Hi praying friends!

Wow, what an amazing week we had!

Thursday - Thanksgiving at our house

Friday - Closing our art exhibit

Saturday - Music practice and dinner with friends

Sunday - Finally finish the month's book-keeping and Friendsgiving at our resident and intern's house.

Monday - Living Advents Calendar at our house

You guys - it was incredible (and a bit exhausting!) There were so many events where people just lingered, which is one of our values as a site. We want to create a place (and places) where people enjoy staying, lean into community, develop relationships, and expand those connections.

We have many reasons for this - some deeply theological. We believe the Bible teaches that there are four broken relationships due to humankind's sin. These are: 1. The relationship with God, 2. The relationship with others, 3. The relationship with self, and 4. The relationship with nature.

We cannot always directly talk about the broken relationship with God in our context (at least not initially!) - but when we set up events where people can dig deep into their relationship with themselves or their relationship with others, we are leading them to a wholeness that can only be found in God's work of reconciliation.

So - when we sit at the table, have artists lingering in our space, hang out with friends, perform music and invite people in our community to enter into Christmas with hope (and talk about how that hope is found in Jesus) - it is SO good (and really appreciated by people who enter into those spaces.)

One of the artists who comes regularly to our events came to the Friendsgiving event, came into the kitchen where several of us were standing, and said "Hello to my people!" She was once again with people where she felt community.

Tonight we are gathering again, this time for our once-a-month "Art O'Clock" event. Five artists, four of whom are new to Envision Berlin through our exhibit last month, will share their works (5 minutes each) and take questions (for 5 minutes). And then, once again, there will be space to linger.

Pray for these relationships!

Also!

1. Our colleagues got a visa appointment. So exciting! We still have not - so frustrating! Pray for the appointment tomorrow for our colleagues, and that our visa gets processed quickly.
2. Pray for meaningful conversations in our community as Christmas approaches.
3. Pray for funding! Our construction project is coming to a close.
4. Pray for us as we process being so far from family for the upcoming holidays. It is always a challenging time for us.

Thanks for your prayers!

mike