Prestoncrest Missions

Dear Fellow Servants,

Once again I have the pleasure of introducing another brother in Christ! This is MARKUS who is 15 and a very interesting young man. The past two years, he has represented Bremen for his age group in the National Mathematics Olympics and National School Chess Tournament, and he has read the whole New Testament through each year since he was 8 to get in on my 5-Star reward dinner offer. Well, that is probably more the catalyst than the reason, but he has retained an amazing amount of what he has read. The past few months Markus has been noticeably more attentive during sermons and more generally communicative about spiritual matters, so I wasn’t really surprised at his decision. That didn’t reduce our joy, however, nor that of his parents, Karsten and Kirsten. He is the first of their four children to come to the Lord. Next year, Markus will be somewhere in the USA as an exchange student, so the next few months we will do our best to prepare him spiritually for whatever challenges his new environment will bring.

EPIDEMIC / GOSPEL MEETING

For me it has only been a nasty cold with fever and a cough that made me incredibly sleepy, but a lot of people it has developed into more - bronchitis or even pneumonia. Apparently there is standing room only in a lot of doctors’ offices across northern Europe. Not good. And last week, we had a Gospel meeting with David Tarjan from Zurich, Switzerland. Of the church members, Florian, Ruediger, Michaela, Alicia, Ingrid, Stefanie, Markus, Charlotte, Jutta, Simone and I were all down sick, and there is no way to know how many would-be guests missed out for the same reason. Still we did have visitors, even one woman who read about it in the newspaper. Please remember them and those of us who are still recovering from whatever this illness is. Hopefully my brain will get back into gear soon. I have a speech to write for a women’s retreat Feb. 6-8.

MARRIAGE SEMINAR

Seven couples are also in the third week of a 9-week His Needs/Her Needs Seminar taught by Kyle and Susan Bratcher from Hildesheim. Three couples are repeaters from when Jim and I benefited from it several years ago. Some are new to the congregation since that time, and some are contacts. Knowing how positively the course influenced the atmosphere and communication within the whole congregation the first time around, I am looking forward to similar results this time. It is already noticeable how the couples smile more at each other!

ETM

Please continue to pray that the ETM Advanced Courses have a future. With more than half of the German churches without preachers and most without elders, Christians need to be encouraged and enabled to train themselves to grow spiritually. That is what ETM is all about. In the next few months I will be making a concentrated effort to share Jim’s passion for this concept with others, especially teachers and preachers, in the hope that the Lord will show us concrete possibilities for it to continue and even expand. I will let you know as things develop.

OTHER PRAYER ITEMS

After being out of the loop for over a week, I am sure I am leaving out several things it would be good for you to help us pray about. Alicia, Ingrid, Helga and I continue to have individual studies with Kai, Rainer, Heather, Ludmilla, Barbara, Linda, another Barbara and Jessica, and Ruediger is studying with Markus and Juergen as they begin their walk with the Lord. Also Helga has a once a month Bible study with neighbour women.

Also, my daughter Karin is expecting her third child in the next couple of weeks. All going well, that means that you can look forward to a new baby photo in my next letter!

Thank you very much for your prayers. I know you have much to bring before Him yourself, so I very much appreciate your adding me and the work in Bremen to your list of petitions.
Gott mit euch!

Your fellow servant,
Elsa Springer

Greetings from Jerry and Lea Ellen Lawlis!

We are especially grateful to each of you for your continued support as we begin of our 12th year serving as the Stateside Representative for OPERATION ECUADOR. GOD has blessed us richly with your partnership and friendship as you have encouraged us in this effort to gain more support for the work in Ecuador.

We were greatly edified after meeting with Elders from Southwest, Pueblo and Faith Village, Wichita Falls last Fall. We have tried to redouble our efforts to be more effective in raising the funds to grow the work of the school of Bible in Quito. Thank you for your loving encouragement.

**January 2: We began 2009 by accompanying 70 North Americans to serve on a medical mission January 2-10. Unfortunately due to some travel delays many of us did not return home until January 11. However, the work of the medical mission went very smoothly and almost 4000 persons were served during our time in the Santo Domingo region of Ecuador. The new church plant in Santo Domingo, which is overseen by the South Yukon, OK church, is an outstanding example of what the graduates from QSOBS can do. They are an exciting group of young Christians.

• January 14: We met with Lea’s Orthopedic Surgeon to schedule her second knee replacement…now scheduled for February 3rd.
  Taught class at the University church.
• January 18: Preached for the Panhandle church AM; presented report on the medical mission to the University church on Sunday evening. Shared the report time with Dr. Tom Basye and his wife Cherise…both commented that this was one of the best experiences they had ever had…plan to make EMM a regular part of their ministry. Dr. Tom is Deacon of Missions at University.
• Janaury 23: Attended SIBI Workshop in Lubbock; shared Kent Marcum’s newest 20th Anniversary newsletter with group there.
• January 25: Visited the Bell Avenue church in Amarillo, one of our newest Partner Churches.
• January 28: Will teach class again at University church.
• February 1: Annual presentation to the Eastland, TX church…special contribution for OPERATION ECUADOR. (Has been $5000 the last 2 years).
• February 3: Lea Ellen’s surgery…please pray for a speedy recovery. I will be limited until I have her up and going again.
• February 15: Deacons’ Workshop for Church in Borger,TX another Partner Church.
• February 17: Presentation to Southside church of Christ in Ft. Worth, TX…they are giving consideration to becoming one of our Partner Churches in 2009.
• February 19-21: Display for OPERATION ECUADOR and RRFE at “Affirming the Faith” Seminar in Oklahoma City, OK.
• February 22: Presentation at Eastside, Midwest City, OK or South Yukon, OK, two Partner Churches.

Your continued financial support, but more than that, just knowing you are for us, makes us want to advance this work in every way we can. We covet your prayers.

Grace and Peace.
Jerry

From Russia with Love

Newsletter: January 2009
Eileen R. Emch
Prestoncrest Church of Christ
Dallas, Texas
Eileen’s Website

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Greetings from Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Since my last general update, I’ve become a gypsy. Yes, I have. Four trips to Ukraine and a fifth in the works will do that to a person. All this travel is necessary and is due, in part, to Russia’s revised visa laws.Let me explain. As you may recall, effective January 2008, holders of certain types of one-year visas – including religious activity visas such as mine, as well as business visas – may reside in Russia a maximum of 90 days per 180 days. In other words, the visa holder may be in Russia a maximum of three months every six months – and thus, it follows that one must be outside the country at least three months of every six. This makes for lots of traveling.I wouldn’t wish this gypsy stint on anybody, certainly not on anyone with children. As I prepare to exit for 30-some days, the whole thing is a royal inconvenience, exhausting actually. But it does get better: Fast-forward a month or so and I return to Rostov with pleasant memories made of new friends and having made some positive contributions along the way, I trust.Another plus: This gypsy adventure has been such a faith-building experience. It’s so humbling to see how the good Lord has provided and protected me each step along the way. And three things make it all so much easier: 1) Ukraine is just 70-some miles west of Rostov and nowadays, US citizens can enter Ukraine without a visa. This is a major plus. 2) There are many Churches of Christ in Ukraine: More congregations exist there than in all of Europe and Russia combined. And so far, I’ve visited 11 congregations across Ukraine. 3) The law specifies that the 90 days outside of Russia need not be consecutive days. That is, one can come and go throughout the 180-day span, as long as the total does not exceed 90 days. So these are three tender mercies, special blessings which make things significantly easier.

More good news: The end is in sight for this vagabond lifestyle. When my current visa expires in early May, I plan to replace it with another type of visa – possibly a work visa or even a 3-month religious activity visa. So I really do need your prayers for wisdom, insight and that the right doors will open.

Well, enough about all that. But first, let me invite you to take a look at my new slide show, A Gypsy for Jesus, in my photo albums at Webshots.com. Oh, and lots of stories at my (award-winning) blog, From Russia with Love.

Now for a Look at the Rostov Scene:

Children’s classes: Four children come regularly to classes our Bible classes and of course we want four times that many. Still, there’s steady progress with our teachers Zhenya and Karina who work with the older children and sister Amal and the younger class. Amal also teaches afternoon classes midweek for the children in English, crafts, Bible lessons and cooking. Nothing can beat national teachers such as these dear sisters who are passionate about pointing children toward God.

Serving others: Several of our church family have been in and out of the hospital, giving us opportunities to serve. Patients here rely on family to bring them food because hospitals provide just enough soup and bread to ward off starvation. Furthermore, patients are responsible for getting their own prescriptions filled because hospitals don’t do that either. Speaking of being helpful, sister Miriam, 81, is our champion visitor of the sick and needy. Before she retired, Miriam worked for the Moscow Circus. Now, she quietly goes about visiting and encouraging others. I tell Miriam that I hope to be as compassionate and caring in my 70’s as she is now, in her 80’s.

Church building: For the third time in five years, it looks as though we might have to move out of our building. Our brother and attorney, Sasha, thinks that this time it will really happen. You see, the city administration wants to buy our church property as well as the entire block. So we request prayers for our brothers Gheorge and Artash who are quite busy working to resolve this.

Congregation in general: Our attendance has been around 25 lately, not as high as we would like but there’s the promise of growth just ahead. For one thing, this year, we expect to welcome home two of our outstanding leaders after they complete their studies. Tatyana plans to return from Barnayl, Siberia, after she helps with the 16th annual Siberian Christian Conference in March. Gheorge, our church administrator, is her father and we’re hoping to send him to the conference and back with Tanya on the train, a three-day trip. And of course, our dear brother Igor Egirev has been studying at the Institute of Theology and Christian Ministry in St Petersburg since November 2006. We hope Igor, Natasha and family will be back in Rostov this year or maybe next.

As for me, besides travel planning and/or recovery, I keep plenty busy with orphanage visits, giving a hand to adoptive parents, language studies, writing and providing behind-the-scenes support to the church and folks here. Besides that, I’ve been visiting English classes at a private educational company which is looking to employ a native speaker of English. (Hmm!) And – drum roll please – this coming week on January 29th, I will have been in Rostov 10 years. Ten Years! I’m definitely going to be doing some celebrating!

I’m so very grateful for the opportunity of serving here in Rostov-on-Don. I consider this ministry a sacred trust and feel so humbled and honored to be entrusted with it. A very big thank you to the congregations and individuals who have supported this work over these ten years. We’re a team, you know. It’s my job to go and to do. But the other part of the equation is the prayer and financial support, which is vitally important.

Well, those are the highlights for the moment. Thank you for your interest, encouragement and prayers for Russia and Ukraine. Please take a moment and share what’s going with you and yours.

S BOGom, ((Go) with God),

Eileen

Blog address: Visit my blog at http://russiawithlove.blogspot.com for a taste of life in Russia.
Photos: The latest are posted at http://community.webshots.com/user/eileena110.
Mailing address: You can send letters and such to me at Prestoncrest Church of Christ; 12700 Preston Rd, Suite 210; Dallas, TX 75230-1824 or directly to me here: Russia; Rostov-on-Don 344 022; Semashka 99/248, Kv 7; Eileen Emch.
Telephone: First, dial the international access prefix (check the front of your telephone book), then 7 (for Russia), 863 (Rostov city code), 250.0171 (my place).

DINO & DEBBIE ROUSSOS
P.O. Box 70127 Glyfada, Greece 16610
Tel : 011 (30) 6944 344167
Fax : 011 (30) 210 8974405
E-mail : DinoRoussos@gmail.com

January Photo Slide Show

Our dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

The New Year 2009, started with the Lord’s work in Greece receiving many blessings. We are very happy to serve a Living God and today we are sharing with you our latest news. Thank you for taking precious time to read our newsletter, to call us, to write us, to pray for us and to care for our ministry.

Four New Believers were Baptized

         

Elizabeth and Nancy live in Greece and worship with the new established congregation at Heraklion, Crete. I had the privilege of baptizing them in the Aegean Sea. What a thrilling experience as they surrendered their lives to Jesus and decided to follow in the steps of our Master. More than twenty-five precious souls are coming to worship the Lord Jesus every Sunday in Crete.

Theodora is our new Bulgarian sister who asked me to baptize her after our morning worship service at the Omonia Church in Athens. She speaks perfect Greek. Before her baptism she confessed the name of Jesus in front of our assembly and she expressed her joy in finding the Truth and assurance of Salvation. Theodora was delighted to find the Church of Christ and the love of fellowship among other Bulgarian, Greek and Russians who worship the Lord together in Athens.

Panagiotis Koutsioubas was baptized in Athens. He is 91 years old and the father of Costas Koutsioubas, who became a Christian around the same time as I did. Thus making him one of the first in Greece to be converted to the Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Costas and his sisters, who have also been faithful Christians for many years, are praising God for bringing forth fruit from the seed sown more than forty years ago. Costa’s parents live in a lovely city 5 hours away from Athens in the beautiful Greek mountains. Recently his mother underwent surgery in Athens. I visited her at the hospital and prayed for a quick recovery.

The Church in Crete

We are so happy that the new Church in Crete remains faithful, in spite of the absence of a full time minister. In December, 2008 and January, 2009, Debbie and Dino, Alex and Eleni, Charles and his wife traveled from Athens to Crete, either by plane or ship to preach for the Christians there, to encourage them and to plan for the growth of the church in the future.

They need edification, Christian fellowship and a couple who will be willing to go to live there and work with them. God has answered our prayers. There is a Christian couple who are graduates of Harding University and they were in Athens with Harding two years ago. Last week I received a letter, in Greek, from Jason Eades who wants to enter the mission work. After talking to him, he and his wife are willing to serve the Lord wherever there is a need. Please pray for him, in that he may decide to serve Jesus and His Church in Crete.

Here is a letter I received from our brother John Adesoye, who was preaching in Crete and now lives in Ireland:

“Dear Dino, Alexandros and Brethren,

On the behalf of the brothers and sisters on the Island of Crete, we are using this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation for the time and money you generously spent in order to teach and preach for the young church in Crete in the absence of their local minister and his associate.

You have shown the love of Christ by sacrificially given yourselves so as to encourage, strengthen and minister to us in various capacities. And we are saying THANK YOU. Moreover, your support, prayer, advice and oversight are still needed. We encourage you to keep up the good work for the praise of God. The Scriptures below express our hearts: For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. “Heb 6:10″. And the King will answer and say to them, Truly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. “Matt 25:40″. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, Truly, I say to you, He will by no means lose his reward. “Mark 9:41″.

With love and appreciation, John, Debo and the Brethren in Crete”

Court Appeal, January, 2009

As you know from our previous newsletters the Lord’s Church at Omonia last year had to attend a Court trial with many accusations (e.g. we are a foreign religion, we don’t have the right to meet as a Church, we should not use our Church building etc).

The judge had found that all accusations were wrong but we should move the compressor of the A/C unit, we should close our doors going to the balcony (although we have exclusive use of our verandas) and that we should not have a kitchen. Recently we met several times with our civil engineer, and visited the City Hall to obtain some new permissions etc.

The court appeal on January, 13 was to dissolve the last three accusations. We spent the whole day there with our lawyers and we are now awaiting the Court’s decision in 3-4 months.

The issues that were disputed were the right to have a kitchen in our facilities, the right to have doors open that lead on to our verandas and the wrong placement of our A/C compressor (that has since been corrected and is now positioned according to regulations).

Home Bible Study

For the last 5 months we have been having a home Bible Study at our home on Thursday evenings. There are many people in our area that have expressed their desire for Bible Study. Our assembly have between 8-10 attendants. We rotate study leaders between Tim Brinley from Harding University, Ron Kretz from Athens International Bible Institute and myself.

New Meeting at Glyfada (southern Athens)

The recent unrest and rioting in Athens has motivated us to consider other options for our Sunday evening English worship service. Some of the members are uncomfortable coming on Sunday evenings to the part of Athens where the Omonia Church building is located.

Two Sunday’s ago, we had a meeting with all English Speaking members. Several options were discussed and finally we all decided to have a 4.00pm meeting in English at the Omonia Church and at 6.00pm a meeting in English in Glyfada at the Congo Palace Hotel.

God has lead us to a solution that might work out for all of us. The Congo Palace Hotel which is located in the southern suburb of Athens called Glyfada, has offered us one of it’s conference rooms for our use. For the immediate future this is a very workable solution.

We will continue to have English services at Omonia for those who are unable to come to Glyfada.

Last Sunday was the first service at Glyfada (at the new location) and we were thrilled to have 20 people attend. My sermon was “Come over to Macedonia and help us” Acts 16:9.

We had invited friends and people who love the Lord to come and worship with us. We were so happy to see several had accepted our invitation.

Youth Group on Saturday Nights

The youth group fellowship on Saturday evenings continues to go well. More young people are joining our activities each week. Last Saturday the guest speaker was Ilias, a Greek from the States. He told us how he became a Christian while he was working in the States and decided to return to Greece to share Jesus with the Greek people. An amazing story of God’s metamorphosis (changing) of his life.

It has been great having Matt take a leadership role in this ministry. He will be teaching our young people and I will translate for him. Matt has a degree is in youth and families ministry, so he is happy to use his talents and he is a blessing.

Valentina

Valentina is an elderly Russian sister who lives in very poor conditions and also suffers poor health. She was married to a Greek man and has lived in Greece many years. Her only son lives in Canada and has literally no contact his mother. Her only care comes from her Church family at the Omonia Church. We visit her, take her for medical attention, arrange for cleaning of her apartment and make sure she has food. Her neighbors are also helping her daily.

Vaso

Vaso is a widowed sister who also exists on a very meager means. At Christmas some of the sisters raised some money to buy her food and other necessities. They continue to visit her and meet some of her needs.

Christian Celebration at the Titania Hotel

    

    

Once again, we had a Christmas banquet at the Titania Hotel, as we did last year. I was able to arrange for a buffet lunch and use of a meeting room for our program. The banquet was attended by members and friends who enjoyed the program of singing, prayers, Christian message along with wonderful food and fellowship.

Pamela and Lawrence were married in Athens

Lawrence from Ghana has been a strong member of the Omonia Congregation for several years now.

Recently he met a lovely Canadian Christian lady and they decided to get married. Pamela came from Vancouver , Canada, and the wedding took place in Athens.

The church in Athens and especially Eleni and Alex Melirrytos assisted Lawrence and Pamela to collect the required official paperwork required for the marriage.

Praise the Lord that the Lord’s church is a place of fellowship, love, hospitality and care.

Irine and Stelios were married in Athens

Irine has been attending our services for many years. She got married to Stelios a few weeks ago and now they both attend our services.

We have Bible studies with them often and we hope that Stelios will obey the gospel soon. He is a wonderful young man and works at Athens Airport.

Charalambakis Funeral

The ex-Orthodox priest who has written many books and established the “Original Orthodox Church” (a Church that returned to the New Testament teachings) passed away two weeks ago.

We attended his funeral and had the opportunity to visit with many members of his assembly. It is true that he was a dynamic preacher and writer. Many times I was invited to preach the Word of God at his congregation.

One time they almost decided to unite with the Omonia congregation, but for various reasons this did not happen. We will continue having fellowship with this group of believers who want to return back to the teachings of the early Church.

Prestoncrest New Preacher

Brother Gordon Dabbs will start preaching at Prestoncrest on February 1st, 2009. We are pleased for him and the last few weeks we have been praying for Gordon, his family and the Prestoncrest congregation. He will have our support, cooperation and assistance in every way.

May the Lord bless Gordon, Prestoncrest and the mission work around the world. May His name be glorified among the Nations.

Family News

Stephen is now attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas. He is a graduate student in Zoology and at the same time, a graduate assistant, teaching anatomy and working at the lab.

Stephen spent Christmas with us here in Athens and has now returned to the States and his work at the University, whilst studying for his Masters.

Nikki and Matt are with us in Athens and we enjoy very much their lovely daughter Ashtyn. She is a delight to all of us. She will be one year old on February 22nd. Melody and Andy live in Frisco, Texas with their two children, Jackson 2½ and Zoe 1½. We really miss them, but we hope to see them as soon as we have the opportunity to return to the States.

Brethren, we thank God for our family, for the mission work that we are involved in, in this part of the world and for Jesus our Saviour and redeemer who gives us the hope to live for ever.

May the Lord bless you all.

In His love,

Dino and Debbie Roussos

Family Institute of Latin America Website

jgheiderich@gmail.com

Friends and Family Day for the Brasília Team

The Brasília Team is on their way to their new home. They each have found an apartment and are in the process of making their move to Brazil’s capitol where their training will continue with teachers from CGC and the Family Institute. Before their departure, we invited them and their friends and families to a special goodbye party at the Ninth of July church in São Paulo. In 30 years of ministry, this one is among the most memorable weekends we have experienced. This is the first Brazilian team recruited by CGC. It was the first “Friends and Family” workshop for a mission team in Brazil. This inspiring Saturday included testemonies from Bryan and Jacqueline Bost and Maria Dutton, long term missionaries and mentors to many on the field. They shared their inspiring stories of faith, courage, defeats, rejection and discouragement, victory, changed lives, churches begun, and families and supporters who sacrificed and tenaciously supported them. António and Ju Borges, from the Brasília leadership, were there to assure the parents that these three couples will be well cared for in Brasília. The team shared their dreams for the mission they feel called to embark upon. Each family unit was able to get together separately to share their love for each other, express their concerns and hopes and pray specifically for the success of each couple. The highlight of the day was the baptism of Otávio’s mother. Sunday was the “sending off” service for the team at Nove de Julho and João De Marco, one of the elders, blessed them. Jerry’s sermon challenged the church to remain focused on God’s mission in Brazil. This weekend was the culmination of months of preparation by the Family Institute for the event and more than two years of preparation of the team.

Here are some of the team’s thoughts after the event.

God gave us a great gift when my mother decided to give herself to Jesus. I have been praying for her and studying the word with her for 15 years. On this day I witnessed the baptism I have most wanted to see. God presented me with the joy of going into the fields to find the lost knowing that my mother is no longer among them.

This weekend helped many people to get a more mature idea of what missions is all about. Our families are feeling more comforted about us being far away from them. Today they understand how important this work will be for the Kingdom.

It was good to share some of what we have been through in this training and to hear the experiences of those who have worked in ministry for so long. I feel we have gained allies and supporters for this work. I loved being able to tell my family what they mean to me and how much I will miss them.

A Personal Note

At the very time this amazing day ended, six thousand miles away, the celebration service for Prentice Meador began. It was Prentice, with two other men, who first scouted out Brasilia thirty years ago.

We were so blessed to have our children here with us over the holidays. We thank Joel and Angela and Kris for spending the time, energy and money to give us the best Christmas present: time together.

This week Jerry is in Honduras teaching at the Baxter Institute. He is helping to train a Hispanic team that will soon be going to begin a work in Mexico City. Please be in prayer for Jerry and for this new church planting team.

Jerry and Gail Heiderich

39 Wishart Drive
Broomridge, Stirling FK7 7TR
Scotland, U.K.
Tel: 011-44-1786-816259
Email: mitchvick@btinternet.com

February in Stirling

Over recent weeks the British Isles have been battered by cold, snowy weather, with many areas experiencing the coldest winter for 20 years. Thankfully, Stirling has missed the worst of it, and spring seems to be in sight for us at last.

Stirling Church News

The Stirling congregation is surviving the usual bout of winter illnesses that hit us each year. John Renwick is doing okay and has returned to the preaching schedule, for which we are very thankful. In our Sunday morning Bible class series on the Minor Prophets, Dick Carter has been presenting the lessons for the past several weeks. Tristan Block will now take a turn, and I will move into the Searchers Clas while he does this. Our mid-week class series on great women of the Bible is also going very well, with some lively discussion at every class. The congregation enjoyed a “Burns Supper” fellowship evening on January 25th (Robert Burns’ birthday) with opportunities to recite a Burns poem or sing a song. It was a fun evening together.

FriendSpeak Resumes

After a break since before Christmas, Stirling university resumed classes last week, and we have also resumed our regular Friendspeak outreach with five readers (so far), though we hope others will begin in the weeks ahead. Two readers, Fina and Ring, are new to us, though they are classmates of Judy and Mia who have been attending church services regularly throughout most of the break (when not travelling). Tristan and Leslie Block have begun working with them (as they did last year with Jie and Danny) at least once a week in a Bible study, and the girls also continue to attend Searchers class each Sunday. After visiting a friend in London during the holidays, Judy remarked to me that she felt she was especially fortunate, since she had opportunities (through Friendspeak) to meet other people and do things which her friend in London did not have. Please join us in praying for their continued growth in faith, and for others from the university to begin attending Friendspeak sessions. One other happy event during January was the wedding in Edinburgh of a former FriendSpeak reader, Sylvia Yin, to Chris Ma. Isobel and I, along with Stirling members John and Rhona Fairgrieve, were thrilled to attend.

Youth Club

Our youth club at Braehead Primary School resumed in mid-January with about 15 children in the 10-12 year old age range. This number has held steady every week. Each week a short lesson from the Bible is presented, followed by some games. Last week, as an experiment, we held a “parents night” to encourage the children’s parents to come in, enjoy some of the games, and meet us. We were amazed when more than 15 parents showed up, many of them expressing real appreciaztion for the work we do with their children. We believe yet another beidge to the community was built! Now youth club will need to take a break for three weeks because the school will be unavailable, but hopefully there will be other opportunities to reach out to local families.

Marriage Seminar

On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27th and 28th, the church here is looking forward to a series of lessons/lectures on the marriage relationship brough by Dr. Steve Allison of ACU. We have publicized the series among the British churches, and we have distributed leaflets around the neighbourhood as well in the hope of attracting some who might come along from the town. We ask you to please keep this outreach in your prayers.

Family News

Isobel and I remain in reasonably good health and are doing well. She is finding her work at the hospital especially stressful at the moment through staff shortages and extra shifts. Our kids are well, and we are looking forward to seeing Robin and Chrissy, along with a number of others, in March as they come over to survey possible locations for a new evangelistic team to Scotland or northern England. Hannah is looking for temporary places to stay in Ft. Smith and Dallas in the not too distant future as she is sent to various rotations as part of her training. Laura is especially busy now that she has started her library classes, and Clay is taking an evening extension class from Sunset.

We are so blessed by all of you and your interest in our work. We ask fervently to be remembered as you pray for the growth of God’s Kingdom. May God bless you richly.

Yours in the Lord’s service,
Mitch and Isobel Vick

39 Wishart Drive
Broomridge, Stirling FK7 7TR
Scotland, U.K.
Tel: 011-44-1786-816259
Email: mitchvick@btinternet.com

A New Year

Happy New Year from the Lord’s people in Stirling, Scotland. We are so very grateful for all God’s blessings, and for all your interest and encouragement in our work We pray God’s blessings on you in your service to God.

Stirling Church News

The first Sunday of 2009 was an emotionally charged day for the Stirling congregation, for several reasons. The first Sunday of the new year is always a special day in Scottish churches, but this one possessed added poignancy. It was the last day that Danny and Jie Hong Ping were with us before returning to their home in China. This young Christian couple will visit initially with their families in Taiyan and Chongqi, but we now know that they hope to settle in Shanghai, where there are better job opportunities for them. The church held a fellowship meal in their honor, and we presented them with several gifts and notes of remembrance. A second reason for high emotion on Sunday was the news, just released, that John Renwick’s cancer has returned and presents more limited options for treatment. Since some of our members had just learned of this development, it was a difficult day for many. Please continue to keep John in your prayers as he weighs his possible choices and deals with this new situation.

New Faces and New Possibilities

Over-all, December was a good month for us. We were pleasantly surprised at the return of Elizabeth Tipler, who has been in the USA since early 2008. With her are her daughter Michelle and her grandchildren Christopher and Leilani. The addition of children to the group makes it necessary for us to start planning some children’s Bible classes, which we hope to begin soon. We have started a new series of studies in our Sunday morning class on the Minor Prophets, and we continue our series on the lives of great women of the Bible in our midweek studies. The majority of the church brought in the New Year in fellowship at the home of Dick and Anne Carter. This is always an enjoyable time for the congregation.

Outreach

Over the holiday period, our youth club was in recess, but we have now resumed this work and are off to a very good start. We look forward to several new initiatives in connection with youth club, starting with a parents’ night in February. Our Friendspeak work has also been on hold, since most of the readers are out of town, but we are beginning to see some of them return now. We plan to begin regular sessions in early February and recruit new readers, but at the moment Tristan and Leslie have begun a weekly study with Mia, Judy, and Peter in their home. Isobel and I are also studying again with Pauline McGachy and involving her husband Stephen in many of our discussions. Please pray for all of these people, that their interest and faith might grow in the months ahead. We are looking forward at the end of February to a Marriage Seminar conducted by Dr. Steve Allison. Unfortunately, for the first time in a decade, it is not possible for us to hold our annual advanced Bible study seminar with teachers from the USA, but we hope to resume this work next year.

Family News

Things remain well with us personally. We enjoyed having Hannah at home over the Christmas break, and it was also a lot of fun having Isobel’s sister Lilian and her family with us. Laura and Clay had a good Christmas in Seagoville and are looking forward to moving soon to a bigger apartment (though in the same complex). Robin and Chrissy spent the holidays in West Virginia and North Carolina with Chrissy’s family and are now travelling back to Lubbock. They are involved in putting together an evangelistic team for Scotland or northern England (more details on this in the future) and have found much interest in this, so please keep this work in your prayers.

We are optimistic as we go into 2009, but the months ahead will be very challenging for us all. We ask for your constant prayers in our behalf.

Yours in the Lord’s service,
Mitch and Isobel Vick

Dear Fellow Servants,

MELODY FAITH

The Lord has blessed me with my seventh healthy grandchild, Melody Faith, and being a good Grandma, I am including some photos! I got to be with them for a couple of weeks to help with housework, etc., and of course, to read lots and lots of stories to Alicia and Liliana. It wasn’t exactly a vacation in beautiful Switzerland, but it was very enjoyable.

ERNST

Please pray for my son-in-law Christoph’s father Ernst who also lives in Bern. On my last morning there he suffered a stroke and couldn’t speak. It was not easy to convince him to go to the hospital, but once there he responded well to treatment, and at this point it looks like he will fully recover.

ETM

While I was in Switzerland, I took some “time off” from my Grandma-duties to have several conversations about ETM with preachers there. You might remember that I mentioned my intention in the last newsletter to try to pass on Jim’s passion for training others to train themselves. The men I visited have not yet taken an ETM course, so I had to explain a lot, but they are all very dedicated and faithful Bible teachers, and I am very encouraged by their interest in letting their studies benefit a larger number of Christians. In the conversations we were able to come up with a number of ideas for very practical ETM courses. My task is to raise interest in ETM, find out for the ETM-planning group what course-resources we have in the German and Swiss churches and to encourage, all things that I am thoroughly enjoying. Finally I am feeling like a missionary again instead of just a survivor!

OLD AND NEW FRIENDS AND VISITORS

Bill and Shirley Hornfeck, Christians from Pennsylvania, will be with us for several months, while he serves as visiting professor this semester at Jacobs University here in Bremen. They were here for spring semester 2007, too, and got in on some of our preliminary clean-up work on the new church building, so it was fun to see their amazement at how the church building looks now. Shirley calls it “a miracle!”

Giesela was at worship for the first time last Sunday. She is a German but came to Christ in Melbourne, Florida in 2002 and got my name from the church there. She called me once when she returned to Germany, but at the time, she lived in another city and had no car. Unfortunately, she forgot about us and we didn’t pursue the contact — but the Lord moves in mysterious ways. In the meantime, she has moved closer to Bremen and has a car, and while researching a Bible question online recently, she found a website where my name was mentioned. She thought, “I’ve heard that name before,” found out how to contact me and did so. Ingrid and I took her to lunch after church so we could get to know her better, and I think it might be the beginning of good relationship. She obviously loves the Lord and His Word.

Gabriela, the woman who attended the Gospel meeting in January after reading about it in the newspaper, has been attending our ladies’ classes. She is interested in the Lord because her life is in such turmoil. Please pray for her and for us that we can show her the way to His Peace.

Marcus, another visitor, is in a similar situation. Actually he was sent to us by a former member named Wolfgang who doesn’t come any more himself but at least knows that the Lord is the answer to life’s difficulties. Maybe Marcus can help Wolfgang as we try to help him.

OTHER NEWS

This is the last week of the 9-week MARRIAGE SEMINAR that Kyle Bratcher from Hildesheim has lead for our young couples, and the improvement of “climate” in several families is obvious to all both between Mom and Dad and also with the kids. One especially good outcome of the seminar is that Michael’s wife Heike has started attending the worship with him. Also, they just had a baby girl, Eva – their seventh (but only five at home). I’m sure they would both appreciate your prayers.

Alicia is in the process of making decisions for her future. She has been an invaluable asset to us/me and the church here now for 2 ½ years and has been able to develop talents she didn’t even know she had before taking on the challenge of mission work. Now she is prayerfully working through the decision whether this was a rich training phase in her life or her calling. Please pray with her.

The various studies I mentioned in the last letter continue with ups and downs. Alicia and I have been very encouraged by the hard questions Kai and Rainer ask us regularly. I wish Jim were here to answer them, but we do our best and they keep coming.

Thank you very much for your faithful prayers and encouragement. The Lord continues to do as you ask, for which I am very grateful! I have my sad times and sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but mostly I stay aware of His presence and feel blessed. Gott mit euch!

Your fellow servant,
Elsa