At breakfast this a.m. about 7 of us were sitting around discussing cultural differences. It is interesting to live in community with people from different cultures, and to realize what is acceptable in one part of the world is offensive in another area. We discussed grief, standing in line, talking face-to-face, and personal property....it was very insightful. I love getting to know people from around the world!
Today I will be cleaning the bathroom and shower on our floor. I share this area with two couples, their nannies, a 15 month old, a four year old and my roommate. We each take on cleaning responsibilities for "our home".
On Saturdays, we have breakfast at 9, a sack lunch at noon, and an evening meal at 6.
I have completed my homework for this week, and I have written my newsletter, so following my cleaning duty, the rest of the day is open to whatever!
Yesterday, our small group went to a beautiful park, "Signal De Bougy". It's about 20 minutes away....we took a van, but it is also in walking distance. The challenge in walking around here is for me to not get lost. (For some people it is more of a challenge than for others...:>) I may have mentioned before that the road signs often go by the no. of minutes it takes to walk rather than miles. The thing is, the roads are narrow and are shared by cars, tractors and people. They also look a lot alike. You need to remember what cornfield you just passed from the wheatfield up ahead. I have ventured a safe distance that takes about 20 minutes to walk. I have memorized the cow pasture, cornfield and wheat field....so I have not gotten lost....I am becoming bolder so watch out, I may even walk down to the village of Essertine sur Rolle one of these days!
Until later....blessings to you all!
Saturday 26 July 2008
Saturday 19 July 2008
The End of the Third Week
July 19 finds this another beautiful day in Chatel. Today would have been my mother's 97th birthday. I am so thankful she is at home with Jesus this year. Life was getting tough for her, but she continued to be a blessing to those around her. Those who cared for my Mom told me two months after she died that they still missed her. I do too, and often think while I am having new adventures in Europe, "O, I need to tell Mom about this..."
We toured Geneva yesterday with our teacher this week, Joe Portale. It was an amazing trip and I kept thinking, "I can't believe I am actually walking the streets of Geneva!" It is a beautiful city filled with history. We saw the home of Jean Calvin, walked the streets he walked, and visited the church where he preached so boldly. Geneva is the home of the Protestant Reformation, the Red Cross and houses a branch of the United Nations.
This weekend, my work duty is to help with breakfast and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. After today, weekends will be free!!! I chose to get these duties out of the way. My hospitality duties will last for the next 2 1/2 months Monday through Friday. I continue to enjoy preparing the guest rooms and meeting the visitors that come through the area.
We were presented with the Fundamentals of Christianity this week. We also discussed the challenge God sets before us to trust Him even when we might not understand what is happening.
Next week, we will be visiting the YWAM bases in Burtigny and Lausanne. Our guest teacher will be sharing aspects of worship.
Blessings and Love,
Elizabeth
We toured Geneva yesterday with our teacher this week, Joe Portale. It was an amazing trip and I kept thinking, "I can't believe I am actually walking the streets of Geneva!" It is a beautiful city filled with history. We saw the home of Jean Calvin, walked the streets he walked, and visited the church where he preached so boldly. Geneva is the home of the Protestant Reformation, the Red Cross and houses a branch of the United Nations.
This weekend, my work duty is to help with breakfast and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. After today, weekends will be free!!! I chose to get these duties out of the way. My hospitality duties will last for the next 2 1/2 months Monday through Friday. I continue to enjoy preparing the guest rooms and meeting the visitors that come through the area.
We were presented with the Fundamentals of Christianity this week. We also discussed the challenge God sets before us to trust Him even when we might not understand what is happening.
Next week, we will be visiting the YWAM bases in Burtigny and Lausanne. Our guest teacher will be sharing aspects of worship.
Blessings and Love,
Elizabeth
Wednesday 9 July 2008
My 2nd Week in the Beautiful Country of Switzerland
Something that has surprised me more than anything is the weather here. Last week 6 out of 7 days were very warm and humid. One day was rainy, but almost a welcome change. This last week started out with very LOUD thunder storms followed by several days of cool cloudy weather. Today was a welcome surprise....the sun is back!
As I was doing my work duty cleaning the guest rooms, I was blessed by the sight from the room I was in. Lake Geneva was a beautiful blue and Mont Blanc was clear with no cloud cover and frosted with snow. This truly is an amazing place. I was cleaning the Tulip room today....don't laugh, it is covered with pictures of tulips and the sheets and duvets are a yellow tulip pattern. The funny thing for me was the guests who stayed there last night were two young men from Holland! Each guest room has a French door that opens out onto a deck. There are planters of bright pink petunias at each window.
We watched the movie "the Passion" today. Every time I see it, God speaks. Tomorrow will be a special prayer time for healing of past issues.
Our last student will be arriving tomorrow evening. She is coming late because the schools in the UK are just dismissing for the summer. She will need to stay a week after the rest of us leave in November.
I have some homework to finish.
Blessings to you all!
As I was doing my work duty cleaning the guest rooms, I was blessed by the sight from the room I was in. Lake Geneva was a beautiful blue and Mont Blanc was clear with no cloud cover and frosted with snow. This truly is an amazing place. I was cleaning the Tulip room today....don't laugh, it is covered with pictures of tulips and the sheets and duvets are a yellow tulip pattern. The funny thing for me was the guests who stayed there last night were two young men from Holland! Each guest room has a French door that opens out onto a deck. There are planters of bright pink petunias at each window.
We watched the movie "the Passion" today. Every time I see it, God speaks. Tomorrow will be a special prayer time for healing of past issues.
Our last student will be arriving tomorrow evening. She is coming late because the schools in the UK are just dismissing for the summer. She will need to stay a week after the rest of us leave in November.
I have some homework to finish.
Blessings to you all!
Saturday 5 July 2008
My First Week in Chatel
The word Chatel means castle. It is a cluster of buildings..maybe 10-20 surrounded by farmland. The beauty is unbelievable here. In some ways it reminds me of my childhood growing up on a farm in Oregon, but Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc make this location "over-the-top" magnificent. I think the birds stop singing only briefly during the night. The flowers are gorgeous and tended by our base director's wife. Her name is Renate, and she is a great lady.
Since the bread making was going to take 10 hrs of my time each week, they took that duty away before I started and tripled my hospitality responsibilities. What is kind of funny is the fact for hospitality, I need to have a day for ironing. We iron pillow cases, sheets, and tablecloths. I used to iron for my grandma... so once again it is something from my childhood...interesting how God works, huh?!
God is doing some "surgery" on my heart these days. My base director, Thomas, told me that the crying has only begun....I bet most of you are glad you are not having to deal with my tears. :>)
On the 4th of July, the 8 Americans decided to have a bonfire and smores. One of the staff wives, Kim, had an American flag, tablecloth, "flat cookies", Swiss chocolates and marshmallows set out. (They don't have graham crackers or Hershey bars in this part of Switzerland.) It was fun, and the whole base was invited.
Tonight we are having a BBQ and the visiting Brazilian team will entertain us.
This a.m., my roommate from Madagascar and I cleaned our room, cleaned the bathroom and shower and then I showed her this quiet place to sit and pray. I prayed for our families in English and she prayed for our families in Malagasy. We both ended up crying. Simone speaks mostly French and broken English. You all know how much French I don't speak. It is a challenge to communicate, but we laugh a lot. :>) Simone is a pastor along with her husband in Madagascar. I learned this week that Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. The GDP per capita in the U.S. is $43,500. The GDP per capita in Madagascar is $900.
I miss all of you so very much, but I also know so strongly that God put me in this place at this time. My greatest prayer need now is that I would truly learn to trust God my Father as my Provider and my Comforter.
Please let me know of your prayer needs! Lots of love to all!
Since the bread making was going to take 10 hrs of my time each week, they took that duty away before I started and tripled my hospitality responsibilities. What is kind of funny is the fact for hospitality, I need to have a day for ironing. We iron pillow cases, sheets, and tablecloths. I used to iron for my grandma... so once again it is something from my childhood...interesting how God works, huh?!
God is doing some "surgery" on my heart these days. My base director, Thomas, told me that the crying has only begun....I bet most of you are glad you are not having to deal with my tears. :>)
On the 4th of July, the 8 Americans decided to have a bonfire and smores. One of the staff wives, Kim, had an American flag, tablecloth, "flat cookies", Swiss chocolates and marshmallows set out. (They don't have graham crackers or Hershey bars in this part of Switzerland.) It was fun, and the whole base was invited.
Tonight we are having a BBQ and the visiting Brazilian team will entertain us.
This a.m., my roommate from Madagascar and I cleaned our room, cleaned the bathroom and shower and then I showed her this quiet place to sit and pray. I prayed for our families in English and she prayed for our families in Malagasy. We both ended up crying. Simone speaks mostly French and broken English. You all know how much French I don't speak. It is a challenge to communicate, but we laugh a lot. :>) Simone is a pastor along with her husband in Madagascar. I learned this week that Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. The GDP per capita in the U.S. is $43,500. The GDP per capita in Madagascar is $900.
I miss all of you so very much, but I also know so strongly that God put me in this place at this time. My greatest prayer need now is that I would truly learn to trust God my Father as my Provider and my Comforter.
Please let me know of your prayer needs! Lots of love to all!
Tuesday 1 July 2008
Update on Facebook Picture
The picture that is presently on facebook is the kids and me in the courtyard next to the main building in Chatel. I took the Norwegian palace off yesterday....a friend is giving me hints so maybe you will see all the pix soon. Class begins in 25 minutes so I will write more later!!!
Love you all!!
Love you all!!
Our Introduction to Chatel
First of all, forgive me for not having more pix....my son, Jordan, is sending me the instructions for getting the pix from i photo to my blog....I am still learning, but I did discover that some of the young guys around here are just learning too.
Some interesting bit of info is the fact the 'house' we live in is 205 years old....I will be sending a picture of this beautiful place asap.
My roommate is a precious lady from Madagascar. She knows mostly French so it is a challenge communicating, but we do have a a French speaking student here who is a great help. In fact the French speaking student is named Irene Ernst. We were both amazed since our name is German and she is Swiss....(I hope you don't mind my bits of trivia. Some of you know me well enough to say, "Leave it to Elizabeth to share a bit of trivia.")
Once we get going with the classes I will share something really spiritual. For now, we are learning about how God has brought us all here to Switzerland. We each have our own amazing "God story". I love you All and maybe one of these days you will even see pix. If you are on facebook, you could see my profile picture is in front of the palace in Oslo. The king and queen live there. Until my next post, God bless you!
Some interesting bit of info is the fact the 'house' we live in is 205 years old....I will be sending a picture of this beautiful place asap.
My roommate is a precious lady from Madagascar. She knows mostly French so it is a challenge communicating, but we do have a a French speaking student here who is a great help. In fact the French speaking student is named Irene Ernst. We were both amazed since our name is German and she is Swiss....(I hope you don't mind my bits of trivia. Some of you know me well enough to say, "Leave it to Elizabeth to share a bit of trivia.")
Once we get going with the classes I will share something really spiritual. For now, we are learning about how God has brought us all here to Switzerland. We each have our own amazing "God story". I love you All and maybe one of these days you will even see pix. If you are on facebook, you could see my profile picture is in front of the palace in Oslo. The king and queen live there. Until my next post, God bless you!
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