The Trouble with Profs

I've started the last classes for my degree. By the beginning of May, I'll be done everything and ready to graduate (with the caveat that I pass all the classes, including the ones I just finished for which I still don't have final marks). These last two classes have come with some challenges.

One is a practicum in discipleship. The work mostly seems pretty straightforward: read a lot and write about it; listen to a couple sermons and write about them; write a 10-page paper about discipleship, and disciple someone and keep a journal. And then there's this:

"Develop and critically evaluate a program for a discipleship 12 week reproducing training ministry in your own church for men and women"

I'm not really sure what he wants. I like the idea of critically evaluating my own program though. I can tell you already that it's an excellent program that should be used with everyone, everywhere!

My other class is a practicum in missions. The work is much the same: read a lot and write about it; write a 10-page paper about missions using the book of Acts. The problem here is that of the 8 books I'm supposed to read, 3 of them are out of print. Of those 3, I found one used and one that can't be shipped into Canada. The other didn't show up in any of my searches (and I know where to find books). I finally emailed the advisor who spoke with the prof who assigned a different book in place of those three. The nice part is that instead of 8 books I now have 6 books, and instead of 8 reading reports I now have 6 reading reports.

According to Jim, my book guy (he runs a Christian bookstore and attends my church and delivers books to me at church), professors tend to assign books that they used in school, and the older the prof, the more likely the books will be out of print.

Oh, well. I have all the books either here or ordered, and these are the last I need. Only a few more months now.