Campus Blogs

In five years, on October 31, 2017, we will celebrate the 500^th  anniversary of Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. Today is its 495^th anniversary. Since that time, the "Wittenberg Door" has become a symbol of protest—we have one in our Steinert Campus Center, at the entrance to the dining room where students post all manner of comments, protests and sometimes screeds. We all need these kinds of outlets. Luther's protest was multifaceted. It was both witty and serious, a set of theological theses proposed for debate. The story goes that posting such on the church door was the way a professor at a university announced that he was ready to debate those particular claims. Luther's claims went beyond mere academic debate, included satirical comments, and were destined to arouse, inspire and inflame. From there to the break-up of the always imperfect unity of both the Church and Christian societies in Europe was inspiring, violent, theologically creative and a tragedy. In the matter of a couple of generations the shape of European Christianity, societies and governments (which were all merged into one) were permanently changed, and some such as Brad Gregory at Notre Dame has recently claimed, the course of history toward our current "secularization" began. I would like to offer a reminder of a lesser know element of Luther's thought. Luther believed he was a "Catholic" reformer, a theologian in and for the one Christian Church. He did not plan the split between what became the "Evangelical" and later "Protestant" communions and the ongoing Catholic Church spread across all of the European continent and at the center of the culture. He worried at the end of his life that perhaps it had all been a mistake. Perhaps his pen and mouth had run ahead of good sense. Perhaps the Holy Spirit wasn't fully in it. He was a follower of Christ, with great insight into faith, grace, the source of our theology and religion in the Holy Scriptures, and our permanent status as "simul justus et peccator," simultaneously just and sinners, living the whole of our lives in faith and grace, not triumphaly holy. But he was a reformer for the church not against it. The "Catholic Luther" has been a topic of historical recovery in the last generation. Similarly Calvin and the "Reformed" tradition for which he is the most prominent founding theologian, thought of themselves as "catholic" (note the small c) or part of the universal church, even if they deemed full communion with "Catholic" Christians impossible or inadvisable. In the last fifty years dialog between historians, theologians, and church leaders in all of the Christian communions, including Mennonite and other Anabaptists, have helped all of us to recover our common, "catholic" and "Catholic" heritage. In practice we witness and live with this heritage each day at FPU. Mennonite Brethren/Mennonite/Anabaptist faculty members are our largest denominational group, but we have Catholic, Orthodox, Methodist, Lutheran, charismatic of various denominations, Baptist, and even a few of us Presbyterians on the faculty, among others. Among students our three largest groups are non- or inter-denominational churches, Baptist, and currently our largest, Catholic students. Mennonite Brethren follow shortly behind these. Yet we find a way to believe Christ together despite different ways of explaining our faith, we all believe in the Scriptures as our common source guidance and authority in faith and life, and we each are participants in worshiping communities. We learn to appreciate each other's ways of worship and thinking, of serving and praying. As our "Idea" says "the university invites those from other church traditions, both as faculty and students, to enter into dialogue and faithful practice with those in the Anabaptist/Mennonite and believer's church tradition in following Christ and sharing the university's mission." This Reformation Day, and in five years at the 500^th anniversary of Luther's 95 Theses, let's remember the Luther who was a reformer for Christ and the Church, small and large "C," and let's celebrate faithfulness to our common Lord and calling.

I am sitting in a meeting of the FPU Board of Trustees, yesterday afternoon and this Saturday morning, our third for the year and our first with our new President, Dr. Pete Menjares. The discussion has been at times fairly intense, wonderfully good humored and forward thinking. Right now they are discussing admissions standards for the Seminary. I am content to listen to VP and Dean of the Seminary, Dr. Lynn Jost explain the unique importance of Christian commitment for all seminary students because the mission of the seminary is to prepare pastors, theologians, and counselors as part of the ministry of the Church. With the joining of the seminary with the University its appeal has expanded and we have new and very good question to resolve. There is wisdom in active and engaged boards, I have learned over the years. On a couple of issues related to facilities and plans, I won't mention which, they have decided that we should delay. An administration feels the pressures of departments and programs, and some outside constituencies, and the board, wisely, I think, said to hold off, gave protection of sorts to the administration, and helped chart out a slightly different course. The Board approved sabbaticals, a couple of policies related to faculty appointments, and a new masters degree in teaching. These had all been developed and presented through faculty and administration discussion and formal processing. No surprises here, but good discussion and encouragement that we continue to increase the number of faculty taking sabbaticals for various forms of scholarship. They also reviewed enrollment goals and direction, the necessity of a sound infrastructure supporting not only the recruitment effort but for supporting student achievement and the quality of housing. These discussions will provide direction for the administration in the coming months. Now, having finished the Seminary discussion, they are on to relationships between the University and the FPU Foundation. It is all wrapped up in legal and accounting technicalities. The attorneys and accountants seem to be having a good time, other are nodding wisely (not sure whether it's because they understand or to cover over that they don't--I confess I lost track somewhere in the middle of the third comment--not bad, I suppose, to make it that far). This is a good illustration of why we have very accomplished members who bring specialized knowledge of law, finance, education, theology, politics, business, and a lot of good common sense and experience. Now Dr. Larry Dunn, the chair of our Faculty Senate, is speaking about the faculty and their hard work this semester and asked the Board to remember them in their prayers. They have taken on some huge projects in our new or revised assessment program, on our accreditation study and online instruction. Yesterday the board entered imaginatively into the classroom (and were given an assignment today) to learn about the new WASC standards for accreditation, and the broader changes in the accreditation environment. It is rapidly changing, more rapidly and substantially in the last two years than I have seen in the priory twenty. The board is responsible for holding the administration and faculty accountable for meeting accreditation standards which are focused on the achievement of student learning (or "outcomes" in the professional jargon). My friend and mentor in all things educational and leadership, President Emeritus, Dr. Richard Kriegbaum, used to say that a university will never be stronger than its board. I didn't understand it twenty-five years ago when I first heard him say it, but I think I have an inkling about it now. A strong board will insist on a strong administration, a strong faculty, a strong staff, a fully engaged student body, and a "continuously improving" university. They will insist on and help create productive and supportive relationships with alumni, our supporting churches, and communities. They are about to dismiss us now, and will go into executive session. It looks like my work is done for the day (I have a list of assignments that I will pick up on Monday). But, of course, I get paid for my work, the board volunteers and we own them our gratitude for their service.

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities met last week for a planning retreat. About 40 Presidents and Provosts attended, about 2/3 were Presidents—it was my first time at this event. AICCU is composed of all of the private, non-profit colleges and universities in California, from the big research universities, like Stanford and USC, to the more elite Liberal Arts schools like the Claremont Colleges, to the Catholic and Evangelical institutions and everything larger and smaller. President Menjares and I met and talked with administrators from Pt. Loma, William Jessup, San Diego Christian, among Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in California, plus Pepperdine, Notre Dame de Namur, University of the Pacific, Stanford, USC, La Sierra, Cal Tech and a number of others. I know, saying "I met and talked with administrators" means just exactly what you are thinking…it wasn't the most exciting time, but it was interesting nonetheless. We private, non-profit institutions enroll 20% of the students of the state and graduate 25%, and do it on average 1-2 years earlier than our public cousins. In addition we enroll about 30% of under-represented minorities (for FPU the percentage is higher at about 37%), who are often first-generation college students, and they graduate at faster rates as well. (First generation students, regardless of ethnicity, complete college at a rate of 15% below second and third generation students.) You can tell by the above list that the AICCU schools represent a broad range of institutions. Nonetheless we come together annually at this planning retreat, and also in Sacramento for Cal Grant day, each spring. You can find out more about the AICCU itself at their website which is currently in the final stages of reconstruction. (If this link doesn't work just look for "AICCU.") As at all strategic planning events, we reviewed our mission and core values statements. They might need a bit of updating, but that part was quick. The big goal that surfaced (Jim Collins would call it, inelegantly, a BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goal) was for the private, non-profit sector to become recognized as one of the major parts of the higher education environment and plan in California. We graduate 25% of the state's graduates. Shouldn't we be recognized for this contribution already, and made a part of the regular planning for meeting the needs of the state for educated citizens? We aren't so recognized. This is a "non-trivial" issue, as the say. Our current capacity in the state will graduate about 3.1 million student in the next 10 or so years; it is estimated (I am not quite sure by whom) that California will need 5.3 million. AICCU schools accomplish their part far cheaper for the state than public institutions. We finance the building of our own campuses through a combination of gifts and revenue. Students pay a higher tuition, supplemented by gifts from generous individuals and families, churches and businesses. But they recover much of that by being in the workforce as professionals, 1-2 years earlier than others. For the most part they leave with only slightly higher debt than at public institutions. For instance, FPU's average student leaves with about $23,000 in student loans, compared to $27-28,000 nationwide, and $18-19,000 at California's state supported institutions. All in all, we are pretty cost-effective at achieving public goals. We have to be or we don't survive, and we have many, many generous donors who help make it happen. So why aren't we recognized as one of the major sectors in the state? This question has bothered me for years. I can't count the times someone has noticed that as the only private institution with a full campus in the Central Valley we do not face a lot of competition from other similar schools. What an opportunity! But this observation misses the other side of our situation. By being the only one, and surrounded by three CSUs (Bakersfield, Fresno and Stanislaus) one UC (Merced) and as well as more than a half-dozen community college districts, we are often simply not noticed, and not recognized as a permanent and effective option for students generally. It is slightly different in Southern California where there are a lot more private institutions, but they report some of the same effect. We have to make a lot of noise, and then we are seen as elitist or expensive. I'm not complaining, I'm explaining, whatever it sounds like. I have sometimes wondered how it is that in a state known for its entrepreneurial initiative (witness Hollywood and Silicon Valley) and its pretty rugged individualism (certainly seen in the Central Valley, but elsewhere as well), we turn so often to state solutions. That's a question for another day. The question for today is, so what will the AICCU do to achieve this great big goal? We weren't able to answer that question on the retreat. The AICCU staff and others will begin working on it. I hope to be in on the discussion at some level. It is the same question we have asked and answered at FPU about how we will be known in our own region. One strategy will be to get our state legislators to our campuses. That is in the planning right now. One more note, only slightly unrelated to the above, might be helpful. Being with a group of presidents and provosts was intriguing for someone who is a sometime student of leadership. I noticed something I hadn't seen before quite so clearly. While all of those in attendance were experienced and articulate, they were adept at getting to the point, finding the crucial issues, stating them clearly, ceasing to speak when they had made their point once, refining the issues through conversation, and moving to conclusions that were insightful and pointed. These are people, a fairly balance group between men and women, who have learned the art of discovering what should or needs to happen, getting people on board, and then making it happen. I think there will be a new understanding of the place private non-profit higher education plays in the state developing over the next decade.

Today Dr. Kevin Reimer, Dean of Humanities Religion and Social Sciences, Professor of Psychology, and who has taken on responsibility for guiding faculty development for the university, met with professors new to FPU to talk about how to create and sustain a professional academic career. Our work does not stop with the doctorate—that is the beginning of a vocation of intellectual inquiry and of bringing students into the world of knowledge and understanding. He was so right on the mark and practical with his "exhortation" to the professors who attended that I thought I would memorialize his advice for the rest of us.

• Use the funding that is available to you. At FPU we have a professional development fund that all professors can use to attend conferences, make presentations, network in their field, and so on. We also have the "Provost's Research Grant," which at $600-1200 is often just enough to seed a project, visit a site for research, and shows outside funding agencies that there might be something their worth supporting.
• "Get connected, stay connected." Yes, yes, yes. Too often a professor becomes isolated and disconnected from colleagues and their profession. By getting out into the network, we find ways to continue to grow, develop, perform research, and bring liveliness back into the classroom. I never fail to find new ideas, and have my ideas tested when I am out among historians. As Kevin says, use what is available to "stay connected with your guild." I might note that this is a medieval term, but I digress. Use the funding to stay connected and develop professionally.
• To add to the importance of this, Christian institutions of higher education often suffer from a reputation for anti-intellectualism. This is sometimes deserved, but not these days in universities like Fresno Pacific where we have PhDs on the faculty from many of the best universities in the world. We have been trained well; we want to keep up our work in our intellectual disciplines and make a mark in our fields of research and study. This work starts in the very first year we begin our teaching career.
• Use the initial funding to seed future and larger work. Pool funding with other colleague, at FPU or beyond. Develop an interdisciplinary project. When we get connected with others, we gain their connections as well. I might add to Kevin's thoughts that we can often engage students in these smaller and the larger projects and connections. We enrich teaching and the student experience at the same time.
• As we develop our work, show a "scholarly product." This might start with a presentation, but should continue on to the peer-reviewed article or book. This helps establish credentials and shows "your ability to complete and disseminate a project."
• Look for outside funding. Interdisciplinary projects are possible and desirable and so are those between institutions—use that network. There are a number of agencies that will fund projects at an institution like FPU—the Templeton for one. But we have research that both students and faculty are working on funded by government agencies as well.

Kevin concluded with a reminder that this is the kind of work we enjoy, the research and study that energizes our minds and our teaching. Students who are able to work with us are stimulated intellectually and might find the calling in the intellectual disciplines. All of this builds and encourages the discussion on which universities thrive. It energizes faculty and students and brings depth to the classroom. Thanks, Kevin, for the good words.

Last week we celebrated the inauguration of FPU's eleventh President, Dr. Pete C. Menjares. The festivities began with a prayer time at the cross on the green (about our only piece of religious art on campus—more on this another time) on Monday, continued through a special College Hour on Wednesday and a special dinner for about 600 (by invitation only—donors and others) on Thursday. Friday was the big event, beginning with an informal breakfast for all of those in the processional—about 100 professors and administrators, 20 on the stage, including political officials board members, VPs and others taking part in the ceremony, 30 delegates from local universities and from around the country (the furthest being Washington, DC), and 20 students representing all of the FPU student populations. Following the hour and forty minute ceremony, was a lunch for all attending, tours of the campus, and a "Scholars Forum" with representatives from around the country and FPU discussing what is up in Christian Higher Education today. It was a big deal all week. Now we are recuperating…. I have been asked a couple of questions several times. Why do we do it? And why make it such a big deal? In an age that has lost its traditions of higher education and sees education often in utilitarian terms, these are natural and good questions. Let me pose a couple of answers. A university does more than just convey information and provide us with skills to prepare us for jobs and professions. Our studies, the professors we work with, and the courses we take, as well as the general ethos and climate of the university we become a part of shape who we are and what we become. Notice that I did not say the school we "attend." We never just attend. We become a part of an ongoing discussion, with focus on particular subject matter and questions some of which are common to all or most universities and some of which are particular to an individual university. Our particular focus and questions are outlined in documents like The Fresno Pacific University Idea, and our Mission, Vision and Values statements. The leader of the university in some measure must embody that particular ethos. When we hire a professor, we look not only at their academic preparation, and their ongoing scholarship. We also look at their Christian commitment and their ability and desire to mentor students. And we ask them about their understanding of their role as an educator and their relation to our Idea, Mission and Vision. We do the same for administrators with a heightened scrutiny. They must lead this community of scholars (both professors and students) and must embody the goals of the institution and be able to articulate it in many different ways and settings. This is doubly or triply true for the President. The President is the person people look to for direction, guidance, the ability to say "yes, that is who and what we are," and "no, that is not who and what we are" when a particular opportunity, problem or proposal is presented. A President must be able to speak to all of the goals and ideals of the university—academic, professional, moral and spiritual. He or she must represent the university in everything they do. It is a high calling. The job involves a pastoral function in a Christian university, an administrative function and an academic function. The form of education that our President represents continues an ancient tradition that has similarities with ancient philosophy understood as a way of life; it shares an understanding articulated in the "wisdom" writings of the Old Testament; it has roots in the Christian education tradition described by Jean Leclercq as "love of learning and the desire for God." In our contemporary world it is coupled with career preparation. We think this combination is a part of the richness of the kind of educational institution that is Fresno Pacific University. I was struck once when reading the "Private Prayers" of the seventeenth century English Bishop Lancelot Andrewes by his prayer for his college. He indicated that this was a part of his personal community. It was a place where his character and identity had been shaped. His fellow scholars were a part of his broader family. He illustrates for us what we understand a university to be. When at the inauguration ceremony the President is "charged" with the task of leading the university, when he responds with his address, when a congressman, mayor and church leader reflect on the role of the university in our city and region, when we pray over him and commit ourselves to his leadership for the coming years, we affirm that expansive role, and our particular mission. We formalize it before our community and before God. There is a solemnity about it, and more than a hint of celebration in anticipation of the good things to come. It takes a week! Perhaps all of this is summarized in the words the Chair of the FPU Board of Trustees, John Thiesen, spoke as he placed the presidential medallion around Pete's neck: "President Menjares, I now bestow upon you the Presidential medallion. This medallion symbolizes the authority granted to you as President by the Board of Trustees and the trust in your leadership of the entire University community. Wear it with pride for the university, and humility, as you trust in God to lead us forward."

This afternoon I will address our incoming class at the opening ceremony of orientation. It also happens to be how I approach education and the scholarly enterprise. Of course, much of it I have learned from my colleagues and mentors over the last 25+ years here at FPU. Here is what I will say to them: As you begin this stage of your academic career, let me offer my hopes for you, students, Sunbirds!, as you begin your university career. I can only hope; you will have to bring these to fruition. I have 10 hopes for each of you.

1. I hope you will find friends who are a welcome and uplifting presence here at FPU, and I hope you will be such a friend to others. Learning takes place collaboratively in a community of learners. I hope you will be one who helps form this community.
2. I hope you will find your Resident Assistants and Resident Directors, the staff of Student Life and Office of Spiritual Formation to be wise guides and people to whom you can go in times of need. They are available for you, and will even seek you out.
3. I hope you will experiment with activities, clubs and ministries that you have never tried and so learn more about your unique giftedness. I hope you both succeed and fail, and so find where you have interest, insight, ability, passion, and joy in what you do. You won't succeed completely in all, but try them out. Take the risk!
4. I hope you take classes in areas that you have never considered before, classes that are not required just because you want to learn, and they sound intriguing. So much of our studies and world are controlled and scheduled to meet requirements from many different agencies that I hope you will break free to learn, think, and experience broadly. This is the unique opportunity of studying in a place that teaches in the liberal arts tradition.
5. I hope you take a class because you have heard that a particular professor is interesting and because the class is demanding and you can learn something.
6. I hope at some point you are so confused that you ask your professor to explain something you can't seem to understand. I hope you get to know your professors and become scholars together.
7. I hope you form a study group with other students and you learn to teach each other.
8. I hope you learn that your basic attitude to life, your basic stance and direction will shape the quality of your learning. If you are hopeful, and positive, are honest and have integrity you will work hard and learn, find your unique place and succeed. If not, well, it will be rough. We are a place of hope and we look to the future knowing Christ is with us. Join us in this very basic faith.
9. I hope you worship regularly, attend College Hour and a church, that you are connected to others in expressing thankfulness and seeking direction for that hope and faith.
10. Finally I hope that at the end of the year you look back and think about what you have done and experienced—on campus, in the residences, in classes, with your team, in a drama cast, in a musical ensemble, in a club or ministry, in College Hour, in a service project, or working in an office on campus–and you say to yourself, "I can hardly grasp all that I have learned, who I am becoming, and what God is teaching me. It has been a great beginning."

Welcome to Fresno Pacific, we are so glad you are becoming a part of this academic community.

On the 26th we spent a majority of the day exploring the city of Haridwar. Haridwar is a pilgrimage city off the Ganges River, a place where people from all over India go seeking spiritual fulfillment and healing, to make sacrifices, to worship and perform various rituals. It’s almost like the Mecca for Hindus but those who gather here are not solely Hindu. Our friend who lives and works here and who took us around the city that day told us that Haridwar is considered by some to be the true yoga capital of the world. As one who enjoys practicing yoga, my understanding and awareness of traditional yogic ideals and practices was enriched as I spent hours walking around the city, discovering the many ways that people practice yoga and live out their spiritual lives. The walk we took that day was a prayer walk, a time for us to observe as well as seek God’s heart for the people of the city and for the city itself. Though the amount of trash, intense odor and abundance of flies that festered in the city threatened to be a distraction, I found myself incredibly curious and very invested in what I was witnessing along the river and in the streets. I feel that of all the cities we visited in India, Haridwar was the most intensely spiritual and heavy with longing. One of the roots of the word yoga means “path.” In my opinion, Haridwar is replete with a multitude of paths that one can choose to follow in order to seek that spiritual fulfillment and wholeness we long for as humans. Everyone I’ve ever known who has turned to yoga in their lives has done so because they are in search of peace and this sense of wholeness. As I walked around Haridwar, I felt that everyone’s desire was for the same thing: peace and life. The group of men smoking marijuana on the streets as a means of release from their present circumstances, the men and women dunking themselves in the “holy” river to be cleansed, the men gathered around the fire, chanting and worshipping…all are after the same peace, the same healing, the same wholeness. While traveling around India we’ve had the privilege of meeting many men and women who have turned from their other religious traditions to follow Jesus and though they all had unique stories, one common thread in them all was the fact that they had been searching for peace and never found it until they met Jesus. It hit me as I walked around the city that day that these people who are giving their lives in devotion may never truly find what they’re after unless they find the One who is the ultimate source of the peace and abundance of life they crave, Jesus Christ. My prayer for them is that they will be unsatisfied until they meet with Jesus and finally discover the truth that true life, true healing, true peace is found only in Him. I will never take the peace I have known through Christ for granted again. He is our life source and nothing compares.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you…” John 14:27

-Alex Rios

One of my first impressions of India was feeling overwhelmed by the chaos that filled every inch of the city: vehicles honking horns, masses of people randomly crossing intersections, and beggars consistently placing their hands in front of you in hope for rupees. What began as chaos, turned into a soothing sense of belonging and comfort. By the end of my five week journey, I felt comforted by the non-stop activity that surrounded me; the city was so full of life! Now when I think about heading back to the USA, I become apprehensive. How will I respond to the quiet life of Visalia, CA? I will be returning to a place full of order: speed limits, suburban homes, and isolated “quiet time”. Before leaving the USA last month, I was worried I would not adapt to life in India. Now that I have tasted the thrill of India, I pray the Lord will give me grace to accept the stillness and independence of America. Spending part of my summer in India taught me the value of genuine community. During a normal summer in CA, I would have filled my agenda with earning money at a minimum wage job, reading books at local parks, and riding my bike throughout the town; my time would have been centered on my personal schedule. Yet in India, I learned that life is so much sweeter spent in community. I observed men sitting under a shade tree singing along to the beat of a single drum, a kitchen full of women cooking chipatti and dahl, and children gathered on a dirt field playing a game of cricket. People in India always worked together to achieve goals and carry out daily duties—they cooked together, laughed together, and depended on each other. Although many people I observed had a Hindu faith, they showed me how to practically live out one of our greatest commandments as Christians: to love our brothers and sisters. God taught me that love cannot be effective unless it is enacted through community. I could store up the love of Christ in my heart and focus on my own agenda, or I could pour out His love to my community by extending a hand to help cook for a family in need, or sit and laugh with people God places in front of me as I walk throughout town. The two most important things I learned about India can be summed up in the words beautiful and broken. God revealed to me that He views India as a beautiful nation, full of devotion and culture. He created every person in India; He beautifully crafted each pair of brown eyes and dark hair to add unique beauty to the master tapestry of His Kingdom. He acknowledges their devotion to pagan gods and He longs for the day India will offer devotion to His son, Jesus Christ. He also aches for the brokenness of India. His heart breaks for the lame men that walk with burnt bodies or amputations, for infants that walk the streets shirtless, exposing their rib cages and stick-sized legs, and the unheard cry of a baby-girl being murdered inside her mother’s womb. Not only does He hurt for these broken people, but also He calls me to carry their burdens and extend His love to the hopeless. As I head back to California, I leave a part of my heart in India. When I close my eyes, I see the beauty and brokenness inside the solemn eyes of a young boy walking the streets alone in a school uniform and in the eyes of a young mom begging for money to feed her child milk. My prayer is that these images forever be bound to my heart—so I may answer the call to love as He loved, with selfless abandon. -Chelsea Atkinson

On Friday we left Haridwar, one of the most important pilgrimage sites of Hinduism; we then rounded off our trip at a 5-star hotel in Delhi. We have seen many sides of India on this trip: we have been to villages and churches, stayed with middle class families and seen the affluence of the upper class beside us in Delhi. As dirty and heart-rending as Haridwar was, I was sad to leave it. It is a city of both ugliness and beauty, with dirt, grime and flies everywhere, and with religious devotion in its bones. Haridwar gave a face to Hinduism for me, and that face both saddened and touched me. A religion that we had hitherto seen manifest in little more than red bracelets, attitudes and roadside shrines took on new significance in a city where thousands of people come hundreds of miles, often by foot, just to touch the holy waters of the Ganga and bring a little home to their idols. The devotion was evident, yet it was sobering to see so many people placing their trust and hope in an insentient river. Thousands try to find spiritual cleansing in a body of water that rushes thoughtlessly down from the Himalayas, gathering dirt, pollution and the occasional dead body along the way. In a sense, this river that is so holy to Hindus took on some spiritual significance to me as well: few things that I have seen in India have made my heart cry more to God for the souls of India. We saw other aspects of Hinduism in the city too. We visited a huge, affluent ashram, a jocki (I am not sure how to spell this, but it is essentially a museum of religious-themed animatronics) and a shrine on top of a breath-takingly beautiful mountain only accessible by gondola. Overall, our experience in Haridwar was an interesting, thought-provoking, prayerful, emotional and exciting one. We have now finished the last leg of our trip; we snuggled up in a fancy hotel in Delhi and shopped excessively before getting on the plane for another 20-30 hour flight, this time leading us HOME. This trip has been an incredible experience. India is a country of beauty, dirt, vibrant colors, heartfelt hospitality, stark contrasts, varied religions and amazing faith, and I shall miss it immensely. Thank you for all of your prayers. -Michaelynne Whitsitt

While we were in Punjab, our group went to the Wagah Border between India and Pakistan. Every evening, there is a border closing ceremony there. During my past visits to India, I saw little evidence of any national pride. The closest I had come to seeing patriotism was when I asked my friend what colors were on the Indian flag, “The colors are green, white, and saffron!” I guess I just assumed that patriotism was non-existent here, but at the border, I finally saw an Indian display of national pride. Honestly, the border was a little overwhelming for me. The crowd was enormous, and the security made the TSA look like a bunch of mall cops. I think I had to show my passport three times before they decided that I wasn’t a threat to national security. Once we were seated, however, I began to appreciate the place. There I was, stuffed between two of my friends, sitting on the curb with an Indian police officer pacing, waving, and blowing his whistle right above me, and as I looked at the crowd, I saw the pride on their faces. Hundreds of people came that evening to see this, and I was right on the curb—I could see everything! There was music playing and the women were dancing. People were running the length of the road in pairs carrying large flags and beaming. It was sweltering and crowded, but the Indian people were glad to be there. Someone shouted “Hindustan!” and the whole crowd echoed it back. Again and again, “Hindustan! Hindustan! Hindustan!” They were shouting the name of their country in Hindi, not English. The ceremony itself is quite choreographed. In small groups, soldiers marched—stomped—to the gate and kicked their legs so high that their feet touched their hats. They would take off marching as fast as they could to the gate, then stand in formation. It was obvious that the soldiers of the two countries were competing the whole time. Although these men have been doing the same ceremony each night for years, some of the men looked tense and nervous. It was clear that they would rather spend a night in Pakistan than make a mistake. During the final moments of the closing ceremony, both gates were opened, and amid much marching and kicking, the soldiers of India and Pakistan got into formation to lower their flags. It was in this moment that I saw the pride of India. The man in front of me saluted; the crowd cheered; every eye was glued to that green, white, and saffron flag. I knew that I could only be an observer in this moment, for it belonged to the Indians. It belonged to the people of Hindustan. -Rachel York