fun in the October sun!!?

Well, we've had another busy week at work and another exciting few days of play too!! On Wednesday Mark and I got the chance to go out exploring together, it was a beautiful day and we got up pretty high. We took the furnicular train up the mountain (far too steep and far to walk!) and had a walk up there on the  tops, it was beautiful...see for yourself

The train arriving...note the incline!

Mark admiring the view on the way up

WoW!

Up where the air is clean...

Also this Saturday we woke up to a rather cloudy looking morning, surely not...? But don't panic, we were not stuck indoors all day. All we had to do was get above the cloud level and enjoy the sunshine from up there!! So Mark thought it would be a good idea to take me on my first ever Via Ferrata; its like rock climbing and walking mixed together...not for the faint hearted!

Yes, that's me climbing up a sheer rock face!

And, yep, that's me hanging on to a sheer rock face!

That's Mark hanging out behind a waterfall!

The views were incredible...when you dared to look!

The cable you see goes all along the course and it is what suspends you between life and certain death!!

A crevice to negotiate!

This is the zip wire finish to the Via Ferrata, you had to hook yourself on to the wire with a pulley and just leap off the rocks over a drop and a river...talk about a leap of faith!! The video clip begins with me just yealling to Mark "I love you!"...well, I had to say it in case it was my last opportunity!!! Needless to say, we are still very much alive!

So, as you can see our busy times are interspersed with fun adventures!

Something to add for the prayer list is I have decided to write a play for the Christmas service for the youth. Many of you will know that this has often been my job in years past! Pray for inspiration, I want it to be light-hearted and fun but at the same time evangelistic and with the serious and wonderful message of our saviour's birth! (And please don't forget to be praying for the up and coming youth retreat too!)

Yey...my mum and nan are visiting this week...the next post will let you know what we get up to!

Much love
xxx

The Appartment!!

DING DONG!!! "That'll be the door bell..."

Hehe! This is Mark looking through the spy-hole! (In case you were wondering!!)

Our cute (!?) kitchen

Tea making area!

It is surprising the delicacies you can create in here!!

Welcome to the lounge/dining area, take a seat and make yourself comfortable...

As pretty as they are, I'm beginning to think the white chair covers were a little dangerous!!

Thank you IKEA for our fabulous corner sofa bed! And thank you second hand shop for my pretty dresser!!

Our bedroom...with temporary canvas wardrobes until we get some from IKEA

A different angle on the bedroom

And  of course...the bathroom!

 Well, hope you enjoyed the grand tour, don't hesitate to visit again soon, the kettle will be on...but call first!!

Please pray for us this weekend as we are doing the kids' work for a local church who is having their retreat, they did the favour for Westlake's church retreat so we are returning favours! We will need lots of energy, and good memories as we are doing sketches etc!! Pray that the children meet with God in a way they have never encountered before.

Love to all xxx

All things bright and beautiful...

Bonjour à tous, j'espère que vous allez bien et cette semaine a été bonne!

Well, it's Saturday and the men are on the church 'Men's hiking and biking day' so I'm making my way through my joblist. Bathroom=done! Washing up=done! Cup of coffee=done! hehe...as you can guess, the list is almost as long as when I wrote it! So what happened this week? Well, Monday was a bank holiday here in Switzerland; which was very welcome! A group of us decided to visit the longest Glacier in Europe...the Eletsch (SP!?) Glacier...I will let the photos speak for themselves, it was another breathtaking moment!

This time we took the Cable car-much more sensible!

That's me with 3 of the Slack girls, Gustavo and Suleidy came too

Yes, that's me and no, it wasn't a bet to wear that hat, I chose to wear it. Think what you like. But take note of that massive Glacier!!!

It looked a bit like a huge motorway from up here

You can make out the line above the glacier now where it was in the 1800s.

Tom and Karen (an elder and his wife) also came with us

Too beautiful for words (ambiguous I know!)

View of the other side; that point in the middle is the Matterhorn...see last post!!

On Tuesday evening we were joined by our friend from Bradford, Joel and his friend Adam. They set off at 1am Tuesday morning and arrived with us at tea time the same day! Good going! They kindly brought with them some of our less-essential items (another car load-where will we put it?!) and in return are named as our first offical house guests here in Switzerland. We have had a great time, we had the day to show them around on Wednesday and they have been doing some exploring of their own. We're going out for a meal tonight and they'll be returning to GB after church on Sunday afternoon.

A picnic spot in Leysin, we are guaranteed to take you here if you come and visit!

Enchiladas!!!

Our 'Permit Bs' came yesterday which is great because that was one of the final things on our lists! Now we can get swiss mobiles and really feel at home here! We also went to get health insurance yesterday (a legal requirement here), for someone who hasn't gone to the doctors in over 3 years I found it very hard to stomach that we will be paying so much money per month in case we need to see a doctor etc, and then because we requested a high excess we'll have to pay the bills anyway!! It was a bit scary really and made us realise how much we are completely in God's hands in terms of our health! Who knows what is around the corner, but we trust that whatever God's plans are they are the best as He sees the end from the beginning. Reckless abandon at the feet of Yahweh...I can't imagine a better place to throw myself!

I know I promised pics of the appartment, but whilst our guests are here it is not as neat and tidy as usual...so keep checking I will eventually give you the grand tour!!

Keep us posted as I endeavour to keep you updated.

a bientot!

Baptisms and the mighty Matterhorn...~

Well, four weeks have gone by already in Switzerland! Can you believe it?! Here's some great things that happened this week: Six people got baptised in the lake on Sunday. We did our first food shop to fill our empty cupboards. We hiked in Zermatt and stood in the shadows of the Matterhorn. We got internet in the appartment!

They were the headlines! So, as I said, the service on sunday was a little shorter than usual and then we walked down to the lakeside for some baptisms. Three members of the youth, one mum and one Sunday School kid got dunked as a symbol of their dedication to leave behind their old lives and follow Jesus. Thankfully the weather was beautiful. We had a 'bring and share' lunch afterwards which was yummy!

Martin with Jeff and his wife Nathalie

Nathalie and Jeff's son, Joshua

Ashleigh, Jeff's daughter (yes, there were 3 from the same family!)



Elizabeth, the youngest baptee (!?) at 10 yrs old



Jeanne-Catherine, one of our youth

Lydia, Martin's 2nd daughter

Church crowds, just as I imagine it would have been in John-the-Baptist's time!

More spectators

Of course...a quick swim afterwards!

We are so excited that God has brought us to a church which is growing, not only in numbers but in terms of the peoples' faith. We are so privelaged to watch Him at work here.


Wednesday was a treat; the Slack girls had a teacher training day so we thought we'd join the family on an outing to Zermatt and a hike to see the Matterhorn, it was breathtaking (or was that just the hike?!) see for yourself...

That's the Matterhorn, right there!

Time for a picnic

It was a pretty tough walk, Katie did so well and has the blisters as proof of  her bravery 

The Slack girls (from L-R) Hannah, Lydia, Katie, Naomi

Something to make you giggle, pay extra attention to Mark! hehe!

Naomi's fab photography

You can't really tell but I'm having a back massage here; starting to feel the hike a bit! (Must be my age!)

Mountain-top huddle in the wind

Mark's impression of the Matterhorn

cable car down-too tired to walk!

Back through the village of Zermatt

Shattered on the train back to the car!

As you can see we had a beautiful day, I haven't got any pictures of this, but as a treat for our sore muscles we stopped off at a natural thermal baths on the way home exactly what our aching bodies needed!

Here's a prayer update;

Please pray for the upcoming youth retreat in November
Please pray for health as I'm feeling a bit under the weather today-I think 4 crazy weeks are taking their toll on my body now as I begin to relax.
Please pray for Refuel tonight-youth meeting
Please pray for Mark as he teaches tonight and on Sunday morning with the youth

Praying people, please be encouraged by this psalm:


Psalm 65
 What mighty praise, O God,
belongs to you in Zion.

We will fulfill our vows to you,
 for you answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you.
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,
you forgive them all.
What joy for those you choose to bring near,
those who live in your holy courts.
What festivities await us
inside your holy Temple.

 You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds,
O God our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth,
even those who sail on distant seas.
You formed the mountains by your power
and armed yourself with mighty strength.
You quieted the raging oceans
with their pounding waves
and silenced the shouting of the nations.
 Those who live at the ends of the earth
stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets,
you inspire shouts of joy.

 You take care of the earth and water it,
making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water;
it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
for you have ordered it so.
You drench the plowed ground with rain,
melting the clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth with showers
and bless its abundant crops.
 You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;
even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
 The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture,
and the hillsides blossom with joy.
The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,
and the valleys are carpeted with grain,
They all shout and sing for joy!

 Coming up next...appartment photos!

IKEA…We love and hate you at the same time!!

This week was moving week, also known as ‘manic week!’ We got the keys to our appartment on the 2nd of Spetember but had a completely empty appartment so it took us a while to actually sleep in it. We packed up our stuff from the Bottimore’s (yet another move!) and hauled it over to our appartment. We have been so well looked after and fed at the Bottimore’s that part of me was reluctant to leave!

For the first few nights we camped out on an airbed and what with me at Edukids and Mark working in the offices it has been a slow progressive move-in. We took our day off this week to go to IKEA, after spending about 3 hours in the morning looking around we then went around some second-hand shops (Where, by the way for those who know how much I love the one I left behind, I found a smaller but similar pine dresser! Yes!) only to go back to IKEA that evening and buy everything…bed, mattress, sofa bed, dining chairs, small table, lights, etc etc! A family here very generously gave us some money for a bed; God cannot stop providing-He is amazing! And this was the predicament at the end of that trip…

Praise God for the big car (yet again!)!



So that evening (Wednesday) we built up our bed and collapsed into it at about 10:30!

Friday was my day off and I spent the whole day blitzing-my hands are calloused from allen keys and screwdrivers! The appartment is beginning to take shape now, and I’ll spend the rest of this morning making it ‘pretty’ (girls, you know what I mean!)


Also this Friday was the second of the ‘Youth Discipleships’; here’s a photo of a game we played afterwards; (apes, cowboys and ninjas-a spruced up version of rock, paper, scissors!)

Here’s Mark doing some work in our appartment (sneak preview…watch this space for photos of the completed appartment!)

Prayers



Thank you to those who are praying for us, we have absolutely no doubt that you are; we are reaping the answers. I would just ask that you also pray for Jeff and Naomi and the family especially at this time. Most of you will know that it was the Cuozzo family we helped out in the Lake District in 2007-2008. They have since moved back to America and Naomi fell pregnant. However, at 18 weeks she discovered the baby had no heartbeat and had been taken to be with Jesus. As you can imagine they are devastated. Please pray for this precious family, they mean a lot to us.


Thank you, we love you!

xxx