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

 Using the batting cages at a town carnival

 MB and I in Linz

 Ready to hit the Skies

Passing Germany