Bill and I thank you for your prayers. Today was a travel day for the most part that hit a high point with a great dinner at an Italian restaurant here in Campina.

At dinner, Pastor Ioan/John shared a brief story of God’s mercy in his life just over 30 years ago. It touches a deep spot in the heart to see a man’s eyes still tear up when he spontaneously says, “thank you Jesus for saving me.” Makes me wonder if some of us think of salvation as a right instead of a precious gift. Hmm, the writer to Hebrews has a warning about that. But his warning is not to condemn, it is a rallying call to zeal and praise.

Thank you as well for your private emails and commitment to prayer. Tomorrow will be a full day. The workshops are structured as a three-legged stool. There is instruction, preaching (ideally as a model sermon of sorts), and the third component is small group interaction with the Biblical text. We will try to guide each participant through the necessary steps or stages of opening the message of the word of God in order to proclaim the very Word of the text. Our strategy is to suggest that preaching is not “saying what I want to say.” Rather, expository preaching is saying what the Word of God CONTINUES TO SAY! Thus, we need to hear or study to discover, before we decide what to preach.

Pastor Ioan encouraged us this evening. He described the workshops ITEM has been offering through Bill and Rob as one of the best gift the Romanian Church has been given.

Ask the Lord to continue that blessing and be merciful tomorrow as I carry the teaching load and Bill does the preaching. [Then we switch roles the next day.] It will be a good day filled with the study of God’s Word and the rejoicing in the Superiority of Christ. Ask specifically for clarity in our communication, strength for our interpreter, and the presence of the Holy Spirit to open His Word and proclaim the supremacy of Christ for salvation and life.

The Tarom Air flight to Bucharest landed a few minutes after midnight. In my mind, their should be a mad rush of passengers to fill the aisle, I sure wanted to. I am sure they are great airlines but the Star-Alliance configuration of seating just does not fit my body, I am both to long and too stiff. But the Romanians were not moving! I plied myself out and heard Bill’s grunts and groans behind me as he was attempting to do the same. As I did so, I looked up the aisle toward the front of the plane and noticed the women gathering luggage and walking down the aisle as men stood contorted in their tiny standing space. “Welcome to Europe,” I thought. But more particularly welcome to the Eastern older part of Europe. Ladies still go first – and smoke fills the common spaces and the parking lots. Two reminders from previous visits that I had forgot.

Beautiful morning in Bucharest. The sun is shining, there is now snow. The hotel desk posted the temp as a few degrees about freezing. Now, it is time for breakfast and a train ride to Campina to get settled and go over our notes and tweak the lessons one last time.

Well, Bill tells me he is here somewhere but Schipol is a big airport! So, we both made it safely this far. People around me were watching the details of the flight and getting excited as the tail wind pushed us closer and closer to 600MPH. The biggest fan across the aisle said we topped out at 603.

My seat mate in the 2-3-2, 767 Comfort Class -configuration (? You tell me, but I’ll take it!) told me her favorite place to visit in all of Europe is Greece. As it happens that is one of my favorites too. I shared my “Paul at the Aereopagus” story which led to the magnificence of our God and His forgiveness in Jesus. The words were not strange to her but they really didn’t find a soft resting place. Two weeks from today, DV ( that’s Deo Volente, God willing). I will share the story with you – from the Aereopagus. I’m excited to share the story! [yes, ITEM Board, this part is on my dime 😇]

If you learn anything through this blog or enjoy the ride in any way, say a pray of thanks for Shelby. I had the idea but didn’t make it happen. Shelby provided the motivation to share the story…. but no time to talk, it’s time to roll. Next link – somewhere in Europe.

Welcome to the ministry of ITEM. International Theological EducationTraining, so technically I.T.E.M. (Forgive me board members, it’s just ITEM from here on). 

My journey begin January 1998 when Dr. David Ludwick called me and said in his typical brisk, ‘yes I am a judge,’ tone and language: “Am I speaking to Perry Tinklenberg? Is it true that you have 10 years cross-cultural ministry experience? Is it true that you have been to Russia? Very good! Thank you for your answers, I need you to go to Ukraine for six weeks.”  Well, a more winsome recruiter I never met and I laughed when I told elders the story that evening in a church council meeting. Elder Neil Verduin looked up and said. “I think you should go.” 

April 1 with my wife and two children in tow (breaking ITEM’s) family policy, we flew to Kiev Ukraine. I cried when they left me on the 12th day to go back to school and return me home. I cried again when the students that started out so cool and standoffish hugged me and thanked me for being so instrumental in their lives.

The tears where not of sorrow, nor were they of joy, they were tears of humility. How could Lord God Almighty do so much with so little?

Now, after a few years on the ITEM Board and after couple more trips in ITEM’s service, I thank you for the privilege of serving ITEM once again, and Lord willing, for the opportunity to complete my 12th week in Ukraine, all but one week of them in the area ravaged by war around Donetsk.

2.11.19 “What have I gotten myself into?”

I’m sitting at my desk wondering how I am going to prepare 5 lectures, 3 sermons, and be ready for three non curriculum sessions on missions, Calvin’s Institutes, and the final assessment to help the professors determine the grades they will award – while demonstrating my commitment to keep my call to New Hope first in priority, which right now happens to include expositions on Acts along with a summary and critique of John Owen on the Holy Spirit for adult education. 

3.3.19 What a glorious day of Worship. The Lord insists on leading and blessing His Church against the challenges of human nature and persecution so the Gospel of Christ will triumph.  And what isn’t there to like about introducing John Owen and the Ordo Salutis to an adult Ed class studying the Holy Spirit?  And I think more of us in our day need to rehear Owen’s pithy summary, “Historic Theology is correct, trust it.”

And the first two sessions are completed:

• Lecture One, Intro to Expository Preaching 
• Lecture Two, Seeing the Big Picture

Took a while to get there but that’s two down. I wish I could have isolated and worked more systematically. Yet, every piece is connected so it is kind of like needing the same dough that will become rolls, loaf, and snack sticks. Some of what each of us are preparing will end up in lectures or instruction, some of it will be model sermons to help set the tone and raise the bar, while the third piece – and that which has been occupying most of our video conference time has been the background work for the small group sessions when we ask the pastors and students to roll up their sleeves and get their hands in the same dough of Hebrews.

3.5.19 “Are you kidding me? I mean I am really, really grateful, but why is this the week a guy answers a Craigslist ad from January about a project car my cardiologist won’t let me work on any more?” Looks like Friday will be get ready to ship day so he can pick it up Saturday. That’ two crucial prep days gone! What’s the Yiddish, “Oy Vey?”

3.6.19 I feel like a rural mail carrier who is stuck in the mud. So many stops to make, so many depending on me and I am spinning my wheels. The view is great, God’s Word shows God and His work with such beauty, but there is no progress (well that’s not true! But I’m not getting boxes checked) and “wheels up” is close!

3.10.19 Again another humbling blessed day with the people of New Hope. The preschool and early elementary boys and girls marched in just before the start of the service with a loud, “Grandpa!” leading the way. They all handed my cards on folded poster paper to promise their prayers for the brothers and sisters in Christ that we have been called to encourage through expository preaching according to system of encouragement developed by the Charles Simeon Trust. We are not directly affiliated with them but I met Dr David Helm a number of years ago and received his permission to extend the work of CST through ITEM. I will introduce this particular team as things get rolling in a couple of days.