Borneo Briefings November 2018 - Trinity Lutheran Church
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Borneo Briefings
November 2018
Newsletter from the Trozzo family,
Serving the Church in Sabah, Malaysia
Selamat Hari Guru - Happy Teacher’s Day
Teacher’s Day
is an annual festival at our seminary. It is a day off from classes,
meetings, and work (which in Asia is a statement of how honored
teachers are). The seminary organizes students, faculty, and staff into
“family groups” which meet weekly for prayer, devotions, support, and a
meal. For Teacher’s Day celebrations, family groups were given the
opportunity to compete in games and crafts, including cake decorating
and a table of supplies to make the best card for teachers in the group.
Eric’s group went “awol” and, ignoring the table, went out into nature to
find live ferns, flowers, and decorations for his card. They also gave Eric
one of his favourite things: a new batik shirt.
1st November – Surgery Scheduled
Wendolyn has been diagnosed with an extremely
high risk of uterine cancer, so our team of US and
Malaysian doctors have recommended a
laparoscopic hysterectomy. Thankfully, the
procedure can be done here in KK, and Wendolyn
should only be in hospital for 2-3 days. Recovery
takes 2-4 weeks and so the seminary community is
rallying around the Trozzo’s to keep Wendolyn
from doing too much. Thankfully, November and
December are the least busy months for Eric. As
Wendolyn packs for the hospital, prayer shawls
from various congregations are already packed.
Continuing prayers are appreciated.
Theses complete!
Two of the students that Eric has been mentoring will be graduating this year. At STS,
September is the month for completing your thesis if you want to graduate that year. Both Rev.
Joefrerick and Rev. Josip were able to complete their thesis, and passed it with good grades.
Both will continue to work in
cooperation with the Lutheran Study
Centre after they graduate. That
makes this a particularly exciting step
for both of them.
Rev. Joefrerick’s Master of Theology
degree requires an oral examination
before a panel. Pictured here is his
panel committee, sharing dinner the
night before his examination.
Completing Home Assignment
In September we wrapped up our home assignment, with
visits to two more congregation. We were able to spend our
anniversary at the congregation where we were married,
Eric’s home congregation of St. Luke’s in Cumberland, MD.
Amazingly, a last-minute replacement organist sang, for the
offertory, a song sung at our wedding, 18 years ago! Then we
rounded out our visits with our first trip to the Lutheran
Church of Our Savior in Haddonfield, NJ. We were able to be
there for their ministry fair as the new academic year kicked
off.
Transitioning back to Malaysia
Caedmon is shown here guarding our luggage at
Washington-Dulles airport. We brought back
pretzels, theology books, prayer quilt squares,
clothes that “fit right” (to us), and pressed
pennies / bulletins from the many places we
visited. We arrived home at around 2 am but
could only sleep a bit. We made the most of jet
lag and went out for Indian food at 4 am!
This is a sample menu. The most
common foods here are “nasi”
(rice) and “mee” (noodles) – both
fried (“goreng”. Most restaurant
creations confuse us – what is nasi
goreng special? Many places
serve, for example, “nasi goreng
USA” which often means they cut
up a (chicken) hot dog into it. But you can’t really
be sure of what you’re ordering – you just hope for
the best, and it usually works out!
Caedmon is shown here with a Mexico license
plate – yes, we played the license plate game all
summer, and we definitely won! Including Alaska,
Hawaii, Mexico, and 5 Canadian provinces.
Wendolyn’s Course at Trinity
Theological College, Singapore
Immediately after returning to Malaysia,
Wendolyn spent two weeks completing a
course on Liturgical Theology with Dr. Jeff
Truscott, an ELCA missionary who is one of
only three people in southeast Asia who hold a
PhD in worship studies. The course was
enlightening, and Wendolyn was welcomed
into the TTC community, amazed by the wonders of
their 200-person choir. Next door to the seminary
was something we do not have in east Malaysia: a
Salvation Army thrift shop. Their sections of
cultural clothing and musical instruments were
fascinating. As we teach our kids, if possible, go
beyond being a tourist or visitor: be a traveler, and be
fascinated.
Intensive Courses
Getting back from home assignment means
teaching intensive courses for Eric. Since we
are in the U.S. for half of the semester at STS,
it doesn’t work to teach a regular, weekly class.
Eric taught a one week intense course on
Theological Methodology for two Master of
Theology students who are majoring in
Systematic Theology. He also taught Church
History in a certificate program aimed at lay
church leaders. That course was over three
weekends: 3 hours Friday night and seven
hours on Sunday afternoon. Intensive courses
really are intense and tiring, but there is also a
joy in getting completely immersed in a subject
for several days.
FELCMS Meetings The leaders of the five Lutheran church bodies in Malaysia and Singapore (also known as the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Malaysia and Singapore or FELCMS) gather each year to share with one another what is going on in their ministries. Representatives from global partners, such as the ELCA, the Lutheran Church of Australia, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria, also attend. This October, the meetings were held in Singapore. Since Eric work connects with all of these groups, he is also invited to take part. Resources in the Malay language One of the ongoing goals that we work with is to make resources in the Malay language available to the churches. We are still distributing copies of the Malay translation of the Small Catechism that was produced a few years ago, and are slowly adding tracts that give simple explanations. Last week a tract on communion was released; in August one on baptism was finished and is now available. The tracts are translated from English ones by the Lutheran Tract Mission in Australia.
Two Things we are happy to see on
Home Assignment
We were delighted and impressed this summer
with the different ways that congregations share
our news, stories, and serving. A big thank you
to the many
folks that build
connections in
such creative
ways!
The other thing
we like to see? That our stuff in storage didn’t rot. In our 10-
foot-cube, we still have a kitchen table, toolbox, seminary books,
and a sled in storage. Here Eric bravely searches for a book on
Christian Education that Wendolyn needs for a course.
We are grateful for your support!
Two easy ways to give:
1.) online at Community.ELCA.org/Malaysia (takes you directly to our page, or 2.)
By cheque, made payable to ELCA Global Church Sponsorship, with Trozzo
MSG0715 in the memo line; or 2.) Mailing address: ELCA Gift Processing Center,
P.O. Box 1809, Merrifield, VA 22116-8009. If you have any questions, please call
800-638-3522, ext. 2657, or contact globalchurch@elca.org.
You can contact us by:
Email: eric.trozzo@elca.org and wendofish@yahoo.com
Mail: Sabah Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 11925
88821, Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia
WhatsApp: +60 168264459
And on our Facebook page: Facebook.com/FlungForthAnew
Thank you for being such a blessing to us!
The peace of the Lord be with you!
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