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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Denglisch
Denglisch runs rampant in our house. For us it is just a normal part of everyday life. I don't normally stop to think about it, but then yesterday, a friend of ours who teaches English here in Wittenberg heard us speaking Denglish and laughed. She said it was very comforting to know that she isn't the only who is fluent in everyday Denglisch. Among Denglisch speakers there is a special camaraderie that only this 3rd culture group can truly understand. I would guess it is the same with other English hybrid languages and their speakers. This morning as the girls were getting ready for church, I had to laugh as I listened to their conversation. Probably the most proficient Denglisch expert in our house right now is Sadie Jane. Just a year ago, she spoke hardly more than a few sentences in German. Now she is doing quite well and getting ready to start the first grade in a German public school. So, it was very encouraging this morning to hear her say, " But I am looking for something hellisch to wear to church this morning." Being translated that would mean she wanted a light colored dress and she settled on lilac. Then this afternoon, she came running through the house, "Skyler, did you want to borg me out for something?" Being translated, "did you want to borrow me for something?"
Not only do our children speak some odd phrases here at home, but their German phrasing can raise a few eyebrows at school as well. It is not only their language skills that make them stand out at school though. They are a peculiar lot. They don't know the most recent pop songs or collect the newest power cards. They don't wear rock star clothing or recite their horoscope. And to top it all off, on Sundays, they don't go to sporting events, they go to Sunday School. Now we are talking really weird!
Okay, so we are weirdos. For adult Christians that is nothing new, but for missionary kids, that can be a little hard to handle sometimes. When things get a little rough, you know, normal third grade stuff, it isn't unusual to hear an, "I hate Germany." "All Germans ever do is complain." "If I were only in America. . . " Those are the times when we get to sit down and think about all the benefits of being fluent in Denglisch. Those are also the times when I am so glad that we have wonderful friends and family back home who are praying for us. So, now that the weather is getting nicer and the sun is shining brighter, don't forget to pick out something hellisch to wear to church next week.
Love and blessings,
Chelli Sudbrock
Sunday, March 22, 2009
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
Edited on: Sunday, March 22, 2009 9:49 PM
Categories: Blessings, Kids, Prayer Request
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Skyler's leg
We received the blood work back and they have ruled out Lymes Disease. On Thursday evening they did an MRI and we will go to the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to find out the results.
We have been having a good week. With Ibuprofen and herbal supplements, Skyler hasn't been having any pain. But then this morning he woke up in great pain again and is having difficulty moving. Please continue to pray for his healing and for wisdom on the part of the doctors.
Thank you!
Chelli
Sunday, August 24, 2008
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
Sunday, July 13, 2008
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
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Victory
We are praising the Lord for His blessings! Many of you have been praying for our children and their schooling. This week, we recieved an answer to our prayers. The week we arrived back in Germany, the grade school principal called and said that a complaint had been registered against us saying that we were keeping our children out of school. At that point, Samantha was back in school, but apparently, at least one of the teachers was frustrated with us because we hadn't put Serenity into the first grade. We placed a call to the Minister of Education for our state and found that he was sick. We continued to call back each week and he was always sick. This week, he came back to work, though not fully recovered, and called us. After a short talk over the phone, he told us to inform the school principal that Serenity would be starting the first grade in the fall and that we did not have to enroll her now. Any questions regarding this decision were to be directed to the Minister of Education. It is official! We have received government permission to follow through with our children's schooling as planned. Skyler will re-enter the public system in the fall and be in the German fifth grade. Samantha will continue with her class at the German elementary school, attending the 4th grade in the fall and Serenity will start the first grade this fall, leaving Sadie to start the first grade next fall.
Please continue to pray for our children as they attend school in an ahteist area of Germany. This means the number of other children claiming to believe in God is very small. In Samantha's class, there is only one other girl who claims Christianity. It is not an easy path that is before us, but the Lord placed us here and will continue to guide and protect us.
Thank you for praying with us through this victory!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Success!
We made it! We survived 141 days of living out of the car and cooler. We visited 10 states and 30 different churches. Now we have made it back home to Wittenberg, Germany. We took a week and rested and tried to get realigned with the sun on this side of the planet.
Samantha has started back to school and is enjoying the third grade in the German public school. Yesterday on the way to school, she said, "Mom, thank you for bringing me home. It is so exciting here!" The kids really are more at home here than anywhere else in the world.
When we left, the closets were full of summer dresses and short sleeved shirts. Though February in Germany is nothing compared to the blizzards in Iowa, it is still sweater weather, so we have spent a few days cleaning out closets and finding all the winter apparel that was needed. The kids have grown so much while we were traveling, especially Serenity.
Our church people welcomed us home with an 8 foot square banner and a song that they had written in our honor. What a tremendous blessing they were. After church, we enjoyed lunch from the grill and an afternoon of fellowship. We are excited to be back with them. Please pray for us as we seek God's will considering the future of our building.
We are eager to get things rolling again. The Iowa Pastor's Fellowship was generous enough to commit the money needed to fund the printing of full-colored introductory fliers for the church. Now, with a little more funding, we would like to put together welcome packets and get geared up to see a lot of visitors come through our doors this spring.
A generous supporter in MO donated a set of children's handbells to our ministry. I was able to introduce these to the kids on Sunday and they are all so excited. We will be planning our initial presentation for Palm Sunday. Please pray with us that God will give us wisdom in using this tool to reach the children in our neighborhood and their families.
The two youngest children, Serenity and Sadie, have lost some of their German, so we have enrolled them in preschool and kindergarten respectively starting the 3rd of March. Please pray with us that God will allow us to be a witness in the schools and that He would provide good Christian friends for our children. As you can imagine, being the only one in the whole school who believes in God, can be quite a strain on anyone, and especially on a child.
We appreciate you all so much. Now that we are sitting still again and have reliable Internet access, you should be hearing from me on a regular basis again. I hope to write to you again soon.
Blessings!
Chelli
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Good news!
We have some good news. That is nice for a change. It seems like 2007 has started off with lots of hurdles and pot holes. Paul met with the county school superintendant today about our furlough plans for the fall and the kid's schooling. The meeting went really well. Everything appears to be in the clear for us to come back the states from October to February. When we return to Germany, Paul will set up a new appointment with him and we will work out the best way for the kids to re-enter the German school system. A meeting that we had dreaded went so very well. Thank you Lord!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Spiritual legacy
Last night as I was tucking the kids into bed, Samantha said, "Mom, I tried to talk to Ziynet about God today, but it just didn't work. I wish I was good at it like Daddy is." On the school bus ride between swimming and math class, Samantha's little Muslim friend confided in her that she is afraid she will die and go to hell. "There is no need to be afraid," Samantha replied, " you can pray and talk to God about it. If you ask him to forgive you for the bad things you have done, he will. To go to Heaven all you have to do is believe in Jesus and follow him. Pray with me Ziynet and you won't have to be afraid anymore." But Ziynet looked out the window and cried. She said that she knew her family would all go to hell one day. Samantha was so disappointed that Ziynet wouldn't pray with her. At bedtime, she said, "But it is so easy for Daddy, and people even pray with him. I want to be like that. I want to be able to do that." We talked a little about freedom of choice and freewill. Samantha is encouraged to keep praying for her friend and sharing the love of Christ with her. What a blessing it is to know that our children are sharing Christ in their world.
So, the topic for family devotions tonight: leading your friends to Christ. We will have a chance to talk about the fact that it isn't an easy task for any of us.
What greater legacy could we ask for than for our children to love the Lord and long to see His Kingdom come and His will be done!
Chelli
Friday, January 05, 2007
New Year's Eve
In Germany, New Year's Eve is called Silvester. We celebrate by setting
off lots of fireworks. This year we had a family night at the church
where we watched videos and snacked until it was time for the big
fireworks. I also built some paper airplanes out of the new book that I
got for Christmas.
One
of my friends at church is in the German Air Force and I like to talk to
him about my planes. We also sang songs and prayed together. I like to
play the keyboard. I am learning a few songs on my fiddle as well. At a
quarter till 12, we all bundled up and walked down the street to a local
hotel where they set off fireworks by the billions (or so it seemed ).
In the courtyard, they had quite an explosion of colors and sounds. They
had flairs going and a symphony playing. Their show lasted about half an
hour and then the neighbors started setting off their fireworks. So
first everything inside the courtyard was lit up and exploding and then
everything all around us on every side started going off. It was very
loud and really beautiful. We were out walking around looking at the
fireworks everywhere for about an hour and then we went back to the
church. It was really warm this year, which was nice because my toes
didn't freeze. We started to set off some fireworks of our own, but it
started raining at about 1am, so we didn't do much. We decided to save
them for our family 4th of July celebration. So, we went back inside and
sang songs again for a while before heading home. I got to stay up until
3 am! I had a good time and am looking forward to spending New Years at
my Oma and Opa's house in Iowa next year. Here is a picture of our
family that was taken at church on Christmas Eve.
Happy New Year!
Skyler Sudbrock
Friday, December 22, 2006
Children's Craft Day
Last Saturday we provided an afternoon full of fun for 20 little girls, freeing up the day for their parents to do some Christmas preparations.
From 3-7 we crafted gift bags and necklaces and ornaments as well as watching a movie, eating lots of yummy stuff and playing some really funny games.
. 
The girls had a really good time and we enjoyed getting to know them and sharing the love of Christ with them.
We especially want to thank those churches which sent the Christmas craft supplies and candy canes that helped make the afternoon possible. We hope to make this an annual event and expand the group of kids that we invite. We would appreciate your prayers for the children of Wittenberg, Germany. They are seeking love and acceptance and we long to show them where to find it.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Recitals, recitals everywhere
It is the season of recitals! First Samantha, then Skyler and today we
had another recital for Serenity and Samantha together as well as a
school program for Skyler. They sure keep us hopping. What a blessing it
is to be able to meet with these other parents on a regular basis
though. This morning, I helped backstage for Samantha and Serenity's
recital program and was able to spend most of the morning talking to one
of the other mothers. She opened up and shared many details of her life
with me and I was able to share with her the hope and peace that is only
found in Jesus Christ. She shared her thermos of coffee as we began a
new friendship. 
I
hope to be able to introduce her to The Everlasting Friend before it is
too late. When we parted today she bid farewell with a smiling, "See you
tomorrow." Boy was that nice. It was worth a morning spent backstage
with 50 little kids! This afternoon we had the privilege of having one
of Samantha's little friends spend some time with us while her mommy had
to work. Please pray for MJ. She has been visiting us now for 3 years
and feels very "at-home" around us. She also has many questions about
God and the Bible. Rounding off our evening, we all attended Skyler's
Christmas program at school. Sitting there watching a group of 4th
graders act out the story of the Golden Goose and listening as the main
characters sent their sons out into the woods to work with a lunch of
cake and beer, I asked myself, "what in the world am I doing here?" Then
when the program was over and the teachers presented my husband with a
gift for volunteering to coach Friday afternoon baseball, I was reminded
why it was so good to be there. These kids from our baseball team are
learning to love and trust us and we hope that one day they will learn
to love and trust Christ as well. When we see them in the store or on
the street, they run up and hug us and introduce us to their parents. Oh
how our hearts yearn to see kids like Sophie and Margarita and Olga and
Tilo find the unconditional, everlasting love of Christ. Yes, it is the
season of recitals, but the reason for the season is still Christ!
Edited on: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 11:34 PM
Categories: Blessings, Kids, Prayer Request
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
School in Germany
In a German school, at least at my school, we have two recesses. School starts at 7:15 and my last class goes till 1:15. The German word for school is "Schule." Our subjects are English, German, Math, Music, Gym, Science, and Social Studies. When I am through with this school year we will be coming back to the states for a few months. When we return I will be going on to Gymnasium (High school). At least that is my goal. Please pray that God will bless me.