Not Our Plans

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

We were reminded of that this week as our church hosted three CEF 5 Day Clubs. The club at our apartment only had two regular attendees, one of whom spoke no English. Our second club had no kids show up except for one girl on one of the days. And our third club, which took place near the Outreach center, had no kids from the center in attendance. That was not what we expected.
 
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

Really, these verses also sum up our last few years. Even before we got married, we felt a calling towards the mission field. Almost two years ago, we signed on to go to Eastern Germany with Josiah Venture - a year later even than we had planned. Today, we are still waiting to approach 30% of our support raised. Let us tell you that our plans were to have moved to Germany a long time ago.


Instead, we are reminding us often - sometimes hourly - that God's plans are indeed higher than our plans. We appreciate your prayers as we seek the Lord's guidance daily.


Our urgency to get to Germany is increasing in light of the strong calling we feel from the Lord, our desire to begin ministering in Leipzig, the church's anticipation of our arrival, and even our current financial situation. We are asking the Lord for opportunities to spend more of our time fundraising and for wisdom as to what to do in the meantime. We are asking Him to lead us to the individuals and churches He has set aside to give to us financially. 


Thank you for your prayer support!


“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

Haley with the Bible she received from our church on the last day of 5 Day Clubs

His Mysterious Might

Eliana and I (Ellen) experienced God's leading today.


Our church is hosting three Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) 5-Day Clubs for boys and girls ages 5-12 next week. We are hosting one of them at our apartment complex. While we received permission to host the club right outside of the apartment clubhouse, we are not permitted to post signs on apartment grounds or invite kids by going door to door. This has posted quite a challenge. All week, I have been walking around outside looking for kids to invite. However, I wasn't able to find more than two families with kids anywhere around the buildings or at the pool. 


I decided to post some flyers just outside of the apartment premises yesterday. When we went for a walk today, I noticed that several of them had fallen off the trees and began taping them back a little better this time. Just as I finished with the first sign, I heard a thunder storm in the distance. I decided to hang a few more signs before going back when I came up to the height of the pool and heard kids' voices. It occurred to me that all the families would probably be leaving the pool now because of the storm.


I quickly got over to the pool entrance with Eliana and we handed out two flyers on the way and saw three more families leaving the pool as we arrived. AND we made it back in time before the rain and storm hit!


Our God is sovereign over weather and timely situations! Praise Him for His might!


Would you pray that God would allow us to encounter more families tomorrow and Sunday? Please, pray for all three clubs to be well attended and for young hearts to be reached with the gospel next week. We are ending the club week with a family picnic on Friday night. Please, pray that many of the clubbers' families would join us and connect with our church members. 

Summer of Ministry

I hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful summer. As our youth ministry summers usually go, we have been busy with all sorts of wonderful things.


We enjoyed a retreat with our youth group, celebrated the graduation of our seniors, and Joel had the opportunity to officiate the wedding of one of our former youth group students. What a blessing! Enjoy some pictures on our facebook page.

In addition, our fundraising efforts continued with several meetings in the last few weeks. The Lord has allowed us to share our hearts for Eastern Germany with a number of people and we have gained three new monthly financial supporters since our last update. We are excited to say that we have raised 53% of our start-up costs. Our monthly support level remains at 28% pledged. Please, pray for us as we continue to trust the Lord for the remainder and as always, please be prayerful, asking God if He may have you join our team as a monthly financial partner.


Our teammate George enjoyed his trip to Leipzig, Germany (see last post). He had a chance to meet several churches and we continue to pray for wisdom as to which church the Lord is leading them to for the first few years in Germany. We appreciate your prayers for guidance.


The churches in Leipzig are certainly looking forward to having us arrive soon - and so are we. Yet, we are finding ourselves at a lower level of monthly support pledged than we first hoped. Please, pray for us during this time of waiting - for direction and encouragement during this stretching time.


We appreciate your prayers and support!

Short Trip, long-term goals

Our team mates George and Carrie Vera were offered a plane ticket to visit Leipzig in order to get some first hand impressions, meet the pastors, and get some photos all to help them with their fundraising. Praise the Lord for this opportunity!

George is flying to Leipzig tomorrow (Monday) and getting back next Sunday. The pastor of the EFG Jacobstrasse (our future church home) is meeting George at the airport. George has several meetings with church leaders and program attendance scheduled. Please, pray for a safe trip and a great relationship building time.



George and Carrie are still in the beginning of their fundraising and need your prayers as they approach area churches as well as friends and family about supporting them. Joel and I are grateful for your prayers for us as well as we approach more people about financially supporting us. We are currently at 28% of monthly support and 35% of one-time support raised.

As George is leaving for Germany for a week, all of us are looking forward to the day the Lord will send all of us to Leipzig long-term. We can't go without your support. Here are some ways people are already supporting us:

If you want to join our support team, go to josiahventure.com/give and type "Hopkins" into the search field. Thank you for helping us minister to the youth of Eastern Germany!