Mentoring Course in Romania

Michael Hudson, Romania Learning Centre Coordinator, reports some of the latest developments. In March, EuNC students in Romania began Part 2 of the Mentoring component of the Nazarene course of study for ministry. Sixteen students from three different locations participated in the course, three from Țigmandru, seven from Sighișoara, and six from Bucharest. The course is being taught and facilitated by Tamara Hudson, Superintendent of the Romania District and Local Faculty Member of the Romania Learning Centre.

At the beginning of each segment of the six-part course, which is integrated throughout the students’ years of study, students gather for a seminar that introduces the emphasis of that particular part of the course. Part 2, for example, focuses on the students gaining practice and experience in exercising the tools of theological reflection in ministry. Then throughout the semester, students complete other growth exercises such as journaling and written reflection, and they also meet in both small groups and individually with their local mentor (Tamara or Michael Hudson in Bucharest, Roberta Bustin or Jonathan Phillips in Țigmandru and Sighișoara).


Each segment of the course only requires that students invest about 13 hours of time, but the benefits derived from these few hours spent in community with fellow students, in conversation with their mentor, and in communion with the Lord through prayer and reflection are essential to the development and formation of this great group of Romanian ministerial students.

The “gathering” of the students for the seminars happens in a creative format. The teacher travels to one of the sites to personally meet with the students there (alternating sites for each segment of the course), while the other students participate in the class through live video conference. The advantages of this approach are that more students are able to participate in the course and that the teacher’s efforts are maximised. However, there is still some work to do to get the technological components updated so that students in the video conference location feel more “present” with the teacher and the other students.


European Nazarene College, "In Touch" Newsletter, April 2013