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After a very enriching, encouraging six months in Europe, we have now
returned home to Amman, Jordan. It's very great to be back in this country
and with such fine friends and neighbours.
Based in Germany, near the beautiful city of Heidelberg, we spent much of our time travelling and visiting. But before we dove into activities, we enjoyed a refreshing summer holiday in Switzerland, high above Lake Thun. After a few welcome days of rain and cold, we alternated between mountain hikes and icy lake swimming. Great, and a precious memory.
Afterwards we were on a variety of family and youth camps in Switzerland and France, interspersed with two memorable days with a family camping at a mountain lake in Northern Italy. Following two more weeks in Austria, we returned to home and school and travel.
For the first time all five children were in German schools and, after the initial jump into the cold immersion of a new language experience, managed to fight to the surface and begin swimming. It wasn't easy, but very enriching.
After such a full week at school we travelled most every weekend to visit friends and families from Friday to Sunday. Likewise on almost every departure from such a visit the children would ask, "When can we come back to this family?" Hence, a very positive experience in relationship building.
Especially valuable were the times of travelling with individual children, i.e. to travel alone with one or two with ample time to chat and common adventures to undertake. The following a few examples:
with Daniel and Lydia to Leipzig, Halle, and Berlin
with Rachelle to Regensburg
with Micha to Strasbourg
with David to Hamburg and Bonn
Thanks for asking and, to those who prayed, for praying for his full recovery. After his operation in March in Würzburg, Germany, he returned home to Amman, with a "knight-looking" casts from head to waist. This he wore patiently for three months.
Two days after arrival in Germany in June, he was freed from his "hard-shell" and was examined. The results as expressed in the subsequent medical report are that there is no remaining trace of the tumour. Also, along with some physical therapy and gymnastics, he seems to have fully recovered from the intervention of the operation.
We are in deep gratitude to our God, Creator and Upholder for this recovery.
Similarly we are thankful to and for the many who held, supported, advised,
encouraged us during this time.
Please allow me to simply re-print a newsletter we "e-ed" to several persons on arrival here in Jordan. We are still getting established and re-integrated.
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Date: Tues., Dec. 17, '98
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings to all of you from our family, now back in Amman, Jordan. It's great to be back on "home turf" and in our adopted and appreciated culture and people.
Please excuse this impersonal form letter. We've just arrived and are process of getting house and life here in adequate working order. This is therefore just a note to let you know, we're alive and blooming here.
The last days (and nights) in Germany were captured by packing and winding up thousands of small details. If even for only six months, it still curtails reducing a working household into a number of boxes and suitcases. The last weekend in Europe, Dec. 5-6, we were in Innsbruck for a very significant last encounter with the friends and churches there before leaving. This was great, but a little tight before the planned departure date on the 10th.
Finally, after long days and short nights of packing, we managed, despite heavy snowfalls to arrive at the Frankfurt airport only to find that the airport was closed due to ice and snow, as well as other major airports of central Europe. It wasn't easy to turn around and head home.
However, it worked out to be great. Our children had been looking forward to the snow the whole time and couldn't play the last days because they were working so hard on the packing. So when we returned to the Buchenauerhof, we had two days additional play time.
The first day David, Daniel and I borrowed some skis from very kind friends and went skiing in the Schwarzwald. It was great, good snow, a decent slope. I joked that we started the day with non-skiers and finished with skiers. They were very satisfied with their efforts and it was a fulfilment of year-long wishes.
The second day Layne and I, together with Mr. Micha, went to Heidelberg for some last minute shopping, that we had never found time for during the whole time in Europe. We finished with the evening Christmas market in Heidelberg, which was really beautiful.
All in all the departure on Sunday, the 13th, from Frankfurt via Paris for Amman was generally uneventful, except for a very tight connection in Paris.
We were met at the airport and later at home by a number of good friends. It's truly relaxing to be in the own four walls, even tho we needed a few days for cleaning, repairing, etc. Our goal is to take things generally quite easy for the holidays and until school restarts in Jan. There is a need on my part just to sit (i.e. not travel on Autobahns) and gather whatever wits I have left. Also Layne will take a little time just to arrive mentally and emotionally.
We are however on-line with e-mail, etc. Please discontinue all mailings to our CompuServe address and use only and exclusively "miner@cheerful.com". Thanks for making these changes and we look forward to hearing from you, if short or long. Bye.
Robert
(end of letter)
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