Friday, June 20, 2008
World Refugee Day
Today, June 20th, is World Refugee Day. There are lots of ways you can "celebrate" it. But if you are stuck for ideas, perhaps it means you do not know much about the issues, in that case how about ten minutes surfing and exploring to learn more. For facts and figures the UNHCR is authoritative, and the IMC has a good one page summary.
If you prefer a more experiential approach you could read about the Mae La refugee camp, or look at one of the photoblogs: Timelight @ Mae La - Weblog or through valleys of sorrow to rivers of joy which has more than photos. In particular you could read the rest of this post:
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If you prefer a more experiential approach you could read about the Mae La refugee camp, or look at one of the photoblogs: Timelight @ Mae La - Weblog or through valleys of sorrow to rivers of joy which has more than photos. In particular you could read the rest of this post:
Whatever you do, do NOT just sit there, do something even if it is only to cry a little! ¶ 10:53 AMpray, yes, but we still can't eat your prayers
While the faith and the spirits of the people I met in Mae La were strong, their current physical conditions are matters of concern. Registration froze two years ago. People who come to the camp--four or five new families everyday--are not given food rations or materials to build huts because they are not registered. They must move in with other refugees and those who open their huts must share what they have with the new-comers. Already, cuts have been made in the amount of food they receive twice a month.
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Sabbatical plans!
Now that the marking is finished, and before I prepare the paper for the Aotearoa NZ Association for Biblical Studies meeting (3-4 Dec) I am enjoying relishing planning my sabbatical which officially begins in days now :)
As well as writing:
A masters' course on Biblical Narrative at Colombo Theological Seminary will be intensive, the students get 9 hours of lectures and some reading before I arrive, and then over two weekends and some evening sessions midweek I'll deliver the other 27 hours of the classes.
The other class is undergraduate, teaching in a refugee camp which has its own Bible School with teachers coming from other parts of Asia with the occasional Western visitor like me.
Barbara will be coming with me to both places, and in the camp will probably use her counselling training! Our daughter Sarah will also come to the camp and will likely help teach English - education can be so important to people who have had so many other things taken away! I've been setting this up through Geoff Pound and his Theologians Without Borders, and have really enjoyed our email conversations, not least the excursi on topics like the possibilities of MP3s of lectures for local language distance education.
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As well as writing:
- an article on coherence and cohesion in Amos 7:1-8:3
- organise a colloquium on the Coherence of Biblical Texts (perhaps alongside the SBL International meeting in
- another article on linguistic cohesion and coherence in Amos draft written (but not submitted)
- complete Not Just a Father
- editing: significant progress on Hypertext Bible Dictionary
- possibly begin work on book on Family in the Bible or on Theology of Ageing
A masters' course on Biblical Narrative at Colombo Theological Seminary will be intensive, the students get 9 hours of lectures and some reading before I arrive, and then over two weekends and some evening sessions midweek I'll deliver the other 27 hours of the classes.
The other class is undergraduate, teaching in a refugee camp which has its own Bible School with teachers coming from other parts of Asia with the occasional Western visitor like me.
Barbara will be coming with me to both places, and in the camp will probably use her counselling training! Our daughter Sarah will also come to the camp and will likely help teach English - education can be so important to people who have had so many other things taken away! I've been setting this up through Geoff Pound and his Theologians Without Borders, and have really enjoyed our email conversations, not least the excursi on topics like the possibilities of MP3s of lectures for local language distance education.
Tags:
Labels: colombo, refugee, sabbatical, teaching
¶ 8:24 PM
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Congratulations Tim! Do keep the blog going, no eSabbatical please!
By 
Nichthus, at
November 21, 2007 8:33 AM
I'm not planning one, though like many who have been blogging a while I have wondered recently "what's the point, or could I use this time better... Geoff is encouraging me to keep a blog/journal while we are away, though time and Internet will be quite short...
By Tim, at
November 21, 2007 12:54 PM
