bridges don 1985 germany

8/10/2019 Bridges Don 1985 Germany

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2/8

of God. If Go d

ha s

Iruiy spoken he

ha s

given us lesii-

mony of what he

ha s

done. Our hope is not based on

speculations,

ideas

or systems of belief which we

hope are true, rather, it is on

God s

own clear testimony.

Christian

hope

cannot be shaken because itis founded

upon the rock Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling

a n d

a

rock

of

offense

a n d

he w ho believes

in

Hi m

will

not be disappointed. (Rom 9:33)

Dennis

M es sl me r l ea di ng a class at th e Mid-

Winter

Rally.

M I D -W I N TE R R A L L Y

The Mid-Winter rally wa s held this past year at Bad

Bergzabern (about 70 kilometers east of Landstuhl),

T he re w er e around 110

in

attendance.

A

good

time of

fellowship an d teaching, the theme of the rally wa s

Complete in Christ based on the

book

of Colossians.

Some

highlights of th e rally included

sermons

on the

diety of

Jesus

all treasures in Christ, an d the

problem

of Freedom (imposing controls).

Small choir singing at the

Mid Winter

Rally.

S U M M A R Y

N E W S

This past January a joint evening service wa

between the Frankfurt an d Landstuhl congreg

h e re in

Landstuhl. This o c c u re d

for

tw o reasons

Christians need to ge t together with other Christi

strength,

encouragement an d

to

share.

D

between people, a foreign culture, an d the pre

of the job makes this

need

even more plain, Ttie

s

reason was because Guy an d Theima fvlayfield w

celebrate their 50th anniversary in February in the

an d we

wanted

to share with them in this time

(Guy

an d

Theima have been on the mission fi

approximately

40 years. Their main work h as b

Italy. Now. they help with the Landstuhl congre

but still travel every

other

week to meet with

Christians in Karlsruhe. 150 kilometers away.)

In February, the

congregation

purchased 7

chairs.

Some

of (he old chairs

ar e

still being used

classrooms.

Since

that

time, some ne w tables an d

boards

have

been

purchased.

Some

new families have joined us. John

an d

Brotherton along with their three children,

William

S

an d

Wendy. Russell

an d

Theresa Cain an d the

children Moriah

an d Alana.

Also G e n e

an d L ou

an d (heir daughter Charity. Darrell an d Rhonda

and their so n Adam have

also

come. It is great

these come an d grow with us. Yet. we k no w

some point in th e future they will b e leaving. In M

Ray an d Barbara Roberts an d their daughter La

lor the states. Ray

h ad

only

been here

a year b

to Barbara's lather being ill he wa s transfered

b

that they would be closer to the family. It wa s hard

them go. Laura

ha d done

a

great

deal with the

worship. In June Richard

an d

Diane Baldwen

an

two

sons

left to go to England. They also ha d

bee

only about a year.

Looking at the work done here, knowing that ev

will leave. It

helps

to remember that on e of th e vita

of thiswork is the trainingof people for the workof s

We are training people to carry on the Lord's work

they return to the states.

Ji m

Shockey was immersed into Christ in Ja

He

began

attending after he met Bruce Avil

Walton

wa s immersed

into Christ by his fathe

In May and Part of June Iwa s able to attend lan

school in

Villigen

about 100 kilometers south of St

The me n of the congregation

carried

on th e pre

an d

other

activities while I

was away.

Th e advan

thisschool was that Iwas completely away fromAm

and

h ad

to

speak

German. I

entered

a class whi

been meeting for 8 months. I w a s a bl e to complet

them

and

r ec ei ve d t he certificate saying that

successfully

completed their course. I am now

attend a university.

This

is one of my immediate

not only to improve my German but also for inc

c o n t a c t s

witti th e G e r m a n s .


3/8

During our vacation bible school, the local religion

teacher for the high school along with twostudents came

to see iftheir religion

class

could come

and speak

with

me. They wanted to know more of American churches

their differences, and differences between American and

German churches .

So

th e next

week half of

th e class

came

an d w e talked for

atMut one

an d a half

hours.

One

of th e students returned on a

Wednesday

night service

and

participated well,

fvlost

of the questions involved

world issues

an d

how these relate

to

wha t the church

is

doing. One of the big questions was on the peace

movement. They told me also that much of what is

preached is boring because it

does

not relate to their

world. That is when I took a few examples of what they

were discussing and showed them how the bible does

relate, Ivtost of the students enjoyed the discussion. We

Candlelight

service this

past

Christmas

eve.

One is always on the lookout fo r camera bugs.

have

also

had

a german girf attend who is a

mem

the

Free

Church in

Germany

(not Lutheran or Cat

Doors of opportunity are being opened forwork a

t he e r m an s

Summer camp was held this year from July

near

Venice, Italy. Itwas a good time of fun and

ship, The theme ofthe camp was A

life

pleasing to

In all, there were

about

65 to 70 people in

attend

There were eleven people from Landstuhl in atten

Steffi Karg, a german girl, was also able to go.

Returning from

camp

one

of the

first

things to b

was the painting of the building, Janet Aldnch, wh

visiting her sister for the summer, and Doug Sta

student from Pacific Christian College were

great

Materials were also in need of sorting and stilldo)

Youth Group singing at the Christmas

eve

pr

REQUEST

Doyou or someone you know have some F V

HYMNS OF PRAISE hymnals

they

would liketo p

to

someone else?

We

are

looking for these. We

like to have about 100 , If you know of some th

available,

please

let me know

Doyou have a favorite recipe you would liket

I am always looking for something new to take

church dinners. Ifyou do, send it. Thanks

PET IT IONS FOR

PRAYER

1, Guidance for

t he Chur ch

2, Growth of th e Congregatioh/Cailing Program

3 Book S to re

4, Bible

Correspondence

Course

5, The

Congregation here

6, The Bus Ministry

NEEDS

1,

Names

of Chr is tian or

Church

of Christ mil

civilians here in Germany

2, Letters of encouragement

3, News of

Gods

dealing with you

4,

Prayers

In Christ.

Don


4/8

861 i

ix

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NOISSIW

NVIISIUHO

aN

FINANCIAL REPORT

^January-July 1985

Adjusted

Balance

on Hand 12/31/84 . Trr-. 3,164.72

Income

10,117.42

13.2

Salary 4,000.00

Miscellaneous 2,572.17

Furloughs Retirement 1,866.69 '

8,4

Balance

on

Hand

7/31/85

4,8


5/8

Christ ian Mission

Field Address: Don Bridges

Kaiserstrasse 66

6790

Landstuhl

West Germany

VOL.5

AUGUST-DECEMBER

1985

Meet Landstuhl

Church

-

people

working for

the

Lord

in West Germany.

The heavens

declare th e

glory

of God; th e

skies

proclaim

th e

work of His hands. Day after day

they

pour forth speech; night

after

night they display

knowledge.

There is no

speech

or l anguage where

their

voice is

no t

heard. Their

voice

goes out into all

th e earth, their words to the ends of the world.

(Psalm

19;1-4 Man has always

been

fascinated by the

starry

heavens. His imagination is intrigued about th e

mysterious universe In which he lives

as

he gazes in

to

a clear,

dark

sky

containing thousands

of twinkling

stars. The nursery rhyme

Twinkle, twinkle

little

s ta r

How

I wonder

what you

are,

Up

above the

world so high

Like

a

diamond

in

th e

sky.

symbolized much of man's yearning to know more o f

the myster ies of the heavens.

The

galaxy in

which we

live is j us t one

of

a number

of

galaxies

in th e

universe. These galaxies contain

billions of stars, planets,

and sun s.

It is

estimated

that

about 3,000 to 5,000 stars can

be

seen with the

naked

eye. The

distance between th e earth to these

stars

is so great that man measures it by

li

The

brightest

star,

Sirius,

is about 9 light ye

light

traveling

at 186,000

miles pe r second

54

trillion

miles

from

earth

to

Sirius).

The

S

dromeda,

th e

farthest light seen, is about 1

light years away.

Beyond this,

the lights

ble

white

cloud.

If

someone

looked up and

was

a

to

the

farthest

point h e

could see

and

then

again,

he

would see again as vast

a

un

befo re

The

vastness

of this universe

causes

us t

with David

0

Lord,

our

Lord, how majest i

name in all

th e

earth

You have set your glo

th e heavens.

(Psalm

8:1

The

wonder

of

Go

tion does

not

end here.

The

honey bee

may

God 's most interesting

insects.

A social

ins

lives only in

colonies

20 to 60

thousand per)

and

center

of a

colony

is

th e

queen

bee.

T

bee has

only

one function, to produce

perpetua te the

colony. She

may

produce 50,

a year

(about

1,500 a day). She depos it s e ach

separate cell in

th e

hive

prepared

by worker

that purpose .

Her

responsibility

is ended wit

ing of eggs.

The structure of

the bee

is amazing . I ts

equipped with

two multiple

eyes like those

o

It

has

tw o rod-like pro jec tions on the h ea d w

sense organs fo r touch

and

smell. Each rod

countless microscopic sense receptors. Its

sharp

claws t ha t e na bl e

It

to walk ove r r o

f aces . Between th e c laws a re s uc ti on pad

possible

walking

on

glass

or

smooth surfac

hind legs are attached little basket-like d

which it carries the pollen

gathered

from fl

food to share

with

th e

rest of

th e

colony. The

th e bee are

efficient and

powerful,

moving

credible speed of

75

beats pe r s econd. The

constructed th at h e can move

up ,

down, side

remain hovering

motionless

over an object.

most remarkable

feature is

the chemical labo

Its little body by which it converts

th e

ne

honey. Add

to

this

th e

skill of building wax


6/8

manufacturing

of its own building material wax), and,

it s

se n se of direct ion s o tha t

it

can wander to

a field

and

find its way home by the shortest and

straightest

line

possible, we

become

amazed at

the

wisdom

and

power

of God

One could continue

to look at all

the things

in

crea

t ion

a nd s ta n d

in

aw e

of

th e reator Wal terS c ot t w a s

looking

at a rose

one

day and asked

someone

Why is

Jesus

called the Rose

of

Sharon? Before the person

cou ld a n sw e r S c ot t said - It is

b e c au s e t h e

R o s e of

Sharon has no

thorns . Paul s ai d t ha t in

creation

we

could see evidence

of God's power

and

divinity.

(Rom. 1:20)

Even t hough t he universe is vas t and we see fine

detail in small creatures, man Is

the

crowning point of

al l creation.

He a lo ne was c re at ed in the

l ikeness

of

God.

He Is of

greater

worth

to God than th e universe

o r e ve n

sparrows.

The

s tructure of

th e h an d, h is n er

vous

system,

the eye, th e

skin

of his teeth (yes, it is

really skin ), and

count less other

things in

the

body

show

us how wonderful ly

man was crea ted .

Praise

the

Lord, O my soul; all my

Innermost

being, praise

His holy

name.

(Psalm

103:1)

Revival

minister

cleans

up. Roy

Wheeler , min is te r

at

Paramount Terrace Christian Church

in Amarlllo, Texas,

presented messages on Victorious Christian Living.

REVIVAL

Victorious

Christian

Living was

t he t heme of

the

revival that was held in Landstuhl this past

September. Roy Wheeler from Amarillo, Texas

presented some

powerful

messages. There

was an

average at tendance of 33 people each night an d 70

that Sunday morning.

MISC.

On a

certain

day in October,

the

telephone rang. As

I answered it, I was g re eted with

happy birthday,

what

are you

doing

today? I replied,

I'm building

a

wall

fo r the nursery.

In

th e back room

where

we

built

a kitchen area

last

fall, we d iv ided with a complete

wall. Behind

this

wall is

th e

nursery

area.

It

now

ha s

more privacy so there are fewer distractions. The

wall

was completed in

one

day's t ime. (Some of

were skept ical

that the

men

were

goin

complish this

in one day -

were they s

Several

helped

in this project.

The wives c

served lunch

fo r

the men so

as

not t o d i st

from

their

work.

Chaplains

from all over West Germany

and

Sicily came for a retreat

held at Colmberg

Cast

Vincenzo

Petronelll preaching, Guy Mayfield

ing,

at

a jointmeeting of Italian-American

Chri

I was abl e to attend a chaplain's

retreat f

tian church

chaplains.

The

special

spea

Werner

Hausen from Tuebigen . Werne

minister of th e Christliche Gemeinde

(

Church) in

Tuebigen.

There were

many top

terest

for me, e.g., working with

Germans,

with single

soldiers,

and

having

chapel-co

involvement. I received

some

new insights a

how of getting

some

things

done

through

chaplain. Of course, it also is a help that

one

attends

Lands tuhl when he is no t preach

chapel.


7/8

The men o f th e congregation here

have

been get

ting

together

fo r th e

past

several months

to

set goals

for th e

church.

Some of th e

goa ls tha t were

set aim

toward evangelism,

better

facilities, beginning

a

Ger

man work

a German

bible

study),

and i nc re as ed par

ticipation.

it is

exciting

to

see

th e

men becoming

ex

c it ed a bo ut th eir

work

here for

th e Lord.

As

involve

ment an d enthusiasm

grow, we

hope to see some

great things being done here

at Landstuhi

THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS

During

this

past Thanksgiving, Chris

and

Adrianne

Lane invited

me to

share

it

with

them. Another

couple

w as a ls o

invited.

There w as a bo ut

3

inches of snow

on th e ground,

so

it was enjoyable

to

si t in a

warm

apartment

with

th e smell of

turkey

and dressing In

the air.

Chris' friend,

Mike

brought

up the subject of

church . He wan t ed to know w ha t w e bel ieved.

I

told

him that it would be hard to explain

what

we

be

lieved,

although

I

could

tell him

what

I

believed.

Mike

w as

raised

Ca tho l i c

and had

neve r

encoun te red

a

Christian church before,

i

explained some of th e

bas ic t hi ng s

-

Jesus' death,

burial, resurrection,

faith,

repentance, baptism. I discussed

the freedom

we have to interpret scr ip tu re r athe r t han t rust ing

s ome on e e ls e s view.

With tha t f r eedom

c ome s

a lso

our

responsibility

to

allow

th e scripture to speak

rather

than

to

force

a meaning it

was never meant to

have.

Mike

responded

that this

was something

for

which he had

been

looking (h e had

not attended Mass

since

he

was

a

teenager).

All this

resulted from two

-etmple-invftations-to d Inner.

There were around 45

people

In at tendance at th e

Christmas Eve program

this

year. Several visitors

cam e to share

with us . The children s ang, an adult

choir sang, and a communion service highlighted th e

evening,

it ended with the lighting of

everyone's

cand le .

Christmas

Day

was

spent at

Jim

and Carol

Walton's home.

Guy

and

Theima

Mayfield

along

with

Brad and Dawn

White, joined

in th e fellowship.

After

a good meal some of us played a game of Bible

Trivia.

Jim and

Caro l won

th at game. O th ers were

watching television.

An

enjoyable part

of th e

day was

when the

kids

showed

what they had received.

These

new

t oys tha t will change Into almost

anything are

very ingenious.

PEOPLE NEWS

Bruce

Avila

headed

for

Ft.

Lee, VA in

October after

having been

here

for one

and

a half years. Bruce

helped

in

teaching

a junior Sunday

School

class and

In many physical

jobs

around th e building. He will be

missed. However I have

already

received a

letter

from him

and he

told me

no t

to be

surprised

if i see

him

again in a few years.

L.V.

and Susan Spencer and the ir

children, Lanny

and Sarah , left for

Washington,

D.C. a few days after

Christmas. Although they were 40 minutes away from

Landstuhi,

they

were quite active.

Susan

taught

Sun

day School class, helped in VBS and worked at

times

H-z. ?

on

th e building. L.V. led in Junior

Church

and

th e

men's meeting, it

was g re at

having the

and we

will

miss them.

We

pray

that

their new

service

will

be

great.

Two

new

families

have been

coming. Ge

Christ ie Grimstad

have been a ttending

fo r

months.

George ha s helped

in

leading

t he s

vice. Gary

and

Linda Johnson have

also

bee

ing

for several months.

Linda

recently

has

gi

to a son, Logan

Chase.

I would ask for

remember

these

two families as they

work

Lord

in th i s area.

FURLOUGH

I.will be in the States after th e 25th of

for a

three-month furlough,

i

would a sk t

y o u

someone

you

know would

like to

have

me

sent the Landstuhi

work to

your congreg

to

please

contact me or my

forwarding

age

arrange

a

speaking date. During

these

mo

i will be trying to raise money in two areas.

is for my own living (the dollar

has dro

from 3.40 to 2.45 DMwithin

th e

last year

--

that is a pay cut ). The other is for a

buildi

our own.

As we are a small

congregation

property

is very

expensive,

we

need your

in this. I do thank you for your interest in

work

and

a sk tha t

you

contact my

forwar

agent to

set

up a speaking date .

Tha

REQUEST

Do

you or

someone

you

know have

FAVORITE HYMNS OF PRAISE

hymnals the

like to pass on to someone else? We are loo

these. We

would

like to

have about

100. if

yo

of

some t ha t a re

available, please le t me kno

Do you have a favorite recipe you would

give?

i am always looking for something new

t o our chur ch dinners,

if

you

do , send it.

Tha

PETITIONS FOR PRAYER

1.

Guidance for

th e Church

2.

Growth

of th e

Congregation/Calling Prog

3. Book

Sto re

4. Bible

Correspondence Course

5. The Congregation here

6. The Bus

Ministry

NEEDS

1.

Names of Chris t ian

or

Church of

military or civilians here in

Germany

2. Letters of encouragement

3.

News

of

God's dealing

with

you

4.

Prayers

In


8/8

0

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>

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NOISSin

NVilSIUHO

3

FINANCIAL REPORT

August-December, 1985

Balance on

Hand

7-31-85

4,843.37

Income 7,565.89

12,40

Salary

5,000.00

Miscellaneous

2,114.35

Furlough and

retirement

.1,333.35

8,4

Balance

on Hand 12 31 85 3,9

bridges don 1985 germany

Documents