Friday, 25 July 2008
A friend from Iraq
This post refers to a refugee, who for the sake of his security I will refer to as Jon throughout this post.
After Will's talk on the first Wednesday the bibles were collected up. One guy, Jon, from Iraq hesitantly handed in his bible. Both myself and Will realised he wanted to hold on to a copy so Will returned with an English/Arabic dual translation of the New Testament he could keep.
I got into deep discussion with him and discovered that before he left Iraq he had started going to a church with a friend. He explained how he looked at Islam and saw the denominations killing each other and looked at Christianity and didn't see this happening. From later conversations it transpired that his interest in Christianity wasn't because of a belief in Jesus Christ, but because he preferred Christian values over what he saw in Islam. It was because he didn't want to be part of Islam any more that he fled Iraq from a fear of being killed as a Christian.
We continued in discussion and I pointed him to several bible passages and helped explain them. He had questions on how to pray so we looked at the Lords Prayer among other passages. He was really very eager to read and learn the bible. I also explained the Trinity to him, particularly explaining that Jesus is God, not just a prophet (which Jesus is in Islam). Before he left I had the opportunity to pray with him. It was a very encouraging and interesting evening.
Thursday night was Coffee Bar, a relaxed evening for the refugees. Jon returned and was asked if he would be interested in watching the Jesus video in Arabic. He jumped at the chance so I joined him and sat through the 2 hours, following the gospel by picture only. At the end of the showing he expressed how it had helped him understand the passages we had read together more clearly, specifically that Jesus is God. Although I had explained this the day before it was difficult for him to understand in English. Having the Jesus film in his native language was a great help to him.
Once again the following day he returned while we were doing odd painting jobs around the Oasis building. We opened the bible again together and read many passages of scripture. One of the passages we explored was the prophesy in Isiah of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. He told me that when he came to Austria he was interested in Christianity because of its values, but now it was changing his heart and he was believing it.
Monday was Men's clothing room and Jon came again. This time we had more of a general chat about each other. It was fascinating to hear about him and his home culture etc.. During the conversations I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to share testimony about my Mum's stroke and complete healing. To bring the conversation nearer the subject of my Mum I asked him about his Mother. His reply was that she had died. It felt that this confirmed my prompting by the Holy Spirit, as it now seemed that speaking about my Mum's healing in the context of his Mothers death may have more relevance or impact on him. I pray that God used my testimony to bring him closer to God.
This was the last time I saw Jon as I returned home to England on the Tuesday. We had struck up a great friendship during the time and it was very encouraging for me as well as I'm sure it was for him. I have his email address and intend to stay in contact. Sharing in such depth was new to me so I thank God for the opportunity to share, it was only by His grace and strength that I was able to do what I did. The other members of our team have continued to see Jon so I am waiting further updates on his story.
After Will's talk on the first Wednesday the bibles were collected up. One guy, Jon, from Iraq hesitantly handed in his bible. Both myself and Will realised he wanted to hold on to a copy so Will returned with an English/Arabic dual translation of the New Testament he could keep.
I got into deep discussion with him and discovered that before he left Iraq he had started going to a church with a friend. He explained how he looked at Islam and saw the denominations killing each other and looked at Christianity and didn't see this happening. From later conversations it transpired that his interest in Christianity wasn't because of a belief in Jesus Christ, but because he preferred Christian values over what he saw in Islam. It was because he didn't want to be part of Islam any more that he fled Iraq from a fear of being killed as a Christian.
We continued in discussion and I pointed him to several bible passages and helped explain them. He had questions on how to pray so we looked at the Lords Prayer among other passages. He was really very eager to read and learn the bible. I also explained the Trinity to him, particularly explaining that Jesus is God, not just a prophet (which Jesus is in Islam). Before he left I had the opportunity to pray with him. It was a very encouraging and interesting evening.
Thursday night was Coffee Bar, a relaxed evening for the refugees. Jon returned and was asked if he would be interested in watching the Jesus video in Arabic. He jumped at the chance so I joined him and sat through the 2 hours, following the gospel by picture only. At the end of the showing he expressed how it had helped him understand the passages we had read together more clearly, specifically that Jesus is God. Although I had explained this the day before it was difficult for him to understand in English. Having the Jesus film in his native language was a great help to him.
Once again the following day he returned while we were doing odd painting jobs around the Oasis building. We opened the bible again together and read many passages of scripture. One of the passages we explored was the prophesy in Isiah of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. He told me that when he came to Austria he was interested in Christianity because of its values, but now it was changing his heart and he was believing it.
Monday was Men's clothing room and Jon came again. This time we had more of a general chat about each other. It was fascinating to hear about him and his home culture etc.. During the conversations I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to share testimony about my Mum's stroke and complete healing. To bring the conversation nearer the subject of my Mum I asked him about his Mother. His reply was that she had died. It felt that this confirmed my prompting by the Holy Spirit, as it now seemed that speaking about my Mum's healing in the context of his Mothers death may have more relevance or impact on him. I pray that God used my testimony to bring him closer to God.
This was the last time I saw Jon as I returned home to England on the Tuesday. We had struck up a great friendship during the time and it was very encouraging for me as well as I'm sure it was for him. I have his email address and intend to stay in contact. Sharing in such depth was new to me so I thank God for the opportunity to share, it was only by His grace and strength that I was able to do what I did. The other members of our team have continued to see Jon so I am waiting further updates on his story.
Worship at Austrian Churches
During our visit to Austria we attended two Austrian church services. These were not too different from our own church services except in a different language, German.
Before Jo and I went out to Austria we listened to some German language CDs in the car and picked up some basic German. I was amazed at how much of a help this was in day-to-day life, I'm really glad I put the effort in to learn it. However, it wasn't so much use for the Sunday morning sermon. I did try to understand it with my limited German but what I thought I understood turned out to be wrong when we were given the English translation by one of the Oasis Team. I was so grateful to them for the translation.
Interestingly many of their songs are our English songs translated to German. I could remember English words for some songs, and others I just sang in German but could understand most words. We were lucky enough to have one or two songs sung in English as well.
Before Jo and I went out to Austria we listened to some German language CDs in the car and picked up some basic German. I was amazed at how much of a help this was in day-to-day life, I'm really glad I put the effort in to learn it. However, it wasn't so much use for the Sunday morning sermon. I did try to understand it with my limited German but what I thought I understood turned out to be wrong when we were given the English translation by one of the Oasis Team. I was so grateful to them for the translation.
Interestingly many of their songs are our English songs translated to German. I could remember English words for some songs, and others I just sang in German but could understand most words. We were lucky enough to have one or two songs sung in English as well.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
The Oasis Team
The permanent Oasis Team were great and very hospitable towards us. Here is a photo of the entire team. Top row, left to right: Dan, Regan, Eileen, Tom. Bottom row, left to right: Julie, David, Dan, Carol.
Nana, Sita and family
On Monday night we met up with Nana & Sita and their children Nana and Elisha. We had a great evening of stories, testimony and laughter! It was particularly nice to meet them in person since we hear so much about them at church.
All good things come to an end.........
I am finally getting around to writing a blog after much pestering from fellow team members *cough* Dan *cough*. It has been a hectic two weeks for me here in Austria, not helped by flying home to graduate half way through. Monday was the men's clothing room which was a great opportunity to bless them with the clothes that had been donated. It is amazing how difficult it is to find the right size of clothes for many of the refugees. The demand for shoes and sandals far outstripped the supply it was hard not to be able to provide shoes even for those people who had no summer shoes or whose shoes were falling apart. Although when we didn't have what they wanted we tried to ensure they left with something although often all we could offer was a clean set of underwear or a baseball cap.
Wednesday night saw the emergence of a new force in evangelical preaching as Dan Ovens graciously gave me the night off from giving the evangelistic message. It was Dan's first time speaking in front of a large audience and it was not easy with double translation (English-German, German-Chechen) but he handled it very well and spoke clearly and boldly sparking some good discussions for the rest of us afterwards.
Today we are doing some practical projects around the centre and preparing for the coffee bar tonight.
We are bereft of two team members as Adrian and Jo bid us farewell two days ago and we hope they are enjoying catching up with friends and family!
Work calls so I best leave you here!
Wednesday night saw the emergence of a new force in evangelical preaching as Dan Ovens graciously gave me the night off from giving the evangelistic message. It was Dan's first time speaking in front of a large audience and it was not easy with double translation (English-German, German-Chechen) but he handled it very well and spoke clearly and boldly sparking some good discussions for the rest of us afterwards.
Today we are doing some practical projects around the centre and preparing for the coffee bar tonight.
We are bereft of two team members as Adrian and Jo bid us farewell two days ago and we hope they are enjoying catching up with friends and family!
Work calls so I best leave you here!
Sight Seeing
Saturday was our day off to relax. Well, I can't say we really relaxed, but we did have a day free for sight seeing. We travelled into Vienna and visited the bustling Flohmarkt filled with junk, antiques, and lots of food (fruit/veg etc.). Then we headed to the Cathederal for a brief look before meeting Will on his journey back to Austria following his University Graduation day. It was a baking day so we moved on to the Schoenbrunn Palace in the hope of an ice cream. Much to our disappointment we couldn't locate an Austrian ice cream shop with lots of flavours so we had good old magnums and cornettos instead.
Women's Evening
Friday night was Women's evening so us guys had to disappear and play some pool while the ladies had a card making session. I'll let Jo or Joan add some more details here about what went on, but for now here is a photo of the refugees making cards.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Thursday - Coffee Bar and Altenmart
Thursday was a packed day. Project work during the day, painting the centre, odd jobs etc. The team split in two for the evening, Jo and Joan went to Altenmarkt, about 1 hours drive away, while Dan, Will and Adrian stayed at the Oasis.
Altenmarkt
Altenmarkt is the name of the town where many refugees are staying in a Pension (hostel). About 14 children joined the team to sing some songs, listen to a bible story and make cookies. The team then visited some people living at the Pension in their rooms. It was very humbling to see the number of people living in very small rooms with very few possessions. There was an interesting and funny cultural difference encountered when Joan poined out and named a drawing of a car to a 14 year old boy living there. Car in the boys language was a word for a male private body part! The family visited were so hospitable provding food even though they had very little.
Coffee Bar
Coffee bar is a more relaxed evening for the refugees where mostly men attend and drink coffee and play board games. The Jesus film is also shown in different languages if people are interested. Adrian sat in on an Arabic showing with an Iranian guy he befriended and managed to follow most of the film by picture. The night was great and it was interesting chatting to the guys from all over the world.
Friday, 18 July 2008
Wednesday
Wednesday was a busy day. The day was spent doing odd jobs around the Oasis centre and chatting to the refugees passing by. Dan sanded some rust spots on the van ready for painting, Adrian and Will painted the building walls, and Jo and Joan cleaned the blinds in the main hall.
While the camera was out we were suddenly surrounded by a group wanting picture after picture taken of them. It was great seeing the refugees enjoying themselves. The picture of Jo and the baby was one of the many shots taken.The evening event was an evangelistic outreach which saw Joan, Jo, Dan, and Adrian involved in the worship music and Will gave the talk. Including the Oasis team there were about 15 nationalities represented, pretty amazing!
Following the message we all were involved chatting to refugees and distributing teas/coffees/pastries. Several of us had very long conversations with people explaining passages in the Bible. It was a great evening! We finally cleared up around 10.30pm and were all exhausted, ready for our beds.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Tuesday at Oasis
Hi folks! Yes, the clothing room went so well and it was very encouraging to see aid that we had carried out here, being so very gratefully received. One of our suitcases was given away immediately and a lady with little one in arms was delighted to be able to walk away proudly pushing one of our buggies. Later this week Jo and I will be making up baby packs to give out to new mums and it was great that you gave us so many babygro suits as there were many heavily pregnant ladies in the clothing room who will be needing them any minute now.
Friday night will see Jo and I participating in the Ladies evening doing card making with them and providing music. Sita is coming that night to talk to the ladies so we hope that will be very well received too. I'm just about managing to keep the team in order although they do need a restraining hand here and there!
With love Joan
Friday night will see Jo and I participating in the Ladies evening doing card making with them and providing music. Sita is coming that night to talk to the ladies so we hope that will be very well received too. I'm just about managing to keep the team in order although they do need a restraining hand here and there!
With love Joan
Women's clothing room
Monday was Women's clothing room where somewhere in the region of 70 women came to receive clothing that has been donated to the Oasis Centre. There are many jobs involved in keeping things running smoothly, Dan helped out with teas and coffees, Joan and Will helped in the clothing room, Joanne played with the children while women waited, and Adrian took photos of the Refugees and printed them to take with them. The photo shown is one taken of a group of the refugees.
Several of the suitcases, all our flip-flops and 1 pushchair went to refugees very quickly. Thank you to everyone who gave these items. Most of our clothing aid will be given out at next weeks Men's clothing room.
It was also very interesting and challenging chatting to the refugees. Having photos of our families was an excellent conversation starter especially due to language barriers.
Dan was a hit with the kids handing out lollies!
Driving Miss Daisy
Upon arriving at Vienna airport we were collected by Dan from the Oasis Team and proceeded to drive to our pfaffstatten where we were staying. Just before reaching the town we were stopped by the police and fire brigade blocking the road as a car had veered into the ditch. We were forced to turn around and then pulled up at the side of the road. Dan went and took a look at the van tyres as the wheel was making a strange noise. He took a look and noticed that he could turn the wheel nuts with his hands as they were so loose! Therefore, we tightened these up and by the time this was done the car in the ditch had been moved and we could continue with our journey.
This, however, was not the end of our driving exploits. The following evening Adrian, Dan & Will went with another member of the team, Julie, to a Iranian Church meeting in Vienna. On the way along the motorway, Julie was so engrossed in telling us encouraging testimonies whilst she was following the single lane traffic, (resurfacing works were being carried out on the other two lanes) the lorry infront which was carrying tarmac veered into the roadworks, Julie followed it and we found ourselves needing to rejoin the flow of fast moving traffic. The Iranian meeting was a blessing to be at and we had it interpreted to us by a member of the congregration. Although we could not understand the songs and communicate clearly with those present, we still had a great time of fellowship with them.
Double extra-large y-fronts!
On Saturday morning we set off bright and early at 5.30am to head to Heathrow airport on our way to Traiskirchen, Austria. We were entitled to 200Kg and 4 pushchairs between us and took 40mins at the checkin desk!
The flight was good, although they served pasta for breakfast - an odd choice. After touchdown we waited an hour for Will's personal suitcase which didn't arrive. Thankfully all our aid arrived safely. Once we arrived at the Bed and Breakfast Will went out on a hunt for some fresh underwear and the only shop open was Hofer (the Austrian name for Aldi), and the only underwear on the shelves were XXL Y-fronts!! This has been a running joke of the trip!
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