Source: Scott, Cindy, & Olivia in
Sunday, December 2, 2007
District Assembly
Source: Scott, Cindy, & Olivia in
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Prayer and Praise
Pray for new missionary families on the field: Scott and Cindy Meador in Romania
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 4, Dec. 2007
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 4, Dec. 2007
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Prayer and Praise
Pray for Petar Neychev (Bulgaria) and Lucian Voica (Romania) who have just completed their bachelor’s degrees at European Nazarene College. Pray that God will show them clearly his will for their lives, and that he will give them wisdom and strength for the next steps in their life and ministry.
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007
Congratulations SEE Graduates!
Congratulations to Lucian Voica (Romania) and Petar Neychev (Bulgaria) who graduated from European Nazarene College in June 2007. They each graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. Lucian and Petar, on behalf of the entire SE Europe Field, we want to send you a special message to say that we’re proud of you and that we’re praying for you as you continue to pursue fulfilling God’s call on your lives. You are already a valued part of the SE Europe ministry team, and we all look forward to working alongside you as co-workers in the Kingdom in the years to come. May God be your faithful guide and give you wisdom and strength for each day!
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007
The Best Years
Roberta Bustin completes decade as a volunteer in Romania.
By Dorothy Tarrant
Despite 30 years working as a college chemistry teacher and 16 summers as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) researcher in the United States, Dr. Roberta Bustin still calls her decade as a volunteer in Romania the most enjoyable and fulfilling years of her life.
On 25 May, friends and church members at the Sighisoara, Romania, Church of the Nazarene surprised Bustin with a party to commemorate her 10th year as a volunteer in Romania. Friends shared how they had been impacted Bustin’s expressions of care for them, being with them in times of crisis and suffering, driving them to the hospital, praying with them, joining in family celebrations.
“[She’s] a person who combines strong principles and convictions with a warm and caring heart for all kinds of people,” said Ben Mehedin, a devout Orthodox Christian who worked with Roberta in the early days of her Romanian ministry. “She’s the person who for me who most exemplified the servant nature of Jesus.” This sentiment was echoed in the spontaneous words of many who were present.
Bustin first came to Sighisoara at the invitation of missionaries Jon and Margaret Scott, who pioneered the work of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania. After teaching chemistry for 30 years at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas, where she was a life-long member of the Church of the Nazarene, and working for 16 summers doing research for NASA, Bustin had a strong conviction that God was calling her to leave the world of science and academia to become a volunteer missionary. Her desire was to serve in evangelism and church planting. Her original job description was “to teach, preach, and do a boatload of other things.”
During her first year in Sighisoara, Bustin concentrated on studying Romanian and the “Ecology Club,” an activity which taught local youth the importance of caring for the world that God has created, while building relationships through activities like river clean-ups and monitoring the quality of the town’s drinking water. Several young people who first got to know Roberta through ecology club started coming to church activities and eventually committed their lives to the Lord.
In 1998, Bustin was asked to pastor the Sighisoara Church of the Nazarene, a new congregation that had developed out of the friendships between American students spending a semester in Sighisoara with the Romanian Studies Program and local Romanian young people. Under Bustin’s leadership the church grew and became a bilingual congregation that was reaching new families and isolated elderly people in addition to a vibrant group of high school students. Roberta devoted time to discipling these young people, many of whom are now serving the Lord in other places both in Romania and in other countries.
Five years ago, Bustin began a ministry in Tigmandru, a poor village 15 miles from Sighisoara. Most people have no regular jobs and little formal education, yet many have responded with eagerness to the gospel. Bustin has supervised construction of a large multipurpose building with a sanctuary, clinic, sewing workshop, preschool program, plus social and educational activities for youth.
For the past five years, Bustin has pastored two very different congregations. She also works steadily on ordination requirements, enjoying the challenge of classes in theology, Biblical studies and practical church leadership. She regularly teaches environmental science in the Romanian Studies Program and at European Nazarene College. Hundreds of visitors to Sighisoara have enjoyed her southern breakfasts, complete with biscuits and gravy, while her pie-crusts, chicken salad and “Roberta cake” are mainstays at the International Café. On the rare occasions that she takes time off, Bustin most enjoys exploring the Romanian countryside, especially the mountains.
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007; reprinted in Where Worlds Meet, Year 4, Issue 6, July 2007
By Dorothy Tarrant
On 25 May, friends and church members at the Sighisoara, Romania, Church of the Nazarene surprised Bustin with a party to commemorate her 10th year as a volunteer in Romania. Friends shared how they had been impacted Bustin’s expressions of care for them, being with them in times of crisis and suffering, driving them to the hospital, praying with them, joining in family celebrations.
“[She’s] a person who combines strong principles and convictions with a warm and caring heart for all kinds of people,” said Ben Mehedin, a devout Orthodox Christian who worked with Roberta in the early days of her Romanian ministry. “She’s the person who for me who most exemplified the servant nature of Jesus.” This sentiment was echoed in the spontaneous words of many who were present.
During her first year in Sighisoara, Bustin concentrated on studying Romanian and the “Ecology Club,” an activity which taught local youth the importance of caring for the world that God has created, while building relationships through activities like river clean-ups and monitoring the quality of the town’s drinking water. Several young people who first got to know Roberta through ecology club started coming to church activities and eventually committed their lives to the Lord.
In 1998, Bustin was asked to pastor the Sighisoara Church of the Nazarene, a new congregation that had developed out of the friendships between American students spending a semester in Sighisoara with the Romanian Studies Program and local Romanian young people. Under Bustin’s leadership the church grew and became a bilingual congregation that was reaching new families and isolated elderly people in addition to a vibrant group of high school students. Roberta devoted time to discipling these young people, many of whom are now serving the Lord in other places both in Romania and in other countries.
Five years ago, Bustin began a ministry in Tigmandru, a poor village 15 miles from Sighisoara. Most people have no regular jobs and little formal education, yet many have responded with eagerness to the gospel. Bustin has supervised construction of a large multipurpose building with a sanctuary, clinic, sewing workshop, preschool program, plus social and educational activities for youth.
For the past five years, Bustin has pastored two very different congregations. She also works steadily on ordination requirements, enjoying the challenge of classes in theology, Biblical studies and practical church leadership. She regularly teaches environmental science in the Romanian Studies Program and at European Nazarene College. Hundreds of visitors to Sighisoara have enjoyed her southern breakfasts, complete with biscuits and gravy, while her pie-crusts, chicken salad and “Roberta cake” are mainstays at the International Café. On the rare occasions that she takes time off, Bustin most enjoys exploring the Romanian countryside, especially the mountains.
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007; reprinted in Where Worlds Meet, Year 4, Issue 6, July 2007
Bulgaria Hosts Marriage Retreat
by Sara Mullen SEE Communications
Balchik, Bulgaria–The Black Sea and the Botanical Gardens of Balchik, Bulgaria were the backdrop for a marriage enrichment retreat held for couples in ministry from the countries of Romania and Bulgaria. Sixteen husband and wife teams gathered together at a location away from their places of ministry in order to focus on strengthening their marriage relationships, to receive important tools to help other married couples in their churches and to simply enjoy a restful retreat. Special sessions were led by Dr. David and Lisa Frisbie, Nazarene ministers and marriage counselors from Del Mar, California.
The Frisbies shared practical and personal examples of how to nurture a marriage in the midst of what can be considered one of the most stressful jobs on the planet: Christian ministry. In addition to these learning sessions, each couple was given the opportunity for private counseling with the Frisbies, and ample free time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and time together. Not only did couples come away from the retreat refreshed and rested, but also better equipped to build healthy and strong marriages.
This marriage retreat is intended to be just the first in a series of initiatives to provide better member care to the SE Europe field leaders who otherwise might not have quality opportunities for renewal, enrichment and re-tooling. “We have recognized that many of our ministers work under extremely stressful circumstances that can put a strain on their family/ marriage relationships and their health,” says Joel Mullen, SE Europe Field Strategy Coordinator. “It is our goal in the coming months and years to provide more resources and better opportunities for our ministers to receive encouragement and support in these areas.”
The consensus among the couples at the end of the weekend was unanimous: this kind of retreat was needed and very beneficial. Current plans are already underway for a second marriage retreat in 2008.
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007
Balchik, Bulgaria–The Black Sea and the Botanical Gardens of Balchik, Bulgaria were the backdrop for a marriage enrichment retreat held for couples in ministry from the countries of Romania and Bulgaria. Sixteen husband and wife teams gathered together at a location away from their places of ministry in order to focus on strengthening their marriage relationships, to receive important tools to help other married couples in their churches and to simply enjoy a restful retreat. Special sessions were led by Dr. David and Lisa Frisbie, Nazarene ministers and marriage counselors from Del Mar, California.
The Frisbies shared practical and personal examples of how to nurture a marriage in the midst of what can be considered one of the most stressful jobs on the planet: Christian ministry. In addition to these learning sessions, each couple was given the opportunity for private counseling with the Frisbies, and ample free time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and time together. Not only did couples come away from the retreat refreshed and rested, but also better equipped to build healthy and strong marriages.
This marriage retreat is intended to be just the first in a series of initiatives to provide better member care to the SE Europe field leaders who otherwise might not have quality opportunities for renewal, enrichment and re-tooling. “We have recognized that many of our ministers work under extremely stressful circumstances that can put a strain on their family/ marriage relationships and their health,” says Joel Mullen, SE Europe Field Strategy Coordinator. “It is our goal in the coming months and years to provide more resources and better opportunities for our ministers to receive encouragement and support in these areas.”
The consensus among the couples at the end of the weekend was unanimous: this kind of retreat was needed and very beneficial. Current plans are already underway for a second marriage retreat in 2008.
Source: SEE Sketches, Vol. 4, Issue 3, June. 2007
Friday, February 9, 2007
A cross-cultural nursing quest: Olivet students experience life-changing semester in Romania
A swollen binder of photos archiving a semester of cross-cultural nursing tells the story, in pictures, of Chelsi Clauson (Class of 2008) and Jennifer Lennon's (Class of 2008) life-changing semester in Romania. To many in the U.S., the vivid images make it appear as if the two Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) juniors took a step back in time. Cozy villages, smiling children, and dusty roads all bear witness to the work poured out by these two students.
Turning down other study abroad destinations that boasted warm temperatures and white sandy beaches, these two ONU nursing students opted to follow their hearts to Romania. Their faces gleam as they explain their decision to trek to a poverty-stricken region out of a desire to obey God and help others.
Lennon explains, "A service-oriented outreach to the poor just fit what we want to do with our lives."
Traveling to Romania through the Veritas Romanian Studies Program offered Clauson and Lennon a chance to polish their medical skills and gain priceless experience in their field. ONU offers the program for students majoring in a number of different areas and matches them up with experiences that pertain to their targeted interests. A wide range of programs are emphasized from education to social work.
As nursing majors, Clauson and Lennon's tasks all related to the medical field while they were in Romania. They aided in starting a medical clinic in the village of Tigmandru, and helped meet some of the health needs of the Romanian people. Clauson and Lennon were also put in charge of teaching health classes to children and carrying out a needs assessment for the startup of a second clinic in a neighboring village.
The grave state of the medical situation in Romania strongly impacted the girls. "We worked with a Nazarene church to fulfill the dream of opening a health clinic in one of the rooms of a newly built church in the village of Tigmandru. This offered the people of the village easy and more affordable access to health care, which they lacked, and at the same time it gave us the opportunity to familiarize the church as wanting to care for their physical needs as well as their spiritual. We were able to use donated medical supplies and medications to help treat these people, when most of them did not have anywhere else to go for treatment," explained Clauson.
One specific occasion to put their nursing skills to work came when a little boy approached them with a severe burn. The team did not have the doctor present that day, and they had to rely on their previous two years of nursing education. Clauson and Lennon took care of the boy and were later told by the doctor they had carried out the treatment properly.
The experience of being able to use their nursing skills ignited a renewed desire in these ONU students to keep learning. "I am much more motivated to learn as much as I can. I want to be a nurse, and I want to be a good one. Now I am more confident in my skills," says Lennon.
Clauson agrees that she has also grown: "I became more aware of the different factors that play a role in community health nursing, and the importance of being culturally sensitive to others."
Notably, the two ONU students explain that their most extensive growth occurred on a spiritual level. Clauson explains that it was stretching "being in an unfamiliar culture, but God was still the familiar God I knew."
Lennon adds, "[The experience] brought God out of a box for me. He breaks language barriers. That's what heaven will do."
The compassionate, hard-working duo made an impression on their on-field supervisor. In a letter to ONU's nursing department chair, she wrote, "These young women were outstanding representatives of ONU [and] the nursing profession. They made a tremendous impact on the Veritas team and on the many individuals whose lives they touched."
Now back in the U.S., Clauson and Lennon admit there has been some culture shock in returning home. Being back amidst the lavish plenty in their home country has taken some getting use to. "Certain sights bring back the memory of the people we cared for in Romania," the girls agree.
The trip overseas served to plant a desire for further international nursing service in both Clauson and Lennon. "The dream of nursing others in [different] cultures feels tangible. Like it could really happen," the girls chime, finishing each other's sentence.
With hearts eager to go where God calls them, these two juniors are thankful they had this opportunity and are continuing to strive hard towards their goals of becoming nurses.
--ONU
Turning down other study abroad destinations that boasted warm temperatures and white sandy beaches, these two ONU nursing students opted to follow their hearts to Romania. Their faces gleam as they explain their decision to trek to a poverty-stricken region out of a desire to obey God and help others.
Lennon explains, "A service-oriented outreach to the poor just fit what we want to do with our lives."
Traveling to Romania through the Veritas Romanian Studies Program offered Clauson and Lennon a chance to polish their medical skills and gain priceless experience in their field. ONU offers the program for students majoring in a number of different areas and matches them up with experiences that pertain to their targeted interests. A wide range of programs are emphasized from education to social work.
As nursing majors, Clauson and Lennon's tasks all related to the medical field while they were in Romania. They aided in starting a medical clinic in the village of Tigmandru, and helped meet some of the health needs of the Romanian people. Clauson and Lennon were also put in charge of teaching health classes to children and carrying out a needs assessment for the startup of a second clinic in a neighboring village.
The grave state of the medical situation in Romania strongly impacted the girls. "We worked with a Nazarene church to fulfill the dream of opening a health clinic in one of the rooms of a newly built church in the village of Tigmandru. This offered the people of the village easy and more affordable access to health care, which they lacked, and at the same time it gave us the opportunity to familiarize the church as wanting to care for their physical needs as well as their spiritual. We were able to use donated medical supplies and medications to help treat these people, when most of them did not have anywhere else to go for treatment," explained Clauson.
One specific occasion to put their nursing skills to work came when a little boy approached them with a severe burn. The team did not have the doctor present that day, and they had to rely on their previous two years of nursing education. Clauson and Lennon took care of the boy and were later told by the doctor they had carried out the treatment properly.
The experience of being able to use their nursing skills ignited a renewed desire in these ONU students to keep learning. "I am much more motivated to learn as much as I can. I want to be a nurse, and I want to be a good one. Now I am more confident in my skills," says Lennon.
Clauson agrees that she has also grown: "I became more aware of the different factors that play a role in community health nursing, and the importance of being culturally sensitive to others."
Notably, the two ONU students explain that their most extensive growth occurred on a spiritual level. Clauson explains that it was stretching "being in an unfamiliar culture, but God was still the familiar God I knew."
Lennon adds, "[The experience] brought God out of a box for me. He breaks language barriers. That's what heaven will do."
The compassionate, hard-working duo made an impression on their on-field supervisor. In a letter to ONU's nursing department chair, she wrote, "These young women were outstanding representatives of ONU [and] the nursing profession. They made a tremendous impact on the Veritas team and on the many individuals whose lives they touched."
Now back in the U.S., Clauson and Lennon admit there has been some culture shock in returning home. Being back amidst the lavish plenty in their home country has taken some getting use to. "Certain sights bring back the memory of the people we cared for in Romania," the girls agree.
The trip overseas served to plant a desire for further international nursing service in both Clauson and Lennon. "The dream of nursing others in [different] cultures feels tangible. Like it could really happen," the girls chime, finishing each other's sentence.
With hearts eager to go where God calls them, these two juniors are thankful they had this opportunity and are continuing to strive hard towards their goals of becoming nurses.
--ONU
Reprinted from NCN News
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