Oh what a day

Hey everyone,
Well, I thought I would update you all again while Brandon is out for the afternoon with some of the guys. He can update you all about that later.

So Sunday I met this 18 year old girl at church who speaks English very fluently and who is visiting her dad here in Koln for a few weeks. Anyway, she's a really sweet girl who said she'd like to hang out this week cause she's bored. So of course I jumped at the opportunity. You see Sunday was the first time she's ever been to church. Her Dad is a friend of Bills (not a believer either) and Bill just happened to tell them that there were foreigners at Church so they decided to some check us out.

I got home looked her up on facebook and set a date to hang out with her on Tuesday, you know have lunch window shop etc... Well we had lunch yesterday and I was just trying to befriend her, get to know her and praying that if God wanted he would give me opportunities to talk about him. He did, she's really very open, not just to Christianity of course but to hearing and weighing what I was saying. I asked if she believes in God and she said she doesn't know. She thinks there is probably something out there bigger than ourselves but, she is not sure what that is yet. She said that right now she is young and wants to be open and listen to every ones ideas (i mean everyone, Buddhist, christian, Hindu, Jewish you name it) and then when she is older she will decide. So we talked

She asked me if I believe in heaven and hell. And I spoke honestly with her about it. I told her that as a Christian I believe very strongly that what the Bible says is true and it does speak of a heaven and a hell. I told her that I really do believe that Jesus came to save us not just from Hell but also to save us from an unfulfiling life, he came to show us how to live life so that we will have joy, contentment and peace that comes from knowing God. We spoke about a lot of things, like how God is also gracious and merciful etc... It was really an interesting day. She of course says like the majority of people out here that "what is true for her is not necessarily true for others about God and vica versa" so I don't know what will happen but I do know that God provided opportunities for me to speak about him in a way that I never have before.

After hanging out for a while we went back to the church to make some cookies. She noticed all the Bibles around and started asking if I had ever read the Bible and I asked if she had, she said no so I gave her a new testament and then before the day was over asked her if she wanted to read some of it before we hang out next time because I told her that I would really love to hear what she thinks about it. She was excited and said yeah, she would love to read it and then we could discuss it together. I will see her again in a week when she gets back from holiday so really really pray for God to work in her heart as she reads his story for the first time in her life. Please Please pray for this!

I seriously was amazed yesterday. I mean I have never really been in a position before to speak with someone who has never read the Bible, or doesn't know if they believe in God. the culture is so completely different here where people don't even actually know why they get the "Easter" holiday off. I mean really how often do we come across people like this. I always assumed growing up that they were only in Africa and South America, third world non-Christian nations. But, it turns out that they are here right in front of me. I was really encouraged by how God works yesterday and am sad that our time here is coming to a close. It's like we a finally learning how to work here and finally finding our place and what we can be doing and we're just about to leave. Hopefully some of the church members will be able to carry on.

Also yesterday I had an LST appointment with a 18 year old girl named Muna. She showed up and brought her 21 year old friend named Nadeje who is 21, Muna is from Ethiopia, has been in Koln for 3 years and is a member of the church here. Her friend Nadeje is from the Congo, has been here for 6 years and is not a member of the church although she grew up Christian. I also got to have a really great talk with them yesterday. Nadeje has a boyfriend and has also decided that what is true for others in relation to what it means to be a Christian is not really true for her. So you can be praying for her heart too. We talked about the importance of marrying someone who also believes in God, and that the rules God gives shouldn't be viewed as rules but again as the way to live the most fulfilling, joyful and content life you can. She talked about how she doesn't go to church anymore because when she grew up Christians wouldn't actually act like Christians after church . So we talked about making your faith your own and how we too fall into that category so we pray that God will help us and others who don't live the Christian life how we should and also that non-Christians (like her boyfriend) who are good people would get to experience the love and joy of God.

They are coming back on Thursday and will bring another friend of theirs from school. On Saturday the 15th, after Julia gets back from Holiday. I am going to try to have a dinner at the church for all of these young women and so you can pray that they will all be able to come and that some of the young married women from the church will come too so that when I leave these girls aren't just left in the dark. Man, in some ways I am so ready to come home but after yesterday I really wish we were here for longer. I finally really found my niche here.

Anyway, please continue to pray for us, Pray for Brandon too as he is trying to find a way to talk about religion with Bijan one of the Islamic boys. Pray that God will use us while we are here, giving us opportunities to speak and also the right words to say because honestly this is new and exciting but also really scary! Hope you all are doing well. We will update you again really soon because tomorrow I am scheduled to go to dinner and a sheesha bar with a couple of the Persian Christian teens from the church. This will be interesting!