By: Rev Jacob Bolton on June 18, 2019
“In order to see the gold God has placed in a person, we need to see them with the eyes of the Spirit. To draw out someone’s true potential, we need to cooperate with the Spirit of God.”[1] So starts Tom Camacho’s excellent read on coaching both for leaders in the church and by leaders…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on June 17, 2019
One does not have to read very far in the Gospels to see Jesus’ methodology of making disciples. Do life together, ask questions, send the disciples to practice, ask questions, give a small amount of teaching, ask questions, model the lesson, ask questions, ask questions, ask questions and not necessarily in that order. We know…
By: John Muhanji on June 17, 2019
Thank you for making this book available for us to read as we prepare to visit the UK during the Fall Advance class. Kenya being a former colony of the British culture, I could identify myself with many similar issues I read in this book in Kenya. Tan Terry has prepared us basically to be…
By: Wallace Kamau on June 15, 2019
The thought of London awakens many memories in my past, some good and some not so good like British imperialism in Africa but it serves me to concentrate on the very good ones. Coming from a commonwealth country, I’m sure that there are many things that I’ll find that are similar like driving on the…
By: Karen Rouggly on June 14, 2019
Prior to going back to school, it would not be uncommon to find me lounging on the couch twice a year for six hours at a time. I spent the duration of the time with some of my favorite things: popcorn and Mr. Darcy. I love the story of Pride and Prejudice and the BBC…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on June 14, 2019
Camacho’s Mining For Gold is a rare book for me in that I know and have worked with the author. This connection influences the insights I have gained from the book. First, I know and have worked with Tom Camacho in his former role of Coaching Coordinator for Multiply Vineyard, the resource arm for Vineyard…
By: Mary Mims on June 14, 2019
Oliver Twist saying, “please sir, I want some more”, Mary Poppins singing, “feed the birds, tuppence a bag”, and Edith Crawley taking the train from the castle in the countryside to her London flat, are all images I have of London instilled in my mind over the years from movies and television. Hargraves Orin says…
By: Digby Wilkinson on June 14, 2019
Culture shock! London. But wait, there’s more – Culture shock! Great Britain. You’d think one book would be enough, but this week it’s two. The first by an America who specialises in IT, English and Lexicography.[1] The second by a Singaporean chef, with a sideline interest in “evolution and the social and cultural semantics of…
By: Jenn Burnett on June 14, 2019
There is this spot at the camp I love called Vespers Point. It feels holy. It is the place where I have spent countless hours in prayer and contemplation. It is the perfect place to watch the sunrise over the water, making early morning quiet time all the more attractive; it is the perfect place…
By: Harry Edwards on June 13, 2019
Reading our text, CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: London, this week brought fond memories of the time my wife and I were in London almost six years ago. It was a very special occasion because a good friend who was completing his D.Phil. at Oxford at the time invited my wife and I…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on June 13, 2019
It was our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary which occasioned the trip of a lifetime, two weeks in Great Britain and France. From the theatre in London to the Tattoo Festival in Edinburgh to the highspeed Chunnel train transporting us to five magical days in Paris, it was simply unforgettable. With all of these amazing experiences and…
By: Sean Dean on June 13, 2019
I was born into a family that loves being American. From generations of military service to cheering on any and all the Team USAs, if it is something that shows any level of pride in the United States my family is right there. Heck, my dad was even born on Independence Day, so when we…
By: Andrea Lathrop on June 13, 2019
I was impressed with the depth of insight into the cultures of Britain and London offered by Tan and Hargraves, respectively. My anticipation for our advance has certainly been stoked from the CultureShock! books. I have visited London previously as a tourist and am ready to visit as a student. This part of the world is…
By: Rhonda Davis on June 13, 2019
Our readings this week made me even more excited about our Great Britain advance. I first experienced the England of the imagination through the lens of the literature I was exposed to during my early teenage years.[1] In my mind, everyone still dressed for dinner, often engaging in a game of Whist in the evening.…
By: Mario Hood on June 13, 2019
I have always wanted to visit the Motherland aka Great Britain as an American (and also the other Motherland for African Americans), and so I am glad that I get to do both in this program. Outside of the Queen (Royal Family), the red telephone booths, and Cambridge and Oxford, I do not know very…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on June 13, 2019
This trip to London and Oxford promises to be most exciting. I have been in the Heathrow Airport . . . but that is my only experience in England. I have visited Scotland twice, so my time on the Island of Great Britain has trended toward the North. But this time I will experience all…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on June 12, 2019
Both of our sources this week are an excellent preparation for our advance to be held in London and Oxford later this year during the Fall. Both are titled to prepare us for possible culture shock in both London and Great Britain, and less like a Rick Steves’ travel guide. In skimming them, I reflected…
By: Karen Rouggly on June 11, 2019
In a sermon a few years ago, Mike Ashcraft, Pastor of Port City Community Church preached a sermon on the concept of Encounter –> Formation –> Expression.[1] Essentially, the concept is that as we go about our day to day lives, we are encountering new things all the time. These encounters lead to a space…
By: John Muhanji on June 10, 2019
I am amazed by this fascinating book where Ian S. Markham and Joshua Daniel summarizing the writings of Martyn Percy. The writing of Martyn Percy is seriously engaging and how they weave through my African Quaker theology. It reminds me that when the early Quaker missionaries arrived in Kenya to establish the first Quaker church…
By: Wallace Kamau on June 8, 2019
The whole idea of the church being Christ’s witness in the World has been a divisive issue based on the differing hermeneutical understanding of the bible and its application. This is a matter that has been controversial and divisive in the history of the church. The scribes and pharisees questioned Jesus’s interaction and association with…
