The "Top of Europe"

The team has 1 free day in Switzerland every year on Euroquest. The students have the opportunity to hike to local towns on the mountain sides, hang out in Lauterbrunnen, rent bikes, hike to Schilthorn, or other adventures. Some of the students that took the 9 hour hike to Schilthorn were still sore 3 days later!

Rainer and I took the day and rode the trains up past the Eiger, to Jungfrau, the "Top of Europe". It was a cool experience. The tunnel was blasted/dug out 100 years ago, straight through the mountain. Beautiful views, lots of snow and ice, and even an ice cave.

 Taking the train

 View from the first stop up the Eiger

The train goes through the mountain but there's two

spots where they tunneled out the side for a view

(if anyone watched the show Amazing Race this

past year, this is where they climbed out from the

window & scaled across the cliff to the other window)

Cool view of the valley

My brother Bryan & I were at this spot 10 years ago!

 

 The Eiger, a favorite with mountain climbers

This is the mountain the train went through

Jungfrau from below 

Glaciers 

A "will you marry me" lock at the top!

 

Hey! 

Valley below

 

Snow!

This guy 

 

Ice cave at the top of the mountain 

 

Skating

Iceage!! 

It was cold in the cave! 



Rainer on the edge

 

Switzerland!

We had a great 3 days in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. It is a small mountain town in the valley below the highest mountains in Europe. The first day we rode into Bern and did ministry. It was a great experience with lots of good conversations. One student shared with me that she talked with a local man for 20 minutes about the Bible and why it was real and the truth. She said he had lots of questions. At the end, he pretty much agreed with everything she was saying, and said that she had answered all his questions about the Bible.

 

Rainer and I get to share with people we meet all over town about our group, our faith and why we are with 50 students, traveling Europe to share the good news! It's great to see people's reaction when they hear about us or see our group in person.



 

Lauterbrunnen in the valley

 The view from our tent in the campsite.

 

We love this place

Another view 

Street performance in Bern

Drama in Bern

A chocolate shop in Bern 

 

Enjoying a "Rosti"... a local dish with

shredded potatoes, egg and cheese

 



Fondue!

 

Zell am See

We spent 3 days in beautiful Zell am See, Austria. We camped on the lake and walked on the foot path around it to get to the city of Zell am See. We did ministry two days in the cute little Austrian town. The first day, the town was having a bike festival and everyone was dressed in traditional clothing, it was so neat to watch. They biked around the lake with stops along the way. The staff disciplers (or discipleship group leaders) were in charge of leading the team for two days. This is a great leadership experience for them and after talking to a few of them, they said they are ready to hand the team back over to senior staff!

At night, after worship and before some debriefing time, the students have been sharing their testimonies with the rest of the team. We challenge them to keep it under 3 minutes. This is a great opportunity for them to tell there story, when they accepted Christ and how He has changed their life. We love hearing their stories.

Some musicians for the festival in Zell am See

 

Cuckoo!

The architecture is beautiful in this ski town

and there are pretty flowers in every window

Students praying before going out to do ministry

Worship in a park by the lake

 The lake is surrounded by mountains

 

Lots of cool looking bikes at the festival

 

During a free hour one afternoon we rented a boat
and went out on the lake. It had 'forward' & 'reverse',
and we could swim faster than it, but it was fun!

The view of Zell am See from the boat, with the ski hill behind the town

The picture doesn't exactly show it, but there are

huge snow peaked mountains all around.

 

 

 

Donald, our driver

Donald is our Scottish bus driver. He is funny. His accent is so thick when he is talking to Curtis on the bus I can literally zone out and not hear him because it sounds like a different language! Donald is a really nice guy. He offers to cook the team dinner on his days off! In Pula, he took the whole team on a boat ride!

 



Donald and Curtis in Denmark

Next to his coach

Napping underneath the bus

 The team on the boat ride around islands in Croatia

 

The sunset from the boat

 

 

Croatia

God is good. He has been providing lots of opportunities to share the gospel and serve on this journey. We have been camping in Pula, Croatia the past 4 days. We have had great weather. We went swimming one day, now we have been in the Baltic and Adriatic Seas on this trip.

It was been a great experience watching the boldness of the students. They have been doing lots of different types of ministry: street performance, intentional ministry, life evangelism and just sharing with others like Jesus did at the well with the Samaritan woman.

Sharing with other campers

 

Sunset in Pula 

Drama performance in Rovinj, Croatia

 

Puppets in Rovinj

 Rovinj was once a Roman port city

Beautiful buildings and cobblestone streets

 

 We climbed the church bell tower in Rovinj with Christina.

The stairs were tiny and slick the whole way up, and down!

 Beautiful views of the Adriatic and Rovinj

 

 

 From the top

Street performances in Pula

 Some of the students

Sharing the gospel in Pula