June birds

Common St. Johnswort, Hypericum perforatum - blooming along an unmowed slope - wonderful summer color, and very attractive to pollinating insects. photo by Lynn Jones

June birds are generally those that nest here - and this week there were lots of youngsters around. We see them either following parents, all the while begging to be fed, or we hear cheeping and peeping from within a nest box.

Mama Wild Turkey was sheltering a brood of chicks near our building, House Wren chicks make a very noticeable racket in or near their natal boxes, and young robins are abundant. A treat one noontime was watching a female Common Yellowthroat feed one of her youngsters.


Bumblebee, Bombus sp., on Crown Vetch, Coronilla varia, a species introduced for erosion control - and quite invasive. Photos by Lynn Jones

Bird list for the first week of SUMMER!!, June 20-24, 2011

Wild Turkey
Black-crowned Night-heron - another fly-over AND... Tom Parlapiano and a group of boy scouts surprised one feeding at the edge of the Oyster River in the nature preserve!!
Red-tailed Hawk
Herring Gull
5. Killdeer

Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Northern Flicker
Chimney Swift
10. Willow Flycatcher

American Crow
Blue Jay
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
15. Warbling Vireo

American Robin
Wood Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
20. Black-capped Chickadee

House Wren
Barn Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Yellow Warbler
25. Common Yellowthroat

American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
30. Indigo Bunting

Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow


Silhouette birds - any guesses?
Photo by Lynn Jones.
The upper is bird #10 on the week's list, the lower is bird #33.

David Robert POWELL | POWELL, David Robert | LifeNews.ca

David Robert POWELL POWELL, David Robert LifeNews.ca


A light burning brightly. Shine on, my son, shine on....

Apple and Their Retail Stores

Just ran across the Wall Street Journal article, Secrets from Apple’s Genius Bar by Yukari Kane and Ian Sherr. While I’m not an Apple guy, I love their stores and loved this article. As entrepreneurs, there is much we can learn from this piece. Now, you might be saying to yourself that Apple is a huge company with lots of resources, how can you possibly compare us to them? However, as you read the article, think about their focus on customer service, details, and training…and then think about how you can do this better in your own organization.

From the article:

Apple lays its "steps of service" out in the acronym APPLE, according to a 2007 employee training manual reviewed by The Wall Street Journal that is still in use.
"Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome," "Probe politely to understand all the customer's needs," "Present a solution for the customer to take home today," "Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns," and "End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return."

Apple's control of the customer experience extends down to the minutest details. The store's confidential training manual tells in-store technicians exactly what to say to customers it describes as emotional: "Listen and limit your responses to simple reassurances that you are doing so. 'Uh-huh' 'I understand,' etc."

April showers, May showers, June showers...

Another mostly rainy week for Connecticut - but a few windows of sunshine sprinkled throughout. Notice the fireflies on warm evenings?


Abandoned nest of Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata. Last week Lynn heard young birds begging and saw the adults fly, very quietly, into the pine. Today we found the nest.

This is the time of year when the Connecticut Ornithological Association sends us birders out to survey the population of breeding birds in our state. Similar to National Audubon's annual Christmas Bird Count, it's a survey of what birds (and how many) are around during a specified time period and defined geographic area. Link to COA's summer bird count info here.

The summer count for the area that includes West Campus was last weekend, but Lynn and I were elsewhere, so WC birds were not added to the data. We plan to spend a morning next week thoroughly counting our resident birds in order to establish a baseline for next year's effort.


A pair of Mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, on the roof of the warehouse today, taking advantage of... puddles? warmth? a strange sight indeed.

Birds around West Campus this week, June 13-17, 2011:

Wild Turkey (the two toms that have been hanging together all spring)
Mallard - the above-mentioned pair
Herring Gull
Killdeer
Black-crowned Night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax - bird number 120! - Lynn was lucky to see two flying overhead one morning. The link takes you to Dendroica, at natureinstruct.com, a good site for both voice recordings and photos - take a look!

Red-tailed Hawk - a pair nesting on campus
Osprey - seen flying over, with a huge fish
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Northern Flicker

Willow Flycatcher
American Crow
Red-eyed Vireo
Cedar Waxwing
American Robin
Wood Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
European Starling

Barn Swallow
Rough-winged Swallow
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Indigo Bunting
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
Yellow Warbler
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

A big thirty-three species for the week - woo hoo!


Two young bucks, White-tailed Deer, browsing in the early morning haze.


Yes - you finally noticed I was watching you - guess those words could go either way!

This weekend I'll be counting birds for the Storrs area Summer Bird Count - it's perfect that my count territory includes my yard.
have a good weekend
Sue

Mission Canada. What are we about...

Let’s talk about what we are about. Mission Canada is about doing missions in Canada, realizing there are unreached peoples right in our own front yard. This is our Jerusalem and Judea ( Acts 1:8). We are prayerfully developing strategies to reach the unreached people in our own country: people who would otherwise live beyond the reach of the traditional model of doing church. In otherwords, people who for whatever reason would rarely if ever darken the door of an organizational church.


In my world, this involves the campuses of our nation. It is clear to me that what we are doing in CMC anticipates the need for creative models of building Kingdom communities among the unreached. These redemptive communities do not replace the church. They augment it. Better yet, they are arms and hands of the church reaching into the darkness. They may not be the complete Body, but they are connected to it. They are part of it. For that reason, we do not see what we are doing as “para-church”. The term I coined years ago is “apo-church” which means out from the church. Organically connected to it.

It has been rewarding to share with people who not only on the same team but who do their parts with passion and excellence. Further, they do it with humility. We all realize that we are up against Goliath – a giant that mocks and intimidates. Goliath has a way of breaking any sense of self reliance. Goliath has a way of forcing us into God. Goliath is the entrance point for the revelation of God’s glory.

I sat down with a dear brother and a new friend , Norm Bishop, who is the men’s ministry director for the District I am a part of: The Western Ontario District. He was very encouraging. Actually, he simply could not believe he had not heard about what we are doing on campus and was passionate about getting our story out. When he had a chance to hear our story and what we are about, he was determined to help us find ways to get our story out to the churches and to help us connect with those people who would be thrilled to hear what we are actually up to.

Emerging Gen discussion

As part of the conference, when we were not in the plenary sessions, we met in various groups. On the first day, the groups were mixed. This means that the various focus groups did not meet together but were jumbled up into various groups that responded to hard, searching questions regarding what we do and why we do it. On the second day, I was part of an emerging generation discussion where we talked about ensuring that discipleship does not happen in isolation amongst the various age and stage ministries ( e.g. Children’s, Junior High, Youth, Campus ). While we did not arrive at any conclusions or action points, it opened up a long needed discussion.

When we met as a Campus Guiding Group, it was all synergy. We have such gifted people and it was amazing to see how they had incorporated the overall vision of our national leader, David Wells, and incorporated it into our values and goals. The outcome of that meeting will be another blog....

Mission Canada Summit 2011 Montreal

Arrived in Montreal. Again, the streets of Montreal teeming with people, many of whom are students. 




With Kelly Johnson ( U of Calgary) in Old Montreal


Mission Canada hoisted the Summit: a gathering of  the core of PAOC leaders and influencers from across Canada. These are Ministry leaders that reflect the core emphases of Mission Canada. Namely: Aboriginal, New Immigrants, Urban, Emerging Generation and francophone Canada. These emphases were identified as priorities because they are gaps that are not being reached at present by the local church.

MC Core Team: Gary Connors, George Werner, Natalie Rogge, Jaz Ghag







We stayed in a cool former convent, known as The Grey Nuns.

Grey Nuns - my 4th Floor window view....

It is presently owned by Concordia University and it is a student residence during the school year. I love the high ceilings and wide hallways and even the lack of air conditioning.



Concordia again. Buildings in foreground and background



View from the Molson School of Business of the busy city below

Speaking of Concordia, I make no secret of the fact that this school intrigues me. Its urban campus is integrated into the downtown core. Its buildings look just like any other office building, but what a difference! Having been in hundreds of campus buildings in the course of my job, it is my humble opinion that the architect of the building we met in ( The John Molson School of Business ) deserves an award. It just makes sense. As one of my team put it, it makes him want to go back to school. It is functional. It is hip. It’s big. It’s beautiful. It makes great use of natural light and creates multitudes of spaces for students to work and study individually and in groups. Further, it has state of the art classrooms and ampitheatres. All of this in the heart of a bustling downtown core.

School was going on all around us....

In this building, we saw at least four ( probably all five) of our missional priorities represented. Campus ministry, of course. Also, Quebec/Francophone Canada, New Immigrants and Urban. We could not immediately tell how the first nations were represented in the school, but we have no doubt they are. It was simply a powerful visual symbol of our missional priorities. We could not have picked a better spot to make our point.



Concordia Buildings from street level





LaSalle College



Babson Conference at Syracuse University

The Babson College Entrepreneurial Research Conference is in full-swing at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, and the Post Standard wrote an article on the event. Written by Charles McChesney, the article describes the conference and provides insight into some of the research which is all about entrepreneurship. The Conference, hosted by the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises Department at the Whitman School of Management, brought together 330 academic researchers from 29 countries around the world.

From the article:

Steven A. Edelson, of Walsh University in Ohio, presented on research regarding what attracts would-be employees to start-up companies. Research has shown that the success of startups can depend on getting the right kind of employees so he and his co-writers, J. Michael Haynie and Alexander McKelvie, both of Syracuse University, wanted to find how entrepreneurs could present their companies so they would appeal to potential workers.

Graduating college seniors were surveyed and said they preferred was a company that perceived to treat workers like family. That, they said, beat out innovation, style, market dominance and clearly defined job duties. “More than all the other factors combined,” Edelson said.

That’s good news for entrepreneurs, Edelman explained, because clearly defined job duties and market dominance are traits more typically found in larger, older companies. Since startups can’t compete for workers for those attributes, they can focus on the trait that research shows is most important.

Workers want “good, wholesome make-you-feel-good-at-work companies,” McKelvie said during the discussion after the presentation.

Hot week! 80 to 92F, 27-33C

One hot day this week, Lynn and I thought we could escape the heat by staying in the shade of the woods. All well and good, we were out of the sun, but there was no way to escape the mosquitoes that almost devoured us alive! We opted for the shade of parking lot trees instead, surrounded by sunshine and asphalt.


Mock Strawberry, Duchesnea indica, Rose family (Rosaceae)

In the woods, the Wood Thrush sang again, and the strawberry in the photo above caught our eye. I learned that it's not our native wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) but a flavorless invader from India!

Out in the open we found the Indigo Bunting singing again, and Red-eyed Vireos chasing each other from tree to tree - singing too. In the heat of summer, sometimes the vireos are the only birds singing.

Okay, on to our bird list for the week of June 6 to 10, 2011.

Wild Turkey
Killdeer - or a clever Mockingbird?
Since I mention clever Mockingbirds, I have to add that at one point we thought we heard a mockingbird imitating the sound of a weed-whacker starting up. It called three times, then nothing. Three times is very typical of mockingbirds. A few days later I returned with a recorder and captured the sound, this time it went on for a bit, and was more insect-like than bird-like. Click here to listen to the weed-whacker cicada. Oops, coming soon.

Red-tailed Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle halcyon
Lynn heard the kingfisher calling - we'll count it as bird number 119 for West Campus!
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker

Willow Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
American Crow
Blue Jay
Wood Thrush
American Robin


Eggshell fragments of the American Robin, Turdus migratorius. The female carries the eggshell away from the nest and either drops it or consumes it.

Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Cedar Waxwing
Barn Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
European Starling

Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
Carolina Wren

Indigo Bunting
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow

Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow

Thirty-seven species for the week - that's summer for you -we birders are too hot and lazy to put out much effort, and the birds are busy feeding young and not singing as much.

Hey, have a good weekend - and steer clear of tornadoes!
ciao - Sue

A Little Disney History

As someone who really learned business while working for The Walt Disney Company, there was something in the following story from the Associated Press on June 5 that really struck me. Thanks to Robin Dickerson for sharing this story!

Disney legends Betty Taylor, Wally Boag die within a day of each other

ANAHEIM, California — They shared a stage at Disneyland five days a week for nearly three decades and died within a day of each other.Betty Taylor, who played Slue Foot Sue in Disney's long-running Golden Horseshoe Revue, passed away Saturday — one day after the death of Wally Boag, who played her character's sweetheart, Pecos Bill.The 91-year-old Taylor died at her home in Washington state, Disneyland announced on its website. Boag, who was 90, died Friday. He was a resident of Santa Monica, California.The causes of death were not announced and attempts to contact relatives for comment were not immediately successful."Betty's role as leading lady in Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue helped turn it into the longest-running stage show in entertainment history," George Kalogridis, the president of Disneyland Resort, said in a statement. "It is a tragic coincidence that her passing comes just one day after the death of longtime co-star Wally Boag."Boag, a former vaudeville performer, signed a two-week contract with Walt Disney in 1955. He originated the role of Pecos Bill in the revue, taking the stage three times a day and logging nearly 40,000 performances before retiring in 1982.Most of those shows were alongside Taylor, who joined the revue a year after Hoag. Her run on the show — which closed in 1986 — lasted nearly 45,000 performances.The Golden Horseshoe Revue is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running stage production in show business history."Wally was instrumental in the development of live entertainment during the early years of both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney World Resort," Kalogridis said. "His characters will continue to live in the hearts of our guests, while his larger-than-life personality will forever make him the true Clown Prince of Disneyland."Boag's comedic timing influenced generations of performers, including actor Steve Martin, who called Boag his "hero." Martin tweeted Saturday that Boag was "the first comedian I ever saw live, my influence, a man to whom I aspired."Boag and Taylor both appeared on television in "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."And before joining Disney, Boag appeared in a number of films during the 1940s, including "Without Love," starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and "The Thrill of Romance," with Esther Williams.He later appeared in Disney films such as "The Absent-Minded Professor," ''Son of Flubber" and "The Love Bug."Born in Seattle, Taylor began taking dance lessons at age 3. At 14, she sang and danced in nightclubs across the country, and by 18, led her own band called Betty and Her Beaus, which included 16 male musicians and appeared regularly at the Trianon Ballroom in Seattle.In 1956, while living in Los Angeles and performing as a drum player with a musical group, Taylor heard about auditions for a song-and-dance job at Disneyland. She got the gig, which she held for 30 years, leading to appearances on a USO tour of Greenland and Newfoundland and a show for President Richard Nixon and his family at the White House.She performed at the park until 1987, but continued to appear in special events, such as Walt Disney's Wild West, a 1995 retrospective at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles.

It's Good to Be Back

After a wild end of the semester and a daughter’s wedding, it’s good to have the chance to blog again. While I have lots to get to, for starters, take a look at Me'Shae Brooks-Rolling’s article in today’s Post Standard, 12 tips for emerging entrepreneurs, which included some great thoughts on resources as well. Of the tips, my favorites were to be sure and do a business plan, seek out mentors and (especially) help others along the way. As I tell students, I've started businesses with business plans and without...and I will never, ever, ever start a business or a department within a business without doing a business plan.

Mark Russell from EMA, sent over a wonderful article... Ten Entrepreneurship Rules for Building Massive Companies from Greylock Partners. While a number of the rules resonated with me, two of my favorites were rules seven and eight.

Rule #7: Aspire, but don’t drink your own Kool-Aid. Rule #8: Having a great product is important but having great product distribution is more important.

It's good to be back!

OLIMPIADE KOMUNIKASI 2011

Mulai hari Selasa hingga Jumat yang lalu tepatnya pada tanggal 24-27 Mei 2011 HMJ Ilmu Komunikasi kembali mengadakan event tahunan yang selalu dinanti-nantikan oleh seluruh keluarga Ilmu Komunikasi FISIP Undip yaitu Olimpiade Komunikasi atau yang biasa disebut Olimpiakom. Berbagai macam pertandingan olahraga diadakan untuk mempererat keakraban dan kekeluargaan dari semua mahasiswa Ilmu Komunikasi UNDIP dari berbagai angkatan,sesuai dengan tema "Becommone" yang diusung untuk tema Olimpiakom tahun ini. Pada hari Selasa-Rabu masing-masing angkatan berlomba-lomba mendukung timnya untuk memenangkan pertandingan futsal yang diadakan di Calcio,Banyumanik. Keluar sebagai pemenangnya adalah angkatan 2006++ yang berhasil mengalahkan angkatan 2010 B di babak final. Selain pertandingan antar mahasiswa,yang tak kalah serunya diadakan pula pertandingan futsal melawan para dosen yang tidak kalah antusiasnya dbandingkan dengan para mahasiswanya sendiri.

Hari berikutnya keseruan dan antusiasme tetap terlihat dalam pertandingan Voli yang diadakan di Lapangan Parkir FISIP Undip Tembalang,tak lupa acara ini juga dibuka dengan sambutan dari Ketua Jurusan Ilmu Komunikasi Turnomo Rahardjo dan dilakukannya serve voli pertama sebagai simbol dibukanya acara Olimpiakom oleh Mas Hedi Puja Santosa. Dalam sambutannya Ketua Jurusan turut menuturkan dukungan dan harapannya terhadap event ini agar terus diadakan dan dikembangkan menjadi lebih menarik sehingga menimbulkan rasa penasaran di setiap tahunnya. Olimpiakom diadakan dari siang hingga sore hari,dan meskipun terik matahari terus menyengat tidak menyurutkan semangat dan jiwa kompetisi dari masing-masing angkatan. Hingga akhirnya angkatan 2010 B yang memenangkan pertandingan Voli hari itu,meskipun terbilang angkatan baru mereka tidak malu-malu untuk menunjukkan kemampuannya di depan para senior angkatan.

Tidak berhenti sampai hari itu,keesokan harinya pada hari Jumat diadakan perlombaan yang tak kalah serunya yaitu Tarik Tambang dan Traditional Games. Tak hanya peserta,para supporter dari masing-masing kelaspun ikut menghebohkan suasana Olimpiakom hari itu,hingga akhirnya perlombaan Tarik Tambang dimenangkan oleh angkatan 2006++ yang berhasil mengalahkan angkatan 2009 Reguler 1 pada saat babak final. Dan sebagai lomba penutup diadakan perlombaan tradisional seperti bakiak,balap karung dan makan kerupuk yang dilakukan secara estafet. Tim angkatan 2009 reguler 1 menjadi tim yang paling kompak dan tangkas dan menjadi pemenang Traditional Games. Meskipun banyak terjadi persaingan disana-sini selama pertandingan tetapi semua mahasiswa merasa senang dan terhibur dengan adanya Olimpiakom. Bagi tim yang berhasil menjadi pemenang pertama akan diberikan reward sebesar Rp 100.000 dan Rp 75.000 bagi pemenang kedua. "Kalah menang adalah hal yang biasa,yang terpenting kekeluargaan dan kebersamaan yang terjalin sebagai hal yang tidak ternilai harganya". Salam Komunikasi!

Birding Lite

We didn't try very hard this week - busy with work and all... hence the title, birding lite.


but here's a photo to keep things interesting!!
Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Fuligo septica - ID by Lynn, our resident Slime Mold expert
found in a landscaped area here at W.C.

and now on to the bird list for the week of May 30 to June 3, 2011

Wild Turkey
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Chimney Swift

Willow Flycatcher - back in the same place as last year - the grassy slope between A-21 and A-42
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
American Crow
Blue Jay

Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
Cedar Waxwing - suddenly reappeared in numbers, nesting activity beginning
American Robin

Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat

Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea - new to WC!! - a male singing away from exposed perches near a clearing
Song Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle

Baltimore Oriole
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

31 species for the week


And - for those of you who never get to the top of a Tulip Tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, here's what the flowers look like! These were actually at eye level, but usually they're too high to see. This is one of the fabulous specimen trees bordering the parking lot here in building A-21.

Maritime Campus Ministry Convergence

The idea behind my trip to Nova Scotia was providing a context where our people in the Maritimes interested in campus ministry could learn about what God has been doing across the country through our movement and offering them an opportunity to think and pray about where they might fit into the unfolding story. Because there is an unfolding story. Since many in our movement work in relative isolation, it was encouraging for them to hear the stories and see how our C5 approach evolved along with how we implement it. It was encouraging for them to hear about how we contextualize what we do and find ways to make our efforts fit each situation.

Flying to Halifax, I decided to use a plane flight as a metaphor. It occurred to me to start ‘ take off’ by telling a bit about my own story and involvement with campus ministry for the past thirty years. That brought us up to cruising altitude where we had an opportunity to look at the breadth of campus ministry in Canada from the thirty thousand foot level and talk about the distillation of the C5 approach across the county.

Then we 'landed' in the Maritimes. Rev David Martin, our creative young Acadian pastor in Dieppe,NB talked about his ministry to the francophone University of Moncton. Haute Zone ( it rhymes with Ozone, and I butchered the pronunciation when I introduced him) is a great example of contextualized ministry that responds well to the unique needs and challenges presented by the specific institution.


We had a solid time of discussion regarding challenges in the communities represented and some of the campuses we would like to approach first. The Maritimes have a number of first class universities and colleges , many with churches nearby. The questions arose: How can we get the churches to engage the campus missionally? Would there be any willingness on their part to do it, if they have not done it already? Is it a matter of finding the right person or is it a matter of finding the right church? All I can say is that it depends. I am really happy that campus ministry is on the District’s radar and hope and pray that it can lead to constructive action.

Finally, I appreciated the opportunity to hang out with David Sawler - Church Planter and ministry leader who is putting Cape Breton Island ( the northern arm of Nova Scota) on the proverbial map. The author of "The Goodbye Generation" , Dave not only sees the need for campus ministry but for cooperative models of ministry development that transcend traditional denominational boundaries.

I also had breakfast with Jim Molloy, the ministry director for the District who introduced me to a gifted youth leader who is considering whether to engage a nearby campus in a full-time capacity over breakfast. That was an encouraging time.

Anyway, time will see.

Dalhousie University

After landing in the Robert Stanfield International Airport, in Halifax N.S. , I set my trusty GPS for Dalhousie University. It brought me to the edge of campus where I was able to find free parking and walked towards University Avenue, and the centre of campus. Soon it brought me to the Chaplaincy Centre ,which is a house on the campus. Fortuitously, the only people there happened to be the very people I had hoped to find. The Christian Reformed Chaplain, Brad Close happened to be there with his intern, Desiree MacNeil. It had every evidence of being a God appointment. They had just come back into the centre for some random reason and were in the act of leaving when I showed up. They were friendly enough to ask me if they could help me and introduced themselves. Bingo….

Chaplain Brad Close and Desiree

Anyway, we had a great time of talking shop and comparing notes when it comes to campus ministry. Also, we knew a number of people in common. The fact is: we are on the same Team. Different tribes in the same nation working towards the same cosmic goal: bringing all things under one Head that is Christ: Eph 1:10. They are wrestling with the same issues we are and working for the same Boss. In a few hours, we left as old friends. I  look forward to connecting with them again when I am back in Halifax.



Grad @ Dal



A couple of days later, I dropped back at Dal because I wanted to do another brief walk through. There is something about that campus I find to be compelling. It is , as Macleans magazine puts it: Canada’s smallest big university. It is both small and big. It has a medical and dental school, a world class reputation and faculty and a very liveable and human campus. In  a previous blog, I referred to a ministry of a friend of our Fellowship, Mike Miller, called Shiloh University Church. It is an exciting expression of charismatic Christianity meeting on this campus. There are other notable ministries operating on campus. However, it is clear to me that all of them combined only scratch the surface of what God is up to on this campus. We need to think and pray about what our role might be.

Add caption

It is surrounded by residential/commercial neighborhoods that range from quaint to funky.

quaint

 As I dropped into the neighborhood Starbucks to use their wi-fi, I was surrounded by a group of people who evidently knew each other. The lady nearest to me called a man over to chat and he sat a few feet from me. I looked over and blinked. I asked him if he had ever lived in Vancouver. He immediately asked me if I was Robb Powell and introduced himself to me as Mark. My recognition was complete.

Mark

Mark Carvery was a member of Point Grey Community Church back in the day and a mutual friend of a former intern, David Langille. He let everyone know I was his former pastor. Before he had to leave  for work, a really sweet couple of moments of catching up with each other’s life. He is a videographer doing an ambitious project on the history of Africville in N.S.   I confess that I never knew about it before. I took our 'random' encounter as another serendipitous sign of God at work. In fact, the lady ( a social catalyst named Lana) who had called him over to talk, told me that she had just called him over on a whim. Further, she was a former member of Southside Community Church in BC, where she attended for three years. She too saw God in this encounter.

Coming Home