*academia and such*
i have a friend who's just finished his first year at seminary. not just any seminary though, he's at regent college in my hometown of vancouver. (at this point you should hear angels singing and bright lights aglow in the background of your mind, because regent is the creme de la creme of seminaries, and should recieve such halo-worthy fear & trembling honor, shouldn't it?)
there was a time in my life when i wanted to go to regent. i thought that was where anyone with aspirations for doing life with God was supposed to go. i applied and got accepted, but the school fees were more than i could bear. so i asked my church for sponsorship, as they had been known to do from time to time. but lo and behold, they said no. so i deferred, hoping maybe by the next year i could save enough. working 3 jobs did nothing for my bank account. it was 2000 and i ended up in hong kong after that. and the rest is proverbial history.
what i soon learned after that, having had the chance to do a DTS instead, was that God knew what he was doing. i mean, there is a part of me that loves academia, and philosophical discussions and reading books that make me don my smarty pants. but i've realized wholly and truly now that i am one who would rather get IN there. get my hands dirty. i would rather, instead of sitting around pondering the meaning of a life in ministry and counting the costs with a calculator, ponder next to my togolaise brothers who have just fled their country washing dishes, and gladly give up the costs with abandon because jesus said those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly, and those who sow generously will reap generously (2 corinthians 9:6).
so even at the end of every day, of every week, when derek and i are bone tired, and we have "creaky knees" (and busted ankles), i am glad to be doing what i'm doing. i am glad to give up personal ambitions ("why CAN'T i be a snowboarder for jesus and live in whistler forever??") in order to serve the people around me.
and now as i stare down the 2-year tunnel of academics that is ahead of me, i am also glad. because this too is a phase i need to go through. i look forward to being able to devote some time to study and bettering my mind SO THAT my heart will continue to beat. i've already started this training... the past few years i haven't read very much, but i've got a new motivation. after finding out more about togo, and just generally following the ONE camapign and sojourners websites, my mind's focus has zoomed out again to see beyond my own life and hong kong.
currently reading: 'our common interest' by the the commission for africa
i have a friend who's just finished his first year at seminary. not just any seminary though, he's at regent college in my hometown of vancouver. (at this point you should hear angels singing and bright lights aglow in the background of your mind, because regent is the creme de la creme of seminaries, and should recieve such halo-worthy fear & trembling honor, shouldn't it?)
there was a time in my life when i wanted to go to regent. i thought that was where anyone with aspirations for doing life with God was supposed to go. i applied and got accepted, but the school fees were more than i could bear. so i asked my church for sponsorship, as they had been known to do from time to time. but lo and behold, they said no. so i deferred, hoping maybe by the next year i could save enough. working 3 jobs did nothing for my bank account. it was 2000 and i ended up in hong kong after that. and the rest is proverbial history.
what i soon learned after that, having had the chance to do a DTS instead, was that God knew what he was doing. i mean, there is a part of me that loves academia, and philosophical discussions and reading books that make me don my smarty pants. but i've realized wholly and truly now that i am one who would rather get IN there. get my hands dirty. i would rather, instead of sitting around pondering the meaning of a life in ministry and counting the costs with a calculator, ponder next to my togolaise brothers who have just fled their country washing dishes, and gladly give up the costs with abandon because jesus said those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly, and those who sow generously will reap generously (2 corinthians 9:6).
so even at the end of every day, of every week, when derek and i are bone tired, and we have "creaky knees" (and busted ankles), i am glad to be doing what i'm doing. i am glad to give up personal ambitions ("why CAN'T i be a snowboarder for jesus and live in whistler forever??") in order to serve the people around me.
and now as i stare down the 2-year tunnel of academics that is ahead of me, i am also glad. because this too is a phase i need to go through. i look forward to being able to devote some time to study and bettering my mind SO THAT my heart will continue to beat. i've already started this training... the past few years i haven't read very much, but i've got a new motivation. after finding out more about togo, and just generally following the ONE camapign and sojourners websites, my mind's focus has zoomed out again to see beyond my own life and hong kong.
currently reading: 'our common interest' by the the commission for africa
posted by jana* at 4:16 PM
