Last week we had a pretty bad wind storm here in Germany. Most of Europe actually had some of this storm which was supposedly the worst storm in 17 years in Europe. Thankfully, here in Chemnitz there wasn't much damage besides branches that had fallen from trees and some fences that were blown down. It was some pretty crazy wind though. In fact, I thought that I was in Oklahoma during tornado season.
The night of the storm I had a really hard time sleeping. The wind was blowing so loudly outside that I was tossing and turning. I was drifting in and out of sleep all night. At one point I was turning over to try to get comfortable and all the sudden I heard Clint say, "Ha, that is funny to hear." I thought to myself... "what in the world is he talking about... why is the wind funny to hear?" Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he sat up, leaning on his elbows and said, "You got the jeepers to the creepers and the creepers to the jeepers." Ok, now I was completely lost as to what he was talking about. Then I asked, "Are you awake?" He laid back down and said yes, but now I know that he was far from awake. I laughed to myself and couldn't wait until he was awake so I could tell him. At some point during the night the wind woke us both up at the same time and I told him what he said... he had a good laugh out of that.
I think this was the first time I have ever heard him talk in his sleep. I enjoyed it, it kept me entertained. Now if he could just remember what he was dreaming about... :)
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Friday, January 05, 2007
Bulgaria Report
On Tuesday, November 28th we began our trip to Sofia, Bulgaria at 6:00 a.m. Larry Sullivan, Guido Moehler, Ed and Courtney Cantrell and Clint and I were part of the group that went. Thankfully this year Courtney and I were able to go because Eastern European Missions paid for a truck to take about 4,000 Bulgarian Bibles as well as the clothes to Sofia. Therefore, Larry had an empty van and was able to take more people.
The first day, we drove the entire day, going through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and finally stopping in Szeged, Hungary at around 5-6 p.m. for the night. Once we got settled in our hotel rooms for the night we made our way back out to walk through the city and find somewhere to eat. We found a pretty good Chinese restaurant in which I believe we ended up each eating for an equivalent of 2 euros per person or something really crazy like that. (That is approximately $2.60 according to the awful exchange rate at the moment.)
The next morning (29th) we left by 7:00 a.m. to eat breakfast and be on our way. Again, it was a long trip that lasted most of the day. We continued our drive through Hungary, crossed into Serbia and finally into Bulgaria. I think we made it there by around 6:00 p.m. We had rented two apartments for the week and we found the place and got our things settled in our rooms. That evening we had been invited by Tom and Sheryl Black, the missionaries there, to their house for dinner. It was nice getting a home cooked meal which tasted wonderful and getting to know them.
On Thursday the 30th there was not much work that we could really do because every year there is always a lot of paper work that has to be done in order to allow all the clothes into the country and for us to give them away to people. The Blacks and other members of their congregation were trying to take care of all the paper work on that. So we basically had a free day to relax and see the city. We got up and had breakfast together and then headed out into the city.
One of the first things that I noticed and that was hard to believe about Sofia, is the number of casinos, expensive cars, the brand new shopping mall and the people walking around in very nice clothes who are obviously well off. The thing that is so strange about all those things is that just down the street or even across the street from any one of those things you can see buildings where people live that are falling down, people looking for food in the dumpster and people who are obviously not well off. It is amazing and hard to understand how such a contrast can coexist in one city.
Some of the other things that we saw that day were some really old churches from as early as the 4th century. There were also some very beautiful cathedrals there as well. Just click on the picture above to see other photos of Sofia and the entire trip. One thing that we did visit was a flea market. A lot of people who sell things here make hand made items such as lace and tablecloths. There were also hand painted or carved things that were special to Bulgaria. It was hard to walk through there seeing the desperation in their faces that they wanted you to buy something from them. I'm sure some of them make their living at selling what they can make. We did buy a few special things there. It would have been hard not to. After lunch we had all decided that we would split up for a while. Ed, Courtney, Clint and I wanted to walk around some more to see the city and we decided to meet up with Larry and Guido later. After more walking and my knee began to ache we met up with Larry and Guido at the Mall of Sofia. For the evening we decided to go see a movie. We watched Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie and we really enjoyed it. After the movie we went back to the apartments and tried to get some rest for the next day (we were still unsure of what would be going on at that point).
On Friday, December 1st we met again to have breakfast but Larry had gone to meet with the Blacks and other church members to work out the rest of the paper work. To make a long story short (oh wait, it's too late for that) the rest of us ended up going to see another movie because there was still nothing we could do to help. (We saw Deja Vu which is also very good and interesting) That evening there was a Bible study at the Black's house so we all met there to get the news that the customs would not allow us to give away the shoes. We were allowed to give away the clothes, but none of the shoes. That day Larry had to dig out all the shoes and they boxed them up separately and put them back into the van for us to take out of the country when we left.
On Saturday, December 2nd we got up, had breakfast and headed over to the Black's house. Right by their house there is a club that they rented the room to distribute the clothes in. It is much bigger than the room where they meet for church. We got all the chairs organized and labeled for the clothes when they came. We waited for a while for the truck to come deliver the clothes and then (as you can see in the picture above) the men threw all the bags of clothes in the room while the rest of us opened the bags and put them in their labeled places. We had them separated as far as men's/women's and shirts/skirts/coats, etc. We had approximately an hour to an hour and a half to organize all the clothes and eat lunch before the first group of people came at 1:00 p.m. Thankfully we got it done, but it was sure tight. I was in charge of watching the women's coats and making sure that everyone only took one. We had to make a limit to the people who came in first so that the people at the end of the day would also have the chance to get a coat too. From 1:00 to 6:00 we let in a group of 20-25 people for 30 minutes each and then they would leave and another group would come. At 6:00 p.m. we opened the doors and let anyone come in and take as many clothes as they wanted or could carry.
This experience had its really good points and hard points. One of the best things about it was seeing the smiles on the faces of the people who appreciated all that had been done to bring the clothes for them. They were truly joyful that God had once again blessed them with so much! I think one of the hard points was just seeing how much these people had and how happy they were. I know I have more than enough things and yet sometimes I am still not satisfied. I think this experience was good for me to see how God really does provide our needs when we trust in Him!
After the last group came in we cleaned up the rest of the clothes. We still had about 20 bags of clothes left, but the woman who owned the club said that we could leave them there and she would give them to the kids who come to the club. We were so thankful for that, it was an answer to another prayer! After cleaning up the Blacks took us to a Bulgarian restaurant and we ate some wonderful food! Needless to say, that night we were absolutely exhausted and tried to get some more rest for the next day's journey.
On Sunday, December 3rd we went to church and were able to see all of the people who had come the day before. Many of them had big smiles on their faces as they greeted us and continued to tell us thank you! Larry preached in English and one of the members translated into Bulgarian. At the end of the church service they presented us all with presents and thanked us for the work that we did. We had a short period of time to talk with a few people and then we were off again on our way home. Just a couple of hours down the road we arrived at the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. As we left Bulgaria we had to show them the paperwork for the shoes that we had to take out of the country and that part didn't take very long. They approved it and let us go through. Then we got to the Serbian border and had to wait for about 5 hours while Larry tried to get them to allow us to take the shoes through. Basically, no one wanted our shoes but no one knew what the laws were about taking used shoes through the border. We finally had a nice man give us the approval we needed and we basically would have to make sure to present our papers once again at the border as we left Serbia. We finally left and drove to Novi Sad, Serbia and found the hotel we had booked for the night. Who would have thought that our hotel would have been so nice in Serbia. We told Guido that he did a good job booking our hotel and he said it was the only one he could find on the internet. :)
On Monday, December 4th, we drove more and made it to the Serbian/Hungarian border. Once again it was no problem for Serbia to allow us to leave with the shoes but as we got to the Hungarian border they didn't know what to do with us. We were actually hoping to get rid of the shoes, but no one wanted them in the other countries. Finally, we were allowed to go through and we ended up leaving the shoes in Hungary. We hope that some people who need them were able to get some. After that it was smooth sailing back through Slovakia, the Czech Republic and back to Germany.
As we crossed the border into Germany it was obvious that it was December because all the houses were lit up with the special Christmas decorations from the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). It was so beautiful and so good to be back in Germany!
The first day, we drove the entire day, going through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and finally stopping in Szeged, Hungary at around 5-6 p.m. for the night. Once we got settled in our hotel rooms for the night we made our way back out to walk through the city and find somewhere to eat. We found a pretty good Chinese restaurant in which I believe we ended up each eating for an equivalent of 2 euros per person or something really crazy like that. (That is approximately $2.60 according to the awful exchange rate at the moment.)
The next morning (29th) we left by 7:00 a.m. to eat breakfast and be on our way. Again, it was a long trip that lasted most of the day. We continued our drive through Hungary, crossed into Serbia and finally into Bulgaria. I think we made it there by around 6:00 p.m. We had rented two apartments for the week and we found the place and got our things settled in our rooms. That evening we had been invited by Tom and Sheryl Black, the missionaries there, to their house for dinner. It was nice getting a home cooked meal which tasted wonderful and getting to know them.
On Thursday the 30th there was not much work that we could really do because every year there is always a lot of paper work that has to be done in order to allow all the clothes into the country and for us to give them away to people. The Blacks and other members of their congregation were trying to take care of all the paper work on that. So we basically had a free day to relax and see the city. We got up and had breakfast together and then headed out into the city.
One of the first things that I noticed and that was hard to believe about Sofia, is the number of casinos, expensive cars, the brand new shopping mall and the people walking around in very nice clothes who are obviously well off. The thing that is so strange about all those things is that just down the street or even across the street from any one of those things you can see buildings where people live that are falling down, people looking for food in the dumpster and people who are obviously not well off. It is amazing and hard to understand how such a contrast can coexist in one city.
Some of the other things that we saw that day were some really old churches from as early as the 4th century. There were also some very beautiful cathedrals there as well. Just click on the picture above to see other photos of Sofia and the entire trip. One thing that we did visit was a flea market. A lot of people who sell things here make hand made items such as lace and tablecloths. There were also hand painted or carved things that were special to Bulgaria. It was hard to walk through there seeing the desperation in their faces that they wanted you to buy something from them. I'm sure some of them make their living at selling what they can make. We did buy a few special things there. It would have been hard not to. After lunch we had all decided that we would split up for a while. Ed, Courtney, Clint and I wanted to walk around some more to see the city and we decided to meet up with Larry and Guido later. After more walking and my knee began to ache we met up with Larry and Guido at the Mall of Sofia. For the evening we decided to go see a movie. We watched Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie and we really enjoyed it. After the movie we went back to the apartments and tried to get some rest for the next day (we were still unsure of what would be going on at that point).
On Friday, December 1st we met again to have breakfast but Larry had gone to meet with the Blacks and other church members to work out the rest of the paper work. To make a long story short (oh wait, it's too late for that) the rest of us ended up going to see another movie because there was still nothing we could do to help. (We saw Deja Vu which is also very good and interesting) That evening there was a Bible study at the Black's house so we all met there to get the news that the customs would not allow us to give away the shoes. We were allowed to give away the clothes, but none of the shoes. That day Larry had to dig out all the shoes and they boxed them up separately and put them back into the van for us to take out of the country when we left.
On Saturday, December 2nd we got up, had breakfast and headed over to the Black's house. Right by their house there is a club that they rented the room to distribute the clothes in. It is much bigger than the room where they meet for church. We got all the chairs organized and labeled for the clothes when they came. We waited for a while for the truck to come deliver the clothes and then (as you can see in the picture above) the men threw all the bags of clothes in the room while the rest of us opened the bags and put them in their labeled places. We had them separated as far as men's/women's and shirts/skirts/coats, etc. We had approximately an hour to an hour and a half to organize all the clothes and eat lunch before the first group of people came at 1:00 p.m. Thankfully we got it done, but it was sure tight. I was in charge of watching the women's coats and making sure that everyone only took one. We had to make a limit to the people who came in first so that the people at the end of the day would also have the chance to get a coat too. From 1:00 to 6:00 we let in a group of 20-25 people for 30 minutes each and then they would leave and another group would come. At 6:00 p.m. we opened the doors and let anyone come in and take as many clothes as they wanted or could carry.
This experience had its really good points and hard points. One of the best things about it was seeing the smiles on the faces of the people who appreciated all that had been done to bring the clothes for them. They were truly joyful that God had once again blessed them with so much! I think one of the hard points was just seeing how much these people had and how happy they were. I know I have more than enough things and yet sometimes I am still not satisfied. I think this experience was good for me to see how God really does provide our needs when we trust in Him!
After the last group came in we cleaned up the rest of the clothes. We still had about 20 bags of clothes left, but the woman who owned the club said that we could leave them there and she would give them to the kids who come to the club. We were so thankful for that, it was an answer to another prayer! After cleaning up the Blacks took us to a Bulgarian restaurant and we ate some wonderful food! Needless to say, that night we were absolutely exhausted and tried to get some more rest for the next day's journey.
On Sunday, December 3rd we went to church and were able to see all of the people who had come the day before. Many of them had big smiles on their faces as they greeted us and continued to tell us thank you! Larry preached in English and one of the members translated into Bulgarian. At the end of the church service they presented us all with presents and thanked us for the work that we did. We had a short period of time to talk with a few people and then we were off again on our way home. Just a couple of hours down the road we arrived at the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. As we left Bulgaria we had to show them the paperwork for the shoes that we had to take out of the country and that part didn't take very long. They approved it and let us go through. Then we got to the Serbian border and had to wait for about 5 hours while Larry tried to get them to allow us to take the shoes through. Basically, no one wanted our shoes but no one knew what the laws were about taking used shoes through the border. We finally had a nice man give us the approval we needed and we basically would have to make sure to present our papers once again at the border as we left Serbia. We finally left and drove to Novi Sad, Serbia and found the hotel we had booked for the night. Who would have thought that our hotel would have been so nice in Serbia. We told Guido that he did a good job booking our hotel and he said it was the only one he could find on the internet. :)
On Monday, December 4th, we drove more and made it to the Serbian/Hungarian border. Once again it was no problem for Serbia to allow us to leave with the shoes but as we got to the Hungarian border they didn't know what to do with us. We were actually hoping to get rid of the shoes, but no one wanted them in the other countries. Finally, we were allowed to go through and we ended up leaving the shoes in Hungary. We hope that some people who need them were able to get some. After that it was smooth sailing back through Slovakia, the Czech Republic and back to Germany.
As we crossed the border into Germany it was obvious that it was December because all the houses were lit up with the special Christmas decorations from the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). It was so beautiful and so good to be back in Germany!
Erich's studio
We were invited to our friend's art studio also at the end of November. He is one of Pam's students and he has been invited to teach an art course at Oxford this summer. So in order to practice teaching in English, he invited all of the Americans to his studio. There we learned how to create our own Christmas cards. I have to admit it was quite fun even though I have never considered myself artistic in any way. First we had to draw a sketch of what we wanted our cards to look like. Then we took a piece of wood, a piece of carbon paper and our sketch and simply traced over our drawing in order to trace it onto the piece of wood. Then we had to carve out our sketch in the wood. Afterwards we chose what color paint we wanted to use, painted it onto the wood and pressed the wood onto a piece of paper. It was very interesting and we all had a good time. It was fun seeing how everyone's turned out.
Thanksgiving in Dresden
Wow, I am so behind on my blog! I am just now blogging about Thanksgiving. This year all the Americans in the Saxony area got together for Thanksgiving in the church building in Dresden. We had people from Leipzig, Oelsnitz, Dresden and Chemnitz there! It was really good and the food was wonderful as always. I made sweet potato casserole which I must say turned out very good. Clint made cole slaw and it was very tasty as well. Clint also made his now famous peanut butter cream pie and it did not last long because everyone loves it! This year I was sad that we forgot to take a group photo so I thought I would post this cute picture of Clint holding Alex Carroll. His parents are Randy and Bri and are missionaries in Dresden. He was very cuddly that day. I also got to hold him and he was so tired that he fell asleep not too long afterwards.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Ice Skating
Back in November my friend Jacqueline invited Clint and me to go ice skating at an outdoor rink in Chemnitz. We had a really good time and then afterwards went to her house and ate dinner with her family. We played the game "Sorry" which in German is called "Mensch ärger Dich nicht." We had such a fun evening!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wish List Update
Hello everyone! We just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has sent us packages and Christmas presents over the last few weeks. We are so grateful for the love you have shown us. I also wanted to point out that I made an update to our Wish List. I really should have added this when I first wrote it, but I just thought about it. Honestly, this is the most important thing to us right now and it truly could sum up everything we want/need for the next 2 years. Well, enough of the rambling, I will paste the update below.
Wish List
If you really want to help us out and want to know what we really need, then you can send money to our supporting congregation. We are still trying to raise funds (always) and this would be our #1 wish from anyone who wants to support the work we are doing in Germany. You can send a check made out to South Yukon Church of Christ. Please indicate on the check or envelope our names. For example, you can write Everhart Missions on the check in the memo.
Please send money to:
South Yukon Church of Christ
11700 NW 10th
Yukon, OK 73099
Wish List
If you really want to help us out and want to know what we really need, then you can send money to our supporting congregation. We are still trying to raise funds (always) and this would be our #1 wish from anyone who wants to support the work we are doing in Germany. You can send a check made out to South Yukon Church of Christ. Please indicate on the check or envelope our names. For example, you can write Everhart Missions on the check in the memo.
Please send money to:
South Yukon Church of Christ
11700 NW 10th
Yukon, OK 73099
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas!
Clint and I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hopefully I will update soon and let you all know what we have been up to for the past month and let you know how we celebrated Christmas. We love you!!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Wittenberg
The weekend that the Vienna Studies students were with us we went to Wittenberg. I had never been there so it was very interesting. I learned a lot about Martin Luther here. In the picture above you can see the Church where Luther posted the 95 theses and there is also a museum called Lutherhaus (Luther house). It was once a monastery and where Luther lived. We were able to see the first copy of the Bible in German that he translated and one of the earliest copies of "A Mighty Fortress" which was also written by Luther. Around the church's tower you can read the words "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" which means "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
Thursday, November 09, 2006
My sweet niece, Ashlyn!
I know it's not good to brag but.... :) I have a really cute niece named Ashlyn and she is 20 months old today! I love you Ashlyn!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Vienna Studies Group in Chemnitz
At the end of October we had a group come from the Vienna Studies Program with students from Oklahoma Christian University, Cascade College, and Rochester College. They came to help pack clothing for the Bulgaria clothing drive. Every year we send a van load of clothing to the church in Sofia, Bulgaria so that the people will have warmth for the winter. The students helped pack over 2 tons of clothes and only in one day! They were all very hard workers and we were very appreciative of their help. Since they finished early we were able to take them around Chemnitz at the end of the day on Friday and Saturday we took a trip to Wittenberg. In the picture are the two girls that stayed with us- Amanda and Leana.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Our hiking trip
One Saturday in October we went hiking with our friends Sophia, Nadine and Patrick. We went to a village called Poberschau in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains). It is a beautiful area and it was the perfect weekend to go when all the leaves were beautiful colors and the weather was really nice. We ended up hiking for 4 hours and were finally back to our cars by the time it was dark. We had a great time and were all a bit tired afterwards but it was well worth it. I have some really amazing pictures that you should check out by clicking on this picture.
Filzmoos, Austria
The first week of October I went to Austria for a ladies' retreat. This is the third year I have been here and every year I love it more and more. Not only is it always wonderful to meet so many other Christian women from around Germany, Austria and Switzerland but Filzmoos is a very beautiful place! We usually have free time in the afternoons to hike, relax, or have coffee and cake. I was able to do all three. This picture shows me hiking with Bri, Alex and Anita. Kristi was taking the picture. Of course later we stopped to have coffee and cake as well! During the week I started to get sick and fortunately they have a spa at the hotel we were staying at and I was able to take a bath that is specifically for colds. They put eucalyptus and peppermint oils in the bath and you are supposed to breath it in. It was so nice and relaxing. These Europeans know how to get 'er done! :)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Trip with Allison and Grady
Also at the end of September we took a Saturday to go with Grady and Allison Maass to Weimar. In particular we wanted to see Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Clint and I had never been to one and it was something we should see while we were in Germany. It definitely was sobering and emotional to see but I think it is something that I needed to experience. Here is a picture of us all in front of a bell tower near the camp site. This was built as a memorial to the camp.
Clint and Snickers
Larry just celebrated a birthday at the end of September and we had coffee and cake to celebrate. Here is a picture of Clint and Snickers at the party. In the background you can see Larry and Pam playing ping pong. :) You can also see that it wasn't too long ago when it was warm weather. Alas, the winds have changed. :(
Tea time
Ever since Clint and I took our trip to Scotland we have had a new appreciation for "tea time". We also like to enjoy our tea time by getting our Polish pottery out. After we got married we were able to buy a matching set of dishes in Poland. We have really enjoyed getting them out and enjoying meals, coffee and tea with our friends.
Actually, here in Germany "coffee time" is a big thing and I have also come to enjoy that as well. Before I moved here I didn't even like coffee but I must say that German coffee is superior to American coffee. But whether you like coffee or not the fellowship is the best thing about "coffee time". You sit around with friends and discuss the things about your week or what is on your heart and mind. This is a tradition that I hope to hold on to for a very long time!
Catching up...
Back in September our friend Sophia (standing next to me) won 4 free tickets to Babelsberg Filmpark. It is kind of a like a German version of Universal Studies. They show how they have filmed certain movies and television shows that were filmed in Germany and some that were special to East Germany during GDR times. It was pretty interesting and we had a lot of fun with Sophia and her friend Nadine. You can see more pictures of us at the park if you click on the "My links" button to the right and click on my Flickr photo link. I try to keep the photos I take updated on there as much as possible so you can check back from time to time and see what is going on even when I have been really bad about updating on here! :)
Thursday, November 02, 2006
The First Snow
This morning we woke up in Chemnitz to the first snow of the season! I don't think I am really ready for that season, but I guess I will have to deal with it. As you can tell, it wasn't a lot of snow but it has stuck around on the roofs until at least noon which is pretty impressive since the sun is shining. Well I hope you are all having a wonderful day! Hopefully soon I will do another update on the last month or two's activities. There has been a lot going on here.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Support the Work in Chemnitz
If you want to help us continue working in Chemnitz, then you can send money to our supporting congregation. We are still trying to raise funds (always) and this would help us to continue to live here and do what we feel God has called us to do. You can be just as involved in spreading God's love in Germany no matter where you live. Please pray diligently about how you can be a part of this ministry. Right now our plan is to be working full time for the Church in Chemnitz until August 2009. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. If you would like to know more about our ministry, please contact us and we can tell you about it. You can send a check made out to Soldier Creek Church of Christ. Please indicate on the check or envelope our names. For example, you can write Everhart Missions on the check in the memo. Also, please indicate whether it is a one time donation or a monthly commitment. Please send money to:
Soldier Creek Church of Christ
Attention- Missions (Everhart)
417 Monroe Avenue NW
Piedmont, OK 73078
Telephone: 405-373-3550
Email- info@soldiercreekchurchofchrist.com
Soldier Creek Church of Christ
Attention- Missions (Everhart)
417 Monroe Avenue NW
Piedmont, OK 73078
Telephone: 405-373-3550
Email- info@soldiercreekchurchofchrist.com
A living snapshot of love and evangelism
Please read this article about Clyde and Gwen Antwine. They are the reason I am in Germany and have seen the importance of mission work in the world. I love you Clyde and Gwen!
Friday, October 13, 2006
Claire is 1!
My niece Claire turned 1 yesterday! Happy Birthday Claire! I can't believe she has already experienced one year. My other niece, Ashlyn is now 19 months old and that is also amazing to me. It makes me happy to see pictures of them as they grow and go through new phases in their lives, but it also makes me really sad that I am not there to share those moments with them. I am so proud to be their aunt but so torn to be so far away. I talked to my niece Ashlyn on the phone a couple of weeks ago and I heard her say "hi". It was so plain and clear and I almost cried. Aren't babies so wonderful!? Sigh... just pray for me because I think my heart is breaking.
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