March 27, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Happy Easter! In the past week it has rained more days than it hasn’t. This is pretty amazing since the rainy season is supposed to be over by now (it started in December). In fact, it has rained for the past five hours or so. This is very good news for Tanzania… the shambas (farms) have been hurting because there has not been much rain this year. Also, most of the electricity in Tanzania is hydroelectric so, rainfall is very important.

In other news, in less than 300 days the United States will have a new president. I don’t mean to get partisan, but that is good news for the US and for the world. Countdown status: 299 days, 10 hours, and 5 minutes.

I have spent the last week and a half grading quizzes, planning the rest of the semester and fixing some computer problems. At the beginning of last week the computers here decided to stop working with the internet, which has caused some problems. I was not able to figure out the origin of the problem until Tuesday of this week. It was the DNS server settings… for the fellow geeks out there. Well, I better get back to work. I would ask for your prayers for the Commission on Ministry and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia over the next three days - they are meeting and discussing many important things. Also, please pray for Msalato’s students as they return from their short break.

Bye for now.

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March 16, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Greetings on this Palm Sunday. Things are settling down at Msalato — on Friday Fall/Easter Break began. This will be a two week break during which students will return to their villages to celebrate Easter and hopefully find some money for their school fees. I will be using this time to take care of some computer work and also to plan out what I will be teaching during the remainder of the semester, which ends in mid June.

I am glad to have a break right now because it has been a very busy month or so since the campus woke up from its long break. One of my first priorities is to produce a newsletter covering everything since the new year. It has just been a very busy couple of months and I have also been trying to learn my new computer and the Mac OS. I will get out the newsletter before the end of the month and perhaps before Easter.

Well, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few tidbits about life here. First, I am pleased to announce that the Anglican Church of Tanzania has elected a new archbishop and primate. I have nothing against the current primate, but I know that he was adamantly opposed to my Church, The Episcopal Church (TEC) or Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA). He has refused to accept any money for the US Church for some time, which limits some of the work my church can do here. The new archbishop and primate of this church will be Bishop Valentino L. Mokiwa of the Diocese of Dar es Salaam. I have heard very little about him, but I know that he comes from the part of the Tanzanian Church that is considered to be “high church” liturgically and that he is opposed to women’s ordination (I will talk about that a little later). The new archbishop will be installed on May 25 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, here in Dodoma. The cathedral is just the diocesan cathedral and, to my knowledge, holds no special significance to the province as a whole. I assume that it was chosen simply because Dodoma is basically the center of the country and easier to get to for more people than Dar es Salaam. There is some hope that the new archbishop might restore relations with The Episcopal Church.

So women’s ordination… yes there are ordained Tanzanian women serving in the Anglican Church of Tanzania. I think there are only about a dozen or fewer in the Diocese of Central Tanzania, which has over three hundred parish priests, but that is more than I would have thought. There are a few other diocese in this Church that have ordained women, but they are few. This new archbishop wants this to stop, but supposedly his power does not allow him to prevent this at this point.

A slight correction about my previous post and the shift in the future of missionaries in the Episcopal Church. After further reading of the announcement that came from the Mission Personnel Office of The Episcopal Church, I have come to some different conclusions. So before this announcement the Church had three different missionary programs - the Young Adult Service Corps (which I am part of and is a one-year program for people from 18 to 30 years old, Volunteers for Mission (who got logistical support from The Episcopal Church but were largely responsible for all of their funding) and Appointed Missionaries (who got most of their funding directly from the Church and were appointed for three year terms). The new plan for missionary work has just two programs YASC (which will continue unaffected because it has funding under two different programs) and Missionaries. The former Appointed Missionaries and Volunteers for Mission are now one program. Everyone in this new program will get health insurance and pension contributions, but beyond that… not much else. This is an increase for former volunteers but a dramatic cut for former appointed missionaries who will now have to find funding for living expenses, language training, and transportation to and from their post. This is a dramatic shift and a sad one. Other Churches and missionary organizations provide a great deal more funding and provide for four months of language training and cars and many other things. I encourage each of you to ponder these shifts in policy and consider the best actions to take.

Well, I need to go into work and take care of a few things and then hopefully get a haircut. I hope that all of you have a blessed and special Holy Week. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

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March 9, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Greetings from Africa!

It has been a while since I have been able to post and this is mostly due to my busy schedule in the past two weeks. Things have changed dramatically since my first three months here when I had little to do. I am quite busy now and like it! I have been teaching now for two full weeks, although classes have been meeting for three weeks (the first week there were few students and my main goal was just to get to know them and find out where their previous Church History courses had left off. In my Church History II course for Diploma I students I have covered the Great Schism (the split between the Eastern and Western Churches) and the Crusades. The other course I am teaching, Church History IV for Diploma II, has been focusing on the Church at the dawn of the nineteenth century and missionary efforts during that time. At the end of next week I will be giving my students their first test/quiz. Also, at the end of this coming week the school will be going on an Easter Break for two weeks. During that time I hope to figure out what I will be teaching throughout the rest of the semester and work on my lecture notes.

On a different matter altogether… I recently got an email from the Mission Personnel Officer of the Episcopal Church. His email informed the missionaries of the Church of some recent changes that resulted from a recent meeting of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. The email first explained that the Church had finally agreed to provide a pension fund for lay missionaries for the Church (ordained missionaries had been part of the Church Pension Fund for some time). However, the email continued by stating that because of the financial situation in the Church and the new expense of providing pension funding for lay missionaries, the compensation for appointed missionaries of the Church will be changed. The new compensation package provides for participation in the Church Pension Fund and health insurance. That is all. Appointed missionaries will now be responsible for finding their own funding for living expenses, travel expenses, language training, immunizations, and everything else. This is a dramatic shift and a sad one. The program that I am part of, the Young Adult Service Corps, is not affected by this change because its funding comes jointly from the Mission Personnel Office and the Office of College and Young Adult Ministries. I am not seeking to speak out against the Church that I proudly represent, my goal is simply to draw attention to the state of the Church. The Episcopal Church has been in some financial trouble ever since the events of the 2003 General Convention, after which several dioceses and many parishes decided to end their financial support of the “national” Church. This lack of support has had a direct impact on the Church’s ability to “seek and serve Christ in all people” as the Baptismal Covenant requires us to do. Now, more than ever, it is essential for the Episcopal Church to have a presence throughout the Anglican Communion. One of the key ways that this is done is by sending out missionaries, where invited, to help to build up the body of Christ. I encourage all of you who might agree with me to pray for a change in the priorities of the Church and for improved funding for missionary work. Also, if you know or happen to be a delegate to a diocesan convention/council or the General Convention of the Episcopal Church I encourage you to speak out and act on this issue. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

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February 27, 2008 by Stephen Day.

With tremendous help from the computer fundi at Mackay House, James, I have succeeded in getting Msalato Theological College back onto the internet… with one little caveat. TTCL signed me up for a prepaid plan that is best suited for one person not a campus. So I need to go into TTCL and tell them to switch us to a plan that is designed for internet cafes and has a monthly cap on 20GB of data transfered.

So hopefully by friday afternoon Msalato will be surfing the ‘net. Thank you for your prayers.

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February 23, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Friday, February 22, 2008 9:10 pm (East Africa Time)

I am glad to say that I accomplished a few things today. I received many papers from my new student answering three questions: what is church history, is it important, and what do you want to learn. I went into town and got some money from the ATM (the Tanzanian bank didn’t realize how much money was in my account) and bought fourteen new keyboards (cost about $175) so there computers here will be a lot more useful for the students now. However, the main purpose of today was to setup an internet connection for the whole campus. That goal was not realized. One part of the problem was that TTCL (Tanzanian Telephone Corporation Limited - a state owned company) which is going to provide the internet connection via ADSL had not completed part of the work required. Hopefully, they came this afternoon and finished the work. The other problem is that the computer fundi (fundi is Swahili for expert/technican) at Mackay House and I struggled today to get the routers that will share the signal from Mackay to Msalato. So the internet connection won’t be working until perhaps Monday. I hope to also get six power supplies for the computers here (assuming the Tanzanian bank, which is actually British, recognizes the accurate amount of money in my account) so that all of the computers will be working. Well, I have to head off to bed so that I can spend tomorrow working on developing an outline for my two classes for the semester. Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!!

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February 21, 2008 by Stephen Day.

I just had my first real class (one where I lectured) and it went pretty well. The class was Church History II with Diploma I. The topic was the Great Schism (the split between the Eastern and Western Churches). The students had asked me to lecture on the matter even though the time frame of the class is the Reformation Era. I got good questions from the students and they seemed to engage the material. They got hung up on some issues, but they were ones that I have gotten hung up on before as well — i.e. the role of icons in the Eastern Church and the theology of the Trinity. In fact, one of the students asked me to lecture on the theology of the Trinity — I said I would work on that. I am no theologian! Anyway, it went very well and I am liking teaching. Below is the handout/outline that I gave the students for today. Forgive the few spelling mistakes… I haven’t figured out a few things on my new computer.

Have a great day!

Church History II
The Great Schism

I. Tensions Arise
A. In the first few centuries the persecution of the Church helped it to stay united, since there was a common foe – the Romans
B. As the Church grew and relations with the Roman Empire became peaceful, Church leaders began to develop different theologies and practices

II. Fundamental Theological Differences between and within East and West Emerge
A. The divinity and nature of Christ was agreed upon at the Council of Nicea in 325, but the nature of the Holy Spirit – the third part of the Trinity – was a subject of many debates.
B. There were splits even within the Eastern Church – two different schools of thought (“Antiochene” and “Alexandrine” - the names coming from the two cities where the groups were centered). The debate within these groups was centered on “how can the immutable, eternal God be joined to a mutable historical man” (Gonzalez, Vol. 1, P. 252)
a) Details about these two interpretations of the Trinity can be found on page 252 of Gonzalez’s first volume of The Story of Christianity.
C. The Western Church was not concerned with these detailed points of theology, because they faced invasions from barbarians and accepted the dual nature of Christ (both human and divine).
D. Another key split between Eastern and Western Christianity was the use of icons. Icons are central to Eastern Christianity, but were interpreted as idol worship by the Christians of the West. This debate was an early one and was settled in Western minds in 754 at a Council called for by Constantine V, which forbade imagry (icons) in religious worship. This further split East from West. The decision of 754 was partially and then fully reveresed in 787 (Seventh Ecumeical Council) and 842 when the worship or veneration of images or icons was allowed once again and then normalized. These decisions angered many Western Christians… furthering the divide.

III. Historical Differences
A. It is key to look at the different experiences of the Eastern and Western parts of Christendom. The Roman Empire ceased to exist as a unified entity in 476. The Roman Empire had united Christianity and helped to establish the core tenants of the faith by the calling of the first Ecummenical Councils.
B. With the end of the unified Roman Empire the Western and Eastern remanents developed independently as did their understanding and practice of Christianity.
C. The two branches of Christianity faced different threats. The West faced invasion by the “barbaian horde.” The East, after 650, the threat was from Islam.
D. A key historical (as opposed to theological) difference between the Eastern and Western Churches was the role of the Bishop of Rome (also known as the Pope). Early in Christianity there were five key leaders in the Church. The Bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Rome. These bishops were known as patriarchs and seen as THE leaders of the Church jointly. The Bishop of Rome had no special authority. Note that many of these partiarchs are based in the Eastern part of the Church. After the fall of the Roman Empire (as a united East-West empire) the Bishop of Rome became a larger figure in the Church and, in the West, took on the mantle of leadership of the Church.
E. Also, there was the linguistic split between East and West that furthered the divide. The Christians of the West (or more appropriately, the leaders of the Western Church) spoke Latin, while the Eastern Church’s leadership spoke Greek.

IV. The Schism
A. Most scholars recognize the formal spilt between the Western (or Roman) Church and the Eastern (or Orthodox) Churches as occuring on June 16, 1054. This was the date on which Cardinal Humbert, acting as an ambassador/emissary for Pope Leo IX, declared that the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, to be excommunicated. Cerularius responded by excommunicating the Pope.
B. One small point that is worth noting is that at the time that Cardinal Humbert declared Cerularius to be excommunicated, the Pope, in whose name Humbert took this action, was dead.
C. The controversy that led to the 1054 excommunication dealt with the celabacy of the clergy. The Eastern Churches had long allowed married clergy, but Rome had outlawed the practice. Also, Eastern Church leaders opposed the use of unleavened bread for communion.
D. Some historians suggest that the schism actually occured in 1204 when Western forces conquered Constantinople.

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February 19, 2008 by Stephen Day.

February 19, 2008

Well I wanted to let all of you know about some progress that has been made. Yesterday I went into town to meet with the computer fundi at Mackay House (the headquarters of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika) to sort out a few things. The main purpose of the trip was to find out what would be needed to establish an link between Mackay and Msalato for internet access. This is a convoluted scheme to get internet to Msalato for the time being until the capital can be raised to purchase a satellite dish. Try and follow this… I am signing up for a new telephone line to be put into Mackay and also to have an ADSL (same kind of DSL broadband you can get in the States) line activated. This line will have a modem that connects to the internet and the output of the modem will be connected to a wireless router on the roof of Mackay which will be connected to an antenna that points at Msalato (about 12 km away). At Msalato there will be an antenna that is pointed to Mackay that will be connected to a router, which will be connected to another wireless router which will simultaneously spread the signal on campus through Wi-Fi (802.11g for the nerds) and share it via Ethernet cable (CAT-5e) to offices and the computer labs and servers. No, I can’t claim credit for this idea… it was my predecessors – Kirk Steffenson of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (aka TheDiocese.net).

So while I was out on Monday afternoon I was able to meet with Mackay’s fundi, a wonderful Tanzanian named James. We figured some things out and went to TTCL to learn what the cost of a new line and its setup would be – not bad only about $100 US for the new line, ADSL modem, and other setup costs. So hopefully today or someday soon I can sign up for the new line and possibly by Saturday the signal will be up and running all around Msalato. Let us all pray for this!! I was also able to investigate the prices for replacement computer keyboards and power supplies. The current computer network here is only about a year old and was made possible by a grant from the wonderful and generous people at Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, in Manhattan (as the name implies). The one significant problem with this system is that the keyboards that were purchased with it have failed at an alarming rate. At this point I think maybe half of the twenty-four keyboards are working. I was surprised to learn yesterday that a new keyboard could be purchased for only 13,000 TSZ when bought in bulk. That is only about $11.50!! I bought one yesterday and have used it some and have been pleasantly surprised. As for power supplies… we have had five that have died. Who knows how or why… the computers are connected to a huge voltage regulator and the servers are attached to an APC U(uninterruptible) P(power) S (supply) so it is unlikely that anything along those lines killed them… but who knows. I was also surprised to find power supplies for only 25,000 TSZ (about $22). So at the end of this week I hope to buy six new power supplies (one spare) and fifteen new keyboards. That will be about $300, which will return the network here to full use.

I start teaching in less than one hour… I am a bit nervous and would appreciate your prayers. Oh and for those staying up to date on the news in Tanzania – yes President Bush did just visit the country for a few days. No, he didn’t make it to Msalato or Dodoma. I believe he stayed in Dar es Salaam and maybe went up to Arusha (which is a touristy place at the foot of Kilimanjaro- the highest mountain in Africa). So, I did not see my president while he was in the country. I have heard though that the main topic while he was here was not his AIDS or Malaria programs which he was presumably coming to trumpet but the race for his successor – especially the fact that one of the front-runners is the son of a Kenyan.

Well, I better finish preparing… I am a bit nervous. Thanks for your prayers and support.

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February 15, 2008 by Stephen Day.

February 15, 2008
First, I would like to let all of you know that there are 145 pictures that I took while I was in Iringa available on the internet.  You can check them out at http://www.stephencday.com/Iringa/.

A lot has transpired since I last had the opportunity to post to my blog.  I was blessed last Tuesday, February 5, to receive my new computer, a MacBook Pro.  It was brought to me by the kind and gracious Rev. George Okoth, who spent January at Virginia Theological Seminary working on his Doctor of Ministry degree.  George is a professor at St. John’s University in Dodoma, which is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Tanzania and used to be a professor here at Msalato Theological College.  My father ordered the computer on the internet on Wednesday, January 23 and it shipped a day later from Shanghai, China and arrived in Alexandria, Virginia on Monday, January 28.  Pretty amazing… I have been working hard since I got the computer to acclimatize myself (it has been about a decade since I used the Mac OS).

In other news, I have started teaching.  Yesterday I had my first class of computer skills for the Pre-Diploma students.  It lasted only one hour but was quite enjoyable – I got the students set up with usernames and passwords and showed them how to log onto the network, open a new document, save it, and how to log out.  They seemed to grasp what was going on and were able to log in again on their own.

I also wanted to share some of the things I have been able to do thanks to your support and those of others in the Dioceses of West Virginia and Washington.  As part of the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) of the Episcopal Church I was required to raise $10,000 to help cover the expenses that I would incur traveling here and living here for a year.  I am pleased to say that more than $4,500 has so far been raised that is being used to help the people of Tanzania and my work here.  The money is being held by the Diocese of West Virginia and all withdraws from it are approved by the Bishop personally.  So what has money been used for so far?
- Approximately $200 was spent on textbooks for the courses I will be teaching this semester and for shipping them to Tanzania.  The books will be donated to the school’s library at the end of the semester.
- $400 was used to help purchase tools and other equipment that was needed for my work here – all of which will remain at Msalato for future use.
- $450 was used to purchase an electric stove/oven for the duplex that I am living in.  The stove will reman in the duplex and be used by its future residents – it is the property of Msalato.
- $600 was used to purchase a refrigerator and a surge protector for it.  This will also remain in the duplex and is the property of Msalato now.
- $400 was spent to purchase two hard drives and some RAM so that I could create a storage server for Msalato.  This will be used to backup the data from the terminal server and the web server (which is actually also the storage server).
- $330 was recently used to purchase a new 10,000 volt voltage regulator for the library, which protects the servers and twelve computers.  The old one was half that voltage and was damaged by a recent lightening storm.
- $410 was used to help repair the suspension on a car that I drove for about six weeks that is owned by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika and was purchased by the Episcopal Church.

In the future I hope to make some more purchases to help Msalato.  In particular, there is a desperate need for working keyboards.  The ones here have been malfunctioning at an alarming rate.  At this point I think that maybe half of them work reliably.  Also, I am considering purchasing a new motherboard, processor, and power supply for the storage/web server so that it will operate more quickly and reliably over the next several years (the current processor is an older Celron which is a lower power processor best suited to short-term simple computing – not the work of a server that operates 24/7/365).  I have no doubt that other expenditures might arise as time goes on.  Also, there is a significant need for money to help pay for a satellite dish for Msalato.

I explained on a previous blog entry why  Msalato must resort in the long term to satellite internet.  Basically, the only option for a direct internet connection for the college is satellite – other option require relying on a relatively unstable wireless signal that has to be broadcast over ten kilometers.  The cost of a new satellite dish and installation is $4,000.  There is money already set aside for the monthly bills for the internet service, so all that is needed is the capital.  If you wish to further support these important causes, feel free to send money to the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia at PO Box 5400, Charleston, WV, 25361.  Just remember to mention Tanzania or my name on the memo line.

Thank you again for all of your support and prayers.  General classes resume here on Monday, so I would appreciate your prayers for the students and staff as they travel and prepare for the new semester.

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February 4, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Howdy y’all!!!

I thought I might take this opportunity to share some of my reflections on my first four months in Africa. Tomorrow I will celebrate four months since departing from West Virginia. I have greatly enjoyed my time in Tanzania and Dodoma. In fact, I would very much like to return to Tanzania to serve as a missionary for a longer period of time (a three year term or two).

One of the first things that I noticed here was the preponderance of shirts from the West (particularly America) being worn by Tanzanians. In particular a large number of these shirts are from groups or events – such as a t-shirt that was produced for a particular church group or marathon. So my first reflection is to encourage all of you not to produce t-shirts for church or other kinds of groups and events. I am not seeking to deprive Africans of clothing, it just seems like a waste to have custom shirts printed or otherwise produced that will end up quickly being donated to charity and will end up in the developing world. Instead of spending money and energy on custom shirts, money and time could be donated to helping the developing world in other ways.

I was asked the other day if I was shocked by the standard of living or the poverty of the people of Tanzania. I had to respond that I have not been shocked. My eyes were opened to the poverty of the developing world by my time in West Bank and more so by my three weeks in Burma. However, I do not want to minimize the differences of the standard of living here in Tanzania when compared to the West. There are countless differences in regard to the economic and living conditions here and back home. During my trip to a village in November I was able to get a better grasp on the conditions in which most Tanzanians live, but still I was a bit pleasantly surprised. Homes were relatively well built out of bricks that are locally produced in every village. Interestingly, the roofs are the last things added and little money or effort is put into them – most roofs are simple metal sheets. This is likely the result of the fact that it only rains during maybe three months of the year. In the villages electricity is scarce, if even present. However, a new feature is appearing on the landscapes of villages – cell phone towers. As I think is common in the developing world, Tanzania is skipping a few steps that took the West decades… land lines are not being put into most homes and businesses, instead they adopt cell phones. This also includes the limited number of people who have a home internet connection – most connect through an interesting hybrid of cellular and Wi-Fi technologies that is provided by the phone company in Tanzania – TTCL. Also, most internet café’s in towns and cities connect to the internet via a broadband connection (DSL), which was a pleasant surprise.

Again, I do not want to give the wrong impression. The people of Tanzania are not wealthy. The average income is only a few hundred dollars a year. As I have previously explained that the best compensated Anglican clergy in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika earn the equivalent of about $100 US a year. Despite this, there are plenty of pastors eager to serve God and the Church in this diocese.

I have been amazed by the spirit and faith of the people that I have met here. They are very eager to learn and to hear about my life and my faith. Also, I have really enjoyed being able to use the training I have received during my time in seminary and my many, many other years in school.

Looking toward the future, some students are beginning to arrive back on campus from their time off. The school year will begin for me on February 13, when there is a staff meeting and at 11:30 I will get to leave the staff meeting and begin teaching. I will have my first class on computer skills at that time for pre-diploma students. That class will last two hours a week and run the whole semester. My two church history courses will meet for three hours a week each and then the youth ministry course for degree students will only be one hour a week. I am both eager and anxious about these possibilities.

As for prayer concerns I would appreciate your prayers for the students of Msalato as they travel here and begin their studies once again. Likewise, I would appreciate your prayers for the staff and faculty of Msalato as they begin a new semester with fewer teachers. I would invite your prayers of thanksgiving for those that bought me a computer to aid in my work here and also for the wonderful Rev. George Okoth who has brought the computer with him from the States. Also, I would welcome your prayers for me as I begin teaching, while also tackling the numerous technological maladies (internet access for the campus, a dead proxy/web server, establishing a new backup server, etc.). During the coming days and weeks I will continue to pray for guidance in my work and my spiritual life and also for all those who have enabled me to be here in Africa serving God and his people.

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January 28, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Monday, January 28, 2008 – 9:00 am

I would like to apologize for not posting more frequently during the past few weeks but it has been a busy time and I am without a computer right now. Well, I am back at Msalato 15 km outside of Dodoma. Things are still pretty quiet here, but there are more people around now than before I left. While I was in Iringa there was no rain at Msalato but since I have returned it has rained heavily every day. That is very good because there are a lot of crops in this region that would fail otherwise.

As for my computer issues… I have learned that all of my data from my old laptop is intact and retrievable. As for the future, my parents are helping me out with that… I am getting a MacBook Pro. It was ordered last Tuesday and shipped from a factory in Shanghai, China last Thursday. For those of you confused, Apple ships most, if not all, of its products straight from its factories in China. The MacBook Pro should arrive either today or tomorrow at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia (my alma mater) where the Rev. George Okoth will pick it up and bring it with him to Dodoma. George is a professor at St. John’s University, an Anglican university in Dodoma and was until late October a professor at Msalato. George is leaving the US, where he has spent January working on a D. Min., on Wednesday and hopefully will return to Dodoma by Saturday or Sunday. I am eager to get my new computer and get it setup.

While I was in Iringa I took lots of pictures that I am eager to share, but it will likely be a while before I can get them downloaded to my computer, edited, and then uploaded to the internet. I really enjoyed my time at language school — I learned a lot and enjoyed the change in surroundings. I hope to be able to put my new skills to use once things start back up here. I am looking forward to teaching computer skills, church history, and youth ministry.

As for my newsletter for January, it will likely be delayed until next month when I will issue another double edition. But I will post pictures ASAP and let all of you know where you can find them once they are up. Well, I hope that all of you are doing well.

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