Dear Family and Friends,

Our first month of language school is complete! We’ve been in Germany at Goethe-Institut since the beginning of March learning German. We will be here for two more months before we travel back to Austria to rejoin the Oasis team. It has been hard to be away from our team and ministry in Austria, but wonderful to understand more of what is going on around us. We look forward to the day in early June that we will rejoin the team.

As for language school, we have been working very hard! Class begins at 8:15 each morning and goes until 12:45 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday.  Then we spend the afternoon studying, doing our homework and practicing what we have learned.  We are being challenged like never before, our brains are full of German vocabulary and grammar. There have been times when we have woken up in the middle of the night thinking about German.  It has been really rewarding to see how much we improve on a weekly basis.  One way that we see our progress is by the amount of words we understand from week to week when attending a local church.  We are enjoying our immersion into German language.  One cool thing the school offers is a program called Tandem-Partners, this is where the school matches native German speakers who want to practice a second language with Goethe-Institut students who want to practice German.  We have been pared with a woman named Stephanie who has been a great teacher and has given us wonderful insight into German and European culture.

It is exciting to know that when we return to Austria we will be better able to communicate with the Austrian Oasis volunteers, people at church, grocery store clerks, and the refugees who come to the Oasis. The refugees who will stay long term in Austria will learn German.  For those who have learned the language, we will be able to communicate with them. For those learning German, we hope to eventually be able to play an integral part in their German language learning process. It is always a hope of the Oasis ministry to continue to get Austrians involved, and learning their language is a way in which we can continue to build relationships.

Below are a few additional updates of prayer requests and praises:

Prayer Requests & Praises
-Please continue to pray for us as we have one month down and two to go in language school. Pray that we will continue to absorb what we have learned thus far and that we will continue to grow in our understanding of the language.
-Continue to keep the refugees in your prayers. So many of them are hurting and looking for hope. We praise God that there is a place for them to come and learn about our Lord Jesus Christ.
-Continue to pray for the Oasis ministry. Praise God that the number of missionaries on the Oasis team is growing. This is an answer to prayer for the team.
- Financially: Please keep our financial situation and the situation of other missionaries in Europe in your prayers. With the dollar declining against the Euro, many have to raise additional support. Our support level is based on $1.5/1 Euro (it was about $1.4/1 Euro when we began support raising), but it has now increased to $1.57/1 Euro in the past month. Please pray that it will stabilize to a lower point soon.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, encouragement and support. You have all helped to make this possible. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue at language school and will soon be returning to Austria to fully begin the ministry to which God has called us.

In Christ,
Dan and Regan