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.

Immigration Interview

Thank you for praying for my immigration interview this morning. All went well; I passed and had all the needed documents on me. The questions were fairly simple and my reading and writing portion were the sentences "Where is the White House?" and "The White House is in Washington D.C." - hopefully manageable after attending College in the US! I had been concerned about not having had a certain form I was advised to bring to the meeting but my interviewer did not ask for it!

I am now waiting to receive my appointment for the naturalization ceremony, which will actually make me a citizen of the United States. We will keep you updated.
 
As I was leaving the building this morning, I was thinking that I will soon actually be done with dealing with Visa issues - until I realized we may have similar issues for Joel once we get to Germany! In the meantime, I am thankful for a smooth interview today and an end in sight for this part of the journey. It has been a long process of paperwork, fees, and often confusion.

We were also blessed to have Joel's mother and grandmother visiting today and they were kind enough to watch the kids while I took the train downtown for the interview - and actually enjoyed some kid free time by reading uninterruptedly. A wonderful blessing for me!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

Welcoming Johanna Lorraine Hopkins

It has now been a week since we welcomed our little Johanna into this world. She is cuddly and loves to be held. Eliana is a wonderful big sister. We are so proud of her. She loves hugging and kissing Johanna and so far has not shown any signs of jealousy. I am recovering well and have made my first outings to the park and the apartment pool with two little ones. Joel's Mom joined us for most of this first week and was a huge help during this transition. Our church deaconesses are taking care of us also. We are truly blessed! Thank you for all of your prayers during this family transition. Pray we would seek and trust God's wisdom as we raise Eliana and Johanna.

In other news, together with the Millers, we are pursuing some potential teammates for Josiah Venture Germany. Would you pray for God's clear guidance for everyone involved in this process?!

Also, pray for Joel and I as we juggle family, ministry, and fundraising responsibilities this summer. Not wanting to neglect any of these, we need God's wisdom and discipline.

Transitions

We were silent on this blog while we sought God's direction for the coming school year. We have now been fundraising for about 2 years and find ourselves moving slowly at around 35% of support raised. We are still as certain as ever that God has led us to Eastern Germany and our latest trip to Leipzig with the Millers was only a confirmation. As the Millers have 80% of their support raised and plan on moving to Leipzig in the early fall of 2014 (after seeing their youngest son off to College), we are more eager than ever to make this our last year of fundraising in the US!

Over the last two years, we have especially focused on churches and friends around the Chicagoland area and are getting close to exhausting our resources here. Time and time again, we have considered moving up to Michigan for a while to become a part of Joel's former home church, First Baptist of St Johns. We love this church and have already experienced their support both financially and in various other encouraging ways. As we move up to Michigan to reacquaint ourselves with this church, we are asking them to consider becoming our home church as we move to Germany. The church leadership is welcoming us back and we are looking forward to God opening more doors for fundraising in MI.

Unfortunately, we are locked into our lease here until mid-October - and breaking it would be very pricey. We plan on staying in Illinois until that time, and Joel will continue on staff at Village Bible Church at least until the end of the summer.

We would appreciate your prayers as we seek to follow-up with potential supporters in Illinois while we still live here. Two churches are still on the fence and considering financially supporting us and we have made a list of individuals we would still like to ask to consider joining the support team.

Please, also pray for adequate housing to become available in or near St Johns, MI. We are especially hoping not to have to sign a full-year lease again. If you know anyone in the St Johns area who may be able to let us rent a property lease-free, we would appreciate a referral!

Finally, pray for us as we are expecting a new member of the family any day now. My due date is a week from Friday but baby girl may decide to come early. Pray for all members of our family as we transition to a household of four. We are very excited!

Faith in Leipzig - a pastor's testimony

Enjoy this video clip of Thomas Arleger, pastor of the FEG Leipzig (equivalent of the Evangelical Free Church). He talks about the spiritual state of Leipzig and the need for relational missionaries.

Talking points:
- Many churches in Eastern Germany only have 10 to 15 members.
- Leipzig has a population of 500.000 but only .5-1% attend a worship service on Sunday morning.
- 99% of the population are not connected to a church and possibly not even a Christian.
- Young adults say they would never go to a worship service without a close friend.

Become a part of the hope for Leipzig by supporting us financially. Thank you!

Breakfast with a Mission

This past Saturday, we were invited to Donny's house for breakfast - along with a number of his friends, who came to hear us talk about our passion for young people in Eastern Germany. Donny served a German inspired breakfast with yummy breads and rolls, cold cuts and even some sausages, Nutella, and lots of fruit and other sides. We were blessed by all the effort he put into this breakfast but even more by the opportunity to tell a new group of believers about our plans.

We always enjoy meeting new people and telling them about what God has called us to do. A breakfast like this gives us a chance to expand our support base beyond the people who are already in our lives. This is a great way of helping us in the fundraising process!

So, if you eat breakfast and have friends, why not imitate this idea and allow us to share our plans with another group of mission-minded believers.

If you don't eat breakfast, we'll come for lunch or dinner, too...

And if you don't have friends, let us know and we'll invite you to the next breakfast to have you meet some new people :-)

Please, contact us if you would like to arrange a similar gathering with your friends. We are willing to travel for this also!

Contact Joel at jhopkins@josiahventure.com
or me at ehopkins@josiahventure.com

Thank you!

A Chance to Share

After a few days of recovery, we entered back into our normal routines here in Carol Stream. For all of you who have asked about my well-being: I am doing just fine and so is the baby. We needed a few days to relax but are back to normal. Thank you for your concern.

This past Sunday, we had a chance to share our mission plans with the congregation of Village Church of Oak Park. Donny, a former co-worker, attends this church and made the connection for us. We were given a few minutes during the worship service, which mainly served as a teaser and invite to a missions-focused breakfast at Donny's house this Saturday. We'd appreciate your prayers that this breakfast gathering would be well attended and that God would stir in the hearts of those He would like to add to our financial support team. On Sunday alone, we were able to hand out 12 support letters as a follow-up to conversations after the service. Please, pray for fruit here as well.

Would your church allow us to speak to your congregation for a few minutes on a Sunday morning? We would really appreciate this chance to broaden our reach to a new group of believers who may be as passionate as we are to see young people in Eastern Germany come to know Christ. And we really enjoy hearing about your church's heart and passion for your community at the same time!

Below a picture of the JV Eastern Germany Team with Dave Patty at the youth hostel in Leipzig. Anyone eager to join us?

Leaving Encouraged

Our time in Germany is coming to a close as we spend one last evening visiting with my sister in my home town and leave for Chicago tomorrow. Our stay in Leipzig was refreshing, encouraging, and continued to confirm our calling to this area of the world. 

Since our last update, we met with a few more churches and organizations who all gave us a similar report: their heart is for evangelism among young people but they struggle to know how to reach them and how to train effective youth leaders. We are looking forward to joining their vision in the future and begin to help with new ideas that worked in similar cultures across Eastern Europe and to provide much needed manpower and leadership equipping.

On Saturday morning, we met with a group of University students who are a part of a missional Christian organization on campus. Our time with them was so fun and refreshing for both us and the Millers and we hope to see some of them again, granted we are able to make the big move before they graduate.

In the evening, we had the privilege of meeting an American family who is working at an International School about 1 1/2 hours outside of Leipzig. We (and I am sure they) would appreciate your prayers as we ask God if He would have us work together in the future.

We will leave tomorrow much encouraged and excited about the ministry potential in our future. Please, pray for smooth travel back home. My cold is only slowly getting better and I experienced what we believe to have been Braxton-hicks contractions  yesterday. While our spirits have been rejuvenated, it seems my pregnant body is under a lot of stress. 

Please, pray for us as we get back into our routine at home, fight jet lag once again, and seek to juggle ministry and fundraising as usual. Pray for God to provide the needed monthly financial support in His perfect timing and give us peace about it. The need here is great and we believe we can help, so we are returning home more eager than ever to leave for the mission field long-term.

The harvest is plentiful but...

... The workers are few. --- Jesus made this statement decades ago and it is certainly true here in Leipzig.

Our meetings have been insightful so far and continue to confirm our calling to this region and the need for youth ministry leaders and training in this city. We met with a church plant that started as a kids hour in a home and has grown to a small church building in the most populated part of Leipzig. The church is surrounded by a large number of high rise apartment buildings, which are very typical for Eastern Europe. The teen population is largely from low income and often single family homes. Communist culture valued a woman working and many of these teens likely grew up with little contact with their parents or a close family member. The church itself underwent a painful church split several years ago but is now experiencing some growth - entirely through new conversions, no transfer growth. This is truly a reason to praise God! However, the nature of having many new believers leaves the church with a lack of qualified leaders. Ministry teams have come from other cities to put on camps and other outreach events for youth and the church is encouraged to see that each event draws and reaches youth at a deep level. However, they then lack the leadership to provide consistent youth programming and relationship building opportunities.

Another church plant we met with just purchased a former elementary school and is renovating it to use as a multi-functional church building. Two women already live at the church building, providing a consistent presence on the premises and running a used clothing ministry out of an adjacent building. The congregation does not have a lot of money but the pastor says, "we have our hands." They have been diligent to put many hours into the building, knowing its potential for ministry. An American missionary is part of this church as well. She is a female single missionary and among other things has been offering free English classes to the community, which has been a great draw. The church's leadership has been praying for us for a while and was excited to meet us in person. They do not yet have a youth ministry and are looking forward to how Josiah Venture may be able to come alongside of them in the future. What an honor to meet a congregation that has been fervently praying for us and our arrival without ever having met us! The Body of Christ is a wonderful blessing worldwide!!

Our first appointment of the day was in the center of the city, located in a famous Communist building that is now being used to proclaim the good news of Christ. Praise The Lord! This church has been established for many years and the pastor reported an unusual amount of growth. The church has 150 members with about 300 in Sunday attendance. The pastors decided to offer two services due to the recent growth and are also praying for wisdom on how to keep close-knit fellowship alive in a growing church. They have started satellite locations that are meant to meet as missional communities and they have seen some success. They wonder if some of these may turn into church plants down the road.  The church does not have a designated youth pastor and is struggling to maintain a consistent attendance among the youth. The pastor was very interested in opportunities to train his volunteers in youth ministry to strengthen outreach to this age group. The church also draws a large number of College students and is ever hoping to connect them more meaningfully to their congregation. We were encouraged to see what God has already been doing in this congregation and how Josiah Venture may be of help to further their ministry to young people. You may look forward to a video message from this church's pastor upon our return to the US.

What a blessed day and another is just about to begin. Today, we have the privilege of time with Josiah Venture President Dave Patty. And tonight, we jointly visit with another church. Thank you for your encouraging responses to our last post. Please, keep praying for a fruitful rest of the week. Please, pray especially for me (Ellen) to overcome this cold and not get anyone else sick. I've also been struggling most with jet lag and exhaustion on this trip, which is an unusual twist in our family - though I suppose not surprising seen as that I am pregnant! Praise God for His sustaining power and pray I would draw on it when weakest! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Arrived safely!

Thank you to all of you who prayed for safe and smooth travels. We arrived in Leipzig today and God blessed us beyond belief during our first and long flight. We had four seats to ourselves and behind us was only one woman and she was very nice and even played with Eliana! What a blessing.

Well, after 15 hours of travel, we freshened up and ate a yummy German dinner - currywurst - and are now ready to crash.

Please, pray for us as we have a full day of meetings tomorrow. We are visiting the Freie Evangelische Gemeinde (FEG) Leipzig in the morning and then will see two church plants of the Evangelische Freikirchliche Gemeinde (EFG) later in the day. Josiah Venture President Dave Patty is joining us tomorrow night after our meetings.

We will keep you posted. Please keep us in your prayers:
- to gain a better and standing of the spiritual needs and opportunities in Leipzig
- for health: I started getting a cold the night before we left
- energy while jet lagged

JV in 2012

Josiah Venture's annual report is out and you can access it at the link below. We are especially excited that JV's expansion to Eastern Germany is listed as a hope for 2013.

http://www.josiahventure.com/media/reports/JV-Annual_Report_2012.pdf

Our next vision trip to Leipzig with our new team members is right around the corner. We have 5 days of meetings planned with churches, Christian organizations working with youth and young adults in Leipzig, and some time for us to talk with JV president Dave Patty, who is joining us for part of the trip.

In other news, I am beginning the process of applying for American citizenship as this will allow our family to move more easily between countries on furloughs and extended stays. Germany usually does not allow dual citizenship but I was able to apply for an exception based on our circumstances and permission was recently granted.

Praise God for:
- Great and promising meetings scheduled for our vision trip
- Finally receiving permission for dual citizenship
- Josiah Venture's excitement to see the ministry expand to Eastern Germany

Please pray for:
- Remaining vision trip preparations
- Safe and smooth travel with a toddler as well as a productive trip
- Smooth application process for American citizenship
- Josiah Venture to expand to Eastern Germany this calendar year!

Snow

The last month has been busy for us, in part with preparations for the junior high winter retreat which took place last weekend. Since Joel's involvement in the open gym ministry, the size of the junior high group has grown exponentially and the growth remained even after Joel left the open gym ministry at the end of last year. We rejoice in what this means for the Kingdom and for so many junior high kids who are hearing about God on a regular basis.

We decided to put on our own winter retreat and focus on the topic of "unity" as this has been the junior highers' struggle after the group's growth spurt. Our guiding passage was Colossians 3:12-17:
¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (NIV)

three junior high boys tubing behind Joel

We also went tubing just across the border in Wisconsin. Eliana and I got to come on the retreat as well (no tubing for us). The kids all enjoyed themselves and we believe God used the weekend for His glory. We are thankful for another chance to minister as a family!
 
The growth of the junior high ministry has been a confirmation of our calling to cross-cultural ministry. However, we know that God is ultimately calling us to Eastern Germany and we have made a commitment to spend a significant amount of time each week fundraising. The balance between the demands of our current ministry and those of the calling ahead has been difficult for us. We have approached our church about this struggle and are actively looking for solutions to alleviate some of the burden of running two ministries here, one of which has grown immensely and reaches a population that needs and deserves more time than we are able to give. Please, pray for this balance for us as well as for solutions for the next few months. 

Some upcoming fundraising opportunities to keep in prayer:
- an opportunity to talk to a group of youth pastors about our plans
- a friend introducing us to a new group of potential supporters through his church
- friends and family members that we hope to reach via phone -- If you get a call from us, no fair pressing the "ignore" button ;-)

Travel Plans

A woman in nursing scrubs, a slightly overweight man in khakis with some loose papers in his hands, and a man in a floor length black overcoat, black hat and pink scarf are on the elevator with me. One of them has already pressed floor "32" and must be going to the German Consulate just like me. Who is it?

If you guessed the man with the black hat and pink scarf you are correct! I played this little private game with myself this morning and won. Observing different cultural mannerisms is always fun and makes places like the Consulate or airports more interesting!     


The purpose of my visit was to apply for a new passport. Just this Friday, I remembered that my old one expired last fall and I was not prepared for our upcoming trip. Praise the Lord for giving me favor at the Consulate: the passport should arrive in time without a problem and the lady I spoke with agreed to email me the passport number as soon as she orders it, so that I can book our flights and seats properly and soon.

Our trip is planned for early March. We are going to spend one week in Leipzig to 1. give Jim and Lina, our new team mates, a chance to visit the city and various churches and 2. continue to network among the ministry leaders of the city. Dave Patty, the Josiah Venture President, may join us for a few days. We plan to travel with the whole family and have my parents meet us there to spend time with Eliana.

We are currently still in the beginning stages of planning this trip and would appreciate your prayers that God would make this time fruitful and helpful. There are several people we hope to meet with and other contacts we have not yet explored. Please, pray for favor as we schedule these visits. Pray also that my passport number would be sent to me soon to allow us to buy tickets before prices go up.

We are excited to make it over to Germany again and hope this trip will serve as an encouragement to both families. In our contact with the German church leaders, we sense their need for more youth workers and are eager to join them permanently. That is still our prayer for this year, and we would love to have you join us in this plea before the Lord! 

It's A Girl

the set-up to reveal the baby's gender to Joel:

and the note Eliana brought him first:

Welcoming New Team Mates

Just this Monday we received a phone call from JV's Vice President, Mel Ellenwood, informing us that Josiah Venture Germany has just gained new team members.

We met Jim and Lina Miller several weeks ago as they met with us in their role as Member Care Missionaries for Josiah Venture's "B-Team" (Barnabas Team). Towards the end of this encouraging time with them, they mentioned that they were still praying about their next step with Josiah Venture and we started wondering...

Yes, they were considering joining our team even then and we are delighted to have a couple like them come to Eastern Germany with us.

Jim and Lina Miller worked with Josiah Venture in the early years after having served with Dave and Connie Patty at Cadence Ministry on a military base in Germany. Back then, Josiah Venture was still a part of International Teams. Jim and Lina spend some years in the Czech Republic before working in International Team's HR department stateside.  They are both very relational and enjoy member care and disciple-making.

Currently, they are serving Josiah Venture as a vessel of encouragement to other missionaries as they continue to raise their full support needed to move to Germany and allowing their youngest son to graduate high school in 2014.

You can read a little more about them on the Josiah Venture webpage at http://www.josiahventure.com/people-and-places/bteam/329.

We are hoping for a joined vision trip to Leipzig in the upcoming months and appreciate your prayers as we get to know each others' gifts and dreams. Above all, PRAISE GOD FOR THIS ANSWER TO PRAYER.

New Years Resolutions

Are you sick of weight loss commercials yet? They tend to increase during this time of year, offering opportunities for the numerous people who resolve to change their weight - at least for a month or so.

Joel and I don't really like the concept of NEW YEARS resolutions. After all, shouldn't we resolve to live more like Christ and glorify him during all seasons of the year? However, this year one of our year-round resolves begins with the start of the new year.

I had my last day of work yesterday and am now officially a fundraising stay-at-home Mom. Joel continues to work 20 hours at our church but is no longer involved in the ministry he jump-started last fall. In agreement with the Josiah Venture leadership, we have resolved to spend 20 hours a week on fundraising. That's quite a goal and we intend to keep it year-round!

Dear friends of ours contacted us a few months ago with the resolve to give a very significant percentage of their income to us on a monthly basis starting with this new year. It came at a time of deep discouragement during the fundraising process and not only boosted our monthly total but also our confidence that God can get us to Eastern Germany in 2013.

Would you consider making a monthly financial gift of any size a part of your resolutions this year? And we are not asking for the short lived, guild inspired kind but a commitment that comes from God's calling to be involved in His work across the world. We hope you are giving to missions somewhere and would be honored if you entrusted some of that giving to us and our future ministry in Eastern Germany.

A commitment to pray for us is also tremendously helpful. Here are some ways you can pray for us even now:
- Join us in asking the Lord to send us to Eastern Germany this year!
- Pray for patience, wisdom, and diligence with our time.
- Pray for financial favor with the churches and individuals we contact.
- Above all, pray for God to be glorified in this process and all we do!

Lastly, I hope to leave you with Chapter of Scripture that was an encouragement to me this morning. Meditate on the truth in each line of this Psalm and be encouraged!

Psalm 4 (NLT)
Answer me when I call to you,
O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

How long will you people ruin my reputation?
How long will you make groundless accusations?
How long will you continue your lies? Interlude

You can be sure of this:
The Lord set apart the godly for himself.
The Lord will answer when I call to him.

Don’t sin by letting anger control you.
Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude

Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,
and trust the Lord.

Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”
Let your face smile on us, Lord.

You have given me greater joy
than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.