Around the World

This year, Nathan has traveled almost every month. Most often it has been to represent the Archbishop at international conferences, among which have been the World Council of Churches "Faith and Order Commission in Malaysia the ecumenical gathering "Together For Europe" in Stuttgart, Germany, which involved 8,000 participants from 189 Christian organizations in Europe; the official dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the Lutheran World Federation, which occurred in Romania; and a Syndesmos-sponsored seminar, "Mission in Eastern Europe" in Belgorod, Russia.

At the Orthodox-Lutheran dialogue in Romania, Nathan was chosen to help draft the joint statement because he was the only first-language English speaker among the Orthodox representatives.  He and an Australian Lutheran worked many late nights to craft a document representing the "divergences and convergences" of Orthodox and Lutheran theology and practice.

For the missions conference in Russia, Nathan participated as a plenary speaker, giving a talk on the challenges of missions in Eastern Europe, and presented three, hour-long sessions on how to share the Orthodox faith with non-believers.

Nathan's travels have taken him from home for more than four months this past year. This separation has been challenging far us as a family, but during his absences, I have tried to focus my attention on my own development as a person.  I've read and studied more broadly and have pushed myself to try things I wouldn't otherwise have attempted, such as driving the winding mountain road to the Monastery of St. John Vladimir by myself so that we would have a car at the camp in case of emergencies.

To help the children, I have tried to plan special activities or playtimes for them.

I have been pleased that Nathan has been exposed to such a broad range of people and events, and have enjoyed seeing how much these opportunities have developed him as a speaker, a theologian, and a missionary.