The Sudbrock Scoop

4th of July

Since the beginning of June, we have been advertising and inviting for today. This week, we passed out over 500 invitation for our summer activities starting with our 4th of July picinic today.

We had 30 people in attendance today, 7 of which were 1st time visitors. We started off the day with a song and worship including the Skyler and Samantha playing The Star Spangled Banner on their violins. Paul's sermon title today was of course "Independance". The kids enjoyed crafts and games -especially the water balloon battles, considering the temp. was well over 90° which is not very common for Germany. The hot weather kept a few people from being able to come for our picnic, but those who did make it, had a great time and were granted an extra reward from the Lord when He sent a cool breeze in the afternoon. We enjoyed introducing our German friends to American foods like cole slaw, ranch dip, french dressing, and root beer as well as a game or two of bolo.

Among our visitors were some with great musical talent, which lead to a great round of singspiration as the evening set in. We had a great time and are praising the Lord for His awesome provision.

Traveling Classroom

Yesterday was a great day. Did you notice? Here in Wittenberg, the sun actually came out. And that was only the beginning!

The high school that Skyler attends had community project day yesterday and the 6th graders had the assignment: Get to know our area churches. And yes, we were on the list! That alone was a tremendous honor. According to German tradition, if you aren't Catholic or Lutheran, you aren't Christian, but yesterday we were given the stamp of approval from the local high school. You, see, the story started back at Christmastime. The high school held their yearly concert at the local Lutheran church because it was the only place in the area large enough for such a large group. Since the school auditorium is so small, they usually perform the concert 4 times back-to-back so that all of the parents can attend. The plan backfired though. Many of the parents refused to come because it was held in a church building. You see, our area is staunch atheist at the heart. So, the school leadership decided to try to overcome the "fear of church" by introducing all of its students to the different church buildings in the area. We were asked if we would participate and be on hand to answer any questions that the students might have.

About one hundred 6th graders split up and toured the churches in the area- 2 Lutheran, 1 Catholic and 1 Baptist. We hosted 26 of them along with one of their teachers. Starting with some songs, we welcomed them into our auditorium and began answering questions. As I stood back and listened to Paul answering questions ranging from "How much does it cost to be baptized?" to "Did God force you to come here?", I saw a man with an agenda. Every answer to every question lead to Christ. The questions continued for about 45 minutes, followed by a tour of the church, drinks, and soccer on the church lawn. Before leaving, we encouraged the students to help themselves to the tract rack and the book table. Each of the students received a German New Testament and a DVD of the Jesus Film. Those students learned that our doors are always open to them. Before visiting us, they had visited an old cold stone church down the street and the teacher just kept saying how much nicer and more welcoming our church was than the other one. Upon returning to the school, a couple of girls told our son that they really enjoyed their visit to the Baptist church and that it was their favorite.

Now the students have the assignment to prepare a presentation about the churches they visited. May the Lord continue to provide favor in their eyes. They now know we are here and have our web address. Pray with us that they will contact us. Please pray with us that the Lord will speak to their hearts through His Word.

Thanking the Lord for the traveling classroom!

Its Reformation Time!

October 31st is Reformation Day. The City of Wittenberg rolls out the red carpet, well, okay, the burlap bags, and becomes the reformation capital of the middle ages once again to welcome thousands of guests. This year, we were privileged to be invited to have a booth downtown for the festivities. Our church runs a nonprofit called "Culture and Counseling". This organization received an invitation to demonstrate a middle ages handcraft and advertise for our group. We gladly accepted the challenge. We set up a booth with books, tracts and Bibles. Our handcraft - homemade paper. This time, we cooked iris and hosta leaves into paper pulp. People loved the papers made from pineapple greens, asparagus and leeks. While the adults were browsing our paper and books, the children were invited to spin our prize wheel where they had a chance to win Christian CDs, books and prizes. Paul was able to talk to several people about salvation and invite them to visit our church while I worked with the children. The kids were great. I love it when a bashful little kid inches up to the spinning wheel, timidly places their hand on it and then WOW spins the thing almost off is its stand. Who would have ever thought so much power was hiding in such a little bundle. And so much more hiding in those little packages of love. I had so much fun opening Christmas packages and letting the winner pick out a prize. Oh how I pray those seeds will take root and grow into spiritual fruit.

We were able to distribute about 500 books, CDs, DVDs and tracts. We also handed out 50 balloons with Christian quotes on them. Next time I think we should order 200. I just loved watching these atheist parents pushing strollers and their children holding balloons that said things like "God is Love". That sight fueled my smile all day long.

As the sun set and we lit our lanterns, even more people stopped by to check out our Christian themed pumpkins. The kids had such fun carving them. They invited the neighbor kids over and we had a pumpkin carving party. If you have any good Christian carving ideas for next year, please send them our way.

As we roll into November, the month of thanks, please know that we are so very thankful for all of our friends and supporters who make it possible for us to be able to distribute the Gospel in Wittenberg, Germany. Have a great Thanksgiving Month!

Chelli

Great healing God!

Dad just sent this to me and I am on cloud nine. This is a remarkable turn around. God is great!

No reappearance of the spot on the lung, lymph nodes are shrinking and he is regaining strengthens and movement in his spine. Thanks so much for your prayers, help and encouragement!

Paul and family

CHEST CT WITH IV CONTRAST 10-12-09

The lung fields are fully expanded and clear. The small nodular density described within the upper lobe on CT of 6-23-09 is not reproduced. Heart and great vessel detail unremarkable other than atherosclerosis. There is no remarkable mediastinal adenopathy present. Chest wall soft tissue symmetry seems preserved.

ABDOMINAL PELVIC CT WITH IV AND ORAL CONTRAST

The liver and spleen remain average in size and uniform in attenuation. The gallbladder without wall thickening or calcified stones, the intra and extrahepatic bile ducts are normal as is the pancreas. There is similar retrocrural adenopathy as reported on 6-23-09. The adrenal glands are normal in appearance as are the kidneys. There is para aortic retroperitoneal adenopathy diffusely through the abdomen, but the previous bulky lymph nodes through this region have significantly decreased in size since radiation therapy. The bowel pattern remains non obstructive without intra peritoneal adenopathy. There is pelvic adenopathy along the course of

the iliac arteries which appears virtually unchanged. The thick walled fluid collection right lateral to the bladder measuring 5.7 cm is again noted, again indeterminent whether this is a necrotic lymph node, lymphocele or bladder diverticulum. The bladder is effaced though by this deformity and the bladder exhibits some bladder wall thickening but is otherwise unremarkable. The prostate gland has been surgically removed. The periprostatic fat planes reveal diffusely increased density, as on the previous examination with knowledge of radiation therapy, this is the most likely explanation for this finding. The groin regions unremarkable.

Serenity's Baptism

On the 13 of September Serenity followed Jesus in Baptism!

Samantha's Baptism

On the 13 of September Samantha followed Jesus in Baptism!

A jewish connection.

I just had a wonderful evening with a Jewish man and his German wife and daughter. It was fascinating and I was able two give a clear gospel presentation using mainly the Old Testament. I also learned that Peleg means running water, which supports a continent separation through sinking land masses instead of plate tectonics.

Paul

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c001.html

How awesome

Have I told you lately how awesome all of our supporting churches and families are? We are so very thankful to all of those who reached out to us when we received the news that Paul's Dad's cancer has come back. Through your prayers and financial gifts, God made it possible for us to make a sudden furlough to the states at the end of June.

When we received the news from the states that things weren't looking too good, we were overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. After seeking wise counsel, we decided to make plans for a 4 week furlough in Iowa and we had just one week to get all of our ducks in a row in order to make it work. The money wasn't there, the tickets weren't there, previous plans for the summer had already been made, but God just kept telling us to trust in Him and head home. The travel agent found us tickets. God provided the money. Everyone was very understanding about our sudden change of plans and we were on our way.

We were able to go with Opa to some of his doctor's appointments and help out around the house and church while making some special memories. Paul was able to preach a sermon series on Colossians that was a real blessing to all of us. While stateside, we were also able to take care of some much needed doctor's appointments of our own. We stocked up on school supplies and some goodies. We even were blessed to be able to bring back Christmas presents from the church in Albia as well as from Oma. At least when she hides them in our suitcases, she doesn't have to worry about finding them again in time for Christmas.

God guided us through the airports in New York, DC and Atlanta and in the end, all was well. It was an adventure as always. It seems we can never have an uneventful "normal" flight.

We are back on the ground here in Germany and into our 3rd week of school already. Amazing how quickly time goes.

Thank you for your prayers for us, our family, and our sending church in Newton, Iowa.

We appreciate you greatly.

Chelli Sudbrock

Blooming blessings

Each year since we moved into our apartment here in Wittenberg, God has allowed us to enlarge our garden a little. This year, we were able to add some raised beds and some hanging baskets with fresh herbs. We are even trying our hand at potato barrels. Being in an apartment we have to concentrate on plants that take up little space and have a big yield tomatoes, peppers, zucchini herbs, berry bushes, etc. God has blessed with plenty of rain and with 12 hands to pull the weeds, things are looking good. It is amazing each year to see how God provides for us at harvest. He brings us goodies from all corners of Wittenberg and it is rarely from the same person twice. Just today, two acquaintances showed up with buckets of cherries for us. That is one more opportunity to speak to these people about the blessings on Christ. So far this summer, we have been blessed with blooming flowers from several different gardens, new plants to plant in our garden, lettuce, radishes, kohlrabi, herbs, and cherries. From our own garden and the church garden we have been blessed with strawberries, cherries and herbs - lots of cilantro. I love cilantro. I add it to my ranch dressing and dip. Its awesome!

I discovered peonies this year. They are gorgeous and smell even better. The whole house smells wonderful when they are in bloom. First, a neighbor cut us a bouquet and I fell in love with them. Then, yesterday the same neighbor showed up on our front step with a bucket full of plants for us to add to our garden so that I could enjoy the peonies even more. The neatest part is, I hadn't had the chance to tell our neighbor how much I loved them yet. I had only shared my new discovery with God and planned on telling our neighbor the next time we met. Such a great God thing. It is a true blessing to know that God knows the desires of my heart and they are important to Him.

God takes such good care of us. Thank you for praying for us. I know that financial times are hard for so many of us right now. I just want to thank you for praying for us and thank God for providing. He is an awesome God.

Have a blooming good time this week!

Chelli

Palm Sunday

Today was crazy this side of the ocean. How about your day?

We were at the church until 7 yesterday getting everything ready and then up until after 1 am at home. Around 8 pm last night Paul started sneezing and got really sick with a sore throat and headache and just achey all over. So, at 12:30 I finally got him talked into taking a pH bath. He wasn't much better this morning, so I gave him some vitamins and med and prayed for the best. I actually dreamed that he was too sick to go to church this morning and that I had to apologize to everyone for his abscence. So, I was really thankful that he wasn't that sick. We ended up getting out of the house late though and then we couldn't find the keys. We finally pulled out the extra set and headed off for the church. We got there at 9:15 and there was Johannes' car. Oh no, we thought he wasn't going to be there this morning. Paul was late. Johannes had been waiting for us. When we got half way up to the door, Johannes greeted us. He asked if we knew what had happened at the church last night. - No. What?

Then he asked us if we had been there cleaning up yesterday. - Ya, until late actually.

Well, he said, we had an overnight guest. At first, I thought he meant the mice we have been fighting.

No, a vagabond found his way into the church and ate and slept there, making a mess of the kitchen, cutting a hole in the brand new (bought it yesterday) tablecloth, and ate up the strawberries and some of the grill meat. Melted a spatula on the stove and made an oily, stinky mess. When church started at 10:30, it still smelled like burnt Bratwurst. Yuck!

You see, the keys were left hanging in the door. That is why we couldn't find them this morning. This man, whom we think has probably slept in the church yard before, found the door unlocked and just made himself at home.

What a mess. I was late, the church was a stinky mess, we forgot to pick up the palm branches, and Paul was sick.

Now, are you ready for the really cool thing? At just about the same time as this guy found his way into our building, on the other side of town, Paul suddenly got sick for no apparent reason. That meant our plans got changed. I had planned on taking the car over and being there at 8:30 so that I could finish getting the food set up and the bells set up. Paul was going to take the kids on their bikes and be there at 9 or so. If I would have gone over at 8:30, it would have been Sadie and I who walked in on this guy! Not a good thought. God kept that from happening. Instead, it was Johannes who confronted the guy and everything turned out well. The little bit of damage and loss that we experienced was nothing compared to what could have happened.

So, we are thanking the Lord for an unexplained sudden illness and a late start this morning!

By the way, we had 36 people in church, 2 first time visitors. The children's bell choir did a good job and our Brunch was a delicious success.

I hope your Sunday was twice as good and only half as exciting!

Chelli

Weeping for the lost

Samantha came home from school on Wednesday praising God. She was able to lead one of her new friends to the Lord. While on a school trip, the girls began discussing God and creation during the bus ride. Samantha was able to explain to her friend all that the Bible has to say about Heaven. Her friend professed to believe in God, but didn't know whether she would go to Heaven or not. Samantha told her she could know for sure and explained salvation to her. Reminding her friend that this is serious and not just a "club for kids", she lead her in prayer asking God for salvation. The girls in the seat in front of them then popped up and said, "Tell us more. We want to know too." They discussed God and the Bible during the whole trip. The next day, Samantha took devotional books to school for each of the girls. Now she keeps a couple of extra ones in her backpack, just in case. Oh, so cool!

We have been studying the great commission in Sunday School and focusing specifically on China. This morning we talked about the great population of China and the number of people who die there every day. Have they heard? Have they read the Bible? Were they saved? Where do all of those souls go? One of the boys piped up and asked about all of the "good people" in the world who don't believe the Bible. Where do they go? Knowing that his Dad is an Atheist, this question was very pointed and real. During the discussion that followed, I noticed another child with her head down. She is a very shy little girl, so I did not think much about it. Then, Samantha stood up and walked over to her and put her arm around her. Then I saw it. This dear little girls was weeping. Both her mother and father are atheists. We immediately stood together with those children whose parents are unsaved and pleaded with God to save them. The hour ended in sweet songs of praise as we all thought about God's love and salvation and how sweet it will be to join Him in Heaven one day.

A lesson about missionaries half way around the world hit home with our kids. Will you please pray with us that hearts will be softened and lives changed here within our city as well as half way around the world in China? Please pray for the five children in our Sunday School who have unsaved fathers.

Thank you for your faithful support in prayers and finances.

Chelli Sudbrock

Ladies' craft night

Our ladies' Christmas Craft night went really well. We combined it with a baby shower for our newest little attendee - Alexander Kai Springer

Full of Praises

We are full of praises for our Lord tonight.

First of all, Paul took Skyler to the doctor today for another ultrasound on his hip. Are you ready for this? It is completely healed up! There is no sign of arthritis or perthes in his hip. He received a clean bill of health.

Next is our heating bill. If you remember, Paul built solar heater for our windows last year when we returned to Wittenberg. Well, they came to read our meter on Saturday. Guess what! We used less than half as much gas for heating and hot water this year compared to last year! What a blessing. Thank you for your prayers for wisdom and provision. May God continue to bless our income and our stewardship.

Our Christmas program at church will be held this coming Sunday afternoon. Please pray for us as we put the finishing touches on everything and for those we have invited, that they will indeed attend.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers!

Chelli

The Paper is coming

I just got a call from the local newspaper and they will be visiting the church tomorrow morning to interview us about our Christmas outreach program. Please pray with us that God will give us favor in their eyes and that the article they print will encourage people to seek Him.

Thank you!

Chelli

August

August has just spun by. On the tenth, we had a baptism at the church. Adela surrendered herself for baptism and completed the discipleship classes necessary in order to be baptized in spite of the fact that her Atheist father is quite open about his unbelief. What an awesome experience to be able to see this nine year old girl give her life to God. God has used he in our lives since her birth. You see, her mother and I first met at mother/baby aerobics. It didn't take God long to bring us together and build a friendship between us. Soon, Adela's mom began attending Bible study in our home. Now, 9 year later, she is an active part of our church and brings all three of her children to Sunday School on a regular basis. We were able to see Adela accept Christ as her Saviour two years ago and this past spring, she came and asked if she could be baptized. I asked her how her father felt about it and she replied, "I wanted to ask you first." After Adela and her mother talked to her father, he agreed to let her choose Christianity if that is what she wants. Her father even attended the service along with 40 other people and spent the afternoon as we celebrated our newest member. Please pray with Adela for her father's salvation.

It was Back-to-school Sunday at church today and we had 25 people there for services and dinner on the grounds. School starts back up tomorrow and I think I am more nervous than my children. Skyler will be going into the 5th grade, which is the first grade in the high school here. After a year of homeschooling, this will be a new start for him, new friends, new school, new opportunities. Samantha will continue with her class into the 4th grade. In our city, the children have the same teacher and classmates for the first 4 years of school. Serenity will start the 1st grade. She is ready and eager, nervous and scared. But she has everything ready for her first day and is sleeping soundly. Sadie will be attending kindergarten this year. We are praying for good friends for all of our children. In this Atheist society, it is not easy to find good friends, so we are praying extra earnestly for God's provision. We are praying for wisdom, guidance, protection, and just overall blessings from God for our children for the new school year.

Our church is just a 5 minute walk from Skyler's new school, so we are praying that God will show us how to minister to this large group of Germany's future. We are considering using the church as an after school activity center, offering music and English groups. The details are not clear yet and we are still praying for God's guidance.

Thank you for praying for the our financial needs. The dollar has been gaining strength! What a blessing that has been.

I'm eager to hear what your fall has in store as well. Write and tell me all about it.

Chelli

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

alternate reality

Recently we were pondering the state of the world, including how it all has affected our finances and our ministry. The thought that we may be forced to return to the states and abandon our dream, our vision, our ministry here, left me pretty down. The "reality" of the situation really packed a wallop. After an "anti-depression nap", I awoke refreshed and with an idea to make an alternate reality list. I began listing the many recent blessings that God has showered upon us. Then I determined to live in this alternate reality. If God sees fit to send us back to the states, it will be His doing, in His time, and it will be the right thing to do. Until then, I will focus on the path that I am on and I will live in the blessings that He rains down on me. Here are just a few of the blessings that we have experienced lately.

1. My children are all old enough to play outside by themselves.

2. The children get along well and love playing with one another.

3. The neighbor kids are friendly and enjoy playing with our kids.

4. We were given a bushel of strawberries yesterday.

5. We were given a mixing bowel of cherries today.

6. We went to a picnic yesterday and they sent us home with enough food to last a few days.

7. We are all healthy.

8. The gout has left my hand.

9. We had people at church today.

10. Two families contacted us this week asking for info about our Sunday School so that they can bring their children.

11. We have email and are not isolated here.

12. We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary this weekend.

13. Our children are bi-lingual - an awesome advantage that we didn't have.

14. Our children are musical - an awesome talent that we never developed.

. . .

I would love to hear some of your recent blessings.

Chelli

Prayers of Thanksgiving

I'm shouting! Happy Shouts! Can you hear them! I am in awe! God is so good to me!

This afternoon, I asked Paul if he would like to walk to the grocery with me. "Sure, do we need shopping bags?" he asked. "Well, I planned on taking the two-wheeler (a shopping bag on wheels)," I replied. On second thought, Paul grabbed two canvas bags out of the drawer next to the door, just in case. Ping! There it was on the floor. My wedding ring! Thank you so much Lord. We had a praise session right then and there. So, how did my ring end up in among the shopping bags? We really don't know. Do you realize how long that ring could have lain in that drawer before I would have found it? We figure we had no intention of cleaning that drawer out until we retire and move back to the states. That is a good 30 years down the road. Thank You Lord for giving it back to me now!

And a big thank you to all of you who have been praying that I would get it back. Your letters of encouragement were so great. You all have so much faith. Thank you so much!

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Tell the people at church thank you for praying for me!

Chelli

May Day

Happy May Day!

May first was a national holiday here in Germany. Parts of the country celebrated Ascension Day while the others celebrated International Men's Day. The day was sunny and warm, a great day for a BBQ at the church. Our regular Thursday night Bible study decided to meet at the church for a BBQ and spend the evening together. We had 13 people in attendance with 1 first time visitor. It was a good evening.

June 1, is International Children's Day and we will celebrate by hosting a Children's Festival at the church. Please pray for us as we make all the necessary preparations. Pray that we will have lots of kids visit and that they will have a great time and want to come back on a regular basis.

Now for the bad news, on May Day, I lost two very important things. First, while eating chips and salsa, I broke off part of a molar. God was so good to me. My regular dentist is on vacation, but his office referred me to a great dentist who did her best to save the tooth and spare the cost of having it crowned. The total cost was $100. More than I had expected to spend on dental this month, but a whole lot less than a crown. Second, while cleaning up after the BBQ, I looked down at my left hand and saw that my wedding ring was missing. I have no idea what happened, when or where. We had just gotten sized down to fit better while we were home on furlough. We spent yesterday morning (after the dentist appointment) at the church looking for it, but it is still hiding somewhere. I have an infection in my right shoulder, so I have been doing everything with my left hand for a couple of days. I remember having it on Monday and am pretty sure that it was there on Wednesday, but with the pain in my arm, I have been a little preoccupied. As you think about us, would you pray with me that I find my wedding ring. It makes me ill to think about the fact that it could be gone forever. I am so glad my treasure is laid up in heaven. The idea of having to protect such a treasure here on earth exhausts me.

Thank you for your prayers! Please mention our name the next time you talk with the Father.

Chelli

Miracle Mushrooms

Growing up, there was nothing like mushroom hunting in the spring. And few delicacies so great as Dad's fried mushrooms or Grandpa's scrambled eggs with mushrooms. Just the scent of morel mushrooms brings bag fond memories. Since we moved to Germany they have developed a whole new meaning for our family. They are rare here in our area. For the first 7 years, we never saw a single one and rarely spoke with a person who had eaten one. Then, one day when Samantha was just 2 years old, she discovered them in a mulched flower bed. They were such an encouragement from the Lord, at a time when we really needed it, that we called them our miracle mushrooms. On Monday of last week, as Samantha and I were walking to meet the school bus, something unusual caught out attention in the flower bed at the local grocery store. You guessed it! Morel Mushrooms! And not just a few like the first time. This time we walked away with a half gallon bag full. One week later, as we were walking to the bus stop again, a new batch had sprouted up and was waiting there for us! What a wonderful blessing from the Lord. Once again, at a time when we have been discouraged by finances and the personal struggles of our church people, the Lord showed us that He is watching over us, even in the little things. The miracle mushrooms are back! And we are enjoying them. They make a wonderful Manna Meal nourishing so much more than just our physical bodies.

Thank you for your prayers for us! Please continue to pray for God's miraculous provision, especially in this time of financial uncertainty.

Guten Appetit! Enjoy your meal!

Chelli