Winter Break 2013

Dear Ones,

   Here we are, already in 2013! As the years fly by, we rejoice in knowing we're that much closer to seeing Jesus face to face! We hope you rejoiced in this Christmas season, as we all celebrated our Savior's entrance into this world.

As we mentioned in our last blog, Teresa spent Christmas in the States with our children and grandchildren.

   Bruce remained in Germany, as the cost of flying for both of us was very costly. We had a new grandson, Caleb, born in August, and Teresa had to go see him! While she was there, she also saw our other sons and families.

It was a delightful time seeing our kids growing into the wonderful men and husbands they are, and their families blossoming . Although it is difficult to be so far away from them, God is faithful to meet them and take care of them. If we take care of God's business, He will take care of ours and our families.

 
Bruce had some wonderful opportunities back home.
He taught Sunday morning at Calvary in Holland,  leading worship with one of our students. He also ministered at Calvary in Lippstadt. He ministered in music in KTown, also bringing a student with him.Several friends from the church in Siegen welcomed him over for meals and fellowship. Our dog, Ice, was very glad he was there! Bruce is also in the process of writing a book on worship. We're excited to see this long time coming project get completed. What a blessing it has been for him to make use of this extra time to write. He also learned garage band, a program that records songs and programs instruments, voices, etc. He was able to record some of his songs, another long time project getting completed!

   The EU pastor's conference was held in Siegen Jan 21st to the 25th. Bruce had the opportunity to connect with many pastors here,   some old friends and some new. It's a challenging field to start a church in Europe, as it's an atheistic culture. Most churches are very small in comparison with the US. Students and staff from the college hosted pastors in the Villa. Cleaning, making beds, etc. It was a blessing to those staying.

   Next week, our staff will be preparing for the returning students, cleaning up after the pastor's meeting, establishing schedules, getting classes in order, airport runs, etc. The students will be arriving this coming week. School officially starts the first week in February.

   We had a wonderful graduation with our students in December. Several will be returning for the spring semester. Teresa will again be the women's dean, as well as be involved in worship at the school and church. Bruce will be teaching on worship and mentoring worship leaders. We are going to have more traveling this semester, as more churches are asking us to come to them,to work with their worship teams and put on workshops. We have several lined up already, including France, Italy, as well as Germany. Bruce is working with Costa Mesa in getting the online worship classes uploaded. We are excited about the progress being made. It's our hope to make this available for all the churches, in every nation.

   This break has given us some down time to get refreshed for next semester. How important it is to take time to know Jesus, to sit at His feet, to drink in His Word, and to reflect on all He has done. In the busyness of ministry, it's easy to become too busy to make the needed time for Him.

   Truly our God has been so faithful this last year to work among us, prove Himself strong on our behalf, and to bring glory to His name! How privileged we all are to live with other Christians, to have sweet fellowship and be able to worship our God and King. There's no one like Jesus who can fill us with grace, love and power to live a fulfilling and blessed life.

We count it an honor to serve Him and be served by you, our faithful prayer partners and supporters.

May God bless you and pour out His Spirit and unfailing love upon you.

In Him,

Bruce and Teresa