Globetrottering

After our adventure to Bosnia we finished up our final week of German class. Many different emotions come up when thinking about the new season that is coming now that we've completed our course. Unsatisfaction of my progress, happy to move on to ministry, excited to learn more on my own, and just plain tired of "school," are some of the varrying emotions, to name a few. We'll see what God has in store for this transition. I'm giving it to Him.

Friday we celebrated the birthday of my teammate Jacob Paurus. The festivities were chosen by the birthday boy himself as the rest of us complied and joined in the fun. We left in the morning on a train to Bratislava, Slovakia with bikes and grins to accompany us. The weather was amazing and the city quite lovely. We cruised around, laid in the sun, checked out a castle, tested the cuisine and had lots of fun. I found out from a bag-pipe-playing Polish street performer that you can ride first class on the train if it's your birthday. We asked the conductor and he graciously allowed all of us to savor the glories of riding first class. We weren't exactly the classiest bunch, but we enjoyed every moment.

Tomorrow (Monday) morning our team will be heading off to different countries for a week. Four people will be going to Poland along with our supervisors to do some AIDS awareness conferences with the Polish youth. The other three on my team, including myself, will be trekking off to Slovakia to help out with some missionaries who work with the Roma Gypsies there. We will be doing a lot of practical work to bless them in any and every way they may need. I do know we're going to get to have tea with some of the Gypsy women on the first day. Please pray for me, that I would have Jesus as my vision during this trip, that I would work unto God and not unto men, and that I would be overflowing with thanksgiving.