Update | May 2017
Guten Tag, friends and family!
It’s almost summer here in Germany, which means a few sunny days, warm weather, and PCS season has begun.
Ministry has been flowing in Ramstein, but some days it feels like an uphill battle since there’s only a few weeks left until the semester ends. This year is predicted to be a huge PCS (Permanent Change of Station) season, which means right now many families--estimated around 4,000 this summer--in our community are getting ready to out-process, and over the next few months new families will in-process. It’s a constant battle to build relationships with incoming teens and their families, knowing that in a year or two we’ll have to say “see you later” and do it all again . . . this is the military world!
Our club room in the Ramstein BX is the perfect size and location for the controlled chaos of high school club!
Our weekly high school club meetings have been met with continued success. Last week, we played a Young Life classic game at our country-themed club: cricket spitting. Our high school friends were equally entertained and grossed out—and half of the participants regretted volunteering for it—but the cheers were wild.
Josh demonstrated how to spit a cricket... yes, live ones... Taylor (right) was our winner!
Two of our high school friends, Summer and Abby, asked to meet with Meagan weekly after school to hang out and talk about life. They discuss what’s going on in their world over fries in the BX food court and have started reading through Colossians together.
The ID card/SOFA conversation for our community has been delayed; Club Beyond leadership is working to make sure our paperwork is processed properly and that we receive the correct privileges to which we’re legally entitled. Basically, we’re a bit of an anomaly, and the military isn’t quite sure what to do with us. So for now, Josh is continuing to work his part-time job and we’re just waiting for notification from CB leadership when things are ready.
In addition to being present at our on-base chapel service on Sunday mornings, we’ve also been attending an off-base Protestant church in our village called Frontline Community Church. This has been life-giving to us and community-building, especially since this church is predominantly attended by American military families. Frontline connected us to a weekly Life Group hosted by a family (who happens to love Club Beyond!) in our village, which has been a great way to get to know more of the people in our local community.
Please pray for:
- CB events over the last few weeks of the semester.
- Relationships with teens, their families, and within our community.
- Upcoming high school summer camp in Scotland.
- ID/privilege cards + SOFA cards + base access for CB staff.
- CB overseas field staff and leadership.
- American military youth ministry around the world.
- Our spiritual, emotional, and physical health.