Our first home...

We have finally moved into our first home! After living for two crazy months in the church office, we REALLY appreciate our new home. Especially since Martin put so much work into it. The building was built in 1875 and is the oldest building in Kolding, so when Martin got the job to remodel it, he decided to tear out everything including the walls and the floor and start from scratch. So, he built up everything himself from there. It was such a blessing because it the building right next to the church in which the church offices are on the first floor and the top floor is our apartment and some teen facilities which Martin is still building. But, since it belongs to the church, we got to choose whatever kitchen, floors, counter top, appliances, etc. that we wanted, but the church paid for it! What a deal!

We moved in 4 days before going to England and manages a House Warming/Graduation Party the next day after we finished at 3:00 am. We figured it was the best way to make a deadline, just invite 50 people over and that's a little motivation to get it finished. :) It worked! We were exhausted afterward though...and then we left for England with 14 teenagers.

So, we've had the week off this week and finally got to enjoy our house. We have loved our LITTLE home! It's very tiny, but perfect size for Martin and me!

England!

Yes, I know it has been way too long since I have updated! Especially since I still get emails all the time with people asking me, “exactly what do you do in Denmark.” So I promise I will try to be better at updating.

This month Martin and I took our first outreach of Euroclass students to England. Euroclass is made up of 27 students and 7 full time teachers. 2 of the teachers do not go on outreach because they have families that they cannot be away from for that long. So, the team is split into two teams and the first outreach is in Europe. Two teachers, Julie and Thomas led a team to Romania, and Martin, Annechein and I led a team to England. Martin and I were the team leaders and Annechein is our dance and drama specialist. (You have to be much better in dance and drama in England than Romania, if you can imagine, there is a different standard)

The trip was a success. We worked full time for 2 different churches. One in Ramsgate (near the East Coast) and the other in Sidcup. (near London) During these two weeks were were almost daily working in Elementary Schools doing the main assembly. Public schools in England have no separation of church and state so we were allowed to come in and share whatever we wanted. Since it was mostly elementary schools, Euroclass usually did three dramas which talked about giving and loving your neighbor. My main job as a teacher at Euroclass is in Communications, so it was a big job to teach the students how to communicate the message of these pieces, in English, in a way that communicates the Gospel. It was a challenge for them, but also very exciting. We spent time in classrooms as well teaching about Denmark and Euroclass and sharing testimonies.

Another big project we were a part of was a Community Action project. Both churches we worked with were in a partnership with the government where they would take areas in the community and clean them up and start youth outreaches there where the really rough kids hang out. So we spent a lot of time digging, cleaning, mowing, and throwing away a lot of trash from really disgusting abandoned areas. I saw more huge, colorful, awful spiders in these places than when I was in Africa! But, it was a great experience to for the students to see the different they made at the end of the day.

Then, they would bring out soccer cages, portable skate parks and a converted double decker bus which was completely redone into a movie room, x-box center and hang out place into these areas and begin to have relationships with the kids that lived in the area. The government provides them with support because they do so well. It was inspiring to be a part of!

Overall, the trip was a success and a growing experience for the students and for Martin and I as leaders. Our next trip will be in May and June and the team will split again into two teams. One is spending 3 weeks in Kenya and 3 weeks in Zambia and the other team is spending 3 weeks in India and 3 weeks in the Philippines.

So, for now back at Euroclass we are back to daily teaching and preparing for the next big outreaches!
Thanks for your prayers and support that we received from so many of you on the trip! We couldn't do it without our prayer warriors back home! We love y'all!

First Week at Euroclass...take 2!

(I had pictures in here, but evidently it's messing up my blog...so I took them out. I'll post some later :)

My first week at Euroclass was amazing! I just love it here!


The students arrived Sunday night and we had a welcome for them. They came in with all their parents and we helped them set up their dorms and their beds. Then, we had a little information service and dinner. Then, we took them to the beach and did lots of "getting to know you" activities.

The group of students this year are so great! I have really enjoyed getting to know each of them! There are 26 students and I like them all in their own special way :)

I started teaching communications this week and it went really well. I'm so impressed with their English. They are 15-17 years old, and I can't imagine knowing another language as well as they do at that age. But I guess it's necessary when you are a country that is so small it can fit inside of Texas 9 times! :) The way it works is that we will each teach a subject for 6 to 8 weeks and then move on to another. So right now, I am teaching communications so they can practice before their first outreach. Neil is teaching Creative Arts/Dance and Drama, and Julie and Thomas are teaching Alpha which is a basic Bible course.

AND...for the fun part. Guess who is taking over for Martin until he finishes school....me! So that means I am also teaching Sports and I take them on their morning run at 7:00am. It's 4.5 km through the forest. HAHA...I just laughed when I found out that would be my task. So, I guess I'm being stretched more ways than I thought living in Denmark. I have actually enjoyed it though. It's great when you are forced to do something...and do it with a smile because you are an example to the kids. God may be changing my heart for physical activity :)

So, it was a great week. Martin and I will be on duty at the school on Wednesdays which means we have to be there from the time they wake up until they go to bed. Normally, we will both be there so that one of us could leave and take a break for a while if we need, but, once again...until Martin is done with school I will be there all day. It was a long day last Wednesday, but I cannot think of a better job!

I have had so many good talks with the students they have really been opening up already. So, we are really excited for the year ahead! I think God has great things in store for the Espensens!

Please continue to pray for our apartment to get done. It's such a huge job to do in the spare time. Living downstairs in the office is really starting to be annoying and we cannot wait until this job is done and we can live a normal life. It is also a big stress on Martin, if you can imagine. We spent 7 hours in IKEA on Saturday. It was like a little vacation. :) We ordered a kitchen for us and for the TeenRadical club and also the bathrooms. It was a lot of fun!

My talented husband building the bathroom floor.



Our pastor, Jakob, helping spackle.


We LOVE y'all and send our love from Denmark.

why?

Why is my blog not working...I don't know! Can you see it now?

First Week at Euroclass

My first week at Euroclass was amazing! I just love it here!

The students arrived Sunday night and we had a welcome for them. They came in with all their parents and we helped them set up their dorms and their beds. Then, we had a little information service and dinner. Then, we took them to the beach and did lots of "getting to know you" activities.

The group of students this year are so great! I have really enjoyed getting to know each of them! There are 26 students and I like them all in their own special way :)

I started teaching communications this week and it went really well. I'm so impressed with their English. They are 15-17 years old, and I can't imagine knowing another language as well as they do at that age. But I guess it's necessary when you are a country that is so small it can fit inside of Texas 9 times! :) The way it works is that we will each teach a subject for 6 to 8 weeks and then move on to another. So right now, I am teaching communications so they can practice before their first outreach. Neil is teaching Creative Arts/Dance and Drama, and Julie and Thomas are teaching Alpha which is a basic Bible course.

AND...for the fun part. Guess who is taking over for Martin until he finishes school....me! So that means I am also teaching Sports and I take them on their morning run at 7:00am. It's 4.5 km through the forest. HAHA...I just laughed when I found out that would be my task. So, I guess I'm being stretched more ways than I thought living in Denmark. I have actually enjoyed it though. It's great when you are forced to do something...and do it with a smile because you are an example to the kids. God may be changing my heart for physical activity :)

So, it was a great week. Martin and I will be on duty at the school on Wednesdays which means we have to be there from the time they wake up until they go to bed. Normally, we will both be there so that one of us could leave and take a break for a while if we need, but, once again...until Martin is done with school I will be there all day. It was a long day last Wednesday, but I cannot think of a better job!

I have had so many good talks with the students they have really been opening up already. So, we are really excited for the year ahead! I think God has great things in store for the Espensens!

Please continue to pray for our apartment to get done. It's such a huge job to do in the spare time. Living downstairs in the office is really starting to be annoying and we cannot wait until this job is done and we can live a normal life. It is also a big stress on Martin, if you can imagine. We spent 7 hours in IKEA on Saturday. It was like a little vacation. :) We ordered a kitchen for us and for the TeenRadical club and also the bathrooms. It was a lot of fun!

My talented husband building the bathroom floor.

Our pastor, Jakob, helping spackle.

We LOVE y'all and send our love from Denmark.

Married, Building, Euroclass

Our Wedding in the Rocky Mountains




WOW, so much has happened since I last wrote in March! :) Oops! Martin and I had an AMAZING wedding the Rocky Mountains with our friends and family! We absolutely could not have asked for anything more in that week! God just blessed our socks off.

The week started with family, Danes and Americans arriving on Wednesday and checking into our Bed and Breakfast, Blue Lake Ranch. We had a picnic dinner set up in the meadow and it was simply perfect. All of my Danish and American friends and family became such good friends and we loved that! It was so important for both of us that we have "our worlds" cone together so they could better understand us. It was great weather and the food was perfect.

The next day we woke up and had breakfast together, then headed to the Event Center for a rehearsal. The rehearsal was great and while we were standing there, a heart appeared in the sky above our heads.
Then we all headed into Downtown Durango for lunch and shopping, and in the afternoon our White Water Rafting trip! One of Martin and my favorite memories of this week was being the last ones on the packed school bus and seeing all of our friends and family from so many places gathered together, ready to go rafting. It was so much fun...we dominated the river!

After the River Rafting we had a fantastic Rehearsal Dinner at ther Ranch. We honored our parents for all they had done for us.

The wedding day was beautiful! Everything was perfect, including the weather that we prayed about for so long! :) Our wedding was a mix of Danish and American culture and a new experience for everyone! Our friends and family blessed us with VERY creative speeches and toasts for 3 hours!! We shared some good food and then danced the rest of the night away! It was wonderful!

Back in DK
We are now back in DK and working hard on finishing the apartment so we can get moved in. Martin is finishing school during the day (5 more weeks!!!) and working on the apartment in the afternoons and weekends! It's a busy start, but we'll be so glad when these two things are done! We are blessed to be given a little apartment to live in until ours is finished.This is the building he is remodeling. It's the oldest farmhouse in Kolding, so it has a lot of history. He is building our apartment on the backside and the front half will be a teen club for the teens at the church.

Euroclass (www.euroclass.dk) There is a link for English
We started this week at Euroclass. It was a great week...very exciting, but also very hard on my brain. Everything in Euroclass is spoken in Danish, so I had a week of teacher orientation given in Danish. :) It will definitely help my learning this year! I will be teaching in English, though, praise Jesus! :) I will be teaching communications. I will teach the kids how to preach and share testimonies in English so that when we go on outreach to other countries they will feel confident. I will also be teaching bible lessons and discipleship. I'm so excited for what the Lord has in store for this year. Martin is coming on board at Euroclass as soon as he finishes his school in September, and we will be leading a team of about 13 kids on our first 3 week outreach in October! We feel so blessed!

Please Pray
Please pray for us that all the work that is ahead of us will get done quickly. (Martin building the apartment and TeenRadical club) and that he will also finish school and exams without too much stress. Pray for my Danish to come along. It's so important now, in my second year, that I understand when people speak Danish. Pray that I will have grace to learn fast and remember and practice!

I promise I will update more often! That is it for now! We love you...from Denmark!

It's Togo Time!

I just wanted to send a quick update about my trip to Africa coming up next week and ask for your prayers over my team and I. This time there will be 18 of us traveling to Togo from March 22-April 15. Togo is on the coast of West Africa next to Benin. It is the smallest and one of the poorest countries in Africa. We will spending the 1st week in the Capital city of Lome, at the very southern tip of Togo. Here we will be working with different church ministries as well as orphanages. The second and third week we will drive about 1.5 hours up North to a city called Notse. Here there is a Bible College which has branched out from mine (www.iabc.dk) in Denmark. The BIble College, called CAFEM, is a cement building with different rooms and no running water or electricity. We will be doing a lot of practical work here, as well as preparing a Missionary Home, on campus for differently missionaries to come stay in. Also in this city, we will visit local clinics because the leaders of my missions school are doctors, and we will be doing some work there. Our main focus will be in a couple different Children's villages.

Our Container Project was a huge success and a God given miracle. As most of you know, we have spend the last 2 months gathering supplies to send in a container to Africa. This turned out to be a bigger project than we expected. We ended up in the Newspaper twice. The whole city and surrounding cities got involved in donating clothes, shoes, bikes, furnature, tools, and everything in between. We spent last week packing our container and it shipped off on Thursday. We are hoping that it will reach Lome while we are there so we can distribute the goods among the Children's Villages and to the locals that we are in contact with. We will return to Lome a couple days before we are to fly back to Europe.

Please pray for:
1. Safety in travel
2. Wisdom for God's leading while we are there.
3. Open hearts to hear the Gospel
4. Protection from sickness
5. Unity in our team
6. God's guidance in every step we take.

Here are a few pictures of our final collecting day. We spent two days packing this container full of the stuff we had gathered to send to Togo.






This is Helge (our Missions School Leader) and KoKo, our Togan friend, making sure all the holes are filled in.
Just an example of some of the stuff we gathered.

Barbara, always happy to serve. :)



In Denmark, they use tractors to haul things. :)

Baby Joshua stopped by to help. He found some things he wanted.



Momoko and I searching through the kids clothes.
I look a bit confused, but I promise, I had it all under control. :) My job was to register everything going into the container. It proved to be harder than I thought. Thanks for your prayers! I will keep you updated!

Euroclass 2009

Well, after lots of prayer and consideration Martin and I have decided to take the job at Euroclass next year. THANK YOU all so much for all the prayers and encouraging emails that I recieved! You have no idea how much it means to me to know that I have this huge prayer base at home!

On Friday I was still feeling a little anxious knowing that we had to have a decision made quickly. But, God is so good. In my "Equipment for Ministry" class we are learning about the different gifts of the Spirit. On Friday, the topic was Spiritual Wisdom, perfect timing! After the teaching he asked if there was anyone who felt like they needed wisdom over a specific decision. I asked for prayer and 4 girls prayed for me. I was given so much encouragement and prophetic words, it really made me feel so much more at peace about the whole situation, which was especially good because Martin called me a few minutes later and said that he had set up a meeting with Peter (Euroclass Leader) at 2:00 that afternoon. So, I went into this meeting feeling so much more at peace than I did before. In this meeting we just talked with them with some last minute questions we had should we take the job, and it was so good.

Martin and I left Peter and Sarah's house feeling so encouraged and uplifted. It's going to be such as blessing for us to work under this couple and be discipled by them as well as us getting to disciple the teenagers. I think my brother nailed it on the head when he said, it sounds like I'm a little homesick, but I know that God is not through with me here. That is right. I miss my home and my family and friends so much, and I hate that I am missing out on important things happening, but I also know that there is always a cost in following Jesus. He calls us to look straight ahead, not to the sides or behind and follow him completely, and that is what Martin and I want to do with our lives.

We are so excited about this opportunity. We are excited to be able to do what we love as our job. Euroclass is in connection with a boarding school (this is where Danes ages 15-17 go...kind of like high school) so I will also be considered an employee there and may get to teach some English classes as well. We are excited for the road ahead.

Thank you again for all your prayers and encouraging words! It means more to us than you know! Please continue to do that!! AND... we can't wait to see you all at the wedding! :)

Love from Lynsey and Martin

www.euroclass.dk

A Day in the Life of an American in Denmark

So, it's really interesting that every time I talk to people, they seem to know nothing about what I'm doing here in Denmark. I was just thinking about that, and thought, I must be a really bad communicator. SO... I thought why not give a little blog update on what exactly my life in Denmark looks like.

I live in an apartment with Kelly, my American roommate who is getting married the week before me in Ohio, to Martin's best friend, Johan. 2 Americans surviving together in Denmark can be a good encouraging thing, but we can also seem to encourage each other's "vent fests" when we are tired of the strange culture and language barriers. We have a lot of fun together figuring out this place.

Everyday I get up and ride my bike to school. Here's a few picture of the town I live in.

It's so fun because every day I leave my apartment, I can't get anywhere without seeing someone I know. It's really a "Mayberry" small town feeling. It really gives the sense of community that I've always loved (even though I've never experienced it at home)

I am a student at the International Bible College studying in the school of Missions. This is why I went to China in the Fall and on March 22 I'll be going to Togo, Africa. My days are filled with lots of classes, worship and spending time with some of the coolest people from countries all over Europe. I'm also taking Danish classes once a week, which is so not good enough. I'm trying to figure out a way to learn more in Danish.

On the weekends I spend time with my lovely fiance, relaxing, traveling a bit, hanging out with his family and planning our wedding and future together. We are the new TeenRadical leaders at the church. This new role started in January. We absolutely love it. We have big dreams for this group and are in the process of building and organizing a TeenClub that will be open to teenagers after school and some weekend events. We are so blessed with people in our life that are really investing in us.

Martin helps out as much as possible with the Mission School, especially as we prepare for our trip to Africa. Our dream is to work with Missions and teenagers, so it's amazing the experiences that we have gotten this year. God has really blessed us beyond what we could imagine.

We're getting married at Blue Lake Ranch on July 17, 2009! ONLY 5 months away now! Tak, Jesus! So wedding planning is really getting under way now. It's about to get a lot more busy. The next day after I get back from Africa, we're going to Sweden to Martin's brother's ski cabin, and when we're done with that it's going to be major wedding crunch time.

So, that's pretty much my every-day life in Kolding. Like I said, I'm always so surprised when I hear that people don't really know what I'm doing...so there is a really short version. God is good...he's teaching us a lot this year and I'm so thankful to be here.

Praise Jesus for lots of New Things!!

So, we've finally gotten the answer that we have been waiting for as long as Martin and I have known each other. He finally got his confirmation for graduating early!! The letter came in the mail yesterday. This means that he will be done with school on Sept. 18, 2009 instead of May 2010! This is so good for us because it opens up so many more opportunities for us to serve God together next year. He is so faithful and continually proving that he hears our prayers and is faithful when we call on Him.

This doesn't mean that we have a plan yet for after the wedding, but it does mean that now we know what kind of freedom we have as we are seeking God for his plan for us next year. We know that Martin won't have to be in school, and that in itself is simply wonderful news!

On another note, for those of you who don't know, we accepted the job as youth pastors of the Teen Radical teenage group at the church in January. When we came back from Texas we were a bit nervous about what that would be like, but once again, God has proven faithful. I believe that you grow so much more when you are challenged in new areas because you learn that you have to be dependent apon the Lord because you know you can't do it in your own strength. It has been such an amazing time so far. I always knew Martin could do it, but I was a bit insecure (and am still working on it) because of my Danish, but God has given me so much grace. I am understanding more and more everyday and can pretty much follow a conversation in Danish now. I respond mostly in English, but it's always fun when I know how to respond in Danish. He's also given me more connections one on one with the kids this term. Martin is doing a FANTASTIC job leading and has great visions for this group! We believe in God's vision for these teenagers and love to see them grow. I have developed such a heart for the teens in this area. The area of Kolding that I live in is filled with them. We have a Youth Mission School, Boarding School and Jr. High all in one area. Every time I leave my house I see some of the kids. It's kind of a "Mayberry" feeling, and I love it. They are in such need of Jesus, and we're so excited to get to disciple them.

Praise God for this new opportunity!

TEENRADICAL!

here are some of the kids on one of our event nights

AFRICA!

We have been preparing for our trip to Africa a lot in the last couple of weeks. We been blessed with a HUGE container that someone is going to ship for us to Togo and so our task is to fill it up with everything and anything that will be useful for the villages where we be spending time. We had an article on the front page of the news paper last week and had a huge collecting day on Saturday.

http://pdf.budstikken.com/seneste_udgaver/kolding.pdf

People from all over the area came and donated things. God blessed us so much. We got everything from beds, motorbikes, bikes, tables, chairs, sewing machines, computers, to clothes, shoes and toys. It was simply amazing. These things will be able to bless so many people in Togo, which is one of the poorest countries in Africa. We were overwhelmed by the response. Please pray for us as we continue to prepare for this trip. We will be leaving on March 22 and returning in the middle of April.

The night before, Martin and I spent with the teenagers making cakes to give away to the people who came and donated.

A Danish/America-Africa Couple. :)We got 60 top of the line mosquito nets donated...one of my favorites! Praise Jesus! :)
Some from the teamThis was only the beginning. :)
So, I think that is all the news for now. Please keep Martin and I in your prayers as we now are seeking God for what will come of us next year. :) We know that whatever it is, will be great because we just want to be in the will of God.

Vi elsker dig meget! (We love you a lot!)

Eating dessert and drinking coffee the way Americans do it. :)

David loves his Pops and Uncle Martin!

David celebrating his 1st birthday!

China...Denmark...Texas...Denmark

So on my trip home to Texas over Christmas, I realized that there actually were people who followed up on my blog, little did I know, so I guess I do need to keep it updated more often. :)

The trip to China was amazing. Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement for our trip. The Lord went ahead of us and prepared the hearts of so many people. I learned not to put boundaries on what you think the Lord will do because he's always got much more in store when you are walking in faith! I was able to teach an English class at a Sports University for students who were just beginning to learn English and it was a blast. We also did some sports camps, English corners, Earthquake relief work and helped to encourage other believers who were living there. I have a heart for another part of the world that I never thought much about before. God is doing amazing things there and I just pray for more!

I was pretty much sick the two weeks between China and Texas. The jet lag was worse than ever, and I was exhausted and had a cold plus I started right away with a very busy schedule the day after I got back. I did not slow down again until I got home. After about 2 days in Texas with my bed, good food and my family I was feeling much better!

Martin and I had a great time in Texas! It was SO good to spend time with my family and friends. Of course, I don't feel like I got to spend enough time with people, but I guess that will always be the case when you are traveling. But, it was a blessing to be home! I spent a lot of time with my parents and my brothers, Yvette and David. I think by the end of the trip, David definitely remembered who his Aunt B was and I'm sure he's missing me like crazy already. :) We did lots of wedding planning and got to celebrate David's first birthday with him, so that was special.

The plane ride back to DK was great! It went by so fast (probably because I slept the whole way) and we had no complications until we got to Hamburg and one of my bags wasn't there. I'm still waiting on that one to show up, but hopefully it will come today. It didn't really phase me because last year I learned a lesson about that. :)

It was a good feeling getting back to DK yesterday. I was just thinking about what a blessing it is that I feel like Texas is my home and I can't wait to get there, but I also feel like Denmark is my home now. I got excited driving in and settling in my apartment yesterday. We were greeting with a bright sunny ski, cold, crisp weather and snow on the ground. It was perfect! Coming back to school today was also refreshing. I really missed seeing everyone, so it was good to be back.

It's definitely the time of year where Martin and I will have to start making plans for next year because of all our paperwork that has to go through to make it legal for us to live in other countries. Please pray that God will present opportunities for us wherever we are supposed to be next year. It's hard being away from home, but we just want to be exactly where the Lord calls us, no matter where that is. We are still waiting to hear whether or not he will be graduating early, but we know for sure that we will be coming back to Denmark after the wedding, we just don't know for how long. So we're asking for your prayers that God will speak to us clearly about our future and that we will be faithful in the meantime to what he has called us to.

Please also pray for our new Leadership with the teenagers that is starting now. It's quite different going from someone who just works along side the teens to being someone in charge and this is an area that we really want God's heart for. We want our hearts to be stirred up for these kids to really be radical life changers and fall more deeply in love with God. Please pray that we can be the leaders we need to be, which that is being desperate for Jesus.

More updates with pictures soon to come. You can find pictures from China on my facebook.