His life has been nourished by a dense tangle of Lutheran and international roots. His father Carl was the son of a Lutheran minister and was himself a Lutheran minister and professor of early church history, teaching at Luther Seminary in St. Paul and, prior to that, at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. His mother Lydia was born and raised in India as the daughter of a Lutheran missionary couple who worked in Tamil Nadu for 40 years. His father’s career included sabbaticals for our entire family in Europe, and his own undergraduate studies at Valparaiso University focused on European history and philosophy. His interest in Africa began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana during the late 1980s, and after teaching social studies at a Lutheran high school in New York City for seven years, he completed a PhD in African History at the University of Wisconsin. The focus of my research is on African responses to Christianity and colonialism in southern Africa, and he has been teaching African history and international studies at Kenyon College in Ohio since 2004. After visiting Holden Village several times during the past 20 years – four times as a volunteer Maverick and twice as a guest – he is delighted to be here as a teacher.