So, The Crossing was on Saturday night and it was so much fun! There were a lot of people there including 8 kids from the English Camp I went too for outreach. It was so much fun to see them again. I was actually able to sit with my friend Sonja and her family. Before the whole program started, I asked Sonja if her boyfriend, who had come with her, was a christian. She said no and so throughout the program I prayed for him that God would speak to him through the message, songs, and Taylor's testimony. He seemed pretty quiet and when I asked Sonja what was wrong, she told me that he refused to talk to her because he was too tired. Then after the program was over, I asked her more about her relationship with her boyfriend and how long they were dating and stuff. She told me that they had been dating for 9 months, and the more she talked about her relationship the more I could relate to what she was going through. I prayed a lot before I really got into the conversation that God would give me the right words to say, and that He would speak through me. It was so awesome because the whole time I could tell that she totally understood me, and that God was really speaking through me and everything that I said struck her and made her think and realize things for herself, things I don't think she'd ever thought about. What was really neat was about 2 weeks ago I prayed and asked God for wisdom in answering people's questions, giving advice, and knowing the words to say. God totally proved to me the other night that if we ask, then we shall receive, and also showed me that He can use past experiences and situations for His glory. The whole time I was talking to her I could see the same guilt and pain coming through her eyes that I had too. I asked her about it and her response was, "How did you know?" It was amazing! I helped her with that as well. I told her that God loves her no matter what she's done, who she was, or what choices she's made in her life. I also told her that God uses everything for good and gave her the example of me helping her and she was said, "Wow, you're right!!!" It was so awesome! Also, God took away all the language barriers! She understood everything I was saying and I could see it in her eyes. She looked as if a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders. It was so exciting to see. Both of us were experiencing God at the same time and I thought that was pretty awesome! I can't even describe to you how cool it was! Then, after that, I talked to her mom for awhile and then we talked about the possibility of her coming and staying at my house for a few weeks in August! I thought that was so cool, then they invited me to go to their house whenever I want, and hang out with them as much as I want. I'm so glad that I can be a good friend to her and be able to help her with things she's going through. She told me that she was so thankful for me because I'm the first person she's able to talk too that actually understands how she's feeling right now. If ya'll wouldn't mind praying for her that would be great. She's not sure if she's supposed to be with him right now or not. Right now she's praying for a miracle that he will accept Jesus because she really loves him and wants to be with him, but doesn't want to marry a non christian. Just pray that God will help her make the right choice and that God would show her what she's supposed to do. She's really excited about the posibility about spending part of her summer with me, and her mom reminded her that her boyfriend will miss her while she's gone and she said, "Ah, no problem." I'm not sure what that means, but it could be the start to what God's trying to show her and tell her through all of this.
Also, if ya'll could be praying for me as well. I'm fine from bleeding out of my eye, my headache, dizziness, got my voice back, and my sore throat is healed, but I was up all night coughing for the past 3 nights and haven't been able to sleep well and then last night went on a walk with Rory, Nick, Scott, and Cole and had an asthma attack too. It was horrible. Anyway, I went to the doctor today and he said I have bronchitis. I'm so frustrated. I just want to be completely well and very soon! Thank you for keeping me in your prayers! I really appreciate it! I'm so thankful for all of you.
Love and miss ya'll!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
Monday, November 24, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Time for an Update?
Well, it's certainly been awhile since the last time I've posted a blog. Sorry about that everyone. I think I will probably make up for it with this one.
As some of you may have heard, on Wednesday morning I got out of the shower and was on the way to my room when I felt something wet on my face. I thought it was just water and then when I got to my room and looked in the mirror, I realized it was blood and it was coming out of my eye! I started panicking and washing my eye out with water and then I looked up, and felt like I was going to faint because I don't handle blood very well and it was all over me by that time, and then I was really grossed out from the fact that blood was coming out of my eye! I really didn't know how to handle it. Have any of you seen Casino Royale? Well, if so, remember the guy that cried blood when he was playing poker? Well that was like what happened to me but there was more blood and it was pouring out faster. Anyway, I so I got a nurse to look at it and she said everything was fine. I went about my day and started getting a painful headache, really dizzy, and my pupil was bigger than the other one. The nurse told me it was time to go to the hospital. Because I had bumped my head really hard a couple of days before and had a really bad headache for a couple days after and was a little dizzy, they were afraid that it could have been from that. When we got to the hospital, they ran a lot of tests, did a MRI, and took a blood test. They said I didn't have a concusion, and they told me everything else was fine as well. The next day, no blood came out of my eye but I had all the same symptoms plus I had a lot of pressure behind my eyes. I told the nurse and she said it would be a good idea to go see an eye doctor. When I went to the eye doctor, they did a whole bunch of tests as well and also said that nothing was wrong. It was pretty weird. Then when I got back from the doctor, I sat and talked with a couple of my friends the whole afternoon, and then took a test in lectures. When I walked out of lectures and opened my mouth to talk to people, I had lost my voice! It was so ridiculous! The next day I couldn't say anything at all, and that night I was able to squeak a little. This morning, I can almost talk normally, but my throat really hurts. Last night I had a cough attack and was up for most of the night with that. It was horrible! Luckily, I was able to sleep in this morning.
On a lighter note, tonight is "The Crossing," an event that the students (us) put on for guests from around town or people we meet on outreach. It's a really cool deal, they sing worship songs, they have a devotional message in German, and then after we'll get to talk to them and get to know them and pray with them if they want. Some of the boys I had in my group at English Camp are here already! They are a few hours early, but it's ok. Andrew, one of the guys I went on outreach with is taking them around the school and (can you believe it???) playing with them in the SNOW!!!!!!!!!! It will be a really cool night. Apparently, a lot of the German students who are attending school with me became christians at one of these events, and one of the girls from English camp who will be coming later on tonight, became a christian at one of the camp's Heinz (a staff member) taught at!!! If ya'll could just be praying over this event, praying for us that God would use us to minister to their hearts, and give us the words to say, and then also for the people that come that God would use this event to speak to their hearts! I would really appreciate it.
I guess that's pretty much all for now. I will try to keep this thing updated more often.
Love and miss ya'll!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
As some of you may have heard, on Wednesday morning I got out of the shower and was on the way to my room when I felt something wet on my face. I thought it was just water and then when I got to my room and looked in the mirror, I realized it was blood and it was coming out of my eye! I started panicking and washing my eye out with water and then I looked up, and felt like I was going to faint because I don't handle blood very well and it was all over me by that time, and then I was really grossed out from the fact that blood was coming out of my eye! I really didn't know how to handle it. Have any of you seen Casino Royale? Well, if so, remember the guy that cried blood when he was playing poker? Well that was like what happened to me but there was more blood and it was pouring out faster. Anyway, I so I got a nurse to look at it and she said everything was fine. I went about my day and started getting a painful headache, really dizzy, and my pupil was bigger than the other one. The nurse told me it was time to go to the hospital. Because I had bumped my head really hard a couple of days before and had a really bad headache for a couple days after and was a little dizzy, they were afraid that it could have been from that. When we got to the hospital, they ran a lot of tests, did a MRI, and took a blood test. They said I didn't have a concusion, and they told me everything else was fine as well. The next day, no blood came out of my eye but I had all the same symptoms plus I had a lot of pressure behind my eyes. I told the nurse and she said it would be a good idea to go see an eye doctor. When I went to the eye doctor, they did a whole bunch of tests as well and also said that nothing was wrong. It was pretty weird. Then when I got back from the doctor, I sat and talked with a couple of my friends the whole afternoon, and then took a test in lectures. When I walked out of lectures and opened my mouth to talk to people, I had lost my voice! It was so ridiculous! The next day I couldn't say anything at all, and that night I was able to squeak a little. This morning, I can almost talk normally, but my throat really hurts. Last night I had a cough attack and was up for most of the night with that. It was horrible! Luckily, I was able to sleep in this morning.
On a lighter note, tonight is "The Crossing," an event that the students (us) put on for guests from around town or people we meet on outreach. It's a really cool deal, they sing worship songs, they have a devotional message in German, and then after we'll get to talk to them and get to know them and pray with them if they want. Some of the boys I had in my group at English Camp are here already! They are a few hours early, but it's ok. Andrew, one of the guys I went on outreach with is taking them around the school and (can you believe it???) playing with them in the SNOW!!!!!!!!!! It will be a really cool night. Apparently, a lot of the German students who are attending school with me became christians at one of these events, and one of the girls from English camp who will be coming later on tonight, became a christian at one of the camp's Heinz (a staff member) taught at!!! If ya'll could just be praying over this event, praying for us that God would use us to minister to their hearts, and give us the words to say, and then also for the people that come that God would use this event to speak to their hearts! I would really appreciate it.
I guess that's pretty much all for now. I will try to keep this thing updated more often.
Love and miss ya'll!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Travel Weekend
For travel weekend, my friend Kristen and I went to visit my German relatives in Aalen a town near Ulm (still in Germany). It was totally awesome! The whole time we could see God working everything out smoothly. I'm not sure if ya'll have ever experienced traveling in Europe before in an area where they don't speak much English or not, but it's kinda difficult at times...hehe, especially when you're not used to it. Well, Kristen and I had planned everything out to a T, and everything was running smoothly until we didn't see my relatives waiting for us at the train station. Kristen and I both had to go to the bathroom pretty bad, but were afraid that if they weren't there yet, we didn't want to miss them when they got there...but if they didn't know do come pick us up, we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. We were praying, calling my relatives daugther who speaks a little bit more English than she does and couldn't figure out why she wasn't there. I couldn't get a hold of everyone and finally thought to call my mom! She speaks more German than I can and thought maybe if there was a confusion, she straighten things out. As I kept looking around wondering what I was going to do if they never showed up, I saw Irene walking toward me. She hugged me and told me that I was supposed to wait by the track and not leave the station...which I didn't really realized I did. Anyway, long story short, we went back to their house and she made us lunch. She's such a sweetheart! Kristen stayed upstairs in like our own little guest house with everything we could ever need! Irene and her friend Rolf showed us around many places. They took us to see 3 churches, a castle, and to Rothenburg which is one of the main tourist attractions in Germany. It was so great! They totally spoiled us with food, desserts, little gifts, and a whole lot of chocolate! I say we saw God working in our travel weekend because of the whole language barrier. They speak a little English and I speak barely any German. It was practically a miracle we got anywhere and did anything! :) They are so sweet though and very loving! They made us extremely great meals, and treated us like their grandchildren. We also got to spend some time with Irene's daughter, Barbara and her family. It was so awesome, we had a fondu dinner, I got to call my family and talk to them for almost an hour, watch a German gameshow, and eat candy! At the end of our stay, we were really nervous about making it to the train station and actually got on the train with a minute to spare! That right there was a God thing as well, because we didn't have enough money to buy a new ticket.
Love and miss you all!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
Love and miss you all!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
Sunday, November 2, 2008
All School Outreach
This last week, my whole school had outreach (which was why I haven't been on the computer for awhile...sorry). There were about four different groups that went different places and stayed there for a week. My group went to Friolsheim which is an English Camp near Stuttgart. It was a lot of fun! I, of course, right away bonded with a lot of the girls and just hung out and talked with them. They were the sweetest little things. The kids that were at the English Camp were aged from 14-18. I think the oldest we had this year though was 17. There were a lot of different kids there. Some group up in Christian homes, others were just there because their friends went, and some were just so rebellious and really didn't want to be there (but I could tell God wanted them for a reason and was going to do something in their lives that week). The guys that were there were extremely flirty and asking all of our Bodenseehof girl's ages. It was pretty weird. All the kids followed us around and took random pictures of us and always asked us questions about America, our school, and our families. It was soooo cute! Also, while we were there we had the chance to help out with different workshops. My workshop was baking and a group of kids would come and make cookies and totally have a blast! That was definitely a lot of fun!
Alright, I mentioned that there were some rebellious kids...well they were actually a group of "too cool for school kids" or "thug life" or as I liked to call them "European Gangsters." It was the funniest thing, they thought they were all thuggish and cool when really they didn't look "gangster" at all! They wore baggy sweatpants, black t-shirt, zip up European style sweatshirt, baseball cap (facing the right way), man bag, and a SCARF! lol...it was absolutely hilarious! The sad thing is, they would constantly sneek out of lectures and Bible studies to go smoke or drink in their rooms, randomly say cuss words (which by the way were never in the right order and never made sense anyway), listened to really bad music in English, and it was really sad....they were like 15 or 16 years old! One of the boys named Lars looked about 12, but was actually 15, snuck back in from smoking and walked right passed me hoping I wouldn't notice. I asked him if he had been smoking and he was like...."no way, man, NO" I asked him a few other times and he kept saying no. I told him he wasn't going to be able to lie to me because I knew what he'd been up too. Right at that second, the teacher walked by and commented on the room smelling like smoke. I told him it was Lars. At that time another guy who was older than Lars named Jonas came in and found out what was happening and gave me the death glare. I told him that there was no fooling me and that it wasn't my fault they got in trouble. Apparently, the guys also had a lot of trouble with them and had to constantly get on them about not getting to bed on time, being too loud, not yelling cuss words, and not playing their music too loud especially at night. Since we were the counselors, we were like their parents almost. We had to lay down the law with them. To a lot of them, we were the parents they never had. The cool thing is, our group always gave testimonies everyday and on the last day, my friend Christine gave her testimony about questioning her faith and making sure she believed because she knew it was true instead of believing because her parents believed. The head of the camp who did the Bible devotions or bible study each day had something planned to talk about and after Christine gave her testimony, he totally changed up his lesson and talked about testing their faith. It was so cool! I could tell that God had a message to give to everyone. During that devotion time, I saw Jonas and Lars paying close attention to everything he said and never once looked away! I was so amazed! I had really been praying for them a lot that week and will continue to pray for them. Even though the devotions were in German, I could still see God speaking through the teacher just looking around the room!
There was also a boy at the camp who was 16 and his name was Sam. He was actually in the English Class I was helping in. He told me that the only reason why he was at the camp was because he forgot to sign is name off the list. I think he was pretty much fluent in English because he was an exchange student in America for 10 months and really there was no reason for him to be there, but God certainly had a message and a plan for that boy and it was really cool to see also, how God was speaking to him as well!
Anyway, one night we had a comedy night and the first act was my friends Jake, Phil, and Jeremy. Jake rapped while Jeremy played the drums and Phil played the guitar and all the thugs thought it was the coolest thing in the world! They watched them as if they were thinking, "finally someone understands me!" It was sooo cute! Then we did a lot of fun skits, games, and other fun things and it was the talk of the week! All the kids really enjoyed it.
English classes were pretty fun. I helped out in the highest English Class which was made up of kids who had had the most English out of the whole camp. In each class there were about 6 "Bohoffers" (that's what the head of the camp called us) and in each class period we told a little about ourselves. When we used slang, the teacher would right the slang phrases and words up on the board and we had to explain what it meant. It was pretty hilarious! All the kids thought that was the funniest thing! In class, I met a sweet girl named Sonya who took to me like fresh baked bread and nutella. She introduced me to all her friends and invited me to sit at their table at meals. She was very open with me and discussed a lot of personal stuff with me. Also, when all her friends at the table were speaking in German, she would translate for me and would encourage her friends to do the same.
On the last day when we were getting in our vans to leave and go to the train station, my huge group of friends came up to me and asked if I could "make a picture with them." Of course, I did, and then they all gave me a couple more hugs each and stood on the curb and waved goodbye to me until they couldn't see the van anymore. It was the sweetest thing! Our trip was about 3 hours long we figured and we took 3 different trains. When we were getting off the second train, we were hardly warned that it was our stop, so we were all in a rush to get off the train. We all made it off except two guys...haha. It was one of those things where you knew it could happened but believed it wouldn't. Well, it did...and they were panicked, and I was standing on the side in shock with my mouth wide open and pointing at them as the train pulled out of the station! lol...it was bad. We left a German speaker who was used to traveling by train and two other guys behind hoping that if they got a train back to where we were, they would be able to find the little group of guys we left behind. They actually never did and they bought two more train tickets and took a train back home. Sam (the German speaker) and the two other guys were waiting there for 2 hours when they finally decided to take a train to place they would have been and asked if anyone had seen two Americans in the past couple of hours. To their surprise, they had and told them exactly where they had gone. Luckily, they caught up with them and they all made it home before lock up!!
If ya'll could just keep the kids that went to the English Camp in your prayers, that would be great! Also, if you could specifically pray for Jonas, Lars, and Sam, that would be great. God's really laid it on my heart to pray for those boys, and I really think God has some major plans for them!!!
I love and miss ya'll!! I hope all is well! If you have anything you'd like for me to pray about, just let me know!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
Alright, I mentioned that there were some rebellious kids...well they were actually a group of "too cool for school kids" or "thug life" or as I liked to call them "European Gangsters." It was the funniest thing, they thought they were all thuggish and cool when really they didn't look "gangster" at all! They wore baggy sweatpants, black t-shirt, zip up European style sweatshirt, baseball cap (facing the right way), man bag, and a SCARF! lol...it was absolutely hilarious! The sad thing is, they would constantly sneek out of lectures and Bible studies to go smoke or drink in their rooms, randomly say cuss words (which by the way were never in the right order and never made sense anyway), listened to really bad music in English, and it was really sad....they were like 15 or 16 years old! One of the boys named Lars looked about 12, but was actually 15, snuck back in from smoking and walked right passed me hoping I wouldn't notice. I asked him if he had been smoking and he was like...."no way, man, NO" I asked him a few other times and he kept saying no. I told him he wasn't going to be able to lie to me because I knew what he'd been up too. Right at that second, the teacher walked by and commented on the room smelling like smoke. I told him it was Lars. At that time another guy who was older than Lars named Jonas came in and found out what was happening and gave me the death glare. I told him that there was no fooling me and that it wasn't my fault they got in trouble. Apparently, the guys also had a lot of trouble with them and had to constantly get on them about not getting to bed on time, being too loud, not yelling cuss words, and not playing their music too loud especially at night. Since we were the counselors, we were like their parents almost. We had to lay down the law with them. To a lot of them, we were the parents they never had. The cool thing is, our group always gave testimonies everyday and on the last day, my friend Christine gave her testimony about questioning her faith and making sure she believed because she knew it was true instead of believing because her parents believed. The head of the camp who did the Bible devotions or bible study each day had something planned to talk about and after Christine gave her testimony, he totally changed up his lesson and talked about testing their faith. It was so cool! I could tell that God had a message to give to everyone. During that devotion time, I saw Jonas and Lars paying close attention to everything he said and never once looked away! I was so amazed! I had really been praying for them a lot that week and will continue to pray for them. Even though the devotions were in German, I could still see God speaking through the teacher just looking around the room!
There was also a boy at the camp who was 16 and his name was Sam. He was actually in the English Class I was helping in. He told me that the only reason why he was at the camp was because he forgot to sign is name off the list. I think he was pretty much fluent in English because he was an exchange student in America for 10 months and really there was no reason for him to be there, but God certainly had a message and a plan for that boy and it was really cool to see also, how God was speaking to him as well!
Anyway, one night we had a comedy night and the first act was my friends Jake, Phil, and Jeremy. Jake rapped while Jeremy played the drums and Phil played the guitar and all the thugs thought it was the coolest thing in the world! They watched them as if they were thinking, "finally someone understands me!" It was sooo cute! Then we did a lot of fun skits, games, and other fun things and it was the talk of the week! All the kids really enjoyed it.
English classes were pretty fun. I helped out in the highest English Class which was made up of kids who had had the most English out of the whole camp. In each class there were about 6 "Bohoffers" (that's what the head of the camp called us) and in each class period we told a little about ourselves. When we used slang, the teacher would right the slang phrases and words up on the board and we had to explain what it meant. It was pretty hilarious! All the kids thought that was the funniest thing! In class, I met a sweet girl named Sonya who took to me like fresh baked bread and nutella. She introduced me to all her friends and invited me to sit at their table at meals. She was very open with me and discussed a lot of personal stuff with me. Also, when all her friends at the table were speaking in German, she would translate for me and would encourage her friends to do the same.
On the last day when we were getting in our vans to leave and go to the train station, my huge group of friends came up to me and asked if I could "make a picture with them." Of course, I did, and then they all gave me a couple more hugs each and stood on the curb and waved goodbye to me until they couldn't see the van anymore. It was the sweetest thing! Our trip was about 3 hours long we figured and we took 3 different trains. When we were getting off the second train, we were hardly warned that it was our stop, so we were all in a rush to get off the train. We all made it off except two guys...haha. It was one of those things where you knew it could happened but believed it wouldn't. Well, it did...and they were panicked, and I was standing on the side in shock with my mouth wide open and pointing at them as the train pulled out of the station! lol...it was bad. We left a German speaker who was used to traveling by train and two other guys behind hoping that if they got a train back to where we were, they would be able to find the little group of guys we left behind. They actually never did and they bought two more train tickets and took a train back home. Sam (the German speaker) and the two other guys were waiting there for 2 hours when they finally decided to take a train to place they would have been and asked if anyone had seen two Americans in the past couple of hours. To their surprise, they had and told them exactly where they had gone. Luckily, they caught up with them and they all made it home before lock up!!
If ya'll could just keep the kids that went to the English Camp in your prayers, that would be great! Also, if you could specifically pray for Jonas, Lars, and Sam, that would be great. God's really laid it on my heart to pray for those boys, and I really think God has some major plans for them!!!
I love and miss ya'll!! I hope all is well! If you have anything you'd like for me to pray about, just let me know!
Love in Christ,
Jill<><
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