People

Greetings,

The Management Faculty (the European word similar to department) is having an alumni reunion this Friday and Saturday.  The first class of graduates were in 2002, and we had roughly 50 alumni here today, and expect about 75 for tomorrow.  Seeing all the current and former students reminded me that I have been promising to write about some of the people that have come around us here in Romania.  So, here is the first installment.  I suspect there will be posts in the future about those that have made our time here quite special.

First of all, the fact that we are here for the entire academic year is unique.  There are 4-5 professors (including me) that teach classes that last the entire semester. But, Emanuel also employs another model of instruction that is used quite often in the management program.  This model is to bring guest lecturers from across the globe to teach intensively (about 6-8 hours/day) for brief periods of time (3-5 days).  Most of these guest lecturers arrive from the States.  So, one of the unexpected pleasures for us has been meeting people from the States who have a similar passion and vision for serving Christ in this part of the world.  Although most of the people we are around speak very good English, it is often a welcome relief for us to have lengthy conversations in English and not have to work so hard to get our meaning across.

Janelle and Randy sharing a meal with us

Randy and Janelle Wilt are from Austin, Texas.  They stayed for ten days and this was their first time at Emanuel.  Randy taught an HR class for the week.  Janelle and Cheryl worked at Hospice for a few days, toured the town, and found nice, secluded places for lunch.  We certainly enjoyed their fellowship and miss having them around.  Their hospitality suite was one floor below us and we felt like veterans telling them how to use the showers and teaching them a few words of Romanian.  They were the first guests in our suite as Cheryl made a pot of chili for our Sunday meal.  It is amazing how quickly you can get close to fellow believers as we felt as if we had known them for years.  We hope to visit the Wilts during our "homeless voyage" in February.

Ken, Jim, and Bob at alumni reception

Cammie

Arriving just a few days ago was a rather large contingent of people from Oviedo, Florida.  They are known as the "Oviedo Group" and most of them have been coming to Emanuel twice/year (fall and spring semesters) for close to ten years.  This year's group is made up of Joe Takacs, Ken Calhoun, Cammie Sasser, Bob Matthews, Jim Wade, and Tim Maynard.  They are here for about ten days and teach courses in Sales, Accounting, and Operations Management.  They also assist in the graduate program during the weekends.  Their visit overlapped with the alumni weekend and it was wonderful to see the impact of their faithful service over the years and to see the genuine gratitude expressed by their former students.  I suspect a group dinner with them at our favorite restaurant is in the near future.  

Ann and John sharing a meal with us

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of all has been the visit of John and Ann Lenton.  The Lentons were year-round residents at Emanuel for several years (I think at least nine) and John was the Dean of the Management School during this time.  While John was running the school, Ann was instrumental in improving the rest of the university.  They are from the UK and John is currently the Vicar at a village church in Bramley.  John and Ann were instrumental in helping us discern whether Emanuel would be a place that could benefit from our service, and a place in which our presence would not be a burden.  In 1996, John was sent to Emanuel at the request of Lord Brian Griffiths to do a feasibility study on establishing a Christian Business School in Romania.  In spite of significant obstacles, the Business School opened in 1998 and the first Dean was none other than John Lenton.  John said that he and Ann had no intention or particular desire to move to Eastern Europe.  But, upon hearing the vision and opportunity set before him, stated that Emanuel "captured his heart", and thus changed the direction of their lives.  Seeing them this week brought back such fond memories of our discussion with them while having tea in their home and watching the Queen's Jubilee celebration on the television.

Gene and Arthur sharing a meal with us

As I mentioned, most of the visiting teachers come to assist in the management program.  We do have other visitors that assist other departments as well.  Gene Mims, a senior pastor for Judson Baptist Church in Nashville, joined us for one week and was a great help to not only the theology program, but to other organizations in the community.  They kept Gene pretty busy with roughly 12 speaking/teaching engagements during his time in Oradea.  Gene's wife did not make the trip, so Cheryl and I (mostly Cheryl) thought of ways to make his time here a bit less stressful.  As with our other visitors, we came to love and appreciate Gene and the humble way he serves this community.  The Mims' household is another new entry into the growing list of potential stops for our homeless voyage. Arthur Price is also at dinner with us and he is the young one.  Arthur is from California and is here for the semester working with non-profits, teaching a bit of English, and taking a few classes.  Most of our cantina meals are with Arthur, so it was nice for us to share a meal that was a bit more upscale.

Jenny and Cheryl in the cantina

These were all visitors who have come and gone.  One of the people we see almost every day is the chef.  Her name is Eugenia, but is affectionately known as Jenny.  She has been a real joy and has taken a particular liking to Cheryl.  Jenny and her husband Radu invited us to their church last Sunday.  They asked me to come up front to say a few words about what we were doing in Romania and why we were here.  Well, now you can add this to the list of things I have never done in the States, but have done in my short time in Romania--preached in a pulpit.  After church, we drove to Hungary (about 10 kilometers to the border) and had lunch.  Neither Jenny or Radu speak very good English, and Cheryl and I speak Romanian at about the level of a 2-year-old.  We end up communicating in Spanish!  Since Jenny and I both know some Spanish, we talk in very broken "spaniola", and then translate to our spouses.  Not very efficient, nor at a very deep level, but all in good humor.

Given the number of visitors has been a real blessing as it has allowed Cheryl to exercise her gift of hospitality even though she is not at home.  As you can see in the pictures, it has also allowed us to obey the Biblical imperative of "not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together." (Heb 10:24-25)  We have specifically interpreted this to mean eating out together!  Perhaps a bit of a stretch, but the end goal of encouraging one another is always achieved.

Pace,

Cheryl & Tom