Hello, Statesiders (supporters, friends, family, Tuesday-p.c.-ers), from a (likely) German missions recruit!Thank you so much for your support this year... I've been so grateful, and will be contacting you soon by snail mail individually. Right now, though, I've been working so much on getting here that I didn't get done nearly what I thought I would before I left. I am always grateful to hear from you personally, and keep your personal notes on my bulletin board in my room. I've really been blessed with Christian friends who have wisdom and encouragement that they care to share! Be in prayer for all of us, as we are meeting with missionaries and potential missionaries in the European Kontaktmission team. As I'm here, I am realizing how vital it is that all of us come to understand each other and serve each other as one unit... as a missionary, I would not just be serving German nationals, but those who are working alongside me, and I personally pray for the wisdom to see and meet others' needs. I am still praying for wisdom in trying to find a place to serve in Germany, but I really, really feel excited to be here, like I've been homesick for it all my life and it's finally coming to fruition.Of course, there are three stages to the missionary life...
1. I LOVE THIS!!!
2. I HATE THIS!!!
3. "eh, this is life."
So, here is my first email, a full book because I'm incredibly excited and everything I do seems like a highlight, even exchanging dollars for Euros made with pretty colors and holograms.Feel free to browse or dive through. Mostly, I want you to have fun with it, and know that I am thinking of all of you behind me as I am here. I couldn't have done this without you all, and God has blessed methrough all of you.I was amazed, every flight was good and exactly on time, even through the rain, with hardly any turbulence.The train situation [crossing London between airports] was... "fun," but pretty easy... although once I had a flight of ... a hundred? ... stairs which was supposed to be an escalator and was broken down. A lady with two children kindly offered to help me carry the bag down the stairs, after being startled by the clunking coming down the escalator. Poor woman. I was glad, though. I really needed the help.I've never been in a subway system before, and a little girl that was on the other, working escalator, smiled at the awed American glancing down the escalator tunnel.
Almost everyone I met in London was excited to help me, service personnel there are apparently wonderful. The guy on the Heathrow train (Dad, I must confess that I disobeyed you... took the slow one because I had plenty of time) told me two different routes to take to my other city, ones that weren't on the city airport direction, and then the subway personnel had his own idea that meant less transfers. Less transfers, that is, unless you get carried away talking to other tourists visiting from Canada and miss your stop, forcing you to race up the stairs and across the subway at the next stop to get to the train on the same line going the opposite direction. oops. Everyone was pretty helpful, though. London must be a lovely city to live in.I haven't had much in the way of cross cultural witness opportunities on the way here... there was a Jewish guy (twenties, like me) who wanted to have a deep intellectual discussion about everything from here to the moon, but was friendly... not sure I had anything challenging to say but he was interested. More a confidence booster for me, because it was a good practice for telling people the gospel without overwhelming them.
I also got to have a conversation with a lovely old German grandmother before my flight out of London and found that my German is fairly workable. Yay. She was a strong Christian grandmother, and called God the love of her life as soon as I explained about how I felt God is leading me into his will in my life right now. She was very sweet and encouraging, I loved her at once. It was my first conversation in German where I didn't have English as a way out because she could not speak English. We talked until my plane was open for boarding... and of course I wasn't ABOUT to make the plane late to get to Germany.
So, I've been speaking in German to everyone that I can... some work with me in German and others in English. Some conversations are easier to understand than others. A more difficult case came today, when I was trying to explain in German to a woman that we needed help finding a non-oily shampoo for my roommate. I couldn't find "oil-filled" hair or anything like that... turns out they call it "fatty hair" because the oils are body oils. That's different.I'm very happy to be here, and ecstatic at any time that I feel rested... which, so far, has been three hours early this morning before I wiped out and took a nap at six thirty in the morning (German time). Sometimes I feel drunk and dizzy, either from jetlag fatigue or the joy of being here, but most of the time it is great. I was so tired coming in on the plane after six hours of sleep in the two nights, but it was all I could do to keep from screaming "Ich bin da!" (my Engleman version of, "I'm there!").
The early morning hours I spent after waking up today were awesome... My roommate Kelly and I spent the morning wandering in the woods and the town/village and it all looks as German as the picture books. It's not supposed to be a tourist trip, but I'm using lots of film throughout the lovely little town of Wustenrot.
Today is our last free day before we start visiting missions and meeting with other missions recruits from the US and Europe. Actually, we're also having a meeting in three hours with the director of Kontaktmission Europe, Dieter Trefz. Nice stout German name, yes? :)
Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I lookforward to hearing from all of you whenever email is available and I have time for things.I'm really here. I'll gush less as I get used to it.Love you all, God bless, and may we all have hearts to serve Him.
Liza/Elizabeth
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