Dear Family,
What a Holy Week! The Maundy Thursday service was deeply meaningful. One young woman commented, “The service tonight broke my heart. So often in the hustle and bustle of our lives, we forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Tonight I was reminded. Tears rolled down my face each time something was carried from the altar, and my heart felt like it was breaking. Thank you for the reminder . . .it will make Easter Sunday that much more special.” The Easter Egg Hunt was a blast – a super event for children and their families! (Seeing Peggy Cardinali at the Easter Egg Hunt was my highlight for the weekend!) The Easter worship services were beautiful and deeply hopeful. I am so proud of you guys for bringing your friends. We had 749 people at Saturday night, 750 at 9:00 am, and 943 at the 10:50 am service for a total of 2442. That is 1100-1200 more than an average weekend. You brought your peeps . . .it was awesome!
• Speaking of peeps – did you know that, “Americans will eat more than 600 million marshmallow Peeps and bunnies this Easter; Popular ways to eat Peeps: stale, microwaved, frozen, roasted or served as toppings on pizza; Each Peep has 32 calories and 0 fat grams; Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue and white.”
• Here’s the latest update from Dan and Jen Beilman in Austria. “I’m writing to you from a coffee shop in the coffee shop capital of the world. But even with all the wonderful local options, I chose to come to Starbucks because you know what? I needed something familiar. We miss home. We miss being able to go through a day without having to think rigorously about even simple things. We even miss processed foods and high fructose corn syrup. And we miss you, too. Well, I didn’t mean to start this negatively, but I found it ironic as I sat down to write this that I’m grateful for a coffee shop chain I was formerly so eager to ridicule. Things are actually going very well for us. We are slowly but surely getting moved in and settled into our new apartment. Worthy is zooming through his German classes (his pronunciation is eerily authentic), Jen has completed four weeks of German, and on Monday I began four months of daily German classes. We still don’t own a car and don’t foresee the need for one anytime soon. The boys love the train, and even William corrects me: “Not ‘train.’ ‘Strassenbahn!’” The Lord has already provided us with some good Christian friends, and others whom we’re excited to get to know. The ministry is going well, too. I am very much enjoying leading worship in two languages; there is a wealth of German liturgy and hymnody that I am just starting to tap into. Leading worship with me every week is a pianist/vocalist, clarinetist, banjo player, and smokin’ violinist. Musically, I find it very fulfilling to play with these guys. An average of 20-30 folks attend our church each Sunday. We’re not quite ready for the “megachurch” label, but in this town it feels s pretty close! The Lord has also blessed us with relationships with some Austrian families. One couple invited us over for dinner, and then we went to a large indoor playground with them and their children. Another family has invited us to Salzburg with them; I will be joining the husband’s amateur choir this month. As I write this, our downstairs neighbor is visiting Jen and the boys with her two children. She and her husband have proven to be incredibly kind, generous, and helpful, letting us borrow various things and translating phone messages we’ve received. Please pray for our relationships with these families, that we can sincerely love them and have opportunities to share Christ with them. I met with the admissions director for the Doctoral program I was interested in applying for. She broke the news to me that I don’t qualify, and will have to pursue the Master’s program instead. This stung at first, but would you thank the Lord for humbling me through this? My pride needs to be kept in check. . .on a daily basis. Please pray that I gain acceptance into the Musicology program at the University of Vienna. This will be the means through which we get a visa and stay legally in Austria. Jen is weary. Life as a mom here is pretty darn tough. Please pray that she gets the rest she needs, that she learns how to take rest, and that the children will sleep through the night. Recently, I took Worthy to a small store. We struck up a conversation with the proprietor, and he asked us, “So why are you in Vienna?” Right then, Jen called me on my cell phone. While I begged for a moment to take the call, Worthy said, “I’ll tell him! We’re in Vienna to work with New City Wein and to tell everybody how strong our God is.” You know who needed to hear that more than anyone else in Vienna? Me. I needed my son to remind me that our God is strong enough to provide for us on a daily basis, to provide strength, rest and a right relationship with Himself; a relationship that gives me my identity as a treasured son of God. Let us know how we can plead with our strong God on your behalf. P.S. Don’t forget to keep checking up on us at our blog.”
• We have a team headed to Japan in June to do tsunami relief. They are holding a rummage sale next Saturday (5/7). If your house looks like a tsunami hit it and you need to get rid of some stuff before you end up on the TV program Hoarders – drop your donations off at the Team Japan trailer parked by the Student Ministry Building!
• This weekend I’ll be preaching on gospel parenting. There are only two weekend services beginning this Sunday (6:00 pm Saturdays, 10:00 am Sundays). I’ll see you in worship.
Sincerely,
Ray
