Wow! The past two weeks have been overwhelmingly busy! And yet deeply rewarding at the same time. On Friday, August 1, we moved our belongings into the new apartment in Wesseling. Thanks to Cezar Layug who came by the apartment in Siegburg and picked us up with our things to take us to Aachener Straße in Wesseling. We barely got things in the front door of the apartment until I had to leave to go to the Friday evening choir practice. Saturday was a frantic effort to set up things in the apartment to prepare for the arrival of the team members of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board who arrived on Monday afternoon. We kept two of the team members here at the apartment. So on Sunday evening after the worship service a second guest bed was secured, brought over to the apartment, and set up. Kimberlee and Sandra then had a single bed each to use in one of the guest bed rooms during the week.

August 3 Worship Service

08_08_03_Gottesdienst

The worship service on August was a Lord's Supper emphasis Sunday. We have moved back to the early tradition of the church observing communion on the first Sunday of each month. For a copy of the Sunday bulletin click here. God continues to bless the church with more former members returning to active participation in the life of the church. Also we continue to have visitors from different parts of the world attending our service. The attendance is gradually increasing in the service. Most importantly God continues to bless the church and the worship services.

August 8 Baptism Service

08_08_09_Baptism

 

On Friday evening, August 8, we had our first baptismal service as pastor of the church. Because the facility where we regularly meet doesn't have a baptistry, we used the facilities of our sister congregation, die Friedenskirche Baptisten Gemeinde in downtown Cologne. For a copy of the Order of Worship click here. Henry and Linda Okundaye were baptized into full membership of the church. Earlier they had completed a study session with me regarding the scriptural meaning of baptism, and the church approved their baptism the Sunday prior to the service. We pray that this will be the beginning of many such baptismal services. The tradition and practice of baptism among European Baptists is somewhat different than in the United States. A lot of emphasis is upon the very special occasion that this service presents.

August 10 Worship Service

08_08_10_Gottesdienst

 

On Sunday August 10 we celebrated International Day in the service. Songs were presented in three different languages, many dressed in native dress from their homeland, and the ladies prepared dishes reflecting their homeland for a pot luck dinner afterwards. The team members from the Virginia Baptist Mission Board were present. Many visitors, both former members and first time visitors, were present in the service. We had a special prayer of blessing for the students who began the public school year on Monday, August 11. One of the families in the church had a new baby earlier in the summer, so Monique and Edward Bongben Jikong brought little Vinella forward for a prayer of dedication. The service was packed full of extras but God blessed in a wonderful way. The attendance was among the highest for the summer.

At the end of the service the church had Claire and I stand at the front. The leadership of the church presented us with gifts as a token of appreciation for the work this summer. Also a plaque of Cologne was given to us to present to the First Baptist Church, Shelby, NC, as an expression of Christian friendship and partnership in the cause of the Gospel. We will present this to our church in Shelby after arriving back home on Thursday of this week.

As we come to the close of the summer in Germany many emotions swirl around in our heads. We are anxious to see friends back in North Carolina. Yet, much sadness is present as we leave our new home in Wesseling, and the church family that has so wonderfully embraced us this summer. There awaits both Claire and me the final semester of our teaching careers. After several decades of long hours devoted to teaching, retirement beginning in January will mean a dramatic change in lifestyle for both of us. But ministry will continue on. With our permanent move to Wesseling at the end of December our focus will be on serving the IBC church Cologne along with more time devoted to a writing ministry.

We fly from Frankfurt to Charlotte on Thursday. As we leave Germany after two months, we do so with the tremendous satisfaction of having been privileged to watch God mightily at work in the life of a small congregation in the heart of one of the larger metropolitan centers in Germany. We came to the church on June 14 when it was struggling to keep its doors open and was unsure of whether or not it would survive the hurt and abuse that had been done against it. We leave a strong and vibrant church that is excited about the future as never before. The pain of the past is now history; the focus is on the future in anticipation of the wonderful things God has in store for the church. On the first of September we move into new meeting facilities that are absolutely beautiful and attractive to prospective members. On that very Sunday, Calvin and Betty Ann Hogue, the founding pastor of the church, begin a four month interim leadership of the church preparing it for our return at the beginning of 2009. We fully anticipate that the church will move back to over 200 in attendance as it was toward the end of their time as pastor from 1991 through 1997. Already our church is extending its ministry beyond Cologne in some exciting ways, but more about that later.

Continue to pray for the church, and for Claire and me. We so greatly need God's help in disposing of our home and finishing up things in the states. The church needs the blessings of God to continue and to grow during the coming months.

US fax number: 413 304-7056 
GWU fax number: 704 406-3013


Germany fax numbers:
From Outside Germany: 1 49-1805-48201-51221
From Inside Germany: 0221-271-1054