An Affinity for Mystery

Zebra was my family’s pet bird for about a decade. He was a parakeet and we named him Zebra because of his shocking black streaks against a pure white background of feathers. The blue bump above his beak indicated his gender, but for the longest time we couldn’t figure out if it signified “female” or “male.” I don’t know if my parents were as confused about it as I was, but I remember being baffled for months. I’m still not completely satisfied that I know he was a boy.

In fact, there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about that bird:

Why does he always fly in three perfect circles around the living room? Why does he always, always land on our heads, when our shoulders are just as comfortable for perching? Why doesn’t he ever fly into the hallway?

Why can’t he learn that we don’t want bird poop in our hair?

I found myself asking those questions and others as I grew up with Zebra – especially in the early years. He was interesting and different. Eventually, however, he became a fixture in our home and I stopped noticing the mystery.

I was reminded of it just a few days ago when the friends who adopted Zebra when we left Austria called me into their office down the hall. They had some pictures of him that they wanted to share. They shared stories with me about their time with him, mostly funny, and reminded me of the intelligence and personality that he really had.

They also shared with me the story of the day Zebra died.

It was a week day and they were getting ready to go to work. Zebra had been sick for a while, coughing, and they knew that he wasn’t going to live much longer. So, when he refused to stay in the living room and kept flying into the bathroom with them, they knew something was up. Instead of taking him back into the living room the last time, the husband let Zebra land in his hand. Zebra settled in the palm of the man’s hand and looked up at him, into his eyes.

A second passed and nobody made a sound.

Gently, Zebra shuffled around to lie down. He kept his eyes on the man’s eyes. Then, he died.

Why did Zebra do that?

It was a few days ago that they shared that story with me and I’ve been asking that question since. I think I have an answer, but it simply opens up more questions, so I’ve been dancing around it . . . Zebra didn’t want to die alone. He wanted to be with somebody . . .

Like I said, this opens up more questions than I have time to think about, let alone answer. Yet, it also takes the lid off a piece of me that I put in a jar sometimes, that I let idle. It’s okay to be okay with mystery. This story of a bird dying in the palm of a man’s hand evokes mystery and that very feeling is good. This idea has been a source of comfort to me over the past few days: mystery is good.

I think about that truth when I think about finances. I rest in the mystery when I watch the minutes fly by as I try to prepare solid lessons.

Shh . . . it’s okay to not be in control. When direction seems enveloped in mystery and I just don’t know, then it’s the perfect time to be still. God gave us all an affinity for mystery in certain circumstances, perhaps to help us not be so scared of it. He recognizes that we enjoy mystery as long as there’s not too much risk involved. Like a good father, he recognizes that and wants to teach us trust. Faith. Mystery offers me the opportunity to depend on God and, really, I should look forward to that because, after all, that’s not much of a risk.

A Few Updates and the Downlow

Things are going great for us here in Vienna! It's hard to think of ways to update everyone, but we have a few things to share. We have been very busy with school, church, soccer (for Caleb), bible studies, and just everyday life. 

Today the Korean Ambassador came to visit our school! The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders welcomed him by singing Jesus Loves Me in Korean. 

(Thanks to T.S. for the picture!)

Britney really wants to learn German, but classes are quite expensive. One day she was working in the Elementary German room, and she decided to stay and listen. The teacher said she could come everyday, so Britney has been going to beginner German classes with 2nd and 3rd graders. It may seem silly to be in an elementary German class, but she really loves it. Right now she learns about 4 words a day. Within the next week or so she will start with sentences. 

Here are some words she has learned (all from memory, no cheating!) 

Messer - knife
Saft - juice
Salz - salt
Salbe - ointment 
Arm - arm 
Ameise - ant 
Sessel - chair
Sonne - sun
Sommer - summer
Ananas - pineapple
Engel - angel
Eltern - parents

All of the 2nd and 3rd graders love having Britney in their class. They always want to be her partner and yesterday a cute little 2nd grade boy told her "You are sooo smart!" 

Britney has also been working in the classrooms more. She has a set schedule everyday in which she goes to different classes to help teachers. Sometimes she works one on one with students to help them with math, writing, or another subject. It has been really great for her to work with the kids more. 

Here are some cute pictures from Britney's recess duty: 

Caleb is having a great time coaching JV soccer for high school. This Saturday they have a tournament in Budapest! He has also been asked to lead worship at our church this Sunday, which he would like prayer for. 

We are still waiting for our visas, so please pray that we will get them soon. 

Please continue to pray for financial support to come in. 

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Peace,
Caleb & Britney

Finding a Church

God's grace is truly amazing. It has been incredible for both of us to see God working in our lives. We see him in so many new ways. He is constantly showing us that he has us right where he wants us. 

It has been really important to us to find a church here in Vienna. In Greenville we found a church that we loved. We looked forward to worshipping there every week. The sense of community was so powerful. This made us have pretty high expectations for our Vienna church, but as always, God didn't disappoint. For the first month or so we were attending two churches every Sunday because we really loved both of them. However, we felt like in order to really get involved and become part of the community, we needed to pick one church (but we still plan on visiting the other church every now and then). 

Our new church is called New City Wien. It is a small church that was started by missionaries about 6 years ago. The service is in English and German, which is a pretty cool experience, especially for Britney. Caleb has been able to help lead worship there for the past few weeks, which has been a great blessing to him. We love the people at this church. Every week after the service we come together to share a meal, and it is wonderful. We are so thankful for this place that we can go to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

This past weekend our church went to an Apfelhof to pick apples and have a picnic. It was a great time getting to know our church community better, and the weather was beautiful! Below are some pictures of the day (we were babysitting for some friends that day so their daughter Kailyn is in a lot of the pictures). 

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. It does not go unrecognized! 

Peace, 
Caleb & Britney

Going on the hayride!

Picking potatoes to eat for lunch

Making fresh apple cider (so delicious!!)

Delicious apples!

Immanuel

God is so good!

We have yet another story of his provision and how he uses us (humans) for his glory. On Friday, Caleb got to school and unlocked his classroom and walked inside. He hung up his coat and set his backpack down before getting ready to go back outside to finish off his last week of playground morning duty.

Then, before he turned away, he saw an envelope.

a present

That's all it said. Expecting a sweet card, he opened it up to find 200 Euro !! Again, God is so, so good. We have been doing fairly well with money, but as we've written before, we really need more support. 

This was a really encouraging answer to our prayers. Our Father is always here, always with us.

Immanuel.

To whomever decided to give us that present, we say, "Thank you. God truly used you to bless us and through that gift he is being praised and given all the glory."

We hope this short blog encourages you today. Let it settle on your mind, on your heart, that Jesus knows exactly what you lack and he desires to give it to you, or even better, give himself to you.

Immanuel.

Also, here's a picture of Caleb and his middle school students! One of his students cannot be pictured, but here are his other students. His class had a cultural day on Friday, so they all brought food representing their cultures, which include: Korean, Nigerian, Filipino, Jordanian, and Austrian. 

Peace,

Caleb & Britney 

Fred (And a Few Other Tidbits)

Hello friends and family! 

Here's a quick update:

•  This weekend we bought Caleb a guitar! This is a huge blessing, not only because Caleb loves it, but also because it will be used for ministry here. Here's a picture of Caleb's beautiful new guitar! 

•  Caleb is coaching high school soccer! The varsity team had their first game last week. They lost 2-3, but did a great job! The junior varsity team will have their first game tomorrow! 

•  Right now the elementary/middle school principal is also the 4th grade teacher because the actual teacher is not here from the states yet. Britney has been able to take on some of the workload for the principal. This includes: teaching 4th grade Bible twice a week, teaching 4th grade computer class twice a week, and occasional stepping in to teach other classes, such as writing. It has been a great way to connect with the students on a deeper level, and really get to know them. 

•  We have been getting to know other teachers at the school, and are looking forward to the friendships that may come. 

Prayer requests:
1.  Britney is really missing her grandparents. Unfortunately, they do not have internet and we have only been able to talk on the phone with them once since being here. It has been great to receive letters from them, but it is hard when that is our only form of communication. Please pray for Britney to have peace and know that those relationships will not be affected by our distance. 

2. Please continue to pray for financial support. We are trusting God and believing that he will provide, as he has already done. 

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support!
Peace,
Caleb & Britney 

The Facts - and God's Provision

Hello Friends!

Things are going very well here in Vienna! Quick updates:

• Caleb was blessed to play bass during worship at his childhood church, the Christliche Internationale Gemeinde (CIG).
• Britney has been getting to know the elementary students that she will be working with throughout this year. She is also still a part of a bible study here and she has been extremely encouraged through fellowship and digging into the Word with that group of women.
• Both of us have spent time with dear people here who care about us so much and have shown that through prayer, taking us out to dinner, and just spending time with us.
• We each have been so encouraged by your prayers and by the efforts you have taken to go out of your way and let us know you think of us and pray for us!
• A student told Caleb the other day that he wanted to grow up and be an ICSV teacher, so he could, "Help students like Mr. Dossett does!"

We are amazed at the Father's quick and steady hands that continue to catch us, when our stumbles are small as well as when our falls are long and hard.

In recognizing this, we have a need to share with all of you that we ask that you would be praying about. Through setting up a budget and talking with the financial manager at the school, we are realizing that we need to raise more support in order to meet all of our needs in ministry. Also, when we went to get our Visas, the authorities told us that we need to be making more money in order to stay. For us, as missionaries, this means raising more support.

This is hard news . . . raising support is difficult when we are in the same country as our team; now, it's even harder. Still, we trust in the incredible promises: God works everything to the good for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28) and he will meet even our very basic needs (Matthew 6:19-34).

Our desire is to continually expose ourselves as the simple, earthen vessels that we are and Jesus as the king that he is. Though we have moments of panic, we choose to go to the Father, in faith. Your prayers are the crutches with which we shuffle to him.

Many of you are supporting us financially and many through prayer (many through both!). Below we want to share with you our basic budget, so you know exactly what it is we are looking for. Please be praying that God would set it in the hearts of others to join us in ministry by giving financially. Please be praying that IF IT IS GOD'S WILL, he would set it in your hearts. 

We are so thankful to those of you that are already supporting us financially. You are a dear, dear part of the service we can offer to the students at ICSV here in Vienna. You are vital to the ministry.

Thank you.

If you have any questions or want to contact us about anything, please email us at:
calebdossett@gmail.com

Current Support

approx. $2,000 per month

Bills per Month
Rent	$1,400.00
Phone	$40.00
Bank Fees	$20.00
Student Loans	$350.00
Renter's Insurance	$28.00
Internet	$17.00
Medical Insurance*	$250.00
Set-up Costs (owe ICSV)	$260.00
Food	$330.00
Tithe	$350.00
USA Travel**	$200.00
Misc.	$100.00
	$3,345.00

Additional Support Needed

approx. $1,345.00 per month

*We will hopefully receive our Visas soon, which will allow us to receive Austrian health care. Right now, Caleb has health care through his parent's insurance, so we only need to pay for Britney. So, this cost will disappear when we get our Visas because Austrian insurance is essentially free.

**We hope to return to the States in the summer to see friends and family and visit supporters, so we are saving for this monthly.

Let's Be Contagious

The following is a conversation between Caleb and one of the students in his class during a time of free-study and homework-doing. The identity of the student will not be shared. The awesomeness of God is going to be told about out the wazoo.

       Student: Mr. Dossett, you're a Christian, right?

       Caleb: Yes, I am!

       Student: Can I ask you some questions about the Bible?

Cue ecstatic inner jubilee.

That's about how it went a few days ago when Caleb had the opportunity to share a little bit about the Word of God and his faith. It was a brilliant time (we've been making some friends with some delightful British people here and it's affecting our speech) of learning for both Caleb and the student! The questions that were raised came from a perspective that was totally new to the Bible; this, of course, made for some enriching discussion about the Trinity, why Jesus told his followers to stay in Jerusalem (after his brutal execution!!) and the presence and power of God. What was especially cool about this experience was that the student was so eager to learn - what was especially, especially cool was that there was such freedom in conversation!

And that's why we are here at this outspokenly Christian school. We are here to provide enriching, excellent education, while being able to minister to students and live lives that are filled with the contagious light of Christ.

Please be praying for more conversations like this to take place.

Also, please be praying for certain students in Caleb's classes that are struggling a lot with learning English and making friends.

Thank you for your prayers! 

Peace,
Caleb & Britney