Impressions from Leadership Conference in Hungary

We have just concluded the leadership conference for our denomination in Central and Eastern Europe. The meeting was held October 7-11, in Hajduszoboszlo, Hungary which is only 30 km from the university town of Debrecen.

This year's conference had three major highlights.

• Our guest speaker was Dr. Fred Garmon, president of "People for Care and Learning". As I have noted in earlier blog posts, Fred and I were in our doctoral program together at Regent. And we have enjoyed each other's friendship over the years. Fred taught on leadership develop - which is his area of specialty - and did a great job.
• Farewell and celebration of the ministry of Dieter and Hildegard Knospe who will retire at the upcoming General Assembly. Besides gifts for the Knospe's, various representatives from our field area spoke words of appreciation on behalf of the entire audience.
• 10-year anniversary of the Church of God in Hungary. Actually the Church of God in Hungary goes all the way back to the 1920s and '30s. However, with the help of the Nazi regime and the war, and the communist government that followed, this initial COG denomination disintegrated. In 1999, a new start began with missionary Csaba Tenkeley and today we have 25 congregations.

This year's conference had its usual share of representatives from Germany, Austia, Norway, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia (including Siberia, too), Ukraine, and Hungary (of course).

August News

We are currently in the United States for vacation and business. I hope to share more later.

In the meantime, we have posted our quarterly newsletter and it can seen at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102675738242.html

The Reason for God

Due to my busy schedule in May / June, my reading has taken a back seat until the last couple of weeks. To end my reading fast, I pick up Tim Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. (Here is a link to the book's website.) Dr. Keller leads the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. He planted this church some 15 years ago and the congregation averages over 5000 each week. His strength is communicating the gospel to a multi-cultural, postmodern society -- and this is the purpose of his book.

At this junction, I would like to draw the opinion of Mark Meynall and his review of the book. (I admit it. I'm too lazy to reinvent the wheel.) He makes four points:

• It is very readable - in fact it is basically a précis of countless conversations Keller has had with various archetypal Manhattan sceptics. The standard format is "X asked me this… and Y asked me that …"; "and this is how I answered them…". So it is not exposition as such (a small point is that the book could have benefited from more explicit biblical material), but it is fair to say that it is thoroughly 'bibline'!**
• The format is not accidental - because the aim of this book is to tackle all the big ones that people ask - or rather, all the big ones that sophisticated New Yorkers ask. So it may be that these are not necessarily the questions your friends are asking. So for example, the American political context (with its caricatures of 'liberal left' and 'religious/evangelical right') is such that it is necessary to say more about how the gospel transcends these boundaries - in our more secular European settings, the presenting issues are slightly different. But i would think that there are few questions out there that have not been addressed in some shape or form by this book.
• It is full of thought-provoking angles and arguments, and helps to put things on the front foot by exposing the flaws in current thinking.
• Keller has read deeply and widely - and it shows. By that I don't mean that he does this in a showy way - it is all very constructive and handled with a very light touch. So it is not like reading one of those doorstops in which there seems to be footnote for every line or Notes pages taking up more space than the main book. The point is that Keller is constantly tapping into popular culture and secular thinking in order to engage. I am convinced that this is both fundamentally necessary for us all as we seek to communicate to our culture and provides a very strong model. I think this is particularly powerful in his articulation of the problem of sin (a more unpalatable or culturally incorrect subject one could perhaps not find these days!).

Keller's book is a great read and shows us that it is very possible to reach today's postmodern generation.

Update on Shestopalov Family (3)

On Tuesday, July 28, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with our Russian overseer Vladimir Shestopalov and his wife Aphrodite. It was the first time for me to see them since the tragic events from last month (see earlier posts). I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But I think they are holding up well considering what they have gone through.

Aphrodite is still wearing a cast for her broken elbow. Vladimir is still taking pills for the kidney damage from the accident. The second oldest daughter is healing on schedule from her broken legs. But the patient with the longest path of recovery ahead is the oldest daughter Christine. She has several fractures of the facial bones and will face future surgeries once the current bruises / swelled areas have gone area. Due to the swelling, an acurate diagnosis has been slow in coming.

In describing the accident, the police calculated that Shestopalovs were traving about 60 mph *100 km/h) on the highway when an upcoming car doing 100 mph (160 km/h) crossed the yellow line and hit them head-on. Both cars rolled over several times before coming to a stop. It's a miracle that anyone survived the accident - and of course, there was one fatality.

The Shestopalovs have had strong support from the local church and from their ministerial colleagues in Russia. And they are also grateful for the prayers and support they have received from abroad. But they continue to be in our need of our prayers.

Update on Shestopalov Family (2)

Many of our readers of the blog and/or newsletter have been asking about the Shestopalov family. The funeral for the daughter was held this past Monday at the seminary. About 200 guests came from all over Russia, and a number of family members from outside of Russia. After the church ceremony, most of the guests accompanied the family for the graveside ceremony. Later in the afternoon, there was a meal for the family and guests at the seminary.

Bishop Shestopalov and his wife, Aphrodite, were able to attend the funeral. They were temporarily released from the hospital on Monday morning. They returned to the hospital on Tuesday morning. The two oldest daughters remain in the hospital and were not released for the funeral. (The two youngest daughters not in the accident did attend the funeral). The 2nd oldest daughter who had broken both legs continues to improve. The oldest daughter who suffered many head injuries is stable but will require further surgeries. We had antipated that she would be operated on last week, but this action has been delayed.

Thank you for your prayers. The Shestopalovs still face many challenges with their health plus the adjustments of losing a daughter/sister.

Update on Shestopalov Family

Many of our readers and those receiving our updates via email have asked us for updates.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Brother and Sister Shestopalov were finally transferred to a Moscow hospital, but I'm not sure if it is the same one where the two oldest daughters are.

The funeral for Sabrina is scheduled for Monday, June 22 to be held in the seminary chapel. Exact time .... I haven't heard yet. This will be coordinated with the cementary.

The overseer, Vladimir, has suffered some kidney damage from the accident and needs time to mend. He will be released on Monday just for a couple of hours to attend the funeral. Aphrodite, the wife, is suffering from low blood pressure and psychologically / emotionally is having a most difficult time.

The oldest daughter, Christine, remains in ICI with "head damage." and swelling. She has been brought out of her coma, can open her eyes and can think. Due to swelling, she has high pressure in the head. Her vision isn't the best; one eye has trouble shutting. And there is a part of the skull that has been shattered and needs to be replaced. Today she was transferred out of ICU into a regular room. I hear there is a surgery scheduled for Friday, but I'm not sure what is being done.

The 2nd oldest daughter, Diana, who had the broken legs is sitting up and might be released from hospital in the next couple of days.

Thank you once again for your prayers

Urgent Message from Moscow - Update on Shestopalov Family

Immediate Response Needed
Church of God World Missions Project Number #132-4002

Daughter Killed in Car Accident
On June 13, 2009 Russian National Overseer Vladimir Shestopalov and his family were traveling in the Moscow region when they were hit head-on by an coming SUV, causing them to slide into a ditch and roll over several times. In the van with Bishop Shestopalov were his wife, Afrodita, and his three oldest children.

Unfortunately, the Shetopalov's third daughter Sabrina died of her injuries shortly after the accident. The other two daughters in the vehicle were seriously injured and were medivaced to a hospital in Moscow. The oldest, Christine, is in critical condition with sever damage to her head. Another daughter, Diana, has broken both of her legs below the knees but is otherwise stable.

Bishop Shestopalov and his wife remain hospitalized near the accident site with numerous cuts, bruises, and internal injuries. The will be released to attend Sabrina's funeral but still require further medical treatment.

This horrible tragedy affects the entire Church of God family and Russia and throughout the field of Eurasia.

Prayer: Please pray for the Shestopalov family. They need much love, comfort, and emotional/spiritual support in this time of loss. There will cert ainly be many painful and unanswered questions to arise in the weeks and months ahead.

Give: The Russian medical system promises free health care for only the most basic of needs, but patients must pay for effective medicines and operations. Many Russian churches responded with offerings within 24 hours of the news, but we anticipate the family's medical expenses to be well beyond these available means.

Since medical treatment in Russia is largely dependent upon the ability to pay in advance, the Shestopalovs will require immediate assistance for their hospital expenses.

Please help us respond to this need today by sending donations to:

Project #132-4002
Shestopalov / Medical Needs
Church of God World Missions
PO Box 8016
Cleveland, TN 37320-8016

Or call toll-free at 1-800-345-7492
Or donate online at www.cogwm.org

If donating online through our secure server, please make sure to check the box: "My gift is specifically for Missionary Support, National Workers or Special Projects as listed below". (If you use the20link above, the project number should already be listed in the form.)

PLEASE NOTE: This is a different project number than the one listed yesterday. Instead of using the seminary's project number (710-0072), we ask that all donations for the Shestopalovs go the number highlighted above.

Lee Singers in Germany

There has been quite a bit going on and little time for blogging. Today, I hope to post a few news items that relate to our work in Europe.

First, the Lee Singers (Lee University, Cleveland, TN, USA) are currently on tour in Germany. Tom helped them finalize their schedule when they had a last minute cancellation. Additionally, we help our district church in the housing arrangements of their visit to our area.

But the highlight for us was to see my cousin Rachel (okay, 1st cousin once removed). It has been a couple of years since we had seen her and the family. So this was a very special evening. She and two other Singers stayed at our home for the one evening. Dr. Brad Moffit has kept a blog of the tour which you can read here.

After Winnenden School Shootings - No More Paintball

It came out in the news today here in Germany that lawmakers will tighten the already stringent gun laws as a result of the Winnenden shootings in March. I couldn't help but think of our youth group in Charlottesville, VA (Matt Temple's era) and the days they would often spend playing paintball for "good clean fun."

Winnenden massacre could lead to paintball and laser tag ban

Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090507-19127.html

The German government has agreed to tighten gun laws and ban games such as paintball and laser tag because lawmakers say they “simulate killing” that could spark tragedies such as the Winnenden school massacre.

German media reported on Thursday that lawmakers from the ruling coalition had agreed on a catalogue of measures aimed at clamping down on illegal firearms and better monitoring privately owned weapons.

"We have agreed on reasonable changes that will mean more security without over-regulating hobby marksmen and hunters," the deputy head of the conservative Christian Union parliamentary group, Wolfgang Bosbach, told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

The measures include banning paintball, where players use air rifles to shoot ammunition filled with paint at opponents, and laser tag, a game where players attempt to score points by shooting each other with an infrared-emitting gun.

Violators of the ban would be slapped with fines of up to €5,000, the paper reported.

“The games simulate killing,” Bosbach said.

The move comes two months after 17-year-old Tim Kretschmar killed 15 people, including nine students and three teachers at his old school in Winnenden in southwestern Germany, with a gun stolen from his father’s bedroom. The incident has sparked a fierce debate on gun laws in Germany.

German media reported that lawmakers were also considering barring people under the age of 18 from shooting high-calibre guns at target practice and permitting police to conduct random checks at the homes of gun owners to ensure their weapons are under lock and key.

Other measures would include creating a digital database of firearms as well as biometric security systems to help ensure weapons are used by their rightful owners. In addition, lawmakers would introduce an amnesty for owners of illegal firearms if they turn them in to authorities, reports said

ETSM represented at EPTA Meeting

Did you know there is a fellowship and joint research entity for Pentecostal schools and scholars in Europe. The European Pentecostal Theological Association (which is the European equivalent to SPS in North America) began many years ago. Our denominational sister schools in Germany and Romania have been member schools since almost EPTA's inception.

Some three years ago, ETSM began to participate in the European Pentecostal Theological Association. However, we have not always been able to participate in the annual meeting. Fortunately, this year we were able to have three representatives at this year's "compressed" conference at our denominational sister school in Germany.

Representatives from most of the Pentecostal seminaries in Europe came together and examined more closely the roots of Pentecostalism in Central and Northern Europe. As a result of this meeting, one of our faculty members has been invited do additional research / presentations in connection with postmodernism and post-Soviet Russian Pentecostalsim.

Reinventing American Protestantism

I just finished reading Donald Miller's Reinventing American Protestantism. Miller, a sociology professor from the Unversity of Southern California, applies his discipline to understanding three growing movements: Calvary Chapel, Vineyard Association, and Hope Chapel. All three of these movements are of the charismatic persuasion and have experienced tremendous growth in the past couple of decades while many mainline Protestant churches have been in decline.

Miller espouses the religious markets theory that compares churches to businesses. Some rise, others fall - much depends on a church's "polity, clergy, religious doctrines, and evangelization techniques.'

A quick summary: "New paradigm churches eliminated many of the inefficiencies of bureaucratized religion by an appeal to the first century model of Christianity; this 'purged' form of religion corresponded to the countercultural worldview of baby boomers, who rejected institutionalized religion; with their bureaucratically lean, lay-oriented organizational structure, new paradigm churches developed programs sensitive to the needs of their constituency; new paradigm churches offered a style of worshp that was attractive to people alienated from establishedment religion because it was in their own idiom; this worship and the corresponding message provided direct acces to an experience of the sacred, which had the potential of transforming people's lives by addressing their deepenst personal needs."

Miller's book is a scholarly look at the growth of these movements in a positive light. He also has some reccomendations for the revitalization of the mainline denominations -- some of these keys are worth looking at for our own church, too.

What Should Denominations Do?

Bill Isaacs, Administrative Bishop for the Churches of God in Northern Ohio, has a blog in which he asks the honest question, "What can/should denominations do?" Considering the mandated reallocation of funds (decision of our general assembly), this is the first question that must be addressed before deciding where to set the knife.

Bill has opened his blog to user comments, and there has been quite a number of responses to his question -- with many various opinions. Below is my response to question as I posted on his blog.

Bill, thanks for opening the dialog on this topic. Let me address the matter from a more historical perspective by asking the question, what were the core values of our denomination in its earliest years. Finding out what contributed to any organization’s early successes will normally be tied to its DNA. So. here’s my take on our core values.

1. Church planting From the onset, A.J. Tomlinson had the desire to evangelize by planting new churches. In 1902, there was the single church in Camp Creek, NC. By 1905, there were churches in NC, TN, and GA. At the first Assembly in 1905, there were five congregations. By 1910, we had 31 churches; by 1911 there were 51. By …, well you get the picture.

2. The Power of Holy Spirit I place this second on purpose due to its historical timing. Although there were charismatic demonstrations with the Christian Union in 1886, there was no teaching about it. And it appears that the charismata didn’t stick with the group. It was in 1908, after the third General Assembly that A.J. Tomlinson was filled with the spirit at a revival in Alabama. Subsequently, he invited G.B. Cashwell to Cleveland and the Pentecostal revival came to stay in the denomination.

3. World Missions By 1909, Edmund Barr and R.M Evans experienced Pentecost. The next year, they went to the Bahamas to plant the COG. Other missionaries and countries would quickly be a part of the denomination’s outreach. Today, the COG is in 170 countries.

4. Social Ministry From 1900-1910, the leaders frequently collected clothes for needy children. There were several attempts to establish an orphanage. 1910, Lillian Thrasher started an orphanage in Egypt. Finally, the first COG home for children was established in 1920 in Cleveland.

5. Youth Ministry 1906, already the need for family ministry, family devotions was expressed. Later initiatives, youth camps and the YPE movement.

6. Ministerial Training/Education Most of us know about Lee University having its roots at the Bible Training Institute. It began in 1919. Since then we can look at all the different educational initiatives and programs, including the MIP and CIMS.

After writing this, I am still of the conviction that the local church is the hope of the world. The denomination exists because of the local church. However, the denomination has the power to be greater than the sums of its local congregations. The purpose of the denomination is simply to help us all achieve things that local churches by themselves cannot accomplish alone.

I think these core values listed above can really be our north star / our true north as we navigate the waters of decentralization (how else are we to interpret the decision of the last General Assembly) and budget reductions.

Easter in Russia

My blogging has been in a slump as of late. As you can see below, I worked on two newsletters and I would be duplicating a lot. So, here is a report from Jeannette Chesser, a guest teacher at our school in Moscow, who shares her experiences from the past week in Russia.

Russian Easter

Because they use a different calendar, Easter is different than the US; this year it was April 19. The Russian Easter weekend starts Thursday night with communion and foot washing service.

After a late lunch on Thursday afternoon, I was sitting in the dinning hall chatting with another guest teacher. He told a staff member that some students in class had complained that no foot washing service was scheduled here at the seminary and they wanted their own service. (Students are assigned to different churches upon arrival at the seminary so it had been assumed that students would disperse in different directions for the evening.)

The visiting teacher and I strongly encouraged him to consider establishing the practice here. During the next 5 hours there was scrambling: spreading the news; assigning someone to go to a store to buy suitable basins; and, another to find enough clean towels. The visiting teacher was asked to teach/serve communion; and I was to give a message on foot washing.

At the end of the service, the women went to a portion of the library that had been set up for us. When I took a survey, only half of the women had ever witnessed such a practice. They were shy, self conscious, and an awkward hush permeated the room.

After demonstration a few had the courage to start, stiffness began to dissolve and little by little they entered into the spiritual experience. What happened was beautiful. Once they started praying for the person whose feet they washed, then they wanted to go to someone else. Before long it was evident that everyone was committed to wash the feet of everyone there.

Those on duty around the seminary came in late and the whole cycle started all over again. One woman said as she went around several times "Now that I have experienced this, I don't want to stop".

The water had to be brought from the kitchen in big pails and poured into the basins. I lost track of how many times someone went for another pail. Several hours later when it was over, every towel was soaking; there were prayers, tears, joy, laughter, singing, hugs,

On Saturday afternoon I was shocked to see lines so long they that wrapped all the way around a complete big block where people were slowly making their way to the entrance of a nearby Orthodox church. The purpose was a tradition to present eggs and bread for the priest to bless at the time he also blessed them.

For evangelicals in Russia, late Saturday night is the traditional church service with somber songs, prayers, and scripture reading. At midnight the sound changes to joy. The minister states "Christ is risen”, answered in unison by the people, "Indeed Christ is risen" thrice in succession, followed by shouts of praise and joyful singing.

Easter Sunday, the temp was near freezing, and the wind strong and piercing. There had been enough snow flurries to whiten crevices around trees and sidewalks. Families were out walking and the bells of the Orthodox were peeling. All day Sunday people were greeted with "Christ is risen" and the expected response would be "Indeed Christ has risen."

How wonderful to have the reality of Christ within, not just following a tradition. How blessed we are because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, His blood was shed for the remission of our sins; not just a covering but blotted out, never to be held against us again.

Love and blessings, Jeanette

Update

The April newsletter from the school in Moscow is now online.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102552465064.html

Family Newsletter online

Our latest newsletter is now online at
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102536275849.html

Currently, our kids are on Spring break (Easter break). We'll upload some pictures here before too terribly long.

AG Church Destroyed in Italian Earthquake

Many of you may have heard about the 6.3 earthquake to rock central Italy early yesterday (Monday) morning. To this hour, about 180 people have been confirmed dead; over 1000 injured, and 50,000 homeless.

Italy is a staunchly Roman Catholic country. So I was quite surprised to learn that a Pentecostal church (Assemblies of God) in L'Aquila was totally damaged through the earthquake. It is too early to tell if any of its members are among the missing/dead. There are still several towns and villages that cannot be reached by automobile and the recovery efforts are still in process.

If you can read German, here is the preliminary report from idea.

Introducing Jeannette ChessThe Life of a Missionary Print E-mail Image Jeanette Chesser preaching Six weeks of my three monther - Missionary

The following article was written by one of our guest lecturers in Moscow. You can read it also here.

Jeanette Chesser preaching

Six weeks of my three months in Moscow have now past at the Church of God Eurasian Seminary, living in a dorm room. There is plenty of noise; someone practicing the piano in the room below me every night, traffic all day and night on a major boulevard in front of the building, small children of some married students running down the hall with a toy, etc.

Ministry Trips

My teaching is scheduled during the middle of each week so that I have long weekends for ministry/teaching trips to cities where I have established relationships during the past 16 years.

The first one was in mid-February. I went to Izhevsk near Siberia, my adopted Russian town since 1995. Four days were filled with fellowship, church services, dinners in my honor and much tea drinking and food.

Church members wept on my shoulder, hovering around me with hugs and Russian kisses. These expressions of love come from the closeness developed during seven years there, living like they live, helping them be established in Christianity and teaching the Bible. I am now introduced as the spiritual mother of the people, a title I feel humbled to hear.

Story of Perseverance

Recently I was included with staff members as guests at the Seventh Day Adventist seminary compound, over an hour's drive from Moscow. Theirs is a beautiful story of perseverance. Twenty years ago when legislation for freedom of religion was passed in Russia, all denominations came to establish a Bible school and/or churches in Moscow. Property costs were very high. Seventh Day Adventist finally began to look in regions farther away.

In a small village (with the ever present Russia electric train running through the middle), development was concentrated on one side of the railroad tracks. The other side consisted of an old school built by the Germans many decades prior that had been gutted by fire. Village leaders gave it to Seventh Day Adventist for restoration, along with property surrounding it.

Using donated labor from around the world, over 1,600 Seventh Day Adventist members came during the first year alone. When villagers saw their standard of life and commitment, another 25 acres on the other side of the tracks was purchased for very little. Now, the compound has an administration building, school rooms, dorms, a publishing house, three-story library, gymnasium, cafeteria, other buildings and 90 staff with 300 enrolled in the Christian school and seminary.

Getting the Job Done

Without industry of any kind, the snow on the ground was pure and brilliantly white in that rare winter day of sunshine. I remembered the scripture in Isaiah, "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow".

I sorely needed the use of a washer and dryer. I had washed small items in the sink from time to time but the bigger items could wait no longer. The old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention" can be literally translated, “Pressing need is the mother of creativity.” I put the big items on the floor of the shower, soaked them with water, added soap, got on my hands and knees and started kneading them like dough. When my knees could no longer hold out, I took off my shoes, stood on the clothes and began a ritual than could only be described as stomping grapes. It got the job done!

St. Petersburg

There was flu or virus that some of the students had here at the seminary. Without much attention to spreading germs, I felt as if I was coming down with it too just as I was preparing to go to St. Petersburg the first week of March.

I traveled on the five-hour express train alone and a delegation met me at the station. St. Petersburg is 400 miles due north of Moscow, and there is a prevailing strong wet and cold wind blowing from off the Bay of Finland that hit me in the face as I disembarked.

The host pastor, Valery, was quite perturbed that the owner of the flat used as the office/guest quarters did not first check with him in advance and went forward with a project to paint the interior doors. To help eradicate the strong paint odor, Valery opened all windows. The outside temperature was below freezing, so you can imagine that inside was not much different with all windows open.

That night, after waking often, shivering, I finally put my fur coat on top of the two thin blankets, and repeated it all four nights.

I managed to get through the four teaching sessions of the seminar and Saturday went well during prayer ministry with members and pastors from five churches in the region. Sunday we had a regular church service.

Missionary Cravings

Russian food is nutritious here at the school but the budget does not allow for a lot of creativity and the menu is repetitious. It is normal for me to start thinking often of American food after I have been in another country over a month. Funny thing is that I crave things that I rarely order in the U.S. because of awareness of eating healthy. But at the moment a big fat hamburger with everything on it and a chocolate milkshake with real ice cream would taste mighty good.

The Need to “Own”

The current situation for all denominations in Russia has been hard on the growth of Christianity. The Russian Orthodox Church has much clout in the government and has always objected to evangelical growth. They pressured the government to issue an ordinance preventing any public building to be rented to a religious organization.

Of course this did not affect those with their own building, but those are few, and churches with sizable congregations that formerly rented a large cultural hall or theater were forced into small places rented by private individuals. Attendance has declined greatly everywhere.

The seminary building is presently being used by three different congregations.

Latest News from Moscow

The latest newsletter from Moscow is now available. To view, click on this link.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102520172097.html

Update on Shootings in Germany

As many of our friends back in the States have heard and seen in TV, there has been a terrible school shooting in Winnenden, Germany - which is only 13 km (9 miles) from our home in Rudersberg. (Click on map for larger image). Although there is never a good place for something like this to happen, it became very uncomfortable -- it's too close to home!

Unfortunately, a 17-year old graduate of the Albertville Realschule came to his alma mater and killed 9 students (eight girls and one boy), three teachers (all female). Eight addtional students and one additional teacher were injured and taken to local hospitals. Unfortunately, the killing didn't stop there and went on in other locations until the police finally shot him. For a detailed account, read here.

We have received many emails and facebook messages regarding our safety. Thank you for your concern! Our kids do not attend school in Winnenden and, subsequently, were safe throughout the entire ordeal. The school officials were notified quickly and took appropriate measures.

As to the best of my knowledge, no one from the Church of God was directly involved in the events on Wednesday. However, we have 5 siblings that attend our church who attended the Albertville Realschule. They even have a cousin who was in of the attacked classrooms and came away unharmed - at least physically.

The pastor of our church in Winnenden has a daughter that was in the neighboring school. (There are four schools in the school complex.) Very quickly her building was locked down and she spent four hours sitting under her desk waiting for the all-clear signal from the police.

There is also a sizeable Assemblies of God church in Winnenden (Volksmission). But I haven't heard any news from their youth group as to how the events have effected them.

School Shooting in Germany - 17 Dead

Many of our friends will have heard about a school shooting in Germany. Most of the shooting took place in Winnenden (about 9 miles from our home) and then he fled to Wendlingen (about 40 kilometers/26 miles away).

The latest count is 17 dead. There are still no official reports on the number of those injured.

Our family is safe. But there are 17 families whose lives have changed forever.

Additionally, we have a church in Winnenden and a second church in Allmersbach that draws youth from the Winnenden school district. It's still to early to know if any of our church folks have been affected.

Dinstinguished Guests in Moscow

On March 3-4, ETSM had the honor of hosting Drs Donald E Miller and Tetsunao (Ted) Miller, authors of Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement.

Dr. Yamamori has served in various positions, perhaps most notably as the International Director for the Lauasanne Committee for World Evangelization. He is an expert missiologist who has also 18 years of seminary teaching experience.

Dr. Miller is an expert in the area of the sociology of religion. Donald E. Miller is Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California and executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture. (It took me a bit to place the name, but I had actually cited him in my own dissertation about the growth of Evangelicalism.)

The CRCC was awarded a $6.9 million grant to establish a Pentecostal and charismatic research center in the birthplace city of American Pentecostalism. Awarded by the John Templeton Foundation, a natural and social sciences philanthropy, the grant is the largest amount ever given towards Pentecostal-charismatic research and will be used to establish the Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative (PCRI) at USC. For more information about this study, look at this article posted by the FaithNews Network.The purpose of Miller and Yamamori's visit to Moscow was to become familiar with the Pentecostal landscape in the former Soviet Union. The first day we spent getting to know each other; the next day we criss-crossed Moscow interviewing various sociologists and church leaders from various Pentecostal/Charismatic movements.

Perhaps there will be a possibility for ETSM to be a part of the research project - that is at least our aim - that will help us better understand the church whom we serve. A couple of us at the school must develop a proposal and submit it in the not too distant future. So....let's wait and see.

Whirlwind Tour in Through Former Yugoslavia

Tom just finished a whirlwind tour through three republics of the former Yugoslavia. These Balkan countries recently came into our administrative area and this was a get-to-know the leaders visit for me, and a good-bye and transition tour for my predecessor. Hosted by my fellow missionary and outgoing education coordinator Vance Massengill, we first spent afternoon in Sr. Mitrovica, Serbia. There we met Miroslav and Blazhenka Radovanovic who were our former students at EBS. Now “Mik” is the national overseer plus the pastor of his own local congregation.

Then we spent a day in Croatia where Tom met with the overseer Josip Jendrico and later spoke at the church in Vincovci which is now pastored by David Hvala. It was the first time that I had visited the church since the civil war in the 1990s that had destroyed their former facility. All around Vincovci we saw several mine fields that we still to be swept clean of the mines.

Finally, we drove over 800 km (500 miles) to Ohrid, Macedonia where Vance awarded several MIP graduates with their certificates. Additionally, three ministers received their exhorters certifications and an additional three pastors their ordination licenses under the supervision of Vance and overseer Pavle Ginoski. Besides the baby dedication of the Overseer's grandchild, Tom was also asked to speak in the morning service. After lunch, we drove back to Croatia. On Monday, Vance brought be back to the airport in Belgrade, Serbia.

Anyone Hungary?

During the second full weekend of February, I had the opportunity to travel to and minister in Hungary. Originally, the plan was for me to travel with two colleagues (Dieter Knospe and Paul Schmigall) to Debrecen and Hajduszoboszlo to map out and plan the upcoming Eastern European/Eurasian Leadership Conference for the fall. But while there, we were asked to be involved in the local ministries there.

As it turned out, Paul Schmidgall fell ill (flu) and cancelled at the last minute. Dieter Knopse drove to Hungary and combined it with ministerial responsibilities in Austria. So I ended up doing most of the speaking and teaching in Debrecen.

So.... after a great Friday of planning with our local organizers (Csaba Tenkeley and Dan Smith). I was asked to teach on Saturday in a training program for gypsy pastors (see picture) -- eventually teaching for almost four hours on leadership and conflict resolution and servant leadership. Later that afternoon, I then spoke at the International Church of God in Debrecen. An English speaking congregation serving the university community led by Dan Smith. On Sunday morning, I spoke at the Hungarian congregation pastored by Daniel Kriszt.

This was one of the few trips in Eastern Europe where my knowlege of German came in really handy. One of my translaters worked better from German into Hungarian (leadership classes), while the church services went from English into Hungarian. But then again, when one remembers the strong bonds between Hungary and Austria, it shouldn't come as a surprise that German is used broadly as a second language there.

Accreditation Success

We have some exciting to news from Moscow! During the last week of January, ETSM hosted the "visiting committee" of the EAAA (the Eurasian Evangelical Accrediting Association). We at ETSM had held candidate status and were seeking full accreditation of our two bachalor's degrees. After a thorough investigation of the school's academic programs, administrative procedures, and overall operations, the committee has recommended EAAA to grant us the much sought after accreditation. The final decision will be taken by the annual conference of the entire EAAA assembly this summer.

EAAA is the regional accrediting agency of the International Council of Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE). The Church of God is, in turn, a sponsoring denomination of the ICETE. Thus, ETSM becomes one of select few Church of God schools outside of the United States to achieve such status.

A great amount of appreciation must be expressed to Ilya Okhotnikov (Provost) and Alexei Gorbachev (Academic Dean) and the faculty and staff in Moscow! Way to go guys!

My friend and our provost at ETSM in Moscow gives the following report from his blog about the new family and marital ministry program at ETSM.

Greetings from Moscow, Russia! Last 4 days including Saturday I taught Theology of Mariage and Theology of Family Ministry in a Local Church. The class is #1 class of 12 classes program on Marriage and Family Ministry Extension Program ETSM has opened this January-February 2009.

In my class we have had very good discussions on theology of marrige, theology on divorce, theology on re-mariage, theology of life (pregnancy, birth, church's responsibility), theology of sexuality and in all - the practical application of those in a context of a local church.

I had 12 students in the class. They were leaders of counseling ministry or those who have taken the are of family ministry in their churches. 1 pastor from Moscow (exacutive from a Baptist magazine) came also. Other people came from Belorussia, Ukraine, Russia, including Moscow. When we took the pictures some one would not like to be in it or leave earlier for work (see both pictures on the left side).

Sister Svetlana from Rostov-on-Don, Russia leads Family Ministry. At the end of the last class (after hearing the final test result ;-) she says that this class has helped her to be assured the things she feels and teaches back in her church are the right things! She has been established in the truth firmly and eger to be back and keep teaching and counseling church members for what we've discussed.

Brother Yuri from a Belorussian city has received material he was looking for and the Lord has given him so much of clear teachings on Marriage, Family, divorce, remarrige etc.

Natalia from a Ukrainian city has now found the confirmation of the things she also been for all the time, but not sure. After the class she has a clear theological and so that they would go on in teaching and preaching. Some were saying they wish their pastor would allow them to establish family ministry (which is premarital counseling, family counseling, retreat, etc.)

Sister Olga from one of towns in Russia got it all organized in her mind and on paper, written in order and has a systimic approach to Marriage and Family Ministry from the biblical perspective.

I am encouraged very much! Thank you for your prayers!

On the one of the days of the class - Friday - I got a food poison problem. In 2 hours after lunch I felt growing discomfort and in 2 more hours after finishing the day my body let the poison food out - and I felt right away much better, but for the rest of the day I did not eat. Yet on th enext day I was in class all right in the morning.

While I taught from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. in between I still had to take care of all the administrative issues of the Seminary, solve conflicts, answer authorities etc. Day-to-day operation had to be supported. And the Lord has given us His favor and His blessing!

The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack: Where tragendy confronts eternity by William Paul Young. Although I had heard about the book in the states, it was our youth pastor here in Germany that recommended and loaned it to me. And boy...what a surpise!

Although it is a novel, it is an extremely theological work that investigates the doctrine of the trinity and how the inter-relatedness of the Godhead should be our leitmotiv in our earthly interpersonal relationships. And then a good discussion ensues of man's free will and "where is God when it hurts." Although it's theological in every way, it is even more so pastoral.

I'm sorry to sound abstract in describing the book. But then again, great books are never superficial.

Our Winter Newsletter Available

This past weekend we mailed out the electronic version of our quarterly newsletter to our friends and sponsors. Didn't you get one? Then you haven't signed up for the newsletter. (See box below to the right.)

In the meantime, one can download the newsletter at
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102413762277.html

Video - Now on YouTube

Here is a link to the same video that is on Facebook, this time on YouTube

Video - Commercial for ETS Moscow

For anyone that is interest, here is a link to a newly made commercial for the bible school in Moscow. Although the video is in Russian, it still provides a good visual introduction to life at ETSM.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1090159733895

New Family and Marriage Program in Moscow

The school in Moscow is beginning a new program under the leadership of our provost, Dr. Ilya Okhotnikov. This is his blog report.

January 21, 2009 ETSM starts a new Marriage and Family Ministry (MFM) Program for church leaders. Purpose of the MFM Program is to train ministers to help and serve families in the church (and society). Upon completion of the program the graduates will be able to

1. Formulate the Biblical foundations of marriage\family.
2. Know contemporary theoretical approaches to analysis of family issues.
3. To know and develop in self qualities of a counselor. 1Tim.4:16.
4. Receive skills for counseling families (to know how to begin, continue and end a counseling session)
5. Understand psychology of children and teen's behavior
   -- including aspects of human growth according to the age
   -- discipleship of teens for sexual integrity in a local church
6. Be able to conduct premarital, marital, second-marriage, post divorce, while in divorce counseling.
7. Organize Marriage and Family Ministry in a church (formulate goals and aims, direction and methods of reaching the goals)
8. Analyse marital dynamics skilfully using methods of research (PREPARE\ENRICH) and counseling techniques that are in line with the Bible
   

• January 21-24, 2009 Seminar on "Biblical foundations of mariage and family". Ilya Okhotnikov
• January 26-30, 2009 Seminar on "Basic Counseling Theories". Ruslan Naduyk, Pastor, Dean of Sociology Department, Russian-American Christian University, Moscow, Russia
• February 2-6, 2009 Seminar "Premarital Counseling". Rocky and Terri Morris, Clarion Call. Communicating the message of hope.
  http://clarioncall.createsend5.com/t/ViewEmail/r/58B91C3EC496C013/73C4C150156E84722540EF23F30FEDED

Following seminars will be held between June 8 and 26, 2009.

Thank you for your prayers for this event in January.
Ilya Okhotnikov

Protection on the Autobahn

We began the new year by thanking God that we're still alive. On New Year's Eve we drove to Claudia's sister's home in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. At about 6 pm, we were really cruising down the Autobahn since there was very little traffic on the road.

Now, when I say cruising down the Autobahn, I mean I was driving German style. There are many sections of the German Autobahn that still has no speed limit. So I was driving conservatively at 85-90 mph. Fortunately, I saw blinking lights ahead of me early enough that could easily slow down without any stress.

As it turns out, that section of the highway had received some drizzle that in 30 F (-1 C) temps and turned into black ice. Within a stretch of 70 meters (about 200 feet), there were three accidents. Although a few cars only had some dents, others were totaled. While we were in the middle lane trying to merge into one lane (to the right), the car right to our left was rear-ended by another car that had lost control and spun out on the ice. Our car and our family could have easily been in the last accident.