Preparing for a New Phase

As many of you that read our blog probably already know, we are preparing for the new phase in our church here in Berlin. The Groenewold family is heading back to America in exactly 3 weeks from yesterday. We are prayfully anticipating the unknown as we go forward here in Berlin and in the church. We made the decision to stay in Berlin for the next year, after hearing the Groenewold's would be going back to America. And our decision was affirmed in our hearts when we came back to Berlin and were able to tell the body members here that we are staying. We are holding our new church leader, Stephan Stein, up in prayer and also the body members here. That we would have unity, oneness, and press forward as a local assembly. I think Philippians 2:2 is a great verse for our church right now... "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."

Please keep the Groenewold family in prayer, as you can imagine the expenses of moving over the ocean are quiet steep. Pray for their finances, their family, jobs, and a place to live in the States.

Some pictures from the day we helped the Groenewold's

pack up their furniture and boxes to be shipped to America.

TEEN CAMP '09

I know this happened a while ago, but we never got a chance to post this slideshow that we made. We wanted to give all of our followers an opportunity to see what God is doing in the youth here in Berlin, Germany. We were so blessed to have such an amazing Teen Camp last year. We had 16 Teens be a part of our camp from a total of 6 teens that are regularly in the church. Many friends of the teens in our church came and heard the gospel in a very fun setting, for the first time, in some cases. Please keep the youth of Berlin in your prayers!

Kari Jobe & Gateway Worship in Berlin

What a weekend! We were really excited to find out a few weeks ago that Gateway Worship and Kari Jobe would do a concert/seminar weekend in Berlin for free. We listen to their music a lot, particularly myself playing Kari Jobe loudly in the house, so it felt really personal to us to have them visit Berlin of all places. Friday night was their first free concert, we had a group of about 15 people from our church meet us at the train station so we could all head out together. It was there that the night took a significant turn downward for one of us. I got food poisoning! It started to hit hard just as we were leaving for the concert. The farther we got on the trip there the worse it got, and by the time we got off the train, an hour away from home, it really hit. Thank God for Kathie Groenewold, who being a mom, took me to a restaurant, got me a coke, and a place to sit with some fresh air for a bit. Matt had to continue on with the group to the concert, as he was the only one who knew how to get there! At that point we were so far from home, I was already sick, and there was no way to get home but to go back on the subway for about an hour which I knew I just couldn't stomach. I thought maybe if I just got to the concert there would be an alternative way home. The church that hosted the concert had the nicest people working for them. They sat me up in a spare room on a "bed" until the concert was over, and they even found someone who lived in our neighborhood who offered to drive me home. Looking at this picture now I realize how pathetic this looks, but when your sick and away from home, the opportunity to lay down in a quiet place was amazing. I only realized later that I was practically in a Janitor's closet.

In the meantime, those who came from our church had a great time getting to experience American worship music. They also got to meet Kari Jobe and the worship team afterwards and speak with them for a bit. She was so available to speak with people, nothing but nice and down to earth.

Well after what felt like an eternity 24 hours of recovery, I was able to make it to the second concert on Sunday night. It was an amazing night of worship and from what I heard a much more intimate setting then on Friday night. It was such a blessing to get to be a part of that worship service. Often times we say that one of the things that we miss the most about being in our home church is the worship service. When we are here we are so involved in the services (Matt plays the guitar, I take care of the screen projector and sound board) that we rarely get a chance to really take in a worship service. We were so thankful for Kari Jobe and the bands time that they spent in Berlin. We got the opportunity to speak with them afterwards, and ride home on the train with 2 of the lead guitar players and we felt like we had been friends with them forever. It's a real testimony to the body of Christ, I think, the connection that we can sense with other believers. And it's always refreshing to spend time with Americans! Thank you Gateway Worship and Kari Jobe for visiting Berlin!

Persian Dinner

Okay, so maybe this is starting to turn into a food blog. I'm already anticipating our next posting, as we have invited a Chinese girl over to our house this weekend to cook traditional Chinese food. But who doesn't love to talk and hear about food, right? We've come to learn that there really is no better way to get to know someone's culture and family then to have a meal with them. Being new to Persian food (Persisch, in German) we had no idea what to expect, but another thing we have come to learn is that when someone wants to make you food from their home land it will never disappoint. These recipes have been passed down for generations, and they are sure to have every last ingredient, there is no quick version, or substitutions. These dishes take all day to prepare, and we learned that most of the ingredients were shipped from Iran, such as a pomegranate paste that they use for flavor rather then tomato paste. Pictured below is just some of the food, there were a couple of other dishes on another table, she made 3 kinds of rice, a chicken dish, a lamb and eggplant dish, a beef and pomegranate dish, soup, salad and all sorts of sides and appetizers to munch on. It was an absolute feast.

Just to give a quick testimony and explain a little bit about our churches connection with this family: Fariba (pictured in the middle, below) started coming to our church this past spring. We met her on the street at Nollendorfplatz (where we do our book table outreach to the language school). She was on her way from class and was very excited to meet believers in Berlin and came to church that same weekend and has not stopped coming since. Her family, which includes her husband and two sons, are not believers, however they are not Muslims. Fariba believes that God is opening their hearts slowly and revealing Himself to them. Just after this photo below was taken of myself, Fariba, and Kathie in the kitchen, we had the opportunity to pray with Fariba before the dinner started. We prayed that this would be a time of new beginnings and that God would reveal Himself in her families hearts. Her sons repeatedly said that their mother has not been this happy in a long time, and that she usually does not have many friends because she is a little particular with who she spends time with, and they were so excited to see that she now has so many friends that she loves. I think that that testimony alone must start to work in her families hearts to some extent. Pastor Gary also got the opportunity to share a little bit about God's love before we left. They all listening very intently and Fariba just sat there with a grin on her face. They are a beautiful family, and we are sure to see them again, since we promised them a traditional American dinner... whatever that means! Please keep this family in prayer, I don't want to post their last name on our blog, just for privacy reasons, but look at their faces and remember them when you pray!

(the three in the middle of this bottom picture left to right are Fariba's 2 sons, and husband)

Body Life

"From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

We cannot really explain body life. How does God give us a connection so deep with a person we would never have anything in common with? It is so unnatural. Pastor Stevens wrote about it in a devotional I read recently, He called it "the morter that cannot and will not crack... because of a right mental focus and adjustment on the Finished Work of Christ". This thought of body life was sparked by a great night we had on Sunday. A handful of people in our church went out and had a picnic, played frisbee, and had a time of prayer. We are so thankful for the people that God has put in our paths here in Germany. Eternal friendships with people all over the world. God has called us into something great.

Bat Invasion

Life on the 6th floor has shown to have one more downside then just the stairs. We left all of our windows open the other day to allow laundry to dry, and ended up coming home much later that night then we had planned. As we opened the door and turned on our hallway light one bat dove right in front of us. I ran in the bathroom and shut the door, and Matt with a swiffer mop in hand "directed" them all to the living room and shut the door. Our living room has two large windows so they just kept coming in and out and circling around the ceiling. After hours of trying different things to scare them away, at 2AM we shut the living room door, left the windows open and the lights on and went to bed... at this point there were about 7 bats flying around the room, and as much as Matt wanted to go in and start hitting them, we both decided that wasn't the best move. So the next morning, they were gone and we spent the day bleaching the walls and floors, and from now on we NEVER leave the house with any window open.