Running in the Rain

One of my favorite parts of running a race is seeing the photos taken by the race photographers. Usually I look absolutely terrible in these pictures but every once in a while there's a winner. Sometimes I'll even buy a few of the shots when they offer a sale months later. So it makes sense that I just now got around to buying my race photos from the RnR Madrid Half Marathon back in April.

While training for a race in the arid desert climate of Madrid, rain was the last thing I anticipated. (Go ahead with your rain in Spain on the plains jokes, I'll wait.) In my months of training, I hadn't encountered rain once while on a run. So you can imagine my despair when, come race day, the sky was overcast and the rain fell steadily. It let up for the start and I prayed desperately for it to hold off a few more hours. When the heavy rains began pelting me at mile 3, there was no turning back. I was in it for the long haul and I had no choice but to keep moving forward and finish the race. It ended up raining hard for the next ten miles and by the time I crossed the finish line I was completely drenched and rocking the drowned rat look.

I looked something like this.

I've been reflecting on this experience recently as I participate in another race - the race of life. Yes, I know it sounds cheesy but bear with me here. My life as a teacher is divided into four major "races" with visible finish lines. The first race is completing the fall semester and being rewarded with Christmas vacation. The second race is completing the stretch between Christmas and Spring Break, and the third race is like one of those super intense Spartan Sprint 5Ks as we return from Spring Break and barrel towards the biggest finish line of them all: summer vacation. The fourth race is spending the summer raising support to do it all over again the next year. I cross that finish line when I reach 100% of my support for that year.

Sometimes those races go exactly as planned but more often than not, things come up. I trip over surprises like untied shoelaces, and obstacles block my path like potholes in the road. Spiritual attacks strike me from every side like a torrential downpour of rain. Sometimes I have to stop and catch my breath. Sometimes I think about quitting. But every time God gives me the strength to keep moving forward and finish the race.

I've been studying scripture passages about patience and perseverance as I grapple with the latest surprise, Germany's minimum wage law. It is still beyond my understanding how I will raise the rest of my support in the next two weeks. This unexpected spike in support needs has taken me by complete surprise, much in the same way that the rain did on race day.

While reading Romans 5, I was blown away by the Message version.

We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary - we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (Romans 5:3-5, The Message)

There are so many great images in this passage! Passionate patience. The tempered steel of virtue. Alert expectancy. These are the kinds characteristics that I strive for as I actively wait for God to do a great work in and through and for me. In the meantime I shout my praise to the Lord who is indeed my Everything.



Please join me in praying for this final $565 in monthly support to come in. Pray that it will pour in so fast that I won't be able to "round up enough containers to hold everything" as God generously provides.

If you'd like to participate in God's provision, please visit my personal giving page and sign up to make a monthly gift of any size.

BFA Grad 2015

I had the awesome privilege of passing through Kandern for a few days on my way home from Spain in mid June. Part of my reasoning for this detour was so that I could drop off the majority of the luggage I'd taken to Spain with me, and the other part was to take some dedicated time to say goodbye to some very special people. It was such a gift for me to be able to surprise the middle schoolers at their year-end awards ceremony, attend graduation and watch my first seventh grade class turn their tassels, and have some time to say goodbye to the friends of mine who will not be in Germany this August when I return. I enjoyed running the old familiar trails of the Black Forest with my friends, and I also had the opportunity to hep students study for their finals and participate in several planning meetings for this upcoming school year.

Surprising the middle schoolers! (Photo: Heather)

Running in the forest - I've missed this!

Reunited with my best friend after a year apart

A special family I've taught - the first of this "Kingdom" to graduate!

What a joy to have known and loved these girls since they were in seventh grade! 

The first of my reigning "Dynasty" to graduate!

My small group girls graduated this year!

The first of this "Kingdom" to graduate!

These grads (along with several others not pictured) were in my very first seventh grade class at BFA.  Words can't express how grateful I am to have been able to stick around to see them graduate!

he heard me praying

Blessed be God - he heard me praying. He proved he's on my side; I've thrown my lot in with him. Now I'm jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to him. (Psalm 28:6-7, The Message)

I've reached the halfway point of my personal work week here in Germany. It has been a whirlwind couple of days for me, and I am thankful for God's grace to allow me to get everything done so far. I am feeling overwhelmed with thanksgiving right now, so I just thought I should share a few of my praises with you.

Thankful moment #1: Knowing that I would need to hit the ground running in Germany, I prayed for good sleep during my long flight. I even bought some ZzzQuil sleep aid pills and took a do on the plane. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of DEEP sleep I was able to get during the flight and how awake I felt when I deplaned in Zurich on Wednesday morning!

Thankful moment #2: I made it to my new apartment a few hours later and began the task of setting up my phone and wireless router. I had arranged for my service to be moved to the new place while I was away so that it would be functional by the time I arrived. As plugged in all the wires I realized that all my paperwork for the account was at my old apartment and figured I would probably have to go get them in order to set up my new wifi network. On a whim, I opened my computer to see what would happen. Without skipping a beat it connected to my network, Bazinga, and I was surfing the web. WHAT?! If you know anything about phone/internet service in Germany, you will know that it is NEVER this easy.

Thankful moment #3: It had rained for most of Wednesday morning, but I was scheduled to move that afternoon. The rain held off until the very end, and I had a full moving crew of strong friends and former students who worked seemingly effortlessly to transport all my furniture to the new place and even set up my washer and dryer for me! We finished in less than two hours! Because of that I was free to spend the rest of the day unpacking and settling into the new apartment.

Thankful moment #4: On Thursday morning I met a former student and her mom at my old apartment to clean. Thanks to their cheerful and efficient cleaning job, I was able to focus on scrubbing the bathroom while they made the rest of the apartment shine, and all in two hours! All that remained was to defrost the freezer, and I was done with cleaning by noon! That freed me up to spend the rest of the day doing more unpacking/settling in at the new apartment. I also was able to pack two of my three suitcases for Spain and get the rest of my personal effects into the basement for storage.

Thankful moment #5: On Friday morning I met with the BFA housing coordinator and my German landlord to officially check out of the old apartment. The place wasn't in super great shape when we took it over, and because of that there was some damage to the walls and floors that we simply weren't able to fix. Thankfully our landlord is a very understanding and kind man who did not hold us responsible for the damage. There were a lot of things that he probably could have been pretty upset about, but he was gracious and wished me well in Spain.

Thankful moment #6: NO. JETLAG. Yep, you read that right. Did I really cross six time zones?? God knew I needed energy and strength to get all those things done by Friday and I truly believe that He (and my ZzzQuil!) allowed me to sleep soundly. Because I awoke each morning refreshed and well-rested, I was able to get in three full work days and accomplish everything on time.

Thankful moment #7: I HIT 90%!!! Those of you who follow me on Facebook know I had to kick my support campaign into overdrive as I was not adequately funded when I left America on Tuesday. I only had about 73% of my goal and needed to reach 90% to be cleared by TeachBeyond to continue on to Spain. Between new supporters joining my team for the first time and old supporters increasing their giving, my support level jumped to 90% in just two days! PRAISE THE LORD!

Yesterday afternoon the girl subleasing from me this year arrived and I was able to show her around the new apartment, then we both got to meet and talk with our landlords for a bit before we parted ways. It was a strange feeling to have "given away" two apartments in one day and to officially be "homeless" here in Kandern. I actually got a little flutter in my stomach as I pulled out of the driveway, like I was about to embark on a big adventure.

For the remainder of my stay in Kandern I'm staying with my good friends Mike and Kari, who have already been fabulous hosts. This morning I slept in until about 11:00 and entered the kitchen feeling bad about sleeping so late, only to find that I was just in time for crepes and coffee! We took our time, savoring each bite while catching each other up on our summers.

My final task before I can be cleared to depart BFA is to finish updating my curriculum course binders so that they can be passed on to the new science teacher. Today I spent about seven hours at the middle school cleaning up my classroom and office space, and getting my supplies and materials organized.

The supply cabinet is reorganized and ready to go!

Saying farewell to my classroom for awhile ...

Now that everything is in its place, I can focus on finishing my curriculum work. Please pray that I can stay focused and finish this final task quickly! I depart for Spain on Thursday but my goal is to finish this work by Tuesday evening so that I can relax before flying Thursday morning.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement this week! Before we know it I will be reporting to you from SPAIN!!

Seeds of Support

Back in April I had the huge privilege of attending an educator's conference in Turkey. It was a wonderful time of connecting and networking with other Christian educators from around the world and hearing stories of God's faithfulness. Unfortunately due to safety concerns I can't share any more details about the conference with you, but there is one thought I have been turning over and over in my head ever since the speaker shared it in one of the general sessions. 

While talking about the potential of our students, the speaker quoted Robert H. Schuller as saying, "Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count all the apples in one seed."

This struck me as I thought about my own students. I am a "numbers person" so I am always counting up my students - doing head counts for attendance, making lab partners, or arranging teams for a game or group project. While I have an exact number to define the number of students in my class, I have no way of knowing how many people's lives they will touch when they leave my classroom. According to Schuller my classroom is an apple full of seeds, each one bearing infinite potential.

Over the years I have watched my students move up to the high school and take on leadership roles, find their niches, and develop the gifts and talents with which God has blessed them. Many of my proudest moments are when I see my former students serve on the annual BFA spring break service trips. So a few weeks after my conference in Turkey, there I sat at Black Forest Christian Fellowship's Sunday service listening to the high schoolers give reports on their weeks spent in places such as Romania, Bulgaria, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso. As I scanned the faces of the students on each team while they stood before the church, I couldn't help but count. I counted every student who had ever been in one of my classes in the middle school. Out of the 100+ students who had given up half of their spring break to serve, 43 of them had darkened the doorway of my classroom in the last five years. As I listened to their stories and testimonies, I went back to the quote about apples and seeds.

Imagine, if you will, one possible chain of events that starts with you being one of my monthly supporters. Thanks to you and the rest of my team, I am able to teach science in the middle school at BFA. A student takes my class and begins to enjoy science for the first time in his life. Student moves up to high school and attends a service trip to work with orphans in Africa. Student's love for Jesus radiates from him and attracts the attention of many of the young boys. Because of student's affection for the young boys, they come to know the love of Jesus and decide that they have worth. Young boys grow up confident in Christ's love and work hard to attend school so that they, too, can share God's word with others. One young boy becomes the man who cures cancer. Another young boy becomes the next president of his nation. Another young boy becomes a famous athlete who uses his fame to tell the next generation of young boys about Jesus. The possibilities really are endless. 

Don't you want to be a part of this awesome opportunity? Wouldn't you like to plant a seed that could sprout into an orchard of apples, each one filled with more seeds to sow? This is not something that can be accomplished by just one person, but instead requires every person! This can only happen when a network of people come together towards a common goal - to make disciples of all nations. One person can not disciple the entire world, but one person can disciple another person, who can disciple another, and so on. We know that this is also due to the work of God, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

So because this theme of planting seeds has been on my mind so much lately, I will be using an apple tree to track my support levels this summer. Each apple represents $100/month. The red apples are for the support and pledges already received, and the white apples represent the current need. For every $100 monthly pledge that is given, one of the six white apples on the tree will turn red. The goal is to fill the tree with red apples before the end of July! 

You may also notice five white apples on the ground - these are the "bonus apples." You can read this post to get the full explanation of the 1- and 2-year goals and hear more details about my upcoming transition to Evangelical Christian Academy in Madrid, Spain.

Maybe you can't commit to $100 a month, but instead $20, $40, or even $60. That's perfectly ok and just as helpful! When you cut open an apple you will often find five seeds. Just think of your $20 pledge as one single seed - with infinite potential - that together with four other "seeds" you can help me turn another apple red!

If you'd like to discuss the possibility of monthly support, please email me at bertschirae@gmail.com or send me a message on Facebook and we can set up a time to chat.

If you have already decided you're ready to help fill the apple tree, visit TeachBeyond's website for options and detailed instructions on how to set up monthly giving or make a special one-time gift.

If you are already on my support team, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your faithful generosity. If you will be joining my support team soon I thank you in advance for letting God use you to help plant seeds in the lives of some very special students. 

stateside update and prayer needs

ahhh, summer

This is my first official stateside update! I have been here in America for about ten days now, and most of that time has been spent getting over jetlag and catching up on some much needed sleep. There is no way I can make you truly understand just how exhausting these last few months have been, or how stressful my last week in Germany really was. What matters is that I survived and am (almost) caught up on sleep. I have been feeling pretty guilty about spending so much of the last week asleep, but the reality is that my body needs rest, and my health is my number one priority. I have also been eating lots of Chipotle burritos and pounding the pavement again in preparation for the Rock’n’Roll Chicago Half Marathon, which is coming up July 20 and will be my third half marathon this year.

Many friends have been asking for more details about Spain and my new role at Evangelical Christian Academy, and I finally have some solid information that I can share with you! Provided my support is in, I will fly to Spain on August 7 -- five years to the day after my very first departure for Germany! I have been offered a fully furnished apartment with a housemate who is already well-established in the community and a fluent Spanish speaker, so that will help with my transition a bit. My role with ECA will be in the middle school teaching a combination of 6^th and 7^th grade math and science courses for one year. I am excited for this chance to partner with another international Christian school for the year, invest in more third culture kids, and put to good use all the Spanish that I studied so diligently in high school but have yet to use! If you'd like to know more details about ECA, please visit their website here.

The first way you can pray right now is for the visa application process. The Spanish visa is rather complicated and I have already been turned away from the Spanish consulate once for not having the necessary endorsements to make my documents and their translations recognized in Spain. I will return to the consulate with what I hope is the proper documentation and try again in mid-August. In the meantime, I can be in Spain for up to 90 days on a tourist visa so please pray that this issue is resolved before my 90 days are up!

The second way you can pray is for my financial support. My account with TeachBeyond is finally out of the red and thanks to the generous gifts of so many friends my bills for June and July were fully covered! I am now looking ahead to my new expenses that will begin August 1 in Spain – mainly rent, utilities, and groceries. I will not have a car during that year, so that should minimize my expenses quite a bit. My goals for support raising are two-fold: first and foremost, I need to raise the minimum necessary to spend this year in Spain ($2,000/month).  Second, I would like to raise as much as possible this summer to go towards my return to Germany in the fall of 2015, where the budget is a bit higher ($2,500/month).

Currently I am at 71% of my one-year goal ($1,420/month pledged) and 57% of my two-year goal. That means I am looking for a minimum of $580 a month in new partnerships. At the very least, my one-year goal must be met by the end of July in order to go to Spain. Please join me in praying for God’s provision in the weeks to come. If you are not already part of my support team and would like more information about how to join, please visit TeachBeyond’s website and consider what role God might have for you in this vital ministry.

refreshed

That's how a colleague and the parent of one of my students described me a week ago when she saw me for the first time in a few months. Initially I was taken aback, but after a bit of self-reflection I realized that it was a more accurate statement than I would have imagined.

As many of you already know, I had the tremendous privilege of spending the summer here in Germany. After five straight summers of touring the Midwest and raising support, I made a decision to take a break and truly rest this summer so that I could go into my final year at BFA without feeling frazzled and rushed and worn out, like in years past. Going into it, I was excited for the opportunity to see Kandern in a new light, interact with the members of my community in a different way, practice my German, and most importantly, to rest. I dog-sat for three different families, kid-sat for two different families, joined a summer small group, attended countless weekly church picnics, and braved the German pool and its Speedo-clad patrons over twenty times! Then I moved into a new apartment, which I furnished and settled into throughout the month of July. I also spent a decent amount of time working through some of my curriculum, updating lesson plans and files so that next year I can make a smooth handoff to the new science teacher.

But the summer has also had its challenges. Not being in America has turned out to be so much difficult than I ever thought possible. Also, this is now the longest I've been away from my family, ever. I'm hoping that I can afford a trip home this December to spend Christmas at home, but if I can't, then by the time I get home I will have been away from America and my family for two whole years. Furthermore, I missed out on valuable opportunities to connect with friends and supporters, people I would typically meet up with or run into during my time in the States. My support account has suffered because of this...since I did not make any presentations at my supporting churches, there were no natural opportunities to casually chat with strangers about my role at BFA, no one to slip me a $20 bill in a handshake, no one to hand me a check because they were moved by my stories.

But when I was told that I looked refreshed? Despite my initial disbelief, it's true. Refreshed is never a word I would have EVER used to describe myself at the beginning of a new school year. Every year of teaching thus far has begun with me exhausted from a summer of support raising, arriving mere weeks or days before school began, frantically trying to get everything ready for the first day, and generally just feeling completely overwhelmed. So this is a new feeling, refreshed.

And yet, despite this new feeling of being refreshed, there is a strong undercurrent of uncertainty and anxiety as I am coming to grips with this being my last year at BFA. School begins tomorrow. Everything is starting new and fresh but for me it is officially the beginning of the end. If you know me at all you know I hate change, I hate goodbyes, and I hate crying in public. All of these things are on the horizon for me this year, in terrifyingly large doses.

I would greatly covet your prayers this year as I begin to process and work through the idea of leaving this amazing place -  with its talented teachers, dear friends, precious students, and breathtaking views. I don't know what the future holds beyond this school year (and even that is not a guarantee!), but I do know that I can trust God. He has never failed me, He is faithful, and above all, He is GOOD.

In your everlasting arms
All the pieces of my life
From beginning to the end
I can trust you

In your never failing love
You work everything for good
God whatever comes my way
I will trust you

Chris Tomlin, Sovereign

BFA Work Weeks

Every summer each BFA staff member is required to serve two work weeks. Because this is my first summer NOT spent support raising, it is the first time I've actually been able to fulfill my work week requirements. So, for the last two weeks my friend and colleague Katrina and I have been completing various maintenance jobs out at the middle school.

My first project was designed especially for me: I got to organize all of our supply cabinets! Some people hate organizing, but I love it. Katrina was especially grateful for my work on her social studies cabinet.

Another huge task we tackled was to weed our courtyard, where the students hang out and each lunch every day, as well as have their PE classes. In the two months since school let out, the courtyard has grown into a literal carpet of weeds! We both enjoyed weeding because it was so easy to see our progress, which of course we documented over the course of the two weeks. This first picture doesn't really do it justice, but if you look in the background of some of the pictures further down you can see just how bad it was in some spots! We managed to finish half of the courtyard, so the rest will be finished either by other middle school teachers serving their work weeks, or during our all-staff work day right before classes begin.

Some of the other jobs we finished included assembling bookshelves, cabinets, and computer chairs, defrosting and cleaning out the freezers and refrigerators, vacuuming, and carpet shampooing!

Isn't it beautiful? Katrina did a fabulous job!

A fleet of stools ready for service!

Our computer lab is ready for a great year!

We are now just a few weeks away from the beginning of the new school year, which is both exciting and scary! Please be in prayer for our new staff members, many of whom are already here and will begin their German classes on Monday, and others who are still in North America raising support to get here. 

hello monday

Hello Monday. You are my first Monday back in Germany!

Hello new apartment and new roommate. I have chosen the vagabond lifestyle in that this is the third apartment I've lived in, in the past three years! Because so many BFA staff must leave for a year at a time, I become a glorified house sitter by subleasing a place for one year. There are pros and cons to moving every year, but I enjoy the variety and the ability to "start fresh" each year.

Introducing my new roomie, Lexi, to Heitzmann's bakery for the first time!

Hello German bakeries and pastries. I am happy to see you again, though my waistline is not.

Hello new staff members! I have had the chance to meet countless new staff members at BFA over the course of this week, and am looking forward to meeting many more in the weeks to come as the school year kicks off and we jump into things full speed.

Hello old friends! It has been a joy to be reunited with my friends and former students who I have not seen all summer long. Having such joyous reunions lessons the sting of saying goodbye to friends and family in Ohio.

thankful thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

• Reaching 94%! Support levels jumped over the weekend and I was permitted to fly to Germany on Monday. I landed Tuesday evening and jumped right into my responsibilities here on Wednesday - teacher's conference in the morning followed by work at the middle school in the afternoon all this week!
• Uneventful travel. Flying out of Cleveland really stinks. My flight is always delayed or canceled. This time around was no different, but thankfully this time I made my connecting flights to London and Basel.
• Free luggage allowance. Flying on missionary airfare with British Airways means you get three free checked bags. I was warned that since my return flight originated with American Airlines, that I would only receive one free bag. Then my awesome grandma loaded me up with a ton of really useful school supplies and I made plans to check two suitcases and pay for the extra one. That would leave me with a carry-on suitcase and a backpack. So when I checked in I explained my situation and asked about the possibility of checking multiple bags. The ticket agent gladly checked both large suitcases plus my small carry-on suitcase for free! All I had to carry on the plane was my backpack and I didn't have to pay for the checked bags!

summertime arm party

I have recently just finished about 24 hours of travel to get back to Germany. I have a lot to share about my last day in the States, but I am exhausted and so for now I am posting a short and fun post about the Summertime Arm Party that I recently participated in.

An old Moody friend, Ilene, and another blogger, Leonora, hosted this fun bracelet swap and I just had to participate. It has been ages since I sat down to make a bracelet like I used to back in the day. Let me tell you, I was the queen of those embroidery thread bracelets. Unfortunately I did not have hours upon hours to spend knotting cord, but I did manage to whip up a little somethin' somethin' for my swap partner, Nay. She blogs over at Cover to Cover ... and Everything in Between. Go say hi!

Here are the bracelets she sent me! There were some playful ones and some more "mature" ones that would look nice to wear with my nice clothes to school. You probably can't tell from these pics, but the brown cord has a metallic sheen to it - so pretty. Thanks for the arm candy, Nay!

hello monday

Hello Monday.

Hello insane day of blessings. You can bet I'll have a lot to share on Thankful Thursday this week.

Hello 94%! I am so excited! God has done amazing things in the past few weeks and I am so humbled by all that he's done to bring me this far. All that remains is $120/month!

Hello free airport wi-fi. Without you I would have nothing to do for the next hour and a half while waiting for my flight.
Hello Chicago, London, and Basel. "Today" I will visit all three of you, even if it will only be airport visits. I am not looking forward to the long layover in London, but at least I will be in an English-speaking airport.

Hello jet lag. You will strike soon, but I will vanquish you this time!

we are go for launch: 90% and what it means

Let's start with some fabulous news: This week I reached 90.9%! This means TeachBeyond will allow me to fly back to Germany on Monday as planned. Praise the Lord!! After moving my flight from the 6th to the 20th, I was excited about having two extra weeks in America with my family, but at the same time I was anxious about losing two weeks of valuable classroom and lesson prep time. As the days passed and my support status leveled out at 83%, I honestly began to wonder if I would be forced to delay my departure a second time. Doing so would cause me to miss the beginning of teacher's conference, which of course brought me a bit of anxiety. I clung to the promise that God would be faithful to keep His promises, but I was legitimately worried. But, things change quickly and in one day it jumped from 83% to the coveted 90%!

So here's the deal: I am still in need of $200 in monthly support in order to be fully funded. While I have been cleared to fly, I have not reached 100%.  Of course I would love to reach 100% before my plane lifts off Monday afternoon, and the exciting thing is, it's totally possible! All that remains is TEN individuals or families willing to commit $20 a month, EIGHT individuals or families willing to commit $25 a month, FOUR individuals or families willing to commit $50 a month, or TWO individuals or families willing to give $100 a month!

So what do you think? Wouldn't you like to partner with me and become involved in the incredible ministry of Black Forest Academy? If so, visit the TeachBeyond website right now and sign up to become a monthly supporter. You can do so much more than simply put me on a plane. Your support can help students like Sophie, Joyce, and so many others to receive a quality international Christian education at BFA!

If you are unable to offer financial support, please join me in praying that the last 20% will come in quickly!

still

Waiting for another $350 in monthly support.
Waiting for people to stand behind me.
Waiting for clearance to fly on Monday.
Waiting for God to reveal just what it is He's trying to teach me through this.

Trying to communicate the passion I have for serving the students at Black Forest Academy.
Trying to express why it matters.
Trying to find people willing to give cheerfully and sacrificially.
Trying to reach 100% - something I've never been able to do.

Watching God do miraculous things for my fellow support raisers.
Wondering when it will be my turn.
Wanting to be happy for them.
Wishing I weren't jealous of their blessings.

I haven't written my regular weekly posts because there is nothing new to say. I've said everything I know to say, and done everything I know to do, and still I've fallen short. $350 a month short. I am not enough, but God is, and from here on out, it's all Him. I have already had to delay my departure by two weeks and even that wasn't enough. If I don't leave on Monday, I will miss the beginning of my responsibilities - staff meetings and valuable work days necessary for preparing for the start of school.

If you feel led to partner with me financially this year so that I can return to Germany and to my ministry to the students of Black Forest Academy, please visit this page and sign up today to become a monthly supporter (be sure to specify that your gift is for me). I promise, you will not regret it.