So we have officially started the church retreat. The first session was this morning. Pastor Mark, our guest speaker, started it off challenging us out of Philippians 3:20. We considered how we live, act, and behave as citizens of heaven, yet living here on earth.
Here are some pics from the church retreat... so far
Today is the beginning of our church retreat. It is just a little bit until we eat dinner, but I thought I would share a few pics and prayer requests. So here are a few pics.
Today was a free day to relax and be refreshed before the church retreat starts tomorrow. We slept in and ate a wonderful breakfast with the Ornelas family and some other missionaries that stopped by from Italy. Later on in the afternoon, Daniel took us on a walk to go to the Drau River. It had rained ealier in the day, but when the weather opened up, we decided to go. We are so stoked that we went! The weather was absolutely beautiful and the water was not too cold to play in. To be here in Austria once again, surrounded by the Alps, with friends and my beautiful family, what can I say ...... PRICELESS! Here are some pics of our time at the Drau River.
Sorry that we didn't get any of Noah. Don't worry, some will be coming throughout the week!
Last week I finished reading through John Piper's book, don't waste your life. This is a book that we had bought last year when we were in California. I have been wanting to read it for a while now, but I always seemed to pick some other books instead. Anyways, I can honestly say that I was challenged by this book. The only problem is... I spent too long reading through it. Because of different things going on, I only got to read it once in a while. I don't normally like that because then I forget what I read through last, so it takes a little more time and effort.
So it is now time to catch up on a few events that have taken place in these past weeks. I just have not had the time to share with you about them. So here we go:
KINDERGARTEN
On July 15, Katie and Aliyah had there last day of Kindergarten! As we have shared with you in the past, the kindergarten here is a little different than in California. Here in Germany, you can take your kids to the kindergarten from a young age all the way through the actual kindergarten year. So it is actually like a day care, preschool, and kindergarten all in one. So Katie is officially done with kindergarten and will begin Grundschule (1st grade) in just 3 weeks! Aliyah is done with here preschool year and will begin here kindergarten year also in 3 weeks.
We are so proud our our beautiful girls. We remember the first day that Katie and Aliyah attended their first day of kindergarten and were not able to speak of word of German. Now they are both able to speak it very well and are continuing to learn more and more. Katie is further along, as she has been in it for a year more than Aliyah, but we are so proud of the both of them!
Once again, we are so proud of our girls! They are growing up so fast and speaking two languages!
Here are some pics of them with a few of their teachers at the Kindergarten
Katie, Marion, and Aliyah - Marion is a new believer in our church!
Katie, Anja, and Aliyah - Anja was one of the girl's teachers
Having played soccer my entire life, it was so amazing to see how good both of these teams were. Obviously I was paying more attention to how the US women were playing, which I have got to say, they are REALLY good! This was my first time ever going to a professional soccer game. It is so much better than watching on the TV. To see the ball control, the passing, the strength, and agility of these women playing, I was really amazed! They were really good!
We are looking forward to what the Lord wants to do at this year's church retreat and how He wants to minister to us as well! We do ask that you would please be praying throughout this week for the 51 people that we have at this years retreat!Last night we looked at 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 and considered the topic of "On Mission with Jesus." This topic is a really broad topic and cannot be totally covered in a 45 minute study, but we simply looked at our text and considered three points. 1) The Mission of Jesus 2) Our Mission with Jesus 3) Taking Jesus into "Our World."
I do believe that the Lord really blessed it and that many were encouraged, challenged, convicted, etc. One of the things that we did at the end of the message was to reflect on three questions. Here they are:
1)What priorities need to change in my life so that I can be realigned and "On Mission with Jesus?"
2) How can I become that ambassador that Jesus has called me to be?
3) How can I bring Jesus into "my world?"
We did this first individually during the time of worship and then broke into groups of two or three and spent time discussing these questions and prayed for one another.
I do pray that as we look ahead that each of us who were there tonight would not simply listen to this message, but that we would go forward and put it into practice.
Looking forward to tonight's service as we consider the topic, "On Mission with Jesus." I pray that the Lord will speak in a radical way! May His people be stirred, empowered, and sent out afresh in Him!
Late Wednesday night I saw that USA won their match against France and that Japan beat Sweden. While watching some videos about those two games, it was then that I realized that the final game will be played in Frankfurt. Only 1 hour away from my house. So then I asked Rebecca in Thursday morning, "What would you think about going to the championship game on Sunday night if I can get some tickets?" Sunday is Rebecca's birthday. She responded, "That would be cool!" So I immediately began to ask for help in trying to get some tickets!
This past Wednesday night was an absolute blast! How blessed we were to be able to hear from Ronja Fritzsche as she shared about what the Lord did in and through her with her time in Jamaica. How marvelous it was to hear her testify of all of the things that He changed within her. Glory to God!
When I look back now, I believe that Ronja is only 2 1/2 - 3 years old in Christ and yet He has been teaching her and changing her so much. I have been personally blessed to be a part of it and to see the Lord take a young woman who was lost in her sin and transform her into being that disciple of Jesus. One thing that is definitely evident in Ronja's life is the joy of the Lord!
Here is a little video of her sharing her Jamaican songs with the church this past Wednesday night. Both in German and in English!
Ronja and I after the service
The Church laid hands on Ronja and prayed over her at the end of the service! What a blessing! She flies back to Jamaica today! May God be glorified in her life!
These past couple of months we have had the opportunity to hear from many of our missionaries that are serving the Lord around the world. What an encouragement it has been to not only see them, but to hear what the Lord is doing in and through them. But I have a few questions for each of us to consider. What about you? What about me? What is God doing in and through our lives? Do we have to be missionaries in foreign lands to be used of the Lord? Do we have to sell everything, move across the world, and learn another language in order to see the 'mighty works of God?' I want to personally invite you to come to this Wednesday night service, July 20th, at 19:30 to come and hear what God's Word says to us about being "On Mission with Jesus" (Auf Mission mit Jesus).
Looking forward to seeing you there!
God Bless!
Pastor Joey
Hello Everyone
Here is a short little video that we also want to share with you. Check it out first and then click here to see more about it.
The following pictures are photos that we taken at the baptism service for CC Düsseldorf. When I saw these photos, I was so encouraged and I wanted to share them with all of you. One of my good friends, Edmund Coronel Jr. is the pastor of CC D-dorf and the Lord is really doing a great work of His Spirit in the church there. What a blessing to be able to see, hear, and at times be a part of this work!
I some of these photos you might notice a few of the people that are being baptized. Waldemar and Anabella! They are the ones that earlier this year accepted the Lord and then asked me to be a part of their wedding. Since that time, they have been attending CC D-dorf and on Sunday, June 26th, they made that public declaration of living for Jesus! What a blessing it is to see these pics, I HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU!
If you want to see all of the photos, then click here.
Waldemar's baptism
Anabella giving testimony before getting baptized!
Waldemar giving testimony - maybe he will be doing more of this in the future ?!?!?!
Pastor Edmund Jr. giving forth the Word of God
Waldemar & Anabella after their baptisms!
Lord willing we will be having our church's baptism this Sunday morning! Please be praying for the weather and as well the lives of all of those who will be attending the service. The gospel will be going forth and people will be declaring Jesus! Looking forward to it!
Ok, so I had to share this with all of you. Last night we had the opportunity to go to dinner with Edmund and Martha, Janell and James, and Markus and Antonia. It was Jenell and James' last night here in Herborn before they headed back to Düsseldorf and then back to CA. So we went to a restaurant that we have often heard about, but have yet had the chance to go to. It is this little restaurant in the middle of a little village that serves REALLY BIG steaks! All different types. This picture here is the MIDDLE SIZED oxen steak that I ate last night. It was sooooooo good. The picture does not even do it justice. Maybe if you click on the picture it will blow it up and do it a little more justice, but anyways, it was good. We had a great time and we were stoked to be able to spend an evening with Jenell and James before they went back to CA!
These past weeks many things have been going on and I really have not had the time to keep you all updated as much as I would like to. So I am deciding to give you all a little update with each situation.
10 Year Dating Anniversary
This past Saturday, July 2nd, Rebecca and I celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary. We once again went to one of our favorite cities to visit here in Germany, the city of Marburg. Rebecca was able to do a little shopping and then we spent some time walking through different parts of the city that we had never walked through before. Normally we go to our favorite restaurant there in the city, but this time we wanted to go somewhere else, and so we kept checking out different places and even sat down at one restaurant. It was funny as we were asked where we were from. We then told them, "California." To which the waitress replied, "Wow! Your German is really good! What brings you to this restaurant here in Marburg?" As we began to tell her that it was our 10 year dating anniversary, she looked at us kind of puzzled. They don't really celebrate dating anniversaries here in Deutschland. Come to think of it, most people do not celebrate their dating anniversary, but this is something that I grew up experiencing from my parents. They have been celebrating there wedding and dating anniversary all of my life. So way to go dad! Thanks for being a great example for me! We had a blessed time and ended up eating at another restaurant on the way home, one of the best Italian Restaurants that are in this area for sure!
Anaya Marie Roper
On July 3, 2011, Anaya Marie Roper entered into the lives of the Roper Family. My sister Stephanie gave birth to Anaya on July 3 at 10:19pm. She is 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches long. Stephanie has been sending us pictures almost everyday to give us those daily updates! We are looking forward to the day that we will be able to meet our new little niece, Anaya! We do praise the Lord that all of the delivery process went well and that there were not too many complications! What a precious little gift the Lord has given to Stephanie!
Finishing Amos
Last night we finished the book of Amos and I do believe that the Lord really blessed our time of worship, prayer, the study of His Word, and communion. It was such a blessing to open it up for a period of time after the message and the worship to give the people an opportunity to give thanks and praise to the Lord. If it wasn't getting so late, we probably could have continued to go on for quite a while! I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to teach God's Word to the precious people here at CC Herborn and look forward to the next minor prophet that we will study through, Obadiah. Once again if you are interested in listening to the studies of Amos, click here.
Praying Over Claudia
Last night, as we ended the service, we all, as a church, surrounded Claudia Nickel, laid our hands on her and prayed for her. I could not help of Acts 13 when the people where there ministering to the Lord and then the Spirit of God spoke and set to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work to which He called them to. What a blessing it was to have been ministering to the Lord, in worship and prayer, and then to lay hands upon Claudia once again and ask that she would be sent back out in the power of the Holy Spirit! May the Lord truly be glorified in all that Claudia does there in Peru!
Tonight we will be coming to the close of the book of Amos. We will be looking into and studying the final two chapters. As we come to the end of this book, I have to honestly say that the Lord really spoke to me a lot through Amos. The book of Amos is not a book that many people would turn to in order to be encouraged, as most of it is speaking about the judgment of God's people because of their rebellion and disobedience. But the Lord has really spoken to me about the life of a prophet through the life of Amos. I have been challenged with the reality of staying near to the Lord; to hear the heart beat of the Lord and to know the words of the Lord to declare to His people. I have been challenged on what it would mean to be a faithful prophet, in the midst of opposition, and to faithfully declare the word of the Lord to His people. A key point that has really stood out to me through this book has been... where are the prophets of today? Where are the men and women of God who will stand up and speak forth the truth in today's generation and not have the fear of men? I do believe that the Lord is looking for them.... no .... let me say it better. I believe that we are here and that the Lord is calling us to this, but we need to stand up and be faithful to proclaim the word of the Lord to His people.
Is it you?
Next Week
I want to encourage all of you who will have the opportunity to be here at CC Herborn next Wednesday night to come and be blessed by our sister Ronja Fritzsche. She will be sharing with us about her time in Jamaica! Come and be blessed with her testimony and some music that she will be sharing with us! I am really looking forward to it!
Don't miss out!
CLAUDIA NICKEL
I am looking forward to seeing and hearing from Claudia Nickel, one of our missionaries here at CC Herborn who is currently ministering in Peru. She is home for a 3-4 week break and then will be returning back to the ministry there in Peru. This coming Sunday morning she will be sharing and giving an update of all that the Lord is doing in and through her. Looking forward to that!
When we first came to Herborn, Claudia was a faithful servant here at the church and I am blessed that I had the opportunity to serve alongside her as long as we were able to. She definitely has a genuine love for Jesus and she is a true servant! I do pray that she will be able to encourage the body here at CC Herborn and that she will be blessed and refreshed as well!
1 JOHN
We will also be starting the epistle of 1 John this Sunday as well. I do pray that the Lord would use this short, and yet powerful little epistle to encourage the body here at CC Herborn. Looking forward to study through it once again!
