In southern Mozambique, where I live and minister, the greeting process is different from greetings in many other areas. When we meet people along the way or when we go to their homes, it is our custom to take time to share information about the entire family. While the younger people in the cities normally ask surface-level questions, those who live or grew up in rural areas will engage in a more in-depth greeting. A rural greeting includes conversation about every family member (spouse, children, siblings, and parents) as well as their health and well-being.

While a student at Nazarene Theological Seminary in the early ’80s, I had taken classes taught by Dr. Morris Weigelt and Dr. Dee Freeborn. I loved and respected them both, so when NTS offered its first ever spiritual formation class, team-taught by the two of them, I excitedly enrolled in it.

Spiritual formation was a new concept to me then, but I looked forward to being taught by those two men and getting in on the ground floor of this new idea.