Getting closer to the end

Well it is Thursday here already in Austria... we are not sure where the time has gone, but there is one thing I know I do not want to leave yet!

Tuesday morning our team led the weekly prayer time for the Oasis and our team, but during our discussion time it hit our team that we were coming close to the end of our time being here. We asked every one to share "what would they miss"... for our team it was what would we miss about Austria and for the Oasis it was what do they miss from the home they left behind. Everyone from the Oasis mentioned of course the food they miss the most, but they also miss their families too... as for our team we are going to miss the Oasis team the most. I cannot express the cohesiveness, humbleness and spirit this team has not only for the refugees and the ministries they have, but for each other too. I personally am humbled by the lessons I have learned from them.

We then asked everyone to talk about their "God sightings"... how have they seen God in the last week. As I spoke about my own father's journey as a refugee and the experience I have had with the refugee kids, I was overwhelming taken back by making the connection that the kids I was playing with, singing with, doing crafts with are just like the kid my father was when missionaries came to his camp when he was little. His only wish for me was to hand out gum to the kids because that was his fondest memory of the missionaries he met as a kid. It is amazing to know that God had it already planned that this little child would raise a child that would return to Austria and hopefully plant seeds of hope in another refugee child's heart.

As for Wednesday we painted and painted and painted... but it always amazes me how a small project can make sure a huge impact - not on the looks of the place, but on the people that are doing the job. The Oasis has 2 new missionaries - Christian and Barbara... Kathy and I got to spend the morning with Christian and what a blast we have. See he can only speak German and he tried his English on us and for the words he didn't know I was surprisingly able to understand. John was able to bless the Oasis with fixing their dishwasher - this is huge thing for them because during their ministries they serve a lot (A LOT) of coffee and the cups are constantly being washed so the dishwasher helps them to get out of the kitchen and to be back in the room to talk to the refugees!

Last night John delivered another sermon, this time it was about Jonah... he did a great job! The night went to well that no one wanted to leave. At one point the room broke up in to so many mini groups that were in deep discussion about God. Standing in the back of the room watching it all happened was priceless!!! Close your eyes right now and imagine 10+ different small groups, made up of different countries, all talking, debating and discussing God. That is awesome!!!

On behalf of the team we ask that you keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our last night at the Oasis. We have kids club this afternoon where the walls of Jericho will be falling and we will also have coffee bar tonight.

Thank you for your continued commitment for praying for us.

God Bless,
Jeni, John, Kathy, Maureen and Rose