The Seminary Explores

Justine Odila talks about his journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States. While in the Congo, he worked to help child soldiers to return to school, their families and mental stability as well as helping other young children to not become soldiers in the first place. This work resulted in him being arrested but he escaped to Zambia where he lived in a refugee camp for 17 years where he carried assisting those around him. After a 5-year vetting process, he was finally able to come to the United States via a resettlement program. He presently works at Walmart, works part-time as a mental health counselor, and attends classes at the community college.

To learn more about the Democratic Republic of the Congo you can begin here:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html

https://www.hrw.org/africa/democratic-republic-congo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo

Chip Beck is not only a veteran and an artist, he is also a combat artist with global experience who has rendered these experiences first-hand. His academic training is in political science, but he has been capturing what he sees on paper and other surfaces since he was a small child. Beck is an artist-in-residence at the Gettysburg National Military Park. He joins Katy Giebenhain for a conversation about “stone soldiers” and his current time on Gettysburg’s battlefield.

Dennis F. Carter, Career Foreign Service Officer, Department of State addresses several important questions: How is the U.S. and the United Nations handling the refugee crisis? Is there reason to fear the influx of Syrian refugees?  What religious ideology drives Isis to detest the “secular state”?  Why does Russia support the Assad regime?

Dr. Christianson speaks with Ambassador Lawrence Taylor who describes the current tensions in eastern Ukraine and suggests that the U.S. and NATO were surprised by Russia’s incursions. On the other hand, Vladimir Putin was not prepared for the resistance from the new government in Ukraine.  He suggests that we take seriously Russia’s claim to protect Russians everywhere and do so unilaterally, but also try to bridge the gap between the Old Europe (“Mother Russia”) and the New.