Where we stand

These past few weeks have been incredible. We have had several new supporters come on board and even some people have increased their support. This took us to just over 75% of our monthly needs and because many of you have already started your support, we have 100% of our moving expenses raised. God is faithful as we know He is the one responsible for calling more and more people to this ministry.

However, yesterday we received an email. Due to the rise in the Euro over the past few months, Greater Europe Mission has had to change our support schedule. This means that instead of 75%, we are now at just below 72%. They also increased our moving expenses but we have already accumulated all that is required there.

This is a little disappointing for us but we know that God is a really big God. We know that GEM is trying to protect us so that once we get there, we can concentrate on ministry and not on money. We also know that this move to Europe is God’s will so He will see us through.

Please pray with us:

• We still need pledges for 28% of our ongoing support. Please pray that God will show us who we need to talk to. Our goal is to make the move this summer but that means we would need all our pledges in by early July.
• Please pray for the people who we have already talked to and are considering supporting us including a couple of churches.
• Please pray for safe travel for Courtney who will be going to Rome, GA for the General Assembly (June 20th-24th) of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination. Hopefully this will be a great time for him to connect with many more church leaders who may be interested in partnering with us.
• Praise God for all those who have already committed to financial and prayer support as we need both to be able to make this move.

We know that Europe is an expensive place to move to but we also know that it is where God has called us. We look at what people and churches have already committed and are just amazed at what God is doing. There is no doubt that God is good!!!

Friendly Atheist

I found out about an Atheist who put on eBay an auction to send him to church. A group named “Off the Map” were the top bidders and their purpose is to send Hemant Mehta to various churches in the Chicago area and get his feedback. Off the Map’s purpose is to help Christians see how non-Christians view us.

To view Hemant’s blog go to http://www.friendlyatheist.com/
To view his blog for Off the Map, go to http://www.off-the-map.org/atheist/

I think this is a great use of $504 USD (which is what the final bid was on eBay). I think we as Christians get so enclosed in our own “Christian” worlds that we forget that the church is about reaching out to the non-believers. I mean many Christians go to church every time the door is open, we send our kids to “Christian” schools, we only socialize in Christian settings, we even have our own fast food – Chick-fil-a (thanks, Don Miller for recongizing that). While these are not bad things in and of themselves, they are bad if we forget that we are commanded by Jesus to “go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19) and a great way to know how to do that is to understand where the non-believer is coming from.

I have done youth ministry for many years and I think the greatest thing I learned was that it was more important to listen than to speak. If all you did was get “preachy” with the teens, then they would just shut you out. But if you listened to them, heard where they were coming from, then you could understand how to show God’s love to them (verbally and/or non-verbally)

German Efficiencies

Talk about German efficiency! The two photos below were taken at a new parking garage in Munich. The actual space that the facility occupies is approximately only 20% of a comparable facility with the traditional design that is used primarily in the US. Not only is the German structure less expensive to build, but vehicles are also “retrieved” in less time and without the potential of being damaged by an attendant.

I’m going to like Germany!!!

Hearing Shouts and Whispers

One of the comments that we keep hearing is “Wow, I don’t think I could do what you’re doing – picking and moving like that.” And my usual response is something like, “Well, when God calls, its easier to go than to stay.”

Everyone looks at what we are preparing to do as a big deal (yes, its is a big deal for us) but our responses to “big deals” start in the “everyday deals”. Let me explain. Its how we deal with the “everyday deals” (read as everyday decisions) that prepare us for the big decisions that are set before us. Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest talks about it in terms of crisis. He says that we think to ourselves that we will be prepared for the next crisis but we may not be. It depends on how we are living day to day that tells us whether we are prepared for crisis. Everyday, every little thing, every little decision (no matter how mundane) is our training ground. The question you have to ask yourself is “Do I see God’s work and help in my everyday decisions so that I can see Him in the big decisions of life?”

I have pondered before when I have had to stop at a traffic light when I was in a hurry as to what was God’s purpose for me to have to stop? Was it because if I made this light, then I was driving a path that was to collide with another car? Was it because I am to give a smile to the driver that has pulled up next to me, a smile that will help that person see God in their day? (Did you know smiles can do that?)

Please don’t hear me saying that Krista and I have this all down on a day to day basis and that’s why we can hear God in this big decision for our lives. We struggle with the day to day and God had to really shout at us for us to hear His calling to move to Europe. But if you are saying, “I could never move like that.” May I suggest to you that God is calling you in many ways every day and to listen closely. One day, that calling may be something huge that right now, you may never hear nor know how to respond to.

This cracks me up every time!!

This video cracks me up everytime I see it. Probably because I know I am going to make so many mistakes in German. I do hope the Germans will forgive me when I try to speak and only butcher their language.

To get ready for our move, I have been listening to German music (no, not music that has people in Leiderhosen but German Pop) and to German radio (thank you iTunes). I’ve also been trying to read German newspapers – well actually the want ads for apartments. I have to say that my little German-English dictionary is getting a huge workout. But the real German aquisition will not happen until we make the move as the first six months of living in Germany, we will be taking German Language classes and trying to figure out how the trash works (Germany is a major recycler and we hear that separating the trash can be the biggest culture shock).

On top of learning German, I will also get the opportunity to learn other European languages. We will be living in Germany, but I will be traveling to the Ukraine where they speak Ukrainian and Russian. I’ll also get to work with people speaking Romanian, Portugesse, Spanish, Italian, Greek, English, and of course, France is only a few kilometers away. I have said since I was a kid that I always wanted to learn six languages but I think I might be pressing it a bit.

Then theres the scripting languages/mark up languages that I get to work in: PHP, ASP, .Net, Python, XML, DHTML, JavaScript and a whole lot more. eDOT is definitely going to be challenging work and we feel so honored that God has called us to be a part of it. We are so excited!!!!

To get there, please continue praying for the rest of our monthly support to come in. Today we reached commitments for nearly 75% of our monthly support and of course, we have over 100% of our moving expenses. Once we hit 90% of our monthly, we can buy plane tickets. Yeah!!! Thank you for your prayers!!