Previous | Next 

Fresno, Calif.
International MB Teacher Exchange is launched


One of the spin-offs from the International Committee of Mennonite Brethren consultation in Wichita, Kan., in the summer of 1999 was a meeting of international MB educators. Earlier, MBMS International had appointed a facilitator for International Teacher Exchange (Elmer Martens). Under this program and others, within the last year a number of North American educators have taught in Mennonite Brethren and other schools in other parts of the world. For instance:

Dalton Reimer, co-director of the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif., lectured and conducted workshops at the Universidad Evangelica Del Paraguay in Asuncion, Paraguay, in late summer. Reimer has previously conducted similar seminars in India and at Lithuania Christian College. John Faul and his wife Eloise visited India Feb. 6 to March 2 to offer input as a psychiatrist at the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College and at the Medical Centre in Jadcherla. Abe Konrad of Edmonton visited Asuncion, Paraguay last fall to assist in the organizing of the Universidad Evangelica Del Paraguay. He has been invited back for a follow-up consultation Sept. 15 to Oct 16, 2000. David Ewert has been invited to teach at the St. Petersburg Christian University in Russia in early October. Pending receipt of a visa, he will go and offer 30 hours of lectures in New Testament and hermeneutics. Plans are advancing for Lynn Jost of Tabor College to teach a biblical studies course at MB Centenary Bible College in India in the spring of 2001. He became interested in the assignment when E.D. Solomon, an educator in India, visited Jost’s class at Tabor College. A school in Africa, which needs library books catalogued, has been put in touch with a retired North American librarian. An experiment in “inter-country partnership” proposed by Tim Bertsche of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission is planned for March 3-14, 2001. He will bring church leaders from the Africa Independent Church in Botswana on a Bible Learning Tour to Israel, where they will be joined by church leaders from North America for a 10-day experience of interaction and instruction about biblical sites. Elmer Martens of Fresno, Calif. is tour host and instructor. Meserete Kristos College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is seeking volunteer teachers. It is the only Bible training institution for the Meserete Kristos Church, which is a member of Mennonite World Conference. Instruction is in English. The school terms extend from September to December, from Jan. 28 to mid-May and from mid-June to mid-August. Guest lecturers for a full term are preferred, although a module of three weeks is possible. MBMS International has recently established a partnership relationship with the college. The growth of the Meserete Kristos Church is phenomenal, tripling from 50,000 members in 1992 to 150,000 today. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of $120 per year.

Process

The process for teacher exchanges is as follows:

The educator completes an application form to serve as a “Global Volunteer” under MBMS International (the Mennonite Brethren mission agency). The Global Volunteer pays travel costs and receives no payment for his/her teaching. However, all or part of the travel costs may be income-tax deductible. The Global Volunteer may also solicit travel funds (potentially income-tax deductible) from his/her church, relatives and friends. The length of the teaching stint is usually negotiable – from 3 weeks to a year. The host college arranges for room and board and in-country transportation. The assignment can be initiated either by the host institution or the educator, but generally the institution offers an invitation to a lecturer and makes a proposal. The parties keep the facilitator for International Teacher Exchange, Elmer Martens of Fresno, informed. Martens has on file detailed information about volunteers and institutions. Sometimes administrators state a specific need and time frame and ask Martens to negotiate a placement. The Global Volunteer assignment is processed by MBMSI for approval. (Ron Penner, MBMSI Director for Personnel Services, processes volunteer appointments.)

The program is intended to be two-way, not one-way. North American schools are encouraged to arrange for (and finance) “volunteers” from schools in other continents.

An International Educator’s Newsletter is prepared by Elmer Martens, with assistance from Shelly Spencer of MBMSI.

Elmer Martens can be contacted by e-mail at eamartens@compuserve.com or by phone at (559) 291-5904. MBMS International can be contacted at 4867 E. Townsend Ave., Fresno, CA 93727, USA; phone (559) 456-4600, fax (559) 251-1432, e-mail mbmsi@mbmsinternational.org.

 – Adapted from an International Educator’s Newsletter

Previous | Next 

Last modified October 20, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.