Ray und Paula im Ruhestand

September 2010 Issue No. One

2010-09-03T11:20:00.016-05:00

~ Special Münchener Edition ~

Ray und Paula im Ruüühestand

Leave of Absence takes us around the World

Lörrach to Munich in Just 4 months

I wanted to begin our new newsletter with just a brief recap of the past 5 months. Many of you may have wondered if we had dropped out, not to be heard from again . . . NOPE! We have just not been able to get connected. The greatest challenge has been getting connected to the internet - not in far away city of Uijeongbu, Korea, but in the relatively civilized

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Frau O.” in Dallmeyr

Probably the most well known place in Munich to have a delicious cup of coffee or tea and a not so low calorie piece of tort or cheesecake or other fine pastry would have to be in the bistro

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Tote Hose In any Language

Every language has its own special way of say things. One of those that we learned recently

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For by GRACE we have been saved through faith . . . to do the good works which God prepared for us in advance.

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Ray and Paula im Ruhestand page2
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from Lörrach to Munich in Just 4 months

and modern city of Munich in Southern Germany!

In the four months that we were away from the field on our leave of absence, we flew from Germany to France and then on to Korea. We were there for 89 days before we flew from Korea to France to Germany stopping long enough to do our laundry and few other chores before continuing on to Newark, New Jersey and then Tacoma, Washington. After 3 action packed and fun-filled weeks we set out for “home” flying back in Munich via Newark, NJ. By the time we got home, we had flown around the world ONE AND A HALF TIMES!

For a little while, we were not sure we would make it home. It turns out that we needed to have a periodic health assessment before going back to Germany. This was not quiet as easy as it sounds. We did get our physicals, courtesy of the 121 Combat Support Hospital in Yong San, Korea But it was not until the very last morning we were in Korea, we learned that we had our health clearance and could return home.

We had gotten permission to visit our kids at Fort Lewis, Washington if everything went according to plan in Korea. We were blessed and are honored to have been able to be there when our son in law returned from Afghanistan just in time for our granddaughter’s birthday. We continue to praise God for his safe homecoming. We got to visit with one of the churches that supports us in prayer while we were in the Pacific Northwest. The only bump in the trip back to Germany was my misreading the time when our flight left SEA-TAC.

We made the flight, but were the last passengers to board before they closed the door!

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“Frau O” in Dallmeyr

above the Dallmeyr coffee company store about a block from the Marien Platz in downtown Munich. Shortly after we arrived in Munich, we were having our afternoon “Kaffeezeit” at Dallmeyr. A nice older lady sat down at the table next to us. We exchanged greetings. She was interested in why we were in Munich. We explained that as retirees we wanted to live Munich for a few years. The conversation turned several corners, and we wound up talking about marriage and, of course, grandchildren. We were able to share with Frau O. that the only reason that we had stayed married was that Jesus Christ was the center of our marriage. Frau O. shared that she was going to the dentist the next day to have some teeth removed so she could have cold have dental implants . . . and she was scared! We shared with her that God reminds us over 350 times: Fürchte dich nichtt! (FEAR NOT). We prayed with her, and exchanged telephone numbers before she had to leave.

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Tote Hose In any Language

was “tote Hose.” Our teacher explained it this way: if you went to a party and it wasn’t any fun, the party would be tote Hose. The time has now come for us to step down from our exciting, fast paced language learning and go back to GRAMMAR class to learn all of those rules that make German
such an easy language!!

Nathaniel William Hammond

2010-05-19T06:09:00.006-05:00

I have put off writing until Nathaniel William Hammond arrived. I have the pleasure of telling you now that he made it on time and Mary tells us that he came into the world screaming! Nathaniel was delivered by C-Section on Tuesday morning, May 18 at 8:21. He weighed in at a respectable 8 pounds 12 ounces. His chart states that he is 20 inches tall already. Mary told us today that he has a healthy appetite and will probably need to have a good sized steak before he leaves the hospital. He has a LOT of RED hair. Both Mary and Jimmy are doing great. Jimmy gets to stay in Mary's room at the hospital since there are not a lot of other baby's being born at the moment. The proud daddy got to be in the delivery room when his son was born. Emily and Joshua got to be on the ward when Nathaniel arrived and are the best big sister and big brother a newborn could have. Nathaniel was only about a half an hour old when they posed for a family picture together. Praise God with us for ALL of the events leading up to Nathaniel's arrival and the wonderful answers to your prayers!! Another answered prayer is the manner in which our son in law is recovering from his knee reconstruction. It is difficult to believe that has only been a month ago that he came home from the hospital. Over the course of the last four weeks, he has made remarkable progress in his recovery. The physical therapist is amazed that he is able to walk as well as he does. He attained over 90 percent flexation in just over two weeks of therapy and will be completely off of crutches and driving again in about a week. Praise God for the answers to your prayers for Jimmy. Our time here in Korea has not been spent standing still. We have already made over 35 trips from Uijeongbu to Seoul, specifically the Army Community Hospital. It is only 27 kilometers, door to door, but it often takes over an hour and a half to get there. The other day we were in bumper to bumper traffic for nearly 22.5 kilometers!! Korean drivers often consider traffic laws to be guidelines. Although they do not necessarily want to hit you; they most certainly will take full advantage of your duty to yield to THEIR need to be where you are driving! It is not uncommon for a car, truck (from tiny Bongo truck to 24,500 Kilogram dump-truck) or bus to change one or more lanes without benefit of turn signal or waiting for you to get out of the way. Thank you for your prayers, lifting us up to keep us safe while we are driving here.

The medical care at the Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital has been nothing short of amazing. I have never been the type to complain about military medicine to begin with, having been associated with it for most of my life. These folks set a high standard of care and live up to it. We have been pleasantly surprised almost every time we have dealt with them. We are thankful to God that our company required physical have gone so well. We have a few more of the requirements to check off and we will be able to package our forms up and send them off to be approved for our clearance to return to the field.

Please join us in prayer:

F Our other Son in Law serving in Afghanistan, he should home about the end of June;

F For the results of our Company physicals so we can be cleared, and return to the field quickly;

F Our new place of service in Germany, for the lost who are already there and for boldness on our part to share the Good News with them.

Two down and One to go

2010-04-22T03:34:00.006-05:00

We have gotten to the end of yet another month on our journey onward. . . and God is still good! Just a cursory look over the shoulder reveals that God's hand has just been all over the events and places we have found ourselves. From leaving Germany to arriving in Korea; from waking up with the pain of a gall stone to getting Jimmy home from the hospital after an unexpected overnight stay following his surgery; from having our Leave of Absence planned out to having those plans wadded up and thrown out the window of our moving all too quickly adventure, God is still good.

A week or so ago, I was just beginning to recover from having my gallbladder removed - WOW! Talk about unexpected! Apparently I was among those one who didn't see it coming, but the week of events had to pass through His hands before I ever knew what was going on. I'm sure SGT Collins, the exceptional young Medic from the aid station at Camp Red Cloud didn't really want to have to transport an aging retired Major to the Army Hospital in Yongsan, but God sustained this guy on his 2 hours of sleep as he cared for me in the ambulance. The urgent care folks in the hospital were the best and after most of the day under their care, I walked out with an appointment with the surgeon for the following Monday afternoon - all I can say is that God arranged that. God had also penciled me in for the April 9^th on the surgical calendar and appointed the likes of CPT Carter, the head nurse in the day surgery clinic, to take care of me before and after surgery. I am thankful that God guided Dr Richard Inae's hands as he removed my chronically inflamed gallbladder (if not this gallbladder attack, it would have been in the near future) But I am now healing up nicely with four little scars on my belly.

Last week, Jimmy had his knee rebuilt in a three and a half hour operation. His surgeon was guided to just the right solution for Jim to put him back together and be able to go back to being a career Soldier. God cradled my son in law in his arms as he took a little bit longer than planned to wake up. Then God provided a semi private room for Jimmy to be in overnight after surgery. Since no one else was there, Mary got to stay with him and then bring him home on Friday morning. On a scale of 1 to 10 Jimmy's pain was spiking about a 17! God provided for that with some excellent pain management medicine. Yesterday, God provided for Jimmy's need for the best post operative physical therapy through the Chief of the Physical Therapy rewriting the Physical Therapy plan along with his surgeon. Jimmy and I will be at the hospital in Seoul on Tuesday and Thursday for the next several weeks. Jimmy is spending a lot of time just lying on the bed with his leg up on a pillow.

We are now down to waiting for Mary to get the date for her c-section and the mundane stuff of taking care of our grandkids - This is not for the faint of heart. Mary could also come and wake us up in the middle of the night and tell me it is "Time!" WooHoo a trip to Seoul in the middle of the night, "Hey Paula, you want to be in the OR when the baby comes?"

Please join us in prayer:

F For Jimmy's complete recovery and return to duty in less than the time that we have left in Korea (June 12);

F For a safe "on time delivery" for our new GRANDSON, "Mephamyou'll" (Nathaniel);

F Our other Son in Law as he winds down his time in Afghanistan;

F Our Company has informed us that we need to have medical clearance before we can return to the field - no easy task to get a physical and provide the info they need to clear us.

Uijeongbu: It's where we're taking our LOA

2010-04-06T03:52:00.012-05:00

We have been in Uijeongbu, Korea for the last 3weeks helping our daughter Mary and son in law Jimmy get over a bit of a rough patch in their lives. Our first week was marked by the recovery from the jet lag we collected on route from Germany to Korea. Our trip took us from Lörrach by train to Stuttgart, where we spent the night before going VERY early the next morning to catch the first leg of our flight to Korea. It was a good thing we had several hours of layover in Paris. The "enhanced" security caught up with us just as we were about to board the bus to the International Terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport. We stood in one of several very long lines for a very long time. We did have time to do a little shopping in the international terminal before we boarded our plane for the 10 hour flight to Korea. Our route took us over Helsinki, Moscow, Novo Sibirsk, Beijing and finally into Incheon, Korea.
When we arrived, Mary, just beginning her 7^th month of pregnancy, was completely exhausted. Our grandkids were well past being "over stimulated," from the seemingly never-ending trips in the car going back and forth to Seoul on nearly a daily basis. Our son in law is still unable to drive himself regardless of when his commander needs him to work. Our first task was getting ourselves into "the military system" here in Korea. Within a week, we had access to the military installations, our ration cards, my driver's license, and we were enrolled in the military health care plan for Korea. Before the end of our first full week in Korea, Mary was getting a nap in the afternoons and not having to drive Jimmy every time he needed to go. God provided not only the means for us to come to Korea, but had gone before us to each of the agencies we needed to visit getting us enrolled without any problems. Little did we realize what was about to happen.
Very early on Saturday, I woke up with severe pain in my upper abdomen and chest that would not go away. Mary drove me to the closest Military urgent care clinic - on the other side of Uijeongbu; about half hour away. The sharp young medic figured out right away that whatever was wrong with me should be treated at the Army General Hospital in Seoul and sent me by ambulance. At about 3 o'clock that afternoon, after an X-Ray series, a lot of poking and prodding, a CAT scan, and a diagnosis of "Sir, you need to have your gallbladder taken out" the very young Army doctor sent me home with a pile of meds and instructions to return on Monday to see the surgeon. I saw the surgeon as instructed and will have my gallbladder out on 9 April - God is good all the time! I should be healed up in time for Jimmy's surgery on April 15^th and will definitely be ready to drive Mary to the hospital in Seoul when she is ready for her C-section.

Paula is having a ball caring for Emily and Joshua as well as doing laundry, cleaning and cooking for Mary. Jimmy is enjoying the homemade bread. I take Jimmy to work and pick him up as well as do much of the driving to Seoul. The other night I got to "play Army" with Jimmy while he was Camp Duty Officer. We had a great Easter celebration at the South Post Chapel on Yongsan Garrison this past Sunday. We took the kids over to a quiet section of Camp Stanley in the afternoon for a family Easter egg hunt.

Please join us in prayer: ~ Thanking God for his goodness in getting us to Korea and sustaining us;

~ Three upcoming surgeries: Jimmy's knee reconstruction, Mary's C-section, Ray's gallbladder removal;

~ Planning for our return to Germany later this summer

Your Co-Laborers,

Ray and Paula Milburn

See our Face Book page (http://www.facebook.com/rayandpaula) For updates.

He's at work, even when you're not looking

2010-03-08T11:05:00.001-06:00

Here it is the end of the first week of March and as I look out of my window at the brightly colored apartment buildings across the street, I see the buds on the big tree in the yard about to happen; the “schneeglöckchen” have already poked their little white flowers above the ground where the snow used to be; the sky is only partially obscured and it is beginning to snow again for the third time today! Ah yes, spring is just around the corner.

Since the first of February we have taken part in a couple of projects. The formal language training that began on February 1 is going very well. Our class has grown from 6 attenders to only 4 attenders. We didn’t have a really diverse group to begin with. There were 4 M’s and a lady from Estonia who lives in Basel, Switzerland. We were joined for a week or so by another M; sadly family issues caused her to drop the course. This week the Estonian lady found a job working nights in Basel and she, too had to drop out. Sadly, in a week’s time the class will be down to just 2 – almost a private lesson for those remaining.

Elena, our teacher, is excellent. She is more concerned that we learn the language than get all the way through the book. Every day is different and well worth looking forward to. We spend hours just talking with Elena, patiently tapping the desk when we don’t get the structure exactly right – the good news is that she is not rapping our knuckles when we put the verb in the wrong place! We seek out every opportunity to share our faith in class with Elena. Even though she is Russian, her German is almost without accent.

Please continue to Pray with us for and about The “other” project that we have been working on. This has been with our kids in Korea – the ones we have asked you to pray about. Almost every day as we have talked with them we have noted that they seemed to be a little more tired than the day before. Even through our SKYPE connection, we could feel the tension and stress of their situation mounting. Jimmy has finally gotten a date for the surgery to repair his “Your NFL career is over” knee injury and Mary was finally told by the folks in the OB department that it was imperative for her to slow down and cut back on her schedule. All of that to say that we have asked for and been approved to take a Leave of Absence to go Korea and help our kids get through the situation in which they find themselves. We spent the better part of a month praying about this. Thank you for joining with us.

We did not arrive at the decision lightly; neither did we take the request for the Leave of Absence lightly. Taking a leave of absence from the Company means that we will be able to go to Korea and help the kids out for a few months and then we will return to Germany. While we are in Korea and away from our assignment in Germany, the Company does not pay us and we don’t receive the Company’s benefits. In approving our leave of absence, the Company was both compassionate and very generous. God has provided for us to be the solution to our kid’s situation. We will fly to Korea on March 14with the intent of returning to Germany later in the summer. Our son-in-law will have surgery on April 15 and Mary is supposed to have the baby about the last week of April. We will remain in Korea long enough to make sure they are able to get back to some sort of normalcy – even though it will be a new “normal” with a third child and a rebuilt knee.

Please be sure to pray for the M’s. Scott and Jo Ellen and Len and Amber will continue at language school here. Pray specifically for them to be able to get out and use their new language as much as they are able to do. Pray that Dad will give them courage to speak up, even if they can only say a couple of words. Also there will be several moves in the next few months. Pray for David and Laura as they change jobs and move back to the States. Pray for Rick and Valarie as they are expecting an addition to their family soon. They are having a tough time in their location.

Be sure to check our Face Book: RayandPaula Milburn for updates and what is going on with us.

Blessings,

The sun is shining, even if you close your eyes!

2010-02-15T12:51:00.002-06:00

In our last post I wrote about the number of sunny days we have had here in the Drilaendereck since December 1st. Well, we have not broken any records with the number of sunny days this last month: that is certain. Although today, as we were on an outing through the Algäu, the sun came shining through the high clouds just as we crossed into Freistadt Bayern and pretty much stayed that way all day!

We are continuing with some of the habits we picked during our “Barefoot Language Learning” even now that we have returned to formal language learning. We have continued to meet with a number of “language partners.” We have built relationships with several of them that will probably go on for years after we have moved on. A week or so ago, we met with our language partners for a walk in the woods. Tramping around the top of one of the hills between Lörrach and Weil am Rhein for a couple of hours was their idea of a short walk . . . I forgot that Hans likes to climb mountains for fun! It was a snowy day and walking in town would not have been nearly as much fun. We have also joined a home Bible study group that meets in our area. As we are learning the language, we felt that it was important for us to learn the language that believers use in church and church related settings. Our leaders are terrific! Even though they speak English all we speak is German – what a hoot to sing Fanny Crosby hymns in German. Usually we sing hymns that are only 400 years old. Several of our language partners are a part of “die Eiche” (the Oak) fellowship at church. They have invited us to join them on the third Thursday of the month for their monthly meeting. Since we meet the qualification for membership of being over 50 we accepted. Speaking of church, we have joined the Baptist Church here in Lörrach. We had an interview with the pastor who presented us to the church leadership as candidates. Jürgen was keen on the idea of our being members and then when we do need to move to our ministry location partnering with us in ministry to the Germans. On the Sunday we were accepted as members, we gave our testimonies before the congregation (in German) and had the opportunity to ask the church to partner with us in our “mission.”

As I said, we are back in formal language learning. We are going to a language school in Lörrach, so we walk to class everyday instead of riding the train. There are 6 of us in our class, 3 other M’s and a lady from Estonia. We are having a super time learning. We spend most of our time speaking German on a variety of subjects. We are improving our reading and our writing as well. Following the end of course test we will be on a level that should get us to our ministry setting sooner than we had originally thought.

God continues to bless us everyday . . . could it be that we are meeting Him first thing in the morning? Or could it be that He is God and that we’re not? Or could it be that He loves us more than we could ever dream or imagine? Or could it be that he has a plan and He allows us to participate with Him in spreading His message to the Nations?

Please continue toPray with us for and about our daughter, Mary and our son in law, Staff Sergeant Jimmy Hammond in KOREA. Jimmy saw the orthopedic surgeon earlier this month. He was told that he would need to have physical therapy at least twice a week to reduce the swelling in his knee and strengthen his thigh muscles before the surgeon would operate. He will see surgeon again in early March to discuss a surgery date and further course(s) of action for his healing and rehabilitation. Mary is still pregnant and will have a C-Section at about the end of April. In the mean time she has exhausted herself taking Jimmy to work; to the hospital for regular physical therapy appointments and other appointments in addition to doing all of the household stuff. Our grandkids cannot go into the hospital so even though Mary is taking them along whenever she has to transport Jimmy they are fast wearing out as well . . . Joshy was heard to say the other day, “Mamma, I don’t want to go there today, I just want to stay home.”

Please Pray with us for and about our other son in law, SSG E. B. M., he returned to the warzone following his R&R. If you follow the news, you have already seen what it is that he returned to. As soon as he returned, his living area was washed away in a flash flood. When he called home, he told our daughter that all that he had lost in the flood was 1 pair of socks. Praise God!

Eine Gute Rutsch

2010-01-14T10:36:00.003-06:00

Eine gute Rutsch ins neues Jahr! (Happy New Year!)

The other night at church, the leader of our Second Sunday Service (in Englisch) waxed eloquently about life when it is cold and grey. Since his message, we have had 2, yes, count them TWO Sunny days here in the Drilaendereck. That is using the same scale that he used in his message . . . the sun was actually visible for a slow five count. He did enlighten us to the mere 5 sunny days since December 1st. That would mean that only a sixth of the time could have been considered as being sunny. The peculiar bit is that above the clouds, it is ALWAYS sunny!
Today we went to France with some friends from church. It was a minor shopping expedition to find out where to buy the best (and pretty cheap, too) cheese and baguette (it was still warm). They also wanted to show us where we could get diesel for our car for about 10 cents cheaper than in Germany. By the time we had gotten to Saint Louie the sunny day was getting somewhat less sunny. As we walked into what could best be described as a "SUPER WalMart on steroids" but without all of the usual WalMart-ness about it, I inserted my bank card into the automatic teller machine conveniently located at the front of the store. I have not seen the card since it disappeared into the slot on the front of the machine.
I spent about 15 minutes on my cell phone in Englisch and German trying to get someone to help me get my card back. I only made two mistakes. I asked, "Do you speak Englisch?" Ich habe gefragt, "Sprechen sie Deutsch?" But I now have 3 customer service numbers written down in my wallet. Going to the local branch of the bank whose name appeared on the automatic teller machine did provide a face to speak to in German, but not much help in retrieving my card.
C'est le vie! what else was there to do? We bought the baguette and cheeses and with only a short detour to see the pedestrain bridge between Germany and France, we returned to Germany. We dropped our friends off and headed straight to the local branch of our bank.
Apparently losing one's German bank card in an automatic teller machine in France is not all that unusual. Our local teller registered no surprise on her face at all when I told her of my adventures just across the Rhein River. She explained that the card would be returned to the Bank's main office and that in a couple of days I would hear from them to come down and once identified as the owner of the card be allowed to take it home with me once more.
So, what's all of this got to do with what is considered to be a sunny day in the Drilaendereck only about 17% of the time . . . not much really. It is with the 100% sunshiney days above the clouds that it really has to do. If we choose to live underneath the pall of the cold and grey then when our bank card gets stuck in the automatic teller machine, or we don't get the _______ (you fill in the blank), or somebody else's actions just get all over us and leave us in a mess then life is going to be cold and grey. On the other hand, living in the midst of God's grace and mercy and seeking to glorify Him results in the very best even when your bank card gets stuck in a French automatic machine!

Please Pray with us for and about our daughter, Mary and our son in law, Staff Sergeant Jimmy Hammond in KOREA. He did a REALLY good job of destroying his right knee playing basketball with his soldiers on new year's eve. He has had the doc in the Troop Medical clinic, an MRI technician and a physical therapist tell him that his dreams of a career in the NBA/NFL are over. He has not been seen by the orthopedic surgeon - yet. There will be at least 3 surgeries to fix him. Mary is pregnant and will have a C-Section at about the end of April. In the mean time she has to take Jimmy to work; to the hospital for regular physical therapy appointments and other appointments in addition to doing all of the household stuff. Our grandkids cannot go to the hospital so they are in need of someone to watch them everytime Mary takes Jimmy to the hospital in Seoul.

Please Pray with us and for us as we are about to go back to formal language training. We should be going to a sprachschule in the local area. The last two months have been a lot of fun practicing our language on a daily basis, but it is time to go back and hit the books.

Please Pray with us for and about our other son in law, SSG E. B. M., as he is coming home on R&R from a large country in SW Asia, even as I am writing this. His unit has been hit pretty hard over the course of the last six months and he is in need of a break.

Denn euch ist heute ein Retter geboren -

2009-12-24T07:46:00.007-06:00

Today in Germany we are getting ready for Heiligabend. This evening there will be a lot of celebrating and gift giving and gift receiving in homes. Some people will go to church this evening, although, most will not. We are encouraged when we hear on the street or in the shops, even on the radio, people wishing each other “Ein gesegnetes Weihnachts und einen guten Rutsch in neues Jahr” (A blessed Christmas and happy new year) rather than the generic “happy holidays.”

For us, the entire year of 2009 was an exceedingly blessed year. We began 2009 with the missionary appointment process well underway. In February our candidate consultant called us to let us know that we had been approved for appointment. In March, we partook in God’s blessing of sending our daughter and two of our grandchildren to Korea to join our son-in-law in his posting there with the US Army. We flew to Taylors, South Carolina for a week of filling out more paperwork and more interviews and meetings that culminated in our appointment. God further blessed us to be able sort through 35 years of marriage organizing what to put in our overseas shipment, what we needed to give to our kids, sell or just plain give away. After our crate was packed, God blessed us with a month long trip to say our goodbyes to our kids in Washington and Korea and our parents in Oregon and California. God’s blessing shown all through the commissioning service at our home church in Copperas Cove, Texas. Three days before we were to leave for orientation in Virginia, a routine dental exam revealed the urgent need to replace a 2 unit bridge. God arranged to have us on our way, with the bridgework completed and seated in less than 2 weeks after the exam! God showered us with his blessings once again!! During our 8 weeks and 3 days of orientation, we were blessed daily by the ways God used the ministry of Elbert, the entire ILC staff and our fellow missionaries. God so completely orchestrated ALL of the details of getting us to Germany. God has blessed us with housing, transportation and all that we need to be here. Only a few days after we arrived, God blessed us with a ministry at our language school. Those groups of people that what we call churches in America are called “gemeinde” (community) here in Germany; God has blessed us to land in the midst of a community of believers here. God’s blessings are new every day. He has blessed us so much more than we could have ever dreamed or imagined. The greatest blessing of all, is “Denn euch ist heute ein Retter geboren, welcher ist Christus, der Herr, in der Stadt Davids.” (today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David)(Luk 2:11).

Of course in the story, there are shepherds that were blessed, first by the angel and then by getting to be the first folks to see Jesus. They were just regular folks like us who had received a blessing. They were compelled to go and tell the rest of the world what had happened in Bethlehem – they had been blessed to be a blessing!

Hopes for a white Christams melted this week when the temps went up to +3.5C

Pray with us:

That God will open our eyes every day to visualize those blessings that the world does not want us to see;

That God will use us who have been so blessed, to bless those who have never had a chance to hear God and receive His blessing;

That God would bless you, the reader, and then that you might become a blessing as were the shepherds who were compelled to tell the rest of the world what they had seen and heard;

That our friend, Lottie Moon, will receive a blessing poured out of the windows of heaven, that is full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and still running over!

This next week (Dec 28-31) as we go to Zurich, Switzerland for our annual year end retreat. We will be praying through and working on:

What makes our family unique?

The answer to this question should be two or three sentences that describe how our family is different from any other family in the world. If you don’t know what differentiates your family from others, you won’t have a basis for making decisions, and you’ll try to be all things to all people.

What is our top priority—rallying cry—right now?

Rallying Cry: The rallying cry is a single, agreed-upon top priority for your family over the next two to six months. Without a top priority, everything becomes important and you end up reacting to whatever issues seem urgent that day.

The 12th of Never has Arrived

2009-12-10T13:22:00.004-06:00

The 12th of Never has ARRIVED! we finally got our internet up and it is working. I feel a little like one of those cell phone ads in the states with a background of 6 bars of connection!

We have not been idle since we got done with Goethe. As a matter of fact, we have entered a new phase of language learning - more practical than just going to school everyday. We are in essence doing what I used to do as a Chaplain - wandering around (with a purpose) and talking to people.
We spent last weekend visiting friends in our old hometown on our way to a team meeting in Munich. Practically from the time we arrived in Memmingen, we were practicing our language. We spent 5 hours catching up with our friend Renate - Even though she speaks English, our conversation was in German. We talked about old times, we talked about going to church, we talked about family, we talked about sad times and happy times. It was good to visit.
We connected with some other friends that were responsible for our becoming members of a little German congregation nearly 30 years ago. Marlies told Paula that it only took us about 15 minutes to cover 3 decades of being away . . . We went to church with Marlies and Petros and were truly blessed to have been there. After we ate lunch and chatted with them for an hour or so, we were off to Munich to meet with our team.
We got a good glimpse of what we will be about when we get there . . . for now, we will focus on our language learning and be content in whatever state we find ourselves in (be it confusion or Baden-Wurttemburg). We have more than enough to learn right here in Lorrach.

Please Pray with us about:

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It is that time of year again when we as Southern Baptists collectively (no pun intended) support M's serving overseas. We are deeply grateful for your gifts and for your support. We are all feeling the effects of the current financial situation, but in the case of many M's like us, we feel the pinch in being less able to do what you have sent us here to do. We have to wait for much needed new personnel on the field. Please pray for not just meeting our LMCO goals this year, but for a change of heart amongst our people to see the need of the Great Commission and respond accordingly.

Our Language and Culture Learning. Although related to the prayer request above, it is encumbant upon us to learn the language; even though funds for our language learning have been effected by the financial situation. We have embarked upon a practical phase of language learning during which we will not be in formal language school, but wandering about (with a purpose) talking to folks; using a "language partner" to help with the difficult bits. We are also mixing in a portion of our cultural learning. We are not for want of something to do.

Our Team in Munich. We visited with our team this past weekend and began being teammates. We have a great vision to see Munich won over for the Lord, churches planted and new leaders sought out and trained. There is a LOT of work to be done, and the workers are few (Sound familiar?). Please pray for the immediate focus for our teammates. Only one of our team families is in Munich right now.

We are looking forward to the Day later this month when we will celebrate the birthday of the King. The space beneath our tree will not be empty, but well not be buying a lot of other stuff just to fill it up. God has blessed us with more this past year than space allows me to tell. The most precious Gift of all He gives us new every morning, anyway!

Thanks.

2009-11-28T11:58:00.007-06:00

WOW! We have completed our first 8 week INTENSIVE language course at Goethe Institute. We finished the day before Thanksgiving - you know that we were thankful. We were even more thankful for the number of opportunities that we had to share and build relationships. We shared almost everyday during our lunch break with several people from a large Middle Eastern country. We talked with them about what our relationship with the Father means to us. We talked about culture and somehow the love of God kept coming through. We had the opportunity, thanks to a news report, to share about Thanksgiving and how the turkey being "pardoned" at the White House was not a sacrifice of thankfulness as a part of a national day of thanksgiving. With the couple of days between language learning opportunities we have taken a short "mental health break" and done several small things to make our apartment a little more homey; things that have needed doing since about the time we started at Goethe. We are thankful as well for getting settled into our apartment in Lorrach. Thanksgiving has taken on a bit of a different twist this year for Paula and me. We are deeply thankful for not only the ministry that we now have, but for the organiztion that is making it possible. We are thankful for the "gemeinde" that we have joined as a place to worship; the bonus there is that we are stretched to learn our new language. We are thankful for the people that the Father has placed in our way as opportunities for ministry, and as our trainers, and as our mentors, and as our friends. We are thankful to be a part of the Master's plan. We are thankful for the "folks back home" who faithfully remember us in their prayers and we are thankful for the support they provide through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Cooperative Program.

Please Pray for opportunities for us to continue to share the Father's love with our friends from Goethe Institute;

Please Pray for our next language learning experience, beginning in early December;

Please pray for and about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year. As you pray, allow the Spirit to lead you in making missions a priority in you giving. We depend upon your generousity to be able to continue fulfilling the Master's plan as He has called us to do.

Ray and Paula

This is not a Lawyer joke . . .

2009-11-17T12:03:00.004-06:00

Did you hear about the French lawyer who met the American missionary on the steps at the Goethe Institute in Germany? Today, during one of the breaks at Goethe, I spoke with Sabastian, a French lawyer in my class. As we chatted, he told me that on Nov 29, the 1^st Sunday in Advent, he and his wife were going to have their son baptized. Wow! talk about an open door to share!

I told him that I thought that it was good that he wanted to have his son baptized. This gave me an opportunity to share the Gospel with him, right there on the stairway between the ground floor and the first floor.

I explained that as Baptists, we do not baptize infants, but wait until we are old enough to choose for ourselves to be baptized. I explained that we do not sprinkle water on the one being baptized but that we are completely immersed in the water. I told Sabastian that baptism did not save us, but that it is symbolic of what we believe – Jesus died for our sins, was buried and on the third day rose again. We are buried with Him, by immersion in the water. Our coming up from being immersed is symbolic of being raised to new life in Christ.

Before we had to go back to class, I was able to explain to Sabastian that we must accept, by faith, that Jesus has died for our sin and that it is only by faith that we are saved. He was very interested in our discussion. When I spoke with him later, he confirmed that he was Catholic, but his wife was not. If I had to guess, I would say, she is like so many of the folks around us, without any religious faith at all.

On the other hand, did you hear about the three Saudi Arabian dentists . . . Paula and I continue to share ourselves with the Saudi Arabian couples. Of this group, three of them are, in fact, dentists. They have come to Germany to further their education and to study in their chosen specialty. What began as Paula sitting with one of the women in her class during the lunch break has blossomed into a regular “lunch bunch.” We all share our mid-day snacks and are learning about each other’s cultures. Spiritual matters are a regular topic of discussion in English, German, Arabic and sometimes a combination of all three. Two of the women are pregnant and this gives Paula, in particular, an opportunity to share with them from a mother’s perspective. All of the Saudi couples are about the same ages (or younger) than our kids. Parenting across cultural lines allows for us to share God’s insights as parents.

Please pray that I will have further opportunities to speak with Sabastian about the things that really matter . . .

Please pray that God will place questions in Sabastian’s mind regarding salvation for which he will need to find answers . . .

Please continue to pray for our lunch group from Saudi Arabia that we will influence their lives even as they return to KSA.

Tales from the Goethe Lunch Bunch

2009-11-09T08:01:00.007-06:00

This afternoon is a RED LETTER day! When we came home from language school, our internet was working. We have had a borrowed wireless hook up since we have been here. For the past several weeks, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We Praise God even on the days that it is less than perfect! That is a large reason why we have been sporatic in our blogging. When I have the time, the internet is not cooperating. When it strikes my brain that we need to update our supporters and co-workers, the internet is not working. Our friends in other places will understand. Paula wrote to one of them and told them that we actually have a date for our service to be hooked up on the 12th of NEVER!

We are well past a month on the field and it is beginning to be a lot like Herbst in Germany. The weather here in the Drilaenderecke (corner with three countries) is better most of the time, but it has turned cold and rainy. It is supposed to snow sometime this week. Ah, just like we remember Germany in the Fall.

In the mean time, we have decided that we will go to the Baptist Church here in Lorrach as long as we are here. We have been Baptists for over 30 years and Baptists are the ones who support us through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Besides, this little church reminds us of so many to which we have belonged over the years. From time to time, we'll probably find ourselves in a different worship place, but "Es gefaehlt uns" (We like it).

Our ministry continues, even at our language school. We have taken to bringing a bag of crackers or chips or cookies to share with our group of Saudi Arabian couples. They are all professionals and are here to further their educations at the University of Freiburg. One will complete a surigical residency in Ear Nose and Throat doctoring and another will be studying prosthedontics. Even though we have learned a lot about Saudi culture, we are passing on things that trully matter. Today we learned that most of them had never seen snow! Our friend from Sri Lanka said, "You know, as a man from a tropical island, I always believed in snow, even though I had never seen it until I came to Germany. It is the same with God, even though I have never seen Him, I still believe that He sent His Son to take away my sin." This will be a topic for discussion on another day, but for today it was just the right illustration. Just as the bell rang to return to our classes one day last week one of the Saudi women asked "Why did God have a Son?" Paula answered as part of the discussion that followed, that we are not able to and have never been able to save ourselves. That very morning we had read that Jesus is the ONE and ONLY mediator between God and man. The Saudis agreed that man was definitely separated from God - even in Islam God is Holy and man is not. Hey, haven't we heard that somewhere before?

Please Pray with us about our witness to Saudi couples at language school. Pray that we will be bold in our witness and that God will create in them a need to hear more of our story. Pray that we will be able to continue our relationship with them even after we go our separate ways.

Please Pray with us for our friend Renate. Today she had to place her mother in a nursing home. She lives on a small pension and will need to ask for Social Assistance to be able to have her mother in the nursing home.

In early December we will be traveling to Munich for a meeting with our Team. We will also be visiting with Renate and other friends whom we have known for 30 years. Please Pray with us as we prepare for our Team meeting and for the visits with our long time German friends.

Jehovahjireh - The Lord will provide

2009-10-28T14:42:00.013-05:00

The Lord will see to it! This morning, once again I went to the names of God for part of my time alone with Him. Paula and I have been inundated with language learning and there doesn't seem to be enough time or space in our brains for all that we are trying to learn. But God will see to it. A long time ago, a really old dad took his not so young son on a trip to worship the Lord. They took everything they needed to worship. They even had their offering - the son didn't know it, but he was to be the offering! On the way to the place of worship, the son asked his dad where was the offering. His aged father replied, " . . . the Lord will see to it." The really great part of the story is that the Lord did provide an offering instead of the son, but not before it was time. God will see to our language learning and He will provide the time, the rest, the brain capacity, everything that we need to do what He has called us to do. In the meantime, we went to Paris last weekend instead of staying home and filling our time with the mundane stuff of life - like studying and doing laundry and writing for our BLOG. We went with the Cultural Program from the Goethe Institute in Freiburg where we are learning German. Really, all we got was a taste of Paris, just enough to whet our appetite and make us want to go back in the Springtime. Having now been to Paris in the fall, I can understand why folks would want to go in the Spring. We went to the majority of the places one would want to visit in Paris. They included, the Eifel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame and Sacre Couer, the Place de Concorde and the Arc de Triumph, the Sorbonne and enough other places to take up the entire weekend.
We know that God was in Paris, long before we got there, but we saw little if any of the evidence. There are over 11 million folks who live there. Please pray that God would provide a beacon of light for them to find their way home to Him.

When we came home form school today we were met on the parkplatz by one of the workman cleaning up the vacant lot next to our apartment building. He was speaking a strange language: Swietzer Duetch or Allemanisch or one he had learned by speaking with Kermit the Frog’s friend, the Swedish Chef. We had a great little conversation about his need for a broom, our being newcomers in Germany, Swuietzer Deutch and the two Americans who could understand nary a word of the “Guten Tag. Wohnen Sie hier? Haben Sie eine Besen?” because it was spoken in the local dialect. We went inside and I thought that there must be a broom in the building somewhere. I looked downstairs and found one in the Hausmeister’s closet. As I was taking it out to the workers , I was met at the front door by our landlady, Frau Vortisch. I explained to her what was going on as she took the broom and handed it to the fellow with whom I had just spoken. She told me that she thought it had been clever of me to look for a broom and then to bring it out once I had found it. Yea, verily, the Lord will see to it.

The stuff of which sentences are made

2009-10-18T10:24:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, we turned on the radiators in the living room. This may not sound very momentus, but when one is paying 1 1/2 times as much for everything AND you have to pay for your heat AND the temperature outside has become "Fall-ish" with highs in the 40's - 50's and low temps that make the Iceman smile - well, I think you get the picture!
Actually, we have had a pretty good week (or so since our last post). Grammar - not the fellow that used to play a psychiatrist on TV; the stuff with which sentences are made has not been very kind to us this week. When I learned German in school, I didn't like grammar very much and learned it only to pass a test - that was a mistake. When Paula learned German, it was "by ear" while we lived in Trunkelsburg and there were no grammar lessons. One of the things that they do at the Goethe Institute is stress GRAMMAR! We have spent every afternoon (save the weekends) since we began at Goethe sitting across the table from one another working on our homework. It takes us hours - why? We are having to learn GRAMMAR from the bottom up! I have likened it to dressing ourselves in our school clothes, putting on hip waders and a heavy woolen overcoat and then jumping into the deep-end of the pool. Just about the time we get our heads above water the teachers turn on the 3 inch firehose and offer us a drink! This is only the end of our first full week! Paula has opted to move down a level from the B1.1 level so that she can learn the grammar more effectively. I, on the other hand, will be working on grammar exercises in addition to my homework.
We have had some pretty awesome quiet-times this week. We are still getting up and meeting God the first thing. I have been studying the names of God as a part of my time with God in the mornings. The other morning I found the lyrics to "My Deliver is Coming" by Rich Mullins. I went searching in my E-Bible and found that Jesus is our deliverer - He will get us through the grammar of language learning. Paula is walking VERY slowly through the book of Ephesians and discovering (again) the power that we already possess IN Christ Jesus!
We are also randomly selecting prayer cards from the stack we acquired before we left Virginia and praying for the folks on the cards - a byproduct is that we also will send an email, if we have the address, to the folks we pray for so that we can stay connected. A cord of three strands is not easily broken!

Please Pray for us:

We have both had colds this past week. While mine has been pretty mild, Paula has had a really tough time with hers.
We had our first prayer time at Goethe on Friday. There is a group of us who have decided to gather and pray on Friday afternoons – pray that we will be faithful and bold in our prayers for our fellow students and Goethe staff. (Dr and Mrs C, Vimal, R&P [J took the Picture)
We are in need of your Prayers for our language study. Our lack of grammar effects our speaking and our writing.
We are going to Paris with the Kultural Program at Goethe Institute on 23-25 Oct. Pray for our leading a small worship service on Sunday morning in Paris before our return trip.

Doors don't swing so well on just ONE hinge

2009-10-11T10:28:00.004-05:00

What a great time with the Lord this morning. I found and read the Foreword and Introduction to Tom Eliff’s book, "What Should I Tell My Friend". I wanted to begin reading it and I can do it on the computer. Who would have thought that learning doctrine as part of my time with the Lord could have been so wonderful.
This morning we went to the Evagelisch Stadtmissionsgemeinde for church. We walked from our house in Stetten downtown to the gemeindehaus. Yesterday it rained most of the morning so we didn't get much of a walk. We took our time and had a wonderful stroll on a most beautiful Sunday morning. Stephan Hees, the pastor, preached on 1 John 4:19-21 tying it rather skillfully to Mark 12: 29-31. He had a rather interesting illustration. Most of the doors in Germany have two hinges. In the middle of his serman, Stephan walked to the back of the room in which we were having church and opened one of the double doors. He explained that what Jesus was talking about turns on TWO points and procedes to lift the door of of its hinges! To demonstrate that the teaching requires both points (you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength AND you shall love your neighbor as yourself) he rehung the door on only the TOP hinge. What a visual - the door didn't work right. It was a sort of "oh, Duh" moment. He tried to rehang the 12 foot door on both hinges, but in the interest of continuing the message, gave up after the second attemp and got help from one of the men in the back o f the congregation.
After church we walked on downtown for lunch. The second day of the Lorracher Herbstfest was in full swing when we arrived. They were no longer roasting an ox by the big grocery store downtown, so we opted for wildscheinegoulash with spaetzle for Paula and I had gegrilltkalbsbratwurst with broetchen from the stand on the Marktplatz - eaten at the fest tables under a partly cloudy Baden-Wurtenburger sky in the middle of the fest!
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the fest and around the center of Lorrach. As we were walking home, we took a short detour and found that Stetten has a castle and that the little community has been here since about 650!!
We are past the three day mark in our language school at Goethe Institute! We know that we are in the right places at school, but to say the least, it is challenging. When (perhaps I should say IF) we get done with this eight weeks, I will be at the B1-2 level and Paula will be at the B1-1 level. But we will be nowhere near done. Paula is now having to learn German for the ground up. She speaks pretty well, but has never had any formal German language study. Although I have had formal training, most of it has gone down the large gapping hole of forgetfulness that is in my brain. So while Paula is leaning to conjugate German verbs, I am trying to recall them. I had an exercise the other day that I recognized as German words on a page, but for the life of me I couldn't understand any more than my name at the top of the paper.

Please pray about:
Our language learning - not only that we will be good students, but that we will good LEARNERS;

The new contacts that we are making at Goethe Institute, specifically:
Dr and Mrs Chilluwa from Nigeria
Peter Vimalasekaren - a missionary who works with refugees
Jason - a college student from Indiana. He has asked me if I would be interested in teaching "something" during a Bible study he wants to start;

That we would be faithful in the small things of being here in Germany - our quiet time alone with the Father, finding a church home, learning the culture, etc;

That we would not get so busy doing the stuff that we have to do that we will not have time to care for the people that we are here to serve.

Der Mensch lebt nicht allein von Brot, sondern von allem , was Gott ihm zusagt! *

2009-10-05T10:10:00.010-05:00

Sunday was Erntedankfest (Thanksgiving) at church. We went to the City Mission Church's monthly service at the "mall" in Lorrach. We were invited by a couple who lives close to us here in Stetten. They called us Thursday night and let us know that they would not be at the service as they had to go out of town. We managed to do church all by ourselves. It was a great service, complete with praise band, a wonderful altar decoration that would make great soup, (according to the pastor) for those who wanted to help themselves after the service. The songs that the praise band led added to the worship instead of just being part of a performance. We were able to follow the sermon - pretty well. The youth pastor from the City Mission Church preached on Matt 4:4. After service we went upstairs for Gemeindekaffe (coffee and cake) and got to talk with a number of the folks who had come to the service. We got a visitors' packet with information about the church.

This past week has been terrific. We spent the better part of it on our own just getting settled and acquainted with the local area. We has found two of the local DIY stores. The one in Lorrach is a Home Depot on steroids! We have been to IKEA in Basel, Switzerland along with all of the rest of the Germans on the Day of German Unity (a German not a Swiss holiday). We are officially registered in Germany - the first step toward our VISA and Residence Permit. We bought our monthly pass for the train to Freiburg all by ourselves.

We have secured a bank account at the one of the banks in the local area. We were able to do the majority of our banking business in German, even though Herr Fooken spoke to us in VERY RAPID Bank-speak and 30 year old "schule-Englisch". We have gotten signed up to pay our electric bill and we have been to the Deutsche Telecom (T-Mobile) office to get in line for our home telefon und internet. We finished our school shopping today and will start at the Goethe Institute in Freiburg on Wednesday. Sadly, we didn't get a "tootie" for our first day of school.

WE are soooooo thankful for all of the blessings God has heaped upon us. Everyday we wake up and get to go and spend some quality time with the Lord, before anything else happens. We get to live in Germany. We get to learn the German language and culture. We get to practice our language everyday. The best part is that one day we WILL get to share Jesus with our neighbors in the same language in which they laugh and in which they cry. That God has blessed us with some material stuff pales in comparison the to Spiritual things with which He has blessed us. What Bernhard Kohlman said yesterday at the StadtMissions Gemeinde is absolutely true - *we do not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God.

Please join us in praying from Psalms 119:9-16

Pray that we will stay pure by obeying God's Word;
Pray that we will try hard to find God and that He would not allow us to wander from His commands;
Pray that we will hide His Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against Him;
Pray that we will praise the Lord and that He will teach us His decrees;
Pray that we will be bold witnesses, reciting aloud all that God has given us;
Pray that we will rejoice in God's Word and that we will delight in what the Lord declares and that we will not forget His word

Next time, I will try to be more punctual in our posting. For some reason, the "borrowed" internet connection we are currently using went "piffffft' over the weekend and we were complete cut off from internet connecting. Paula's new iPhone 3G(s) has a GPS on it and kept us along the straight and narrow all the way to IKEA in Basel, Switzerland and back. Tune in again next time for more of Paula and Ray in Germany.

If this is Tuesday . . .

2009-09-29T01:18:00.009-05:00

Hey there loyal blog followers -

If this is Lorrach, it must be Tuesday morning in Germany. We had a great flight. We were originally seated about 4 rows apart in the cheap seats. We asked for seats closer together. Even though we had to pay for an upgrade to Economy Plus, we got 5 extra inches of legroom and got to sit side by side!

Our landing in Lorrach has been better than anything we could have hoped or imagined. We have an apartment, a car, a three minute walk to the train. The weather was described to us the other day as being Tuscany-like with cool mornings and warm days . . . I guess that explains the vineyards we can see from our apartment window on the the hillside just to our northwest.

We are getting settled, quiet nicely. We have made several trips into the city of Lorrach to go shopping. We have even been to the main train staition in Lorrach to discuss what is the cheapest fare to get us to Freiburg for language school. We have found ALDI, and several other "discount" grocery stores. We have also been to a couple that remind us of large American supermarkets. We have found a small cafe, bakery and pastryshop where we plan to eat breakfast 2 Saturdays a month - the koffee ist stark und die brotchen sind Himmlisch! There is a pedestrian zone downtown with lots of shops and restaurants.

God has provided our apartment. We have 2 bedrooms, bath, toilette, kitchen and living room. There are windows galore and we have a rather large balcony. We live on the first level of the three story building. Our neighborhood is very quiet even when the train goes by. That is one of the joys of electric trains. We are about 5 minutes walk from the Swiss border and we plan to visit Basel soon. God has also provided a car for us. It is a late model VW Passat. We drove over to Rheinfelden yesterday evening and found one of the DIY homestores that have become as prevalent in Germany as in the US. At the Haupteingang (main entrance) there is even a small eatery tucked into the "foyer".

Please pray for us over the next couple of days.We are excited about the next part of our missionary journey.

We will go to register at the Lorrach city hall on Thursday. We must take care of that not so minor detail before we can open a bank account, get our cell phones and home phone and internet.
More importantly, we also need to register to get our residence permit and our VISAs to be in Germany.
We will begin language school next Tuesday at the Goethe Institute in Freiburg. We wanted to get the best language school we could to learn our language correctly.
If we are to reach the lady that lives next door for Christ, we're going to have to do so in the language that she laughs and crys in. AND it has got to be correct.

Thanks for dropping by. We really appreciate your prayers and support through CP and LMCO. We'll do our best to not let you down.

The house is on fire!! NOT!

2009-09-24T07:01:00.002-05:00

The fire alarm went off at exactly 1:43 AND 3:14 AM this morning! There was no fire. But twice we all gathered outside in the soft glow of the lights from our building. Twice the alarm continued; and twice the ILC security responded and we waited for the fire department to come and silence the alarm – what a way to begin our missionary journey ;~{b)

We are now done with our orientation. The Commissioning service yesterday afternoon had the highest attendance ever – I think because we were the largest class that has come though the ILC. We have grown deeper spiritually in the past eight weeks than we have ever thought we could. The question that keeps coming up is this: “Are you ready?” I suppose we would have to answer that we are as ready as we can be to go and answer the call that God has placed upon our lives. In our own strength, we are ill prepared to get out of bed in the morning. But in God’s strength we rise early to meet Him, just to sit at His feet and allow Him to fill us up.

In just a few hours we will take the next step in our journey. This part has become routine for us over the years. It will be just one more trip, another long day of traveling. Even as we are going, though, we want to be BOLD witnesses for the Lord . . . why should we wait until we get there? Yesterday morning, that was our prayer request as we took part in one of the FPO closing ceremonies. Please join us in this prayer. We are not able to do it without YOUR prayer support. Also, pray for us as we travel. It will take us about 21 hours to get from Virginia to our new home in Germany. We leave the ILC at 11 AM Sept 24 and arrive in Lorrach, Germany at about 2 PM on Friday, Sept 25!

We already have an apartment in Lorrach. Our supervisor wrote to us the other day and told us that they would even have some basic groceries there when we arrive. Once we arrive, we’ll get signed up for telephone and internet service. WARNING! This process takes longer than it does in the US, so it may be a while before we are able to get back on line. Please pray for us about getting our household and routine established quickly. We begin our language school on Oct 6 in a town about an hour away. Even though we will have a car when we arrive, we will ride the train to and from language school. Since Lorrach is a small city, we will also be walking more than we will be driving.

Please pray for us that we would kindle afresh the gift of God which is in us;
Please pray that we will realize that God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline;
Please pray that we will not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord but boldly share the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. (2 Tim 1:6-9)

Deja vu or Gnade des Herrn

2009-09-19T18:45:00.007-05:00

One of the great theologians of all time - Yogi Berra - is reputed to have said, "Well, it is just deja vu all over again!" That is sort of how I feel tonight as I am writing this. We have spent the better part of all day packing, re-packing and then packing again. We went and got a really nifty scale to weigh our bags. When the first of the big ones went over 75 pounds . . . This is the next in a long series of moves for us. Since we got married 36 years ago, I think we have moved over 30 times. That doesn't count the trips I took to Bahgdad.

We are now under a week until we will be in Germany. We are as prepared as we will get, save the next couple of days here at ILC. We have already got maps from our apartment to the grocery store, a major German department store and, of course, to church on Sunday. We will worship with the Evangelisch-Freikirchliche Gemeinde (Baptisten). We belonged to an EFG congregation in Memmingen when we lived there. We are really looking forward to it.

We had a great trip to Washington DC this past Monday. As you can see, we went to the White House, but the fence was a close as we could get. On the way there from Union Station, we walked up Pennsylvania Avenue, praying for the various government offices along the way. We had lunch in the Food Court at the IRS Building and then walked back up to the Capitol. More Prayer! Paula had the chance to talk with a group of German tourists while we sat in the shade just outside the Capitol Building. We did get our ice cream when we got back to Union Station. (O, boy, did we get ice cream!!!) One of the folks on our team had the opportunity to talk at length about Christ with an international college student at the end of our stay in DC.

Gordon Fort spoke with us from his heart and with great passion the other day about the call of Christ on ALL of our lives . . . not just those of us who are going to the field. Wouldn't it be great to have a MILLION missionaries on the field? Only when we get serious and truly seek to follow Christ is that going to happen.

We will get our tickets to Germany on Monday or Tuesday of next week. The schedule for transportation to the airport has already been posted - we leave the ILC at 11:00 on Thursday to catch our 2:25 flight from Richmond to Dulles. We'll have the opportunity to wait there until almost 10 PM before we leave for Germany. Here is a MAJOR prayer request - Please pray for us while we are at Dulles that we will, even in transit, be BOLD witnesses for Jesus.

Also, please share our prayer concerns from Philippians 1:2-6:

Pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give Paula and me grace and peace as we get on the airplane on Thursday to fly to Germany;
Pray that when we make our requests before God with joy that God will supply us with many partners in spreading the Good News about Christ;
Pray that God, who began the good work within us, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

We are planning to have internet access next week to put out our blog. So, tune in again then to here our hero say, "Herzlich wilkommen ins Deutschland. Wir wuenchen dir viel gluck und gnade des Herrn!"

Ordnung muss sein!

2009-09-12T19:57:00.006-05:00

Ordnung! Ordnung muss sein! (There must be order!) This past week we met with our Affinity Group. We had opportunity to learn new stuff from our Member Care team about how to better get along in our new setting. Our Affinity Group Trainer - who just happens to be our new supervisor while we get started being real live missionaries spoke with us on the topic of "iWitness". From those discussions, we'll be working out our family core values. David will also be our mentor and guide. Sounds like a lot for one person to handle . . . but he seems like a pretty capable guy in the Lord. As a group, we shared with each other about how our people group (in our case, the Germans) view their world - when we get to the field, we'll have the opportunity to test out our research and see if we were correct. We will be a part of an online community after we get to the field so that we continue the training process together as a "small group." We also discussed several issues that we will face on the field. It is better to know them up front as opposed to waking up one morning with them slapping you in the face!
It was a great time to grow Spiritually and in the knowledge of what we are going to be doing once we finally land. Speaking of which, once we get to Lorrach, we'll have about a week to get our feet on the ground before we start language school. We'll be attending the Goethe Institute in Freiburg im Breisgau . . . a tough school, but then we NEED to be correct in our language. We'll ride the train to get there and back which if we are disciplined will be a great opportunity to get our homework done before we even get home.
Our apartment is waiting for us to arrive. We'll even have visitors. Some of our teammates from Munich will be in the area for training and will stop by and see us before they leave to go and do other stuff.

I looked online this morning to check on our flight information to Germany. From what I could see on the TWO websites I looked at, the booking for our flight to Germany may have been canceled! Please join us in prayer that it will get straightened out in the next couple of days - we are supposed to fly on Sept 24.

We are going to Washington DC this week on a field trip to practice the stuff that we have been learning. Please pray for a great trip for all of us here at FPO.

Please share the following prayer requests praying God’s Word from Philippians 2:14-16
Pray for us that we will do all things without grumbling or disputing.
Pray for us that we will prove ourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
Pray for us that we will appear among the German People as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ you will have reason to glory because we did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

Tune in again next time when you will hear our hero, say, "Gollybobhowdy folks did we ever have an exciting adventure in Missions in the Washington DC metro area . . ."

So, how was your week?

2009-09-05T05:42:00.006-05:00

In the past, Paula and I have enjoyed listening to "A Prarie Home Companion" on the radio. Every week, the host would tell long, rambling stories about an imaginary place in central Minnesota that would always begin with pretty much the same way with a comment about his hometown. Well, it been a great week here at ILC, our hometown (of the moment). We have just completed our extended quiet times with the Lord. On Saturdays we spend about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours alone with God working on our relationship with Him. This morning, for example, I spent a lot of time looking at Bible verses and talking with Him about the words we use to describe Him; I spent time finding verses that include "Bless the Lord" and I spent time confessing several attitudes I have held onto for far too long. By that time, I had spent nearly the entire time I had planned to spend with the Lord . . . but God. I spent a long time in prayer for my supervisors and teammates.

Our week was filled to almost overflowing with adminstrative things. We had sessions on payroll and taxes and our personality types and how to work as a team. We learned that our first term on the field "could be challenging." We even had interviews about how we can use our spiritual gifts and and the way God made us to work better on a team. In our small group, we have been practicing how we can relate stories to life and God with the folks we will encounter on the field as a means of bringing God to them and them to faith in God.

We learned a lot about faith and praying without ceasing during the final class of the week. This particular session was longer than several of our other sessions combined. All of the presenters during this last class were caring, knowledgable and passionate about what they were presenting. Their varied use of different learning and teaching styles easily made their class one of the best we have had. We had 2 practical tests as a group during the class. One was sort of a pre test and the other was a post test. The results of the post test validated not only that we had we had remained awake during the class but that we had REALLY learned the material
;~{b)

Please Pray for us from 2 Timothy 1:6-9:

Pray that Paula and I will fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave us for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Pray that we will never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. Pray that with the strength God gives us, that we will be prepared to suffer, if necessary, for the sake of the Good News. Pray that we will live a holy life for which God saved us and to which God called us; not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time—to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.

Stay tuned to this channel for our next exciting episode.

There I was . . .

2009-08-29T05:38:00.002-05:00

For years I have told stories to illustrate some point that I may have been trying to make. They have always been the same stories - to the point that whenever I begin one now, Paula will inform me that of their over use. So, there we were (the plural of "There I was") sitting our places in the KGC listening to how we could tell stories that wouldn't just illustrate some vague point about that which really didn't matter anyway, but might actually bring someone a step closer to a right relationship with God. What a thought! Now, what I need to do is figure out how to relate those stories where and when they need to be related.
We are progressing right along toward the completion of orientation. We have finished our fifth week and we are told that the high point is yet to come. Those who have presented material for orienting us toward the mission field have all been top notch. Those among you who know of and understand about Lottie Moon will want to know that she is getting her money's worth. We are also growing deeper into the soil of spiritual knowledge and understanding.
Last night we spent about an hour on the computer SKYPEing with our kids in Korea. It wasn't the first time we had "skyped" but it was a first for them. What a hoot to get to go and wake our grandkids up from the comfort of our accomodations in Virginia ;~{b)

Please joining us in praying God’s Word from Matthew 9:38 and 1Tim 2:2:

Pray for us that the Lord who is in charge of the harvest to send more workers into His fields.

Pray for Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Stay tuned for another exciting episode, when you may hear our Hero say, "Ya know Ray and Paula, I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives. . ."

Think Thank Thunk - it's not what you Thought

2009-08-22T18:17:00.003-05:00

It has been a great week here in Richmond. We are nearly to the halfway point in our Orientation. Our focus this week was upon those in the Body of Christ who are being persucuted for their faith. We spent most of three days learning about that there are not two churches - one that is persecuted and one that is not. We are all the Body of Christ and if one part is persecuted, then we are all persecuted. WE should be so obedient to Christ as are the ones suffering for their faith!
We finished our English as a Second Language training today . . . We even got a certificate. We spent all day on the last two Saturdays doing the workshop that would have cost about $1000 for each of us. We learned a fun way to teach language learners, "THINK, THANKS, THUNK" involving little goldfish crackers and what might be referred to as a "spitting contest." The cool part is that it really works. Thanks to YOUR sacrificial giving to Lottie Moon and the Cooperative Program, we now have one more tool in our toolkit for sharing the Good News around the world.

Please share the following prayer requests, praying God’s Word from Colossians 4:3-6:

Pray for us that God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah;
Pray for us that we may reveal the message as we are required to speak;
Pray for us that we will walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the time;
Pray for us that our speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how we should answer each person.

We are down to less than 35 days before we fly to Germany. Tune in again soon to learn what's up with Ray and Paula.

Prayer - Don't Leave home without it!

2009-08-15T06:01:00.011-05:00

Last week (week #3) was a pretty busy week for us. We continued on our nearly vertical learning curve on Monday and Tuesday with several hours on both days learning about how to figure out the "who are those folks that we are supposed to be reaching with the Good News." The focus of the other three days was how all that we had learned on Monday and Tuesday has actually worked in multiplying churches. I wrote in the email I sent with our newsletter: WE CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT PRAYER!!! We have commited to praying everyday for what some might consider an extended time of prayer. We wish that the time we spend did not escape us so quickly. One of our presenters shared an African proverb with us the other day to emphasize our need for your prayer support. "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." We are counting ourselves in the "wanting to go far" group. Here are a couple of specific things from Scripture that you can pray for us:

Pray for us, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about His mysterious plan concerning Christ;
Pray for us that we will proclaim this message as clearly as we should;
Pray for us that we will live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity;
Pray for us that our conversation will be gracious and attractive so that we will have the right response for everyone.

Tune in again soon for our latest update.

Sleep is not a problem

2009-08-06T18:39:00.006-05:00

We are in the midst of another FANTASTIC week here. For the first 3 days this week not only did we have Elbert leading us in devotions each morning, but we had Brother Jerry as the "featured speaker" We all sat and soaked up his immense wisdom on the subject of spiritual warfare - and we thought he was going to spend 3 days taking about Ephesians 6:10-18.
We have figured out that we have been pretty lax when it came to our prayer life. For those of you who are married - do you remember when you first fell in love with your spouse? All you wanted to do was spend time with that person. If you could have said, "Well, I do love you more than anything else and I will spend exactly 23 minutes a day either with you or thinking about you and I will only talk to you in the most formal of language, when I do talk to you." Do you suppose your relationship would have flourished?
Well, boys and girls we have come to that place in our relationship with our Lord and we have determined to make a strong and absolute commitment to spend significant time with God and in His Word . . . the first thing every daily. We are getting up at 4:30AM to pray and read before we go for our walk. . . we need you help to keep us faithful. Please don't hesitate to ask us how are we doing. As I see it, this isn't just training for going overseas - NO! This is training for our life before a holy and righteous God who loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to buy us back by dying on a cross. But you know what, God didn't just stop there. He raised Jesus from the dead and broke the power of sin that enslaved us. We are learning to live this out everyday.
Well, I need to finish a couple of little things before we go to bed - sleep will not be a problem!

The end of the week

2009-07-31T14:40:00.005-05:00

Woo Hoo! Are we having some fun now or whut?

We have successfully made it to the end of classes on our first week here at ILC. Almost within moments we were moved into our spacious little apartment in Quad 10 and had a reasonable semblance of a schedule established. We get up about 5:15 AM and go for a walk down to the front gate and back - a distance of 2.35 miles according to mapmywalk dot com. We have time for a shower and devotions before heading to breakfast.

Speaking of food - even though we could eat all that we want in the dining room, we have chosen to continue our eating habit of trying to eat less. Salads, however, are in the all one can eat category. Biscuits and gravy, mac and cheese and pizza are not! But then they weren't before we got here. We are also no longer eating supper at 9:30 - 10 o'clock at night as the dining room closes at 6 pm.

Our classes have been VERY, VERY good. The folks here who are preparing us for the field have not just read a lot about being missionaries. No way. They, themselves, have all been there and done that before coming the the ILC. From the director on down, there is a passion for missions that is not only evident, but contagious. Kim, you were right about Elbert!

Last night we had an ice cream social with our affinity group. A good time was had by all until Derrick passed out the assignments, all of which are due before we can go overseas.

When I graduated (retired) from the Army, I thought I was finished taking physical fitness tests. Apparently that is not the case. This evening, we will go and take part in a "fitness activity" along with several other missionary folks, most of whom are younger than we are. Then, before we leave the ILC, we'll have another "fitness activity" to see if we have improved our fitness. Can you believe it? They expect us to actually exercise here ;~{b) Gee, I wonder how one says, "couch potato," auf Deutsch?

When our son Dan was about 4 years old he had opportunity to have a bone scan done. The docs injected a low level radioactive dye and about an hour later with the aide of special x-ray machine were able to see all of the places in Dan where bone growth was taking place. All of this past week and for the next seven weeks, I have the distinct feeling that if there was such a machine to measure spiritual growth, many of us here would be knocking it off the charts. Wow! Bless-ed be the Name of the Lord! 'cause it ain't us man . . .

Tune in again next week for another installment as we prepare for life in the fast lane

The "first day of school"

2009-07-28T19:16:00.003-05:00

We began our day with a walk up to the end of MLC Lane . . . about 2 miles, round trip. It was warm and humid, but not hot and humid. As we were getting ready to go to breakfast this morning, we discovered that the wifi signal had diminished to the point that we were no longer receiving it in our apartment. We finished our scavenger hunt assignment and got it turned in and then went and found a wifi signal close to our apartment and got computer time before lunch. After lunch required a nap . . . just like little kids, we still get cranky before supper if we don't get our nap ;~{b) Our new neighbors arrived this afternoon shortly before supper.
We are back in the Global Center to get a good wifi for Paula's computer. She needed to answer a couple of emails and I needed to read my FPO material - a win win situation.
God has been so good to us, it is unbelievable!! We begin in earnest tomorrow having to rely upon His strength to stand firm. Not that we haven't done so already, but as we start our Orientation, along with being small group facilitators, along with trying to get all of the stuff done, and, and, and . . . wait a minute. No rights, no whining. (let the reader who has been here understand)
We got good news from our supervisor in Germany this morning. Our departure date IS September 24.

Tune again tomorrow when you'll hear our heroes cry out to God: "Not my will, O Lord, but Yours . . ."

ILC, Day One

2009-07-27T20:03:00.006-05:00

We moved in today to our latest home. It didn't take long to get our stuff out of the rental SUV and into the apartment 10A, Quad 10, International Learning Center, Rockville, VA. A big thanks goes to Chris Turner whom we met moments before for helping to get us unloaded. Chris was also my ride back from the airport after I turned in the rental.
When I went to CIU, they used to talk of Syllabus Shock - a condition brought on by attending the first day of classes, collecting syllabi and then realizing the magnitude of the amount of stuff required. I felt something like that tonight before we went to supper. We began our assignments this evening by completing about 70 percent of the Search and Explore scavenger hunt. More tomorrow when the Admin Building is open ;~b
We are blessed beyond our imagination. We have a one bedroom apartment with washer and dryer, kitchenette and great neighbors. We have been assigned as small group facilitators (Syllabus Shock). The "cafeteria" has a wonderfull salad bar and we will have to keep a fitness log (I am not playing combat basketball).

Pray for the people living in Munich blinded by affluence and post modernism;
Pray for Paula and me as we begin our Field Personnel Orientation that we will not simply survive but that we will flourish spiritually;
Pray for our small group, most of whom we have not yet met, that we will form strong accountability relationships and that we will help each other to grow spiritually;
Stay tuned for the further adventures of Ray and Paula at the ILC . . .

Elvis has left the building

2009-07-26T22:00:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends, Family, and Prayer Supporters –

Well, as the saying goes, “Elvis has left the building!”
We left our house in Copperas Cove on Monday afternoon. We dropped off the keys with our property manager and drove down to San Antonio for a couple of days of peace and quiet. On Wednesday, we returned to Copperas Cove to say our last goodbyes and hug the necks of our prayer partners, Jimmy and Judy Auten.
On Thursday morning as soon as Paula was done with her dental appointment, we were back in the car and driving east. We made it as far as Memphis, TN on our first day of driving to the ILC. After driving all day Friday we made it as far as Roanoke, VA before we ran out of steam. On Saturday we drove to Washington DC to visit with Tim and Alesia Karcher. We got to spend about 2 ½ hours with Alesia as Tim had had a set-back in his recovery. We arrived in Richmond on Saturday evening.
Today, Sunday, was a busy day for us getting ready to head for the ILC. We even managed to drive out to the ILC to take a look around. We discovered that our cell phones won’t work at the ILC. E-mail and “snail mail” are going to have to be our forms of communication for a while. While we are there, our address will be:
Ray and Paula Milburn
16492 MLC Lane
Rockville, VA 23146

GOD IS GOOD all the time, NO MATTER WHAT! God’s timing is perfect and He is worthy of our praise, even when we are in the midst of spiritual warfare.

Pray with us as we praise God for His protection and care for us as we drove out to the ILC.

Pray for us to receive spiritual nurture as we work through our Field Personnel Orientation and that we will have open hearts to receive God’s blessings and open and eager minds to learn;

Pray for us as we will be part of the more than 260 adults and 115 children for training at the international learning center for field personnel orientation from July 27 through September 24 and for our travel arrangements to Germany immediately following our time at the ILC

Pray for our friend LT COL Tim Karcher. Tim is still at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There is still a long way to go for both he and his wife, Alesia. Read the latest update: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/timkarcher

Time to go

2009-07-20T12:39:00.002-05:00

We are sitting on the floor in the dining room eating the remains of 1/2 gallon of Blue Bell ice cream. The car is just about packed and our house is just about empty. Yesterday was a great day for us. Our home church, 1st Baptist in Copperas Cove TX, sent us out to do missions in the same way that the church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabus. We were really blessed by the ones who came to stand around us, lay thier hands upon us and pray for us we answer God's call upon our lives.
When I came back from Iraq a year and a half ago, I wanted to just be planted in one place and not have to leave for 20 or 25 years. We have lived in our house for just 4 years and God is calling us to move on. We have practiced being sojourners for our entire married life, so the moving part has been . . . well, let's just leave it at practiced. Now we get the opportunity to go to yet another country that is not our home. This time we are going to reflect that Light which Isaiah wrote about.
Now I have to pack up the lap-tops and put them in the car. I can't wait to see and be a part of what God has in store for us.

July 17th Prayer / News Letter

2009-07-17T19:01:00.010-05:00

Ray and Paula Milburn

Servants, By God’s Grace

Dear Friends, Family, and Prayer Supporters –

The time since our last prayer letter has not been very easy for Paula and me. We had been sailing right along getting our house ready for the property manager to come and take pictures. We had been doing the usual things like changing address, stopping our mail, setting up with the utilities to have them shut off, packing and repacking our suitcases . . .

On Thursday of last week, our mentor for our time at the Apprentice Learning Center in Germany called. Our 45 minute conversation was great until the last few moments. David told us that he had some difficult news to deliver to us: we could not bring our two beloved 12 year old poodles, Pancho and Salsa, to Germany with us. Only by the strength of the Holy Spirit were we able to get through the next few days. And God was in it with us.

On Wednesday, Paula went to see our dentist because she had chipped one of her crowns. The crown wasn’t just chipped it had failed structurally and needed to be replaced in the few days remaining before we got to ILC. In my last Prayer/News Letter, I asked: "Pray for us that we will seek and see more "Divine Coincidences" as we are getting ready to go to the International Learning Center (ILC)." Paula will have her crown replaced before we leave for ILC! Once again God has His fingerprints all over the circumstances.

Over the past 14 days, we have learned the practical side of GOD IS GOOD all the time, NO MATTER WHAT! God’s timing is perfect and He is worthy of our praise, even when we are in the midst of spiritual warfare.

Pray for us as we are commissioned by our home church, First Baptist Church,
Copperas Cove, TX this Sunday, July 19;

Pray for us as we drive out to the ILC. We will leave on Thursday, July 23 as soon as Paula is done at the dentist;
Pray for us as we will be part of the more than 260 adults and 115 children for training at the international learning center for field personnel orientation from July 27 through September 24 and for our travel arrangements to Germany immediately following our time at the ILC
Pray for my friend LT COL Tim Karcher. Tim is still at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There is still a long way to go for both he and his wife, Alesia. Read the latest update: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/timkarcher
I challenge each of you to Pray that our hearts will become right before the Lord regarding reaching the lost of this world. I read recently that only 2.5 percent (not quite $3 Billion) of all of the money collected by Southern Baptists last year (almost $12 BILLION) went toward supporting reaching a lost world for Jesus Christ through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program.

Ray and Paula Milburn

Jeremiah 29:11-14 I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen."When you come looking for me, you'll find me. I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."

Pancho and Salsa - we miss you

2009-07-17T12:49:00.008-05:00

We had been sailing right along getting our house ready for the property manager to come and take pictures. We had been doing the usual things like changing address, stopping our mail, setting up with the utilities to have them shut off, packing and repacking our suitcases . . .

On Thursday, July 9, we learned that we could not bring our two beloved 12 year old poodles, Pancho and Salsa, to Germany with us. Needless to say, we were devastated! We had to make some very difficult and painful decisions about what we would do with the dogs. Over the weekend, as we prayed about it with our kids, our daughter Mary said that we shouldn't wait. On Monday evening, the lady with whom Paula had spoken at the vet clinic on Thursday afternoon returned her call at almost 7 pm - the vet's office closes at 5. Although they were extremely busy, the veternarian had an appointment at 11:15 the following day. We arrived at the vet clinic a few minutes early to fill out the paperwork. The folks at the vet clinic were all very compassionate and caring. The technician made sure that we took a lock of hair from each of the dogs before the veternarian came in. Salsa laid her head in the crook of Paula's arm and drifted off to sleep. Pancho just laid his head on the table and went to sleep. The vet and the the tech left us alone with our beloved little companions . . .

The very next day our dentist, former Sunday School teacher and friend told us, "The crown isn’t just chipped, it has failed structurally and must be replaced! When do you guys leave?" Over the Fourth of July weekend, Paula noticed something wrong with one of the crowns on her teeth. July 15 was as soon as our dentist could see her. One look and he knew that the crown had failed and required immediate replacement. Because of he is extremely busy the earliest appointment was July 23 and he could seat the new bridge on July 30! We called the ILC and told them what had happened and asked if we could arrive a couple of days late. We emailed the director and and asked for a delay in arrival. On the morning of the 16th when we hadn't heard from the director (yet) by return email we called the ILC again. Going to Virginia to have the work done was quickly becoming our only option.

Then the phone rang. If we could come in Friday, the 17th at 8 AM, our dentist could do the prep. The dental lab would do a "rush job" and bring the new bridge from their lab in Dallas to our dentist's office on July 22. Our dentist would then seat the crown on July 23. He also explained that there would be no cost to us because the crown had had a flaw in it Paula will have her crown replaced before we leave for ILC!

God has His fingerprints all over the circumstances of the last week. He was with us when we learned that our little canine buddies would have to stay in Texas. He was with us when we left them at the Vet Clinic. He worked out an extremely complex dental undertaking. God gets all of the Hero points because it has been only by the strength of the Holy Spirit were we able to get through the last several days. And God was in it with us. Once more we get to testify that God is good; all of the time. No matter what!

Ich bin ein . . .

2009-07-14T07:17:00.011-05:00

Yesterday Paula and I took the placement test online for our language school. According to their website, inLingua is a challenging language learning experience. No kidding! I am so proud of Paula! For someone without any formal language training, she not only got through the placement test, but scored well enough to get a placement in the A1 level!

"Your test resulted in a placement level of A1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. On completion of level A1, you are able to give information about yourself (name, origin, nationality, where you live and work). You can make yourself understood in conversations and ask and answer questions on familiar topics. You are able to write a postcard and fill in your address, nationality etc. on forms. When people speak slowly and clearly, you can understand familiar words and simple sentences which relate to yourself or your immediate area of life. When reading, you understand familiar names and words as well as simple sentences."

I was placed at the end of the A2 level in spite of my "advanced degree" in TEFL.

"Your test resulted in a placement level at the end of A2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. On completion of level A2, you are able to make yourself understood in everyday situations, exchange simple information and formulate simple needs. You can use simple sentences to describe your family, people you know, your living situation, your education as well as your present and future occupation. You are able to write short notes, memos and simple personal letters. You understand short, simple everyday texts (e.g. advertisements, prospectuses) as well as spoken information dealing with very familiar matters from your everyday life."

This puts us one step closer to reaching to lost of Munich with the love of Jesus.

"ERF" streaming audio

2009-07-12T07:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we began dragging ourselves into the 21st century. We got an iPod! This thing has more bells and whistles than we can ever learn, I am sure. We managed to get through the download process with iTunes and sync up over 2000 pictures that are on Paula's computer WOW our very own electric photo album!! This morning when she logged on, iTunes discovered and connected Paula's computer with the streaming audio from ONE of the Christian radio stations in GERMANY: Evangelish RundFunk (ERF) . . . woohoo now we can listen to Christian radio in German! Es ist ausgeseichnet!

Well, here we go . . .

2009-07-11T16:55:00.003-05:00

Today we decided to set up our BLOG. Neither one of us is really sure about how to go about it, but we thought that we ought to at least get started.

We , Ray -n- Paula, are embarking to Germany as missionaries. This has been a long time in coming. Before I retired as an Army chaplain, we determined that we needed to continue ministry. Like so many of our generation, we took off for Europe, in a sense, "to find ourselves" and to seek God's direction for our lives. While we were living in a castle in rural Austria, we met some folks who encouraged us to begin the process of one day returning to Europe as missionaries. Well, here we go . . .

Over the course of the next several weeks, months and maybe even years you will probably notices changes to our BLOG. That is because the BLOG, not unlike it's authors, is under construction. We have been putting out a PRAYER and NEWSLetter for the past year or so. We will continue to sent it out for a while, but eventually we will post the Prayer/Newsletter online in our BLOG.