The Holla From Halle

Shaina Stutzman
December 23, 2006
Team Letter #6
Team Blogspot: http://germanyyes06.blogspot.com note: This has not been exactly right in the past, but this one is correct and will take you directly to our site!!
Team Email: germanyteam6@yahoo.com

1 big red rented truck
1 "L" shaped "camouflaged-looking" couch (it's great!! :)
1 cloths closet (that Jen and Janae later so expertly put together, with just a tiny bit of help from Eric)
numerous other chairs, coffee tables, bed frames, and boxes of random stuff
1 smashed, now fading purple, finger (mine..no hospital visitation required)
1 bruised finger/hand combination (Jen's)
3 bedrooms
1 kitchen
1 living room/dining room
4th floor
65 steps
13 trips up and down (i think, i started to lose track :)

equals..............1 apartment that needs an elevator


So by now I guess you've figured out that we have an apartment and have moved in a good portion of our donated items!! God has provided in so many ways I can't begin to name them all. From providing furniture to good parking spots for the big red truck we rented, God is so faithful!! Moving day was Wednesday and a tiring but fruitful day it was. The day ended well with the team and our outreach coordinators, Daryl and Miriam Weaver, eating pizza and attending "The Nutcracker." (FYI: For all you people who don't know what "The Nutcracker" is, it's a very popular ballet. :) I think we all enjoyed it and Brent's hilarious imitations of it afterwards!!
This week has been full of amusing/interesting/wonderful/scary times. They range from Janae's hair catching on fire (I can just picture all your shocked faces right now, fear not, she just singed the ends when she accidentally leaned her head back over a candle on a table behind her to adjust her hair.), exciting (scary for me) times of lighting/replacing the candles on Miriam and Darryl's Christmas tree while finding (and smelling) one that had singed a branch and (praise God) put itself out, having an amazing team sharing/prayer time, carrying a three part couch/bed from the old Soli Deo church building to our apartment around 3-4 blocks away (we had to look funny) and Val twisting her ankle in the process (you can remember her in your prayers as she is still in pain), cleaning/organizing some of the apartment, packing 62 (I think) bags of oranges, apples, nuts, and chocolate for the Christmas Eve service at Soli Deo, practicing for worship for the Christmas Eve service (Janae's singing -she even has a solo in "Silent Night!!"-, Jen's playing flute, Eric's playing guitar, Val's on the base guitar, Andi (the pastor of Soli Deo) is playing the accordion, I'm playing piano, and Brent will be gone that evening as he has the opportunity to visit some of his relatives in Leipzig, about 45 min away), to us girls making a friend named Francesca in our apartment building who invited us over for coffee later in the week (although we couldn't attend because we already had plans, but I'm optimistic there'll be plenty more opportunities to come seeing as we'll be there for another seven months)!!
And soon houses will be filled with laughter, squeals of joy, and the sound of presents being ripped opened as most people here in Germany celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. I truly hope your Christmas is a joyful time spent with the ones you love. And remember..... to remember why you do what you do for CHRISTmas.

Praises!!
-we have an apartment!!
-people have been unusually generous (according to Miriam) when it comes to giving us stuff for the apartment
-safety and not-to-serious injuries
-for us making one friend in our apartment building

Prayer Requests
-pray for us as some of us will start living in the apartment beginning on Wednesday and adjust to living together
-team unity in general and unity as we make decisions regarding duties and organizing the apartment
-for a computer with Internet access
-for good "see-you-later's" (not "good-byes" :) and pleasant feelings of departure between us and our host families
-continued generosity from the people here
-opportunities for us to connect and minister to the people in our apartment building as many of them are college age students and can possibly speak English

Thank you all for your continued support. I'm sure I can say a heart felt "Thank you!!" from everyone on the team to all those who have prayed for us and sent us email, cards, and letters." It truly is a blessing to hear from you all. And an "I love you and miss you!!" to my family, friends, and church family!!

In Christ and for the team,
Shaina \''/