2 Days...

We are officially two days away from being in the air flying back to California. It is crazy to think that we only have two days left in Deutschland. The time is going by so fast and my mind is filled with mixed emotions. Last night a friend of mine, Daniel Kruse, was asking me a few questions regarding what I will miss, what is different, how I would describe the German people to the Americans. Although they were really good questions, some of them which I was unable to answer at the moment, it really caused me to think over these past 3 years in a few moments. That was literally impossible for me to do. It was hard for me to answer the questions, because my mind has been so filled with so many things, it was hard to get my mind to be wrapped around the fact that we are leaving. It is crazy. I probably do not even make any sense. Today while we were driving to Düsseldorf, I told Rebecca, "Are we really doing this? Are we really moving back to CA?"It is not as though CA is foreign to me, it is just that I have grown to love Deutschland, Europe, and the people. So mentally it is really hard to get my mind around everything that will be taking place these next few days, weeks, months...

Anyways, today we a complete blessing. We drove up to D-dorf to hang out with our dear friends, the Coronel Family. We will be staying with them our last days here in Deutschland. Such a blessing. After such a busy week, it was great to simply hang out and take the kids to a local Schwimmbad (swimming pool) and just have fun!

Tomorrow I will be teach at Calvary Chapel Düsseldorf! I am really excited to get together with the saints one last time in D-dorf, to get into God's Word, to worship with them, and to be encouraged by them! May the LORD be glorified in all that takes place!

Please be praying!

Aliyah turns 5 today!

4 days...

These past few days have been very busy with a lot of work. We are now just 4 days away from boarding our plane in Düsseldorf. But before we get there, there are quite a few things that must take place.

PACKING

Today we have officially finished packing up the house. Yesterday we had another amazing work crew to help us pack up everything up and move it to the church. We had another crew cleaning up the house. What a blessing it was to have our dear friends help us out with all of these details. One of the major pieces of furniture that we needed to pack up was our kitchen. You see, here in Germany, you actually buy your own kitchen and then pretty much take that kitchen with you wherever you move. That is unless the next renters want to buy your kitchen from you. So before we started to pack up the kitchen, one of my friends asked if the next people moving in would want to buy it. We were not sure, but we did know who they were and the general area of where they lived, so we went to go look for their house and see if they were interested. Well, we ended up finding their house and then found out that they would be coming home later in the day. Later on in the day, the wife came by and checked out the kitchen and said that she liked it very much, but that she would have to talk with her husband and then they would leave an answer for us in our mailbox this morning. So this morning we checked our mailbox and saw that they were interested. I then went to their house and let her husband know that he could come and check it out. He then came by, we discussed some details about the kitchen and then the price for it. He ended up only offering a lower amount, which was too low for us. So there was no deal.
Then as a little time went by, I decided that I would stop by his house once again and see if he would be willing to go a little higher. He did! So we didn't get the total amount that we wanted, but I do believe that it is a good price! So we sold our kitchen today! That was a huge relief. I will be picking up the cash from him tomorrow.

DETAILS

We still have a few details that are before us tomorrow. De-registering from Herborn, stopping by the hospital to pay a bill for my parents, our visa renewal appointment, and then meet with the owner of the apartment to do a walk-through. Please do be praying for this walk-through with the owner. Pray that everything goes smoothly and that he will even allow us NOT to pay our rent (830 Euros) for the month of November.

BIRTHDAY

Tomorrow our Aliyah Grace Roper will be turning FIVE YEARS OLD! We cannot believe it! So in the midst of all that we already have to do, we are still wanting to make the day special for her. Although it will be ok, because on Saturday we are going to have a little birthday party with her friends in Düsseldorf (the Coronel kids).

Do You Belong? A MUST listen!

6 days left & an Update

So I know that I have missed a few days for the countdown, but things have been busy and I do not always find time to get to my computer, but tonight I am finding a little time before I go to bed. So let me give you a little update as to what has been taking place the past few days.

SUNDAY

Sunday was our last day at CC Herborn. It was a very surreal day. A day full of mixed emotions. During the worship I would simply stop singing just to hear the people worship and I would start weeping. I was overwhelmed with so many things running through my mind.  Pastor Edmund gave Rebecca and I an opportunity to share our final words with the precious people at CCH. I can't totally remember what I said, but I do pray that the people know how much we love them and how blessed we were by them! After the morning service, we had the opportunity to get together with a few families and go on a walk into the forest. It was a great walk! So beautiful and such great fellowship. How thankful we were to have Kristine and Amy along with us so that they could get to know our friends a little more. Our friends were equally as blessed to get to know Amy and Kristine as well. I then went back for the evening service where I was able to share once again with the evening crowd. What a blessed last Sunday with the saints at CCH!
Here is a photo from our walk...

 

MONDAY

For me, Monday was a long day of driving, a little bit of packing, and then a huge surprise. I left Monday morning with Kristine and Amy to take them to the Düsseldorf Airport. It took us about and hour and 40 minutes or so to get there, hitting a little bit of traffic along the way. I then helped them out, making sure that they were completely taken care of. I then headed on my way home to get back and start packing. Well.... and hour and a half drive turned into almost 4 hours. It was ridiculously boring. As some said to me on FB, God is probably preparing me for CA traffic once again. NO THANK YOU! I then came home to help Rebecca and a few of our friends with the packing and started to move some of the boxes and furniture over to our storage room at the church.

And then around 6pm or so, a few of my friends from the church showed up, acting like they were ready to help pack. I knew something was up, but had no idea what was in store for me. They ended up surprising me and taking me to an indoor soccer field where many of the brothers in the church were there to play some Fußball (soccer)! I was super-stoked! The only problem was, I had just packed all of my soccer stuff and given it to Kristine that very morning to have her take back to CA for me. I was able to borrow some shorts and was really excited to play! Since I had been running and training for the past 10 days or so, I was completely in shape for this evening of soccer! I was able to play pretty much the whole time and I didn't get tired at all. It was great! Thanks Kristine for getting me into shape for this! We then ended the evening with a BBQ at the church! Last night of Bratwurst with the Men! What a great time I had! Thank you all who came and blessed me! SO THANKFUL - You have no idea!

TUESDAY

Today was simply a day of packing and moving! We had a lot of help throughout the day and were able to pack and move most of our stuff over to the church! Lord willing we will be able to finish the apartment tomorrow. We shall see! We are super thankful for all of the help that we have had so far and look forward to the finished work!

Please continue to be praying for us!

9 Days...

Today has marked 9 days for us here in Herborn, Germany. It was an absolutely beautiful day! During the late morning, Kristine and I went on a run/workout once again. Although I have been a little slow through these workouts, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting back in shape and letting out some energy. I do not know why I have waited so long to do this.
Later in the day until the evening, we have spent our time packing. Going through the kids rooms and our room and starting to pack luggage bags (that will go with us), storage boxes (that will stay here), and also some bags of things to give away.

As we were packing this evening, I began to think of how blessed I am to have Rebecca as my wife. I am so thankful that she is willing to live the life of a sojourner. This will now be the second time that we are packing up everything and going only with what we can fit in luggage bags. She has given up so much and I am so blessed by her.

As the days are ticking down and we are now really focused in on getting all of our stuff together, there is a lot to think about and also a lot of decisions to make. The hard thing is, we are needing to make decisions based on what we do not know. And yet the ONE THING that we DO KNOW, is that GOD KNOWS and we completely TRUST HIM!

We ask that you would please continue to keep us in your prayers during these last days here!

LAST DAY @ CC HERBORN

Tomorrow morning and evening will be our last services at CC Herborn! For those of you who are able to make it out to the service, we invite you to come on out and spend this last service with us! We are going to be having a potluck after the service, so come prepared for that! Pastor Edmund has given us 10-15 minutes at the end of each service to be able to share with the church! Please do be praying for this time with our church family here in Herborn! Pray for it to be really sweet!

The Countdown Begins

We are officially 10 days from flying home to California. Crazy! I honestly have a lot of mixed emotions about it all. There is still so much to do and yet so little time.
Today I was walking through Herborn to get some flowers for Rebecca and her friend. As I walked through the town, I really began to think, "Man, this is my last time at the Friday Markt." It is crazy to think that we are beginning to have all of our 'lasts.'
I do ask you to please be praying for us as we need to do so much in these next 10 days. We can only take it a day at a time, and yet at times it does get a bit overwhelming. So please do be praying for us.

During the time of our family vacation, I started to get up early in the morning and go running with my sister-in-law, Kristine. It was so great! I have been soar, but I am slowly getting better and more in shape. So this morning I woke up once again, early in the morning, to go for a morning run/work out, but this time I went alone. So I decided to listen to some music while I was running. I was listening to Audrey Assad. I would highly recommend you to get her CD, it is great! There were a few songs that really ministered to me this morning while I was running, so I thought I would share it with you.

Visa Renewal #1

So we are back from our family vacation. We had a great time! Now it is time to get back to the check off list.

#1 Visa Renewal.
I am standing outside the Auslanderbehöde (Renewal Office) right now and going to begin the process of renewing our visas!
Please be praying for this!

3 Weeks Left

So we are officially just 3 weeks away from flying out of Düsseldorf, Germany to head back home to CA for a 'season.' Although we are not sure how long this 'season' is for, we do know that we have a lot of things ahead of us. So this is not an official countdown, but I guess you could say that the days are ticking...
Some of the things that are ahead of us for the next three weeks are the following:

• 10 - Joey's Dr. Appointment & Picking up Rebecca's sisters from the airport
• 12-19  - leave to Salzburg, Austria for a week vacation with Rebecca's family
• 20 - Visa Renewal Appointment
• 21 - Rebecca's Parents fly home to CA
• 23 - Last Sunday service @ CC Herborn
• 24 - Rebecca's sister fly home to CA
• 24-27 - Packing up everything, moving everything into storage, cleaning up our apartment
• 26 - Catherine Bezold is sharing @ CC Herborn - don't miss out on this!
• 28 - Aliyah turns 5 years old!
• 28 - A walk through with our current owner of the apartment that we live in
• 29 - drive to Düsseldorf & have a birthday party for Aliyah with the Coronel Family
• 30 - teach at CC Düsseldorf
• 31 - Fly back to CA

So as you can see, these next three weeks are very busy! We do greatly appreciate your prayers!

When we do arrive in CA, then the new list of things will begin. I will try to keep you updated then.

For our German readers, if you are able to help us out at all with packing, cleaning, moving, etc. from October 24-27, can you please write us on FB, call us on our phone, or email us to let us know!

We love you all and are very thankful for your love and support!

Items for Sale

This note is to all of our German friends! We are posting these pictures of items that we looking to sale before we leave on October 31st. If you are interested or know someone that might be, please contact us via email, Facebook, or leave a comment in the comment section and leave your contact info. We will then talk about the prices. Thanks!

FB once again

Just wanted to let all of you "Facebookers" know that I have logged into my FB account once again. I am going to be doing this while we are in transition so that I can keep as many people updated with what is going on with us and so I don't have to go through Rebecca's FB account.
So if you are interested in hearing more from me, then please add me as one of your friends!

Looking forward to sharing with you all!

Last Month - PLEASE PRAY!

This month is going to be a very busy month! So we want to share with you what is going on so that you can please keep us in your prayers!

TIME WITH FAMILY

First of all, we are very excited to be able to spend time with Rebecca's family. Her parents arrived today and her sisters will be coming on Monday, October 10th. This has been a long awaited European vacation for the whole family and we are looking forward to our time with them! We are excited to be able to spend a week in the Salzburg, Austria area with them, show them around Germany, and have them meet many of our friends and the church family here in Herborn! Rebecca's parents will be leaving on October 21st and her sisters will be leaving on October 24th. Please pray that the Lord really blesses this time together as a family!

PACKING & FINALIZING DETAILS

We are also going to be packing up! We have officially bought our airline tickets to go back to California. We will be leaving on Monday, October 31st from Düsseldorf, Germany. The Lord has provided for us some amazing tickets to get back to California and the last flight was literally on October 31st. So this is a little sooner than we were thinking, but we know that we cannot pass this opportunity up and that we need to start moving forward with packing up. Although we will have to do a little bit of packing and cleaning while Rebecca's family is visiting, we will be doing the majority of our packing and cleaning during the last week of October! It is going to be a very busy week, but we know that the Lord will be providing some help for us to do all of this. As you might imagine, there are a lot of details that goes into all that will need to take place before the 31st of October, so we are asking you to please be praying for us as we make decisions, pack up, try to sell some of our stuff, etc. We are going to be then loading everything up with us and will be heading up to Düsseldorf on Saturday, October 29th.

LAST SUNDAY @ CC HERBORN

On Sunday, October 23rd, we will have our last Sunday with our church family here in Herborn! This will definitely be a mixed-emotion Sunday. We are joyous, because we have been richly blessed with our church family here in Herborn, and yet we are going to miss them. Please do be praying for that Sunday morning! May the Lord really bless that day and that time with them all!

TEACHING @ CC D-DORF

On Sunday, October 30th, I will be teaching at CC Düsseldorf. We are looking forward to have one last opportunity with the saints there in D-dorf as well! What a blessing it will be to worship with them and encourage them through God's Word the day before we leave back to California!

PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR US THROUGH ALL OF THIS! WE WILL NEED IT!

What a weekend

This past weekend was such a blessing! So I thought that I would share with you what took place to keep you updated.

PFORZHEIM

On Friday afternoon, Erwin and I left Herborn to drive down to Pforzheim. This is where he is currently serving as the youth pastor of a FEG (Free Evangelical Church). I got to know Erwin at the beginning of this year, as he was my translator in Düsseldorf. Since then we have stayed in contact and he has asked me out a few time to come and share God's word with his youth. This particular Friday night, they had a special event with some youth from another church as well. There was around 40 youth in all and it was an honor to be able to bring forth a Gospel message. I do believe that the Lord spoke to many of the youth that night. I had the opportunity to pray with one of the young men and to encourage and challenge him in his walk with the Lord.
On Saturday morning, Erwin invited a few of his co-leaders and one of the youth (the young man that I prayed with the night before) to come over for a breakfast and a time together in God's Word. Erwin asked if I would share some things that have been very important for me in my walk with the Lord over the years. I originally had in my mind a few topics to share, but we really never got out of the topic of the Word of God and how important it is in our lives. We were all really able to open up and to share, ask questions, and pray for one another. That was really an encouragement. Erwin and I then drove home to Herborn and enjoyed a great time of fellowship during the car ride.

CC HERBORN

This past Sunday, at CCH, we had a Thanksgiving service with the whole family! The service was mixed with worship, a short devotion from Pastor Edmund, songs with the Children's Ministry (as you can see), testimonies that we submitted on the church's web site, and some personal testimonies as well. Oh yeah, one of the other great part of the service was a little video that the Children's Ministry put together, asking the children what they were thankful for. You can actually watch it on our church's web site. We were super stoked to see and barely hear both Katie and Aliyah be in the video. Both speaking in German! You got to check it out, even if you do not understand the German language, it is still so cute!

Now this next story is a little humbling, but I thought that I would share it with all of you more of a testimony of what the Lord does, so far our expectations. This picture to the left is a picture of me and a man that I had met after the morning service, named Peter. He has never been to our church before. In fact, he lives about an hour and a half north of us, in the city of Münster. After the service, I was outside, enjoying the weather, and talking to some of the people. One of the sisters in the church then came and brought Peter to me and introduced him to me. She told him, "Don't worry, he can speak German, so feel free to just talk to him in German." So Peter began to introduce himself, tell me where he was from, and why he wanted to talk to me. I cannot remember how, but somehow he was introduced to our church's podcast and he began to listen to the messages. Well this particular Sunday, he was in Wetzlar (a city about 15-20 minutes from Herborn) and he told his wife, "I have got to go to CC Herborn today, because I need to meet Joey Roper!" He went on to tell me how he has been listening to my messages through the podcast and how he is extremely blessed by them. Well, as you can imagine, I was completely blown away! Here is a man, whom I have never met before, and yet the Lord has been using me to speak into His life through His Word! How amazing is our GOD! May the Lord continue to speak to Peter and bless him as he continues to listen to God's Word via podcast during his drive everyday! PTL!

CC SIEGEN

On Sunday night, I had the blessed opportunity to teach at CC Siegen. A little after spending time in prayer with Rebecca at home on Sunday morning, I got a call from a friend of mine who is one of the pastors at CC Siegen and he asked me if I would be able to step in and teach for the Sunday evening service there! What an honor it was to do so! CCS is like the CC Costa Mesa of all of Europe, or at least for Germany. CCS has been here for over 20 years and the Lord has and still continues to use them in a mighty way! I do praise the Lord for all that He is doing through CCS! One of the treats for that night was to be able to be there when Andrea Kölsch shared how the Lord is calling her on from there, for a season. She will be leaving on Wednesday, October 5th, to fly to Santa Barbara, CA to go and serve there for at least 3 months. She is still waiting to hear back regarding her visa so that she can stay there longer, but she is stepping out in faith to see what the LORD is going to do! Andrea is a dear sister in the Lord, who has been serving at CCS for over 20 years as well in the area of worship. She is really gifted. She is simply stepping out and going to see what the Lord is going to do! I knew that when she began to share what was going on with her, with the church, that the message was going to be perfect for her.... and it was!

 I thank the Lord for that opportunity that He gave me to share His Word throughout this weekend. Whether it was to a group of youth, a small group of men, or with a few hundred people in Siegen, I am completely honored and humbled by it all! To HIM ALONE BE THE GLORY!