English Camp Prep

This past week has been fun but very busy. It is our last full week before we leave early next Tuesday morning for English Camps. It has been a week full of making plans, spending time with youth we won’t see again for over a month, saying goodbye to friends that will have moved by time we are back in Innsbruck, learning to drive stick shift, signing documents, packing, end of the school year parties, and preparing to move.

It is hard to realize that we will be leaving for so long. Both of us feel as though we are really connecting with various people and it seems crazy to stop all that and be gone for over a month. It is hard to leave but I know that right when we arrive at the airport picking up all of the Americans that are coming to help with English Camps we will be glad to be there. We are very much looking forward to being at camp once more.

I am sure that Camp will fly by and before we know it we will be back in Innsbruck for those two days and be moving into our new apartment (I am looking forward to no longer walking up the stairs to the 5^th floor every day). It is such a blessing that we are able to move in during those couple days even though the apartment is not officially ours for another week. Praise God.

Then we will head out for Slovenia for the EFCA Europe Conference. Followed by a week of us on vacation in Croatia. It will be fun visiting places that we have never been before.

I am not entirely sure when the next time I will be able to update our blog so here are a few things that you can be in prayer for us over.

-The drive to Munich to pick up the American team. They mostly only have stick shift vehicles here in Austria and that includes the 9 passenger vans we will be renting for camp. Seth and I have very little experience learning how to drive stick but they were in need of one of us driving (an empty van) to the airport to pick up the team and then someone else can take over. I am the one that is going to be driving because later at camp I will be a cook and need to take the van to get groceries and insurance wise we can only have two people on the van.  I had a driving lesson for a couple hours yesterday and that went well but it is very difficult considering most of the time you are driving either uphill or downhill. But overall I understand. However I was learning in a smaller town without much traffic but we will need to pick up the vans in Innsbruck on Monday. There will definitely be traffic but I will also get part of that day to practice as well but then early Tuesday morning we will head out for Munich, which is about a 2-hour drive. I’m not concerned about driving on the Autobahn since we won’t really ever be stopping. But the time in Innsbruck and Munich will definitely be challenging so please pray that everything goes well and that I am able to stay calm.

-The move. We are working on packing most everything that we own so that it is ready to be moved right away when we return. Just pray that everything goes smoothly and that we are able to communicate well in German.

-Pray for our last few days before we leave for camp that it will be a time that we are able to relax so that we are able to head to camp with full energy

-That Seth and I don’t get overwhelmed at camp and are still able to make time for each other.

Things have really started to pick up! Thank you all for your prayers for two weekends ago. We had a lot of events that were going on over the weekend which kept us very busy but they had great turn outs! We had a Christian band, called Liz and the Lions, that came and did an open air concert in the parking lot. Many people came and many more people stopped and stayed instead of continuing to walk past. God really provided and we pray that some of those people will come back to the events that we have in the future. Seth and I had a great time getting to know the band as they ended up staying at our place. It was an encouragement to have them here and be able to share about what God has called us to. And we got to hear where God was calling them as well.

I have been meeting with a youth girl one-on-one for a few weeks and it has been awesome to see how God has been opening doors. It is neat to see how God can use a relationship when we are being open and vulnerable and following His calling. Not only have I been able to challenge, help processes, and hold her accountable but she has been doing many of the same things for me as well. Please be praying for this relationship and that God will continue to use it to help spur us on closer to Him.

This last weekend we had Matt arrive from the states and he will be staying here for 3 weeks. He will be making promotional videos for everything: After school Tutoring, Lighthouse, Friday Nights, English Camps and then one for our team as well to show our supporters more about our life here. We are very excited to share that with you all once it is finished! Matt’s mom was also here over the weekend since they had just finished visiting family here in Europe. She stayed with us over the weekend. It was really a pleasure to get to know her as well as an encouragement. She reminded me a lot of my mom, including how she enjoyed playing Dutch Blitz. It was a blessing to have her here for the weekend and have her show us love in so many ways even though we had just met.

The countdown has begun and we will be leaving for English Camps in exactly two weeks! Things are coming together well but at times it still seems overwhelming. Please be praying! We still need 1 more guy cabin leader as well as at least 1 more cook. We are doing the shopping tomorrow for all the supplies that we need, I think it will set in a lot more after that. Which reminds me…we need to go buy a printer. Please be praying for Seth and I, this is our first time being a part of the Program Staff at a camp. We will have a lot more responsibility. I am also going to be in charge of training the cabin leaders how to do the English lessons as well as taking care of the budget and finances. Both things that I know I will enjoy but also new territory for me.

This weekend Seth and Matt were a part of a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. They played on a team along with some people that Seth had met while playing.  It was a lot of fun to watch them play. Seth did great! They were only a part of the fun league but they won that division!

Also this weekend (we had a busy weekend) we were able to go to Hall (a town 10 minutes away by train) and have lunch with some people from current and previous German classes. It was fun to all be together as well as to try some Iranian dishes.

I know this post is already long but briefly I want to ask for some prayer with things that will be going on this week. Tomorrow, I will be a part of the girls youth group bible study as we talk about relationships. Thursday, Jen and I organized a Volleyball game mostly consisted of youth girls so be praying that enough people come and it will be a good bonding experience. Also the weather is beautiful and Seth wants to go out and play basketball a few different times. This weekend Seth might be taking a couple of the youth guys camping Friday night be praying for guidance with that. And then Sunday we have Elise coming to visit us from our home church in Seward, we are excited to have her and her friend stay with us for a couple of days and pray that God will keep them safe through all their travels. Also on Sunday Cathrin’s cousin will be coming and staying with us for 3 weeks…we however will only be here for one but pray that all goes smoothly especially as we will be very busy with preparing for camp. And then finally, in the two days after camp we need to be moving to our next apartment. So since we have such little time we are going to try and pack everything up before we leave for camp. This leads to a lot of things, right before we go so please be praying that we will use our time wisely and that God will bring everything together. Thanks so much for all your prayers!

Alyssa

This last week we finished up our 4th German class and this week we started our 5th one. This will be the last class we have before the summer (because here summer doesn't start for another month). This group is almost completely the same as our last one which is nice. It is exciting to see how far we have gotten with our German since we first came here a little over four months ago. We are definitely far from perfect but we are at the point that we can communicate most things pretty well. A lot of the grammer is getting ingrained in our minds but it is difficult to always think of it while speaking. It is crazy to think that after this class there will only be one more that we will take after the summer. It feels like we have so much more to learn but I think more than anything we have so much more vocabulary to learn and that will come.

This weekend we have lots of things going on at the Lighthouse that we are needing to set up and host so please be in prayer that many people will be coming and that God would be glorified. Particularly there is an open air concert that we are hosting Friday night in the parking lot/walk way. There are constantly people walking through this area so please be praying that many will stop and enjoy the concert.

The weather has taken a turn for the better! It has been raining nonstop for the last 3 weeks or so but yesterday and today have been gorgeous! Seth and I have been getting opportunities to meet with youth as well as people from German class. Please keep praying for opportunities. Thank you all for your prayers. I hope to write more in a few days!