Full and Fun Fall!

As usual, fall is jam-packed with lots of fun events at BFA! 

October 31 most BFA staff and students boarded buses and headed into Basel Switzerland for Herbstmesse. Herbstmesse is a fall festival that lasts for about a month, but BFA has traditionally always gone on October 31. The main highlight of the night is having an hour of middle school only bumper cars! While it usually ends with lots of bruised knees, it's a fun evening with our students outside the classroom! 

On November 5, Heather and I had our chapel band students over to our house for a "Hillsong Young & Free" CD Release Party! Our afternoon was filled with a photo shoot, dance party, and of course lots of food (that didn't last long!)! 

Last Friday our Operation Christmas Child time at BFA concluded with our 2nd Annual 

Packing Party! We had many high school and elementary students come, and lots of our 

middle school students ran almost the event! It was so cool to see so many people get involved. We had stations to pack a box, check a box, and pray for a box. In the end, BFA sent over 115 boxes to children around the world! 

  

Thank you for your support and prayers as I continue to serve at BFA. Please pray that we will be filled with energy,  strength, and love, as we finish off these 

remaining four weeks until Christmas break. 

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3

Stones of Remembrance

A few weeks ago I was asked to share with the staff about my "stone" of remembrance. It was supposed to be a story from my life that reminded me of God's love and kindness.

At the beginning of my 3rd year at BFA (fall 2012), I contemplated buying a bigger vehicle, as my car was small and not able to carry many students or friends. Within the week I found a van to buy and sold my car for almost the exact same price!! I was so excited for the many opportunities this would give me!

Over the course of the year, I drove:
- my small group girls to/from our home every week, which was a few kms away
- our chapel band class to our home
- the M/F staff carpool to the MS
- myself and other staff members to our staff retreat in Switzerland
- myself and others to the high school retreat in Switzerland
- to Ikea (40mins away) to help furnish new homes (ours included!)

Since we lived out of town it was so helpful to have a larger vehicle to bring friends and students to our home! I also used our van to move our house to the middle school (in June) and into our new home (in August)!

A few weeks ago, I took my van to the mechanic as I had noticed a few things weren't working quite right. He took a few days to look at it and then asked me to come in to talk about it. It turned out that there were too many problems that it wasn't worth fixing.

While it was sad to know that I would no longer have my van to drive, it could not have come at a better time. This year we live in town and I don't have a small group, so the need for a van is much smaller. It will mean that we have to take a few extra trips to deliver all of our Operation Christmas Child boxes this year (our goal is 150!!), but that is doable. Our home is now walking distance to the high school, so this makes it much easier for others to stop by and for us to get places as well. I am so thankful for the gift of the van, even if it was just for a year!

So thankful to be back!

The last 7 weeks have flown by! Each day has been filled to the max as I traveled back to Germany, moved into a new apartment, and started a new school year. I'm thankful for your prayers as I have gotten back into the swing of things. Let me take you through some photos of what the last two months have looked like for me.

Moved into our new apartment! 

Celebrated my 24th Birthday! 

The kids are back!

Chapel Band started up!

(8 new and 2 returning students)

Started helping out at Chrysalis! 

Started dorm subbing at Blauen! 

(girls HS dorm where former roommate lives now)

MS Grillin'! 

Fun, fellowship, and food! 

So thankful to be back! 

Chrysalis! (MS Youth Group)

There was excitement in the air as we sat in the cafeteria with 42 grade 12 students last night for dinner! They were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the middle school students at 7:30PM. Each week, myself, two other leaders, and all our senior Chrysalis leaders will meet at 6:00PM to eat dinner. After dinner we will spend time team building, planning activities and praying for the middle schoolers.

This week, as the middle schoolers ran into the auditorium, their senior Chrysalis leaders cheered and clapped until the very last one of them had entered! What an incredible welcome! We played get to know you bingo, sang songs of worship, and heard from the wife of our Spiritual Emphasis Week chapel speaker. Seniors and middle school students alike were excited for what came at 8:30PM - small group time! An average of 2-3 seniors are paired with 3-5 middle school students and will meet with them on a weekly basis at Chrysalis. It was fun to see them getting to know each other and share about their first few weeks of school. I am so excited to be a part of Chrysalis and can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year!

Thank You!

Three of my five flights to Germany are complete and I can't help but think back to all of the memories made in the last 4 weeks. This summer has been a great opportunity to invest time in lots of ways! I've spent time catching up with friends over coffee. I've spent time being a princess and swimming in the pool with some the coolest kids. I've spent time playing games with my family. I've spent time road tripping all over Alberta. I've spent time camping with great friends. So many great memories have been made! I want to thank all of you who took the time to spend with me while I was in Canada. I am going back to Germany feeling blessed and encouraged! Thank you! 

I'd love to keep in touch over the course of year! Please let me know how you are doing and how I can be praying for you. As I return to Germany in 24 hours from now, I'd appreciate prayer for:

- Safe travels! 

- Energy to start work on Monday! 

- Moving into our new apartment on Monday evening! 

- Preparations for school to start on September 3! 

- New staff and students to transition well! 

Blessings,

Brittany

Now's the time!

Thinking 

about giving?

Now's the time! 

I'm heading back to Germany in just 3 days, 

and I'm still looking for people to join my "support team"

by partnering with me financially! 

Would you consider joining the team

by making a monthly pledge or a special donation?

Every bit counts! You can give using this form.

Your contribution means so much to me and 

will greatly impact the lives of the missionary kids I serve.

Want more information? Let me know! 

I'd be happy to give you a call or send an email! 

Blessings,

Brittany

Finger Puppets

Today, when I look at finger puppets, they are far more than a piece of paper or small pieces of fabric. Finger puppets are what joined K.B. and I together almost two years ago. At the time, she was in 6^th grade and was just starting her first year at BFA. Her family had my roommates and me over for dinner one night and a beautiful friendship was formed over the creation of finger puppets. We created little dogs, cats and even a giraffe with a super long neck. These finger puppets came alive for about an hour as we sat and played at their kitchen table. I have gotten to know their family well as not much longer after our first finger puppet encounter,  K.B.’s mom became my mentor. I came to treasure their family and loved spending time with them. We played silly games and every once and while brought out our collections of finger puppets (yes, I do have my very own collection!). I said goodbye to K.B. and her family exactly a week ago today. This is one of the hardest goodbyes I've had to say. BFA is a place of constant goodbyes as people are coming and going all the time. I rest in the assurance that for each of the farewells, my God is by my side, never leaving, never changing. Even though the goodbyes may be hard I know that it is because I have been incredibly blessed by the people God has brought into my life, even for a short time through finger puppets.

“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.”

― C.S. Lewis

Moving

I have spent the last three years living in the same apartment in a small village just a few kms away from the 3 BFA campuses. This last month has been full of packing, painting and moving! This summer, Heather and I will be moving into Kandern, closer to school, grocery stores and our friends. We have moved our stuff into Heather's classroom to store for the summer until we return in August. We are looking forward to having staff and students over often as it will only be a short walk from the High School campus!! We are very thankful for this new place that God has provided for us!

Our old apartment! 

Our stuff stored in Heather's classroom! 

Pictures of our new apartment will come when we get settled in the fall! 

You can email me at bmann@teachbeyond.org if you would like our new street address! 

MS Awards

They say the second year is always easier - and it really was! As I stepped into my second year as Administrative Assistant at the Middle School it felt good to have already completed a year in that role. While each day looked different as I interacted with new students/staff and those that were returning, having done some tasks once already was really nice. My "baby" of the year comes about a week before school ends. This is the MS awards ceremony and 8th grade dinner. Grades have been entered, awards have been discussed, and now it is my time to put all the details together. I print awards, create seating charts and buy hundreds of cream puffs. While it is a lot of work, seeing the evening come together brings joy to my heart.

Each year we celebrate the "graduating" 8th grade class by having a dinner before our awards ceremony. We get dressed up, eat dinner together and share embarrassing baby pictures from their parents! It's a great way to end the year and to acknowledge the hard work both teacher and student have put in over the past school year. It's truly a special time for all.

After dinner we head back to BFA for a time joined by the rest of the Middle School and their parents. We give out awards and present tributes to each 8th grader. We end the night with a small reception of cream puffs, mini donuts and punch. It's a night that we have looked forward to and dreaded. We celebrate and say farewell to the students that we love. Another year has come and gone and I am so thankful for how God has been at work in our students' lives and mine as well. It has been a great year!

8th Grade Class looking sharp! 

Reading notes of congratulations from parents!

A little shocked by baby pictures! 

Giving T.O. his tribute!

Student body president says thank you to our MS Principal 

as she will move to the Elementary School next year.

Awards Reception

MS Staff! 

Recording Studio

We were continually amazed with our chapel band class this year. They are a very talented group of students who have a heart for worship! With 7/10 of our chapel band students in 8th grade this past year we will have a totally new group of students next year. To end the year with our chapel band class we decided to take them to the Janz Team Recording Studio where they again blew us away as they played "Lay Me Down," by Chris Tomlin. Here are some pictures from our year together!

Christmas Carolling! 

Chapel Band Christmas Party! 

Using Garage Band during class! 

CD Release Party for Zion!

HS Students join us to share tips! 

So proud of these students! 

"I lay me down

I'm not my own

I belong to You alone"