Discouraged, Disappointed? I don’t think so!
Psalm 93 begins by declaring “The LORD reigns…” How wonderful is that knowledge? He reigns in good times and bad, in times of health and times of sickness, He reigns in the storm and in the calm, He reigns in the valley and on the hilltop. David asks, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps 27:1) As believers we have nothing to fear while we cling to Him because we remember that He is in control.
February 20th our sponsorship application that allows us to apply for a visa in England expires. What that means is that we will have to apply again at a later date, pay another $300 fee and when we get another sponsorship number from the government, then we can apply for a visa to move to England. “What happened?” you might ask. In short we were not able to raise the funds needed to apply for the visa. Are we discouraged or disappointed? Not at all. We took a step of faith and we rest in the fact that the Lord is in control. His timing isn’t our timing, it’s better than our timing. In fact His timing is always perfect. England continues to be firmly planted in our hearts, but like I said in my last update, England is not the goal, following Jesus and bringing glory to His name is our goal. And we are okay with however He may want to accomplish it.
A funny thing happened Friday February 7th. I applied for a job that will give me a little more income. Our plan is to save the extra money and apply it towards our English visas, moving expenses and getting a house in England. The position is a Physical Therapy Technician at the Army post’s health clinic. As I was being interviewed by the Lieutenant over the department and three physical therapists, they asked 
me what my professional goals were?
First off, I really dislike the interview process since I stink at selling myself. It feels so unnatural telling strangers how great you’d be in the job and how knowledgeable you are, along with how you’d be a benefit to their organization; all the while trying to sound like a team player, while at the same time trying to be humble.
So when they asked what my professional goals are, my mind instantly responded with my hearts desire, “I want to give my life for the cause of Christ and die on a foreign mission field sharing Jesus with lost souls.” I didn’t say it, but I wonder what they would have said had I voiced my deepest desire.
I left the interview thinking I really blew it. There’s no way they are going to offer me the job. I struggled with getting my thoughts and words out. In my mind I sounded more like an idiot then one who is over qualified for the position since I am a Doctor of Chiropractic with a license that includes physical therapy within my scope of practice. I was certain that I was not going to get the job. To my surprise, the job was offered to me. I’m filling out the paperwork and will be starting the job soon. Praise God! Thank you Jesus! So we will continue to seek the Lord for His timing while trying to save the $3000 to reapply for the sponsorship number and visas.
We are experiencing a sweet time of Bible study and fellowship at Calvary Chapel Ansbach. The Lord is taking us deeper in Him and growing our hearts closer together as a group of believers. As a fellowship we are seeking the Lord for a ministry He would have us engaged in. We’re praying about opportunities in orphanages, English camps, and maybe a baseball camps in France, joining forces with a sister church there.
Ashley and Elijah are busy settling into their marriage while studying Arabic full-time. Austin is back at school at Calvary Chapel Bible College York. He has a heart to get to Jordan himself. Bryan is looking for another job on post seeking the Lord for what direction He would have him take. Tina is spending time with the Lord, busy being a wonderful wife and mother (I love her so much), and a gracious host for our Wednesday night and Sunday morning Bible studies.
January 31st, I returned from the annual Calvary Chapel Western 
European Pastor’s Conference. What a blessing it is every year. There was approximately 50 pastors in attendance from places like Kosovo, Kashmir, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, France, England, Portugal, Hungary and of course Germany. It’s a chance to reconnect with friends pastoring churches across Europe. Pastor David Guzik, from Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara, formerly the Calvary Chapel Bible College Siegen director, comes every year to teach us. He brought with him pastors Danny Hodges, from Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg Florida, and Keith Hortenberry, from Calvary Chapel Bible College Santa Barbara. The teaching was refreshing and rich. If you’d like to share in the teaching here is a link for you. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vgptb90arf5415d/hWvxa0TDSj. If you don’t want to listen to all six of the teachings, I thought session 5 and session 6 were exceptional. I hope you enjoy them.
Please continue to pray us. Pray…*For God’s heart, direction and timing to be revealed to us. *That our lives would be consumed by the Lord. *That God would overwhelm us with His presence. *That our walks would be worthy of His calling. *That the Lord would baptize us in His Spirit and continually refresh us in His work. *And pray that Jesus would be able to freely express His life through ours, that we would be a witness for Him, for all to see.
Finally, please take time to repost this update on your Facebook page, forward it to a friend or two, or “Like” this update by clicking the “Like” button on our web page. It’s very helpful to us to get people who you know praying for us too. We really appreciate your help with this.
As always, we are thankful for your friendship, prayers, love and support. If you haven’t written is awhile, let us know how you’re doing. We’d be blessed to hear from you.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
Posted in Update by Mike Thiemann with comments disabled.