For four weeks now, Caleb has been eating a food that was previously off-limits: wheat. Blood tests done in the U.S. last year indicated that he was much less likely to develop a reaction to it. However, there was not enough time to follow those tests with a food challenge. Working through a new contact – and subsequent friend – here in Germany, Katherine made an appointment with an allergist at the children’s hospital run by the German Red Cross in nearby Siegen.
Based on the exam and a review of the test results, the allergist recommended that a food challenge be done. Early last month, the clinic applied a test that didn’t go so well. The poor lad had to drink quite a lot of two not-so-smoothies to get enough wheat (plus a control) into his system. At the end of the testing, he just couldn’t keep it all down.
The doctor wasn’t convinced that this reaction was due to an allergy, and she suggested that Katherine give Caleb a little wheat here at home. So Katherine baked him some chocolate cupcakes that included some wheat flour. With little to no coercion, he tried them, liked them, and – more importantly – did not react. We waited one day, two days, and still saw no signs of his body rejecting the new food. The whole family gave up a cautious “Hallelujah!”
Over the next few weeks, Katherine tried additional wheat foods and increased the amount that our very happy boy was eating. There was still no reaction. With four weeks behind us, it seems that Caleb is in the clear!
Katherine discovered during this time that an area bakery, which is based within a very short walk of our home, keeps a thorough catalog of their products. It lists all of the ingredients for each item. If there’s a possibility that the product contains trace amounts of any of the common allergens, the catalog lists that, too. With that information in hand, Katherine got Caleb a treat – his first soft pretzel!
We are ecstatic that Caleb is free now from an allergy that put some of the most severe restrictions on his diet. Our thanks go to the LORD our God for hearing our prayers – and those of family and friends – over these many years. He has taken soy and wheat off of Caleb’s list now, with only milk, eggs, peanuts, and (most) tree nuts still out-of-bounds.
Praise God with us for this wonderful development! Please keep praying for our boy’s allergies and health, when you think of it. Who knows but that we may soon see more of these allergies fall by the wayside?
It has taken me more time than I’d hoped to finish writing about the boys’ schooling. Back at The Citadel, the proper response to a query for the cause would be, “Sir, no excuse, sir!”
Missionary kids are a different breed. Far be it from me, being merely the parent of a pair, to attempt a full description of these creatures. One thing I have observed, though, is that MKs sometimes have an unusual assortment of educational experiences. Our boys will be no exception.
Until September of last year, Katherine taught Jonathan and Caleb at home, taking advantage of the educational freedom that the states of Texas and Missouri offered. In Texas, these two also had periodic “classes” with other homeschoolers that enriched their learning and provided them with a fantastic social network. And, for the record, some of Katherine’s highest qualities shine when she is lovingly and sacrificially teaching our boys.
The first day of school ...
In Germany, however, we need to send our children to a school. After reviewing the options for school and for my work, we decided to put them into the primary school in Niederdresselndorf, the village adjacent to the one where the Wycliffe office is. The Grundschule Dresselndorf is a mere 500 meters from where we live – a short walk. The school has a strong English program for both teachers and students, which we felt would reduce the possibilities for miscommunication and confusion.
It took long enough for us to get here that we had to make another significant decision. Normally, Jonathan would have begun the fifth grade this school year. In fifth grade, German schoolchildren move from primary school to one of several different types of secondary school. That decision is made during the fourth grade with the consultation of each student’s teachers. The principal here felt that, while Jonathan was certainly bright enough to handle the academic content, his German was not yet good enough to enable him to understand all of the instruction or to interact well with his teachers and the other students. So we chose for him to begin here in the fourth grade and to have time to acquire the language. Caleb, on the other hand, started the year with his age-mates in the third grade.
Jonathan sings with the school choir in the village festival.
Overall, our boys have done very well in adjusting to the new school. The language ability came quickly, as it usually does in young children. We just have to be careful, sometimes, when they introduce words and phrases that they learned on the playground! (Their teachers have been very kind in their corrections.) Homework was something else they had to get used to – back when they were homeschooled, everything was homework!
The best thing about school – at least according to Caleb – is the huge number of friends that they’ve made. We’re still getting used to them disappearing into the village after their schoolwork is done to go play. It was no surprise, though, when we heard from Jonathan that Caleb plays nothing but soccer during the breaks. That’s a sure way to make friends here! He now plays on the local team with several of his classmates. Jonathan, who is more of an acrobat, tends to dominate the monkey bars. He goes to the trampoline classes at the recreation center with one of his friends from school.
Both boys received their first-ever report cards last week, and we were pleased with them. What a joy it is to not be burdened with concerns for their education and for their fitting in to a new environment!
Caleb helps recite "The ABC's of Christmas"
As I write this, Katherine is out registering Jonathan at the secondary school that he would like to attend next year. It’s the type of school called Gymnasium – just try to think of it as an academic fitness center, and you’ll do fine. The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gymnasium is located in Neunkirchen, about a 25-minute drive from Niederdresselndorf. The public bus system makes special school runs throughout the day, and that’s how he would get to whatever school he goes to. We are impressed with the program there, so it makes us happy to send him to the school where his other classmates attending Gymnasium are going.
Well, I’ve boiled this down as much as I can. Those of you who are particularly curious should write to Katherine or give us a call on Skype. But, nosy or not, you can thank God with us for providing a good situation for Jonathan’s and Caleb’s little minds!
For two months after we arrived in Germany, we made do with vehicles that we could borrow from friends or the Wycliffe offices. There was a waiting period for receiving our setup funds, so we couldn’t buy a car of our own immediately. That didn’t stop from researching the possibilities, and I felt ready to pounce on some good used cars when those funds came through.
One day, though, a friend and colleague at Wycliffe Germany stopped me and mentioned that he had received word of a person who was interested in giving a car to a missionary. Might this be a good option for us? I’m still not sure how one says “Duh!” in German, but I probably replied “Stimmt ja!”
After receiving the contact information for the donor, I carefully crafted a message in German that explained who we are and how very much we’d like to have the car. Would he be willing to send me more information?
Later that day, he wrote back. In English. Yes, he had a car for us. Could I call him so that we could chat about it? And, indeed, his own mother tongue is English. Will God’s wonders never cease? (No, they won’t.) I had been a little nervous about conducting potentially complicated transactions, such as this one, in German. Double Hallelujah!
This fellow and his wife came to Germany from South Africa to work with their respective companies German offices. They had lived here for several years, and now it was time to go home. As followers of Christ, they felt that at least one of their possessions here – this car – could benefit someone doing work for the Kingdom of God. And now they were very generously giving it to us!
Well, perhaps I shouldn’t write that they gave it to us. To reduce the complexity of the transaction, we agreed to conduct it as a sale. We set a date to meet in Köln (a.k.a. Cologne) at the main train station, and I set about arranging for insurance.
So in the second week of October, I rode the train out to Cologne. But shortly before my arrival at the Hauptbahnhof, I got a call from the donor. There was a lot of construction traffic around the main station – could I get off a stop or two early? I got off the train one stop ahead almost exactly after I got off the phone. Whew! Now to wait for them to arrive …
While I was waiting, a fellow walked up to me and asked how to get to the train platform – the path wasn’t terribly obvious from the parking lot. I gave him awful directions. Not long after that, though, I got another call from the donor. He was on the platform – where was I? I’m in the parking lot, I replied … oh, you were just there? Ah, I see.
Can either of us be blamed for not recognizing people we don’t know? Well, all’s well that ends well. I clambered into the car that was soon to be ours, and we drove off to a shopping center where there was a copy service to take care of our sales contract. His wife gave me an overview of the car – it had been her main vehicle – and we transferred the snow tires from the back of his car. Most importantly, I handed over our payment: a single 1 € coin. Hallelujah! After many signatures, we parted ways, each of us thankful for our God’s provision for our needs. They had a car they needed to give, and we needed to receive one!
What a blessing this car has been to us so far. It’s perfect for our daily use. And we know who to thank: “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.” (James 1:17
) Thank the Lord our God with us for our little Renault Mégane!
Next up: the boys’ experience of school in Germany … in German (not the next post – the experience)
