Ours is not a time of rest. I need not enumerate the many troubles that we face today, but it should be uncontroversial to point out that we live in a world ever more enveloped by fear. And who can blame us twenty-first century folk for suspecting that danger lurks in the shadows of every path?

Occasionally, when I’m out in the wild, someone might see my ID and notice that little “Dr.” in front of my name. The next comment often goes something like: “Oh, you’re a doctor!

I am now beginning my fourteenth year as an immigrant. In 2008, my wife and I, along with our young son, moved from the USA to Scotland to pursue my PhD.

Europeans generally think of Americans as very religious. They see things like a public swearing-in with a hand on the Bible and read a lot into that—even as it is somewhat of a formality that may have no obvious religious significance for those taking an oath.

My wife and I live in a small village—a hamlet—in rural France, and as in all the villages around us, we have an ancient parish church, with its strong bells regulating life. The painting “The Angelus” shows peasants with heads lowered in a field. They are our neighbours.

“[Wycliffe] College has balanced change with tradition, the building itself reminding faculty, trustees and students alike that they did not start Wycliffe, that each new generation stands on the shoulders of all who have been there before, that to become part of the College is to be received

My wife and I were in the United States over the holidays, to see my mother who is aging, wider family, and just enjoy some warmer weather.

Shaun Christopher Brown will go down in the history books as Wycliffe College’s first successful conjoint PhD graduate in Theological Studies.

Witthaya Phuttharaksa is a PhD student at Wycliffe College, Toronto and a Langham Scholar. Now entering his second year of New Testament studies, his eventual goal is to help strengthen the Church in his homeland of Thailand.