Merry Christmas

Frohe Weihnachten!

We wish all of you a merry Christmas and wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior! We are thankful for all He has done for us, in coming to this earth to seek and save us.

We have loved our first few months out in the country. Life here is relaxing - at least most of the time. We've had a few adventures in the pasts weeks including getting stranded at church with a dying car battery - and rescued by a caring member of the church who allowed us the use of his truck for a night so Joel could fix the battery the following day. (And by God's grace this happened the day before the weather turned from normal-wintery to icy cold.)
We also went without power most of this past Sunday but found refuge at our friends' house until our house was warm and lit again.

We have joined a young adult small group on Tuesday night and love it. Eliana and Johanna come with us and play with the other kids while we study Philippians with the others.


God has also provided a few new supporters these last two months. Joel has been busy coordinating the addition of new team members we hope to announce soon.

And here is a glimpse of a fun moment in one of my days:

Deep Dive

If we want to be effective ministers, we have to understand the culture in which we are serving. When we minister on the mission field, this will take time and lots of interaction with people... and sometimes some intentional research!

Josiah Venture did an intensive research project among 6 out of its 12 countries. They began by asking each of the country's JV missionaries and leaders to identify a predominant barrier to ministry they have encountered over the years and to form a question they set out to answer.

Slovenia: How do Slovene youth engage in groups?
Poland: What is the road to becoming a youth ministry "motor"  in the emerging generation in Poland?
Slovakia: What is the nature of emerging generation in Slovakia?
Ukraine: What is happening in the hearts of Ukrainian young people after English Camp?
Estonia: What makes followers of Christ equippers of youth?
Czech Republic: How are young leaders grown and developed in the local church? How are they growing and developing new leaders?

download here

Each team set out to conduct interviews with youth and young leaders in their country of ministry. The results are compiled in the recently published book "Deep Dive", which is now also available on Kindle. The book will normally be available for 99 cents - the lowest amazon allows it to be offered - but it is FREE to download this weekend. I encourage you to download this book today. I have only cracked the virtual cover but am enjoying learning about youth culture in Eastern Europe. It's well done research. Enjoy!

Correction

Our zip code is 48879

From Johanna's Perspective

Hello, this is baby Johanna reporting for Mama (or maybe it's the other way around; I get confused). Here is what has been happening in our family:

A while ago, Mama started putting all kinds of things in boxes. Big sister helped her by taking out some things that Mama must have put in the wrong box.

One night, we left in the car really late and I fell asleep right away.
When I woke up, we were at Oma Lorel's. The next morning, we drove to an empty house and later Dada came with all of our boxes. I was kind of sleeping at this point again (sorry, I do that a lot so I'm not the best reporter) but I think there were lots of people here helping bring in the boxes.

Then Mama started taking all kinds of things out of the boxes again. I'm telling you, this world is strange place. But I think this is our new house. I like it here. Big sister, Mama and I go outside sometimes and there are big animals that big sister and Mama call "moo" and everything looks beautiful outside. Big sister and I also have a play room downstairs with toys and a baby swing and a colorful blanket on the floor. Now, if you know me, I prefer just smiling at Mama and Dada while they hold me but those other things are fun, too.

I heard Mama tell big sister that we are going to move again one day - to Eastern Germany. She sounded very excited about that, so you should help us get there if you can. I think Mama and Dada can tell you how.

I'm getting sleepy again, so I'm gonna go but Mama says to say, our new address is:
7046B N Lowell Rd
St Johns, MI 44879

Lots of Love

We are feeling loved during this bitter-sweet week of goodbyes and upcoming new beginnings.

On Sunday, we celebrated 6.5 years with Village Bible Church with a luncheon that included some wonderful people saying very loving things about us and the impact we had on their families. In return, we were able to thank this congregation for lavishing us with love and being our extended family as we lived away from our relatives. We have been invited to holiday meals, have gleaned from wisdom of many, and benefited from much prayer and practical support. Even this week, many are helping us get ready for the move. We are leaving behind a congregation we consider family and know we will delight in reconnecting when able to visit in the future.

Meanwhile, our new congregation in Michigan is supplying some basic groceries to wait for us at our new home. Members are also providing some furniture to replace a few pieces we didn't think would make the trip to Michigan with us. We are looking forward to reconnecting, meeting new people, and introducing our girls to a new church.

Please, pray for all of us as we make this transition. Besides the challenges of any move (missing old friends, being intentional about making new friends, finding new stores and doctors etc), we are also shifting from a suburban to a rural area. I have never lived in this culture and that far away from stores and will need some practice in preparing grocery lists that don't have me running back the next day for things I forgot. We are still uncertain as to the quality of Internet available for our new home, which will be another challenge for us as Joel will need to use Skype for fundraising - and that it also how I keep in touch with my family in Germany. We are also using this opportunity to put Eliana in a big girl bed and would appreciate prayers for that transition as well. I am sure Johanna will take it the easiest :-)

This will be a great way to practice transitioning as a family. Once we move to Germany, we will have to get used to new things and even though I grew up in Germany, I have been assured on numerous occasions that it will take awhile to understand the culture of former East Germany. God has blessed us with personalities that welcome change as exciting challenges and opportunities for great new things. And yet, we appreciate your prayers these next few weeks.

We are thankful that God has surrounded us with so many loving people both in Illinois and Michigan and that we are making a big step towards the mission field with this move. 

God Provides

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31-33

How skilled are you at "not worrying"? Joel tends to be better at it than I am. I am the type who prays and then starts wondering how God may answer this prayer and how I could "help out". After all, the real answer to fundraising must lie in our capability, right? Wrong! And of course I know that in my head but Joel often has to remind me to "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

As God uses marriage to grow us, applying this verse has become easier over the years. Joel and I have had to trust God a number of times throughout our journey - and truly, we all have to trust Him, whether we realize it or  not. We have seen God provide and use His church to meet our needs, so neither Joel or I had any doubts that God would provide a home for us in Michigan. We received a few questioning looks as to why we were not more frantically looking for a house or apartment to move into, but while we made our need known and did some research of our own, we had full confidence and peace that God would provide a home for our move scheduled on October 12th.

You know what I am getting at (and maybe have already peeked at the picture below). Yes, we will be moving into this duplex that a family from First Baptist Church is allowing us to rent for the approximate cost of utilities. The home is actually more spacious than our current apartment, and will allow us to set up an office for Joel. We have been in desperate need for this. As you can imagine, it's hard to be productive or have a coherent phone or Skype conversation with a toddler and baby in the room. We will also be able to set up a play area for the kids. Needless to say, we expect this home will make both of our jobs easier!

 

The lower living expenses are providential as we plan to fund-raise full-time instead of seeking a new job. Please, pray for 40 hours of fundraising for our family every week - time to Skype or meet with potential supporters, to get involved at First Baptist Church and allow them to truly get to know us, and to connect with other area churches that may be willing to become financial supporters. We still have quite a bit left to raise and specifically hope that God will provide another 15-20% of support through individuals and families. That is $1300-$1700 and yes, that takes a lot of faith! Ask God to supply not only the needed finances to get us to Eastern Germany but also the faith for the journey!


We appreciate your prayers as we seek to use our remaining time in Illinois wisely. If you live in the Chicago-land area and we don't see you on a regular basis, we would love to get together with you before we leave. Please, let us know if you are available to do so. A few weeks ago, we had a special visitor: Lorraine Holt, who lead me to the Lord 13 1/2 years ago and who is the inspiration for Johanna's middle name. We hope to add plenty of other pictures of precious moments like these during our last weeks living here.

 

On Being Multi-cultural

Today I stood with about 130 other citizens of other countries and took an oath to become an American citizen. I have rarely if ever been in a room of this much diversity!

Right before taking the oath, we were asked to stand up when our country of citizenship would be called. Several dozen countries were represented and I believe I was the only German citizen in the room. What struck me was that I felt an odd camaraderie with every Eastern European that was asked to stand up - not because I grew up associating myself with these countries (Eastern and Western Europe definitely still feels divided that way) but because I kept thinking: Josiah Venture works in that country... and that country... and that country. A large group was from Poland; and Latvia, Romania, and the Ukraine were among the mentioned nationalities.

What a great privilege to be a part of an organization that is spreading the gospel and strengthening local church youth ministries all throughout these European countries!

And what a blessing to now have dual citizenship, which will allow us to minister in Leipzig and yet return for periods of recharging and visiting supporters in the US when needed and without hassle.

What else does being a US citizen mean to me? To be honest, the people I have encountered in this country never made me feel like an outsider and my former status as permanent resident allowed me to be a productive member of the community here. Yet how wonderful to be joined with all of you in another way.

Culture is an interesting thing. While I only became a dual citizen today, I have felt "bi-cultural" for years. I grew up in the Western part of Germany and that comes with a set of values, norms, and world views. Several clash with America's - like quite a few political views - and over the years I have come to fully understand each country's mindset after having lived in both places for a long period of time.

Soon I will add a third culture to that mix. I have been assured by many ministering in former East Germany right now that I will notice cultural differences between the two parts of the country that has now united for years. How excited we are to soak up a new culture as a family and learn its values and views! And hopefully one day, by God's grace, I'll consider myself "tri-cultural"!!

Thank you for your prayers during this application process. They are much appreciated. We hope to write again soon with some good news about the potential growth of our team.