caring, coaching, and encouraging
Dear Friends, Family and Partners,
What a whirlwind summer this has been! Our first in Europe, and our first with 9 weeks of holiday for the girls!!! While we are glad to be back in the regular work and school rhythms, we have been so blessed by the people that have filled the past few months.
Urlaub,
We thoroughly enjoyed having my (John’s) parents with us for almost 3 weeks. We did some sightseeing, swimming in the lake, board games and walks, and lots and lots of ice cream. We are so grateful for the chance to share what our life is like here with them and for the girls to have quality time with their Nanna and Pompa.
While Nanna and Pompa were here, we had the chance to drive through Germany and on to the Netherlands to share in the wedding celebrations of two of our favourite people in the world. We’ve be truly blessed to be friends and mentors to Siza and Hananja and we are so excited to see how God is going to use them and their marriage. The wedding also doubled as a mini ship reunion which is always a massive bonus!
The holidays also included Cori and I going on an overnight cycle-tour, Lily completing a schwimmkurs (and being invited to join the local club) and right at the end, a 6th birthday!
ADMINistry,
Getting back to work has really been a great privilege and we are incredibly grateful to be doing what God has lead and equipped us to do. Coming back to our computers and checklists and more opportunities to care and send, we are reminded that all work is worship and how important it is that we do our ”administry” (supporting the journey of going and being on the field) part in the Kingdom work well.
If you are perhaps wondering what that actually looks like on a day to day basis we would love to set up a call and share more of the details about our work and the part we play in mobilising the church for mission.
and another year…
This really is an update full of gratitude. We are so grateful to say that our temporary residence in Austria has been approved for another year (until 1 September 2024). During the course of this next year we will complete A2 and B1 level German courses and exams in order to apply for a further 1 to 3 years of temporary residency.
In addition to continuing our language and culture learning we are very excited for the longer-term people care and mobilisation strategies and plans that will be implemented over the next year. We will share more details about this in our next update.
Lots of South African love from Linz,
John, Dané, Cori and Lily
The Benns 