A Very Busy Day
I wake up feeling a bit unsettled in my stomach. Perhaps it is the anticipation of a busy day. I go to prayer at 5:30, but my neighbour, Pastor Richard Tiu appears to have left early. I understand why when I see him standing at the front of the church to give the morning devotional. He speaks to us on simply believing God and taking His Word at face value.
Faculty meeting at 7:30.
I preach at the morning chapel service (8:00) on James 1:16-21. Then my class starts ten minutes after the end of chapel at 8:40. I open for questions on the material that we have covered, but there is quite a wide range of subjects covered. Are they stalling? It’s hard to say; most of the question seem to be genuine, and I try hard to keep them on topic. Everyone completes the exam by the end of the first class. During the break I am able to visit with Judith Collins and Peter Lkayo. In the second hour I cover the distinction between law and gospel, works and faith, et al. There is good discussion and some provocative questions, but all quite sincere. After this class, one of the visitation leaders comes to ask me to preach at a home in his area for Saturday afternoon visitation time. I am honoured to be asked and I thank him for the invitation. He tells me that he has appreciated my class, although he considers himself to be a dispensationalist. He has not found anything that he really disagrees with, so perhaps he is a closet covenantalist! He grateful for the Scriptural emphasis. In further discussion, he shows that he is not of the Scofield variety of dispensationalism, so that is a good thing. In the third hour we cover the Davidic covenant as the establishment of the throne of David and of Christ. More good discussion. I think the students and I are becoming more comfortable with one another.
After class Eben tells me that we will go to the Maasai market this afternoon, right after his class ends at 12:30. I look for Peter Lkayo in the library. I am supposed to review some computer skills with him, but it looks as if he has gone with Judith Collins after her class ended. I phone him and we arrange to meet tomorrow morning at 8:00. As I return to my room, I am intercepted by one of my students. He is from Nigeria, and already has a few degrees in criminology and psychology. He hopes to come to Canada, and has already got an application in with an organization in Manitoba! He is barred from his country; although he has been given amnesty, he is not trusting that he will actually be received if he goes back. He hopes to go to Canada to start a gospel ministry to Nigerians there. He is very keen to learn, and has read quite widely in Reformed theology. He has many questions concerning such subjects as the change of the sabbath to the first day of the week and the observation of holy days, etc. He is quite convinced of his position on immersion and believer’s baptism. Maybe things will change after we cover the sacraments next week. Two other students come to follow up on a discussion we have had on class. A young male asks me who circumcised Abraham! Short answer: we don’t know. I leave it at that. A young woman asks about whether Solomon will be in heaven, a subject that came up in class earlier. They have some difficulty with the fact that he never repented of his sin of polygamy, and I point out that he was the author of two Biblical books, so he must have been approved of God at least to that degree. Grace, all of grace. There are two other students (I think they are both from Ethiopia) who ask for contact information for me: Joel and Stephen. I give them one of my business cards.
Now it is 12:30 and we head off for the Maasai market. Richard and I both bring our laptops in the hope that we might be able to stop at Java House for internet. We go to Village Mall, where there are a number of restaurants and many non-Africans – Europeans, Americans? It’s hard to say. We meet the Kim family there and Richard and I both go the Chinese kiosk and get boneless chicken with fried rice. Very good. We go upstairs to the market and I pick up a few things, but I’m not really sure if I got a good deal on them or not. I definitely paid a lot less than the price they were asking, but I still left quite a good chunk of change behind! My suspicions are aroused when other merchants flock around me. After the first transaction is completed, the seller directs me to his sister’s area. There is nothing there that interests me, so I go to see his cousin, who will give me a better bag for the things I have already purchased, as the only one he had was rather light for the heavy things I bought. Soon everyone knows my name and is calling for me to see their wares. I’m quite sure now I’ve paid too much for my things!
Eben drops Richard and I off at the Java House, and I order a water, as I am extremely thirsty after my busy morning and all the tense bargaining. But I am frustrated because I cannot get my computer connected to the wireless network. I am further frustrated by Richard’s continual reminder that he has a very fast connection. There is a group gathering at the next table. I discover from the conversation that the two whites seem to be Canadian. He talks and laughs loudly about pouring a lot of federal money into a Liberal election campaign that ends up losing. I learn further that they are probably from Alberta when they discuss the tax problem in Lloydminster, a city which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border: no provincial tax on the Alberta side, but it is payable on the Saskatchewan side of the city. I conclude that they are likely from Edmonton, but I do not interrupt their meeting to talk to them.
After Eben comes to pick us up, he informs me that I had the wrong network key to access the wi-fi. So maybe I will get to try again. Tomorrow? Maybe. We return to campus for a bit of a rest before we go to the home of Pastor Lazarus again for supper. Patricia has made another African dish of mashed potatoes, peas and banana, together with a cabbage dish and meat and veggies dish.
I invite Richard to my apartment and we have a Coffee Crisp bar which I have brought from Canada. Rev. Kim and Eben Yoon drop by and Rev. Kim says that he will drive us to Java House in the morning and drop us off there until Eben comes to pick us up at about 2:00 in the afternoon. We are both keen to go and we settle on a departure time of 7:30 am, to make the most of our online time. It will be about noon on Saturday in the Philippines for Richard to talk to his wife, and it will be about 9:30 pm in Edmonton for me to talk to Gini and Michael and Stephen. I think we will just use MSN, because there have been a lot of problems with our Skype connection. I will bring my headset just in case, though.
Faculty meeting at 7:30.
I preach at the morning chapel service (8:00) on James 1:16-21. Then my class starts ten minutes after the end of chapel at 8:40. I open for questions on the material that we have covered, but there is quite a wide range of subjects covered. Are they stalling? It’s hard to say; most of the question seem to be genuine, and I try hard to keep them on topic. Everyone completes the exam by the end of the first class. During the break I am able to visit with Judith Collins and Peter Lkayo. In the second hour I cover the distinction between law and gospel, works and faith, et al. There is good discussion and some provocative questions, but all quite sincere. After this class, one of the visitation leaders comes to ask me to preach at a home in his area for Saturday afternoon visitation time. I am honoured to be asked and I thank him for the invitation. He tells me that he has appreciated my class, although he considers himself to be a dispensationalist. He has not found anything that he really disagrees with, so perhaps he is a closet covenantalist! He grateful for the Scriptural emphasis. In further discussion, he shows that he is not of the Scofield variety of dispensationalism, so that is a good thing. In the third hour we cover the Davidic covenant as the establishment of the throne of David and of Christ. More good discussion. I think the students and I are becoming more comfortable with one another.
After class Eben tells me that we will go to the Maasai market this afternoon, right after his class ends at 12:30. I look for Peter Lkayo in the library. I am supposed to review some computer skills with him, but it looks as if he has gone with Judith Collins after her class ended. I phone him and we arrange to meet tomorrow morning at 8:00. As I return to my room, I am intercepted by one of my students. He is from Nigeria, and already has a few degrees in criminology and psychology. He hopes to come to Canada, and has already got an application in with an organization in Manitoba! He is barred from his country; although he has been given amnesty, he is not trusting that he will actually be received if he goes back. He hopes to go to Canada to start a gospel ministry to Nigerians there. He is very keen to learn, and has read quite widely in Reformed theology. He has many questions concerning such subjects as the change of the sabbath to the first day of the week and the observation of holy days, etc. He is quite convinced of his position on immersion and believer’s baptism. Maybe things will change after we cover the sacraments next week. Two other students come to follow up on a discussion we have had on class. A young male asks me who circumcised Abraham! Short answer: we don’t know. I leave it at that. A young woman asks about whether Solomon will be in heaven, a subject that came up in class earlier. They have some difficulty with the fact that he never repented of his sin of polygamy, and I point out that he was the author of two Biblical books, so he must have been approved of God at least to that degree. Grace, all of grace. There are two other students (I think they are both from Ethiopia) who ask for contact information for me: Joel and Stephen. I give them one of my business cards.
Now it is 12:30 and we head off for the Maasai market. Richard and I both bring our laptops in the hope that we might be able to stop at Java House for internet. We go to Village Mall, where there are a number of restaurants and many non-Africans – Europeans, Americans? It’s hard to say. We meet the Kim family there and Richard and I both go the Chinese kiosk and get boneless chicken with fried rice. Very good. We go upstairs to the market and I pick up a few things, but I’m not really sure if I got a good deal on them or not. I definitely paid a lot less than the price they were asking, but I still left quite a good chunk of change behind! My suspicions are aroused when other merchants flock around me. After the first transaction is completed, the seller directs me to his sister’s area. There is nothing there that interests me, so I go to see his cousin, who will give me a better bag for the things I have already purchased, as the only one he had was rather light for the heavy things I bought. Soon everyone knows my name and is calling for me to see their wares. I’m quite sure now I’ve paid too much for my things!
Eben drops Richard and I off at the Java House, and I order a water, as I am extremely thirsty after my busy morning and all the tense bargaining. But I am frustrated because I cannot get my computer connected to the wireless network. I am further frustrated by Richard’s continual reminder that he has a very fast connection. There is a group gathering at the next table. I discover from the conversation that the two whites seem to be Canadian. He talks and laughs loudly about pouring a lot of federal money into a Liberal election campaign that ends up losing. I learn further that they are probably from Alberta when they discuss the tax problem in Lloydminster, a city which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border: no provincial tax on the Alberta side, but it is payable on the Saskatchewan side of the city. I conclude that they are likely from Edmonton, but I do not interrupt their meeting to talk to them.
After Eben comes to pick us up, he informs me that I had the wrong network key to access the wi-fi. So maybe I will get to try again. Tomorrow? Maybe. We return to campus for a bit of a rest before we go to the home of Pastor Lazarus again for supper. Patricia has made another African dish of mashed potatoes, peas and banana, together with a cabbage dish and meat and veggies dish.
I invite Richard to my apartment and we have a Coffee Crisp bar which I have brought from Canada. Rev. Kim and Eben Yoon drop by and Rev. Kim says that he will drive us to Java House in the morning and drop us off there until Eben comes to pick us up at about 2:00 in the afternoon. We are both keen to go and we settle on a departure time of 7:30 am, to make the most of our online time. It will be about noon on Saturday in the Philippines for Richard to talk to his wife, and it will be about 9:30 pm in Edmonton for me to talk to Gini and Michael and Stephen. I think we will just use MSN, because there have been a lot of problems with our Skype connection. I will bring my headset just in case, though.
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