Fall is over

What a fun fall it was! We had a Karaoke Evening at Rock Berlin. Many not-yet believers came and enjoyed the evening that two RBers, Celine Lettau and JP Larson, organized. Dieter even was pulled in to help with YMCA. Ouch!
Over 50 people came and immediately asked when the next Karaoke evening will be. Probably in Feb.


We said good-bye to the Allen family, Chris, Kate, Noah, Belle, and Christopher. They blessed Rock Berlin starting back in March when RB switched to Sunday services. Rock Berlin helped the Allens prepare for their move back to the states. We miss them dearly. May the Lord bless and guide them.

Lucy and Dieter celebrated Thanksgiving twice this year. The first dinner was at the local Hard Rock Cafe. We were invited by a friend. It turned out to be a business dinner for a German-American Club. We did not join, but enjoyed the evening.

Ironically, the gentleman in the photo was born in Connecticut but grew up in Germany. That is the reverse of Dieter (except that Dieter grew up in Ohio and met Lucy in Conn.).


Then we celebrated with a dinner on Nov.27 for 40 people at RB. It was fun with mostly Germans coming to enjoy the American tradition. Again, there many who do not call Christ their Savior. What a great opportunity Nov. was for witnessing and blessing others.

In Dec. we had a Christmas service and dinner on the 13th. Here is Lucy waving and being silly. She did give approval to use this picture:)

We also had a St. Nick to give presents to everyone. It was a White Elephant giveaway.

No one was left out. St. Nick's day is actually Dec. 6.

The women of Linworth Rd. Church made and sent baby quilts to Berlin and Lucy started passing them out. Here is a family that was blessed by this gift from Ohio.

This is the Holz family, Betti, Olli, Sean, and Pablo. We love the names of the twin boys.

We are looking forward to see what God does in 2010! Thanks for journeying with us.

The Trip

A cold fall has arrived and it feels good to look back at the summer. In August we visited the states for three weeks. It was intense - 5 states in three weeks. But it was great visiting family and friends and making new friends.

The trip started with visiting family. For example, jumping on a trampoline with grandkids Zach and Olivia in Columbus, Oh.

Then we drove to Eu Claire, Wisc. and visited Pastor Dave Lennander and his wife Sandy.

They help lead Cedarcreek Community Church.

They led Rock Berlin from 2005 to 2008.

Our ext stop was Minneapolis, Minn. where we

were hosted by Chuck and Karen Edwards.

We had the opportunity to visit the Rock church and Pastor Mark Darling. He is the one who first invited us to Berlin.
We spoke at the Lakeville Church of the Evergreen group of churches. Pastor Charlie Meyer leads this congregation.

After Minneapolis we traveled back to Ohio for a few days, then headed to Connecticut to visit family. Here is a picture of Dieter's daughters and three grandchildren.

After Connecticut we traveled to N.C. and visited our son Matt and family.

Matt has become quite a cook and here he is preparing one of his special meals for us. Jill, his wife, and the boys, Tim and Ben, have come to enjoy his experiments in the kitchen.

We finished the three weeks with a few days in Ohio. It was a tiring trip, but what a blessing!

It"s been a while....

Here is a fairly recent picture of some of the RBers.

These have remainded faithful to RB after the switch to Sunday mornings.

Our second Easter in Berlin began with a 6a.m. service in a nearby park. Pretty cold!

Then we had an Easter egg hunt for the munchkins that help keep RB hopping.

Currently we have anywhere from 5-9 children attending services with their parents.

We have a family with a teenager checking us out too.

Then we had a great meal after the service.

Some of the kids come to church on bike. This is Joshua Goering. The children here learn to ride bikes at a very early age. It begins with a bike that does not have pedals so the kids learn to balance themselves right away.

Wedding and Baby

Greetings from Berlin,

Sorry that we have not posted recently. We will try to do better. Since the last post, we attended our first German wedding. It was held in a chapel at a local monastary. It was also very interesting. The husband took the wifes name, which is more common here than perhaps in the states. The couple is Daniel and Nina Trebien. They were part of RB before we came, but we became acquainted after our arrival in Berlin.

In one corner of the sanctuary was a ceramic pig into which financial gifts and congratulatory notes were placed.

It was a beautiful wedding. There was a reception at the monastary and a more intimate time with their closest friends at a castle outside of Berlin.

Many RBers attended this celebration. Below is a picture of John and Stephi Goering and their newest child, Luke Emmanuel Goering. They are key leaders at RB and have been with RB through all the changes. We also had the privilege of dedicating Luke to the Lord.

This is a short post, but we will post again soon.

Thank you for your interest in this ministry.

Dieter and Lucy

The First of the Year

Is it really 2009 already? We hope you are off to a blessed new beginning. At times of new starts, we often look backwards. So, here are some pics from the end of '08. We finished the year with a flurry of visitors. What a blessing!

Here are Bob and Angie Valtman, who came to visit Berlin during Thanksgiving. They were a blessing to us by encouraging us, bringing greetings from Ohio and bringing books that are helping to reshape Rock Berlin. One book is called Simple Church by Rainer and Geiger.

Thanks Bob and Angie. (Bob said he never looks at the blog, so we could use any pics we wanted:)

The next visitor was my son, Matt Schade of North Carolina. We had a great time taking Matt to the Christmas markets. He really enjoyed the different foods and sights. Plus, Matt helped us pick out a Christmas tree and set it up. We probably haven't done that together since Matt was a teenager.

The next guests were nephew, Ken Prabucki and wife Jamie. Jamie's parents, brother and a cousin, also came along. We a had a lot of fun taking them around Berlin and we made sure to have Christmas dinner together. It was great having them all visit.

Rock Berlin had a Christmas Eve service at 4p.m. followed by a party for several people who did not have family to spend Christmas with. Our guests participated and made a special time even more special.

On March 1, Rock Berlin will switch from Saturday evening services to Sunday mornings. One reason is that Rock Berlin has changed with the birth of several babies over the past 14 months.

And some babies are still being awaited.

Here is Betti Holz, who is carrying twins. She is due this spring.

Below is the most recent birth, Luke Emmanuel Goering, born Jan. 25. His parents, John and Stephi, are key leaders at Rock Berlin.

There is a pictorial of how 2008 ended and how 2009 is beginning.

Thank you for your prayers for the misnitry at Rock Berlin. We are praying for a year of God doing amazing works in Berlin. We give God all the glory and praise. He is awesome!