So Encouraged I'm Ready to Burst!

This was our place for the weekend and 13 of us fit comfortably in here! The interior had a wonderful lay out maximizing on the space available :)

Here's a few nature shots from our walk.

Hi Again!

A Call to Prayer

Hi Friends,

I'm sure most of you have heard from the regular news that this weekend Haiti has called for prayer and fasting. I have a friend who some of you know, Sarah Gilman, who has been in Haiti since the beginning of October. She has been regularly updating us with personal stories and I just wanted to share this report with you.

Hello,
Two things.
First I'm just writing to call you and everyone you know to join Haiti for a national weekend of prayer! Yep, Haiti it's self has called a weekend of fasting and prayer on behalf of it's nation. They have been broadcasting and speaking on national radio calling all witch doctors and everything to come and repent these next three days. As foreign staff we will be staying on the base to fast and pray for our Haitian brothers and sister, while our Haitian staff join their cities to pray. I ask that you would pray for the nation at this time. This is a huge deal, cause Haitians themselves are calling for this weekend of prayer, not foreigners, which is much more common!

We are praying that the hearts of this nation would repent for putting their trust in Voodoo, and would turn their hearts towards Jesus Christ. We are praying that the hearts of this nation would trust in Jesus as their Lord and savior. We are praying that the Lord would continue to have mercy on the people of this nation and in turn the people would dedicate this Country to Him! And, we are praying for what ever else comes to mind!

The second is this.
I just had to tell you about the event I was part of this evening. We've just been given an ambulance! Ya, there are none in this city! This ambulance came from Pennsylvania by ship. After dinner we all left our dirty dishes at our tables and trouped on out the the ambulance! We have a mega phone right now, and our director's wife spoke into it. (Our director is in the states for a few days) She spoke about the vision she has carried for twenty years that there would be a clinic. Even as we speak there is a building being built in the 5th section that will hold a clinic! We also have a piece of property that has been sort of dropped into our laps since the earthquake that we are using as a hospital right now. The ambulance is going to be used for earthquake victims for now. But once that is all finished we are going to use the ambulance to bring people from the 5th section into the city for good care! We stood around the ambulance and sang, “Give thanks with a great full heart!” then we laid hands on the ambulance and prayed for all that will happen with it.

I really felt that I'd just witnessed a historic event! The man that brought it on the ship actually flew special from England to make sure it got here.

So there you have it....
I'll try to keep you posted on prayer and praise reports.
Thanks, Sarah

I hope you're encouraged and will join Haiti in their prayers. Thanks for dropping by!

A Typical Week for Me.

People often ask what I'm up to or what I do in a day so here's a look at my schedule for February as far as I know:

Mondays - Learn more German with my tutor Yvonne. Then we attend a German Bible Study.

Tuesdays - I tutor some children in English.

Wednesday - I am attending the six week training session for worship leaders. I am hoping I can squeeze in time here for teaching some young girls a dance.

Thursday - Meet with Ruth for mentoring and then head off to the English cell group.

Friday - Free Day!!!

Saturday - Dance team training or leading a workshop.

Sundays - Dance during the service.

These are my regular scheduled activities. Outside of these I spend my time in devotions, studying dance, preparing a sermon, leading worship, reading books, studying German, recording finances, updating blogs, keeping in touch with people back home, having people over for a coffee or dinner, shopping for groceries, cleaning, going to the gym, and hanging out with my roommates.

I hope this helps you get a feel for my life here. Please pray for inspiration for leading the dance team training times, the workshops and choreographing for the girls. Also, I am studying German on my own (with the help of computer programs) but I am finding it a challenge - so please pray that I will know what to study and that my mind would be made quick to the German language. I don't want to give up now even though I'll be home in just 4 more months. Pray for perseverance! Thanks :)

Ich Wunsche Ihnen ein frohes neues Jahr!

Hi Friends - I'd like you to meet a few of my friends here. I go to bible study on Monday nights with these ladies and several others. Each one is dear to me and I am so blessed to know them. Just thought you might like to see who I hang out with.

**In other exciting news, the girl in the purple is Yvonne and she will be tutoring me :)

So here's a recap of my holidays:

This is our tree. My roommates and I opened gifts on the 23rd. We stayed up late and had lots of fun together.

On Christmas eve (which is the main day of celebration), I went with the Shareski's to the Christuskirche (Christ Church) for one of their services. It was packed so we ended up standing in the back. Christuskirche is a beautiful old church building with a large dome roof and intricate details in stain glass, frescoes, statues, organ and so on. There was an orchestra and choir which made it so enjoyable to listen to. Afterwards we went to Stephen and Uli's place. This is their lovely tree.

Hop on the funny train - we're about to get started!

Krista and Uncle Larry were able to fly here from Canada for the holidays :)

Ruth and Ralph enjoying opening gifts.

This is Uncle Larry playing the piano- he can't read music but he was playing songs that we had heard for the first time at the service - AMAZING!!!

If you've ever met Larry, you'll know why I'm laughing so hard. He just has a way of phrasing things :)

I also got a trip here with the Shareski's as one of my Christmas gifts!!

I had a blast - Thanks Ruth and Ralph!

Moving right along to Christmas day. I spent the day in..

...with my roomate Judith and her family. We enjoyed Raklet together. Each person has a tray to fill with whatever you like and then you put cheese on top and place it in the middle which is like an oven. The top is used to grill toast, meat and vegetables. It's a great meal for the holidays because it takes a long time, you get to talk lots and of course it's delicious.

They also served Ostrich meat. I really liked it. It pretty much reminded me of steak.

Then Judith showed me around her town.

Here's the castle.

Alzey is a place with a rich and preserved heritage thanks to this tower. Alzey is known for this tower because during WWII, bombers would always aim for the church since it was usually the center of the town. They built this tower in the middle of their fields and turned all the lights in their town off. So when the bombers came, they destroyed this tower mistaking it for the church and the town was left untouched. They rebuilt it as a monument. Pretty smart I'd say!

Here's a little sign that made me think of my Dad. This one's for you.

Here's something German.

You light incense and leave it in the middle of this guy and the smoke comes out from his pipe.

New Years I spent with a bunch of my girlfriends. We made crepes - mmm mmm mmm.

This is Louise and I. She used to lead the dance team. It has been a pleasure to learn from her experience and to dance with her while she is in town. (Someone said something that shocked me, hence the crazy face.)

This is my closet full of cards and love from all my friends back home and abroad. Thank you. I find it all very encouraging.

It has been snowing a lot this past week. I felt like I was experiencing snow for the first time because as you might see from this blurry picture that their snowflakes are actual shapes. They are so clear and huge and intricate. It also falls so perfectly. I feel like I've been living in a magical snow globe. Apparently all this snow is unusual for Mannheim but I am fully embracing it!

Lastly, I am the proud owner of this orchid. I've wanted one since I came here and I finally bought one. I really hope I can take good care of it and that it will last. I'm scared of killing it because it's just so beautiful. It has brought me great joy and it's just what my room was missing.

I know I am anticipating this new decade and the great things that the Lord has in store; I hope you are too. Be blessed!

Oh ya, I am now officially a temporary resident of Germany!!! Yay for getting my visa ;)

Do you believe in Miracles?

Dace Dance Dance

Hi Friends!

I just wanted to update you on my trip to the Black Forest. We (Ruth, Ralph and I) traveled to the small town of Sageten where they spoke and I danced at a church called Netzwerk 43. Theo and Arlene planted this church and it was great to be there.

When we I arrived I practiced on the stage and like most churches there was some room to dance but not as much as the dance would really need. At any rate on Saturday while I was dancing about half way through the performance Ralph decided to join me on stage since my dress caught on the edge of this log (with a burning candle) and I dragged it center stage!

What to do? Well since Ralph came to the rescue and I wasn't on fire I decided to keep dancing like any good performer and pretend that nothing was wrong. It was rather comical but I am mostly just relieved that I did not light myself on fire or the church. That really would have a been a blog story! That was Saturday evening so for the Sunday morning service they rearranged the decor and all went well!

I was supposed to stay the night at Theo and Arlene's house but at the last minute plans changed and Danni graciously took me in. She is so cool and she speaks English! Yay, I felt like we were really able to connect for the short time we had together. We chatted about some of her life experiences which are so inspiring. To say the least she was a very lovely and accommodating host - thanks Danni!

I am so impressed with myself today since I have been able to accomplish so much. I went to church and danced as usual during the service and then after the service I worked with some of the girls again to practice the Christmas dance and then I had about 45min to eat and get ready for my first workshop at Haus des Herrn. It was so great to have all this space! As a dancer you can never get enough space - so I was in my element to say the least. The more space I see somewhere the greater the urge within me is to break out and dance, even if it's in a public place! Anyways, I came home took a cat nap, cleaned, ate, decorated my room, did all my accounting and now I am writing a blog. Well folks I'm keeping this one short - so till next time keep it real...ha ha that sounds lame!

P.S. Franklin Piles who is the head honcho at the C&MA spoke during our service and I get to spend my birthday lunch with him and his wife, Ruth and Ralph and another couple that I adore :) Ruth just called me for requests for Tuesday and I decided that a lasagna would be great. I'll fill you in on more details later.

- Tschussy-