I godt selskab - Good compagny

Hej Carina og Anita!
Det var super at være sammen med jer her til aften! I er bare fantastiske! Man får næsten lyst til at være teenager igen (men også kun næsten, for det er også godt at være 34). Hyggeligt at tale om "gamle dage" i Børneklubben, alt hvad der sker lige nu i jeres liv og så lidt om fremtiden også! Håber vi ses snart igen!! Måske på søndag...

Hi Carina and Anita
Great to spend time with you tonight. You two are fantastic! I almost want to be a teenager again (but note the 'almost' because it is also good to be 34). It was fun to talk about 'good old times' in the Good News Club and about everything that are going on in your lives right now and a bit about the future too. Hope to see you soon again! Maybe on Sunday...

B'Tweens

Igår var jeg til møde i B'Tweens (for 10-13-årige) i Strandvejskirken i Humlebæk, fordi jeg forsøger at få sluset nogle af de ældre piger fra min børneklub derover. Vi øvede os i et dramastykke over lignelsen fra Markus 4 om Sædemanden, der sår Guds ord til forskellige typer mennesker, der reagerer forskelligt på det. En af typerne - den, der bekymrer sig og går op i alle mulige ting - blev symboliseret ved en, der blandt andet ikke havde tid til Gud, fordi TV'et var meget mere spændende.
Pigerne gik rigtig meget op i stykket, og det blev så fint, at vi spurgte, om de ville dukke op til gudstjeneste søndag og vise det. Det ville de gerne. Men så...
Anne-Sofie (navnet er ændret): Åh... Nej, men det er jo der, at jeg plejer at se min ynglingsudsendelse i TV!
Mig: Kan du ikke optage den på video?
Cecilie: He he... Det er da det, vi lige har lært om. Gud er da vigtigere end TV!
...
Anne-Sofie bestemte sig for at komme på søndag...


Yesterday I participated at B'Tweens (a meeting for 10-13-years old) in my old church in Humlebæk because I am trying to help some of my older children in my children's club to join those meetings. We decided to teach them a skit about the Parable of the Sower which is about how different people react to the Word of God. We symbolized one of these persons with someone who was too occupied with television etc. and forgot about God.
The girls were doing really well so we asked them to join the Sunday service and show the skit to the congregation. They all agreed to that until...
Anne-Sofie (name is changed): Oh no! But that is when I watch my favourite televison show!
Me: Could you not record it?
Cecilie: He he... This is exactly what we just learned about! God is much more important than television!
...
Anne-Sofie decided to show up on Sunday.

De er SÅ coole! - They are SO cool!

Om to uger har vi Teens To children igen. Denne gang skal vi rundt og holde "julefester" for kirkefremmede børn.
Men det er altid svært at samle teenagere til jul, så idag, da Maj og jeg skulle planlægge det sidste, kunne vi kun tælle tre tilmeldte deltagere. Jeg sendte dem derfor en SMS og sagde, at de havde fuld frihed til at melde fra. Her er, hvad de svarede:
Maia: Jeg er altid frisk!
Rachel: Børnene forventer, at vi kommer. Jeg vil stadig gerne med.
Iris: Jeg vil gerne komme allivel!

Kan man være mere cool??!!!

Men vi kunne nu godt bruge en teenager mere, så I må meget gerne bede for, at sådan en må dukke op.

In two weeks time we meet with Teens To Children again to have some Christmas clubs.
But it is always hard to gather the teens in December so when Maj and I met to plan today we could see that only three teenagers had signed up. So we send them a SMS saying that it was OK if they wanted to quit this time.
Here is how they answered:
Maia: I am always ready!
Rachel: The children are expecting to meet us. I still want to go.
Iris: I still want to go!

Is it possible to be more cool than that!!??

But we would still really like to have one more teenager along with us so please pray for that.

Dejlig weekend - wonderful weekend

Tak for forbøn for EBU. Vi havde nogle rigtig dejlige dage. Der var 11 kursister, og de er et engageret og dygtigt hold.
I en af de første timer underviste jeg om Bibelens syn på børn. Og i den anledning bad jeg kursisterne fortælle hinanden, hvem der havde været deres åndelige "forældre" - altså haft størst betydning for, at de idag er kristne. En af kursisterne svarede promte og kiggede på sin sidemand: "Det var jo dig og din mor", sagde hun til hende. Og så fortalte hun videre om den børneklub, sidemandens mor havde haft. Og det slog jo netop hovedet på sømmet i forhold til EBU, for et af vores hovedbudskaber er: Mød børnene i deres nærmiljø!
Vores EBU kursus fortsætter i januar.
På billedet ses min dygtige kollega Hanne i fuld undervisningsaktion.



Thanks for prayer for our TCE course. We had some wonderful days together. We have 11 students and they are a committed and diligent class!
In one of the first classes I was sharing about the Biblical view on children and I asked the class to share with one another whom each of them considered to be their spiritual "parents" - the ones who brought them to the Lord and helped them grow. One of the students answered quickly by looking at the person next to her and saying, "It was you and your mother!" And then she continued telling about the club for children that this family had had in their home. And this really hits the nail considering TCE. (Do you say that in English?) Because one of our main messages is: Meet the children in their neighbourhood!
Our TCE course continues in January.
The photo shows my excellent colleague Hanne teaching.

EBU - TCE

I morgen starter min kollega Hanne og jeg et EBU-kursus i Kolding. Det løber over fire fredag-lørdage. EBU står for Effektiv BørneUndervisning, og er et kursus-koncept, som kører rundt omkring i den store vide verden. På dette kursus får man virkelig nogle gode redskaber til at undervise børn.
Hele denne uge (og i ugerne op til) har Nille (EB's kontormedarbejder) og jeg knoklet for at revidere EBU-manualen, så lige nu føler jeg mig lidt meget træt... Håber virkelig, at jeg kan få en plads i en stille-kupé i morgen til Kolding ;-)
Hvis du har en bøn i overskud, må du gerne bede for de 12 kursister og Hanne og jeg. Det bliver en intens weekend for både dem og os.

Tomorrow my colleague Hanne and I are beginning a TCE-course in Kolding, Jutland. It is running over four Fridays and Saturdays. TCE stands for Teaching Children Effectively and is a training concept which is running over the whole wide world. At this course you really get some useful tools for teaching children.
This week (and the previous weeks) Nille (our office worker) and I have spend a lot of time giving the TCE-manual a make-over so right now I feel pretty tired. I really hope to get a seat in the quiet part of the train tomorrow going to Kolding...
If you have a spare prayer please pray for the 12 students and Hanne and I. We are going to get an intense weekend!

Teenagere - Teens

Teenagere er ikke fremtidens medarbejdere i kristent børnearbejde! De er nutidens medarbejdere!!! Børnene elsker dem! De er entusiastiske og har masser af overskud at give af! Og så ved de lige præcis, hvad børn synes er sjovt. Så derfor var det dejligt at besøge teenagerne i Lindehøj kirke her til aften og give dem lidt træning i at undervise børn. I løbet af det næste stykke tid skal de deltage i tre børnearrangementer og undervise børnene i deres kirke med bibelvers og dukketeater. Man kan nå meget på 2½ time, når der er teenagere til stede!



Teens er not the future workers in Christian children's work! They should be the present workers! They are enthusiastic and have a lot of energy! And they know exactly what is fun for the children. And that's why it was my pleasure to visit the teens in Lindehøj state church tonight and train them a bit in how to teach children. During the next weeks they will take part in three children meetings in their church and teach the children through Memory verses and puppets. You can make a lot happen in 2½ hour when teens are present!

Sørøverskib MED haj - Pirate WITH shark

Lillebror Marcus fyldte 5 igår. Han ønskede sig enten et sommerhustag eller et sørøverskib MED haj. Og tjaaa... Så synes vi søskende ligesom, at vi ville gå efter sørøverskibet OG hajen. Og det vakte også jubel hos både små og store drenge til festen.

My little brother Marcus celebrated his 5 years birthday yesterday. For a birthday present he wanted either a roof for a summer cabin or a pirate WITH a shark. So we siblings decided to aim for the pirate AND the shark. And that really was a hit amongst both small and big boys at the party.

Momse - Granny

I nat døde min mormor. Hun har været syg længe, og det var rørende at stå og se hendes tre sønner tage afsked med hende. Momse blev indlagt kort før, jeg tog til Schweiz og Norge, så jeg lavede en aftale med hende om, at vi skulle ses lørdag d. 4. november. Og det kom vi også til - i hendes egen lejlighed. Det var den sidste dag, hun tydeligt var ved bevidsthed. Herefter kunne vi bare passe hende og vente. Der var liv og leben i hendes lejlighed i de dage med alle dem, der kom for at sige farvel. Præcis som min mormor gerne ville have haft det, hvis hun selv skulle bestemme. Min søster Jette har gennem det sidste halve år lavet et slægtsalbum sammen med mormor, så mange sad og hyggede sig med at kigge i det, læse historier fra en fjern fortid og grine af billeder af deres kusiner og fætre fra en lidt nærmere fortid.
Mormor bisættes på fredag.

Last night my Granmother passed away. She has been ill for a long time and it was very touching to see her three sons saying their goodbuys. Granny went to hospital shortly before my trip to Switzerland and Norway, so I made a deal with her to meet again on Saturday 4. of November. And so we met that day - in her own home. This was the last day she was clearly conscious. After this we could just take care of her and wait. There was a lot of visits and noise in her home during those days - just as she would have wanted it. During the past half year my sister Jette and Granny have made a family photo album from way back. And many family members had a nice time looking through this and reading about the family long time ago and laughing of photos of cousins from a less distant past.

Lille Frøken Utålmod - Little Miss Impatience

En af dagens bedste oplevelser foregik i morges, mens dagen endnu var helt ny og smuk: Jeg var ude at løbe for første gang, siden jeg blev opereret i august.
Det var så dejligt! Uh! Endorfiner der flyder rundt i hele kroppen.
Fik mig til at tænke på min blogpost 11/9, hvor jeg bare ønskede at løbe rundt i Fælledparken og hoppe op og ned og råbe: "Jeg er rask, jeg er rask!" Men det kunne jeg ikke dengang.
Men nu kan jeg! (Valgte dog at undlade råberiet, da det stadig var tidlig lørdag morgen.)
"Den, der venter, venter på noget godt." Du klarede det, Lille Frøken Utålmod!



One of todays best experiences was definately this morning when the day was still bright and new. I was out running for the first time since my operation in August. It was soo good! Made me think of my blogpost at 11/9 (which was only in Danish and called 'Little Miss Impatience - my childhood nick name). Here I wanted to run around in my neighbourhood park and jumping up and down shouting, 'I am healed, I am healed!' Well, back then it was not possible, but today it was. However, I left out the shouting part since it was early Saturday morning.
"Those who wait, wait for something good", we say in Danish. You made it, Little Miss Impatience!

Ha det bra, Norge! - Buy buy, Norway

Her på billedet ser I Elisabeth, Marge, Martin, Ingvild og Katrine sammen med nogle af de ting, de brugte på at fortælle og undervise en bibelhistorie hver som afslutning på vores to-ugers EBU-kursus i Norge. Ja, og så har Yvonne (en norsk kollega) og jeg også sneget os ind på billedet.

Og her er nogle af de kommentarer, de (og andre) skrev på et lille afskedskort:
"Tusen takk for alt du har lært meg. Jeg føler meg skikkelig klar for å undervise nå."
"Disse to ukene har været lærerige og hjulpet meg til praktisk å skjønne hvordan tingene skal gøres."
"... dette er BRA!"

Vi har haft nogle skønne uger med kursisterne i Norge. Der var fem kursister, der fulgte hele EBU-kurset. Og så var fem andre, som også kom mere eller mindre dagligt og lyttede til undervisningen. EBU er både et meget teoretisk kursus og et meget praktisk kursus. Man får en masse teori om metoder m.m. i undervisning af børn. Men man får også mulighed for at prøve det af i praksis.
Skulle du være interesseret, så starter vi et EBU-kursus op i Kolding om to uger. Det løber over 4 fredag-lørdage over de næste måneder. Se evt. mere på www.ebdk.dk

On this picture you see Ingvild, Martin, Katrine, Marge and Elisabeth with some of the stuff they used to tell a Bible lesson on friday as the final challenge on our TCE-course. Yeah, and Yvonne (a colleague in Norway) and myself also sneaked our way into the picture...

They also wrote a little goodbuy card and here are some of the comments:
'Thanks a lot for everything you taught me. I feel so ready to teach now.'
'These two weeks have been so full of learning. I have realized how to do the things now - and in a practical way.'
'... This is GOOD!'

We have had two wonderful weeks in Norway. We had 5 students who took the whole TCE-course but then we also have 5 more who sat in classes almost every day.
TCE is a course which gives the students both a lot of theory of how to do things but the course also make the students practise these things.

Hjemme - Home

Hjemme igen! Dejligt at blive mødt i lufthavn af Far, Miriam og Marcus.
Opdatering på Norgestur følger senere, for nu kommer kusine Kathrine.

Home again. Wonderful to be met in the airport by Dad, Miriam and Marcus.
Update on my trip to Norway will follow later 'cause now cousin Kathrine will soon arrive.

Næsten hjemme - almost home

Hejsa
En hurtig hilsen herfra. Skal have den sidste undervisning nu. Vores kursister skal hver fremlægge en bibeltekst. De er lidt nervøse...
Klokken 13 rejser jeg herfra. Bed gerne for en tryg hjemrejse - både på de glatte veje og i luften. Mit flyselskab strejker, så jeg håber virkelig, at jeg kommer hjem idag...

Hey
Just a quick note. Going to have the last teaching now. Each of our students are going to present a Bible lesson and they are a bit nerveous...
At 1 pm I leave. Please pray for a save return travelling on the slippery roads and in the air. There is a strike in the airport but I really hope I will get home tonight...