Update from Bergen 1 team (now traveling)

Dear Loved Ones,

Joy, Liz, Amy, and I are happy to say that we have made it safely to Como, Italy for our Traveler's Retreat! This retreat marks the halfway point for the traveling leg of our YHM journey. A week ago, none of us thought that we would need a retreat this soon into traveling (we've only been on the road for two weeks). But having arrived here in Como on Wednesday night, we realized that all four of us were ready for a physical and emotional break.

The last email update you received was from Munich, Germany, city of beer and sausages (seriously, now). From Munich, we had a very adventurous traveling day to reach Gryon, a small town high up in the Swiss Alps. On the way to Gryon, our team got separated not one but two times as various train mistakes were made, but thankfully nobody got left behind and we all made it to Switzerland together.

Our time in Gryon was much different from the times we have spent in other cities. The hostel we stayed at in Gryon, the Chalet Martin Swiss Alps Hostel, is a small, cozy place that is home to a group of regulars who come every year or two for the summer. We stepped into Chalet Martin as a group of outsiders on the fringe of an annual reunion, and we felt that we were immediately put into a box. Many of these regulars were at the hostel when our other traveling team for this year, Bergen 2, stayed in Gryon in the month of June. So as soon as we arrived and those staying at the hostel found out we were from Wheaton, they knew we were Christian and knew why we were traveling Europe, and generally avoided any in-depth conversation. We didn't feel ostracized by any means. We just continually felt the need to break out of the box the Gryon regulars put us in.

Chalet Martin, however, was definitely not a lost cause or disappointment for us. Despite any pre-formed opinions about us, the other guests in Gryon were willing and eager to hang out with us and hike and watch movies. The Alps were absolutely beautiful, and our time there was definitely relaxing. We managed to meet almost everyone staying in the hostel, and even formed a few deeper friendships with a couple of the guests there. Liz and Amy went hiking one day with a student from Virginia, named Margaret, and got a chance to get to know her. And the four of us all got to enjoy our final night in Gryon with Garrett, a student who invited himself into our team time and proceeded to read the Bible for us, despite labeling himself as non-religious. It was wonderful.

From Gryon, we traveled here to Como, and since our arrival have been having a great time relaxing and hanging out with Sarah and Heather, our YHM leaders. The Lord has definitely been using this down time to rejuvenate our spirits and our bodies. Sarah and Heather have been full of only encouragement for our team, and the Lord is continually using their leadership to strengthen our resolve to finish this summer strong.

As we enter our last two weeks here on YHM, we would like to continue to ask for your prayers. We are so, so grateful for the Lord's faithfulness in answering our prayers in the past, and we know that He will continue to be faithful in these next days. We would like to ask for continued prayers for boldness in the Lord and an enthusiasm for the gospel. We would also like to ask for prayer concerning inner peace and hopefulness in the Lord through these last two weeks, as we are nearing the end of our time here and it is tempting to mentally 'check-out'. The Lord has so much more in store for us these next two weeks, and we would love for you to be a part of that.

Thank you so much for your support! You'll hear from us in Slovenia!

In Him,

Stephanie Thomas

Team Bergen 1

YHM 2008

Update from Bergen!

So unfortunately, the internet has not been working at our hostel in Norway. I'm currently at the library trying to type really fast because I don't have much time, but I just wanted to let you all know that things are going great. We have had an awesome time in Bergen. Also, Heather and I just got back from Como, Italy, where we met up with the Bergen 1 team. It was an amazing time of rest, good food, and lots of sun. We were able to talk with the girls on that team quite a bit and just try to encourage them in the last week of YHM.
Thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for perseverance and endurance in the last 7 days. God has been good and he still has a lot to do on YHM in this last week.

Update from Amsterdam

Dear friends and family,

The time has come again for another Youth Hostel Ministry: Amsterdam update! With only about a week and a half to go in our time here, Hannah and I can hardly believe we will be leaving so soon! So much has happened, and yet God has so much more planned for the remainder of our stay.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. In my last email I mentioned a few of the cleaners from City and from Jordan. All the staff are rejoicing, because both Adam and Darren came to faith recently, and are being discipled at Shelter City. Adam, along with another new believer Gerald, will be baptized soon. I remember when Adam first came to the Shelter Jordan as a cleaner, wanting nothing to do with God. I cannot tell you the astonishment I feel from seeing this...well, it is no less than a miracle!

Thank you also for your continued prayers for Andrew and Tamar, current cleaners at Jordan. Andrew is definitely searching, thuogh perhaps in the wrong places, and he is so inquisitive. He has no reservations in asking difficult questions, and God has given me the wisdom to answer them. Andrew is challenging me, however, because he will not accept a supernatural answer. Tamar, on the other hand, is currently blazing through Mere Christianity. Please pray for her, because she doesn't think that God loves her.

Other than our ministry at the hostels, life has been going on as usual for the past couple of weeks. Hannah and I are in agreement that this month is much better than the last, as we now know the ropes and are no longer the 'new staff.' Last night we played Twister on a home-made board, and had a fabulous time with other staff members. We will be very sad to leave this community of wonderful people.

Please continue to pray for the following people: Adam, Darren, Gerald, Rose, Julian, Andrew, Tamar, Matias, and Maxwell. Pray also that Hannah and I may finish well. Keep the other YHMers as they travel and serve in Norwayin your prayers, and also YHM 2009.

You all are an important part of our ministry here, and I thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers. Blessings!

In His Service,

Rachel Rossiter and Hannah Bergman

Team Amsterdam 2008

Another party!

I don't have much time, but I just wanted to write a quick update to let you all know that a Russian guy named Daniel just accepted Christ tonight! Justin was able to share the Gospel with him and he came to know the Lord! WOOHOO! I'll write more tomorrow, but in the meantime, please pray for Daniel and for Justin as they continue talking and as Daniel begins his relationship with God.

Update from Norway

Here's Heather and my latest update...

Dear Friends and Family,

After our retreat in Austria, a long and eventful travel day, a crash course in running the hostel, and a roller coaster of a week, the six of us in Bergen, Norway continue to see God's faithfulness in incredible ways. We have all learned our shifts at the hostel pretty well, and God has blessed our team with incredible unity. It has been awesome, and our times each morning of worship, prayer, and then eating lunch together (it's always important to have food involved) have been great. Team unity has been one of the things we have been praying for, and God has definitely blessed us in that area. Please continue to pray that throughout the next 3 weeks, we will continue to grow closer as a team and love each other more, and that that will be a testimony to the travelers that come here.

Another incredible answer to prayer has to do with our finances. For various reasons, we were much tighter in our budget than normal. We were all a bit stressed about it, but God showed himself faithful once again. Through the help of the OCO at Wheaton and an extremely generous and unexpected gift from one of our supporters, God has provided all of the finances that we need. Thanks so much for your prayers and support in this area! We have been blown away by the generosity and support of so many people, so thank you for that!

We are really learning as a team what it means to be faithful day by day. Running the hostel looks very different than traveling, and we are trying to understand how minister best in this environment. We have not been able to talk to people and share the Gospel as much as we were hoping, and that has been a bit discouraging. In the midst of our discouragement, however, God is working. Grace and Jeff has been able to share the Gospel with a Hungarian guy named Andor. He has been really receptive, so please pray that God will continue to work in his life. He and his friend are traveling to Oslo tonight, so we won't see them anymore, more hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with them. Also, a few people on the team have been able to talk to a guy named Fernando and Jeff was able to spend a lot of time with him. While Jeff was not able to have as deep of a conversation as he was hoping, please pray that Fernando will seek after God and find Him.

Other prayer requests: Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel! We desperately want to share this message with people! Also, pray for Heather and I as we prepare to travel to Italy to meet up with Bergen 1 on a traveler's retreat. Pray for encouragement for our team...that we can learn how to trust God more and continue to be faithful and learn how to obey Him. Tonight, Grace and I are leading a Bible discussion night, so please be in prayer for that as well. It's simply a time where we discuss various questions related to God, religion, Christianity, the Church, etc. Thanks again for all your prayer and support.

Love, Sarah and Heather

6 Americans Running Through Europe on the 4th of July

So after a VERY eventful 20 hour travel day on Friday, which included 3 trains, 1 bus, 2 planes (1 delayed of course), and a taxi, Heather, myself, Justin, Jeff, Jenn, and Grace finally arrived at the Intermission Hostel in Bergen, Norway. Even in the midst of the craziness, which also included the airline losing any record of mine and Justin's plane tickets (I firmly made sure that they fixed that problem, though), we knew that God was in control.

Our first flight was delayed, so we had to sprint to our second flight, which fortunately was also delayed a bit. Justin and I then had to sprint to the transfer counter to get our boarding passes for the 2nd flight, since the airline lost our records of that stuff. Fortunately, that was all worked out and we had time to spare.

Then, randomly, one of team members decided to walk around, thinking that the time I told him was our boarding time, when really I told him our departure time. As they were about to close the boarding doors, we had no idea where one team member was. I asked the nice Danish people to page him, and all the sudden, sprinting down the airport comes our lost team member--it was pretty hilarious. The Danish airline employees thought is was pretty hilarious, too, and we helped them get a good laugh that day. We were definitely the annoying people who board the plane last and make everyone else wait. Oops.

We finally arrived in Bergen and were greeted by one of the Norwegian hostel staff. We spent the night getting settled into the apartment, and then the next day, we cleaned our apartment together, got some odds and ends done, and had a crash course in running the hostel. Then Sunday morning, it's off to work! We have organized our shifts and everyone is starting to get into the swing of things, which is good. Already, God has been doing amazing things here. Heather was able to talk to a Dutch girl about God and the girl took a Bible and a copy of Mere Christianity and said she wanted to go sit in the park and read the Bible. We also met Marcello, who just became a Christian when the other Wheaton team was here. Jeff had a long but good conversation with him last night, and we're hoping to be able to encourage him more while he is here.

A few prayer requests:

• Please pray that we are able to run the hostel well. Everyone is still learning their jobs and it has been a bit of information overload.
• Also pray for our team budget situation--there have been a few kinks in that, and we actually have a bit less than we thought we did. Just pray that we are wise with what we have and that having a smaller amount of money doesn't cause other team conflicts.
• Pray for the hostel and the travelers here.
• Tonight is our free waffle night! Yay! We serve waffles to the guests...pray that it will be a good night and that we can develop relationships with people. (These happen ever Monday and Thursday night).
• Tomorrow night, we are having our first Bible discussion night, which I am leading. Pray that people are led closer to Christ through this discussion. Pray for wisdom for me and I lead the discussion and as we talk about some of the difficult issues of Christianity that often turn people away from God. Pray for humility and a willingness to admit when we don't know something, when we/the Church has messed up, etc. Pray that people will see God for who is really is--not the poor version that we portray so often. (Bible discussions will happen every Tuesday and Friday night).
• Pray for team unity. There are six of us now, and we really want to be able to work together well and serve each other well.

Thanks for all your prayer and support!

Love,

Sarah