Fall 2011

Fall is a funny time of year; there's just no way around it. Spring and summer? Long gone. Change happens across the board; over here in Europe, change rules the roost. Fall gives way to air slightly more brisk than you'd like it to be. Trees, though, are filled with color like the ocean is filled with life. With daylight savings time, "daylight" is in short supply. Generally speaking, everyone is getting ready to hunker down for the rapidly approaching winter. Autumn really just feels like an unwanted prelude to winter. Here at the school, fall means student life is in full swing.

If you have ever driven on the Autobahn in Germany, you've probably experienced the jolt of an unrecognizable sports car as it flew past you. The flash of lights in the left lane telling you to "slide over," and then this sudden whoooosh as it raced by. When you look up, you realize that what was presumably a car must have been going 110+mph. September and October 2011 pretty much flew past us just like that. Exciting? To be sure. Full? Most definitely. Boring? Yeah right. All in all, these two months have been great.

This semester has seen an upswing in student numbers that we simply have not seen in several years. That's a positive, but the really glorious part about it is seeing many students with a great love for our Lord, and for His living Word. On top of that, one of the real treats around here for me is found at meal times. I often look up and find at one table a few Americans, and perhaps a Pakistani or two. At another table, a Cuban is sitting with a Columbian, an Austrian, a Hungarian or three, a young lady whose family serves the Lord in Holland, and perhaps our student from Kenya. Across the room, I see our student from Ghana sitting with a family from South Africa. Scatter in some random missionaries, a Romanian student or two, and you've got a pretty good idea of what CCBCE looks like on a daily basis.

The Gospel of Luke and Biblical Theology are the two classes that I am teaching this semester, and I am loving them both. Spring semester I'll be teaching the Gospel of John along with New Testament Synopsis. I DO NOT want to get ahead of myself, but I'm looking forward to those as well.

Some highlights from the semester so far have included an amazing Inductive Bible Study week-long class with Pastor Dan Finfrock of Intensive Care Ministries. Our 10-day outreaches brought back great reports of the gospel going forth into many, many parts of the world. This week is our Biblical Missions class week with two pastors that serve Jesus in Kyrgyzstan.

And there you go. Lots going on. Throw in a trip to Slovenia to share the Bible, some other teaching/preaching opportunities for both myself as well as Christi, various challenges here and there, a few conferences, conversations to be had, and prayers to be prayed, and we're half-way through this semester of Fall 2011.

Blessings to you all! Thanks for praying!!!

Lots of love,

Jeremy, Christi, Ian, Leah, Kara, Mikayla, Lola, and Buddy the Bird