EPIC Chapter pics -2008

Heading to Flat's Grill, yum!
Fondue party at the Testa's.
Bowling at the Union. Wearing protective gear is recommended, because when we bowl, the ball does not necessarily stay in the lanes.
Christmas party at my place. Note my first real tree ever. Isn't it pretty?

Church Planting

One month ago we began a new church venue on the campus of Michigan State University. Each week 30+ volunteers work from 7AM-2PM to help set-up sound, lighting, projectors, and decorations, play in the band, serve in the welcome team, make coffee and deliver donuts, along with a host of other jobs.

It has been interesting making the transition from a small house church to this new service which attracted 167 people last week. I think that the most difficult aspect has been the amount of time that I seem to be engaged in "busy work". In Germany I had significantly more time to spend building relationships with international students. As with all new ventures, however, it is necessary for everyone to jump in wherever needed to make things go smoothly (more or less smooth anyhow).

Here, I have been helping to schedule all of the volunteers (several hours each week). As usual, the beginning of the semester has also required the hanging of innumerable posters, passing out fliers, manning information tables, et. In addition I'm helping to lead a house church which requires about 7 hours a week of meetings. On top of these activities I am enrolled in three courses and working 20-30 hours each week. This week I also began attending MSU's German club in the hope that I can keep up my German language skills. I had a really good time and met several people whom I would like to get to know better. Despite the time pressures, I am really excited to see what God is doing here.

Gearing up

This week has been dominated by activities at church from prayer meetings for the new campus service to putting tape on the back of white boards (5000 of them!) until midnight and passing out said white boards to all of the freshmen who are moving back onto campus today. There are also a few jobs that I am planning on applying for in the next couple of days as well as getting ready for the start of classes on Friday. Please pray for those things.

P.S-It occurred to me today that I often post prayer requests here without mentioning the resolutions to them. God has been working in some great ways lately, and I'll try to post some of the prayer answers soon.

sticking my toe in (prayer requests)

Tonight I went to EPIC (the Riverview college group) for the first time since being back in the States. Although I had met a few of the staffers and college students at a BBQ last week, there were only a couple of familiar faces tonight.

There were two international students there, one from Germany and one from Ukraine. Talking to them reminded me why I would like to get back to Europe some day. There are so many students there who have simply written off Christianity because they have been given some superficial reasons to believe that it is implausible. Without having ever read the Bible or seriously looked for answers to their objections, they feel convinced that it cannot be true. It is ironic that cultures which so highly value objective reasoning can have such a massive blind spot when it comes to thinking about the claims of Christianity.

Prayer Requests:
-I am really hoping that within the next few weeks I can form a clearer picture of what work God has for me to do here. It seems likely that it will have something to do with international students but I am still praying for guidance.

-I really hope that I am able to invite the student from Ukraine to meet my friend Sally sometime (who was in the Peace Corp there) and that I can keep in touch with the woman from Germany even after she leaves the States.

-Ramona, who took over hosting the Bible study that used to meet in my apartment, was contacted by a member of the university housing staff and told that they did not approve of Bible studies being held in the apartments. Please pray that she would have the courage to ignore this pressure and the the housing staff would be won over by our good conduct. Please also pray that new people would continue to come.

The Hunt is On

I stayed at Bob and Sara's house this weekend. Their daughter, Amelia, is showing her skills at the Riverview easter egg hunt.

More STM Pics

Gary, Cyril, Luke, and Nassim at English Conversation.

Klaus, ?, Elise, Luke, Adam, and Jen hanging out at a Pub.

The Perfect BBQ

Mood: content
What I'm Reading: A friend from English Conversation asked me to correct his 65 page thesis for a Masters in Economics. I expect that I'll be reading it for a while.

It was 2:30PM. We were making our way to Aachener-Weiher Park for a BBQ. Taylor, having broken his foot the day before, was hobbling along with the group under a steady downpour. All week the MSU team had invited people to join us from 3-8 PM to play frisbee, grill, and enjoy getting to know one another more. By this point I had already recieved 3 calls from friends making sure that I knew it was raining. I assured them that I knew and told them to come anyways. The rain would stop, we had bought food for 40 people, it would be an adventure. . .

We began to pray. As I arrived with the MSU team, the park was completely emptied of people. The rain had scared everyone away. Only the Bonnets, Goerings, and Fords could be seen. Just then, the rain completely stopped. We began making calls, and within 20 minutes guests began to arrive. A group of students from the Sport University began games of soccer and frisbee. A woman brought her guitar and sang a mix of traditional Russian and contemporary American songs. The Bonnet kids charmed everyone as Martin grilled brats, pork steaks, and turkey. Thomas Neuman brought a great bowl of tiramisu.

By the end of the day, more than 40 people had enjoyed the party. At 7:59PM the rain resumed, just as we had scheduled to leave and watch a movie at the home of one of our English group members. It was perfect. God is good.

Gary, Taylor, and Luke playing Ultimate Frisbee with students by the University.

STM Pics

Twila, Elise, and Nicole making friends in the park.

Taylor, after he broke (or fractured) his foot playing frisbee. He took it like a champ.
Jen (MSU) and Sandra (one of my classmates) learning to Salsa dance at a club.

The Proposal

Daniel Goering, Steve Sommerlot, Noel Heikkinen, and I at Uni Köln. I couldn't decide the best title for this pic: The proposal, the three wise men, ''get out the mace!''. . .

News at 11

Mood: frustrated
Stage notes: waiting at the train station

After all of my trouble getting to and from the States, you might think that we were due for some better luck. You would be wrong. My Mother and Aunt were delayed 1 1/2 days in Chicago. Because they were not sure how to ask for compensation, they may end up paying for the hotel and taxi there as well as missing a couple of days of their vacation here. I hope that the rest of their experience is a bit less stressful for them.

On a more positive note, I was able to hang out with Noel and Steve (as well as the guys here) for the last couple of days. Some of the highlights included dinner at Früh, a night of darts and conversation at the Shamrock, and shoe shopping in Neumarkt (I think that I may have been the only one who did not get shoes). The last few weeks have been a bit rough on me, and it was good to have some familiar faces around. I'm afraid that I was not the best company, but they were great about it and I really appreciated the opportunity to talk things through with them and get some time to pray with others in English. It was also helpful in giving me ideas on how to make things go as smoothly as possible here.

Also, it looks like a group from Riverview will be coming at the beginning of May. Although that's pretty far out on the calendar, I am already looking forward to the time.

Prayer requests:
-a good week as my Mother and Aunt visit Germany
-that Jonathan Bonnet would feel better
-that I will be able to find avenues to help build a sense of team unity and identity here in Köln
-that we will gain co-laborers here and that we can form healthy partnerships with other church groups in the area
-that financial and visa issues related to staying in Germany will be resolved
-that I will be able to better define my priorities and role in the church as I continue to work here

Family Reunion

Mood: on my toes
Stage notes: in a parallel universe

For three days I was able to enjoy the warmth of friends and family in the Lansing area. I celebrated the wedding of my best friend and came closer to tears of joy than at any other time in my life. During the course of 4 church services, a middle-school band concert, and a wedding I was able to meet with at least 30 people. For the first time in a while, Riverview's big service did not feel anonymous because so many people sought out my company.

I thought that I would really enjoy being able to sample various pleasures that are only available in the States. Everything from foods to Meijer, a book store where I could find anything I desired, and a church service in English. It turns out that all of these things were more disconcerting and uncomfortable than anything else. I LOVE German culture and it would take more than 10 days to get me used to the States again.

Now I'm at my parent's place. My Dad hasn't been feeling well, so we've mainly confined our activities to renting movies and pigging out. Yesterday we went shopping and I found a great coat at the Salvation Army for $6.99.

Prayer Request:
-My computer seems to be ill. When I turn it on, half the time a blinking cursor on a black screen is all that appears! Since I hope that it will soon be my way to communicate with the States (via Skype), I really hope that it will be OK.
-That my parent's and I would have a good time together.
-I think Heike's parents are staying in my apartment while I am Stateside. The week after the GCM conference Noel and Steve (Riv pastors) and Kate (GCM friend) will be visiting. The day they leave, my mother and aunt will be coming. The day my relatives leave I begin language school again and hopefully will be able to make friends with my new classmates. Pray that the logistics of all this would go well.

Some Pics

The Riverview gang and some students we met.

The fountain I fell into :)-

'Cologne Worship Night'

Soda Soccer

Last week I met Heidi and Kata. Heidi played tour guide and took Jenny, Sally, and I to the Köln chocolate museum. Afterwards we ate Döner and played soccer with a soda can in a park on the bank of the Rhine river. Heidi spoke at length about what she saw as problems in the German churches and offered her thoughts on what would make young Germans excited about joining a church (although she does not believe that the Bible is literally God's word). I enjoyed our time together very much.

STM day 1 and 2

-One of the Bonnet children, Jonathan, hit his head on the corner of a table at the youth hostel as our group was checking in today. The laceration was deep enough that he had to go to the hospital and have it glued shut.
-Sally and I went to the Cologne Worship Night with Martin Bonnet.
-The Bonnet's van was in an accident an sustained 3.000 EUR of damage.
-We ran into George, a man we were in contact with on our last STM and he gave Clark his contact info.
-I woke at 5AM and walked to the Dom, staying through the 6:30 service. It was magnificent in the early morning silence.
-@ lunch we met Dorian and his girlfriend. They seemed interested in playing Ultimate, well see.
Please pray.

Figuring out pictures

Mind: Yawn . . .I want to sleep
Stage notes: Wings of Desire playing in the background




Looking through my photoalbum (all 30 pictures of it) I came upon this shot of the Germany team from last March.