I could have tried to describe it myself, but it seemed that they already did such a good job.  I hope that you have a better grasp of it now as I write about it.

One of the students here at church, Joel Sikkema, and I went to the conference this year in Rochester.  Apparently they have been doing the conference for 17 years now in Rochester and it has grown from a few people to around 800.  The theme of the conference was “In the Beginning…Celebrating and Defending the Doctrine of Creation in a Naturalistic Culture”  Given where we are at, and what Areopagus is all about this conference was a good fit for us.  It was two very full days of good lectures and break out sessions, as well as lunch discussions.

The demographics of those who were in attendance was quite varied.  There were scholars and then there were families with their kids and many in between.

People spoke to us from many different perspectives: Biblical Scholars, English professors, film critics and Philosophers.

Some of my favorite speakers were Jack Collins talking about the proper understanding of the beginning of Genesis, Denis Haack on film, and Dick Keyes talking about the meaning of life and helping us understand the meaning of meaning (I know, sounds complicated, but it’s important).  Issues of Human sexuality were also touched on and Joel and I had several rousing discussions on this and film during time off and during our trip back.

There are so many things I could say, but I might bore you.  I have many pages of notes and several new books to review and read.  Hopefully next year will provide a promising conference as well, and I hope to get a few more students interested in going.

Below are are few pictures from the conference.

After arriving in Rochester on Thursday evening, Joel Sikkema and I checked in to our hotel and then headed out to check out what was available for dinner.  We walked around the downtown area, and were looking for something unique.  As we first left the hotel, a small family restaurant caught our attention, but we decided to take a stroll through a mall area to see what else was available.

As we walked a little further, we discovered Rochester’s Ice Festival/ Ice bar.  They had set up a common area as an outside bar, complete with ice tables, and little fire pots to keep people warm.  They also had a band playing from the skywalk , which was really cool.  There wasn’t a lot of food there, so we kept walking.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me to capture this, so you’ll just have to imagine!

After taking a look around we decided that we would give the little family restaurant a try.  Little did we know that it was actually a Dutch restaurant!  Now, I grew up in Sully, and went to school in Pella, which doesn’t really get much more Dutch than that, but I can’t really say that I have ever seen a restaurant like this before.  Usually Dutch seems to be manifest as a bakery or cheese or meat market, but I’d never heard of traditional Dutch food.

Anyways, we sat down and started to take a look at the menu to see what exactly this place was.  While we were perusing the menu a waitress comes running out of the kitchen bringing a plate full of food to another customer and yelling: “PANNEKOEKEN!”   Needless to say Joel and I were a bit surprised by this and thought it was pretty funny.  We decided that we should get pannekoeken’s as well, so that we could have a first hand experience of this.  However, somehow we managed to order something else called a pannekette, and unfortunately the waitress just brings those out without any fanfare.  The food we ate seemed like it was some sort of fluffy pancake item with a lot of vegetables and or meat in it.  It was quite tasty.

It was really interesting to see a Dutch Restaurant decorated with pictures of Dutch people I didn’t know.  They had a surprising lack of delft, but you could still tell it was Dutch, although someone did point out that they weren’t sure that Dutch people drank out of Mason jars

Below is a photo of my meal that Joel was kind enough to take with his phone.  Also, check out their Facebook Page.  Soon, hopefully, I will have another post about the L’Abri conference itself.

Me enjoying my pannekette at Pannekoeken.

Schedule for the evening was a viewing of the documentary “Black American Gothic Planting Urban Roots in Iowa” which covered the lives of those who have transplanted from Chicago to Iowa City.  Due to Chicago’s decision to tear down and rebuild much of their public housing many people were left without a place to live and chose to take the bus to Iowa City, where a much smaller section 8 public housing system is conducted.

Overall it was a fascinating and fair look into the situation.  We heard candidly of positives and negatives both from residents of Iowa City and those who had moved from Chicago.  It was interesting to hear the stories of the people that moved and how Iowa was a place they could hardly believe even existed.  One young man recounted that he had never seen so many white people in one place before.  Another lady recounted how she felt this was “God’s country” and joked that she almost called 911 the first night just so she could hear the familiar sound of sirens and get some sleep.  There were also the negative stories of racial prejudice.  One lady was kicked out of a nail salon with her daughters just because they were black.  Another family had the police called on them by a neighbor because he was afraid that they were arguing too loudly and violence might start.

The side of the Iowa city residents was telling as well. Some were quite positive and sympathetic to the plight of those who chose to leave Chicago.   Many others had great concerns about the changing demographic of Iowa City and the perceived rise in crime since the migrants have come.  Some were convinced that they are lazy worthless people who don’t want to work.  But the documentary did a wonderful job of communicating that this was not the case.  There were numerous examples throughout of those who had come and found jobs, often within days and often having to turn other offers down.

We even were treated to a ride-along conversation with an Iowa City police officer and got to hear his perspective.  While he was fairly convinced that there was not racial profiling , there were many counter-examples throughout.

One of the most intriguing interviews dispersed throughout the film was with an employee who takes care of placing people in public housing in Iowa City.  He did an excellent job of breaking down many misconceptions and was honest about difficulties.  Two that stick in my mind are this.  He noted that, while many think poor blacks are the majority of those who dwell in public housing and subsidized housing, it is actually almost 3-1 poor white and elderly white.  But the perception is basically the opposite.  The difficulty that was telling was of the difference in perspective from Chicago to Iowa City.  Many that have come over feel that “just one joint” or “just a little marijauna” is no big deal, and it wasn’t  in Chicago.  But communicating that it is a big deal in Iowa is hard to do, just as the previous misconception is for others.

The discussion after the film also proved to be challenging and somewhat testy at times.  The crowd, while not large, was very diverse, representing many different ethnicities and age groups.  About five minutes into the discussion, one gentlemen offered his thoughts that Blacks are the ones who make themselves unwelcome in communities and it’s really not the white residents fault that they think badly of them.  If they would only act in good character, whites would accept them.  As you can imagine, every comment after that (about 15) were all directed at that man and spoken in direct contrast to what he said.

Despite that, there were many valid points and questions raised.  Is this issue of welcoming migrants of other races and cultures simply one of education?  Do we just need to understand each other better, offer a class or something to help understand the other culture and not demonize it?  Do we just need to have community meetings where people can interact with others?  If people just spend time getting to know others that will solve the problem, right?  Is it an issue of structure–does the way that we structure public housing and where we locate it affect these relationships?  All of these are excellent questions and probably all would help alleviate the tensions, but I couldn’t help but wonder about the power of the Gospel in a situation like this.  Cities, neighborhoods and individuals are all grappling with this issue and no doubt some are attempting to address it from Christian perspective.  This is an issue that is not going to go away, and it is something that I think, as Christians we need to take seriously, especially in our churches.  How can we speak the Gospel into these tense situations.  How can we welcome new people to our communities and learn each other and help each other grow and correct each other both ways.  I felt that the conversation last night was right up the alley of the Reformed theology that I have been taught my whole life.  I hope that it will prove to be a clear voice in this murky situation.

Andrew Friend came and helped me man our display for the four hours of the event.  I had prepared a poster (pictured below) and some handouts and a bunch of candy.  I grossly over estimated the amount of candy that I would need, so now I have plenty to share over the course of the semester!

Most of the students who stopped by were curious or confused as to what “Areopagus” is and we tried to explain as well as we were able what we do and believe.  Some expressed interest and others walked away seeming just as confused as they were when they walked up.

The right approach to getting students to stop is unclear at an event like this.  As you look around the room you see some clubs where the student representatives look almost scared to be there and hope that no one will stop.  Others aggressively hand out materials and try to grab the attention of everyone that comes by.  Other clubs seem to more naturally attract students–like the one next to us for leaders in engineering.

Besides our display we were also able to place an advertisement in the “Get Involved” booklet that had over 10,000 copies printed.  So, we’ll see what comes of that.

While not a lot of students stopped, I hold out hope that we will see a few new faces in the future.

A big thank-you needs to go to Naomi Friend for her help in designing the advertisement and the cards that were handed out.  Things would not have gone nearly as smoothly or looked nearly as good without her help.

One of the biggest things on my list is getting ready for Bible study.  We are going to study the book of Leviticus this semester, which is no small task.  This is one of the books that I have never had the pleasure of studying in depth before.  The rotation of biblical studies courses at Dordt does not allow for a Theology student to get in all of the courses concerning the Old Testament and unfortunately the one that would have covered Leviticus is the one that I missed out on, so it’s a whole new world for me.  Thankfully, Pastor Tom is a helpful resource in these things and has pointed me to several good commentaries.  Now, I just have to find time to read them!  From time to time I have wondered about being a teacher some day, and if I ever do I hope I that planning out a semester gets easier with time!  I think one of the more challenging things has been trying to lay out when things will be read and how much to read at a time.   I grow in respect for teachers every day!

We also plan to spend a few nights this semester watching and discussing various movies.  Hopefully this will be a beneficial time for all.

We will continue to be involved with Food at First this semester and really look forward to that.  It is always a lot of fun to create a lot of delicious food and spend time getting to know other people.  Hopefully we can get a few new students involved this semester as well!

There are several conferences and lectures available this semester that look very interesting.  I plan to attend some myself and hopefully take a few students as well.

And, as with last semester, there is plenty going on in the political scene to keep us occupied.  I have great hopes that we will spend more time than last semester engaging this intriguing, frustrating, and yet important area.

This is a little snapshot of what I am looking forward to this semester.  Inevitably there will be more things that happen as well, but please be praying for Areopagus and the students as we go forward this semester.

At Northcrest, we started with a group in their Alzheimer’s area and sang a few songs for those who were gathered in their common area.  After that we moved out in the other residents’ area and went room to room singing a couple of song for each resident who wanted us to.  I realized quickly that I should have done a better job of scouting out their facilities before we came, as their building was much larger than I anticipated!  There were many residents to sing for and not enough time to do it, but we did our best.  As we made our way down the hall more and more residents opened their doors for us to come in and eventually we started singing outside groups of open doors so that everyone could hear us.  Many of the residents came out of their rooms and followed us down the hall as we sang and often joined in with us which was really neat.  One thing that was quite touching, that I failed to notice, but others told me about later, were several residents who were moved to tears by the carols.

We stayed twenty minutes longer at Northcrest than I had planned, and I think if we asked the residents they would have been happy to have us stay all day.  Unfortunately, I don’t think our voices would have lasted that long!

After wishing everyone Merry Christmas, we drove across the street to Bickford.  The residents were coming to lunch at this time, so we stood off the to side of the dining area and sang for them.  This group was a little slow to warm up to the carols, but after four or five songs many were singing with us and sharing smiles.  It would have been nice to stay longer here, but our voices were quite tired after an hour and a half of singing.  We wished them a Merry Christmas and headed home to eat some lunch and rest.

I am always reminded of the importance of visiting our elders when I participate in activity like this.  Many of the residents of these communities are often lonely.  They either do not have family around or their family does not visit often.  Even if those things do exist, just being away from what has been normal to them for their entire life is difficult and depressing.  To receive a visit from a stranger, to sing, or just to chat means so much to them.  In this holiday season remember those who are alone, not only in your prayers, but by paying them a visit as well.   What it means to them is often beyond words.

Our group singing at Northcrest.

We started a little earlier than normal–2:15–to make sure we had enough time to get everything done.  Naomi had planned a meal of Parmesan Chicken, potato, carrot, rutabaga medley, corn, salad, and dessert.  We prepared 15 pounds of chicken, and it filled 7 pans!   When we saw that we thought we would end up with tons of leftovers, but we were wrong!  The chicken was so popular people came back for seconds, thirds and took a lot home.  Everything really turned out well and those that ate let us know they appreciated our efforts, which was nice.

With the help of many volunteers, we cleaned up and were out the door not long after 7PM.  That is always our unofficial goal and we achieved it!  Overall it was a great night and we enjoyed the opportunity prepare our first meal.  Hopefully there will be many more to come in the future.

Here are a few photos: