The New Office and a Visit From Mat LaFlamme

We had an amazing, refreshing time with Mat LaFlamme the past few days. This video is from the Bible Study we held Sunday night at the home of a family in the church, the Wollenbergs. It was so great to have a friend visit us to just hang out and have fun together. We were really encouraged by God through Mat's visit.

There is more to be done, mainly the finishing touches, like new lighting and pictures on the walls, but this gives you an idea of what it will look like.......As promised, the "After" photos from the newly renovated office:

Renovations

This week and last week we have been doing some renovations at the church. We started in the basement, where the kids have Sunday school. New carpet, new paint, and removal of a closet and steps were some of the tasks for the basement. The carpet was the most important, I believe, since the old one was there for ten years and had accumulated quite a lot of mold. The office is getting a totally new look from top to bottom. New furniture (desks, chairs and bookshelves), new flooring (laminate), and new lighting to name a few changes. So here are some before pictures:

As you can see, there was a lot of stuff everywhere...

So everything had to be removed, which was quite a task in itself.

Now the painting could begin...

Then comes the flooring...and by the way, the paint is not pinkish, its a light mocha/tan, it just looks that way in the photos.

That's all that is done for now. We will post more photos when we are finished, I know you all are waiting to see it completed.

Church Harvest Day

We had a great day of fellowship and laughter with the body here yesterday. One of the families in our church who live outside of the city and have a large yard and house, opened their home to the church to have a harvest day. We spent the whole day and most of the night there, it seemed like no body wanted to leave. It's fun to see God really knit these families and people together in the body. Seeing new people drawn in and making friends, seeing German families spending the day together laughing. We were so encouraged by the joy that God has given the body here. And as much as we were tired and sore from the long day, we went to bed with huge smiles on our faces last night. Such a gift to be a part of a Greater Grace church on the foreign field, watch people grow, and enjoy days with lots of laughter like this with them.

Bobbing for apples

The kids had a three legged race

Matt taught the guys (and a few brave girls) how to play football

It doesen't seem to matter what the game, Germans LOVE to compete

This German game is called "Schokolade" you wrap up a bar of chocolate, and the first one to break into it wins. But you can only go at it with a fork and knife and you must wear the hat, the scarf, and the mittens before attempting. Everyone else playing rolls a dice and if you get a six its your turn, and the hat and gloves and scarf are all passed to you. Definitely good for a laugh!

We had dinner over the fire, roasting bratwurst.

A message by the fire on how we choose whether to put on the old man or the new man each day

Everyone by the fire singing songs, laughing and roasting marshmallow's.