Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Taste and see that the LORD is GOOD.

It seems like in the last couple of days, things just started to get crazy over here. GOod crazy that is:) After Leonardo, things just keep getting better. Sunday was church and it was really good. Pastor Scott preached on Faith. SOmething I was wanting to read more about. We all could use a little more faith. :)! After service we went to Chilis to celebrate my time here in Nurnburg. It was my last Sunday here. We had a great time and laughed tons:) After Chilis, I went to the Icecream Parlor to meet with Marion and the girls; Evelyn, Grace and Faith. We ate more spaggetti ice there and then went to her grandmas house after. We hung out and had coffee and talked. Bro Gardner was also there since this is his grandma. Marion and Bro Gardner are first cousins:)
Monday I woke up and spent some good time with God. I also worked on cleaning and going through some of my new things. Trying to figure out where I am going to put all the stuff that I bought. I also listened to a great preaching CD and felt the Holy GHost right there in my room. Marion came and picked me up around four and I went to her house to watch a movie and help the girls with hair. I played around and showed them some tricks that I have learned from my beautiful friends.:) Thank You Ladies! I made her a sock bun and told her that bobby pins and hairspray are Gold:) I stayed for something small to eat. We had the german bread with butter, cheese, meat and cucumbers:)
Tuesday I woke up on time to a message from Bro Gardner. he told me that he rode on the canal and found on a bench where someone had wrote, Jesus Loves You, Jesus SAves, REad ACTS 2 for the plan of salvation.!:) That was me!! LOLOL I wrote that and I couldnt believe he found it. On all the benches that are at the canal he sat down on the one bench I wrote that on and read it. No one had any idea that I wrote that. Praise God. Now I know someone else can read it too. :) SO that started my day off really well. Then Sis Scott and Pastor informed me we were going to a german breakfast cafe and then the museusm for the day!!! This is where is gets good:) Whoo Whoo! I was so excited to see more of Germany before I left. I had a latte machiatto and a small sandwhich, the german way. I also had a strawberry cake thing. It was very good. We enjoyed ourselves and took our time.
Next we left for the museum. We first walked into the gift shop and I wanted to basically buy the whole store. Everything was amazing. I got a unique mouse pad and some postcards and called it quits. My flesh wanted more, but my wallet was screaming, stop!! SO I did:) I found out in the gift shop that they had a fashion section there. OMW! German fashion from the early centuries!! AHH I was in heaven on earth. I am so interested in all of this. So we paid 8 euros and proceeded to tour the museum which was beautiful. I was getting pretty tired and my back started hurting. If you know me, you should know that my back tends to hurt... I dont do much about it because I refuse to go to a chiropractor. There have been times it was so bad I picked up pamplets about Fibro Myealsia (NO idea how to spell that! period). Well my back was hurting I was walking funny to stretch it. Pastor realized this and told us that we would pray for my back. I told him that I was ok and that it really wasnt a big deal. He insisted. He told Sis Scott to lay hands on my back where the pain was. She did and we prayed right there in the Museum. Im not kidding you. We heard it pop and Sis Scott felt it and my back got super hot! A sensation swept through my lower back and the heat was there and the pain left!!! Im not kidding you!, God healed my back right there. I was jumping up and down and praising his name. I couldnt believe it. Nothing like this has ever happend to me before. !!! Thank You Jesus!!! Praise God. He truly is a healer. I seriously felt different and I was walking different too. It was amazing! :)

We went to a German resturaunt for dinner. I got some kind of soda,,, Pepsi and Fanta mixed. Cant remember what it is called. I ate german Schnitzel (sp) and potatoe salad! WOW> it was so so so good!! Everything here has so much flavor!:) It was fabulous and summed up my day with such excitement:)
I rode my bike on the canal that night to get away and to meditate on the goodness of God. :) he is so perfect in everything he does. I am so blessed! He is my best friend. I know I keep saying this but I really cant help it!~
Today is wednesday. I woke up and had breakfast here with Pastor and Sis Scott. She made Hawian Bread. Bread, a little bit of butter, cut up ham, a piece of pinnapple, a slice of cheese and you bake it. It was amazing! I continued to pack and then was picked up to go to the inner city with Evelyn. Evelyn is the one who was baptized. She is so sweet. We spent the day together and talked about life and life lessons. We rode the Ubaun to church and got some icecream before prayer. Sister Petra, Sis Kirsten, Evelyn and I prayed for a lady outside of the grocery store and she was totally crying. It was beautiful. :) We invited her to church. In Jesus Name. We came in for some music and prayer. and guess what. The HOly GHost fell and Evelyn got the HOLY GHOST!! I told her that she better get it before I left. Tonight was the last service and God blessed me while blessing her:) It was beautiful to watch her. :) !! Thank You Lord!!!! WE went and had outreach and we talked to a sweet sweet isalmic family. I got my pictures with them and truly felt the lords hand. Outreach was great. A great way to end my missions here. We went to McDonalds for shakes and fellowship.
I am hitting the sack now and getting ready for Munic tomorrow. Im gonna wear my Durndl. !! LOL. I cant wait. :) Its gonna be so much fun! Praise God! It will be my last day here in Germany. Im leaving on Friday morning:) I am sad to leave such great people, but excited to get home. I really will miss everyone so much here. GOd has truly blessed me with amazing friends here in Furth, Bamburg and Nurnburg Germany. Jesus hold us all together. In Jesus Name:)!!

I forgot to mention that most bathrooms (WC) cost money. You go in, take care of business and when you leave you tip the person (sometimes it is a guy who is in the ladies room) who is cleaning and keeping up with the toilets. If it doesnt cost, chances are the bathrooms are pretty bad. Thanks Danika for informing me to take change to the bathroom. WHo would have know! :)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Exciting Peace

Praise the Lord! Im now only six days till my travels take me back home. I am basking in the time I have left here and enjoying it to the fullest. The one thing I like the most about Germany is the weather. It is nice everyday. I can be outside without dying of heat exhaustion:) Its cooler with a gentle breeze. By the time I ride my bike I am at the perfect temperature.

The past two days I have had breakfast at 10 and then rode my bike to the canal where I spent some solitude with the Lord under the sun. Ahh!! Its so beautiful:) There is one place where I feel at my best. I have taken over the bench!! :) LOL. I park my bike and spend about 2 hours there. I write, read, meditate, sing, and pray:) I can lay down, stand up, jump, shout, whisper, and smile. I have the freedom to do it all without reservation. Once I get there, I hardly want to leave. Its so peaceful to listen to music and allow the Holy Ghost to talk to me. He lays things on my heart and without any distractions I can take care of them. Its so important to have solitude time. Its crucial to be renewed in God everyday.!! but we so often lack this. In Jesus Name I pray for the self control to take time out to rest!! I had this exciting feeling of peace. LOL. So peaceful but so excited at the same time. :) AHH!!! I love God so much! :) Praise God.

Last night I went to the inner city of Nurnburg again. I stopped to grab a bite to eat at a place called, Kochloffel. I got some chicken with a mango sauce and fries:) As I was sitting down a gentleman came up to me and asked me something in German. I told him that I only spoke english. He then asked me in english what time it was because his watch stopped working. I told him. He told me that he knew a little bit of english and thought it would be nice to sit down with me and talk for a bit. LOL. I was hesitant but before I could make up an excuse he was sitting across from me at my table. He asked why I was in Germany and the Lord quickened me and reminded me of my missions effort. I told him that I was on a missions trip. If I was gonna talk to this man it was going to be about God.:) He had a surprised look and said, "all you americans are so religous, God this and God that" I said, "yes sir, I am a believer:) But there is a big differnce between religion and relationship with God. I have a genuine relationship with God." He seemed annoyed but stuck around so I decided I would feed him as much as I could in the time that he stayed. :) So he started asking his questions. Who is God? My response the creator of all things. He's my maker and my Lord. His next question. Where is he? I said he was everywhere. He is a spirit:)... That robed himself in flesh, to walk among us, living without sin, to die for our sins. He said, yeah yeah, This spirit.... ? How do you know? I said, The Word and By Faith. The bible says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him, he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." I said we needed faith to trust him and to take that step and once we do he reveals more and more to us, his truths. As much as he didnt agree, he asked questions and I did my best to answer them. It was a challenge. Sometimes you dont have the words to express how amazing God is. You know in your heart because the Holy Ghost reveals it to you, but without the Holy GHost it is harder to comprehend His goodness, His reality and His truths. But he listened to everything I said. He said that humans are humans. We make a choice to live a good life or a bad life. He said that we cannot possibly comprehend reality of this world. Its too big, its too great and that mankind made up religion and God to understand it. He used the example of color. We dont really see color, we see reflections of color to make color but its not really color... SOmething like that. I said that "the reality was that God exist and there is spirtual warfare happening all around us and that we cant see it but that is reality." I said "reality is there is a God whether you claim that there is or not." :) LOL I said "reality is there is a heaven and a hell and if you dont love God you can pay eternal consequences for this belief." He said, "oh no. There is no God and there is no devil. There is no Heaven or Hell." I told him about my expereince with God. I told him that God moves on me and that I pray to him and that he speaks to me. I told him about the day I got the Holy Ghost. I said I was so moved by God that I began to cry. I said that I worshiped God from my heart and before I knew it, I began talking to Him in words I couldn't explain. This was the HOly GHost experience and I challenged him to read about it in the book of Acts chapter 2. I told him that if he tried God, He would reveal Himself. I know God ordained this conversation between us and I expressed this to him. He said, "no we are having this talk becasue I asked you what time it was." LOL. Yeah, Yeah, think what you want.:) Little did he know this was his opportunity. I asked what his name was and he said it was Leonardo. Leonardo ended the conversation with, "I dont want to be a christian."
Wow. I had such a hard time with this. I know I did what I was supposed to do. But it doesnt take away the pain I feel for this man. The world so often has this same mentality. They dont want it. When I got home, I couldnt help but to cry out for him. I was so emotional and so weak. I felt that it took so much out of me. In the midst I was challenged too. The enemy tries to take what you love and what you know and he will use it against you. Im not gonna lie, as I was telling him about my love for God and I couldnt find the words to express it, I felt a tiny portion of doubt creep in. How come I cant explain it? BUt God kept laying on my heart, Faith. Believing in things not seen. I trust in God by Faith. You can't always explain God, he is too big, too amazing and too real for our human brains to wrap around it. But thats why we have the Holy Ghost. I cried out because I felt doubt, I didnt want to doubt, but I did. I was sorrowful for feeling doubtful. It's scary to feel your humanity at times. But greater is He that is within me than he that is in this world.:) God knows our thoughts, he knows our hearts. I trust him with everything that is within me. He is real and no one can convince me otherwise. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thank You Jesus.
So I sit today...:) AFter a long quiet time with God, pondering my weaknesses and pulling strength from him. I am convinced that there is nothing to run back too. I am so blessed where I am, so rich in relationship and the love of God that I wouldnt think of living my life any other way. I was lost and now I am found. :) I know WHO I am now. I know this becasue of my thoughs, the mindset I now have and how I have changed. I know this because of the things GOD has done in my life. The fullfillment I have that I so often see others lacking. I am satisfied in God and wouldnt dare leave his side.:)

Im about to leave to go to the city again. Possibly to find more Leonardos.:) Just to present myself available. Not sure what God would have of me today, but I am willing.
I am counting down the days. I cant wait to be back home. And my sweet Sassy Mehl! Oh, how I miss her so:)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

It is Good

:) I have had a wonderful past two days. On Tuesday morning I woke up and began packing again:) I was asked my Sis Petra and Sis Kirsten to go to the "country" with them where Sis Petra has a camper. The trip was about 45 minutes away. We drove through a cute little old town where we stoped to of course take pictures:) There was an old old church that pretty much looked like a doll house inside. It was a catholic church and there was a book there that you could write your comments in it. Sis Kirsten was sure to write out the plan of salvation with reference to Acts 2:38:)
We left the church and did some shopping in the cute town. I got some new little expresso spoons as a gift from Sis Kirsten. Even though I picked them out she wanted to give them to me as a gift. She had them wrap it up for me at the counter and then proceeded to give them to me! :) We stopped by an icecream parlor and got the "Spagettii Ice" Which consist of vanilla icecream pressed through a playdoh machine to make spagettii. It was placed over whip cream with strawberry sauce and sugar :) Yummy!!!!
We then found a place to buy the old german outfits called the Durndel. I have no idea how to spell it and I still cant pronounce it right. Pastor Scott told me about them the first week I got over here but we werent able to find them. Well we found a store alright and I tried on just about every one:) There were so many options. I found a modest one with the help of the worker there:) She was just beside herself that I did not want everything hanging out! LOL she kept nudging my top and telling me how the Germans wear them. I kept motioning that I didnt care how the germans wore them. I wanted to stay covered up! LOL. As we were deciding whether or not to get one I asked if they took Visa. That would make up my mind since there are limited stores that accept it. They didnt:( I was a little disappointed but I got a picture in the dress so it didnt really matter. She left and came back to tell us that her boss was going to make an exception and let me us my visa. Of course they did, she wanted to make the sale:). LOL. But I was excited. When else do you travel to Germany to buy a traditional dress (which was hot pink and blue!! LOL) I went to the check out and they couldnt get my card to run through. The cards here are different, they have a chip thing on them and they dont take the swip card. They were on the phone and it was crazyness. I look at the ladies and I said, if its God's Will then it will go through, if its not his will, it wont go through. I had given up at that point. As soon as I finished my sentence it went through:)! LOL. Sooo.... I got one!!! A nice one too:) Modest and all:) Bright pink and blue!! LOL with little deer heads on it too! Watch out, here I come! You wont be able to miss me!
We stopped by the store on the way to the camper to get some food for dinner that night. WE arrived at the cute little camper site. This was her uncles and he sold it to her a while back. There is an added portion of the camper, built on to make it more comfotable to live in. Three cats which have other owners know exactly when Sis Petra gets there and they were practically waiting for us on the steps:) Sis Petra is a doll!!!! So is Sis Kirsten!!!!!. I had the time of my life fellowshiping with them that night over a veggie/stirfry dinner and coffee for desert:)
It poured down rain that night. The WR (bathroom) was outside and down the next street. I woke up in the middle of the night to the rain which was so amazing, but it did not help the urge to use the restroom. I kept trying to focus on something else but the rain kept coming! LOL. I woke them and found out the emergency plan while in the camper. Not my favorite but it got the job done. I was finally able to rest the remainder of the night. :) Thank You Jesus.
We woke up and had a cup of coffee and some german bread and jelly. They took me to the Hauptbonhoff (spelling is wrong for sure) where the trains are. I left on a train to hit Bamberg where I met up with Sis Siegfred. She is another younger lady from the church, little older than me. We went out in this little old town and had such a good time. :) We got an applesauces/cinnamon and sugar crepe!!! Amazing!!!:) sigh... I will be back for sure! Perfect:) We grabed a coffee to go from Der Becks and hit the rose garden and the cathedrals there. Lots of pictures, lots of laughter and lots of shopping:)!!!
We went and had outreach last night:). We got in our "formation" as pastor calls it and sung our hearts out on the street corners. Meanwhile Sis Petra handed out flyers. SHe is a BEaST! SHe was talking to everyone!!! Long convos too:) Her testimony is amazing and when the Lord brings you out of the pit you cant help but to share it:) It was so inspiring to watch her reach the lost and to know that we were all in it together. I cant wait to come home... I want to get our church to sing on the corners. We could move mountains.! I believe it. Outreach is so rewarding.
Now I am off to the inner city for day two. I will do my best to just take pictures without spending a ton of money:) I get to spend the early evening there too. Pastor said I dont have to be home till 7 or so. :) Im excited. In Jesus name. Im going with GOd and will be back once again a changed individual! God Bless :)

Monday, July 18, 2011

Baptized in Jesus Name







Tonight we baptized Evelyn, an adorable young girl here at the church! She is so precious and I wish I could take her home with me!! Enjoy the pictures:) I love you all so much!!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Geneva Switzerland:)













Praise God!!!
I was a little nervous about my trip to Geneva because of the cost. I spent the majoity of my money on my plane ticket and my apartment there. But I can honestly say it was so so worth it. It was worth every penny and I would do it all over again!!
There were two Aimers that worked the Geneva Revival. One was Sister Lauren and one was Sister Beth. Both were two beautiful young girls from the states. They came as Aim workers over 3 months ago. They were sent to Geneva to work under the direction of pastor Sayers 6 weeks ago to live there and study the city. They were to know every street, every bus route and every resturaunt.:)... They put together the outreach schedule and knew what buses went where. By the time Pastor Scott and I got arrived on Thursday we knew exactly what we were to be doing. Bro Robinette is the pastor in Vienna, Austria. He also sent a group of workers to help out. :) I had so many new girlfriends I hardly knew what to do with myself! :)
We arrived on Thursday at about two oclock. We went directly to the park and began outreach. Everything was electronic and we walked around the city and sung songs the entire time! We played piano, bongo drums and guitar. God provided the perfect match of voices and we had every part to just nearly perfect. People stopped to take pictures, dance and talk to us about what we were doing. Little kids came up and played with us as well:) The majoirty of us sang and played while we rotated and handed out tracks about our revival services. :) It was so amazing to outreach in a city you have never been too. You were able to walk around and take pictures like a tourist as well as witness for the Lord. God knew exactly what he was doing.
Friday service was amazing:) The church is still very small but we had over 5 visitors and 3 of them recieved the Holy Ghost:)! I was not able to stay for the rest of the revival but what I saw was just the beginning of something amazing in Geneva.
Saturday morning I was able to go out to eat with the wonderful Bro and Sis Robinette (general superintendent for german speaking nations) I had an amazing talk with them and discussed future plans for more missions in my life. They mentioned the option I had to once agian travel next summer and I would be able to stay in Vienna, Austria and work directly under Bro and Sis Robinette! I am so excited about what the future holds.:) I cant hardly stand it!.
Pastor Scott and I left on Saturday and headed back to Nurnberg. We were so drained from outreach and felt useless on our flights back home, nearly missing one:) On our last flight back home I met a really nice adorable young man named Kristian. He originally lied and said he was 17 and I found out later he was only 15. LOL. Nice try buddy. But anyhow he was extremly talented. He spoke 5 languages and his father spoke 12 languages. His family has a background in music and he played piano as well as football, he scuba-dived, and traveled all over the world. AT only 15!! He did not look 15. LOL. But he talked my ear off. I thought I talked alot! He talked the whole flight back to Nurnberg. I was able to talk to him about God. He was extremly knowledgable in history, like knew geography and history of every country on the planet. I just kindly asked him if he was as knowledgeable about God as he was everything else... and the convo just flowed. I wont go into detail but it was amazing and I really felt like God wanted to give him a very specific message. I told him that I felt like God was going to do amzing things in his life. We had alot of similar beliefs and the converstation was not awkard at all. He told me later that he really enjoyed our talk and that he did not think it was coincidental that we met. :) I challenged him to read John chapter three and trusted that God would take over the rest. :) Amen! I met his mom at the airport and she was just as cute!
I overslept completely this morning and casued the family to arrive over a half an hour later than we had planned. After speaking to the Robinettes I felt impressioned to step out of my comfort zone here at the church. I decided to help more in the music department. I knew that the choir would not be singing so I flip through my ipod to find a song to sing. God layed on my heart Underneath the Shadow, by Heidi King. I just had them crank it up over the sound system and I sang in a mic along with it:) It worked out really well and I wasnt as nervous since I had her to fall back on. I just wanted to sing something that would help the congregation to give our Lord their praises. :) It worked out better than expected. Thank You Jesus.
Today was Pastor Scotts birthday! Went went to a pizza place down the street and ate with some other members of the church. The food was really good. There are some differences though. One difference was the salad. I ate some type of cabbage/radish?? in a sauce on my salad as well as corn.:) Tomatoes are really popular here and I have been eating them in just about every meal. I even grabbed them for my salad today. If you know anything about me, you would know that this is not typical of me. GUess my taste buds are changing becasue I really enjoyed them. The pizza was huge and they dont cut the pizzas in slices over here, you have to tell them to cut it. I did not know that:( Every pizza I have had so far has been a thin crust pizza, a perfect thin crust:) (not cardboard) but im finding the meats arent as cooked as I like them. They look like they are undercooked, viz. ham, bacon, sausage, hamburger. (eww) Sometimes they will even crack an uncooked egg over the pizza and serve it raw! BLAHHHHH!!!! I just stuck with a pinnapple and ham pizza. It was the size of a large pizza back home on an undersized plate:) LOL. AFter eating my salad I only ate one piece of pizza before feeling extremely full. I have breakfast lunch and dinner for at least two days.
I have two weeks left here in Germany. I am alot more familar with the country and feel that I am more usable:) I will keep you all posted back home and cant wait to post more pictures! xoxo and I send much love!
May God Bless America! and Germany/ Austria/ Switzerland

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

What a Glorious DAY

:) sigh :)
Last night we went to a military base in a differnt city here in Germany for bible study with a family. Not sure of the name of the city, but we took the autobahn to get there! :) If you dont already know, there are places on the autobahn where there is NO SPEEDLIMIT!! yikes. We went to about 22o Ks. I was giddy and trying to record on my camera. Its pretty insane. And I was scared when cars started merging on the highway. You truly cant stop fast enough when you are going that fast. whew... but at least now I can say I did it:)! LOL;

This morning I woke up at 5:00am and I walked with Sis Scott to the bus stop and to the train station to the inner city. I saw where she worked at and then I hit the streets for my own for the very first time! It was so inspirational. I think I seriously wrote my first poetry today:) But I'm not confident enough in it to share, so sorry! :) LOL. I sat at a little place called Der Beck, which is a cafe for a coffee and devotion. It was raining this morning and I was so facinated by everyone, and everything. I cant explain the rush of excitment and joy I felt. Not a care in the world just meditation and making memories:):):):):):) I wondered the streets there for a good 4 hours. Took some pictures, bought some new things and simply soaked it all up:)

Im getting ready for outreach tonight and packing my bags for Geneva Switzerland. I leave tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. and wont be home till late Saturday night. I wont be able to post my thoughts till then :( Hope you can wait!! God Bless :)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

4 mile bike ride













Im for sure getting my physical and spiritual excerise here in Germany. Last night Pastor Scott and I rode down along the canal, to the port, to the main road and back home. About a 4 mile ride. It didnt seem that long and was gorgeous every step of the way. We stopped by a little resturaunt hut on the side of the trail where you could take a break:) It was so nice. Even at night we can ride because we have lights on our bikes. We didnt get back till about 11:00 PM. We stopped by two icecream parlors on the way home and both were closed so we went to the gas station and got icecream there.
I went to a fabric store yesterday too. It was so small and so different. The bolts of fabric were just stacked on top of each to the ceiling on every side of the store. I will try to post a picture. It cost me 9 euros for one meter of fabric!!!! WHew. Its so expensive here. Im broke already.LOL.







Today we are traveling to a military base to teach a gentleman a biblestudy. :) I love talking about God and sharing the things he has done in my life. God is REal and he is so Powerful and so Personal:) Praise GOD!!.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Much More

I am a couple of days behind.... A day or two ago I made my rounds with Bro and Sis Scott on the train/busses for my alone day trips. I also bought my pass that would get me on the trains for the month of July. I went for a longer bike ride to the blue bridge that runs side by side with the canal. I found a little red flower growing out of the rocks. God took me back to the book Hinds Feet in High Places. He reminded me of the red flower in the book called acceptance with Joy. As I rode my bike I began worshipping God for everything he has done in my life. Every once in awhile the air would smell so so sweet. Almost like honey sickles from my childhood. I stoped and took some pictures. I rode for awhile before I built up enough courage to sing out loud. As soon as I belted out the song in my heart two german young men rode past me and kind of looked back. LOL By that time I just kept singing. I didnt care anymore, not that they knew what I was saying! LOL. I really enjoy riding my bike. I am so getting one when I get back. It is so peaceful and so fullfilling. Just you, God, your bike, the bugs and the breeze:) Now I just need to figure out where I will store it.
I tested my 5 euro pair of rollerblades:) We greased up the wheels/berrings and went to the Duetchendit(?). We left just in time before getting hit by another terrible storm. We drove down the street to a little icecream cafe!:) It was so good!!!
On Sunday we had church. We got there at 9 for chior practice. 10 was sunday school and 11 was worship. A very nice gentleman who had never been there stood up and testified about the power of God. He was crying, I was crying and we just felt the presence of GOD:). I was able to give my testimony on Sunday in front of the congregationas well. It was tough.LOL Pastor preaches in English and Bro Gardner or Sis Scott translate the service in German. It was difficult to testify when you have to stop and wait for your story to be translated. Bro. Gardner did a great job translateing, but chopping scattered sentences.! LOL. After service we went to a small resturaunt called the Doner Kebab. They have huge pieces of meat that turn (like a pig roast expcept vertical) and they saw the meat off of while to meat is turning... It was really good. This was the first time to fellowship with other members from the church. There are two sold out young people. Bro Joey Ryan and Bro Tobias Gardner. They have ahold of God and they are on Fire! :) They would outreach all day everyday if they could. Bro Ryan leaves this thursday for Afganistan. Keep him in your prayers.
This morning Pastor Scott and I went to the tower that overlooks the city. We prayed for Germany with focus prayer of the souls we could see and the surrounding cities Furth/Nurnberg. We had a great time in prayer and felt God lead and direct us:) Nothing is impossible with GOD!. We had a nice lunch when we got home. Cold sandwiches with a hard boiled egg cut up on it:) A little butter/ cheese.! Yummy. I guess the germans are rubbing off on me because I have been prefering a little water with bubbles in my juice. It gives it a little more kick:) LOL.
This THursday I leave for Geneva Switzerland. I'll only be there for 2 days, but it will still be a great experience! :) I am excited about the trip as we will outreach the entire time we are there. Im missing my friends. Please write back and facebook/email me.:) And Karla, I love your responses!! thank You friend! :)

Friday, July 8, 2011

Shopping!

So... I went to a second hand store today called Gebrauchtwarenhof. LOL. Yep.. All one word folks. Its truly the best place to get authentic items for cheap:):) i got two skirts, a hat, a not so german purple night gown, 4 small spoons/ forks, 2 egg holders, a pair of roller blades ( 5 euros!) a mug type thing, and a scarf. All for 17 euros:) FUN!! Pastor Scott and I picked up Sis Scott and we went to the grocery store which was identical to our Aldi. I got in trouble for taking pictures. I couldnt help it. They had dyed colored hard cooked eggs that they sell year round:)!! Mushrooms are called something like Champions... LOL Not so much a champion in my diet. WE came back and ate some German cakes over coffee with Louisa. She sang us some old German Folk songs!! Yes, I got it on camera:) We took some family pictures and then we worked around the house for a bit. We finished our night with a donute filled with marmalade:) hot chocolate and a english speaking DVD. Night NIght

Also!!! THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT STATEMENT. I DO NOT HAVE SPELL CHECK BECAUSE IM ON THE GERMAN INTERNET SO EVERYTHING I TYPE IS CONSIDERED A SPELLING ERROR. IM NOT A SPELLING BEE WINNER. I REPEAT I AM NOT A SPELLING BEE WINNER.

Bike Rides and Sight SEeing.

Hello All! :)
Its now 9:24 am on Friday. Yesterday I slept till 2:00 pm. What!!!??? Im so mad. I set the alarm...., I have been waking up alot during the night so I guess my sleeping is not on schedule like I thought.
On Wednesday I took the bike out for a spin. I rode up and down the same street a couple of times before I ventured off to new places. I was afraid I might get lost so I was taking baby steps.:) LOL I finally went on a different rode and saw some sidewalk chalk writings. I stopped to take a picture and a little boy ran down and started pointing to direction of the arrow. He said something and I spoke back and said, Im sorry but I dont speak german... LOL. He just put his hands down and said something quietly. I noticed on the street that it said 50 Cent. So I rode back home to get some money. I came back and followed the sign. It was a little stand with about 5 or 6 kids selling paper airplanes!! AWWWW!! They had big planes, small planes, drawings/colorings and art with leaves glued on the paper. So SO CUTE! As I was walking up they started whispering to one another... LOL Probably saying, this american girl doesnt speak german, rip her off. Kidding.:) LOL> I just gave my 50 cents and they hesitated but gave me a big airplane... and then a small airplane... and then a picture. :) One of the boys kind of spoke english.. I told him he spoke great english and he smiled and said he only knew a little from school. THey learn english here starting in the 3rd grade.
I then came home on WEdnesday before we went to outreach. WE went to the church located in Furth... I actually live in Katzwang outside of Nurnberg... and Furth is a little ways away, not far though. The church is by other cooporations and they actually rent out one room for services. It is pretty small with about 16 members and 6 children (on WEdnesday) WE will see on Sunday. There is another room on the bottom level where the nursury is. We stayed for prayer and a short lesson... then we hit the park for outreach. WE loaded up our cars and found a place to stand. The majority of us stood in 3 lines and sang songs... Mostly in English becuase they say it sounds better than in German... (but we also sang some in german) 3 other individuals handed out tracts and talked with people who passed by. We had a couple that seemed interested:) I waved and said, hello, to everyone and only probably half said hello back. :)
On Thursday.. When I overslept till 2 was a chill out day. I rode my bike to the canal and did some reading. We went to the place where Hitler rallyed his troops (Zeppelintribune?) . I stood where he stood... Crazy. In Jesus Name. This city carries alot of bad spirits and you can feel a difference from the terrible history it holds. I looked around and took pictures as Bro Scott rollarbladded for a bit. A crazy viscious storm rolled in right as we were finishing up. It was creepy.
Now im up for the morning on Friday.:) Not sure what the day holds, but I am excited to see. I love you all and miss you very much! xoxo Feel free to email me or send me messages on skype/facebook or on here. It feels good to get messages:) They make me smile! :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Beginning of Germany












































































OMW... Where do I begin? Well, I will start with I arrived to Nurnberg and found Bro Lewis who took me to The Scotts home where I am will be living. I am safe! I have met my family and they are amazing! I took a nap and my sleeping schedule should be up to par. I'm gonna back up a day or two and then I will tell you about today.
Karolina and I met a new friend Sasha ( a 17 year old from Russia) the day we stayed in the Holiday Inn. All three of us hung out the following day in the airprot before we left for Frankfurt. We did not leave Washington until 5:23. Our flight left on time and believe it or not we didnt have any problems!!! Praise God. I was hoping I would get an aisle seat but the very oposite was true. I sat in the very center of the plane with 2 people on either side of me. LOL To my far left was Leo Brown, a 20 year old who served in the Army as a med and stationed in Germany for the past 6 months. Next to me on my left the seat was empty! No one showed and we were able to place our extra things there so we had more space. To my right was Karolina and then to her right was a very nice lady who was on a businees trip to Venice for one day. LOL. Bummer. The trip was great, it went by fast:)
Leo and I discovered we both were riding the train to Nurnberg so we decided we would help one another out in getting there. God really sent me someone every step of the way and I was not alone at all! Leo waited and helped me as I discovered my luggage was lost and helped me locate a handy phone so I could call Bro Lewis who was to pick me up. I knew I would be running late. I spoke with a lady who spoke english and she was able to find my bags!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!
Our new journey began... Making it to the train station. I had three bags total. My carry on was stacked to the larger suitcase and my oversized purse topped it off. It was a little heavy and tiring... not gonna lie. I got caught up on the escalaitor a couple of times... dying laughing but I made it.
When we got on the train we went to the seated section across from a gentleman who spoke english and he helped me a great deal. He was the one who infomred us we were sitting in a resturaunt and that we needed to order something. LOL> The server came by and I ordered a tea which cost me 3 euros and Leo ordered a water without bubbles (everything is carbonated) which cost him 3 euros. LOL. He was still learning too and realized he should of just grabbed a soda or something. Leo was good company and we just talked about God, life and experiences. He has been to a pentecostal church a couple of times and he liked it:)
I arrived about an hour and a half later where I met Bro Lewis. He was very nice and we talked all the way back to the Scotts home which is Beautiful!! I will have lots of pictures to show you later. Bro Scott is American but came to Germany over 30 years ago in the service. He met his wife Sister Scott and they married and had one little girl. They stayed here in Germany. Pastor Scott has not lived in the states since he moved here. Their one daughter, who is now 28, lives in the states. I am currently living in her room. It's in the basement of the home and is very nice. Sis Scotts mother Louisa, who only speaks Dutch/German lives on the main level and the Scotts live upstairs. Her mom is 85 and is an absolute doll. I wish I could communicate with her because I know I would learn so much from her:) Today when I sat out on the patio to chill, Louisa came out to visit. She talked my ear off, in german, and I couldnt understand a word she was saying except "it is good it is good". But I enjoyed her presence!! :)
They set up a little gift bag for me filled with maps, books, candy and a bottle of bubbled water. I got cleaned up, took a nap and awoke to dinner on the table. It was so nice. Bro Scott served us chicken breast with great flavor, rice, german bread which was very yummy and cucumbers. After this Bro Scott showed me around the grounds of the house. He has an apple tree with two types of apples, two types of plum trees and a cherry tree. He also showed me Sis Scotts bike which has a BASKET and told me that I could use this during my stay!! We then took a trip to Nurnberg Castle and he showed me the inner and outer gates of the castle. We went to the shopping plaza too which was in the inner gates of the castle. We windowed shopped because all the shopes close at 8.
Bro Scott and I talked tons.! I feel honored to have such a godly man mentor me and guide me on this trip. He is truly filled with wisdom and experience. God knew what he was doing. I am safe physically and spiritually under his direction. Bro Lewis informed me a little bit about the Berlin contact. We will travel to Berlin by tain to meet up with her, talk with her and teach her bible study.
I was also asked if I wanted to attend a conference in Geneva, Switzerland in the middle of July! Absolutley!!!
I slepted in until 10:30 today:) I slept great!:) Bro Scott had a nice german breakfast set out for me. It consisted of the German breakfast breads (I don't remember what it is called) a variety of cheese and meats that you would put on the bread and a hard boiled egg. Bro Scott told me that alot of germans actually eat them soft boiled where it is not cooked all the way through. EWW. I was good with the hard boiled. I also had a bowl of yogurt, which was very tastey:)! Bro Scott and I shared testimonies and the blessings of God over breakfast. He ministered to me already and helped me to find a little more balance in my life. God did a work already this morning.
Im continuing in prayer for strength, encouragement and protection. God is so so good. Germany is definitly a different life, culturally and spiritually. My eyes have already seen things I thought I might come in contact with. I know I will walk away from this trip stronger than when I came. I already feel stretched and challenged. In Jesus Name!!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

An Event Filled Day

Hello Friends and Family:)
When you hear the word airplane, what do you think of? Delays, lost baggage, stinky bathrooms (which smells up the whole plane) upset people, crying babies... the list goes on. I thankfully have never really had any of this. But I dont think we could categorize ourselves as humans unless we do at some point, I did today. I want to take you on a trip down memory lane. A very event filled day for me on mulitple airplanes:)
My plane was supposed to leave STL at 2:00 today. Jazzy, our nice flight lady, politely told us that our flight was on time and that we would leave on time. We load the tiny, tiny plane ( 2 seats on one side and 1 seat on the other side), check in our one carry on (becasue the plane was that small and we didnt have room to store it by our seats) and take our seats.
After sitting for 20-25 minutes, Jazzy informs us that the plane is overweight and we have to remove some things. She proceeds to call the one gentleman, who serves in the military, BY NAME over the intercome and tells him that he was OVERWEIGHT and that he had to leave the plane! I could not belive it!! I felt so bad for him and seriously wanted to cry. Im so sure, He wasnt overweight, just a ton of muscle he built from fighting for our country... and he gets booted off the plane. :( Jazzy then begins to tell us that she needs four additional volunteers who will give up there seat and take the next flight to Washington because we were still overweight. NO ONE moved. Half of our flight was international flights with connecting flights. There were alot of angry people on this plane, raising their voices about the fear of missing their flight. No one wanted to get off and people were upset. Finally she got back on the intercome and told us that they would give a $400 vouchure to get off the flight and arrive later that night. WE had 4 volunteers and I clapped for them as they left the plane. :)
We wait for all of their luggage to be removed from our little plane and then begin our take off. We make it up into the air and after about 15-20 mintues the Captian (who was very handsome) gets on the intercome and informs us that the take off gear will not lift up and its protocol that we land back in STL. After circling STL for over 45 minutes, with crying baby, we finally landed in STL right where we left. We had to exit the plane and wait pateintly as they got a new aircraft.
The new aircraft arrived and what was supposed to be only 15 more minutes turned into another solid hour waiting. I met a sweet sweet person named Karen:) We talked, shared jokes and laughed the whole time. I also met two other fellas, one was Scott and the other I dont remember his name. Scott lives in Belgium and the other fella was very knowledgable about the aircraft and traveling. He talked with the captians the whole time. It turns out that the captians chair in the new plane was broken. They had to order a new chair and install a new captians chair before we left!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL People, we didn't leave STL until 6:00! At this point I had already missed my connecting flight which would have been 7:00pm. They could not book a new flight for me to Frankfurt untill I got to Washington... there weren't any seats available at the time.

The flight to WAshington was great besides we didn't have air condition for the first 30 mintes. Still the same fussy baby, who was adorable!!!!!! Once I got there I had to find a new lady to help me look at my options for a new connecting flight. While waiting I met a another new friend named Karoline, who is from Lithuania. She also was supposed to be flyign into Frankfut. We stuck together as we walked all over the Washington Dulles Airport. Turns out that there werent any available seats for the 10:30pm flight and we would have to wait 'standby' in case someone cancelled their flight. We did not make that plane, and now we both have to wait to the next available flight which is tomorrow July 3rd at 5:23pm. Ugh!
So Karoline and I grabbed our free hotel vouchers and our $15 food voucher and headed for the shuttle. After waiting about 30 minutes for a shuttle if not longer we made it back to our hotel. We each went and ordered a pizza at the hotel restaurant so we would have left overs tomorrow.:)

Turns out Karoline wants to go to school in STL and she is staying in OFallon :) She's taking care of bussiness back home and then will come back to the states in August or December. I totally met a great new friend, Praise God:)
So that was my packed fun day. Oh, Yeah... also without my luggage. I have some things in my carry on, but not everything I need. Of course:) LOL. I'm off to bed and tomorrow we will rise early to hit the air and space museum. Its free and only 50 cents each way to ride the shuttle. Hopefully I make it to Germany safely and no more delays!!.
Love you all and God Bless!
BTW NO critiquing spelling or grammar. I just type what I think. I'm not an English teacher :)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

How did this trip come about?

I have been asked multiple times, "How did this trip come about? I had no idea you were leaving." Well the truth is, I hardly knew. :) But God knew. I don't necessarily feel called to be a missionary, but I have always felt a burden for missions and a strong desire to travel. I have met with God and talked with him about traveling and I remember vividly crying out, " I will go." Still have no idea where, but Lord, I will go.
Bro and Sis Showalter came to our church not long ago for a missions conference. I spoke with them briefly after the service and told them my desires for traveling and how jealous I was of their trips. They are missionary evangelist!! If that isn't the coolest calling ever:) They told me to talk with Pastor Trimble since he was preaching a missons conference in Europe the very next day. So I did:) I wrote Pastor T a post-it note with my name and a reminder to speak with anybody who might want a visitor. I told them the summer worked for me, since Im off all summer. Pastor told me to send him a text message later on in the week. I did, and he responded, "we may have a place in Germany for you". WOw, No IDea GERmaNY was in the mix. But Lord, I will go.
A couple weeks later I sent Pastor an email because I was signing up for graduate school and I needed to know whether or not to sign up for summer school. If I was traveling, I would wait for the fall semester. I didn't hear back so I proceded to sign up for school. I was going for summer school and to my dismay I could not register for summer classes because I didn't fill out the previous years FAFSA. I wasnt worried, still praying on the possibility of a trip that would consume my time.
Pastor emailed me back a couple of days later with a forward email from Bro. Robinnette who is the General Superinendent of German Speaking nations. The email was every answer I had hoped for. "Shannon Helm could not come at a more perfect time"... yada yada.... She can stay here, She will be working here, Pack you bags, Lets get going. WOW. I looked at my calender for the summer months. Im a pretty busy person. I had all of JUNE PACKED. The beginning parts of August PACKED> THe month of JULY.... NOT a SINGLE THING!!! Ok Lord. I will go to Germany for the Month of July.
I still was a little uneasy. I thought to myself, "I don't feel like I'm ready. What about my shortcomings, my insecurities, my messes. I'm not ready". I still needed confirmation before I paid for a plane ticket across the world. So my first devotion read something like this. " I have planned ahead for you. For in the midst of difficulites, I will be your support. You are hidden in Me; and I will multiply both the wisdom and the strenth in due proportion to meet the damands of every occasion. Rejoice, therefore, and face each day with joy; for I have planned ahead for you and make all necessary arrangements and reservations. I am your guide and benefactor. Put your hand in Mine." (Come Away My Beloved P 157)
My second devotion read something like this, "Grow up in Me now, so that you may develop into the full stature of men and women- even to the measure of the fullness of Christ. My purpose was not simply to bring you into My family to remain as babies or children. I am concerned with your maturity; with your growth in wisdom and knowledge of things pertaining to Myself, with the perfection of your ministy; and with the producing of the fruits of the Spirit in your life. You may resist Me becasue you feel unworthy or unready to be used. This is a delusion of the mind. I do not use you when you feel prepared, but when I need you and you are yielded. Indeed, if the time should ever come that you feel ready, I would then be completely blocked by your pride and would be forced to use someone else." (Come Away My Beloved P 161-162) Ok God, I will go.:)


So this is how it all started. I was afraid, I was nervous, I was anxious, but God confirmed it and I have to remember that I didnt choose God, God choose me and I choose to obey. Who am I to tell him, Im not capable of this task. He knows me better than I know myself.
Thank You God for my new life, my new dreams, my new ambitions and answering just about every little prayer Ive ever made:) You truly are my best friend:)
Thank You Pastor for making this trip possible and investing into me time and time again
Thank You Justin for confirming it before I even knew I was going
Thank You Amber and Cathleen for teaching me German (still know ZERO german), well writing me note/flash cards :) LOL, and booking my train on the german website!!
Thank You Jennifer for staying at my house and caring for Ms. Sassy Mehl
Thank You all my girlfriends for encouraging me to make this trip, and filling my life with laughter and love.
Thank You Family for shaping my life, believing in me and being excited for me
Thank You Sister for sharing the desire to travel and lighting a fire under my tail) :) :)
Thank You Mamanita for confiming this trip 2 days before, when my nerves were getting the best of me.
3 down (Haiti, Australia, and Germany) and many more to go:)