I'm finally here!

I made it to Germany! After traveling for sixteen hours, I made it to the Dresden airport where I waited for three other DTS students. After they arrived, we went to the train station to buy us tickets to get to Loebau. Word of advice: read your train ticket. We all got on the train and sat down, still talking and getting to know each other. After about a half an hour, a man came by, asking to see our tickets. As he glanced over them, he gave us a strange look, and then started speaking quickly in German. As it turns out, we had missed our stop, not realizing that we needed to switch trains.

Three hours later, we finally made it to our destination.

We were picked up by two staff members and they took us to Water Castle, the YWAM base where we will be staying for the first month of our lecture phase. The base isn’t really a castle – it’s just a large, four story building. On the first floor there is the cafeteria, where we eat and take several of our classes. The second floor is the staff floor and there is also a small café where students can study and buy coffee, tea, and other drinks. (And I am very excited about this! Though I doubt the coffee will be as good as Espresso Cabin…) On the third floor there is a lounge area as well as bedrooms for the girls, (the guys sleep in a separate building outside) where I will be staying. Then there is a small fourth floor, which has a prayer room, art rooms, and a large space where student hang their clothes to dry. It also has what is called the Boutique, which is where people can put things they no longer want (such as clothes, shoes, books, electronics…etc) and then it is free to be taken by anyone else.

It was about 8:30 p.m. when we reached the base. After we were taken on a mini tour and given sandwiches for supper, we all went to bed. I was SO tired since I hadn’t slept for more than an hour in over 24 hours.

The next day we were on our own schedule. We had freedom to catch up on sleep, eat on our own or with the other students, and get settled in. After sleeping, taking a shower, and organizing my stuff, some other mobile students and I went on a walk through the town. We stopped at a couple different stores and then at a bakery before walking back to the YWAM base. The town was beautiful and the houses were adorable! Some were covered in ivory, others surrounded by nicely trimmed hedges, and cobblestone sidewalks lined the streets. On Sunday we will be going into town again and getting a tour, so I’m excited to see more!

As of right now, we will be staying at Herrnhut for a month. The staff are still praying about various locations for us to go to, but they said that we will be staying at each location for three to four weeks. We were told that we will be going to Switzerland which I was not at all expecting, so I can’t wait!

So far, the next six months of my life is off to a great start!

I'm leaving in two days!!!

Two days from now, I will be boarding a flight taking me first to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then to Munich, Germany, and finally, to Dresden, Germany. Once at the airport I am fortunate enough to have three other YWAM students flying in on the same day so I don't have to travel alone, which I am very grateful for. We will then be taking a train to Lobau, and once there we will be picked up by the YWAM staff and they will take us to the base in Herrnhut where we will begin our lecture phase.

As of today, I am trying to get last minute details figured out and I am trying to get everything I need to bring packed, which is a challenge in itself. I still have so much to do before I leave and I'm praying that I can get everything done!

So, please pray not only for me, but also for the other students who are preparing for this trip. It is going to be a crazy six months and we are all going to need to rely on God more now than ever before. Pray that we can all have open hearts and we can all become closer to God and be encouraging to one another. Also, pray for the people that we will be ministering to, that they can have open hearts to the love of God.

Because we will be traveling so much, please, PLEASE pray for the protection and safety of our team. Also, for direction so that we will know where we are suppose to be and where we are suppose to go. For the leaders, pray that they can fully rely on God and trust Him above all else. That they can be open to hearing God's voice and that they will lead us in the right direction.

I am getting extremely excited and I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in not only my life, but in the lives of others. I have no idea what to expect over the next few months and the thought only makes me more excited and more eager to leave!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support - it really means a lot!