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19 July 2003
Hello from Minnesota,
was just telling someone that when we lived in Albania and Kosovo, I would often pray for a boring day, a rare occurrence in the Balkans. Life quite regularly took us by surprise with unexpected challenges to keep us on our toes. I am beginning to feel the need to start praying this way again! We have been extremely busy lately with different events keeping life interesting.
DETOUR AHEAD!
Perhaps the biggest
surprise for us came about a few weeks ago with the realization that God
might be speaking to us about taking
Erik would like to pursue a Masters in Organizational Development and is currently looking at the different programs available. Assessing and helping organizations better reach their ministry and development goals is something that Erik has been doing for several years and something for which he has a great passion. However, in his own words, he’d like to learn “how to do what he’s been doing.” Having such a degree would also be very valuable in the type of countries where we have been working, not only leading to more openings with government and secular organizations, but greater opportunities to work where there are restrictions to ministry.
I am not yet sure what I will be doing during this time. I would love to study also, but most likely I will be seeking for some kind of employment to help pay for educational expenses. You may be asking what this means as far as our relationship with our organization, BFM. In effect, not much will change. We will still be with BFM, just reassigned for this period to gain these further skills in preparation for returning to the Balkans. Our leadership here has been very supportive and encouraging of us in this decision.
So right now, the plan is that we would return to Kosovo in the autumn with Dave & Tricia McLeod who will be joining the work in Kosova. We want to help get them settled in and to smoothly transition over before moving back to the States, beginning our educational leave in January 2004. Right now we are not sure practically how it will all work. In fact, our minds are still spinning with all the implications (where to live, how we would live, residency permit for myself, insurance, schooling fees, etc, etc) as well as having very mixed emotions about leaving our community and friends in Kosovo, but we will keep you informed as we figure out the details and implications.
REFINED BY FIRE Talking of our new team members, one of the other unexpected events that took place recently involved them. As you know Dave & Tricia have been planning on coming to Kosovo for the past year and are anxiously awaited by our colleagues there. They will assist with the work of the Association of International Missions, the organization in which Erik and I have been involved. Anyway, 2 weeks ago Dave & Tricia packed up their house, for which they had finally found a buyer, and moved onto the Bethany campus in order to complete their preparations and support raising. However, a few nights later Minnesota was subject to some very severe weather. In this instance severe weather included several tornadoes touching down in the area (I didn’t sleep much that night!), as well as incredibly strong storms and the worst flooding some parts had ever seen. During these storms, the McLeods’ house was struck by lightening, burned down then what was left was flooded by the rain! We were shocked and dismayed when we found out, but that was probably nothing to what Dave & Tricia were feeling. We are thankful that they had already moved out in preparation for the house sale to take place at the end of the week and so were kept safe, but this obviously throws a rather large spanner in the works. Pretty much everything has to be rebuilt and new buyers will then have to be found. Through this all we have been really impressed with how Dave & Tricia have handled the crisis, especially as they were already going through much upheaval and change. They have had great attitudes and are unshaken in their faith and purpose. However, if you think to pray for them, I know it will be appreciated.
GETTING OLD? After that, all other news seems rather mundane. Erik is still painfully hobbling around on his injured leg, but is now seeing a physiotherapist so we have hope there will soon be improvement. My thyroid continues to grow but it apparently doesn’t need surgery at this point in time. I would be grateful for prayer that it would not grow too quickly nor need treatment anytime soon as we recently lost our medical insurance due to our longer stay in the States and still haven’t found another option which will give us the cover we need.
DAILY ACTIVITIES Through all these changes we have continued to spend most days working here at Bethany HQ, Erik on setting up a rather extensive and complex website, myself on creating a database to hold the vast amount of information that is kept on their people around the world. Both projects seem to have taken on a life of their own, but they have been immensely enjoyable and have given us the opportunity to work alongside and get to know some of the staff here. This week and into the next we are also attending a furlough seminar. After that we hope to be with Erik’s family for a week at their yearly vacation on one of Minnesota’s lakes. Then in August we plan to investigate locations for our educational leave as well as to visit with some of you who have been supporting us so faithfully over the years.
If you have any questions about this new direction we will be taking next year, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. We may not have all the answers yet, but we do appreciate your input and involvement.
Love,
Jo & Erik |
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The Stenslands 6820 Auto Club Road, Suite D Bloomington, MN 55438 USA
Tel: (952) 996 1314 Email: erik&jo@pobox.com (for mailing lists, Internet subscriptions & e-cards, please use: joannastensland@hotmail.com) Web: http://www.balkanhop.com/stenslands
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some extra time away from the field for what is fashionably referred to as
“retooling”, which is simply further training for the work we are doing.
We have both been working overseas for our entire adult lives and also
feel it important to step back for a while and gain a fresh perspective on
life, ministry and our relationship with the Lord. We are considering a 2
year educational leave somewhere in the USA. 
