Greetings Dear Friends,                                         1 September 2006

We have finally come down from the valley. It feels like we have been burdened with a lot of ministry in a high altitude environment. There has been little time to come up for air. All of the commotion started at the end of January when we received permission to begin renovating the new church facility. We worked until May 7th when we started having Sunday Worship Service. Not one week passed before I was asked to help a friend finish the renovation of his new apartment he had purchased. He helped with the initial stages of renovation at the new church facility then began work on his apartment. He completely dismantled the interior then discovered he was unable to put it together again. Unlike Humpty Dumpty, I was able to put it together again but with many hours invested. We worked until the day before he needed to move before we completed the project. That was the end of July. The first 2 weeks of August I spent working on our attic building 3 bedrooms for our children. That project is still underway. The middle of August saw my mother and niece come to visit us. They stayed 10 days with trips to Paris, Speyer (2x), Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Saarbrucken, and of course all of the attractions in Mannheim. Being the tour guide was exhausting but fulfilling. Our guests said they had a wonderful time. Immediately from dropping my mother & niece at the airport for their return flight, I went to help a missionary friend begin moving back to America. He came to Germany 3 years ago and never was able to grasp the language or the culture. He fought for 2 years in language school which filled his head with the language but that never translated to speaking fluently. He transferred his ministry to an American Military Church in Heidelberg. There he had problems working with the Pastor and finally gave in to his desire to return to America. After 10 days of heavy work, he and I were able to move all of his things into a garage in Heidelberg, deal with his 2 cars, and get him to the airport on time. I delivered him and his family to the airport on Friday and spent Saturday disposing of the rest of his things that would not fit into the garage. We still have his car to sell and I will be packing his container when he finds a good price for shipment to America. His case is normal I guess. From the statistics, most missionaries return from the field because they are not able to work together with other missionaries. There was not one person from his church that came alongside to help him move or pack. This man spent more than 5 years seeking support to come to Germany and now he is gone. We were sorry to see him go but we understand Germany was not the place for him. The German Christians also noted how different he was and how he did not fit the German culture. Life in Germany for a Independent Fundamental King James Only Baptist is impossible. The only Independent Fundament Baptist works that are sustainable are with the American Military. There have been attempts to bring that brand of Christianity from America to Germany but they fail. The church we work with is only successful in that we do not force our cultural ideas on the people of the church but we let them tailor the church to their culture. We help them strive to be Biblical within the culture they find themselves. So far they have existed for 22 years and have established a sister church.

Now I have a break from the pressure of all of the work to repair my failing automobile and restore my office to the order I like it to have. Next week I can begin to finish the work on the attic rooms. Hopefully they will be completed in a month.

We have started a youth group on Friday evenings. We meet every other week for Bible time and activities. School vacation has caused a little disturbance. School goes through the end of July then the students have a 6 week vacation. School will start in 2 more weeks. Then we will have all of the kids back and we can get some momentum. All of the kids are between 12 and 14 with only 1 girl to seven boys. Pray for our patience and care for these kids. Only 2 of the 8 kids are saved which makes for an interesting mix.

The children are all growing along with the occasional illness. Hannah has started grade 5 and began to mature. She will be 10 on the 11th of September. She makes us realize David's words "Lord teach us to number our days,That we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 I say to Theresa we shall be in heaven soon. Under normal circumstances, she has lived half of her 20 years she will be with us. Sarah will be 6 on the 17th of September and has started grade 1. She still cries for the least infraction but she is learning to control her emotions. Josiah, Micah and Noah all share a room that is 10x6 which made the attic rooms a necessity. Josiah has started grade 2 and he loves to play soccer already. Video games are another joy to him. He is one of the best racers I have seen. Of course spending full days in front of the television during his summer break helped. Actually, playing the games has helped him focus his attention on his other tasks. Micah is 4 and loves to follow. He has been able to ride a bike since before he was 3 and now we go for extended rides all over the area. There are bike paths every where in every town. Noah is learning to talk and uses half English and half German words.

Life here is different yet we have adapted nicely. The German people have continued to be encouraging to us. They want us here and that is a blessing from the Lord as confirmation of our decision to come to Germany. You have made this life and ministry possible by supporting us financially and by your many hours of prayer for us. God has blessed your requests on our behalf.

We pray for all of you as the Lord brings you to our collective mind. This week with all of the moving we received another article of furniture and another reminder to pray for our departed missionary friends. Those things we have received from our moving adventures, we use as reminders to pray for those that gave them to us. For every card or email we are reminded to pray for your needs. I will try to communicate monthly. I have been put to shame by 3 pastors that write monthly and 1 that writes weekly to his congregation. Pray that I will have the discipline to do it.

Much Love,

Jim & Theresa
Mannheim, Germany