ajD's new home: Boston University

Hello from Boston everyone! It has now been a few months since I've moved from Thailand to Boston, MA in the US to continue my studies. The cultural shift into Boston has not been easy. I continue to deeply miss the people and places in the Land of Smiles. This is my first semester in the PhD program in religious studies through Boston University's Division of Religious and Theological Studies. B.U. is one of the best places to study World Christianity and Mission, especially Christianity as a global phenomenon outside the West, as well as inter-religious dialogue and comparative religion; B.U. is also quite interdisciplinary across history and the social sciences, and has all the resources of the 10 schools that make up the Boston Theological Institute. All that said, that's why I'm here. I'm an associate at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission. You can find my profile there along with other students studying Global Christianity and Mission. There is also a picture of me and colleague in the slideshow at the opening reception for the Division on the current student page. Photo above.

Recent and upcoming events:

Cross Cultural Partnerships at B.U.: "Cross-Cultural Partnerships is a program that brings together International and American students and professors in a small group setting for weekly

fellowship and exchanges of perspectives on various aspects of culture. The aims of this program are to help build relationships between persons from different cultural backgrounds, and to further understanding about the richness of culture and the complexity of reaching across cultural lines. This program also assists students in optimizing their academic performance during their time at Boston University School of Theology by deepening their understanding of the standards and expectations they will encounter at this institution." The photo above is from a luncheon ... we are quite multi-cultural! from the Caribbean, China, South Korea, USA, and Indonesia.

2010Boston: The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity. 2010Boston is one of the many conferences going on worldwide this year to commemorate 100 years since the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference. Celebrations are being held all over the Boston area, including Park St Church, B.U., Boston College and Harvard Divinity School.

Please check out the ongoing 2010Boston Blog. These blog's are written by doctoral students in Todd Johnson's Comparative Christianity: Global Christianity course. The blog posts are reflections from student groups on the rise of global Christianity and the significant changes within Christianity from 1910-2010. I am putting the discussions I summarize for the blog on The Red Connection each week, so look for previous and upcoming posts all fall.

The conference has a high degree of participation from students and there will be many student papers and workshops. On the 5th I will be presenting a paper for the "Mission in Context" panel on the rise of faith-based organizations and the transformation of mission and salvation. At the moment this work-in-progress is entitled "Salvation Now: Mission as Human Care and Development, the Case of Thailand."

In another surprising development (for me as much as for those who know I'm challenged with dyslexia and spelling!), aj.Daeng will be the official 'tweeter' for the conference. You can follow tweets @ 2010Boston_Conf.