finishing

My third semester of graduate school is over! The last class was actually last Thursday, but it took until now for me to really surface again out my exhaustion and busy weekend. The biggest and most interesting thing I did this semester was the ABCFM project at the Congregational Library for my archives internship. To see a few pictures of the displays and read what I had to say about the project, you can read my post on the Congregational Library blog here.

In other news: I'm flying home in three days! Hooray! I am definitely ready to be home for Christmas.

-Kim

Dianna and Ann

As I continue working on my semester internship project at the Congregational Library, I am continually coming across individuals and materials that make me think of Dianna and her upcoming trip to India. I suppose that's not really surprising, since I am researching a Christian missionary society. But the connections are too powerful to be written off as mere coincidence.

I've always been interested in/excited about Adoniram Judson because of my connection to him through camp Judson. In the course of my research, however I'm becoming more and more impressed by his first wife Ann Hasseltine. (In the course of his missionary work Judson was twice a widower and three times married.) The Judsons, in 1812, were the first missionaries to be sent out from America, along with several others from the ABCFM. Their mission was to India. I was especially moved by a sermon I found in the Congregational Library collection. While not an official commissioning service, the message does address the imminent departure of the missionaries, paying special attention to the women, which is surprising for the era. Following is an excerpt of the "Sermon, delivered at Haverhill, February 5, 1812, on the occasion of two young ladies being about to embark as the wives of Rev. Messieurs Judson and Newell, going missionaries to India. By Jonathan Allen, pastor of the First Church in Bradford." Please forgive awkward phrasing, grammar and punctuation--it was 1812, after all. This section was addressed directly to Ann Hasseltine Judson and Mary Newell.

My dear children--you are now engaged in the best of causes. It is that cause for which Jesus the Son of God came into the world and suffered and died. You literally forsake father and mother, brothers and sisters, for the sake of Christ, and the promotion of his kingdom. In this employment you, probably, have an arduous work before you--A work, that will occupy all your talents and much of your time.

"When I was at Chinganoor," says Dr. Buchanan (a place inhabited by christians) "the sight of the women assured me I was once more in a christian country. For the Hindoo women, and the Mahomedon women, and, in short, all women, who are not christians, are accounted by the men an inferior race, and, in general, are confined to the house for life, like irrational creatures."

It will be your business, my dear children, to teach these women, to whom your husbands can have but little, or no access. Go then, and do all in your power, to enlighten their minds, and to bring them to the knowledge of the truth. Go, and if possible, raise their character to the dignity of rational beings, and to the rank of christians in a christian land. Teach them to realize, that they are not an inferior race of creatures; but stand upon a par with men. Teach them that they have immortal souls; and are no longer to burn themselves, in the same fire, with the bodies of their departed husbands. Go, bring them from their cloisters into the assemblies of the saints. Teach them to accept Christ as their Savior, and to enjoy the privilages of the children of God.

[...]

And may the Lord himself be with you, and support and comfort you, and be your portion forever.

And now I use Allen's powerful words to commission and encourage Dianna Anderson, on her own mission to India with Faceless International to join the fight against human trafficking.

Dianna, in this employment you have an arduous work before you--a work that will occupy all your talents and much of your time. It will be your business to teach the world of these women, who suffer in sexual slavery and destitution. Go then, and do all in your power to be enlightened and to enlighten our minds, and to bring us to the knowledge of the truth of these gross injustices. Go, and if possible, raise our character to the dignity of rational beings, and to the rank of Christians who do not ignore evils present in the land. Teach us to realize that these girls are not an inferior race of creatures to be bought and sold but stand upon a par with all mankind. Teach us to remember that they are children of God. Go, and show them the love of their Redeemer. Go, and may the Lord himself be with you.

Go, and in serving, inspire us to serve.

-Kim

Learn more about Dianna's mission to India here.

Semester Project

So, when the JFK Presidential Library turned me down for a student position in the Hemingway Archives, I was initially pretty bummed. But I consoled myself with the thought that my required LIS440 internship this semester would just have to be somewhere impressive so I could beef up my resume. But that didn't happen either. As it turns out, there was a project waiting for me that I never would have expected. And just as I had to be rejected by Harvard to spend the summer doing historical ministry at Park Street Church, I had to be turned down by JFK before I could get my dream project.

I'm actually going to be back at the Congregational Library, where I had my first experience doing real archival arrangement and description during my internship last fall. This time the project is quite a bit bigger. Of all the 440 internships available this semester, it is by far the most exciting. Check out the official description:

The intern will assist in researching, developing, and creating exhibits documenting the history of The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.). The American Board was the first American Protestant foreign missionary society and will be celebrating its two-hundredth anniversary in 2010. The intern will be responsible for selecting materials, creating labels, installing exhibits, creating publicity materials, and scanning materials for on-line exhibit use on the web site. The intern may write for the blog or the e-newsletter and may lead a discussion on the exhibits at a Brown Bag lunch event.

How cool is that?

As soon as I read the description I contacted my previous supervisor to ask about the project, and the short version of the story is that they are glad to have me back. I'll be starting my research on Monday.

In my research to be a PSC tour guide I read a bit about the ABCFM, as Park Street was one of the churches involved in commissioning the first group of missionaries the group sent out, including Adoniram Judson. Yes, that Judson. The man the best Christian summer camp in the world, where I spent the best weeks of my summers growing up, is named after.

So my job will be to put together both online and physical exhibits that showcase the various missions the ABCFM has supported through the years, beginning with Judson and moving forward through the present. I think that actually sounds far more interesting than sorting through Hemingway's old receipts.

On the practical side of things, this project actually will look amazing on my resume in spite of being at a smaller institution. My project will have a real finished product to show, and is completely different from what I did last year.

And I feel that this is the sort of work I am supposed to be doing. The more time I spend in the archives/library world, the more I think I want to work for a religious institution. It's always been in the back of my mind as a sort of "oh, it would be nice to work for a Christian school/organization someday." But now the thought has made its way to the front of my mind. I still don't know where I'll be going after I graduate next May (side note: I already had to turn in my petition to graduate; it feels far too soon to be doing that! Didn't I just get here?), but the opportunities I have been led to so far definitely have a religious trend. It just makes me wonder what opportunity God will open up for me next.

-Kim