Germany and Thanksgiving

Jake, Abby and I had the blessing of traveling to Germany for the 45th Annual Euro American Retreat. This is a retreat for American military stationed in Europe and Missionaries serving in Europe. I can not begin to say what a blessing this retreat was. It came at the perfect time for us. We were so encouraged by the singing and lessons. It was also so nice to meet others who are "like us". We especially enjoyed getting to know 3 members of the Olomoc, Czeck Republic Team a little better. I believe there were about 100 people in attendance from all across Europe. The weekend was filled with encouraging messages from God's word delivered by Tony Coffee, from Ireland and Dale Hawley from the US. Several other men also shared great devotional thoughts as well. Jake and I, along with the rest of the Vienna Team, had the privilege of working with Dale as we prepared to come to Vienna. It was so good to see him and his wife, Vicki, again. We also read Tony Coffee's book several years ago as we prepared to do a summer mission in Warsaw, Poland. Tony is a gifted speaker and teacher. You can check out some of his work here Abby also enjoyed the retreat, seeing some of her "old" friends and also making some new. Children's classes were held each morning and evening, so Jake and I got to concentrate fully on the messages. Parents everywhere know how exciting this was for us. On the final night of the retreat the kids did a little program for us. You can see Abby's class in the video below.

Retreat Pictures


The Performance



After a great time in Germany we returned to Vienna on Wednesday night, everyone spiritually uplifted, but physically exhausted. Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving, but not here. A few restaurants offer Thanksgiving dinners or buffets, but they are pretty expensive. In the Haskew household, we celebrated by ordering pizza and watching the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions game, which was actually broadcast here. Not to worry, we had a real dinner with the team on Saturday. We all gathered at the Lockwood's for food and fellowship. It was a little sad not being with family for this first major holiday, but our team has become like family to us. We had plenty of food, which I must say was prepared mostly by other people. I got off easy and only had to bring the turkey. I'm sure everyone else spent days in the kitchen getting ready. It was soooooo good!!! So, now the countdown to Christmas begins. What Vienna lacks in Thanksgiving it more than makes up for in Christmas. I am looking forward to having Christmas here. I'll try to keep you all posted on the fun activities.