Austrian Baseball...

Even in Austria, Baseball season is in full swing. Justin is playing at the American International Baseball Club (AIBC) with the Major Twins and with the Vienna Lions in the Schülerliga Ost of the Austrian Baseball Federation.

Justin did well in his Austrian baseball debut. This is the first of his four hits that he had in this game

This is his fourth his of the day...a double to right

He also pitched three innings with no earned runs and 4 strikeouts. Not bad!

I am playing on the Vienna Mets in the Regionalliga Ost. This team plays in the third tier of Austrian baseball and serves as the farm club for the Vienna Metrostars in the top division (the ABL). The pictures below are from a pre-season game agains the Piratas del Caribe (that's right)...

team before the game

I played catcher for the entire 9 inning game...

Our schedule is now packed with baseball as Tuesdays are the only days of the week where there is no potential for baseball related activities. Its been great for all three of us as it has allowed us to make new Austrian friends...hopefully our Deutsche will improve as well!

All these innings of baseball have lead to an increase in photo shoots for Rebecca!

It turns out that playing baseball in Austria is pretty serious business; both Justin and I are now official card carrying members of the Austrian Baseball Federation and stats, results, and standings for our club teams are regularly posted within a day of a game being played.

You can check out the results and stats for both Justin and I on the Homerunners Baseball Club website. We are part of the same system, so there is a really good chance that in 4 or 5 years we will be able to play together on the same team.

Comments

Who are these kids at ICSV...

Hi everyone... The first week and a half of school has been absolutely amazing! We have had some great opportunities to begin building lasting relationships with the students that God has brought to Vienna to be educated at the International Christian School of Vienna. Rebecca has been adjusting well to her role as secondary secretary. She is learning quickly the many demands of her new role and is doing quite well in supporting us teachers and the rest of the staff. Rebecca hard at work I have been really enjoying my classes. I have a total of 43 students spread out over 4 periods. The students I have represent 14 different home nations, with many of the students who are "Austrian" are first generation, so they are of other nationalities as well. I have also had the opportunity to begin working with the soccer team...again, many nationalities are represented on the field, truly an international squad. Here are some pictures of the team training at the local club

Almost a Year - A reflective poem by Rebecca

It’s been almost a year since we got on the plane. Knowing that we were leaving friends and family; we would never be the same. What has it been like leaving everything we know? Laughter and tears; sun and snow. Up and down; love and fear. All while trusting God for the reason we are here. Relying on support and prayers from the ones you care for, Though scary, freeing, challenging; it means relying on God even more. I’m so thankful to be part of a team who sees that Christ is our need Whether they can see the impact first hand or not, they have blessed students at ICSV. The students and families are so precious, eager to learn and understand What it means to love the Lord with all their hearts and to follow His command. At times I feel so left alone and wondering why God has called me here But then I talk to a student, or go to a school event, that’s when it all becomes clear. God never said life would be easy or even how we think it might be We just need to rely on Him, as He

Clowns and Hospitals

Many of you might remember the 1998 film starring Robin Williams that chronicled the early career of Hunter "Patch" Adams. He began using humor as therapy in his sessions and opened a free hospital in West Virginia. Here is a clip from the film... Fast forward 13 years to a hospital in Vienna, Austria...to a children's surgery ward. As we were sitting talking with some visitors we noticed Justin had more visitors... They proceeded to hand out musical instruments; here's the problem...this was less than 12 hours after Justin's surgery. It really hurt him to laugh at this point...and he still felt horrible After that nonsense, the clowns made 2 more appearances; once when they delivered lunch, and once later in the day when we had our friend Tom Mason visiting. Tom is a fellow missionary serving as a pastor at a local church and a teacher at ICSV. He is also a amateur magician. Pictures of him doing tricks have found their way onto this blog

Johnstein!

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