Kent McDonald (2000-present) assistant professor of theology This has been a great year of personal development and growth. I actually took my first sabbatical this spring and had a wonderful time.

I spent two weeks in South Africa visiting Two Tunics, the nonprofit organization that several friends and I started three years ago. Two Tunics shares God's hope for the HIV crisis by enabling, networking and strengthening community-based partners to expand care and treatment of those affected by HIV/AIDS. We received a large grant from the U.S. government, and I was able to see how the money is being distributed to change the lives of those who would otherwise have very little hope. In the middle of my stay I did a two-day youth-training event at a local church in Port Shepstone (near Durban) and had a wonderful response and have been asked to return again next year.

During the other part of my sabbatical I focused my study of the theology of the cross and the varied aspects of how it has been interpreted over the centuries. It has provided some deep thinking, rich conversations, and magnificent readings. Our tendency in the West has been to pull the Gospel story out of the Big Story and force it into a more calculated judicial theory. When we do this, we lose the meaning of the cross at the heart level. The first-century church fathers had a way of seeing the drama of the cross differently It is not so much a rational systematic theory as it is a drama, a passion story of God triumphing and liberating us from the bondage of sin (1 Jn. 3:8; Col. 1:13; Heb. 2:14).

I am working with this ancient understanding of the cross in light of the emerging generation of young people, who are moved more by drama and story and less by facts and rationalism. As I prepare to speak to high school students at Young Life camp this June, I am eager to unpack some of my discoveries and to share the incredible message of the cross.

Our Young Life training program here at Whitworth continues to grow, and it is a great joy to be around Whitworth students who are sharing the love of Christ with hurting and struggling young people all over the city of Spokane.