August 17, 2007

Dear Friends,

On arriving back in Singapore in June, we hit the ground running. Moving back after a year’s absence meant getting the house back into order, preparing for lectures, renewing relationships—all while climbing out of the fog of jet lag. Tom was asked to be acting dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies. Though a great honor, the job is one of the most taxing at Trinity. Tom was in daily administration meetings or addressing the all the issues of our grad students. In addition, Tom is chair of the Presbyterian Review and Response Committee and was asked to join a working group of the National Council of Churches, Singapore, to establish a Christian think-tank to address critical issues impacting church and society in Singapore. Meanwhile, Tom was teaching a four-part seminar on “Amazing Grace” for a local Presbyterian church that included pulpit ministry as well. So July was a blur of long days, late nights, and early rising. In August the schedule eased a bit and allowed some of the normal rhythms.

Young perfomers at Trinity’s recent Cultural Night. The girl on the right is playing the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese instrument.

At Trinity’s recent Cultural Night, students and faculty performed skits or dance, or music from their homelands. The American contingent performed the Abbot and Costello comedy routine “Who’s on First” with an Asian twist. Given the global and Asian influence on modern American baseball we re-titled it “Hu’s on First” complete with ballplayers with nametags on a make-believe “field of dreams.”  So “Hu” was on first, “Wat” on second, “Ah Doh Noh” was on third, and “I Don Ker” was pitching. The play on names had the audience rolling in the aisles. As fun, laughter and great food filled the evening, we enjoyed the beautiful array of nations and peoples called to Trinity to teach and study to the glory of Christ.

In mid-August Al Gore came to Singapore to talk about global warming. Tom was asked to be the keynote speaker at a forum at Trinity called “Should Christians be hot about Global Warming?” Commenting on Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” Tom addressed the ways that sound biblical and theological reflection can contribute to the discussion of critical social and ethical matters related to global warming and how Asia Christians can deal with these matters in practical ways. Afterwards, there was a lively discussion, and Tom has been asked to write an article for Trinity’s journal Church and State.

Judy is teaching again and has a great group of students. We all met Sunday for a concert in the park and practiced English as we shared a good meal and good fun. Judy’s class has students from Thailand, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and China. She has also been meeting with the women’s Bible study here at TTC.

A flood of new arrivals to Singapore from the business world has swamped the international schools, and Emma’s former school let us know that it was unlikely there would be a place for Emma. After a year of home leave and home school, we were concerned. Gaps needed to be filled in, and Emma had been so excited about rejoining her friends at school. We looked into other options, but all had their drawbacks. We encouraged Emma to pray and we did as well. We continued to be in contact with her school, but as the first day approached things looked bad. On the day before we were to enroll Emma elsewhere, the school called with a place for Emma. It was a good lesson in patience and prayer for both us and Emma.

The family saying goodbye to Paul at camp in Montreat.

The boys have spent their summer working in the United States. Joe worked in Alaska at Glacier Bay for a group that serves the tourist industry. He started out working for the manager of the warehouse, but soon was running the warehouse after the warehouse manager left. It was a good learning experience, but different from what he initially had expected. Paul was a counselor at a Christian summer camp near Montreat, North Carolina. He enjoyed it thoroughly and plans to return next summer. Though they both had productive summers they are looking forward to returning to Davidson and Wheaton, respectively. Paul is looking forward to seeing Duke play Notre Dame in South Bend. Seeing the Irish play at Knute Rockne stadium was one of his top wishes.

Emma and her cousin Jennifer having satay at a Singapore food court.

We had a great year in the United States. It was a joy to reunite with friends, to share with our supporting churches, and to establish relationships with new churches. We are deeply thankful for the hospitality, support, and fellowship we had at our home church,  Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church, and their good Presbyterian neighbor, Blacknall Presbyterian Church. Your continued prayer and financial support is deeply appreciated. Without it we could not continue to do the work we do in Singapore and in Southeast Asia. We are eternally grateful to all of you and we send our love and greetings.

Blessings,

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 123