Bedrock

Perhaps like the beloved grandfather I never got the chance to be, I am writing especially to younger folks,. I'm the oldest of 4 sons, the oldest of the cousins on one side, and third oldest on the other side of my extended family. My youngest brother was born when I was fifteen, and I was his frequent baby-sitter. I often gravitated toward the elderly because so many that I grew up with were older—grand parents, a couple great grands, aunts and uncles and great grands there as well, and my parents' friends. I also have always had a love for kids. After our father died, I discovered I had a concern for others, like my brothers, going through loss or alienation from their dads. I've lost track of how many in their teens and twenties, mostly boys perhaps because I had only brothers, I befriended. I have been a friend, mentor, tutor, and teacher to young men and a few young ladies growing into adulthood, some have even lived with me. I found them in coffee shops, r...

Between a degree in physics and a second in pastoral ministry, I'm well prepared for work as a teacher and tutor, and I have done both. Between one school and the next, I saw a request for tutors for young refugee students from southern Sudan, often called the “Lost Boys.” Though I never had an interest in foreign missions, I became enamored of these survivors, many of whom were eager for an education and the chance to make things better for their people back home. Over time, I helped students from other places in Africa, the Middle East, South and Central America, and Asia, many refugees, but also foreign exchange students and international college students. I hosted 5 exchange students in my home, 2 from South Korea, 1 from Brazil, and 2 from China and supervised a few others. I loved them all like sons, and still do! In the process, I have learned much about the histories and cultures of southern Sudan, Liberia, Gabon, Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Honduras,...