SOMEBODY'S GETTING MARRIED

"Was yours a love marriage?"  That’s a question I've heard asked countless times here; never to me though.  I knew what they meant, did you marry because you fell in love or was it arranged.  Recently we've learned of two upcoming weddings, one of each.

Our driver Joseph, who is from Sri Lanka, proudly told us that his 2nd daughter is getting married.  After the congratulations we began asking him questions.  Here is what we learned:  This is indeed an arranged marriage.  A man has asked for her.  Joseph said that he is a good man, a hard-working carpenter currently living in Malaysia.  He and his family were "checking me out," Joseph said.  If they like me and approve, things will move forward.  Joseph has to pay for the wedding and give a dowry.  We asked, “If it was not too personal, what do you give?”  He quickly replied, “Gold!”  He told us even the amount of grams he would need.  Bob and I did the math and that is  $2500-3000 USD depending on the gold prices when he buys it.  Now keep in mind that his base salary is around 400 USD per month.  In addition he has to pay for his airline ticket home and miss one month of work.  Since he doesn't have any brothers or sisters he has to go a week or two before the wedding to get everything ready.  Most families could even help with the dowry, but he is on his own.  We asked how he would manage (he is the father of three daughters)?  With a huge smile on his face, he answered, "I will manage.   What to do?"  We learned a few days later that he "checked out" and the wedding is set for mid-July.

JOSEPH

Another young woman I know confided in me a few months ago that she was hoping to get married soon.  She quickly told me it was for love.  They had a huge obstacle to overcome.  She was Pakistani and he was Indian.  Those two nationalities, although neighbors on a map, hardly every marry each other.  Would their parents and families approve?  Would the families be able to get visas to come to the wedding in Qatar?  Would they be granted the legal documents here to get married?  So many questions and issues were beyond their control.  But they hoped and prayed that God would allow all of these things and more to work out and one day, Insha’Allah, it would work. (Insha’Allah means “If God wills.”  It is a common, but serious phrase, similar to when Bob says, “Lord willing!”) Without their families’ blessings, it would never happen.  She would never disobey her parents and I'm guessing neither would he.  Privately, I would ask her how things were progressing and she would tell me, with hope in her eyes, it's moving along.  One morning before most people arrived at work, she came to my desk.  I knew immediately!  She had just gotten the news that she and her "best friend," the man she loved, could get married!  The date was chosen already (just in case!) and now she could continue with the plans for her special day.  I've never seen a happier face.  She talked a mile a minute about everything from dresses, to henna, to the legal and religious parts, to the party.  And quickly she added, "Of course, you and Bob will be invited."  I felt tears well up in my eyes.  Tears not only for her act of kindness in inviting us, but for the joy she had.  All her dreams were coming true in that moment.

I've since reflected a lot about these two new brides and compared it to our way of life in America. I'm eager to hear your thoughts.  Would we, as head strong young women, submit to our parents?  As parents, would we be willing to start our children off with the type of sacrifice Joseph is making? Have we ever considered the different types of "mixed marriages," whether they were nationality, religious, political or other differences?  Would you want the festivities to last three days?

I'm hopeful to post some pictures after the wedding here in Qatar.  Joseph has promised pictures from his daughter's wedding in July.  Keep both of these special families in your thoughts and prayers. These are exciting and hopeful times for all of them.

Recent World Events

Dear Friends and family, Greetings from Doha, Qatar, where we are experiencing summer like weather, that is, summer in America.  We are sorry that winter’s blast has hit so much of the USA with such an icy blast—that is except for the cheaters who won the Super Bowl.  They deserve all the winter they get!!  Just kidding.

Blue Mosque, Katara

We’ve experienced some troubles receiving email from Verizon, due to the enormous amount of spam Verizon was receiving from Middle East and European countries.  Therefore, Verizon blocked the servers.  We went several days without receiving our emails through Verizon.  However, they finally gave us a way of bypassing the blockage and we finally received our email messages.  Our close friends asked us a week ago if the folks in Qatar speak at all about the Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by the ISIS creeps.  Since the question was asked, many other things have happened in world events.  So I gave a lengthy answer to the question, but wouldn’t you know, in attempting to send it, the message evaporated.  This was annoying and disturbing.  But I decided that maybe others would like to know the answer as well, since it deals with Qatar, Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East. 

The question posed was in light of the burning of the Jordanian pilot by the vicious people of ISIS, do people of Qatar talk about it.  The general answer is, not much.  Most Qatari’s and Middle East folks do not talk about what we’d call, world events or Foreign Policy with us.  A few do.  And these were graphic.  When I asked a Jordanian lady about it, she first exclaimed, “it makes me sick and I don’t want to talk about it!”  But then she went on.  She said that everything they are doing goes contrary to what the Qur’an teaches.   She then went on to ask, “Where did these folks come from?  How did they get so dominant so fast?  Who funds them?” and the like.  Of course, since then the situation in Yemen has occurred.  That is a country where some of our friends are from right next to Oman, where several recently vacationed and swear is the most beautiful.  At the same time, three Arab Muslims were murdered point blank by being shot in the head in North Carolina.  CMUQ is going to have a vigil tomorrow, at Her Highness Sheikha Mozah’s request.  Most of my American friends would not want our people in USA to be judged by this evil, lunatic’s action.  That is how the Arab, Muslims would want us to treat the crazies who do things in the name of the Islam religion.  Americans should know that not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslim.  They should also know that most Muslims do not want to harm anyone at all, much less Americans, for whom they have a healthy respect. In my interviews with Arab, Muslim prospective students, generally ages 17, 18, I ask them whether they would like to spend a semester in Pittsburgh if they get accepted by CMUQ.  I wish Americans could see their faces light up as they excitedly say, “Oh, yes, that would be so great.  I would cherish the opportunity to study in and visit America”  I cringe inwardly a bit, hoping that no crazies would harm them or say offensive things at them that would make them feel uncomfortable due to their nationality, religion or dress. 

So what do the ones who express themselves say about the people causing trouble?  One close friend told Edna that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are crazy, the Al Qaeda are terrorists and ISIS are an offshoot of Al Qaeda or Taliban.  These last folks have killed more Muslims in savage ways than they have Westerners, but our news didn’t cover it until they killed Americans, British and Japanese. 

I will say more about some of the issues in times to come.  I continue to read and study issues and don’t want to give historical answers just yet, although I know some of the historical things.

But Qatar itself is safe.  There is no crime.  I know that’s hard to believe, but basically it is true.  People are here on work visas  To commit a crime lands one in jail and then deported and for the most part, people are earning more than they ever could in their home lands, so they largely don’t commit crimes  Additionally, the police system here is the best that money can buy.  My understanding is that there are cameras everywhere, so by and large people don’t know when they are being watched.  When we were here a decade ago, a cleaning worker stole a bottle of water from CMUQ and was caught in the night shift.  He was on a plane out of the country by morning.  It was a shame, but if we left water out for them, the first one would take the waters and sell them to others, so it’s hard to know what to do.  Despite there being no crime, that doesn’t mean that everyone is honest.  If you offer to give someone money, you will find out how bad things are in their family and homeland, until you have to stop.

There is another side to the original question.  Folks who are not from America and Europe are not prone to complain.  One goes to jail for publicly criticizing the Emir or royal family.  It’s the same for these folks no matter where they come from.  When you think about it, Americans complain just to complain sometimes.  These folks act like it doesn’t do any good, so why bother.  Additionally, they believe that most things, if not all things, are God’s will.  So they bear the injustices with little complaint, particularly when they are not happening to them.

Having said that, I want to say that I don’t think generally most people have a complaint about the Emir or His Royal family.  He is pretty good and favorable.  He donated the land for the churches to build on, despite being a Muslim himself.  When injustices are brought to his attention, he acts to rectify the situation.  Two cases in point: First, The small African children who rode the camels in the camel races often to their deaths that I mentioned in the last blog.  He outlawed the practice and robots ride the camels now.  Second, “inhumane” fishing practices of dynamiting or putting lights in the seas that drew all sorts of fish to the light, including mothering and baby fish, was outlawed.  His Highness (the meaning of “HH") has brought this country far.  It still has a ways to go, but I believe that he is addressing those issues.  This country was a third world country before he took over.  It is quite beautiful and progressive now.  It’s not a finished product, but it’s come a long way.  We may be biased, because we love these folks, but it is how we see it. 

When we come home in June, ten Middle Eastern ladies who work for CMUQ are coming with us for their first visit to America.  I wish folks could see their excitement.  If Americans knew how much they are appreciated by the vast majority we might have fewer questions of “why do they hate us?” and more of “why do they love and respect us?”  

FEBRUARY IN THE DESERT

Greetings friends and family.

 It’s been a while since we last wrote.  This is partly because we have been very busy, both personally and professionally with the university.  We enjoyed our four week visit to the States in December-January.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t kind us.  It was freezing in Pennsylvania, which is to be expected.  But it was downright cold in California during our visit there, too.  Even our children’s friends were sorry that we were there during such an expanded cold spell, as there was actually snow near LA, on the mountains.  Southern Californians don’t have heaters in their homes.  But the cold weather could not dampen the joy we had in visiting with our children, grandchildren and the friends with whom we spent time.  Our visit was in a word: delightful.

We arrived back in Qatar after tearful goodbyes with our children and grandchildren, particularly.  We found it more than chilly in the desert.  Nevertheless, I swam our first weekday back.  The pool worker was wearing a coat, winter hat and gloves and astounded that I was in the pool at daybreak.  CMU’s associate dean was impressed (Edna says that “impressed” is a synonym for thinking that I’m a nut!).  I later struggled for a couple weeks with a cold.  Edna was sick while we were in the states.  The weather changed recently and has been picturesque, sunny and warm with blue skies, as our Pennsylvania family and friends have unfortunately been hit with snow storms for the ages.

It is an especially busy time for the Admission department as we gear up for a March 1 deadline for applications with myriads of interviews, phone calls to prospective students, and a Winter Institute for prospective Computer Science students.  Edna has helped the dean with personnel changes, dinners and the like. We’ve also had a couple dinners with the Admission folks, co-workers, visitors from the USA, as well as a lunch with the tax experts.  As you might know, USA workers in foreign countries have different tax rules.  While I hate taxes more than death, I’m happy for these folks who make it their life’s calling to know the rules and keep us lawful.   Life in Qatar has been busy but rewarding.  We’ve been enjoying our worship experiences.  We are also hosting a study for the Anglican Church.

We brought my Mom back with us to Qatar.  She is appreciating the desert weather for a couple months.  Our daughter-in-law is coming for a week at the end of the month for work with CMU.  They will fly back together. We have taken Mom to several malls and outings.  A friend has taken her to a few Christian ladies outings.  We have done a couple of city tours, one to the middle of the country and desert.  She’s experienced new foods,   met all types of people, and seen animals she’d never seen before.  Our driver from Sri Lanka treats her like his own grandmother. 

I thought that I’d stick with a theme this time, an aspect of Middle East life that elicits more of a question and response than nearly any other from our Western friends; CAMELS!  We have learned that there are two kinds of camels.  The “dromedary” camels are the ones with one hump.  They are the only kind in Qatar and all of the Middle East.  The “bactrianus” camels are the ones with two humps.  They are found in Central Asia, Pakistan, India and other parts, and are much more of a pack animal for labor purposes.  From what I gather, archeologists wonder if historically, there were camels with more than two humps or less than one.  Camels are related to llamas and other animals, and share similar faces from what I’ve seen. 

In the desert of Qatar, there is actually camel race track that we recently observed.  During races, the riders are robots, after many years of being small African children who frequently were killed in the line of their work.  Our Father Emir banned the children drivers and a few years ago, robots replaced them.   

Evidently, camels can race up to 40 mph.  Additionally, they can live up to 40-50 years if given the opportunity.  Most aren’t given the opportunity.  For the races, which are major international events, the drivers and trainers are Sudanese.  As a guide told us, Sri Lankans have a natural gift to train elephants, Qataris have a natural way with falcons and Sudanese have a gift with camels.  A camel’s racing career is between the ages of 3-5 generally.  Because it is not their nature to naturally run, they are trained to run, as a string of trainers run experienced mother camels, as the babies, up to ages 3-5, run beside their mothers, with reigns and blankets, running.  Often these camels wear masks which prevent the camels from eating sand (which they would do as they failed to decipher the plant from the sand).  Sand is not good for the camel’s digestive track.  The best (and therefore only) racing camels are white females.  The Emir Cup is the big race that draws people and owners of camels from many countries.  No one watches an entire race, because it is quite long in distance.  Therefore, the only seats are at the finish line and are reserved for the royal family.  The winning camel receives a Lamborghini.    Second place is a Ferrari.  Every camel that makes the field wins a vehicle.  They range from Land Rovers to small pickup trucks.  Last year, the winner of the Lamborghini was Qatari.  34 Land Rovers were shipped to Dubai winners. 

 I posed with the winning cars.  Now, I’ve got to figure out how to get my own racing camel!  BTW, racing camels can cost $1 million or more.  (Do you think my friends in the USA could pass a hat?  It’s for a good cause!  I’ll let you ride in my Lamborghini!).  Mother camels are 12 years old.  After their racing and breeding careers, camels are used for butchering and food.  BTW, gambling is forbidden by Islam Quran, meaning that it is under the table.

Camels are domesticated by Sudanese Bedouins who live on camel farms in the desert.  During our stay a decade ago, I learned that the Sudanese farmer makes a certain noise with his mouth to get camels to lie down.  He makes another distinct noise with his mouth to get them to rise back up. There are other distinct noises that they make to get them to run and the like.  I learned to make the noise that commands them to lie down and was especially impressed with myself that the camel obeyed my noise.  I couldn’t make the sound to get them to rise back up.  I pondered that it was a gift from God to the camel that kept them from a perpetual motion of up and down to amuse myself with my newfound “talent!”    The camel also obeys the sound of the crack of the whip that the farmer makes.  I wasn’t able to duplicate this either, but a high school student in our party could.  I referred to the high schooler as, (wait for it…, wait for it…) “a young whipper-snapper!” 

Now if you’ve picked yourself off of the floor and dried your eyes from your tears of laughter, I’ll tell you a little more (note: I get a charge out of my own humor even when others bear a look of pain!).  In Qatar, camels also have other purposes aside from their benefits as working animals that transport heavy loads (and racing!).  First, they are used for milk.  Yes, Middle Eastern people drink camel’s milk.  I haven’t yet, but some have told me that it is sweet, while a Sri Lankan guide told me that it is nasty, because it is over the top creamy.  I’ll probably believe the latter.  A decade ago, a prospective student’s mother told me that Middle East folks use camel’s milk as an aphrodisiac.  I was floored.  However, when I shared this conversation point with one of our Qatari female friends and Edna, our friend was angry and told me that she’d never heard of it.  Further, she surmised that the lady was flirting with me in order to get her high school daughter, who was present at the time of the conversation, into the university.  Our friend became very protective of me. I don’t know.  (Hey, I’m just reporting what I witnessed). 

Second, and I’m sorry to offend some of you, and as I’ve alluded, camels are used in the Middle East for their meat.  (Orthodox Jews do not eat them).  I am told that they taste like lamb. Qataris use different seasonings and mixes to make them taste good.  I’m told that the hump is the best part, because it is the fatty part.  Folks don’t eat the stomach and the like.  Families buy the entire butchered camel for their families.  Even more, the Quran permits a male to have four wives (and thus families) at a time.  A camel will go to feed all four families.  The camels can be slaughtered at any time and I am told that there is a special delight in baby camels.  While the racing camels are smaller, the mothers can get very large (no going through an eye of the needle there!).  Some chefs and hosts like to play games with Westerners and tell them that they’ve just had their first camel meat, despite the fact that they didn’t, just to get a reaction, from turning sickly, to actually vomiting.  My son-in-law, upon seeing a picture of camel meat that we took at a market, said that he didn’t want lumps in his camel meat.

Camel Souks are markets.  They have the smell of the farms that we grew up around.  We visited the Camel Souk in Doha.  There we learned that camels come in three colors, brown means that they are from Sudan, white means that they are from Saudi Arabia, and black means that they are from Oman.  We also saw baby camels.  One camel was loose, but our guide advised against my approaching it for fear that i might “spook” it and be in danger.  The white females are the ones used for milk (I know you guessed the female aspect, and yes, I passed my high school biology!).  The others will be used in time for meat.  

In the autumn, Edna and I rode on our bus and passed a small truck with a camel lying in the bed of the truck, looking back at traffic as we passed it.  Our driver asked us to guess where it was going (the Green Mile). 

A decade ago, we visited a camel farm in the Qatar desert.  One particular camel was tied to a stake and blurting out a constant noise that nearly sounded as if it was wailing.  Other camels were within viewing distance of the ranch in the desert standing free without a fence (this is where the rancher snapped the whip and the camels in the wilderness came).  The “wailing” noise was constant and loud, unmistakable.  An American suggested that maybe the camel was in heat (is that an appropriate phrase for the desert?).  But the Sudanese farmer (expert) told us that the camel was a mother and her baby camel had died earlier that morning.  The “wailing” sound truly was mourning and the camel was segregated and tied up for her own protection, to keep her from harming itself.  Suddenly, we realized that this breed of animal shared an emotion akin to humans. 

Blessings to all of you, Bob & Edna

November in the Middle East

Dear friends and family,

We’ve had a couple of extremely busy weeks at CMU and it has been difficult to find the time to write.  In one week alone we were guests at the dean and his wife’s home four nights as he hosted nearly all the CMUQ personnel for outdoor dinners to express his gratitude.  Edna was the hostess and set up person each evening and we attended all four.  I’m not complaining, just explaining.  It’s a hard life for me to live, but I suck it up and attend the delicious meals in one of the most beautiful settings that I’ve ever had the privilege of personally knowing the people hosting.  Their back yard faces the bay and overlooks the opposite side of the city than us.  They have a wonderful looking pool connected to a Jacuzzi. 

Edna and I had to leave the country of Qatar with our visitor’s visa in order to return to Doha and have our visitor’s visa extended.  We flew to Dubai, UAE for a day.  Dubai is one of the wealthiest cities in the world and after recovering from a recession of a few years ago, is hustling and bustling again.  It is home of large shopping malls and skyscrapers, including the world’s largest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, which was seen in the last Mission Impossible movie. Tom Cruise was reported to have done his own stunts without netting, harnesses or other safety equipment as he runs and jumps along the side of the top of the building.  We’ve seen the building, it’s incredible height and beauty, and can only say to the “rumor” that Tom Cruise did his own stunts, “Yeah, sure!” 

A Former WPIA, Penn State and NY Giant’s star lives in a penthouse in the building and has done quite well in Middle East finances.  The Dubai Mall next to the Burj Khalifa is over three stories of shopping and restaurants, interspersed with a 3-story aquarium, an indoor ice rink, a waterfall and several stores that are not found anywhere else, such as a Disney Fashion store.  We ate lunch in the first Texas Roadhouse restaurant we’ve eaten at outside the USA.  The food was great and the servers from the Philippines did their Texas dance.  Edna and I did so much shopping that we walked 16,500 steps according to her fit-bit, which is 7.5 miles. 

We flew home that evening.  One of the notorious aspects of living in the Middle East is how poorly disciplined children are.  Qatari children are raised by nannies with no authority to discipline them.  The parents were raised by nannies themselves, so this all seems normal to them.  We’ve been at nice restaurants where the only ones oblivious to the running and screaming of the children are the parents themselves.  They are little imps in restaurants, malls, airports and even on planes, as they climb over seats. We’ve seen customers leave rather than sit in loud restaurants.  We’ve seen children doing things on the people movers at airports that should get them reprimanded by security, all the while, the parents are oblivious.  So when we see well behaved children, we realize almost immediately that these children are likely not Arab, they are not being raised by nannies, but by parents, and the families should be congratulated.  Edna is quick to do so, as are others, including waiters and waitresses which I’ve witnessed. 

The magazine in the plane had an ad for Doha.  At the bottom of the picture are boats in the bay.  Those boats are in front of our home.  We are on the 15^th floor looking into the bay.  Our son Andy said that he spotted me swimming with my Have a Nice Day with Attitude yellow swim cap, but I haven’t been able to find me yet!  J

Besides the other work that Edna does, assisting the dean, organizing, working with staff and the like, she has been taking different staff out for lunches and getting to know them and their settings.  They are very special people.  One of her assistants gave us a dress from India for our 3 year California girl, as her gratitude for all that Edna has done for her in 3 short months.  It’s a beautiful dress and our little princess will enjoy wearing it and playing in it.  When another lady heard, she asked Edna if our granddaughter had a dress from Pakistan.  Their kindness, generosity and appreciative attitude astound us. 

We were grocery shopping recently and saw camel burgers, so I took a picture of the meat.  Our son-in-law and daughter commented that they wanted theirs without lumps! 

I’m doing more events as an admission consultant, including a few late night events.  I’m speaking with more possible applicants and their parents.  This week, they even trust me to go to a school on my own for a four hour event.  Many folks ask the same questions. My hang-ups include the following: first, folks often speak softly due to their lack of courage using the English language, which is usually not their mother tongue.  On top of this, frequently they either say words poorly or accent syllables in ways I’m unfamiliar.  This means that at times I’ve had a hard time understanding questions, and by the time I figure out what they are asking, I’ve answered questions that weren’t asked.  On top of that, I’ve committed a couple cultural errors.  One, I’ve found myself leaning toward the speaker as they speak softly, especially in noisy areas.  I’ve been advised to ask them to speak louder because since leaning in intimidates them and invades their “space.”  I’ve also finished a positive conversation or two and reached out to shake the potential applicant’s hand.  This is fine for men.  Not for women.  I’m supposed to wait for them to offer their hand.  I’ve caught myself a couple times and the girls have gone ahead and shaken my hand.  Some bow.  Another problem is that not all schools are the same, and the ones in the British system use a different vocabulary for their courses than the American model schools.  But I’ve also learned that being an older, white, American male has its privileges in the Middle East.  Folks like to get the advice I give, regardless of the person standing next to me knowing more and having more experience.  I’ve learned that the same is true of professors; students want an older, white, American male teacher over others.  Surprisingly, not everyone knows that I’m American.  Recently, a father told me that he thought that I was Scandinavian!  When he learned of my identity, he complimented all Americans by telling me that in his travels to NYC, DC, and Miami he has found Americans to be the nicest, kindest, most helpful and quickest to laugh at jokes from foreigners and to forgive their mistakes than others in the world, especially Europeans.  (Except for the Irish and Scottish, I’d likely agree). 

Edna and I are worshipping with the Anglican-Episcopal church.  We love that their worship is organized and Christ-focused, they read the scriptures 4 times a service, they celebrate the Eucharist each service and invite those of other traditions, and that they preach the good news of Jesus.  The priest and his wife, along with the assistant priest, hosted us for dinner a week ago.  They are happy to have us and want us to use our gifts for ministry in their congregation.  They have asked us to host and lead a home Bible study, which we intend to start in January.  They are pleased with my standing with the Disciples of Christ, and our long tradition in scripture, theology and ecumenism.  They also do a lot for the poor and displaced in other

regions of the Middle East, especially Iraq and Iran.  Wishing to remain good citizens in Doha, they collect money and items for distribution, but wait for approval from the Qatari government, particularly His Highness the Emir.  The property upon which their building sits was given to them by the father of the current Emir.  A sign in the front of the building expresses gratitude to him.  This is quite a feat for a Muslim country.  One fund raiser is the sale of the replica of the stained glass window above the pulpit and Eucharist area.  At first glance one might think that it is merely a beautifully decorated window.  However, the Window is the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic script (calligraphy).  They also sell a depiction of the cross that is below the window and is a trademark of the church. 

Ironically, I’ve been sought out by devout Muslims who want to discuss my being a Christian as well as a pastor without a congregation.  Some are Muslim because it was the religion of their home and culture growing up.  Others are seeking a deeper path to worship God internally.  They acknowledge that many Muslims simply go through religious requirements without seeking to go deeper in their search for God’s pleasure in their lives.  They acknowledge the issues and problems with folks like ISIL (ISIS), Al-Qaida and the like, which they believe is totally off base.  Some of these have read more about Jesus, and have mentioned to me that the Quaran has an entire section on Mary and speaks more about Moses than any other singular individual, including Abraham or Mohammed.  One of the issues I’ve learned is that Islam does not deal with sin and repentance.  They believe that a prophet is one who never sinned anyway, so bringing up Jesus in this regard is of little value.  What they don’t recognize is that Adam, Abraham, Moses, David and Mohamed among others ever sinned.  They do not have the sections of their sins recorded, as we do in the Bible.  They believe that these people were so close to God that not only did they not sin; God spoke to them because of their sinlessness.  They also have difficulty with Jesus as God and with Jesus as God’s son, dying on the cross.  If that happened, then they believe that God tricked the people at the last moment and substituted a Jesus look alike.  Four things that they do not consider, and I suggest that most Christians haven’t either, is that if God substituted another on the cross, then someone weaker than God did God’s dirty work.  Therefore, God kept his hands clean as it were.  That’s the opposite of God becoming human and doing the dirty work himself, the work that no one else was capable or qualified to do, because he continues to love his creation.  Likewise, they don’t appreciate that on the cross, God actually put all sin and evil together (the reason for giving the law and allowing sinfulness to increase) and stomping it to smithereens!  Third, they do not have the appreciation that in the resurrection of the Son from the dead, Jesus makes possible for us to share the victory that he has won over death and destruction. And finally, that Heaven is not a place, but a realm, and that when God finally lifts the curtain that separates Heaven from earth, the two will be intertwined finally, and the earth will be transformed and renewed the way that God intended from the beginning in the Garden.  Rightly understood, this evokes courage and confidence for Christians as well as hope.  The difference between a strong Christian and a strong Muslim is not so much that Christians are better, smarter, and more correct or the like, but that we have hope.  That becomes evident in how we pray and live. 

Now if we Christians would show more love to Muslims as our fellow humans for whom Christ died, that would be a bonus.  We are finding these people to be some wonderful, kind and generous people.  Far from desiring our harm, their hospitality is a thing of beauty. 

We’ve realized a bit of a break in the oppressive heat of the desert.  It is much more comfortable than when we first came.  We’ve been able to sit and stand outside for lengths of time waiting on buses and taxis.  It’s been beautiful.  We know that recent flights from Pittsburgh to Qatar with exchanges in Philly, NYC and the like, have been cancelled due to weather.  Friends have seen snowflakes in Chicago and the Midwest.  Here, it is like summer, with temps in the high 80’s, low 90’s. 

We are asked frequently how safe we are.  Obviously, the Middle East has much turmoil and it is in the news more in the USA than here.  But it’s not next door.  It is several countries away.  However, we are kept abreast by national security concerns, rumors and leaks in communications by those who are doing damage in Syria, Iraq and the like.  We are advised to always be careful, but by and large, there is very little crime in this country.

When we flew from Doha to Istanbul in August, the air conditioning wasn’t working in the plane, and we sat on the runway for an hour as mechanics sought to repair it.  People in economy got very angry and yelled at the pilot and at the police.  They were rightfully concerned for small children and the elderly.  I told a Middle East lady from Jordan that I thought that at any time they would pull out knives, a caricature of Middle Easterners.   My friend laughed and encouraged me to blog, since I tell stories with such humor.  There are often car wrecks here.  We keep the police phone number and a couple of Arabic names from CMU who are here to rush in when we have wrecks and issues.  Drivers constantly honk their horns for any and every thing.  We asked one of our drivers one day if they ever have road rage here.  He couldn’t believe that in the USA drivers might have guns legally (or illegally) and harm other drivers.  He shared that you will see people yelling after accidents and the like, but they seldom point, because that is considered a rude gesture.  They never punch either, because if you strike a person and draw so much as a drop of blood, you will go to jail!  So he said that it’s not rare to see two guys yelling vehemently at each other after a wreck and then at the end, smiling and shaking hands.  Another gentleman told me that people are deported for such things as assault and the like, and most know that they will never receive the type of pay they get here.  So the Middle East way is to yell, knowing full well that they will not take it further nor will their opponent.  There’s a confidence. So we Americans see Middle East folks on the news yelling and we think that’s all they ever do, which in a sense it is.  But they don’t have shootings, road rage and the like, so maybe they are better off?

Last evening, we attended a dinner at the Dean’s house on his back patio again with faculty and special guests from Pittsburgh’s CMU.  We learned that Janet Jackson the singer is married to a Qatari man and is rumored to have become Islam. Reportedly, she is moving a couple doors down from the dean and his wife on the Pearl Island in Doha, into a mansion that is not quite finished yet.  I guess that means that Edna and I will only be the second most famous Jacksons living in Qatar!

Edna and I are bringing my mom here for a month long visit when we return from Christmas holiday.  We are looking forward to it.   I’m sure that she is, too.  We hope that this is not her only time to come with us, but we shall see what she thinks.  To be fair, we would not bring her here if we ever thought that she was in danger.  We’d like for our children and grandchildren to come in time.  We’ll see.

 We love you all and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Bob & Edna

EID Mubarak

Dear Friends and Family,

As I shared recently in a different setting, we don't get several of the American holidays off in Qatar, such as Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  However, we are currently in the midst of a five day holiday.  It is the holiday of EID or more officially, since there are two EID holidays during the year, EID al-Adha.  It is known as the "Feast or Festival of the Sacrifice," and commemorates the Father of the Arabs (and Muslims), Abraham's willingness to offer his promised son, Ishmael, as an act of submission to God's command before God then intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead.

The word EID is pronounced with a long "E".  For the Muslims it is a festival in which they simultaneously remember the poor and celebrate with family. Friday is a holy day, the day of Islam worship.  It is followed by four days of commemoration, Saturday through Tuesday.  We have those days off at work.  We have Friday and Saturday anyway.  Most people then take off Wednesday and Thursday to make it a 10 day celebration and holiday.  Many travel to other Middle East countries to visit with family.  Edna and I will work on Wednesday and Thursday and are using the time to relax and do shopping and touring.  Next Friday we travel to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for a day.  I hope to share more insights on our trip in our next blog.

The EID holiday is celebrated with cards and greetings.  EID Mubarak (our title) means "Blessed EID" or blessed holiday.  Muslims began Thursday evening after sundown with a fast in which they only eat dates until midnight.  Friday they fast all day until sundown when they begin a celebration.  Families slaughter a sheep or lamb.  They give one third of it to the poor.  Since most in Qatar consider that there is no one poor in this country (others would beg to differ), frequently they have a relative in another country buy a sheep, slaughter it, prepare it and give the third to the poor in that country.  They give a second third to family.  The final third is kept for the host family.  Three different size sheep have been advertised on taxis and billboards, to satisfy the needs of different size families.  The streets have been fairly quiet today, almost like Christmas back home.  Yesterday, our worship was considerably smaller as many Westerners use the time off to escape to other places to visit.  Several have suggested that since this holiday comes so close on the heels of summer break, they would not travel this year.  My director and his wife and two small children joined a group from the church we attend to travel to Jordan, across the Jordan River from Palestine and Israel (the East Bank if you will), to take food and other objects from the church to displaced Christians who recently have been displaced from Iraq (perhaps you've heard of the terror by ISIS to Christians in Mosul) and other countries.

I will give a bit of history and theology in the next two paragraphs for those who don't wish to read this part.  (I can't imagine how anyone could find this boring.  Edna does not share my sentiment!
The astute Bible student recognizes that this is a shifting of the story of Abraham offering his promised son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah before God intervened, congratulating Abraham on his faith, and instead offering a ram to be slaughtered.

It is admirable that the Muslims mark this holiday by thinking of the poor.  We might be prone to think as Christians that we do not do enough to consider Abraham's submission to God by offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  But it is unlikely that God asked Abraham to offer a son twice.  Besides this, scripture never calls Ishmael Abraham's promised son.  That title is reserved for Isaac alone.  Ishmael, is the son of Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl of Sarah, Abraham's wife whom she gave to Abraham because she considered herself too old to bear children.  God promised that Abraham would be the father of two great nations, Ishmael of the Arabs and Isaac of the Israelites.  But there is good theological basis for retaining the promise of God to Abraham through Isaac.  God promised Abraham that his descendants would be vast, and would acquire land and a great nation, but most of all, that all the nations of the world would be blessed through his seed.  The nation of Israel, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel) were called the Son of God collectively.  But they were unable to be faithful to God's promise, because as Paul shares in Romans 5-8, they were strongly influenced by the sinful nature of Adam, God's first "Son" to fail.  But Jesus has taken the mantle and with his sinless and holy life, faithfully and obediently offered himself on the cross, whereby God's original intent to Adam and promise to Abraham are now being ushered in.  Through his resurrection, Christ has and is conquering death, evil and sin in our world and fulfills the promise that Abraham will be the father of all the faithful and that God will restore the world.  The Apostle Paul purposefully uses the language of God to Abraham when he was willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, to transfer its meaning to Christ, when he says, "For He (God) did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?" (Romans 8: 34).  Romans 8 has to be one of, if not the finest chapters in all of the Bible.  It is then followed up with Romans 9, where Paul mourns and grieves the failure of the Jews as a nation and as a whole to follow Jesus, God's promise to Abraham.  In rehearsing the many blessings of the Jews, which is nearly a copy of Romans 2, Paul names that the Israelites have the blessing of "adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 9:4, 5).  That they were considered God's son and that all the prophets and promises belong to them and the Patriarchs would suggest Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This would disqualify Ismael (and Mohamed) from the first, but not the second, that the Messiah can be their Messiah, Lord and Savior as well.

Back to our Adventure in Doha (welcome back those of you who skipped the historical and theological section!  Well done those of you who plowed through that part!  I'm proud of you!).

Things are very good here in Qatar.  The days are still very hot, but not quite as unbearable as they were a few weeks ago, particularly in the evening and early morning. You will notice that one of our pictures is a poster advocating charity to the poor, oppressed and especially children in Syria.  The same is said to have been done for Palestinians who were bombed out of their homes in the conflict in Gaza and surrounding area.  Qatar seems to us to be compassionate.  The Islam faith encourages giving of 2% of their income to the poor.

A further warning!  (Shhhsh!)  The next two paragraphs will deal with Middle East politics.  For those of you who find this boring (what!!!), meet me in two paragraphs!

I should answer an issue that I've seen addressed and heard before, namely, that Qatar supports ISIS militants (terrorists) and others.  Even an Ambassador charged in an opinion piece in the NY Times that Qatar supported Hamas in the recent war in Gaza.  Recently, I saw that columnist George Will suggested that America has to get Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to stop supporting ISIS.  In a recent letter supporting America not go back into war, Sojourners' editor and Christian Jim Wallis made the same point (in this piece he did not elaborate how America would defeat ISIS without war.  One would need to read old articles to discover his proposal).  You can imagine how those of us who live in Qatar are asked about these things and our own safety.  But one thing to consider is that recently it was revealed that over 100 Americans have gone over to fight for ISIS.  It is not beyond the imagination that if 100 have gone to fight, others have no doubt sent money to ISIS from America to support their cause.  I have not heard that George Will, Jim Wallis or anyone else has said that we need to get America to stop supporting this ruthless cause.  That's because Americans would distinguish what the country and government do from what those who live in the country do.  This is similar to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.  Qatar has denied that the government sends any money for these causes.  But every time anyone sends money from these countries, the media of the West suggests that the nation supports these causes.  Qatar is the nation that played the leading role in securing the release of Peter Theo Curtis, an American journalist hostage from extremists.  They played a major role in helping USA trade American soldier Sgt Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Cuba, who are being housed in a major hotel here in Doha for a year.  While many would question the wisdom of this latter trade, it was nevertheless this country that did the USA a favor.

I confess that no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors and we would all be foolish to say that our government or any other is pure and pristine.  But Qatar has been compared to the Switzerland of the Middle East and from our vantage point attempts to walk a fine tight rope among their Arab, Muslim neighbors and Israel, USA and the western nations.  Others will have to wait to speak of the success or failure of their efforts.

Welcome back those who skipped the political talk!

I had three comical snippets I wanted to share with our friends.  My college dorm mate, U.S. Naval Captain and Chaplain Dennis Young sent a picture of a frog asking, "Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?"

My cousin, Harold Ray, son of my cousin Terry, had a statement that I believe originates from Will Farrow.  In light of October being the month of Halloween, he states that, "Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Halloween.  I guess they don't appreciate random people coming up to their door!"

And third, I got a chuckle from Edna as we watched American TV, and the soft, concerned voice began, "Do you suffer from Manic Depression?" to which I answered, "Sometimes I do and Sometimes I don't!"

Finally, you will notice a couple pictures of the skyline of Doha and some of the beautiful sculptures in the area.  Some of the days here are so picturesque that we feel that we are living in a postcard.  God has blessed us richly in allowing us to live here in the desert.  Our thoughts and prayers continue for our friends and family in the USA.


Love,

Bob & Edna

Our Beginnings

I've been asked by two people to consider writing a blog dealing with Edna and my excellent adventure to Qatar, the Middle East and the desert.  The first person to suggest it was a high school classmate who commented on my Facebook that I have the potential to help Christians and Muslims understand each other a bit better, particularly Christians in the USA.  The second was a Muslim co-worker, who suggested that I have such humorous takes on my experiences here.  Since I was writing a monthly email letter to friends, family and church family in Pittsburgh anyway, I decided that maybe it would be easier to write as my thoughts directed me, instead of waiting for a monthly deadline.  We thought that it would be fun to call it "Bob & Edna's Excellent Adventure," because that is what  it has been, a gift from God.  We have found both the people in the school, but the people of Qatar to be excellent in so many ways.  We figured that it would be fun to share some that with those interest in other parts.

We receive lots of questions from home.  I'll try to answer some of them first.  We are seven hours ahead of folks in Pittsburgh; ten ahead of loved ones in Orange County, California. When the clocks changes back home from Daylight Savings Time, we will be eight and eleven.  Needless to say, sometimes it is difficult speaking to folks in Pittsburgh.  They are either in bed or we are.  As I told my sons, unfortunately, being ahead in the day does not allow me to give them the winning lottery numbers nor tell them if the Pirates, Steelers or Penguins won before those things happen in Pittsburgh!  It it hot here?  Very!  Especially in the daytime.  We live in the desert where it is frequently in the 100's and the morning begins in the high 90's.  However, it is beginning to cool down.  In a week or so, temperatures should be ideal, and we won't need to seek out shade and hiding from the sun so much. Late September until late May is an excellent time to be in Doha, Qatar, climate wise.  I've been told that in January we may need long sleeves in the evening, but I've also been told that it will be like summers in the States.  One of the questions deals with language and cultural barriers; yes there are issues.  Most folks can speak some range of English, some very good. Most things have two languages on them, such as stores, menus, products and the like.  Not everything is the same.  Their oils for cooking make the potato chips taste a little different.  They eat more lamb, no pork products, no alcohol products except in the best hotels and even then, the bars only serve those in Western clothes, not the Arabic clothing, and their desserts taste a lot different than ours, in our opinion, not as good.  But there is so much beauty here, both Natural land architectural and the like,  Doha is a booming community.  Since were were here ten years ago, they have more than doubled from 800,000 to 2.2 million.  Qatari citizens only make up about 350 thousand, but they are the only citizens of the country and they are the only landowners of the country.  Due to natural gas reserves and the small size of the country, they are the richest country in the world. The Qataris are multi-millionaires and pretty much everyone makes more here than they do in their home countries.  However, there is a great discrepancy for us Americans in the wages of laborers than in the USA.  But compared to what they make in their poverty stricken countries, they are doing much better.  But they pay the price of leaving their families for a few years at a time.  While this bothers some Westerners, others feel that they are volunteering to do this and are generally happy.  But there is constant building of buildings and roads.  There is heavy traffic.  And there are those times when language barriers prevail.

We fell in love with the place and the people ten years ago.  That is why we were very excited to return when the dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar invited us to be part of the school again.  We believe in what CMU is doing here.  They are offering the brightest young folks in the Middle East Arabic speaking countries (and beyond) the opportunity to study Computer Science, Business Administration, Information Systems, Biological Science and Computational Science.  Other schools like Cornell, Texas AM, Georgetown, Northwestern and Virginia Commonwealth make up Education City of the Qatar Foundation along with us.  They offer the programs in which they are leading schools:  Cornell medicine and Texas AM petroleum engineering to name two.

One of the interesting aspects of our journey has been our conversations
 with Muslims.  At our orientation seminar during our first days here, we discussed safety issues as well as cultural sensitivities.  We were cautioned against speaking in public on political issues, particularly dealing with Qatar.  There is so much misinformation, particularly coming from the States.  We were also advised not to entertain discussions regarding religion, particularly Islam-Christian relations.  It is against the law for a  Muslim to convert to Christianity and no Qatari citizen is a Christian.  But ten years ago we were told that while we could not proselytize, we were free to answer any questions.  This came from an Arab Muslim.  Immediately after meeting several Arab co-workers, I have been asked about my station in life as a pastor, because I am an enigma.  Folks want to know if I can still be a pastor since I don't have a church.  It is rare that the folks in Qatar have met one, much less discussed their questions with one.  Everyone has been very polite.  We discuss differences of faith without attempting to persuade the other.  I learn that as with Christianity, some Muslims are ardent in their faith and know it very well, while others do not know it or practice it.  They politely answer my questions about their religion in return.  In fact, one young Muslim lady was describing how someone was treated and used the phrase, "He got crucified," then immediately apologized if she had offended me.  I realized that others do knot know our faith that well and don't want to offend.  But here is what I've learned about them:  they pray five times a day.  Islam is deep within the culture.  It has been here for centuries.  They are embarrassed and humiliated by the actions of terrorists such as ISIS and would have us know that their actions in no way are within the teachings of the Koran.  They want to live land let live and by and large are a peaceful people, which in part is the definition of the term "Islam," which means "submit."  They are submitting themselves to God and his laws as they understand them. The finest Muslims actually have a good rapport with the most spiritual Christians. They are drawn to them and admire them.

Another interesting item is that with the first weeks of the Fall Semester, the students had a "Pizza and Politics" luncheon in which the students had a free exchange on the top of "Israel and Palestine."  To be fair, there are no Jews nor Israelis here in Qatar or on the campus of CMUQ.  My understanding is that they would not be able to secure a visa to study here.  But he people want Americans to know that Palestinians have not been treated fairly by Israelis, particularly the Israeli government.  While they regret some actions of Palestinians and Arabs, they feel that most were done in retaliation.  Palestinians whose ancestors owned the land for centuries are continually having their properties and rights taken away from them.  The Arabs distinguish between Israelis and Israeli government.  Their issue is with the government.

In closing let me answer two questions.  First, Edna's role is assisting and administering the Dean's office.  He is the CEO of this campus.  The Chief Operating Official tells us that Edna is #2 on this campus.  Second, my role is now as Senior Consultant to the Director of Admissions.  I am humbled to receive such respect, but am honored to help this school secure some of the brightest and best young minds in an effort to enhance the future of this country and this area.  And finally, how safe are we.  Locally, there no dangerous crime. Qatar has one of, if not the finest police systems in the world.  They pay to have the best. Second, as far as wars and things, we are fairly safe, at least as safe as anyone could be. CMU does not recruit in war torn Arab lands, so I have a feel for which ones are dangerous. We are not one.  US military has a presence in the country and in the region.  The danger in the news is several hours away from us by airplane.  While anything can happen at anytime, both this nation and our own work pretty hard to ensure safety.  For that we are very grateful.

Blessings to all, 
Bob and Edna