Some of you might remember the day (May 1,
2003) when President George W. Bush landed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and gave a speech
beneath a banner with those words on it. Although he never used the words, it
became known as the "Mission Accomplished Speech."
The banner was not referring to the end of the
war - it still went on - but the specific mission of the men and women on the
Lincoln was completed. They had been deployed in the war zone for 10 months,
longer than any carrier since the Viet Nam War.
With this newsletter, we are excited and
grateful to share with you that the specific mission to which we have been
called since November 2009 has been accomplished! In that month we sent you our
first newsletter entitled, "Welcome to our Newest Adventure!" We
outlined there our calling and our goals for the years ahead: to plant a new, English-language church in
Darmstadt, Germany; to lay the
foundation for a second church plant in Mannheim, Germany, and to assist the International Baptist
Convention (IBC) in creating a church planting movement in Europe and
around the world.
That mission has been completed. Like the
sailors on the Lincoln, our specific task
has been completed. The church in Darmstadt is now in its 7th year. We've
welcomed hundreds of people from more than 40 nations into our church family -
and baptized new believers from Lebanon, China, Germany, Singapore, Cameroon,
Malaysia, Switzerland, India, Sierra Leone, and the USA. The church has been
blessed with solid leaders and is actively developing strong disciples and
leaders, both for the church here and for churches around the world, as we send
current members to their next international destination.
The vision of planting a church in Mannheim
has not come to fruition but is carried in the DNA of the Darmstadt church. We
have completed a Feasibility Study, made some good connections, and are ready
to move ahead. We are still waiting for God to lead the right church planter to
come and complete that part of that mission. Pray with us that God will soon send
a laborer into that field!
The IBC has experienced dramatic and increasing
momentum in their church planting efforts, from five over a 5-year period
(2012-2016) to 4 in 2018 alone! We have had the opportunity to work alongside
some wonderful pastors and leaders to help implement essential components in a
healthy church planting effort in Europe, South-and Central-America. We've had
the honor to coach church planters and pastors of existing churches as they
worked to multiply Disciple-making churches in France, Germany, Italy, and
Poland.
We thank you for your vital part in completing
this mission! Without your support in prayers and finances, this work would not
have been begun - and certainly never been accomplished!
But, like that day in 2003, the immediate mission may be accomplished…but the larger mission goes on! There is still much to do for the church Darmstadt, and there is a new mission assigned to us.
Like us, it is time for you to "turn the
page!" (Click Here)
