Tuesday
Tuesday in
class we covered social and cultural backgrounds of first century
Palestine, the reliability of the New Testament (particularly the
gospels), and a section on definition and development of the canon.
That last part didn't seem to resonate much – whether because it
was too technical or because they'd simply never thought about it
before (or both) I'm not sure. But the rest of these sections went
really very well.
Tuesday
afternoon we (Garry, Hillary, and I – the various excursions are
for our sake) went with Ndumiso, one of the ACC staff to the Mantenga
Swazi Cultural Village. He's a lovely, gentle, good-natured man, and
great company on such an outing as he is a Swazi. The cultural
village is a little like the pioneer villages we used to go to in
primary school, but with Swazi flavour (and in fact, we were there
with a quite a number of rather loud school kids, maybe aged 11-13).
We saw a number of traditional dances, and then walked through a
replica of a traditional Swazi homestead. Somewhat amusingly, our
guide (the village guide, not Ndumiso) was wearing a traditional
Swazi wrap – and heavy winter coat. That is the thing with winter
here: many of them dress for winter not far different from how we
dress, only their daytime winter temperature is 15-20 C., rather than
-5-0 C. Each morning I'm standing before my students in short
sleeves, and many of them are wearing touques and scarves and winter
jackets and gloves. I am quite amused. They think I'm crazy. I've
tried to explain to them when they comment on my short sleeves that
to me, winter involves an accumulation of ice and snow on the ground,
with temperatures below freezing, and that their winter feels like my
late spring. Usually, they respond in quite a bit of surprise. Many
of them have never actually touched snow.
We had a lovely
dinner at a restaurant there, and had the chance to pester Ndumiso
with more questions, which he very patiently and graciously answered.
Both our conversation the previous day with Brad and that day with
Ndumiso really helped me to begin to understand that cultural
backgrounds of many of my students (though certainly not all, as only
about a third of ACC students are Swazi).
Wednesday
My goal
Wednesday was to get through James, Romans, and Thessalonians. We got
through James, and Romans 1-8, at which point we ended up talking the
rest of class about grace, particularly out of Romans 5-6. Despite
the effect on my schedule, I was happy to do so. Grace has been a
concept with which we have often struggled in the Church of Christ,
and to get a chance to help these students from a variety of cultures
and religious backgrounds to understand the meaning and effect of
grace was worth every moment.
On Sunday and
Wednesday nights, the school holds their own service. The worship
here is vibrant, the singing is amazing, and there is much more
dancing than I am accustomed to – it is a beautiful place to be. I
will only be here two weeks, but it's going to be more difficult to
return home to the style of worship that I know than it was to adjust
to the worship here.
Thursday
Thursday we
made it through the remainder of Romans, Thessalonians, Galatians,
and we started into 1 Corinthians. The students often ask questions
or make comments that I have simply have never thought of before.
Elsewhere I will write about their perspective on James. One asked if
the man who had his father's wife in 1 Corinthians 5 might have been
demon possessed, based on verse 5. We had difficult discussions in
Romans 13, around what it means to submit to a government that is not
worthy of respect. We had difficult discussion in Romans 14, around
the use of alcohol and Christian liberty (which, as I observed to
them at the end, really demonstrated what Romans 14 talks about –
that Christians will come to differing conclusions). We together came
to realise how culturally informed “children, obey your parents”
is – from the point of view of most of them in the class, I am a
poor daughter, as I will make decisions with which my father
disagrees. It is a fascinating experience – multiple cultures
coming together to examine scriptures that were written first to yet
a different culture – and it is a beautiful experience, as we all
had to begin to see how our cultural assumption affect our
interpretations of the oracles of God.
Thursday
afternoon we went for lunch at Malandela's, a hotel and restaurant
with beautiful gardens. We went with Manuel, one of the full-time
lecturers at ACC, and his wife Pam. They are truly lovely people,
functioning as parents and grandparents to a community that is mostly
much younger than they are. They are South African, but have been in
Swaziland for quite some time now, and have developed a deep love of
the Swazi people.
Friday
On Friday, we
finished 1 Corinthians, and got through 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, and
Colossians. My students impress me so. Even with such a long,
intensive week, at break time I saw a few of them with their bibles
out, discussing scripture. They are eager to learn, eager to study,
and take it seriously. It is such a joy and an honour to teach them.
For lunch, we
went out with Brad Carter, his wife Rachel, and their three daughters
to a local restaurant that is in the same market as a candle factory
that is apparently quite well known. It was a chance to relax, and
pick up a few gifts.
Saturday
It was so nice to wake up Saturday morning and not need to teach. I
love teaching, but a little over twenty hours in one week is a lot of
mental energy. It was also exciting to wake up Saturday morning and
leave on my first safari! Garry and Hillary had opted to go to Kruger
Park in South Africa, a trip that lasted all day Saturday and a good
bit of Sunday. I decided I needed some rest, and to get some work
done, so I went to eSwatini's largest and best-known park, Hlane.
Tsitsi and Justice, two of the staff at ACC, were kind enough to take
me. Together, they probably comprise the Radar O'Reilly of the
operation: Tsitsi is the registrar, and seems to largely keep things
spinning in the academic office. Justice is in charge of operations,
literally keeping the place running and organising the student work
details.
Sunday
This morning Miriam and I went to the Tubungu Church of Christ,
which is very near to ACC. It is very small, but has a large and
popular children's program, and many of the students worship there
since it is in walking distance of the school, so they don't need to
get rides. There are more children than youth or adults, so they use
the building for Sunday school, so the adults meet outside. This is
why I very nearly got my first ever sunburn at church. Fortunately, I
eventually noticed that I was getting quite warm, and moved to join
the other pasty people who were sitting in the shade!
Monday
This morning we were back in the saddle, powering through Philemon,
Philippians, Mark, Luke, Acts, and Titus. I still have not caught up
from when I fell behind last week, and this week I'll really have to
make time. That's the sad part of a survey course – you can only
give your students a taste of a few of the good things that each book
has to offer, rather than sitting and savouring each one.
This afternoon we went with Justice and Tsitsi, first to Nando's for
lunch, and then to a glass factory and shop in Mbabane, the Swazi
capital. I think that everyone is most amused by my deep and abiding
love for Nando's. The chicken may have been slightly better than the
Nando's chicken at home, but they had no perinnaise (peri-peri sauce
mixed with mayonnaise, giving you the world's best hot yet creamy
sauce), so in my mind, the experience was about equal to what we get
in Kitchener. The glass factory was fascinating. They work with the
glass by hand, making both functional and decorative pieces, and
there is a balcony from which you can observe their work.
Also, it rained this afternoon. This is noteworthy, as it's the
first hint of environmental moisture that I've seen in my week and a
half here. For some reason, I had always pictured tropical winters as
a rainy season, but at least in eSwatini, it's most definitely dry.
In the last few days, three different students in the school have
experienced losses in their families, two of them especially sudden
and tragic. Please pray for the peace, comfort, and strength of the
students. All I can think is that there's some serious spiritual
warfare going on. And perhaps it says something too, about what a
great threat to the gates of hell that is here at ACC. I believe that
many of these students will do great things for the kingdom.
This evening, at the suggestion of a few of my students, we held a
movie night and watched Paul, Apostle of Christ. My
Dad and I saw that when it was in theatre, and I was most impressed.
Probably about half of the class came, and I think it was a good
opportunity for them to get in their minds a bit of a picture of the
New Testament world that we have discussed. It was also the perfect
time to watch it, as we will finish Paul's writings tomorrow.
