Making Progress on the Christian Education Training Program
I am feeling pretty good about my work today. I have been trying to carve out some time to work on the Christian Education training that has been sitting on my desk within arms reach but have not been able reach over open it up and type away.
Today however after cleaning out my inbox, responding and writing a few emails I completed a rough draft of one of the lessons on using teaching methods. While it is just a draft it means that others can read through it and provide valuable feedback and input to make it better. I have a small group of children’s workers with years of experience which their insights almost always make imporvements on what I have first written.
Next Tuesday there is a curriculum committee meeting and we will be talking about a previous lesson on “needs of students” that was handed in. Even though the process is good and makes the product better I always feel like I have just gotten into a boxing ring with 3 other guys and I am not allowed to defend or hit back and have gotten the living day lights punched out. This writing thing can be brutal!
Also an update on those who are curious about our previous land lord situation. We have heard nothing yet. Our attorney write a nice letter listing the inaccuracies and asking that he respond within 14 days. He has until this coming Friday the 20th. We are praying he will respond appropriately. If he neglects to respond then our attorney will ask him to appear in court to address the issue. I just wish this whole ridiculus thing would be over.
Ramifications of Moving
Here’s an update on the last entry.
Last time we got out of a rental agreement here it was horrible. We hadn’t been in Austria a year and had signed a contract that bound us to paying rent for 5 years, no exceptions like a 3 months notice. It was through compassionate Austrian friends and some help from a friend of a friend who was a judge we were able to walk away with our full down payment. It was through this that all our Austrian friends asked if we had lawyers insurance. We didn’t and they all said we should get it. So we did and hoped we would never have to use it……so we are now.
Christy called our insurance agent and they quickly referred us to someone saying our case necessitated it. Tuesday evening Christy and I met a lawyer who read through our contract and what our landlord says we owe him. In my last blog I ended asking the question, “Is it just us or does this sound unfair?” Well some of what he is asking is legal and can ask for it but he just needs to provide records and receipts for the last three years. However his calculations on the inflation index were miscalculated and there are two opposing clauses in the contract that mean we might not have to pay anything. But this is for the lawyers to decide.
Heres where things stand currently. Our lawyer has drafted up a letter requesting our former landlord to respond within 14 days and provide recepits for the all the utilities he says is over the amount we agreed on in the contract and also to respond to the inflation clause. We will see. I hope this gets settled quickly and out of court. Thats the last thing we need to have on our plates.
Sometimes we feel like foreigners
As many of you know we moved from recently. There are a few reasons why we moved, mainly being closer to Kati’s school which cuts the daily commute in half (from 40 min. to ca. 20 min. one way). It is also closer to my work and the public transportation for others to reach us is a lot better.
Anyway we have been diligently cleaning, repainting and getting the small yard in order to get our deposit back. Last week we made an appointment with the owner to return our keys and hopefully receive our deposit back.
Hours before our meeting we get a letter from the owner detailing expenses owed to him and instead of receiving our deposit we owe him almost €1,000! It is difficult to express in words how we felt. It was being intensely stressed, angry and overwhelmed all at the same time.
There was a flurry of activity with calls, internet searches and rereading our contract. We are still in the process of seeing if we have to pay anything, he needs to pay us or if it will turn out neither of us pays anything.
Even if everything is legal and we do end up paying from our point of view it is still unjust and wrong. Let me try to explain. There is a section in our contract saying if inflation goes up more than 3% he can adjust our rent. (which is fine, inflation is a fact of life). The thing is he can request up to three years of back inflation payment. Right now it seems to be that if he owns the property, which he does, he can request his three years at any time. If he does not own it he would need to inform us of the inflation increase within 2 weeks or else he forfeits his right to request it (he is able to request for the increase before the next months rent). Christy and I think this is fair, we would have been paying increases through out our time and it would not be such a shock but to have to pay it at a one lump sum really hurt. He is also doing this with another aspect of trash, water etc expences. Which we think it would have been fairer (is that a word) to us.
Since most Austrians live in subsidized housing they don’t have to deal with renting privately and they think this sounds bad. But in thinking back through the years of the missionaries who have rented privately I know of only one from a dozen that has not had problems getting out of a rental contract without either a major relational conflict or parting with a lot of money or both.
Is it just us or does this sound unfair?
First Sunday in New Facility
Yesterday, we celebrated our first Sunday in our new facility! It was quite a difference from our old place. This was modern, new and clean. There was excitement in the air and everyone was excited.
The building a a multi-purpose use building and it is connected to a Kindergarten. The owner of the Kindergarten is a church member and is letting the church use the Kindergarten facilities for our Sunday school. The kindergarten is way cool and all the kids were excited to have such nice rooms.
Here is a link to a few pictures. Hopefully I can get my hands on some more pictures later. Many people have prayed, worked hard and given money to make this a reality. Thank you to eveyone who participated.
