First of all... let's talk food.
Apfel Schorle- yummmmm. Apple juice mixed with sparkling water. I usually hate apple juice- but this... this is something totally different. We shared this on our train ride from Zurich, Switzerland (where we flew into) up to Germany. Along with the Schorle we also ate our all time favorite food...
oh yes, Döner Kebab. It's somewhat like a Greek Gyro but ohhh so much better! It was invented by Turkish people living in Berlin. Unlike a Gyro, which is made with lamb, a Döner is made with turkey (at least, that what I've heard). It had been way too long since our last Döner- almost a year! Anyway- just one more food blurb.
We arrived Saturday and spent most of that day setting up for the conference that was to be held the following day. This Kontaktmission conference is an annual gathering of Kontaktmission missionaries and local supporters. The missionaries set up booths all around the conference center and supporters get to see how God is using Kontaktmission workers all over the world while also getting to hear great speakers talk about the growth of, mission of, and opportunities for Kontaktmission and it's workers. It's an exhausting day, but so encouraging and exciting to be a part of. And thankfully, there are headphones available with English translations for those of us who are not quite comfortable enough in our German skills to listen to speakers for 6 hours straight...emmmm yeah, I used those headphones a lot that week.... :-)
I was walking around looking at the different booths and I saw some familiar faces on some of the Kontaktmission flyers!!! :-) We're pretty much famous.
We're on the flyers that promote the summer short term mission trips that Kontaktmission puts together. Which is really exciting actually, because the first mission trip that Ryan and I went on together was on one of these same summer trips to Germany, Belgium and Austria back in 2007. And then last year we got to lead our very own Kontakmission short term summer trip to those same places! :-) We brought back some of the flyers to show some of our friends at our table during the conference.... but some of them got a bit jealous....
After the conference ended, some of us Americans took a little drive to the nearest big city of Stuttgart to have a bit on an adventure and bite to eat. It was great to catch of with these old friends of ours and hear stories about what they're doing for the Kingdom all around the world! After our little adventure, we headed to the retreat center where we would be spending the rest of our week. This retreat part of the week was solely meant for Kontakmission workers to spend time together in lots of prayer and worship, as well as hearing from each other and amazing speakers. We were in the same retreat center as last year and actually, Ryan and I very randomly got assigned the exact room that we had last year! crazy!
Ryan played all week for the little worship band. There was so much great music and talents shared! Wonderful times of worship and prayer were had everyday- it was all so very refreshing and encouraging.
We did get to have a very important meeting with the directors of both Kontaktmission and Kontaktmission USA about the direction of our future on the mission field! We have a couple of really awesome announcements actually.... so stay tuned! I'm hoping to have the first bit of news posted later this week! Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words! We had a great time in Germany, and are so thankful that we were able to be a part of this year's activities again!
-R&E
