Health issue
I discuss the health issue I mentioned previously on a page under my name at CaringBridge.org.
First PhD class at MYS
Although health issues prevented me from teaching this year, I remain so excited about the launch of a PhD program at the MYS seminary in Addis Ababa. I present here a photo of the fist PhD class, each student holding the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 28 provided by friends and colleagues who responded my request. I look forward to meeting these new scholars in the future.
Teaching postponed
Sadly, I have postponed my teaching at the Mekane Yesus Seminary after last-minute surgery revealed a significant health issue. My prayer is that treatment and healing will allow me to travel to Addis for a future semester. 2 Cor 12:7b-10 informs my perspective on this moment.
The image above is a photo of a painting I acquired near one of the ancient monasteries on Lake Tana near Bahir Dar. It depicts teachers instructing the next generation in the scriptures (a seminary scene).
A wonderful bonus and a blessing…
A couple months back, I approached colleagues and former students to raise money for the purchase of new Greek New Testaments for the first and incoming PhD class at the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa. These folks were so generous and over-subscribed the fund drive!
And their generosity overflows… A number of them agreed to redirect their gift to help the CSP Library sponsor a subscription for the seminary to ATLAS, an online resource from the American Theological Library Association, with full-text copies of articles from over four-hundred theological journals. This database is the premier research tool in the world for theological scholarship. Because of this blessing by these donors, the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa now has this resource available for its students. It want live today and I have already accessed it.
And the students in my classes this fall will be using it often in my classes!!!
Moodle is ready…
Another milestone of my preparation is complete. I have installed the Moodle Learning Management System on my virtual server and I have built out course sites on it for both of the classes I will teach this fall at the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa. All course materials will be available through the password-protected Moodle site and the LMS will be the means by which students will submit their written assignments. I am accustomed with teaching using an LMS and am pleased that I can offer this tool to the students.
Although both electricity and the internet are spotty in Ethiopia, I was able to test components of the server during my last visit to Ethiopia and it performed well, even on a mobile phone!
I am looking forward to working with the PhD students in my classes.