Oui, France and Belgium are tres belle

Wow! March has been busy! 2 weeks ago we gathered in the mountains outside of Munster, France for our European MCYM staff conference. It was great to gather with people from England, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Turkey and all over Germany to hear the awesome things that God is doing all over Europe. We also had 4 days of training from some great teachers. My whole team came away energized for ministry. While we were there we had one afternoon to do some sightseeing in Colmar, France, the home of the man who designed the Statue of Liberty. (Just a little trivia for you.) It is there I discovered my extreme love of chocolate crossiants. Amazing! We returned home from France on a Friday night and left the following Thursday morning for a Regional Overnight Retreat in Mons, Belgium. We stayed in a beautiful Chateau that has now been turned into a hostel/retreat center. That was also a great time of planning and brainstorming. Back in community we had two great clubs this past week. We had 40 kids at high school club on Monday night and 30 something on Tuesday night middle school club. Tomorrow afternoon we have a middle school outreach event after school. I am starting to develop some relationships with not only these great kids, but also their families. It is amazing to see the way they rally around each other and at the same time understand that losing friends and family members to frequent deployments and moves is just a part of every day life. It is still something I am struggling to wrap my head around. I am really loving the ministry though. I have also started attending the weekly PWOC meetings (Protestant Women of the Chapel) and have really enjoyed the relationships that I am building there. I have also been attending The Haus, a Thursday night Bible study for young adults hosted by Cadence Ministries. On a personal note I am moving into my apartment on Saturday amidst a flurry of activity. God has truely been proving Himself faithful on a daily basis here. My new apartment came without a kitchen and buying a new kitchen is a pricey investment. Last Tuesday morning at PWOC God provided a wonderful family who is giving and installing a wonderful kitchen for free! I am constantly surprised and amazed at the little ways God cares for us! In closing, please pray for our group as we are gearing up for our Czech Republic Service Project trip over Spring Break. We will be doing some building projects as well as doing peer to peer ministry in the school there. We have a lot to do before that time. Also, please pray that God would open doors as I am in the beginning phases of meeting with some students one on one. I am excited to see what the next month will bring!

Driving and Sleeping, but not at the same time.

Hi friends!

I wanted to update you and let you know that I finally found a car and an apartment!! I was in the process of having a car inspected by a mechanic before I purchased it and it had TONS of things wrong with it. While I was there the mechanic told me about someone he knew that was PCSing (aka: moving) back to the states and had to sell their vehicle that day! He assured me that it was a good vehicle and was a great deal. So I am now the owner of a 2001 Dodge Stratus with only 57,000 miles on it. It was totally a God thing and I am so excited about it. The 6 year old whose family I am staying with right now thinks it is the coolest car ever. I am glad I can impress children. :-)
I also just got the keys to my very own apartment in Schwetzigen (about 10 minutes from the post that my office is on). It is a very cute place and I promise to post pictures ASAP. I do have to purchase a kitchen (cabinets, appliances, etc.) as well as lighting for the entire apt. and a closet...but that's just life in Germany.
Also, for anyone who is interested, I spent all of last week at a European MCYM staff conference at the top of a mountain outside of Munster, France (where they make Munster cheese). I had a great time with my fellow staff members, learned some great stuff in my classes and ate a LOT of bread and cheese. Oddly enough, we did get very poor directions leaving France and ended up in Switzerland. Only in Europe I tell ya... I will post pics of this trip soon as well.
I leave for Moens, Belgium on Thursday for a Regional overnight and then I will be staying here in Heidelberg for a few more weeks before heading to our Service Project in the Czech Rep. We are busy, busy here!
Your continued prayers are greatfully appreciated. I am so thankful for all of you and would love to hear from you!!

P.S.- I was just looking back on a previous post and realized that I gave you the completely wrong mailing address! The CORRECT address is below. Sorry for the confusion!

CMR 419 Box 1959
APO, AE 09102