as kendra said, we did go to the pensions in altenmarkt again today. last week i was a bit overwhelmed as it was my first full day in austria and..i just felt awkward and tired and homesick. this week, i really enjoyed it. i think it is my second favorite thing to do in austria (besides wednesday night program, which in my last blog i said was my favorite oasis program). it's just fun to see the kids, and today i chose the craft to go with the john the baptist story - paper locust. and of course they ate the honey with the nuts, so they had a full experience john the baptist meal! the locust were actually a folded pattern of a praying mantis, to be honest, but the kids were none the wiser. even as i chose it i thought it was kind of a lame craft and i didn't think they'd like it, but THEY DID! they loved it. they all made one, while they watched the jesus film in chechen.

after the kids part of the day we went visiting. i went with miriam to the afghan family again. i am really going to be praying for this lovely family. she's only 23, hasn't seen her mom in 7 years, has two lovely daughters, and they just found out that their case was looked at and rejected. they are being sent back to greece, where they came through and had their fingerprints taken. they are not at all happy about this, which is understandable. apparently the 12 days she passed through there left a very bad impression on her. but i did tell her to find the arc if they do go back. hopefully they won't have to though. during this time i was also amazed by this woman's faith. i do not think she calls herself a christian, but she told miriam that she knows Jesus is more than the koran says he is. she says she believes he is sent by God, but not just as a prophet. she says she has been reading the children's bible that was given to the girls at a previous children's program and she wants to learn more about the stories she hears mentioned at the children's program. i was just so encouraged to see that God does not hide himself from those who are seeking him. please pray for nadera and her daughters magnus and zachia, not only for their legal situation, but also that God would reveal himself to her more and more.

so after the time with nadera and the girls, instead of going to the chechen house again with miriam david and kendra, i hung out with these two girls (my age) that i have (kinda) made friends with. i hadn't thought of it, but then they asked me to stay and so i did. it was really nice to hang out with more people my age. only one of them, ivana (yugoslavian), spoke english, but she translated for me and sophia (georgian). fun girls. no good stories to tell there. just a good time hanging out :)

i apologize for the lack of ministry related photos. i will start taking them, i just didn't want to at first because we stand out enough being the new young girls, never mind me having a giant camera around my neck. maybe next time!

ok, and finally before i end this blog i just have to brag about the pot of sauce i made today. yeah, that's right, i'm a cooker now! mom, wasn't quite as good as yours, but it still tasted like home!!

goodnight all

becky