DTS: Christmas Break and Outreach prep

During Christmas break (between the 20th and 28th of DEC), I was actually in 3 countries! First, me and a few other students (Jessica the other American, and the two Germans, Cornelia and Bettina) stayed for a few days at Sara's house in Gstaad, a ski resort up in the Swiss Alps. We decided not to go snowboarding, but we did go sledding. Apparently, in the Alps, you don't just go to a nearby hill, walk up it and sled down. We actually took a LIFT up to the top of a nearby mountain, and sledded down it. fortunately, the sled had brakes and a steering mechanism, else I'd still be in the hospital :P

Then, Bettina, Cornelia, and I left for Germany while Jessica stayed with Sara for the rest of the break. Bettina (who had a car and drove) took us to the train station in Ulm, and I left for Stuttgart, where I was going to stay with some relatives (I can never remember how we're related). I stayed there for Christmas, and then we (the relatives i was staying with) went to Livigno to go snowboarding in the Italian Alps. I only got a half day of snowboarding in, because I took a nasty spill and broke my wrist. Well, at least that's what the Italian doctor at the emergency clinic said. When we went to a Swiss doctor after the break was over, they couldn't see the fracture on the X-ray, so instead of a giant plaster cast, they gave me a nice brace (which I don't need anymore. i'm healed!).

After we got back to the base, there was a little teaching about Calling, and then we went off to a big staff retreat with the whole base. There were, like, 100 people there, and the DTS was there mostly to help with cooking, dishes, and watching the kids and stuff. It was really fun, and we all had a great time.
Before we left to go on the retreat, though, we heard the news about the election in Kenya being contested. When we were on the retreat, we got lots of reports of violence and riots and looting and stuff, so we prayed about it a bunch. The leaders prayed about it, and we decided to leave a week later than we had originally planned, on the 13 of Jan instead of the 6th (which was good, because if we left on the 6th, we would have had less than a day at the base, so this post probably wouldn't have gotten typed).

So, we spent this week praying and preparing for the outreach, and though the situation in Kenya still isn't completely stable, we've gotten so many impressions of God protecting us during the trip that we have faith in Him. I would still like you (my readers) to pray for us.

So, we'll be in Kenya for the next 7 weeks (we'll get back on March 3rd), where I will have very little internet connection, and likely will not be able to post much on the blog. But, for those wishing for updates, we are sending out a few newsletters during the outreach. Just email me if you want to be on the list (my email adress is on the bottom of pretty much every post, and if you don't notice it, it's macrovore@gmail.com)

Thank you, and God Bless
Frederick Beuttler
macrovore@gmail.com

DTS: Second Half of lecture phase and Christmas Break

This post is going to cover the weeks between after Frankfurt and the preparation leading up to the Kenya outreach.

Week 7 was Holy Spirit week, in which we learned all about the Holy Spirit. Where he (not it) is described in the Bible, how he is represented, and what he does. We learned about the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, spiritual ministries and calls, and cool stuff like that. The speaker was Olu Robbin-Coker, a really cool guy from Sierra Leone.

on week 8, we learned about the Kingdom of God (or, as it is referred to in Matthew, the Kingdom of Heaven). Basically, the Kingdom is essentially what Christians (not just missionaries!) are supposed to try to bring about in the world, with God's help and guidance. The kingdom covers all areas of society and life (see Matt. 13:33), but will not be fully realized until Christ comes again, though we can work (with God) to try and bring it partially about now.
The speaker was a German who had been doing missionary work in Asia.

Week 9, we learned about Missions. the History, purposes, goals, and techniques. The speaker was Chris Child, a British guy who was a missionary in Malawi for 11 years. Ône of the things that he taught was that missionaries cannot just talk about Jesus's salvation. They also need to help build the foundation of the people's faith with the values and principles about God in the old testament, so the people can hold onto their faith.

in the first half of week 10, we learned about Spiritual Warfare, again from Chris Child. We learned about the attacks of the enemy, and how to keep faith and hope in the midst of them.

in the second half of week 10, and the first half of week 11, we learned about Stewardship, from Stephan Schmid, a base staff member. He talked about being a good steward of your money, your gifts, your relationships, and your time (that's one I need to work on).

the second half of week 11, we learned about Leadership. We learned the characteristics of a good leader, and different styles of leadership.

Week 12, we didn't really have any lectures. It was mostly consumed by preparing for the outreach in Kenya, cleaning the base up, and packing for christmas break. we did take a nice team picture:




On thursday, we all said tearful goodbyes, and each went our separate ways for a week of Christmas break (the 20th to the 28th).

Week 6: Frankfurt

Well, I'm back from Frankfurt, and have had another week of school, and I'm so excited about God! But I'm tired, so this post'll be just about Frankfurt. See next week (or maybe this weekend), for week 7: Holy Spirit.

I don't want to post any pictures up right now, 'cause it'd take too much time, but you can see the album I put on facebook here. I still have to put captions up, but I can do that tomorrow. For now, you'll have to use your imagination.

Basically, we were working with JMEM Frankfurt, and they were giving us an introduction to city missions. The team at Frankfurt is different from most other bases in that they don't have an actual base building, nor are any of them full time staff. They all have normal jobs and are YWAMers part-time. They planned a different outreach for us every day.


We left Saturday morning, and got there around Saturday night. It was a 5-6 hour drive from Wiler to Frankfurt, and we all rode in a big bus we rented, with a trailer with all our stuff in the back.

We stayed in a youth church in the middle of Frankfurt called the Subzone (the website is in German, but there are a few more pictures under "Gallery"). The church is underground, but not in the metaphorical sense. People know it's there, but it is, literally, underground. No windows, very little air circulation. There was an air circulator machine that we had to run for 15min, twice a day, to bring air in from outside. We all slept in the same room (there was a divider), and there were no showers. Fortunately, though, on monday, we went to a pool, and on wednsday, we split up into groups, and each group went and had dinner and showered at one of the Frankfurt Team's houses.

On Sunday, we did a short program at an old folks' home in Frankfurt. The theme was thankfulness, and we did a short skit (the story of Zaccheus, but in german. I was Random Nonspeaking Townsperson #2), and there were a few testimonies from us, and we sang a few songs (the residents didn't really sing with us much). They served cake, and it was good fun for all. Me and Jessica (the other American, if you didn't know before) were a little left out, because none of the residents spoke any english, and I don't trust my german enough to get into a big conversation with them. So me and Jessica mostly took pictures of the thing.

On Monday, we ran a program for kids in a church in Berkersheim, which is on the outside edge of Frankfurt. For those readers who are familiar with the children's ministries at First Pres in River Forest, it is similar in design to how I remember Kid's Day Off, with a short message, some songs, a snack, and some games. I helped to run a game where kids tied balloons to their feet and ran around trying to pop other team's balloons. I had a lot of fun that day, and it was a lot easier to talk to the kids in german.

Tuesday, me and 4 more DTS students went and taught a lesson on Images of God at the religion class in the public school at Berkersheim. They start to learn english in 1st grade, so they could understand me a little, but I was still translated. We taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders, and it was really cool, because we saw a lot of kids that were at the kid's program at the church, and they recognized us.

Then on Wednsday, it was überraschungs-tag (Suprise-Day). We prayed to God, and asked Him what we should do. Some people prayed back at the Subzone for us, some sang worship songs in the streets, and some gave out heart-shaped leaves with Bible verses written on them. I had the impression to intercede for the rest of the group (intercessory prayer. look at the week 1 post farther down the page for more), so me and a few others went to a rooftop observation deck on a mall in the middle of the city, maybe 100 feet up. It had an amazing view, and all of the skyline pictures in the album are from there.

On Thursday, we helped out at a soup kitchen in Frankfurt (me and a few others helped clean up the place beforehand, some helped cook, and some got some grocery-bags together to give to the people), and did a short program for them with a message (I didn't understand everything they were saying). After the program, we had lunch, and me and Jessica talked to a professor who liked speaking in English better than German.

Weeks 4 and 5: Two posts in one!!

Well, sorry about the late post. I've decided to do this week and last week in the same post, because next week I'll be in Frankfurt on outreach (more on that later), and almost definitely won't have access to a computer, especially for the block of time it takes me to write a blog post.



So, I'm gonna do last week first, then this week. not both at the same time. that may be confusing, to me likely more than you.


Well, last week was AMAZING! The lecture topic was Personal Transformation, and the speaker was Thomas Grunder, a leader at JMEM Chalet, another YWAM base in Switzerland. We talked about letting Christ change us and heal our psychological wounds, and look at things in our lives that keep us from hearing, seeing, and knowing God. I feel so much better, more confident, and closer to God than I've ever been before.


We also learned where we're going on outreach:




That's right. KENYA! I'm going to Africa. Me and 8 of the other students are going there, and the other 5 are going to Budapest, then North Africa. We don't really know what we'll be doing there, but we know we'll spend at least a little time in the YWAM base in Mombasa (on the coast, in the south). here's a picture of all of us in the group that's going.

The people, from the top left, are Jenny (Finland, but from the Swedish speaking part), Nadja (Switzerland), Bettina (Germany, near Stuttgart), Cornilia (Germany, in Bavaria), Me (USA, Chicago/Virginia), Roman (Germany), Jessica (USA, in Minnesota), Björn (a leader, Germany), Galina (Switzerland, but grew up in the US), Meret (Björn's wife, from Switzerland), and Mario (Switzerland)

On Tuesday, me, Jenny, Micha, and Simone led the worship with the DTS. Simone played violin, Micha played djembe (a drum), Jenny played piano, and I was the lead singer. We played 7 songs, and it lasted about 45 minutes. It felt really cool to praise God that way.

We also went back to the Asylum Seeker's Home on Wednesday (remember two weeks ago)? This time, there were more kids, and they already knew us. They were really happy that we were here, and I spent most of the two hours we were there playing with this Moroccan kid named Aimon (i think). I think he was, 3 or 4. it was really fun.

On Saturday, we went to a real Swiss wedding. The guy who ran the Mule Trek was getting married to a woman on the base staff, and we were all invited to the wedding, and for food afterwards. Here's a picture of the church, from the inside.

Afterwards, we went to a place to have food. They had spring rolls (asian food of some sort. don't know why they were there, but they were good), and this swiss food called Raclette. It's basically melted cheese on toast with spices 'n' stuff. It was actually very, very good. Sometimes there are potatoes or vegetables with that, but this was just simple raclette.

This week, the topic was Bible Study, and the speaker was Heidi Kovacs, one of the base staff. We talked about how to study the Bible, and we used Ephesians as an example. It inspired me to read the Bible more and better. I really haven't done that that much, and now I've decided to read the Bible all the way through. Not just to read it, but to ask God every time I read His word what He wants to show me through it.

This morning (Friday), we went up to Lake Biel, and 5 of us got baptized. It was pretty cool, if shivering cold.

Next week, then, we're going to Frankfurt on outreach. We've been preparing a few dances and a few skits for it (I get to be Jesus in both skits. i'll see if I can post videos of some of it next week), but beyond that, I don't know much about what we'll be doing.

And for Mom, here's a picture of the Bernese Mountain Dog that lives in Wiler. Awww. Isn't he cuute? :P

Well, I'm probably not going to have internet access for the next week, so I'll post after I get back. The school just got a webcam, so I'll see if I can post a video. just in case you wanted to see my face.

Well, see you later, and God Bless
Frederick Beuttler
macrovore@gmail.com

Week 3: Basics of Faith

Well, I've been here for 3 weeks, and I've got to say, that it keeps getting better and better. I'm growing so much in my relationship with God.

The speaker that was speaking this week was Christane Keller, a German woman, who spoke about the Cross and Basics of Faith. She explained even more about the character of God, and the reasons we believe in very simple language.

On Friday, we all had a Culture Night, where we all introduced our countries. Me and Jessica presented the US. We didn't say much about the nation as a whole, but she talked a bunch about Minnesota, and I talked about Chicago and DC. and we made Rice Krispie Treats, which turned out pretty well. but the Swiss don't have any normal marshmallows, so we had to use this odd marshmallow candy. The treats turned out fine, but they were kind of green. But the Germans, the Swiss, and the Dutch gave us all chocolate, so we were pretty happy.

On Saturday, though, we did an outreach in Bern with King's Kids, the children's ministry associated with YWAM. We helped out with a children's program called Jump, that King's Kids was running for the children in a low-income housing area in Bern called the Gabelbach. I helped set up a trampoline, and supervised the kids jumping on it. Then, during the message, I was in a short sketch we did. The message was about everybody being important, but I didn't understand most of it, because it was all in Swiss German (different from regular, or High German), but the skit was about Zaccheus, and I was Townsperson #2. It was outside, though, and really cold (not for me, of course, but I did need to wear two sweatshirts), so not many kids came to the program. Overall, though, it turned out pretty well. I really felt like we were doing God's work.

Here's a picture of one of the buildings at the Gabelbach:

And here's a picture of two of us in animal suits for the kids: Micha, one of the staff, is on the left in the bunny suit, and Allard (the Luxemburger) is on the right in the bear suit.

Well, this has been a pretty short update, but this week (week 4) has been amazing so far. I'll tell you about that next week, though.

God Bless,

Frederick Beuttler

macrovore@gmail.com

Week 2: Character of God

Well, this has been the first full week at YWAM, and I've learned a lot.

Before I get into anything, let me dissuade any rumors: I did not actually eat at the McDonald's in Lyss. We just went in to get a pop.

Well, the speaker who was speaking last week was Paul Hawkins, one of the first YWAM leaders. But, the problem was, that he was also scheduled to speak at YWAM Lausanne (one of the other bases in Switzerland, an all-english school) that week. Fortunately, God was watching out for us, and it turns out that YWAM Lausanne is one of the bases connected all around the world through the Genesis Project, YWAM's teleconferencing project. So, Paul talked to us, and the Lausanne kids watched him on live TV from their base. It's kind of wierd. They're in Switzerland (the french-speaking part), but the school of 26 kids is almost all Americans and Koreans (about the same # of each), with one Norwegian, one Mexican, and one German. They still have 4 guys, though.

On Wednsday, the Lausanne kids came over and we had class together. Now, before I show us all together, let me show you what the Swimming Pool (actually, our classroom) looked like empty:

and here it is filled with all of the students (the 14 Wiler kids, and the 26 Lausanne kids):

oh, and here's a picture of Paul Hawkins, and Björn, one of our staff, who translated everything he said into German. Paul is the old guy on the left, if you didn't get it before.

We did a bunch more stuff during the week, including go on a small outreach. We went to an Asylum Seekers' home about 30min away. It was run by the Salvation Army, and we weren't allowed to evangelize, but we could hang out with the people, who often didn't have much to do. We played with the kids a bunch, played volleyball with a guy from Eretria, and me and Allard (the guy from Luxemburg) played cards with a guy from the Sudan, in Darfur. He was pretty cool.

So, this week we were learning about God's Character. And I'm proud to report that He is a good God. We just don't always do what he wants to do. Most people who doubt God simply have a wrong view about God. Email me if you have any questions, or something.

Well, until next time, God bless,

Frederick Beuttler

macrovore@gmail.com

Week 1: Sunday, October 7th

Wow. This week (actually, a little more than a week) was so amazing. But before I get to talking about YWAM, I'm gonna talk about getting there.

The Journey

I left from Dulles last Friday, on a flight with Scandanavian Airlines to Copenhagen (in Denmark, the little thingy right above Germany on a map). Me and my mom left the house at about 2:30pm to go to the airport. We met up with my dad, and had a late lunch at a pub-thing at the terminal. I got on the plane in time, at ~5 for takeoff.

The flight was a long 7 hours. I watched Ocean's 13 (great movie), Spiderman 3 (my friends were right. it was emo), and most of Freedom Writers (profound), and read a little in one of the books I brought, a collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick (he wrote the stories to Paycheck, Minority Report, Total Recall, and Blade Runner. all great films). But the cool thing was, that one of the channels on the tv screen on the seat was the in-flight camera, where I could look in front of or under the plane, which meant that I could still see outside, even though I had a seat in the middle, nowhere near a window.

I got to the Copenhagen terminal easily, and after a quick security check and about 45min of layover, I got to another plane to Zurich (in Switzerland). That is a really big airport. I walked for, like, 15 minutes just to get to the train terminal. There, I met Jenny Skölind, from Finland, one of the students at the DTS, and we took the train to go to Biel, where we were picked up by Micha, one of the leaders. We drove to Wiler, which is a very small town fairly close to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. By then it was saturday, at about 1pm. We had a snack (just some bread), then I crashed from about 2pm until 10 the next morning. it felt great, and because of it, I was spared the worst of the jet lag.

The Base

After breakfast on Sunday, there were a few more kids who I met, and some who arrived. Jessica Williams was the other American at the DTS. She's from Minnesota, and doesn't speak a word of German (she knows 4-5 words now), so the language barrier was more of a problem for her than it was for me. Fortunately, though, every time the leaders spoke to us together, they used both English and High German (not Swiss German, because even though half of the students were Swiss, it's really really hard to understand). Jenny also doesn't speak much German. Just Swedish, a little Finnish, but pretty good English. When we had the whole group assembled, there were, among the 14 students, 4 guys and 10 girls. Seven of us were from Switzerland, Two from the US, two from Germany, one from Luxemburg, one from Holland, and one from Finland. A fairly varied group. We had a short introduction, then we left to go on our Mule trek.

The Trek

The first thing we did as a group was going on a Mule Trek in the Jura Mountains, the mountain range inbetween Switzerland and France. We drove to the lodge we were staying at (about 30-45min from the base), had dinner there, and crashed. The next day, we started the hiking. We had 5 mules, and we switched between riding the mules, leading the mules, and hiking alongside them. We hiked up around the mountains for about 3 hours, stopped for lunch, then trekked 3 hours back. The second day, we hiked up to this high-ropes course called Forest Jump (like Fun Forest in Stuttgart, but a lot smaller), and I did all of the courses in less than 3 hours (there was a bike-line, a 160m zipline, and a Tarzan-style rope swing). The third day, we took another hike up to the owner of the mules' house, which took 2-3 hours. We were all really tired by the end of the three days, but the views and landscapes we saw through the whole trip were amazingly beautiful. We really got to see God's creation at it's best.

There are a bunch of pictures of the trek here. I'm not sure which ones to post here, so I gave you the whole album. if you have a Facebook, message me, friend me, or comment on the pictures.

In the nights, we were learning about how to hear God's voice. And, when we got back to the base, there was some more of that. We learned (kind of) how to do intercessory prayer (essentially, where you ask God who to pray for, and pray for them, freeing yourself from your ideas and emotions during the prayer, just letting God show his heart to you). I'm not quite at the point where I can simply ask God to speak to me, and I can understand what he's saying, but I'm farther along that path than I've ever been.

This weekend, on Saturday, me and a bunch of other students went to Lyss, another town about 10min away by car, and walked around for a bit. There was actually a MacDonald's there. But, seriously, you need to see this one:

and, the whole view:

So, yeah. This whole week has been great learning about God, my classmates, and Switzerland, in that order. I hope all your lives are good right now, and I'll be praying for you.

God Bless,

Frederick Beuttler

macrovore@gmail.com