The Nygren Advenure Begins!
It’s a big year of transitions for the Nygrens! We held off
sending out the traditional Christmas letter since details were still up in the
air at that point, but the time has come…
Although it might seem sudden to some, we’ve been thinking
about this process ever since Tom began pursuing a master’s degree in teaching
English as a Second Language (ESL) four years ago. Over the past two years, Tom
has had the opportunity to teach ESL part time in local colleges, and every
class he’s taught has confirmed his desire to teach full time.
Why Malaysia you
might ask?
As our children move
on towards independence (more on that later), we wanted to explore work
overseas again, and in fact, full time ESL positions are much easier to come by
in overseas contexts. The harder question was actually where to begin looking when opportunities are so
widespread, as well as finding a place where Janet could serve. We started our
search in Malaysia because of the personal connection we have to Phil &
Barb DeHart, friends we have supported for many years in their work with the
church in Asia. From the beginning of our conversations, God seemed to be
paving the way for our next steps in ways we could hardly imagine.
So what will we be
doing?
Tom will be a lecturer, teaching English at the Centre for
English Language Studies at Sunway University in the capital city, Kuala
Lumpur. This will be a full-time position, initially for one year, with the
possibility to continue longer if things go well. Janet will be a liaison for
the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), which focuses on
equipping the local church to help people connect biblical truths with everyday
life challenges. This is an application of her Master’s in Biblical Counseling
that she received from CCEF/Westminster Theological Seminary in 2008. Over the
past few years, she has been using her training in the context of the local church as well as
in helping to administer online distance education courses for CCEF. She sees
this opportunity in Malaysia as a next step in applying her training and
experience in a new context where it is much needed. A preliminary conference in Malaysia in
January confirmed that what CCEF has to offer will be eagerly sought after by
the local church in Malaysia. As a liaison for CCEF she will help to establish
CCEF classes among leaders and lay people, working with local churches as well
as a seminary in Kuala Lumpur. So we
head out on July 29 for at least a year, possibly longer as we see how things
go.
And what about the
children?
Jen graduated magna cum laude this May with a BA in history
from Denison University in Granville, OH. For years she’s been thinking about
teaching , but as she approached graduation and thought about her future, she
analyzed her heart’s desires and goals, and decided she really wanted to pursue
student ministry. God seemed to be paving the way for Jen as well, and very
quickly she found her place as an intern for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. Just in the last couple of weeks
she’s found a place to live, a part-time job to help support herself, and
opportunities to meet with students, confirming her desires for the coming year.
She’s very excited!
Joel just completed his sophomore year at the Peabody
Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He is in a 5-year
program in which he will earn double degrees in performance in jazz piano and
recording arts engineering and is looking to complete a master’s in acoustics
in that time as well. So he’s set there for the next three years, enjoying all
that Baltimore has to offer for him. This year he started taking organ lessons
as well. He works hard to balance piano
practice, playing in ensembles, and keeping up with course work, as well as
taking on local gigs, participating in music leadership in his local church,
and helping start a chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Peabody.
So with Jen and Joel both settling down in supportive
environments where they are pursuing their futures and doing things they love,
Tom and Janet prepare to purge their house of things like toddler toys and
other non-essential items accumulated over the past 17 years! We just found
renters for our house (friends of friends, a wonderful answer to prayer!), but
are still looking for someone who might want to adopt a 17-year old cat.
We welcome your prayers over the upcoming transitions for
all of us. While we are excited about our adventures ahead, it is also
difficult to leave loved ones and our church family behind. They
tell us that the beaches in Malaysia are second to none, so any of you who’d
like to venture that far across the globe have an open invitation!