March 2007

Arrogant

Arrogance is the ultimate form of ignorance.

Paul Sudbrock

Good news!

We have some good news. That is nice for a change. It seems like 2007 has started off with lots of hurdles and pot holes. Paul met with the county school superintendant today about our furlough plans for the fall and the kid's schooling. The meeting went really well. Everything appears to be in the clear for us to come back the states from October to February. When we return to Germany, Paul will set up a new appointment with him and we will work out the best way for the kids to re-enter the German school system. A meeting that we had dreaded went so very well. Thank you Lord!

Honestly forging forward

For years we have struggled to develop a relationship with our neighbor, Andreas. No matter how we attempted to be friendly, his answer to almost every attempt at greeting was met with a grunt of acknowledgement at best.

Thursday night I went to pick up Chelli from the area college where she teaches English to seniors. It had snowed all day long, but the streets were still drivable. Upon our return, and as I was maneuvering the parking lot our car began to slide and I automatically hit the brakes to no avail. Sure enough, I slide into Andreas' car. My first thought was, "Oh no, anyone but Andreas."

Ironically I was working on my message for Sunday and one verse had been standing out.

John 12:27 ¶ Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

In one way this verse spoke volumes that God has a plan that sometimes isn't a bed of roses. Knowing that God has a plan doesn't always give immediate and complete peace. Christ even bore this out in His statement that His soul was troubled.

On the other side Christ, our leader, gives us encouragement to stay the course that God has planned. No matter the cost!

Andreas' car had a few scratches and a little, almost non-detectable crease in the bumper. It was at night and most were in bed or on the way. The human thing to do would have been to walk away and pretend that nothing had happened. But then what about God's plan? Nothing comes into a Christian's life without God's design.

I couldn't bring myself to wake my already unfriendly neighbor to tell him that I had scratched his one year old pride and joy VW. I decided to take care of it in the morning. I woke up at 5 to assess the actual damage. Normally, Andreas is quite noisy and slow in his preparation to take his son to school. Not so on this Friday. Even with our front door open, I missed making contact in the morning. That served to extend my intrepidation of telling him the bad news.

Christ did say that I needed to take up my cross and follow him.

Later in the day, I was on my way out and stopped at the end of the drive to set up my cell phone for driving. As I made ready to pull out I noticed that Andreas had been waiting for me to get out of his way so that he could pull in the drive. Oh great, I thought. Now he is pre-frustrated with me. This is going to make telling him that I scratched his car so much easier.

When I returned, he was outside and I finally was able to point out the scratch and he took it very well.

I have two prayer requests.

1. That God will glorify Himself through this so that Andreas can see Him through me.

2. That God will help me bear the cost of fixing his car. The repair costs are just above my deducible. Not worth the risk of raising my insurance, but still not an easy hit to take.

No matter the costs,

Paul

Prayer Update - cancer

Here is the most recent information that we have on my father-in-law's condition.

He had a prostate biopsy on the 12th of March that showed cancer, then a colonoscopy on the 20th of March and praise the Lord it was clean, the next thing on Friday the 23rd he had a bone scan, and a body scan and the results will be in on Friday the 30th at 11:00 he meets with the doctors to determine the course of action. Surgery when it needs to be done or when I can get the doctors to do it will be at the Methodist hospital In Des Moines. This hospital is the only one in Des Moines that has the Robotic equipment that will be used in the surgery.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and I will update you again next weekend. So until then please keep praying.

Chelli

Prayer - cancer

We received word last night that my father, Pastor A.B.Sudbrock of Newton, IA, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and there are also indications that it may have spread to the colon. He had a cancer scare a while back, but God healed him and rid his body of the cancer before the scheduled surgery. He has had regular check-ups since then and this time the results came back cancer positive again. He is 69 years old and the pastor of Newton Baptist Temple. Please pray with us as God is the only healer.

Thank you!

Paul Sudbrock

Tuition

Dear Praying Friends,

We are in need of your prayers and God's provision. Vivian Kleeblatt, a young lady from our church here in Wittenberg, Germany, feels God's leading in her life towards full-time ministry. Unfortunately, her parents are not yet believers and do not support her decision to pursue full-time ministry as a life-decision. She has chosen to attend a Bible college in the states where she can receive a degree in Music Education. She auditioned for their scholarship program and was awarded a $5,000 renewable scholarship for the 2007-8 school year. Now for the prayer request. In order for a foreign student to receive a Visa Permit allowing them to study in the USA, they must pay for their first year of schooling in advance. This means Vivian still needs $12,000 in a stateside bank account in order to be allowed into the country. Several have already helped towards this need and we currently have $3,500 in an account at our sending church in Newton, Iowa, designated for Vivian's college fund. That leaves $8,500 that is still needed by May. Vivian is applying for other scholarships almost on a daily basis while finishing up her high school requirements and working odd jobs, but due to the poor East German economy, has been unable to find a regular job. We are asking you to please pray for us as we seek God's provision for this young lady.

Thank you,

Paul and Chelli Sudbrock

Wittenberg, Germany

Reverse Gear

Be carefull!

Life doesn't have a reverse gear.