Summer 2013

Well summer is officially a week away and my baby girl is more excited than anyone since her birthday is pretty much the start of it!  For me it merely means the chaos of the academic year is soon to be behind me and I begin "spring" cleaning in preparation for the new academic year which I am sure will be here before I can blink!  Since I live upon the shore, I am hoping for some R & R on the beach here and there throughout the summer, we'll see if time allows for it!  And yes, the beaches are open and functioning although much is still in despair due to the lovely visit from Hurricane Sandy back in October this past year.  I am blessed however that my property was not affected much at all but have many friends and family who did suffer from the hit she brought us.  Sandy hit as hard as she wanted but soon learned she could not bring down the Jersey Shore permanently!!

On another note, I have been seeing off many of our 15 students selected to participate in this year's International Field Education Program.  Many have already departed but I still have a handful still preparing for their excursions, three which won't be leaving until August or September and will be gone for year!  The other 11 are going for the summer and will be back in late July or August and some in early September.  The best part of it all though is the transformation it brings to their lives.  You are probably thinking, that's crazy, how could a couple of months abroad be that transforming to one's life?!  You won't know unless you do it or you work with the ones that do it that's for sure.  I cannot even begin to tell you the things I have learned about other countries and these internships just by working here so I can imagine what is like for these students going abroad and experiencing it all firsthand.  I give them a lot of credit, heck, my adventures have only been up and down the East Coast from Florida to Vermont, and out West a little, to Indiana.  But working with the International Program for the last twelve years has brought me (maybe not physically but I have traveled vicariously through my students) to West Africa, South Africa, India, Asia, South America, Europe, Alaska, and so on.  I've met people from Ghana, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, Japan, India, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Jamaica (even though not really abroad the students still experience a similar journey), Yucatan, Liberia, Rwanda, London, Switzerland, and more.  It is just amazing learning about the many different cultures, their societies, their religious practices, and their dedication and commitment to God.  The thing that amazes me the most is that regardless of the catastrophe's or disasters the people in these countries have experienced, whether it be natural disasters like the earthquake in Japan or the Genocide in Rwanda or their battles with the HIV/AIDS virus, they hold firm their faith in the Lord and carry on his calling with absolutely nowhere to turn, nowhere to live, no food to eat, barely any clothing, and more but they are still out there trying to help others in spite of it all.  These people who take in our students, supervise them, teach them, treat them as their own family, are amazing and incredible and make unbelievable sacrifices for a complete stranger without any hesitation.  These are God's people, the ones our students are learning from.  Man I wish we could just teach the rest of the world to do the same!

So I end this with a huge thank you to my students that are traveling abroad to do the Lord's work this summer.  May you be blessed in all that you do and the rewards be just as plentiful to you, whether it be a verbal thank you from a Ghanaian, a token of affection from a child in Rwanda, a pleasant response to a sermon in India, or a warm good-bye from your new family in Japan.  God bless you all during your summer journey's abroad.  I can't wait to hear all about it when you return for the new academic year.  God bless!