Bridges Don 1981 Germany

8/10/2019 Bridges Don 1981 Germany

1/17

The

Cal


2/17

For off ice us e only

PERSONAL FILE

FORM

Date

Sent;

APR

3

DateRec d: g

R

Information from this form will appear in Horizons and o ther Infor- This form is prepared to help you give

accurate

background

mation formats published

by Mission

Services

Association. tion about yourself and your mission work.

please type

or print clearly *Oo not abbreviate

Please

do not write on this form anything other

than that requested.

Attach

extra sheets

for additional information you may

want

to

Th is is not an appl ic at ion form. It Is no t an official form endorsing you and your work. It is s imply a

worksheet

designed to help us

your work that may help produce new friends for you, prayers and financial assistance. If any questions seem too personal or seem

to

you,

please f ee l f re e

to

leave them blank.

Name in fu ll

Date:

(Mo^ Day

r JM

ihChdT5

Spell ou t all names Pirsi Name Middle Name

Last

Name

Complete address on

field:

I

^^^^C>

^ T UH

{Number

Street

City

Slate

Zip number

Country)

Phone number on field: In Case

of Emergency

call :

Ask for:

~7^0a/ '/^/l>6crS

First Middle tasf name and address)

Your complete

address

while in USA:

(Number Street City - ' State - Zip)

^7 ^Q KTOfJ

^

~7x

7^

ZO x:> nhone

number

our USA

phone number: area

code O xu?

phone number

Name

and addre ss

of

Livinglink church

or

churches:

Ih^A/^ctS

street

^0^^

FuU

name at church) Z

City

n:

State

^

Zip

9

Uffc CH (S T/fhJ Number Street ^

d/^ckc. Pd-

Full

name

ol church)

City:

L^t^Tori State

OK. Zip 7 3 SO

Names and addresses

of

other sponsoring churches

whose

elders recommend

you:

PM la\,U Ar

^000

rPO/kfC,

(Full

name ol

church)

j


3/17

/Full na me

o l ch u rch j

City:

Numbe r St r ee t

S t a t e

Zi p

Please

s end

let ters

o f

recommenda t ion

f r o m

th e elders

In

your

sponsoring churches which wHI encourage

other

churchestosupportyourmlsslonary work. Certainly th e

words

of

these elders

will

help to

c on vi nc e o th e rs

regarding the worthiness of your

mission

work. Please

help MS A to s p re a d y o ur news through HORIZONS by

sending these elders

letters

from y ou r s po ns or in g

c h ur c he s a s s o on as possible. MSA will b e h ap py to

help

yo u

contact

these

elders if

yo u

will

se n d th e

full

addresses

o f

th e churches

Piease sketch a

ma p

directing visitors to your location o n t he miss


4/17

Please

list

places

of previous Chris tian service

an d

what

service you did as a brief

career

summary.

approximate

dates:

Place / X Position Service Dates ^

min/ij^rer

/ 97S-79^

-fcLm

Vie/^MA AusfnA

ar^firore.

CSuA

Pvs^kiri ^

CorTfî^

ujefJr

To

scô t^ 4omc^

EDUCATION

high

school and later): ^ / r .. U

D eg re es g ra nte d a nd d at

List

honorary

degrees

am e

of

school

Location

Number

of

yearsNdii.e u. s^Muui honorary d

O Xy/ Sd/icy^/

OjLu^r 3

/Titrf Sres

C^lf^cocri

J,S?infnfMy

C-///COu\f

^ i

/-lo

^CrriYe

J

f o o t s

W ha t i nf lu en ce d y o u to

become a

missionary?

lJee.ol tg-p

iff

What is your purpose in missions? Or what d^ you hope to accomplish on the m

I

extra

sh

7WW.. .. . y i

~~

. r . . .

field? .De^cUpê^t

c-f-

/??///T7f/^^

p Ifldi

j-ff/ZU

Your

cMn

explanation in some detail

mi^t

be influential in leading

others

into fuiptime service. Use

you rjeed more space):/, ^ /i

fUthmA^

p ooU 7^

A-ht-oaJ

Describe

briefly in^tline form

the

na^rôf

yourd^^^ûties on the

field:

rCf^pdiXd OY)

Cikf^X^rUt

CJlnuruAr \

ynMv.

Which of

th e

following

t er ms m os t nearly

describes

your

missionary

status?

Evangelist Bible College

Teacher

Bible Reader Public School

Teacher

P ilo t

H o m e m a k e r

D o c to r N u r s e S o cia l

W o r k e r

M us ic T e a c h e r

ministry Radio follow-up

Christian Service Camp

Linguistics Maintena

mission

equipment Maintenance

Benevolent

Office Work

Production

o

Corre s pondenc e Cours es

Production

of

Christian literature

in th e National

Language

Evangelism N a me o th er :


5/17


6/17

lpinej

Chris t ian

Miss ion

ield

A d d r e s s ;

Don

B r i d g e s

K a i s e r s t r a s s e 66

6790

L a u n d s t u h l

West Germany

VOL

M Y JUNE JULY 1981

The


7/17

But

God

i s a

g iv ing

Godwe

must never

f o r g e t t ha t Befo re

I left in January, I

had

th e

oppor t un i t y o f sh a r ing th e

go spe l w ith s ev e r a l

peop l e .

When I r e t u r n e d , one o f

t h o s e

peop le asked

if he

cou ld

once

aga in

t a l k

wi t h

me

about

t h i s .

We

shared

t o g e t h e r , and I

could see

t h a t

the Holy Sp i r i t

had

a l r e ady

been a t work.

Not

on ly

d id

Tim exp r e s s the know

l edge

o f

what

th e gospe l was ,

bu t

a l so

a wi l l i ngne s s

to

ca r ry

th rough with th e

demands

o f th e gospe l

as l a id

ou t in

th e s c r i p t u r e s .

That

following

Sunday ay

31),

Tim

was immersed

into

Chr i s t .

The whole

congrega

tion

witnessed

the new birth

I f

I

londerstand

r ight ly,

this

was the

f i r s t

baptism

in

the baptistry

here

^

in

this

congregation--but i t

is

by no

means

the

l a s t For God is a

giving God

In

ta lking with Tim

a f t e r

the

baptism, i t

seemed that

Satan was trying

his hardest

to

keep him from coming ^

to

church to make

tha t decis ion.

A

PLEASANT

SURPRISE

One o f

th e

mos t

p l e a s an t

pe r i e n c e s

occu r r ed th e week

J uly 2$ th.

Having received

no t i ce t h a t

t h e r e

was a pack

a t the Customs Off i ce

f o r

m

I

went

down e x p e c t i n g so

b o o k s I h a d ordered from

C

l ege

Pre s s .

When I go t t h

I found

it

was

no t

from Col le

Pre s s

a t

all;

r a t h e r it was

f r

Ame r i c a n Rehabilitation Mi n

t r i e s (A.R.M.)

which

works

evange l i ze in th e p ri so n syst

Before

I left

fo r

summer cam

I w r o t e

to A.R .M .

for i n f o rm

t ion

on

a

bapt i s t ry

hea te r .

y ea r p re vio us , th e church h

rece ived

a

por table

bap t i s t

communion

t a b l e

f rom A.R.M.

a s

gift

The b o x stated

that

the

c

t en t s were valued

a t

$1$0.

Asking what th e customs char

would

b e ,

th e man a t Custo

sa id between

80 to

90

ma

(about 33 to 37

do l l a r s

Cur i o s i t y go t

the

b e t t e r o f

man b e c a u s e

h e w an te d to k

wha t th e h e a t e r was f o r , who

R.M.

was,

why

were

t hey se

in g it

and so

on.

Af t e r

a

minutes o f answer ing h is

qu

t ions (and

s t ruggl ing

with s

of

th os e a nsw ers) ,

he f i na

s a i d ,

Oh, j u s t t a k e . i t . S

here

and

t ake

i tn o c ha rg e

So

we d id No customs charg

T h a t

is not

the e n d

of

th

s u r p r i s e .

I had on ly wr i t t e

a

letter

to A.R.M. ask ing

f o

i n f o rma t ion

and p r i c e s co

ce rn ing th e

h ea te r s fo r

t h e

baptistries

On

th e

ou t s i d

o f t h e bo x was written L e t t

Enclosed , When we

got ba

to

th e

chu r ch ,

I

r e ad th e le

ter said that

the Boa

a t A.R.M. dec ided to g ive u

th e

h e a t e r

as a

gift

s ince w

we r e a mission church Prais

th e LordHe

does

g ive to

u

in

many

va r i ous and somet im

unexpec t ed

ways


8/17

VACATION BIBLE

SCHOOL

In

June , the church

had a

Vaca t i o n B i b l e S ch o o l . F re d

Mil l e r ,

missionary to

London,

England, brought a group of 13

i n t e r n s

to Lands tuh l to

he lp

in the VBS program. Plans

had

been

made,

prepara t ion had be

gun,

and

the

day

f ina l ly

came.

A

g r e a t

Sunday s t a r t ed the

week

off

with the in te rns s ing

ing and preaching in both serv

i ces . Monday came,

only 27

ch i ld ren showed up . Something

ne ed ed t o be d one .

Mike

Marsha l l

(Ihe VBS direc

t o r ) , Fred

Mil ler ,

and the in

terns h e a d e d to various a r e a s

to

see if they could round up

some

k i d s

to come . Th e i r work

proved

i t se l f

when

over 50

ch i ld r en

showed

up .

And

th e

number

kep t i n c r ea s i ng every

day.

The

l a s t

day

o f the

schoo l b rought

8

chi ldren

the

high

fo r the week. The

pace was

r ap id

and the programs

were e x i c i t i n g .

Ejcc i tement was in t h e air and

you

could

see

changes in the

ch i ld r en

t h a t were pa r t i c i pa t

ing .

One sa id , *I

wish t h i s

would go on a l l

summer.

Anothe r

s a i d ,

I v e

never

been

to

anything

l i k e

t h i s

before .

It

was a l so i n t e r e s t i ng

to see

who came. A group o f young

boys who l i k e

to th in k

of them

se lves as be ing tough

o r

rugged .

I f any one of those

w e n t

to VBS h e

wou l d b e

consi

de red by

th e o th e r s as be ing a

sissy . Yet , some o f those

boys

came

because

they

were

cha l l enged .

Chal lenged

to

see

i f they

were

r e a l l y

as

tough as

they

tho ug ht th ey were . Could

they

s tand ag a i n s t th e

p ee r

p r e s su r e?

Or

were

they

con

t r o l l ed

by what o th e r s thought

about

t h em ? Some c ame Th e n

o the r s jo ined

them Fina l l y ,

one

who

had been

ho ld ing

ou t ,

even he

came on th e last

day .

What they

foimd ou t was t h a t

Jesus h a d to make a stand a-

ga i n s t

th e soc i e ty and

the way

they

viewed

t h ings , and so did

th e

e a r l y Chr i s t i anseven

to

th e po i n t o f

dea th . And

it was

And th e k ids

came, and

they

c^e,

and

they

came.

We had

to move

the chairs

in the

a u d i t o r i um

out in order

t o

t

them a l l

i nand

still they

w ere c ro wd ed . The finale o f

VBS was th e Sunday n igh t serv

ice

at

the

c h u r c h

whe r e

e a c h

age

group

had a s k i t

o r

song

t h a t

they

were to per form

f o r

t h e i r pa r en t s .

We had

to

keep

the

kids in other r ooms a n d

br ing

them ou t

by groups

when

t h e i r

p a r t in

th e

prograncame.

The

aud i to r ium was packed

wi th

pa r en t s .

The k id s per fo rmed

th e program

wel l ,

awards

were

handed

ou t , and

r e f r e shmen t s

we r e

s e r v e d .

A r e c o r d

a t t e nd

ance of

106

people were

pres

ent (the old

record

being

85)

Many

new con t ac t s were made

as 68 were v i s i to rs tha tnd^ t

A lot o f

work

was

done

on th e

p a r t o f

th e

i n t e r n s and Fred

Miller a s

we l l a s Mike Ma r s h a l l

and those who helped

in

dr iv ing ,

baking cookies , and many, many

o t h e r ways . A

lot

o f

litera

t u r e

was

passed ou t in the c a l l

ing t h a t was

done. L i t e r a t u r e

was

pu t

up by th e

i n t e r n s

i n

the

housing

areas (what some

have

ca l l ed

the

Amer i can^e t -

to s

because

o f

th e

h igh

con

cen t r a t i on o f American mil itary

people) announcing f ree Bible

co r r e spondence c ou r s e s . We

have

a l r eady seen th e b e n e f i t

o f

t h a t e f f o r t

as one new

pe r

s o n h a s enrolled. A lot of

work

was done , and

now

the

time

o f r eap ing

t hose

bene f i t s

has

come. God

has

opened

door

a f t e r

door

o f nevj po s s i b i l i t

i e s in

r each ing

peop le

with the

go spe l . And

t h i s i s on ly th e

beg inn i ng . For

it i s

l ike

th e

c hi ld re n o f

VBS, on ly one day

o f

c a l l i ng to g e t k id s to

come,

then

they d id the r e s t by get

t i n g

t h e i r

f r i end s to

come. A

l o t o f workyes . B i t

it

i s

God who g ive s the inc rease ,

an d He

is


9/17

- U

^if

.^ V

. - v

fc .

r -

m

vvi *%

^' '


10/17

SUMMER CAMP

A t ime when mos t

o f t h e

miss ionar ies can ge t together

along with

mil i t a ry

and o ther

c iv i l i an

people i s a t

summer

camp.

Held

each

yea r in a

cent ra l loca t ion (Molveno,

I t a ly ) ,

the

camps run fo r 10

days with

preaching,

c lasses ,

fe l lowship , aad encouragement.

The theme of the

camp

th is year

was Helping

Chr i s t i ans

to

Meet th e Chal lenges o f th e

80 ' s . About 60 campers con

ve rged a t

Lake

Molveno to ac

cep t the cha llenges and to

an

swer th e

cha l l enges . Dean

o f

the

camp th i s

year was Dennis

Messimer, missio na ry to

Bel

gium. There were many tremen

dous

messages

from

God s

word

given

by

d i f f e r e n t

mission

a r i e s ,

and th e c la s se s were

s t imu l a t i ng .

One of the advantages

o f

the

camp is tha t surrounding camp

e rs can see Chr i s t i ans ga the r

ed

togetherfca?

study

and pra^r .

Often times as

they were

walk

ing by, they would stop and

wa t ch for

aw h i l e .

Some

wou ld

ask ques t i ons ,

whi l e

o the r s

made o b s e r v a t i o n s

a b o u t

t h e

group ( apar t

from the ga ther

ing) .

I t was a time of

very

po s i t i v e wi tn e s s .

Now

most people

th ink o f

I t a l y

as

be ing sunny,

ana to

a l a rge ex t en t t h a t i s

t r u e .

Yet ,

th e weekend dur ing camp

proved

o t h e rw i s e .

Prom l a t e

Fr iday

n igh t to

mid-Sunday a f

t e r n oon ,

t h e r e

was r a i n .

T r e n c h e s we r e n e e d e d to

b e

dug

in

order^hat our

tents

would

not .^h#washed i n t o th e

l ake by

t he d elu ge. com

forted o n e a n o t h e r with th e

t hough t t h a t God would neve r

again

have

a

world-wide f lood

1

( I t

j u s t seemed

to

r a i n

and

ra in

and

r a i n , heav i ly . )

Many

o f the

campers w ere

t h ank fu l

fo r

th e

he lp t h a t th e Chr i s

t i an s

gave a t

t h a t t ime . Some

saw

th e

he l p , and t hey

r e t u rn

ed it to the group . Tra i l

c am pe rs w ere o f f e r ed to t h o

with

little

ch i ld ren to g

them ou t

o f th e co ld

dampne

a n d

much m o re . B e c a u s e o f t

Chr i s t i ans

wi l li n gnes s t o he

no t only

each

o t h e r bu t a l

o u t s i d e r s as we l l , a t r emen

dous po s i t i v e impace wasmad

God h imse l f

gave a

cha l l eng

to

th e

camper s .

Summer camp was a t ime

grea t encouragement, hear i

what

God

is doing

with each

th e

mi s s i o n a r i e s

in

their a r

o f

s e rv i c e .

Knowing t h a t G

i s one

who

g ive s

g re a t

oppo

t un i t i e s in

many d i f f e r e

ways

(one being tha t of ju

showing

what

it means to

Ch r i s t i a n

mo t h e r o r

f ther

f

othe rs

to see) , and see ing h

He gets His wil l accomplish

in the ordinary and munda

par t s

of

our

l i ve s , I g

thrilled

and e x c i t e d .

Becau s

ju st l ik e the people

who

s

th e

Ch r i s t i a n s a t Molven

people in our home

areas

wa

us to see if t he re r e a l l y

a

God.

In a count ry where

r

l i g ion

i s

pa r t o f

the

gover

ment,

it

becomes d i f f i c u l t

see t ha t

a

personal ,

l iv i

re l a t ionsh ip with God can be

r ea l i ty . I t

is

not jus t

fo

and r^uals ,

rather

i t is b

long ittig to

the family

of

G

Tha t

t a k e s th e mundaneriess o

o f

ou r l i v e s and c au se s u s

see

t h a t ll

r e a l

l i v i ng

meeting a resurrected Lo

- and

t h a t i s

wha t we commu

c te

1

apprec ia ted

summer ca

fo r

jus t

those reasons. Y

I also

apprecia ted

meet

wi t h th e

o t h e r

Ch r i s t i a

here in

Europe

and be ing e

couraged by them.

Being

fa r

away from home, vi r tua

cu t

o ff

from fami ly

and fpie

I m

glad

that I m par t of G

family who are not bou

by

dis tance


11/17

NEW THINGS

Severa l new th ings have

be

gun

h e r e a t t h e chu r ch in

Landstuhl.A Wednesday

evening

Bible Study

on

the book of

Ephes lanswas s t a r t e d . A f o r t

n igh t ly Church

Newspaper

was

s t a r t ed . In

t h a t

paper

we give

not

only

in fo rmat ion

of th ings

happening ,bu t

a lso

and

main

ly t each and t r a i n w ith B ib le

doctr ines

such

things

as How

do I

know

God?*, *The Lord*s

Supper* ,

*Pamily

Devot ions* ,

an d M em or ie s .

Th i s

h a s

b e

come a

valuab le

tool

in ge t t i ng

th e

word

o f th e B ib le o u t so

t h a t people can read

and

under

s tand

what

it

says

about these

t h i n g s .

Also, we have begun to

add

books to the Chvirch*3 l ibrary.

Twenty do l l a r s a month was

a l l o t t e d ,

and seven

new

books

five

from

College

Press

have been

added to da t e .

Fina l ly ,a

Church cal l ing pro

gram has

been implemented.

t

i s i n t ended to t r a i n members

in how to ca l l and

evangelize.

A ll

o f

th e s e a re a s

a re

vit l

to t h e work h e r e a t Lands tuh l

Ch r i s t i a n

Church ,

PETITITIONS

FOR PRAYER

1 .

Guidance fo r the

Church

2. Growth

of

the

congregation

and the calling program

3

Expansion of

existing

bui ld ing

U

Bible Correspondence Course

e n r o l l m e n t s

5 Possibility

of expanding

th e Book S to r e

1. Names of Chri st ian/Church

o f

Ch r i s t

mi l i t a r y

o r

c i v i l i a n s here in Germany

2.

Letters of encouragement

3. News of

God s dealings with

you I


12/17

veewe

qn w

TH/UMKVT*

wan *M

uoq.(Jiu0^

l lX xocr

OTAJQp; UOSSXTaT

60J6 i. Xi o ixt aBuxv

UO^XOH Z 299 '^-smsv

IV

^ is^uaSv SuTpaBHJo^

NOISSIH

MVIiSIHHO

aKIJIV

sea t about 12 5 o r

so

We have begun

looking

e th ings tha t ar e going

to be

done

to g e t t h i s

operational. A lo t ofwork

be n eed ed ,

bu t many

have ex

a

wil l ingness -to he lp .

Go d

that

he does an s

1 We have needed

space fo

tha t we ca n

Continue t o p ra y,

_

fo r

tha t

th e space i s available,

to

f ix it up and fill i t

PETITIONS

FOR PRAYER

Guidance

fo r

th e

Church

Growth

of the congregation/

Cal l ing

Program

Book Store

Bible

Correspondence Course

Activit ies

here

in West Ger

many

NEEDS

1 , Names o f C h r is t ia n /C h u r ch o f

Chr i s t mil i t a ry o r

c i v i l -

ians here in Germany

2


13/17

ld someone

i s ,

he

ca n

always

f r om t h o s e wh o h ave e x

an d

c an s pe ak from th e

s so n s le ar ne d dur ing

t h e i r

1

se e

here jh

t h i s

s to ry

many

but I

a lso see

a problem,

very

l a rge

problem, it i s

sm o s t p eo pl e

in

t he C hri s

C h u r c h e s d o not

know

that

Christian Chu r ch ex

f e rhaps a

r e a son

might

e that

it

is

a

m i s s i o n c h u r c h ?

t he r ea so n migh t

be t h a t

t

i s

composed o f

mainly

m il

a nd D e pa rt m en t o f

Defense

It

might be

t h a t s ince

e

congregat ion

he r e

is no t all

l a r g e it does no t

r e a l l y

k e an

impression

i n to

ou r

way

f

t h ink ing? Whatever th e rear

n ltd?

t h i s

seeming ly

anonymi

y , th e

word

must g et o ut .

Peop l e

a re coming to West

who a re

members

o f Chris

Churches ,

an d t h ey

need

to

t h a t we a re h er e;

an d

wi t h

d s h el p, we wi l l cont inue to

h e r e . Perhaps

yo u

know o f

in th e mi l i t a r y who wi l l

e ^o r is)

s t a t i oned he r e in

Germany;

you cound send

ou r

name an d

l o c a t i on , an d

u s

th ei rs, ih at wou l d

be

a

g re a t a s se t to

u s .

Or yo u may v/ant to ge t more

to

pass

on

o r d is

inyoiir congrega t i ontha t

o w i l l

he lp Po r th e

word

g e t ou t t h a t Lands t uh l

church is

a n d

will

to

be

as long as th e

wills an d

tarries

During th e t ime

t h a t

Wiley

wa s

he re ,

we

exper ienced

a

Sunday, I t

seems t ha t

v i s i t o r s came

t h rough

r d oo r. Two (o f the fou r )

have cont inued

coming

a r e gu l a r ba s i s . Now th e

pa r t ,

these tw o

f o u n d th e c h u r c h House

j u st d r iv i n g down

th e

r o ad .

One

fami ly, th e

Plores ,

wa s

he r e

a t

th e

hosp i t a l an d

were

going

home

when Marion

saw

th e

Church s ign

and

ye l l ed to Dennis

Stop

th e c ar

Stop

th e

car

Now

tha t

wa sn t so bad except

t h a t

it

wa s

dur ing

rush

hour ,

t r a f f i c

was backed

up ,

an d

t he re

was no p la ce to stop th e ca r .

So ,

a f t e r

Dennis recovered , he

circled

a ro ia nd a nd

sa w

th e

Church s

s i gn . We have s ince

enjoyed having them

come

to wo r

s hi p w i th us

he re .

We have

a lso begun put t ing them to work,

Marion ,

who

pl ays

th e gu i ta r ,

now h el ps w it h J un io r

Church

during t h e i r song

t im e. Truly

God

ha s

g iv ai u s many su rp r i s es

t h e se

pa s t fe w months .

SUMMER INTERNS

P la ns a re

underway to

develop

a summer

i n t e rn

program

here

a t

La n d s t u h l Ch r i s t i a n

Church ,

We

h a v e

written

to several

Bible

Colleges

t e l l ing o f th e work an d

seeking tw o

to

three

men

and/or

women

who

would

be wi l l i ng

to

work for

a

month

to

six weeks .

During the i r time here,

they

wi l l be given

an

oppor tun it y t o

work

with th i s

congregat ion

i n

p re ac hi ng , t ea ch in g,

ca l l ing ,

o f f ice

work,

an d other

t h i ngs

tha t

go on e here .

Also,

they

wi l l become acquainted

with

other

works

here in Germany (such as

Frankfur t

Chris t ian

Church, t h e

Ott s an d

W a r n e r

s

wo rk

in

E is in ge n, t he Mallory s

inBer^

l in , e tc .) as well as pa r t i c i

pa t i ng in

th e

Summer Camp in

Nor thern I t a l y

an d th e

r ev iva l

tha t

is

being

planned fo r th e

Church

here .

They

wi l l

be

re

qu i r ed to r a i s e

t h e i r

oxm

suppo r t fo r t h i s endeavo r . We

f i gured t h i s shou ld

be

roughly

$1,000 plus a i r

fa re .

If a l l goes we l l

dur ing

t h i s

t ime , it may be t h a t

a f t e r th e

Summer

Camp,

we

would take

a

ff w ex t r a days and

t rave l

th rough

some of

th e

communis t satellite

countr ies

onihe

way

home.

This

wou l d b e done for tw o r e a s o n s .

One,

to show them how vas t ly

different t h o s e c o ii n tr i es a r e

in

comparison

to Western

Euro

pean

Countries

and

th e

United

S t a t e s .

Second,

to

show

them

t h a t th e ne ed

f o r

Ch r i s t

does

no t know any

boundaries.

He is

needed

t h e r e a s much a s an y

where, I

as k

fo r yo u t o p ra y

as

we s ee k t o s er ve t he Lord

in

t h i s

way .

REVIVAL

A r ev iva l

i s being planned

fo r

1962 during th e

summer

months ,

Don

Ra i f o rd ,

Mini s t e r

of

th e

Westview

Chr ist ian

Church,

Shreveport,

juouisiana,

wil l be

t he s pe ak er .

Plans

are now

underway fo r

a

grea t

harvest

for

th e

Lo r d ,

With th e a ss et o f a ca r , th e

cal l ing

program

ha s gotten

u nd erwa y. T he re is a lo t

of

ground work that mus t be

la id

fo r

an

e ff ec ti ve r ev iv al to

occur.

This

year,

we had a mini

r ev iva l

t ime with

Steve

Wet te rnan

,

who

was v is i t ing

h is s i s t e r

here. But adequa t e ground

work

ha d

no t taken

p lace .

So ,

th e

preliminary work is^ already

being

done

in

anticipation^

of

God' s work ing in th e upcoming

revival.

VISITING

FRIENDS

One

of th e

benef i t s

in

coming

t o w or k w h er e a missionary

has

been

fo r years

i s

th e

jo y

o f

g et ti ng t og e th er w it h

other

be

l i e v e r s ,

Suchwas

my ejqperience

a

few weeks ago when

Diane

Mil l e r

(the Church 's

SecretaryJ

an d

I

went t o L i ch te n st e

in

,

West Germany,

to

v i s i t some

f r i ends o f

Diane s ,

We

s t oppe d

in

Eisingen

to p ic k up Bob

an d

Hol ly Warner ,

We f o u n d their h o u s e w i t h

little problem. As we s e t in

th e l i v ing room t a lk ing , I saw

my grea t de f i c i ency in

only

knowing a

little

German, As 1

picked 15) a

word or tw o

here an d

a

phrase

t he r e , Diane would

take

t ime to

expla in

wnat

wa s s a id ,

My German was like some people's

re l igionhad enough

to

bug t hem

b ut n ot enough to bless them )

There were

tw o

h i g h p o in t s t h a t

I

remember f rom ihis f e l l owsn ip .

F i r s t ,

to g e t

German

people

to

hea r

what

yo u sa y yo u m u st s pe ak

to them

th rough you r au t lon s .

Otherwise ,

yo u always

remain a

fo re i gne r

to

them,

' Ihe

second

is

that Gertrud S o iu ts ra e s h u s

band, Nico ,

who

had f o r so

many

y ea rs s ai d t h a t if a

Chr i s t i an

came

t h ro u g h h i s

door , he

wou 1 d

throw hi m out,

wa s

oap t i s ed in to

Christ, B r ai s e t h e L o rd , A

lo t

of

people h ad b ee n p r ay ing

fo r

himand God answers prayer He

i s th e r e su l t o f

w or k d on e by

Rick

Deighton while he

wa s

here

with Alpine Chris t ian Mission,)

It i s good to know t h a t

no

mat ter what

boxandar ies

there a r e ,

they can be overcome in

Chr is t ,

Ni co is e v i d e n c e

of that. We

were

ab l e

to

en joy t h a t t ime o f

f e l lo v j sh i p b e c au s e

o f C h ri st .

PRAYER REQUEST

It s e ems that a J o t of

differ

e nt th in gs are going on

here in

Wes t Ge rmany , Th e

da y

t h a t

1

wa s going to Kaitistein A ir Base

to g et a pass so t h a t I

cou l d

g e t

on t he b as e, a t e r r o r i s t

group

ha d

bombed th e NATOheaa -

qua r t e r s , an d th

o f f .

Even som

wno

worK

tnere

s i d e ,

Hams te

ki lometers

(2,

Landstx ih l .

W

n on e w er e se r i o

c a u s e

a

s e cond

to

ac t i va t e a f

exploded).

Al

o the r a t ta cks

bases and even

Commander in

H

sulted

in t igh

a l l bases

an d

p

Prayer i s ve

here , I

as k yo

terrorists

t h a

may

be softened

may se e t h a t

ch

f ec t ive

through

would

also as k

t ho s e wh o

do

kn

they wi l l exam

t i onsh i p wi th G

Him,

Finally,

to

pray fo r u s.

aged

and

streng

praye r s .

ne

to show C hr is t

in g

tense

and d

BUILDING

In

my

last ne

t ioned a

r e qu e

expanding

th e

ties. On e o f

ings is t rying

th e

phys i c a l

s

God gave us a

e r age

shop ,

l o c

chu rch hou se ,

in January o f

l o rd

Herr

Kolb

would

want to

po sa l wa s tak e

t h e c o n gr e ga t i

We a re to t a ke

th e

first o f F

The

room

is

by

75 f ee t .


14/17

Ipmej

Christian Mission

ield

Add r e s s :

Don Br idge s

aiserstrasse

66

6790

Laund s t u h l

West

Germany

^ ^ 9

R 15 i

NOVEMBER DECEMBER 1981

VOL. 1

BAPTIST^

As we

entered

into the month of November

the Lord added

once

again to

his

family. I

thought

of how nice it is fo r us here on

earth

to

have

a Famiiy with

which

we can

share

enjoy and iove. A

ma n

and woman

unite

with

each other

to live

ou t

these few

short years

together

some

knowing

that

it wiil

never end

and other s t ha t a ft er death they wili never

again see their loved ones.

Those were some

of my thoughts in early

November

as

I

baptised Peggy

BushacKer Into

the Lord

Jesus

Christ. Some may remember

that a few months earlier

her husband

Tim,

was

immersed

into

the

Lord. Now they ar e no

longer

jus t husband and wife they

are

also

b ro th e r and s i s te r

NO.

And

both

of these young

people

have

doing great. They are growing in the

and God

has been

opening

doors of

se

for

them. Peggy has been

a help in

co

ing some

young children.

Tim has

been

to share with friends at work. Pray for

as they

begin their new

walk of faith

DEPARTURE

According to

Job

1:21, The Lord gav

the Lord

ha s taken

away.

Blessed

b

name of the Lord. We enjoy

seeing

p

come

here

to

worship

with us, yet,

our h

ar e heavy

when

we see someone

Especiaiy when we have grown to iove

and ar e no t ready for them to depart.

Such

was the case with Don and

Hoffman. Don left Germany to a

graduate school

in th e

states

(He is a gra

of Cincinnati Bible College). They had

faithful members of the Landstuhl cong

tion since coming to Germany three

ago. Both were quite active in teaching

Sunday

school

leading in morning and

ing

worship and helping around the ch

house.

We

are

very

much going

to

mis

Hoffman family, (ishould note here tha

have two

little giris-Hiilary

and Han

Hannah

wa s learning to say things

distinctly, but she was stiii having a s

problem with my

name.

Who knows to

may forever be Mr. Friges. )

One thing we

did

before

th e

Hoffman

was take

a trip. During

their

tour

here,

and

Sybil did

not^o

very mariy

places.


15/17

asked What one

place would you like to see

before leaving Germany? Then, off we went

to Garmlsch. Now

that 's not

so bad, but we

had

to

convince

Don

that

everytyhing

would

be alright-you see, we left after Thanks

giving, and he was leaving the following

monday for th e statesi

Now Garmlsch i s

a

resort a re a. N ea r

It

are

such s ite s

as

th e Zugspltze (the highest

mountain In Germany), Otwrammergau (where

every

ten

years they put on a six hour play of

Jesus' life), Neushwanstein (the castle that

has been

reproduced

at

Disneyland), and

Linderhof (another

castle

buil t by

the

same

one who

built

Neuschwanstein) . The area

was very beautiful. Although we encountered

snow

in

th e

morning, in

th e afternoon

it

cieared and

we

had

a

b lue sky

to

enjoy th e

s e n e r y

We are going to

miss the

Hoffmans,

but

we

know

that

God

has a

new

area

of

service

fo r

them. We pray that they will be as much a

blessing

to

others

as they have

been

to us

here Sybil

once

said, Why

are

we here, if it

is

no t

to

love

God?

And you know, I think

she is right

CHRISTMAS

EVE

SERVICE

During the month of December, it seems that a

special emphasis is placed on the birth of Jesus-

and rightlyso. And it seems thata lotof congrega

tions have a Christmas

eve

service. Again

this

year, we had a Christmas eve candlelight service.

We had special music

arranged

and everything in

order . Then it began to snow. And it continued

to snow. The

roads

became very dangerous. One

couple, on their way to the church house, slid off

into an

embankment

of snow,

bu t

they did

make

it. Our special music people slid into a guardrail

an d

could

not come. D ist ance

an d

road condi

tions prevented many who had planned on

comingfrom making it. Yet,we still managed to

have 18 people~a good turn out for such bad

condit ions.

And

the

service was very nice. We still had

some special music (on the spotvolunteering) and

the spirit that wasmanifestwas an

encourage

ment. After the service, some of us went to the

Gobies house for fund and fellowship.

The next day, Christmas, i spent with the

Bouslay family. It was a good time of fellowship

and feasting and sharing with each other. Part

of the day Ispent withmyLandlords. Iexchanged

gifts with them and had dinner. It seems

have some pretty good landlords. The w

made

me

some

Christmas decorations of

colorful stars. I

came

home one night and

some

decorated fir

branches

in a

vase.

A

plate of cookies and fruit was sitting next

I have come to really appreciate this family

as Sybilonce told me, I think God has give

this Andyou know, I think

she

is right

MID-WINTER

RALLY

Following

the

time

at Christmas,

we

ed towards Tuebigen and

th e

Mid-W

rally. The

theme this year was Stewar

of Christian Resources. It fell

into

Parts: 1)

Stewardship

of the Word; 2)

S

ardship

of Fellowship;

and

3) Stewardsh

th e

Earth. From

th e

congregation here

of us

went.

It was

held

in a youth hoste

a YMQ on th e Neckar River. Mission

servicemen,

and

civilians from all over E

try to

attend this

gathering. This year, w

about 73 people attending. I headed u

recreation time with games (something

is very unusual for me to do). Yet, the fu

fellowship was

good.

The learning

sessions

were great.^ H

Fowler taught a

minisession

of Stewar

of th e Word-understanding the Bible.

used something

he learned from

Seth

W

years ago. Five simple rules to aid y

understanding the Bible. Let me give

th

you here. First, we must recogniz

meaning of words. Second, we must int

according to

the

grammatical

structure

sentences. Third,

we must reach

passage

in

th e light

of it 's

context.

F

we

mus t t ake into account al l relevant

h

cal circumstances (Who wrote

this?

what?

In

what

form?

To

whom?

When

what purpose?

and

so on.). Fifth, we

interpret in harmony with parallel pas

and

in

th e

light of ail Bible

teaching

o

same subject.

Those

ar e some

guiding

principles.

can

tell

from

this

what

the rest

of

th e

was like. An added note

of

interes

German man came

to one of

the

ses

(Stewardship of the Earth). He is

Christian

and

does not believe

tha

Christians are interested

in th e

ecolo

this

world. Yet, he came away very impr

That was a point of contact for the G

Christians

there at

Tuebigen.


16/17

During the time at Tuebigen, I discussed

the possibiiity with Harold of his coming to

Landstuhl to hold a week long s eminar on

understanding the Bible. He agreed to it if he

could get something organized with the

Italian Chris t ians th t are

in

th is re

(Karlsrule). Harold is a missionary in southern

Italy (Bari) having been there for sixteen

years.

He has wri tten a

three

volume com

mentary on the gospel of Matthew and is

presently working on the fourth volume (Plus

a commentary on the Book of Revelation in

I tal ian.

After the rally was over, we got to talking

about th e summer camp in Molveno, Italy.

If all go who said they would, Landstuhl

should have a representation of about sixteen

people. It will be a

great

time of fun, fellow

ship,

and

spiritual growth

and encouragement.

REFLECTION

Let

me reflect

a moments on

this year

in

Germany. When 1first came, it all seemed so

unreal-the language,

customs,

money,

scenery, and everything appeared to me to be

in a different

world.

And I was I was in

Europe. Having only a small knowledge of

the language, Iwas able to get by (but did not

fully understand everything). At times I

would get frustrated in trying to communi

cate something and not t>eing able. Or I

would try to

understand conversations

or

rules and

be

told

that 's

th e

way

It Is.

When

one is used to a semi-efficient

operation,

and

he comes to a

country

where red tape seems

to prevail-i t is a shock Qui te

often

i have

encountered

well why can't they . . and

It's just not done that way here.

i went to se t up a bank

account.

I was told

that they would have to

send

each check to

America before it

would

clear, and tha t would

take

four

to six

weeks . Four

to six weeks per

check

So left. I returned about a

month

later.

This t ime

I got a

different person

to

open the account. Now Ideposit each check

and four to five

days

later it Is cleared. So I

am Learning the ropes.

Some

people have

told me

that the deutschmark

(German

currency)

seems

like play money to them. At

first, I agreed, i would look at the prices of

items

and say that's too expensive, it's

cheaper in the states. Italy really brought

this

out

where

a candy bar cost 500 lire

or

- ^

r

shoes 59,000 lire.) Now, however, i am

seeing all of this and knowing what the

of exchange is, i don't get so shook at

glance. Yet,I still listen to see how the d

is doing to know whether i will get

salary or a cut in pay. I do this becaus

dollar is not constant. It

fluctuates.

about

all the

money

i

spend

is

German

little American).

There

are so many th

that

are done

differently here. 1

hope

to

s

some

of those

things

in

future letters.

PETITIONS FOR PRAYER

1.

Guidance

fo r the Church

2.Growth of

the

congregationycaiiing

Pr

3. ooks t o r e

4.Bible Correspondance Course

NEEDS

1. Nam^of Christtan orChurch

of C

\ military or^vilians here inGermany.

2.

Letter#

of

encouragement.

3. Newsf

God's

deSfihgs with

you.

4.

Prayere-.

^

' '


17/17

Date post:	02-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	the-missions-network
View:	214 times
Download:	0 times

Bridges Don 1981 Germany

Documents