Monthly Archives: July 2018

Update – Andy & Jaycie Johnson

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Loved Ones:

We have just arrived “home” for 2 days from our 2 weeks of being gone in New York for pre-field training (more on that to come).  Tomorrow we head north to Michigan to share this ministry with a church body there on Sunday.  In the meantime, we wanted to share with you two pieces of news that we expect you’re interested to hear about.

First of all, support.  Proverbs 3:5,6 has been especially dear to our hearts these last 6 months since we said yes to this ministry opportunity.  But the past few weeks Proverbs 16:9 has especially settled in our hearts…

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.

This could not be more true than now.  We have spoken about ideal deadlines (both our’s and TEAM’s) for support.  We did not reach 100% by July 1… the purpose of this mark was to enable adequate approval and logistic time (a mere 4 weeks) before our departure date of August 5.  So, what does this mean?  Are we not going at all now?  Will we just have to arrive later than intended?  …we are still going and we are still needing to depart August 5.  It is vital that we make it to Germany in this time frame because as first-time dorm parents we must be part of the 3-week training course with our RAs prior to the students arrival.  So, TEAM will help expedite the approval and logistic process on this side–once we reach 100%.  Now, the exciting news is that we are currently at 86%!  So close!  We only need a handful more of people to join us, by supporting weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Please let us know if you have decided to join and haven’t communicated that to us yet!  https://team.org/givenow/us/add-donation?v2glid=159603

As for the other news…many of you have been waiting, and asking, and waiting… and the time has come!  We are now able to talk about what dorm we will be overseeing.

We told you in the last update that unfortunately BFA has to close a dorm this year, due to the lack of dorm parents.  That created a logistical problem as to how many students to admit, where to house them and in what capacity.  This has been heavy on the hearts of the staff there and we are overjoyed to announce to you that we get to be the dorm parents of the first EVER integrated dorm!!  We will live in Haus Maugenhard (Maug for short) have 10 boys and 10 girls in the dorm with us.  The boys will have their own floor and living space, and the girls will have their own space too but we will share the kitchen, dining room and common areas together! There will also be locks and alarms on all doors that lead to each others’ living area.  BFA is being very intentional in their setup of this to make it safe for everyone.  In fact, almost all of the other schools like BFA around the world have been doing this style of living for many years.  We like to call it Family Style boarding, because it will also allow siblings to live in the same dorm, where as before they were split up.  We were thrilled to hear this news, because we feel like it will more evenly balance the heavy work load, as well as give both of us more time with our students.  Here is a video from a current RA.  Daniel will not be our RA, but what you see in this interview is part of our dorm…

https://www.facebook.com/blackforestacademy/videos/1798988456826320/

Also, here are a few pictures of this past 2 weeks….one is with 2 of our 3 RA’s (Elisa and Seth),