Stand By for the Blitz!

"OK, Mom and Dad, Alpha got his visa, we're leaving in 4 hours!"  That's how it happened.  Four minutes and three months earlier, the visa had just been an application that had been denied and looked out of reach, but now, they had Alpha's visa in hand and, with school starting in less than 2 weeks, they needed to fly to Germany that night!  Funny thing about visas, they're really hard to get, but if you get one and don't use it, they figure you never really wanted it in the first place and there is less of a chance that you will ever get one again!

Needless to say, we had a great time!!  It was Alpha's first time out of Bangladesh and his two main observations were that no one honked their horn and that there were SOOOO many incredible cars and motorcycles!

Saying goodby at the airport

Since Jared is still with us, it was a great time of "brother bonding".  They are very similar in so many ways!  Bike riding, computer games, hours in the local computer stores...they couldn't have gotten along better.  AND, I got my "mommy time" with Emily!!!  We love seeing them as a married couple and are excited to see all that God has in store for them!  They are back in Bangladesh now with Emily teaching and Alpha having three job interviews this past and next week!

First day of School

Speaking of school, Jim and I started our intensive German course the first week of July!  We are in class 8am-1:15pm Monday - Friday and have about 2 hours of homework each night.  It is VERY intense!  We are very encouraged by the progress we are making.  We will continue through this A1 level, then on to A2 and B1.  Each level is 8 weeks long and those who finish B1 should have the language capability to get a German speaking job!  We are excited that we have finally gotten into this course, as we have been trying to get in since we arrived in November!

Our classes are very international.  Jim has fellow-students from China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Columbia, Romania, Yemen and the US and mine are from Saudi Arabia, Palestine, China, Syria, Canada, Venezuela and Italy.

Some of Lina's classmates

God continues to open doors relationally and we are excited to become more fluent in German.  Please pray for us:

• Praise God for the time we have had to spend with our youngest son, Jared here this summer.  We have enjoyed a number of heart to heart talks and we have seen God at work in his life.  He has worked on many scholarship applications to be able to return to John Brown University on August 24.
• Pray for some of those scholarships to come to fruition.
• Praise the Lord for allowing Emily and our son-in-law, Alpha to visit us here for 10 days.  Pray that God will continue to knit them together as a married couple and that He will provide a visa for them to come to the States next year for Alpha to work on his Masters.
• Pray for Alpha as he continues the job application process, that God will provide a job.
• Pray for Nate and Raine.  We really miss them!  They seem to be doing well in Colorado with Nathan's new job and a new dog!  Pray that God will also continue to knit them together as a married couple.
• Pray for Jim and me as we will be taking our German language A1 comprehensive exam on Friday, August 21 and Monday, August 24.  This is the culmination of the first two months of intensive instruction and study.  Passing with a 70% or better will allow us to move onto the A2 level course in September.  The test covers five areas: Listening and reading comprehension, writing, grammar and a speaking interview.

 Thank you for your love, prayers and support.  We are so thankful for all of you!

Nate and Raine's dog, Odin.