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

Happy Veterans Day (and Happy Birthday Dad!!)! Thanks for partnering with me in serving the military community.

It’s been 6 weeks already! Sometimes it seems like I just got here and other times it seems like I’ve been here way longer. I’ve got some fun things to share with you -

Fall Retreat: Tomorrow through Sunday is our high school fall retreat to Switzerland. We’re taking about 20 students and 5 staff. Our goal for the weekend is to build deeper relationships with our students, grow the group closer together and encourage them to have eyes for others. In the mornings, I’ve prepared a few experiential learning times for students to interact with one another and build community. In the evenings, my co-worker AJ will lead us through Scriptures giving us examples of community and how to have eyes for others.

This is my first retreat and extended time with students, and I’m really excited! I’m looking forward to getting to know the teens and getting a sense of where they are spiritually and relationally and how their home lives and school years are going.

Please pray for...

Good conversations with students throughout the weekend, and for insight and wisdom as I lean in and get to know teens.

Safe travels (it’s about 5-6 hours away)

ID Card: This afternoon I got really good news! My fingerprints have come back from the FBI in New York, and I passed. : ) I also received the go ahead to begin inputing the background check information into the system. As I understand it, once the info is in and the check begins, my ID card paperwork will also be submitted!! We’re getting close! Thanks so much for your prayers over this. It’s definitely been a hiccup, but it’s a cool opportunity to see the Lord provide.

I’m excited for the ID card to come through because... I found a car and I’m excited to starting driving it! It’s not officially mine yet, I’ll be taking care of the paperwork and actually purchasing it when we get back from our retreat. For now, I’ve made a verbal commitment to buy it. It’s a 2001 Ford Focus, 4 door hatchback. I think it’ll be a good, reliable car. It’s in great shape and gets good gas mileage. Now, please pray for me as I learn to drive stick! : )

Well team, THANKS so much for your prayers - they bring me so much encouragement over here. Thanks for joining me in this ministry!

For the sake of The Name,

Beth

PS, I love getting updates and would love to hear about things going on in your life. hint, hint : )

A whole month!

Dear Key Club,

Hey team! How’s it going? I hear snow is already starting to fall back home, sounds like I left at a good time. Tomorrow marks week 4 since arriving in Germany - nearly a whole month!

I’m continuing to go to the middle school and high school youth groups and Bible studies to get know students. This past week we had a “Wii Night.” It was fun to have a kick back night of playing games and building relationships. I’m still working on remembering names and learning about the community. Knowing students, learning about their world and understanding where they're at, is my main goal over the next few months.

This upcoming week, I’ll be sitting down with my ministry partners to talk through our team and the way we’ll work together to minister here. Please pray for unity and that God would grow us as a team and use us for His glory.

The CSM Women’s Retreat (that I mentioned a few weeks ago) was a great getaway. I posted a few pictures from the weekend on my blog. It was such an encouragement to spend time with the other gals on the field.

On the ID card front... prayers are still appreciated. I’m hopeful that in the next 2 weeks or so, I’ll have it. I’m currently waiting for my fingerprints to come back “favorable.” Although the waiting time is inconvenient, it is good to know that the chapel takes the safety of our students so seriously and ensures that those working with them are safe people.

The whole ID card issue has been a challenging time for me. In the military world, you don’t really “exist” unless you’re in their system. Not having an ID card limits your independence to be able to drive, access base alone, use the post office, buy groceries, etc... basically any of life’s usual routines.

I was reminded this week of the cultural struggles and obstacles on the field nearly all missionaries have faced over the years. And although these situations aren’t pleasant, they are part of God’s process for me at this time. It’s an opportunity to rely on God’s sovereignty and trust His timing is perfect. I can look back to so many instances over the years where God proved Himself faithful time and time again and in this I’ll rest.

Thanks for joining me in this through your prayers and financial support.

For the sake of The Name,

Beth

PS, I’ve been having some issues receiving messages in my Cadence e-mail account, so for now betheiroo@hotmail.com is the best way to get ahold of me.

Packer fans like brats!

From Oct. 13th

Hey Team! (I e-mailed this out on the 13th, but forgot to post it here for those of you who prefer to check the blog over reading/receiving e-mails)

Hope this finds you doing well.

Tuesday is youth group day at Ramstein. Yesterday I went to the middle and high school groups and began meeting students. Since being appointed with Cadence in June of 08 and being on the support raising trail for awhile, it was fun to finally step into the ministry the Lord has called me to! I'm looking forward to getting to know students and live life with them here. Remembering names is one of my current goals. : ) Next month is the high school fall retreat, which will be a good time of relationship building with students. In January, once I've had some time to get to know students a bit and see where they're at spiritually, I plan to lead some small group Bible studies.

I continue to covet your prayers for the ID card process (that continually seems to change). It's still going slow, but progress was made today! I found out yesterday that fingerprints are needed with the required background check, that must be completed before my ID card paperwork can be processed (confused yet, because I am!). When I went to schedule a fingerprinting appointment, I was told the next available date was November 16th. After much disappointment, I contacted a near by base, and was able to get in next Thursday - sooner, but not great. But, praise the Lord, I stopped into the office today to ask some questions and they were able to do it then! Yay God!! Now, I'm praying that the background check will be done quickly, so I can move forward with the ID card, so I can... buy a car and get my license, move into an apartment, and get settled into life.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to the Black Forest for the CSM women's retreat. All the CSM gals are getting together for time of team building, encouragement and rest. Our team is pretty spread out, so we don't get a lot of opportunities to see each other very regularly. I'm looking forward to the weekend and getting to spend time with the other women.

Well friends, thanks for your support and encouragement!

Blessings,
Beth

Hey Key Club! Guten Abend. : )

Thanks for your prayers, I made it to Germany on Friday morning! I had pretty uneventful flights on the way over and after a day or so of jet lagging, I'm doing well. I'm currently staying at the Cadence Hospitality House in the area, which is working out nicely. This week I'm beginning an in-processing phase, learning the logistical aspects of life and ministry here. I'm also getting acquainted with the team I'll be working with (they are really great!), the chaplains and the various Ramstein chapel ministries. This week and next week, I'll visit different youth groups in the area to get a feel for what's going on. In the coming weeks I'll also visit different chapel services to find a church to attend and to get to know people throughout the chapels. The youth group I'll be working with draws students from a variety of chapel services so it'll be good to visit those different congregations.

My first and foremost goal right now is obtaining a military ID card - this is my "golden ticket." With it, I can ... take my drivers license test, buy a car, open a bank account, get an apartment, shop on base for groceries and various supplies, get on base with ease, get a cell phone plan, etc. This could potentially take a week or two - please pray for this process to be quicker than longer, as it's the first step in getting settled in.

I haven't yet, but in the coming days and weeks I will begin to post pictures and updates on my blog of life here to give you some visuals.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! After being on the support raising trail for so long, it's cool to finally be here. I'm looking forward to sharing with you stories of how God is moving in the lives of military teens.

Blessings,

Beth

On an unrelated note...

My dad leaves for his second deployment as a contractor this upcoming weekend. He's currently in Las Vegas in-processing with the company before flying to Afghanistan (on the 9th) for 4 months where he will maintain the predator drones flying missions in the Middle East. (He was in Balad, Iraq Feb-June, this will be his first time to Afghanistan and his first time working on a smaller Army post.) Please pray for ...

- his travels, as flying to the location in Afghanistan may take several days.

- my mom, as life in our house has gone from very busy to very quiet in a matter of days! Praise God for providing a wonderful, supportive community in the Northwoods for our family. Many people have offered help while she holds down the fort this winter.

I made it!

I took off Thursday morning at 10 from Central Wisconsin Airport and landed in Chicago at O'Hare about 40 minutes later. My flight from Chicago left about 20 minutes late, but 8 hours later I touched down in Frankfurt in foggy-drizzly weather at 7AM local time, Friday morning. (Despite it being warm on the plane and getting stuck in a center seat, the long flight went really well.)

It was super fun to have many of the CSM people greet me at the airport... and so early in the morning! How nice. Somehow I managed to come out the "wrong" exit, but I eventually found them at the gate they were expecting me to come out of. : ) I found them though, wearing... one in a tuxedo, one with a weird hat, a Bears jersey (yes, people actually wear those in public) and a welcome sign with a Packer G! Pretty fun!!

We grabbed Starbucks and chatted for a bit before heading out. Unfortunately, the coffee did little to help me stay awake. I was majorly dragging - I didn't sleep at all on the flight over. But after doing a little running around and starting the paperwork for my military ID card I was able to take a good nap.

I'm staying at the Cadence Hospitality House until I find more longterm housing. Friday night is their ministry night, so I had a chance to start meeting some folks in the area which was nice. I crashed around 11 and slept the whole night through!

Sunday I'll head to chapel and continue meeting people and on Monday will start working on other things to get settled in.

All in all, doing well and happy to be here. Thanks for your prayers!!

Big prayer request... getting my military ID card. That's the first step to being able to do anything around here (get on base with ease, drive, mail box, etc.)