LIFE ON THE LAND

The transition from life on the Mediterranean to the solid land and dizzying pace of life in Harrisonburg, Virginia started the moment our plane touched down in Washington, D.C. on August 10 and still continues. Janet and I immediately plunged into the fall teaching and administrative schedule at Eastern Mennonite University, reconnecting to people (friends, family, church community, and colleagues) and life in America.

But just as we could not bring ourselves to part with SailingActs in Italy, it seems “sailing Acts” will keep us moving in America as well. We have been presenting the story of following Paul in the Mediterranean ever since we returned, making over 20 presentations during the past 3 months in churches, schools, organizations, and retirement communities.

Sept. 5 Eastern Mennonite Seminary Harrisonburg, VA
Sept. 18 Immanuel Mennonite Church Harrisonburg, VA
Sept. 27 World Vision Washington, D.C.
Oct. 2 Crossroads Mennonite Church Broadway, VA
Oct 2 Dayton Mennonite Church Dayton, VA
Oct 15 Virginia Menn. Retirement Comm. Harrisonburg, VA
Oct 19 Virginia Mennonite Mission Board Harrisonburg, VA
Oct. 27 EMU – Student Missions Group Harrisonburg, VA
Oct. 30 Ridgeway Mennonite Church Harrisonburg, VA
Nov. 12 Missiology Conference, AMBS Elkhart, IN
Nov. 18 Western Mennonite School Salem, OR
Nov. 19 Zion Mennonite Church Hubbard, OR
Nov. 19 Portland Mennonite Church Portland, OR
Nov. 20 Salem Mennonite Church Salem, OR
Nov. 20 Albany Mennonite Church Albany, OR
Nov. 27 On Eagles Wings Pentecostal Elkton, VA
Nov. 30 Virginia Menn. Retirement Comm. Harrisonburg, VA
Dec. 4 Unitarian/Universalist Church Dayton, VA
Dec. 4 Edinburg United Methodist Edinburg, VA

Janet and I will be in the Middle East with a group of EMU students from January through April, 2006. During the summer months in 2006, we plan to return to the Mediterranean to sail from Italy to Turkey, exploring additional sites and returning to places in which we had too short of time during the sabbatical, doing further research into Paul’s missionary journeys.

By early fall of 2006 the book, Sailing Acts, is scheduled to be released by Good Books of Intercourse, PA. We are planning to continue the Sailing Acts presentations when the book is published in the fall. If you would like to schedule a presentation in your church, school, or organization, please send an email to: stutzmal@emu.edu.

The second book Kingdom, Power and Glory: What Christians in Globalization can Learn from Paul in the Roman Empire, is planned for publication several months later.

Back on land in a world that feels increasingly like the sea I find comfort in Paul’s words to the Roman Christians that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”