"Much of their time and strength was devoted to the maintenance of a quasi-western lifestyle."
~ from A History of Christianity in Africa by Elizabeth Isichei, regarding early European missionaries to Africa and their failure to attract many converts
Finals are finished, semester's over! Assuming I pass everything (no reason I shouldn't baring some unknown heresy) I'll be a third of the way through my program, which means at this rate I'll be here another 2 years. Hopefully making some progress with online classes through my summers will drop that to a year and a half. Not too shabby!
I've been at my job almost a month now. It's been interesting to say the least. There's maybe 3 white kids, 4 Hispanic kids, and about 40 black kids. At first I thought that meant it'd be like hanging out at the Ark in Namibia, only with more kids. But the more I'm with this group I'm realizing I need a whole new education. I wouldn't say they're inner city, but definitely more urban than this country white boy is used to. They have me, probably the most unqualified guy on staff, teaching the Street Smarts curriculum. I may look different than them, and talk different than them, but I was reminded that love is a universal language. Every kid, no matter how hard they may seem, still wants to be loved. At the end of the day, I think I'm starting to figure things out and they're starting to get used to me. Cross-cultural education is best accomplished through immersion, and that's a pretty steep learning curve.
Lastly, I have two concerts coming up on June 4th (Charlotte) and 19th (Raleigh). They're both fundraising shows for my trip to Namibia this summer. I'm preparing some good new stuff. If you live close I'd love to have you come out. If not, I'd love your prayers that God would continue to provide as He always does.
I think that pretty much catches me up with everything that's gone on while I've been buried in my end of semester work. Hopefully I can keep up with this a little better over the summer. Here's hoping.
