Romania Service Trip

8. April
Oradea/Tinca, Romania

God, thank you for our safe arrival. Please give me strength to get through today on little sleep. I don't understand why I couldn't sleep, but you are already holding me. Help me to lean on you.

This was the first full day in Romania. We jumped right in with the hardest work we would do all week. In just one day we dug a trench (70m x 30cm x 40cm) for a new fence, carted away all the clay from that trench, spread topsoil over a good portion of their yard to level it out. All while it steadily drizzled rain over us. We were muddy and cold and sore by the end. Add to that, I can never sleep the first night in a new place, so I'm pretty sure I was running on < 1 hour of sleep. Talk about relying on God for everything.

9. April

Despite overwhelming physical discomfort and exhaustion, I will rely on you Lord. I pray that I can be effective, even if I don't feel up to the work we are doing. You can work through my muscles, and be my energy. All the same, I pray that I would know my physical limits and not try to do more than I physically can accomplish.
I don't know whether I have the energy to do the outreach, but I pray that you will work through us and help us to make the decision, so that our team will not feel burned out. 

The next day was Sunday, which was not a workday, but I still felt the effects of little sleep and very sore muscles. Our team split into 3 groups to visit 3 churches in nearby towns with Roma communities. My group actually attended a Hungarian church. And our translator spoke Hungarian and German. Which meant that I became the German-English translator for the non-German speaker on our team. I don't think I ever listened so carefully to a sermon before!

After church, all three groups met up again for lunch and shared experiences and impressions. Clint, our trip leader, shared with us the opportunity to hold an outreach later in the week with the Roma community where we were working (Tinca). He shared this opportunity first with the leaders. If we as leaders didn't feel up to planning such an event, there was no way we could motivate the students to participate as well. That day, I did not particularly feel motivated myself to plan and pull off something so ambitious, especially during an evening after a full day of labor. Good thing God was in control, and not me.

Stay tuned for part II. Coming soon!

Life-Giving Conversation

This weekend I visited London and Oxford. My grandmother, aunt and cousins were also in the city, providing the excuse to finally visit the island. We visited the Tower of London, Tate art gallery, Shakespeare's Globe (ahhhhhhh!), 221B Baker Street, and Trafalgar Square.

Sunday, however, I traveled to Oxford to meet up with a friend doing ministry there with refugees, and a friends studying at the university. As beautiful as Oxford was, the real treat was our conversations over burgers at the pub and over tea and scones in the afternoon. Grace and Bex hadn't met eachother before, as I know them from different points in my life, but as we all sipped our tea and spread clotted cream on our scones, the conversation flowed smoothly and unhaltingly. We share a love for the Lord, an affinity for tea, and a mutual friend (me!), which created the perfect environment for life-giving conversation.

Honestly, it probably doesn't matter what we discussed, but the connection we made fed my soul in a way it has hungered for lately. The sermon I heard at Magdalen Road Curch that morning was about some of Jesus' last words before he died: "I'm thirsty." To which the answer was a sponge soaked in wine vinegar. The pastor challenged us to thirst after Christ, for the righteousness that comes from a relationship with him, for the everlasting peace which only he can provide. On that cross, Christ took upon himself not only our sins and sorrows, he took on our thirst for everything that does not satisfy. My soul hungers and thirsts for connection. I can find that connection in friendships and human relationships, but that will never satisfy. After the burger at the pub, I needed to eat again. The hunger returned. But a relationship with Christ lasts and satisfies forever.

That said, we still need human connection. And God works through friends like Bex and Grace to provide the needed moments of peace and connection. We have a need to be known. And in that Oxford cafe, I was known by my friends, but more importantly, by my savior.

Silliness with the cousins!

Tower Bridge over the Thames

The Tower of London

It was a very windy day, and Charis was quite chilly, so I lent her my coat!

Taming of the Shrew at the Globe. Phenomenal performance. 

The Globe at night

St. Paul's, also at night.

Had to visit this street on my way out to Oxford! 

Can you believe the beautiful weather I got this weekend?

The door which supposedly inspired a certain children's book (insert something about lions, or was it a witch?)

Grace, Bex, and I after afternoon tea. (Don't forget your Oxford commas, people!)

The whole crew on tower bridge! (Minus our photographer, Aunt Rachel!)

Frühling kommt früher!

The German word for Spring is Frühling, which has the word früh (early) hidden inside of it. Makes sense, since here in the Black Forest we've had Spring for the past several weeks. Sorry, Rochester friends. This means I've been enjoying the fresh air and sunshine for quite some time already.

Though with the end of the 3rd quarter looming at the end of this week, I don't actually have much time for outdoor play. Instead, I'm inside grading tests and homework assignments. Monday night, I had a chance to get out and fellowship with some other Ladies in the community. We had a Progressive Dinner, with a dipping theme. That meant we had to dip all our food in something. Appetizers- Chips and guacamole, veggies and sour cream/ onion dip. Dinner- oil fondue (cooking raw hamburger, chicken, and veggies in hot oil right on the table) with BBQ, Curry, and garlic dipping sauces. Dessert- We loftily wanted to do chocolate fondue, but were too full at the end of the night for this! The highlight of this experience was not the food, but the conversation. I got to converse with people I work with, but don't necessarily spend a lot of time with. We discussed every thing from love languages, future plans, housing for next year, and recipes (such as other uses for avocado). All in all, a delightful dip dinner!

Speaking of housing for next year, please continue to pray that God will provide. Will I be able to move into town? Will I have a roommate or two? Will my rent go up? God only knows, and I'm trusting him to take care of it. Next week, I'll be viewing two different apartments.

Hiking in Switzerland!

Autumn in the Black Forest

Last Tuesday, November 1, was a German holiday (All Saint's Day), which meant I had the day off to sleep in, relax, and get a lot done. Yes, I was able to accomplish all of these things! Sounds oxymoronic, doesn't it? I slept in (for me) until 8, and cleaned up my apartment while listening to music. But the sun was too inviting to stay inside. I gathered up my hammock, a book, and my ukulele and walked a short ways into the Black Forest. I spent several hours there reading, singing, praying, and resting in the beauty of God's creation. I don't know that I recall a warmer November 1st! Finally, the late afternoon chill began to sink in, and I dropped off my accessories at home, and began to walk. There are so many different paths to explore! I walked up to the town of Tannenkirch, on the crest of a hill from which I could see the faraway Alps. (They don't show up in photographs, or I would share the beauty.) Please enjoy these glimpses of Autumn here in the Black Forest:

What are some of your favorite Autumnal outdoor activities?

Come, and Rejoice!

Tuesday and Thursday mornings, in lieu of a "homeroom" teachers have the opportunity to lead a devotion with their 1st period classes. Thanks to my dear friends, the Clavers, I own a ukulele, so I have been using this special time with my 1st period to sing worship songs! Today's selection was a Keith and Kristyn Getty hymn. It's called Come, People of the Risen King. To accompany the song, I also read Psalm 97.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,    and give thanks to his holy name!
Psalm 97: 12

On a beautiful sunny morning like today, it is so easy to rejoice in the mercy and love of God. I feel so blessed right now as I live and serve in Germany, when I know that I am supposed to be here. The process of coming here to Germany has been a long one, and I rejoice in God's faithfulness. But we also should rejoice in our sufferings and trials. So whether you are experiencing the joy of the morning, or the darkest suffering of night, know that there is rejoicing through it all.

Last night, I took a long walk through my town and up the nearby hill. At the top of the hill, I turned and saw my little town spread out below. I stood there in silence and awe for several minutes. In that stillness I knew that God was all around me. The rural community in which I live feels so quiet and empty, but God fills that emptiness. In fact, knowing Christ means that nothing is empty or meaningless anymore. And on my walk I was able to feel near to him as I surveyed the beauty of his creation.

Ich möchte une crépe.

On Sunday, some friends and I decided to drive to France for the afternoon. That's one of the strangest sentences I've ever written. Whose life is this? How blessed am I, that we can just pop over into France for an afternoon? Oh, and the town we visited, Colmar, is the basis for the animated town in Beauty and the Beast. See the similarities?

Because we were in France, I had to of course speak some French. I haven't spoken any French since freshman year of High School, when I studied it. Believe me, it's pretty rusty.

There were shops everywhere full of sweets and treats. This store sold many varieties of candied fruits (pictured above). We also made sure to get crepes. We had to stand in line and look up the French words on the menu to know what the topping choices were. At this point my German got in the way, and I may have tried to order in a mixture of German and French.

I have also been working very hard at lesson planning and preparing for students to arrive. New students arrive on Monday, returning students on Tuesday. And opening ceremonies are on Wednesday. I have tentative lesson plans completed for the first week of classes, but I really need to know where the Unit is going in order to plan the early days.

A few times this week, I have had to just sit back and say "You're done for the day," to myself. At a certain point, I need time to rest and relax and take care of myself. I'm very excited to plan my lessons and future units, but I cannot neglect my need for rest. That's why this trip to France was so fun. I left my computer and textbooks behind and didn't even think about German class. Sunday was truly a Sabbath for me, and I haven´t had one in quite some time.

Even now, I am writing this in the middle of the work day. I need a mental break from planning. I paused to pray, and now I pause to process and reflect in a blog post. Lord, I dedicate these lessons to you. Use me to share the German language with these students. Help me to share a love of language and the German people. Help me equip these students to reach out to our German-speaking community.

Mountains and Grandeur

Mountains make my heart happy. And southern Germany is full of them. Last Friday evening I was invited to go to the highest peak in the area Hochblauen to see the view.

Here is the Gasthaus, or restaurant/hotel on top of the mountain. Most of what is beyond that is Switzerland.

A peek into the neighboring valley (Germany) already bathed in shadow as the sun was setting.

On the other side, if you didn't look directly into the sun, you can see France spread out below.

This picture I took the next day, Saturday, on the drive into Switzerland. My sponsors, Stu and Phyllis, took me to Ballenberg, an outdoor history/architecture museum near Luzern. As we passed different cities and lakes, Stu shared some of the history of the region. It really was fun to learn a bit about an area as we raced past it on the Autobahn.

The museum was filled with farmhouses, barns, shops, and many other functional buildings which were built in different regions of Switzerland. At some point, if they were going to be torn down to make way for newer constructions, they would be relocated to the museum. This place is huge. It had sections for the different regions and time periods, and we only had time to see maybe half of what they had. The picture above is a thatched roof farmhouse/barn combination. Unlike museums of this nature in the US (historical homes, etc.), everything was available to be poked and prodded. They had demonstrations of bread baking, cheese making, weaving, sewing, woodcarving, bone grinding, and so much more. I could have spent weeks there. We probably spent 6 hrs there and maybe glanced at half. I say glanced, because, in order to see the half of the building we did, we had to move quickly.

Pardon the extreme editing on this one. Due to the lighting and the large overhand of the roof, much of the architectural beauty was very dark in my pictures. This way you can see the detailing on the side of the house. 

The other thing about this museum: it was quite literally nestled in the mountains. The paths throughout the museum were quite steep, and the northern side face sheer cliff face.

I call this one Cows and a Crooked Chimney. We couldn't decide: was the chimney curved for structural reasons, or just personal preference in order to have that central attic window?

Here I am practice teaching at BFA! No, not really. This is also at the museum. Each region that was represented was clustered together. This section, the central Swiss region, was the most cohesive, and most like a small town. They had a schoolhouse, a sawmill, bone mill, a game hall, several family homes, and a guest house.

Speaking of BFA, Thursday began all staff conference and the beginning of normalcy here. I had *more* of a regular schedule, and the chance to get to know my office/desk space, classroom, and the other teachers in the language department. I now know where the library is, have my keys, and have already mistaken another staff member for a high school student. It's a week of firsts.

The theme at BFA this year is faithfulness. It's really always a theme for me, because it's hard to get away from God's faithfulness. "...if we are faithless, he remains faithful--for he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13 ESV). Much of all staff conference is learning about how we can best serve the students and encourage them to be all they can be through "biblical thought, character, and action" (BFA vision statement), but for me it's very much a chance to learn about how the staff interacts as a whole and where I fit into that. I love my department, and all the staff really, how friendly and welcoming they are!

Please continue to pray as I get settled in my apartment. It can take a while to get used to the slower pace of life here and to adjust to not having a car. I live at least a 20-30 min walk from the grocery store, school, and many people I know. 

I also have lesson planning to complete before school starts August 31st, and it seems a bit overwhelming right now. But I have many resources at my disposal: an experience German teacher who teaches higher German levels here, as well as materials from the former German teacher at BFA and materials from my high school German teacher. So I will be well prepared.

Another vital component of the conference this week for me was learning the importance of BFA. Did you know that the main reason missionaries leave the field is the education of their children? It's important for them to know that their children are safe, well-cared for, and taught at an institution that values their child's education. Teaching German in Germany at an international Christian school doesn't sound like missions. It sure didn't to me. But God has called me here, just as he has called all the other staff here to make an impact in these students lives, in the lives of their families, the communities in which their parents serve, and in our community, in Kandern, Baden-Württemburg, Deutschland.