Our first guest speaker, Mo, will be speaking to us on July 5th at 6:30 pm at the Johnson home. We will briefly discuss the articles we read and then listen to his story.
Mo (his name is Muhammad but he now goes by Mo) was born and raised in Sierra, Lione as a Muslim. He came to America to participate in the Atlanta Olympics for his country. He was introduced to the LDS church while he stayed in America to go to college. He converted and was cutoff and disowned by his family.
OR listen to: A Latter Day Look at Islam by Daniel C. Petterson (you can find it at Seagull Book)
OR read/listen/watch 2 or all three of the above. I learned cool, interesting, and relevant stuff from each one.
3. Think of a question you'd like to ask your peers or our guest speaker.
*Our next activity about the Middle East will be an art project by Bro. Pack and a discussion on the book, "My Name Used to Be Muhammad" - so start reading it if you'd like to come! (See the previous post about content). It will probably be on Wednesday July 13th from 11-1 or the following Wednesday.
I hope some of you are as excited as I am to learn more about this
culture. With all the recent events in our world, I have felt a pull to
learn more about Muslims and how some of them are raised to think. I
have been impressed with their devotion and fascinated by their history
and truth in their beliefs as well as the parallels in our LDS history. It is also interesting to see how some people can
twist truth with pride in subtle ways to get what they want and how that can create awful things. It is
helpful to see how this happens so we can be aware when it creeps up in
our lives and what we can do to defend against it. There is lots to learn from their history and beliefs.
It's summer, so this is going to be more informal. We won't meet and discuss these weekly, this will be a place where we share resources and our thoughts as we come to better understand the Middle East and it's people. We will plan a few things together and invite those who are interested... guest speakers, field trips, movie nights, maybe a Middle East dinner at the end.
Feel free to add books, articles, current events, videos, movies, field trip ideas, and guest speaker possibilities.
I keep being amazed at how God's work is growing in these very persecuted areas. I think they seek and need His miracles more than we do in our comfortable state, so they see them often.
Videos:
Here are some videos with a few examples:
CD:
I have been listening to "A Latter-Day Look at Islam"
by Daniel C. Peterson that Sis. Pack recommended. I have learned A LOT
from that 90 min CD (I bought it at Seagull Book). I've watched some of
his YouTube videos and learned a lot. I really want to read his books
now.
Guest Speakers:
Bro. Pack has a friend who converted from Islam who is willing to come tell us of his experience - that will be fascinating! Sis. Pack also knows of an LDS refugee family that left Pakistan when things got really dangerous who may be able to tell us of their experiences. She also knows an archeologist that speaks 17 languages and digs in the Middle East who knows much about the area. The author of Saving Babylon is another possibility for a speaker. And so are Sis Pack's parents who served a mission in the area.
We'll send out articles to read before the guest speakers come so you can have some background information and better questions to ask. You'll also be more prepared if you read the books below since the guest speakers will be from the areas these books are written about.
Books, Discussions and Art Projects:
There are some books our family plans to read this summer. When we are finished reading each book, Bro. Pack will do an art project with us when we discuss it. We'll discuss the first one in the beginning of July, the 2nd one in the middle of August and the last one around the end of September. I will post specific dates when I know them, but if you want to come to the discussion and art project, you can start reading them now.
1. July: My Name Used to be Muhammed. (We are reading this out loud and I have had to edit some parts out as we read - Sis. Pack recommends that maybe the parents summarize the chapters from "What is Love?" to "Higher Education"). Cassia and I heard him speak at a morningside a while back. His story is not only inspiting, but really helped us understand some of the culture and difficulties of trying to pull away from it.
2. August:I Am Malala. We have the student version. I have heard he good things about this book, but haven't yet read it.
3. September:Saving Babylon: The Heart of an Army Interrogator in Iraq Sis. Pack will probably be able to get the author to come speak to us.
Some books for younger siblings (or older... I personally love reading these books too)
1. Samuel Zwemer: The Burden of Arabia - Christian Heroes
2. The Arabian Nights (you can listen to this too on Tales2go)
3. Three Cups of Tea - Mortensen
4. Bronze Bow - Speare
5. The Breadwinner - Ellis
If you want even more resources, Sis. Pack collected a list of more possible books - including picture books you can learn culture from as you read to little siblings! She is typing a lot of them out with links, but in the meantime - here is a picture I took of her notes:
It has been a fascinating summer so far. I look forward to learning more. I hope some of you want to join us! Let me know :-)
Sorry it has taken me so long to update and get information out. We have been having a busy summer so far! I hope you are all enjoying some family time.
I loved hearing your thoughts on our last day of class about the things you'd learned during the school year and your testimonies about God's love and direction. If you ever want to go through the "Joy Cycle" again with anything you are struggling with, or teach it to your family, here is a link to the handout I gave you: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BT2sPGY21qh4rw9mF8rcrs4o4ZFOkuCLIUg-MiplsbY/edit?usp=drive_web
Presentations:
Most of you were not ready to present to families yet. What I will do is have the family presentation happen at a vision night for families at the beginning of the next school year - at the end of August. So save your presentations until then if you have one ready and feel free to work on more through the summer.
What to present:
Just pick a project that interests you this summer or that you'd been working on last semester- weather it's a book you've been wanting to read, a video you've wanted to make, an activity you've wanted to plan, etc... and find a way to share a principle or lesson you learned from the experience. Keep in mind the creativity principles you learned from spring semester.
Next year:
As you know, our family will be moving in the late fall or winter. We will still be driving here and doing this class, but it may be at the Packs or rotating houses. We will still plan to meet Fridays from 2:30-4:30, but it may be bi-weekly instead of weekly. If we do bi-weekly - on the off weeks, we will have an online discussion instead.
Also, we will clump our activities into one weekend to avoid so much driving. In other words, each semester we will do an optional camping/overnighter (people can also drive back and forth in the evening and morning if you'd rather not stay overnight) where we will do a hike, simulation, discussion, movie night and temple trip.
We are going to study principles about how to live as we study cultures throughout the world. We will also be looking for creative ways to serve and teach others as we do so.
This Summer:
The first culture we will be studying is that of the Middle East. I have already felt my awareness, compassion and testimony grow as I'm learning about this area of the world. Sister Pack has shared some great resources and has some speakers she can schedule that we can learn from as we seek to understand this part of the world and the people in it. We are looking for places to visit as well.
If any of you or your families would like to start studying the Middle East with us this summer, I will write another blog post with resources, videos, books and current events that Sis. Pack has found. You can add other resources that you find in the comments section. Dads are especially encouraged to send links current events in the area! It would be also be awesome for you to also post your thoughts as you read and learn about these people and the culture.
When we have the guest speakers, I will post some assignments that will help you prepare to hear them speak.
Let me know if you or your families are interested in our summer Middle East adventures and if you're planning on continuing with this class next year. Thanks!
