T R ANS F O R M I N G
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Spain Merly Abreu Bundy '83 went from EC to Messiah College, where she studied Math Education, largely due to the influence of her EC math teacher. From there, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and has been there since. Merly said, “I have been church planting here with the Brethren in Christ church since 1988. My husband and I worked inter-denominationally at first and helped start churches and youth programs. We are currently church planting for the BIC and co-lead two congregations in Madrid and a neighbouring mountain town. We work among much of the immigrant population as well as among Spaniards who have very little knowledge of the Bible despite its Catholic heritage.” Even in her work as a church planter, her love of teaching and EC's impact on her has followed her across the Atlantic. She said, “Many teachers had a profound impact on me. Two especially come to mind. Mrs. Michele Postema developed my love for teaching English, and now I teach English to executives in Madrid. Ray Vanderlaan was essential in my Bible training. What I learned at EC went beyond academics. The teachers integrated their faith which also taught me how to integrate my faith in my every day life no matter where I am in the world.”
Merly Bun dy (2nd
from left) an d
her family
Japan Michele Boerman Postema and Tom Postema have been around the world and back since teaching at Eastern Christian. Michele taught English and directed plays at ECHS from 1979-1986. Tom joined her in 1983 as a math teacher. That was only the beginning of their journey.
South Korea until 2011. Last summer we returned to Jersey, to the Mustard Seed School where I am Head of School and Michele is the Director of Admissions and Community Relations. We had served at this school from 1989-1991,” Tom said.
“When we left EC in 1986, we moved to Christian Academy in Japan in Tokyo. We went for one year and ended up staying 18. After a four year stint back in the US from 1989-1993, we went back to Japan and stayed until 2008. In 2008 we moved to Gyeonggi Suwon International School in
This chance to travel the world has given the Postema's a chance to learn from a variety of experiences. Tom said, “At every stop in our career path, we have learned much. We were first-year teachers at EC. In many ways we grew into better teachers because of the colleagues and leaders that we worked with at EC—Bruce Hekman, Jan Lucas, and many others. As we moved to international schools, we learned as much from the cultural settings of the schools as from our colleagues.” Tom sees a big change in Eastern Christian since he has come back to the area, a change that helps EC in its mission to transform the world. He said, “I see much more a global sense in EC students and EC culture now than we did when we first came to New Jersey in 1979. It was pretty Dutch and Christian Reformed back then. There were many students in the early days who rarely ventured into New York City! Now there is a diversity of students and teachers, folks with cultural backgrounds that reflect the changing demographics of northern New Jersey. Having lived in Asia for the past couple of decades and having students from all over the world, we see the importance of having a global outlook and a sense that the world is bigger than northern New Jersey. As communications and travel opportunities expand, students need to be able to interact in meaningful ways with people of diverse cultures, languages, and religions. Christians ought to be at the forefront of this education.”
Tom and Michele Postema P a g e
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