Ian Yunker, '05, writes on 12/22/07:

Greetings Duke Lutherans!  I was pleasantly surprised to see an email from Duke Lutherans and followed the link to the website. It certainly looks like things are going very well back at Duke and I can see that the Lutherans are still having fun and making a difference. I remember fondly the friendships and good times with the Lutherans at Duke and recall with gratitude all that Duke Lutherans did for my faith.  My friends there helped me through some very tough times and helped me to take my faith to a level I had never experienced before. I am so thankful for my time there, it changed my life. It makes me happy to know that Duke Lutherans and St. Paul's are still doing the same for other people.

 As for me, I am living in Corpus Christi TX now.  I left Jacksonville after my last deployment and am now serving aboard the mine sweeper USS Avenger and enjoying living in Corpus.  I married Emily Taylor, yes that girl for those of you who may remember, in Mobile on September 1st of this year.  It was a great wedding.  Darren came down for it, as did Jared from the Episcopal group, and we had ourselves a time.  We have found a spiritual home here in Corpus at St. Mark's Lutheran Church and are enjoying it very much.  Emily is working as a vet tech here and is pursuing graduate studies at Texas A&M CC. I am still doing the Navy thing and will be taking some classes at my next duty station, God willing.  My hope is to become an ROTC instructor and my first choices are Duke and UNC.  Thus it is possible I may be back up there in the future.  Again, Duke Lutherans meant so much to me during my four years at Duke.  I wish you the best of luck and will always keep you in my prayers.  If anyone should want to reach me, my email is ianyunker@gmail.com. And no I am not on Facebook, it is evil :-)  In Christ, Ian Yunker, Duke Class of 2005.

Gretchen Ferber, '07, has been spending a remarkable year in the Philipines, and providing insightful updates on h er experiences by email.  Here are some excerpts:

:...Having never visited a prison previously, my expectations were non-existent when visiting the wrongly-accused Pastor Berlin in the Cavite Detention Center.  Within the low-security prison lacking many bars and confined cells, many prisoners were allowed to walk freely about the grounds, to visit the small shops set up around the courtyard.  However, not all prisoners were granted this freedom, especially since a crackdown on security followed a recent escape.  Pastor Berlin, privileged to have his own private cell while most prisoners found themselves living in cramped, claustrophobic cubbies, would only see the outdoors once a week.  Visiting with four others in the private cell measuring merely 5’ x 5 ½’ x 5 ½’ was a constant struggle to remain grounded amidst the knowledge of 200 other bodies in the cell block and no view of the outdoors.  Rather than wallowing in the grimness of this new reality, Pastor Berlin utilizes his private cell as the setting for Bible studies, pastoral care sessions, and his writings which relate to a different time and a different cell—that of late pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, protestor of the Nazi Regime.  Despite the relatively low level of security, prison life, as one would imagine, lacks ease with the deplorable living conditions.  Prisoners are crammed to full capacity, creating an intimidating sea of orange shirts; food is inedible, the dogs even refuse of touch such food; and as a result, outside support is heavily relied upon.  Living in such a reality with the knowledge of unlawful detainment following abduction and torture, one would expect to be downtrodden.  But the Filipino spirit resonates in Pastor Berlin—the quintessential underdogs, Filipinos may often be down, but rarely are they out.  Pastor Berlin and the UCCP community continue to fight within the court systems as he cheerfully says full of hope, “I shall leave here by Christmas.” I hope to be writing just that in my December newsletter..."

"...The month of December, in looking towards Christmas and the celebrations of the season, was spent in preparation for a Christmas program in the community.  In remembering the story of the Holy Family—a family traveling with no place to rest, eventually resorting to a manger filled with animals—parallels began forming in my mind about a modern-day Holy Family right here in Punta Engaño.  The vision of a family displaced, wandering at night as victims of demolition, resonated in my mind, having witnessed the tragedy of displacement without relocation firsthand.  Piles of rubble strewn with sheets of corrugated metal remain while the family also remains, cooking over the debris, sleeping until they must leave.  Spending one afternoon at the seashore, enjoying a beautiful day, I noticed a boat moored a few meters from the coast loader with sacs, bundles, and other containers.  After some time, teenaged boys appeared with more and more sacs, transporting them from the land to the water, and it was then that the beauty of that place was stolen amidst the reality.  I watched them make countless trips to that boat named Gracia—grace.  Dr. Montes and Butch also observed with me, joking the boat’s name was a misnomer; disgrace would be more fitting.  A common trait among Filipinos is to laugh under any circumstances: joy, pain, or sorrow.  They’ve been beat down so many times that all that remains is laughter.  Ironic it is that the people of the Philippines were voted among the happiest in the world concerning the state of poverty and oppression that the majority live in.  But at what expense does this happiness come?..."

These excerpts can hardly do justice either to the vivid and often brutal circumstances with which Gretchen is in contact, nor to the grace, insight and honesty with which she reports her reactions.  If you would like to receive complete copies of one or more of her monthly updates, just email Chaplain Bill at Duke Chaplain.

Daren Rivas, '06, writes again from Dallas, TX on Christmas Eve:

Jack V. Rich, MF, '79, writes from Rocky Mount, NC on 3/4/07:

Thank you for your recent Duke Lutherans newsletter...  I graduated from the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, with an MF degree in 1979...I have been a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Rocky Mount, NC for the past 26 years.  I was also a member of the Call Committee last year, until we located our new Pastor; Alice Johnson Curl.  She's a real keeper, and we are fortunate to have her...  I have been blessed with a loving wife and a beautiful six year old child, which we adopted within the country of Guatemala.  God has given me countless friends and a few loving relatives still living back in Nebraska, where I grew up... 

Looking  back, I wish that I hade been more active in the church during my college days.  I assume that many of us that were not studying to become members of the clergy look back with similar regrets.  Luckily, when I got out of school and landed a job, I also went looking for a Lutheran church.  Rocky Mount is rather void of Lutherans, so we have struggled here with a declining membership.  As in most churches, from what I read, we are more the "norm" than the exception.  Keeping college-aged kids interested in the church, and its mission from God, should be a concern for all of us...  Based on my experience, I believe that reaching kids in school, Lutheran or otherwise, and convincing them to stay within the realm of the church community "away from home" is important to their future, as well as the future of the Lutheran church...

Thanks for your efforts.  BRich0406@aol.com. 



.