bridges don 1985 germany
TRANSCRIPT
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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 .
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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8/10/2019 Bridges Don 1985 Germany
8/8
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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