February / March 2024
One of the things I love about Easter is how it brings family together. I love looking back at pictures of our girls on Easter, dressed in their Sunday best, as we gathered around the table with family. Ultimately it wasn’t the food or how well we were dressed that brings back these fond memories, but that we were together.
As we have found ourselves on different continents these last years, these opportunities have been less frequent, so this past February when we had the opportunity to once again be with family to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my brother’s family in Shanghai, the preciousness of these moments were not lost on any of us. All this to say, there is nothing quite like being physically present with those you love!
This Easter week we are reminded once again of the One, who wanted to be present with us. The One who even as He knew His time was drawing near desired nothing more than to dwell in fellowship with those He loved. We can raise a Hallelujah today, that central to Jesus’ mission here on earth was a plan to gather to His table a family from all generations and from every tribe and nation for all eternity.
At Easter, Jesus not only overcame the world, but He gave us a right to be called sons and daughters of God.
John 1:12
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
May this Resurrection Sunday be more than another family tradition, but a family rehearsal for the great day when we will sit at His table and praise Him for the great things He has done.
Ministry Update
We are thankful for those God is gathering to His family as we continue work alongside our church in Berlin and support the church planting effort in Potsdam that just hit it’s 2-year anniversary. In both congregations we have seen growth in numbers in the past couple of months.
We are thankful for our coworkers Franz and Kristi Martens and their leadership in Potsdam and are continuing to support this effort on Sunday mornings through helping lead the children’s ministry (Cherry, Quinn and Gracie), and I with setup, worship ministry and preaching occasionally. Over the past month the building we meet in has been full and we are praying for wisdom in knowing how to meet the need of more space.
In Berlin, we are also thankful for our coworkers Steve and Becky Dye, who we have been serving with since we arrived in 2017. Recently we had a special Sunday where Steve, the founding pastor of our church, literally handed over the baton to the other Elders, as he and his family are planning to return to the States this summer after 23 years of ministry in Berlin. This was a sobering moment for all of us and with this brings a new role for Chad as he will be stepping into a co-lead role in the church alongside our current Executive Pastor, Martin Schmill.
Specifically, this new role will oversee the fellowship and evangelism aspects of the church, as well as oversee the development of leaders, and work to support ongoing and future church planting efforts. We recently held our biannual leadership roundtable. We are so thankful for all those we get to work alongside that are leading by serving others.
Our outreach with refugees, to be honest, has suffered in the past couple of months, due to some changes in our ability to work in the refugee accommodation. We have been pursuing new opportunities without seeing any open doors. In April, we will be connecting with a ministry that offers a weekly night for refugees to come together to practice their language. This “Sprachcafe” is an opportunity, in which we believe we can reestablish our work with refugees. Please pray that this would be a good partnership and allow us to reengage refugees with the good news of the gospel.
We have a number of other outreach opportunities on the horizon, including a city-wide Easter Outreach that is currently underway. 25-30 from our congregations in Berlin and Potsdam are taking part in proclaiming Christ on major plaza in a predominately Muslim area of the city. This is one of the areas in our city that protests have taken place regularly from the beginning of the war in the Middle East. We would appreciate prayers for believers that will take place as we bear witness to Christ over the coming days.
Please pray for our upcoming English-speaking day camp in May as we are making preparations for a three-day VBS style camp and hope to have many kids from our surrounding area participate.
We also have a marriage seminar as well as men’s, women’s, and youth retreats planned for the coming months, and we hope these will give new opportunities for growth and discipleship within our community. Please pray for all those leading these different opportunities in the coming months.
Family Update
As I mentioned, we had the opportunity to travel to China to visit my brother’s family alongside my parents in February. It was a special time together and we are really thankful to have had this opportunity. We were able to visit some incredible places and the girls had so much fun with their cousin:) It was really a healing time for us all and a reminder of the incredible work going on in this place. On return from China, I (Chad), was able to take my parents on a special road trip to visit Southern Germany and parts of Switzerland. It was time together with my parents I will never forget!
The girls are doing well in school, and both continue to be involved in helping teach our children in Potsdam on Sundays. Quinn is in the youth group this year and has found a good community of kids on Wednesdays at their weekly Bible study and Saturdays for their youth gatherings. We are thankful for all those pouring into them.
Cherry and I recently celebrated our 19th anniversary. We had a great time getting away for a couple days and see a candlelight ballet in Potsdam. We both have taken on new responsibilities, especially Cherry with leading in women’s ministry and children’s ministry, so this was a special time to be with each other.
We are thankful for good gifts like this, and for Jeannie, who does so much already, but was willing to watch the girls while we were away and give us this opportunity:)
Prayer Update
We ask for a bold witness and growth in our community for those participating in our upcoming outreaches (Easter Outreach and English Camp).
We ask prayer for an open door for our refugee ministry in the city.
We ask for wisdom for our church leadership with all the coming changes in the second half of this year.
We ask for healing for Chad’s hip as he will be receiving a hip replacement on April 26th.
We ask for good times of fellowship as a family in the coming months with the busyness of our responsibilities, new and old.