Scarce posts...:(

I apologize for the lack of posts! I have been so busy and haven't say down to write one. I am in the process of writing a newsletter, so there should be something up soon! Thank you! :)

A Week and a Half.

I have been here for just about a week and a half now...and I have had a lot of time to reflect on the reasons that I am here and the goals I have for this time. The first few weeks of being here have been about adjustment and integration into the base and the ministries here. I have come to be a part of the ministry PickaPocket in the cafe ['Viltnis] that they have in Herrnhut. However, I cannot start working in the cafe itself until I have my health permit, which I am scheduled to acquire on the 23rd. Until then, I can do odd jobs and help with little things like working the register and helping clean during closing at night.

In this extra time I have had, I have thought a lot about some of the things people asked me before I left. Someone said to me, "Two years is a long time (especially for someone your age). Why would you want to spend that time (a very key time in growing and maturing) with an organization that you have some disagreements with?"

First, a little context. YWAM Herrnhut, although it has flaws, has changed my life. I have learned so much and have grown so much from the awesome community and support it provides. I have never felt so encouraged in my faith, and I have never spent so much time in prayer and in the Word. That being said, the flaws have been apparent to me since the very beginning of my time there. Perhaps this was unique to my particular Discipleship Training School (the Marriage of the Arts) but there was a lack of doctrinal training. Many of the young adults that attend these DTS's are new christians, and therefore are void of the years of church that some of us were blessed with. Therefore, I believe a basic doctrinal foundation is imperative before anyone is to attempt to share God's love with the world. I believe God can work through anyone, but for the sake of the young adult, more knowledge and understanding would be so helpful. The other flaw I believe there is, is a lack of a church -- a lack of the true discipleship, eldership, preaching and teaching of a church. Maybe this is my traditional side peeking out, but I believe that in order to flourish, these things are important. 

So, why on earth would I want to spend TWO YEARS of my earthly existence working with this organization that has these flaws? Granted, these are pretty intense flaws, but...any organization I could join -- ANY organization that involves man -- will be flawed. Whether in a big way or in lots of small ways, there will always be flaws. Where there is man, there WILL be flaws. You can plan on that. All we can do is pray that we are walking in the direction that the Lord intends for us. I believe that if I had stayed home and gone to school, that as long as I am seeking Him, the Lord would have blessed me in that. I believe that if I had decided to partner with another organization, as long as I am seeking Him, the Lord would have blessed me in that. As long as we are seeking the Lord, and holding Him as the focus of our endeavors, I believe that he will bless us. And in walking towards Pickapocket of YWAM Herrnhut in the last few months, I have been so blessed. I prayed that if I was not in the Lord's will, that He would make it clear to me (as in door-slammed-shut and there-ain't-no-way-this-is-gonna-work). Although I came to a few minor road blocks, there was nothing that was impassible.

Also, lets step back for a minute, and reexamine the first segment of that question: "Two years is a long time (especially for someone your age)." This one is easy for me. I don't care what I am doing with ANY of my life. I really don't. I hold no importance in this world. NONE at all. Indeed, I want to be successful in the conventional sense, but the most important thing to me, is being in the will of the Lord, serving people, and sharing the love of the Lord. This can look different for each person. For some, this looks like staying stationary, for some it means constantly being on the move. We are all a different part of the body of Christ. Each part of the body has a different function, and we must each be functioning together, for the body to be mobile. So no, two years is not a long time to me, and I am not going to hold such importance in my time here on earth. I pray that others will receive freedom from earthly convention and expectations. Yes, I am only 19 years old. I am fairly well travelled for my age. I am still growing and maturing, and I hope I never enter into a phase of my life that I am NOT growing and maturing. I am excited for the things that the Lord has prepared for me. 

So I guess that may be one of the only serious blog posts. If anyone has ANY questions for me, please do not hesitate to email or message them to me!! I love being challenged and being pushed to formulate an opinion or a response to a comment or question. I love it.

Marlies Appel

www.facebook.com/marlies.appel

m.e.appel194@gmail.com

Herrnhut. Finally.

I arrived in Dresden yesterday at about 1:30, and we had such an entertaining train to Löbau. There was a mother with two children right behind me. Before too long, the baby was poking his head up over the seat, I peek-a-booed for a while, then the mother lifted the child up over the seat, so I grabbed the kid and held him for a while. Pretty soon the the toddler climbed onto our laps as well. The mother could speak a few words of English, and Taylor can speak a fair amount of German, so we were able to communicate. Taylor got some really adorable pictures. :)

Taylor made a really awesome dinner for me, and i passed out at about 8. Taylor and Derek went out to take pictures of the sunset, and when they came back, I woke up, and apparently assumed it was morning, and thought I had to get up. After I realized that it had only been two hours since I fell asleep, I rolled over, mumbled some things to them, and fell back asleep. I'm thoroughly mortified. But I guess that is what happens when I am awake for so long. :)

I am at the castle now and have enjoyed seeing so many people. I'm am so excited about being back. :)

Last hours in the US.

As of just a few hours ago, I was blessed with just enough money to fulfill my basic monthly needs. To not be scrimping and saving, I still need a little bit more per month, but I am feeling so incredibly blessed and provided for right now. It has also given me a whole new assurance that this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life right now. I will be in Herrnhut in just a little over a day and a half! So excited.

Thank you all so much,
Marlies

So many blessings!!

I am so happy to report that I have almost all of my basic financial needs covered!! I am so blessed!! Thank you to everyone who has supported me with prayers and finances. It really has meant so much to me. I leave the day after tomorrow! I am so excited and terrified at the same time! I can't believe this is the third time I am flying overseas in one year.

I'm so blessed.

If anyone would like to support me financially, my Paypal e-mail contact is iSparkles@comcast.net. If you would like to get my formal updates, please shoot me an email or a Facebook message!! Thank you so much!!

Marlies

Istanbul, Turkey; May 2012

Another little memory.

A year ago, I was in Istanbul, being a home helper (even though I don't know if i was all that much help) for a missionary family. I learned so much and developed such a love for the culture. The people are so kind and open. One of my first days there, I got to go to the market. Every Thursday there is a section of streets on the Asian side of Istanbul that becomes a maze of booths; a seemingly never-ending sea of vendors with absolutely anything you might need. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and the beautiful pride the vendors had for their items. They all seemed so proud of their products -- so much so that they would wave me over and hand me strawberries and nuts, etc. I was looking at some clothing in one of the booths, and he told me "welcome to Istanbul" and gave me the pair of pants I was admiring for free. Some guys I saw weekly over the time I was there eventually started calling me over to take their picture, too. It was such a wonderful experience.

I will be back there someday.

Kitchwa Tembo, Masai Mara, Kenya; Oct. 2010

Quick little memory I thought I would share with you all.

This was actually the most surreal moment of my life. It was an early morning for me and Mrs. Geri. We woke up at 5 something, and we were driven in a safari jeep-thing to a big open field. It was a pretty crisp morning...and it was still dark out. We got to watch them blow up our Hot Air balloon. They seem so much more daunting when you know you are about to trust it with your life. Once the two balloons were ready, we crawled into the buckets. There must have been 3 or 4 other people in the balloon I was in, and there was about 12 in the other balloon. When the wind was right, and when the fist glint of the sunrise was visible, 15 men hoisted the basket up, and the pilot gave the flame a little juice, and we were airborn. We sailed anywhere from 2 feet above the tree tops to 15 feet above the trees. We watched the sun rise over the acacia trees, and felt the temperature warmed up fast. We gazed down at elephants, giraffes, and every other species you would expect to see. Off in the distance, we could see the tail end of the Wildebeest migration, with hundreds of thousands of zebras and wildebeest covering countryside. We crash landed (the wind was pretty strong) and crawled out of the basket. Where we landed, some jeeps drove up and put together tables beautifully set up for breakfast. They popped champagne and served us mimosas, then they served us an elaborate hot breakfast.

Overwhelming. The beautiful nature, the conversations, everything...was exquisite.

It was my second trip overseas, but the first trip that got me on fire for travel. Hard to believe that was only the beginning. God is so good!

8 days, 14 hours, 4 minutes, 40 seconds.

Starting to get nervous, folks. I have just a little over a week left before I fly out, and only about a third of the finances I need to survive. Perhaps this impending doom is what has been wreaking havoc on my REM cycles these last few days. I have been waking up more exhausted then when I went to sleep, with a spasming back and an unpleasant attitude. Packing up my room has been one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever had to do. I never thought it would be so weird to me, but it certainly is. Items keep resurfacing from long ago -- items I had completely forgotten about. Diaries I had written in, letters from friends, pictures, receipts, books...its all bringing back floods of memories.

I apologize for the fact that this update is a more sombre one. As excited as I am for the wonderful opportunities that have been put in my path, there are still so many hard decisions and obstacles that arise from it.

I know that the Lord will provide for me, so I should't be worrying, but I can't help but flail. However, flailing rarely results in flying. (Shoot, did that just get a little poetic?)

14 Days, 15 Hours, 16 Minutes, 17 Seconds.

I would just like to share with everyone that there is an apartment that I will be moving into when I arrive in Herrnhut, Germany. I will be sharing a room with a really close friend of mine who is from Anacortes (her name is Taylor). I am so blessed to have a place to stay already, and I am happy to also share that I will have super inexpensive rent (because our room is very small). I am so excited! It was such an answer to prayer.

I am busily preparing for my open house tomorrow! And within the next week, I will also be posting on Facebook a Silent Auction of sorts, where there will be a few cool items up for bid, some of my photography, and some baked goods as well.

So much love,
Marlies

Toronto, Ontario, Canada [April 2012]

It has come to my attention that I haven't shared much of my travels with anyone outside of my immediate friend/family group. So I have decided that when a memory falls from my subconscious and starts rolling around in my thoughts, I will direct it to this blog. Maybe you will enjoy some of the stories, maybe you won't. I hope you will though.

I would like to preface my story with a disclaimer: None of my travels here nor there would have been possible without the unending grace of a beautiful God who opens incredible doors. There was a time in my life when I thought I knew what I wanted. But God kindly shut the doors on those things to make room for experiences I could have never dreamed of. Praise be to the Lord who knows us (and our dreams and ambitions) better than we know ourselves. 

Before I began my journey to Istanbul, Turkey, I prayed and PRAYED and prayed that there would be no delays, no miscommunications, no cancellations...nothing that might upset the itinerary of my trip. Secure in the assumption that nothing would go wrong, I began my trip. My flight from Vancouver, BC., to Toronto, Ontario was flawless. I arrived in the Toronto airport and practically ran to my next gate. Satisfied that I was just a smidge early, I plopped down in a seat and waited. Then an announcement was made: 2 hour delay. I cringed. Then another announcement: another hour or two delay. I can't quite remember. But then it came: that terrifyingly impossible obstacle that I had prayed so hard against...my flight was cancelled.

They herded us like cows to a counter to sort things out. As we were stampeding, I turned to a girl that was next to me, I can't even remember what I said, but we started talking. Her name is Anni. She was traveling by herself as well. We stood in line (a long line) and chatted for a while. When we got to the counter, we were informed that we would be staying the night in Toronto and would be leaving the following evening. We were shuttled to a hotel, and we got adjacent rooms. We went to dinner together, then to breakfast the following morning. We explored Toronto together during the day, and hopped on our plane to Warsaw, Poland (from which she had a connecting flight to Germany, and I had a connecting flight to Istanbul). We went our separate ways. About a month and a half later, we started talking online. I mentioned something like "if you are still in Germany when I am finished with my commitments in Turkey, we should go somewhere." And to my surprise, she was up for it! So we ended up going to Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Dresden each for a few days. Her Dad had planned out everything for us magnificently. It was such an incredible trip. (More stories to follow. It was quite the entertaining trip.)

This story prefaces quite a few stories I will share. But I think this might be one of the best, because it shows how God said no to something I wanted SO badly...because he had a greater plan that brought me to places I wouldn't have dreamed I would be able to go to at that time.

So much love, 

Marlies

16 Days, 17 Hours, 18 Minutes, 19 Seconds.

So much to do, so little time.

This weekend will be crazy -- I have so many things planned in preparation for taking off to Herrnhut, Germany again! I will be having a Fund-raising event on Saturday, where I will be cooking pizza for donations, and sharing some of what I will be up to. Sunday morning, I will be speaking at The Church at Bakerview, which is the relocated and renamed church that I grew up in. Later that day, I will be meeting with the Elders of my church to discuss what I will be doing for Ministry. I am so excited that things are finally moving and progressing! I have felt like I was in such a rut for so long, but now things are HAPPENING!

I will be flying out on May 4th, at about 2 in the afternoon I believe. Between now and then I am working (doing grocery store demos for Appel Farms) as often as I can to make a little more money. I recently sold my car, which was so much harder then I thought it was going to be! That car has been one constant security for me since I bought it when I was 15. But I know that the Lord has a plan for me, and material things are meaningless, so I have been praying I will find my security in him instead.

I will be making so much more of an effort to blog through the next stage in my life -- I want to keep everyone involved, because I wouldn't be able to take these steps alone.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Marlies