Really, really light posting these few weeks

I haven't had much time to write lately.  We've got a couple of major things on our plate that isn't leaving much time to blog.  As I write this, a group of 16 American high school students and adult leaders are preparing for another day of fun and frolic here in Kosovo.  They're on a "missions trip" here until Monday and have been involved in running a children's program, ecological river clean-up project and a cultural exchange with local youth.

The second major thing is our return to the US for our one-year home assignment.  We're obligated to spend one year in the US for everyone four we're overseas.  We're leaving on an early morning flight on Tuesday, about 14 hours after our guests leave.   Sooo…we're busy packing up our house while hosting a team too!  We're having a lot of fun, but blogging will be sparse.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. III..oops a little late

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

After  a long day on the road we arrived in Nessabar, Bulgaria.  This isn’t a very big country, but the roads make you feel like it is!  Actually, it’s beautiful drive through the agricultural heartland of the nation.

Since we took so much time in Plovdiv we didn’t actually arrive in Nessabar until about 9PM local time.  That’s pretty early if you don’t have little kids with you, but with four children under seven-years-old, it was plenty late to begin looking for a hotel.  Nessabar, and especially the Sunny Beach area on the Black Sea, has incredibly active tourist areas where hotels are breeding like rabbits.  At the same time, its extraordinarily affordable.  Since we hadn’t made a reservation and just thought we’d “wing it” we stopped at a couple of 5–star hotels right on the beach.  We needed to get a base-line on prices and thought we’d start at the top.  At one brand new hotel, with marble floors, brass fixtures we found a price of a little over 200 leva per night.  That’s about $120 which included breakfast and dinner at a hotel with multiple swimming pools, exercise equipment and sits right on the beach.  Talk about affordable!  But this was still quite a bit more than we wanted to pay.

So we looked around for a couple of more hours.  The kids were tired but hung in there.  My oldest prayed diligently that we’d find something SOON!  In the end ended up at hotel about a block off the beach.  We found a two-room apartment, which over looks the swimming pools and central courtyard for $85 per night.  That includes use of all their facilities and a fantastic breakfast buffet as well.  The picture to the right is off our apartment balcony.  Not a bad deal, eh?

Yesterday we spent most of the morning on the beach.  The Black Sea.  Never in a million years would I have ever guessed that I’d be sitting on the beach in Bulgaria looking out over the Black Sea.  In my mind, growing up during the cold war, Bulgaria was always a darkly exotic place.  When I thought of of the Black Sea I thought of the Soviet Navy patrolling the cold waters of their own back yard.  I thought of pollution and poverty.  I thought of things that were just “other” and foreign.

That’s not what we’ve found here.  The beach here is as clean, white and beautiful as any I’ve ever sat on.  Okay, the service people don’t quite get the idea of “service” but the facilities are all first-rate.

Our God is a god of blessing.  I know that most of you will never sit on the beaches of the Black Sea.  I know some couldn’t afford to pay what we pay; $80–85 per night is just out of your price range, even for a one a year vacation.  But my point here isn’t to belabor the inequalities of life, but to praise the God who made it and to thank him for allowing us to share in it.

 

ECIKS - News and analysis about Kosovo Economy in English

ECIKS - News and analysis about Kosovo Economy in English.

 Prishtinë, June 29, 2006 - The South Eastern Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) will allocate € 154 million to Kosovo. Shefki Ukaj, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunication (MTT) said that €120 million would be used for the construction of the Pristina-Durrës highway, while the rest for upgrading Pristina International Airport (PIA).

This is good news.  Having traveled through all of the former Yugoslave states, I’m always amazed at how under-developed the infrastructure of Kosovo seems to be.  I hope ever cent of this project money goes where it’s intended.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. II

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

We took off from Bansko this morning at about 9:30 with Patrick, Julie and clans…only an hour and a half past our goal.  Not too back for a Balkan vacation.  We’re ultimately heading for the city of Nessabar today, but we’d be having lunch in Plovdiv, a town about a two-hour drive from Bansko.  And off we went through the twisty, two-lane mountain road. 

We drove through many, many little Bulgarian towns and villages on the way.  Some seemed quite modern, others were typified by old women in heads carves pitching hay, horse drawn carts and fairy-tale scenery.  Plovdiv is picturesque little town that is apparently home to the oldest human settlement in the Balkans.  It’s also home to an old Roman amphitheater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These places always kind of pole-axe me.  When I think of all the feet that have trod the stairs and bodies that have filled places like these I’m always touched by a profound sense of our “recentness.”  That is,Western culture such as it exists now is so very, very new.  This theater above was built in the early second century AD, during the reign of Emporer Trajan and is still used today for theater productions.  That is, it is about nine-hundred years old and still serves its original  purpose today. 

And while Plovdiv is home to the very old, it is also home to the new.  All the traffic lights in the town, whether on the main streets or back alleys, have count-down timers to let you know how much time remains until the light changes.  I love this feature! 

Being around old stuff like this always challenges me with this simple question: How can I make a “ten-thousand year” difference in how my life is spent.  I get that line from the old hymn, Amazing Grace which says:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun

we’ll have no less days to sing his praise than when we’ve first begun.

As a Christian I believe that I will live on and that ten thousand years from now the way I have lived my life will matter.  I wrestle every day to live up to that challenge.  The great thing about the challenge is that your life circumstances are irrelevant.  From the poorest slave-laborer to the designer of the theater above, each person played a part in its construction.  It wasn’t a highly paid official who cut the stone steps above; it was a lower-middle class stone cutter.  But his work remains.  The same is true for us.  Whether we are an unemployed executive, a stay-at-home mom, a recovering alcoholic or a preacher each of us has the opportunity to affect the people around us in ways that are eternal.  I love the Gospel for this…for the hope that it gives all people at all times for significance that lasts the tests of time.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. I

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

 

Missionaries don’t often get to talk about the great vacations they get to take.  Oh, it’s not because we make a lot of money…far from it.  But we tend to live close to interesting places and many of those places are really, really inexpensive.

Before we head home for our one-year “home assignment” next month, before the “big push” of a final short-term team, final packing, etc., we thought we take a week of vacation .  So we’re taking some time away this week with some good friends, Julie and Patrick and their two kids Koen and Kacja at the Bulgaria coast o the Black Sea.  Since we’re not in a rush we’d make the trip in a couple of days, spending two nights in a favorite haunt, Bansko, Bulgaria.

We’ve been there several times and enjoyed the hosptality of the Hotel Tanne.  The hotel is one many, many in this burgeoning little ski town.  Actually, some colleagues stayed here at our recommendation a couple of weeks ago and didn’t like it because of all the construction traffic and noise…something I’d have to agree with during this stay.  But it was still well worth it.  We got in a little late, about 8PM but completely enjoyed the following day.  The best part about the hotel, besides its location, is the price.  We booked a two-room apartment for $70, which included breakfast and the use of their indoor pool and health-center (sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, weight room, etc).

The last two times we’ve stayed in Bansko, we’ve taken a day trip up to the Rila Monestary (my Flickr pics), which is a beautiful tenth century Orthodox monastery.  This time, however, we just contented ourselves with a hike in the mountains.  We actually laughed a little because we were enjoying the hike without any concern for landmines.  While we don’t have many, if any, landmines in our part of Kosovo, it’s still a regular consideration when hiking in the mountains.  But not so in Bulgaria.  War has not come here recently.  After a long hike we headed back for the hotel for lunch and a rest.

Our kids love this hotel, with it’s beautiful walled garden, complete with running gazebo, greenery and land gnomes, or as my daughter calls them, “Orves.”

Good hike, good time laughing and playing with the kids.  What more can you ask for? 

Law on Religion Entering its final phase

I’ve mentioned the new Law on Religion several times over the past couple of years.  The Contact Group (USA, Germany, Russia, Italy, France and England)  have made July 1 the deadline for the Kosovar parliament to approve the new law.  The original law, was pretty decent…not great, but decent.

Today Norways’s Forum 18 picked up the news

Amid pressure from the international community to adopt a religion law ahead of talks on Kosovo's final status, changes continue to be made to drafts of the Law Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Discussion of the Prime Minister's draft and two other drafts has been postponed until Wednesday 21 June, when they will be considered as amendments. "I am concerned that there are so many changes each time," Artur Krasniqi, a Protestant representing a coalition of Protestant Churches, told Forum 18. "We fear there will be pressure to insert new discriminatory provisions on registration." Alfons Lentze, a legal advisor to the Assembly, told Forum 18 that "This has been a very difficult issue. We want to see a religious freedom law as soon as possible in accordance with the Plan on Standards."

The problem is that the law being proposed is changing rapidly.  First there were secret meetings in Vienna, to which the protestant community was not invited.  Now the current lasw is not being publically disimenated and there is little likelyhood that the public will actually see the draft-law’s language before it’s actually signed into law.

There are additional concerns as well.  The dominant faith community is apparently pressing for more changes.  According to someone I know close to the process, those requests include:

• Religion in public schools
• Imams to be paid by government
• Property to be free for mosques
• To have strong ties between state and religion
• The right to promote religion in public institutions
• Special criminal trial concerning religious ministers

We’re all looking for justice and equality here.  Please be praying for that.

Decision on Kosovo’s Status to Be Announced November 15th

According to “Focus English News,” a Bulgarian outlet, the future status of Kosovo will be announced on November 15th, 2006.

     Belgrade. The international community reached an agreement the decision on Kosovo’s final status to be announced at the UN Security Council session on November 15th 2006, Serbian newspaper Glas Javnosti reads today citing diplomatic source.
     According to the source it is very possible Kosovo not to receive full independence on November 15th but everything will be formulated in such a way so that in fact the Balkan country will be independent, the newspaper notes.

I haven’t seen this reported in the local news this morning, or in other international news, but I’ll post more as it develops.  That date would be well after Ramadan and well into the cold winter months, which would make lengthy protests unlikely.

Oh, for the difference a preposition makes

I’d seen this story in the different paper so I knew what the headline meant, but this is what I saw this morning:

What is missing is the “at.”  That is, “Two British tourists shot at in Kosovo”  It seems a couple of brits were wandering around western Kosovo in a car with Belgrade license plates on it.  Their car got shot at, but they were unhurt.

I too “condemn” the shooting, but somewhere there is a friend or tour guide that needs a good thrashing.  They sent these two out into the wild country with a big sign saying, “Shoot me first” plastered across their car.   Dumb.

It’s the little things in life that make the difference…like a missing preposition or the wrong license plate in the wrong place.

 

Doing it their way

Sometimes it’s challenging being an American.  We’re almost hard-wired to think we know the best way to do everything.

In a couple of weeks we’re going to  have some visitors, a group of 15 high-school students and their adult leaders.  While here they’re going to be doing a children’s program, an high-school cultural exchange thing and they’re going to be serving the community by helping to clean a stretch of trash-filled river.

I’ve never cleaned a river in my life, and I’ve never been a professional trash-picker-upper…but I’ve seen a lot of them on TV and hence my confidence about what kind of tools are necessary.  And so I issued forth instructions to my faithful friend and co-worker, Kadir, a very faithful, but very poor man from a village near-by.

I explained to Kadir exactly what I wanted…the classic wooden stick with a nail on one end whereby trash may be spike and bagged without bending over.  Kadir looked around town, but couldn’t find anything.  He suggested he find some re-bar, cut it to length and bend a hook on one end.  Then he’d put some hose over the hook to protect the sensitive American hands and grind a sharp point on the other end for the easy impalement of garbage.

I was skeptical about this design.  Re-bar?  A hook on one end?  But, after some thought I leaned back on my instincts and thought to myself, “I’ve delegated the job to him, he knows what we’re trying to do…let him do it his way.”

I’m really glad I did.  As he cranked out 15 of these pieces it occurred to me that the design is simple genius.  We’re going to be working in a river bank.  A hook is going to be perfect, not only as an aid to climbing in and out of said river, but also for grabbing trash, tires and junk just out of reach.

I’m a little embarrassed that I was resistant…and am glad I let him do it his way.  Quite often I discover that my national co-workers know far better than I do exactly what will work and what won’t. 

 

Orthodox Pentacost Celebrated in Graçanica

While on our way to Church in Prishtina Sunday we passed throught the Serbian town of Graçanica.  As we drove through we were stopped by large procession bearing banners, icons, flowers and happy looking people.  We didn’t know what it was at the time.  Unforunately, unlike our colleagues in the Slavic countries, we have little interaction with the Serbian Orthodox minority in Kosovo.

It turned out last Sunday was Orthodox Pentacost and these happy worshippers where on their way to the 14th Century church and monestary that is the focal point of the city.

Congratulations and God bless!

Second Founding Meeting of the Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church

Today I spent several hours at the founding meeting of to Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church. For several years the national evangelical believers have attempted to come together and form a national church organization. All of these attempts have largely failed for one reason or another. Everyone here has felt a keen sense of failure to live up to the biblical ideals of unity.  But today was different.

Today’s meeting was encouraging because after a couple of years of wrestling and significant attempts at reconciliation, we ratified statutes and by-laws for it new organization. Twenty-eight Evangelical churches and organizations gathered in Prishtina today.

We’re all hoping that a new day is dawning for the Protestant Community in Kosovo.  Today was a major step in that direction.  As far as I know, never before have as many evangelical, both national and international, come together with the same vision and hope for unified national church effort.

 

God working among Albanian Muslims in Macedonia

My good friend David posts up a great story about how God used our Macedonian national church partner to free a young Muslim Albanian from spiritual bondage.  Check it out here.  God is sovereign over his creation, he’s still powerful, he still responds to the prayers of his people.  Praise God that the walls of ethnic hostility are falling…so great is the love of God on one side, so great is the desperation on another.

Ouch....Americans and current events

A friend pointed this video out to me the other day.  All I can hope is that it isn’t a representative sample…it is pretty funny though.  

 

In a few short weeks we’ll be returning to the US to talk to folks about what God is doing in Kosovo.  I’m a little scared!  You can’t paint everyone with the same brush, but Americans do have a difficult time with geography.  Several people, when told we, or our team, are working in Kosovo have asked, “Where in Bosnia is that?” or “Now that’s in Russia, right?”

I’m not trying to bust on Americans.  America is a very, very big place.  It’s bigger than most Europeans can really comprehend.  At the same time, we definitely have room for improvement.

 

Kosovo's Q1 Trade Gap Narrows by 5.17% Y/Y to 92.1 Mln Euro

Good news on the economic front in Kosovo.  Kosovo only produces twenty percent of the food it consumes and produces very little in the way of durable goods or consumer items.  But the trade deficit fell for the first quarter of 2006 by 5.17 percent.  That is, exports rose and imports fell.  I’m not really an economist, but increased exports sounds good to me. 

 

Here are some highlights:

·         Kosovo's main exports were the raw materials, or 54.8% of all exports. Leather and leather products made 16.2% of all exports and food and beverages contributed 11.5% of the total.

·         Kosovo imported mainly raw materials - 19.0% of all imports - followed by food, beverages and tobacco with 13.2%. Machines and electrical appliances made 12.0% of all imports.

·         Italy and Macedonia were Kosovo's main exports destinations in the first quarter of 2006. Exports to Italy totalled 1.09 million euro, or 15.2% of all exports. Exports to Macedonia were 1.04 million euro, or 14.6% of the total.

·         Macedonia remained Kosovo's main trading partner in terms of imports, followed by Serbia and Montenegro. Even though Kosovo remains part of the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro, which succeeded rump Yugoslavia in 2003, the province operates customs offices at its borders with the rest of Serbia and Montenegro.

·         Imports from Macedonia through March were 28.5% of Kosovo's imports and imports from Serbia and Montenegro contributed 19.5% of the total.

From KosovaReport.

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Sorry, you can ignore this…I’m checking the feed.

Common Statement - Interfaith Conference in Peja

Earlier I posted that the Protestants were only invited as observers, not as participants to the Interfaith Conference in Peja (Pec) Kosova last week.  It appears that the Evangelical representatives were involved to a more significant degree than I first thought.   Yesterday I received a copy of the documents which came out of the conference.  There are many, many good things in this doucment.  Some readers might knee-jerk against these sorts of ecumenical types of conferences, but I believe it’s a very positive move for the Protestant churches of Kosova.

On

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INTERFAITH CONFERENCE ON PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE AND DIALOGUE

 

MAY 2-3, 2006

MONASTERY OF THE PEC PATRIARCHATE

 

COMMON STATEMENT

 

On May 2-3, 2006 the leaders and senior representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Islamic Community of Kosovo, the Protestant Evangelical Church and the Jewish Community gathered at the historical Pec Patriarchate Monastery for an Interfaith Conference on Peaceful Coexistence and Dialogue.

 

The Conference was held at the initiative of religious representatives in Kosovo, hosted by the Serbian Orthodox Church, and organized and sponsored by Norwegian Church Aid.

 

On behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle, the Conference was opened by His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral. The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of the International Community, local authorities and other dignitaries.

 

Gratitude is herein expressed to those who helped facilitate this Conference, notably: The sisterhood of the Pec Patriarchate Monastery, the brotherhood of Decani Monastery, the staff of the Kosovo and Metohija Office of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the international moderators, KFOR, and in particular the Italian contingent at the Pec Patriarchate, UNMIK and local municipal authorities.

 

The goal of the Conference was to provide an opportunity for the respective leaders of the religious communities to discuss key issues and values shared by their communities, and to identify desired joint initiatives to promote reconciliation and peace, mutual respect and acceptance, common life and cooperation through an institutionalised form of dialogue and concrete project activities.

 

Therefore, we, the religious leaders, are convinced that hatred and war represent defeat and tragedy for all, while reconciliation and forgiveness lead to freedom for all and for everyone. A person who hates is never free. True freedom exists in serving God by serving every human person regardless of their faith, nationality and every other adherence.

 

Faith in the God of peace, justice and love deem it unworthy only to tolerate one another as a “necessary evil”. Neither is it enough as persons and communities to merely co-exist one next to the other. Rather, we are invited by our faith and conscience to live one with the other. Ultimately, we desire and pray that we be enabled to live one for the other. In so doing, we respect the identity and dignity of every person and every community by accepting the principle of unity in diversity.

 

In coming to terms with the past we acknowledge that all communities have suffered. We express sorrow for one another�s suffering, praying that this suffering will no longer be a stumbling block. We must move towards an open future with interaction and profound responsibility for each other before God.

 

We condemn the destruction of all churches, mosques, cemeteries and other religious sites, and we rejoice in the restoration process, which is now under way and we anticipate its completion. We appeal to the wider community to join us in our endeavour to rebuild not only our religious sites, but also to rebuild our lives, our hearts and our minds.

 

As religious leaders and representatives, we commit ourselves to the

following:

 

·         To hold regular meetings between religious communities at the level of senior religious leaders, between the advisors in the Working Committee and at the municipal level;

·         To intensify inter-religious dialogue and cooperation;

·         To call upon all to contribute towards the betterment of life and prosperity in order to help facilitate the return process of all displaced persons;

·         To promote exchange between religious communities, such as:

o    visits to religious sites,

o    exchange of lectures between theological faculties,

o    as well as enabling the Seminary of St. Cyril and Methodius to resume its place in Prizren;

·         To invite the media to communicate our shared inter-ethnic and inter-religious values;

·         To facilitate communication and exchange of information between the religious communities: For instance, the compilation of a common address book;

·         To continue engaging as responsible religious leaders in the drafting process on the Law on Religion; and

·         To convene a seminar at the Nansen Academy in Lillehammer, Norway in order to strengthen the local religious leaders in their commitment to peace and           reconciliation.

 

In conclusion, we state that Kosovo is our common home and we commit ourselves to preserving it as a common inheritance for future generations.

 

The next conference will be hosted by the Islamic Community of Kosovo, in Pristina during the course of this present year 2006.

 

(The English text of this Common Statement was adopted as the official text of this Conference.)

 

 

Kosovo religious leaders issue joint appeal

On May 2nd there was an interfaith meeting held outside Peja, in the western part of Kosovo.  From the article below, it sounds as if it was constructive.  What’s interesting is that the evangelicals who were involved, who are two friends of mine, were invited as observers, not participants.  That’s not necessarily a negative, but it obviously communicates that Protestantism is not considered one of the “historic” faiths of Kosova.

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Kosovo's Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders issued a rare joint appeal to their communities Wednesday to join in rebuilding religious monuments and lives shattered by the province's ethnic conflict.

The appeal came at the end of a meeting organized by Norwegian Church Aid that brought together representatives of the Serb Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and Kosovo's Islamic, Jewish and Evangelical communities.

On the other hand, I had a nice talk with Pastor Femi Sunday night.  You’ll recall that last week he took part in a debate at the local college.  In our conversation Sunday night he told me that a number of people he spoke with believe that Protestantism is the future of Kosova.  While that’s positive, you have to remember that the word “religion” has built in political and identity issues in the Balkans. 

Via Kosovo News and Views

...for the very first time

For the last several months we  been planning for a series of evangelistic events to be held in June.  We’re helping to host this in cooperation with the other evangelical church in town, “Open Doors.”  The events are sponsored by the Luis Palau Evangelistic Organization and involve inviting specific groups of people to evangelistic coffee events. 

Today we had our “practice” event at a local restaurant.  My only real job was to set up the sound system and be available to help out.  The speaker, an Irish guy name Christy Smith, did a great job presenting the gospel to a group of about fifty people.  Of the fifty, I think maybe seven were foreigners. 

Folks came knowing what they were in for and were treated to coffee and dessert and a message from Christy.  He gave a very, very clear Gospel presentation where the message of hope, healing and new life was clearly told.  Christy has apparently experienced the Lord do a number of miracles in his life, and wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is.  Afterwards, as people were finishing their dessert and coffee, Christy invited people to come for prayer if they wanted.  A number of folks did, including one of the restaurant waiters. 

This event will be duplicated six or seven times in June so we learned a lot from this event today, including how to work with the wait-staff,  how to deal with sound issues in this restaurant, etc.

A lot of people hear the Gospel today, many for the very first time.

Good stuff.

 

Interview: Kosovo P.M. Ceku on Independence

Newsweek just published an article an interview with Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku.  Most people I know seem hesitatingly positive about Ceku.  The hesitation comes from a long history of discontent with local politicians.  The positive attitude comes from the leadership he’s showing.  He’s making some pretty impressive initial progress, including making his first address to the parliament in the Serbian language.  Check out the article here.

via KosovoReport

 

Debate on "religion in school"

Last week we were barely treading water with all the good things God was doing when we got an invitation to participate in a debate on religion in the schools.  The debate was to be held at the University building across the street.  I called Pastor Femi, who just earned his doctorate, to represent us on behalf of the protestant community.  When we arrived the room had barely begun to fill up. 

By the time the debate started, it was only about half full.  It didn’t take long, however for the room to become jam packed.  Femi did a great job describing the issues surrounding state-supported Islamic education in the school system.  In fact, one of the audience, a university professor, said, “aren’t we really talking about Islamic education in the schools, not religions education?”  I thought that was pretty insightful.

The bulk of the panel, which included many professors, a representative from the Islamic Community seemed against religious education in the schools.  Some of those present had actually written the curriculum used in the school system.  It already includes material on comparative religions and most thought that was enough.

As usual, Femi did a great job presenting an evangelical viewpoints on these issues.

On a funny side note, when I walked into the room I was met by a young lady who said, “oh, është babai i Madisonit!!!”  In other words, Oh, it’s Madison’s dad!  She was a student teacher in my daughter’s first grade class.  I thought it was just classic that my daughter is better known in town than her dad.