Bringing You Up to Date

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.