spring greetings!

Hello again!

Hallo, hier sind wir wieder! ( Deutsche Übersetzung folgt bald!)


Some of our friends might have stopped checking out out our blog already for you had to wait soooo long for this update! Well, the last few months were marked by an emotional rollercoaster, feeling stretched to our limits, facing some big questions... and both of our laptops broken down at the same time!
Anyways... with this up-to-date family picture we greet all of you who haven´t given up hope in hearing from us! We took it Easter Sunday 8th of April - celebrating the incredible gift Jesus gave us when he died for us for our sins and enabled us to have a restored relationship with God!


When we woke up on Easter Sunday there was a big surprise outside: It had snowed again! Almost everything including the blossoming trees were covered with snow... it was almost like a message from God to us: "See, my forgiveness can cover everything you did wrong and separates you from me... I make your heart white as snow!"


Speaking of snow: Let me give you a little update on our kids - starting with our 8,5 year old David! He discovered skiing this winter... and loves it! He was able to go on a christian ski retreat for one week and loved it... and our athletic boy skies down every mountain now! Sometimes I wish he would have a little bit more respect...

David is doing well in school, loves his teacher and his class - and his ability to concentrate and do his studying improved alot. He is still very active and learns every type of sports in no time. He enjoyes Royal Rangers (christian pathfinders) and being outdoors is the best... what increases our desire for a different place to live than our 2 bedroom appartment on the 4th floor without elevator...(prayer request!)


Amy - our first grader, got an amazing mid term report, and we think the decision to send our princess to school already was the right one. She loves her class and her school aswell and gets along with everybody. She still is a very happy, gentle girl that loves flowers, roll games, drawing and meeting friends. The only challenge are her ears - she has constant ear infections and her hearing ability is quite reduced... maybe another surgery will be needed. We pray that in the long run everything will be normal for her!

And this is Noah - our little sunshine! He definitely discovered one of the highlights of spring already: icecream! He eats well - but is so active all day long that he is a thin little fellow. He loves playing soccer - he could kick balls for hours, and that with 1,5 years old! If he doesn´t kick balls, he climbs or runs or tries out things... and because all his energy goes into the motoric, he doesn´t have much left for developping his speaking skills... and didn´t get much beyond "Mama" and " Hase" (rabbit). I speak German with him - but he still doesn´t say "Papa" but "Daddy"! - See, English IS the easier language!


And because I don´t have a current picture of Wolfgang and me at the moment you can enjoy our family picture again! Like I mentioned - the last few months had been challenging for us - and our big question about the next place where we as a family should be is still unanswered. We appreciate your prayers!

I hope to write again soon and greet you with a saying that I read last week and that we want to put into practice as much as we can:
15 minutes of quiet time each day
1 quiet our each week
1 day of rest and quiet each month
1 week of cutting down and reflecting each year

Be blessed! Andrea and Wolfgang with David and Amy and Noah

Joy...!!!

Dear friends,

I just read this wonderful passage in the newsletter of dear friends of ours - and want to make it our prayer for us and for you for 2012:

This year we come to you,

From a different direction.

We come with a skip in our step

And a smile on our faces.

Because we know:

“I bring good news of great JOY that will be for all people.

Today in the town on David a Saviour was born to you:

He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

May this joy overwhelm you the whole 2012.

This is a joy that does not depend on our circumstances, but on our Master, the One who is always in control, no matter what our circumstances.

This is a joy that can not be disturbed by a rainy, cloudy day, because He is the one that can quiet any storm.

This is a joy that can not come and go, because our King is always with us, and never leaves or forsakes us.

This is the joy our world longs for, but looks for in all the wrong places.

This is the joy that we can share in 2012.

This is the JOY that we pray for you.

Blessings and love, Familie Edele (on this picture celebrating the source of this joy on Christmas with my (Andrea´s) family!

Merry Christmas with an Edele-update!

Dear friends!
Liebe Freunde!

It is shortly before christmas - and instead of sending out christmas cards I want to at least share our latest family picture with you and write a few lines about us!

Es ist kurz vor Weihnachten - und statt WEihnachtsbriefe verschicken werde ich zumindest unser aktuellstes Familienfoto (danke, Torsten!) mit euch teilen und ein Zeilchen in aller Kürze zu jedem von uns schreiben!

WE are doing well altogether - even though the last weeks have been challenging and marked with question marks (what is the next step the Edeles should take now?) and it brought up a lot in us, too. But we want to trust that God will continue to guide us like he has done in the past.

Uns geht es soweit gut - auch wenn die letzten Wochen geprägt waren von Fragezeichen (wo geht der WEg weiter für uns Edeles???) und all dem was so eine Phase bei einem auslöst. Doch wir wollen vertrauen dass Gott uns auch weiterhin führt wie er es bisher auch getan hat.


David - our big boy - is proud to call himself a 8,5 year old - he is 1,40 meter high and is nothing but muscles! No surprise for us - movement is a big part of his life!

David - unser Grosser - ist jetzt stolze 8,5 Jahre alt, 1,40 gross und sehr muskulös! Kein Wunder, denn Bewegung gehört zu seinem Leben einfach dazu!

David is attending a rock climbing course, is a very excited "Royal Ranger" (christian path finders), continued to play Bratsche (sort of violin) also this year and had developed into a pretty good student in school! Liberia this summer was his great big adventure - he loves to share about his snake experiences and about his impressive time in the bush of Africa.

Er ist im Kletterkurs, begeisterter "Royal Ranger" (christl. Pfadfinder), spielt auch dieses Jahr Bratsche und hat schulisch sehr gut die Kurve gekriegt zum guten Schüler! Liberia im Sommer war ein grosses Abenteuer - er erzählt gerne von seinen Schlangenerlebnissen aber auch von der eindrücklichen Zeit dort.

Amy started school this year and is in first great - and is doing really well! She loves her class, even likes to do homework, loves to play with friends and celebrated her 6th birthday two weeks ago.

Amy ist ja jetzt eine Erstklässlerin - und macht es einfach super! Sie mag ihre Klasse, macht tatsächlich freiwillig und schnell ihre Hausaufgaben, spielt gerne mit Freundinnen und Freunden und hat vor zwei Wochen ihren 6.Geburtstag gefeiert.


She is a pretty and happy girl - sometimes a little bit too much in competition with her older brother, but otherwise interested in everything and with a soft, open heart.

Sie ist ein fröhliches, hübsches Mädchen, manchmal etwas stark im Konkurrenzkampf mit ihrem grossen Bruder, aber ansonsten sehr interessiert an allem und hat ein sehr weiches, offenes Herz.



Now... Noah! Our baby is not a baby anymore! On the 5th of October he officially became a toddler ... and a very alive one, too! I mean, there is sooooo much to discover, right?

Unser Noah: our baby is not a baby anymore! Seit 05.10. ist er offiziell ein Kleinkind und ein sehr lebendiges noch dazu! Es gibt ja auch soooo viel zu entdecken!


Since middle of December he added "walking" to his mobility repertoire - he already did his masters in crawling and climbing! He is a very happy child, not the best sleeper under the sun... but again, then he would probably miss out on too much... We are thankful for all his developmental steps that he does in an amazing way!

Dazu hat er seit Mitte Dezember das Laufen zu seinem Bewegungsrepertoire aufgenommen - Krabbeln und Hochklettern ist schon lange drin! Er ist insgesamt ein sehr fröhliches Kind, nicht der beste Schläfer aber da könnte man ja auch zuviel verpassen. Wir sind dankbar für alle Entwicklungsschritte die er wunderbar meistert!


All of us want to wish you a blessed christmas time with lots of time for the essentials! We will have quiet christmas this year - have reduced the gift business very much for we have it on our hearts to support the ministry in Liberia instead (www.heliserve.org).
And we want to end this with a verse that David brought home from school today:
NO MATTER HOW YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS...THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT JESUS IS PART OF IT!

Big hug from the 5 Edeles!

Wir wünschen euch allen gesegnete Weihnachten mit viel Zeit und Blick für das Wesentliche! Wir haben dieses Jahr recht ruhige Weihnachten, haben das Schenken sehr reduziert und dafür auf dem Herzen, die Arbeit in Liberia finanziell zu unterstützen (www.heliserve.org).
Und wir enden mit einem Spruch, den David heute aus der Schule mitgebracht hat:
GANZ EGAL, WIE DU WEIHNACHTEN FEIERST.... DAS WICHTIGSTE IST DASS JESUS DABEI IST!

Dicke Umarmung von den 5 Edelchen!

Pinky Power

Dear friends!

Liebe Freunde!



Do you remember the story (in our last Liberia-entry on this blog) of the girl with the interesting name "Pinky Power" that Wolfgang met in one of the remote villages in Liberia during the bush clinic visits with Stefan?

Könnt ihr euch an unseren letzten Blogeintrag aus Liberia mit der Geschichte erinnern, die wir über das Mädchen mit dem interessanten Namen "Pinky Power" berichtet haben - ein Mädchen das Wolfgang in einem der abgelegenen Dörfer getroffen hat, zu denen er mit Stefan im Helicopter hingeflogen ist?



Wolfgang had the strong feeling that we should try to bring her to the ship -even though the surgery schedule was already full. Thanks to Stefan, who drove her to Monrovia, Keith who organized her travel to the ship in Sierra Leone, and all the people who work with Mercy Ships for free to make the whole ministry possible....

Wolfgang hatte gleich das starke Gefühl dass man alles dransetzen sollte, um sie auf die Africa Mercy zu bringen - obwohl wir erfuhren dass der OP Plan bereits voll war. Doch es klappte dann doch noch!
Und dank Stefan, der sie dann nach Monrovia brachte, dank Keith der den Transport nach Sierra Leone aufs Schiff organisierte, und dank all den Menschen die kostenlos auf dem Schiff mitarbeiten um die ganze Arbeit zu ermöglichen...


... and now after the surgery Pinky is a new person!

... ist Pinky nach der OP eine neue Person!


She and her mother (who have never left their village before and led a life marked by shame) drink in all the love that they get showered with on the ship! We are excited about these pictures that a friend of ours sent to us who is one of the people that loves them for us as we are so far away.... These are not official pictures yet, but pictures that show so much of a wonderful transformation! We pray that they will also leave the ship inwardly transformed - and that they will be a living testimony of a loving god to their village!

Sie und ihre Mama (die beide noch nie ihr Dorf vorher verlassen hatten und ein Leben mit viel Scham geführt hatten) saugen wirklich all die Liebe auf, die ihnen auf dem Schiff entgegengebracht wird. Wir sind begeistert über diese Bilder die uns eine Freundin geschickt hat - eine der Personen die sich dieser beider Menschen liebevoll angenommen hat und damit auch unser Herz ausdrückt, da wir es aus der Entfernung nicht selber machen können... Dies sind noch keine offiziellen Bilder, aber sie drücken eine unglaubliche Verwandlung aus! Wir beten dass sie dass Schiff nicht nur äusserlich sonder auch innerlich verwandelt verlassen - und dass sie ein lebendiges Zeugnis über unseren liebenden Gott für ihr Dorf sein werden!


Lots of love for now from a beautiful fall in Germany !
More on us as a family soon!

Alles Liebe aus unserem herrlichen Herbst hier in Deutschland!
Mehr über uns bald!

Yours, Andrea and Wolfgang with David, Amy and Noah