GOTTSCHALK GAZETTE
JUNE 2021
Equipping leaders to reach Europe and the world with the Gospel
At Tyndale Theological Seminary near Amsterdam, NL
and Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary in Ukraine
Serving under Eastern Mennonite Missions
Last semester at Tyndale Theological Seminary
Linda and Phil were honored at a chapel service at Tyndale for her ten years on the staff and five years on the faculty and Phil’s twenty years on the faculty.
We finished our courses: Linda – Modern Church History and Thesis Prospectus, Phil – Foundations for theology, History of Philosophy of Religion I (Pre-Socratic philosophers to Kant) l and Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and Angels.
Linda served one last time as Thesis Supervisor guiding four thesis defenses. She is still finishing some of her duties as Librarian, one of which has been to train her replacement who arrived in early June.
The last week of May we finished our last semester of teaching and working at Tyndale Theological Seminary. Tyndale Graduation on May 29th was in many ways bittersweet. We were touched to be asked to share the Student Charge, the message to the graduates.
Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary, Ukraine
Phil has continued to recruit teachers and to teach at Zaporizhzhya (Ukrainian name of the town; I used to use the Russian name) Bible Seminary. He taught the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in May via Zoom. He continues to recruit teachers for the MTh program there and to coordinate when courses are taught. We are looking forward to moving there in June 2022 for a two to four year term.
Summer in … the Netherlands & the US
We are very pleased that our house here in the Netherlands sold for what for us is an incredible sum of money. The process of the “sale” is still in process. The buyers have signed off that they will buy or face a stiff penalty. On the other hand, the closing is July 14, 2021. We were advised that we ought to remain in NL until the final sale due to tax reasons.
This has changed our summer plans. We had expected to be at EMM’s Oasis retreat and be involved in a family vacation. Fortunately, we have been able to change our airline tickets and other arrangements.
We are expecting to return to Pennsylvania to Lancaster, near our mission’s headquarters and our daughter, Beth, and her family. We are looking forward to seeing our children, grandchildren, Phil’s siblings and Phil’s.
A year in the US
We haven’t spent a full year Home Ministry Assignment in the US since 2005-06. I, Phil, frankly feel much older and tired! I am “owed” some sabbatical time (real rest, not academic sabbatical, which means writing, etc.). We will also spend a good amount of time traveling around to see our supporters.
We hope to buy a house in Lancaster, PA which we will live in for the year in the US and then rent out during our time in Ukraine. While in Ukraine we expect to rent a small apartment.
Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary Graduation
Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary in Ukraine also had their graduation on May 29th.
Please pray for several issues in the seminary and in the region. First, Seminary President Vladimir Degtyaryov has announced that he will retire. Vladimir’s wife was diagnosed with cancer last fall and died one month after the diagnosis. Vladimir has a son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and daughter in Zaporizhzhya, but it is still a great adjustment for him.
Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary Chairman of the Board, Mark Mackey, fell and had a serious brain trauma. Once his condition was stabilized, he flew to Seattle, Washington for evaluation and treatment. The doctors found that he needed a pace maker and had very low blood pressure, which had resulted in the fall. Mark is doing well, but needs prayer for recovery of his health. Mark and his wife, Joanne, live in the Seminary building in the “penthouse” apartment. Mark has been the main fundraiser and guiding force in the school for many years.
Pray also for the Union of Christians Evangelicals Baptists in the Zaporizhzhya region. There was a long discernment process to find a new bishop for the Union. This past spring a replacement, Rev. Dr. Aleksei Ivanov, was chosen. Pray for his assuming of these duties and for the Union as adjustments are made.
Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary site
You can find English, Russian and Ukrainian pages of the ZBS site at this address: https://zbs.com.ua/en/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/zbseminary
Entertaining Angels Unaware: Welcoming the Immigrant Other
Phil’s book about immigration was published in late January by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf & Stock publishers. In the book Phil tries to ease people’s fears of immigrants, address their false conceptions of immigrants, direct them to a biblical view of immigrants and our role in helping them.
The book is in three parts. The first part addresses our fears and misconceptions. The second part discusses various countries and their attempts to integrate immigrants. The third part contains stories of our own experiences with immigrants: as teenagers in church, as a seminary student in Chicago, as missionaries in Yugoslavia during the war, as seminary professors in Leiden and finally as teachers in Ukraine during the great displacement of people from East Ukraine when the Russians took the cities of Luhansk, Donetsk and surrounding regions.
A review of the book can be found at Entertaining Angels Unawares EMM review
You can buy the book at Entertaining Angels Unaware Amazon
You can also find postings about the book at Entertaining Angels Unaware Blog and Entertaining Angels Unaware FB page
Thanks for your prayers, support and gifts!
We would not be here without you!
Phil & Linda Gottschalk
Serving with Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary, Ukraine
under Eastern Mennonite Missions
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