February

Dear Key Club,

Hello team! I realized today that it's February 1st. I was thinking it was still January, since I'm still tuned into football - I guess I'm not used to the Packers playing football in February : ) Super Bowl game time is 1:00 am here in Germany, looks like I'll be staying up late!

I had a good January. I've started doing a little more teaching during youth group. We did a few outreach events - bowling, castle games and a gym morning. I'm continuing to meet more students. My co-worker and I have started visiting the school lunchroom on Mondays. It's fun to see our students in their world and meet some of their friends who don't come to youth group.

February 18-21 is ESCAPE! Our theme is "Escape with the Dawn Treader." We'll be talking about living with a bigger picture in mind - not just living for the here and now, but with an eternal perspective. What is Escape? It's a 4 day retreat with 250 of our closest friends... we'll have large group "chapel-like" meetings with skits, music and a teaching time, experiential learning activities to reinforce the chapel message, and small group discussions so students can process what they're learning. We'll also build community and shared fun experiences through team competitions, late night crazy games, and free time activities like dodge ball, crafts, swimming and ice skating. We are taking 24 students from our community, along with 5 adult staff. This will be my first retreat with our junior highers, so I'm really looking forward to getting to know our girls better.

Would you pray for...

- Safe travel and good weather (last year snow storms caused some major delays for the retreat)

- Community building - that God would knit our group closer together and that we'd be a joy and encouragement to each other

- For the hearts of students - that God would speak profoundly to them through the messages and activities.

The middle school girl's Bible study I've been co-leading with a volunteer staff is going well. We just finished studying Esther and are moving onto Elisabeth Elliot - a wonderful Godly woman who took huge risks (like Esther), by sharing the love of Christ with an unreached tribe in Ecuador. We've had some good conversations about taking risks and looking for ways we can step out boldly in our faith. I hope Elisabeth Elliot's story inspires them to risk and be bold for the sake of the Gospel. Praise point - our group is growing, 2 new 7th graders started coming to Bible study this past month!

The high school girl's Bible study that I was hoping to begin leading this month hasn't fully kicked off yet. I feel that our high schoolers are just flat out busy. Busy with school, sports, work, friends, family, traveling Europe... there doesn't seem to be extra room for things not already in their schedules. The time that I had intended to meet seems to be a bad night to connect with girls, so this week I'm reevaluating the day/time. While attending church and youth group is important, I do think spending time in smaller groups with other gals is crucial to spiritual formation and relational growth. Would you pray for me as I consider the best way to reach out to our high school gals and try to plug in with them outside of our larger weekly youth groups and chapel.

Coming Up:

March 3-5 is our high school growth level retreat called SEMP: Students Equipped to Minister to their Peers. We'll take about a dozen students, who are committed to growing in their faith and wanting to go deeper and reach out to their peers. Would you be praying for the students who are considering coming on the retreat?

April 8-15 is our high school spring break retreat (similar to Escape). We'll start advertising and encouraging students to sign up in the coming weeks. Would you begin praying now that God would draw students on this retreat? This is an outreach retreat, and we hope to draw in students who don't typically come to youth group or chapel.

THANKS team for your support! It's fun to see God at work in the lives of military teens and their families. Your prayer support is so crucial to our ministry here, so thank you for faithfully praying.

Blessings,

Beth

January Happenings

Dear Key Club,

Hello and Happy New Years! Hope this finds you all doing well!

I'm feeling really settled, now that I have a car, cell phone and apartment. Over the Christmas break I moved into a longer-term housing arrangement - which I'm very excited about!! An Air Force nurse stationed here, heard I was looking for a roommate, and invited me to live with her. I feel very blessed to have a wonderful Godly gal to live with, as I think the fellowship will be really encouraging.

Now that I'm feeling more settled on the life front, ministry life is picking up!

Beginning next week, I'll start leading Bible studies for middle school and high school girls. I'll be taking a look at a number of women in the Bible with the middle school girls and talking about what it means to be a Godly gal. In the high school group, we'll be reading through the book "The Case for Christ" and talking about Christian theology and apologetics. I'm really looking forward to the groups and diving in with the girls.

We're entering into our retreat season. In mid-February we'll take middle schoolers to a retreat called Escape and in April we'll take high schoolers to Italy for a Spring Break camp. Both camps are outreach focused, where the Gospel will be presented in relevant ways for teenagers. Students who already have a relationship with Jesus, will be encouraged to go deeper in their walks with Christ in tangible ways.

In the coming weeks/months, we've planned some fun events in hopes of meeting unchurched students who we can invite to the retreats. This week our youth groups are meeting at the bowling alley. We'll also do a night of castle games and an afternoon photo scavenger hunts.

Sign ups are already underway for Escape and will continue for another week, would you pray that God would draw middle schoolers to the retreat and that He'd be preparing their hearts for the teaching times during the long weekend.

Would you join me in praying...
- For our regular students to boldly reach out to their friends and peers at school and invite them to youth group, Bible study and the camps.
- For the students in the Ramstein community who don't know the Lord and aren't plugged into youth group, Bible studies, or chapel. Pray that the Lord would draw them to Himself and open their hearts to hear His voice.
- For the girls Bible studies starting up next week.

Thank you so much for your faithful support and encouragement!

Beth

Merry Christmas!

I hope you had a great Christmas season. I got my Christmas newsletter out earlier this month (if you didn't receive let me know and I can e-mail it to you), but I realized today that I hadn't updated the blog lately, so here we go...

We had a fun night at youth group 2 weeks ago. Many of our students were traveling for the break, but for those of us who were around, we had a great time. We started the evening off with a sharing time for a few college students here visiting their families during their Christmas breaks. We then said good bye to Noel (the gal bellow in yellow). She's moving to Whiteman AFB in Missouri this upcoming week. After that we read the Christmas story together and spent time talking about it. We talked about how God came to be with us, and how amazing it was that He became flesh and made His dwelling among us. It's so cool that we have a God who desires relationships with us and enters into our world and pursues us. We then moved into a fellowship time where we enjoyed being with one another and enjoying the relationships God has blessed us with here.

Here's a few pictures from the night...

^Playing a card came called "Hi Jack" - sounded and looked fun, I need to learn how to play.

^Playing Ninja - my 2nd favorite youth group game (behind Bop Bop Bitty Bitty Bop Bop, of course)

^Melana having fun with finger darts.

^ Me with Moriah and Mehgan... hanging out a movie night @ the Johnson's a few weeks ago. We watched Mystery Science Theater, attack of the giant spider - it was filmed in Lincoln and Langlade counties in Wisconsin, and actually mentioned Gleason (the small, small, small town, my mom grew up near) and had many Packer mentions as well.

*****

Christmas Eve services were cancelled due to a mix of snow and sleet, making the roads icy. Thankfully by Christmas day, the roads had cleared and travel was safe. I spent the day at the Hospitality House. Other singles and unaccompanied people (those whose spouses are in the states or deployed), gathered in the morning for breakfast and presents. Some folks brought presents their families and friends mailed them from home to open with our group. Another Cadence gal contacted her supporters in the states and asked them to “adopt” a single, and buy them a few presents to bless them and make them feel loved and remembered on Christmas morning. I enjoyed watching people receive their unexpected presents and seeing how special it made them feel. I even received a few - including Starbucks coffee beans and an Amazon gift card! : )

^Before brunch and presents, Bailey isn't so sure about all the madness.

^After brunch and presents, we're a happy group!

Praise the Lord, I got my ID on Friday morning!! I'm sooooo thankful! As I've shared in the past, an ID card is needed for everything in the military world. Thank you so much for praying for me as I navigated the new system and waited for the process to run its course.

With ID card in hand, life picked up pretty quickly! This upcoming week I'll be able to take my driver's license test on Thursday morning (please pray, as there are a lot of different driving rules here and the test is very detailed and includes a lot of information). I will then be able to register the car I purchased (I got a good deal on what I think will be a nice, reliable vehicle - a 2001 Ford Focus, similar to the car I left in WI), I will also open up a local bank account and enter into a cell phone contract this week. Things are coming together! It feels really good to start settling in.

On Friday I was also issued a box at the post office. My new mailing address is:

Beth Mabry

PSC 1 Box 5398

APO AE 09009

Coming Up:

> I'm teaching at the middle school and high school youth groups this week - we've been going through the book of Luke and will be looking at the Good Samaritan parable on Tuesday night.

> Next week, we'll have Christmas parties for both groups - white elephant gift exchange and Christmas games and goodies. Fun times!

THANKS team for your prayers, support and encouragement!

Hope you're keeping warm and enjoying the start of the Christmas season.

Blessings,

Beth

: )

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Key Club,

Last weekend I had an opportunity to visit Bastogne, Belgium - site of WWII's Battle of the Bulge. Friends and I toured a museum, walked around a memorial for US soldiers, climbed in fox holes, and saw a monument dedicated to Easy Company (as seen in Band of Brothers).

The Battle of the Bulge was a huge turning point in the war. The German army had the Americans surrounded and expected the US to surrender. In the dead of winter, the Americans were able to hold on long enough for reinforcements to make their way through heavy snowfall to defeat the Germans.

Seeing pictures of the battle, watching video clips and reflecting on memorials of those who died in the battle, I was reminded of the sacrifices of our military - past and present.

Last night at youth group, we broke into smaller groups for a time of prayer. One girl in my group shared about an upcoming deployment for her dad and another shared about tougher times at home because of parent's work stress. It was such a blessing to get to pray with and for these students and to encourage them. I'm thankful we have a place students can come and lay their burdens at the Cross and find rest and peace in Jesus.

It's a privilege to minister to the military community. I'm so thankful for you and your partnership with me in sharing Jesus with military teens. THANK YOU for your support.

I pray you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, full of good food, fellowship and times of reflecting on God's goodness and faithfulness. I'm looking forward to a wonderful meal at the Cadence Hospitality House (my current home!). Lou and Cathy, the Cadence missionaries I've been living with (and whom I'm really thankful for!), are expecting at least 70 folks for Thanksgiving dinner. Praise the Lord for bringing so many people to this ministry.

Blessings,

Beth

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:4-5

High School Fall Retreat to Switzerland

Hey Key Club!

Thanks for praying for our high school fall retreat this past weekend. We had a GREAT time!! Here's a picture of our group.

This is the cabin we stayed in... yes, those are the Swiss Alps all around us!

It rained the entire first day we were there, but thankfully the second and third days were full of gorgeous sunshine and blue skies. Two of the evenings were so clear, that we could see an entire sky full of stars - a very amazing sight that brought one student to tears. For more pics of the scenery, click here.

My goal for the weekend was to get to know students, and I had many opportunities to do that! Both afternoons I went hiking with kids. Here's a picture of Brooke and Merissa and Sara on the right - Sara is a volunteer staff, who does an awesome job loving students!! Hikes were a great time to get to chat with students and get a glimpse into their world.

In the mornings I led experiential learning activities. We split the students into 2 teams and gave them obstacles to complete. We then moved into a debrief discussion time, to allow students to process the activity and pull out real life applications. We talked a lot about being a team, contributing to a group, and valuing others. During our evening teaching times, we talked about the body of Christ, and how Jesus has gifted each of us differently to edify the church.

During free time, we had some good game times. Finger darts, cut throat mafia, sardines and of course, lots of card games.

Sara and I organized our meals. 3 or 4 students would help us prepare each meal and then the guy staff and a few students would tackle the clean up (I think the girls got the better end of that deal!). I enjoyed the time in the kitchen with students!

All in all, we had a great retreat! Car conversations were good and we had safe and timely travel : ) Praise the Lord, our GPS took us right to the cabin with no major detours or random short cuts.

THANKS for praying!!

This upcoming weekend we have a Cadence Student Ministries Thanksgiving Invitational in Belgium. Because so many people on our team will be spending Thanksgiving with people in their community or chapels, this will give us an opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving together as a Cadence family. I'm looking forward to it!

Blessings on you friends!

Beth