Christmas on the Streets of Freiburg

I was out and happened to run into our Streetwork / Evangelism Team as they passed out packages they put together to all the punkers we know. Some of these punkers have been coming regularly to our Wed night service (we even had a couple to our apartment for lunch 1 Sun afternnon).Please pray for them. Being on the streets is not easy - lacking in luxuries, love, life. But it's the life they choose. We just want to show them someone does care about them and to give them another 'choice'! ;-)
onHISturf - dvp

Christmas 2006

We had a very nice, quiet, Christmas. We had time together alone as a family this year. One of the nice things here is that everything is closed for holidays and Sundays still, so it makes it much easier to do nothing. I must admit though it is sometimes frustrating, because sometimes the holidays are the only days that we have free to do something...but in the end is better. It forces us to either be at home or go for a walk or visit with friends. And here it's 2 days, the 25th and 26th are both official holidays, nothing is open. Even McDonalds closes part of the day!


David also has a bit more free time at the moment since the mid-week study and school of discipleship are taking a break for the holidays.


So as soon as the stores were open again we started a project at home! Wouldn't you know...when you've got the time! And of course it wound up being bigger than planned! we re-arranged kids bedrooms and wound painting too. It was good in the end, just took longer and was more work, but worth it. Now there is a BOYs room and a 'princess' room...















Things are finally back in order after 3 days of chaos!

Happy New Years! Or as they say here, have a 'good slide' (Guten Rutsch) into the New Year.

Christmas on the Streets of Freiburg

I was out and happened to run into our Streetwork / Evangelism Team as they passed out packages they put together to all the punkers we know. Some of these punkers have been coming regularly to our Wed night service (we even had a couple to our apartment for lunch 1 Sun afternnon).Please pray for them. Being on the streets is not easy - lacking in luxuries, love, life. But it's the life they choose. We just want to show them someone does care about them and to give them another 'choice'! ;-)
onHISturf - dvp

Christmas 2006

We had a very nice, quiet, Christmas. We had time together alone as a family this year. One of the nice things here is that everything is closed for holidays and Sundays still, so it makes it much easier to do nothing. I must admit though it is sometimes frustrating, because sometimes the holidays are the only days that we have free to do something...but in the end is better. It forces us to either be at home or go for a walk or visit with friends. And here it's 2 days, the 25th and 26th are both official holidays, nothing is open. Even McDonalds closes part of the day!


David also has a bit more free time at the moment since the mid-week study and school of discipleship are taking a break for the holidays.


So as soon as the stores were open again we started a project at home! Wouldn't you know...when you've got the time! And of course it wound up being bigger than planned! we re-arranged kids bedrooms and wound painting too. It was good in the end, just took longer and was more work, but worth it. Now there is a BOYs room and a 'princess' room...















Things are finally back in order after 3 days of chaos!

Happy New Years! Or as they say here, have a 'good slide' (Guten Rutsch) into the New Year.

Background - Life in the Black Forest

Living here in Freiburg, Germany (the capitol of the famous Black Forest) for about 10 years now, we have grown to love the city and the surrounding area. Freiburg is a good sized city with over 200,000 residents. But it still has a small-town feel to it - you walk through the city center on any gven day and most likely will meet somene you know. And of course you have to stop to chat.

Freiburg is at the foothills of the Black Forest, not far from the Rhine River. Half an hour's drive to the west, on the other side of the Rhine lies France. A little less than an hour's drive to the south and you're into Switzerland. Because Freiburg lies so far south, it has a fairly mild climate and is known as the warmest area in Germany. In fact Freiburg is also a big tourist attraction - for Germans as well as 'auslaender' - foreigners.

More than the surrounding, we have also grown attached to the people - Freiburg is a very international city, influenced heavily by the University and many institutions of higher education - music school, teachers' college, Evangelical College, Catholic College, etc. Over 30,000 students last time I heard. They come from all over the world to study at the Uni - from Asia, Africa, Canada, North & South America, even from Down Under.

There is a saying that the closer you get to Rome / Italy, the more relaxed the people are and the more Catholic also! And that is true of Freiburg (which is only a few hours away from Italy).

From what we heard from other Germans,

the Freiburgers are fairly relaxed (compared to northern Germans). And the Cathloic Church has a fairly strong presence here also, which is typical of Southern Germany. We even have a Catholic priest's seminary!

So that is a little background on Freiburg. In the next few weeks we'll add more background on the church, the Phamily and the ministries.

onHISturf

dvp

Background - Life in the Black Forest

Living here in Freiburg, Germany (the capitol of the famous Black Forest) for about 10 years now, we have grown to love the city and the surrounding area. Freiburg is a good sized city with over 200,000 residents. But it still has a small-town feel to it - you walk through the city center on any gven day and most likely will meet somene you know. And of course you have to stop to chat.

Freiburg is at the foothills of the Black Forest, not far from the Rhine River. Half an hour's drive to the west, on the other side of the Rhine lies France. A little less than an hour's drive to the south and you're into Switzerland. Because Freiburg lies so far south, it has a fairly mild climate and is known as the warmest area in Germany. In fact Freiburg is also a big tourist attraction - for Germans as well as 'auslaender' - foreigners.

More than the surrounding, we have also grown attached to the people - Freiburg is a very international city, influenced heavily by the University and many institutions of higher education - music school, teachers' college, Evangelical College, Catholic College, etc. Over 30,000 students last time I heard. They come from all over the world to study at the Uni - from Asia, Africa, Canada, North & South America, even from Down Under.

There is a saying that the closer you get to Rome / Italy, the more relaxed the people are and the more Catholic also! And that is true of Freiburg (which is only a few hours away from Italy).

From what we heard from other Germans,

the Freiburgers are fairly relaxed (compared to northern Germans). And the Cathloic Church has a fairly strong presence here also, which is typical of Southern Germany. We even have a Catholic priest's seminary!

So that is a little background on Freiburg. In the next few weeks we'll add more background on the church, the Phamily and the ministries.

onHISturf

dvp