Good evening to all our readers! We value your readership and hope you enjoy our experiences vicariously.
So, to the update!
First up:
A massive thank-you again to everyone who has generously donated so Hannah and I can come over here to study in America. This wouldn't have been possible without your help and support. Also a special thanks to our deacons back in Auckland who have done a great job with everything. We are so thankful to God that he has provided us with such a great massively extended international family through Christ.
Secondly:
You guys (specifically) have got to get over here!
I know that not everyone is called into the ministry and I also know that not everyone gets excited about standing up in front of people but WOW! This has already been an incredible experience.
If y'all don't mind, I'm going to operate on the basis that y'all (apparently you can y'all multiple times in the same sentence) read Hannah's blog entries and I'll just mainly talk about what she hasn't.
People weren't kidding when they said that intensive Greek was intensive. My normal week will generally be Mon and Tues with class from 8am-11:20am and then Wed with no class followed by Thur and Fri with the same hours. Thus far you're probably thinking that I was making a joke about the intensive thingy. Well, I don't know about the other guys but the homework which accompanies each class takes me about 8-9 hours per day. That means that outside of travel time and lunch and dinner I'm working pretty solidly till 10 or 11pm every day. The Wednesday and Saturday (our non-class days) are generally spent in revision and reviewing old vocabulary while also reading ahead so that you can try to hit the ground the following day with your feet instead of your head.
To add to that we are having our mid-semester examination on Tuesday!!!!! That practically means that we have done one term's worth of University Greek in 5 days!
Now you guys might think that's a little crazy. I have to say though that I find it hard to believe what I know now about Greek (I'm actually reading sentences) compared to what I knew a week ago. But there is so much more to this than learning some weird squiggles on a page.
(Btw: If you only use the Greek alphabet to pronounce letter sounds then 'ειω βρω, υοτ-δω εια νω' sounds like 'yo bro, whaddu ya know?' in Greek (phonetically). Pretty sweet huh! It's Sunday night so I'm off the books! Don't worry Mr. Rogers: I hadn't even thought of wasting time doing that before I started writing this blog post!)
Our lecturer is really excellent and we begin each lesson by exegeting a Greek passage of scripture which relates to our work ethic in some way and then pray. I'm not sure whether anyone outside of New Zealand realises this but for Kiwis that is quite a novel experience. To go to a tertiary institution to study for a degree and to have your lecturer begin a class in prayer and talk to you about how amazing the complexities of your language study are because God was working through it in all these ways is just phenomenal. We have also sometimes finished class by singing a hymn.
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| Just some of my vocabulary homework for Wednesday. |
Anyway, our class is made up of 9 guys from very different backgrounds. Each of them is from a different part of the world (Canada and USA are represented in different candidates) but Chile, Holland and New Zealand are just a few of the options. It has been really encouraging to hear some of their testimonies about how God has chosen very different men from very different backgrounds with very different experiences all to be members of His family! I really look forward to learning alongside them as the degree progresses.
People have been really generous and friendly here. We have been well taken care of. I'd like to give a special shout out to Grant Dykstra who is the man. He has been a great support. (There are heaps of people with recognisable Dutch names over here but I don't know how related they all are)
Well I must away ere the break of day. I intended to write a longer blog but I'm afraid I have to cut it short because it is late for me here (I spent too long coming up with that Greek NZ slang and we ended up being invited to one couple's place for lunch and then another for dinner!)
If you don't mind: we crave your prayers! If you could copy the following and nail it to your 'prayer post' we would really appreciate it :)
Prayer Post:
Thank God that
a. We have found a new church family here at Redeemer Church
b. We have mobility (got a car)!
c. Our funds have been internationally transferred (banking woes NOT our deacons btw!!!)
d. Greek is going smoothly so far
e. His providence and care is just so much more than we need!
Ask God for
a. Another place to live before Albert and Hanneke get back (about 5 weeks)
b. Wisdom (in general)
c. Clarity of thought and memory when I sit my exam on Tuesday morning.
τιλλ νεξτ τιμε,
Josh
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