End of Semester Amusement Usw.

It seems that the long promised rainy season has finally arrived in Aparri, and surprisingly enough it does indeed feel cooler; even though a quick check of the thermometer doesn't produce evidence of a vast difference. This past week it rained everyday but Friday and Saturday. Of course, my life being what it is, this constant rain made one more constant stream of noise that I needed to speak over while teaching. If I were guessing I would say that there seems to be more of a breeze and that is why it feels much cooler.

So the first semester is over. That is difficult to believe. I'm proud of my students, especially the ones that studied for their finals. I don't think that a first semester could have gone much better. In fact, the really shy students are just now daring to speak to me, so that makes everything continually fun. I'm interested to see how next semester will turn out, because I've definitely never taught anything remotely similar to Bible geography. The preparation has been fun because I've been digging through the Old Testament again, something I don't do very often (much to my own detriment, I've discovered.) I can already tell that it's going to be challenging though. When you're from a western country you assume a lot of things about global perspective. Naturally, Greek, Roman, and Ancient Near Eastern history aren't taught nearly as much in the Philippines as they are in the West. So when I say things like "the seven churches mentioned in Revelation are in the modern-day country of Turkey" I get a lot of blank looks. But not for long! Soon they'll all know exactly where Turkey is and that is used to be the Roman province of Asia.

This past week was also interesting because I had the opportunity to teach a master's level class. New Testament Introduction was the class and it was intense. Three and one-half hours of lecture for four days straight. My voice was just about gone by the time Friday rolled around. It was close enough that I was glad I decided to finish on Thursday. The week was doubly interesting because I got to meet one Tim Thomas, who was teaching OT Overview in the afternoons after I was teaching NT Intro in the mornings. We had a great time talking about the joys of mission work, the Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible and our wonderful, erudite alma maters.

I do have a request, please continue to pray for me. Especially regarding next year. I'm talking right now with Philippine Bible Seminary, a sister school of Aparri Bible Seminary, about meeting a need they have for Greek next year as well as teaching another year in Aparri. Obviously, a lot of caveats apply here regarding raising funding and immigration issues and about 13 other things. However, I do feel led in this direction. I'm still praying about it and would appreciate your prayers as well. KYRIE ELEISON!

Thank you for your support. Seriously, thank you. This first Philippines experience of mine is approximately half over. You helped make that possible. The experience has been so indescribable. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but I consistently feel so blessed to be here, to know the people I know here, to work with the people I work with, to have the students I have, and on top of all of that to enjoy it and not be constantly sick and/or homesick. A blessed situation is tough to ignore and tough to describe.

Nick

Internet Proclivities Notwithstanding

I apologize for taking so long to update this. There is so much I've wanted to pass on. In addition to being very busy the internet service here has been "typhooning" lately after the two typhoons cut through Aparri in the same week. Some sites just wouldn't load and this just happened to be one of them.

First, I have many things to cross of the list.

1)[In Ilocano one =maysa] Listen to a meeting conducted in a foreign language that follows parliamentary procedure. This was about as exciting as things get.

2)[dua] Eat spicy Goat. Genuinely tasty.

3)[tallu] Ride in a van with no windshield wipers through a typhoon. It wasn't even a strong typhoon, but I'm not able to convey to you how interesting this experience was.

4)[upot] Be the guest speaker at a church's anniversary/thanksgiving service. This was just yesterday in Tuguegarao. I enjoyed myself and the church was an excellent host, very hospitable. As a thank-you they gave me a very nice formal barong. It's black with gold embroidery.

5)[lima] Referee a basketball game in the Philippines. I officiated the championship game of the sportsfest put on by Aparri Church of Christ this past Saturday.

6)[innem] Teach a semester at Aparri Bible Seminary. Finals are this week. So hard to believe. 1 semester done already.

7)[pita] Be interviewed on the radio. Should be airing Thursday in Tuguegarao.

(8 - wallu, 9 - siam, 10 - sangpulu) Disclaimer: I probably spelled most of these incorrectly. And ten might be sampulu. The Tagalog and the Ilocano are similar and right now I can't remember which is which.

I feel so blessed being here. Preaching yesterday was a fantastic experience that went really well. Attendance was estimated at about 300. The theme for Church of Christ Regional Center this year is "Turning the World Upside Down." I focused on the natural question that follows that; something like "I want to turn the world upside down, now what?" I preached out of Colossians 3:1-17, the premise being that if we set our mind on things above then we will turn the world upside down. I also got to meet the Stevens family that I'd emailed on several previous occasions but had never actually met, that was cool too.

I decided to try and brush up on my Hebrew, that is a big hole in my education that I need to fix if I'm going to get into a doctoral progam anytime soon. I need to add a semitic language to my collection anyway.

My favorite recent examples of English in the Philippines. "I like the fingers on your feet Sir!" "Sir, it's hard to English!" "Sir [redacted] is very turtle! He's so slow!"

Thank you for your prayers and support, God bless!

Nick