| Spring has sprung and the last month has been quite a full one over here in Switzerland. Due to the continuing COVID situation, we had to postpone our next quarter of schools to run in parallel with the quarter starting at the end of July. For the first month of this new opening, I studied French intensively. Then for the remaining 2 months of the quarter, there are a variety of projects we are working on that have been put off because there has never been a good opportunity to get them completed. For the last 25 years, there has never been more than a one week break between when schools finished and when the next ones started. One of the bigger projects going on right now is renovating and putting in a new ceiling in one of the classrooms. I have been helping with this part-time. We are installing a wood slat ceiling and giving the whole classroom a facelift. Here virtually all the buildings are built with bricks or cement block and the chalet is no exception. I have had to learn how to drill and work with concrete walls which are quite different from the stick-built buildings in the states. The project is still underway I will make sure to include some before and after photos once it is completed. |
| As I eluded to in the title, this is becoming a season of multiplication. After all the development of the live streaming system, I have turned my focus to training up others to join me in this ministry. Over the last few months, we have been able to reach almost 3,000 people with all of our live streams together since COVID-19 started. It has been a real joy to get to oversee and grow this, but at some point, there is a limit to how much a single person can do. Thus, my attention has turned to train a group of 4 other people to help carry the torch forward. I have a bit of a knack for teaching and take great enjoyment of helping others discover and grow in the areas I am passionate about. |
| To dovetail into this season of multiplication, I have started teaching a media skills class to a group of our staff. There are two levels and I am teaching the upper level while Jukka, the leader of the communications team teaches the more beginner students. I have a great group of pupils and they are progressing very quickly. I have been teaching mostly photography, videography, and editing. Because all of my students have the basics down, we have been able to dive into some of the more nuanced and advanced areas. I have found this to be very rewarding and exciting. One of my favorite class times thus far was when I taught composition with a bunch of trees. I took my students to an area of the forest where there is virtually no underbrush and there is just a bunch of towering tree truck columns. It is a novel but relatively boring area. I showed them how to frame and take really dynamic photos using a bunch of composition techniques like the Rule of Thirds, Golden Ratio, and Depth Juxtaposition. We were able to take a relatively unremarkable environment and make some pretty fun photos. My students really enjoyed the practical and hands-on approach and I know they will remember what I taught them much better after having done it themselves. |
| Personally, this shift from the intensive French learning to a time of projects has been good. I like seeing things happen and making headway. One scripture that has really stood out to me in this time is 2 Timothy 2:21-22: “In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.” In this season we are preparing both on an individual level through training and more learning, and on a corporate level through working to improve our campus for what is in the future. This image of preparing ourselves as the kind of containers God can use has really stuck with me. I have also been searching for ways I can aid in this process of preparation. It is something I have really been praying through this an keeping my eyes open for the right opportunities. I have a great sense of anticipation about what the future holds. We are paving the way forward into some really extraordinary things that are coming once we complete this season of preparation. As always, thank you for coming along with me in this adventure of faith, Ben |