Neuschwanstein Trip

Hey friends and family,

Lately we have been busy with reading, assignments, lectures, and some more adventuring. This week already we have our first travel weekend. It also marks the end of our first term. On Thursday we leave to go spend the weekend in a cabin in the Austrian Alps.

I have about a month to catch up on, and I want to share with you some photos of our trip to Neuschwanstein. 

 

Way back in October, Jordan had his 24^th birthday. We still had lectures that day, but we were able to enjoy a nice coffee date with our friend Jon. Jordan was also treated with a beautiful evening sunset over the Alps across the lake.

We have also begun working in different outreach teams. I (Jennifer) have been meeting weekly with a bunch of high school girls for English tutoring. I enjoy practicing English (them, not me) by playing games and talking about the world and social justice. I’m excited to get to know these girls more and more. This is also an awesome outreach as the students are coming to the bible school and are able to experience the difference in culture here. I would appreciate prayer for these girls and that we would be able to build relationships and share with them the joy found in Jesus. Jordan has been involved in a music team and is often practicing songs in preparation for visiting schools and youth groups around Germany. He has also been in charge of sound for all the lectures and services.

We visited the Neuschwanstein castle a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful day and I found the whole area to be enchanting. It had just snowed, but the sun came out and was shining on the castles and us as we enjoyed the day. We hiked up to the castle and then to a viewpoint on a bridge over a waterfall. On our way down we visited the base of the waterfall and hiked down beside the river. By the time we got into town we were beginning to get a bit chilly and we stopped in at a restaurant below for some coffee, cake, and hot chocolate. I ordered beinenstich. The restaurant we visited was established in 1308.

After our visit to Neuschwanstein, we visited a nearby adventure park and went for a ride on the sommerrodelbahn. It’s essentially a small bobsled on wheels that makes its way down the side of the mountain very quickly on a metal tube resembling a bobsled track. We flew down the hill and may have feared for our lives once or twice… We also enjoyed the zipline which sent many students flying off the end and into a large puddle.

We also have been able to enjoy many fun events with our k-group (community group). We had a bonfire on the beach and roasted dough over the fire to make stuckbrot (stick bread), which you then fill with goodies like nutella or jam. We also had a fun games night where we made baked apples and played ‘four on a couch’. This last week our group was able to enjoy the company of our lecturer Johan and his wife Linda and they joined in our game of ‘four on a couch’. Then Johan shared stories about when he was a hippie in the Sinai desert and how he got put in jail in Egypt for handing out bibles and testimonies. Our group has also been working on putting together a few shoe boxes for Samaritans Purse Operation Christmas Child.

We have also enjoyed many evening walks to the lake or through the orchards as well as many coffee dates. I hope you are all having a great autumn as well and not missing us too much.

Sending our love,

Jennifer and Jordan.