So close…

A couple of evenings ago Amy was being very disobedient. She went to bed screaming and kicking and making all of us miserable. I calmed her down (it took quite a while) and then shared with her how she was making God sad by disobeying mommy and daddy. She got this big frown, and I realized I had a teachable moment, so I quietly and gently shared the Gospel with her. She said she wanted God to help her be a good girl, but when I asked if she wanted Jesus to forgive her sins, she shook her head no. I just smiled at knowing His timing, not mine will prevail. I just wanted to ask you to pray for us as we see spiritual development in her life.

-Brent

Finishing the race!

Can you believe it! I ran in a 5.5 km race – the Basler Stadtlauf! (Basel city run) I have been training off and on for nearly three months. While my time wasn't a record-breaker, this is a huge event in my life. The story starts last year after my brother Jay died and Christopher was born. I was very depressed and ate my feelings away. I realized I needed to do something and in October, got an exercise bike and now bike 4-5 times a week, going anywhere from 30-50km. I completely changed my eating habits (not a diet, but a lifestyle change) and have lost 76 lbs (34 kilos)! I still have 6 more pounds to go, but Lord-willing, He'll help me finish the race!

God at work

It's always exciting to hear how God is working in the hearts of children through the materials we produce. Here's how God is using the booklet Meet the King in the life of a child:

"A grandmother from Denmark told a wonderful story. Her grandchild had never heard the Gospel from her parents because they are not interested in God. The grandmother gave the girl a copy of Meet the King. Several weeks later, the grandchild told her grandmother 'I have asked Jesus to come into my heart and be my Saviour!'

The other day both of them travelled by train and sat next to a young man. Suddenly the child asked him 'Can I tell you a story?' The man was surprised but said 'yes'. The child took Meet the King from her bag and told him the story exactly word for word."

The Church that moves

We had the tremendous opportunity to go to the Freie Evangelische Gemeinde (Free Evangelical Church) in St. Gallen for their very first service in their new building. This is the church we called home for three months as we attended language school five years ago. The church is also known as Stami, short for Stadt Mission. Their tagline is "The Church that Moves," and it certainly lived up to that name this weekend.Pastor Gust Ledergerber (which happens to be my grandmother's maiden name) shared how the Lord brought the church to the new location, closing door after door in order to bless the church even more than they expected. The location could not have been better. Centrally located in the middle of the city, it's across from the hospital and a highway off ramp. It's also a two-minute walk from the St. Fiden train station, one of the two rail hubs in the city.After the church bid on the property, the owner was offered an additional 10,000 Swiss Francs by a cult. He wasn't a believer, but God had been working in his life and he refused the second offer, losing the additional money he could have made.

The music was outstanding. The preaching was even better–focusing on 2 Chronicles 6 and 7. Pastor Ledergerber shared the need for the church to continue it's path of equipping the saints, reaching out into the city and winning souls for Christ. We felt like we had never been away and were warmly welcomed.

Stami has a long way to go. Please pray for the church as it seeks to share the need for the Lord Jesus Christ in a spiritually struggling city. Please also pray for the finances needed to pay off the new building.

A fine autumn day

I love the autumn time, when the leaves turn their beautiful colors and the air gets a chill. September in Switzerland was very cold, rainy and dreary. There was hardly a day with sunshine. October has given us some great weather, however, and we've spent several days enjoying God's creation. A few Sundays ago after church, we stopped in Balsthal beside the main road. There's a walkway there lined with trees, and they gave such a glow! After lunch, we headed to the cross overlooking Holderbank and was surprised to see just a tiny bit of the Alps peaking over the horizon. Amy even pointed them out and gasped!

God Cares about You

Most of my time this summer has been spent working on the new Bible correspondence course, God Cares about You. After several design stages I took them to ten different children for their input. There was some excellent feedback and some interesting observations. Changes to the lessons were made yet again and last week David, a volunteer from N. Ireland, helped cut down and piece all the printouts together (shown in the photo). This week I've been sending prototypes to children around Switzerland, the UK and US for more input.

This input from children is extremely important to us. Often, adults who work with kids think they know what children want, (especially CEF workers!) but can actually have many wrong ideas.

Please pray as we continue to work on these lessons to make them the best they can be! We're also asking you to pray they would be ready by the end of November so we can get them translated, printed and into the hands of children who need to hear the Gospel of Christ!

Persecution in Central Asia

An ever-increasing wave of persecution is hitting CEF® workers in Central Asia. One worker in the region was recently imprisoned for 10 days and was warned the next time he is caught teaching children about Christ he would be imprisoned for 10 years.

Another couple in Tajikistan has seen their ministry all but stop due to the government forbidding more and more activities. Things that were possible just a few years ago such as Good News Clubs, Bible correspondence courses and camps have been shut down. They have also been interrogated several times by the secret police.

Please pray for the safety of our workers in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and the Lord to provide open doors for ministry.

Chris is one!

Last Wednesday we celebrated Christopher's first birthday! He had lots of fun opening his gifts and playing with the wrapping paper. He did eventually enjoy the gifts themselves! Gotti was able to join us (Both Chris and Amy's Godmother) and Amy even got a couple of presents. We had a bit of cake and games, but overall we kept it low-key. After all, he didn't really know what was going on!

Church Retreat

We spent this past weekend in Adelboden on our church retreat, which was exciting, tiring, fun, wet, sweaty, tasty, laughable and wonderful all rolled into one! Our church, the Frei Evangelische Gemeinde (Free Evangelical Church) in Balsthal, started the retreat with a cookout followed by a hike to the Engstligenfall, a huge waterfall (of which we could only see half because of the low clouds.)

Saturday evening we were in charge of the game and fun time and had lots of fun with "chubby bunny", team ski races, skits and silly stuff. I think one of my ribs popped out of place laughing so hard.

We worshipped together Sunday morning and enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon throwing baseball, playing basketball, chasing Amy and playing with a squealing Christopher. Both of the kids had lots of fun, but we were certainly glad to get home to our nice cozy beds.

God provides

As has happened around the globe, food prices have gone up in Switzerland in recent months. But God has been providing for us! We've had the opportunity to pick red currants at Kilchzimmer and red and black raspberries around Holderbank. Our neighbors have some huge raspberry bushes around their yard, but they haven't been picked for several years. They told us we could pick all we want! We were able to pick several quarts of berries and Amy's had fun cleaning them, too. It may sound like small potatoes, but we estimate to have picked more than $100 worth of berries this summer. God provides!

Welcome to our blog!

After seeing the excellent examples of what others have done through blogspot.com, we decided to start our own for a couple of reasons. First, it's easy. We already have a full blown Web site, but it can be very time-consuming to update. Usually we give much more in-depth stories on our Web site, but they tend to be long. Second, it helps to keep our friends and supporters more easily involved in our lives and ministry through short updates and timely prayer requests. Third, it's fun. We enjoy sharing the joys and struggles of our home life and ministry, and thank God for such an easy way to communicate.

Enjoy our blog, and come back often!

-Brent