January has been a sweet month filled with snow fall and fun experiences. Due to the chilly weather our nights on the street in Linz have been rather calm. Unlike the Rudolfskai in Salzburg, the Linz downtown area sees a lot less partying as the temperatures drop. This has been such a blessing and a welcome surprise. It has been allowing us to gently "break in" all of the amazing new Buddies and it has given us a chance to learn the layout of Linz and find the bar/pub hotspots. I think the best part about having less craziness on the street is that the opportunity for conversation is significantly greater. It has been such a joy to connect with the new members of the team and to hear their stories and why they are interested in Street Buddies. For me it is so powerful seeing that people with such different backgrounds, birthplaces, and languages can come together and, with Jesus as the central focus, can work together to try and be a source of love.
This past Saturday we had a neat answer to prayer while in Linz. One of our prayers for Street Buddies recently has been for God to build a strong, fruitful relationship between us and the local police force. When this group first started in Salzburg the police there were really nervous and had warned those involved that what they were planning to do would be very dangerous and they didn't recommend it. As time went on the police in Salzburg noticed that nothing negative had occurred and much to their shock it seemed like Street Buddies was actually positively influencing the Rudolfskai. When we spoke to the police in Linz they had a similar initial reaction. They are feeling hesitant and unsure about our presence in the downtown area. So we have been asking God to speak to them like he spoke to the policemen in Salzburg. On Saturday as we were walking around Micah noticed a wallet sitting, rather unfortunately, in a pile of vomit. We thought maybe someone had lost it so Micah bravely donned rubber gloves and cleaned it off with a paper towel. It turns out that this persons driver's license, ID, ATM card, and several other important documents were all still inside. The only thing that was missing was any bills or coins. One of the other Street Buddies was pretty sure the wallet had been stolen, emptied of cash, and then tossed. He suggested that we take it to the police station down the street. We went to the nearby headquarters and we turned in the wallet and explained the situation. Even though this was definitely a crumby situation it did provide a great opportunity for us to connect again with the police and to mention that we're the Street Buddies. It was received positively and the officers seemed to appreciate it.
We also have been having lots of fun experiences with our dairy farmer friends. I was invited, after showing extreme interest, in helping with one of the calf births. I stayed the night at the house and helped with the evening shift for checking on the mom cow. Around 2 am I was woken up and told that the baby's feet had appeared! The calf was a big one, he was two weeks overdue, so we had to slip some ropes over the hooves and gently pull with the cow's contractions to help the process along. After about 15 minutes the handsome bull calf was born and I got the honor of naming him. Jonathan now has a cow named after him :).
Jonathan and I also got introduced to the winter sport of Eisstockschiessen. It reminds us of bocce ball except on ice. There is a target, in our case it was a small block of wood, called the Daube. It is placed on the opposite side of a frozen playing field, in our case a frozen pond. Then two teams take turns sliding metal rimmed wooden objects towards the Daube. Points are awarded depending on which team gets the closest to the Daube. We had a total blast learning the game and I think we both would definitely like to do it again. By some strange chance it turns out that I'm not half bad at it and I got a couple points for my team. The picture above was taken as proof :).
Thank you all for reading and praying for us!
-Rachael
This past Saturday we had a neat answer to prayer while in Linz. One of our prayers for Street Buddies recently has been for God to build a strong, fruitful relationship between us and the local police force. When this group first started in Salzburg the police there were really nervous and had warned those involved that what they were planning to do would be very dangerous and they didn't recommend it. As time went on the police in Salzburg noticed that nothing negative had occurred and much to their shock it seemed like Street Buddies was actually positively influencing the Rudolfskai. When we spoke to the police in Linz they had a similar initial reaction. They are feeling hesitant and unsure about our presence in the downtown area. So we have been asking God to speak to them like he spoke to the policemen in Salzburg. On Saturday as we were walking around Micah noticed a wallet sitting, rather unfortunately, in a pile of vomit. We thought maybe someone had lost it so Micah bravely donned rubber gloves and cleaned it off with a paper towel. It turns out that this persons driver's license, ID, ATM card, and several other important documents were all still inside. The only thing that was missing was any bills or coins. One of the other Street Buddies was pretty sure the wallet had been stolen, emptied of cash, and then tossed. He suggested that we take it to the police station down the street. We went to the nearby headquarters and we turned in the wallet and explained the situation. Even though this was definitely a crumby situation it did provide a great opportunity for us to connect again with the police and to mention that we're the Street Buddies. It was received positively and the officers seemed to appreciate it.
We also have been having lots of fun experiences with our dairy farmer friends. I was invited, after showing extreme interest, in helping with one of the calf births. I stayed the night at the house and helped with the evening shift for checking on the mom cow. Around 2 am I was woken up and told that the baby's feet had appeared! The calf was a big one, he was two weeks overdue, so we had to slip some ropes over the hooves and gently pull with the cow's contractions to help the process along. After about 15 minutes the handsome bull calf was born and I got the honor of naming him. Jonathan now has a cow named after him :).
Jonathan and I also got introduced to the winter sport of Eisstockschiessen. It reminds us of bocce ball except on ice. There is a target, in our case it was a small block of wood, called the Daube. It is placed on the opposite side of a frozen playing field, in our case a frozen pond. Then two teams take turns sliding metal rimmed wooden objects towards the Daube. Points are awarded depending on which team gets the closest to the Daube. We had a total blast learning the game and I think we both would definitely like to do it again. By some strange chance it turns out that I'm not half bad at it and I got a couple points for my team. The picture above was taken as proof :).
Thank you all for reading and praying for us!
-Rachael