Our First Two Years

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    November of 2015 marked our two year anniversary of being in Dresden Germany, and as of January, 2016, we have officially ended the “opening phase” of our ministry here. We had a wonderful time visiting many of you in the Napa area over Christmas and New Years, and to all those in the Springfield area or around the country, we are sorry we weren't able to make it there this time. For all those who we were not able to talk with, we'd love to share an overview of what we have been up to these past two years, how God has lead and guided us in this time, and what our plans are for the coming years. And, if you'd like to get even more info, just let us know and we can send your our full two-year report. It has been a whirlwind couple of years, but we can say without a doubt that Dresden is now our home! We love the city; we love the people we’ve been able to meet and work with; and we feel more strongly than ever that this is a place where God wants us and can use us!

    As you probably know, when we arrived in Dresden, we started working with an established church that has been here in Dresden for over 100 years. Forum Hoffnung - or, "Forum of Hope" - has turned out to be a wonderful place for us to grow and learn. Over the past two years, we've been able to gradually take on more responsibility as we become more comfortable with the language and culture. We've been involved in the music ministry, youth group, summer camps, parent-baby groups, and just the general life of the church, and we have made so many great friendships here. When we came to Dresden, we knew that wanted to stay here long-term, and that our ultimate goal after the first two years was to branch out from the existing church and reach new parts of the city and population. We’ve always known that we want to do this work with a team of people, so throughout these past two years, we’ve kept our eyes and ears open for what people and opportunities God might bring into our lives. Through this process of exploring what God might have for us for the future of our ministry, we and our leaders at Kontaktmission have come to the decision to stay in the Forum Hoffnung church as members. This will be our “church home,” but we will be pulling back from much of the leadership of church-specific activities and focusing our efforts on new areas outside of the church, such as...

Work with Refugees

    News of the refugee crisis in Syria and throughout the Middle East has reached around the world. The numbers are hard to pin down, of course, and we have not heard an official word yet on the final status for the year 2015, but as of November, about 900,000 refugees had come to Germany in 2015, with 500,000 coming just in the months of September through November. No matter what one makes of this incredibly complex political situation, the fact is, the people are already here, and they will continue coming in the same or even greater numbers for the foreseeable future, and it is absolutely our duty and privilege as Christians to be a friend to our neighbors in need. We feel very strongly that part of why God has placed us here is to help meet these needs.
    Elyse has already been involved in some large projects with a camp outside of Dresden. She and her group of international ladies heard about a camp that had a lot of families and young children and few volunteers or staff from the Red Cross. They decided to put together some care packages for the families — boxes with blankets, toys, crayons, flashlights, backpacks for the older kids, etc. One of the ladies decided to ask the local IKEA if they would donate some cardboard boxes. Instead, they donated nice big plastic boxes and €3,000 worth of IKEA products to fill them! The Dr. Bronner soap company has also been very generous in donating items and offering to pay for medical care for all the expectant mothers in the camp!
    The ladies also helped to set up a special women's center at the camp, and hope to keep doing similar projects at other camps in town. These projects have all been through the international ladies group, but there are many different opportunities and a variety of ways we can help in the future. For about a month, Ryan has been going to a camp to teach guitar and drum lessons to kids and young people there. There's a chance to teach free German lessons to the refugees to give them a jump start on what they will eventually have to learn in order to make a life in Germany. There is a camp opening up close to the church sometime this year, and another one opening very soon on the grounds of a Christian school. Members of our church will be involved in helping at these camps, providing entertainment for the kids, programs for the adults, and basically anything we or they might think of. We will continue to explore ways that we can be more involved with the refugees, to work alongside both our church and the greater community in the city, to meet the needs of these refugees and to show them God’s love. Thank you thank you to all those who have donated specifically to help the refugees in need!!

...and Café Ministry

"A30" Café

    Since before we moved to Germany, one vision we’ve had was to open or be involved with a Cafe ministry. What if church could be held in a more neutral, third space, where people can more easily come and go? A place where conversation between people of different faiths and backgrounds can be encouraged. A place where music, arts, coffee, and food can draw people in and create an atmosphere where relationships can be made and deepened. As it turns out, there is already such a Cafe project in Dresden! The place is called “A30,” named after it’s address, Alaunstraße 30, and the location is right on one of the busiest streets in the New Town part of Dresden. There are already a lot of different events happening throughout the month, like open mic nights, literature readings, Sunday brunch, and concerts. We’ve already been able to be a part of prayer meetings, planning and vision sessions, a little renovation, and also a few of the events, but we’re really excited to have more time this year to invest into this project. It’s a wonderful space, and an inspiring group of people who are already well on their way to establishing something great. As we write this, there are some open questions about whether or not the current group will be able to continue renting the space, but even if that falls through, there are still opportunities with this group in a new location or possibly with the new renters coming in, so that's definitely something to pray about!

Waiting for baby...

    Of course, the main thing at the very front of our minds at the moment is, when is this baby going to come?!? It's the evening of March 15th as we write this, and so far, no major signs of the baby coming any time soon. But, we are less than a week away from the due date, so anything could happen! We are so excited to be able to welcome this new little guy into the world soon. And Oliver is very excited to meet his little brother too!! We appreciate all your prayers for Elyse, for the birth, and for our whole family as we prepare for this big change!! Thanks for reading!

Our 5 days in Germany

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Well, it's been about 2 1/2 weeks since we returned from the conference in Germany. I would have wrote about our time there earlier, but I feel like I have needed these last two weeks to wrap my mind around our 5 days in Germany :-) Let's just say, this post is going to be the first of a few big posts about what's coming up in our lives! First of all... let's talk food.

Apfel Schorle- yummmmm. Apple juice mixed with sparkling water. I usually hate apple juice- but this... this is something totally different. We shared this on our train ride from Zurich, Switzerland (where we flew into) up to Germany. Along with the Schorle we also ate our all time favorite food...

oh yes, Döner Kebab. It's somewhat like a Greek Gyro but ohhh so much better! It was invented by Turkish people living in Berlin. Unlike a Gyro, which is made with lamb, a Döner is made with turkey (at least, that what I've heard). It had been way too long since our last Döner- almost a year! Anyway- just one more food blurb.

German Breakfasts. This photo is just of the remnants... I could never keep it on my plate long enough to take a photo :-) During our week there, I would go to bed at night so excited to be able to get up the next morning and eat more German bread... and salami... and nutella.... and honey..... and herb cream cheese.... and fruits... and, well, the list goes on and on.

We arrived Saturday and spent most of that day setting up for the conference that was to be held the following day. This Kontaktmission conference is an annual gathering of Kontaktmission missionaries and local supporters. The missionaries set up booths all around the conference center and supporters get to see how God is using Kontaktmission workers all over the world while also getting to hear great speakers talk about the growth of, mission of, and opportunities for Kontaktmission and it's workers. It's an exhausting day, but so encouraging and exciting to be a part of. And thankfully, there are headphones available with English translations for those of us who are not quite comfortable enough in our German skills to listen to speakers for 6 hours straight...emmmm yeah, I used those headphones a lot that week.... :-)

I was walking around looking at the different booths and I saw some familiar faces on some of the Kontaktmission flyers!!! :-) We're pretty much famous.

We're on the flyers that promote the summer short term mission trips that Kontaktmission puts together. Which is really exciting actually, because the first mission trip that Ryan and I went on together was on one of these same summer trips to Germany, Belgium and Austria back in 2007. And then last year we got to lead our very own Kontakmission short term summer trip to those same places! :-) We brought back some of the flyers to show some of our friends at our table during the conference.... but some of them got a bit jealous....

After the conference ended, some of us Americans took a little drive to the nearest big city of Stuttgart to have a bit on an adventure and bite to eat. It was great to catch of with these old friends of ours and hear stories about what they're doing for the Kingdom all around the world! After our little adventure, we headed to the retreat center where we would be spending the rest of our week. This retreat part of the week was solely meant for Kontakmission workers to spend time together in lots of prayer and worship, as well as hearing from each other and amazing speakers. We were in the same retreat center as last year and actually, Ryan and I very randomly got assigned the exact room that we had last year! crazy!

Ryan played all week for the little worship band. There was so much great music and talents shared! Wonderful times of worship and prayer were had everyday- it was all so very refreshing and encouraging.

We did get to have a very important meeting with the directors of both Kontaktmission and Kontaktmission USA about the direction of our future on the mission field! We have a couple of really awesome announcements actually.... so stay tuned! I'm hoping to have the first bit of news posted later this week! Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words! We had a great time in Germany, and are so thankful that we were able to be a part of this year's activities again!

-R&E

Why are we here again?

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Last weekend, we had the chance to join Rocco and his family at an all church day near Schweinfurt, Germany. During their 30+ years in ministry here, Rocco and his wife Karoline have planted three churches. This church in Schweinfurt is one of these churches from before their time in Jena. Each year, they hold this all-church day at a retreat center, and they always invite the Panepintos to come back and join them. So, this time, we got to come along too! It was a great chance to practice some German (there's something about meeting a whole new group of people that gives you a little more boldness to try it out, I think). But mostly it was great to see a bit of the legacy of Rocco and Karoline. They started this church in Schweinfurt from the ground up, and now, it's a vibrant, relatively large for Germany standards, community of believers. In fact, the reason the Panepintos left is because the church got to the point where it could support itself, and they moved on to another area that was in huge need. During part of the day, Rocco shared what has been going on in Jena the last year, and Elyse and I actually sang a song! We had already sung together once for the English/German service last Sunday, but we didn't know they were going to ask us to sing there too until just before we went on! I wanted to share two stories from this trip that really hit home to me once again, why we're doing what we're doing. Maybe they can help give you a better picture of the situation here too.

First, a short story about a conversation that Elyse and I had with one of the church members. Rocco had already told us some about the church and about how great it was to see these people grow up. So many of them were teenagers when they started the church. They grew up, and Rocco married them, and was there when their babies were born, and now he comes back to see these people's kids as teenagers! While we were talking to one of the ladies from the church, she was asking us what our plans were for the future. When we told her we wanted to come back to Germany and help start churches some day, she was so excited. Of course I'm excited about people from the US deciding to come to Germany, she said, look at all these families who's lives have been dramatically changed because of Rocco's decision to come, including my own! I've heard a few times, that Germans - even some German Christians - don't like the idea that people come to their country as missionaries. Maybe they feel like those who come are condescending or that they come because they think the Christians in Germany aren't good enough. Well, that's not the case at all, and this lady was a great reminder to me of why we are doing what we're doing.
Second, I story that Rocco told about something that happened in Jena - There was a man Rocco met one time who had been a total atheist, during the time of the communist GDR in the East. This man was diagnosed with brain cancer, and the doctors gave him no hope of recovery. As a last ditch effort, they said they could try to do surgery to remove the tumor, but there was almost zero chance that he would even survive the operation, and it was almost guaranteed that even if he did happen to live, he would be in a coma and never come out. In despair and in the face of the end of his life, this man turned to God. At least, he wanted to, but he didn't know anything about God. All he could think to do was to go to a church - maybe God would hear him in there. He asked God to help him - to heal him, or to bring him safely through this operation. The day came, the tumor was removed, and the man lived! His face was disfigured and he lost one eye, but he lived to have a normal life. He believed God had saved him and was always thankful, but for him it was thanks to an "unknown God." This story was much more dramatic when Rocco was telling it in person :) , but that's OK because as amazing as that is, the real point is this: One day, 20 or 30 years after this event, this man happened to run into Rocco in the town center with his book table. Seeing some of the signs and the books that Rocco had out, the man ran up to him and asked urgently, "do you believe in God!?" Of course Rocco said yes, and he explained to him that he was a Christian. The man told him the story about how he miraculously survived the cancer, and was so thankful to be able to talk to Rocco. For his entire life, he had been thanking this God that he knew had saved him, but he had NEVER met anyone else who believed in God and could actually explain more about Him. That day, his faith was able to go from faith in a mystery god to faith in the God of the Universe.
I hope these stories help give a better picture of the situation here in Germany. There are definitely bright spots, and God is working and changing lives. The fact still is though, that overall, it is a dark place. Especially here in the east, atheism is the default mindset, and people of any kind of faith are the exception to the rule. Please continue to pray for us as we learn what it's like to minister here, and for Rocco and the church as they reach out to this city. Speaking of the church, I promised some news, so even though this is a lost post already, here it is! - After two years of searching and trying, the Hausgemeinde am Jenzig has finally found some rooms they can rent to use as a church building! This will be a huge blessing to them, as they've totally outgrown the space in the Panepintos' home. We are excited to be here to help them as they get set up and settled in!