The Sudbrock Scoop

Water, water everywhere

Our drought has come to an end. After weeks of dry weather, the rains came yesterday. The gardens were thirsting for its arrival. I on the other hand could have waited one more day. You see, yesterday, our two oldest daughters were baptized. Despite the weather though, we had a pretty good turnout for the services. As a matter of fact, we have been experiencing a type summer drought at church as well, and not just in the back yard. Since the beginning of summer, attendance has been down and the pews have been thirsting for visitors. But the services yesterday showed encouraging signs of new life. We had 45 people attend and more than half of those were first time visitors. What a blessing! To start the morning off each of our children played their instruments and sang praises to God. Leading into his salvation sermon, Paul showed a video clip of street interviews where Germans were asked how a person becomes a Christian. At the end of the service, we projected the girl's prerecorded testimonies up on the wall for all to watch while the girls got ready to be baptized. Sixteen children gathered around the bapitsmal while the adults watched on the big screen. Samantha and Serenity were beautiful as they followed the Lord in believer's baptism.

Our cook-out in the church yard had to be re-worked. We still cooked-out, but we ate-in instead. All of the chairs in the auditorium were moved to the side to make room for the tables. The "Veggie Tales" videos have just recently been translated into German, so the kids enjoyed watching a film or two between rain showers. They also crafted sunflowers to decorate for fall.

Many of our first time visitors expressed an interest in coming back again. Our returning visitors seemed to really enjoy themselves and we left feeling refreshed and thankful that the drought has finally come to an end.

Now, it is time to gear up for fall. In October, we will plan a big bon-fire at church with crafts and games for the kids. The last day of October is of course Reformation Day. So we will be spending the 31st downtown on the market square passing out tracts and Bibles. We hope to end the evening with a parade of light, weather permitting. Each child will be encouraged to make or bring a lantern and we will walk the streets of Wittenberg singing praises to God spreading the light into the darkest of corners. Please pray with us as we prepare for a full month of October. Novemeber awaits with its own surprises. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Have a great fall day!

Chelli