Where have we been?

Ok, I apologize. We haven't entered a single blog since we got back from Austria. Well, we've been busy OK, and well, I've been kind of lazy too. We have been all over the place in the last 9 weeks since we got back from Austria. We had some great times back with Family and our church home. I performed a wedding for my stepsister, and we started traveling. We haven't been to that many churches so far, but we have been around. We left on July 8, the day after the wedding for Springfield, Misery (spelling mine) and had 10 days of heat mixed with frigid AC. We then headed to Richmond, Virginia. With stops in St. Louis, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Not a straight line you say? That is correct, but straight lines are no fun. In Richmond we had a great time with Michelle's mom and step dad. We never stopped and can now tell you all about 1. the first British settlement in America, 2. colonial America, 3. The home of Thomas Jefferson, 4. What Washington DC looks like from the outside of every monument, 5. The largest city in Virginia is Virginia Beach, which is a blast when it is sunny, and 6. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is full of great rides. After 10 days in Virginia we headed to Indianapolis for the 52nd General council of the AG. It was a lot of fun/work and after all that we were finally headed home on August 14. We stopped to see Mt. Rushmore (well worth the trip and $8.50 to park) and then drove to Medical Lake, WA to spend time with Michelle's Brother, his wife and their 3 daughters. All this before a church service this last Sunday in Goldendale, WA. (Check your map). Now finally home we are back in business with itineration (read travel/fundraising) and calling churches. I hope to share more of our adventures in much more real time in the weeks ahead.

Passach Fest?

We had a great time Friday night celebrating a messianic Jewish passover in the church. The meaning of the feast and its correlation to the communion celebrated by Christians was powerful. We had a great time of fellowship and food as you can see from these photos.

A trip to Vienna

We went to Vienna on Thursday to meet with all the other missionaries serving in Austria. It was a wonderful time to have fellowship with everyone. We also got to eat some of the very best ribs in Austria. In fact I am having the leftovers this morning for Breakfast. I also got to meet with the team that led focus in February. We return to Graz today (Saturday).

Focus 2007

Finally a picture of focus. I am able to upload a photo now, so maybe more to come soon. We had a great 4 days at Focus 2007, a retreat for the young adults of the Austrian national church. I was the main leader for the first time this year. We had a great turn out with a total of 30 people attending. We had wonderful times of worship, prayer, seeking God and preaching. Who spoke? The leadership team because no one else accepted our invitation. We saw God's hand in leading us this way as it challenged the young adults to really lead and invest themselves in this time. I was so encouraged to see so many hungry for more of God. God showed up and the testimonies afterward were incredible.

European Student Ministries Prayer Weekend

We spend the last weekend of January every year meeting together with other student ministry leaders from around Europe for prayer. This year it was great. We also had the addition of some world wide leaders in student ministry in attendance. An added day of discussion about ministry issues was very powerful. The fellowship and encouragement were great, but the highlight has to be the time spent in prayer for one another and the various national needs.
I have included a pic of our prayer times.

Making Cookies

We spent the weekend baking Christmas cookies. This is just a sample of the frosted magnificence. Three different kinds of snowflake cookies, maple madness, chocolate crescents and Russian tea cakes. And then there was also the fudge, not pictured as I ate it. I actually helped Michelle bake. It wasn't so bad and everything tastes better when you make it yourself. We are giving most of the cookies as gifts for our students and friends. The most challenging part of making the cookies is finding the ingredients. We had to find a lot of maple syrup which is in the health food section here. We also used a lot of ingredients sent from the US and bought at the lone import store. We look forward to baking the cookies in the states next year, where the chocolate chips don't have to make a 5,000 mile flight.

Students

Our students had a great time this last week.
Trygve (in the red Amsterdam shirt) was
here for the last time. He returns to Norway this week. We have 8 nations and 7 languages represented in this picture. Try having a discussion about the proper way to introduce yourself here? We are so grateful for what God is doing in this group of young people. We are amazed to see how he works in their lives week after week. This pic is really a photo of answered prayer.

Christmas Tree Time

We finally got a Christmas tree! It is quite the experience buying a tree when you have no car. We used our new bicycles as a transport medium. We did get some stares from the people we passed on the 45 minute walk home from the building materials store where we bought it. Try and imagine Michelle and I pushing a bicycle with a six foot tree strapped on it from the basket at the back to the handle bars up front. Most Austrians haven't even thought about a tree yet and if they have it is sitting somewhere outside right now waiting for Christmas eve. We told one of our Austrian friends that the tree was up and decorated already and her mouth dropped open in wonder. I know a lot of our family and friends back in the states have had the tree up two weeks now, so we felt a little behind in getting this done. Michelle did most of the decorating but I got to put on the tree topper. This years tree was a lot smaller than last year, but a 10 foot tree on a bike would have been weird don't you think?

We met up with our former youth pastors and their two daughters. They are headed to Serbia and had a stopover in Vienna. We were so grateful to be able to meet them and show them around in Vienna. This pic is of them with Michelle in front of the Opera House.