August prayer letter
Posted by Bill on August 1st, 2008Hello! Click here to open our August prayer letter. In this month’s letter we recount our adventure in Tuva, Siberia. Enjoy!
Report on Tuva trip
Posted by Robin on July 26th, 2008What a trip! It totally exceeded all our expectations. We had the most amazing team; they always had a great attitude, and everyone worked together to make it a tremendously effective and joyful time. Click here for the pdf report - Tuva report
More responses from the Ethnodoxology course…
Posted by Robin on July 26th, 2008What a blessing it is to have articulate, enthusiastic students! Check out this link to a short podcast of worship leader/songwriter Rebecca Dennison recounting what she learned last month at the Ethnodoxology Course at Southern Seminary.
In addition, there is a second podcast interview with Rebecca addressing these questions:
1) How can ethnodoxology be used as a tool for racial reconciliation?
2) What are some strategies that missionaries and churches can use, and how can missionaries and churches work together?
In other news, an article came out by the news service of Southern Seminary about the course — check out this link!
I loved administrating this course — but I had a great team of ICE folks collaborating together, so it’s not surprising that it was such a joy. They are great to work with!
Off to Russia…
Posted by Robin on June 14th, 2008In just a few hours, Bill and I will be on our way to the airport for our first ever trip to Tuva, in southern Siberia. We are taking a team of eight people on an ethnodoxology survey trip to explore how Heart Sounds International can most effectively encourage the use of heart music among the indigenous peoples of the Republic of Tuva.
The last month has been a whirl of activity for us, as our trip got re-directed from Yakutia to Tuva and we prepared for two of our biggest events this year — 1) the Ethnodoxology Course we helped to teach at Southern Seminary [read an earlier blog to see how it went], and 2) leading our first-ever short-term team to Russia. Having these two events back to back has really stretched us, but the Lord has sent wonderful people to help us; from a friend at OM who volunteered to compile E-Dox course evaluations for me, to an ethnomusicology intern from Moody (with us for 6 weeks) who is doing immense amounts of research on Tuvan music for the team. As an extra bonus, one of our team members is studying music in Moscow, and his parents are providing a “home base” for us there as we enter and leave the country. The greatest blessing of all is that we have a wonderful group that we’re taking with us; all of them are people we know and love — and all are wonderful musicians with a heart for ethnodoxology. We’re off!
First-ever Ethnodoxology course enjoys enthusiastic reviews!
Posted by Robin on June 14th, 2008Press release - June 14, 2008
An “Introduction to Ethnodoxology” course, developed by a collaborative team from the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (ICE) in cooperation with The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, saw a great response from students when it was held for the first time in June, 2008:
· “This course will challenge you to see the world with new eyes”
· “The Ethnodoxology course is perfect for … pastors, mission committee members, worship leaders and coordinators of mission trips. It has definitely broadened my horizons while equipping me better for ministry here in my local home church as well as cross-culturally.”
· “My excitement over the class has not waned. My new phrase is “Something I learned from my class last week was…” Thanks again.”
In addition to the learning sessions, the students enjoyed active participation in a number of other events – visits to local ethnic churches and a moving Global Hymn Festival led by Dr. C. Michael Hawn, well-known speaker and author on world congregational song.
ICE Coordinator Robin Harris commented, “The Introduction to Ethnodoxology course is on the cutting edge of ‘best practice’ for churches and missions. We are delighted to see the positive response from SBTS and look forward to partnering with them in the future to help people connect with God’s heart for worship and mission.”
[for a full-length press release with details of the course, click here]
June Prayer Letter
Posted by Robin on June 1st, 2008Hello! Click on the link to read our June Prayer Letter.
Harris prayer letter for April
Posted by Bill on April 10th, 2008Hello! Click here to view our April Prayer Letter. Enjoy!
update on Robin’s little project…
Posted by Robin on March 21st, 2008Every Friday morning we have a prayer time by conference call with our co-workers in Heart Sounds. Many of us travel extensively, so a conference call is the best way for us to gather once a week to pray. We called from home today and I prayed about my PhD application. I was getting discouraged that there were no emails from UGA in my box when I got back from my trip… I was wondering what the delay might be, and beginning to think that maybe there was a problem with my application. Maybe they weren’t going to accept me after all.
So I prayed in our prayer time and just gave it to the Lord. That if it wasn’t his will for me to do this “little project” that He would just close the door and not have me accepted. Although I really want to do this, if the door gets closed in my face, I am willing to accept that and will not pursue it further, as there is no other program that’s interesting to me.
After I prayed, Bill slipped out of the room and came back with an envelope. You guessed it — it was my acceptance letter from UGA! Since my return a couple of days ago, I hadn’t gotten around to digging into my postal mail pile (I’d been doing email instead); it turns out the letter had been waiting for me the whole time! So I reported to my fellow-prayers that I had just received an answer to my prayer of 2 minutes ago. Ha! We all had a good laugh, especially Bill, who couldn’t believe I hadn’t dug into my mail first thing, like he always does.
So it’s official… I’m pretty thrilled, I must admit. I find myself mentally girding up for “the long haul” — probably the only other project I’ve ever undertaken of this size is the founding of ICE. I know there will be moments of terror and anguish, but there will be much joy as well, as I will be doing something that I was created to do: I love music… research… writing… ethnomusicology… all these things are so much a part of my DNA that I cannot help but think there will be joy as well in this journey!
Back from Germany and Russia
Posted by Robin on March 21st, 2008I recently returned from three weeks overseas and although I’m delighted to be home again, I’m so glad I went, as many good things happened on this trip.
The first fun thing was that Bill and I got to participate in OM’s International Leadership Meetings in Mosbach, Germany. We spoke in a panel on “Arts in OM” and enjoyed meeting many of OM’s leadership from all over the world on coffee breaks and at meals. In addition, Bill did some videotaping for various OM projects (including an interview with George Verwer) and I sang alto in the worship team lead by some musicians from the Netherlands. That was a challenge for me, as many of the songs were from other countries and were unfamiliar. Fun!
Bill and I went a few days early so that we could spend time with a dear friend from St. Petersburg, Nadine, who has just recently moved to the Frankfurt area and is now working at the airport there. We had a marvelous “mini-vacation” with Nadine and her family (Russian-Germans) and especially enjoyed all the wonderful Russian meals that her mother prepared for us! They live in Eberstadt, not far from Darmstadt; we were absolutely charmed by these German towns with winding cobbled streets and tidy gardens just beginning to bloom with daffodils, forsythia, and other blooming shrubs.
From Germany, Bill flew back home and I went on to Moscow, where I met Katherine (who flew in from Atlanta) and we spent several days exploring the options for her to study there after she graduates. She had several lessons with her favorite professor; as usual he was incredibly helpful to her and gave her a whole new perspective on her pieces and her approach to playing in general. We also got to listen to him teach his students at the conservatory; this was also an incredibly useful and informative afternoon. The students we listened to were better than what we’re used to hearing at international piano competitions!
From there, K and I went to St. Petersburg and stayed with our dear friends, Thomas and Cristy Slawson (and their son Isaiah). They are in their first year of Russian language learning and ministry, and it was a tremendous thrill to see their progress. We had hosted Thomas in Russia over the last 5 years as he prepared for missionary service, and it was a wonderful “switch of roles” to have them hosting us, filling us in on all the latest tricks for surviving in Russia, seeing their incredibly fruitful ministry, and how well they “took care of us” (I had a terrible cold and ended up being the recipient of some great TLC). Amazing couple… I’d highly recommend Cristy’s blog and the theological satire blog written by Thomas and friends (including Bill on occasion).
My trip home went great — a buddy pass provided by a pilot friend landed me in business class, which was a huge blessing and delight (I had the best steak I’ve had in a long time!) and my clogged ears didn’t cause me any pain whatsoever, in answer to the prayers of many. It is GREAT to be home with my awesome hubby again. Our next trip begins a week from today, but it will be a fun trip — I’ll write more about that later.
Hello! Click here to read our February 2008 prayer letter. Enjoy!