Not long left :(

This could be the last blog! I just wanted to write a quick note because we're leaving for our youth week in a few minutes.

It's been a little busy this week doing last jobs for the church, eg replacing photos in the foyer or stamping hundreds of bibles for Sunday services, as well as thinking about sifting through my stuff for leaving the country and preparing for youth week. I'm quite pleased though because my room is looking quite bare already and I have sorted through a lot of junk. This will make it much easier and quicker to pack!
It's Nash's birthday the day I get back so allowing time to celebrate that and spend some time together I think (hope!) packing won't take an age. Still waiting to hear about the visa, please keep praying for that!

Please pray for me as I wrap up life here. It's a strange feeling and I have started not sleeping too well at nigh, lying awake and thinking about my life! Pray for me with the transition. I have already said goodbye to a lot of people which has been ok because it hasn't really hit me that I won't see them for a long time. I spent a lovely evening with my friend Steffi this week and saying goodbye I realised how valuable she is to me as a real friend.

We're flying on the 26th in the evening from Hanover- so as long as the visa comes before then everything is good :)

Loads of love, maybe for the last time from the German end x

And the farewells start :(

These are some of my select favourites of pictures which filled a homemade bag from every child at kids group(It should be pointed out that in the bottom right picture is a cat with a cup and a heart on his back... open to interpretation!!). They hung on my every word (rare!) as I said a few last words about us how big God is and how he helps us, his children. Last week with the kiddies we did a sleepover. Was so exhausting but it was very special for them. Keep praying for all those we have been and are in contact with.

It's very very weird that people are starting to say goodbye to me and the 'last' times of everything are happening. I had my official farewell in church not long ago. It was moving for me, though I am not sad yet about going because it hasn't really hit me yet. That happened on the same day as our church summer celebration which was a fun service and I had my last round of sharing with the church from the front.

I went on a camp with our youth 2 weeks ago- that was good fun even if it did rain everyday. The summer is slowly creeping back again after a long time now!

Rome was beautiful!! I was so exhausted before I went so it was a great time for me to relax and enjoy. The sunshine and sights and smells did me so good. I loved it! Such an atmosphere of joy, laughter, music and life. We saw lots of sights and enjoyed amazing food. My favourite thing though was just wandering around the idyllic streets just taking in my surroundings. I found out how little I know about Roman history:


And I took in many amazing views:


Lately I've been spending a lot of time with Nash which has been so wonderful.


We have really enjoyed this special time together, laughed a lot, talked a lot, sung a lot, had fun... We're approaching my leaving Kassel full of trust and excitement for the future rather than fear or sadness or something like that. Pray for us :) We're waiting to hear at the moment if he will receive his visa to fly back with me to visit me in England for a short time. It's a horrible system which has been quite stressful but we're thankful to God for being amazing and trusting it will work out. We had to go to Düsseldorf to sort it out on Monday. It was a horrible city, don't go there! We could only laugh at the end.

In the next week I'm busy preparing for our youth camp and gradually sifting through my stuff. Today I've been exerting myself the most I have in a while painting a fence so I'm exhausted now and my back is killing. Hopefully will have a good night's sleep before getting on and hopefully finishing it tomorrow!

Please pray for me in this transition process. Love to you all.

33˚c... who said Germany wasn't exotic?!

Absolutely roasting on Sunday! Walking outside was like walking into a sauna. Crazy! Later on it rained lots and there was so much thunder and lightning, which I properly saw from my bedroom window! It was and is still 23c or something.

You'll be glad to know- the project is officially complete and sent off to England. YES!! Praise the Lord! It is over finally. It was really really stressful, not pleasant at all. I stayed up til 5 this morning to finish it. Not good when I needed to get up at 7.30am!:s Need to get to bed actually, since I am just popping to Rome for the week tomorrow!!

God has been so good though, I have had literal miracles happen with my project. At the start of a week I had absolutely no contact with Turkish people to interview and in the space of the week I had 6 great interviews. I feel like God had mercy on me through the people that helped me! The whole story is cool but too long for here. One time, I found myself last Monday sitting in a Turkish/German advice/translation office on my own, answering the phone while important documents lie around and the Turkish radio plays. Pretty surreal! The guy needed to go out and left me in charge. In return I was allowed to speak with anyone. I prayed God might send me people to speak to, and 5 minutes in a lady came, and didn't want to go home and come back, so had all the time in the world to speak to me :) It was pretty embarrassing/awkward on the phone trying to tell people who were blabbering Turkish at me that the guy was coming back. Did result in a few hanging ups- woops! Thankfully the lady was there to help me with those that came into the office. When the guy got back (with cake, I might add) we had a great long interview.

I'll tell the rest sometime. Meanwhile it has been really stressful to write the whole thing in less than a week. I'm so glad that God came through for me and opened doors.

In other news thanks for your prayers, it was a wonderful Sunday that I wrote about in my last blog, where we led worship at a youth sports event in the morning, and Erleuchtet in the evening.





We taught an African song and dance which was so good. Amazing to see the smiles on peoples faces!



The last few weeks have been really really full and tiring. I just need to hold on a bit longer. I know that day by day only God is giving me the strength to do what I need to.

It was my second to last time at the kiddie group today. The kids were so cool, I realised in a new way. They were sad that I'm going soon and picked me flowers and drew me pictures, was sweet.

Thanks for the continuing messages, mail and love. See you when I get back from Rome!

Love to you all.

Still alive!

Think this is a record time of the length of lack of blogging. Sorry! I have so much to tell, where to start?!
By the way, I made it through the Facebook fast, woohoo! It really was fine in the end. I'm grateful now for the better and more instant contact with people, but I'm not wasting my days sitting around on Facebook anymore. April was a busy month and I spent time with lots of people! I enjoyed celebrating Easter here. We had a special Easter breakfast at church and the service was really good, talking about the earth shattering, history shaking effect of the resurrection when the real meaning is considered.
I led worship for the first time at Erleuchtet (the student service)- it went really well! I was reminded of the absolute privilege of being able to do this, and I was blessed with a big band of humble, talented people. I felt like God really led us together. People responded to God's call to worship.
After Easter I went to Hamburg for a few days with Nash.. what an amazing city! Below are a couple of pictures. Such a fascinating city. So that's another piece of news too which some of you might not know- Nash and I are really excited and happy to be a couple! You can ask me if you want to know more :)



Times with the kids are still exciting. We have seen lots of new kids coming to the Wed group which is great. It's a new challenge though because of a large age span. I still wonder sometimes what is happening inside the kids, during moments when they act so confusingly or so vulnerable and wanting love. In the Thursday group it was pretty cool last week talking with the kids about prayer. They reckoned you may not pray for simple things in life, and they were really amazed to hear some of our stories of us doing just that and God hearing.
I have read lots for my uni project but I really need to start writing. I find it really hard to concentrate though because of lots of other tasks that need doing. However I have to give it in in June so I'd better hurry up!
I'm leading worship with Nash again at Erleuchtet on Sunday night so please pray for us. We want to do it with God's energy and leading, and for his glory not ours. Also on Sunday morning we are leading at a youth congress- pray for us and the young people.
Lots of things have made me remember that I'm leaving this place, and this has caused me to think lots about my future. Pray for me to listen well to what God wants to do with me and let him lead me each step.
Load of love to you,
Ruth

'Wud', I like you

Such a sweet gesture from a child this week in kids club who drew a picture of all the helpers and had written our names and 'I like you'... only she didn't quite get the spelling of 'Ruth'. So funny. I should have taken a photo! Had a great time with the kids on Tuesday. A child who came for the first time with his friend a few weeks back turned up on his own, and behaved relatively well and was well into the story. We relived the Last Supper and Jesus saying he would soon be going to his father. The little boy chipped in 'But Jesus died a long time ago!' I'm looking forward to telling him the Easter story and seeing what he thinks about Jesus not being some figure who died a long time ago.
In the Thurs kids group we also had a new little girl which was great.
I got back this afternoon from a sunny church weekend away. It was different being a worker compared to a guest but it was still good. I enjoyed getting to know families and couples who I always say hello to but have never really spoken to properly. The whole thing was quite a relaxed atmosphere, and most of all a family atmosphere. There's normally a kids programme but everyone was together today and it was so cool. We sang an awesome kids song, which the majority of adults joined in with. Highlights were seeing old ladies playing air guitar and seeing German men jumping and clapping. So cool to see everyone laughing and smiling and celebrating together.
It was still really sunny and warm when we got back so I got my shorts on and went down to the park, lay in the sun and went to sleep! It was quite tiring organising little things for the weekend.
My main plan for tomorrow is to get studying. Please pray for me, this project is so hazy and although I've started reading it's the beginning and feels like a big mountain.
Not too long until I've made it through 40 days without Facebook. I still enjoy getting your emails and letters though, thankyou!
Love

Are you living?

First ever 'sermon'/talk accomplished! I'm really happy to have achieved it. I hadn't had loads of time to prepare, but I felt like God really inspired me and I got in the flow when I asked him to help me and speak through me. In the end I was feeling really nervous and not looking forward to it that much but when I got up there (with my Britney style headset!) I felt really at ease and could talk quite relaxed with all my usual big hand gestures! It went really really quickly and I know I can definitely improve in different ways but I'm pleased with what I did, and it was really cool that people encouraged me afterwards. I talked about the freeing ability of saying 'I'm living' as in living life to the full right now because of Jesus in me, as opposed to I can start living later on when certain things are out of the way or whatever.

That was such a good weekend. Sunday 27th was a really special day when a load of teens celebrated their saying yes to living with Jesus. It was a massive celebration and a really moving service. It was lovely to see old interns back for the weekend too. We had fun eating Walkers and watching football in an Irish pub!

I'm doing ok with the Facebook fast. I have had lots more time to do good things, like meeting new people and spending time with older friends. It's surprisingly harder to keep in touch though without Facebook!

Some of you long haul blog readers will remember right in my first week in Germany I helped out at a youth event called Jesus House. Well this week was round 2 but it's on a huge national scale, with a big chunk being broadcasted by satellite from the centre in Stuttgart every night. I found it cool to think how far I've come in many ways since back then in September! I've experienced and grown so much since then, and so thankful for that. It was a good week. I had my first visit from a friend in England so I enjoyed doing a bit of translation for him!

This weekend has been generally very social which has been so fun! I've met lots of new people and had fun spending time with people I know a bit more. I need to really concentrate now though, and work hard.

Keep praying for me, I value it! Let's keep in touch.
Love

Losing my Englishness!

Are you French? Do you come from Spain? Questions from 2 different people I've had in the last couple of days! Either I am losing my English accent a bit which would be amazing.. or maybe I just look really European now or something?! Has my fashion sense changed?!

I love it that I can converse with people in the street or in the shop and they treat me like a normal German, not immediately asking 'Oh where are you from?'. Sometimes I lack specialist vocab, like with lots of painting/deco I've been doing recently and not knowing what 'skirting board' is in German. It's quite fun though seeing how hard tenses that we used to spend ages on in class throughout college and uni are just a part of my normal speech now. I love understanding a joke and laughing at the same time as everyone else! And I love contributing to discussions and being taken seriously, not just nodded at for a sentence from the person with not very good German. I do notice though at the end of a really long day, my words just do not come out properly!

It has continued to be really exciting with the Wednesday kids. The 2 brothers who have come really far took part well and at the end their mother asked how they are getting on. She wanted to ask because apparently the kids ask every single day if today is kids club day. How cool! The Thursday kids I find a little harder work in that they secretly love coming, but they don't join in and are always wound up- quite hard to work with.

My good friend Irina came to visit me this week and we had a lovely time. Days involved eating lots of Turkish food, drinking coffee in the sunshine, and chatting lots about just about everything!

So Facebook update- I am still alive after one and a half weeks clean! I am doing fine! I'm getting over not knowing everything that is going on and who is talking to who. I have had loads to do so it has helped me not to waste precious time. However I am missing sending lots of people little hello messages. It's a bit more effort with email! But thankyou to everyone for the lovely emails- I have got quite excited as if they're real letters! (Obviously still love actual post though :p )

Tomorrow morning I'm helping in Sunday school with the little ones, age 4-6 angels! I'm looking forward to a break tomorrow after working really hard and long days this week. Also looking forward to Erleuchtet (Illuminate- student service) in the evening.

Remember me this week as I look for time to be inspired for my talk on Saturday.
Keep me updated on your news!
Sending lots of love.

40 days and 40 nights without Facebook!

I always said I wouldn't (couldn't?) do it but I finally thought I'd be radical and see how life without Facebook is. I'm already doing more valuable things instead of mooching around and wasting aimless time on it. I want to give this time consciously to God. It doesn't just mean reading the Bible and talking to him a whole lot more, it might also mean that I invest the time in people or in my work generally. See what I say after a week or few! I do feel slightly cut off though in a way. Interestingly though I've found myself checking the news a lot more!

Last week was relatively quiet which meant I started preparing for this week really early- that was great and really paid off. Yesterday was SO GREAT with the kids. Praise the Lord! It was quite a peaceful atmosphere and the kids were really 'there'...not sure if that conveys what I mean! A miracle happened in that for the story, they all were waiting for me in a circle on the carpet- this does NOT happen! It is normally a struggle to get them interested or sitting down in one spot. They were quiet and all eyes were on me. Wow! It was such an odd but good good feeling! I was really inspired to make the story quite interactive so I told the story of the years in the desert when the people were to and fro with their trust in God despite all the cool things that happened. We experienced the bitter water the people found with 'bitter lemon', which they thought tasted disgusting. They were so cute! They could imagine what it was like for the people. At the end of the story where the people realise how strong God is, how they actually do need his help and how he was actually on their side, a little girl piped up: 'Ah I'd love to have such an adventure!'

Many thanks for your prayers. It is so so encouraging actually seeing positive improvements. One boy has been coming for a few months is really aggressive and was so wound up towards the beginning. As time has gone on though, though of course he has his moments, he's really softened. He asks to play with me, is learning to accept when things don't always go his way, listens and he doesn't constantly disrupt. He shows that he really wants to be a part of the group! I think it's cool that he's learning that he is taken seriously as well, not just dismissed as a naughty child. All these improvements can't be underestimated. Thanks to God! At the start of the story this week, this boy retold basically the whole story of how God delivered the people because God is strong and can do anything. It was so cool!

Today was pretty much the other end of the scale- quite discouraging! There were a certain few girls who were completely disruptive, going against everything, complaining (especially when they didn't win or get immediately exactly what they wanted), not listening and not allowing a good atmosphere for everyone else. It was so hard! I did a little impulse which was a little difficult anyway, but was made harder because the kids were so disruptive, making me lose my track and they were just not responding to me. I had a few firm words but that did not work. They just laughed the whole time! Also, who would have thought a game of 'fruit salad' could amount to such arguments. So all in all not so cool. Would be great if you could pray that the kids could somehow develop respect for me, not so that I feel cool but because I mean well for them and have something valuable to pass on to them!

Youth was great tonight, fun and they all really got into it :)

I have loads to do in the next week but also really looking forward to a visit from my friend Irina again. I do need to find and leave a lot of time to be inspired for my talk in a couple of weeks... a 'sermon' actually. Scary!

I'm going to stop now- I have the feeling this has got long! Looking forward to your many emails and letters, replacing all Facebook communication!

Back on German ground

Had such an immense time away!
It started off with visiting my favourite people in Southampton. It was just SO good to see them! We had a lot of fun, chatted a lot, laughed a lot and just enjoyed being together again. I love them a lot. A friend from Cornwall even made a surprise appearance which was just amazing! It was sort of like I'd never left, but in other ways it was really weird being in Southampton- odd to think I'll be settling back there in the autumn. Thanks to my friends too, I ate proper, good fish, chips and mushy peas- YUM! And a good bacon sandwich- definitely savoured that one!



Me with the lovely Emily, my roommate from last year



I met up with my family afterwards and we travelled up to the Lake District for my cousin's wedding, which was a lovely day! It was good to see family again. After the wedding I headed back down to London and had a great time catching up with people there. For the 2nd year in a row I achieved an appearance/interview on Bengali TV! That was fun (we went to a Bengali memorial commemorating those lost fighting for their mother tongue in '52). Also ate AMAZING real curry 2 days in a row- praise the Lord for good food!
My next stop was the lovely south of Germany. Hannes my boss/church leader was speaking at a big youth prayer congress (around 1400 people). It was really exciting. On the first night at one point I prayed and shared what I felt like God was saying- have not spoken in front of so many people before! But God gave me the words and boldness to do it. A weekend praying may not be your cup of tea but for me it was like a new revelation of how BIG God is and how he is so much stronger than anything.. because of that he can do amazing things through me. That is life changing!
It has been a good week back in Kassel. Really cool to see positive little changes in the children at Rothenditmold :) And did a little impulse at youth yesterday which I felt went well. But pray God uses what I say to do deep stuff in hearts, that they have a personal conviction to live for him.
I always say it, but I need to get on with my project! I'm not too good at concentrating on one thing, I often flick between 4 jobs. I need to focus!
Sending my love x

2 days til English soil!

I'm really looking forward to my visit this week! A big mention to my friends in Southampton... I can't wait to see them! Especially after my visit at Christmas failed.
I have had a really good week and a really nice Sunday.
This afternoon I had a good time with the 20s group. Afterwards I had a deep Sunday nap! Yesterday we worked really hard the whole day long- almost 12 hours- properly clearing out and setting up and preparing for today. We had a special service where people taking on new roles in the church were welcomed and thanked, and those stepping down thanked and honoured. Some of my jobs included buying lots of gorgeous flowers, decorating the church and working on a big banner. I got a bit too excited because the couple who own the flower shop are Turkish and we chatted a little bit. I'm not sure I can use them in my project, well unless I go in at least once a week to buy flowers or something!

It was really hardgoing on Wednesday with the kids. They are still really loveable though! They provoked each other and lots of them came in really bad moods. I think they all come with a lot of baggage and so it's really hard to know how to treat each one in the right way.
On Thursday we went for an outing with the kids! It was really good fun. We went to this amazing big castle and we all had to dress up in the costume of the day (like a proper school trip!) which was quite funny.
Somebody asked me today how Germany is for me and it made me just think a bit.. I'm feeling really at home, that I have a place here. I've felt lately that God is really close and has really been answering my prayers. I can see the potential for building up relationships here and what kind of things could happen long term... just a shame that I'm going again in the summer! I'm trying not to think about it already but I know that will be hard!
I'm looking forward to eating a good bacon sandwich this week, maybe even some fish and chips. Will definitely take some pictures.
Love to you all x

Real fish and chips, recycling win and insurance joy

I took this on a Sunday afternoon wander really high up where snow still lies-gorgeous.

There is definitely more to tell than the title- I've had a great week or so. The recycling win happened on Friday when I finally gave in all the plastic bottles mounting up in my room- the money paid for my shopping with a bit left over! Sweet Germanness.
Also my insurance company are paying back my train ticket home from Germany at Christmas,as well as compensation. Hallelujah!
I just got back from a really cool weekend away. It was for youth all over the region. Was exciting to see everyone together and encourage each other. Today in the last meeting I was interviewed-scary!! It went well though and what was amazingly cool is that I prayed beforehand that what I shared would really strike home with certain people in particular.. and this girl came up to me afterwards saying she really felt the need to tell me that this happened to her. God's good! The 'real fish and chips' reference comes from the end of the interview when I was asked what tips I could give the Germans...so I said bring in the real stuff!
Last weekend was a really intense but great weekend with the confirmation teens (they're getting confirmed in March). We had fun and was really good to chat about a lot of issues they face. The service on Sunday was the finale to the weekend, and I was proud at all the work they put into it. I led music with the visiting intern (I mentioned him in the last blog) and God was just amazing. He helped us lead the church to worship him. We didn't have to push anything or be worrying. Afterwards I was overwhelmed by various people who came to encourage us, including several really old people- which I felt like was a big breakthrough. Sometimes people get really caught up in issues like whether the music is too modern or something. I can't really explain the feeling, and to those of you who aren't Christians you might find it really strange, but it was like God came and took over.
The kiddies on Wednesday were mental again.
I've noticed that I can quickly get discouraged when it's hard, but I can't forget positive things that are happening. One kid who is really aggressive has really softened up- it's so strange but amazing. He now asks if he can play with me. We think that he is somehow really sad inside. Pray as I look out for ways I can encourage him.
On Thursday I had a lot of genuine fun with the kiddies in Mattenberg! There was a new Turkish girl there (who apparently used to come) so that was exciting. We played a shop game where they could earn play money by doing different tasks eg. giving the workers a back massage! Never before have I had people queueing up to massage me and arguing as to who is first. I like this job!

Very soon I will be on my way to sunny England- really excited!! My cousin is getting married :) And I also have the chance to visit my dear dear uni friends in Southampton! To finish: a picture of some of us from the lovely Sunday afternoon walk :)

I'm still alive!

Sorry for the lack of blogging recently- life has been so busy! It has been a really good few weeks though.
In my last blog I wrote about an upcoming meeting in the town hall. It was an amazing hall! Lots of people came and it was an exciting time. I can still learn a few practical things but I felt the music went well and I feel like God had his hand over us. That week I had a lot of bits and pieces to organise and the days were completely full. I was really tired at the end of it.
Then last week was quite taken over by the next wisdom teeth op. It was terrible! Never get it done if you can avoid it. It was awful, I'm sure the anaesthetic hadn't worked! So I spend most of the week looking like a hamster and eating no solids. People were really sweet though, delivering me warm meals as well as banana and yoghurt concoctions.
Kids group last Wednesday was amazing!!! Thanks so much for praying. It was different to usual. There was a really peaceful atmosphere and for the first time the kids themselves were just asking genuine questions about why we like the Bible so much and why we want to pray so much. This does not usually happen! A guy who is here with us on a month's placement helped me out and he was great with the kids. I am really looking forward to this week again. I know some of you think it's crazy that I would want to hang out with these sort of kids, but this is the exact reason why I love it: when they begin to enjoy the life that they have been given, and recognise that there is a God who loves them and is fully interested in each of them.
At the weekend I went to a conference where I attended seminars about different themes relevant to kids and youth work, and I took a load of practical stuff away.
Through all the challenges recently, and through chats and encouragement from others, I have been really inspired and excited. At this stage in life the classic questions are always about what I'm hoping to do next. I used to worry but lately I have had a lot of peace about the fact I have no idea what's on for me after uni finishes and really excited- I really feel like God has good stuff in store.
If you pray, I would love it if you would pray for my time management. I really should have done a lot for my uni project by now, but I have done very little. It's a lot of work and a big dilemma, because when I have extra time here I want to use it to develop relationships here! If you're not into praying, maybe think about giving it a go?
A load of love to you in England, and specially for my sisters' sake-Wales, and Scotland too :)

I took my coat off because it was too warm today!

Yes today the sun was shining- it was a beautiful day! Everything's wet because all the ice has melted. I'm glad because I fell over on it this week- though I'm pretty proud I lasted this long with shoes that are sort of useless in snow!

It has been a really busy week time since I got back. Had a lot of fun with the teenies at the New Years party, and they really enjoyed it too. It has been exciting to be planning for starting up all the kids clubs next week- I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again. Next week in Kassel there is a special week of prayer which lots of churches are doing together, and there will be a meeting every night as part of it. For this I've been doing lots of organisation, like getting hold of different people for various stuff and typing! I've felt like a PA or something which has been quite fun, though also sort of stressful. I'm also arranging 2 Powerpoints as intros to meetings. I'm not exactly amazing at IT though so I hope they turn out well.
On Wednesday the meeting is going to be at the Rathaus- town hall. This is what it looks like:


Pretty impressive building and an important venue! The mayor lady is going to be there, because we are praying for our town, looking at the challenges it faces. I find it pretty cool that Christians are uniting to pray about these things. At the meeting I'm going to be leading music. Slightly scared! I have a guy playing with me whose voice is velvety amazing so I am glad to have him to help me!

This morning I had a lovely time with my friend catching up over breakfast. I've had quite a relaxing day because I couldn't face doing worky things earlier when I got back. Also, there was noone in so I went for lunch at our favourite Turkish restaurant alone! It probably looked quite sad but I enjoyed the food and tea! It was sort of sad/weird not sharing it with someone but I enjoy being among people at least.

Also on a quick language note- would be great if you could pray for my improvement- though it has come on a lot, I feel like it's slow progress at the moment.

I always love to hear from you lot in England so keep the messages, letters, emails etc coming :)

Loads of love, Ruth x