Prayer Requests

I have a couple of prayer requests that I would like to share with you:
-Please be praying that we will find another intern to take my place when I head home in August. We are searching and trying to find someone willing and able to come to Germany and work here in Hildesheim. If you know of anyone, please let me know!
-I have started the process of communicating with Scharnhortz Gymnasium to see if I can help their English classes. Please pray that any official papers, visas or requirements that are needed for this job will be able to completed in a timely manner and won't set back any plans. It is my prayer that I can be a positive influence on the students at this school.
-One of my fellow classmates in my language school has mentioned interest in coming to one of our worship services. Pray that she and her husband will indeed come to a service and that they will see Christ us.
-Continue to pray for me as I am on the mission field even in my apartment. Pray that I will be a shining light to my roommates Inga, Lena D. and Lena F.

Thanks for your prayers!

Happy New Years!

Welcome to 2008! I hope that the year is off to a great start for all you bloggers out there. I am back in Hildesheim after my 4 week trip to the States. I was blessed to be able to spend time with my family for Christmas and attend NCYM, a conference for youth ministers which was held in Atlanta.

Jet lag is still of the essence for me, but I hope to recover from it quickly. This week is already getting busy! The apartment is in dire need of cleaning, and I'm meeting with the Bratchers and Roehrkasses tomorrow for breakfast to discuss ideas and catch up on things that I've missed out on. The pre-teen group is having a game night on Friday, and I meeting with Alfred for lunch. Please continue to pray that I might show Christ to Alfred. I'm excited for what God has planned for me here in Germany for the next 8 months!

If you haven't joined the googlegroup YMinHildesheim, please do so if you'd like to recieve my updates!

New E-mail List

To make things a lot easier for me to stay in contact with all of you, I have created an e-mail list through Google. You can search for it under Google groups, typing in Youth Ministry in Hildesheim. To find Google groups, go to www.google.com and look for the "More" tab near the top. Under that tab, you should be able to find the word "groups". Click on it and type in "Youth Ministry in Hildesheim". Once you have found the site, look on the right hand side and you should see a "Join this group" link. Click on it and from there, you should be able to figure things out.

This group is an email list, so that when I send out my monthly emails, I can just easily emailed anyone on the list. Please feel free to give anyone else this information who might enjoy the updates. Thanks so much!

My Place!

Here are some pictures of my place in Hildesheim. Bischofskamp 4 to be exact. It's a WG, aka an apartment, that I share with 3 German girls, Inga, Lena D. and Lena F. Well, here are the pictures! The first one is the outside of our apartment. We are on the second floor, and my window is directly over the door on the first floor, and under the "Sebald" writing. And I have no idea what "Sebald" means.The window on the far right is Lena D.'s room, then the 2 windows to the left of that are the windows for our living room. On the left side of my window is the stairwell, and then the other 2 windows on the far left are Inga's bedroom windows. Inga has the biggest room, and I have the smallest room. Lena F.'s bedroom as well as our kitchen and 1 and 1/2 baths are on the backside. Sorry, no pictures of that side. The other 3 photos are the inside of my room. I painted my walls a deep red color, but surprisingly it doesn't make my room seem any smaller than it already was. Note the fact that my bed fits into both corners of my room!

Home in the States

Hey all you bloggers! I am back in the states for Christmas. Actually, I am also back in the States because my brother is getting married on Saturday. So, I am currently in Abilene, Texas enjoying the fairly warm, sunny weather and spending time with my family. I will be here in the States until January 6th, and then I will return back home to Germany.

I thought I would share the highlight of my trip back home. And no, the part about being awake for over 25 hours straight is not it. I flew from Frankfurt to Washington Dulles. On the flight, some guy smoked, not once, but twice in the bathroom. The flight attendants came over the loudspeakers and reminded all of us passengers "This is a non-smoking flight. Tampering with the smoke detectors and smoking is against Federal Law. Whoever just smoked in the bathroom, we know who you are." Well, that was about 2 or 3 hours into the flight. About 30 minutes before we landed, Mr. Smoker did it again. This time, one of the flight attendants approached him in his seat. And he was sitting in the section near to me. I couldn't hear what the man was saying, but the fligh attendant said, "Really? Because I smell cigarette smoke on you. Do you want me to call the police when we land?" I don't know what became of Mr. Smoker, but it made for a somewhat entertaining flight.

Back in Hildesheim, we celebrated the first Advent with our Advents Kaffee. We had several visitors from the community come, and it was a great success. We had coffee and cakes, and enjoyed the small skit by the 3-7 year olds about Christmas, as well as the play by the Pre-Teen group, depicting the story of Christmas. Kyle and Benjamin Bratcher and JD Frost all played their trumpets, and we had a small singing group. It was definitely a great way to celebrate the Christmas season together with friends and family, as well as fellowship with those from our community. Among one of the visitors was Alfred, the Bratcher's neighbor with whom I meet with about once a week. I was so thrilled that he came! Please keep praying that God will continue to bless the time that I spend with Alfred, and that God may use me to show Alfred who Christ is.

Well, this post has been brought to you by Jet Lag. I seem to be waking up at very fun hours of the morning. Yesterday I woke up at 1am Texas time to have breakfast, and then went to bed around 3am, only to wake up at 7am for lunch. Please pray that I will be able to recover from jet lag...and soon. Until next time...

Health Update

After a week of resting in bed, drinking lots of fluids, and getting antibiotics from the doctor, I have recovered from my bout with strep throat! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my quick recovery.

Tonight we practice for our Advents Kaffee play that the pre-teen group is putting on. Sunday, Dec. 2nd we will perform for members of the congregation as well as visitors from the community. And tomorrow begins the official Advents Kalendar countdown. For those of you who don't know about this tradition, every Advent calendar has 25 windows or boxes, each with a number, 1 through 25. The object is to countdown the days until Christmas. Each day you open up the appropriate window or box and recieve a small treat. It's all the rage here in Germany! And our Christmas Market has opened up in Hildesheim, so I shall be making a visit or two there before I come home on Dec. 10th.

Until next time....

The Aftermath of Thanksgiving

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was a warm and happy holiday filled with great food and fellowship. I celebrated the day in Peine with the Bratchers, the Roehrkasses, the missionaries in Peine and a few other families. We were 25 people in all, crowded around one big, long table! I felt like I was a pilgrim sitting around such a big table.

Well, sad news. Thanksgiving didn't end so well for me. I came home with a headache, sore throat and a fever. Ever since Thursday I've been keeping to my apartment and getting lost of rest (and fluids). Please pray that I will get better soon. I've talked with my parents and signs point to possibly strep throat. I royally dislike getting my throat cultured, so PLEASE pray that I won't have to go to the doctor. I'll keep you guys posted, and thanks for the prayers!