Holsby Facebook Challenge
Holsby is a place that has facilitated a lot of close friendships and even a good number of successful marriages! And every year we see many of our former students, staff and volunteers return to the place where their lives were enriched and changed. What brings them back? Not just the peaceful beauty of this remote village in southern Sweden, but to a large degree it is the deep relationships that were formed and the lasting memories that they evoke.
In an attempt to help our alumni and former staff stay connected, we have created separate Facebook groups for each of the school years since Holsby’s founding in 1973. Some groups have been created by students from various years, but now every year has a group that is waiting to be filled with students and staff from that year.
So, our challenge to you is to get on Facebook (join if you haven’t already – it’s quite easy) and then look up the Holsby Facebook group for your year. Just do a search in Facebook using the following format: “Holsby Bible School 1973-74,” or whatever year you attended. Then follow the instructions to join the group.
Once you have joined, invite any classmates you can remember to join as well. Pretty soon, you will have a good network of Holsby friends to reconnect with. It will also give us a chance to keep you updated on what is going on here on campus. We have some exciting plans for the future and once you are in a Holsby Facebook group, we can automatically keep you updated with the articles published on our FikaTime blog: fikatime.holsby.org
Picture board from the very first Bible school class 1973-74 (click to enlarge)
To aid you in your search for the Facebook group for your year, I am including below a list of the Facebook groups that don’t fit the standard format of “Holsby Bible School YYYY-YY.” These are the groups created by various former students. Here they are:
- Torchbearers Holsby Brunn 82/83 – Capernwray Sweden
- Torchbearers Holsby Brunn 87/88 – Capernwray Sweden
- Holsby Brunn 87-88
- Holsby Brunn class of 1991-92
- Holsby Brunn class of 1999-2000
- Holsbybrunn 2000
- Holsby Reunion 2001-2002
- Holsby 03/04
- European Holsby Reunion School Year 2010/11
- Holsby (1999-00 class)
Several of the Holsby class Facebook groups have already started to populate, and as you join a group it will motivate others to do the same. We encourage you to stay in touch with your Holsby classmates and see what has been happening in their lives since you last met. You can also check out the official Holsby fan page: “Holsby Brunn – A Torchbearer Bible School in Sweden.”
Click on image to connect to Holsby fan page
If you have any ideas on how to enhance the Facebook presence of Holsby, please let us know. You can email me at: john@holsby.org
More news to follow!
“2nd Gens” for 2014-15
It’s always fun to meet the “next” generation of Holsby students. For quite a few years, with very little exception, we’ve enjoyed meeting sons and daughters of our former students. This year we have four “2nd Gens” – all guys, and all from Canada!
2nd Gens from L to R: Quinn, Braden, Andrew & Devin
DEVIN WOODLAND’s father goes back the farthest – ANDY WOODLAND from school year 1978–79. The Woodland family now makes Three Hills, Alberta its home. Andy, together with his family, served in an Asian country for almost 12 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators. These were Devin’s growing up years. Currently, Andy is an immigration consultant, and also continues to do Bible translation for Wycliffe.
I asked the guys how much of a role their parent played in recommending Holsby. Devin said his dad talked more about the Bible school in recent years.
Asked to describe this year of Bible school in one word, Devin replied, “REST.”
Class of 1978-79 (click to enlarge)
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ANDREW DICK’s mom is SHARON DECKER Dick from the school year 1981-82. Langley, British Columbia is home, and Sharon is a stay-at-home mom. Andrew’s parents had the opportunity to visit Holsby last fall at the beginning of the school year. It is always nice to meet moms and/or dads of our students.
Growing up, Andrew always knew about the Bible school in Holsby, but he made his own choice.
Asked to describe this year of Bible school in one word, Andrew responded, “AWESOME.”
Class of 1981-82 (click to enlarge)
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QUINN HAMMOND’s dad was a student in 1984–85 – ANDREW HAMMOND. Home for the family is Abbottsford, British Columbia. Andrew owns his own geo-therm company.
Quinn, whose sister, Jill, was also a student here a few years ago, was influenced by what he heard about Holsby as he was growing up.
Asked to describe this year of Bible school in one word, Quinn answered, “CRAZY.”
Class of 1984-85 (click to enlarge)
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BRADEN KEHLER holds the unique distinction of having both parents attend Holsby, and in the same year. MIKE KEHLER & MELANIE SAMUELSON Kehler (who came as a couple) were students in 1986-87. Calgary, Alberta is their current home. Mike is an investment banker, and Melanie is a stay-at-home mom who home schools.
Braden heard a lot about Holsby in his lifetime, but made his own choice. He liked that Holsby was a smaller school.
Asked to describe this year of Bible school in one word, Braden replied, “RELAXING” (change of pace).
Class of 1986-87 (click to enlarge)
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We invited the guys to our home one afternoon for a special Swedish treat – smörgåstårta! (“sandwich cake” in English). We enjoyed talking and sharing stories together. But it was a special delight to take out the book featuring 40 years of picture boards at Holsby, and see all those “parent pictures” from so long ago!
TEEBEE #16
It was almost 9:30 on a Sunday morning! Contractions, two minutes apart, hit without too much warning. Jonathan was scheduled to speak in the morning worship service in the Chapel. Trista called him in his office and related what was happening. Not much more than a half hour later, they were on their way to the hospital in Eksjö (40 minutes away), having met three staff mammas by their car, who each took one of the Miller children.
Jonathan calculated the time of birth at 2 hours and 17 minutes after Trista’s first contraction! And all the morning’s happenings came after a full night of sleep! What a blessing! Trista recounted more blessings as she shared about that eventful morning – contractions began before the morning service so Jonathan was readily available, and the other mothers had not yet left for their churches but were still at home. God’s timing was so perfect!!
Little Ofelia Rose was named after Jonathan’s grandmother (a loving woman of God), and she also shares Trista’s middle name.
NAME: Ofelia Rose Miller
DATE: 25 January 2015
TIME: 11:47 a.m.
WEIGHT: 3180 grams (about 7 lbs., 1 oz.)
LENGTH: 49 cm. (about 19 in.)
PARENTS: Jonathan & Trista Miller
SIBLINGS: Huxley, Hazel, & Nox
The name Ofelia means “help.” A baby is totally trusting – they can do nothing on their own. They breathe and wiggle, eat, and sleep. But as they grow older, they begin to be aware of the need for help and begin to ask in order to obtain their goals. We know little Ofelia will grow up being taught that God wants to be her Helper in all things – and that HE is worthy of her trust. The verse in the Psalms says it so simply:
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
The Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2
CONGRATULATIONS, Miller family, on the birth of little Ofelia Rose!! We pray she will grow into girl who loves Jesus and a woman who is faithful to HIM!
Choosing the Good Part
Each year we have students come to Holsby wondering if they have made the right decision. Is studying God’s Word for a whole school year really the best choice? Am I wasting my time? Maybe I should have started my university studies like my best friend did? Everyone comes with a different set of circumstances and with different expectations that have been placed on them by themselves or by others.
Christine enjoying a Swedish winter day
At the beginning of each school year, I teach a couple of class hours about Sweden as a country, its culture and some basics of the Swedish language. These hours usually fall at the end of the first week of school. This year while I was preparing to share with the students, I had already heard a couple of students express uncertainty as to whether they should have come to Holsby or not. As I was thinking about this, the phrase “you have chosen the good thing and it will not be taken from you” entered my mind. I knew it was from God’s Word but I couldn’t remember from where. I couldn’t find it, so I had to Google it. (When all else fails, use Google.)
“The Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)
The phrase that came to my mind was from the mouth of Jesus, when He commended Mary for having chosen to sit at His feet and listen to His words rather than help her sister Martha with all the practical preparations. Mary chose the good part, to absorb the words of God’s Son and His teaching, and Jesus promised her that what she learned and the Lord whom she knew, could never be taken away from her.
This passage often bothered me in the past, but I think I came to a better understanding of what Jesus meant when I applied it to our students. It wasn’t so much about Jesus reprimanding Martha for working hard (which is what I had gotten stuck on) as it was about Jesus pointing out the eternal blessing we have when we choose Him. Jesus understands that we have practical, mundane things to take care of as humans living on this earth, but Mary had made the best choice when she chose to put those things aside and listen to the Son of God who was visiting in their home. The other things could be taken care of in due time.
I briefly shared with our students at the beginning of class that their choice to set aside a school year to get to know God’s Word and Jesus Himself better was much like Mary’s choice, and that Jesus called that “the good part.” Their careers, degrees, cars and social life will still be waiting for them when they get home. What they will learn at Holsby this year will be with them for the rest of their lives and into eternity – “it can not be taken away from them.”
This isn’t just true for our students but for all of us Jesus followers. Each time we spend time in God’s Word, in prayer or worship, whether by ourselves or in church, we are choosing the good part, a secure investment in our future and beyond.
A Christmas Greeting from Holsby
Merry Christmas to all our Holsby friends! On behalf of our entire staff, Christine and I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. We have so much to be grateful for as we celebrate God’s supreme goodness in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. His life for ours; what a wonderful gift exchange!
All is quiet right now on the Holsby campus as the students have left for home, to visit friends or to find adventure in various parts of the world. The peace and quiet gives the staff time to be refreshed and reinvigorated as we look forward to the next term of Bible school and, before long, the spring and summer season of camps and retreats.
We appreciate the prayers and generous giving of our Holsby alumni and friends, and we hope you know that God is continuing to bless the ministry of this place. Call it our slogan or our reason for being, but “Jesus changes lives!” This is what keeps us going and motivates our lives as a staff family. And it’s a growing family, with more and more children being added to our number. I think we have 15 young children and two more on the way!
We already reported on our recent Christmas concert, but I thought I would share with you the devotional that I gave that evening. For your convenience, I am including the English translation!! Have a wonderful celebration of our Savior and Lord – the Great Light!
The Great Light
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:1-5).
The very first thing God does, according to the Bible, is to speak. And His very first words are: “Let there be light.” It is as if God looks around and says, “We need some light around here! It is so dark!” And so He creates something that scientists still can’t fully understand, a thing called light. And God was pleased, because He saw that light is good.
And ever since that day, we have been trying to find new ways to shine light into our darkness – especially here in our Swedish winter. You are probably aware that Sweden is known for being the country that uses the most accent lighting in the world. My wife is a Swede and it takes me eight and a half minutes each night to turn off all the lights she has lit around the house. And God saw that the light was good!
We are attracted to the light, just like moths, but for some reason many people prefer living in darkness to living in the light. Instead of living near the source of light, God Himself, we choose to go our own way and invariably end up getting lost in the darkness.
There was a great prophet named Isaiah – we read about him in the Old Testament – who lived among a people who walked in darkness. And God gave Isaiah a message for the people, a message that predicted that one day a great light would appear and shine on them. God was giving these people, and all of us, a chance to come out of the darkness and live in the light. This is what God says through Isaiah:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Isaiah 9:2).
Isaiah is so sure that this great light will appear, that he writes about it as if it already happened. How can he be so sure? And what is this great light that he predicts will appear?
We know that astronomers can predict many years in advance when certain lights will appear in the sky. Perhaps the most famous reoccurring light in the sky is Halley’s comet. It is the only comet of its kind that can be seen with the naked eye. It last appeared in 1986 and astronomers have calculated that it will make its next appearance in 2061. You can count on it.
But the prophet Isaiah is not predicting a comet, or a star or some other celestial light. He is predicting that the very Creator and Source of light will one day make an appearance and chase away the inner darkness that people experience when they live far from God.
Many years after Isaiah, and many, many years after the creation of the world, a man named John wrote some words that closely echo the creation account. In the Bible book we call the Gospel of John, we read these words:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).
Do you hear the echoes of the creation story? John is speaking of the same Great Light that Isaiah predicted. This is the Light that chases away the darkness in our souls. This is the light that darkness cannot overcome. This is not Swedish accent lighting, this is not a bright comet, this is the Great Light!
Both Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, and John, the New Testament Gospel writer, explain for us that this Great Light is none other than God Himself, come to earth in the form of a human child. This Great Light is Jesus Christ, the One we celebrate this evening through our singing and music.
Jesus is the Great light who shines into our inner darkness and brings hope, forgiveness, salvation, grace, love and light! John tells us that “all who receive Jesus, all who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” As we place our faith in Jesus Christ, that Great Light predicted so many years ago, He has promised to shine His light in us and through us.
I urge you to open your life this evening to God’s light in Jesus Christ. There is no need to live in darkness anymore. The Swedish winter can be over forever! No more need for accent lighting. The Great Light of Jesus Christ will shine on you and no darkness can ever overcome it. If you would like to know more about this Great Light, please come and talk to us after the concert. Or you can talk to any one of these students, because God’s Great Light in Jesus has shown on each of them. You can see it in their faces!
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”
A Great Light
A Great Light! That was the theme of this year’s Julkonsert (Christmas concert) in Alsedakyrka on 6 December 2014.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
The students sang for a full church with about 400 in attendance
A glorious concert it was!! Hours and hours go into preparing for such an event, but in the end we only want our Lord to be glorified! And the blessings were bountiful! The student-directed choirs were magnificent – both in English and in German. The smaller ensembles could have been professional. Instrumental accompaniments were superb. And a pantomime dance group clearly conveyed the love of Jesus as He longs to draw people away from the world and to Himself.
Christian (Austria), Rachel (USA), Sophia (Germany) and Nick (Canada)
Holsby’s director, John Poysti (who also gave a devotion part-way through the program), wrote afterwards to the staff and students: “The enthusiasm among those who attended was palpable, and I am almost sure that the audience of One took the evening off (please forgive my irreverence…) just to enjoy the concert and all the conversation that ensued. Many people came up to me and others to thank the staff and students for a wonderful evening.”
Sophia playing violin accompaniment with Donna on the organ
All these accolades!! And yet the simplicity of the deepest heartbeat could be expressed in the same way as the German hymn sung by the choir:
I stand at your crib here, O Jesus – You, my life. I come and present you with the things you have already given me. Receive them – My spirit and mind, My heart and my soul, My courage. Take everything and let it please You. I look at You with so much joy and cannot get tired of it. And because I can do nothing else – I stand here in worship!
Ensemble performing “Awake My Soul”
After the concert, everyone was invited to the Bible school for a Christmas “fika.” The dining rooms overflowed!! There was joy, there was pleasure expressed, and there was fellowship extended to our visitors in this conclusion of a most delightful evening.
Enjoying fika in Brunnsgården after the concert
These are the weeks of Advent, a time of anticipation leading up to the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! May your highest priority be, in the midst of all the celebrations, to worship HIM with your whole heart! He is the One whose light leads to life!
A Holsby Adventure
By Hilary Wiebe (Holsby student 2014-15)
On our third week of Bible school we were sent on an adventure into the wilderness of Sweden. One day of hiking and one day of canoeing. We spent one night camping at a site not far from the school. We were split up into four groups. Two groups went at a time while the other two stayed and had lectures.
The hiking portion of the trip required us to orienteer ourselves to the campsite. The majority of it was on paths, but there were times when we were required to bushwhack and completely rely on our leader’s ability to use a compass and map to get us there. Our actual staff leaders, however, were giving us the responsibility to guide ourselves through the forests and I think all of the groups ended up getting lost for at least a brief amount of time. I’m not going to say that those two things necessarily had anything to do with each other; they’re just the facts. It’s all the better if we wandered off a bit though, because Sweden is one of those places where you can go anywhere and it’s all beautiful scenery. The hike lasted about five hours, so not only was it a good time to get to know some of the people in our groups better, but there was also time to walk quietly and just admire God’s wonderful creation.
The canoeing part of the trip was a little longer than the hike, or at least time wise. It took about six or seven hours. We had two people per canoe, but we all tried to stay close so that we could travel as a group. Our journey took us through lakes, canals, and a few incredibly rocky places, which required expert steering to get through. Of course not all of us are experts, but we all managed and amazingly no one tipped their canoe out of all the groups! We also had to portage a few times on our trip; that wasn’t a big deal, at least for my group, because we had some excellent teamwork going on. Once again we got to see even more of the picturesque land in which we are living.
The two groups split up between hiking one day and canoeing the other, but for the night we all camped together at Aspödammen, which is a lake about a 45-minute walk from campus. The hikers arrived first and set up the tents and not long after the canoeing people arrived. After a long day of adventuring we had a lovely hot supper brought to us. The next morning we were off again to continue on our journey. When we got back at the end of the second day we were all happy to be back at Holsby in our comfortable dorms. Overall it was tiring trip, but the time we got to spend with each other and with God’s handiwork made it a wonderful experience and gave us some good memories to look back on for the rest of our time together.
The Much More of Life
What is the much more of life? This was a question we asked our students as they arrived from eleven different countries—Iceland, Mongolia, Australia, Uzbekistan, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, America and Canada. With sleep still in the eyes, but excitement in the heart, students penciled what they thought the much more of life could be. Let me ask you, what do you think is the much more of life? Yes, a somewhat vague and maybe out-of-context question, but the Bible gives us a very specific answer when put in its right context. Watch the video below to see if your response matches that of any of our students, and then if you are still curious and want to know the much more of life, please read on as I share from our theme verse for this year.
So, what is the much more of life? It must be Jesus, right? Well, He is definitely a major part in the sum total of the much more of life, but not a lone figure in it. In Philippians 2:12-13, our theme verse for this year, Paul tells these “beloved” saints to continue obeying, not only as they have done in his presence, but now much more in his absence by working out their salvation because of God who is at work in them. So the much more of life, that Scripture encourages us to continue in every day, is obedience to the work of God in our lives as the day-to-day expression of our salvation. The only reason we can “work out our salvation” is because God, by the Holy Spirit, is working in us what Christ made possible through His life, death, and resurrection. Paul does not want to be the go-to of their salvation, but rather God who began it and will bring it to completion.
This picture, painted by our local artist, Elke Bierau, captures the essence of these verses. The central focus of this picture is a used cross that is now empty with a fruitful grape vine leaning against it along with some gardening tools. To work out one’s salvation is to keep the Gospel the focus of one’s life—a dependence on the death Jesus died for our sins and the life He now lives—making the much more of life possible. We need an empty cross as much as we need a used cross, and the work of keeping the Gospel the focus of our lives will require, like this gardener, the obedience to maintain its truths in our lives and remove sin from our lives. What a relief to know that equipping this work of obedience every day in our lives is the power of God. Whether you are a Holsby alumni or a guest to our FikaTime blog, I encourage you to keep living or begin living in the much more of life…today.
The “Teebees” keep coming…
A son was born to our Bible school principal and his wife earlier this month – Luke & Cheryl Thomas! We praise the Lord for the safe delivery of little Hudson.
What a gift of life all wrapped up in this little lad. He is indeed a little one as well – and so fine-featured! One looks at him, nestled so securely in arms of love, and wonders … What has our Heavenly Father prepared for his future?! That is something we can only know one step at a time. But the Thomas family knows and loves the Lord and has entrusted the future of their son to HIM. As they trust HIM, so will they also lead Hudson in trusting HIM.
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
Congratulations to the happy family! We share your joy! May our Father continue to enrich your lives as you serve HIM so willingly here at Holsby!
“If I Perish, I Perish” – Free audiobook download
September 13th, 2014 would have been Major Ian Thomas’ 100th birthday. In celebration of the founder of Torchbearers International’s life, we are offering his book “If I Perish, I Perish” as a free audiobook download for the remainder of the month. The book is based on the book of Esther, has been recently republished, and is read by the Major himself. Enjoy its important message as we thank God for a man whose availability to Christ has impacted so many lives around the world. Download it here: http://www.torchbearers.org/mp3-files/if-i-perish-i-perish-mp3-download
