April 19, 2024 • 38 mins
When Lesther and Vishwas arrived in Boston from Kenya and India, they were warned about cold winters. They have since learned there are bigger adjustments to life in the US. These freshmen study computer science at Sattler College. They share their backgrounds, reasons for choosing Sattler, and their experiences coming to the US for the first time. Both students were attracted by the opportunity to study the Bible alongside their scientific studies, all at an affordable cost through the entrustment model. After Sattler, Lesther plans to pursue bioinformatics, while Vishwas hopes to start a values-based IT business in Delhi. They both discuss differences between the US and their home countries, and what each country can learn from the other.
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Episode Transcript
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Zack Johnson (00:04):
it is march 6, 2024.
I am here with vishwas.
What's your last name?
Vishwas mokharji.
Okay, I'm not going to try tosay it.
And I'm here, lester, lester.
What's your last name?
Oma.
One more time, oma, oma.
Yeah, all right, and so I amhoping to just have a
conversation with you to sort ofhighlight your lives, where you
(00:25):
came from, what you'veexperienced from the past, and
then why did you come to Boston?
And maybe where you want to golater.
Continue to attract studentsfrom all livable continents over
(00:47):
the course of time, and I feellike this year's class has
really propelled us towards thatgoal.
How does that sound?
Vishwas Mukherjee (00:51):
Yeah, that sounds great yeah.
Zack Johnson (00:52):
Yeah, that's wonderful.
Anything All right, okay, so,vishwas, let's start with you.
Can you give me like anelevator pitch of your life?
Where are you from and how didyou get to Boston?
Vishwas Mukherjee (01:06):
So I'm from Delhi, which is the capital of
India, and I don't have like avery big family.
I just have my mom as well as myyounger sister.
So it was a very hard life tobegin with, like going through
like very much physical,emotional, mental trauma while
living with my father and stuff,and then getting into like uh,
(01:30):
really, really sad stuff throughlife.
Um, but fortunately it was godand his word that pulled me out
of it.
And, uh and yeah, and I justapplied to like different
colleges in india as well aslike United States as well, and
I was searching for a communitywhich will definitely help me to
go through these hard times andincrease me and make me more
(01:54):
lovable in like God's eyes.
So, yeah, so that's why Iapplied to like several
different colleges and I got anopportunity to attend Sattler
and I was like like okay, Ididn't know much about Sadler,
but I went through the missionand like I was like very much
happy to see a community thatwas building around like God and
his kingdom and I was like thisis the place I want to be.
(02:17):
Yeah, so that's why I choseSadler and that's how I came
here to be in Boston.
Zack Johnson (02:21):
All right, thanks Vishwas and Lester.
What about you?
Same question.
Lesther Sheldon (02:26):
I'm from Kenya and, yeah, I basically probably
don't really need to talk aboutmy life story, but I came to
hear about Settler from a friend, and it was in a season of my
life that I was also applying toseveral different colleges here
in the States and also back inKenya.
(02:49):
I had just finished high schoolin 2022 and was moving into a
stage in my life that I wasexpected to go into college and
hence was applying to severaldifferent colleges in Kenya and
in the States, and during thatprocess, I came to hear about
Settler from a friend who hadgotten an application to Settler
(03:11):
and also had been admittedbefore.
And, going through Settler'sstatement, I would say Settler
College stood out to me becauseof its tuition model and, apart
from that, also the fact that itwas the only Christian college
I applied to.
It was really great and myparents were impressed with it
(03:31):
and also my other relatives areimpressed with it, and they were
like this is the college thatyou need to go to, and I was
like I'm going to go to Kosella,yeah, sure.
Zack Johnson (03:39):
Okay, yeah, I didn't know that, and so maybe
we'll just talk a little bitabout your revival here.
What's been some of thehighlights of boston?
Maybe we'll do a highlight andlike, oh, this is harder than I
thought it would be.
Maybe it's the weather, maybeit's the the new england hard
(04:00):
knows people that you'resurrounded I'm just yeah.
Tell me a little bit about yourarrival to Boston and what you
found here.
Vishwas Mukherjee (04:07):
So, like it was my first time ever traveling
abroad and it was such a newexperience, landing into a new
land and seeing diverse peoplearound myself, even at the
airport, I was like, wow, thisis something really new.
I'm stepping into the nextphase of my life where I will
meet many different people andsee amazing things and stuff.
And when I arrived here, Ifirst went to the drones, then
(04:31):
came here at sattler and it wasa nice experience, I would say.
The environment's very lovely,I would say, and definitely the
weather.
The weather has been like quitea different ride for me because
, uh, in winter it went belowlike freezing and I've never
been in a climate such freezing.
So I would say it was a niceexperience.
(04:53):
I would say yeah did we?
Zack Johnson (04:55):
we?
We let you know that it wasgoing to be a hard winter.
Before the snow came right,yeah, okay, good, you didn't
feel like your life was indanger or anything.
No, I'm just kidding Lester,what about you?
Lesther Sheldon (05:07):
Oh, my highlight about Boston has
definitely been the BostonCommons.
I came into Boston probably Icame into the States first.
The first time I came into theStates, I went to Florida,
stayed there for about two weeksbefore coming into Boston, and
then you said you had an aunt.
(05:27):
Yeah, I have a.
I have an aunt down in Florida.
And then, uh, came into Bostontwo weeks after staying in the
States.
And also for me, it was my firsttime moving out of Kenya
without my parents, cause theonly other times I'd traveled
out of Kenya to have been toAfrican countries and all that
times I had been with my parents, and it was my first time
staying away from home withoutmy like.
(05:49):
It was my first time moving outof the country without my
parents.
And coming into Boston Iexpected it to be more of a
shock and you know, uh, stayingaway from your own country and
all that, but then I fell inlove with the city.
I love Boston Commons, I lovedthe, I loved the park, I loved
the people, I loved the weatherand I loved Settler.
And also, at the same time, youasked us a question about the
(06:13):
Tundan.
I would say the weather hasbeen one thing for me.
Yeah, I didn't really expectwinter to be that very cold, you
know talking temperatures belowfreezing.
It was my first timeexperiencing temperatures below
freezing point and also the snowand it was such a.
I would say it was aninteresting experience.
At the same time, while it wasmore of wow, I didn't expect
(06:36):
this, but I would say settlercommunity has provided a warmth
even amidst winter.
Zack Johnson (06:41):
Yeah, I, when I was in college, my freshman year
.
I'd never lived through a longwinter either, and it was.
It was.
There was a day it was likenegative 45 out negative 45
Fahrenheit have you?
Does it get that cold in Canada?
I'm sure it does, it was socold.
But I went out and a lot ofpeople there had an experience
(07:04):
that and a lot of people weren'twearing gloves and earmuffs and
we had to walk from A to B,which was like it was only a 10
minute walk, but a lot of us gotfrost nip on our fingers and my
ears.
And then the instinct is to putyou don't know this till it's
too late.
You want to put warm water onyour, your fingers and your ears
(07:25):
, and then you're not supposedto do that, right, you're
supposed to like put lukewarm oreven room temperature, and then
my ears still are cold.
So you've had it better than Ihave.
And then I did want to just talkabout a couple things about
just the sattler community andone of the.
(07:45):
When I take a step back andlook at this new, I feel like
your class, or the class theentering class of 23, there's a
much bigger internationalpresence in it than the previous
classes, and one of the one ofthe things that's interesting to
me is where I always try torecruit people to say, hey,
(08:05):
you're going to be studying,yeah, a sort of for a vocation
or an occupation, maybe a career.
What do you want to study,vishwas?
Vishwas Mukherjee (08:15):
I want to study computer science.
Zack Johnson (08:16):
Computer science in Leicester you are studying.
Lesther Sheldon (08:19):
Well, I'm more into a track that is seeking for
bioinformatics or a combinationof some courses in computer
science and also human biology.
Zack Johnson (08:29):
Okay, yeah, so both of you are interested in
the Bachelor of Science?
Yes, sure, and what's unique toSattler is that we also really
want you to want the Word of Godso deeply that you're willing
to invest in the study ofbiblical languages like Greek
and Hebrew, and the study ofchurch history and the
(08:52):
fundamental texts ofChristianity and Christian
doctrines.
And so tell me about how youmanage wanting to study computer
science in addition to beingpart of a community that is
studying sort of the Bibletogether on top of this other
part.
Do you have anything to sayabout that?
Vishwas Mukherjee (09:11):
Yeah.
So I went to a Christian school, christian private school in
India, and it also had the samesystem where you were studying
the rest of the courses, likescience, social science, but
with that you also had a subjectcalled moral education.
Zack Johnson (09:24):
Moral education.
Vishwas Mukherjee (09:25):
And it was like totally based on Bible and
it was like every single yearand every week we had like one
at least one class for motoreducation and we still learn
about like biblical stories anddifferent kinds of christian
songs too.
It wasn't like a huge drasticchange for me coming here and
studying biblical subjects, butit was definitely.
(09:46):
The biblical subjects here arelike much more advanced, I would
say, and it's like muchthought-provoking and yeah, that
that was my experience.
Like it was.
Lesther Sheldon (09:56):
It didn't feel totally different, but it was a
huge leap from what I am used tothanks muster anything to say
yeah, for me it was my firsttime actually combining a
pursuit of the sciences and likewhat I would say, the knowledge
of education and all thatcombined with the things like
(10:20):
discipleship and also thebiblical languages.
It was my first time becauseearlier on in my high school I
didn't take any religiousclasses and any religious
education classes and I wasn'texpected to live up to any
standards by the school.
As much as it was more of aChristian school, I wasn't
expected to live up to anycertain standards by the school
(10:41):
concerning things like myspiritual life and also.
So Sadler College stood outuniquely for me, especially for
the fact that I had to study mysciences, study my classes there
is, the courses in line with mymajor, and also at the same
time, I had to study in otherclasses that were more driven
(11:03):
towards being this kingdomChristian, and I was really
impressed by that.
It was my first time.
I didn't find it more of ashock, or rather something that
I would turn away from, butthat's something that I really
wanted to explore.
Zack Johnson (11:16):
Yeah, Got it.
And then, how many languages doboth of you speak?
Vishwas Mukherjee (11:25):
I would say I speak two languages, english
and Hindi.
Zack Johnson (11:29):
Hindi.
I speak three languages.
Lesther Sheldon (11:32):
What languages do you speak?
My most primary language is atribal language, is Luwu, and
then I speak the nationallanguage in Kenya and then I
also speak English.
Zack Johnson (11:42):
And what's your heart language?
What's like your go-to?
What do you think and dream?
Vishwas Mukherjee (11:46):
in oh, definitely Hindi.
Zack Johnson (11:49):
And then so, in addition to those languages, how
has it been to learn sort ofthe Greek alphabet and to start
to dip your toes in reading theBible in Greek?
I'd love to hear yourperspective on it.
Has it been illuminating oryou're like, ah, whatever.
Vishwas Mukherjee (12:05):
I was totally excited to learn a new language
because I just knew like twolanguages.
Because, uh, I just knew liketwo languages and, uh, within
hindi, I used to speak, um, somesort of urdu and a bit of like
different, uh, languages ofdifferent states as well.
It was just a mixture oflanguages and I really wanted to
like learn every singlelanguage that I could think of,
(12:27):
because it's uh, it's soinviting for different people of
different places if you speaktheir language.
So I was like very much intolike, yeah, if I'm getting to
learn a new language which isGreek, I would definitely take
it.
Yeah, and plus, if I'm able toread Bible in Greek and listen
more than Shaw.
So that was my perspective onlearning Greek.
Zack Johnson (12:49):
What about you?
And you'll start Hebrew nextyear as sophomores, right yeah,
what about you, lester?
Lesther Sheldon (13:01):
I would say that I felt like I had an
advantage over the other localstudents, especially in learning
a new language.
That is because the fact that Ihad to learn two languages
before, that is, swahili,because I wasn't taught Swahili
when growing up.
I only learned Swahili inschool and also English.
I primarily learned English inschool and then had to learn a
new language that is Greek.
So I felt like I had anadvantage or an edge over the
(13:22):
other students who probablyhadn't taken any classes in any
languages before, and also Ifind it interesting to learn
Greek.
It has been wonderful to gothrough my Bible in Greek and
open some verses that are prettymuch common.
I know them in English, butthen there's just this joy of
reading them in the originallanguage and I love it.
(13:45):
So far, I love it.
Zack Johnson (13:47):
Yeah, that's good to hear.
I remember one of myintroductions to Sattler was
actually through the founder ofthe college, dr karen will.
I took a saturday greek classfrom him and, like a it wasn't
for a grade, so a little lessintimidating, but it felt like
it was for a grade.
No, yeah, and I remember thefirst time reading a verse in
(14:07):
the in, being able to know whatthe New Testament is saying is
Greek and there's a certainconnection you feel to the
scriptures that's just amplifiedor something like that.
But then at the same time Ialways say you can still read
the Bible and Englishtranslations, other translations
, and not everybody has to getthis Greek experience, but more
(14:30):
people definitely should.
So now I have another thoughtcomment.
So, sattler, part of what I doall the time is trying to figure
out how to find the right fitstudents to come to the
institution.
And when I tell people that allof our students take a major in
addition to the biblical corethat that we have, they tell me
(14:54):
the only place you're going tofind students who will do that
is in the international realmthat there's.
People are finding that there'sa decreased demand for biblical
literacy and in the unitedstates and maybe even north
america, and but that net, thatdecline in the demand, isn't
necessarily as stronginternationally.
(15:15):
Do you have anything, anythoughts on if that's true or
not true and what you've seenhere in your time in the United
States or even from your peersfrom Kenya and India?
Lesther Sheldon (15:27):
I'd generally say that most of my peers go to
public universities in Kenya andthey're generally not expected
to have any knowledge of thebiblical languages or just even
a concept of the Bible.
And so, while it is true thatSettler will focus on them and
also probably universities orother colleges in the States may
(15:48):
have such a decline, I'd saythere's almost probably a
similar thing happening in Kenya.
Most colleges don't requiretheir students to learn anything
in relation to the Bible, likeit is not part of their core
curriculum, and also if there isany such, then it must be a
Christian college, not a publiccollege.
Zack Johnson (16:11):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Do you have any comments onthat trend or anything to add to
that?
Vishwas Mukherjee (16:15):
yeah.
So my peers back in india, theyall went to secular colleges.
Uh, they didn't had anopportunity to like go to a
christian college because, uh,technically, christian colleges
in india are not like pushedforward to like you should go
and attend these colleges here.
Most of the time it's just theentrance exams you give to get
into colleges and if you getinto like a decently good
(16:37):
college, even if it's aChristian college, they don't
mind.
But still, christian collegesare like very tight and compact
and less in India.
So most of the colleges aresecular and most of the people
go to secular colleges.
Zack Johnson (16:49):
So that maybe that the demand is also on the
decline on average, or onaverage globally, which is a
problem we must fix it.
We must fix it Right, graham.
Yes, I only say thatsarcastically, but it is when we
look at why we're here anddoing what we do.
Trying to fight against some ofthe trends is by actually just
(17:13):
taking practical action, likethe number of young people who
are eager to learn the Bible andreally try to devote themselves
to everything they can there.
I'd love to just chat aboutyour hopes and aspirations and
ambitions.
You said you're studyingcomputer science.
You're a freshman.
You're studying a combinationof ambitions.
You said you're studyingcomputer science.
You're a freshman.
You're studying a combinationof biology.
(17:35):
You're probably trying to takeas many classes.
Yeah, sure, I just wanted topreface.
We don't have a bioinformaticsmajor.
Lesther Sheldon (17:42):
Yeah sure, we don't have.
But then it's more of.
I take classes in computerscience and probably major in
the computer science track andminor in the bio track and then
finally it is more of abioinformatics track in the end.
Great, yeah sure.
Yeah, so I'd love to just hearso like, my career interest is
(18:05):
bioinformatics, but then mymajor is computer science and
minor in human biology.
Zack Johnson (18:10):
Right, yeah sure.
Computer science and mining,human biology right, yeah sure.
And we just I, I usually tellstudents that we are a liberal
arts college, which the way thatI frame that with a lot of
people is your.
You can view your, your collegeexperience or your undergrad as
a way to get some breath andthen afterwards you can
specialize.
So it's very possible to dothat with the majors we have.
(18:33):
What, what are your ambitions?
Um, with your degrees, withyour lives?
What are you, what are youhopeful to do?
And, uh, I'd love to hear areyou, are you hoping to go back
to india?
Are you hoping to go back tokenya, or what?
What's like your, your, your,uh, your ambition for your life?
Vishwas Mukherjee (18:53):
So I am very much passionate about technology
and I want to do somethingimpactful in that field, but I'm
very much interested inbusiness as well, so currently
I'm thinking of building an ITbusiness which also centers with
God and His kingdom and all theteachings that I get from here.
Also, I'm not quite sure ifI'll be in like India, United
(19:17):
States or some other part of theworld in the future, but
wherever I go, I will try tofulfill the promise that I made
with the people I love, as wellas fulfilling certain aspects of
things that are really neededfor Christ and his kingdom.
Zack Johnson (19:36):
Thanks, Vishwas Lester.
Lesther Sheldon (19:39):
Yeah, I would say I'm currently uncertain
about my decision.
If what I want to do issignificant to well, what I want
to do, I believe, issignificant to any part of the
world, which means I can serveboth back in Kenya, here in the
States or anywhere else in theworld, then I really want to get
(20:00):
into computational biologybecause I feel that is a field
that we are really lacking inand there is so much we can do
about it.
There's so much we can do withbioinformatics, with the huge
amount of information we couldget from our DNA and use it to
(20:21):
make better drugs, use it toprobably treat some diseases
like genetic disorders, and I'mlike that is what interests me,
and I can do it from anywhere,any part of the world.
I could go back to Kenya,especially where things like
computational biology has notreally been a thing in the
(20:42):
country, and just start doingthis and inspire the people to
also join me in the field, touse the huge amount of the huge
processing power of computers tosolve problems in the field of
biology.
Zack Johnson (20:58):
That's a great ambition.
I'm not a bioinformatics expertso I won't ask too many
questions.
There's more like high-levelhighlights.
And then another question Ihave for both of you.
You're allowed to pass.
If you don't have answers tothis question Is there a burden
that you have, for either thepeople in when you showed up the
(21:22):
United States are like, oh man,you people miss something that
I know from back home, sort oflike what's wrong with you Not
necessarily like a critique, buta burden or vice versa, Is
there something that you've seenhere that you think, oh, I have
a burden to share this backwith where I came from?
Are there any things you'repassionate about trying to sort
(21:43):
of bring either to the US orfrom the US back to where you're
originally from?
Lesther Sheldon (21:48):
I would say probably a sense of community,
like back in Kenya.
If you bought an airplane,probably just traveling from one
city to the other, and sit nextto a person, you'll probably
just start a conversation andtalk all throughout the flight
and spend time like both of youare total strangers, you've
never met before.
But then here in the States youbought a plane and you're on
(22:11):
the flight, you're never goingto talk to the person who is
sitting next to you and it'sjust something that they find I
don't find quite as common backin Kenya, but I found it quite
common in the States and Iwouldn't say I know the reason
why there isn't such a strongsense of community.
I'd call it or a strong senseof you know, talking to
(22:33):
strangers like trying to see ifyou have a common background or
just common interests and evenif you don't have just getting
to know other people in otherplaces.
Zack Johnson (22:44):
So there is one thing I'd say so you're saying
here people are a little moreself-focused on what's in the
head.
Lesther Sheldon (22:52):
People are more self-focused on what's in the
head.
People are more self-focusedMaybe wearing headphones or
something.
Yeah, like bees in the air.
You know, I've got to get mywork done.
Yeah, sure, no.
So one thing I really foundquite helpful, or rather one
thing I'd like people fromCanada to improve on, is things
like time management.
Like it has really beenchallenging, been challenging,
(23:14):
like my first time coming in itwas really challenging, because
probably my friends would saywe're leaving at three and I'm
like, oh, back in canada thatwould mean about 3, 30 pm or
something.
Then you get to a certain, to acertain way, and so all your
friends are all tired of waitingfor you, or yes, or you you got
late to an appointment and theyall started without you.
(23:36):
So I'm like probably one thingthat I would really love to take
back to kenya, if, uh, that ispossible, just like things like,
uh, time management, yeah, sure, yeah oh, it's a fearful.
Zack Johnson (23:52):
It's fearful, but I I probably agree with you.
I don't know if we want toexport everything around time
management, but certain things,yeah yeah, certain things, I
understand, vishwas.
Vishwas Mukherjee (24:05):
Yeah, same as Lester's.
Second point I want to bringpunctuality, which I really
appreciate, here back home inIndiaia, because I do feel like,
uh, valuing each other's timeis very important.
If you're like committingyourself for a specific time, a
specific place, you should be,you know, there actively,
actively be a part of thatpromise that you made.
(24:27):
So that's like the thing that Iwould would surely take back to
India and the thing I wouldbring here, would be, definitely
food.
I miss my mom's hand-cooked food, but I would like to see more
of a diverse cuisine here.
Zack Johnson (24:56):
And who knows if I just am the next revolutionary.
For four years boston got itand then, just out of curiosity,
this is a maybe, this is avision for, like the
international church body.
They're you know, one of when Ithink aboutattler in both ways,
that we think about our missionstatement, where we're kind of
reworking it right now, butoriginally we say we seek to
(25:19):
prepare students to serve Christ, the church and the world.
Every time I sit down and saywhat are we trying to do, it
always comes in that we weretrying to equip students to
prepare to address some diversechallenges in the church and the
world.
And there's there's a built-inassumption that, like, the
church is a really big part ofwhat it is to be a Christian,
(25:43):
it's.
It's almost hard to to separatethem too.
So how do you think about, youknow, being a?
Now you're a cross-culturallyexperienced, educated, educated
people?
How do we, how do we, bringthat into the church?
Is the?
Are there any lessons for thechurch?
Is it supposed to be, as achurch, supposed to be,
mono-ethnic, ethnic?
(26:04):
Do we, do we want to makechurches that revolve around
ethnicities and language, or ordo we have some work for the
church to become sort of thisinternational body bound
together by Christ and hisbaptism.
That's a huge topic, range oftopics, but basically, what are
(26:26):
your thoughts about the churchand how you're going to interact
with that, with your life?
I won't hold you to anythingyou say here, but I think, I
think it's important to thinkabout.
Lesther Sheldon (26:36):
Yeah I I've read about.
I've read some philosophy aboutethnic segregation in churches
and kind of like churches needto be ethnically segregated and
such stuff.
And I would say, coming into aplace where I was ethnically
different and also probablyarbitrationally different, from
(26:57):
my fellow students and alsopeople You're saying here in the
States, I think I found itquite helpful to interact with
people from different culturesto see their point of
interpretation of the Bible andthe scriptures and I value the
fact that we are able to cometogether into this body of
Christ that is formed fromdifferent parts, not just
(27:19):
different parts and forms oftalents and gifts, but also
different parts and forms ofethnicities and nationalities
and also racially different.
But then there's this unity andthere's this wholeness that
comes together when the churchis composed of people from
different ethnic backgrounds.
So I'm not a proponent ofethnical segregation in churches
(27:39):
and I would say from my ownpersonal experience, the church
is supposed to be composedrather churches in the wild are
supposed to be composed ofpeople from different ethnic
backgrounds, people fromdifferent races, because it
brings in different point ofviews in the church and also
different interpretations in thechurch.
That is quite helpful to thebody of Christ.
Zack Johnson (28:02):
Yeah, that's helpful.
Sure Vishwas any.
Vishwas Mukherjee (28:05):
Yeah, I would say the same thing that a
church should not segregate anyperson on the basis of language,
the skin color, only kind offield they're coming from,
because we are all humans, weare all equal in God's eyes.
So staying together is like thebest thing that we can do in
church.
Staying together from alldifferent kinds of languages we
(28:27):
are coming from or any kind ofdifferent cultures we are coming
from.
Staying together is the bestchoice here we are coming from
or any kind of differentcultures we are coming from.
Zack Johnson (28:32):
Staying together is the best choice here.
And then I'll I ask this toeveryone I interview here.
Here at Sattler, we have thismoment of like, sharing a pearl
of wisdom with the community,and I'll allow you some choice.
Is there, is there either apearl of wisdom that you've,
(28:55):
you've latched on to here uponarrival, or is there a pearl of
wisdom that you hold to, thatyou haven't yet spoken?
That kind of is a guiding, aguiding point of wisdom and in
your life that you like to thinkabout.
So either repeat one thatyou've heard or share a, share a
new one, any, anything thatcomes to mind.
Do you want to go first?
Yeah, it's a big.
It's a big one.
Vishwas Mukherjee (29:10):
Yeah yeah, I mean there were.
From the time I have been here,I've heard a lot of pearls,
yeah, and every single pearlbrings in something that is much
more valuable for me.
Uh, one of the things that Iwould like to personally bring
in would be like a sense ofbrotherhood more, uh like
(29:33):
because I have seen people allall around the place, uh, that
we are conversing with eachother, we are living with each
other, but still a brotherhoodis missing.
I do feel like that, and thatbrotherhood, I would like to say
, should be brought up in andsomeone should go up to the
pulpit and talk aboutbrotherhood more.
Zack Johnson (29:55):
Brotherhood.
Yeah, can you say more aboutwhat brotherhood looks like to
you?
What brotherhood looks like toyou?
Like, I think I know whatyou're getting at, but just
being a little, bit moreintimately connected.
Yeah, I would say this.
I've even heard it labeled aslike camaraderie, or even,
looking at some of the stronggroup communities like gangs
(30:18):
yeah, I'm a little kidding, butpeople have thought like, hey,
in, in essence, a Christiancommunity should look a little
bit more gang like, and I'veheard talks on that.
Is that kind of what you'regetting at?
Vishwas Mukherjee (30:32):
Not so extreme as gang like, but
definitely like staying togetherand being more intimate with
your life and how you presentyourself in front of different
people.
Like I don't.
I don't like when people stayreserved, uh, even though you
have known each other for thelongest time.
Like, what is keeping youreserved?
(30:52):
Is it like your doubt for thenthe person sitting in front of
you?
Or is it the doubt that youhave for yourself, like if you
tell yourself or tell somethingabout yourself to the other
person what he or she will think?
That's now how our mind shouldbe.
Our mind should be likeexpressive and very much
(31:13):
expressive, and should likepresent every single thought
that we have that needs like atouch for somebody else or their
thoughts.
So, yeah, that should be abrotherhood.
Zack Johnson (31:24):
Yeah, I think brotherhood All right, and
Lester, what about you?
Lesther Sheldon (31:28):
Wow, I've had a lot of piles of wisdom in my
life prior to Settler, alsodefinitely a lot of them at
Settler.
But then having this just foundme at a season of my life that
I'm trying to embrace this ideaof letting go of perfection and
embracing instead the pursuit ofexcellence, whereby excellence
(31:51):
I mean the better of two optionsor the lesser of two evils.
Are confronted by decisions andwe have this intrinsic sense as
human beings to go after theideal perfection, but then, uh,
I would say that most of thetime causes us to be unhappy and
(32:12):
have a sense of unsatisfactionand a lack of fulfillment if in
the end, we don't achieve it,because a lot of people don't
achieve it, because, yeah, likethis, nobody can really say
they've achieved the ideal senseof perfection.
So I've later come to embracethe idea of letting go of the
idea of ideal perfection or theabsolute perfection, but then
(32:35):
embracing what I would callrelative perfection or
excellence, the better of twooptions or the lesser of two
evils.
Zack Johnson (32:43):
Yeah, sure, or excellence, the better of two
options or the lesser of twoevils?
Yeah, sure, so brotherhood andthe pursuit of excellent versus
the pursuit of absoluteperfection, sure, yeah, it's
interesting.
I, jesus says be perfect.
Yeah, your father in heaven isperfect, and I actually we've
thought about that word a littlebit.
The word, the greek word, istelos.
(33:03):
Yeah, and somehow we'reactually supposed to strive for
that as humans.
Um, and the english wordperfect probably doesn't capture
what this is getting at, but itis sort of this hey, make
yourself, you'll never.
You can't be god, but you canchase.
You can just be a god chess,you can be a god chaser and I
(33:25):
like, I like both of those.
Yeah, I was also in withbrotherhood.
A lot of people are like, wouldyou give, would you sacrifice
your lives for each other?
That's that's sort of abrotherhood.
And then the last question I'llask before we, before we end
here um, is there somebodythat's really influenced you in
your life, either a, an authoror a person that really has has
(33:49):
had an influence on who you'vebecome and who you want to be?
That you think about, um, or itcould be a book that you read
that just you think about a lot.
Any, any big sources ofinfluence in your lives.
Vishwas Mukherjee (34:03):
I would definitely say it was my mom who
was like the biggest influencein my life.
Her resilience and being toughin those hard moments in life
really showed me how great of aperson she was and every day
when I wake up I try to beresilient and resilient and
(34:24):
being like, have a nice heartfor people, listen to them and
talk with them and be theirfriend, I would say so your mom?
Lesther Sheldon (34:35):
I like it lester wow a lot of people have
definitely influenced my lifeand, I would say, at various
seasons in my life.
If if you ask the same question, I'd probably give you a
different answer to every seasonof my life, but then one person
that has generally stood outall throughout my life.
You know when I was born.
I was first named after Obama,were you really?
(34:57):
Yeah, I was first named.
What year were you born?
I was born in 2004.
The first time I became asenator of Illinois.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, so I was named after Obamaand for a long time my nickname
at home, the nickname that myparents would call me, was Obama
and all that stuff.
So I think there's been a lotof inspiration from him in my
(35:20):
life.
I look at all the challenges hefaced as a person and how he
emerged in the end.
I do not desire to become thepresident of Kenya sometime, but
then I definitely we definitelyhave to agree that he is a
person who overcame severalchallenges in his life and went
against the odds to achievewhatever he achieved.
(35:42):
And I would say, well, I don'thold the same ambitions in life
as he had.
I think his spirit yes, we canstill inspires me a lot.
Yes, I can do this.
People may have not done peoplein my life and probably have
not done it in the past, butthat doesn't define and that
(36:03):
doesn't prevent me from doing it.
Yes, I can yeah, sure, great.
Zack Johnson (36:10):
Hey, that's I.
I don't know if I we want topick up that nickname people
might start, but that's a reallyinteresting piece of your past,
graham.
Any questions that you're dyingto ask, raise your eyebrows
twice.
If no, I'm just kidding.
Well, vishwas and Lester,thanks so much for joining me
(36:33):
today.
I usually take some time tomake some announcements, but I
think that the biggest ones, ifyou're listening, come and visit
us in Boston.
We have a couple of eventscoming up.
One is actually a conferencecalled Therefore Go.
That gets at dealing withharder things in communities, so
(36:55):
that's exciting.
Then we have an open house.
So later on I should know thesedates, but if you don't know
them, just go.
Sattleredu slash events.
We have an open house and thenwe have high school week as well
.
So if you know a high schooler,you are a high schooler or you
want to give us a high schoolerto chase.
We do like a week of highschoolers who are thinking about
(37:16):
college, where we give them alittle bit of a taste to what it
is to be a Sattler student, alittle bit of a taste to what it
is to be a Salish student, andthen, just in light of the
spirit of our conversation, wereally value you here in our
community and we're hoping thatyou guys succeed, fulfill your
ambitions and, most importantly,learn how to serve God and be a
(37:39):
light in the world and thingslike that.
And hopefully we can get tothat six of six having students
here continuously from all overthe world.
And I did want to mention thatin order to make that happen,
sattler is launching a littlebit of some advancement
initiatives so we can acceptmore people and make it more
possible.
(38:00):
So if you're looking to give toSattler to make sort of
international student grantspossible, if you're looking to
give to Sattler to make sort ofinternational student grants
possible, there's a place togive on our website there to
look around.
it is march 6, 2024.
I am here with vishwas.
What's your last name?
Vishwas mokharji.
Okay, I'm not going to try tosay it.
And I'm here, lester, lester.
What's your last name?
Oma.
One more time, oma, oma.
Yeah, all right, and so I amhoping to just have a
conversation with you to sort ofhighlight your lives, where you
(00:25):
came from, what you'veexperienced from the past, and
then why did you come to Boston?
And maybe where you want to golater.
Continue to attract studentsfrom all livable continents over
(00:47):
the course of time, and I feellike this year's class has
really propelled us towards thatgoal.
How does that sound?
Vishwas Mukherjee (00:51):
Yeah, that sounds great yeah.
Zack Johnson (00:52):
Yeah, that's wonderful.
Anything All right, okay, so,vishwas, let's start with you.
Can you give me like anelevator pitch of your life?
Where are you from and how didyou get to Boston?
Vishwas Mukherjee (01:06):
So I'm from Delhi, which is the capital of
India, and I don't have like avery big family.
I just have my mom as well as myyounger sister.
So it was a very hard life tobegin with, like going through
like very much physical,emotional, mental trauma while
living with my father and stuff,and then getting into like uh,
(01:30):
really, really sad stuff throughlife.
Um, but fortunately it was godand his word that pulled me out
of it.
And, uh and yeah, and I justapplied to like different
colleges in india as well aslike United States as well, and
I was searching for a communitywhich will definitely help me to
go through these hard times andincrease me and make me more
(01:54):
lovable in like God's eyes.
So, yeah, so that's why Iapplied to like several
different colleges and I got anopportunity to attend Sattler
and I was like like okay, Ididn't know much about Sadler,
but I went through the missionand like I was like very much
happy to see a community thatwas building around like God and
his kingdom and I was like thisis the place I want to be.
(02:17):
Yeah, so that's why I choseSadler and that's how I came
here to be in Boston.
Zack Johnson (02:21):
All right, thanks Vishwas and Lester.
What about you?
Same question.
Lesther Sheldon (02:26):
I'm from Kenya and, yeah, I basically probably
don't really need to talk aboutmy life story, but I came to
hear about Settler from a friend, and it was in a season of my
life that I was also applying toseveral different colleges here
in the States and also back inKenya.
(02:49):
I had just finished high schoolin 2022 and was moving into a
stage in my life that I wasexpected to go into college and
hence was applying to severaldifferent colleges in Kenya and
in the States, and during thatprocess, I came to hear about
Settler from a friend who hadgotten an application to Settler
(03:11):
and also had been admittedbefore.
And, going through Settler'sstatement, I would say Settler
College stood out to me becauseof its tuition model and, apart
from that, also the fact that itwas the only Christian college
I applied to.
It was really great and myparents were impressed with it
(03:31):
and also my other relatives areimpressed with it, and they were
like this is the college thatyou need to go to, and I was
like I'm going to go to Kosella,yeah, sure.
Zack Johnson (03:39):
Okay, yeah, I didn't know that, and so maybe
we'll just talk a little bitabout your revival here.
What's been some of thehighlights of boston?
Maybe we'll do a highlight andlike, oh, this is harder than I
thought it would be.
Maybe it's the weather, maybeit's the the new england hard
(04:00):
knows people that you'resurrounded I'm just yeah.
Tell me a little bit about yourarrival to Boston and what you
found here.
Vishwas Mukherjee (04:07):
So, like it was my first time ever traveling
abroad and it was such a newexperience, landing into a new
land and seeing diverse peoplearound myself, even at the
airport, I was like, wow, thisis something really new.
I'm stepping into the nextphase of my life where I will
meet many different people andsee amazing things and stuff.
And when I arrived here, Ifirst went to the drones, then
(04:31):
came here at sattler and it wasa nice experience, I would say.
The environment's very lovely,I would say, and definitely the
weather.
The weather has been like quitea different ride for me because
, uh, in winter it went belowlike freezing and I've never
been in a climate such freezing.
So I would say it was a niceexperience.
(04:53):
I would say yeah did we?
Zack Johnson (04:55):
we?
We let you know that it wasgoing to be a hard winter.
Before the snow came right,yeah, okay, good, you didn't
feel like your life was indanger or anything.
No, I'm just kidding Lester,what about you?
Lesther Sheldon (05:07):
Oh, my highlight about Boston has
definitely been the BostonCommons.
I came into Boston probably Icame into the States first.
The first time I came into theStates, I went to Florida,
stayed there for about two weeksbefore coming into Boston, and
then you said you had an aunt.
(05:27):
Yeah, I have a.
I have an aunt down in Florida.
And then, uh, came into Bostontwo weeks after staying in the
States.
And also for me, it was my firsttime moving out of Kenya
without my parents, cause theonly other times I'd traveled
out of Kenya to have been toAfrican countries and all that
times I had been with my parents, and it was my first time
staying away from home withoutmy like.
(05:49):
It was my first time moving outof the country without my
parents.
And coming into Boston Iexpected it to be more of a
shock and you know, uh, stayingaway from your own country and
all that, but then I fell inlove with the city.
I love Boston Commons, I lovedthe, I loved the park, I loved
the people, I loved the weatherand I loved Settler.
And also, at the same time, youasked us a question about the
(06:13):
Tundan.
I would say the weather hasbeen one thing for me.
Yeah, I didn't really expectwinter to be that very cold, you
know talking temperatures belowfreezing.
It was my first timeexperiencing temperatures below
freezing point and also the snowand it was such a.
I would say it was aninteresting experience.
At the same time, while it wasmore of wow, I didn't expect
(06:36):
this, but I would say settlercommunity has provided a warmth
even amidst winter.
Zack Johnson (06:41):
Yeah, I, when I was in college, my freshman year
.
I'd never lived through a longwinter either, and it was.
It was.
There was a day it was likenegative 45 out negative 45
Fahrenheit have you?
Does it get that cold in Canada?
I'm sure it does, it was socold.
But I went out and a lot ofpeople there had an experience
(07:04):
that and a lot of people weren'twearing gloves and earmuffs and
we had to walk from A to B,which was like it was only a 10
minute walk, but a lot of us gotfrost nip on our fingers and my
ears.
And then the instinct is to putyou don't know this till it's
too late.
You want to put warm water onyour, your fingers and your ears
(07:25):
, and then you're not supposedto do that, right, you're
supposed to like put lukewarm oreven room temperature, and then
my ears still are cold.
So you've had it better than Ihave.
And then I did want to just talkabout a couple things about
just the sattler community andone of the.
(07:45):
When I take a step back andlook at this new, I feel like
your class, or the class theentering class of 23, there's a
much bigger internationalpresence in it than the previous
classes, and one of the one ofthe things that's interesting to
me is where I always try torecruit people to say, hey,
(08:05):
you're going to be studying,yeah, a sort of for a vocation
or an occupation, maybe a career.
What do you want to study,vishwas?
Vishwas Mukherjee (08:15):
I want to study computer science.
Zack Johnson (08:16):
Computer science in Leicester you are studying.
Lesther Sheldon (08:19):
Well, I'm more into a track that is seeking for
bioinformatics or a combinationof some courses in computer
science and also human biology.
Zack Johnson (08:29):
Okay, yeah, so both of you are interested in
the Bachelor of Science?
Yes, sure, and what's unique toSattler is that we also really
want you to want the Word of Godso deeply that you're willing
to invest in the study ofbiblical languages like Greek
and Hebrew, and the study ofchurch history and the
(08:52):
fundamental texts ofChristianity and Christian
doctrines.
And so tell me about how youmanage wanting to study computer
science in addition to beingpart of a community that is
studying sort of the Bibletogether on top of this other
part.
Do you have anything to sayabout that?
Vishwas Mukherjee (09:11):
Yeah.
So I went to a Christian school, christian private school in
India, and it also had the samesystem where you were studying
the rest of the courses, likescience, social science, but
with that you also had a subjectcalled moral education.
Zack Johnson (09:24):
Moral education.
Vishwas Mukherjee (09:25):
And it was like totally based on Bible and
it was like every single yearand every week we had like one
at least one class for motoreducation and we still learn
about like biblical stories anddifferent kinds of christian
songs too.
It wasn't like a huge drasticchange for me coming here and
studying biblical subjects, butit was definitely.
(09:46):
The biblical subjects here arelike much more advanced, I would
say, and it's like muchthought-provoking and yeah, that
that was my experience.
Like it was.
Lesther Sheldon (09:56):
It didn't feel totally different, but it was a
huge leap from what I am used tothanks muster anything to say
yeah, for me it was my firsttime actually combining a
pursuit of the sciences and likewhat I would say, the knowledge
of education and all thatcombined with the things like
(10:20):
discipleship and also thebiblical languages.
It was my first time becauseearlier on in my high school I
didn't take any religiousclasses and any religious
education classes and I wasn'texpected to live up to any
standards by the school.
As much as it was more of aChristian school, I wasn't
expected to live up to anycertain standards by the school
(10:41):
concerning things like myspiritual life and also.
So Sadler College stood outuniquely for me, especially for
the fact that I had to study mysciences, study my classes there
is, the courses in line with mymajor, and also at the same
time, I had to study in otherclasses that were more driven
(11:03):
towards being this kingdomChristian, and I was really
impressed by that.
It was my first time.
I didn't find it more of ashock, or rather something that
I would turn away from, butthat's something that I really
wanted to explore.
Zack Johnson (11:16):
Yeah, Got it.
And then, how many languages doboth of you speak?
Vishwas Mukherjee (11:25):
I would say I speak two languages, english
and Hindi.
Zack Johnson (11:29):
Hindi.
I speak three languages.
Lesther Sheldon (11:32):
What languages do you speak?
My most primary language is atribal language, is Luwu, and
then I speak the nationallanguage in Kenya and then I
also speak English.
Zack Johnson (11:42):
And what's your heart language?
What's like your go-to?
What do you think and dream?
Vishwas Mukherjee (11:46):
in oh, definitely Hindi.
Zack Johnson (11:49):
And then so, in addition to those languages, how
has it been to learn sort ofthe Greek alphabet and to start
to dip your toes in reading theBible in Greek?
I'd love to hear yourperspective on it.
Has it been illuminating oryou're like, ah, whatever.
Vishwas Mukherjee (12:05):
I was totally excited to learn a new language
because I just knew like twolanguages.
Because, uh, I just knew liketwo languages and, uh, within
hindi, I used to speak, um, somesort of urdu and a bit of like
different, uh, languages ofdifferent states as well.
It was just a mixture oflanguages and I really wanted to
like learn every singlelanguage that I could think of,
(12:27):
because it's uh, it's soinviting for different people of
different places if you speaktheir language.
So I was like very much intolike, yeah, if I'm getting to
learn a new language which isGreek, I would definitely take
it.
Yeah, and plus, if I'm able toread Bible in Greek and listen
more than Shaw.
So that was my perspective onlearning Greek.
Zack Johnson (12:49):
What about you?
And you'll start Hebrew nextyear as sophomores, right yeah,
what about you, lester?
Lesther Sheldon (13:01):
I would say that I felt like I had an
advantage over the other localstudents, especially in learning
a new language.
That is because the fact that Ihad to learn two languages
before, that is, swahili,because I wasn't taught Swahili
when growing up.
I only learned Swahili inschool and also English.
I primarily learned English inschool and then had to learn a
new language that is Greek.
So I felt like I had anadvantage or an edge over the
(13:22):
other students who probablyhadn't taken any classes in any
languages before, and also Ifind it interesting to learn
Greek.
It has been wonderful to gothrough my Bible in Greek and
open some verses that are prettymuch common.
I know them in English, butthen there's just this joy of
reading them in the originallanguage and I love it.
(13:45):
So far, I love it.
Zack Johnson (13:47):
Yeah, that's good to hear.
I remember one of myintroductions to Sattler was
actually through the founder ofthe college, dr karen will.
I took a saturday greek classfrom him and, like a it wasn't
for a grade, so a little lessintimidating, but it felt like
it was for a grade.
No, yeah, and I remember thefirst time reading a verse in
(14:07):
the in, being able to know whatthe New Testament is saying is
Greek and there's a certainconnection you feel to the
scriptures that's just amplifiedor something like that.
But then at the same time Ialways say you can still read
the Bible and Englishtranslations, other translations
, and not everybody has to getthis Greek experience, but more
(14:30):
people definitely should.
So now I have another thoughtcomment.
So, sattler, part of what I doall the time is trying to figure
out how to find the right fitstudents to come to the
institution.
And when I tell people that allof our students take a major in
addition to the biblical corethat that we have, they tell me
(14:54):
the only place you're going tofind students who will do that
is in the international realmthat there's.
People are finding that there'sa decreased demand for biblical
literacy and in the unitedstates and maybe even north
america, and but that net, thatdecline in the demand, isn't
necessarily as stronginternationally.
(15:15):
Do you have anything, anythoughts on if that's true or
not true and what you've seenhere in your time in the United
States or even from your peersfrom Kenya and India?
Lesther Sheldon (15:27):
I'd generally say that most of my peers go to
public universities in Kenya andthey're generally not expected
to have any knowledge of thebiblical languages or just even
a concept of the Bible.
And so, while it is true thatSettler will focus on them and
also probably universities orother colleges in the States may
(15:48):
have such a decline, I'd saythere's almost probably a
similar thing happening in Kenya.
Most colleges don't requiretheir students to learn anything
in relation to the Bible, likeit is not part of their core
curriculum, and also if there isany such, then it must be a
Christian college, not a publiccollege.
Zack Johnson (16:11):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Do you have any comments onthat trend or anything to add to
that?
Vishwas Mukherjee (16:15):
yeah.
So my peers back in india, theyall went to secular colleges.
Uh, they didn't had anopportunity to like go to a
christian college because, uh,technically, christian colleges
in india are not like pushedforward to like you should go
and attend these colleges here.
Most of the time it's just theentrance exams you give to get
into colleges and if you getinto like a decently good
(16:37):
college, even if it's aChristian college, they don't
mind.
But still, christian collegesare like very tight and compact
and less in India.
So most of the colleges aresecular and most of the people
go to secular colleges.
Zack Johnson (16:49):
So that maybe that the demand is also on the
decline on average, or onaverage globally, which is a
problem we must fix it.
We must fix it Right, graham.
Yes, I only say thatsarcastically, but it is when we
look at why we're here anddoing what we do.
Trying to fight against some ofthe trends is by actually just
(17:13):
taking practical action, likethe number of young people who
are eager to learn the Bible andreally try to devote themselves
to everything they can there.
I'd love to just chat aboutyour hopes and aspirations and
ambitions.
You said you're studyingcomputer science.
You're a freshman.
You're studying a combinationof ambitions.
You said you're studyingcomputer science.
You're a freshman.
You're studying a combinationof biology.
(17:35):
You're probably trying to takeas many classes.
Yeah, sure, I just wanted topreface.
We don't have a bioinformaticsmajor.
Lesther Sheldon (17:42):
Yeah sure, we don't have.
But then it's more of.
I take classes in computerscience and probably major in
the computer science track andminor in the bio track and then
finally it is more of abioinformatics track in the end.
Great, yeah sure.
Yeah, so I'd love to just hearso like, my career interest is
(18:05):
bioinformatics, but then mymajor is computer science and
minor in human biology.
Zack Johnson (18:10):
Right, yeah sure.
Computer science and mining,human biology right, yeah sure.
And we just I, I usually tellstudents that we are a liberal
arts college, which the way thatI frame that with a lot of
people is your.
You can view your, your collegeexperience or your undergrad as
a way to get some breath andthen afterwards you can
specialize.
So it's very possible to dothat with the majors we have.
(18:33):
What, what are your ambitions?
Um, with your degrees, withyour lives?
What are you, what are youhopeful to do?
And, uh, I'd love to hear areyou, are you hoping to go back
to india?
Are you hoping to go back tokenya, or what?
What's like your, your, your,uh, your ambition for your life?
Vishwas Mukherjee (18:53):
So I am very much passionate about technology
and I want to do somethingimpactful in that field, but I'm
very much interested inbusiness as well, so currently
I'm thinking of building an ITbusiness which also centers with
God and His kingdom and all theteachings that I get from here.
Also, I'm not quite sure ifI'll be in like India, United
(19:17):
States or some other part of theworld in the future, but
wherever I go, I will try tofulfill the promise that I made
with the people I love, as wellas fulfilling certain aspects of
things that are really neededfor Christ and his kingdom.
Zack Johnson (19:36):
Thanks, Vishwas Lester.
Lesther Sheldon (19:39):
Yeah, I would say I'm currently uncertain
about my decision.
If what I want to do issignificant to well, what I want
to do, I believe, issignificant to any part of the
world, which means I can serveboth back in Kenya, here in the
States or anywhere else in theworld, then I really want to get
(20:00):
into computational biologybecause I feel that is a field
that we are really lacking inand there is so much we can do
about it.
There's so much we can do withbioinformatics, with the huge
amount of information we couldget from our DNA and use it to
(20:21):
make better drugs, use it toprobably treat some diseases
like genetic disorders, and I'mlike that is what interests me,
and I can do it from anywhere,any part of the world.
I could go back to Kenya,especially where things like
computational biology has notreally been a thing in the
(20:42):
country, and just start doingthis and inspire the people to
also join me in the field, touse the huge amount of the huge
processing power of computers tosolve problems in the field of
biology.
Zack Johnson (20:58):
That's a great ambition.
I'm not a bioinformatics expertso I won't ask too many
questions.
There's more like high-levelhighlights.
And then another question Ihave for both of you.
You're allowed to pass.
If you don't have answers tothis question Is there a burden
that you have, for either thepeople in when you showed up the
(21:22):
United States are like, oh man,you people miss something that
I know from back home, sort oflike what's wrong with you Not
necessarily like a critique, buta burden or vice versa, Is
there something that you've seenhere that you think, oh, I have
a burden to share this backwith where I came from?
Are there any things you'repassionate about trying to sort
(21:43):
of bring either to the US orfrom the US back to where you're
originally from?
Lesther Sheldon (21:48):
I would say probably a sense of community,
like back in Kenya.
If you bought an airplane,probably just traveling from one
city to the other, and sit nextto a person, you'll probably
just start a conversation andtalk all throughout the flight
and spend time like both of youare total strangers, you've
never met before.
But then here in the States youbought a plane and you're on
(22:11):
the flight, you're never goingto talk to the person who is
sitting next to you and it'sjust something that they find I
don't find quite as common backin Kenya, but I found it quite
common in the States and Iwouldn't say I know the reason
why there isn't such a strongsense of community.
I'd call it or a strong senseof you know, talking to
(22:33):
strangers like trying to see ifyou have a common background or
just common interests and evenif you don't have just getting
to know other people in otherplaces.
Zack Johnson (22:44):
So there is one thing I'd say so you're saying
here people are a little moreself-focused on what's in the
head.
Lesther Sheldon (22:52):
People are more self-focused on what's in the
head.
People are more self-focusedMaybe wearing headphones or
something.
Yeah, like bees in the air.
You know, I've got to get mywork done.
Yeah, sure, no.
So one thing I really foundquite helpful, or rather one
thing I'd like people fromCanada to improve on, is things
like time management.
Like it has really beenchallenging, been challenging,
(23:14):
like my first time coming in itwas really challenging, because
probably my friends would saywe're leaving at three and I'm
like, oh, back in canada thatwould mean about 3, 30 pm or
something.
Then you get to a certain, to acertain way, and so all your
friends are all tired of waitingfor you, or yes, or you you got
late to an appointment and theyall started without you.
(23:36):
So I'm like probably one thingthat I would really love to take
back to kenya, if, uh, that ispossible, just like things like,
uh, time management, yeah, sure, yeah oh, it's a fearful.
Zack Johnson (23:52):
It's fearful, but I I probably agree with you.
I don't know if we want toexport everything around time
management, but certain things,yeah yeah, certain things, I
understand, vishwas.
Vishwas Mukherjee (24:05):
Yeah, same as Lester's.
Second point I want to bringpunctuality, which I really
appreciate, here back home inIndiaia, because I do feel like,
uh, valuing each other's timeis very important.
If you're like committingyourself for a specific time, a
specific place, you should be,you know, there actively,
actively be a part of thatpromise that you made.
(24:27):
So that's like the thing that Iwould would surely take back to
India and the thing I wouldbring here, would be, definitely
food.
I miss my mom's hand-cooked food, but I would like to see more
of a diverse cuisine here.
Zack Johnson (24:56):
And who knows if I just am the next revolutionary.
For four years boston got itand then, just out of curiosity,
this is a maybe, this is avision for, like the
international church body.
They're you know, one of when Ithink aboutattler in both ways,
that we think about our missionstatement, where we're kind of
reworking it right now, butoriginally we say we seek to
(25:19):
prepare students to serve Christ, the church and the world.
Every time I sit down and saywhat are we trying to do, it
always comes in that we weretrying to equip students to
prepare to address some diversechallenges in the church and the
world.
And there's there's a built-inassumption that, like, the
church is a really big part ofwhat it is to be a Christian,
(25:43):
it's.
It's almost hard to to separatethem too.
So how do you think about, youknow, being a?
Now you're a cross-culturallyexperienced, educated, educated
people?
How do we, how do we, bringthat into the church?
Is the?
Are there any lessons for thechurch?
Is it supposed to be, as achurch, supposed to be,
mono-ethnic, ethnic?
(26:04):
Do we, do we want to makechurches that revolve around
ethnicities and language, or ordo we have some work for the
church to become sort of thisinternational body bound
together by Christ and hisbaptism.
That's a huge topic, range oftopics, but basically, what are
(26:26):
your thoughts about the churchand how you're going to interact
with that, with your life?
I won't hold you to anythingyou say here, but I think, I
think it's important to thinkabout.
Lesther Sheldon (26:36):
Yeah I I've read about.
I've read some philosophy aboutethnic segregation in churches
and kind of like churches needto be ethnically segregated and
such stuff.
And I would say, coming into aplace where I was ethnically
different and also probablyarbitrationally different, from
(26:57):
my fellow students and alsopeople You're saying here in the
States, I think I found itquite helpful to interact with
people from different culturesto see their point of
interpretation of the Bible andthe scriptures and I value the
fact that we are able to cometogether into this body of
Christ that is formed fromdifferent parts, not just
(27:19):
different parts and forms oftalents and gifts, but also
different parts and forms ofethnicities and nationalities
and also racially different.
But then there's this unity andthere's this wholeness that
comes together when the churchis composed of people from
different ethnic backgrounds.
So I'm not a proponent ofethnical segregation in churches
(27:39):
and I would say from my ownpersonal experience, the church
is supposed to be composedrather churches in the wild are
supposed to be composed ofpeople from different ethnic
backgrounds, people fromdifferent races, because it
brings in different point ofviews in the church and also
different interpretations in thechurch.
That is quite helpful to thebody of Christ.
Zack Johnson (28:02):
Yeah, that's helpful.
Sure Vishwas any.
Vishwas Mukherjee (28:05):
Yeah, I would say the same thing that a
church should not segregate anyperson on the basis of language,
the skin color, only kind offield they're coming from,
because we are all humans, weare all equal in God's eyes.
So staying together is like thebest thing that we can do in
church.
Staying together from alldifferent kinds of languages we
(28:27):
are coming from or any kind ofdifferent cultures we are coming
from.
Staying together is the bestchoice here we are coming from
or any kind of differentcultures we are coming from.
Zack Johnson (28:32):
Staying together is the best choice here.
And then I'll I ask this toeveryone I interview here.
Here at Sattler, we have thismoment of like, sharing a pearl
of wisdom with the community,and I'll allow you some choice.
Is there, is there either apearl of wisdom that you've,
(28:55):
you've latched on to here uponarrival, or is there a pearl of
wisdom that you hold to, thatyou haven't yet spoken?
That kind of is a guiding, aguiding point of wisdom and in
your life that you like to thinkabout.
So either repeat one thatyou've heard or share a, share a
new one, any, anything thatcomes to mind.
Do you want to go first?
Yeah, it's a big.
It's a big one.
Vishwas Mukherjee (29:10):
Yeah yeah, I mean there were.
From the time I have been here,I've heard a lot of pearls,
yeah, and every single pearlbrings in something that is much
more valuable for me.
Uh, one of the things that Iwould like to personally bring
in would be like a sense ofbrotherhood more, uh like
(29:33):
because I have seen people allall around the place, uh, that
we are conversing with eachother, we are living with each
other, but still a brotherhoodis missing.
I do feel like that, and thatbrotherhood, I would like to say
, should be brought up in andsomeone should go up to the
pulpit and talk aboutbrotherhood more.
Zack Johnson (29:55):
Brotherhood.
Yeah, can you say more aboutwhat brotherhood looks like to
you?
What brotherhood looks like toyou?
Like, I think I know whatyou're getting at, but just
being a little, bit moreintimately connected.
Yeah, I would say this.
I've even heard it labeled aslike camaraderie, or even,
looking at some of the stronggroup communities like gangs
(30:18):
yeah, I'm a little kidding, butpeople have thought like, hey,
in, in essence, a Christiancommunity should look a little
bit more gang like, and I'veheard talks on that.
Is that kind of what you'regetting at?
Vishwas Mukherjee (30:32):
Not so extreme as gang like, but
definitely like staying togetherand being more intimate with
your life and how you presentyourself in front of different
people.
Like I don't.
I don't like when people stayreserved, uh, even though you
have known each other for thelongest time.
Like, what is keeping youreserved?
(30:52):
Is it like your doubt for thenthe person sitting in front of
you?
Or is it the doubt that youhave for yourself, like if you
tell yourself or tell somethingabout yourself to the other
person what he or she will think?
That's now how our mind shouldbe.
Our mind should be likeexpressive and very much
(31:13):
expressive, and should likepresent every single thought
that we have that needs like atouch for somebody else or their
thoughts.
So, yeah, that should be abrotherhood.
Zack Johnson (31:24):
Yeah, I think brotherhood All right, and
Lester, what about you?
Lesther Sheldon (31:28):
Wow, I've had a lot of piles of wisdom in my
life prior to Settler, alsodefinitely a lot of them at
Settler.
But then having this just foundme at a season of my life that
I'm trying to embrace this ideaof letting go of perfection and
embracing instead the pursuit ofexcellence, whereby excellence
(31:51):
I mean the better of two optionsor the lesser of two evils.
Are confronted by decisions andwe have this intrinsic sense as
human beings to go after theideal perfection, but then, uh,
I would say that most of thetime causes us to be unhappy and
(32:12):
have a sense of unsatisfactionand a lack of fulfillment if in
the end, we don't achieve it,because a lot of people don't
achieve it, because, yeah, likethis, nobody can really say
they've achieved the ideal senseof perfection.
So I've later come to embracethe idea of letting go of the
idea of ideal perfection or theabsolute perfection, but then
(32:35):
embracing what I would callrelative perfection or
excellence, the better of twooptions or the lesser of two
evils.
Zack Johnson (32:43):
Yeah, sure, or excellence, the better of two
options or the lesser of twoevils?
Yeah, sure, so brotherhood andthe pursuit of excellent versus
the pursuit of absoluteperfection, sure, yeah, it's
interesting.
I, jesus says be perfect.
Yeah, your father in heaven isperfect, and I actually we've
thought about that word a littlebit.
The word, the greek word, istelos.
(33:03):
Yeah, and somehow we'reactually supposed to strive for
that as humans.
Um, and the english wordperfect probably doesn't capture
what this is getting at, but itis sort of this hey, make
yourself, you'll never.
You can't be god, but you canchase.
You can just be a god chess,you can be a god chaser and I
(33:25):
like, I like both of those.
Yeah, I was also in withbrotherhood.
A lot of people are like, wouldyou give, would you sacrifice
your lives for each other?
That's that's sort of abrotherhood.
And then the last question I'llask before we, before we end
here um, is there somebodythat's really influenced you in
your life, either a, an authoror a person that really has has
(33:49):
had an influence on who you'vebecome and who you want to be?
That you think about, um, or itcould be a book that you read
that just you think about a lot.
Any, any big sources ofinfluence in your lives.
Vishwas Mukherjee (34:03):
I would definitely say it was my mom who
was like the biggest influencein my life.
Her resilience and being toughin those hard moments in life
really showed me how great of aperson she was and every day
when I wake up I try to beresilient and resilient and
(34:24):
being like, have a nice heartfor people, listen to them and
talk with them and be theirfriend, I would say so your mom?
Lesther Sheldon (34:35):
I like it lester wow a lot of people have
definitely influenced my lifeand, I would say, at various
seasons in my life.
If if you ask the same question, I'd probably give you a
different answer to every seasonof my life, but then one person
that has generally stood outall throughout my life.
You know when I was born.
I was first named after Obama,were you really?
(34:57):
Yeah, I was first named.
What year were you born?
I was born in 2004.
The first time I became asenator of Illinois.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, so I was named after Obamaand for a long time my nickname
at home, the nickname that myparents would call me, was Obama
and all that stuff.
So I think there's been a lotof inspiration from him in my
(35:20):
life.
I look at all the challenges hefaced as a person and how he
emerged in the end.
I do not desire to become thepresident of Kenya sometime, but
then I definitely we definitelyhave to agree that he is a
person who overcame severalchallenges in his life and went
against the odds to achievewhatever he achieved.
(35:42):
And I would say, well, I don'thold the same ambitions in life
as he had.
I think his spirit yes, we canstill inspires me a lot.
Yes, I can do this.
People may have not done peoplein my life and probably have
not done it in the past, butthat doesn't define and that
(36:03):
doesn't prevent me from doing it.
Yes, I can yeah, sure, great.
Zack Johnson (36:10):
Hey, that's I.
I don't know if I we want topick up that nickname people
might start, but that's a reallyinteresting piece of your past,
graham.
Any questions that you're dyingto ask, raise your eyebrows
twice.
If no, I'm just kidding.
Well, vishwas and Lester,thanks so much for joining me
(36:33):
today.
I usually take some time tomake some announcements, but I
think that the biggest ones, ifyou're listening, come and visit
us in Boston.
We have a couple of eventscoming up.
One is actually a conferencecalled Therefore Go.
That gets at dealing withharder things in communities, so
(36:55):
that's exciting.
Then we have an open house.
So later on I should know thesedates, but if you don't know
them, just go.
Sattleredu slash events.
We have an open house and thenwe have high school week as well
.
So if you know a high schooler,you are a high schooler or you
want to give us a high schoolerto chase.
We do like a week of highschoolers who are thinking about
(37:16):
college, where we give them alittle bit of a taste to what it
is to be a Sattler student, alittle bit of a taste to what it
is to be a Salish student, andthen, just in light of the
spirit of our conversation, wereally value you here in our
community and we're hoping thatyou guys succeed, fulfill your
ambitions and, most importantly,learn how to serve God and be a
(37:39):
light in the world and thingslike that.
And hopefully we can get tothat six of six having students
here continuously from all overthe world.
And I did want to mention thatin order to make that happen,
sattler is launching a littlebit of some advancement
initiatives so we can acceptmore people and make it more
possible.
(38:00):
So if you're looking to give toSattler to make sort of
international student grantspossible, if you're looking to
give to Sattler to make sort ofinternational student grants
possible, there's a place togive on our website there to
look around.
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