Greetings! Winter 2004
Our last communiqué was at the beginning of November so we decided not to send a letter at Christmas. Now we are at the beginning of the year and we are expecting great things from the Lord. We are earnestly praying for our total support amount to be pledged so we are able to leave for Mannheim this year.
The last three months have been taken up with church activities, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and work to fill the bank account so we can continue our deputation. I spent most of November replacing a roof and building a bathroom for 2 family friends that have been gracious to employ me. In January I spent much of my time completing our website and planning our yearly trip to Los Angeles. We will be leaving on February 20th for Louisville, KY for a missions meeting on the 22nd. Then we will be traveling to Tulsa, OK to meet with friends then on to L.A. We will be in the Los Angeles area from 2/28 until at least 3/17. We have 2 churches at which to speak and many friends to visit. We hope to have a couple of more meetings in California before we return east.
I just returned from Mannheim on January 27th with a refreshed vision for what we are planning to do. I have wanted to return to visit the leaders of the Freie Baptisten Gemeinde (FBG) and encourage them in our deputation. Everything worked together so I could make the trip. I was tremendously encouraged by all that we discussed. The church is waiting for our arrival to begin a new church plant in the north of Mannheim. I was able to visit the area and discuss the plans with the leadership regarding how this will be accomplished. The members of the FBG are praying for the new work and approximately 40 people are decidedly in favor of moving to the new work.
This area in north Mannheim has no gospel witness. The need is great in this area of the world which has been lost to the assumption that it is already Christian. There is only 2%-3% of the population that is born again with very little availability for exposure to the true gospel. Compared to the United States born again population conservatively estimated at 30%, the European community is far behind. This statistic is not the driving force behind our desire to minister in Germany. God will call His people according to His will yet He uses human agency to accomplish His means. We desire to be that human agency in Mannheim for His glory. That is the driving force for our desire.
There is almost no witness for the gospel in Mannheim. There is no radio or television outreach, one Christian book store, and 12 evangelical churches with one being of the Baptist tradition. And at the ground level, there are very few born again Christians to do the work of the ministry. What Mannheim needs are Christians reaching fellow Mannheimers with their lives and words of truth. Our statistic of 2%-3% does not do justice to the reality of only 12 churches with a total of 1000 people in attendance. Generously the born again population in the Mannheim area would stand at 1500 believers. This is only .5% or half of 1 percent of the population of the city of Mannheim.
So now we work to reach our goal of ministering full time in Mannheim. Theresa is teaching Hannah and Josiah at home through the supervision of Cornerstone Christian School. The children are progressing very well with their studies. Sarah and Micah are learning to be a productive part of the Byron family. Theresa has devised a chart that marks the work that each child must accomplish in the day. And they must do their work as unto the Lord as they learn Colossians 3:23. All of the children have been in AWANA this year and they have made friends at our church through this excellent program.
In our last letter we ask you to consider financially supporting our work. From that request, several new supporters have graciously decided to help us reach the city of Mannheim. Through their gifts we will be able to bless the believers in Mannheim and to witness to the 99.5% of unbelievers that populate that spiritually bereft city. There are many worthy and unworthy deposits for our financial trust. We ask you to consider how you are dispersing that trust on the Lord's behalf. Consider being one of our benefactors as we give our trust and our lives to this most worthy goal.
Kindly remember to pray for us.
1) Safety as we travel many miles.
2) For prayer and financial supporters.
3) We reach Mannheim within the next 9 months.
4) The believers, church and vision for a new church plant in Mannheim.
Love in Christ, Ganz liebe Grüße!
Jim, for all of us.
