Miraculous Financial Provision!

In a dramatic display of His provision, God has met our financial need in ways that can only be described as “breathtaking”.  

In February, we shared with you that we were facing a “Fiscal Cliff.”  Because much of our initial support was in the form of large donations spread over two years we were going to be below 50% of our required monthly support on August 1.  We were informed that we must return to the US at that time, and would not be permitted to return to Germany until we were once again at 100%.  The gap was nearly $6000 per month.  

We did not know how long it would take to raise that much support, but we were confident that God did – and that He is always faithful.  We asked you to pray that we would be able to return to Germany by October 1, in time for our one-year anniversary service.  We knew that it would take a huge work of God to accomplish such a goal!  But as our friend Darryl Evetts likes to say, “God was gettin’ ready to show off!”

Over the course of the next 10 weeks, God began to move in powerful ways.  People around the US and Europe began to respond with commitments to support the work in Darmstadt.  Then our sending agency informed us that they were decreasing our required support level by nearly $1000 per month based on our actual expenses over the past two years.  In addition, the CIF congregation has taken a great step of faith to get behind the mission – a step toward the day when the church will be completely self-funded. 

The miraculous bottom line is this – by the middle of May (in just three months!) God had provided, through His faithful people, enough support that we were given permission to purchase our return tickets to Germany!  It was so astounding that I had to keep going back to my spreadsheet and make sure I hadn’t added something incorrectly.  It was like when Peter was released from the Jerusalem jail, and stood at the door knocking – the church had been praying for his release, but when it happened, they couldn’t believe it! 

We will be back in plenty of time for our one year anniversary service, and we can add to that celebration this amazing demonstration of God’s hand upon this work.  We can’t begin to explain to you how amazing this is – it sometimes takes people years to raise the support God provided for Darmstadt in just weeks!

Please, PLEASE, join us in thanks to the Lord!  This was a powerful example of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know I am God.”  In this case, God showed that it is not about us.  There are times we are called to act, and there are times when God wants us to “let go” and allow Him to “show off”.  

Our First Baptism!

On May 26, we had our first baptism!  It was such a joy to hear the testimony, and celebrate the powerful faith of Kevin Nickel.  Kevin has been a part of our faith community from the earliest days.  In spite of a busy school, work and sport schedule, he’s a regular at our LIFE Groups and serves faithfully in the church.  He is an inspiration and encouragement to us personally.  

Prior to his baptism, Kevin shared  his story of faith with the congregation and with visiting family and friends.  He also shared his favorite passage of Scripture with us:  Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We were blessed as Kevin publicly proclaimed his faith in Jesus before family and friends!

Student Ministry Moving Forward!

Students Sophie (China), Eric (China) and Imants (Latvia)

Darmstadt is a city with a large student population, and that student body figures prominently in our ministry.  We’ve been blessed to welcome students from all over the world to the church.  Some come with a solid foundation in their faith, others have never been in a church before, and never heard the gospel. 

Anok (India) prepares some delicious food in our kitchen!

 Thanks to a solid core of committed students in recent weeks the university group has begun to sense its calling and gain momentum in fulfilling its mission.  We hosted a movie night at our flat with a group of friends with authentic, amazing Indian food cooked in our kitchen by one of the men.  It was a great evening, and we were planning another before the night was done!  

Phyliss (Kenya) enjoying a treat!

On a German holiday a couple of weeks later, as we were walking downtown, we came across a group of a dozen students who had spent the day together.  They had gone bowling, and were headed for some food when we saw them.  They introduced us to a new friend that had joined them for the day.  Later we learned that a couple of the students had spent much of the afternoon sharing the gospel with the young Vietnamese man.  They shared with us his excitement at hearing of God’s love for the first time!  The group has committed themselves to intentional evangelism and outreach as part of their ongoing activities. Pray for them!

Our First Visitors from “Home”!

A special blessing from the Lord over the last few weeks was the visit of some dear friends from our “home church” in Wisconsin.  Kevin and Deb Howard are still faithfully serving as leaders in the church, and their visit to us was a great lift to our spirits.  They were joined by their daughter, Angela and her husband Jake Magyar.  

To give them a taste of European living, we had them stay in our flat downtown, while we stayed with a family from the church for the 10 days they were here.  They got to experience walking to the local bakery in the morning, traveling at over 100mph on the Autobahn, and Schnitzel at Spargelfest!  They attended church at CIF, and participated in our Thursday night LIFE Group.  

Their vacation gave us a chance to take some R&R, too, and we enjoyed visits to Munich, Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Neuschwanstein (the castle Disney copied in his parks), as well as Innsbruck, Austria.  The newlyweds (Angela and Jake) made a quick drive to Paris for a day, too.  They may have needed a “vacation from vacation” when they got home! 

We love visitors!  Let us know if you are coming to Europe!

Excellent! Converge Mission Link: 7 June 2013

June 7, 2013 The International Team of Converge Worldwide (BGC) For Our Global Partners Working Around the World From David Jahnke   David Pierce of Steiger International preaches a clear and powerful telling of Jesus at work. Jesus is eating with bad people. People such as the drug lords of Juarez, used car salesmen, Packer fans—the kind of people that most everyone despises. Those around Jesus mutter, “This is proof Jesus is not from God, because if he was he would not be so intimate with them!” In this context Jesus tells a parable. You have 100 sheep; one keeps running away. What is this sheep like? If sheep could be vicious, this would be an attack sheep. If sheep could use guns, this one would have a gun. He would have outlandish hair, listen to bizarre music. He would always be taking a weaker sheep off to do bad sheep stuff. Now, I am a shepherd. I have 99 respectable sheep. One is rebellious, taking others off to do bad stuff. What’s the best thing I can do? LET HIM GO!! But what does the Good Shepherd do? If we are talking about me and not the Good Shepherd, during “lunch break” I might take a short look for the lost one. Ninety-nine are vulnerable, so I won’t be gone long. But the Good Shepherd does what? He looks, and looks and looks… until the lost is found! No time limit! Here’s an important concept: lost sheep are lost! Lost sheep go to lost sheep places. They live in lost sheep places. How have I typically responded to places that lost sheep go and live? “Thank you, God, that you’ll never see me there.” But if Jesus came to lost sheep places, he would know the names of bartenders, prostitutes, dealers, shamans, atheists… sinners. What do you do when you find the lost one? “You stupid sheep, I left behind 99 good ones to go into the cold and rain. What a pain you are!” Me, if I am really angry, I eat the sheep. This lost one is not our nice, fluffy white sheep we dream of petting. He has “matter” all over him, and Jesus picks him up and carries him home. God is the God of the lost. O God, the Desire of all nations, in the knowledge of whose love and power there is salvation for all the peoples of the earth, may the day come quickly when all people will acknowledge you as Lord of all. Hasten the day when your presence and the strong hand of your purpose shall be found not only in the hearts of a few wise and brave people, but throughout all lands, in courts and places of government, in workshops and the marketplace, in the city and in the fields. And whatever we ourselves can do, give us grace this day to begin. Amen.

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