the beginning of break (in no particular order)

my cousin Lucy's Christmas present.

















hike in lynchburg, va.


disneyland with franky and emmy.

playing with my camera and the christmas tree lights.

my adorable friend rebecca. bowling.

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I do have friends in Columbia... this is wonderful Angela!

CHALLENGE results

Followed Rules – maximum points 5
Appearance – maximum points 5
Taste – maximum points 10

4. Rebecca – I think maybe you’re right and it would be better in the oven. Cooking vinegar was not my favorite. You’ll have to cook it for me sometime you’re way.
Followed Rules – 4
Appearance – 4
Taste – 6
Total = 14

3. Heather – It was very easy and I enjoyed it but, honestly, I think I could just go with the soy sauce and not the teriyaki sauce. Next time, bring on the sushi!
Followed Rules – 5
Appearance – 3
Taste – 7
Total = 15

2. Mom – Great meal. The chicken was a little dry since I had to do it on the stove rather than in the oven but I will make it again sometime. Even Susanna commented on the delicious smell.
Followed Rules – 4
Appearance – 5
Taste – 8
Total = 17

…and the winner is…

1. Laurie – Delicious. I loved it and I’ve already made it again. I did change it slightly using chicken breast that I cut into small strips, extremely lean bacon, and the first time I did it I used jalapenos from a can (and didn’t take out the seeds which I should have done). The second time I used jalapenos from the produce section per your instructions but I also put a piece of onion with it. I have also thought about trying to incorporate a little jack cheese into it the next time I cook it. Excellent.
Followed Rules – 5
Appearance – 4
Taste – 9
Total = 18

Thanks to all of you who participated!

What is this a picture of?

Give me a brief three sentence creative story of what you see. Mom and Sam don't do it because you heard me talk about it already. If you've seen it before and know immediately what's going on, don't participate. We did this for one of my classes and I thought the teacher was lying about it.

"Guidance"

Jonah went to Nineveh reluctantly, but he went. George MacDonald, the great Chrsitian poet and mystic, expresses beautifully the reluctance so many Christians still feel about serving God in an unfavorable environment.

I said: "Let me walk in the fields."
He said: "No walk in the town."
I said: "There are no flowers there."
He said: "No flowers, but a crown."

I said: "But the skies are black;
There is nothing but noise and din."
And He wept as He sent me back -
"There is more," He said: "There is sin."

I said: "But the air is thick
And fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered: "Yet souls are sick
And souls in the dark undone."

I said: "I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say."
He answered: "Choose tonight
If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given;
He said: "Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem so hard in heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide."

Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light divine
The path I had feared to see.

my friends

Sam, Christian, Jennie, and I went out to dinner last night. It was great. As Sam would say, "It was wondrous fellowship."

Eau Claire Basketball Game

Sam and I went to the ECHS girls and boys basketball game last night. The girls scored 64 points and crushed the CAJohnson team. Guys were behind briefly at the beginning but then kept their hold until the beginning of the 4th quarter where they ended up being smashed by CAJohnson who got a 13 point lead. CAJohnson won by 10, I believe.

























Went straight to the NBA from Eau Claire. Class of '99.

Sammy Clause is coming to town!

Yeah, Sam is coming down for a few days.

Here's an update on some of life:
Last Tuesday Christian and I did our oral presentation for our ethnography and on Friday we finished the small book that we had to write and turned it in to Dr. Cashin. Praise is the Lord is all I can say! Afterwards I went to WalMart and bought green Christmas lights and yellow flowers to celebrate.

Home-made mac. and cheese with unsweetened apple sauce. You can't get much more comfortable than that.

Thanksgiving Pictures

...I stole them from Heather Kusunoki.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankfulness to God
Hot Tubbing
Amusing Family
Novel Scrabble Words
Kusunoki, Heather
Singing with Aunt Carol
Grandma and Grandpa
Ice Cream and Apple Pie
Victory at Pool
Insuppressible Laughter
Nippy Weather
Getting Sleep

CHALLENGE extended

Chef Katie's CHALLENGE has been extended through Dec. 14th. Two recipes have already been cooked, eaten, and judged. Remember, there is a prize! Get your friends to participate!

Fall has come...

It is quite beautiful. But I wonder if people here are immune to its beauty like people in California are immune to the beauty of the ocean.

What can I say?

Dialect Game

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy my linguistics class? It's so fun.

Last week as a class we played this game. Check it out.

CHALLENGE REMINDER

Don't forget about Chef Katie's CHALLENGE! There will be a reward!

Temple Zion Baptist Church & Eau Claire High School

Brief: In my Understanding Cultures and Worldview class, half of our grade consists of doing an ethnography of a particular group of people. Through pastoral contacts that our professor, Dr. Cashin, prearranged we work with a local church. My teammate is Christian. At the beginning of the semester we met Pastor Flynn from Temple Zion Baptist Church and decided we were going to try and start an after school program, recruiting kids from the high school closest to the church, Eau Claire. So over the past month and a half (almost two months), Christian and I have been going to ECHS during their lunch periods on Monday and Friday, meeting a lot of the students, trying to ask them questions and get to know them a little, and tell them about the up and coming after school program. (There are obviously a trillion more details but that's the basic outline.)

Last Saturday I went with 3 youth and Stevin (who works at TZ) bowling. Here are some pics. (And no laughing at the horrible one of me but I wanted to prove that I was there.)

Eau Claire High School

I didn't realize people didn't know about this. I will post more about it soon and put up pictures of bowling on Saturday with youth from Temple Zion.

the CHALLENGE

(taken and tweeked from "the next iron chef")

Supply one or two recipes for Chef Katie to prepare, eat, and judge.

the RULES:
1) No dessert and no breakfast.
2) Can't need an oven or more than two cook tops.
3) Must have fairly inexpensive ingredients (if I think it's too costly, I will remove the entry).

some HINTS:
favorite flavor - onion
favorite food genres - southwest & greek (not homemade mexican)
variety and creativity are key!

i will announce the winner and award them their PRIZE thanksgiving weekend!

Uh... What do I do?

I went out to my car this morning to go to work. I normally swipe my windshield wipers to get off the morning dew. *swish* What in the world? I open my door and feel the layer of ice on my windshield. Hah. So I sat in my car with the heater blasting waiting for it to warm up enough to melt the ice on my windshield. Is that what I'm supposed to do?

Fires

"And when Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, 'Save us, Lord; we are perishing.' And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?' Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, 'What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?'" Matthew 8:23-27

"For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly." Job 36:27-28

"God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth,' likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour." Job 37:5-6

Back to the Books...

The Alphabet Game

Driving through Los Angeles you can play the Alphabet Game where you have to find a word written on a sign or billboard that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Driving through North Carolina you can play the Alphabet Game where you have to find road-kill that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Playing TAG in NC might actually be easier.

(Yes, I drove through North Carolina on my way to the Mouth - Yippee!)

Praise the Lord!

I’ll be back in California on December 26th! And I get to stay for a whole month! Praise the Lord! So I will be spending the ten days after school gets out and Christmas Day with my grandparents and brother and other family in Mouth of Wilson, VA. Also… I will be home in March for my Grandma’s birthday which just happens to coincide with my spring break. Praise the Lord again! I am very excited!

Things I'm Learning

1. Biblical Contextualization
a. Define contextualization. According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, why must it be both authentic and relevant?

Contextualization is presenting God’s Word accurately while being applicable to the cultural context in which it’s shared. God’s truths in the Bible do not change. You must correctly read the truths in the Bible to be able to transfer them to a particular people group. A difficulty in contextualizing is being able to take the Biblical truths out of your own frame of reference before trying to make it relevant to another culture. What does God really say, not how does my own culture apply this truth? Instead, what does God really say and how can these people apply this truth to their thoughts and behaviors? Contextualization is being faithful to the Bible and being relevant to the culture.

According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, it must be authentic in order to be faithful to God’s authority. He has revealed Himself to the world through creation, man’s conscience, Jesus, and the Bible. You cannot be faithful to God without accurately handling His truth (2 Timothy 2:15). It must be relevant so that the people group will be able to apply God’s truths no matter how they think or interact with each other.

One last thought: contextualization can only be effectively accomplished through prayer and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.


1. Biblical Contextualization
d. Briefly describe the three steps of contextualization as laid out in “Folk Religion.”

The first step is to understand the people as the people understand themselves (phenomenological). An in-depth study of the people’s beliefs, thought processes, expressions, behaviors, communications, relationships, and decision-making processes is necessary. It answers the questions who are these people; what do they do; when, where, and how do they do things; and very importantly why do they do the things they do? The answers are not completely from an outsider’s perspective but takes specific note on how the people understand their practices for themselves.

The second step is to test the people’s beliefs and practices based on the truths of Scripture and objective reality (ontological). Are they correctly theologizing the invisible, worship, history, the kingdom of God, the cross of Christ, discernment, pain, death, and community? What proof do they have for their ideas? What do they observe and how are they rationalizing?

The third step in critical contextualization is to evaluate all their findings according to God’s Word. Then the Christians in the culture make decisions with the enlightenment.

There is also a fourth step that “Folk Religion” mentions as a finale for critical contextualization: transformative ministries. Simply stated, God helps people get where He wants them.


2. Worldview Ethnography
a. Describe three key components of epistemology and show how any one effects two other quadrants of Worldview.

Epistemology centers on how one thinks. One key component is authority. What is the highest authority? What makes the rules? These authorities can be either textual, experiential, or some of each. Another key component is logic. This has to do with systems of proof that match with what is assumed. How is something to be proven true or false? It can be linear or connectional or some of each. A third component is persuasion. What would be enveloped in argumentation to make the person listening convinced?

Authority in epistemology effects ontology because that authoritative book or that authoritative incident or emotion is how someone understands being. For example, if one has authority as the Bible there are specific beliefs that evolve about God, like that God particularly longs to be intimate with his human creations. On the other hand, a Muslim who has a different authoritative book underlying his epistemology would say that God is too far above human therefore cannot be personal with them.

Authority in epistemology also effects axiology. Who gets to make the rules and say what is right and wrong? It depends on what the authority is to even know if something is right or wrong. Many couples have intimate relations with each other outside of marriage and many truly do not think that what they are doing is wrong. Whatever their authority on how something can be known, we know that their authority is not the Bible which clearly states that such action is wrong behavior.


2. Worldview Ethnography
c. Briefly describe four components of a team strategy for doing ethnography amongst a particular (any) community using the paradigm of the “FOQUS” cycle.

F – Focus

O – Observe
Watch. Don’t just look from the outside; participate in the life of the people. While you eat, talk, laugh, shop, party, and dance with them pay attention to what is being said and done. Open your eyes to things that you may not have paid much attention to before. Record your observations.

Q – Ask Questions
How do you know the heart of a people without asking? This is mainly done with a cultural helper who is ready and willing to give you honest answers. A very important part is listening intently so you can build off of the questions you asked and the answers received. There are mainly three types of questions: descriptive, structural, and contrast. Ideally, it shouldn’t be interrogation but with a genuine interest in the person you’re questioning. Allow this question-and-answer time to be as normal as possible but also keep the conversation guided and on course with what will be truly beneficial.

U – Understand
Record everything, read carefully, and think. Look at the information, look for patterns, look for different interpretations, and wait for your thoughts to solidify. Allow a lot of time to really try to understand and make sense of your observations and answers. Talk all your findings through with the rest of your team members.

S – Strategize
What’s your theory? What’s the outcome of all the time you spent thinking? The whole point of this system is to be able to apply the new found and in-depth cultural knowledge of a people group to evangelize and eventually plant a church for the Kingdom of God. Finalize and write a report with the purpose of motivating people to that end.

An Interesting Read

I've been wanting to blog this for a long time and finally have a little time to do it. It's from my Folk Religion book.

"What would humans want to know if they could know the unknown?"

"How should Christians respond to the problem of the unknown, and the human desire to know? What answers do the Scriptures give regarding the way God guides human lives? When new converts ask when they should go to hunt for much needed game - should they go tomorrow or the next day, and should they go north or east - how should missionaries respond? If we ask them where they got game last time, or tell them to take their chances, we inform them we have no religious answers. They will go back to their practitioners who cast bones and tell them to go tomorrow and to go east. Christians must provide better answers to the real questions people ask about life.
Before looking at biblical principles regarding God's guidance, a few preliminary remakrs are in order. First, Christians as leaders must model for the people concrete ways of seeking to know God's will. We need a theology of guidance that informs human actions, but theology alone is not enough. It must be made real in everyday life. Like other spiritual disciplines, learning to know God's guidance is as much a matter of mentoring as instructing."

"It is interesting that Jesus in his parable spoke of stewards, not accountants. There is an important difference. Accountants are human calculating machines who keep track of every cent to mkae sure it is properly recorded. They do not make decisions regarding investments based on risk and return. Stewards, on the other hand, are given resources and entrusted with using them for the gain of the master. They have many options open to them, and must make wise decisions. God calls Christians to be stewards. He has provided gifts, and sound minds to use them. He gives wisdom when asked, but allows freedom to use these gifts for his glory. When asked, he guards against wasting these gifts, and he helps believers grow to maturity by empowering them to use what he has given in ways that provide meaning and purpose in a multitude of culturally appropriate ways. Too often missionaries have had an accounting rather than a stewardship approach when they give resources to young churches."

"Churches in the West face another danger. They are deeply unfluenced bythe engineering mentality of their world, and believe that if they know how things work and do the right things, they can control the future and uncover the past. Consequently, planning, budgeting, measuring, evaluating and replanning often constitute the heart of church business meetings. The same can be said of many Western Christians who believe they can control their lives with science. Like Christians everywhere, Westerners need to learn again dependence on God, and a need to seek his leading, and not to trust their own efforts."

Watching too much Iron Chef lately...

...the challenger, Chef Katie, is marinating pieces of lean chicken breast in low-sodium soy sauce, pineapple juice, and minced garlic... she is also cooking up some white fluffy rice with chunks of green bell pepper and yellow onion... now she's throwing in pineapple chunks with her cooked chicken... this is going to be a tough competition...

Starbucks...

(I'm only telling this for the sake of L.B.)

I was at Starbucks the other day standing in a horrendously long line and felt someone tap me on the shoulder. This man, at least in his mid-40s said, "I just wanted to say that you have really beautiful hair." I was a little surprised by this stranger's compliment. He then asked, "It is natural, isn't it?" "Oh, yes. The color of my hair is one thing about myself that I wouldn't change."

So... it must just be the camera and/or the light... but I do have my natural color hair.

Another interesting thing is that someone else told me that they were sitting a few rows behind me in chapel a couple days ago and she thought to herself, "Who is that girl with the beautiful strawberry blonde hair?" She later realized it was me. But I told her, "It's really golden blonde but some light brings more of the red out."

And here's one more picture (a hilarious picture, I might add) of my new glasses that I've had lots of compliments on including "hip" and "posh" two words I would have never used to describe myself.

What do you think?

Columbia International University

The prayer towers and one of the grad. buildings.

The New River

Here Ya Go

Go to the bottom for the Fall 2007 Charles Price ones. Adrian Despres is really good too.
http://www.ciuonline.com/modules/workspaces/files/chapel/

Amigas

Donna – My boss, my pastor’s wife, my counselor, my friend.

Heather – Counseling MA, met at orientation, lives in the grad. houses, invited me to a Bible study, adorable.

Robyn – Leading the Bible study at the grad. house that Heather invited me to, hilarious.

Jennie – Met at work, use to live in Encinitas, awesome testimony, worked in Costa Rica, speaks to me in Spanish, came over for chicken teriyaki and we talked non-stop for five hours!

Karen – Fellow TEFLer MA, use to teach elementary in Galax, sits next to me in classes, had me over to her adorable home for dinner and a movie with her family.

Angela – Works the opposite hours as me with Donna, great, loves Mexican.

Thank you, Lord!

Singing, "La la blah"... But Starbucks is good medecine.

Finally…. Starbucks. Yummy…

Is your life a theology or a theocracy?

If you don’t have iTunes on your computer, get it. Then download the podcasts from Columbia International University. They’re free and there are some great chapel messages to listen to. If you do listen, make sure you go in order for the Charles Price ones. At first I didn’t really like his style but keep listening… really good stuff.

I had to go see the nurse on Thursday. I’m not feeling too well lately and honestly I don’t have time to not feel well. I have too many things to do. Too many group projects, papers, THINKING. I hope to see a doctor next week. Please, pray for me.

I need to try and take some pictures of campus, work, and friends to post.

Interested in beautiful, awesome photographs and/or cards? Check out: http://www.studioemily.com

And the ethnography continues...

Christian (my partner for this project) and I will be working with Derrell and Stevin at Temple Zion Church and be a part of a new after school program that reaches out to Eau Claire High School students. There will be a time of tutoring, Bible study, and fun. Every other Friday, we will take the group out on a field trip (i.e. bowling).

Here are the midterm exam questions for the class:
1. Biblical Contextualization (30 minutes) (Four of these six will be listed and the student will write on three):

a. Define contextualization. According to Hesselgrave and Rommen, why must it be both authentic and relevant?

b. Ontology: Compare and contrast the content and means of communication (source) of General and Special Revelation. Substantiate your answer from Scripture.

c. Epistemology: Compare the biblical view of truth and its componants with typical aspects of post-modern relativism. Mention at least four areas of contrast. Include elements of the Oprah interview as examples if you like.

d. Briefly describe the three steps of contextualization as laid out in “Folk Religion”

e. Contextualizing Ethics: What is the relationship between form and meaning in a cultural behavior pattern? Illustrate from a Biblical example of one kind of "strength of tie" between the two.


2. Worldview and Ethnography

a. Describe three key components of epistemology and show how any one effects two other quadrants of Worldview.

b. Define four principles for the identification of universal moral norms.

c. Briefly describe four components of a team strategy for doing ethnography amongst a particular (any) community using the paradigm of the “FOQUS” cycle.

d. What is “the problem of the neglected middle” and what are two factors in a missionary’s worldview and behavior that create this problem.

e. Select two different creation “myths” and briefly compare and contrast their conceptions of origins, God, humans, power and destiny that emerge from them.

Pray for me, please.

As Time Goes By...

Throughout the day I think of things or something happens and I think, “Dude, I totally need to blog that.”

But then I forget.

…

I was talking to a friend last night – yes, a friend! PRAISE GOD! …and we were talking about how it feels like we’re not doing that much (working 10 hours a week, 9 units of graduate classes) and yet it feels like we’re pushing for TIME! It’s crazy.

The thing is that it’s not just work and class. There’s chapel three times a week, small groups, meetings with people for group projects (this is a HUGE time chunk), church, and, of course, homework. They say that homework for grad. classes is supposed to take twice as long as the class. So that would be 18 hours of homework a week. So 18 + 9 + 10 + 3 for chapel = 40 hours basically for school and work. That should be normal and fine, right? A perfect load.

What’s the problem? If I was working 40 hours a week at the jobs that I’ve been a part of, not that the jobs were brainless, but that the input wasn’t even close to the amount or “scholar” (I don’t know what to say there but I think you know what I mean) of the input that I’m getting now.

In my undergrad I remember a few times where my brain physically hurt. A few times for finals and then especially my HUGE exit exam.

Here’s the thing – MY BRAIN HURTS ALL THE TIME NOW!

Don’t get me wrong. I love my classes and am seriously fascinated by the things that I’ve been reading and studying. In fact, after my Tuesday class I walked out with my partner for my ethnography and we were, uh, discussing about polygamy and, since I had other questions that the class had brought up, we went into Dr. Cashin’s office and talked to him for 45 minutes – not about homework or the project we were working on or about understanding the material for a test but to gain more insight, ask questions, to think! It was great. And although I walked away totally glad and even more interested …my brain hurt.

So, please, pray for my brain. :o)

…

Since my life is basically homework-filled, I thought I would share with you some of the really, really, really cool things I get to do:

For my linguistics class we’re studying “Words and Their Parts: Lexicon and Morphology”

Here was one of the questions assigned:
2-20. Examine the following sentences of Tok Pisin (New Guinea Pidgin English) to identify the morphemes needed to translate the seven English sentences given at the end of this exercise.

So I looked at different sentences that were translated in the book, 6 in total, and I had to figure out different affixes and so forth for different parts of speech depending on their use in the sentence (i.e. subject, object, etc.)

So I translated these sentences from English into Tok Pisin.
1) These people like my speech. – dispela manmeri ol laikim toktok bilong mi.
2) I am strolling on the road. – mi wokabaut long rot.
3) I like my friend’s speech. – mi laikim dispela toktok bilong pred bilong mi.
4) I like my brother and these people. – mi laikim brata bilong mi no dispela manmeri.
5) These people on the road and my friend like his speech. – dispela manmeri long rot no prend bilong mi ol laikim toktok bilong em.
6) You (sing.) and my brother like the speech of these people. – yu no brata bilong mi yupela laikim toktok bilong dispela manmeri.
7) These people listen to my friend’s and my brother’s speech. – dispela manmeri ol harim toktok bilong prend bilong mi no bilong brata bilong mi.

NEAT, HUH?

Contextualization and Polygamy

Is polygamy a sin? Why or why not?

"Picking" a Church

Church #1
Friendliness: Not one person said hello.
Music: Style good, songs so-so.
Sermon: Read bits and pieces of Scripture, no exposition, lots and lots of stories.

Church #2
Friendliness: Everybody introduced themselves and their families, asked me questions.
Music: Hymns are great but how they’re sung just seems so ho-hum.
Sermon: Excellent.

Church #3
Friendliness: Most people were very friendly, many grateful I was there.
Music: Completely out of my comfort zone but excellent.
Sermon: Excellent doctrine and application, overwhelming communication of it.

Church #4 (This is the one I thought would be the “right” church for me.)
Friendliness: Only one person said hello.
Music: What I expected.
Sermon: Five minutes of truth, completely disappointed.

Have you ever thought about how language works?

Well, I definitely have NOT been twiddling my fingers.

Have I told you lately that I LOVE MY CLASSES?! I really do and it's kind of freaking me out because it's almost like an out-of-body experience seeing my interest in some of this stuff. The word that keeps coming up is FASCINATING. Man, but it is a load of work. I'm tired already!

Have you ever thoughts about language? Here's an excerpt from my book for intro. to linguistics:

From relatively few elements and rules in a language system, humans can produce
and understand a limitless number of sentences by combining and recombining the
same relatively few elements in relatively few patterns. Even a single week's issues of, say, Time, Newsweek, and The Economist are unlikely to repeat any sentences (other than quoted utterances), and the same is true over years of publication. The human capacity for linguistic inventiveness makes repeated sentences unlikely, and an English speaker is capable of understanding all the English sentences in a lifetime's ready. And for many observers it is this productivity - this ability to generate and understand an infinite number of sentences by combining and recombining the same few elements and structures - that is the great hallmark of human language, the one linguistic theory centrally addresses.

SOME of the Projects...

Understanding Cultures and Worldviews: ETHNOGRAPHY

You will implement as part of a team of 3-4 students an ethnographic survey. These projects must be implemented in a non-Christian cultural context. This ethnography must conclude with 1) an application of biblical contextualization to an issue (thought or behavior pattern) significant for evangelizing or discipling this people group and 2) a reflection on a relevant apologetic issue. Be creative as you think about how to reach these people for Christ. This ethnography will be carried out in close cooperation with a local church or active evangelist/contact person.

1) Your team will conduct an ethnographic survey of an ethnic community with careful keeping of ethnographic notes as described in the course.
2) Results in 30-40 page paper analyzing the community targeted.
3) Tie into local churches that are interested in doing outreach to the community.
4) You must use elements of both ethnographic interview and participant observation in this study.
5) You must contextualize one thought or behavior pattern significant to evangelizing or discipling this people group.
6) You must reflect at least one apologetic insight which is relevant for evangelizing this group. 7) Your study will include a list of resources and contact people.
8) You must work carefully with the pastor or contact person for your team. They will be evaluating your level of cooperation and that evaluation will account for 10% of your grade for the course. See “Cooperating with Pastors…” at the back of this syllabus.
9) Your paper will be divided into sections according to the following template:
I. Introduction: Target Group and Methodology
II. History and Demographics of Target Group
III. Ethnographic Findings: Social Structures
IV. Ethnographic Findings: Ontology
V. Ethnographic Findings: Epistemology
VI. Ethnographic Findings: Axiology
VII. Contextualization
VIII. Apologetic Issue
IX. Conclusion
X. Resources and Contact Persons
10) You will individualize sections of your paper by identifying by name the writer. Each team will subdivide their paper into approximately equal sections with each member of the team responsible for the writing of their section. 10 points out of 35 for the paper will be based on the individual writing and 25 points will be based on the overall team achievement.
11) Your group paper will reflect 45 hours of individual work times the number of people on your team. The paper will be worth 45% of the grade of this course.
12) Your team will present their findings according to the oral report format grading sheet provided on the website. This oral report is worth 5% of the class grade.

My group only consists of one other person - Christian. We met with the pastor of Temple Zion last Thursday and attended Sunday School and Worship this morning. The church was probably close to 200 people. We were the only white folk in the building. (www.templezion.org) We will be working with a project that Pastor Flynn has started called The Nehemiah Project.


Theoretical Foundations of Language Teaching: PAPERS, PAPERS, and MORE PAPERS!

Here's one: LEARNER INTERVIEW: A task to help you see through the eyes of a language learner. Due Oct. 24.

Interview a person who has learned or is learning English as a foreign language, using the instructions given on the interview handout (attached). Write a summary of the interview in essay form. Give background information on the language learner, and discuss insights that you gain through the interaction. Relate your insights to the knowledge you have gained in this class. Tell how these insights could contribute to making you a more effective teacher. Do not merely list the questions and give answers, but organize the information into an essay.

Grading criteria: Following directions, background information, insights, connecting your findings to what you are learning in class, synthesis and organization, clarity, mechanics.

I'm thinking of asking Juan, the cousin of my landlord's wife who is staying with them from Spain. He's 14.


Introduction to Linguistics: LANGUAGE ANALYSIS PROJECT

Purpose: This assignment is to apply your knowledge of morphology and phonology (and syntax - Spring semester) by analyzing a language in a systematic way. It also gives you the opportunity to analyze an ESL person's speech closely, a skill that should be very useful when you are teaching English.

Procedure: This project is usually a team project. You are expected to choose a language to analyze and work with someone who has an interest in the same language. In order to complete the project, you will need to record on audiotape or in a sound file the English speech of a non-native speaker and write an analysis of that person's speech. The ideal situtation is to record someone whose English is not too advanced so that you can analyze the irregularities. You may wish to suggest that you could share the results of your analysis with the person and thus be of help in his or her learning English.

(...the syllabus explains a lot more... and then...)

The paper is to be a thorough description of your subject's English speech. It should include appropriate examples of each feature discussed.


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Course Descriptions

Understanding Cultures and Worldviews:
This course will enable you to understand the philosophical assumptions which an individual uses in constructing the belief system by which he/she makes decisions about the world. It will help you construct a biblical worldview and provide you with the skills needed to analyze the culture and worldview of the people God has called you to reach. Special attention will be given to tools for understanding culture as an essential means of entry into cross-cultural ministry.

Theoretical Foundations of Language Teaching:
This course is an introduction to the principles and practices of English language teaching. We will examine the theories and practices of language teaching and learning in general and English language teaching in particular, focusing on the adult learner. We will also examine the use of English language teaching in connection with Christian ministry and missions.

Introduction to Linguistics:
This is an introductory survey of the major areas of linguistics. This course is intended to inform the student of how language works at different levels and how those levels interact with one another. This course cover Phonetics (the sounds of language), Phonology (the sound systems of individual languages), Morphology (the origin and structure of words), Semantics (how words make meaning), Pragmatics (language in its context), Sociolinguistics (language in society), and the History of English. It does not include Syntax since that is covered in a separate course.

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Breakfast of Champions & Louisiana Dinner

Well... I didn't have "begging, aches, dozed, jetty, aren't choose" for breakfast this morning. I didn't have grits either. I wanted to be like Tony Gwynn instead.

Trying to get into the swing of things at work. "Chaplain Thompson's Office, this is Katie."

MY FIRST CLASS YESTERDAY WAS WONDERFUL! The work load is terrific and the prof extremely weird but it was so engaging and thought-provoking and I didn't want to leave! I can't wait until next Tuesday! The class was entitled Understanding Cultures and Worldviews.

I'll be off to my second class in a little bit. It's an Intro. to TEFL class. I guess that's why I'm here.

I was walking across campus for various reasons earlier and have found shortcuts through buildings! I wrote that I was freezing but I will always praise the Lord for air-conditioning!

Made jambalaya two nights ago for dinner. It was good but if I waited too long between bites my eyes started to water, nose started to run, and mouth felt like a dragon getting ready to blow flames! I don't know if I'll make it again.

My Little Studio

as soon as you walk into the room you face my "kitchen"

if you face the right, you see my book shelf

if you face the left, you see my living area and bed

my desk

looking from the end of my bed. front door is on the right.

Well... I'm here...

On Saturday at the Grad/Sem Picnic we played a get-to-know-people game. One of the things we had to do was find someone who had driven over 300 miles to get here - well, what about 2,000! There are a few more that I've met from California and we've bonded quickly.

I live in a quiet little studio apartment on the lower level of a split-level house of one of the undergrad profs. It's on a gravel road in the woods. It's peaceful. I'm enjoying my privacy.

I'll be working on campus as the administrative assistant to the dean of women.

Everybody's complaining about the heat wave. "It hasn't been this hot in 15 years!" #1 It's not as humid as Chuuk and at least they have air conditioning in every building all the time. #2 They have air conditioning in every building all the time! I'm freezing most of the time in this heat wave of theirs.

Church the first Sunday was, uh, ...let's just say "old school" would be too modern a description.

Yesterday I went to a little church about 3 minutes more into the woods from my house. The people were absolutely southern-friendly and I knew much about their lives and children before the day was through. It's not my ideal or favorite but the preaching was solid and it might be nice to do something different for a little while.

Classes start tomorrow. I'm excited. A little sick to my stomach, but excited.

So... here I am.