2014, Now What?
I remember, years ago a lady came to our church and she said something I will never forget. She said, “I used to think that prayer was a big part of the ministry. But now I know, PRAYER IS THE MINISTRY.”
We all have experienced difficult times and circumstances. As a fellowship we have recently looked at what the Bible says about spiritual warfare. And as you know, “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…”
We live in dark and difficult times, there’s no other way to describe it. 
Our enemy tries to trip up believers causing them to fall, and to capture the hearts of the unsaved through casual sex, drugs, alcohol, pornography and undelivered promises of happiness. Evil isn’t decreasing in our life time, it’s getting worse. Living in Europe we see that it’s 15-20 years further down the road of immorality and rejection of Jesus then the states. It’s estimated that only 1/10th of one percent is Bible believing born again Christians. But, “…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…”
I shared this idea, that “PRAYER IS THE MINISTRY,” with Ashley and Elijah just before they went back home. Ashley commented, and I’ll paraphrase, that if you’re praying for us then you’re just as involved in the work God has entrusted to us as we are. She continued to say that even though you’re not present physically here with us, the Lord knits our hearts together in the work. As we call people to come out of the world and run after Jesus Christ, through your prayers, it’s as if you’re standing right next to us. It’s through your prayers that the enemy is bound and the work of the ministry is enabled.
Thank you for your prayers, we need them more than you know. I believe your prayers are vital to the work we are engaged in. We have experienced much adversity this last year. Our missions pastor, Mike Thiemann, reminded me recently that “if you’re not getting shot at then you’re probably not in the battle.” Since we are not ignorant of the enemies devises, we suspect the adversity will continue with even greater intensity as we continue to take a stand and call others to repent from sin and follow after Jesus Christ.
I would ask you to pray for God’s blessing and protection on our family. Please pray that God would overwhelm us with His presence. It’s our heart to have walks worthy of His calling. Pray that we would honor our Lord and Savior with our lives. We desire to see the power that raised Christ from the grave to be working mightily in our lives. Pray that God would give us faith, that we would not just wait for Him to move with an attitude of reluctant resignation, but with a worshipful anticipation of His goodness. Pray that the Lord would open doors to us to share Christ with boldness. And please pray for our health. Pray that God would bless the Calvary Chapel Ansbach, and that He would cause the teaching to come alive by the Spirit, to draw the hearts of those in the fellowship into a deeper love of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
Many people have asked us what’s going on with England? 
Where are we in the process? Well, we have our sponsorship number and are able to fill out the paper work to get our visas. Our hearts are unwavering in our desire to follow the Lord to Exeter. All we are waiting for is God’s timing and provision for the visas and the move. Until He moves, we wait. When He opens that door, that’s when we will go through it. But until the Lord opens that doors, we wait, and continue to serve Him in Germany. Ultimately, England is not our goal, our goal is to be committed to follow Jesus wherever He would lead us.
As always, I want to remind you, even as you are linked with us through prayer in the work here in Europe, we want to be linked with you in whatever the Lord is leading you into. So please, if you have need of prayer, let us know, we count it as a blessing to pray for all those who share their request with us.
Check out our “Photo Gallery” on our web page. We have updated it with a new look and a lot of pictures of the family, of places we have had a chance to share the gospel, and random pictures that are special to us.
As always, we thank you for your prayers, friendship, love and support.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
Tina and I 2014
Posted in Update by Mike Thiemann with comments disabled.