German Missionary Update

What's Inside
Hello friends near and far! Nate and I are currently "out of office" on our time of Renew. In this seasons we ask God, "What do you want us to know?" and seek solitude and rest to hear His answer.

Nate and I are avid readers and I love a good podcast. But for this season our Renew Coach, Jeff Helton said, "NO ministry books, NO Christian podcast, and certainly NO counseling podcast. Sensing my sadness, my dear friends have sent me quirky articles, books to inspire, and thriller laced podcast.

Click along below to see:
- My Tree(s) of Life (3 mins)
- Resources
- Forest Bathing and Why Aren't You Doing It?
- Prayers for Renew



My Tree(s) of Life
Hello friends near and far! Nate and I are currently "out of office" on our time of Renew. In this seasons we ask God, "What do you

r family’s flat swelled of people all week. Although Germany’s COVID mandates still existed in February 2022, household rules allowed for small gatherings. We invited friends over for dinner and devoured coffee and cake times with mentees. The conversations intimate and intentional. Between it all, I maintained my weekly practices of prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance.
 
Yet with horrible weather, I missed my daily walks through the forest. As a result, my soul felt haggard, famished, and blinded to the Life that allows me to enjoy everything else in life. I needed my trees.
 
St. Augustine describes the whole life of the Christian as a holy longing. As we mature in our faith, our heart grows for more and more of God’s kingdom.  
 
My trees have become a holy oasis where I meet with my Creator — a forest where my very need for more of God becomes my greatest joy, my only rescue from my holy longing.

God’s breath spoke these very trees into being, and now the wind rustles their leaves and branches. Their leaves also create a shade of covering for rest. So, these trees embody the words ruakh and ruhen. The Hebrew word ruakh means breath, wind, and spirit. The German word ruhen means to rest. In this two months season of Renewal, seeking answers to transitions and unknowns, I need more of God’s breath, more of His wind, more of His Spirit, and more of His rest. I need more trees of life.


Finding focused rest in a loud city like Potsdam is a challenge for me as an easily distracted introvert; yet God provided it for me after our second year serving on the mission field. I had recently finished the daily grind of language school and found more time to explore the city. Just like God told Abram, “to walk the length and the breadth of this land,” I too wanted to walk the whole of Potsdam.  
 
Three times a week, I would walk Emerson and Sadie from the tram stop, up the hill to their school, located on the backside of a neighborhood surrounded by forest. Spring was on the horizon and after making the trek one day, my curiosity about what was in those woods got the best of me.
 
The next day, I put on my athletic clothes and trainers and set off into those woods to start walking and praying as the kids walked into school. Each day, I discovered less-traveled trails, chirping birds, tepees built from fallen branches, and an introvert’s paradise of prayerful solitude with Jesus. The ground I walked started to become holy. Each molecule of fresh air became God’s breath of life into my nostrils; the wind danced into my soul as it carried His voice as answers to my prayers. The roots of trees absorbed my tears as I processed all the emotions of a life overseas.
 
In late summer, one not-yet-believing friend asked if she could join me on my forest walk. I was hesitant. Would God still speak if a not-yet-believer were walking with me? Did I want to share my holy space with her?


After nanoseconds of thoughts ticked by, I blurted out, “Sure. Next Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.?”
 
We soon realized the location of “my woods” was not convenient for her, but a quick Google map search unearthed another patch of woods perfectly situated between our two homes. Our faithful, 5-mile weekly hiking routine started.
 
We found God’s ruakh and ruhen in the strange, yoga-positioned trees we paused together to admire, the sound of woodpeckers drilling their holes, and the way mist and snow smelled when they gently fell. Our forest created a safe space to begin vulnerable dialogue. Halfway through our third walk I asked, “Can I ask you a really personal question?”
 
She answered that question and continued to answer each curious one that followed. The ground we walked became holy.


The wind that rustled the leaves gave cadence to a source of life more powerful than ourselves, and the bark of the trees absorbed our inner thoughts as we gave them voice. She was experiencing God’s ruakh and ruhen in the embodiment of those trees, and she was drawing near to Him.
 
In December 2014, God had used Genesis 13:18 to affirm in me our call to missions work in Germany. That’s the passage where God told Abram to move his tents under the shade of the great trees of Mamre at Hebron; and I sensed Him asking me to move my metaphorical tent to Germany. Abram eventually left those Mamre shade trees but returned months later. I am sure their familiar shade brought him the feeling of comfort. The collection of dew on their leaves might have also brought him water, and their existence reminded him that God speaks.


My family’s move back to Nashville for our one-year stateside this past summer has been like Abram’s move back to Hebron. These Nashville trees are familiar; we are drinking refreshing water; and their familiar shade dares me to remember all that God has spoken. But I still find myself experiencing less interaction with nature and, therefore, what feels like less relationship with God’s ruakh and ruhen.
 
While part of me longs to return to “my trees” in Germany, I discern that God’s ruakh and ruhen are not bound by oceans. As I sit on a balcony overlooking the Great Smokie mountains, I hear God’s voice dance upon the leaves and my ability to linger in the cold shadows of the Oak-hickory forest is driven by the enthusiastic anticipation of experiencing God’s ruakh and ruhen once more.
 
In Him,
Brittany

Prayers for Renew
- Please pray for Nate and I to have daily solitude to commune with our Father.
- Please pray for wisdom and discernment.
- Please pray for us to be able to unleash and release for the purposes of lamenting.
- Please pray for our kids to feel the "umbrella of rest" we are creating so they too can feel God's peace during this intentional time as a family.