James 1:27- Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I know that I've been talking a lot about all of the fun things I've done since arriving in Austria, but I want you to know, that this is still my passion for these 16 months. We've had a lot of awesome opportunities to do and see really unique things. I went skiing in the Alps this past weekend, it was amazing. I watched people go to a fancy ball in their expensive dresses and tickets that cost them 17,000 euro. These have all been wonderful experiences and I will never forget them.

But...

I cannot wait to see why God really brought me here. I have been so hungry for more of Him and that has been my daily vision. I want to know Jesus more. Every day that goes by without me abiding in the one true vine, is a day completely wasted! God is so burdened for the people of Austria. He loves them dearly and is going to use my team to shine the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. While I'm waiting for our official ministry to start, I want to dive deeper into the Word and bask in the presence of Jesus. He's calling me deeper, and I want to be quick to respond.

Titus 2:11-14 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Nothing is free in Austria!

You need to use a public restroom? Sorry Charlie, that's 50 cents.

Wouldn't mind having a shopping cart at the grocery store? 50 cents.

Need a plastic shopping bag to carry home your groceries in? You have to buy those.

Needing a quick swig of water to quench your thirst? No water fountains here. You BUY water!

This week was our first week at language school. It has been awesome. I'm really enjoying learning German. Me and two other teammates have the afternoon class from 12-3. It is glorious to have a free morning. We are the only Americans in our class, which is also very nice. We share a classroom with 4 Turkish guys, 1 Romanian girl, 1 Thailand girl, and 1 girl from Singapore. We've been making good friends from the school and enjoying every minute of mumbling through sound effects that our mouths just weren't meant to make. This week should be fun as we plan on going into Vienna for some exciting events. Thursday night there is a famous ball going on in downtown Vienna. Although we are much too poor to attend the ball, it will still be fun to be out and about while all the fancy cars, dresses, and tuxes, go by. Friday we will be attending an Opera at one of the most famous Opera houses in all the world for only 3 Euros! Saturday, Lord willing, we will go skiing in the Alps!!

Pray I don't get injured. I haven't always been lucky when it comes to snow and fast speeds.

Ice cream is better in Austria

This weekend will be my 3 week anniversary of living in Austria. It's amazing how a length of time can seem so short and so long all at once. I've heard a lot of stories of what adjusting to a new culture looks like, and now I'm actually experiencing it for myself. I'm almost always tired. I feel like 24 hour days are completely different in Austria. They seem longer and shorter at the same time. I'm anxious to get a normal schedule starting Monday with language school.

This week we did a lot of small ministry related things. I feel as if I might’ve cleaned more this week than I have in my entire life. On Wednesday we went to a market in Vienna to hand out Christian literature to people. This market is full of internationals and once again the pattern continued of not meeting ANY Austrians. My partner Emily and I connected with two very interesting men in one of the shops. The one was an Indian man named Josef and the other a Nigerian named Emmanuel. We were amazed at how quickly they wanted to help us. They gave us the names of churches to visit, places to hang out, tips for getting adjusted, and they even gave us a phone number of some people who live two towns over. Their hospitality was incredible and really made me feel that much more passionate about seeing the people of Austria come to know Jesus!

Some Prayer Points:
That my team would feel refreshed physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Unity amongst the team

Clearer vision and purpose for why I’m here

Visas!

Don't forget to check out my photos!
http://photobucket.com/least_of_these