If you’re like me, you probably enjoy a good story. Some of my favorite stories are about Christian professors who teach and share their faith in universities around the world. These people who are faithfully serving the Lord in academia are my heroes. I recently had the opportunity to travel through Eastern Europe, sit across the table from some of them, and hear their stories in person. One professor I got to speak with is Dr. Josh Hayden, who recently moved with his family to the Czech Republic. While you may not be able to sit across the table from the Haydens, you can hear some of their story and heart to see the Lord at work in higher education.

Perhaps the most well-known Advent song is the haunting hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The song celebrates that “Emmanuel” has come – that the Almighty God has come in the form of a baby boy and dwelt among his people – God with us.

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we have the opportunity to stop and reflect on the many things we are thankful for – in addition to eating lots of food!

Perhaps your family has each person share one thing he or she is thankful for before the big meal is served. As I think of the many things to be thankful for, I’m overwhelmed by the ways we’ve seen the Lord at work at Global Scholars this year.

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we have the opportunity to stop and reflect on the many things we are thankful for – in addition to eating lots of food!

Perhaps your family has each person share one thing he or she is thankful for before the big meal is served. As I think of the many things to be thankful for, I’m overwhelmed by the ways we’ve seen the Lord at work at Global Scholars this year.

Everyone who follows a Facebook account around this time of the year knows that a new school year has begun! We all smile at the first-day-of-the-new-school-year picture posted by proud parents on social media. Behind the scenes, mom and dad outfit their kids with new shoes, clothes, supplies, and backpacks for a fresh start. Their teachers have been attending meetings for weeks and tidying school rooms. New academic beginnings are exciting–a chance for a fresh start. But what if your kids are in a new school in a new country? And what if dad is a brand-new professor in a university and everyone is getting used to a new home, community, stores, and routines at the same time?

I was pleased to learn recently that the average term of service of a Global Scholars professor is now over eight years! I am delighted with this number, especially given our rapid growth with lots of new scholars. More importantly, we have discovered that this kind of stability is essential. The longer a professor is in a place, the more opportunities he or she has to bless and to share the gospel. While we have many excellent professors with long tenures, one who comes to mind is Dr. Granville Pillar, who with his wife, Ibolya, serves in Central Europe.