Woah.

I am not frantic. Yet. I'm just trying to remember all the little things that creep into my brain before I forget to put them on a list, and I am trying to figure out how to put my life into a bag that is a)big enough to fit it all, b)small enough for me to haul around the German airports, cities and public transportation systems, c)doesn't weight more than 51 lbs. Ugh.

Gabe got in last night/today, and I just wish that we had been able to travel together: I don't like traveling alone. Oh well, on the next adventure (which is only two weeks away!) We get to travel there together, even if we don't get to come back together...

Okay, I'm off to go weight this beast of a bag! Oh, and my mom loves me so much, that she's making Thanksgiving dinner tonight! Maybe I'll post pictures of Thanksgiving in August :-)

As the End (or the Beginning!) approaches.

It's been a sweet summer. I have had opportunities to be with my family, connect with all of my closest college friends, and spend three weeks in Colorado visiting Gabriel and his family :-)

I got home this afternoon from a few days visiting my grandparents with the fam, and realized that the countdown is on for my last few weeks in the states! I fly back to Germany on the 28th of August, and have plenty to do still before I leave. I'm in the process of working out some details for my activities during the month of September. The options include Egypt, Ethiopia, possibly Libya, and of course Germany! It will be an adventure no matter where the Lord leads.

Greetings from the Northwest (previous email update)

I am at my parents home in Washington for the summer and am so excited to be able to update you about my crazy happenings.

In March, I returned from an outreach adventure to Nepal (sandwiched by brief periods visiting a House of Prayer in India.) My time in Asia was both wonderful and hard. This trip was my first experience in a non-Western culture, where I understood little to nothing of the language or the culture. It was eye-opening to see the way in which so much of the world's population lives, but also reassuring that people are relational and open even with tremendous barriers to communication. There are so many stories and pictures, it would be impossible to share it all in person, let alone through an email update! But if you want an overview of our time and the places we visited, check out the Outreach photo album from my blog. Generally, I experienced the chaos that is life and travel in Asia. We had some crazy bus and jeep rides between the two countries; experienced road strikes & garbage pick-up strikes (we didn't even realize there was a trash collection service-most people just burn their refuse, or simply throw it in a ditch...); we cooked homemade Tibetian Momos; painted a wall mural which included the message "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," shared "open programs" in villages; wrote our own Prayer flags which we hung in the high places of worship, and generally enjoyed spending time with our contacts and their wonderful families.

I don't think I realized quite how much I appreciate and love life in Germany (or the West) until we got back from outreach. It was such a relief to be able to set my clock to the Deutschbahn (German train system), to understand the language being spoken around me (well, at least more than Nepali or Hindi), and revel in drinking water from the tap, and having electricity all 24 hours of the day! Even though the awe wears off quickly, the reality of the challenges that much of the world face stays present in my mind. I am excited to be a part of a community that is seeking to meet the needs of the poor and needy in practical ways, as well as bringing the light of a life lived in relationship with God.

As I shared briefly in the winter, I will be going back as a full-time missionary at the Herrnhut base. I will be doing practical work at the base helping coordinate the various schools, I will meet with students in one-on-one and small group settings (in the future, I would love to staff schools and lead outreaches, but want to focus on serving in Herrnhut this fall) and I will focus on the long-term goal of opening a cafe in Herrnhut. Our vision for the cafe is that will be more than just a comfortable spot to enjoy a conversation and a good cup of coffee. We will do good through our cafe. Our cafe will be an open invitation for the local community to learn about and share in the work that God has called us to, both here and around the world. Our proceeds will go to help open other cafes in locations around the world, such as the cafe that opened this winter in Ethiopia, where prostitues were given the chance to take up a new line of work! We want the cafe to be a place where we can develop and share the creativity that God has given each of us. To have exhibitions of the photographs and stories that students have collected from around the world; open mic nights for musicians, story tellers and poets; an art and pottery studio where we can use our hands to express God's glory.

Whew!

I am loving having some time to be "home"--to work a bit; to celebrate High School graduation with my sister, Tressa; to visit friends in Colorado; and to spend some time with my entire family when we are all home in August. Life is full and sweet.

Yeah, so I'm not such a dedicated blogger...

Hello dear friends! I apologize for not being able to update you all more frequently, but Asian internet and outreach time schedules make it a bit more difficult :-)
I just returned on Tuesday night from Nepal (sandwiched between stays in India) and am now back in Germany. It has been such an awesome adventure with my team and with God. We were able to connect with great contacts in Nepal, and to experience a little of their culture, and gain some understanding about the challenges and beauties of life in Nepal. I will try to be more explicit in later updates, but I just wanted to put this up so that you know I'm alive and well.

Alive and Well in Kathmandu

Sorry that it's been over a month, but with traveling, limited internet access and power cuts, it's a little more difficult to update the blog...

Things are going really well in Nepal: my team is great, the weather is nice, and our contacts are wonderful. We are enjoying getting to know them and the culture simply by sharing in life with them. Thanks so much for your continued prayers!!

When you go to India, you've gotta be soooo flexible...

We arrived safely in Delhi last week, and had a great few days getting oriented, and were very blessed by our hosts there.
On Friday at 3 we began our bus ride to Nepal.
After 40 hours on a bus we are in Kathmandu! A change of plans, but we are safe, and happy after getting some sleep, warm showers and food in our hotel, and we have a van hired to take to our contact, back near the boarder. Hopefully it won't take more than a day... Praise the Lord for crazy adventures :-) and thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

...but only after a good long day of riding trains.

It's been snowing huge fluffy flakes all day. It makes the world soft and quiet (the squeak underfoot is most satisfying,) but tomorrow I'll be transported to a different world.

I am sick of goodbyes. Everyone's gone, or getting ready to leave, and it makes you a little lonely inside. It doesn't help that we are all functioning on too little sleep, and we're trying to figure out how to fit what we really need in our packs. I packed yesterday--it's amazing how little I really need.

In case you can't tell, I am excited for my turn to leave. This is going to be an awesome adventure, and I am excited to come back to Germany in just a few short weeks (10 weeks really isn't that long...) and hear about what all my friends have done, and have stories of my own to share. Isn't life wonderful?