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The MESP Update is a personal communi-cation from Dr. David Holt to his friends,

colleagues, and MESP alumni. It is in-tended to inform and give insight on what he is doing as director of the Middle East Studies Program and to share profiles and

stories on past and current MESP students. Comments or opinions expressed by con-tributors do not necessarily represent the

views of MESP or the CCCU. The MESP Update is published bimonthly, during the

regular semester.

Dear Alum & Friends of MESP,

I hope you enjoy this newsletter profiling alums who are currently serving as representatives of the Fulbright

Scholarship Program and the Mennonite Central Committee

MESP is also especially honored to welcome David Owen, PhD candidate in Islamic Studies at Harvard. David is

teaching the Islamic Thought and Practice course this semester, while on a Hebrew language fellowship at He-

brew University. Students are benefiting from his long journey in the Middle East; both as a scholar and adven-

turer, and his expertise on Andalusia is helping to prepare them for their upcoming regional travel that includes

Islamic Spain. Thank you David for your willingness to be part of MESP this semester!

This is also the first semester that MESP has used its new apartments in Beit Tsafafa, across from the Center at

Tantur. Students love the neighborhood and the nearby hangouts of Schnitzel King and Harosmarine Caf. These

apartments give them a closer look at the local culture, and their proximity to Tantur make safety and conven-

ience prime advantages.

Students return from local home stays today, and before long we will be traveling to Spain, Morocco and Turkey.

As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Blessings ,

David P. Holt

V O L U M E 2 I S S U E 2

Two MESP alums from the Fall 2010 student cohort were recently awarded Fulbright scholarships and are currently serving in Turkey with the English Teaching Assistantship program (ETA). Ruby OConnor (Seattle Pacific University) works in the city of Afyonkarahisa, and Emily Pope (Calvin College) was assigned to Ataturk University in Erzurum, the largest city in Eastern Anatolia. In late November, Ruby OConnor stopped by and addressed the MESP students during their visit to Istanbul. She eagerly described her daily duties and experiences in Afyonkarahisar, and gave the students general tips about the Fulbright application process and encouraged MESPers to apply. While my semester on MESP was a definite asset, I also believe that my volunteering ex-periences in Seattle enhanced my chances for getting a Fulbright." Ruby hasn't yet decided about her life after the Fulbright, but engaging her students and learning the culture and language of Turkey remind her how grateful she is just to live in the present. Meanwhile, she occasionally enjoys the company of ETA colleagues on weekend travel journeys both within and beyond the borders of Turkey.

At the age of 17, Emily Pope travelled to Morocco to teach English for one month and returned the following two summers: The Muslim culture and hospitality fascinated me! Later, traveling with MESP, she was privileged to visit Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. Damascus and Istanbul were my favorite cities and I became interested in Fulbright as an opportunity to live abroad and learn more about the region." Emily is currently teaching spoken English to first year engineering students and to professors in the Medical School. She describes Erzurum as a fascinating place with a large Iranian-Azeri population. Some of her students come from Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. Though Erzurum is the coldest city in Turkey, the people are incredibly warm, friendly, and hospitable. Emily plans to renew her Fulbright ETA contract for another year before pursuing a doctoral program in Geography with an emphasis in Turkey. MESP is always honored to play some small part in facilitating the vocational direction of alums like Ruby and Emily, and naturally, we are proud of their achievements. It needs to be said that MESP would not be what it is without quality students like them.

Update

Update

Update

L-R: Ruby OConnor and Emily Pope with three of their friends

A P P L I C A T I O N S F O R F A L L 1 3 S E M E S T E R A R E D U E B Y

A P R I L I S T

After attending MESP in

2005, Tobias Roberts, from

Asbury University, originally

wanted to join MCC in Pales-

tine. However, the position

closed and MCC offered him

another one in Central Amer-

ica. For the first four years, he

worked in rural El Salvador on a project

aimed at empowering rural women through

small cooperative enterprises and training in

gender equity." He also served a group of

families living with HIV. Tobias then relocated

to Guatemala, and has spent the last two

years in the Mayan Highlands working with

indigenous opposition to the forced construc-

tion of mega-hydroelectric dams in their an-

cestral territories. He also supports youth

'start up' agro-ecological projects. Tobias ap-

preciates MCCs commitment to giving a

voice to Mayan peasants. He plans to con-

tinue working with the Mayan people for an-

other two years. After that, he says my wife

and I hope to start a small farm in El Salva-

dor, living sustainably with roots in a local

community."

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focused more than anything, which provides so

many unexpected opportunities to learn from Cop-

tic Christians here. Rebecca remains busy main-

taining two jobs with MCC: I work half-time as an

EFL teacher to adults in the Coptic Orthodox cathe-

dral, and the other half as an English tutor at a

boarding home for underprivileged girls. Almost

half way through her term, which ends in July 2014,

Rebecca still loves and enjoys the hectic pace and

diversity of Cairo. It is energizing to see so many

young people excited about the future of Egypt,

despite all the daily challenges. Her immediate

plan is to complete her term with MCC. After that,

Rebecca hopes to work with refugees, either in

Cairo or the US.

Erica Sherwood,

a MESP alum

from Spring 10,

is a graduate of

Bethel Univer-

sity in MN. Erica

currently par-

ticipates in

MCC's SALT

program in Kol-

kata, West Bengal, India. (SALT is a year-long pro-

gram that offers a variety of international service

positions for young adults). Since her arrival in Au-

gust 2012, Erica has been building relationships

and learning how to teach and encourage conversa-

tional English at a lower income all-girls school. She

says: In deciding to live a year abroad, I hoped to

learn from a new way of life. I especially appreciate

the moments here when I notice our interconnect-

edness as people on earth, and can begin to piece

together this experience in India with my life in Min-

nesota and the States, my knowledge of the Middle

East and my time with MESP. Erica is also making

intentional efforts to build friendships with the Mus-

lim community in West Bengal. With tensions be-

tween the Muslim community and the United States

heightening this past Fall, I have realized that as a

US citizen, there is a great need for me to be a part

of building and sewing peaceful relationships with

Muslim communities wherever I am." Erica is honored

to be a part of the sustainable, consistent, humble

work MCC commits itself to around the globe."

Erin Brewer from

Milligan College,

and a Spring 11

MESP alum is work-

ing with two commu-

nity nutrition centers

in Montero, Bolivia

through MCC's Ser-

vice and Learning

Together Program

(SALT). Her main

responsibilities so far have consisted of interviewing

new women who are entering the program at the nu-

trition center, making community visits, helping to

create a system to comprehensively organize and

monitor program information, assisting kids with their

homework, and of course, playing lots of soccer!

These centers provide healthy meals to approxi-

mately 150 children every day, educate mothers and

children on various nutrition and health topics, offer

after-school help for kids, and focus on empowerment

of women through vocational training and income

generation for their families." Erin considers it an im-

mense privilege to work with MCC and appreciates

the emphasis MCC places on wholeness. It is re-

freshing to be part of a Christian organization that

values the physical needs of a person as much as

their spiritual needs. She sees the experience as

personally important in terms of how she approaches

and interprets God in her daily life, and believes that

her time in Bolivia will reform the way she under-

stands herself, God, and others. "It is healthy," says

Erin, "to be in constant revision of how I understand

those things." Her future plan is to enjoy Bolivia and

learn as much as she can from the Montero commu-

nity. After SALT, Erin hopes to continue her education

in a health-related capacity, either medical school or

public/international health development."

Tobias Roberts

The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief, service, and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in

North America. MCC works alongside local churches and communities in more than 50 countries, to carry out disaster relief, sustainable community

development and justice and peace-building work in the name of Christ. MCC also seeks to build bridges to connect people and ideas across cultural,

political and economic divides. (from http://www.mcc.org/)

J O U R N E Y S W I T H the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

Over the last decade, many MESP alumni have worked with MCC in various capacities worldwide. In this issue of the MESP Update we feature four

former MESPers who are currently working with MCC: Tobias Roberts, Rebecca MacVaugh, Erica Sherwood and Erin Brewer.

A L U M N I

A Messiah

College

graduate,

Rebecca

MacVaugh

attended

MESP in

Spring 09

and is currently on a 3-year appointment

with MCC in Cairo, Egypt. The internship

that I took the summer after MESP and the

friendships I cultivated during my stay, moti-

vated me to return to live and work in

Cairo. Rebecca is currently serving the

Coptic Orthodox Christians as a part of

MCC's mandate to support the Christian

minority in Egypt. My work is relationship-

Rebecca with Eman, an Egyptian friend

Erica with some of her lovely students

Erin at the Community garden

S E R V I N G A N D L E A R N I N G

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David P. Holt (PhD) Mesp.director@gmail.com Director, Middle East Studies Program Council for Christian Colleges & Universities Jerusalem, Israel and Washington, DC 0549051844 (Israel) (00972)549051844 (From the USA)

F O R F U R T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N A B O U T M E S P P L E A S E C L I C K H E R E

C U R R E N T S T U D E N T S

@mesp_tweets

A R O U N D T H E M I D D L E E A S T ( A N D M O R E )

I N 8 M I N U T E S

Jerusalem Cordoba Istanbul Fez Petra

C L I C K O N E A C H P I C T U R E

F O R A S H O R T V I D E O O F

S O M E O F T H E P L A C E S

M E S P E R S G E T T O V I S I T .

A - M - A - Z - I - N - G !

In a land riven with conflict, it can be difficult to engage the surrounding society in ways that arent political. How-

ever, MESP students do exactly that every Tuesday at their service projects (video) an integral part of MESPs

experiential learning strategy. As past MESPers will attest, spending a full day each week serving locally is an

exciting and challenging way to get out of the classroom and make learning practical and real. Current students

are serving at various organizations in Israel/Palestine, focused on

community development and providing for the marginalized. For exam-

ple, at Al-Basma Rehabilitation Center for Adults with Disabilities in

Beit Sahour, Carson Frutiger (Bethel University), Cam Sorenson (Trinity

Western University), and Deborah Givens (Trevecca Nazarene Univer-

sity) help in various ways to further Al-Basmas goals to fully integrate

the disabled as valued community members. This includes making

paper, weaving carpets, growing spinach in the greenhouse, making heating fuel from leftover materials, and other

tasks around the center. Carson, Cam, and Deborah not only help on tasks, but most importantly are involved in the

lives of Al-Basmas disabled clients, forming relationships that hold valuable lessons for both the students and the

clients. "Tuesdays at Al Basma (the smile) have provided me with the opportunity to not only give back, in a small way,

to the community of Beit Sahour, but also to interact with and learn from an aspect of Palestinian culture that is rarely

seen or experienced." says Carson Frutiger. Meanwhile, Julia Wilson (Roberts Wesleyan University) and Meagan Dooley

(Seattle Pacific University) volunteer at The American School in Beit Jala, assisting Arab and visiting American teach-

ers by tutoring, managing the library, and building relationships with the students they encounter.

MESP is excited to continue the tradition of involving our students practically in local life, building relationships that transform our students and the people they

encounter from misunderstanding to new ways of viewing and treating the other.

Carson Frutiger with clients at Al-Basma

Julia Wilson with local students at The American School

by Chris Mawhorter, MESP Program Assistant