Preisfeld Loop

We took a walk this afternoon after the students had left and our cleaning was done. There is a small town nearby that has several walking paths. We took one that takes you by 5 German soldier graves. That might seem depressing but the meadow does have a pretty view.

Tomorrow I'll be in the kitchen with Lorrie. The rest of the crew, including the maintenance team get to help guest services clean the student quarters.

My prayer partner gave me a sweet handmade card today with a chocolate bar from Czech Rep before she left.

Farewell Dinner

Tonight was the farewell dinner for the students. It was complete with a Thanksgiving dinner and candlelight. Dessert was a Haus tradition, oreo cookie ice-cream.

It's still hard to believe they take their final exams tomorrow morning. I was able to hear my prayer partner's testimony this morning at breakfast. She said that when she was a teenager she was trying to find a pain free way to commit suicide. She took an English class and the teacher was a Christian. She invited Barbara to an after school club and she went to it. It was the first time she felt accepted for who she was. It took her 3yrs of struggling with God, but she finally decided to give her life to Christ. I wish you could see her smile and hear her laugh. She is so cheerful and full of joy you wouldn't know that she had such a rough time. I'm so glad that she is here and that I've gotten to meet her. She is from Czech Rep and attends a seminary school there. She will soon be teaching children English and I know she'll make it fun for the kids.

Our honored guest, Wilford, came for breakfast this morning and again for dinner tonight.

Sent from Sandy's iPhone

Winding Down

The session is winding down for the students. Many of them had to read over 1,000 pages of material prior to coming, write papers, spend time in classroom instruction from 9am-6pm, some have presentations today and they all have their final exams Thursday. Then, the students will leave...so sad. We will miss them all.

We met one student from Poland who said he was so sad because starting Friday he'd have to go back to his normal food. However, he said if he ate like this everyday he would have a different problem. He currently has his own renovation business and plans to use that as a ministry to provide people work. In the past, he worked with teenagers through college age which he has now passed on to another.

Last night we had a campfire once all the clean-up was done. A few students came and an honored guest. There is a neighbor, Wilford, he has been Sunny & Robert's German teacher and friend for a long time. I think he's in his '80s. His wife is very ill, she's dying of cancer. He is not a believer but he came to our campfire last night. He's a very sweet and funny man. He's very sad because he lost his first wife to cancer about this same time of year and now his second wife who is only in her '60s now has cancer too. Some of the maintenance crew washed his car yesterday and some of Wilford's neighbors help do his laundry. He had also ate dinner with us last night too. Michelle got the privilege of hosting his table.

Auf Wiedersehen (Vee-der say-en) Good-bye

Sent from Sandy's iPhone

Fruit of the Spirit

As part of my daily duties I set up bananas for breakfast. They have a special banana room down in the basement. I also get to dry the bananas when they arrive along with washing the apples and oranges.

After breakfast I take 10 apples & 10 oranges to make a fruit platter for the students that goes out for their break time. They apparently don't get fruit or very much of it so they love the fruit.

Baden

We had worship service this morning. The Moldova and Romania students did the service. We can't post pictures of the students to protect their safety, but Jeff got a few we can show you when we get home. We also have some good ones of our prayer partners. The students sang some songs in English and some in Russian.

Then the Haus staff took us and the students to the town of Baden. We walked around the Rose Garden Park and town. Eis Peter was closed but we found some Eis in another cafe near the Mozart Park.

That's what I call banana bread!

Anniversary at the Stift

We were blown away that everyone had passed a card around to sign wishing us many more years of happy marriage. After our chores were done, a bunch if us went down to the Stift for desert and they treated us again.

Thank you for a very memorable anniversary. We will enjoy the cards for years to come.