Perrin Family Blog

New Perrin Ministries Blog: Seeking Closure

2011-11-07T12:54:00.003+01:00

New Perrin Ministries Blog: Seeking Closure - http://perrinministries.blogspot.com/2011/11/seeking-closure.html

New Watermark Freiburg (Church Planting) Blog

2011-10-18T13:52:00.002+02:00

New Watermark Freiburg (Church Planting Blog): "Thoughts about Church Planting and Church Government" - http://bit.ly/oz8EWJ

Still Amazed!

2011-05-05T08:32:00.001+02:00

New Perrin Ministries blog posted about our Easter weekend outreaches - "Still Amazed!"

http://perrinministries.blogspot.com

spring

2011-04-22T11:09:00.003+02:00

Spring is my favorite time of year. Winter is usually cold and dark in Germany. The days are extremely short and dark. But, in Spring and Summer, the scenery is so beautiful in the Black Forest, and this part of the country is known to be the sunniest (and therefore, the friendliest) part of Germany.

The reason that this is my favorite season is not only the weather and flowers, but Easter! Jesus’ birth is celebrated at Christmas. It’s a wonderful time that I feel we have really turned into something other than a celebration of Jesus. But, Easter….it’s a celebration of just Him and what he did on the cross for us! Not only did Jesus live a perfect life day after day, year after year, but after 33 years of this perfect life….he gave it up for us! At Easter, he paid the ultimate price. God paid the ultimate price for us, the riff raff of society.

Jesus was beaten beyond recognition of even looking like a man- so we could have healthy bodies. His blood that poured out at the cross was to make sure that we could be forgiven….that we could experience the unbelievable joy of being in the very presence of His father! Jesus knew that if he sacrificed himself for us, that it would produce a harvest of believers that would span the course of time.

On Easter, we celebrate when Jesus rose from the grave. When he rose, he gave us hope! I LOVE THIS SEASON! It makes me cry every time I think of Jesus’ sacrifice and the joy in His resurrection! He layed down everything for us…so that we could enjoy everything that God had given to Him! That’s what the season means for me.

People are so open to the things of God at Christmas and Easter. Let’s tell everyone we know!

Robin

Watermark Easter

We are going to have a huge Easter egg hunt and festival (carnival) for the at-risk kids in our neighborhood this Easter. We are going to tell them about what Jesus did for them through eggs, juggling, carnival booths, clowns and balloons. Our church is in the middle of what we would call "the projects". There are so many cultures represented in this area because of the large immigrant population. I can't wait to see what God will do with this outreach!

Free Bible Study Discussion Guides!

2011-02-25T10:05:00.001+01:00

A few years ago Robin and I wrote a series of Bible Study Discussion Guides for a local church in Bonn, Germany. The small group program at this church had become basically teaching groups (old school Bible studies).

In an effort to revitalize the small group program, we started writing our own curriculum, which was translated into German. The purpose of these Discussion Guides is to both build relationships and learn spiritual principles. The result was better than we expected!

We have an entire year’s worth of weekly Small Group lessons (52 lessons) in 4 main themes (including 26 lessons on Spiritual Disciplines). And we want to give them away for free.

Click on this link to download the free Discussion Guides (zip file): Small Group Discussion Guides (English)

Nice Valentine’s Day surprise

2011-02-14T10:16:00.001+01:00

This morning we were treated to a surprise breakfast by the girls. Omelets, fruit and walnuts (and a salad?) were waiting for Robin, Ryan and me when we woke up this morning.

They cooked and wrote us a sweet poem. What great kids we have!

Jetlag

2011-01-04T02:15:00.001+01:00

We were able to make a quick trip back to Texas for Christmas, although it didn’t exactly work out as we planned. We had hoped to spend 10 days there, but since we were flying standby (can you say, “CHEAP”?) we had to wait until Christmas day to fly, leaving only 5 days in TX.

We flew from Zurich to New York to Austin. We actually took advantage of a break in the storms that shut down the US east coast and messed up transportation across Europe. And we were able to leave our van at a friend’s church, which is near the airport (saving us over $100)… thanks Desmond!

It was a very relaxing trip. We enjoyed the warm Hill Country weather and got to see Robin’s family. We were also able to visit my (Jon’s) dad. And we ate as much Tex-Mex food as possible!

Ryan, Ashton and I were all set to fly back, but more winter storms forced a change in plans. Because our Sunday services started up again on Jan 2, I had to get back to Germany. The planned return flight was full, so we were forced to fly from Austin to Dallas to Frankfurt. And because it was a last-minute change, our checked luggage (including a new guitar I was given for Christmas) didn’t make it.

We had to ride the train to Zurich (to get our van), which included delays and missed connections. We finally arrived back home after 28 hrs of travel (normally only 24)… in planes, trains and automobiles!

The next morning we had a service. It was all too much for Ashton, who didn’t get enough sleep on the trip back. She ended up crashing on the couch in our coffee area after the service. She grabbed one of the Kids Ministry puppets (a dragon) to use as a pillow. We just HAD to take a picture of this… what a cutie!

The gorgeous Black Forest!

2010-11-30T01:17:00.001+01:00

It’s been amazingly beautiful here over the past few days, even though it’s been COLD! We’ve had snow for the past three days… and it’s remained!

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. Oftentimes it’s so thick that visibility is only a few feet, but above it is crystal clear.

We’re thankful that God has called us to live in such a beautiful place!

New Watermark Blog…

2010-11-10T01:04:00.001+01:00

New Watermark Freiburg Blog -“A Sabbath Rest For Pastors”. Check it out at http://bit.ly/aNBqyR.

Who we’re reaching…

2010-11-04T00:54:00.001+01:00

Check out Robin’s blog post about who Watermark Church is reaching: http://bit.ly/cJXVYs

Our first baptism!!!

2010-09-27T12:21:00.001+02:00

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)…

Stefy's baptism (on her 20th birthday!)

Coburg, Germany

2010-08-23T00:55:00.001+02:00

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…

Feeling stuck?

2010-08-08T00:25:00.001+02:00

New Perrin Ministries Blog: Feeling Stuck - http://bit.ly/bPxRRS

What to do when you don’t know what to do

2010-08-06T23:38:00.001+02:00

New Perrin Ministries Blog: “What to do when you don't know what to do” - http://bit.ly/9oJzee

Emma’s haircut

2010-06-25T12:31:00.001+02:00

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).

My brave little girl!

2010-06-10T14:47:00.001+02:00

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.

At first she wouldn’t jump off towards the middle of the pool (see the picture), but we were eventually able to convince her to do so. What a great kid!

Photoshop is a wonderful thing!

2010-05-07T15:56:00.002+02:00

I asked Aaron, our friend who is doing the brochures for our upcoming church plant Watermark Church – Freiburg, if he could photoshop out a little bit of my stomach flab in this picture… this is what he came up with. What do you think?

That’s funny… I don’t care who ya are!

Watermark Freiburg Online

2010-05-06T01:37:00.001+02:00

The website for our coming Freiburg, Germany church plant is finally online! Check it out at http://watermarkfreiburg.de. Although it’s not yet finished, you’ll be able to get an idea of what we’re trying to accomplish through our church in the Freiburg area. I’d be interested in your feedback about the site.

Two silver candlesticks…

2010-03-02T15:14:00.001+01:00

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.

Photos from Freiburg

2010-02-28T18:02:00.001+01:00

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.

Thumbprint ID-(grocery store payment)

2010-02-27T20:15:00.001+01:00

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? :)

Evil Spirits Away (Scheiben Feuer)

2010-02-20T20:54:00.001+01:00

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! :)

The Last Melon

2010-02-17T13:04:00.001+01:00

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)

Mardi Gras-German Style

2010-02-17T12:50:00.001+01:00

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.

Grape launcher!

2010-01-31T16:03:00.002+01:00

Ryan had a project to do for his history class. He could get extra credit for building a Trebuchet -- an ancient siege weapon, similar to a catapult (This is what was used in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) -– so He asked me (Jon) for help. We found some plans online and away we went!

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!!!

What really counts...

2009-12-24T22:41:00.002+01:00

Today Emma, our youngest, had to have an emergency appendectomy. This picture was taken as they wheeled her down the hall to surgery. Everything went well and she's now resting across the room from me.

It really made us think about all the blessings God has given us. Our hearts go out to our friends that are having to celebrate Christmas for the first time without their father or husband or mom or daughter. We took some time tonight to pray for them.

We are so thankful for the family God has given us and don't want to waste one minute of the precious time God has given us with them.

Don't mess with the old man!

2009-12-22T21:55:00.001+01:00

I tried to get everyone else to quit when I was only a little bit ahead. But no... they had to keep going until someone dominated and won. I guess they learned not to mess with the old man. (Actually, I got really lucky!)

This picture was taken just before Ryan "committed suicide" on the Pay Luxury Tax square and lost his last $12. I had already crushed the other four players :)

Future plumber

2009-12-20T15:19:00.002+01:00

Gotta love the Christmas market... You're liable to see anything! (I wonder if he feels a draft?)

Cool historic day

2009-11-25T20:11:00.003+01:00

So today, with Robin in the USA and the kids in school, I thought I would enjoy the beautiful day and go for a prayer hike. I had found a Celtic grave site and a Roman Villa on a local map recently and decided to go check them out.

It turns out that the grave was a burial mound of the Celtic Allemani tribe from the 7th or 8th century. It wasn’t a very big mound (at least not anymore, since its excavation), but the grave was lined with large stones on both sides and had been covered over with large stones as well. Apparently the person interred here was a person of standing in the tribe. Interestingly, it was very narrow and shallow grave.

On the way back to the car I found the Roman Villa. Actually it was a farm house from the 2nd or 3rd century. Only the foundation remains today . It had a nice courtyard with a couple of stables on one end, with an adjoining living area. The living area was small, and consisted of a few very small rooms.

But what was amazing to me was the fact that this foundation survived almost 2000 years. It’s crazy to think that this building was built in New Testament times. The last picture shows what it would have looked like in its heyday.

And these are only a couple of hundreds of such sites in our area. I love the Black Forest!

Awesome day in Zurich!

2009-11-03T11:31:00.002+01:00

Zurich Main Train Station

Last weekend I taught a Saturday Youth Leader Workshop and then spoke in a youth service on Sunday morning in Zurich, Switzerland. I had a blast! It was great getting to know the leaders and the students.

Robin and the kids met me on Sunday for church. Afterwards we went to go grab a bite to eat before driving home (a little over an hour). It took a 30 min search because of construction (even using the GPS!), but we finally found Dominos Pizza. This may not be a big deal for our friends in the USA, but Dominos are very few and far between here, so this was a real treat.

Since we were so close to Lake Zurich, we decided to eat our pizza at the lake shore. This turned out to be an awesome idea!!!! The sun was shining, the water was calm, you could see the Alps faintly in the background (see the boat picture below), and we even got to hand-feed the swans. What a great day this was!!!

I'm attaching a bunch of pictures we took so you can get a better idea of what it was like.

PS. We decided it was time to go when one swan started hissing at us when we wouldn't give it anymore pizza crust :)

A Series of Unfortunate Events...

2009-09-16T12:16:00.002+02:00

Emma was having a birthday party the other day. I had spent a long time decorating a birthday cake that I made for her. So, Jon knew how important this cake was. (There aren't decorated cakes here like there are in the States in the grocery stores)

So, I was taking care of getting the girls' swimsuits on for the pool party while Jon was in charge of getting everything out of the van. He had the cake in one hand and a basket of goodies in another hand while he was trying to close the trunk. Well, the cake wobbled and to save the cake, Jon sacrificed his finger in the hatchback door.

The nail immediately turned reddish purple and we think it actually broke the tip of the finger. So, after a weekend of pain, Jon decided to go to the Dr. where the nail was lanced and drained to relieve the pressure.

I just had to include the photo of the bandage that the Dr. put on his finger. It gave me a good laugh!

Wish I had my camera...

2009-09-08T13:44:00.001+02:00

Robin and I were in The Hague last weekend meeting with some church planters. It was a good, quick trip.

After we were done, and before we would start the 7 hr. trip home, we visited the "boardwalk" there for a few minutes. We decided to have a cup of coffee. The coffee was great and the scenery was gorgeous!

As we enjoyed our coffee and marveled at the people swimming in the cold North Sea in cool, windy weather, we saw something that I wish I could have captured on film. The guy pictured below (who is easily over 300 lbs.) is wearing the typical European Speedo swim trunks. What you can't see in this photo (because my phone camera is good, but not THAT good) is a male "Tramp Stamp"!

A "Tramp Stamp" is the name given to the horizontal tattoo some women get across the top of the behind. I have NEVER seen it on a guy before. I was laughing hysterically... so hard, in fact, that Robin had to tell me to laugh a bit more quietly. Thankfully, the guy didn't hear me because of the surf, but it was definitely a funny experience.

A little brown sugar, if you please...

2009-09-04T17:37:00.001+02:00

One of the things you miss most in a foreign country is cooking with the ingredients from your home country. One of the things from home that we can't get here in Germany is brown sugar. Yes, they have "brown sugar", but it's not the same as what we have in America. And when you're cooking, in order to get the right flavor you need the right ingredients.

There is a Dutch organization that delivers North American ingredients to missionary organizations and they have partnered with our kids' school. So we were able to purchase some good ol' American brown sugar. The funny thing is that it is can only be purchased in 55 lb sacks. Yes, that's right, a 55 lb sack of brown sugar!

So, needless to say, we've now got enough for awhile. Actually, we have enough for the entire neighborhood to come borrow some (not that we'd advertise this, or even that the Germans would want any). This is like edible gold!

We ended up putting it in 50 one gallon ziploc bags (just kidding... it fit into these 10 bags).

Denkmal

2009-08-31T11:26:00.001+02:00

With McD's and Subway

What we did this summer... (part 3)

2009-08-21T23:03:00.001+02:00

We survived the trip to IN, and then things really got crazy...

Almost all the of the grandchildren with a blurry Grandma Wathen (Jon's mom). It was the mother of all family reunions at my parents' house! (about 45 people in all)

Ryan's first youth camp. (with his dad)

The girls went to Camp Dry Gulch. These are their bunkmates.

And finally... Rudy's, home of the worst Bar-B-Q in Texas!

So... there you have it! That was our summer in a nutshell.

What we did this summer... (part 2)

2009-08-21T22:36:00.001+02:00

More juicy details (and pictures)...

Playing at the lakehouse with family and friends. (We had Robin's family reunion as well)

With Grandpa & Grandma Perrin at the Tyler, TX Children's Science Museum.

At Meramac Caverns in Missouri. (One of Jesse James' hideouts)

At the St. Louis Zoo (Free!!!)

And in the St. Louis Arch.

We saw Perrin Rd. somewhere in IL when we made a potty stop.

What we did this summer... (part 1)

2009-08-21T22:17:00.001+02:00

I know you've got nothing better to do than read our blog and you've been dying to find out what we did this summer. So I thought I'd reduce your stress level by giving you an answer to this all-important question. This post will have lots of pictures, so be patient if it loads a bit slowly.

Here are some pictures of our family exploits...

Emma and Robin on the train. Here they are helping distribute lunch to everyone. It took 3 trains, 3 planes and two automobiles to get us there.

Everyone enjoying Starbucks in Newark, NJ airport.

We played LaserTag with some good friends the weekend we arrived. And I (Jon) schooled everyone!

Garage sale from hell!!! This is only a third of the stuff!

Ryan and dad built this trailer and he got to mow the lawn.

We visited Stonehenge II in Hunt, TX (notice Ryan with the barf bag in his hand).

Amazingly relaxing day!

2009-08-21T10:08:00.001+02:00

Yesterday we took a road trip to Lake Titisee (I know, I know...) It was absolutely gorgeous... an incredibly relaxing day.

It was a 90 min trip and we took the shortest route there. (Robin almost hurled, even though she was driving) We went through beautiful scenic hillsides, past typical Black Forest houses, up over the Feldberg mountain... even stopping in a quaint village for a yummy lunch!

The lake was waayyyy too cold, so we swam in the pool. Then we rented a boat (low speed, electric-powered and cheap) and took a trip around the lake. Then we finished with pizza and burgers. It was a great trip and an awesome day!

PS. We took the long, straight way home :)

2009-08-18T17:37:00.001+02:00

Creative girls!

Ashton & Emma had some fun with Playdough a few days ago. They created this mom & two kids. Pretty amazing!

Stonehenge in Texas?

2009-07-03T00:22:00.001+02:00

Last week we went to visit Stonehenge II in Hunt, TX. It’s 60% as high and 80% as wide as its big brother in England. It’s the result of two cowboys with lots of time, money and imagination!

It was a cool sight to see. They even had two Easter Island Moai (giant head) copies there. We found it cool, although Ryan was a bit sick (notice the barf bag in his hand).

If you’re ever in the area, you should check it out!

Ouch!!!

2009-07-02T00:16:00.003+02:00

So a few weeks ago Robin talked me in to getting my back waxed (you can probably guess where I’m going with this)…

I was born a hairy guy (I know, I know… too much information!). I have been saying for years that I need to just go buy some Duct Tape and get rid of it.

Well, Robin was lobbying for me to get it done this summer, although she said she has no problem with my hairiness. We had an hour to waste and were driving around when she saw a nail & waxing spa. Needless to say, she pulled into the parking lot and said, “Today’s the day!”

We walked inside and the girl said, “It won’t hurt… we do it so it won’t hurt.” LIAR!!!! Anyway, it felt like a bazillion needles, no, spikes were being driven into my back with each strip she YANKED off. If it weren’t for the fact that it would probably have hurt even more, I would have curled up in fetal position. This could serve as the new form of “persuasion” for the CIA (instead of waterboarding).

I know… I’m a big sissy. Say what you want… it hurt! But now I’m significantly less hairy. Here’s a picture of the torture in progress… notice me whimpering.

Spastic dog

2009-06-06T20:18:00.001+02:00

We’re staying at Robin’s mom’s house for awhile. She has two little dogs. One of them, when he gets tired (white one), tries to dig a hole in the floor… interesting. There he goes again, digging away.

The other one barks any chance he gets… even if he sees an animal on television. And we won’t even talk about the middle of the night barking during the thunderstorm…

I have decided that it’s probably a bad idea to hold an animal sacrifice, although I’d definitely sleep better :)

Google Maps

2009-05-21T11:13:00.001+02:00

Yesterday the girls had some friends over for a end of school movie night/party/sleep-over. As I (Jon) was walking out of the Pizza/Doener restaurant with five pizzas, the Google Maps car drove by with four cameras mounted on it's roof... and I just started laughing. I know I'm going to get some comments from friends that see the picture.

So if you look at a street view of downtown Kandern, Germany and see me carrying 5 pizzas, you can be certain that they weren't all for me!

Earthquake!

2009-05-06T11:58:00.002+02:00

A couple of nights ago an earthquake got our attention! On May 5 at 3:49am a moderate earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter Scale shook the southern Black Forest (the epicenter was located about 10 miles away from us). Thankfully it lasted less than a second, so there were no injuries or damage reported.

We awoke to a loud, deep "boom" sound that shook the house. Robin thought that the "Rent-a-dog" (we were dog-sitting) knocked over one of the big cabinets upstairs, so she "asked" me to check the house to make sure everyone and everything was okay (apparently that is a man's job). I thought it might have been either a monster thunderclap, a bomb, a plane crash or a major meteorite strike near here. But when we didn't hear any sirens or see any fires, etc, we just went back to bed.

We later discovered that minor to moderate earthquakes happen in this area every one to three years. For us it was kinda cool because no one was hurt. Having grown up in southern Indiana, I experienced a couple of minor tremors, but none that woke me up.

Laax, Switzerland

2009-04-24T13:16:00.001+02:00

Jon and I were at a conference in Laax, Switzerland this week. While Jon played guitar, I just enjoyed the meetings and the view. Personally, it was a good time for reflecting, relaxing and getting some perspective and direction. Here are some photos:

Awesome day...

2009-04-24T12:53:00.002+02:00

This week we were in Laax, Switzerland at a minister's conference. Our hotel was at the bottom of a ski run in the Alps... Amazingly beautiful! (Robin will post some pictures soon.)

To top it off, as we were driving there I saw what looked like a row of Dragon's Teeth (a WWII tank trap). On the way back we stopped and checked it out. The farmer that owned the property gave us permission to take some pictures of the row of concrete barriers that now serves as his flower garden.

Apparently, even though the barriers were erected to protect against invasion in the 1930s, they are still maintained in various critical areas of the country. In the last picture you can see one of the pillboxes that protects the tank trap.

For a history lover like me, it was an awesome ending to a great week!

For more pictures (besides mine), go to http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzersperre.

Dad, Joe & Tom: eat your heart out! :)

Living on the Front Lines

2009-04-17T13:01:00.001+02:00

I just found out yesterday that my 3rd grade daughter's teacher was kidnapped and held at gunpoint in the Philippines a couple of years ago. She was teaching in an American school and some armed gunmen came and took her and a couple of her colleagues and held them for days.

While this mild-mannered, soft spoken, non-pretentious women was held at gunpoint, she sang songs about Jesus! It reminds me of Paul and Silas in prison! Well, the locals took up a collection of money and paid off the gunmen to release them. This is not exactly the best option as it encourages more kidnappings.

We lost a dear (young) friend a few weeks ago. He took such risks for the gospel's sake, smuggling bibles into communist countries, teaching locals how to pastor, sharing the love of Jesus wherever he went. He never even considered the difficulties of where he and his family had to live (which has been all over the world) in order to follow God's plan. His focus was only on obedience to do whatever God asked....wherever that led him.

It makes me consider all that we do and how important our friendships are. It also reminds me that everything we have here is for just a short time. So, live "on purpose" every day taking every opportunity to share the love of Jesus with whoever will listen!

This is what life is really about. That's living on the front lines!

Easter

2009-04-12T19:23:00.001+02:00

We are so privileged to be serving our Savior on the mission field! This is my favorite day of the entire year. I am so thankful that when Jesus died, He rose again. It makes our future so bright. We will rise again one day too! I like to picture the day that He rose again and how wild it must have been for all those that saw Him afterwards. Have a great Easter!!!!

We celebrated Easter with an egg hunt for the kids' friends and neighbors

First visitor

2009-04-03T14:13:00.001+02:00

Our new neighbor, Regina, saw us moving in and recognized Ryan. She is one of the helpers of his Crunch Time (10-12 yr olds) class at church. She decided to welcome us to the neighborhood (very un-German -- our first such experience in 7 1/2 yrs of living here) by bringing us a fruitcake. It was actually quite yummy!

To all of the members of Grace Outreach Center (our former church), you know that fruitcake is one of Pastor Brook's mortal enemies, the bane of his existence. So Robin and I enjoyed this in his honor.

We've moved!

2009-04-03T13:56:00.001+02:00

As most of our friends and those that are on our email update list know, we just moved last weekend. It was an interesting experience. Since we only moved 3 km (2 mi) away, we decided to do it ourselves rather than pay someone else. We haven't yet decided if that was a wise idea or not :)

Our new place is over 500 sq. ft (50 qm) bigger than our last house, with another full bathroom (important as our oldest becomes a teen in a few weeks) and is closer to the main campus of the school. We'll miss the quiet country life, but already we've realized the joys of walking just a few minutes to get to the town square, the grocery store, the toy store and various bakeries.

We are still in the process of unpacking and setting everything up the way we want it. But it's already starting to feel like home. The only problem is that the kids are out on spring break, so we don't really have all the time we'd like to setup the new house.

Pictures coming soon (when we've unpacked some of the boxes)....

Prayer needed for my friend…

2009-03-22T14:39:00.001+01:00

Our friend, Carl Brown, had a sudden heart attack yesterday and died. His wife and 4 children are in need of prayer in order to make some decisions. They are fellow missionaries and good friends here in the Black Forest. Please pray for the Brown family.

The Hills are Alive…

2009-03-19T18:39:00.001+01:00

Jon and I were walking through the paths along the farmland near our house. We haven’t seen the sun since November it seems. The winters are dreary, dark and wet. During the better part of winter, when we wake up it’s dark and by about 4:00 in the afternoon it’s dark again. So, I was so happy because it was the first day that actually seemed like Spring. The sun was out…the snow was melting and we were the only ones on this path out in a deserted field. So, I began to sing very loud and twirl like Maria on The Sound of Music. Then I started singing a song that I used to sing as a little girl that reminded me of Germany. It goes, “I love to go a wandering along the mountain track and as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back”. Then I broke out very loudly with…Valderi-valdera…only to see a man directly in front of me on a ladder in a tree. I assume that he was doing some last minute tree pruning in his field. I’m sure that he was thinking how odd “those Americans” are. Wie peinlich! (how embarrassing)

Emma and “Deb”

2009-03-16T09:44:00.001+01:00

Emma decided to do her own hair today. When I took this photo, all I could think of is the Napolean Dynamite girl…

Photos of our village of Sitzenkirch (zit-sen-keerk)

2009-03-13T21:20:00.001+01:00

This is a barn that is attached to a house across from the village chapel.

This is an old cloister across from the village chapel. It was originally built in 1120, burned in 1272 and almost destroyed in 1525 as a result of “the farmer’s war” when the nuns fled to Basel. In 1722 the ruins were turned into this barn. If you look closely you can see the fortified window slits in the middle of the photo from the original cloister.

This is obviously an old mill. It still runs and was built in 1597. It was rebuilt in 1755. It was the cloisters mill.

This is an old photo that I found of the village church.

This is a stream that runs down the mountain and down through and along the village streets

I wish that I could have done this photo justice. I looked up and saw dozens of airplane trails that made an intricate lattice work through the entire sky.

This is a wooden stand that is used as a kiosk for one of the elderly villagers to sell her fruit, fresh homemade bread, marmalade, fresh cow’s milk and eggs.

This is the view from the nearby mountain into the valley in which our village sits. There is a castle on the top left and our house is just about in the middle.

This is a photo of the neighboring village of Kandern. This is where Ryan goes to school. (The girls are in Sitzenkirch) It is such a quaint village and has about 8100 people. We are moving 3km to this town on April 1st.

“Particular” Germans

2009-03-13T21:06:00.001+01:00

If you have ever taken a personality test, you will be able to relate to this blog. There is a certain personality type that is basically, well…very particular. This type of person is very organized and very driven toward perfection. Well, we live in an entire country of them! There are rules about rules here. Not only are most Germans concerned with following the rules, they are concerned with making YOU follow the rules. So, it is not unusual for you to get someone giving you a lecture on “only walking across the street on a green light”, or “not crossing any part of the solid white line while driving”, or “the evils of white bread”, or “how to do yardwork”. ..all of which I have personally experienced.

It seems though, that German cultural morals are only based on laws. If it’s not against the law, then it’s okay morally. The lack of what we consider morals is very evident during the carnival time. The carnival goers say it’s their time to “let loose” and do things that they wouldn’t normally do. I’m talking about the young and old people alike. Then we observed that on Ash Wednesday, they are supposed to ask for forgiveness for their collective sin. (This, of course, isn’t true for our friends here that are believers!)

Anyway, the good part of this personality type is that they are very orderly. The paving stones on the streets in front of houses are sometimes “mopped”, they are meticulous about weeding their gardens, and the speed limits are for the most part observed… yes, that’s right, there ARE speed limits in Germany… as I have also personally experienced a few times! Above is a photo of how perfect they even stack their wood. There is “correct way” to do everything here. All the logs are the same size and completely in line and they are cut exactly the same width/length because they are carefully measured before cutting.

Quaint Germany

2009-03-13T21:02:00.001+01:00

We live in a village of 250 people called Sitzenkirch …(pronounced zit-sen-keerk). It’s such a quaint village that has only one small restaurant and a wood working shop. The other “businesses” are from homes. There are two fruit, jam, egg and fresh cow milk stands. On Friday mornings, one of the stands has fresh homemade, wood-oven baked sourdough bread. We walk down mid-morning on Fridays and buy this warm delicious bread for 2 Euros. It usually is 1/2 eaten by the time we get home.

The other stand has homemade gifts of crafts, stitching, marmalade and used books. The ladies that run this stand in front of their house are an 80 year old woman and her 100 year old mother. They, along with the other older people in the village, are seen walking down the paths (with their walkers in tow) every time the weather is nice. The other Germans walk rain or shine, snow or sleet. They have such a healthy respect for the outdoors here.

Turn your ”but” around…

2009-03-10T21:42:00.001+01:00

I had an interesting conversation with one of my children yesterday. I was explaining a certain problem in math to her. Every time that I said, “you can do this”, she said….”but” and added some reason that she couldn’t. I was trying to get her to speak what she wanted to have. (Mk 11) I said, “Say this is easy for me!”. She would repeat after me and then say “but”…

I think that when we say the word “but”…you can pretty much forget whatever we just said. Ex. I would like to go to the park, “but”… (meaning: I won’t be going to the park) We say things like, “I know that God can heal “but” …

We are getting this principle turned around. What we should be saying is, “I feel bad “but” Jesus… or “my bank account isn’t what I wanted “but” God…

I want to make sure that I don’t negate the things that I really want from God by saying I know that God can do anything “but”… When I find myself in this situation again, I will teach my daughter to say, “this math problem seems hard to me, “but” God is helping me learn it anyway.”

Your neighborhood … your mission field

2009-03-06T16:34:00.001+01:00

Every Friday night we eat together with neighbors. We never know what is going to be for dinner (when it’s not at our house). This however, was yummy. It’s called something like Kloese with a green sauce containing lots of parsley. MMMMMM

We have always made it a priority to pray for and reach out to our neighbors. According to Acts, God has an ordained place for each one of us to live. (Also, Jn 4:1-20 Jesus went to Samaria to reach one lady, who reached the entire town). In each house we have lived, I believe there has been not only a reason…but a person that God wanted to reach. Well, in this neighborhood his name is H. H was born a twin. As a young child, his mother decided to give him up and keep his twin brother. His best friend died just two weeks after we moved here last August. He violently broke his leg a week after that. Since he couldn’t work, it put stress on his marriage. So, his wife left and took their two young girls eight hours away…and he can’t afford to travel to see them. Then, he moved in with his best friend’s widow because he couldn’t afford rent. Needless to say, he needs a friend right now.

It’s not always easy reaching out to your neighbors when there are so many things that we need to do. But, sometimes it just starts with talking to them while doing yard work. There are so many ways that your neighborhood can be your mission field. We have had street parties, Easter eggs hunts, street and park soccer games, birthday parties, dinner invitations and our biggest evangelization tool has been our trampoline. We even saw God do a miracle when we got to pray for one of our neighbors for her inoperable brain cancer. We just told her about how good God is and asked if we could pray for her. We have made so many friends from those that live around us. It’s so great to experience life with other people that are so very different from ourselves. We’ve learned a lot.

I don’t know how many of our neighbors have actually given their hearts to Christ, but we know they’ve heard through our words and our deeds.

Oops…I did it again!

2009-03-03T13:50:00.001+01:00

Okay, Jon’s birthday is today. I am usually the one that has a birthday present ready for weeks and have the house decorated with balloons the night before so the birthday person wakes up to a party atmosphere. I’ve been known to even have a scavenger hunt prepared. But, at 7:30pm last night…..I remembered Jon’s birthday. My first thought is that there is a grocery store in the next village that is open until 8:00pm. So, I told him that I needed eggs for tomorrow and drove very fast to the store. All I could find was a cold coffee drink and some chocolates, and of course, eggs. I found something to wrap them in and left them on the table for him to see first thing this morning. He thanked me. I thought I got away with it….until he asked me WHEN I purchased these “presents” for him. I knew I couldn’t lie, but….

Let me give you a little background. Jon is such a thoughtful man and he brings me flowers just for no reason. But, He ALWAYS forgets my birthday until the night before and then I get some grocery store present. So, after YEARS of harassing him and giving him lectures about thinking ahead and how valuable I am, etc, etc…. I forget his birthday! Maybe I won’t be so hard on him next time.

Flying Fire Logs (Scheiben Feuer)

2009-03-01T21:02:00.001+01:00

Although we have been living in Bonn, Germany for over 7 years, we didn’t see this tradition until we moved to the southern Black Forest. Last night (Sat Feb. 28) we smelled fire and went outside. At first, we thought about calling the fire department because we thought there was a forest fire on the mountain behind our house. But then we saw a parade of torches lining it’s way up the mountain. As the night went on, the fire torches that made their way up the mountain were being hurled through the air into the valley.

We asked our friends that we were having dinner with last night about what was happening. They told us that every year at the end of February this village has the same tradition. It is supposed to be on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday that this parade is to happen. 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)

A straw witch is burned in the bonfire (as a result of Christianity 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.

Some things I can’t get used to…

2009-02-26T09:49:00.001+01:00

Even after 7+ years in Germany, I still haven’t gotten used to feathers and poo on my eggs. I would expect to have feathers on eggs that I buy from the “egg lady” that raises chickens in the village, but I bought these at the local supermarket. Well, it’s more like a mom-n-pop market. Things that make you go hmmmm.

In France, is this just called “bread”?

2009-02-23T14:51:00.001+01:00

Jon and I went to France this morning to go shopping. (It’s just 25 mins away) There are some things that you can get in France that you can’t find in Germany like canned soft drinks, real orange juice, Frubes yogurt, Pepperidge farms cookies (sadly not Milanos), Neutrogena face soap, Maybelline mascara. I saw some French Bread and thought it would be a shame if I didn’t buy some “French” Bread while I was in France. I should have found some “French” Fries, too.

We really need to learn some French. Every time we go there, we end up doing “charades” just to communicate. Of course we know Merci, entree, sorti, toilettes but I thought it was interesting that they actually say “Viola” when they hand you whatever you just purchased. I always thought is was used for a magic trick or something. But, it’s just like “here ya go”!

REAL snow!

2009-02-17T09:47:00.001+01:00

Take a look at the snow this morning! At this point, we’ve received about 12 – 13” of the stuff (notice the border of the yard that hasn’t been shoveled). It has been snowing for hours, and is still coming down. The kids will love it because it’s the really wet kind… perfect for snowmen, snow forts and snowball fights!

This is the view of the front walkway leading from our house to the street. I just shoveled it off five minutes ago and it’s already starting to be covered again. Now it’s time for some salt!

They told us when we moved here that it doesn’t snow anymore in the Black Forest. Apparently no one informed Mother Nature!

My liquid gold

2009-02-17T09:16:00.002+01:00

I just read a blog from another missionary about what she missed from the States. Someone sent her some Coffee Mate powdered creamer and some cooking spray. I can relate with this so well. The things that you think you can’t live without…cooking spray, coffee creamer, peanut butter, mac-n-cheese. Well, Jon & I got a package in the mail the other day that had liquid gold! It was a box filled with different flavors of “liquid” coffee creamer. Nah, nah, nah-nah, nah... I got liquid creamer! You may not realize how amazing this is, it is impossible to get here unless you can have access to a base somewhere. How fun!

Flaming microwaves!

2009-02-16T22:43:00.001+01:00

Tonight when I was using our microwave/grill oven to grill some (American!) hotdogs, it started smoking after only 30 seconds. I opened it up, gave it a quick wipe down with a wet rag (even though it looked clean) and turned it back on.

This time I walked away for a minute or two. When I came back, it was belching out smoke… and it was a little extra “bright” inside. Well I opened it up immediately to stop the cycle. Not only did thick smoke come pouring out (reminiscent of a burning tire), the top – near the heating element – was aflame.

The fire extinguisher is downstairs, so I decided to try to put it out by myself. I instinctively knew better than using water (yes, I know, I’m patting myself on the back), so I did the next best thing… I tried to blow it out.

At first, I didn’t blow hard enough and only made it a bit bigger. Good news, though, after a few seconds I had it out. Now comes the funny part.

It turns out my girls tried microwaving an egg while the babysitter was here and - yup, you guessed it – it exploded. She cleaned the surface, but it turns out that there were egg remains above the protective grate that reacted to the heat. When they mentioned the egg after we got home the other night, I never thought about the possible ramifications…

Lotsa Snow!!!

2009-02-12T21:07:00.004+01:00

We had a Texas-sized snowstorm today… with HUGE snowflakes! We probably got around 3” altogether. The kids all had a blast playing in the snow during recess and lunch. Ryan’s street hockey game was cancelled, but that didn’t bother him because they apparently had the mother of all snowball fights after school.

When we first moved down here, we were told that it doesn’t snow in the Black Forest anymore. Apparently nobody told Mother Nature ;-)

Black Forest Fog

2009-02-04T12:46:00.002+01:00

This is another common scene this time of year. The Black Forest mountains are famous for their winter fog. It’s very thick and comes and goes as it pleases. It makes for very beautiful scenery. We love it here!

Weiberfastnacht

2009-02-04T12:42:00.003+01:00

When I drove into town yesterday, this is what I saw… notice the underwear hanging from lines across the street. This is to celebrate Weiberfastnacht (or simply Fastnacht). It is the official last night of the Carnival season and the beginning of the Lenten season of “fasting.” It is also the night that, traditionally, the women take control. It is celebrated by a rule-free all-night party.

We are used to the entire Carnival season from our time in Bonn, but the underwear is a new twist for us… must be some sort of regional or local tradition. Either way, they had a major party last night in Basel… with incredible marching bands criss-crossing the city (and each other) and playing every musical style possible - and doing it VERY WELL!!! - culminating in all the lights in the city being turned off at 4:00am. Then you only hear the high flutes.

We accidentally ended up in Basel for the celebration last year while house hunting. It was amazingly fun to watch the bands… so much talent!

Robin's Weight-Loss Blog

2009-01-23T12:30:00.004+01:00

Just a quick note to say that Robin has a weight-loss blog that she started on Dec 29th. If there is anyone interested in becoming a cheerleader, please go to robinsweightlossblog.blogspot.com
Thanks.

Snowflakes in France

2009-01-06T19:46:00.001+01:00

We just went on a shopping trip to France today. It sounds so romantic but we live just on the border of Germany with France and Switzerland within sight.

I had so much fun because there was an actual "mall" there. It wasn't comparable to American malls but a mall nonetheless. We found some American items that we couldn't find in Germany. (ex. Neutrogena face soap, Maybelline mascara, Pepperidge farm cookies, tube yogurt, Lay's chips, canned cokes) We feel like we just hit the lottery!

Anyway, it started to snow. (It's about 25* here) While we were in the parking lot waiting for our car to warm up, the snow would touch the windows and stick. Emma was just so amazed at all the different shapes and how they were so perfect. I couldn't remember the last time that I just took a moment to enjoy something so small. So, we just sat in the car in the parking lot for awhile... talking about snowflakes! Of course Jon had an epiphany and started to write a sermon about how amazing God is that his creations are so amazingly different.

Oh yeah, on our way ...there was a wild boar in the middle of the road in the snow! It was just sort of surreal.

Thanks Emma for the reminder of how wonderful snowflakes are!

Drunken realtor

2008-12-20T12:15:00.001+01:00

Okay, so now you get to hear another hysterical "only in Germany" story...

Our current house is nice, but way too small for our family, so we've started looking for another one. If you've followed this blog, you know of all the troubles in finding a house down here in the southern Black Forest.

We had an appointment with the realtor and homeowner of a house we're interested in yesterday. We showed up at the appointed time (10:30am) and were met by the owner. He explained that his realtor had called a few minutes earlier and said he had way too much to drink at a Christmas party the night before and still had a hangover, so he wouldn't be joining us... and it's not even the weekend!

It actually worked out great for us, since we had a long time to talk with the landlord by ourselves. But it seemed extremely unprofessional to my American mind. I am amazed at how comfortable this culture is with such things.

Anyway, there you have it... only in Germany!

(PS. We'll keep you updated on the house hunt.)

The Chicken Dance

2008-12-11T11:57:00.001+01:00

And now for something pathetic! Emma is giving a presentation for her 3rd grade class on Texas (most of them are Americans that have lived overseas for many years). It's kind of funny because they were supposed to give a presentation on a country... Emma chose Texas!

Anyway, with Robin's encouragement, she asked if I would play the Chicken Dance song on the guitar for her class so she could teach them the dance. I hate country music! Robin may have to pay for this one... I'm not sure yet :-)

Anyway, it should be hysterical. And I'm quite glad none of you are here to see it! Did I mention that I hate country music???

The Purpose of Christmas

2008-12-04T17:10:00.001+01:00

I wrote an article entitled The Purpose of Christmas a few years ago... and thought you might enjoy it. Here's a little teaser...

I gave in. What was I thinking? My wife asked (begged) me to go shopping with her on the day after Thanksgiving. My answer? Ok, sure. What was I thinking?!?! I hate shopping! Even worse, I had agreed to go with her on the busiest shopping day of the year. The only reason I can come up with is that if she went, I would be at home alone with all three kids ALL DAY LONG! Oh well…

What I experienced last Friday was UGLY! People were pushing, adults were fighting over toys & parking spaces (we saw two guys almost get in a fist fight over a parking space), and sales people were rude. Honestly, it wasn’t all bad. There were some people that seemed to have some perspective, but not many we ran into.

A bright spot in our day was when we were seated in a restaurant next to a new mom & her baby. It just so happened that since our sitter was kind of young, we had our baby with us too. She and Robin struck up a conversation and it wasn’t long before our conversation turned to spiritual things. She was feeling guilty and alone (as an unwed mother). We were able to share about Christ’s love and we invited her to visit our church. It was a total God-ordained appointment.

Anyway, the whole consumer-driven, commercialized theme of the holiday shopping rush always seems to frustrate me. I keep asking myself, “Don’t they get it?” I mean… do they really think that’s what Christmas is all about? If we look at the Christmas story from its original source, the Bible, we can determine the true meaning of Christmas. Let’s look at it. There are two biblical accounts to look at, Matthew 1:18-2:19 and Luke 1:5-2:40.

To read it online, click here.

New Leadership Podcast Uploaded

2008-12-01T12:01:00.001+01:00

This podcast is from a Youth Leader's Seminar I taught in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany recently. Although it primarily applies to youth leaders, the principles taught will benefit anyone in church or ministry leadership. Check it out on our Podcast page at: http://www.perrinministries.org/pmwp08/?page_id=75

The police came by...

2008-11-28T22:52:00.003+01:00

So I'm staying with my friend, Jim Rogahn, while I do some leadership training and teaching at RHEMA Germany in Bonn... and tonight a little after 10:00pm the guy next door has obviously had WAAAAYYYYYY too much to drink (and smoke). He starte playing his Hammond Organ with a monster Leslie speaker (the kind that rotates) in the next apt. The crazy part is that he was inside cranking up the volume and his speaker was out on the balcony.

He played so loud that stuff in Jim's apt was shaking. We're talking some serious wattage! Anyway, all the neighbors -- even the people from the Pizzeria across the street -- start yelling at him, but he doesn't even notice. After awhile Jim got his attention and asked him to turn it down, and he said he would, but he didn't.

And when he wouldn't answer the door for either the apt manager or the police, they stopped by and asked if they can climb over Jim 's balcony to get into the guy's house. I had to really fight not to laugh hysterically... actually, we waited until they left to start laughing. But the really stupid part was the only thing they did to him was ask him to take the speaker indoors. As they were leaving, they told us to call them if he was loud again. As they often say here, you can get away with murder if you're drunk enough!

WELCOME TO GERMANY!!!!

Robin's Grandma

2008-11-07T08:26:00.001+01:00

Robin's grandma, Cecelia Braswell - known to all of us as Great Cel - passed away on Tuesday. Here is her obituary...

Cecelia Atteberry Braswell, Age 98, passed away Tuesday evening, November 4th, 2008 in her home. Ms. Braswell was born June 19th, 1910 in Clarendon, Texas. Her parents were Bertha and Clyde Attebury and she was born in their Atteberry Hotel in 1910. She was the oldest of three daughters. The hotel register served as her only birth certificate.

Cecelia and her late husband of 73 1/2 years, Sam P. Braswell, also of Clarendon, moved to Kerrville in 1936 and were previous co-owners of the Kerrville Daily Times and Braswell Printing, Inc. She also owned a gift shop and sewing/material shop in Kerrville. Ms. Braswell is survived by her son Sam H. Braswell, daughter-in-law Betty Wildman Braswell, grandchildren Sam L. Braswell, Carol Bernhard of Austin and Robin Perrin of Germany, great grandchildren Megan Gilfillan, Samuel T. Braswell, Andrew Braswell and Ryan, Ashton and Emma Perrin.

The family had a ceremony Saturday at 3pm Novermber 8th, for family members at the Braswell home. Ms. Braswell will be laid to rest with her late husband at The Garden of Memories in Kerrville.

SNOW!!!

2008-10-30T10:08:00.001+01:00

When we moved to Kandern a few months ago some people from this area told us it doesn't snow in the Black Forest anymore. I'm assuming they're wrong! :)

This morning we awoke to a white wonderland! The kids were running through the house jumping for joy. We got them ready a bit early and let them go out and play for awhile. Here are the girls building a snowman. Aren't they cute?

Mexican dinner

2008-10-13T14:09:00.001+02:00

Our neighborhood English class will be held at our house tonight. Robin is making a wonderful Mexican Dinner for everyone. And she's topping it off with one of her famous Chocolate Cheesecakes. Our friends are really excited about this.

They have never had real Tex-Mex before, so we're making everything extremely mild. Robin made some salsa for them that tastes like tomatoes and onions with a little kick. I made another batch for us that'll make you sweat!

This is a God-given opportunity for us to earn the right to share Christ with our neighbors. They asked us to teach them... and invited us over weekly for dinner in order for us to do so. Please continue to pray for open doors here.

Finally home!

2008-10-08T23:04:00.001+02:00

My USA fundraising trip was crazy, but amazing! In three weeks I traveled a little over 17,500 miles, counting 14 flights. I spoke in 15 services and did 3 leadership training sessions. The coolest part was that I was able to pray with four students to give their hearts to Christ.

Now I'm back home and trying to ease back into the Central European Time Zone. It hasn't been pretty so far, but sometimes that's the way it goes. I have one week of down time with my family before heading to Frankfurt (Oder), Germany for four days to do evangelistic school and street outreach, as well as leadership training and a service for the host church. For an updated ministry schedule, check out our website: www.perrinministries.org.

I wanted to thank all of you that supported this trip with your finances and prayers. We continue to be amazed at our partners and friends... You're helping us change the spiritual landscape of a planet!

Bad day!

2008-09-27T01:24:00.002+02:00

I (Jon) am on a short fundraising trip to the USA. On this trip, I was able to spend a couple of nights with my brother and his family in Virginia. I've had a great time with them. Today, though, was a really bad day.

His girls had a beautiful horse named Lacy. This morning she was laying on the ground and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. After calling the vet and trying all day to save her, they ended up having to put her down. It was a very bad day.

I was so sad for their family, but I was impressed with how well they handled the whole thing... especially the girls. Please pray for them.

Alzheimer's Crash Course and My Ten-Minute Miracle

2008-09-13T14:24:00.004+02:00

This is a photo of my 98 year old grandmother and my father.

I know that Jon did great job with the kids. Some of the moms commented that they were all dressed for school and were fairly clean :)...so that's a plus.

Alzheimer's Crash Course

I made the 24-hour trek home by car, train, plane, another plane, and car again to basically tell my dying father goodbye. The Dr. wanted to call Hospice and we all know what that means. But, when I arrived he had awakened and asked for food! Wow! I guess they underestimated the drive to live!

I feel like I was immersed into a different world for two weeks where I learned so much about this disease while I was back in Texas. (and my mom has been in this "twilight zone" for at least two years now...pray for her, it's exhausting!)

My father has Alzheimer's and brain damage from a hip surgery.

So it's difficult to attribute which radical actions come from which horrific disease.

Alzheimer's affects the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. He has lost the ability to do just about everything. Well, he can walk ...but he runs into walls. He can eat by himself ...sometimes. He can't seem to find the toilet. He calls and feeds the "imaginary" dog. He can't express simple words and thoughts. It's really surreal to see someone you love do such strange things.

My Ten-Minute Miracle

In the two weeks that I had with him my father was completely irrational and incoherent. But I believe God gave me a very lucid ten-minute window with him ...just for me! I told him who I was and he remembered having a girl named Robin. (although he was confused because he thought Robin was still a baby.) I am so thankful to God for the 10 minutes that He allowed me to talk with my father. He asked me all the right "fatherly" questions. He asked me how my family was. He asked me and if I moved back home to Texas and if my husband treated me good. When I told him what a great man I married, his response was, " I knew you would pick a good man...you deserve it." He even asked if I was having a good life. I answered yes. His response was that he had a good life,too. I began to cry ...ya know, the "ugly cry"...the one where your whole body moves and despite all your effort...sound still comes out. Then, he said ...I should have known that you were Robin because your voice is so kind and soft. He then asked if I had to go back to Germany.

That's the hardest part about what we do. We have to be an ocean away from those that we want to be with. I know that the world is so small, but it seems pretty big when I can't hop in the car and see family. Plus, my mom is always reminding me that she wants to see "her" grandchildren.

Well, enough ranting. My father will be in heaven soon. That's our goal. Heaven. It will all be worth it...but those of us left down here sure need God's mercy and grace in the meantime.

I'm so proud of my kids!

2008-09-09T00:02:00.001+02:00

Yesterday we went to the swimming pool. It was the last day of summer break for the local kids, so the pool would be closing the next day (today). And since Robin is in the US until Wednesday, I felt like we needed to have a fun "Daddy Day" together.

We had a great time. The weather was clear, but a bit cool. And because it was cool, there weren't many people there. Luckily, this pool is semi-heated, meaning it's not as cold as other pools. We threw a football around, played a bit of "keep away", survived the circular float pool (definitely not a lazy river -- more like a raging rapids), and went down the big slide... all except for Emma.

The big slide scares her since she's not a good swimmer and it dumps you into deeper water than she's comfortable with. At first one of us stayed with Emma while the others went down the slide so she wouldn't be lonely. But in the end, Emma just waited for us in the shallower end. Ryan, Ashton and I had a lot of fun trying out different sliding methods to achieve maximum speed and splash, etc. And Emma cheered us on.

Ryan and Ashton kept encouraging Emma to try it out, since she wouldn't get another chance for an entire year. (That's "a whole 'nother year" for all the Texans out there!) But she wouldn't budge. After I informed them that we would be leaving in a few minutes, Ryan and Ashton really worked on her. In the end, she said she'd try, but only if I went down with her.

We did it, and I held onto the side every now and then to slow our descent, but going underwater -- even for a split-second -- was a bit much for her. She said, "I didn't like that very much."

But she had faced her fears. And the other two did a great job at encouraging her rather than ridiculing her for her fears. I was so proud of all of them. It was an awesome day!

Chapel band

2008-09-03T10:39:00.001+02:00

Ryan's middle school has asked me to help out with the chapel band, made up of all students. I'm excited because it gives me a chance to use my gift to help the school while doing something with my son. It's also a chance to develop some influence there.

We had our first practice a couple of days ago... went well. There's much work to do. I want to stretch the kids musically without overwhelming them. I think it will end up being a lot of fun!

Awesome evening!

2008-08-29T23:10:00.001+02:00

Tonight we had family movie night. We turned out all the lights and cranked up the sound system. We all laughed a lot and had fun.

Then it was time to put them all in bed. Normally we give them 10 mins. to get their teeth brushed, PJs on and in bed before they get in trouble. Tonight, since it was already late, and there's no school tomorrow, I gave them 20 mins.

Lo and behold, they were all finished and in bed in 10 mins. What an awesome evening!

So far, so good...

2008-08-29T18:38:00.001+02:00

Robin's been gone for a few days... the house is still intact (mostly) and the kids are still alive. I guess that means things are going well.

I've been helping a missionary family get setup in Germany, just as our friends, the Freys did for us when we first arrived. It's difficult to get everything taken care of when you don't even speak the language. Anyway, it's nice to be able to be able to help someone else.

Actually, this family's daughter is watching TV on the sofa with Emma right now. She's Emma's "new best friend." Earlier this afternoon they were singing a song they made up about Dr. Pooper (or something like that). Loads of fun! (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

Sad

2008-08-26T21:32:00.001+02:00

We dropped Robin off at the train station tonight. It was sad. The girls both cried for awhile. They cheered up a bit when I told them we can call her everyday. We prayed for her before I put them in bed. It was sad, but cute.

First day of school

2008-08-26T21:30:00.001+02:00

The kids all came home and told me how awesome this new school is. They have all made some new friends. Ryan even said, "I like this school... all of them are like me." Thanks for your prayers for my kids!

Robin leaves tonight...

2008-08-26T15:24:00.001+02:00

Okay, so I'm really sad because Robin will be leaving tonight to head back to the USA to be with her family for a week. Her dad isn't doing well, so she's going to help out.

Actually, we will put her on a train to Frankfurt tonight. The train connections from here to Frankfurt aren't very good in the early morning. Tomorrow morning she flies to San Antonio.

That means I'll be left here alone with the kids. If you don't see another blog from me within the next day or so, call the police! ;)

Jon

Uncle Ben, eat your heart out!

2008-08-22T22:28:00.001+02:00

My brother-in-law, Ben, always used to tell my son, Ryan, how he couldn't wait until Ryan was old enough to mow his lawn. Well, yesterday Ryan mowed our lawn for the first time. With a bit of coaching, he did a great job. He only did the back yard, since our yard is hilly and rounded... but he did awesome!

Free entertainment...

2008-08-08T21:59:00.003+02:00

So last night one of the neighbors (a Swiss guy) had wwaaaayyyyy too much to drink. He had his stereo turned up pretty loud and it woke up one of the other neighbors, even though it wasn't the official quiet hour yet.

So the guy that was awakened started a shouting match with the drunk guy. They ended up out in the street screaming at one another.

Since this was a few doors down the street, a bunch of the neighbors just went outside and watched the festivities. (None of them understood the drunk guy either) My kids watched from the window as the drunk guy would scream -- in Swiss German, which is hard enough to understand even when the person speaking is sober -- at the other guy, then go inside and slam his door. Then he would come out about 30 secs. later and scream some more. At one point, he threw what appeared to be oven mitts at the other guy, who picked them up and threw them back.

Ryan said, "Mom, this is better than a movie... let's get some popcorn!"

If it wasn't so pathetic, it would have been hysterical. But at precisely 10:00pm -- the official quiet hour -- they both stopped and went inside.

... only in Germany!

Speedos...

2008-08-06T21:46:00.001+02:00

I can't believe I finally did it... it was against my better judgement. I hope it doesn't end up hurting my ministry opportunities if word gets out.

A few days ago we went to the Kandern swimming pool. There was a big sign out front that said, "No Shorts" in German. I talked with the employee at the entrance about it and she said, "All German pools are going to this standard... even the ones in Loerrach. Only [Speedo-type] swimsuits are allowed." [Loerrach is the nearest big town] I later came to find out that this was totally wrong... but that's another story. She said it is for hygienic reasons... see if you can figure that one out!

Anyway, we went in with our American swimming trunks... and a little over an hour later Ryan was asked by the lifeguard to stay out of the pool. He said Ryan can't come back in until he gets the right type of swimming trunks.

Now I'm an easy-going, live-and-let-live sort of guy, but this is ridiculous. But I want my son to be able to swim in the local pool where all of his school friends will be swimming. So I did the only thing a loving dad would do... I went with him to buy some Speedo swimming trunks.

Now I can officially say I don't even have a shred of self-respect left. We feel like total dorks in these things; but at least we'll look like the rest of the dorks that are swimming in the pool there!

I really took one for the team this time!

Wasn't ready for that!

2008-08-03T22:32:00.002+02:00

Okay, so a bunch of the dads and some of the students from Ryan's new school played some father-son indoor soccer tonight. We had a lot of fun, but it showed me how incredibly out of shape I was. I was actually embarrassed. There were guys 10+ years older than me that were running circles around me... and I used to be pretty good! (Or so I thought)

Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun, and I'm starting to meet some of the other parents at the school. One guy started out as a church planter in Japan. After a few years he realized that his previous banking experience and his natural organizational gifts could be used for the Gospel.

He now handles the finances for most of the Wycliff missionary projects in Europe and western Asia. And he says it's amazing how perfectly suited he is for this job. As he puts it, "It's not glamorous, nor does it look really good in a newsletter, but it's exactly what God created me to do." How refreshing to hear someone who has found and is fulfilling God's will for their lives!

For more thoughts on this subject, check out our Perrin Ministries Blog.

Interesting neighbors

2008-07-24T01:50:00.001+02:00

Our neighbor, Holger, from across the street came over to introduce himself and his pet rat tonight. We were outside trying to put the finishing touches on a covered patio when he came. He's a really nice guy, but I must admit, having a pet rat seems a bit weird.

Anyway, we have been praying for open doors in our village, and for high-speed Internet, which they told us was unavailable. It turns out that Holger has the fastest connection in the village, and that he would be happy to let us hook up a high-powered WLAN so we can use his connection.

He seems quite open to a relationship, and possibly to the Gospel. God is a God of good things... and He knows what He's doing. And we may just be the right people for the job of sharing the Good News with him.

For a limited time only...

2008-07-22T15:49:00.001+02:00

Here are some pictures of our house (from the real estate agent's website). They show a "before" picture of the house... just so you can get an idea of what our rental house looks like.

Click here to see them: Perrin family house in Sitzenkirch, Germany

FINALLY!!!

2008-07-03T00:53:00.001+02:00

We FINALLY found a house! If you've followed our blogs, you've seen that we've had a lot of trouble finding a place. Although the house we settled on wasn't our first choice because of the size, we got it for a good price and it's incredibly convenient - only a few hundred feet from the girls' school and a few minutes from Ryan's school.

So... bottom line: God is good! He doesn't always work on our time schedule, but it definitely pays to trust Him!

O.J. Simpson

2008-06-18T22:15:00.002+02:00

Many of the younger readers of this blog will only remember OJ Simpson for his trial for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, and the amazing low-speed chase on the freeway (read: boring!). I am old enough to remember him in Hertz commercials running through an airport to catch a rental car.

I felt like that today...

A huge line of storms swept through Dallas a couple of hours before the first leg of my return flight to Germany. That caused the cancellation or delaying of many flights, including mine. We arrived in Chicago an hour late, giving me only 10 minutes to get to my overseas connecting flight... the last one of the evening.

So there I was, a Forty-Something guy carrying two overweight carry-ons - not that I would advocate overloading your luggage - running the length of two terminals. The scariest part came as I was still a number of gates away from where I needed to be. I heard, "Frankfurt Passenger Perrin, this is your last call. Report to your departure gate immediately."

I barely made it... out of breath and sore from the weight, distance and slalom course needed to avoid running over other travelers. I got on the plane and into my seat and the sixteen year old sitting next to me says, "You know, you're supposed to be at the airport at least two hours before your planned departure."

How to handle setbacks

2008-05-30T23:27:00.001+02:00

Okay... so this house that we were promised (in a handshake agreement until the contract could be mailed to us) was rented to someone else. It's really frustrating, but sometimes life just stinks.

One of the things I've learned is that although I can't control the way people treat us, I can control my response to them. As is the case with most of us, our first reaction was a desire to go help this man rearrange his priorities (if you know what I mean)... but we have instead chosen to see it as God protecting us from having a landlord with a serious lack of character. And for that, we're thankful!

So the house search goes on...

On my way!

2008-05-21T22:51:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow morning I take the 15 hour long trip from Bonn to Dallas. I'm excited to get to see many of you. You can check out my travel schedule at:

http://www. perrinministries. org/pm-xp/html/modules/agendax/index. php?op=cal

or

http://www. myspace. com/jeperrin

See ya!!!
Jon

Finally!!!

2008-05-18T17:33:00.002+02:00

Exciting news... we found a house! We found a house that is a lot bigger than our current apt, and cheaper as well. It's only about 10km (a little over 6 miles) from the kids' school. The local train takes only 15 minutes to get to Basel (with its international airport and further train connections) and runs every 30 minutes.

We're really excited about it! It has a bedroom or each of the kids and we have a big bedroom. And although our bedroom is unfinished, we get to finish it out however we want to (within reason) at the owner's expense. It's set in the quaint German village of Wintersweiler (Efringen-Kirchen).

Check out our Youth Ministry Blogs

2008-05-09T10:52:00.001+02:00

Be sure to check out our new blogs... their purpose is to assist those that work with youth. (duhh!!!) We have received a number of questions over the years. In these blogs we'll share the answers we gave.

Having worked with youth for over 20 years, and having served in a teaching/coaching and mentoring capacity for youth workers for the past ten years, we have learned that for every person that asks a question, there are twenty more that would like to have the same question answered.

These blogs are an attempt to share what we've learned through successes, observations and many mistakes. We hope they will be a blessing to you!

Youth Ministry Q & A (English)

Jugenddienst Q & A (Deutsch)