Day 4: We made it to the conference

 After three days of touring around Germany, we have arrived and are ready to serve! Today began with breakfast and a team meeting. Dave read from Jude 17 and ended with the Doxology. We marveled and were reminded of the Grace of God and how we don't serve and obey out of a heart of duty but out of an outpouring of love for Christ. We had a time of prayer to prepare our hearts to switch gears from touring mode to service! 

We packed up from our little bed and breakfast and drove 2 hours southwest to Bad Teinach-Zavelstein where the BMW conference is held. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by the excited faces of Ken (who runs the conference for BMW) and his wife. We were checked into our rooms and then we immediately went to work decorating and getting ready for VBS, which starts in the morning. It was so encouraging, as some of the teens and kids would pop in to say hi and introduce themselves as they were checking in. Immediately our teens connected and during dinner, they had the opportunity to sit together and get to know one another. It was very sweet to see! We had the opportunity to visit with multiple missionary families and hear just how excited they were to be at the conference and have a week of fellowship with other believers. Jeff and I enjoyed talking with the Bates family and hearing about their ministry and their small church of 20 believers in Denmark. Lots of conversation about their children (who we get to serve this week) and the sad state of the young people in Denmark. He shared how most children get sent away to school at the age of 14 for two years and how often, when they come home, they don't return to church. After dinner, the first session of the conference began. We joined them in the beginning and then were dismissed with all the children. 

We used this time to get to know the younger kids by playing games and then we ended our time by playing a game of soccer. Afterwards, there was a time of refreshments and we had the opportunity to visit with a couple more teens. 

We ended the night reviewing and practicing what we needed to know for VBS tomorrow morning and then our teens went to hang out with a few of the missionary teens. All in all, it was a great start to our mission trip. We are excited to spend more time getting to know the missionary families. In one evening our students have already created relationships with many kids and teens! God is at work and we are looking forward to what He has planned for us this week. 

Please continue to pray for health. Those who were not feeling well are starting to feel better..yay! Pray that the rest of the team remains healthy. Please also pray for the start of our VBS and Teen time tomorrow morning at 9 am. Pray for Jeff and Dave as they will be teaching VBS and leading the Teen discussion time. Also, pray that God would use us to intentionally encourage these missionary families.

Enjoy the pics.