The sun came out for a few minutes today… it was absolutely beautiful, so I thought I’d share a photo or two.
You can also see the famous Black Forest fog in this picture… it’s just over the next ridge from our house. It’s a unique phenomenon for this area (and other mountainous areas) in winter.
We’re thankful that God has called us to live in such a beautiful place!
New Watermark Freiburg Blog -“A Sabbath Rest For Pastors”. Check it out at http://bit.ly/aNBqyR.
Check out Robin’s blog post about who Watermark Church is reaching: http://bit.ly/cJXVYs
We baptized one of our Launch Team members yesterday. Here’s the video of Stefy’s baptism (see the Watermark Freiburg Church Planting Blog for the story)…
We were in Coburg visiting some church planters this past weekend. we got to spend some time with them on Sat eve and Sun afternoon asking questions and learning…
We also took some time on Sat to visit the Veste Coburg Citadel, one of the largest fortresses in Germany. It was amazing! It just kept going and going and going…
One of the most interesting things about the castle is that Martin Luther spent 6 months here in hiding so he wouldn’t be burned at the stake as a heretic. While he was here he continued translating the Bible into German so the common man could read it. Actually, after the Reformation, Coburg became Protestant resulting in all Catholics being persecuted.
More pictures to follow…
Emma decided she really wanted her hair cut… and today was the big day! She wanted to donate her hair to make a wig for those that lose their hair (like cancer patients), but it wasn’t long enough. It still needed a few more inches. We think she looks really cute!
Well, here are the before
… and after photos. This is Emma with her friend Izzy (also a missionary kid).
On Saturday we had a day at the pool. The kids absolutely love it there! And Emma’s friend talked her into going off the high dive.
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That’s funny… I don’t care who ya are!
The year is 1815. A man by the name of Jean Valjean is released from prison after 19 yrs. He comes to a new town where he’s forced to show his prison release papers… but then is shunned by both the mayor and the townspeople.
The only person who will feed him is Bishop Myriel, who also invites him to spend the night. Not realizing that Myriel is a bishop, he steals the silverware and leaves in the middle of the night.
To read the rest of this blog, visit our Perrin Ministries Blog.
We love Freiburg, Germany! We will be planting a church there in October so we are spending quite a bit of time there. It’s about 45 minutes away from where we live. Here are some of the latest photos taken this week.
These top 2 are actually window decorations from our village in Kandern. This is definitely Carnival season!
The guy was playing a kind of an upside down steel drum that I have never seen before and pan pipes… all while he was kicking a Cajon drum.
This guy was playing acoustic guitar and was really good!
Yes, this is still Germany…but looks more like Morocco.
Germans love to drink and they are really creative about it…
This is actually a large bicycle that is powered by 8 people. Each of them are drinking “German Beer” and pedaling while they are getting some exercise going around the city of Freiburg.
Just thought I would share something that is becoming more popular in Germany. The photo below is a thumbprint scanner at our local grocery store. You simply put your thumb in this scanner and your grocery total is automatically taken out of your bank account.
For all those Christian “conspiracy theorists”…could this be the beginning of the MARK OF THE BEAST? :)
Tonight as we drove back home form Freiburg (where we are planting a church in October) in just about every village on the way, we saw the Scheiben Fires. It begins with a parade of people with torches lighting the way up the mountainside. As the night goes on, the fire torches that made their way up the mountain were being hurled through the air into the valley.
Every year at the end of February, each village has the same tradition. It is supposed to be on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday. Apparently, the fire is to signify that spring is victorious over winter. (I can totally understand this because winters here are dark, wet and depressing)
Sometimes, a straw witch is burned in the bonfire (as a result of Christian influence)…and the flying logs of fire are to chase off and banish the winter “spirits” and welcome spring. As they hurl the logs or discs of wood, they chant “Schibi, schibo, die Schiebe die soll goh.” loosely translated… “Schibi, schibo, we will push to make it go.” This is accompanied by a night of partying & hard drinking. (This is particularly hard for me to imagine because of the hangovers that they probably had after the last few weeks of partying during Carnival and the “Witch Ball”.)
This celebration is very much like the one for New Year’s & Ash Wednesday where the people dress in large masks with eerie lit eyes that are supposed to ward off evil spirits. It seems that the Germans look for any opportunity to get together with their neighbors and have some drinks!
(But not our Christian German friends! :)
As I open the last peanut butter cracker package (that I had hidden from the children) it feels like “the Last Melon” scene in Ice Age. Remember when the characters found the Dodo birds last 3, then 2, then 1 melon that they were stockpiling for the impending Ice Age? Sid retrieved “the Last Melon” in a slow-motion, football style scene. When he finally made it through all the Dodo birds that wanted it, he “spiked” the melon, smashing it to the ground….and they all sigh a collective hmmmmm. (It’s funny what we miss from America)
Carnival is interesting in Germany. In our part of the country, this “time of indulgence” concludes with a “Hexenball” which is literally translated a witch party …complete with various forms of “gratification”. Our village decorates the main square with strands of undergarments.
The top photo is undershirts and the “Hexenball” banner.
Notice the three strands of underwear/bras in the bottom photo. (The locals say that the underwear strands are a symbol of the “indiscretions” that the people are allowed during Carnival. It’s too hard to remember with whom and at which house they slept the night before so they are just supposed to hang their clothing outside the house so they can be found.)
On ASH WEDNESDAY (today), they go to the local Catholic church and are supposed to repent for their sins. (Well, at least the ones that they remember). However, I thought that it is interesting that the school children (during the first hour of school) also go to mass and are supposed to repent for their “sins” of Carnival. Hmmmm.
Ryan did most of the work himself, but I was right there to “stupid-vise”. He did a great job! And the prize for completing the project wasn’t just the extra credit grade he’ll get for completing the assignment. Instead, it was the sheer joy of launching a grape across the room (it hit Emma)! We were giggling & cheering like little kids!
And then he tried shooting the grapes across the room into the girls' mouths. They weren't ever successful, but it sure was a lot of fun!
What a cool day we had!!!
