Answered Prayers!

So after our time in Paderborn, we were both slightly nervous about our next ministry trip. The plan was for us to go to a German camp where German families vacation and to do a kids program. Normally, this would be great.... except for the fact that the majority of kids in Germany don't speak english. So we were praying that either God was bring a new ministry to us, or that this one would somehow work, but we were doubtful. When we went to go talk to our coordinator about the possibility of finding a new ministry for that week, we were asked by our friend Olly to go into her office. She told us that camp canceled on us last minute, but that she just found out that an english camp she was connected to was in a desperate need for two english speaking Christian females for the same exact week that we were supposed to be at the German camp. When they found out about us, they said that we were an answer to their prayers. We say the same thing about them!

So for the rest of our time here in Germany, we are really excited. Our english will no longer be a hinderence, but a blessing. We will spend a few days here at the office again, and help with some office work that they have been needing done, but no one has time to do. After that, we might get to travel for our last three days of ministry with the iThemba team that we went with our first week, and that we absolutely adore. Then we will have almost a week to spend with the couple that trained us at their home in the Black Forest region. We are also planning on that week to be our week to be tourists, and we're going to go to France and Switzerland. We are very excited about the remainder of our time here in Germany, and want to thank you all so much for your prayers. We appreciate you more than you will ever know.

Love and blessings,

Jenni

11 Days in Paderborn....

and we're back at headquarters! We arrived in Paderborn refreshed and waiting to see what God had in store for us. We were excited (I was especially excited that we survived the train ride without getting lost) and a little nervous as this was our first ministry site where it was just Jenni and I. We had no idea what was planned for our time in Paderborn, but we knew there was going to be some ministry geared towards the World Cup.

Our first night we were warmly welcomed. Instead of staying with a host family, we were given our own studio apartment, so we had the opportunity to cook our own meals, and we greatly enjoyed cooking for ourselves. Anyway,we finally ended up eating some McDonald's, which I have been dying to do since we got here, and we got to experience Germany's version of Wal-Mart.

As far as our ministry went, there was some miscommunication, and the youth center thought that we were coming with our own program, and we thought that they had plans for us. Needless to say, our ministry in Paderborn was not what we expected. We ended up babysitting for a family that we met and befriended and we washed the churches windows. Even though it was a tough week for ministry, we had plenty of time to read our Bibles and we even had the chance to explore Paderborn for a little bit.

However, whenever we became discouraged, God would bring people into our lives to give us a boost. For example, our apartment was right next to the church (actually it was on church property) and there was a family of 6 who lived below us. One day, Liam (the 4-year old son) came upstairs, knocked on the door, said something to me in German, and then sat down on the couch to watch Jenni and me. He didn't care about the language barrier, he didn't care that we couldn't understand him. He just wanted to spend time with us. I'm sure that God sent us Liam to give us some laughs during the week, and even to show that some people don't care if we can't speak German. They're just excited to see two Americans!

On Sunday, we met a family during the church service. The husband is American and the wife is Russian, but has spent a lot of time in America. God also sent us this family, and without them we would have been in a lot of trouble. They took us shopping, entertained us, let us babysit their two-year old son, and overall were amazing. They were a huge encouragement, and without their help we wouldn't have made it to the train station today.

So, while our week was slow with ministry, God showed his goodness to us frequently. He knew when we needed encouragement, and knew when we needed to get out of our apartment. I guess my encouragement to you all is that God knows when you're having trouble, and he will help. Sometimes it takes a couple days, but God will never leave you hanging. Ever. I guess that's what Paderborn was all about.

Love,

Megan

This is Germany! Work faster!

Megan and I just returned from another week of ministry, this week at the University of Heidelberg. We join with The Buzz, which is a bus ministry through Youth for Christ Deutschland. There was an event put on by Christian students at the university where there were many different avenues to start conversation about how people few God and Christianity as a whole, and to invite them to nightly gatherings they were having, which consisted of a play telling the story of Jesus and a speaker. Our part of the ministry was setting up a café in front of the bus and offering free coffee, iced tea, cappuccinos, and baked goods to the students. We had a bar set up to serve from, and there were many tables and chairs set up for people to sit at, along with a couple foosball tables. We had so many people stop by, and whereas Megan and I didn’t do as much relational ministry as some of the other on our team, we were there to help keep things running smoothly and to serve people. We did get to have a few conversations, and many people wanted to talk to us to find out why two Americans came all the way over to Germany to give them free coffee and cakes. Just us being there was a testament to these students of who Christians are. Our team we were with consisted of two German students, a south African student who was raised German (his parents were missionaries), and the German team leader. It was a tough week, because it was extremely hot, the days were very long, and listening to a language you don’t understand all the time can become exhausting, but overall we had a great time. On Wednesday we got our first day off to be tourists, so we got a chance to explore the Heidelberg castle and go on a tour. We walked all around the tourist part of town and had a great time. Our legs still hurt from all the walking, but it was a great experience.

The next outreach we will go on is to a youth center in Paterborn where we will be doing a ministry during the World Cup. This time we are going without a team, just the two of us, and we are a little nervous, but excited. The plan is to leave on Monday and return two weeks later. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We need prayer for persistence, patience, and to continue to trust in God. Megan is also very sunburned, so prayer for healing for her would be very appreciated. Thank you all and God Bless!

Also, if you would like to see pictures of our time so far in Germany, check out my facebook page. I have pictures up from our trip to Stadtallendorf with iThemba, and I will put up pictures from Heidelberg soon!

Jenni

Two Weeks Down...Six Weeks to Go

Hi all!

Jenni and I just finished our first week in ministry, and we had a blast! YFC Germany has two ministries that are active. One is iThemba and the other is The Buzz. iThemba consists of three teams of 7 South Africans who travel around Germany conducting workshops and doing productions for the youth of Germany. Their topics have a wide range (from violence to self-image) and they are quite popular here in Germany. The Buzz is YFC's bus ministry and they also travel around Germany building relationships with the youth (youth is considered ages 12-28)

This past week was spent in Stadtallendorf at the Hessentag Festival. This is an annual festival, and about 70,000 come every year. iThemba was invited to the event by the Wasser Kirche (Water Church), and we we came along with them. While iThemba was preforming, Jenni and I worked at a juice bar that served non-alcoholic cocktails and we also helped at a parcour that promoted non-violence. When Jenni and I weren't helping with the juice bar, we were with iThemba, watching their dance performances and being an encouragement to them.

We want to thank you for your prayers, and we would appreciate more! This next week we are joining The Buzz to go to Heidelberg. We're not exactly sure what we will be doing, and so we would appreciate prayer for that as we both are planners and like to know what is going on ahead of time. Also, for those of you who don't know, I have Lyme disease. Fortunately for me, I was lucky enough to have caught it before we left for Germany, but the medicine makes me sunburn easily. I forgot this little detail, and I am now sunburned a lot, especially on my hands, chest, and forehead. Please be praying that the pain goes away quickly as we are leaving on June 7th for our next ministry. Jenni is also suffering from a cold at the moment, so pray that she is able to get rest while we are at the YFC headquarters.

We love you all, and if you would like to send us words of encouragement, you can either comment on here or e-mail them to: germanyteam2010@gmail.com. Thanks guys!

Love,

Megan