Half Full or Half Empty?
This was our back yard two weeks ago. I love the colors of Autumn. Bright yellows and golds, oranges and varying shades of crimson. The leafs, clinging for life on the trees, fighting against the wind to stay off the ground. It’s a losing battle. We all know winter is near.
This was our back yard last week. The leafs are now blanketed by the snow on the ground. The wind and the cold too much for them. The leaves won’t be back till the snow gives way to warmer temperatures.
When we woke I put Gunther (pronounced goon-ter) out to get to know the snow, it was the first time he had seen snow. He wasn’t sure about it at all. It took about 20 minutes for him to decided that the snow was nothing but a whole lot of fun. He can’t be outside enough now. All he wants to do is play, jump, and run around in the snow. It’s going to be a long cold winter this year I think, but Gunther is looking forward to it.
As I thought about the end of Fall and the coming of Winter, my mind began to wonder. I started to think about the temperature outside. Right now it’s 0 degrees. That’s 32 degrees Fahrenheit. I started to think about the differences. I mean, who would be crazy enough to go swimming when it’s 0 degrees outside, but 32 doesn’t sound so bad. I thought, if you had 32 of anything, you’d have a lot. Would you rather have 32 dollars or 0 dollars? I’ll take the 32 dollars please. If I had 32 cars, I would need to do a lot of oil changes. If I had 0 cars I would have a lot more time to do other things. If I owned 32 homes, I would be considered wealthy. But since I have no home, am I poor?
I guess it is whether you’re a half full guy or a half empty guy, because 0 and 32, in this case, is exactly the same.
October is one of the most beautiful months here, yet it is the hardest month for me. It’s the time of the year that most resembles Oregon.
It’s during October that I remember, with tremendous love and longing, our church and the fellowship we enjoyed back home in Corvallis.
Thinking about our church back home, it was nothing in the early days of Calvary Corvallis to see 10-20 people come to the Lord on a Sunday. Those Sundays that only 1 or 2 people give their hearts to Jesus seemed like a little bit of a let down compared to others Sundays. In reality, anytime the Lord draws someone to Himself it’s miraculous.
It may sound like I’m rambling, but there is a point. It’s easy to look back at “Better Times.” It’s easy to think of 32 as more then 0. But it’s not always true.
This month we have had a number of people, although not a large number, visit our fellowship. They found us on the web, they were invited by a friend, I talked with them and gave them a card, and they came. A girl from Corvallis came, a family that just moved here from the states, a teacher from a local school, soldiers from post with their families came. It has been a good month.
But in all this, sometimes I can still feel a little discouraged.
But our God is so Good! He lifts us up when we are down, He strengthens us when we are week, and when we look to Him He leads and guides us. He hears our prayers and knows our hearts.
The other day in my devotions, I read 1 Cor 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
The Lord has spoken to my heart and said. “Gary, it’s enough for you to be steadfast and continue with what I have called you to. Don’t get so caught up in the past you can’t go forward; and don’t be so concerned about the future you fail to see what I’m doing in and through you today. Let me take care of the church. You just focus on following Me.”
How good is our God?
A Quick Family Update
Tina, I’m so thankful for her, continues to be a full time mom. Even though our kids are older, they are at home and are living in a foreign country. Tina’s input in their lives is needed now more then ever. I watch her ministering and discipling our kids and I am blown away by her wisdom and love. Not only that, but her ministry of hospitality to church that meets in our home is remarkable.
Ashely has, for a long time now, sensed that the Lord is calling her to serve Him in the middle east. We have been praying about it for a while. It would seem that the Lord may be opening doors for her to go to Jordan. She is in contact with a ministry that teaches English and reaches out to muslim women. The Lord has uniquely prepared her through the years here in Europe for just such a ministry. She is thinking about visiting the ministry around February of next year till May.
Bryan, who turned 23 this month, continues to work on one of the Army posts in the area as a projectionist in the theater. He really enjoys it and has a great opportunity to meet people. Bryan is amazing, in that he is the quietest of our kids, yet has a big heart for God, and it is a blessing to watch how he reaches out to people because of Jesus is in his life. This is a picture of Bryan taking Austin for a ride on his Soviet era military motorcycle and side car. They crack me up!
Austin also works in the theater on one of the other Army posts in the area, as a supervisor. He has been praying about going to Nepal for a short term trip, however, I’m not sure. I feel like the Lord may want to do something else through him.
Both Bryan and Austin are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has for them in the next chapter of their lives.
God has blessed us with remarkable kids. They love the Lord and desire His will in their lives. Please keep all three of the kids in your prayers
A Personal Thank You
I want to thank everyone who takes time from their busy day to pray for us. You have no idea how important your prayers are to us and what a blessing they are to the heart of God. Please continue to pray for us and the work here. Pray for God’s anointing on us, that His love would flow from us, pray for wisdom and direction, and that He would establish Calvary Chapel Ansbach.
I want to especially thank those of you who have financially supported us over the years. It has been through your love and partnering with us that we have been allowed to share the love of Christ with so many people. You share in our rewards.
If you would like to partner with us in bringing solid Bible teaching to the American Military and the German people here in this area of Bavaria, you can arrange a one time gift or a regularly monthly contribution by clicking on the “Become a Financial Partner” button.
Thank you and God bless you all,
Gary and Tina
Posted in Family Blog by Mike Thiemann with comments disabled.
Blessing upon blessing
God is so good! He’s worth enough to say it again and again and again, God is good!
The Bible says in Psalm 68:18, “Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits…” Its a picture of Him lavishing benefits and blessing upon us. Psalm 13:5-6 says, “I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Even when we don’t see His blessing with our eyes today, we can look back over time and know that this is a true statement. In our case it is very true.
This last September 1st, Tina and I 
celebrated 28 years of marriage. I can’t begin to tell you what a blessing Tina is to me. She truly is a Proverbs 31 woman. Our home and our kids are what they are primarily because of her godly influence. Thank you Jesus for my beautiful wife. She has always encouraged me and released me to follow the Lord even though that call has taken me away from our home and our family for months at a time. And now, after all this time, to be serving the Lord with Tina and our kids, it is a blessing beyond anything I could have ever hoped for. Anyone who knows me well, knows there is a God in heaven if a guy like me could land a woman like Tina.
The last week of August we were blessed to have two young guys from our home church, Calvary Corvallis, came and visit. It was a great time of in depth Bible study and stirring them while they stirred us to run after Jesus with reckless abandon. What a joy it is to fellowship with like minded servants of the Lord. Brandon stood in and taught for me the first Sunday of September so Tina and I could get some time away to pray and seek the Lord, and also celebrate our anniversary. Please pray for Brian and Brandon. They both just graduated Oregon State University and are seeking the Lord’s heart for confirmation of God’s call on their lives and His timing. Brandon is praying about serving the Lord in Africa. I’ve suggested, since they are waiting on the Lord, they should join the ministry here. God can speak to them and confirm His heart for them while they are in Germany serving Him. They would be a great blessing to any ministry.
Please continue to pray for the church plant. We just started a Tuesday Night of 
Discipleship where we will survey the six key books of the Bible: Genesis, Isaiah, Daniel, Romans, Hebrews and Revelation. It’s intended to be a night of discipleship for those who want more, for those who want to go deeper, for those who want to work through difficult doctrines and for those who have questions and need Biblically based answers.
Our Wednesday night Radical study is going really well. Thank you for your prayers. We are in the seventh week and are seeing fruit in those who are coming out. Please pray for wisdom for the next step for Wednesday nights and the direction the Lord would have us go in. We want to see God stir the hearts of His people to serve Him with an undivided heart.
I thank you for your continued prayers for us, please keep it up. Prayer is the one thing we certainly can’t get enough of, or continue without it. Your prayers are making a difference!
As always, we welcome news of what God is doing in your life. Drop us an e-mail and let us know what’s new with you.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
Posted in Update by Mike Thiemann with comments disabled.
August marks ten years
It was ten years ago this month that we left our home in Corvallis Oregon and moved to
Europe. I wanted to give you a brief overview of the last ten years.
I can remember writing a friend, when we settled in Hungary, and telling him that I felt like I was at a men’s retreat everyday. That was the euphoria of being a new missionary talking. We quickly learned we weren’t in Kansas anymore. It was shortly after that realization the trials began.
Every missionary struggles with the balance of sharing with those back home the difficulties of missionary life while not detracting from or making the ministry secondary. The reality is that struggles usually come fast and furious while the ministry progresses at a much slower pace. The result is that the missionary feels a need to gloss over the daily trials of living in a foreign country and put the best face possible on the events of the ministry so that people back home will continue to support the work. Too many missionaries feel that if they share the real hardships of missionary life, people back home will think less of them.
I can recall visiting with a really godly missionary I met, Randy Harvey who was serving the Lord in Kosovo. (Randy just passed away this last month of a heart attack) He shared with me that the enemy attacks every missionary in three areas; 1) Physically 2) Relationally and 3) Financially. I realized later that it was the Lord speaking to my heart, preparing me for the things ahead of us. It wasn’t long after he shared this with me that we met with the first of the three areas of attacks.
While driving back from a day out with Tina and the kids we were involved in an auto accident. While driving around a sweeping blind turn we were met head on by another vehicle that was passing four other cars. When I saw him I moved to the shoulder trying to avoid a collision but he lost control and we collided. Tina and Ashley were 5 days in the hospital, both of them have had serious on going neck pain and headaches ever since. Bryan hit his head and suffered a terrible gash in his leg which required many stitches. Austin experienced no visible injuries but endured neck pain for a long time afterwards. I had a blood clot go to my lung. I have suffered physically as a result of that accident ever since.
Since being in Europe we have had continued problems physically. It seems like yearly I have bouts of either severe physical exhaustion or pneumonia. I have needed surgery on 
my legs for many years, which I keep putting on the back burner hoping against hope that things won’t get any worse. Bryan has endured stomach problems for years. We have taken him to see many doctors, all of which can’t determine the cause. He recently went through endoscopy to try to get an answer. A few years ago, on our 26th wedding anniversary, Tina collapsed and was unresponsive. We had to call an ambulance and a doctor to come out and revive and stabilize her. Tina suffers with neuromas in both feet and continues to battle the effects of menopause and hypoglycemia. It seems like Ashley and I are always having to visit the dentist and then suffer through the poor standard of care.
Relationally, things have been tough. I don’t know a missionary that hasn’t struggled in their marriage, even to the point of considering divorce, Tina and I are no exception. There has been far too
many arguments and fights in our marriage. Thankfully, I can report God has seen us through all those difficulties.
Tina and I both have lost our dads while living in Europe. We’re constantly seeking the Lord asking Him to show us the balance between the call He has placed on our lives, the ministry He has entrusted to us and being good children to our aging parents. Our hearts break to be nearer to them. That’s not mentioning the desire we have to spend quality time with our brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and be part of the lives.
Financially, we never have enough. Our margins are razor thin. There’s no date night, no 
clothes shopping or budget for entertainment. We are always waiting to see if we can pay our rent and buy groceries. Our cars seem to be breaking down too frequently, medical and dental bills have mounted. Our bills and expenses are something that we are always seeking the Lord’s provision for.
One thing that I would add to Randy’s list is discouragement. The enemy use this weapon often and effectively. Billy Graham said, “The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement.” From time to time we have met with deep discouragement. We long for the deep friendships that we had in Corvallis, the fellowship with like minded believers that we enjoyed at Calvary Corvallis. We miss worshipping God in the midst of the congregation. The constant whispering 
of the enemy that we have been forgotten, coupled with having infrequent communication with our home church and only hearing from those we love now and then, can be very discouraging at times. Not to mention that we have been alone in the work for such a long time, desiring to see others catch the vision and join us in the work both here and at home. At times it has felt like we were all alone fighting an impossible battle. These things can and do lead to discouragement.
That is just a sampling of the things we face and have faced. BUT, and that’s a huge but, that but has made all the difference in the world, God has done great things, and has carried us through many trials and tribulations, delivering us from them all. I understand what Paul was saying when he penned, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
In the last ten years God has done the unthinkable. He allowed us to be part of the lives of many young men and women at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Hungary. He has graciously allowed us to be part of
planting churches in Hungary and Slovakia. He gave us the privilege leading Bible/English camps in England where we have shared Christ and the message of salvation to nearly one thousand Hungarian kids, and a overwhelmingly large percentage of them responded by placing their faith in Him. He opened the doors for me to teach conversational English in high schools in Hungary and Slovakia, and He gave me great boldness to share the Cross. The Lord has wonderfully opened doors for me to teach in Anglican and Baptist churches in England. He has opened our house for everyone we meet to sit and talk, which has opened doors for friendship evangelism.
When the Lord opened doors for us to move to Germany we believed that He called us to plant a church. It’s a work in progress but we trust Him to establish it. This March will be our three year anniversary. Many who have attended has commented that they have never been exposed to the solid verse by verse Bible teaching through the Bible. Our current study of the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ in chronological order has been a real blessing. We have been blessed to have a group of men at our house for a men’s mid week Bible study. If your following our updates you know that we have recently started our “Radical” study. In it we are looking at the Biblical view of the life of a follower of Jesus Christ verses the “Christian” life seen today. It’s only been a few weeks but we are already seeing Him challenge those attending to properly put Jesus first and live for Him on a deeper level.
The bottom line is that God is good, very good, and His mercy endures forever
! He has done great things and nothing we have done to date is a reflection of our ability, all of it is a revelation of His great ability to show Himself strong. He leads when we don’t know where to go or what to do, He strengthens when strength is need, He encourages when encouragement is needed, He blesses in the midst of sorrow, He fills when we are empty and he comforts with His Holy Spirit when comfort is needed to cover the pain and discouragement. He never leaves us and has never forsaken us, we are in His hands. He has used us to impact the lives of others, to disciple young believers, to challenge others and to exhort all to grow closer to Him. He has been so good to us and I look forward to the next ten years, to see what He will do in and through our lives and the lives of Ashley, Bryan and Austin.
I have one prayer request and I invite you to please pray with us and for us as we attempt to walk ever closer to the Lord. Pray that He would clearly reveal His heart to us, that He would draw us close and we would draw ever closer to Him.
If you think about it, drop us an e-mail and say hello, we’d love to hear from you.
I would also ask you to let us know if you are interested in partnering with us in the work here.
Tina and I thank you for your continued prayers. We pray God blesses you.
Gary and Tina
Posted in Update by Mike Thiemann with comments disabled.