Johnstein!

Rebecca and I are now concert promoters in Vienna! We, along with 5 other folks here in Vienna, (4 of them ICSV/VCS graduates) have started a verein (association) that is focused on attracting Christian bands to play concerts in Vienna. I am the Director of the verein and Rebecca is the Secretary. You can read more details about the establishment of this ministry by clicking on the picture. Our first official concert will be held on Tuesday 1 November. Write This Down and About An Author will be on a tour through Germany and we are the only stop in Austria. We are also very excited to be able to present an up and coming Austrian band from a town about 1 and a half away. Check out the videos below to get an idea as to what type of music the bands play.  ( Warning:   these bands are "hard-core" bands. They rock hard and scream, at times) WRITE THIS DOWN (USA) - Tooth & Nail Records. Alarm the Alarm We Shot the Moon ABOUT AN AU...

We were able to have Kailyn's dedication on the final day of our staff retreat that was held a few weeks ago. This was a huge blessing for us to be able to do this with all our "family" and friends from ICSV present and praying for our little girl... Our friends the Kleins were very helpful in documenting this very special day...Matt recorded the video... ...while Tricia took photos.... Click on the picture to see more pictures from the dedication We were so grateful that we were able to share this very important occasion in Kailyn's life with all our ICSV family...it was quite humbling to have everyone praying together for our little girl. A special thanks goes out to Tom Mason and James Devenish for leading the dedication...

Speechless. There's really no other way to describe how I felt at the end of last week. Some of you will recall my endeavor to blog at the end of every day. Well, this failed miserably.  Mainly due to the fact that I couldn't truly find a way to describe the events of the week. I figure that I'd give it a shot now that I've had a couple of days to process what happened...so here goes... The Holy Spirit absolutely filled our school over the course of the week. Students' hearts were open to the message and testimonies of all the speakers. They were willing to stay after chapel and open up their hearts to the teachers. I, myself had the privilege of having some pretty amazing conversations and prayer time with individual students. It was a great joy to see the clusters of students who stayed after to pray and minister to each other...and all the teachers who were skipped lunch to simply sit and "be there" for these students. This week was such a ...

One of the great things about this year's SEW is that the middle school and high school chapel is a combined event. Today, the middle school worship team led the time of worship...with Justin as the drummer! Although this isn't his first chapel playing...it's the first time I have heard him play as part of the worship team. Pretty proud moment to say the least. Incredible that Justin is part of a group young people helping to lead the entire secondary school in worship. Our director James Devenish (aka The Guv) presented his testimony within the context of finding Grace despite the restrictions of religion. He told us of his childhood...and the juxtaposition of a very loving, pleasant upbringing, and the fact that his grew up in the Exclusive Brethren. This was an excellent reminder that we are not called to a religion...rather we are called to live in joyful worship of the ONE who has extended this Grace, an unmerited gift, that allows us to live eternally. Ho...

Spiritual Emphasis Week (S.E.W.) is a great part of the school year at ICSV...historically, the school has brought in speakers from outside the ICSV community to speak to the students ( click here to see my posts about last year's SEW ), but this year it was decided that members of our own community would share their testimonies about how God has worked in their lives. Today's theme was Jesus is the Miracle - We had two members of our staff (both elementary teachers) speak about how God saved them from death, when death was the only expectation or prognosis by the doctors. As you can probably imagine, todays testimonies were very intense. The fact that these two ladies should very well be dead is amazing, especially to see how God has used them. There have already been many conversations with students about how God works in ways that seem impossible...even foolish, to believe. But our God is capable of more than we can imagine. Please continue to pray for this weeks spe...