Winter 2023

The end of the year normally brings perspective. Even if rushed, or amidst the hustle and bustle of December, we all just about always reflect enough to say, “what a year.” We thank God for his continued sustaining grace and care. And we know His promise is true, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We are thankful Jesus loves the Church, and He has continued to build His church in Münster.

Church

When you’re “doing ministry”, you can lose sight of the things God is doing and how the little things add up to big things. A couple weeks ago, the church surprised the leadership team and their wives in the service with a heart-felt thank you and encouragement. One line that stood out to us was, “Thank you for the preaching that is faithful to the Bible and nourishing to our hearts.” What a gift it is to lead a church that wants to be led by faithful, biblical preaching and teaching.

This was timely reminder, that God is working through us in this local body of believers. Praise God for that.

In the advent time, our church hosted a craft evening for 28 kiddos. Lots of hot chocolate, sprinkles and glue - and a clear gospel presentation. Fun was had by all.

Last Saturday, the church hosted a Bible-Hermeneutics 101 taught by a friend of ours. It is great to see people eager to learn.

We are excited to take a group of young adults from our area to America for a leadership training at the beginning of January. For 11 days we will explore questions around church, leadership, and personal development. The group will discuss “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church” and attend CrossCon24 in Louisville, Kentucky. We will spend time with Redeemer Bible Church (our strategic ministry partner) and one Sunday at Third Avenue Baptist Church (the church we attended during seminary).

The goal for this trip is to equip young leaders to lead and serve in their local churches with a clear vision of what a church is. They will observe how two bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches “do church” in the U.S. and then transfer this reflection into their German context. We pray they would grow in their Christian character and be spurred on to continue making disciples in Germany.

Family

What a year. I (Paige) remember saying last Thanksgiving at the “what are you thankful for time”, that I was thankful to know I wouldn’t feel this way forever. And praise God I could say this Thanksgiving, after our miscarriage and about 8 months of deep depression, that was true. Thank you for all your prayers, and visits, in this past year. If you’re reading this, thank you Mandy and Lauren for your friendship and hours of wise, godly counsel.

In November we celebrated the Thanksgiving that almost wasn’t. Our friends had to cancel last minute and so we invited our neighbors and had 17 first-time Thanksgiving-ers. They were thrilled.

We are still a little brown from, what we both would say was, the most beautiful trip of our lives. We (just two of us) spent eight days in Fuerteventura, Spain. The time together was precious to us both.

Nora and Fenley are living it up at five and three, both seemingly painlessly bilingual. Stay humble, mama. Nora started ballet and Fenley is counting the days until it’s her turn. They are a joy and each other’s best friends.

We are so thankful for our team of supporters who pray and give to our ministry. Example, our trip to Spain was a gift from a generous Redeemer couple who said: “Go on a vacation and rest little bit.” What a blessing and undeserved kindness from God at the right time.

To continue our ministry in Germany we are dependent on the faithful support of other believers like you. Would you consider supporting our ministry financially in 2024?

We wish you and your families a very merry Christmas!