What a Life!
A Memoir
Published on 27. January 2015
320 pages
978-1-68099-032-4 (ISBN)
Description
Don Jacobs, exuberant, wise, and remarkably capable of regarding himself lightly, has written a memoir. Here he candidly explores how he simultaneously held the trust of conservative North American Mennonites and the respect of African Mennonites who chose him to be their first bishop. He writes openly about his parents and their cultural differences, and he locates the source of his ability to swing comfortably between worlds in his childhood home. Jacobs earned a doctorate in anthropology from New York University, although he gave his life to the church around the world, rather than to academia. He reflects on that reality in these pages. His rollicking sense of humor, his clear spiritual commitments, and his searching questions about his own motives thread through this book. Photographs throughout show him at home with his beloved family, and at home in both North America and Africa.
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Person
Don and Anna Ruth Jacobs today live near Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Acknowledgements
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- 1. Touching Heritage
- 2. Shaped in Home and Community
- 3. School-A New Culture
- 4. Meeting Jesus at Eastern Mennonite, 1944
- 5. Teaching in Kentucky, 1946 - 1948
- 6. Feeling Unsettled
- 7. Life in Lancaster, 1949 - 1952
- 8. From Lancaster into Academia, 1952
- 9. Launching out into the Deep, 1953
- 10. A Year in Europe, 1953 - 1954
- 11. Introduction to Tanganyika, 1954
- 12. Katoke Days, 1955 - 1957
- 13. From Education to Theology, 1957
- 14. Reading Scripture with New Eyes
- 15. Being a Lancaster Mennonite in Tanganyika
- 16. First Furlough-Retooling, 1959 - 1961
- 17. Second Term in Africa, 1961 - 1966
- 18. Fulfilling Denominational Expectations
- 19. Personal and Family Developments
- 20. Additional Responsibilities as Bishop, 1964 - 1966
- 21. New Location -Nairobi, 1967
- 22. Other Responsibilities in Nairobi
- 23. Accommodating to Changes in the U.S., 1973
- 24. Family Life
- 25. Rethinking the Mission of Eastern 247 Mennonite Missions, 1973 - 1980
- 26. Setting the Course for MCLF, 1980 - 2002
- 27. Global Disciples, 1996 - 2011
- 28. Mennonite Church-At Home and Abroad
- 29. Pain for the Church in Tanzania, 1980
- 30. Promoting Revival
- 31. Working with African Enterprise
- 32. Sibling Bonding
- 33. Retirement-Time to Reflect
- Afterword
- About the Author
