Friday, 20 April 2007

Poland, Europe and God's Sovereignty


The first week of May I will be in Poland as guest speaker at the church retreat for the Calvary Chapel in Radom, Poland. I am excited to be able to go, as God has placed Poland on my heart in the past months. I don't know why - I have no connections to Poland really, don't know any Polish people, in fact have never been there myself - but I can't seem to get Poland out of my mind and heart. So now I have an opportunity to visit Poland and see what God wants to show me!

I will travel also to northern Poland to visit a missionary - we were in Bible College together back in 1995 (how time flies!!). He and his wife are praying about starting a home fellowship there.

In June I am again invited to teach at another church retreat - this time for a young Calvary Chapel from central Germany. And after summer I will teach at the combined church retreat for CC Heidelberg, CC Gruenstadt and another church. I am really excited to be able to meet brothers and sisters all over Europe - what a blessing!

And what an adventure we are on serving the Lord! It just occurred to me how sovereign God is! Back in my University days I had planned on taking a long bike trip through Europe to visit the different countries and see the sights. After months of planning, organizing, research, ticket-buying, etc it ended up never coming together. I was so bummed back then.

But after starting a new life with Jesus, I have the privilege to LIVE in Europe! And in the 10 years I have lived here, I have been to Germany, France, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Spain/Mallorca, and soon Poland! Doesn't God have a great sense of humor!?

Poland, Europe and God's Sovereignty


The first week of May I will be in Poland as guest speaker at the church retreat for the Calvary Chapel in Radom, Poland. I am excited to be able to go, as God has placed Poland on my heart in the past months. I don't know why - I have no connections to Poland really, don't know any Polish people, in fact have never been there myself - but I can't seem to get Poland out of my mind and heart. So now I have an opportunity to visit Poland and see what God wants to show me!

I will travel also to northern Poland to visit a missionary - we were in Bible College together back in 1995 (how time flies!!). He and his wife are praying about starting a home fellowship there.

In June I am again invited to teach at another church retreat - this time for a young Calvary Chapel from central Germany. And after summer I will teach at the combined church retreat for CC Heidelberg, CC Gruenstadt and another church. I am really excited to be able to meet brothers and sisters all over Europe - what a blessing!

And what an adventure we are on serving the Lord! It just occurred to me how sovereign God is! Back in my University days I had planned on taking a long bike trip through Europe to visit the different countries and see the sights. After months of planning, organizing, research, ticket-buying, etc it ended up never coming together. I was so bummed back then.

But after starting a new life with Jesus, I have the privilege to LIVE in Europe! And in the 10 years I have lived here, I have been to Germany, France, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Spain/Mallorca, and soon Poland! Doesn't God have a great sense of humor!?

Thursday, 12 April 2007

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

That is how we greet one another at church here on Easter (Er ist auferstanden! Er is wahrhaftig auferstanden!), what a great reminder of why we celebrate!
I hope you all had a very blessed Easter celebration. From what I've heard from my parents and others the weather wasn't very spring like over there. But the weather outside can't change the 'spring' in our hearts, that new life that we receive through Christ by His death and resurection.
We had made plans with a few friends to come and barbeque at our place after service on Sunday and David also made an open invitation from the pulpit for those who didn't have anything else to do that day. We were well prepared and there was plenty of food. That can somethimes be a challenge to having guests on Sundays, all the stores are closed, so if you run out of something you can't just go and pick some up. But we have learned from experience, the last time David made an open invitation like that we had 30 people here!
It was a really nice time of fellowship with some close friends and some others we don't know that well but were able to get a know a bit more.
The weather was beautiful and we were able to enjoy the garden, soaking up the sun. And it hasn't changed yet....we are still enjoying lots of sun and warm weather. I just planted tomatoes and a few other things in the garden today.

Since we live in a very Catholic area of Germany and there is no seperation of church and state here, Good Friday and Easter Monday are oficial holidays and everything is closed. Our kids then had a four day weekend. We did a treasure hunt with them on Friday morning. It was fun to see them looking for clues and putting the puzzle togther in the end. They got a Lego Airport set as their 'treasure'. They all love building with Legos so it was something for them that they can do togther.
Well I'm not so good at the blogging part of this, but I like being able to post pictures! I am attaching another photo album of pictures from Easter, our treasure hunt and other random pictures of the kids from the past week or so. If you want to view the album just click on the picture below.
Easter

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

That is how we greet one another at church here on Easter (Er ist auferstanden! Er is wahrhaftig auferstanden!), what a great reminder of why we celebrate!
I hope you all had a very blessed Easter celebration. From what I've heard from my parents and others the weather wasn't very spring like over there. But the weather outside can't change the 'spring' in our hearts, that new life that we receive through Christ by His death and resurection.
We had made plans with a few friends to come and barbeque at our place after service on Sunday and David also made an open invitation from the pulpit for those who didn't have anything else to do that day. We were well prepared and there was plenty of food. That can somethimes be a challenge to having guests on Sundays, all the stores are closed, so if you run out of something you can't just go and pick some up. But we have learned from experience, the last time David made an open invitation like that we had 30 people here!
It was a really nice time of fellowship with some close friends and some others we don't know that well but were able to get a know a bit more.
The weather was beautiful and we were able to enjoy the garden, soaking up the sun. And it hasn't changed yet....we are still enjoying lots of sun and warm weather. I just planted tomatoes and a few other things in the garden today.

Since we live in a very Catholic area of Germany and there is no seperation of church and state here, Good Friday and Easter Monday are oficial holidays and everything is closed. Our kids then had a four day weekend. We did a treasure hunt with them on Friday morning. It was fun to see them looking for clues and putting the puzzle togther in the end. They got a Lego Airport set as their 'treasure'. They all love building with Legos so it was something for them that they can do togther.
Well I'm not so good at the blogging part of this, but I like being able to post pictures! I am attaching another photo album of pictures from Easter, our treasure hunt and other random pictures of the kids from the past week or so. If you want to view the album just click on the picture below.
Easter