“Oh dear, oh dear, I shall be too late!” 

Late with what, you ask? Why, the next installment of this blog. “WRITE ME,” my laptop demanded, day after busy day. And though I sat myself down daily to sift through hundreds of photos, determined to send out the latest installment of our YWAM adventures, I found myself often tumbling down enticing rabbit holes or into bed. Well, my friends, while it took a good amount of boxing my own ears, I can finally present to you Blog #3! Enjoy it—it nearly cost me my head.

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Where Were We?

We left off last at Yvonne’s birthday party, and we’ll start with what happened next. After Laura, Cynthia, and I left Yvonne’s apartment late that night for the subway, we found ourselves, through a series of mishaps, watching our train disappear down the tracks. We came, we saw, we missed. It was already late, we were dead tired, and we now had to wait 15 more minutes for the next train. We were also getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. A few minutes later, a train going the opposite direction stopped at the platform, and a handful of people alighted. As the sound of vibrating rails faded, I heard crying.

Looking across the tracks, we saw a woman who had just stepped off the train sitting on a bench sobbing. We watched her stand, take a few steps up the stairs, and then sink against the handrail. Our train was due in four minutes, but we couldn’t just stand there watching her fall apart. Laura and I sprinted up the stairs to ground level, across the station, and down the steps to the opposite platform. When I got to the woman, I saw that she was small, middle-aged, and bereft. Trying to calm her down, I took her hands and asked what was wrong and whether we could help. Eventually she calmed down enough to say that her father had recently died and that the reality of her loss hit her when she was on the train. She didn’t know why, and she didn’t know how to handle the pain. It was heartbreaking to hear her grief, but I understood so clearly why we had missed our train. God orchestrates even the tiniest details for His goodness.

Laura and I hugged the woman and told her how sorry we were to hear about her loss. I told her that even when she feels alone and misses her dad, she has a heavenly Father who is with her at all times, loves her passionately, and hurts with her. I asked if we could pray for her, and she said yes. Our train had come and gone by now, but it didn’t matter. Cynthia joined us and we prayed, asking God to fill the woman with His peace, healing, strength, hope, and joy. It was a sweet moment of realizing how actively God weaves together people, time, and situations. When we finished praying, we headed back to our platform. Returning to our original benches, I saw the woman board the train that had ground to a halt before her. She gazed through the window at us, her body relaxed and face peaceful. I waved as the train sped away. A few minutes later, we were on our own train, grateful to be homeward-bound, but even more grateful to have been delayed. God is good. All the time.

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International Church of Vienna

You know you’ve found a great church when it loves food second to Jesus, and fellowship second to that. I put fellowship after food because, well, priorities. YWAM Vienna and ICV’s young adult group united for an afternoon picnic in the park, and the result was magnificent. When not stuffing our faces, we had great conversations accompanied by the sprightly strum of a ukulele. I learned a grand total of six chords. I think that renders me proficient.

A few photos deserve honorary mention:

One other church event should be noted—the sweet recognition of Mother’s Day. During Sunday worship, the children lined up at the front of the sanctuary, and after Pastor Brian prayed for the mothers, the eager boys and girls ran into the congregation to gift each woman with a rose.

Now, Laura and I aren’t mothers, but we are in fact women, so one of the little girls (the one whose face is completely covered) scurried over to give us flowers, smiling graciously. As the flower she held out to Laura passed beneath my nose, I saw that the rose had fallen off, leaving only a thorny stem. Laura, suppressing a fit of laughter, accepted the stem solemnly. As she did, the little girl caught sight of her topless rose. Her face changed from pious serenity to amazed horror so rapidly that we could no longer hold in our laughter. Mortified, the girl reclaimed the stem and dashed off to find a respectable replacement. It was quite the Mother’s Day for us not-yet mothers. Kids are the best.

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Teaching Weeks

• Jesus and the Cross (Harald Höllerman) – This week focused on Jesus’ sacrifice and authority as Lord. We explored what it looks like to be a true disciple and not just a fan. Harry led us in a hypothetical journey through the tabernacle, committing to seat Jesus on the thrones of our hearts.

• The Word (YWAM Hurlach) – An awesome team from YWAM Hurlach, Germany, joined us for a week to walk our students through the Bible. Especially creative, this group came up with fun and interactive ways to engage students in the rather daunting task of cracking open the Old Testament. When we walked into class the first morning, we saw not a row of stiff wooden chairs lined up before a whiteboard, but woven multicolored mats circled around a spread of bread, vinegar, and olive oil—the perfect atmosphere for an introduction to the Torah. On a small table stood a vase of flowers, a candle, a jug, two glasses, and a loaf to represent the unbroken fellowship we had with God before the fall of man.

But after the fall…

e

v

e

r

y

t

h

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n

g

shattered.

Luckily, the story does not end there. (Insert gospel message here.) After reading the many, many guidelines and measurements laid out in Exodus for the structure of the tabernacle, we headed to a nearby park and recreated a life-sized model of it. Well, the borders, at any rate. I had a great view from my perch on the soccer net.

We also constructed a makeshift Holy of Holies (innermost room of the tabernacle) out of space (Mylar) blankets in the classroom loft! Everyone had the opportunity to write their struggles on small slips of paper and place them in a basket (to be later shredded) as a tangible confession to God. We could then enter the room to pray. I could’ve sat there for hours had the foil not been designed to facilitate thermal incubation.

We continued traveling through the historical books of the Old Testament, acting out major events to meet the needs of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners alike. In other words, we LARPed. Or as Cal Poly would say, we learned by doing. #shoutouttothealmamater #gomustangs

Note: I was balancing on the arm of a squishy couch while trying not to cry with laughter, which is why the photos look as if they were taken during a magnitude 9 earthquake. 

Aaaaand some more random photos from that week…

Until at last, Jesus.

Here you can see the whole timeline of the Bible, from start to finish:

Shout out to the members of FCJG Help for allowing us to use their facility, joining us in worship, and giving us some great friends. YWAM Austria loves you!!!

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To be continued…