Summer in Germany

Good things going down here in Kaiserslautern. Since I returned from Moldova with the discipleship team we have had a baptism, various summer events, guests and lots of preparation for the months ahead.
Roberta talks to Cathleen in the background as Madelinem Anika and Naomi grin for the camera.

In the beginning of June we had the great privilege of baptizing one of our discipleship program participants (FSJler). Lydia grew up in a Christian family in Egypt. She has heard it all. Since September she has been here in our program growing by leaps and bounds. After Christmas she was kicking around the idea of being baptized and making her relationship to Jesus public. I guess it's kind of like the ancient form of making things Facebook Official. "In a relationship" We thought it was going to rain on us that morning but our Papa had mercy on us and gave us sunshine instead, It was a wonderful day.

The European Cup has also been a lot of fun lately having guests over to watch soccer games. So far the German team is doing okay. They play against Italy on Saturday and we're all rooting for the Huns! Our girls are into the tournament and they will often ask me about the end score of the game in the morning when we get up. They don't say, "Good morning" or "How did you sleep?" No, "Who won? England or Iceland?" They still have school so they can't see all the games. But we have had fun with the tournament over that past few weeks. It's also a good reason to have guests over too.

Recently, we got to host June and Lloyd Weaver from Montana. We know June from years ago as she worked in Albania with her first husband Paul. It was really great to catch up with June and meet Lloyd for the first time. They're a great couple and were an encouragement to us as they visited. Plus they brought Cheetoes from the States for the girls. That was a hit with them.

On July 10th we will throw a giant street party on a traffic circle near our home with four other churches in the area, We've done this the last four years. We want to have a great time with our neighbors and meet people who might live in the area but haven't been able to get to know. You could pray for good weather and that we break even on the costs.

We're winding down our time with our current discipleship team. They will leave us on August 7th after a year of living here, working around the city, investing time and energy in relationships and being a blessing to us as they faithfully served the church and city. We learn to love these kids a great deal throughout their time here. It'll be sad to see them go, but good to send them out into the wild world where people need Jesus. So that makes it worth it. In September we'll get a new team and start from scratch building relationships and investing in them. We have a bit bigger team next year so it might be a challenge.

We also are sad to see our beloved co-worker Anna-Geraldine leaving us for greener pastures further north of here. Her and her husband Michael have many new things coming in the next season of life. A new job, house (plus renovations), church search, and in Jauanry a baby. We're thrilled to death for them but sad to see her moving on. We've spent a few hours praying with her and she's a top notch worker with a great heart. May you both be very fruitful as you move to NRW.

With Anna leaving we had to fill the vacancy she leaves behind. It was a tough choice but we're excited to have another young lady coming to town to serve alongside us. More news to follow.

All in all we're doing well. The girls are ready for a summer break and we'll be happy when this street party is behind us. Maybe Germany will win the Uefa-Cup and give the country a boost. Maybe not, but I can wish can't I?

Okay, until next time. Thanks for reading this far. You are the dedicated ones we need to thank for your prayer and support. We couldn't be here without you.

Peace and love,

Mike

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