SommerFest 2008

Summer is just around the corner and as always there are so many 'termine' - summer parties at the school and kindergarten, bbq's with friends, potlucks / picnics at church. Especially this year - we want to use this opportunity to see people one last time before we head off to SoCal and beyond. Every weekend (from Fri to Sun) until we fly is booked out with parties, bbq's and events. We love it and are enjoying every moment, even though it is a lot at times.

And God, in His sovereignty, has also blessed with kids who can handle it, in fact, who love it also. I couldn't imagine trying to do this with kids who can't handle change, new experiences or meeting new people. God is definitely preparing us for new adventures!

I especially enjoy the times talking about why we are here, what we are doing now, why we are going back to the USA for a year and why we are thinking about Africa and Asia. At Taliah's KiGa SommerFest, I got to talk to a father from Israel for a long time; at Jesaiah's School Fest, Becks and I talked to a mom about the Summer Camp CCF is putting on this summer. She had signed her 14 year old up for it but didn't know much about it (she was concerned that we might be a cult!), so we shared with her a bit about who we are and what we do. One mom asked what missionaries do - so we shared a little about that. Another mom really wants to talk to Becks more - she invited Becks and Jesaiah to come visit them. She seemed very interested - she wanted to know if our kids' names were from the Bible (all her kids' names were). All in all, it was a great time to simply be light and salt.

Here are a few fotos...







KiGa Chor (Choir) from Taliah's Kindergarten










Jesaiah's Class Summer Party












Singing...












and dancing...












and throwing (typical Finnish past-time - rubber boot distance throwing!)











Stockbrot - bread on a stick

SommerFest 2008

Summer is just around the corner and as always there are so many 'termine' - summer parties at the school and kindergarten, bbq's with friends, potlucks / picnics at church. Especially this year - we want to use this opportunity to see people one last time before we head off to SoCal and beyond. Every weekend (from Fri to Sun) until we fly is booked out with parties, bbq's and events. We love it and are enjoying every moment, even though it is a lot at times.

And God, in His sovereignty, has also blessed with kids who can handle it, in fact, who love it also. I couldn't imagine trying to do this with kids who can't handle change, new experiences or meeting new people. God is definitely preparing us for new adventures!

I especially enjoy the times talking about why we are here, what we are doing now, why we are going back to the USA for a year and why we are thinking about Africa and Asia. At Taliah's KiGa SommerFest, I got to talk to a father from Israel for a long time; at Jesaiah's School Fest, Becks and I talked to a mom about the Summer Camp CCF is putting on this summer. She had signed her 14 year old up for it but didn't know much about it (she was concerned that we might be a cult!), so we shared with her a bit about who we are and what we do. One mom asked what missionaries do - so we shared a little about that. Another mom really wants to talk to Becks more - she invited Becks and Jesaiah to come visit them. She seemed very interested - she wanted to know if our kids' names were from the Bible (all her kids' names were). All in all, it was a great time to simply be light and salt.

Here are a few fotos...







KiGa Chor (Choir) from Taliah's Kindergarten










Jesaiah's Class Summer Party












Singing...












and dancing...












and throwing (typical Finnish past-time - rubber boot distance throwing!)











Stockbrot - bread on a stick

Germany's Headed to Vienna - EM 2008

OLE OLE OLE! Deutschland Deutschland Deutschland über alles!

Hahaha, all Germany is celebrating the victory over Turkey in the semifinals of the European Championships yesterday! Germany will face either Spain or Russia (these two play tonight to see who moves on against Germany) in the championship game in Vienna, Austria this Sunday night! Germany hasn't played in the EM Finals since 1996.
Last night instead of the normal Wed. night service, we showed the game on the big movie screen at church (remember our church building used to be a movie theater!). It was awesome to gather together as a church and enjoy the German victory. Many of the members invited their non-believing friends to come and watch with us in the church. In fact, one comment from someone impressed me. He said that this definitely breaks the 'spirit of legalism' amongst German churches. Normally something like this is not done in a conservative German church. Oh well, Calvary Chapel is known for breaking molds, hehehe ;-).

Here in Freiburg it was crazy - they estimated that over 20,000 people descended on the city center to watch and celebrate. It got pretty loud - chanting, singing, yelling, laughing, cheering, etc. I feel sorry for the outreach team from Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego who spent the night at the church in the city center - probably didn't get much sleep!

A few impressions below...

Germany's Headed to Vienna - EM 2008

OLE OLE OLE! Deutschland Deutschland Deutschland über alles!

Hahaha, all Germany is celebrating the victory over Turkey in the semifinals of the European Championships yesterday! Germany will face either Spain or Russia (these two play tonight to see who moves on against Germany) in the championship game in Vienna, Austria this Sunday night! Germany hasn't played in the EM Finals since 1996.
Last night instead of the normal Wed. night service, we showed the game on the big movie screen at church (remember our church building used to be a movie theater!). It was awesome to gather together as a church and enjoy the German victory. Many of the members invited their non-believing friends to come and watch with us in the church. In fact, one comment from someone impressed me. He said that this definitely breaks the 'spirit of legalism' amongst German churches. Normally something like this is not done in a conservative German church. Oh well, Calvary Chapel is known for breaking molds, hehehe ;-).

Here in Freiburg it was crazy - they estimated that over 20,000 people descended on the city center to watch and celebrate. It got pretty loud - chanting, singing, yelling, laughing, cheering, etc. I feel sorry for the outreach team from Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego who spent the night at the church in the city center - probably didn't get much sleep!

A few impressions below...

Ole Ole Ole!!!

Germany just won against Portugal in the quarter-final (Portugal was the favored team for this game) to move on into the semi-final against either Croatia or Turkey!!!! Outside I can hear the horns already blowing away in celebration. GO GERMANY!!! And I can imagine the flags are flying proudly tonight!

In fact, since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Germans have loosened up about their national pride and fervor. It is great to see them move beyond the guilt and shame of their national history. For the longest time, no one waved a German flag in fear that they would be labeled as too nationalistic or worse be associated with a past that everyone wants to forget. But today, I saw so many German flags waving, painted on faces, wrapped around shoulders, hanging from windows, flying from car windows(ok, I admit, we do have a German flag flying from our car window also, hehehe - hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans)! Awesome to see German nationalism restored to what it should be!

GO GERMANY - ALL THE WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN VIENNA ON 29.JUNE!!!!!
;-)

Ole Ole Ole!!!

Germany just won against Portugal in the quarter-final (Portugal was the favored team for this game) to move on into the semi-final against either Croatia or Turkey!!!! Outside I can hear the horns already blowing away in celebration. GO GERMANY!!! And I can imagine the flags are flying proudly tonight!

In fact, since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Germans have loosened up about their national pride and fervor. It is great to see them move beyond the guilt and shame of their national history. For the longest time, no one waved a German flag in fear that they would be labeled as too nationalistic or worse be associated with a past that everyone wants to forget. But today, I saw so many German flags waving, painted on faces, wrapped around shoulders, hanging from windows, flying from car windows(ok, I admit, we do have a German flag flying from our car window also, hehehe - hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans)! Awesome to see German nationalism restored to what it should be!

GO GERMANY - ALL THE WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN VIENNA ON 29.JUNE!!!!!
;-)

Royal Rangers Troop 393

This past Saturday we had the opening celebration of Royal Ranger Troop 393. For those who don't know what Royal Rangers is - they are a like a Christian Boy Scouts. It started in the US back in the 60's and has now spread to over 75 countries. In Germany alone, there are over 16,000 kids who are part of this program. We as a church had been praying about this for over a year now and have finally gotten a 'green light' from God to start a troop ourselves, the 2nd troop in Freiburg. We are officially known as Freiburg II, Troop 393.

Our desire is to reach the kids and youth of Rieselfeld, the neighborhood where we are currently living. As I mentioned in a previous post about Rieselfeld, there are now about 9000 people who live in this neighborhood, and over half are kids under 18! So this is a great way to reach these kids - the troop meets just down the street from our house in the neighborhood park, right next to the elementary and high school. At the opening celebration, the city even sent a representative to come and give a 10 minute speech on how the city is behind us, how they are excited to see us reaching out to Rieselfeld to 'give the kids and youth of our neighborhood orientation and direction in life' (something to that effect). And that is the ultimate goal of Royal Rangers - the 4 red points of the RR emblem represent the 4 basic teachings of RR - i.e. Salvation, Baptism with the Holy Spirit, Divine Healing, Rapture of the Church (can you tell this was started by the Assemblies of God?); while the white background symbolizes sanctification.

The five troop leaders are young students from our church - the main leader was saved through the Royal Rangers when he himself was a kid and his heart burns to see Troop 393 grow and reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. At the moment the troop consists of mostly kids from our church who live in Rieselfeld (Jesaiah and Taliah included) and a couple kids (originally from Texas!) who we don't know, but who somehow heard about it and joined. And they want to bring other kids from their schools!

So pray for us, as we reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. Here are a few fotos...

PS - you can learn more about Royal Rangers at their website.

Royal Rangers Troop 393

This past Saturday we had the opening celebration of Royal Ranger Troop 393. For those who don't know what Royal Rangers is - they are a like a Christian Boy Scouts. It started in the US back in the 60's and has now spread to over 75 countries. In Germany alone, there are over 16,000 kids who are part of this program. We as a church had been praying about this for over a year now and have finally gotten a 'green light' from God to start a troop ourselves, the 2nd troop in Freiburg. We are officially known as Freiburg II, Troop 393.

Our desire is to reach the kids and youth of Rieselfeld, the neighborhood where we are currently living. As I mentioned in a previous post about Rieselfeld, there are now about 9000 people who live in this neighborhood, and over half are kids under 18! So this is a great way to reach these kids - the troop meets just down the street from our house in the neighborhood park, right next to the elementary and high school. At the opening celebration, the city even sent a representative to come and give a 10 minute speech on how the city is behind us, how they are excited to see us reaching out to Rieselfeld to 'give the kids and youth of our neighborhood orientation and direction in life' (something to that effect). And that is the ultimate goal of Royal Rangers - the 4 red points of the RR emblem represent the 4 basic teachings of RR - i.e. Salvation, Baptism with the Holy Spirit, Divine Healing, Rapture of the Church (can you tell this was started by the Assemblies of God?); while the white background symbolizes sanctification.

The five troop leaders are young students from our church - the main leader was saved through the Royal Rangers when he himself was a kid and his heart burns to see Troop 393 grow and reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. At the moment the troop consists of mostly kids from our church who live in Rieselfeld (Jesaiah and Taliah included) and a couple kids (originally from Texas!) who we don't know, but who somehow heard about it and joined. And they want to bring other kids from their schools!

So pray for us, as we reach out to the kids of Rieselfeld. Here are a few fotos...

PS - you can learn more about Royal Rangers at their website.

EM Fieber!!! (Europa Meisterschaft Fever)

All of Europe is totally worked up for the European Championships in soccer at the moment. It's going on for all of June. You have to realize that here in Europe soccer is the 'only' sport, or so it seems. Whole countries are geared up to support their national team in the playoffs.

Here in Germany, they take their wurst (sausages) and fussball (soccer) very seriously. As you can see by the fotos below. Becks stopped at the butcher to get some meat and they packed it up for her in an official (I think) EM Fussball package/meat wrapper! It even has the schedule for all the games up to the championship game. Now that is taking it seriously! Although I have to say, we have kinda caught the EM fever this year also ;-).








Loose translation of the bag - 'it's all about sausages'
















Game schedules on the back














Germany has to at least tie against Austria (second entry from bottom) tomorrow (Monday) to move into the quarterfinals.

GO Germany!
DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND!!!!

EM Fieber!!! (Europa Meisterschaft Fever)

All of Europe is totally worked up for the European Championships in soccer at the moment. It's going on for all of June. You have to realize that here in Europe soccer is the 'only' sport, or so it seems. Whole countries are geared up to support their national team in the playoffs.

Here in Germany, they take their wurst (sausages) and fussball (soccer) very seriously. As you can see by the fotos below. Becks stopped at the butcher to get some meat and they packed it up for her in an official (I think) EM Fussball package/meat wrapper! It even has the schedule for all the games up to the championship game. Now that is taking it seriously! Although I have to say, we have kinda caught the EM fever this year also ;-).








Loose translation of the bag - 'it's all about sausages'
















Game schedules on the back














Germany has to at least tie against Austria (second entry from bottom) tomorrow (Monday) to move into the quarterfinals.

GO Germany!
DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND!!!!