WELCOME to our new blog. Simon and I wanted to have somewhere where we were able to write in both languages, and include some more information that isn't necessarily included in our newsletters.
Beautiful Nuns, and YWAM Herrnhut
At the end of August till the beginning of September we journeyed across Germany with our staff team. First stop was Darmstadt, where we spent some time with the Sister's of Mary.
Not familiar with the group? You can find some more information here: http://www.kanaan.org/international/default.htm
Basically they are group of ladies who are devoted to a life of loving Jesus, community living, and living completely by faith. What is "living by faith" you ask? Well I thought I knew what this meant, but they altered my definition once I heard their stories. Basically their "living by faith" is saying that they trust God to provide everyday for every single one of their little needs. From toothpaste, to the food on the table, from acquiring large pieces of land, and building accommodations for their community and guests. And all without asking for money, or working for money.
We had a great time with these cute ladies. It was encouraging to hear their stories, and they were amazingly generous. We were able to lodge and eat there at no cost to ourselves. And for a community with no "fixed" or "sure" income, to be so generous is exceptional indeed. It really challenged me into thinking differently about our finances. Instead of thinking, "do we have anything that we can be generous with?" to, "what we have, we can be generous with". It's sometimes an uncomfortable lesson. Especially when one doesn't have an abundance.
But God has really been teaching us to rely ONLY on Him, and to be generous BECAUSE of Him and not be focused on lack.
Our next stop was another 5 1/2 hours northeast of Darmstadt in a little town called Herrnhut. It's settled right in the corner for Germany between the borders of Poland and Czech Republic. There we got to know more friends at YWAM Herrnhut.. who also live in a castle. Although, I must say, I like our castle better (perhaps I'm bias :) ) They do, although, have a little pond thing and more forest, so that's cool. It was great to meet some more YWAMers, and experience base life there. Herrnhut definitely has a different feel than here in Hurlach. It's filled with many more young 20-something North Americans (and also Germans, and some other diverse nations). Though I find Hurlach has a bit more international flaire. But that's okay, because it was really cool atmosphere to be in. It is full of life, passion, and love for Jesus. Because many of their DTSs are "Arts focused" they have a bunch of creative artists just itching to do things. You can see it in the base... the photography, the artwork, the music, the graphic arts. It was really inspiring to be there. During the week and a bit we had there, we did some staff training with their staff who is also just recently started a September DTS (Marriage of the Arts).
Castle Fest 2011
The week before our DTS we took part in our Castle Community's annual "Castle Fest", where the surrounding communities were invited to visit and many of us dressed up in medieval/baroque clothing. There were many food and ware stands from the staff here from various countries so that everyone had the chance to "taste" the world. Taylor and myself (Dani) had the opportunity to share our musical giftings on stage, and entertain the crowd, along with a few of the other musically talented staff. It was a long, but fun day.
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| Simon leading a tour through the castle |
Click to see more pictures here
The King's DTS Begins!
On September 17th our long awaited DTS students arrived. It was so neat meeting them all finally in person.. after a few months of only seeing their faces in the one picture we had of them, and praying for them, it was refreshing to see living, moving human beings.
They came and we surprised them with their first task which was to build a tent together! Initially the idea was that they would sleep and have lecture there for the first week.. but alas, that didn't work out as I'll explain further on. The idea behind the tent was that we shouldn't just be comfy Christians.. only able to learn and experience Jesus in our comfort zones.. but that He pushes us to where we haven't been in order to grow us, and show us different sides of him. Unfortunately early in the morning it started raining, and by the time everyone had woke up and got our for breakfast the rain had puddled together in a fold of the roof of the tent. I suppose it got to heavy that the roof collapsed, thankfully not crashing upon anyone, just empty sleeping bags. Later we found out that a couple of the students had prayed that they would not have to suffer one more night in that tent. I guess God showed them a very tangible answer to prayer. They all enjoyed the next night in their warm beds in the dorm room
We have the honour of spending these next few months with 11 individuals from five different nations (Germany, Switzerland, USA, Canada, and Ethiopia). Two of which are men (but seem to be managing the inequality quite well). This is funny because our staff team numbers also 11.
Currently we are at week four of the lecture phase. Our topics so far have been: Hearing God's Voice, Loving Jesus, Character and Nature of God, and this week is Destiny by Design. Each week has been a new teacher, which has been a great experience because we have the privilege to hear different points of view regarding our faith as Christians. Each teacher is passionate about different topics, and comes from a different area or denomination in our faith.
It has been a great learning experience, because I believe we're all challenged in what we believe, and why we believe the things we believe. These are deep questions, and hit the heart. The students as well as the staff have ample opportunity to discuss and ask questions amongst ourselves, and to the teachers.
The students are amazing, they are totally involved, excited, motivated, and ready for anything God has for them. I have seen some of them grow incredibly much in these last few weeks. It reminds me back to my DTS and how God radically changed me. He is doing the same with these students. He is the same God yesterday, today and in the future. He loves us so much, and the more I'm here and involved, I can see how much he really touches each individual... and very personally. He is a personal God, and He speaks so much! We just need to listen.
What does our schedule look like?
What do we do here as staff? Because Simon is full-time staff, his schedule is quite different from mine. It also varies from week to week since some weeks he's translating (this is a bilingual school - German/English and EVERYTHING is translated), or leading certain aspects. I'll give you a quick glimpse into Simon's day:
Wake up - 5:50am and Quiet time until 6:45am
6:45-7:15am Breakfast
7:15-8:00am Team meeting
8:00-9:00 Worship
9:00-12:30 Lecture
12:30-2pm Lunch
2:00-4:00pm Office work
4:00-5:30pm Outreach prep
6:00-6:30pm Dinner
6:30-7:30 Family time
7:30- ?? Worship night or Lecture or Community Evening
10:00pm ish Bed!!
This schedule constantly varies as there are many other weekly meetings that he has to attend, or various issues that he has to attend to, time changes, or special responsibilities. Admittedly, this was especially challenging for us as a family at the beginning, since we aren't "schedule lovers". More in the sense that it was difficult to schedule our "free time".. but we've been encouraged to do just that, see what time we have left, and schedule it together. So far it's worked out pretty good.
My time looks different, I don't wake up as early, I'm there for the lecture, and typically leave early to prepare lunch for us as a family. On top of maintaining our household (small, but still active!), I am active in a few things. I have a one on one, which means I meet once a week with one particular girl and discuss the last week, things that are going on in her life, and pray for her. Every week we have something called "Passion Group" which means, the guys meet together, and the girls meet in two groups and have a bigger sharing/doing something together time. It's great to come into a smaller situation and talk about all of the stuff they're learning/dealing with/experiencing, and to pray together.
Outreach
After praying about it, and talking about it with a few of our team members, we have decided to accompany one of the teams to Aruba. This is so far the biggest team from our DTS, with the least amount of staff (although, now that we're coming, it's all evened out :) ) We want to go to support the two awesome leaders, Erick and Sarah, and the students in this time in whatever awaits us. For those of you who are not familiar with Aruba.. here is some Wiki info: Aruba
I would like to update with some more information regarding this later on.
Personal
I (Dani) am 18 weeks pregnant today, and everything seems to be going well. Climbing up the three flights of stairs to our room with Elijah, multiple times a day though is getting very irritating. I also feel it starting to strain on my tummy area, so by the end of the day my back is hurting and my abdomen feels a bit tight. So I'm hoping I can stay strong enough to live up here until December! Other women have had it far worse, so I'm sure I can do it hahaha. I can feel this baby inside of me kicking now, it's very soft compared to what I remember with Elijah. Although, I remember mainly the end of my pregnancy with him when he was moving all over the place and making my tummy move But this is still exciting, because I feel the life in me. It makes me more excited to welcome a new member to our family.
Simon and I are still praying about what we will do after outreach, and end of DTS time. When we come back we will need a proper home more or less. Wherever it is, be it here still, or elsewhere, we will need the finances to pay for an apartment. We are currently living by miracles every month to live even in this tiny room, and this is probably one of the cheapest ways we could live. So please pray with us about our finances, and provision and what to do next. I will update more on the development of our personal vision, but currently we're working on making it clearer.
Elijah is also doing well, he's growing and talking more and more every day. He never ceases to make me laugh be it because he growls when he sees bunny rabbits in his books, or points to his tummy and asks, "Baby??", or just does random little silly things. He is such a joy and pleasure to us, to the team, and to the students. I think they all enjoy having a little energy ball running around. It was nice in the sunny weather to go out and play in the playyard and sandbox in the back.. but now that it's cooling down, I'm starting to wonder what we're going to do in the bad weather. I'm sure we'll think of something, or he'll come up with something to surprise me (like emptying my shelves and making towers with our canned goods). We thank God every day for this wonderful little boy, and I think it makes it more exciting that we'll have another joy to look forward to. 
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| Running after birds in Prague |
That's it for now!
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| Trying to drink Aunty's coffee |
