Dorthes blog

Farvel og tak - Over and out

2010-12-21T14:13:00.004+01:00

Kære Blog
Jeg har virkelig nydt at have dig ved min side i 309 indlæg, men på det sidste, er der kommet færre og færre indlæg fra mig, og jeg må derfor med sorg i hjertet konstatere, at man ikke kan nå alt her i livet.

Jeg tror derfor, at jeg må sige farvel og tak til dig, kære blog, for en kortere eller længere tid. Du har været mig en tro følgesvend, og jeg vil altid bære mindet om dig i mit hjerte. Du har hjulpet mig med at bearbejde mangen en mærkelig oplevelse og har givet mig en platform for tanker, oplevelser og synspunkter. Hvem ved - måske finder vi igen tid til at vandre sammen senere i livet, men som det ser ud lige nu, så... må jeg vist bare sige dig tak for alt og farvel for denne gang. Mange varme tanker Dorthe

Dear Blog
I have really enjoyed having you at my side for 309 posts. But lately, I have had to realise that I have had time for less and less posts. I must therefore with sadness in my heart realise that we don't have time for everything in life.

I therefore think that I have to say goodbye and thank you, dear blog, for a shorter or longer period of time. You have been my faithful companion and I will always carry the memory of you in my heart. You have helped me to work many a strange experience and have given me a platform to express thoughts, experiences and views. Who knows - maybe we will find time to walk together later in life, but as it looks right now, I ... have to finish our walk with a thank you and a goodbye for now. Many warm greetings, Dorthe

Sendetider

2010-09-22T15:18:00.001+02:00

Du kan se GPS her fra 3. oktober:
Kanal København (hele Danmark): Søndag kl. 8:00 & 10:00, tirsdag kl. 6:00 & 7:00, torsdag kl. 6:30 & 7:30, lørdag kl. 9:00
Kanal Hovedstaden: Søndag kl. 10:00
Kanal Nordjylland: Søndag kl. 10:00
Kanal Østjylland: Tirsdag kl. 16:00
Kanal Sønderjylland: Søndag kl. 10:00
Kanal Fyn: Fredag kl. 15:30
Kanal Bornholm: Søndag kl. 8:00
Kanal Øst: Søndag kl. 15:30

Du kan også altid se GPS på www.opdagnyt.dk

2010-09-20T12:26:00.001+02:00

Tidligt i morges ringede det på døren og et pakkebud leverede 5000 reklamepostkort for vores GPS udsendelser, der går i luften 3. oktober. Jubiiii!!!! Det er snart!
Lige nu står postkortene opstillede på mit skrivebord, fordi jeg bare ikke kan tage øjnene fra dem. Men der skal de selvfølgelig ikke blive ved med at stå, så hvis du vil have et antal tilsendt, så skriv til Evangelisk Børnemission på ebdk@ebdk.dk og oplys antal og adresse.

Early this morning the door bell rang and 5000 advertising postcard for our GPS tv programmes were delivered. We go live 3rd October. Yippee!! It is so soon!
Right now all the postcards are set on my desk because I just can’t take my eyes off them. But off course they can’t continue to be stacked there so in the next weeks they will be spread out to the children of Denmark to inform them about this new way of learning about God.

Teen-Action-lejr - Teen camp

2010-07-28T16:11:00.004+02:00

Så blev det tid til lidt sommerlejr i form af årets Teen-Action-lejr!
Det var herligt at være på lejr igen - den første i lang tid. Min veninde Buholo og jeg pakkede soveposen sammen og tog ned for at hjælpe lidt til på Kilden.

Men følte mig nu lidt gammel blandt alle de mange teenagere og super-unge ledere. Den første morgen på vej til ledermøde, sagde en af lejrens yngste ledere, som jeg har kendt siden han var lille dreng: "Nå men Dorthe, hvordan er det så at være på lejr, nu hvor du er blevet gammel?" Skøn start på dagen, Samuel ;-)

Men det var helt fantastisk at være på lejr på trods af aldersforskellen. Der var så mange, jeg har arbejdet sammen med i Teens To Children, på børnelejr etc. HVor var det herligt at se, hvor dygtige og ansvarlige ledere, de alle er! Og så var der jo også Mette, Mie og Nanna, som satte prikken over i'et for mig - de er nemlig mine gamle børneklubbørn.

And then it was time for some summer camp - actually teen camp to be more specific!
It was wonderful to be at camp again - the first in a long time. My friend Buholo and I packed our sleeping bags and went down to help a little at the camp site.

I must say, thought that I felt a tiny bit old now among the many teens and the very young camp staff. The first morning on the way to staff meeting, one of the camp's youngest leaders whom I've known since he was a little boy said, "Well, Dorthe, how is it to be at camp, now that you've become old?" What a wonderful start of the day, Samuel ;-)

But it was amazing to be at camp despite the age difference. There were so many, I have worked together with in Teens To Children, at children camp, etc. And it was wonderful to see how capable and responsible leaders, they all are! And then there was also Mette, Mie and Nanna, who put icing on the cake for me - they are my old GNC children.

Kilchzimmer

2010-07-24T17:46:00.003+02:00

Tiden flyver, når man har det sjovt... Og så glemmer man at opdatere sin blog...
Nå, men jeg har været i Schweiz i et par uger for at undervise. Vejret var fantastisk, kursisterne arbejdsomme, så hvad mere kan man ønske sig som lærer? Det var ihvertfald skønt at være tilbage i Schweiz og møde gamle og nye kolleger på Kilchzimmer. Det var også skønt at få lov til at give en lille smule til alle de dygtige kursister, som befolker Kilchzimmer denne sommer.

(Lidt ekstraundervisning om dukker blev der også tid til - there was also time for an extra seminar about puppets)

Time flies when you are having fun... and then you forget to update your blog...
Anyways, I have been to Kilchzimmer to teach for a couple of weeks. The weather was perfect, the students hard working, so what more can you wish for as a teacher? It was very nice to be back at Kilchzimmer and meet old and new colleagues. It was also nice to be able to give a little bit to all the very skilled students of the summer course 2010.

Sans for detaljen - A sense of detail

2010-06-21T22:39:00.003+02:00

I dag havde vi første optagelse med mig som programvært på vores nye børne-tv-program. Jeg binder alle de mange elementer sammen, som I har set billeder af her på bloggen de sidste mange måneder.

Vi oplevede virkelig at ”gå i forud beredte gerninger”, for Gud havde vist planlagt det hele mere i detaljer, end vi kunne have gjort. Han sørgede nemlig for de rette statister hele vejen igennem.

Da vi skulle tale om skabelse, havde vi stillet os hen ved elefanthuset i Frederiksberg Have, men der var ingen elefanter udendørs, og vagten forklarede os, at elefanterne selv må bestemme, hvornår de er i humør til at komme ud. Men lige da vi skulle til at optage sekvensen om skabelsen, så stormede elefanterne ud og gav os masser af gode optagelser.

Da jeg senere skulle tale om, hvor meget Gud elsker børn og ønsker at lytte til dem, så kom der en masse børn løbende forbi bag mig ned af en skrænt.

Og da jeg skulle tale om, hvor fantastisk Gud har skabt kroppen, så selv mennesker med handicaps kan en masse forskellige ting, ja, tro det eller lad være, men så mødte vi en flok personer i kørestol, som dannede et smukt baggrundsbillede for os.

Man må sige, at Gud har sans for detaljen!

Today we had the first recording with me as the hostess of our new TV program for children. I bind all the many elements together, that you have seen pictures of here on the blog the past several months.

We really experienced to "walk in prepared deeds”, for it seemed like God had planned the whole thing into more detail than we could possible have done. He just put in the the right extras throughout.

When I was to talk about creation, we were shooting next to an elephant house in a garden in Copenhagen but there were no elephants outdoors and a guard explained to us that the elephants can decide when they were in the mood to go outside and when not. But just when I had to begin my speech about creation, the elephants stormed out and gave us lots of fun shots.

When I later was talking about how much God loves children and wants to listen to them, suddenly lots of children were running past behind me down a little hill.

And when I was talking about how amazing God has created your body so that even people with disabilities can do a lot different things – can you believe it - a bunch of people in wheelchairs, formed the perfect background image for us.

One must say that God has a sense of detail!

Forventningens glæde - The joy of anticipation

2010-06-13T00:01:00.004+02:00

Sidste fredag startede jeg med at glæde mig…
I løbet af weekenden glædede jeg mig.
Mandag ligeså.
Tirsdag forestillede jeg mig, hvor morsomt det ville blive.
Onsdag var der næsten ikke tid, men det lykkedes alligevel at få lidt forventning ind.
Torsdag glædede jeg mig.

Og endelig kom fredag. Hele formiddagen glædede jeg mig.
I frokostpausen glædede jeg mig.

Vi begyndte at gøre scenen klar.
Prøvede om dansetøjet passede til dukkerne.
Fandt trommerne frem.
Satte lys. Stillede kameraer klar.

Og så kom de endelig! De kære teenagere, der skulle styre dukkerne til to musikvideoer. Jeg tror simpelthen ikke, at jeg nogensinde stopper med at synes, at det er morsomt at se dukker synge ind i en mikrofon, lave dansetrin og spille guitar.

Tak kære teenagere! I var mega-dygtige og udholdende. Håber ikke, at armene gør for ondt i dag.

Last Friday I started to look forward to this
Over the weekend I had to smile in anticipation.
Monday likewise.
Tuesday I imagined how funny it would be.
Wednesday, there was almost no time, but managed nevertheless to think through my expectations.
Thursday I was looking forward again.

And finally came Friday. All morning I was anticipating with joy.
During the lunch break I had to smile.

We started to prepare the stage.
Put performance clothes on the puppet.
Found the drums.
Set lights.
Placed the cameras in the right positions.

And finally they arrived! The dear teen puppeteers who were going to make two music videos. I guess I will never stop being amused by puppets singing into a microphone, do dance moves and playing guitar.

Thank you teens! You are mega-talented and patient. Hope that your arms are not hurting too much today.

Lidt af hvert - A little of this, a little of that

2010-06-09T21:06:00.004+02:00

Det er længe siden, at jeg har fået skrevet på bloggen. Jeg har desværre haft en virus på balancenerven, som gjorde livet noget mere besværligt i fem uger med masser af svimmelhed. Nogle gange måtte jeg ligge ned og arbejde. Andre gange måtte jeg bare tage den helt med ro i flere dage i træk. Nu er jeg ved at være i god form igen, og det føles så vidunderligt at kunne leve livet fuldt ud igen uden at det hele sejler omkring mig.

Her i juni fortsætter vi med optagelser til vores tv-program. I mandags mødtes vi med vores børnereportere Joachim og Julie for at lave deres første optagelse.
I dag og resten af ugen har vi optagelse af endnu flere bibelhistorier. Fredag skal vi desuden lave et par musikvideoer med dukker. Yeah! Livet er sjovt!

It is a long time since I have written on the blog. I have unfortunately had a virus on the balance nerve, which made life somewhat more difficult in five weeks with lots of dizziness. Sometimes I had to lie down and work. Other times I had to just take it quite calm for several days in a row. Now I am back to more or less normal again, and it feels so wonderful to be able to live life fully again without everything flying around me.

Here in June, we continue recording for our TV program. This Monday we met with our children reporters Joachim and Julie to make their first recording.
Today and the rest of the week we have recording of more Bible stories. Friday we are also going to shoot two music videos with our puppets. Yeah! Life is fun!

Flere optagelser - More recordings

2010-04-09T22:12:00.003+02:00

Så glad
Så træt
Så klar til at sove...

So happy
So tired
So ready for some sleep

At tælle stjerner med Abraham - Counting the stars along with Abraham

2010-04-08T21:54:00.006+02:00

I dag har jeg talt stjerner sammen med Abraham, hørt baby Isak græde, lokket elefanter ind i Noas ark og set Gud skabe Adam af agerjordens muld.

Vi fik optaget de første fem bibelhistorier til vores TV-program, og det var så spændende at følge med i de forskellige fortælleres historier, at man næsten glemte at trække vejret.

Og hvor var det skønt at sidde der og se Abraham tælle stjerner, mens vi hørte, at Gud holder, hvad han lover. Jeg kiggede på et par af mine egne stjerner og begyndte at tænke på, hvad Gud har lovet mig. Jeg kom til at tænke på et af de løfter, som Gud gav mig for mange år siden fra Bibelen og hvordan det nok for alvor er ved at gå i opfyldelse med disse TV-programmer. Pludselig opdagede jeg, at lige præcis det løfte var blevet skrevet med kæmpeskrift på et stykke tapet i den mega-bibel, som er blevet lavet til programmet. Gud bruger stjerner, sand, tapet og meget andet til at minde os om hans løfter.

Today I have counted the stars along with Abraham, heard baby Isaac crying, lured elephants into Noah's Ark and seen God creating Adam of the dust of the earth.

We were busy shooting the first five Bible stories for our TV program, and it was so exciting to follow the various Bible story tellers that you almost forgot to breathe.

We were watching Abraham counting stars while we heard that God keeps his promises. I looked at some of my own stars and began to think about what God has promised me. I came to think of one of the promises that God gave me many years ago from the Bible and how it probably really is about to come true with these TV programs. Suddenly I discovered that exactly this promise was written in huge writing on a piece of wallpaper in the giant Bible, which has been made for the program. God uses stars, sand, wallpaper and much else to remind us of his promises.

Kulisseklippeklistredag - cut and paste and make a set piece

2010-04-07T21:42:00.003+02:00

Så blev der ellers klippet og klistret i bogstaveligste forstand for at få kulissen gjort færdig. Jubiii! Det bliver smaddergodt, og jeg glæder mig til de første optagelser i morgen! En kæmpebibel bliver centrum mellem en masse andre kæmpebøger.

And so it was time for a lot of cutting and pasting to finish the set piece. Yippiie! It is going to be sooo good and I am looking forward to the first shots tomorrow! A giant Bible is in the centre of a lot of other books.

Kulisse - Set piece

2010-04-07T10:57:00.002+02:00

Der har været masser af aktive ”bier” i gang med at skabe vores kulisse til de nye TV-programmer, vi er i gang med. I påsken mødtes vi nogle stykker og fik malet, hamret og savet, og i dag onsdag skal sidste hånd lægges på kulissen. Tusind tak til jer, der har givet så meget af jeres tid og kreativitet!!!!

Torsdag og fredag har vi de første optagelser, hvor vi skal optage 11 bibelhistorier og 8 dukkespil, så vi vil sætte pris på jeres forbøn for inspiration, visdom og energi.

Vi er rendt ind i et ”lille” problem med de musikvideoer, som nogle er i gang med at producere til udsendelserne. Dem, som laver disse videoer mangler simpelthen 40.000 kroner for at kunne lave dem færdige, så her kunne vi også godt bruge en lille ekstrabøn :-).

(Claus bygger kæmpebibel - Claus building a giant Bible)

There have been lots of active 'bees' in the process of creating the set piece for our new TV programs. Last week, some of us met to paint, hammer etc., and today, Wednesday, the final touches are made.

Thursday and Friday we have the first footage for the first 11 Bible stories and 8 puppet skits, so we would appreciate your prayers for inspiration, wisdom and energy.

We have run into a "small" problem with the music videos that another organisation is making for us. Those who make these videos need another 4,000 Pounds to finish them, so if you have a spare prayer…

Påskehygge - Easter fun

2010-04-07T10:48:00.002+02:00

Påsken har været fyldt af dejlige arrangementer. Først ledertræning i Lindehøj kirke med en gruppe skønne teenagere og unge, og derefter påskehyggemøder for børn. Her deltog Jeppe, Johannes, Rebecca, Bente og jeg. Børnene var vilde med de kære teenagere, og det er Bente og jeg også. Jeg bliver altid så glad, når jeg kan sætte mig på bagerste række og se næste generation folde sig ud.

(Påskehygge i Lyngby - Easter clubs)

(Lidt sjov under ledertræning i Lindehøj kirke - A little fun during Teacher Training)

(Undervisning i Lindehøj kirke - Teaching)

Easter has been full of wonderful events. First, leadership training in a church with a group of dedicated teenagers and young adults, and then Easter clubs for children. Here three teens Jeppe, Johannes and Rebecca joined Bente and me. The children loved all the fun and teaching that the teens had prepared and so did Bente and I. I am always so happy when I sit on the back row and see the next generation in action.

Så sker der noget! - Lots of activity

2010-03-22T15:20:00.004+01:00

Det koger af aktivitet I forhold til TV-produktionen. Frivillige er i gang med lave kulisser, øve bibelhistorier, forberede dukketeater, skrive titelsang osv.
Skulle du have lyst til at hjælpe Langfredag 2/4 eller onsdag 7/4 med at male og gøre kulisse klar, så skriv gerne til mig. Vi kunne godt bruge lidt flere hænder disse to dage. Det foregår I KKRs studier på Drejervej!

Lots of activity in relation to our TV production is taking place these days. Volunteers are engaged in making the stage, practice Bible lessons, preparing puppet shows, Writing a title song, etc. I would appreciate your prayers for all the details to fall into place for the first recordings on 8th and 9th of April. Thanks!

Puppets

2010-03-22T15:11:00.001+01:00

I sidste uge mødtes Jeppe, Rebecca, David og jeg for at lave de første lydspor til det dukketeater, der skal bruges i vores TV-udsendelser, og senere på ugen mødtes jeg med et hold teenagere for at øve dukke-teater til de første fire udsendelser. Dejligt at se, at tingene et for et falder på plads. Jeg kunne stadig godt bruge 2-4 teenagere mere i min dukkefører-gruppe, så sig til, hvis du kender en teenager, der trænger til en sjov udfordring.

Last week Jeppe, Rebecca, David and I met to make the first puppet skit soundtracks to be used in our TV production, and later in the week I met with the team of teens to practice the skits for the first four programs. It is so nice to see that things one by one fall into place. I could still use 2-4 more teenagers in my puppeteer group but it is slowly growing to the right size.

Over and out

2010-02-20T13:44:00.003+01:00

Så er vores IOT kursus veloverstået. Det var virkelig en stor opmuntring at sidde og overvære de sidste praktiske test. Alle kursister klarede det virkelig fint og de underviste så overbevisende, at jeg sad og fik lyst til at gå ud og føre deres ideer ud i livet.

Nu sidder jeg så hjemme i min lille lejlighed og slapper totalt af, ser fjernsyn, drikker te og pakker lidt ud. Dæjligt.

Now our IOT course has finished. It was really a great encouragement to sit and watch the final practicals. All students did a really good job and they taught so convincing that I just wanted to go out and bring their ideas into reality.

Now I am at home in my little apartment and relaxing completely by watching TV, drinking tea and unpacking a little from time to time. Niiice!

Gensyn med Kilchzimmer - Visiting Kilchzimmer

2010-02-14T19:45:00.003+01:00

Det er søndag og tid til at tænke tilbage på en dejlig uge på Kilchzimmer, EB’s europæiske hovedkvarter. Vi er i gang med et IOT 2 kursus (Instructor of Teachers, level 2 course). Det er et videreuddannelseskursus for EB’s medarbejdere, og jeg er her for at lede kurset og for at undervise. Næsten alle os lærere underviser dette kursus for første gang eller har fået helt nye fag at undervise, så der har været nok at se til. I år har vi kun fem kursister, så de får lov til at være prøvekaniner på diverse indfald. Og vi fortsætter endnu en uge! Hver eftermiddag er vi en flok, der bevæger os ud i den schweiziske snejungle for at få noget motion og frisk luft. Om aftenen hygger vi os med spil. Men selvom det lyder meget hyggeligt, så er det også benhårdt arbejde med mange timers forberedelse og undervisning for både lærere og kursister hver dag.

For mig har det været en stor glæde at være tilbage i Schweiz. Her på Kilchzimmer er der sket mange ting, siden jeg forlod stedet, og jeg må sige, at dette besøg har været det bedste nogensinde for mig. Huset emmer af glæde, omsorg og godt humør. Mine ex-kolleger mødes i fritiden og hygger sig sammen. Det føles som om, at Kilchzimmer er på vej derhen, hvor jeg altid drømte om og troede på, at det kunne komme.

(Silvia is teaching, photos taken by Brigitte Kreuzwirth)

It is Sunday and time to think back on a wonderful week at Kilchzimmer, CEF’s European headquarters. At the moment we are having an IOT 2 course (Instructor of Teachers, Level 2 course) here. It is a training course for the workers in CEF and I am here to lead the course and to teach. Almost all of us teachers teach this course for the first time or have completely new subjects to teach, so there has been enough to look at. This year we have only five students, and they have become the guinea-pigs at various incidents. And we will continue another week! Each afternoon, some of us goes out to explore the Swiss jungle of snow and to get some exercise and fresh air. In the evening we play games and enjoy ourselves. But although it sounds very nice, it's also hard work with long hours of preparation and teaching for both teachers and students every day.

For me it has been a great pleasure to be back in Switzerland. Here at Kilchzimmer many nice things seem to have happened since I left and I must say that this visit has been the best ever for me. The house exudes joy, caring and jokes. Some of my ex-colleagues meet after work to have fun together. It feels as though Kilchzimmer is on the way to where I always dreamed and believed that it could be.

Kulisse og navn - Set piece and a name

2010-02-05T23:17:00.000+01:00

Jeg tænker meget på Danmarks børn i disse dage, mens jeg og andre arbejder på at få vores nye TV-projekt op at køre. Jeg tænker på alle de børn, der virkelig har brug for at høre om en Gud, som holder af dem og holder øje med dem (på den gode måde) midt i al livets kaos. Sikke en fantastisk Gud, der elsker alle og ønsker, at vi skal blive stærke og kunne klare alle livets udfordringer.

Mit håb med disse udsendelser er, at børn vil lære mere om, hvor fantastisk Gud er, men samtidig ønsker jeg ikke at stikke dem blår i øjnene og lade som om, at alt er nemt og godt, bare man tror på Gud. Livet bliver måske ikke så meget nemmere ved at tro på Gud, men man har altid én med sig, der har tid til at lytte og til at fylde en med fred, når man har brug for det.

I denne uge har vi holdt et par rigtig spændende planlægningsmøder. Det er virkelig fedt at se det hele finde en rigtig god ramme. Vi har f.eks. diskuteret kulisse og navn til programmet. Vi fik nogle rigtig gode ideer til en billig men sjov kulisse. Navnet har vi endnu ikke helt fundet endnu, men vi arbejder på sagen.

De næste uger arbejdes der på kulisse og i slutningen af februar skal de kære dukkeførere trænes yderligere, og så starter optagelserne midt i marts. Jubi! Glæder mig til at fortælle mere om det hele her på bloggen hen ad vejen…

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the Danish children while working on getting our new TV project up and running. I think of all the children who really need to hear about a God who loves them and is watching them (in a good way) amidst life's chaos. What a great God who loves everyone and wants us to be strong and able to cope with all the challenges of life.

My hope with these programs is that children will learn more about how amazing God is, but I do not want to pull the wool over our eyes and pretend that everything is easy and wonderful as long as you believe in God. Life may not be so much easier to cope with for those of us who believe in God, but we always have one with us who has the time to listen and to give us peace, when we need it.

This week we had a couple of really exciting planning meetings. It's really cool to see it all falling into place. We have discussed the set piece and name of the program. We got some really good ideas for an inexpensive but fun set piece. The name we have not quite found yet, but we are working on it.

The next weeks there will be work done on the set piece and at the end of February, the puppeteers will be trained further and then we start the recording in mid-March. Greeeat! I am looking forward to tell you more about it all here on the blog along the way ...

Opdatering på TV - Update on TV

2010-01-18T13:24:00.002+01:00

Bloggen har næsten været død, men lad mig prøve at vække den til live igen… Jeg har været ret splattet den sidste måneds tid og derfor ikke haft overskud til at skrive. Det skyldtes, at der skete så meget i forhold til tv-produktionen. Hvor glade vi end var for at lave tv, så opdagede vi, at der var en kæmpe misforståelse i forhold til den tv-station, vi arbejdede med. I stedet for, at det var Evangelisk Børnemission, som stod for programmet, så ønskede tv-stationen at være meget mere med til at bestemme, hvad der skulle ske i udsendelserne, og det blev så tidskrævende, at det ikke var realistisk at producere en ny udsendelse hver uge. Derfor måtte vi kort før nytår stoppe samarbejdet. Det var meget trist og har givet os søvnløse nætter, for vi ønskede virkelig at lave børne-tv og tænkte på alle de børn i Danmark, som har brug for at høre om Gud.

Heldigvis havde Gud stadig en plan, så nogle dage senere blev jeg kontaktet af KKR/TV, som også var gået i gang med at planlægge at lave børne-tv igen. KKR/TV har 25 års erfaring med tv og har gennem årene lavet masser af børne-tv. Vi har haft et par møder med dem og har nu indgået et samarbejde. Jeg glæder mig så meget til fortsat at lave børne-tv. Også her vil der blive udsendelser over det meste af landet og via internettet. Ideen er fortsat, at ud over alle de børn, der kommer til at se udsendelserne i deres hjem, så kan vi også tilbyde børnekirker og børneklubber at bruge udsendelserne (eller dele af dem), hvis de ikke har overskud til selv at forberede andagter m.m. Dette gøres jo meget nemt, når udsendelserne ligger på internettet.

I lørdags mødtes jeg med mine kære dukkeførere, som alle var friske på at fortsætte, så det er bare helt fantastisk skønt. Så nu ruller vi videre!!!! Jubiiii! I denne uge har jeg møde med nogle nøgle-personer fra KKR, og det glæder jeg mig bare så meget til. Vores mål er at udsende hver uge fra første maj.

My blog has almost been dead, but let me try to bring it back to life ... I have been quite squashy the past month and therefore did not have the energy to write. This was due to problems in relation to our television production. However excited that we were about producing TV programs for children, we also started to realise that there was a huge misunderstanding in relation to the television station, we worked with. Instead of CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship), being responsible for the program, the TV station really wanted to have much more influence on the program, and it was so time consuming that it was not realistic to produce a new show each week. Therefore we had to terminate the partnership shortly before New Year. It was very sad and has given us sleepless nights, because we really wanted to do children's television and thought of all the children in Denmark who need to hear about God.

Fortunately, God still had a plan, so a few days later I was contacted by another TV station called KKR/TV, which also wanted to make children's television again. KKR/TV has 25 years experience in television and has made lots of children's television over the years. We've had a few meetings with them and have now entered into a partnership. I look so much forward to continuing making children's television and it will be broadcasted across most of the country and via the Internet. The idea remains that beyond all the children who come to watch the program in their homes, we can also offer children's clubs and Sunday schools to use the programs (or parts of them) if they have no possibilities to prepare teaching or devotions themselves. This is unfortunately very often the case in Denmark these days.

On Saturday I met with my wonderful puppeteers, which were all ready to continue the production so that makes me very happy too! This week I am meeting with some key persons from KKR/TV and I am so excited about it all. Our goal is to broadcast each week from May.

2009-10-18T19:02:00.002+02:00

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

2009-09-13T20:09:00.004+02:00

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

2009-08-28T22:59:00.000+02:00

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

2009-08-12T20:26:00.006+02:00

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

2009-07-23T11:42:00.002+02:00

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

2009-07-20T14:39:00.005+02:00

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

2009-07-08T20:43:00.004+02:00

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

2009-06-16T21:54:00.004+02:00

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

2009-06-16T21:35:00.005+02:00

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

2009-05-24T13:58:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-10T15:16:00.008+02:00

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

2009-05-08T16:48:00.002+02:00

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

2009-05-08T16:03:00.004+02:00

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

2009-05-07T10:46:00.006+02:00

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

2009-05-02T22:36:00.003+02:00

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

2009-05-02T22:26:00.004+02:00

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

2009-04-21T23:25:00.004+02:00

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

2009-04-16T17:22:00.005+02:00

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?

2009-03-19T19:23:00.004+01:00

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

2009-03-06T23:18:00.005+01:00

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

2009-03-05T13:38:00.001+01:00

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

2009-02-28T17:41:00.004+01:00

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

2009-02-21T16:04:00.004+01:00

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

2009-02-11T20:59:00.004+01:00

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

2009-02-11T20:52:00.003+01:00

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??

2009-02-06T23:10:00.000+01:00

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

2009-02-06T09:36:00.003+01:00

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

2009-01-27T18:25:00.004+01:00

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?

2009-01-27T12:37:00.003+01:00

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

2009-01-21T21:27:00.002+01:00

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

2009-01-18T20:53:00.002+01:00

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

2009-01-12T08:51:00.003+01:00

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

2009-01-10T18:18:00.002+01:00

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…

Ikke flere institutter på Kilchzimmer - No more institutes at Kilchzimmer

2008-12-19T16:33:00.003+01:00

Idag blev det endeligt officielt: Der skal ikke være flere instituter på Kilchzimmer. Men før du får kaffen galt i halsen, så lad mig forklare. Vores kursus har på engelsk heddet Leadership Training Institute i mange år, men efter mange lange diskussioner er vi blevet enige om at ændre navnet til Children's Ministry Leadership Course (CMLC). Dette træder i kraft fra Januar 2009. Så altså: Kurserne fortsætter bare med nyt navn.

Today it became official: No more Institutes at Kilchzimmer!! But before you get a stroke - let me explain: For some years we have been unhappy with our name "Leadership Training Insitute" and finally we have found consensus for a new name. So from January 2009 our name will be "Children's Ministry Leadership Course" or CMLC. So don't worry - the courses will still go on - it was just my colleague Gary who dared me to write this title on my blog.

Oscar uddeling - Oscar Awards

2008-12-14T15:22:00.003+01:00

I fredags havde vi festmiddag for vores kære kursister, som drager hjemad om en uge. Tænk, om bare en uge er det endnu engang blevet tid til at uddele diplomer for et veloverstået kursus. Men i fredags var det tid til at uddele nogle lidt mere uformelle diplomer. Kursisterne havde arrangeret en Oscar-uddeling og her på det første billede er det min store ære at give schweizerne en Oscar for den bedste nationale aften og på det næste billede giver jeg Fiona en Oscar for den, der har fået lært mest tysk på disse tre måneder.

Ja, det har været et godt hold kursister. De har virkelig udviklet gode venskaber og haft en fantastisk åndens enhed på trods af store forskelle. Jeg kan kun beklage, at jeg de første måneder ikke havde så meget overskud til at hænge ud med dem pga. min operation, men jeg forsøger ihærdigt at indhente det forsømte nu :-).

This Friday we had our banquet in honour of the students who will leave in a week. Wow, in a week I will be standing there handing out diplomas for the course. But this Friday the students had arranged for some more informal diplomas to be handed out – an Oscar Awarding. Here at the first picture I am awarding the Swiss for the best National Evening. On the second picture I am awarding Fiona for being the one to learn most German in the past three months.

Yes, it has really been a wonderful group of students. They seem to have developed nice friendships and they have really had a wonderful unity despite being from very different backgrounds. I can only pity that I was too exhausted the first couple of months after my operation to really get to know them. But I am trying to compensate now the best I can and hang out in our Fellowship Room almost every night to catch up on my loss :-).

Studier - Studies

2008-12-14T15:07:00.003+01:00

Så er det blevet tid til at forberede mig på mit næste kursus på bibelskolen i Stuttgart. Midt i januar sætter jeg mig nemlig to uger på skolebænken, og der er 700 sider, fire evangelier og et læsereferat, der skal være styr på inden da. Pyha...

Time to prepare for the next course I am attending at the Bible school in Stuttgart, Germany. A few weeks into January I am back to school for a two weeks course and I have 700 pages, four Gospels and a reading journal to make before then...

Mit yndlingsfoto 2008 - My favourite 2008 picture

2008-12-04T20:54:00.003+01:00

OK, jeg ved godt, at dette billede er totalt dårlig kvalitet, men alligevel er det mit yndlingsbillede for 2008 og selv om der endnu er ca. 8 % af året tilbage, så tror jeg altså ikke, at der kommer et billede, der slår dette for mig.

Billedet er nemlig taget, da jeg i tusmørke forleden var ude på min første løbetur i 8 måneder. Og jeg har SAVNET mine løbeture og min trampolin, mens jeg har ventet på lægens tilladelse til igen at dyrke mere motion.

Så da jeg endelig kunne spænde løbeskoene på fødderne igen, gik jeg helt i selvsving. Der blev hujet og jublet på den løbetur som aldrig før, og jeg har nærmest været i ekstase lige siden. Behøver jeg sige, at jeg endelig forstod fordelen ved ensomheden i Jura-bjergene: Der var ingen, der kunne høre mine glædesudbrud.

Idag har jeg været ude at løbe igen, selvom vejret var dårligt, men jeg tror, at når man har været hæmmet så længe, så værdsætter man virkelig at kunne gøre, hvad man vil.

OK, I know that this picture is in a totally bad quality but it is still my 2008 favourite picture. And even if there is still about 8% of the year back I doubt that any picture this year will mean more to me after this.

The picture is taken in twilight during my very first run in eight months. And I have MISSED my runs and my trampoline while waiting for the doctor to give me green light again in regards to exercise.

So when I finally was allowed to put on those running shoes again I went crazy. While running I was screaming and cheering like never before in my life. And I finally understood the benefit of the solitute of the Jura mountains: Nobody was there to witness my lack of self control...

Today I was out running again even if the weather was misbehaving. But I guess that after being restrained for so long I really appreciate the ability to move as I like again.

Jul - Christmas

2008-12-01T20:28:00.005+01:00

Så er julen over os. Her med kalenderlys (købt i Danmark i januar...) et lille englekor samlet gennem flere generationer af min familie og mit vindue med udsigt over sne, sne og atter sne.

Christmas is upon us and I have decorated with a special kind of Christmas candle that are very common in Denmark. You have the numbers 1 through 24 on the candle and every day of December you burn one number until Christmas eve (24th). Beside the candle is a little choir of angels which has been collected throughout generations in my family. The second picture is the view from my window on one of these winther days.

Rigtig levende børn -Real living children

2008-12-01T20:08:00.004+01:00

Her i weekenden skulle vores engelsktalende kursister ud og afprøve noget af alt det, der har lært de sidste måneder. Jeg tog med den ene gruppe til Basel, hvor de havde børnemøder både lørdag og søndag. Det er vildt svært bare at sidde og se på, når man har lyst til at medvirke af hele hjertet :-)

Kursisterne havde virkelig brugt meget energi på at forberede sig, og børnene var meget glade for dem, så alt i alt en succesfuld weekend. Lørdag aften tog vi til Basel for at suge lidt af julestemningen til os.

Da vi skulle hjem et par timer senere, brød min GPS sammen midt i den schweiziske ødemark... Hvad gør en klog? Vi sendte en bøn op til Vorherre og på en eller anden måde lykkedes det os ved fælles indsats at finde hjem igen.

This weekend it was time for our English speaking students to try out some of what they have learned the last two months. I went with one of the groups to Basel, where they had children meetings both Saturday and Sunday. It is a bit hard to sit back and observe when you want to teach with all your heart :-)

The students had really spend a lot of energy on thorough preparations and the children really appreciated them a lot so all in all it was a very succesfull weekend.

Saturday night we finished the day by a trip to downtown Basel to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.

But actually that was not the end of the evening... When we were on our way home my GPS broke down in the middle of the Swiss Wilderness. What to do? Well, we prayed and somehow by joined effort we found our way home.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T11:52:00.002+01:00

Og så er det blevet tid til at fejre Thanksgiving igen. Jeg har jo en del amerikanske kolleger, så det betyder det helt store gilde i dag.

Nu kunne det jo være oplagt at lægge en liste her på sin blog med alt det, man er taknemmelig over, men problemet for sådan en kynisk dansker som mig er, at det måske godt kan blive en smule sukkersødt og at jeg desuden ikke ved, hvordan man får violinmusik til at spille, mens mine læsere læser sådan en blogpost.

Misforstå mig nu ikke – der er masser af ting, som jeg er vildt taknemmelig for, men i stedet for at levere den oplagte version til jer, vil jeg i stedet give jer min knapt så officielle liste (som nu altså er blevet officiel).

Jeg er taknemmelig over at Word har dansk stavekontrol. Det er da helt forfærdeligt som min stavning er gået fløjten efter min udvandring til Schweiz.

Jeg er taknemmelig over at mit pandehår endelig er vokset ud efter jeg lod en lokal frisør klippe det i september. Har lovet mig selv kun at lade frisører i Basel og København klippe det fremover. Jeg bad om en studsning – ikke halvfemserhår.

Jeg er taknemmelig over IKEAs kødboller, som kan fås i store fryseposer.

Jeg er taknemmelig over, at jeg har set min snefrygt i øjnene og nu suser ned og op ad bjerget i min lille bil.

Jeg er taknemmelig over at jeg har fundet de mest lækre økologiske chokoladecookies med meget få kalorier.

Jeg er taknemmelig over et kæmpeknus jeg fik af Lisa fra min nye børneklub, da jeg havde fulgt hende hjem fra klub i tirsdags. Udover knus fik jeg også en invitation til både kaffedrikkeri og aftensmad, som jeg pænt afslog, da jeg ikke var sikker på, at hendes mor var lige så begejstret for idéen som Lisa.

It’s that time of the year again. Thanksgiving is upon us and since I have several American colleagues we always celebrate the day together here at Kilchzimmer.

I guess it would be obvious to post a list here with all the things that I am thankful for but I am a cynical Dane who finds those kind of public displays of feelings a bit too cheasy so instead I will give you my not so obvious and to this day unpublished list of things I am thankful for.

Don’t get me wrong – I am really grateful for a lot of things – I just have not found the way to play softly violin music on the blog while my readers read this blogpost so instead I give you:

I am so thankful that Microsoft Word has a Danish spelling check – my writing has become horrifying since I left Denmark!

I am so thankful that my fringe finally has grown back to normal after I asked a local hairdresser to trim it in September. I have promised myself that from now on I will only let hairdressers in Basel or Copenhagen cut my hair. I asked for a trim – not a haircut from the nineties!

I am so thankful for IKEA’s meatballs which can be bought in big bags here.

I am so thankful that I have faced my fear of snow and am now driving down and up our mountain in my little car.

I am so thankful that I have found the most delicious organic low fat chocolate cookies.

I am so thankful for the big hug I got from Lisa after bringing her home from Good News Club on Tuesday. I also got an invite for coffee and supper which I declined since I was not so sure what her mum felt about that idea.

Dukker - Puppets

2008-11-25T21:16:00.004+01:00

Så blev det tid til at undervise endnu en gruppe kursister om, hvordan de kan bruge dukker i deres undervisning. Åh, hvor jeg dog elsker dukker.

Måske kan nogle af dem endda bruge deres nyerhvervede viden om få dage, hvor de skal ud og undervise rigtig levende børn! Min kollega har fået støvet forskellige engelsktalende børnegrupper op i nærheden, så det betyder, at kursisterne fra torsdag deles i tre hold. Et hold tager til en thanksgiving-weekend med en gruppe amerikanske militær-familier, en anden gruppe skal holde børnemøder på en engelsktalende skole og en tredie gruppe tager med mig til Basel, hvor vi også skal holde nogle børnemøder i løbet af weekenden i samarbejde med en international kirke. Det bliver sjovt.

Once again it was time to teach the students about puppets in ministry. I just love puppets!

Maybe they can even use their newly gained knowledge in a few days when they go out to have a practical time with real living children. My colleague Martha has found some English speaking groups of children and this means that the students now are divided in three groups: One group will teach at a thanksgiving retreat for American military families, another group will teach at an English speaking school and the third group will go with me to Basel this weekend for some children meetings in connection with an international church. It's gonna be FUN.

Schweizeraften - Swiss night

2008-11-25T20:52:00.003+01:00

Lørdag aften havde vi schweizer-aften. Jeg deltog dog kun i den første del med oste-fondue og alpehorn. Jeg nød virkelig at hygge med nogle af kursisterne omkring den dejlige mad.

Men hvorfor ikke deltage i resten?? Lad mig forklare:

Vi har med jævne mellemrum disse aftener, hvor forskellige nationaliteter skal fortælle os om deres land. Egentlig vil jeg gerne lære mere om alle verdens lande, men problemet er, at man bliver tvangsindlagt til et utal af selskabslege og dem nærer jeg en sund modvilje mod. For mig er det en form for mental tortur forklædt som underholdning kun toppet af lovsange fra 90'erne. Så jeg takker ja til den dejlige mad og fortrækker derefter til mine egne gemakker. Man må jo gøre hvad man kan for at bevare en sund mentalhygiejne.

Saturday night we had Swiss night. I took part in the first half with chess fondue and alp horn music. I really enjoyed spending some time with the students.

But why not participate in the rest of the fun?? Well, let me explain:

When we have students we also have these frequent fun nights where different nationalities share about their country. While I really like to learn more about the countries of the world I really don't want to be part of all the games that we always have to play. I have had my share since I joined CEF and I carry an aversion against such activities. Playing parlour games is for me a bit like mental torture and can only be surpassed by worship songs from the nineties.

So I appreciate the food and then quickly hide in my living room far away from the festivities. One has to do whatever necessary to keep sane.

I fuld sving - Into the swing of things again

2008-11-11T09:49:00.002+01:00

Det var fantastisk at være tilbage bag katederet i sidste uge. Det blev en meget intens uge men det var skønt. Og vores kursister er bare så dygtige og engagerede, så det gør det jo ekstra nemt at undervise.

En af kursisterne fortalte, hvor glad hun har været for at tage første halvdel af kurset (6 uger). "Det her med at lære børnene om Gud er jo det vigtigste, man kan gøre her i verden!", var hendes kommentar.
Om det er det vigtigste eller ej er nok op til den enkelte at afgøre, men vi kan da ihvertfald sætte det på en top ti liste :-)

It was wonderful to be behind the pulpit again last week teaching. It was a very intense week but a wonderful one. And the students are so excellent and committed which makes it extra easy to teach.

One of the students told me how happy she has been about this first half of the course (6 weeks). "This is actually the most important thing you can do in this world - to teach the children about God!", she said.
Whether it is the most important thing or not, I'll leave up to each individual to decide, but I am sure we can find a space for it on our top ten list :-)

Disse små ting - These small things

2008-11-08T17:13:00.004+01:00

Det forbløffer mig ofte hvor meget Gud holder øje med de små detaljer. Jeg har ham mistænkt for virkelig at være ret så fokuseret på detaljen. Her er et lille eksempel fra i går:

I Danmark løber den store Børnemedarbejderkonference af stablen i denne weekend og EB er naturligvis med i stor stil. Men i går aftes kunne de pludselig ikke få musen til at virke på deres bærbare computer, og så kom Hanna i tanke om, at jeg engang havde fortalt hende, hvordan man fikser det problem. Det er nemlig sket en del gange for mig også (og vi har samme computer). Så Hanna sendte mig en SMS, og her kommer så det sjove: For det første, så er det rigtig lang tid siden, at jeg har haft det problem, så jeg havde helt glemt, hvordan man løser det. Men så lige her forleden, så skete det minsandten igen, så jeg var nødt til at prøve mig frem, indtil jeg fandt ud af at fikse det, så jeg var virkelig klar til at hjælpe med dette. For det andet, så checker jeg ikke min danske mobiltelefon særlig tit, og den ligger bare forladt og ensom i mit soveværelse, men lige da Hanna sendte SMS’en stod jeg udenfor mit soveværelse, og det var på et tidspunkt, hvor jeg normalt sidder på mit kontor. Det betød, at jeg med det samme checkede beskeden og kunne hjælpe dem. Så selv om jeg ikke kunne deltage i konferencen som planlagt pga min nylige operation, så kunne jeg allivel løse bare et lille problem for dem.

Jeg ved, at dette virkelig hører til i småtingsafdelingen og man kunne tilskrive tilfældighedernes spil sådanne episoder. Men disse ting sker virkelig ofte for mig, så jeg har valgt bare at give Gud æren for dem og fortsætte med at forbløffes over hans evne til at få selv de små ting til at virke sammen til bedste for alle (Romerbrevet 8:28).

It never ceases to amaze me how God is into small details. He really cares about them. It really like that about him. Just a small example from yesterday…

The CEF team in Denmark is off to a big conference for children’s workers this weekend. However, suddenly the mouse on their laptop stopped working while running the PowerPoint program. Hanna recalled that I had once told her what to do on such an occasion because it had happened several times for me so she sent me a text message. And here comes the funny thing: First of all it is a long time since this happened to me so I had forgot what how to solve it but just the other day it happened again and I had to find the solution again. Secondly, we have really bad reception for our cell phones here on the mountain, so my cell phone is always lying in my bedroom and I rarely check if I got a message. But right at the moment when the message came I was standing outside my bedroom at a time of the day where I am normally at work so I heard it and could help them straight away. So even if I had to cancel coming to the conference and teach due to my recent operation, I could still pay a small part :-)

I know it is just a small thing, and you might say that these things are coincidental. However, these coincidences really happen a lot to me so I have chosen to just praise God for them and continue to be amazed of how he makes everything fit so well together (Romans 8:28).

Forbedring - Improvement

2008-11-01T18:21:00.005+01:00

Jeg har nu været i Schweiz i 13 måneder, og langsomt kan jeg mærke, at det mærkelige liv her på bjerget ikke er så skræmmende mere. Tag bare denne uges 40 cm sne. Sidste år, da sneen kom, ringede jeg hjem til min far og græd af hele mit hjerte. I år nøjes jeg med bare at være irriteret. Det er da en forbedring, der vil noget! Hvem ved, måske ender jeg med at kunne lide sne??

Now I have been in Switzerland for 13 months and slowly I am adjusting to it all and the strange life we sometimes live here on the mountain is not so frightening anymore. Let me share an example from this week where we got 40 cm of snow. Last year when that happened I called my dad and cried from the bottom of my heart. Now this year, I have settled with just being annoyed about it. Isn't that just an awesome improvement!! Who knows, maybe I'll end up liking snow?

Fantastisk Fødselsdag - Best Birthday

2008-11-01T18:17:00.003+01:00

Sikke en uge! Det var min første uge tilbage på fuld tid, og det var hårdt!!

Men ugen var også fyldt med masser af dejlige oplevelser. Men den allerbedste oplevelse var nu, at jeg begyndte i en lokal børneklub – og så endda på min fødselsdag! Trudy, som er den lokale EB-medarbejder, forklarede mig, at hun ville byde mig velkommen i starten af børneklubben. ”Og så går det jo løs, ved du nok”, sagde hun. ”Hvad mener du med det?”, spurgte jeg. ”Jo, så snart, de hører, at du hedder Dorthe, så får du jo et ”kælenavn” – Torte (kage)”. Nå ja, men det må jeg jo så leve med, tænkte jeg. Heldigvis gik det ikke så galt (endnu??)…

Børnene var i det hele taget meget imødekommende. I slutningen af mødet blev jeg og børnene smidt ud i bryggerset, da de andre ledere skulle forberede en overraskelse (fødselsdagskage). Og så blev jeg ellers overdænget med spørgsmål fra højre og venstre på schweizertysk, som jeg efter bedste evne forsøgte at besvare, og det var faktisk en rigtig god måde at komme lidt ind på livet af børnene. (Hvis det da ikke var børnene, der kom ind på livet af mig?). Jo, børneklubben i Hölstein var den perfekte fødselsdagsgave, og jeg glæder mig allerede til næste tirsdag.

What a week! It was my first week back on full time and that took all my strength. But the week was also filled with lots of nice events.

The nicest event was that I joined a local Good News Club on my birthday. Trudy – the local CEF worker, explained to me that she was going to introduce me, “and then it will all happen”, she said. “What will happen?,” I asked. “When they hear that your name is Dorthe they will immediately give you a nickname: Torte (Pie)!” Well, I’ll have to live with that, my thought was, but fortunately the nickname did not come into the mind of the children (yet??) The children really welcomed me with open arms.

In the end of the meeting both the children and I was told to go into the entrance room while the other leaders prepared a surprise (a birthday cake). And out there alone with the children, questions hit me from all directions in Swiss German. I tried to answer them the best I could and it was really a good bonding time. Yes, the GNC in Hölstein was the perfect birthday gift and I am already looking forward to next Tuesday.

Langs vejen gennem de sidste to måneder - On the road during the last two months

2008-10-28T11:28:00.021+01:00

Nogle gange befinder man sig langt hjemmefra i ukendte omgivelser. Det tager noget tid, at indstille sig på, at nu er man her.

Sometimes you find yourself far from home and in unknown territory. It takes time to get accustomed to where you are.

Og så, når man endelig har fundet sig til rette og tror, at man skal til at suse derudad, bliver man pludselig nødt til at sætte farten ned.

When you finally begin to settle in and think that now it’s time to get going, you are suddenly forced to slow down.

Jeg havde jo længe ventet, at jeg måske lige skulle have et lille kirurgisk indgreb, der kunne klares over få dage, men som beskrevet i sidste nyhedsbrev, meldte der sig pludselig et uventet stop-signal. Jeg skulle igennem en større operation og måtte lave alle efterårets planer om. Der var kort tid til at indstille sig på det, men jeg oplevede virkelig, at Gud gav mig fred i det hele. Det var også utrolig dejligt at modtage mange opmuntrende e-mails og breve hjemmefra i den periode.

I had known for a long time that it would be necessary to undergo a small operation, with a few days off work, but as you read in my last news letter, an unexpected STOP sign appeared. The operation proved to be more serious than expected and all of my plans for the autumn had to be changed. There wasn’t much time to get used to the idea, but I really experienced the peace of God throughout. It was also so good getting many encouraging emails and letters during this time.

Operationen gik godt, men mens jeg lå og vågnede op, tog kursen alligevel en lidt anden drejning, end jeg havde forestillet mig. Lægen kom forbi og sagde, at han frygtede, at jeg måske havde kræft og derfor havde taget en masse prøver, som nu skulle testes. Hvor var jeg dog glad for, at min far var taget til Schweiz og kunne være sammen med mig de næste dage, hvor jeg både skulle komme mig ovenpå en operation og ligge i uvisheden og vente.

The operation went well, but as I lay recovering from the anaesthetic, the way took an unexpected turn. My doctor told me of his fears of possible cancer and that he had taken biopsies which now had to be tested. How grateful I was that my father had come to Switzerland and was with me in the following days, where I both had to recover from the operation and to struggle with the waiting and uncertainty as to the outcome of the tests.

Nogle gange føltes det, som om den ene sten efter den anden væltede ned over mig, og mange tanker gik tilbage til min mors sygdom og død for 11 år siden. Men samtidig oplevede jeg igen og igen at ligge trygt i min himmelske fars hånd.

Sometimes it felt as if one boulder after another crashed down over me as my thoughts constantly returned to my mother’s illness and death 11 years ago. At the same time, I experienced again and again the feeling of being held securely in my heavenly Father’s hand.

Heldigvis fik jeg endelig svar om, at alt var i orden. Sikke en lettelse!! Det tager faktisk noget tid at fatte og forstå dybden af sådan en dejlig besked.

Finally word came that all the tests were fine. What a relief!! It takes time to grasp and understand the full meaning of such a fantastic answer.

Og så var det bare at tage den med ro og lade kroppen genopbygge sig selv. Det har ikke altid været lige nemt – især ikke at ligge i et fremmed land og ingenting rigtig at kunne, men samtidig har Gud virkelig brugt tiden til noget godt. Man kan måske ligefrem sige, at mens kroppen blev genopbygget, var troen også under ombygning – eller opbygning, så den kunne styrkes og måske endda forbedres lidt. Samtidig var det nu også fantastisk at få breve, mails og pakker fra Danmark. Jeg fik vist nærmest 15 forskellige dameblade i de uger, og ingen af dem var ens! Faaantastisk!

Now it was time to simply take it easy and allow my body to recuperate and heal itself. That hasn’t been so easy – especially lying here in a foreign country, unable to do anything. But God has really used this time for something good. You might even say that while my body was being built up again so was my faith – being both strengthened and improved. At the same time, it was wonderful getting letters, mail and packages from Denmark and abroad. I think I got about 15 women’s magazines in those weeks, not one of which was the same! Fantaaaastic!

Nu har jeg været til det sidste check-up hos lægen og alt er i orden, så det er helt vildt dejligt. Selv om jeg endnu ikke er oppe på fulde omdrejninger endnu, kan jeg begynde at gasse lidt op og glæde mig til december, hvor jeg igen må løbe, hoppe og forhåbentlig også har fået lidt flere kræfter.

Tusind tak for al jeres støtte og opbakning. Den er altid vildt vigtig men de sidste måneder har den været om muligt endnu mere uvurderlig! Jeg sætter utrolig stor pris på jer alle!

I’ve just been to my final check up with the doctor and everything is fine, so that is completely brilliant. Even though I’m not up to full speed yet, I can begin to put my foot on the gas pedal again. I can’t wait until December, when I’m finally allowed to run and jump again and hopefully also have renewed energy levels.

Thank you so much for all your support which has always been important for me, but which, in these last months, has been invaluable. Your interest and support means so much to me!

Tiden læger alle sår - Time heals all wounds

2008-10-25T22:26:00.003+02:00

Ja, jeg beklager frygteligt, at jeg har været sådan en dårlig blogger her på det sidste, men efter jeg kom tilbage fra DK, har jeg måttet bruge så meget energi på at nå alt det, jeg skulle nå. Jeg har arbejdet halv tid hver dag og måttet forsøge at samle en masse løse ender. Derudover har der været lægebesøg, tid til at slappe af, og så motion. Stille og roligt skal kroppen i form igen, så jeg får udforsket mit nabolag med alle de gåture.

I torsdags var jeg til slut-kontrol hos lægen og alt ser fint og godt ud, så nu er det tilbage på fuld tid fra på mandag. Dog må jeg nok tage nogle små pauser i ny og næ og lægge mig lidt. Men mon ikke det hele kommer til at hænge sammen alligevel?

Yeah, I am really sorry that I have been such a bad blogger lately but after returning from Denmark I was just trying to make ends meet and getting everything done that needed my attention: Work issues, relaxing, doctor's visits and exercise. I try to build up my body again after the operation so I really get to know my neighbourhood from all the walking.

This Thursday I went for the final check up at the doctor and everything looks fine so now it is back on full time work from Monday - or almost full time because I probably still need to rest a bit from time to time.

Danmark - Denmark

2008-10-25T21:50:00.009+02:00

Ja, altså, efter at have ligget syg et par uger i Schweiz, blev jeg bekymret for en endu værre tilstand end min post-operation-tilstand nemlig en tilstand af seriøs kedsomhed! Heldigvis fik min fantastiske veninde Anna mig overbevist om at skynde mig til Danmark og det gjorde jeg så . Selvfølgelig kunne jeg ikke suse omkring, som jeg plejer, når jeg er i DK, mæn altså hvor var det dejligt at

Blive budt velkommen med flag af det meste af min familie og især af Jonatan

Spise dansk smørrebrød og en træstamme med Kathrine og fejre det lille liv, der gror på bedste vis i hende

Stirre ud over havet og få en lille sludder med Gud Almægtig.

Og hygge og hænge med alle jer andre, jeg fik mulighed for at slappe af sammen med.

Yeah, after some weeks of recovery in Switzerland I was starting to worry for a much worse condition than my post operation condition - more precisely the condition of severe boredom! So my good friend Anna convinced me of the neccesity of going to Denmark! And so I did for 10 days! Off course I could not cruise around as much as I normally do when I am in DK but it was awesome to

Be welcomed with flags by most of my family end especially Jonatan (First picture)

Eating my favourite Danish food with Kathrine (Second picture)

Staring at the sea and having a little chat with God the Almighty (Third picture)

And just hanging and relaxing with all the rest of you people who came around to see me.

Ar - Scars

2008-10-02T23:10:00.002+02:00

Jeg har spekuleret lidt over ar i den senere tid. Folk har altid en masse spændende historier, når man spørger dem, hvordan de fik deres ar.

Lige nu er mit ar efter operationen ved at hele. Når jeg kigger på det, tænker jeg med taknemmelighed på min kirurg. Da han så det gamle ar fra min operation for to år siden, så blev han vred på den tidligere kirurg. Det var nu heller ikke for kønt. Så under denne operation bestemte han sig for at skære det af og lave et nyt. Og her gik jeg rundt og troede, at ar er noget man har for livstid! Da jeg kun var delvist bedøvet under operationen, kunne jeg mærke, at han tog sig MEGET god tid til at sy mig sammen. Men historien slutter ikke der, for denne travle karrieremand har også taget sig tid til at ordinere mig et specielt dyrt plaster til tre måneder for at mit ar skal blive pænt som muligt (plasteret bliver betalt af min forsikring!). Og næste gang, jeg skal til check-up, vil han give mig en speciel creme, som plastikkirurger bruger for at få det optimalt pæne ar. Jeg tror, at han går mere op i mit ar, end jeg gør. Jeg tror, at jeg ender med at få et smukt ar. På en måde er jeg ligefrem stolt af det ar. Det fortæller en historie. En historie om Guds trofasthed, om den styrke man kan finde i ham og sammen med sine nærmeste til at gennemgå svære ting.

Mit ar får mig til at tænke på ar, der ikke er fysiske. Vi anklager tit Gud, når der sker noget dårligt i vores liv og spørger: ”Hvorfor, hvorfor?” Man får sjældent får et svar på det spørgsmål, og derfor spørger jeg i stedet ”Hvordan, hvordan… kommer jeg igennem dette?” For Gud har en plan. Han er også trist over, at livet efterlader os med sår, men han ønsker at de skal hele så smukt som muligt. Han vil gerne hjælpe os med det, men vi må følge hans råd. Han er den store kirurg. Og selv hvis et ar ikke er blevet så pænt, fordi det ikke har fået optimale vilkår, så kan han stadig rette op på det. Han kan gøre det smukt! Et grimt ar behøver ikke være et grimt ar for livstid! Der kan rettes op på det, hvis vi tør at lægge os i den store kirurgs hænder. Et ar kan komme til at vidne om Guds trofasthed og om den styrke, han kan give os til at gennemgå svære ting.

I have pondered a bit about scars lately. People always seem to have interesting stories, when you ask them how they got their scars.

At the moment my wound after the operation is healing and is becoming a scar. When I look at it, I think of my surgeon with thankfulness. When he saw my old scar from a previous operation, he got angry with my previous surgeon. I don’t blame him - it was not that pretty. So during this operation, he decided to cut it off and make a new one. And here I always thought a scar was a scar for life! During the operation I was only under partly anaesthetic so I could sense that he took a LOT of time to sew me together. But the story doesn’t end there because this successful surgeon has also taken the time and effort to ordinate a special expensive bandage for me for three months (paid by my insurance!). And at the next check-up he will give me a special lotion that is used by plastic surgeons to make sure that the scar becomes as pretty as possible. He almost cares more about my scar than I do and I think I will end up with a pretty scar. In one way I am even proud of this scar. It tells a story. A story of God’s faithfulness and the strength we can find in him and with our friends and families when we have to go through difficult stuff.

My scar also makes me think about scars that are not physical. We often accuse God when bad things happen and we ask him, “Why, why???” It is my experience that we don’t get the answer to that question very often. So instead I ask, “How, how… can I get through this?” Because God has a plan. He is oh so sad when life leaves us with ugly wounds, and he wants them to heal as beautiful as possible. He wants to help us with that process but we need to follow his advice. He is the big surgeon. And even if a scar does not heal so well, because it did not get a good treatment for one reason or the other, he can still fix it. He can make it beautiful. An ugly scar does not need to be ugly forever. It can be redone if we dare to go under surgery again. A scar can be a testimony of God’s faithfulness and the strength he gives us.

Farvel og goddag - Goodbye and hello

2008-09-29T21:55:00.004+02:00

Tirsdag morgen siger vi farvel til Birgit fra Danmark, som har hjulpet i seks uger her i køkkenet. Det har været dejligt med dansk selskab – og med frikadeller og leverpostej. Vi har haft mange hyggestunder sammen, tak for det, Birgit!!!

Vi har ofte brug for frivillig hjælp i kortere eller længere tid i køkken, hus og have, så skulle du have lyst til et gratis ophold i Schweiz, så kontakt mig gerne. Næste gang, der er brug for hjælp er i januar og februar, hvor vi holder forskellige kurser for at videreuddanne vores medarbejdere.

Men samtidig med at sige farvel til Birgit, har det også været tid til at sige goddag til 34 nye kursister, som skal være her de næste tre måneder. De kommer fra 14 forskellige lande og allerede nu ser det ud til, at de kommer til at råhygge sig med hinanden (når de altså ikke har travlt med at studere…)

(En lille afskedsfest for Birgit med en del af mine kolleger

- A little farewell party for Birgit with a good part of my colleagues)

Og så endnu en hyggefarvelaften med dem, Birgit har arbejdet mest sammen med. Ligner de ikke en gruppe 16-årige tøser??

And then another little farewellgettogether for those Birgit has worked the most with. Do they not look like a group of 16 years old girls??)

(Velkomstgudstjeneste for de nye elever. Her introduceres nogle af dem.

- Opening service for the new students. Here some of them are being introduced.)

Tuesdag morning it is time to say goodbye to Birgit who has been here as a volunteer for six weeks in the kitchen. It has been wonderful with some Danish company and with Danish meatballs and liverpâte. We have had many nice times together, so thank you very much, Birgit.

We often need volunteers for shorter or longer period of time in our kitchen, house or garden so should you feel the urge to a free stay in Switzerland, you are always welcome to contact me. Next time we need help is in January and February where we have some courses to further the training of some of our existing workers.

But as well as saying goodbye to Birgit, it has also been time to say hello to a whole new group of students. 34 students from 14 countries arrived this weekend. Already now they seem to be a really cheerful group with a good working attitude. So I think they will have a wonderful time here and I look forward to getting to know them.

Afslutning - Graduation

2008-09-24T17:22:00.004+02:00

I fredags afsluttede vi vores sommerkursus med uddeling af diplomer. Jeg stavrede ned til spisning, gik så tilbage til vores lejlighed og slappede af, og kom senere tilbage til festen for at uddele selveste diplomerne (et af privilegierne ved at være leder).

På lørdag kommer næste hold, som skal være her i tre måneder. Vi får 32 kursister ser det ud til, så lige nu har alle (undtagen mig, der stadig er sygemeldt) travlt med at kopiere, gøre rent, lave lister m.m.m.

Last Friday we ended our summer Institute with a Graduation dinner and handing out of diplomas. I came down for the dinner, then went back to our apartment to rest, then back later to hand out the diplomas (one of the priviledges of being in charge of the Education Department).

This Saturday a new Institute begins. It lasts three months. We will have 32 students so right now everyone (except me who are still recovering after the operation) are busy copying, cleaning, planning, making lists etc. etc. etc.

Langenbrucks lykkeligste pige - The luckiest girl in Langenbruck

2008-09-18T14:42:00.002+02:00

Så er jeg vel hjemme efter operationen, som gik godt. Det har selvfølgelig været en hård omgang; men alt taget i betragtning kan jeg kun prise Gud for forløbet.

Et ”lille” drama måtte jeg dog også lægge krop og tanker til: Under operationen fandt kirurgen noget, som ikke så godt ud og skulle undersøges nærmere. Der blev taget mange prøver, og så var det bare at vente og vente og vente. Og bede og bede og bede. Og tænke og tænke og tænke. Du kan måske fornemme min proces, hvis du læser digtet i sidste blogpost. I går kom svaret så, at jeg ikke har kræft. Det var virkelig en lettelse. Tak Gud.

Midt i det hele har det været fantastisk at føle sig elsket og husket. Jeg fik masser af besøg og masser af kort, SMS’er, et par pakker osv.
Nu ligger der så yderligere 3-5 ugers rekreation. Hvem ved – måske en af dem bliver i Danmark? Men har du en bøn til overs, må du gerne bede for min allergi. Den er gået lidt amok og det er ikke så fedt at nyse med et langt, dybt sår.

Now I am home again after the operation which went well. It has off course been a tough week but all in all I can really praise God for it all.

A “small” drama got in included in the process too: During the operation the surgeon found some suspicious stuff that needed to be tested. He decided to test a bunch of things inside me (don’t know how to write this in English, sorry). And then all there was to do was waiting and waiting and waiting. And praying and praying and praying. And thinking and thinking and thinking. If you read the poem in my previous blogpost you might sense some of my feelings.
Yesterday the test results came back and I don’t have cancer. What a relief! Thank you, God!

In the midst of it all it has been fantastic to feel loved and remembered. I got many visits and lots of cards, messages, books, a few parcels etc.

Ahead of me is 3-5 weeks of recovery. I am considering spending one of them in Denmark. But if you have a spare prayer, please pray for my allergy which is a bit out of control and it hurts a lot in my wound to sneeze.

Ventetid - Waiting

2008-09-16T12:45:00.001+02:00

Lysene i Basel tændes ét for ét
Byens larm stiger langsomt
En fugl begynder en stille sang
Det er ved at være morgen i Basel

Luften er frisk og kold
Det gamle træ foran mit vindue
har fået flere gyldne blade i nattens løb
Det er ved at være efterår i Basel

Og hvad med mig?
Jeg ligger i den hvide seng
Og ved ikke, om det er morgen eller efterår

Så jeg vil synge min stille sang
Mens jeg tæller mine gyldne blade

15.09.2008

The lights in Basel are switched on one by one.
The noice of the city is slowly raising
A bird begins a quiet song
It is almost morning in Basel

The air is brisk and cold
The old oak in front of my window
Has gotten many more golden leaves since yesterday
Is is almost autumn in Basel

And what about me?
I am lying in the white bed
Without knowing if it is morning or autumn

So I sing my quiet song
While I count my golden leaves

Taknemmelig - Thankful

2008-09-01T15:46:00.002+02:00

En mærkelig følelse har sneget sig ind over mig: Taknemmelighed. Jeg føler mig taknemmelig over, at jeg kan blive opereret. Igår havde jeg mange smerter, og så slog det mig for alvor, hvor heldig jeg er, at om blot 11 dage, så er årsagen til smerterne væk. Havde jeg levet for 100 år siden, så kunne man nok ikke gøre noget.
Og så føler jeg mig taknemmelig for, at jeg har fået sådan en dygtig kirurg. Han er bare så opmuntrende og har så meget psykologisk indsigt. Han ved lige, hvad han skal sige på det ethvert tidspunkt. Det er en noget anden oplevelse, end den jeg havde i Danmark for to år siden, hvor kirugen næsten satte en ære i at skræmme mig fra vid og sans.
Derudover føler jeg mig taknemmelig over, at efter at der har været en del bøvl med min forsikring, fordi jeg er så ny i Schweiz, så var der ansat på mit hopital, som spurgte, om hun skulle forsøge at ordne det hele for mig. Det havde bare været alt for overvældende for mig at klare selv på tysk.
Sidst men ikke mindst føler jeg mig overvældet over at jeg kender så mange mennesker, som sender mig opmuntrende emails.
Der er meget at være taknemmelig over.

A strange feeling has filled me... Thankfulness. I am so thankful that I can actually get an operation. Yesterday I had so much pain and it is so good to know that in 11 days the source of the pain will be gone. Had I lived maybe only 100 years ago that would probably not had been an option.
And then I feel extremely thankful for my surgeon. He is really good and he has a lot of psycological insights and knows exactly what to say in any situation. It is a completely different experience than my operation two years ago where I was terrified beyond reason.
I am also so thankful for the fact that realising that I have problems with my insurance because I am so new in Switzerland that some person at my hopital asked if I wanted her to take over and do her bst to solve it. What a wonderful person! It would have been way too overwhelming for me to have to do this myself in German!
And last but not least I am happy to know so many wonderful persons that has send me tons of encouraging emails.
There is a lot to be thankful about.

Operation

2008-08-28T15:29:00.001+02:00

Som nogle af jer ved, så har jeg en cyste, som jeg har været i medicinsk behandling for. Desværre hjælper det ikke, så nu skal den væk.
Derfor har jeg lige i dag fået at vide, at jeg skal opereres fredag 12/9 - altså om to uger. På grund af min tidligere operation for to år siden, så kan den kun fjernes ved en lidt større operation. Og når man så er i gang, så vil man så også fjerne nogle nye muskelfibromer, som jeg også har fået (magen til det, jeg fik fjernet for to år siden dog meget mindre).

Det hele er lidt overvældende, da jeg troede, at jeg kunne nøjes med et lille indgreb men nu istedet skal have en rigtig operation, 5 dage på hospitalet og 4-6 ugers orlov efterfølgende. Også tanken om at skulle være langt væk "hjemmefra" er lidt skræmmende, men jeg har nu fred i, at det skal være her i Schweiz.

I må meget gerne bede for:
At alt må gå godt med operation og bagefter
At det ikke bliver nødvendigt at fjerne min højre æggestok
At jeg må have råd til operationen (noget betales af forsikringen, andet af patienten)

As some of you know I have a cyst on my ovary that the doctor has tried to treat with medicine but it has not worked so now I need an operation in two weeks time (Friday 12th of September).
Normally this would be a small surgery but because of a previous operation I had two years ago the doctor needs to do a much bigger surgery. And since he has also discovered some fibromas (I think that’s the English name) he will also try to remove them to prevent another operation soon. The fibromas are normally harmless – it is what I had removed two years ago too.

It is all a bit overwhelming since I thought I only needed a small surgery but now it’s a big thing including five days in hospital and six weeks off from work afterwards. Also the thought of being far away from my home country and family and old friends seems a bit overwhelming. However I have peace about having the operation here.

So to sum up – I would really appreciate prayers for:
The operation and the recovery
That the surgeon does not need to remove my right ovary
That I can afford the part of the cost that is not covered by the insurance

Sommer - Summer

2008-08-22T09:24:00.009+02:00

Sommerferie oh sommerferie

Telttur med kirken i Norge
Varme sommerdage med masser af badeture
God tid, god lovsang og godt fællesskab

Tilbage i Danmark
Regn, regn og atter regn
Hygge med veninder, venner, familie og andre væsener
Familieweekend med bål, badeture, god mad og masser af hygge

(Bålhygge med familien - Bonfire with the family)

I Tivoli med Miriam, Marcus, Hanna og Far - In Tivoli (amusement park) with Miriam, Marcus, Hanna and Dad)

(Farmand er stadig verdens stærkeste! Han kunne stadig slå så hårdt at klokken ringede. - Dad is still the strongest man in the world - he punched so hard the bell was ringing.)

Og så selvfølgelig Jonatan – feriens højdepunkt

Storken kom pludselig meget uventet og meget hurtigt forbi med en lille dreng til min søster og svoger, Jette og Filip.
Ham har vi ventet på længe. Og han er simpelthen en vidunderdreng!
Hele familien elsker ham rigtig meget

Summer holiday, oh summer holiday

Camping in Norway with my church
Warm summer days with lots of swimming in the sea
Lots of time, good worship and good fellowship

Back in Denmark
Rainy, rainy days
Cosy times with friends, family and other creatures
A family weekend with bonefire, nice food and lots of good fellowship

And then there is Jonatan – the highlight of the holiday
The stork very suddenly decided to bring a little baby boy to my sister and brother in law, Jette & Filip
We have been waiting for him for a long long time and he is a wonder boy
We all love him very much

Undervisning - Teaching

2008-07-25T12:34:00.004+02:00

De sidste uger har været travel. Der er blevet undervist på fuld tryk! Og så har jeg haft besøg af Claske – en tidligere kursist, som har hjulpet mig i to uger med at undervise, rette lektier og evaluere kursisternes praktiske prøver. Hvilken velsignelse!
Det er en utrolig dejlig gruppe kursister, vi har. De har masser af erfaring i at arbejde med børn og har masser af gode idéer. Det er (næsten) helt sørgeligt at tage på ferie og være væk fra dem i tre uger.

The last weeks have been busy. There has been lots of teaching going on. And then I have had a wonderful visit from Claske – a former student. She came to help me teach, correct homework and evaluate practicals. What a blessing!
The students this summer are really wonderful. They have lots of experience in children’s work and are full of good ideas. It is (almost;-) ) too sad to leave them and go on holiday later today for three weeks.

Ledermareridts - Education nightmares

2008-07-16T09:37:00.002+02:00

Jeg husker stadig den sommer, hvor jeg lige var blevet færdiguddannet som lærer. Hen over sommeren havde jeg nemlig flere skolelærer-mareridt. Jeg drømte, at jeg havde fået et job, men første dag på jobbet gik alting galt og jeg endte i besynderligere situationer.

Nu, hvor jeg har overtaget lederposten her med ansvar for vores europæiske uddannelsesafdeling, så gentager oplevelsen sig. Jeg har de mest besynderlige mareridt, hvor jeg står i totalt mærkelige situationer som leder og skal finde en tjuhej hurtig løsning.
Så selvom jeg egentlig har det godt, så påvirker mit nye ansvar mig åbenbart mere end som så. Det gode er, at jeg altid vågner op og opdager, at det var bare en drøm...

I still remember the summer when I had finished teacher’s college and were ready to find a job and start teaching. That summer I had teacher nighmares where I dreamt it was the first day at work and everything went wrong and I ended up in strange situations.

Now when I have recently taken over the responsibility for our Western European Education Department the same thing is happening all over: I have these totally crazy nightmares where strange things happen and I have to find a quick solution,

So even if everything is going fine, this whole new situation is apparently affecting me more than I think. The good thing is I always wake up and realize that it was just a dream…

Sommerundervisning - Teaching

2008-07-16T09:30:00.004+02:00

For to uger siden startede vores sommerkursus for børnemedarbejdere, og det er nogle dejlige kursister.
I denne uge og næste underviser jeg om hvordan man holder børneklub og om forskellige undervisningsmetoder. I år er jeg så heldig, at en tidligere kursist, Claske, er på besøg og kan hjælpe mig. Dejligt!
På billedet ser I lidt sjov og ballade vi havde, da vi startede med at undervise igår.

Two weeks ago our Leadership Training Institute began and we are really enjoying the students!
This week and next I am teaching about how to run a Good News Club and about different teaching methods. This summer I am so fortunate that a former student, Claske, is visiting and helping me. Wonderful!
On the picture you see a little bit of fun we had yesterday as we began the teaching.

Engle eller irere? Angels or just Irish?

2008-07-05T23:01:00.006+02:00

(To irske engle - Two Irish angels)

Havde lidt ondt af mig selv i formiddags…
Jeg har tålmodigt i månedsvis ventet på at kunne leje et ekstra værelse i vores lille lejlighed, som før er blevet brugt til at huse diverse gæster her på Kilchzimmer. Og endelig lykkedes det fra første juli, så jeg nu har to værelser. Så i torsdag var det bare af sted til IKEA for at købe seng, kommode m.m. Og så sidder jeg her lørdag formiddag og kan ikke få samlet tingene. Øv. Mandag ville vores sommer-altmuligmand sikkert have tid, men mandag virkede som meget langt ude i en fjern fremtid. Tænkte på mine brødre og min far og dagdrømte om, hvor hurtigt de ville kunne samle tingene. Meennn de er jo altså 1500 kilometre væk. Har også fået mig en ”adopteret storebror” her i Schweiz - min kollega Sarahs mand, Andy, men han var sikkert også langt væk.

Så i mit hjertes nød gjorde jeg, hvad min mor lærte mig fra jeg var helt lille: Give selv den mindste bekymring over til Gud: ”Kære Gud, kunne du sende nogen, der kunne samle mine møbler i dag?” Satte mig ud i solen for at spise frokost, og kort efter kommer en irsk gæst forbi, som er på ferie her i en uges tid. ”Hvordan går det med dine IKEA møbler? Har du fået dem samlet? Skal mig og Stephen komme forbi efter frokost og samle dem?”
Og der sad jeg så i chok. Hvordan viste han overhovedet, at jeg havde været i IKEA?

Vi tilbragte en hyggelig eftermiddag med at få samlet møblerne, og resten af dagen gik jeg og flyttede ting over i mit nye soveværelse og måtte gang på gang tænke over, at Gud hører selv det mindste suk. Utroligt, at han, som har styr på alle stjernernes baner også har tid til at tage sig af min lille lørdagsbekymring.

Tak Gud fordi du sendte to "engle" på min vej i dag.

(Et lille kig ind på mit nye soveværelse - A little peep at my new bedroom)

This morning I felt a bit sorry for myself…
I have patiently waited for months to begin renting another room in our apartment that has previously been used for guests of Kilchzimmer. And finally I was able to take it over first of July so that I now have two rooms. Off to IKEA I went on Thursday to buy a bed, a chest of drawers and other stuff. And then I am sitting here Saturday morning and can’t get the things assembled. Monday our volunteer maintenance guy would probably have time but at that point Monday seemed far out in a distant future. Started longing for my brothers and my dad. Was daydreaming about how fast they could assemble these things and felt a bit lonely and far away from them. Here in Switzerland I have an “adopted” brother – my colleagues Sarah’s husband, Andy – but he was probably also far away.

So from the distress of my heart I did what my mum taught me from a very young age: To bring even the smallest and silliest requests to God: “Dear God, could you please send someone today, who could assemble my furniture?”
I went out to eat my lunch in the sun and soon after a visiting guest sat down beside me and said, “So how is all your IKEA furniture coming along? Do you need help assembling them? Stephen and I could come by after lunch and help you.” I was in chock. How did he even know I had been to IKEA?

We spend some nice hours that afternoon getting the furniture assembled, and the rest of the day I spend organising everything in my new bedroom, and again and again I just had to marvel at the fact that God who is soo big and knows even the course of all the stars also has time to look after my silly Saturday requests.

Thank you God for sending two "angels" on my way today!

Kysset af en ko - Kissed by a cow

2008-07-04T16:40:00.007+02:00

Her på billedet ser I en meget glad version af mig. MED MIN NYE BIL!!!!! Det er simpelthen en kæmpe frihed for mig endelig at have min egen bil. De sidste måneder har det været så kompliceret ikke at have bil, men nu ligger alt det i fortiden!!! En kollegas mand har hjulpet mig med at finde et godt køb, så nu har jeg en lille fornuftig bil, der kører godt og sikkert i sne.

Og så hører der endda en lille historie med til bilen: Mens den stod pænt og stille hos bilforhandleren og ventede på at blive opdaget af mig, kom en ko forbi. Koen havde været hjemme for at blive malket og var nu på vej tilbage til marken for at græsse (nogle gang kan man altså blive i tvivl om Schweiz er et uland eller et højindustrielt samfund, men det er en helt anden historie.) Hvor om alting er, så endte koen med at blive tiltrukket af min bil, og dens horn efterlod en ridse i min forskærm. Dette resulterede i en rabat på bilen, fordi min kollegas mand vidste, hvordan det kunne repareres.

Jeg har allerede været på et "længere" ture. Skønt! Jeg har fundet et friluftsbad med bjergvand, som jeg tror, at jeg bliver en flittig gæst hos denne sommer. Det er nemt at køre dertil – hvis man altså har en bil!!!

On the top picture you see a very happy version of me. WITH MY NEW CAR. It is such an extreme sence of freedom for me to have a car. The last half year without a car has been so complicated but now that is all in the past. The husband of one of my colleagues has helped me to find a good car that drives fine in the snow. And there is even a little story to my car:

While it was waiting patiently at the car dealer to be discovered by me, a cow came by. The cow had been home for milking and was now on it's way back to the field. (Some places in Switzerland seem very far away from Zürich; Basel or high tecnology). To cut a long story short, the cow took a special liking in my car and it's horn scratched the front of my car. This resulted in a discount because my colleagues' husband knew how to fix it.

So now I am enjoying my car BIG time! I have already been on a few longer trips. I have also found a nice big pool with mountain water that I think I will visit regularly this summer. It is easy to get there - if you have a car!!!!!

The Gilmore Girls girls

2008-06-30T15:15:00.003+02:00

Ja, hygge skal man jo. Og den sidste måneds tid har Kirstinas og mine hyggeaftener udviklet sig, så nu er min stue simpelthen fyldt, når vi sætter os til rette og ser Gilmore Girls. Vi har stadig 3½ årgang tilbage, så mon det ender med, at vi må tage vores konferencesal i brug?

You gotta have a goooood time! And during the last month, Kristina's and my movienights has kind of developed so now my room is full of girls in all ages when it is time to watch another episode of the Gilmore Girls. And we still have 3½ seasons left so I wonder when we will need our conference room instead of my room?

23 - 17 - 12 - 5

2008-06-30T15:05:00.002+02:00

Så er vores tremåneders sommerskole for børnemedarbejdere skudt igang. Vi har 23 elever fra 17 forskellige nationer. De medbringer i alt 12 børn. Og kommer fra 5 kontinenter. Herligt! De virker til at være en rigtig dejlig gruppe mennesker, og jeg glæder mig til at lære dem at kende og til at undervise dem. Børnene virker også rigtig søde. Der er rigtig mange drenge, og i mine øjne ser det ud som om, de løber konstant. Frem og tilbage, på løbehjul, ind i laden og rundt omkring på grunden. Tænk, hvis man selv havde sådan en energi! Wow.

Vi mangler i øvrigt en babysitter, så kender du en, der kender en, der kunne tænke sig at være et par uger eller måneder i Schweiz med kost, logi (og evt. lommepenge) hen over sommeren, så sig endelig til.

Finally our Summer Institute for children workers has begun. We have 23 students from 17 different nations. They bring with them the total of 12 children. And they come from 5 different continents. Wonderful! They seem to be a really nice group of people and I am looking forward to getting to know them and to teach them. The children also seem very nice. There is a good bunch of boys and to me it seems like they run constantly - back and forward, on their microscooters, into the barn and around the property. Wow - if only I had that kind of energy!

By the way - we are still in need of one more child minder for these children so if you know someone who knows someone who would love a few weeks or months in Switzerland over the summer with room, board (and maybe even pocket money) then please contact me.

Fodboldfeber - Football fever

2008-06-21T20:22:00.004+02:00

I dag tog jeg en tur til Basel (min yndlingsby) for at hygge mig. Hvad jeg ikke havde forudset var de tusindvis af hollandske fodboldfans, som også var i byen for at feste før aftenens EM-semifinale. Alt var orange! De hyggede sig virkelig, og der var en fantastisk stemning i byen (og en frygtelig stank). Men det var lidt svært at komme frem.

Da jeg skulle hjem, havde en folkefest udviklet sig midt i bycentrum, og jeg gik derfor hen til et par schweizere for at spørge om en omvej til stationen. Sådan forløb samtalen:
D: Undskyld, men kan De fortælle mig, hvordan jeg kommer til stationen?
S: Ja, De tager bare sporvognen herfra om lidt.
D: Tror De, at sporvognen kan komme igennem dette mylder?
S: Der står I køreplanen, at sporvognen kommer, så det skal den jo gøre. (Typisk schweizer-tillid)
D: Tror De virkelig, at det er muligt?
S: Næ, egentlig ikke, følg efter os! (Atypisk schweizer-opførsel)

Og så gik vi gennem folkefesten og hyggede os med at kigge på alle de totalt gakkede mennesker med kreative kostymer.
Det var ret smittende, og jeg har derfor totalt overdraget min opbakning til det hollandske team (eftersom Sverige og Schweiz nu er ude af turneringen).

Today I went on a little trip to Basel (my favourite town) to have a cosy day. What I hadn’t anticipated was the thousands of Dutch football fans who also had made it to Basel before tonight’s Eurocup game. Everything was orange! There was a fantastic atmosphere in town (and a horrible smell) but it was a bit hard to come from one place to another.

When I decided to return, a big party had developed in the town centre and I approached a Swiss couple to ask if they knew an alternative route to the station. This is how our conversation went:
D: Sorry, could you tell me how to get to the station, please?
S: Yes, just take the tram that will arrive here in a few minutes.
D: Do you think the tram will be able to get past this gathering?
S: The timetable says that the tram will arrive here in a few minutes, so that is a given fact? (Typical Swiss trust)
D: Really?
S: You are right, let’s walk together! (Not so typical Swiss behaviour)

So we went through the big party gathering and we had a blast looking at all the crazy people in great costumes. The atmosphere was totally contagious so I am officially smitten and have transferred my football support to the Dutch team.

Overholtzer

2008-06-21T19:50:00.005+02:00

For over 70 år siden blev Evangelisk Børnemission stiftet af J. Irvin Overholtzer. Hans familie stammede fra Schweiz, og for nylig var jeg på en hyggelig lille miniferie hos min kollega Sarah og hendes mand, Andy. Sarah kørte mig ud til den lillebitte landsby, hvor Overholtzers familie stammer fra og viste mig det ældgamle familiehus. Der var ikke meget at se, udover huset, men den omkringliggende natur var fabelagtig.

More than 70 years ago Child Evangelism Fellowship was founded by J. Irvin Overholtzer. His familiy originated from Switzerland and recently I went on a short holiday to visit a colleague Sarah and her husband Andy. Sarah drove me out to the tiny little village where the Overholtzer family came from (and some still live in today). I saw the originally family house. There wasn’t much to else to see, but it was worth it anyhow.

Kruset – The mug

2008-06-21T19:41:00.005+02:00

I dag var en sørgelig dag. Det var dagen, hvor vi for alvor skulle sige farvel til Paul og Audrey, som har ledt Undervisningsafdelingen i15 år og nu flytter tilbage til Spanien, hvor de har været missionærer siden deres ungdom. Jeg kommer virkelig til at savne deres venskab og gode råd! Heldigvis kommer de tilbage i ny og næ for at undervise.

Det sidste halve år har Audrey igen og igen hintet, at den eneste afskedsgave, hun ønskede var et krus, som hun brugte hver dag i kaffepausen. Den har nemlig i følge Audrey flere uforlignelige kvaliteter hvoraf den hvide inderside er den mest fremtrædende. Så Sam og jeg dukkede op til deres sidste morgenmad her i Schweiz med koppen og et par farvelknus. Snøft!

Today was a rather sad day. It was the day when we had to say the final goodbye to Paul and Audrey who have been leading the Education Department for 15 years but now are moving back to Spain, where they have been missionaries since their youth. I am really going to miss their friendship and good council. Fortunately they will return from time to time to teach.

The last half year or so Audrey has been hinting that the only farewell gift she wanted was the mug she always chose to drink from at our coffee breaks. According to Audrey it has several invaluable qualities of which the most important is the white glazing on the inside. So Sam and I showed up at their last breakfast with the mug and a few hugs. (Sniff!)

Dage med teamet – Team days

2008-06-21T19:25:00.002+02:00

I denne uge samlede vi hele Kilchzimmer-teamet til et par dage med undervisning og fællesskab. Det var dejligt! Børn og ægtefæller dukkede også op, og det var rigtig hyggeligt at udbygge venskaber med folk. Jeg nød især at synge sammen, grille sammen, fejre Sam’s 30 års fødselsdag (billede herunder) og tage på tur (billede herover) til et lokalt vandfald. Vandfaldet kunne vi ikke finde, men på en eller anden måde fik Claudia lokket mig til at tage turen ned fra bjerget på en cykelscooter (billede herunder). Og efter et par kilometre midt inde mellem de krogede, kringlede bjergstier, dukkede vandfaldet pludselig op.

This week more or less the whole Kilchzimmer-team was gathered for two days of teaching and fellowship. It was a really nice time. Children and some spouses also showed up and it was nice to get to know people a bit more. I especially enjoyed singing, barbequeing, celebrating Sam’s 30th birthday (picture), and go on a hike to a local waterfall (picture). We searched and searched but couldn’t find the waterfall. Somehow Claudia convinced me to go down the mountain on a scooter bike (picture) and after a few kilometres in the midst of a crooked mountain path the waterfall suddenly appeared. Nice!

Så er teamet samlet! - The team is together!

2008-06-12T20:36:00.004+02:00

Så er vores lille nye team her i uddannelsesafdelingen ved at være samlet, og det fejrede vi med en middag på min lokale yndlingsrestaurant Hotel Eirca (ikke at jeg har været der så tit meeennn maden er helt fantatisk og alt for billig). På første billede ser I Samantha (Sam) og jeg. Sam er vores længe ventede administrative assistent, som ankom sidste fredag (Velkommen!! Vi er så glade for at have DIG her). På næste billede ser I Kristina (venstre) og Martha (højre). Kristina har udfyldt en del af Samanthas job, mens vi ventede på hende, og nu overgår hun så til andre jobs i huset (snøft), men vi få lov at låne hende fra tid til anden. Marta er "Institute Supervisor", hvilket vil sige, at hun tager sig af den daglige drift med lærere og kursister, når vi har skoleophold her - de tre måneders kurser for børnemedarbejdere.

Vi glæder os til at arbejde sammen og finde kursen sammen. Bed gerne for os at vi må få nogle gode rutiner og fordele opgaverne imellem os på den rigtige måde.

Now our new little team here in the Education Department is finally together and we celebrated that at my favourite local restaurant, Hotel Erica (not that I have been there very often but the food is extremely good and too cheap to be true.) On the first picture you see Samantha (Sam) and I. Sam is our long longed for administrative assistant who arrived last week (Welcome, we are so happy to have YOU here). On the next picture you see Kristina (left) and Martha (right). Kristina has been doing part of Sam's job while we waited for her but now she will be helping in other departments in the house (sniff), but we will borrow her from time to time. Martha is the Institute Supervisor which is responsible for the daily life of teachers and students during institutes.

We are really looking forward to working together and to embrace the future together. Please pray that we will quickly find a good working relationship and divide the tasks amongst us in the best way.

Sortere - sorting

2008-06-07T17:52:00.005+02:00

Som sagt overtog jeg jo lederstolen her forleden og i den anledning også en hel del papirer, mapper med mere. Det krævede en del flere hylder, kasser etc. og derfor har jeg de senere uger været en flittig gæst i den lokale IKEA. Halvdelen af resultatet ses her.

Bagved skimter man Philippe's skrivebord. Han er her stadig et par uger mere, men han har fundet sig i at blive presset ind i et hjørne af kontoret :-) Jeg har dog også store planer for dette hjørne, så måske kommer der en dag også en blogpost om dette hjørne!

As previously mentioned, the leadership of our department was passed over to me this Monday. But that was not the only thing passed over - a lot of files and other things also slipped into my office. That demanded so much more shelf space and therefore I have been a frequent customer in the local IKEA these past weeks. Part of the result is on this photo.

In the background you see Philippe's desk. He is still here for a few more weeks but I managed to put him in a corner of the office :-) However, I have great plans for this corner also, so who knows - maybe some day you will see another blogpost about this corner too.

Skræmmende - Scary

2008-06-07T17:39:00.005+02:00

Forleden fik jeg en skræmmende gave fra de schweiziske myndigheder. To pakker piller, som skal tages i tilfælde af et udslip fra atomkraftværket, der ligger få kilometre herfra. Det var ærlig talt ikke en særlig betryggende gave, men Suzanne (min tidligere roomate) forsikrede mig om, at det skal opfattes på en helt anden måde - nemlig i lyset af den schweiziske mentalitet, hvor man er overpåpasselig og derfor vil være sikker på, at man har gjort alt, hvad man overhovedet kan forestille sig, at man burde gøre - og altså i det her tilfælde have uddelt piller på forhånd. Det beroligede mig en del. Og egentlig kan jeg vildt godt lide den mentalitet - bare spørg Buholo eller Maj, som jeg har arrangeret mange lejre med. Jeg må dog tilføje at som de fleste andre danskere er mit forhold til atomkraftværker nok ikke det mest positive. Jeg foretrækker de danske vindmøller!

Some days ago I received a rather scary gift from the Swiss authorities. To packs of pills to be used in case of a leakage at the local nuclear power station which is situated not many kilometres from us. It was not a very comforting gift, I must confess. But Suzanne (my former flatmate) convinced me to look at it from another point of view - taking into account the Swiss mentality of always making sure you have prepared for the worst case senario. That actually comforted me a great deal - and actually I like this mentality a lot - just ask Maj or Buholo whith whom I have planned many camps. I must add though, that my personal opinion of nuclear power is a whole other story!!! I prefer the Danish windmills!

Sightseeing

2008-06-07T17:27:00.004+02:00

Da jeg tømte mit kamera igår for billeder fandt jeg disse fra sidste uge. Vi havde besøg af 63 Rumænske kolleger (inkl. børn, forældre og et par irere). Og da jeg havde lidt ferie, benyttede jeg lejligheden til at tage på sightseeing med dem en dag. Wow!

When I emptied my camera yesterday for pictures I found these from last week. We had the priviledged visit of 63 Romanian colleagues (including children, parents and a few Irish). And since I had holiday I joined them one day going sightseeing. Wow!

En fantastisk email - A fantastic email

2008-06-04T17:33:00.004+02:00

Fik en fantastisk email idag fra to kursister, vi havde her på skolen sidste sommer og igen i januar på IOT kursus! Det første EBU-kursus er netop blevet afholdt i Tyrkiet. Læs gerne vidnesbyrdet herunder (kun på engelsk).

Got a fantastic email today from two students from last summer's institute and this years IOT course in January. The first TCE course has just been held in Turkey. Read the following testimony:

Our very first TCE-1 (Teaching Children Effectively – Level 1) course went very well. We rented our friends summer house for Friday through to Monday, taking advantage of a public holiday which fell on a Monday this year. There were 4 teachers attending from 2 different churches of İzmir. It was a very full programme with 22 sessions, including two practicals. All the teachers worked and concentrated hard to receive all the things which were taught. Then the following Friday we met again for their Bible lesson practicals and now we are looking for a suitable Saturday to complete the remaining 8 sessions. Please pray that the teachers will have opportunities to use what they learn and they will be diligent to use these opportunities.

Hvor er ballonerne? - Where are the balloons?

2008-06-03T22:14:00.003+02:00

Igär overtog jeg officielt ledelsen af vores undervisningsafdeling, men jeg glemte helt at fejre det, for overgangen har vaeret saa gradvis at den stort set ikke föles.
Min förste beslutning var at tage en fridag idag :-), saa det gjorde jeg! Gjorde rent hele dagen og ordnede ting og sager i lejligheden. Suzanne flyttede ud (til Nordirland) i fredags, og Samantha flytter ind denne fredag.

Yesterday I officially took over the leadership of our Education Department but I totally forgot to celebrate it because the handing over process has been so gradually that I hardly felt it at all.
My first decision was to take a day off today :-) and so I did! I cleaned the whole day and made things ready for my new roomate (Samantha) that is moving in on Friday. Suzanne left last Friday to return to Northern Ireland.

Hvem er hvem? - Who is who?

2008-05-25T17:10:00.004+02:00

Linda, Iris og Dorthe - men hvem er hvem?

Linda, Iris and Dorthe - but who is who?

I disse dage har vi besøg fra Rumænien/Nordirland. Det betyder blandt andet et gensyn med Linda, som leder vores undervisningsafdeling i Centraleuropa.

Hun påtog sig den tvivlsomme ære at navngive tre af mine nyligt indkøbte hånddukker efter de tre nye ledere for vores undervisningsafdelinger i Europa. Men hvem er hvem? Kig på billedet herunder, som blev taget sidste år, da vi mødte hinanden første gang og se om du give mig et kvalificeret bud på, hvem der er hvem.

Iris, Dorthe, Linda

At the moment we have visiters from Romania and Northern Ireland. This include a visit from Linda who is the Coordinator of Education in Central Europe. She took on the questionable honour of naming some of my new puppets after the three new Education Coordinators in Europe. But who is who? Check out the picture of the three of us when we first meet last year and see if you can give me a qualified quess as to who is who...

Eksamen - Exam

2008-05-20T11:22:00.003+02:00

Nu tror du nok, at jeg vil skrive om min eksamen i fredags, men det var egentlig ikke meningen. Den gik fint, tror jeg.

I stedet vil jeg fortælle om en lille eksamen, jeg arrangerede i sidste uge for mine kolleger. Fem kolleger forlader os i løbet af de næste måneder, og i den anledning ville jeg teste dem og se, hvem der kunne huske flest af de 48 lande i Europa, hvor EB arbejder i øjeblikket. Nogle af de andre kolleger deltog også. Brent blev den ultimative vinder med 46 rigtige svar skarpt forfulgt at Suzanne, som havde 44½.

Now you might think that I want to write about my exam last Friday but that was actually not my intention. I think it went all right.

Instead I want to tell about a little test I made last week for my colleagues. Five of them will leave us within the next months and therefore I wanted to see which of them could remember most of the 48 countries that CEF work in in Europe. Some of the other colleagues also joined in the test. Brent turned out to be the ultimate winner with 46 correct answers. But he had Suzanne following right after with 44½.

Tonsvis af kopier - tons of copies

2008-05-20T11:07:00.003+02:00

I disse dage ligger der stakke af kopier, ringbind og faneblade på borde i vores konferencesal. Kristina er igang med at kopiere alle de bøger, som skal bruges på vores tremåneders sommerkursus for børnemedarbejdere.

Kurset starter i slutningen af juni, og lige nu er der ca. 24 tilmeldt. Sommerkurset er altid mindre end efterårskurset, så vi er rigtig glade for 24 kursister plus alle deres børn.

Kristina er i øvrigt svensker og hjælper til i nogle måneder hen over sommeren. Næsten hver aften sætter vi os og ser Gilmore Girls sammen. Vi har et mål om at se hele serien fra første episode til sidste. Kristina smækker altid fødderne op på mit sofabord, så snart hun kommer ind ad døren og det føles faktisk skønt at have nogen omkring sig, som man kan smidde fødderne op på sofabordet sammen med.

At present we have stacks of copies lying on tables around our conference room. Kristina is in the process of copying all the books to be used by the students at our summer institute.

The institute begins in the end of June and will last 3 months and at the moment we have ca. 24 students. Our summer institute is always a bit smaller than the autumn institute, so we are really happy about 24 students plus all their children.

By the way, Kristina is Swedish and is helping some months over the summer. Almost every night we watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls together since we have made it a goal to watch all the seasons from first to last episode. As soon as Kristina comes into my room, she puts her feet on my coffee table and it actually feels really nice to have someone around with whom I can put my feet on the table.

1½

2008-05-10T21:39:00.004+02:00

Min lille lillebror Marcus (6) er lige startet på sin kommende skole i denne uge, og så var storesøsteren (mig) jo lidt bekymret. Men jeg er lige blevet beroliget: Drengen har allerede fået en og en halv ven. Hvad betyder det??? Og bør jeg virkelig være beroliget af det???

P.s. På billedet drikker Marcus "rengøringsmiddel" som Miriam (7) kaldte den amerikanske blå saftevand...

My little littlebrother Marcus (6) has just started in his new school this week so the big sister (me) was a bit worried. But the family has just tried to comfort me: The boy has already got one and a half friend. What does that mean?? And should I really be comforted by that information???

P.s. On the picture you see Marcus drinking "cleaning supplies" as Miriam (7) named the American blue lemonade.

Et skønt øjeblik - A wonderful moment

2008-05-09T23:20:00.000+02:00

Sidder her i en halvsen aftentime (har stadig jetlag…) og er lige blevet færdig med det ene bibelkursus (Hermeneutics), jeg har taget her i foråret. Den sidste opgave er lige mailet videre til bedømmelse. Det er en helt fantastisk følelse.

Den næste uge står dog stadig i intense studiers tegn, da jeg skal færdiggøre et andet kursus (De gammeltestamentlige profeter), som jeg har taget i Tyskland. Næste fredag 16/5 har vi afslutningseksamen og fremlæggelser. Jeg skal fremlægge en opgave om ”frelsesforkyndelsen hos profeterne”. (Sig det ikke til nogen, men pga. sygdom for et par uger siden og tur til USA er jeg næsten ikke startet på opgaven…)
Så det bliver en intens uge med målet for øje. Jeg vil sætte stor pris på jeres forbøn!

Herefter kan jeg skrue lidt ned for studietempoet og forsætte de næste måneder i et lidt roligere tempo.

Am sitting here rather late at night (still affected by the jetlag) and have just finished one of the Bible courses I have taken this spring (Hermeneutics). The last assignment has just been mailed for correction. It is a wonderful feeling.

The next week is however still concecrated to intense studies as I have to finish another course (The OT prophets) that I have taken in Germany. Next Friday 16/5 we have our final exam and some of us have to do a presentation on a subject we have been given to study. I will have to speak about the OT prophets’ message of salvation. (Don’t tell anyone but due to illness a few weeks ago and my trip to US I have hardly started preparing for the presentation yet…)
So it will be an intense week with a few goals to reach. I would appreciate your prayers a lot!

After this I can slow down on the study speed and continue the next months at a more pleasant pace.

Nye medlemmer i vores uddannelsesteam - New members of the Education Department

2008-05-07T22:01:00.004+02:00

Siden jeg forlod Danmark er der noget (eller nogen), der har manglet i min hverdag. Og her taler vi ikke om venner, familie, rugbrød og leverposteg. Her taler vi om Molly, Viggo, Sally og de andre dukker, som jeg så ofte har haft med mig til dukkemøder. De blev efterladt i Danmark og jeg har flere gange savnet dem.

I USA mødte jeg imidlertid nogle af deres slægtninge og skyndte mig at gennemgå en del ansættelsessamtaler. Det viste sig, at de var villige til at blive proppet ned i min kuffert og blive forflyttet til Schweiz. Så herover ser I mine nye kolleger. Jeg glæder mig til at vise jer i løbet af et par måneder, hvordan de skal gøre nytte.

Since I left Denmark there is something (or someone) that has been missing in my life. And I am not talking about friends, family, Danish brown rye bread or liver pate. I am talking about Molly, Viggo, Sally and all the rest of my puppet friends who have joined me in so many children meetings. They are still serving in Denmark. I have been yarning for them several times.

However, in US I met some of their relatives and I quickly performed a bunch of job interviews and asked them to be stuffed down in my suitcase and join me in Switzerland. They all accepted and I am proud to present these new colleagues. I look forward to showing you within a few months what they will be doing here.

Konference - Conference

2008-05-07T21:45:00.005+02:00

Efter dagene med møder blev det tid til at være på EB's internationale konference. Og hvilken velsignelse: Min far, hans kone, min danske kollega Hanne og mine to mindste søskende Miriam og Marcus (se billede herover) var også med. Hvor dejligt at have masser af tid sammen med dem alle sammen - og med andre venner fra hele verden.

Jeg nød rigtig meget at lytte til vores internationale leder, Reese Kaufmann, dele EB's visioner og mål for de næste år. Vores mål er, at der må være EB arbejde i alle verdens 207 lande inden 2017, hvor vi skal fejre vores 80 års jubilæum. I øjeblikket rækker vi ud til over 8 millioner børn om året på verdensplan. Hvor er det fantastisk at være en del af verdens største børnemission.

Det var også fantastisk at høre rapporter fra hele verden om de spændende ting, der foregår hist og pist.

Hver eneste dag blev der uddelt gratis ting til møderne og i udstillingslokalerne. Det er amerikanerne vist ret vilde med (men både Hanne og jeg blev hurtigt ret begejstrede for denne kulturelle forskel). Herunder er et billede af min samling gaver efter fem dages konference.

After the days of meetings it was time to attend the international conference of CEF. And what a blessing: My dad, his wife, my Danish colleague Hanne and my two youngest siblings Miriam and Marcus (first picture) also attended. How wonderful it was to have lots of time with all of them - and with other friends from around the world.

I really enjoyed listening to our international leader, Reese Kauffman who was sharing about the visions and goals of CEF for the next years. Our goal is that CEF will be working in all the 207 countries in the world before 2017 where we celebrate our 80 years anniversary. At present we are reaching out to more than 8 million children around the world every year. How awesome to be part of the world's largest children mission!

It was also fantastic to hear reports from all over the world about how things are going in all the corners of the world.

The Americans seems to be crazy about giving out free stuff and we quickly started to enjoy that. At the second picture you see my collection of free stuff after five days at conference.