New Year's Resolutions

First, how am I going with last year's? Okay, I think. Viola practice didn't happen quite as often as I'd like, and there is nowhere in Mackay for me to do any rock climbing, but otherwise I think I made some progress.

Some personal goals for this year:

• Continue working on my drum playing
  
• Waste less time (and spend it on worthwhile pursuits instead)
  
• Lift my level of prayer, care and giving for missionaries
  

On a related note, as you may know, a long-time goal of mine has been to put on some weight. I'm pleased to report that my gym program (and carefully-planned diet) is working well, and I am now over 65kg! (That's more than ever before in my life!)

End of the Spear

Saw End of the Spear this afternoon. Very moving, it's a true story about Christian missionaries whose example of love and forgiveness saved the Waodani people of Ecuador from extinction. Well dramatised, beautiful photography (well, beautiful scenery, and skilful videography), and a gripping tale.

Recommendation: If you get a chance, see this film!

CMS Summer School 2007

Summer School this year was wet, wet, wet.

Friday evening there was a big rainstorm, lots of mud everywhere. Still haven't managed to get the mudstains off my long pants! But that's okay, they're old pants, and I haven't tried the nappy treatment yet. It rained on and off every day we were there, including a hailstorm during lunchtime on Sunday.

Don Carson did the Bible talks this year. Ironically, after being billed as a major draw-card for this year's Summer School, he himself humbly noted that we shouldn't look to “gurus” for spiritual instruction, but rather to God alone. Nonetheless, he spoke very well, helping us to see and understand more from Nehemiah than we had expected (Laetitia and I having already studied Nehemiah in 2007).

However, the food was a poor cousin of the usual rich Summer School fare, especially for Laetitia and I with our special diets. First of all, although we were supposed to be eating our meals at CMS, the same site we were sleeping at, in fact (due apparently to an uncorrected database error by CMS) the caterers were providing all special diet meals at WEC! (For those who don't know, the WEC site is basically diametrically opposite the CMS site at the conference centre.) Second, CMS had evidently failed to pass on to the caterers our special diet instructions which we have carefully prepared specifically for the benefit of people who are trying to cook for us. Third, the portions they prepared were pathetically small, especially for me, trying to put on weight! (The plate shown at right was supposed to be my lunch on Sunday. When I commented to the cook that it wasn't enough to feed me, I was told, “well, there's salad too.” Grr!)

Fortunately, after correcting the cook's incomplete description of our dietary needs, the meals did gradually improve. On the last couple of days we were eating delicious and very creative meals. *Sigh*

The Poisonwood Bible, or Tata Jesus is Bängala!

Finally got around to finishing off The Poisonwood Bible. I found finishing it hard, and not only because the end of the school year got in the way. The last part of the book seemed … well, a bit weird, actually. To me.

The story is “about” a Baptist missionary family from the south-east of the USA, who go to the Belgian Congo in 1959, shortly before that country's independence. It is also, more accurately, about the history of that independence, and the nature of its effects on the local people and the international scene. It is about culture, mission, and human nature.

The story is told in the voice of the four daughters of the evangelistic patriarch (with introductory narratives by their mother). Right from the word go, I picked Adah as a mathematician—which says something either about me or about Barbara Kingsolver's ability to portray characters well. Actually, I think Kingsolver's characters are excellently developed and very cleverly portrayed. But in the end I think I liked Adah's perspective the most.

The first two-thirds of the book are a narrative of the family's arrival and gradual adjustment to the local culture. Then the critical event happens (sorry, no spoilers here). The last part of the book describes the aftermath and legacy. The mother and daughters each reflect on their experiences.

I do recommend you read this book, if you haven't already. It provides an illuminating perspective on the history of the Belgian Congo / Zaire / D.R. Congo. The cultural and historical processes involved are discussed clearly and critically but without absolute moral judgement. And it is also an enjoyable read (my earlier comment about the latter part of the book notwithstanding).