Here it is the end of the first week of March and as I look out of my window at the brightly colored apartment buildings across the street, I see the buds on the big tree in the yard about to happen; the “schneeglöckchen” have already poked their little white flowers above the ground where the snow used to be; the sky is only partially obscured and it is beginning to snow again for the third time today! Ah yes, spring is just around the corner.
Since the first of February we have taken part in a couple of projects. The formal language training that began on February 1 is going very well. Our class has grown from 6 attenders to only 4 attenders. We didn’t have a really diverse group to begin with. There were 4 M’s and a lady from Estonia who lives in Basel, Switzerland. We were joined for a week or so by another M; sadly family issues caused her to drop the course. This week the Estonian lady found a job working nights in Basel and she, too had to drop out. Sadly, in a week’s time the class will be down to just 2 – almost a private lesson for those remaining.
Elena, our teacher, is excellent. She is more concerned that we learn the language than get all the way through the book. Every day is different and well worth looking forward to. We spend hours just talking with Elena, patiently tapping the desk when we don’t get the structure exactly right – the good news is that she is not rapping our knuckles when we put the verb in the wrong place! We seek out every opportunity to share our faith in class with Elena. Even though she is Russian, her German is almost without accent.
Please continue to Pray with us for and about The “other” project that we have been working on. This has been with our kids in Korea – the ones we have asked you to pray about. Almost every day as we have talked with them we have noted that they seemed to be a little more tired than the day before. Even through our SKYPE connection, we could feel the tension and stress of their situation mounting. Jimmy has finally gotten a date for the surgery to repair his “Your NFL career is over” knee injury and Mary was finally told by the folks in the OB department that it was imperative for her to slow down and cut back on her schedule. All of that to say that we have asked for and been approved to take a Leave of Absence to go Korea and help our kids get through the situation in which they find themselves. We spent the better part of a month praying about this. Thank you for joining with us.
We did not arrive at the decision lightly; neither did we take the request for the Leave of Absence lightly. Taking a leave of absence from the Company means that we will be able to go to Korea and help the kids out for a few months and then we will return to Germany. While we are in Korea and away from our assignment in Germany, the Company does not pay us and we don’t receive the Company’s benefits. In approving our leave of absence, the Company was both compassionate and very generous. God has provided for us to be the solution to our kid’s situation. We will fly to Korea on March 14with the intent of returning to Germany later in the summer. Our son-in-law will have surgery on April 15 and Mary is supposed to have the baby about the last week of April. We will remain in Korea long enough to make sure they are able to get back to some sort of normalcy – even though it will be a new “normal” with a third child and a rebuilt knee.
Please be sure to pray for the M’s. Scott and Jo Ellen and Len and Amber will continue at language school here. Pray specifically for them to be able to get out and use their new language as much as they are able to do. Pray that Dad will give them courage to speak up, even if they can only say a couple of words. Also there will be several moves in the next few months. Pray for David and Laura as they change jobs and move back to the States. Pray for Rick and Valarie as they are expecting an addition to their family soon. They are having a tough time in their location.
Be sure to check our Face Book: RayandPaula Milburn for updates and what is going on with us.
Blessings,
