Our Summer Months

Our Vienna summer has gotten off to a great start. Mendy’s long-awaited arrival finally came in mid-May, and soon after that, Dale and Vicki Hawley joined us for a few days. If you don’t know Dale and Vicki, find a way to make it happen. This amazing couple is well-known among missionaries because of their years of experience in counseling and missionary care. They’ve been with the Vienna team from the beginning, and now that we and the Haskews are finally in a place of stability, we thought it a necessity to have a thorough visit with the Hawleys in order to evaluate ourselves as a newly formed team.

Our time with them was an enormous blessing and the four of us learned so much about ourselves as a team and as individuals. We discussed each other’s gifts, work habits, perceptions, and stresses. We looked at the past and talked about how to build on it and move forward in the future. As a team and as friends I’d say we were close to begin with, but this particular time with the Hawleys brought us so much closer. A lesson I took away from this team building experience is how crucial it is to have a healthy team. It’s like in 1 Corinthians when Paul addresses the parts of the body in Christ and says, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” The same is true for the health and well-being of a team – if an issue arises or a conflict created, the team as a whole is affected, thus as a whole, we all have to work together to first locate the ailment, treat it, and tend to it for healing so that we can then experience part 2 of Paul’s point, “If one part is honored, then every part rejoices with it.” Jake may be an ear, Amanda a hand, Will a kneecap and I an eyelash, but we’re all part of the same body of Christ and the same team in Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-31 below)

In recent weeks we’ve hosted several visitors but not yet “tested” the space in our living room for hosting big groups. That changed when 12 girls from the OC Study Abroad group came over for treats and coffee. We sat in a big circle and talked about their cultural observations and comparisons, and talked about every day life here in Vienna from my perspective as a mom. To end our time together, the girls sang a couple of worship songs which sounded so beautiful and did my heart good. I always love a chance to sit in on an OC devotional, but this time the devotional was brought to me. Thank you, girls!

About two weeks ago we were joined by Lynn and Joy McMillon, as well as Will’s dad, Chip. How good it is to see familiar faces in our neck of the woods. Lynn and Joy’s presence was a great encouragement to us all. We had several fruitful conversations over dinners, breakfasts and coffees. They were even able to worship with our house church on a beautiful (but toasty) Sunday morning. Though their time with us was much too short, it was good to hug them and introduce them to our Vienna family.

During our visit with the McMillons, Chip and Mendy hopped over to Istanbul for a few days to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They came back to Vienna and had little time to recover and repack before the entire Kooi gang left for a family vacation in the Austrian Alps. The views and Austrian towns were lovely despite the rainy and cold weather. But honestly I think it could’ve snowed 10 feet and Chip and Mendy wouldn’t have cared as long as Elliott was there. He had an excellent time with his grandparents and was especially sad to see Mendy leave for the States yesterday. Chip is still here and will be until July so Elliott’s still getting lots of grandparent love, and I still have someone who will willingly change Elliott’s grossest diapers. (Yes!)

As for the summer months ahead, we’ve got a lot planned. We have a church picnic next Sunday immediately followed by a youth group outing to a miniature golf course. This year is the Haskew’s furlough year, so they’ll take off right as Kinderlager (kids camp) kicks off. Will is going but Elliott and I are going to stay here. There will be 32 kids attending camp – which is completely awesome – it’s just a bit much for a little guy who doesn’t have a place to crawl and stand up without a kid or two or ten accidentally bumping into him in Schwarzwaldeckahus. But we won’t be idle. For the whole month of July, we’ll be hosting a former OC Study Abroad student while she works on her German immersion course. The 3 of us will stick together while Will is away and work on any last necessities for preparing our house for house church in the fall. Also during this time, our neighborhood is hosting its annual community BBQ. My hope is to meet many new neighbors and in doing so, begin many new lasting friendships.

In August, Will will be attending a conference in Switzerland called History Makers. This is a brand new (to us), recently heard of opportunity that was sent our way by a friend who helps in the organization and execution of History Makers. The goal of this conference is to focus on the capabilities and spiritual gifts of upcoming workers in missions and ministry and help those individuals utilize their capabilities and gifts to the benefit of God’s Kingdom. You can learn more about this conference here.

That’s what’s going on and that’s what our summer holds. Thanks as always for your prayers and encouragement. We love hearing from you.

Unity and Diversity in the Body

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (NIV)

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Starting Fresh

You guys know I love to write, especially about our work and life in Vienna, so I hope you don’t think I’ve forgotten about you or about this particular form of communication. The Vienna Team has been busy, Will and I have been busy, Elliott has been extremely busy which keeps me extremely busy… It’s been a whirlwind of action over here. A hefty amount of that action has consisted of us, the Kooi family, trying to find our footing and rebuild the foundation that we felt had been so shaken when we returned last December. But an equally large amount of that action has consisted of new beginnings, deepened friendships, big dreams, and a fresh view of the future.

A very new beginning for Will and me has been our move from our old apartment in the 2nd district to our new row house in the 22nd district. We absolutely love our neighborhood and neighbors. I don’t think we could have asked for a better landlord, and his wife has taken me under her wing to do yoga with me and Elliott on Wednesday mornings! We’ve been working on the layout of our living room as our goal is to have our house “house-church-ready” by the fall. We’re thrilled to join the house-church rotation and can’t wait to open our home for worship. There’s still some tasks here and there we need to finish before the big day takes place, but we’re nearly there.

We had a wonderful, blessed time with the Jones family – our MRCC >> Vienna country coordinators. It was so good to hug on them and talk about everything under the sun. (At least the girls and I talked a bunch, can’t speak for the guys.) They were able to experience another Gemeinschaftsonntag (Fellowship Sunday) and meet a few new people in our church. Their visit was much too short but we treasured all the time they were able to spend with us.

In April our family and the Haskew family took a short trip to Budapest. It was there that we really nailed down our new team identity and spent many sessions in discussion and prayer over the work in Vienna. We talked about each other’s spiritual gifts, analyzed current programs, dreamed up new ones, and set goals for the future. When we weren’t working together, we were enjoying each other’s company by the pool or while playing a board game or drinking a coffee. This retreat was huge for us both as a team and as individuals. The retreat seemed to breathe life back into us and we felt the Lord’s presence throughout its entirety. I think we all returned to Vienna with a renewed sense of purpose and a goofy grin on our faces as we thought back to that time when our train hit the emergency breaks while Will was in the bathroom. If for some reason we hadn’t bonded over our work sessions or board games, I’m sure we would’ve bonded over Will’s bathroom story. Hilarious.

Not too long after our retreat, our interns, Lindsey and Daven arrived to work alongside us for 6 weeks. Lindsey and Daven are former study abroad students so Vienna is a home away from home. The girls jumped right in and helped Will, Jake and Amanda finish out the remaining English Kids Club sessions. The girls even planned the End of the Year Party for us which was a hit. Since EKC is now on its summer pause, the girls have been spending a lot of their time focusing on the church. I think my favorite activity they’ve put together is the teen girls slumber party. Will and Elliott were kind enough to camp out upstairs for an evening so our house could handle teen girl talk (*thumbs up*) and teen girl music (*thumbs down*). Three of our girls from church came and the 6 of us had a blast. We ate pizza, baked cupcakes, watched a movie, decorated pillow cases, and then of course, ended our evening with pillow talk. Lindsey, Daven and I turned in around midnight, but I heard a rumor that the other girls, well, took their time going to sleep. The next morning we all piled around my kitchen table for pancakes and we sent the girls home with new pretty pillows and tired eyes. It was a fantastic time. Sadly, the 6 weeks are nearly over and Lindsey and Daven head back to the States this Saturday. They’ll be missed!

Can you tell there was a sleepover at my house?

Elliott is 8 months old which is crazy talk. He’s so stinkin’ big – he’s wearing clothes for 1 year olds. He crawls everywhere, pulls up on everything, and eats anything and everything within his reach which is surprisingly long. He’s got two bottom teeth on their way and seems to be handling it pretty well. Still not a lot of hair, but I guess I should expect that given both of his grandpas are lacking in that department. The kid’s a ham for the camera and for people. Currently, he loves having Oma Mendy here and can’t wait for Opa Chip to join her. We love our Elliott.

As for us? We’re good. We’re so good. Sure, the new year rang in more difficulties than triumphs, but we learned from those days and months and we’ve grown stronger because of it. You know that well-known passage in James about having joy in the midst of trials? I think I get that now, at least better than before. I know another trial will come and I’ll raise my eyebrow at this passage in James and learn this same lesson all over again. But for now I can look back at the craziness of December, the uncertainty of January, the heaviness of February… I can look back and be filled with the joy of the Spirit.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James 1:2-4

Rolling With The Punches

The ability to be flexible is one of the most important lessons God has taught us over these last two years. It’s not hard to find times when Paul had to be flexible to extreme degrees during his missionary journeys, and though we’re certainly thankful we’ve never been put in prison for our beliefs, or because of our visa issues (!), we’ve learned a great deal about what it means to roll with the punches, as Paul had to do so often.

Overall, we’re doing well. Staying here for 4 months wasn’t the ideal plan, but because we began to imagine this very possibility since before we even left Vienna back in May, settling in and adjusting to Plan B has been much, much easier than we anticipated. The lack of news we’ve received has not been a shock, and the fact that we’re way past my fly date no longer feels devastating. And the more we take a step back and reflect for a moment on the positives of being here versus the positives of our plan, the more we’re able to see that, yet again and as always, God’s plan was better. It is better; and we’re ready to put His plan into action.

Our latest apartment decoration thanks to The Chalet Woodshop.

To begin with, we’ve moved out of Will’s parents’ house and into a lovely little apartment on Oklahoma Christian University’s campus. Some of you may know our particular complex as Tealridge Assisted Living which is still home to many precious seniors, and more recently several other young married couples who either work for or attend the university. The apartment came completely unfurnished which at first was a little daunting since we sold all of our own furniture before we even made the move to Vienna 2 years ago. Plus, we spent several weeks in July selling other possessions that we didn’t want to take to Vienna with us like our kitchen utensils and home decor. We sold most everything at our garage sale, which was awesome, but we quickly realized how nice it would’ve been to have those same items back… Ah, the irony. But so many good friends and family came to our aid and provided us with exactly what we needed from shower rings to a couch to a stroller. We feel very at home, and I was even able to create a nice little nursery for Elliott – something I had been waiting to do since the day we found out about him.

Our view from Tealridge. Not too shabby.

After we got ourselves moved into our temporary home, we began looking for ways to work. We recently Skyped with the Haskews and had a fantastic team meeting about things Will and I can be doing from here in order to benefit the work there, as well as unburden the Haskews as much as possible. Our programs in Vienna will slow down a bit, and some will even pause for the fall semester, but these changes, as far as we can see, are in no way harmful to the work, and the Haskews are strong people who are ready to take on the challenge. From here, Will can continue to serve the team by designing advertisements for programs, staying on top of website upkeep, and communicating to supporters through social media and newsletters while I write the curriculum for English Kids Club 2015, blog, serve as a project manager when needed, and moderate OC’s missions involvement with the team. Will has also been working at Memorial Road during the week, specifically on all things fundraising.

We’ve also been looking for ways to get fully plugged into various ministries taking place right here in Edmond. On Sundays we’ll attend MRCC’s International Class and will lead table discussions each time, and on Wednesdays we will read with any international students who are interested in learning English. We also hope to be as involved with any class preparation as possible – providing food, helping with tasks, organizing events, etc. Our first big involvement took place last Sunday as we, along with the current class members, welcomed at least 30 international students who flew in from different parts of the world, such as Burundi, Kenya, Japan, China, and Rwanda to attend Oklahoma Christian University. It was a great event that we all hope blessed the new students immensely. On Sunday evenings, we’ll be QGroup hopping which we began last Sunday as well. We hope to stop by yours!

Setting up for International Class.

Full room!

And last but not least, we’re preparing for Elliott’s arrival. We’ve got less than 5 weeks before he gets here! The time feels like it’s going by so fast yet so slowly at the same time. We’re so excited for him to get here and a little nervous, too. But I think we’ve got all the things we need to make him comfortable, and we’re definitely surrounded by the love of our friends, family and church family. He’s going to be one loved little guy.

Preparing for baby Elliott…

That pretty much sums up what are hopes are for the fall and what we’re currently working on or toward. As we said in our last post, we’d love to get a meal or coffee with you during our stay, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if that’s something you’d like to do. If you have any questions relating to our work here, the work in Vienna, fundraising, or something else about our ministries, please let us know.

Teen Talk: Being A Friend

As we wrote in our last blog, it’s been a goal of the church to create a Bible class opportunity for the pre-teens in our church. The first time we – the youth group and leaders – met was a couple of weeks ago for a small period of time to explain the overall hope for the next several months as well as throw around some topic and outing ideas. And yesterday was the first “real” youth group class. Going into it, Will and I were admittedly a little nervous. We both have several friends who have degrees in Youth Ministry and therefore are equipped with lots of knowledge in this area, and we… Well, we don’t have degrees in Youth Ministry. We figured our first actual class would either be surprisingly wonderful filled with lots of thought and discussion, or not so surprisingly long and very silent. We decided if we could find a key topic in which all the teens could relate, then maybe our first class wouldn’t be altogether boring.

We decided on the topic of Friendship, or Freundschaft as it’s said in German. Many of us, when we remember our early teenage years, may shudder at the memories. Being a friend and having friends during the teen life stage can be difficult, even painful, and our pre-teens are already experiencing these trials right now. We wanted to join in with the parents of our church who are in the midst of helping their kids, our pre-teens, through this up-and-down time by helping to equip their kids with the tools they need to be a good friend even when it’s tempting to act the opposite; how to be a friend like Jesus and glorify God through the toughest and most unpleasant of trials.

So we’re looking to James (Jakobusbrief) for advice. Yesterday we began in James 1:1-18 as he opens his letter acknowledging the presence of trials and temptations. We thought this was an especially good place to start as a way to let our group see that we all have trials and temptations we go through, and we might even share the same ones. We wanted them to understand that no one of us has it all together or is better than the other. We hoped personal barriers would be lowered and stories would be shared. And here’s where I’m still not over yesterday: Those things happened. More stories than we could have asked for were shared willingly and with great detail. The questions we posed were answered with great wisdom and deep thought. The group spent a considerable amount of time helping each other out by offering up ideas and giving advice. Honestly, Will and I hardly needed to say anything because they basically taught the class themselves. We were in awe.

By the end of class, the group realized that they are each going through nearly the exact same trial. We didn’t even make it to the temptations part of the scripture because the group had so much to say on the subject of trials. We were absolutely blown away by the wisdom and hearts of this group, and we feel so lucky and blessed just be among these young people. If you’d like, join us as we read in James over the next several weeks. We don’t meet again for another 2 weeks, so you have 2 weeks to read and study James 1:1-18 along with us and the youth group. We always welcome your prayers, but if you’d like to be especially involved in this new and important endeavor, we would love for you to share any and everything God speaks to you as you learn along with our youth group. It’s important to us that you too feel connected to our pre-teens even from an ocean – or wherever you are – away, so if you have a prayer to pray over our group, or an “Aha!” moment in the midst of your scripture reading, or a relatable experience to share, please do so through email or commenting below. We will keep you all updated as we go from topic to topic and scripture to scripture.

You might have also seen that the youth group went bowling yesterday for their first youth group outing. They had so much fun together and bowled incredibly well. We’re hoping for a warm outdoor outing when April rolls around!

Thank you for your prayers over our youth. Christ is working and shining through them already!

Having Ourselves A Merry Little Christmas In Vienna, Finally.

To say we’re thrilled to have our own Christmas tree and ring in the New Year from Vienna is an understatement. We are ecstatic. Sitting in our living room is a small little Christmas tree whom we’ve lovingly named Francis, for unknown reasons. Francis is decorated in lights as well as red and silver ornaments. A few Christmas presents sit beneath him on a substitute blanket we’re using until we find a Christmas tree rug. We’ve collected some Christmas decorations here and there to make our place feel a little more celebratory. Christmas music has been playing nonstop since Thanksgiving, of course. We have visited many, many of Vienna’s famed Christmas markets and collected an embarrassing amount of coffee mugs from them. We’ve also snacked on too many greasy but oh-so-delicious foods from these markets, but I promise we also made good use of our time, were good sons and daughters, and bought gifts for our families (which we accomplished before Thanksgiving, might I add!) Now all we need is a Christmas Eve snowfall, and we’re good to go. 

We’ve been asked several times by loving people if we’ll be okay this year, being that this is our first Christmas not only without family but also away from the country in which we’ve always celebrated this festive time of the year. While it does feel a little strange to not watch “Elf” for the first time without my best friends, or not have “Christmas Pajama Party” on our calendar, we’re feeling, as I said, ecstatic to be here, as well as stable and not homesick. Not yet anyway. Plus, we’re not “alone” this year for Christmas in any sense. There are parties coming up, meals to be shared, and most exciting of all – we’re celebrating two Christmases. I didn’t know this until a few months ago, but Austrians mainly celebrate Christmas on the 24th, not the 25th (like a lot of continental Europe). You all know our good friend Thomas, as he’s pretty famous in this blog – he and his sweet family have invited us to spend their Christmas with them. We can’t wait! We’re excited to not only add an additional Christmas to our agenda, but more importantly, we’re excited to still be spending time with family. They may not be related to us, but we love them immensely and know that we’ll feel like we’re family as we celebrate together. 

Tomorrow is our English Kids Club Christmas Party, which concludes EKC for the year of 2013. We survived the year! Though we weren’t fully present for it (all of January, half of February), we had an amazing year with our past and present kids, and we’re already looking forward to what 2014 will bring beginning a couple weeks into January. Continue to pray over our sweet EKC kids. Also be praying for the Oklahoma Christian University students who left us last week to go back to the U.S. It was difficult as always to say goodbye to another group, but from the pictures we’ve seen of their return, they’re doing pretty okay with being back with their families and friends. Our Adult English Class has also wrapped up for the year and is scheduled to begin at the same as EKC next year. We’ve discovered that by the time December hits, most people around here are booked up through the month, so we thought it best to give everyone a break from their “studies”, and enjoy the season. It’ll be a good refresher for us, too.

In case you find yourself with some extra time to stay on your computer, be sure and check out our newly designed (by Will!) Kreuzung website. (Use your Chrome translator or something similar to read the text.) Though Will designed the site, he was graciously helped by several friends at church with translations, edits, and suggestions – so a huge thank you to those people! You can view the site here: www.kreuzung-wien.at. Also, Tamika Rybinski and I recently launched a new blogging website called “Whispers in the Calm”. Its purpose is to serve as a safe and encouraging place for women in ministry and missions. We’ve been live for a little over a month and have already received several posts from women who have felt called to share their stories with others around the world. In honor of Christmas, we’re currently running a series we’re calling “25 Days of Jesus”, but once the New Year hits, we’ll be back to writing on ministry and missions-related topics. You can find us here: www.inthecalm.org.

Thanks for stopping by and may you all have a blessed week!

 

Blessings Upon Blessings

Mini-kickoff

In the post Töchter des König der Könige , we introduced you to the new women’s ministry that kicked off in Vienna last week – and what a blessed experience it was! We began last Tuesday for the women who couldn’t make it to the “official” kickoff and gathered together in the Rybinski’s living room along with the visiting women from W.E.E.M. We circled up, ate breakfast and drank our teas and coffees while we listened intently to the words God spoke through Dana Grubb’s heart. She took us through her book, Changed By Jesus – why she wrote it, ways to study it, who she wrote about. Dana discussed how each of the ten women she wrote about in her book impacted her in different ways – some expected and some a surprise. She found herself relating to women she hadn’t before, or didn’t at first realize she could relate to in the first place. She emphasized the need to see these women through a different lens – as women who truly existed and walked this Earth instead of as characters in a story; as women who felt and experienced similar trials as women do today; as women whose lives were changed forever by the touch of Jesus. Once Dana drove home that point, she summarized the lives of each woman as if we were hearing about them for the first time. And in a way we were thanks to our new found lens. By the end of her talk, women around the room beamed from ear to ear with a smile and had tears in their eyes. The new lens had also impacted us in ways we weren’t expecting, and it was a wonderful blessing to share in together.

The kickoff took place in our Kreuzung office the following day and was just as much a blessing as the mini-kickoff. How can one even rate blessings after all? We decorated the place with various shades of purple and hung scriptures on the wall. We placed candles on every table and set out tasty snacks. Dana gave the same talk she gave the previous day only this time we had a translator, Karina, who did an awesome job! We also live streamed the event for the women who couldn’t make it to either one of our kickoff days, as well as for any women anywhere who wanted to listen in. The video has been saved and you can watch it here: Women’s Ministry Kickoff 2013

Ladies from the Oklahoma Christian University Study Abroad group love their new totes!

We ended the night scouring through the beautiful handmade totes sent to us from W.E.E.M. If I heard right I believe there were 50 totes of every color and design on our table! Everyone who was able to attend was so excited to pick one out, and since there were so many to spare, those women were able to not only get one for themselves, but get one for someone else – daughters, mothers, friends, etc. And there are still plenty to go around! We are so thankful for all of the women back in the U.S. who took the time to make such gorgeous totes. They’re a huge hit and have already blessed so many women – with no end in sight! Each woman was also able to take home a brand new, free copy of Changed by Jesus. What an amazing two days of women’s ministry.

We will begin studying Changed by Jesus at the beginning of the year in order to leave plenty of time for translation and other preparations. We see big things happening through this study and pray that God will walk each of us down the right path in order to learn more about Him, about what He did through the women we’re studying, and about what He’s doing through each of us.  Thank you for your prayers over this new ministry! We’re excited about it and glad you are too, and we pray we are all changed by Jesus.

Women’s Ministry Kickoff 2013

Töchter des Königs der Könige

Sometimes God speaks to us through people, sometimes we hear God through the same idea or words in our minds over and over again, sometimes He speaks loudly to us through His Word, and sometimes He impresses a need upon our hearts continuously until that need is finally acknowledged. What began in the summer as a subtle knock on the hearts of women on both sides of the river is now growing into a beautiful, Kingdom-led ministry opportunity. God has spoken to so many women in all of these different ways and we hear Him saying, “Now is the time, daughters! Act now.” So we are. We are listening, we are following, and we are doing.

(Logo design: Tamika Rybinski) Daughters of the King of Kings: Coming alongside one another in love and growing together in Christ.

A new women’s ministry, “Töchter des Königs der Könige” (Daughters of the King of Kings), will host its first bible study on Wednesday – the official kickoff to get us pumped up and encouraged. We will be joined by women from Women for Eastern European Missions who have just wrapped up their book tour through Ukraine with women’s devotional book author, Dana Grubb. Dana Grubb is the author behind “Changed by Jesus: Lessons Learned from Women Jesus Touched” – our study material for the upcoming months, which W.E.E.M. has generously given to us free of charge. These wonderful women will start us off with a mini-study in which we will talk about amazing biblical women like Hannah, Abigail, and Mary Magdalene.

Following this kickoff, we will all take our new study materials home and study at our own individual paces for the next month. Following this month of study, we will come back together for another night of Töchter des Königs der Könige, but this time to talk about what we’ve learned over the last month. We’ll eat together, listen to one another, and cheer one another on in our individual battles against darkness. This will be the regular routine of the ministry unless God takes it in a different direction. God is in charge and holds the reigns of this ministry, and He will mold, shape, and grow it as He sees most beneficial to His Kingdom. We feel God telling us, showing us, how much we need each other, and how important it is to be there for one another as a friend, a sister, and a daughter of the King of Kings.

A New Start to a New Season

Gelato with my parents on their last night in Vienna.

Our fall semester is off to a strong and encouraging start. The Oklahoma Christian University students, 19 in all, arrived in Vienna safely just a few days after both my parents and Will’s mom arrived at the beginning of the month. With the start of our programs quickly approaching, we spent the first two weeks of September confirming plans, checking details, talking with students about their upcoming opportunities, and of course, showing my parents all over this city we love so much. It was hard for my parents to leave as they quickly made new friends and fell in love with the daily coffee breaks all the while being romanced by elegant Austrian architecture, but they made it home safely and definitely hope to come back soon (Christmas…hint hint).

Last week we sat down to our first Team Business Meeting of the new year with our newly formed team. Amanda made us some extraordinarily tasty pumpkin muffins and after a few story swaps, we got down to business and talked about the fall: programs, bible studies, new and old ministries, future plans. It was a good meeting and we’re looking forward to what God will reveal to us this fall.

Grillfest

After an intensive planning and preparation session at our office with the OC students last Tuesday, Sports Kids Club (SKC), visits to June in the nursing home and babysitting for our missionary families all began on Thursday of last week. As we’ve said a few times – and as you may have read in our latest prayer requests from our newsletter – we’ve been a little nervous about our program’s numbers, specifically for SKC and EKC due to last spring’s large graduation. But as God always shows us, there was no reason to worry, because He provides. There were 8 kids at last week’s SKC, when this whole summer we were projecting there to be less than half of that number! The OC students made a huge impression with the kids as they always do, and everyone had a great time together. We breathed a sigh of relief to have the first SKC of the semester checked off as a “close to 10 kids” success.

Crafting at EKC

But we haven’t even told you the most exciting part yet. This summer we projected that 3 of our regular, non-native English speaking EKC kids would return this fall, plus the help of the Haskew girls, bringing our EKC total to 5. We prayed and prayed for God to send new kids our way, and because God provides, He answered our prayer with SEVEN new kids, bringing our total for this semester to 12! As we watched new kids hop into our office, crafting butterflies and eating apple-sliced-Nutella-covered ladybugs, all we could think to say is How GREAT is Our God! We now have so many children and parents to get to know, and the OC students were able to witness firsthand God’s answer to prayer in our home field. How Great is Our God.

Coffee & Conversation also began this last Tuesday, and the report back was one with enthusiasm and gladness for the chance to meet up and talk over a cup of coffee. These particular few are already planning to get back together sometime soon – we love it!

There is so much more you need to know about – KFA, EFA, tutoring, a new women’s bible study, visitors, visitors, and more visitors – but we will save these topics for more upcoming posts. We hope this update has got you smiling as much as writing about it has got us smiling. May you find peace and answers to prayer this week!

Video Blog 3

Our newest video includes highlights from the summer.

The Koois Are Back In Town

Getting ready to come back at last

Well, after 3 months of being in the U.S., after pages and pages of emails and many conversations with lawyers, embassy employees and Memorial Road staff and elders, and after hours of prayers and waiting, we are back in Vienna at last.

And we couldn’t be happier. In some ways, it’s like we never left. Our apartment is still here, complete with half-finished projects we abruptly left behind (and our cat). Our friends are here, as well as everyone in the church. Some things are different, like the snow, the lack of Christmas decorations and the knowledge that three months have passed by in this city without us, but in reality, we’ve jumped right back in like there was no break. You can read about some of the things we’ve gotten back into right away in some coming blogs.

Ice skating at the Rathaus

We’re sure most of you are aware, but our situation is not yet resolved, although it is somewhat close to being so. We are here in the EU as tourists again, leaving us 3 months before we have to leave again. We’ve had a couple of meetings with our immigration lawyer here and will be applying for a 1-year social worker permit very soon. We hope to have our permit before we have to leave again in May, but it is much more likely that we will have to leave and wait outside of the EU for our permit to be issued, which could be anytime from May to August.

However, if we do have to spend time away from Vienna, we do not want to spend it in the US like the last three months. We’re working through a couple of possibilities for us to visit another mission field during any forced time away from Vienna. Instead of feeling like we’ve essentially wasted 3 months of our 2 year commitment, we’re excited to be useful and help out another mission field in any way we can while we wait for our permits to be issued to us.

Holly reading to the EKC kids

In the meantime, we are so thankful to be back, as well as thankful to everyone who thought about us, prayed for us and supported us these last couple of months. On that note, please continue to pray that our residency permit application goes well and is filed quickly, and that we receive the permit in a timely manner so that we ideally do not have to leave Vienna again in May.

Will teaching English words

Like I said, we’ve jumped right back into our work like we were never away. Part of the work we did while in Oklahoma was plan English Kids Club’s curriculum for the remainder of the spring semester, which we have now launched into action. So far the kids have learned about the solar system, mountains and the rainforest, going off of this spring’s theme: “Our World – Air, Land, and Sea”. English For Adults (EFA) began (again) March 5th, and was very successful. This spring is kind of a learning semester for us, where we will see how our class goes and the best ways for it to work before we hopefully expand to even more students in the fall. We returned to Vienna with very helpful materials and are looking forward to not only teaching English, but getting to know our wonderful students as well. Please pray for this new project that we are trying to grow.

Well, Vienna is a lot more like Oklahoma than I thought. 3 weeks ago it was snowing, last week it was about 60 degrees, and today it’s snowing again. So, something familiar for us, I guess? Whatever – we’ll take whatever we get, as long as we’re back here now. Plus, it’s beautiful.

Downtown in the snow