Newspaper Article

The OC Talon Newspaper wrote an article about me in this week's issue. If you guys want to read it, here is the link to the online version of it. I will, however, make one correction to it: Rick Odell did not come to Germany, however helped send Josh, Ariel and I off. Happy reading!

http://blogs.oc.edu/ee/index.php?/talon/cat/luallin_serves_as_youth_minister_abroad/

Roommates

Guten Tag to all of you bloggers out there.

I have a prayer request that I would like to bring to your attention. For about a week now, 2 of my roommates, Inga and Lena F. have been in a fight. What was the fight about? you might ask. Well, it started over a lemon-ice tea bag. Lena F. threw the lemon ice tea bag away, and Inga came along and noticed it in the trash. Inga proceeded to tell Lena F. that she always throws her stuff away and treats her differently than Lena D. and myself.

I think the lemon ice tea bag was the chip off the iceberg for Inga. Apparently there are a lot of undealt with issues that both have supressed, until now. Well, Lena F. still hasn't talked to Inga since the fight, and is avoiding her like the plague. Inga approached Lena F. this evening and asked when they were going to talk about the fight and resolve it, to which Lena F. replied she didn't have the time to talk to her, and wasn't in the mood to speak with Inga.

So needless to say, the air here in the WG is rather tense, considering that two of the four roommates won't speak to one another. I ask that you pray for peace and understanding between Inga and Lena F. When I have tried talking to Lena F. about apologizing and making amends, she has the mindset of "Why should I apologize when it isn't my fault?" And, from previous experience, I know I would get the same response from Inga. Please pray that I might say the right words when they need to be said. Thanks, this really means a lot...it's not too much fun coming home to a tense apartment.

Kaputt

In recent WG news, our washing machine has decided to go kaputt; that is to say it no longer works. In about 2 weeks, we will be getting one from Inga's father. In the meantime, I may have to pay the local Laundromat a visit or two.

We got a new refridgerator yesterday from a store called Roller. Their customer service is definitely nothing to write home about...oh wait...it is something to write home about, because it's AWFUL. If Germany had a Better Business Bureau, I would call it. Customer Service to them means having a desk with an informant who is paid to be as non-informing and as un-helpful as possible. Communication among the Roller employees does not exist. After spending at least an hour waiting around to get the refridgerator exchanged for a new one, Don Roehrkasse and I got to haul it back to my apartment. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that Roller wanted to charge us 40 Euro to come pick up the broken refridgerator we had purchased from them in late October, and to drop off the new one. No thank you! So Don and I got a fairly decent workout to say the least when we carried the fridge downstairs from my 2nd floor apartment. Luckily when we brought back the new one, the guys from the WG on the first floor helped carry it up the stairs.

So anways, technology can be a blessing...when it works.

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!