Sunday Morning Review

Good morning, and happy sabbath. We (the Kanagaraj’s and I) have had an early morning this morning. Church starts at 7:30, I understand, so we have been up with the dawn to get there in time.

I have been asked to say a few words this morning in church, mainly about who I am, where I come from, and why I am here. So, before I do that. I thought that it would be good to write a bit of that down here.

In part, this trip is an internship for my degree in Intercultural Communication. The plan is that I will travel around (backpack, really) to meet with Nazarene, Evangelical or otherwise Holiness Missionaries who are in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India. The goal is to learn as much as possible about what sorts of things God is doing, (and perhaps trying to do) in this region, among the various people in ministry. It is, in part, a kind of reconnaissance mission, as well. I am looking at these various ministries and seeing what, perhaps, we (APNTS) could do along side of these ministries, how could we work together, and what potential might there be for partnership? This is the second part of the mission, asking how we might be able to interface, partner, assist, or otherwise join-in what God is doing here, or even being something new.

I honestly hope that something could work out. The community-focused mission and drive of a the Bethel campus as a whole is a beautiful and honorable undertaking. I believe that their mission and passion would almost seamlessly mesh with the mission and drive of APNTS. Whether we work together by means of sending our students for internships and teaching or they send their MA-bound students to us for further education, or some other way of working together... some sort of relationship would be wonderful to see.

However, there is some doubt as to how much longer a project like Bethel can last, due to rising prices and decreasing foreign support. Tuition and fees per student, per semester are at about 30,000 rupees (~$700). Although, this is not a bad price to ask for this area, it is still difficult for such a school to be self-supporting without outside support. The hope would be to either find a better way of generating income for basic operating budgets or finding additional and reliable outside support.