On Friday, October 20th, three children were picked up by the police and escorted to school in Baden-Württemberg, with the "promise" that it would happen again this week. (I don't know yet if it has. I know that if they had been my children, we would have left the country--or at least that address--over the weekend!) The previous minister/secretary of education had said that it was senseless to use police force for something like that, that it wasn't good for the children, who were obviously well-cared for, and a waste of time for the police. The current minister/secretary of education apparently has another opinion.

Incidentally, while my children were fairly shocked to hear about this, my seven-year-old said that he thinks that would be fun--except for having to go to school at the other end of the "escort." LOL

An update on the two parents (a brother- and sister-in-law) who were jailed most recently: both were released on schedule, and both have reported on their time in jail. They were treated well and enjoyed the opportunity to witness to so many people. The mother, especially, had been looking forward to the experience, and as they have just received another fine because the state just now figured out that they have another child who hasn't been in school, she expects to go back to jail at some point. She received well over 100 letters, from many countries, and was extremely touched and encouraged. She had the right to a single cell, but chose to forfeit that right in order to witness to other people, and ended up leading a Bible study for women who have begged her to come back. Her prayer is that she will have the same freedom the next time she is in jail.

Now, I've been saying all along that I wouldn't mind going to jail, especially since I think an American citizen being jailed in Germany for homeschooling would make great headlines (and you all WOULD write to me, wouldn't you?  ), but I hadn't thought about it as an opportunity for spreading the Gospel! Cool. It changed my husband's perspective about going to jail, too. The problem he has with it is more the conflict that it would cause with his work, that it could have much further-reaching negative consequences than "just" a week or two in jail. We keep praying...