Simeon Harrar MDiv program studentFor Simeon Harrar, a middler M.Div. student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary who recently had his first book Finding Tom published, stories have always been a part of his life. In fact, he recognizes that his love of stories has not only shaped him but has also shaped his faith.

“Stories are always something I connect with. Give me a book of stories and I feel alive,” he says.

As a child of two missionary parents, he spent most of his life growing up in the southwestern Pacific island of Papua New Guinea, one of the linguistically diverse countries, where his parents were helping in the work of translating the Bible. Reading was a huge part of his life. With no television or Internet, there was little else for him to do and so he and his siblings would all pile on their parent’s bed as book after book was read for hours on end. He discovered early in life that writing was a way he could process and engage with the world around him, but began to write seriously in 10th grade, slowly finding his voice.

Upon graduating, instead of going overseas to work in missions as he had hoped he would be doing, he found himself instead doing youth ministry in Lancaster, Pa., where he met a beautiful, artistic woman named Ali who eventually became his wife. Eventually Simeon and Ali decided to move to Pittsburgh so he could continue his studies and his pursuit of becoming a pastor, while also allowing Ali to continue her work with children and music. During this time Simeon began to wonder if he could use this passion and gift of writing as a ministry tool.

“There are so many books out there for people to read, but there is this need for more good stories that also happen to be about God.” So, with this idea burning in his mind, Simeon put pen to paper and began to write. One year and many drafts later, Finding Tom was finished.

“In some sense Finding Tom took me a year to write, but it was really the culmination of 10 years of writing,” he says.

Simeon hopes there will be many more stories to discover and write as he and Ali journey together in whatever form of ministry God calls them to do. And whatever it is God leads them to, they will work together in bridging the Word and the World—probably with words.

In addition to his book, Simeon blogs at http://www.simeonharrar.com/.

Written February 2013

Simeon Harrar MDiv program studentFor Simeon Harrar, a middler M.Div. student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary who recently had his first book Finding Tom published, stories have always been a part of his life. In fact, he recognizes that his love of stories has not only shaped him but has also shaped his faith.

“Stories are always something I connect with. Give me a book of stories and I feel alive,” he says.

As a child of two missionary parents, he spent most of his life growing up in the southwestern Pacific island of Papua New Guinea, one of the linguistically diverse countries, where his parents were helping in the work of translating the Bible. Reading was a huge part of his life. With no television or Internet, there was little else for him to do and so he and his siblings would all pile on their parent’s bed as book after book was read for hours on end. He discovered early in life that writing was a way he could process and engage with the world around him, but began to write seriously in 10th grade, slowly finding his voice.

Upon graduating, instead of going overseas to work in missions as he had hoped he would be doing, he found himself instead doing youth ministry in Lancaster, Pa., where he met a beautiful, artistic woman named Ali who eventually became his wife. Eventually Simeon and Ali decided to move to Pittsburgh so he could continue his studies and his pursuit of becoming a pastor, while also allowing Ali to continue her work with children and music. During this time Simeon began to wonder if he could use this passion and gift of writing as a ministry tool.

“There are so many books out there for people to read, but there is this need for more good stories that also happen to be about God.” So, with this idea burning in his mind, Simeon put pen to paper and began to write. One year and many drafts later, Finding Tom was finished.

“In some sense Finding Tom took me a year to write, but it was really the culmination of 10 years of writing,” he says.

Simeon hopes there will be many more stories to discover and write as he and Ali journey together in whatever form of ministry God calls them to do. And whatever it is God leads them to, they will work together in bridging the Word and the World—probably with words.

In addition to his book, Simeon blogs at http://www.simeonharrar.com/.

Written February 2013