Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - Getting Home for Thanksgiving in Germany

Remember the old comedy with Steve Martin and John Candy, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. That's a little bit of what my last trip to Moscow and back was like.

The Trip to Moscow
It began with a beep on my mobile phone during church. Since we were attending a district conference, it was pretty easy for me to step out and listen to my voice mail in which an agent from the airlines indicated that my flight from Stuttgart to Holland was canceled and the trip to Moscow was also questionable due to an oncoming snow storm. Fortunately, I was able to take an earlier flight via Paris to Moscow; but I had to leave church immediately in order to catch the train to the airport. (And at least the train ride was without incident).

Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport is one of Europe's largest airports, but has no train shuttle between the terminals (or halls). Imagine going from Atlanta's (Hartfield's) atrium to terminal E without the automated train. Ironically, in order to go from Terminal D to Terminal E, I had to walk over the local train station (for trains going into the city). However, the police had cordoned off the connecting corredors. The only way around the blockade was to go out on the street and walk around it.

Once on the plane, we waited at the gate for 1.5 hours until they asked us to deboard. Apparently one passenger was not allowed on the plane and they had to find his/her luggage. It was 4:30 am before I arrived at the school in Moscow.

The Trip Back to Germany
My flight was at 9:15. Even though we left the school at 6:15 am, it took us 2.5 hours to get to the airport. Long story made short, a new driver thought he knew how to beat the traffic -- we didn't. Missed my original flight to Paris (and the connection to Stuttgart) and had to buy a replacement ticket. After all, I had to get home for Thanksgiving. The rest of the trip, however, went without incident.

Thanksgiving at ETS-Kniebis
Our family was invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with the faculty and staff of the European Theological Seminary in Kniebis (bei Freudenstadt), Germany. It was a great meal and time together with some American colleagues. However, by the time a picture was taken, our kids were outside playing in the snow (which was about 18 inches deep at the school, located on top of a mountain in the Black Forrest).

More News from Moscow

This week, I (Tom) have been in Moscow minding shop. The main purpose of the trip was to join the faculty in a meeting with the national overseer from Russia. We have a good, solid residential program, but very few people can take advantage of what ETSM has to offer. So today's discussion was about expanding our extension ministries throughout the country. It was a good, first conversation. The follow up meeting will be in a couple of weeks.

After the meetings, Ilya and I chilled out at a local mall and enjoyed a Sbarro's pizza. And tomorrow, I'm on my way back to Germany.

News From Moscow

One of these days, I'll figure out how to post the newsletters from our school in html format and blooger doesn't try to mess up. Until then, I simply post a link.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102332063257.html

This monthly newsletter from the seminary in Moscow highlights two students and the experiences they had during their recent week of "missionary activity".

News from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

This week, I (Tom) am currently in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. As many of our prayer partners know, I was recently appointed president of our bible school here in Bulgaria. Since this is a transition period, I decided to put the school through a SWOT analysis – meeting with the staff to learn the schools strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

As it turns out, all evangelical theological institutions are facing the same daunting challenge of serving a post-revival church and economically and demographically changing society. Simply stated, many talented young adults are leaving the country to find work in other countries and the number of those who are preparing themselves for ministry has dwindled. In comparison to the other schools, we’re actually doing pretty well. But we too must develop new strategies to meet the changing needs of our church here.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting in Sofia with the leaders of various Bulgarian evangelical bible schools. And then on Friday, I'll be meeting with several of our Bulgarian church leaders.

German National Assembly

During the last week of October, our family attended the German national assembly in Kirchheim. As is always the case with such meetings, there are good services and seminars. But the really interesting stuff takes place in the hallways and at the dinner tables. This year was no different.

The main guest speaker this year was Dr. Fred Garmon from People for Care and Learning. Fred and I go back many years. He was youth pastor at North Cleveland while I was at Lee. Years later we reconnected at Regent University where both of us did our doctoral work. In fact, we did several projects together or in connection with his church. We even graduated together in 2003.

Fred did a great job teaching/preaching on different aspects of leadership. And it looks like he'll be back with us Europe a couple of time next year. It was really great to spend time with Fred and learn how the Lord has used him in his new ministry. (Go check out there site, some really cool stuff going on!