Our Home Assignment Adventure Continues!

Greetings from South Carolina! I can't believe we've already been in the U.S. for over a month. Our time here is flying by! Our first 3 weeks were spent in Minnesota, enjoying time with Nate's family and going outside for lots of winter fun (sledding, ice skating and snow fort building were the highlights!). After about 10 days of being sick, Nate finally felt better and the end of our time there was particularly special. Here are a few photos:

Hiding out in the snow fort

Learning to ice skate

Sledding in the park

Riding the carousel at the Mall of America

Riding the Mall of America rides with cousin Rosy!

Walking in Wisconsin, while on a visit to see Nate's grandma

After 3 weeks in Minnesota, we drove for two long days and arrived in South Carolina and my parents' house. We've been enjoying time with them the last couple of weeks. Ellie is continuing with homeschool everyday, Nate is working on preparing a sermon and writing papers for his Master's program and we've been focusing much of our time on raising support and preparing materials for sharing at churches in the coming months. 

Here are a few photos from our visit to SC so far.

Enjoy the hotel pool in Indianapolis, on our way down south.

A huge highlight for the girls: visiting the American Girl Doll Store!

Petting donkeys at the Greenway

Grampy, reading books to his girls

Ellie, working on reading during homeschooling

A green lunch on St. Patrick's Day!

If you'd like to pray for us during this time, here are a few prayer requests:

• That God would keep us healthy during all of our travels and that we'd have access to a Covid vaccine, despite not having a US address
• That God would raise up new supporters and meet our current $1,200/month goal. We were thankful to celebrate gaining 3 new supporters this week!
• For Nate's continued studies in Christian Leadership and that the classes he takes while we are here would be fruitful and practical
• For our continued planning for our church plant launch this fall. Our website is now online!

Looking Back on Summer 2018

Time for a video update! Here's a look back at our summer adventure:

Heading Home

As always, it is with mixed emotions that we prepare for our journey back to Austria on Monday. We are very excited and eager to return to our home, our community, our dog and our routine. We have missed Austria a lot this summer, and we anticipate a sweet reunion with many friends there. On the other hand, though, we have had a wonderful summer with friends and family here, and we will miss these people so much.  It has been a special time, with a refreshing break from our daily routine (even when this "break" was very busy!).  No matter where we are, whether in Austria or in the U.S., our heart is always aching for people on the other side of the ocean. We are always missing someone somewhere!

We are so thankful for God's provision this summer, and we look back on the last two months very fondly. We made some wonderful memories that we will cherish! We head back Monday on an overnight direct flight from New York to Vienna. Please pray that we all sleep at least a little and for a smooth transition back to home and ministry in Austria. 

Here are a few more photo highlights from the last few weeks:

Enjoying beach time and lobster rolls in CT

The "great American playground tour" continues!

Ellie and Aunt Crista

Ellie seeing Uncle John call the horse races at Yonkers Raceway

Cousin Tyler and Ellie at Silverman's Farm

Sisters!

A Girls' overnight with Bethany, her mom and her sister

What God Has Been Doing This Summer

We have been on a whirlwind adventure this summer, travelling across the U.S. on a 2-month home assignment, visiting friends, family and supporters, connecting with churches, and sharing about Austria. Wow - God has been doing amazing things! Here are a few highlights from recent weeks:

• God has provided enough donations for us to pay off our car loan IN FULL!
• God has provided enough donations IN ADDITION that we met our goal for the summer and will return to Austria in a better position financially!
• God has provided the funds for a new guitar!
• God has blessed us with many new monthly supporters and our need is now down to $240/month.
• God has lavishly blessed us with many homes to stay in, many delicious meals and lots of special times connecting with people.
• God has given Nate the opportunity to preach a powerful message from John 4 four times. (After hearing the sermon all 4 times, God's words have really sunk in for me!)
• God has allowed us some times to connect with our family, whom we don't get to see very often. Those times have been very special.
• God has reminded us of all the wonderful friendships we have here in the States, as we've reconnected with many dear friends during our trip.
• God provided a vehicle to use this summer and has kept us safe through many trips on the road.

Wow! We have been blown away by His provision through His people. A special thanks to all those who have been a part of this blessing this summer. We are humbled by all of this, and through it, God is reminding us of how much He loves us and how He provides for our needs.

Here are some photos highlights from the last month of our travels!

Nate preaching at Cornerstone Church in MN

Sunbathing with friends in WI

Picnicking with friends in Chicago

Reuniting with our Interns from 2016!

Sharing with friends and supporters in Winfield, IL

Visiting Wheaton College

Sharing with friends and supporters in Wheaton, IL

Meeting up with Bethany's Aunt in Chicago

Sharing in Warren, OH at Champion Presbyterian Church

Ellie and Ellie (Bethany's cousin's daughter)

Nate preaching at Stanwood Church in Navarre, OH

Hanging out with friends in OH

Summer Home Assignment Highlights

Oops! Another blogging hiatus from us - we are so sorry! Our last few months in Austria before boarding a plane for the U.S. were quite busy and Nate also came down with a very bad case of tonsillitis that zapped him of energy for about 3 weeks. He was just trying to keep up with what he could during that time. Then, on June 17, we all hopped on a plane and flew to Atlanta to begin our 2-month summer home assignment in the U.S. It's been a whirlwind adventure so far and will continue to be! We have been having a great time and feel really blessed to be here. Here are a few highlights from our time so far!

On the trans-atlantic flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta. Lots of screen time for all :)

Attending VBS for a day in Atlanta with Ellie's cousin, Meg

Driving from Atlanta to my parents' house in SC

Grocery shopping with Grammy

Maya goes for a walk with Grampy

At the Veerman family reunion in NC. Maya plays piano with her cousins

Beach time!

My dad and his siblings and spouses at the reunion

The next generation down

Grampy and Maya snuggling

We've arrived in MN! Beach time at the lake!

Ellie gets to go fishing with Opa!

Many more memories to come! We will soon be sharing with churches and small groups about our ministry in Austria, as well as spending time with family. We'll keep you updated!

One Week Away

We are just a week away from our departure from the U.S. back to Austria! Watch below to get an update from us on what's coming up and how you can pray for us. Thanks!

A Visit to Encounter Church

Last Sunday, we shared an update at Encounter Church, one of our partner churches here in Connecticut. We love this congregation - they are so passionate about missions and being engaged in the work going on in Vienna. We really enjoyed giving an update and connecting with many people after the service. This was our last Sunday service presentation and our last time wearing our traditional Austrian dress on this Home Assignment, before heading back to Austria (which is good, because I couldn't button the dress all the way, thanks to being 18 weeks pregnant!). Encounter Church was a great way to close out our visit to the U.S.!

It's on the Horizon...

It's finally here. We are approaching just one more month in the U.S. and starting to prepare to head back to Vienna. There are so many thoughts and emotions tied to this upcoming transition, some of them conflicting. I am simultaneously excited to return home to our life, our community and our dog, as well as sad to leave our family and friends here. I am excited to speak German again, but also intimidated by going back into a culture that is still somewhat foreign, where I have to concentrate a more to accomplish daily errands and tasks. I can't wait to have a space again just for our family, but I have enjoyed being spoiled living with family - easy, free babysitting, and few cooking and cleaning responsibilities. I look forward to returning to my friends and community in Vienna but will deeply miss our friends and family here in the U.S.

When you are away from somewhere, it can be easy to idealize that place. I think I have done that over the last 6 months with our return to Vienna. I have been fantasizing about returning ever since we left. Some friends, also missionaries, recently reminded us that even though we really look forward to heading back home, moving back to Vienna will also mean going through a cultural transition and it may not be as smooth or ideal as we expect. This has been on my mind a lot lately. I have missed home so much during our home assignment, but it's been good to process the transition and think about what might be hard to get used to again when we return.

Amidst these thoughts, we also have some logistics to think about! We have packing and shopping to do, so that we can bring back our favorite and most useful products from the States. We have preparations to do for our summer interns, who arrive just 5 days after we get back to Vienna. We want to hit a few more items on our "bucket list" before we leave our passport country and get on the plane. Would you pray for us? Pray for a smooth transition and that God would prepare our hearts for all that is ahead, whether smooth or not!

Photo credit: aselaneli from morguefile.com