iced tea? check
pill bag? check
Restasis (Rx eye drops)? oops! okay, check!
something to eat so my pills will go down? oops, I finished the salad I was having for dinner. Quick fix: omelet with dill & Swiss cheese. check!
Aleve for my fever (99.3)? check!
stimulator for my 45 minute evening session? check!
something to work on at the computer while I do my stimulator and have dinner? check!
Long gone are the days when my dinner prep would just involve food and drink.
***
The document that's being mailed to me still didn't arrive yet. That's not too surprising, as it's from an institution that the mail is notoriously slow in leaving and (for mail going the other direction) being processed once it's received by the organization.
***
In the meantime, and before we move on, I thought I'd share some "realia" as we call it in language teaching. Realia is just something from real life, such as a ticket, menu or the like. This might just give another dimension to my life at this time and let you sort of experience a few more thing of my life vicariously.
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These images are the front and back of a post card. The relevance of this post card to the discussion at hand is that it comes from a gal I met on the Luther Tour. Most of the people on the tour were Lutherans from Australia; I may have been the only American. Lynette and I kept in touch for a few years, but she was one of the people that my 1987 to 1989 Vienna experience resulted in losing contact with. We were about the same age and we had a lot of fun together on the tour, although we didn't know each other before that.
This is sort of a quirky incident of my time in Berlin. Somewhere along the line there I needed replacement contact lenses, and I had the company that I had insurance for my lenses with send me a new pair. Upon receiving a notice that they were at customs ready to be picked up, I had a little trouble convincing the customs agent that I really only paid $15 for them because they were insured. The agent said they don't have that kind of insurance there (at least back then, I guess that was the case) and I had a bit of a time trying to convince him I didn't pay a great some of money for them. The reason why this mattered is that there was a 15% customs fee and 15% on, say $2,000 was beyond my means. Eventually I convinced him and got my lenses for a customs fee of 9.95 Deutsche Marke. Phew!
This is the first page of a handwritten copy of a prayer latter I sent out from my summer 1983 mission trip. I didn't put the whole letter here because it's hard to read and my editing doesn't help the matter. So I'm going to transcribe the whole thing here for you:
***
As my time here in Vienna draws to a close, I am again amazed at God's leading and direction in the lives of individuals and in situations. As a team we have worked in several youth camps, in a Christian printing press, in a refugee camp and in literature & clothing delivery. It was been a hectic summer, but one with few mishaps. Indeed, God has seen fit to bless our ministries more than we could ask or think.
My last week at the refugee camp was a sad one of farewells. I was glad to see Orsolya, my Hungarian friend, show an increasing interest in Christian things. Several years ago she had a close friend, a believer, who shared often with her. I'm not sure if she is a believer, but she is interested in talking about God & shares with her children from the Hungarian children's Bible story book that I gave her. I am hoping that one of the missionaries here will begin a regular Bible study with her soon.
I also spent a week at a camp in Eastern Europe recently. We were there as campers, along with the other youth (mainly in the 15-22 year old range that week), and we were conscious of our setting an example to the others, who mainly had not been Christians for more than 3 years. The Christian fellowship of such summer camps is craved by young people who are often ostracized by their Roman Catholic peers. I was able to share my experiences & growth as a Christian as well as an answer of prayer in two evening meetings. I was also glad to be an encouragement to the camp director. He works hard and cheerfully all summer with little help. Currently, as seems to be frequently the case in Eastern Europe, the campers sleep in tents and share 2 sinks and a lake for washing in. However, there is construction under way for a new building. The campers even help with the work after lunch (in the morning there are Bible lessons). The love & unity of the campers who came from all over the country was a ministry to me. The high point of the week was when four young people decided, in an evening service, to follow Christ.
I appreciate your prayers and gifts this summer. I know that without either of these I would not have been able to come here. I would appreciate your continued prayers as I continue in related independent work for the next 3 months, in E. Germany, with Russians in W. Berlin, visiting missionaries in Hamburg & Amsterdam, and working with an information gathering service [in England].
... I am so glad that God is sovereign. Even in times when I really want to live for myself (take the easy way), [H]e keeps directing me. This way God gets the glory and I must trust in His sufficiency.
Waiting on Him,
[Meg]
***
I found my calendar for 1983 and it's very full. I don't want to bore you with too many details, but here are just a few of the entries I have for the second half of 1983:
On the short-term mission:
June 28-30 I was at the refugee camp
July 2-8 I was traveling in Czechoslovakia [notice that there is very little time between these trips for briefing/debriefing, doing laundry, etc.]
In Hamburg
August 21 I went to a Brethren church, had lunch with an Egyptian emigrant couple, and went to the harbor to see the ministry with the truckers
In Berlin
Oct. 5 Work at Bethel, then to the coffee bar being held by the church I was going to for a youth evangelism week
Oc. 6 Dinner at Bethel for sending missionaries to Korea [this was a special event; I didn't go to this as a volunteer]
Oct. 21 11:15 monthly test at Goethe. Hans arrives from Amsterdam.
Oct. 22 Hans and I go to a Baptist retreat in E. Berlin
In England
Nov. 27 (Sunday) Thanksgiving dinner with an American working at the research center
Nov. 28 Take a day trip to Eastbourne to the British SGA office there, where I meet the staff and am taken out to a fish and chip lunch.
***
These are just snippets, but I hope you have enough to go on to have a fuller picture of my experiences and who I am. I don't think I would have gone to the Eastbourne SGA office if I had given up all interest in working with SGA, although I've already told you of my concerns leading up to this point. However, I also would not have collected all the names and addresses of missions to Eastern Europe while I was at that research center if I didn't still have doubts either. I'll tell you before too long how I used that list I developed and what happened there.
That's all for now. I think we've discussed this period of my life enough to move on. Of course, since we're not having a two-way conversation I don't know if you have questions, but I'm trying to reasonably cover as many potential questions as I can.
Good night.
~ Meg
