Home sweet home

This is going to be a short one.

We (Me, Jan and Robin) are back in Madison! Well, to be specific, it has been more than 24 hours since we've returned to Madison. Overall, the trip has been wonderful. I really thank the Lord for all the experiences I have had from the time spent in Germany.

Sorry there are no photographs from me this time, maybe Robin or Caitlin can post some up? Danke!

As I said, this is a short one, so I'll end here. The jet lag is catching up again. ^.^

Hope you had fun reading the blog as much as we had enjoyed writing it.

Gute Nacht.

~Mei

Farewell to Germany

Greetings to our family and friends,

Tonight is our last in Germany for 2008. It is impossible to adequately put into words how much this trip has meant to our team, plus, all the joy God has brought into our lives through our students, the Turkish and German believers to the men who own the Donor Kebab and Turkish restaurants in the neighborhood. Everyone has been so kind, so thoughtful, so loving to us in so many ways. We just pray that we have permeated God's as we have developed relationships with these amazing people.

Here are some hightlights of our trip:
-The Turkish Fellowship...building friendships, playing with children, worshiping, eating Turkish cuisine, lots of hugs, smiles and handshakes
-The English Classes...preparing for the classes, building friendships, lots of laughing, hugs, fun learning English, one fantastic field day at Landshaftpark (please view our video!!!) and a graduation party with dancing, food, exchanging addresses, gift-giving and compliments galore. Showing the video of our field trip brought hearty laughs
-Worshiping at the Turkish church and German church...in different languages, but to our same God and Savior, Jesus
-Experiencing worship at the Bulgarian Bible Study
-A lovely breakfast and fellowship at Atam and Seta's apartment
-A fun and inspiring evening with Memduh and his wife Sena, fellowship over Turkish food, learning more about their Internet ministry to Turks and listening to Sena's testimony of how she came to know Jesus...(Memduh is our friend and a leader in the Turkish Church)
-Our team fellowship....marvelous! Inside jokes, loads of laughing, very little sleep, praying, cooking and eating together has very much bonded us as a team
-A huge thank you to Paul and Kathy who have been so supportive and have shared their lives and for Kathy's scrumptious cooking and servant heart, not to mention all the translating they graciously did for us

To my teammates...Caitlin Carlson also graciously translated more times than I can ever begin to count. She did enjoy using her German and helping in such a substantial way. Her sweet ways and wonderful sense of humor were such a delight. Mei Yuen Koon, our computer wiz...we would have been lost without her and our blog would not have been near as interesting. She also taught us a lot about her homeland in Malaysia. Her laugh and playful ways kept us on our toes. Robin Gove and her heart for God inspired all of us. Her and I, being the mom's (and grandma's) of the group, enjoyed hearty laughs, having many similar life experiences. Caitlin and Mei humored us in our ways! And, last but not least, our fearless leader, Curt, (known lovingly as "Our Captain"), who served us, kept us focused and always put smiles on our faces. Thanks, Curt, for all you've done!

One last thing...On the day of our field trip our 60ish German students, Dagmar and Christel, asked if I would like to bike ride with them over to the Park to meet the rest of our class. I heartily agreed and we spent a lovely 50 minute ride to the park on the bike trail. What fun! I enjoyed some time with Dagmar at her apartment and in her beautiful garden before we left for the park. These two women were so loving and generous to all of us. Robin enjoyed the privilege of making the return trip with them.

It has been a trip to remember, but we are all looking forward to returning home to family and friends. You are all such a part of our team and partnership and we can't thank you enough. But, most of all, we praise and give thanks to Jesus, who gave us strength, courage, stamina and the will to be a blessing for His sake. Good night....

Jan Glew

Graduation!

A week of classes ended so quickly! A graduation party was held on Saturday and it was fun! Here is a short slide show of the fun we had at Landschaftspark. It was "presented" during the graduation party, hope you like it!




~Mei

Graduation!

Its Saturday night and it has been a busy day. We had a "graduation" party today and it was a fun time. It is amazing what good friends we have become with our students, especially the ones we have known from previous trips. With our older students we got into a discussion about WWII and the losses that were suffered in this area(the rhurgebeit) which because of it's industrial production provided much of the equipment and ammunition for the German army in the war. Of course it was devastated by the allies later in the war. One of our students father's died in the war while fighting in Russia and another lost 2 uncles in the war. This evening we watched The Hiding Place which was about Corrie Ten Boom and her family, who hid Jews during the war and she and her family were later arrested. Her father, sister and some other relatives died as a result. Her sister said "There is no pit so deep that He(meaning Jesus) is not deeper". Please pray for Dagmar, Chrystal and Tyrone (a half German and half British young man that joined our discussion). That God would use these examples to remind us of the pain that men can inflict on each other and the peace that God offers through Jesus Christ.
Kathy Baum was a wonderful hostess and took us on a fun tour of some interesting places in the vicinity later in the afternoon. Kathy is an amazing women who has befriended both Turkish and German women in the area and acts as a Mom sub for many children in the neighborhood---tutoring them, disciplining and cheering them on.

We go to German church tomorrow and then Monday we wrap up our time here in Germany. Most of the team heads back to Madison Tuesday, a great job completed! Thanks to a loving hard working team! Caitlin heads toward Berlin where she will meet up with some German friends and I will head south for a couple days with my son Ben and his wife Christy who are stationed south of here. I miss my wife, Pat who has been a great encouragement ---I will be home soon!
Curt

Field Trip!

Today was a holiday, so the the kids had no school. So, we took a field trip from noon to about 5:00. It was a blast! We took the Strassenbahn to a park where we played and had a photo scavenger hunt! We formed groups and ran around taking pictures of ourselves with the objects on our lists. We have tons and tons of pictures. The kids really liked this huge, rather steep tunnel slide that was in the park. They had so much fun with us, that they didn't want to go home when we got back. We ended up playing a card game with them for a little while, but then having to kick them out in order to get some much needed rest before our evening with Memduh and his wife. They told us about their ministry projects for Turks and it was very heart-warming to feel connected to the international body of the Church. We are all improving our Turkish as well!

Class Topics: Culture and Food

So the 2nd and 3rd day of class has passed. I have to first apologize for taking a meager few photographs for yesterday's classes. We were all busy conducting and preparing for our classes. I hope I can salvage that by posting some of the ones we have taken today.

Caitlin with her intermediate class

Curt having discussions with the upper intermediate students.

Jan having another discussion with the upper intermediate students.

Robin with the beginner's class yesterday. The topic was culture and she was "packing" a luggage to take the students on a New York trip.

Playing memory card game for today's topic of food with the beginners. The cards were pictures of different fruits and vegetables.

camera loving vs. camera shy




camera loving vs. camera shy 2

That is all for now, hope you enjoyed reading them!

~Mei

Special times in Germany

1st, I really want to talk about the many interactions we have experienced with the locals here in Germany and I can only say that it was great.

It was awesome to be able to spend time with Atam and Seta yesterday at their home. The apartment was beautiful and cozy, the hosts were warm and the food was yummy!

Take a look:

(Round the table starting from L) Caitlin, Jan, Curt, Atam, Seta, Robin and Paul.



happy family



adorable brother and sister



Did I mention this is breakfast?

Today, we had breakfast with ladies who have been and came back again as students of Jan and Curt. The food was good once again, but the great company added so much more to a simple get together.

Iron Chef Kathy

This is breakfast too?

Team and Friends

I hope I am not painting a picture that the Germany team goes to Germany to eat and hangout, but that we cherish the times we get to know more about the local community in Germany, both Turkish and German. I truly thank God for bringing me here for this experience.

~Mei

It's A Great Day To Be A Missionary!

Hello All,

Today began (after our team devotions) with a lovely German breakfast at Atam and Seta's apartment. They are Turkish believers and friends of Paul and Kathy's. We have met them on previous trips to Duisburg. Their apartment home (very few Germans and especially Turks ever own a home...only the very wealthy), is bright and cheery,very modest and full of love and friendship toward us foreigners. Atam is a leader and lay pastor in the Turkish church. One of Paul's dreams is to establish a Bible School for Turks. If the Die Brucke mortgage could be paid off, this would free up resources to make this school a reality. Please pray that God would provide in this way. Atam shared his testimony of how he came to faith in Christ. It was a journey of violence, fear and eventually, a walk forward at an evangelistic meeting. Our fellowship lasted over two hours...they longed for us to continue our visit. However, preparation for our afternoon classes (4:00 p.m..) awaited us.

All of our students returned today, plus two others. Yeh!! That's a good sign! All of us on the team felt prepared and more confident today. We were prepared yesterday, too...just not as confident. Please pray for Selin, Banu, Beyhan, Tyrone, Berna, Melek, Ezgi, Mert, Bunyamim, Renata, Dagmar and Christel. Our students are a mixture of German's and Turk's. We love each one. It is great fun!

This evening, we enjoyed a leisurely dinner at the Die Brucke. It felt good to have time together as a team with no committments. Did I mention that we laugh a lot? After Paul and Kathy returned from their meetings, we continued our fellowship. Needless to say, we were all a little punchy!

We again emphasize that we are so humbled by your prayers. God is working in this place. We continue to hear miraculous God stories. Praise God, He is working in the world! Oh, I almost left out that we sat in on a Bulgarian Bible Study last night here at the Die Brucke. Other Turkish friends were there also, leading the study. It is quite a story of what brought these dear Bulgarian Turks to Germany...fear of their daughters being kidnapped as they enter puberty to become a wife and mother. They are uneducated for the most part and a good many are tutored by Paul and Kathy. They work long hours for very little pay, taken advantage of by some Germans. Their love for Jesus is evident and some have recently become Christ followers.

My bed is calling...good night!
Jan

P.S. Tomorrow we will post some pictures of our students.

1st day of class

Well, the first day of class just flew by. There are so many eventful things to talk about, however, I do need to get some sleep from a long day, so I'll post a few pictures for now to satiate your need to know our happenings here.

Curt looking all happy and alert during breakfast

Hmm..not so much mid-day




Trying to figure out how to play a Chinese jumping rope



Kathy, the master


It's me jumping! (b/g:Curt is all serious preparing for classes)



The teachers



Students



Fun times


Awesome dinner - Doner Kebab

Once again, it was an awesome day, so much to do, so little time. Alright, it is bed time.
Gute Nacht.

~Mei

Life in Duisburg

Greetings from Germany,
It's a good thing that one of Blackhawk's values is enjoying life to the fullest, in other words......having fun...because we are definitely having fun and living life to the fullest here in Deutschland! God has showered His blessing upon us, through each other and through the warm Turkish and German people with whom we have been engaged! Our grateful team says, "thank you" for your prayers.

I thank God for my teammates. As I observed them yesterday at the Turkish Fellowship, fully engaged and involved in the lives of adults and children alike, I was very blessed. As an "old timer" on this trip, I relish in observing God use the gifts of my teammates to bless and encourage these new friends and enjoying their role as learners in a new culture. We heard amazing testimonies of God rescuing these Turkish brothers and sisters from a world of darkness into His marvelous light. God wiped away the darkness in which they once walked, that they remember it no more. It is always a moving experience to witness the faith, committment and love these dear folk have in Jesus.

Today we worshiped at the Turkish Church in Cologne. They are so spontaneous in their worship and praise, breaking out in passionate prayer between songs. Even though I could not understand their language, I felt their love for Jesus and their passion to share with others the love and peace that Jesus has brought into their own lives. They are very outwardly affectionate people...kissing on the cheek and hugging are second nature to them.

We have met people in the neighborhood, some of whom have an interest in the English classes, which commence tomorrow (actually, today...I see it's after midnight now). It is always a mystery as to whom and how many students will find their way to our door. But, God knows, so, no worries! The mystery always is a faith-builder!

Until later, with many blessings to you all,
Jan

Sunday happenings in Germany

We had a great time at the Turkish church in Cologne today-- got some good video also went to a very good turkish restaurant today-- we told them to bring one to the U.S. the turks are very warm to us, at the restaurant they gave us some free food and asked a lot of questions about English--- also others asking about life in the U.S. Also had a good discussion with Paul about their work. Things really crank up tomorrow with the start of classes---we had some good prep this morning. Thank you for your prayer!

Curt

An uneventful day

Oh, today was such an uneventful day..... NOT!

We started the day off with sharing and prayer, followed by classes preparation.

Soon enough, it was time to leave for the Turkish Church at Köln. I don't think I can comment much on the service itself except for the fact that it was conducted in German and Turkish, however, it was extremely touching for me to witness the love the people have for God. Despite not understanding a word that was being said during prayers, the wave of emotions the Turks feel when speaking to God were definitely felt by everyone present. At that moment, there is the realization that we all feel the same about our Lord and it washes me with emotions. Too bad we forgot the camera when we left Duisburg, sorry for not having pictures.

On a side note, thank you Memduh for translating the entire sermon for us, you are wonderful!
Photographs in today's post shows the street we were walking on earlier in the evening.

~Mei

Turkish Fellowship Day continued...

I've always been a little slower than everyone, so forgive me for blogging about the Turkish Fellowship a day after it happened.

Anyway, I have decided that I will be the person to upload photographs (it is an easier job than racking my brains trying to come up with intelligent sentences, hehe)


Here is a slideshow of the photographs from the Turkish Fellowship, hope you like it :)

~Mei

Turkish Fellowship Day

Today was really great! Many Turkish Christians gathered together here at the ministry center. They had a church service with singing and testimonies and sermons. There was a pot-luck lunch, followed by more church, followed by dessert and coffee/tea. I was very happy that lots of nice kids came. For the most part, they weren't in the church services. They just played. I met some very lovable little kids and had fun singing with them, learning about where they're from, playing frisbee, and picking up/twirling the littler ones. There was, of course, a lot of Turkish being spoken, but most adults and all the kids could speak German, so I did a little translating, too.

Yay! We're in Germany!

Hi everyone, we're in Germany!

Since a picture speaks a thousand words, I have decided to post a few of the many photographs we have taken since we took off from Madison!

Madison Regional Airport, look at our happy faces!

Curt queuing up to rent the car

Frankfurt International Airport - tired but still happy :)



1st lunch in Germany, Doner Kebab! It is absolutely delicious!




The team + Paul and Kathy enjoying our doner kebab

That's all for now, I have to rush off to the market with the ladies, I'll keep everyone posted on things. There is Turkish Fellowship going on today, so it should be fun!

~Mei

Countdown to Germany!

Woohoo, 4 days left to Germany! As we all prepare for the trip, we would like to invite　everyone who is reading this to join us in prayer.　

Dear Lord,
As we prepare ourselves mentally and physically for the trip to Germany, I pray that You　
would give us wisdom and creativity as we plan and implement our English Lessons.　I also pray that the love of Christ will so permeate our lives that the "fragrance of the knowledge　of Christ" will be evident to our students and all we meet (II Corinthians 2:14). We also pray Lord that our presence would be an encouragement and blessing to Paul and Kathy.
Amen.

On a side note, its Mother's Day! If you had ordered roses from us, thank you so much for the support and please remember to pick them up, the roses are absolutely gorgeous!
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Buffo's Floral for providing us with such beautiful roses at a discounted price.
~Mei

Successful Rose Sale

The Rose Sale event at Blackhawk churh was a success! Hitherto, we have orders for 168 roses, that is 144 up from the 24 roses on April 20th, way to go team!

Praise God for blessing us with such a great response in just one day. May He continute to bless our team so that we may work better to not only serve the community in Duisburg but to serve Him as well.

~Mei

The retreat was great

It was a fun and relaxed time this last Friday night and Saturday at Waubesa Camp near Madison. Learning about a foreign culture and worldview is always fun for me. I should thank my parents for building a home mixed with both northern and southern Chinese cultures and their models of assimilating into the local Taiwanese culture. Their hospitality has taught me to be open to outsiders and welcome them home.



We had a lot of time interacting with each other while we partook the meals together at the retreat, besides sharing our personal faith journeys with the group near a cozy fireplace. "Daily meals with family, friends, and guests, acts hospitality every one, are the most natural and frequent settings for working out the personal and social implications of salvation," writes Eugene Peterson. "It is virtually impossible to be detached and uninvolved when we are sharing a meal with someone." Peterson suggests that we "take the meal with as much gospel seriousness as we take our Scriptures," that we "take the kitchen to be as essential in the work of salvation as is the sanctuary. Meals are front-line strategies countering the inexorable deconstruction of hospitality that is running amuck in the Western world today."(1) When we talked about our personal salvation stories and shared meals, we were on the right track of getting to know each other on a deeper level.

In a few days in D city, I know we will be teaching conversational English to children and perhaps some adults but not sure how we would extend the hospitality to them in a more tangible and fun way. Maybe crafts, games or even a tea party would be nice things to do. Maybe we can also share our own stories of how we were and are encountering God's love. Stories are powerful; they form the tapestries of our lives. People get to know God through life stories of others.

Robin asked me in our last meal, "How did you use what you have learned in the seminary?" Well, I don't necessary quote Bible verses when I share my personal testimonies, but I always use my personal stories. Another thing is that I focus on people's needs first rather than tell them the gospel via tools like four spiritual laws. For instance, I started an "English Partner" program to connect Americans and international students one-one-one for conversational English one hour per week and monthly "Idioms in the Sermon" class to help internationals understand the sermon better at Blackhawk Church in Fall of 2007. Most of these international students and visiting scholars coming to Blackhawk and International Club are attending Sunday services. They get to hear the gospel truth in the sermons. We just feed them simple lunch, be their friends, and help them with their English. When their needs are met, they bring their friends to come and even advertise these English programs on campus for us. Word of mouth is very effective among students and immigrants. We do our part and the Holy Spirit does His part. We are doing the cultivating and planting. Someday we might see riping and we might not, but God will.

Teaching conversational English is a great way of cultivating relatships with Turkish and Bulgarian immigrants. I pray that the Lord will lead more students to come this Summer.

(1) Taken from a sermon by PBC's Pastor Scott Grant on Romans 12:3-13 preached on April 22, 2007.

~ Shere-Ling ~

Hey TEAM,

GREAT blog........ I will share it with other people so they can follow our trip to Germany with us. Thanks to Mei for designing it . She did a wonderful job.

The flower sale is going great. Thanks to all who have worked so hard on this. Let's pray for God's blessings on this fundraising event.

There is POWER in prayer. What if we set a time weekly to pray for our trip and all the many details involved in making this short term missions trip all that God would have it to be. Example: We could set Sunday night at 9:00 as our prayer time. We could all stop whatever we are doing at that time and spend some time praying. We could even invite others to join in this time of prayer from their own homes. What do you think?

Robin

Roses for sale!

In conjuction with Mother's Day, there will be a rose sale event at Blackhawk Church. Thank you Shere-Ling and Caitlin for contacting the florist and setting things up for the event.

The objective for this event - aside from raising funds for the Germany trip is also to provide an opportunity for people t o show their appreciation and affection for their loved ones.
The roses are priced at $5 and orders are being taken at Blackhawk Church every Sunday till May 4th. The roses will be available for pickup on May 11th. Let us pray for a successful event! ~ Mei (",)

Tweak(s) since the last post..

So I tweaked the blog a little since my last post. I posted the team photo up, changed the clock to a cuter one (hopefully people agree with me) and shrank the slide show a little as I thought the previous size was too big.

There isn't much on the website now, but at least it is set up. I will have more pictures on the slide show once I get the pictures. I am contemplating whether I should have some music for the blog, Curt mentioned something about Turkish music, how does that sound?

By the way, I have invited everyone on the team to be the author(s) of the blog, so please drop by and write a few words or at least provide some feedback regarding the blog. I am no computer whiz here, thus I apologize if the blog is not as amazing as expected.

Thank you Curt for posting on the blog, I am looking forward to the retreat and also speaking to the Baum's soon. ~Mei (^o^)

Thanks Mei for getting this blog started. Jan and I got to talk with the Baum's yesterday and that was a great conversation! They seem very excited about our coming and sounds like we will have a lot of things to do! We will hopefully have a chance to speak with them again on our retreat which will be on April 25 th and 26 th. I will post our team pic as soon as I find the camera cord?! Curt

As we prepare for our trip...

Preparations for the trip are well underway. After the meeting on Saturday, every team member is assigned a responsibility of some sort - fund raising, blog etc.

While Curt briefed us on ways we can conduct a lesson and Jan mother us with packing-lists and useful German terms, I begin to feel more and more excited about the trip to Germany. Things seem to be coming together and I truly thank God for blessing us with such a wonderful opportunity to not only serve but also to learn.

Furthermore, the retreat is coming up on the 25th of April, I am looking forward to a lot of useful tips from Dan on how to effectively teach conversational English! I pray that the retreat will not only prep us with the skills required but also bring us closer as a team, that we can shift our focus away from ourselves to our Heavenly Father and his plans for us.

On a side note, whenever I hear the word "retreat" , an image similar to the one above forms. However, I am pretty sure the retreat that is coming up will definitely be nothing like that - it is April in Madison after all. Hopefully we will get warmer days soon!

Mei