Author name: Matt

Music has become a big part of our ministry. Aside from playing and singing at our church and the refugee center, we often get asked to teach people to play instruments. Most of the time the requests are not very serious, but recently a young man, we’ll call him M., has been taking guitar lessons from Matt. They started only a few weeks ago but M. has endeared himself to our hearts.

We were surprised and very glad that M. showed up at our apartment for a guitar lesson Tuesday afternoon after not making it the week before. We were afraid he had gotten deported or sent to another part of Austria, but he explained to us that he got approved to receive a visa! He is very fortunate that he is 16. Nowadays it’s getting more and more difficult to receive asylum, but those that are 16 or younger are almost automatically accepted because of their youth. Because he had no identification papers, M. explained to us in broken German how a doctor here had examined his teeth and hands to determine he was 16.

Before Matt and M. start the lesson, we sit down at the dining table together, Matt and I finishing our pleasantly interrupted lunch, and M. enjoying some tea and cookies. Looking at framed photos of our families on the wall above the table, M. comments that it is very good that we have family photos. Unfortunately he has no pictures of his family. M. then makes machine gun sounds and pantomimes someone shooting up his family’s home, explaining that he was the only one to survive an attack made by the Taliban.

We give our condolences, and after a brief period of sad silence, M. changes the subject. Mother’s Day is coming up, and now he has three “Austrian mothers” for whom he wants to do something special. M. no longer lives in the refugee camp in Traiskirchen, just outside of Vienna, which is a good thing. M. tells us how bad the camp is and as he remembers, says, “ooooh!” as if he has just bitten into a hot pepper. “Everyone there– deport, deport.” He now lives in a refugee transition house sponsored by a Lutheran charity. His three mothers work in this home to look after M. and others and to help them integrate. M. also shows us the free museum pass given to him by the charity. Apparently he can get into any museum in Vienna for free. M. waves the pass in front of him as if to show it to a museum guard and says in English, “No money, no money.”

M. has also been taking a German language course in the city. He complains about how difficult German is (“Ooooooh!”). He teaches some Farsi greetings to Matt, and praises Matt for his successful pronunciation, as he proves his point. “English–gut (good), Farsi– gut, Deutsch–nein (no),” says M. in broken German. M. grabs the small amount of skin in front of his Adam’s apple, repeats the difficult O-Umlaut sound several times in a row, then shakes his head as if to say, “Farsi doesn’t have a ridiculous sound like this!”

Matt asks M. about the languages and culture of Afghanistan, and if the situation there is improving. M. shakes his heads and lets out another signature “oooooh!” He explains that each of the main tribes has its own leader, so there are four “chefs” (German for boss) working against each other. M. states that he would like to travel to America one day. But for now, it’s time for guitar lesson. Today’s lesson: rhythm and a review of the chords G, C, and D. In the future, M. hopes to play a Julio Iglesias song. Anyone know a good Julio Igesias tune in G?

Seriously he is a joy to us, but as you can see M. has been through a lot. Please pray that God would give us wisdom in how to best minister to this young man who has had to grow up way too fast. Please pray that through the music and the broken German we can let him know how much God loves him.

It was after lunch and Matt had left the house for an afternoon meeting. Feeling oddly energetic after a full morning of German class, and after having gone to bed at 12:30 the same morning following a late night at the Oasis, I decided to straighten up the home a bit. To me, there isn’t a better feeling than clean sheets. “All right,” I thought, “Time to change the bedding!” As I ripped off the old bedding, threw it in the hamper, then got out a clean sheet and duvet cover, I thought, “I’m so thankful to have two sets of bedding.” Since laundry here is hung up to dry, it’s very convenient to have two sets of bedding. I continued in “straigthening-up” bliss as I put on the clean fitted sheet. I remembered how I used to think that our thin, European-style foam mattress which sits on wooden slats fitted into the bed frame was strange, but now I enjoyed how lightweight it was. It was very nice that I could, all by myself, easily and quickly put on the fitted sheet!

Next came the more difficult part: fitting the duvet cover on the duvet. I had never done this myself, since Matt is so skilled at it. “But,” I thought, “how hard can it be?” After all, I had remembered Matt saying that it’s like putting on a big pillow case. So I unbuttoned the cloth buttons of our Ikea duvet cover and spread the cover flat on the bed. I tried to stuff in the duvet as uniformly as I could, but soon I discovered that there was no way my short little arms could stuff the entire duvet up to the top of the cover, a distance of two meters or so, without literally diving in with my whole body and doing the army crawl. Hmmm…I took a moment to think. Aha! I bunched up the mass of duvet and cover and marched down the hall to the living room. I stood on the couch, and holding the partially-covered duvet above my head, I began to shake and turn the whole mess in a clockwise manner, in order to get all of the nooks and crannies of the cover filled. Twenty minutes later, parched and sweating, I had achieved a small victory!!!

Here’s a story that was published in the Smithsonian, about a Polish family who came through the Traiskirchen refugee camp just outside of Vienna, to escape the Iron Curtain. Here’s a picture of the front gate of the camp. The Oasis, the refugee ministry where we volunteer on Wednesday nights, is located in an old storefront not far from the camp. Please pray for Matt as he is preaching at the Oasis this Wednesday night.

Plans for new refugee camp to help Traiskirchen – General News – Austrian Times Online News – English Newspaper

Governor calls for immediate action on refugee camp – General News – Austrian Times Online News – English Newspaper

We have started going to the Oasis (Christian-run Refugee Center) on Wednesday nights. This is when the Gospel talk happens, and there is basically a church service. Matt and I have recently taken on the responsibility of leading the worship music with guitar and piano. Matt is also preaching the message there one Wednesday per month. A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege of taking along one of Matt’s classmates, Jenny, at her request. She is from Moscow, and was happy to help in translating the talk into Russian for the Georgians in the audience. She was also very curious about what goes on at the Oasis since she had heard Matt talk about it at language school.

It was a great experience for us and for Jenny. We got to deepen our friendship with Jenny, and she got to interact with refugees and Christian workers. Jenny talked a long time with a woman from Russia who was very well-educated and had owned her own business. Unfortunately, this woman had to flee Russia because of threats from the local government due to her political views. Jenny was surprised to find out that a woman like this could become a refugee. Jenny’s comment reveals the discovery that poverty and hardship doesn’t just come upon the uneducated or upon people to whom we can’t relate. As believers, we realize we must confess any pride of thinking we have provided for ourselves or that we are better than people in poverty and unstable situations.

Matt and I are continually challenged and blessed by our time at the Oasis. We are also excited about bringing other friends with us on Wednesdays. Jenny has since returned to Moscow. Pray that we would continue to keep in touch with her. Also, one of Liz’s American classmates at the language school has expressed interest in coming with us one evening. Pray that he would be able to come and that God would use us in his life to bring him closer to knowing Christ. Pray for Matt as he is preaching tomorrow night. Continue to pray for the refugees to find their hope in God during their unsettling time of waiting for the government to tell them whether they can stay or if they have to go. Pray for a Georgian family in particular, with two school-aged children, who have been here about 2 months in the refugee quarters. They are desperate to receive a “yes” from the government.

Sorry if any of you were in suspense, but, “ta-da”, we found our mop! It was waiting for us in a hardware store way across town. We were so excited! We were glad to welcome this mop into our home, unlike this woman. Now, who wants to come over and use it?

So right now we are in an internet cafe, since we don’t have email access at the church where we are staying. It is a rainy afternoon here, and we plan to find a “kaffeehaus” to hang out in after a quick run to the grocery store (I am trying to get used to going to the store every two days now, since everything must be carried home). The first few days here, we walked a lot and took in some sights to stay awake. It also helps that there is lots of awesomely strong coffe here! I’ve been learning some German with a cd-ROM program I have and also by reading signs, food labels, and occassionally picking up a word I hear in public. Matt and I have been doing some more planning and preparations for the summer college team that will be here in 2 1/2 weeks. Russ and Adam have also been a big help in that!

We had the opportunity to volunteer at the refugee ministry on Thursday. While Matt chatted in German with a young man over Connect 4, I unexpectedly got to resurrect my high school French! I talked with a man from Algeria for a long time (actually, listening a lot)about the things he had gone through on his journey through France, Italy, and finally, to Austria. We also talked about God, and about how being here in Austria feels like a ray of hope for this man. Please pray for him and that he would find his hope in God. Other than that, we are just adjusting, meeting with our team (Russ and Adam), getting used to no AC and lots of secondhand smoke again. It is an adventure, and Matt and I are so glad to be doing it together! Thank you so much for your prayers! Please keep them coming!

We want to thank all of you who encouraged us as we visited Liz’s hometown for the last time before flying to Vienna in June. It was great to visit with our family, friends, and supporters. Thanks to your faithful prayers and generous giving, we have reached 80% of our monthly support goal!

We enjoyed the cooler, Missouri spring weather, riding bikes with Liz’s folks, going to a Royals baseball game, and eating some Kansas City barbeque!