This one comes from Amy and Elijah Brown. Elijah is now working on his PhD in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
Dear Family & Friends,
\nWe hope all is well with you & yours. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pleased to say that Edinburgh is now breathtaking! Cherry blossoms are a personal favorite, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the culmination of pleasant scents & beautiful pastel colors that are enough to pull anyone outside, despite the weather still being a bit chilly, windy & wet \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the 3 Scotland Staples! Praise the Lord for color! Plus, it occurred to me since the last I sent out a newsletter, that Scotland is an island! J So Elijah & I discovered that \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcoceanfront,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 though deserted & not the prettiest that is out there, is a 40-min walk from the apartment! Very nice!
\nI have had a wonderful first two and a half months. It has been the most refreshing, yet simultaneously fairly near to the most stressing time in my life (taking into account that 25 warrants not much life experience). Maybe bewildering is a better word. And as it were, I have far fewer answers now than I did prior to coming, but all the same, I can testify to pervasive peace in the midst of elusive means. God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been more than generous with miracles in our lives, and the current is no exception.
\nThe BIG news is that Elijah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been upgraded from a Masters to a Ph.D. student!!! Praise God for His continued provision! This not only saves at least \u00c2\u00bd a year of living expenses in Edinburgh, but saves Elijah the task of having to write a 15,000 word Masters dissertation, as now he GETS to work on a 100,000 word Ph.D. thesis! J (terminology backwards from the States). But the real bonus\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it saves us $17,000 off the overall schooling bill! The Univ. of Edinburgh is set up so that their Ph.D. students only pay for the first 3 years. So the upgrade means this previous year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tuition has now been credited towards Ph.D. work, leaving us with only 2, not 3 more that come with a price tag. Amazing answer to prayer.
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to address the topic of study, with the disclaimer that a future email will better answer the subsequent questions of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcoh, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 why?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhat exactly are you going to do with that?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel guilty (though I doubt you would), I myself had those questions.
\nTHE DEGREE \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ph.D. in Christianity in the Non-Western World
\nTHE THESIS topic \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Development of the Southern Sudanese Church in Refugee Camps & Among the Internally Displaced
\nSo that will be the crux of Elijah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life for the next two years!
\nI, on the other hand, have been less than successful in finding employment. And three weeks ago as if from above, I knew that, as absolutely of a financially wretched time to know, I was supposed to start writing a manuscript for a book the Lord had laid on my heart. So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given myself to the topic of “Dating God: Finding Your Ultimate Love Before Your Right Love.” This has been quite the task for me, but enlightening & a joy & I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping to be able to wrap it up in a month or two if we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go clean broke before then. If you want to know how it is we are going to support ourselves, refer to paragraph two, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all in there.
\nOne of the most delightful things E&I have gotten to experience in these few months was the discovery of a Gaelic (native Scottish language on the verge of extinction) church service. We figured we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stand out a bit, but thought for one Sunday \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhy the heck not\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. So we picked a week and suited up for our 30+ minute walk just in time for all of heaven to come pelting down. We arrived a drenched, odorous mess, & they still hugged & kissed us all the same. The Gaelic language is beautiful, but it was their music that transcends foreign listeners to some unknown mysterious \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcceltic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 haven. The closest comparison that we can afford is the Sacred Harp music in the States (mainly Alabama). Both are non-instrumental, both have a lead \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccaller\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpronouncer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, and in both the voices raised follow what seems to be no identifiable melody, but roughly blend into a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccalling\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 harmonious empowering message, whether the language is your own or not. After the service the fellow! ship with these believers was priceless. They were precious people & the experience comes highly recommended.
\nOne other bit of exciting news is that on the same day that Elijah & I \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdiscovered\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 the beach, we also discovered\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Asda!! Better known in the States as Wal-Mart! Now for you non-Wal-Mart lovers out there, I would like for you to know that when faced with the option of buying a bottle of saline at any other store for $8 (\u00c2\u00a34), or at Asda for $2 (\u00c2\u00a31), maybe you can try to understand our excitement. And it only got better when we walked outside & saw 3 buses in a row funnel up to Asda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entrance! We can bus to Wal-Mart! Now that is exciting! We have a trip planned at least twice a month from here until we leave!
\nOur last, but certainly not least bit of exciting news is that 6 weeks from now, we are privileged to be hosting family visitors! Elijah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents are flying out for 12 days, June 28-July 9. We are already crossing the days off the calendar & making all kinds of fun plans. Pray for them as they prepare for the trip.
\n“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6” Eph. 3:20-21
\nWe love you all dearly,
\nElijah & Amy
\nElijah & Amy Brown
\n6 \u00c2\u00bd Waverley Park
\nEdinburgh, EH8 8EX
\nUK<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This one comes from Amy and Elijah Brown. Elijah is now working on his PhD in Edinburgh. Dear Family & Friends, We hope all is well with you & yours. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pleased to say that Edinburgh is now breathtaking! Cherry blossoms are a personal favorite, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the culmination of pleasant scents & beautiful pastel … Continue reading Another ministry update<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pEnSo-1Q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}