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The Pilot Wednesday^ March 3,1999 Page 5
Hobbs finds gates ajar at the cemetery
Michelle Wood
Pilot staff
Spooky. Sad. Eerie. These
are words most people would
use to describe a graveyard.
But when Dr. June Hobbs.
Professor of English, thinks of
a cemetery, a curiosity stirs
within her.
This passion has driven her
to research and write an article
which will be published in the
“Southern Quarterly, ” a publi
cation of the University of
Southern Mississippi in the fall
of 2000.
Hobbs has been interested
in studying ephitaphs and
iconography (writings and pic
tures on headstones) for sever
al years. Her interest began
when she was doing research
for a book on hymns and dis
covered that many of the hymn
texts could be found on tomb
stones, she said.
Dr. Hobbs soon fell in love
with cemeteries. She has been
working on this project for
about two years, but last sum
mer she did most of her inten
sive, systematic research. This
research took her all over the
Southeast, from large cemeter
ies in Savannah and Atlanta, to
many smaller ones around the
region. She spent up to three
days at a time taking pictures,
studying epitaphs and the like.
Hobbs has studied several
themes, one of which she calls
“heaven’s gates ajar.” She says
that many old tombstones have
pictures of heaven’s gates. This
theme also appears in many
hymns of the same period.
In 1868, Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps published The Gates
Ajar to help families of Civil
War casualties. This paralleled
the idea of many hymns that
heaven was no longer for the
elite or elect, and that loved
ones were just barely out of
reach. This was an important
source of comfort for loved
ones of the recently deceased,
said Hobbs.
Hobbs says she has thor
oughly enjoyed her work and
she hopes to eventually publish
a book which will give a more
in-depth look at her findings.
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Photo by Ashlie Pence
Dr. June Hobbs, Professor of English at GWU, spends her spare time in cemeteries searching for epitaphs and iconogra
phy on headstones. She has researched how the epitaphs relate to old hymns.
GWU student revisits homeland for first time
From Page One
“We saw over 1500 people
who actually signed the med
ical forms that we handed out,
but we saw so many people
who didn’t sign the forms,”
said Tran.
The medical staff was able
to share the Gospel through the
building of personal relation
ships.
“I was sharing with one lit
tle boy about the story of how
Jesus died on a cross for our
sins and he was laid in a tomb,
but three days later he came
back to life. I told him that he
could pray and talk to Jesus so
that he could live forever with
Him in heaven. I told him that
March Events
March 15 - Declare candidacy for
S.G.A. executive offices
Forms available in Audrey Sloan’s Office.
March 18 - The Bottom Shelf Coffee House
“PNX” (Punk Christian Music)
9 p.m. • Ritch Banquet Hall
March 20 - Movie; Mulan 8 p.m. • Hamrick Hall
March 24 - “Family Feud” game show
5 p.m. in the cafeteria
March 26 - All Nighter 80’s Flix
9 p.m, - 6 a.m.
Refreshments provided
he could talk to Jesus about
whatever he wanted. He said,
‘Whatever? Just whatever? I
told him that I would pray first
and then he prayed. It was just
so exciting,“ said Tran.
But spreading the Gospel
of Jesus Christ could have had
Tran arrested. There is only one
Baptist church in Ho Chi Minh
today that the Vietcong govern
ment has allowed to be in use,
according to Tran.
“I was scared when I was
sitting with the kids witnessing
to them on the streets in broad
daylight. If the Vietcong caught
me I don’t know what would
have happened. I just thought,
T want to be able to come back
to the States,’ but then I
thought, ‘Oh well.’
“Every time that the little
boy that I had told about
Christianity and I saw another
kid, he’d say, ‘Tell her about
Jesus.’ And every time I got to
the part when Jesus died, he’d
always say, ‘And three days
later he came back to life.’ It
was just made me realize that
we need to have a child-like
faith,” said Tran.
GWU mission team to do medical
work in Honduras during break
Angela D. Sanders
Pilot staff
A mission trip to Honduras
is planned for March 5-14. The
team will consist of 11 people.
“It is my hope that through
this experience, the students
will gain a closer relationship
with Christ and realize He
empowers us to do missions,”
said Tracy Jessup, Campus
Minister.
The team will be based in
Siguatepeque and will do med
ical missions. They will also
visit other locations in
Honduras. “Siguatepeque is a
very poor community. They
don’t even have many of the
things that we take for grant
ed,” said Jessup.
The team will assist profes
sors from Birmingham,
Alabama. Some of the team
will do pharmaceutical distrib
ution.
“Some of us will hold the
head of a child while they are
having dental work done. It’s
net at all like your average den
tal care here,” said Jessup.
There will also be
Christian ministry to the people
of Honduras. “Our group will
deliver personal evangelism to
the people there,” said Jessup.
The team will be staying at
a primitive hotel. “ It’s definite
ly not the -type of luxury we’re
accustomed to,” said Jessup.
“I would like to see them
gain a greater appreciation of
the diversity in the family of
God. They will have the oppor
tunity to meet people in far
worse circumstances than we
are. Hopefully, this experience
will cause us to not only give
thanks, but to lend a helping
hand,” said Jessup.