Sorry it has been so long since the last update, time just seems to fly by. Right now is Easter vacation for those in Innsbruck. Schools and many businesses are closed down for a week and a half. However we still have German classes except for next Monday. It is good though to be continually in classes to help learn more. This Wednesday we are going to head out on the train to the town of Linz, Austria. We will be helping out with a leadership training conference for young people. Four of the students from our youth group will be attending which we are very excited about! Seth & I will be the ones in charge of cooking for the group of about 20. Be praying that everything goes smoothly for us as we take on this new endeavor. The train ride lasts about 3 hrs and we will be gone Wednesday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. Please be praying that God really uses us there and that he molds these youth kids to be more like him! Also be praying because right now I am sick, Lord willing I will be all better by Wednesday afternoon

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When we come back on Saturday we will be attending the Baptism of a couple from our German class at the Catholic church. The husband has come to the bible study we attend before. Please be praying that it will work out for him to keep coming back and that their relationship with God will continue to grow and that they will keep seeking until they find the answers to their many questions.

Sunday April 7^th there is going to be a race here in Innsbruck! I am very excited! There will be 3k, 5k, 10k, 15k, and 21.1k. I believe I will be doing the 10k J and I think Seth will run as well but probably the 3k. There is an organization here in Innsbruck called the “Stadt der Hoffnung” which is the City of Hope: Initiative Innsbruck. It is a group of believers that have come together to spread the hope of Christ! This group is calling all believers in the city to come to this race and where the shirts they have made that say Hope runner on them. Most all believers I know of are planning to either run or come wearing these shirts. Please be praying that God will use this time and provoke those around us to be asking questions!

There is an English speaking women’s bible study that meets here but it has always been Wednesday mornings and we have German class every Wednesday so I have never been able to attend. However about a month ago the switched it to Friday mornings which is the one day that we do not have German class so I have been very excited to start attending. However every week I have been prevented from going, the first time we had a meeting, then we had a makeup German class and now this week we have the leadership training conference. Please be praying that it will work out that I will be able to attend this bible study regularly.

Also we are still searching for people to help with summer camp! If you know if anyone that would be interested in coming for about 2 weeks and help with either being a cook, cabin leader or program staff please let us know!

Thank you all for your prayers and your encouragement!

Alyssa

German Class & English Camps

We have now had a whole week of our second German class! It is very exciting to be understanding more of what we hear. We have a new teacher for this class and even though we liked our last one it is nice to learn to understand a new voice. From our last class probably only 8 people continued on to this class and also about 8 new people joined. Be praying that we continue being motivated to learn German and that soon we can be connecting and meeting with youth to help us learn more.

We had our first English Camp meeting this week! Summer is soon going to be upon us. We are most likely going to be program staff at the camp in Salzburg. However one of the groups that was planning on coming and bringing about 8 people as staff has fallen through for the camp in Salzburg. So we now have openings for cabin leaders, SWAT team leaders, and cooks. So now there really is no telling exactly what we will be doing. We are very excited to be out at a camp once again!

The past few days have been as full as we can get them. Seth's cousin Ismael has been here and we have gone hiking, rock climbing, walking all round town, visiting people, going to a birthday party, starting a new German class, made some auhhentic Austrian food, played soccer and somehow managed to work a little in there. We have really enjoyed this time and chance to do some touristy things. We haven't really done any of that so far so it was nice. Ismael leaves today and is heading off to visit more friends and family around Europe. It has been a blessing to have him here for a time.

We did start our second German class on Monday which is exciting. We now have a new teacher so it is challenging at times to understand but that is also good. Please continue to b  in payer for our learning. We both did very well on the test we took at the end of our last class. It is hard though to have motivation at times to practice outside of class.

Thanks for all your prayers

Praises!

Just a few praises to hopefully help encourage some of you! As well as to thank you all for your prayers!

- Last week we went in to get our VISAs. Praise God we had everything that they requested of us plus more. We were planning on having to wait a few weeks for them to come in but praise God we were able to go in and pick them up on Wednesday without any problems!

- I (Alyssa) have really begun to connect to God through German worship music which is a huge blessing!

- We were able to take our personal retreat day for this past month and spend part of it at the zoo here in Innsbruck. It was an awesome time for us to have together as well has getting to explore the area a little more!

- God has really been blessing our relationship with our neighbors. There is a family that lives below us that when we first met was a little awkward (we interrupted dinner and they had company and so on). However, God definitely used it to start a relationship. The couple's daughter is about our age and we were able to go out to eat with her and her boyfriend on Sunday and we are now planning on being at her birthday party this Saturday. We have also been able to get to know her parents a little bit. They only speak German and it has been great opportunities to practice what we know! The mom even made us some knodle which was quite delicious! We have also been able to get to know our neighbors across the hall. There there is a woman and her two young girls. Be praying for God to really use these relationships!

-It has been crazy to see what God is doing through our relationships with those in our German class! A few of the guys from class have gone with Seth to play soccer which is awesome! We were able to go running with one of those sames guys as well, since he does not live to far from our house. There is a couple in our class that has shown interest in what we believe and the husband even came to bible study with us this last Wednesday. He came with many questions since he had grown up in a Muslim country. Be praying for conversations that we have. Also be praying that he will continue to keep coming to bible study and that God will provide a way for his wife to come as well.

(the blond in the middle is our teacher)

- Today we had our German class over to our home for a meal! What a blessing it is to have a large apartment right now! It was the last day of class and everyone brought something to contribute. It was awesome to try different kinds of foods! There was SO much food and for some reason everyone decided to leave all the left overs at our house! Our fridge is packed to the max and there is even more we have put in the freezer or is ok to sit on the counter. I'm pretty sure we have enough fruit and bread to last us a month! ...too bad it won't last that long. We had a great time together and pray that these relationships continue to develop. Some of these people will continue on with us with the next German class that starts on Monday but probably only half the class. However those that we are closest with are going to continue for at least one more class. The couple I mentioned earlier is planning on doing all 6 with us. Praise God!

Not the most flattering picture but I think that was everyone besides me

- God has really been blessing the Friday night ministry at the light house! It is a time for the high school youth group kids to bring there friends just as a time of outreach and fellowship. There have been many people (like 15-35) every week since we have been here although that is apparently a newer development. It's awesome to get to know the friends of the youth. There is particularly one girl that I (Alyssa) have begun to connect with that is not a part of the youth group. Be praying for that!

- Sunday there was a meal after the church service and we ended being at a table with German only speakers. I think that was the first time where we have really been able to converse with people only in German. It amazed me how many things we were able to talk about! It was a very big confidence boost for us with our German!

- Seth's cousin Ismael is coming to visit tomorrow! Be praying that God uses that time! He will be joining us on some ministry things. We will also be doing some sightseeing which we really haven't done a lot of so we are pretty excited!

Thank you all for your prayers! Sickness seems to be going around here like crazy! Be praying for our health as well as the health of our team (Seth has been feeling better but our team leader and his family have all been sick this week).