Resting and Believing

This Wednesday will mark my "week" anniversary for arriving in Vienna. In many ways it seems like it has been a lot longer than a week and as I sit here in our kitchen sifting through which thoughts and experiences to share I find that I am at a loss at the moment for sharing many of them. When you are in an entirely new context you undergo a tremendous amount of change and are constantly learning at both a conscious and unconscious level. The amount of intake I have undergone concerning physical surroundings, navigation, emotional adjustments, spiritual "climate", aspects of community, etc. have been huge (for lack of a better term). I cannot begin to describe God's faithfulness to my teammates and I, but I hope that in this post and after you will be able to see some of what I am seeing.

I am overwhelmed by the amount of care that us interns are receiving from the New City Wien team. I have never felt so cared for on a volunteer trip. The emphasis placed on prayer and spending time with the Lord is such a blessing. On Monday we had several hours to ourselves to find a place (for me it ended up being several areas) to spend time with God - talk, listen, meditate on His word, etc. Before Vienna, and especially now that I am here, God has been teaching me the importance of just "being". This is another way of talking about identity - does my identity come from who I am in Christ or what I do? A more specific theme that has flowed out of this is simply believing and resting. On Monday I was sitting in front of Karlskirche (Karls Church)...

I stopped here to read some Scripture and as I was reading out of Genesis a gust of wind flipped some pages over to a short underlined phrase in Exodus which read: "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Coincidence? Maybe. Probably not though.

On our second day in Vienna, Lindsay, a long-term intern who has been here for 1.5 years, shared from John:

Then they [the disciples] asked him, "What must we do to do the work

that God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to

believe in the one he has sent."

John 6:28-29

The next day I read from Mark, as I followed my daily scripture reading guide to read the Bible in a year via genre. Here is what I read (larger context is Mark 5:21-43):

While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus,

the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother

the teacher any more?" Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue

ruler, "Don't be afraid, just believe."

Mark 5:35-36

I am sure that this theme of rest and believing will continue throughout my trip. I would like to share one last "Jesus moment" concerning this from last night. This just goes to show that when we invite the Lord to make us increasingly aware of his love and presence in our lives, he will answer our prayers. God longs to reveal himself in greater ways to us as we are willing. It is a wondrous thing to see how God seamlessly orchestrates our lives to bless us, our relationship with Him, and our relationship with others. Last night I "accidentally" came across this sermon excerpt that fit with what God had been reminding me of the past week:

God is so good. I am learning more and more how actively living for God comes out of resting and believing. Soon I will share some more about the interns first New City Wien service and our second prayer walk. For now, I will share a few pictures :)

Bis Dann! (Until then, i.e., when we meet again)

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Swing ride (350 ft high) in a Viennese amusement park

Vienna's grandeur buildings are lit up at night

Delicious Indian meal in Naschmarkt

Best coffee so far in a most unexpected place: a tiny stand underground

at a subway stop

Hilarious