A Friend's Encouragement

December 29, 2007

Since dropping my parents off Thursday at the airport, I have been quite sad. We all had such a wonderful time. I think, too, we were so busy each day traveling around, and now Nolan and I have nothing but down time. Time I should be using to grade essays, and I am little by little. I think what helped me today get over some of these blues, is talking to my friend Rabe'a, who is half German and has lived over here. Talking to her on the phone helped me really appreciate this experience...and what was so cool is she understood a lot of things I was saying about my experiences here. She was also very encouraging.....This particular phone call was needed today to help my blues.

Christmas Eve Service

December 24, 2007

Outside of helping out with the church plant Mosaic, Nolan and I also attend G-5, a German church (with English translation). Nolan was asked to play the guitar in the Christmas Eve service last night. He has been busy practicing for the past few days getting ready for this service. He and one of the singers were the only English speakers on stage....so he was truly having a culture experience! One of the things we pray for is opportunities to participate in the Germany community, and this is one way God has provided. I hope to get involved by teaching some ESL classes, and will working on that in the next couple of months.

Last night was amazing, and my parents enjoyed participating in a German church service....just another experience added to their trip here in Germany. God is good and faithful!

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2007

My parents have been here visiting since the 18th. We picked them up in Frankfurt and have been traveling all over Germany. Nolan and I have seen more of Germany in the past week than we have in the past 4 months, so it has been great for both my parents and Nolan and I! My dad had a chance to see his old army base where he was stationed in 1957. The wildest thing we figured out was it was almost 50 years to the date since he left the States for Germany....he left December 25, 1957. How wild is that?

We have also visited France and Switzerland...so my parents have been to 3 countries in one week. They have had a trip of a lifetime! They are grinning from ear to ear! I has been a nice treat having them here for the Christmas holidays. Merry Christmas and much love to all!

Christmas Concerts

December 16, 2007 The past week has been crazy with the Christmas concerts and exams. I still have many exams and essays to grade. Plus, we moved into a different apartment yesterday. We have been waiting for this IMB apartment to become available. For the past 4 months we were staying in a vacation home. I have to say, our new place is very comfortable, so we are excited....and we have a washer and internet service....back to civilization. The Christmas concerts were outstanding....Nolan did an awesome job, and everyone is so pleased with his work with the elementary and middle school students. It was so adorable to watch both choirs perform. Of course, Nolan had to add some of his style to the middle school performance, so he had a student beat box (a kind of rap)to "Angels We Have Heard on High." And the audience loved it! Here are some pics from the middle school concert. Elementary pics are coming soon....so standby :)

Hanging Out at the Dorm

December 10, 2007

So tonight Nolan and I are at the dorm hanging out with the girls. We usually go every other Monday night to help since the RA's typically have Monday nights off. I am usually busy baking for the girls. Because they had so many leftover treats from the Christmas party last night, they didn't need any baking for this week...so I get a night off and more time to hang with the girls. I am enjoying sitting here watching them in their evening routines. Some girls are on facebook, some are resting on the sofas, and some are busily studying for midterms this week. These girls are becoming precious to me and Nolan, and we look foward to our Monday nights here. They are amazing "young women" with so many talents....and more amazing is there love and devotion to God. I am always learning so much from them!

Fröhliches Weihnachten!

December 7, 2007

Yesterday was the beginning of the Christmas festivities in Germany. Every Thursday, Kandern, our little town, sets up a Christmas Market. Last night Nolan's elementary choir sang at the market. Also, an ensemble from the high school choir sang a few songs. After the performances, we just walked around and had Kinderpunsch and enjoyed the bonfires. Another culture experience in Germany! And it was so neat that Nolan's elementary choir got to sing and be a part of the festivities.

High School Memories

Nolan and I had a great weekend of fellowship and rest. But I think the funniest thing was getting a message from an old friend from high school on facebook. If you haven't joined facebook, you need to! It is a great way to connect with old and new friends.

Here is the picture of me in high school. How did I function with all that hair! This was a mission trip to California with FBC DeRidder youth group in 1991. It is amazing how God truly works in our lives. God was preparing me then, in high school, for this moment in my life. At the time, I would have never thought full time missions; however, God was placing the passion and desire and preparing me for the future.

Hang in There

November 27, 2007

It is that time of the year, and teachers and students are tired. There are a lot of tests given in all the classes, including my English class. But we will make it...that is what I keep telling the students. Push through, and then Christmas you get a big break. Keep the students in prayers the next couple of weeks as they wrap up the semester and get ready to go home and see their families. Some of the students have not seen their family since August, and they are so ready to get home.

Christmas Banquet

November 24, 2007

This past Saturday was Christmas Banquet. This is very formal banquet for the students to dress up and take dates. A nice meal and dessert were served and there was entertainment provided by, of course, the students. Nolan and I have been hearing about this banquet since we first got here. It is really the only time for students to really dress up in formal gowns and suits. I was able to put something nice together and go and enjoy the festivities. It was nice watching the students enjoy themselves, and the girls and boys looked so handsome and pretty. Some of the students are really creative with their attire...it would be too boring for some to just wear a normal suit and tie or formal gown. As you can see Nolan participated in some of the entertainment....some of the teachers did their own version of Jingle Bells where they changed the lyrics to describe the characteristics of BFA life. Here are pics from the night.

International Mission Board Thanksgiving

November 22, 2007

The dinner was fabulous....full of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes....turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and most importantly, pumpkin pie! After dinner, the students and some of the teachers (Nolan and I) went into the gym to throw some football and play some basketball. A nice way to celebrate Thanksgiving....especially when I was away from home. Here are some pics.

More Thanksgiving Dinner

November 22, 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

So I woke up with a little sadness because I am not in the USA celebrating Turkey Day with family and friends. But God is always faithful in providing comfort when I feel homesick. Tonight the International Mission Board (IMB) is having a Thanksgiving dinner for all IMB missionaries in town and IMB dorm students. Even though, technically we are not IMB yet, we were still invited to this dinner. IMB really wants to make this day feel like home for all of us missionaries away from home, away from family and friends. I am excited to hang out with the students and missionaries, especially those IMB missionaries I do not get to see very often because they are not involved with BFA. I will share pictures in the next couple of days.....and about the food we eat (yum!)

Thanksgiving Dinner at Blauen

November 15, 2007

To make students and staff feel more at home, each dorm has a Thanksgiving dinner, family style. Since we help out at Blauen (a girl's dorm), we were invited to partake in the wonderful dinner. Nolan and I prepared deviled eggs, which was a favorite among the students....I was completely surprised. We made 60 deviled eggs, and there were not any left by the end of the meal. We ate around a big table and then shared one thing we were thankful for this year. We ate all the traditional Thanksgiving food; turkey, stuffing [northern, not southern, style :( ,pumpkin and apple pie, cornbread dressing, and big plump rolls. Of course, we stuffed ourselves! Nolan and I had so much fun visiting with the girls and hearing their stories. Some of the girls have never spent Thanksgiving in the States, but always in their missionary country. However, their families always make a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lovely night eating and fellowshipping.

Mosaic Weekend Retreat

November 11-12, 2007

This was our weekend retreat with Mosaic, the church plant we are helping with outside of BFA. To get to know each other a little better, we headed to Adelboden, Switzerland for a retreat. We stayed at the Janz Team Mission Chalet, located in the mountains. Absolutely beautiful. This particular weekend, snow was in the forcast, and their first snow for the season...what a blessing! We just relaxed by playing cards, eating, watching a movie, more eating, and then more eating. Oh yeah, and a huge snowball fight, which was so much fun for this Louisiana girl! I can think of only 3 times in my life seeing this much snow.

There was a couple coming later that evening, so we had to shovel snow for them to be able to use the driveway. Another thing I have never done before. It was hilarious to watch all of us shoveling snow.....the irony of it is that all of us involved in Mosaic are from the south part of the world: Ghana, Africa; Australia, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. We have one German lady, Ilona, but she was a missionary in Indonesia for 13 years. God has a funny sense of humor, how we are come together in Germany to worship our Living God.

Before leaving Sunday, we had a intimate worship service sharing our hearts and vision for the church. A great time spent with new friends. Another way God blesses us! Oh yeah, we had to get one more snowball fight in before leaving.

More Pictures from Herbst Messe

Herbst Messe is still taking place in Basel, Switzerland. It is a 2 week festival, and students attend October 31 (written about earlier in the blog). Here are some more pictures from the night all the students went to the festival.

Spirit Day

November 8, 2007

Every so often, the Student Council at BFA will have a spirit day at the school. It could be any random day. So last Thursday, was claimed "Hat Day". Every one could wear any type of hat, including teachers. Since it is a school rule that hats are not allowed, students have fun with this day, because they could wear hats without any consequences. Of course, being that our students are quite creative, they wore all types of different hats. It was another fun day for the students and staff. The pictures are from my English classes. I forgot to take one of myself wearing a hat :)

Northern Ireland Friends

November 2, 2007

Nicola and Ian are two friends of ours from Northern Ireland, and they came for a visit to see us this weekend. They met us in Kandern yesterday, and we showed them around a little, and then had a late lunch at Funfshillings. By the way, Funfshillings was once a farmhouse and now turned into a fabulous restaurant, serving food fresh from the farm, and whatever is in season is what is on the menu.....so pumpkin is used for a lot of the dishes right now. The pumpkin soup is heavenly! I have never had anything like it before.

After lunch, we sponatanously decided to take them to Todtnau to ride the rodelbahn down the mountain. On the way, we caught up on different things going on in our lives. It was such a lovely time. Once we got there, we could tell they were closed for the day. They were just shutting it down, so I asked if they could please let us have one ride down...I explained to them we have friends visiting us from Northern Ireland, but that didn't work. Oh well, we found a quaint cafe and enjoyed more conversation over coffee and Black Forest Cake!

On the way back to Kandern, we stopped by Wittlengen dorm, so Nicola and Ian could see what dorm life was like. They got to meet some of my students and tour the dorm. Then we headed to the school to show them around...not knowing that it was Swing Dance night for the students. Of course we had to dance a few songs before heading back home. Nicola and Ian stayed until midnight. We shared old pictures from our former Northern Ireland trips. It was so nice to catch up with them. We found it humerous that Americans were showing Irish friends around in Germany. How wild is that!

Weeks like this remind us of how great God is and how faithful He is in providing in our lives. God is good!

All Saints Day

November 1, 2007

So this is a holiday around here. We didn't have school, and the town was completely shut down. Nolan and I were forced to stay in and relax. We caught up on sleep and reading, and just spending time together. We thought maybe some things in France would be open, but after driving to Carrfoure (France's version of Wal-Mart), we realized they were shut down too. Oh well, it was a beautiful drive anyway. So that evening, we discovered that the Roman baths in Badenweiler were open. 2 other couples and us spent the evening at these baths. It is basically indoor swimming pools with heated water. Other sections of this "spa" had saunas and massage rooms, but we only paid to swim in the pools. I found the warmest pool and stayed there, being that it was extremely cold this particular day. We stayed almost 3 hours, and we were like prunes. But our muscles were so relaxed and that we fell into bed that night and slept like babies. We will be doing that again! Maybe I will brave the outdoor pool, which is heated but still not so warm, and enjoy the outdoor scenery as I swim. It was just too cold for me!

BFA Tradition

October 31, 2007

Fall and Halloween are a big deal in Germany...or at least in this part of Germany. Wednesday after school students and staff loaded up in buses and headed down to Basel, Switzerland for HerbstMesse....translates literally to Fall Festival. This is a tradition for BFA, and I have been hearing about it all month. Once we are in Basel, they let the students loose in the city. All around the city they have rides, games, and concession stands set up. But the most popular activity for students and staff is going to Starbucks, being that this is the closest Starbucks for us, and it is a treat. I think all 300 BFA staff and students were at one of the 4 Starbucks that evening. But by 7:30, everyone heads to the bumper cars. Students go crazy riding the bumper cars...and staff too! I had to make a go of it, but was riding with a mother of one of my students. She is the one driving, and I was giving directions for her to bump all of my students who were out there, and of course the students were doing the same to me! It was a blast. For 2 hours students rode these bumper cars. I felt sorry for the Swiss because we basically took over this section of the festival. After an hour of watching, and dizzy with headache, Nolan and I headed back to Starbucks...couldn't get enough of "home". By chance, a whole group of BFA teachers were at the same Starbucks, and we all sat there visiting until 11:00 that night. These are good memories Nolan and I will forever remember about our time here at BFA.

Hiking and So Much More!

October 28, 2007

Well, it starts with Sunday October 28. Nolan and I had a lovely time fellowshipping with new friends at our morning church, G-5. Then that afternoon, we went for a hike right behind our house. These are pics from that hike. It is so beautiful with all the leaves changing colors. How could someone not believe there is a God when you see such beautiful creation....that God could only create. We have an awesome God!

Mosaic

October 26, 2007

The other ministry Nolan and I are involved in is Mosaic, a church plant in Lorrach, Germany and Basel, Switzerland. Nolan is leading worship and I help out wherever needed. It is a group of different missionaries from different organizations. We have loved being a part of this church plant. The main goal is the reach English speaking creative people in urban settings. There is a Mosaic in California, New York, and Zurich, Switzerland.

This past week a team of 6 from a church in Dallas, Texas came to help us out. They went into schools doind a Texas theme program. They also went to some art functions and tea gatherings to minister to the locals. It was refreshing to be around Americans....especially from the South, where I am from....it felt like home hearing their accents. One of the funnest things was a "Texas Night" we had for the community. It was fun watching Germans country line dancing! I think they had a blast!

Pray that Mosaic will reach more and more local Germans. Here is a website for the Mosaic church that meets in California.

http://www.mosaic.org/

Go USA Soccer!!!

USA soccer team clapping for us (BFA family)

Freddy Adu...one of the best players for the team

Last night just about the entire school attended the USA soccer
and Switzerland game in Basel. We took up a whole section of the stands. And we held up to the American reputation of being loud and crazy! Some of the students were dressed from head to toe in red, white, and blue. Some of the students even brought their drums. We cheered for the USA until our voices were gone. In the last 5 minutes, the score was 0-0, but USA scored one goal....helping us to win the game! Here are some pics of the game. The USA team came to our side and clapped for us...in recognition of our cheering and support for them.

Nolan is Sick

October 18, 2007

Nolan woke up this morning with some kind of stomach bug. This is the 3rd time in the past 6 months Nolan has come down with some kind of stomach bug (or something food related). I am beginning to wonder whether Nolan has a sensitive stomach and should be careful of things he eats....or is it just a bug he keeps catching from others. Who knows? But pray that he feels better. Tomorrow the elementary kids are singing for high school chapel, and Nolan is the one directing the kids. The weekend ahead also has music events where Nolan is helping out.

Much love to everyone!

Nolan and Patti

Higher Ground, German Youth Worship Service

Youth setting up for Higher Ground Youth Service

Nolan with the band playing for Higher Ground Youth Service

Above pictures are from the youth service Nolan helped out with last Sunday....in a local German speaking church. It was fun to see a German youth group interacting with each other. The German church has these youth worship services once a month. The pastor teaches a Bible lesson to the students, but the students put the whole program together. They had drama, dance, and music. Nolan is helping out with the worship band, which consists of Germans and Americans. Of course the service was in German, so we were completely lost at times. Some of our friends translated when they could. It was a meaningful German culture experience.

Honeymoon is over

October 15, 2007

They say after the first two months, you will begin feeling the weight of being away from home and in a different culture. We have been feeling this way for the past couple of weeks. I think students are feeling this too. We will get through this time....I know. I also know that my God is good and He gives me strength.

Knowing that Nolan and I were tired and a little homesick, God took care of us. This past weekend was wonderful...and relaxing. We had dinner with our German neighbors, and it was good fellowship...a neat German cultural experience. Then Sunday we attended a German church and really connected with some of the church members. Sunday evening Nolan helped lead worship for a youth service at a German church in town. It is completely in German, so we had a little trouble understanding, but it was neat to see the youth worshiping together. Of course, Nolan only played the guitar, being that most songs were in German :) Good times this weekend....God is good and faithful.

Sadness = Prayer

October 11, 2007

The past 2 days have been tough. A friend back home lost her mother. Her mother was shot by a 14 year old who wanted cigarettes. That is hard to swallow. Also, our brother-in-law is sick and doctors are not sure what it is and how to cure it. I want to go home and be near all my loved ones. I want to get on a plane and go home for a few days, but I know I can't. I know this how my students feel. Sometimes they want to go home to be their families, but know they have to stay here at school. These are some hard lessons to deal with while being here. I know prayer is the only answer.

Middle School Chapel and Lock-In

Middle School lock-in

Friday Chapel service

Friday was all about the middle school students because the juniors and seniors were on their trips. Since Nolan is the middle school chapel band leader and teaches M.S. choir, they asked him to help the students lead worship during Friday's chapel service. It was so neat to watch these 6-8th grade students lead worship. You could tell that the students and Nolan were having fun. I hope they have more opportunities to do more leading.

More Pictures of BFA and Surrounding Area

Nolan and I at Interlaken, Switzerland

Ivan and Deloris, dorm parents at Blauen, where we help out Monday nights

Nolan playing games with the kids in the gym

Nolan and I at opening cermony

Normandy and Rome bound

October 4, 2007

Seniors leave tonight for Rome Italy. Every year, seniors take this trip and it is their big one for the year. The school will seem quiet without the seniors around. The juniors leave tomorrow for a trip to Normandy, so tomorrow will be super quiet. Nolan and I will have some down time tomorrow....hopefully we will get a lot of things done.

Things are going well. Continue to pray for us as we settle here. Sometimes it is still hard to figure out the finances and way things are done here....but we are slowly getting it :)

Thank you all again for the love and support!

German Lessons

October 2, 2007

The German language is difficult to learn. I began taking lessons from the German teacher here at BFA. I am in 3rd period with some of my own 11th grade English students. The back corner is full of adults who are in the same boat as the students. The teacher holds the adults in the class accountable for quizzes and tests.

The problem for me is I began the class 3 weeks late, so I am behind. I sat for 2 hours last night trying to do my German homework...I had a headache and was frustrated by the end. I refuse to give up and will plow through. I am determined to learn something :=)

More Football and Student Activities Lie Ahead

September 29, 2007

So our German friend loves American Football, and we were invited again to watch a game with him and his family this weekend. We are excited! But he is a South Carolina fan, so that is what we will be watching. Football is a symbol for the fall season, and it just wouldn't be fall without watching games.

Today we are watching the girl's volleyball games at the school. It is a blast to see my students out there hustling it. They are good!

Last night we went to a Palmgarten dorm open house. I was expecting something low key where we just hang out with students and staff. But it was more than that! The theme was Hard Rock Cafe, and all dorm students came dressed as musicians. The dorm itself was decked out like a Hard Rock Cafe. They even served Hard Rock Cafe style food. I have never seen such creativity! The dorm was packed with just about everyone from the school. I can't wait to see the next dorm open house. Here is a link to Palmgarten dorm, so you get an idea of what it is like.

http://www.bfacademy.com/palm.asp

Tests, Progress Reports, and All that Good Stuff

September 26, 2007

We are half way through the term and progress reports went out yesterday. For the most part my students have good grades. Today, I am giving their first 35-minute timed writing in preparation for the SAT...which is buzz word for them these days. Junior year is an important year! As I write this blog, they are writing on the given topic. I watch them shake their heads and hands as they write....heads and hands hearting from the writing :)

Tomorrow is their first big unit test on Puritan Literature. It will interesting to see how they do on such a test. Answered prayer....I have a TA (teaching assistant) to grade papers. 12th graders have so many service hours to complete in a year, and one task is they can be a TA and help with grading, making copies....all those tedious things teachers have to do. I am excited about my TA and she lives at the dorm where I help out on Monday nights......another plus! God is good!

Nolan and Patti