Lots of gratitude and a few question marks

A look back at the last three months

We have been in Aarberg at the Eichhof (a farm) since the end of July - the ideal place to spend the summer. Especially because of the large irrigation pond, which serves as a large pool and has so often provided the much-desired cooling on the hot days. Our boys really enjoyed it. The “flatland” was also recognized as a brilliant thing, in the mountains (especially on the slopes), you can simply cycle and “trottinetlä” much worse. We are extremely grateful to the Brunner family for allowing us to be here.

The new school year has also started and this time it is Christoph who is the “main teacher” as Marlen is either working for Compassion or putting time into her internship (when it's not raining). We've also already had a visit from the academic assistant from the Seeland school inspectorate - a very positive experience 😊.
We benefit from the time with the reduced workload - life without a farm is actually much “less busy”. We haven't had this much time for trips, expeditions and activities with the boys for a long time and that's wonderful! And yet we miss the work on the farm, the independence and also the self-sufficiency more and more. But what we miss most is the opportunity to live hospitality: Hosting people, sharing meals with them, integrating them into our everyday working life and simply living community. And to do this while sharing our faith in one way or another.

What's next?

Do you know what trail signs are? They are symbols that are laid out by someone so that the next person/group can find the way. We often played this “game” in the christian scout group when I (Marlen) was still a participant. It was easy and perhaps almost too boring if you just had to follow the arrows and then you soon reached your destination. However, it became tedious when too few signs were placed or there were so many crossroads that you had to keep trying both ways and ended up standing in front of a “cross”. Sometimes you couldn't find the signs or they were destroyed by other pedestrians or animals - then you often walked along a path without knowing whether you were on the right track. So sometimes the question arose as to whether you should go back along the path to the last sign to check again whether you had somehow missed something. It's similar for us at the moment, we keep picking up “tracks” only to either come to a “cross” or we can no longer find any clues to show us that we are on the right path. The question then arises, do we just keep going in the hope that at some point we will find another sign that confirms that we are on the right path? Or do we turn around, go back to the last point and try to find out whether we should take a different path after all?

Actually, we should have something new by the end of October: firstly, it's getting cooler and cooler and sleeping in the tent is getting uncomfortable. We still have the “party room” in the barn on the farm here. But the space is limited, especially now that we have taken out the warm clothes (we have hardly any storage space here) and the boys often play inside when it rains outside. Secondly, we would officially have to register with the local authority after three months, but as we don't have an apartment here, this is not legally possible.

The children also keep saying that they really want a “real” home again. We were actually hoping for a long-term solution for the winter - moving somewhere and then pulling up stakes again in a few months or a few years is not really what we want (especially because of the boys). But at least at the moment, there is nothing on the horizon that we think is the place where we want to/can live in the long term. At the moment we are a bit at a loss, but believe that God has the right place for us, whether for the long or short term. Thank you, for praying with us that we will get clarity on which path to take.

A trip to Togo for Marlen

On Thursday, October 17, Marlen is flying to Togo for a week. She will be accompanying a Compassion trip there. She is really looking forward to the time, although this trip will probably be different to what she has experienced on previous trips to Africa. We will be staying in a “more-better” hotel (which is not “easy” for Marlen), but that certainly makes sense, considering that we don't want to have to deal with problems caused by poor hygiene conditions and it's not about the participants experiencing the challenges of life in Africa first-hand, but that we can take them with us into the projects and work of Compassion and that they can see with their own eyes what impact Compassion's programs have. In addition, Marlen will have the opportunity to meet her sponsored child Pascaline (19) in person, which will certainly be one of the highlights of this trip. Thank you, for praying for protection and a successful trip!

We wish you a pleasant fall, hopefully with a little more sunshine! Thank you for being on the journey with us!