Our Patriotic Boys!

Much Fun

We had a great time this Saturday as we opened this new Hospitality House with a BBQ and dedication. Thanks to everyone (about 75!) who joined us for some great fellowship, burgers, dogs, and weather that was about 20 degrees above the forecast! We are especially grateful for those who helped cook, clean, and our wonderful musicians (thanks Phil, Susan, and Cydney)!

This Saturday we will be showing the movie "Amazing Grace" at 7:00 PM. We will also have a babysitter and movie going for the kids. We look forward to seeing you then!

A little info from the Amazing Grace Movie website:

Amazing Grace, based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce, is directed by Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough, Coal Miner's Daughter) from an original screenplay written by Academy Award® nominee Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things).

The film stars Ioan Gruffudd (Black Hawk Down), Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich), Romola Garai (Vanity Fair), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Benedict Cumberbatch (Hawking), Rufus Sewell (Legend of Zorro), Ciaran Hinds (Rome) and introduces Youssou N'Dour.

Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Albert Finney plays John Newton, a confidante of Wilberforce who inspires him to pursue a life of service to humanity. Benedict Cumberbatch is William Pitt the Younger, England's youngest ever Prime Minister at the age of 24, who encourages his friend Wilberforce to take up the fight to outlaw slavery and supports him in his struggles in Parliament.

Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21, and on his way to a successful political career, Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment and persuaded those in power to end the inhumane trade of slavery.

Romola Garai plays Barbara Spooner, a beautiful and headstrong young woman who shares Wilberforce's passion for reform, and who becomes his wife after a whirlwind courtship. Youssou N'Dour is Olaudah Equiano. Born in Africa and sent as a slave to the Colonies, Equiano bought his freedom and made his home in London, where he wrote a best-selling account of his life and became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of his fellow countrymen.

Open House and Dedication

This Saturday (1 Nov) we will be having an Open House from 1500-2000. Please come see the wonderful house God has provided for His work. Addtionally, we will be serving dinner at 1730 followed by a short dedication of the house to God for his use.

Address:
Jahnstrasse 47
92676 Eschenbach

Directions:
From the only stoplight in Eschenbach...
Go up the hill through downtown.
At the top of the hill, turn left immediately before the church and then turn immediately right on Jahnstrasse.
Go past the hospital on your left until the road splits. Where the road splits our gate is on the right (yellow 47 on the sign). Park outside the gate near the large, 3-building school and walk in!

Phone: 0151-5467-8686

Swimming in Weiden

Here's the scoop on swimming this Saturday:

We will meet at 1300 at the pool and you can stay as long as you want. Waterslides for the kids and much fun to be had. And my handy-dandy computer translator told me their web-site says the following:

"For children the Weidener Thermenwelt is a true paradise! Gigantic water children's slide, Plantschbecken and white-water canal are only some of the highlights which must try out intrepid three cheese highs absolutely. The quite small dwarfs go it with mummy and daddy of course a little more quietly in. Indeed become the small water rats be from our toddler washbasin (33 °C) with play of water garden only more very much hard herauszulocken!"

So come be "small water rats" with us and have a lot of fun!

Cost for Adults
1-hr 3.50
2-hr 4.50
3-hr 5.50
5-hr 7.50
All Day 9.00

Cost for Children
1-hr 2.00
2-hr 2.50
3-hr 3.00
5-hr 4.00
All Day 5.00

Adults exceeding the time-limit are charged an additional fee of 1,00 € and youths 0,50 € for each additional half started.


Click here for a map.
Click here for the website for the pool.

Address:
Freizeitzentrum Weiden
Weidener Thermenwelt
Raiffeisenstraße 7
92637 Weiden i. d. OPf.

House Happenings...

We had a great with about 30 people on Saturday at Pottenstein. The weather was a little cold at first but once the fog burned off it was a gorgeous day. We hiked up to the castle and ate lunch while looking around the grounds. Then 1/2 of us took a hike through the countryside to the rodelbahn (alpine slide) while the rest hiked down and drove. The slides were very fast and fun! A few of us did the cave tour but most of us will have to do it again another time! Pictures will come shortly.

This Saturday (25th) we will be going to the indoor pool in Weiden. We will meet there at 1300. Check back on here mid-week to get directions and details on cost. See you there!

Financial Disarray

Good words to consider in these times of financial disarray...
Matthew 6:19-33

MT 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

MT 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

MT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

MT 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

MT 6:28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Pottenstein--Little Swiss!

We will be going to Pottenstein next Saturday (Oct. 18th) to enjoy all the leaves changing color. This is a great little town with lots to do (castle with museum, cave with 1-hour guided tours, alpine slide down the hills, and lots of hiking). It should be beautiful next weekend with the leaves changing so bring a lunch or some money to buy lunch. We can hike to the castle or you can park near it if you don't want to hike. The museum is 4.50 Euros for adults and 2.50 Euros for kids. The alpine slide is 2.00 Euros per ride.

So meet us on Saturday at 1000 in the parking lot at the Graf Chapel (we will be in the dark blue 9-passenger VW van--its pretty hard to miss us!). We will caravan from there as it is about a 45 minute drive. Here is an English website I found about Pottenstein.

Call with questions or email (Cell: 0151 5467 8686 or briankleager@yahoo.com)

We hope to see you there!

First Day of School

Owen's Backpack!


Owen and Brian with our friend's son Daniel.


Jacob crawling over the gators at Playmobil Land!


On their way to school!

German Definitions

shrank \shrəŋk\ noun: Closets used in Germany to store clothes and dishes. They are not built into the house. Unlike other civilized nations, Germans take these closets with them when they move. The end result is that they probably don't fit in their new house and whoever moves into their old house probably doesn't have any to fit either. Problems arise when foriegners move into Germany without shranks.

shrank fatigue \shrəŋk fə-ˈtēg\ adj: The condition foriegners experience in Germany after looking for, buying, transporting, and assembling shranks. Extreme fatigue sets in after driving home one hour from the store and discovering the shrank in the box is not the one you requested. It is too small. After recovery, one may then return to the store, exchange shrank, and verify the box is the correct size. Hospitalization might be required if after returning home again, with the correct sized box, one discovers it is the wrong color...

The Rest of Jacob's Birthday

The Boys at Playmobil Land! The last picture is Jacob, Toby, and Jesse whose parents run a Hospitality House 90 minutes from us.

Read the post below for the first part of Jacob's birthday...

Jacob was indeed treated like royalty the whole day at school. Later the teacher let him pick two other kids and they went out in the hall. They then called them back in and Jacob got seated in a special chair (he described it like a king's chair). All the kids had palm-branches or something like that that they waved as he came in. That night he got to choose what we ate for dinner: Mac and Cheese! And he requested a carrot cake which Aimee had made.

Today (Saturday) we met some friends and their kids who run a Hospitality House about 90 minutes from us at Playmobil Land. It is a theme park that is just like the Playmobil toys and all the activities are like the toys. Large pirate ships, castles, slides, etc. to play on. The boys had a blast.

And we finally have internet up and running so more pictures will be added frequently. However, it is 11:20 PM and I am off to bed...

Jacob the Birthday Konig (King)!

Aimee dropped Jacob off at school today (his 6th birthday) and when he walked in all the kids came and surrounded him and were calling him the birthday boy! The teacher then sat him down and he started making a crown that he gets to wear all day. He was all smiles. He has been telling us for the past two weeks about what they do when it is your birthday and I think he had a lot of anticipation for it. And now that it is all coming true for him is very special. They are making him feel like royalty all day long. We are excited to pick him up at 1:15 and hear more about it. We will give a full update later.

(Unfortunately, still no internet at the house. But we will update his birthday events soon! Check back.)

Brian

Our Stuff Has Arrived!

We were told that our container with furniture would arrive on Tuesday at 3:00 and that we would have three hours to unload it. We were thus surprised when it showed upt at 1:30 because none of our friends were there yet to help unpack! However, the truck driver said we could still have it until 6:00 to unpack. And to our surprise, we had more people than anticipated show up to help. We had 15 people there and it went very smooth. Aimee made them all brats for dinner and many stuck around to help put together beds and arrange furniture. By the time Aimee and I went to bed, our bed was put together and even had sheets on it (thanks to Sharon finding them in a box!). The only challenge was finding the bolts and hardware for the boys' bunkbed. I found them the next morning and while in the middle of putting it together, a friend showed-up unannounced because he figured we could use some more help! It was perfect timing. We got the bunkbeds up, my office rearranged, and a few other odds and ends done before we both had to go. The boys slept well last night (Owen's first in the bunkbed as he had been in a crib until we left Denver. He feels like a "big boy" now.).

And a few of you have asked about the boys' school situation (a big concern for us before we left). They are both in Kindergarten and there was no problem getting them in, although Jacob did get one of the last spots in his class. This is what we had been hoping and praying for (God continues to bless and bless). Jacob is in the oldest class and Owen is in the youngest. Both boys go three days a week from 8-12:15 and on the other two days Jacob goes from 8-1:15 and stays for lunch. They are both adjusting well to their classes and their teachers are great.

Hopefully the internet gets turned on at the hosue today! If so, I will try to get pictures posted in the next couple of days.