Celebrating Alex’s Birthday

Today we have been celebrating Alex’s 8th Birthday as a family (we had his party last week – see the pictures in the Photo Album). When Alex was born we were very relieved that he came on time and wasn’t born closer to Christmas. Little did we know that we would move to Germany where December 6th is Saint Nicholas Day. Now Saint Nicholas is different than Santa Claus (known as Weihnacht Mann) however some of the American stories and traditions do come from Saint Nicholas. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about these traditions; I want to just share some of the events that happened today.

We started out the day American style by having pancakes with real maple syrup (we brought some back with us from the US this summer). Then we started decorating the house for Christmas although we will get our Christmas tree the week of Christmas as is the tradition for most Germans. Alex also participated in our town’s celebration of Saint Nicholas day where all the children in town go to our Blumenplatz and the various shops give out little gifts (fruit, peanuts, some chocolate & gummi bears). Then we had Alex’s favorite meal known as “Crackpot” (its actually pork tenderloin with potatoes made in a crockpot).

During the meal, Alex pulled out some traditional German cookies and he had learned about the history. He told us that a long time ago they weren’t made with any sugar but the people didn’t like them that way and so they went to their pastor (in reality, it was their priest) and asked if they were allowed to put sugar in the cookies and he said that they could. Krista then asked why they had to go pastor and ask him to put sugar in the cookies to which Alex replied – “Well, in the old days, pastors were like presidents!”. To my pastor friends out there, sorry, you were born during the wrong time.

After the meal, we asked Alex what he would like to do this evening. He asked back, “Why are you asking me?” We replied, “Because it’s your birthday.” Then Alex started doing a little dance and stated “Birthdays rock!!”.

As a little side note, we asked Alex to set up the manager scene in our house (see the picture above). I have to say I really like how he thinks. He didn’t set up all the wise men, angels, Mary, Joseph, shepherds and animals lined up so that you could see their faces. Instead, he has them completely encircling the baby Jesus with everyone gazing up the holy Child. Yep, I believe that’s how it really was.

[Edit Note: After I published this blog, I realized that my title talks about Alex's birthday and the first thing you see is a manager scene. No, we don't think that Alex is perfect nor the savior of the world. We think he's a pretty good kid but no, not Jesus.]

Heading home and looking to the future

As promised, I’ve uploaded my pictures from my time in Boise, ID. Be sure to catch them in the Photo Album

Well, we are prepared to leave the US and return home today. I wish we could have seen all of our friends while we were back but now we have realized just how short 7 weeks really is. But 7 weeks also does feel like a long time since we have not been home. I miss my Germany. I miss my small town of Kandern. I miss walking everywhere (and my body shows it).

Please continue to pray for us – pray as we still need to continue to raise more support but also thank God with us for all those that have helped us minimize our deficit. Pray with us as we try to make sure that with all the opportunities there are in Europe for ministry, that we join those that God would have us be a part of. Pray with us as Alex transitions into 2nd Grade with some old but a lot of new faces. Pray with us that we will be a light for God in a spiritually dark part of the world. Thanks.

Its been one year since…

It’s been one year since we arrived in Germany. Can you believe it? It’s gone by so fast yet we feel like we’ve been living here a lot longer than 1 year. One of the cool things was this morning I got to get up (actually it was too early) and go to the Zurich airport (I got to see the sunrise up over the Swiss Alps). There I picked up some of our GEM missionaries who were coming back after a few months in the States. They flew in on the exact flight we had taken one year earlier. So in a way I felt like the people that had come and pick us up last year.

Another cool thing is next week, the latest member of the eDOT team arrives and we get to help her and her husband get settled in. On our team we have a policy that the last one in helps the next person as you (supposedly) remember more about what its like to be the newbie. Its been fun looking at apartments (and now understanding more of the German) and trying to remember all the things we did when we first showed up (impossible to remember it as you are going through jet-lag, culture shock and just overwhelmed by everything that you have to do in a language and culture that you don’t understand).

So with that being said, would you pray for our new missionaries. They still have some more support to raise in this last week (if you interested in maybe supporting them, check out their website here) and are going through their good-byes. Then they will have their transitions to do. Thanks.

Roes Update – November 2007

Its been a little bit since my last post. No, I haven’t been traveling to a place with no Internet connection and no I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth. Instead, I ran out of time – repeatedly. I know, that’s no excuse as we all have time restraints but that’s the honest truth. And there have been so many things that I have said – “Oh, I should blog that…”

So what’s been happening since coming back from our trip to Switzerland:

• Had a parent/teacher conference and got Alex’s 1st First Grade report card – I won’t divulge all the details but my son is smart! With me being his father, that should make any atheist believe in miracles
• I’ve been helping some of the other missionaries around here with some PC (and Mac) issues. I have to say, hard drive failures are not fun and digging for files on a drive – I feel so CSI’ish. Remember to do backups – learn from others experience
• I got to be on a conference call with a group of other people from around the world who use computer centers to help those in need and to share the love of Christ.
  (Do you want to learn more about using computer centers – check out the US based ministry called TechMission as they know a lot about this)
• Been working on building a blogging community for helping us run short term teams into Ukraine for the purpose of installing a computer center and teaching basic computer skills. This online community is based on WordPress MU. What I have been learning in developing this site is going to help us in developing many more blog communities in the future. Its been awesome.
• Developing a better way to work with, organize and recruit eDOT volunteers. We use volunteers for a lot of our technical work and we’re always looking for someone who wants to partner with us for 5 or more hours a week from their homes. We need people with all sorts of skills so that they can develop courses for teaching software use, design and develop websites, design graphics and print material, manage technical projects, write manuals and project documentation, design networks, administer websites, etc.
  If you are interested (even if you don’t think you have skills that would help but have a heart for using technology to reach Europe), contact me at Courtney@RoesGarden.com
• Krista and I have also been working on sending out a newsletter to all of our partners out there. You can get it in PDF format by clicking here. Roes Update – November 2007
  If you would be interested in getting our newsletter, drop me a note to Courtney@RoesGarden.com saying you want to me on our mailing list. Let me know if you want it sent electronically or via the post office.

Well, I have a back log of blogs to write. I hope to get them up soon.

6 Months – New Driver’s Licenses

Ok, so today marks 6 months of living in Germany. One thing about moving (let alone living over seas) is that you have to make all those changes like making sure everyone has your new address and all that stuff. One of things you also have to do is update/get your driver’s license. Well, when you move to Germany, you have six months to get your German driver’s license or there’s a nice fine and a black spot on your record if you are caught.

The process for getting a German licenses is supposedly straight forward depending upon which state’s license you have. Luckily for us, the state that issued us our driver’s licenses had full reciprocosity with Germany which meant we didn’t have to take any of the tests (driving or written). So the process for getting a German license should be easy right – hand in your old and get your new one right? Nope. Even though we didn’t have to take a driver’s test (which we hear no Americans pass and so they have to go to driving school which costs mucho Euros), we still had to provide a lot of paperwork (like showing that we had had driver’s licenses for more than two years since our current licenses had been issued last year.) and we had to get paperwork signed at other places and return them to the Fuehrerschein Buero. Like one saying that we really did live where we said we did and that we weren’t criminals. Of course, this was also a great exercise in speaking German and using vocabulary we had never used before.

In the end, we received notification on Friday that our licenses were ready and we picked them up Monday. Whew, one day before we wouldn’t have been able to drive.

One of the cool things about German driver’s licenses (except for all the cool holograms they use to deter counterfits) is that they don’t expire. They are yours for life (unless you do something really bad while driving like not yeilding to a pedestrian crossing the road or driving in the left lane when not passing someone. Speeding tickets aren’t really a problem though)

PS – Oh, and I know my photo looks like I’m mad or out to hurt someone, but that is the official way photos are suppose to be taken for goverment documents here. They have a lot of rules here for just such things.

First (Official) Day in the Office

On Friday was my first official full day in the office and my list of “todos” is humungous. As you can see, we don’t have the whole team in the office right now as summer time is a time for people’s HMA (Home Ministry Assigment – also known as furlough), vacations, children’s graduations and we have a lot of trips scheduled throughout Europe. Come Monday (my second official day in the office), I’ll be the only one.

I have to say I am really excited about getting full time into the work God has called us here to be a part of. Part of my position is to help in formulating a long term technology strategy for what we are going to be doing in eDOT, now and in the future. There is a group of volunteers that are eager to help (but we could always use more if you are interested) whose expertises are just outstanding. I am amazed as I get to know these volunteers just the level of experience that God is bringing to this team. There is a great sense of anticipation as we are on the verge of having more courses ready to be used throughout Europe, as we are starting to having courses translated into Farsi, as we are developing different programs that churches housing computer centers can use for outreach into their communities, and as we develop websites that are going to be doing all sorts of things.

Please pray for us and the eDOT team as we:

• go through yet another transistion from language school to the office
• spend time as a family going through the adjustments of living in a different culture
• work on developing friendships within the German community to both work on our German language skills and to be a witness for Christ here
• look at all that is to be done and feel a bit overwhelmed, that we will be able to prioritze appropriately and move in God’s timing and not in our own

Check out some more photos of my first day in the Photo Album

Roes Update – May 2007

In 11 days we will be finished with our formal language school commitment and will begin (finally) the work God has brought us here to do. Screech, Halt! Let me rephrase, 5 months ago God brought us to Germany to begin the work he had for us to do… we’ve already been doing it. Actually these next weeks bring a mixture of sadness and joyous expectation for us. The last 5 months we have made wonderful friends in our language course, and had more than a few opportunities to share the love of Christ with them. Our learning German will continue to be important component of our ministry here. We’ve completed the equivalent of 3 years of collage German in 4 ½ months, but know we have a long way to go still.

Next week Courtney will begin full time with eDOT (electronic Discipleship Outreach Training – www.GEMeDOT.com ). The eDOT team has been waiting patiently for a full-time computer person to come on board and so the projects have been piling up. Courtney feels a bit overwhelmed by both the learning curve and the great expectations that are now getting placed on him. (He’s going to do great!) Also, he has trips to Berlin, Hungary, Austria, Scandinavia, and Ukraine coming this fall.

Krista has been exploring areas for her to plug into ministry and is trying out two opportunities that use her gifts in administration. The first will be working a bit with eDOT in helping to manage budgets. She will also be assisting our missions’ Coordinator for Lifelong Missionary Effectiveness. It’s basically long-term personal and leadership development for our missionaries throughout Europe. This will be coupled with attending a local women’s German bible study and running our household.

Alex will continue going to German Kindergarten until August (they don’t have much of a summer break here in Germany) and then he will start at Black Forest Academy (an international school for missionaries).

This is an exciting time filled with much emotion. We are excited that God has brought us to this point like He promised and that He has selected us (and you) to be a part of what He is doing here.

Here are some things to pray for over this transition period:
1) Pray for our language school friends, that we will be able to continue relationships with them and they would continue to question spiritual things with us.
2) Courtney is feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work waiting for him. Pray that Courtney will have the wisdom to prioritize properly and the ability to complete these tasks appropriately.
3) Pray that Alex would grow in his desire to learn German. Although surrounded by it at school and church, he tends to seek out only English speakers. Pray for us to have wisdom on how to encourage him here.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. Please let us know what is going on ya’lls lives. We do more updates on our blog at http://www.RoesGarden.com .

God bless,
Courtney, Krista and Alex Roes
www.RoesGarden.com

If interested in donating financially, please send checks to Greater Europe Mission, PO Box 1669, Monument, CO 80132-1669 with “#38200” in the memo line or donate online securely at https://www.gemission.org/supporting/givingcard.asp and designate for “Courtney and Krista Roes – 38200”.