The Latest Changes

(Photo taken recently in N. Ireland)
Late last night I returned from a week on the west coast. I was returning from a wonderful visit with daughter JJ in her apartment in San Francisco, and with her a visit to my brother in Arcata. We also went by Cabot Cove, of Murder She Wrote fame (actually Mendicino, on the California coast, where it was filmed). Then I flew to Seattle to visit sister Allison and mother, drive to Clarkston, on the west side of the state, to visit dear friends there. Finally I shared in a wonderful memorial tribute to a dear friend in the Calvin church. Now I am back home, and reconnecting with family until I leave in six days for Albania, where I will have the opportunity to share in the ministry of Udhekryq Bible School in Erseke. All in all the past week has been a time of connections and thanksgiving for times past, anticipation of times to come, and some grief as well.




The fact that we are constantly in a process of transitions, living with the inevitability of changes, was brought home to me about a month ago. Nancy was still in Ethiopia (she was out of the country for three months--in Ireland with me, Vietnam then Ethiopia)when we had a short but intense storm. The rain fell for about 10 minutes and a wind whipped down the swale separating our house from the neighbor's. In the morning I looked out back and a huge tree (center of first photo) was laying on its side half in and half out of the pond in our back yard. It took several men several days to haul it out and carry it away, and it has left a ragged stump and a hole where it used to be. (second photo) This hole is certainly not beautiful like the tree was, the stump is somewhat unsightly, and the spot will take time to fill. Yet in time the grass will grow again and the hole will fill in, and even now we can view and enjoy the pond more than we could before.

I don't know how old that tree was, but it was majestic and wonderful. But it is now gone and a new future is to be written. And such are transitions...They are inevitable. They can not be avoided. They can be sad, but they can open new possibilities. Dr. Seuss said it this way, Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. and I like that. As chapters in life close new chapters open. And as life itself closes a new chapter opens as well--a chapter that through faith in Christ is more wonderful than any before. That is the only true hope for life and it is the hope that God came to earth to bring...

Changes...Transitions...Old...New...In all the constant is the One who is the Alpha and the Omega. And knowing him we move through life and its stages with confidence and joy.

It is Sunday and the people of Galway are out. The Salthill promenade is crowded, the beaches are busy, Eyre Square is bustling, and the hardy souls are in for a swim (the ocean currents make the water surprisingly warm). And well they should be out, because I arrived on this island the 1st of July and today, the 15th of August, is the first sunny day I have experienced. Not that I have never seen the sun, but every other day it has shown between the clouds and around the showers. Many days I have explored the surrounding counties by bicycle, and I quickly learned that waiting for fair weather was futile. If it was clear when I started out it would rain before I finished. If it was raining when I started it would soon clear up. Rarely drenching downpours, but an ever-present coastal drip—water to make the land green and give the place the name The Emerald Isle. Such is the weather on the west coast of Ireland.




For the past six weeks I have been preaching and leading a mid-week Bible study at the Methodist-Presbyterian Church of Galway. It is unique among Methodist and Presbyterian churches in this country, not only because of its status as an amalgamated church but because it has three nearly equal constituencies: tourists, Africans and white. The white participants are either Irish or expats from parts of the UK or elsewhere. The Africans are mostly asylum-seekers, or began with that status but have gone through the court system and received what is known as a Leave to Stay. The previous pastors of the church were a clergy couple, the husband from Sierra Leone and the wife Irish. They were sent to the church by the Methodists nine years ago with a specific charge to reach and aid the newly arrived asylum-seekers, and they did an excellent job but have moved on to another charge. So the alternating system of governance means that it is the Presbyterian’s job to carry on from here—which will be a difficult task…

Aside from the preaching and teaching responsibilities I have had contact with individuals and responded to one hospital request for “a Presbyterian priest”—a reflection of terminology in this Catholic culture. But the net result has been to have plenty of time to experience Galway (like the grand fashion parade called the Galway Races)

do my exploring. And I can say I now pretty well know Mayo, Sligo, Connemara, Galway and Donegal counties. I also did a cross-country jaunt to attend a Bible Study in Dublin, so visited much of the middle between west and east. Sounds impressive, I trust, but as the distance from Galway to Dublin is just over 200 kilometers, it sounds more impressive than it actually is.

The downside to this time has been that Nancy has not been with me except for the first weekend, as she is doing a Fulbright English Language Specialist assignment in Vietnam. Her experiences have been completely different, and her schedule much more demanding than mine, but it is for her to write about her time there. For me it has meant being without her—missing her and not having her partnership in the ministry as we have had before during my similar ministries in other Irish churches.

Tomorrow I head north for a Presbyterian Church of Ireland irregular General Assembly. The term irregular does not imply a problem, rather it indicates that this assembly is not the annual business gathering, rather it is a periodic gathering for prayer, general assessment and visioning. Should be interesting. At the end of next week I take my week away from Galway—cycling southern France with Brian, my cycling buddy from Northern Ireland. Then a final Sunday preaching and a return to Greensboro for me, while Nancy flies on to Ethiopia for September.

So my fifth tour in Ireland is drawing to a close. Each time I have asked myself and God whether what I have done has really helped the church and the kingdom of God, and each time I seem to come to the same conclusion. From my perspective it has been a privilege and a joy—a chance to share the gospel with people, to use my gifts, to hear how others from different cultures hear and understand the Scriptures, and to meet and enjoy a wonderful country with gracious people. And for the church there has been a bit of stability in a time of change, a chance to experience the preaching and teaching of a strange foreigner, and an affirmation of the caring and commitment of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for those congregations that are part of its family. For some it has even meant a new perspective on their faith and what it means to follow Jesus. I guess in God’s economy this is a win-win arrangement—each party is challenged, stretched, encouraged, and blessed. Praise be to God!

As I write this entry I am sitting on the seawall at Kinvarra, a small village on the south side of Galway Bay. I have been in Galway for just over two weeks now, where I am volunteering as a fill-in pastor for a congregation whose pastor just left to take another charge. This is the fifth time I have had the privilege of sharing in an Irish congregation for an extended period, and it is another blessing to me. And I hope it is helpful to the church…

While I am here Nancy is working in Vietnam as an English Language Specialist under the State Department’s Fulbright program. She will be there for the two months I am in Galway, then I go back to Greensboro and she goes on to volunteer as an English Language teacher trainer for Project Mercy, in Yetebon, Ethiopia. She gets back to Greensboro in early October, and I leave late that month to teach in Albania for several weeks. Life is interesting!

The ministry in Galway is probably the most unusual I have ever had. That is because the church is a Methodist-Presbyterian African Irish church. Some years ago the Methodist church and the Presbyterian church in Galway, each of which had an historic presence in the city, decided to join forces. Each was quite small and it made sense to unify. So they did, and every eight years there is a change in pastoral leadership and the new pastor comes from the other denomination. The African presence is partly because some Africans came to Ireland when the Celtic tiger was roaring, but mostly as a result of Ireland’s open policy regarding asylum seekers. That policy may be changing because of the changes in the economy of the nation, but for years people fleeing persecution could land on Ireland’s shores, formally seek asylum, and they would be kept, fed and housed until their claim could be adjudicated—a process which takes years.

Because of this mix of peoples and traditions the worship is lively, exceptionally diverse, and somewhat chaotic. There are thirty or forty adults in worship, which for a Protestant church in the Republic of Ireland is substantial, and about 60% are African. There are lots of children, all from African families, plus a smattering of tourists. The regulars mix remarkably well, and each adds to the whole. The church sponsors and member staff a Wednesday informal gathering of people, which usually means asylum seekers and their children. There is playing, drumming lessons, and tea and biscuits. Three days a week the doors are open for six hours and a member of the church is there for drop-ins who just want to talk or pray with someone. And there is the mid-week Bible study which I lead.


The net result of this is that while my responsibilities at the church are clear and important—Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and any other pastoral needs, there is actually a lot of free time. And with Nancy half a world away that defaults to cycling jaunts. So, even though the weather is usually pretty damp, I have explored the Galway area, the Donegal area, and the area south of Galway, the Burren. Living in the church manse as a home base, I expect that the west of Ireland will become pretty well known to me and my bike by the time I leave.

The other day I was musing about the Ackles family—a wife in a time zone six hours ahead of me, one daughter and family five hours behind and another eight hours behind. Conference calls would be pretty hard to maintain, but with Skype and internet an amazing amount of communication is possible. And that is nice…I also was thinking about this season of life, and thanking God for the health and resources to live and serve him as we do now. As The Preacher wrote in Ecclesiastes, There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…(Ecclesiastes 3:1) I believe that one of the keys to life in Christ is discerning the season we are in and the activity which is fitting for that season. It does no good to look back on another season and long for it again, or to look ahead to a season that may or may not be. Life is a series of seasons, and in each we have a unique call and unique opportunity. That uniqueness is a gift from God and something we need to recognize and engage in fully. We do not live in the was or the will be, but we live in the are—and God has a plan for us right there…

Nancy and I have stopped on a ridge overlooking the Barrow Valley in County Carlow, Ireland. We had a delightful Irish breakfast at a local garden center, and have been driving around, revisiting areas we had spent time in while serving the Carlow Presbyterian church for two months two years ago.

We flew into Belfast last Thursday and spent time with friends in Lisburn, where in 2003 I had done a pulpit exchange with David Bruce. We had lunch at the seaside and strawberry shortcake at Oatlands, a berry growing farm just outside Lisburn. We also visited the local Moravian Church where we were given a tour by the daughter of the present inhabitants of the manse. This young woman was quite knowledgeable, even explaining why in the 1800s the pastor, a Greek minor nobleman, had a replica of the Battle of Thermopylae erected in earthworks in the church yard…And she hopes to come to North Carolina in a year to get to know Old Salem, a Moravian center Nancy and I had visited just a week before.



From Lisburn we traveled via Kells (Book of Kells and High Crosses from 700’s) to Carlow, where I preached yesterday. The service was followed by a sumptuous barbecue with friends and a visit with other friends—people we got to know and love in the summer of 2008. We are staying with one of the families the church for two days, and will leave tomorrow for Camolin and a day with a dear friend from our time in Adelaide Road (Dublin) where I preached for two months in 2007. After that we will pass through Cahir and Fermoy, reconnecting with people we ministered with last September, then to Cork to visit another friend. Finally, on Saturday, we will arrive in Galway, where I will spend the next two months serving the Presbyterian-Methodist church—a primarily African-Irish congregation…I say “I” because Nancy leaves the next Wednesday for 6 weeks in Vietnam as a Fulbright English Language Specialist, then 4 more in Ethiopia training English Language teachers at Project Mercy.

All of which is to say that we are out of Greensboro and away from family now—and we miss them! The doors God has opened for Nancy and me are amazing, but the price to pay is being away from loved ones, especially little ones who are changing so quickly. But that is life and ministry—amazing joy with sacrifice. I think that each of us is called to both, and at most times in life should be able to identify both. We should be able to identify the ministry God has called us to and to experience its joy, while at the same time knowing and experiencing the cost involved in pursuing that ministry. Perhaps that is something about what Jesus meant when he said, Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.…(Matthew 10:39)

How quickly two months pass!

It has been a very busy two months, but it is coming to an end tomorrow when I fly back home to Greensboro. The weather here in Merida has been surprisingly cool—a few days over 100 degrees but most between 80 and 90. I’ve been able to get out almost every day for my 12-25 mile bike ride, but not once was the weather hot enough to entice me into my favorite swimming hole, Noc-ac cenote. The weather and busy schedule have even kept me from my annual weekend diving in Cozumel—but there is next year!

I have finished the three classes I was to teach. Homilética IV (fourth year Preaching) was a small class, with students I have had previously. Las Cartas Paulinas was much larger, with second year students, an in Extension I taught Las Parábolas de Jesús to a group of eight interested and engaging pastor. The preparation work for these classes involved creating PowerPoint presentations for the class sessions, preview presentations for the students and a final presentation which I posted on the web. For the Parábolas class I also put together a small booklet on the parables. And all in less than perfect Spanish. Adding to the mix was grading and testing. In short it has been a very busy time! But a wonderful one…

In between class work I did have wonderful opportunities to share in the life and ministry of the people and churches here in Merida and the villages of the Yucatan. I was invited almost every weekend to preach in one of the local churches, and accompanied my hosts Dave (Bito) and Jean Legters on several of their trips to big and small churches all around the state and beyond. I was the chauffeur a good deal of the time, including every Thursday night when I took Jean downtown to her choir practice, where she has served Divino Salvador as accompanist for many years. On those nights I ritually marched down to the center plaza of Merida to a small pizza place and enjoyed what I consider to be the finest pizza in the city. Bito and Jean enjoyed a piece or two as well. I was able to attend a 50th wedding anniversary celebration in one village (as I related last entry) and a 3 year old baptism (which was riotous as the one being baptized was so terrified that he fled the sanctuary just when he was to be baptized…) in another. I ate at the festivities and watched as children and adults scrambled for the goodies pouring out of a broken piñata.

Nancy was with me for about half the time I have been here, but had grandma duties back home plus a TESOL conference in Boston. Of course life is better when she is around, but sometimes other duty calls.

The highlight of the two months has to have been the short visit of all the family. Emily, Steve, Jacques, and Colette were here for a short 5 days, and JJ was here for the weekend they were here. JJ´s coming from San Francisco was a surprise we arranged for the Content family—they did not know that she was coming. I wish I could have seen the face of the two little ones at the Houston airport when they turned around and saw a very familiar face (tía) in a very strange airport and learned that they were all going to be on the same flight! In any case we spent one day in Celestún, on a boat seeing the flamingoes and maneuvering through the jungle to the Ojo de Agua where we could swim in the place the springs fed fresh water to the salty sea marsh. That plus ruins plus hunting down acquaintances Emily had made while here on mission trips—it was a full and wonderful time.



As life goes on I continue to revert to the same theme, that our sojourn on earth is made up of chapters, each with a beginning a middle and an end. Some are short and some are long, some are wonderful and others are challenging. And now this short chapter ends and another begins. It is always a joy and honor to be received in this part of the world. The Legters are an example of faithful ongoing service that challenges me, and their deep friendship and amazing hospitality (including let me invite 20 or more students over several nights to watch a movie) means much to me. The commitment of the seminary faculty and staff, and the hard work of the students, inspires me and makes me grateful to be able to say that I am a part of El Seminario Teológico Presbiteriano San Pablo. And the life that people live here, often a hard life, but one that with faith in Christ has hope and meaning—that is something to marvel at.

In the class I taught on Paul´s letters, I once again was challenged by his writings, and particularly by his final letter, 2 Timothy. That letter contains little systematic doctrine or correction of church life, it is a farewell from a senior church leader to his most beloved companion and apprentice. It is a book to be felt more than to be analyzed. It is a book of pain (he is in prison, deserted by many, and awaiting his execution), but one of tremendous hope as well. Much of that hope is in the promise of God to him, the promise we all have been given and which we read about in Paul´s writings. But much of that hope and confidence was also in his ability to look back at his life, with its various chapters, and say, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith… To be able to say that at the end of life ought to be our goal at the beginning. When the gun sounds and race begins we should keep our eye on the finish line and run towards it. And when the way gets hard and the energy gets low, we should keep our eye on that line as well. That is the purpose of life, and that purpose gives it meaning—plus what Paul soon received, the crown of righteousness.

Back in Merida

I arrived in Merida, Mexico, on the 3rd of this month and began teaching The Epistles of Paul and Homilética IV the next day. Nancy joined me ten days later and will be here for half my time—grandchildren duties prevents more. But the grandchildren and family will be coming to visit for a few days in just over a week, which will be great.
The class I am teaching on Paul has 18 students and is the largest I have ever had. As such it presents some interesting challenges. My Spanish seems to be holding up, but responding to questions, which are hard to hear in the particular room I have for class, is always difficult. I probably am answering questions the students are not actually asking, but they are gracious enough and seem to be attentive. I am experimenting with different media, primarily Powerpoint, and have eliminated most paper. My goal is to give the students something that will keep them from constantly having to write furiously to keep notes on something that I could have (and now have) provided to them in writing. I upload the lessons onto memory sticks that each of the students has, and then we go through the lessons together. It seems to work, but only because every student either has a laptop with them in class or easy access outside class time. When you think of Mexico remember that—the country is very far along on the tech trail.
My sojourns to Mexico are timed to fit in with the school year at the seminary, but also they just happen to come at a time when the winter weather is worst in the north and the sun is shining brightly, but not furiously, here. This time, though, the cold in the north is making it across the Gulf and people are suffering. I mean suffering as the temperature drops into the 60s at night and only goes up to 80 in the daytime (only 3 or 4 days in the 90s so far). Such frigid conditions mean people are walking around with coats, hats, scarves and whatever they have to keep warm. I have to chuckle at it all, when it is below freezing in Greensboro, but as none of the homes has heat (never needed) it does feel at times like a bit of a chill even to me.
I get out on my bicycle almost every day, which makes for a good change from preparing lessons, presentations and web entries (lessons are on line at wacklescp.blogspot.com). The roads are not trafficked where I am so an hour of riding makes for a very good breather. And even though I have now passed my 66th birthday I am still able to make the journey in pretty good time and shape. There is hope yet!
Last weekend Nancy and I went to a village about an hour outside of Merida. We were guests of a couple who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in the typical Mayan Christian way. There was first of all a church service, and our host, Dave Legters, participated as the officiating pastor. During the service all 8 of the children of the couple were introduced, and the Christian commitment and active church participation of each was noted. After the service we adjourned to the home of the couple where we and about a hundred others were fed a turkey based kind of soup with tortillas, typical of the area, and some mariachi music. The table we sat at was set under a thatched roof, while most were out in the open, on dirt and rocks and under trees. It was a wonderful time.
It is of such things that we are blessed here in Mexico. As I meet students, some of whom I have taught before, go to villages, am invited to preach in small and larger places, and experience the faith of this people I am challenged. In many ways they have much less than we do, but in some ways they have more. And they have the same Lord, the same church, and the same hopes. What a blessing!

The past month has been a month of wonderful family time and regular preparation time. Living almost next door to Emily, Steve and the two grandchildren gives Nancy and me plenty of opportunity to spend time walking and playing with a 3 year old (when asked her age she says she is 18) and an 18 month old. Countless words have been spent describing the difference between being a parent and being a grandparent, and I guess many of them are true. You get to enjoy the best and avoid some of the problems. And that makes it a good time—a very good time. I often take Colette to preschool, we take walks and she plays with the same toys our girls played with when they were the same age. Jacques and I walk around our pond (I carry him most of the way), he throws rocks in the little stream that empties out of it, and we throw a ball back and forth—actually he rolls it in random trajectories. Lots of hours and lots of joy.

The preparation I have been doing is for the class I begin teaching in two days, at Seminario Teólogico Presbiteriano San Pablo in Merida, Mexico. Once again I will be teaching the letters of Paul and Preaching, although repetition does not mean doing the same thing again. Each time I have this opportunity it feels like the material is fresh and new. I look at what I have done before and, while it is pretty good, it is never what I want to present this next time. I always learn more myself, and toy with new ways of presenting the material.

Another activity that has taken time this past month is culling through and digitizing old photos. Like many people Nancy and I have boxes of old photos and slides, just sitting in the attic. These boxes contain treasures, but treasures that are seldom enjoyed. So I have taken stock of the photos, thrown out many, and turned many of those I have kept into a rotating computer slide show that plays on the television. As it goes on we see much of our life and many of our friends and are reminded of how good God has been to us. One of the things the Scripture often commends to God´s people is to remember. And that is what this helps us do. Remember the people who have impacted us, the events that have shaped us, and the ways in which God has worked in and through us. I still have a box of albums to go through, but that will have to wait until I return from Mexico. Before then, though, I thank God for those events, those people and those places that parade across the screen…

A New Year

Since returning to Greensboro after three months away, Nancy and I have spent lots of time with family—and loved it! As soon as we arrived in the US it was time for Christmas preparations, which meant decorating the house and making certain that the gifts we would give were just right. Our daughter JJ flew from her home in San Francisco to join us for the holidays, which meant that we were with both daughters, the one son-in-law and both grandchildren-the complete family.

JJ was able to do some of her Netflix work from here, and she and I continued our tradition of catching up with the latest t.v. series. In four nights, sitting on the couch and watching video projected onto our wall, we covered the entire latest season of Lost and then moved on to what is new this year. I can’t say that I feel deprived for missing much of what is new, but it is good to feel a bit educated on what millions of people are watching and being influenced by.

Nancy and I went to two Christmas programs, one in a large Baptist church and the other in the Presbyterian Church that we attend. The Baptist presentation involved several hundred people, a full orchestra, video support and all the trappings of a professional performance. And it was good. Our church’s was home-grown and simple, and it was good too. The church in this part of the US is an integral part of the fabric of society, and has incredible variety. On Christmas eve Nancy and I also attended two services, one at a country Presbyterian Church and the other at our church. As the former unfolded I felt like Garrison Keeler would come out at any time, it was stereotypical southern country. The latter was a bit more polished and what I am used to. Again, the diversity is amazing, and wonderful. I am so glad that God did not make just one kind of worship or force us all into one mold. In the variety is the beauty, and there is lots of beauty around here.

The weather has turned cold now and our pond has frozen. That is except for a circle around the new fountain which we installed as a means of controlling the algae. We probably should take the fountain out during the winter, as it is only using electricity when nothing would grow anyway. But this is the first winter and we will see how it goes. Nancy feels that it detracts from the natural beauty of the pond, so I guess that if the cold damages it at least she will not mourn the loss…


In a couple weeks I leave for Mexico and two months teaching at El Seminario Presbiteriano de San Pablo. While I have done this for several years, I am spending lots of time getting material updated and ready for the classes. I understand that working in a second language, Spanish for me, is good for the brain cells. That is encouraging… I just pray that it is good for the students who will be attending the classes.

I trust your Christmas season was a joy and that your New Year will be one of growing and serving. I have been impressed again as I have been looking at Paul’s writings, and particularly his Pastoral Epistles. He was a man with a purpose, and he persevered in that purpose to the end, despite the cost. May that be something we each do in the year that has just started. May we each continue to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith.