This week marked an exciting development! Due to the growing number of interested and available people, Street Buddies was able to cover both Friday and Saturday. Micah, Abby, Jonathan and I were able to go out this Friday on the street. When we arrived at 11:30 pm (or 23:30 to be more European) Rudolfskai was rather quiet and peaceful compared to the typical Saturday. Our first couple of laps on the block proved uneventful. After about half an hour Micah and Jonathan started chatting with a group of young people. Soon after Abby and I were greeted by a very friendly Austrian named Max. He quickly realized that we're still in the process of learning German and graciously spoke in English. After talking for a little while he asked why we are living in Salzburg. It was an exciting moment to share our story and talk about Jesus. We kept it simple and answered that Jesus loves all of us and laid himself down for everyone and we just want to love others in that same way. He listened and told us that he believes in one God but he just thinks of Jesus as a historical figure who was also a healer. It felt like a really natural conversation and even though we had different thoughts we could share and hopefully we planted a seed by talking and practically loving people on the street. Even though Friday was calmer and there were fewer urgent help situations to attend to, it was a blessing because we had more time to build relationship, listen, and communicate.
These pictures are from our epic hike in the Alps! Thomas, an awesome Austrian friend of ours, led us on quite the adventure. We climbed up two different peaks through fields filled with dairy cows, rocky uphill climbs, and snowy passes. We got to see all kinds of God's creation. There were birds, a noisy marmot, and breathtaking views everywhere we looked. The third picture shows us at the summit of the second mountain we scaled where there were two crosses covered in frost. We stayed there for a while eating snacks, taking pictures, and shivering in the 0 degree weather. Overall it was a glorious day for fellowship with God and with amazing friends.
This building is the Salzburg Stadt Bibliothek. Yesterday Abby and I went here to participate in a free German course! While I was struggling to have a conversation in German with a recent acquaintance he recommended this class. It happens every Tuesday and Thursday and it will hopefully improve our vocabulary and grammar.
Our first session was quite an adventure. Abby and I were bold explorers and traversed our way through the city to the library and sneakily followed a pair of people speaking English. We assumed they were headed for the course as well. To our delight we were correct. After signing in, our teacher cut right to business. He spoke in German the entire time, graciously speaking slowly so that we could understand most of what he was getting at. He had us go around the room and introduce ourselves with name, where we come from, and why we're interested in coming to the course. It was a good chance to speak the few phrases we know how to say in German and really a great opportunity to fine tune our listening. Abby and I were already feeling a little out of our element because our conversational German isn't so good. To make matters a little more awkward the teacher kept on pointing out that we were Americans. He also went on a monologue about how Austrians should be grateful to Americans because we saved Austria during the war and gave them millions of dollars to help rebuild their cities. Meanwhile we looked at our shoes and smiled uncomfortably as the entire room stared at us. Overall it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to learning more from the great program! -Rachael Last night was another evening of awesome street ministry. It had the potential to be quite busy considering there was beautiful clear weather without a rain drop in sight, only five of us Street Buddies were available to come out, and September 8th marked the last Saturday of summer vacation before school started. True to our expectations the Rudolfskai was packed! God directed us to numerous individuals needing help. There were three or four people losing their cookies. We were able to equip them with water to rehydrate, some paper towels to wipe up their faces, and some Mentos to remove any nasty after taste. One boy in particular was in bad shape. He'd been sitting on the wall opposite of the bars for about 30 minutes looking miserable. Friends of his were checking on him periodically but he was left alone at one point and got sick. Norbert, a sweet member of the Street Buddies team, swooped in and helped in every way he could.
Throughout the evening we had several groups of young people ask us "Was ist Street Buddies?", it was neat to be able to respond by telling them we love all of them out on the street and are there to practically exhibit our love by taking care of those who have hit a low point. Surprisingly we also bumped into two Americans who are studying in Salzburg for a semester. Their remark of, "You all are doing the Lord's work" concerning our ministry on the Rudolfskai, is truly our hope and intention. We want to always be doing God's work while out on the street and truly be Jesus to everyone we encounter. God also opened the door for new connections last night. We got phone numbers and Facebook friendships from a few people who hopefully we'll be able to bless, spent time with, and build relationships with in the future. Thank you all for your prayer, support, and love! We couldn't do it without you. Hey friends! Got a new video camera before we left and just got some editing software. So this is the product. Simple but just aimed at familiarizing myself. Hope you enjoy! :) |
AuthorJonathan or Rachael Archives
March 2016
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