http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:10:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Nearly a year and a half ago I started my job as a caseworker with refugees from Cuba. Today is my last day. I knew this day, August 22, was coming for quite a while, and at times it seemed like it couldn’t get here soon enough. But here it is, ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/436 Well, I promised some of you that I'd be updating this site during our time in Costa Rica, but time has been of the essence and I have been unable to do so. However, I have become the semi-official blogsperson and photographer for our team and we are updating the ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/435 What does it mean to follow Jesus in America? What does it mean to pledge allegiance to the Prince of Peace who instructed you to love your enemies when nearly half of the federal budget of your country - the biggest budget in the world - is spent on bombs and ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/434 This week I had a small epiphany. Amidst the craziness of trying to keep dozens of refugees alive and happy and under control (with my two coworkers temporarily in Africa and South America, respectively), something set in that I normally don’t experience a whole lot of: stress. Bona fide stress. ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/433 So I was at the clothing bank this morning, waiting in the fluorescent-lit, plywood-walled hallway as some of our newly arrived refugees filled trash bags with a hodge-podge of hand-me-downs. I had taken along a book to read, as is my custom - this time the brand new miscellany by ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/432 “I stood there holding my gun and felt special because I was part of something that took me seriously and I was not running from anyone anymore.” These are the words of Ishmael Beah from his book A Long Way Gone, in which he tells his story from his days as ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/429 I went to the Barnstormers game(s) the other night and Carl Everett became one of my new favorite baseball players of all time. Here's more or less how it went down. I walked in a few minutes late, at the beginning of the second inning, and as the first batter ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/431 I’m currently reading three books. First, Being White, which explores ethnicity and the implications for those of us who, for better or worse (but not by chance), are white North Americans. Second, The Heart of Racial Justice, which as the subtitle suggests, is about "how soul change leads to social ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/428 Two facts and a conclusion. Fact one: half of the world’s population now live in cities, and the percentage is growing. Fact two: the story of the Bible begins in a garden, but ends in a city. Conclusion: cities are really, really important. In Signs of Emergence, Kester Brewin writes that cities clearly embody ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/427 I wrote last time in ancitipation of our FLOWING event, which was scheduled for April 5. We were very excited and were bracing ourselves for all the impending logistical issues when 80-90 people show up on one city block on a Saturday morning to pick up trash. When April 4 ... http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/archives/425