July 3, 2024
Dear Friends and Family,
I have three wonderful and different experiences to share with you in this Global Development update. I’ll begin with the experience this Spring of walking the Camino de Santiago for ten days in northern Spain. The “Camino” is a 500-mile pilgrimage that people have been walking for over 1000 years, and an experience I’ve been yearning to do for a long time.
Our group of four started in France. On the first day, which turned out to be the most challenging, we climbed 4000 feet up and through the Pyrenees Mountains into Basque country. We walked along fields of grain with red poppies strewn along many of the paths, past olive and almond orchards, and beautiful vineyards. We often climbed up a hill to enter medieval villages with their narrow winding streets with frequently an ancient church in the center of the village. It was one of the best experiences of my long and fulfilling life. Simply stunning.
Pilgrims often ask each other, “Why are you walking the Camino?” I had a one-word answer – GRATITUDE! Our plan is to return every year in the Spring for the next three years when we’ll walk another 125 miles section. Lord willing, in 2027, we’ll complete the final leg and walk into Santiago when I’ll be 80.
I returned home for a few days and was then off to Chiang Mai, Thailand, again working with 35 Chinese missionaries. But this time, the lion’s share of the teaching was done by my star graduate student, Dr. Jay Moon, who is now a professor at Asbury Seminary. He was teaching on ways we can disciple people across cultures using the various forms of rituals, ceremonies, and proverbs that already exist in their cultures. I was there to encourage Jay and learn as well. Much to my surprise, my presence meant a lot to the Chinese participants to see the mentor learning from the student, which without uttering a word, was a model of discipleship. Jay is a gifted and creative teacher, and the participants loved him.
In June I attended the annual meeting of the American Society of Missiology, a guild in which I have been active for 40 years, serving as editor of the journal Missiology for 12 years, and presently as the ASM Publisher. On the first day, my recent book and Steve Bevans’ magnum opus were featured on a panel discussion in a session titled “Authors Meet Engaged Readers.” On the last night of the conference, I was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
If you have the time and interest, here is the link to the ASM YouTube video of the award ceremonies, in which I gave out two awards and received the third one. (The introduction by my long-time friend and colleague, Dr. Steve Bevans, begins at minute 12:45.)
Finally, responding to requests for an audio version of my new book, Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness, this summer I’ll be spending time in a recording studio, hoping my vocal cords hold up as I read my book for several hours a day.
This year, 2024, is turning out to be quite a remarkable one for me and it’s only half over. Thank you for your prayers and support that enable me to keep going. Blessings on you.
Cordially,
Darrell Whiteman
