Volume 37 Number 5                         September/October 1995


Annual Meeting Hot

Green rolling hills and sultry weather provided the setting for the 1995 ASA Annual Meeting at Montreat-Anderson (soon to be Montreat again) College. In its 80th year, the college is nestled in the Appalachian town of Montreat, North Carolina, home of evangelist William F. "Billy" Graham. Montreat is about 15 miles east of Asheville.

The meeting theme had an international orientation. Instead of a single keynote speaker, five Christians involved in helping emerging societies told of their work and how it came to be.

The first to speak, Bryan Duncan, directs the International Center for Aquaculture and Aquatic Environments at Auburn U. in Alabama. After teaching at Houghton C. (where he knew Don Munro), he joined the Peace Corps and was sent to the Philippines. There he met a Peace Corps worker who subsequently became a Christian and returned to the Philippines later as a missionary. He now heads a missionary organization which Bryan shares in leading.

Auburn U. has a large aquaculture program and missionaries from the emerging world come there for technical help. Living Water Inc. was started for them-an example of scientists helping missions work. Bryan recommends specializing early in a given region of the world; his is Asia. Aquaculture has great utility, nutrition, and economic payback, but Bryan is also strong on "participatory methodologies" and the appropriate application of technology.

The second keynoter was Rolf Myhrman of Judson C. in Elgin, IL. He directs its Nutrition Research Program, addressing problems of malnutrition by the introduction of new food plants in developing countries and detoxification of indigenous varieties. Graduate students at Judson are involved in its projects, which gives them a sense of satisfaction, doing work that directly leads to the benefit of others. Another aspect of Rolf's work is to give local researchers "tool support," doing analyses they are not equipped for and teaching them experimental design.

A common problem in diet is a lack of high-quality protein and the velvet bean is a promising source. It is widely distributed, puts nitrogen back into the soil, chokes out weeds, and is drought and insect resistant. When planted with corn, it can increase yields by three times. The problem is that it contains high amounts (typically 5% by weight) of L-DOPA, related to dopamine. A dopamine shortage in humans is related to Parkinson's disease, but too much can cause psychotic behavior. Rolf's objectives are to develop a rapid assay for L-DOPA, analyze its content in bean flours, determine the effectiveness of treatments to reduce L-DOPA amounts, and analyze different varieties of beans for their L-DOPA content (which have been found to vary by a factor of two). The program collaborates with foreign organizations in Central America and Africa and with Martin Price's ECHO.

Christians are beginning to support this research financially and Rolf's lab has recently acquired automated equipment that is speeding analysis. Which plant is next? Probably the jack bean. Rolf's lab gets more than enough bean flour for analysis, but some good velvet-bean recipes have yet to emerge!

The third keynote speaker, Larry Butler of Purdue U., was the mentor of the fifth speaker and program chair, Martin Price. Larry was doing basic research in enzyme catalysis and told of God's leading him to applied research on sorghum, which is grown by African farmers. The problem is the striga weed, which is parasitic on other plants' roots. It can make harvest of sorghum very difficult and result in up to 40% loss in yield. Except for drought, it is the most serious constraint on cereal food production in Africa. Larry has worked on striga-resistant sorghums which have been distributed by World Vision.

The fourth speaker, Bob Oehrig, taught for 15 years at Daystar U. in Kenya, Africa. Daystar is one of two private, accredited Kenyan universities and was started by Africans. Bob is executive director of Daystar USA. He applies social science methods to missions. Research of this kind tends to be disregarded in East African mission projects because it is considered too costly, not directly related to outreach, minimizes God's part in mission work, is too Western in methodology, and/or not enough Africans are trained to do it.

A Christian youth magazine, now the widest African magazine in circulation, took an approach based on costly initial results of social research. The research results saved them from possible failure. Such research can benefit missions through community needs surveys (health, literacy, education), congregational needs and attitudes assessments, youth studies, media impact (audience research), and anthropological studies. Bob gave intriguing examples of how mission efforts can succeed or fail based on knowledge of how people in a given culture effectively receive the word, and who the gatekeepers of information are. Bob finished by offering this advice: Move beyond success to significance.

The last speaker, Martin Price, moved beyond success to significance in his quest to find the will of God. He knew at age 18 that he wanted to be a biochemist and he became a college biochemistry professor. As a student, he also became a Christian through contact with InterVarsity Fellowship (IVF). Knowing that we are not saved by good works but are saved to do them instead-to take action-he asked himself, "What action?" Martin read every book he could on knowing the will of God and even wrote to IVF. The answer that came back was: ask God to guide and then decide what to do. That is, God guides through our decisions but does not make them for us.

His biochemistry background was not only good for medicine, but also for agriculture, which he decided to pursue. He volunteered for a time at Cornell U. for the training before he got a response from Larry Butler at Purdue U. to do research there. While at Purdue U., Martin volunteered as a consultant with a little group called Educational Concerns for Haiti Organization, the original ECHO. When it became evident that to make ECHO succeed someone needed to direct it full-time, he quit his job-then at Battelle-and went to ECHO (with the H now standing for "Hunger"). Today ECHO holds an agricultural missions conference and receives 6,000 visitors annually. Last August, ECHO made the front page of the Wall Street Journal, which boosted support considerably. ECHO helps emerging cultures with ideas, information (to implement ideas), and seeds. Experimental gardens at their site in North Ft. Myers, Florida, are used to develop and test plants that can produce satisfactory yields under the various conditions found in arid parts of Africa, rain forests of South America, or the rooftops of buildings in Moscow.

Both Martin Price and Larry Butler came from poor rural backgrounds where no one was expected to go to college. The stories each of the five speakers told of their lives demonstrated, as Bryan's talk title put it, "A Tapestry of Providence." Each speaker showed a harmony of recognizing and acting decisively upon opportunities and of enduring patiently in preparation. In time, God made evident to each their quest against the background of their previous training and experience. Each of these ministries has grown in response to needs among emerging peoples, and each ministry demonstrates that science is important to missionary endeavors. Do you want to do significant work as a foreign missionary? Nowadays, a science background can be a good preparation for advancing the kingdom of God in less-developed regions of the earth.

ASAers in Action

Personals

Randall D. Isaac gave two papers at this year's Annual Meeting while attending with his wife, Marta. Both are Wheaton C. graduates. They are living in Vermont, but Randy has been named Director of IBM's new microprocessor laboratory in Austin, Texas. Future IBM microprocessors-the "computing engines" in personal computers and workstations-will be based on innovations from this lab. Randy notes that "the Austin Lab will provide an environment to create innovative solutions in microprocessor technology that can be applied to IBM's products." He has been a senior manager in the Semiconductor R&D Center of the IBM Microelectronics Division, which developed a 64 Mbit DRAM (dynamic random-access memory-not the disk memory but that with which the processor directly interacts). This project was done jointly with Siemens and Toshiba. One of Randy's talks at the Annual Meeting described the cultural and spiritual dimensions of such a cosmopolitan collaboration. Now that the Isaacs are heading south, they are looking forward to meeting other ASAers in the Austin area. And Randy might be the "spark-plug" (or is it "clock signal") needed to help get a local section going!

Susan Halbert is now a systematic entomologist at the Florida Dept. of Agriculture's Div. of Plant Industry in Gainesville. She is identifying pests of potential quarantine or regulatory significance and helping to devise strategies for managing or eradicating them, such as plant diseases transmitted by insects. Susan is glad to have found a permanent position that reflects her desire to be of service to production agriculture.

Earlier this year, Jim and Katherine Buswell celebrated an institution of half a century-their marriage! Actually, for big five-zero, there were multiple celebrations: in St. Louis with relatives, a surprise celebration with a recital, and at the U., a two-tiered wedding cake! Married on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), fifty years later on the same date, the Buswell's got away from all this excess cake by repairing to their familiar Baker's Square restaurant for supper. When the waitress saw all the anniversary cards, a spontaneous fourth celebration occurred when the whole place broke out in cheers and clapping, singing "Happy Anniversary to you ..." And they got free pie for dessert!

The Newsletter of the ASA and CSCA

Squibs

"Mountaintop Experience" for ASA

In 1835, Elisha Mitchell, a science professor at the U. of NC, was measuring mountain elevations and concluded that Grandfather Mountain, thought to be the highest at the time, was not higher than peaks in- the Black Mountains. Using a barometer and math, he figured the highest elevation to be 6,476 feet, and from later visits in 1838 and 1844, 6,672 feet - in error by only 12 feet. In 1915, Mount Mitchell became the first state park in North Carolina, with (at least) five hiking trails of varying difficulties.

Sunday worship and a picnic lunch were held on this peak in the Black Mountains. Mount Mitchell's 6684-foot peak is the highest east of the Mississippi River. It was misty and tranquil as we sang songs praising the Creator, led by Larry and Susan Martin. Robert C. Newman talked on "Managing a Charitable Trust." Well, that was the sermon title. It turned out to be an exposition on the parable of the unjust steward.

From the Executive Director's Corner

My heart is full from these last few weeks when I had the privilege to travel to Kenya and then attend the ASA Annual Meeting in Montreat, NC. Dennis Feucht will tell you a lot about the meeting so most of my remarks will be on Kenya. We did have a very good Council meeting around Mike Sonnenberg's huge dining room table. Because we couldn't move on campus until Saturday, the Sonnenbergs graciously opened their home to us for lodging and Council meetings.

My arrival in Nairobi on June 30 was at 8:30 p.m. I had to roll back my watch eight hours. The next day at 9:00 a.m. was the African Institute for Scientific Research and Development (AISRED) Council meeting and I never felt jet lag-thank the Lord! Present for the meeting were Christopher Karue, George Kinoti, Wilfred Mlay, Martin Price, Stephen Talitwala, and myself. Dr. Karue is the Chairman and Dr. Kinoti is the Director. We had a good, lively discussion and a wonderful surprise. Just the previous night, Dr. Kinoti heard from Bread for the World (Germany) that AISRED was awarded 1.5 million Kenya shillings (about $27,000 to $28,000 U.S.). This grant will allow a good start on the Daystar development farm and a continuation of the anti-tick research work. We had good reason for praise and rejoicing. That night Martin and I had a very fine meal at George's house where we met his lovely wife and children.

The next day Martin and I went to Mombasa with Dr. Kinoti and Dr. Jasper Mumo, an immunologist from the U. of Nairobi Medical School, to sample bark from various species of Commiphora trees. This species is noted for its anti-tick properties and AISRED researchers hope to isolate the best anti-tick chemicals from the tree for use by Kenya herders. We got as far as the entrance to Tsavo East, then turned back, and continued our sampling on the way home. On July third Martin and I had the privilege of visiting the new campus of Daystar U. on the Athi River. AISRED is an affiliate of the university. Dr. Stephen Talitwala, vice-chairman of Daystar U. was our guide. He showed us the 70 acres of semi-arid land where the AISRED drylands development farm will be located. There are areas for terraced farming, tree planting, and field crops with irrigation from a newly constructed, earthen dam. The Bread for the World grant will allow a survey of organizations around Kenya with similar concerns, a needs assessment of the communities surrounding the Athi River campus of Daystar U., the construction of a site topographical map, a vegetation inventory of the AISRED site, and a workshop to discuss and evaluate the proposed programs.

Daystar U. is now examining the feasibility of including undergraduate programs in science. Robert Martin, a chemist from Messiah College, will be spending this academic year at Daystar U. to expedite the inclusion of more science in the curriculum. My own dream is to see Kenya science undergraduates enter graduate programs through Daystar U. and AISRED. Daystar is accredited to offer the Ph.D. An African student could remain in the surrounding culture, work directly on African problems for research, and be available to help the local area once the degree is completed. This does not always happen with the present possibility of "deculturation" when one goes to another continent for study and research. The remainder of my time in Kenya was spent visiting missionaries, doing science consultation at the Rift Valley Academy (RVA), seeing Moffat Bible C. where I taught, souvenir shopping, and visiting the Karen Blixen Museum where the book and movie, Out of Africa, evolved. What a privilege it was to live at Mayfield House that is run by the Africa Inland Mission (AIM)! Missionaries are coming and going from Mayfield all the time and the stories that one hears could fill a book.

My return to Africa after seventeen years was a deeply moving experience. It was incredible to see many of the same missionaries and the same house where we lived in Kijabe in 1978. The facilities of Daystar U., Moffat Bible C., and the RVA had tremendous improvements. I also fulfilled the phrase that Joy Adamson, author of Born Free and other books, wrote to me in the flyleaf of one of her books in July 1978-"Once your foot has touched Africa, you will doubtless return." I thank the Lord for the privilege.

How can we help? Eventually, Daystar U. and AISRED will need science supplies and I hope that we can work on that as an organization. Right now there are needs at RVA. They need twelve good microscopes (even oil immersion, if possible) for advanced high school biology, one binocular microscope, and some dissecting tools including fine point and regular scissors, forceps, probes, and scalpels with blades. They also need up-to-date copies of The Physics Teacher, The Science Teacher, The American Biology Teacher, and one person even requested Virology. If you can supply any of these things in good condition, please contact me at the ASA office and I will give you the details about shipping them to AIM in Pearl River, NY. They can request a suspension of duty on equipment. If you are unfamiliar with RVA, it is a U. S. accredited, grade one to twelve school attended mostly by sons and daughters of missionaries from around eastern Africa. They are precious young people and the RVA faculty is attempting to give them an excellent education. A very high percentage go on to college or university.

Thank you for the hundreds of ASA Information Sheets which have poured into the office. I am compiling the data. If yours is not in, please do not delay. Heartfelt thanks for the donations that continue to come. Each one is needed. So far this year we have kept in the black. We still need donations of $35,000 to $40,000 in 1995. Let us be in prayer for David Moberg and Dan and Faith Osmond as they work hard on the details of our 1996 Annual Meeting in Toronto, July 26-29. Robert C. Linthicum, Director of the Office of Urban Advance for World Vision International, is slated to be the plenary speaker.

Don Munro