Spring/Summer 2000

Hello dear friends!

I hope you enjoy this newsletter, which I’ve prepared to try to make my life more real to you.

Monday

6:30 a.m. Wake up eat typical breakfast: fruit, yoghurt, cereal with milk, and juice.

7:30 a.m. Devotional—pray, read Scripture and reflect on God’s presence.

8:00 a.m. Teach an undergraduate course, "Counseling Issues II," for third- and fourth-year students at Evangelical Theological Seminary. Cover loss, trauma, and crisis intervention.

11:00 a.m. Meet with students to answer questions and give feedback on their counseling skills.

12:30 p.m. Meet 11-year-old boy at the community Christian counseling center. Help him overcome the harmful effects of father’s alcoholism on family.

1:40 p.m. Quick lunch at seminary cafeteria. Main meal of day: soup, pork, potatoes. Catch up on academic news with faculty.

2:15 p.m. Go to hospital with several students from the seminary. Supervise their work helping children cope more effectively with illness and hospitalization. Use games, puzzles, visual arts, music, puppets, etc.

6:15 p.m. Grade papers, prepare lectures, correspond with visiting professors, write supporting churches.

8:00 p.m. Light dinner with students in the cafeteria: sandwich, hard-boiled egg, and tea.

9:00 p.m. Recreation time: E-mail friends, read, and chat with students about future ministry plans, Croatian politics, social life.

Tuesday

11:00 a.m. Meet with two groups of students after class to help with group projects.

12:30 p.m. Attend chapel. Students lead every aspect of worship—preaching, singing, playing instruments, reading Scripture, praying.

2:15 p.m. After lunch, go to hospital to work with the children. Supervise fieldwork of students from teacher’s college. Feel joy and privileged to share skills and experiences with future professionals and to be Christian witness to students beyond seminary walls.

6:15 p.m. At counseling center, work with a
9-year-old girl with severe school-related anxiety. Has physical symptoms that interfere with her ability to concentrate. Try to break negative cycle through competent, compassionate counseling.

7:30 p.m. Go out with fellow mission workers to pizzeria and then see "The Green Mile" in English, with Croatian subtitles.

Wednesday

11:15 a.m. Go to counseling center after class. Six-year-old boy with aggressive behavior causing problems in kindergarten. Use play to find the cause and then other activities to teach how to release feelings in more appropriate ways. Thirteen-year-old girl, very shy and withdrawn. First meeting, so I explain counseling process. Main goal to establish an open relationship built on trust.

2:30 p.m. Give workshop on self-esteem in city library, children’s area. Part of prevention-oriented workshops on mental health topics for community. Many interested due to fun, non-clinical environment. Use stories in English that librarian translates to Croatian for kids. Games, drama, and music make topics come alive.

6:00 p.m. Attend new Reformed church geared to young people. It was developed in partnership with PC(USA) and a Croatian Reformed pastor. Dynamic Bible study invigorates spiritual life. Different perspectives provide fresh insights into faith.

Brett McMichael