Rooted is Making a Difference!
The clouds rolled in and a cold December rain began to fall. I was traveling west, toward the Pocono Mountains of Eastern Pennsylvania, on my way to meet the inaugural class of Rooted, the CLB and Tuscarora’s Gap-Year Program. It was an opportunity for me to introduce myself and encourage them in God’s calling on their lives.
I was not sure what to expect. In fact, I had no expectations at all. After meeting Director Roger Viksnes in town, I followed him to The Pines: the site of the Rooted dorms and campus. As I drove up the driveway, I was struck by the sizable cottage-style house. It was built by a German immigrant in the mid-20th century and gifted to Tuscarora by a generous donor. The home is affectionately nicknamed the Hobbit House, and one doesn’t need to visit long to understand why. J.R.R. Tolkien describes a hobbit house as comfortable, lavish, and cozy. As I entered from the cold December rain, those were my feelings.
Under the care of Jenny Viksnes, the nine students were finishing dinner together. Roger introduced me to the group and then began preparing the living room for fellowship around a movie, Babette’s Feast. The plot of Babette’s Feast is simple: Babette is a famous Parisian chef who fled Paris to avoid the bloodshed of the counter-revolution. With her identity hidden, she works for room and board in the service of two elderly sisters; her only tie to her past is a lottery ticket. After fourteen years, Babette wins the lottery, but instead of returning home, she spends the money on a lavish dinner for the sisters she has lived with and the remnant of their deceased father’s church congregation. When the sisters discover that Babette has given them all she has, they exclaim, “Now you will be poor the rest of your life!” To which Babette replies, “An artist is never poor.”
The next day, after the students had spent time alone reflecting on the Word of God, I was blessed to sit in on class as Director Viksnes closed the semester. I listened as the students asked questions and Roger masterfully tied the Old Testament to the New. As the lecture unfolded, I reflected on a comment made by one of the students the night before. I had asked, “Are you enjoying this?” and the student replied, “More than I thought. I expected good training, but Roger brings in the best expert he can find every week. If we are studying the Psalms, we get the Old Testament Professor from the Seminary. If we are studying world missions, we get the CLB’s Director of International Mission. It’s great!”
Later that day I left for the airport, thinking to myself, and now sharing with you, “Rooted is more than great; it’s special.”
Church of the Lutheran Brethren, something special is happening at Tuscarora in the Rooted program. Roger and Jenny Viksnes are not just teachers; like Babette, they give all they have to these students. They are doing life with these students; they pour into them, making disciples the way Jesus did. It’s something I hope my children will be able to participate in, and something I would recommend for yours.
It might be tempting to think, “They don’t have time for a gap year! They must go to college, find a good job, or be poor for the rest of their lives.”
Here we are wise to remember that those rooted in Christ will never be poor.
There is no greater gift, no time better spent, than time connecting to Christ through his Word and to his Body through fellowship. It’s special, and it’s happening at Rooted. Let us pray, support, and send―that this program may flourish and serve the CLB for years to come. But more importantly, that our children be strengthened in their faith and rooted in the Word.
Dr. Troy Tysdal is the President of Lutheran Brethren Seminary.