De sidste par uger har været tilbragt i Schweiz. ”I Schweiz – jamen er du ikke lige rejst derfra?” Jo, genau! Men jeg er stadig ekstern underviser på vores europæiske kursuscenter, så derfor gik turen tilbage til ”The holy Hill” for at undervise efterårsholdet om børneklubber og forskellige undervisningsmetoder, som kan bruges i børnearbejdet. Dagen inden, jeg tog af sted blev jeg endelig færdig med at indrette min lejlighed i København, så det var med lidt vemodigt hjerte, at jeg sagde farvel til lejligheden og tog tilbage til Schweiz. Heldigvis var det fantastisk at stå bag katederet igen (nogle gang sad jeg dog på det i stedet), især fordi efterårsholdet er helt fantastisk! Sikke nogle skønne kursister! De var supermotiverede! Sååå… det var vel lidt med vemodigt hjerte igen, at jeg sagde farvel til dem og mine kære eks-kolleger og rejste hjem til min perfekte lejlighed igen, der så stod totalt klar til at byde mig velkommen hjem igen!

The last few weeks have been spent in Switzerland. “Switzerland - gee did you not you just leave Switzerland?” Yes, genau! But I'm still teaching a few times a year at our European Children’s Ministry Leadership Course, so back to "The Holy Hill" it was to teach about Good News Club and different teaching methods that can be used in children's work. The day before I went, I was finally finished decorating my apartment in Copenhagen, so it was with a little sad heart that I said goodbye to the apartment and went back to Switzerland. Luckily it was fantastic to stand behind the teacher’s desk again (sometime I sat on it instead), mainly because the autumn class is so absolutely fantastic! What wonderful students! They are super motivated! Sooo... it was with a little sad heart again, I said goodbye to them and to my dear ex-colleagues and went home to my perfect apartment again, which was so totally ready to bid me welcome home again!

Home, sweet home

Så er jeg landet i København og det er vist ved at være tid til at opdatere bloggen…

De sidste dage i Schweiz var meget hektiske og også fyldt med gode stunder tilbragt med venner og kolleger. Der var middag med Martha og Sam, hygge i børneklubben, middag med Kristina, hygge med Jen og børnene og meget mere. Også nogle gåture i bjergene blev der tid til.

Alt i alt en ganske perfekt afslutning. Og så kørte vi hjem. Det gik virkelig over stok og sten, så pludselig indså vi, at vi faktisk kunne nå hele turen på én dag i stedet for at overnatte på et motorvejshotel. Så pludselig befandt jeg mig meget overrasket i København (se video). Dette var også lidt af en overraskelse for min familie, der havde planlagt at byde mig velkommen med et lille surpriseparty. Det holdt de så i stedet søndag eftermiddag, og det var i sandhed meget overraskende, da alle de kære pludselig dukkede op én efter én. Det er faktisk første gang, at jeg er blevet overrasket over et surpriseparty. Jeg plejer altid at have lugtet lunten.

Anyways, det har været helt fantastisk at lande i København. Hyggeligt at se venner og bekendte igen. Skønt at være i kirke igen. Dejligt at falde mere og mere til i min lille fantastiske lejlighed på Østerbro.

Et par venner (Jacob og Karsten) er også dukket op med boremaskiner og des lignende, så nu er jeg snart helt på plads. Og så har vejret jo faktisk også artet sig fra sin allerbedste side, siden min hjemkomst, så hvad mere kan man ønske sig?




So now I have landed in Wonderful Copenhagen and I guess it is about time to update my blog...

The last days in Switzerland were very hectic and also filled with good times spent with friends and colleagues. There was dinner with Martha and Sam, nice farewell in the Good News Club, dinner with Christina, fun with Jen and the kids and much more. I even had time for some nice walks in the mountains. All in all, quite a perfect ending.

And then we drove home. It really went much faster than we had anticipated, so suddenly we realized that we could actually make the entire trip in one day instead of staying overnight somewhere in Germany. So all of a sudden I found myself in Copenhagen (see video). This was also somewhat of a surprise to my family who had planned to bid me welcome with a small surprise party. Instead they held it Sunday afternoon and it was indeed very surprising, as they appeared one by one. It is actually the first time that I have been surprised at a surprise party. I normally always have a hunch about these things.

Anyways, it has been absolutely fantastic to settle back in Copenhagen. Nice to meet friends again. Wonderful being in church again. Nice to feel more and more at home in my little fantastic apartment on the outskirts of inner city.

A couple of friends (Jacob and Karsten) have also emerged with power drills and stuff, so now I am almost fully in place. And then of course the weather actually has behaved itself very well since my return, so what more could I possible ask for?

Let the road trip begin

There is so much to write about from the last week. It was time to say goodbye to a lot of dear people and to pack my life down and finish my work. Also it was time to meet new people in the middle of it all.

When I get the photos I will write more so for now I am just going to say that the plan is to hit the road before 10 Saturday morning and hopefully arrive in Copenhagen Sunday afternoon. My brother arrived yesterday with the van and he was not in a good state – with throat pain and fever. Today it got worse and worse until he almost hit 40 degrees temperature and I left him in his room to recover while trying to find a doctor who could look at him this late on a Friday afternoon. It really stressed me somehow – what if we could not leave… I have signed out from Switzerland from Tuesday and can only sign in in Denmark after I have arrived. I have finished my health insurance here. The van was only booked until Sunday, people are coming Sunday to help etc. I know it might not sound like the end of the world but for a moment it was a little too much for me. I asked God to help me cope and I put it all in his hands. Two hours later, I suddenly saw my brother running around. He said, “My temperature is down and I need Snickers” (note the plural). So after feeding him Snickers, he told me that even the pain had almost gone and he felt much better. After cancelling the doctor we went out with Kristina and her wonderful children, Magdalena and Stefan and had a fantastic night and now it is time to go to bed so I can be all rested for the road trip tomorrow. Praise God!
If you have a spare prayer please pray for safety on the roads.

Farvel'er og goddag'er - goodbyes and hellos

Tiden flyver med hastige vingeslag og det er snart tid til forlade Schweiz. Det første farvel var til Lille Loui - min bil, som har tjent mig godt - gennem sne, bjerge, og fire lande (Schweiz, Tyskland, Østrig og Italien). Det var faktisk lidt sørgeligt at sige farvel til den. Nu står den til salg i en butik med nye nummerplader påført. Snøft.

Kort efter blev det dog tid til et herligt goddag, idet jeg forleden under min ferie i København tog med kusine Kathrine på cykeljagt og endte op med en rigtig solid citycykel, som passer perfekt til både Københavns og mit temperament. Jeg ser frem til mange ture gennem min smukke by. - Ja, faktisk bestemte en af mine venner sig for at tage mig ud på en indvielsestur, hvor vi skulle udforske nogle af de mere de skumle hjørner byen. Til læsernes forhåbentlige glæde kan jeg oplyse, at jeg vendte hjem i hel tilstand dog med en temmelig øm bagparti efter ikke at have kørt på cykel i to år.



Time flies by and it is soon time to leave Switzerland. The first goodbye was with Little Loui - my car, which has served me well - through snow, mountains, and four countries (Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy). It was actually a little sad to say goodbye to her. Now she is for sale in a shop with a new number plate attached, sniff.

But shortly after that it was time for a wonderful hello. The other day during my vacation in Copenhagen I went bike hunting with cousin Kathrine and ended up with a really solid city bike, which fits both the personality of Copenhagen and myself perfectly. I look forward to many trips through my beautiful city. - And actually, one of my friends decided to take me on a long sightseeing tour to celebrate the new bike and explore all the the more unusual corners of the city. I returned home in one piece but with a very sore backside after not having been biking for two years.

Lige midt i missionmarken -Right in the middle of the mission field

Hvor vildt! Nu behøver man ikke at tage langt væk for virkelig at være på "missionsmarken" (hvis vi altså ikke allerede vidste dette). I følge John Blake fra The Billy Graham Association så er Europa den mindst evangeliserede kontinent i verden. Så er det bare med at få smøget ærmerne yderligere op!

How amazing! Now we don't need to go far away to really be on the missionfield (if we somehow had that misconception). According to John Blake from the Billy Graham Association then Europe is now the least evangelised continent of the world. So I guess it is time to roll up the sleeves a bit more!

Lederkursus - Leadership Course

Jeg skulle have opdateret min blog for længst, men livet løber lige lovligt hurtigt for tiden.
Men her et par minutter i frokost, kan jeg da lige fortælle om et fantastisk kursus jeg havde i forrige uge på min bibelskole i Tyskland. Det handlede om lederskab og vores underviser var Dr. George Murray som har verdensomspændende lederskabserfaring. Han havde bedt os om at læse seks bøger, inden kurset begyndte, og selv om vi også brugte tid på disse bøger, så fokuserede han mere på bare at dele liv og lederskabserfaringer med os. Wow – tænk at få sådan en oplevelse. Det var meget inspirerende og et af de kurser, man ikke bare glemmer men skynder sig at omsætte i praksis. Derudover var kurset også fyldt med totalt spændende kursister, som arbejder i lande nær og fjern og har meget forskellige erfaringer med lederskab og hvad der kræves af dem i forskellige kulturer. Helt klart virkelig horisont-udvidende. Jeg tror, at dette kursus ville have været nærmest ubetaleligt hvis det var blevet afholdt i den almindelige forretningsverden.

Nå, men hvad lærte jeg så? Tusind ting, men jeg tror, at det mest vigtige var: ”Karakter kommer før arbejdet.” Det lyder måske logisk, men jeg tror, at vi meget ofte fokuserer så meget på, at arbejdet skal gøres, at vi ikke følger op på en kollega, som har opført sig dårligt. Men i virkeligheden er det bedste vi kan gøre jo i kærlighed at konfrontere og forvente forbedret opførsel. Dette er selvfølgelig nemmere sagt end gjort men især når man sidder i lederstolen har man jo en mægtig anledning til at vælge at insistere på god opførsel uanset omkostningerne. Som kristen organisation ser jeg ikke virkelig noget alternativt. Hvordan kan vi betjene verdenen omkring os, hvis vi ikke først og fremmest kan udvise god opførsel overfor vores kolleger??!!

I should have updated my blog a long time ago, but life flows really fast at the moment.
But here a few minutes in lunch time, I thought I would drop a few lines and tell you about a great course I had last week at Bible school in Germany. It was about leadership and our teacher was Dr. George Murray who has global leadership experience. He had asked us to read six books before the course began, and though we also spent time on these books, he had decided to focus more on just sharing life and leadership experiences with us. Wow – what an opportunity for us. It was very inspiring and one of the courses that will not be forgotten easily but must be put into practise ASAP. And on top of that, the other course participants were working in many different locations around the world and had lots of very different experiences of leadership and what is required of them in different cultures. All in all - extremely interesting. I think this course would have cost a fortune if it had been taught in the business world.

Well, what did I learn then? A thousand things, but I think that the most important was: "Character comes before work." It may sound logical, but I think we often focus so much on the work to be done that we do not follow up on a colleague who has behaved badly. But in reality the best we can do is in love to confront and expect better behaviour. This is obviously easier said than done but especially when you are in charge of something you have the possibility to choose to insist on good behaviour no matter what the consequenses are. As a Christian organization, I do not really see any alternative. How can we serve the world around us if we do not first and foremost demonstrate good behaviour to our colleagues?!

Sommerkursus - Summer Course

Som tiden dog går! Lidt for hurtigt for tiden, men det er nok meget godt. Vi har haft travlt med at gøre alt klar til vores sommerkursus, som løber over tre måneder. 14 kursister er kommet og en mere er måske på vej. Derudover har en flok børn også indtaget Kilchzimmer og vores hjerter, så det er jo skønt. Kursisterne er nu igang med deres anden uge på skolen, og de har virkelig hurtigt fundet en god rutine og der er masser af hygge og glæde omkring dem. Jeg har virkelig nydt at undervise dem. Og så er Danmark jo også godt repræsenteret denne sommer, da min kollega Hanne's mand Simon (fra Wales) er hernede for at tage de første seks uger af kurset. Og så har han ovenikøbet slæbt Hanne med et par af ugerne, så vi tøser har virkelig fået fniset og sludret en masse. Simon sidder i midten af billedet.

Time is running so fast at the moment. We have been busy preparing for the Summer Course which lasts for the next three months. 14 students have arrived and with them a bunch of children too. One more student might be coming soon. The students are now in their second week of studies and have quickly settled into a rutine. Lots of joy and fellowship are taking place at Kilchzimmer and I have really enjoyed teaching them so far. This summer even Denmark is represented in the class (more or less) as my Danish colleague Hanne's husband Simon (from Wales) are taking the first half of the course. And he has even brough Hanne along for the first weeks so I have had plenty of opportunity to giggle and chat with her. NICE. Simon is in the middle of the picture.

Pas på de vilde børn - Beware of the wild children

Jeg så dette skilt i København i går på en udstilling over mærkelige skilte fundet rundt omkring i verden.

Spørgsmålet er jo så om det betyder, at man skal passe på sig selv, fordi børnene er vilde eller om man skal passe på og beskytte de vilde børn?

Der var rimelig mange vilde børn i Ringsted. Da vi kom hjem derfra, fortalte min far hans familie om dagene. Der havde nemlig været noget hærværk og tyveri. Min lillesøster Miriam på otte år udbrød: ”De fortjener jo slet ikke, at du kommer derned og fortæller dem om Gud, når de opfører sig sådan overfor dig!” Marcus på syv blev forarget på sin storesøster og sagde: ”Er du da rigtig klog??!! Det er jo netop dem, der har brug for at høre om Gud!”

Ja, selv vilde børn har vel brug for nogen, der vil passe på dem og fortælle dem verdens vigtigte budskab.

I saw this road sign in Copenhagen yesterday at an exhibition of strange road signs found around the world.

The question is then whether it means that you must beware of the wild children to protect yourself from harm or whether we should care for and protect the wild children?

There were a fair number of wild children at the children's meetings in Ringsted. When we came home, my dad told his family about the days down there. There had been some vandalism and theft of our things. My little sister Miriam (8) exclaimed, "They don’t deserve that you go down there and tell them about God when they behave like that towards you!" Marcus (7) was outraged at his big sister’s statement and said, "Are you nuts?! It is precisely those children who need the children’s meetings so they can hear about God!"

Yes, even wild children need somebody who will look after them and tell them the world's most important message.

Ringsted

Var lige en sviptur i Danmark i weekenden for at hilse på min nye niece Josefine. Og så tænkte jeg, at når jeg nu alligevel var hjemme kunne jeg lige benytte anledningen til at hjælpe min farmand i Ringsted, hvor han holdt børnemøder hele weekenden. Det var skønt at møde de herlige børn dernede igen og hjælpe lidt med i nogle timer. Godt at blive mindet om, hvad det hele handler om! Udover at undervise lidt, blev der også tid til at lave hårdippedutter til tøserne. Ja, sådan en dag var lige, hvad jeg trængte til!



This weekend I was in Denmark to meet my new niece Josefine. And while being in Denmark I decided to join my dad at a tent campaign and help out a bit with the children's meetings. It was sooo nice to meet the children again and help out for a few hours. It was a good reminder for me what it is all about. Beside teaching a bit I also had time to make special hair things in the girls’ hair. Yeah, this day was exactly what I have needed in a long time

Salzburg

I disse dage er jeg og min kollega Kristina paa ferie i Östrig hos gode venner og kolleger, Silvia og Brigitte. Det er helt fantastisk at faa slappet lidt af, nyde dette smukke land og i det hele taget bare väre sammen med disse fantastiske mennesker og blive forkälet. Igaar tog vi til den smukke Salzburg og nöd en skön dag i Mozarts födeby. Tak Silvia og Brigitte for al jeres omsorg.

(Paa billedet herunder ser i Kristina, Eva (kollega til B og S), Silvia, mig og Brigitte.)



At the moment Kristina (a colleague) and I are enjoying a week of holiday in Austria together with some colleagues and friends from Austria, Brigitte and Silvia. It is sooo wonderful to relax a bit, enjoy the beautiful scenery, getting spoiled and just to be together with these fantastic people. Yesterday we went to Salzburg and enjoyed a day in the birthtown of Mozart. Thank you Silvia and Brigitte for all your care for us!

(On the picture above you see Kristina, Eva (a colleague of B and S), Silvia, me and Brigitte.)

Bøger på dit natbord – Books on your bedside table

Nogle gange bringer dameblade eller aviser artikler, hvor de stiller kendte mennesker spørgsmålet: ”Hvilke bøger ligger for øjeblikket på dit natbord?”
I morges da jeg lå og vågnede, slog tanken mig: ”Øv, hvorfor er det kun de kendte, der får lov at svare på det spørgsmål??” Men så kom jeg i tanke om min blog. Her har jeg fuldstændig kontrol over indholdet, og den mulighed kan man jo totalt bruge og misbruge som man vil, så her kommer den altså: Hvilke bøger ligger på mit natbord for øjeblikket?

Bibelen – en god gammel favorit skrevet af min yndlingsforfatter og bedste ven. Kan helt klart anbefales både i livets gode og dårlige stunder! Bare et par vers – og din dag kan ændre sig totalt. Mit eksemplar faldt fra hinanden forleden og er nu tapet sammen med sort elektrikertape (tænkte at jeg kunne score et par point på hellighedsbarometeret ved at nævne det…)

An introduction to the New Testament – Sådan er det at være stræber. Dette er en af bøgerne på mit Masterstudie for tiden og er på en eller anden måde endt på mit natbord, så jeg hurtigt kan række ud efter den, når trangen til at vide mere om Paulus slår mig.

Superfood – Namen, her er altså en bog, du må anskaffe dig, hvis du gerne vil lære at leve sundt på en lækker og let måde – og helt i overensstemmelse med den nyeste forskning. Skrevet af svensk læge og meget letlæst.

Løb dig slank – Fik bogen forærende og gik med begejstring i gang med at læse den. Desværre fandt jeg ud af, at jeg åbenbart løber helt forkert (intensitet, længde osv.) og har ikke været ude at løbe siden… Er nemlig ikke nået til kapitlet om, hvordan jeg skal løbe rigtigt endnu.

A girl’s best friend – Elsker ironiske tøsebøger og her endda en kristen en af slagsen. Er glad for at jeg ikke er den eneste ironiske kristne, der findes (udover dig, Kathrine!) Helt sikkert en god modvægt til alle de andre bøger på natbordet (eksklusiv Bibelen, som også kan ironisere en smule her og der).

Og under bøgerne – ligger to blade: Alt for Damerne, en kær veninde i en hård tid og så Danmarksposten, som holder os udenlandskdanskere opdateret med, hvad I går og tænker og laver i Danmark, så vi ikke er helt ved siden af, når vi kommer hjem (hvilket i mit tilfælde er om 113 dage).

Sometimes women's magazines or newspapers bring articles where famous people are asked the question, "What books are currently on your bedside table?"
This morning when I was waking up, I thought to myself: "Why is it only the famous who are allowed to answer this question in public?" But then I remembered my blog. Here I have complete control over the content and the possibility to do what I like for better or worse, so here it is: What books are on my bedside table at the moment?

The Bible - a good old favorite written by my favorite author and best friend. I can highly recommend this book for all of life’s crazy moments! Just a few verses - and the direction of your day can be turned upside down. The other week my copy fell apart but is now taped together again with black tape. (Just thought I could score a few holy points by mentioning it…)

An introduction to the New Testament - This is one of the books that I presently read for my Master studies and in one way or another ended up on my bedside table, so that I can quickly reach out for it when the urge to know more about Paul strikes me.

Superfood – A Danish/Swedish book but it is a really a good one about how to live healthy in a delicious and easy way - and entirely consistent with the latest research.

Run and get slim – Also Danish. It was a present and I enthusiastically started to read it. Unfortunately I discovered that I seem to have a completely wrong running style (intensity, length, etc.) and have not been out running since ... have not reached the chapter on how I will run properly yet.

A girl's best friend – I just love chick-lit books with irony and here is even a Christian one. Am glad to discover that I am not the only Christian who seem to notice the irony in everything. Definitely a good counterbalance to all the other books on the bedside table (excluding the Bible, which can also have a slightly ironic tone here and there).

And underneath the books – I have two magazines: My favourite Danish women’s magazine, which has become a dear friend in a tough time and then a magazine for Danes abroad to keep us updated with the latest trends and thoughts in Denmark so that we will not be totally out of place when we return (in my case, still 113 days to go).

En tid som denne – For such a time as this

I de sidste par måneder har jeg mærket Guds kærlighed på en dybere måde end nogensinde før. I forhold til min situation i Schweiz følte jeg mig virkelig presset ind i et hjørne. Jeg anede simpelthen ikke, hvad jeg skulle gøre. Men gang på gang viste Gud mig, at jeg var allervigtigst for ham. Ikke hvad jeg gjorde eller ikke gjorde. Bare hvem jeg er i hans øjne. Første gang, var da jeg som beskrevet i en tidligere blogpost, sagde til ham, at jeg ikke havde tid til at deale med min smerte, fordi jeg skulle lede et vigtigt kursus, og Gud prompte svarede, at jeg også var vigtig. (Og der blev faktisk tid til både kursus og mig…)

Men også senere, da jeg begyndte at forstå, at det ikke er alle ofre, Gud ønsker af os. Han ønsker rent faktisk, at vi skal leve i overensstemmelse med vores personlighed. Der er altid undtagelser for denne regel, som beskrevet i sidste blogpost, men jeg har bare virkelig mærket hans omsorg for MIG – som den, han har skabt mig til at være - i hele dette forløb.

Efter, at beslutning var taget, har jeg endnu engang oplevet hans omsorg for mig. De sidste par år, har folk nemlig gang på gang citeret et vers fra Esthers bog, når de omtalte mit job her på Kilchzimmer. Genfortalt siger det: ”Hvem ved, måske var det med henblik på en tid som denne, at du fik dette job” (Ester 4,14). Mange gange har folk brugt dette vers til at sige til mig: ”Du er lige præcis rette person på rette post på rette tid.” Og det har jeg også selv følt. Og nu skal jeg så væk herfra – hvad blev der lige af at være rette person på rette sted på rette tid? Lige præcis dette vers fra Esters bog har naget mig en smule efter, at beslutningen var taget. Men flere gange i de sidste dage, er der kommet nogle forbi mig og har sagt: ”Selv om du kun har været her i kort tid, så har du været her på rette tid og sted.” Og så har de citeret lige præcis dette vers fra Esters bog.

OK, dét kalder jeg Guds omsorg for lige præcis mig!

In the past few months, I have experienced God's love in a deeper way than ever before. In regards to my situation in Switzerland I felt really pushed into a corner. I simply did not know what I should do. But time and time again God showed me that I was so important to him. Not what I did or did not do for him. Just because of who I am in his eyes. The first time was - as described in a previous blog post – when I told him that I did not have time to deal with my pain, because I was organising an important course, and God promptly replied that I was important too. (And as it turned out there was actually time for both the course and for me...)

But also later when I began to understand that it is not all sacrifices that God wants from us. He actually prefers that we live according to our personality. There are always exceptions to this rule, as described in the last blog post, but I just really experienced his caring for me throughout this process. How he actually wanted me to life according to the personality he has created me with.

After the decision was taken, I have once again seen his love for me. The last few years, people repeatedly cited a verse from Esther's book when they mentioned my job here at Kilchzimmer. They said, “It was for a time as this that you got this job" (Ester 4:14). They used this verse to say, "You are the exactly right person at the right position at the right time." And I had the same feeling myself. And now I am leaving - what about being the right person at the right place at the right time? This exact verse from Ester has nagged me a little after the decision was taken. But several times in the last couple of days people have come to me, cited the verse from Ester again and said, "Even if you've only been here a short time, you have been the right person at the right time and place."

That’s what I call God's care for me!

Ofre - Sacrifices

Da jeg gik på lærerseminariet, fortalte vores dansklærer os, at hun var blevet redaktør på en bog med noveller om mod. Hun ville gerne have en historie med fra Bibelen og valgte (så vidt jeg husker) historien om David og Goliat. Da forlæggeren så hendes valg, bad han hende om at ændre historien til den om Abraham, der ofrer sin søn Isak. Min dansklærer havde meget svært ved at se, hvad denne historie havde med mod at gøre men endte med at proppe historien ind i novellesamlingen alligevel. Og jeg har en gang imellem i årene, der er gået, gjort mig de samme tanker. Hvad i al videste verden har denne historie at gøre med mod? Jeg tror egentlig, at det først er for nylig, at jeg har forstået det for alvor. Men det er en speciel slags mod, denne historie handler om, som jeg vil kalde tros-mod.

Sagen var den, at Gud havde lovet Abraham, at han ville blive til et stort folk – gennem sin søn Isak. Ikke gennem sin anden søn. Så da Gud beder Abraham om at ofre sin søn, så gør Abraham det vel vidende, at Gud må have en plan. Han ved, at dette ikke bliver Isaks endeligt, og derfor tør han at handle i tro og ofre det, Gud beder ham om. Og da Gud ser Abrahams tro(s-mod), stopper han hele seancen. Nu er dette selvfølgelig ikke en historie, vi kan overføre direkte til i dag, men selveste princippet bag den kan vi bruge. JEG kan i hvert fald.

Det har været en lang proces at bestemme sig for at flytte fra Schweiz. Det har været den sværeste beslutning i mit liv. Og i lang tid gik jeg rundt og sagde til Gud: ”Du ved, at jeg vil gøre alt for dig. Jeg vil gerne ofre mig for denne sag. Jeg vil gerne blive her for dig. For du har gjort så meget for mig.” Sagen var bare den, at Gud ikke ønskede dette offer af mig. Det var ikke et særlig brugbart offer, for der var faktorer, der gjorde, at jeg ikke kunne trives her og dermed ikke gøre mit bedste for ham.

Andre gange i mit liv har det været lige modsat. Jeg har ofret ting, som i andres øjne har set helt mærkeligt ud. Jeg har hørt sætninger såsom: ”Du kan da ikke ofre dette. Du har din egen lykke at tænke på.” Men i alle de tidligere tilfælde, vidste jeg fra dybet af mit hjerte, at det var ofre, Gud ønskede af mig, og det førte altid velsignelse med sig på længere sigt at bringe disse ofre. Og når jeg tænker tilbage på disse episoder, så er det med glæde. Der var tros-mod. Denne gang handlede tros-modet om at gøre det stik modsatte af, hvad alle forventede af mig.

Jeg kender en anden kvinde, som har været i præcis samme situation, som jeg har været igennem i denne proces. På alle planer (også alle dem, man ikke kan skrive om på sin blog eller nogen andre steder.) Hun bad også til Gud, og Gud gav hende tros-mod. På trods af, at alt var så svært for hende, vidste hun, at hun skulle blive der, hvor hun var. Og Gud har velsignet hende for det. To ens historier. Samme Gud. To helt forskellige løsninger. Han er fantastisk, er han ikk?

Jeg tror, at det, jeg forsøger at sige er: Det er ikke alle ofre, Gud er interesserede i, men dem, han er interesserede i, dem må vi give! De giver altid bonus i sidste ende. De er altid mulige. Men de ofre, han ikke ønsker – lad os da for Guds skyld – og for vores egen – lade være med give ham dem.

When I studied at Teacher’s College, our literature professor told us that she had been the editor of a book of short stories about courage. She wanted to have a story from the Bible in there as well and selected (as I recall) the story of David and Goliath. When the publisher saw here choice, he asked her to change it into the story of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isac. My professor had a hard time understanding what this story had to do with courage but put the story in the book anyway. And since then I have occasionally in the years gone by, been thinking about this too. What on earth does this story have to do with courage? It was only recently that I understood. But the story is about a special kind of courage that I would call faith-courage.

The matter of the fact is that God had promised Abraham that a great people would descent from him - through his son Isac. Not through his other son. So when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Abraham knows that God must have a plan. He knows that this is not the end of Isac, and therefore he dares to act in faith and sacrifice what God has asked him about. And when God sees Abraham faith(-courage) he stops the whole act. Now this is obviously not a story, we can transfer directly to today, but the very principle behind it, we can use. I can anyway.

It's been a long process to decide to move from Switzerland. It has been the hardest decision of my life so far. And for a long time I walked around and said to God, "You know I will do anything for you. I will sacrifice anything you ask of me. I want to be here for you. For you have done so much for me." However, the thing was that God did not want that sacrifice of me. It was not a particularly useful sacrifice because there were factors that prevented me from thriving here and therefore I could not do my best for him.

Other times in my life it has been the other way around. I have sacrificed things which in the eyes of others have looked quite strange. I have heard phrases like, "You can not sacrifice this. You have your own happiness to think about." But in all previous cases, I knew from the bottom of my heart that this was a sacrifice God wanted of me and it always gave me great blessings long term to bring these sacrifices. And when I think back on these episodes, it is with joy. There was faith-courage. This time the faith-courage was to do the opposite of what everyone expected of me.

I know another woman who has been in exactly the same situation that I have been through in this process. At all levels (including all those whom I can not write about on this blog or anywhere else.) She also talked to God about the matter, and God gave her faith and courage. Despite the fact that everything was so hard for her, she knew that she had to stay put, where she was. And God has blessed her for it. Two similar stories. One God. Two different results. - He is amazing, isn't he!

I think that what I am trying to say is: It is not all sacrifices, God is interested in, but those he is interested in those we must give! They always have a blessing for us in the end. They are always possible. But the sacrifices he does not want - let us not give those to him.

Tilbage til Danmark - Returning to Denmark

Denne blogpost kommer nok lidt som en overraskelse for de fleste, men jeg har valgt at sige mit job op i Schweiz og flytter hjem til Danmark til september for at fortsætte i Evangelisk Børnemission i Danmark. Lad mig prøve at forklare…

Igennem længere tid har jeg ikke rigtig været glad for mit job her i Schweiz. Jeg havde imidlertid meget svært ved at indrømme det overfor mig selv, da det jo var et „drømmejob“ og alting egentlig gik supergodt. Men engang imellem sneg tanken sig ind: „Alle er glade for at jeg varetager dette job, undtagen mig.“ Jeg skyndte mig altid at smide tanken væk og sagde til mig selv, at jeg jo ikke behøvede at blive for evigt men kunne tage en årrække mere, indtil jeg havde opnået de resultater, jeg drømte om. Jeg har også været meget glad for Schweiz og for de mennesker, jeg har lært at kende, og jeg synes, at det var en spændende proces at falde til i et nyt land og komme til at elske det.

I januar skete der nogle svære ting, som satte en masse tanker i gang – også tanker i forhold til, om jeg virkelig passede ind her. I starten lukkede jeg af for disse tanker. Jeg havde travlt med at forberede IOT-kursus og sagde til Gud: „Jeg har virkelig ikke tid til at bearbejde alt det her. Der ligger et meget vigtigt kursus, der skal forberedes.“ Til det svarede Gud prompte: „Du er også vigtig.“

Hen ad vejen blev det mere og mere klart for mig, at jeg var nødt til at give tid til disse tanker og til at mærke efter helt dybest inderst inde. Det blev en lang og smertefuld proces. Det var blandt andet svært for mig, fordi jeg følte mig lidt på zig-zag-kurs: „Først tager jeg til Schweiz, og så ønsker jeg at komme hjem igen. Hvad sker der lige med mig???“

Jeg har naturligvis bedt meget i denne tid og talt med flere vigtige personer i mit liv såsom min familie, min præst, mentor og venner. Jeg har også haft flere samtaler med vores europæiske leder af Evangelisk Børnemission. Langsomt begyndte Gud at vise mig, at jeg ikke passer ind på Kilchzimmer, og at det er OK. Ud fra en snak om nådegaver og tjenester, kom jeg frem til en meget vigtig konklusion i mit liv. Jeg har altid troet, at min tjeneste så sådan ud:



Men nu indser jeg, at min hovedgave og tjeneste er evangelisation og at andre talenter må underordne sig denne gave:



Dette betyder ikke, at jeg kun skal evangelisere. Som jeg ser det, betyder det, at jeg skal bruge min gave til evangelisation til at inspirere og træne andre til at evangelisere, og til det får jeg brug for både at undervise, administrere og lede. I mit nuværende job bruger jeg mest min tid på administration og en smule undervisning, og selv om det endelige mål med dette job jo også er evangelisation, så er jeg på ingen måde selv involveret, og det tror jeg er forkert for mig. For mig hænger evangelisation og discipelskab af nye ledere tæt sammen – som vi for eksempel praktiserer det i Teens To Children eller på børnelejr. Uden selv at være med, hvor det sker, dør jeg langsomt indvendigt af kedsomhed.
Nu er jeg taknemmelig over de ting, der skete i januar, for ellers ville jeg nok først være kommet frem til dette resultat om nogle år.

Jeg synes, at det er lidt pinligt, at jeg ikke har indset dette om mig selv før, men hvorom alting er, så er jeg stadig rigtig glad for, at jeg har haft to år i Schweiz. Jeg har lært meget om ledelse, om mennesker og om mig selv. Jeg har også fået mulighed for at være med til at påvirke nogle vigtige beslutninger og nogle forskellige mennesker i forhold til deres liv og tjeneste, så jeg føler slet ikke, at tiden har været spildt.

Det har været svært at orientere medarbejderne i min afdeling om, at jeg forlader dem. På trods af, at vi er meget forskellige (kultur, alder, kirkebaggrund, personlighed, omgangsformer) har vi virkelig haft et godt team med stor respekt og kærlighed til hinanden og et fælles værdigrundlag. De har heldigvis virkelig bakket mig op i min beslutning med stor kærlighed til mig.
Det bliver også helt klart en stor sorg at sige farvel til alle de kære kollegaer hernede, som jeg er kommet til at holde meget af. Heldigvis er der stadig brug for, at jeg kommer forbi Kilchzimmer et par gange om året for at undervise (om evangelisation J), så det er jeg rigtig glad for.

Men hvad så med fremtiden? Lige nu er jeg virkelig udkørt og har svært ved at tænke helt klart i forhold til fremtiden, men det kommer nok. EB's landskomite og jeg har nogle forskellige tanker, så det skriver jeg nok mere om senere.

Som sagt flytter jeg til Danmark 1. september. Jeg regner med at holde to ugers ferie i Danmark i starten af august, hvor jeg kan sætte min lejlighed i København i stand. Den har været lejet ud de sidste to år.

Tak fordi du tog dig tid til at læse denne lange blogpost. Jeg håber, at jeg også fremover vil have din opbakning til min tjeneste. Den har altid været uvurderlig for mig, og det vil den også være fremover!

This newsletter will probably come as a surprise to most; I have decided to resign from my present position at Kilchzimmer and return to Denmark in September and continue in CEF there. Let me try and explain...

For a good while now, I haven’t been completely happy working here in Kilchzimmer. However, as it was a ‘dream job’ and everything was going well, it took a while for me to admit to myself how I felt. But every so often, the thought crept into my head; „Everyone seems happy about what I am doing except me“. I always quickly chased the thought away and reasoned with myself that I didn’t have to stay forever, but just some years until I’d achieved the goals I wanted to achieve. I’ve also been happy here in Switzerland and with the people I’ve met and gotten to know. In addition I also feel it’s been exciting getting used to a new country and have come to love it here.

In January there were some difficulties that started a whole new train of thought, including thoughts as to whether I really fitted here. At first I blocked these thoughts out. I was busy preparing the IOT course and told God; „I really don’t have time to deal with all this right now. This important course needs preparing.“ God answered promptly; „You are also important.“

As time went on, I began to realise I needed to address these thoughts and my deepest feelings. It was a long and difficult process, not helped by feeling I was on a zigzag course: „First off to Switzerland and then wanting to come home again. What am I doing?“

I have of course prayed a great deal during this time and talked with several important people in my life including my family, pastor, mentor and CEF’s European leader, Roy Harrison. Slowly God has shown me the way. After a chat with a friend about spiritual gifts and ministries, I reached a very important conclusion in my life. I had always believed that my ministry looked like the picture above in the Danish text (the words mean Evangelism, teaching, administration and leadership)
But now I’ve come to see that my primary gift is evangelism and the other points must support this gift (see second picture).

This doesn’t mean I will only do the work of evangelism. As far as I can see, I am to use my gift to inspire and train others to evangelise and this is where I will need the ministries of teaching, administration and leading. At present I spend most time on administration and a little teaching, and even though the goal is evangelism, I am not myself involved in it and for me this is wrong. The discipling of new leaders and evangelism are for me closely conjoined, for example, as I have previously practised them in Teens to Children, or on a children’s camp. Not being out in the field is very hard for me and I am slowly dying inside from the lack of involvement.

I am still happy and grateful for my two years in Switzerland. I’ve learnt a lot about leadership, about people and about myself. I have also been part of different very interesting decisions and I know I have helped some people in relationship to their lives and ministry, so I don’t at all feel that the time has been wasted.

It’s been hard telling the Education team at Kilchzimmer that I’ll be leaving. In spite of the differences in culture, age, church background, personality etc, we have formed a nice team with common values built on mutual respect and love. They have shown great love towards me in the way they have backed me up in my decision. It will obviously be hard when the time comes to say goodbye to all my colleagues here who have come to mean so much to me. Thankfully, I will still visit Kilchzimmer a few times each year to teach which I’m very happy about.

And what of the future? At the moment I’m worn out and it’s a little difficult to think clearly about future plans. The Danish national Committee of CEF and I have some thoughts about which I’ll write more fully in the next newsletter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this unexpected blogpost. I have always appreciated your interest in my ministry, and your part in my ministry has been invaluable to me! I am looking forward to telling you more about my future in a few months’ time.

Italien - Italy

Jeg har altid drømt om at komme til Italien men aldrig fået gjort noget ved det. Men nu bor jeg jo lige midt i Europas hjerte, så det måtte udnyttes, og sidste fredag satte jeg mig derfor ind i min lille kære bil og sussede ned til Italien. Inden havde jeg fået serveret et par historier om, hvordan folk kører i Italien, så det var lidt med frygt og bæven, at jeg tog afsted. Men det gjaldt bare om at finde sin indre italiener frem og se det fra den lyse side: Trafikreglerne blev kun brudt, når det gav mening, således at vi alle kom frem hurtigere og i meget bedre humør.
Jeg ankom til fantastisk sommervejr helt nede ved Middelhavet men nåede kun at tage ét billede førend Italien begyndte at skære tænder og sende kaskader af regn og vind ned over os. Men men.. Italien er da fantastisk allivel - om ikke andet kan man jo altid sætte sig ind på en cafe of få noget god Tiramisu!

I have always dreamed of going to Italy but it has never come to pass. But now that I am living at the very heart of Europe, it had to be exploited; and last Friday I jumped into my dear little car and drow down to Italy. Before leaving, I heard a couple of stories about how people are driving in Italy, so it was a bit of fright that I left. But I actually enjoyed driving in Italy because I realised that the traffic rules were only broken when it made sense, so that we all could arrive quickly at our destinations.
I arrived in wonderful summer weather by the Mediterranean but only had time to take one picture before Italy began to gnash and send cascades of rain and wind down over us. But but .. Italy is fantastic allivel - and if nothing else is possible, you can always sit in a cafe and eat some good tiramisu!

dkjfdlkfjkldhgklsd - dkjfdlkfjkldhgklsd

Det har været en rigtig dejlig afslappende forlænget weekend. Jeg har helt glemt at forberede mig på min næste test på bibelskolen på onsdag (Paulus' anden missionsrejse), men håber, at det hele går alligevel.
Her er et udsnit af, hvad jeg har lavet:
Hygge med Ute (kollega fra Tyskland)
Videoaften på storskærm med alle, der bor i huset for tiden
Morgenmad på Mövenpick (Tak, R&R)
Gåtur med Kristina
og en hel del lure i ny og næ
Og så i morgen: Kirke og koncert med Trudy
Lige hvad jeg havde brug for!!! Den rette kombination af aktivitet og afslapning.

It has been a really relaxing weekend. It has been so good that I totally forgot to prepare for our next test on Wednesday at the Bible school... (Paul's second missionary journey) Hope, everything goes fine anyway...
Here is a short review of what I have been doing:
Nice chats with Ute (a colleague from Germany)
Movie night on a big screen with everyone that is living in this house at the moment
Breakfast at Mövenpick (thanks, R&R)
Walking with Kristina
And lots of naps here and there
Tomorrow will be church time and time to go for a concert with Trudy
Just exactly what I needed this weekend. The perfect combination of activities and time to take it easy.

NT

Så sidder jeg i studiesaksen igen. Vel at mærke helt frivilligt. Jeg er i Korntal for at påbegynde næste Master-kursus onsdag morgen. Denne gang er det brevene i Det Nye Testamente, som der skal kigges nærmere på de næste syv onsdage.
Men sikke en dag idag: Først arbejde indtil frokost, så fællesskabsmøde på Kilchzimmer, så hente børn og til børneklub, så køre børn hjem, og så køre 300 km herop til Korntal, Stuttgart. Men sikke en dejlig tur. Solen gik langsomt ned i et væld af orange farver og der var tid til Gud, til mig, til lovsang og til at skråle løs på min ynglings-Alberte-CD. Og nu er det vist tid til at sove...

So here I am in the study trap again - but truly voluntarily. I am in Korntal, Stuttgart to begin my next Master course Wednesday morning. This time the focus will be on the letters of the New Testament which we will look at for the next seven Wednesdays.
But what a day before arriving here. First working in the morning, then starting our Spiritual Emphasis week for staff at Kilchzimmer, then picking up children and going to GNC, then bringing children back and then driving 300 kilometres to get here. But what a wonderful drive! The sun was slowsly setting and the sky was orange forever. There was time to God, me, worship and a lot of loud singing to my favourite Danish old CD. And now... I guess, it is time for a good night's sleep.

TTC

Ja, det er vist lige lovlig længe siden, at jeg har fået opdateret min blog. Håber ikke, at jeg fuldstændig har mistet mine læsere. Men altså, når jeg er i Danmark så går det altid galt med mig og bloggen. Der er simpelthen slet ikke timer nok på dagen til alt det, jeg gerne vil nå. Men anyways, her er min top-oplevelse i DK (rent tjenestemæssigt): Teens To Children påskehyggefester!!! Altså, skønne teenagere, hygge med Maj og Hanne. Og dejlige børn, der hørte verdens vigtigste historie. Og så: Da det hele var overstået, lånte "mit" hold alle tingene og holdt derefter to påskehyggefester mere på egen hånd. Sådan!

I am sooo sorry to have kept you waiting for so long for an update on my blog. It seems like every time I go to Denmark I totally blog out the blog of my memory. There is simply just not enough hours of the day to accomplish everything I want to in Denmark. But anyhow, here is my no 1 experience in DK (at least ministry wise): easter clubs with Teens To Children. Amazing teens, good times with Hanne and Maj, and lots of wonderful children who listened carefully to the most wonderful story of the world. And then: When it was all over, one of the teams borrowed all my teaching stuff and went out to make two Easter clubs on their own initiative. That's how it should be!!!

Me - a kidnapper and evil helper of the tooth fairy?

Tirsdag var absolut ikke et af højdepunkterne i mit arbejde med børn. Fra at være den søde smilende guitarspillende hjælper i børneklubben i Hölstein gik jeg til at være både kidnapper og tandfeens onde hjælper. På én og samme dag.


Det startede altsammen så godt. Jeg hentede Rebecca til gymnastik og undrede mig ganske vist over, at hendes lærere ikke vidste, at jeg skulle hente hende før tid, men det havde jeg jo aftalt med moderen i sidste uge. En time senere midt i børneklubben ringer en skræmt mor til børneklubben, fordi hun ikke kan finde sin datter. Hun mente absolut ikke, at jeg skulle hente pigen. Ups!!!


Kort efter skal jeg følge Simon, Natasha og Rebecca hjem. Natascha hopper op på sin cykel, og jeg når lige at sige: ”Ikke så hurtigt”, førend hun suser ned ad en bakke og vælter ud over cyklen med blod ud af munden. En anden pige fra børneklubben kigger på mig og siger: ”Man lader altså ikke små børn køre ned ad en bakke på cykel!” Av! Så fik man dén! Så går det ellers tjuhej derhjemad med cykel, løbehjul og tre børn, mens Natascha hyler som en stukket gris gennem hele byen.
Natascha må afsted på skadestuen og jeg følger Rebecca helt hjem, mens jeg føler mig som verdens værste børneklubmedarbejder.


Heldigvis er Rebeccas mor kommet sig over kidnapper-chokket og kan se, at misforståelsen er sket, fordi hendes datter har forvirret hende med modstridende informationer.
Næste dag hører jeg, at Natascha også har det godt igen. Det var kun en af de gamle tænder, der var faldet ud. Til og med har tandfeen hørt om historien og lagt en femmer under Nataschas hovedpude i løbet af natten, så nu er hun en glad lille tøs igen. Og moderen fortæller, at hun faktisk også har ladet børnene køre ned ad den lille bakke flere gange.


Jaja, man kan ikke altid gøre tingene så godt, som man gerne vil. Men som regel er der vel en vej igennem det hele.

(Børnenavne ændret.)


Tuesday was definitely not one of the highlights in my work with children. From being the sweet smiling guitar playing helper in the Good News Club in Holstein I went to be both kidnapper and the evil helper of the tooth fairy. And it all happened at the same day. It started all so well. I picked up Rebecca at her gym class and was a bit surprised that her teachers did not know that I would pick her up a bit early, but I had talked with the mother about that last week.


An hour later in the middle of the GNC a scared mum called, because she could not find her daughter. She had not expected me to pick up the girl. Wow, how I felt bad.


Shortly after that I was going to bring Simon, Natasha and Rebecca home. Natascha jumped up on her bike, and I just managed to say, "Not so fast", before she raced down a small hill and took a bad fall on the bike. Blood was coming out her mouth and she was screaming like crazy. Another girl from GNC looked at me and said, "You don’t let small children bike down a hill!" Ouch! So then I just rushed through the village with three confused children, a bike and two microscooters plus lots of tears from Natascha. Natascha had to go to the emergency room with her mom and I brought Rebecca home while feeling as the worst GNC helper ever.


Fortunately, Rebecca’s mother had recovered from the kidnap-shock and she now had realized that the misunderstanding happened because her daughter had her confused with conflicting information.


The next day I heard that Natascha also was well again. Only one of the old teeth had fallen out. And to make it all even better, the tooth fairy had heard about the whole story and had put a coin under her pillow during the night, so now she was a happy little girl again. And the mother actually told that she also let the children bike down this small hill.


Well, well, we can’t always do things as good as we would like to but usually, there is thankfully a way through it all anyway.

(Names of children changed.)

Håb - Hope

Håb er en mærkelig størrelse. Jeg har altid set med forundring på min søster Jette og min far, som er de smukkeste eksempler på håbefulde væsener, jeg kender. Og jeg har lyttet til deres håb og drømme, som i mine ører ofte har lydt lige lovlig langt ude. Men efterhånden har jeg lært at nikke smilende og drømme lidt sammen med dem.

Og denne vinter har jeg virkelig forstået konceptet "håb" meget bedre. For jeg går nemlig rundt og håber. Håber på forår, selvom de mere erfarne tilflyttere her i Schweiz ryster på hovedet af mig og siger, at det kan man da slet ikke gøre endnu. "Vent til april! Det er alt for tidligt at håbe nu!" siger de.

Men jeg kan altså ikke lade være. Og selv om jeg gang på gang bliver skuffet, så MÅ foråret da komme snart - måske i næste uge??? Drømmen om solskin, varme dage og vandreture i skoven holder mig oppe. Og selv om der pludselig igen idag ligger en halv meter sne, så glæder jeg mig over et russisk ordsprog, som min kollega fra Ukraine citerede for mig for at holde håbet højt. Det går nogenlunde sådan: "Vinteren burde slippe sit tag, men den nægter og smider koldt vand i hovedet på foråret. Men foråret vasker bare sit ansigt og dukker op endnu smukkere."

Og udover min kollega fra Ukraine så har jeg endnu en medsammensvoren, når det kommer til forårshåbet: Der er en lille fugl, som bliver ved med at synge sin lille forårssang. Den startede sin smukke sang for to uger siden og bliver ved i al slags vejr. Selv, da jeg gik og skovlede sne væk fra min bil i eftermiddags, sad den på en gren og akkompagnerede mit arbejde. Det MÅ da være et forårstegn!

Hope is a strange thing. I have always been quite amazed at my sister Jette and my dad, who are the most beautiful examples of hopeful creatures I know. And I have listened to their hopes and dreams, that often sounded a bit too unrealistic in my ears. But eventually I learned to smile, nod and dream a little bit with them.

And this winter, I have gotten to understand the concept of hope much better. Because I go around and hope for spring to come, although the more experienced immigrants here in Switzerland shake their heads at me and smile. "Wait until April, it is too early to hope now!" they say. But I can not resist. The hope of warm days, sunshine and a walk in the forest keeps me up. And even though I repeatedly get disappointed, I keep thinking that spring MUST come soon - perhaps next week??

And because we suddenly again today got half a meter of snow, I really appreciated a Russian proverb, that my colleague from Ukraine quoted for me to keep hopes high. It goes something like this: "The winter should start to withdraw but it refuses and throws cold water in the face of the spring. But spring washes her pretty face and emerge even more beautiful."

Oh, and beside my colleague from Ukraine I have another conspirator when it comes to spring hope: There is a little bird who keeps singing his little spring song despite tons of snow. He started two weeks ago and he will not stop. Even when I went to shuffle snow this afternoon, he sat on a branch and accompaigned my work. That MUST be a sign of spring!

EBU manual - TCE manual

Så sidder vi her med hovederne dybt begravet i den europæiske EBU-manual. Iris, Linda og jeg er i gang med en omfattende revidering og har fået forslag fra medarbejdere over hele Europa. Vi har kun fem dage til dette projekt inden de flyver tilbage til Ukraine og Rumænien.
Lige nu har vi taget 18½ ud af 26 lektioner, så vi er ved godt mod.

So, here we are sitting with our heads buried deeply in the European TCE manual. Iris, Linda and I are engaged in a comprehensive review and have received suggestions from workers throughout Europe. We have only five days for this project before they fly back to Ukraine and Romania. But right now we have finished 18½ out of 26 lessons, so we are in good spirits.

Ende Gelände

Jeg sidder her og sumper efter to ugers meget hektisk aktivitet. Vores IOT kursus er færdigt og det gik rigtig godt. Kursisterne klarede det rigtig godt og vi havde et godt samarbejde i vores nye lærer-team. Det var så superhyggeligt at arbejde sammen og hygge sammen.

Fem minutter inden kurset var færdigt, gav jeg alle en sidste opgave: De skulle have noget gult på til afslutningsmiddagen. Gul er nemlig tema-farven for hele TCE 1 konceptet, som kursisterne nu er parate til at undervise.

I am sitting here and looking back on the last two weeks of hectic activity. Our IOT course is finished and it went really well. The course participants really did a great job and our new teacher team really worked well together too. I really enjoyed the team work and all the time for nice fellowship. So I am a really happy (but tired) camper.

Five minutes before the course finished I gave everyone a last assignment: They had to wear something yellow for our last lunch together. Yellow is the theme colour of the TCE 1 course that the participants are now ready to teach.

IOT

Det går slag i slag her på Kilchzimmer. I disse uger holder vi IOT-kursus, som kort fortalt er et efteruddannelseskursus for vore medarbejdere.
Og det går rigtig godt. Her på billederne er det Brigitte fra Østrig, der underviser. Hun er supercool og har vildt meget erfaring.

Hele dagen knokler vi med undervisning og des lige og om aftenen hygger vi max. Det er selvfølgelig en ekstra glæde at have tre ”danskere” på besøg også: Hanne, der er EB-medarbejder i Jylland, er ny lærer her på kursus, og hun har taget sin walisiske mand med. Derudover er Magreth her for at hjælpe i køkkenet. Hun er oprindeligt fra Schweiz men har boet i DK i 50 år. Så hun nyder at være lidt tilbage i de schweiziske ”bakker”. Forleden, da hun var ude at gå en tur, stødte hun på en alpehornsspiller, der sad midt i naturen og spillede. Mere schweizisk kan det vist ikke blive.
Tak også for jeres forbøn for lærernes rygge, nakker mm. Vi har det bedre, selv om nogle stadig har smerter.

It’s a busy time at Kilchzimmer at the moment. At the moment we hold an IOT Course, which is a training course for our workers (to put it short). And it is really going well. In these pictures you see Brigitte from Austria teaching. She is super cool and has a lot of experience. All day long we (students and teachers) work very hard and in the evening we relax with games etc.

It is obviously an extraordinary pleasure to have three "Danes' visiting also: Hanne, who is a CEF worker in Jutland is a new teacher here at the course, and she took with her her Welsh husband. Moreover, Magreth is here to help in the kitchen at the moment. She is originally from Switzerland but has lived in Denmark for 50 years. So now she enjoys being back in the Swiss "hills". The other day when she was out going for a walk, she encountered an Alpine horn player who sat in the middle of nature playing her Alp horn. It doesn’t get any more Swiss than that.

Than you also for your prayers for our backs etc. We are all doing much better although a few still have some pain.

En stor fan a Føn-vinden - A big fan of the Foehn-wind

Forleden lod jeg mig jo forlede til at skrive en lille forårsinspiration her på bloggen. To dage efter vågnede jeg op til 15 cm sne. Uf! Men næste nat begyndte det at blæse, rive og ruske, og da jeg vågnede næste morgen, var sneen væk! Det var så vildt. Det var Føn-vinden fra Afrika, der havde blæst.

Personlig er jeg en stor fan af Føn-vinden, for da jeg lige var kommet til Schweiz, fik vi masser af sne, og jeg turde ikke køre ud og følte mig ganske indespærret på et bjerg langt væk fra genkendelig civilisation. Så jeg ringede hjem til min far og tudede, og kort efter begyndte Føn-vinden at blæse og al sneen forsvandt og kom først igen langt senere. Og jeg var ganske overbevist om, at det var Gud, der havde ladet den blæse forbi Schweiz kun for min skyld. Så Føn-vinden har min fulde opbakning.

Med til historien hører dog, at vi i denne omgang ikke fik så meget glæde af Føn-vindens bedrifter, da det en lille dags tid senere blæste op til snestorm og nu har vi igen et vinter-Wonderland udenfor vinduerne.

Ja, det er svært at gennemskue vejrforholdene, når der er helt andre faktorer med i spillet end man er vant til.

The other day I was stupid enough to write a little spring inspiration here on the blog. Two days later I woke up to 15 cm of snow. Uf! But the next night a storm began to blow, toot and shake and when I awoke the next morning, the snow was gone! It was so wild. It was the Foehn-wind from Africa, which had blown all night.

Personally I am a big fan of the Foehn-wind, because when I had just come to Switzerland, we suddenly got plenty of snow, and I did not dare to go driving and felt very trapped on a mountain far away from familiar civilization. So I phoned home to my father and cried and shortly after the Foehn-wind began to blow and all the snow disappeared for a while. And I was quite convinced that it was God who had send the Foehn-wind all the way to Switzerland only for my sake. Yeah, the Foehn-wind really has my full support.

However, to this story there is a little appendix because this time we did not get very much out of the accomplishments of the Foehn-wind, since later that same day a blizzard came by and now we once again have a Winter Wonderland outside the windows.

Yeah, it is quite difficult to predict the weather conditions when there are so unfamiliar factors in play than what I am accustomed to.

En lille hilsen - A wee note

Forleden fik jeg en sød og opmuntrende hilsen på Facebook. Så jeg tænkte, at jeg lige ville dele den med jer. Den er fra Claire, en kursist fra i sommer. Hun skriver:
"Hej Dorthe, tænkte lige på dig og synes, at jeg lige ville sige hej. For nylig blev jeg nemlig mindet om noget, du sagde i sommer, og det fik mig til at bede for de børn, som er stoppet med at komme i vores børneklub. Så jeg sendte dem en lille hilsen med datoerne for klubben fra nu af og til påske, og så bad jeg ellers løs! Og 3 børn, der ikke har været her siden vi holdt et sommerarrangement, kom tilbage i løbet af de sidste 2 uger:) Når vi beder, så sker der tilfældigheder :)"

The other day I got a nice note from Claire, who was a student this summer at our Leadership Course. So I thought I'd share it with you. She says,
"Hi Dorthe, was just thinking on you and thought I'd say hi. Something you said in the summer really reminded me to pray for the children that have stopped coming to our kids club. So I sent out new wee notes with the dates of the club between now and Easter and prayed lots and 3 children that haven't been since the holiday bible club in the summer came back over the last 2 weeks : ) When we pray coincidences happen : )"

Forår?? - Spring??

Sneen smelter og løber ned ad bjerget
Solen skinner mens den lytter til en lille fugls stille fløjteri
Hestene vrinsker, danser en kåd forårsdans og blinker hemmelighedsfuldt til hinanden
Fluerne udklækkes lystigt
Og stanken fra nabogården slår mig i møde, når jeg åbner vinduet
Er det sandt?? Er foråret virkelig på vej?

The snow is melting and running down the hills
The sun is shining while listening to a tiny bird’s melody
The horses neigh, dance a giddy spring dance and blinks secretive to each other
The flies are buzzing around again
And the stench from the neighbouring farm fills my nostrils when I open the window
Is it true?? Is spring really on its way?

IOT

Om en uges tid starter vores IOT kursus her. IOT står for Instructors of Teachers og det er et kursus, der løber over to uger, hvor vi træner folk til at kunne undervise EBU (Effektiv BørneUndervisning). EBU er et kursus på 39 lektioner, som giver et godt fundament for børnemedarbejdere.

Det bliver første gang, at jeg skal lede sådan et kursus, og mange af de fag, jeg skal undervise, er også nye for mig. Det samme gælder for mange af de andre lærere. Vi bliver 7 lærere. Tre af dem har arbejdet længe med IOT, jeg startede sidste år og så er der tre nye lærere. Men de fleste af os skal undervise nye fag. Så vi har virkelig brug for jeres forbøn!

Derudover er en af vores nøglelærere, Silvia, fået hekseskud i ryggen og ligger nu med konstante smerter. Jeg tør slet ikke tænke på hvad der sker, hvis hun ikke snart får det bedre. Der er også flere af de andre lærere, der har nakkesmerter etc.
Så alt i alt er vi vist et lille sølle team, der har brug for noget forbøn. Så hvis du har en bøn til over, vil vi sætte stor pris på den. På forhånd tak :-)

In about a week's time our IOT course begins. IOT stands for Instructors of Teachers and is a course which runs for two weeks, where we train people to teach TCE (Teaching Children Effectively). The TCE is a course of 32 lessons, which provide a good foundation for children workers.

It will be the first time that I will lead such a course, and many of the subjects I have to teach, are also new for me. The same goes for many of the other teachers. We are 7 teachers. Three of them have worked with IOT for a long time, I started last year and there are three new teachers. But most of us are going to teach new subjects. So we really need your prayers!

In addition, one of our key teachers, Silvia, has got severe constant back pain at the moment. There are also several of the other teachers who have neck pain, etc. So all in all we are a little weak teams at the moment who need some prayer. So if you have a spare prayer, please say it for us. Thanks. :-)

I blame it on the blueberries

Efter min operation i september bestemte jeg mig for at opgradere mine spisevaner. En af de ting, jeg ønskede at ændre var at spise mere frugt og grønt. En nem og lækker måde var blandt andet at lave en smoothie hver eftermiddag i stedet for de kager, vi får serveret her hver dag.

Der gik ikke længe inden min ændrede vaner begyndte at ryste mig, for jeg fik ekstremt meget energi (på trods af at jeg lige var blevet opereret) og når folk omkring mig gik ned med forkølelse m.m. så stod jeg skansen, snøftede en enkelt gang og så var det videre. Det var virkelig en stor forskel i forhold til sidste år! Personligt vil jeg først og fremmest skyde skylden på min blåbærsmoothie, som er så fyldt at antioxidanter i en vidunderlig kombination, at jeg har på fornemmelsen, at englene sang med mig, hver gang jeg slubrede den i mig.

Nå, men den sidste måned har jeg jo været på farten (Danmark, Norge, Tyskland) og har derfor ikke haft mulighed for at lave smoothies, og stille og roligt kunne jeg mærke mine superkræfter forlade mig. Og ganske rigtigt – forleden begyndte en forkølelse at snige sig ind på mig. Jeg nåede lige hjem fra Tyskland, førend jeg gik fuldstændig brak med den vildeste feber og forkølelse i mange år.

Nu kan jeg kun glæde mig over, at feberen er ved at slippe sit greb i mig og at min fryser er fyldt med blåbær og andre bær, som jeg slubrer i mig i dobbelt dosis i disse dage.
Men: Jeg må jo hellere give opskriften fra mig – i tilfælde af, at der er andre, der også vil prøve deres superkræfter af:

Til én person:
65 gram frosne blåbær
2 tsk. honning
1 dl. fedtfattig yoghurt (eller lignende)
Lidt vaniliesukker (eller vaniljekorn)
0,5 dl. juice (gerne af granatæbler eller bær men almindelig juice kan også bruges.)
Blend alt sammen.

Jeg bruger min stavblender for at spare opvask, så derfor kan det være en god idé at lade bærerne stå ved stuetemperatur i en halv time først. Spis gerne nogle nødder til, så fedtet kan hjælpe dig med at optage antioxidanterne optimalt.

After my surgery in September, I decided to upgrade my eating habits. One of the things I wanted to change was to eat more fruit and vegetables. An easy and delicious way to do so was, among other things to make a smoothie every afternoon instead of eating the cake we are served here every day.

It was not long after changing my habits that I noticed the change: I had lots of energy (despite the fact that I just had surgery) and when people around me went down with colds, etc. I just made a little sniff and continued as usual. This was really a big difference from last year! Personally, I primarily blame my blueberry smoothie which is so full of antioxidants and taste that I have the feeling that the angels sing with me every time I slurp it in me.

Well, the last month I have been on the move (Denmark, Norway, Germany) and therefore had no opportunity to make smoothies and slowly, I could feel my super powers leave me. And indeed - recently a cold began to sneak up on me. I just made it back from Germany before I lied completely fallow with the wildest fever and cold for many years.

Now I rejoice that the fever is about to release its grip of me and that my freezer is full of blueberries and other berries, that I slurp in me in double dose these days.
But I better give the recipe from me - in case there are others who will test their super powers:

For one person:
65 grams of frozen blueberries
2 tsp. honey
1 dl. low-fat yogurt (or similar)
A little bit of vanilla sugar
0.5 dl. juice (preferably of pomegranates or berries but ordinary juice can also be used.)
Blend everything together.

I use my hand-held blender to save some dishwashing, so it may be a good idea to let the frozen berries stand at room temperature for half an hour first. Eat a few nuts together with the smoothie so the fat can help you to take up the antioxidants optimally.

Hvordan kom Moses over havet?

Forleden dag vågnede jeg op med en gammel børnesang i hovedet, som jeg ikke har hørt i mange, mange år. Jeg elskede den sang, da jeg var barn, men i virkeligheden er den jo totalt grinagtig. Den går (cirka) sådan her:

Hvordan kom Moses over havet?
Hvordan kom Moses over havet?
Hvordan kom Moses over havet - det store røde hav?
Svømmed han? Nej, nej
Sejled han? Nej, nej
Gik han da? Nej, nej, nej, nej
Løb han da? Nej, nej
Fløj han da? Nej, nej
Hvordan kom Moses frem?
Gud sendte en storm, hu hej, hu hej
Og banede en vej, vej, vej
På havets bund, just i den rette stund
Ad den kom Moses frem

Først lå jeg og smågrinede lidt over sangen, men pludselig var det som om, at Gud talte lidt til mig gennem sangen.

Lige nu står jeg nemlig midt i et problem, som ikke rigtig egner sig til at blive offentliggjort på en blog, men hvorom alting er, så var det som om, at Gud gennem denne sang viste mig, at selv om jeg måske føler mig lidt som Moses med et stort hav foran mig, og en fjendtlig hær bag ved mig, så er der stadig en vej frem. Det kan godt være, at han bruger en storm til at skabe vejen, men til gengæld fører vejen lige til det forjættede land.

Det er jo godt at vide. Så mens jeg venter på stormen, sætter jeg mig bare her ved lejrbålet, steger en pølse og skriver lidt på min blog...

Sorry - this blogpost is build over a Danish children's song so it does not make sense to translate it into English.

Ich verstehe gar nichts

OK, jeg er officielt i chok! Jeg arbejder jo i et multikulturelt team og det ville jeg gerne gøre så godt som muligt. Derfor har jeg købt adgang til et system, hvor man kan tage en personlighedstest og så få en computer til at sammenligne sig med andre kolleger eller nationaliteter og derefter give en gode råd til, hvordan man skal opføre sig. Det er helt klart pengene værd, men her kommer det sjove.

For sjov sammenlignede jeg mig med, hvor godt jeg passer ind i Danmark og selvfølgelig også Schweiz (selvom vi faktisk kun har to kolleger fra Schweiz). Computeren fandt ud af, at jeg passer meget bedre med den schweiziske mentalitet end med den danske. Det var faktisk ikke alt for godt med den danske tilpasning! Så fik man den! Hvordan det er sket, ved jeg ikke. Jeg har absolut kun nordiske gener og er en overgiven dansk patriot. Og så hader jeg malkekøer. Men anyways, så er det da meget opmuntrende, når jeg nu altså er endt i Schweiz for denne fase af mit liv. Måske skulle jeg begynde at bede om, at vi må få nogle flere schweiziske kolleger og måske også en schweizisk mand (hvis de altså findes uden øreringe og mønstrede skjorter).

OK, I am officially in shock! I work in a multicultural team and that can be a challenge from time to time – but a challenge that I really want to embrace. Therefore I have bought access to a system where you take a personality test and then a computer will compare your profile to other colleagues or nationalities and then give you some advice as to how you should behave. It is definitely worth the money but here comes the fun part:

For fun I also compared myself with the Danish mentality and off course also with Switzerland (although we only have very few Swiss colleagues). The computer discovered that I fit in better in Switzerland than in Denmark. Actually, it seem to think that I would have some difficulties in Denmark. What a shock! How did that happen?? I really only have Nordic genes and I am a devoted Danish patriot. And I hate cows. But anyways, it is also kind of encouraging since I am in Switzerland now for this phase of my life. Maybe I should start to pray for more Swiss colleagues and maybe even a Swiss man (if it’s possible to find one without earrings and patterned shirts). (If I have any Swiss male single readers: Please forgive the last comment. Apparently I love you! But I can't stop my Danish sarcasm, so you have to live with that anyway (and the new shirts I will buy you).

Update - opdatering

Hey vil bare lige sende en kort hilsen og sige, at det går rigtig godt med at studere. Det er helt vildt spændende og derudover går det også godt med det tyske. Jeg har jo heldigvis fået lov til at læse og skrive på engelsk og det ern stor hjælp. Vi fortsætter mandag med endnu en uges forelæsninger og opgaveskrivning. Derefter venter der en 20 timers eksamen, som skal færdiggøres i den følgende uge derhjemme.

Hey - just wanted to send a short note and say that I really enjoy my studies. It is really interesting and I am understanding most of it even if it is in German. It helps a lot that my textbooks are in English and that I can write my assignments in English. Tomorrow, Monday, we continue with one more week of lectures and assignments. After that we have a 20 hours exam that must be finished at home the following week.

Columbus

Da jeg ankom til min bibelskole i Stuttgart i går, følte jeg mig lidt som Columbus, da han så Amerika for første gang. Lad mig forklare…

Jeg havde et par problemer på vejen. Lad mig forklare et af dem: Min GPS bestemte sig for at gå i baglås. Den nægtede simpelthen at vise mig vejen til Stuttgart. Den ville gerne vise vej til den lokale svømmehal og til min far i Fredensborg, men Stuttgart – nej! Jeg overvejede, om GPS’en i virkeligheden gav udtryk for min underbevidsthed: Måske ønskede jeg ikke at tage til Stuttgart – måske ville jeg hellere i svømmehalen eller besøge min far. Men nej – Stuttgart var, hvor jeg allerhelst ville være lige nu i hele verden (bortset fra en tropeø) (sorry far, men vi ses jo om to uger…)

Nå, så måtte jeg jo bede. Det virkede ikke. Lidt mere bøn. Det virkede heller ikke. Trykke på reset-knappen – ingen virkning. Til sidst var jeg desperat: Jeg bad en ekstra stærk bøn og trykkede ekstra hårdt på reset-knappen og bing – så begyndte GPS’en at samarbejde.

Mens jeg kørte af sted overvejede jeg, om det var den ekstra stærke bøn eller reset-knappen, der havde været mest effektivt, men jeg fandt ikke et svar, førend GPS’en pludselig gik i baglås igen tæt på Stuttgart.

Og så startede jeg forfra: Bøn – ingen virkning, endnu mere bøn – heller ingen synlig virkning, reset-knappen – uden effekt, stærk bøn – nix. Og til slut: total desperat stærk bøn kombineret med ekstra stærkt tryk på reset-knappen og bimmelim: alt igen i skønneste orden.

Da jeg kørte videre konkluderede jeg, at det måtte være kombinationen af det overnaturlige og naturlige, som i så mange andre tilfælde, gjorde udslaget!

Og så ankom jeg efter mit livs længste køretur bag rattet, lavede en perfekt parallelparkering (min første i mange, mange år), og følte mig ganske som Columbus. Jeg havde overvundet og overlevet de syv have - eller ihvertfald den tyske autobahn til Stuttgart.

After arriving at the Bible school in Stuttgart, Germany yesterday I felt a bit like Columbus when he saw America. Let me explain…

I had a few problems on my way to Stuttgart. Here is one of them: My GPS decided not to cooperate. It would just not find the way to the Bible school. I tried to check other addresses and that worked perfectly – it could tell me how to get to the local pool or to how to visit my dad in Denmark. So I started to wonder if I unconsciously not wanted to go to Germany but after searching my soul I realised that actually Stuttgart was the place I wanted to be the most in the whole wide world right now (except for a tropical island, off course) (sorry, dad, but we’ll meet in two weeks).

OK, time to pray, I though, but it did not work. Some more prayer did not work either. I pressed the reset-button but it had no effect either. Now I was desperate: I said an extra strong prayer and pressed extra hard on the reset-button and suddenly everything worked.

While driving through Germany I was wondering if it was the extra strong prayer or the reset-button who had done the trick. I did not reach a conclusion until I was close to Stuttgart and the GPS decided to stop showing the way to the Bible school once again.

So once more: Prayer – no effect, even more prayer – no visible effect. Reset button – no effect. Extra strong prayer – no result. And then in a desperate move: An extra strong prayer and a even harder push on the reset button – and then everything worked.

As I drove on I concluded that in this as in so many other situations God chooses to combine the supernatural with the natural to get the best effect.

And as I arrived at the Bible school after the longest distance I have ever been driving by myself I made a perfect parallel-parking (the first in many years) and felt just like Columbus. I had survived the big ocean or at least the German high-way.

Stuttgart

Sikke en fantastisk juleferie, jeg har haft.
Ja, det ser ud til, at min blog altid går død, når jeg holder ferie, men det er vel i og for sig et sundhedstegn ;-)

Anyways, mens jeg var på ferie, var jeg også nødt til at kigge lidt i studiebøgerne til mit næste Master-kursus. Så det var bare med at udnytte alle de mange togture og derudover læse ca. to timer om dagen. Jeg frygtede det lidt, men det viste sig at blive ustyrlig interessant, så nogle gange var det ligefrem svært at lægge bøgerne fra sig.
Så mens jeg læste, lod jeg mig inspirere af 5 Mosebog 11:18-20 og lavede min egen lille version:

”Du skal studere evangelierne, mens du venter på S-toget og mens du sidder i Kystbanen.
Du skal bruge tonsvis af understregningstusser, mens din søster spiller wii og din bror bygger Lego.
Du skal formulere spørgsmål, når du er på vej til at besøge dine venner og når du sidder hos frisøren.
Ja, på denne måde skal du – selv om det er jul – få lært en masse.”

Så – i morgen er det afsted til Stuttgart, hvor jeg skal være i to uger. Det bliver nok rigtig hårdt at tale tysk dagen lang og studere så intensivt på tysk, så har du en bøn til overs så...

What a wonderful Christmas holiday I have had. It seems like my blog always go totally dead when I am on holiday. I am sorry about that but it is probably a healthy sign ;-)

Anyways, while it was holiday I also had to prepare for my next Bible study course. I decided to make use of every train trip and on top of that two hours study per day. I dreaded it a bit but it actually turned out really well, because the subject and the books were sooo interesting! So while studying, I let myself get inspired from Deuteronomy 11:18-20 and make my own little version:

“You shall study the Gospels both when you wait for train and when you are travelling with the tram.
You shall highlight important passages both when your sister is playing wii and your brother is building Lego.
You shall write down questions on your way to visit good friends and when you sit at the hairdresser.
Yes, by doing so - even if it is holiday - you shall learn a lot indeed!”

So tomorrow I go to Stuttgart for two weeks. It will be intense with all these studies in German so if you have a spare prayer, please say it for me…