Bowers newsletter: November

Dear Friends,

Still in this very long first school term in Germany, we had to pull out the warm woolies and this is quite an adjustment after 5 perfect Ethiopian weather years!  This term has 4 weeks left over before students can leave for a Christmas break.

We have had an intense term with really great adjustments.  Karmyn & Benjamin are adjusting to the demanding school schedule and Harry has a final contribution tonight at the School Musical where he has been playing clarinet and saxophone for SEUSSICAL.

Two weeks ago, the seniors hosted an open house here in the dorm.  We invited our German neighbours to join in the fun and we have had such a great response.   Harry and the School Principal took over 2 students with a basket of cookies and invitations, introduced the dorm and invited families to come over for cookies and milk.   This was such a special moment as they were so surprised over our efforts to reach out to them.  Many families came and we communicated in our broken, limited German, many facial expressions and had to really suppress the confusing Amharic file with which we have great difficulty to close down.

This morning however, Harry and I prepared to take Selah for her early walk, but discovered that we had overnight burglars!   Yes, in this safe, quiet little village, we had a burglary!   The heavy metal safe with all our students’ passports & pocket money inside, is gone!  It was locked inside a hidden desk – we felt it was safe……?    At first, our dorm administration thought that it could have been a ‘prank’ played on the dorm, but this was not the case.   So, the police was called in.   Harry and I had to file reports, inform the students, inform their parents, etc., etc.   We feel terrible of course…..!    This is getting close for the students to leave for Christmas vacation, so passports are needed and we will have to travel the 4 hours to Embassies, etc.

Please pray for a quick solution, since many students have to travel to various countries where they need special documentation which was difficult to get prior to their coming here.

This has been a very distraught morning for all.  Thankfully, Harry made copies of the student’s passports and stored it elsewhere – this is good.   The difficulty, is that the student’s famlies left money for them here with us, which was also kept in that safe…….  We are truly looking forward to see what the Lord is going to show us through this event!

Blessings to you all and thank you for standing with us in prayer!

In His Joy,

Stephne for our family