When you're teaching English to people in another country, the last thing you want to see in the ESL workbook is a reading and comprehension story on snake-handling churches in America.
A few weeks ago I agreed to substitute teach an introductory English class that our church offers to people in our community. When I looked at the section we were going to be doing last night, I couldn't believe it when I saw the paragraphs written about the "Holiness movement" in which congregations handle snakes because of a passage in Mark (16:18) where Christ says his followers can handle snakes and not be hurt.
Considering that our denomination is part of the "Holiness movement," along with mainstream denominations such as the Wesleyans and Methodists, and that as far as I know, not a single one of these churches encourages people to play with poisonous snakes, I was not thrilled with the impression this would create with Europeans, in whose culture Evangelical denominations are already viewed as cultish (I am told).
Wow, that was a long sentence.
Well, at first I thought about skipping the section and going on to something else. But then I figured, hey, any opening for a spiritual discussion is better than none, even if it's weird. So I decided to go with it and see what happened.
While we read other little "stories" about snakes, sure enough, nothing elicited as much interest in the meaning of the text as the snake-handling anecdote. One of the men had even read the story in advance of our class and gone to his Bible to look up the section referenced for himself. They seemed confused by the story and did a lot of talking amongst themselves in German as they tried to figure it out. I didn't have any idea what they were saying. But finally, one of the ladies asked me if the people in this American sect misinterpreted the Bible or if the passage really does mean that Jesus is promising his followers that they can play with snakes and not get hurt.
I said that this passage reminded me of another one, in which Jesus says if you have a very tiny seed of faith, you can say to a mountain, "hey, go jump in that lake" and the mountain will do it. I said, "of course, that would not happen. So it is a symbolic meaning, and it means that with God's strength, you can overcome problems in your life as big as mountains." I said this may be what is meant by Jesus' words about snakes, too: that a problem in your life as tricky and problematic as a snake you can handle with confidence when God gives you the strength to face it. They seemed satisfied with that explanation. They also asked me how many people in America would do something like this, and I emphasized that it is very, very few.
Upon closer examination, I see that Jesus' words about snake-handling, speaking in tongues, driving out demons and being immune to poison were fulfilled amongst his followers shortly after his death, particularly in the life of Paul. And I know that in many countries around the world, such signs are still being fulfilled today. However, it was somewhat difficult to explain in the most simple English that while these things are certainly true, Jesus was not encouraging his followers to seek out dangerous situations, such as playing with poisonous snakes, as an end in themselves or to prove anything. So I left it at the symbolism.
At the end of the class, one of the participants said, "We think you are very easy to understand; you speak slowly and clearly, and you explain things well." That reassured me, because I really wanted to be an effective substitute until the real ESL expert returns from a teaching trip. They said they were glad that they are forced to speak in English with me most of the time because it is helping them practice more.
Afterward everyone stayed for cookies and to talk in English more informally. This is a great time for me to get to know people from around our village in casual conversation, and it's super fun.
I'm really happy that I have something to offer in service here, and I do hope to continue being part of this, whether subbing, teaching or just showing up to make new friends.
-- Gina
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
One more way to get involved
While we are talking about ways that anyone can get involved in God's mission, a big opportunity is coming up this fall.
Our denomination gives an annual offering each fall to missions. In the U.S. it is usually given at Thanksgiving. In other world areas it can be given anytime between September and December. The offerings go to our World Evangelism Fund, which is what lays the foundation for our entire mission enterprise in 157 countries. These funds support missionaries and ministries.
Even though we, as volunteer missionaries, do not receive direct financial support from WEF, the ministries in which we work would not exist at all if not for giving to this fund.
Because of the weakening economies in many countries, the fund is 20% short of what is required to simply maintain existing ministries and personnel this year. Many ministries' budgets have already been cut significantly in the past two years, and some mission personnel have had to go home sooner than planned. Much more drastic cuts are on the immediate horizon.
Yet, Andrew and I fervently believe that sometimes God must wait for us humans to recognize we've reached our human limits before He can step in and demonstrate his infinite power and resources. So many times we try to do God's work in our own strength, and that allows us also to take the credit.
It's time to step back and tell God we can't do this, but that we know He can. We are excited to see how God will work through our church during the upcoming Challenge 2010 offering.
This fall, talk with your pastor and Nazarene Missions International (NMI) president about when your church will give this special, one-time offering called WEF PLUS. There are videos, a planning guide, printable brochures and posters, clip art and other resources to help promote the offering at www.nazarene.org/challenge2010. There is also a prayer schedule here. This page goes into a lot more detail about WEF and how it works.
Consider praying about what God would ask you to give. Remember, He sometimes asks us to give more in faith than we believe we can give, and then He provides the resources to make it possible. When that happens, we know it was not something we could do, but only what God could do. These opportunities increase our faith.
Our mission leaders have asked each Nazarene to consider giving $10 to the offering, or an equivalent in one's local currency. Some may feel called to give one day's salary. Andrew and I have already given our offering.
Giving to this "WEF PLUS" offering is a chance for Andrew and I to say "thank you" to God for His blessings in our lives, and to pass that blessing on to others. It is because others invested in our lives when we were kids that we had the privilege to grow up knowing Christ personally. Not everyone has received that chance, and we want to pay it forward.
Besides giving, you can also pray for this offering, and for God to increase our faith as a church through our sacrificial giving.
Read more about Challenge 2010 here.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Mission Corps: How to Get Involved
Along with staying informed and giving sacrificially to ministry in Europe, there may be some of you who want to do even more to get involved.
Recently, I was contacted by someone interested in teaching overseas. I was excited to share our experience with him, along with some helpful information. I was particularly excited to refer him to Mission Corps, the volunteer mobilization department of the Church of the Nazarene.
Many of you may already be familiar with short-term missions activity through the Work & Witness program. W&W trips to Mexico, Nicaragua, and France are how I was first introduced to foreign missions. Work & Witness teams are sent all over the world at all times of the year, usually for 1-2 weeks at a time. Two teams helped out at EuNC over the summer, and we have a third team here this week as well.
Mission Corps, like Work & Witness, is a missions-minded volunteer program within the Church of the Nazarene. But Mission Corps is also a bit different. Unlike W&W, Mission Corps deals specifically with individuals and couples, rather than groups. Also, Mission Corps volunteers serve for anywhere from 6 months to 1 year at a time, rather than 1-2 weeks.
The old paradigm of foreign missions no longer applies. No longer is it merely those specifically called to full-time church ministry in a foreign context who are considered "missionaries." You do not have to be a minister or seminary student in order to offer yourself for overseas service. People from many areas of interest and expertise are needed to contribute to what God is doing through the Church of the Nazarene across the globe. Whether you are a full-time minister, Starbucks employee, accountant, teacher, journalist, medical professional, or construction worker, or whatever - your skills and experience are needed somewhere in the world.
If you are looking for a cross-cultural experience beyond Work & Witness, Mission Corps is where you want to go in order to match your skills with the needs that exist. If you are willing to serve as a Mission Corps volunteer, check out their website TODAY at: http://www.missioncorps.org!
Recently, I was contacted by someone interested in teaching overseas. I was excited to share our experience with him, along with some helpful information. I was particularly excited to refer him to Mission Corps, the volunteer mobilization department of the Church of the Nazarene.
Many of you may already be familiar with short-term missions activity through the Work & Witness program. W&W trips to Mexico, Nicaragua, and France are how I was first introduced to foreign missions. Work & Witness teams are sent all over the world at all times of the year, usually for 1-2 weeks at a time. Two teams helped out at EuNC over the summer, and we have a third team here this week as well.
Mission Corps, like Work & Witness, is a missions-minded volunteer program within the Church of the Nazarene. But Mission Corps is also a bit different. Unlike W&W, Mission Corps deals specifically with individuals and couples, rather than groups. Also, Mission Corps volunteers serve for anywhere from 6 months to 1 year at a time, rather than 1-2 weeks.
The old paradigm of foreign missions no longer applies. No longer is it merely those specifically called to full-time church ministry in a foreign context who are considered "missionaries." You do not have to be a minister or seminary student in order to offer yourself for overseas service. People from many areas of interest and expertise are needed to contribute to what God is doing through the Church of the Nazarene across the globe. Whether you are a full-time minister, Starbucks employee, accountant, teacher, journalist, medical professional, or construction worker, or whatever - your skills and experience are needed somewhere in the world.
If you are looking for a cross-cultural experience beyond Work & Witness, Mission Corps is where you want to go in order to match your skills with the needs that exist. If you are willing to serve as a Mission Corps volunteer, check out their website TODAY at: http://www.missioncorps.org!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Thank you, German ingenuity
Under our missions insurance, the regular prescriptions that we take are considered for pre-existing conditions and therefore are not covered by the insurance we have. This means we have to cover the cost of our refills out of personal money or Mission Corp funds that are generously donated by our supporters for such purposes.
Between the two of us, we have three medications that we take regularly. Both of us had stockpiled medicine in the U.S. before coming, but over the months we've been here, each of them has run out and we've needed to begin filling them here.
In the States, without insurance, our combined medications cost over $600 per month. Here, we can get a three-month supply of one for about $50.
This week, when at the doctor to get a refill on the final medication, I asked why they are so much cheaper here. He said, "Oh, that's because we manufacture them in Germany."
This is just one way that God is taking care of our financial needs during this time we're serving as volunteers in Germany. When we came in faith, we certainly didn't know our budget would be downsized so easily.
And thank you, also, to our Mission Corp sponsors, whose generosity and sacrifice is making it possible for our continued service on the Eurasia Region. You know who you are. :-)
At this time, in spite of the lowered medicine costs, expenses have become a little tight for us. As we look toward another year of teaching and mentoring European Christian young people at EuNC, and helping to produce the regional publications that continue inspiring Nazarenes around the world to become involved in God's mission, we are grateful to anyone and everyone sensing God's leading to become involved in His work here.
1. Online giving to our work here is available through this website: http://web.nazarene.org/site/TR/Events/MissionCorps?pxfid=2740&fr_id=1090&pg=fund
2. Checks for our work can be made out to "General Treasurer, Church of the Nazarene," and may be sent to:
Global Treasury Services
Church of the Nazarene
PO Box 843116
Kansas City, MO 64184-3116.
Checks written in our name are not eligible for a tax deduction. Be sure to include Pottengers/MissionCorps/Switzerland on the memo line.
In the meantime, we just published the October edition of the regional newsletter, Where Worlds Meet. You can download it here: www.eurasiaregion.org/index.php/where-worlds-meet
-- Gina
Between the two of us, we have three medications that we take regularly. Both of us had stockpiled medicine in the U.S. before coming, but over the months we've been here, each of them has run out and we've needed to begin filling them here.
In the States, without insurance, our combined medications cost over $600 per month. Here, we can get a three-month supply of one for about $50.
This week, when at the doctor to get a refill on the final medication, I asked why they are so much cheaper here. He said, "Oh, that's because we manufacture them in Germany."
This is just one way that God is taking care of our financial needs during this time we're serving as volunteers in Germany. When we came in faith, we certainly didn't know our budget would be downsized so easily.
And thank you, also, to our Mission Corp sponsors, whose generosity and sacrifice is making it possible for our continued service on the Eurasia Region. You know who you are. :-)
At this time, in spite of the lowered medicine costs, expenses have become a little tight for us. As we look toward another year of teaching and mentoring European Christian young people at EuNC, and helping to produce the regional publications that continue inspiring Nazarenes around the world to become involved in God's mission, we are grateful to anyone and everyone sensing God's leading to become involved in His work here.
1. Online giving to our work here is available through this website: http://web.nazarene.org/site/TR/Events/MissionCorps?pxfid=2740&fr_id=1090&pg=fund
2. Checks for our work can be made out to "General Treasurer, Church of the Nazarene," and may be sent to:
Global Treasury Services
Church of the Nazarene
PO Box 843116
Kansas City, MO 64184-3116.
Checks written in our name are not eligible for a tax deduction. Be sure to include Pottengers/MissionCorps/Switzerland on the memo line.
In the meantime, we just published the October edition of the regional newsletter, Where Worlds Meet. You can download it here: www.eurasiaregion.org/index.php/where-worlds-meet
-- Gina
Monday, October 4, 2010
We're Staying
Gina and I would like to thank you for all of your prayers, encouragement, and support over the last eight months! We have some big news to share with you.
We have made our decision about whether or not to remain in Europe for another year. We're staying.
No sooner had we got off the plane eight months ago than people almost immediately began asking: "Do you think you'll renew your contract? Do you want to stay?"
We kept responding with a flustered "Let's see how the year goes first."
As Gina and I settled into our responsibilities and became a part of the community, we increasingly wondered - sometimes aloud to one another - what we would do if we were seriously asked to stay. Earlier this summer, the question was in fact asked: Will you stay? At the time, we responded that we were leaning in that direction but wanted more time: time to allow God to change our minds, and time to see how the semester went.
Later, the question was asked a second time: Will you be staying? Again, we asked for just a little more time. Gina had just learned her grandmother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, we were traveling in Switzerland with her dad over a weekend, then Gina had a friend visit from the U.S., then Gina got sick, then Gina went back to Ohio to spend a few last days with her grandmother who passed away just after Gina returned here. All the while, I was running to keep up with the class I'm teaching as well as being a support for Gina in various ways. It was not a good time to sit down and have a serious discussion, or make a concrete decision.
Realizing that those in charge of us here needed to know our decision soon, we talked a bit after Gina returned here and spent the weekend praying, and trying to be sensitive to the Lord's contradicting of our desire to stay. The following Monday, just last week, we informed our supervisors that we would indeed like to renew our volunteer contract for another year. As we prayed and waited on the Lord, it seemed that He, in fact, was simply waiting on us.
We will now plan to return to the U.S. on January 31, 2012.
With the extension of our contract comes the ever-present need for your encouragement and support. You can continue to be a part of what God is doing in Europe first and foremost through your prayers and encouraging words. You can read articles from the Eurasia Regional newsletter, "Where Worlds Meet," as well as keep up with "Engage" magazine in order to stay informed, as well as checking our Facebook group "Pottengers in Germany" and keeping up with this blog.
We also would like to request that you pray seriously about becoming a financial supporter of ministry on the Eurasia Region of the Church of the Nazarene. We are praying specifically for those who are willing to become regular sponsors since, as Mission Corps volunteers, we must continue to raise our own funds for ministry. Yet, there is no such thing as a small gift! We believe wholeheartedly in God's ability to multiply the sacrificial gift of anyone who will give any amount cheerfully and willingly out of your love for Him.
Giving to ministry in Europe is easy. Simply follow the link on the left-hand side of this blog, titled "Support our ministry." This will lead you to our secure Mission Corps website where you can donate online.
Checks should be made out to General Treasurer, Church of the Nazarene, and may be sent to: Global Treasury Services, Church of the Nazarene, PO Box 843116, Kansas City, MO 64184-3116. Your gift is tax deductible. Be sure to include Pottengers/MissionCorps/Switzerland on the memo line.
Thank you so much for your continued support of Gina and I as we continue giving our time and energy to His work for His purpose! We look forward to hearing from you in the weeks and months ahead. Keep checking back here for more updates!
We have made our decision about whether or not to remain in Europe for another year. We're staying.
No sooner had we got off the plane eight months ago than people almost immediately began asking: "Do you think you'll renew your contract? Do you want to stay?"
We kept responding with a flustered "Let's see how the year goes first."
As Gina and I settled into our responsibilities and became a part of the community, we increasingly wondered - sometimes aloud to one another - what we would do if we were seriously asked to stay. Earlier this summer, the question was in fact asked: Will you stay? At the time, we responded that we were leaning in that direction but wanted more time: time to allow God to change our minds, and time to see how the semester went.
Later, the question was asked a second time: Will you be staying? Again, we asked for just a little more time. Gina had just learned her grandmother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, we were traveling in Switzerland with her dad over a weekend, then Gina had a friend visit from the U.S., then Gina got sick, then Gina went back to Ohio to spend a few last days with her grandmother who passed away just after Gina returned here. All the while, I was running to keep up with the class I'm teaching as well as being a support for Gina in various ways. It was not a good time to sit down and have a serious discussion, or make a concrete decision.
Realizing that those in charge of us here needed to know our decision soon, we talked a bit after Gina returned here and spent the weekend praying, and trying to be sensitive to the Lord's contradicting of our desire to stay. The following Monday, just last week, we informed our supervisors that we would indeed like to renew our volunteer contract for another year. As we prayed and waited on the Lord, it seemed that He, in fact, was simply waiting on us.
We will now plan to return to the U.S. on January 31, 2012.
With the extension of our contract comes the ever-present need for your encouragement and support. You can continue to be a part of what God is doing in Europe first and foremost through your prayers and encouraging words. You can read articles from the Eurasia Regional newsletter, "Where Worlds Meet," as well as keep up with "Engage" magazine in order to stay informed, as well as checking our Facebook group "Pottengers in Germany" and keeping up with this blog.
We also would like to request that you pray seriously about becoming a financial supporter of ministry on the Eurasia Region of the Church of the Nazarene. We are praying specifically for those who are willing to become regular sponsors since, as Mission Corps volunteers, we must continue to raise our own funds for ministry. Yet, there is no such thing as a small gift! We believe wholeheartedly in God's ability to multiply the sacrificial gift of anyone who will give any amount cheerfully and willingly out of your love for Him.
Giving to ministry in Europe is easy. Simply follow the link on the left-hand side of this blog, titled "Support our ministry." This will lead you to our secure Mission Corps website where you can donate online.
Checks should be made out to General Treasurer, Church of the Nazarene, and may be sent to: Global Treasury Services, Church of the Nazarene, PO Box 843116, Kansas City, MO 64184-3116. Your gift is tax deductible. Be sure to include Pottengers/MissionCorps/Switzerland on the memo line.
Thank you so much for your continued support of Gina and I as we continue giving our time and energy to His work for His purpose! We look forward to hearing from you in the weeks and months ahead. Keep checking back here for more updates!
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