Summer Break

For those that do not know, the first week of the German summer break is the week that we do baseball camp. It makes deciding when camp is going to be easy. Really it is because we know that people are going to be going on vacations and other things throughout the rest of summer break and so the best time to catch as many people as possible is the first week. However, now that camp is over and BIJ on Tour is over, summer break really begins. A lot of people will be on vacation, but many others will not. My hope is that we can take advantage of this time and provide opportunities for students to play baseball and stay connected to the church.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go visit the pastor and many of the students of the camp in Bramsche. It was a great weekend! At the sametime an old college buddy of the Pastor (Holger) had come to visit from the states for the first time in 17 yrs. We were all able to spend some time together talking and visiting some German history around the northwest part of the country.

Friday I joined a baseball game with the youth in Bramsche. This is their fourth year to complete baseball camp, starting just one year before us here in Siegburg. They have some very talented players. One of the students that I met, had the opportunity to go to Michigan as an exchange student. Being at a small northern school he was able to play all the available sports. Saturday we had the baseball reunion service which invited all the campers back to the church for a small worship and connection time. I am hoping that with my time there this weekend and the connections that were made the Lord will open up other opportunities to expand this sports ministry here.

One thing that I would ask that you be praying about, I found out this weekend that  for a church to have a youth pastor here in Germany is not very common. "Most churches only have one pastor". There are certainly churches that have youth pastors and desire to have youth pastors. This to me sounds a lot like the US in the late 80's early 90's. At this time there was a huge movement building up the idea of how important ministry specific for students is within the health of a church. I would love to see youth ministry grow and develop here as it has in the states. Of course, once this has hit my brain juices have been flowing on how that might get jump started.

Following His Call

Nick