leave room for differing levels of depth, as well as, if need be, stepping away from the friendship. Agape love in marriage, where that sort of self-sacrifical love is most beautiful, doesn't leave room for that.

So, back to the beginning, what about friendships and dating relationships? There's not a mutual agreement for lifelong commitment, so we can't control the other person's actions or reactions. True, but we're entirely responsible for our own choices, attitudes, and perspectives. I, and we, need to think of friendships as something more than only worthwhile if they are convenient. It's not what Jesus modeled or called me/us to.

In my first dating relationship, I failed to communicate what I was thinking and what was going on in my head/heart to my girlfriend. That's a part of agape love where I dropped the ball - communication. I failed to do my part in a healthy friendship by failing to communicate.

One of the most important things in any friendship or relationship is communication. As a missionary kid, I've moved all over the world and I'm no longer friends with people that have been incredibly important in my life simply because we don't communicate anymore. It's why married couples who are on the verge of divorce go see a marriage counselor, because she/he is there to help them learn to communicate with each other again.

Communication is so, so very important. One of the ways we, as guys, can 'love others as I have loved you' (as Jesus called us to), is to be committed to communicating with our friends and girlfriends. Sure, the relationship may still end - which almost always brings with it hurt, disappointment, and heartache and, sometimes necessary, a distancing in the friendship - but we've got a better chance of having a friendship after the end of the relationship if we've communicated openly and honestly, then we do if we don't. It's about that being the goal in our minds, the mindset - to have a friendship with this person, because they are valuable and worthwhile getting to know, because of who God's made them.

There was a girl in college that I pursued for about 6 months, in my typical 'clumsy Daniel' way. I still have the email from her, essentially, saying 'No', in follow-up to a conversation I had initiated about our friendship. It's one of the greatest emails I've ever gotten. In it, she affirmed our friendship, but was incredibly honest and forthright in saying 'No.' We still stay in touch, albeit sporadically because our lives have gone in different directions, but it's been a powerful example that friendships and dating relationships don't HAVE to end badly.

We don't live in a fatalistic world where we are simply pawns and have no power over our decisions. While I'm not fond of a phrase one of my Catholic friends uses - 'God helps those who help themselves' - the truth in that statement is that we are humans, capable and responsible for our own decisions and actions.

So, if you were wondering what it might look like to 'love others as Christ loved us' when it comes to your friendships and dating relationships, here are some things I'm trying to develop in my own life:

1. Consider every person I know worth knowing because of who they are, not because of what they have to offer me or where our friendship may, or may not, end up.

2. That I would be committed to communicating better - whether that be with friends or girlfriends. Being honest about what I'm thinking - it's the SCARIEST thing at the time, but it's not only the right thing, but the BEST thing to do in the long run.

3. That I would be committed, as much as possible, to being a friend who is there to listen, to help, and to encourage. (In this global world, I can't do this for all my friends - but for the ones that I'm able to do it for, I want to do it to the best of my ability).

4. That I would NEVER, EVER treat a dating relationship as if it was only worth it if it ended in marriage. That I would be committed - as far as it is healthy to do so - to maintaining that friendship, even when things don't 'go as planned.'

5. To be committed to the friendships I develop, to the extent that it's healthy. To make the choice to invest and communicate more intentionally in them.

We can all add our own goals to this list, as we push on to learn what it means to agape those around us in the way that God has loved us. For me, as a guy, I want every day to be a day in learning to do this better. That way, when the day comes when I CHOOSE to commit to lay down my life in love for another, I will have had years of practice in loving (and no, not in the sexual sense, in the much more important, life-encompassing sense) - in the agape sense of the word.

Why do Guys 'Cut 'n Run'?

2009-07-01T16:34:00.002+01:00

What is it with us guys? This last month seems like it's been the month of 'guys being guys'. A good friend nearly left his wife and kids of seven years. Another friend broke off a serious relationship he was in and stopped being friends with the girl. In another friendship, the guy has stopped talking to or communicating with the girl, without saying why or talking about it. In all of the situations, the women are left wondering what happened, 'Did he ever really care about me?' or 'Did our friendship really matter?'

Now, don't mistakenly think that I'm looking at this from the 'outside.' I will forever carry the shame of doing the same to the first girl I ever dated, a dear friend and an incredible woman. I too brought an abrupt end to a friendship that left her wondering 'What happened?'. And, as a result, I lost an incredible friendship.

So, why talk about this? This last week I was talking to a friend that was here with JBU. He mentioned how he had done the exact same thing in his first dating relationship. That, along with everything else that has been happening in friendships around me this month, got me thinking about why it is that men, all over the world, walk away from the women who were so important in their lives, leaving the women to wonder, 'What happened?'.

Don't expect some epiphany in answer to that question. I think there's a myriad of different reasons. Perhaps personal insecurities or problems with commitment. Sometimes it's just immaturity, not in a heavy handed demeaning sense, but a lack of experience - they simply don't realize what they're doing or how to handle the situation. At times this comes from realizing that, whether for them or for the girl, the relationship isn't the best place for them, they realize things need to change - but then fail to bring about that change in a healthy way.

Whatever the reason, one can't stop at the 'reason' as an explanation or excuse. What are guys to do about their 'cut 'n run' tendency in friendships and relationships?

People believe the Bible for a number of different reasons (don't worry, this isn't a sermon. :-) One of the reasons I've come to trust what it has to say is that it not only explains the world I live in well, but doesn't stop at the explanation (allowing that explanation to be used as an 'excuse' - such as 'it's the way I'm wired'), but rather calls its reader to something more. The word to describe it, which we don't use in modern parlance, is 'exhortation.' Scripture exhorts its reader - that is, urges or calls them to an action - to something that is not 'natural,' but is something that is better - often better personally and interpersonally. (For example, not murdering is a 'healthy' restraint on our natural urge for revenge in order to preserve an orderly community).

So, the question I've been asking myself is what might Scripture have to say about a man's tendency to 'cut 'n run'? Does Scripture go beyond just saying 'guy's struggle with commitment and/or communication' to offer anything helpful? Let me offer this as what I've thought about this week:

In college, my paper for Dr. Castleman's 'New Testament Book Study: Pauline Epistles' was on Eph. 5:20-6:9. For those familiar with this passage, they'll know it's one of the passages on submission that gets completely abused by domineering husbands and fundamentalist churches that see no role for women in the church or in marriages. In doing the paper, there were two really important Greek words that don't come across with the same meaning in our English translations:

upotasso (5:21, 22, 24)

and

agape (5:25, 28, 33)

Verse 21 first uses upotasso and is the introduction to the rest of the chapter and the first part of the next chapter. The verse reads:

'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.'

Yikes!! Submit. A word that has been used far too often to abuse people - whether women, slaves, or employees. To think that Paul has in mind that type of submission is confusing the modern understanding of the word for the Greek definition - for the idea that Paul did have in mind. Submission here, as meant in the Greek, is better defined: 'to willingly place oneself under another.' It's a choice the subject makes, NOT an action forced on the subject. Paul is calling people to willingly submit their own desires or needs to those of others . No one chooses for someone else to be more important then them without a great level of respect, love, and admiration for that other person.

Second, and JUST as important, is the fact that it calls ALL people to this submission, both husband and wife. Far too often, most likely because of the way the heading splits this section in most English bibles, people simply start with verse 22, which calls the wife to submit to her husband, disregarding this FOUNDATIONAL exhortation for BOTH people in the relationship to submit. It's with the foundational statement in verse 21 - for all people to submit to one another out of love for Christ - that Paul then elaborates on what this looks like in several different social relationships (marriage, families, employment). Paul begins first with what it looks like for a husband and a wife to willingly see the other person as more important than themselves.

Since this post is about men, not women, I'm going to skip verses 22-24. Suffice it to say, however, the women's submission is her choice and is choosing to respect and honor her husband BECAUSE of who he IS and how he honors HER - he sacrifices himself for her, as Christ did for the church (vs. 23). It's not about women submitting to an abusive, domineering, or foolish husband. It's about her being loved by a husband that cares about her more than himself. (Relationships that actually look like this are a BEAUTIFUL thing!)

Okay, on to the men, since this is a post about men - including me - and us growing in the way we care for the women in our lives. So, what does Paul have to say about us, when it comes to thinking about women as more important then ourselves, how are we supposed to 'submit' to them? 'Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her' (vs. 25). Yikes! Dying for someone else is what Christ called the ultimate act of love and is only possible for a man with, excuse the phrase, real 'kahones'. No room for little boys or selfish adolescents here - it's a calling to sacrifice - to willingly walk into and embrace our own death. Here's where the second Greek word becomes important: agape.

As you may already know, there are four words for love in the Greek:

Eros - a passionate, physical, sensual love (where the English word 'erotic' comes from)

Philia - the sort of love present in friendships, between family members, or for an activity

Storge - the love parents have for their kids; a natural affection; used, in ancient Greek almost exclusively within family context

Agape - the love one has for a spouse, a love of commitment

It's the last type of love that Paul uses when he writes about how the husband is to love the wife - and is the same word he uses to describes Christ's love for the church. In the New Testament, this Greek word insinuates the commitment of one's life. In John 15:12, Jesus calls his disciples to love others as he has loved them. In 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul writes of Demas' love for the world that causes Demas to forsake his friendship to Paul.

In the New Testament, the context of agape is one of commitment. Even more so, when in reference to Christ or God, it is a love of self-sacrificial commitment. It's one of the reasons that 1 John 4:8 is such a powerful verse, 'God is love.' Such a simple verse encapsulates so much. A God that came to earth to die for us, to sacrifice himself, that we might respond to and embrace his love. Love which, as the Old Testament describes it, is 'steadfast love' (the phrase is used 196 times in the Old Testament, all in reference to God's character or what he calls his people to).

So, what does this have to do with our tendency, as men, to 'cut 'n run'? Here's how I think it relates. Paul could have called us to eros women - to love them in a sensual way, but honestly, that comes naturally and doesn't call us to anything more. He could even have called us to philia or storge love them - and sure enough, there are a number of friends in our lives that we have affection for or see as 'sisters' - again, in many ways, this comes naturally. But agape - that's a whole different ball game.

It's the type of love that calls men to be more then they are naturally. It calls them to something that is, at times, scary, but doesn't leave any wiggle room for changing their mind. It's a love of commitment, regardless. It's not a conditional love that simply sums up the other types of love. It doesn't leave room for:

1. 'I used to think she was really attractive, but I just don't find her as beautiful anymore.' (eros)

2. 'We used to be friends and really clicked, but we just don't seem to click anymore.' (philia)

3. (Storge...hmm, only examples I can come up with are ones about loving her like you love your mom, which just sounds weird.)

Agape doesn't leave any wiggle room. It doesn't leave a 'way out'. It's not meant to, because, as men, we seem to naturally find the 'wiggle room' and the 'way out.' That's part of the 'cut 'n run' immaturity within us - if we let ourselves, we'll, more often then not, find a reason - eventually or when things get difficult - to not stick with it.

You know what else men are often accused of? You guessed it, not communicating. Agape doesn't leave room for us to say 'I'm a guy and so I just don't talk that much.' Sorry, it's not there. Rather, agape challenges us to a long-standing commitment that goes beyond affection, friendship, or sexual attraction. It's a love that CHOOSES or DECIDES that, 'Whatever comes, I am committed to you. I will have the conversations that are uncomfortable and I will stick this out till I die.'

That, gentleman, is what we are called to. Scared? We probably should be. Think of it as going into war. War will show a man's fear for what it is, but the hero's and the 'real men' are the one's that walk into battle, committed to victory and sacrificing themselves for those around them. Just like men who run away from battle are 'cowards,' so are we, as men, when we 'cut 'n run' in our relationships. When we fail to step into those difficult conversations. When we become something less than men of our word and fail to remain faithful to that commitment we made.

I'm as guilty as the next one. Yet, I know this is what I'm called to and I know it's what every woman I've ever known, deserves. 'Submission' sounds like an entirely different thing when a woman is loved like this - when she's in a relationship where she never has to question her husband's commitment to her - that he will remain faithful, loyal, and care for her more than himself.

That, my friends, is what we're called to. To grow up, to mature, into men who leave 'childish ways behind' - the 'cut 'n run' method - and be men that commit - to have those difficult conversations and to honor and love the women in our lives regardless.

I haven't done this well in the past, but I will push forward and work to grow, that it may describe the man I become. I challenge you, if you're a guy, to step up to the plate with me. Take on the challenge. Become more than you've been. Choose to love the women in your life in a way that will make you the man God's called you to be!

In our culture people excuse their broken relationships away by saying things like, “I fell in love with her, and then I fell out of love. That’s that.” Look: people don’t fall in love. They fall in holes, but they don’t fall in love. You choose love.
-A friend's pastor-

The First Day, 10 Months Later, Father's Day, & Scholarship

2009-06-21T16:51:00.008+01:00

Some of the group from the international bible study on Wednesday nights.
Back in April we spent a weekend away at the North Coast. This is us at Giant's Causeway.

Last September, as I walked out of customs at Belfast International Airport, there was a table with a big sign saying 'Queen's University' sitting in the midst of the terminal. Within minutes of being in Northern Ireland I connected with two of the most important aspects of my year: my friendship with three other Americans and the International Friendship Association (IFA).

Who would have guessed that four random people would become best of friends? As we gathered around that table, trying to keep an eye on our luggage, Megan, Melissa, Jude and I shook hands, going through the routine of introducing ourselves to complete strangers after a long, overnight plane ride. It's now June, ten months after we met, and I can't imagine this year without these three incredible friends. From trips to Fall's and Clonard, to quiz nights at the local pub, and weekly dinners, they have been, without a doubt, some of the best memories, and, without question, the best friendships, I have from this year. Through the four of us getting to know each other, I've been introduced to the larger 'gang' - a group of twelve great friends from Missouri, Canada, Northern Ireland, France, and elsewhere.

Along with meeting 'the gang' that day, I also met Kerry Fee and later that first evening, her husband, Peter Fee. Kerry works for IFA and Peter's a local anesthesiologist. Kerry's work involves bringing together community churches to welcome and reach out to the international students that come to Queen's every year. A part of that has been Wednesday night Bible studies. Open to all international students who are interested in practicing their English and learning more about Christianity, the group is usually made up of 20 or so students: mostly Chinese and Malaysian. I was the token America and a couple French students joined us for a while.

We usually break up into a couple different groups after dinner and I would go with the group that was already familiar with Christianity and wanting to go deeper. One of the guys in the group was named Kai. A biology PhD student, Kai had come to know Jesus during last year's Bible study. It was great to be a part of the group with him - his joy for life and an excitement for understanding Scripture.

It was awesome to go to his baptism today at All Saints, a local Anglican Church of Ireland congregation that is Kerry and Peter's home church (Peter's grandfather was a minister there years ago). Having just been to Megan's confirmation a few weeks ago at Clonard Monastery, it's been an incredible month of having friends who have chosen to publicly proclaim their desire to pursue Christ and his calling on their lives in this world.

So, what does this have to do with Father's Day? As Kai and I were walking over to Peter and Kerry's for a celebratory BBQ, Kai told me about his conversation with his dad. His parents are both traditional Chinese communists and Kai's dad couldn't understand why Kai had made the choice he did. Befuddled, he told Kai, 'I didn't think scientists could be religious.' To which Kai answered, 'Religion isn't in conflict with science. It just gives you a different perspective.' I thought it was a great answer.

Over lunch, Kai and I were talking with Lizzy, a mom with a PhD in Physics from Italy, and talking about the great scientists who have also been people of faith in Christ. The ones that first came to mind were: Isaac Newton, Alister McGrath, Blaise Pascal, and, later in life, Charles Darwin. There is a long list of brilliant scientist who have changed and continue to change this world and feel as though their faith in Christ has strengthened their scholarship. One person that comes to mind is geneticist Francis Collins, the head of the human genome project.

In the broader realm of academia - an area that so often seems passionately committed to the minimalizing, if not the death, of faith - the landscape is filled with those who have boldly committed themselves to the best of scholarship, in response to and because of their passion for Christ. And so, for those of us in academia (and those who aren't), we can confidently pursue our fields and areas of study with the best of our ability, knowing that our faith, rather than being left at the door, can and ought to help form and shape our minds and our work. That, as many have found throughout the centuries, our work ought to be the best we can pursue because of a God who gave us our talents, our abilities, and our opportunities. Having been lavished on with such rich blessings, how can we help but not respond by giving our best to the endeavour?

Oxford: Change of Plans

2009-06-10T21:52:00.004+01:00

This is my Grandma. At 90, she's the only grandparent I've ever really known.
I'm so excited to live near her again this next year.

It's been a really busy month. JBU's first summer teams arrived - both the studies team (16) and the missions team (8) - so we're nearly a full house with almost 30 people. There was a lot of last minute stuff for David and I to do in getting ready for their arrival, but it's been a lot of fun to have them here.

Once they got here, I had two weeks to pour myself into a 15,000 word paper on the MI5 files I've been looking at. I'd never heard this term before, but what they had us creating was a 'calendar'. Basically, it's synopses, date/name data, and extracts from a group of archival records. On top of providing summary references for the individual 'artifacts', we also had to provide biographies for as many of the names mentioned as we could - which is a bit of a challenge with these MI5 files from 1947-8 that cover topics and people both in England and in Kenya, but I gave it my best shot. Lastly, we had to write a 5,000 introductory essay to the resource to explain/describe the original material as well as explain how the calendar has been set up. Needless to say, I haven't gotten much sleep in the last week. Turned that in on Tuesday and I'll need to start on my dissertation soon.

But, beyond that update, here's the news on Oxford for next year:

Update on Oxford

Plans for Oxford next year have taken a significant turn, but it's not a 'downturn' or a 'turn for the worse'. While unexpected as of three weeks ago - it's exciting!

In looking for funding for next year, nothing has come through, and the possibilities are now quite limited in what could happen. I got in touch with Dr. David Anderson - my potential supervisor there - about delaying a year and it'd be fine by him. So, the big change of plans is that....

I'm coming back to the US!

I'll likely come back shortly after turning in my dissertation (due Sep 15) and be back in the states for a year. During that year, I'll reapply to Oxford (they don't defer) and apply for funding/scholarships/grants. The hope is that, in a year, I could return to Oxford with it mostly or completely funded. I'll also be applying to some really good African PhD programs in the US - Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Indiana at Bloomingfield, all have really strong programs.

It also means I'm on the job hunt for this next year, so I'm going to be looking for history teaching positions at community colleges or private high schools. (If you know of anything, let me know!)

The way the decision has come about has been really great and it's so clear that it's God's direction. I'm incredibly at peace about it. My grandma was recently diagnosed with mild-altheizmer's, so this will allow me to be near her, which I'm so excited about. I call her 'Beautiful', because she is, and I'm looking forward to loving on her for a year (she's nearly 90!). As well, my twin brother's back in Little Rock, so I'll get to be near him - which is something I've been wanting to be for a long while now. So, I'm hoping I can come alongside and encourage him and just enjoy some good 'twin brother' time. :-)

I have a friend who's been praying for me and for Oxford. She emailed me last week with a real sense that there might be something in store for me this next year, something that I wasn't giving much attention to, that, if I were to go to Oxford, would be drowned out. That was long before anyone knew I was thinking about not going. We'll see what God's got planned! Whatever it is, it'll be incredibly exciting! It's another adventure!

Oxford, Funding, and Your Prayers

2009-05-11T14:36:00.003+01:00

(St. Cross College, home to 350 Masters/PhD students, 67% of whom are international, is where I'll be living and studying next year at Oxford.)

I just returned yesterday from a great four day trip to London and Oxford. I was doing three days of research in London at the National Archives, and then presented a paper at a conference on researching Africa at Oxford. A great week with a lot accomplished towards papers and my MA thesis.

While I was gone, the one-month mark to when I have to let Oxford know how I'm going to pay for my PhD passed. Oxford's deadline is June 5th. In light of that, I would covet your prayers over the next month - that God would provide in wonderful ways and that I would have ears to hear and eyes to see where He might be leading me to look for funding.

Here are some specific ways that I would love your prayers:

Scholarships/Grants - I've applied for several scholarships and grants at Oxford, but am still waiting to hear back. Pray that the responses would be positive from these funding bodies - and that I would hear relatively soon.

First Year Provision - the first year will be my most expensive year, whereas the second year I'll be in Kenya doing research, where cost of living is considerably less, and the third year I'll be teaching undergraduate classes, which will provide some extra income. I will be able to apply for funds from the US (Fullbright, etc.) for my 2nd and 3rd year, so there should be a lot more not available for this first year.

Wisdom - that God would open my eyes to see opportunities to pursue - ways in which he would want to provide - through finding more scholarships or other funding sources.

Money - that God would provide the money for the three years. I have some debt from my Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and am hesitant to take on more debt then I already have. Loans can be a great way to fund an education, but I'd like to not be limited to high income jobs (which are difficult to find for teaching history) by debt and not be free to follow where the Lord may call - whether that's to a university overseas or a smaller college in the US.

Thanks so much for your prayers! Assuming, in faith, that all the details work out for me to be at Oxford starting in October, there is an open invitation for you to come visit. I'd love to show you around! :-)

Pictures from Dublin Adventure :-)

2009-04-08T12:00:00.002+01:00

James sent me some pictures the other day (THANKS JAMES!), so I thought I'd post them for you to see a few from our day in Dublin!

From The Adventure: Dublin

The three of us on one of the many bridges that cross the river in Dublin. This was one of those 'hold at the camera and take a picture shots', but I absolutely LOVE Jenny's smile in this - her whole face is smiling! It's awesome! :-)

From The Adventure: Dublin

We stopped for lunch at this great little crepe place. There's an ongoing joke in our family between my mom and I. Because mom always told me as a kid (and even in high school/college) to drink more juice and less soda, I started calling Coke juice - that way I was always drinking juice. :-) Well guess what?! Coke IS juice! It's right there on the label! 'Sparking soft drink with vegetable extract'. That totally qualifies as juice! (Not sure mom will buy it, but it certainly bolsters my self-deception. :-)

From The Adventure: Dublin

Grafton Street is the big, fancy strip of expensive stores. This was an alleyway off of that with St. Anne's Church at the end. James took this picture and I really like it. The line of telephone's on the right, the modern banners (including GBK - The Gourmet Burger Kitchen), but then the most impressive building is this church at the end of the road that's been around much longer than anything else in the picture.

From The Adventure: Dublin

Here's a view of the river and the old buildings that line it. It was definitely busy this day and PACKED the next day (St. Patrick's Day).

The Adventure: Dublin

2009-04-03T19:05:00.004+01:00

From The Adventure: Day 4

My favorite pic of the trip, so since I don't have any pics from Dublin,
I thought this one was fitting. I love these two! They're great!

Nearly two weeks later, I should probably finish the tale of the adventures with Jenny and James. It feels so much longer ago then two weeks - so much has happened since then. JBU was here, my parents flew to the Middle East, my grandma was in the hospital, Jenny and my nephews flew out to Arkansas to take care of her, my other sister's due date came and went for their son (they're inducing tonight and tomorrow!), plans had been made for me to stay here, and then I got excepted to Oxford. In spite of that, my time with Jenny and James has been and will be one of my highlights of my time here in Northern Ireland, so here's the story of our final day together...

--------

We headed to Enterprise Rent-a-Car early Monday morning to turn in the Chevrolet Captiva and get a lift to the Jury's Inn for the bus to Dublin, which we made with just a few minutes to spare. The two hour bus ride has at least one really funny memory - there was this guy in front of Jenny and James who was getting into acting and was headed down to southern Ireland for St. Patrick's day with his friends. Besides having an incredible ability to talk non-stop, he also decided to take his shoes and socks off half-way through the trip. So, for the rest of the ride he had his legs stretched out into the aisle - not the most attractive thing in the world. Jenny and I caught each other's eyes and shared a laugh.

We got checked into the Bewley's Hotel near the airport - for the price, a really good deal. There rooms sleep 5 people and they're really reasonable. We paid £80 for our room for the night, which was about the most reasonable price - free shuttle, close to the airport, and the rooms were nice. After dropping our stuff off, we headed into town, hoping to catch some of the festivities in running up to St. Patrick's day.

The bus from the airport dropped us off on O'Connell street - just down from the GPO, the site of a major stand-off in the Easter Rising in 1916. You can still see the bullet holes in the columns outside the post office. We spent an incredibly long day on our feet seeing everything from the Temple Bar area, the hotel owned by Bono and the Edge from U2 (where rooms start at £300 per night and the penthouse suite is over £2500), Dublin City Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity University, and Grafton Street. Grafton Street is the 'upmarket' shopping strip in Dublin. There's some amazing stuff - from the Oxfam store that carries some great stuff to stores selling diamon bracelets for £20,000 to Bewley's Tea. We stopped at the latter place to grab a bite to eat and try out Irish Coffee. We actually splurged and James got both Irish Coffee and Irish Cheescake. We all decided the Bailey's in the coffee was really good. :-)

From there, we had a pretty relaxed evening, grabbing dinner at this little side restraunt where Jenny and James got this really, really good Thai Curry and I had an amazing fajita. By that time, we were pooped and there was no way we were going to be able to stay awake long enough to wait for Irish music to start at the pubs. We decided to head back to the hotel and make an early night of it.

Jenny and James had to head out about 7:30am the next morning to catch their flight back to the US. I ended up heading out with them and hooked up with Nathan and Valerie Cozart and Valerie's two sisters, Lauren and Kristen. But, that's for another story. Needless to say, Jenny, James and I had pushed so hard for five days that we were pretty sure I wouldn't last much into the afternoon before I would catch the bus back up to Belfast from sheer exhaustion. The day ended up going a little different than that...

[P.S. Jenny and James have the pictures from our day, so I'll try to post a link once they're up.]

In Case You Were Wondering :-)

2009-04-03T10:28:00.003+01:00

I received an email from a friend yesterday that, among other things, mentioned that he had read my post (Oxford: Surprised by Loneliness) from a couple of days ago and wasn't sure if I was actually going to Oxford. I thought that same idea may have come across to others, so I wanted to clarify that I definitely am moving ahead with the full intention, and desire, of going to Oxford. It's been a dream of mine for years, so, I'm going to give it my all and let God work out the details for whether or not it's where he wants me next year.

Good news, by the way. My supervisor here at Queen's spoke with Oxford this morning and I'm not the only one who had my dissertation due in September, rather than June (which is when Cambridge & Oxford have their's due). Oxford is not requiring me to have it all done by the end of July - praise the Lord!! I will just be required to have enough of a rough draft to my supervisor by then that he can let Oxford know how it's coming along. This is great news! With the full time to work on my dissertation, I have more confidence that I'll be able to write a worthwhile dissertation, and make the grade on it I need to.

Well, that's the update for today. Once again, God continues to take care of me in the midst of me stressing and freaking out. :-)

Oxford: Surprised by Loneliness

2009-04-01T11:22:00.003+01:00

From Last Day in LR

It seems that most often, when I post, I post about things I've been doing, something that's happened, or thoughts on my mind, but rarely do I post about how I'm doing emotionally. Perhaps that's expected with me being both a guy and the reality that blogs are public and require a degree of composure and social restraint. Not that I'm going to throw out those last two qualities, but I thought I would write that infrequent post about what's going on emotionally.

------------

Here at the start of April, I'm beginning my eighth month in Northern Ireland. I can't even begin to communicate how quickly it has flown by. It's amazing to think that over ten months ago I gave my notice at JBU and Kim Eldridge, my boss at the time, encouraged me to pursue graduate school. Here I am, ten months later, a stranger in a foreign country, having had experiences that some are only able to in the depths of their imagination. It's humbling, for how fortunate am I that God would smile down on me and give me such a rich life.

The companionship of God is an incredible thing. The idea that God, who knows us completely because of his omniscience, chooses to know us intimately because of His love, when He doesn't have to. There's no question in my mind that I wouldn't be here were it not for the Triune God and His hand. Were it not for His hand, I wouldn't have the blessing of incredible friends - both at church and at Queen's - nor the richness of opportunities - the weekly international bible study, the SOS bus, etc. I am so very thankful for all the friendships, with people from all over the world and all kinds of backgrounds, the Lord has given me this year. They'll be friendships and memories that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Interestingly enough though, I find that its friendship that is the cause of deep longing. At JBU, the word 'community' is mocked for being used so often, yet it encapsulates the two great commandments: to be in community (to love) the Lord Your God and to be in community (to love) your neighbor as yourself.

One of the pains of a year like this is found in one of its richest blessings. A couple of years ago I toured London (and visited Cambridge) by myself for a week. After that trip, I decided I didn't want to spend money on another trip that I did by myself - that life needs to be experienced with someone, with a friend.

Earlier this week, I emailed several friends to see if they were interested in coming over to Ireland for a week this summer, since it looks like I won't be sticking around for another year. The email came in response to their emails saying they missed me, coupled with my own desire to spend time with them.

One of the friends, Jonathan (above), who I've known for five years now and has been a rich blessing in my life, opened my eyes, in his reply, to a reality that I wasn't even aware of. In asking how I was doing, he wrote: "I know it must be pretty lonely over there. It seems that although you are living your dream you are a little discouraged." As I lay in bed and reflected on Jonathan's email, I realized that he was 'dead on' (as they'd say here in Ireland). I may be living an incredible life and experiencing amazing things (which, I am), but it's certainly mixed with a longing for family and friends back home, those who have known me for a longtime and know me deeply and in whose company I will always relish.

And so I realized that Oxford, while bringing a great sense of elation and excitement on Monday when I opened the acceptance letter, has also brought with a sense of longing and, for lack of a better word (since I do have incredible friends here), a sense of loneliness - but loneliness for those who are back in the US. The idea of three more years away from them, of three more years experiencing this adventure and making new friends and adapting to new things - it's three years I know, now more than ever, and not just in the academic side, I will have to rest 'in the shadow of His wings'.

He is God - the one that the prophets of old proclaimed as 'steadfast in love and faithfulness'. And so, in realizing a sense of loneliness and desire to experience this life in community, I push into Him who has promised to 'never leave us nor forsake us' and trust that, as I hold fast to Him, He holds fast to me. That He'll guide me through this adventure He has me on - through excitement, through joy, through sorrow, through fellowship, and through loneliness.

The Triune God - a companion, a guide, and my Rock along the Way.

I'll end this post with something else Jonathan wrote:

'Stay the course my friend; God has great things in store for you!'

And so I press in and I hold on for the continuing adventure.

Christ's Love

2009-03-31T09:34:00.003+01:00

We're reading through Romans this week with Fisherwick, the church I go to here. Today was Ch. 4-8, which, in many ways, is the heart of the whole book. This was at the end of the reading. It's one of those passages that just get's you jazzed and excited about what God has done through Christ for us!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation,
or distress,
or persecution,
or famine,
or nakedness,
or danger,
or sword?
[...]
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am sure that
neither death
nor life,
nor angels
nor rulers,
nor things present
nor things to come,
nor powers,
nor height
nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Romans 8:35, 37-39~

I read last week that Christians are currently the most persecuted group of people in the world, between China, Russia, North Africa, and the Middle East*. It's passages like this, even more importantly the reality that it conveys, that explain how it is that every year thousands of those who hold fast to the love of God and believe in Christ Jesus die for their faith. That they would rather die being faithful to this God from whom they can never be separated, then die having denied him is incredible. Only a love from a God like this can be honored with that sort of devotion. A devotion that doesn't take others' lives (as with suicide bombers, etc.), but gives up one's own life for nothing other than a devotion to God.

*This is very likely true, but ought not to detract from the fact that there are other groups of people who are highly persecuted around the world as well. We should be pushing and fighting for all whose very lives - a gift from God - are under threat from others.

Acceptance to Oxford

2009-03-30T21:34:00.003+01:00

Source.

I've got some great news to share - I got my letter of acceptance into Oxford in the mail today! It's kind of crazy and still sends me into a bit of a shock - I really wasn't expecting it and was thinking towards other plans for next year.

But, there's two other hurdles to jump through.

1. Funding - the next letter I get from Oxford will be from a specific college and will have info on funding. I'm already nearly $50,000 in debt from my first two degrees, so one of my commitments on my PhD is that I don't want to go into debt for it. We'll see what happens there.

2. Finishing my MA - there are two stipulations that Oxford made that are going to make life challenging these next few months: a) I have to score a 67 overall (that's like a 95%) in the states, as well as a 67 or better on my dissertation alone and b) I have to have it all done and the grades to Oxford by July 31st. Yikes!

Needless to say, life's about to get really busy and I'm going to be working at pushing 50-60 hour weeks (if not more) to get everything done.

God's good and He's gotten me this far, and as a good friend of mine, Lauren reminded me, life is exciting in His hands. So, if for some reason Oxford doesn't end up working out because of money or getting my MA done, I can at least say my dream of being accepted to Oxford happened. :-) And if I don't end up getting to go, I know that whatever else God has for me will be incredible! It's the abundant life and the 'plans for a hope and a future' that God promises - it's the only life e that will ever truly be fulfilling. So, that's what I want to pursue - whether that means Oxford or not. :-)

The Adventure: Sunday

2009-03-29T16:31:00.002+01:00

Sunday was our 'exploration' day - the day where we did things I haven't ever done in Northern Ireland.

At St. George's Market on Saturday, we'd been told about 'The Old Inn' in Crawfordsburn, out towards Bangor (where C.S. Lewis was born). We slept in Sunday morning and then decided to head out that way for breakfast. It's this lovely 4-star hotel. The pub part of the hotel is in the oldest part of the building - dating back to 1614 and still topped with a thatched roof. We were a little concerned about the cost, but decided to go for it. Boy are we glad we did! They directed us to the library where they brought our three teas and scones - which were all wonderful. The owner happened to be walking through making sure everything was tidy for the 160 that would be coming for Sunday lunch that day - and stopped to say hi and chat with us a bit. The staff that helped us were incredibly helpful - Paul, the bar tender who first helped us, is actually a Queen's law student - small world. :-) While we were there, we found out that they have a 'couples deal' - two four-course meals for dinner, a night over at the hotel, and breakfast the next forming for £109! It's an incredible deal for a hotel that would easily charge $300 in the states for the same (if not more). So, it's now my top recommendation to couple's who come - that they should get away for a night to 'The Old Inn'. :-)

After a lovely morning in Crawfordburn, we headed back into town and West Belfast. West Belfast was the site of the most significant tension between Catholic's and Protestants in the 60s and 70s - so much so that a 16 (?) foot tall 'peace wall' has been erected between the two communities. On each side of the wall run two main roads - Falls Road (on the Catholic Side) and Shankhill (on the Protestant Side). We first headed to the Shankhill since I'd been there before with Billy Stevenson - who grew up there. You'll see some of the murals from this area up top. The murals focus on military groups and the legend of the 'red hand of ulster' - the Protestant claim to N. Ireland. Then we headed over to the Falls Road - where I'd never been - to see their murals. They focus more on political issues - including one mural that has Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. and place Bobby Sands (a key figure in the Catholic IRA movement in the 60s and 70s) alongside them - as one who fought for freedom. We also came upon a memorial garden to an IRA battalion (it's in the pictures above).

The long history of division and violence is hard to reconcile with Protestantism and Catholicism. A good friend of mine here, Stanley Gilmore, explains it to me this way. It's not Protestant's and Catholic's that are violent or the cause of this, nor the religions, but rather 'political Protestants' and 'political Catholics'. The faith is more a part of their political outlook and agenda - sort of like 'Christian Republican's' in the US who sometimes let their political views rule the day - rather than Scripture. It's perhaps too simplistic - but I think it's still a helpful perspective on it.

From there we headed into town to Queen's so Jenny and James could see the university and the Botanic Gardens that are attached to it. Unfortunately the bougainvillea (sp??) weren't out - a flower that Jenny and I grew up with in Kenya and brings back vivid memories - which was a bummer since I was hoping to show them to her. But, the flowers in the Palm House were incredible!! So James took lots of pictures for his grandmother who would have loved it. :-) From there, we headed off to a late lunch at Maggie May's - a travel book recommended spot. I'd been there before and really enjoyed it. However, an hour after ordering, the waiter came back to our table to tell us he had never gotten the order in the system and had forgotten what we ordered. We were starving and our blood sugar was really low - but we decided to persevere and had a good lunch.

From there it was back home for a bit of a rest before church, with a short stop at Tesco for some quick shopping of Irish tea and our dinner for that night.

Church that night was great with Derek sharing! I was so glad Jenny and James got to experience Saturday Night Live at Fisherwick - it's a wonderful setting and a wonderful group of people. I think they both really enjoyed it and I had the chance to introduce them to Derek afterwards, and a bunch of other friends at the church.

Well, rather than head home, we had one last stop for the evening - The Empire. A pub/music venue - The Empire hosts a Christian singer who plays popular cover songs every Sunday night and was supposed to be really good. I'd never been because it doesn't start until 10pm and the buses stop running at like 11pm on Sunday nights. Unfortunately the guy wasn't there, but we had a wonderful time sitting and listening to his 'sub' - a folksy, country kind of singer who did covers that were fun to sing along to. About 10 friends from church ended up coming along so Jenny and James got to spend more time with them - so that was GREAT!

About 11:30/midnight we decided to call it a night and headed home and to bed. We needed to get our sleep, because we needed to be at the car rental place when it opened the next morning at 8am, so that we could then head to Dublin for a day there before Jenny & James headed back to the states Tuesday morning. But, that's the next chapter in our adventure....

Lakeside Hostel & Travel Service :-)

2009-03-28T11:30:00.002Z

I'm really excited. For the next five months, a friend is coming nearly every month (except June) to visit, stay at Lakeside, and see Northern Ireland. I'm so excited and feel totally spoiled! That doesn't even include the nearly 75 that will be here throughout the summer from JBU! :-)

[March - Jenny (my sister) and James (her husband) were over for an incredible 5 days. Then I got to spend a day in Dublin with Nathan & Valerie Cozart, Lauren Raikes, and Kristen Raikes - it was an incredible day! Then JBU came over with 12 so I got to see old friends: Jacob Little, Criag Meeks, Danielle Vogus, Heather Stevenson, and Billy and Mindi.]

April - Daniel Ray's coming to visit one weekend (he's working for an engineering firm in Belgium). Hopefully in Aug/Sep we'll meet up in Rome and have an adventure there -it's going to be my 'dissertation is finished' celebration. :-)

May - Matt Reddin, a buddy from when I worked in JBU Admissions, is coming. He found a round trip ticket for $500 and booked it. It'll be great to catchup with him!

June - No one yet, so if you're reading this - come on over! (actually, it's going to be the busiest month with JBU people, so it's probably good as nearly every bed will be maxed out).

July - James and Lindsey Barnes. James is a best friend from college. We skype nearly every week, but it'll be great to get to have a holiday with them and show them around N. Ireland!

August - Bethany and Job Hammond. Bethany is a best friend from high school. Her and her husband, Job (an amazing man!), are hoping to come over after they lead a mission trip in Europe. It'll be great to see them and get more time with them then just a few hours over coffee that we usually manage whenever the three of us happen to be in Little Rock at the same time.

It's exciting! I love having family and friends come and with Lakeside, it's so affordable for people to come and I love showing them around N. Ireland. To be honest, I feel both really spoiled and really fortunate. So, if you want to come on over, I'd love to have you at Lakeside adn show you around!! :-)

The Adventure: Saturday

2009-03-27T21:31:00.002Z

Sorry for the week hiatus from updating you on Jenny & James' trip to N. Ireland a couple of weeks ago. A JBU team was here this last week to do some remodeling at the house to get it ready for the summer and fall. In fact, one of the things they did was put in a classroom with a projector and bring a 40 DVD collection of Irish themed films - so, here I sit, posting this, watching Waking Ned Divine ("I've been using some fruity soaps Maggie) on a big screen projector in my own private home theater :-). Don't worry - I won't use it often, but I was up at 3:15am this morning to take the crew down to Dublin airport - so this is the end to a long day. :-)

The Adventure: Saturday

Saturday kicked off with a trip to St. George's Market. It's an open air market on Saturday mornings in Belfast - rated one of the best in Europe. A great morning where we sampled sausage rolls, crepes, and other goodies as our 'breakfast'. :-) Afterwards, we were off to County Down to see Inch Abbey, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and enjoy some Irish Stew.

On the way, we popped into Inch Abbey. There's a picture up top of Jenny and James with the ruins of the chapel behind them. It's these incredible old ruins that sit in the valley, with St. Patrick's Cathedral overlooking it. Several years back, a JBU alumn got married there - it would be a beautiful place for it!

Then we were off to St. Patrick's Cathedral to do a walk around. Without much to eat for breakfast, we got hungry pretty quick and it was super windy - so we were keen to get off to lunch. We had Irish stew in the same little cafe I had discovered with mom and dad back in October. A great lunch - and really filling!

After lunch we headed to Castle Ward - by far one of the coolest places I've ever been. I'd been in 2007, but I was keen to go back and just hadn't had a chance yet since I moved here in September. The house is both neoclassical and gothic - the wife liked Gothic, so the back house is like Alice in Wonderland, and the husband liked the classical look, so the front 1/2 of the house (both inside and out) is very classical. It's the trippiest and yet such a cool place! There's a lot of history in the house - including 10 stuffed squirrels that make up a comic book strip - they were bought at the World's Fair. The house is full of cool, historical things like that (like a linen tablecloth that's 250 years old and in incredible condition!).

While waiting for the house tour to start, we walked around the gardens - on our continuing quest for a castle. No luck, but we did find a bridge with a walking path underneath it where Jenny and I pretended to be trolls. It was a lot of fun just being goofy (there's pictures up top). As well, we took a couple pictures of Jenny and James with the grassy, green hills.

From there, we were off to Newcastle. On the way, we popped up to the Dundrum Castle that overlooks Murlough Bay. I lived in Dundrum for a few weeks back in the summer of 2007 while I was on a mission trip. It's a beautiful view of the small town, the ocean and the bay, as well as the Mourne Mountains - the tallest mountains in Ireland. They're beautiful!

We stopped in at Newcastle for a cup of tea and some dessert cake (I introduced James to 'Banoffee' - this great bannana/toffee desert) at this great cafe that overlooks the ocean. It's a really cool little seaside tourist town. It's also home to one of Tiger Wood's favorite golf courses.

With the sun setting, we had two quick stops to try to make before dark - Tolleymore Forest and the maze in Castlewellan. We were pretty tired from walking around the gardens at Castle Ward, so we weren't up for walking through Tolleymore, but rather did a drive through. Even just driving through it, you get a feel for the incredible trees that are in Tolleymore - trees that are said to have spurred Tolkien and Lewis' imagination.

Last stop before heading back to Belfast was Castlewellan and this human size maze built with hedgerows. We only had about 15 minutes before the park closed - so after 5 minutes of Jenny and James having a go at figuring it out - we took off running to try to beat the maze in the ten minutes we had left. Thankfully Nate Menken had shown me the way last time we were there - so we made it in time - but had a lot of fun running around like chicken's with our heads cut off.

It was back to Belfast, a chance to rest at home, and then back in to town for a pub and Irish music. It took us a long while to find a place that had music - we ended up at Kelly O'Cellars, a Catholic pub in town that's been around for a long-time. About 10:00 or so there was a group of young musicians who showed up - they play most nights. We sat around and listened for a little while. It's a pretty rough place in many ways - so Jenny and James certainly got the full pub feel.

We headed home and to bed - a long day, filled with a lot of laughter, and some incredible sights. The next day we planned to sleep in, do a few things around Belfast, then head to Sunday Night Live at church and then to The Empire afterwards for live music.

The Adventure: Friday

2009-03-20T22:59:00.002Z

So, last Friday morning we kicked off the first full day by heading to Enterprise and picking up our car for the week, a Chevrolet Captiva SUV. Now, if you've never heard of a Captiva, it's because they don't make them in the US. Not a bad little car, actually. There's a picture of it in the slideshow above with James and I (the drivers) standing in front of it.

We headed straight for the North Coast - considered one of the most beautiful parts of N. Ireland - and cut out towards Carnlough and drove along the coast up to Ballycastle. A beautiful ride through the Glens of Antrim.

Our first stop was Carik-a-rede, a rope bridge that spans the mainland with a fishing island. Fishermen, a while back, stretched a rope bridge to this island from which they'd fish. The National Trust has since taken it over, but it's a beautiful place.

The rest of the day was a stop off in Bushmills for Fish & Chips for lunch, a tour of the Bushmill's Whisky factory (distilling whisky, with license, since 1608), a refreshingly cold time at the Giant's Causeway, and a stop over at Dunluce Castle just as it was closing - one of the key things on James' list. James really wanted to see a castle while he was here - unfortunately, the Germanic, large castle form never really made it to Ireland, so the majority of 'castles' here are like big, walled manors/mansions.

The last stop over for the day, before heading back to Belfast, was coffee at Roughan's, a second-floor coffee shop in the seaside town of Port Stewart that overlooks the bay. That was a really restful time after a long-day of sight seeing.

After the 1.5hr drive back to Belfast, we finished off with pizza and pasta from a local italian joint, a bottle of wine, and a great night of sitting around and talking, before hitting the hay. We'd hoped to do a pub with Irish music that night - but we were all just too exhuasted. We also tried our hands at making homemade chocolate chip cookies - which was a pretty funny experience since the kitchen here is set up for cooking for 50-60 people, everything is HUGE! The measuring scale, the beaters, the bowls, etc. (See the pictures up top :-)

It was a great day, with really meaningful and fun conversations and karaoke sessions in the car. There's two new R&B songs we had stuck in our heads - 'you turn me right round' and 'heads, shoulders, knees, and toes'. :-)

The Adventure: Thursday

2009-03-19T23:10:00.002Z

Last Thursday morning, I met Jenny and James outside the Jury's Inn in downtown Belfast where their bus from the Dublin airport got in. We were all tired, but it was so great to see each other! After heading back to the 'mansion' for showers and some breakfast, we headed back into town.

It was a really low key of day of walking around - with a stop at Primark for some cheap clothes. I ran off to class, while Jenny and James walked around town some more and had coffee. They were so exhausted that they said they just sat there and stared at each other. :-)

About 6:30pm, I connected back up with them at Victoria Square with Billy, an older friend from class. Jenny, James, and I were exhausted, so we needed to grab some dinner before we all collapsed and head home to bed. We headed on over to 'The Crown' - the only state owned pub in N. Ireland - and had Beef & Guiness pie - which is absolutely amazing! James had a half-pint of Guiness and Jenny & I split one, just so Jenny could say she'd tried it. :-)

It was so amazing to have them here! I was giddy for the few days before they got here and although we were all tired, it was incredible! I'll fill you in over the next few days about our adventures to the North Coast, Downpatrick Castleward, Crawfordsburn, and Dublin.

[Oh yeah, they also brought 'Christmas in March' with them. My dad just got an iPhone, which he loves, so he sent me his old PALM Treo 750. I'm loving it and it was totally like Christmas to have a new toy. Got it going that first day Jenny and James came in, so they were able to have a phone to call their boys and my mom everday while they were here.]

Jenny & James Get In TOMORROW & I'm SOOOO EXCITED!!!

2009-03-11T11:38:00.002Z

From Photos for Blog

My sister Jenny and her husband are leaving S. Carolina today and in less than 24 hours we'll be together here in Belfast. I can't wait! I feel so spoiled!! My parents were here in October, I was home with my family over the holidays, and now my sister and my brother-in-law are coming to visit for 5 days. It's so incredible!

We're looking forward to having a blast! I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures - so I'll post them next week. You might even get a picture of me - I know, shocking! :-) Did I mention that I'm SOOOOO EXCITED!! It's so hard to concentrate on homework today - ugh! :-)

And, because I came across this last picture as I was looking for the one above, I wanted to post it. I think this is an amazing picture of my wonderful and beautiful parents! I really am so incredibly blessed! They are such a rich blessing - and so good looking, dang! (must be where I get it from :-).

From Photos for Blog

Shootings in N. Ireland

2009-03-09T10:07:00.002Z

You may have heard on the news or read online about the killing of 2 soldiers and injuring of four others (2 soldiers, 2 civilians) this weekend. If not, here's a link:

CNN Article

I had a friend from Germany email this morning concerned for us. All is fine, as far as Belfast is concerned. The shooting occured about 15 miles north of Belfast in County Antrim.

I think this is a isolated incident and not indicative of a 'new wave' of violence, or anything like that. I do think it's also a sign of a peace process that certainly hasn't unified Ireland or brought the unity that some have talked about. As my pastor at church challenged us yesterday, we all have a responsibility in our relationships and societies to not cover up the difficult things, but to engage in love, forgiveness, justice, and unity. It's a good reminder, whether it's national politics or interpersonal relationships.

I am concerned that the Police were so quick to state that 'dissident Republicans' were their primary focus. While it makes sense that this would be were to start, I really believe it was a mistake to name it so strongly - as it once again reiterates the 'us vs. them' mentality that has plagued Irish politics. They would have been much better off saying 'we are looking at all possibilities and investigating anyone who might have had a reason to attack this group, getting ready to leave for Afghanistan, or this base.' Something that focuses on the attack, without focusing on a 'possible' group. Eh, but that's me.

Here's a Glimpse: A Letter from India, 1947

2009-03-08T08:00:00.005Z

From Photos for Blog

The above is one of the four pages of a letter sent to Peter from Dacca, East Bengal. It's from a friend of his, Dinah Stock, who's gone out to Pakistan to teach in a university. India/Pakistan received their independence from Britain on August 14, 1947 at which point the Indian/Pakistani federation was setup.

What makes this letter so fascinating is two things: (1) that it's Dinah's first letter from East Bengal, so it's full of incredibly rich description about her new home and (2) that it's written just a month after independence, so it gives a great glimpse into the Hindu/Muslim tension's of the time. Here's a few excerpts that were particularly rich:

Notice the comment about Ghandhi's fast, as well as the struggles of the new Pakistani government.

'I don't know that I have much to tell you about the situation here in general [...] You probably know as much as I do about the near breakdown of Government in the Punjab, and the recent [next page] resurrection of trouble in Calcutta just when everyone thought it was over, and Ghandhi's fast, which does seem to be stimulating the people of Calcutta to a desperate effort to regain control. Here in Dacca, none of these things are happening: there have been riots, but as far as I can observe, people are now anxious to live at peace with one another. But the town itself is in chaos because of the arrival of the East Pakistan Government with all the expansion that is bound to mean. Government officials are living in [?parapes]; houses are being requisitioned on all sides; bamboo huts are being run up to accommodate the clerical staff, and there's a shortage of building materials. I should think Dacca has got to become one ['one' added after wards with an editorial mark] of the biggest cities in India; but as far as I can observe no one has had time to do any planning; it is simply expanding at top speed as best it can.'

This one is about her new house help. I'm amazed by all he does - especially the taking care of the accounts at night. But, as a cultural insight, the fact that he spent his own money on new pots and pans is amazing.

'I live alone in a 3-roomed bungalow, and owe a great deal of the ease of life to my bearer, Abdul Huq. He comes at 7.30 in the morning, gets the breakfast, does the shopping (he knows a few words of English, so can consult me about it) cooks and tidies up and goes over the accounts every evening, and leaves after dinner - all for 60 rupees a month without food or sleeping quarters. His zeal for the honour of the house is great, and his methods sometimes rather high-handed: I paid him his month's wages and he promptly went and spent more than half of it on crockery which he thought no mem-sahib could do without, so of course I had to pay him back [?meekly].'

Then, lastly, is this great description of what she thinks of India. I've never been, but the way she writes makes in tangible:

'In spite of the hot and clammy weather (for the rainy season is excelling itself) there is a kind of beauty about this country. It is in the magnificent clouds and [?strange] [next page] changing lights in the sky, and the vivid green of the paddy fields and [?clumps] of sugar cane, and the [?gleam] of water everywhere and the slow movement of ox-carts and the bright check shirts of the men. '

After this, she talks about a 6 week holiday coming up where she thinks she might go to 'Darjeeling' to climb around in the foothills of the Himalayas. Made me smile because of Darjeeling Limited as well as this incredible picture in my mind of hiking around in the foothills of the Himalayas. It's amazing that that image of adventure captures my imagination now - 60 years after this letter was written.

Chastity Lookin' Better Than Ever

2009-03-06T22:00:00.001Z

Dallasvintageshop.com

Embracing Chastity
I'm smiling as I write this because my mom, understandably eager for her son to get married ('in God's time' :-), will likely be cringing at the title of this post. Don't worry mom - keep reading. I promise, it's not what it seems.

For some friends I knew at JBU, the move from the 'JBU bubble' to the secular world - whether in the business world or academia - was characterized by a period (still going on for some) of sexuality. Freedom at last! It has been the opportunity to try 'swinging' with other couples or simply having sex with complete strangers. I had a good friend of mine in Arkansas concerned that this too would be my time to experiment and 'taste freedom'.

To be honest, I've found my time at a secular school and in a secular environment incredibly affirming of my desire to wait until I'm married to experience sex. Sure, sexuality is more in my face now then it has ever been. While at JBU I couldn't have named anyone having sex (unless they were married), but here it's the accepted norm around me and something that's a part of life for several of my friends here.

Throughout my life, the motivations that have kept me from pornography and sex have been friends. Friends whose marriages have been nearly ruined by pre-marital sex, relationships that have been left in tatters from indiscretions, and women whose lives have been ruined by the men they love who, after 20 years of pornography, treat them as simply another image on a page. My conversations with these dear friends continue to live vividly in my memory.

But, the older I get the more another element has come to play into my commitment to chastity. It's the idea that I want better sex, not more sex. I know, that sounds weird, so I'll explain.

Better Sex, Not More Sex
Even though it's surely TMI (too much info), my sex drive is just as charged and alive as any other 25 year-old, single male. Now, there's two caveats to that. One, it's a lot like any really wonderful thing - the more you experience it, the more you desire it. So, the fact that I haven't had sex at 25, I'm sure, means that continuing to not have sex is easier for me than for another 25 year-old whose been having sex for years. Second, because I've worked (and certainly have to continue doing so - perhaps more than ever) at not letting my thoughts be lewd or sexual in nature, I'm sure it's easier for me to be a 25 year-old who hasn't had sex, then for those whose imaginations have carried them through any number of scenes out of a romance novel.

Back to better sex, not more sex. Sex is one of those things that everyone whose had it (at least that I know or have spoken with) has loved it. It's been one of the most amazing, wonderful, delightful things of their life. As a result, I'm not concerned that I'm missing out. It's not like sex is going to be less fun or less enjoyable 5 years from now simply because it's 5 years from now. As if there was some universal expiration date. It'll still be wonderful.

Comparison's Weight
There's this unanimous agreement that sex is wonderful. Now, my life is lived in a world of comparison. How fast is my computer now compared to the computer I grew up with as a kid? How beautiful is this beach compared to the one in Charleston? How difficult is this teacher compared to Dr. Vila, Dr. Castelman, or Prof. Jones? How good is this book compared to the last one?

By nature, I compare. It seems in-bred in me - a pursuit of the questions and analysis that form comparisons. Comparison performs an analysis on several fronts in every situation. It's a comparison of what's better, what's worse, what's the same. This author's writing isn't as articulate as the last. Dr. Vila, Dr. Castleman, and Prof. Jones were all a lot more difficult than this teacher. This is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen...except that the water is so much colder than the east coast!

Knowing this instant inclination to comparison in myself, I continue to choose to make a strategic decision about sex. That I'd rather be on one marvelous beach - where I can fully enjoy all of it's attributes - then be distracted while I'm there by the process of comparison. I find the same truth born out when I think about sex. While I don't think comparison is the death of enjoyable sex (the majority of the world would seem to prove that), I do think it relegates one to either 'more sex,' a constant pursuit for 'even better sex,' or a disappointment that it's 'not as good as' sex.

Better Sex
When I break my vow of chastity, I want to do it for better sex, not more. I want to experience it in a way that I know comparison will never play a part. Experience it in a way in which, when it comes to sex, it will be the BEST experience I've ever had and will ever had. I want sex where it sets a bar that will never be moved or compared to. In fact, that any comparison is in figuring out how to have better sex with that one person - where comparison of sex itself is the issue, where it's not being muddled into a comparison with/of the person.

It's in better sex that there's the freedom to be goofy, to have fun, to trust, and to be free - and to not worry about comparison.

I really think that this is the deep practicality of God's directions - his call to godliness and to obeying him. It's the reality that following his directions really leads to the 'abundant life' in all ways - sex, friendships, fulfillment, financial wisdom, etc. Just like a good father gives his child directions to make their life better (not worse), so God's directions truly are well intentioned - to give us the best life, not the mediocre or the 'missing out' version of life.

[There's a whole other aspect to this as well. It's my deep belief that sex is best when it flows out of a deep, strong non-sexual relationship first and a lifetime commitment second. For it's in there, that relationship + understanding + commitment + trust = better, freer, funner sex.]

The Reality of Help
Now, lest I end this sounding like the high and mighty monk sitting on the island shouting back at the world, let me insert a caveat. Having dated only once, I know from personal experience how easy it can be to fall into the physical 'arms' of a relationship. I know my own proclivity and inclination to that part of who I am as a 25 year-old functioning male. But, I have seen others pursue the this ideal and been deeply fulfilled for having pursued it and stuck to it. So, it continues to be my pursuit, my desire, and my goal. And yes, on my own, I would never accomplish it - because I know my own tendencies all too well. However, with the Spirit and His promise to give us strength and perseverance, I have no doubt I'll one day enjoy better sex (that only keeps getting better and better), not just more sex.

'Godliness is of value in every way,
as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.'
- Paul's 1st letter to Timothy (4:8)

Winter's Death Punch & Presenting This Weekend

2009-03-05T23:38:00.004Z

From Winter's Death Punch

Winter's Death Punch
Winter's in its death throws. With 50 degree (10 celsius) weather a couple of weeks back, I was getting all excited about Spring and Summer. The tulips were coming up, the daffodils and crochyses (sp?) were out, and it was beatiful, green, and sunny. Then winter threw one last punch.

When I stop and think about it, the States was this way. Spring weasels it's way in for a week, then winter comes back for a week or two, as if in the throws of death, and then Spring returns for good...or at least until Summer and Autumn come, only to be chased away by Winter once again.

I woke up to a heavy snow this morning that didn't last long. In fact, the snow that did fall will be gone tomorrow as it does start warming up again. Hopefully winter really is dead this time and won't come back with another left hook or right jab.

Presenting a Paper This Weekend
I'm presenting a paper this weekend at the Irish Historical Student Association conference in Maynooth, outside Dublin. It's a paper entitled 'Postmodernism's Troubling Place in Holocaust Denial: Moderation and Extremism' that looks at the foundations of postmodern theory in Jean-Francois Lyotard, Ferdinand de Saussure, and Hayden White, and then analyzes whether or not Postmodernism defends and supports the claims of Holocaust Denial.

I won't give away the ending, but I'd be more than glad to share the paper with you, so just shoot me an email or Facebook message if you're interested.

This is one of those papers that was a class assignment and a 'mind exercise' on my part, to see if I could understand both Postmodernism (and it's implications on history) and Holocaust Denial better, since they are both fairly contemporary issues. Because it was just a single paper, none of the persons I write about are figures I know well or whose writings I am confident in understanding - so I may be answering a lot of questions after my paper presentation this weekend with - 'That's a great question. I actually have no idea, because I don't know what I'm talking about. But I would guess that.....' The other alternative is to make sure that I use up all 20 minutes of my presentation with the paper and don't leave any time for questions. ;-)

But hey, it goes on my CV, it's a really low-key conference, and it'll be a great experience for getting used to presenting papers.

There's a conference called Researching Africa Day (it's the 10th annual conference) at St. Antony's College (Oxford) in May. I may try to submit a paper from the dissertation work I'm doing for that - we'll see. I hate to pass up an opportunity since this is where I hope to do my PhD, but life is pretty crazy busy for the next couple of months.

Well, I'm off to bed. May God bless you on this Thursday/Friday and show himself both transcendent above the troubles of this world and personally intimate in your own life, all at the same time.

Here are more pictures from the snow. Enjoy!

Dead Man in the Lobby

2009-03-04T08:00:00.000Z

From Photos for Blog

A couple of weekends ago there were 30 youth out from a church nearby - Christ Church. Derek Bingham goes there, for anyone who knows him.

It so much reminded me of a Winterchill - except this time I was on the New Life Ranch side. Clogged toilets, broken lights, keeping bathroom's stocked, trying to get them warm water one morning for their showers when there was none, along with other 'challenges' that made for a fun weekend.

The first night they were here they played a human version of Clue. That's what the dead body in the lobby was about. :-)

They set up a projector, lights, sound, and a band in the lounge and seemed to have a blast! Saturday night they made their own music videos - which hopefully will be on Youtube soon. I'm pretty sure I heard Barbie Girl blasting through the house. :-)

It also felt a lot like Visit Days at JBU, as the previous event had just been two weeks earlier than that and now the next group is three weeks afterwards. our events in Admissions were roughly every 2-3 weeks. Even though you've got that space in between, by the time you've cleaned up from one group, you're getting ready for the next.

But I love doing it, so it's totally worth it!

Weekend Trip to the North Coast

2009-03-02T08:00:00.001Z

From Photos for Blog

If you look closely, you can see the outlines of the hills of Scotland at the back, in the middle of the picture between the island and the rocky cliffs.

This last weekend I had an incredible time on Ireland's Northern Antrim coast. Without question, one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, with a sea stretched as far as the eye can see that captivates the imagination and get's the blood stirring with a desire to set off in a boat on a great adventure. It's no wonder the British conquered the world by sea and had one of the (if not) the most powerful presences on the ocean of any nation well into the 20th century.

Seth (former JBU grad) and his wife Julie invited me up to Julie's parents house in Port Stewart. It's a wee coastal village comprised mostly of summer vacation homes and retired couples, with a few year-round families. It's located minutes from Castlerock, where C.S. Lewis holidayed as a child with his mother. Saturday morning we had a wonderful walk along the promenade in Port Stewart, stopping in to Roughan's (pronounced 'rowan' - don't ask me how, it just is. :-) for coffee and a bite to eat. It's on the 2nd (US, 1st in the UK) floor and looks out over the entire bay into the blue ocean. The pictures by Peter Nash that line the wall are beautiful, but pale in comparison to the view that captures the imagination through the large glass windows.

Beyond that, a walk along the beach at Downhill (literally situated 'down the hill' from the Bishop's palace. :-) and a bit of a walk around Munseden Temple (aka the Bishops palace and grounds), before heading back home to catch the Irish vs. England 6-Nations rugby match and relax for an evening in front of the tele.

Sunday morning was church at the small, but vibrant Presbyterian church there in Port Stewart, led by a young minister with a passion for his congregation, for Christ, and for the world. A bite for lunch, then we set off on the 3 hour drive home along the coastal route.

Twice as long as the 'usual' way from Belfast to Port Stewart, the drive that curves along the coastline of the Glens of Antrim lauds itself for it's 'outstanding coastal beauty'. Without question, it is one of the most beautiful places I've been. From the white rock of Ballintoy and the wee cafe at the bottom of the hill, to the stretched out green pastures that made me think I was in Scotland, to the ruins of churches and homes all along the way - the drive home was captivating. We were fortunate to have sun nearly the entire way and we were mesmerized. Quite by accident, we dropped in to this little carpark and walked up to an old church and burial site. One of the tombstones dated the person's death to 1785! That was around (or before) the time that Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln were born - only 9 years after the 13 colonies declared independence from London with the Declaration of Independence. Incredible!

So, I leave you with the picture that started this post that is really more of a tease then helpful (since it's taken with my phone). If you ever get the chance to come to Northern Ireland, on a sunny day, take the road that passes by Ballintoy and Ballycastle, Cushendun and Cushendall and stretches from Dunluce Castle outside Port Rush to Carickferguss Castle just out side of Belfast - it will invoke a forgotten imagination to life and reawaken your spirit of adventure.

Here's a Glimpse: A Letter from 1953

2009-02-28T08:00:00.000Z

From Photos for Blog

For a while now, I've been wanting to share a glimpse of what it is I'm working on, so here's the first of at least a few posts I want to share with you.

The above is the front photograph of a letter the British Government intercepted in 1953. The letter's written by Senior Chief Mbiyu Koinange who, at the time of writing, was a prisoner in the Marsabit camp during the Mau Mau rebellion/war/events. It's written to his eldest son, Peter, who was living in the UK at the time. Peter, because he was living in the UK at the time, was not imprisoned like 12 of his family members during the Mau Mau period.

It's a sweet and insightful letter from an elderly man to his son. Throughout the letter he shares little 'sayings' with his son. I'm guessing that these are things that the Chief would have said as his son grew up, but either way, they're insightful:

'The more you are together the happier you will be.'
[In reference to Peter spending time with other Kenyans who were in the UK at this time.]

'Surely no place like home.'
[In reference to the rough conditions in the prison camp.]

'Land is Life!'
[In reference to a petition sent to the House of Commons in July 1953, signed in thumb prints of blood by '158, 642 citizens of Kenya']

'we regard H.M. the King as a father trustee, and Land as our Mother, and that if and when either is disturbed we would cry and lament the [?more]'
[Reminding Peter of what the Chief had told His Majesty the King in 1931 when the Chief visited London.]

And, warmly, like one expect from a father to his eldest son of whom he is very proud, the Chief ends his letter:

'Your loving Father'

[Note: Can you tell why it is that I love what I'm doing! I have over 1500 images and 700 files to go through that include letters like this, overheard conversations in the Communist Headquarters, intercepted telephone calls, and the on going dialog between the Secret Service (MI5) office in London and in Nairobi.]

Home Makeover - Lakeside Edition!

2009-02-26T08:00:00.001Z

New showers! Up this point, the place I'm living at has only had two showers: one of which takes 15 minutes to get any hot water to it and the other which is an old cast-iron bathtub without much water pressure or dependable hot water. As thankful as I am for the place I live, I can't tell you how nice it is to have a dependably hot shower and a shower that doesn't require walking across the entire house and up a flight of stairs to get to. :-)

The one with the glass doors is what the other two that he'll be putting in will look like. It looks so sharp. He did a great job! The other one is the 'handicap' shower that we need to have. The entire room is a tile floor, with the wall tiled in one corner and a shower curtain (that's not up yet) to go around the shower area.

My housemate get's creeped out by it - not a 'real' shower - but I actually love it. But that's alright, cause he loves the other shower with the glass doors - the 'real' shower. So we're both happy I guess. :-)

Spring's In the Air

2009-02-24T08:00:00.001Z

[I'm having a hard time concentrating on school work this afternoon, so I've decided instead to write several blog posts that have been on my mind. I'll spread them out so there should be a new one every two days or so for the next week and a half. Enjoy!]

Spring's coming! David, our Irish-American Liaison here at Lakeside (RE: house maintenance, gardner, and all-around handy man), pointed out a tree to me in the yard today. It looked like the edges of it were glimmering in the sun - like little droplets of water were hanging on the edge of the tree. It was flower buds!

Evidently, this tree's flowers come out before the leaves and is a good indicator of when Spring's coming. It's the picture above with the 'white' flower and the blury branches in the background.

Over the year's David's planted a grouping of white flowers in the shape of a swan - the symbol for Lakeside - that's coming up out in the front. You'll see it above in the pictures. As you might notice - and so did David - it may have lost it's head, so he might need to plant more.

Also, David's planted nearly 400 tulips around the compound and the leaves of those are coming up - so I can't wait till they're in bloom. Don't worry, I'll take pictures! Then there's the rose garden out front with 100 rose plants, the daffodils coming out already (in the pictures above), and the hyacinths. Spring here should be gorgeous!

On top of that, the weather's warming up and the sun's out a lot more - it's beautiful! :-)

A Day With People

2009-02-22T16:03:00.004Z

From Photos for Blog

This is the group that was over for Settlers and the huge board. From left: Julie, Melissa, Daniel (that's how he looks normally, he's pretty sensitive about being teased for it :-), Seth, David, and Mary.

Yesterday was a blast! A long day and a day with a bunch of people throughout the day, but a lot of fun. In the morning, 6 friends came over and we played Settler's of Catan. We 'experimented' with putting two boards together for 7 of us to play. Crazy! Chaos! But, we still had a lot of fun! (Tip: If you ever try it, leave the goal at 10pts, 12 is almost/is impossible :-).

After the game, they hung around and we threw a frisbee and football around in the back yard. David just cut the grass on Friday. The fresh-cut smell was wonderful!

Around 3pm, another set of friends showed up and we did brinner (aka 'breakfast for dinner'). French toast, pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit salad - it was amazing! :-) After that we sat around and played Uno for a while, watched the Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia ice hockey game (there are three Canadians in our group so they were glad to get to see it). After that, we caught up on this week's episode of Burn Notice and then everyone headed home on the bus.

It was really a GREAT day! A lot of fun to keep getting to share this wonderful place with people and have them enjoy being here.

Well, I'm off to church in a little while. I'm doing powerpoint tonight, so I gotta go early and make sure that's all good to go.

Blessings and love to you all!

It Snowed, I Got Conned, and God Provided

2009-02-07T16:52:00.002Z

It's been one heck of an end to a week. It snowed this week. I got conned and scammed last night to the tune of $863. God provided a free microwave, saving me £40. What a day!

God Provided
A few weeks back I burned a bag of popcorn in the microwave. It was so bad that the kitchen was filled with smoke and, after a week of scrubbing the microwave and using every internet how-to suggestion I could find, it still smells bad.

My mistake, I didn't feel right about asking JBU to replace it - although several people argued that they were going to need a new one anyway. It was my mistake and, therefore, my responsibility to shoulder the cost for the fix to the problem I created.

I meant to order the new microwave at the beginning of this last week. Typical of my procrastination, I kept putting it off. I planned to go into town this morning to pick one up.

Where God's provision come in was through Jim, my second housemate. He and his son had a house they were going to rent, but they've changed their minds and now are going to sell it. Inside that house, is a microwave they recently bought for it. Jim's going to pick the microwave up and donate it to Lakeside...and won't let me pay him for it.

I Got Conned
You know the old saying, 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'? Well, if it sounds good (but not too good), you're probably talking to a con that's pretty good at their job. Which is what I spent an hour last night doing, but didn't know till after I'd hung up.

Long-story short, I bought a holiday package for Florida, having been told by Holly, Victoria, and Karen (sadly enough, I think Victoria was one of the few who knew they were involved in a scam) - that it could be returned within 30 days. Two mistakes: spending money I didn't really have and good intentions. The good intentions were that I had hoped it would enable friends and I to have an affordable vacation. The money I didn't have was...well, money I didn't have.

Having spent the hour asking the questions I thought I needed to to make sure the package was genuine, I Googled the company, after hanging up, looking forward to finding out about the good experiences people had had. Instead, the second thru tenth hit that came up - under the company's website, which was first - were all scam alerts. So, I immediately called my credit card company and called the scam/travel company back. I'm in the process of getting the money refunded....unfortunately, the company doesn't have a great reputation for refunding.

Thankfully, the Florida State Government has two laws that protect me: statute 559.933 and statute 501 - entitled 'Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices'. I'm not too worried. Between Bank of America's muscle and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the refund should come back - hopefully sooner rather than later.

It's one of those days where I've become really thankful for government laws and regulations, such as these, to protect citizens. It's also got a fire burning in me to make sure people that run scams like this don't get away with it. Makes me want to go into government law. Argh!

It Snowed
Lastly, it finally snowed this week, which has been a lot of fun. It snowed late Wed. night and has stuck around since - although it's now a frozen sheet of ice. There's more storms coming in tomorrow, so maybe it'll stick around for a while. We'll see! :-)

TV Commercial from here

2009-01-30T12:52:00.002Z

Today's a long day of cleaning the kitchen - oh, and I've got two more bedrooms to fix up because of more people added this morning. I'm taking a lunch break and this commercial came on TV. I thought it was both very European and fun, so thought I'd give you a taste for TV over here. Enjoy!

Pictures

2009-01-29T19:59:00.003Z

Bedrooms and bathrooms are cleaned and ready for the group, so all that's left is cleaning the kitchen tomorrow. It hasn't had a good cleaning since we moved in, so it'll be a full job tomorrow, but no worries.

Realized I hadn't posted these pictures from my recent trip to England - the archives, Kew, and London - so here you go. :-)

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

One of the first things that caught my attention when I landed at Stansted was this beautiful little stand in the check-in area. Krispy Kreme has great memories for me - from a dad who would bring them home as a special treat to an aunt and uncle who would buy them for us when we were on furlough from Kenya. They weren't the same as the US, but they were sure good!

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

This is where I spent Tues, Wed, Thur, and Fri. all week. The largest and most efficient archive in the world - but still, after nearly 40 hours of pouring over documents, you're still glad to to leave in the evening.

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

This is one of the streets that I would walk back to where I was staying at in Kew. A really beautiful and cool little town/village.

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

This is #11 High Park Ave where I stayed. A 100 year old Edwardian house owned by a lady who has two teenage kids - really nice family and a good experience.

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

The Starbucks in Kew - the first morning I was in town was the day of the US election, so I popped in here for a morning cup of tea and a newspaper.

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

Saturday morning I went into London a few hours before I needed to catch my bus back to the airport and walked around the Regent Park are for a while. Came across this hotel, simply called 'The London'. Anything that can name itself that has gotten to be a really expensive, posh place. Looked really nice from the outside. :-P

From Kew & London Trip Jan 2009

Before heading to the airport, I walked around Regent Park. A beautiful park, built mostly in the first half of the 1800s, but finished up in the 20th century. This fountain was in the middle fo the park and caught my eye. I'm sure in Spring the park is gorgeous with flowers and trees in bloom.

Mini-ERP

2009-01-28T20:34:00.004Z

(These are pictures of the five rooms that are ready for the group this weekend. We're ready to go! :-)

I spent the day today cleaning rooms and making beds. Brought back great memories of last June and ERP, JBU's Early Registration Program they host every summer. Three days of making 400 beds with a great crew of friends. Man, what a great time! ERP and the events last year were the best part of my job - although the long 15-18 hour days wore me out, I did them because I loved it and it was worth it for me. But, never could have done any of them without the team of students and staff that I had to help me. Would have loved their help today! :-)

I only had 5 rooms to clean and ten beds to make, so it was a totally manageable day. Although, I certainly would have loved to have any or all of the team around. Last year I had the opportunity to work with an incredible team of students from all over the country, with all sorts of personalities, and strengths. It was a great year and they were a great team.

Most days I realize that education is a better place for me to be financially and career wise, but most days I also struggle with the huge desire to just go into the hospitality sector for life. Run a hostel, a B&B, or a guest house - there's so much that I love about hospitality and jobs that are centered around this kind of work and service.

Most days I dream about retirement and the chance to do something like this. What an incredible opportunity it would be to raise a family in a setting like that. It's kind of exciting. :-)

A Month of Food and Friends!

2009-01-27T09:58:00.004Z


	From Photos for Blog

Picture on the right is from when JBU was here in early December for their final celebration. Max, the manager at Villa Italia cooked - it was wonderful! The picture on the right is a 'breakfast for dinner' night - probably Decemberish?? - that a bunch of friends came over.

I realized a few days ago how this month has been the month of hosting friends over food like I don't think I've ever done before. It's been a lot of fun!

Jan. 4 - Back in the US, had Jonathan & Mariah Hornok, Josh & Chelsea Collum, James Barnes, and my brother over for spaghetti and games. It was such a great afternoon and an awesome way to finish off my two weeks in the states!

Jan 15 - A group of six friends over for homemade pizza (thanks Brett for the crust recipe - it was great!) and to hang out.

Jan 18 - Three friends over for hamburgers and to watch the playoffs.

Jan 25 - Nine German friends (four of whom I used to live with) for spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was so much fun! They were here till after midnight and we had a great time talking and hanging out!

then coming up...

Feb. 1 - Superbowl party! I know, for those of you that know me, you're like, 'But Daniel doesn't like football.' It's true, but we have the best place for a Superbowl party and I'm excited to spend time with these friends, so I'll definitely enjoy hanging out with them. So, 20 have been invited, I'm guessing 12 or so will come. A friend's making Chili and homemade tortilla chips. Should be great!

And, an update on other things....

*Defiance - really enjoyed the movie. Helped me understand God's harsh judgment on the 'rabble' in the Old Testament better - it made a lot more sense.

*Archives - an exhausting 4 days and over 30+ hours going through over 700 files, but really good. I now need to go through the photos I took and see what angle I can take on it that's new or unique.

*PhD Process - got my Oxford app. in last week, but don't expect to hear for quite a while. Met with Dr. Branch from Warwick who studied under the guy at Oxford I'm applying to work with. Brach is a great scholar and, if Oxford doesn't work out, Warwick sounds like a great place.

*Room - I still haven't found someone to take my Queen's room yet, so if you think about, join me in praying. I really don't want to pay £72/week for a room I'm not using, if I can help it.

*Family & Friends - My sister and brother-in-law bought their tickets for March to come visit for a week. Woohoo!! Then, just heard from some other friends who will be here in August- my best friend from high school, Bethany, and her husband! Yahoo! And then, JBU's getting together their Spring Break trip to come work on the house and Danielle Vogus just emailed me this morning to say she's coming. I'm so excited!

Fox News, Spies, Conference, and Defiance

2009-01-21T17:32:00.003Z

--------
Fox News

I came back to the house yesterday, just after 4pm, and had the chance to catch the whole Inauguration live on line with Fox News and the Situation Room. It was really good to get to watch it from an American perspective. Good panelists - dissapointingly pro-Republican (I know, no surprise since that's the way they lean, you get the same thing on CNN, but I would have hoped for a couple of pro-Democratic voices). They all showed a lot of respect for both Obama and Bush, which both impressed me and made me really happy. Rick Warren's prayer was the most evangelically Christian in recent memory. Obama speaks of God and Scripture with deep confidence (not apologetically or with doubt) and couples it solidly with a strong intellectual ability - it's really neat to see and I hope it guides him well in these next four years.

Quote I read today from Relevant and then I'll be quiet about the election:

'I think we're going to be invited into many conversations [... Obama] is a consensus-oriented type of leader. We need to be able to respond to those invitations ... Part of our role is to speak truth to power ... [and the] most effective way of doing that is not to be so narrow and combative. It's to be part of the conversation.'
-Joel Hunter, pastor

P.S. I lied. Last post-script. Having read through many of Obama's speech's last night after working at the archive, I'm not surprised that his first decision was to suspend trials at Guantonomo. He's a defense lawyer by background who has consistently been verbal about his concern that the rules of legal process aren't being followed at Guantonomo and innocent men are given no right of appeal. Okay, now I'm done... :-)

---------------
Spies

I've basically gotten through 5 folders (of the 18) on Koinange and they're facinating reading! Everyday I get up and go to the archives is the continuing unfolding of this incredible story. It's really neat, because it's letters and communiques between different security branch offices, it's as though I'm watching the progression as they uncover new information and try to peace it all together. Yesterday, in mid-48 they were wanting to stop following him all-together, now, in early 49 they are convinced he's connected to some key shady players, and skimming ahead to 52, they call him an 'extreme nationalist'. Can't wait to figure out why! :-)

P.S. I'm going to try to find out about copyright on the pictures of the documents I've been taking. I'd like to post one or two up here for you and the transcription of the text of some of the letters, as some of them are really neat.

-----------
Conference

Just to get in the habit of submitting papers to conferences (in the academic world, it's a lot like a job hunt - you do it a bazillion times and get used to hearing 'no' most of the time), I decided to submit a paper to the upcoming IHSA (Irish Historical Society Association) conference. Since I got good feedback on my "Postmodernism and Holocaust Denial" paper from my prof's, I submitted it. Surprisingly, even though it has nothing to do with my field and would seem like a pretty cliche topic, it was accepted. So, I've gotta get ready now to present the paper in Maynooth for the IHSA Conference the first weekend in March...now where to find funding to pay for it...

-------
Defiance

The place I'm staying Kew is really cute and I definitely appreciate it, but the room's not huge and since it's not my house, I don't feel the freedom to roam about. As well, they have two cats and a dog, which my allergies aren't crazy about (finally got some medicine tonight on the way home). So, after two long days of research and becuase of the cats, I think I'm going to head out here in like 45 minutes and go see the new Daniel Craig, WWII survivor movie "Defiance". I'll try to let you know how it is. The director also did Last Samurai, which I really enjoyed.

Well, that's it for an update. So really cool things happening and I find myself each day so thankful for this incredible life and these amazing experiences that God's allowing me to have. :-)

Innauguration Day

2009-01-19T21:29:00.003Z

Tomorrow's the day. Just before noon EST, President Bush and President-elect Obama will walk together to the swearing in ceremony.

I just got into Kew tonight - really cool place with a small "village" kind of feel. I'll take pictures. But, I realized tonight that, although Kew stays open tomorrow till 7pm, watching the innauguration is an important part of being involved in US politics, so I'm ditching the archives just before 5pm and hoping to find a place that has it on.

If anyone actually reads this before tomorrow, let me encourage you to do what you can to watch it. Whether you're on lunch break, at the office, or catching the replay tomorrow evening. Watch it with a thoughtful heart full of caritas (that beautiful latin word that mixes charity and discernment/wisdom). May we each seek to be discerning as we listen and celebrate as a country. America is a powerful force in the world - living here has made me understand that so much more - and, in many ways, a powerful force for equality and the significance of each individual person.

We're called to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. There will be plenty of time over the next 4 years for policy discussions and rightful disagreements, but wouldn't it be great if tomorrow we learned to celebrate with each other - regardless of our views.

Now, there are things in Obama's policies, some of which might come up tomorrow, that I'm not excited about. But at the same time, there is much that I am excited about. For example, I don't foresee the Obama presidency as being one where religious freedom's are taken away. In fact, I believe it's going to be a four years where freedoms are protected and preserved - both religious and non-religious.

I hope...

There is much I hope for in these next few years, just as there was much I hoped for in these last 8. I know they won't all be fulfilled as they all weren't during Bush's presidency. Just as there has been much to rejoice about in Bush's presidency (for example, under his impetus, the US does more now for HIV/AIDS in Africa then ever before), there is much to rejoice in what President-elect Obama has meant for many in America and round the world in bringing a message and dream of hope (the impact on the minority communities in Britain alone is HUGE!), and I hope to rejoice in many things four years from now.

Tomorrow, I'd challenge you to join me in celebrating with the hope many have. For those of you that pray, join me in praying - for President Obama's safety, for wisdom and direction. That it would be a great four years for America - that's my hope and will be my prayer.

I may not have voted for him, but he's about to be my President. I'm going to support when I can, disagree with his policies when I feel I must, and respect him always for these next four years.

A Neat Day

2009-01-18T22:12:00.003Z

It's been a really neat day. Listened to a sermon from Summit Church in Orlando this morning as I got ready for church. I went to Summit back in the summer of 2004 and loved it - so it was a great way to start the day.

Then off to church where I got to sick (sit actually, but Paul was sick) next to Paul Hutchinson who helps lead worship at Fisherwick and is just a solid guy. On top of that, I got to experience my first child baptist today. Still not crazy about it, but does at least give me an idea of it and a theological framework for understanding how others understand it.

After church, Derek invited me to lunch with him and the interns. I always feel a little bit like a third wheel - like I'm taking away from their time together. But, I actually really enjoyed it and Spencer mentioned being really glad I was there - making the comment that it was the first time "all six of the interns had been together in a long time" - I'm the "6th" unofficial intern. They make me feel loved which always feels good.

This afternoon I was able to rewrite my research proposal (the last piece to my PhD apps) and it turned out a lot stronger than the first version.

Around dinner time, Derek came and picked me up and I was Fisherwick's participant (led the antiphonal reading confession of sin) in the ecumenical church service as part of the Worldwide Church Unity week. It was a really good experience, in a beautiful Church of Ireland restored church. The homily was given by the new Catholic Bishop of County Down and Connor. He did an okay job - not great, but pretty good. Overall, the entire service was very Christo-centric, so i was very encouraged there. As well, in a small world way, I sat next to a couple where the wife had grown up in Kenya and her dad had been a colonial administrator during Mau Mau. What a small world!

Now I'm back home with Jude, Megan, Melissa, and John and we're watching the NFC playoff game between Eagles and Cardinals. Megan's broadcasting it from her Slingbox back in Arizona - I'm really impressed with it. Anyways, it's a lot of fun to be sitting around with a bunch of Americans, eating hamburgers, and watching football. :-)

Well, it's been a great day! Tomorrow I leave for London and it'll be a crazy week experiencing working in an archive three straight days all day. Woohoo!

Interrogation Room, A First

2009-01-16T20:05:00.003Z

[Picture of the National Archives at Kew.]

Well, I get to add another item to a non-existent list of things I've done for the first time. Today, I sat in an interrogation room at a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station. Thankfully, I was in there by choice - not forced against my will. Just before leaving for the states, I witnessed a car accident where one taxi flew into a main thoroughfare and nailed a taxi full of baristers and solicitors (i.e. lawyers). It's was after midnight and I needed to get some friends back to Lakeside, so I left my info with the taxi drivers. Today was the follow-up from the police officer who reported to the scene after I left.

A little bit of an intimidating experience - even though I was there to help out. Really small, padded room. Two chairs and a table bolted to the floor that was in the back of the station through a really confusing series of doors, all behind a really high, cement wall with a cage over it that connected it to the building. A legacy of the troubles - yikes!

Other than that, I turned in the final two papers for this semester today. Woohoo - one semester down & 1/3rd of the year done. It has flown by!

I head out on Monday to Kew, just on the outside of London, for five days - one day of travel and four of research. I'm excited - although a little overwhelmed - a ton of material that I need to try to get a good feel for in a really short amount of time. Plus, it's going to be a really expensive week (£36 plain trip, £13 for bus, £15 for underground, £125 for housing plus food) - the hope is, if I get enough good information this time, I can apply for funding for the 2-3 other trips I'll probably need to do between now and September.

As for PhD programs, my application to Oxford's nearly done - just my research proposal and 2nd writing sample need to be finished up. My Warwick application's nearly done, as well. I'm setup to meet with Dr. Daniel Branch from Warwick next week on Friday for lunch at the National Archives. Dr. David Anderson, from Oxford, is in Addis Ababa this week and only has two days back next week before heading to Geneva, so hopefully he and I will connect later in the Spring on another trip.

The Much Belated Update

2009-01-12T19:38:00.006Z

(Top: from a trip downtown a couple of nights ago. The Belfast ferris wheel on the left and the City Hall on the right. Bottom: I took over the upstairs office in need of a place to work and keep my school work and details for coordinating Lakeside events organized - so this is the view. It's gorgeous and I feel so incredibly blessed!)

So here's the promised post about what's been going on with life and what's coming up in the near future.

The Semester's End

Well, it's not really. Weirdly enough over here, classes end just before Christmas, but then the entire month of January comprises students exams and final papers. Several students here I've talked to know about the way we do it in the states and really wish they were done with it all before Christmas break. Another oddity of the system over here is that each of the papers I turn in gets checked by two professors - one at Queen's and one 'external' examiner from another university. I just got back my first grade, from the Queen's professor, on my first real paper and it was really encouraging. Granted, a 75 in the US is nothing to get excited about, but here 70's typically seen as the top grades, so I was really encouraged - those multiple 3am nights back in December paid off I guess. :-)

As I'm sure you know by now, I got to go back to the US for Christmas which was an incredible and wonderful, unexpected surprise. Had a great time seeing friends and family! The weekend before I left, two JBU students and one of their friends - Jordan, Katherine, and Nathan - were here. Had a great time with them. We rented a car and hit up Giant's Causeway, Dundrum, Castlewellan Maze - and watched Friends every night over dinner.

Here Comes the Storm

Not really, but it is busy. The other really encouraging news in December was that I found two professors interested in my PhD topic: David Anderson, who heads up the African Studies Centre at Oxford, and Daniel Branch at the University of Warwick. On top of that, I got a great email from John Lonsdale, probably the preeminent scholar (although retired from Cambridge) on Kenya and East Africa, that also was very encouraging, seeing the need for the research and giving me some direction for what might be the best way to approach it.

So, I'm in the midst of applying to Oxford and Warwick and we'll see where God leads. I can honestly say that I'm excited about all of my possibilities for next year: (1) staying here in Belfast, (2) heading back to Arkansas, or (3) going to Oxford (which would be a dream come true!) or Warwick and starting my PhD - yikes! Next week I head to London for a few days to look at some MI5 at the National Archives in Kew and hope to meet with both Dr. Branch and Professor Anderson, if they're available.

Other than that, I'm working on papers - I've got two due this week - and getting ready for a busy Spring of groups using Lakeside. We've got two church groups coming in the next month and two college groups from the US scheduled for March - plus more in the works. Should be fun!

Friends & Family Headed to Belfast

One of the really cool developments is the number of people that I may get to see over here in Belfast in the next year. My sister and brother-in-law are looking into visiting in March - if they're able to make it work financially (hopefully!). It'd be great to see them, show them around, and I really think they'd have a blast with the adventure! On top of that, a couple that are like my second parents are looking at coming over in April/May and a married couple that might come over in the late summer. If that wasn't exciting enough - two married couples that are friends of mine, the Hammonds and the Beckmans, are both looking into the possibility of comign to Belfast & Queen's for master's level work next year. How cool would that be!!

So we'll see. I don't know if it will work out for anyone to make it over this year, but I can't wait to share Belfast with them if they do!

A Wonderful Two Weeks!

2009-01-05T16:06:00.004Z

What an incredible two weeks this has been! Four months ago I had resigned myself to being gone for a year and that I'd see family and friends next summer. This trip home has been amazing. Each day I woke up thinking I'd awaken from a dream and be back in Belfast, but here I am, sitting in the airport getting ready to head back (via Columbia, S.C. and back to Belfast on Wed/Thur). [Long story short, a friend found out I wasn't coming home for the holidays and blew me away when he called and said "I'm buying you a ticket, when do you want to leave?" I can't ever thank him enough.]

It's hard to describe how wonderful these last two weeks have been and the opportunities that the Lord has made available. The first week in South Carolina with my sisters, their husbands, and family's was so sweet. Although my nephews totally wore me out - I have a whole new level of respect for my sister - it was so good to be with them. On top of that, nearly two weeks with my parents has been such a blessing. The older I get and the more people I meet, the more thankful I am for my parents and the fact that they always welcome us home and love spending time with us as their kids. They are incredible in their servants hearts and I'm amazed at their deep thoughtfulness. From dad changing my oil for me to mom picking up some clothes for me that I'd run out of time to get - they're both busy and have plenty to do and yet they chose to do things for me that they knew I hadn't found time to do yet. Incredible!

This holiday I've just been overwhelmed with the realization of the wonderful people God's put in my life and I'm so fortunate to call friends. I think of the friends I've made in Belfast and the huge blessing they are. Then my family and how amazing it is to have a family that loves to spend time with each other. Saturday I took a crazy day-trip to Siloam and spent time with the Beckmans, Janzens, Snyders, Stevensons, Houghs, and Barnes and I was overwhelmed by the amazing people there that I am able to call friends. Then in Little Rock, my time with Josh, Justin, the Hammonds, the Collums, Hornoks, James Barnes, my brother, my grandma, and my aunt was great.

I was sharing with a friend yesterday that I'm so excited to be at a place in life where no matter where the Lord leads for next year, I'm excited about it. Whether it's staying in Belfast, moving to Little Rock, or heading back to Siloam the opportunities and possibilities that lay ahead of me are wonderful and exciting and full of hope! Whether I'm in a PhD program, running a guest house, working at my church, or working a custodial job next year - they are all possibilities I can get excited about. And really, that excitement revolves around these incredible people that I get to know and spend time with. No matter where I might go, there are wonderful people who I love spending time with and respect - it's what makes the future so exciting!

This is an amazing life I've been given, one for which I've found myself, more and more, incredibly grateful for. I don't know if God's favor (in the sense of opportunities and relationships) will rest on me in such a way my entire life - but during this season, I am so thankful for the rich opportunities and friendships He's given me.

[P.S. Sorry, I was kind of in a reflective mood this morning, rather than an update mood. I'm hoping to send out an update the middle of January with how things have been, what this next semester looks like, life in Belfast, and the PhD possibilities that are opening up. So, that should be up in a couple of weeks. ]

Christmas at Lakeside

2008-12-06T11:06:00.002Z

It's a beautiful - albeit cold by the looks of the ducks skid/crash landing on the frozen lake - and lazy Saturday morning here, so thought I'd take a few minutes and post pictures of the Christmas decorations around the house. Hetty, who was a missionary in the Philippines & a dorm family at Faith for years, has taken to calling me "Martha Stewart" - which, while I don't particularly like the nickname, is probably fitting for a week where I've spent a lot of time decorating and then baked chocolate chip cookies. Ç'est la vie! As I told Hetty, if there's anything that "works" decorating in the house, it's thanks to my mom, I've tried to copy what I've seen her do for years, and thanks to Dawn (who's decorated here for the last 12 years) and the decorations she's accumulated.

Here's photos (click to see the stories or see them bigger):

So, there's a little taste of Christmas in Ireland. Had friends over for the first time last night - just two came, but had a blast with them and they seem to have really enjoyed being here - and must be sleeping well, since it's after 11am and they're still asleep. :-) It makes me really happy that they're both able to sleep long and feel the freedom to. I think four more friends or so should be over this afternoon, so that'll be great.

JBU's group of 42 comes tomorrow - can't wait!

A Good Day...

2008-12-04T01:04:00.002Z

...first draft of paper due next Tuesday done.

...decorating for Christmas (minus three trees still to do) done.

...extend wireless internet into wing of house for John and I. Done.

...go to international bible study. Done.

...help Hetty, Dawn, and David with stuff around the house. Done. (Bonfire day and clear out Room #4 - good progress.)

That's been my day for the most part - with some really unfocused reading for class thrown in there and emails throughout the day. Not a super productive day, but a good day.

Tomorrow I need to...

...finish prepping for class.

...go shopping for chocolate chip cookie ingredients.

...help out at Fisherwick lunch.

...meet up with group for class presentation.

...head to class.

...head back home and decorate the three remaining Christmas trees (or at least two of them).

...make food shopping list for Friday to prep for group of friends coming Fri-Sun.

...take out buffet tables and set them aside for Sunday lunch.

...do some serious work on PhD apps.

That's for tomorrow though, so, for now, to bed. :-)

Papers

2008-11-29T10:26:00.002Z

Sorry, not much time nor much to post about this week. I'm swamped with a 3,000 word paper due Tuesday. I thought I had another week for it - so I'm a little bit behind, but it'll be fine. I'm looking at the the place (if any) postmodernism (looking at Hayden White as a key representative) plays in the perspectives and ideas of Holocaust deniers (here, using David Irving as a key representative). It's been interesting and I think, in the long run, it'll be good to have delved into both of these ideas for teaching purposes.

Other than that, it's been just over a week that I've been in Lakeside Manor. John Lenschow moved in yesterday so it's great to have another person in the house - it's not quite so creepy. :-)

Joined the JBU and Murlough House crew on Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner - skipped class, bummed about that because it was a really interesting day - and had a great time with them. They were watching Home Alone when John & I got there. Then, this afternoon, headed to another MA History student's house - her and her husband David's house - for another Thanksgiving dinner. Should be fun and a good break from this essay.

Other than that, not much else. Staying busy - but at the same time, slowing down since I'm living farther away from everything now.

Hope you had a GREAT Thanksgiving (if you celebrated) and blessing for the weekend!

P.S. Just finished a really good essay this morning on being a Christian professor in the humanities and it highlighted Tennyson's poem In Memoriam, so I thougth I'd share some of that with you:

STRONG Son of God, immortal Love,: Whom we, that have not seen thy face,; By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove;
Thine are these orbs of light and shade;: Thou madest Life in man and brute;; Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot
Is on the skull which thou hast made.
Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:: Thou madest man, he knows not why,; He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just.
Thou seemest human and divine,: The highest, holiest manhood, thou:; Our wills are ours, we know not how;
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.

(read the rest here.)

What a Week! (Christmas party, Cool Conversations, Package Stress, and Drugs & Drunkenness)

2008-11-24T12:22:00.000Z

Last week was a busy week - so sorry not to post. Here's a couple of interesting things that happened:

Light up Belfast party - joined thousands around City Hall on Tuesday for their Christmas light festival (I know, it's really early! :-). It was a blast - including kids choirs singing carols and Euro-pop groups singing a myriad of songs. Pictures are at the top of this post. :-)

Really Cool Conversations - it's been a really great week of conversations. Wed. night at Int'l bible study we had several new people, so that stirred new relationships and friends. Thur. afternoon I had coffee with a professor, Dr. Eric Mourier-Genoud, who studies missions in Mozambique - really, really good time and really helpful. Then Thur. night I had a really good conversation with Dale about a Protestant/Christian perspective on special needs persons in relation to care and church services. Really interesting - sparked by a curiosity in a Catholic Bishop and a "care home" (for lack of a better term) in Southern Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. Then, Fri, got to have coffee with Jude, which was great. I always enjoy hanging out with him and learn a lot - this week it was about Lebanon and the Druze, Christians, Shiites, and Sunni's. Also met a guy from Aman at Starbucks who's doing his PhD here and is from Northern Jordan, prior to Amman.

Stress with a Package - I ordered a portable scanner (so I don't have to hold on to the endless pieces of paper I'm accumulating) about three weeks ago. After three days of frustration with the parcel delivery service, I ended up spending 3 hours, two bus rides, and a £10 taxi ride to find their warehouse and pick up the package. Ugh! (although the scanner is a huge blessing)

SOS - Drugs & Drunkenness - went back out yesterday with SOS's afternoon reach to the teenagers. Really good, really crazy cold, and very busy. It was a good day but a really weird day, in the sense that it was unlike any of the other days I'd been out. Around 350 teens probably came through - one of which was a young girl who was so drunk she was throwing up, so several of the staff took care of her on the bus. On top of that, I haven't seen so many kids drunk or high since I got here. It was really sad. There have been reports recently that the presence of cocaine is at the highest it's been in a long time in Belfast. I hate to think that it's found it's way into the teens lives - but at the same time, I'd be nieve to think it hasn't. I was once again reminded that these kids have experienced more of what is typically called "life" - sex, drugs, alcohol, death, abortion, rape, etc. - in their 14, 15, 17 years of life then I have in my 25. I find myself wishing that, for their sake and because of the emptiness you see in many of their eyes, they could have been spared some of what life has brought their way.

A busy week - meaning I didn't get much work done (and have a 3,000 paper due a week from tomorrow - although, I'm practially done with a 1,000 word essay due on Jan 13 - I know, priorities....oops!) - but it was a great, memorable week!

-------

As a random endnote, check out this really cool article on Dr. Chip Pollard, JBU's current president and my former boss (kind of...meaning it was his signature on my paycheck, but he was three "boss levels" above me...sounds like some kind of Nintendo game. :-)

Refreshed

2008-11-23T21:48:00.004Z

Includes pictures of the inside now. Click here to see them larger.

This day last week I stayed up till 1am looking at cottages, hotels, and B&B's in N. Ireland to get away for a few days. I could tell I was coming to the point of being completely exhausted and just fried in every different way. Having not found anything, I finally laid down in bed, not sure what I would do to get a break from Belfast.

Here I am a week later, looking out at the green lawn of Lakeside Manor, sitting at a desk in the "Stevenson Suite" (so named because it's where Billy & Mindi stayed last week) that's nestled into the bay windows, marveling at the gift of this weekend. It has been the weekend I was looking for - and the one that I had been willing to pay a significant amount of money for. Instead, I was given a gift that has cost me nothing and, yet, provided everything that I was hoping for.

Breakfast in bed this morning and then the rest of the morning spent reading. A morning tea and an afternoon tea yesterday. A chance to relax and watch a movie Friday night. All on a beautiful four acres outside of Belfast - away from the noise, the distractions, and the exhausting routine of buses, cars, and people.

I sit, looking out at the lake, amazed at the beauty of the sun breaking through the Irish clouds that brought the morning rain - but even more so, I am in awe of God's gracious hand toward me, knowing that there are so many others who need the gift I've been given this weekend.

Can't Sleep

2008-11-18T01:40:00.004Z

I can't sleep. I tried going to bed at 12am. I opened one of my skylights because it was warm in my room - bad idea. Within a few minutes my room smelled like sewer. So I closed the skylight and lit my candle to try to get rid of the smell. I then laid in bed for over an hour with no luck. I decided to try the traditional remedy of drinking warm milk, so I thought I'd post while I'm drinking it.

Tonight was a great night. Billy Stevenson called me at 6pm to see if I wanted to join him, Mindi, Rick Ostrander, Lonnie Ostrander, John Lenschow, and the Knox's at Villa Italia for dinner at 6:30pm. Of course I said yes and it was a great time. So much fun to see Lonnie who I worked with all summer. It was great to get caught up on the Fall musical, her kids, and the Admissions office. Good to see Rick too. He's always a blessing as I'm able to pick his brain on future direction. As the Dean of Undergraduate Studies at JBU, Rick's responsible for all faculty hires, so his advice comes from what JBU is looking for in candidates - which is really helpful.

As always, great to see Billy and Mindi. So full of life and laughter. It was a blast! I hadn't seen Johny Knox or his family in years, so really fun to see them too. His younger brother, Gregory, is hilarious. Johnny's wife, Rebekah, is really great. As well, I got to see Rachel Cureton, which was really fun. I don't know her very well, but was a suite mate of her brother's - Michael - at JBU (he just got married at the beginning of Nov!!), so it was fun to hear about him. She's living with the Knox's and doing her student teaching over here for a master's degree in education.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to see Lakeside Manor with John Lenschow, Billy, Mindi, Rick, and Lonnie. Rick, Lonnie, Mindi, and Billy are staying there right now, but the trustees are coming for a walk through tomorrow. Billy needs someone there as soon as possible, so I think I'll likely move in this next weekend. The sewer smell in my room tonight was a reminder that it's somewhat frustrating to never get fresh air in the room. My thought is that this room - since I've paid for it through the end of July - will be like my office near the school and Lakeside Manor will be home. They do have internet there, which is great. It's going to cost me a little more in bus expenses to move out there now, but my rent is free for the rest of the year starting Feb - since I'll no longer have a room with Queen's - so it seems worth it. I've already started thinking about how I can have friends at to the Manor for dinner or invite friends out if they ever want to get away from Belfast. It's really a pretty 4-acre place that would be great for a spiritual retreat or just to get a break from the same old, same old.

Anyways, I should probably see if I can fall back asleep. I'll try to post pictures of Lakeside Manor inside as soon as I'm able.

New Believers & Non-Believers

2008-11-17T12:00:00.004Z

Just a quick note on yesterday at church. After the morning service, I was introduced to Liam, a new visitor to the church. What a cool meeting! (and a confirmation of not feeling at peace about visiting another church yesterday). Liam just became a believer 5-6 months ago and it's completely changed his life. He speaks of it in a very visceral way, of God's presence just being so real and overwhelming when life was going so bad. He's being discipled by a local Baptist pastor and his favorite book is Hebrews - although he's spent a lot of time in John, Romans, and the smaller epistles. He really has a passion for the Lord which is exciting. He also attended Mandate Saturday, a men's conference here in Belfast, and said it was a great time of seeing thousands of men worshipping together. He told me that he's trying to figure out how God might want to use him and he's thinking his conviction for men's sexual purity - pornography especially - might be where he sees God using him. I'm really excited for him - if you think about it, join me in praying for him - for God's strengthening of his faith and that he would have the opportunity to minister to other guys.

The second cool experience was last night at church. We had a communion service and Fabian, a student from France, came along with us after dinner. He doesn't go to church and, as far as I can tell, is an athiest. But it was just so cool singing songs of worship with Fabian, curious and perhaps skeptical, next to me. We had a really good conversation afterwards and he enjoyed it a lot more than the church experiences he had had back in France. We'll see, hopefully it'll plant a mustard seed in him that the Spirit will water and grow (Liam had used the "mustard seed" analogy for the growth of his own faith in the morning).

SOS Bus Last Night

2008-11-15T17:07:00.003Z

From SOS Bus

A picture of the bus from across the street. The doors on the left end open into the paramedic bay. You can see the TV in the middle of the bus. On the far right is the large van ("mini-bus") we use to go pick up people from bars or take people to the hospital (no calls last night).

From SOS Bus

A picture closer up to the side of the bus. This was as the night was winding down. You can see the group hanging around watching "The Simpsons Movie" - which is a whole lot better than them walking around drunk, getting in fights, etc. You can't really see it, but there's a row of two tables that run parallel to the bus and that's where the coffee, tea, soup, rolls, and candy bars are. The slogan, that's cut off is "SOS Here to Help". We served roughly 300 people last night from 11:30pm to 2:30am.

"Spider pig. Spider Pig. A spider pig does whatever a spider pig does." :-) The flatscreen TV on the side of the bus was playing the Simpsons Movie last night - we got through it twice. It was fun, we all had a good laugh at the jokes and then singing along to "Spider pig". It's amazing how something like the Simpsons worked powerfully to not only put people at ease - because it was something they could connect with - but, in so doing, really broke down walls and raised curiosity.

I thought the night would really drag on, especially as it got closer to 3am, but it went by really fast and was a great time (although, it hit me about 4 this afternoon and I had to take a nap). Some things that stand out:

*the drunk man at the beginning of the night who pointed out "truck" as a truck drove by. Had to laugh inside at that one. :-)

*the guy in his early 20s early in the night who was a self-confessed Satanist and was convinced it was a Christian thing and we were just out trying to convert people. He wasn't willing to except that, yes, while some of us were Christians, we really were there just love on people by volunteering our time and serving them free food/drinks - no strings (or conversions) attached. :-)

*when the "Satanist" (in quotations because I think he may have said it mostly for a reaction) asked Aneal (I think Indian by background, became a Christian later in life) what religion he was, Aneal, whose an incredibly solid Christian that helps lead the discipleship and prayer groups at church, said "I don't believe in religion." It was a beautiful answer - the guy asking didn't know what to do with it. :-)

*seeing friends who were more sober than their really drunk friends helping their friends home, whether that was holding them up or simply being their guide home.

*sadenned to see that most of the middle aged men who were out drunk were by themselves. An interesting contrast to the youth who, while being drunk, had friends with them.

*it was fun to see the women's eyes light up when we said "Free Chocolate" as they walked by. It was a nearly full-proof way to get groups to stop and grab a couple f chocolate candy bars on their way to where ever it was they were going.

All in all, it was a great night - although I have been exhausted today. I can't wait to do it again. It's amazing to see people's reaction to acts of charity and love. As well, the impact it has on local crime and being able to "save" people from things is huge. For example, on Halloween they had a call from a local pub to pick up a girl at the bar who was completely gone. Plus, she had no ID, cell phone, purse, or anything. The truth is, as sad as it is, anyone could have done anything to her and she never would have remembered, but would most definitely have lived with the grave consequences.

To add on all of that, two firsts for me since I left last night at 3am:

1. Had an egg thrown at me from a passing car on my way home. It missed me thankfully - but had to smile. They threw another one at another group of people in front me (missed again, lousy shots :-) - so it was just an indiscriminate "let's drive around town and throw eggs at people" kind of thing :-)

2. There was definitely a guy walking around in the alley behind our place during lunch today who only had a shirt on. Seriously, nothing else and he's walking around. Gross display of public nudity. Yuck! :-P

But hey, that's Belfast for ya! Gotta love it!

A Thesis Conundrum

2008-11-14T13:19:00.002Z

I now have two potential thesis topics and I'm struggling to know which direction to go.

Presbyterian Missions in Kenya
Dr. Eric Morier-Genoud has been one of the most helpful and enjoyable professors to work with here at Queen's. His work is in missions in Africa from a historical perspective. With my undergraduate background and interest in Africa, he would love for me to do something on the history of missions in Kenya. He also has great connections to friends and supervisors at Cambridge, Oxford, and the University of Basel in Switzerland.

If I go this route, I will likely focus on the correspondence available here of the Rev. and Mrs. E. Lockhart who lived in Kenya, but wrote prolifically to family and friends here in Ireland. Most of my research would be done at PRONI and the Presbyterian Historical Society, both of which are here in town.

Communism in Kenya: Peter Koinange, a Case Study
The other alternative, which has a more exciting edge to it, is to look into these 18 files that were released in 2007 by MI5 about Peter Koinange. There's been no work done on them so far, so any work mentioning Peter is in relation to his father (a key chief in Kenya) or in relation to Jomo Kenyatta. It has this "unexplored" excitement and edge to it that's appealing.

The challenge here is that the research would mostly have to be done in London at the National Archives in Kew. There's a possibility of getting funding from Queen's for it, but if not, it's on my dime and I'd likely need to spend up to 2 weeks there.

So, that's the conundrum...
Do I work with a professor who's young and excited to work with me on a topic that's interesting, but that I don't necessarily get super excited about? or do I pursue the topic that, at first at least, excites me - but I don't yet have faculty support behind? (although Dr. Morier-Genoud has been encouraging about this topic as well, it just doesn't connect with his work).

In trying to find an answer to this dilemma, I think I'm going to spend some time looking into both of them. I'll spend some time here in town looking at the Presbyterian missionary records and then I have three weeks off in January and I think I'll spend a few days to a week in London looking into those files. Hopefully that will give me enough of the flavor of what I would be working with to figure it out.

Videoblog: What I'm Reading

2008-11-13T11:17:00.005Z

I decided this morning to do something different. I don't know how often I'll do it or if it's even convenient for you all, so it may not happen very often, but I thought it was a good way to mix things up. So, here's my first "videoblog". Sorry about it cutting off at the end there - the time limit on my camera had been met, so it stopped. :-)

JBU Bible Study & Social Justice, Postmodernism & Holocaust Denial

2008-11-11T19:23:00.002Z

From Photos for Blog

Picture of the bus I road part way home from the bible study last night. Almost exactly the same kind of bus I road to & from school in Kenya back in the 90s.

I'm glad to say that last night's bible study with the JBU crew went much better then last week. We were down 4 or 5 students, probably just from desire for personal time or assignments - however, if it was because last week was a disappointment, I wouldn't blame them, I may have skipped this week for that reason alone.

I put into practice my lesson from last week and we spent the whole 45 minutes in Scripture. We determined that the phrase "social justice" is a hard one to define - being used as a descriptor for a wide range of things in today's society. The question followed then, what should it mean for us as Christians? We went to Matthew 22 (the Greatest Commandment and the 2nd) and used this as a basis for looking through out the NT (Matt 5:43, 19:19, Rom 13:8-10, Gal 5:13-14, James 2:8, etc.) and the OT (Deut. 5:9, 6:5; Lev 19:9-18, and Ex 22:22:27) to look at the idea of "loving your neighbor" as something God calls his people to throughout Scripture. In closing, we came back to Matt 22:38 and the reminder that in order to truly love our neighbor, we must fulfill "the first and greatest commandment" - to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind - that this was the a priori condition to meeting the second calling.

[Something that was neat for me was to realize that Jesus' answer in Matt 22 was expected, as the Jewish prayer, the Shema, prayed twice daily, affirmed this. It was the second part that was the "nudge".]

"probably the biggest friend the Jews had in the Third Reich, certainly
when the war broke out, was Adolf Hitler. He was the one who was doing
everything he could to prevent things nasty happening to them."
- David Irving, from Richard Evans book Telling Lies About Hitler

I'm beginning to pull together the assignments I have to turn in between now and January 13th and one of them is an essay on a historiographic topic from the last century (i.e. Marxist history, cultural history, post-colonial history, postmodernism, etc.). I've been very impressed and very, very happy with perspective and the take of Queen's faculty on these topics. I decided to do my topic on postmodernism and specifically, the case effect of postmodernism on David Irving and holocaust deniers. In looking at grad school, I was cautioned to be careful of revisionist history. The example given was of those that want to rewrite the history of the Holocaust. So, it seemed like David Irving and Holocaust denial would be an appropriate topic to tackle for a 3,000 word essay.

I'm just into the first of five books on the topic, but so far really interesting - and really bizarre all at the same time. I'll try to remember to post a link to the paper here after I turn it in (it's due December 12).

On the Change Bandwagon: Reading Week, My Room, and S.O.S. Bus

2008-11-09T19:53:00.003Z

From Photos for Blog

(In the election spirit of change, I decided to switch my room around.)

In light of the elections this last week, I haven't been posting much here - but rather, spent way too much time on my "random thoughts" blog. However, as the first sign that things are changing, here's a post returning to what's going on here in Belfast.

Reading Week
The UK system has a week set aside about half-way through the semester for reading, writing papers, catching up on assignments - and, generally, giving the faculty and students some uninterrupted time to focus on their work (for students, it's the only vacation they get during their semester, besides Christmas). That means this week's going to be a wee-bit different. I do still have one thing I have to attend on Thur - a visit to the Public Records Office of North Ireland (PRONI). It's a chance for the class to be exposed to how to use the largest archive in N. Ireland.

Other than that: JBU Bible study (Mon), Guy's Movie Night Out (Tues), Int'l Bible Study (Wed), and S.O.S. bus (Friday, see below). Also, Paul Harvey from the University of Colorado (yeah, when I first saw the name, I thought the radio guy too) speaking on "Religion, Race, and the Right: The Rise of Southern Religious Conservatism" is visiting Queen's. Should be interesting. I'm expecting a pretty critical, left-leaning presentation - but hoping to be surprised. :-)

My Room
In the spirit of change - and needing something new in a room that I spend a lot of time in - I changed around my room today. My desk was staring at a wall, with my back to the two skylights. In a hope that being able to look at the sky will help the long days of reading & studying, I've moved my desk underneath one of the skylights. It's a little more cramped in the room, but we'll give it a shot for a while at least.

Alpha & S.O.S.
You might remember that I was a part of an Alpha group here in town. Due to a lack of interest and people not coming, we've gone ahead and canceled it for the rest of the fall. A bummer for me as I really enjoyed the content and the discussions it brought up - but I understand the decision.

To replace that, I've gotten involved with S.O.S. It's a street ministry that helps with crime in the Greater Belfast area. On Saturday afternoons I go down to the waterfront where the teenagers hang out and we hand out free tea/coffee/hot chocolate/juice/coke and hot soup (Knorr soup, actually, which brings back to mind these horribly catchy commercials from Kenya). It's been shown to significantly bring down hostility and fights in this area. It also has a fairly significant ministry to the kids.

Besides that, S.O.S.'s main ministry is a night ministry to people leaving the bars in Belfast. They setup at a key intersection in town (Dublin Rd., just off of Shaftsbury Square) and are out from 11pm to 3am handing out free coffee/tea and biscuits, providing a resource and blessing to those who are on their way home. On top of that, they have a medic and a van, so they're able to help people who are hurt/injured or need a hospital or a ride home. It's highly sponsored by the PSNI (Police Service of N. Ireland) as it has been shown to decrease crime in the area by 18-25%. I'm up for next Friday night. Should be fun - although the late night is going to kill me. :-)

(Check out the SOS website and the bus. It has two big flatscreen t.v.'s, video cameras, a medical area (oxygen, saline drips, etc.), plus two awnings. It's pretty sweet. They're getting ready to send another one up to Derry/Londonderry where the infamous "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" occured. They're also working on a double decker "IT" bus with computers on the second level for educational outreach.)

Pictures & Videos from Last Night's Election Party

2008-11-05T15:59:00.005Z

I should be taking a nap right now before tonight's bible study, but I figured that if I don't get these up soon, they won't really be nearly so interesting.

Setting: A big conference room in the student center in the middle of the largest student housing complex (Elm's Village). They had planned on 30 people, ended up with 100+. The room was packed with students wearing badges, signs, American flags, etc. While it was predominantly Obama fans, there were about a half-a-dozen or so of us McCain supporters - one guy even wearing a McCain t-shirt (which was brave, considering most of the people there were drinking & you never know what someone's going to do when you're wearing the oppositions colors and they're drunk). Their were American flag streamers around the room, BBC One's coverage was playing on the projector, CNN was on a small flat screen at the back of the room, and a map of the US was on the wall via an old-school overhead projector and students were filling in the states as the projections came in. So, with that, here's the pictures and videos:

From Election 2008

Cheers after Obama is projected to win a state.

From Election 2008

Counting down to the polls closing.

I hung around until about 1:30am or so and then headed the 20 min walk back to my place with some friends. The excitement of the night was fun - the crowd would countdown from 10 every time we were 10 seconds away from a poll closing and then boo/cheer when a candidates face came on screen as being projected to take a certain state.

I can't imagine US students getting so excited about the UK election or the German election...perhaps it says something about the great responsibility and burden the US bears as the torch bearer for the world. Whether they admit it or not, there is definitely this sense of "Let's wait and see what the US does" when it comes to economics or politics. In fact, todays news articles talk about how Obama's victory is bringing about a wave of minority voice in European politics - a place where minorities seem to rarely vote and an African (let alone any minority, I think) has never been elected to the highest office in the land.

I Voted!

2008-11-04T13:43:00.004Z

(Photograph from Getty Images)

No, unfortunately my ballot from the states didn't come in time. Instead, Jordan Monnahan, with the JBU crew down in Dundrum, let me know last night about www.fvap.com (Federal Voting Assistance Program) where, if your absentee ballot doesn't show up within two weeks of the election, you can print off a ballot, write in your vote, and mail it off to your county clerk. So, I just dropped it off at the post office with the hope that it'll have today's date stamped on it, will arrive in time, and, therefore, will count*.

*I realize there is this sense of defeat in the reality that few elections are won by one vote. However, I feel as though I've done the right thing in voting. If for no other reason then because I have the ability and, therefore in this case (not in every case), the responsibility to vote - particularly when so many around the world desire to have the ability to vote in an election and, instead, are subject to live under the rule of someone who took power or was given it.

Last Night's JBU Biblestudy

2008-11-04T08:00:00.001Z

[Written last night in Downpatrick, as I was waiting for the bus home. ]

Tonight's bible study with the JBU gang went okay. It was the all-too-typical case of trying to work too much in, particularly extra-biblical sources. I started off with some columns from "On Faith" about Americans changing their faith or loosing it. The student's found those really interesting. I should have had us spend more time there then dig into a biblical passage - say Phil 3, or something like that. Instead, I spent too much time having each of them answer questions, me sharing quotes from Pascal and C.S. Lewis - that the time we then spent in Scripture was minimal, at best. As a result, I don't think any of us came away refreshed or knowing something more about Scripture or the Father. So, here's what I learned about bible studies (or teaching):

Spend 80%+ of your time on that which really matters - in this case, God's Word. Shave off the extra stuff - keep something interesting or unique, but loose the other fluff.

I felt bad as well because the student's have a paper due and a lot on their plate - yet they gave up the hour to be together - and I wish, as they also may, that we had walked away challenged or refreshed and closer to our Lord and Savior.

The students are forgiving to me - for which I'm grateful - and I know God can use even the feeblest of offerings. So, I finish writing this at the Downpatrick bus stop, sitting in the 42 degree weather, waiting for the 21:05 bus to Belfast, humbled from having learned, but at peace knowing both God's and the student's grace extends beyond my faults.

Cool Things Happening!

2008-11-03T09:16:00.004Z

This has been a week of being spoiled by the Father. Some really exciting things have happened!

Christmas
A really generous friend didn't like the idea of me not being home for Christmas, so he bought me a plane ticket home for the holidays. Yahoo!! It means I'll get to see my sister who lives in the Middle East and her husband, who will be home for the holidays - as well as Jenny, James, and my two nephews Luke and Hamilton in South Carolina. Then, on top of that, dad was able to use frequent flyer miles to get me the second leg of the flight in the US. It's weird going from planning on not being home for the holidays, to it all of the sudden being a reality.

Housing
It also looks as though I'll likely have free housing starting in January thru the rest of my program, thanks to JBU. The pictures above are of the place. There are still some final details to sort out - but, if it works out, it would be a huge blessing financially for the rest of the year.

Finances
I finally got my money from the Fed'l loans - I'm headed to the bank to deposit it this morning. It's not a ton, but definitely plenty to live on - for which I'm very thankful to the Lord.

Off to my list of errands for the day, but wanted to get a quick post off first. Blessings!

Follow-up & God and Christian Scholarship

2008-11-02T12:15:00.003Z

My friends and I haven't had the chance to continue the conversation since Thur - although, we have the rest of the year, so no doubt we will. In the same vein as the last post though, here is something that I've come across:

"Omniscient deities don't make choices (since they already know every outcome in advance)." - Deepak Chopra from "On Faith" series hosted by Newsweek/Washington Post

I follow this seres of posts from different religious/philosophical thinkers (includes N.T. Wright, Cal Thomas, Brian McLaren, Chuck Colson, etc.). This week's question to all the contributors was about the role of God in voting in a presidential election. The comment above from Chopra reminded me so much of what my friends said the other night. There seems to be this idea that since God knows the future, he's locked into whatever is going to happen - with no change possible. Now, in one aspect this is true - for God does not change, but throughout Scripture we see testimonies of people influencing God - Moses & Aaron, for example, continually petitioning God to preserve the Israelites. It seems to me that God, being outside of time, knows the future as he knows now, but I don't see how this locks him into the future - for God does not necessarily live in a linear, cause-and-effect closed world, as we do.

Eh, this is already long enough. In the future I'll post on Christian scholarship. I spent some time this morning reading Blaise Pascal and he has a lot to say on it. As well, I'm reading a collection of essays entitled The Two Tasks of the Christian Scholar: Redeeming the Soul, Redeeming the Mind (thanks mom!) which centers around a speech given by Charles Malik in 1980 at Wheaton's Billy Graham Institute. Really good stuff, for the most part, so I'll try to construct a post to share on it in the near future.

God, Free Will, Predestination all in a Pub

2008-10-31T09:05:00.002Z

Last night turned into a great night - but definitely not one I was anticipating. After the church bible study I'm a part of, a bunch of us from the church went out for drinks at a local pub called The Empire. A really good time with some really good discussion on:

*What would it take for American Christians to let go of the American dream and live fully in/for the Kingdom?
*Do we doom our sons to struggles with pornography/lust because while growing up we tell them that they will struggle with it?
*and others...(those were just the two big topics)

Around 10:30pm, we wrapped up and all headed home - for which I was very grateful since I had not slept the night before due to drinking coffee too late in the day and really sore muscles from working out.

As I was sending some emails in my room, two friends call to invite me out to join them. Now, granted, I really wanted to say "no" because my bed was looking really comfy, but one of them had said earlier in the week that he had a religious question for me and then again last night said "I have a religious question/idea that will blow your mind." So, not one to turn down time with friends I enjoy and good, intriguing discussion I headed back out to join up with them at Bar 12 around the corner (first time I'd been there, nice, swanky pub).

Over the following three hours (until the pub kicked us out at 1:30pm) we talked about everything from dissertation topics to seeing the new James Bond movie tomorrow to relationships....and then, for the last couple of hours we talked about Christianity, God, free will, predestination, the problem of evil, different theories on God and the universe, etc. Really, really good conversation and really, really interesting. I have a lot of respect both for the minds of these two friends as well as just the people they are. While I'd love to share all of it with you, here's a view on God and history that they align more with that I had never heard:

God created the world as we know, without humans, initially. Now, because none of the world had free will, it was also predictable. God got bored with this and wanted something more exciting and more interesting, so he decides to make humans. Like the rock God makes that he can't lift, God creates humans with free will and he can't control them or know what they're going to do. [a theme for the night had been that if God knows what we're going to do, that defeats free will; I shared with them the idea of God being outside of time, but they felt like that was a satisfactory explanation]. God creates humans, not knowing what they're going to do, so the entire Old Testament is God figuring out these humans that he's created and that's why he's upset and this really angry God throughout the Old Testament, because he's trying to figure them out and can't. Eventually God decides to send himself (in the form of Jesus, both fully divine and fully human) to experience this humanity that he's created that he doesn't understand. It's through that experience that God realizes how tough it is for man and how difficult this life is - thus why Christ calls out "My God, My God why have you forsaken me" on the cross - because he's identifying with that very human feeling of "where's God". So, Christ dies for us and from that point on, God's this loving, understanding God because he now understands humanity (from having been human), so he's now, in his understanding way, said "Okay, now I get it. You all go on living and, at the end, I'll be here for you."

Mixed in with this is the idea that God does not know the future. At any given moment in time he also knows all the information one can possibly know up that point and at that point (but not the future) - so his all knowingness is limited by time. Now, it's from that point of knowing everything that he makes the best decision he can, but he doesn't know the outcome and can't guarantee it. Their idea was that, because God understands the way the world works, his best decision is all but perfect - but that, somehow, this makes God more understandable because he can make mistakes and mess up. Thus, the problem of pain isn't God's fault, because he did make the best choice he knew how.

This is already a long post so I can't get into telling you the interaction back and forth about the response, but it was a really good conversation and helped me understand where they're coming from. The problem of evil/pain/suffering is a huge deal for them, as is human's having free will - and with free will, God not being able to know everything, because if he does then he's just playing games with us.

At the end of the night, I got to share with them my view that I'd rather have a God who is all-powerful, all-knowing who gave man free will as a choice - but in so doing, God self-limited himself from taking away that free will and forcing someone into something. As a result, evil isn't God's work - but rather man exhibiting his free will. As well, that God, because of free will, has given everyman the chance to except a relationship with Him (this was a foundation that we set early in the night, that we all agreed that people have a relationship with God). And, because of free will, many will say "No", but that's their choice, not God's. I don't think it was a convincing argument for them b/c of how big the problem of pain and the seeming dichotomoy of Angry God/Loving God in the OT and NT, but hopefully we'll continue to have conversations where we can interact on those and other issues.

They're forcing me to stretch my mind and think in new ways, which is great and I love it. Not that the way I understand God and the world is completely right, but I do think there's something powerful about a God that's in control (of past, present, future) and yet give's man free will that allows one to live life so much more boldly, and yet at peace because God is in control.

[Side note: another really interesting view on the universe was something they read in the NY Times last year. In the future, we'll be able to create an artificial intelligence world within a computer that is exactly like the world as we know it. Now, with that one world created, it makes sense that 10 of those can be created and 100, 1000, 10000, etc. and up to an infinite number. Against infinity the chances of us being one of those AI created worlds is really good. (my response at this point was that this was a load of crap because computer's are built on logic and decisions, therefore you can't place free will into a computer, logic world. Also, the fact that just because something "could" happen infinite # of times doesn't make something compared to it likely to happen within one of those times). So, in this AI experiment that we are living in - we're like a peetri (sp?) dish in a lab experiment and maybe whatever created us is doing a study on "ethnic conflict" or something - the creator imposed religions into the experiment to watch the conflict and therefore the religious are all true - in the sense that they were all given. So, irregardless of the fact that the religions conflict with one another - the goal of the experiment is ethnic conflict and since religion has led to ethnic conflict, then it's true to the end of the experiment. ]

Research Update

2008-10-31T09:00:00.002Z

Quick update on research. I spent this week looking through files at Kew, the National Archive in London, through their online database for files pertaining to Kenya from 1937-1947 - there doesn't appear to be much written on Kenya during the war period. In doing that I came across a set of 39 MI5 documents that were wire taps, communication intercepts, and reports on two men in Kenya. One, which you likely could have guessed, was Jomo Kenyatta with 21 of the reports. The second is a man named Peter Koinange with 18 reports. Evidently, he was a communist sympathizer, educated in the US through scholarships, and was connected to a very significant family in Kenya.

Interestingly enough, while there's plenty written on Kenyatta, there's nothing written on Koinange - just one book from 2000 about his father. The files that MI5 released on Peter Koinange weren't released to the public until 2007. So, it looks like a good field where there hasn't been a lot done - which would be great! As well, if there is enough to his story, it may lead into needing to do research in Nairobi at the National Archives there - which might mean it could turn into a further PhD topic or a book.

I'm excited! :-)

American Football, Hanson, Rowing, and Cold Weather

2008-10-28T20:19:00.004Z

I finally broke down and went and bought a 9-month membership to the gym today. It seemed like a good time with the exchange rate still being low. When I went to work out I got two really weird experiences:

1. I got to watch Monday night's NFL game of the Tennessee Titans vs. the Indianapolis Colts while I biked (thank you Sky Sports 2). What a last quarter! Never would have guessed that the Titans would end up winning by as much as they did! (oh wait, just saw a news article - looks like the Colts scored in the last 3 minutes that I missed - oh my gosh!! Still lost, but I'm impressed.)

(Associated Press. Saw this touchdown while I was on the stationary bike. Beautiful run!)

2. I got to use a rowing machine - for the first time since Parklands in Nairobi, Kenya - but while I was in pain from a machine that I was totally out of shape for - you guessed it, Hanson's "Mmmbop" came on. It was incredible! I felt like I was in Junior High again back in Kenya. :-)

(Boston.com blog picture. What more can you ask for then a Hanson soundtrack to your workout?)

Then, lastly in this update, it's getting really cold here! Northeastern Scotland got snow the last two days and we were slated for the possibility. Walking back from class tonight, the city had trucks out spraying the roads with sand/salt. It's already gloves, scarf, beanie, jacket weather - YIKES! For those of you in warmer weather, enjoy it for me. :-)

(Fun in the snow back in March 2004. This was in Bratislava, Slovakia with the Meyerdirk family - great time! They made this really cool "igloo" in the front yard. Oh, and no, we don't get snow like this in Belfast - just the cold weather, none of the fun. :-)

P.S. In case you hadn't seen it, JBU's "Toilet Paper" game has been named one of the top Basketball traditions in the US - right there alongside Duke and others - crazy, huh? Here's a story about it.

Does Not Getting to Vote in This Election Mean I Can Pass the Blame?

2008-10-27T17:51:00.002Z

Well folks, it doesn't look like I'm going to get to vote in this election. It's a sad day. Everyone else I know has recieved their ballot already for the election and mine still hasn't come (stopped by the post office again today to check). While it may be the result of some mistake in Siloam Springs, I don't necessarily want to blame it on them. I could have filled out the form wrong or perhaps the ballot came before I ever arrived and was returned when I wasn't here to pick it up (mail is returned after 2-4 weeks). So, if we could figure out what actually happened, it may very well be my fault or simply one of those awkward kinks in the system.

With that being said, for any of you who have voted overseas and absentee before, any suggestions? Should I call the voter office in Siloam? Should I call the US embassy? What do you think? Is there anything that I can do other than just wait for the excitement of Nov 4th?

I think the most discouraging thing about this is the realization that all over the world there are people who desperately desire the chance to vote, but don't have it. Here I have the opportunity to vote and I don't think I'm going to get to.

Snippets from my Research

2008-10-26T09:49:00.003Z

In spite of the slump in the middle of the week, it turned out to be a good week. I spent a couple of hours in the library on Friday looking at Parliamentary Debates in the House of Lords and the House of Commons in 44-45.I also looked at "Command Papers" from 44-46 - these are official military reports and documents on movements and strategies. I thought I'd share some of the more interesting exerts with you for your reading pleasure :-):

"...the abolition of forced labour in Kenya, in view of the statement of the Attorney-General in the Legislative Council on 18th April last that there were in Kenya some thousands of unemployed male persons.

[Response:] The Attorney General's statement related to unemployment among Asians [...] compulsory labour is kept under constant review and will be discontinued as soon as circumstances permit." (6 Dec. '44, House of Commons, Written Answers)

Compulsory labour was kept in place for quite a while in Kenya and was always focused on native African's, who were underrepresented in the Legislative Council in Kenya. They had little voice - other than a few in the Parliament in London - who called for just action.

"...the revision of service conditions for European and African civil servants [...Response:] the investigation will not cover the employes of local Native Councils in Kenya except those who are seconded Government servants.

[Mr. Sorenenson:...] say why they are not so included and what is the reason for this discrimination? [...] Is it not true that many of the native authority staffs want to be included?

[Response:] I could not answer that question." (House of Commons, Oral Answers, '44)

Additional notes point out that a member of the Asian Elected Members of Legislative Council (mind you, Asians were able to elect a couple representatives, African's 4 reps were appointed) requested "a unified Civil Service of all races" and the Kenya African Civil Service Association said "That there should be a unified non-European service."

Mr. Sorenson once again brings up questions about Kenya in April of 1945 when he asks the Secretary of State for the Colonies about forced labour in Africa - how many are being conscripted and for how long it is planned to continue? (Mind you, this came up 5 months earlier in the above discussion). The response is very telling, but then a follow-up question from Colonel Sir Arthur Evans is pitch perfect.

"[Response:...] unskilled manual labour conscripted for work in Government civil undertakings or private undertakings. Such conscription is permitted only for the purposes essential for the conduct of the war or the maintenance of the life of the community, and is in operation only in Kenya, Tanganyika and Northern Rhodesia. The latest figures available show that at the end of November, 1944 [6 month old figures], the number of conscripts in Kenya was 26,032 [...]

[Mr. Sorenson's response:] Does the minister appreciate that [...] this continuation of forced labour may have some unfortunate effects upon the activity of the whole industry and of the men themselves?

[...Colonel Sir Arthur Evans:] In order to put this matter in its proper perspective, will my hon. Friend [referring to the Under-Secretary of State for the Dominions who has been responding to Sorenson] also furnish the total number of people conscripted in this country?" (House of Commons, 25 Apr 1945, Oral Answers)

It's at the end of this question that the discussion ends. A couple things to note. First of all, at this point, in a country with millions of Kenyans, there were roughly only 30,000 white settlers. Of these, 3 thousand owned 12,000 square miles of cultivable land while one million Kikuyu only had 2,000 square miles (Piers Brendon, 545). I still have more research to do, but I'm curious if this conscription of labour for "private undertakings [...and] the maintenance of the community" continued for quite a while - simply because the settlers needed help farming the vast stretches of land they owned. (Note: 26,000 Kenyans conscripted, 30,000 White settlers)

Well I should stop there. I need to get ready for church and this is a lengthy installment. I also found some really interesting reports on Israel/Palestine during this period and 24+ terrorist acts/crimes carried out by militant Jewish sects in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv during this period. Really interesting! So, until next time...

Christian Right & This Year's Election

2008-10-25T20:21:00.003+01:00

For those of you who are interested, I just posted on my other blog about the Christian right's recent propaganda moves in this year's elections. If you're interested, here's the link:

"Christian's Shooting Themselves in the Foot"

My "Jump This Ship" Day

2008-10-23T21:35:00.005+01:00

In transition theory, there's typically a four step process. In a crude description, the four stages are (1) honeymoon, (2) depression, (3) adjustment, and (4) settlement. The basic idea is of course that no matter how big a transition we go through (across town or across the world), that we go through these four distinguishable phases.

Today was my realization that I'm clearly in the 2nd stage - the bottom of the pit, a bit of depression, a "I want to jump out off the plane with a parachute, jump off this ship and head back home" day. For me, I usually know I'm at this stage when things have been going pretty well, I feel acclimated, then I begin to get frustrated, discouraged and feel as though I'll never figure out the new systems/norms/etc.

Most noticeably, I've seen this stress in my dissertation and studies. For example, in a discussion today they were talking about "calendars" and "finding aids" - while I could figure out the second one simply enough, I had no clue on the first (evidently, it's a list of sources in some way related to a topic..I think).

I'm really feeling it in the sense of figuring out my MA thesis topic. Because I'm trying to learn about Kenya and at the same time figure out a topic, it's proving quite difficult when I talk to faculty and they want me to know more then my general areas of "religion's role in nationalist movements" or "explanations for why Kenya's independence came so late, comparatively". There's this sense that I'm missing the boat on something because the responses are rarely positive...or at least seem that way.

Things will no doubt get better - they always do - but it is wearing. Most importantly, though, I really feel like this year is going to be the year I can't get through without the Spirit's strength and wisdom. Previously, I've naturally done well at my studies - but in that, definitely recognized the blessings of the Spirit in clarity of thought and achievement. This year's a completely different challenge. This year it's more like "I don't know anything about this. I don't understand it. I can't keep it all straight. That's due next week and I'm afraid that I won't turn in what they're looking for...." and so the stress and anxiety continues in these same strains of thought.

But truly, the question becomes, how will I deal with it? On my own or resting in His strength and assured guidance? Indeed, as much as I'd love to be a university professor - whether I end up there or somewhere else - the story should be written by Him, rather than me. For one, it'll be a better story that way - and likely full of all kinds of unforeseen adventures. And so, I'll keep my seat on this plane and stay on the boat, trusting Him to carry me through or, in His time, to hand me the parachute or life-jacket. So, I sit and buckle in for this ride - sometimes, like getting on a roller coaster, thinking that I was crazy for ever having sat in this chair, but trusting the "maker" that the ride will hold together and I'll make it through.*

*Note: For those of you that don't know, I have an incredible fear of roller coasters. If God had wanted us to go up and down and all around like that, he would have given us wings. He didn't.

Financial Troubles & Painfully Slow Process a Help?

2008-10-21T23:08:00.002+01:00

While the world's in financial chaos, you may be wondering how that might help me out? At the same time, once I let you know that I still haven't gotten my funds for the year - that they're stalled in Queen's accounting office - you might wonder even more how it could be a good thing.

Well, let me tell you how I think God might be turning a slow, frustrating process and an economic downturn into a blessing for at least this little, freckled student. Jude just let me know that the exchange rate (which was at 1.73+ over the last month) just dropped to 1.67 today. While it doesn't seem signficant when you're exchanging $10,000+, it adds up. Everyday it seems like another report about Britain's failing economy comes out (today was a report that their manufacturing sector had the lowest sales in the last 10 years, or something like that).

So, perhaps, while I'm waiting on my money to be processed by Queen's, living on credit card debt, a blessing - in the form of a better exchange rate for my money - might be the outcome. We'll just have to see.

In the World: It's a Whole Different Ballgame

2008-10-19T10:13:00.004+01:00

It would be an understatement to say that my life this year is different then any other year I've experienced. By far, living in and among students at a secular university is much different then JBU. From what people have told me (and I believe them), JBU had it's own problems with drugs, alcohol, and sex. In six years of working/living there, I never came across it. This year is so much different.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
(Matthew 11:19)

Over the last several years, this passage has been one that has weighed upon my heart. The life I've lived, up to this point, would be one in which no one would ever say "He's the friend of sinners." I lived a pretty cautious, careful life. While I'm thankful for that and I think it saved me some heartached in my youth, now, as I'm older and more mature, I don't feel as though it's an okay place to remain. As Christ said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) Indeed, the testimony I bare of a God who came to redeem and rescue his children is one that is most readibly accessible to the sick.

As a result of all this, one of my goals this year is to develop good, strong friendships with non-Christians that I might learn from them and be stretched by their perspective, but also, that through our friendship, they might see something of Christ and a life lived differently because of Christ. So I have built relationships with a group of non-Christians that I really enjoy, but almost every time with them, there's another shock to my system. Things that make me think, "Really? You actually do that? It's not just the stereotype of non-Christians?" For example, we've all sat in a kitchen talking while one roled a cigarette and added marijauna to it. The other night we were sitting around dinner and one of the group told us that she'd been dating this guy for 3 weeks - and while she'd called another in the group to find out how long to wait to have sex with him - she decided to go ahead and so they're having sex. Another friend is planning on living with his girlfriend when he returns to the states this next year for a year to a year and a half to see if the relationships going to work before getting married.

Needless to say, God's constantly putting me in situations where I'm trying to learn discernment and wisdom when and to what I should speak. Many of them have pasts scarred by "religious" people - so I'm working against that roadblock as well. If you think of it, join me in praying that God would give me opportunities.

One such opportunity has already happened. I've always kept my mouth shut when it comes to politics because they're so strongly Democratic and anti-McCain/Palin. I knew that by jumping in to defend McCain/Palin I'd simply feed into their stereotypes of Christian religious conservatism. It was neat, then, that a couple nights ago at dinner they intentionally stopped and asked me for my religous-political views. So, I had the opportunity to share my take on the Democratic vs. Republican party, on aboration, etc. in a really healthy way and one in which they were interested. Thus, I was able to be honest, because they were the ones that initiated.

In a similar way, two of the people in the group have asked to have coffee with me - so I'm hoping that opens up opportunities for speaking into their lives as well.

I'm on this journey of learning to be in the world, but not of the world. It's a road on which, at times, the path seems unclear. It's a journey that brings another surprise around every corner. Yet, I walk this way, knowing that my Savior walks with me, His Holy Spirit is my seal and guide, and the sovereignty of the Father watches over it all. That is the peace, the strength, and the encouragement of this Triune God in the midst of a world that doesn't know him.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
(1 John 2:15-16)

Mom & Dad's Visit!!

2008-10-18T17:36:00.003+01:00

Mom and Dad were here this last week. It was a marvelous, wonderful four days! It's so great being able to hang out with your parents and do fun (and sometimes silly things). We were able to do Belfast (Titanic Quarter, St. George's market, Shankill Rd, Queen's University, Botanic Gardens), the North Coast (Giant's Causeway, Whitepark Bay, Bushmill's), and the Southern part (Newcastle, Toleymoore Forest, Downpatrick Cathedral, St. Patrick Center)...and in the midst of it we got 6 games of Settler's in and Maud's icecream, so all is right in the world of Ostendorff vacations. :-)

It was really a great time and I'm so thankful for the gift that they gave me in spending the money and the time to come. (I'm also thankful for their graciousness when I drove on the wrong side of the road several times throughout the 4 days. :-)

It's back!

2008-10-10T15:01:00.003+01:00

I'm posting this from my Mac that - while working, is currently half-taken apart. But hey, it's working!!!

After turning it upside down yesterday afternoon, going at it with Miriam's hair dryer, and putting it in the fridge overnight to dry it out - we're back up and running...sorta.

In the midst of taking it apart to dry it out, I kind of broke the power button connector to the motherboard - so I've got to figure that piece out...maybe super glue...I don't know, but the computer's still good, which is encouraging. :-)

Water + Computer = Bad Day

2008-10-09T21:53:00.002+01:00

As the title suggests, my computer's out of commission for a while. I was cramming this afternoon for some reading that I hadn't finsihed and spilled half a mug of water all over my computer. YIKES!!

Needless to say, after trying to dry it out this afternoon, it wouldn't turn on. I'm going to take it apart tomorrow and dry it piece by piece, and we'll see if that helps. Chances are (esp. since I tried turning it back on and it didn't work) that it's fried.

Blog posts will be scarce for a while, as will email, and facebook (although recently, it has been really scarce and I'm way behind on it. Sorry!).

I'm trying to figure out what to do. Here's my options, let me know what you think:

1. Dry it out tomorrow, turn it on, it works, and we're back to normal. Of course, this is the best scenario, but the one that I can't really make a decision to change (other than try to dry it out).

2. Go without a computer. Jack doesn't have a laptop and just does everything he needs to in the computer labs. This is appealing in the sense that I would not be in my room so much...but not very appealing in the sense that it means Skype and IM are pretty much out of the question - and it effects storing pictures and music as well.

3. If it's shot, buy a new computer with money I don't have. Either I'd be paying for it on my student loans (that haven't quite come through yet) or putting it on a credit card and paying it off with student loans over the year (I get them in three installments). While the idea of going into debt for a computer (again) isn't exciting, I did have my last Mac for 4 years (this month, actually). Which leads me ot another question - do I buy something cheap that will work (say $500) or do I buy another Mac that I know I'll use for years (for closer to $1000)....I don't know!

Thoughts? Opinions? Similar stories of woe from your computer getting fried?

I Love It!

2008-10-06T22:38:00.003+01:00

I just got back from the Christian Union not too long ago. I can't tell you how much I love being with other believers. I know that sounds like a cheesy, Christian card, but I really do. I get excited on Saturdays about church on Sunday. I had a great time at Communion Sunday morning, hanging out with believers at the Carson's house for lunch, and going to Sunday night service at Fisherwick. Then, on top of that, the CU tonight. Really, I think I'm a Church junkie...

On a more serious vein of thought with all of this though, I've been reflecting on the family of God around the world. I often find myself wondering why it is that God's given me the opportunity to travel to over two dozen countries, as young as I am. I still don't know all the reasons - but I know for me it has become a huge piece in the foundation of my faith and my understanding of it. Whether I've been at a church service in Zagreb, Prague, Fortaleza (Brazil), Bangkok, Paris or elsewhere, being with the family of God, worshiping has been similar in all corners of the world. At times the language, style, and form is different, but the heart, passion, and presence of God is always evident wherever I've been.

Having seen the people of God passionate for Him the world over, I don't worry about God's Kingdom advancing. The reality of "His Kingdom come, His will be done" is taking place each day, changing lives, changing communities, and bringing glory to the Father in every part of the globe.

In the same vein, no matter what country I've been in, I've always felt as though I was with family. Spending the afternoon at Robert & Diana Carson's on Sunday with Naomi (N. Irish), Nialls (Irish), Edwin (Dutch), Spencer (US), Vasco (Italian), Jack (US), and Robyn (US) was incredible. None of us had known each other for more than a couple of weeks - most for only a couple of hours - yet we came together (Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic, Bible church, etc) and simply enjoyed each other's company. It's been the same experience for me wherever I've gone.

I've come to believe that this is unique to the body of Christ. My non-Christian friends here simply don't have any other similar structure to which they can fit in - so, no matter where they're going, they begin their relationships from scratch. I hope and trust that they'll see something different, something appealing in the family of God and Christ in and through them this year.

The First Week: Giant's Causeway, Vineyard, Class, The Tropics, a Socialist shindig, a birthday, and St. George

2008-10-04T13:50:00.006+01:00

As you might guess from the fact that I haven't posted this week (and therefore, haven't been sitting in front of my computer), it's been a really busy first week of classes. So, here's the rundown:

Saturday - North Coast (with 150 people!)

The International Friendship Association, of which Fisherwick Presbyterian (my church here) is a part, organized a trip for internationals to the North Coast. So, after three touring buses, nearly 150 students, and the great part of a day - we'd been to the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and hung out in Port Stewart for a while.

Here are a few pictures:

Giant's Causeway Trip

Sunday - Vineyard, Belfast Style

Checked out the local Vineyard church on Sunday with John Lenschow. A really good time with contemporary worship and a deep commitment to the city of Belfast and making an impact for Jesus here. This will become John's "home" church while he's here and likely one that I will revisit throughout the year.

Here are just a few pictures from that morning. They meet at a special needs school in their auditorium.

Vineyard Church in Belfast

Monday - A Huge Group at CU!

Monday night was the first meeting of the Christian Union - a student led, evangelical/protestant group in Europe. Queen's University plays host to the largest Christian Union in Europe with nearly 400 people typically attending (although this first week was somewhere between 500-600). N. Ireland is very much like the American south. Christianity here is a cultural thing, so many of these students come because it's the thing to do - but the CU preaches Christ crucified and resurrected boldly - so I trust that God's doing things through it even in the lives of cultural Christians. The focus this semester is going to be the book of Philippians.

Ironically enough, as the 500+ students were dispersing after the CU meeting, several hundred students were waiting outside the CU to get into the dance club/bar/pub that is in the CU (there's a picture of the line below).

Here's a video and then a couple of pictures (sorry, I was in the very back of the room).

Christian Union (CU)

Tuesday - An Hour in the Tropics

In my last post I mentioned the Botanic Gardens. Well, I stumbled across a new piece of it this last week that I really enjoy - "The Tropics House". It plays host to a whole slew of tropical plants, so, in order to share that with you, here are some pictures:

Botanic Garden

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday - Classes

I began classes this week. Intimidating, yet exciting. The general focus here is that courses in a Master's program help develop skills in the student - but don't provide general information. This is different from my understanding of how the US works. In other words, I have to do all the reading and legwork to learn about British History and the British Empire, but the School of History will equip me with theories and skills to handle that information and represent it in writing and presentation.

Tuesday - A research methods course that is tought by 5 different professors (different one every night). Mostly straight lecture with 40 of us in the course.

Wednesday - a free undergraduate, final year course on the end of the British Empire from 1930 to 1997. I'm hoping this may provide a really good way to get into the material that is both pertinent to the British Empire in Kenya, as well as in general. We meet for an hour in the morning for lecture, then there's a "tutorial" in the afternoon for 1 1/2 hours where the students (us) come having read and studied a bunch of primary sources and the teacher facilitates discussion in a smaller group (my group at 1:30p on Wed. was 4! :-) I'm also likely going to take a French languge for non-spcialist course Wed. afternoons - it's $30 and seems like an opportunity that would be a shame to waste.

Thursday - This is the theory course (Historiography) and breaks up the 40 from Tuesday. So, my group is about 12 and it's what I think is similar to a US master's program - students come prepared, a few do a presentation each week and, with the help of a lecture, facilitate discussion on the core topics for that day. It's in this course that we will cover memory, marxism, postmodernism, etc. and how those theories and perspectives effect the study of history.

Thursday - Alpha Course vs. Social Society

Ever so briefly, I had to share about the irony that was Thursday. I attended a meeting on "Barack Obama: Hope or Hype?" Thursday after lunch. Interestingly enough, it was hosted by the Socialist Society and basically was looking at the question of whether or not Obama would bring about the change Socialists look for. It ended with the conclusion that Socialists have to come together to make their voices heard through protest and Barack's isn't the change they're looking for.

In contrast to that, I attended the leaders meeting for an Alpha Group that I'm helping with this semester Thur evening. It's a bible study that is for those who don't know about Christianity or are curious. You have dinner together, watch a video, and then it's an open discussion where people can ask questions, disagree, or agree with what they saw in the video.

Where the Socialists are trying to bring change through protest and their voices, the Church is bringing change through relationships in an environment of discussion and freedom to disagree.

Friday - Slavery & Irish Music

Last night I went to a lecture by Thomas Holt, distinguished professor of African-American Slavery at the University of Chicago, who was in town. A really interesting comparison of 19th century slavery to modern slavery in sweat shops and other situations where labor is abused for the manufacturing of goods.

After the lecture, Jack and I met up with the gang and headed to Kelly's Cellar for a pint and to celebrate Christine's birthday. Kelly's has live Celtic/Irish music on Friday nights - which is fun in of itself. On top of that, it's a very openly Republican/Catholic pub so that brings it's own unique character to it as well. Megan took pictures, so I'll try to get some up this next week. In the meantime, here's a picture from last summer at Kelly's:

From Photos for Blog

Saturday - St. George, You're My Hero

Lastly, Jude, Megan and I checked out St. George's open air market this morning. Rated as one of the best (if not the best) open air market in the UK/Europe, it was a great place with a lot of incredible food, fresh sea food, fruits & vegetables, as well as live music. I picked up, of all things, 4 passion fruit!! Yeah! It's a fruit that my family used to LOVE in Kenya - so I was excited to see it! It will probably be one of our first stops next week when I pick mom and dad up from the airport (they'll be here a week from now!! woohoo!) Here's a picture and a video from this morning:

From St. George's Market

Botanic Gardens & Cave Hill

2008-09-26T13:55:00.002+01:00

(Mattias, Myself, and Robyn on the top of Cave Hill)

This morning Mattias (Germany), Robyn (Memphis), and I headed out to Belfast Castle and Cave Hill for a morning climb/walk. What a gorgeous place to both hike and see the city from. It was pretty overcast/foggy this morning, so as you'll see from the picture below, it looks more like what we stereotype Scotland as and not Ireland. They say, on a clear day, you can see the mountains of Scotland from the top of the hill.

Then, yesterday, I spent 3 or 4 hours in the Botanic Gardens next to the university walking around and reading (just finished John Grisham's non-fiction work An Innocent Man) and it is an incredible place - it will more than likely be my retreat this year when I need to get outside. It is also home to a iron and glass greenhouse built in the 1830s and 1840s that's really pretty and makes me think of what buildings in "The White City" (the World's Fair in Chicago) might have looked like. So, the picture of the rose garden below is a taste of the Botanic Gardens.

(Top two pictures are from the rose garden in the Botanic Gardens.
The bottom two pictures are from Cave Hill this morning.)

We Won!

2008-09-25T10:18:00.003+01:00

So, as promised, here is finally a picture with people in it:

From right to left: Melissa (US), John (US), Christine (Germany), Me,
Megan (US), Dale (Canada), and Jude (US)

Tada! It's been a longtime coming, I know. Now, here's the story behind it:

In this first week, we've kind of established ourselves at a local pub that is quickly becoming our place. We joke that it'll be like cheers one day - where every knows us (although, they probably already so, as the loud Americans :-). So, last Wed. we were there and they had a quiz night. It's a pretty common thing here during the week at pubs for entertainment. Basically, there's ten rounds of ten questions a piece that range from world news/geography to identifying music or pictures. So, last week, with the help of a really nice Irish couple, we came in second to last. Yeah, when you start asking a bunch of Americans about British cartoons, we're just not very good. :-)

We decided to head back this week to give it another shot. The group that went is the group in the picture. Before Jude showed up, we were trying to come up with a team name and one suggestion was "5 Americans and a German," but the Canadian didn't like that idea very much. :-) Poor Dale got teased a good bit last night - but he's a good sport. So anyways, we start going through the quiz and do pretty well the first couple of rounds, but then we get into the picture round and hit a music round that is mostly music from the 60s-70s - needless to say we began totally tanking on our point scores.

We go into the final round somewhere around 2nd or 3rd to last. The last round is always double points and in this case (because several questions had two answers), there was a potential for 24 or so points. Well, the questions are all movies/t.v. shows/actors and we ACE it!! The score is enough to pull us into 7th place (there were either 12 or 14 teams) - woohoo! Well, there's always a team in the middle that gets a prize - and we were it!

No, we didn't technically "win" as in first place, but hey, we did win that middle place prize. :-)

Some of the best things about the quiz nights:
*for some reason we must have a sign on our back that says, "We're Americans, we don't know these things. Help." because without a doubt, every week, someone jumps in to be our advisor on questions. :-)
*The guy who does the quiz is hilarious in his ability to make you think you got the answer wrong. Question: In what year was barbed wire invented? his answer is usually something like "1875.......is wrong. It was 1874." but all you hear is that first number and think you've totally missed it.

Well there you go. I can definitely suggest a quiz night at a local pub - it's a great way to get to know a group of people, gives you something in common, and is just a lot of fun!

"The Dark Knight" with 8 Germans

2008-09-24T11:01:00.003+01:00

(image from ReelMovies.com)

In heading out to see "The Dark Knight" for £3 Tuesday's at the local theater last night, I mentioned to Steffanie (from Germany and a fellow believer) that the movie deals a lot with right and wrong choices. In reflecting on it though, I think a broader description would be that it deals with choices in general. The Joker makes up a new story each time he tells someone about the scars on his face, so we never know what really happened, but he chooses to make that a part of his story and, perhaps, justification for his actions. Harvey Dent chooses to go out for revenge, when he had the choice to not crumble into a bitterness lust for vengence. Batman struggles with several choices throughout - turning himself in, continuing to fight, etc.

Probably the most interesting choice of all is the choices between the two ferries. In a movie where human life is no big deal to the Joker and even Batman has his very dark moments, these two ferries choose to not kill one another, even under threat of their own death.

Side note: In walking back, I was talking with Mattias from Germany who said he didn't like the idea of one man being the the strong and powerful to fight for everyone else. I understand what he's saying and why he says it, but it does strike me as interesting, since the idea of the ubermenschen (the "overman") came from German philosophical thought.

Pictures of The Troubles in N. Ireland

2008-09-23T00:09:00.002+01:00

Here's a link to a set of pictures that the Belfast Telegraph has put together online about the troubles in N. Ireland, from when they were at their worst in the 1970s right through to today.

Boston Telegraph Photo Exhibit

Ways You Can Pray

2008-09-22T12:16:00.003+01:00

I know several of you have a heart for prayer, so I thought I'd share a few things with you for which I would love your prayers.

Wisdom for Church - I really enjoyed Fisherwick this week and they have plenty of ways for me to get plugged in and help out. So, if God doesn't desire for me to be somewhere else, I'd love to jump in and make the most of the year. But, I also don't want to miss out on God's desire for me if there is somewhere else He would have me be.

Protection through Wisdom - one of the great joys for me so far is getting to build friendships with people who don't believe the same way as me. I have learned so much through Megan, Melissa, Jude, Camille, Joy...etc. and I covet these relationships - they're so sweet to me. At the same time, I need to be wise because we don't always share the same convictions. So, pray that I would practice self-control and self-discipline in wisdom throughout all my relationships - both with those like me and unlike me.

Finances - my loans from the US government will hopefully be in within the next week. So, that's a praise. However, at the same time, things here add up really quick because of the exchange rate - so pray that I would honor what the Lord has given me and be wise in how I spend that money. Not too cautious, that I miss out on opportunities, but not careless either.

Thanks for your prayers! Probably once a week or so (unless something special comes up), I'll put up a post just asking for specific prayer requests. Thanks!

Prayer @ a Presbyterian Church

2008-09-22T12:08:00.005+01:00

I went to both the 11am and the 7pm service yesterday at Fisherwick Presbyterian (there's a picture below of the church), and I have never seen such strong commitment to the ministry of prayer and an openness to the direction of the Spirit in a Presbyterian church. John Lenschow and I both commented that it was something one would only see in a charismatic church in the US.

However, it was really responsibly handled and, for me at least, exciting to see that this church with such great a history is desirous of and open to the Spirit being alive and moving in their body today. The first service had a prayer team beforehand praying. After his sermon, the pastor mentioned four people (not by name, but rather by a characteristic - depression or a certain image) that the Spirit had laid on the prayer team's heart and a word of encouragement for them. Then, in the night service with young adults, it ended in prayer with the pastor and the prayer team going around the room, laying hands on, and praying for each of the individuals.

I was really impressed and encouraged by it. Evidently, prayer is a passion of Pastor Derek's. It was definitely a great first Sunday in N. Ireland.

Places in My First Week

2008-09-20T22:00:00.000+01:00

I apologize that none of these pictures will include people - it usually makes pictures (and stories) more interesting if people are in them. It's something I fully intend to work on, since the people I meet this year are a lot more important then the places I'll be. With that said, here are pictures of where I am this year that will hopefully give you a backdrop for the stories that come out about during the year:

This is the Lanyon building (named after the architect). It is the pride and joy of the university - rightfully so - and the centerpiece of it. It's design was inspired by a building at Oxford. On the far side of this picture, the row of townhouses, is where the majority of the humanities school's are located - including mine. In the right hand corner of Lanyon is the Great Hall - it's very Harry Potter dining hall-esque and where we had the International Reception last night.

Cutting across the grass to the row of townhouses, you'll find "The School of History and Anthropology" at #15 (the blue door on the left in this picture).

Across the street from the Lanyon building is this, the Student Union. Newly built within the last couple of years, it houses a coffee shop, used book store, Oxfam store, restaurants, a pub, a dance club, and a small grocery store. Clements, the coffee shop here, is quickly becoming one of my favorites - and they're spread out throughout the city. Their tagline is "We're Religious About Coffee" and you get a free drink for every ten you have.

Behind the front of the Lanyon. This is the quad area (notice the pristine grass that is roped off - you don't walk or lounge on the grass here - it's mostly ornamental. :-P) Queen's International is located on the right hand side of this picture.

This is the main library, located on the far-side of the Lanyon building in the picture up top, but before the row of townhouses. Interestingly enough, the front building in this picture is where you enter the library. Looks like a church right? Well, it was built as a library, but intentionally built to look like a church - weird, huh? It gets weirder. See the 12 story building behind it? That's where all the books are stored (the two buildings are linked by a glass, sky bridge). Couldn't be more of a stark architectural contrast, huh? Want to know what's even worse? History books are all stored on the top three floors of the building in the back - and wireless access stops three floors below that. Yikes!! Maybe it'll keep me from getting distracted?

This is Fisherwick Presbyterian where I'll go to church on Sunday. They have an 11am regular service (I'm assuming more liturgical) and then a 7pm college service, so I'll check out both. They hosted a free dinner during international week and several of their members helped welcome students. The churches in town have a HUGE ministry to incoming international students and they do a great job with it! (Oh, for those of you who know Seth Wright, this is where he and his wife Julie go)

This is where I live on Mount Charles. These row of townhouses are owned by the school and house anywhere from 6-9 students in individual rooms, with two kitchens, two bathrooms, and two showers. I'll be posting a video of the house in the next couple of days, so if you're curious what it's like, you'll get to see it. It's an interesting mashup of all kinds of students. Alli is an American from D.C. working on her PhD in linguistics here while writing for National Geographic Travel (sweet, huh?). Then Sebastien, Arthur, Miriam, and Tobias are all undergraduates from Germany studying here for a semester under an EU program called Erasmus that pays for their studies - another sweet deal. There are 2 or 3 others that will be living here too, but I haven't met them yet.

So, there you go, that's a little bit of a scenic frame work for life here. It's been a REALLY great first week with a great balance of getting to make new friends and spend time walking around the city with them or talking over a pint at a pub. At the same time, it's been a great week of connecting with some believers in town, getting to encourage them, and find out about ways to get plugged in.

All in all, it's been a great start to a new year in a foreign country. :-)

This Week in "Irish English"

2008-09-20T11:38:00.000+01:00

Peter Fee, a medical doctor and a believer who's involved with the International Friendship Association (IFA), laughed when a student from Japan referred to the way Northern Irish people speak as "Irish English". So, in honor of that, here is this week's installment of "How to Speak Irish English". Enjoy.

call over - go by, stop by/in (usually in reference to someone inviting you to stop by their office or home)

call in - same as above

digs - where you live (i.e. "I've got to stop by my digs" or "Did you get settled into your digs?"

youse/yousens - you or you all (i.e. "Yousens going to the city center?")

marks - grades (i.e. "Did you get good marks on the exam?")

query - question (i.e. "Don't forget to stop by the student guidance center if you have any query at all.")

off prints - print offs (i.e. "Don't forget your off prints when you leave the SCC (Student Computer Center)

and, my favorite so far...

craic (pronounced "crack") - laugh, joke, or what's going on (i.e. "How's the craic?" or "Good craic, eh?")

So, there you go, now you can begin speaking "Irish English" :-).

First Day in Belfast & My Room

2008-09-16T22:30:00.000+01:00

A quick video of my room here at Queen's.

I arrived this morning at 8:30am - that's 2:30am Arkansas time. It's been an incredible first day! Here's some highlights:

*Immigration - for those of you praying, got through immigration without a glitch - it was such a relief!

*Met five people coming to Queen's right off the bat. It's been great to get to know them and spend the day bumming around Belfast with a couple of them.

*Have already gotten plugged into some believers through the International Friendship Association. One of the girls was a missionary kid from Malawi, so that's been a cool similarity. Also, one of the guys I've met was going to be a Catholic priest before heading into his field - a really solid guy. On top of that, met Seth Wright and his wife Julie tonight and they've been a huge blessing and will be a great way to get connected to a church here in town.

*Spent dinner tonight with Seth and his wife, Julie. They're incredible and have been so sweet to offer their house and whatever they can do to help me out here.

*Getting a backside room on the house - it's a wee bit smaller, but there won't be as much noise carrying from the street.

*Housing - my house is 3 minutes from both the library and where my classes will be. 5 minutes from the student union. 15 minutes from City Center (the city hall, etc.). 5 minutes from the Botanical Gardens. 10 minutes from Fischwick Presbyterian Church - where I'll likely join Seth & Julie for church - they have a great college ministry.

As you can see in the video about, my room's not much to look at, but I'm really excited for it and I think it'll be great. Small enough to be cozy, but also small enough to motivate me to go study at coffee shops, the library, and outside in parks.

Well, I should sign off and head to bed. Thanks for your prayers!

Last Day in Little Rock (and I'm Off!)

2008-09-15T06:36:00.000+01:00

(This is all my stuff for the year. Crazy!)

First of all, I just sent out a mass email with prayer requests and how to contact me this year. If you didn't get it, but would like it, let me know and I'll send it to you. I promise it wasn't an intentional miss - but rather what I get for doing it quickly. Sorry! I really would love for you to get the email!

Second, here are pictures from my last day in Little Rock to share with you as I head to bed. Thank you mom (my photographer :-) for these pictures!

This is me and my wonderful 89 year-old grandma. She's great!

This is one of my best friends from college, Jonathan Hornok, and his wife Mariah. They came over for Ethiopian food. It's been so great to get to spend time with them these last 6 weeks!

This is Josh & Chelsea Collum, they came over for Ethiopian as well. Great friends from college who just moved to Little Rock. It's been awesome getting to hang out with them and help them remodel a house here in town.

Lastly, this is my twin brother David. I got to spend the entire day with him from church to lunch to ultimate frisbee and dinner. It was so great to see him before leaving. I love him so much and am so proud of him - I'm gonna miss him a lot this year!

Christmas in September!

2008-09-14T06:29:00.000+01:00

I came home yesterday (Friday) afternoon to an incredible surprise - Christmas decorations, gifts wrapped in Christmas packaging, Christmas music on the stereo, and mom making my favorite Christmas dessert - float! By mom's response, I must have had this huge smile on my face. What a great surprise!

One of the things mom and I had talked about over the last month is the fact that I won't be here for Christmas and that the things she has for me for Christmas I can't take with me. I had given her the idea of taking pictures of the items and emailing them to me on Christmas morning - so in a sense, opening my email would be opening up the presents. Well, she talked to my sister in the Middle East on Friday and shared that she was thinking about having me open the gifts before I left, to which Sara replied - "Just do it!" To which I am hugely grateful - thanks Sara!

It was a wonderful night! We had lasagna for dinner (one of my favorite foods), float for dessert, played two games of Settlers of Catan (both of which I lost - oh well! :-), and got some of the coolest gifts I've ever recieved. One gift is the picture above - a set of wood carved bookends from Kenya. Mom picked them up last year on their trip - I love them and they'll look great in an office! Also, mom found a telephone from the 1940/1950s at a garage sale and it's really cool looking - plus it was made in England, which is ironic and fun. Other than that, I got a Christmas ornament from Rwanda, a framed picture from an artist in Kenya, and a "rungu" (a Kenya club) :-). It was a great Christmas!

Plus, it was Christmas nearly four months early - how cool is that! It's a fun way to head off, having been able to celebrate a "holiday" with mom and dad before I leave.

A Week to Go

2008-09-08T17:17:00.000+01:00

(From JBU Mission Trip last summer, my first trip to N. Ireland)

A week to go! So, the butterflies of anticipation, excitement, and (a little) nervousness are beginning to build. A week from today I fly to another country to live there for a year. No driving home on the weekends and no bailing if it gets difficult. I step on that plane and I'm in for the year. I am excited though - in spite of all the challenges I'm sure this year will bring. I'm looking forward to being able to spend more time as an introvert and excited about developing better skills in focusing and discipline. I also get the feeling that the UK may not be so "marriage happy" for people my age, and if that's true, I'm looking forward to a year without the "why aren't you married?" or "I have a great gal in mind for your wife" or "hey, so have you found your wife yet?" comments. I know I'll still get these from this side of the pond - but ce la vie!

For those who are curious, here's what next week looks like for me:

Monday
5:00a - leave Little Rock for Memphis
7:30a - Arrive at Memphis International Airport/grab breakfast with mom and dad
9:25a - My flight leaves for Newark, NJ (via Charlotte, NC)
4:00p - Arrive in Newark & check-in to my international flight
9:00p - Leave Newark for Belfast (Goodbye USA!)

Tuesday
9:00a - Arrive in Belfast and hopefully get through immigration without too much of a hassle
10:00a - Take the free bus to Queen's University and check-in to housing for Orientation week
6:00p - Grab dinner with a friend (Seth Wright) and his wife at their home in Belfast

Wednesday
Enjoy a down day to checkout the campus, botanical gardens, etc.

Thursday & Friday
International Orientation for two days. Meet up with John Lenschow who will also be at Queens.

Bring it on! :-)

2 Weeks

2008-09-02T04:43:00.000+01:00

(Courtesy of UKCoastguide.co.uk)

Two weeks from this morning I fly out of Memphis for Belfast. Yikes!! It's incredible how quickly these last 4 weeks have flown - and, at the same time, there's definitely been this building sense of anticipation the whole time. In one way, I'm ready for the adventure to begin, in another, it's been so good to be back home that it's not easy to think of leaving again. I'll miss hanging out with the Millers, playing ultimate frisbee with the guys on Sunday, going to Fellowship and getting pumped about it every Saturday night as I go to bed, learning from Josh as we work on his and Chelsea's house, hanging out with Jonathan & Mariah, and most of all, getting the chance to be around my mom, dad, brother, and Grandma so much. It's going to be a great year, but these six weeks have really been a fabulous way to spend the interim. Even though finances are really tight, I'm so glad I've been able to do this.

What I'm Studying This Year & What It Will Be Like

2008-08-27T20:00:00.000+01:00

(Image from Queen's School of History)

People often ask me what I'll be studying this year and what it's going to be like. The honest answer is, I don't really know. I know my degree is going to be an MA in Modern History with a concentration in British History. "Modern History" here means "the 19th and 20th centuries, with special reference to the relationship between Britain and its empire." My focus will be on Britain's relationship with it's East African colonies and the legacy that has left in language and culture. Other than that, here's what I know:

Class Time
My class time will only be in the evenings. The prospectus says that "Most teaching is on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (6–8pm)," which makes me think that there will probably be special seminars or presentations on other evenings that I'll need to attend as well.

What Will Classes be Like? What will you be studying?
Here's what I know. The year will be made up of 5 components and is split into thirds. The first third will focus on two modules, the second on another two, and the final third will focus solely on my 20,000 word dissertation (I think, roughly 80 pages).

Components:
1) Research methods in history
2) Primary-source research
3) Historiography (aka the writing of history)
4) British History
5) Thesis (double-weighted)

Other than that, I don't know much. I'm assuming much of my time will be spent reading, writing, and doing research in the library. I'm hoping this will give me the freedom to travel to the north coast or to the Mourne Mountains for weekends to read/write/study away from Belfast and, thus, occasionally, get a break.

Breaks
I'll get two breaks during the year. 3 weeks at Christmas and then 3 weeks at Easter. My plan right now is to go visit my sister and brother-in-law in the Middle East during Easter break. She should just be having her first child and it'd be great to see the three of them! As far as Christmas break, I'm not entirely sure. I've got some friends I'd like to go visit in France - they live about 45 minutes outside of Paris and then another friend stationed with the army in Germany, so it'd be great to see them. The reality is, of course, that money is going to dictate how much I can do - so we'll just have to see how far the loans that I'm taking for the year get me.

Well, that's about all I know at this point. I'll keep you updated as it begins and let you know more then. Sorry I don't have more for you now. Let the adventure/gauntlet begin! :-)

Found Out Where I'm Going to Live

2008-08-23T05:41:00.000+01:00

(Picture of 26-50 Mount Charles set of Queen's Houses)

I got word about where I'm going to be staying next year. In typical Queen's fashion, within a couple of days of sending in my 2 week late housing request, Queen's had responded to my application and I got my first choice of places to stay. Crazy!

Grandma made the comment today that it sure seems like God wants me to go to N. Ireland. I've found myself shaking my head over the last few weeks too - everything's come together so quickly and with such ease. It seems like there have been so many steps along the way where God could have closed a door and he hasn't. So, following through with what a wonderful lady who was a missionary in France for many years told me, I'm going to assume there's a green light until God shows me a red. :-)

Oh, so back to where I'm staying. I got into the Mount Charles set of Queen's Houses. There a lot like a townhouse. There will be between 7-8 in the house and I'll be sharing a bathroom with 2-3 of them. Wireless internet's included and I'll have own room. It's a great location - just around the corner from Villa Italia and the closest to downtown Belfast of any of the housing. So, needless to say I'm pretty stoked.

Just over 3 weeks to go - I'm starting to get butterflies about the move, the work, the transition, etc, but I'm also starting to get really exciting. 3 weeks and my whole world get's turned upside down...yikes! :-)

A Month To Go: Time for an Update

2008-08-16T00:48:00.000+01:00

(Courtesy of CelticConnectionsRadio.org)

It hit me today that I leave for N. Ireland in a month. Man, the last two weeks here at home have flown by! By way of an update, here you go:

Loans/Funding

Great news here! As of my last post, I was going to have to take out private loans to pay for this year - YIKES!! When you're taking out nearly $40,000 in loans, the thought of private (vs education loans) is scary, to say the least. Yesterday morning I got an email from the international office at Queen's that they were cleared to use US Federal Gov't loans for their US students. Woohoo!! So, Monday I've got to get on the phone with the FAFSA people and start moving ahead.

In the meantime, I'm in a financial crunch. The housing deposit for Queen's is $600 and was due this week. So, I've got to work on something this weekend for that. So we'll see - I don't know if mom and dad will be able to loan me the money and I'll pay them back or if I'll need to take out a loan from my bank. We'll see!

Departure

I don't know if I mentioned it anywhere else, but I have tickets bought for Sep. 15th. So, I'll fly out of Memphis that morning and then arrive in Belfast Tuesday morning, the 16th.

Housing

Along with the housing deposit above, I have to decide on housing. Queen's sent me a great booklet on all there housing. Based off of the book, location, and the recommendation from a friend that was at Queen's this last year (Philip Londeree), I'm hoping to get into a set of townhouses that are across the street from Villa Italia. For any of you that have been to Belfast with JBU, you'll remember this fantastic little Italian joint and know that it's right around the corner from the school. It would be great!

What's Left?

So, besides funding, what's left is this:

1) Work out insurance for my car for the year

2) Sign up for absentee voting

3) Order a new harddrive and more memory for my computer (I decided to go this route, $200, instead of getting a new laptop, $1000. I think, with these upgrades, my computer will make it through the year if not longer.)

4) Get Mohela Undergrad loans differed for the year

That's about it! If I can get that all done (and pack), I should be ready to go come Sep. 15th. One month - here we go!

The Beginning

2008-08-05T17:08:00.000+01:00

(Queen's University in Belfast homepage; www.qub.ac.uk)

In late June 2008, only two weeks after filing my application, I was accepted into the MA in Modern History program at Queen's University in Belfast (QUB). This blog is where I hope to share stories and experiences from my year at Queen's. Unlike my personal blog (dostendorff.blogspot.com) this one is exclusively focused on life at Queen's. Throughout the year I hope to post pictures, videos, paper excerpts, and stories.

I'm looking forward to the adventure. I leave on Sep. 15th for Belfast, N. Ireland. But, until then, I have work to do on getting loans taken care of and preparing to move overseas for a year. Just under 6 weeks and counting!