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 …

The days leading up to the opening of the Children’s Ministry Leadership Course are always frantic. Handbooks to prepare, student notes to be printed, room- duty- and travel- lists to be created, and meals to plan. It’s all a part of the preparation for new students coming for the three month course.

Usually we’re faced with one difficulty or another just before the course starts. The photocopier breaks down. An unexpected student shows up on our doorstep. One of the vehicles won’t start. Unfortunately, the difficulty for the Autumn course wasn’t with something … it was someone. A very important someone. Sonja Ballou has been the cook at Kilchzimmer for several years now, taking over from Liz Cannon when she retired. The Friday before the course started, Sonja slipped going down a flight of stairs and broke a bone in her foot. At first, the break wasn’t thought to be too serious, however, after a weekend of constant pain, Sonja went to the hospital the following Monday … where they prepped her for surgery. Sonja’s out of commission for at least six weeks, and Liz graciously agreed to come back and help … for a while. That’s a huge blessing for us, but we realize she can’t do it alone. We are in major need of prayer at the moment … for the right person or people to come and help as a cook at Kilchzimmer for the next two months. We would also really appreciate your prayers for Sonja as she was already having tremendous knee pain and was facing surgery for that. Now those plans are up in the air.

The good news is, the Lord is already helping in various ways. The students are a blessing. Always eager to help and quick in doing their chores. It’s fun getting to know them as well. We’ve students from England, Northern Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Romania and the United States. Their backgrounds are even more varied. Several students feel led to join Child Evangelism Fellowship®, which we are very thankful for.

In the Multimedia department, we’re grateful to welcome Grace Hughes, from Portadown, Northern Ireland. Grace is a talented photographer who has joined us for three months to help in any way she can. She is always eager to lend a hand and always has a smile on her face. She’s also willing to help with the house, doing some cleaning, which takes a tremendous load off of our already strained house team.

Please pray for Grace as well, as she gets settled in and gets used to working with such a wild and crazy team. Please also pray for Brent, as he provides oversight for Grace these next three months. It’s not something he’s used to doing and could use all the wisdom and guidance the Lord can give him.

CEF European Center

In 1971, Child Evangelism Fellowship® purchased a little group of buildings on a small plot of land in the hills above the Swiss village of Langenbruck. It was at that time that CEF started its 40 year presence at Kilchzimmer!

A lot has changed over the years. After purchasing the site, Kilchzimmer underwent tremendous renovations to the main house as well as the barn. Workers from across the globe came and went, and each year, students with a heart for children took the three month training course.

Other renovations took place at the turn of the 21st century, including a new kitchen, dining room, worker apartments and guest rooms. The roof has been replaced in several places. New front steps and a ramp was installed, and the summer house was restored to its former glory.

This coming Saturday, June 18th, we will have an open house celebration, praising the Lord for His bountiful provision of 40 years of ministry at Kilchzimmer!