A little bit of discouragement

It's so pretty out. I was reminded of the first months here, how dreary and gray it was and it seemed like it would never end.

But it did. The dullness has turned into blue sky and vibrant colors!

'Tis the season in Austria for BBQ's, Garden gatherings, motorcycle rides, hanging out with friends and getting ready for "Urlaub" (vacation). Most people leave for the summer, so people are in and out and all about.

I went to the church in Stockerau today. It's nice because it's so close. Everyone's really friendly and kind, and I enjoy singing songs in German. I caught vocab words and such in the sermon, but it's still hard to understand the whole thing. I was invited over to a family's house for lunch so that was cool. They are originally from Berlin but came to Austria to work as "tentmakers" and support OM here. They are incredibly mission minded and were so hospitable. It's cool because they only live 5 minutes away! They have a daughter who is my age and works with the youth group at the church and is a student in Vienna studying French. She spent a year as a missionary in Africa! I was encouraged to think of all the families living in Stockerau who love Jesus.

It was really great having lunch with them today but it was hard too. They all speak English but were trying to help with my German and they are much more comfortable in that language too. I'm thankful for the help, but I was really tired after being in a German context for a full 4 hours! It was hard to be friendly and express myself in German today. There's some girls I'd really love to be friends with but the langauge is hard and I feel discouraged today. It's funny how the atmosphere can look so similar to America and the people are white, but the subtle differences of culture make it shocking inside. It's hard to feel uncomfortable.

So today, I could use pray for perseverance and encouragement! I'm feeling somewhat useless and not very effective. Jesus, help me to lay ahold of this time and persevere, even if there isn't fruit in this present time.

Otto

Today I met an elderly man named Otto. He owns a ceramic store here in Stockerau that's been in business for over 100 years. But he's closing it down...

because he just lost his best friend, his wife of 63 years, Helga.

And I just met him today, but in responding to my simple but concerned questions, he wept and turned away.

He can't eat.

He's alone.

He doesn't know how to keep going in life with this loss.

I invited him to join our team for breakfast but he's busy closing down his store. Please pray that if it's God's will, He makes a way to establish a connection with Otto and that myself and my team can bring the comfort of God to him!

Poland Update

I'm back!

Our week in Poland was a very worthwhile time. I feel like I got a lot of exposure to ministry and the daily lives of missionaries.

Some highlights:

• The student festival. This is a secular event that is for Polish college students and is primarily about the bountiful beer taps and live concerts, however they also have booths set up of different college groups, etc. Sienna church had two booths (the only Christian ones!):

1. An AIDS experience booth, which is an interactive story about a college student who finds out he has AIDS. This then creates a platform to talk to the participants about AIDS and also share with them about Jesus.
2. A very creative evangelistic booth: they had really cool water bottles they gave away that had the Gospel message on the label; they had a table set up with cool stencils and paint and painted things on peoples shirts and sweatshirts; they had signs that people wore that said, "I was once dry like a raisin; do you thirst like I did?" and the young adults from the church walked around and genuinely started conversations with people and established relationships.

I was so impressed by the young adults at the booth! They were super creative, cool, had awesome graphics and so genuinely shared about Jesus to everyone they saw. It was awesome to see evangelism done in a relevant way that was full of life. I got to absorb all this happen, as I was mostly hindered by the language barrier, but I did get to have some conversations in English and helped out with the AIDS experience booth.

Below is a video clip of one such conversation with a Polish guy named Bart. I think you will find it as amusing as I did. :)

• Another highlight was getting to talk with Robert and Ulla and see their lives in action on a day to day basis. I learned a lot about setting boundaries, communicating clearly, being hospitable, and loving deeply.

All in all it was a great trip in so many ways!

Now I'm back in Vienna! We're getting back into the swing of things, celebrating birthdays (like my wonderful boyfriend Jeff's!) and joining Austria in its many BBQ's and summer festivities!

I'd appreciate your prayers that God really directs my heart and brings confirmation and peace as to the ministry He wants me to join in these coming weeks and months.

Love to all!

AIDS Link

The outreach we're doing in Poland is centered upon raising awareness about AIDS and using it as an avenue to share about Jesus. Robert and Ulla are apart of an organization called AIDSlink, which is an international program that educates about AIDS. We've come along with them to help out with the seminars and outreaches.

Robert has an incredible testimony about the virus, as he was infected with through a blood transfusion back in the 80's. This week he has been sharing his testimony in two avenues:

1. To students in secular schools
2. To the church, to raise awareness and to equip it to minister to this need

Each time Robert shared his testimony been so powerful! On Tuesday we visited a school and he had the student's captivated (which according to the principle was a very rare thing!) and the message was well-received. Praise God for this!

Below is a video clip of the AIDS training that Robert and Ulla led to a group at the church.

As far as how I've been able to help out, check out this short clip of me explaining about "the AIDS Experience."

Poland!

Day 1... Monday morning we left at 5 am and drove to Poland! Beautiful country, made complete with the new sounds of a different language and the sights of new landscape. It's incredible how much can change if you just travel 8 hours!

We had to make a pit stop to experience some Polish sausage...Incredible!!!

Upon our arrival, we met up with Donna and Arek, who are missionaries with OM in a small, unreached town in Kutno, Poland. It was cool to hear their stories over an incredible Chinese meal (Donna is Korean :) and about the slow and hard but rewarding ministry of planting a church among the Poles. They primarily have been reaching out to acoholics and their church has been growing due to the powerful lifestyle changes of Poles who have found freedom from their addictions in Christ. I am SO thankful for these many valuable experiences to see firsthand the lives of missionaries and get a greater understanding of what God is doing all over.

Below is the view of a Catholic church from the rented room of the church plant (the only Evangelical church in the area) that Arek is the pastor of. Catholicism in Poland, like in most of Europe, is the predominant religion, however it's mostly ritualistic and actually makes evangelizing more difficult because people are not aware of their need for Jesus.

Polish people are incredible hosts! We all stayed the night at a Polish police officer's house (from Arek's church) and not only was it incredibly well kept, but he made us homemade bread for breakfast and gave us cologne and perfume for gifts as we left! I've found the Polish people overall incredibly friendly and hospitable.

Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrating all you great moms out there, especially a certain Mrs. Liz Conn. :) I LOVE YOU! This video is for you!

I'm having a party for you here in Stockerau, preparing to go to POLAND!

Wahoo...we leave tomorrow morning at 5 am. This is Robert Suhonnen, our site leader who, along with his wife Ulla, will be taking Jadah, Emily, Jeff and I for a week of outreach to Poland. He's great! This is him showing us where we'll be going during our prep/prayer meeting.


We'll be going to different schools to share about HIV/AIDS, but primarily and utmostly about JESUS! We'll be working along side of Sienna Church in Poland and the OM team there. Here's the flier that they have been advertising with:


Here's our schedule:

	DAILY SCHEDULE	Morning	Afternoon / evening
Day 1	11/05 (Monday)	arrival	orientation / preparation / rest
Day 2	12/05 (Tuesday)	2 school meeting (08:00- 11:30 Kutno)	evulation / 18:00 orientation with volunteers from "Sienna" church
Day 3	13/05 (Wednesday)	3 school meetings (Warsaw)	workshop in church (17:00-19:00) + AIDS EXPERIENCE
Day 4	14/05 (Thursday)	1 school meeting (Warsaw)	workshop in church (17:00-19:00) + AIDS EXPERIENCE
Day 5	15/05 (Friday)		AIDS EXPERIENCE
Day 6	16/05 (Saturday)	Juwenalia (Students festival) - Warsaw	Students festival & AIDS EXPERIENCE for Sienna youth meeting
Day 7	17/05 (Sunday)	Sunday service in Warsaw	AIDS EXPERIENCE
Day 8	18/05 (Monday)	departure

Thanks for your prayers! Hopefully I'll be able to keep you posted during the week, but if not, I'll share about it after we return home!

*Grace and peace and lots of love,

Kenzie

:::hisNAMEisJEFFREY:::

As of today, I've been in a relationship with this wonderful man


for 1 year!

It's been grand. :) And challenging and maturing and growing and wonderful. :) He's the most servant-hearted, considerate, kind, gentle, and strong and has such solid character! It's been a really awesome journey of getting to know him better and being known by him. :)

We had a great date today! Got to experience Vienna on a beautiful spring day, and boy was it a happening place! We biked and walked throughout the city, had some Viennese coffee, enjoyed a park and a nice restaurant for dinner.

The best part was the company. :)

Please continue to pray for Jeff and I, as we grow in our relationships with God and with one another. We're really pressing in to lay a hold of all that God has for this internship and really want to honor the Lord in all we do! Pray that God would strengthen us in this and use us to spread the love of Jesus to our team and to Austria and to one another. I think God has a lot more to teach us and reveal to us, so pray that we would walk in the things He has in store!

It's sure good to have a friend like Jeff in a foreign country. :)

Bosnia!

Back from Bosnia!

It was a great trip. Let me share a bit of what it was like...

Coffee, coffee, coffee! It's an integral part of the culture to say the least, and boy is it good!

This is our team at a Persian style cafe.

This is the fountain in the old city. It's said that if you drink from it you'll be sure to come back. I wouldn't mind that happening... :)

The old city, Sarajevo. It's an interesting mixture of Muslims, Orthodox and Roman Catholicism. There are Evangelical churches, however the pastors have been Christians for under 1o years!

Lots of open markets with fresh produce!

We got an incredible history lesson while in Bosnia and one of the best parts was visiting this tunnel. During the war, the Bosnians created this underground tunnel to transport supplies into the city, which was completely surrounded and assaulted by Serbian forces. Though the war has ended, anger and bitterness between the two people groups remains. In fact, it is said:

"There is no peace in Bosnia, only a lack of violence."

I was deeply moved from hearing about the tragedy of the war and the terrible things people experienced-- people that are my age and are now trying to live a normal life. There is such a huge need for reconciliation, healing and rehabilitation for the people. There is certainly a broken spirit about the country.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to experience this part of the world. It was a great trip and I hope to one day go back! But even if I don't, I'll keep Bosnia in my heart and in my prayers.

A Bosnian Adventure

Greetings from Bosnia!

What a journey to get here: 14 hour bus ride through the night, made complete by Bosnian chatter and laughter the whole way through. :) Surprisingly, after spending the past 3 months in a "colder culture" I found the warmth of the Bosnians refreshing, even if it did hinder my sleep. :)

My weary teammates :)

My stupendous teammate, friend and seat-buddy: Lindy.

So 14 hours and 1 1/2 hours of sleep later, my team and I find myself in the very interesting country of Bosnia! Rich in lush mountains, produce stands and concrete, Bosnia has a unique beauty that is visibly scarred by the turmoil of war and the after-effects of communism.

It's been incredible to stay with the OM team here and hear and see what life is like for the people of Bosnia. This is the Brazilian Claudia, the leader of the OM team there. Lindy and I get to stay with her and it's so great!

It's been a really rich experience so far, made complete with a Bosnian BBQ. They sure do love meat here! The morning we arrived (with an empty sleep tank :) was May 1st, a national holiday, so we headed off to join the OM team and a Bosnian church for an evangelistic outreach at a local park. Jeff and Jake some how got assigned to be the BBQers at the BBQ! They d id a great job, but found out that Bosn ians BBQ quite a bit differently here: instead of neatly putting the meat on the grill, they dump boxes full of chicken and sausage on the grill and slather it with grease. I could feel that meal the rest of the day, but boy was it good!

More stories and pictures to come! Tod ay we're headed to downtown Sarajevo to explore then to church tonight. I really like this place.