Spring Break 2011

"Spring break at Shorebreak 2011 with Hume Lake in Garmisch was amazing. New friends and memories were made, it was sunny, it rained, and it snowed in the middle of April, outrageously long french mustaches were worn, epic duals with cheap wooden swords were commenced, and most importantly, God was glorified." - from a student's Facebook status post the day after camp

^ The view from our hotel - it's a Galp! (German Alp)

^ All 180+ of us following rec time

Shorebreak was great!!! Thanks for praying for us throughout the week, God was at work in the hearts of our students.

Our camp speaker did a great job of communicating the Gospel and Jesus' love for each one of us, in a very relevant student friendly way. Many students responded to the messages. I'm super thankful for several great conversations I had with kids. It's amazing how much students open up when they get away from the distractions and noise of their everyday lives back home.

My favorite conversation was with one gal towards the end of the week. Our speaker shared the story of Jesus calming the water after His disciples woke Him up while sleeping on the boat. The student shared with me the different storms she'd been facing - divorced parents and an absent dad who doesn't reach out to her, broken relationships at school and an unwanted reputation, an upcoming move to the states this summer... the list seemed to go on. She threw herself into time consuming sports to escape the drama and to avoid being at home. As she poured out her heart, I felt my heart breaking. She felt unloved, unwanted and alone. I had the privilege to share with her Psalm 139 and tell her how God sees her. I then asked her where Jesus was in the midst of the storms? Was He on the shore? The boat? Nowhere to be seen? She said, "I think Jesus needs to wake up." We stopped right there, and prayed together - asking Jesus to wake up and calm the storms. It's my prayer He'll make Himself known to her in profound ways and take her hand and guide her through the chaos of life.

Some of the other fun times of the week for students were the recreation/team competitions, a high ropes course, an afternoon walking around town shopping and eating gelatto, and an afternoon at an indoor water park on our way home. Fun bonding times!!!

^ Our Ramstein Community

^ Ramstein Girls during community time

^ Jordan and Christie, cheering on the teams during rec time
^ Small group gals, out for gelatto during free time

Many of our students got into the musketeer mustache look on double spirit day : )

^With my Stuttgart CSM friends

Faithfully Flexible

Hey Team!

Today marks 6 months and one week, since I arrived to the field. Time is flying by! Thank you so much for journeying with me.

Here's an update from the ministry front...

The Marine Corp motto is Semper Fi, always faithful. Our field director likes to joke around, that as missionaries to the military community, our motto is “Semper Gumby,” always flexible. In the past few weeks, we’ve had a number of opportunities to practice living this motto.

The recent/current events in Libya sent bases across Europe into heightened security levels, which have greatly impacted our upcoming high school spring break retreat. About two weeks ago, we learned that our selected facility in Italy did not meet the new security requirements (we weren’t going to be a near a base, and as a large group staying in one location for several days, we could potentially draw some unwanted attention). We had two options: move camp or cancel it.

So how do you move a camp for 180 people just 2 weeks before spring break? You pray. A lot. : ) God opened up doors and provided us rooms at a really nice lodge for military personnel and their families in the German Alps. (How this place had enough open rooms is beyond me, it’s a popular vacation getaway for many - especially over holidays). Praise the Lord!

Had things stayed as planned, I’d be leaving on a bus for Italy tonight. Due to availability at the lodge, camp will now run Monday through Friday. The shift in location and dates has thrown a few wrenches in the mix, as we consider how to change our program to accommodate the new reality. Our camp includes students from the Air Force and Army communities. This has caused some challenges, as both branches have different security measures and interpretations of policies that impact various camp components. But God is faithful and has poured out the endurance, patience, grace and favor to make it happen. He's also blessed us with great field leadership who've worked extremely hard in the past few weeks.

9/11 occurred the beginning of my senior year of high school. In the days, weeks and months that followed, I struggled with living on base and desiring a sense of “normalcy” in the midst of heightened security. I remember being late to school games and concerts because the base would go into a lockdown state to practice dealing with security breaches. I was annoyed that so much “real world military” stuff impacted my daily life. I didn’t sign up for the military, so why was I being treated like I did?

I see similar frustration in some of our students. “Why can’t we just have a fun, normal spring break at the beach?” “Why is it such a hassle to go on a trip?” I pray that God would use these as teachable moments, to remind us that the world is bigger than us and we’re not the center of the universe. I pray bitterness wouldn’t take root in the hearts of students.

I’m excited for next week (as I shared in my last e-mail, I'm excited for the students we have coming - they're great!!), and I look forward to sharing highlights with you when I return. Thank you so much for praying for our military community!!!!

Prayer Points:
Students - pray that hearts would be softened and students would be ready to hear the Gospel and boldly respond to whatever the Lord prompts them to do. Pray they'd leave knowing Jesus loves them deeply.

Staff - pray for wisdom as we lean into students and encourage and challenge them. Pray for endurance to run hard for a week, and for grace and patience when we’re tired.

Hume Lake - pray for our camp directors/leaders as they’ve traveled from California to lead our program (teaching, worship, games, tournaments). Pray God would use them in mighty ways as they serve our students.

Thank you team! You're a blessing to me and my wonderful students!

For the sake of The Name,

Beth

March Update

Hello Prayer Partners,

Hope this finds you doing well. I'm enjoying a beautiful spring sunny day - the sun doesn't shine a whole lot in Germany, so we've got to enjoy it when it does! Sorry to those of you experiencing blizzard conditions in the upper midwest... spring is near, hang in there!

Would you please be in prayer for our upcoming Spring Break retreat to Italy, April 8-15. We've had 30 students register from our community and AJ and I are really excited about who's coming. Some of the students are solid believers, but the majority of them don't seem to have a personal relationship with Jesus. We are stoked that the Lord has called them to this camp, and we're excited that they will have opportunities to hear the Gospel and experience Jesus. Would you begin praying for their hearts?

We're excited for camp, however, due to the events taking place in Libya, the retreat is currently in limbo. Heightened security measures have led to canceling all DoD (department of defense) sponsored activities occurring off base, where more than 20 people are involved, until further notice. Our youth group is a chapel sponsored program, and therefore we fall under this order. It doesn't effect our weekly Bible studies and youth group times, as those take place at the chapel, but it does impact anything we have planned for off base - mainly retreats. We hope that this order will not last too long, but that it will be lifted in the coming days as things hopefully settle in Africa. We realize that having 150+ Americans in one location, could potentially pose a security risk. And bottom line, we want to keep our students safe.

Some of our families have been directly impacted by the movement in Libya - parents have deployed and others are working very long days to support the efforts. There's no timeline on the events taking place, so we don't know how long parents may be gone or working longer hours. These unknowns cause extra stress for families and presents us with ministry opportunities. Would you pray for our families, active duty members and the leaders who are making decisions.

Please pray for Nate, our CSM field leader and camp director, as he meets with chaplains to discuss the security situation and determine how to proceed. He's coordinating with the team coming from the states to lead the camp, and is also working out logistics with the Italian camp facility and German bus company. Needless to say, he's got some extremely busy days ahead of him.

Thank you so much for covering our ministry in prayer. It's a huge blessing and encouragement to know the military community in Germany is being lifted up before the Lord.

Know that God is at work here!! In the past weeks, my high school girls Bible study is growing and we've had some great conversations about who Jesus is. In our middle school girls Bible study, we've been looking at different women in the Bible and looking at the lives of women missionaries. We began a series on community in our middle school youth group, where we've looked at what community is and how we can build it. We're almost done with the book of Luke in our high school youth group and will finish Easter week. It's a blast doing ministry here and a privilege to serve the families and students of Ramstein! Thanks for joining with me!!

Praise Point: You may remember that my dad left for Afghanistan a few days after I left for Germany. He's been working as a contractor maintaining the predator drones. He made it home to Wisconsin this past week!

Because of Christ,
Beth

Far, Far Away

We had a great retreat this past weekend! A team of students from Truett Seminary in Waco, Texas led SEMP: Students Equipped to Minister to their Peers. It was a growth level retreat, for students who are believers and wanting to go deeper in their relationships with the Lord. It was also an equipping time for students to gain confidence in sharing their faith and ministering to their peers.

Far, Far Away was the theme for the weekend, which was a really relevant theme for our students on a few levels.

Our students are living Far, Far Away, because they are Americans living in Germany; they aren't living in their homeland. And even though they're living in Germany, they are living on American military bases, which adds another dynamic. Our students are also living Far, Far Away, because they are believers whose citizenship is in heaven. This earth is just a temporary home; heaven is their eternal home. And like many people experience, sometimes either God feels far away from us, or we feel far away from God.

The Truett team did a good job addressing these aspects of being Far, Far Away. Our students were encouraged and challenged by their large group meetings and small breakout seminars.

I asked one of our freshman gals from the weekend to share about her experience:

"I really liked being able to meet students form other bases who are Christians. It was awesome to not worry about being accepted, because we all had a shared bond in Christ.

The teaching times were good, a few things I learned where... it's not necessary to act a certain way or put on a mask to encourage people to come to Christ - we just need to be honest and be ourselves. I also learned that being a Christian isn't all sunshine, but when we face trials God will be us."

"Something went down in Frankfurt"

Dear Key Club,

Yesterday, as my middle school girl's Bible study was ending and I was saying goodbye to girls before they went out the door, my phone rang. Seeing it was my co-worker, I answered it. "You might not be able to leave the base, I think we're on lockdown." What? Why?, I answered. "Something went down in Frankfurt, and the base isn't sure if it was an isolated incident or if it's linked to a series of things." Still not knowing the full story or any details for that matter, I finished packing up my things, hopped in my car and headed for the gate, hoping to make it home for the evening before anything was shut down.

I was able to make it home. I went online and discovered that there had been a shooting at the Frankfurt airport, leaving 2 airmen dead and 2 injured. Wow, I had been at the Frankfurt airport earlier in that morning to pick up a new CSM couple and welcome them to the field.

As with any tragedy, our community was greatly impacted - both emotionally and physically. Immediately, the base went into a heightened security state, creating some delays and changes to the usual routines.

A good friend of mine is a missionary in a closed country - she has to be careful how she tells others about the work she's doing because it's a risk to be a Christian where she lives. As we were talking about that, I began to realize how much freedom I have as a believer in Germany. It's an open country where I can share my faith freely. However, the thing I have to be careful about here, is being a member of the American military community. Whenever we travel, it's important that we try to blend in as much as possible and to not stand out as an obnoxious American and to not share a lot (or anything really) about the military, so we don't become targets of terrorism. There are so many people around the world who do not support or remotely like our military and will do anything they can to stop or hamper our global efforts.

I feel this weight when I'm with students off base - whether it's getting coffee somewhere or traveling to a retreat. Our students safety is super important to us. Overall, I do feel very safe here. However, it's instances like these that serve as a wake up call and remind me of the fallen world we live in and the need for people to know and experience God's love and peace.

Would you pray for our students here as they process the shooting? With the travel opportunities in Europe and many cheap flight deals, a lot of families frequent the airport. Some students may really be fearful to get out and explore.

Would you pray for the families and friends of the fallen and injured Airmen? I don't yet know where they are from or what their stories are. I believe they may have just been passing through from another base onto a deployment.

On a different note...

This upcoming weekend, assuming the shootings and security measures don't prevent us from going, we'll be taking 8 students to a high school student leadership retreat. It's a weekend geared towards growth level students, who we believe are spiritually mature and have potential to minister to their peers. I'm encouraged by these students desires to go deeper in their relationships with the Lord and I'm really looking forward to time with them. Would you pray that God would continue to grow them and that He'd challenge them as they step out and lead their peers.

Thanks for praying team. You're a blessing to me and the military community in Ramstein. Thank you.

Blessings,

Beth

Escape Recap

Dear Team,

THANKS so much for praying for Escape. We had a wonderful time and it was encouraging to see and hear how God is working in lives.

Some Highlights:

Team Comp was awesome this year... the Multnomah team did a wonderful job of coming up with creative middle school friendly games. Their favorites were Tron (students had to rescue their team mascot and camp speaker from a virus) and Mission Impossible (students had to build a molecule to save their water source after the wicked white witch poisoned it while not being caught by pirates). During animal soccer (a slight variation of mud rugby) one of our students suffered a broken nose, however, he was able to finish out the weekend with us and had a good time.

The speaker communicated the Gospel and God's love for students well. He shared the stories of Jesus calming the storm and walking on water. The message of Jesus' unending presence during the storms we face in life resonated with students. On Saturday night I had a great conversation with one of my girls who was struggling in a few areas. The "storm" she was facing was trying to measure up to other peoples standards and expectations. As we began talking, it was clear that she was also striving for God's love. It ended up being an awesome conversation about grace and God's unconditional love for each one of us.

The experiential learning times helped students to further process the messages. We did two hands on group activities that lent themselves to talk about storms - Who do we trust when faced with challenges? What voices to do we listen to? In the midst of loud distractions, how can we hear God's voice?

Overall, I feel our students gelled well together and built good memories. We had youth group on Tuesday, the day after returned from camp and there was a fun buzz from the weekend. We gave students an opportunity to share some highlights and things they learned.

In the coming weeks we're going to begin a new teaching series for our middle school group. We're calling it "Community 101" and we'll take a look at what community is, why it's important, and things that build and kill community. We're looking forward to talking about relationships and encouraging students to grow in Jesus and with one another.

Some pictures of the retreat...

^The whole Ramstein community

Waiting in line for lunch

^ Team Comp Animal Soccer... some of our Ramstein girls really got into it. : )

^ Katie and I - youth ministry is dirty work, but someone's got to do it!

Escape Week is Here!

Hi Team!

Escape week is here. We've got 26 students and 5 staff from Ramstein going. We'll join with youth groups from bases in Baumholder, Kaiserslautern, Manheim, Stuttgart, and Weisbaden... over 250 people total. We're excited to see how the Lord will work in the lives of all of our students and staff. I put together some daily prayer points for folks to pray through this weekend for ESCAPE! Each day, I've selected a different topic/focus to pray through, to ensure that camp is covered in prayer. Would you join me in praying through these daily requests?

Wednesday: Speaker Russ

Russ is a youth ministry veteran with over 20 years of middle school ministry experience! He’s traveling from California to speak with our students this year, and we’re excited to have him. Please pray for Russ, as he tries to get over jet lag quickly and begins getting to know our teens. Although he’s new to the military world, he’s done his research and has asked a lot of questions about the lives and needs of our students in order to speak to them in a meaningful and relevant way. Pray that the Lord would speak through him mightily as he shares about Jesus and encourages teens in their spiritual journeys.

Thursday: Team Multnomah

A team of 12 Bible College students and 1 professor are traveling from Portland, Oregon to lead late night activities, participate in discussion groups with our students and serve in a variety of ways. They are a huge blessing! Please pray for them as they arrive today and travel to the camp facility to prepare for the weekend. Pray they’d adjust to the new time zone quickly and for boldness and endurance as they dive in with teens. Some of these students are nearing graduation and thinking of their futures, perhaps the Lord will use this experience to draw some of them into future military youth ministry.

Friday: Safe Travel and Community Building

As our community hits the road this afternoon, please pray for safe travel to the camp facility in Bitburg. Pray that the Lord would use our bus time to begin building unity in our group and that our students would have eyes for each other and seek to include one another in the things they do. Pray that students would help create and foster a safe and fun atmosphere where everyone feels welcome to share their thoughts and be themselves.

Saturday: Students Hearts

Please pray for the hearts of our students as they begin to process Russ’s talks and experiential learning activities. Tonight he’ll be sharing the Gospel and giving students a chance to respond. Some students will begin asking themselves if they’d like to enter into a relationship with Jesus, while others will be challenged to commit to going deeper in their faith. Pray that the Lord would tear down any walls built up in their hearts and that they’d feel free and safe to ask their leaders questions. Pray that they’d choose Jesus!

Sunday: Staff

Praise the Lord for the many adults who’ve volunteered their time this weekend to love our students and point them to Jesus. After two late nights and early mornings, lots of running around during games and free time, and deep, often emotionally challenging conversations, our staff may find it difficult to climb out of bed this morning! Pray for strength and endurance as we enter into another day of camp. Pray that God would provide opportunities to talk about last night’s Gospel presentation with students and for wisdom and discernment for staff as they follow up with those who made decisions to begin and/or deepen their relationships with the Lord.

Monday: Parents

On this last day of camp, please pray that students would return home with a newly found or renewed passion for their faith. Pray they’d remember what they’ve learned throughout the weekend and that they’d seek to live it out. Please pray for the parents of our students, that the Lord would give them wisdom, strength and grace to ask their student questions about the weekend and to help them process and solidify what they’ve learned.

Thanks for praying! I'm looking forward to sharing updates when we return. Thanks for joining me in this ministry - your prayers are vital and bring me so much encouragement!

For the sake of The Name,

Beth