Archive for January, 2008

Burundi 4

Barry was in Bujumbura a year ago staying at the Catholic convent. In the courtyard he met Brother J., a 46 year-old monk who worked next door. As they began talking, Barry mentioned that it was hard for him to understand how a country that was nearly completely Catholic could suffer ethnic violence on such [...]

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Happy Birthday, Dad

Dad.
Singer, reader, worker… turns 70 today.

Keep on walking!
(Sorry about the picture. I had some pretty good ones from our time in Normandy, but you were wearing a funny hat (not cowboy) and dark glasses… This shows you a bit better…)

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Burundi 3

Got back to sunny Lausanne just about noon on Wednesday after a good end to a good trip. We had a 27 hour layover in Addis Abeba (prize if you know which country that city is the capital of) and got to do something touristy. When my colleague from Geneva, Doyle, is on a mission, [...]

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Burundi 2

Things are going well. Thanks for your prayers. Pray for the Burundi people. There are many orphans, most taken in by family members or neighbors. Although there has been no major violence for over 2 years, people live with a mixture of fear and optimism.
I had a third Bible study with my "monk" friend. [...]

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Burundi 1

I’m sitting in a cybernet internet center. Imagine your old dial up connection and then sharing it with 15 other computers and users. I’ve been here for 40 minutes and have read 3 emails, written one, and read 13 pages out of my novel. But it’s cheap.
The captial is a busy place in the daytime. [...]

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Daughter's defense

Daughter did a great job defending her Senior paper on materials used in the Abiocor® replacement heart. We were a small crowd but she kept us on the edge of our seats with clear explanations and a super overhead presentation. Her guiding instructor was very much with her every minute of the presentation, but the [...]

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January 8

January 8 marked 23 years since Wife and I moved to Switzerland. For her, 1985 was a bit like coming back home. For me, it was all new: Language, city-life, food, people.
I have often asked if it was the right decision… to leave “home” and come to Lausanne, even though that logic leads nowhere and [...]

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Stuff squared

You can read here about the dollar’s decline and its effect on European missions among the evangelical denominations. BTW, we hardly ever go to McDonald’s, not for any reason other than we just don’t like it that much.

About hospitality… Yes, Sandra, MOST people are welcome. You, especially. We love guests! Yet sometimes I have trouble [...]

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Visits in Lausanne, Switzerland

We enjoy visits. In fact, let me just say, on the record, that most of you are welcome to come to our place anytime.

We had a wonderful visit with the children of some schoolmates from ACU days. I haven’t seen the Powell’s (parents) for many years, but Wife has been able to hook up with [...]

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Taizé, Geneva

5 minutes from our house, 10,000 youth gathered for a New Year’s Eve party. They’d each paid $36.00 to get into the 5 dance halls where DJ’s animated the evening. Even though professionals had been hired to assure security, there was much fighting outside the halls and in the streets. A riot started in the [...]

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