It appears I haven’t written any kind of update since January. Though I wish it weren’t the case I am not surprised at all. It was a very busy spring semester.
After enjoying a nice Christmas/New Years break back in Nebraska we came back to Saint Louis to dig in once more. I’m not really sure where to begin.
School-wise, this semester was even more challenging than the fall semester. Beings that I was somewhat between Greek and Hebrew I decided to take a heavier load this semester. Our goal is to finish in three years (most do it in four) which requires a pretty strenuous pace. I took six classes for a total of 15 credit hours. I don’t know that I would recommend it. I didn’t get to pour as much into the classes as I would have liked. But we are very anxious to be done with school, to leave in a cheaper setting, to begin ministry, and to start a family so we have decided to move quickly. I continue to enjoy my classes and feel that I am gaining so much invaluable insight for future ministry.
Praise God Dawn was able to find a job quickly in January. She is doing office work at an Optometrist’s office very close to the seminary. It has been a good situation and they have given her time to take some classes. She did decide to change her course of action though. Rather than pursuing a degree she is going to audit classes from now on. She was just too busy to keep up with all the reading and homework. She has also decided to become a Pampered Chef consultant. It is something she has wanted to do for a while and she sees it as an opportunity to help us pay bills as well as meet new people and gain public speaking and hospitality skills. She has already hosted a number of parties. It is difficult to make contacts because we don’t know a lot of people here, but she is a hard worker and she enjoys the business so we’ll see what happens.
Last night we became associate members of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church here in St. Louis. We have been attending there for almost three months now and have decided to make it our church home while we’re here. They have welcomed us and provided many opportunities for us to learn and grow with them. We appreciate the things they are doing and look forward to ministering with them for the next couple years. Dawn is joining the WIC (Women in the Church) hospitality group and I am talking with the new assistant pastor (our neighbor at Gulf Drive) about opportunities for me to serve in the future. We are very glad to be there.
My brother, Josh, was here with us last week. He just graduated from High School and is planning to attend LeEcole Culinary Institute here in St. Louis starting in July. He is going to be moving in with us. We are looking forward to spending more time with him and enjoying any assignments he may need to bring home!
I finished all my finals last week and now have a week off before I start Summer Hebrew. Like Greek last summer, this class meets Mondays and Thursdays until the Middle of August. I am told that Hebrew is easier than Greek and I certainly hope this is the case. I’m also hoping to get ahead on some reading and homework for the upcoming year.
We continue to adjust to Saint Louis. Our main complaint is still all the driving we have to do. This is particularly annoying now with gas prices as they are. On the upside is the friendships we are making. Our community at Gulf Drive has been so helpful and supportive. I’m looking forward to taking Hebrew with some of the guys I’ve gotten to know better. There is a certain sense of camaraderie that comes as we go through classes and similar life struggles together. Our hope is that we can build relationships that will provide a good network of mutual support in future ministry.
There are a thousand little things that I could talk about but this has already gotten rather long. Hopefully I will have a little more time this summer to update this and keep in touch with all of you.
David
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
"Christmas" Letter
The thing about Christmas letters is that if they are going to be both current and received on time, they have to be written at approximately the same time as final papers must be turned in. Thus, here is a belated Christmas letter.
I am writing from my parents’ house in McCook, Nebraska. This is the first year in a long time that we have not had to work over Christmas break and so we have been able to spend more time at home with family. This was a good year to do that since we haven’t been in Nebraska since May.
We are getting used to St. Louis. Our least favorite part is easily the driving time. They are getting ready to shut down one of the main freeways for the next three years so it is only going to get worse. How we long for the days when a quick trip to the store didn’t take an hour or more.
Aside from the hassle of getting from place to place we’re very happy with our apartment and our neighbors. We’re getting to know more people and developing some good friendships. Dawn has started a bi-weekly social time for some of the wives at our apartment complex and that has been a real blessing. They just get together to hang out and talk and I think they are all glad to have each other’s support.
Dawn left Bed, Bath, and Beyond shortly before Christmas break. There have been some problems there since she began in June and after sticking it out for seven months with no apparent changes made by the management we decided it was time for her to move on. She was essentially on the go from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or later on some nights because of class) and it was really wearing her thin. She has some other opportunities lined up. She will have an interview for part-time secretary work with a Christian counseling office when we get back to Saint Louis. Please pray that God would provide something soon. Ideally we would like to see her have more time to take classes (which are free for her if she can just find the time to take them) and to be involved in the seminary community in preparation for our future ministry together.
Zoya continues to excel in sleeping all day and barking at the mailman. She has enjoyed seeing the family over break. It is nice to have a variety of warm laps to choose from when contemplating a nap.
I am still working part-time at the Campus bookstore and enjoying it. School has been challenging to say the least but very rewarding as well. My expectations have been exceeded in so many ways and I praise God for bringing us to this school. The professors exhibit such an encouraging combination of academic rigor and pastoral concern. Our school is small but is growing rapidly and we are well known in seminary circles as a school that consistently produces good shepherds of God’s people.
The most challenging class this semester was undoubtedly Greek in Exegesis. This class reviewed the basic vocabulary and grammar skills we learned in Beginning Greek this summer and began applying them to the real work of interpretation and understanding that goes into sermon preparation. Aside from our weekly review quizzes we delved deeper into Greek grammar and syntax. We learned how to do word studies and textual criticism. We learned how to diagram passages. We learned how to read and evaluate commentaries. We had to write our own commentary with our own translation of an assigned passage from Philippians and we had to translate the entire book of Philippians! I am probably leaving a few things out as well. All of it involves a tremendous amount of time and effort but it can be really exciting as well.
I’ve also really enjoyed Covenant Theology, which is a foundational course for every student. It is team taught by a Systematic Theology professor, an Old Testament professor and a New Testament professor so it is an all-encompassing course. I have come to understand the overarching story of the Bible so much better as a result of this class. I have particularly come to understand the Old Testament and the way it relates to the New Testament much better, something that I always found somewhat confusing before. The class has two parts and I am looking forward to the second part this spring.
I’ll be taking a heavy load of classes this spring – hopefully not foolishly. It sounds like it will mostly be reading and writing response papers, which I am certainly accustomed to by now. Please be praying that I would not take on too much or that God would make it apparent if I need to ease off somehow. The classes I am signed up for include:
Covenant Theology II
God and Humanity
Apologetics and Outreach
Elementary Homiletics
Gospels
Masculine Spirituality
Three of those are only 2 credit classes but that is still 15 hours! They will all be great classes though so I can’t see dropping anything. Dawn is hoping to take two classes. One is a non-MDiv version of the Apologetics & Outreach class that uses the same materials and is taught by the same professor but is tailored to students who won’t be in pastoral ministry. The other is a class called Christ, Humanity, and Redemption and should be a very rewarding class as well. Please pray that whatever job she finds will be flexible enough to allow her to take and enjoy these classes.
Spring semester doesn’t begin until Jan. 29th, but we are taking a one credit Jan-term class on the weekend of the 12th called Gospel-Centered Marriage. We are looking forward to doing this together and also to enjoying the rest of the break with each other.
So things are going well and we are happy to be where we know God wants us. He has brought so much growth to our lives in these past eight months it is hard to convey it in words. We have seen our share of challenges but by His grace they have served to bring us closer to each other and taught us to rely on Him. Our union with Christ has become a source of strength and comfort in the face of trials. We long to know him better and to image forth the glory of God in all that we do. We pray the same for you.
We are so thankful to all of you who are reading this and who have supported us with your prayers and gifts. It has been a sign of God’s grace in our lives and we are so appreciative to have your support. We have truly been blessed.
We pray that you have had a wonderful holiday season and that God’s glory would be your passion in the year to come.
May His peace be with you,
David and Dawn
I am writing from my parents’ house in McCook, Nebraska. This is the first year in a long time that we have not had to work over Christmas break and so we have been able to spend more time at home with family. This was a good year to do that since we haven’t been in Nebraska since May.
We are getting used to St. Louis. Our least favorite part is easily the driving time. They are getting ready to shut down one of the main freeways for the next three years so it is only going to get worse. How we long for the days when a quick trip to the store didn’t take an hour or more.
Aside from the hassle of getting from place to place we’re very happy with our apartment and our neighbors. We’re getting to know more people and developing some good friendships. Dawn has started a bi-weekly social time for some of the wives at our apartment complex and that has been a real blessing. They just get together to hang out and talk and I think they are all glad to have each other’s support.
Dawn left Bed, Bath, and Beyond shortly before Christmas break. There have been some problems there since she began in June and after sticking it out for seven months with no apparent changes made by the management we decided it was time for her to move on. She was essentially on the go from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or later on some nights because of class) and it was really wearing her thin. She has some other opportunities lined up. She will have an interview for part-time secretary work with a Christian counseling office when we get back to Saint Louis. Please pray that God would provide something soon. Ideally we would like to see her have more time to take classes (which are free for her if she can just find the time to take them) and to be involved in the seminary community in preparation for our future ministry together.
Zoya continues to excel in sleeping all day and barking at the mailman. She has enjoyed seeing the family over break. It is nice to have a variety of warm laps to choose from when contemplating a nap.
I am still working part-time at the Campus bookstore and enjoying it. School has been challenging to say the least but very rewarding as well. My expectations have been exceeded in so many ways and I praise God for bringing us to this school. The professors exhibit such an encouraging combination of academic rigor and pastoral concern. Our school is small but is growing rapidly and we are well known in seminary circles as a school that consistently produces good shepherds of God’s people.
The most challenging class this semester was undoubtedly Greek in Exegesis. This class reviewed the basic vocabulary and grammar skills we learned in Beginning Greek this summer and began applying them to the real work of interpretation and understanding that goes into sermon preparation. Aside from our weekly review quizzes we delved deeper into Greek grammar and syntax. We learned how to do word studies and textual criticism. We learned how to diagram passages. We learned how to read and evaluate commentaries. We had to write our own commentary with our own translation of an assigned passage from Philippians and we had to translate the entire book of Philippians! I am probably leaving a few things out as well. All of it involves a tremendous amount of time and effort but it can be really exciting as well.
I’ve also really enjoyed Covenant Theology, which is a foundational course for every student. It is team taught by a Systematic Theology professor, an Old Testament professor and a New Testament professor so it is an all-encompassing course. I have come to understand the overarching story of the Bible so much better as a result of this class. I have particularly come to understand the Old Testament and the way it relates to the New Testament much better, something that I always found somewhat confusing before. The class has two parts and I am looking forward to the second part this spring.
I’ll be taking a heavy load of classes this spring – hopefully not foolishly. It sounds like it will mostly be reading and writing response papers, which I am certainly accustomed to by now. Please be praying that I would not take on too much or that God would make it apparent if I need to ease off somehow. The classes I am signed up for include:
Covenant Theology II
God and Humanity
Apologetics and Outreach
Elementary Homiletics
Gospels
Masculine Spirituality
Three of those are only 2 credit classes but that is still 15 hours! They will all be great classes though so I can’t see dropping anything. Dawn is hoping to take two classes. One is a non-MDiv version of the Apologetics & Outreach class that uses the same materials and is taught by the same professor but is tailored to students who won’t be in pastoral ministry. The other is a class called Christ, Humanity, and Redemption and should be a very rewarding class as well. Please pray that whatever job she finds will be flexible enough to allow her to take and enjoy these classes.
Spring semester doesn’t begin until Jan. 29th, but we are taking a one credit Jan-term class on the weekend of the 12th called Gospel-Centered Marriage. We are looking forward to doing this together and also to enjoying the rest of the break with each other.
So things are going well and we are happy to be where we know God wants us. He has brought so much growth to our lives in these past eight months it is hard to convey it in words. We have seen our share of challenges but by His grace they have served to bring us closer to each other and taught us to rely on Him. Our union with Christ has become a source of strength and comfort in the face of trials. We long to know him better and to image forth the glory of God in all that we do. We pray the same for you.
We are so thankful to all of you who are reading this and who have supported us with your prayers and gifts. It has been a sign of God’s grace in our lives and we are so appreciative to have your support. We have truly been blessed.
We pray that you have had a wonderful holiday season and that God’s glory would be your passion in the year to come.
May His peace be with you,
David and Dawn
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Post-Dispatch
I know we've only been here for a few months, but the Salyers have already created a pretty impressive footprint on the STL culture. In fact, Dawn was recently interviewed in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Anyone who knows her can understand why her expert opinion would be sought out by the highest ranks of journalistic endeavor. Actually she took a weekend class at Covenant that our pastor at the Journey (www.journeyon.net) was teaching. She was interviewed for a "woman's perspective" on the weekend. Here is the article:
The Journey, and others like it, aiming to reach younger people
By Tim Townsend
Saturday, Oct. 27 2007
It's always a bit of a thrill to associate with something scary.
That might have explained the large turnout at Covenant Seminary last weekend for the Rev. Darrin Patrick's three lectures on the emerging church.
The term "emerging" has come to define a movement that uses alternative ways of attracting younger people by tapping into secular culture.
Patrick's St. Louis-based church, The Journey, is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the country with 16 million members.
The leadership of the Missouri Baptist Convention — the state arm of the Southern Baptists — has campaigned against the emerging church, though it has a working relationship with The Journey. It says Patrick's methods of evangelizing to young people conflict with what the Bible teaches.
But some scholars say those Baptists are afraid. Afraid because the emerging church is reaching a generation they've been unable to reach themselves. And without the young, how will a denomination survive?
The seminarians attending Covenant's Frances A. Schaeffer lectures last weekend seemed more curious than bent on destroying denominational Christianity. That Patrick delivered the three lectures within the walls of a denominational institution (Covenant is run by the Presbyterian Church in America, a conservative evangelical church) put to bed any conspiracy theories about the emerging church stomping all traditional denominations into the ground.
But there were signs that some seminarians at the lectures were there to scope out the emerging church movement to see how it might fit into their plans for their own ministries.
Bo Kyle, a 23-year-old Covenant student from Louisiana, said he was brought up in a "traditional church" but "grew a lot" when he began worshipping at emerging churches. He said he could see himself eventually practicing his ministry in the emerging church.
Dawn Salyer, 25, and her husband are students at Covenant. "We came from a small, traditional church in Nebraska," she said. "But we got here and we found we have a real heart for what Darrin Patrick is doing in St. Louis."
Patrick, the lead pastor of The Journey, founded the church in 2002 with 30 people. It now has 1,800 members on campuses in St. Louis' Tower Grove neighborhood, Clayton and west St. Louis County. A fourth campus will open in south St. Louis County in February. The Journey also has started two more churches — one in St. Charles called The Refuge, and another called The Mission that just opened in Edwardsville.
It's that kind of rapid growth and energy that worries church leaders across the denominational spectrum who look down from the pulpit and see only white hair. Many would give anything to tap into the fleece jackets, jeans and hip, bed-head hairstyles that populate Patrick's church.
Patrick said The Journey also is starting to attract more people in their 50s who are looking to find a church that would be palatable for their young-adult kids who lead very secular lives.
Despite its enviable 18- to 34-year-old demographic, not all is going swimmingly for the emerging church.
In his lectures, Patrick described the ideological and theological shifts that led to a splintering of the movement.
Patrick's branch, which is the most theologically conservative, coalesces around a national network of 125 churches called Acts 29, of which Patrick is the vice president. Then there's a less conservative branch. And the most theologically liberal branch is organized around another network called Emergent Village.
Patrick was educated in Southern Baptist seminaries and believes that the Bible is the literal word of God. He took issue during one lecture with his more liberal emerging church cohorts, saying many of them question orthodoxy. "When God has clearly spoken, we don't converse, we obey," he said.
The annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention begins Monday at the Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, and the emerging church is sure to be a hot topic of conversation. Patrick, and many of those involved with Acts 29 in the state, will be there. The meeting is scheduled to end, appropriately enough for those scared by the emerging church, on Halloween.
The Journey, and others like it, aiming to reach younger people
By Tim Townsend
Saturday, Oct. 27 2007
It's always a bit of a thrill to associate with something scary.
That might have explained the large turnout at Covenant Seminary last weekend for the Rev. Darrin Patrick's three lectures on the emerging church.
The term "emerging" has come to define a movement that uses alternative ways of attracting younger people by tapping into secular culture.
Patrick's St. Louis-based church, The Journey, is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the country with 16 million members.
The leadership of the Missouri Baptist Convention — the state arm of the Southern Baptists — has campaigned against the emerging church, though it has a working relationship with The Journey. It says Patrick's methods of evangelizing to young people conflict with what the Bible teaches.
But some scholars say those Baptists are afraid. Afraid because the emerging church is reaching a generation they've been unable to reach themselves. And without the young, how will a denomination survive?
The seminarians attending Covenant's Frances A. Schaeffer lectures last weekend seemed more curious than bent on destroying denominational Christianity. That Patrick delivered the three lectures within the walls of a denominational institution (Covenant is run by the Presbyterian Church in America, a conservative evangelical church) put to bed any conspiracy theories about the emerging church stomping all traditional denominations into the ground.
But there were signs that some seminarians at the lectures were there to scope out the emerging church movement to see how it might fit into their plans for their own ministries.
Bo Kyle, a 23-year-old Covenant student from Louisiana, said he was brought up in a "traditional church" but "grew a lot" when he began worshipping at emerging churches. He said he could see himself eventually practicing his ministry in the emerging church.
Dawn Salyer, 25, and her husband are students at Covenant. "We came from a small, traditional church in Nebraska," she said. "But we got here and we found we have a real heart for what Darrin Patrick is doing in St. Louis."
Patrick, the lead pastor of The Journey, founded the church in 2002 with 30 people. It now has 1,800 members on campuses in St. Louis' Tower Grove neighborhood, Clayton and west St. Louis County. A fourth campus will open in south St. Louis County in February. The Journey also has started two more churches — one in St. Charles called The Refuge, and another called The Mission that just opened in Edwardsville.
It's that kind of rapid growth and energy that worries church leaders across the denominational spectrum who look down from the pulpit and see only white hair. Many would give anything to tap into the fleece jackets, jeans and hip, bed-head hairstyles that populate Patrick's church.
Patrick said The Journey also is starting to attract more people in their 50s who are looking to find a church that would be palatable for their young-adult kids who lead very secular lives.
Despite its enviable 18- to 34-year-old demographic, not all is going swimmingly for the emerging church.
In his lectures, Patrick described the ideological and theological shifts that led to a splintering of the movement.
Patrick's branch, which is the most theologically conservative, coalesces around a national network of 125 churches called Acts 29, of which Patrick is the vice president. Then there's a less conservative branch. And the most theologically liberal branch is organized around another network called Emergent Village.
Patrick was educated in Southern Baptist seminaries and believes that the Bible is the literal word of God. He took issue during one lecture with his more liberal emerging church cohorts, saying many of them question orthodoxy. "When God has clearly spoken, we don't converse, we obey," he said.
The annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention begins Monday at the Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, and the emerging church is sure to be a hot topic of conversation. Patrick, and many of those involved with Acts 29 in the state, will be there. The meeting is scheduled to end, appropriately enough for those scared by the emerging church, on Halloween.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
August 2007 Update
Its been awhile since I’ve posted an update. I hope to do this at least once a month. I was waiting to find out more about Dawn’s job situation. When we first got here she got hired at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They had promised her a certain position that would be opening up shortly. In the meantime she was working register and stocking, etc. This was becoming problematic since they were having her work until midnight some days and started scheduling her for Sundays even though she was very adamant about getting Sundays off. She interviewed for a costume design job at a local community college because she was thinking it might be more fulfilling. The interview went well but upon learning more about the program she felt it would be a little overwhelming considering her relatively small amount of experience. Shortly after this, the original position at Bed, Bath, and Beyond opened up. It would be mostly daytime hours and full-time which would be a lot better than what she is getting now, and she would be a little more independent which would be nice. So as of now she is going to take that and start training soon. Hopefully this will be a good job for her and will help us to get closer to covering our monthly bills as well as tuition, etc. Thanks to those of you who were praying about this, we think God has made his will clear even though it wasn’t what we were expecting.
I took a part-time job at the bookstore on campus. I’ll be working 3-6 on Mon and Thur and 9-3 on Sat. It’s pretty laid-back. I mostly receive shipments and run the register. I also get a discount off books, including textbooks, which is nice. It works well for us, having only one car, because Dawn or someone from the apartments can drop me off here and I can study when I am not in class or at work and then Dawn can pick me up when she gets done.
Speaking of studying, I am almost done with Greek. Our final is next Thursday. It is incredible how much you can learn in three months! I think I have about 600 vocab cards, so that is a lot of words. We are translating 1 John now. I find it goes fairly quickly and I am owning a lot of the common words without having to translate into English in my head (whatever that means). 1 John is the easiest book, grammar-wise, so I am sure Greek in Exegesis this fall will be a humbling experience. I have it on good authority that Hebrew (next-summer) is easier so I feel like the worst is over. Our teacher says the first 20 years of learning a language are the hardest so I have that to look forward to.
In the fall I am taking:
Spiritual and Ministry Formation: A class about your “divine design,” personality, calling, etc and whether or not this is a good fit for you.
Preparation and Delivery of Sermons: pretty self-explanatory, the first of many homiletics classes.
Covenant Theology I: Team taught be four instructors, foundational theology.
Greek in Exegesis
Life and Teachings of Luther: This is an elective. I have already started reading the assigned biography by Kittelson and am REALLY enjoying it. Highly recommended if you don’t know much about Luther.
Dawn is taking Spiritual and Ministry Formation with me, which the school recommends – should be fun. She’s also taking Life and Letters of Paul. I’m jealous.
Zoya is still working on napping and eating. Still hasn’t gotten over the squirrels. They taunt her. She tried to chase one up a tree the other day but failed. She likes to push the bigger dogs at the apartments around. She’s like a ninja, small but ferocious and agile.
We think we’ve found a good church. Old Orchard Presbyterian. They have a heart for seminary students and the pastor was very encouraging and interested in mentoring.
Wal-Mart is even more annoying here.
We’re getting to know the city a little but too poor to be eating out a lot or going to certain things. There are a lot of free things though that we hope to take advantage of when we can.
We were blessed this weekend to have Dave and Steven Rozema, friends from Kearney, stop through on their way to take Steven back to NC for fall semester. We had a great time, brief as it was. It was a nice dose of home when we really needed it. Thanks Rozemas!
Still don’t know when we will make it back to Nebraska. Greek is done the 23rd, I have a Bible Content Exam the 25th, and classes start the 30th, I’ll be working a lot that first week so it looks like there won’t be much of a break in there. With both of us working retail I don’t know if Christmas will be any better. Hopefully someitme in between there we can get away for a week or so. Just so hard to miss that much class/work. We are homesick though and wish we were with you all right now!
This is turning into a book so I’ll close. Love to hear from you all. E-mail I check every day so that’s a good way to say hi. We respond to all snail mail as well.
Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever,
David
I took a part-time job at the bookstore on campus. I’ll be working 3-6 on Mon and Thur and 9-3 on Sat. It’s pretty laid-back. I mostly receive shipments and run the register. I also get a discount off books, including textbooks, which is nice. It works well for us, having only one car, because Dawn or someone from the apartments can drop me off here and I can study when I am not in class or at work and then Dawn can pick me up when she gets done.
Speaking of studying, I am almost done with Greek. Our final is next Thursday. It is incredible how much you can learn in three months! I think I have about 600 vocab cards, so that is a lot of words. We are translating 1 John now. I find it goes fairly quickly and I am owning a lot of the common words without having to translate into English in my head (whatever that means). 1 John is the easiest book, grammar-wise, so I am sure Greek in Exegesis this fall will be a humbling experience. I have it on good authority that Hebrew (next-summer) is easier so I feel like the worst is over. Our teacher says the first 20 years of learning a language are the hardest so I have that to look forward to.
In the fall I am taking:
Spiritual and Ministry Formation: A class about your “divine design,” personality, calling, etc and whether or not this is a good fit for you.
Preparation and Delivery of Sermons: pretty self-explanatory, the first of many homiletics classes.
Covenant Theology I: Team taught be four instructors, foundational theology.
Greek in Exegesis
Life and Teachings of Luther: This is an elective. I have already started reading the assigned biography by Kittelson and am REALLY enjoying it. Highly recommended if you don’t know much about Luther.
Dawn is taking Spiritual and Ministry Formation with me, which the school recommends – should be fun. She’s also taking Life and Letters of Paul. I’m jealous.
Zoya is still working on napping and eating. Still hasn’t gotten over the squirrels. They taunt her. She tried to chase one up a tree the other day but failed. She likes to push the bigger dogs at the apartments around. She’s like a ninja, small but ferocious and agile.
We think we’ve found a good church. Old Orchard Presbyterian. They have a heart for seminary students and the pastor was very encouraging and interested in mentoring.
Wal-Mart is even more annoying here.
We’re getting to know the city a little but too poor to be eating out a lot or going to certain things. There are a lot of free things though that we hope to take advantage of when we can.
We were blessed this weekend to have Dave and Steven Rozema, friends from Kearney, stop through on their way to take Steven back to NC for fall semester. We had a great time, brief as it was. It was a nice dose of home when we really needed it. Thanks Rozemas!
Still don’t know when we will make it back to Nebraska. Greek is done the 23rd, I have a Bible Content Exam the 25th, and classes start the 30th, I’ll be working a lot that first week so it looks like there won’t be much of a break in there. With both of us working retail I don’t know if Christmas will be any better. Hopefully someitme in between there we can get away for a week or so. Just so hard to miss that much class/work. We are homesick though and wish we were with you all right now!
This is turning into a book so I’ll close. Love to hear from you all. E-mail I check every day so that’s a good way to say hi. We respond to all snail mail as well.
Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever,
David
Friday, June 15, 2007
Blogs??? RSS????
I like to know what David and Dawn are doing, but their posts are sometimes few and far between. I don't want to have to go to their website everyday, only to be disappointed by the lack of new posts. What should I do?
I'm glad you asked. You should do what I do and subscribe to the RSS feed from our blog. Don't know what a blog is? Don't know what RSS feeds are? Try looking them up here http://www.wikipedia.org/.
And watch this little video here: www.blip.tv/file/205570/ or here www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english.
This way you can check all you blogs quickly without going to every site. It's nice. I like. There's a picture of my reader at the top. All my blogs are listed in the left column, with all their posts listed below them. Then when I click on them, they show the whole post in the main window. And I don't have to go to any of those sites to do this. It's neato.
Salyers in St. Louis
If you would like our new phone numbers, send us an e-mail.
davidanddawn@gmail.com
Dear Friends and Family,
We have been in St. Louis for nearly two weeks now. The move went well. When we pulled up to our new apartment we were swarmed by about a dozen seminary students who helped us move in and brought us food and toilet paper. The apartments we live in are kind of a community within a community. Everyone here attends the seminary, which is about 20 minutes to the west. Even in this short time we have already made some friendships with other couples here. Last Saturday we ate with three other couples and played some impromptu Frisbee golf around the neighborhood. At UNK, we were in the minority because of our age and being married. Here, the single people are the minority and the average age of students is 28. We are still a bit odd though as we are younger than many students but have been married longer than most.
We moved down on Monday and I had my first Intensive Greek class on Thursday. It is as easy as it sounds. I am used to writing and reading and this has been almost entirely memorization. I have a huge stack of flashcards already. I am in a study group with two other guys from the apartments so that has helped. I am certainly being challenged but it is such a blessing to think that I will be translating the word of God in the original language by the end of the summer.
My Greek professor shares a devotion with us every class. These have been particularly timely and helpful. One text was John 1:20. John the Baptist is asked, “Who are you?” and he replies, “I am not the Christ.” The professor makes us repeat John’s answer until he is satisfied that we are saying it like we believe it. He shared that we must remember these words as seminary students who tend to be very afraid of not being perfect. Our failures and weaknesses prove to us that we are not the Christ and they must also make us grateful that a Christ has been provided for us and that he is perfect. Our inadequacies serve to glorify him all the more.
Between studying and trying to settle in to our new place, we have found time to take advantage of the city. The first Sunday we were here, we visited Grace Community Chapel where a former pastor of ours now preaches. That night he and his wife invited us to “Shakespeare in the Park” where Much Ado About Nothing was being performed with an Old West setting. It was great. On Wednesday we went to the Botanical Gardens for a free Jazz concert. On Tuesday, one of my favorite bands is coming to town so we have tickets for that. There are a lot of free events this summer so I hope we can take advantage of more of them. We’ve also been finding some great restaurants and have already had Ted Drewes frozen custard twice.
Dawn has been looking for a job. She’s interviewing at Bed, Bath, & Beyond today. Please pray that she finds something that will compensate her well for the hard work ethic that she is known for. She really likes the city so far. She’s registered for two classes in the fall, one of which we will be taking together.
So things are going well thus far. We are adapting well but we really miss our good friends and family in Nebraska. You have been in our thoughts often. Stay in touch.
Hebrews 13:20
David and Dawn
davidanddawn@gmail.com
Dear Friends and Family,
We have been in St. Louis for nearly two weeks now. The move went well. When we pulled up to our new apartment we were swarmed by about a dozen seminary students who helped us move in and brought us food and toilet paper. The apartments we live in are kind of a community within a community. Everyone here attends the seminary, which is about 20 minutes to the west. Even in this short time we have already made some friendships with other couples here. Last Saturday we ate with three other couples and played some impromptu Frisbee golf around the neighborhood. At UNK, we were in the minority because of our age and being married. Here, the single people are the minority and the average age of students is 28. We are still a bit odd though as we are younger than many students but have been married longer than most.
We moved down on Monday and I had my first Intensive Greek class on Thursday. It is as easy as it sounds. I am used to writing and reading and this has been almost entirely memorization. I have a huge stack of flashcards already. I am in a study group with two other guys from the apartments so that has helped. I am certainly being challenged but it is such a blessing to think that I will be translating the word of God in the original language by the end of the summer.
My Greek professor shares a devotion with us every class. These have been particularly timely and helpful. One text was John 1:20. John the Baptist is asked, “Who are you?” and he replies, “I am not the Christ.” The professor makes us repeat John’s answer until he is satisfied that we are saying it like we believe it. He shared that we must remember these words as seminary students who tend to be very afraid of not being perfect. Our failures and weaknesses prove to us that we are not the Christ and they must also make us grateful that a Christ has been provided for us and that he is perfect. Our inadequacies serve to glorify him all the more.
Between studying and trying to settle in to our new place, we have found time to take advantage of the city. The first Sunday we were here, we visited Grace Community Chapel where a former pastor of ours now preaches. That night he and his wife invited us to “Shakespeare in the Park” where Much Ado About Nothing was being performed with an Old West setting. It was great. On Wednesday we went to the Botanical Gardens for a free Jazz concert. On Tuesday, one of my favorite bands is coming to town so we have tickets for that. There are a lot of free events this summer so I hope we can take advantage of more of them. We’ve also been finding some great restaurants and have already had Ted Drewes frozen custard twice.
Dawn has been looking for a job. She’s interviewing at Bed, Bath, & Beyond today. Please pray that she finds something that will compensate her well for the hard work ethic that she is known for. She really likes the city so far. She’s registered for two classes in the fall, one of which we will be taking together.
So things are going well thus far. We are adapting well but we really miss our good friends and family in Nebraska. You have been in our thoughts often. Stay in touch.
Hebrews 13:20
David and Dawn
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Update/Support Letter
This is the support letter we have been giving out-
“The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.”
- Proverbs 16:9
Looking back on the years since we got married and left McCook for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, we are very grateful that God has been establishing our steps even in times when our hearts were making other plans. Over the last two years God has slowly been redirecting our hearts towards full-time pastoral ministry. This is something that has always been in the back of our minds but God has used various people and circumstances as well as the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures to bring it to the forefront in the last two years. We have felt specifically lead towards Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. God started opening doors and we just keep walking through in faith. I (David) was accepted last fall and have been awarded a 50% scholarship for my first year of studies. I will be pursuing a Master of Divinity degree, which is the standard degree for those entering into pastoral ministry. My goal is to finish in four years. We trust it will be a time of challenge and deep spiritual growth for both of us.
Having graduated from UNK this May, we will be moving to St. Louis the first week of June so that I can begin with an intensive Greek course before starting regular classes in the fall.
We ask for your prayers as we make this transition and begin training for ministry.
• Pray that we would find good employment that is flexible with school schedules.
• Please pray that we would trust God to provide for our financial and spiritual needs.
• Ultimately, pray that we would treasure Christ above all and that we would grow spiritually as well as intellectually during our time in St. Louis.
We would also be grateful to any who feel led to partner with us through financial support. Attending seminary is expensive and so is living in St. Louis. There are two specific reasons why we need assistance in this area. First, it is common that pastors right out of seminary do not make a lot of money. While doctors and lawyers often make enough to pay off student loans in their first years of employment, many pastors have to take a second job just to make ends meet. This can result in emotional and physical burnout – something we would like to avoid! Our goal is to remain loan-free throughout seminary. Second, Dawn is willing to work full-time to help support us financially, but this kind of schedule would hinder her ability to take advantage of Covenant’s Spouse Scholarship program that allows her to take seminary courses for free as long as I am enrolled. If possible she would like to work part-time and pursue a masters program that Covenant offers specifically for Christian lay-workers. We feel it is very important that she be well equipped to handle the special calling of being a pastor’s wife.
If you are receiving this letter you have probably already been a part of this process, in one form or another, so we thank you for your love and guidance. Many of you have been encouraging us and fostering our spiritual growth for many years and we thank God for your presence in our lives. We feel that God has called us to this ministry and we strive to be obedient to his will. It is our desire to glorify God and serve his people faithfully. Let us all drink deeply from the fount of every blessing.
Walking in the steps He has established,
David and Dawn
FINANCIAL PARTNERING:
If you would like to partner with us financially you can send donations directly to us or you can send them to our account at the seminary. Money in this account will be used to pay for tuition, fees, books, rent and living expenses. These donations are not tax-deductible and are considered gifts to the student by the IRS. Make sure to include “DAVID SALYER, STUDENT ACCOUNT” in the memo line of your check to ensure that the money is applied to our account. Checks can be made payable to “Covenant Theological Seminary” and sent to the following address:
Covenant Theological Seminary
12330 Conway Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63141
Questions? Contact Covenant’s Financial Aid Office: (314) 434-4044 ext. 4940
CONTACT INFO:
If you would like to get periodic updates on our progress, please send us an email or letter to that effect.
“The heart of man plans his way,
but the Lord establishes his steps.”
- Proverbs 16:9
Looking back on the years since we got married and left McCook for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, we are very grateful that God has been establishing our steps even in times when our hearts were making other plans. Over the last two years God has slowly been redirecting our hearts towards full-time pastoral ministry. This is something that has always been in the back of our minds but God has used various people and circumstances as well as the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures to bring it to the forefront in the last two years. We have felt specifically lead towards Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. God started opening doors and we just keep walking through in faith. I (David) was accepted last fall and have been awarded a 50% scholarship for my first year of studies. I will be pursuing a Master of Divinity degree, which is the standard degree for those entering into pastoral ministry. My goal is to finish in four years. We trust it will be a time of challenge and deep spiritual growth for both of us.
Having graduated from UNK this May, we will be moving to St. Louis the first week of June so that I can begin with an intensive Greek course before starting regular classes in the fall.
We ask for your prayers as we make this transition and begin training for ministry.
• Pray that we would find good employment that is flexible with school schedules.
• Please pray that we would trust God to provide for our financial and spiritual needs.
• Ultimately, pray that we would treasure Christ above all and that we would grow spiritually as well as intellectually during our time in St. Louis.
We would also be grateful to any who feel led to partner with us through financial support. Attending seminary is expensive and so is living in St. Louis. There are two specific reasons why we need assistance in this area. First, it is common that pastors right out of seminary do not make a lot of money. While doctors and lawyers often make enough to pay off student loans in their first years of employment, many pastors have to take a second job just to make ends meet. This can result in emotional and physical burnout – something we would like to avoid! Our goal is to remain loan-free throughout seminary. Second, Dawn is willing to work full-time to help support us financially, but this kind of schedule would hinder her ability to take advantage of Covenant’s Spouse Scholarship program that allows her to take seminary courses for free as long as I am enrolled. If possible she would like to work part-time and pursue a masters program that Covenant offers specifically for Christian lay-workers. We feel it is very important that she be well equipped to handle the special calling of being a pastor’s wife.
If you are receiving this letter you have probably already been a part of this process, in one form or another, so we thank you for your love and guidance. Many of you have been encouraging us and fostering our spiritual growth for many years and we thank God for your presence in our lives. We feel that God has called us to this ministry and we strive to be obedient to his will. It is our desire to glorify God and serve his people faithfully. Let us all drink deeply from the fount of every blessing.
Walking in the steps He has established,
David and Dawn
FINANCIAL PARTNERING:
If you would like to partner with us financially you can send donations directly to us or you can send them to our account at the seminary. Money in this account will be used to pay for tuition, fees, books, rent and living expenses. These donations are not tax-deductible and are considered gifts to the student by the IRS. Make sure to include “DAVID SALYER, STUDENT ACCOUNT” in the memo line of your check to ensure that the money is applied to our account. Checks can be made payable to “Covenant Theological Seminary” and sent to the following address:
Covenant Theological Seminary
12330 Conway Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63141
Questions? Contact Covenant’s Financial Aid Office: (314) 434-4044 ext. 4940
CONTACT INFO:
If you would like to get periodic updates on our progress, please send us an email or letter to that effect.
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