Fort Wayne, Indiana Trip

Brian and I had a great trip to Ft. Wayne, Indiana recently. We made the trip in order to participate in the Invitational Campus Visit at Concordia Theological Seminary. We were there for a couple of days, March 19-20.

We arrived early on the 19th to check-in and then apartment hunt before the campus visit started with chapel that evening. Brian and I visited four apartment complexes on Thursday, and found one complex we both loved! We hope to live there when we move. We have contacted them with our interest and now the paperwork, waiting list, etc. begin. We believe God had a hand in pointing out this specific apartment complex to us and we are excited to make the move.
After apartment hunting, we had chapel at 4pm where we were paired up with our campus companion afterwards. Brian's companion was a first year student named Andrew. He was also recently married, about 8 months ago. We had the opportunity to go to dinner with them and talk with them a lot. It was a great experience to meet them and chat with them for awhile. After dinner, Brian and I attended a "fireside chat" where they talked about the curriculum at the seminary. We both found it interesting and then hit the sack because we were exhausted.

We woke up bright and early the next day for 7:30am chapel and breakfast to follow. We then had speakers talk about financial aid, clothing co-op, food co-op, and the seminary in general. We received a lot of valuable information and it was a relief to know there are a lot of resources for each student who attends. The clothing co-op is completely free to students, you can walk in to look for what you need and take what you find! They have clothing items for women, men, children, infants, as well as household items, some appliances, shoes, etc. It is a great resource. They get donations from ALL over the country and then they sort through it before shelving it. The food co-op works in a similar way with each student getting monthly points based on their status (married, children, single, etc). Brian and I will be given 125 points per month to spend in the "store." They have dairy, pasta, sauces, meats, bread donated by Panera Bread, chicken donated by somewhere in Wisconsin, canned goods, paper products, snacks, cereal, etc. It is a little "store" but they say it can provide for 75% of your monthly needs of groceries. It amazed me! The most you "work" for these 125 points is 4 hours a month either at the food or clothing co-op. Just putting stuff away, stocking, etc for up to 4 hours a month and then you get your points to shop and the clothing co-op is free-no points involved. I am so thankful for these resources and more importantly to the people and companies who donate!!! What a privilege, God certainly blesses these students as they study to serve Him.
We took a driving tour of Ft. Wayne. We stopped downtown at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, it is Missouri Synod. It is a church that has been around since the 1800's and it is a beautiful church. I was unable to take pictures of it, but it is certainly something to see if you are ever in Ft. Wayne. Unbelievable in so many ways, breath-taking. Ft. Wayne has a nice downtown with a lot of activities and things to see! It looks like a nice city, it is Indiana's second largest city I believe. It will be a nice place to be for about 4 years or so.

Brian and I had pizza at Oley's before leaving town on Friday. Brian's dad, who went to seminary here, raved about Oley's so we found it and decided to give it a try! It was a small place with friendly people and we loved the pizza. It was cheap, too! We think we will go there for our pizza vs. Pizza Hut, etc. It was a good time. :)

Please take a look, leave a comment, and I hope you enjoyed learning about our trip! It was a great one and we were blessed by God in many ways while there. It was a great experience and we look forward to moving at the end of May. Brian will be starting this summer with a greek course. Please continue to pray for us as we make this transition and new change. Thank you!

Love,
Jen