Flevo 2011

This past weekend, AJ and I took 5 students to Flevo - a Christian music festival in Holland. When I was in high school, I went to a similar fest every summer - Sonshine in Wilmar, Minnesota. That fest was my first exposure to Christian bands and I remember it being a lot of fun. It was cool to take students to it, and give them an opportunity to listen to good music. We have 2 English radio stations here, and they mainly play all the latest songs in America - and to say they are not good would be an understatement... Lady Gaga, Rhiana, Kesha, Katie Perry... their songs such horrible sexual and relational messages and it pains me to know students are listening to their garbage. It was nice for our students to be exposed to Christian bands, with good lyrics for a change.

Our "in tents" campers : )

Our gals, getting ready for Tenth Avenue North

One of the stages on the beach... in the water (apparently being electrocuted wasn't a concern).

One of my favorite concert pictures, during RED.

The highlight of my weekend... we went to the Charlie Hall concert. Sadly, there was a popular Dutch band playing at the same time, so there weren't many people there. But - that worked well for us. We were about 5 feet from the stage and he hung out for awhile afterwards chatting and taking pictures. During the Marvelous Light song, AJ and I lifted our hands and spun around (like the songs says to) and Charlie started laughing at us. It was cool. : )

Gungor was my second favorite group. I'd never heard of them before. They are a cool sounding group out of Colorado. They were a mix of folky, bluegrassy at points, middle easternish sometimes, and just good, easy listening. I sat through 1 heavy metal screamo band with a student (oh the sacrifices of a youth worker!), Under Oath. Not sure I'm into that whole scene, but it's cool to see such a variety of Christian bands. Other cool bands: Tenth Avenue North, Good Weather Forecast, Starfield, Abandon and LZ27.

Brian Head Welch, a former Korn member performed as well. I'd never heard of him before, but AJ filled me in. As a Korn band member, he was an alcoholic and drug addict. He'd finally reached his end while touring, and decided to go to church and met the Lord. I had an opportunity to hear him share his testimony and it was powerful to hear how the Lord brought him out of such a horrible rock star lifestyle and is now using him for His glory.

The lake and countryside of the fest/camping grounds was gorgeous. We had ran the first day and half, but thankfully our last full day there the sun came out and it was great. The sunset's reflection on the water was beautiful!

I'm not sure how many campers there were, but there were 4 campground areas. There wasn't any "personal space." People pitched tents where ever they could.

Overall, it was a great weekend. We spent the mornings doing devos with students. We talked about Christian Culture (things like music, tattoos, drinking, clothing, schooling, dancing...). It was interesting to observe the Dutch Christian culture - many of the things Christians "don't do" (don't drink, smoke or chew... or go with girls who do), the Dutch have no problems with. They like to drink, a lot, and they smoke, a lot (which we witnessed in the evenings). Their dress is rather immodest. Their dancing and public displays of affection are questionable. It seems like the Dutch church exists with no Christian culture of their own.

We had some good conversations about how do we engage culture as Christians. Where do we draw lines on the types of music we listen to, the movies/shows we watch, whether it's okay for a legal adult to drink and if so how much, if tattoos are okay, if it's better to homeschool or attend a private Christian school or go to public school, etc. It was fun to dialogue with students on these topics, as they are decisions that they are currently faced with and will continue to face as they prepare for life after high school.

Thanks for praying for our weekend. It was great!!

Oh summer, where art thou?

Leaves are starting to change.

Pre-season football is underway!

Back to school shopping is in full swing.

Labor Day plans have been made.

These all tell me one thing - summer is quickly coming to an end, and fall is in the air... literally.

I realize many parts of the US have experienced horrible heat waves and droughts this summer. However, the "summer" I've experienced in Germany has left me less convinced of global climate change. While we've had a few nice, sunny, summery days; we've had many more stretches of windy, rainy, dreary days.

While I haven't had a spectacular summer weather wise, I have enjoyed an amazing season of ministry. In my last update, I shared about our mission trip to Hungary. In this update, I'd like to share with what's been going on since then...

SOS: Summer of Steve

Steve Harvell has been interning with us this summer, and he's been a huge blessing. He's getting ready to enter his senior year at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. Steve has been teaching through a Bible overview series (creation, fall, cross, now what, missions). It's been really great and our students seem to be resonating with the messages and asking deep questions.

Steve is a relational beast. All summer long, he has also organized ultimate frisbee afternoons. It's proved to be a great outreach event. We put an ad in the paper and posted flyers in the newcomers hotel on base, and it's worked. We've been able to meet a number of new teens this summer and have enjoyed getting to hang out with students.

VBS//Dodge Ball

My co-worker AJ and Steve helped lead music and games at VBS - they did great!! Many of our students volunteered and served the little kiddos throughout the week as well. It was a good opportunity for us to meet some new middle schoolers and invite them to youth group.

What can possibly make playing dodge ball and finger darts "funner"? Playing dodge ball and finger darts at a castle! (That's right, Germany's got castles all over the place) To cap off the VBS week, we had a night of fun games at a local castle ruin. We invited a few other youth groups in the area to join us, and praise the Lord, we had over 60 people come out! It was a great relational contact evening.

^ This is the Hohenecken Castle we played in... I took this picture from my new house (keep reading, I moved!) It's pretty awesome to have a castle view from your doorstep!!

Flevo

We're currently gearing up for one final event of the summer. This Thursday, AJ and I will take a group of students to Flevo, a Christian music festival in Holland - 4 days of concerts and camping (it's going to be in-tents!). We don't have any Christian radio stations here, so many of our students have very little exposure to Christian music. We're excited for them to hear some great bands. We're looking forward to spending some quality time with students before they head back to school.

Prayer Requests:

AJ and I are super excited for the upcoming year. We're excited about the growth in our group and the excitement there seems to be within students. Would you pray for us, as we think through how to reach teens with the Gospel and disciple students. This past week during youth group, I realized that 19 of the 43 students are new to our group. We're not sure where everyone is spiritually. Would you pray for us as get to know students and learn their needs.

I moved!! The gal I had been living with is an Air Force nurse, and she is separating from the military in the coming months. I now live with Heather, a fellow CSM missionary who ministers to students in the other school district in our area. She arrived on the field this past spring, and we've been on the look out for a place that would work for the two of us. The Lord's timing has been great. We found an awesome apartment in a great location and for a great price. We're slowly getting things pulled together and settling in. Pictures to come : )

Thanks team, for lifting me and the Ramstein community up before the Lord. It's been super encouraging to see the Lord grow our group and stir a sense of excitement in our students this summer.

For the Gospel,

Beth