Lippstadt!

this weekend was amazing. our team of 9 from the Bibelschule went to bless the small fellowship of believers at Calvary Chapel Lippstadt, and in turn we were blessed immensely. we had sweet fellowship with pastor Rolf and his wife Regine and daughter Eva Maria, and the other members of the church.
i think we had coffee and cake 4 times in our 30 or so hours we had with them! we talked, laughed, shared testimonies, sang songs, told stories, ate, drank coffee, went for walks, saw the city, went to church with them and shared communion. it was such a blessing for all of us! we were able to lead worship for their church, and found that it was the first sunday they'd had with live worship in their 2 years as a church. since their beginnings, they've been praying that the Lord would send a worship leader. and so, for at least this week, this precious Resurrection Sunday, there was live worship in their little church building! what a privilege for us to be there with them.
i posted pictures on my picasa today- enjoy them here!
thanks to all who prayed for us! continue to pray for Calvary Chapel Lippstadt. God is so good! amen.

deuteronomy 33:26-27a.

There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
Who rides the heavens to help you,
And in His excellency on the clouds.
The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms...

sometimes..

we really need to quit fighting. we come to the point where we're all-consumed by seeking for one particular answer that we can't sit still for two seconds together, and we can receive nothing but the answer we think we want. it is at that point when realization dawns upon our stubborn minds and we perceive that perhaps our All-Consuming Thought is not truly the main point. and so, by surrendering our hearts and minds to the Lord [which consists largely of flesh-mortification], we humbly ask that something, anything, be spoken to us- for without vision, the people perish.

and speak He does.

the simple Word refreshes us, washes us. and in it He confirms the things we tended to doubt when first spoken; He speaks new life into our bones and says, "Live!"; He gives us vision for the future; He gives us strength for the day. and in His simple, wonderful way that far exceeds our human ways or comprehension, He brings it to pass.

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble. 2 Peter 1:10

let us press on to completion, and be found walking worthy of His calling.

oh saints, He is so good! let us throw ourselves upon His grace, and walk, not by sight, but by faith.

rejoice!

Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

God is so gracious. i've been sick for the past week, but i'm on the way back to gesundheit! pretty much felt like i fell off the face of the earth for a few days there, but things are still rolling along, and the Lord is blessing me with new joy and new mercies each morning.

weekend team was amazing, with 2 american girls, a finnish guy, and a bonafide chilango from mexico. we had so much fun, the food turned out really well [all praise to Jesus for that!], and the weekend is over! amen.

this weekend is our trip to Lippstadt! it's a church of about 12 people, a couple hours from here. we're going to spend the weekend with the pastor and his family, lead worship at church, and spend time in fellowship with the church. our team of 8 [so far] met today to go over details and pray. i'm really encouraged, and blessed. we need one more guy to go with us, so pray that the right team comes together. otherwise, the 8 of us will be ok too. pray that we'll be a blessing to our family there in Lippstadt!

tonight i get to lead worship with 2 of my dear friends, ela and ludwig, at monday night class. then tomorrow we have intern meeting, and i work coffeebar in the afternoon. staff meeting and koinonia group on wednesday. and after thursday comes...

FRIDAY BABY!!!!!!!!!

Gott segne euch!
heart!a.


[Easter verse: For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 thes 1:9-10]

p.s. i miss you chilanga.

mit ganz lieb!!

lyds.ann.mich.

gears are turning, praise is rising, and God is good!
He is doing amazing things in my heart, and is reviving my vision and my heart for others.
soon we shall see if an opportunity to minister opens up: i emailed a church today and they wrote right back with encouraging words! pray for wisdom and guidance, especially concerning outreach week also.
how great is our God! let us be vessels to pour out His love upon each soul we encounter today.
mit lieb!
akj.

what fun.

i love it here.
tonight i went with another intern, lydia, along with 3 german girls, katja, tanja, and sarah, to the cinema to see a documentary auf deutsch! we saw Unsere Erde [our world]. basically lots of shots of all over the world, animals and nature. it was pretty sweet. we all were getting pretty sleepy towards the end but it was cool!
learned some new things about german culture, particularly in their movie theaters [Kino]:
-you get assigned seats, but you can also go online beforehand and reserve seats
-they show commercials first, ending with one or two ice cream commercials. then the lights go up, and the ice cream men appear to sell their goodies! amazing! then the lights go back down after a few minutes and we get on with the previews.

last night i led worship at monday night class at the church. it was so fun, and i prayed auf deutsch, during which i forgot how to say something and ended up laughing a bit [lyds thought i was crying!], but it went well.
i also got adopted by my family last night! the dad is super nice! i was really scared to get adopted, mostly because i hate/fear awkwardness, but it wasn't awkward at all.

our house smells like santa claus' house.. christy and anjulie have been baking cookies all night.

tomorrow is anja's birthday!!!!! :) should be a schon tag!

yesterday i purchased an amazingly enormous turnip [which i fondly deemed The Rutabaga], and tonight i cooked it. half was a disastrous, albeit perfectly seasoned, sauteed ordeal, which produced rapturous cries of dismay from michelle upon tasting. the other half was much improved by a good steady boil, and cooked up quite nicely. i, however, was quite through with my rutabaga by then, and willingly handed it off to a much more eager michelle [she finally worked up the guts to try the second batch]. [i love you misheru!!!!!]

and so the daily chronicle ends. it's been a good day. our cupboard is hung, our couch is fixed, our bathroom is clean, our cookies are burning [jk], and we've put our Wollemäuse to bed. bis morgen!

wie süß!!

meet and greet.

i love it here so much! the Lord had put it on my heart quite some time ago [since i first began considering this internship] to come back here and to build relationships with and be a blessing to the girls, just like the intern girls of old were to me! and lo and behold, the Lord has already begun that very thing! of our 75-member family here, there are very few of whom i can say that i've not yet had a meaningful conversation. and they've only been here a week! praise the Lord for the fellowship we have in Christ with the Body of believers! how amazing. i counted tonight, while looking at a list of student's names and pictures, and there are less than 5 girls with whom i've not had daily [if not several times daily] fellowship- asking how things are going, laughing, joking around, praying, eating together, walking together, etc. i used to be so scared of girls.. not necessarily scared, but more along the lines of Wary. being one of the boys was no problem to me, and while i didn't always flee from girls, i typically was much more comfortable with the boys. but the Lord, in His abundant, tender mercies, has given me these past 2.5 years of bible college [and dozens of roommates], and in doing so, He has stirred in me a great love and appreciation for girls. sure, they're a lot of trouble, but, in all sincerity, how blessed i am to have so many dear, precious, beloved sisters.
and so, on y va! into the semester! i absolutely adore the group of people here this semester. thank you Jesus!!

locked out of my house.

so i will update!
i have been so bad at updating! sorry.
things here are super busy to the extreme. but everything is going really well, and i love it here so very much! i haven't taken any pictures, otherwise i'd post.
my days pretty much consist of helping in the kitchen, figuring out my m199ers' schedules [i am the laundry intern this semester], leading worship [yesterday devos + tonight for all-girls koinonia], and going to inga-lill's block class "women of the bible" [3 hours/day, 5 days/week, 2 weeks].
classes and devotions have all been so encouraging!!! i'm so blessed to be here and to sit under such rich teaching. and worshiping together with the Body of Christ is also so great.
this weekend i'm on weekend team, and we're going to the Wartburg, which is the castle in Eisenach where martin luther was held captive. been there before. it's cool. so it'll be a crazy weekend of continued cooking and running around.
the Lord keeps reminding me that it's only in His strength that i am to begin and to complete anything. i've been given a lot of responsibilities, and i tend to get going in my own strength and start to burn out before i realize that all along i should have been relying upon His sufficiency in everything.
so that's definitely a prayer request! keep us all in your prayers, staff and students.. we all have a LOT going on this week and next. pray for wisdom, strength, clarity of thought, and most of all a closeness to the Lord in this time.
love!