Marc in Wroclaw, Poland

I recently spent a week in Wroclaw (Vros-slov) Poland attending a seminar on “Finances and Fundraising for Theological Institutions” conducted by Overseas Council International (OCI). Tony, the UTF Director, and I both attended the week of February 19 -25. We had a great and very informative and educational week. We came home with a long “laundry list” of items to address at the school. The affirming piece for me is that most of what we learned – we had already identified as issues prior to attending. The positive is that now we have some new ideas and thoughts on how to address these issues.

OCI. is a non-profit organization based in Indianapolis, IN who raises funds for theological institutions based primarily in Europe and Africa. If you wish, you can see more information about OCI here: http://www.overseas.org OCI holds yearly seminars for their partnering schools, UTF being one of those schools. Each year they focus on different topics, inviting the president of the school and a representative. Given this year was on administration – Tony asked me along. I was very honored and appreciative of him asking.

I personally got a lot out of the conference as I was able to learn, actually – reconfirm how essential administration is to having a successful school, church and/or organization. There was one session on “Administration as a Calling.” This too encouraged me as they pointed out how different “giftedness” (to use a churchy term) or skills are needed for these administrative roles. Many pastors are very gifted – but not necessarily in administration. They also pointed out that although there may be a “need” that does not necessarily mean you were called to fill that need. In all things we need to seek God first and follow where He leads. As I am looking out into my future – I needed to hear that message again.

The added bonus to the trip was the extra time to explore the city of Wroclaw, Poland. I actually dreaded going to Poland in February – however the weather was nice and the city was a wonderful surprise. The biggest surprise was the food – it was awesome! I all ready liked “Polish Sausage” but it is nothing like the sausage and other smoked meats in Poland. They make a lot of “sour krout” and cabbage dishes, which to my surprise were very good. The city is old and impressive. The building we stayed in, actually a theological school, was originally built in 1690 as a nunnery. The downtown was very impressive as well. Poland is “very” Roman Catholic – it is not an overstatement to say there is literally a Cathedral on every block. You may remember the last Pope, the late Pope John Paul was from Poland.

Overall the trip was very productive. We received some great ideas and materials for UTF – now we just need to put them into practice. On top of that I had a great time of getting to know Tony better and enjoying a wonderful new place.

Thank you for allowing me serve and partake,
Marc

PS –
I found this video on Google prior to going. It gives a short overview of Wroclaw, so I thought you may like to view it.