M-Trip Finale

As one parent described it to me, today was the spring break mission trip "finale" so to speak.  The morning service at Black Forest Christian Fellowship was a celebration of God's work around the world through six short-term mission teams of BFA staff and students.  How exciting to tell the church body about our time in Italy, as well as hear other teams share about what they did and learned in Belarus, Romania, Slovenia, Tanzania, and Central Asia!

With a limited amount of time to share about a week full of ministry and growth -- and lessons we've been processing since our return to Germany -- each team found it difficult to sum it all up in just a few minutes. I shared my personal connection with this church from when I participated in two short-term trips to Italy as a high school student.  Now, as a leader, I worked alongside several of the same Italians I'd met back in 2005 as teenagers.  It was really neat to see this come full-circle!  Two of the students also shared with the congregation about how the trip had personally impacted them -- the blessing of new relationships, the power of commitment to spiritual growth, and the importance of connection among believers.  Check out our team video, too!

Thank you again for your prayers for our trip!  Please pray with me that the Lord would continue to use the experiences of our week in Italy to challenge me personally, impact the lives of the BFA students, and encourage our Italian friends.

Gearing Up Again...

This break has been wonderful -- some relaxation, some time spent with friends, some traveling, some serving in another country.  God has taught me a lot about myself, Himself, and who I am in Him.  Somehow school has felt like a distant dream...

Reality check.  I sat in my classroom a bit dazed this afternoon.  With a bad headache and a long to-do list, I prepared myself for an afternoon of getting the classroom ready for "the home stretch."  With only about 30 more days of class, the end is definitely in sight.  Whether that is thrilling or terrifying, I haven't decided yet!

Believe it or not, a new student is joining my class tomorrow for the remainder of the year.  She has had a discouraging experience in German school this year, so she is transitioning now to BFA to get on track for learning in English.  There will be a lot of firsts for her tomorrow and in the coming weeks -- English instruction, new teachers, new friends, new routines.  I'm praying that her first day tomorrow will be a positive experience and that the other fourth graders will welcome her warmly.

Tomorrow won't be easy.  And not just because of all of the changes in my classroom.  During our spring break, a well-loved BFA staff member passed away.  Although I did not know her very well, Mari Ellen has been extremely influential in the lives of countless staff and students during her 20+ years of service here in Germany.  She was BFA's only school counselor this year and also worked in Member Care with my sending organization, TeachBeyond.  Tomorrow evening, the BFA community will join together to remember Mari Ellen in a memorial service.  Please pray for God's peace as many are processing and grieving this loss.

It's hard to believe that the school year is nearly finished.  Rather than count down the days, I pray that I would make the most of every opportunity.  May we live each day to the fullest, glorifying God with every breath!

Birthday Blessings!

I am so blessed by the community here at BFA, as well as connections with friends and family around the world!  This week I felt extra special as birthday cards arrived in the mailbox and my awesome roommates took me away for a few days to celebrate my 24th birthday.

My birthday seemed to sneak up on me this year.  Maybe it's because I was in Italy the previous week.  Maybe it's because this whole school year seems to have gone by at lightning speed.  Oh, maybe it's because I'm getting old?! :)  Nevertheless, I always enjoy celebrations, so I was thrilled to be able to have a bunch of friends over yesterday afternoon to celebrate my birthday with me.  We enjoyed tea and treats, played a few games, and had a homemade "photo booth" (pictures below).  Most of all, it was great to just reconnect and share conversations with dear friends.

Brittany and me

My mentor, Candy, and her beautiful daughters

Megan and me

It was also so special to hear from many of you via Facebook posts, cards in the mail, and encouraging e-mails.  Thanks for making my day special from across the miles!

During our Skype conversation yesterday, my mom read part of her journal entry from April 14, 1988.  When she flipped the page to April 15, today's date, she found something that she didn't remember at all: "I got a roommate this evening - a wonderful gal who's a missionary to Germany.  What a delight to share a room with a fellow believer!" Only God knew where I'd be 24 years later!  In Germany as a missionary.

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."  Psalm 16:6

Il Viaggio: M-Trip to Italy!

What a privilege it was to co-lead a team of 10 students on a BFA mission trip to Lago Patria, Italy, this past week.  While it's good to be back in my apartment in Germany, I'll undoubtedly miss counting heads and acting as team mom!  :)

For me personally, this trip was like a dream come true.  Some of the youth leaders now were the first members of the Jars youth group back in 2005 and 2006 when I came on a short-term trip with my home church.  It's really neat to see things come full circle since we are now leaders of the youth.  I absolutely love deepening relationships, and this trip was definitely one that helped me to reestablish connections with this wonderful community of believers in southern Italy.

Italy 2006 - we look so young!

 Italy 2012 - Fabrizio, Marica, me, Sara, Claudia, Vincenzo - reunion!

Last night, after goodbyes were said and Italian kisses given, our team met together for the last time in Italy.  We shared some highs and lows from the week and laughed a lot as Jon recapped some of the best quotes from the week.  Many of us commented on what an interesting mix of people we are, but how we have been unified this week.  We have laughed together, worked together, traveled together, grown together.  It was so encouraging to me to see how our team has bonded, despite our own cultural differences, and that the students so thoroughly enjoyed their time in Italy.  You can read more about our adventures on our team blog:  http://bfainitaly.blogspot.com.

Goodbyes and transitions can be difficult.  But in a way, that's a good thing.  That means that we've invested something in this week.  It means that we care, we've shared our hearts, we've connected.  Thank you for your prayers for our team.  Please pray that relationships continue among our team members, as well as with our new friends in southern Italy.  Most importantly, please pray that God receives glory as we share with friends and family about our trip!

Mini Sagas

My students are enjoying preparing short stories for a "Mini Saga" adventure story contest.  The stories must be 50 words or less -- quite a challenge for fourth graders!  Here are a few that my fourth graders have written.

“Hurry up, Fluff,” said Stephanie.  “We need to get out of here!”  Awaiting an answer, she heard nothing.  “Fluff?” she said in a trembling voice.  “Oh no, maybe he’s captured,” she nervously thought.  Still, only silence.  Stephanie looked everywhere.  Suddenly, something grabbed her.  It was Fluff!  He was already hiding!

-- J.R.

Willy was on a hunt for gold.  Exhausted from the long journey, Willy plopped onto the forest floor. There in front of him on the ground was a box just about the right size.  Could it be?  Yes, it was the treasure – not gold at all, but a puppy!

-- O.E.

Surge knew it was time to fight the Red Hawks and defeat Trigger.  Taking his best men, Surge advanced to assassinate their evil leader.  Although wounded at the gate, he kept going.  Bullets flew, men fell.  Only Surge remained.  As he swung the door open, Trigger was knocked down – dead!  

-- D.M.

Take Us to Africa!

Some of you may remember last year's Africa unit, which had some of my students organizing a bake sale for a home soccer game so that we could raise money for mosquito nets.  This activity of raising awareness and money had significant impact on the students in my class as they were able to participate in malaria prevention in an African country.

This year instead of raising money for mosquito nets, my students and I are supporting BFA's short term mission trip to Tanzania, which leaves at the end of this week.  The team of BFA high schoolers and staff will spend a week at a school there, so they are able to take school supplies, clothes, toys, and other donated items along with them.  My students easily filled this collection box to overflowing with things for the team to take!

We have also welcomed several guests into our class so far.  One of my students' parents are both Nigerian, so her mother was able to share with us about life growing up in Nigeria, as well as how to pray for Nigerians today.  Another woman from our BFA community is involved in school development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so she shared with the class about educational systems and daily life there.  We look forward to hearing from several other guests in the coming weeks who have served in different parents of Africa.

The students are working on independent research of countries now and will complete their good copies of the research essay after our spring break.  We are also discussing current issues (malaria, AIDs, etc.) in Africa and share current events from African countries every Friday afternoon.  It is exciting to see the students' eyes opened to what life is like in another place!

Spinning Plates

"Keep the plates spinning!"  Have you ever seen someone spin plates on poles and try to keep them going without crashing to the floor?  As I was driving to school one day last week, a similar picture came to my mind.  The plates were spinning around me as I nervously awaited a crash.  Then, as if God were quietly whispering to my heart, I was reminded of the importance of surrender and trust in His control.

When I found a spare moment later in the day, I quickly sketched a bunch of spinning plates above arms raised in surrender.  On each of the plates, I wrote one of the responsibilities that I have right now... everything from leading chapel band to caring for my car.  Needless to say, there is a lot demanding my time, thought, and emotional energy.

"Is your plate too full?"  We've all had at least one of those my-eyes-are-bigger-than-my-stomach moments where we loaded up our plates and then couldn't finish it all.  I wonder if sometimes -- okay, often! -- we do this in ministry.  We say "yes" a few too many times, pursue a few too many passions concurrently, feel obligated to please a few too many people.

But sometimes, we are just in a place where we are stretched to realize our limitations.  One person just can't keep so many plates spinning or balance plates that are so full!  At that point, I think God would say to us: "YES!  You got it!  No one can do it alone!"  Perhaps it takes a whole array of plates for us to realize our limitations and utter dependance on God.

So, I'm convicted.  I absolutely feel called to each of the spinning plates in my life right now, but I know that I'm not called to spin them myself.  The "relationship with Christ" plate ought to be my first priority, the one that informs how full I pile the others.

I was able to share these ideas with my small group this week, and they each made their own plate diagrams.  There's something about writing it all down -- and then relinquishing it to Christ, asking Him to use each plate to bring glory to Himself!

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  (Proverbs 19:21)

High School Retreat

A week ago, I was riding in a van full of people on the Autobahn heading towards Lenk, Switzerland, for the High School Retreat.  What a blast to spend 48 hours in the Alps with a couple hundred teenagers!

The first activity of the weekend involved creating silly skits with our small groups.  My small group girls do "silly" pretty well...  Here they are ready to perform in the skit as ninjas and cowgirls!

It was also refreshing to just enjoy God's beautiful creation -- sitting in front of this window for my morning devotions, catching glimpses of snow peaks during worship, breathing in the fresh mountain air.  I was so thankful for time away from the "normal routine" to rest, learn, and build relationships.

There were four main worship and teaching sessions over the course of the weekend.  The speaker and worship team, who were visiting from North Carolina, really challenged the students and staff to take our faith seriously.  One song, "Never Once," was a good reminder to me that God is our ever-present Provider: "Never once did we ever walk alone / Never once did You leave us on our own / You are faithful, God, You are faithful."  The sessions were about sin and repentance, pain and suffering, perfect love, and using our gifts.  The speaker did a great job of addressing these somewhat familiar and sometimes overemphasized topics in a fresh, challenging way.

Needless to say, there was a lot to process after each session.  We split into our small groups (the same groups that meet every Wednesday night) to talk about these topics more.  My sophomore girls and I spent that time journaling, sharing our what was on our hearts, and praying together.  It was special to have that time together -- all of us in the same place at the same time.  These beautiful young women are thirsty for more of Christ, and it is truly a joy to pour into their lives and grow alongside them!

One weekend wasn't enough to think about these big ideas!  So, we continued those retreat-related conversations at our small group time this past Wednesday night.  I put out four objects that represented the four sessions, and the girls could pick one of the items to start a discussion on that topic.
-- broken mug = our brokenness over sin
-- medicine = pain in our lives
-- candle = partial love now compared to perfect eternal love (an analogy the speaker used)
-- gift bag = gifts God has given us

Thank you for your continued prayers for my small group as we seek the Lord together!

Combined Chapel

On Friday, I took the fourth and fifth grade classes over to the main campus of BFA, where the middle schoolers were having a special chapel service.  (The high school students did not have school, so we could use their auditorium that afternoon.)  It was really neat to see the elementary and middle school students interacting and worshipping together.

In some ways, this combined chapel service was a picture of my two "worlds" colliding.  As many of you know, I'll be teaching at the middle school next year, so it was especially meaningful to see my previous students (the 5th graders), current students (the 4th graders), and future students (the 5th, 6th, and 7th graders) together in one place.  It was also rewarding for the elementary chapel band students to see what chapel worship is like in middle school.

"Savior, He can move the mountains.  My God is mighty to save!"

Talking About Relationships

This week six small groups of freshman and sophomore girls met together for a special relationship panel discussion.  In the weeks leading up to the event, we each asked our girls to write their questions about relationships -- everything from setting boundaries in relationships to being purposeful in a season of singleness.  We had four "panelists" in different stages of life, as well as giveaways, yummy treats, warm drinks, and great conversation.  What a wonderfully edifying time together!

Tables full to overflowing with delicious desserts!

I got to do the exciting giveaway portion of the evening --

two Ritter Sport chocolate packs, a glitter body lotion, and two books!

Some of the small group leaders and panelists

Sharing their wisdom with the girls

About 35 students gathered together for the event!

I was particularly encouraged by something one of the panelists said about trusting the Lord with each day: "Do you wake up each morning thinking that you're trusting in [Heather]?  Or do you say that you are trusting in the Lord for your strength?"  As I prepare to go on the high school retreat with my small group girls this weekend, I am relying heavily on the Lord for strength.  Please pray with me that this weekend away is encouraging and challenging for each of the girls in my small group as we sing praises, learn from the Word, and spend time together.