Returning from the Chichimeca Trip

We spent all Saturday on the road trying to get back across the border to Laredo, where we would spend the night and continue on to Garland the next day. As we drove, we reflected back on the events that occurred on Thursday. One of the young girls named Elizabeth (who we grew to know and love) from a family living adjacent to the mission truly touched our hearts. She became especially close to Denise, Marie, and Liliana. Elizabeth had accepted the Lord and it was Denise’s desire to pass her bible on to her. The bible had special meaning to Denise and so it was therefore a gift from the heart. It was truly moving to see how grateful Elizabeth was in receiving this special gift. It was very endearing that she genuinely wanted to come back to the states with us. Afterward Liliana and Marie also gave her a couple of personal items. Liliana then prayed with some of the family members. One of the young men who had been avoiding our efforts to approach him with the Gospel finally was willing to listen and accepted Jesus as his savior. This will always remain as one of the highlights of our trip.


-Liliana, Denise, and Marie




Denise and Elizabeth

Post #6: Chichimeca Trip

We’ve already written you once this morning but it would be impossible to leave without sharing our final experiences today here in San Luis de La Paz.

We invited Pr. Alberto and Dona Juanita to have breakfast with our team so that we could have some final moments of sharing and evaluating together. We ate our morning and evening meals at the same restaurant each day, so this morning we called the manager and assistant manager to join us so that we could thank them, pray for them, and present them with Bibles. It was a touching moment as they told us they had never before experienced a group like ours (???) and were already missing us!

We presented Pr. Alberto and his wife with a few gifts, several gave testimonies of the week and then presented Dr. Sara and her husband with a love offering. Sara, our doctor for the week, worked endless hours, showing compassion to all around her, and touching the hearts of each patient with a word from the Lord. She and her husband are from Oaxaca, Mexico, and are currently studying at our Hispanic Seminary in Edinburg, Texas. We finished those moments with prayer for each other and for Pastor Alberto.

We needed to pack up all of our equipment, so the team went back to the Chichimeca mission and got things in the vans. The Hispanic ministry of our church had purchased a sound system and DVD projector to show The Jesus Film and to leave here for further ministry, so we presented that equipment and then left for the house of one of the neighbors who had accepted Christ and had asked our team to come and pray for all of her household! It was another incredible experience!

Our final words from here are, “TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE”! Thank you, FBC Garland, for the opportunity to serve here this week.

-Your Chichimeca Team




Denise digging

Post #5: Chichimeca Trip

June 26, 2008

Today was our last day to have the clinic and VBS. It has been overwhelming at times, but I know what an amazing God we serve and how He clears our path to do His work (Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your on understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."). Our teams have been blessed from the time we left Garland at 4:00 a.m., until now at 11:58 p.m. as I am writing this. Today has been one of the funniest and most rewarding days of the trip for me. I have had the opportunity to develop relationships with Pastor Omar’s group and cannot wait to get together again; maybe it will be back here.


Woman praying w/ Pastor Alberto to receive Christ


One of the most important things I have realized on this trip is the time is right for Pastor Alberto and other Christians like us to like us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers in to his harvest field.” We must be bold in our faith and know that we serve a God that will never leave us. He loves us more than we could ever imagine or understand. My prayer, for myself and everyone at First Baptist Garland, is that none of us would not be ashamed of our faith and go out side of the church doors and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ every second of the day. I know that everyone says that doing Gods work is like a marathon, and I agree. But I also believe that we should treat every day as if we are running a 100-yard dash. Get up every morning, be prepared to do God's work, stay focused and know when you go to sleep at night that you ran as hard as you could.

Go on a mission trip like this, get out of you comfort zone and I know you will have a life-changing experience. Pray to God to direct you and where He wants you to go serve. I hope I am not out of line, but I am writing from my heart and know what God wants all of us to do.

Please continue to pray for our team and Pastor Omar’s team as we continue the trip and on our trip back home. Please pray for Pastor Alberto and his family to give him strength to carry on. I believe his hard work over the past nine years will soon be rewarded. One last thing, I applaud the youth at First Baptist Garland, the youth on this mission trip, and the youth I went with to Palestine in November. All of you have amazed me: the way you pray, the boldness you show, and your commitment to God. I pray that you will never lose these things and that all of you continue to grow closer to God.

In Christ we do all things,

David (Chichimeca Mission Team)

_______________________________
Phil Davenport's Report

Here are some numbers from the last day:

Conversions (last night) 10 adults, 12 children
We had 78 up to Thursday.

VBS last day: 200
That is exactly the number of gift bags that we prepared. PRAISE THE LORD!

Clinic--42 people were seen with only one doctor. We also had only one doctor on Wednesday.

Post #4: Chichimeca Trip

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it”… and that is exactly what we are doing this morning as we begin our last day of Health Clinic, Filter Distribution, and Bible School. What wonderful experiences we’ve had as we’ve watched the Lord take over and bless in a mighty way!

We began our day yesterday at 6:00 a.m. hiking up the mountain which overlooks the city and which has the words “Hail Immaculate Queen Mary” written in huge letters for all to see as they enter San Luis de La Paz. It took us two hours to climb and at times we felt like we couldn’t make it but we felt like the Lord wanted us to reach the top to pray over the city so we continued determined to make it. About half way to the top we encountered people coming to pray at a tomb which has a painted picture of Jesus over it, but what amazed us was that at the top of the mountain there is an altar with a cross with prayers inscribed asking for blessings from the “cross” – never a mention of Jesus! It was sad, but at the same time we were excited for the opportunity to pray in the name of Jesus for this lost city!

We did spend an hour praying for San Luis and the Chichimecas and at the end we prayed over Pastor Alberto – the one who God sent to this city to reach the people He created and loves! Pr. Alberto has been here for over nine years and only recently had his first convert. He now has three people waiting to be baptized (the baptistery needs to be tiled) PLUS the 56 that have accepted Him this week at the mission (yesterday we had 18 people turn their lives over to the Lord)!

Our VBS was exciting as it was the day we presented the message of salvation to those children. Many prayed asking Jesus to forgive them of their wrongdoings and had the story emphasized many times as they went from one area to the other doing crafts—the "story of salvation" bracelet, painting, playing, and eating! It is so fun to watch our team interacting with all of those children in the hot sun, never complaining, always smiling, and ready to do what needs doing to accomplish the mission!

As we were in our vans leaving the mission a couple arrived who had just accepted Jesus this week and who had come seeking prayer--they both have AIDS and the wife had just found out that she has cancer. We all went back in to join hands and to pray over this couple. We believe the Lord is going to heal them for His glory and for the growth of His kingdom among the Chichimecas!

After supper we all worked on the gift bags we are distributing today and then called it a day/night (it was already 9:00p.m.). Pray for us today as we finish the task the Lord has set before us. We will be showing the second part of The Jesus Film so pray for those who will be watching.

As always, THANK YOU for your support in our mission!

-Your Chichimeca Team

Hotel

Outside of Church

Inside of Church

Post #3: Chichimeca Trip

Block Party


We have been very productive these past two days with getting to know the Chichimecans and learning about their lifestyle. VBS has been a hit with the kids and the clinic has been AMAZING! So far we have had 38 people accept Jesus, and the doctors and the dentist have seen approximately 100 people. A few members of our team have been going out into the community to invite them to take part in our services and festivities. While inviting they were also prayer walking. We have recruited so many people to join us, and our numbers are growing daily!

I have had the awesome opportunity of working with Sara in the clinic. In the past two days I have gone from being a want-to-be-nurse to a surgeon’s assistant! This has been such a learning experience for me! I have learned how to give injections (something I would never be able to do in The United States without a degree), and I have distributed medications. I am getting to where I know what Sara is going to give them before she asks me to go get it. Working with Sara is such a blessing. Between my fluent English and broken Spanish and her fluent Spanish and broken English, we are forming such a wonderful relationship. God is really filling that language gap! We work so well together, and she is so willing to teach me new things (I think this is because she is fairly fresh out of medical school and she still understands the curious student’s mind.)

Today our teamwork was really put to the test when one of our patients had an ingrown toenail like you have never seen! Jesus was really standing beside the girl, because this was such a large ingrown toe nail, and Sara removed it without numbing it or giving the girl any kind of medicine. All the girl did was cringe. I think Sara and I were in more pain than she was! That is just one example of the kind of health issues we are dealing with. The medicine we are prescribing more than anything else is fruit. These people do not get enough of the essential vitamins that they need. This is not always readily available to them, and it is definitely something we all can pray for!

This evening we had a block party where we continued to spread The Good News. We fed the people hot dogs (a good American meal), and we showed The Jesus Film. The children came and brought their families along with them. All together we had approximately 200 people plus team members. We had a rotation of games and activities for the kids including face painting. We also took this opportunity to teach them proper hand washing techniques and its necessity for good health. A good time was had by all!

God is continuing to keep our team strong, but your prayers are still needed! God is doing AWESOME things here is San Luis de la Paz!

---Katherine y El Equipo para Los Chichimecans (The Team for the Chichimecans)!

Post #2: Chichimeca Mission Trip

What a blessed Sunday we have had! As we ascended the steps to the altar to the Senor de la Montanita, or God of the Mountain, we prayed for the Chichimeca tribe and for the inhabitants of San Luis de la Paz. When we reached the summit we looked out over the hills and saw the maze of adobe dwellings, as well as, all manner of houses and buildings made of cement blocks and things not ordinarily used to make a home from, but were never the less considered building materials. It was a humbling sight and cause for thankfulness to God for all that we have in our land of plenty. It also made us very aware of the task God had set before us. These people have built altars to a god that they do not worship and call him their god to please the religious community that has tried to teach them about our God, but in their hearts are worshiping a false god. As we stood before this altar we held hands and began to pray. As we prayed for God’s Spirit to fill us so that we may be used for His Glory, a breeze began to blow over us that was like feeling the “breath of God” blowing into our hearts and souls. It was an awesome experience.

Our day continued with a trip to the mission to unload supplies for the week and see how we would set up our clinic and VBS. Then, we went on to church at 11:30 and after a wonderful sermon by Pastor Omar from the McAllen church, we ate lunch and headed back to the mission to make preparations for the next day. We can hardly wait to see what God has in store for us. Continue to pray for us each day that we will be ready for all he has planned for us and that we will glorify Him in all that we do. God bless you all.

-Marie & Your Chichimeca Team

Post #1: Chichimeca Mission Trip

“To Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen!”

We have just arrived in San Luis de La Paz and already we’ve seen the Lord doing immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine!

We left the MAC parking lot at 4 a.m. Friday morning in two vans, excited and ready for what was ahead but not sure why we were leaving so early – now we know! We made excellent time and by noon were at the border ready to cross. We stopped and prayed before entering the immigration line and immediately began praising the Lord when we got the green light to go ahead. We did have to get individual visas (which you can only get there) and the permits for the vans. We were almost through when we discovered a problem with the papers for one of the vans and had to return to San Antonio! No one complained, we prayed that the agency would remain open until we arrived, they did, and we got the papers and drove off as they closed their doors!!

We arrived back at the border before they closed down for the night and arrived at our hotel in Saltillo at 2:30 a.m. Again we stopped and thanked the Lord for His guidance and protection (Phil Davenport said that his prayer life is up to date for the next year!) After a good night’s rest and a wonderful Mexican breakfast we began our adventure of this day.

Already we’ve had good fellowship and lots of laughter as we practiced our Spanish choruses with the accordion in one of the rooms at our Hotel (the manager didn’t think it would be wise to use the lobby) and then with Pastor Alberto and his wife, and Sara – our doctor—and her husband, as we discussed the plans for the week.

We will begin our day tomorrow by going to the “Lord of the little Mountain” statue to pray over the city. Many years ago this city was claimed for the devil but tomorrow we will have the opportunity to claim it for our Lord, as so many of you have already been doing these past few months. What a joy that time in prayer will be for us. From there we will go to the church and celebrate the Lord’s Day – and Father’s Day –with them, and then on to the Chichimeca Mission to Prayer Walk that area and prepare everything for Monday.

We are so thankful for your prayer support to this point but we ask you to pray even harder as we face the days ahead. We found out tonight that we might have as many as four doctors working with us and that is “exceedingly above” what we were asking or thinking! God is good ALL THE TIME!

In His service,

Your Chichimeca Team

LEFT TO RIGHT:

Pastor Alberto Reyes; Dr. Sara's son, Carlito, and her husband, Carlos;

Pastor's wife, Juanita; Charlotte; Dr. Sara

Vancouver Prayer Walking Mission Trip, June 12-17

Our Mission Trip ended last evening when we landed back in Dallas at 6:35 p.m. Our luggage didn't seem to want to to leave Vancouver (weather 50's, 60's & low 70's), so it came on a later flight and we didn't see it until late morning today. Other than that very small frustation, the rest of the week was pretty near perfect!

Trisha Beavers, Barbara Borth, Rubye Dacon and June Morris spent several days working with The Bridge Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. This was our sixth year to go and help Pastor Jerry Conner and his leaders prepare for their Summer "Reach for the Goal Sports Camp". We arrived Thursday evening, June 12. We stayed at Triumf House on the Campus of the University of British Columbia. It is a guesthouse that was built for visiting nuclear physicists from all over the world. Triumf is the nuclear research facility on the campus. We are certainly not nuclear physicists, but when the guesthouse has openings, they allow Vancouver visitors to stay there.

Friday morning was spent preparing packets of Sports Camp brochures and posters that we later delivered to nine local elementary schools. After completing our deliveries, we organized crafts and supplies for the church's upcoming Vacation Bible School. As we walk around the city, we always carry a supply of Pastor Jerry's "business cards" and Reach for the Goal Sports Camp brochures that we can offer to the young families we encounter (Vancouver is a beautiful city and the climate is wonderfully mild, so lots of people are out walking with their children and their animals.) We pray for divine encounters and God always provides! The encounters begin on the airplane when we leave Dallas and end on the planeride back. We even gave out a Bridge Church card and a brochure on the flight from Vancouver to Denver. God's presence and guiding spirit were all around us. Many times when we took a wrong turn, we would soon learn there was a reason God wanted us to go that way. Once our "lost" took us to the field where the Sports Camp will take place so we were able to pray there. Another time, it took us to a park filled with young mommies playing with their children where we were able to invite them to Sports Camp.

The church is in a good place right now. Lots of young couples and a few singles have joined in the last year (very international - people from Iran, Syria, China, Korea, Newfoundland, First Nations Inuit Tribe, Vancouver, the Eastern Provinces of Canada, England, and a few from the U.S. - just like it's going to be in Heaven!) The church website (bridgechurch.ca) receives more "hits" than any other church in the area - that is the way most of these young people find out about The Bridge. Because the church worship service meets in the Vancouver Museum and Planetarium which is close to the water, lots of folks are out walking on Sunday mornings. The Sunday we were there for worship, there was a beautiful kite festival going on outside the building. One young family flying kites (have only been in Vancouver for three years - from China) wandered in during our after-service luncheon and ended up staying to visit. They are planning to come to worship next week!

We had wonderful experiences with The Bridge Church members. On this mission trip, Pastor Jerry wanted us to spend more time getting to know his people. He said several of them were amazed to know that people from as far away as Texas cared about their church enough to pray for them. They couldn't understand our prayer-walking team's commitment to give a week of our time to come and pray for their city. They certainly can't understand our commitment to pray daily as individuals and to gather twice a month to pray as a group throughout the year. Three of the nights we were there, young couples invited us into their homes for dinner. On Friday night, we were invited to share a meal with four young couples and two of their children and prayed. On Sunday evening, we prayed with two of the chaplains on the University of British Columbia campus, attended their Sunday evening service and shared dinner. On Monday evening, we were invited to dinner with the young family who is heading up the Sports Camp; then on to a meeting with six of the church families who are heading up a new outreach to strengthen attendance and commitment at Sports Camp. They will be hosting 3 or 4 Children's Saturday Play Days at local parks (Our own Jim Witt sparked the idea with Jerry!). The team wanted us to pray with them and we were honored to do so. Awesome trip!

June 15 Post: Germany Mission Trip

We arose early to attend church where Rick Dill is Pastor in Weimar. We arrived at the church and the choir had time to warm up and have prayer time prior to singing in the first service. They have two services and the choir sang at the beginning of both services. Following the first performance, many from our group joined the congregation while some sat outside in the courtyard of the church.

Today's first service was very special as Rick was to baptize four people. The baptismal appeared to be a small rectangular pool right in the floor of the sanctuary. After each person entered the pool, someone who had mentored him/her spoke about the person prior to Rick baptizing them. The congregation erupted in claps and cheers once they were brought up out of the water. The worship team led everyone in singing a very uplifting praise song between baptisms.

The excitement and energy of the congregation was so incredible! The first to be baptized was a boy who appeared to be 12 or 13 years old. Next were two girls who were both 12 years of age. The last person to be baptized was a man with whom Rick had shared Christ for the first time 12 years earlier. The service was so moving and was the perfect way to end our journey through Germany. Even though we did not understand the words Rick spoke in his sermon or the words of the songs we sang, we still felt like we truly worshiped God on this Sunday morning in Germany.

Following the first service, we were all treated to homemade cakes, pastries, and coffee. Everything we ate was delicious! It was then time for the Choir to sing in the second service. Following that performance we all loaded the buses and headed downtown to eat at a local German restaurant. The name of it was Gasthausbrauerei Felsenkeller. We had all chosen one of three meals prior to leaving for Germany. Our choices were Schnitzel, Beef Roll, or Goulash. It appeared that everyone enjoyed their lunch. We definitely did not starve on this trip! It seemed like we were eating all the time!

Following lunch, we loaded the buses and were taken to the downtown market area. Some tried to spend the last of their Euros, some got ice cream, and others just walked around. The Beards did all three!

Next we loaded the buses and headed back to Rick's church to prepare for the evening concert. Once we arrived at the church we had our devotional time which was led by Paul Stephens. We studied the song, "In Christ Alone" and looked at its powerful words. The words tell us that when we are in Christ we are surrounded by Him. When we are in Christ alone there is nothing else to distract us from our relationship with Him. All week it was the hope and prayer of the Choir and Orchestra that the people of Germany would come to know Christ alone.

After the devotional time, we set up for the concert. Like all the other venues where we performed, the set up had to be unique for the floorplan. The set-up team and everyone pitched in to move a grand piano and other equipment. Mark then warmed up the Choir and Orchestra for the performance. We began to get dressed knowing we would have a large crowd due to the early arrivals we'd seen. The sanctuary filled up quickly -- including the balcony. More chairs were even added to the foyer. The exact number of people wasn't given to us, but we estimated about 300 were there.

The enthusiasm was so incredible and the crowd seemed truly blessed by the performance. Everyone was then treated to a Texas BBQ dinner with ribs and pork chops. Many from the congregation had brought salads, potato salad -- even BBQ sauce made by Nancy Dill from a Texas recipe she had. It was so fun to eat with everyone from the audience and we traded email addresses with one of the girls who had been baptized earlier. Dinner was hurried since we had to drive three hours to Frankfurt, but we still had time to meet a few folks.

Once we were on the bus to Frankfurt it occurred to us that the trip was coming to an end. All the concerts had been performed and it was time to begin the journey home.

As we sit and reflect on the past 10 days, it is so amazing to see where we began in Schneeburg and ended in Weimar. Our lives will be forever changed from this experience and it is our prayer that we will go home with the same boldness in sharing Christ as we had in Germany whether it be through a smile, kind word or deed, or actually sharing how God has blessed us.

On a funny note, the bus ride to Frankfurt on Bus #1 was hilarious! You can imagine how funny Mark was on the microphone and he and Larry wore the neck pillows on their heads! These memories will forever be in our hearts and we are so grateful to have been a part of this mission team.

-The Beard Family (Eddie, Rhonda, & Natalee)

June 8 Post #2: Germany Mission Trip

On Sunday morning we sang in the beautiful mountain town of Schneeberg. The small city is built on the side of a beautiful small mountain. It has tall, stately traditional buildings with flower baskets under the windows and paved stone streets. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining. Our concert was held in a town hall where citizens were voting in the basement. We performed in a small auditorium on the second floor.We rehearsed a few songs before the performance. I believe the music could be heard by the voters, even those walking by on the street. This may have attracted some interested persons, as the auditorium was nearly full.

The audience was very receptive to the Choir and Orchestra. Frieda Bennett gave her very moving testimony. We held a drawing for door prizes, including an autographed picture of Dirk Nowitzki. A boy about 10 years old picked the names out of a hat for Pastor Rick Dill to announce. Rick is the Pastor of Weimar Baptist Church and translated for Jim Witt. The audience cheered each of the door prize winners.

We presented the Burgermeister with gifts for the city and he gave a moving acceptance speech. He's a believer! He said "where language ends, music begins." He presented us with a gift of a porcelain bell and said that the bell was the symbol of the city. He said that "Communism tried to silence the bells of the church, but couldn't silence the Gospel. "

After the concert we visited the main Lutheran church, built in the 1400's. It was destroyed in WWII and rebuilt. It's a classic stone, high-vaulted church. Mark Hill led us spontaneously in the Doxology and a few other songs, including a solo by my daughter, Gracie. The room echoed and made us sound like angels.

-Brian Sanford

June 14 Post: Germany Mission Trip

Our day began with intermittent rain and a chill in the air. We traveled through the countryside on the back roads through small villages which we enjoyed thoroughly. We noted all the fields were ripe with various food crops and everything looked very sculpturerd and clean. What a beautiful country! The countryside is beautiful because it remains untouched by commerce and population growth.

Our strength and endurance was tested this morning as we climbed a mountain to view a castle perched high at the very top. It was very strenuous and we came to the conclusion that we were not up to climbing mountains, but the view was lovely and we survived.

Next on the agenda was lunch at a little glass factory in the countryside. A bratwurst sandwich and we were good to go again. However, we made the vendor's day, as he sold over a 100 sandwiches. The glass factory was very interesting with a lot of unique gift opportunities. Then we traveled on, back to the autobahn, to our concert at Schliez.

The congregation that we experienced was the largest crowd of our tour. There were over 400 in attendance, which was made up of three churches all coming together to promote this concert. The people were very receptive which motivated the orchestra and the choir to one of their most inspired performances. They accepted all the Bibles we offered and many seeds were sown for the future growth of the 22-member Baptist congregation. We pray that the Baptist church in Schleiz will reap the harvest for Christ in the days to come. It was a great day!

-Paul and Jo Ann Stephens

June 11 Post: Germany Mission Trip

We went into the city center of Dresden and I noticed that the buildings were very black. We learned that the city had been bombed by the British and Americans but some of the buildings had been restored. The weather was chillier and everyone was kinda cold.We first stopped at "the lady church" (Frauchurchon cathedral). It was very beautiful and ornate. The choir was allowed to sing and we really worshiped God.

I went with a group of FBC members to the Old Masters art gallery. As we looked at all the beautiful paintings I noticed that Jesus was a prominent subject in the art, which shows that Jesus has had a lasting impact on the world. We did visit the porcelain museum, but it was mostly plates and cups and table settings. (Carl, the stenographer, went to see them make Phaetons at the Transparent Factory).

We then split up our group and Mom and I had a quick lunch at a cafe. Then we went shopping. All along the street were people trying to earn a living. There we beggars, musicians, and actors dressed as German historical figures posing for pictures. We boarded the bus for Bad Lausick. Its not actually 'bad' as in English, but a town that has a natural mineral spa. When we arrived, the members of the 'Energie' Baptist church had prepared a delicious dinner of pasta, rice, and goulash. It doesn't sound good, but it was delicious! We then had a time of prayer in the youth room and remembered some of the attributes of God such as He is our protector, He is faithful, and we can trust Him.

With our hearts prepared for worship we started the concert in a modern, bright room. Most of the seats were filled. The audience really participated in the music and was responsive and receptive to the message. The concert was a success and I think we encouraged the congregation's hearts. It was a 90-minute ride back to the ETAP hotel in Weimar. We arrived at midnight (again) and sluggishly went into our rooms and gladly fell asleep.

-Elizabeth Hering

June 10 Post: Germany Mission Trip

We were on the bus at 9 am After a devotional time, our first stop was in the village of Modlareuth. We toured the museum of the "Little Berlin Wall" dedicated to the local wall erected by the communists. It was the only town, besides Berlin, that was divided after WWII. We saw a brief movie where we learned that when the wall went up it first was barbed wire, then a 2-meter fence was added, and finally (in this village) a wall was made of concrete blocks taken from the autobahn. As it went through the village, it divided neighbor from neighbor and families from one another.

We walked through a reconstructed area and saw actual guard watchtowers. As we walked through the 'verbotten' area where the land mines were placed, we sensed the reality and terror these people had been a part of. We saw an actual Russian tank and helicopter on the property. Our thoughts were somber, as we realized the plight of even the Pastor himself. He shared how his family was separated for so long.

That afternoon we went into Plauen and were free to eat, shop, and see the sights. Some chose the lace shops, others ate a 'real' German meal, and still others read through the brochure and visited the historical places in Plauen. With each new town we have become bolder and bolder. At lunch our waitress was invited to our concert and she said she would come with her mother. At nearly every shop we invited people to come to the concert. When we arrived at the historical Catholic church we found our Heart of Texas poster telling about our concert.

Several of members rested at the Baptist church. While there, Joanne Stevens admired a lace table runner. The church ladies then took Joanne to several lace shops where they found the runner. Dinner was shown at the Baptist church and we were shown slides of that building's restoration. It was a great dinner, including red cabbage and potato dumplings! Because there was not much space in the sanctuary of this friendly church, the Pastor arranged for the concert to be held at the larger Methodist Church. It was a beautiful large church with a tiny choir loft. Flexible as always, God showed us how to be arranged. With the brass playing from a pew and choir members filling the stage, we went through the setups and got ready, prayed, and praised God. It was a good, but older, crowd as many young east Germans have moved to the west. They clapped with the songs, when invited and they really liked the door prizes.

Judy Pruitt's testimony of finding Christ after being raised in a church by looking for God through the scriptures prepared the audience for the German Bibles they'd receive. We were thankful that so many at FBCG had given money for these Bibles. The crowd listened intently to all parts and some were brought to tears. One interesting fact we found out after the concert was that the winner of the cowboy hat had come to the church to learn the German language. Her 'GSL' teacher had led her to Christ!

A very hospitable church, they presented each of us with a candle representative of the city of Plauen. We pray that God will work in the hearts of those who have lived in fear for much of their lives and that God will give the German Christians a desire to reach out to many who need Him with the word of truth.

-Becky Allen

June 9 post: Germany Mission Trip

Thankfully we were able to get a little sleep this morning. The buses departed for Gorlitz and we stopped and had lunch on the way. We arrived at Gorlitz around 1.30 PM, then had the best strawberry cake and fruit with the Pastor and his wife. Even Mark helped serve the cake. The pastor gave a brief talk about himself. He told us that his decision to enter the ministry was against his parents' wishes.

We then went on a walking tour of Gorlitz led by the Pastor. While walking, we crossed over a bridge and set foot into Poland. On the way back we stopped in a cathedral and sang "It is Well With My Soul" and several other songs. It was a very moving experience. We had some shopping time, headed back to rehersal, had dinner, and changed for the concert.

The concert was attended by many people--the Burgermeister and some Polish folks. The people were very receptive, seemed to enjoy the songs, clapped along, and liked the prizes. Bob Cline gave his testimony. After the concert we visited with the audience who were very friendly. We loaded the buses, waved goodbye to the Pastor and frau, and headed to Dresden where we arrived after midnight.

-Karen Sturm

June 8 Post: Germany Mission Trip

It was a beautiful country drive to get there. The church was a beautiful 800-year-old cathedral built in the middle of the country with only 5 homes in Seelitz. We had 22 nearby communities join together for the concert. The people were so excited and receptive. The floor and first two (of three balconies) were filled. It was obvious after the first chord that people were excited and glad to be there. Even though the Euro 2007 'Football' tournament was at 9 PM, no one seemed anxious to leave after the first encore! We were glad to have Bob Cline usher for us and able to find a seat for everyone.We began the first day with two concerts and singing in the Schneeberg cathedral and ended with great momentum and worship! Please remember us at noon each day, as we are 7 hours ahead of Texas and will begin our concert at that time.



-Lynnette Powell




This was our view at lunch today. -Rhonda Beard

June 7 Post: Germany Mission Trip

76 travel weary members of the FBC Music Missions Team arrived at Frankfurt airport after flying all night. Three will join us later. We picked up our luggage, went through customs, and boarded buses for Dresden. Dresden is the staging city for the first half of our Music and Missions tour.

We had no major mishaps except one misplaced passport, and it was eventually recovered. After a 5-hour drive we arrived in Dresden and checked into the ETAP hotel, which will be our home for three nights. Its hardly luxurious, but it's home. Everyone is tired but excited to begin the ministry. Tomorrow are our first two concerts: in Schneeberg and Seelitz. Please continue to pray for us throughout the mission trip.

-Jim Witt

Check out Mark Hill's video clip after the photos below:

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