Terry and I are having a wonderful and unusual summer. Since arriving at Wood Hill in northern Wisconsin, we spent the first half of June working on writing projects. My goal is to get a rough draft of my new book Graceful Evangelism finished by September, and then work on editing and rewriting during the fall semester. Terry is writing sample articles for his new Dictionary of World Religions and an article for the Asbury Journal.
Of course being at the cabin also means taking care of business--a broken water heater, a fallen tree on the woodshed, a heating problem. Then there is pruning and fertilizing the fruit trees, which I haven't gotten to yet. We've also had some visitors during the last week--Terry's sister Brenda and their family.
Next week the real fun begins. We have three international trips this summer. We participate in a friendship tour of Eastern Turkey, June 19-July 3. A group of Sufi Muslims have invited us to come to their country, see some of the sights, and talk with them about religion and world peace. We will have an opportunity to visit some families in their own homes. We fell very privileged to be able to go on this peace seeking journey.
In July (12-31), we travel to Brazil where Terry will be doing some teaching at a missionary training center near Rio. From there we'll travel to a couple of seminaries to see what is happening with theological education, especially in regards to economic development.
Then in August (13-29) we go to Budapest where I will deliver a paper entitled, Why Biography? Contributions of Biographies to Mission Theory and Theology at the 12th International Association of Mission Studies Quadralennial Meeting.
And then, quite suddenly and sadly the summer will be over. While we are in Mercer we will be doing pulpit supply for the Hurley Christian Community Church. But it won't be as frequent a service as usual. We will miss worshipping regularly with our wonderful friends there. We'll share our adventures with them though which will be fun.
