What we've been up to

Some of you may have some interest in what we've been keeping busy with lately.

Andrew just showed me the material he is preparing for a 10-week online course this fall in church history. He's spent hours every day writing and developing the material, reading guides, tests and so on. He's about halfway done. I often come home in the evening finding him stretched out on the bed, surrounded by books and binders, poring over his computer for several hours even after he's been at it all day at work. Church history is his passion, so I don't think he will burn out anytime soon. Maybe he can get on here and tell you more about what he's been up to in the office.

Next weekend is a faculty retreat so Andrew will join the other instructors and faculty for a few days together in the mountains.

The Regional Communications team took a summer hiatus, as is common for Europeans. Tiki went home to see her family and renew her residency visa back there. My supervisor, Dennis, took a well-deserved three weeks with his wife at a lake in the Netherlands. Andrew and I took two weeks of vacation in Italy, with a week in between for me to keep the plates spinning with Engage magazine.

This month Tiki and I returned our attention to writing our weekly "Snapshots," with the first one going out on Monday. We're also gathering and preparing articles for the September edition of Where Worlds Meet, after giving it a month off for August. We have some exciting stories, such as the announcement of plans for how the Eurasia Region will partner with the global church in a special fall offering for World Evangelism Fund. Additionally, we're editing a few articles written by students on the Point Loma Nazarene University medical team that served in the Nazarene hospital in Washim, India, this summer. A youth mission team from Hungary sent us an article and photos about their summer ministry trip. And the list goes on. God and His people have been busy sharing Christ's love this summer throughout the region.

For Engage magazine, I'm working on some exciting developments. A new volunteer with a marketing business back home is helping me conduct some analysis of the Web site and visitor traffic. In his free time he's also putting together some marketing ideas and planning that hopefully I can put into action later this fall.

We brought on-board a writing intern from MidAmerica Nazarene University who has done a stellar job in completing his first two articles. I'm also working to beef up the multi-media storytelling of Engage, and to expand content that focuses on exploring mission theology and philosophy in our church today. We also started a new column called Ask the Missionary, and have added a series of mission book reviews (thanks, Greg and Amy!). I'm excited about more ideas that are in the works. I love my job with Engage, and all the potential it holds to continue expanding resources for our mission-passionate Nazarenes.

The students will be returning for the fall semester in a few weeks. It's been really quiet without them. While that means less competition for the gym room equipment, it also means an absence of fellowship that we have come to enjoy with young people from around the world. We are ready to have them back. :-)