1 March 2010
Greetings Everyone!
The last several months have been quite both rousing and tiresome. Since we last wrote, we traveled to the East Coast of the US for three weeks in October. We visited Cleveland, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Chicago, Cleveland, then back to Baltimore all in the first week. What an absolute blessing all of those believers were that we spent time with. The second week we spent preparing for the yearly missions conference at Perry Hall Baptist which was exceptionally well done. We were able to visit many classes at Perry Hall Christian school, several Sunday School classes, and a number of home Bible studies. We met several new families that were encouraging to us since they were so interested in missions in general. The last week was spent seeing everyone that supports us and seeing our families. Our question as we arrived home in Mannheim was, "Why don't we see any families of 8 traveling in those vacation commercials on television?" The children really had a great time and Theresa and I also enjoyed the process. Thanks to everyone that provided for us while we were vagabonds and prayed for our travels.
Living Hope Community Church is almost a year old now and we are slowly growing. We are 6 families and we include the children in our worship services. We often say there was no nursery at the Catholic church. If we could learn to sit for an hour when we were children, then our children can listen and learn what we do when we worship the Lord. Our children have learned a lot and our adults have taken the responsibility to guide the children in proper behavior. We also have begun to meet for Sunday School watching the video series "From Christ to Constantine: The History of the Early Church." For our worship, we spent almost 8 months looking at the Book of James in every detail. James has a lot to say about practical living as a Christian in a world of talkers. James says prove it! We have moved into the Book of Romans which has been absolutely perfect for our needs as a group. We meet the last Sunday of the month for Communion and to eat lunch together. The planting of a church is a great task that I would not trade.
The Fall turned into the Winter and we had more snow in Mannheim then ever before and the temperature has been colder then any time in Mannheim's history. I have loved every minute of it!!! The first Sunday in January brought a new family to the church and the conference rooms were closed as we arrived at our facility. We drove through the snow to this new family's home to worship the Lord. It must have been the first time in history that a first time visitor to a church was asked to host the service in their home. This sweet family has been faithful in our worship every week since. How's that for a church growth strategy for you??? Jesus just wants to use us. Be available for Him!!
The Byron family learned to spend time together at home through the Christmas season. Our traditional trip to Rothenburg O.T. during the Christmas Market season was cancelled this year as our 94 Chevrolet Suburban with 328,000 miles sat lame because of a transmission problem. After many hours reading and several part replacements, the truck still would not roll. We decided to find another vehicle which we could use for ministry as well as for our growing family (the children are getting bigger!!) We found a 2003 Ford 15 passenger van in New York that fit the bill. We purchased it and had it shipped to us. The total cost came to $11,000. The van has been perfect for our needs as we transport 1 extra family every week to and from the church as well as our complete family and there is still space for more. I hope to start a youth group by using the van to transport kids for an evening of fellowship, Bible discovery, and fun every Friday. Pray for the beginning!!
Our Wednesday evening Bible study just finished looking at the 1689 Baptist Confession. We spent more than a year working through this aged document and debating the statements found therein. We have come to understand doctrine and church polity personally as we answered many questions week after week. Much of the document we would agree with but not everything and now we know what we believe much better. Now we have moved to a study of Colossians which is being led by a solid man in our church.
The children are growing strong in their bilingual abilities. Hannah is now 13 and is working through grade 8. She also has loved her soccer teams. She is now playing basketball for a 13-15 junior girls club. Josiah is cranking out his grade 5 work. He is a fine student. He would really like to play football all year. His first season of tackle football last Fall really hooked him. He worked his way into the starting Linebacker position on his 10-12 bantam team. Sarah is our girly girl. She works hard at her grade 4 school work. She loves her cheerleading team and enjoys teaching us her cheers. Micah has been slow to learn to read but he really tries hard. Theresa works with him continually. He also loves sports and has the most aptitude of all of the children. He has enjoyed his basketball games as well as playing flag football last Fall. Noah makes pictures for my office and he loves basketball and his team. Zach loves books and joining the scrum that often develops when the boys play. All of the children are fully involved in AWANA. Josiah and Sarah placed in the AWANA Quiz weekend Feb 20th. The older children are also involved in our Wednesday Bible study. Children are a blessing of the Lord and we can say AMEN!!
We are thankful for each of you that give on our account and pray for us and our church. We really would not be able to minister here without your help. As William Carey told Andrew Fuller as he departed for India in 1793 using the metaphor of a miner, "I will go down into the abyss if you hold the rope." Fuller said later, “Before he went down we engaged (i.e. made a serious commitment) that while he lived we would never let go the rope.” You have been our Andrew Fuller as this marks now our fifth year in Germany. Thank you for holding the rope!!
In His service and for His Glory,
James & Theresa Byron
Hannah, Josiah, Sarah, Micah, Noah, Zach
www.livinghopewalldorf.com
The last several months have been quite both rousing and tiresome. Since we last wrote, we traveled to the East Coast of the US for three weeks in October. We visited Cleveland, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Chicago, Cleveland, then back to Baltimore all in the first week. What an absolute blessing all of those believers were that we spent time with. The second week we spent preparing for the yearly missions conference at Perry Hall Baptist which was exceptionally well done. We were able to visit many classes at Perry Hall Christian school, several Sunday School classes, and a number of home Bible studies. We met several new families that were encouraging to us since they were so interested in missions in general. The last week was spent seeing everyone that supports us and seeing our families. Our question as we arrived home in Mannheim was, "Why don't we see any families of 8 traveling in those vacation commercials on television?" The children really had a great time and Theresa and I also enjoyed the process. Thanks to everyone that provided for us while we were vagabonds and prayed for our travels.
Living Hope Community Church is almost a year old now and we are slowly growing. We are 6 families and we include the children in our worship services. We often say there was no nursery at the Catholic church. If we could learn to sit for an hour when we were children, then our children can listen and learn what we do when we worship the Lord. Our children have learned a lot and our adults have taken the responsibility to guide the children in proper behavior. We also have begun to meet for Sunday School watching the video series "From Christ to Constantine: The History of the Early Church." For our worship, we spent almost 8 months looking at the Book of James in every detail. James has a lot to say about practical living as a Christian in a world of talkers. James says prove it! We have moved into the Book of Romans which has been absolutely perfect for our needs as a group. We meet the last Sunday of the month for Communion and to eat lunch together. The planting of a church is a great task that I would not trade.
The Fall turned into the Winter and we had more snow in Mannheim then ever before and the temperature has been colder then any time in Mannheim's history. I have loved every minute of it!!! The first Sunday in January brought a new family to the church and the conference rooms were closed as we arrived at our facility. We drove through the snow to this new family's home to worship the Lord. It must have been the first time in history that a first time visitor to a church was asked to host the service in their home. This sweet family has been faithful in our worship every week since. How's that for a church growth strategy for you??? Jesus just wants to use us. Be available for Him!!
The Byron family learned to spend time together at home through the Christmas season. Our traditional trip to Rothenburg O.T. during the Christmas Market season was cancelled this year as our 94 Chevrolet Suburban with 328,000 miles sat lame because of a transmission problem. After many hours reading and several part replacements, the truck still would not roll. We decided to find another vehicle which we could use for ministry as well as for our growing family (the children are getting bigger!!) We found a 2003 Ford 15 passenger van in New York that fit the bill. We purchased it and had it shipped to us. The total cost came to $11,000. The van has been perfect for our needs as we transport 1 extra family every week to and from the church as well as our complete family and there is still space for more. I hope to start a youth group by using the van to transport kids for an evening of fellowship, Bible discovery, and fun every Friday. Pray for the beginning!!
Our Wednesday evening Bible study just finished looking at the 1689 Baptist Confession. We spent more than a year working through this aged document and debating the statements found therein. We have come to understand doctrine and church polity personally as we answered many questions week after week. Much of the document we would agree with but not everything and now we know what we believe much better. Now we have moved to a study of Colossians which is being led by a solid man in our church.
The children are growing strong in their bilingual abilities. Hannah is now 13 and is working through grade 8. She also has loved her soccer teams. She is now playing basketball for a 13-15 junior girls club. Josiah is cranking out his grade 5 work. He is a fine student. He would really like to play football all year. His first season of tackle football last Fall really hooked him. He worked his way into the starting Linebacker position on his 10-12 bantam team. Sarah is our girly girl. She works hard at her grade 4 school work. She loves her cheerleading team and enjoys teaching us her cheers. Micah has been slow to learn to read but he really tries hard. Theresa works with him continually. He also loves sports and has the most aptitude of all of the children. He has enjoyed his basketball games as well as playing flag football last Fall. Noah makes pictures for my office and he loves basketball and his team. Zach loves books and joining the scrum that often develops when the boys play. All of the children are fully involved in AWANA. Josiah and Sarah placed in the AWANA Quiz weekend Feb 20th. The older children are also involved in our Wednesday Bible study. Children are a blessing of the Lord and we can say AMEN!!
We are thankful for each of you that give on our account and pray for us and our church. We really would not be able to minister here without your help. As William Carey told Andrew Fuller as he departed for India in 1793 using the metaphor of a miner, "I will go down into the abyss if you hold the rope." Fuller said later, “Before he went down we engaged (i.e. made a serious commitment) that while he lived we would never let go the rope.” You have been our Andrew Fuller as this marks now our fifth year in Germany. Thank you for holding the rope!!
In His service and for His Glory,
James & Theresa Byron
Hannah, Josiah, Sarah, Micah, Noah, Zach
www.livinghopewalldorf.com
