Thanks Candi for computer help!
Fun for me, I can finally experiment with blogging again! It's 5pm here...and Gary's off to a Bauteam meeting at one of the S-Bahn stations... I will stay right beside the heater at church here and take advantage of 'wind in my sails' and internet availability. May try to make some phone calls and Skype. Don't expect Gary home until later at 8pm.
Hard to believe that just a short month ago our family was celebrating Christmas in super snowy Abbotsford. It was so good to have Tim, Charlotte and Myra fly in from Indiana and I could write a whole blog of the super fun moments we cherished. (I dare say it was also good to have a break from packing boxes as well). Needless to say, we do miss our family terribly and are glad for the phone and internet connections we do have at the church here - even if we have to sit in our parkas. (Got text msg that our landline/internet will be connected Feb 11th) - it's a test of patience and waiting and wow will we celebrate!
Our inevitable departure day did come, and except for the 1/2 hr turbulence right after breakfast, our plane did arrive on time on Sat afternoon, Jan 11th. Epps and Warkentin families greeted us with a warm welcome and lovely flowers. We drove out to our house, waited for the realtor who unlocked the house(photo below) and let us in. We have the main floor (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and kitchen/living area; I watch sparrows at the feeder in the hedge out of the bay window) - Herr u Frau Krapat (parents of the owners) live upstairs. By now we've found table/chairs;/guest mattresses, bedding, towels etc that were still missing and daily we thank God for the cozy home - just a 12 min walk from work. We also thank him for no slips nor falls on the icy sidewalks, no blisters from new boots, overall strength and courage (even taking the bus/train isn't overwhelming anymore!)
At church the focus has been to 'clean', remove tiles from bathrooms and 'Tapeten' (wallpaper) that is on the concrete walls; what awesome workers the Trekkers are proving to be!!!
Gary and the Trekkers are here from 8-5... after which we all do emails and try to phone by Skype etc. I take my turn cooking lunch and join scraping and cleaning where I can. Will go to 2nd ladies mtg tomorrow (may do Alpha as discipleship, starter focus) and made an initial visit to an older lady who has requested someone come clean for her bi-weekly. It will be great to have Andre and Olga (pastors) live in the area now - we(and church members) helped them clean, paint and move last week; their week now includes transitioning to the new schoo for the kids (next week is winter break for German schools) and Pritzkaus are preparing for a week in Abbotsford (Feb 2 - 11).
Have more pictures, more to say, must move along now and try to find out why gmail won't send my newsletters...
Asking God to meet you as you call on him this week -
God affirmed for me and answered a question I asked him this morning: Herr Betzel from the neighbourhood - stranger to me, walked into the kitchen this afternoon, to drop off calendars that have birds eye view of this area (I've used it as a prayer calendar in my kitchen)...
Anyway... affirmation that our presence here does bring encouragement - his words were that 'in a time of consumerism, the money ordinary people give and send from Canada isn't only helping to renovate a building for us, but it encourages us, it also does good for the heart'. He doesn't come to services but has stopped by regularly Gary says - misses his wife who used to love the flower garden in the front - she passed away in Sept and he doesn't like going home to his empty apartment. May he find family, belonging, love and the Encourager Himself!
Yup - may God work out HIS PURPOSES... and His Kingdom come to the residents in Johannestal - Berlin! Thanks for your prayers folks! Lots of love to each of you! More another time.
