looking ahead.. 2012

so.. and in order to write such a great review next year, i guess i have to set some goals! and here they are, in no particular order..

Ministry Goals 2012

~expand the RausKreis... this is a group i started in Leipzig similar to the StreetGroup in Bremen. so far though, we are very, very small. we meet mondays, which is unfortunate.. but we can hopefully change the day in 2012.

~get back into jail counseling. this has been a goal for so many years, that i never dreamt adding it to the list for 2011- and yet it came true in 2011 for half a year! now i am hooked, i really feel right when working in the jails- especially Torgau, the prison for more hardened, long-term criminals. yeah, i'm strange. i'd like to go back... possibly weekly in 2012. i even have someone who offered to donate the train tickets (which is what held me back the second half of the year- its 15e a day).

~begin mentoring at least one person.

~convoy 2012- we should do it again while we're hot!

~preach some more... i have realized this isn't my calling, but i like it so much and feel for occasional sermons i do have enough to say :)

~continue the cafe, and possibly expand it... right now we are open 2 days a week from 11 to 5, and are 2 women doing it. always with coffee and tea, and almost always i cook for whoever is there at meal time.

~reach out to theology students who are struggling with their faith or are not yet christians.


Personal Goals 2012

~get my credits for Bible NT, OT and pass the state Hebrew exam, start Greek, and two other credit bearing courses.

~re-up my financial support group and maintain a good communication with them about my work.

~get some style. i still look like a street worker.. but i am working in a more... uh... adult? dignified? yuppie? scene, and look a bit outta place sometimes. (who wants to thrift store it up in dallas in feb??)

~take a vacation (nbot a weekend.. a real trip) that is not related to work. it's been... uh... awhile.. the last real vacation was the kate-konspiracy in 2008. this year's goal (maybe)? if i pass hebrew i want to GO to israel. yeah, motivation! (just need a reeeeeaaaaaaalllllllyyyyyy cheap flight.. i can stay with friends of friends)

2011 review...

so, tradition would decree that i take a look back at my goals from december 2010 for this year, and see how i did.. and i'm not one to break with tradition now, am i... (insert laugh and then notice i happen to mean it this time, ironically)


Goals for 2011

Ministry:

~move to Leipzig. Some of you might have heard whispers of this.. now i am making it official. Next week i will be going to Leipzig to look for an apartment. It is the culmination of several reasons, and i will post about the decision in more detail later on.

yes! i got an apartment that week (the very one i wanted) and moved a week later. a lot of great people helped out- in fact, that's how i met many of them.

~make contact in the city with churches and organizations that are relevant for my type of ministry, establish what is already in place and what needs are still there.

yes... but maybe not as intensively as i had planned.

~if it fits, (and i kinda think it will) establish the Open Living Room. If not, seek God for His new plan in the city.

yes- ok, so i needed a push on this one, but we do have an open cafe twice a week!

~preach again!

yes- i man have only held three (two in leipzig, one on convoy) sermons, but hey, i never said how often i wanted to ;)

~start Theater projects. If the camera is replaced, start film projects.

no... darn, not a perfect record. i'd kinda forgotten about this.. however, i DID get my camera fixed (by a friend, who just basically turned it on..) so....

~Convoy 2011 (yeah! we are finally planning another convoy!!)

yes! the convoy was three weeks in july, ending at freakstock and mostly through cities in the former east germany.

~maintain the financial support group.

yes... although just barely. my financial status is under the needed amount as of this month (dec 11) and going forward. so if you are looking for a missionary to support in the new year.........


Personal:

~go to lots of Doctors and get all of my stuff checked and fixed and in good shape.

yeah... so i am not glad about this, but i went to lotsa doctors.. starting in january with two visits to a doc and followed in the spring by a serious problem with my optic nerve that left me quite limited for about two months. i really got my money outta the insurance on that one. then there was another elective thing, that wasn't covered by insurance, but a friend from highland baptist sponsored that.

~live alone, Communal living is great, and i though i would always want it.. but i am tired, and just need my own 4 walls to come home to. This might pass, but for now, i just want some space where there aren't random people at all hours making noise and messes. Moving to Leipzig means i can find an apartment for the price i pay here for a single room in a shared flat.

yes! i actually got an apartment here for the EXACT rent i was paying in a small shared flat in karlsruhe! it has been such a blessing.. i have two rooms, kitchen and bath (with tub). the catch is i don't have heaters- just coal burning stoves. and it happens to be in the part of town renown for drug dealors and violence... but that means it's perfect, right? i really like my neighbors and most of the people in our building are quite nice. there have been a lot of cool conversations. i think this particular apartment is exactly right for me, and for God. (yeah, i guess i do have a roommate...)

~Studies... finish my NT courses and learn Hebrew. Be at least half finished with masters by end of 2011.

ok... this one got overhauled... due to the visa issues i was forced to register at the university, not the distance program i was doing. this meant i had to leave the other program and my credits didn't transfer. i have started to see why being at the university is part of God's plan, though. you'd be amazed how many theology students do not believe... hint: more than half. so, i took my ethics, church history, and judaism requierments and jail-counseling last spring. now i am in hebrew, new testament and old testament.. the bible classes end in feb, hebrew goes another semester. i am also taking sign language for fun. if this sounds like a lot.. it isn't. i go to university a day and a half a week.


~visit Dallas.. it's been 2 years already.

wellllll...... does booking a flight count?? i am coming to the states in february-- save time for me everybody! i would love to meet up, get a coffee or plumage a thrift store!

~learn another big chunk of Bible verses.

no... instead this year i ended up concentrating on learning what content is in every chapter of the bible. thats for the exams in feb. after that feel free to quiz me.

christmas 2011... Görlitz

i spent this christmas the way i usually do... with the down and outs with nowhere else to go, with a group of jesus freaks cooking up a good meal. this year i was invited by my friends öko and ben to go to a town on the polish boarder where they live and help out. we cooked a midnight meal for about 30 people at an all-night christmas party. see for yourself!


my christmas package from highland baptist: WOW! best package EVER!


Öko in the teekeller kitchen


looks yummy... traditional german meal.


guests


ben playing cards with guests..


guests


coffee and tea..


ben and i


the message.

jesus freaks leipzig on tv

click on the title of the post to see a short news clip about the jesus freaks leipzig (and see me a few times). it's in german, but there's some worship and m friends.. from 1min 10 to 4 min 40.