Last night we had to turn in a research proposal paper to prepare for our final paper in Non-Western Biblical Interpretation. Choosing a topic took some time, but after having retold my own spiritual journey to my cohort on Monday night, I was reminded of my time in Botswana and some of the challenges that we faced. One of the biggest, ever present issues in all of Southern Africa, and Botswana specifically is the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Throughout the three years I was there it became normal to hear of friends having to go away for the weekend to attend a parent's or relatives funeral. In the midst of this reality we did a Bible study going through the book of Mark. This was challenging as Mark is full of Jesus healing every disease and sickness. Jesus' healing in the midst of a society that is being crippled by an incurable disease brings to light a stark contrast of hope and despair. How do we read such passages when we do not see any healing? Does Jesus still heal? Do we need to "just have faith"? Is not being healed a sign of a lack of faith? I am not sure how to answer these questions, and while I was in Botswana I am not sure I met anybody else who did. They are impossible questions that I feel like we have to wrestle with, all the while trusting that God is good, and he is just, I take comfort in the fact that my view is so limited.

Posted by Nathan at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Moruti James is coming to my graduation! I had the good fortune of working for Moruti James Mpopang and the Naledi Baptist Fellowship from 2002 to 2005. Those three years were some of the most shaping experiences in my life. Hearing that he is going to be able to be at my graduation in June propelled me to look at some of my pictures from my years in Botswana. Seeing the faces of my friends takes me back and makes me homesick for Gaborone. I mainly worked with the young men who had just finished school as well as the youth group. It is interesting to hear how much they have all grown up in just a couple of years. They are the reason I am here at Fuller. I wanted to learn about what I was doing and how to work more effectively. Now I'm planning on starting a PhD. But looking at those pictures just makes me want to go back and get my hands dirty again.

Here is a picture of Moruti James, myself and his oldest son Lebang, and Morekoludi his youngest.

Posted by Nathan at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The past few months here at Fuller have been forcing me to rethink what it means to be a Christian. Studying church history last quarter we looked at the many movements, the actions and reactions that have shaped our lives in America and especially as American Christians. To push that thought process further I took the trip to Utah to participate in the dialogs between Mormons and Evangelicals. Over Christmas break I had the opportunity to review several books that are foundational to missiology, including books and articles by Andrew Walls, Hiebert, and Shenk. This quarter I am only taking the one class, Non-Western Biblical Interpretation. Throughout this time I have been a part of a cohort where we are able to discuss, reflect on and ask questions about the new ideas we are being exposed to. A major themes seems to be on the subject of who is in, and who is out. Looking at this question from a missiological perspective it is clear that through history and in different cultures the answer to the question among Christians receives dramatically different answers.

It seems that in an increasingly multi-cultural world, and especially now with more Christians outside of Western culture, the theological walls that contain the church need to be called into question. The Hope Project that I had the blessing of learning from this past summer described the churches that they were planting and discipling as "the church with no walls." What a beautiful image. For them this analogy was appropriate for both their meeting places (generally under the house of their members) and in their involvement in the community. Jim Wallis emphasizes that faith in Christ is personal, but it is not private. The teachings of Jesus seem to speak on many levels, but primarily they gave good news to the poor. When I read the Bible now, I am trying to find the places that it challenges my own thinking. Instinctively, however, I end up finding where it supports my own thoughts. In the Non-Western class I am finding that there are different ways of understanding many texts I had taken for granted and it is uncomfortable, good, but very challenging. So Andrew Walls, I believe, is really onto something when he says that the Gospel is both prisoner and liberator of culture.

Posted by Nathan at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)