This might be a short post, but here it is:
It has been a great time of preparation and getting camp started. On Wednesday our first team from the church arrived to go asleep and wake up bright and early be back at the church at 7:15 to head to the schools and set up the batting cages. It was a great carnival. Some of the players from previous years connected with their coaches. Relationships are carrying over from year to year now and it is exciting to see the connections growing. There were several teachers that were interested in having us coming again during the year to bring our baseball equipment and teach baseball. This is now possible that I will be here for the next year. Other doors are opening where the Lord is making connections between the community here and the church in Siegburg.
Friday and Saturday were spent setting up camp and finalize all the details while the rest of the team arrived late Saturday evening. They too then had an early morning the next day as camp started on Sunday. We had the church service at the base, lunch and then tryouts. Tryouts went great! With camp filled to capacity we pushed 108 kids through tryouts in a matter of an hour and a half! Parents showed up to hit in the cages while they waited for tryouts to finish and then we had "Opening Ceremonies"
It is now Tuesday evening and the first two days of camp have gone incredibly smooth! We have had no schedule issues and everyone is moving right on beat. The first day always comes with a few adjustments, however, with 80% of the team being returners it has made it very easy to roll with the punches! Each team looks great and even our weaker teams are playing very well. Its impressive to see how much is coming back to the players so quickly as they have gotten a chance to loosen their rusty arms. It will be interesting to see how the teams pan out. Each year the beginning of the week is a completely different look from the end of the week.
BasiX was great tonight, and I hope that the "heat" that we have had hasn't sent too many people home too early. We will have it again tomorrow and Friday. Be praying for this time. It is a youth service for the campers and their families and anyone else that we may invite. This is a major connecting point between the baseball camp and the church. Pray that the hearts of the non-christians are softened and opened to the Word of God.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
The Calm Before the Storm
Today was a great day. At the christian school down the street we had a school festival where we set up the batting cages and a lot of the students that had been to baseball camp before had a chance to show off their skills to the rest of their soccer playing classmates. About 1/3 of the school is estimated to come from a non-christian background or have any connection with the church at all, so events like this are a great opportunity to reach out to other students and their parents that haven't been involved with baseball camp. There were some other cool things at the festival today. Someone had made a catapult using bicycle tire as the springs. Each class made their own derby cars to race down the hill of the parking lot. Those were really cool!
Earlier this week we were able to accomplish quite a bit. Monday all our baseball equipment came in on a pallet. We unpacked it and then Thursday we organized it numbered it and cleaned up the storage room that we use at the school. We did have a couple of days that allowed us to catch up on some rest, but on Thursday morning before heading to the school to organize all our equipment, Jonathan and I went to first register my address, check, then we went to apply for my residents permit. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. There are a few documents that I need to submit in order to finalize but I am well on my way to being settled in.
Last weekend at BIJ (Believe in Jesus), Friday night youth meeting, we had a night of prayer. This was an exciting time where the students could go between several different stations that provided various postures and topics for prayer. It was a great night of connecting with God! The following day Maribeth and I went with Ralf and his family to a wildlife park that was at a small German castle. We saw some bird shows wolves fed and counted 161 steps to the top of the castle to look over the Eifel region.
The week before we had several meetings preparing for the next year. We met with the school to talk about my involvement. The idea is that I would spend a couple days a week at the school in their sports and English classes. Again on friday I actually attended a couple of those classes just to get a good idea of what I might be doing in the fall. The schools here are on year around schedule, which is why they are still in school but they also have several breaks throughout the year. IN the sports class I got my butt kicked in soccer, but it was a lot of fun and all the students had a lot of fun as they were practicing for their school tournament.
Though we were able to get a lot accomplished this week we have had a good bit of down time to rest up for the next two weeks. Starting Monday we are hitting the ground running we will be at 3 different schools this week giving a little preview to baseball camp. Wednesday night our first team from America will land go to sleep and get up early to join us for the third and final school before setting up camp getting things rolling for BBC '13. I have already talked to a lot of kids that can't wait for Monday morning the 22nd to get here.
It has a been a great time so far! Maribeth and I really appreciate all your prayers and support as we continue to reach out the community of Siegburg here in the Rhineland of Germany.
Follow His call
Nick
Earlier this week we were able to accomplish quite a bit. Monday all our baseball equipment came in on a pallet. We unpacked it and then Thursday we organized it numbered it and cleaned up the storage room that we use at the school. We did have a couple of days that allowed us to catch up on some rest, but on Thursday morning before heading to the school to organize all our equipment, Jonathan and I went to first register my address, check, then we went to apply for my residents permit. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. There are a few documents that I need to submit in order to finalize but I am well on my way to being settled in.
Last weekend at BIJ (Believe in Jesus), Friday night youth meeting, we had a night of prayer. This was an exciting time where the students could go between several different stations that provided various postures and topics for prayer. It was a great night of connecting with God! The following day Maribeth and I went with Ralf and his family to a wildlife park that was at a small German castle. We saw some bird shows wolves fed and counted 161 steps to the top of the castle to look over the Eifel region.
The week before we had several meetings preparing for the next year. We met with the school to talk about my involvement. The idea is that I would spend a couple days a week at the school in their sports and English classes. Again on friday I actually attended a couple of those classes just to get a good idea of what I might be doing in the fall. The schools here are on year around schedule, which is why they are still in school but they also have several breaks throughout the year. IN the sports class I got my butt kicked in soccer, but it was a lot of fun and all the students had a lot of fun as they were practicing for their school tournament.
Though we were able to get a lot accomplished this week we have had a good bit of down time to rest up for the next two weeks. Starting Monday we are hitting the ground running we will be at 3 different schools this week giving a little preview to baseball camp. Wednesday night our first team from America will land go to sleep and get up early to join us for the third and final school before setting up camp getting things rolling for BBC '13. I have already talked to a lot of kids that can't wait for Monday morning the 22nd to get here.
It has a been a great time so far! Maribeth and I really appreciate all your prayers and support as we continue to reach out the community of Siegburg here in the Rhineland of Germany.
Follow His call
Nick
Monday, July 1, 2013
Here .... We ... Go!!
So it has been a week in Germany and already it has seemed like we have been here for a month. Maribeth and I arrived last Tuesday night in Dusseldorf where we were picked up and drove back to the town of Siegburg.
Siegburg is a small town on the outskirts southwest of Cologne just west of Bonn (home of Beethoven). This area is where I will be spending the next year in ministry reaching out to the community and other churches. Here I will be working with the German partnership of FBC Bryan, Christus Gemeinde Siegburg. This is an evangelical Christian church with hopes of missions and out reach deeply rooted. My two main goals for this next year is to see the baseball ministry grow out side Christus Gemeinde and see a healthy youth and college program grow and develop from where it is now.
Today (Monday, July 1st), Maribeth and I had a meeting with Ralf Doehring (Pastor) about our goals and plans for the next few weeks and the whole year. There will be tons of opportunities that are coming our way and our aim is to utilize my time to optimize those opportunities. One Opportunity that we talk about today that I would like to see happen is with a church in Bonn. They have a baseball team of sorts and a field and have expressed interest in doing things with Christus Gemeinde. Hopefully, we will see many opportunities like this one come to surface where we can establish good relationships between many churches in the area working together.
Sunday, Ralf brought Maribeth and myself before the church to present us and pray for our time here. Everyone has been very welcoming and receptive to both Maribeth and myself, ask to pray for us both for our time together in Germany, but also for our time a part, as Maribeth will head back to Dallas on August 6th. Yesterday evening we also met with the college group 180* and talked about the future of the goup and our contribution as we will be joining them each Sunday. Maribeth will be a big contribution to that group for the time she is here and has already made great connections and friends with girls from that group as well as the youth group, which meets on Friday.
I was informed that our shipment of equipment would arrive in Cologne in the next couple days and I am so excited to receive and put to use all the equipment that we were able to get from Akadema. For those who don't know, Rick Witt, who was apart of our camp last year, connected us with a great Christian company that produces baseball equipment. Kris and the guys at Akadema have been so generous to supply us with 4 teams worth of equipment and more to come!
It has been adventure getting here from moving all my stuff to Dallas, driving my car to Atlanta, sitting through a 3.5 hr rain delay at Turner Field, catastrophes at the Dallas greyhound station with our bus never showing up, to the long 17 hr trip from Houston to Dusseldorf. We have had some excitement and disappointments, but this is just the beginning and we can't wait to see what happens next! Stay in prayer with us, as we continue this journey. And of course, if God places it on your heart to support our efforts here, please send your support to FBC Bryan, tx with designation to Nick in Germany.
Following His Call
Nick
Siegburg is a small town on the outskirts southwest of Cologne just west of Bonn (home of Beethoven). This area is where I will be spending the next year in ministry reaching out to the community and other churches. Here I will be working with the German partnership of FBC Bryan, Christus Gemeinde Siegburg. This is an evangelical Christian church with hopes of missions and out reach deeply rooted. My two main goals for this next year is to see the baseball ministry grow out side Christus Gemeinde and see a healthy youth and college program grow and develop from where it is now.
Today (Monday, July 1st), Maribeth and I had a meeting with Ralf Doehring (Pastor) about our goals and plans for the next few weeks and the whole year. There will be tons of opportunities that are coming our way and our aim is to utilize my time to optimize those opportunities. One Opportunity that we talk about today that I would like to see happen is with a church in Bonn. They have a baseball team of sorts and a field and have expressed interest in doing things with Christus Gemeinde. Hopefully, we will see many opportunities like this one come to surface where we can establish good relationships between many churches in the area working together.
Sunday, Ralf brought Maribeth and myself before the church to present us and pray for our time here. Everyone has been very welcoming and receptive to both Maribeth and myself, ask to pray for us both for our time together in Germany, but also for our time a part, as Maribeth will head back to Dallas on August 6th. Yesterday evening we also met with the college group 180* and talked about the future of the goup and our contribution as we will be joining them each Sunday. Maribeth will be a big contribution to that group for the time she is here and has already made great connections and friends with girls from that group as well as the youth group, which meets on Friday.
I was informed that our shipment of equipment would arrive in Cologne in the next couple days and I am so excited to receive and put to use all the equipment that we were able to get from Akadema. For those who don't know, Rick Witt, who was apart of our camp last year, connected us with a great Christian company that produces baseball equipment. Kris and the guys at Akadema have been so generous to supply us with 4 teams worth of equipment and more to come!
It has been adventure getting here from moving all my stuff to Dallas, driving my car to Atlanta, sitting through a 3.5 hr rain delay at Turner Field, catastrophes at the Dallas greyhound station with our bus never showing up, to the long 17 hr trip from Houston to Dusseldorf. We have had some excitement and disappointments, but this is just the beginning and we can't wait to see what happens next! Stay in prayer with us, as we continue this journey. And of course, if God places it on your heart to support our efforts here, please send your support to FBC Bryan, tx with designation to Nick in Germany.
Following His Call
Nick
Using the batting cages at a town carnival
MB and I in Linz
Ready to hit the Skies
Passing Germany
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