Dear Friends,                                          Winter 2005

Manifold blessings from wintry Baltimore.  We are full of good news and exciting plans for the spring and summer.  Theresa delivered Noah John at St. Joseph Hospital on January 26^th at 21:40 weighing 4030 grams/ 8lbs 14ozs and being 53 cm/ 21 in long.  After 2 days of induced labor, Theresa was worn out but did not have any complications.  We are very thankful for the smooth delivery and the health of all of the participants. 

Jim has been busy contacting pastors regarding support for our work in Mannheim.  He is scheduled to speak to a class at the Baltimore School of the Bible about deputation and calling as a missionary.  We are also scheduled to visit Lynchburg, VA to speak to a missions committee about our ministry and their possible involvement.  We are being considered at a number of churches as missionaries for support.  Please pray as our time is short before we depart for Mannheim.

After spending much time praying and talking with pastors and missionaries, we have decided to leave for Mannheim in June of this year.  We are currently preparing to leave Baltimore at the end of April.  Jim’s Grandmother will be selling her home and moving into the apartment Jim completed in his parent’s home.  This has been a great answer to our prayers.

Jim will be traveling to Mannheim on March 7 – 22 to find a house for us to rent and discuss other transitional details that we need to take care of before we move.  After he returns, we will begin to pack the container for a shipping date at the end of April.  Our container will take 6 weeks to arrive in Mannheim which will make life a little more difficult.  We hope to travel across the USA during this time to visit all of those that support us.  We will then sell our vehicle in Los Angeles and depart from there to Germany at the end of May.

We are currently supported at the 50% level and we are taking this step believing this is God’s timing.  I found in a book I recently read, a definition of faith that is excellent.  The author wrote, “Faith is not believing in spite of the evidence, it is the courage to act on that belief regardless of the consequences.”  We are acting on the belief that we have been called by God to Mannheim.  We are exhilarated by the beginning of our goal to minister in Mannheim, Germany with the Freie Baptisten Gemeinde.  The church in Mannheim is excited about us coming.  The new church will begin having services in September and we will be able to help with all that is needed. 

 Language school will be the first order of business when we arrive.  We have been preparing by using the Muzzy German program for children.  Muzzy was produced by the BBC for use by children to have a good start on learning the language.  Our children have learned a significant amount since we started last September.  Theresa has also benefited from the exposure.  Jim is eager to work out the bugs in his grammar and begin to more effectively use the language.

With all of that said, we are the most blessed to be asked to move to Mannheim and work with a group of believers that is supremely concerned with the salvation of their neighbors in the north of Mannheim.  There exists no evangelical church for that group of 30,000 people.  As one pastor I spoke to asked, “If the fire department, police department, and medical care can be located in every community, shouldn’t there be a church in each community to reach the population?”  Completely well said!  We are praying for those that God has yet to call unto himself from Mannheim North.

If you have an email address and have not received email from us, then please send us your email address.  We communicate more frequently via email and the cost is much lower.  An airmail letter from Germany will cost more than 2 dollars to send.  Viewing our website is also, a great way to keep in touch with what we are doing.

Kindly remember to pray for us.

1)    The many details regarding our move.

2)   The believers, church and vision for a new church plant in Mannheim.

3)    Our finances as we act in faith.

Love in Christ, Ganz liebe Grüße!