April 18 prayermail

Dear Friends,
Please be in prayer for us this weekend as we gather with our GEM colleagues for our annual field retreat near Bonn. It is always a highlight for us as we spend the bulk of our time sharing and praying for one another. We try to create an atmosphere of openness and encouragement where everyone feels supported by people who face similar issues and challenges. Especially pray for Jason as field leader as he stands in the gap between the mission leadership and the field missionaries who sometimes struggle with the changes that are being implemented in the mission.

Immediately following, on Monday, April 23, we are looking forward to having a team of five people coming from Meadowbrook Church in Milwaukee to prayerwalk with us for a week. Meadowbrook has been a solid supporting church over the years and sending us a team like this is so encouraging. It will be an intense week as we prayerwalk through the city and talk about the history of Cologne and what the spiritual landscape looks like today. We will also be meeting with some of our local staff and national partners to hear their stories and pray for them and bless them. Please pray for safety, unity and physical strength for the team.

Immediately following that, on May 1, we will be meeting all day (it's a national holiday here) with our Cologne Project start team to talk about the vision and direction of our church plant and to tackle a couple of issues that we are facing. One of those issues is the subject of homosexuality. Cologne, with a population of 1 million, is home to 100,000 gays and lesbians. Pray that we would be Spirit led and fully unified as we formulate our approach as to how we share the good news of the gospel with everyone in this multi-faceted culture we live in. Pray that we would be wise and courageous and worthy messengers of God's love.

With thankfulness, we are pleased to report that to date $5000 has come in for our car fund. Previously we had asked you to give to this need by April 15. In the mean time, our old honda continues to limp along on 3 cylinders and, to be honest, we simply have not had time to shop for a new car or see about selling or trading in our old one. Additionally, our ministry schedule for the rest of April is quite full so we are extending our car fund raising until May first. If you could help us out by then, that would be great. Any funds that come in after that will be directly applied to the principle of the amount that we have financed, once we buy something. Click here  for a payment card to print out and mail in with your check. This will ensure that your gift gets credited to our car fund.

Your grateful servants,

Jason and Sue