Norge - Norway

Så går turen til Norge... Fredag morgen alt for tidligt flyver jeg afsted for at undervise om børnearbejde på en af UMOs skoler deroppe. Jeg skal være der i en uge. Så vidt jeg ved, er der ti kursister plus det løse. Jeg vil sætte stor pris på jeres forbøn!

Time to go to Norway... Friday morning - way too early - I am leaving for a week to teach about children's work in Norway at a short term Bible school. As far as I know there will be ten students plus some extra from time to time. I would appreciate your prayers very much!

Resultater - results

Det er ikke altid at man kan kortlægge resultaterne, når man arbejder i Guds rige. Faktisk ret sjældent... Men her er en lille statistik, som selvfølgelig glæder os undervisere på skolen her i Schweiz. Fra vores tre-måneders kursus i efteråret 2007 er halvdelen af kursisterne engageret i Evangelisk Børnemission. Nogle som fultidsmedarbejdere og andre som praktikanter. Fantastisk. Her på billederne ser I den tyske og den engelske klasse til vores afslutningsfest i december, hvor jeg havde den ære at dele diplomerne ud. Det var sjovt.

In mission it is not always possible to measure the results of the work. Actually, it is rarely possible... But here is a little statistic that off course makes us happy here in the Education Department. From our three-month institute this passed autumn, half of the students are now fulltime with CEF or have joined as candidates. On the pictures you see the German and English class on Graduation night where I had the joy to hand out the diplomas. That was fun.

Mail

Jeg skulle selvfølgelig have afsluttet min sidste blogpost med ordene: "Hvor er det fantastisk, at der nu er 17 nye undervisere, der kan undervise EBU 1 og 2 rundt omkring i Europa!" Men jeg var for træt til at tænke klart.
Igår fik jeg og de andre undervisere imidlertid en lille takkemail, og det er jo altid dejligt! En af kursisterne skrev:

"Jeg vil bare sige TAK.

Jeg havde hørt om, hvor god undervisningen er på Kilchzimmer og nu har jeg oplevet det selv. Hårdt arbejde, ja (meget), men det er det værd på alle måder.

Fællesskabet og vores morgenandagter var helt klart også højdepunkter.

Jeg føler mig helt klart meget bedre udrustet.

Tak for alt jeres fremragende undervisning, opmuntring og villighed

til at hjælpe 24 timer i døgnet."

Off course I should have ended my last blogpost with the words, 'How wonderful to know that there are now 17 new teachers who can teach TCE 1 + 2 around Europe.' But I was too tired to think straigth.

Yesterday some of us teachers got a little thank you mail which off course was a great encouragement. One of the new instructors wrote:

“I would just like to say THANK YOU!
I’d heard how good studying at Kilchzimmer would be, but now I’ve experienced it myself.

Hard work, yes, (very!) but so worthwhile in all ways.
The fellowship/ social times and devotions were also real highlights.

I definitely feel better equipped.

Thank you all for your excellent teaching, encouragement

and willingness to be accessible 24-7.”

Dejlige uger med dejlige mennesker - Lovely weeks with lovely people

Så er de to uger med IOT kursus forbi. Det var to helt fantastiske uger. Det blev nogle sindssygt lange arbejdsdage men fyldt med så meget glæde og hygge. Vi havde 18 kursister, som alle bidrog til en rigtig god atmosfære. Det var virkelig spændende for mig at undervise på dette niveau og jeg lærte en masse. Derudover var det også en rigtig stor fornøjelse at have tid sammen med de tre kære tøser, der deltog fra Danmark (Maj, Hanne og Rhona - se billedet herover) og med mine gode venner/kolleger fra Østrig (Brigitte og Silvia - se billedet herunder) - og så alle de andre naturligvis. Det var egentlig utrolig hvor meget vi fik hygget i den sparsomme fritid, vi havde.

Now the two weeks of IOT courses are over. It has been two fantastic weeks. Lots and lots of work but also lots of joy and fellowship. We had 18 participants which all really contributed to a wonderful atmosphere around the house. It was really interesting for me to teach at this level and I learned a lot. And beside that, it was also a great, great pleasure to have the three lovely ladies from Denmark (Maj, Hanne and Rhona - first picture) here and also my good friends and colleagues from Austria (Brigitte and Silvia - last picture) - and all the others, off course. It was amazing how much we were able to hang out together on top of the work.

IOT forbøn - IOT prayer request

Hepsa. Bare en lille hurtig hilsen.
Igår startede vores IOT-kurser (Instructor of Teachers) og løber over to uger. Det er kurser, hvor vi træner de kommende undervisere til vores EBU-kurser. Jeg skal for første gang undervise på dette niveau, og ikke engang "bare" på IOT 1 men på IOT 2 for de erfarne. Sikke en udfordring! Især bliver tirsdag-torsdag i denne uge meget intense. I morgen tirsdag skal jeg f.eks. evaluere kursisternes mundtlige fremlæggelser i to timer og derefter undervise i to timer. Så lidt forbøn vil blive modtaget med glæde ;-)

Just a quick note.
Yesterday our IOT courses (Instructor of Teachers) began and runs for the next two weeks. At these courses we train those who will be teaching our TCE courses around Europe. This is my first time teaching at this level and it is a big challenge. Especially this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are going to be heavy for me. Tomorrow Tuesday I will evaluate praticals for two hours and then teach to new subjects for me for another two. So if you have a spare prayer for me and the other new instructors it would be greatly appriciated. :-)

EBU i Kolding - TCE in Denmark

Men inden jeg rejste hjem til Schweiz blev det også lige til en weekend i Kolding for at hjælpe min kollega Hanne med at undervise på et EBU-kursus i Kolding. Der var 16 kursister tilmeldt, og de tog aktivt del i undervisning og gruppearbejde og stillede desuden mange kloge spørgsmål. En af de yngste af kursiterne kom hen og sagde, hvor dejligt det var, at få kigget vers for vers på nogle af de passager i Bibelen, som viser, hvad Gud egentlig mener om børn og om at undervise børn. Dejligt!

Deltagerne kom fra Danmark, Holland, USA; Færøerne og Afrika.

But before I went home to Switzerland I also got time to go to Jutland in Denmark to help my colleague Hanne with a TCE course. We had 16 participants (which I think is a Danish record for that course) and they participated very actively in the teaching group work and also asked many good questions. One of the youngest participants told me how happy he was that we took time to look closely at some of passages in the Bible that speaks about children and how we should teach them. Wonderful!

The participants came from Denmark, The Nederlands, The Faroe Islands, US and Africa.

Martin & Cindy

Ja, jeg kunne som sagt skrive 1000 blogpost om juleferien, men jeg vil nøjes med denne: Min bror Martin blev gift med Cindy for 2½ år siden, og her er hvad Martin fortalte mig en aften om hans syn på ægteskabet:

"Vi er vildt forskellige, mænd og kvinder, men jeg tror, at Gud skabte os sådan. Det giver os muligheden for at udvikle os og udfordre os til at blive stærkere på de områder, hvor vi hver især er svage. Det er virkelig fedt, at jeg er nødt til at udvikle mig."

Hip hurra for Martin og Cindy! Sådan skal det være. Jeg tror, at det nærmest er det klogeste, jeg nogensinde har hørt om ægteskabet. Jeg ved, at det ikke er nemt at være gift, men med den holdning til tingene, tror jeg, at I kommer meget længere end så mange andre.

Yes, I could write a 1000 blogpost about the holiday but I'll stick to this one: My brother Martin got married 2½ year ago to Cindy and here is what Martin told me about marriage one night:

'We are really different, men and women, but I think that God created us this way. It gives us the posibility to develop and challenge ourselves to grow stronger in the areas, where each of us are weak. It's so cool to have to develop my character.'

Hurrah for Martin and Cindy! That's cool! I think this is more or less the wisest thing I have ever heard about marriage. I know it is not easy to be married but with this attitute you're probably way ahead of many others.

Juleferie - Christmas holidays

Ja, jeg kunne faktisk skrive 1000 blogposts, tror jeg, om hvor dejligt det var at være hjemme i Danmark over julen, men det har jeg simpelthen ikke tid til. Men herover er det syn, der mødte mig, da jeg ankom ud i lufthavnen. Kan man ønske sig mere? Næsten hele familien forsamlet. Det var rørende. Jeg blev blev forkælet i 16 dage, fik sovet på en del forskellige sofaer, spiste en masse dejlig mad, hyggede mig, hyggede mig og hyggede mig. Nå jaa... og så genfandt jeg min humor, som på mærkværdig vis havde været forsvundet de sidste tre måneder. Det lykkedes mig at få den gennem tolden og tilbage til Schweiz, så nu ser fremtiden rimelig lys ud.

Yeahhh, I guess I could write a 1000 blogposts about how nice it was to be home for Christmas, but I don't have time. But above you see the sight that I was met with in the airport in Copenhagen. Can one ask for more? Almost the whole family gathered. It was a touching moment. I was spoiled for 16 days, got to sleep on a lot of different sofas, ate a lot of niiice food and had a greeeate time. Oh yeahh, and in Denmark I also found my humor that had been lost for the past three months... And somehow I was able to get it over the border back to Switzerland so now the future seems fairly bright for me.

Kære computer - Dear PC

Kære computer
Du må virkelig undskylde, at jeg bare sådan har ladt dig i stikken i flere uger. Det har virkelige ikke noget med dig at gøre. Det er mig, der er noget i vejen med. Jeg ved, at det er en dårlig undskyldning, men jeg havde bare brug for at være mig selv. Ingen forpligtigelser, ingen ansvar. Men jeg har tænkt på dig mange gange. Jeg ved, at det måske var lidt tarveligt af mig at tage dig med helt fra Schweiz til Danmark og så bare lade dig sejle din egen sø i et hjørne af min fars kontor. Jeg havde slet ikke planlagt at det skulle gå sådan, det skete bare. Jeg mødte så mange mennesker, jeg ikke havde set så længe, og så ja... Ja, jeg håber, at du forstår. Det er jo ikke fordi jeg ikke havde lyst til at være sammen med dig, men helt ærlig, måske har vi brugt lige lovlig lang tid sammen de sidste måneder. Hver dag. Vi både arbejder sammen og deler en del fritid sammen også. Nogle gange kan man altså godt trænge til at se nogle andre.
Men du skal ikke være bekymret. Nu er jeg begyndt at savne dig. Du er en vigtig del af mit liv. Jeg kan vel knapt leve uden dig - også selv om du har fået et hak i det ene hjørne, er en smule overvægtig og dit indbyggede trådløse netværk er gået i stykker. Men jeg elsker dig! Du skal slet ikke bekymre mig. Jeg glæder mig til mange givende og lærerige stunder sammen igen.
Din - måske ikke forevigt - men ihvertfald 1-2 år mere -
Dorthe

My dear personal computer
I am so sorry that I have more or less forsaken you these past weeks. It really has nothing to do with you. It is me that there is something wrong with. I know it is a bad excuse but I really needed to be myself for awhile. No responsibilities.
But I have been thinking about you many times. Don't you doubt that! I know that it was unfair of me to bring you all the way from Switzerland to Denmark and then just leave you more or less by yourself in a corner of my dad's office. I did not plan things to develop like this - it just happened. I met a lot of people I haven't seen in a while and then yeahhh, I hope you understand. It's not that I don't want to be with you, but honestly - maybe we have spend a little too much time together these past months. Every day. We work together and we also share some of our spare time together. Sometimes that makes me want to see others, you know.
But don't you worry. I have started missing you. Well, probably I can hardly live without you -even if you have got a chip in one corner, are a bit overweight and that your build-in wireless network does not work anymore. But I love you. Don't you worry! I am looking forward to many more moments together.
Yours - maybe not forever but at least for another 1-2 years.
Dorthe

Schweizertysk og en vandballon - Swiss German and a water balloon

Igår var en vigtig dag.
En milepæl i denne overgangsfase fra at være dansk dansker til at være dansk i Schweiz.

Igår var nemlig første gang, at schweizerne blev ved med at tale schweizertysk til mig og ikke lynhurtigt slog over i højtysk (eller skrifttysk, som schweizerne kalder det). Om det var første gang, at jeg ikke så totalt forvirret ud, når de tiltalte mig på schweizertysk eller hvad der virkelig skete, ved jeg ikke. Men det skete TO gange med få timers mellemrum.

Den første samtale foregik på posthuset, hvor der skulle forklares en masse om at overføre franc til Euro til en tysk konto i Schweiz og det rigtige girokort, der skulle udfyldes på den rigtige måde. Og jeg forstod mindsandten, hvad der foregik.

Næste gang var i svømmehallen, hvor en lille ukendt pige ville have min hjælp til at lave en vandballon, hun kunne kaste efter sine venner. Måske burde min pædagogiske uddannelse på dette tidspunkt have sat ind og forhindret mig i at hjælpe i et så åbenlyst brud på reglerne i en svømmehal, men jeg kunne virkelig ikke lade være med at hjælpe. Tænk, jeg kunne tale med et schweizisk barn! Der Badmeister var sikkert ikke lige så begejstret som mig for situationen (men han opdagede mig heldigvis ikke...). Så jeg kunne efterfølgende svømme rundt i ren eufori og nyde, at jeg havde haft en hel dag uden kommunikationsudfordringer.

Yesterday was an important day!
It was a true milestone in my transition from being a Dane in Denmark to being a Dane in Switzerland.

Because yesterday was the day when the Swiss people continued talking to me in Swiss German and didn't quickly switch to High German (or written German as they call it localy).
I don't know if I simply looked less confused than usual or what happened. But it happened! TWICE within a few hours.

The first episode was at the post office where we had an incident with francs that were to be converted into Euros and send to a German bank account in Switzerland and the appropriate form to fill out. And I amazingly understood what was going on.

The next incident was in the swimming bath where a little unknown girl needed help to fill a water balloon so she could throw it at her friends. Maybe my educational training should have kicked in here and prevented me from helping with such an obvious break on the swimming bath rules but I couldn't help myself. I could actually communicate with a Swiss child! I am not sure Der Badmeister shared my view on this situation (but he didn't catch me with the water balloon). So afterwards I could do my 30 minutes swimming exercise in an euphoric state - I had had a whole day with no communication challenges.

Tak for forbøn -Thanks for your prayers

Tusind tak for forbøn. Det går allerede meget bedre med min hals. I nat sov jeg hele natten uden at vågne med hosteanfald. Det er vidunderligt!

Thanks a lot for your prayers. My throat is already doing much better. Tonight I slept the whole night through without coughing. How wonderful!

host host - cough cough

Hmmmm. Har lige ligget med en slem forkølelse og nu hoster jeg. Øv! Jeg ved, at det ikke er jordens undergang, men lige siden jeg kom til Schweiz har jeg haft problemer med min hals on and off. Så hvis du har en bøn til overs, vil du så ikke bede om, at min hals må blive stærkere og kan vænne sig til den tørre luft her? På forhånd tak.

Hmmmmm. Have been ill with a cold and now I am coughing. I know it is not the end of the world but ever since I came here 3 months ago I have had problems with my throat on and off. So if you have a spare prayer - would you pray that my throat will get better and adjust well to the dry clima here? Thanks!

Instruere instruktører - Instructor of Instructors

I EB har vi et kursus, der hedder EBU - Effektiv BørneUndervisning. For at få lov at undervise dette kursus, skal man have en speciel instruktøruddannelse. Jeg har været glad for de gange, jeg har været i Schweiz for at få instruktøruddannelse i EBU 1 og 2. Men ikke nok med det: Nu skal jeg minsandten selv til at UNDERVISE de nye instruktører i januar. Så her sidder jeg med noter til op over begge ører. Normalt har jeg altid undervist folk, der skulle undervise børn, men nu skal jeg altså pludselig til at undervise folk, der skal undervise voksne. Det er da lidt af et kvantespirng, synes jeg. Så jeg vil sætte stor pris på din forbøn for, at Gud må velsigne mine forberedelser og give mig mange gode idéer. Tak.

In CEF we have some courses called TCE - Teaching Children Effectively. To be an approved instructor of those courses you have to get special two-weeks courses called IOT - Instructors of Teachers. I have been really happy about the two times when I have been in Switzerland earlier to take those courses. But the story doesn't end here: Now I have to TEACH these new instructors in January. So here I am sitting with notes all around me. Normally I have taught people who were going to teach children but now for the first time I am going to teach people who will teach adults. It is a big challenge. So I would appriciate your prayers a lot. Please pray that God will bless the preparations and give me lots of good ideas. Thanks!

Op ad bakken - Up the hill

Bjerget, vi bor på, hedder Bölchen. Vi bor i 915 meters højde, men når vi skal ned til civilisationen, så hedder det i daglig tale: "Jeg smutter lige ned ad bakken" og hjem igen: "Jeg kører lige op ad bakken." Idag var det imidlertid knapt så nemt at "køre op ad bakken". Jeg havde været ude og handle med to kolleger og på vej op kunne vi godt se, at snesituationen var lidt mistænkelig. Midt i det hele ringer en af mine brødre, og mens han forsøger at forklare mig alt muligt, må jeg konstant afbryde ham: "Øh, undskyld, men vi sidder vist fast." "Ja, det gør vi." "Nu stiger vi ud af bilen", "De siger, at der er alt for tåget til, at vi kan ringe hjem" (???), "Vi må vist hellere gå hjem", "Ja, nu er vi så på vej hjem (pust, støn)", "Nå men vi ses om 1½ uge, hej hej". Og så tog jeg et fint billede af Suzanne og Ruth men de vil mindsandten ikke på min blog i vinterkostume.

The mountain, we live on is called Bölchen. We live 915 meter above sea level but when we are going down to visit civilization, it's called, 'I'm going down the hill' or coming up, 'I'm going up the hill.' Well, today it wasn't as easy as it sounds to get 'up the hill'. I had been out on a trip with two colleagues and on our way home we realized that the snow situation was not an easy one. In the middle of this, my brother phones me. And while he is seriously explaining me something, I have to interupt him constantly, 'Hmm, sorry, I think we are stuck', 'Yes, we are, we can't drive up the hill', 'we're getting out', 'they are saying the phone reception is so bad we can't call to get someone to pick us up' (???), 'Well, now we're walking home (groan)', 'Well, see you in 1½ week, then, bye bye'. And then I took a really nice picture of Suzanne and Ruth but they don't want to be on my blog in their winther outfits.

Hvordan har jeg det egentlig i disse dage? - How am I actually doing these days?

Hvordan har jeg det egentlig i disse dage?
At flytte fra et land til et andet er et meget stort skridt i ens liv. Og at gøre det helt alene stiller ekstra udfordringer til en. I løbet af den sidste måned har jeg ofte haft lyst til at skrive blogpost om følelser og tanker, jeg havde i forbindelse med den proces, jeg går igennem, men jeg har indset, at en blog er for åbent et forum for den slags tanker – især når man oversætter sine blogposter til engelsk. For dybest set handler en del kulturchok jo om andre mennesker, og jeg har bestemt ikke lyst til at hænge andre ud på internettet.

Jeg har især oplevet det svært at være alene her. De fleste andre af mine kolleger har en ægtefælle eller ven af samme nationalitet, og jeg håber, at de ved, hvor stor en velsignelse det må være. Der er så ofte, hvor jeg har haft brug for at vende dagens oplevelser med en ligesindet, når jeg kom hjem fra arbejde. Men jeg har været mutters alene. Hvor har jeg dog savnet mine venner og familie.

Til sidst begyndte det hele at stige mig til hovedet, og jeg indså, at jeg måtte klynge mig til Gud. Så vækkeuret blev sat en halv time tidligere. Hvor havde jeg dog ondt af mig selv de første morgener. Men der gik ikke længe, førend jeg så frugterne af mit udvidede fællesskab med Gud. Jeg kan nok ikke helt forklare, hvad der skete, men Gud hev fat i nogle ting i min personlighed, vendte dem lidt på hovedet, kastede nyt lys over dem og badede dem i hans kærlighed. Lyder det lidt ukonkret? Igen er bloggen et lidt for åbent sted til at fortælle, hvad der egentlig skete i mig. Men jeg føler, at Gud har givet mig fred i, at lige nu er livet meget anderledes end det var tiltænkt til at være og det er OK. Jeg kan se, at de ting, jeg lærer lige nu forvandler mig fra indersiden og giver mig ting, jeg altid har ønsket mig, ting som kan skabe en stor forskel for mig i min fremtid.

Så selv om jeg hellere sad og drak te med Anna, spillede spil med Karsten, var til netværksgruppe eller sammen med nogle af jer andre, så er det faktisk OK! For Gud er her.

Moving from one country to another is a very big step in someones life. And to do it all by yourself even adds some extra challenges. During the past month I have often wanted to write on my blog to tell you about the feelings and thoughts I have had but I came to the conclusion that a blog is a too open space to share those kinds of thoughts. Because culture shock is basically about other people doing things you don’t understand they are doing and I certainly don’t want to sound like I am pointing my finger at anybody in particularly on the internet.

I have especially found it hard to be alone here. Most of my colleagues have a spouse or a friend of the same nationality as their own and I really hope that they realize what a blessing that can be! So often I have had the need to come home from work and have someone to share the days culture shocks with someone. How I have missed my Danish friends and family!

Finally it all seemed to overwhelm me and I realized that all I could do was to cling to God. So the alarm clock was set half an hour earlier. How I pitied myself the first mornings when the alarm went off. But it didn’t take long before I started to see the fruits of my expanded fellowship with God. I can’t really explain what happened but God started pinpointing some personal things, twisted them a bit, shed new light on them and showered them in his love. Does that sound very unclear? Again the blog is a too open media to share those things in more detail. But the bottom line is that I feel God has given me peace about the fact that right now life is very different for me than it should be. And that is OK. I can see, that the things I am learning now will change me from the inside and give me things I have always wanted and that could change my future a lot.

So even if I would rather sit right now and drink tea with Anna, play board games with Karsten, or being in my old church house group then it is actually OK. Because God is here!

Hvad laver jeg egentlig i disse dage? - What am I actually doing these days?

Hvad laver jeg egentlig i disse dage? Det var der en veninde, der spurgte om for nylig, så jeg tror, at jeg vil benytte anledningen til at fortælle lidt herfra.

Jeg har brugt en del tid på at blive lært op i mit nye job. Det har været vildt spændende. Jeg elsker virkelig det her job. Vi har haft nogle officielle oplæringsseancer her i vores afdeling, men jeg tror nu, at den primære oplæring sker udenfor disse afsatte tidspunkter, når der pludselig opstår en situation, hvor man bare kan træde til og lade som om man ved en helt masse om en helt masse. Når jeg ser på oversigten over mit tidsforbrug i november, har jeg brugt 17 timer på officiel oplæring og 76 timer på at hjælpe til med stort og småt i vores afdeling. Jeg har evalueret mundtlige eksamensopgaver, taget med kursister på praktikbesøg, ledt gudstjeneste, haft en smule sjælesorg og tusind andre ting (sådan cirka). Vi har også haft nogle rigtig vigtige møder i vores undervisningsafdeling, hvor vi har mødtes med nogle af lederne af EB i Europa for at tage små og store beslutninger for fremtiden.

Udover dette har jeg også arbejdet en del med at få den danske manual til vores EBU-kursus færdig (EBU = Effektiv Børneundervisning). Nille har arbejdet en del med korrekturlæsning ud fra et danskfagligt synspunkt, og jeg har nu været igennem manualen ud fra et undervisningsmæssigt synspunkt. Så håber jeg bare, at Hanne på et tidspunkt får gang i nogle EBU 2–kurser :-)

What do I really do these days? That’s the question one of my friends asked me recently. And I think I will take the opportunity to explain a bit more about what I am actually doing right now.

I have spent some time being trained for my new job. It has been really interesting. I love this job! We have had some official training sessions marked in our agendas but it seems like most of the training has been done outside those sessions. Often a situation has suddenly occurred out of nowhere and I have had a grand opportunity to step into a situation and pretend I know all about what I am doing... When I look a my time overview for November I have spend 17 hours in official training sessions and 76 hours helping out in various other tasks in our department. I have had lots of student evaluation (me evaluating students on their work), going with students to children meetings (practical time), leading a service, lending a listening ear to someone and thousand other things (approximately).
We have also had some really important meetings between the Education Department and some of the leaders of CEF in Europe to discuss different issues of the work.

Beside this I have also had a good chunk of time to work on a Danish manual for our TCE 2 course. (TCE = Teaching Children Effectively). Nille in Denmark had done a great job proofreading the text from a literary point of view and now I have been looking at the text from a teacher’s point of view. I only have four more chapters to go so that Hanne can get some TCE 2 courses going in Denmark ;-)

En ny og meget mere seriøs fase af mit liv - A new and much more serious phase of my life

Ja, nu er det så sket. Jeg er hermed indtrådt i de voksnes rækker. Mit liv har taget en seriøs drejning og nu er det altså alvor. Ikke mere spøg og skæmt. Et monument har rejst sig på mit kontor. Et monument, som symboliserer effektivitet, langtidsengagement og nul kreativitet. Jeg har fået mit første arkivskab. Sådan et rigtig alvorligt et med skuffer, der kan trækkes ud, hængemapper, der kan tages op og meget seriøse filer, der kan læses, gemmes og endda låses forsvarligt inde.

Indtil videre ligger der ganske vist kun en halvspist chokoladejulemand i mit nye arkivskab, men det er ikke det, det drejer sig om! Det drejer sig om, at i løbet af de næste måneder vil dette kabinet blive fyldt med alle mulige og umulige filer fra de sidste tyve års historie her i vores europæiske undervisningsafdeling. Jeg er nu blevet indviet i alle de hemmelige systemer. Heldigvis skal mine to nye kolleger med samme job i centraleuropa og østeuropa have deres del af det gamle arkiv, så måske bliver der stadig plads til bare en lille smule spøg og skæmt? Måske kan jeg fortsat arkivere mine chokoladejulemænd under C? Eller min cola under S (for sodavand). Hvem ved...

Now it has happened. I am now officially grown up. My life has taken a serious turn and will never be the same again. No more goofing around. A monument has found it's way to my office. A monument to symbolize efficiency and longterm commitment. I have got my first filing cabinet. A real one with drawers to be drawn, hanging files to be lifted out and serious documents to be read, stored and even locked up if I wish.

So far I have only filed a half eaten chocolate Father Christmas but that's not what it is all about. It is all about the fact that within the next few months that cabinet will be filled with all kinds of files from the last twenty years in the our European Education Department. I have now been initiated in the secret art of our filing system. Fortunately my new colleagues who will work with the same things as me in Central Europe and Eastern Europe will get their share of the files. So maybe there will still be a bit space left to file chocolate under C and cola under F (for fizzy soft drinks). Who knows...

Hanni

Her ser I det smil, der har mødt mig mange gange om dagen den sidste måned, når jeg er kommet forbi vores vaskeri på vej til og fra mit kontor. Hanni og hendes mand Gottfrid har været frivillige medhjælpere den sidste måned, og de har været en stor velsignelse for os.

Hanni er 76 år gammel og tog i 1964 ud som missionær til Eritrea, hvor hun lærte Gottfrid at kende. Det blev til 20 år som misisonærer i forskellige lande. Sikke et tjenersind, at de kommer her og hjælper os med alle mulige praktiske opgaver!

Hanni har været ansvarlig for vores vaskeri, og jeg tror ikke, at jeg nogensinde har mødt et menneske, der har været så enthusiastisk overfor vasketøj. Dette har været måneden, hvor forsvundne sokker er kommet tilbage til deres ejermænd, og vi alle har fået et kærlig hentydning, hvis vi ikke hurtigt nok fik fjernet vores vasketøj fra tørresnorene. Jeg tror ikke, at der nogensinde er nogen, der har bekymret sig så meget for mit vasketøj udover mig selv.

Men det er jo bare vasketøj? Eller er det? Det får mig til at tænke på et bibelvers fra Kolosenserne 3,23: "Hvad I end gør, gør det af hjertet — for Herren og ikke for mennesker."
Jeg kan ihvertfald sige, at hvad end Hanni og Gottfrid er blevet sat til at gøre denne måned, så har de gjort det for Herren, og vi andre er blevet velsignede.

On the picture you see the smile that has met me several times a day the past month as I have been walking by our laundry on the way to and from my office. Hanni and her husband Gottfrid have been volunteers this past month and have been a great blessing to all of us.

Hannis is 76 years old and in 1964 she went out as a missionary to Eritrea and got to know Gottfrid. Together they served as missionaries for 20 years in different countries. What serving hearts they have to come here and help us out too!

Hanni has been in charge of the house laundry the past month and I think it is rare to see so much enthusiasm towards laundry as she has shown. This has been the month where missing socks have been returned to their owners and we've all got a kind reminder if our laundry was left too long on the clothesline. I don't think anyone has ever shown so much concern for MY laundry beside myself.

But is it not just laundry? Or is it more than laundry? It makes me think about a verse from Bible: 'Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men' (Col 3:23)I think we all aggree that whatever Hanni and Gottfrid have been doing this month they have done it with all their hearts for the Lord. And the rest of us have been blessed too! Thanks!

Lørdag aften i Basel - Saturday night in Basel

Den sidste halvanden måneds tid har jeg løbet med Valerie, en kollega, for at forberede os til Basels årlige juleløb. Og vi klarede det! Vi fik også lokket Valeries mand, Gerhard med. Jeg mærkede næsten slet ikke, at jeg løb, så optaget var jeg af at være midt i en storby igen, at kigge på julelysene, butiksvinduerne og ikke mindst indånde den velkendte duft af forurening. I år var målet at gennemføre. Næste år er det at forbedre tiden...

The last 1½ month I have been running 2-3 times a week with Valerie, one of my colleagues. We were preparing for the yearly Christmas run in Basel. And we made it! We even got Valerie's husband Gerhard to run with us. I hardly noticed that I was running because I was too occupied with being in the middle of a city again. So all I noticed while running was all the Christmas decorations, the shops and the familar fragrance of polution. This year's goal was to finish. Next year our goal is to improve our finishing time...

Praktik 2 - Practicals 2

Tak for forbøn. Vi havde en dejlig weekend i Basel med børnemøder. På billedet ser I Manjola fra Albanien, der øver den Den Ordløse Bog med Sarah. Det var også opmuntrende at høre, at de andre teams også havde mange gode oplevelser. En lille pige tog imod Jesus og sagde: "Nu smutter jeg hjem for at fortælle, hvad der er sket med mig." En af de voksne spurgte, om hun skulle gå med hjem og forklare det, men pigen svarede: "Det kan jeg godt klare selv." Sådan!

Thanks for your prayers. We had a lovely weekend in Basel with children's meetings. On the picture is Manjola from Albania who is helping Sarah to practise The Wordless Book. It was also encouraging to hear that all the other teams also had many good experiences. One little girl asked Jesus into her life and said, 'Now, I'll go home and share with my family what has happened. One of the leaders asked if she should go with her but the girl answered, 'No, I can manage.'