On Christmas cookies, theological education, and upcoming travels

Well, so much for updating the blog monthly this year. I think the reality is, though, that most of you keep up with us on Facebook anyway. I think our stats show that over 80% of clicks we get on this blog come from Facebook. However you found our site, please do forgive us for the infrequency. Nevertheless, it's good to look back at the end of each year and consider ways God has blessed.

Here's the whirlwind update using bullet points:

• Concrete Neighborhood ministry (adult Bible study, kids ministry) ended abruptly in late April. Long story short, our partners up there were mad that Cameron wouldn't give them money without any accountability and told us to stay away. While sad, this allowed us to focus on other ministry areas and we now count this experience as a blessing.
• Faith at Work beta test went well in Timisoara in mid-May, and we had great feedback for future work among Romania's business community.  
• Fun time in the US for a few weeks in July. We spent one week with Cameron's family in Maryville, TN. After that, Cameron took a PhD class at Biola University in California and Jessica and Sara spent time with Jessica's family in Charleston, West Virginia.
• Seminary teaching continues to go well and several students even led others to faith this year! Cameron will be adding a second class next fall: Intro to the Spiritual Disciplines.
• Jessica started teaching English at the University of Bucharest. She was quite on the fence about starting it at first, but she loves it and is happy to be teaching again (she taught high school math before we moved to Bucharest in 2012).
• Cameron has been more intentional the last few months of going out weekly to share the gospel with people in the park. He does this with another missionary friend named Jonathan.
• Sara turned one on October 13. We had a big party and somehow fit 35 adults/children in our living room.
• Faith at Work seminar in Bucharest again in early November. Everyone was encouraged and hungry for more.
• Thanksgiving was a blast this year. We actually had two Thanksgiving dinners - one with another family on Thanksgiving Day (Bonus: Cameron caught the first half of the Detroit Lions game!) and the second with our church small group. 
• For Christmas, we hosted an "Elf" party last week, attended an impressive concert at the local Catholic church last night, are attending the Christmas service at the International Baptist Church on Saturday, and are hosting friends for Christmas Day. Cameron is loving all the Christmas cookies/brownies, and Jessica allows herself one every now and then. 

Our biggest announcement is that we will soon be coming to the US for six months. We'll fly into Atlanta on February 1. A Southern Baptist church in Kingsport, TN, is letting us stay in their mission home during our Stateside time. So Kingsport will be our base, but of course we will be doing a lot of traveling. More details to come.

Craciun fericit tuturor! Merry Christmas to you all!

Teaching in Ukraine

Cameron here.

Jessica and Sara taking out for a walk in one of the parks

We arrived back home in Bucharest late Saturday night from a packed week in Ukraine. Via IMB colleague Russ Woodbridge, I was invited to teach a week-long Cross-Cultural Communication class at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary (UBTS) in L'viv, a city in western Ukraine close to the Polish border. Jessica and Sara were also able to come, which was really nice since they were able to join me for lunch at the seminary most days. Unfortunately, both Jessica and Sara got sick from the excess dust/pollution, and although Sara is fine now, Jessica is still battling a cough and head cold.

I really enjoyed teaching at UBTS last week. The atmosphere is nothing short of electric, as students from all over Ukraine (many from the war-torn East) are ecstatic and eager to learn. I approached my class as sort of a hybrid Intro to Communication/Intro to Missions, where I went through basics of culture, communication theory, contextualization, worldview, and cross-cultural conflict. In lieu of a written exam, I had the students give presentations for a cross-cultural ministry strategy. Interestingly, my translator is married to an American guy, and so I was thrilled when they offered to share from their experience during my cross-cultural conflict lecture. Score!

Look who came to join me for bortsch soup

My stellar Cross-Cultural Communication class

UBTS is a fairly new seminary, yet has an amazing story. The current president, an energetic visionary named Slavic, took over leadership about three years ago. At the time, UBTS had 35 students and was located far outside L'viv down an almost inaccessible road. Now they have over 600 students and are looking for more property! Slavic began building his administration with forward-thinking Ukrainian leaders who see the seminary existing for the church, not vice versa. On Friday evening, I was invited to his home to share a meal with him, as well as to meet other members of his leadership team and celebrate the birthday of another guest lecturer. I will probably never forget the things Slavic told me as I asked him question after question over coffee and cake.

Slavic, president of UBTS

Slavic told me he came to realize that, while many Ukrainian churches are rooted in the traditional machinery that often fails to produce passion and growth, the seminary is a controlled environment in which the faculty and staff can set the tone they wish to see in the churches. Baptisms, Slavic says, will be the measuring rod for the seminary's effectiveness. If after ten years the churches where students serve are not seeing an increase in baptisms, it means the seminary is not doing its job and must rethink their vision. As such, UBTS accents the practical-ministry aspect of theological education (seeing lost people saved) more than the theoretical-knowledge aspect (erudite scholarship). This is not to say deep scholarship is not done at UBTS, indeed Slavic pushes all his faculty and staff to pursue terminal degrees. It is clear, though, that it is the heart they are aiming at more than the head.

It truly was a joy to teach at UBTS last week. Lord willing, I'll be back in future years. To see that many young people so on fire for the Lord - for planting churches everywhere from L'viv to Kathmandu - was an incredible experience.

With my esteemed colleagues on the IMB Theological Education Team: Dan Upchurch (left) and Russ Woodbridge (middle). Dan teaches in Kyiv and Russ is the Academic Dean at UBTS.