5 Questions With...Whitney D.

1. How did you first get involved with Friendship Presbyterian?  When I was 22, I arrived in Taiwan to study Mandarin. An American missionary brought me to FPC for the first time when I was 24. After 8 months of hearing (then Pastor) Dennis Bryce's sermons, I became a "mere Christian," in the words of C.S. Lewis. 

2. What do you do Monday through Saturday?  I am a professor of English Literature at a local university. I also like to write books.

3. What is something people might be surprised to learn about you?  I have no cousins.

4. What do you find most challenging about being a Christian today?  Freedom to speak about religion is being curtailed in certain countries, but I am grateful for the freedom we enjoy in Taiwan to speak openly about our beliefs.

5. What is one of your favorite books of the Bible?  Just one? Nehemiah, because he was so passionate and full of vision in a time of hopelessness, and he had to rebuild from rubble. Similarly, in Philippians, Paul tells us repeatedly to rejoice in the Lord; his joy is infectious even though he was writing from jail. The Gospel of John is absolutely beautiful from a literary standpoint: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning" (John 1:1-2). Ecclesiastes, because it's a wonderful bridge from cynicism and world-weariness into faith.