Month: February 2017

This is only my second day, but it feels like I’ve been here twice as long because of all the meaningful connections.

I slept quite fine in a simple guest room. There is no central heating, and we are at over 8,000 feet high, so it gets cold at night, about 48 degrees. However, my room is on the top level of a split level house, so the heat goes up. It was warm when I went to sleep, but I knew it could get very cold. I kept layers handy. I also sleep with an eye mask as the sun would rise before I hoped to. For a first night in a rustic place, it went quite nicely.

There is a hot water heater here, so I do get a warm shower! I don’t do cold showers any more. I’ll put the effort into boiling water and taking a bucket bath instead if needed. No need.

Across the hall is Staffan, my colleague at Johannelund and host here. He and his family came in 1983 during the Marxist regime, that was rather short lived. I’m learning more of his story and glad to have his experience and fluency in the Amharic language for my introduction here.

We visited Mekane Yesus seminary, a bachelor’s program, which the Swedish Evangelical Mission helped to start.

The new principal is very gifted and articulate, however, he has inherited great challenges. The main one is that the government will pay for students who qualify to go to university tuition free. However, there is no funding available for this program. So, why pay to go to a program if you can get a bachelor’s degree at no cost!?! Those who academically don’t qualify but have some funds then pursue theological studies. What a challenge! They are really hoping for scholarships to be able to attract good students in order to raise the academic standards.

The other complication is that the relationship between Mekane Yesus and the ELCA is severed. So, the LCMS is stepping up big time. However, they will only provide scholarships for men. The Mekane Yesus leadership is eager to balance this. So if your home church can fund a scholarship for a woman in pastoral training, please let me know. I will get you in contact with the leadership.

Let me also impress upon you how important leadership training is. Mekane Yesus is the largest Lutheran church in the World with 7.9 million members and growing fast (24% increase since 2013!!!). They need leadership. The church is vibrant, but without enough leadership, it will be too easy to be influenced by the Nigeran itinerant preachers pushing a prosperity gospel. I am told that some even fly in on their private jets!

I met some Swedish, African, and American missionaries. The Swedes and African missionaries are involved in outreach that is sensitive in nature, so I won’t be able to talk about some amazing things going on.

Then it was over to EGST, the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. This is where Staffan is teaching this month. He gave me a tour of this rather new 7-story building, with part of it opening in about 2013. It is rather nice, though there is no water in the taps. This is Africa.

We had injira for lunch, eating the Ethiopian way, with the cutlery God gave us, our hands. It is good, with different sauces to try.

The afternoon was checking email and preparing for tomorrow’s guest lecture that I will give.

Unfortunately, my AirBnB host has emailed to say she is cancelling our reservation in London for 21-24 February just 2 days after confirming it! However, she hasn’t submitted the cancellation on AirBnB, and told ME to do it. But I need her to do it to get a refund. UGH.

Then, I don’t have secure WIFI here, so I sent all the details to my sister to ask her to make a reservation for me with a credit card. It is crazy to have to deal with this cancellation after only 2 days since the host’s confirmation and be so far removed from the capability to remedy this. (And as I write this email, the power is out, so I’m at my desk with candlelight.)

After checking some internet news (npr.org), weather for Addis (I knew the rain  and lightning was coming, but I didn’t know it would knock out the power), and finding a hotel in London close to 2 of Anya’s potential universities, Staffan and I headed out. I was able to get some Ethiopian cash at the second ATM, which actually was better anyway. I could use my MasterCard with a 0% international exchange rate instead of the 3% Visa.

We had a simple dinner of yoghurt with fresh strawberries, fruit, egg sandwiches, and mangos for dessert. We sat outside without a bug in sight and talked until the sun went down at about 6:30. Then, more prep for the lectures tomorrow.

I will be in a Pentateuch course in the morning giving an overview of my PhD research on generational curses. There was a bit of confusion, because originally, I was invited to share my research on Wednesday evening for a gospel and culture course. I will have some repeat of the generational curse content, but I will have a bit of a different focus. However, I will check tomorrow morning to see if any of the Pentateuch students will be in the evening session on Wednesday. I will see if I won’t have to adjust from my original plans too much.

The rain in pouring down. We aren’t too far from a river, but at least I’m on the second floor!

With blessings,

Beth

After dinner, it was time for a nap. In reality, this 2 hour jet-lag is not bad compared to the 11-hour jet-lag when coming from the USA. It was a bit hard to wake up, but I’m glad I did. We were off to dinner at the home of an Ethiopian pastor, K…, with his wife and 3 of his 4 young adult daughters. We were joined by two Danish missionaries who are back for a shorter visit this time, and we are off to visit their former pastor.

On the way, there was an overwhelming amount of construction. It is amazing growth here in the city.

At K…’s home, I had my first injira in Ethiopia. (I’ve had this staple of Ethiopian food in 3 other continents, but my first time in its home country. A shipment is actually flown in weekly into Sweden!) This is the traditional and ubiquitous food. Typically, various vegetarian and meat stews are poured over a base layer of injira in the center of a plate, if individual servings, or on a platter for a table with a small group. This was buffet style with rolled portions of injira ready for the taking. These are torn into pieces to pick up the stews (with one’s right hand).

They had women guests go to the buffet first, and fortunately the Danish missionary walked me through the protocol. She has been in Ethiopia for many years but not consistently since 1983. Her husband actually waited for her to come back from Ethiopia from her first term, because she was committed to serving the people of Ethiopia. (I had to pause for a bit, because I am watching the weaver birds outside my guest house window.)

The dinner was very nice, filled with conversation and stories. They all speak Amharic, but they also all speak English, a second or third language for all. But they are speaking English so that I am included. They did have silverware on the table, but I joined in with the others and ate by hand. (Eating with one’s hands sometimes happens in Tanzania, though as guests, we often are provided with spoons.)

(The weaver birds are quite a distraction. I got my binoculars out.)

After dinner, we were served coffee or tea with some popcorn (cooked with a hint of sugar). Then I listened to more stories.

The interesting story is about K’s first church. He was asked to go to an area where there was no church and start a church. He went every day to this neighboring town, but there were no Christians. So, he went every day to a tree, sat under it and prayed. He talked with people around town, and six months later, a young man committed to follow Jesus. Then later, another. He said his first worship service had 3 people, and the first offering was 1.5 birr, perhaps 5 cents, if that. The start was difficult, but slowly a church started. Things were even more difficult during the Marxist regime. They were forbidden to hold a worship service. At one point, K prayed with his congregation about whether they should have a service. They agreed to join him in this unlawful act. For K as the pastor, the stakes were the highest; it meant that he could be thrown in jail. They met, and they were never stopped. The services continued.

I’m not sure, but from my limited knowledge of history, it seems that Marxism was shortest lived in Ethiopia, from 1974 until 1991. I was told of two significant influences. First, the great famines of 1973 and 1984 demonstrated that the government system was unable to serve the people. The people were angry at the government. Secondly, with the fall of Communism in East Germany and the Soviet Union, the support that propped up the government here vanished.

The other unique aspect of Ethiopia is that it never was colonized. Somehow they define one period in their history as an 8-year “occupation” by Italy, but I understand that it was not the whole region and it is distinctly different from a colonization. Here’s the Wikipedia summary:

“Menelik had signed the Treaty of Wichale with Italy in May 1889 in which Italy would recognize Ethiopia’s sovereignty so long as Italy could control an area north of Ethiopia (part of modern Eritrea). In return, Italy was to provide Menelik with weapons and support him as emperor. The Italians used the time between the signing of the treaty and its ratification by the Italian government to expand their territorial claims. This conflict erupted in the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896 in which Italy’s colonial forces were defeated by the Ethiopians.”

As a result, they are proud to say that they are the only country in Africa that wasn’t colonized.

This is important to know for me in biblical studies. Why!?! Because, in the rest of Africa, “post-colonial” biblical interpretation is an important approach to biblical studies. So, it is important to recognize that Ethiopia has a different context, one that is very important to their self-understanding.

The dinner at K’s home was amazing, because here were Danes, a Swede, and a newbie American in the home of an Ethiopian family and we shared a kindred spirit that is beyond words. Welcome to Ethiopia!

My flight was rather uneventful. It is a direct flight from Stockholm (Arlanda airport) to Addis Ababa, with a 1 hour stop in Rome. However, we don’t get off the plane, and so there is less chance of luggage going astray (and it showed up just fine). From Stockholm, the plane was about 1/5^th full, but then every seat was taken from Rome to Addis.

I didn’t watch any movies, but I read in preparation for one of two guest lectures I was invited to give (but then the Monday lecture was cancelled because of my host’s prior arrangement to meet a seminary president, but later, a different Tuesday guest lecture was added, and then it seemed the Wednesday lecture was cancelled for a while, but then it was back on. This is Africa.). As this is an overnight flight, the trick is to get as much sleep as possible on the airplane. Not easily done next to a chubby Italian man who was a bit commanding of the arm rest. (He didn’t speak English, but as it was sleep mode, it wasn’t a problem.)

I’m familiar with 3 different stops to buy a visa in an airport in Africa, but it is a little strange to be separated from your passport as you walk around to the back side of the booths. Visas are only $50 in Ethiopia, half that of Tanzania.

I waited a bit for Staffan to find me at the end of the airport ramp. I figured I should not start wandering around looking for him in a big, busy parking lot, wheeling my rolling duffle bag behind me. The guards (some with machine guns), kept things orderly, but didn’t want people hanging around the exit ramp waiting for loved ones to appear.

Staffan drove to the guest house. It used to be owned by a Norwegian mission agency, but like the Swedes, they turned over all their properties to the local church. (The Danes haven’t. FYI, the Danes have the nicest guest house in the area.) The place is simple but adequate. And it is important to not live a high-end lifestyle where many have so little.

We headed off to the Mekane Jesus church. It started at 10, but we arrived at about 10:15 intentionally, and it was only half full.

They started with a baptism teaching and a couple baptisms. Then the worship music got rolling. The music varied, but let me describe it as soulful, a bit jazzy with a touch of Arabic music (I’m told, as I’m not an expert on Arabic music, but I can recognize jazz after three years in a jazz band.) There is a praise music core with Pentecostal influences. The music was very good. I can’t tell you about the theology, as I don’t know Amharic. Though I can understand one word, Hallelujah! We were standing for much of the singing, which kept me awake. I was really tired after a bad night of sleep on the plane.

The preacher was a laywoman, who was very enthusiastic. Staffan gave me bits of translation. He is a homiletics (preaching) professor, so he had a few comments on her skipping from text to text with little context or connection, some repetition, and not a good method of using the microphone. Sometimes it was low, when speaking low, and close to her mouth when shouting. This would seem the opposite of what actually was needed. I don’t like to be shouted at, but it probably kept me awake! I was SO tired, that I could not keep my eyes open. I don’t think I slept, but I was half asleep–until the next shout. However, she seemed to be very effective and connecting with most of the people around me. And, amidst all the male leadership, I was pleased to see a women preacher.

After communion, we ducked out (after almost 3 hours). We joined the EGST seminary president and three staff, including two women, for lunch.

In addition, there was a Swede, Erik, who works for the Church of Sweden in support of their work with theological education in the developing world. I had never met Erik before, though he lives in Uppsala. We had to come to Ethiopia to meet. We have similar interests, as my question right now is, “Instead of doing theological education cross-culturally in Africa, how do we do cross-cultural theological education.” In other words, how do we contextualize the content and the delivery to best equip these church leaders? I know that my alma maters, Fuller Seminary’s main campus in Pasadena and VID Specialized University in Norway, have experience with a very diverse student body. I stimulated the conversation last week at Johannelund while Knut was visiting from VID, and I picked up a book while in the USA written by a couple Fuller profs on Theology without Borders. I even started rereading Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Friere. Recently, I find myself compelled by this question.

Pause to sleep. But come back for my completion of this day. The best part is yet to come!

First, happy birthday, Jean! My life is so blessed by your life! I celebrate your birth! Here, they Swedes say that “you filled a year!”

In the cycle of life, I was saddened to hear of the death of an amazing Swede, Hans Rosling, who passed away from pancreatic cancer yesterday in Uppsala.

This native of Uppsala inspired me with his visual statistics — and witty humor — that could make complex issues in global health and global issues interesting and understandable. Check out his short TED Talks.

http://www.ted.com/playlists/38/hans_rosling_5_talks_on_globa

I’m catching up after a few busy days.

On Saturday evening, I hosted some friends to meet my sister, Elenn. We did a very non-Swedish thing as I put them to work to make Chinese dumplings (jiao zi). We had a nice evening, but I’m glad that Elenn was up to all the chopping to prepare.

On Sunday, after church, Anya and Elenn went to Stockholm by train. They visited the ABBA museum and saw a bit more of this amazingly beautiful city. Then Anya came back to Uppsala after seeing that Elenn got to her train to head 3 hours south-west to visit a Swedish friend who she knew from language study in Pakistan. I worked on my paper, and then preparing to host Knut and Lena for dinner.

Knut was my excellent PhD adviser, and he still continues as an advocate for me. He recently recruited me for a co-editor position for a book that is being compiled on a series of essays on classical religious texts in global contexts. It was good to see him and catch up.

As a student for an institution in Norway, I was forbidden to give gifts to Knut. However, one time I saw an old 1806 map of Africa when traveling in London, and because I know he loves old maps, I bought it for him — not remembering I couldn’t give gifts. So, I kept it and thought I would give it later. I ended up hanging it in my office. Then, earlier this week in Stockholm, in the old city, I found an even older map from around 1770. These were printed in books and hand colored. I bought it for him as a thank you for all his generous support and all I learned from him.

He became animated describing some of the unique features of old maps of Africa. The coastline is well defined, but the inner parts of the continent are mostly unknown. There is no Lake Victoria, though Lake Malawi is fairly defined. The names and boarders are totally different. It was fun to see.

After they left, I realized one more thing to add to my paper! Papers are never finished, they just come to a place where one has to stop because of a deadline.

Monday morning was bustling. Over 100 people showed up for the day that went from 9 am to 9 pm to honor the retirement of my predecessor, Loe (his nickname), after 40 years of service at JTH! The papers went from 9:30 am until 5:30 pm.

Lena is the colleague that I met through a mutual friend, another Beth. We all together have shared a hotel room at Society of Biblical Literature conferences. (Yes, it is geek-camp for adults in fancy hotels). Sharing a room makes with 3 others is not only more affordable, it is quite fun with all of us teaching Old Testament and sharing a wacky humor. Lena is a thoughtful and careful scholar with a command of Hebrew that I only dream about.

Knut was next. He studied how Bible commentaries wrote about Africans over the past hundred years. He demonstrated so clearly how one’s context influences what what sees in the text and interprets it.

I spoke after lunch. Amazingly, I had some extemporaneous funny comments. I wrote on the differences between the Jewish and Christian translations of the Hebrew word “torah” into English, using Exodus 24:12 as a representative text. Most often (91%), Christians translate this word as “law.” However, 84% of the time the Jewish Publication Society translates it “instruction” or “teaching” and only 9% of the time is it “law.” (There is also “ritual” which fills the remainder.) To give context, I looked at other translations: the Greek translation (the Septuagint, a couple years before Christ), St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate in the 4th century, Martin Luther, and since we are in Sweden, I compare two of the most common translations, which translate the word as “lag.” So, I clarified, that this means “law” in English — “to help the native English speakers!” They laughed, because everyone there — except me — is fluent in Swedish!

Tuesday morning: After morning meetings (I’m facilitating some conversations regarding collaboration between my Norwegian PhD institution and Johannelund) and getting Knut to the airport, I met Lena in the center of Uppsala.

We stopped for “lunch.”

I said goodbye to Lena and went to pick up my sister at the train station, who returned from her trip down south. I worked from home in the afternoon, while Elenn packed for her departure this morning.

Elenn treated us to pizza at a nearby (walking distance) pizzeria that we had not yet visited. But with a 4:00 am taxi arrival, we didn’t stay up too late.

Wednesday (today): I’m tired, but I’m trying to catch up on some work. I also head to Ethiopia on Saturday, so I need to prep for travel. I just found out that my travel partner will not be traveling, as her 90-year-old father is in the hospital and not doing well. I’m not anxious about travel, as I will be picked up at the airport, it just would have been nice to have a veteran traveler to Ethiopia shepherd me this first time. Keep her father in your prayers.

I wanted to get out a post to the grandparents before things got crazy, but I may not be able to return to regular posting. I do expect to have some internet access in Ethiopia, so I hope to send some pictures and tell a bit of the story of my journey.

With blessings,

Beth

Elenn and I spent a day in Stockholm. (Friday is my day off, as I’m a 75% employee, though I am not very good at keeping good boundaries.)

We biked to the train station, and Elenn is still getting used to the bike. When almost stopped for a street light, she tumbled to the ground. Fortunately, nothing serious beyond what might become a bruise or what a little ibuprofen can’t manage. Good thing is wasn’t serious, so we got to enjoy the day in Stockholm.

Here are highlights.

After teaching in the morning (Proverbs and a short summary of Lamentations), Elenn and I went to Uppsala. We walked, as I guided my bike.

Anya had found a bike at a used bike shop by her school, so we went to check it out and ended up buying it. Elenn will be using it while here, and Anya will use it after her loaner bike needs to be returned.

Then Elenn and I biked over to the cathedral.

The cathedral is the tallest in Scandinavia.

After lunch at the cathedral cafe’ (because it was very close to our next stop across the street), we went to the Gustavianum. The oldest surviving building of the university is now a museum. It has the anatomical theater, where cadavers were examined for medical student training.

The museum has an odd variety of things from an Egyptian mummy to an 1981 Osborne computer.

It also had a nail and fragments from Jesus’ cross (according to the label). No, I don’t believe it.

One of my favorite things was Celsius thermometer. Yes, the one who developed the temperature scale (though freezing was at 100 and boiling at 0). He was from Uppsala. (We saw the location of his grave in the Old Uppsala church two days ago.)

We biked over (and walked our bikes up the hill) to the castle.

After a quick visit to the university library reading room and shopping for a few things from the main walking street, we went home.

I worked on my paper all evening. It is taking shape, but I still have things to develop and figuring out how to streamline a bit for the presentation.

With blessings,

Beth