Let's go: On our way to Croatia

Travel day #8

Dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ,

we write to you from Hartenstein in Saxony, Germany, where we are staying with my (Harry's) sister and enjoy a few quiet days after two very busy, exhausting, yet also blessed weeks!

June 24th was Harry's last working day at the Christian High school in Doberlug-Kirchhain. Before that, and especially afterwards, we were busy packing boxes, dismantling furniture, giving notice for and cancelling all kinds of things and "signing out of" Germany. Thank God we were able to rent the attic room above our old apartment and stored our belongings there for our move to a Croatian place later. That took most of June 25th and 26th.

On June 28th, we were actually able to paint the entire apartment, so the next day we could look for fitting roof racks and a roof box for our car since, while moving out, we were forced to realize that not everything we wanted to take with us for the next few months was going to fit inside the car. All this fast renovating, organizing and packing up was possible thanks to the help of many friends, especially from our home group in DoKi. Without the numerous hands cooking for us, packing with us, carrying boxes and furniture upstairs, helping to renovate and looking after the children, everything would have taken much longer and would have been much more stressful.

My dad also wanted to come to help renovating, but my mom had to go to the hospital unexpectedly. The Lord heard the many prayers for her and she was actually able to attend the family reunion just last weekend! Nobody would have thought that five days earlier.

We drove to the reunion last Friday after we said goodbye to Luna's mom in Berlin on Wednesday and had a lot to pack, buy and organize on Thursday. We are also grateful for wonderful farewell moments from our church family in DoKi, the night before we left as well as in church the Sunday before and at our farewell party in the garden on June 13th.

The family reunion took place where my mum grew up in Thüringen. There is a nice campsite by the lake there. Some of my five siblings camped with their families, others had an apartment. We stayed at my aunt's house. Because of the corona uncertainty, we had a rather relaxed set-up this time without fixed gathering times or meals, but that also contributed to a relaxed, happy weekend. On Sunday morning we celebrated a nice service together with a theater performance of the parable of the two sons (Luke 15).

What's next?

Next week we would like to visit a friend in the Black Forest, who had repeatedly invited us before. Now we are free to take the time to visit her. :-)

Then it's off to Croatia!
Many will know that we actually wanted to live, work and learn in a friendly Christian community in New Zealand for nine months. But New Zealand has been keeping the borders closed for foreigners - God knows whether we can go there soon or only much later.

In Croatia we want to follow the mission Jesus gave to his disciples:
"When you enter a town ... heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’" (Luke 10: 8-9)
Jesus repeated a call several times (see Mt 10.7-8; Mk 16, 15-18; Joh 20.21, Acts 1.8) and in the book of Acts we see how the followers of Jesus carried out precisely this call. At no point is it withdrawn or modified, so it applies to us today as well as the promises of Jesus that go with it:

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mt 28:20)

We do not yet know where exactly we will start, where we will find a church community and look for an apartment. We trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who will always show us the next steps.

Luna and I do not consider it presumptuous or naive to go into the unknown, because we have experienced over many years how God keeps his promises faithfully and that his word is absolutely reliable and still alive today.
There are also other Christians who experience the same thing. "The Last Reformation" has many encouraging videos on YouTube. In the following example Thorben shares some testimonies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4d9oAr4oec

God does not call every Christian to leave his home, family, etc. and serve Him elsewhere. Nevertheless, everyone can experience that Jesus' words still apply today in his home town. We want to encourage all of our brothers and sisters in Jesus to reach out for everything He has in store for us!

We pray that the peace of Christ, His Shalom, may rest upon you!
We will write again soon,

Harry, Luna, Junia and Amos

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The adventures continue!

Dear friends and family,

this past year has been a tremendous one indeed! There were many amazing and beautiful moments and experiences. We had so much fun during summer traveling Croatia. However, the part that stood out the most and is the most precious to us was our personal growth into Christ. He has challenged us in the kindest ways with so much love and compassion. Oh Lord, we say YES to you, to your love, and we want to say:

"I love You, O Lord, my strength!
The LORD is my rock ad my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
(Psalm 18)

We came back to Germany and our daily routine at home continued on smoothly. Harry was busy at work, and so was I. By now, Junia and I are almost through the Croatian alphabet in home schooling. She is able to read and write pretty well already and is a great learner. Amos is talking more and more, and actually we understand most of it now, which helps a lot. He is also slowly moving from diapers to potty.

During fall break we actually went to the school retreat as a whole family, with Harry being the leader. They were short of one bus driver so I filled in this position. We went to beautiful Hoefgen and it was a very special time for us. Not just because it is the part of Germany Harry's heart calls home, since he grew up there. But it was also very amazing to experience Harry as the wonderfully gifted leader he is, and very nice to connect with the young people. The children had a blast as well and were absolutely adored by everyone.

As fall progressed we were quite clear about the next adventure God is going to take us on. As of July 6th 2020 we will fly to New Zealand to be part of a Christian community for nine months. We want to expose ourselves to communal living to experience healthy spiritual growth and learn new spiritual and practical skills we hope to use in Croatia. The community was founded about 25 years ago and we know two of the founders through a missionary here (they are her parents), amazing people one can really learn from and look up to! They are living according to the first church standards and are earning money by farming and selling their raw milk and organic produce in their shop. They also run a home schooling cooperative on their grounds with the ACE program and are sending missionaries out into the world, with the Solomon Islands being one of their main focuses right now. We are looking very much forward to this time!
On July 3rd we will travel to a Mueller family gathering and from there we continue our travels to the airport on July 5th. Our plane goes off from Frankfurt am Main to Taipei, Taiwan on July 6th around 11 am. We will fly for about 12 hours and then have half a day of rest there before continuing on another 12 hours or so towards Auckland, NZ. Until then we need to sell some things, organize a place where we can put our stuff for the time we will be in NZ and so on. Then, in 2021, we hope and pray that the Lord has shown us where to move to within Croatia and that He provides for us financially, too. Thinking of letting go of financial control is somewhat scary, but at the same time so liberating! We are encouraged by scripture and so many amazing stories of fellow Jesus people who jumped into the lake and experienced a lot of blessings. Furthermore, we will also need to figure out what to do with the schooling of our kids, since we are not big fans of the standard school system, but homeschooling is technically not really legal in Croatia and I do not feel qualified enough with the language to teach stuff to my kids. After all, I never went to Croatian school myself, but managed to learn reading and writing in Croatian somehow along the way.

Anyway, that's still a ways down the road. Despite any plans, or dreams, hopes, goals, we should never forget that our real and most important place should be beside Jesus' feet before the throne of our Creator Father. Nothing is more important than being in the presence of our Lord and Savior, who loves us more than we can ever imagine.

Two movies we watched recently that have a big impact on us spiritually are
Christ in You (for rent or sale on vimeo) and Reformation, the New Beginning (on youtube, free). Absolutely recommended! We have also read books on the gift of tongues, healing and hearing Gods voice by a man from Switzerland, as we desire to be witnesses of the FULL gospel of Christ to the people around us, which includes healings, miracles, deliverance from evil spirits, and the whole palette of the gifts and fruits of the Spirit. Part of God's grace towards us last year is that He helped us grow into some of these gifts and callings He has for us. It is a very exciting journey for us! We realize more and more that no titles and schooling can replace any of this. They do not make us "qualified" for God's work, but first, His own precious blood He sacrificed, and, second, to be constantly filled with the Spirit by enjoying time in Jesus' presence. This alone should be the only solid ground we build our life on.

May He bless you and fill your life with His presence and Shalom!