Looking Forward (Andrew)

Today, I completed teaching my section of European History. My job was to evaluate the questions students submitted from their reading of the textbook, and to spend time helping them 1) write better questions and become better readers [these questions are chosen by the instructor to appear on each exam], 2) to understand the general chronology of events and the “big picture” of European civilization as it developed through each period studied.

This came as an unexpected assignment, and there was almost no time to really prepare for it. However, I was glad to help shoulder a small share of the incredible burden Antonie has carried for the last several weeks. It was also an opportunity to work with my beloved subject, and to have that one last chance I’d wanted at being able to teach on-campus. I still hope for the opportunity to visit and teach in at least one of EuNC’s learning centers before Gina and I return to the U.S. But we’ll see how things develop.

For now, my schedule should begin to gradually become less hectic – for which I am very grateful, as much as I’ve enjoyed so many opportunities to be of service. I will keep busy, but there are no immediately pressing deadlines. I will spend the next bit of time (April and May) getting final grades turned in for three different classes, turning in some work on syllabus templates, and taking a couple of online students through Nazarene History & Polity (they took “incompletes” when I taught it originally). Once those projects are completed, June’s graduation will have passed, and the students will have left the campus. At that point, I will begin developing Church History I and II for 3 and 5 credits each as online courses. Church History I will not need a great deal of work, as I have already developed and taught the 5-credit course. I will also be able to do this at a leisurely pace, as neither class is foreseen to be offered any time soon.

With any “down time” I will stay busy by helping the remaining faculty/staff clean and organize the campus for eventual closure (this is projected to be complete by December or January); studying for the GRE and exploration of different universities both State-side and in Europe; and maybe taking on a project here or there with the Eurasia Regional Office. I have no inkling at this time that I will actually get bored at any point, but neither do I expect to be running at a frantic pace as I have been for several months. I’m looking forward to continuing to be of service, but also increased amounts of rest.

Anticipated Changes

Gina and I have experienced many changes since moving to the campus of EuNC over one year ago. We have learned to be flexible, to place our complete trust in God and his control, and to make peace with living a life of ambiguity. When the needs, conditions, or situations change, we have done our best to adapt.

Some unexpected changes concerning EuNC's Busingen campus were announced last week to the faculty and staff. You can read about them here. Once more we found ourselves adjusting to a new situation. We learned on Friday that nothing drastic or unexpected will change for Gina and I, and we are grateful. However, we are saddened at the departure of our friends whose jobs will no longer be available to them.

My work developing and teaching online for EuNC will continue through the end of December 2011. I have recently transitioned out of the campus library, and am focused entirely on course development. I am currently co-teaching European History on campus through April 15. I have just completed teaching Intro to Theology, and will begin helping a pair of students complete the online Nazarene History & Polity course in April and May. Following this, my activity will gradually decrease throughout the remainder of the year. I will develop 3-credit and 5-credit online courses for Church History II, and improve on the 3-credit and 5-credit Church History I classes. Work on these will continue throughout the remainder of the year following graduation at the end of June. Gina and I were given the option of ending our contract and returning home, or staying through the end of Gina's contract in January. We are choosing to stay, since we are able to remain in our campus apartment.

So, for the foreseeable future we do not anticipate any radical changes for us in response to the new campus situation. But we are praying with the rest of the campus community for those who will no longer be working at EuNC. We believe God is doing something great for EuNC and everyone involved, even though it is unclear what He has in mind for the immediate future of the campus. You will find if you read the newsletter (follow the link at the top) that EuNC as a whole is growing and continuing to fulfill its mission "to enable disciples of Christ to participate in the mission of God and serve local communities of faith." The news regarding EuNC's accreditation status is very positive, and we were very pleased with EEAA's report that EuNC "has put in place the necessary academic support structure for a successful operation of decentralized education."

Your prayers for EuNC, especially the campus staff as they transition into new places of employment, are very important. The leadership team, consisting of Antonie Holleman and Klaus Arnold, will continue to carry a particularly heavy burden concerning the campus. Keep them in your prayers as well.

Concerning Gina and myself, we can certainly use prayer as we continue to live in a somewhat ambiguous situation. Our biggest prayer request concerns our health and stress levels. Gina's health continues to be unpredictable, though we are grateful that she is not as sick as she was before Christmas. Cultural stress, constant changes, and heavy work-loads as well as health issues contribute to an accumulation of stress. This is perhaps our number one hindrance in being able to do our jobs, and enjoy life and good health. It takes a toll on every level for both of us as individuals and as a couple.

Pray that God will continue giving us the strength we need to do well each day; and that He will give us times of rest soon.

Portugal meeting

Two weeks ago, I (Gina) had the privilege to participate in a meeting in Portugal, near Lisbon. Our regional communication coordinator, Dennis Mohn, had met a group of young people from Spain and Portugal during the leadership conference at EuNC in January. The young people are all studying or are professionals in a variety of communication skills -- video production, website design, graphic design and mass communications.

They have felt called by God to use these skills to serve Him, and have been trying to determine what shape that might take. They invited our team to meet with them in Portugal in March to dream and brainstorm how their skills can serve God.

Dennis, Tiki (my fellow communications volunteer) and I flew out to Portugal on Thursday, spent Friday getting acquainted with these young people and then met for the whole day on Saturday to hear their dreams and vision, and to offer resources and suggestions for ways we can work together.

It was interesting to see their visions take shape. The young people from Portugal feel a strong desire to help their churches build a cohesive and unified image and message through various forms of social media, and through graphic imagery. They want to help the churches increase their professionalism in use of media.

The young people from Spain felt a calling to form a communications business through which they could make contact and build relationships with those who don't yet know God, and to assist nonprofit organizations with objectives similar to our church.

We all hope that in the coming months, as we continue to dialogue, that we can see what God is doing and how He is doing it, so we can get involved.

It was so much fun for me meet more young people who are so passionate for God and for serving Him, as well as for reaching out to people who aren't part of the "family" yet. (It was also awesome to brush up on my rudimentary Spanish, which I really miss.)

And then I remained in Lisbon for a few extra days, where Daniela, one of the young people, showed me around. :-) I'll be posting photos soon at my photo website.

Pray for God's continued anointing, direction and guidance, and for clarity as these young people move forward in their plans.

Learning German

On Monday, Andrew and I wrapped up our first German course, which lasted three or four weeks. We jump right into German II next Monday. While it came at an especially busy time for both of us, I think we really enjoyed finally getting this opportunity to learn to speak the native language spoken by most people around us.

The class was marked by a few epiphanies. For one thing, we learned that for the past year we have been mistakenly too informal with people we meet in Switzerland by greeting strangers on the sidewalk or in a shop with "Hallo," or saying goodbye with "Tchüss!" Those informal greetings and farewells are acceptable only in Germany.

Oops!

We have struggled with the ü, ä and ö sounds, for which we have no equivalent sounds in English (or Spanish). And it's easy to get mixed up in pronunciation when the "W" does sounds like "V" and "V" sounds like "F".

One thing that helps is that English has its roots, linguistically, in old Germanic dialects. So there are enough similarities in how the letters are used that it's not as difficult to adapt to the new words as I thought it would be.

We have experienced great feelings of satisfaction in suddenly being able to converse briefly with cashiers, shop owners, restaurant servers, and people on the street, as well as to practice with old and new friends who are German-speaking. We can discuss the weather, introduce ourselves, speak about how we feel or what mood we are in, offer sympathy to someone who is ill, ask someone when their birthday is, count to 20 and say the letters of the alphabet German-style.

Can't wait for German II!

Shönes Tag! (Have a beautiful day!)

Staying Busy in January

January was the quite the busy month for us!

I (Andrew) returned on the morning of Dec. 31 after a SPLENDID three-week vacation with friends and family in Colorado for Christmas. Gina stayed behind to undergo some extensive testing related to her "mystery illness" which had been giving her problems since September. The first two weeks of January were spent (for me) working on the library annual budget report, fine-tuning a message I gave in chapel, and putting the finishing touches on the material for another online class.

Shortly after Gina returned, our tiny quiet campus was flooded with over 150 people from all parts of Europe who had arrived for the annual Leadership Conference. It was an amazing, bewildering, exciting time of meeting many new people who are serving God through the Church of the Nazarene in Europe. It was also an extraordinary time of being both intellectually and spiritually challenged through the speaking of Jon Middendorf and Leonard Sweet. Most of all, it was a powerful time of meeting with Jesus Christ daily as He was central in everything our speakers said.

Leadership Conference had barely ended when EuNC's Faculty Assembly began. This is when the Board of Trustees, faculty, and administration come together.

The Trustees formally endorsed the plan to close the residential campus program in Busingen in order to focus entirely on a de-centralized education model through EuNC's learning centers. Let there be no confusion on this matter: EuNC is NOT closing! EuNC is far bigger than the Busingen campus, and continues to grow as young men and women all over Europe are called into and preparing for ministry.

EuNC's faculty (from the learning centers as well as the campus) gathered for development training, discussions concerning curriculum, and to continue the process of approving the syllabi for various classes offered by EuNC. Part of the challenge is to standardize the syllabi so that no matter where a course is taught, EuNC's expectations are clear and broadly applicable. At the same time, there must be a certain amount of flexibility (given variables such as cultural context, available technology, etc.). The process was begun, and will continue throughout the rest of this year. I will be contributing, along with several other history and theology instructors, to the syllabi for Church History I and II, Intro to Theology, and Christian Doctrines I and II.

During Leadership Conference and Faculty Assembly, I began teaching Nazarene History & Polity as an online course for students at the Netherlands learning center. This is a six-week course which not only acquaints students with Nazarene history, doctrine, and organization, but also connects the Church of the Nazarene (historically and theologically) with the larger Body of Christ. This class is going well, and I am enjoying the many questions from students that demonstrate they are wrestling with the information in an attempt to carefully think through their commitment to the Nazarene church.

Recently, Gina and I enrolled in German I, which is currently being offered at the campus. We are excited that, after one year and two failed attempts to learn German, we are finally able to begin studying this language. We will also continue with German II later in the spring. Finally, I am in the process of creating course material for an online Intro to Theology class which I will teach in March for students at the learning center in Albania.

So, as you can see, there is a lot to keep busy with! I still find plenty of time to continue building relationships with the students, as well as spending time with Gina and getting enough rest for myself. I'm not sure how I'm pulling it off, other than to say God is giving me both strength and a good sense of priorities!

Sledding in the Alps

Leadership conference

Today, about 150 people -- roughly the equivalent of our village's entire population -- are descending on EuNC for the annual leadership conference held every January. These leaders from throughout Europe gather for worship, fellowship and numerous workshops crammed into about two days.

Andrew is busy driving back and forth between campus and the train station to pick up arrivals; others at the regional office are doing the same. Perhaps we should have vacuumed our car...

Anyway, we're excited because this year the main speaker is Leonard Sweet, a professor who has written more than 40 books addressing the church and postmodern culture. He recognized years ago how the Church would be affected by the dawning of postmodernism, before I even knew what postmodernism was, and has written about ways we can effectively engage with people who think in postmodern ways. I'm not too familiar with his work beyond what I just wrote, that's why I am anxious to attend his 8 sessions to learn his perspective.

It's a sort of baptism by fire, to arrive back in Busingen just days before this busy week. I flew back to Germany from Colorado last Wednesday, and had just the few days and weekend to recover from jet lag. I don't think I've actually recovered yet, so I'm compensating with stronger pots of coffee.

My time at the Cleveland Clinic the first week of January was productive, in that I had more tests than I thought possible during my three days there. I learned several days ago that every test was negative. It's hard to decide how to feel about that. On one hand, I'm grateful I don't have any of the things they tested for. On the other hand, I am no closer to understanding why I haven't felt well since September, or how to prevent or manage it. I continue to give this to God and hold onto hope that I won't feel this way forever. In the meantime, I just try to get enough rest, pace myself and eat as well as I can, squeezing in a workout whenever I feel good enough. I'm grateful for the many, many people who have been praying for me during the past few months. I trust and believe God has been at work, despite the outcome from the clinic. I am also grateful that I've returned to Europe feeling better, if not 100%.

Andrew will begin teaching his new class this week. And it's been good to be reunited with the students, who hit the ground running right after New Year's. We enjoyed this weekend's marathon of watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy (the extended editions) with the students. Next Monday we'll join them for the EuNC annual "Snow Day" in which the students and faculty drive into the snowy mountains to go tubing for the day.

It's been densely foggy the past few days. One local informs me that it has been known to last for up to a month without a break. I love fog, but I hope it doesn't last that long this time. (You can see more of my fog pictures at ginapottenger.shutterfly.com.)