Our Work in Europe

We worked with the Black Forest Academy, a school in Germany operated by Janz Team. The school has a North American curriculum, and is a boarding school with about 180 boarders plus 180 home students. More on BFA later...

Gary: As the Business Manager here at the school, I looked after the assets, managing the money as it came in and got spent. As a team of 9 men and women, we managed different aspects of BFA. Working with these people was always fun!

Bernice: I worked as the Librarian for the Elementary School. That means I got to buy lots of good books, kept the library looking good, helped children as they checked out books, and taught library skills. I love being with children, and since I'm also certified as a teacher, I provided cover for other teachers when they couldn't be there!

Good-bye, Black Forest

Sitzenkirch Trail - a fitting place to symbolize our years here in Germany. This 35 minute link between the high school where I worked and the Elementary School where Bernice worked winds through pastures and cherry orchards, the wooded hills of the Black Forest rising all around.

How often, on a nice day, would I walk the 3 km or so to lunch with Bernice, often down by the village fountain, and then make my way back in the sunshine. It was a wonderful break, and we've made so many memories there. Always, walking there, often with cattle or sheep alongside, the narrow valley entrances like gates to places of mystery and great beauty, brought to mind these verses from Psalm 100:

1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

This was our last walk down this trail, kinda sad, but the memories are lasting and beautiful!

Hofen - The Sandstone Church

It was here that it all began.

On August 3, 1979 Bernice and I were married here, and we've always made a point of returning on our trips or anniversaries.

It's an old sandstone church set on a hill in the country, unlike most churches in Germany which anchor the town centers.

Back then, we hoped Germany would be an important part of our life together, and indeed, through what we see as a gift from God, so it came to be!