Seminary!

Along with the new school year also comes....Seminary!

In case you are unaware of this, Seminary is a program within my church that involves the youth ages 14-18. Typically in the United States this would involve the 9th through 12th graders. However, in Sweden there class system is a bit different so therefore Darby was able to choose whether or not she wanted to participate since she is, by U.S standards, an 8th grader. Every year there is a new focus of study that is rotated every 4 years. This year the focus is on the New Testament. Typically in the United States the youth gather every weekday morning (school days) at the church for 50 minutes to have their lesson. Here, distance of travel is much more of a concern so instead they only meet twice a week and then the other days are supposed to study on their own. Actually, on Mondays they do have Seminary on the Internet for the entire country to watch but since we have the language barrier my girls have been instructed to study on their own that day. 

Tuesday's lesson is taught by Louise Gleissman. I drop the girls off at her apartment at 6:15am. This is a photo that Ashtyn took in Louise's living room. Typically there are only 4 students that participate on this day and sometimes June will Skype into the lesson. 

Then on Thursdays I take the girls to the church. This lesson starts at 6:30am. Here is a photo of them by the church sign. 

Thursday's lesson is taught by Sissel Andreassen. Here is a picture of them in one of the classrooms. Typically there is anywhere from 3 to 7 kids that show up on this day. I feel fortunate that they have such dedicated and kind teachers. It must also be exhausting for them to go back and forth from Swedish to English!!!