My First Vlog #whoa

One of my students helped me create a video update of the first quarter at ICSV. I wanted to share it with you guys to give you more of a glimpse into my ministry here in Vienna. 

Things to look forward to:

21 November - Final volleyball tournament in Budapest

28 November - Friendsgiving :)

21 December - Flying home for Christmas! 

19 March - Mission trip to Kosovo

7 April - My parents are visiting! 

Prayer Requests:

1. I will be speaking in our Middle School chapel this Wednesday, November 4th. The topic is about Why Jesus Had to Die.
2. For students to be receptive to the gospel and not turned off by it
3. Preparing the students for our upcoming mission trip to Kosovo
4. Current refugee crisis in Europe
5. Peace for major life decisions 

A Letter to the Senior Class

When I first moved to Vienna one of my co-workers, who is now a near and dear friend, asked if I would like to partner with her in being the freshman class advisor. I said, "sure, why not." It'd be a good way to get to know some of the students. I remember meeting most of the students who were 14 and 15 years old at the time. They were freshman and we all know what freshman year looks like: awkward, weird, kind of cute, somewhat lost, and funny. We quickly formed a special bond that last throughout their high school years. Now this class is graduating and they asked me to speak at their Senior chapel this past Thursday. I decided to write a letter to them after being their advisor for four years. 

Freshman at the Junior Formal

Dear Senior Class,

Writing a letter to your class is not an easy thing to do. Knowing that I would need to say goodbye has been weighing heavy on my heart since last years Senior class graduated. I knew this year would go by fast and I knew that we would have a lot of “lasts”. The last planned event, the last sports game, the last praise night, the last mission trip, the last Spanish class, and finally our last trip to Croatia. I was not looking forward to these moments. However, they came. The best adjectives I can use to describe them are bittersweet, beautiful disaster or any other oxymoron that communicates both pain and joy. You might not all realize this but this class holds a very special in my heart. I know that most teachers and students are supposed to maintain a distant relationship and not get “too close”, but we all know that ICSV doesn’t exactly follow those rules. In the past four years I have spent more time with most of you than my co-workers, friends, and family. When I first started working at ICSV, it was your freshman year. You were among some of the first people that I ever met in Vienna.  I remember awkwardly shaking Maika’s hand at Freshman orientation. I remember Elin, Sophia, and Jessie Richards sitting in the back of my Spanish class all smiles and trying to speak Spanish. I also remember them chanting “o,as,a,amos,ais,an” in the hallways which made me smile. I remember Steffi R. and Celeste asking me where I was from and what brought me to Vienna. I remember Sam, Anna-Maih and Nidette sitting front row and not being able to figure them out. We then connected on the word bruja and had some good laughs. I remember putting random T-REX slides in my PowerPoints and thinking they were so funny (which they were). I remember Tim leaving Spanish class after the first day and transferring to German. I remember playing knock out with Oscar and Imman at the first coffeehaus and Ms. Martin winning. I remember Sam and Elin coming to volleyball the first day and then deciding to do musical. I remember our first volleyball practice and Sophia serving a bullet across the court. I remember our jumping picture with Joy and the JV team beating the V team at the championship game and taking 2^nd place.  I remember Faith’s dad showing Basti, Mark, Grumba, and Asil how to make curry for our Asia night event.  I remember playing the game, “Are you smarter than an Asian 5^th Grader” and thinking it was somewhat racist. But it is ICSV and somehow race jokes tend to be OK. I remember how everyone told me that this class was a great class and observing you your freshman year I knew that was true. Ms. Gerdes was a great leader and someone I know you were all close to. To be honest I was nervous to take over your sophomore year and be the leader. I didn’t know how we would connect or even get along especially with all the changes your sophomore year brought. Even though Sophomore year was difficult, we grew closer together and our student/teacher relationship started to change. From Sophomore year until now there have been so many sweet memories that I will always cherish. I will miss you coming into my classroom to say hello or talk, I will miss you emailing me to print something for you, I will miss editing your papers, I will miss having Christmas parties where you all come an hour and a half late and I have to entertain John Schneider.  I will miss the white elephant gifts of free google searches, cat’s play pen, one glove, random CDs, and oranges. I will miss watching you guys perform in Chapel, show choir, musicals, open mic nights and all the other random times you just started singing. I will miss watching Hamza dance surprisingly well in the show choir and Peter amazing us all with his guitar skills. I will miss watching Fakhri’s raw talent on the stage and knowing that he found a passion here at ICSV and secretly hoping he is able to pursue that. I will miss getting texts from Faith that just say, “no”. I will miss the girls giving me fashion advice even though I usually have GREAT fashion sense. I will miss Sam being my incredible TA. Even though I didn’t want one this year I am glad you kept asking me. Anna Maih, you seemed to know when I was having a bad day and would always know how to make me feel better whether it was cleaning my whiteboard, giving me random left over food, or just asking how my day was. Megan, I will miss your baked goods at most of the events and your creativity in planning the events. I will miss subbing for Mr. Martin’s 7^th period Pre-Calculus class and talking with Andrey about Russia, war, paint balling and all things random. I will miss coming up with nicknames for Ellig and seeing her smiling face walking down the halls and traveling together. Maika, you’re appealing and a goof but we share the same personality, which has made for a lot of good memories. Steffi, I am so glad you walked into my Spanish 1 class this year. Even though you'd never admit it, you care deeply for people, see the best in most, and fight for justice. You have a great work ethic and I can depend upon you.  I will miss laughing with you and knowing that despite the sadness of letting go, there has been a unique bond formed that I didn’t expect to happen.  And now, it is time to say goodbye to you. The way that I deal with goodbyes tends to be all over the place. I can be distant, emotional, encouraging and just sad. I have decided to tell each one of you what you have meant to me or what I have learned from you. I know I have had different experiences with all of you and some more than others, but you all have made an impact on my life and I want you to remember that. I don’t want you to forget your time here at ICSV and to know how much you are loved, valued, and cherished.

Senior Girls

These next few months you are going to get a lot of advice on “what’s next in your life”, “how to succeed”, “how not to worry about your future”, “what to do in your future” etc. You will go through changes, moves, meet new people, lose friends, face rejection, heartbreak, get accepted, maybe fall in love, start living on your own and start making life decisions that will greatly affect your future. In the next five years some of you will have graduated university, moved countries, have jobs, maybe even getting married. And some of you may still be in Vienna trying to figure life out. I could give you all types of advice on these subjects about how to be careful with your money, how to guard your heart, how to work really hard in university in order to do well in life etc. But at the end of the day money burns, hearts move on, and working hard can seem futile without a purpose. My advice to you is not something new to your ears. It’s something you’ve all heard thousands of times before. Some of you have really wrestled with this lesson and have either decided to embrace it or leave it alone. This is not a subject that is going to magically disappear when you leave ICSV. In fact, my prayer is that it will stay on your hearts and never leave your side. My advice to you is to NOT reject having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything we choose to do in this life is all about Jesus. Once we choose to follow Jesus, our identity is secure and we are set free. He is your protector and provider and he will not give up on you. This is a prayer that I will not stop praying for this class. So in closing, thank you senior class for being my family these past four years. Thank you for loving me in difficult times, respecting me in the classroom and when planning events, laughing with me or at me, crying with me, praying for me, traveling with me, taking pictures with me, inviting me to your birthday parties and just being there.

Class of 2015

Romania 2K15: Part 2

ICSV and IGA

Ms. Johnson, do we have to leave? Can we please stay another week? I don't want to leave these kids again! Ms..., Can't we do more for them? I feel like I am free here. These were just a few of the comments that I heard from almost every student's mouth as we were getting ready to leave Romania. I have learned that when you travel to a place to serve, you tend to leave more of yourself there and realize that giving is (once again) more rewarding than receiving. When you go to a place for a specific purpose and you are able to see growth and change, you don't want to leave. You want to further the ministry, relationship, or project you began and see it come to fruition. This is what I believe our whole team experienced. Once we started working and building relationships with the people at the care home, our purpose for being there was cemented and we didn't want to leave. As a teacher and leader of this trip, this was a huge answer to pray to see your students become apart of something greater than themselves.

Choose Joy
The theme for our trip was Choose Joy. We really wanted the students to be joyful in every situation they encountered. Whether it was digging deep ditches, painting fences, cleaning bathrooms, sitting next to someone you don't like, or having to wake up early; we wanted them to be joyful. Our prayer was that they would take that idea and bring it back to their everyday lives. To choose joy in the mundane, the boring, the difficult, the stressful, and whatever else they might face.

We had our student leaders create a devotional book titled Choose Joy. They found verses in the bible for the team to read and then created questions for us to apply this theme to our days and lives. Every morning each group would meet with a small group of students from the team and discuss the devotional. Most students were very vulnerable and open about challenges they had faced and how hard it was to choose joy.


Testimonies 

A wise woman told me recently, 

"Let your life be a witness and maybe use some words". 

My favorite part of this trip were the evenings. After a long day of work and a nice warm meal, we would all come together for a large group session. We usually started the evening with worship and then someone would share a little devotional or testimony. I had asked only three students to share their testimonies during the trip; but by the end of the evening, I had five other students approach me and asked if they could share their testimony. We decided to put aside our devotionals and let the students share their stories. This was the part of the trip that greatly impacted everyone. Some of these students have been abandoned, hurt, bullied, lied to, and abused. Some of them have experienced more in their short 15 years of life than most people experience in a lifetime. Throughout their pain and struggle they all decided that Jesus was worth it and decided to make a commitment to follow him despite what may come. For some of these students, choosing Jesus means being disowned by family and friends. After each student shared their story, the rest of the students would surround the student and overwhelm them with hugs, encouragements, kind words, and love. Being vulnerable about some of your darkest secrets and pain risks relationships and status. I was so proud how these kids chose to love their friends even more and choose joy.

Some things that I learned on this trip were nothing that would surprise anyone. If anything, they were reminders as to how I should live my life. I was reminded that everything we do in this life is all about Jesus. It is easy to worry about earthly things, but our minds should be set on heaven. I learned not to judge a book by its cover. After hearing these students stories, I was reminded that you never know what is happening in someone's heart or what they have experienced that influences who they are. Lastly, don't be afraid to ask tough questions. Students want to have intriguing and interesting conversations that challenge them. They want people to pour into them and to take an interest in them. They want to be loved, cared for, and respected. I am hoping these truths will stick with me and am very thankful for this wonderful opportunity. Thank you once again for those who prayed over this trip. The Lord answered them well :). 

Romania 2k15

We're back from our trip to Romania and it was quite incredible. This blog post is just a basic over view of what we did and accomplished on our trip. I will write a more personal one later to further explain what God did in the lives of each one of our hearts.

We left early Saturday morning and drove 8 hours to our destination. Once we arrived at the River of Life care home, we were greeted by students from IGA which is located in Istanbul. Many of our students had known some of them from different events so it was fun for them to be reunited.

On our way

We spent our Palm Sunday attending a Protestant church on the compound. Since we were a group of about 50 people, we pretty much took up the whole church. The women and kids at the care home performed songs for us which was very special. At one point, we all sang a worship song in everyone's native tongue. It was heavenly.  

Palm Sunday

After the church service, we took a tour of the city we were living in for the next week. We were quickly reminded as to how blessed we truly are living in Vienna. This city was very poor and depraved. During our tour we decided to do a pray walk throughout the city. The students broke up into small groups and prayed for each house, street, and person that passed by. 

After the prayer walk, they had a photo shoot: typical.

Work Projects
On Monday morning we were up early and ready to work. We had a lot of work projects to complete and each student was up to the task. No one complained once and these kids worked hard. The first project was to dig a deep tunnel for a septic tank. We finished the tunnel on the last day, inserted the tank, and put all the dirt back.

Before picture

Almost done! 

Another project we were asked to do was to paint a playroom for the kids. Since I have NO artistic ability, I put some very qualified students in charge of this project.

Before

Painting 1 Timothy 4:12

Visionaries 

This group had to dig out a sand pit, mix cement, pour cement, and the build a bike rack for the kids of the care home. They finished this in one day!

Some of the cement was also used to pour into another tunnel for a fence. The fence will separate the animals and kids from a garden. 

Another group of students repainted this iron fence with oil based paint. This project took ALL week and left a lot of stained clothes and faces. :)

Kid's Program

In the afternoons, we put on a kid's program for the care home kids. Our students choreographed dances, songs, brought crafts, and played LOTS of games. Each kid had the biggest smile on his or her face during this time. It was so neat to watch our students build such great relationships with these kids in such a short period of time. The kids were able to worship God, learn some bible stories, and just have fun. 

 

Surprise!

The best part of the whole week was giving these kids the ping pong table. We had raised 800 euro in order to purchase a ping pong table, work supplies, and then just donated the rest. We also had A LOT of people donate various clothes, toys, and sports equipment for these kids. They were beyond excited to receive these items and have new toys to play. In that moment the age old saying never rang more true: giving is more rewarding than receiving. 

The ICSV and IGA team.

Normal photo

Crazy photo

This is my fourth and final mission trip with these lovely ladies :(.

On the drive home to Vienna, the Lord blessed us with a spectacular sunset. The kids in my vehicle called it the Jesus effect. It seemed to be an appropriate theme for the trip. 

Then, our car broke down. We fortunately just crossed into Austria so all of our phones worked and we were able to contact the necessary people. Also, a good samaritan pulled over and helped me drive the car to a service station which just happen to be 2 mins up the road. I also got to wear a pretty cool orange vest that made it look like I knew how to fix a car; don't be fooled though because that couldn't be farther from the truth. What could have been a pretty dangerous situation turned out to be a pretty great memory. 

3rd Times a Charm

Tomorrow I head off to Timisoara, Romania for the third time since my move to Austria. Along with 24 students and 3 other adult leaders, we will be driving to Timisoara to help serve a care home called River of Life. ICSV students and staff have been going to this particular care home for almost 15 years now. River of Life takes in women and children who have been abused or abandoned and gives them a chance at a better life. They also teach these women about Jesus Christ and show his love through service. We have established a deep relationship with this care home and for some of our students, it's their favorite trip all year. All week the students have been telling me how excited they are for the trip and wishing Spring Break was today. It has been really sweet to experience.

While in Romania we will be digging ditches for a new sceptic tank, assembling a sceptic tank, re-patching some of the roof, painting fences and rooms, and putting on a little program for the kids at the care home. We also raised about 1.000 euro through events at school and personal donations. The students want to purchase a ping-pong table for the kids and wheel barrows for the care home takers in order to complete various projects.

For those of you reading this post, I ask for prayer for this trip. Some things you could specifically pray for are...

1. Safety as we travel to Romania and pass through the border
2. Unity among our students and a desire to encouraging each other
3. We will choose to have joy no matter what our circumstance
4. We would be a blessing to this care home instead of a burden
5. The love of Christ will overwhelm our students 

Thank you for your prayers and looking forward to sharing our experiences, stories, and pictures! :)

Some of the Romania team bowling last weekend 

King of Hearts

It is quite ironic that we celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday the 13th; however, it seemed to suit the day. Today was our annual King of Hearts Middle School Valentine's Day event. In trying to each the young middle school girls not to give their hearts away so easily, we created an event to try and make them aware of how easy it can be to give away your heart. My wonderful TA cut out about 50 pink heart necklaces and handed them out to all the middle school girls. The girls were not allowed to talk to any of the middle school boys for the entire day. If they did talk to any of the boys, they had to give them their heart. The boy with the most hearts at the end is titled The King of Hearts. It is a cute, fun, and highly entertaining activity to watch. The 8th grade girls all decided to wear black in order to bond together through this difficult time of not talking to boys. The 7th grade girls put on headphones so they wouldn't be able to hear the boys and the sixth grade girls are still trying to figure out why it's such a big deal to give your heart away.

The boys took this competition very seriously. Some of their questions and thought processes were quite humorous and I decided to write them down and share. The mind and heart of a middle school student never ceases to surprise me. 

1. Ms. Johnson, I have it all planned out! I am going to say the girl's name over and over and over again until she talks to me.
2. Stealing girls' hearts is really, really hard. 
3. I am going to trip a girl and then help her up! She'll have to talk to me then!
4. Ms. Johnson, am I allowed to kiss a girl on the cheek? She'll definitely talk to me after that!
5. If I make a girl laugh, do I get her heart?
6. Can I rip the girls' headphones out of her ears? "No.... that would be violent!" Ok... Ok...I could be romantic though and just sing to hear after I rip her headphones out?
7. If a girl nods at me, does that mean I get her heart?


Coffeehaus

Newlywed Game 

Tonight was our annual Valentine's Day coffeehaus event. Coffeehaus events happen 5 times a year are themed, and a High School only event. The students are in charge of planning and setting up the event and usually most of the students and teachers come. It's a great time to spend with students, create memories, and allow relationships to be formed outside the classroom.

We decided to play a newlywed game with some of our teachers, have an open mic time, and listen to cheesy romance songs. It was a great time spent with many of the students, getting to know the stories of fellow teachers, and watching our talented students perform love medleys throughout the evening. 

Can't stay still to Backstreet Boys

When Your Students Become Part of Your Social Life

This weekend was "hang out with your students" weekend and I wouldn't have a changed a thing. 

Friday Night, February 6th - Romania Fundraiser Talent Show

The majority of the Romania team in between the clean-up dance party

I know a lot of you were praying for our Fundraiser Event this past Friday (Feb. 6th) in which we hosted a Talent Show in order to raise money for our mission trip to Romania. First off, THANK YOU for your prayers. The whole event went very smoothly and was a big hit. All of the students who are attending this trip worked very hard to make this event a success. They cooked, cleaned, performed, and had great attitudes throughout the whole event. We have some seriously talented students and I was overcome with the urge to learn a musical instrument, taking singing lessons, or learn some new dance moves ASAP. Apparently my moves are "too white". 

Preparing the delicious spring rolls

I was thoroughly impressed by these teenager's work ethic and their ability to host this type of event. Over 125 people attended this event and we raised over 1.000 euro. We made our profit by serving Filo food (made by our students) homemade desserts (a HUGE thanks to all the moms who donated), and raffling off a few goodies. 

High School boys stealing all the girl's hearts by singing some Sam Smith

All the money that we raised will be used to help the organization, River of Life, build homes for the elderly women that have been abandoned and to purchase a ping pong table for the children in the compound. Our school has been connected with this organization for over 10 years and many of the students have been going for almost four years now. This event is very special to our students because have built deep relationships with a lot of the women and children in Romania. They know these women's stories and it makes this fundraiser all the more personal. I feel blessed to be apart of this ministry and to help make these trips possible. 

 Saturday, February 7th - Senior Class Party

When I first started teaching at ICSV, I signed up to be the Freshman Class Sponsor. A class sponsor is someone who helps the students plan events, supervise them through study hall, pour into their lives, and just be available when needed. This class quickly grabbed my heart and I have loved watching them grow up and face high school. They are now Seniors and it really saddens me to think this is my last year with them. (I'll write more about our relationship later). Anyway, we usually plan a few class parties throughout the year in order to spend time together. Sadly, this year has gone by too fast and we finally just had our first class party this year. We decided to combine all the parties we would've had into one. Therefore, we ate LOTS of food, played a few games, had a white elephant Valentine's gift exchange, and even made a few silly music videos. (I'll post one on their graduation day). This class is fun, genuine, goofy, talented, smart, and a class that I will miss dearly.

Cool kids

Senioritis