Austria!

Hey everyone! You all need a re-cap of what has happened since leaving Pennsylvania, so I will do my best to fill you in.

I left January 15th and headed to Minneapolis. It was so refreshing to be around old friends. They really encouraged me and were the right people for me to be around in my hours leading up to my big departure. It was very cold there, -20 at least!

I left Saturday January 17th at 7:45 and flew to Amsterdam with 3 of my teammates. The flight was long and we didn't get very much sleep. We arrived in Amsterdam and discovered that something went wrong with me and my one other teammates tickets. So, the other two went on to Vienna, while me and my friend Jake were stuck in Amsterdam. They felt really bad that they couldn't let me on the flight, so they gave me a new ticket and compensation of 250 euros and a calling card. The flight that they booked for us had a layover in Paris and then went to Vienna from there. I was definitely starting to feel some culture shock as the people and flight attendants on these flights didn't speak very much English. We arrived in Vienna safe and sound Sunday night and were greeted by all of our team except one, that showed up later that night.

So far this week we're mainly doing orientation. We've been learning a lot about what this internship will look like, meeting the other missionaries that are also here working with OM (Operation Mobilization, the organization whose base we're living on), and getting to know Vienna. The city is absolutely beautiful and I'm really looking forward to seeing more.

Some things that you can be in prayer about :

• My wallet was stolen the very first night out in Vienna. I had a lot of important things and cash in there. Pray that God will miraculously have it put into the right hands and eventually make it's way back to me.
• Jet lag! We all still have it and can't seem to make it any better!
• Logistics to figure out. There are a lot of details to cover with money and housing. Pray that we would be understanding and willing to take advice and guidance.
• The language! Pray that we learn German quickly and easily. We start language courses the second week of February. Until then, we could use some prayer for our stumbly conversations.

I'll fill you in more as things come. I have lots of pictures as well but haven't uploaded them yet. Until next time.....