Virtual EcoMissionary
If you would like to donate to support the missions described below, please click on your choice here. I learned a new term today … “virtual missionary”. A virtual missionary is someone who uses digital media to teach people about Jesus and serve other people around the world when they are unable to travel. I…
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A New Brand Of Pastor?
What Is A Pastor (As I See It In Scripture)? I would like to qualify what I am about to say and give it some context, I think it is important to define what I am going to be calling a “pastor”. In modern parlance, a pastor is someone called to a position of leadership…
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White Mountains
I remember when I began teaching full time at Eastern Nazarene College, I was invited to a faculty retreat during the first week of November. It was being held in a place called “Woodward’s Resort” in Lincoln, New Hampshire. I had no idea what to expect. I had never been to New Hampshire, and never…
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Fatherhood
On this Father’s Day, June 18, 2023, I wanted to write a few stories about my wonderful son and my time as a father. I just wasn’t ready to be a father. I just was not ready to have children until later in life, and even then limiting it to maybe one or two children.…
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Bringing Good News To The Poor
If you read the title of this blog, you might think, “Awesome! Twining is going to talk about feeding the hungry, or teaching people how to make money to support themselves, or having the resources to accomplish good things or having adequate health care.” While all those things are involved and are important, what if…
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Part 4: SCAN
When word started to get out about the successful snake awareness trainings provided by Upendo Conservation Area in western Kenya, I started to receive messages from people all across Kenya wanting to know how they could get this training. There was not enough resources to transport the Upendo team to other communities, so I began…
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Part 3: Eswatini and Upendo
My favorite snake has always been the black mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in the world that lives across Africa. They belong to the family Elapidae and are related to cobras, kraits, coral snakes, and sea snakes. It is an incredibly fast snake with a highly potent venom that can kill a human in…
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Part 2: Transition Zone
When I graduated from Old Dominion University with my Masters degree in Oceanography, I had a very difficult time finding work. Eventually I decided to go down a side trail for a few years and entered the world of environmental consulting. I worked on some major projects in RI and MA focused on assessing and…
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Part 1: The Early Years
Please allow me to introduce myself. My parents gave me the name Jonathan Emerson Twining. If my last name looks familiar, it may be because you have seen boxes of Twining’s Breakfast Tea in the grocery store. Yes, I am somehow related to that branch of the family. And yes, I have visited the Twining’s…
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Tending To the Garden 