Monday, November 9, 2009

This Week at the Graf House!

This Week at the Graf House--There is a lot to choose from around the Graf/Vilseck area and I know I am missing some activities!

Monday: Free Christian Comedian/Singer performance tonight at the Vilseck Chapel at 1800. Refreshments provided.

Wednesday: Vilseck Singles Bible Study in building 301 at 1830.

Thursday: Graf PWOC (9:00) and PMOC (11:45) in the chapel annex. Men, bring a lunch and join us this week!

Friday: Dinner and Bible Study. Potluck Theme—Casseroles! We will continue our Andy Stanley DVD series on “The Best Question Ever.”

Saturday: Graf House work day! Bring your gloves and old clothes and join us as we rake leaves, trim bushes, and clean up for the winter! We would love your help from 1:00-5:00!

We look forward to seeing you this week!

Friday, October 30, 2009

This Week at the Graf House!

Thanks to everyone who came to hear Sareth Duong share his story of growing up in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime and surviving the Killing Fields. It was quite amazing to me how much we take for granite as Americans and as Christians. I was also encouraged by the incredible work God is doing in the lives of so many men in the miltary and police throughout Southeast Asia. Continue to keep Sareth and Paul in your prayers as they seek to further the Kingdom of God.

Friday Night Dinner and Study—Potluck Theme: Fall Foods; Lesson Three of “The Best Question Ever: Living on the Edge.”

Fall Festival—Saturday 4:00-6:00 at the Graf Elementary School. Volunteers are still needed! If interested, contact the chapel office at 475-1570.

The Graf House will be closed next week (2-8 Nov) for our staff conference.

Monday, October 26, 2009

From Oswald Chambers

"We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God’s wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God."

(Chambers, Oswald: My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI : Discovery House Publishers, 1993, c1935, S. October 26)

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A Thought

This was in one of those "pass it along" emails. While it wasn't the main point of the story, I thought it was quite true.

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."

Owen and Jacob Bowling

Here are videos of Owen and Jacob bowling! I think the best part is when Owen cheers after the machine clears his pins off the lane! Enjoy.


This Week at the Graf House!

Saturday Spelunking!
We are going near Pottenstein to do some real spelunking! This isn’t your pay for the walking-tour spelunking. You will need to bring old clothes, gloves and a hat, flashlight, sack lunch, and knee pads if you want. We will LEAVE the chapel parking lot at 10:10. This is not suitable for little kids as it is dark and there is some difficult crawling.

A Special Opportunity Next Week!
Next Thursday we will have two Cadence missionaries staying with us who minister to the Cambodian military and police forces. Sareth Duong will be sharing his incredible story of surviving almost two-years in a child labor camp after Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge Party took power of Cambodia in 1975. Here is a summary of a few of his experiences:
• At age six, Sareh’s parents were told that he did not belong to them but to the government. He was taken from them and forced to live and work in a child labor camp.
• For almost two years he worked 12-hour days in a rice field with only a t-shirt and a pair of shorts for clothing. His subsidized his daily ration of one cup of rice soup by eating insects, charcoal, and even dirt.
• He endured cold and rainy nights with other kids huddled in neck-deep water standing by water buffaloes for warmth. He endured beatings and even once was hogtied and thrown into a cesspool of human feces for misplacing an officers drinking cup.
• Through all of this, Sareth clung to the hopeful words of his father, “Fight to stay alive; things will get better some day.”

Eventually Sareth became a Christian and the Lord has led him to minister to the military and police forces of his country. He has an incredible testimony of what it means to love your enemies.

Next Thursday, October 29th, Sareth will be sharing his story with the Graf PWOC ladies at 9:00am and then the chaplains are sponsoring a lunch at the Vilseck Chapel from 11:30-1:00. Attached are two flyers about Sareth and the luncheon. We hope to see you there!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Bowling

Here is Jacob and Owen bowling during Jacob's Cub Scout bowl-a-thon!

Men's Paintball on Saturday

If you are Army Strong and are not afraid of some freezing rain and snow, then come join us for paintball on Saturday. We currently have nine guys who are indeed Army Strong. Let me know if you are interested.

We will meet at the Graf Chapel Parking lot at 12:10 and the Vilseck Burger King parking lot at 12:45. I’ll have the big-blue van for anyone who wants a ride. Let me know if you live in Netzaburg and I can pick you up on the way to the chapel.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

This Weekend at the House (9-11 Oct)

Come on out to the Graf House this weekend! Friday night we will have our weekly dinner and Bible study. The potluck theme is Mexican. We will start at 6:30 and please bring your kids fed as we have a babysitter from 6:30-9:30. During our Bible study we will look at the idea of "Why we do things influences what we do and how we do it."

Sunday Brian will be preaching at the Graf Chapel at 10:30. His sermon is titled "Gifts for Criminals" and is based on Romans 3:21-4:12.

Sunday Night we will be showing one of the early NFL games on our big-screen. The game starts at 7:00 and the Graf House will be open after 6:30. We will have popcorn, chips, salsa, and queso. Feel free to bring some dessert or drinks to share.

We hope to see you soon!

Monday, October 5, 2009

A Few Recent Pictures Of Our Boys





Thursday, September 3, 2009

Paintball

We are doing paintball this Saturday!! We have the paintball course reserved from 10:00-2:00 and we will eat lunch there. We are going to grill brats at some point in between games. Should be a great time. Below are the details:

Meet at the Graf Chapel parking lot at 9:15. We’ll drive around to the paintball course at Vilseck—I should be able to fit most people in our van. If you are coming from Vilseck, just let me know and we can meet at the Burger King parking lot around 9:50.

$10 per person--Fee includes: Paintball Marker, Mask, Air, and Trained Supervisor.

Paintballs:
500 rounds: $18.00
1000 rounds: $35.00
2000 rounds: $70.00 (Whole Box)

Stipulations:
Participants must be at least 18 years of age.
All customers’ markers must bear the “F” stamp in order to be used (no exceptions). CAMOFLAUGE IS NOT TO BE WORN AT ANY TIME DURING PAINTBALL. NO EXCEPTIONS.

**Be sure to wear clothing appropriate for paintball and weather conditions, i.e.:
Long sleeve shirt, turtleneck/neck gaiter, gloves and ankle protecting shoes**

Please let me know soon if you will be attending so that I know how many brats to get!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Berching Boat Trip!

Where is Berching? It is about 1:15 minutes from here and is located southwest of Hohenfels (go to www.googlemaps.com and type in Berching, 92334).
Why go to Berching? Primarily for the boat trip along the canal which we have been told is very peaceful and beautiful! However, we have also been told that the town is quite fun to explore. Here is what one person online wrote: “Consider Berching to be an undiscovered Rothenburg, it's peaceful and walkable, with little traffic and few tourists. The town is ringed by 30-foot walls and protected by towers and turreted gates. Visitors can walk along the top of the wall or explore the maze of alleys and passageways.” We will also spend a little time in the town of Beilngreis which is where we will board the boat to go to Berching.

Our Plan:
8:30—Depart Graf Chapel Parking Lot and drive to Beilngreis (just south of Berching)
9:45-11:15—Explore Beilngreis
11:30-12:30—Boat ride to Berching (WE WILL BE RESERVING TICKETS FOR THE BOAT. PLEASE RSVP BY THURSDAY AT 6:00 PM—See below)
12:30-3:15—Explore Berching
3:15-4:15—Boat ride back to Beilngreis
4:30-5:45—Drive back to Graf

Cost for the boat trip:
Adult—9.50 Euros
Youth Fare (ages 6-16)—4.75 Euros
Children Under 5—Free
Family Pass—22.00 Euros (2 Adults and 3 Youth Fares)

Other Costs:
You can bring a picnic lunch or bring money to buy lunch in Berching (I’m not sure if you will be able to eat your picnic on the boat. They do sell coffee and cake on the boat.)
Money to shop?!
Money to help pay for gas if you ride with someone else.

Finally, please remember that we do need to make reservations for the boat trip. Let us know by Thursday at 6:00 pm if you plan to attend, how many will be with you, and the ages of your kids. If you don’t RSVP we cannot guarantee that you can get a seat on the boat (and thus you would have to stay in Beilngreis all day or drive up to Berching).