Merry Christmas!  I hope you all had a good Christmas, mine went really well. I spent it with the team here, and we all enjoyed eachother (at least I think we all did :) The first picture is of all of at our team Christmas party. The Jones', the Maks, the Lais, me, and then the Careys.  These next few pictures are of Christmas day. Dane Jones has wanted a guitar for months now, because Travis Carey has one and Dane wants his own to take home. Well Uncle Ben (Ben Carey) bought one for him for Christmas. He was so happy, and this next picture is of him yelling "A guitar!!!" as he unwrapped it  and then the following picture is of Travis and Dane jamming on their guitars.  Then of course there is one of Jenna as she tried on Uncle Ben's present from the Kragt's (the field director and his family who are on furlough at Crown College).  Sarah Carey's parents are here for a visit right now, and it has been a blessing having them here.  These past few weeks the sun has been hiding. The next picture is probably with first we had seen of it for awhile, but it has been showing itself more and more the past few days. Berlin is often very grey and it also likes to rain a lot here though we did get a few snow flurries on Christmas day which was a very nice surprise.  Last Conversation Cafe I had the opportunity to fill in for Sarah Carey and I was able to teach the English class. It all went smoothly which was nice. If you could pray for CC (conversation cafe) that would be great. Lots of Germans would love to be able to refresh their english, but because of lack of helpers and poor advertising we believe that CC has not reached its full potential as a ministry and that many others could come and join if they knew about it. So could you pray that we are able to advertise it better thie coming new year and that more people would start coming? Thank you! I still have not gotten my visa yet, so if you could continue to pray for that as well that would be great! I am planning on going in the next few weeks, and hopefully I get it without a hitch, otherwise there could be problems. If everything goes well then I will be starting language classes the 12th or 13th of January.  One more thing before I leave, I will have to record for you how loud it gets here in Berlin on New Year's Eve. I have heard its quite the scene. I hope you all have a great New Year!! In Christ,  Abbi

Greetings All!

First I would like to say Happy Thanksgiving! I know a little late :) My Thanksgiving went well, I celebrated it on a few different occasions. The first of these was on Wednesday with the Open Door church, we had turkey and all the regular side dishes. This was a first Thanksgiving for many of the families there. Then on Thanksgiving Day we started out the day with a brunch (pictured below, all but Sarah Jones who took the picture for us) 

and then the Jones family and I traveled to Mark and Heather's house, an American couple here in Berlin for a few years, and had another big dinner. And last but not least on Saturday a bunch of Freischwimmer folk came over to the Carey household and ate the feast that Sarah Carey and I prepared Friday/Saturday. 

What comes after Thanksgiving? We can all officially start listening to Christmas music and getting ready for my favorite holiday. Here they celebrate Christmas for three days instead of two. Christmas Eve is the day most families really celebrate, it would be the equivalent of Christmas day for us. All the shops and and restaurants are closed that day. Then there is Christmas day and the second Christmas day. Another traditional Christmas thing here are the Christmas Markets. I tried to get a picture for you, but it didn't turn out. Hopefully I can get a better one soon. These Christmas Markets are kind of like flea markets. Everyone has their own individual hut/stall to set up shop in. Some people sell homemade stuff such as soap, carved kitchenware, and scarfs. Others sell jewelry and of course food. There is everything from potato pancakes to these little fried balls of dough that are coated in powdered sugar (they  taste like elephant ears). Altogether it is really nice to be able to go out and spend time browsing these markets, and its a wonderful place to find Christmas presents, because you can find something for everyone there. 

This past Saturday I went to a concert with my friend Lea. We went to the Berliner Dom for the concert and it was beautiful inside. We weren't really allowed to take pictures, but here is a link to someone else's photo of it, cause I can't describe how beautiful it is. http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2170728980060736392HBrTvL concert was a Christmas concert that was put on by the main orchestra and choir in Berlin.

That's all folks! I hope you all are well! 

God Bless!

Abbi

  

Hallo!

Wow has it been a crazy few weeks. Sorry for not writing sooner. I have been babysitting a lot this week, even more than I normally do for extra money and so that the two missionary couples have time to go out for dinner since the opportunity doesn't come very often.

I am writing this in a little cafe right down the street from my apartment. Its a cute little place, and one of the few places you can go in and not have to pay for the wireless. I usually just buy a coffee and sit in here for a few hours, which is normal. Everything at the Church is going great, though I do miss my Church a ton. Every week after our service at the International Church we go to the Chinese Alliance Church for lunch. This past week we had pig stomach for the meat (they usually have a vegetable dish, a meat dish, and always rice) I decided not to put any of that on my plate. After lunch we usually go and play badminton. Cici (one of the Chinese girls I have been working with) and I have been able to bond, and this week a guy (whose name I can't pronounce or remember) came with his Mom. He is in 13th grade (I guess this is normal for high school here) and will hopefully be coming to Church more. One of the leaders at the Chinese Alliance Church would like us to start doing things as a group outside of Church so this could be the start of a youth ministry at CAC which is exciting for them since they haven't really had one. We will start out with only about 5-6 of us, but hey will take it.

I am not sure if I mentioned Conversation Cafe to all of you, but its a ministry at Open Door (another church in Berlin that I am kinda working with). Conversation Cafe is a place where people come if they want to learn English. Its usually the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month. The people come and Don Jones and Sarah Carey are in charge of having English lessons for beginners and advanced people. They have lessons for about 2 hours, and then we have coffee and snacks afterward and just kind of sit down and talk among ourselves and we would like to start playing games soon as well. Its been a great opportunity to witness to the people who attend and just to get involved more and more with the people pf Berlin.

One of the quirky things about Berlin is all the different haircuts and hair colors. Its not uncommon to see an woman in her 50-70's with bright red hair. In fact its more uncommon to see one without the hair. It also seems like people from all over the world come here. In the time that I have been here I have gotten to know people from Africa, Russia, Australia and Bosnia. Its been a cool experience.

I have been learning a lot about the culture and the transportation system. I am directionally challenged as many of you know, so its a surprise that I have it all down and can pretty much get anywhere without a problem. So that is a big praise.

Well, I will try not to let so much time pass between now and my next e-mail. Thank you all for your prayer and support. I could really use prayer right now in managing my time well, and just being bold with my faith. People are very quick to turn off when they find out your a Christian, so it makes it a lot harder to talk. Also Ben and Sarah Carey (the missionaries I am working close with) are part of a home group called Frieschwimmer (not quite sure how that is spelled) and on November 30th they are going to start meeting as a Church on Sundays. They have a group of about 13-15 people, so if you could just pray that everything goes smoothly with that, and that they are able to grow and expand as a church. Thank you so much for everything! I hope you all are doing well.

In the love of Christ,

Abbi

Hi everyone!

Sorry its taken me so long to write you, I have been pretty busy with learning my way around and getting moved into the apartment. Last week I went on a little tour of Berlin with Sarah and the kids (who slept the whole time) and I saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Dome Church and a memorial put up for all people who died.


The Brandenburg Gate



The Dome Church


This was a memorial put up for everyone who died in the war. Its a bunch of blocks (for lack of a better term) that vary in height and width, and you get to the point when you are walking through that you are surrounded by tall blocks. So imagine walking through, thinking about all the people that died in the war, and its strangely silent, kinda eerie.



Here are all the kids last Wednesday nights. They are all so cute!

On Sunday I went to the Chinese Alliance Church (CAC) and met all of them and went up to the Berlin International Church (BIC) Church Service. After Church I went back to the CAC for lunch.

The apartment is really cute and a nice size. The first four days I had the Jones' dog with me, so that was nice company. Its a nice area and pretty central, so its not really hard to get anywhere.
I hope you all are well!!!!

God Bless!

Abbi

First two days in Berlin

First I would like to thank all of you  for your prayers! Its been so encouraging knowing you all have been praying for me. :)

The flights went really well. The first flight I sat next to a pastor from Knoxville, Tennessee who was on his way to Uganda, Africa for a missions trip. 

I switched planes in Amsterdam, and it was awesome looking out the window as we came down, because all the greenhouses were lit up. I had to rush through the airport to catch my plane, which ended up being delayed a half hour, Praise the Lord!

After I arrived Don Jones and his daughter Jenna met me at the airport. We then drove back to the Jones' house. Basically all day they just tried to keep me up (I was up for more than 30 hours) so that I could get used to the time change quickly. We went to the Carey's for dinner, and then hung out there for awhile. Below is a picture of (left to right): Dane and Jenna Jones, Travis and Hannah Carey. 

Today I spent some time getting to know the Carey kids, me and Travis had a good time playing with trains, and Hannah and I just hung out. Then I came back to the Jones' and we had Spaztle (sp?) which is a German egg noodle with bacon chunks and onions mixed in, and then cheese on top. Its very yummy. Then I spoke to some wonderful people on my computer thanks to Skype and Facebook. And now it is time for bed (I am 6 hours ahead of most of you). Thank you all for reading. Goodnight!!!

~Abbi

Adventures In Berlin

Tomorrow I set out of the airport for Berlin, Germany! I am so excited! And yet sad to leave everyone back home. I will be going to serve as a missionary intern. I would appreciate some prayer in the following areas:

1. That I would serve the Lord wholeheartedly 

2. That the plane ride would go smoothly

3. That I would get adjusted quickly

Thank you all!

In Christ, 

Abbi