2006 Summer in the States
Left to right: Emma, Helena, Adrian, Tatjana, Joel
JOEL & TATJANA WHITE
Theological Education in Germany
Platanenring 44
D-35423 Lich
Germany
e-mail: JWhite@GEMission.com
January 2007
Dear Friends in Christ,
Every year or so we try to catch you up on family news. This year everyone was willing to write a paragraph.
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I am nine years old. Even though I'm only in 4th grade, I have to study alot. I need good grades this year so I can attend a college track middle school next year. When I'm not studying, I like to spend my time swimming, drawing, and playing board games. Once a week I go to art class. I'm learning all sorts of new ways to paint. I also like playing the piano, going to school and being with my friends. |
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I hope that 2007 will be a good year for me. At school I've started learning French. That makes me look forward to the two-week vacation my family is planning this summer in France. The other subjects I enjoy are art, English and history. I don't like math, German and physics. One of my favorite ways to relax is simply to be at home, sleeping in on days off, playing with my brother and sister and our pet hamster, and rearranging my room as often as my parents allow me. |
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2006 was a year with several highlights for me. Best of all was the summer I spent in the U.S. with my family. My first camp experience at Eagle Lake camp in Colorado was terrific! Making new friends there was especially meaningful to me, since I am the "social kid" in the family. I also was able to spend time with my American cousins. Some of them actually came from Scotland and Kenya where their parents are missionaries. That was really great, since we only see each other once every few years. One of my passions is playing baseball on our school's team, and I'm a Boston Red Sox fan. I was thrilled when my dad took me to a Red Sox game last August when we spent a few days in the Boston area. |
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2006 was a year of many blessings as well as some emotional and psychological difficulties for me. I am deeply grateful for the many meaningful tasks that fill my days - serving my family by running the household, tending to our house and garden, and helping our children with the heavy demands of schoolwork that German schools place upon them. All that takes up most of my time and energy. I also devote a few hours a week to voluntary work at our local church and the seminary. I especially enjoy the interaction with Joel's students and the times of conversation and fellowship with the student care group we meet with every other week, either at the seminary or in our home. In the last few months, however, I've had to cut back some due to the onset of what in the meantime has been diagnosed as a "panic disorder". Since November I've gotten competent medical treatment, and I am confident that I will make good progress toward full recovery in the coming year. I'm grateful for the expressions of support and care I've received from many of you. JOEL The last year was a full one, as our 2006 prayer letters attested. A successful conclusion to my doctoral studies was certainly a high point, but time spent with my family meant more. I'm grateful for the exciting summer spent traveling in the U.S., for many material blessings, and for my health. I'm very thankful for the ongoing opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students at the seminary. Working with them, whether in small groups or lectures, continues to be a rewarding task. Thanks to all of you for making it possible. |
In Christ,
Joel, for all the Whites
Our Mission:
to impart a passion for and trust in the Word of God to the next generation of evangelical leaders in German-speaking Europe.
• Greater Europe Mission • 18950 Base Camp Road • Monument, CO 80132 • 719-488-8008 •
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Dr. Joel White trusts that God will use his lectures about The Da Vinci Code to change lives. When Dr. Joel White prepared a lecture for seminary students about Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code, he never thought the talk would turn into an opportunity to share the Gospel. White, a professor at the German Theological Seminary (Giessen, Germany), compared Brown's theses with Scripture and early Christian texts. The seminary put a downloadable version of White's lecture on its website. Soon after that, with the impending release of a movie based on Brown's book, White's phone started ringing. He accepted invitations to present the lecture at a large evangelistic gathering at a local church, to a student group at the University of Mainz, and on regional television. At press time, White had given his first lecture to a standing-room-only crowd. "Europe today is a lot like the first century, when people were open to the Gospel not because it was the dominant religion, but because of its transforming power," White says. "People are often turned off to church but eager to hear about Jesus. There's reason for optimism. We need to get past seeing postmodernism simply as a threat." Amazingly, many people believe Dan Brown's fictional story—that Jesus was a mere man who married Mary Magdalene and had a child with her—instead of the facts. White says that anyone willing to study the Bible can be prepared to show others just how fictional those Da Vinci Code "facts" are. "Christians should be confident in talking to nonbelievers about The Da Vinci Code" he says. "[The movie] gives Christians a chance to engage people at the cultural level. |
This year Joel was awarded his Ph.D. on the concept of first fruits in the New Testament from the University of Dortmund in Germany. This achievement allows him to continue to teach in a full-time capacity at the Free Theological Academy (now the Free School of Theology) in Geissen.
EMMA (9 years old)
HELENA (12 years old)
ADRIAN (12 years old)
TATJANA
Da
Vinci Daze