WASHINGTON
CONFERENCE // LIVING GOD’S MISSION
BIG PICTURE OF MINISTRY The Sabbath Keepers motorcycle ministry has a new Puget Sound chapter in Lynnwood in addition to an established Northwest chapter in Puyallup. This ministry is committed to sharing the gospel of Jesus with the motorcycle community and is looking for new members to join this outreach.
CHRYSTAL CLEMONS
Washington International Student Experience (WISE) has ongoing conversations with Korea and China to place students in American schools. To help in this process, WISE invited four Korean recruiting agents to tour nine Adventist Christian education schools in five states.
HEIDI BAUMGARTNER
Throughout western Washington, Adventist churches are presenting Bible prophecy seminars for the community. Leaders are sharing how this is strengthening the faith of church members and helping new friends understand the relevancy of Bible prophecy.
AMERICAN AND CHINESE EDUCATORS EXCHANGE IDEAS
More photos online at glnr.in/wa-china-edu.
E
arlier this year Chinese educators invited American educators to conduct an in-service training session for teachers in the Yuhang School District in Hangzhou, China. Lon Gruesbeck, Washington International Student Experience (WISE) director, and David Morgan, Blue Mountain Academy (Hamburg, Pa.) principal, co-presented this teacher in-service Sept. 22–26. “This was a fantastic opportunity and an honor to be able to share with colleagues in another country,” says Gruesbeck. Gruesbeck and Morgan presented practical, hands-on training to more than 200 elementary, middle and high school teachers on topics such as “Moving Students Outside the Box” and “The Soul of Education … Mindset, Attitudes and Methods.” The presentations included short videos and PowerPoint presentations. Eighty-five high school students also joined the training. “We discovered that students and teachers in China are very much like students and teachers here in America,” says Gruesbeck. “Teachers in China have some of the same desires and passions for their students as American teachers. The challenge for teachers in China is they are not allowed to get out of the proverbial box. One teacher even stated, ‘How can we move our students outside the box when we ourselves are not allowed out of the box?’” 18
december 2014
Chinese educators in the Yuhang School District in Hangzhou, China, learn about the “Soul of Education” and how to move students “outside the box.”
Four student ambassadors — Brenden Gay and Ashley Hunte from Blue Mountain Academy and Paris Altman and Connor Hubin from Auburn Adventist Academy — participated in an education exchange. The students lived in homes with students their own age and attended classes with their host students at Yuhang No. 2 High School. “Our students had a wonderful learning experience,” says Gruesbeck, “and so many opportunities to share with their fellow students in China.” Heidi Baumgartner, Washington Conference communication director