As of July
I recently sent this update out to our financial 
supporters and wanted to share it with a wider audience. I hope it will bless you.
After the update I have a few more recent additions. So please take the time to read it and pray.
Gary and Tina
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All I can say is wow! Things have been so hectic, wonderful, crazy and full of attack.
Ashley and Elijah are here for the summer. They needed to come to renew their visas, escape the heat in Jordan and avoid Ramadan. They came with another friend of theirs who is also working in Jordan. Shortly after they arrived, we had a special night where they made an Arab meal for our church and shared about the work they are engaged in. I was struck by one story they told of one of the Sudanese refugees that we have been supporting as a church. They told how he was being tortured for his faith and knew that if the torture that he was enduring was going to continue, he would loose his sight. The next day they came and they brought him out to torture him and they did some other type of torture. What stuck me was his response. He thanked the Lord for the different form of torture. His sight was not endangered any more. I was left wondering how I would have responded?
Ashley and Elijah, Tina and I, along with Sami, the girl that came with Ashley and Elijah, took a Saturday and went to Prague. It’s one of our favorite cities and it’s close by. We don’t always have a chance to get away and just relax, so it was a welcomed break.
That’s the five of us just goofing off.
We had our first church baptism June 28th. We had a baptism and church picnic. It was wonderful. I was privileged to baptize a sweet couple in our church, Ashley and Emir, along with Matthias, a German guy who is really more a part of our family than anything else. He has been her since the beginning, and we have had the chance to disciple him and see him graduate Calvary Chapel Bible College, attending the Bible college here in German, in York England and in Montebelluna Italy. We have had the chance to see the three of these guys grow like no bodies business in the Lord.
Praying with Emir
Emir and myself praying with Ashley before we baptized her.
Matthais
While at the baptism, one of the guests invited by Ashley and Emir asked if I would baptize him. We talked about his faith for a while, what baptism was all about and then Thomas and I walked into the water and I baptized him also.
And Thomas
One of the older kids in our church, Christian age 8, also wanted to be baptized. So I called his dad to bring him down and we baptized him too.
That night, the Sunday of the baptism, Ashley, our Ashley, was hurt at the city pool and was transported to the emergency room. She was in the pool when Elijah came down the slide and crashed into her back. I rushed to the pool to be with her and then followed the ambulance to the hospital. After 4 hours, she was 
released and sent home. For the next week she was unable to walk and was pretty much bed ridden.
The following Monday, the day after the baptism, I was writing on Facebook to ask people to pray for Ashley, and literally, just as I hit send, Bryan ran through the door and said Tina broke her arm. Tina, Bryan and Austin were picking cherries and Tina fell of the ladder and broke the two bones in her arm, near the wrist. We raced to the emergency room again. After 4 hours Tina was released. They told us that she would need surgery within the week to correct the radial fracture. The fracture to the ulna would be left alone since it was just the tip of the bone. Surgical intervention for the ulna wouldn’t be worth it.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time. The following weekend we had a planned retreat with the church. Every year we try to get away with the church to just spend quality time together to bond and enjoy each others fellowship. I also want to take them to a Calvary Chapel that is thriving to show them what God has done and what He can do with our little fellowship. So about 10 of us went to Budapest for the July 4th weekend. God blessed our time together so much, and as an added bonus, while we were coming out of the underground I heard, “Gary is that you?” I turned and saw a young girl about 20-21 or so. I didn’t recognized her, but she said it again, “Is that you Gary?” I said, “It’s me!” She said, “I can’t believe it! I went to one of the English camps in England and it changed my life. I just wanted to say thank you!” I asked her where she was going, since we were going to Calvary Budapest to have a coffee, I wanted to invite her along to try to figure out just exactly who she was. She said that she was going to work and just wanted to say thank you. She asked if she could give me a hug and she was gone. It’s crazy how God can use us to seriously impact hearts and lives without even knowing it. It was a blessing for me to see her, although I didn’t recognize her. I haven’t done a camp in about 7 to 8 years. I’m looking through old camp photos to see if I can see her.
Our group in Budapest
The day after we got back Tina had surgery. It was supposed 
to be a 30-45 minute procedure and an hour in the recovery room. Well, the doctor came out and said everything went perfect, but the plate they put in her wrist was too big and would have to be removed in 6 months instead of a year as planned. Tina was in such tremendous pain after the surgery she had to remain in recovery for 3 hours. She’s doing a lot better now.
In all of this tremendous blessing, there is bound to be attack and discouragement. Austin went to England to help out the church in York during the summer retreat and conference season. He also was leaving because his time here in Germany was up since he currently does not have a visa. So, if he left the country for a few months he could return and have 3 more months before he has to get a visa. Well, when he was at the border in the London Stanstead airport, they asked him the purpose of his visit and he said he was volunteering at the church. They said that constituted a job and he needed a visa, so they detained him and denied him entry to England. The next day he had to fly back. So now we are praying about what the Lord would have us do for him.
If that wasn’t enough, we currently have a really bad mold problem in our house and it has been going on for a very long time. Our landlords are saying they are going to take care of it but they also seem to be dragging their feet. In the meantime it is affecting Bryan’s health. Elijah has had a very difficult time here since he is very allergic to the mold.
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into varies trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have it’s perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4
So that’s it for now. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and your support of the work God has called us to. We are so thankful to stand with you in the work of sharing Christ with people across Europe and bringing solid Bible teaching the the US Military and German people. We know we are representing Christ as we go forward, but also believer we represent you as we serve the people here. Thank you for being part of the work.
Please continue to pray for God’s heart and His hand to be upon us. Pray for vision, direction. Pray for healing for Tina and wisdom to know what to do for Austin, his visa and for Bryan, they both have a desire to return to the states and attend college.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
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Since that update, Tina’s hand continues to be sore and swollen. The doctor says it looks okay. She will go back to the doctor for another x-ray in a few weeks to check on the healing.
When Austin was denied entry into England and sent back to Germany, when he arrived they stamped his passport,. That means he has three more months before he has to leave of get a passport.
Bryan is preparing to return to Jordan with Ashley and Elijah shortly after they return.
I was recently contacted by a German pastor I know and he has given us a lead on a place to meet in the city. Please keep that in prayer.
The church is growing while it is shrinking. Many Americans here are leaving, being stationed in new areas while the US Army is reassigning it’s assets. At the same time though we have had a few more German families begin to attend regularly.
Thanks again for all your prayers, love and friendship. May the Lord be magnified.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
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