Alex catching the big one

Memory makers.  Those are things that we as parents (and grandparents) try to make for our kids every now and then.  Right now as we prepare to return home to Germany, my parents are working hard to make memories with Alex since they don’t get to see him that often.  So the other day they came over to the house and picked up Alex.  They went out to see the movie “Cars 2″ and had a great dinner.  They had him spend the night (and kept him up late) and then the next morning, Grandpa and Alex met with “the Bob” (long story about the “the”) and went out fishing.  That’s where Alex took 2.5 minutes to reel in a 22″ large mouth bass where it broke up out of the water and into the air twice.  Not sure of the weight but probably about 6 lbs.  (a picture of Alex, the fish and “the Bob” above).  This is a memory maker for Alex.  Something he’s not going to forget any time soon.  We got a phone call a few hours past the time he was suppose to be home with “Can I stay longer?”

We’ve been very blessed this last year to be able to stay at my parent’s house and spend some great times with them.  Now we are beginning the process of saying good-bye, again.  In our training before going out to the field the first time, they told use we had to be able to say “Good-bye” well to be able to say “Hello” well.  Now as we begin our second term, we are going through the process again only this time we know more about why they said this.  Pray for us during these “hellos” and “good-byes”.  Thank you.

Continuing Prayers through Lent

No, I haven’t forgotten about Praying for European countries during this time of Lent.  Actually, two things happened:

1. I was actually not on my computer for several days and so I didn’t send out my prayers (but I did get my reminders on my mobile phone and did pray but just didn’t publish them until now)
2. Because of me doing the prayers through a Twitter interface, they were showing up on this website kind of funny.  Therefore, I’ve put the prayers on their own separate page – PrayEurope 40-40-40 .  Go there to see this all of the prayers for the countries so far and in the future.

This is also for those that receive posts to this website via their email.  Many were confused by the formatting of the prayers and it was also sending them an email a day.  If you want a reminder of what country to pray for every day during Lent – sign up here

Please keep praying though – Europe is in need of spiritual revival.

Reminder – Prayer for Lent

This is just a reminder that the daily posts are a response to a challenge – pray at least 40 seconds a day for 40 days for some 40 countries in Europe during this time of Lent leading up to Easter.  We’re going through it alphabetically and today we prayed for France.  Please feel free to join me and sign-up for the reminders via email or twitter at the PrayEurope website.

40 Nations, 40 Days, >40 Seconds a Day – Year 2

For the second year in a row, I’m going to participate in Lent by praying every day for one nation of Europe.  The idea is that we’ll pray for 40 nations in 40 days for at least 40 seconds a day. Now last year I blogged every day my prayers.  That took a lot of time and currently, I don’t have that time.  Instead, I’m going to twitter my prayers under my alias eDOTGeek.  However those “tweets” will automatically post here on my blog and go out in the emails from here.  This style will also keep it going short as I’ll only have 140 characters for my prayer.  I hope this works as I’ve never done this before.

Now here’s where all of you come in – would you join me in praying for Europe? Commit with me to take 40 seconds a day to pray for one nation leading up to Easter.

Want to participate?  Go to www.prayeurope.com and

• sign up for the E-Newsletter
• Follow PrayEurope on Twitter
• Become a PrayEurope Fan on Facebook

Let us know if you’ll join us by commenting below.

PrayEurope 40-40-40 — Comes to a close

Wow, the last 40 something days of praying through the countries of Europe was eye opening for me and I hope for those of you that joined me on this journey.  Not only did I learn more about some of the countries that I’m in and around but I learned more about prayer and what God can do through it.  I got a follow up email from those that worked so hard on the PrayEurope.com website and I’d like to share that with those of you who didn’t sign up for the daily prayer reminder:

PrayEurope 40-40-40 has come to a close and what a blessing it has been! Many of you have told us how much you enjoyed being a part of this initiative. You loved praying and you loved learning more about the countries for which you were praying. We have had more than 28,000 prayers registered on the site since February 17, for a total of 43,000 since we launched the site in August 2008 (and those are just the people who clicked “I prayed”).

Many joined us in prayer by way of email notification without visiting the actual site. Some prayed using Facebook and Twitter only. We know quite a few people who used our prayer initiative in their small groups.

Even though we don’t know exactly how many people prayed, we do know that prayers came from 162 countries around the world. Almost the entire world joined in prayer – talk about unity in prayer! God heard all our prayers and is doing mighty things for His Glory in those countries.

Thank you all, dear prayer warriors, for partnering with us during this journey through Europe and Russia. Let us share with you some of the exciting things God is doing as a result of our united prayers:

• Belgium – “Yesterday evening we had our first evening to speak about a personal relationship with God through Jesus. 30 people attended the evening. Most of them were speechless because it was so new for them. They liked it very much. One man said he was really upside down. He needed time to think it all over. His heart was touched by the Lord.” This retired couple is also sharing Biblical faith each week on a Catholic radio broadcast in Brussels.
• Hungary – “Yesterday, I had the chance to speak in some Hungarian high school English classes. I accompanied a few of the members of our Budapest student ministry.” The speaker is a missionary living in Budapest. Several English teachers turned their class periods over and the group was able to make good connections with students which led to invitations to ministry events off campus.
• Italy – After years of ministry led by expatriate leaders, God has raised up an exceptional Italian couple to lead a large ministry in the country. They come highly recommended, exhibiting boldness for Christ and courageous decision-making skills.
• France – 32 mothers and daughters attended a very special event in the south of France: a seminar presenting sexual purity from a Biblical perspective. Very positive comments have come from follow-up conversations.
• A Miracle in Moldova – “We were shocked!” (the words of Moldovan New Life workers) “The movie is very good. I want to follow the Savior.” (Liubovi, a Transnistrian woman). The region of Transnistra in Moldova has been the most closed to the gospel. But two weeks ago the Magdalena film was shown on three days to overflow crowds. Well over 1,000 people came to the film and others had to be turned away. 80 people attended the first follow-up meeting.
• Latvia – “Despite praying for several years, as recently as two years ago we hadn’t seen any young people come to know Jesus. Through prayer, God brought some ideas to our minds; We needed to pray that an entire group of friends would come to Jesus, rather than one individual at a time.” Since then a small group did come to the Lord and today they are discipling 40 young people.
• Finland – A prayer movement that started in Switzerland (Christustag) and brought together representatives from all 2800 districts in the country in 2004 next made it’s way to Turku, Finland in Oct.2008 as again believers from every part of the country gathered to pray for God’s healing on their land. A continuation of this will take place on May 1. The main item for prayer will be to see the Great Commission fulfilled in this generation. The event is called Christ Day and will take place in a Hockey arena. The organizers are praying for Christian leaders across Europe to join them that day to unite for spiritual renewal, awakening and transformation across Europe.
• Spain – “We are so grateful because our great project XACOBEO’10 is functioning extremely well.” This summer, as Spain celebrates this huge cultural event, believers are coming together to meet the thousands of tourists and pilgrims who will be walking along the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James) and possibly staying at Ligonde (a Christian house/way station). “We have almost all the volunteers needed for the project of 22 weeks. They are absolutely needed because without them we couldn’t do the project. This will be a great opportunity because all of our staff will spend a week and may involve many of their disciples. We are also grateful for the funds that God has raised for this project.”

Please continue to pray for the peoples of Europe.  This has to continue.  Thank you.

PrayEurope – 40-40-40 — Ukraine — United Kingdom

Ukraine was the bread basket of the Soviet Union however it was never prosperous under communism.  Much of the resources of Ukraine were drawn from the area without much investment put back into the country.

Dear Father,

Please be with the people of Ukraine who are a hard working and gifted group of people.  Please provide the opportunities for them to shine and to realize the potential that is within the country without having to leave their homeland to find work.  Please be with those that are seeking You that they would come to find You and get to know You.  Be with those that have faith in You and show them ways to break out of their isolationist ways and share the life transformation that You have given them with others.  Amen.

To know more about Ukraine, please go to PrayEurope.com.

In the United Kingdom, church attendance is on the decline and Muslim minorities are asking for Sharia Law to be implemented in some areas of society.   Old churches are being converted into Mosques in the heart of London.

Dear God,

We pray for the people of the United Kingdom that they would see You for who You really are and come to a life changing knowledge of what it means to have faith in You.  Please protect the missionaries in the UK and the missionaries from the UK that are in other parts of the world that they may be effective in helping more and more people come to know You intimately.  Be with those that are immigrating to this country that they would open themselves up to understand the truth that is behind some of the traditions of this country and that in that exploration, they would meet You.  Amen.

To know more about how to pray for the United Kingdom, go to PrayEurope.com.

PrayEurope 40-40-40 — Switzerland

Known for fondue and chocolate, Switzerland also has a strong Christian heritage.  A country known for embracing the reformation, they have since left those roots to pursue wealth and prosperity.  Switzerland has the highest proportion of foreign residents than any other European country – many of whom came from places where true Christianity is not know.

Dear God,

Please be with the website – GottKennen.ch (KnowingGod.net in Swiss German) – where there are huge campaigns happening to promote people going to the website to hear more about You.  Please also be with those that follow up with people that go to the website and indicate they would like to know more about You and bless the relationships that develop online from that point on.  May these relationships blossom so that in the end You are known more fully by everyone.  Please be with the peace there in Switzerland as many are on edge as many different religious are converging on the small country and are not doing so with respect to one another.  Amen.

To know more about Switzerland, go to PrayEurope.com