The past year has been a year of exciting transitions. It is unbelievable to think that I am now approaching my last year of seminary. Your generosity has changed my life in different ways.
First, your generosity has played a role in helping me get married! God has been so good to me and has provided me with an amazing woman as my wife.
Second, your generosity has given me paradigms for thinking Christianly about intimacy. My recent marriage counseling class epitomized Bethlehem’s vision of looking at great books in light of the Greatest Book. Edwin Friedman’s Generation to Generation is a great book that utilizes family systems theory to equip individuals and institutions to deal with anxiety.
For Friedman, the sweet spot free from anxiety is self-differentiation. At that spot, the individual can know his “I” and his neighbour’s “You” well enough to not confuse both nor obliterate one. But where Friedman’s imagination is captive to naturalism, the Bible presents the Triune God as the embodiment of true intimacy. Each person in the Godhead is distinct yet connected, each person gives without diminishing. Thus, it is only the “I AM” that can bring a man to know himself and his neighbour.
Third, your generosity has made it possible to do ministry. These past months, I have been able to teach at online seminars that gather a number of Nigerian students both in Nigeria and abroad. I am also working with a friend on some episodes of a podcast aimed at addressing issues in Nigeria about what it
means to have a Christian education.
God has been on the move, and he has been moving through you. Thank you for yielding your jars of clay to the Potter who remakes nations!
CHINECHETAM ‘JEREMIAH’ OGAZI
Lagos, Nigeria