SEW 2011 - Spiritual Emphasis Week

Praise God!!  This year I was able to attend and have a role in ICSV Secondary Spiritual Emphasis Week.  This past week has been an awesome outpouring of God's grace and love towards the staff and students of ICSV.  Testimonies by our remarkable staff of God's miracles, guidance, kindness, redemption, and faithfulness were used to move at least 4 students to accept Christ as Savior and Lord, dozens to repent and commit to a closer walk with Him, and many others to begin asking who Jesus and God really are and what He wants with them!!

Please pray for these new believers in Christ!  One student came from a Muslim background and now faces hardship and persecution as a result of accepting Jesus. Others are coming from difficult situations or from an intellectual disbelief into the real and loving arms of Christ.  Pray that we can help disciple these students well, and give them the scriptural foundations they need to withstand the Evil One's attacks.  The last few weeks have been increasingly difficult in the realm of spiritual warfare.  Pray for protection around the entire family of ICSV as Satan's forces continue to battle hard against us. 

Joe

In honor of my Dad

Today is my dad's 67th birthday!  Happy birthday, Dad!

A year ago today, my dad was hospitalized and later diagnosed with multiple myeloma, stage 3 bone marrow cancer.  After surgery, months of chemo and radiation and a stem cell transplant my dad is completely cancer free!  He is regaining his strength, his hair and his sense of humor.  Now that the grocery store has sold, he's even getting a chance to relax and watch the Cowboys play.

We learned a lot this year about cancer, about family strength, about frustration, guilt, pain.  But more than any of that, we learned about the faithfulness of our heavenly Father.  God used this time in our life to mature our faith and grow our trust in Him.  He proved Himself worthy of all the praise and honor we give Him, even though no proof was necessary.  So, I want to honor my heavenly Dad today, too, for his great love in healing my dad on this earth and seeing to it that one day, he will heal my dad for all eternity.  Thanks to my dad for not giving up the fight and thanks to our Dad for winning the battle.

The Gamut of Emotions

To say that the last few months have been an emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausting roller coaster...well that's where the word gamut comes in.  Gamut describes a spectrum or range of whatever.  Let me attempt to show you this gamut of ups, downs, free falls, and soarings as experienced by The Overbys Overseas these last few months.

May/June - whirlwind of insanity trying to finish well the first year at ICSV.  From sadness at the departing of friends for the States, happiness for the Seniors of 2011, to frustrations about Austrian Law changes and flight bookings, as well as excitement to see how God was going to come through just like He always does.

Summer - Stateside.  'Nuff said.  Fundraising trips, families wanting as much time as possible, and friends longing to maintain relationships...it was a hard, exhausting time, but was sweet to see all of those faces in person.  Saying we were blessed would be a gross understatement.

August/September - excitement again as God brings in 240 students to ICSV!!  Stress because we have less staff and more kids! Joy at the birth of a friends new child, pride as a Daddy gets to watch his son's first Soccer game ever, and love mixed with sadness for the friends who have made this their last year here.


And now...just wonder and amazement at an awesome, loving God who can do all this and more with a small portion of His Children!  His grace is sufficient, His Love unending, and His plan perfect.  So thankful that He knows the gamut of my life and has it under complete control even when it looks like chaos to me!

A Long Time

I know that in the grand scheme of things, the last two months occurred in normal time, but I feel like it has just flown by at warp speed.  Every time you get a chance to catch up, you lose it to another thing on the giant list of "Things that must be done before I can...".  So to summarize the last two months of living in Austria, please allow some bullet points of information.

• Lice treatments - these "pests" infected everyone, but Dad (and he rejoices greatly for this fact).  Difficult things to get rid of and so thankful they're finally gone.
• ICSV's International Family Fun Night - awesome night of culture and sharing
• Spiritual Emphasis Weeks - 27 saved in the elementary!!!
• Kid's Musical - "Goldie and the Three Bears" in which Bethany played Baby Bear and Caylah was a flower.  Great job and cute pics (see facebook page)
• The long haul of winter/spring - no school breaks from February 17th to April 1.  Wow, this was a really long time.
• THE BEST NEWS OF THEM ALL: Our littlest, Caylah, accepted Christ as her savior!!!  So excited and happy for her! 

Have you ever seen...

Already dyed Easter Eggs!!!  Boiled and colored, all you have to do is purchase.  What will they think of next??








International Family Fun Night


Mrs. Williams of ICSV



Ethiopian Room

  Adults and kids alike enjoy learning about other countries and experiencing food and fun from other lands.  International Family Fun Night is one of ICSV's greatest nights.  It's a five country Mission Fair!!  Natives from India, Peru, Ethiopia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the Phillippines shared their country's information, games, and foods with the ICSV community.  After the nation visits, we had an international Talent Show to showcase the awesome diversity that God has created on His Earth.  Great night of music, dancing, and celebrating Jesus' salvation of the nations.


Peru Room



Proud Scottish ICSV student

Spiritual Emphasis Weeks

Awesome time of worship, great lessons, and fun for all.  That is how my kids would describe a week with Jerry Jacoby, our SEW speaker for the Elementary.  Puppets, music, laughter, and Jesus = 27 saved and seeds planted in many more!!  The Secondary had a great time focusing on Social Justice/Mercy and how God wants them to respond to the needs around them.  Great weeks!!

More updates later...

Life on Hold

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, we apologize for the delays but we have to go into a holding pattern for a while until we get clearance to land..."  Sound familar?  I remember hearing those words the first time I ever flew.  Above Dallas was a nice thunderstorm and our DC-10 had to make circles around DFW until the weather allowed us to land.  We waited forever it seemed, a whole 10 minutes...I know but when your imagining running out of fuel and crashing, 10 minutes is like forever!

Our lives, over the last two weeks, have been like that.  A holding pattern of illness (swine flu) and parasitic scratching (lice) that consumed the last 10 days until we thought we'd coughed and/or scratched our heads off!  Last weekend, all 3 kids began succumbing to the flu with high fever and runny noses.  It intensified on Monday, when to the frustration of Yours Truly, Channon found lice on both girls and herself.  I came home early from school with shampoos and nit combs in hand as we began to treat everyone's head for or in prevention of lice.  Not fun on 3 ladies with thick, long hair!  By Wednesday, lice treated and itching reduced, Channon took the 3 kids to the doctor to find that they all had swine flu (H1N1), but the worst was over since the fevers had spiked.  4 days later, no fever, limited coughing, and limited scratching as we have fought and prevailed against the advesaries who tormented us.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got clearance to land.  Thank you for flying with us today."  Oh, yeah.  So glad to hear those words.

Insights and Dust

Why do we do the things we do?  What life experiences shape our day to day activities so much that they become an active lifestyle?  Routine, learned, or were we like this from birth? As we experience life, a common phrase is exclaimed by the Overbys in Austria.  "...SO that's why they do that!"



Austrian view of Texas??



Weather Related???

Why do they recommend waterproofing spray for all of your shoes here?  It's not just the rain, snow, slush that answers this question.  You and everyone else have to walk for miles in the precipitation. Which leads to why do they wear house shoes upon entry into one's home? So you don't track in all of this into your house.  Why do they tuck their pants into their boots or wear skin tight leggings/jeans? So their pants don't get wet walking in the snow or rain.  Drink alcohol or coffee with every meal?  To keep warm while walking in the cold.  Scarves? To keep their face and neck warm in the bitter wind.  All weather related.

Wieviel kostet das?? (HOW much does that cost??)

Americans give Europeans a bad rap for hygiene issues. But if it cost Americans this much, would our habits change?

• Razors and blades cost 18-25 Euros which is about $22-30!! 
• Small bottles of shampoo, shave gel, body wash - 5-6 Euros ($6-9)
• Deodorant (without antiperspirant) - 5 Euros or more!
• Cost of water is high as well.(I'm told this is also why no ice is served with drinks and no refills.)

 As we stay here in Austria, we have discovered a love for many of the Austrian ways. We have acculturated many of these into how we live our daily lives(the girls both have snow boots with fur tops!). Some European ways will probably never be added into our lives, as long as I can afford water bills and hygiene products.  The key to living anywhere is adaptation and being willing to try new things.  When we get so stiff-necked and stubborn about things, our Phariseetical sides come out.  They can't hear the message of Christ's love when all they can hear are Americanisms, complaints, and frustrations.  Paul said it best when he said that he "tried to be all things to all people" without compromising his faith and trust in Christ.  Is Christ bigger than culture, America, our pride and freedoms, material possessions?  Is His truth worth sacrificing all that we hold "dear" to create relationships for sharing that truth?  Absolutely.  Worth all that we have and more, even our very lives, all for Him.  For what are we without Him?  Dust in the Wind.  Nothing. 

It Just Takes Time

Adjustments

At PFO this past summer, we heard it said countless times that no one person adjusts to new things at the same rate.  Myself, being the eternal optimist, gave myself a month to settle into our new life in Vienna.  After 4 months of roller coaster emotions, I can finally say I think we have settled in to our home and surroundings.  Although, we had been learning to cope with culture outside of our home, still there were little things that would make if seem like we were still visiting or make us feel out of sorts.  Christmas break gave us the chance to hang pictures, move furniture, and give almost everything in the house its place.  An extraordinarily clean and pleasing home providing us with the sensation of accomplishment and freedom.  Man it feels good to finally move in!

Sophomores

To celebrate, we agreed to host the 10th graders on Saturday night for part of their progressive dinner.  We had the salad/bread portion. 

Loved it!  Great group of 7 kids and Reesa Duerksen, a teacher at ICSV, came over and enjoyed a great salad and fresh bread. 

Hoping to host more of these and a Super Bowl party for the staff during February!

The 2010 Wrap-Up

     Christmas in Austria was, as a whole, wonderful to experience.  The Markets, atmosphere, and snow made it a very magical time for our family.  It was, however, difficult to spend it away from home for the first time ever.  Everywhere we have ever lived, we always made it home for Christmas.  Not this time.  We knew from our training that this would be exceptionally hard, but no one can prepare you for the emotions that run through you during your favorite time of the year.  We thought "Skype"ing the families would help, but it only made us miss them more and dwell on what we were missing.  Services at Grace on the day after Christmas helped us to cope as we celebrated with Africans, Filipinos, Iranians, Austrians, Americans, Brits, and various other nationalities the birth of Jesus.  It was "heavenly" as people from every tribe and nation praised and worshipped the Lord of All.  We spent the rest of the week enjoying presents, working around the house, and spending time with some friends who stayed here for the holidays. We experienced New Year's festivities in Austria which are loud and carry on 'til late.  Fireworks exploded all week prior to New Years' Eve.  New Years' Eve was even louder!  We were beginning to think we had moved to a war zone.

     As this New Year begins, we ask you to please look at our prayer request page.  I update it everytime I update our blog.  Please continue to pray for us as we minister here in Austria.  We are seeing God at work at ICSV as students and parents are asking more and more questions about Jesus, creation, salvation, and redemption.  We keep praying for opportunities to share and continued boldness to start discussions on the eternal issues.  As we encounter Austrians, we often have the opportunity to share why we are here with them.  Please pray for more of these "chances" to share our purpose and the love of Christ with nationals.

     I want to express our gratitude and thankfulness for those of you who support this endeavor both prayerfully and financially.  We could not have and can not continue do this without you! We are so appreciative of your gifts of prayer and finance that allow us to be here doing God's Will.  Thank you so, so much!!!

     We have one more week of Christmas vacation as Austrians celebrate Epiphany/Three King's Day this week.  We are hoping to enjoy some of the city's history and rest a little before going back to school next week.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and pray for each a blessed New Year!