Birthe is a new friend I met last week but who had written me when I was in Florida.

My new church is the largest of the German Baptist churches. Our "Friedenskirche" church library is in an open lobby area by the worship center. The cafeteria downstairs is used for coffee time between services, a lunch on Sundays (price 3.50 Euro), as well as a bistro in the evenings, after the innovative "Fiesta" worship at 6 p.m. The associate pastor, Karsten, and his wife Mirjam are super nice, and his speaking is excellent.

There are 3 Mensas (main cafeterias) for the colleges in town, and I ate at this one, too, last week, near the physics and zoology buildings. Many people prayed that my kitchen would be installed properly when I was away, so here is proof of the good news! You may notice that the circle appliance there is a clothes washer (on the far left, you can't see it, is my dryer-- yes-- in the kitchen!)

Willkommen

Welcome to my new life in Braunschweig (otherwise known as "Brunswick")! Inside are some fun, bright posters I got at Ikea for just 10 Euro, for all 3. The lovely marigolds are a gift from my pastor's wife. My front door has a fresh welcome mat saying "casa" in Spanish. Kind of random but it seemed cool. And especially appropriate (after the fact) bec. today Annette asked me if I'd like to join her and a friend on Friday to begin practicing Spanish. Guess I'd better brush up!

These 4 students are new friends who came over for my first pizza and video party on Friday! Yea!

Birthe studies social work and we had lunch at a cafeteria on Friday at the social work college. Pictured with her is Tie, a newer friend from Oklahoma, with the BSU there, who did an exchange semester in a city a few hours away and visited me! She was an amazing help getting my apartment organized.


This palace is actually a re-construction with facade and not the real thing, of a Residential Palace built here in 1837 but messed up by the war in the 40's. It's where there is a brand new shopping mall in the city center. The wacky, pop-art, disney-ish building was done by a famous artist James Rizzi.


I kept thanking Tie for her good ideas, hard work and organizational ability. And she kept saying, "Like I need to be thanked for helping YOU spend your MONEY!" We shopped for light household items, and enjoyed FREE drink refills at Ikea -- not a common item in Germany.

baptism day

If you're wondering what is SO special about biblical believers' baptism, write me an email and I'll "wax eloquent." In Germany, it is celebrated with much ritual as well as a fresh excitement! People share stories of how they met God; the pastor gives a sermon; people sing; a "baptism godmother- aunt" reads a verse; and then after the baptism there is a blessing prayed by an elder over each person. Conny and Vera are above; it was at their baptism last year that Antje, Vera's roomie, decided "yes, she wanted to do it, too!"

Two special friends of mine, Eckart & Antje, were baptised recently and thankfully I made it back in time to be there! Here is Antje just beaming!

Colleague Deanna read a beautiful statement of blessing on Antje, as her mentoring "baptism god-aunt." Antje had a large group of good friends and family there to witness the occasion!

Fun times at the "farm"

We don't live at a farm... I'm just speaking figuratively of my home in Florida. In fact, I'm basically a city girl, who almost freaked out when I was told years ago that I would be doing my language school for about a whole YEAR in Cloppenburg, a city of JUST 30,000 + people (it turned out great, though). So, now that I'm away, I'm trying to catch up with my blogging before turning to more recent events. Here are some lingering, back-blogging shots of life at "home" (well, ONE of many of them) & good memories of family and friends!

I helped out some Sundays checking in children for Crosspointe Church, where my brother is pastor. The kids get a little security tag for their parents to pick them up with. I worked in Sunday School at "the Ark" for 2, 3 or 4 year olds. Aren't they darling?

And here I am being interviewed for just about 10 minutes on a radio show through called Drive Time, where a friend of our family, Bill, talks about recent world events from a Christian standpoint, and Florida politics.

We had a couple of big 'spring cleaning' events at my parents' home. AHHH! Not my forte, but we all lived through it. The yard is spread with hundreds of things to sort through. And the storage room is partly un-cluttered (at this point of the photograph). Then came the reward-- making MONEY at the yard sale, which was in the neighborhood where my friend Lillian lives! The rest went to charity. One thing that I found hard to part with (but did)-- an old microscope that had belonged to Mom when she was going through medical school. I remember her gathering pond water in Kentucky, trying to keep us kids entertained "at the farm" of my grandparents, out in the country. She showed us how interesting it was to see God's handiwork, looking at amoeba or a drop of blood under the scope.

Then there were a couple of "let's do Europe" evenings, without leaving the area, with Bruce and Heather. Once we heard live music at the Metro, a coffee house in Sarasota. Another time, on a windy evening, we drove to Ceviche, a Spanish tapas restaurant with lots of flair in St. Pete. Across the street was the St. Pete Yacht Club and harbor. You gotta love Florida! :-)

Beach Bums

Forget how "the other half" lives around the beaches of Florida... with yachts and high-end waterfront houses. The good part is, that anyone can enjoy this beauty God made --without an admission ticket.

Sadly, the other day a young guy at the gas station asked me a question, which i basically ignored at first- He asked: "Where's the nearest beach from here? Is it open?" I thought to myself: "What?! What kind of question is that!? He must be filming something for a 'Most Stupid People at Gas Stations' Candid Camera episode or something! Like you can CLOSE the OCEAN..." When I hesitated & asked about it, he said, "I'm not kidding. Look at my license plate-- I'm from Georgia and there sometimes the beaches are closed!"

Well, this week I was granted a great vacation spot and enjoyed it overnight with my good friend, Lillian, who was on spring break from teaching her 1st graders.

Here's me being lazy and sitting on the balcony from our room in my robe, drinking OJ.

If the sharks don't get you, the sunsets are spectacular (our balcony was screened in; thus, the photo has a somewhat fuzzy appearance! ha!)

Anja's World

Friends Pat and Lily (from Brazil) with Anja

For my German friends in particular, I thought you'd like some updated photos of where Anja (formerly on staff with Connexxion in Jena) is studying at seminary in Texas. I was just in Ft. Worth for a few days and had the joy of spending a wee bit of time with her. Hier sind einige Fotos vom Campus und von ihrem Zimmer, usw.

At Price Hall are most of the Christian education classes as well as counseling courses.


The Naylor Student Center is where there's a cafeteria and snack bar, as well as reception rooms, a piano, etc. (the banana- colored car in the front was a rental car provided for my visit by some special friends!)

Garden near Anja's residence hall and student center... cafe area... and entrance foyer to Student Center ...

and basement floor Einzelzimmer room of guess who?!

"Foat Wuth"

Fort Worth, also lovingly known as "Cowtown," because of the trading of cattle there, was where I spent not only my first 2 years of life, but also my seminary years. It was a joy to return last week & catch up with dear friends, relatives, & prayer partners.

Here we are in chapel, listening to Dr. Mac Brunson from Jacksonville, FL.

Afterwards Anja and I were invited to a luncheon at Pecan Manor, the president's home on campus and where Dr. and Dr. Paige Patterson do a LOT of hospitality for students, professors and guests. Here we are with our gracious hostess, Dr. Dorothy Patterson.

Vancouver rocks!

You have to appreciate the significance of a "tea cozy" (left) which is not unusual in Canada to keep a tea pot warm! Isn't this darling?!

This scene greets you when you arrive at the international airport, showing the artistry and boat of the native Indians ("First Nations" peoples) who once lived and fished on the coast.


This downtown building is actually totally suspended from huge elastic bands (USA English: rubber band) attached to the center pole. It's an experimental architectural plan to withstand earthquakes.

English Bay-- what a view!

When I worked with collegians in Vancouver, I used to literally spend hours eating muffins & drinking coffee in this Student Center (the SUB) on the campus of the Univ. of British Columbia (UBC). Rich (below photo) directs the ministry at UBC called "Born for More" and we had a terrific visit together with Suzanne, who is a semester m. and graduated from seminary last year in Texas.