Nov 2012

"May Your ways be known throughout the earth, Your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise You, O God."Ps. 67 2-3

We continue to praise God for these last few weeks. He has been so faithful to answer prayer, to do wonderful things, and show Himself strong on our behalf. A hearty "thank you" for all of you praying for us. We see God's hand in our health, our ministry and the student's lives.

What a packed schedule this last month has been!!!

The Salzburg women’s retreat was such a blessing. Cary and Lee Underwood, our California friends, came with us. The ladies said they were so filled up and blessed;  we were as well. We experienced our first snow on that Sunday morning; white-washing everything, just like God white-washing our sins away.

God faithfully provided a dog sitter for us; He always provides, even though we sometimes fret about how He will do things.  We were very grateful for the Beevers, our neighbors who came every day to take care of Ice.

We saw a big turnout for the CCSiegen worship seminar we put on. We joined with Olli, the worship leader for the church here. Bruce taught on the Heart of Worship, and did a guitar workshop. Teresa taught on Creating a flow in worship, and did a keyboard workshop. It was all translated into German, as most spoke Deutsch. We had different churches in the area also attend. They wanted to know when the next one would be when we were closing. It was a blessing for all of us.

Teresa led a women's evening of worship for the CCSiegen's yearly Christmas gathering. We had an afterglow (where we waited on the Lord, and different women spoke out scriptures, words that God put on their heart, many thanksgivings, etc), and women came for prayer. It was a refreshing night, where God once again reminded us to come to Him, draw near, and find peace and rest in His presence.

Bruce taught at CCSiegen for their Sunday service. Afterwards, two men came up to him for prayer and received Christ. One was a doctor who had lots of questions. It was such a blessing for him!

Our school put on a Thanksgiving dinner, as so many here are Americans.  The girls in Teresa's women's discipleship class made the pies. (all 15 of them~) I guess you could call it "Home Ec, 101!)

Some of the girls had never made a pie before, and they got to try out their creativity on the crust designs. :) We invited the church staff as well as the school. A great time to remember to give thanks for all that God has done.

This last week, was speaker's week. We had two speakers, Jeff and Bonnie Johnson, and Drew Macintyre bless us. The students were encouraged to not do much during this week, but to draw near to God , and get refreshed with good teaching, prayer, and reflection. We were all reminded of our choices in life, to follow after Christ with all our heart, and to live for eternity. Good reminders!

We have less than two weeks before the semester ends. (December 12th is grad night). Students are busily writing papers, preparing for finals, and trying to make the most of their newly made friendships! It's always a very busy time.

We have seen them grow so much in their relationship with God, with one another, and in their service and skill levels. Making a difference in their lives is what it's all about. Just being able to mentor and encourage them is so needful in these days where young people are scrambling for answers. We count it such a privilege to be here, being vessels in God's hands, and doing His work.

After graduation, Teresa will be going to the States for a few weeks to see our kids and grandkids. We have a new grandson, Caleb, who was born to Simeon and Alli. It will be difficult to be separated from one another during Christmas. In all our 38 years of marriage, we've always spent it together. But it is important for Teresa to see the grandkids, especially the new one~~! We are so glad we have skype, to at least be able to be together through technology! Please pray for travel mercies for her, as well as good health and freedom from migraines! Bruce has received invites from friends here to come and spend some time with them. Again, we'll pray for God to provide a dog sitter.

Praying you have a wonderful, blessed and Spirit filled Christmas. Be encouraged that Jesus is the light of the world. As the days get darker, His light shines brighter. Soon we will all be together, as we spend eternity in His presence, in His glory, and in His joy!!! Until then, we press on, for the harvest is great and the work is never done!!

We love and appreciate you standing with us, with your prayer and support.

Fall 2012

Hello Everyone~

“…The Lord has chosen you to stand in His presence, to minister to Him, and to lead the people in worship ad make offerings to Him.” 2 Chron. 29:11

We are well into our fall semester, our fifth week! The students are growing in their walks in Christ, and learning not only their studies, but also how to love one another.  This semester we have students from Holland, Canada,

Germany, and the US. There are 23 in all, counting off campus students.

Our classes are going well. Bruce is teaching Revelation, in light of Worship in Heaven, as well as the Holy Spirit class. In the HS class, they are learning to pray, worship, wait on the Lord, listen to His voice, and minister to one another, as well as the functions and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Each week we see surrendered hearts, crying, praying for one another, and growing closer to Jesus.

Teresa is teaching a class on Worship Leading. She’s covering the basics of what a worship leader needs to have in his personal life as well as skill level.

She also is teaching and overseeing the women’s discipleship class. We’ve been able to have several guest speakers which have been a great blessing.

Teresa is again the Dean of Women and every week she gets together with the girls for discipleship and mentoring. Even though it takes a lot of time, it’s becoming one of her main passions.

 Calvary Chapel School of Worship in Costa Mesa, has begun
working with us, uploading their classes in an online format. In the near future, we will be able to incorporate these classes into our worship program here in the EU and around the world. This has been a major desire for Bruce, and now to see it coming along is very exciting. This means we will be able to take these classes to the local churches, and use them to train worship leaders there. Not everyone has the time or finances to attend a worship school.

We just finished putting on a weekend Worship Seminar at CC Kaiserslautern. The church mainly consists of those living at the military bases, and we were so blessed to work with these wonderful men and women. We taught on the Heart of Worship, Creating a Flow in Worship,

Putting together Set Lists, as well as offering workshops in Keyboard and Guitar. We received great feedback, and saw eight more people become interested in joining the present worship team. Some upcoming Worship seminars coming are in  Paris, Hannover England and Malaysia.…we’re putting the final dates together.

Teresa will be leading worship for a women’s worship weekend in Salzburg, the last weekend in October. We will have our dear friends, Lee and Cary Underwood visiting us for a couple of weeks. They will get to come with us to Salzburg, as well as sit in on our classes, and see how we live here!  We’re so excited they’re coming! We invite ALL of you to come for a visit! What a great opportunity to see the EU!!!

Please continue to pray for us. We need abundance of energy and good health to keep up with our schedules, wisdom in mentoring these students,  and continued grace to be faithful in doing the work God gives us.

We also are praying fervently for our nation in these dark days before election. It’s so good to know our lives are in God’s hands, He holds all things together by His mighty power.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer, giving, and support. We are so very grateful for God placing you in our lives~

We love and appreciate all of you who are standing with us.

“For God is not unfair; He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other Christians as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.” Hebrews 6:10

Sept 12

Dear Friends, Family, Loved Ones~

We have had an exciting summer here in Deutschland.
We came back from the States in the beginning of July, pretty tired from jet lag and our busy schedule. After recuperating for a while, God poured out some interesting opportunities for ministry.

The Calvary Chapel in Munster ( a city 1 ½ hours north of Siegen) invited us to give a weekend worship seminar for their musicians and others in the area. We taught on Saturday all day, and then Bruce gave the sermon Sunday, as Teresa and their team led the worship. 

We held several classes, then had a question/answer panel; the response was very positive. So many want to learn more about worship, and are eager to minister. The current worship leader, Laura Reeh, is a graduate from our school in Siegen. She’s doing a good job there, and God is blessing her ministry. We’re very proud of Laura!

In Siegen, we were involved in a street outreach. We teamed up with another young couple and played songs, and shared the good news. One of the girls that joined us, Carolyn, was also a student from the college, and leads worship. Several from the church in Siegen joined with us. So many young people are walking the streets downtown, looking for answers in life. It was a great  blessing to talk with them, and listen to their stories. Bruce looked like a dad..He was sitting on the sidewalk in front of McDonalds,  surrounded by young men, wanting to learn guitar, playing his guitar, and just talking with him. Was very cool!!

Bruce has been filling in for pastors that can’t preach on Sundays in different churches.

We led worship for a local Calvary in Neunkirchen during their midweek service…it was

great playing with people that we haven’t played with before, and watching how God unites our hearts because of His Spirit living inside of us. Teresa continues to help with worship at CCSiegen on Sundays.

This last week, we were in Austria at the CCCastle in Millstatt attending the EU Missions Conference. It was such a great time, fellowshipping with other missionaries , and servants throughout the EU and UK. We were reminded that God uses empty vessels, that are relying upon and being filled with His grace and equipping.  God answered many prayers as doors are opening for more opportunities to help churches with their growth in worship.. we have some upcoming conferences we’ll be giving, as well as praying  about developing an online worship program. You can join us in prayer for someone who is equipped in this high tech area to come alongside of us.

God answered our prayers for a dog sitter..we were getting desperate and posted on Facebook our need.. Jessica, a visiting intern from the States, responded, and blessed us with loving care for Ice during the whole conference!  God is so faithful to meet our needs. He loves to prove Himself strong on our behalf as we cry out to Him.

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!” Phil 4:19

The fall semester is rapidly approaching. Next week, the students begin to arrive. We are preparing for everything, and praying that this next semester will bring life change.

We pray for strength to meet the demands, grace to love with God’s heart, and revival for all of us to be passionate about our Savior!

The work of God is endless…the needs are so great… Only through Christ can we bear the fruit He desires. Truly, without Him we can do nothing; but through Him we can do all things. May God continue to pour out His grace, His strength, and His favor on all your ministries, your families and your lives, to show forth His light in this dark world.

John 15:5  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Summer 2012

Summer 2012

Thank you all for the many prayers going up on our behalf! God is so good and faithful, and we love Him more and more, as we see His hand of goodness and mercy on our lives. So many prayers have been answered. Teresa’s foot has been healing marvelously. She’s walking around now, doing some physical therapy exercises to strengthen the ligaments. God blessed us with an old missionary friend in the States, who is a physical therapist, and “just happened” to be home when we were in his town. This made such a difference. Our dog, Ice, was wonderfully cared for, and as we came home, he was so happy to see us. We were blessed with travel mercies, good health for the most part, and good times with family and friends. We are back now in good old Siegen. They say the way you can tell winter from summer here is by the temperature of the rain! How true! We need to constantly rely on the Son of God shining in our hearts to fill the warmth and love inside of our souls. The time spent in the States was more like a marathon than a furlough.  Here’s a brief recap of all that we did:

 We flew into Los Angeles to attend Jonny’s graduation from Azusa Pacific University. His brothers joined us, and we spent a few days with them, greatly loving their company. We’re so proud of our son, and all his efforts. God is blessing him with work, provision, and open doors. Even though Teresa was “hobbling” around on her ‘not healed yet foot’, we had a great time all being together.

From there, we traveled to Costa Mesa to meet with Scott Cunningham from the worship school there. Bruce and he shared ideas to further our efforts here in Europe. We’re excited about some of the things coming up.  After staying with some old friends, Kathy and Steve Gilbert, we drove down to San Diego. We met with some of our supporters, friends, saw our old church and pastor Mark, and hung out with some former bible college students from here. It was a short, but sweet visit.

From there, we traveled up to Santa Barbara for a couple days. We met with David Guzik, former director of the school here. Teresa led worship on Sunday at CCSB with Andrea, a German friend/worship leader, who’s now on staff there. It was great seeing some old friends again.

Finally, we arrived in Monterey, our home in the States. We stayed there for 2 weeks, seeing friends, taking care of lots of “business”, and gathering with supporters and our care team. We led a wonderful worship night at Mayflower Presbyterian, also at a fellowship of believers in Big Sur. There were lots of ex-hippies gathered, who had given their lives back to Christ. Also, three young hitchhikers came, and we got to share with them. Teresa gave her testimony, and it was like looking at herself years ago as she was sharing her story. How great a deliverance God has blessed us with from our former days!!! We loved visiting our son, David, and his family, and eating at Outerlands, his famous and delicious, restaurant! Of course, Leithian, our granddaughter, was such a delight to be around.

From Monterey we flew up to Vancouver, WA. to stay with our son Simeon and his family. Alli is pregnant with their second son, and we so enjoyed seeing our grandson, Jamin! We led worship in their church, CC Vancouver. While we were there, we went to Vancouver, CA, to visit Teresa’s old relatives; she hasn’t seen them in decades. What a treat it was for her to reconnect.

Then, off to Appleton, WI, where Teresa visited a friend, Ruth, and shared at CC Appleton. She shared in worship and the vision of what we are doing here in Germany. Bruce was visiting two brothers; one in Spokane, WA, and the other in Atlanta, GA. This was a special treat, as he hadn’t seen them in a while.

Then both of us met up in South Carolina, to spend time with our son Nate, and his family. He has a new baby, Elijah Thomas. What a great time it was, holding little Eli. It was difficult to get Teresa to let go of him, as she loved holding and feeding him. Nate is in the Air Force , and he was able to take the time off to be with us…so great!

From there, we hopped on a jet, back to Deutschland! And here we are!

If you think you got tired reading all about our travels, imagine doing it! But God sustained us, and blessed us over and over again.

    As we went back to the States, we realized just how much darker this world is getting. Every time we go back, things change. We have to continually put our hope and trust in Jesus, focusing on Him alone for our security, our hope, and our life. It’s so easy to become distracted with all the things of this world…but they are so temporary. The only thing that will last is based on Christ Jesus. Let us draw closer to Him and follow after Him alone, finding joy, and refreshment in His presence!

We love you and pray for you, and are soooo.. grateful for your prayers as well!

Thanks for standing with us!

                                     

April 2012

April 2012

Dear Friends and Loved Ones~
Typical to living here in college life, time has gone by too fast. It seems we just started the semester, yet we’re just a few weeks away from finishing it!
We returned from an outreach to Berlin, where we came alongside the Calvary Chapel there. It is located in a Muslim neighborhood, where you can definitely feel the oppression and warfare. They are a small group of precious saints, faithfully giving out the message of life and hope in Jesus Christ. We arrived on Friday, and led worship for their Good Friday service. On Saturday, the students worked with their kid’s club and served the church in various ways. Sunday, Bruce taught the Easter message of the resurrection. Afterwards, we gathered some tracts, excited about sharing the special resurrection message in downtown Berlin. On route to the train, in this same neighborhood, a boy riding his bike on the sidewalk crashed right into Teresa, falling on top of her with his bike. She went to the emergency room, while the rest of the team went into Berlin. Our first experience at the “Krankenhaus”! A bad sprain and small fracture later, she had to keep her foot elevated, immobile, and iced. Talk about direct warfare! So she was out of commission the rest of the trip. The team went back to the church on Monday to host a brunch and fellowship time. We drove back Monday afternoon. Bruce has had to be caretaker for Teresa, as well as attend to all his other daily ministry!!

The classes have been going well. The students are making good progress in learning guitar and worship leading techniques. The women’s discipleship class has been very insightful for the girls; they’ve been discovering how to walk more in the truth of God’s Word rather than the ways of the world and their fallen human nature.

We have continued to be used leading worship in CC Siegen, and around different places in Germany. This weekend, Bruce will be going to K-Town again to lead worship. Teresa unfortunately is on hold for everything until her foot heals. Please continue praying for her.

Bruce is also working on some innovative ideas about making worship videos, and teachings available online to those who can’t come here to go to school. It’s still a work in progress, and we’d appreciate your prayers for this new venture.

We have been getting precious feedback from former students, expressing their gratitude for our ministry and how they have been helped and equipped. It’s such an encouragement to us to see that our labors are not in vain.
On top of working with worship development, we really feel like the “mom and pop” of the school. It’s been great to help counsel, encourage and love these students.
This Thursday, we’ll be putting on a Passover service for the school. Everyone really looks forward to this special time, as it is a first for many to really understand the roots of communion and the last supper.

May 3rd, we’ll be returning to the States to attend our son’s, (Jonny’s) graduation from Azusa Pacific. We look forward to spending time with him and his brothers, who will also be there. We’ll also be able to network with churches, see friends, and visit family, including our newest grandchild, Elijah, who’ll be born in late May.
Thank you for holding us up in prayer, for your generous support, and for your encouragement in coming alongside of us. May we all work together for His Kingdom, living our lives to please Him as we await the time we’re with Him!

In His Love ,
Bruce and Teresa

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58

Spring Semester 2012

Spring Semester 2012

Dear Loved Ones, Spring semester has officially been launched, and we are beginning our third week now. We have a great group of staff and students. Truly, we are an international school, as we have several nations represented here; Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Germany, Mexico, Romania, and the USA. There has been quite an interest in worship; our classes are full with those wanting to learn. It is so great to witness the enthusiasm and anticipation in the students. We believe God is going to do a wonderful work this semester!On top of teaching guitar, and worship leader training, Bruce also has been busy putting together a curriculum for mini worship conferences that we will take out to the many EU churches. Our plan is to do a 2 day session; demonstrating leading worship, doing different workshops, and working with their teams. We are in the process of putting together teams to take out with us, as doing it by ourselves would be less productive… plus we want to see these young worship leaders use their gifting and talents!

Teresa is the women’s dean again this semester. She enjoys getting to know the girls, and being there for them when needed. She is teaching the women’s discipleship class every week. They are going through the book by Nancy Lee DeMoss, “Lies Women Believe.” It’s a challenging book, addressing many false belief systems of the world, and how believing the Word of God brings freedom. We both have continued to lead worship at Calvary Chapel Siegen, as well as in the college.

On weekends, one of the students had a desire to go into downtown Siegen and give out free hot cocoa and coffee, sing worship songs, and share the love of Jesus … God is blessing it, and last week, we had quite a crowd of volunteers to help, as well as many people who came by to listen and sip hot drinks on a cold and dreary day. It reminds us of the warm love of God, so wonderful, in a cold and dark world. We had the opportunity to pray with several people. We’ll continue to do this on the weekends when we’re here in town.

We had the privilege of hosting two pastor friends of ours, Tom Green and Dennis McFadden from Monterey. They were stopping by on their way back from a mission’s trip to India. It was great visiting with them. They also had the opportunity to share at CC Siegen. It’s so refreshing having friends from back home come and fellowship and see our world over here. Like the proverbs say, “As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”What a blessing it is to receive periodic reports of former students leading worship for different churches! We see that our work is not in vain. There’s nothing quite like investing our lives into the lives of these young people. They are so fresh, so eager, and so desirous of all that Jesus has for them. We pray that we can keep up with them! Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement, and support. As you share with us, you are part of all that we do. Someday we will all stand before our wonderful Lord and Savior, and join together, rejoicing in all God has done in and through our lives. He is so good, and so faithful, and our lives are committed to being available for His use, to spread His love and forgiveness wherever we go.

God’s blessings, and favor be upon you as you seek Him and draw near to the Savior and Lover of our souls!

Bruce and Teresa

Hi Everyone~

Another year has passed before our eyes. God has been faithful again to bring us through. We pray your Christmas time and New Year’s were filled with the love of family, friends, and most importantly, our Lord and Savior, Jesus! Our son, Jonathan, was able to join us during the holidays. Even though we are far away from our home and family, it was an immeasurable comfort to spend Christmas break with one of our sons, as everyone here at the bible college was gone! This has been a needed down time from all the busyness of last semester. We spent the 2 weeks resting, reading, visiting Heidelberg, playing with the dog, and most importantly, enjoying one another, In Germany, everyone is with family. In America, people are spread out more, and it's difficult to always see their family. But here, people are always together. It's such a different culture!

As we reflect back over 2011, we surely see God's hand in a marvelous way. It was a packed year, full of ministry, challenges, opportunities, and blessings. We wanted to recap a few of the highlights:

We witnessed two graduating classes, students built up in their faith, and equipped for ministry; we watched them grow into servant/leaders. Some were sent out to other churches to minister. Many of the student worship leaders are now leading in different churches.

We led worship and taught at several churches across the EU, organized and led a worship conference in Stuttgart, and taught at a marriage conference in K-town (among US military stationed there). We took a team to Nice France, did street evangelism, taught on marriage, led worship, and came alongside CC Nice in every way to support and help. . Last summer we had the opportunity to teach and lead worship for the EU mission’s conference in Millstadt, Austria. We taught and led worship for the EU worship conference held here in Siegen last May.

We saw many students filled with the Holy Spirit, and they experienced new anointing in their ministries and evangelism. Teresa taught the women's discipleship class, and was also the dean of women. She saw the fruit of many girls opening their hearts more to Christ, and experience His freedom. Bruce taught classes on The History of Hebrew Worship (1 and 2 Chronicles) , Guitar Theory and Worship, The book of Ephesians, and Workings of the Holy Spirit .. Teresa taught Music Theory, Keyboard, Women's Discipleship, and did one on one mentoring.

On a personal note, we had the pleasure of seeing our son Nathan marry his bride, Kamicca. They live in South Carolina and he's still serving in the Air Force. We got to reconnect with our family last June, as Bruce's mom celebrated her 90th birthday. We still rejoice over the great victory of obtaining our German driver's licenses. What a relief it's over! Our Deutsch is coming along. Everyday we learn new words and phrases, as we interact with the German culture.

Our prayer for this year is that we would have more opportunity to go into the varied churches in the EU and come alongside of them in worship and development. Again, there is a tremendous need here for helpers.

Once again, our hearts turn towards you, our faithful family, friends, and supporters. We know that the work of the ministry here could not go on without your involvement. It was your prayers that got us through last year. It was your support that provided our needs, and your love that was there to remind us of why we are here. We are and continue to be so grateful for you. Our prayers are continually lifted up on your behalf.

May this 2012 be a new year for God to be glorified, here in the EU, America, and the rest of the world. May He continue to use ordinary people like all of us, to do His work.

You are a great blessing to us, and we pray for a prosperous New Year in every way!

Bruce and Teresa