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.

Nursing my wounds

For the most part, the past two weeks have been a cooling salve for my wounds.

If you haven't been able to tell from my recent postings, life here over the past month has been verging on chaotic at times as everyone prepared for the move to the new church building. I've tried to do my part to help with that, but I've also still had to worry about German class; Bible studies with Horst, Sylvia, and Soyoung; my studies with Jim; working in Jim's library; and fitting in time to meet with Cornelia. That's not counting church on Sunday, ladies' Bible class on Tuesday, and Bible study on Wednesday night.

The week before last, I finally reached a breaking point.

I hadn't been sleeping well for several nights, and the feeling of being overwhelmed finally took its toll. I had my moments of tears, talked with God about it, and made a list of all the things on my schedule. I realized that I had 13 standing appointments every week. Some days started at 8 AM when I leave for German class and wouldn't end until I got home from babysitting after 11 PM. My apartment wasn't getting the attention it should have, and I wasn't getting the rest I desperately needed. I also did not feel I was adequately preparing for any of my studies (German or Bible), and I certainly was not spending enough personal time with God. Something had to give.

I decided to grade each item on my list on a 1 to 10 scale for each of three categories: how much I enjoy the activity; how important I feel it is to my work here; and how uplifting it is for me.

I took my list to Jim and discussed the situation with him. We decided that I would stop working on organizing his library until at least the end of June when my German class is finished and that after the actual moving weekend I would not work on the remodeling at the church building since I'm already babysitting so Mimi and Rüdi can attend meetings related to the work.

Our changes went into effect last week, and they really made a difference. I've had more time to rest, study, run errands, and take care of other things that have been patiently awaiting my attention.

Also, over the past week I've received quite a few letters in the mail. My parents' congregation has apparently started a letter-writing program to encourage all the missionaries they support, and I was first on the list. For all of you who have sent letters, I can't begin to describe how wonderful they were. Thanks for thinking of me and taking the time to write. Those letters are nourishment for my soul! It's easy sometimes to think that people have forgotten that you're living half a world away from family and most friends, as well as struggling to survive in a foreign culture and learning a new language, all the while attempting to make some sort of difference for God's Kingdom. My heart tells me that's not true, that people don't forget, but discouragement is a convenient exit from the mires of culture shock.

There was one day this week that put a damper on the recent progress I had been seeing and encouragement I had been feeling. I mentioned in December that the wood frame around my kitchen window broke when the painter tried to open it. Since then, this is what my window has looked like:


I've talked with my landlord several times over the past couple months, and she kept saying she wes waiting for warmer weather before getting the window fixed. She finally called me last Friday and said the carpenter would be coming on Tuesday.

Well, I waited for most of the day on Tuesday, and no one showed up. I got up Wednesday and got ready for German class, and just a few minutes before I needed to leave, my doorbell rang. I answered the door to find 2 men expecting to fix the window. Considering that I had expected them the day before and that I was about to leave, I was not too happy to see them. I let them in, though, and waited while they removed the window. They needed to take it back to their shop to repair the wood and would return in the afternoon.

By the time they carried the window out the door and I was able to leave, I had missed the bus. I waited for the next bus, which came late, and I ended up being late for class. By that point, I was in a bad mood, and comments my teacher made to the class about the U.S. government's motivations for the Iraq war pushed my last button. I was doing well not responding to him, but then he outright asked me if his comments upset me, and I responded in the affirmative. He asked me why, and I tried to explain how the way he discussed his opinions made me feel as if he was blaming me for the war since I'm the only American in the class. The teacher and the other students all negated this, but it didn't make me feel any better. (I was surprised, though, with the ease at which I can speak German when upset!)

I made it through the rest of class and came home to find that the workers had not yet returned.

I happened to look outside a while later...to see my window sitting on the sidewalk leaning against a fence. Thinking the carpenters would be right back, I waited for a while, glancing outside every few minutes to make sure my window didn't get clobbered by a passing bicycle.

An hour later, I called my landlord. She rushed over and helped me carry the window inside to the stairwell, not an easy task considering that the window is about 3 feet wide and about 5 feet tall.


After a call from my landlord, the men came back and carried the window upstairs. A bit of reconstruction was needed for the window to fit in the hinges again, but finally, at about 4:30 that afternoon, the window was back in place and operating properly. By that time, after there being a 3x5 foot hole in the wall for over 8 hours, my apartment was the host of a large number of unwelcome buzzing, winged creatures. Thankfully, though, it did not rain.

Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy that my window has been fixed. I just really could have done without the headaches of getting to this point. I suppose it's all an opportunity for personal growth, though, right?

Right?

Happy birthday and congratulations!

Today's a big day for several people I know.

Karen Abercrombie and my nephew, Daniel, both have birthdays today. Daniel turns 8, which I can't believe. That makes me feel old, especially since my nephews Aaron and Edward are even older than Daniel.

I don't think Karen would want me to tell how old she is, so I won't.

Today is also my friend Claire's wedding day. Claire, I wish you and Philip God's blessings as you start your new life. Sorry I can't be there to celebrate.

Goodbye, Old House

Well, as of yesterday, the Gemeinde Christi in Bremen, Germany, officially has only one house. Thursday morning Rüdi handed the keys of the old building over to the new owner.

I went to the new building yesterday to help with some things and saw this sign lying on a table in one of the classrooms. This is the sign that used to hang on the front of the old building, and one day soon it will hang on the front of the new building as well.

Yesterday I helped paint the hallway on the second floor, which I think is the last area that actually can be painted right now. There will be more painting later, I'm sure, but there's more work to be done before getting to that point.

I also helped Karen and Rotraud go through some boxes that were brought from the old building. Let's just say that after being in that building for about 30 years, the congregation accumulated a lot of random stuff, some of which was seen yesterday for the first time in years. We threw away lots of things and set aside others to be recycled.

Several times recently I've tried to explain to people here what it's like for me and the Abercrombies to be confronted with choices about keeping and getting rid of things. When Mark, Karen, and I left Searcy last fall, we had to make a lot of decisions about what could be given away to someone; what was important enough to keep and therefore take up precious suitcase or storage space; and what just needed to go in the trash. When you're forced to go through everything you own and compact your life into a few suitcases, things tend to lose their value pretty fast.

Because that experience is still rather fresh in our memories, I don't know how much longer they'll let me and Karen empty boxes at the new building! Something tells me, though, that no one will miss those financial papers from 1973.

Happy Mothers'/Election/Moving Day!

To all mothers in Germany and in the U.S.: Happy Mothers' Day!

Mothers' Day isn't such a big deal here in Germany. No one celebrates with flowers and special lunches. I'm not sure why you would have a day to honor mothers if you don't really do anything to honor them, but they didn't ask me.

What's more interesting to me, though, is the fact that Fathers' Day is on Thursday here in Germany, and dads don't even spend the day with their kids. Most fathers plan to get together with other fathers and head to the local pub for an evening of drinking. To add to the strangeness of it, Thursday is also Himmelfahrt, the holiday celebrating Jesus' ascension to heaven. We remember Jesus returning to the heavenly Father, and earthly fathers mark the occasion by getting drunk with their buddies.

And just so you know, from what I hear, the fathers in the congregation here don't approve of how their non-Christian peers intend to honor themselves.

Today also happens to be election day in Bremen. Bremerhaven and Bremen are the only two cities that comprise the state of Bremen, and I never can find the line between state and city operations. From what I understand, today's election is for city government members and mayor, and both Bremen and Bremerhaven are voting today. What I don't understand, though, is why Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, was in Bremen campaigning for her party on Friday if this is only a city-wide election. It seems the chancellor would only take the time to come for something on the state level. Oh well. I can't vote anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

And last but definitely not least, today is another big day in the transition to the new church building. We met for the last time in the old building this morning. After 29 years in that place, I half-expected some people to be emotional. Many of the Christians in the congregation were baptized in that building, either in the bathtub upstairs or in the baptistry that Elsa built in the basement. There are a lot of memories associated with that building. That's where the other students and I stayed when we were here for the campaign in 2003. I didn't see any tears today, though, and it seems like everyone is just ready to be finished with the whole moving thing, and I agree. This is a great opportunity to move forward with growth and further evangelism efforts, so the new beginning that comes with this transition is much bigger (literally!) and more exciting than that which is ending.

After services, Kirsten and I tried to keep an eye on 3 of her children, as well as 5 others, while the other mothers finished packing up the kitchen and the fathers took down the last of the curtains and began moving out all the chairs. Kirsten had brought a cake with her, so we used that to occupy the kids for a little while. Here's a picture of Kirsten and her son, Lennart (right) with Mimi and Rüdi's son, Johannes. I can never get over how Johannes eats. He's not quite 2, but he has an appetite and isn't afraid to show it. He always makes me laugh.


Yes, all the plates had already been packed, so we were improvising.

And Mom, happy Mothers' Day. Wish I could be there for it. You know I love you, though. :)

The big day

The big day has finally arrived: moving day.

We have to be out of the old church building by Tuesday, so today was designated as moving day for everything besides tables, chairs, songbooks, and anything else essential for services and Bible classes. Tomorrow morning will be our last time to meet for services in the old building, and then in the afternoon everyone with cars will help take the remaining items over to the new building.

It's been very exciting over the past month to see all of this come together. The members of the congregation and even many "friends and visitors" have put many hours into getting the old building packed up and the new building ready to move into. A large number of us met this morning to do last minute projects and cleaning before the furniture was brought in. I was gladly surprised to see a couple people who come only to special Bible studies or activities and not to services stop by to check on the progress and to encourage us. One woman even brought us coffee.

Here are some pictures of the work being done at the new building over the past few weeks. (Note: Some of the pictures look fuzzy and have specks because of the dust in the air when the picture was taken. With walls coming down and old wallpaper being removed, there is a seemingly never-ending supply of dust and dirt filling the building.)

The new building. The first floor used to be a bar, and the two upper floors were apartments. The blue garages also belong to us, but we are continuing to rent them out like the previous owner had done.

Ingrid painting one of the classrooms.

Jana removing wallpaper from above the window.


A wallpaper-removing party with Stefan working on the floor tiles.


Stefan and Rüdi chiseling away the stubborn floor tiles.


Rüdi and Aaron removing the old linoleum from the stairs.


Jim trying to remove the old sink in one of the bathrooms.


Sergej hanging wallpaper in the kitchen.


The garbage we accumulated after the first large group workday.


The new kitchen doorway created by Ralf and Rüdi last weekend.
Stefanie happened to walk by as I took the picture.


This is the area that used to be the bar. Last weekend there were still walls standing between those supports. This new large room will be the assembly room for church worship services.


Another view of the new assembly room. The window on the right used to be in the kitchen at the back of the bar area.


Mark and Elsa recycled shelves from the old church building to create
these new ones that fit the slope of the roof.

I feel very blessed to be here during this crazy, hectic, wonderful time in the life of this congregation. After being in the same place for 30 years, this new building will give them the extra space they need to accommodate their growing numbers, as well as a new neighborhood to which they can minister. I think many good things await this congregation in the years to come.

Adventures in Wildeshausen

Cornelia called me on Friday and invited me to a cookout. Interestingly, the cookout was at Cornelia's sister's house in Wildeshausen. Considering I had not met Cornelia's husband, let alone her sister, I thought it really said something about her trust of me for her to invite me to come along.

I debated whether or not to accept the invitation, though, because today is the first Sunday of the month and therefore the day for us to go to Braunschweig and worship with the congregation there. I sought advice from Elsa, and her opinion was that the work here in Bremen needs to come before the work in Braunschweig, and while I help with the work in Braunschweig, my meeting with Cornelia is part of my work in Bremen. Based on that and the fact that a chance to meet Cornelia's family might open other doors, I decided to attend the cookout.

Cornelia and her husband, Heinrich, picked me up after services at church this morning, and we made the 40 minute trip to Wildeshausen, a small town southwest of Bremen. Angelika (Cornelia's sister) and her family were very nice. As it turns out, they love animals, and Angelika has her own business raising and selling guinea pigs and rabbits. Let's just say I learned a lot about guinea pigs today! They also have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 horses.

The food was wonderful, and I can now say I've experienced a "German barbeque." I believe I tried 3 different kinds of meat and numerous salads. And as is customary when Germans invite people for a meal, we sat around talking for a couple hours and then they brought out tea and coffee and 2 kinds of cake. I think I said 3 or 4 times that I was full, but they would still put something else on my plate for me to try.

I'm glad I decided to go to the cookout. Angelika invited me to come to her house again sometime, and Heinrich said that I should go to a soccer game with him and Cornelia in the fall. And...not one person brought up U.S. politics! :-) Overall, it was a great opportunity for me to establish contact with the family and to get to know them a bit. I feel like God has really blessed me with this opportunity, and I pray that it might be the beginning of a long relationship with them. I pray also that I might be a positive influence for the Lord for all of them.

*****

In other news, I just noticed that the exchange rate has gone up to 1.3736 (that is the worth in dollars of 1 Euro). That breaks the record of 1.368 that was set about a week ago. When I came in October, 1 Euro was worth about $1.25, and while 12 cents between then and now doesn't seem like that much of a difference, it really adds up quickly when you exchange hundreds or thousands of dollars at once, which is usually what the Abercrombies and I do. Please pray that the exchange rate goes down so that we will still be able to get the number of Euros we need to pay our bills.

May God bless you in all you are doing. Have a good start to the week! Gott mit Dir!

Happy May!

Today is Tag der Arbeit (Labor Day) in Germany. It's a federal holiday, so all the stores are closed and the streetcars and buses run less often. It seems like police, emergency personnel, and anyone working in the transportation industry are the only people who have to work today. The citizens of Bremen and many other German cities ring in the holiday by celebrating Tanz in den Mai ("dancing in May") on the evening of April 30th. From what I hear, there is much dancing, consumption of alcoholic beverages, and general rowdy cavorting. For me, however, April culminated with an evening of babysitting.

Every year on May 1st, the congregations in northern Germany get together for a day of fellowship and worship. This year we met in Bergkirchen, a tiny village probably 20 kilometers from Hannover. After spending a weekend there in February for a ladies' retreat and our time there today, I've decided Bergkirchen has made my list of "The Top 5 Most Beautiful Places in Germany." As the name implies, the village is built on a mountain (well, it's more like a large hill) around a very old stone church building. From both the north and south there are views across wide valleys covered mainly by farmland and dotted with a few villages and centuries-old barns and farmhouses. Right now the valleys are bright yellow with blooming rapeseed.

The day was an excellent opportunity to observe the current condition of the Gemeinde Christi in this part of the country. The congregations in Bremen, Braunschweig, Hildesheim, Peine, Kiel, and Hamburg were represented today. There were also remnants of the Hannover congregation, which sadly dissolved a couple months ago after experiencing a stark decline in attendance and then disagreements over worship styles. Apparently members of the Berlin congregation usually come as well, but none were there today. All together there were somewhere around 80 or 90 people there, and Mark reported that he counted 40 from Bremen alone. That really surprised me at first, but then I heard someone (not from Bremen) saying that the Bremen congregation has experienced a lot of growth lately, and that's true. That's why we're remodeling a new, larger church house. :-)

Then I realized that while there were several families from Bremen that did not come, the ENTIRE CONGREGATION from Braunschweig was in attendance. Granted, the congregation only has 9 members, but I thought that was a testament to their commitment to working with other congregations, as well as to their appreciation for the encouragement that comes from fellowship. I was happy to learn they recently decided to begin an evangelism program again. You never know what God can do when a few are gathered in His Name and work together for the good of the Kingdom. I am continually encouraged by this small, faithful group.

While I know American missionaries have played a large role in starting the congregations represented today and in studying with and converting many of the Christians present, it was exciting to see the role that Germans are playing in building the church in north Germany. Everything today was organized by Germans; the singing was led by a German; the children's class was conducted by a German; and 2 of the 3 speakers were German. Also, from Bremen alone there were several visitors who came along, and they were invited by German Christians. Several of the congregations have no Americans in leadership positions. At some point in any mission effort, the congregation has to become "native" if it is going to survive and thrive during the years to come. From what I saw today, the congregations in Germany are well on their way to doing just that.

The day was also good for me. I saw several of the women I met at the ladies' retreat in February, and I enjoyed reconnecting with them. I realized that I had really needed the fellowship and singing. While I can understand more from sermons and Bible class discussions than I could even a couple months ago, they are still difficult for me to follow. I find that I gain more from being with the people and talking to them in small groups or one-on-one, and I was able to do a lot of that today. Singing is becoming much easier for me now that I recognize some of the songs. As I've said before, when singing in German I can concentrate either on singing the notes, pronouncing the words, or translating the words, but not all three. Now that I'm familiar with the music of some songs and can get through at least the refrains without looking at the songbook, I can focus more on what the songs are saying, which makes them mean more to me and probably also to God as I can actually think about what I'm singing to Him.

Overall today was a great day. The weather was beautiful, everyone seemed to be uplifted, and the Lord was praised. I'm glad I had the chance to participate.

What exactly have I been up to lately, you ask?

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy for me and for the congregation here. Here's a (hopefully) quick round-up of what's been happening:

1) German class
My German class is still going strong. I'm in class over 11 hours each week and then have homework to do as well. The Referat (report) that I had to do recently went well enough. Despite the fact that I've done numerous class presentations in my time, I was petrified when it came my turn to speak. I managed to make it through, though. I then felt very sorry for Laura Nancy, who's from Argentina. She prefaced her time to speak by explaining how nervous she was, and even though she did a wonderful job with her presentation, when I looked over at her afterwards I noticed her face was bright red and a couple tears slid silently down her cheeks.

After all of the presentations were over and we had discussed them, Herr Reiter said, "Okay, we're going to take a break and then take a test," to which we responded with various displays of disbelief and dread. He had told us the week before that soon we would have a test over Lessons 3 & 4, but we weren't yet finished with 4. We reluctantly took the test, and it turned out to be a very good indicator of how much information we had actually retained. I ended up with 27.5 points out of a possible 40, which I thought was reasonable considering that we had only spent about 2 minutes covering one of the grammar sections and that we had discussed Lesson 3 more than a month before.

Overall, the class has been very good for me. Not only does it help improve my German, it also has provided me a chance to make some friends outside of the congregation and has given me several opportunities to talk about why I'm here and what I believe.

2) Jim's library
I'm still working on Jim's library. Honestly, I'm not sure I'll be able to get everything done before the end of my promised 2 years here. He has close to 1,000 books that have been partially cataloged. He also has about 300 or so that have not had anything done to them, and those are the ones I'm working on now. I basically have to figure out what each book is about, how Jim might use it in his work, and then place it in an appropriate category based on Jim's classification system. About half of the books are in German, and they are not easy for me. I end up skimming through the books to get a feel for the overall subject and the author's perspectives, and in about 2.5 hours I can get through only about 15 books. At that rate, I estimate it will take me at least 5 months to get through all of the new books, considering I only work on the books one afternoon each week. After that I'll move on to the partially cataloged ones. Like I said, I'm not seeing myself getting through all of it before I leave. I guess anything I can do helps, though.

I have also been given the task of repairing some children's books from the church building, but I think that project will need to wait until later in the summer when some of the current projects are finished. I'm looking forward to getting started. There's just something about giving new life to a book that makes me happy. :-)

3) New church building
A LOT of work has been done on the new building. For the past 3 weeks, at least one person has been there working almost every day. Saturdays are big work days when we work on large projects that require more hands. I've spent many hours removing wallpaper and painting. Though I've had experience taking down wallpaper in the States, that was nothing like what I've done here. Germans like to give texture to walls, so the wallpaper has little woodchips or sawdust under the paper, making it more difficult than normal to come off of the wall. I've found several muscles in my shoulders and back that I didn't realize were there before.

Other projects have also seen great progress: the linoleum and glue residue have been removed from the stairs; tiles have been removed from the floor of the old kitchen and the walls of the bathrooms on the first floor; a wall has been removed to make two rooms into one; two doorways have come out; Mark has repaired several door locks (he used to be a locksmith in Little Rock); and one of the upstairs bathrooms has received new caulking. It looks like we should be able to make our deadline at the end of May to be out of the old building, but we're all going to have to keep up the current pace.

4) Babysitting
I have continued to babysit for Mimi and Rüdi as they plan the work on the new building and meet with the contractor. From what I can tell, of all the work I can do for the congregation, right now babysitting is one of the biggest ways I can help. It gives other people time to use their skills and do work I wouldn't be able to do anyway.

It's also been good to feel like I'm having a positive impact on the children. Rebecca, who's 3 and a half, constantly wants me to play with her, both when I'm babysitting and when we're at church. Recently she decided that calling me "Alish" was tremendously funny. I decided to play along and started calling her "Rebeck," which she thinks is even funnier. To add to my amusement, Johannes (18 months) tries to imitate Rebecca, but his pronounciation sounds more like "Azhish." While I know I'm helping out, I like that I can in some way be part of a family here.

5) Bible studies
These are the people I'm still meeting with:

Horst - We have been meeting each Monday afternoon and currently are studying the the book of Acts. His English is better than he thinks it is, and his self-confidence in his language skills and Bible understanding are improving.

Soyoung - It's been really good to get to know her better and to study with her. She is very curious about the Bible and genuinely wants to know more. Her university classes resumed 2 weeks ago, and we've set up a running appointment for Friday afternoons after she gets out of class. I'm trying to work through some basic Bible stories with her in an effort to give her an overall picture of Jesus: who He is and was, what he did, and what that means for us. This past Friday she asked about the books of the Bible, so I opened my Bible to the table of contents and went through the list describing the different types of books (law, history, prophets, etc.). I guess I had never thought about the fact that the different books would be very confusing for someone who is not familiar with the Bible. Up until now, when we would read from 1 Corinthians, for example, Soyoung had no idea to whom "I" or "you" was referring. Hopefully our discussion Friday will help her.

Sylvia - In all honesty, it has not been easy to meet with Sylvia, both for scheduling reasons and for the toll it takes on my patience. Two weeks ago we finally met again for the first time since mid-February, and I'm trying to keep her committed to meeting every Thursday morning. She tends to have trouble focusing on much of anything, as demonstrated in her inability (or unwillingness?) to commit to ANY sort of relationship, including that with her family, and as experienced when you try to have a conversation with her. Distractions come easily for her. My discussions with her take many twists and turns, and I often later reflect on what was said and try to figure out exactly how we ended up where we did. She has gotten the impression (from the state church, from what I can gather) that Christianity is synonymous with oppression. Because she has difficulties having relationships with people, the concept of a relationship with God is foreign to her.

While I ask that you pray for all of the people with whom I'm meeting, please especially pray for Sylvia that her eyes may be opened to God's love; that she can understand that God gives us free will to make choices; and that a decision to seek and follow God produces obedience to Him. Please also pray for me as well. I want to be a friend to Sylvia, to show her what that means, but it's not easy to do.

Cornelia - I have not been able to introduce the Bible to my meetings with Cornelia. She stays home while her husband works during the day, and she seems to be a bit lonely, so I've decided that I can probably do more good by spending time with her and being her friend than by trying to force her into reading the Bible. We recently visited a museum here in Bremen and next week will take a trip to Bremerhaven, Bremen's port town. I think inviting her to some of our "English" get-togethers will also be beneficial.

Kristina - After not hearing from her for about a month, Kristina suddenly called me 2 weeks ago, and we met for dinner on Saturday night. She attends what I think is similar to a Baptist church and has no qualms about reading the Bible. She really wants to improve her English, but she thinks it will be easier and more beneficial for her if there are 3 or 4 of us meeting together instead of just the 2 of us; however, because her English skills are not as good as Cornelia's, and because the others I'm studying with have very specific needs, I don't really have anyone else to pair with Kristina right now. I told her as much and that I'll look for other people who are interested, though it will be a few weeks before I can get do that.

Right now it seems my time and energy are best spent helping with the work on the new church building since that greatly benefits the congregation. Jim even says that babysitting is a type of evangelism since I babysit to allow parents to plan for the new building, which will be used to spread the Gospel. In the next couple of months when that work is (hopefully!) finished, I will have more time to devote to other ministries.

So, that's been my life lately. It's been busy and often tiring but often fulfilling and encouraging. I covet your prayers for me and for the work going on here in Bremen and throughout Germany. Sometimes it seems like the "modern, developed" parts of the world are the most challenging mission fields. People have science to explain the world, jobs to occupy their time and focus, and money and things to make them "happy." There's no room for preparing for the life after this increasingly material one. It doesn't help the situation that many people seem to be very embittered by the state (Lutheran) and Catholic churches.

The solution: Jesus Christ, "the way and the truth and the life."

My goal: to plant the seeds so the "true vine" can grow.