i want to ride my....

i got a bike! its got 21 speeds and is from the brand "prophet." hehe. i rode it home today from the ebayers house.. about a thirty minute ride, and i am beet. aparently leaving the lights on is about the same as driving a car with the handbrake on... here's to hopeing i can ride without lights most of the time.

...and now?

[ok..first off, be praying for my gram.. she is in the hospital again.]

and now i have been in karlsruhe two months.. thats a rather long time and yet no time at all. you probably think it should be clear what i am doing by now. if so, i have to disappoint you.

for right now i am working with steiger but am not yet a part of their organization officially. they have a few month trial period for us to get to know each other and see if things "fit." so in that time i am keeping busy... i had a dream the night before i met with one of the elders, bryce from new zealand, that i was teaching them all german. there are alot of people here from the usa and new zealand that speak limited to no german. it bugs me. so i told him about that and he said "well great, do it- we really need that." so yeah, i am. i have no clue what i am doing though, and without real teaching materials its kinda a wobbly start.

in addition to that and occasionally cooking, i have joined a small group, am in the prayer team, and will be joining the two existing evangelistic teams, the tea partys and the euro coffee team. i am still planning to talk with david about the possibilities of preaching. i have also gotten a mentor to meet with regularly.

other than that, i am riding a bike everywhere that i borrowed from mrs smith until i can get my own. i spend the weekends at the "castle" of my prince, and really ddesire a real bed and some quiet nights (i live in a very loud place and still sleep on the folding guest bed) i met a nice girl through hospitality club and ines from the freaks, but otherwise i am lonely for some friends.

and of course i have a few practical needs to keep in mind: a good mikrowave (since our ovens broken), bed (or wood and help to build), bike, a good kitchen scale, and an internet cable.

want a tour?

here is a virtual tour of my new place:



from out front (my room is ground floor, middle)


my view


hall


my room


kitchen


wc


bathroom

willo freak

i just got back from the jesus freaks seminar that can best be described as a family reunion. it was great to see old friends and meet new ones (even a lady who lives in karlsruhe!) and to hear about the movement and things going on in the freaks. i also attempted my hand at a new job: i was in the technology team. (and liked it) the focus of the seminar was on hearing God.. and quite appropriate for this stage of my life/ministry.

where i should be

so something crazy just happened.. i went to pick up my keys to the new apartment, and the guy moving out told me that i looked at his girlfriends room, too. turns out, it was that very first room i looked at, the one i really loved and where i thought the roommates were so cool (and the new one has that same feeling).. and so the two are connected. how full circle and neat is that? it just seems right.

salim nourallah in nun

last night doro (from bremen) and i went to cafe nun to see a concert by salim nourallah.

the funny thing is, he is from dallas! it was a really cool concert, and i encourage people to look him up (and kelly: we told the story of you and lilly and how it backfired that she moved to dallas, and he laughed at me and said i should send you guys to one of his shows and make sure you go up and say hi and all) his name means peacefull in swahili (dont ask how i know that) and that was the general feeling and the concert as well.

cafe nun is part of a club called kubik, which is also kinda like the freaks and steiger in that it has an alternative style and approach to life with God. the cafe is just a cafe, though. the church part of what they do is (get this) directly across the street from my new apartment. it was cool to meet some people and hang out.

home sweet home

yes, you read correctly: i found an apartment! you cant really see it in this picture but its about the third house in on the right, across from the church. after writting to about a hundred places and visiting around 30, i am really glad to have one.

last night on my way out the door i gave specific intructions to the prayer team that was just meeting up, that they should pray i get a room fast because i am getting weary...

i was supposed to visit two, but they both turned out to be nothing... which was doubly frustrating since i rode a bike through heavy rain to each of them. but while at the second another guy called and asked when i could come. more or less as i joke i said, "how bout now?" and they said ok. so at about 10pm i rode up to the apartment.

the room is 17 square meters. thats the same size as my room (and price- despite this city being generally expensive) in bremen. its also ground floor and has nice windows. i spent an hour hanging out talking to the flatmates- a 20 year old girl who studies architecture, a 30 year old guy who teaches grman and englisch lit, and a 35 year old guy who does performance arts- like unicycling and juggling and stuff.

tonight the call came already- they said they decided pretty quick after i left that they want me to move in, but he waited to call until after work today. and the best part? i can move in this weekend!! so stay tuned for my new adress in the next few days.. if you want it, just send me an email.

arrival

at steiger in karlsruhe.

so far everything is great, but there's not much to say. pray i will find a room soon. otherwise i have been doing a lot of translating and cooking for everyone.

the search

this weekend i was in karlsruhe looking for a room. from the many i wrote and telephoned with, there were three options to go see. one was much too junked up (a place with two art students..), one was way too upper-class (with a law student), and one was just right (like baby bears room...). please pray that they choose me!! they have several others interested and were not ready yet to make a decision. the room is 25m2 (mine here is 17m2 and all others i found less), costs only 250e (a little less than my room in bremen and the cheapest i have found in karlsruhe) and the three women roomates were all quite nice. all over thirty and a bit quieter than things have been in the hope house. the style was a cluttered non-mess.. kinda artsy and origionally decorated. hard wood floors, very high cielings, nice balcony, espresso machine.... :-)

otherwise the weekend was good in and of itself. even though i'd just seen andreas, we don't seem to get tired of spending time tpogether. his parents even bought a fold-out couch, so i had a comfy bed. we think it's their way of saying "why doesn't cate come over more?" the weather was ok, the food was awesome, and the city is.. well, i think i am actually going to like it there. as long as the summer doesnt turn out to be too hot.

before i go south..

my reverse migration is comming upon me rather quickly.. unlike birds that fly south in the winter, i will be headed that way for the summer (rather idiotic since i dont like heat). andreas laughed at me for still (after 4 1/2 years in bremen and several in hamburg) not having ever been to the north sea (ocean). we decided to do something about it. spontaneously.

so easter monday we headed off in ben's car for cuxhaven. we went to the beach and waded in the surprisingly warm ocean water and sat on the beach. then visited my friends yvonne and andy for coffee and a recommendation for a good fish restaurant. i know i have never been a big fish fan, so this might surprise you, but: it was increadibly good!!



after dinner we returned to the beach to walk in the watt.. thats the thick mud that is left when the tide goes out. basically the ocean backs up about 12km- all the way to the nearby islands. and people can walk the distance. we didnt, though. it is hard to walk in. we were trying to see the sunset, but it was cloudy, so there wasn't much to see. still cool though.



then we headed home for the night and set out again the next morning to another spot on the north sea, wilhelmshaven. bad idea. ugly city. confusing road signs. and, once we found a beach, it was a man-made one.. they imported sand and charge admission! then the actual shore is lined with pavement and stones. we made the best of it anyway, and were able to find a spot to get down into the hallows once the tide started to pull back and show the watt.


when it got chilly, we headed to oldenburg for dinner. it's a little town near bremen where some of my friends study, yet i had never made the trip. it was quiant and nice. we walked around the town a few times and finally settled on a place for dinner. so i was able to do several of the things i should already have done on this trip. it was a nice farewell-north tour.

1 year

yeah, it's been that long. :-)

minor prophets: nahum (and jonah)

yesturday was my next installment of the minor prophets sermon series. i will be preaching alot in the next few weeks, trying to get as far through my series as possible before leaving for karlsruhe. it wouldn't make sence to finish elsewhere, so any i don't get to i will come back to visit bremen for. i have business here through september at least, so that's ok.

this week i spoke on nahum.. and added in a good portion of jonah, since i skipped him in the sunday service and only covered him at street group. plus, the two just fit together.. anyone interested in what i said can check out my outline in the comments, or ask questions :-)