The Espensens in DK

Zambia

2011-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's time again for our trip to Africa. Since I have returned from my awesome little trip to Texas it has been non stop (literally) getting ready for the big trip. We leave Thursday morning from Copenhagen to start our long travel down to Zambia.

I am really excited about returning to the place that brought so many good memories from last year. We have such a heart for the people of Africa and are excited to be returning for the 3rd time. This year, Martin and I are traveling with an awesome

group of 11 students, 6 girls and 5 boys. We will be spending time helping a lot of different ministry organizations, including the same that we joined last year. This year, however, we are also helping run a campaign in Ndola which we are expecting great results from. We will be involved in a four day campaign bringing the people of Ndola and surrounding areas together in unity. We will be crying out for people to be saved and healed and helping support the local church in Ndola.

We will also be taking a trip deep into the bush to a village called Ngabwe where we will minister to those in need of medical care and supplies. We will assist the nurses and put on a program for the children. This will be an impactful experience for the stud

ents (and us) to see what it is like to live in the bush in Africa. This year we will also be working close with an orphanage called Jabulani, in which we are hoping to develop relationships with the children at this orphanage and share the love of God with them

We hope that you will please pray for us as we take this 5 week journey. Pray for wisdom, guidance, protection, joy, unity and most of all for the name of Jesus to be made great in everything we do. Thank you for your support and prayers! We love you!

Christmas in Texas

2011-01-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

This year Martin and I were able to go to Texas again for Christmas! It was such an awesome, relaxing time together with our family and friends. God provided a way home for us when it seemed like we would be stuck in the airport for a few more days, so we only arrived about 2 days late.

Highlights of the trip include: Coming home to mom and dad's new house. Relaxing in front of the fire. Seeing all our people. Eating out...a lot. David's 3rd birthday party. And sleeping in...
Me and Mom visiting Aaron at work.

Us and the Martin kids, when they stopped by to surprise us.

Me and my sweet friend Jodi!

The New Year's Eve bunch! We have celebrated NY together for MANY years!Love you girls!!

We are really looking forward to a new year. This year at Euroclass is going to be full of new experiences. In the next few months, we will travel to Austria, Norway, Faroe Islands, and Africa. What amazing opportunities God has given us.

From Africa to Texas to Colorado to Denmark

2010-09-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

We are finally back and settled in Denmark after a lot of traveling. Our trip to Africa was amazing and one that we will not soon forget. We were privileged to see God working in many ways. I believe that the hearts of our students were changed forever and this trip will definitely leave a deep mark on their heart. We serve an awesome God! Me and a sweet little girl named "Happiness"
Martin and Samuel, our little buddy who lived at the orphanage where we stayed in Kenya.
After 6 weeks in Africa we left for Texas. We got to spend 5 awesome weeks there with my family and friends. It was so good to be home and relax for a longer period of time. We spent a lot of time at the lake house and with my family. We felt very encouraged and energized to come back and start a new year in Denmark.
Two Danes celebrating 4th of July in Texas!
While we were in Texas we decided to take a little roadtrip up to Durango to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. It was a very good time. We went back and visited Blue Lake Ranch, where we got married. We also found some time to hike, kayak and just relax.So now we are back in Denmark and we have had a awesome start up with Euroclass and Teen Radical. We have a great bunch of new students at Euroclass this year. I am really looking forward to the rest of the year. Right now I'm teaching the Alpha Course and Communications. They are learning how to share their testimony in English. Martin is in school for the next 5 weeks so that he can get his bus drivers license. :) This way we will be able to take the Euroclass bus and drive our students all over Europe. It's going to open up a lot of opportunities, so we are excited about that.
Teen Radical is also going great. We have started a different schedule this year where we are meeting on Monday nights and eating together and then following that we have prayer, worship, teaching, etc. Then, on Thursday nights we open the club in the youth space Martin built and they can come and go as they please. We have a little cafe, games, activities, wii, and all that kind of fun stuff. The goal is to disciple them one on one and catch this crowd of young people who do not yet know Jesus.Thanks for all your prayers for us! We believe our life is all for Jesus and we are trying each day to share his love with teenagers in Denmark!

With love, Lynsey and Martin

On our way to Africa!

2010-04-17T02:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, I will say I am officially the world's worst blogger! But this is worth another update!

We are on our way to Africa again! This time Martin and I will be leading a group of 9 teenagers to Kenya and Zambia for 6 weeks! We have a really sweet group of students who are excited to bring the message of Jesus!

Let me introduce our team...

Simone!
Kristian!

Tobias! Camilla!

Louise!

Julie! Johanna!Adam! And us!!

It's a really good, small group! The first two weeks of our trip we will spend in Nakuru, Kenya where we will be working with an organization called IAS, International Aids Service.
(www.ias.nu). We will be staying at a church called Filadelfia Church. It is a small community that has an orphanage and a Women's Crisis Center. We will be staying in the school where the orphans go each day. During our time in Kenya, we will be doing a lot of big events, going out into the communities and inviting people to come each night where we will be involved in helping with the locals whowill put on big concerts and events in order to share the gospel. During the day, we will be working in the schools and with the orphan children. We will also minister, pray and encourage those from the Women's Cirisis Center. In Kenya, we will be living right in the heart of a Kenyan community, so we will get to experience the real everyday life of the locals.

Filadelphia Women's Crisis Center and the place we will stay. Some children from the orphanage

After that, we will fly to Ndola, Zambia where we will be for the next three weeks. We will be staying at Kaniki Bible College where Euroclass has a house there. During these three weeks we will work with three different ministries; Life line, School Mission and Kaniki Orphan Project. Lifeline is a project where we will take supplies and medical care to surrounding communities and minister to the people there. When we are working with School Mission we will be visiting 3 schools a day and making a 45-1 hour assembly where the students will use their drama, dancing and preaching, and then we will work with Kaniki Orphan Project the last week as well as doing practical building assignments for some local missionaries.

Lifeline
School Mission

Our last week we will have a little vacation down in Livingstone, Zambia. We will stay right next to one of the 7 Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls. These days we will debrief the trip, Safari, bungi jump and relax.

Prayer Points:

Please pray for our safety throughout all the traveling and time we spend in Africa.
Pray for Martin and I as leaders to be always full of God's wisdom in decision making and leading our team.
Pray against sickness
Pray for the hearts of the students to be opened up and changed to be even more passionate for the heart of Jesus.
Pray for the people we meet, that they would know the realness of the love of God.
Pray for unity in our team, a family atmosphere.
Pray that above all, God's name will be glorified in all we do.

Last, but not least...here is a Euroclass video from the last Africa trip so you can get an idea of what we will be doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWCGZ_4QmtU

Thank you for all your prayers, please pray with us as throughout the next 1.5 months. We leave on April 29 and return to DK June 10. THEN TO TEXAS JUNE 28!!! :)

Our first home...

2009-11-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

We have finally moved into our first home! After living for two crazy months in the church office, we REALLY appreciate our new home. Especially since Martin put so much work into it. The building was built in 1875 and is the oldest building in Kolding, so when Martin got the job to remodel it, he decided to tear out everything including the walls and the floor and start from scratch. So, he built up everything himself from there. It was such a blessing because it the building right next to the church in which the church offices are on the first floor and the top floor is our apartment and some teen facilities which Martin is still building. But, since it belongs to the church, we got to choose whatever kitchen, floors, counter top, appliances, etc. that we wanted, but the church paid for it! What a deal!

We moved in 4 days before going to England and manages a House Warming/Graduation Party the next day after we finished at 3:00 am. We figured it was the best way to make a deadline, just invite 50 people over and that's a little motivation to get it finished. :) It worked! We were exhausted afterward though...and then we left for England with 14 teenagers.

So, we've had the week off this week and finally got to enjoy our house. We have loved our LITTLE home! It's very tiny, but perfect size for Martin and me!

England!

2009-11-02T01:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it has been way too long since I have updated! Especially since I still get emails all the time with people asking me, “exactly what do you do in Denmark.” So I promise I will try to be better at updating.

This month Martin and I took our first outreach of Euroclass students to England. Euroclass is made up of 27 students and 7 full time teachers. 2 of the teachers do not go on outreach because they have families that they cannot be away from for that long. So, the team is split into two teams and the first outreach is in Europe. Two teachers, Julie and Thomas led a team to Romania, and Martin, Annechein and I led a team to England. Martin and I were the team leaders and Annechein is our dance and drama specialist. (You have to be much better in dance and drama in England than Romania, if you can imagine, there is a different standard)

The trip was a success. We worked full time for 2 different churches. One in Ramsgate (near the East Coast) and the other in Sidcup. (near London) During these two weeks were were almost daily working in Elementary Schools doing the main assembly. Public schools in England have no separation of church and state so we were allowed to come in and share whatever we wanted. Since it was mostly elementary schools, Euroclass usually did three dramas which talked about giving and loving your neighbor. My main job as a teacher at Euroclass is in Communications, so it was a big job to teach the students how to communicate the message of these pieces, in English, in a way that communicates the Gospel. It was a challenge for them, but also very exciting. We spent time in classrooms as well teaching about Denmark and Euroclass and sharing testimonies.

Another big project we were a part of was a Community Action project. Both churches we worked with were in a partnership with the government where they would take areas in the community and clean them up and start youth outreaches there where the really rough kids hang out. So we spent a lot of time digging, cleaning, mowing, and throwing away a lot of trash from really disgusting abandoned areas. I saw more huge, colorful, awful spiders in these places than when I was in Africa! But, it was a great experience to for the students to see the different they made at the end of the day.

Then, they would bring out soccer cages, portable skate parks and a converted double decker bus which was completely redone into a movie room, x-box center and hang out place into these areas and begin to have relationships with the kids that lived in the area. The government provides them with support because they do so well. It was inspiring to be a part of!

Overall, the trip was a success and a growing experience for the students and for Martin and I as leaders. Our next trip will be in May and June and the team will split again into two teams. One is spending 3 weeks in Kenya and 3 weeks in Zambia and the other team is spending 3 weeks in India and 3 weeks in the Philippines.

So, for now back at Euroclass we are back to daily teaching and preparing for the next big outreaches!
Thanks for your prayers and support that we received from so many of you on the trip! We couldn't do it without our prayer warriors back home! We love y'all!

First Week at Euroclass...take 2!

2009-08-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

(I had pictures in here, but evidently it's messing up my blog...so I took them out. I'll post some later :)

My first week at Euroclass was amazing! I just love it here!

The students arrived Sunday night and we had a welcome for them. They came in with all their parents and we helped them set up their dorms and their beds. Then, we had a little information service and dinner. Then, we took them to the beach and did lots of "getting to know you" activities.

The group of students this year are so great! I have really enjoyed getting to know each of them! There are 26 students and I like them all in their own special way :)

I started teaching communications this week and it went really well. I'm so impressed with their English. They are 15-17 years old, and I can't imagine knowing another language as well as they do at that age. But I guess it's necessary when you are a country that is so small it can fit inside of Texas 9 times! :) The way it works is that we will each teach a subject for 6 to 8 weeks and then move on to another. So right now, I am teaching communications so they can practice before their first outreach. Neil is teaching Creative Arts/Dance and Drama, and Julie and Thomas are teaching Alpha which is a basic Bible course.

AND...for the fun part. Guess who is taking over for Martin until he finishes school....me! So that means I am also teaching Sports and I take them on their morning run at 7:00am. It's 4.5 km through the forest. HAHA...I just laughed when I found out that would be my task. So, I guess I'm being stretched more ways than I thought living in Denmark. I have actually enjoyed it though. It's great when you are forced to do something...and do it with a smile because you are an example to the kids. God may be changing my heart for physical activity :)

So, it was a great week. Martin and I will be on duty at the school on Wednesdays which means we have to be there from the time they wake up until they go to bed. Normally, we will both be there so that one of us could leave and take a break for a while if we need, but, once again...until Martin is done with school I will be there all day. It was a long day last Wednesday, but I cannot think of a better job!

I have had so many good talks with the students they have really been opening up already. So, we are really excited for the year ahead! I think God has great things in store for the Espensens!

Please continue to pray for our apartment to get done. It's such a huge job to do in the spare time. Living downstairs in the office is really starting to be annoying and we cannot wait until this job is done and we can live a normal life. It is also a big stress on Martin, if you can imagine. We spent 7 hours in IKEA on Saturday. It was like a little vacation. :) We ordered a kitchen for us and for the TeenRadical club and also the bathrooms. It was a lot of fun!

My talented husband building the bathroom floor.

Our pastor, Jakob, helping spackle.

We LOVE y'all and send our love from Denmark.

why?

2009-08-26T10:20:00.001-07:00

Why is my blog not working...I don't know! Can you see it now?

First Week at Euroclass

2009-08-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

My first week at Euroclass was amazing! I just love it here!

The students arrived Sunday night and we had a welcome for them. They came in with all their parents and we helped them set up their dorms and their beds. Then, we had a little information service and dinner. Then, we took them to the beach and did lots of "getting to know you" activities.

The group of students this year are so great! I have really enjoyed getting to know each of them! There are 26 students and I like them all in their own special way :)

I started teaching communications this week and it went really well. I'm so impressed with their English. They are 15-17 years old, and I can't imagine knowing another language as well as they do at that age. But I guess it's necessary when you are a country that is so small it can fit inside of Texas 9 times! :) The way it works is that we will each teach a subject for 6 to 8 weeks and then move on to another. So right now, I am teaching communications so they can practice before their first outreach. Neil is teaching Creative Arts/Dance and Drama, and Julie and Thomas are teaching Alpha which is a basic Bible course.

AND...for the fun part. Guess who is taking over for Martin until he finishes school....me! So that means I am also teaching Sports and I take them on their morning run at 7:00am. It's 4.5 km through the forest. HAHA...I just laughed when I found out that would be my task. So, I guess I'm being stretched more ways than I thought living in Denmark. I have actually enjoyed it though. It's great when you are forced to do something...and do it with a smile because you are an example to the kids. God may be changing my heart for physical activity :)

So, it was a great week. Martin and I will be on duty at the school on Wednesdays which means we have to be there from the time they wake up until they go to bed. Normally, we will both be there so that one of us could leave and take a break for a while if we need, but, once again...until Martin is done with school I will be there all day. It was a long day last Wednesday, but I cannot think of a better job!

I have had so many good talks with the students they have really been opening up already. So, we are really excited for the year ahead! I think God has great things in store for the Espensens!

Please continue to pray for our apartment to get done. It's such a huge job to do in the spare time. Living downstairs in the office is really starting to be annoying and we cannot wait until this job is done and we can live a normal life. It is also a big stress on Martin, if you can imagine. We spent 7 hours in IKEA on Saturday. It was like a little vacation. :) We ordered a kitchen for us and for the TeenRadical club and also the bathrooms. It was a lot of fun!

My talented husband building the bathroom floor.

Our pastor, Jakob, helping spackle.

We LOVE y'all and send our love from Denmark.

Married, Building, Euroclass

2009-08-15T10:48:00.003-07:00

Our Wedding in the Rocky Mountains

WOW, so much has happened since I last wrote in March! :) Oops! Martin and I had an AMAZING wedding the Rocky Mountains with our friends and family! We absolutely could not have asked for anything more in that week! God just blessed our socks off.

The week started with family, Danes and Americans arriving on Wednesday and checking into our Bed and Breakfast, Blue Lake Ranch. We had a picnic dinner set up in the meadow and it was simply perfect. All of my Danish and American friends and family became such good friends and we loved that! It was so important for both of us that we have "our worlds" cone together so they could better understand us. It was great weather and the food was perfect.

The next day we woke up and had breakfast together, then headed to the Event Center for a rehearsal. The rehearsal was great and while we were standing there, a heart appeared in the sky above our heads.
Then we all headed into Downtown Durango for lunch and shopping, and in the afternoon our White Water Rafting trip! One of Martin and my favorite memories of this week was being the last ones on the packed school bus and seeing all of our friends and family from so many places gathered together, ready to go rafting. It was so much fun...we dominated the river!

After the River Rafting we had a fantastic Rehearsal Dinner at ther Ranch. We honored our parents for all they had done for us.

The wedding day was beautiful! Everything was perfect, including the weather that we prayed about for so long! :) Our wedding was a mix of Danish and American culture and a new experience for everyone! Our friends and family blessed us with VERY creative speeches and toasts for 3 hours!! We shared some good food and then danced the rest of the night away! It was wonderful!

Back in DK
We are now back in DK and working hard on finishing the apartment so we can get moved in. Martin is finishing school during the day (5 more weeks!!!) and working on the apartment in the afternoons and weekends! It's a busy start, but we'll be so glad when these two things are done! We are blessed to be given a little apartment to live in until ours is finished.This is the building he is remodeling. It's the oldest farmhouse in Kolding, so it has a lot of history. He is building our apartment on the backside and the front half will be a teen club for the teens at the church.

Euroclass (www.euroclass.dk) There is a link for English
We started this week at Euroclass. It was a great week...very exciting, but also very hard on my brain. Everything in Euroclass is spoken in Danish, so I had a week of teacher orientation given in Danish. :) It will definitely help my learning this year! I will be teaching in English, though, praise Jesus! :) I will be teaching communications. I will teach the kids how to preach and share testimonies in English so that when we go on outreach to other countries they will feel confident. I will also be teaching bible lessons and discipleship. I'm so excited for what the Lord has in store for this year. Martin is coming on board at Euroclass as soon as he finishes his school in September, and we will be leading a team of about 13 kids on our first 3 week outreach in October! We feel so blessed!

Please Pray
Please pray for us that all the work that is ahead of us will get done quickly. (Martin building the apartment and TeenRadical club) and that he will also finish school and exams without too much stress. Pray for my Danish to come along. It's so important now, in my second year, that I understand when people speak Danish. Pray that I will have grace to learn fast and remember and practice!

I promise I will update more often! That is it for now! We love you...from Denmark!

It's Togo Time!

2009-03-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send a quick update about my trip to Africa coming up next week and ask for your prayers over my team and I. This time there will be 18 of us traveling to Togo from March 22-April 15. Togo is on the coast of West Africa next to Benin. It is the smallest and one of the poorest countries in Africa. We will spending the 1st week in the Capital city of Lome, at the very southern tip of Togo. Here we will be working with different church ministries as well as orphanages. The second and third week we will drive about 1.5 hours up North to a city called Notse. Here there is a Bible College which has branched out from mine (www.iabc.dk) in Denmark. The BIble College, called CAFEM, is a cement building with different rooms and no running water or electricity. We will be doing a lot of practical work here, as well as preparing a Missionary Home, on campus for differently missionaries to come stay in. Also in this city, we will visit local clinics because the leaders of my missions school are doctors, and we will be doing some work there. Our main focus will be in a couple different Children's villages.

Our Container Project was a huge success and a God given miracle. As most of you know, we have spend the last 2 months gathering supplies to send in a container to Africa. This turned out to be a bigger project than we expected. We ended up in the Newspaper twice. The whole city and surrounding cities got involved in donating clothes, shoes, bikes, furnature, tools, and everything in between. We spent last week packing our container and it shipped off on Thursday. We are hoping that it will reach Lome while we are there so we can distribute the goods among the Children's Villages and to the locals that we are in contact with. We will return to Lome a couple days before we are to fly back to Europe.

Please pray for:
1. Safety in travel
2. Wisdom for God's leading while we are there.
3. Open hearts to hear the Gospel
4. Protection from sickness
5. Unity in our team
6. God's guidance in every step we take.

Here are a few pictures of our final collecting day. We spent two days packing this container full of the stuff we had gathered to send to Togo.

This is Helge (our Missions School Leader) and KoKo, our Togan friend, making sure all the holes are filled in.
Just an example of some of the stuff we gathered.

Barbara, always happy to serve. :)

In Denmark, they use tractors to haul things. :)

Baby Joshua stopped by to help. He found some things he wanted.

Momoko and I searching through the kids clothes.
I look a bit confused, but I promise, I had it all under control. :) My job was to register everything going into the container. It proved to be harder than I thought. Thanks for your prayers! I will keep you updated!

Euroclass 2009

2009-03-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well, after lots of prayer and consideration Martin and I have decided to take the job at Euroclass next year. THANK YOU all so much for all the prayers and encouraging emails that I recieved! You have no idea how much it means to me to know that I have this huge prayer base at home!

On Friday I was still feeling a little anxious knowing that we had to have a decision made quickly. But, God is so good. In my "Equipment for Ministry" class we are learning about the different gifts of the Spirit. On Friday, the topic was Spiritual Wisdom, perfect timing! After the teaching he asked if there was anyone who felt like they needed wisdom over a specific decision. I asked for prayer and 4 girls prayed for me. I was given so much encouragement and prophetic words, it really made me feel so much more at peace about the whole situation, which was especially good because Martin called me a few minutes later and said that he had set up a meeting with Peter (Euroclass Leader) at 2:00 that afternoon. So, I went into this meeting feeling so much more at peace than I did before. In this meeting we just talked with them with some last minute questions we had should we take the job, and it was so good.

Martin and I left Peter and Sarah's house feeling so encouraged and uplifted. It's going to be such as blessing for us to work under this couple and be discipled by them as well as us getting to disciple the teenagers. I think my brother nailed it on the head when he said, it sounds like I'm a little homesick, but I know that God is not through with me here. That is right. I miss my home and my family and friends so much, and I hate that I am missing out on important things happening, but I also know that there is always a cost in following Jesus. He calls us to look straight ahead, not to the sides or behind and follow him completely, and that is what Martin and I want to do with our lives.

We are so excited about this opportunity. We are excited to be able to do what we love as our job. Euroclass is in connection with a boarding school (this is where Danes ages 15-17 go...kind of like high school) so I will also be considered an employee there and may get to teach some English classes as well. We are excited for the road ahead.

Thank you again for all your prayers and encouraging words! It means more to us than you know! Please continue to do that!! AND... we can't wait to see you all at the wedding! :)

Love from Lynsey and Martin

www.euroclass.dk

A Day in the Life of an American in Denmark

2009-02-19T05:39:00.001-08:00

So, it's really interesting that every time I talk to people, they seem to know nothing about what I'm doing here in Denmark. I was just thinking about that, and thought, I must be a really bad communicator. SO... I thought why not give a little blog update on what exactly my life in Denmark looks like.

I live in an apartment with Kelly, my American roommate who is getting married the week before me in Ohio, to Martin's best friend, Johan. 2 Americans surviving together in Denmark can be a good encouraging thing, but we can also seem to encourage each other's "vent fests" when we are tired of the strange culture and language barriers. We have a lot of fun together figuring out this place.

Everyday I get up and ride my bike to school. Here's a few picture of the town I live in.

It's so fun because every day I leave my apartment, I can't get anywhere without seeing someone I know. It's really a "Mayberry" small town feeling. It really gives the sense of community that I've always loved (even though I've never experienced it at home)

I am a student at the International Bible College studying in the school of Missions. This is why I went to China in the Fall and on March 22 I'll be going to Togo, Africa. My days are filled with lots of classes, worship and spending time with some of the coolest people from countries all over Europe. I'm also taking Danish classes once a week, which is so not good enough. I'm trying to figure out a way to learn more in Danish.

On the weekends I spend time with my lovely fiance, relaxing, traveling a bit, hanging out with his family and planning our wedding and future together. We are the new TeenRadical leaders at the church. This new role started in January. We absolutely love it. We have big dreams for this group and are in the process of building and organizing a TeenClub that will be open to teenagers after school and some weekend events. We are so blessed with people in our life that are really investing in us.

Martin helps out as much as possible with the Mission School, especially as we prepare for our trip to Africa. Our dream is to work with Missions and teenagers, so it's amazing the experiences that we have gotten this year. God has really blessed us beyond what we could imagine.

We're getting married at Blue Lake Ranch on July 17, 2009! ONLY 5 months away now! Tak, Jesus! So wedding planning is really getting under way now. It's about to get a lot more busy. The next day after I get back from Africa, we're going to Sweden to Martin's brother's ski cabin, and when we're done with that it's going to be major wedding crunch time.

So, that's pretty much my every-day life in Kolding. Like I said, I'm always so surprised when I hear that people don't really know what I'm doing...so there is a really short version. God is good...he's teaching us a lot this year and I'm so thankful to be here.

Praise Jesus for lots of New Things!!

2009-02-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

So, we've finally gotten the answer that we have been waiting for as long as Martin and I have known each other. He finally got his confirmation for graduating early!! The letter came in the mail yesterday. This means that he will be done with school on Sept. 18, 2009 instead of May 2010! This is so good for us because it opens up so many more opportunities for us to serve God together next year. He is so faithful and continually proving that he hears our prayers and is faithful when we call on Him.

This doesn't mean that we have a plan yet for after the wedding, but it does mean that now we know what kind of freedom we have as we are seeking God for his plan for us next year. We know that Martin won't have to be in school, and that in itself is simply wonderful news!

On another note, for those of you who don't know, we accepted the job as youth pastors of the Teen Radical teenage group at the church in January. When we came back from Texas we were a bit nervous about what that would be like, but once again, God has proven faithful. I believe that you grow so much more when you are challenged in new areas because you learn that you have to be dependent apon the Lord because you know you can't do it in your own strength. It has been such an amazing time so far. I always knew Martin could do it, but I was a bit insecure (and am still working on it) because of my Danish, but God has given me so much grace. I am understanding more and more everyday and can pretty much follow a conversation in Danish now. I respond mostly in English, but it's always fun when I know how to respond in Danish. He's also given me more connections one on one with the kids this term. Martin is doing a FANTASTIC job leading and has great visions for this group! We believe in God's vision for these teenagers and love to see them grow. I have developed such a heart for the teens in this area. The area of Kolding that I live in is filled with them. We have a Youth Mission School, Boarding School and Jr. High all in one area. Every time I leave my house I see some of the kids. It's kind of a "Mayberry" feeling, and I love it. They are in such need of Jesus, and we're so excited to get to disciple them.

Praise God for this new opportunity!

TEENRADICAL!

here are some of the kids on one of our event nights

AFRICA!

We have been preparing for our trip to Africa a lot in the last couple of weeks. We been blessed with a HUGE container that someone is going to ship for us to Togo and so our task is to fill it up with everything and anything that will be useful for the villages where we be spending time. We had an article on the front page of the news paper last week and had a huge collecting day on Saturday.

http://pdf.budstikken.com/seneste_udgaver/kolding.pdf

People from all over the area came and donated things. God blessed us so much. We got everything from beds, motorbikes, bikes, tables, chairs, sewing machines, computers, to clothes, shoes and toys. It was simply amazing. These things will be able to bless so many people in Togo, which is one of the poorest countries in Africa. We were overwhelmed by the response. Please pray for us as we continue to prepare for this trip. We will be leaving on March 22 and returning in the middle of April.

The night before, Martin and I spent with the teenagers making cakes to give away to the people who came and donated.

A Danish/America-Africa Couple. :)We got 60 top of the line mosquito nets donated...one of my favorites! Praise Jesus! :)
Some from the teamThis was only the beginning. :)
So, I think that is all the news for now. Please keep Martin and I in your prayers as we now are seeking God for what will come of us next year. :) We know that whatever it is, will be great because we just want to be in the will of God.

Vi elsker dig meget! (We love you a lot!)

2009-01-08T06:11:00.001-08:00

Eating dessert and drinking coffee the way Americans do it. :)

David loves his Pops and Uncle Martin!

David celebrating his 1st birthday!

China...Denmark...Texas...Denmark

2009-01-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

So on my trip home to Texas over Christmas, I realized that there actually were people who followed up on my blog, little did I know, so I guess I do need to keep it updated more often. :)

The trip to China was amazing. Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement for our trip. The Lord went ahead of us and prepared the hearts of so many people. I learned not to put boundaries on what you think the Lord will do because he's always got much more in store when you are walking in faith! I was able to teach an English class at a Sports University for students who were just beginning to learn English and it was a blast. We also did some sports camps, English corners, Earthquake relief work and helped to encourage other believers who were living there. I have a heart for another part of the world that I never thought much about before. God is doing amazing things there and I just pray for more!

I was pretty much sick the two weeks between China and Texas. The jet lag was worse than ever, and I was exhausted and had a cold plus I started right away with a very busy schedule the day after I got back. I did not slow down again until I got home. After about 2 days in Texas with my bed, good food and my family I was feeling much better!

Martin and I had a great time in Texas! It was SO good to spend time with my family and friends. Of course, I don't feel like I got to spend enough time with people, but I guess that will always be the case when you are traveling. But, it was a blessing to be home! I spent a lot of time with my parents and my brothers, Yvette and David. I think by the end of the trip, David definitely remembered who his Aunt B was and I'm sure he's missing me like crazy already. :) We did lots of wedding planning and got to celebrate David's first birthday with him, so that was special.

The plane ride back to DK was great! It went by so fast (probably because I slept the whole way) and we had no complications until we got to Hamburg and one of my bags wasn't there. I'm still waiting on that one to show up, but hopefully it will come today. It didn't really phase me because last year I learned a lesson about that. :)

It was a good feeling getting back to DK yesterday. I was just thinking about what a blessing it is that I feel like Texas is my home and I can't wait to get there, but I also feel like Denmark is my home now. I got excited driving in and settling in my apartment yesterday. We were greeting with a bright sunny ski, cold, crisp weather and snow on the ground. It was perfect! Coming back to school today was also refreshing. I really missed seeing everyone, so it was good to be back.

It's definitely the time of year where Martin and I will have to start making plans for next year because of all our paperwork that has to go through to make it legal for us to live in other countries. Please pray that God will present opportunities for us wherever we are supposed to be next year. It's hard being away from home, but we just want to be exactly where the Lord calls us, no matter where that is. We are still waiting to hear whether or not he will be graduating early, but we know for sure that we will be coming back to Denmark after the wedding, we just don't know for how long. So we're asking for your prayers that God will speak to us clearly about our future and that we will be faithful in the meantime to what he has called us to.

Please also pray for our new Leadership with the teenagers that is starting now. It's quite different going from someone who just works along side the teens to being someone in charge and this is an area that we really want God's heart for. We want our hearts to be stirred up for these kids to really be radical life changers and fall more deeply in love with God. Please pray that we can be the leaders we need to be, which that is being desperate for Jesus.

More updates with pictures soon to come. You can find pictures from China on my facebook.

News On China

2008-10-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

Goddag min venner! (Hello, my friends)

I haven't been keeping my blog very updated lately, so I'm going to try and do better. The big news going on right now is that we are getting ready for our trip to China. We met with our contact person last night, who is actually a girl that went to school with Martin, so that was fun. She's a Danish girl who has been living in China for 5 years, but just recently moved back to DK. So, she will come with us and be our translator and tour guide. We'll be leaving the 23rd of November and returning the 4th of December.

We're going to a place called Chengdu. It's right near the center of China, they call it "The Gateway to the West" because you have to pass through it to get anywhere western. There are about 10 million people living in Chengdu (2ce the amount of people living in all of Denmark.) Here is a map, you can find it almost in the middle.

In May there was a really bad earthquake about 100 klm from where we are going to be staying, so for a couple of days, we will be up there helping out in the schools. A lot of our time in China will be teaching English. So, I'm the only native English speaker on the team, and actual English teacher, so I'm sure that will be mostly my responsibility. We will also be leading some sports camps and childrens programs in the area where the earthquake hit. This trip is what we are calling a "taste and see" trip. As a member of this kind of school, it's really important for us to learn how to organize and plan these trips as well as becoming more and more familiar with other cultures around the world. Our trip to Togo, Africa in the Spring will be almost 5 weeks and will involve much more.

So, please remember us in preparation for this trip and throughout our time there.

On another note, life at the school and with Martin has been going great! We had an amazing "Theme Week" last week that was so encouraging for both Martin and I because he got to come to some of the meetings with me. He is in the middle of a BIG project now building his brother's new house and he is loving it. It has just been Martin and Daniel building so far doing it all themselves, so he's quite busy, but it's been great experience for him. I need to get more updated pictures because they have come so far, but here are som just from the very beginning stages.

They now have the whole perimeter of the house done and the roof, so I'll get more pictures this weekend. Martin is loving it.

School has been great too. I'm developing some really good friendships with people from all over the world. I don't know what I'll do when I come back to a place where everybody speaks the same language. Of course, we all communicate in English here, but it's really fun to hear all the different languages all day long. I started Danish classes last week, FINALLY! So, hopefully it will come soon. I've learned all the basic sentences I need to know, like:

"Vi spise nu" (We're eating now) and

"Jeg vil gaerne ha nogle i drikker, ella spise" (I would like something to drink...or eat)

"Drengen er under bordet" (The boy is under the table)

Haha, just kidding, I know those are very random and all about food, but I'm getting the basics now and starting to understand a lot more!

I'm still loving Denmark...it's a bit cold, but I'm getting used to it. I've been wearing boots, scarves and gloves for a month now...ugh. But, overall de er rigtig godt! (It is really good!)

Martin's Birthday!

2008-10-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is a fun tradition. Danes always celebrate birthdays with Danish flags. So there were Danish flags all over the house. This is Martin's family while we waited for him and Daniel to get there.
He was very surprised! They had been shopping for tools, so he got there a little later than expected. :)
His mom gave me some candle holder, but he seems to think they are glasses. :)

Ok, so Martin is probably one of the hardest people in the world to surprise. After lots and lots of change of plans, we finally were able to surprise him on his birthday. It was great fun. Pia, Johan and I took the train to Vejle (where his mom lives) and Daniel kept him busy at the Lumber Store so we could get things ready. When he came in, we had hot chocolate and his mom cooked dinner. After dinner, he opened presents and we celebrated with some really yummy (nothing like I had tasted before) cake. :)

I got us tickets to see Casting Crowns in Arhus in November, and he was really excited about that. Johan just got back from the States, so he brought him some Dr. Pepper. That was exciting. It turned out to be a really good night.

School days!

2008-09-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

It feels like it's almost Christmas because it's gotten pretty cold the last two days. Although, it's been perfect weather for about a week. Denmark is really pretty nice in good weather. :)

So the start of school was really good. We went on a three day trip to the West Coast and it was wonderful! There are only 2 Americans here; me and another guy from Dallas, so that is fun. Everyone else is mostly from Europe, lots of Italians and Danes. It's helpful for my Danish, but everything at the school is either spoken in English or translated into English so I have to seek out people to speak Danish with.

This week started the first week of real school and I'm already enjoying my classes so much. Besides the Missions School, I'm taking a Biblical Doctrine class, Biblical Survey, Communication, Ethics/World Issues and Danish language classes. So, it's been really interesting. We had our first meeting with the Missions School today. It's a very small school because it's brand new, but I think it will be a really good group. We're planning two trips this year. The big one will be in April and we'll be going to Togo, Africa. At the end of November we will be going on a small trip to China. I'm really excited about these trips and I can already see areas of my life that God is shaping and molding. Missions is obviously something that God put on my heart many, many years ago. I could have chosen any of the other schools at the bible college because they all seem really great, but I feel so strongly that missions is where God is calling me for this year. It is both, Martin and my greatest passion, and we believe it could only come from the Lord. More details for those trips will come later this week, especially the China trip. Please just pray that we will continue to hear from the Lord this year.

Here are some of my classmates. This was on our trip to the West Coast. We realized after we had finished eating lunch that there were 9 different countries sitting at the table. It's so cool, I absolutely love it! In this picture we have 2 from Texas (the guy in the front is from Dallas) Japan, England, France, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Wales and Italy. It's been a lot of fun hanging out with people from all over. You really learn a lot!

Back to school...back to school...(almost)

2008-09-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here are some new pics of my nephew, David. I think I miss him more than humanly possible. Every time I get on Justin and Yvette's blog, I just want more than anything to be able to hold David. I've heard through my mom and Yvette that he's crawling faster than ever and saying "mama" now. I'm guessing that his next words are going to be "Aunt B" but I probably need to be coaching him a little more on that one. :)

We are on our 5th day in a row of sunshine in Denmark. I'm absolutely loving it. It makes riding your bike so much more pleasant when you don't have to worry about trying to do it in the rain. School starts on Monday. I am so excited. I've felt very encouraged this week knowing that next week, I will have a normal schedule, responsibility, homework, etc. :) I'm really excited to see what God is going to do.

I've become at peace with the fact that I won't be working while I am here. At first, it was a very scary thought, but God has already proven so faithful to provide whatever I need and I know I can trust him because he's called me here and still teaching me to depend on him for all my needs. I'm just so thankful for friends and for being a part of the body of christ.

Martin is working hard as always. He is almost finished remodeling his mom's house, just in time to begin building his brother's new house. I thought that I grew up in a family of construction, but I hadn't seen anything until this family. We've been working on new projects since I've been here. First it was my apartment, then his mom's house, now it will be Daniel and Pia's new house that they are building from the ground up. There is also another project in the future that is very exciting. The church has given Martin the opportunity to remodel this old farm building next to the church into a hang out/meeting place for the teenagers. With the help of Pia (she's an architect) they've made a plan for the space and the exciting part is that he will build an apartment attached that he will be able to live in, and then both of us after we are married. We'll get to design it ourselves and then also have someone pay us to build it. It's really exciting, but still in the very beginning stages, so we're still praying God will be done for it.

Teen Radical has been going great. I feel like I am finally really connecting with some of the kids and they are hungry for Jesus. The Danish church is very different from the American church, but I feel so blessed to be a part of this one, they are hungry for change and hungry for Jesus. I'm excited to see what will happen in this new year.

Check out the new pictures of Teen Radical on my Picasa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/LynseyWardlaw

The exciting world of no schedule!

2008-09-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

So here I am on my 5th week in Denmark with absolutely no schedule. I must say, it does get a little old. :) I think you wish and wish for more time off, but then when you have too much, you can find another reason to complain. :) No, it's good really. I need to enjoy it and take it all in. I got to talk with my school leaders at the Bible College yesterday for the first time. I got a copy of the weekly schedule and it is going to be incredibly busy 5 days a week, so I know I will be wishing for that free time back again.

As of right now, I think I am leaning more towards the School of Missions than the Counseling School. I met the leader of that one and he was so excited about the new year. The Missions School will take 2 trips this year, one to China and one to Africa, so of course that makes it a bit more exciting. I have spoken with one girl who is also a teacher and she took the counseling school at the bible college. She said that it seemed like a lot of information that she already knew just from her education in being a teacher. So, I think I can see where God is leading me, but I am not for sure yet.

That brings me to my next prayer point. I just recently found out that I won't be able to work at all while I am here this year. Because of the type of school I am going to, the work/study visa doesn't apply to me. I only have a study visa. So...praise God, I sold my car, but I will have to trust the Lord to provide for my needs this year financially. I know he can and will do that, because I know he's called me here and he IS faithful. I am just having to learn how to live on a very small budget again...nothing like being a single teacher, who still lives at home. :)

We've been working so much with the teenagers. That is the one thing that really reminds me of home and I'm so glad that the Lord has given me the opportunity to step into that right away. Especially now, while I have a lot of free time. Martin and I are finding it hard to find time to sit down and plan our wedding...he is CRAZY busy. But, the reality is hitting me that I kind of need to get started on that, so hopefully soon we'll get the ball rolling.

I was kind of sad to miss the 1st day of school again this year, but I love hearing everyone's stories of ''school days''. It's just so fun.

Thanks for all your prayers! They're SO appreciated!

New pics of the apartment

2008-08-21T04:56:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/LynseyWardlaw

Becoming Familiar

2008-08-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

3 beautiful days in Denmark in a row! I've heard that that is not very common, so I'm trying to take it all in and enjoy it. It was a great weekend. They had a "Culture Weekend" in downtown Kolding this weekend which just meant that all weekend downtown had different activities, bands, food, etc. On Saturday, the church worship team led worship in the streets and that was really fun. It was a beautiful day. I'm starting to meet lots of people and I love that I can now ride my bike down the street and constantly be running into people I know. It's really fun now that I am starting to get involved. I keep making all kinds of connections with people in the school and in the church.

Last night was the first night for Teen Radical. That is what they call the youth group and I stepped right into leadership there because Martin is the main leader with the youth pastor. The youth pastor is named Matt and he is from England. He's a pretty cool guy. The kids were sweet, they are pretty young because their high school only goes up to 9th grade, then they usually go to Boarding School which has it's own youth events. So these are 7-9th graders. They were fun, and really enjoyed practicing their English with me. It's hard to leave a place like Lake Highlands because those kids are passionately pursing Jesus, but we have big vision for the kids this year and I just keep praying for a breakthrough. We're starting Life Groups with them at the end of the month, which is going to be a big change for them, but I think it will be good.

This morning I got to teach in a religion class at Lykkergard Skole, the Danish school that Johan's parents work at. Johan's dad has a 9th grade class that is about to come to the US, so he wanted me to come and talk with them about church in the United States. It was really fun. The Danish school system is very different from ours, but it was really fun to be in front of a class again. Then, on my way home I ran into a lady named Tina who goes to the church and is an English teacher at the Boarding School and she asked if I would like to come talk to her classes too. So, I'm getting to be in the schools a little and work with the youth, so it's been good.

God has really been taking care of my heart because I have not been nervous or overwhelmed to meet people and branch out, even though the kids only speak limited English. Usually, I would really be nervous about that. Everyone here seems to already know me though, so that helps. I'm sure that's how Martin felt when he came to the States and met everyone.

So things have been good so far. I promise more pics will come soon. The problem is, I have them all on my computer, but I'm always using someone else's computer for internet. I'm sure life will be normal soon. :)

2008-08-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

Getting Settled

2008-08-11T05:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally moved into my apartment. Kelly and I slept here for the first time Sunday night. We still have a lot to do, but we can function here now. So, in Denmark it is pretty custom/popular to paint every room in the house white, have white counter tops, etc. It's a very modern style. So, in order to keep our American style, we painted our living room GREEN, like leaves. :) and Kelly's room is bright blue. We felt it was necessary to be different in our style, since we aren't Danish. We had a great time doing it. For two American girls who moved to Denmark, we sure do have a lot of stuff, thanks to people constantly blessing us with furniture, dishes, etc. I just need a few more things, and we'll go to IKEA next weekend.

I got my VISA yesterday, praise Jesus! They actually sent it straight to my house so I don't even have to go to Copenhagen to pick it up like I thought I would. God is so good and faithful. It's my first day today by myself because Martin and Kelly both went to work today. Johan and I did some errands before he headed back to school and I got a lot of things done around the apartment, but I can tell that this is going to get quit boring after a while. Pray that God will provide me a job, now that I have a Visa. Pray that I will be led exactly where he wants me to be to work. It's kind of difficult finding a job when I don't speak Danish, but I'm confident that the Lord has something for me during this time, I just need to seek him to find out what it is.

Martin and I went to pick up Kelly and Johan in Germany on Friday morning. We left at 5:00 am to get there in time, but it was fun. We did a lot of shopping at the border of Denmark and Germany for really cheap. Then, we came back and worked on the apartment all day. The next day we worked at Martin's mom's house because she is remodeling, so I am pretty exausted today. I'm not sure yet if I realize that I'm still not on vacation, but I'm sure it will hit soon.

I hope everyone is doing great! I sure do miss all of you, and want to hear what is going on in your lives.

Vi ses!

2008-08-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

2008-08-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

Martin's little brother, Philip

His older brother Daniel and girlfriend, Pia

2008-08-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome! I won't post pictures of the apartment until we've finished working on it. But, this is my front door.

2008-08-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

This is when I found my newest surprise...my new bike!

2008-08-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

After I arrived in Copenhagen...with all my stuff. :)

Well taken care of!

2008-08-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, I sure do feel welcome and well taken care of by my new Danish family. Yesteday I got to see my new apartment and OH WOW! When Martin sent me the pictures of the apartment I was a little worried. However, he and his family took off work for 3 days and worked on it and it is amazing. I got new sanded hard-wood floors, new countertops, stove, sink in the kitchen and bathroom as well as paint in all the rooms with new trim, an awesome ''raining'' shower head and my bed was set up with a new duvet and pillows. And the big surprise was my brand new bike :) I was absolutely overwhelmed! (oh yeah, and very important...a very nice coffee maker) Martin's family has welcomed me and tried to make me feel at home from the second I got here. I will post pictures of the new apartment as soon as we get some things moved in.

We went on a bike ride to the Bible College today and the church which is right across the street. It took about 2 minutes on my bike, so that's great. Then, we went through downtown and I figured out how to get to the grocery store and the library, which is really nice. It's so nice here in Kolding. There is a big castle in the middle of town which is surrounded by a cute little ''walking strees only'' downtown area.

Last night I ate with Daniel and Philip (martin's brothers) and Pia, Daniel's girlfriend. They are so nice and speak English beautifully, so that was really easy and fun. Today I met Jakob and Gitte (the people that Martin lives with) and their three kids. I went on a bike ride with the little boys Hans and David even though they don't speak English yet (they are 2 and 4) we managed to stay alive. :) I am already starting to pick up a lot of single Danish words. It's been so great so far. My roommate, Kelly gets here next Friday, so I'm excited about that and we'll finish up the aparment before that.

God is constantly reminding me of his blessings and his provision over Martin and I. It has been so good spending time together and figuring out how to do life together. God is growing us and I just pray that we will always be growing and learning in his will.

Miss you all very much... more updates to come.
(Don't forget to email me and keep me updated on your lives and how I can pray for you!)

I made it!

2008-07-31T04:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm here and I've had the most wonderful time already. Martin was there to meet me with a Danish/American flag and Starbucks. :) My flights were both great. I was a little delayed, but no big deal. Scandinavian Airlines are GREAT, and I got all my luggage, praise Jesus! We spent the night at Frank and Bitte's house in Copenhagen. (Johan's aunt and uncle who we stayed with last year) They are amazing people. They gave me the master bedroom while they slept outside in a tent. (Even though they had 2 other bedrooms) Martin also surprised me with a cell phone. His mom bought me a new cell phone and he got me service for it. It came supplied with all the numbers I will need and every pizza place in Kolding. :) It's been so great to be here with him. It's just so normal when I'm with him, just like it's meant to be. Today I will get to see my apartment. Martin and his family have been working really hard on it for days, so I can't wait to see what it looks like. I will post pictures as soon as I get them. We're going to eat at his older brother's house tonight.

The weather is beautiful and everything is going perfectly so far. Praise God for his blessings. I'm so overwhelmed by God's love for us. I miss everyone already. Blessings on your week!!

2008-07-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

2008-07-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

And I'm on my way...

2008-07-28T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hey friends!

I figured this would be the easiest way to keep everybody updated on my new adventures in Denmark. I'm leaving tomorrow, July 29th, at 5:00 and will arrive in Copenhagen at 1:20 pm on Wednesday. I'M SO EXCITED! God is just so good. Over the past few weeks I've had to say goodbye to so many very special people and it's been really hard, but I know the Lord has exciting things ahead. For those of you who don't know, I'll be going back to school at a Bible College in Kolding, Denmark. I'm going to study either Biblical Counseling or Missions. I don't have to be decided quite yet. So, I'll be in DK for almost 2 months before I start school. Once I get there, I'll be looking for a part time job. This will be a great time for me to get settled...HANG OUT WITH MY FIANCE, and start to become familiar with the wonderful Danish culture!

I'll be there until the beginning of July when I'll come home to get ready for the wedding, which is July 17, 2009. Thank y'all all so much for all your prayers and support that you have given me over the past years. Pray for Martin and I during this time that we will grow to know and love eachother the way God designed it and always keep Jesus as our center.

Love you all! Keep checking back for more updates and pictures!