Missionaries Suck

As of one week ago today we have moved in to our new home here in Hurlach.

This last month has been an amazing month filled with surprises, and lots of busyness! 

This next month will I'm sure be the same, since we are expecting a baby to come at any time.

The first few weeks being back in Germany after our outreach were a little bit frustrating, at least when it came in searching for a home for us to live in. We had been keeping ears and eyes open since November, hoping that something would be available for us when we'd return. But there was nothing. Whenever we saw something that could be free, or heard from someone that they knew someone who perhaps had a room or anything, we jumped on the opportunity! Although, it seemed that every time it was a dead end. The place had already been taken, visitors would be coming and staying etc etc. This really was causing me to panic a bit since my head was in "mommy nesting phase" and I was starting to feel emotionally desperate. There were many times were I was crying out to God and asking if he could see me, or telling him that this was too much for me. With every "no" came such a loss of hope. 

It's interesting, because when I was a kid, I always thought missionaries were the most spiritual of spiritual people (whatever that means). I idolized them in my head, perhaps thinking they were even perfect. I didn't put much thought into who or what missionary was in my later teenage years, because it just wasn't something I cared about. I didn't care about God. 

 But now here I am, 25, married (to a German), mommy, and suddenly working as a missionary in Germany... probably one of the last places I wanted to be. And my thoughts suddenly return to my previous views of "the missionary" and the reality of my situation. 

Since starting to work with YWAM this last July, I have had my eyes wide open to the actuality of who I really am. I am not perfect, I make lots of mistakes, I have trouble communicating sometimes, I still have issues with God - and these especially come out in such circumstances like: unexpectedly not being allowed to fly to my destination, not having money for groceries, not having a foreseeable home to live in etc etc. The world that is supposed to revolve around me is constantly crushed. I am again and again pushed to my limit and through this all... I have seen how AMAZING, and gracious, and glorious and huge God is!! 

Missionaries suck, but God is perfect, and somehow, because of his grace, he can use me. This is what I've learned these last few months. Despite my failures, my weaknesses, somehow I can make a difference in this hurting world because of Him. I have encountered him to be more real, and relevant than I could have ever imagined. More loving than I ever thought possible. I am very much undeserving, but He still keeps on giving, surprising me, and showing me how deep his love for me is.

I know that my words will not suffice to bring all of the emotion, and all of my experiences across properly. But I dearly pray that each person who reads this, will have their own personal encounter(s) with Jesus. Or at least, be willing to be touched by the Living God. It will change your life. Just like mine has been changed, and is ever changing.

At least I'll write an ending to our find a home story (it ends well by the way). It ends like this: Just in the nick of time we received a phone call from someone who heard along the line that we were looking for something. The place sounded too big and too expensive for us, so I originally set the offer aside. But after thinking about it again we decided to inquire a bit more about it. It was a beautiful and large flat here in the village, with a balcony and a backyard, and four bedrooms and available just before March 1st! While we were debating on the possibility of taking it, and how it could work, Taylor (my sister for those of you who don't know) told us about a dream she had of moving in with us. We were very much open for this possibility, and I had thought about it once before, but didn't think she would want to. Turns out, she did! So we all prayed about it, and after a few days it was very clear we should just take it and God would provide.

So here I am, typing in my living room of this amazing gift. We are sub-letting it until November, and then we will take over as full tenants. There is more than enough space, and we're really happy to have Taylor come live with us since she will also be working on our base as staff for the next couple years!

For all who'd like to come visit, come!

I will post some pictures later. Now it's time for bed, and maybe to pray some more that this baby will come soon!

Back in Germany, and Looking for a Place to Live!

What an adventure!




Here we are, back in Germany for about a week and a half now. When we arrived, there was unfortunately no snow to my disappointment. But after praying with Simon about it on the weekend, it came! So on Saturday we went out and all played in our first snow this winter. Simon enjoyed throwing snowballs at poor helpless pregnant women (like me) or almost 2 year olds with undeveloped reflexes. Elijah thought it funny though.









Elijah bundled up for his first snow












The Castle is so pretty in white







So we're very thankful to be staying right now in our friends' Volker and Naraleska's. They are currently in Venezuela visiting family, and they've offered us their home until the return near the end of February. So we at least have a home until then. Other than that, we're on the hunt and here in Hurlach it seems quite a feat to find an apartment. There is nothing on the internet, no newspaper, nothing listed anywhere! The other day we heard word from the lady at a local store here that there may be a free flat, so we acted fast. Simon went to the flat, and then was directed to the landlord who lived right behind. He then walked to the landlord's house to ask if it was still available. He could only give us more information today... it is indeed free, and is a good size. The problem is that it is available first from April 1st. Which means we would have to find something to bridge the time in between, and this something would have to still have to be rather private since that's exactly the time when this next baby will come. So naturally, my flesh feels a bit panicky, and not ready for this adventure that's being asked of me. I go through times of doubting, and times of holding on in faith that God, my Papa, is the ultimate provider, he loves me and is faithful.

It's times like these I especially enjoy the Psalms: 
 For the righteous will never be moved; 
   he will be remembered forever. 
 He is not afraid of bad news; 
   his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. 
 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, 
   until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. 
Psalm 112:6-8


I often say, I love having great stories telling of God's amazing mercies, and triumphs in my life. But the times leading up to these are very challenging and uncomfortable... and my oh my, have I had many of these instances in the last six months. On the other hand, I also have had some pretty awesome stories and miracles because of the challenges.


Aruba Outreach

 <---Setting up for the Mini-DTS

When we left the Mini-DTS was just finishing up, and it was a great success and a pleasure to watch it all come together, and to see God really work through our team, and the individuals who came.

Playing an icebreaker game 

 It was an honour to have Dan Baumann with us. On the first night we had around 40 something visitors from all over the island, from all sorts of churches, or from no church at all.

Dan Baumann and Erick our DTS Leader, and translator for the evening

Since we've left, our team is still doing well (of course!). They're busy around Aruba working with the drug addicts now, and it seems more and more opportunities are opening up. We're really proud of them, and excited to have them home and hear all the other amazing things that have/will happen!


Back to Hurlach, and the Story Keeps Going

A few days after coming home to Hurlach, we attended our local church here in the area and were talking to one of the men there about the work we were doing in Aruba. We mentioned the work that was going on with the prostitutes in the island's Red Light District. He seemed to wonder if us being there to "minister" to these ladies perhaps offended them. He wondered if us going there to love them made them feel like they were being judged or accused.

I tried to explain that our goal wasn't to go there to make them change their lifestyle. Our goal was to love them, and try to show them how God thinks and looks at them. They are precious in His sight. God does the change, not us. Although, during the conversation I thought, "How much can 'just loving' do?" It goes againt our "do do do" instincts.

After our conversation we came home, and I checked our Team's Blog and was amazingly encouraged by the story they had just updated with. I'll include an excerpt here, because it greatly encouraged me:

As you know we have been going down to St. Nicolaas every Saturday and working with the people there and out of this something really cool happened. When I was chatting with Juan (who went back to Colombia) a couple of days ago , he told me this: While he was sitting at the airport in Aruba waiting for his flight to go home he met one of the Colombian prostitutes there to whom we had talk in St. Nicolaas. He was astonished because the woman told us she would go back to Colombia in end of February, so it was over one month to early for her to go back. Juan asked her what she was doing here and she said “You guys were the people who were used from God to said to me the mistake that I was making. I come back to Colombia and change my life and fight for my kid!!!” written by Hanna 

Simon and I were so overjoyed after reading this. How Great is God? We had gone to this area with the intention of "just" loving and "just" worshipping Jesus... and that makes the change.

As a Christian, what freedom is this!? It is not anything I do or say that makes the difference.

What matters is God, what He does, and that I give Him the space to do it.. instead of hindering Him by my own ideas and opinions of what people should and should not do.

Thank you Jesus!

Struggles to Victories, it's just getting going!

Much has happened since the last update, I'm not sure where to begin.




We have been a total of four weeks, and actually our family will be leaving next week already back to Germany.
The time has gone by, and it has been quite intense.




Our biggest struggles have been unity within the team, transportation (getting anywhere on the island), and communication.

Practicing our teamwork by throwing each other in the air :)

Unity

Because we are a team of eight students and four staff from all sorts of backgrounds, and nations in a foreign country, living together very tightly, we have been challenged in all sorts of ways.  We cook together, eat together, hitchhike together, walk together, share one bathroom per house, clean together, worship together, spend almost every moment of every day in relatively small spaces together, feet are bound to be stepped on. We are not only challenged by crossed personal boundaries, but are also in a spiritual battle here in the island. Very often the unexpected has happened, phones, cars, ovens and washing machines have broken down, toilets have almost once a week become plugged (since we have to throw toilet paper in the garbage bin and not the toilet, often it happens that you forget, throw it in the toilet and when it's too much... yeah). So working together and loving each other has been tested every step of the way. But it has been a great first four weeks, and we have seen much development in ourselves. As staff, I can say I'm very proud of our students for their endurance and patience with us when we change plans, or make mistakes.

Downtown Oranjestad

Transportation 

has been a constant issue. A constant prayer request is some sort of vehicle. Since we live in the middle of the island, it's a 5km walk to the first downtown and beach areas, at least twice a week we head in this direction to do worship/prayer/street evangelism/youth group.




Hitchhiking has been lately our most used method of getting around the island. It's not the safest, a few times the drivers have been drinking and driving and/or drunk, nor is it legal when too many people are sitting in the car, or when a pickup comes and offers for everyone to pile in the back. We struggle with this as well, because as missionaries, we want to bless people, not curse them with some sort of ticket from the police, and we want to make sure everyone is safe! So continue to pray for us for a better solution!

One such "questionable" ride in the back of a pickup 

A few students talking to one of the ladies in San Nicolaas

Our second weekly location is on the south end of the island in the "Red light District" of Aruba called San Nicolaas. It's a 16.5km journey from where we live. Which may not seem like much when one has a car, but this is quite a stretch without one. Luckily, there is a bus that runs from downtown to San Nicolaas, but to get there and back we have to plan in at least two hours travel time. There we minister to the people in that area, and focus often on the prostitutes working in that area and a local witchcraft/new agey store.

Christmas and New Years

On the 24th we planned a Christmas party with the intention to invite prostitutes from San Nicolaas to celebrate and eat with us. Many of the women working here in Aruba only stay for a few months at a time, because they're typically from Colombia. They leave their family at home, and venture out here to earn better money to support their children. We've met women who are putting their kids through school this way, or are trying to save enough to start their own businesses.

Our team, with some of Erick's family, and our ladies
 from Colombia who are
 in the middle left. 

 This was actually rather a stressful day for everyone, mainly because of our transportation issue, and we didn't exactly have our own "house" or "flat" to entertain in. Thankfully, Erick's sister was willing to open up her home and kitchen to whoever we wanted to invite. The students wrapped 25 little gifts of jewelry and invitations the day of to hand out on the streets. Late in the afternoon, our mini-outreach team came back with three guests! Each of these women had children waiting for them at home. They all had boys, and one had a boy about the same age as Elijah. My heart really broke for these women, because I realize how hard it must be.. not only to be selling one's self for the much needed money, but to be missing many loved ones in a foreign land. We really wanted to bless them this Christmas, and I think we did. They seemed to enjoy the food, and our company... despite the language barrier (since they spoke pretty much only Spanish).   

Our little construction worker

Fireworks are legal from around the 24th of December till
the 6th of January. During this time we heard bangs at all
hours... literally, from 8am on. New Years eve was the most
incredible display of light and noise I have ever seen/heard.
When Elijah first heard the big bangs, he was frightened.
But day after day after day after day, he must have got used
to hearing it. 

Christmas day


was a new experience for us. It was 30+ degrees, and we got to celebrate with Erick's family. His dad prepared the feast for us, complete with chicken, ham, potato salad, rice, and few other Aruban specialties.








Our first Mini-Mini-DTS


Our plan between Christmas and new Years was to hold a mini-mini-DTS. It was to be three days long, and to give a taster of our mini-DTS that we would hold in the new year. It was difficult to organize and plan with our Christmas party pending, and our lack of contacts. Everyone was on vacation, so we tried to invite through Facebook the youth that we already knew. Our intention was to spend the day with them, have a teaching and practical part, and then of course, fellowship. But this didn't exactly happen as planned. The first day of the DTS came, and no one showed up, second day, no one (although I think one of our adopted team member's - Juan, was there), and the third day was the same. This was very disappointing, because we had heard from a few people that they would be coming, but still no one came. We continued just the same though, just as if mini-DTS student's would have been there. Our team members had prepared a few teachings, and carried them out, and also the practical part. It wasn't a complete loss, since I believe it was great practice for what is to come!








New Years - the party doesn't begin until after midnight




we prepared a party here in the house Simon, I, and three other girls are living in, which is about an 8 minute walk from the other house. We ate, played games and watched fireworks that lasted literally all evening. Our neighbors were supposedly having a big party with live music which I was looking forward to. My expectation was that it would start around 9 or 10pm. But 9 came, and I saw no guests, 10...11... still not really anyone, maybe four extra people, finally midnight, and still no one was there, not even the band! I thought, perhaps I had misunderstood what our landlady told us. I was ready for bed by 12:30am, and left our party early, and lo and behold, that's when everyone started showing up! Their party didn't properly start until 1am! Talk about a cultural difference. I, as a boring Canadian am done by the time New Years hits, and the "Party Island" is just getting started. I was happy to have ear plugs, and the rest of the team enjoyed hanging out even without tired, pregnant me :)

Two more months...

Since New Years we have experience more challenges, but more triumphs!!! Praise God! It has at times felt like we were trying to run in the mud. This is why, we as leaders decided to re-structure our Outreach schedule and clarify the vision. Our focus is that coming out of intimacy with Jesus, new things will be born. 

Our team doing a drama for some elementary students after
their swimming lessons. 

The vision is to equip, include and connect the youth of Aruba. God is calling for unity here in this nation, especially between the churches. What we have noticed especially is that there are many churches, not much contact, and a HUGE gap between the Catholic and Protestant/Free churches. They are considered different religions here.










At the beginning, seeing this vision even starting was very hard to picture. But we've been picking up momentum.

Our SECOND Mini-DTS

We decided that this week we will be starting our second mini-DTS, starting Friday and going until Wednesday.  This time we've had the advantage of having more time to plan. Erick had a great idea of inviting Dan Baumann who has been with YWAM for a number of years. To our delight and surprise he agreed to come on short notice and will fly out from Hawaii just for the weekend to teach at our mini-DTS! He has a  really interesting story about being imprisoned on false charges in Iran for 9 weeks, and having two death sentences placed on him.

 Check out his incredible story here:

Inviting and Advertising

for our Mini-DTS
January 13 -18th, 2012

The team created a whole bunch of hand painted invitations for the mini-DTS in Papiamentu, English and Spanish. We have had many opportunities to give them out around the island, and have no more left. 

Last weekend Sarah and I met with a Catholic priest in the Paradera area to see if we would be allowed to introduce our group and advertise the DTS at the church on Sunday. They seemed a bit skeptical at first, not knowing who YWAM was, and wondering if we're from a different religion. But we insisted that we are Christian, love Jesus and we would like to work with youth from all over the island. The priest was kind of quirky but really nice guy, and told us since we live in Paradera that we're his parishioners and we should be in the service on Sunday. There we would be able to introduce ourselves and hand out invitations. This was so amazing, because they were really open for us to come and speak in the church. 

Santa Filomena - The Catholic church

The First TV Experience

The next day we arrived for the service and although we didn't understand anything, it was nice to be there. The music was actually cool, it had a neat spanish flare.. no organ in sight. 

At the end Miriam was allowed to introduce our team and explain who YWAM was, and why we were here. Afterward, the priest told me that he would like to come this Friday to the DTS. Another woman came to us and was very excited about what we are doing. She said she would bring the youth she's been working with since she thinks it's better that young people teach young people. To which we agree!  

 To our surprise we were filmed and I guess transmitted live on TV to those who couldn't make it to the service. A few days later a lady ran into some of our team on the road and said, "I saw you on TV! I know what you're doing here in Aruba, it's great!" 

THE FAITH TOUR

Yesterday (January 10th)  we sent the students out for the day with 5 Florins (around $2) with the goal to listen to God, and follow where He is leading. This may sound a bit strange at first, but at the end of the day we were encountered with some amazing stories. There were three teams and they were instructed to take no food, or personal money; just water, their clothes (obviously), their bibles, and the 5 Florins. 

Every team seemed to have really great experiences, although, some with a bit more frustration than others.

San Nicolaas

I'll share a couple of stories from the groups. One group head to the San Nicolaas area, and from there had the impression to go to the schools in the area. In total, they visited five schools and received seven rides all over the island. A few of the schools were very open for our invitations for the DTS and because the group didn't have enough of them, the school offered to photocopy and post the one they had left. One of the principles of the schools had actually heard of YWAM. He came from Guyana, and around 30 years ago YWAM came to his village and was very involved there. He invited our team to come back to the school and present and do whatever we want, as soon as we want.

The Gangsters

This same team kept walking around the area, and came upon a local gang. At first they didn't want to even look at the group, because they seemed threatening. But after a second thought, they decided to go up to the gang. They introduced themselves, "Hi, we're missionaries from Germany." The gang responded with, "and we're the anti-Christ" while showing off their 666 tattoos on their knuckles, and smiling. Still our team invited them to our upcoming event, and one seemed even a bit interested, while the others chuckled. We are excited to see if any of these guys will actually come. 

The Orphanage

I thought it was really cool because the day before the faith tour, Sarah and I were talking, and she had been wondering if there were any orphanages on the island. Even before the outreach she tried googling some information, but found nothing. Her team went out on the faith tour, and since no one picked them up while hitchhiking, they had to walk a bit. But it was good, because as they were walking they came across what looked like some sort of Catholic church/compound. They had the impression to go in, and when they did they found out it was an orphanage. There they met one of the leaders, and spoke with her about the work there, and asked if there would be any opportunity for us to help. So we hope in the future to go there and minister to the kids and workers.

TODAY - January 11th

A bit tanned after four weeks on the island

As I write many great things have happened today. First we found out that Erick's church will fully support us in what we do, which means they will provide us with a car this week since we will have to go multiple times to the airport to pick up our much missed DTS Leader Volker, our guest speaker Dan, and next week to drop off Simon and myself to fly back to Germany. They will also provide us with a small apartment for our guest speaker to stay in, which is a HUGE blessing. Seven of our team are staying with Erick's family, along with the family themselves and their own guests in three bedrooms. This means that so far, the family (Mom, Dad, Erick, his brother, and cousin) all sleep in one room, the second room has three people in it, and the third four. Plus we had to house our guests somehow - Volker and Dan and possibly one other. We stay in a second house, Simon, Elijah and I in one room, and two girls in one tiny room, and another on the floor in our living room. We are cramped for space, so this apartment is a gift. 

The Second TV Experience

The team went downtown today to do worship in the main square and talk with people. During this time, a television crew from the local news station came to film and interview. Again, we had the privilege to be on TV, explain who we are, what we're doing and advertise a bit about our DTS starting on Friday. We couldn't have planned this better ourselves, it is really only God's hand in this. 

Check out our team on TV!

The end of the day, thank you Jesus

Amazing that this happens every day! Thank you Jesus for beautiful sunsets :) 

   

  

Writing from a Country of Cold showers

Can you imagine not needing hot water? So far this is what i've experienced in the houses and bathrooms we've been in. No hot water option. If you shower, it's cold, if you do laundry, cold, if you wash dishes, only cold! 

Everything is Imported!

Today is day six being here in Aruba, and I'm currently enjoying a cool breeze on the beautiful patio of our host family (Erick's -our outreach leader- sister and brother in law's). I'm overlooking the peanut field that the man of the house has planted here in his backyard. There is practically no agriculture here in Aruba, and one of our hosts, Donny, works here in parliament. He wants to show that it is possible, that something besides tourism can grow here, that Aruba can produce it's own products. I believe this is prophetic: Aruba producing it's own produce, it's own fruits so to say.

So far what I've experienced here in Aruba is lots of imported goods. Since the nation is not self sufficient, they have to fly everything here. Which causes much of everything to be relatively expensive. We're eating lots of what German's would call “toast bread”, which in North America is just normal bread, tuna, cornflakes, pasta etc. Milk products are very expensive, quite the opposite of Germany.

Weather

The days are very warm and humid. So far it has ranged between around 26 and 31 degrees everyday, but since we're in rainy season we have the satisfaction of the coolness the rains bring. It typically doesn't rain all day, but in short bouts.

The Arubans

I've been really overcome by the general friendliness of the Arubans. Yesterday was our day off, and Simon and Elijah and I took the public bus up to the northern part of the island to the nice white sandy beaches. It was a bit stressful for us as a family to figure out how things work transportation wise, but many people were very helpful. Even willing to give up their seats on the bus for me, which hasn't happened so often in Germany. I've also been astounded by Erick's family, and how gracious they've been to us. They've invited nine young people into their home, given up their beds, and allowed us to use their house as their base. We were only planning on being here until last weekend, but we still haven't found a house that we could rent for ourselves to stay in. This is a prayer request of our ours! Especially since Simon and I live on the opposite end of the island with Erick's sister and brother-in-law. We have to figure out rides with various people, his family has been even more gracious to be taxiing us around, but it can't last. 

Here you can see that our team is staying with family near Santa Cruz, in an area called "Paradera", and our little family is staying in Savaneta. It is about a 20-30 min drive. Our request is for a our own vehicle to get the team around the island, since public transportation isn't so great, an a house that we can live in together!!! 

Not only is his family driving us around, but a contact of Volker's (our DTS Leader), Jose, has come out to Aruba from his home in Venezuela to drive us around with his car when we need him. He is a pastor/missionary as well, and spends half the year here and the other half back home. This is really touching though, that one of his purposes of being here is to serve us.Someone else who has flown out to visit us is Juan-David from Columbia, a friend of the family. He would really like to take part in the next DTS that starts in January in Hurlach, so please pray that he can quickly get a visa and accepted! 

The culture here is very mixed, ranging from people with African, Latin and Asian background. As a matter of fact, every supermarket here is owned by an asian, and has an asian name! Around the corner is "Morning Supermarket" and around another is "Hong Kong Supermarket", and near us is "X and H Supermarket", and many of them are built in an asian style. 

Timing here is "island time", so far I haven't experienced so much rush, but much rather waiting. We wait for people to pick us up, we wait to be dropped off, we wait for someone to pick something up, then we wait while they talk with a friend before we get back going. Much of our time in one sense feels "wasted", but this is subjective. I think especially for the Germans and Swiss this can be challenging, but even for myself as a Canadian, I can get annoyed. But I can't change the culture, but I can adapt to it. So we are trying to be more relaxed, and changing our expectations on timing. Things are much more relational here, and not so much "getting things done". Although, I'm sure there are things I don't quite see yet. 

Our Team

We've been battling a lot with trying to settle in here, and clarifying things. Last week was rather all over the place, with us trying to figure out transportation, things breaking down, cell phones breaking down, all sorts of "unexpecteds". But we took a stand as a team, and realize we're in a spiritual battle. We're really focusing on keeping the unity in our team, and glorifying God. Because ultimately our goal here is to see Him glorified in us, and on this island. 

Last week the team did a variety of things like going to a youth group, doing capoeira downtown with another team in the area, and many prayer walks where we have met people, and even was able to invite someone to have lunch with us. We would like to continue meeting with those we've met and connect them to the local church here, and encourage and pray for them. 

Our goal here is to bring the young people here that are from the churches, and who we meet along side us in everything we do and disciple them, and also to connect and unite those we meet who don't necessarily meet this "young people" category. We want to see Aruba, and the churches and people here united, especially since we've had the impression that there is a spirit of division here. At times this spirit of division has crept into our group, so we are trying to keep guard, and by God's grace, nothing will happen. 

This afternoon    

The team has gone out to cover Aruba! This morning we had the impression to be strategic with our prayers and intercession, and take the physical act of traveling to the north, south, east, and west ends of Aruba and claiming it for Jesus. We (besides Elijah and myself who have stayed behind at the Mother House :) for his nap, and to do a few errands, and start dinner for the team) split up into groups of 3-4, invited some of the local youth, and spread across the island. This is also a team where we expect to see miracles, we want to pray for people, we want to gain insight into this nation, see the problems, and see what we can. 

I'm very excited for them to come back this evening and tell us about everything that's happened. God is a big god! He can do the impossible, and we expect it. 

No pictures!? 

So as you can see, I've included no pictures. Reason being: I forgot the stupid camera cable! I will have to look around and see if anyone has a card reader or cable that will fit, but until then... no pictures :( 

Just picture us in summery clothing, and there are palm trees around, and Elijah is running around in his diaper. By the way, I think so far he is happy being here. Perhaps not so much with the heat, but the people, the ocean, and all the lizards crawling around!

Much love,

Dani

Merry Christmas!

This year we were unable to send so many Christmas cards out, so this year we will blog our Christmas card!

We wish you all a blessed Christmas season, filled with joy and no stress! And may 2012 be better than all the years before!!!! 

Arrival in Aruba, Week one of Outreach

Here I am writing from the little island of Aruba.

What an adventure it was trying to get here though! At least for our little family. The rest of our team arrived with virtually no problems on Monday of this week. We were also set out to arrive Monday. We left with one other student early in the morning apart from the rest of the team, because that's just how our flights were due to some other issues. We arrived in Munich at 6:00am only to find out Elijah was unable to board the plane. Because we were flying through New York, and he holds a German children's passport which doesn't have an electronic chip in it, he would not be allowed to fly to the states. Even though it was just a stop over, they couldn't risk it and there are no exceptions. He would either have to get a new passport or a special visa. To make matters worse, we found out our tickets were unchangeable and restricted. This meant, they couldn't even book us a different flight a few days later so we could get the required documents. Either one of us could go, or none of us and we'd lose the flights. So we prayed to see what we should do, and it was pretty clear that Simon should just go. Since we were also responsible for the student with us, someone needed to go with her.

 This was heart wrenching for me because I saw no other possibility but staying in Hurlach alone for a month, Christmas alone, and no apartment because we had given up the room we were staying in the Castle for other people to move it. So one hour before boarding Simon checked in and left his very distraught, unhappy wife, and little boy. It was an unhappy situation for everyone. 

But I am very blessed with a wonderful DTS Team, and the Castle community. So in no time, two people from our staff were there to rescue me and my load of luggage to bring back on the train and to help with Elijah. I was feeling very depressed on this day and all I wanted to do was have a huge pity party. I didn't understand why God would give us the money in the first place to fly out, and then all the sudden to have everything mess up. This was very challenging for me. It was a miracle in the first place to receive the money, so I felt hurt and confused. When I arrived back at the Castle I was greeted by a beautiful sister and a bed made up in one of the girls dorm rooms that Nara and Taylor did. They set me up a colourful, comfy little bed, with a fruit basket and a lovely little card. It made me feel very loved, and I realized despite my longing to lock myself away from the world and be sad, it was much better to be around people who could love me, talk to me, and help me through a difficult moment. 

At this point, I still had no thoughts of actually being able to get to Aruba since we had no money, and our tickets were garbage. But it was obviously the thoughts of others that they would figure out a way to send us there. The community and our team prayed, as well as whoever saw my facebook status :) Later on that Monday afternoon, a visitor approached me and said that they wanted to bless me, and after looking up some direct flights to Aruba, they gave me enough money to cover a whole new set of tickets for Elijah and myself. But this time via Amsterdam. This way I wouldn't have to wait to order Elijah a new proper passport, or however long it would take for the visa. So plans were made, I contacted the travel agent and organized as soon as I could another flight. 

This 2nd miracle flight took place yesterday!! Praise God. Even when my faith is little, and my hope is weak, he astounds me with his goodness. Besides a little hiccup at the beginning, where I forgot all of our passports, and tickets at the Castle and realized first when we were at the airport... but thankfully, Raphi, who was my chauffeur that morning was able to quickly drive back and and organize a pick up. He was able to get it to me right on time, and I was even able to reserve seats for Elijah and myself without any ID! My concern was that I would have to sit in a very crappy seat for 10 hours with him, so I wanted to be there extra early to reserve something better. So I was blessed for both flights. Travel was long, but Elijah was good, and sometimes I feel really pregnant :)

We arrived in Aruba last night, and unfortunately my luggage was left behind.. but it should come tonight.

As of yet I haven't seen much of the island, but it's warm here : 30 degrees. It's very humid and sticky, so I'm looking forward to jumping into the ocean as soon as my bathing suit is here. It's rainy season, so there are a few periods of rain. The rain fills up the roads since there is no proper draining, so we were driving through little lakes this morning. 

We're staying with the family of our wonderful leader Erick, and we will be looking for somewhere else to move to by Sunday. 

The students did their first "outreach" activity today which was a prayer walk where they met many people, were invited into homes, and picked up by strangers. It's an exciting beginning. People are friendly and open here, and we look forward to what God has in store for us in this little country.

Be blessed! 

-Dani

Tour of the Castle - Schloss Hurlach !

I thought it would be nice to do a little Castle Tour of where we live for those of you who are interested. 

Hier gebe ich euch eine kleine Führung durch das Schloss Hurlach. Allerdings nur auf Englisch

Part 1: The Intro

Part 2: The Main Floor

Part 3: The Offices

Part 4: The Tower

There is one last one, that shows the attic and our home, but this one is having issues uploading so this will have to suffice for now!!