Germanators

Awaken 2011

2012-01-02T22:46:00.004+01:00

Between Christmas and New Years, Dec. 27-30, Great Commission Europe staged the bi-annual Awaken Conference in Pescara, Italy. Over 100 people came together from six European countries. The theme was Knowing God's Will for Your Life and Pastor John Goering was one of the four main speakers. Eight RBers attended the event and were blessed by the content and the fellowship. It is such a blessing for Lucy and I to meet with missionaries who have been in the field for many years and share the benefits of their experiences. We hear many stories of God's faithfulness.

It didn't hurt either that the weather was warmer here than in Berlin and we actually saw some sunshine, which we don't see much of in Berlin. The hotel was right on the Adriatic Sea, very beautiful.

Irish Dancing in Berlin

2012-01-02T22:28:00.005+01:00

One of the RBers, Anja, who comes from the Ukraine, is part of an Irish dance group. Lucy was able to attend one of the performances and loved it. Berlin is such an international city. Lucy invited Karin who is the mother of Alex (one of our Rock Berliner's).

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-02T22:13:00.005+01:00

On Christmas Eve, we invited some of the RBers that could not celebrate with family. It is a blessing how God unites us as family when we give ourselves to Him. It was wonderful evening. Everyone received some small gifts as tokens of love and friendship.

We had one child there, Jonathan, and he opened a few Christmas presents (that we all played with:)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T22:03:00.003+01:00

Our home group, the English Conversation Group, had a Christmas dinner at our place on the 23rd of Dec. Half of the group was traveling to visit family. It was a special time of remembering how the Lord has blessed us, how wonderful our Savior is, and how much the world needs Jesus. Besides us, Celine (in the center), Nenad (front right), and John-Paul, Maria and Elijah, attended this special gathering.

2011 Rock Berlin Retreat

2012-01-02T21:33:00.004+01:00

Over the first weekend in November, we had our annual Rock Berlin retreat. The campgrounds were about an hour outside of the city center and has a beautiful lake next to the property.

Pastor Mark Darling, from the Minneapolis Rock, attended and shared the teaching sessions with Pastor John.

About eighteen adults and six children attended and had a great time meeting with each other and with God in this beautiful place.

The theme was the disciplines of the Christian walk, in particular, Prayer. We listened to teachings, talked about it, and practiced it. The retreat was a time of blessing for all.

More of Hamburg

2012-01-02T21:20:00.003+01:00

Hamburg is a major German city. It has a huge harbor which sees much traffic. There was an island where developers located a large theater, which was showing Lion King while we were there (we did not attend).

Much of Hamburg was demolished during WWII. We visited a church that was almost completely destroyed. Underground is a museum with pictures from the destruction during WWII.

Hamburg is a beautiful city with many new buildings and parks. Even though I was gone for about fifty-six years, there was a sense of coming home. It was a relaxing and energizing trip.

Visiting Dieter's Birthplace

2012-01-02T21:02:00.005+01:00

We finally, after four years, visited the city of Hamburg where I was born and lived the first four years of my life. I still have cousins living in Hamburg and one of them, Ralf, along with his friend, gave us a short tour. We are standing in front of the home where my family had lived. It looks much nicer now.

We also visited the cemetary where my grandmother, Frieda, is buried.

Protest in Berlin

2012-01-02T20:36:00.004+01:00

In September there was a peaceful demonstration that passed by our apartment. The marchers were protesting for social reform - more jobs and government support.

This is not a sight we often see. Every spring Germany celebrates May Day - a day to celebrate the worker. There are normally marches and demonstrations on that day.

Starting School in Berlin

2012-01-02T20:10:00.004+01:00

Here is a picture of Joshua, son of Pastor John and Stephi. Joshua started school this past fall. He did not attend kindergarten (childrengarden), but was able to start first grade. The schools have a celebration to welcome the students starting school. The parents make or buy the big cones and fill them with sweets and gifts. Lucy and I were honored to be invited by Joshua to observe this celebration, along with his family. The teachers and older students staged a great program to welcome the first graders. It was a wonderful introduction to school.

Mission Team from Minneapolis

2011-08-28T18:21:00.003+02:00

Here is a picture of the short-term mission team from Rock Minneapolis. For eight days they stood on empty crates with their "Religion is a lie" t-shirts and waited for people to approach them. This was a successful method for conversation. Each team member had opportunities to explain the t-shirts and show that religion is man trying to reach out to God, and that is not the gospel.

The Poster Bible Verse

2011-08-28T18:06:00.002+02:00

1 Cor. 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

This is the verse that the church put on the poster. This was a humbling moment. It is great to be appreciated. We give God the glory for all He has done at Rock Berlin.

Back in Berlin after 4 weeks in U.S.

2011-08-21T21:05:00.002+02:00

At the first service after returning to Berlin, the church gave us a poster of Thanks with pictures and notes of what the individuals are thankful for. This was a very humbling and loving demonstration. We are thankful for the relationships God is blessing at Rock Berlin. Each person is very precious to us.

In Ohio

2011-08-21T20:58:00.003+02:00

We celebrated our 24th Anniversary while in Ohio by having dinner with our son Eric and his wife Luigia. Great food at one of our favorite Italian restaurants.

Still in Ohio

2011-08-21T20:50:00.003+02:00

While in Ohio we spoke at two churches. One was Grace Point Community Church, Pastor Terry Lewis. We shared about the 5 people baptised in recent months at Rock Berlin. This testimony fit perfectly with the message that evening. We are grateful to GPCC for their support of this ministry. It was a Saturday service, so we were allowed to wear shorts:)

From N.C. back to Ohio

2011-08-21T20:42:00.005+02:00

We ended our 4 weeks in the U.S. in Ohio. We visited Dieter's parents. Great time playing a German game & eating great food cooked by Dieter's mom!

From Ct. to North Carolina

2011-08-21T20:36:00.003+02:00

In N.C. we celebrated the 16th birthday of grandson, Timothy. His dad, Matt, took everyone to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate. Good food and fellowship.
Timothy was baptised last year and is walking with the Lord. We give thanks to our heavenly Father.

Still in Ct.

2011-08-21T20:19:00.003+02:00

While in Ct., one of Lucy's sisters, Pauline, hosted a picnic and invited all of Lucy's family. It was a great time with family. Part of the the activities was a water balloon fight. Here Lucy is prepping the younger kids for the huge battle.
We spent about 5 days in Ct. visiting family. We also ran into a couple of supporters at the church service we visited. It is very encouraging to know that people in serveral states are praying for the ministry in Berlin.

From Minn. to Connecticut

2011-08-21T20:14:00.002+02:00

From Minn. we drove to Connecticut to visit family. Here is a picture of Dieter's two daughters and their children. When you see family only once a year you really notice the change in the grandchildren. They are growing up so quickly.

Lucy got involved

2011-08-21T20:09:00.003+02:00

As we walked around and chatted briefly with the team members, Lucy became involved in a conversation with a man that was walking by. He didn't pray to receive Christ, but we saw him take the literature and show it to his girlfriend.

Meeting the mission team

2011-08-21T19:59:00.002+02:00

One of our last activities in Minn. was meeting with a mission team that was preparing to come to Berlin to share the gospel. They visited a local park to practice. They created a stir by wearing t-shirts that said, "Religion is a lie". Here Jeromy Darling is giving a pep talk before they begin their ministry.

Our hosts in Minn.

2011-08-21T19:54:00.003+02:00

This picture is of Karen and Chuck our hosts in Minn. They housed us the previous two trips too. They are a very loving couple, especially in putting up with us, ooops, I mean putting us up:)

Second church in Minn.

2011-08-21T19:50:00.003+02:00

In Minn. we also spoke at New Hope Church. Here is Pastor Doug Patterson praying for us after we gave an update of the ministry in Berlin.
We had the opportunity to meet a family, the Heils, who were part of the original team that started Rock Berlin. It was humbling meeting this family that left everything behind to obey God's call. They were a great encouragement to us.

More time in Minn.

2011-08-21T19:43:00.003+02:00

While in Minn. we visited Bill and Barb Brown, who we got to know years ago at Linworth Rd Church. They are an inspiration to us for their many years of service in the mission field. Even now they are planning to move to Ethiopia.

Our conversation and prayer with them was very encouraging.

Trip to U.S.

2011-08-21T19:37:00.003+02:00

In July we headed to the states for 4 weeks of visiting family and supporters. We began by visiting the Minneapolis Rock. Here is Pastor Mark Darling interviewing us before his teaching. Mark is the one who called us to serve in Berlin. During this trip we had a chance to meet with the mission team that recently visited Berlin.

Singing at baptism

2011-06-14T19:55:00.004+02:00

We have enjoyed singing after the baptism and found that it is a great witness to the people passing by, some even stopping to listen and watch.

Alex cont'd

2011-06-14T19:49:00.003+02:00

Lucy and Dieter had the blessing of baptizing Alex, who is in the English home group.

2011-06-14T19:40:00.002+02:00

Alex gave her testimony, which is similiar to the Beutlers and to Tinas.

The Germans are having to do some deep "soul-searching" to come to terms with baptism vs. man's tradition.

Alex's parents and grandmother were present and supported their daughter/granddaughter, even though they do not fully understand why she was baptised again.

Alexandra's Baptism

2011-06-14T19:28:00.003+02:00

About a month after the Michi and Magda baptism in May, Alexandra Buchhop was moved by the Holy Spirit to be baptized in June (it was a little warmer:)
Here she is dressed in black before the baptism.
The dark clothing represents her old flesh.
Next to her is Michael, her special friend visiting from Canada.
After the baptism she changed into light colored clothing to represent the new nature in Christ.
There were several people there who wondered about what she was doing. Some wonder if we are a cult or sect.

Baptisms cont'd

2011-06-14T19:20:00.003+02:00

Then Magda gets ready................. and comes up!

Baptisms cont'd

2011-06-14T19:07:00.006+02:00

Michi going down....... and back up:)

Baptisms cont'd

2011-06-14T19:01:00.004+02:00

Magda and Michi each gave a brief testimony about how the Lord used His word, others, prayer and finally lifes challenges to bring them to the point of obedience in baptism.
Their story was an encouragement to all.
We have seen our Lord to much in the life of this beautiful couple.
They are a tremendous blessing to Rock Berlin.

Baptisms Continue

2011-06-14T18:54:00.004+02:00

In our Germanator Email updates we have written about the battle with tradition in Germany.
For ex., many believers have not followed Christ in baptism because they believe their child baptism and confirmation or first communion is equal to believer baptism.
God has been changing the hearts of the Rock Berlin believers.
In this pic, Pastor John Goering is explaining baptism while Michi and Magda Beutler wait to be baptized. It was an awesome day!

Birthday Gifts

2011-03-28T22:57:00.003+02:00

Birthday Cards

2011-03-28T22:53:00.003+02:00

Birthday with the Home Group

2011-03-28T22:34:00.005+02:00

Friday night, during home group, we celebrated Lucy's birthday with fun, food, and flowers.

We were 12 that night: the women ate in the dining area and the guys were in the living room.

And almost every one brought flowers for Lucy.

She also received a journal book, a scarf, a card with baby Elijah on the front.

Sabine baked a cheesecake with chocolate in it. Everyone loved it - the cake just was not big enough.

John-Paul created an I Love Lucy card with Desi Arnez on the cover. Last year, John-Paul gave me a card with my face photo-shopped in a Jimi Hendrix photo. John-Paul is very creative.

We still found time to sing, pray and discuss the gospel of John, ch. 8. It was a great night.

Birthday Lunch

2011-03-28T22:23:00.005+02:00

Lucy's day was blessed by Christina and Katrin. Christina (the shorter one) called Lucy and sang Happy Birthday in German, prayed for Lucy in German while on the phone, then invited Lucy to lunch.

Katrin, a journalist in Berlin, invited Lucy to dessert after lunch. She treated Lucy to ice cream in a park. It was a rare sunny day in Berlin-God's gift to Lucy:)

Christina and Katrin have been blessings in our lives here in Berlin.

Lucy's Birthday Flowers

2011-03-28T22:14:00.003+02:00

Lucy had a birthday on March 22 and the Goering family came to give a gift of flowers and love.

Stephi came with Sarah, Luke and Joshua. The children picked out the colors of the flowers. How cute is that!

Cowboys in Texas

2011-03-28T22:06:00.003+02:00

Celine, one of the single women at RB, asked us to bring back a cowboy. And here I am giving it my best effort. But the cowboy's wife said no:)

(this is Lucy's brother, Gerry)

I, at least, came back to Berlin with my cowgirl.

Family in Texas

2011-03-28T22:00:00.003+02:00

Lucy was able to visit with lots of family at the wedding. Here she is with her mom, two sisters, one sister-in-law, a niece, and a great-niece. Lucy had a great time sharing stories of her ministry in Berlin and hearing about the things she has missed.

It was a great opportunity for us to talk about how God is working in Berlin.

Wedding in Texas

2011-03-28T21:49:00.004+02:00

In March, we had the privilege of traveling to Texas for a family wedding, and even officiating the ceremony. The beautiful couple is Stephanie and David.

Listening for Heaven's Sake

2011-03-28T21:30:00.002+02:00

In Feb. we hosted Patricia Flynn and Linda Kitchen from the Amsterdam church. The two lead several Rock Berliners in the seminar, Listening for Heaven's Sake. We talked about how to love one another through better listening. We worked often in small groups and did role-playing to practice the practical lessons.

Book Table at the Retreat

2011-03-28T21:17:00.003+02:00

Part of the blessing of the women's retreat was the Bood Table. Pat Hillebrand and Betty Christopher from Indiana organized the table and brought donated books that were given to the Europeans at no charge. What a great gift!

Women's Retreat in January

2011-03-28T21:05:00.004+02:00

Women came from the states to bless the women in Europe. At this retreat, Lucy, Stephi and Kathy found some quiet outside near the retreat center.

The other picture shows women from the states blessing others with manicures. A hairdresser also made the trip and offered her services. Lucy took advantage of the manicure and a hand massage.

Women's Exercise Outreach

2011-03-28T20:57:00.005+02:00

We have written in our updates about Maria starting a women's outreach through an exercise class for new moms. Maria decided to use exercise balls for the class and storage became a question. There is not much storage in German homes. Maria's husband, John-Paul found a creative solution - hang them from the ceiling.

The class is still going and Maria is developing a few close relationships with the women.

Christmas Dinner #1

2011-01-04T21:17:00.002+01:00

After our Christmas Eve service, we hosted a dinner. In the pic are RBers and guests. The couple on the left is from the Ukraine. The wife visits RB ocassionally and the husband does not attend church. Please pray for Anja and Max.

It was a great time. Little Jonathan opened his presents after this pic was taken.

Christmas Dinner #2 After eating

2011-01-04T21:09:00.002+01:00

After eating, we watched a DVD titled Thou Shalt Laugh. This is an English language comedy DVD that we purchased a few years ago before coming to Berlin. It is a Christian comedy DVD. Some of the humor was not understood by the Germans, but part of the purpose for the English Home Group is to improve English language skills. So, we had to explain some of the humor. Laughing, eating and learning - great combination.

Christmas Dinner #2 Dessert

2011-01-04T21:04:00.002+01:00

No meal, even in Germany, is complete without dessert. Sabine baked a special cake made with two of my favorite ingredients, marzipan and poppyseed. This was covered with chocolate - how can this be bad?!

Christmas Dinner #2

2011-01-04T20:51:00.003+01:00

This pic represents the second Christmas Dinner we hosted. This is most of our English Home Group, plus a couple of guests. We celebrated after our service on the 26th.

Cookie Outreach

2010-12-20T19:13:00.004+01:00

Alex Buchhop, one of our RB women, organized a Cookie Outreach to the area around the church.

People backed, packaged, and distributed the delicious cookies. The cookies were passed out at streetcar stops, on the streets, and in the parks.

The pink slip contains a Bible verse, Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Along with the verse, we included an invitation to a service at RB.

The group photo represents most of the people who participated. It was a united effort and was a lot of fun.

People in the RB building and in the parks were so surprised to receive a gift without a catch.

We pray that God will use this effort and bring fruit to the seeds that were planted.

Christmas Dinner kids

2010-12-20T19:04:00.006+01:00

Even the kids got in on the action. The little guy in the kitchen is Luke Goering, Pastor John's youngest.

And the other photo is a family that was invited and enjoyed the evening.

Christmas Dinner @ RB

2010-12-20T18:57:00.004+01:00

On Friday, Dec. 3, we had our RB Christmas Dinner with almost 70 people attending.

RBers invited many guests who were not-yet saved.

We heard some good feedback about the atmosphere being loving and accepting.

We pray that God will bring fruit to the seeds that were planted.

All three of the home groups came on Thursday and decorated RB. They did a great job.

Fellowship at the retreat

2010-12-19T16:54:00.003+01:00

Meals are always a great time for sharing lives with one another.

In between teaching and meals, we left blocks of time open for hanging out together.

This retreat did a lot for drawing RB closer to each other. It was an awesome, blessed time.

One important point: the teachings by Mark and Dave were in English, but Toby Heussner did a great job of translating into German for the few that needed it. Toby is the guy with glasses in the right photo.

Can't wait until next fall!

Nature walk during the retreat

2010-12-19T16:46:00.002+01:00

Tina Liefke led about a dozen RBers on a walk in the rain around the retreat property. She stopped ocassionally and shared a meditation from the Psalms. It was awesome being in God's creation and hearing His word read.

Pastor Dave at the retreat

2010-12-19T16:39:00.002+01:00

Pastor Dave also blessed the RBers with a lesson about planting seeds in peoples lives.

Here is Dave with Maria, Calvin, and Jonathon (he was one of two children at retreat).

We were blessed to have Dave and Mark at the retreat.

Pastor Mark at the retreat

2010-12-19T16:34:00.002+01:00

Here is Pastor Mark sharing with us his passion for Christ. He shared parts of his personal testimony which touched many of our hearts.

Mark also encouraged us to show people the love of God through good deeds.

Rock Berlin Retreat

2010-12-19T16:23:00.002+01:00

During the first weekend of November, RB went outside of Berlin for a retreat time. Almost all of the 25 RBers attended, even though the weather was wet and cold.

We had times of music worship before each teaching. The teachings were presented by Pastors Mark Darling and Dave Lennander. They flew over from the states for a ten day visit. Their contributions to the retreat were awesome.

It was a great time of fellowship, learning, challenges, and encouragement.

Last birthday photo

2010-12-19T16:18:00.002+01:00

John-Paul Larson, a RB leader, is very creative. He made a birthday card inserting Dieter's face in the body of Jimi Hendrix.

The term Dirty Dieter comes from a drink that a local bar makes. Dieter has never sampled it.

The party was a big success and everyone had a great time. Germans love to celebrate birthdays and enjoy good food and conversation.

Another birthday photo

2010-12-19T16:11:00.003+01:00

One of Lucy's friends from her German language class is an artist. He drew this portrait of Dieter for the birthday bash.

Yuki is from Japan and has been to our home a couple of times, along with his girl friend. We pray that God will cause growth in the seeds that were planted in their lives.

Birthday

2010-12-19T16:08:00.001+01:00

We also had fun playing Wii games. The Goerings brought their Wii game from home and everyone enjoyed bowling, tennies, and other games.

More birthday photos

2010-12-19T16:00:00.002+01:00

Another game that was played during the birthday party (and after services) is electronic darts.

Here is Lucy showing a couple of guys how it is done.

Dieters 60th Birthday

2010-12-19T15:51:00.002+01:00

On Sunday,October 10, Rock Berlin celebrated Dieter's 60th birthday after the service. There was plenty of food and games.

One of the fun games at Rock Berlin is the foosball game. We call it kicker. It is very popular and is played every week after our service.

Here are some Japanese guests and Mahmood, a RBer from Iran.

Intern Tobias Klement

2010-12-18T20:39:00.003+01:00

Within a few days of returning from the states, we had a theology student do an internship at RB for one month.

He is Tobias Klement, the brother-in-law of Pastor John Goering. Tobias had many things to do, like helping with music worship, give the teaching one Sunday, clean parts of our church rooms, and help oil the wooden floors. I think his knees were sore when he left Berlin for school again.

Tobias was a huge blessing to RB and to me. He is a young man with a heart for God's body, the church. We look forward to see how God uses Tobias to bless His kingdom.

More Babies!!

2010-12-18T20:32:00.002+01:00

While we were in the states in August, another baby was born. Here is the pic of the Larson family with little Elijah. The grandmother in the photo is Maria's mother, who lives in Russia, but came for a visit when Elijah was born.

The smiling dad is John-Paul, one of our RB leaders.

Rock Berlin Crash Course

2010-12-18T20:22:00.002+01:00

This fall Rock Berlin began moving toward creating membership at RB. We started with the RB Crash Course, during which we explained our beliefs and vision for RB.

In this pic, Pastor John Goering is leading us in prayer before starting our first class.

The people in this pic are a portion of the 20+ RBers who attended the Crash Course over a two week period.
It was a very encouraging time for RB.

2010-12-18T20:13:00.002+01:00

We took time to visit Lucy's family in Connecticut. Here is Lucy with her mom and sisters. We had an enjoyable few days seeing many of Lucy's relatives, which includes lots of nieces and nephews.

After Conn., we headed back to Ohio and after a few days, returned to Berlin. It was an exhausting, but also invigorating trip. God gave us many great memories to bring back and encourage us.

2010-12-18T20:02:00.002+01:00

Lucy was able to catch up with a few dear friends. Here she is with Jan Price, the director of the Sunday School program at Linworth Rd. Church.

It was so uplifting to visit these churches and to be able to visit with many old friends (unfortunately, not all).

We cannot thank enough the churches and individuals that support us. We are grateful!

2010-12-18T19:55:00.002+01:00

Another weekend we visited Grace Point Community Church where Dieter had the opportunity to share during their services. We also had the blessing of participating in the dedication of Grandson Elijah Bailey.

2010-12-18T19:41:00.002+01:00

After Minnesota, we headed back to Ohio.

At Linworth Rd. Church, our home for 18 years, Dieter had the privilege of sharing from the Gospel of Mark and giving an update on our ministry in Berlin.

It was wonderful seeing our friends from LRC.

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After the service we hung out with our hosts, Karen and Chuck Edwards, and with the Darlings, Kathy and Mark. In the back is Sabine Rabe, one of our Rock Berliners, who happened to be in the states visiting her friend Austin.

The Edwards took good care of us. And it was our first opportunity to meet Kathy Darling. Mark Darling is the one who invited us to move to Berlin

2010-12-18T19:29:00.002+01:00

After Ohio, we drove west to Wisconsin and Minnesota.

In this pic we are standing outside before the start of The Rock Friday night service.

It was a great time worshiping with the Rockers in Minneapolis.

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Here is a photo of the entire Schade clan.
It was a blessing for us all to be together. This was a first.

August in America

2010-12-18T18:58:00.003+01:00

One of the first things we did in the states in August was to attend the Schade family reunion at Dieters parents property.
Here is a pic of Lucy and Dieter with their kids and grandkids. Pretty cool!
They drove in from Connecticut and North Carolina. It was an awesome two days!

Church Wedding and Reception

2010-11-08T21:24:00.005+01:00

One day after the state wedding, the church wedding took place. John Goering and I shared the pastoral duties. It was a great day celebrating the union of Michi and Magda.

The reception was held in a small hall inside a park.

Lucy and I had the opportunity to take a walk with Michi's mom and share our testimony.

Wedding

2010-11-08T21:11:00.004+01:00

Weddings are done differently in Germany. First there is a state wedding, then the church wedding. Here is the reception for Michael und Magdalena Beutler after the state wedding. This reception was held at RB and was attended by family members and a few leaders from RB. It was a blessing to be able to host this reception for this wonderful couple.

Michi and Magda had been living together for several years, but, as they grew in their faith, they decided to seek God's will for their relationship. The result was they became engaged and decided to live apart until their marriage. What a tremendous testimony! They went against the popular opinion of the culture.

RB is blessed to have this couple as part of the church.

Bachelorette Party

2010-11-08T20:51:00.004+01:00

This summer was also the first wedding since we arrived in Berlin in 2007. Magdalena Beutler, the woman kneeling, was married at the end of July, but first the girls took her out for a bachelorette party. They spent most of the evening in a fondue restaurant. Bachelortte parties are a relatively new experience in Germany. Magdalena loved the time with the RB ladies.

Baby Shower

2010-11-08T20:42:00.003+01:00

This summer RB had a baby shower for Maria Larson, who gave birth in August to Elijah Larson.

The women of RB organized a baby shower, which are not common in Germany. Maria thought the shower was for her and had a gift list consisting of books and other items for her.

Maria is a good sport and laughed at herself when it was explained that the shower gifts were for the baby.

English Home Group

2010-11-08T20:26:00.003+01:00

We have written in our emails about our English Home Group. We meet weekly at our home, but also schedule social times when we can spend time with relatives of our home group members. Many of the relatives are not believers and these social times are important opportunities to be witnesses for Christ. He did not avoid social gatherings and neither do we.

These two pictures were taken during the summer when we had a cookout. The board game is called Mensch Aegere Dich Nicht, a popular game in Germany. It is a game we played at home in Ohio with my parents. My dad still loves playing this game. Because he has dementia, he does not remember family members, but he remembers how to play this game!

Anniversary Trip

2010-11-08T20:03:00.003+01:00

In July we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary. We took a train for three hours to a harbor city in the north called Rostock. The weather was beautiful for the weekend we spent there. Harley-Davidson is a big deal in Europe, but I just looked in the window. We thank the Lord for the years He has given us. It was a relaxing weekend remembering the vows we took years ago.

Taking a break once-in-a-while from ministry is important and this trip helped us renew ourselves a bit.

World Cup in July

2010-11-08T19:58:00.003+01:00

Germany did pretty well in the World Cup games taking third place behind Spain and Holland. We viewed the games on our big screen and invited one of the ministries that rents our rooms from us, Every Nation, to view the games with us. Both our ministries invited friends and we had a great time. It was a super opportunity to invite unsaved people to watch these exciting games.

Europe goes crazy for soccer.

Reaching out to Lucy's language class

2010-11-08T19:25:00.004+01:00

Here is a picture of one of Lucy's German language classes. Most of these folks have been to our home for dinner, have gone bowling with us, or came to RB to watch the World Cup soccer games. We use the opportunities God gives us to create relationships and share our faith.

There are five countries represented in this photo. Many of the students will go back to their countries.

Our hope and prayer is that some will come to faith and go back to their countries with the gospel.

Babies of Rock Berlin

2010-10-18T16:39:00.002+02:00

We have written before how RB has been having lots of babies, well, here is the first birthday of Pablo and Sean Holz. We were at the party which was held outside back in April. They are adorable! Besides bananas, kuchen was also served. Lucy has had the blessing of babysitting the two little men. And Dieter went along to a couple of doctors visits to help their mom. Unfortunately, the Holzs live an hour from RB and travel mostly with public transportation. They have decided to find a church closer to home. We will miss these little guys, and their parents too;)

After the ordination

2010-10-18T16:23:00.003+02:00

After the ceremony, Lucy and Stephi Goering gave their husbands each a book filled with notes and letters of encouragement and congratulations. These were sent to the wives by family members, friends and ministry supporters. There were also other gifts. It was a beautiful day.

God is gracious!

April 2010 Ordination

2010-10-18T16:12:00.002+02:00

Back in April, John Goering and Dieter were appointed pastors at Rock Berlin. In this picture you see, from left, Pastor Dave Lennander, who served RB from 2005-2008; then Pastor Mark Darling, who sent the first team to start RB and who called Lucy and Dieter to RB; and Pastor Daniel Goering, who has been ministering in Germany for 20 years, and is John's father. All three men still serve RB by being advisors to John and Dieter.

Lucy keeps busy outside of RB too.

2010-10-17T21:56:00.005+02:00

Since Lucy is also learning German in a classroom setting, she develops friendships with her classmates. Here is Lucy with two Japanese students who currently live in Berlin. Yuki and Sukara have been to our home for meals besides sightseeing Berlin with Lucy. They know that Lucy is a Christian and we hope to share more as we spend time with Yuki and Sukara.

Lucy keeps busy

2010-10-17T21:47:00.003+02:00

Much of Lucy's time is spent sharing her life experiences with the women of Rock Berlin. Here is Lucy with two of the young women that attend Rock Berlin, Nina and Tina. This photo was taken on a walk through a park after a Sunday service. The women recognize the love Lucy has for the her Savior and for them.

Fall is over

2009-12-23T21:09:00.014+01:00

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

2009-10-31T21:02:00.013+01:00

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....

2009-07-19T15:53:00.010+02:00

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

2009-04-13T19:37:00.010+02:00

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

2009-02-02T20:25:00.011+01:00

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!

It's been quite a fall

2008-11-16T19:08:00.008+01:00

Berlin Marathon
This marathon had about 40,000 runners from around the world. Steve Nelson, a missionary from the Ukraine, was an entrant and stayed with us before and after the marathon. Steve is in his 50's, but in great shape. This was his thirteenth marathon. Steve takes every opportunity to share his love for the Lord and this race was no exception.

Pastors Conference in Poland
We were in Poland for the first time at the beginning of October. The conference took place near the city of Krakow, which was the capital of Poland until the 1500's.
Steve and his wife also attended and we had dinner together in town on our free evening.

Bible Study
Lucy began a Beth Moore study group using the latest study, The Psalms of the Ascent.

The group consists of two singles and two marrieds. Countries represented are the states, Poland and Russia. But the language is, of course, English.
We are starting an English-speaking home group before Thanksgiving. It will have singles and married couples. Some of the Rock Berliners want to improve their English skills.

Baby

We wrote in our last Germanator email that Lucy was asked to be present at the birth of a Rock Berlin baby. Here is an introduction to Samuel Suwalla.

Busy Summer

2008-08-08T14:19:00.012+02:00

END OF MAY
Wittenberg (officially named Lutherstadt Wittenberg) is the German city most associated with Martin Luther (1483-1546), leader of the German Reformation and was our destination with Pastor Dave when he visited for two weeks in May(he tries to make sure we are seeing some of Germany). We enjoyed our time with Dave as he encouraged us.

I was there previously in 1995 with my dad and relatives and WOW how it has changed. It has become very commercial. What that means is you can buy Luther beer, bread, candy and many other assorted things.

It was still neat to see a few of the old buildings, but I have to think that Martin Luther cannot be too pleased with what the town has become.

We had an interesting conversation with a restaraunt owner. He's a German who thinks Joe Cocker is the best guy in the world and who wants to travel Route 66 on a motorcycle. He sounds like many Americans:)

JUNE

June found Lucy in the states taking care of some family business and, of course, visiting with family, but only in Ohio.

While Lucy was gone, one of my cousins and a friend came to Berlin and stayed with me. It was very cool to be able have family visit after being gone for so many years.

Before Lucy left we were able to visit with a couple of Berliners, Guenther and Charlotte Grosche. We met them in Columbus, Ohio when they lived there for two years. We met them at a restaraunt and watched a European Cup game on a huge outdoor screen (the bigger screen was nearby:)

The European Cup was huge. It felt like being in Columbus on Buckeye football gameday. The people really enjoy their soccer, all day and ALL NIGHT! Germany made it to the finals, but lost to Spain.

JULY

In July, Lucy and I celebrated our first anniversary in Germany, number 21. We stayed in and Lucy cooked a special meal, and it was awesome to reflect on how God has worked in our lives. All praise goes to Him.

We had visitors in July, too. Drew Hage, a church planter working with the Amsterdam church, spent a few days with us so he could look around this incredible city.

Then on July 22, a missions team from our old church, Linworth Rd. Church, came for 10 days. It was great to see some old friends and to hear news from the "old country". Mike Faler kept the team of seven working from the morning into the evening. They witnessed in a local park and also downtown where young people congregate. They also helped RB celebrate our 5-year anniversary. We also gave the team a todo list for a little maintenance work around the church.

Daniel Goering visited RB for the anniversary celebration and shared the message with his son, John, and me. We talked about the past, the present, and the future of RB and Great Commission Europe.

Here is a picture of Daniel with one of our RB folks, Maria Larson.

Here are a few photos of the team. They shared breakfast together every morning before prayer and music worship.

Here is Tim Short with a couple of RBers. Below are Rhonda Hearon and Kelley Faler
sharing with women in the park.

Lucy finished her third language class in July. She is off until the end of August. Here is a photo of her classmates.

God is alive and working in Berlin, even though most of the people do not believe in Him.

As always, thank you for your prayer support. It is critical and it really is encouraging to know that people are bringing us before the Father. It is a blessing for us to pray for you too.

And, of course, we appreciate the financial support. The euro and the dollar are locked in a battle. You are supplying us with the means to stay in the spiritual battle that rages on here.

Volleyball Plus

2008-05-26T16:48:00.013+02:00

Hello Germanators,

Hope you are all enjoying this time of the year as we move from spring into summer (at least here we are:). We have had two sessions of beach volleyball (BVB) so far. We play on Thursday evenings, but must go to the park between 3-4 p.m. to claim a spot. The park fills up quickly and it's neat to see people get to know one another a little over a game of volleyball.

The volleyball area is big enough for six nets to be erected.

Here's Pastor Dave telling me to get to work and stop posing for the camera. He showed us how to set up the home-made system.

Pastor Dave came back to Berlin to visit for two weeks. It was a great time as he encouraged us in our ministry. He was able to meet with almost all the leaders at Rock Berlin. Plus he led four leadership training sessions. Hopefully Dave was able to rest when he was back in Wisconsin.

This past weekend we had a baby dedication (Kindersegnung) which was done in German. The room was very warm and little Silas Schueler fell asleep during the ceremony.

Above is Silas with his parents, Uwe and Kathleen Schueler, and friend of the family and a RB leader, Stephi Goering. Silas is 5-6 months old.

As was done in Ohio, we charged the parents and the congregation to all be a part of Silas' spiritual growth. We prayed that one day Silas will give his life to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Recently we participated in a Chinese tea ceremony that celebrated the birthday of one of the Rock Berliners, Christina Serafy.

Much of Germany still has stone sidewalks which require a fair amount of maintenance. Here are pictures of sidewalk work.

I hope the photos give you a flavor of what we are experiencing. We thank the Lord for directing us to Berlin and we are grateful for all the Germanators.

We continue to ask the Lord to make His will known, that everything we do would further His kingdom and bring Him glory.

We are being challenged and are growing in our walk with our Lord. Being a Christ follower means that we continue to desire to be more like Christ.

Thank you for your support in all its forms: prayer, financial, and messages of encouragement.

Dieter and Lucy

It's been a while:(

2008-05-04T18:56:00.010+02:00

Times flies, even in Germany. We have been here six months already. We thank the Lord for His sovreignty in our lives and how He has blessed us during our time year. Thank you for your support.
It has been suggested that we include more photos, so here we go.

Language acquisition is moving along. What a challenge! Lucy is finishing one class and will begin another on May 7th. Lucy also works with a tandem partner whose name is Gesa.

Dieter practices German when he can, for example, with one of the RockBerliners who wants to improve her guitar playing.

Recently we learned that May 1st is a national holiday in Germany. We attended an outdoor church service in another part of Berlin. The service was attended by approximately 100 believers. It rained that morning, but when the service started the rain stopped and the band led us in worship music. There were short messages by people representing different Christian organizations in Berlin. It was exciting to hear what God is doing through groups like Teen Challenge. They are helping people get off the street and out of addictions.
Several of the Rock Berliners enjoyed the service and the activities.

The other side of the coin is that a few blocks away the Communists had a stage and made speeches for their cause.

We recently taught on prayer for three weeks. During that time we had an all-night prayer vigil at church which finished with a prayer breakfast. There seems to be food with every activity:)
Sorry, no pictures of this event.

We have shown you pictures of the room where we hold our services, but I would like to add one with our unique cross. It is a Bat signal type of cross.

That's enough pictures for this blog

Rock Berlin has encouraged outreach and a couple of our young moms have started ministering to pregnant singles. Lucy helps by caring for the children of the ministering moms.
In two weeks we will begin our volleyball ministry in a local park. This will be new for Lucy and I. This ministry provides opportunity to create relationships with non-believers in a relaxed atmosphere.

God is working at RB and we thank you for enabling us to take part.

Easter in Berlin

2008-03-24T16:27:00.007+01:00

Another landmark, our first Easter in Berlin! It was the same awesome realization as in past years - God sent His Son to die a horrible death for every person and then Jesus defeated death by rising from the dead. He is risen! He is risen indeed! He is our hope for eternity and for now!

Before we celebrated Easter, we traveled to Bled, Slovenia for a Great Commission Europe staff retreat from March 16 to March 22. This retreat occurs yearly for spiritual, physical and emotional revival. For many of the people in the field, other missionaries have become their families and this retreat can be a family reunion. It is a very important time. We enjoyed the fellowship and wisdom of people who have been in the field for many years in countries such as Italy, Germany, Poland, Netherlands and the Ukraine. The organizers, Dave and Mindy Henson, did an incredible job serving approximately 50-60 missionaries, including a bunch of children.

While the adults were involved in seminars and teachings and music worship times, there was a staff of people to care for the younger children.

We were given plenty of free time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings; a lake, a castle, an island in the lake with a church, mountains, and much more. It was like looking at gorgeous postcards.

The food wasn't bad either. Fortunately, a two hour walk around the lake was enough to make room for the next delicious meal. Dieter also used some of the time to prepare his Easter message.

Here is the castle near the hotel.

Here are two missionaries by the lake with the church on the island in the background.

The weekend before this retreat we traveled to southern Germany to visit Dieter's relatives in two different locations. One visit was near Stuttgart and the second stop was in Singen on the border of Switzerland. This trip took about 8 hours via highspeed train, regional trains, local trains and buses. It was a traveling education with a few hiccups that stretched us. The relatives are still somewhat amazed that we moved to Germany, but they are pleased to have us this close.

We left on Thursday, March 6, and arrived back in Berlin on Monday, the 10th. We were not sure about being able to return to Berlin on time because of a threatened rail strike. Actually, before we left, the local streetcars, some trains and buses went on strike with the national trains threatening to strike. We thank the Lord that the strike was averted and we traveled back without delays.

Here is everybody except Lucy from the visit near
Stuttgart. The key person is on the right, one of Dieter's three
aunts.

We'll include more pics in future blogs.

This past Saturday was Lucy's birthday and it was a working birthday. We arrived in Berlin after the staff retreat on Saturday, about 1 p.m. Lucy immediately went shopping to prepare for the potluck after the Easter service. She arrived at church before the service to help with food prep. At the end of the service everyone joined in to sing Happy Birthday to Lucy and another person. Then she helped with the potluck, serving and cleaning, until we arrived back at the apartment around 11 p.m. We stayed up until 1 a.m. getting ready for Easter Sunday. The alarm went off at 4 a.m. because we had a sunrise service at 5:45 a.m. Then, off to church to prepare for an 8 a.m. breakfast for 13 people. At ten, it was back to the apartment to prepare for a 1 p.m. dinner for four of the singles from church. Whew! Sunday night was spent Skyping with family. But we are home today because the Monday after Easter is a holiday in Germany.

The two Easter services were well attended, which was a pleasant surprise because most Germans travel to be with family for Easter. It was very cool to have 9 people attend the sunrise service at 5:45 a.m. in the cold and snow. We prayed, sang and had a short (very short) message.

Thank you for your part in making this first Easter in Berlin very special.
He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Feburary

2008-02-27T11:55:00.005+01:00

It has been a month since we posted a blog and much has happened. Unfortunately, the majority of the pics were deleted from our camera. Sorry.

Since our last posting, the Lennanders have returned to the states and now we are the only old-timers left:)

Lucy has a couple of days left to her first German language class. She is sighing with relief. She starts class again at the end of March. Dieter continues to work on German by having conversations, but has also started using a German study Bible and is reading a mystery in German. He is not teaching in German yet, but recently prayed in German during the service.

Lucy hosted a prayer breakfast at RB to kick off the Easter season. Many of our RB people are participating in 40 days of fasting and prayer for Germany.

A couples group started up on Feb. 10 and looks like it will be a lot of fun. The group is going through a marriage course. Our first meeting had an ice breaker where the husbands and wives were tested in their knowledge of each other. The results confirmed the need for this group:)

Lucy and eight other women went bowling on Feb. 15. We are still amazed how big bowling is in Germany. You need reservations for a lane. They had a great time of fellowship, but it must (not really:) be noted that Lucy had the best score. You rock Lucy!

Dieter went to Cologne for an existing leaders huddle (ELH) in Feb. Twelve men representing Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain met at Daniel Goerings home for a weekend of meetings to encourage each other, discuss raising new leaders and to talk about the future of Great Commission Europe (GCE). It was great to learn from men that have been ministering in Europe for many years. Picture below:

We did some modeling in Feb. too. The hairdresser that kept the Lennanders looking stylish had cut our hair one time before Feb. But in Feb. Ramona asked us if we would allow her to cut our hair for a potential new employer. So we went and were beautified, well Lucy was. Bottom line, Ramona got the job!

In Feb. we also had our first music worship night for 2008. It was fun with three people each leading part of the evening.

This past weekend we traveled to the city of Cottbus, which is very close to the Polish border. One of the musicians at RB invited us to help provide music for a group of people from Camaroon. The Methodist church has a service for them once per month. The folks from Camaroon are in Cottbus studying at the university and unfortunately some of the German citizens look down on them, especially the skinheads. They love to sing and sounded great and it was good to provide encouragement for them.

We are planning to visit some relatives on the weekend of March 7. They live in southern Germany on the border of Switzerland in a town called Singen. It will be an eight hour plus ride on a train. We will have the opportunity to see more of Germany. Hopefully we will have some pictures to share with you when be blog again.

We are looking forward to our first Easter in Berlin, which will also be Lucy's birthday - March 22nd. We praise God for His love and care and especially for Jesus.

Awaken

2008-01-17T11:30:00.000+01:00

The title does not mean we have been sleeping, not enough time for that.

We've been back for over a week from the conference called Awaken. We mentioned it in our last blog. It was a Great Commission Europe conference that meets every two years. The last Awaken was held in Amsterdam, a very busy, exciting city. This Awaken took place in the middle of nowhere about an hour south of Cologne. It is a very peaceful, serene setting that 200 people converged upon. The conference went from Jan. 2-6 and six countries were represented, Spain, Italy, Poland, Holland, Ukraine and Germany. The main teaching sessions were in English and were translated into five languages, Spanish, Italian, Polish, German and Russian. The music worship was mainly in English led by a band from Amsterdam. They also did some worship songs in Spanish, Russian, Polish, Dutch and German. It was fun trying to follow the Russian:)

The organizers did a great job providing opportunities for fun and fellowship to accompany the great teachings. There was a coffeehouse every evening and each one had different musical offerings and even poetry and skits. Dieter and two guys had a jam session one night. There was a bonfire where marshmallows and bread were put on sticks; no, not a loaf of bread. Just enough bread to sprinkle sugar or cinammon over. One day was a free day and about 75% of the people took a train into Cologne to go sight seeing. Lucy went along and visited the Lindt chocolate factory.
There was also highspeed internet for the really desperate people who needed some outside contact.

Our Rock Berlin church sent 18 people to Awaken. Three guys were worried about having nothing to do out in the woods and one was concerned about the lack of city noise to lull him to sleep. To their surprise, everyone had a great time interacting with people from different countries speaking different languages but serving the same God.

Some great stories came out of this conference and we'll share one with you. It's about Irina from Kiev, Ukraine. She spoke Russian and English, but no German. She was separated from her traveling companions in Cologne, but was able to get on the right train to Pracht, the village near where the conference was held. Irina had traveled over 20 hours and had spent a lot of money to get this far. She was still not sure she would be able to find the conference center so she asked God to provide people to help her complete the trip.

When the Rock Berlin group entered the train for the final leg of the journey we saw a lot of empty seats, but we decided to sit in the same area as Irina. We spoke in English and German and tried to make a connection with Irina. After a bit she pulled a book out of her bag and ten minutes later Dieter saw that it was a Bible (his eyes aren't what they used to be). We then began speaking about the conference and eventually Irina asked if we were traveling to Awaken. She began praising God when we told her we were and she told us we were the answer to her prayer. It was a great introduction to the conference. After Awaken Irina traveled back to Berlin with a few of our people who came by car. She stayed one night with of our leaders and even toured the city for half a day. Irina was praising the Lord the entire time. What a blessing for everyone.

The conference theme was Waking Up to the God of the Story. Are we willing to join God in the story He has for each of us?
The second session was called Waking Up to War. We are in a spiritual battle and our enemy is coming after us. Waking up to God is waking up to war.
Then in the last couple of sessions we were encouraged to Go Change the World and to Go Out and Glorify God by obeying the Great Commission.
There is much more, but you can hear the teachings in English at http://www.gceweb.org/.

We have included some pictures below to help you imagine the blessing that Awaken was to 200 people from different parts of Europe who came together to worship our heavenly Father. Thank you for your part in this adventure.

Holidays

2007-12-30T12:43:00.000+01:00

Lucy has been helping in two schools by teaching English to the children. One school went on a field trip to a nursing home for Christmas. Lucy assisted the teachers and the class of second graders to pass out cookies the children made. Lucy did not make it into a picture, sorry. But the teacher did, her name is Christina Serafy from Columbus, Ohio.

We are in the middle of the holiday season. The Christmas markets have closed down, but many lights are still shining brightly. We had a Christmas Eve service at RB (Rock Berlin) which started at 4p.m. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve in Germany so the folks were looking forward to worshiping and getting home to family and gifts. Germany also closes down for two days following Christmas Eve. We spent most of the first day calling family via Skype.

We enjoyed a quiet Christmas in Berlin, but we have been told that New Year's is a different story. Fireworks are a major part of New Year's Eve. We were advised that large numbers of people are out overnight setting off fireworks anywhere and everywhere. We saw a church with long rockets set up like a teepee waiting to be set off! We will watch the fireworks from the safety of an apartment belonging to one of RB's members.

In the previous blog we mentioned recycling. Recycling is very important in Germany. There are special containers for every building and also along the sidewalks.

These three containers are for different colored glass, green, clear and brown. Cute, aren't they?

God is slowly stretching us - Dieter helped out during the service on the 29th by leading the music which included two songs in German (Shout to the Lord and I Love You Lord). Lucy was interviewed for an article about Forgiveness to be published in a German Christian magazine.

We also helped redecorate the church. Remember, we rent space on the first floor of an apartment building. We've included a few pictures to help you visualize Rock Berlin.

Rock Berlin has about 35-45 people that attend fairly regularly. The space can hold double that number.

Next week we will travel on the high speed train to attend a Great Commission Europe conference called Awaken. There will be six countries represented at this four day meeting, Jan.2 - 6. Please pray for God's blessing and that He is glorified. Thank you and may God bless your new year.

Legal in Berlin, Germany

2007-12-11T20:02:00.000+01:00

What an amazing few days! This past Saturday was the first time I presented the message for the service. It was in English, but challenging, since I would say a sentance or two then wait on the translator. I hope to preach in German in the future, after more improvement with my German language skills. But God blessed the evening (our services at Rock Berlin are on Saturday evenings) and we were blessed by the responses we saw and heard in the congregation.

Today was our appointment for our visas to remain in Germany. We had been warned that we will probably have to go more than once to the government offices. Also, as with Pastor Dave, the government will require Rock Berlin to run a wanted ad for 30 days to give nationals an opportunity to apply for the job that I am here to do. And the entire process would take weeks.

But, God had different plans. Florence Deppe, a Rock Berlin member, had meticulously prepared all the paperwork and was able to answer the government officials questions thoroughly. God also gave me an opportunity to talk with the official in German for a minute. She even joked that since I was born in Hamburg, I was an American Hamburger:)

The net result was that we left with our visas! No waiting, no want ads, just the visas. So Lucy and I are legal, finally. Praise God !

On the lighter side of German life, we finally have a pic of Dave and Sandy Lennander to share with you. They are the couple we are living with and whose apartment we will take over when they leave Jan. 22, 2008. They have served at Rock Berlin for almost 3 years. Then came with no German language knowledge and have done an amazing job. They helped the Rock reorganize and refocus and have helped the Rock become a very healthy church. Dave has been a pastor for over 25 years and his experience made a difference here. Praise God for them!

Here we are with the Lennanders around the Christmas tree in the apartment.

Also, for those of you that think you are good parallel parkers, check out this photo.

This is a normal parking scene in Berlin. It's also the reason we are glad for good public transportation. We haven't gone for a drivers license yet, we may reconsider. But, here is a car you need if you do drive.

It's a SMART car.

Next blog will include something about recycling. Exciting isn't it?!:)

Starting Our 2nd Month

2007-12-02T16:29:00.000+01:00

It's hard for us to believe that one month as gone by already. The month has been filled with the challenges of living in a different culture, connecting with a new group of friends, understanding a different church culture and keeping our walk with God our top priority. These challenges have not been easy, but it has been a blessing being in God's will.

In regard to the culture, we are glad we do not have to drive in Berlin. Besides watching for other cars, you must be alert for a lot of bicyclists and pedestrians and for the trams and buses. But to help with becoming legal in Berlin, Dieter will apply for a drivers license next week. Then on Dec.11 we have an appointment for a work visa. We continue to work on our language skills and hope to find out about starting language school in Jan.

Our new group of friends have kept us busy helping a couple of them move into and out of apartments. Plus, we have had to say good-bye to the Shafers, as Gene and Kathy went back to the states after serving the Rock Berlin church for 5 years.

Regarding the church culture, we are learning about church-hopping. It seems to be normal. Since RB meets on Saturday evenings, some of the attenders visit other churches on Sunday. This sounds okay except when the hoppers do not have accountability relationships. That is inviting trouble. Our enemy is on the prowl for loners.

The second month finds us attending administrative meetings at RB, ones we have not been a part of yet. There is also a need to schedule appointments with believers young in their faith for Bible study. Lucy has made contacts with an international group of Christian women. She met a diplomat for South Africa at the study. The diplomat reinforced with Lucy the need to meet with other believers to help with discouragement.

There are Christmas markets popping up in many places. They have booth after booth of food and things to buy. But there is very little mention of the reason for the season, our Savior.

Berlin is a huge city with a tremendous need for Jesus. There are churches doing God's work and reaping fruit and we give God the praise for that, but there is so much more to do.