Archive for February 2012
Moving
Warrenton, Missouri, here we come! After nine years of serving with Child Evangelism Fellowship® at the European headquarters (Kilchzimmer), we have a change of location ahead of us, as we’re moving to CEF’s International headquarters.
So what’s changing with our ministry? Not much, actually. For the last few years we’ve seen our workload swing from 100 percent European projects to a more international role. Most of our work will still be for the ministry in Europe, but we’ll be tackling projects which have a worldwide impact.
When we first started with the ministry at Kilchzimmer, it was hard to imagine working from anywhere but the offices there. In the past several years, we’ve seen major changes happening. Face-to-face meetings are replaced by Skype conference calls as workers do their jobs from their homes or on the road. Files are no longer sent by CD or DVD, but are placed on remote servers.
For a more than a year we have felt unsettled here in Switzerland. We can’t put our finger on it. We just see it as God preparing us for a move. We see an interesting parallel as we read the story of Abram in Genesis 12. He was living in the land of Canaan when God used a famine to move him to Egypt. Has this last year been our famine? For so many years we’ve called Switzerland home. Whenever we were asked how long we would stay our answer was “until God takes us somewhere else.” We’ve enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation here … after all, it is the most beautiful country in the world (in our very humble opinion). Castles and ruins are everywhere. The springtime flowers have never been rivaled. The mountains proclaim the glory of the Lord. Yet, we feel God’s call to end our time here.
We take with us so many good memories and friendships. Lord willing, we go to make new memories, renew old friendships and make new ones.
We have a lot to do. We leave on April 24. Before then we have our stuff to pack (we’ve already been doing that for more than a month). We have a lot of our furniture and household items to sell, and we have our car to sell. We’ll need to do a major cleaning of our apartment before handing it over on April 20. We have many goodbyes to say.
Please pray for us that the Lord would give us strength and endurance. Pray we “end well.” Pray for the co-workers we are leaving behind. Pray the Lord would give our new co-workers patience as we learn the ropes there. Pray God be glorified!
More to come …
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Deep Freeze
For nearly a week we’ve been experiencing very low temperatures here in Switzerland. I don’t ever remember a time when we’ve had such a long cold streak. A lot of people think Switzerland is normally very cold, but the winters, while there can be ample amounts of snow, have temperatures similar to what we experienced in Pennsylvania.
But as the temperatures dip, we see some amazing things happen. Geometric shapes start forming from the ice crystals on the inside of the car windows. The colors outside seem muted, almost as though God opened up Photoshop and desaturated the entire world. The air is so dry and cold outside, when we open our windows for our daily airing out of the apartment, steam rolls out.
We’ve been drying all of our windows at least four times a day and airing out our flat half that much. Airing it out? In these cold temperatures? Well, it’s in our renters agreement, and after living here for nine years, it’s become routine. It helps keep the likelihood of mold and mildew to a minimum.
The news reports coming from around Europe indicate we’ve gotten off rather well compared to Poland and the Ukraine, when hundreds have frozen to death in the streets. And then I have to think about God’s goodness … that we have a warm apartment to call home when others don’t.
And then something today struck me. A few years back, my father gave a copy of David Roper’s book Psalm 23; The song of a passionate heart. In it, Mr. Roper speaks so clearly about the Good Shepherd, who takes care of His sheep, especially through times of trouble. In reading it, I’ve come to find out that Ruth Bell Graham was a prolific writer. Mr. Roper often quotes others, and her prose is spread through out the book. In it, I found this gem:
For all who knew the shelter of The Fold,
its warmth and safety and The Shepherd’s care,
and bolted;
choosing instead to fare out in the cold, the night,
revolted by guardianship,by Light;
lured by the unknown; eager to be out and on their own;
freed to water where they may, feed where they can,
live as they will: till they are cured,
let them be cold, ill;
let them know terror;
feed them with thistle, weed and thorn;
who choose the company of wolves,
let them taste the companionship wolves give to helpless strays;
but, oh! let them live–wiser though torn!
And wherever, however far away they roam,
follow and watch and keep
Your stupid, wayward, stubborn sheep,
and someday bring them Home!
How often I have been that stupid, wayward, stubborn sheep! Choosing the freezing solitude instead of the warm embrace of our Heavenly father. Wanting to do my own stupid thing until I get hurt and go limping back. And then he takes me as I am. Freezing, shivering and hungry.
Thank you, Lord.