David M. Howard, Jr.
10/24/01
October 15-19, 2001
I have just returned from my eighth teaching stint at the Emmanuel University of Oradea (EUO) in Oradea, Romania, on October 15-19. As usual, I flew early to Budapest, Hungary, and spent time there to relieve jet lag, and then drove into Romania on Saturday, October 13.
I worshipped on Sunday at the 3000-member Emmanuel Baptist Church, mother church of the Emmanuel University. It is always good to be there, and they asked me to "bring greetings," which is usually 10-15 minutes' worth. I spoke to them about the effects on America of the September 11 bombings, and the apparent turn to faith (or, better, "spirituality") in our country.
During the week, I taught in three different courses, a total of 28 hours. The first was Old Testament Theology II to the third-year group of Theology students, my fifth (and last) course with them, about 40 students. I have truly come to love this group of sweet, enthusiastic, unspoiled students, and I will genuinely miss them. The second was an Old Testament Survey (Genesis-Esther) to a diverse group of second-year Literature and Social Work students, about 120 of them, mostly women. Emmanuel University has four schools - Theology, Social Work and Literature, Music, and Business - and these students were from the second of these. They are looking toward careers in both secular and Christian work in Romania. I also lectured for one period (two hours) in the second-year Theology students' Old Testament Introduction class, and found them to be serious and engaged students. And, I had numerous opportunities for informal discussions and discipling with students and faculty.
Good things have happened for the school in the past year. The university now consists of four schools: theology, music, social work and literature, and business. The total enrollment is ca. 600, making it the largest evangelical Bible school in all of Europe. And, with its state accreditation last fall, this makes it the only evangelical university in all of Europe that is accredited by its government.
In my last report, I mentioned laws that had been proposed in Romania's Parliament that would severely restrict the free exercise of religion in that country. Last spring, several Christian leaders in Romania, including Dr. Paul Negrut, the President of EUO, wrote the United States government asking for help in this matter. To his great credit, Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote a strongly worded letter to the Romanian government stating American opposition to such laws. As a result of this letter, the proposed laws have been withdrawn, and evangelical Christians enjoy relative freedom in their exercise of religion. God be praised!
For the first time in eight trips, this time I was able to get out and away from Oradea, which is a rather grimy, industrial city of 250,000, into the countryside. The school arranged for Ron Basini (an American teaching in the Business School there) to be driven a couple of hours away to a famous cave. It's called "The Cave of the Bears," so-called because of the bear skeletons that have been discovered in it. It's a spectacularly beautiful cave, on the order of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky or Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing it. We also enjoyed the rolling farmlands we drove through and the mountains where the cave is (like the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina).
I thank The Timothy Project of Wheaton, Illinois for funding my trip, Bethel Seminary's Committee on Cross-Cultural Travel for providing additional funds for incidental expenses, and Dr. Paul Negrut, president of Emmanuel University, for having me. Again, I extend special thanks to Bethel Seminary and Dr. Leland Eliason, Provost, for releasing me - with warm affirmations - to go. And, I thank the many students and colleagues who have asked about and prayed about the trip.
Because of various responsibilities that have been added to my plate in the past year or two, and because of the ages of our children (16 and 12) and the added needs for an engaged father to be at home at this age, I will not be returning to Romania in March. Rather, my Bethel Old Testament colleague, Dr. Paul Ferris, will be going in my place, and the people of Emmanuel are looking forward to his ministry. He will bring a wealth of teaching and administrative experience with him, having taught for many years at Columbia Biblical Seminary and having been president himself of Prairie Bible Institute (Alberta) before coming to Bethel. I am grateful to Paul for agreeing to do this.