Our German school is right across from the Vienna Opera House.
We learned recently that an anonymous connection to the Vienna church has agreed to pick up our bill for our German language classes. This in itself is a huge contribution, as good language classes aren’t cheap. We will be going to the Internationales Kulturinstitut (International Culture Institute), where we will spend four months this summer, five days a week and three hours a day, learning as much German as we can. This will hopefully prepare us sufficiently to enter the fall season with a sturdy knowledge of the language and the ability to communicate with the church and other locals. This gift to us is greatly appreciated and will have many positive repercussions, both for us and our work.
We also found out that, through their own volition, the 20-odd members of the Vienna church came together last Sunday to take up a collection for us. This was totally unexpected, especially since we don’t know them at all and they only know us through the Hensals’ and Haskews’ communications. We couldn’t be more grateful, and as we told the church through an email (with Josh Hensal’s translation), we already feel part of them. It’s amazing to see ordinary people, both in Vienna and back here in the States, pull together to help out someone like us.
Keep praying for us and our official leaving date: May 16th. We are now living at my parents’ house (which is fun for everyone) and have both finished our full-time jobs. These next couple of weeks will be for spending time with friends and family, fundraising and packing. It’s hard to believe that in three weeks, we’ll be spending our first Sunday in Vienna. We can’t wait!
