Happy Saturday-After-Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family. I know that I have much to be thankful for. Despite the frustrations I often feel in learning German and acclimating to life in Bremen, God has blessed me richly.

The Abercrombies and I got back to Bremen on Wednesday night. We had a great time in Paris, despite the fact that the public transit workers were on strike. It actually proved to be beneficial, though, because we got to ride the subway for free...when it was running, that is. We did do a whole lot of walking. Sometime in the next couple of days I'll post more about our trip, complete with some pictures.

The biopsy of the spot in Elsa's stomach came back as benign. That's a major praise! Elsa's understandably more at ease now and seems to generally be happier. Thank you for your continued prayers on her behalf.

I spent Thursday and Friday afternoons working at Elsa's. Here are a couple pictures of the books I've "cataloged":


There was no way for me to take a picture of ALL of the books at once. I had lined them up in stacks based on the numbers I'd assigned them, and the line stretched too far down the wall for all of them to fit in one picture. You may wonder why they were on the floor in the first place, and the answer is that there simply wasn't room for them on the shelves. Elsa has been working to clear "non-book" items and old magazines from shelves, and I've been weeding old, out-dated books from the collection. I have a feeling the recycling pick-up people are not going to like coming to Elsa's house anymore.

Speaking of weeding the books, yesterday I came across an old, spiral-bound book with the words "Physical Science 101" on the cover. I opened the cover to discover that it was published in 1958 and was a course book from one of Jim's early semesters at Harding as an undergraduate. And...it was written by Dr. Joe Pryor.

I know that won't mean anything to some of you, but I couldn't help think about Dr. Joe sitting in his wheelchair beside the front pew during services at College church, still singing along with the old hymns. Or about the time about 4 or 5 years ago when I was walking to church one Sunday morning and met another young woman from Harding who asked me to sit with her and "an elderly couple" she sat by each week. That was the day I officially met Dr. Joe and Ms. Bessie Mae. They invited me to their home for lunch, and I learned first-hand how kind and caring they were.

So I smiled and put the book back on the shelf.

Still here

The past month has been rather busy.

I've spent a lot of time helping Elsa organize Jim's books. We've cleaned out a lot of stuff, including old magazines and book catalogs. Let's just say Jim was not one for getting rid of things.

So far I've been following Elsa's lead in this project, but it's looking like I'm going to be taking over. She's doing well dealing with Jim's death, but she's getting overwhelmed. She doesn't like the books ("overwhelming," "annoying," and "frustrating" are just a few of the adjectives she's used to describe them lately), and the project of getting rid of them is daunting to her. So, I've said I want to do whatever I can to help, and with her permission, I'm going to take charge so she doesn't have to worry about so much anymore.

To complicate matters, Elsa is worried about her own health right now. The surprise of Jim's cancer scared Elsa, so she went to the doctor and said she wanted a full checkup. A couple days ago she had a stomach scan and a lump was found. They've taken a biopsy and the results will hopefully be in tomorrow. Please pray that the lump is benign and also that Elsa can relax and be able to deal with this situation properly. She's blaming herself for a lot of things right now that are not her fault, and she does not need to add worry about her own health to the grieving she's already experiencing.

I recently taught the 2 to 4-year old Bible class at church while Katerina was out of town for a few weeks. It was definitely another learning experience and another test of my language skills. Overall, despite some nervousness, it went very well, and I'm on the list to sub in the future if needed.

Mark and Karen's daughter Elizabeth arrived in town last Thursday for a visit. This is her 3rd visit to Bremen this year, and she said that this time she was coming to see me. She spent Friday night at my apartment, and she, Mark, Karen, and I are actually leaving this evening to go to Paris for a few days. Elizabeth wanted to travel some where outside of Germany, and when Karen found flights for 10 Euros per person, round-trip and including taxes and fees (no, that's not a joke. Ryanair is a wonderful thing.), we said, "Okay, Paris it is then." The only place in Europe I've been besides Germany is the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, so I'm looking forward to this trip.

I'll update after we get back to let you know about Elsa's test results. Thanks for your prayers and support. I couldn't make it without you.

Busyness before the final "see you later"

This has been one busy week.

Jim's funeral is on Friday, and everyone in the congregation is helping to get ready for it. After the fellowship meal at church on Sunday morning, Elsa shared her and Karin's ideas for the funeral with a large group of us, and then suggestions were made and jobs were assigned.

The funeral will be at the church building at noon, and then we'll walk to the cemetery for a short service and the burial. Afterwards, whoever wants to stay will go back to the church building for coffee and cake. As of right now we're expecting about 130 people for the funeral, and even though the new building is larger than the old one, we can only fit about 70 or so people in the main meeting room. Some people will have to stand at the back, and others will sit upstairs in two of the classrooms but will still be able to hear thanks to a sound system and speakers placed in the rooms.

Ingrid and I cleaned most of the church building yesterday evening while some of the men mowed the lawn and carried out some old furniture and other things that somehow managed to hang around despite the purging we did before we moved out of the old building back in May. This evening a group of us arranged chairs and talked about last minute details. It sounds like everything is coming together. Elsa told me today that Rüdiger recently said planning something like this is akin to planning a wedding...only you only have a few days in which to finish everything. I think I'd have to agree.

It's been tremendous, though, to see how the congregation has come even closer together through this. I saw a long time ago how much of a family this congregation really is, but it's become even more clear over the past couple of weeks. Rüdiger preached on Sunday, and he reminded us that this is not Jim's congregation but rather has always been and will continue to be God's congregation. Jim will be greatly missed; many in the congregation have lost their "spiritual father," of sorts. But it's their faith in and love of the Lord that binds them together and will carry them into whatever future God has planned for them.

Several people have asked me how I think the congregation will fare without Jim's leadership, and my answer is "they're going to make it." The congregation has no elders, but even before Jim died the men started meeting to make some decisions on how things will continue from here. Several are taking turns preaching, and Mark has taken over teaching Jim's Wednesday evening Bible class. It will take some adjusting on everyone's part, and I'm sure there will be more changes made as the months go on, but I'm confident this congregation will move forward. One thing Jim and Elsa have done very well is teaching people to be future leaders.

Also this week I've begun a new project with Jim's books. I seem to be the only one here with any understanding of Jim's library system, so Elsa has asked me to organize the books in such a way as to make it easier for her, her daughters, and others to look through the books and decide which ones they'd like to keep. This is no small task, and Elsa's hoping I can have it finished by Christmas, which I think is reasonable.

Elsa has also mentioned that she'd like to turn Jim's counseling and psychology books into a small library for use by her counseling clients. When Elsa mentioned this to me, I couldn't help but get excited over the prospects. I know Elsa thinks I'm weird (she actually said so yesterday), but I really do enjoy working with books. To top it off, I've been able to use my library experience in Germany. More than that, though, I'm glad to be able to do something to help Elsa and her daughters right now. There are a lot of things I can't do, but I know my talents can be put to use through this project, and I really feel like I'm being productive and helpful.

On another note, please pray for Jim and Elsa's daughter, Diana. She still has not delivered her baby, and she is already 10 days past her due date. Elsa said that if she doesn't go into labor in the next day or so then the doctors will perform a Cesarean, which Diana wants to avoid.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for me and for the congregation. Please continue to pray for us, especially for Elsa, as we finish preparations and then have the funeral.

I pray that "you and yours" are doing well wherever you are. Gott mit Euch.

Remembering Jim

It's very surreal that Jim is gone.

Elsa and Karin were at church yesterday evening, and it was weird to see them there without Jim and without people asking how Jim was doing. People are still marveling over how quickly the cancer appeared and then ravaged Jim's body.

But people are also remembering Jim - smiling at his love of chocolate and appreciating his 45-minute sermons. He had a quirky sense of humor, but in almost every situation he seemed to find a way to remind us of the Gospel.

*****

Today I was looking through some of the notes I took during my and Jim's recent studies of the covenants between God and man, and I found a couple of quotes from Jim. I think they basically sum up how he lived his life.

"Those who seek Him will be the victors, and that's not a maybe."

"What Abraham sought has now been found by many, and the key is to help others find it. That's what it's all about."

Jim sought eternal victory through faith in Christ. Because of this faith, he used his life to help others attain the promise of "a great nation" (i.e., heaven) given to Abraham by God. What better way to live one's life than to seek the Lord and then share that Good News with others?

*****

I have one of those calenders with daily quotes, and today's quote seems quite apropos right now:

"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering words while their ears can hear them, and while their hearts can be thrilled and made happier by them."
- George William Childs

It seems like whenever someone dies, so many things in life suddenly become insignificant, and I am reminded of the fleetingness of this life and how much I need to appreciate people while they are here. Ultimately, though, life takes over again and I forget. I don't want to forget anymore.

*****

On another note, we learned yesterday that the funeral and burial will be October 19th, Friday of next week. From what I understand, that's a longer than normal time to wait before a burial here, but I think Elsa's trying to give Jim's family and others from the U.S. time to get here. Please continue to pray for Elsa and for the congregation. Please also pray for Jim and Elsa's daughter, Diana, who as of last night had not yet had her baby.

Thank you for your continued prayers and well-wishes. I know there are some people whom I've never met who read this blog, and I appreciate you just as much as I appreciate my friends and family. Your encouragement keeps me going.

Jim Springer, 1942 - 2007

Jim went to be with the Lord a little after 8:00 (2:00 U.S. eastern time) yesterday evening. Karin was able to come from Switzerland again on Sunday, so she was there at the hospital with Elsa.

I don't know anything yet about arrangements except that Jim will be buried here in Bremen rather than in the U.S. The Springers had planned to "retire" here in Germany and so they had no plans to move back to the States. Each of the neighborhoods in Bremen has its own cemetery, and one of them happens to be at the end of Jim and Elsa's street, so he will probably be buried there.

I thought I had prepared myself for Jim's death because we all knew it was imminent, but hearing the actual news was much more difficult than I'd imagined. Perhaps it's the speed at which all of this happened that makes it hard to believe and to accept.

From my perspective, though, I don't think God could have chosen a better time to take Jim. I was among 15 women at the church building yesterday evening for our weekly Bible study when the phone rang. We all knew what the person on the line was going to tell us. Stefanie was the one who finally answered the phone, and Rüdi gave her the news that she shared with the rest of us. Many of us said we are so glad we were all together when Jim died because we could lean on one another. I would not have wanted to be at home alone when the phone call came.

I felt really bad for one of the women there, though. She had not been there for a few weeks and until we took prayer requests at the beginning of the study she did not even know Jim was sick. My heart sank when she left the room and began to cry after Stefanie reported his death.

Helga led our Bible study yesterday, and I admired her efforts to finish the study after Rüdi called, though I think maybe only 2 or 3 people were actually paying attention by that point. Yesterday also happened to be Helga's birthday, so we all ate cake together after the Bible study despite the fact that it felt a little weird to be celebrating and grieving at the same time.

I suppose that's what we should be doing, though, since we know where Jim is now.

Please continue to pray for Elsa, Karin and Diana, and Jim's mother and siblings in the States. Also, Diana's baby was due a couple days ago, and we're all hoping she has the baby very soon and is able to come for Jim's funeral.

I don't think I can handle writing any more about this right now, but I'll try to post something else after church this evening. I can't express enough my appreciation for your thoughts, prayers, and love through all of this.

Continuing to know that God is good

Jim's condition continues to worsen. He's on an antibiotic for an infection and received morphine on Thursday night for the first time. From what I understand, that was the first pain medication Jim has taken so far. He's never been one to take medication voluntarily, so he asked to be taken off the morphine on Friday.

His kidneys are starting to shut down as well, and he has refused dialysis. He sleeps more and more. From all accounts the doctors basically are just doing what they can to keep him comfortable. Many people from the congregation are taking turns sitting at his bedside. Jim is respected and loved by so many people here, and as Stefanie said yesterday, Jim's a "spiritual father-figure" for a number of them.

I think there are several blessings in this situation. First, we know Jim will not have to suffer for long before going home to God. Second, because we know what is coming, we all are able to begin the grieving process before actually having to deal with Jim's death.

There are so many emotions people are trying to sort through right now, not least among them being shock that all of this is even happening. I guess cancer is always a surprise, but the magnitude and speed of Jim's case has caught everyone off guard. Four weeks ago today, we had the block party. Jim helped set up the tents and spent the afternoon and evening chatting with the neighbors. The next day he preached his last sermon and still seemed like nothing was wrong. A month later he is in the hospital with stage 4 colon cancer and is experiencing liver and kidney failure.

The third blessing is one we actually have all the time but often don't notice: God's faithfulness. God is, always has been, and continues to be a good and gracious God. As Joshua took over leadership of the Israelites after the death of Moses, God told him in Joshua 1:5, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," and that promise holds true for us as well.

God most certainly has not left Jim, whose faith has always been strong but is now all the more determined as Jim looks toward -- in his own words -- "seeing God's glory in the next few days."

Latest news about Jim

Yesterday morning Jim went to the hospital to have the port placed in his chest. The doctors decided, however, that he was too jaundiced to perform the procedure and were also concerned that his blood might not clot properly, greatly increasing the risks inherent in the operation anyway.

Chemotherapy can't be administered without the port, so since Jim cannot get the port, chemo can't be started. With the hope of healing and relief delivered by chemo suddenly taken away, the situation has taken a rather grim turn.

Mark, Karen, and I visited Jim in the hospital yesterday, and he was in a much better mood than the average person in his situation would be. We laughed a lot, and Karen told him his sense of humor is definitely still healthy. Before the Abercrombies and I left, the four of us prayed together. Jim's faith and trust in the Lord still humbles me. He worries about Elsa, but besides that he's ready to go home to God.

This whole situation is very surreal to me. I'm still trying to comprehend how just one month ago Jim seemed perfectly fine. I also find it strange that all of this is happening during the time I committed to be here working with the Springers. Over the past few months I've had many moments of questioning my place here and seeking direction in how I'm supposed to serve, but now I find myself in a position full of opportunity: there's an open door for helping and encouraging Elsa and the rest of the congregation during this time.

I haven't heard anything about Jim today, but I'll post again when we know more. Please continue to pray.

Quick update and new prayer requests

Today I spent most of the afternoon at Jim and Elsa's house sorting through the almost 200 well-wishing emails they've received in the past week or so. I had asked Elsa how I could help, and this was one task she hasn't had enough time to do. I copied and pasted the emails into a Word document and then Elsa printed it - all 20 pages - for Jim to read. If it wasn't already clear to me before, it was after today: a whole lot of people love and care for the Springer family...and with good reason.

I sat with Jim for a little while as Elsa cooked dinner. His voice was stronger than it was on Sunday when I last saw him, but overall he seemed to be weaker. His spirits, though, are stronger than ever. While his physical condition breaks my heart, his spiritual and emotional states encourage me continually. Jim is definitely sure of what he hopes for. He smiles as you talk with him, he asks how others are doing, and he even still has his uniquely-Jim sense of humor. While I'd like to think otherwise, I don't know that I would be at the same point if I was in his shoes.

Tomorrow is a big day for Jim. He has an appointment for surgery to place a port in his chest through which chemotherapy and other medications can be administered. Please pray that he makes it through this procedure well and with no complications.

After the port comes the next big hurdle: beginning chemotherapy. Elsa is afraid the doctors will want to wait until Monday to start, and she is seeking ways to push for them to begin on Thursday, or Friday at the latest. Please be praying that the chemotherapy can begin as soon as possible. The situation has become very serious very fast, and time is of the essence. No one can predict how Jim and the cancer will react to the chemo, but there's no way to know until it's begun.

Thank you again for your prayers. I know all of us here appreciate them. One of the many wonderful things about being a member of the Lord's body is sharing the burdens of life with fellow Christians - even ones who are half a world away.

Helping Jim and Elsa

Here's the less-serious news first:

The repairman finally came this afternoon to fix my dripping water heater. A few turns of a pair of pliers later and the dripping stopped. So far, so good.

Mark's parents and sister have been in town for the past week, and yesterday I went with them to Bremerhaven. They had wanted to make the trip, but Karen couldn't go because she had German class, so they recruited me to help Mark with navigation and translating. All in all it was a fun day that provided a break from the seriousness of the past few weeks. I'll try to post a few pictures soon.

And now the more-solemn news:

Sunday afternoon, Mark and Sergej took the Lord's Supper to Jim. He hasn't been at church in a few weeks, and as of this point we don't know when he'll be able to attend services again. Mark said the fellowship seemed to be good for Jim, so several men are going to take turns sharing Communion with him each Sunday.

Then Sunday evening, I went to the Springers' house with a small group of people to sing for Jim. It was the first time I'd seen him in three weeks. He seemed really tired, and his voice was weak, but he was glad to see us and enjoyed the singing. After we sang the German version of "It is Well with My Soul," Jim got a bit emotional and said, "That's been one of my favorite songs for over 50 years." Several of us had had trouble getting through the hymn as it was, but after Jim's comment I really had to fight back the tears.

In all honesty, Jim did not look good. His abdomen was distended, and he was really pale. The gravity of the situation became quite apparent to me after the visit on Sunday. The Springers' daughter, Karin, arrived in town on Saturday evening, and I know her presence has been a tremendous blessing for both Jim and Elsa.

Jim is uncomfortable right now but doesn't seem to be in pain. I've told Elsa that I want to help in any way I can, and beginning tomorrow I'm going to take care of some "secretarial" work for them. Just about everyone in the congregation is banding together to help support Jim and Elsa in different ways, and I know that's what it's going to take for all of us to get through this.

Please continue to pray for the Springers and for the congregation. We all appreciate your petitions to the Father, and I know they're being heard. Gott mit Euch!

Taking one day at a time....

Here's the latest information on Jim:

The colonoscopy that was scheduled for Wednesday (after having already been rescheduled from Tuesday) finally happened on Thursday. Apparently during the procedure they found a "small, cancerous tumor" in his large intestine, and this cancer has metastasized to his liver, explaining the tumors they already found there. He was able to come home from the hospital yesterday, and now they're awaiting an appointment for surgery to put a port in his chest through which they can administer chemotherapy.

According to Elsa, besides feeling weak and dealing with the uncomfortableness of an enlarged liver, Jim's feeling okay right now. Their daughter, Karin, will arrive in town from Switzerland this evening to stay for a few days, and I think this visit will be a really good thing for all of them. The emotional support alone will be a great help to Elsa. The congregation can do a lot to comfort and to ease the burden of daily tasks like cooking and cleaning, but other people, even close friends and fellow Christians, can't provide the support that family can.

The rest of us are suffering through this in our own ways. Jim means a lot to a lot of people, and to many here he fills the role of a spiritual mentor and father figure. Despite our own personal difficulties, though, I think we all realize that this is much more painful for Elsa and, obviously, Jim. We're all trying to do whatever we can to help out. I've known since I arrived that this congregation is like a family, and I'm seeing that even more so now.

In much less significant news, the repairman finally came on Thursday to fix my water heater. Between the letter that I wrote on Tuesday and a few phone calls from Elsa on Wednesday, things got moving much faster. Thursday evening, though, I noticed that the heater was dripping from several places. Yesterday I left a message for the repairman, but I don't expect to hear from him until Monday. At least the heater isn't making the horrible noises it was making before.

Thank you for your prayers for Jim as well as for the rest of us here. Please keep praying. Prayer really is powerful, and I know God is listening.

Something a bit less serious....

After the emotional weightiness and dreariness of yesterday's post, I thought today I'd share something a bit lighter with you.

I recently heard this joke, and while I think it's funny anyway, I enjoyed it more since I actually understood it in German:

Two toothpicks were walking through the woods. Suddenly, one of them noticed a hedgehog walking by.

One toothpick to the other: "I didn't know the bus stopped here."

*buh-dum bum*

See? I told you it was funny.

Back in the Blogosphere: Part 2

As I said in the previous post, a lot has happened over the past couple weeks:

1) We had a gospel meeting on September 14th and 15th. Josef Achatz and his wife, Uschi, come twice a year to Bremen from Augsburg. Now that Josef is retired, he loves traveling to different places to preach. The invitations sent out declared that "some burning questions will be explained," and I'd agree the lessons were a bit controversial for many people here. The topics discussed were "Why does the world need Christian congregations?" and "The fullness of life is found only in Christ!?" I honestly was a little surprised at how many visitors we had. I didn't hear any official numbers, but I know the room was full both nights, and quite a few of the members of the congregation weren't there.

I was also surprised at how much I understood. When Josef was here last January, I had a really hard time deciphering his Bavarian accent. When Americans think of German sounding "harsh," they're thinking of High German, which is spoken most purely in northern Germany, with Hannover supposedly being home to the most original version of the language. In Bavaria, though, the people speak a dialect closer to Swiss German, and both Bavarian and Swiss sound to me like the speaker is trying to sing while speaking. The pronunciation is much softer, and there is a lilt to the voice that isn't present in High German. Not to mention that some words and genders of nouns are different from those in High German. For some reason, though, this time I could understand Josef, perhaps because I talked with many Swiss women at the ladies' retreat in Neckarzimmern in May. Whatever the cause, it was nice to see an improvement in my language skills.

Overall, the gospel meeting went well. Josef did an excellent job, using multiple passages from Scripture to back up each of his points. Many people asked questions afterward, and good conversations resulted. Hopefully this will be the beginning of further contact with some of the guests.

2) Rebecca, Mimi and Rüdi's 4-year old daughter whom I've babysat many times, was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday because of breathing problems. Her blood oxygen saturation levels were low, and the doctors decided she had some type of lung inflammation. They put her on an antibiotic and started doing breathing treatments several times a day.

Rüdi was not able to work for most of last week because he had to stay with 2-year old Johannes while Mimi was at the hospital with Rebecca. On Friday Karen and I took turns staying with Johannes so that Rüdi could relieve Mimi at the hospital, and that afternoon I went to the hospital with Mimi and Johannes to visit Rebecca and to watch Johannes. Rebecca's room was about twice the size of an average U.S. hospital room, and Mimi and Rebecca's roommate's mother both were able to sleep in the room on beds next to their children's, which was nice for both families. Rebecca was basically confined to the bed because of her IV line and oxygen machine, and the oxygen tube taped to her little face made her look like she had grown cat whiskers. She seemed to be in good spirits, though.

I watched Johannes again on Sunday afternoon, and when Mimi came home, she said Rebecca was doing much better and would probably be released on Monday. Today I found out that she in fact was released from the hospital yesterday and should be able to go back to Kindergarten tomorrow. We are all thankful that she seems to be feeling better.

3) On September 13th, I discovered an orangish-brown puddle under the water heater in my bathroom. When I finally was able to talk to my landlord that evening, she told me I needed to call the repairman the next morning because she was going out of town. So, I called, and he said he could not come until Monday. When he came and looked at the heater, he decided he needed to order a replacement part and would call me when it arrived.

Now, a week later, I still haven't heard anything. To understand the full impact of the situation you have to know that the heater provides hot water for the shower and sink in the bathroom as well as for the radiators in my apartment. Without it working properly, I obviously have no hot water in the bathroom and no heat for the apartment. While I'm thankful it's September and not January, it has been in the 40s and even in the 30s at night here, and my apartment gets pretty cold. Also, it's nice to be able to wash your hair every so often. Mark and Karen have been kind enough to let me stay at their apartment several days, but Mark's parents and sister arrived in town today for a visit, so they already have enough house guests. Besides, when I'm paying the rent for my apartment, I'd like to be able to actually live there.

I decided Monday that enough was enough, so I called my landlord. After a couple tries, I finally reached her son and left a message for his mom to call me. She didn't call back, so today I tried again. Still no answer at home or at her work. So, this evening I wrote a letter and put it in her mailbox. I really wasn't sure what else to do. She still hasn't gotten in touch with me, so Elsa said she will try to call tomorrow and complain for me. Hopefully, hopefully, the situation will be resolved soon. I really don't want to threaten to not pay the rent (that doesn't exactly seem like a Christ-like thing to do, in my opinion), but that's the point I'm at with the situation.

4) Jim is, as Karsten announced at church Sunday, "schwer krank" (very, very sick). It started about 2 weeks ago with a sore throat and a weak voice and has come to the point of him being hospitalized on Friday. They've done just about every test imaginable and early on decided he had pericarditis (an inflammation of the sac around the heart). Now there are tests showing he has tumors (yes, that's plural) in his liver and spots on one of his kidneys. This evening at ladies' Bible class Elsa used the word "cancer" for the first time. Elsa said last Thursday the doctors were saying the tumors looked like "secondary tumors," but they didn't know from where they had originated. I've heard the word "Darm" (intestines) tossed around the past few days, and tomorrow a colonoscopy is scheduled, so I gather that they think he might have colon cancer. (Please know that last part is conjecture on my part based on all that I'm hearing.) Elsa also said this evening that it looks like the pericarditis and tumors are unrelated, though the pericarditis has led to the discovery of the tumors, which is a blessing.

To complicate the situation further, Jim and Elsa's daughter, Diana, is expecting a baby in about 2 weeks. Elsa was supposed to go the States to help Diana and then Jim planned to come a week later. After a visit with Diana and her family, Jim and Elsa would begin their annual furlough, traveling around the U.S. visiting family and supporting congregations and individuals. All of those plans have been put on hold for now.

I don't yet know exactly how all of this with Jim is going to affect me and my work here. When Elsa told me on Thursday about the tumors, I felt numb. Since Jim has been in the hospital and tests are still being done to reach an accurate diagnosis, the numbness has been joined by overwhelmingness. I think I could better deal with the situation if we had a definitive diagnosis. If the doctors said, "He has ____," then I could begin to deal with that. But while you wait for a diagnosis, you don't know how you're supposed to feel or what direction you're supposed to take in beginning to adjust and to cope. I know Elsa is experiencing this in a way that's so much more highly magnified than any of the rest of us, and so far she seems to be holding up well.

For me, though, I think the fact that both of my grandfathers and my mom have all experienced serious health problems in the past couple of weeks, and the stress of dealing with that from a quarter of the way around the world, added to Jim's situation, has overwhelmed me. I pray and hope for healing, and I ask God for inner peace in dealing with all of it. Besides that, I'm trying to go about the parts of my routine that are separate from Jim and Elsa, and I'm seeking ways to help however and whomever I can. I don't know what else to do right now.

5) The bright spot of the past week happened last Wednesday evening. After Bible study, Katia was baptized. She apparently studied with Jim and Elsa and attended church services a couple of years ago after the last campaign group from Harding University was here, but then she began attending a Portuguese-speaking Pentecostal congregation in Hamburg with her mother. She called Jim and Elsa recently (about the same time Jim was beginning to get sick), saying she wanted to be baptized, and was able to meet with them for a couple of Bible studies. She then decided that she was sure about baptism, and plans were made for Wednesday night. Katia wanted Jim to baptize her, but he was just not feeling well enough to be there, so Elsa asked Wolfgang to do the baptism. It was the first baptism in the new baptistry, and everyone was a little worried that the water pumps might not work right, but it all turned out great. We're all thrilled to have a new sister in Christ and, since Katia has decided not to continue going to Hamburg with her mother, a new addition to the congregation. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the actual baptism, but I do have these:




Please, please pray for all that is going on here. Pray for Katia in her new walk with Christ. Pray for Jim and his health. Pray for Elsa and strength in dealing with the situation with Jim. Pray for Diana and her anxiously-awaited baby. Pray for me and the rest of the congregation that we might be able to help the Springers through this. We covet your prayers, and I know God hears them. How He will choose to answer them, though, we're still learning.

So often we don't see God's plans until after they've unfolded. While "they" say that hindsight is 20/20, I'd still really like to have perfect vision before then. Does anyone know where I can get the "hindsight glasses" now? No? I guess I need to shop for a large portion of patience instead.

Back in the Blogosphere: Part 1

I know, I know. It's been a while.

Various people have sent me emails commenting on my deficit of new blog posts. Those emails have ranged in tone from "Just-wanted-to-see-how-things-are-going" to "Have-you-died?" to "Post-something-NOW." I'm not going to make excuses for not posting, but I am sorry for not keeping you all in the loop and for making you worry.

And yes, I finally did get my laptop cable back from Mark and Karen. I didn't realize how much I depend on my laptop until I couldn't use it. Besides being my access to the internet and my word-processor, my laptop also serves as my television, DVD and CD player, radio, photo album, schedule planner, news source, and sometimes my telephone. It's my lifeline.

Here's a quick rundown of what's happened over the past couple months:

- Amanda's wedding. I was able to go to the States for a short visit to be in my sister's wedding. (Hence my "leaving" and "back in Bremen" from the last two posts.) It was really good to see my family and a few friends. Almost two months later, though, it still hasn't really settled in for me that Amanda's married.


- Soyoung returned to Seoul. I got back to Bremen early enough to spend some time with Soyoung before she left. Stefanie had promised back in the early summer that she would take Soyoung to the North Sea, and Ingrid and I were able to accompany them as Stefanie made good on her promise. We went to Cuxhaven and Duhnen, neighboring towns on the coast. One of the coolest things about the North Sea (or at least this particular area) is that the tide goes out for about two miles. You can literally walk out across the sand to a small island. That is, as long as you start heading back to shore before the tide comes in and traps you there...or worse, somewhere in the middle. We didn't walk all the way to the island, but we did collect some seashells and just enjoy the nice weather. In the first picture you can see how far out the tide goes. The little dots on the ground are "mole hills" from sand worms.



I was able to study the Bible with Soyoung one more time, and the congregation had a farewell dinner for her on her last Wednesday here. Mark and Karen and I have tried to keep in touch with her and have offered to continue Bible studies long distance.

- Bible studies. I've been involved in a number of studies since I got back from the U.S. None of these are for the purpose of evangelism but instead are intended for the encouragement and spiritual nurturing of the participants. These are the studies I'm involved with:

• Gospel of Mark, with Mark, Karen, Stefanie, and sometimes others
  
• Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God by Henry Blackaby and Claude King, with Mark and Karen
• Book of James, with Mimi and Ingrid
• The six major covenants between God and man, with Jim
• Assorted Bible topics, with Jutta

The study with Mimi and Ingrid is every other week, but the others are weekly. I help Jutta with her English and try generally to encourage her in her walk of faith. Probably most fascinating to me has been the study of the covenants with Jim. I've been able to approach the Bible in a new way. I understand more and more of the relationship that God wants to have with man and can see throughout the Bible how God's plans unfolded. The Law, or the covenant between God and Israel through Moses, has especially intrigued me. I don't think I have ever heard a sermon or been in a Bible class that has discussed the purposes of the Law and how the crucifixion affected it. I think it's an important topic as it helps explain why Christians aren't Jews and why Paul taught that people did not have to first convert to Judaism before becoming Christians.

I'm also still attending the weekly ladies' Bible class that alternates between morning and evening meetings. The morning study has been looking at the lives of female characters in the Bible, and we just finished discussing Mary of Bethany. The evening group is working through a discussion book written by Elsa on the letter to the Ephesians.

- "Work." I've started working in Jim's library again trying to organize and catalog his books. I really enjoy the job, but I can't handle more than about an hour and a half of it at a time. About half of the books are in German, and at a certain point my brain begins turning to mush as I try to decide what they are about, the authors' purposes in writing, and how Jim might use them.

Jim, Elsa, and I have also been trying to plan new evangelism projects. Jim began creating advertisements for English studies, but I honestly was not looking forward to going that route again. The last time we placed ads in the newspaper, all of the respondents were between 50 and 75 years old, and that age group in Bremen isn't exactly the most open to new ideas. I talked with Jim and Elsa about it, and all three of us are excited about coming up with new ideas and trying new methods of outreach to younger generations. I really believe the new church building and its neighborhood provide a lot of opportunities for ministry that weren't available to us before, and I'd like to take advantage of those opportunities. I'm also trying to devise ways to better reach out to the children both in the congregation and in the community.

Two Saturdays ago we had a block party to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. The neighbors all seem to be glad that the bar (the former occupant of the church building) is gone, but they had been a little curious about the new people on the block. We had a great turnout for cake and coffee in the early afternoon and then salads and grilled sausages in the evening. Helga planned some activities for the kids, and, after learning that I had helped with the puppet ministry at church in the States, she recruited me to play a role in a puppet show. I played a Scottish boy named John who was being snubbed by another boy because he had red hair. To emphasize John's "foreignness," Helga wrote grammatical mistakes into John's lines, and let me just say my perfectionism had a difficult time letting me read them as written. Overall the day went well, and we pray that future contacts will come from the fellowship together. (By the way, the boy making fun of "John" eventually learned that he should love people as Jesus loves them.)

A lot has happened here in the past week and a half or so, but for a couple reasons I think I'll wait until tomorrow to talk about that. One, there's a lot to tell. Two, I want to get a couple updates at church tomorrow morning before posting about the situation. For now I'll just say this: Jim is not doing well. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday for more tests. Please pray for him and for his health. Please also pray for Elsa as she copes with the situation.

I pray that you are doing well wherever you are. Thanks for your prayers and concerns for me, and thanks for being patient with me. Bis morgen....

Back in Bremen

Well, I've arrived safely in Bremen. The past two weeks were a whirlwind.

I'll have to write more about it later, though, because my European laptop cable is at Mark and Karen's apartment, and they've been in Berlin this week for the Pan-European Lectureships. My laptop battery has died, so I'm at the public library using the internet. I'd forgotten how confusing German keyboards can be.

I'll be sure to write more later whenever I either get my cable back or have more time at the library. I hope you are doing well wherever you are. Thank you for your continued prayers for me and for the work here in Bremen.

Leaving...in a few minutes

Well, it's 3:54 AM, Wednesday, Bremen time. I've been at the Abercrombies since Tuesday evening, and none of us have slept...because we have to leave at 4:00 to catch the streetcar to go to the airport so I can catch my 6 AM flight.

So, in a few minutes my trip to the U.S. officially begins.

See you soon!

My week

As many of you know, I’ll be flying to the States next Wednesday for my sister’s wedding. I’ll be staying two weeks in order to get ready for the wedding and to spend some time visiting family and friends. So, for those who have asked, I will not be at the Pan-European Lectureships later this month. I had been looking forward to going, especially since the location has been changed to Berlin (from what I understand this year is the first time the PEL have been in Germany), but Amanda’s wedding is the same day as the beginning of the PEL. Lord willing I will be able to attend next year.

As I wrote in the previous post, the past couple of weeks haven’t been so easy for me. I determined that in the time I have left before leaving for the States, I would fill more of my time finding ways to use the talents I have to encourage and to help the Christians in the congregation. Yesterday evening I babysat three of Kirsten and Karsten’s four children. Karsten is a radiologist who this year is completing special job training in a city about three and a half hours south of Bremen, and on most weekends he takes the train home to spend time with his family. After not being able to come for a couple of weeks, he is here this weekend. When I asked Kirsten earlier in the week if there was something I could do to help her, she said it would be great if I could watch the kids so that she and Karsten could go out. So, that’s what I did.

Then this morning I babysat for Mimi and Rüdi again so they could do more work on the church building. I've tried a few times to take pictures of Rebecca and Johannes, but Rebecca usually runs away when I have my camera. For some reason today she didn't mind. Perhaps it was because she had been playing "Hochzeit" (wedding) and wanted some wedding pictures. I even got Johannes to stand next to her long enough to get him in the photo too.

As far as the remodeling on the church building is concerned, the carpet was finally laid in the meeting room on the first floor about a week ago. Last Sunday the entire congregation was able to worship together. After almost two months of splitting into two services due to lack of a space large enough for all of us, everyone seemed happy to be able to meet as one group again. Here are some pictures of Sunday’s service:

So, the main work on the building is now done. The kitchen cabinets and countertop have been installed, and I heard that a new sink will be coming sometime soon as well. The downstairs bathrooms have sinks and toilets now and finally are fully functional. There are some other small projects to be done, but the entire building is now usable. We’re all happy about that.

Wednesday this week was a big day. I studied with both Jutta and Soyoung. With Jutta I’m still working on some passages from Ecclesiastes. Soyoung this week asked about James, the brother of Jesus, so we read various passages about him and talked a little about the book of James. I will still meet weekly with Jutta after I come back from the U.S., but I think I may only have one more chance to meet with Soyoung. She’ll go back to Korea on August 10^th, and hopefully she’ll have time to study with me between the time I return from the U.S. and when she leaves Germany. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her and will miss her. She has come a long way toward faith in God since we first started meeting back in March. She is a never-ending fountain of encouragement for me. Please pray that the Lord sends someone to water the seeds of faith Mark, Karen, and I have been able to plant in her life and that her fledgling faith may grow into something substantial and will become a permanent fixture in her life.

Also on Wednesday I met Bill McDonough, who helped establish the Bremen congregation back in the late 1960s and early 70s. He and his wife currently live in Myanmar and work with Partners in Progress, and they stopped in Bremen to visit on their way to the States for furlough. Bill gave a presentation about the work being done in Myanmar, and afterwards almost everyone stayed for a “snack” that Helga had prepared. It actually turned out to be a meal. We all had a good time chatting while we ate and, for those of us who didn’t already know Bill, getting to know him and his wife. I learn again and again how vital fellowship is to life as a Christian.

So, besides the emotional stuff I mentioned in the last post and preparing to leave for the States, that was basically my week. I hope you are doing well wherever you are and whatever you may be doing. Thank you for your continued support, concern, and prayer. I appreciate them all and wouldn't be able to function without them. Gott mit Euch!

Confessions of a tumultuous spirit

I'm sure there are those of you out there wondering why I haven't posted in two weeks. The honest answer is that it's been a rather trying time for me, both emotionally and spiritually.

Before I go any further, I have to say that I debated about whether or not to blog about this. Finally I decided that I needed to, for a couple of reasons: 1) so that you can fully understand what is happening in my life and work here and 2) so that I could get this off my chest and better process all of it. Thanks in advance for your patience with me. :)

*****

I had eagerly awaited the end of my German class a few weeks ago, but the end of the course did more than just free up hours in my schedule. Elsa was busy working on the church building, and Jim has spent the past couple of months preparing for this summer's ETM course. (Note of explanation: ETM is a Bible and spiritual training program that Jim developed. He usually offers a basic course in the fall and then an advanced course with varying topics in the spring, but this year's spring course was moved to July because of the work on the church building. He writes all the material which covers a 6-week program with one intensive week when all the participants meet together. This past week was the intensive program in Chemnitz, Germany, near the border with the Czech Republic.) Neither of them really had time to meet with me. I spent a few days helping at the church building and continued with my weekly routine of ladies' Bible class, church, and studying with Soyoung, but I started feeling really discouraged. I went from having an overwhelmingly full schedule in April to having a more manageable schedule in May and the first half of June to having almost nothing to do by the end of June.

Since I arrived in October, I've had this feeling that I have to have something to show for my time here. I have to have results to display in order to justify to all of the people who have helped me get this far, especially those who have helped me through financial means, that their sacrifices have been worth it, that they made a good investment in me. Somehow I need to feel like I'm "earning my keep." And after my German class ended, I continued with the rest of my weekly routine of attending church and ladies' Bible class on Tuesday and studying with Soyoung and Jutta, but besides those things, I felt like I wasn't doing anything. And if I'm not doing something, then I'm not earning anything.

I talked with Mark and Karen about this, and they reminded me that there are a lot of things I do that I don't always notice I'm doing. They pointed out the benefits of the babysitting I've done and assured me that if I haven't done anything else here, I've encouraged them as they've adjusted to being here. I know they've been a tremendous help and source of encouragement to me, but I guess I'd never thought about how I could be helping them as well.

They also reminded me about the progress that Soyoung has made and how she went from not knowing anything about Christianity or the Bible to coming to church twice a week and meeting with me and with the Abercrombies for two additional Bible studies each week. She has a desire to study and an insatiable curiosity that produces questions for which I don't always feel like I have adequate answers. I started to feel rather egotistical as I realized that I was almost saying that the ways in which God has let me work in these other people's lives were "not good enough" because I was complaining about not having some big project to work toward.

Elsa was really the one who helped me reach a turning point by pointing out something I had never considered. While not exact quotes, this is essentially how that conversation went:

Elsa: "How can you earn being here?"

Me: "I feel like if I had something to show, some sort of result to prove that my work here has accomplished something, then I could feel like my time has been fruitful and I've earned being here. But I don't have anything to hand to someone and say, 'Look, this is what I did in Germany.' So really, I don't feel like I CAN earn being here."

Elsa: "And why can't you earn it?"

Me: "Because I'll never have that 'result' to show. This is spiritual work, and you can't package that and show it to someone. A lot of people count baptisms to measure the effectiveness of a mission effort, but I've never agreed with that. There is more to this work than baptisms. I've said for a long time that all I want to do is plant seeds, and I may never see how or when God makes them grow. So really, I will never be able to show anything that says I've been 'successful' here. And because of that, I don't feel like I can earn it."

Elsa: "No, that's not right. [Funny look from me.] You can't earn it...because it's a gift."

Whoa. That smacked me in the head as if I'd just run into a brick wall. While I long ago realized that those who have contributed financially to this work were assisting in God's work and not to me personally, I had never considered the fact that they were giving a gift. The Abercrombies and Elsa all insisted that those who sent me here and those who support me did/do so because they know me and feel I'm here to work for the Lord. Their financial gifts are to help me do that.

While all of this was very good for me to understand, there was a still a problem: feeling like I need to earn things has some rather significant spiritual ramifications.

If I feel a need to earn physical things in this world, how can I accept the crucifixion? Christ's sacrifice was the greatest gift ever given, and there is nothing any human can ever do to deserve it. If there was, the crucifixion would have been pointless. The reason Christ had to die was to pay for the eternal life that people never CAN earn. It doesn't make sense to me that I can be a Christian who freely and gladly accepts the blood of Christ but who simultaneously feels a need to deserve, based on what things I've done, THINGS that I have and am given.

I had a feeling that my life-long perfectionism had something to do with it, and I finally uncovered the connection. For as long as I can remember, I've been, as the saying goes, "my own worst critic." I am not happy with myself unless I feel like I've done something the very best that it can be done, whether it's getting the grammar right in a German sentence or cooking dinner for friends or creating an art project. My heart tells me that no person can ever be perfect, but still my brain whispers that maybe I can be the one to accomplish that highest standard. In the midst of all the other self-evaluation I was doing over the past couple weeks, I asked myself why I feel a need to strive for perfection, and the only answer I came up with is that I'm not happy with myself. Call it low self-esteem or what you will. Whatever the terminology, there's something inside me that doesn't feel good enough unless I'm doing the very best. If others see that I'm achieving the highest level attainable, then maybe they'll think I'm worthy of whatever it is and will like me more. Hence my need to feel like I'm earning things. Perhaps this is the source of all cases of perfectionism, I don't know.

I did not like this conclusion not only because I didn't like the idea of NOT liking myself and had never thought about myself as having a problem like that, but also because I realized how arrogant it is to think that I should and can be perfect when God doesn't expect me to be. God made me human and gave me certain talents and weaknesses. Only He is perfect. If I somehow was able to achieve perfection while maintaining my humanity, then Christ's sacrifice is, once again, pointless.

I had a very long talk with God about all of this and vowed to see myself the way that God sees me: inherently far from perfect because I'm human, but special and loved by God despite that and because I was made by Him in His image. And God doesn't make mistakes.

I can't help but think that part of the reason the Lord sent me here was to work through all of this and learn more about myself. Something tells me that wouldn't have happened if I had just continued with my life in the U.S. It continues to amaze me how God makes things in life work together for the best. His ways are not always my ways, and I usually only recognize them in hindsight, but they are perfect. And that should be enough for me.

A song, some tears, and a few thoughts

Now for something just a bit different....

I've mentioned before how hard it is for me to sing in German. It was almost impossible for me simultaneously to concentrate on saying the words, singing the notes, and understanding the meaning, especially during the weeks right after I arrived.

It's been nice to move slowly past the stage of trying to pronounce the words and into the stage of concentrating on the notes. Over the past 8 months, I've been able to recognize more and more of the songs that we sing regularly at church, which allows me to branch further into translating and understanding the song since the notes are now familiar.

I've noticed that most of my favorites are written by Peter Strauch. He seems to be the Fanny J. Crosby of German hymnists: he's written a large number of hymns and many of them are well-loved and often-sung. From a foreigner's perspective, his hymns also seem to have simple melodies that fit well with the words, and his lyrics are more to-the-point, everyday language than poetic musings, which for me makes them not only enjoyable to sing but also easy to understand.

German hymns generally don't have titles but are instead referred to by their first few words. My very favorite Strauch hymn begins with "Gott wurde arm für uns." ("God became poor for us.") The first time I sang this song was at the ladies' retreat at Neckarzimmern, and it made me cry.

Here is a rough translation of the hymn:

Refrain:
God became poor for us.
God became poor for us
So that we can become rich
Through His poverty.
God became poor for us.

Wealth, honor, careers, influence, power, and money.
All these we seek but are still lonely in the world.
We are never at peace. We always want more
And still our hearts stay empty.

God does not let us go. Come and hear the sound of joy:
When the time came to pass, God sent us His Son.
He left heaven and became human just like us.
His poverty opened the door for us.

From the cradle to the death on the cross at Golgatha
God carried our sins. Our salvation is now here.
He gives us life. He gives us security.
His grace carries us through time.

Strauch based the text on 2 Corinthians 8:9, and the German is simple enough that I could understand while we were singing. I sat there and thought about how true those words are. Jesus really did enter poverty by coming to this earth, and He did that so we could have a chance to become rich in Him. He left heaven, took on a human form, and suffered death in order to carry our sins.

And yet we as humans so often don't realize that or take it for granted and instead seek the "treasures" of this world. As King Solomon discovered, though, it's all "a chasing after the wind." We're still lonely. We're still unhappy. If only we can hear the Freudenton of security in God.

And that brought tears to my eyes.

I'm glad God's grace carries me because I sure do need it.

The long-anticipated update: Part 1

I know I said I would post on Sunday, but it turned out to be a long and tiring day. The building planning committee is still meeting to make the final decisions for the remodeling project, and I babysat for the Renkens again Sunday so they could attend the meeting. The discussion lasted much longer than normal, and when Mimi and Rüdi came home, I was half-asleep on their couch. By the time Mimi brought me home, I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to climb in bed, let alone write a blog post.

Then yesterday I went to the church building to help Elsa with some work there, and we ended up staying until the evening, much longer than anyone anticipated. A lot was accomplished yesterday, though. Sergej and Helga painted some door frames, and Mark and Elsa put in a new drywall ceiling in the downstairs hallway and entryway. It turned out great. A sample conversation from yesterday afternoon:

Me, coming into the room and surveying the work: "The ceiling looks great!"
Mark: "I guess so, even though it slants."
Me: "The ceiling slants?"
Elsa, a while later: "You can't even tell it slants 2 inches."
Me: "2 inches?! Which way does it slant?"

That's how good the work was. I would never have noticed if they hadn't pointed it out to me.

The fact that the first floor used to be a bar has proved a bit problematic for us lately. If you think that nicotine and tar from cigarettes are bad on teeth and fingernails, you should see what they do to walls and window casings.

The plaster applied to the walls was white...that is, until it dried and began to take on a funny yellowish-brown hue. Apparently, the nicotine and tar from years-worth of cigarettes soaked into the walls (the CONCRETE walls) BEHIND the wood paneling. The paneling has since been removed and the walls were thoroughly cleaned by me and several other people (not a pleasant job), but the chemicals still came through. They then had to fork out a small fortune to buy a special paint to go over the plaster that would dry fast enough to prevent anything from showing through. Thankfully, it worked, and the walls look white again.

The walls may be back to normal, but the window casings are another story. Ingrid and several other people began cleaning them on Saturday, and Jutta and I continued the process yesterday. After about 4 hours of work with the help of a concentrated cleaning chemical, an old toothbrush, a kitchen scrubbing sponge, and a razor blade, I got 1.5 windows reasonably clean, and they still have a yellow tint to them.

Elsa and I then rushed to shuffle things around because "the carpet man" came to sand the floor to prepare for laying carpet (hopefully) later in the week. By the time Mark finished the hallway ceiling and we got things cleaned up, Mark and Elsa were both saying that their spouses would be wondering where they were. I headed home and barely had time to go to the grocery store before it closed.

So, finally, here is the update that I had hoped to post 2 days ago. I think, though, that it will have to be delivered in two parts because, frankly, I'm exhausted.

*****

My German class finally came to an end on Friday. After having class for almost 12 hours a week for 4 months, I was glad to be done.

I'll miss the people I met, though. Olga, who sat next to me almost every day, turned to me during one of our last class sessions and said, "Alicia (uh-leets-ee-uh, as she says), I'll miss you when the class is over." She is going back to the Ukraine in a few weeks, and while I know she wants to see her family, she seemed to be noticing all of the bonds she'd formed during the German course. I could definitely empathize with her.

I will miss Olga, as well as Hiba, the young woman from Iraq. I have to admit, it was a bit rough at points along the way. She initially showed skepticism at the intentions of an American, and I felt a need to push away guilt for anything the U.S. government does. In the end, though, I feel like we were really able to move past basing our communication on the countries we come from and instead to see one another as regular people. It's a lesson we all need to learn.

*****

When I was here in 2003 for the campaign, Jutta studied the Bible with Amber, another student in the campaign group, and then in 2004 studied with someone again. She mentioned last month that she'd like to start the studies again, so I met with her today for our first study. I'm basically
following the same study program that we used during the campaign, which includes reading and discussing passages from Ecclesiastes ("it's all a chasing after the wind") before moving on to John.

I think the study will be good for both of us. Jutta has dealt with a lot in her life and was baptized sometime within the last couple of years, and I think she needs a lot of encouragement. It will also be good for me to get to know her better and to reach out to her in whatever way I can.

*****

I am still studying with Soyoung. She also meets with Mark and Karen on Sunday afternoons, and I think it's good for her to study the Bible with several people. We approach the Bible from different perspectives and personalities, and that seems to give Soyoung a broader picture.

It's been really exciting to see her growth over the past few months. She mentioned last week that she's starting to believe more, which really intrigued me. She told about how her boyfriend in Korea had lost his wallet on the subway (or bus maybe?) and about how she had prayed that someone would return it to him. Later he contacted her to say that someone had called him saying they had found his wallet.

I had never heard her talk about praying before, so I asked a few questions. She had prayed alone, and while she had prayed before, that was the first time she had prayed in the name of Jesus. I took the chance to read with her a few things that Jesus said about prayer and to explain a bit about why we pray. Overall I thought it was an excellent development in her journey of faith. It seemed to be the beginning of a personalization of what she's been studying in the Bible and hearing about at church, of applying those things to her own life. Definitely a good sign, in my eyes. Please pray for her as she continues to study and for me and the Abercrombies as we do our best to guide her. She will only be here in Germany for another month and a half or so, and we hope to influence her life for the better during the time we have with her.

*****

The weather here has been really funny over the past few weeks. We had about 6 days when the temperature was between 85 and 90 degrees, which is really warm for northern Germany in early June. When you consider that public transportation and most buildings (including my apartment) don't have air conditioning, it was easy to feel like you were being roasted alive. Elsa let me borrow a fan from the church building, and that added to keeping my windows open 24 hours a day helped me sleep at night.

The weather thankfully then dropped back to a more tolerable level of about 65 - 75 degrees during the day, and the rain returned. Today, however, along with the rain came 20 - 25 mph winds and another drop in temperature. I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket, and then after ladies' Bible class this evening I wished I had also worn gloves. The low wind chill for tonight is about 38 degrees. If it stays like this much longer I'll have to turn the heat on in my apartment. If I did not have a calendar to look at, I would think it was November, not the end of June.

*****

Well, that's about as much as I can muster today. More soon, including a report on the trip to Neckarzimmern. I'll try to post more pictures, too. God bless, and I hope you're staying warmer than we are here.

Almost done....

Well, since it's been almost a month now since I last posted, I thought it was about time I updated on what's going on here.

I'll do a more in-depth update tomorrow, but I thought I'd at least post some pictures of the work on the church building. It's incredible to see the progress that's occurred over the past two and a half months.

Here's some of the most recent work:

The room in which we've been meeting for services had to be cleared out so that the floor could be prepped for carpet. Here's Ingrid's classroom acting as a temporary closet until the floor was finished.

Before the carpet could be laid, though, the floor had to be leveled out with new cement.

Here's a view of the men's bathroom on the ground floor before...

...and after tiling. Rüdi and Bianka did the wall tiles, and Ralf and Stefan laid the floor tiles. Mark put in the ceiling. One small room but an excellent example of the partnership that's gone into this work.

Last Saturday, Jana and I were given the task of sanding the stair railings and the sides of the steps in preparation for painting. At the point the picture was taken, we were probably about a third of the way finished, but we were already filthy. By the end, our hands were almost black. And yes, I'm wearing a tie-dyed t-shirt. Yes, I made it myself (chemistry class, 11th grade). No, I'm not sure why I brought it with me to Germany (it's been put to good use, though).

Florian, Deann, and Rüdi adding the plaster treatment to the walls in the Versammlungsraum (where church services will be held). This was not an easy task, but thanks to Mark and Karen's friends, Don and Deann, the walls were finally finished this past Tuesday. They had come to Bremen from Arkansas to visit the Abercrombies but were gracious enough to spend part of their visit working at the building. We really appreciate them!

In my last post I included a picture of the beginnings of the baptistry. Here is what it looked like as the steps inside were being finished and the floor around it had been leveled...

...and here it is after it was finally finished! No water yet, of course, but it turned out really well.

This is one side of the Versammlungsraum, as of last Wednesday night. You can see the covers over the baptistry, as well as the handrail which can be removed. The ceiling is also finished and looks really nice. The walls in this room were the ones that received the plaster treatment. It's finally looking like a real room!

Here is the other side of the room. That's Florian and Rüdi cleaning. After Bible study on Wednesday, a bunch of people stayed to clean up this room, I assume in order to get ready for carpet. I guess we'll see what it looks like tomorrow. By the way, those little white specks are dust floating in the air. It's going to take forever to free the building from all the dust that's been collecting over the past couple months.

For comparison, this is what the room in the previous picture looked like just a few weeks ago. That's a big difference!

And here's a view from the opposite side of the room. Not only have the walls and ceiling since been completed, that door has been replaced as well. It's a nice feeling to know the construction zone is now gone, even if things aren't yet totally finished.

*****

On a side note, thank you to all of you who sent me birthday cards and emails last week. I really appreciated them. My birthday was not nearly as difficult as Christmas, but it was still nice to know people were thinking about me. I didn't have German class that day, so Karen helped me do some shopping for things for my apartment that I still needed, and then she, Mark, Don, and Deann were brave enough to help me try out a new restaurant that opened about 2 weeks ago not far from my apartment.

All in all, it was a good day. :-)

Progress and disappointment

There has been a lot of progress in the remodeling of the church building over the past week. The first floor still looks very much like a construction zone, but things are starting to slowly come together. Because we obviously cannot yet use this area and this is where the worship assemblies are supposed to be, we are instead meeting in the largest adult classroom for right now.


Mark was able to cram 37 chairs in there, but that's still not enough room for all of us to meet together. The plan has been for us to have two services on Sunday mornings with Bible classes in between with half of the congregation coming for the first service and the other half for the second one.

The past two Sundays, though, those without children have met at Jim and Elsa's house for services while those families with kids have met at the building. Apparently there was concern over whether the first floor ceiling was stable enough to support the weight of 50 people who would be there for Bible classes, even though the walls that had been removed were not load-bearing. As of this past Wednesday, 3 of the 4 ceiling supports were in place, so next Sunday we're going back to the original plan of 2 services at the building.

As I walked through the building on Wednesday, I was very excited to see this:


This is where the baptistry will be. In an effort to save space, they're recessing it in the floor and will place a cover over it that can easily be removed when needed. The cinder blocks on the far side of the hole are actually in the basement in a storage room that is being forfeited to house the supports for the baptistry.

There've been disappointments, though, in my work recently. The last time I met with Cornelia, she had said that she is helping a friend with some projects right now and didn't know how much free time she would have over the next few weeks. She called me on Friday to say that she does not have time meet with me anymore. I hope that "anymore" really means "right now" and that we'll be able to continue meeting later this summer. I enjoy meeting with her and have come to consider her a friend, so it's hard to think that we might not be able to meet again.

Also, this morning Sylvia told me that her work schedule has changed and she will no longer be able to meet with me. I asked if she wanted to switch to another day, but she said no. While my meetings with Sylvia usually required a lot of patience (perhaps she feels the same!), I know they were important for her. She seems to do better one-on-one with people than in large Bible classes or worship services. Elsa said that just getting her to meet with me and getting her to come consistently for a while was a big accomplishment. Please pray that Sylvia will understand that God truly loves her, is not trying to manipulate her, and wants her to be His child.

As I get more involved in evangelism efforts here, I know there will be disappointments along the way. Not everyone will respond to the methods I use. Not everyone will have free time. Not everyone will like what we read together in the Bible. But as Elsa said, we're looking for the few people who will listen and become interested, and we have to pray that God will send those people to us.

I also pray that I can plant seeds in people's lives. I've said several times that planting seeds is my goal, and we never know how long those seeds will lie dormant before God grows them into something more. Perhaps I will never see some of the results of the work I do here, and maybe it will look like some people have turned away, but that doesn't mean God is finished with these people.

In the meantime, while I wait for seeds to grow and for other "gardens" to come my way, tomorrow Elsa, Karen, Gabi, Rotraud, and I are heading to Neckarzimmern for the annual ladies' retreat there. From what I understand it's in a beautiful location south of Heidelberg, and women from all over Germany and even from Switzerland are expected to come. Karen and I were really hesitant at first when Elsa asked us to go because we weren't sure if we could handle 5 days of German. Elsa has assured us, though, that it's okay for us to skip a class or lecture if we feel like we've had enough, and she says we should encourage each other to skip at least one event each day. So, Karen and I agreed to go. It should be intersting. I look forward to seeing some of the women from the retreat in Bergkirchen in February and from the First of May meeting earlier this month. I also hope I will be able to gain something from the retreat that will serve to uplift and encourage me in my life and work here. From what I hear from others who have been before, I won't be disappointed.