escapingbabylon.com

Hey all,

My initial plan for visa was to keep my H1 visa and get an R1 visa at the same time for as long as I would do my fundraising. Then I would do the typical IV thing and gradually do less hours at my current job and more hours at IV as more support comes in. Unfortunately, I recently found out that I cannot have a R1 visa (which is a religious workers visa) and an H1 visa at the same time. I suspect that the way this would work is that I would have to actually make a 100% switch between jobs after fundraising, but at the moment this is still a hypothesis. Let’s see what happens.

In other news, I’ve started forming my prayer support team. It’s awesome. She’s also the first person in my home church who I’ve really told about IV so it’s a huge relief.

Please Pray for:
Wisdom on both my and IV administrations part on dealing with Visa stuff.
Me to keep encouraged when I’m not sure how things will work.
God to keep teaching me throughout my trip here.

So, I have an interesting experience having just been accepted into IV that I’m taking a long trip back home (Jamaica). However first, I’m meeting with my family to see my youngest sister off to college. I’m hoping, over the next month to spend some time reading, praying, and refreshing and renewing my connection to God. Here’s some highlights of that so far.

I’ve started to read Being White, on the suggestion of Neil Rendall (whose official title I cannot remember, but will look it up). As a non-white Jamaican, it’s been interesting so far, though more concerned with the general breaking of cultural boundaries as opposed to things culturally specific to “white culture” (I have this in quotes because I have been recently becoming more aware that white culture is not as monolithic as I once thought). A highlight of it so far is the anatomy of an embrace as a model for how a successful interaction between two people of unequal power occurs (paraphrased, because I left the book in the car).

1. The opening of arms: Where person A invites person B to share in his space/life/experience. It’s a moment where person A is vulnerable, and is inviting person B into a space where he could do real harm if he so desired.
2. The pause: Person A stands with his arms open, giving person B the power to define what the future relationship will be, whether to join in the embrace, or to do something else
3. The closing of arms: Both people are holding each other, offering the other compassion, safety, and emotions. They bear each others burdens.
4. The reopening of arms: The separation after the embrace is an ackowledgement that even after this interaction they are still separate people with cultural differences, and that these differences are acceptable.

Also I watched Unleashed starring Jet Li. This movie is a great metaphor of salvation and how God (and the devil) works in an individual’s life. I want to watch it again, but at the moment I definitely recommend it. I hope to talk more about that when I have more time.

Finally, I have a lead on my campus placement.