EuNC Courses and Teachers

EuNC not only offers courses at the Büsingen campus, but also in the various learning centres.

So far in this academic year, EuNC has offered 120 courses: almost 30% of these were offered off-campus. This means that the EuNC faculty needs to travel from the campus or home learning centre to teach at other locations.

From the campus in Büsingen Jason Veach, John Haines and Antonie Holleman have travelled to the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal to teach various courses.

The programme in the Netherlands has received John Moore (Hungary) and Jayme Himmelwright (Portugal) as visiting faculty.

In the CIS (Russia; Ukraine, Armenia; Central Asia) Davide Cantarella, Cliff Wright, Olga Druhjinina and Alexei Shipovalov have been travelling to various locations to teach courses

An example of a creative solution to the issue of travel was developed in the Southeastern Europe Field. A field course was offered in Romania taught by Michael Hudson and then recorded and transmitted via Internet. It was then presented (with translation) in locations in Bulgaria, Albania and Kosova, with each having a facilitator. This was also further supported by online discussions between class sessions. These are just some examples of how EuNC is thinking creatively to face the challenges of distance and travel. EuNC is very thankful for faculty who are willing to travel to teach courses, many times on top of their normal load.

Republished from EuNC's "In Touch" Newsletter, April 2010

Tents for Haiti

News of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti circled the globe. On the Sunday following the earthquake, those gathered for worship in the Sighișoara Church of the Nazarene were presented with facts about the Church of the Nazarene in Haiti and had a special time of prayer for the survivors and families of those who died in the quake. But the congregation of the Sighișoara church wanted to do more.

After visiting the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries website (ncm.org/haitiearthquake), church leaders decided to collect money in a special offering to be used to buy tents for Haiti. It was hoped that they would collect enough money to purchase 1 or 2 tents. The response was so great that enough money was raised (by the Sighișoara Church of the Nazarene combined with the staff of Veritas) to purchase 5 tents for the people in Haiti.

As of this week, there is still a need for tents in Haiti, as people do not have adequate shelter for the soon-approaching rainy season. “Tents are needed for immediate shelter,” reports Field Strategy Coordinator Bill Dawson from Haiti. “The rains have started already and nearly every day we get rain somewhere in Port-au-Prince. People are sleeping under draped sheets and cardboard. We have requests for more tents than we could possibly fill.”

To buy tents and other specific items for Haiti, visit the NCM Haiti Store on Amazon.com or give to the NCM Haiti relief fund, which will be used where the need is greatest. Click here to read more about How You Can Help.

District Assembly

On Saturday, November 7, church leaders from across the Romania District gathered in Sighișoara for the annual district assembly. Local church pastors Cristi Boseff (Bucharest Blessings), Roberta Bustin (Sighișoara), and Magda Cini (Țigmandru) presented their annual reports, recounting what the Lord has allowed them to do in the past year.

District Superintendent Jay Sunberg’s address, based in 2 Chronicles 7:14, challenged those present to seek God's face, praying for the country of Romania. He mentioned that the past year has been one of preparation, and new opportunities for church planting, theological education, and lay training will be beginning this next year.

The district renewed the licenses for Cristi Boseff and Dan Cristea. The Sighișoara and Țigmandru churches took the opportunity to publicly present Relu & Oana Cristurean and Magda Cini with local minister's licenses. Please pray for these church leaders on the Romania District.

Photo: Ordained deacon Magda Balaban prays for district and local licensed ministers on the Romania District: Cristi Boseff, Dan Cristea, Relu & Oana Cristurean, and Magda Cini.

Veritas Retreat

Veritas is a Christian organization that seeks to make a positive difference in the lives of the people of Sighisoara through service to the community, a variety of educational programs, and intercultural exchange. Veritas is a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries partner organization and is a participant in the Nazarene Child Sponsorship Program.

This past week the Veritas staff, along with the American students in the Romanian Studies Program and volunteers, participated in the annual fall retreat near Păltiniș, a beautiful town in the mountains. Gabriel Achim – a Romanian who works for World Vision in Bucharest and was helpful in the early days of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania – was the guest speaker, challenging the Veritas team to see what they do in light of God’s all-encompassing agenda.

Veritas is intentionally an interdenominational organization, with the Romanian staff drawn from all of the major churches of Sighișoara – Nazarene, Orthodox, Reformed, Adventist, and charismatic. During the retreat, various members of the team led times of singing according to their church traditions.

On Friday evening, participants prayed for one another, for the programs in which they minister, and for those to whom they minister. Please pray with us that…

• Veritas will receive 2 grants. The first which would significantly enlarge the Family Center, and the second which would allow the staff of the International Café (our small business) to receive training,
• The transition of leadership from Dorothy Tarrant to Petra Popa will go smoothly.

The retreat also included many times to have fun together. Participants enjoyed team-building activities, followed by a skit performed by staff members that made the others laugh until they cried. When the mountain retreat center was blanketed with snow, staff and students shared in a friendly snow-ball fight. Many meals (and meal-time conversations) were shared together during the 48-hour retreat.

For more information about Veritas, please visit www.veritas.ro.

Photo: Fall semester Romanian Studies Program students & professors at the Veritas retreat.

Field Conference Highlights

The Church of the Nazarene is active in the Balkan countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Romania, and Slovenia. This presence is relatively new (since 1992) in these post-communist countries. Consequently, most churches are small, and most countries have only a handful of Nazarene congregations. So when nearly 140 representatives from these countries recently came together at the Southeastern Europe field leadership conference, the participants were able to find refreshment and encouragement that they are part of something much bigger than the limitations they find in their local circumstances.

The following highlights video was created by Relu Cristurean and presented to the Sighișoara congregation as a way to share the excitement with those who were unable to attend. Below is a translation of the captions (and some brief explanations).

• The road was long & difficult. (It was a 20-hour bus trip each way – starting in Sighișoara.)
• We had some adventures along the way (like when we had to exit the bus with our luggage and walk across the border into Macedonia while the bus was scanned).
• But we arrived OK.
• We gathered and began to worship the Lord together (in 4 languages at the same time!)
• Pastor Jeff Crosno (from the US) brought us the messages.
• We also had seminars which were very instructional and interesting. (One was presented by Pastor Cristi Boseff from the Bucharest Blessings Church).
• But for some among us, it was too much.
• We had times of fellowship with one another.
• We partook of the Lord’s Supper together.
• We heard amazing testimonies (including Monica Boseff’s).
• We prayed and we worshiped together.
• We did some sight-seeing (hiking to a nearby monastery and enjoying the view).
• The teenagers had a good time together. (There were events planned for the many children and teenagers in attendance)
• This was everything. Well, almost everything.

In total, there were about 45 people from Romania’s 3 churches who attended the field conference.

Click here to view a photo album of pictures from the conference.

Monica Boseff (Bucharest) sharing her testimony:

Magda Cini (Țigmandru) reading scripture while Relu Cristurean (Sighișoara) translates.

Field Strategy Coordinator Jay & Teanna Sunberg recognizing Dorothy Tarrant for 15 years of service on the SEE field as director of Veritas and the Romanian Studies Program.

10 Years in Sighișoara

On Sunday, October 4, the Sighișoara Church of the Nazarene honored Rev. Magda Balaban—who has served in Sighișoara for the past 10 years—and blessed her as she enters a new chapter of her life.

Magda came to Sighișoara in September 1999, following her graduation from European Nazarene Bible College. Her original assignment was to work in the Veritas ministry for disabled persons. In time, Magda devoted full-time to church-related ministries at the Sighișoara church . Her ministry focused on working with the senior adults who attend the church and the daily elderly program at the church. Magda's ministry has also included leading weekday prayer meetings and Bible studies, translating both sermons and literature, serving on the District Advisory Board, teaching children's church, and teaching American students who come with the Romanian Studies Program.

After preaching the morning message, Magda announced to the congregation that she has accepted a job offer in Bucharest and will be returning to her hometown in just over a week. Magda, an ordained deacon in the Church of the Nazarene, is like many ministers on the Southeastern Europe Field who must rely financially on employment outside the church.

After an all-church dinner following the service, those gathered viewed a PowerPoint presentation celebrating Magda's 10 years in Sighișoara (view below). Many offered words of thanks to Magda for her service. The church board presented Magda with three gifts to serve as momentos of her ministry: a piece of Transylvanian pottery, a painting of Sighișoara, and a Sighișoara mug. As one person shared, “The Sighișoara Church’s loss is the Bucharest Church’s gain.”

Ţigmandru Church

The Church of the Nazarene has work in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and in Transylvania in the city of Sighişoara and the village of Ţigmandru.

Nazarene work was started in this village in the spring of 2002. The work began in response to an invitation to come and pray for a family in the village. At this first meeting and prayer time, both husband and wife accepted the Lord. In order to disciple these new believers, a small group started going to the village each week for a time of prayer and Bible study. Other people found the Lord, and this weekly prayer meeting became a regular church service.

Children’s work was begun, and soon almost 100 children were attending the weekly program. Church services were held in the community center. It soon became clear that people were hungry for the Lord and that a church was needed in the village.

Land was purchased, and construction was started on a ministry center in the summer of 2004. The building was officially dedicated on December 1, 2007, with about 200 people present. The church was officially organized on that same day with 20 charter members.

The ministry center is an active place with regular church services, Bible studies and prayer times, children’s programs, youth activities, a mothers and babies group, and literacy classes in addition to a sewing workshop, a small woodworking shop, an ecology lab, and a doctor’s office. On the church property are three greenhouses and a cultivated area with vegetables as well as roses, gladioli, and 1000 tulip bulbs. The gardens and workshops provide a little work for a number of people in the village.

The Cini family are the ministry leaders in Ţigmandru. In addition to serving as pastor, Magda oversees the sewing workshop and the gardens, and Nelutu directs the youth and children’s programs. They are also beginning a new work in the village of Zagar.