From left to right: Stan Gladysh, Ephim Brudskyy, Maria Glushkovetska, Igor Karpachov, Pavel Kabanov, Anatoliy Huralskyy, Kees Compier, Richard James (behind Kees), Sergei Bogolepov, Johannes Egbert Gjaltema, Elena Martikhina, Yulia Plyutinskaya (behind Elena) and Volodya Glushkovetskyi.

MEADS  Courses in Europe

After five years, the Ministerial Education and Discipleship Studies program has its first European graduate.

Pavel Kabanov from Moscow, Russia, graduated in 2008 after completing the last of the 18 courses. Classes now will be offered again so that staff members who started later or who had missed a session also can complete the work. The program began in 2003, when the first two courses were offered in Europe for five staff members.

For each course, participants prepare by reading books and other material. Then they travel to various places in Europe to participate in a week of classes. About 20 hours of class time is needed for each course, and papers are due during class or shortly thereafter.

Classes are in English, but because not all participants are fluent in that language, a translation in Russian is provided. Participants have been allowed to submit papers in English or Russian, which at times has made it challenging for the facilitators.

Johannes Egbert Gjaltema, originally from Zwaagwesteinde, participated in the courses and caught the interest of a local newspaper. A newspaper interviewed him about his ministry and the educational program. It published a nice article, accompanied by a picture of the group.

—Kees Compier reporting,
Bishop Europe Church