Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Fresh Flowers!!

Here are fields of flowers you can go to and pick fresh flowers for just a few cents. They have Gladiolas and Sunflowers and they are beautiful! We took a walk down from where we live and picked a good stuck (german) or handful of Glads and then one Sunflower. Enjoy!




Correction

The town we went to for the festival is called Eggenburgh. This is for those of you who tried to look it up on the map. :)

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Essengburgh Festival

We went to a festival in Essengburgh just outside Vienna.
The train took us through beautiful wine country to get there! Essengburgh is a little town with a castle wall built all the way around. They celebrate the medieval era here by dressing up, cooking, and selling goods all in the medieval style. We loved watching and eating and just experiencing some neat traditional music and dancing.....and sword fighting!
Hope you enjoy the pictures of our experience!



They were putting on a mock trial on stage


Thad was enjoying the festival with one of his many babysitters! All staff kids from VCS.....:)

Essingburgh Festival

Some more pictures of Essingburgh

Woman on stilts

Everyone dressed up! If you did dress up, you got into the festival at a cheaper price. So, Thomas says next year we'll dress the part!!

We put Thad in the cart that takes the prisoners away!

A man tight rope walking

The Church at the top of the hill

Monday, September 18, 2006

Coffee House

These pictures were taken at the school during a Thursday night Coffee House. The students come and hang out and some even put on a few skits. Many of the students participated with their local bands and provided some very loud music. Thad didn't know what to think of that! The staff are also involved in putting on a couple of skits. And in fact, Thomas' skit with three other staff members won the competition!



They love to pose for the camera!

Thad loved the attention that night from the students.

Friday, September 08, 2006

BIRTHDAY

It's Thomas' Birthday today and he's 26! So if you have a second please send an email or make a comment and wish him well! Thanks for all your encouragement and comments on the blog. It's so exciting to have y'all stand behind us as we serve here in Vienna. Hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for letting Thomas know he's appreciated!

Monday, September 04, 2006

The 1st Week of School


This was definitely a new experience for me in terms of a first week of school. My classes are great so far. The kids are really amazing and are very willing to engage in discussion. Other than the fact that I am super busy with lesson preparation, things are going very well with my teaching.
brief summary of teaching so far:

Geography- We have begun an introductory devotional time where we are looking at the source of Geography and all the things that we study in regards to it (Genesis Chapters 1-3)
It is really amazing to teach from a Christian perspective and allow God to take His proper place in an academic setting.
Discernment- Ok some of you may think this is a bit strange but my kids have really responded to it. We are currently viewing portions of the Matrix and using it as our metaphor for the class. For the class we are referring the world system that is currently controlled by Satan and used to distract us as the Matrix. Several of the scenes in the film can be used in an amazing way to illustrate several points from scripture. I hope to put up a post in the future that gives a bit more detail.
We are also reading The Screwtape Letters. This has been a real eye opener for the kids. It is really good, but many times it is difficult for the kids to understand. Pray that the Lord will use me to help the kids better understand this helpful book.
Worldview Survey- This is the one that I have felt a bit over my head with. It is a great class, but was taught by a guy way more intelligent than me (I know what you're thinking 'Thomas, how was there ever a person smarter than you?') His lessons were way complex and so I have had to do a ton of work to simplify things. The Lord has really blessed my teaching in that class and we are currently looking at Christian Theism in detail. Tomorrow I will be sharing the gospel through the description of Man's sinful nature and the need for God to provide a way to restore us to fellowship with Him. Please pray that this class would not be an intellectual pursuit, but would really touch kids hearts.
I will do my best to get some actual pics of my classes up as soon as I can.
We are currently still seeking a church home here, please pray that God will show us where He would have us fellowship in a church setting.
We are beginning a Bible study with some other teachers. Pray that the Lord will use this in our lives to teach us from His Word.
Soccer is going well. The kids are responding great to my coaching. The other coach and I have a real ministry with these guys. Pray that I will have unique opportunities to minister to these guys and that they will see Christ in me, my hope of glory.
Your emails and responses to posts are extremely encouraging to us. Feel free to shoot us an email if you have any questions about specifics.
-Thomas & Mollie

THAD


The little guy got into the chocolate mommy and daddy had sitting on the counter!

He's checking out his favorite tourist spots on the map