July 2008

“Pastor, I am praying for you.“

Are they simple words, or a powerful resource?

“Pastor, I am praying for you,” words spoken by an older lady that attends our services here in Wittenberg, Germany every other Sunday. Looking into her eyes, a flood of gratefulness overcame me. She continued and emphasized that she prays that I will not grow discouraged in the fight.

Today, I received the testimony of Tony Snow. As I read,” Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up, - to speak of us!” Instantly tears welled up and I was again overwhelmed with the sincere prayers of warriors fighting for me and my family.

Thank You God, for calling those who support us in prayer! When money fails, it is prayer that sustains us. When governments say “no” it is prayer that opens a way. When health fails it is faithful prayer that brings healing. It is enough to say, we feel your prayers!

This last quarter, God has brought a new soul into the family. Thomas found us through our website and sent an email asking for an appointment. He was ripe fruit. It was an easy lead to Christ. He is now growing and we are discipling him. He surprised everyone a few weeks ago with a new hair style. When asked what brought about the change, he simply stated, “my hair was drawing attention away from Christ. Wow! If we would all analyze every aspect of our lives with that measurement, what a difference it would make.

As a result of our Children’s Day Festival God has blessed us with a family of five. The father said, “We will be here every 14 days. You can count on us.”

We are looking forward to a fall full of events. Several are to be baptized. Baptism is an awesome outreach opportunity for our new believers. It is often their first real outward expression of faith in Christ and a great soul winning opportunity. The candidate is required to make a video of their salvation testimony that will be shown before they are baptized. They invite friends and family and we have always been blessed with a full auditorium by baptisms. We are praying that the upcoming baptisms are no exception and that God will gather in the harvest as a result of these outreach opportunities.

Extra blessings:

• Five year old camera was replaced with the newest model due to a faulty sensor – factory guarantee.

• In spite of dry conditions, God has blessed us with a good harvest of berries and other fruit.

• Our Church people gave us a special gift to help offset some of the challenges due to the weak dollar.

• Our washing machine went out and God provide new support to help pay the payments for a new one.

Thank God for the support that He so generously provides through you!

Paul Sudbrock

Looking for Ryan Raley

We recently received a letter from a Ryan Raley, a sixth grader from Bible Baptist Christian School. The problem is, we don't know which one. There was no return address or reference letting us know how we could write him back. If you know who Ryan is, could you please have him send us his contact information. We would love to correspond with him if only we had an address.

Thanks!

The Sudbrocks

School is out! - almost

School is almost out for the summer. We have just 3 more days to go. In Sunday School, we sing a song that says, "Its finally here, sunshine and vacation time. Pack your bags. Hit the road. All the fun of summertime has arrived. But don't forget that even at this time, God wants to be your best companion ever." It goes on to talk about witnessing for Christ wherever you go during your summer adventures. The kids sang it with gusto this morning. The time has almost arrived for doing just that - hitting the road and carrying the Gospel to every summer fun spot imaginable.

Our church people surprised us with the most wonderful gift at the end of the service this morning. They presented us with an envelope and gave us instructions to take the kids and get away for a day of pure fun! Knowing that the exchange rate is so bad and seeing how funds are stretched for us right now, they were moved to give in order for us to have some down time this summer. Needless to say, I cried! What an awesome group of people God has given us to work with here.

We haven't decided yet where we will spend our day off, but we know we will be taking our comforter and Savior along to share with others.

We have also been blessed with a new family that has been visiting on a regular basis. The daughter, L., goes to school with our Samantha. Please pray with us that L. and her parents will get saved and become active members of the church here in Wittenberg.

The summer break here is 6 weeks long. This is our time of regrouping and planning for our next year of ministry. Please pray with us that God will guide our path and show us clearly what He would have us do in the coming months.

We appreciate all of you so very much!

A few financial blessings for this week:

• the "day off" gift certificate from our church
• a bush full of blackberries
• tomatoes are coming ripe
• Canon recalled our old camera and sent us a brand new, updated version
• another mother from Samantha's class approached us about carpooling for the different school activities
• We were given gift certificates this week from three different sources. One for the garden center, one for the book store and and another for a drug store. So cool!

Keep praying for us! God is providing in miraculous ways.

Chelli