April 2007

Vivi is employed!

Vivi has a job! Thank you to all of those who have been praying for Vivian and the finances for her schooling. She had tried to get a position somewhere in town using her English skills and had already applied at all the hotels and tourist shops, but still couldn't find anyone who was willing and able to hire her. Then, while walking downtown, she saw a sign which read: English Speaking Help Wanted. One of the local ice cream shops was looking advertising a position available. Come to find out, the young Italian woman running the shop is fluent in English and Italian, but has very limited German skills. She needed someone to work alongside of her translating and serving customers. On Wednesday Vivian went in and tried her hand at dipping ice cream and filling orders and then again on Thursday. All went well and she now has a job at the local ice cream parlor. Thank you for your prayers. We are praising the Lord that He has given her such a wonderful grasp of the English language and a job to boot. Please continue to pray for Vivian's college fund. We currently have just over $6,000 in there, leaving another $6,000 in order to meet our goal. We are halfway there! Keep praying!

The Coverup

The Accuser is desperate for dirt to cover his own tracks.




Paul Sudbrock

ACT complete

Saturday I spent the day with Vivian in Berlin. At 5:26 am our train pulled out of Wittenberg and lumbered towards the big city. After our train ride and a few buses, we arrived at the JFK International school in Berlin where Vivian was scheduled to take her ACT. Registration was at 7:45. While the test was administered, I enjoyed a beautiful time of devotion in the park as the sun peaked above the horizon and warmed my back. The little pointed-eared red squirrels which are usually quite shy were on the ground in abundance and making quite a clatter. Even a wood pecker joined in. It is amazing how quiet Berlin can be on a warm spring morning. At about 9 the shops began opening and I thoroughly enjoyed strolling along looking in the storefronts and taking in the sites. One vendor had thousands of cut tulips for sale 20 for 5€ in every color imaginable. I must have looked like a lost little country girl as I gauked at the big city life. It was great! I found a grocery store which had marshmallows and a little bag of Hot Tamalli candies to take home to the kids. Breakfast in the park and some time alone with God and my journal and before I knew it, it was noon already and Vivian was done. We are praying for the best when the results come in. The higher the test scores, the better her chances for getting another scholarship or two. Just a month ago, she took the English As a Second Language Exam at a University in Berlin and scored 118 points out of a possible 120. We were so proud of her. We found a SubWay and had lunch and bought a bottle of Mountain Dew to take home for the kids to share and then we headed back to Wittenberg. We enjoyed such a wonderful time of fellowship and exhortation that we agreed that we need to get away and spend the day together more often.

Thank you to all who are praying for Vivian as she prepares for Bible College.

Thank you so much to all you who are praying daily for our ministry here in Wittenberg. We had a new family of 5 visit our services this morning alongside our regular crowd. Please continue to pray for our new converts. Sometimes the claws of our past lives sink much deeper than we perceive.

We are looking forward to a wonderful spring week. I wish one for you as well.

Chelli

Truth v. Lies

The first step in discovering truth without is to identify the lies within.

Paul Sudbrock

New Pictures

Our new pictures arrived today. Not bad, I must say, but the price! These little 1.25 x 1.75 inch babies cost approx. $100. a piece. Ouch! But oh how precious. The price break down per unit is as follows:

1. Processing fee - $55.

2. Application fee - $30.

3. Security surcharge - $12.

4. Cheesy picture booth - $7.

The next step is to have some pricey and precious little stickers pasted in them, namely our visa permits. Please pray with us as we go in to apply for our visa renewals. We are praying that we will be granted permanant resident status this time around.

Testing Faith - Don't waver

I spent 3 hours tonight witnessing to O. I really didn't think he would come back to English after last week's discussion. He started off an Agnostic, then here shifted his position to a "God-denying Evolutionist" and at the end to a Creation Evolutionist. What a trip! At the end of the first evening, I was sure he just didn't want to believe.

When he showed up tonight, I was entirely surprised. Not long into the discussion, he was back at asking questions and dodging the answers. But this time his shifting between anti-biblical philosophies had increased in velocity.

After English, a visit to the ice cream Café, and a long walk I realized that it isn't that he doesn't want to believe as much as he is testing the stability of my faith to see if it is real. He wants to believe, but has never found the real thing. He has been testing the ice before committing. Please pray with me that God will use the Word to call him to faith.

Paul

Life - Abundantly

This last month is a good example of that promise. Christ did not say a perfect life, He said life more abundantly. We have been through valleys and on peaks.

The weak dollar continues to wreak havoc on our finances, but God continues to bless our ministry. We are returning on furlough this fall. Please pray that God will give us the right contacts in order to raise the needed support.

On top of the usual social obstacle course that goes along with attending a public school in a second culture, we have recently had some overly inquisitive teachers asking some rather personal questions about our family life. Within a culture where Christianity is an oddity, our traditions and family culture can appear very peculiar. We are praying that the curiosity will lead to Christ. Please pray with us for God’s hand of protection over our family and our children.

At the same time, we were working on plans for our fall furlough which required some cooperation from the school. We planned to delay Serenity’s start into the first grade here by a year while schooling her in English during furlough. At first, the school system challenged our plans. If this had gone wrong it could have impacted our ministry in ways that I don't want to think about. But God gave wisdom and solution through a face-to-face contact with the superintendent of the primary schools in Sachsen Anhalt. At this point, all appears to be ironed out.

My Father, A.B. Sudbrock, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but through the prayers of many the cancer is limited to the prostrate and it is treatable.

During a Thursday night Bible study, we received the phone call that Chelli’s grandmother had passed away.

Later that evening as snow fell on our sleepy little town, I slid into the car of the one neighbor that I have never been able to befriend. Still waiting to see what God's plan will bring. The bill to repair his car is $ 421.

At our annual fellowship meeting, Serenity fell up stairs and cut herself at the point where the nose meets the upper lip. It took three stitches and several of papa’s nerves. You just feel so helpless. I was fine until the doctor mentioned the pain she was in with the nerve that runs through that area. It was too much. I felt that sick weakness come over me. Keith Gandy had taken the time to show me the way to the hospital. The doctor then mentioned that I should lie down. Keith said I looked like a banana.

As soon as I felt the wooziness subside we moved Serenity into the hall to wait for the medicine to take effect. Soon Serenity was completely happy reaching out to touch objects hanging in the air that only she could see. She began to laugh and state that her nose didn’t hurt any more, but tickled.

The doctor said the medication would block all memory of the event from the time she took it until it wore off. She doesn’t remember the pain of the needle injecting the local anesthetic or papa’s tears at her crying. She has her first three stitches and a war story to boot.

By the way, we made it back to the church in plenty of time and God gave us an effective fellowship meeting.

Now for the mountain top, we had 12 visitors on Easter Sunday at our church Wittenberg. All of the new believers that we have written about during the past several months were also in attendance. It was a good day.

Thank you for your prayers. As you can see, they are needed on a daily basis.

Searching for the lost,

Paul Sudbrock

Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend in Germany is always full of surprises and family fun. Every year is a little different than the year before and this year was not an exception. In past years we have done various things to celebrate our savior's resurrection including an early morning breakfast at our home for the church members, a picnic and bonfire on Saturday night, breakfast at the church, lunch at the church, a children's program, and a quiet time of candlelight devotion and testimonies. This year the church decided to have an afternoon festival for the neighborhood. Knowing that we would be away most of the weekend, we encouraged the church people to take over the decorations and preparations. We printed up posters and fliers and invitations and then headed off to Aschaffenburg for our annual BBFI German Missionary Fellowship meeting. The kids were all excited about spending the weekend in the parsonage at Baptisten Christliche Gemeinde Aschaffenburg. After a 5 hour car ride, we arrived and unpacked and enjoyed some time of fellowship with missionaries Keith and Debbie Gandy and the kids had a blast playing with their dog, Jack. Friday morning with a good night's sleep behind us, Paul and the kids headed over to the church while I finished tidying up. It wasn't long until Paul was knocking on the door needing the car keys. Serenity had fallen up some stairs in the basement where the children's ministry is set up and had cut her nose open. She was going to need stitches. Just a little over an hour before church services, Keith and Paul headed off to the emergency room with Serenity. Keith made it back in time for Good Friday services, which were wonderful by the way. Paul and Serenity however didn't make it back until after the services. Serenity had to have 3 stitches just under her nose. She was a little woosey from the pain killers for most of the day, but by evening she was back running on all cylinders again as if nothing had happened. Friday afternoon, we enjoyed a wonderful time of refreshment, encouragement and fellowship with 7 different German missionary families.

Saturday morning we headed back to Wittenberg to prepare for Sunday. We stopped by the church on our way into town and found that the people had down a wonderful job of cleaning and decorating. The rest of the evening was spent in preparation, cakes to be baked, children's services to be finished off, songs to be practiced, etc.

Just as the disciples were met with a wonderful surprise on the first Easter morning the children also awoke to surprises including new Easter clothes from Oma and Opa in Iowa and soft fleece Easter bags from Aunt and Uncle Dresser in Ohio.

For the morning services we were blessed to have two visitors with us as well as two of our regular families. In eastern Germany, Easter is not known much as a "church" holiday. Traditionally, everyone gets together with family for breakfast and lunch. Because of this, there have been many Easter Sundays that we have spent alone. We are so thankful that we were not alone this year. After services, the children hunted for surprises in the garden, the biggest prize of all being a large red egg with a linen napkin in it. Before the children make their morning trek into the garden, Pastor Paul always tell them the story of the empty tomb and the napkin that Christ left folded and placed to the side symbolizing His eminent return. This year it was Serenity who found the promise in the garden.

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed cake and coffee with several of the church families and a few visitors as well. For the children we have a craft and coloring table set up using supplies that our various churches have sent as well as games and a video. In the evening we BBQ ed and enjoyed an evening service and fireside singing. Despite the cold, cloudy weather, a few neighbors stopped by and most of the church people made it sometime during the course of the day. All in all, it was a wonderful resurrection celebration. We are so very thankful for the people God has given us to minster among.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support which God uses to keep us here.

Objectivity

It is absurd to think that man with a finite mind whose perspective is bound by time, space and natural law could ever be objective.

Paul Sudbrock

Synonyms of Objectivity

• Neutrality

• Impartiality

• Detachment

• Independence