Outreach to Iraq

Well everyone, I have some very exciting news! I have been given the awesome opportunity of being able to go to Iraq for a week for outreach this semester. AS it stands right now, I have almost all the money I need to go, but I am sure that the Lord will take care of the rest of the funds!

We are still in the middle of planning everything, and I am sure some things will change. Currently, we are a team of 6 people. Our leader is Wolfgang Jung, who is a teacher at the school, and was previously a missionary for twenty years in the Philippines, and has been to Turkey before. We are planning to fly into Turkey and travel the rest of the way by bus into Northern Iraq. We are meeting up with a ministry who provides heart surgeries for childen who need them but can't afford them. It is based out of Jerusalem. We will be visiting these families and checking up on the children who have already recovered. It is a Christian organization, but we are not sure how open we can be about Jesus, so we will see how much evangelism we can do. This means we will be traveling through many cities and visiting many families. They say there are more families than we can visit, so I am sure we will be quite busy.

So, that is the short version. Our team will be meeting regularly to pray and to research the culture and everything necessary to have a smooth trip. We would really appreciate your prayers.

Some things to focus on...
-Travel safety and smooth transitions over the borders.
-Finances for the entire team
-Unity as a team
-Pray we would have a passion for the people and a deep love for them
-For wisdom and cultural sensitivity

I will keep you posted on things to come!

Hallo Deutschland!

Gutentag!

I am back here in Siegen, safe and sound. The semester is off to a busy start! I've already been settled in and had a week's worth of classes. I ended up in the same room as last semester, all the way up in the Attic on the 4th floor. There are less students this semester, so it feels a bit quiet, but we have been having a lot of fun getting to know each other and hanging out in our free time.

Last Saturday we went to Eisenach to the castle that Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German before the time of the Reformation. It was surreal, like walking into a bit of history. It only took him 10 weeks to translate the 27 books of the New Testament. Before we went, we all watched the movie about him, and I think I would've been his sidekick if I could've. It was pretty incredible.

So this semester I am stoked about my classes. They seem to fit nicely together. I am taking...

Church History with David Guzik
Daniel with Conor Berry
Womens' Discipleship with Hannah Berry and Inga-Lil Guzik
Nehemiah with Daniel Ganzler
Acts with Jeremy Kirby
Inductive Bible Study with Jeremy Kirby
(and I will be sitting in on the German class, to practice the language)

I am so blessed to be here and to have the opportunity to study the Bible. I am learning so much and I can see already how this will benefit my future.