It has nearly been 4 months now that we moved back to Berlin. As we have posted already, Harry has found a job quite quickly and has been working at an Outdoor retail store here in Berlin. We moved into our rented apartment in the beginning of July. We also had a great time reconnecting with Harry's family at a weekend gathering with 14 adults and 15 children (if you count the 2 that are still in their mother's bellies, of which Luna is not one, in case you wondered). Now, in August, Luna and Junia got to go to Croatia to visit her dad and his family, as well as her grandma and family on mother's side, who also came with them from Berlin. Harry couldn't go, which was hard. But finally, they are coming back on Sunday.Junia is working on mastering her crawling technique, curious about anything she can get her hands and tongue on and as happy as can be.
We posted some recent pictures and videos on our German blog:
http://harryundluna.blogspot.de/2014/08/bilder-video-update.html
Luna will be looking for a job, as well. We hope that we can share the joy and task of taking care of Junia. Luna's Mom is also here to help out whenever and wherever she can, which is a huge blessing.
Now it seems that we have found a church closer to where we live. It is a lively, welcoming community, with young families as well as older, wiser people, and a female pastor who was a midwife before. The reason we feel the Spirit leading us here is that Luna's mom liked the atmosphere and promised to join us every now and then, if we end up attending this church. This is new, since she has disliked all of the churches we've dragged her to up till then. She also does not like taking public transit to go some place on Sunday mornings. Anyway, this is a huge answer to prayer, since she really, really needs Jesus in her life. Please pray with us that her heart will become soft and she may open up to true salvation.
Salvation - this, by the way, is what comes to mind when we reflect back on our time in Abbotsford. At the graduation banquet, Harry was asked how Columbia Bible College has affected our lives. The answer has to do with our understanding of God's salvation. We have learned (or so we believe, I guess the test of everyday life will tell) that God wants to save more than our individual souls. He's in the process of puzzling together a whole new world, a new creation. And we get to be a part of this most wonderful piece of work. We don't just wait for the future, or simply follow "basic instruction before leaving earth", we actually get to be actors in the story God is telling. We get to represent his Kingdom. That's a huge privilege - and a big challenge.
Of course, there have been lots of other things. Luna has gained various vocational experiences, from bookkeeping to house cleaning to College tutoring, and then we had these two amazing and stretching summers at Ootsa Lake Bible Camp. Harry learnt to lead groups of people in the Outdoors. We found many amazing life-long friends, and tried to use and develop our gifts in our church community, for the short time that we were there.
So I guess we are now looking for the ways in which we can fulfill our roles here in Berlin for the next few years. As many of you know, we have plans for the future, but this will be for another post.For now, we just want you to know how grateful we are that we had the privilege of being part of yours lives and communities, and that you influenced and changed us for the better. Thank you so much for your encouragement and love over the last 4 years. We miss being with you!!
Be hugged, and be blessed, and may God use you in other people's lives as He did in ours!
Luna, Junia Harry
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