NETS

Now that I've been here for two and a half weeks I'm feeling a bit more settled and have started getting more involved in the life and ministry of Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS), the school I came to work with. They set me up with my own desk in an office space which I share with Christo, the admin guy for the Distance Department. Most of the office staff is Namibian, but many of the lecturers are from other countries including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Australia, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. There's one other guy from the States named Dr. Jones, which always makes me think of Indiana Jones whenever someone says his name in their African accent, but he's leaving after this semester so he said I'd have to hold down the fort as the lone American at NETS.

The residential students decided to dress up today just for fun.

First thing on Monday mornings is staff devotions. The first one I went to they threw me right in the deep end of the pool having me share the devo for the morning! I read from 1 Samuel 1 about Hannah's response when things weren't going her way, and shared some of the things I'd learned from the 7 weeks I was waiting for my visa about trusting God when things aren't going your way.

Then later in the morning and on Thursday mornings, all the residential students, lecturers and staff are split up into Growth Groups. They help us focus not just on the educational aspects, but also the personal aspects of training students. They offer a place for intentional community and pastoral care. I've only met with my Growth Group once, but I'm looking forward to getting to know them through the rest of this year.

On Tuesday mornings is chapel. The Growth Groups take turns leading each week. We'll sing a few songs, share announcements, pray together, then one of the lecturers will preach a sermon. In that way we're not just teaching them how to exegete and preach a text, but we're also demonstrating it for them. This semester they've been going through the Gospel of Mark.

Classes run every weekday from 8am-1pm. But each morning at 10:45, everyone takes a break for tea or coffee. That's been a good social time to meet students and hear a bit more about their stories. There are only about 25 full-time residential students in undergraduate programs, so that means small class sizes and plenty of opportunities to know and build into students' lives. There are also many part-time students as well as a program in the prison with around 90 inmates enrolled. Yet it's the growing Distance Education department that accounts for the bulk of our students, but I'll save that topic for a future post.