2010 Avant Europe Conference

 Every two years Avant has an all Europe conference.  This year it was in Beatenburg, Switzerland with is in the Swiss Alps, just above Interlaken, Switzerland.  It is a very beautiful place and the Lord used his beauty to speak to me for my week here.

 This is the amazing view from the balcony of my room in the Swiss chalet.  It is not too hard on the eyes.

Even though we had rain almost the entire time we were there, God did give us a rainbow.  If you look at the gray clouds you can see the rainbow.  What a great reminder that God will keep His promises to us!  

I just love the intense blues and grays that God uses and constantly changes in his creation.  I spent quite a bit of time on my balcony just praying to the Lord and seeking Him.  What a great place to seek the Lord, in the mist of His beautiful creation.

Some of the other singles and I went on a walk in the local area.  It is very quaint here with sheep on the hillsides.

 This house represents Switzerland with the Swiss flag, the Barvarian style architecture, bright flower boxes.  It sits on a lovely hillside with cows in front of it.  Wouldn't you just love to live here?

On of my favorite things about the conference was being able to connect and reconnect with fellow single missionaries.   Debby Fox (the girl in the red Ohio State shirt) and I were roommates in college at Taylor University Fort Wayne.  She serves on a short cycle team in Prague, Czech Republic.  It was so wonderful for me to have quality time with an old friend.  Dawn is in the black. She is a new friend I met.  She serves on a short cycle team in Poland.  We hope to visit each other this year.

This is the Swiss Chalet that we stayed in.  It also serves as a Bible College for the Swiss people.

The magnificent Swiss countryside.

I love the beauty of Switzerland!

 This is an interesting form of decoration that I found.  But it is something my father, Mark, and Uncle Jim would greatly enjoy.

A group of us went down into Interlaken to see the sites and enjoy the touristy shops.  Here Kelly and Dawn are enjoying the town...even in the rain.

This is the mountain called Jung Frau...which means young virgin girl.  It is very beautiful.

Shelly (Poland), Debby (Czech Republic) and Estella (France) are enjoying site seeing. All three of these ladies serve on short cycle teams that are planting churches.  They are all Americans and they have all learned another language.  I am so impressed!

This is the group of singles that I got to hang out with. They are an amazing group of people.  This picture was taken right before I left to drive back to BFA to complete my ResLife orientation.

 As I was driving home...in my car...I saw this Swiss farmer who motioned for me to stop.  After I did these cows came around the corner.  I guess you know you are in the Swiss Alps when this happens!

The hood of my car is in the picture. This cow got really friendly with me and walked right next to the car so that her belly rubbed against the car.  How many Americans would choose to walk their cows in order to transport them...probably not too many!