Spring & Summer Plans

This promises to be a very exciting year at Converge International Fellowship - Darmstadt. Please pray about three new ministry events in the life of the church:

1.  Short Term Missions Team:  Plans are in the works for a team of 5 to come from Union Valley Bible Church in Hutchinson, Kansas. This will be the first time we have welcomed a short term missions team to our work. The team will be working at the national headquarters of Youth for Christ, Germany.  They will be doing clean up and preparation work in the campus buildings, gardening in the lawns and athletic areas, and preparing the center for the coming summer ministry season.  In addition, they will join with our Young Adults group for ministry in Darmstadt, and visit IBC churches to get a full view of International, English-language ministry.

Prof. Dr. Drossel

2.  First ever Converge International Forum on Science and Faith.  From our earliest days of ministry in Darmstadt (Germany's "City of Science") we have felt a strong compulsion to stage an annual event that would feature leading figures from the science community who also happen to hold a strong faith. Our goal is to impress upon the current scientific community and the future scientists who study at the Technische Universität Darmstadt that science and faith are not mutually incompatible.

Under the leadership of CIF Elder Adam Williams, who himself is a respected member of the European Space Agency (He is currently a coordinator on ESA's ExoMars mission),  we have set a tentative date of Saturday, May 13 for the first of these annual events. Prof. Dr. Barbara Drossel, professor of  Theoretical Physics at the TU-Darmstadt, and Executive Director of the Institute of Solid State Physics, will be the keynote speaker for the event.

Please pray for this event. Pray for the planning and logistics (meeting room, marketing, etc), for Prof. Drossel as she prepares and presents her material, and for careful follow-up with the students and scientists that we hope to attract to the event.

3.  Connect 2017.  The first weekend in August will be the unveiling of the first CONNECT conference for the International Baptist Convention. This long weekend based family event replaces the Interlaken Conference that served as the summer gathering of the IBC for more than 50 years. Bob served as the committee chairman through the process of changing from the previous format to the new, and last fall the CIF church family went to the retreat site for a "trial run" and our first "church retreat."  Bob is currently serving as the coordinators for the Seminars that will be presented as part of the event. Please pray for the speakers, praise leaders, coordinators and the attending members of the IBC family from around the world as they gather.

Sabbatical Plans

After 5 1/2 years on the field, Carol and I have reached a point where we are in need of a time of rest and renewal. We are tired, and approaching burn-out.

We've spoken with the church leadership here in Darmstadt, the leadership of the International Baptist Convention, and the leadership of Converge International Ministries, and together we have agreed on a plan for a sabbatical to begin on April 1.

The plans are still coming together, but we do know that the first few weeks will be spend in the Phoenix, Arizona area, where we can meet with a Converge counselor and get away at a retreat center in the area. Subsequent weeks will include some visits with family, but mostly will be centered on physical rest, spiritual renewal and emotional refreshing.

We won't be doing any church visits, pulpit fills, etc. during this year. In previous years we have spent two months travelling the USA - driving thousands of miles and visiting with many of you. We would love to see you all again. Catching up with your and your lives and updating you on our life here in the place we love - but it simply won't be possible this year.  

Please pray for us as we take this much-needed time for renewal. Pray for the church as there are many great things happening this Summer (see the rest of this newsletter). Pray as we seek an interim pastor to come for three months to serve in Darmstadt, and for the Elders and Ministry Coordinators as they lead the church.

Thanks for your prayers and love.