New & Untried Solutions

"We’re often more comfortable with old problems than new and untried solutions."  – Eric Celerier, director of Top Chretien

As I frantically run around trying to get things ready for our mission’s Annual Conference, I keep thinking about this quote.  For us in eDOT we are preparing to show some projects we have in beta that are "new & untried solutions".  We know that some people will not be comfortable with them but we think they have a lot of potential and are excited about seeing them used to impact people for God.

Pray with us as we work on the systems to get them ready to show and as we prepare various presentations at the conference that incorporate our solutions.

Thank you.

Ich bin ein Blütspender!

I don’t really know how it started but when I was a little guy, I remember my dad coming home sometimes with this bandage on his arm.  The reason:  he had been at the Red Cross giving blood.  I remember asking him how much he’d given and he said some amount of galleons; then promptly told me that it wasn’t all at once but only a pint at a time.  I was thinking I would someday give blood as it seemed really cool.

My first time giving was in high school.  To be honest, I had a friend who was in the health care professions club at school which was sponsoring the drive and told me I should give.  She was cute and said she would hold my hand while I gave and so of course I gave.  It was fun talking with the people in the room and the excitement of pulling this magical liquid out of one’s body knowing that it would help improve or save the lives of up to 9 people was incredible.

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Economic Crisis is World Wide

We hear in Europe from friends and family in the US about how the economy is not good there.  We hear about friends losing jobs or being required to take paycuts and we hurt for them.  (We too have had cut-backs in income)  We just want ya’ll to know that you are not alone in all of this.  US News & World Report released an article the other day talking about economies that will take longer to recover than the US.  Ironically, of the 10 economies that will take longer for recovery, 8 are places we work and/or live in:

from US News & World Report

Recently I spent some time in Moldova and they are being hit hard.  All construction in the country has come to a halt (literally ALL CONSTRUCTION) and what exports they were able to have are now not selling – their buyers have shriveled up.  The conversation continuously came around to “Why did this happen?”  For people who build their own houses, they don’t understand when I talk to them about mortgages and defaulting on loans.  These are people who live on only a few hundred dollars a month and now its even harder for them.  My friends in Ukraine are seeing their inflation go through the roof as it was based on the US dollar but their spending was on imports from countries based on the Euro, so now things are too expensive for them to purchase.  (The Euro/Dollar ratio is back up in favor of the Euro again)  You may have heard in the news that Ukraine may not have the money to pay it heating bill (which is supplied by Russia) and that quite possibly may be true.  And I’ll tell you this, Ukraine is not a place you want to be without heat (been there, done that!).

We are here as we want to help these economies as best we can.  Many of them will be “reborn” if you will as they recover and technology will be a major part of their recovery.  People will need computer training to get the job skills needed for these new economies.  Ministries and churches in these places will look to technology to reach more people on tighter purse strings.  We see the purpose of our being here ever so much clearer in light of these times.

Pray with us

• for the many who are without right now (whether it be a job, knowing Christ personally, etc)
• for the obstacles that hinder our being focused on working here (our visa renewal, low support account)
• for the whole world to look at economic recovery not as a means to get back to like it was, but to look at what they’re using money for and is it worthwhile.

Thank you.

Work Continues on the Barn

We’re continuing to work on the Europe Ministry Center (aka EMC otherwise known as the "Barn").  This has been a project we’ve been working on for the past two years.  Even though we have moved in and gotten most things functioning for us to work here (and for some, live here as well) – there are still things to be done.  We continue to need to work on the parking lot (when it rains, its the mud lot) and the "yard" for those that live here.  The final apartment is nearing completion.  This next week we are going to be working on the back side getting the foundation sealed (we’ve been having water leaks in the kellar – I guess when it was a barn, it didn’t matter if the kellar flooded).  We’re then working on insulating and finishing the outside.  There’s so much to do, we’re recruiting anyone and everyone that is able.  Hence the reason Alex is running the bulldozer getting the "yard" level and ready.  Just kidding, Bob (a member of Euro-Team , a construction ministry of Greater Europe Mission ) let Alex drive the bulldozer thingy.  Alex was so excited and loved every minute of it.  He giggled the whole time.

Be sure to check out the latest pictures of the Barn Project here .

Time for German Language Practice

Living in our area of Germany and working with the group we do, makes learning German very difficult.  At work we speak English most of the time (or many of the other languages we work in – German is not normally one of them) and 10% of the population in our area are native English speakers with many around us wanting to work on learning English.  So we can go days without speaking German (not including speaking German at the grocery store or restaurants)  So when there are opportunities to talk German, we take them.  Lately, I got several opportunities to work on my conversational German.

The shooting club (everything here has a club) was having an open house.  A friend of mine is a Read more >>