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Contents‘The Burmese people need me,’ says new student Hoite Hoi It’s
not unusual to find a farm girl in Northeast Tennessee. But then Hoite Hoite plans to receive her Master of Arts in Religion degree and return to Myanmar to teach Church History. “I came here to be informed academically and to prepare practically for future ministry. I believe the Burmese people need me.” Hoite is from the town of Kalaymyo (pop. 60,000). She, along with her four brothers and three sisters, worked her parents’ farm, harvesting bananas and rice, and raising chickens, pigs, and cows. Life on this farm, however, was anything but tranquil. For starters, Hoite was a religious minority. She was raised as a second-generation Christian in a region heavily dominated by Buddhists. Myanmar is wedged between India and China and over 80% of its population professes to be Theravada Buddhist. So, most families have little choice but to send their children to the Buddhist-controlled national school system. Myanmar also has a highly repressive government. For over fifty years the country has been ruled by a series of military councils intent on snuffing out democracy. In 1962, then President H Ne Win forcibly took control of the country and expelled all missionaries and foreigners. In 1989 the junta initiated martial law and prevented elected officials from taking office. And the current military regime has affected Hoite’s family personally, as one of her brothers is living in Atlanta as a political refugee. Myanmar has not officially outlawed Christianity, but it has imposed several restrictions. “Christians cannot build new churches,” Hoite says. “And they have to ask permission from the government to evangelize.” There are no “underground churches” or group persecutions to speak of, “but the Buddhist population is very strong,” she adds. Hoite first learned about Emmanuel School of Religion in 1999. That’s when she took a class from Tim Thomas (former Emmanuel School of Religion student) on Church History at the Bible School in the capital city of Yangon. Her past education includes Bachelor of Theology degree from Bethel Theological Seminary in Myanmar, and a Master of Divinity degree from Hindustan Bible Institute and College in Madras, India. Completion of encyclopedia one focus of Blowers’ sabbatical Dr.
Paul Blowers, Professor of Church History, will use his 2002–2003
academic sabbatical to complete several projects. Said As a primary co-editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, Blowers will assist Doug Foster of Abilene Christian University and D. Newell Williams of Christian Theological Seminary in finalizing the details of the work, including editing individual essays and correcting proofs. He will also write a number of articles for the Encyclopedia, including major articles on Robert Richardson, James Barclay, and William Robinson. Blowers has been involved with the Encyclopedia since its inception in the early 1990s. It will be published in 2004 in time for the celebration of the bicentennial of the “Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.” Blowers said, “The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement truly transcends purely scholarly interest, and is in my judgment a collaborative work which hopes to stimulate reconciliation among the branches of our tradition.” Other sabbatical projects include completion of a translation of texts of Maximus the Confessor under the title of St. Maximus the Confessor: The Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ, to be published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press in its “Popular Patristics” series. Blowers will contribute articles to two new encyclopedic works: The Westminster Handbook to Origen (edited by John A. McGuckin), and The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History (ed. by Rebecca Weaver et al.). In addition, he will produce a large article on Early Christian biblical interpretation for The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 2, of which Dr. Fred Norris is one of the editors. He will also begin work on a second monograph about Maximus the Confessor to follow up his first work, which was published in 1991. “My work in patristics has enabled me to keep connections with scholars outside the Stone-Campbell fold,” said Blowers, “and in its own way has fed my personal and spiritual concerns for ministry and for Christian unity.” Blowers will return to the classroom in the fall of 2003.
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. — Proverbs 15:22 Over twenty years ago my wife and I found ourselves in a different country in a city of one million beginning a new ministry and knowing precious few people. Having lived in Johnson City some 19 years before, we had the luxury of knowing many people. In fact our plumber, electrician, physician, pediatrician, dentist, and lawyer were all from our church. I did not realize what a blessing that was until we moved to Birmingham, England. Once, while feeling very much alone, I was encouraged by the reassuring words the Lord spoke to the Apostle Paul in a vision when he was facing difficulties in Corinth: “Do not be afraid… I have many people in this city.” It has been interesting to reflect on the various people that God seemed to have at the right place and the right time when a particular need arose during those days in Birmingham. Thankfully I have continued to see this in the life of Emmanuel School of Religion. Over the years God has gathered together a group of Trustees and Associates in Christian Education that have accepted the responsibility of seeing that the School fulfills its mission. We have ministers of considerable experience and stature that guide us as the School constantly hones its program of ministerial preparation. We have business and professional people who bring their considerable experience to insure that the School handles its finances and professional responsibilities with accuracy and integrity. We have people who have long experience in leadership in local congregations who keep us as a seminary in touch with the pulse of faith and practice in the local church. We have educators who understand how to assess quality in academic institutions. Much could be written about the specific contributions all of these people make. But just now I would like to focus on what has been of constant concern during this time of national economic recession. Emmanuel’s Finance Committee is chaired by Jimmy Collins, who last year retired as CEO of a major corporation. He and the firm he served were known for their unapologetic Christian witness as well as their business integrity and skill. Jimmy and his colleagues on the Finance Committee have given good counsel and guidance to those of us in administrative leadership at Emmanuel. Emmanuel’s Investment Committee has been chaired by Max Stucker, a man whose professional experience has given him considerable skill in dealing with stocks and bonds. Although Emmanuel’s modest endowment is actually managed by investment firms, Max and his colleagues on the Investment Committee have always been active in overseeing the School’s portfolio. This has been particularly critical during the current instability of the stock market. I single out these two men at this time simply because we are passing through difficult financial times. Our administrators are giving much attention to dealing with these difficulties. Plans are made both for economies we must make as well as for finding additional sources of income. But as the writer of Proverbs reminds us, “Plans fail for lack of good counsel.” Thankfully, we receive good counsel from our many capable Trustees and Associates who contribute their considerable body of experience to Emmanuel. In order to resolve the $300,000 shortfall in the 2001–2002 General Fund and meet the 2002–2003 budget needs, we are projecting that the School will need contributed income of $1,750,000. In order to focus on the General Fund, we will not initiate any new capitol development efforts this year. Thankfully Phase I of the Emmanuel Village is complete, and pledges that were made during the Heritage of Excellence Campaign will continue to be applied to the construction loan. Hopefully when I write this column next year at this time the national recession will be history, endowment income will be up, and the friends of Emmanuel will be in an even better position to invest in the ministry of the School. In any event, men and women will continue to receive a quality preparation for ministry at Emmanuel School of Religion. Rollston named editor of Semitic studies journal Dr.
Christopher Rollston, Assistant Professor of Old Testament and Semitic
Studies at Emmanuel School of Religion, has been named editor of The journal will be published twice per year. Rollston has assembled an editorial board for the journal that includes scholars from the University of Lethbridge, Princeton Theological Seminary, Bar Ilan University, New York University, Catholic University of America, Harvard University, the University of California, the University of Leiden, and the American University of Beiruit. Also on the editorial board is former Emmanuel professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Robert J. Owens, now on the faculty of General Theological Seminary in New York City. After earning the M.Div. at Emmanuel School of Religion, Rollston studied at The Johns Hopkins University, earning the Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic. His primary research emphases are Northwest Semitic epigraphy and palaeography (the study of ancient writings and inscriptions), wisdom literature of the ancient Near East, and textual criticism. Rollston recently completed a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for research on Ammonite inscriptions in Jordan. To subscribe to the journal, write to Maarav, 12 Empty Saddle Road, Rolling Hills Estates CA 90274 or fax (310) 541-2361. Three new scholarships established at Emmanuel Thornley Mission Scholarship
James K. Buck II Memorial Scholarship
Mildred J. & Glenn E. Ross Scholarship
Basics of Ministry: Evangelism An interview with Dr. Frederick W. Norris, Professor of World Mission/Evangelism and Dean E. Walker Professor of Church History Envoy:
Why is Evangelism an Norris: A church without evangelism is like fire without burning. If Christians in their communities do not feel the passion for those without the Gospel, they well may not have understood the Gospel yet. When the Spirit fills your soul with the good news and helps you see the bad lives that dominate so many people, you cannot keep from being an evangelist. Envoy: What makes a good Evangelist? Norris: Many insist that the best evangelist is an outgoing, forceful person who just overpowers people. Some are like that, and we should give thanks for their gifts. But when the cooking, caring mother of my preacher at Grandview in Johnson City died unexpectedly a few weeks ago, over 1,200 people came to visit the family there in central Indiana. Some of them were people she won. Others came to find out more about why she had had such an effect on people. Everybody has the potential of being a good evangelist for someone. Envoy: How does Emmanuel prepare students to be better Evangelists? Norris: Evangelism is one of the topics in our introduction to Christian ministry course and our supervised ministerial education program. There are also separate courses on evangelism in various parts of the world. But the deepest preparation for mission, for evangelism, is in Emmanuel’s careful shaping of students’ spiritual life. Prayer, Bible meditation, growing spirituality equips all our students to look for those in need. Envoy: How has Evangelism changed in recent years? Norris: Hospitality evangelism is newer; it focuses on the needs of people for food, shelter and jobs. It can show many just how much Jesus and his contemporary disciples care. One of the newest developments that so often brings results is church planting. In the coming of Tom Jones to our faculty, we have added a recognized specialist in this growing area. He is one of a number of ESR graduates who have concentrated on founding new congregations. We also have graduates who are active in the ministry of various mega churches. Those efforts and others like them are probably one of the reasons that a Catholic research center in Nashville noted that Christian Churches and Churches of Christ have experienced a growth rate of over 18% in the decade of the 90s. Emmanuel hosts Dennis Olson for Kershner Lectures Emmanuel School of Religion was honored to have Dr. Dennis T. Olson, Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, on campus for the 2002 Kershner Lectures October 30–31. The title of the lecture series was “The Bible in Crisis: An Old Testament Perspective.” Lecture topics included: Hosea 5:8–6:6 and the Crisis of Biblical Authority; The Pentateuch and the Crisis of Truth in a Postmodern World; The Old Testament’s Responses to the Crisis of Human Suffering; and Violence for the Sake of Social Justice? Two Old Testament Narratives and the Crisis of Human Conflict and Moral Deliberation. Dr. Olson received his Ph.D. from Yale University. His academic focus is on literary analysis of Old Testament narrative and theology, specifically in the area of the Pentateuch. Dr. Olson has served as chair of the planning committee for the Convocation of Teaching Theologians of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is an ordained minister in that denomination. |
is
no ordinary farm girl! Bual Kip Hoi, known to friends as “Hoite,” was
raised on a small farm in the country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). She is
in her first year of study at Emmanuel.
Blowers, “I am
concentrating on the preeminent domains of my own scholarly research:
patristic studies, especially my work on Maximus the Confessor, early
Christian biblical interpretation, and Stone Campbell studies.”
Maarav,
a journal focusing on Northwest Semitic studies with emphasis
on philology (historical and comparative linguistics) and epigraphy (the
deciphering of ancient inscriptions) of the region.
important aspect of
ministry and why is it important in the life of the church?
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