living hosea

this sunday i will be preaching on the minor prophet hosea. and, similarly to how the sermon on amos came to be a very timely one.. this one is hitting home too. one of my close friends is hosea in our drama. and one of my housemates is playing the role of the men of the town. the wife is also a close friend, but ignoring me right now. i am stuck in the middle of a massive drama.

please pray for them!!!

passport post

HALLELUJAH!!!

i was just woken up by the best possible thing.. the mail woman just brought me an envelope i personaly stamped and addressed exactly two weeks ago. that's right.. my new passport is here! it is crisper than my old one. there is some kind of tracking devise in it that scares me a little.. used to track american citizens globally. (am i paranoid not to think this is good?)

the front cover opens to an old painting of washington crossing the delaware and the handwritten text of the star spangled banner poem on it.. looks like revolutionary graffiti. my unsmiling and somewhat dark photo makes me look like a terr... the pages are all different with pink and blue renditions of all things american and prideful quotes. it's very cheesy. i used to really like the business-like attitude of a passport. it was serious. traveling was serious. this new passport, while the most serious one i have needed, just seems like a play-thing. there are even cowboys on it.

but hey, it's here! step one is over.. on dec 9 is my appointment at the foreign service offices to get a new visa. that should hopefully go well, since my old one was still valid..... then again.. i don't qualify. so as always, it is a prayer need.

skype and challenge

so i have been convinced to start using skype. it won't always be on, but if anyone wants to talk and doesnt reach me, you can email me to set a time.otherwise: cate.mcmillan

also, "we" are starting to read the bible through in a year on december first- in chronological order. (order as defined by the person who made the list and quite open to debate.. i for one disagree on the minor prophets..but hey) anyone want to play along? it takes about 15-30 minutes a day. and the fun of all doing the same reading together is we can have some discussion and encouragement going on. oh, and the prize for all who complete it is that we will have a huge thanksgiving diner next year at the hope house (transportation is up to you).

winter wonderland?

yep, you see correctly. this is snow. and it is sticking to the ground. in bremen. in fact, it is perfect snowball snow. too bad i have no one to throw them at... (or should i aim at the brothel across the street? what's the WWJD answer to snowball fights with houses of ill repute? [and yes, there is a Bible verse that applies.. i'll send a prize to whoever gets it first]) as much as i dislike the weather required for it, i rather do like snow. it's pretty, and interesting (especially the really big wet flakes or the various non-snow frozen water forms), and as mentioned.. great to throw. i didn't get my share of it as a kid in texas, so i guess i am still struck in awe when i see it at the beginning of each winter.. i stare out the window, romp in it, slip-fall-hurt my bum.. (there will be no romping this year.. i have to look out for my foot..)

the main thing i have against snow (and the weather) is that i see from pretty close how it affects the people who aren't enjoying it through a window, holding a hot-water bottle, drinking a chai latte (ok, i don't have any of that left either, they don't have it here)... i know the ones who are curled up in sleeping bags, close together, on top of the dishwasher-steam-vent of mcdonalds, drinking korn (cheap disgusting liquor) with the snow settling on them as they tire of brushing it away.. i know people who freeze to death.

this year i have taken over control of the annual christmas- mission of the jesus freaks. i bumped it up from dec 24 to december 6. that's st. nikolaus day.. the day kids put out their shoes and get either ashes or sweets. i did it so that more people can participate (like myself). and this year i am specifically collecting things that make people warm as our gifts. we are collecting hats, scarves, gloves, socks, thermal underwear, blankets and sleeping bags. and, if you want to contribute, you can. (ok, so i know no one will be mailing off their old ski stuff to germany.. but hey, if you did, i wouldn't mind.. and for those of you in dallas, if you give it to me when i am there, i can bring it back and pass it out in january) accompanying that will be typical bremer food and little new testaments... i'll post pictures. keep this in your prayers, that we meet up with people and are able to bless them.

steiger missions/ karlsruhe

wednesday night sandro baggio from steiger sao paulo, brazil was in bremen speaking to the jesus freaks. i got into a really great conversation with him about ministry and challenges and the stuff that has been going on lately. he also works primarilly with the street people, so he could relate. he kept saying "well, you need to be with steiger." finally i said if he keeps it up, i just might follow them to the next city. at tat point, he called over his translator (who happens to be a full time staffer from karlsruhe) and said "this is cate, she needs to come with us."

so it turned out they were leaving the next day for the main german base, and had a spot for me in their car. they also thought there would be a bed available... (on the way down on the highway we found out otherwise). so i spent thursday and friday hanging out at their base, talking to students in their discipleship training school, and meeting with the staff. it felt comfortable.

they gave me some information to look over and explained their connections.. friends, partners and missionaries. i will definatly at least partner with them, which means there is a loose connection and they are available for advice. and i am looking into what it would mean to join their mission organization as a missionary. for that, they have invited me to spend two weeks at their base in january, getting to know them and vise versa.

so they didn't have a bed.. where did i stay, you might ask? :-D well, it just so happens that their base is a thirty minute tram ride from andreas family's house. so i stayed there on a very comfortable piece of dining room carpet (made my back hurt). but bed aside, it was really nice to see andreas and to spend a little more time with his family. they were a little surprised to see me, but very welcoming. his mom cooked saturday and sunday for us. on saturday night we went to a piano concert with his best friend in a beutiful old german style (renovated) barn. it's right around the corner from the old stone church he's a member of......... :-D

got back last night around 1am. and surprise! we have two new guests.

more issues

well, i was hit by another two things this weekend, and am just getting to processing them today. a lady who comes over for coffee (the hope house version of counseling) and is married to a friend of mine has fallen in love with another man. he of course, is not not interested in her or breaking up their marriage. (at least that's good) but still there is this huge new issue to deal with. and to top it off, i found out she has a psychiatric diagnosis as schizophrenic... (i knew there was something, but i didn't know exactly... it got rather obvious over the past few weeks though).

anyone think missions is boring?

passport update

ok.. so the former guest whole stole my passport did not bring it back, as i had prayed. but as i have been learning this week at DTS chapel (i go every day on podcast) sometimes it isn't a bad thing when prayer isn't answered the way we wish. (still waiting to see how that applies to this trial)

so this morning i got up extremely early and headed over to the local police station. i filed an official report against enrico. partially because i am required to in order to get a new passport, and partially because i am so hurt by his abuse of my trust and hospitality. the police were nice enough.

then, i headed to the post office for a padded and stamped envelope, so the embassy can send me my passport. and then of course to the embassy itself.... in the world trade center. (and you thought it was gone.. nope just in bremen) the lady there was very VERY helpful. and very kind. she is sending the forms to berlin for me, so i might be able to spare the expense and time commitment of traveling there myself (which is what the official website says i should do). she even glued my too-small german-sized passport photos onto a white background, in hopes they will then be exceptable (and save me more money). also, she put a request for quicker processing, so that i will definatly be able to fly in december, even taking into account that i need to go to the foreign service office here first as well- and she didn't charge me double!! (the fee generally required to quicken things)

she also gave me some advice about getting a special copy of my birth certificate while in the states, since there are certain official ceremonies where it is required ;-) and she even offered starbursts. (they dont have them here). so i guess things are going as well as can be expected.

continue to pray that this all does work out.

birgit's daughter

at church today heiko received a phone call from his close friend birgit. i know her, but not exceptionally well. she was in tears, so he went to her place. her teenage daughter committed suicide in their home. i don't know any details. please pray for the mother and young brother, and heiko who is close to them. they are all in shock and terrible distress emotionally. we were asked as a house to take the three of them in, but we cannot... karo and ben are moving out at the beginning of the week, but are still here. and things are uncertain as to where i will be with the whole passport issue.

?

is it unfair of me, to be this upset over a passport?
this weeks other top stories: a friend is in jail. another was diagnosed with cancer. and a third is pregnant out of wedlock.

passport

my passport has been stolen.

i think i know by whom, and today i was able to find his current handy number and write to him, begging him to sell it back to me. it of course has my visa in it..

please pray that he does still have it, and that he decides to humble himself and bring it back! i know that would be a very hard thing for him to do, to admit to stealing it. only God can help.

jesus freaks germany

this weekend i was at the first official meeting of the jesus freaks germany. basically, we have been going through a konzil process for the past two years, and the structure of the movement has been changing significantly. since we are becoming more international, the german freaks have started a new leadership meeting several times a year to deal with germany-internal issues. this is in addition at to the willow freak leadership weekend in the spring that will remain international. so.. it was not exactly fun and games. especially since we are trying to reach all decisions by consensus instead of majority vote. the new open structure opens new possibilities for our movement. i am especially excited about the new website that will act as a network to exchange ideas and find cohorts.

i also finally got up the courage to talk to gerd and see if he needs any help coordinating things in the north region. regional work in the movement has been on my heart for a long time, and now i am officially part of it! basically what that means is support for freaks in places in this region without churches, help for groups starting out, and coordination for events and seminars. i am looking forward to it!

there were 70 freaks there, and a lot of them old friends. that made it cool, especially since i missed freakstock this year. especially cool was getting to talk to andreas kirsten (photo), who i have known almost ten years yet rarely see. also ilt and magdalen were there, two of my old prayer partners. and of course, there were still plenty of new people to meet.