Tim Webster

Tracing human interactions with the world’s most famous tropical timber species, The Social Life of Teak maps worlds revolving around teak forests, trees and wood. What gives Tectona grandis such a powerful aura, stoking desires and capturing imaginations? How has teak shaped people’s lives, driving fortunes and impacting futures? What has happened to the teak forests and what is their destiny? In this illustrated anthology of oral histories, people connected personally or professionally to teak speak of survival, change and learning, creativity and destruction, growth and demise. Woven together, these experiences bring to light the ways that teak has been sought, crafted, cultivated, traded and prized over time. Animist beliefs, creative expression, scientific invention, economic viability, imperialist expansion, peak luxury, violent repression, ecological disaster and the regenerative power of nature all find a home in this global intergenerational tale. Charting the domestication of wilderness and exposing the era of extinction of a feted natural resource, this book seeks to stimulate conversations about our role as nature’s most troublesome offspring.

We were young, and we knew little about marriage and parenting, but we knew that if we didn't have a plan for keeping Christ in the center of our homes, we'd soon be like most couples around us. We'd be floundering as we ran the rat race of life, simply trying to make it through each day. We wanted more. We wanted a marriage where there was intimacy. We wanted to impart crucial truths to our children. We wanted to build our homes with purpose. We wanted Christ at the center. With this goal in mind, we came up with seven core character qualities of Jesus that formed the structure for our pursuits in our marriage and our family: passion for God, unity in our family, responsibility, purity, others' needs first, stewardship and excelling in gifts. This book describes what we did to develop these character traits of Jesus in our personal lives, in our marriage and in our home. Tim Webster has been a pastor for 35 years. He graduated from Washington Bible College with a BA in Bible, Capitol Bible Seminary with a MDiv, and Catholic University with a MA in biblical languages. He was married to Lara for 15 years until the Lord took her home to heaven at the age of 39 from glioblastoma cancer, leaving behind Nathan (12), Rebekah (11), and Mark (8). Tim and Lara taught often on marriage and family before her homegoing. It was always their dream to put the lessons God taught them into book form. This book is the realization of that vision.

Yangon Echoes welcomes readers behind the façades of heritage buildings to offer intimate views on life in the cosmopolitan city formerly known as Rangoon, Burma. An unprecedented work of oral history, Yangon Echoes is a rich anthology of fascinating life stories exploring notions and values of heritage and home. This popular history of buildings charts social space and urban folklore, linking past to present via living memories. The storytellers speak of joy and tragedy, simple pleasures and aching issues, candidly sharing their thoughts and feelings of living through Yangon’s emergence from decades of stagnation to engagement with a rapidly spinning world. Told with courage and charm, these informal stories record everyday life through domestic connections to old places. "The rich tapestry of multicultural Yangon is reflected wonderfully in this brilliant book, a fusion of intangible and tangible heritage that is often overlooked in architectural studies of cities." William Logan, Professor Emeritus, Deakin University, Melbourne "This is a precious and intimate history of buildings." Prof. Su Su, Department of Architecture, Mandalay Technological University "Yangon Echoes gives voice to resilient people caught in a whirlwind of urban change. Their captivating stories breathe life into the places they’ve called home and transform ordinary buildings into extraordinary repositories of families lives." Jeff Cody, Senior Project Specialist, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles