2014 Here we GO!

I am back to Germany and have hit the ground running. I had a great time with many friends and family during the holidays. I was able to see my best friend and his family in SC, spend Christmas with my family in GA, and then New Years Maribeth and I went to see her family in Dallas. Then we ended it with a bang as we watched the Noles win the National Championship! It was a great time and a lot of fun with all!

Now I am back and the tires squealed as planning baseball camp had been ready to roll and raced off upon my returned. We are hoping to expand camp this year by another 30 campers or so; and with that will come several adjustments and require more staffing than we have ever had before. Yesterday I finished the first draft of the schedule for this year and have also been calling around about some cool new jerseys that would match this years theme. I have also gotten word that recruiting for next years trip is well under way and they are reaching out to other local associations and churches that might be interested in joining us this year. Their first interest meeting will be held soon and then training of our american team will begin.

In the business of it all, I have returned to both schools, the Christian school in the mornings teaching PE and then the city school in the afternoon learning German. We are finishing up the 3rd of 6 German courses I am taking and I should be finished just in time for summer! We also received information on a possible lead for a Gym that we could use on a regular basis for meeting and playing baseball. This would be a huge praise, even if it were only a one time opportunity. As I have mentioned before getting gym time in Germany is like gold. This has been one of our major goals in continuing the connection with campers year 'round. Please be praying for one of those opportunities to become available that it may establish itself in this city as this ministry continues to grow in both size and effectiveness!

I am excited to see where God is leading us this semester. It is going to be a very busy one. It starts with one of our youth leaders here heading to the states in a couple weeks to intern with one of my dearest friends and mentor, George Lockhart. He will then be heading to FBC Montgomery, AL, where we were in October to work along side their youth ministry. He will remain there until we meet up with our entire youth group  there in Montgomery.

Exciting times are ahead as the Lord is working in all our efforts and partnerships!

Following His Call

Nick

Sankt Nikolaustag

So there are many versions of Santa Claus around the world, however Sankt Nikolaus of German tradition holds about as close as any other tradition does to the actual Saint Nicholas of Greece. St Nicholas was a 1st century greek bishop known for his kindness and generosity to the people. I guess so, since he was a bishop and a Saint. There are several legends that have evolved from alleged events of this man's life to become what the world now knows of as Santa Claus/Kris Kringle/St Nick and other variations there of. In Germany on the even of December 5th children place their boots/shoes outside front door to wake up to small gifts and candy left by Sankt Nikolaus. In fact, Sankt Nikolaus came to visit me too on this evening! (See pictures below)

Yesterday I visited Bonn to walk around the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market). It was pretty awesome! At first I only saw a huge Christmas tree reminiscent of the "Riches Great Tree" (originally named) of Atlanta. These happen to be all over the place here at intersection corners, by churches, just about anywhere they can put one. Anyway as I was walking through the old town of Bonn I turned a corner in the back of the city where the Beethoven Statue is and there it was, huge and spread throughout not only the market place but down the side streets connecting to. I took many pictures and walked around enjoying the Christmas spirit of Germany!

In other news, Thanksgiving in Germany is the 1st week of October. I may have mentioned it before in an earlier post. This also means that, what I would consider the 2nd biggest holiday in the states, just happens to be another day in the German life. Although there was a kind of celebration in the air as this was the end of my 2nd course in German. I also meet with some friends to talk exclusively in German. In a combined culmination last week felt to be one the strongest weeks in my German yet! I had a few full on conversations, even if I did dominate most of the conversation limiting the vocabulary used. I am hoping that by Baseball Camp next year I will nearly be fluent at least enough to carry my own.

Other exciting information that has come together in the last few weeks:
Baseball Camp plans have been moving right along. As it looks now we are planning to have 130 kids at baseball camp with 10 teams. We also have ordered the equipment that we need for camp next year. Akadema and Reynolds and Reynolds are working hard to get things shipped out to us as soon as possible. Planning meetings have begun, posters and sign up sheets are being created and passed out! We can't wait to see it all come together! For next spring we are looking at new ways to connect with baseball campers in the winter and springs months leading up to camp! My prayer is that when my time here is complete that there will be a steady improvement and impact as a result of the Lord's work as He has placed me in this community!

Following His Call

Herbst Ferien (Fall Break)

So the Month of October has been great! Many things have happened. Where to start?

Well I don't think I mentioned anything about the planning for our trip during the fall break. There is a church in Alabama that Ralf (Pastor of CGS, local church) has had a good relationship with the Music minister there for several years. In fact a few years ago he brought a choir group here to Siegburg. Ralf and his wife Tina visited this church a year or so ago and they were very impressed with their involvement in their own community as well as throughout the rest of the world in missions. We planned to take the youth leaders from CGS there to share ministry perspectives with each other as well as plan a project together. We had a cool Skype meeting, Ralf and I with two of their ministers to kick it off. Then the asst Music Min. and myself took it from there. I had a good time emailing him back and forth as we planned our time together!

We had also been talking with a guy about a half hour from us about coming to play his team in baseball. The finally came through. We organized a team to go to their so called "sandlot" which turned out to be one of the nicest fields I have seen in Germany! Aside from their limited space and subsequential awkward shape, it looked better than a lot fields in the states. We played two games against their team and for the most part we played better, but they had a secret weapon who scored their only 3 runs in a 0-2 and 0-1 set of games. It was a bummer we lost both, but we sure had a ton of fun! Some of our guys might join their winter camp in January.

I also had my 28th Birthday in Germany. It was really cool what both the youth and some of my other friends,  that I have been able to make while I am here did for me! It was a great birthday month! Making sure I was equipped with warm Germany style winter clothing was a common and generous theme.

So back to the Herbst Ferien. It was pretty surreal to be going on a trip to the United States as a visitor. As I said before we took a team of 9 including myself and the pastor to FBC Montgomery, AL. We were there for a week to plan and organize as well as observe some of the different ministry programs that were reaching out to the community.

First of our flight over was a little scary. I think we flew in American Airlines first plane ever. Then the first thing that we did landing in Atlanta was of course got o the best Restaurant in the world. Then our week was packed full of time at the church or other of their associated ministries such as the caring center and all their different ESL programs. There in Montgomery is a military training base for pilots and officers. They provide that training for all other military offices not just US. There are a lot of military wives that don't speak any english and so during the year there they can come to FBC M to learn english. They also provide a community ministry called the Nehemiah Project that reaches out to all the kids in low income area providing after school programs and sports for kids that would otherwise never have the opportunity to do so. This is the answer to the universal call to "get our children off the streets."

Next summer we hope to come back with a team of youth to join this outreaching church in their ministry to Montgomery, Al. As we were there we heard and saw great generosity among the members of this church, of which we hope to exemplify and replicate among the church here in Siegburg. This visions and paths of this church is similar to where CGS is and hopes to be in the future.

 Over the past couple of weeks through my time with FBC Montgomery and as Ralf and I continue in our conversations about FBC Bryan, and Synergy, my ideals of ministry and philosophy as it pertains to churches working together. I have always believed in churches going to the same location on missions each year to build relation, but church partnerships to the degree that we have discussed this over the past few months takes that concept to a new level. This is something that I think truly takes ministry to a new level. Not just to the people and community around both churches but also for both church congregations. I can't wait to see where God leads me in my time here in Germany, but even more so to see how He uses things that He is teaching me here, in the future!

Tonight we went to a ceremony in the city Reichspogromnacht. It was the night that the Synagogues were burned down and they arrested all the jews. There are fountains in place of those synagogues now and every Nov. 9th they meet there by the fountain and then we walked to the cemetery where they buried all the jews in this area. It was a very interesting and important night to be a part of. Below is a picture of the fountain from tonight.    

Following His Call

For those who have been in Siegburg this is right in front of C&A. 

Revival in this Town

This weekend we had the Baseball Camp Revival. It was an amazing time with everyone! The weather was great and we were able to secure a place that was perfect to host the revival. There is a club field that is directly across the street from the military base that hosts baseball camp. There, we have a meeting room, outdoor tables and place to grill. The grounds crew, a man, his daughter and her husband, were so friendly to us and are excited to see what happens next with "Baseball Camp."  We had approximately 25 players show up not counting the student leaders/volunteers and in all, with parents and volunteers there were around 40 people that joined us this past Saturday afternoon.

I may have said this before, because it has been on my heart a lot lately, but one of my main goals involves all the many people that we have made contact with over the past 3 year in baseball camp. It is to continue to build that connection throughout the year. It is incredible the amount of people that baseball camp can reach and no not many of them are going to immediately start coming to church, however if we can maintain a consistent connection between the church and those of Baseball Camp, at minimum, they have a consistent connection with followers and believers in Christ. My prayer is that this consistency would penetrate their hearts and lead them to the church and ultimately to Christ.

My Challenge to you is to be praying about this with me as I seek to be more creative as the winter seasons approaches and temperatures drop. This makes it very challenging to do any outdoor activities. An easy fix to this would be wiffleball in a gym or large meeting room. You would think in a place where outdoor activity weather is not easy to come by there would be an abundance of gyms or indoor platz. There are some, but the great demand for those places makes it nearly impossible to find a place. We spoke with a lady with the city and she said there is no chance at all for this year to get into a gym. Crazy, huh? I know that the Lord will make a way and so I ask that you pray with me for a place that we could go to on occasions in order that we might be able to maintain a consistent and reliable connection with both the players and their families.

In addition, I am praying that my time here is effective not just when spent at baseball or church events but the many people that I meet outside of church would be reflected to the amazing work that Christ is doing in Siegburg. There is one guy from the military base that is very interested in being involved in what happens next year at baseball camp. He is soldier located at the base in Siegburg and is very draw to the work that we are doing. For now it only stands on a social/community interest, but I pray as times are spent together with those of the church he would see the truth and the light of Christ and His saving grace!

Following His Call

Nick

Time to Hit the Books

Well, I have my school schedule where I will be involved in the PE class at the Christian school in Siegburg and I have started German class with the city. Today marks the first complete week. My first German class was last Wednesday. I learned 7 questions: Wie heissen Sie? (What's your name?) Wie alt sind Sie? (How old are you?) Was arbeiten Sie? (What's your occupation?) Woher kommen Sie? (Where are you from?) Sind Sie verheiratet? Und haben Sie Kinder? (Are you married and do you have kids?) Welche Hobbys haben Sie? (What are your hobbies?) Was sprechen Sie? (Which languages do you speak?) Today I had towrite about my family. Meine verlobte (Fiance), Meine Eltern (Parents) und Brueder (Brothers) und Schwaegerin Sister-in-law.


Outside of school Baseball has been great! We had 2 Saturdays in a row that we got a group together to play baseball. There was about 15 players each time and that was awesome! Many of these were not students from the church, which is awesome! This past Saturday we played in a tournament in Lubbecke with all the other Synergy camps. Syngery if you don't know, is the organization that has assisted all the many baseball camps that happen in Germany each summer! We took two teams to the tournament, and older and a younger team. The Older team took 2nd place for the second year in a row, which is amazing! The younger team went undefeated, taking 1st place!! It was a great weekend and we introduced the idea of a baseball league. This is in the mind of some of the players and many of the volunteers and pastors. We aren't sure when / if it will all come together. Maybe this spring and maybe in the coming years! We shall see.

I also met a youth pastor from Bruckeburg named Jacob Ferguson. He is an American from Ohio, I believe. He has been here in Germany for two and a half years. He has played a major role in organizing youth camps, retreats and concerts in the Bremen area. We talked for a few minutes, exchanged contact info and hope to work together throughout the year.

Aside from baseball, many of you know, but some of you  dont, that I have many years of sign language experience, specifically in reference to contemporary Christian Music. When I was serving as the youth pastor at Northview Baptist Church, God brought to my attentiont hat I need to always use the talents He gave me and so I began a class there. Here in Germany He is opening opportunities for me to use this talent again, in the schools. In addition to the PE classes I will be assisting with a couple Chapel services on Tuesdays. Next Tuesday I will be introducing sign language as a form of worship to the Chapel Services at the Christian school in Siegburg.

Continue to pray for me as God  open new doors and opportunities for Him to work through me.

Following His Call

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

It is Finished

Camp is Over.

Ralf was quick to say that on Saturday. I think he was looking forward to it. : ) haha Camp was Great! Now everyone has arrived back in Houston and gone their separate ways. All except Maribeth and myself. Today we relaxed and took the train to Aachen walked around took many pictures, got Amereno (Cherry based) instead of Amaretto Eis, which was perfect because she doesn't like tart, fruity things. It was beautiful and a nice day.

Sunday we had a great meeting talk about this years baseball camp, what we liked what we wanted to improve as well as about next year. As long as the Lord still has it in His plans all parties are rearing and ready to go. It was also a great time of fellowship with both the church and other campers families. This lunch took place at the church which is great because it physically connected those who had never been to the church before to the church and hopefully we will some of those faces again.

Saturday was an awesome final day of camp! Closing cermonies included awards by coaches, to the winning teams and "The Bigs" rapping a couple of their songs including E3 (possibly not the title). Saturday of Camp there is always a tournament and a cookout. The church always does a fabulous job cook a large variety of meats, steaks, sausages, chicken, this year ... eggs. The tournament is always a toss up and anybodies game. There were a lot of great plays made as the weeks talent peaked at the end. The Sand Gnats and the Blue Claws ended up taking the cake in the end.

Thursday and Friday were both days of recovery. Thursday was recovery from the craziest hail storm I have ever seen in my entire life. Many Germans said the same. The track looked like it was covered in snow and the winds were hurricane like. I was helping holding down a large tent and the wind picked me up and bent the corner of the tent to pieces. Friday was recovery from playing the Nightmares on Thursday night. We almost won!! I think it was a victory that we made them try a little toward the end of the game. Final score 8-10.

I can't believe that camp is over and that the team has already been and gone. The rest of the week we have to relax and prepare for BIJ on Tour, the youth retreat. This weekend will be a lot of fun!! We are headed to Berlin to see Sarah Grossart get married and then head back on Sunday! It is going to be a great week and I am looking forward to the rest of the Summer. 4 more weeks!

Following His Call!