The Sudbrock Scoop

Receiving from the Lord

We received an encouraging email this week from a German teenager who is an exchange student in Texas right now. She writes, "Last September, I received Christ as my savior. The Lord changed my whole life. Unfortunately, I am not getting any support from my family in regards to my faith. They think I am crazy. I am looking for a good church in my area. I don't want to take the risk of being taught false doctrine. Thank you so much for your Website. You have given me hope and encouragement. May God bless your church."

Oh how I wish I could tell her that there is a good church in her area, but I am afraid I can't.

We receive letters and calls each summer from German exchange students who return home and are looking for a church. We are here laboring to build those churches. And now is where you come in. It is your financial support and prayers that make our work here possible. The other thing you can do to support missions is to take in an exchange student and share the Gospel with them. Invite the mission field into your home. What an awesome opportunity. Would you take some time this spring and pray about opening your home up to the mission field. Hosting is not for everyone, but if it is for you, God will let you know. We can use all the help we can get . . . on both sides of the ocean.

We also received an invitation this week to accompany Samantha's third grade class on their field trip to the home of Martin Luther. We were excited about the opportunity to get to know the teacher and the students better and prayed that God would just allow us to be a witness during the trip. Little did we know that we would be the ones who would receive the "Eye opening" witness on this trip. As the tour of the house began, the students proudly showed how much they had studied by answering all the questions about Martin Luther and the first German Bibles and printing presses and many other details about the Great Reformation of the middle ages. Just before leaving the house, we were in a room with a 15 foot painting of the crucifixion by Lucas Cranach. One of the girls was drawn to the painting and I did my best to keep her focused on the tour guide and the topic at hand. Finally, we came to the painting, and I said, "Linda, now you can ask your questions." Here came my eye opener. Linda asked, "Who is that man and what did he do that was so awful that they would punish him like that? Look, he has nails through his feet. Is that Luther?" Not a single east German child in the group knew the answer to her questions. All heads turned toward the tour guide in search of truth. She hesitated. She faltered and simply said, "This is a painting of the crucifixion. It is not Luther. Now let me tell you about the artist." There stood a group of 10 year olds who had never heard the truth of Easter. I drew Linda to the side and told her where she could read the story of Jesus Christ, but no one in her family has a Bible. Directing her to the library near her house, I made a mental note to pray for Linda every day. Would you also pray for this generation of Germans every day? The Gospel is here. It is available to them. It is no longer hidden by the iron curtain. But they still do not know. That is why we are here. These 3rd graders are only one example of why the Lord has called us to Germany.

Chelli